Mascara Mania!

I wanted to put a shout out for those that are always looking for something better! That something better, is mascara! I am always looking for good mascara. I am not one that pays a lot of money on my make-up, so if you are too..this is the right price! It was about 6 dollars at Target.

It is Maybelline XXL Extensions, and it is great mascara! It claims to uncross unruly eyelashes, extend lashes, and lengthen the lashes. It has a two step process, which I don't mind the extra step, because it really does what it claims to do!

So, if you are looking for a new mascara that lengthens your lashes, this is the one to buy.

Change in '09

There has been a lot of changes in our household recently. Delaney is growing up right in front of our eyes! She is crawling ALL over the place, she is so fast! She is pulling up on everything and it won't be too long before she is walking. She has cut her bottom two teeth, you can see in the above photo. She is starting to get her top two teeth and our home has felt the pain of her teething. Avery never had the typical teething symptoms, she woke up one morning with teeth. Delaney on the other hand has been absolutely miserable. Which for her parents has been painful. She is not sleeping, waking up every 2 hours and giving her parents a rough time. I bought some homeopathic teething tablets which seem to help for the moment.
She is starting to "chew" on a sippy cup, so hopefully soon she will be drinking from it as well. I "threatened" her last night after waking up at 11:00, 1:30 and again at 2:30 that she was being cut off cold turkey from the breast! This morning after thinking a little more clearly and getting a couple hours more sleep, I will give her til she is 1 and then it is up to her to learn to get acquainted with the sippy cup and whole milk.

Other exciting changes...Avery is potty trained. We have been "casually" working on it for a couple of months, much to my surprise, she is the one who was ready to be potty trained. (Brian took the above photo, she will kill when she is older for posting this. I thought it was too cute of both of them to not post it.) I am so excited to be out of diapers. I can't tell you the last time I have changed Avery's poopy diapers! It is great. She still wears a pull-up at night, but is dry during her naps so I think it is only a matter of time. She went to church for the first time in her big girl panties and we were without incident. She will only use the big girl potty and it is a sight watching her climb up onto the toilet! Way to go Avery!

Avery is growing up and out of the toddler stage! She really is a little girl. She is talking more and more each day and amazes us how smart she is! She has been saying such funny things and I need to remind myself to write them down. She is non-stop but is never to busy to be a helper or snuggle with her mommy or daddy. During church a couple of weeks ago, the choir sang and when they were done, Avery yelled..."ALL DONE!!". We were on the third row! The bishopric was laughing and I was mortified. She went with Brian a couple weeks ago to the car wash and she has not stopped talking about it. She tells everyone about how the car is all clean and the birds went poopy on daddy's car.
Last week she had her first ear infection... a week after taking her in for croup! I FORCED Brian into taking her back to the pedi. I refused to be seen in the doctors office, again. I didn't want them to think I was some hypochondriac mother or was stalking the doctor. She is on her third antibiotic since November! ARGH!

Aren't I the luckiest mom in the world! I get to love on them all day long! I am excited for what 2009 will bring. I am hopeful that 2009 will be a bright one.

What a Great Weekend!

****Be sure not to miss the two other posts below****

This weekened was such a great weekend. We were able to spend time with the Hopkins side of the family. Morgan with Sophie, Katie, Mom and Dad all flew in. I haven't had the chance to meet Sophie yet and she is adorable. I some how only ended up taking pics from Friday, so no pics of Miss Sophie. It was such a busy weekend, it just went too fast. The main reason for the festivities was that my cousin, Chelsea, was getting married, what a great reason! Our girls did so well...staying up so late and driving back and forth to Ty's and our house.

Here are some pics from the wedding and reception. I don't know why some pics came out the way they did, but you get the idea!




Daddy trying to keep bug warm.

SLC temple.

Katie, Morgan and Avery.

D bug.

Daddy with his girls.

Holly, Brynn and Katie trying to stay warm waiting for pictures!

Grandpa with Avery and Kailey.

Aunt Katie, Aunt Moggie with Avery at their reception.

Cousin Chelsea's Wedding

Avery with her Great Grandpa at the SLC Temple for Chelsea and Jeremy's wedding on Friday.

Grandma and Avery

The Newlyweds, Jeremy and Chelsea

The gang waiting during pictures. Ty doing his best blue-steal impression! It was really cold.

Christmas Day and the new members of our family!

*****Check out the posts below for more pics*****

Christmas Day was spent with Grandpa and Grandma J. As usual, the girls were spoiled! Santa left the girls a Goldfish Aquarium. IF you know Avery, she has had an obsession with fish since she was little. She even named her dolly, Fish! More about the fish later... We had a wonderful Christmas day, remembering the real reason for the season. We were blessed to be able to spend the day with Brian's parents.

We went to PETCO to get fish after we had setup the fish tank. Of course, we had the social worker of the fish to help us! It was a nightmare trying to get her to sell us some fish. She kept asking us questions, "So, tell me this, why are you getting fish?" "So, tell me this, how big is your aquarium?" "So, tell me this, don't you just want a bowl and a beta?" It was as if she wanted to have a home visit and check the environment, if we are proper candidates to have fish! I wanted to choke her. We ended up leaving without fish! Can you believe it! We wanted the 96cent goldfish, nothing more. I was so frustrated. Petsmart saved us and we ended up getting 2 fancy tail goldfish, no questions asked! Petsmart now has valued customers. Avery named her fish, Sharky and Homer. Can you tell that my 12 year old husband STILL watches the Simpson's?! I will get a picture of our new additions soon!

We are getting really excited for this weekend to come. My mother was originally coming up here by herself for my cousin's wedding on Friday and then Morgan accidentally spilled the beans and told me that my dad was coming as well. So that was really exciting and then Morgan decided that she was going to fly up here for the weekend and that was even better news. I haven't yet met her youngest, Sophie. So, not wanting to miss out on the fun, Katie decided on Sunday that she was going to come on up to see us all. Neither, Katie nor Morgan have met Delaney. I am so excited that my sisters are going to be here (and mom and dad). I haven't seen them since Aug of 2007. Poor Ty thought he was only going to house my mom for a couple of days, now his house has turned into the place to be!

More pics

Her eyes are still blue! What a cutie.

All the cousins in their Christmas Eve jammies! Hard to get a great pic of all the 6 girls!

We spent Christmas Eve with Ty and Holly and their cute girls! It was great to be with family. Holly made amazing Sopapillas. It reminded me of home, Tex-Mex food. We read the Christmas story out of the Bible and sang some Christmas songs and the girls opened their PJ's. What a great night. Thanks Ty and Holly!

Christmas Eve Sledding

We spent Christmas Eve with my brother, Ty, and his family. Ty took Avery, Kailey, and Rylee sledding. It was Avery's first time. She had a blast and I froze. I need to invest in some snow attire!

Playing Catch-Up!

Avery and her little buddy playing in the snow!

Avery and Delaney in front of Gpa & Gma J's tree.