Chandler's 2nd Birthday!

I can't believe my sweet baby boy is 2!

We kept his birthday pretty simple. We went over to my Mom and Dad's. Jordan, Kaitlyn, and Maylee were kind enough to drive from Charleston for the event!

Chandler is very picky with food lately, so we treated him to one of the only foods he really likes...pizza! He was very excited about it. And then we played a few games, including one my mom got where we hide Mickey Mouse ears and have to find them. We also played musical chairs, which he had a great time with. I love the pure joy kids find in the simplest things!

We then spoiled him rotten with some fun presents that he was super excited about opening.

Since the ABC's were still at the top of the list of things that he loved, I made him and alphabet cake. He LOVED it, was SO excited about it. After he blew out the candles, we cut the cake and served it with ice cream and he was so thrilled that he got to "eat the B!" He talked about it for days (or weeks really...) afterwards. "Mama, I eat the B!"

We then enjoyed the rest of the evening by playing with his new gifts:

And Isabelle just hung out...

This boy is definitely worth celebrating. Love him and Isabelle more than life itself.

Cousins Photo Shoot

Isabelle's Baby Blessing

Isabelle was blessed at our ward in Myrtle Beach on February 1st. Josh gave her the blessing and my Dad, Jordan, Nick, Bishop Tom Conary, and President Dave Nelson were able to join him in the circle. She was able to wear a dress that my mom made and that Halston was blessed in.

Isabelle, you were blessed to know that Heavenly Father loves you and is aware of you. He cares about your choices and what you become. You have been blessed with an ability to understand the spirit and recognize the promptings given to assist you. He also blessed you to be able to understand His principles and be able to use them to better your life. You were admonished to remember your ancestors and to perpetuate what they have taught you to the coming generation. You have also been blessed to have a stalwart testimony, the ability to stand as a witness and to be able to develop your talents to become like the Savior. You have been blessed with Christlike attributes and the ability to fulfill the purpose of this life. You have also been blessed with a desire to marry in the temple with someone who shares your values and to lead a righteous posterity back to Heavenly Father. Remember that you can turn to prayer and to your Heavenly Father for help.

We love you so much, baby girl, and are excited to watch and help you grow into an amazing person!

January 2015

While adjusting to two kids takes some time, it was definitely a lot easier than I thought. We weren't sure how Chandler would like having our attention divided, but he ended up handling it like a champ. He LOVES Isabelle. Sometimes he loves her a little too hard and we have to pull him back because he wants to hug and kiss her a little too aggressively, but I'll take it. It's a way better problem to have than jealousy issues! There have been a handful of times when he would cry when I would nurse her and he wanted my attention, but after a minute or two he would be fine.

To top it all off, Isabelle is a little angel baby! We joke that we barely know what her cry sounds like because we hear it so rarely. She will fuss a little bit when she is hungry, but never really gets to a full blown cry. She is just very happy and content to be held or to sit back in her bouncer and watch what we're all doing. She still spits up a lot, but it's getting better than it used to. At around the 1 month mark, she also started giving us her first little smiles!

Here are some pictures from January.

Hanging out with Maylee:

Can't wait to see them be best buds...

Chandler loves when Daddy plays WoodyBuzz wtih him. One of his favorite things is when the two of them each take one of Woody and Buzz's hands and do Ring Around the Rosies. These babies are so blessed to have such a fun Dad!

Since the day she was born, Isabelle does the cutest little "Oooooo" face as she looks around and explores the world:

So sweet.

During Chandler's bath time, I set up a beach chair next to the bath tub and we all hang out.

Pretty baby:

This picture is super blurry, but this winter has been pretty cold, so we got Chandler this big coat that looked pretty hilarious on him. He was like a little marshmallow:

Photo shoot with newborns are really hard when you have not idea what you're doing. Her facial expressions are constantly changing and she keeps kicking around so there is a lot of motion blur. I was trying to get a shot of her in a dress I made her for church and most ended up about like this:

Anyways, here's the best I could do.

As you can tell by those pictures, everything she wore for awhile was just a little bit big on her because she was so small.

Sleepy:

Girl clothes are so fun! It's like dressing up a little doll every day.

With her tired Daddy:

Still so tiny in her car seat:

In another dress I made her:

I was worried about shopping with a toddler and a newborn, but these 2 are actually really great! I just don't have a whole lot of room in the cart.

Trying to catch her smile on camera:

Lindsey had her baby, Emery, exactly one month and 1 day after Isabelle was born! So we went up to Raleigh to meet her.

Which, of course, calls for a photo shoot in matching outfits.

And then they both had melt downs.

It was fun seeing the kids interact with them. If you were holding a baby, Tanner would come up and ask, "Is that my baby?" It took some time before they could tell them apart.