She's Here!!

KAIJA KALI WARREN

7lbs 12oz 20"

Well, after a horrible labor lasting around 32 hours, yes I said 32 hours, my newest niece finally arrived in the world on June 19 at 4:45 in the afternoon weighing in at 7lbs 12 ounces and 20 inches long. She is so stinking cute, I went to Wyoming this weekend to see her. Her name is Kaija Kali Warren, now for all of you with the perplexed look on your face wondering how you pronounce Kaija, well think of Asia with a K on the front and that is how it is pronounced. Anyway, my lil' sister is recovering after the exhausting labor and enjoying being a mom.

Here is a picture of the proud new parents Karri (my lil sis) and her husband TyRell (we call him Ty). I did this picture instead of her holding the baby cause the poor thing is so swollen and I am sure would not appreciate a photo of herself on here in her current state.

This is my cute little niece Kaija, look at how much hair she has it's so cute. My dad has officially given her the nickname Pocahontas.
The first two pictures are some I took of Kaija for my sister. I was happy how they turned out, they are cute. Well, we are all excited for the newest addition to the family. Now we can await some more nieces and nephews coming from Jared's sisters.

Nyah's Party, Gymnastics, & Dance

Okay I know I have been slacking lately and am just now getting Nyah's party posted. Then, in my haste I realized I haven't posted about Nyah's Gymnastics show or Keira's dance recital either so this is a little bit of everything. Nyah loved her party, we had 8 friends there. I made her limit the number, last year I let her invite all that she wanted and there was 25 kids at our house, it was fun but I figure not every year can we do that many kids plus now that she is in school that number would have increased drastically as she wants to include everyone so since I knew we couldn't invite her entire class plus neighbor kids plus other friends I put a major limit on it. I told her, girls only since it was a "Tinker Bell" theme and then we invited all the girls from her primary class and I told her she could have no more than 5 girls from her class. We ended up with 8 girls which was nice. Anyway it was fun, the weather was nice and I think they had a good time.

Nyah with all her presents
I can't forget about my three favorite girls from the party. Nyah was so cute, she made sure that Keira was included in all the activities.
All the goofy girls that where there
Her cake, yes I get them at the bakery's. Baking is definitely not my strong suit, I have more fun planning the activities and fun for the party to worry about actually making a cake.
They got to make "fairy" headbands when they arrived
The girls with there fairy headbands completed
They also got to have a scavenger hunt with LOTS of "pixie dust", they got to collect things along the way that had to do with "fairy's" to fill their little prize bags, including their very own "pixie dust" on a necklace (I am sure the mothers loved that, as it was just a vile full of glitter, but it can get everywhere if opened ha ha). After that we played freeze dance where they danced like fairy's.
Then it was time for cake and opening presents. It went over pretty well and we had a good time.

Nyah has been in gymnastics since she was 3 and LOVES it, I thought she might change her mind when Keira got into dance since there was these cute little outfits Keira got to wear to dance, but, no she still wanted to do gymnastics. At the end of the year they have a show and they all get trophies. These pictures are not of her actual show, as those are at home on my computer and I had some picts from one of her classes so those are what you get to see. They had different areas they went to, to do their routines, they had a floor routine, a balance beam routine, a routine on the bars, and one on the vault. These are just part of her floor routine. She did such a good job and has really come along way this year. She got her trophy which is now her prized possession. They even had "judges" so critique their routines, it was so cute.
Here she is doing her cart wheels
Then this is her handstand


Now Keira's dance recital. Her recital happened to be on the same day as Nyah's party. It was a little crazy cause Nyah's party went til 3 and we had to have Keira ready and at her recital by 4:15 so we had about an hour to get her hair curled in little ringlets, in her costume complete with sparkles. We where really concerned about how she would do because at her Christmas performance she refused to have any part of it and wouldn't even go out with her class let alone do the dance, so we where naturally worried about whether she would dance or not. Well, she did. You know how when you go to a show like this and there is always that one kid that makes everyone laugh because of what they are doing, well, that is Keira. She did what she wanted when she wanted. She did parts of the dance and others she would stand there and look around. At the end all of the classes came out to take their bow, after while they where standing there the teacher came out to do her "thank yous". Well, Keira I guess got sick of standing there so she lgot down on her tummy and slithered her way to the front, in front of the teacher. This part I didn't see as I was helping back stage but I was told about it. Some lady even took a picture of her doing that because she thought it was so funny. Oh Keira what a crack up.
Here is our little ballerina ready to go.
This is her class doing the dance.
Keira didn't' want to be in that circle I guess
She did a great job though we where very happy that she had fun, liked and attempted to dance, it really was a big step up for her.

Happy Birthday Nyah!!

So, I was just sitting here thinking about my little Nyah and where we were exactly six years ago. Well of course we were at the hospital ready to have our fist baby. I forgot how crazy and exciting/stressful it really waS. We were were supposed to be moving to our new house we just built. Everything was in boxes, I still had two weeks til my due date. We were at Target when my water broke, so we had an extreme change of plans and went to the hospital. She was born at 3:10 am on June 1st. She weighed 7 lbs and 5 ounces. So the next day, while I was recovering in the hospital everyone pulled together to get us moved becuase we had to be out of our apartment, nevermind the fact that we still hadn't closed on our house yet. They still let us move in though, because it was a weekend and we were gonna close on Monday. So, it was weird that I had left my apartment to run to Target, then to come home to a new house full of boxes. I know the neighbors didn't know what to think, when they see moving trucks one day and the next day signs that say "It's A Girl." It is fun to think about and remember things surrounding her birth.
She was such a cutie and oh, so happy all of the time, we had no problem getting her to smile.

Her first trip to the beach at six months old. When we started feeding her solids, HOLY COW! She would eat and eat, nonstop. We would have to feed her HUGE bowls of food and just shovel it in her mouth because otherwise she would get really mad that we were not feeding her fast enough. Now, if this kid gets hungry WATCH OUT, she will kill for food (just like her daddy).

For her second birthday when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her she just started crying because it scared her so much. I wish we had it on video, but that was before the days of having a video camera.
Our little baldy, we thought she would never get hair, she was bald forever. I would put her hair in to little ponytails on top of her head, which we referred to as her devil horns.

She will be forever a princess. She has loved anything to do with princess'
since she was very little. I don't know if she will ever grow out of it. It's so cute. Our little poser, whenever the camera comes out she starts posing and asks us to take pictures. I am not sure what she was going for here put it's cute. This was also right after she cut her hair for the second time. It was a little longer and she cut the piece on the side of her face clear up by her eyes as you can see. So we had to get it blended, the first time she cut right up front so she ended up with bangs becuase of it.
She has been in gymnastics since she was 3. She LOVES it. She loves the running and jumping and especially the medals or trophies she gets.

This was a sad day for mom. I hated sending her to school on her first day it was very hard for me. She was very brave and got on the bus with a big smile on her face. She absolutely loves school and soaks up anything she is taught. She hates going off track and when she is off cannot wait to go back on.


Time really flys, I cannot believe she is 6 already. She will be starting first grade this coming year. It's so weird to think of how old she is getting.

NYAH: helpful, kind, empathetic, happy, excited, active, loving, problem solver, independent, listener, sweet, friendly, funny.

Thats what Nyah means to us, she has so much empathy and hates when anyone is upset for any reason, especially if she thinks they are upset with her. She is so kind and is always asking kids to play on the playground that may be sitting by themselves. She is hilarious and is always coming up with the funniest things, I have now called it Nyah's quote of the day because she is always saying something to make me smile and laugh. She is so independent and always wants to do everything all by herself. She loves anything that is active, dancing and twirling are some of her favorite things. She is a people pleaser and is always trys to do whats right. She loves church and primary. She loves reading the scriptures and learning about the Nephites and the Lamanites. She is so sweet and we love her very much and can't wait for new and fun things to do with her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NYAH!

Nyah's School

At Nyah's school, they had a patriotic program. It was so cute, I had to do some seious multi-tasking thought since I was the only one there and I was trying to video tape and take pictures at the same time, it was quite interesting. It's amazing the pictures turned out. The program was so cute, they sang patriotic songs and some of them had small speaking parts. One of the songs was "The Star Spangled Banner", Nyah was practicing at home and as I was listening I noticed she had a few of the words wrong, it is so funny but at the beginning instead of singing "Oh, say can you see" she sings "oh satan you see." I was laughing out loud over this one. She did a good job though and on the last song they sang "America the Beautiful" she wanted to sing it pretty, so she had a little bit of opera going on, which wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't louder than the rest of the kids and also tone deaf. She sang her little heart out, which got a few snickers from the crowd but she had a good time, it was great.

After the program, they got what the school calls "Crescent Cub Awards", so they each got a medal which she thought was wonderful.

I am one of the parent helpers at her school and go in every Monday, well since we are nearing the end of the school year, this last Monday was my last day, which kind of makes me sad, I enjoyed going and helping out and the kids are so cute. Anyway, I took some pictures of her class.

So here they during story time, all sitting quietly on the rug while Mrs. Morgan reads to them.

This is where all their papers that they take home are kept. They call it "The Mailbox". At the end of the day they all take turns getting their backpack and getting all their papers for the day.
Here is Nyah's teacher Mrs. Morgan, who Nyah of course loves. She is a great teacher and I was glad Nyah got to have her as a teacher.

Here is a few more pictures from their patriotic program. Look at the flag in the background, it's done in their little handprints, which I thought was so cute.
Nyah got to be part of a song where there was bells, so this is her "posing" with her bell. I was in the front row and she knew I was taking pictures so she just had to strike a pose. She is such a crack up.

So, now the kids are out for the next week so they can do end of the year assesment test for the Kindergarteners. They come back on Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day. Then they have the rest of that week and the next week, with Thursday being the last day of school. So June 5th is her last day. It makes me sad that she is growing up so much. She has learned a lot this year. She can now read and she loves to write notes to people. It will be weird to have her in 1st grade and going to school all day but it can't be prolonged. She is ready and will do wonderful with the transition into 1st grade. She already has a lunch box (curtesy of grandma). She is excited to move up. Oh, well at least I still have the two younger ones still at home and little. I will get to enjoy Keira with the preschool that I will opening up this fall. She will get to be in one of the classes so that will be fun. I must say though, it will be nice to have the summer break I am looking forward to it. The girls will be out of gymnastics, dance, and school, so the only thing we need to worry about is helping my mom out twice a week. Our lives will be at a slower pace, which will be nice.

Daddy's Little Girl

So, the other Sunday, we where getting ready for church. I looked in my bedroom and this is what I saw.

I thought it was so cute, her wanting to learn how to tie a tie from daddy. He always lets her pick out his tie every Sunday. I love that she idolizes him. Every time we come home from some where she gets upset if he is not home and always wants to know where daddy is.

Potty Training NIGHTMARE Chapter 2 "Diapers at Graduation"

Okay so I figured I would update you on our current status of attempting to get the ever so power struggling daughter of ours to potty train. If I was taking score it would probably be like Keira; a million, parents; 0. I have no idea what to do with her anymore. I honestly think she would be perfectly content to just graduate in diapers, not caring if she was the subject of teasing because that is her in a nutshell, she could care less about what others think, it's her opinion that matters and that is all. I foresee some scary teenage years with her, I only hope she will use her powers for good and not evil because I don't think she would fall prey to any type of peer pressure if she chose not to, no matter what was said to her, or she will try everything because she has to learn for herself, the hard way and she won't listen to what we have to say.

Okay so after trying every method ever penned on paper, and even googling more methods, I decided to go off the books since she isn't really a "by the book kind of kid." They say to never punish them for peeing in their pants, so that is what we decided to do, she wears pull-ups, she watched as I got rid of the last of her diapers. If she has an accident she gets time-out, if she uses the potty she gets her most prized possession "yummy's" (aka Star bursts). Well, now I feel like I am the worst mother out there because she gets sent to time-out like 6 times a day, we have been doing this for three weeks now, ya and I bet you can guess how many times she has used the potty yep we are back at the big goose egg 0. Three weeks, come on she's got to give in at some point right? We will ask her if she wants "yummy's" her response, "Nyah, goes potty and gets yummy's," which she means, that's what she does not me, so nice try mom and dad. Sometimes when she has peed in her pants after I take them off of her and have her sit on the potty, she runs out of the bathroom saying "I go to time-out now." She hates time-out, I do know that because she screams the whole time she is in there.

I was reading in one of my journals the other day and was reminded about her stubborn days of the past, like she wouldn't walk til she was 19 months old. We would try to coax her to walk by standing her up and holding her hands to walk with her and she would curl her legs up underneath her so she wouldn't have to. Also, when she was starting to eat solid foods, I remember with every single food we gave her, it took 6 weeks of giving her that same food every day, twice a day before she would not clamp her mouth shut and try it. She is still like that with food, I bought some strawberry and chocolate milk that was on sell this week, which Nyah of course thought was wonderful but Keira acted like it was acid, not wanting to try it. She still won't eat ice cream or Popsicles, if only she knew, right.

So, at this point I am at a cross-roads, do we continue with this "worst mom of the year award" by putting her time-out, or do we just throw in the towel and watch her walk to get her diploma clad with diaper on. I honestly just don't' know, I really am clueless and I don't think it will ever happen. And, so the saga continues, we will update with the next chapter, maybe a miracle will occur.

Las Vegas Vacation

Okay so there is pictures at the beginning and at the end of this post with what we did in the middle, oh and it goes backwards from what we did, so the first pictures you will see are from our last night there up to the first day.

At the buffet, I love the look on Addy's face it's so funny and of course Nyah won't stop from eating her icecream.

Here is Aisia with Keira, my nieces crack me up.

Here is Jer and me at the Buffet

Here is Ryan and Kelly at the buffet

We couldn't resist having a picture with the Cocoa-Cola bear

All the kids playing in the pool on Monday
Kell, Jayda, and I lounging by the pool, watching the kids play
I think she likes this water

Keira I think died and went to heaven when we walked into this room full of "M's" she wouldn't stop looking at them and touching them, her and her sugar addiction.
Jared liked this Elvis we saw whilst walking to the M&M factory
Keira kept looking into the M&M's mouth like she was looking for the person inside this costume it was so funny
Me, Ny, and Jayda with all the "M's"

So we had a BLAST on our trip to Las Vegas. We got there Friday night around 8 their time. We just hung out and visited the first night. We of course stayed up late and the kids where so excited to see each other. They have 2 girls, Aisia who is 9 and Addy who is 6 and my girls LOVE them. So the next day we got up went to Lake Mead for two days, the guys camped out there overnight with the girls, me and my sister-in-law, Kelly came back to sleep in the house. I totally would have camped out to but with Jayda I figured it would be too hard to get her to sleep and then the whole heating up bottles thing. So we slept at their house and met them back at the lake the next morning. So we had so much fun at Lake Mead, it was too cold to go swimming in my opinion, well the Lake was cold, the weather was PERFECT! It was in the low 80's the whole time we where there. We loved soaking up the sun and totally needed it. We found this perfect little cove with a beach where we camped, the kids loved playing in the sand and the water. We roasted hotdogs and had smores the first night which was fun. We did more boating around the second day where we saw the Hoover Dam which was neat, I have never seen it so I was excited to see it for the first time. We where all so tired when we got home that night, we just had some Pizza and watched a movie. The next day we took the kids down to the strip to see the M&M factory since they had never seen it. We usually don't even go down there when we visit Las Vegas which is just fine with me but this time we decided to for a few hours while my nieces were school. We saw the Lion exhibit at the MGM Grand which the kids liked and they LOVED all the M&M's which where super expensive, they where like $10 a pound so we didn't get any of those, we figured we had eaten enough junk food that weekend anyway. After we got back my nieces were home from school, so we decided to let the kids go swimming in their pool, they all had a blast, while the adults just soaked up the rays lounging around the pool. I love their pool to it's really neat looking with a waterfall. That night we figured we can't go to Vegas without hitting a buffet. We went to our typical buffet at Green Valley Ranch which is local casino in Henderson where they all live. It was yummy as usual. We came home and went to bed, the next day we were just getting all packed and ready to go. My sister-in-law was getting rid of a TON of stuff so she gave me a TON of clothes, shoes and even some shoes for Keira we could not fit anything else in our car even if we tried. I love when she hooks us up with clothes so I wont have to buy any, any time soon. So we drove back home on Tuesday, the drive wasn't too bad but I hated watching the tempeture gage in our car get lower and lower the further we drove. So we loved our vacation and are now hating the cold tempetures of Utah. We need to go on vacation more often, as I really enjoy it. Okay so the rest is just as promised tons of picts from our trip, I took more but of course just picked a few.

Kelly, Ryan, Me, and Jared on the boat at Lake Mead
After 2 days at Lake Mead the girls were very tired and layed down to watch a movie
Here we are looking at the Lions at the MGM Grand
In front of the New York New York

Roasting Hot dogs
Aisia, driving the boat
I thought this picture was funny of the girls, look at their hair flying
me and Nyah in front of the Hoover Dam

The girls loved playing on the tubes and then Jared would stand on shore with a rope and run to pull them in and they loved it. Why we didn't just pull them behind the boat I don't know.
Nyah and her favorite cousin Addy, they are inseprable whenever we get together with them
So I LOVE this picture, do you notice the my baby's freakishly large foot on the left. . . ya it's Keira's who is sitting next to her, I thought it was funny.
No boating trip would be complete without Keira's "Yummy's" that is the term she has reserved for Starburst's, she loves them and whenever we go boating with my parents they always have Starbursts so when Ryan and Kelly had them to she was so excited.

They even have to have the same swimsuits
Here is their boat, it is really nice and very roomy
Me and Kelly
Jared and his bro

Nyah was our sand castle builder, well she played in the sand a lot, I don't know if she ever did build any sand castle though.
Keira loved the water and would always go in backwards and not very far.
Our little sun bather, complete with her umbrella to keep her in the shade.
she didn't like this water very much, i'm telling you it was cold.
This says it all, it cracks me up