Dentist

As much as I hate to admit it, Sariah had her first (yes, first) appointment with the dentist in August. She was not at all scared and was actually pretty excited about it. Here she is playing in the waiting room to be called back.

Chillin' in the chair waiting to be seen.
It was a good experience and she did great. She has asked several times since then, when she gets to go back. We already have her next appointment scheduled. :)

Uncle Brian & Aunt Becka

Back in August, Brian and Becka came down for a visit. Sariah absolutely adores them. She was so excited because they came over to our house and she got to show them her room...it seriously made her day. She was so sad when they left that day but luckily, we were headed to my parent's for the weekend and would see them again.

That weekend, we all headed to a baseball game. Sariah was totally attached to Brian. She was pretty bummed because Papa couldn't come and so she stuck to Brian the whole game. She sat on his lap or next to him the whole night.

She also adores Aunt Becka!!!
Kenzli got to experience her first baseball game (although she won't remember it). She did clap for the first time while we were there so she must have had a good time.

Mommy and happy Kenz

Aunt Becka pitching to Sariah and teaching her how to bat.

It was so fun to spend time with them and can't wait to see them again for Christmas!!!

One Year Old (plus a month or so)

I cannot believe that Kenzli is already ONE! She is growing up so fast. Her birthday was an adventure...we decided that instead of having family come over to our house that we would celebrate her birthday at my parent's house so they did not all have to drive so far. Her birthday was on a Friday so I decided to head over as soon as Sariah was done with preschool so I would have time to decorate the cupcakes. On the way over, my car overheated so we got stuck in the middle of downtown Phoenix. My mother-in-law met us there and we got some coolant and got it all worked out and I ended up getting to my parents later than anticipated. Since Kenzli had missed her nap and all of us girls were hot and tired, we decided to postpone the birthday celebration until the next afternoon.

So the next day, we had a little party with pizza, presents, and cupcakes. She is fascinated by dolls...whenever we go to the store, I always go by the dolls that make noise and she just laughs and laughs. She loved her new cabbage patch doll and of course her new blanket.

Then it was time to sing and blow out the candles.
She dug right in and got all messy but loved every minute of it.

I was impressed with how much of her oversized cupcake she was able to eat. I am sure she would have kept going but I decided she had had enough.

She loved walking around with her new toy!!!

She is such a joy to have around and is always so happy. It has been a fun year and I can't wait for more!

Stitches!!!

NOTE: PICTURES AHEAD ~ LOOK AT YOUR RISK :)

Sariah is our rough and tough, girly girl. She loves to run, jump, play hard yet is so sweet and tender at the same time. She usually falls hard and then jumps up and reassures us that she is okay. When she falls and cries, you know to react because it either REALLY scared her or it HURT!

A couple days ago, she was playing around and fell off a kitchen chair and smacked her chin. It hurt her pretty bad and she cried pretty hard. We talked about how she needs to settle down and be more careful so she doesn't get hurt. It didn't slow her down though. She is always running around the house. Since she learned to walk, she has RUN pretty much non-stop.

So...now to the story...this morning while watching conference, she was running out of her room carrying princess shoes in one hand and a princess dress in another. She must have tripped on her dress and since her hands were full, she could not brace for the fall. She smacked her chin on the tile and INSTANTLY started crying HARD. Jake went and picked her up to console her. Once they sat down, he wanted to check her teeth (naturally) to make sure she didn't hurt anything and noticed that she was bleeding. She didn't bleed hard but the gash was pretty deep. We got her calmed down, put a bandaid on it and started getting ready to head to the doctor. She was so sad about not getting to see President Monson that we let her finish watching the morning session and then headed to urgent care. After a fairly tramatic doctors visit (of which I will spare you the details) and three stitches to show for it, she wanted to head to Target for a new toy. Of course, we were happy to allow it and off we went. She wanted me to take a picture of her new fairy and new cool-pack for any future injuries. We also took a picture of the HUGE bandaid they put on her for her "scrapbook" (she loves to look at her scrapbooks and all the pictures).

We had to clean the cut and put on a new bandaid tonight so she got to see the stitches. She looked at herself in the mirror very seriously and we talked about how the string would hold her skin together until it can heal so it doesn't keep bleeding. She just stayed serious for a minute and then started laughing and said, "It looks like I have a spider on my chin." She just kept saying it and laughing harder and harder. It was so cute. Hopefully she will sleep good tonight and won't have any pain. She endured enough pain at the doctor's office. It was one of the moments as a parent where you feel so helpless and bad for your child. I was glad I was able to be in the room but it was really hard to watch her be so upset and not be able to do anything about it. I hope we don't have to go through anything like this again for a VERY LONG TIME!!!

"The wound"

Her new fairy, Rosetta and cool-pack
HUGE bandaid
The "SPIDER"

Sariah turns 4!!!

Sariah had her first friend birthday party this year. Most of the kids her age are boys, so we couldn't really do a princess party liked she wanted. So we did more of a neutral cupcake party. They decorated their own cupcakes, played pin the candle on the cupcake and a couple other games.

I did let Sariah pick out her own pinata though so she was able to have some princess-ness to her party.
Sariah is so funny when it comes to pinatas...she is NOT like most kids. She picks up some candy and then decides she has enough even if there is lots more on the ground. She is just not much of a candy eating girl.
After games, presents, cake and the pinata we had a little water fun. We had a small pool and some sprinkler fun. Overall, the party went really well and was lots of fun.

She had to wait for her actual birthday to open her presents from us and her Grandparents. One of her favorite presents was her tutu from Grandma Livingston.

Another birthday cake that she got to pick out from the store.

Sariah got quite the collection of Strawberry Shortcake dolls for her birthday. She LOVES them...this picture shows how much she takes care of them. She took them to bed with her for weeks after her birthday.

I cannot believe she is getting so old...it seems like she was born just yesterday. She is such a good girl and we are so lucky to have her as part of our family.

Water!

Jake's dental class had a party to celebrate their move to clinical practice. Sariah had a blast going down the slide...she is our little fish...she LOVES water.

Splashing into the pool at the bottom of the slide
Just a little wet
Kenzli was not as sure about the water as Sariah...she was a good sport the first time going down the slide, but cried everytime after that.

Happy to be out of the water and just hanging out

Happy girl!!!

We have been lucky to be part of such a family friendly dental program. It makes for some really fun memories!!!

First Day of Preschool

Sariah has been a little worried about starting preschool which suprised me because she has always been pretty easy going with change. She was worried about not already knowing her numbers and letters. To ease some of her worry, I decided to make it a really fun morning leading up to going to school. When she first woke up, she brought the strawberry shortcake dolls into bed with me and we played. We brushed their hair and just played.

Then, she got to pick what you wanted me to fix her for breakfast. During the week, we pretty much ALWAYS have cereal and we only have hot breakfasts on the weekend. She picked eggs and "toast"...I threw in some blueberries too. She got to color a smiling face and decorate it with stickers.

A new favorite...bagel thins
I made her a calendar so she knows what days she goes to school. I also made a photo/chore chart so she knows what things she needs to do in order to be ready to leave for school. She loves finishing them so she can take the picture off and put in the pocket up top.
We found a special place for her backpack so she can grab it on her way out the door.

We had a hard time finding a backpack "her size" but she was able to find this Dora backpack and she LOVES it. It is just the right size.

She KNOWS that she is cute...can't you tell!!!

At school, they got to decorate cookies to take home to their moms and dads. She was so excited and told me that I don't even have to share with her...so sweet!
She also drew a picture of her family and put her hand print on it to give to us.

She had a great time and is really excited to go back. She did make sure she didn't miss anything fun with us though...one of her first questions to me, "What did you do the whole time?" She is getting so grown up and I love watching her become such a sweet little girl!!! I cannot imagine my life without her in it...she brightens everyday!!!

Dance

Sariah took a Hip Hop/Tap dance class over the summer. She will be starting again soon since she LOVED it. She still asks at least once a week, when she gets to go to dance.

Here she is on her first day

Since it was only 6 weeks long, they invited the parents to the last class to watch their dance moves and a little performance. Here she is showing us her toe tap.
Another move...caught in mid-air
Another move

They had a little snack and got a rose after class.

Sariah and her teacher Ms. Becka

Her dance performance

Overnight Vacation

Before Jake had to go back to school in June, we took a short overnight vacation up north to escape the summer heat. Our first stop was Snowbowl in Flagstaff. During the off-season you can ride the ski lift up to the top. Sariah LOVED it. There was still some snow and it was COLD!!! (well relatively speaking)

Family picture once we got to the top.

Sariah having fun just hanging out
Me and my girls!
I love this picture of Sariah and her Daddy...what a cute moment.

Eatin' some snow

The ride down...it took about 20 minutes each way...with no real straps keeping you in, this ride would not be for wild kids...luckily, Sariah was content to sit still and enjoy the view. For some reason, there were necklaces (and other unmentionables) on some of the branches of the trees so she just kept looking for the necklaces.

After spending the night in Flagstaff, we woke up and drove to the Grand Canyon. There was construction going on so there were no lookout points with barriers. I was so grateful that my kids are chill or I might have had anxiety!!! There was a little path you could walk down but the edge was right there. Sariah was so good to keep close and hold our hands.

Another sweet daddy-daughter moment caught on camera.

Family shot

Kenzli was such a happy camper...I love her smile!!!

Sariah got tired so she kicked Kenzli out so she could have a ride.

It was a such trip but filled with memories that will last a lifetime.