Royal Wedding

If you think all things royal (or British for that matter) are lame then do not read this post. I don't claim to be knowledgeable about the British royals, but they have always held a fascination for me. Maybe it's the bizarre, but kind of cool hats. Maybe it's the fact that I've seen Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count. Perhaps it's because I once met Sarah Ferguson the Duchess of York in person at an event I sang at. Or maybe it's because the royals are real. And if they are real, then anybody could become a princess.
Honestly I had forgotten all about the royal wedding until yesterday when it was on all my online sources top news (and by sources I mean people.com, facebook, and yahoo). I knew there was no way I would get up in the middle of the night to watch it, but I for sure was excited to see the clips online this morning. And it did not disappoint. The ceremony was traditional. I loved the tree lined aisle. Kate and William looked happy. I thought Kate's dress was perfect. She looked beautiful. I know it's sappy, but it's every little girl's dream to be a real live princess, and I couldn't help smiling as I watched one girl live her dream . . . horse drawn carriage and all. I truly hope they have a happy life.

Also, Princess Kate's gorgeous hair is almost inspiring me to grow mine out. Almost.

Clips I watched can be found HERE.

What a Difference A Day Makes

Yesterday was bleak. I had been coming down with a cold since Saturday, but yesterday I felt awful. The weather matched. It was cold (think 30's) with a frigid wind blowing snow flurries in my face as I ran my necessary errands and did preschool runs. It was gray and I felt like this blasted Utah winter would never end. I would never be warm again. I would have boots and coats cluttering my entryway for eternity. Some days are like that.

I spent the day kind of moping and being lazy. I realized that my library movies were overdue, so I turned on Swiss Family Robinson, determined to get my $1.00 fine's worth. I hate it when I have to play late fines on books and movies that I didn't even read/watch. Anyway, I forgot how much I enjoy that movie. Weston watched most of it with me. He loved all the animals. Plus the bad guys are pirates. What 5 year old boy wouldn't love it?

I decided I was not going to try to haul myself to mutual. I sent the materials with my friend Janelle and stayed in my sweats. Ian took the boys to play at Arctic Circle after dinner so I could have a little quiet time. It was wonderful. I have to admit that I did use a little bit of the time to vacuum the front of the house. It made me feel better. Then I started on the newest Josi Kilpack book. When Ian came home he brought us some Olive Garden take out. I am in love with their chicken and gnocchi soup. We ate after we got the kids to bed. It was a good end to a blah day.

This morning the sun was shining brightly, and the forecast called for highs in the 50's (how sad that I'm excited about that forecast)! I still have a cold, but I'm feeling better. I have a tiny bit more energy and am coughing a little bit less. Davin has a cold too. I let him stay in his jammies and watch Toy Story 2 all morning. It is really amazing what a little sunshine can do for my outlook on life. I'm feeling a little guilty for yesterday's general whinyness, but you know what? I'm not going to beat myself up about it because some days are just like that.

Now back to my book . . .

Easter Weekend

Celebrating Easter was a fitting end to our week of Spring break. I loved every minute of our weekend. We had so much fun, but managed to throw in some relaxation. Saturday we had a lovely Easter lunch and an Easter egg hunt for the kids with our friends. It is kind of a tradition we had with our family friends, the Green's, growing up. I really enjoyed our afternoon. It was low key and I was so happy that the rain held off long enough for us to hunt eggs outside in the yard. Weston was a pro at egg hunting, but was also very sweet about sharing. Once I told him he had enough he would give all the eggs to found to Davin or Kate. I think there were plenty to go around though. We went a little overboard and hid over 100 eggs for just the three kiddos. :)






After counting and opening all the eggs we were all a little tired. The Bayles' headed home for nap time and we spent the rest of the afternoon resting and dying eggs. Weston and I watched the first half of The Testaments before I started dinner. It was really neat watching it with my 5 year old. He had question after question about what was happening and I was glad that I could explain it all to him. He is such a sponge, and probably will remember most of what he saw and heard.
We had a nice meal of grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and grilled zucchini. Everyone went to bed early since the boys didn't have naps and I had woken up with the start of a cold. The Easter bunny hid the kids' baskets as per tradition, so when the boys woke up they immediately started looking for them. Weston found his faster than I expected him to. I can't believe that I forgot to take pics of their baskets before I hid them, but they were a big success. I was really happy with the things I got for the boys. They each got a couple books, a couple movies, a shovel/rake set, some new character socks, chocolate bunnies, candy, and a pet. Weston's was a Webkinz puppy (now named Max) and Davin's was a Zhu Zhu Pet (named Zhu Zhu). Talia was pretty oblivious, but she got a new bathing suit (thanks Grandma B!) and pink baby sunglasses in her basket.
Amazingly enough we managed to all get ready for church in time for a few photos beforehand. We decided to do them inside since I didn't want to put Talia in the wet/muddy grass in her white dress. The kids all looked adorable, but I have to admit I was extra excited to have a new Easter dress for Talia. Grandma Denny bought her Easter dress for her a couple months ago and I have been patiently waiting to put it on her until this weekend. She looked ultra adorable in it (if I do say so myself). What fun dressing up a girl is!
And how lucky am I to get to spend my days with this handsome duo?!?
We didn't have time for a proper photo shoot of just Talia, but here are a couple more of her in her dress after church.

We had a very nice time at church (if you ignore the last 20 minutes of Sacrament meeting when Talia was crying and the boys were being less than reverent while I bounced her in the back of the chapel which led to Davin having a quick time out in the foyer). Ian and I sang with the choir, and I enjoyed what I was able to hear of the talks. After church Davin napped and Weston and I finished watching The Testaments. At the end when Jesus comes to visit the Nephites Weston leaned over to me and said, "I wish I was there." Me too. I told him that Jesus will come again and we might be here when it happens so we need to be ready. It was really a special teaching moment.

We were lucky enough to enjoy a delicious Easter ham dinner with our bishop and his family last night. Seriously, it was all my favorite things: ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, grated carrots, rolls, and pomegranate 7-up. I have to admit it was nice not having to do the clean up from a big meal too. I thoroughly enjoyed this year's Easter weekend. I hope you did too!

Wrapping it Up

We finished out our week of Spring break with a shopping day on Thursday. It started with lunch at Chick Fil A. The cow happened to be wandering around the restaurant before heading out to it's primary duty of waving at cars on the street. My boys love mascots, so they definitely wanted a hug and a picture. After we had our turn with the cow, Weston was following it around with his eyes. After a minute or two he said, "Mom, I think that maybe the cow is really a person standing up inside a costume." I replied that maybe he was right, but it made me a little sad. My baby is growing up and leaving a tiny bit of the magic of childhood behind.
After lunch we went to the mall so I could pick up some shirts for Ian and so we could check another Spring break outing off our list. The boys wanted to play at the dino playground. They had a ball, as usual. Davin spent almost the entire time sitting on this statue and telling me how it was a dragon and it was dirty, so then he pretended to clean it. He's so funny.
Ian and I went on a shopping date last night too. We grabbed some delicious In N Out then shopped at Target, Best Buy, Kohl's, and Aeropostale. It was a successful trip. Ian got some much needed new clothes, and some less needed, but no less fun phone accessories. I also bought Weston another new pair of jeans and cute matching tee shirts for the boys. It's always fun to spend time with my hubby and get to act a little less mature and like the mom. :)

This morning we were supposed to meet up with friends at the park, which was fitting since it's Earth Day! However, the weather was deceptively cold. It was sunny, but only about 45 degrees and breezy. Brrr. We did go to the park, but we didn't last too long. Other Earth Day activities included finally planting Weston's sunflower sprout outside in the front yard, and opening up the live butterfly garden I got for the kids. Our caterpillar larvae came in the mail today, and I decided Earth Day was just as good an excuse to give this to the boys as Easter, so we opened it up and watched our caterpillars all afternoon. Weston named the runt of our 5 larvae Tiny Tim. I think they will really enjoy watching them turn into butterflies!

Today the boys and I put together our pirate hats. There were instructions at the back of one of our library books and Weston asked if we could make them. The only paper I had that would be big enough was finger paint paper, so on Thursday I let the boys finger paint, then this morning we folded them up. They weren't quite as exciting and Weston had hoped, but I thought they turned out cute.

angry pirates . . . arrrr

cheery pirates . . . yo ho yo ho

Later this afternoon I made rainbow chip cupcakes for our Easter egg hunt tomorrow. We had to sample them, of course. Davin was a fan.
We sure enjoyed our fun week off school, but I have to admit that I am kind of ready to get the boys back in preschool. I haven't been able to read a single page all the way through in my book all week. Oh well. Maybe next week.

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend.
Please take a few minutes (or more!) to ponder the reason we celebrate.

Wishful Thinking

I wish it was nice enough weather for this. During Talia's naked time last night I couldn't resist trying on her little swimsuit. She loved it. Someday it will be summer . . . but not today.
Yesterday was haircut day. It was rainy all morning, but we managed to go take dinner to a friend and get haircuts in the little window of clouds but no rain. Unfortunately Sport Clips didn't have any suckers or candy for the boys (and that's the big incentive to be good), but fortunately it was right across the parking lot from Paradise Bakery, so we walked over and got a cookie as their reward instead. They got a little run-around-outside time in too before I felt a few raindrops and we headed home.

I have to give my boys a little shout out. They are both SO incredibly good for haircuts. They don't even need me to be by them. They hold still. They look down. They close their eyes. Davin still occasionally makes faces or whimpers if he gets hair on his face, but he is still a champ. Hooray for clean cut boys!

Weston's Pick

Yesterday we needed to get out of the house. Our first day of Spring Break was rainy and a little boring. We went to the library to get new books and movies. It was only minimally exciting. That night for FHE we built a fort and watched Phineas and Ferb inside while we ate our brownies. That was fun, but by Tuesday we were ready to get out and have some fun. It was still threatening rain when we left for Provo and was drizzling when we got there. I dropped off some family reunion DVD's at my aunt's house then we went out to lunch. Weston picked Carls Jr. with a playplace. They boys had a blast in the play room and it worked out that I could feed Talia while they played.

When we were done the rain had stopped and we headed up the hill to the Bean Museum. Going to the Bean Museum was Weston's main Spring break outing request. Since it's free I figured I could manage it. We all had fun at the museum. We discovered a fun children's play room with plastic animals, toys, and a magnet board to play with. Talia got to lay out and kick for awhile too.
We saw all the animals, but couldn't find the cougar! Finally I asked where it had gone. Luckily it was still there just moved downstairs. We actually didn't get a picture of it, but Weston wanted his picture taken with a buffalo and Davin picked to have picture taken by a bear. Weston's favorite thing was to pretend to be scared of the animals in his pictures.

In this one he is running away and Davin is doing "Shawp cwaws."

The sun finally came out while we were checking out the museum, so when we left we had to go to the creamery for some delicious BYU ice cream. It was even nice enough to eat it outside! The boys literally ran laps around the outdoor tables which thoroughly entertained the two elderly couples who were chatting outside. It felt so great to sit outside and soak up some sun.


By the time we got home it was almost 4pm. One of my YW came over and made rice krispie treats for our activity, then stayed for dinner until it was time for mutual. We finished doing a camp craft and had a pretty chill evening. I had to grocery shop after mutual, but it ended up being a really good Spring break day. Talia even treated me to a full night's sleep (8:30-7:30? Yes please!). Happy day.

Grandma B's Spring Break

We started our Spring break a little early with a visit from Grandma B! She came last Tuesday night and stayed with us until Saturday morning. It was great fun! We spent Wednesday afternoon going to lunch with Auntie B for her birthday at the Lion House and wandering around Temple Square for a bit. We also stopped at the new Deseret Book flagship store. When we were all tired and ready for naps we headed to the airport to pick up Uncle Brad from his Washington trip. It was fun to have visitors. Uncle Brad didn't stay long before getting in his car and driving home to Idaho, but we enjoyed seeing him.
Wednesday evening my mom and I went to my ward's Relief Society birthday celebration. Yes, they are about a month late with it, but seeing as how they didn't manage to pull anything together last year I was still excited. It was a really nice program about Emma Smith. I was glad we went. We went to bed early since we stayed up way too late on Tuesday night.

Thursday was kind of our down day. The boys both went to preschool while Mom and I shopped for Easter at Target and picked up Kneader's for lunch. We came home and had our lunch picnic style while we watched Tangled. It was fun to just relax at home. That night Ian and I went on a date. We went bowling, then ate dinner at a new Indian restaurant. We ended the night with big excitement! We went to Golden Spoon! You heard right . . . Golden Spoon in Utah. I got an email from citydeals (a deal website) that had Golden Spoon listed with an offer. I clicked on it and discovered there are two locations, Orem and Draper. We went to the Draper one. It was delicious. I am so excited to know I can get my Golden Spoon fix when I really need it without having to plan a trip to CA! Anyway, it was a fun night out and we brought back GS for our awesome babysitter. :)
Friday was an all day fun day. Davin had his 3 year old well visit and Talia had her 4 month well visit at the doctor's. It was nice having Mom there to help out, but with the 5 of us and Dr. Sally and a PA student who was shadowing her, the room was a little crowded.

Davin's ear tubes are still in, but the doctor pulled a ton of wax out of his little ears. He is smart and healthy in every way. He had to get one shot and he was pretty brave. He cried for a minute, but then calmed down and was happy as a clam to get a Batman sticker on our way out. Davin is growing well on his own little curve underneath the regular growth curve.
Davin's 3 Year Old Stats:
Height: 35 inches
Weight: 26 pounds
***The percentiles don't apply to our munchkin.

Talia is doing great too. Nothing to report. She is going to be another small Bowles child though. She also got a few immunization shots. She was a champ (much like her brother Weston). There were a couple screams and a couple tears then she was fine. She sucked down a bottle and fell asleep.
Talia's 4 Month Old Stats:
Height: 24 inches (75th% I don't imagine this will last long)
Weight: 11 lbs. 8 oz. (10th%)
Head: 32 cm (can't remember the %)

After the doctor's office we headed out to lunch as a little reward for good behavior at the pediatrician's. The kids picked McDonald's, of course, so they played while Mom and I ate and visited. After lunch we kind of last minute decided to go see Hop. I was a little worried about how Talia would do, but she was fine. She didn't cry at all. She didn't sleep or eat either. Just watched the movie or chilled in her carseat/on our laps. The boys loved getting their little kid packs of popcorn, candy, and juice. The movie was pretty cute and got the boys all excited for Easter this weekend. Thanks Grandma!

Friday night was girl's night. Mom and I shopped. We went to Office Max, Payless, Michael's, Kohl's, and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We got some good deals, some cute things, and some yummy caramel apples. Ian missed us though, so we didn't stay out too late. Saturday morning we quickly did a little re-decorating in Talia's room. The wall hanging my mom cross stitched for her needed a little garnishing and I wanted to display the cute sign I ordered for the bookshelf. I love it! I was sad to say goodbye to my mom, but we did have a fun visit and we will see her again in a few months.
This week is the boys' official Spring Break, but unfortunately the weather forecast shows rain most of the week. Today we managed to make it out to the library, but that's about it. I have some fun outings planned for the rest of the week, but I guess we will just have to wait and see if the weather cooperates. We are all enjoying the break from routine and are looking forward to a fun Easter weekend!

I Cannot Believe It!

You definitely have kids if you caught the title quote from the popular (in our house) show Little Einsteins. Davin loves to say that. It's hilarious.

I seriously cannot believe that my cute girl is officially 4 months old tomorrow! Holy cow babies grow fast. She has her 4 month check up on Friday, so I will post her stats then, but I know she is getting big. She is such a fantastic baby. She is getting on a great schedule now that she's napping mostly in her crib (sometimes she ends up napping in her carseat if she falls asleep while we are out). Last night she slept a full 10 hour night. Ahh it was bliss. Hopefully the nap schedule combined with a bigger tummy will help this become the norm. Fingers crossed.
Talia has also start "talking" a lot. We have tried to get it on video but every time we try she is too fascinated by the camera to keep babbling. I also love all her adorable faces. She was being extra cute after her morning nap today, so I did a little series of her. Enjoy!

This picture reminds me of Davin HERE.

You know what else I cannot believe? I cannot believe that the den is finally completely finished! And that it took 9 months to get it done. I guess it really was our baby. sorry, bad joke. We (mostly Ian) painted the trim and window sills on Saturday morning. By bedtime it was dry enough to hang the blinds back up. I love how crisp and bright the white looks. It's almost like having an accent wall. LOVE it!

We had a nice, productive weekend. I was annoyed that it was still snowing, but I'll not bore you with that complaint. We got to have Brad hang out with us on Friday night. In the morning Ian dropped him off at the airport. Weston went to a 3 hour birthday party. It was great. He had a blast and I got to just drop him off! I grocery shopped. Ian painted. We even went on a quick dinner date to Gandolfo's that evening. We stopped by the mall so I could exchange some make up, and dropped into the AT&T store and coveted the iphone 4. I will be getting an iphone, but I want to wait until the 5 comes out and now the summer release has been delayed indefinitely. Sigh. Someday.

Happy news! The sun has returned to Utah! Yesterday it shined and melted all the snow. It is out again today and I am loving it! I thought it was going to rain the rest of the week, but this morning the forecast had changed to rain tomorrow and then sun the rest of the week. This is especially good news because my mommy is coming to visit us on her Spring break this week and I was so hoping we would have nice weather to play in. If I'm MIA on the blog this week it will be because I am too busy playing with my mom! Hope everyone is enjoying their April!

Also fun . . . I just ordered THIS cute thing for Talia's room in brown. Can't wait for it to come!

Mommy Days

This week was busy and slow all at the same time. So basically a typical stay at home mom kind of week. I felt like this week was a little extra stressful because Ian was out of town from Wednesday morning until Thursday night. We missed him, but his meetings in California went well, and he brought us back some Ghirardelli chocolate from San Francisco!

Highlights of our week included getting our new windows and trim installed in the den. It finally looks finished! We still need to paint the trim and re-hang the blinds, but I LOVE the new windows and the look of the trim. Yay! And yes, that is snow you see outside. Apparently April is having an identity crisis and thinks it is January. That picture was taken yesterday and there are about 3 more inches of snow on the ground this morning with more falling right now. Sheesh!
Another favorite from this week was this adorable picture/note Weston made for me. It's nice to know someone thinks I'm the best. :)
On our first day without Daddy we did a car craft leftover from Davin's birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!). The boys had a lot of fun covering their cars with stickers and racing them around the rug.
That afternoon we went to Chick Fil A for dinner and it was their "family night" so there was a balloon lady there who made Weston a T-Rex and Davin a frog. They also got cute foam animals to put together. They played on the playplace and we got a free kid's meal. Definitely a fun outing for the $10 I paid for food. After playing for awhile we ran to a couple stores to pick up birthday presents for this weekend. Weston is going to a birthday party for a friend from school and it's my dad's birthday on Sunday. By the time we got home, bathed, and to bed it was a little late. I started my chick flick movie anyway. Then my sister called. Then Ian called. Then I decided to still finish my movie. It ended up being a late night. Whoops. The kids all slept great though. Talia slept all the way until 5am!

Thursday both boys had school. It was rainy, then turned snowy in the afternoon, so I had planned to stay home. We put together their little foam craft animals from Chick Fil A and played around with the camera.
We also made english muffin pizzas for dinner. I hadn't done this in forever. I think the last time was when Weston was about 3. They both loved making them, but didn't eat them as enthusiastically as I had hoped. Oh well. Davin ate about half a can of olives, so I guess he was full.
I had completely forgotten that I had a training meeting with the stake, so we ended up having to bundle up and go out in the snow after all. I let the boys stay up late to wait for daddy to get home, which was mostly just annoying because then they went to bed late and weren't very nice about it. Ian got home safely though and we are glad to have him back. I have so much respect for all you wives and mommies whose husbands travel often or are in the military. It's so hard to do it all yourself and not have any other adults around to even hang out with in the evenings.

In other mommy news this week . . . Talia transitioned to napping in her crib with very little fuss. Hooray! I was all prepared for a battle and lots of "crying it out," but it was quite painless. Davin continues to be the easiest child to potty train on the planet. He tells me when he has to go and keeps his pull up dry during naps and school and outings. I think he's even almost ready to try underwear at night. Maybe next week. :)

Tonight we are getting a quickie visit from Uncle Brad! The boys are so excited to play with him. He is just crashing here for the night then going to the airport in the morning to fly to Washington. We will be painting this weekend and hopefully getting the blinds re-hung. I hate being in the den at night when everyone can see in the windows. It's kind of creepy. I'm glad we are past Ian's trip, but it ended up being a pretty successful mommy week in spite of it. I am finally finding my new normal with three kids and it feels good.