9 Month Christmas Pictures

The girls turned nine months old right around Christmas.
So, it was fitting to do some Christmas themed pictures to capture their sweet faces at nine months.
Christmas pjs and Christmas dresses it was.




Bree was all about getting her picture taken this time.
She was playing and laughing with the photographer the whole time.
All smiles.







As far as Clara being happy about getting pictures taken, well, let's just let the pictures speak for themselves...


She hated the hat on her head, so we compromised on setting it beside her. Eh, close enough.



Bree=Happy. Clara=Sad







After much sweat and tears(from both myself and Clara), we got a decent shot in each outfit of them together.
Clara didn't smile in either, but she still looks pretty darn cute.
Also, she gets points for keeping her Santa hat on for more than one second without ripping it off...enough time for us to snap the picture.
And Bree, oh Bree, your little face is too sweet for words.

December Festivities

The Christmas festivities were in full swing this year.
Here are a few of the fun activities that has filled our December:



Our annual 'Dayton Family Christmas Get-Together' was a blast.
Unfortunately, Clara got sick on our way so we turned the car around and took her home.
Rick stayed home with sick little Clara, and Bree and I met up a little late with my family for dinner at Nauvoo Cafe and Temple Square lights.
It is great spending time with family during the holidays. As always, we had a great time.
Nothing seems more like Christmas to me than the lights at Temple Square.

Rick and I made sure to get out again later in the month with our little family to see some lights
because Rick and Clara missed Temple Square.
We headed down to Provo's Riverwoods where they have some beautiful lights on display.
We walked around, had some dinner, and got a little shopping in after.
It was a fun(and bitter cold) night with our family of four.

The week of Christmas, my sweet mom treated me to a night out with just her and I to see
David Archuleta's Christmas concert.
I know everyone out there thinks they have the best mom ever, but it isn't true. I do. :)
She would literally do anything for our family and is the most giving person I know.
I'm so incredibly grateful to have her.
The concert was great.
The best part of the night was right before his encore performance when he announced for the first time to the sold out crowd that he would be serving a mission for the LDS church!
He then sang my favorite Christmas song, "O Holy Night". So powerful and spiritual.
Great night with my momma!

Christmas Card 2011

Photography and card design by Dana Sorensen

Well, Hello There Santa

We originally had planned to go meet Santa for the first time last weekend at my dad's work.

No crowds, endless time, and free.

As we were leaving town to head up, Clara started throwing up in the car.
That plan didn't work out too well.
So, we decided to bite the bullet today and go to the mall, where it very boldly states, "no personal photography" and you spend the big $$ to get a shiny picture with Santa.
I was betting that Bree would cry. She has been a little on the sensitive side lately, but she pulled out the big guns and gave us a smile.
No tears on either side....success!

Bree and Clara, meet Santa.
Santa, meet Bree and Clara.

Babies' First Christmas Tree

Happy First Christmas Bree and Clara.

My Heart Explodes

I couldn't adore this girl more.
I love you Bree.

Thanksgiving Day 2011

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in California with the The Hansens.
Thanksgiving Day was relaxing, well, as relaxing as it can be with 3 babies and 2 young kids but it was pretty darn peaceful given that.
The food was yummy, the fire rumbled all day and it was
great spending time with one another.

Our 5 year old nephew Anthony made the adorable place settings.

Clara and Bree with their new cousin Taylor who is 6 weeks old.

Eating their Thanksgiving dinner....graham crackers. Yum Yum.



Instead of the old going around the dinner table saying what we were thankful for, we said the best and worst parts of our day. It was entertaining. A few: Rick's worst part of the day was wrestling with Ethan while he had a dirty diaper(yuck..haha), Cari's best part of her day was simply sitting on the couch and talking with her husband while holding her baby, Michael's worst part of the day was slipping in the shower, and my personal favorite...little Anthony predicted his best part of the day would be when we would play Scattergories later that night with the whole family. Tricky way to get everyone to participate! Fun memories.

I think this year more than any we have felt overwhelming gratitude and thankfulness.
We are so happy to have become parents this year and grateful to our Heavenly Father for bringing us this blessing.

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we went and got family pictures taken from our friend Dana.
She also took these pictures back when I was pregnant and we were excited she could take some of our whole family this time.
We are so happy with them.
People keep asking how in the world we got both girls to smile at the same time.
Our secret weapon? Kids.
We asked my 8 year old niece Abby and 10 year old nephew Kaden to come along and stand behind the photographer and get the girls to giggle.
The girls LOVE Kaden and Abby so I knew it would work!
Here are a few of our favorites.

Please take a minute and admire this double chin and chubby cheeks....yes, we are proud! Pretty impressive.

Seven Months

These babies are still growing and they aren't stopping. I love that they are growing and thriving, but I wish I could push the pause button sometimes.

Because the girls were premature, each month we have nurse that stops by our house
to check in on them and make sure they are developing and growing as they should.
She has been coming every month since they were born and will likely continue until they are one.
It is always hard for me because I look at other 7 month olds and see them doing things that Clara and Bree aren't doing yet. It is so great that this nurse comes in to remind me that they were 6 weeks premature and have a little catching up to do. She is pleased with how they are doing and they are right where they need to be!

The girls continue to experiment with food. They have now tried bananas, peaches, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, carrots, and squash. Because they are eating more solids, I feel like I'm changing a million diapers a day. Crazy!
A big change this month is that the girls can finally bathe together. Now that they are both really steady as they sit, I have been able to sit them up in the tub and they splish splash with each other while I clean them. They love it and I love that it saves me so much time bathing them together!
The toy fighting has definitely already begun with these two. It seems that any toy Bree has Clara wants and any toy Clara has Bree wants. They both do a really good job at sticking up for themselves and will cry if their toy is taken away but right away goes to steal it back. I have some fun times in store for me with these two girls fighting over things, I can tell already!


I totally screwed up this month and didn't get pictures with their little monthly stickers on. These will have to do. These pics were taken on their 7 month bday after they went to the doctor and got some booster shots. I was trying so hard to get both girls to smile. This basically shows how impossible it is sometimes. I love that Bree finally got sick of looking at me and started eating Clara's arm. Silly girls.


-Sleeps like a log. Nothing wakes her up.
-Got first tooth! Bottom right came in on her 7 month bday and the bottom left came in about two weeks later.
-Still hates her tummy. I'm worried this girl will never crawl.
-Really good eater. Will take her orange veggies and green veggies, although the green ones don't seem to be her favorite.
-Still not a huge talker, but when she comes our of her shell and babbles we take it all in because it is so tender.
- Focuses so hard on little details. For example, when I put her on the ground for tummy time, she zones in on each grain of carpet touching it in between her fingers. She examines it forever and won't take her eyes off.
-Makes this strange elephant sound a lot. I don't know how else to explain it other than it sounds like an elephant. It's all through her nose and it is so hilarious.







-Has started to only sleep on her stomach. Whenever I go in to check on her, she has rolled from back to front. She has definitely found her comfy position.
-First one to get a tooth, the day before her 7 month bday. Bottom right came in first and about a week letter her bottom left came in.
-So ticklish. Dad tickles her under her chin and arm pit and she belly laughs as hard as she can.
-LOVES the bath. Splashes and squeals, then cries when she has to get out.
-Has started to lift her little knee up when on her tummy to experiment with first stages of crawling.
-Will NOT eat green veggies. Gags any time that I have tried to get her to eat them. No peas or green beans for this little lady.
-Still loves to talk and squeal. She is always the life of the party.