Sunday, December 28, 2014

December


This December I've really been in the Christmas spirit!  I'm usually a bit of a Scrooge, but thankfully, Tom balances me out because he is Mr. Christmas!
I think it's because Jade is at such a fun age and is starting to really get Christmas.  So we are trying to make it magical for her:)

I love my little Christmas corner
We made Gingerbread houses!  Which wasn't quite as nostalgic as we thought it would be...she just wanted to pop the packing bubbles and eat the candy haha but we still had fun and she did great on them!








Also, a big milestone that took place that night:  She said forever goodbye to her binkies!!!  Hooray!  And it wasn't too bad... for a few days previous we kept telling her that when she's ready to throw away her binkies (because they were getting old and yucky, and they are just for babies) that she could have a new toy that we got her for when she's a big girl!  And she finally got so excited that she said she was ready and she threw them all away in the garbage and said, "Bye!  I don't need you anymore!"  And she was rewarded with the whole Peppa Pig family!
The first night was kind of rough.  And she asked for them at her next few naps and bedtimes but when we reminded her that they were all gone, she did good.
I'm so proud of this girl and all the big girl transitions she has made over the past year: Potty training, big girl bed, and no more binkies!  Next hurdle: no more Pull-ups at night!

We had a really fun visit from Michelle a couple Sundays ago!  And the girls were so happy to see their grandma!

My little marshmallow and Jade out for a walk!

We went to the Festival of Lights this year and Jade LOVED it!!  After living in Spanish Fork for 7 years, it's about time we went!  She also thought it was pretty cool to sit up front and name everything she saw!  It was a really fun family memory and she talked about it for days after!

The Friday before Christmas we had our annual friend's Christmas Party!  This year Brittany hosted and it was a blast as usual!
Look at all these kids!





When I got done with work the next day, we headed down to Oak City for Michelle's Christmas party!  Our girls have been such troopers with all the holiday traveling!
Thankfully Michelle takes so many great pictures, so here's a look at some of the fun!



They gave each family one of these little swing cars!  They are so fun!



Despite Jade's face, she was so happy to give grandma the ornament she made for her!











Thank you so much Michelle and Larry for the great food, fun, gifts, and memories!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Thanksgiving! And other stuff


Wow we have so much to be thankful for!  We have the most amazing family and friends, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, jobs, and most importantly...a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are always there for us, an eternal family and the gospel to guide us in our lives!

We spent Thanksgiving down at Kevin's house this year!  It was so fun to have all of Tom's siblings together!  We all pitched in on the food and it was DELICIOUS!!








After dinner, the boys went up to the cabin for a shooting contest and the ladies stayed and played with the kids
Jade had a blast with her cousins!




We love each other haha.  Nothing awkward about this at all!
All the Styler grandkids! (Minus Tabby who didn't want anything to do with this madness haha)

That night we went to my parents and had a great night playing games and hanging out with Conlan!

In the morning, Jade wanted to get in some exercise!  aka have us pull her up and down on my parent's workout machine!




We did some Black Friday shopping in good old Delta at the Ace Hardware and I actually got some pretty sweet steals!
Then we just hung out and enjoyed the gorgeous weather!


We came home that day and Tom and Jade put up the Christmas lights!
Apparently Jade found the hammer useful for her "just workin"

Saturday was awesome, relaxing, and spent as a family!  (As it should be, but I usually work saturdays, so we really soak it up when we can spend a whole day together)


Just a random cute picture of Jade all ready for church!  And Lainey getting all big, sitting in her Bumbo!


Lainey and Nash!  I'm sure there will be pictures like this taken regularly of these two:)  This is already the second

And the big sisters too!!  haha Jade is mid fruit snack



Jade has been soooo sweet to Lainey lately and I love to watch them together!
Even though I look weird..it's worth posting because look at how happy Jade is that Lainey is laughing!

Have I mentioned that the weather has been gorgeous!?  Seriously, the best "winter" weather of my life!  We are still soaking up the great outdoors mid December!








Jadelyn also had her first dentist appointment and she was a little nervous but did great!  No cavities!  And Jade is now obsessed with flossing so that's good:)



Tom proudly documenting the life skill he taught Jade of balancing a shoe on your head :)
She is a pretty legit little jumper!

"Practicing my splits!"
This week I went up to SLC to dinner with some of the old Aveda gang to celebrate my good friend Ashley and her baby boy due next month!  It was a fun night and so great to see them!

Tom has been in Vegas (Alamo) for the past 3 days and is on a flight home right now!  He was selected by Goodman to go to Rapport Leadership International to their leadership training!  I haven't heard all about it yet, but he had an amazing time!  He says it was crazy intense and that everyone in the group lost their voice from all the different presenting and projecting activities that had to do.  It's all about learning how to break down the walls we all have built up of fear and inadequacies to make you a better leader and person!  He said it was definitely life changing!  And I'm jealous, I want to go!  Also, within each group of about 30, they award a sword (not real haha) for the most improved/ the person that really took it by the reigns and excelled..and Tom won it!  It's voted on by the class, no the leaders and it's apparently a pretty big deal!  Lots of CEO's and successful people hang them in their offices as a sort of badge of honor!  Anyways, I'm so proud of you Tom!  And I can't wait to have you home to hear more about the experience.

Some funny things that Jade has said this week:
She walks up to me with her ladybug backpack on and says "Hi pretend teacher!  Where is our pretend school today?"

She is such a little adult (aka totally does what I do...good or bad haha)
I was watching our little neighbor Anna, who wouldn't stay away from our decorative corner shelf, so  I would keep reminding her to not touch it and be careful.  And Jade then grabbed Anna's hand and took over by squatting down to Anna's eye level and said, "Anna, stay away from there.  It could fall and you could get really hurt and you would really cry. Ok? Can that be a deal?" 

Well, Anna didn't stay away and a little Christmas sign fell on her head (didn't really hurt her) but scared her so she started crying and Jade tried to calm her down and distract her (totally my tactic) by saying "Don't worry, it's ok.  Let's play catch!"  and simultaneously throws the ball and it hits Anna in the face (again, not hurt) but she cries harder and Jade just throws her hands on her head saying, "OH MY GOSH!"   (don't worry your kids really are safe at my house haha)

Whenever Lainey cries in the car, she'll try to calm and reassure her, it's so cute. "Don't worry Laine, we're almost there.  Calm down, we're almost there Laine, I promise."

She randomly said, "Mom, we speak Eng-a-lish!"

When we talk to Lainey she'll politely remind us, "Mom, She doesn't talk."  so we don't look foolish when we get no response back haha

She is understanding the concept that the food you eat goes to your belly and if she doesn't like what she's eating she will lift up her shirt and stick out her belly to show you that, "Look, my tummy is full!"

She has a pink tent with Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora on it.  Today she was thoughtfully looking at it and said, "I don't like Aurora, I just don't like her."  I asked why and she simply said, 
I just don't like her."  OK then:)