firsts & favorites

Grace is officially potty trained! She's gone 3 weeks now with zero accidents. I am so proud of her! I'm also so proud of myself for potty training for the first time without losing my mind. I was really sick of mopping up pee off the floor 15 times a day. So, with that said....now it's about time to start potty training Haylee! Here's Gracie showing of her undies... Cutie pie!

Grace's favorite thing right now is the "fishie game". She's really good at it, too! Haylee will also sit down and play, but she cheats by just picking up the fishies and then Grace gets upset. Grace takes playing the game very seriously. :)

haylee's party

we had miss haylee's birthday party last saturday. it was a 'tinkerbell' party because haylee is in love with tinkerbell at the moment. we invited some of our good friends, had a bbq, pink and green tinkerbell cupcakes, and enjoyed a really fun evening!

I'm so grateful

Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings,

He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things,

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart; I thank Him reverently

For all His creations of which I'm a part.

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

This time of year is a bit hard for Bruce and I living so, so far away from our families. However, it's really good for our marriage and has made it stronger because we've learned to rely on each other completely. We do everything as just the 5 of us. Just our little family.

This morning we walked down to the bakery at the beach and had muffins and juice. It was a gorgeous spring day. As the little girls played on the beach playground, I looked out over the sparkling blue ocean at the beautiful sailboats, I took a deep breath of the ocean breeze, closed my eyes and said a prayer of thanks. How blessed I am. How grateful I am for my dearest friend who is also my husband. How grateful I am for my beautiful, healthy little girls.

With the world in such turmoil, it's so comforting to know of the love of our Father in Heaven.

Healsville Mountains

While Janelle was here, we went to Healsville animal sanctuary. It's a very cool place because it's an open range sanctuary, so you get very up-close-and-personal with native Aussie animals. We were lucky to enjoy beautiful spring weather!

We had a really fun day....well, until Haylee lifted up the rope between us and the kangaroos and literally ran into their play area! Holy smokes! I about lost my lunch! Bruce had to go run in after her! We had joked earlier that day that we would just leave the girls in a kangaroo pouch....Haylee must have heard us talking :)

This is the rope Haylee ran under and darted towards the kangaroos behind us:

A Tasmanian Devil (pictured both above & below ;) )

first horse ride

Grace had her first horse ride at our ward BBQ / cricket match. It was so cute! Half way through it the horse decided to take a bathroom break. She liked the horse ride but she loved telling people about how the horsie went "koo koo" (poo poo) while she was riding.

so great

This is miss Ava Ruby with "our" doctor, Dr. Matthews, at my 6 week post-natal checkup. He was such a great doctor and I feel so blessed that I was able to find him. Out of the sea of doctors in a city I am so unfamiliar with, I really feel like the Lord led me to Dr. Matthews. May sound silly, but as most of you know, I haven't had the best track record when it comes to carrying & birthing babies. He took fantastic care of me and baby Ava....kinda makes me want to go back for another while we're here in Australia.... :)

endorphins

I got the go-ahead from my doctor at my 6 week post-natal checkup to start running again. Yippeeee!! I haven't run since last Novemeber. Yuck. I was so ready to get back on the wagon. So, Bruce documented with this not-so-attractive photo.

I cranked up "You know you want me" by Pitbull (which is a HOT song to run to, by the way) and ran 5 miles. For not any running in a year, I was feeling all impressed with myself....until today. It's now 2 days later and I'm D-Y-I-N-G!! Bruce gave me a little love squeeze on my thigh today and I about cried!!

really?!

This is my current washer (the one on the left :) ). I love it because it's an LG washer/dryer combo. Anyhow, the main control board has gone out in it. An electrition came out this morning to look at it and said he'll order a new control board but it could take up to 6 weeks to come in....REALLY?!??! How nice for me.

So, in the mean time....looks like I'll be using the washer on the right....

happy birthday, haylee amanda!

Can my little baby Haylee be 2 already??!!? I can't believe it! Oh, Haylee is such a sweetheart! She has such a kind and gentle personality and is always concerned about others - especially her baby sister, Ava. We've nicknamed Haylee "Nugget" because she is such a tiny little thing - she easily still fits into size 12 months. Haylee is quite witty for a 2 year old and knows when she's being silly. She makes us laugh with the things she comes up with. Her new word is helicopter - pronounced: "heck-a-ka-ka". So dang cute! Haylee is our quiet child. She likes to keep to herself and entertains herself wonderfully. She has a quiet confidence.

We love you more than we can say, Nugget! How blessed we are that you were sent to our family! **kisses & cuddles**

we love auntie janelle

Aunt Janelle came and stayaed two weeks with us after I had baby Ava. She was the biggest help! The girls loved having her here...but I loved having her here more :)

Thanks a million for all of your help, Janelle!!!! We love you and miss you!

Oh, Haylee!

I was sitting down feeding Ava today when Haylee came to me with a a big pump bottle of Purell hand sanitzer. Before I could get up to take it away, she pumped a huge blob of it into her mouth and swallowed. She then looked at me with a smile and said, "Mmmmm! Spicy!"