Friday, November 27, 2009

An Amazing Woman



Grandma and Skylar March 2008


4 generations (me-very pregnant with Sailyr)

Yesterday afternoon one of the most important people in our lives passed away. She was my Grandma Mona. She was the best grandma and she and I were very close. She was my #1 fan and biggest supporter of anything that I ever did. Many of my fondest memories of my childhood were made at her house or with her. She was so fun and funny and always loved a good joke. She was always worrying about everyone else and would give you anything she had. She was a great example to me and I have a very heavy heart right now. I will miss her dearly! We love you Grandma!

Friday, November 20, 2009

It's finally happening


Potty training has officially begun! Skylar has started to go in the potty. Not all the time but some of the time. It is a start! We are not pushing her but just letting her do it on her own terms. I hope this is the best way but we are open to any suggestions. I can see the light at the end of the diaper tunnel!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

In Loving Memory...

of Fred Hess October, 2002-November 2, 2009


Earlier this week, we had an unfortunate accident that took the life of our family cat. We are so sad to have to say goodbye to him. He was a true member of our family. Our girls have grown to love him and he was often known to come running when one of them was crying or hurt, especially Skylar. Travis and I adopted him from the shelter just one month after we were marrried. Fred was about 6-8 months old at the time and was nearly full grown. He was so loveable and sweet that we couldn't figure out why someone wouldn't want him. I think back now and realize that he was just meant to be with our family. He has seen our good times and bad and has been there for me through them all. He has been the center of some mysterious mishaps and some amazing rescues (he was once got in the ski locker of our boat and was there for 4 days!). He has been both a source of frustration and a shoulder to cry on when I needed someone to listen to me. He will be truly missed!





Thursday, October 15, 2009

Fall Pictures

My beautiful and talented friend/photographer Julie took these darling pictures of our girls a few weeks ago. I think they turned out great and I can't believe how big they both look, especially Skylar! She is officially a little girl! No more baby face on that one! Thanks Jules!

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A week ago today an awesome thing happened in our family! Brady and Steph (Trav's bro and wife) welcomed their first baby, Breckyn Loo Hess, into the world! We couldn't be more excited for them and also for us to have another little girl to be BFF's with our girls! She is absolutely perfect! So little, weighing in at only 6 lbs. 4 oz. Check out thier darling blog post about her here!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Monster Mash!

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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Curb your enthusiasm



For the past couple of weeks/months we (mostly Trav) have been working on our yard. We are so sick of the dirt and everything that comes with it! We can't wait to have grass, and today we made the final step towards just that! We planted our grass seed and started watering it with our brand new sprinkling system (put in entirely by my husband with help from his Dad and brothers)! Last week we got our decorative curbing and it really gives our yard shape and looks so good. We still have a lot of work to do to get our flower beds planted and lit (Travis is an electrician!) I am so excited to see the finished product but for now I am watching for little sproutlets of grass!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

More fun on the boat!

We have been using our boat quite a bit lately and it is so much fun! Skylar has been riding on the tube and she loves it! We went out with our friends Jenny, Rory and their son Grayson. He didn't like his lifejacket too much and I don't blame him one bit. We had a lot of fun!



Fourth of July

This year we got up to do the usual Plain City parade. I thought that it started at 9:00 so we were really surprised to get there and see it was already in full swing at 8:45. Apparently I was wrong on the time and it started at 8:30. With Plain City being such a small town, the parade only lasts about 20-25 minutes so we saw about the last 7 floats and then it was over! Good thing my girls are too little to know what they missed! Next year I will be sure to check the time on the flyer! Anyway here are a few pictures of them at the (short) parade.

Jackson River Trip June '09

This post is a little late, but we went on the funnest trip in June to Jackson Hole. We go every year with my family and it is such a blast. Travis and I decided to leave the girls home with grandparents this year so we were kidless! Not something that happens very often so we sure enjoyed ourselves, although we missed them tons! We camp in the canyon right next to the river and we float down the Snake at least once a day. My family has a raft and my stepdad and brother are really experienced oarmen. We hang around the campfire at night and roast hotdogs and marshmallows. This year a few of Shad's friends came up and kept the party going! Since we didn't have our kids with us, we thought that we would take our two dogs and they loved it. They don't get out much lately so they had a good time in the great outdoors. It turns out that everyone that came this year had their dogs. We had quite the canine camp! We can't wait to do this again next summer.

The famous "Antler Arch" in downtown Jackson. We had really full bellies from eating at Bubba's BBQ- our favorite!

Shad and Stormy. Amanda couldn't make it this year and we were sad! It would have been even more FUN with her there!

Dave and Buddy. 120 lbs of yellow fur! (Buddy, not Dave:)

This isn't our boat but just look how BIG the river was this year!

Us and our mutts. They aren't showing their best side. They are actually quite cute from the front!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

What a toughie!

Last night Sailyr got stung by one of these:

She only cried for literally one minute, if that! I didn't even realize what had happened to her until we were getting the girls in the tub about 30 minutes later. Her hand was a little swollen but seemed fine. She is so tough. She takes some hard hits every day since she is still not 100% steady on her feet and she hardly ever cries about any of them! I can't stand how much I love this girl! (Sometimes I really want to take a bite out of her...she's so cute that I really could eat her!:)

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Catching up

This week the girls had their yearly checkups. Sailyr is just about to catch Skylar in weight and height. I guess Skylar better start eating her Wheaties! (Yeah, right!)
Skylar: 24.9 lbs (25%), 33 inches (25%), 47 cm head cir. (65%)
Sailyr: 21.9 lbs (90%), 30.5 inches (70%), 45 cm head cir. (50%)

I guess 12 months 12 days birth difference doesn't really matter when it comes to growing up. Pretty soon they will look like twins!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A lot of this going on!

Lately Sailyr has been doing a lot of this...

and this...

and this...

I have to keep my eye on her! She reminds me alot of this post!

Birthday girls!

I can't believe I actually have a 2 year old and a 1 year old! Skylar's birthday is on May 31 and Sailyr's on June 12. Since we were on vacation on Skylar's birthday, we decided to have a joint party for them after we got home. Kylee made a "Nemo" cake that was so cute, not to mention really yummy! The girls got totally spoiled and have really enjoyed playing with all the new toys and things they got. Thanks everybody!
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What we did on our Summer Vacation!

We went to Myrtle Beach, SC for a week at the first of June. We had so much fun! We went with our friends Jason and Holly and their kids. They have a beautiful beach house that we all stayed in. It was only 12 housed away from the beach! What an awesome part of the country. There is a lot of history there and we got to see just a little bit of it. So interesting! Hopefully one day we can go back and do some more! Thanks Williams' for inviting us along!
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Boating

We had a great time taking the boat out for the first time this year. Skylar had been in the boat before but she was really tiny. We were interested to see how both of the kids did before we decided to go out for a whole day. Skylar loved it and thought it was cool to wear her "coat", otherwise known as a lifejacket! Sailyr, on the other hand, hated hers! I don't blame her. When kids are so little, it stays up around their neck and they can hardly move!
Skylar kept yelling over the side of the boat, "Nemo! Dori! Where are you?" It was so funny! She wanted to go fast and loved watching the birds duck under the water when we got close to them. We weren't out for very long, but it was fun to see how the girls would do. I think we will leave Sailyr home when we go boating this summer but next year she will be big enough to enjoy it. Hopefully our boat will bring fond memories to our family for years to come!
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Mother's Day at the zoo!

All I wanted to do on Mother's Day was something fun with our kids. We hadn't ever been to the zoo so I decided that is where I wanted to take them. I didn't think it would be very busy, but boy was I wrong! It was packed. Once we found a parking spot (which wasn't an easy task) we were off to have fun!
Although we didn't get any pictures of the animals, we did see a lot! Skylar loved the monkeys and penguins. The gorilla came right up to us at the window and the cheetah stared us down and paced along the fence. It was really fun to see the girls' reaction to all the animals!
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So many things to blog about...so little time!

Okay, I finally have a little minute to catch up on the blog. Here are just a few things that we have been up to in the last 2 months since my last post.
-Won a sweet new custom blog design from her!
-Lots of work and lots of play!
-Mother's Day trip to the zoo.
-First trip out on the boat.
-Found out we have a new neice coming in October!
-Skylar turned two!
-Week long trip to Myrtle Beach with great friends!
-Sailyr turned one!
-Sailyr started walking!
-No more bottles!!!!!
-Lots of golf for Trav.
-Started our yard!
-Lots of wagon rides and playing outside:)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

1 Laundry Basket + 1 Dad = Loads of Fun!

It is amazing what kids find to be so much fun...Dads too!



Monday, April 13, 2009

Survivor!

I got this in an email and I thought it was so funny! Even though my husband is a great dad and husband, he will be the first to tell you how hard it is to take care of the kids by yourself. He often tells me "I don't know how you get anything done!" You just have to appreciate how much work it is to be a mom sometimes!

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and
3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play
two sports
and either take music
or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must
take care of his 3 kids;
keep his assigned house clean,
correct all homework,
and complete science projects,
cook, do laundry,
and pay a list of 'pretend' bills
with not enough money...

In addition, each man
will have to budget in money
for groceries each week.

Each man
must remember the birthdays
of all their friends and relatives,
and send cards out
on time--no emailing.

Each man must also
take each child to a doctor's appointment,
a dentist appointment
and a haircut appointment.

He must make
one unscheduled and inconvenient
visit per child
to the Urgent Care.

He must also
make cookies or cupcakes
for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for
decorating his own assigned house,
planting flowers outside
and keeping it presentable
at all times.

The men will only
have access to television
when the kids are asleep
and all chores are done.

The men must
shave their legs,
wear makeup daily,
adorn himself with jewelry,
wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes,
keep fingernails polished
and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks,
the men will have to endure severeabdominal cramps, back aches,
and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or
slow down from other duties.

They must attend
weekly school meetings,
church, and find time
at least once to spend the afternoon
at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to
read a book to the kids
each night and in the morning,
feed them, dress them,
brush their teeth and
comb their hair by 7:00 am .

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information:
each child's birthday,
height, weight,
shoe size, clothes size
and doctor's name.
Also the child's weight at birth,
length, time of birth,
and length of labor,
each child's favorite color,
middle name,
favorite snack,
favorite song,
favorite drink,
favorite toy,
biggest fear and
what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island
based on performance.
The last man wins only if...
he still has enough energy
to be intimate with his spouse
at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win,
he can play the game over and over
and over again for the next 18-25 years
eventually earning the right
To be called Mother!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Happy Birthday, Bros!

Happy Birthday to Shad and Brady today! Travis and I both have brothers born on this day in 1983. They are both 26 today!

Shad is such a great guy. He is working so hard to support himself and his beautiful wife Amanda. He goes to school full time and works at Walmart Distribution Center. He is always so much fun to be around and is always making us laugh with his funny whistling, stories and overall funny sense of humor. He has a really good heart and we love him so much!

Brady is working in Healthcare Administration and can't wait to be a new dad! We know that he will be awesome. He is busy taking care of his pregnant and nauseos wife! Brady and Travis have such a great sibling relationship. Brady is always up for a golf game or just to sit around and watch UNC win the national championship! He is a really great person and we feel lucky to have him in our family!

Happy Birthday, guys!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Easter fun!

For a cute post about my kids, click here.

Today I took my girls to the mall to get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Skylar wasn't having anything to do with him so I just had Sailyr sit on his lap. I think it turned out so cute! It realy surprised me that Sailyr wasn't scared and Skylar was. Kids, they are always keeping you on your toes!
Happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

9 months of Sailyr





My little bug is already 9 months old! She is doing so well. She crawls everywhere and pulls herself up on everything! She started standing up in her crib so she hasn't been sleeping as well as she usually does. I think that she stands up and doesn't know how to lay back down. I guess she will learn how to do that soon enough. She got her first tooth last week. It is so cute and so sharp! She says all kinds of things like dada, nana and hi, but she mostly just jibber-jabbers. She always wants everything Skylar has and she loves to watch her big sister. Sailyr thinks Skylar is hilarious! She always has the cutest smile, not just a little grin but an ear to ear, wide open smile! She has the absolute funniest laugh also! She is still a mommy's girl but is learning to like her dad better every day! It is so fun to see how different her personality is from Skylar's. She is such a little tenderheart. She gets nervous if a man with a beard looks at her or talks to her. She startles easily and cries at the drop of a hat. However, she can really hold her own when it comes to keeping a toy she wants!
Last week at her well child visit to the doctor, she weighed 20 lbs 1oz and was 27 inches long. She has slimmed down to the 75%! (She once was in the 97%!)
We love her so much and she is such a great addition to our family!

Long time coming!

Okay, I finally have a minute to catch up on my blog. We have had a crazy couple of weeks! At the first of the month, Travis and I went with his family to California for the weekend. We had a lot of fun and it was a nice break away from our kids! Everyone else stayed for a whole week but we just went for a few days which was plenty of time away from the girls! I was really missing them!

When we got home, I had to make up the days that I had missed at work which took up the whole rest of the week. Then my girls got sick. They both had low fevers and yucky noses so after taking them to the doctor they were on the mend.
Skylar and I went to see Disney on Ice with my friend Tammi and her little girl Kyanne. We had great seats and it was a lot of fun. I was worried about Skylar not wanting to watch the whole thing but she did great!


Next we had to get our taxes done. It is a huge job to get everything ready to go for that appointment. Usually I am a lot more organized with my receipts and paperwork than I was this year. I finally got it done! Until next year...