Summer Surprise!

My birthday is in December. My sister’s birthday is also in December. There were no other kids in my house growing up. December was a giant present fiesta! The other months of the year would often seem a little dry present wise according to my 8 year old spoiled self, lol. My parents loved my sister and I and they were always looking for excuses to buy us things and make us smile. So since we didn’t have birthdays to bring large gifts in the spring/summer my mom invented the summer surprise. Sometimes it was huge like the year we got a basketball hoop and sometimes it was something small like marbles or chalk. It was always fun though!

Before I had kids I was often critical of how much stuff parents would buy for their kids. If my pre-kid self could see me now she would be appalled =) I feel saddest about being ridiculously poor and living off loans when I can’t buy my kids all the things in the world! The good thing about this part of myself is that it is small and is very well controlled. I usually am able to talk myself out of buying lots of things and I do my best to remember that Brett and Alana will love the time we spend together a lot more than the stuff they have.

Sometimes I can’t resist buying Brett a sandbox though...

Mom and Dad P. came for conference Sunday and brought down sample of their new kitchen! It is so fun to see all the beautiful materials together!

I swear I clip her fingernails 2x a week and she still manages to get scratches on her little face!

She has rolled over several times in the last few days! Go Alana!

Reading books with Mimi is always a wonderful thing to do!

Alana tried solids...yuck!

Someday I will buy her a pink or purple towel =)

Rough housing before bed:

new mustache pajamas

New prison pajamas (Brett was insistent that he liked these ones)

Sean had to work on Saturday. Brett kept busy while I watched the first session of conference: