What's better than one 6 month old???

TWO six month olds

sure love these best friend twin cousins!

Snow Day!!

It finally happened! SNOW!

I was so excited to take Astoria out in to the tundra and see how she felt about it...... Well these faces pretty much say it all...

Clearly she loved it. 

she even loved the "snow flavored milk"...

    

    

And I thought she was loving this mini snowman....

    

    

Until she decapitated it. Where is the love Stori Rose?

 

 Somehow even cold, snowy, dreary, frigid days are nice and warm and toasty with my Stori Rose!

i need a support system

.....one of my love/hate resolutions was to grow my hair out until I have my next baby....

But on a daily basis I tell myself that:

I'm not a "long-haired person" anymore
that I would only put my hair in a ponytail if it was long
and that I actually fix my hair if it's short {Which, for the most part, is true....ish}
that long hair isn't great for someone on a budget for the cost of shampoo, conditioner, hot water, etc.
I say to me self, "red heads don't look good with long hair"
and that I would have to just put it up for work if it was long...

All good reasons right?!
But then I see this

.... and maybe I do want long hair?

just maybe.

Plus pinterest is FULL of adorable long hair styles that are just begging me to try.

Happy 1/2 bday Sto Ro

181 days.

6 months.
half a year.

These are all words to describe how big you are! Turning 6 months is quite impressive.
(You've lived in 2 years already)

You started Rice Cereal

And then stopped Rice Cereal.

You play for hours with all your favorite toys

And work out with Mom & Dad at the BYUI gym.

It seems like you have really chunked up this last month! (Which is why we take you to the gym with us everyday)!

You are sitting all by yourself

 rolling and scooting around our tiny living room

 finally an AMBI ROLLER

hold your own bottle

interested in everything you see

 so ticklish 

laugh so hard when we sing "red solo cup"

 and go to bed all by yourself without having to be rocked! 

OH and you have moved into the crib! It was one of your New Years Resolutions... that and you outgrew your bassinet. I think i've finally adjusted with you so far away. (Atleast 16 ft)

And how could we forget how much you like having unlce aaron live so close. He just loves you!

SO HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY ASTORIA ROSE! MUCHO LOVE from Mom and Pops

Mondays...

I love Mondays
Mondays are my "stay at home mom" days and I absolutely love spending every minute of the day with Stori Rose.
I love waking up with her in the morning
feeding her myself and not having to pump.
I love tummy time and bum time as we practice her sitting up and crawling.
I love not putting on makeup until noon
and not putting on my work scrubs for the whole day.
I love singing to her to put her down for naps
and playing peek-a-boo with her as she so happily wakes up.
I love bathing her, picking out her clothes, and rubbing that most glorious smelling lotion on her chubby little thighs.
I love watching her learn new things and listening to her giggle so hard after I make ridiculous noises.
I think she loves me too!

Well this Monday is especially grand because Steven Daniel started his job today!! We have been searching for jobs in Rexburg for quite some time, and nothing ever came up. 

We were worried that I would have to go back to work full time...which would mean no more "stay at home mom."

Last Sunday our Bishop went to Dan and asked him if he would like to interview at Lockwood (Where our Bishop is the Manager). So Dan went in last Thursday and came back about 6 minutes later with a job! We feel so blessed. Especially because they will let him work around my work schedule and his school schedule as well.

So Thank You Bishop for letting me still love Mondays!

Learned to roll her tongue....

...hold her self up...

...and chew through wood.

Escuela *WARNING* may include inappropriate material

It was a Monday afternoon.
The sun was shining. No clouds in sight.
44 degrees in January.
All signs that would point to it being a good day.
until....
We reached for bread to make a PB&J sandwich.
No bread.
Reached for the milk for cereal.
No Milk.
No Cereal.
Things began to get worse.
We knew a trip to the awful, horrible, terrible Walmart was inevitable.
We get to Walmart and notice that EVERY single checkout line was full. Not just full....backed up and the lines formed down the shopping isles.
How could we be so foolish.
It was clear that Rexburg was no longer our lovely local hometown.
It now belonged to the 18,000 college students and their parents.
We even heard these words spoken in Walmart from a father to a son, "Do you think you will be able to eat up on campus, or do you need us to pack some lunches for you to take?"
REALLY REALLY?
Well we left Walmart and didn't even bother going to Broulims to get the rest of our groceries for fear that we would hear some mother offering to blow her daughters nose for her.

On a happy note, school started yesterday and my handsome husband did not have to go!!
I love "off-track husband" so much cause we actually get to see each other! Stori loves hanging out with her daddy and watching all of the extended versions of Lord of the Rings. She has even learned how to scream like a "ring-wraith."
Dan would like to wish a "Happy semester to all, and good luck to all the freshman with having to wipe their own bums for the first time" his words, not mine!

This is a picture of someone that actually does need help wiping

Eclectic Christmas/Stori post

{Quite a bit to get caught up on.  I was going to write the updated stats of Stori Rose on the 17th but that was also the day of Fake Christmas Eve and the day that my sweet friend Desi was killed in a car accident. (Still so unreal). 
 Lemme catch up real quick-like}
~Fake Christmas Eve. This is where all my family gets together a week BEFORE Christmas so that we can still celebrate it as a family before everybody flees to their in-laws for REAL Christmas. It's a grand ol' time as long as you don't have any unwanted phone calls.
I of course brought out all my old ugly sweaters that I've been collecting for the past 8 years. We decided to have Stori and Hazel be a part of the tradtion this year.

snoozin with auntie sherfalene

Stori was lucky enough to be Baby Jesus for our Nativity scene this year. She did a fabulous job and she added her own little touch by sticking her tongue out for the performance. I felt like it added a lot to the story. She has some fantastic cousins that always wanted to hold and play with her. She thanked them by slobbering all over their hands. Stori loved getting passed around between cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandmother. Even though she is grandkid #31 for my mom, she is one loved little girl.

Learnin to say prayers

SDR guessed the EXACT amount of M&M's in the jar. Plus he guessed 1 number off of the Green ones. and my mom guessed the right amount of Red ones. That's talent I tell ya.

~Stori Rose turned 5 months. Stori has been able to roll over from front to back/back to front for about 2 months but she can not roll to the right! Always to the left. She always has her tongue sticking out.
Loves her toy bumble bee more than any other toy (even more than froofie).
Me thinks she has started teething; drooling and she stops crying if we rub her gums.
She still sleeps at night but she has started waking up for short periods and realizes that she needs her binks.
About an hour after eating, she will sleep for 1-3 hours. She is still eating about every 3 hours (5x's a day).
Can still wear most of her 3 month clothes.
Sits by herself for minutes at a time.
Loves to make raspberry sounds and spit out her binks. LOVES to give kisses!
Does stinkers once a week.
Loves the song "the wise man built his house upon a rock." Always tells me that I'm her best friend!
Tricks daddy into thinking that he's her best friend. We all know the truth.....
LOVE YOU ASTORIA ROSE RADFORD!

~REAL Christmas. We left for Kennewick right after Desi's funeral on Thursday the 22nd. We got there in really good time because there was absolutely no snow here, there, or even on the blues. Stori did great on the long road trip too. She slept, ate, and played at all the right times. 

After the 10 hour car ride. A little worn out

We loved being able to hang out with the family each day. Every single family member on Dan's side was able to be home for Christmas and it was perfect.

Christmas Morning!!! She got her first dolly from Santa.

 

While making Stori's stocking this year, I decided I wanted to start a new tradition. I wanted her to have a teeny tiny stocking cause she's just a babe, but I also wanted her to have a normal size one that she'll have for always. So what i decided to do was to make a teensy one for all my little kids on their first Christmas. Then after the first Christmas, it will become a Christmas Tree ornament and they will get their normal size one. 

I think it will be fun when I'm old, to see all those tiny stocking hanging on my tree representing all my little babies. 

Astoria's stocking says "Stori" and then I made a rose out of felt so that it says "Stori Rose"

She loved her first Christmas and hopefully one day she will love that dolly Santa gave her. (She still chooses that silly bumble bee).

Opening her Christmas Eve jammies. Don't you want to SQUIIIISHHH her!? 

Christmas Eve walk by the Columbia River.

Wishin she could drink some of mama's hot cocoa

Stori's famous kisses!!! :)

Cutest lil reindeer. 

Some of the family getting ready for 8 hours worth of Mafia. Chase made for a great mobster!

We had such a great week in Kennewick. Wish they all lived closer to us so we could see them more than just at holidays!!!
So happy Fake Christmas/Real Christmas and Stori's 5 months.