Give me a "N"!

You know how some people claim that Cheerleading is a sport?  I think that's questionable. I mean I guess I can see how yelling a lot and standing on someone's hands while holding a cardboard letter requires some coordination.  And when you go to sports games you see cheerleaders there so maybe that counts too.  All the cheerleaders I've known well (a.k.a my mission compy) fiercely defend the idea that it's a sport with much vigor and intensity.

However.

I would just like to say that my own personal experience with the sport/non-sport hardly burned any calories or gave me a good workout. What a disappointment. I might as well have been golfing which apparently is also a sport.
Okay so I wasn't wearing a skirt so short it could be turned into a belt and my hair had no ribbons in it, but I did cheer this morning with all my might a new favorite word.  A simple, delicate, barely used 3 letter word. The most precious of it's kind.

N-A-P

That's right.  There was a lot of (quiet) cheering going on this morning once all three girls (Ellie and the two little babes I nanny) went down for a nap.  Can I puh-lease have a moment of silence for the sacred fact that in my house RIGHT NOW there is...silence.  It's blissful.

So let's all have a shout out in classic cheerleader fashion for naptimes and bedtimes and really anytime that it's quiet and you can have a little piece of the day to yourself. Don't be shy..let it out!  And then once you've done so feel free to collapse on the nearest mattress or couch and appreciate every second of that silence, because we all know it probably won't last long.

But before you go here's a few pictures of the cutest sleepy girl ever.

Happy Cheering!

Lucky and Charming

We like birthdays around here..a lot.

I'm kind of excited for more kids so we have even more birthdays to celebrate.

Andrew's birthday is on St. Patty's day so I threw him a surprise party. Look how surprised he is.

Turning 23 is a big deal. So we had a feast fit for a King. A 23 year old King.

 
Rainbow Cupcakes = lots of work = totally worth it

Homemade Oreos..the best kind of Oreo

Devil's Food cupcakes with Grasshopper mint cookie frosting

 Lucky Vanilla Green Cupcakes

  M&M Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Mint and Chocolate Oreo Truffles ala Sarah

    Mint White Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks

Mint Vanilla Chocolate Cupcakes

A birthday party isn't a real party without super cool games so we played...

M2WI is a popular tv show where contestants play simple games in 60 seconds to win BIG money..for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQwbWaLJOks
The winning team won Reeses PB cups because they are the birthday boy's favorite!

Here are some of the peeps that came and enjoyed the shindig!

For Andrew's birthday I got him concert tickets so we can go see one of his fav bands Local Natives next month, new shoes, and an HBO series about WW2 "The Pacific"

Happy 23 honey!

Cooking or something like it

Lately we've been doing a lot of work in the kitchen.  The cooking and baking kind.  Food blogs have become an obsession around here and resulted in some culinary masterpieces.  My favorite blogs?
http://thepioneerwoman.com/ 
http://nestmeg.com/
http://bakingbites.com/
http://vanillakitchen.blogspot.com/

Toasted Cocoa Coconut Granola

I make this about once a week and use honey instead of sugar.  Even Andrew likes it.


Grilled Chicken with Ravioli in a Tomato Cream sauce

Made by Andrew.  Sauce was ridiculous.

Homemade Tortilla Chips with fresh Guacamole

Chicken Enchiladas...spicy, spicy, spicy. Next time I won't add 2x the peppers by accident.

 But it was actually still really, really good.  And Spicy.

Now I am hungry.

Another year gone by..

Love her. Love this picture and those cute chubby cheeks.

 Ellie turned 3 months old on my 28th birthday.  That's right people, I am now the big 2-8.  Apparently I am not the only one having a hard time accepting this.  My grandma refused to agree that I am anything over 25 (because it makes HER older..) and I received a birthday card from my mom that said "Happy 27th!"..

So for my 28th birthday Andrew took me to a glamorous city with lights and celebrities.  You guessed it. Salt Lake City.  And by celebrities I mean the ones that speak twice a year in General Conference although we unfortunately didn't have any "sightings".  We stayed at a hotel near Temple Square and did lots of shopping.  On our way to SLC we stopped in Sandy so I could begin my birthday celebration the right way with these:

Johnny Carino's Italian Nachos.  Well, these aren't the exact ones we ate. In fact, this isn't even my picture.  The point is that they are delicious and they can complete any birthday, bad day, or any day at all.  Try them. Sorry to be so bossy.  But seriously.

Next we checked in at our hotel and Andrew finally gave me my presents that I waited ALL day long for!  Actually I prefer to open my presents on the night of my birthday..I enjoy the anticipation of wondering what they might be. And they were, of course, fabulous.  I have a great husband.

So after some shopping we went to Rumbi for dinner..it was the sweet potato fries calling our name.  Basically demanding we enjoy my once a year birthday dinner there.  Here we are..

I don't actually like this picture because I'm wearing about 7 layers of clothing and I find that doesn't do much for your figure on camera.  But I do love my coat.  It's purple and very soft and it was on sale which made me love it even more.

Did I mention Andrew's mama was in town so she was watching Ellie at our house back in Provo.  Just in case you were wondering where she was.

Andrew did so many nice things for my birthday.  I love him. A lot.

So Ellie and I are a bit older and wiser too. It was a good day.

Little Girl Blue

This cute little thing is getting bigger and bigger by the hour! She looks so small here, but to my eyes I think she is huge.  Maybe this is because I remember how tiny she was at 6lbs..a bit easier to carry then too :)

Daddy got her ready for church this morning..once we got to church I noticed that the ruffles on her tights were in the front and I had to laugh when he told me he thought it looked weird. Although he also confessed that ruffles on tights in general just shouldn't happen. I think they're pretty cute.  P.S-Shout out to Brittany for having such cute taste in little girl's clothing (thanks Maeli!)..Ellie will be sporting her new pink boots as soon as she fits into them!

I was busy and Andrew had to put her down for a second so he chose the closest location..our laundry basket.  She was less than thrilled.  I love the smell of freshly washed clothes..I guess we're different in that way.

Little Girl loves to smile.  That is until she notices one of us holding the camera and then it's frown city.  BUT I was able to capture this grin in the split second before she saw the camera..she is happy and she likes to show it!

This is my favorite of them all.  I wish her blue eyes were brighter in the picture. She has the sweetest face.