Happy Valentine's Day!!

Thanks grammy & grandpa Astill for the fun package of goodies and grandma & papa Rabe for the cute cards! Can you tell Mckell REALLY liked them?! (and Colter's giving her the 'it's just candy, what's the big deal?' look)

 Kell's eyebrows kill me- they're so prevalent? Is that the right word to describe them?- they just stand out so much. Lucky girl!

 She definitely got her momma's sweet tooth- not so lucky girl! haha

And aren't these flowers Courtland got me AMAZING?! I love them! So gorgeous!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S!!!

Love my hubby and love my life!

Keeping busy...

With Courtland working LONG hours (as in leaves before the kids are up and gets home after they're in bed pretty much everyday except Sunday) we have been trying to find things to do to keep us busy and entertained.

We love going on walks to the library- it has a good playground and Mckell likes making friends to play with.

 And the library is good about having special events for kids. This one is a group they hired called Octopretzel- they were super cute and Kell was in heaven singing and dancing around with Colter bouncing and clapping along too.

 We go to the mall by us often as well- they have a great toy store that has lots of toys already open so kids can try them out.
Colter 9 months old

And this is what happens when I give up and let them go crazy- madness! They get EVERYTHING out and create a disaster, but for those 30 or so minutes while my mind is elsewhere and I'm temporarily  in another place- it's worth the clean up to get the much needed mental break!

 And this last picture is for my mom- I like to prove I can be domestic sometimes! haha Hopefully one day I'll be more into cooking and learn more elaborate meals (for Courtland's sake)! This is my mom's super easy chicken tetrazzini and I think it tastes amazing!

Sunday afternoon at the beach!

We don't get to spend much time with daddy these days so we try to make the most of them! After church we headed to the beach to play in the sand. Not sure if this is an appropriate Sunday activity, but we had a good time just all being together as a family!

Mckell could play in the sand for hours on end- we had to drag her very unwillingly!

Colter's first hair cut!

I decided it was finally time to get Colter's first hair cut- he was starting to look a bit scraggly with all the thin baby hair and unevenness. We just went to great clips (no way was I going to spend $25 on his haircut that takes 2 minutes to do).  Anyway, I think it was fine for Colter, but I'll spend the more money next time and take Kell to a good place.  They completely butched her and it was all uneven and very badly done, I was so mad! You live and learn right?!

Colter was great. For the most part he just sat still in my lap wondering what in the world was I letting the lady do to him.

His baby hair was a bit strawberry blonde, but after the cut- he was all toe head blonde!

Mckell was good too... but her after was WAY to short and the lady did not listen and I was too busy with Colter to notice what she was doing... NEVER again!

 (I wish these pics weren't so blurry- they're from Courtland's iphone)

Our two kiddos with new haircuts!

 After getting haircuts we went out for burgers and then to Trader Joe's for some groceries for Sunday dinner.

 Sibling love, they're going to be the best of friends and never fight... right?

 Love our two little bugs! Best lookin kids around.. not that I'm biased or anything!

And after our fun family night we came home and tried to wind down the kids for bedtime but they were having way too much fun playing!

 Love this face- he was on the attack!

 "Look at me, I'm a big girl!"

(don't mind the chocolate dribble running down her chin) Love my juicy girl! (I couldn't resist getting these jammies- I think they're so cute and worth the $20 right?!)

 Getting ready to give us an "oooooo tight"!
(Papa Rabe started the 'ooo tights' with my siblings and I and we are carrying on the tradition)

Big Boy!

Random picture of Colter- he is our BIG BOY! He's not really chubby- just solid. I call him the tank! I'm sure he'll love me for that when he's older. Can't believe how big he is getting!

Getting back on schedule from Christmas break

Getting back on some kind of schedule is always a challenge after being gone for a few weeks but I'm not much of a schedule stickler anyway!

We're just having fun eating, making lots of messes, which then require lots of baths, and hanging out!

Love my two stink bugs!

Colter was getting mad when Kell was eating strawberries and not sharing so I gave him his own bowl (he's mostly just been eating baby food) and he LOVED it! He was in heaven feeding himself at his own pace.

 And of course, Mckell is still just as messy as ever when it comes to eating! At least it's not a battle to get her to eat- just a lot of work to clean up afterwards from the chair to the floor to her clothes and her hair.... Oh well!

 These two have lots of fun in the bath together- they just laugh and giggle the whole time and I love it.

 And this little guy is shaping up to be quite the looker! Is that not a killer handsome picture below! I love it! Those big blue eyes and white blonde hair! Girls beware- I have a lady killer coming up!

Sick after traveling...

This little girl ALWAYS seems to be sick, especially before, during, and after trips. So we spent a week or so just watching movies and being lazy trying to get better after the holidays.

When she's sick, she insists on her cow pillow, blankets, binkie, sippy with chocolate milk, and a baggy with snacks- she's very particular! But whatever makes her happy, I'm glad to obligee!

 Even though we didn't get out much- of course this guy was still in good spirits, just happy to be him.

 And finally Kell started feeling better and had a burst of energy! She jumped and jumped FOREVER on her new tramp she got for Christmas. Glad she finally feels better!

 Blurry picture, but love these two kiddos. Colter is pulling himself up and starting to walk around the couch and he only started crawling a little over a week ago, he might just go straight to walking (hopefully not though!)

Colter is 8 Months Old!

This bug is a BIG boy! And I mean big! I think he already weighs like 20 lbs! And just look at those cheeks, bulging tummy and thighs and we love every single roll! Colter is such a sweetheart and such a chill little guy.  He is just happy and content observing and watching but..... He FINALLY started crawling! Literally the day we got back from Utah! And he is following in his sister's footsteps and is doing the army crawl! I don't know what it is with my kiddos but looks like I just grow army crawlers and not real crawlers! We'll see if he keeps it up like his sister and skips real crawling on all fours all together. 

We sure love you and are so blessed to have you in our family! You make everyone around you smile and melt there hearts! 

 And now that Colter is crawling- he tuckers himself out crawling around and getting into anything and everything he can get his little hands on! So precious!