Sick and tired of being sick and tired...

We're all sick...AGAIN!!! It feels like atleast one of us has been sick everyday the past few months. Luckily Alaura doesn't get real sick very often, but this time it hit her pretty hard. For those of you who know Alaura well, you know that she never falls asleep anywhere but her bed with her blackout curtains and her fan...

Poor baby is so sick she fell asleep while she was on the couch!!! I know for most people this isn't a big deal, but for alaura... WOW!!!! :(

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!

We hope you have a Great Valentines Day!!!!

Eric and went out to dinner last night at Tahoe Joe's because we have a tradition of having a spaghetti dinner at home on valentines day...It goes back to our first valentines day when we were dating. Eric recreated our first date...he put christmas lights in his backyard and a picture of the temple over our table, and served me spaghetti...our first date was to see the LA temple christmas lighting, then we went out to eat and I ordered spaghetti (stupid of me huh?) So that's our tradition.

Eric brought me a beautiful bouquet of pink roses (I love pink!!!)

While we were at dinner he had me cover my eyes and when I opened them he had a card and gift box sitting infront of me, this is the neclace he gave me!!!!

Camie watched Alaura for us, she had a great time!!! On our way home I asked her what she did with Camie, "ate a sucker" I asked her what color it was "red" So you ate a sucker? "yep I sucked it" wow, what else did you do? "I licked it!!!"

She's too cute. Obviously I was asking her what else she did with Camie, but she was still interested in talking about her sucker. Eric and I laughed so hard.

What a cute little tushy!!!

Alaura's first real attempt at going potty on the toilet. No luck so far, but she's trying.

I think she learned this one from Daddy

So, anyone who has some potty training suggestions, I'm open to them, we're going to really start trying this in the next couple of days!!! Then again, maybe we should wait until after we go to Disneyland for Alaura's birthday. hmmm....

Wyatt's 1st birthday shoot

My friend Randisue brought her little boy over for a 1st birthday photo shoot. Here are some of the pics. I learned that it takes a ton of work to do this...and I need to keep practicing. But I think that the pictures turned out pretty good for being my first try "in studio". Here are a few. What do you think?

my husband

What is his name? Eric

How long have you been together? 5 years

How long did you date? 6 1/2 months

How old his he? 27

Who eats more? Definitely him

Who said I love you first? I think he did...

Who is taller? He is

Who can sing better? ME (we'll just leave it at that)

Who is smarter? According to him Dad's know everything...

Who does the laundry? I do (he helps me fold it occasionally because I hate to)

Who pays the bills? I do

Who sleeps in the right side? When you're facing the bed, he does

Who mows the lawn? The gardener

Who cooks dinner? I do unless we're using the BBQ I don't touch the grill

Who is more stubborn? Probably me...he's pretty stubborn to though

Who kissed who first? He made the first move

Who asked who out first? He called me

Who proposed? He did (swoon)

Who has more friends? Probably me because he has to work so much :(

Who is more sensitive? Deffinitly ME!!

Who has more siblings? me, he has 3 sisters and I have 4 sisters and a bro.

Who wears the pants? Hmmm... You'll have to ask him

Now TAG all you wives!!!

"I Surender"

The last few days I feel like I've been fighting Alaura on everything. She's been doing a lot of kicking and screaming and I've been doing a lot of crying...all to no avail. so...I gave in :) Here's what alaura had for breakfast this morning

I always try to get a square meal in her at each meal. She wanted fish crackers and milk for breakfast, so i gave it to her ( hey they're the whole grain ones) along with apples and some cheerios

Seriously though, I'm having a tough time trying to fugure out how to disapline her appropriatly for her age and comprehention level. I'm not a big fan of spanking (except when it comes to her safety) and I feel like i'm putting her in time out all the time. She's started throwing tantrums over everything, and she yells at me to stop or go away or she'll hit my hand if she wants me to stop doing something. She's not a bad girl and that's not what I'm trying to say. I know that it's normal for her to start asserting herself, and i want her to be confident enough in herself that she can stand up for herself, but at the same time she also needs to learn that I'm the one incharge. If any of you have any suggestions I'm open to them. (Or some encouragement.)

I wouldn't change being home with her for anything, but i need her to learn to entertain herself a little. I'm thinking of having designated times during the day, mommy and alaura time and then some alone time, where I'm able to do something I need or want to do and she needs to color or read books or something by herself for a little while(an hour maybe?). Man, when she's feeling happy though...she's the sweetest little girl in the world. I have so much fun with her. She brings so much light and joy to my life.

I think what I'm really looking for is how to fix myself so i can be more patient and teach her whats expected of her in a loving way instead of doing it out of frustration. HELP!!!!

I don't know if you can tell, but she's wearing her socks on her hands. (maybe she'll start walking on her hands soon.) This is her new favorite accessory :)

Olsen family Pictures

We had our pictures done at JC Penny's last month I scanned them in really quick, sorry if the color and quality isn't the best. I also didn't crop out the white edges... Oops