3rd Anniversary!

Our 3rd wedding anniversary was this year (February 9th). Joel was in charge of planning it. He had different plans at first, but had to change them once it became apparent there was no way Logan was going to take a bottle. The new plans were really fun! He did a great job!

He took the day off work and we spent the first half of the day ("1st Leg") with the kids. I realize it might seem weird to some people that Joel chose to have our kids with us on our anniversary, but really, it just shows how well he knows me. I love spending time alone with him, but I also love when we have a chance to do fun activities as a family. After the 1st leg, we went home for naps and to get ready for the second half, which was just the 2 of us. Perfect day! Here's how it went...

1st Leg

Part 1: Denny's
This was the only part of the day I knew was going to happen. Everything else was a surprise until we got there. As part of a SuperBowl promotion, Denny's was giving away free Grand Slams. We went thinking it would be a long wait. It wasn't. We waited maybe a minute. Maybe less. The service was professional and efficient and the food was excellent! And all it cost us was what we tipped! Logan did really well the whole time and Kaylee was especially a fan of Denny's.

Part 2: Living Planet Aquarium
Love this place! I kept guessing where we were going and never once thought of this. It's the neatest place! My favorite animal (penguin) is now sharing that position with a new favorite: the seahorse. So cute! (I'll be going back sometime after March because they're getting penguins at that time.)
I think Joel and I were as impressed as Kaylee, if not more so. Logan was really well-behaved again. My favorite parts were the sting-rays (we got to touch them- I felt like a little kid doing it because I thought it was so cool, yet I freaked out when I actually touched them), the seahorses, jellyfish, octopus, and pipe fish. So cool!

Part 3: Carl's Jr.
We went straight from the aquarium to lunch. It was good food and it was really fun to watch Kaylee in the play place. There was a cute older girl (maybe 5) who was helping Kaylee figure out how to climb up some parts. There was a spot that was too high for her, so the girl asked her little friend (probably 4) if he could help. The girl was above pulling on Kaylee and the little boy was grabbing her legs and trying to push her up. Kaylee had no clue what the boy was trying to do and kept saying, "let go, let go." Very funny to watch. In the end, she didn't make it up, but she did make some new friends and had a great time. Logan did excellent again.

2nd Leg
Dropped the kids off with Joel's parents.

Part 4: Maddox Steakhouse
Wow! Seriously, wow! Joel's family always raves about this place, but I thought they loved it so much because they had good memories associated with it. I had no idea how much I'd love it! I got a filet mignon (heaven), but would have been raving about the place even if I'd only tried the veggies and mashed potatoes. Great, now I'm craving it...

Part 5: Logan Temple
I've never been to the Logan temple before, so we did a session up there for the final activity of our day. What a beautiful temple and perfect way to end our day!

The whole day was wonderful and Joel was so sweet to plan it all. (STOP READING IF YOU DON'T LIKE MUSHINESS) I am the luckiest girl in the world to have found such a thoughtful, handsome, amazing man who treats me so well. I love my life with him!

Cute Cute Kids

These two love playing together! Logan cracks up laughing when Kaylee laughs. Kaylee loves giving Logan hugs and Logan tries to eat her when she does.


Logan and his cousin, Jaxton. They're six weeks apart and as cute as can be. I still can't believe we got a picture with both of them smiling!

More of Kaylee with the cat (non-cell phone pictures). This was not posed. We found her like that. She loves animals (good thing so many relatives have them for her to visit).


Darling Logan.

She Speaks Meowish

Not many people know this, but our daughter has the ability to talk to felines. This power has both benefits and consequences.

Logan Speaks

"YEAH! THIS IS THE FUNNEST DAY EVER!! WOOOOOOO!"

She Found Him!

Kaylee found Nemo!!

I'm often asked why in the world Kaylee is still rear-facing in her car seat. After all, she's way past the minimum age of 1 year (she turned 2 in November) and weight of 20 lbs (she's around 23-24 lbs, so barely).

I started to write what was going to be a lengthy post about it, but decided to instead link to this post because she says almost everything I was going to (except better than I could) and cites her sources well. She gets asked the same questions and has the same answers as I do.

Please read it and watch the videos! Click here for the link if you didn't click on it above.


Everyone knows The AAP's (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommendation/guidelines/requirements of having your child rear-facing until they are "at least one year of age AND weighs at least 20 pounds." Unfortunately, most people don't know that they also state that this is the minimum and that "it is best to ride rear-facing as long as possible."

I keep hearing that they're going to change their official guidelines to reflect that research. I really wish they'd get on it. In my experience, far too many pediatricians follow the original guidelines and aren't informing parents of the new research (if they even know about it). I wouldn't have heard about any of this if someone hadn't mentioned it on a message board I'm a member of and I'm guessing it's news to many of you as well.

Please re-watch the crash videos and consider keeping/switching your child rear-facing. It really is so much safer and worth all the downsides that might come with it.

(Tip: Get a baby mirror for the car so that you can still see your child and he/she can see you. This can help keep baby happy while rear-facing.)

New Autographed Guitar for $75

For those of you who don't know, December was quite the lucky month for us. We won 3 big prizes:

1. Nintendo Wii
   
2. Acoustic guitar signed by Lenka (and a $50 gift certificate to La Caile)
3. Photography session, CD with edited photos, and 16/20 print with favorite shot (valued at over $350!)

Pretty awesome, I know :).

Anyway, we're now trying to get rid of the guitar. I love Lenka, but neither of us play the guitar and I'm not interested in learning anytime soon. Maybe if we had more storage room in our apartment we'd keep it and learn to play it someday, but we don't.

So we're selling it and wanted to let our friends and family know that we'll give you a deal. It's posted for $125 on KSL, but friends/family can have it for $75.

Let me know if you're interested!

It's a Yamaha EDF01 acoustic guitar and has never been played. Let me know if you have any questions!

her signature is so cute :)