Room rearraning.... again!

I'm just going to come out and say it... Alyvia is spoiled rotten! This child has so much CRAP in her room that we literally end up rearranging her room every few months. It's ridiculous! What made me decided to rearrange was her birthday was coming up and I knew she was getting a couple of big items that would need wall space so i recruited James to help me out. This is the final result of our day of cleaning. Lets just say that before this was done there was absolutely no walking room, now she has plenty of room to move around (at least when its clean she does).

We even went through all her clothes and toys and donated 3 very full garbage bags. Even after getting rid of a lot I still think she has to much. Needles to say she doesn't agree and wouldn't part with anything else. She is now one happy child with her "new" room.

Had to add this little bit, while James and I slaved away for hours making her room livable again, Aly had a blast playing dress up and making more messes for us to clean up. I would have to say she participated about 15% of the entire process. Next time we are shipping her somewhere while we attempt to "rearrange" her room again.

Bedtime stories

Isn't this the sweetest thing you have ever seen? Alyvia loves listening to her brother read bed time stories and Brock absolutely loves reading. So precious, I cherish these years because I know this won't last long!

Happy Valentines Day

Every year Valentines Day falls on a day the James has to work. This year was no exception so we didn't celebrate it. But Brock's class celebrated the day calling it "Friendship Day" so we had a lot of fun with him at school. First was lunch. We got to bring lunch for us and Brock and join him during lunch time. Alyvia was with us and all of Brock's friends just adore her so she was talking to everyone.

After lunch we headed home for a few hours and then I dropped off Alyvia with James' mom while James and I headed back to school. Brock's class was having a friendship party so we volunteered and were in charge of the pin the heart on the heart! It was a lot of fun and we both always enjoy interacting with the kids. There were other games that the kids all rotated to which was hot potato, cookie decorating, and two arts and crafts tables. Before the bell rang all the kids got cupcakes, brownies, and juice boxes. And then earlier in the day everyone passed out their valentines cards which majority had candy attached so Brock was just full on sugar!

When we picked up Aly he was nice enough to share all his goodies! They need to eat nothing but vegetables for the next week now!

Snow fun

The kids love the snow! We drove up to Lee Canyon and had a snow with the kiddos and it was a blast. Alyvia looked so frumpy in her snow outfit and Brock was having the time of his life! It wasn't to cold up their which was nice but the snow was really compact so the kids couldn't throw snow balls at dad.

We were literally the only ones in the snow area so we got enjoy it all to our selves. There were tons of holes in the ground that kids could hide in and make into a fort. We also saw lots of animal tracks so it was fun trying to figure out the possible animals that may have visited our area. Most of them looked like deer.

Before we left James and Brock found a trail that was clear of debris and iced over. So Brock thought it would be fun to slide down on his bottom. It actually worked and both him and Aly went sledding without sleds! James tried but his pants don't have as much cushion as the kids so it was somewhat painful.

When it was finally time to go we headed back to the truck where both kids had to pee. Brock has it easy being a boy and just did his business on the side of the truck. Aly on the other hand attempted the squat with the help of James and I and just wasn't having it. I think her poor bottom was freezing! We ended up having to drive to the other side of the mountain where there is a hotel for her to go! Both of them want to go back and play in the snow again but I don't see us making another trip this year.

Dress up

The weather has been extremely cold lately so Alyvia likes to find different things to do in the house. One of her favorites is dress up. She has a large chest filled with different princess dresses and crowns and shoes, but occasionally she likes to change things up and put on different clothes from her dresser to make an outfit.
Her latest outfit design was a pair of leggings with cowboy boots, two shirts, 3 bathing suits, and one pair of bloomers. She sure does make a statement!

It's a boy

I have to say that I was 100% convinced that we were having a little girl, so when the ultrasound tech at our 4D ultrasound appointment said boy I was in shock! When we first found out we were having another baby, both James and I wanted a boy but at about 8 weeks I was convinced I was having a girl. Call it mothers intuition but nothing could convinced me otherwise, we were having a girl and that was that!
Well, that ultrasound sure did convince me otherwise. It took a little bit for the tech to get baby to open his legs but when he finally did it was obvious we were having a boy! Alyvia and my mom were also with us and they were both excited. James and I started crying and just stared in awe at our little boy. It is such an amazing experience watching your child in the womb and it just gets me so emotional. We've seen him now at 8 weeks. 12 weeks and 15 weeks. I love being able to watch him grow and we get to go again hopefully at 18 weeks with my OB.
That afternoon we picked up Brock from school and shared the news that he was going to have a little brother and his reaction was priceless. He started jumping up and down yelling "YES!". All of us couldn't be more excited. Now I just can't wait to be able to hold our son in our arms in about 5 months.

Profile of our little boy :)

Baby boys little finger!
Little boy yawning
Another profile

It's a boy!

His tiny little foot with 5 toes!

Springs Preserve

I think James and I have been talking about wanting to take the kids to Springs Preserve for about two years now. It is put together by the Las Vegas Valley Water District and has many different attractions like museums, art gallery, children's playground, animals that are native to Nevada, botanical gardens, and host many different events through out the year. We finally took the kids out there and bought a year membership for our family. The kids had a lot of fun and James and I learned a lot about Las Vegas. The kids saw different kinds of spiders which was informative to James and I because some of these spiders are very poisonous and common to our area but we have never actually seen one up close. They had the black widow, brown recluse, and vinegeroons on display. Some other desert animals we saw were a fox, tortoise, rabbits, lizards, and snakes.

After walking around the museum we heading outside to the concert seating area and watched a bird show. The birds were an owl, eagle, and rapture. The bird handlers had the birds demonstrate how they dive for their food. These animals are seriously fast and dangerous looking. I wouldn't want to be on their radar for dinner!

We walked a little around the gardens and then took the kids to the kids workshop where they painted bird houses. Each month there are different kids workshops and for the month of February the kids can make their own glow in the dark firefly necklace.

We didn't have a chance to see the kids playground or view all the gardens but now that we have our year membership we can go back anytime for free! This is definitely going to be a place we visit at least once a month!

I love when my brother is able to come to town with his family or vice versa. I just can't get enough of my adorable little niece and nephew! Over the weekend Arek and Shelby and the kids came to Vegas for a quick 4 day trip. We were able to put on a last minute family barbecue and just hang out and relax at our house for a few hours with everyone. The kids are really the highlight of any get together because they just pick up where they left off on the last time they all saw each other. They all played for hours with each other and are really just the best of friends. Alyvia and MaKenzie get along so well now and Aly loves having Kenzie around to play girl stuff with. They played dress up, had a tea party, played with dolls, and just did girl stuff.

Brock joined in with the girls and Titan played in Brocks room mostly. All four loved the trampoline and were smiles the entire time. The day before they all left to head back to Arizona we had a small breakfast at our home. At the end Shelby and I rounded up the kids to get the traditional cousin pictures. These four are such pain in the butts when it comes to pictures. They all like to act goofy all the time. I guess it just shows their personality but seriously I would like just one all smiles picture!

I can't wait till the next time we are all together again I just cherish the moments we do have with each other since it doesn't happen all the ofter.

Future Cosmotologist!

Alyvia is such a little diva. She loves to have her hair done, wear mommies perfume, put on lipstick, and of course have her nails painted. Well, now she likes to be the one to paint nails. It's her newest thing and just about anyone who is willing to sit still for about 5 minutes she will paint their nails.
For an almost 3 year old she does a pretty decent job!