Camping

We just got home from taking the girls camping for a couple of nights. We went with our good friends, The Tidwell’s, who also happen to be our next door neighbors (we have some super cool neighbors!). There was this cute little wash about 100 feet from where we set up camp so the girls spent all day in their bathing suits keeping cool. I can’t believe how warm it is already! The water was constantly running down stream, but it wasn’t enough to have to worry about them drowning or anything so we just let them play until they couldn’t take it anymore!

Eden and her friend, Peyton

I think I take way too many pictures of these girls. Eden usually cooperates for a little while but she will let me know when I’m being annoying. Brea just doesn’t stand for picture taking at all! {none, whatsoever!} It’s like she can smell the camera as soon as I take it out of the case because she just automatically shuts down. I don’t think she likes the attention and the shouting at her to “smiiiile!” or “sayy cheeese!” in the super annoying voices I make. She has been getting better though. She will occasionally make eye contact with the camera, so that is an improvement! This is the face I have been getting lately when I point the camera at her -

I remember Eden going through a super cheesy phase, but at least it was a decent looking smile!! Brea’s crazy face is just out of control!

Luckily, I got a few good shots of Brea which I am so excited about because it rarely happens. She really is so pretty and sometimes I feel like I can’t ever capture a good picture of her cuteness because she is such a camera hater. If you’ve never witnessed the enormous amounts of cuteness that she is, here are a few pictures to prove it!

  

Back to camping {sorry, I get sidetracked easily}… it was a blast! Eden and Brea LOVE being outside so this was like the best 3 days for them! I was dreading bed time with them but they had played so hard during the day that by the time 8 o’clock came around they were both practically begging to go to bed! It was a little cold at night, but we survived.

When the girls weren’t playing in the water or eating (they eat nonstop!), they were hanging out in their special camping chairs. I couldn’t resist buying these bright pink fun-sized camping chairs for them, they are so cute!

This morning as we were making breakfast, Eden announced that she had to go potty. We had a little kid potty set up for the big girls to use and Eden made her way over there. I started getting the food ready and next thing I know Brea was out of my sight. I looked over at Eden and this is what I saw -

 

I laugh every time I see this picture! Brea had to follow her to make sure she pooped safely! They even had to hold hands. Every potty break after this, Brea was sure to accompany Eden and make sure everything went smoothly. They sure love each other! I love that this picture totally captures what they look like in the morning. {They can’t be totally glam 24/7!}

We made our way home this afternoon and Eden was so sad! She is already talking about wanting to go camping again! I knew they both had a good time when I loaded them into the truck to leave and not even 5 minutes later I found them like this -

Ahh, I love them! I love the little family that Craig and I have created. My heart just beams when I look at these girls. {I love being their Mom}

Just another typical morning

It was too beautiful this morning to not go outside and ride bikes! Brea is happiest when she’s outside and Eden could ride her bike for hours if we let her. Craig sits in a camping chair while the girls run around and wear themselves out for an hour or two. It’s cute. I love them. They are so lucky to have such a doting Dad that loves playing with them and spends so much time with them. I’m glad that Craig enjoys playing outside with them since it gives me time to fold a load or two of laundry or throw the dishes in the dishwasher. :)

Here are just a few shots from this morning. Brea has this darn rash on her face that just won’t go away.

 

 
This is the face she makes when I tell bring out the camera

 

Eden and her friend, Brielle.

Brea Rose

Look at this girl! I love her!

Brea is such a sweet girl. Since the day she was born, she’s just been so fragile and sweet. She is so sensitive and you don’t want to even look at her wrong or she will burst into tears. She has the best dimples, ever and her smile is totally infectious.

Brea turned 15 months old the other day and it really made me look back and think about how fast the past year has gone by. Brea and Eden are totally BFF’s. They love running around outside together and playing with their toys all day long. Brea would spend all day long outside if we would let her! The second you open a door, she’s already half way down the street. She doesn’t stop for anything!

Brea is alllllmost 20 pounds which makes her pretty little. She’s also super short, so we’re usually referring to her as our little Midget or our little Shrimp. She is starting to say a few words here and there. She can say shoe, GG (Craig’s Grandma), Momma, owwie and no! no! no! She is such a quiet little girl, so it’s not often that she talks, but when she does it’s so cute.

Needless to say, we think we’ll keep her around for a while! I never want to go a day without her HUGE kisses and sweet snuggles.

Here are a few pictures of our adorable Brea:

Do they not look so similar? I just want to kiss them all day long!

The most perfect Angel (playing the angel in the Christmas Nativity)

What’s on the menu?

I love to cook. I have an extremely picky husband which annoys me more than anything in this world! He won’t eat a freaking vegetable to save his life. Canned {yes, canned!} green beans are the exception. He is crazy I tell you! I had to document tonight’s meal because he actually ate everything I served. I wanted to jump up and down on top of the table but I stayed quiet and didn’t make too much fuss about it in hopes that he will do it again some time soon.

{Isn’t it sad that I have to worry about my husband eating his vegetables more than I do our kids?!}

Tonight’s menu was thrown together at the last minute. Don’t let that fool you though – it was scrumptious! I won’t lie, we all had seconds. I do Weight Watchers so all of our food is weight watchers friendly around here and Craig is quite surprised that everything I make is “diet food”.

Of course, I can’t take all of the credit for this meal. Craig is by far the best griller around! We grill at least twice a week around here. It makes it easier on me and it is just plain deliciousness.

Enough talking about that stuff – more about the food! Tonight we grilled chicken with stuffing and veggies on the side. I marinated the chicken in McCormick’s Brown Sugar and Bourbon marinade. On the back of the packet it calls for 1/4 c. of oil and 2 T. of vinegar. To keep it low in fat, I switch them up and do 1/4 c balsamic vinegar and 2 T. oil. Besides, I am obsessed with vinegar and would much prefer more vinegar than oil. It  keeps the WW points low as well.

 

For the sides, I did Stove Top chicken stuffing (Craig HAS to have carbs with his meal. I would probably be a single mom if I didn’t include something carby or starchy in every meal), brown sugar carrots and sauteed asparagus.

That is right, people. My husband ate carrots AND asparagus. ALL IN THE SAME DAY! Brea picked out the carrots from her food and refused to eat them but Eden had second helpings! Brown sugar carrots and asparagus are definitely going to be on my regular rotation of vegetables.

Ta-da!
{I wasn’t planning on taking a picture of my food, so just ignore the totally earth-unfriendly paper plates. They are really small plates so they help me keep my portions to a smaller size :) }

To keep everything WW friendly, I:
- sauteed the asparagus in a small amount of oil spray (zero points)
- used Splenda brown sugar blend for the carrots
- substituted the oil for balsamic vinegar in the marinade.

Eden-isms

I can’t believe how hilarious Eden is. She is constantly cracking us and everyone else up! We love her! I decided to write down some of the funny things she says so I can remember how witty and funny she is at just barely three years old.

Uncle Trey: What does your Dad call your Mom?
Eden: Honey!
Trey: What does your Mom call your Dad?
Eden (in a nagging, yelling voice): Craaaig, Craaaig, Craaaig!

Sadly, it’s partly true :)

The other day we were saying a prayer before we ate our breakfast. We always include Uncle Kevin in our prayers and we usually say “please bless uncle Teebs in El Salvador on his mission”. It was Craig’s turn to say the prayer and just as he had repeated that same phrase, Eden chimed in and said, “and Belize!”.

We are amazed by what she know! We always say El Salvador, but she knew that he is in the El Salvador/Belize mission, so she was sure to include Belize in there as well. Smart kid!

I am sure you all are familiar with Antoine Dotson (The Bed Intruder guy). If you aren’t, here is the hilarious clip that made him famous:

Anyway, Craig and I always quote the part that says, “You are so dumb. You are really dumb, FOR REAL!”. The other night Craig and I were talking to each other and I said, “...isn’t that so dumb? (not quoting Antoine) and Eden piped up from out of nowhere and said, FOR REAL!

Maybe it was one of those “you had to be there” moments, but it was sure funny!

February = CRAZY!

February is a pretty crazy month in the Shaver home. It all starts with

Valentine’s Day! This year we decided to keep it pretty uneventful. I didn’t even take any pictures! I got Craig a book and that’s it. Maybe a kiss or two – he deserves it! I got a massage gift card and a Swivel Sweeper! I was probably way too excited for this bad little boy. I have been wanting one for so long! I absolutely hate sweeping at least twice a day! It is such a pain in the butt! This little concoction makes it not such a chore. It’s kind of fun actually. Brea always enjoys helping me.

We also went out to a Brazilian Steak House for dinner. It was pretty excellent! If you’ve never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, I highly recommend it. It is definitely a different dining experience and it is worth every penny!

Six short days after Valentine’s Day is my birthday. That’s right… I turned 25. Why do I still feel 19?! What the? How am I 25? I can’t complain though, 25 has been pretty good to me. For my birthday, Craig and I went clothes shopping together for a date night. We both needed it badly. BADLY! I almost teared up when Craig didn't even complain ONCE that night! He tried on everything I wanted him to. What a good boy!

Two days later on the 22nd was Eden’s third birthday! Wow! I can not believe I have a three year old. You would think she’s 15 by the way she talks and acts, but I assure you she is only three. She is the funniest little girl EVER!She is so well behaved and is the easiest toddler. We have adult conversations together and I just love hanging out with her. She’s pretty cool. To celebrate her birthday, we had a girls day with some of our best girls! Emma is one of Eden’s best friends and her Mom happens to be one of mine. It works out perfectly! We started the day by getting pedicures together like every three year old should. Eden thought she was in Heaven. She acted like she was a professional at being pampered!

After our pedis, we went to our favorite lunch spot – Joe’s Farm Grill. Delish! A birthday lunch just wouldn’t be complete without a special cupcake for the special three year old, so we headed to Joe’s bakery and had ourselves a little sweetness.

When we got home, Craig had her birthday present hidden under a pile of pillows for her to find. For the past few months Eden has had her eye on this fancy bike. Every time we would go to WalMart, she would insist on riding it. It is a Princess bike and it even has a baby carrier on the back. Is that fancy or what? She was beyond excited to find it hidden under a mountain of couch pillows.

Needless to say, she had a pretty awesome third birthday. We love Eden!

Two whole days after Eden’s birthday was our 4th anniversary. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun! For our anniversary we went on a 5 day Baja Cruise! It was much needed and I can’t even explain how much fun we had. We were definitely overdue for some adult time! It was so hard to leave our girls, but we knew they were in the most capable of hands – my parents! I am convinced they didn’t even miss us. They were so well behaved and it only took two days before Eden was asking us to go back on the cruise so she could stay at Grandma’s. Sad, but that makes me really happy that they had so much fun without us.

We left on Sunday morning and drove to California to spend the day. We had dinner at one of Craig’s favorite restaurants – The Hat. We stayed with some family friends that night and woke up bright and early to board our ship. As soon as we walked on the ship, our endless lunch buffets were awaiting us. We’ve actually taken this cruise before but you forget how much food there is! Of course, we enjoyed not having to make our own bed, not having to worry about dishes, laundry and kids :) It was so nice and relaxing. I love spending time with my husband!

Our first stop was Catalina Island. The cruise ship docks pretty far out from the island and you have to take a small boat – or tender – to the island. While we were on the tender, we were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins just swimming and jumping around. It was pretty neat. On the island, we went on a boat where you sit 6 feet below the water and there is windows to look out and see all of the underwater world. It was interesting, until I got sea sick! Blah… it took a few hours to go away. I didn’t mind though, we were due for our daily nap anyway! :)

The next day we visited Ensanada, Mexico. We’ve been before and weren’t impressed. This time we got to see the most beautiful part of Ensanada! It was amazing! We rented a quad for the day and found a beautiful beach with sand hills that we rode on for half the day. We had miles and miles of beach to ourselves and we just rode along the water line together. It was so romantic! After the beach, we decided to get a little crazy and we braved the Mexico traffic and found our way to La Bufadora – the blow hole. It was a pretty cool site, but the hour and a half drive there was beautiful. I can’t even explain the views as we traveled up a mountain along the coast of the ocean. Again, so romantic :)

After 6 days of being gone, we were ready to see our girls! The 6 hour drive home seemed like it was 12! We had an awesome time together and I can’t wait until we can do it again!

That was our February in a nutshell. February truly is a month full of LOVE in our home! I love my husband and kids more than anything!

Starting Fresh!

I am not even going to attempt to catch up on everything from the last six months! Starting today, I promise to be a better blogger! I will try to highlight a few of the important things that are noteworthy that have happened in the last six months. I always think I have a pretty boring, non eventful life, but looking back on the last 6 months there has been so much going on! The girls have grown up so much since then I can hardly believe it.

* In early September 2010, I visited Brooke, Sam and Connor in Utah. I love seeing them and I love going to Utah. Brea accompanied me on the trip and Eden stayed home with Craig. We had a blast!

* In late September 2010, I went on a 5 day trip to California with one of my best girlfriends. We ate fancy cheeses, stayed up late, and shopped. It was awesome! It was also the first time in over a year that I got a full night of sleep. Heavenly, I tell you!

* My little brother, Kevin, left on his mission to serve the people in El Salvador/Belize on December 1, 2010. Although we miss him more than I ever thought was possible, we know he is serving the Lord and he is right where he needs to be. Eden never forgets to pray for him!

* Brea turned ONE! December 8th, 2010 was her first birthday. She started walking about a week before her birthday and is unstoppable. She has the most beautiful brown eyes and I can’t stop kissing her!

* Eden had FOUR dance performances in December! She loves dancing and had a blast in her dance class. She was the youngest one by far, but she kept up with all of the other kids just fine. She loves being the center of attention.

 

* We had a fantastic Christmas! The girls were spoiled by Santa and loved every second of it! Eden really got into this year which was really fun for Craig and I. I love playing Santa!

II think that about sums up our lives from the past little while. Now I feel caught up and it isn’t such a burden anymore to blog!