Valentine's Day 2015

My lovely Sadie

Ryan was out of town for Valentines this year, but we still had fun. It was a balmy 85 outside, so we went to a friend's neighborhood pool. It was a huge pool that we had almost to ourselves.

This was a darling valentine that Boston got at preschool. It was just a reminder of my underachieving motherhood skills.

Photo Dump

Here are a few random pics from January and February. The last line of this paragraph is the reason I took the picture. It seemed to really hit home when I read it. "If a man has any greatness in him, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of his daily work."

Aunt Natalie came to visit for the day. It was fun to catch up with her.

We also had a sleep over at the Cardon's house. The kids had a blast. Here are Jane, Brooklyn, and Eliza. They are so cute, I can't stand it!

Strectching

Free, yet productive entertainment...

Date night to Dave and Buster's. (Essentially a grownup Chuck E Cheese)

Pillowcase race with our friend Emma.

All the boys in Boston's preschool are in love with Londyn. Boston is no exception.

Brooklyn Turns Two!

Brooklyn is seriously a doll. She cracks us all up everyday because she is so funny. I can't believe she is two!

We went to the zoo for her birthday.

The weather was great in January. The kids had fun climbing around and seeing the animals.

Grandma Lark came to town for the weekend. It was really fun to celebrate her birthday too! We had more pictures together, but this was the only picture of Grandma's visit that survived Brooklyn's mass deletion of pics.

Who doesn't love an ice cream cake!?!

Brooklyn's most popular gift was a wagon!

Brooklyn insisted on sitting in the wagon while we were putting it together. I thought the look on her face was so funny!

One last picture of Brooklyn basking in the sun.

At two years old, Brooklyn:• She speaks really well. She puts several words together. The other day she said, “Momma, I wanna shoe. Elsa shoe.” • She loves Elsa from the movie Frozen. She had Elsa p.j.s and slippers that she is obsessed with. Anytime we pick up Sadie from school she asks to hear the Elsa music. • If she doesn’t know the words to use, she is very patient in using alternative forms of communication so she gets what she wants. It is so fun to see. • Anything she sees others doing, she will do it too. Even if it is a two or three step process, if she sees someone do it, she will do it too. • She is a great eater. She isn’t picky at all about her food. She often eats more than Boston and Sadie combined. Although she is still a petit little thing. • She loves her momma, but is totally a Daddy’s girl at heart. • She can undress herself mostly, but needs assistance with getting clothes on. • She loves music. • She is weirdly obsessed with Scooby Doo. • She is a great little helper. • She will go pee pee in the potty every time we sit her down. She won’t tell me very often when she needs to go. I can’t fully commit to her potty training because of my loathing for potty training. I am confident she would be successful this young if I truly began the process.

A Holly Jolly Christmas

Alkema family Christmas Eve 2014

We drove to Napa for the whole week of Christmas. I'm pretty sure that Brooklyn accidentally deleted a bunch of pictures from our trip, so this is the smorgasbord of pictures that remain.

Giving Aunt Ashley some loves

Making the ever delectable and authentic Okonomiyaki with Uncle Jesse

We went to go see the lights at the Oakland Temple for Family Home Evening.

Grandma Diana and Aunt Ashely preparing for Christmas dinner

My cutie Sadie

One day I got to see my college friend Rechele. It was SO much fun to have a fancy lunch and catch up with her. She lives in Palo Alto and I was in Napa, so we met up in Danville. We talked for about 3 hours, but we could have talked all night. I sure love you Rechele!

One of the highlights of Christmas dinner was when Boston had everyone wrapped around his little finger while he sang the song, "The Very Best Part of Christmas Time". It was a proud parent moment for us. The song says the best part of christmas is the presents you give away and you could understand every word he said. He's had a little bit of a speech delay and we've been working hard with him. He is doing so much better at articulating himself.

He's so handsome :)

It was fun to do our traditional edible nativity scenes with our cousins, but we sure missed our best friends, the Tobeys.

We went to the Feather Farm and saw all sorts of animals and birds.

The weather was great almost the whole week we were there.

Other things not pictured include: lots of walks with Papa Rich, a baby shower for Aunt Brittney, hilarious game nights playing Heads Up!, catching newts, and lots of family love! I sure love the holidays. It sure brings out the best in life.