9th Anniversary

I so thought I took more pictures, but I guess these will do. Casey and I ran away to Vegas, kidless, for 4 days to celebrate our 9th Anniversary. We have NEVER done anything this big for our Anniversary. It was a great little escape for us.
The is our car ride down.

Outside the Bellagio watching the fountain show. I think we watched a show around 3 times while we were there, and they never get old. It is so relaxing to just listen to the music and watch the amazing things they can do with water.

Our first night, we stayed at NewYork NewYork and I didn't get any pictures. The next 2 nights were our "free" nights at a time share called the BlueGreen Club. It is about a block behind the MGM just across the street from the airport and it was absolutely fabulous. We did have to sell our souls by going to their 2 hour presentation. I love the idea of timeshares, but just don't have the money now, but hopefully in the future.

We stayed in their larger room that had the bedroom separated from the living room and kitchen. In the bedroom was a sink and huge separate shower. The bathroom was huge as well with a tub/shower combo as well. The couch could pull out into a bed. It was great! The place had a nice indoor pool (which is great for Vegas since all the casinos pools are outside and closed in the winter time so I got to swim...YAY!)

We saw the Lions at MGM. They were lounging on the see through case above a walkway. They were 3 feet above my head-it was pretty cool, but the enclosure was filthy and difficult to see through so the pictures aren't that great.

This is us standing outside the Lion cage.

We did a lot of sightseeing, and eating, and just enjoying time not watching out for children 24/7. We saw a comedian-Frank Calliendo. It was a pretty good show.

We also went to lunch with my long lost roommate of 12 years, Jill. I am an idiot and didn't even get a picture of us so hopefully I will see her again soon.
It was a great get away and we had a lot of fun. Hopefully we will be able to do something again next year. Spending time with just each other is rare for us, but definitely needed.

How tall will my daughters be???

So, I have been curious for quite some time now on how tall my daughters will be when they get older. I know there is no way to tell for sure until they get there, but it is fun to imagine. There is the old tale that they will be "double the height at age 2". Okay, we will start from here. I am lucky that my mom was on top of things and kept all my measurements in my baby book. I just pulled it out for the 1st time tonight for comparison.

Age 2

Me: 36" doubled would be 6 feet (right on the money for the theory)
Maizy: 37 1/4" doubled is 6 feet 2 1/2 inches (wow)
Zoey: 35.2" doubled is pretty much 5 foot 10 1/2" (not as tall as mom-at least there will be one that still will have to look up to me)

Casey and I have known for a while that Zoey wasn't going to be as tall as Maizy. I compared their measurements long ago and knew that Zoey was about 2" shorter every time. Maybe she will surprise us, but it is not likely. Sorry babe!

Unforunately this is the only measurement to compare with Zoey for now!

Age 3

Me: 39"
Maizy: 40.28"

Age 4

Me: 42 1/2"
Maizy: 43 3/4"

Age 5

Me: 44"
Maizy: 45.83"

According to the numbers, I believe it is safe to say that Maizy will be taller than me. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this as I already know the trouble of finding pants and shirts that are long enough for me, let alone someone who might be taller. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there. Hopefully she will be interested in sports-North Summit could really use it!

Maizy's Birthday Party

I finally have Maizy's 5 year old stats:
44.09 lbs = 76%
45.83 in = 96%
Results are in...she is still REALLY tall for her age. Big shocker!!!

This is the 2nd year we have rented out the pool in Coalville to celebrate Maizy's birthday. I am pretty sure this is going to be an annual event since Maizy absolutely loves it. I love swimming as well, but 2 hours in a pool trying to keep track of my small children is quite the tiring task. I think everyone was exhausted once we were done.

Maizy is turning into such a good swimmer. As long as she has a life jacket on, she is good to go. She even goes down the big slide by herself and jumps off the diving board too.

Zander was not happy to be in the water. It took him 30 minutes to finally stop whining. Hopefully he will start to love it soon.

Jami and Anna, and Mandy, Haiden and Evie came to help Maizy celebrate. Some of my friends were unable to make it. I have to admit I have a wonderful group of friends who are like sisters to me. They support our family more than some close family members. Thanks guys!

My cousin Jessica, Ron and Zachary missed the party last year, but were able to make it this year. Alyssa and Trevor also came with my Grandparents to participate in the fun.

Kari, Jake and Madi came to swim as well. They brought big brother Brayden-he sat on the side of the pool since he broke his arm and had a cast on. Ben and Jill also came to help Maizy celebrate.

My brother Ryan, his wife DeLys, and their 3 boys Ethn, Parker and Boston came to swim. I hope everyone that came had lots of fun. Thanks for the support. We love you all.
After the pool party, everyone came to the house for snacks and cake/ice cream. Maizy was so excited for her "Princess and the Frog" cake even though we haven't even seen the movie. She is into anything princess these days.

Everyone still had wet hair from swimming.

Maizy showing us how old she is now.

Maizy turns 5 today!

Today our oldest child, Maizy Kay, turns the big 5 years old. Born January 4, 2005 at McKayDee Hospital by c-section due to being a stubborn breech baby (should have known from day one). She entered the world at 7:35 am weighing in at 8 lb 10 oz and 20 inches long.

She has been so fun to watch grow. She is a great big sister, a big helper (or so she likes to think), and a smart little stinker to boot.

She had the most hair of all my kids. I was able to do a pigtail, as you see below at 1 month.

Due to her stubborness of being breech, she ended up having congenital hip dysplasia and had to spend 2 months in a pavlik harness to correct her hips.


Maizy has always been a pretty happy baby. I love her smiles!

Look at the cute piggies. Maizy has held still from day one to get her hair done!

Playing in the water-she loves it.

Being silly as usual.

Seeing baby sister Zoey for the 1st time in the hospital.

Having a fix it hair day with mom.

Talking on the phone just like mom.

She is a goofball too.

This was last year when she was 3 going to her first day of preschool. She is now in her 2nd year and so excited to go to Kindergarten next year.

As I said, she is a great big sister. This is the first time she held Zander in the hospital.

She has finally decided she likes Princesses just this year. Last year she was invited to a Princess birthday party. We had to get her Halloween costume out early since she had never played dressup-I believe I have somewhat of a tomboy on my hands.

I love this grin of hers.

Look at those eyes.

This was her 4 year old party. What a surprised look on her face.

Making jewelry from one of her presents.

She is pretty strong and is loving being in tumbling this last year.

Maizy is also a poser.

Attempting curlers for the first time-frizz city!!!

So sweet.

Playing in the snow-she loves being outside.

Maizy,
You are truly a blessing in our lives. Thanks for being a wonderful daughter and sister. We look forward to many more years of you growing into the beautiful woman you are meant to be.
Love, Mom and Dad

Party Central

Oh how I love Christmas...but I also LOVE when it is said and done! It has been a busy few weeks that have come and gone so quickly, it almost makes your head spin.
I love this time of year as it is always a time for family and friends to get together and enjoy each others company. I have wonderful families and a fabulous group of friends, all who mean the world to me. We all get caught up in the chaos of the season, but I want to make sure these special people really know how much they mean to me and our family.

The picture below if the Grimsley family-minus a few. My mom's side of the family has always been pretty close. I enjoy getting to see my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It is fun to catch up on the last year. It is really fun to see the family growing-we added a few this year between a marriage and babies! Congrats to them!

Christmas Eve has somewhat turned into the tradition night for the Jones' family Christmas party. We always have a special visitor, which makes it fun for the kids.
As you can see below, Zander didn't think he was so special!

Maizy loves Santa and is so into the whole Christmas thing this year. It has made it fun for us.

Zoey isn't so sure of him quite yet. She just wanted the gift. She wouldn't talk to him and got off his lap as soon as she got her present.

This was Zander on Chrismas morning. He was having so much fun opening presents and playing with the toys.

Not the greatest picture of Maizy, but this is the coveted Ariel doll that goes in the bathtub that she wanted.

Zoey just wanted to open everyones presents and try out ALL the toys. This is her trying out Maizy's scooter.

It also seems to be a tradition lately that we have the Wilde family Christmas party on Christmas Day. Maizy and Zoey are not so patiently waiting to open their presents with their cousins.

My parents got all the kids bean bags. The girls are trying theirs out below.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

October Family Pictures

Today is Thanksgiving and I thought it would be fitting to post the family pictures that we finally got back this week. I am so thankful for my family. They are so supportive of us and are willing to help out whether we ask them to or not. We have had our challenges over the past few years and they have been right there by our side. The pictures are great treasures to remember this moment in our lives, even though our kids are in a challenging time. I think they turned out great. What do you think?

This is the picture of our family. For Zoey being a pill, this one actually turned out really cute!

I like this one of Casey and me. What a cute couple! j/k

Here are my 3 kids. Thanks goodness we had a great photographer who was able to do a little switcharoo (Zoey was transplanted into this picture)

This is the big photo that my mom got. I chose a different one. Both of them turned out pretty good. Most of us were looking at the camera, which is amazing for the 6 little ones.

This picture of my parents with all the kids is adorable. They all love their Grandma and Grandpa a ton. Thanks for being fabulous Grandparents!

This is my brother and his family. They are all very photogenic.

I hope you enjoyed the photos!