Merry Christmas!

Left to Right- Uncle Tom, Dad, Gma Lake, Gpa Lake, Brayden, Chelsea, Abby, Maggie, Greg, Brooke, Me, and Nathan. (Ryan was taking the pic) :)

Greg and my new neice Maggie :)

Rough picture of me, but everyone else looks cuute! :)

Brayden opening his BATMAN!

Brayden and Brooke LOVED their kitchen :)

Today we had a wonderful Christmas! The kids woke up to see that Santa had visted. He brought them a play kitchen that they LOVED as well as some other small presents. After we got cleaned up, we went over to Pappa Lake's house to visit with Uncle Ryan, Great Gma and Gpa Lake, Uncle Tom, Unlce Greg and Aunt Chelsea, and cousins Abby and Maggie. We enjoyed a yummy ham dinner with some delicous sides. The kids had a blast opening their MANY fun presents! (Thank you so much to everyone for all of the wonderful gifts :)) Then the kids spent a few hours playing together with all their cool new stuff. It was so fun to see everyone. Some of which, we had not seen for about a year!! We hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Santa Hats

Hand Puppets!

Today the kids and I made some hand puppets thanks to the awesome present that Auntie Aimee and Uncle Jason gave the kids for Christmas!! Brayden made the frog and Brooke the bird :) It was great because the kids could help a lot. They used the glue stick and I just told them where to put everything. Brayden has been bouncing his frog all around "RIBBIT!" and Brooke goes running after him with her birdie going "CACACACACA" haha

My little Mommy

I walked into Brooke's room today to check on her and this is what I found :) She had her baby dolls lined up on diapers getting ready to change them. She is so funny! I love how she wants to be such a big girl and do all of these things!

So I need some advice! Nap-time has been a NIGHTMARE! Every day I swear it takes us at least an hour, if not 2 for the kids to FINALLY lay down and stop getting into their toys. I have tried laying them down a little later, seperate rooms, taking all the toys away? But they refuse to take a nap!! They need one becuase if they dont take one, they are trying to go to bed at 6:00 and are up at 4:00 am. That just doesnt work! Any ideas?? Anyone else have this problem? I honestly am at a loss. Let me know if you have any advice :) Thanks!!!

Feelin' the Holiday Spirit!

Yesterday a few of Nate's buddies came over and helped us Jazz up our Holiday decorations a little more. We found out that our apartment complex is having a contest for the best holiday decorations. 1st place gets $100 of next months rent! We had a lot of decorations from when we lived in a house, so we decided to hang a little more up. We also put "spray snow" and a snow man on our sliding glass door. :) I think it looks kind of cool.

Today we made some sugar cookies and Brayden helped me decorate them. He was so proud :) They arent the prettiest, but they taste pretty good!!

You know how every child is mischevious around the holidays and most "hunt" to try and find their Christmas presents? Well, I think yesterday Brayden topped what any child has ever done! I had wrapped all of the kids presents along with some for our family and hid them behind a rocking chair in our room. Brayden was taking a nap in our room yesterday and when Nathan went to check on him, he had unwrapped EVERY present including taking some of his presents out of the packaging!!! I was really upset at first because now Christmas isnt going to be so much a surprise for him, but now I just laugh! I really should have taken a picture!! :) Luckily, I really enjoy wrapping presents, so I wont mind re-wrapping them, but I COULD NOT believe what he had done! To say the least, he now knows the importance of waiting until Christmas (I hope!)

Santa & Reindeer

The kids and I made these hats today. They weren't smiling for the camera very well, but we had a blast making them!! :) They basically just put stickers on them... I of course helped them spell out their names, but Brayden was good about telling me what each letter was. Now they are running around and Bray is pretending he is Santa. So cute! :)

Minnesota Fun

The kids and I went up to Minnesota with their Pappa Bakke on Tuesday last week for Thanksgiving. Nathan, unfortunately, had to work so he was not able to come with us. Suprisingly, the kids were VERY good on the flights to and from! This was SUCH a relief! In the past it has been somewhat of an ordeal for us. The weather was actually very nice there. The sun was out shining and most days there was not much wind either. I believe the high while we were there was 35 degrees. No snow unfortunately. I would have really loved for the kids to get to play in the snow, but no worries. I am sure we will plan a trip to northern AZ this winter to check out the snow.

We got to visit with all of Nathan's family. His brothers and their families made the trip down to the farm so we got to visit with them and Brayden and Brooke got to play with their cousins Kate and Annika! :) It was so fun to watch them play together. They especially loved to play dress-up with them! Brooke would put on dresses, play high heels, flower headbands, and purses. It was very cute! Kate and Annika have grown and learned so much since our trip out there in June. It was so fun getting to see them.

We also went and saw a bunch of animals. Grandma Great had sheep on her farm that the kids enjoyed, and we went to their aunt Jenny's farm to see horses, goats, cows, a pony, and even some cats and dogs! They had a blast!!

And of course there was A LOT of yummy food! Nathans grandma (Grandma Great) spends much time in the kitchen! We had ribs, porkchops, chicken, scones, pancakes, and of course Turkey dinner!!! (with a lot of yummy sides of course) Also, Nanna Bakke (Nates mom) made some sugar cookies and the kids got to decorate them with icing and sprinkles. They had so much fun! :) It was a great trip. Brayden is already asking when we are going back. He says he misses Nanna and wants to go to see her tomorrow. hehe

Brooke's a BIG Girl!

Brooke went potty on the toilet for the first time tonight!!! YAY Brooke!! :) She followed me into the bathroom and stood in front of the potty training toilet trying to pull down her pants. I helped her take them off, then 2 seconds later tinkle tinkle!!! :) I am so proud of her!! She got a tootsie roll as a reward :) I cant believe that at only 19 months SHE is interested in the potty already!! We are excited!

Made with Love

So now that I am staying at home I have been trying to find things to keep me occupied (other than cleaning or shopping online) while the kids are napping... So believe it of not, I saw this on a show and thought I would try it. They are handmade Recipe books. I made a few, but only put this one on here. I put 3 tabs- Sides and Salads, Main Dishes, and Desserts. There are blank pages in between for you to put your recipes on. What do you think? I dont pretend to be good at scrapbooking. I always try, but I am one of those that Iwant to see the finished product too quickly, so it never turns out the way I hope that it would. Do you have any ideas on how I could make this better? Or know of any other fun projects or websites that can occupy some of my time? :) Let me know!

Wellness Check ups

The kids got their wellness checkups yesterday... Good news! They are both very healthy! :) Brooke is 32 5/8 in, 25 lbs 15 oz and in the 74% for her age. (Yes she has always been a big girl!)

Brayden is 38 6/8 in, 34lbs. 11 oz, and in the
51% for his age. He has always been around "average," if not a little small for his age :) Just thought I would share with you all!

Yay for Madagascar II!!

Last night we took the kids to see Madagascar II- Return to Africa. We took them on a Monday night because in the past when we have gone to movies, one of us is getting up with them taking them out of the theater because of their fussing and it was just a nightmare! We thought a Monday night would not be so busy, so it wouldnt be as bad. Well, the kids did GREAT! They both sat there eating their popcorn, graham crackers, etc. They sat through the entire movie with no fuss!! Brayden especially enjoyed the movie :) He said he wants to go do that again. It was funny because awhile back my dad, me, and my brother took the kids to see WallE at the theater and Brayden kept saying "like when pappa took me to see WallE mom!" He remembers EVERYTHING! Anyway, I was just so excited that this is something we can do as a family now :)

Deck the Halls

I know what you are thinking... it isnt even Thanksgiving yet. But Nathan and I truly LOVE the holidays! One of our favorite thing is decorating, so this weekend we decided to put up our tree, lights, stockings and other decorations. I just love this time of year. The baking, family, scent of yummy food in the kitchen. Its all so wonderful. We thought this way, it could last just a little longer :) We even got Mojo a little holiday sweater. Hopefully we will be taking our family photos soon and get those out to you all :)

Super heros

Brayden and Brooke were playing "super heros" this week... it was so funny to see them running around the house in their masks pretending they were on a "mission" as Brayden told me. Brayden was Batman and Brooke was Spiderman. Brayden would go outside on his scooter and say he was going on his motorcycle to his mission... it is so funny the things his little imagination comes up with! Brooke would just run around following Brayden. I love how they are pals and can play together like this! :)

Playin at the Park with Pappa

On Sunday we went to my dad's house and we took the kids to the park by his house. The kids had a great time!! Brooke really enjoyed these bouncy animals! She would bounce back and forth and bob her head. Brayden loved the swings! He said he was Spiderman! He was going really high! I was proud of him because normally he is pretty scared to do that kind of stuff. We saw this huge Great Dane at the park. The kids really got a kick out of it! I dont think they quite knew what to think of this big dog. The weather was beautiful, although a little overcaste. It ended up raining a little bit later in the day. All in all it was a great day :)

The kids have been growing and developing so much every day! I guess since I have been at home I get to notice all the little things now and I LOVE it! Brayden is curious about EVERYTHING! He really wants to know what everything is and how it works. He likes to take things apart and put them back together. He really has a creative little mind. Brooke is quite the little girl. She is really into baby dolls now. She rocks them and shh's us if she is trying to "put them to sleep." Its really funny. Other than that I have had a chance to work with Brayden on his numbers, letters, shapes, colors etc. He is doing pretty well. I got some cool stuff from a teacher supply store to help him. He knows his colors really well and he can count to ten perfect, but beyond that he has a little trouble. He bounces around in numbers... "12345678910....11 13 4.." haha Shapes we have been using our sidewalk chalk for, so that is a work in progress and letters he is doing pretty well. We have flash cards and workbooks that we focus on one letter each day.

Other than that, we are just baking yummy stuff for dad and spending some quality time playing and having fun. I am LOVING being a stay at home mom! I couldnt imagine spending my days doing anything else now.

Maggie Elizabeth Lake

My neice Maggie was born November 6th at about 8:00 am. She gets to share a birthday with her uncle Nathan! :) She was 7 lbs 2 oz and 20 in long (I believe...) :) She has beautiful brown hair and blue eyes... for now :) She really seems to be a good little baby. I got to go and visit her yesterday for a little bit. Of course she was sleeping most the time, but when she was awake she was a pretty happy little girl. Abby is a great big sister! She was holding Maggie and telling me how beautiful she is! I am so excited to be an aunt again! Congrats Greg and Chelsea! You have a wonderful family!

MMM Goulash!

I made Goulash the other night and the kids dug into it!! They made a mess, but really enjoyed sitting outside in the cool weather eating their dinner. :)

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

The kids put their Mickey ears on the other day & I thought it was so cute so I thought I would put a few pics on here :)

Halloween Party

Last night Nate and I went to our friends Jason and Jacquline's Halloween party. It was a lot of fun! There were some hillarious costumes... Nate and I went as Rock Stars. I was Avril Lavigne and he was of course Kid Rock :) Here are some pictures... (some are kind of rough...haha)