Updates

Playing catch up with the blog again...Summer is seriously just whizzing by!  The girls love all the summer activities, and getting to play outside.  Here are the updates...
Mommy:  I am proud of myself for my diligence in getting up 3 mornings a week and going to my boot camp class.  I've made some great friends in my class, and I can see results, which is exciting.  I just don't have time or the motivation to make it to work out on my own, so working with a group and trainer has been fantastic for me.  I also try to participate in some kind of race on the weekends, when possible.
I am still working over the self pay billing at the Cache Valley Hospital.  I work with amazing people, and have met some great friends there as well.  I love the people, but don't love the work load or pay.  Hopefully I can find a way to better that situation, now that I have a mortgage to pay again... makes it hard on the pocket book.
I don't have much "me" time, because I pick the girls up from daycare after work and usually get home around 5:30.  Then feed the girls dinner, play with them some, throw them in the bath tub, brush their teeth, get them ready for bed, read stories, say prayers, and then try to get them to sleep.  This is easy with McKel... has always been difficult getting Avril to sleep.  It is usually close to 10:00 pm by the time I am able to leave her room, she makes me stay with her.  She also gets up a couple times during the night and cries if I am not by her side.  I don't know a solution to this problem.  It makes it so rough for me because I like to read or work on the blog before bed, but this cuts a lot in to my "me" time in the evenings.  I feel like I walk around half asleep too, since my mornings start at a quarter to 6:00 am.  Hopefully this will get better someday...
Although this phase of my life is very difficult, I am so lucky to have my sweet angel girls.  They are absolutely my greatest joy.  I am constantly in awe as I watch them grow and develop.  They are the good stuff, they bring smiles to everyone around.
Avril:  Okay, I'll just say it.  This little girl is a handful.  She requires a lot of love and attention.  The best word to describe Avril is sweetheart.  She is so tender-hearted and sensitive.  She gets upset easily if things don't go her way.  However, she is so loving and caring and affectionate.  She is very emotional.  She loves to be nurturing and is often busy caring for her dolls and stuffed animals.  Her vocabulary is astounding.  She is well beyond her years with her vocal skills.  She is a total sweet tooth.  She would be perfectly happy eating marshmallows three meals a day.  I often have to bribe her to get her to eat her regular food.  She is so creative, so adorable with her big brown eyes, has the cutest smile you've ever seen, is so intelligent, so sweet, and so amazing.  We love her soooo much!!
McKel:  This girl is little miss personality, to the max!  She seems to always have a smile or some kind of smirk on her face.  She is full of energy and the most coordinated 20 month old I have ever seen!  She can easily keep up with her 3 year old older sister.  She is always running around, skipping, jumping, or climbing.  She will often run with her head cocked to the side, or looking backwards, or something adorable like that.  Normal running is just too boring, she likes to add some personality to it.  She breaks out in to a smile so easily, its the greatest thing ever :)  She has a good set of pipes.  Avril is always covering her ears and saying, "McKel is being loud, its hurting my ears."  It is true, McKel can be quite loud!  Her vocabulary skills are a little slower than Avril's, but physically she is way ahead.  To me she looks like a little gymnast, she just has this short little cute body like a tank, running in to things, knocking them down, and continuing on her path of destruction.  She does say a lot of words, but you have to have been around her to understand what she is saying.  Its so cute the way she says her words.  She loves her big sister, and mimics Avril all the time.  She is extremely attached to her Papa- both Spencer and Bryan.  Generally she prefers them over anyone else.  McKel is just a happy go lucky girl, and an absolute joy to be around.  We love her immensely!!

I have no idea what gave McKel the idea that this is how you use this piece of equipment.  We were watching a movie and this is what McKel was doing most of the time, all while shouting out words I was unable to decipher.

Avril had big ideas of her own, for getting a good workout.  They were just too funny to watch!

Hahaha!!

Avril had a fever and had to stay home from school one day.  She spent the day with Nana and Auntie Arleen, and Papa Bryan, they took turns.  She said her bear was sick with a fever too, so she was so sweet to take care of him.

This month, cousin Brian got home from his LDS mission that he served in Mexico City, Mexico.  At first when I saw him, I didn't make a big deal, because I thought he was his brother Sam, who I'd just seen recently.  He has grown up so much!  We attended his Homecoming at their ward.

McKel was so tired, she slept through the whole thing...

Spencer and Brian- Parkinson brothers.

This part is kind of embarrassing, but I guess I should include it.  Brittney asked me to help her learn some hip hop dance.  Since I'm pretty broke, I give her dance lessons in exchange for babysitting.  I am quite out of practice since I haven't really danced since high school.  Britt found some awesome choreography by a girl on YouTube named Emily Sasson.  I watched her dance and tried to figure out the moves.  We used the dance room at our gym to practice sometimes, and Brittney took a video of me doing the dance...
Bass Down Low.. the Cataracts.  Next we are going to learn a Chris Brown dance :)  I'm still working on that one...

I snapped this pic of Avril and I just before bed time.  We are reading stories.  I treasure these moments I get to spend with my little angels.  I just look at that girl and my heart melts...