My kids.

I love my kids. I truly believe I have the best kids in the world. They make me crazy sometimes (aka Most of the time) and I'm constantly telling them my head is going to explode but do I ever love them. They are beautiful and smart and precious and just the best blessing in mine and Jake's life. I love my nieces and nephews too.and my neighbors kids and my others friend kids but I'm thankful everyday that these are the kids I got. 

I just love my life.

Thanks for reading!

A Year in Review!

I like to celebrate things. Anything honestly. I make my family wear BYU clothes every week for the football game. I acknowledge month-days. It's fun. I like to make a big breakfast every holiday, no matter how small. The most recent celebration we had was September 13- Our Moving Anniversary!
That's right folks. We've lived in EM for a whole year.
You know what the best part of celebrating is? Looking back and seeing how far we have come.
So with out any more delay! Our last year in review!

We moved! Yay!
We got a new car.
Adam started walking.
Jake got a raise.
Mikey started to use sentences.
We got to host our first Thanksgiving with my brother and his family.
We did our first Christmas in our house.
Adam turned one.
We had our baby girl.
Jake lost his job. Bummer.
Jake got a job 2 weeks later.
We went to St George for a week. (it was for Jake's work but it was probably our first actual vacation that we did just for us, well minus the honeymoon. That was exciting)
We planted our first garden.
We went to a family reunion which was awesome. And then a few weeks later, we went to Hawaii to spend time with the Logans. Also awesome.
I finished completely decorating one room. And had started on a bunch of others.
Mikey turned 3.
Mikey started preschool.
Natalie started crawling.
We ate pizza on the floor on September 13 2014.

We had a good year. Not the biggest changes but a lot of firsts and a lot of others that weren't firsts but still crazy exciting.

We love it out here so much. We love our house, and neighbors, and friends, and ward. We don't love the flies but every bright sky has a cloud right?

We've been truly blessed this past year and can't wait to see what the future brings us.

Thanks for reading!

The Moroccan Faux Wall Paper.

I did it. I finished it. I started to redo Natalie's room in March? Maybe April, but either way it took forever. I was well on my way but then we went to GA and then we had visitors that were staying in the guest room which is also Natalie's room. So, after my sister left for AZ and before Jake's sister got here from HI I finished it. The wall took forever. Seriously. But be excited about the pictures I have.

Her room is one of the favorites in the house. I think it's because for such a long time the boys weren't allowed in and now it's probably the nicest room in our house haha. So when I went in there with a camera Mikey got very excited. (his new favorite word in cheese so pictures are big deals.)

Here is a shelf that I had in the living room downstairs but I moved the room around and then the TV was in the way of it so I painted it brown and put it up in Alie's room. The picture of the beach is Hukilau which is the beach that Jake swam her piko out (her umbilical cord.. it's a tradition) Also, I have a bag of sand from the beach to put in that little empty jar but every time I think about doing it Natalie is sleeping and the jar is in there. Like right now, at this moment, I should fill the jar but what do you know!? Alie is asleep.

This is a little table I got at Target like a year ago for, wait for it... $5! I got two so that we could use them as side tables in our room but Jake kept moving them to use as footstools and such. It drove me nuts so I moved them into the guest room because at least then, I wouldn't be constantly reminded of the fact that Jake was misusing them. Haha. Don't worry, I'm over it now. Well Adam climbed on one and broke it and the other one I painted and now, voila! It's a side table. It has finally fulfilled its purpose. Eventually I'll get something to put on it, like a clock but all in good time.

And here it is. The main event. The Wall. Yes, it needs to be capitalized because it is that important. This took forever. First, I printed out a design from a website and then, once I cut it wrong, I came up with my very own design haha. It was supposed to be more symmetrical but truly, I think this looks much better. All of the websites that I saw had a neutral wall with a slightly darker pattern stenciled on top. Well, I wanted the wall purple and I already had the white paint so I threw caution into the wind and went for it and I am glad I did. So I had to trace each and every line on that wall and then I went over it with a paintbrush. It was rough. But I am so proud.

Also, I love the curtains I put up. I bought them right after Jake and I got married and then they didn't work in the space I wanted them for so I meant to return them, which I never did. And good thing! I went to Home Depot... or Lowes. Probably Lowes. And bought 6 hooks and then I crossed the curtains... I am not explaining this well but you can kind of tell in the picture. It's cute. That's all.

After Mikey was born, I decided that I always want to have a picture of Christ in each of my kids rooms. I went to Seagull Book and found this picture for $20! Way to go me! I love this picture! It's so cute and it looks great in the room. I seriously recommend Seagull Book for anyone who wants a picture of Christ. It came framed and everything, for $20. What could be better!

Here is Natalie's crib. And her name. The boys have their names over their beds so I did it with hers too. Her's is purple because that is the theme I went with. Purple, brown, white, with a little turquoise. The crib bedding is all hand sewn! Yay for me! 

Okay, look at the headboard. I love it. (is that getting repetitive yet? Because I love this room) It is just four 1x6 boards screwed into the wall, painted brown. And the frame above is one I got from Costco about 4 years ago which matches really well. 

And the pillows... the white-ish one I bought a year ago. Well I bought two and Mikey and Adam took a dry erase marker to one so the remaining one gets to go in here for the guests! Also, Jake picked out the purple pillow cases. Way to go Jake!

Finally, the last picture. This is my mom's old rocking chair. The chair isn't broken, the one piece on the back is just turned because that is a favorite pastime of the kiddos. It goes so well in there and makes the room a little sentimental for me.

I love this room. I am so proud of it. I'm not very good at decorating but I sure want to be. My dad told me once that I could be good at anything if I try. So here I am trying. Wish me luck. Hopefully next will be the kitchen. But not for a while because this month, I want to deep clean the house. Wish me luck on that... a lot of luck, I'll need it.

Thanks for reading!

Batman Mickey Mouse Party

Well friends. The day has come and gone.. well almost gone. Mikey turned 3. I have been a parent for three years and in case you were wondering, it is still so hard for me. I feel like every day I am trudging through the mud of life and only some days I get to wash off my legs. But those days I do, man oh man am I ever happy about it. And let me tell you, Mikey's third birthday party was one of those days that my legs were clean! I feel like I nailed it. Now, let me tell you all about it.

A few weeks ago, I asked him what he wanted for his party and he tells me he wants a superhero and Mickey Mouse party. Seriously? No, I am not going to do a completely opposite mixed theme birthday party. No way. I kept asking him and he kept saying Superhero and Mickey Mouse, so a week and a half ago, I said how about Batman and Mickey Mouse and he was so excited. So the planning began. I made really cute invitations, if I do say so myself. I found a picture of Mickey Mouse dressed as Batman and used it on the invite. And then I planned everything in red, blue, black, and yellow. 

He also wanted a BBQ with hamburgers and hot dogs so we did that and a bunch of random snacks and a cake and cupcakes (more on that to come)

As for the activites we did a photo booth, coloring books, a candy counter, bubbles, and Pin the Symbol on Batman. 

We got a pretty good turn out. 

AND I AM SO PROUD OF IT! I have terrible luck with parties and this one went so well so I am so glad.

Here are some pictures for better details of the party.

Each of Mikey's little friends that came got a picture taken at the booth with Batman, Mickey Mouse, and Mikey and before they left I printed them off for them to take home. Also, I made capes for each of the kids to wear at the party.

Here is our food table! We had Hot Diggity Dogs, Bat Burgers, Willy's Watermelon, Joker Juice, Poison Ivy Pasta Salad, "Chip"s and Dale's Dip, Pete's Pretzels, Gotham Goldfish, Daisy's Delicious Garden Vegetables, Alfred's Amazing Cake, and Clarabelle's Cupcakes. All of the food had cute little labels that I made, the batman ones had the bat symbol on yellow paper and the Mickey Mouse ones were red with his silhouette on it. It was fun to come up with different names- although to be completely honest, some were from Pinterest.

Also, the back drop was made from three plastic table cloths that we cut and braided. And I really liked the way it looked. And then we taped balloons to the top. Fun.

(the we I am referring to was Hannah, Eliza, Jake, and I- we made a good team)

The birthday boy with his dad and brother! Notice the capes. :D

Mikey's little girlfriend coloring at our coloring station. We bought a bunch of cheap crayons and a coloring book, ripped the pages out and let the kids go to town.

We went to Winco and got a bunch of bulk candy for a candy counter so all the kids got to make their own treat bags. We got Peach-O's, Tootsie Rolls, Gummy Bears, balloons, Gummy Worms, Candy Necklaces, and suckers. I put them in mason jars so it'd be cute and bought cheap gift bags from Walmart.  I think it was a pretty big hit.

Candy Counter and Bubble table

Coloring Table

So as for the cake! I have a friend who makes absolutely gorgeous and incredibly delicious cakes and I normally like to get them from her but I wanted to give it a shot and I am so glad I did. While it wasn't as good or nice looking as Mandy's, it looked pretty good. I forgot to take a picture of it but you can see it in the picture below. I made it in the shape of Mickey Mouse and then put the Batman symbol on it and then his name underneath. We also made a bunch of cupcakes and Hannah helped me decorate them and they turned out really cute. Of course, I don't have pictures of them either. Geez. It's like I was busy or something haha. But I filled the cupcakes with a chocolate almond whipped cream and oh man, it was so good. I recommend doing that. 

 He got so many presents! He was so spoiled. We got him a doctor's bag, a coloring book, some underwear, and a Batman t-shirt with a cape attached to it. He also got a Mickey Mouse helmet, a Cozy Coupe gas pump, a huge coloring pad, a toy smart phone, a car rug thing, a rocket launcher, a few Batman figurines, a Batman hoodie, a Batman shirt, a dancing card, and a toy car. He is so excited about all of them and honestly, I don't think I can pick one that is his favorite. He loves the gas pump. But he also ran around giving everyone check ups with his doctors bag. And this morning he played with the rocket launcher for so long. It was adorable. But honestly, he has played with all of them so much. He is so lucky to have so many friends and family to celebrate with him!

And then here are some pictures that I took of the cake and cupcakes after I realized that we didn't have any. But cute right? I am proud of them. Plus, they tasted good which is really the most important part.

And then today, James and Arianne came for dinner and we had a tempura night and it was delicious. Also, he woke up to a bunch of balloons outside his bedroom. (It's a little tradition I want to start. For each birthday you get a bunch of helium balloons in the morning. I think it'd be so fun) And in nursery, Mikey's class sang to him today and he got some candy or something. I think all in all, his birthday was a great one. I am so glad the party went so well and that Mikey had such great days. 

He is such a lucky kid to have so many friends and family and we are so lucky to have him as our son! We love him so much and man, if you are all lucky, you will get a chance to know him.

Thanks for reading!

My Littlest Love

Natalie is my littlest love. And do I ever love her. Look at how deceptively peaceful she is here. For the first few months of her life she was awful. Seriously. So cute but just so unhappy. She just didn't seem to like life. Well, we hit a upswing and we're still doing good. 

She is started to eat solid food and just cannot get enough of it. She also is rolling around and geez, is she ever good at it. She desperately wants to crawl but not yet. (which honestly, I am relieved about. In a way I want her to crawl because of development, you want we all want our kids to progress but for me, for my own selfish reasons, I really do not want three mobile kids. Thinking about it makes my head explode like on cartoons when they turn into thermometers and get angry, except I am a stress one.)

I'm not sure what else to say about our little girl. She is honestly such a happy smiley little one which is wonderful. She sits unassisted. She loves stuffed animals and any toys that rattle. She sleeps through the night which is also wonderful. Once I read this blog that talked about how your kids are only babies for a little while and you should embrace and appreciate all that entails, including waking up during the night with them. Well kudos to you author-mom but I want to throw a party when my kids start sleeping through the night. I do NOT appreciate being woken up 4 times a night. I do NOT appreciate stumbling down the stairs half asleep to make a bottle or trying to adjust my shirts so my kid can nurse. I do it. I'll cuddle the little ones. I get up with my toddlers and fix hurts and change sheets. I always will. For as long as they need me to but man oh man, it's so much better when I don't have to. Maybe that makes me a bad mom, maybe so openly admitting this makes me someone that the internet would hate but whatever man. I like sleep.  

My only issue with Natalie is I just cannot think of a good nickname. I love nicknames. Maybe Alie? Or Lee? Or some shortening of her hawaiian name. I just don't know. All I know is I don't like Nat or Natty. I just don't know. I'mma think of something though.

Here are some delightful pictures of our darling little girl, whatever we call her.

This is Natalie and Hayden, her closest cousin. Only 3 weeks apart but Hayden is way bigger.

I just love headbands. We have a bunch but her hear is growing and now a lot of them don't fit.

Not sure she really loves the water like her brothers but she handles it like a champ.

I love this face.

Making cookies with the family. (more of these pictures to come)

Isn't she just beautiful? We sure do like her over here.

These pictures are obviously not in any particular order

face plant tummy time. She is much better at this now. It was cute though when she would stick her legs up in the air and bury her face in the blanket. The boys didn't do that like she did.

The boys really adore her. They kiss her, hug her, lay with her. It's so fun.

No joke for the first 3 months probably if we put her down, she screamed. And by we I mean me. Unless she was sleeping she pretty much cried if she was with anyone else. That was not great. Poor Jake had such a hard time with it. Like he says, "I liked her just fine but she had a big problem with me."

Well that's the last of the Logan children. We love them so much and are so glad that we get to be their parents. We truly are a happy family and I am so grateful for the opportunity we have to raise them.

Thanks for reading!