On the average day...

We spend a good portion of our time lounging in our "Cat's Jammers"

Eating goldfish

Watching shows (Dan was quite proud the day she asked for Star Wars)

Playing as best friend twins

Flying El Chupacabra

Occasionally wondering out into the frozen land

Frequently licking the guacamole bowl clean

And always waiting for Daddy to get home...

...so he can terrorize his girls for 2 straight hours. 

Heavens to Betsy's it's a good life.  

Half

                           ^^^Valentines 2013                                            ^^^Valentines 2014

Last Valentines Day we announced to the world that we were pregnant with BabyRad2. 

This Valentines Day we announced that BabyRad2 is 6 months old. 

I feel like we have always had SJ in our lives. She is the perfect addition to our little family, and she is practically perfect in every way. 

6 month stats: 15 lbs. (28%) 26.5 in. (75%)

+We did sleep training this week and she mastered it on the first night. We took away her binky, we stopped wrapping her up like a burrito, and I have her last feeding at 7:30pm. So now she sleeps a solid 13 hours!!!! It is amazing!!! Truly.

The trick... Astoria's Princess Rapunzel doll. Stori is so nice to share it with her. It took her a few days to be willing to share, but now she is fine with it since she got Jesse for Valentines Day, and El Chupacabra for on her daddy-daughter date.

I secretly wish we hadn't taken away her binky cause she is so cute with it, but she doesn't seem to mind yet. (I guess she is pretty cute without the binkers also)

+She is so smiley and it is so easy to make her laugh. The Dr. even commented on what a calm and sweet demeanor she had. I don't EVER recall that being said of Stori :)

+Her hair is still growing and growing and to be honest, I don't know how to fix it. It just does whatever it wants & I think it might be curly...

+She has also started to eat baby food. I feed her fruit in the morning and a veggie at night. her favorites so far are bananas and carrots. 

but not so much peas

+She has also started to give big squishy hugs! She wraps her arms around your neck and buries her head on your shoulder. Her kisses aren't as intense as Stori's were, but I love them just as much. :)

She is too cute for words, and my heck I wanna squish her every minute of every day! I love her so dang much! She is a celebrity EVERY. WHERE. WE. GO. and everyone wants to take her home. 

Happy 6 months June Bug.

All about Mr. Law School man

This guy.........

......... just got accepted to his first Law School just 5 days after applying! 

He got a call Monday night from the University of Idaho telling him that he had been accepted and also qualified for a $6,000 scholarship! We are so proud of him!! We would love to go to this school! There is also an option to do  his 3rd year in Boise, which would be so fun! 

Cheers to the next adventure!

U of I campus in Moscow, Idaho

Remember that time...

That Dan had all his camera equipment stolen?
 >well he got most of it back!! (high five!) with the exception of his big lens because of a silly $1,000 deductible. He's much happier these days now that he has a camera permanently attached to his back!

That time I took Sylvie to the Dr. about her lymph node?
>3 Dr. opinions later, and it turns out that it's normal and that she will always have it. HUGE RELIEF!

That time that Dan took the LSAT?
>back in June... :) well he officially applied to Law School a few nights ago. Now he's more nervous than ever! We could find out anytime between March and August---hopefully March so I can start planning. Our options are : BYU, U of U, U of I, Pepperdine (Malibu), and Wyoming. He may apply to some a little later, but the cost and time to apply to each place is kinda ridiculous. (WA, OR, AZ).

That time that my kids were sick?
>Which time-- cause they have pretty much been sick for 3 months straight. Most recently though, Bronchitis/ear inflammation/colds/dehydration. Poor Sylvie got it the very worst. Stori got better after about 2 weeks with antibiotics and basic medicine, but poor Sylvie just got worse and worse even while on antibiotics. Finally, last Sunday she got a fever of almost 102, and she began throwing up like big people and had no wet diapers. We called the Dr. on call and he told us to go to the ER. They treated her for dehydration with a stomach relaxer, and 2 hours later, (after they made sure she could keep fluids down) we headed home.

That time that I hate packing
> All. Day. Every. Dang. Day.

That time that I ran 5 miles and was so sore because I hadn't ran since Thanksgiving?
> I blame Alicia and our ability to talk the whole time.

That time that I get to play Vball with my friends every monday>
>We don't usually win, but it's still great fun to play.

And that time that I love my kids and husband more than anything..
>Every moment of every day.

Yes, I remember all of these things... and now some pictures.

Dan went out and took some pics of Stori to test out his new camera... Stori loves her umbellla that was my Grandma Lila's.

not a fan of the camera that morning.

We loaded everything, including her crib. into the storage unit before we moved, but she loved sleeping on the ground in her "big little bed." 

Astoria Rose Radford 2.5

This girl. Oh this girl.

She is sincerely spunky.

Precisely spicy

and has practically mastered the terrible two's.

She knows exactly what she doesn't want, and yells tells us about every 2 seconds.

However, she is very good at cuddling with me and giving me all the kisses I want.

She is also quite hilarious, and keeps me laughing all the time. These are some of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite red heads.

When getting ready to go potty, stori lifted the toilet seat, saw a little piece of toilet paper in there and said, "oh noooo! That poor wipe is so sad cause he can't find his family. I forgot to flush him!" 

Dan asked Stori to race him up the stairs at my moms house. About 2 stairs into it, Stori exclaims, "you go ahead dad. I'll catch up."

I was pretending to be sad cause Stori didn't want to give me hugs, and she got a sad look on her face and said, "don't be sad! I know Toy Story will make you feel better."

When Dan left for work one morning, Stori began to cry. She walked over to a very content Sylvie and said (while still whimpering) "oh punkin, you sad cause you misses yours daddy!?" 

While sitting on the ground happily playing with the kids, Stori came up to me and said, " don't worry mom, dadda just went to work and he'll be right back!" 

Haha I think she was saying it more for herself than me! 

She still sleeps 12-13 hours/night and takes one nap for about 2 hours.
She still doesn't like candy, chocolate, or anything really foreign. If I sneakily give her new food while she's distracted, she will continue to eat it, but doesn't do well with the idea of eating it on her own.
She also gags herself if she eats something she doesn't like. The little stinker.
She is absolutely the best big sister and delivers the binky to Sylvie like she's Stockton and SJ's Malone.   She always wants to be 'best friend twins' with her---matching outfits.
She wants to share bath time with her every day.
She shares her toys, does tummy time, encourages her when she holds onto a toy by herself, and begs me each night to let her sleep in her crib with her.
She loves Princess's, Mickey Mouse, and Toy Story. If she isn't in the mood to have her hair fixed, I ask her how she wants it fixed and she always replies, "Minnie Mouse ears!" She is really into "princess outfits" (dresses or anything that resembles a dress) and will twirl and say, "Look Mom, I'm a beautiful Princess!" All of her boots, and panties, and shirts, and coats have a different Princess assigned to them so that she will wear them. For ex: her brown boots are "Princess Tiger boots."Haha ya, she's a funny one. I can't believe in 6 months she will be THREE!
It's so crazy! She makes me crazy. And I LOVE her like crazy!
To end this, I will end it with what we say to each other before bed each night after prayers and our family cheer, (which, by the way, she has been wanting to say 'Millennium Falcon' for the family cheer---makes her dad happy haha)!
Love you sooo much.
Best Friends. ForevER. and EVerrrr
Sweet dreams.
("don't close the door please. And just tell me one more story.")

the "minnie mouse" hair

^^ A cute video of these 2 on our way home from Sam's Club :)

Arctic Circle shenanigans.  

Stori was soooo excited that Sylvie got out of her infant bath tub to "swim" with her.

It took exactly 2.5 years for this Car Cart to become available for her to drive! 

I asked her if she wanted to hug her snowman and she said, "But mom, I don't know how." This is what she figured out.

P.S. we took her to Idaho Falls to celebrate her half birthday and let her choose where we ate. She chose Sam's Club. She's a crazy one for sure! Love you Astoria!

June bug the 5 month old

-I might as well let Sylvie tell you about her 5 month info, because she is talking ALL THE TIME! If she is awake, she is jabbering. It's pretty cute... most of the time... :) She is also laughing and smiling all day long. I can't believe what a happy baby she is! Her giggle/squeal is so darn cute!

-As far as sleeping goes, she had another rough patch during Christmas where she was sick and would cry during her sleep around midnight and wouldn't stop until the medicine kicked in. Talk about break your heart. Now that she's feeling better, she goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 7:30/8:30am with a random feeding in there----it's kind of frustrating that she requires a feeding during the night now, because she never needed one before getting sick, so let's hope she stays healthy for a while!
  Her napping schedule is very consistent and she takes 3 naps a day-with her longest one in the afternoon when Stori is also snoozing (about 3 hours long). She has hit the stage where I just lay her down wrapped up with her binky, her bear, and the sound machine and she falls asleep on her own. It's kind of bitter-sweet. If Stori is asleep, I go pick up Sylvie from her bassinet and hold her while she sleeps....i'm not quite ready to give that up yet.

loves her bath time and is very modest! :)

-Eating is something she also excels in! She is a speed nurser, and now she has started baby oatmeal once a day. She loves it! With Stori, I had to put the rice cereal on her binky and feed it to her like that for a while haha... but Sylvie took right to it! She is also great at drinking from a bottle AND a sipper cup. I'm still having her drink from her bottle once a week on Sundays.

 

Check out her chub

-Rolling over---but is very content on her back, so she only rolls over that way a few times a day. She can only sit up for about 1 minute before collapsing to the side. That's what we're working on right now.
-Likes all toys, but LOVES her sister!!!! If there was a word greater than LOVE, then that would describe it. The second she sees Stori, she can't hold still and just giggles. She loves me too, but I'm a close second... poor SDR is in 3rd place :)

All 3 of us girls where showered, dressed, and fed by 10am today! high five!

I have never taken a picture of her cute birth mark

I imagine that she's singing "Cotton Eye Joe" here... and doing the dance...haha

Each month is more fun than the last with this lil lady! 

*Love*