A Good Dad

He may complain about how we have a hundred kids all the time, but my hubbs is actually a pretty great dad.  He watches our cute baby for hours every day while mom is away at work or running kids around.  He loves to teach Keenan new skills and make him smile.  Often he will take photos or videos of Keeney baby while I'm at work and send them to me, which makes my day so much better 😊Keenan is already trying to take steps..

what a cute little man

This guy also took my little basketball player to a Jazz game and bought her a pretzel!!  I am not a huge fan of the Jazz and was tired after a long day of work so it was nice that Mike did that for me.  Thank you for taking McKel, I know she had a blast and it made her feel loved 💗

watching some basketball...

sleeping cute baby moments are just the best!

Mike sent me this video to show me how excited Keeney gets when his songs come on Sesame Street.  He jumps up and down like crazy, it is so adorable!
What's the letter?  What's the letter?  The letter of the day is..... 😊

Family Photo for the Christmas Card!

The time is ticking away as Christmas approaches.  I always try to do a family photo to put on the Christmas card.  It seems nearly impossible to get the entire family together in one spot and to remember to take a photo.  So we invited Bret over for dinner one night after he got off work and pulled out the super fancy camera to do a timed photo.  It was a bit of a struggle, but miraculously, we got a couple good shots of the family.
Mission accomplished.

Look at all those beautiful brown eyes!

...and one blue-eyed beauty

I have some good looking kids!

Crazy McKel!

...and we have a winner!  One for the Christmas card 😊

Department of Pediatrics Christmas Party

My work had a fancy Christmas party at the Natural History Museum.  It was so fun!!  Mike and I got to go on a date (for once) which was so nice.  It was catered with delicious food.  It was kinda cool to see all my coworkers dressed all fancy.  We even saw our baby's pediatrician there!  She looked different not in her scrubs.  Such a fun evening!

Mmmm...

way high up on the dessert floor!

Thanks for being my handsome date, hubbs!

Happy Birthday McKel!

Let the craziness begin.  But first lets see Keenan stand up 😊try again!Good job, baby!!!
McKel wanted to have her party at the Classic Fun Center in Sandy this year.  It was much more chaotic than her usual Jump Around Utah venue.  Hard to keep an eye on the kids when there are about a million places they could go... they did seem to have a blast though.
I can't believe McKel is 6 years old!  She is growing and maturing so quickly.  McKel is about a head taller than every kid in her class, including the boys.  She has officially outweighed her sister now.  She is gifted athletically and loves to be active in sports.  She loves basketball and soccer and pretty much any sport that has a ball in it.  She is doing well in school and making tons of friends.  She is also tender hearted and looks up to her big sis, and loves to give Keenan love and attention.  She loves super heroes and being goofy.  She is such a sweet girl and we are so proud of the girl she is growing up to be.  We love you, 6 year old McKel!!Keenan is a big fan of balloons!

He also loves his uncle JJ

Hi baby! attack Dada!can't get enough of those balloons!!
We had a Spiderman-themed party room, complete with a climbing wall:

no sweat for this mom!

I love parties!

McKel was all smiles the whole time!

McKel with some of her party friends

the cake!

party peeps!

making a wish and blowing out the candles...

Matthew and McKel

Maeve, Vera, and McKel... so many presents!

McKel and her friend Adali

McKel with her nana

soo many presents!

me and my birthday girl!

mama and baby boy

McKel was soo excited to spin the birthday wheel and get a prize!

nana and her grandbaby

she got to go in the hurricane machine and try to grab money!!

get it, McKel!

some Disney princesses were there!

nice to have a friend there 😊

Mmmm...

so much fun for the kids!

mom watching the climbers

uncle JJ helps Keeney do some climbing...

go Keeney!

take it to the top!

Overall, it was a success.  I think the kids had a blast.  Happy Birthday, McKel.  Hope you know what a special girl you are.  We love you....💗💗💗💗

Avril's Ballet Performance

My little ballerina girl at her winter performance.  Avril has decided to no longer take ballet 😞after this so this may be her last performance.  She wants to focus on gymnastics and piano now...

Meeting Santa...

We heard that Santa was coming to visit the University store so we took a family trip to go meet him. I knew we had to get the classic photos of the kids sitting on Santa's lap. This Santa had a real beard, fancy chair, and everything!  The kids got to sit on his lap.  Keenan was very skeptical of this funny looking man...

Avril knows the routine by now.  Tell him what you want, and tell him you've been a good girl...

I've been good!!

On the good list!

Santa tells her what he may bring...

Who is this funny looking man??!!

Haha, his facial expressions are the best!!

Santa looks a little too scary...

OK I've had enough.  Where's my mommy and daddy?

Save me!!

Haha, Merry Christmas!  So fun for Keenan to have his first official Santa visit 😊

Where Does the Time Go?

It's already Christmas? Then it will be a new year??!   Keenan is already nearly 8 months old!  He is growing so fast.  Too fast.  We keep trying to catch the cute moments in pics and videos but it always seems that by the time you pull out the phone you've missed it!
Christmas is coming and I feel unprepared.  I have so much I need to do still.  The holidays are always crazy.
Anyway, here are some cute pics and videos of us making memories:

cute pics for mom at work are my favorite

Keenan loves the Elmo song, the Letter of the Day.  He will always stop what he is doing and watch:  Its the cutest thing ever.
What's the number?  Stomp, stomp!  Intrigued... Keeney baby also loves to take every possible item out of it's designated spot in the kitchen.  Maybe he will be a chef.

He looks like such a little Mike

happy boy!

Yah!!

oh, man I just love him!!

He sure does know how to make us laugh!  Ooh, ooh!!
starting to try to stand up: Try again, bud!