Brooklyn turns 4!

I can't believe I have a 4 year old - that's just a year away from 5 and going to kindergarten!  Brooklyn was so excited for her birthday and asked me every day of January if it was her birthday yet.

We got Brooklyn a doll house and Disney barbies to go with it for her birthday.  She LOVES it and has played with it non stop.  I stayed up until 2 a.m. the night before putting it together.  John was happy to help but I told him I didn't mind doing it - I love putting things together like this.  I was so excited for her to see her present in the morning.  She was the first one awake and immediately saw it.  When I walked in to the living room she already had all her dolls and barbies set up inside and was squealing with excitement (made staying up late totally worth it).  It's huge, but I love it too and we'll have it forever.

She was nice and let Jake help her open her present.

I'm a mean mom and scheduled her 4 year old well visit that morning.  I didn't realize she was going to get shots (I thought they got them at 5).  She was poked 4 times, twice in each arm and cried when they did it.  She stopped crying pretty soon after and I let her pick a treat at the gas station.  She wore her pink band-aids all day and told anyone that would listen that she had gotten shots.

That night we had pizza and cupcakes at the park by our house and invited Mike and Camille and some close friends.  It was so easy and Brooklyn was happy with it.  She picked Frozen cupcakes from Walmart and blue plates.  Everyone was so generous and brought her gifts, which she was thrilled about.

Camille gave her a Target gift card.  The next day I took her and let her pick something out.  She picked out these goggles for swimming (I bought some for Jake too - he was sad the night before and didn't understand why Brooklyn got presents and he didn't).  I text this picture to Camille of them.

One of her friends gave her these princess paper dolls which she's loved playing with.

I've asked her these same questions on every birthday.  It's fun to see how her answers change:

How old are you? 4 

What's your favorite color?  pink, red, and purple

What's your favorite thing to eat?  melted cheese sandwich and spaghetti

What's your favorite treat?  jolly ranchers

What's your favorite animal? zebra and giraffe

What's your favorite book?  Ariel and Belle

What's your favorite song?  the Family is of God

What's your favorite movie? Little Mermaid

Who's your best friend? Reese, Gretta, and Lexi

What's your favorite thing to do?  play with my dollhouse and unicorns

What do you want to be when you grow up?  a big kid and a mom

Jillian and Camilla come to visit

Some of my favorite cousins, Jillian and Camilla, came to visit us last weekend.  It was SO NICE of them to come - both spent money for a plane ticket and gave up their time to do it.  They brought their youngest kids, Emma who is almost 2 and Ella who is 14 months.  Brooklyn loved having these little girls around and called them "sweetie pie" and "cutie" all weekend long.

I wish I had taken more pictures.  They arrived Thursday night.  I picked them up from the airport, we came home and fed the kids, and then John went and picked up Firehouse Subs for dinner.  We stayed up until 2 a.m. that night talking.  We had NO idea it was that late.  When you're having fun, time flies.

Friday we met some of my friends that also have passes at the zoo.  I was able to get Jillian and Camilla in for free because of our passes.  We took our time walking around looking at the animals.  We left before lunch and headed home.  After naps we went on a walk to the park and then picked up Papa Murphys for dinner.  Again, we stayed up late talking (only 11:30 this time).

Saturday we went to the anthem outlets and shopped at Carters and then to the train park.  We took a picnic lunch with us, let the kids play on the playground, and then fed the ducks. 

John came home early from studying and kept our kids while we went out to dinner at my favorite, Oregano's.  It was awesome not to have kids with me and to just sit and enjoy talking and eating dinner.  The food did not disappoint, as always.

the girls had a bath together that night

 Camilla reading the kids books before bed

We stayed up late again talking our last night together.  The weekend flew by and I had so much fun.  Jillian and Camilla are the nicest, most patient people you will ever meet and were so great with my kids.  The listened to Brooklyn yack their ear off the entire time and paid more attention to them than I do in a week!  Seriously, the best cousins ever.  So thankful I have these memories now to add to our countless other memories of growing up together.

January so far

Remmy is at the best age.  She is crawling all over the place and follows us around the house.  I love getting ready in the mornings and seeing her little head bob around the corner.  She always gives me the biggest grin when she sees me.  She has her 2 bottom teeth and starting to grow some hair.  She loves watching her siblings play and even gets in on the action when they let her.
 

We have been loving our zoo pass that we got for Christmas.  I love being able to go for a couple hours and not feel obligated to stay all day to get our money's worth.  My favorite it the giraffe and I can't not take pictures of them each time.  We have gotten to feed them every time we've been.

The zoo has a pretty cool (and quite big) aquarium too.  This will be nice especially in the summer months when it's really hot outside.

1st tooth poppin' through

Home Depot kids workshop - the kids love this the first Saturday of every month.  They have gotten really good at painting their projects and helping me hammer them together.  This month they made sleds.

park time with our friends Gretta and Reese

I love this view at night while I'm cleaning up dinner.  They have gotten really good at all the different swings, but still trying to figure out the teeter totter - they always get hurt on that.

Jake and his buddy Davidge

Brooklyn and Tayvri - my friend Alison's little girl.  She is 1 month old here..so little!  Brooklyn wore this outfit as a newborn and wanted me to take a picture of them.

I don't remember why she was crying - rare moment for her.

Alison, Mandy, and I took our kids to Disney on Ice (minus Remmy).  The theme was celebrations - birthday, Halloween, Christmas, etc.  It was a lot of fun and the kids did great, Jake especially.  He just sat in awe and watched on the edge of his seat the entire time.

Reese and Brooklyn

Mandy and her cute kids - Jensen and Reese

I held sweet Tayvri for a lot of the show.

John and I were able to go on a date to the temple.  We hadn't been since before Remmy was born and have a goal this year to go every month, hopefully it will happen!  I love that our new temple is open and just 5 minutes from our house!  No excuse not to go now.

sweet, happy girl!

This is my friend Allie holding Rem in Relief Society.  This was picture worthy because Remmy never falls asleep in people's arms!

Brooklyn and Lexi - started a new dance class together.  They both love it and get so excited each week.  It's just 6 weeks long and then there will be a little dance recital at the end.  I'm curious to see what that's like.

I started a play group swap with some girls in my ward for Jake.  There are 6 two year olds and once a week they get together for 1 1/2 hours.  My turn was last week - it was crazy at times, but fun!  I'm trying to be better at finding things just for Jake to do.