Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Random Recent Pics

Here I've captured a picture of the girls enjoying some popcorn and a movie together.

Below is Ava after she discovered mommys secret chocolate stash :)
I love this picture of the girls shoving popcorn into their mouths so gracefully!

Lance and I went on a much needed date..... bowling and had a blast!

Ava's "little girl trucker" look.

I was reading over 12 month milestones and it looks like Olivia is ahead of the game. Here are a few things she is doing:
-scribbles with crayon
-holds arms up and feet out to get dressed
-puts necklaces on
-points to everything
-flips through books
I can't believe her birthday is a week from Sunday. Where has the time gone?





Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas 2008

We had a really great Christmas. We opened presents, relaxed, and ate. It was a very low key and lazy day... just the way I wanted it :)

Above is Ava right before she opened most of her presents. She was sooo happy of course!


She was excited about the play food she got to go with her new kitchen (daddy hasn't built it yet :)


"Yeah I love presents!"



Here she is hugging her very first Barbie doll.




Here is daddy getting in on the fun and playing the the girls new play hut. Remarkably him and the girls all fit in it at the same time! It was hilarious!
I am so grateful for my family and especially for the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. May we keep the Spirit of Christmas alive every day!






Saturday, December 13, 2008

I wanna win!

Once again I'm trying to win a wonderful give-away by a beautifully talented seamstress for my girls. She does awesome work, here is the link to her blog:

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/

I'm crossing my fingers and toes for this one!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

11 months today

My amazing little survivor miracle is 11 months today! I can hardly believe it! She has come so far and is doing so much. As you can see below, she loves to eat!
She is so smart, she will not let us put anything near her mouth unless we allow her to pick it up to check it's temperature first. She doesn't want anything too hot!



It is definitely a huge blessing to see all that she is doing now and think of where we were 11 months ago, not knowing what the outcome of her condition would be. God is good!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

PIC

What does PIC mean? My 2 adorable, sweet little girls are what could be considered Partners In Crime. They do everything as a pair, even acts of mischief.


I am finding more and more the purpose of having multiple children. They laugh together, play together, fight together, and share everything, including their parents. It is the ultimate lesson in charity and love. This is what the home is for.
After you have children your joys are more joyful and your sorrows are more sorrowful. Everything is very intense and emotional. The home becomes the ultimate school for learning the teachings of God.
With my children I am constantly learning over and over basic gospel principles and what their purpose is in our lives.
I know that God does have a beautiful and wonderful plan. It is amazing the things we see when we open our eyes.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Can you guess what this is?


It is a remarkably amazing picture of a fish drawn by my just turned 3 year old.
I came across it as I was cleaning today. Do I have a future Picasso on my hands?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Daddy's Girl!

As you can clearly see, there is definitely an uncanny resemblence between Lance and Olivia. There is nothing more lovely then seeing the traits and attributes of the one you love in your children :)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

New pics!

It's been a while since I updated the blog with some pics, so here they are:

Olivia is definitely growing smarter each day, and gracing us with her profound opinions. Here are a few of her preferences...

Likes:

-going outside

-climbing up the stairs

-eating and drinking

-car rides


Dislikes:

-closed spaces (such as bathroom stalls and elevators)

-dogs (she screams and cries every time she sees one)

-when Ava gets to close to her



Ava's vocabulary is exploding, and I'm amazed at the complexity of what she says. Almost on a daily basis she says, "Mommy, you're my best friend," and "best friends forever." I'm enjoying this now because I know in 10 years she will probably hate me!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

About me!

Click on this link to find out what your name means about you! Most of mine is totally true, especially the things I put in bold!

http://www.paulsadowski.com/Numbers.asp

You entered: Carrie Angelyn Liford
There are 19 letters in your name.

Those 19 letters total to 106
There are 7 vowels and 12 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:
Italian
Female
A diminutive of Caroline, often used as an independent name.
English
Female
Abbreviation of Carol and Caroline from the masculine Charles meaning manly.


Your number is: 7
The characteristics of #7 are: Analysis, understanding, knowledge, awareness, studious, meditating.
The expression or destiny for #7:Thought, analysis, introspection, and seclusiveness are all characteristics of the expression number 7. The hallmark of the number 7 is a good mind, and especially good at searching out and finding the truth. You are so very capable of analyzing, judging and discriminating, that very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You are the type of person that can really get involved in a search for wisdom or hidden truths, often becoming an authority on whatever it is your are focusing on. This can easily be of a technical or scientific nature, or it may be religious or occult, it matters very little, you pursue knowledge with the same sort of vigor. You can make a very fine teacher, or because of a natural inclination toward the spiritual, you may become deeply emerged in religious affairs or even psychic explorations. You tend to operate on a rather different wavelength, and many of your friends may not really know you very well. The positive aspects of the 7 expression are that you can be a true perfectionist in a very positive sense of the word. You are very logical, and usually employ a quite rational approach to most things you do. You can be so rational at times that you almost seem to lack emotion, and when you are faced with an emotional situation, you may have a bit of a problem coping with it. You have excellent capabilities to study and learn really deep and difficult subjects, and to search for hidden fundamentals. At full maturity you are likely to be a very peaceful and poised individual.


If there is an over supply of the number 7 in your makeup, the negative aspects of the number may be apparent. The chief negative of 7 relates to the limited degree of trust that you may have in people. A tendency to be highly introverted can make you a bit on the self-centered side, certainly very much self-contained . Because of this, you are not very adaptable, and you may tend to be overly critical and intolerant. You really like to work alone, at your own pace and in your own way. You neither show or understand emotions very well.

Your Soul Urge number is: 9
A Soul Urge number of 9 means: With a 9 Soul Urge, you want to give to others, usually in a humanitarian or philanthropic manner. You are highly motivated to give friendship, affection and love. And you are generous in giving of your knowledge and experience. You have very sharing urges, and you are likely to have a great deal to share. Your concern for others makes you a very sympathetic and generous person with a sensitive and compassionate nature.
You are able to view life in very broad and intuitive terms. You often express high ideals and an inspirational approach to life. If you are able to fully realize the potential of your motivation, you will be a very self-sacrificing person who is able to give freely without being concerned about any return or reward.


As with all human beings, you are prone to sometimes express the negative attitudes inherent to your Soul Urges. You may become too sensitive and tend to express emotions strongly at times. There can be significant conflict between higher aims and personal ambitions. You may resent the idea of giving all of the time and, in fact, if there is too much 9 energy in your nature you may reject the idea. You may often be disappointed in the lack of perfection in yourself and others.

Your Inner Dream number is: 7
An Inner Dream number of 7 means: You dream of having the opportunity to read, study, and shut yourself off from worldly distractions. You can see yourself as a teacher, mystic, or ecclesiastic, spending your life in the pursuit of knowledge and learning.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Costume Giveaway

There is a wonderful, amazing, and talented woman who makes handmade costumes and clothing, then gives them away! I hope to be like her when I grow up!

She is giving a Little Bo Peep and Lost Sheep costume I would love for Ava and Olivia next year.

Here is the link to her blog:
http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

10 months today and her first haircut!

Much to the dismay of Lance I cut Olivia's hair. I have been thinking about it for a long time and finally just did it. Before I cut it, it looked like a long straggly mullet. It was cute, but all uneven and very long in the back. I figured she would look pretty cute with a little bob. I left her bangs long.









I think I did an ok job considering it was my first time with a pair of scissors and I was trying to cut hair and not cause an injury to a constantly moving target.

Olivia has been making strides developmentally lately. She loves to climb all the way up the stairs by herself, has self-feeding down to a science, and is starting to understand what we say (she gets excited when we say we're going bye-bye). She is such a cute and sweet little girl now!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

A new kind of post...

Up until this point, my blog has consisted of a collection of events, happenings, and notes on what the girls are doing, but I am going to start writing about somewhat more personal and spiritual parts of my life.

One thing I have not written enough about is my amazing husband and my love for him. Although he is not able to work and support the family yet, he has taken on 1/2 of with housework and raising the children, often putting my parenting skills to shame.

Lance is a naturally amazing parent. He has this uncanny way of being able to discipline the girls as well as be the ultimate playground for the girls at the same time. Both of them cry when he leaves and swarm to him and climb all over him like little monkeys when he comes home. He makes them giggle uncontrollably just by looking at them a certain way. They squeal with glee when he plays with them, and they both crawl all over him like bugs on an antpile.

So what does this do for me??? When I see him calm the girls like a professional parent and make them go from crying to laughing in an instant, it makes me fall in love with him all over again. Is this yet another reason why we become parents? To fall in love over and over as we travel through this journey we call life together, grow together, raise children together, and experience hardships together? I watch Lance interact with Ava and Olivia and melt as I am in awe with this man that I have married... my perfect companion. Words cannot describe how happy I am that I have such a strong, handsome, and amazing man. I never thought I could love anyone like this!

I am so glad that I am having this experience in this life, for marriage and happiness can be an amazing thing if you allow it to be.

And by the way... Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary Baby!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Awesome Free Stuff!

Please see this website for frequent handmade giveaways made by an amazing stay-at-home mom/seamstress!

To see the website click here

Amazing!!!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Halloween Trunk-or-Treat "Car"nival

We had a blast at the Halloween party this year. It was really Ava's first "memorable" experience with holidays, and she loved it! She insisted on being Minnie Mouse and luckily I found a really good costume.



She went fishing...


She went digging...






And just hung out with the family!


Olivia was really happy all night and had a blast, too. Definitely a fun night to remember!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Olivia LOVES Ice Cream

Mmmmmmm this bowl is yummy...


Gimme some more.....


That was pretty tasty!


She definitely did not care about the ice cream left all over her face!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Olivia's Antics

Olivia is definitely showing us her distinct little personality.

Here are some of her favorite things to do:

Get out of the house- no matter where we go she is content.

Empty mommy's purse (shown below- yes, all the stuff spread around in the picture are the contents of my purse).



Play the piano and bang on a drum.

Follow mommy EVERYWHERE and cry if I leave the room and don't take her with me.

Play peekaboo with a blanket (I'm going to video and post this one b/c it is sooo cute).

She loves to eat table food and drink water 24/7. She can't get enough of it. So much, in fact, that she refused to nurse and I got mastitis this week!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Wierd Tag

I was tagged to describe 7 wierd things about myself. Here we go..

1. I've eaten rattlesnake, turtle, and alligator, and it was really good (I grew up in the FL Everglades, what can I say).



2. I like my food as bland as can be, with no spices, and only somewhat warm. Must be the English ancestory!



3. NOBODY gets near my bed unless they are freshly showered (or bathed).

4. Lance and I didn't kiss until we were engaged.

5. I don't believe in babyfood. I feed my babies REAL food.



6. I've been breastfeeding for almost 3 years straight (with a 6 month break while I was pregnant).

7. I wash my hands at least every 30 minutes.

Sarah, Helga, Emily, Celeste, Kathleen, Natalie, and Keira you are tagged!

Friday, October 10, 2008

A Day Outside

I got some really great photos of Ava playing outside in our apartment complex. Enjoy!
















Scrapblog

Friday, October 3, 2008

Triplets?

Olivia loves to examine these baby dolls. As she was doing so I recognized an uncanny resemblence between her and them.



Soooo cute!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Olivia Update

Everyone keeps asking... how is Olivia doing with her development? I have to say, she couldn't be doing any better. She is now 8 months old and is very smart! As you can see by the picture she is playing the piano (or standing and banging the keys :)



She is also crawling on all fours (she now follows us all over the house), pulling up to stand, cruising on furniture, says "da da da" among many other things. She also loves trying to put things on her head all the time. Olivia has 8 teeth and LOVES to eat solid food- she is already eating a lot of table food! She shows a strong preference for mommy above everyone else (even daddy).







I can't leave Ava totally out... she is FINALLY potty trained. It only took 2 days and she never has accidents (it's about time- she's 3!). She is very bright and getting hard to entertain. It's going to be time for preschool soon I'm afraid. She loves to dress up and climb on everything!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mommy money saving tips

Here are a couple of money saving ideas that I've thought up.

Instead of buying special swim diapers, you can make your own! As you see below, diapers have the white cotton-like absorbing liner. All you do is cut a slit in the top or side of the liner and remove the absorbative material. I'm pointing at where you can cut to remove the material.



All swim diapers are is an outside without a liner. They do not absorb wetness, so these are just like regular swim diapers! Below is a picture of a diaper with the liner removed.



I knew when Olivia started crawling that it would be hard on her kneees, as I experienced with Ava. I looked into buying babylegs, but they were $15 a pair! I thought they looked a lot like socks, so I decided to go to Wal-Mart and buy some cute socks of $1 a pair and cut the toes out of them.



Now that she is crawling and I finally get to try them out they are wonderful! The allow easy access for diaper changing and protect her knees great!



If anyone else has money saving ideas let me know! Please post them in the comments :)