Photo Shoot

My sister came down last night to teach my Laurels how to make wuffums (will explain at a later date, yummay!). She stayed the night, so this morning we did a photo shoot with the kidlets. I have been wanting pictures since Easter, but it has been hard to get them all dressed and ready to do it. We are lacking in the financial department so I haven't taken Carter to get his pictures done, which I like to do, but I have a wonderful sister who has a good camera and loves to take pics so here are the results, edited. She took over 100!

Crazy faces, Carter is looking at something?

Just cute!

Carter smiles!

Sweet Leilani

We tried to get some good shots of each of the kids individually, but they don't always turn out, as most of you know!

Potty woes!

I now know why I waited to potty train Brady until he ws 3. Leilani has been showing signs for months, but with the baby it has taken me awhile to put all of my effort into this. She is my stripper, who will take her diaper off, wherever she is, outside, inside, it does not matter to her.

Today we had 2 accidents in her underwear, so I gave in and put a diaper back on her. The pull-ups don't seem to work, since she is used to cloth diapers. So I am trying the underwear so she notices that her clothes get wet when she goes.

She goes outside to play and comes in with her diaper and her shorts in her hands. Oh my, I am starting to get frustrated, but trying not to show my frustration because she is only 2 and I am trying to encourage not discourage.
So, I bring the little potty to the entry way, so I can see her try to go potty, while I nurse Carter.

She sits on the potty and wow! She goes stinky!

So, I guess the purpose of this, is to remind myself that patience really is a virtue and I just need to keep at it. She is so stubborn, just like me but she really hasn't gone potty to understand what that means. I try and try but with a baby it is so hard to keep working on it. But, it will be so much easier in the end and we will all be happy!

Party and pics

We had a party last Saturday for Miss Leilani. We had a great day before the party. We went to the Children's Museum in Las Vegas. The kids have been earning beans for the past couple of months by doing their chores, getting ready in the morning (ex. getting dresses, brushing teeth). When they do these things, then they earn a bean or more and put it into their cups. My mom implemented this while we were in the hospital with Carter and it has worked quite well. Once their cup was full then their reward was to go to the museum. We had a lot of fun and I had free passes for the kids from their summer reading program.

Once we got home, my family came down from St. George and we had dinner, cake and presents. It was a lot of fun to have cousins here, it is quite the treat for us to have them living with my mom for the summer.

My neice Analei, gave all of her pony collection to Leilani for her birthday. It was very sweet of her! She had quite the collecitn and Leilani loves them! Such a sweet girl.

Leilani had a good day and enjoyed her Tinkerbell cake and all of her gifts. While we were in Hawaii we got her a purple ukulele to match the one Brady got from Uncle Robert and Auntie Risa for Christmas. Now they can have their own "rock band!"

We have had a lot of activities this month, so I included some extra pictures.

Playing in the dirt.

More dirt and look at how red her hair is in this picture!

Can't catch me!

Tinkerbell cake, don't look too close! The lips were hard to do, I couldn't get the coloring quite right, oh well, made with love.

Make a wish!

Lani and her ukulele

All of her ponies, thanks cuzzie!

Brady at the fair, he had a blast this year. I am afraid he has discovered the rides! We tried, but it didn't work very well!

Carter, chillin' in his swing.

Carter smiles!

Happy #2!

Yeah, Leilani turns 2 today. I can't believe that my baby girl is actually 2! I feel so blessed to be her mom. She is growing up to be such an amazing little girl and I treasure every moment that I have with my "Sweet Leilani!"

Thank you for blessing our family and being our darling little girl. We love you so much and wish you the best 2nd birthday a girl could have!

Just some of my favorites from her first 2 years of life.

My sweet baby Leilani

6 months

8 months

1 year

16 months

18 months

Little sister

New big sister

I think I can do this!


From walking to running
Glued on bows to ponytails
Cribs to beds
Little sissy to big sissy!

What an amazing year for you, I hope this next will be better then the last! There is so much more ahead of you, so enjoy the ride and keep that beautiful smile alive with your wonderful spirit sweet!
Happy Birthday Missy, we love you!

Carter's blessing

It has been a few weeks since Carter's blessing but I thought I would post some pictures from that day. It was a good day. We had some visitors come in and that was a lot of fun. It had been awhile since we had seen Bryce's brother Robert and his wife Marisa. We had a lot of fun and of course the kids loved them. Something about the youngest of the families being the favorite!
Carter did well during the blessing. He is such a good baby and his blessing was sweet. I can't belive that he is now 3 months old and weighs about 13 pounds, I would guess he weighs more since he is almost ready for 6 month clothes!
I feel blessed to be his mom. He brings me so much joy and really centers me when the older 2 are testing me. I love all of my kids but there is something about babies that just remind you that all is right in the world.

Carter all ready to go.

Ponka and Carter

Bryce and I with Carter, he is ready to eat!

Our family.

The family who came for the blessed event.

Auntie Risa and Uncle Rob chillin' with Carter on the couch, so cute!

Piggytails, beds and smiles

Here are some of the highlights of the week:

My neice, who tried out in the beginning of February for a part in Annie that is playing in Tuacahn, got a final callback for last Saturday. They cut the girls from around 300 or more to 18 and we found out on Friday that she made it! For those that don't know of Tuacahn they call it the "Broadway of the West." It is an amazing outdoor ampitheater that does performances throughout the year. Every year they have around 3 plays and Annie is one of them. She and her sister and mom will move to St. George in May until August while she is in the play. I am so excited to have my sister live so close for a few months and to see Keola perform!

We finally got back to school for the kids after surviving weeks of being sick and I think that is where I got pink-eye, yuck! I have had horrible allergies so it was a mixture of both.

Leilani's hair is finally long enough for pigtails. I put them in and the first thing Brady said was, "Mom, she looks like Afton (my neice)." I thought that was funny. I know this isn't a big deal but it sure is fun!

Leilani also had a big week since she no longer sleeps in a crib. Yup, we did it! I can't believe Bryce talked me into it, but we really need to eventually move her into the bottom bunk of Brady's bed and move Carter over, so it is necessary, at some point. She did pretty well the first night but then she learned how to open her door on her own. Crazy!
I have been nervous about naps more then anything. She seems to be doing okay when Brady is napping, so that has been a relief to me. I need naptime to survive!

That is my week in a nutshell. I am putting in pictures of Carter, because he is just so cute and is finally starting to smile. So much fun!

Leilani's piggies! I need a little more practice!

Here she is on her "big girl bed."

Here are pictures of my baby. He looks so dapper in his Sunday best!

Aloha last minute!

Hello all!

It has been awhile and there is so much going on but most recently Bryce, myself and baby Carter went on a last minute trip to Hawaii.

I had an uncle that passed away, well a cousin, everyone is either auntie or uncle over there. Anyway, my sisters, brother, my father and his wife were all going to make the trip back, so last minute, 2 days before we left, we made the decision to go. It was a har decision to make and I keep feeling that financially everything will workout, so I am hoping that it won't bite us in the rear later!

I felt that I would never have this opportunity again to be there with my family, so I got my mom to watch Brady and Leilani and off we went over the Pacific to the land of paradise.

It was a nice break away, but not the most ideal time to go. It is the rainy season and yes, it rains, a lot in the tropics! That didn't stop us and we saw almost all that we wanted to see.

While we were there, my sister, who had been wanting to get married in Hawaii, decided that she would! Yup, we drove all over Honolulu getting a marriage certificate and then the marriage was performed on the bach on Monday, the day they flew home. It was a sweet ceremony and I am glad that we were there for it. It was sad, because my mom was unable to be there, but there will be a big celebration at her house in the early summer.

Okay, enough typing, here are some pics of our trip!

Here we are at Waimea Falls, absolutely beautiful hike and what a reward at the end!

Best friend Jenni, she lives in Laie and it was awesome to see her!

The happy couple, welcome to the family, brotha!

My siblings with our new brotha Howard.

Our little family at the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Most of the women in the family. It was so good to visit with them.

All of us that went and my Auntie Annie (my grandma's sister, her twin, except she is darker). She is a total sweetheart!

Bryce cliff jumping at Waimea Bay! Wow babe, that is kind of high!

My sisters and I at Waikiki.

Me with Carter, his first time "in the ocean!"

Bryce and I at dinner, don't you love the Hawaiian shirt???

Baby Carter, what a cute baby!

Baby Carter, again, he looks like he is smiling, so cute!

Bryce and I at Hanuma Bay, after a wonderful day of snorkeling. Bryce fell in love with it, he saw 2 turtles (Crush and Squirt?, that is what we told Brady!)

Cute Daddy son picture in their matching shirts!