Baby #4 Sprinkle

Friends had been asking forever when they could plan a baby shower, but with this being #4 and us definitely not needing any new baby girl gear, I kept telling everyone absolutely not! Phi persisted and finally convinced me to consent to a casual family baby sprinkle at the park, which I agreed to with the caveat that no gifts were allowed! I instructed her to keep it as simple and casual as possible, so that we could all just show up at the park, hang out and eat some pizza and dessert, but of course she had to put way more effort into it than required! So many friends helped set up and everything was incredibly adorable and PINK!

Phi’s husband, Michael, is the rice krispie cake king, and since they know that’s one of my favorite treats, he made a two-tier version in honor of the occasion. THAT is what I call precision knife skills. Loved this so much!

Like I said, I told Phi to keep it simple, so of course she made way too many desserts. Such a beautifully decorated and tasty gluten-free bundt cake!

Super cute pink cupcakes with crowns and heart toppers. Meredith kept asking for more “muffins.” We think she was trying to trick us into thinking they were healthier by calling them this rather than “cupcakes.”

Along with the whole “keeping it simple” thing, Phi couldn’t resist making her own printable with her own original poetry. Can’t wait to show it to baby!

Thank you, Phi, Michael, and everyone who helped set up and brought food! I kept telling Phi to either assign everyone to bring a potluck-type dish or just order pizza because I didn’t want her spending any time/money on this! She just had to take things up a notch and ordered from a place that does both pizza and mediterranean (my fave!) She’s always my go-to person to ask for awesome catering places, and this did not disappoint. Everything from the pizza and desserts to the kabobs, greek salad and basmati was delicious.

Jodi with Baby Corbin, Allie and Maliyah.

It was a blast getting everyone together and the kids were all occupied running around with each other.

Amelia, Owen, Maple, Samantha, Parker and Meredith enjoy their picnic.

More, please!

These guys spent so much time and effort putting everything together, and it was truly a super fun and casual night, just like I wanted!

Sarah stopped by in between the three other birthday parties she had going on that day.

Bubbles!

Amy tries on Sheela’s new hat that we all covet!

Awesome dinner and dessert at the park with friends!

Leighton, Parker, Mia, Avery, Owen, Oliver, Amelia, Meredith, Samantha, Maple and Gavin.

Phi asked if we wouldn’t mind wearing flower crowns as she wanted to make the girls feel special as the little “princesses.” I found a crown for Jake in our dress-up box and the girls wore their Easter flower crowns. Phi bought me the prettiest one of all, and I immediately had to go search on Etsy for one the baby can wear! Love Maple photo bombing in the background.

 

It wasn’t that long ago that Phi and I were pregnant at the same time with Maple and Meredith and attending our joint sprinkle thrown by Sheela and friends.

 

So grateful Phi convinced me go along with the sprinkle! We had so much fun celebrating with everyone and these guys went way above and beyond for us! Best of all, the girls really felt special with all the attention and even more excited for the new baby (if that’s even possible!) It was honestly my ideal perfect sprinkle! Thanks, guys, you’re the best!

Lots of love,

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Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms

We’ve been alternating our spring berry picking between Tanaka Farms and South Coast Farms since the twins were 18 months old. This year, I took the girls on a weekday morning to Tanaka when it wasn’t too crowded. Nothing beats those fresh, huge, juicy strawberries!

Riding the wagon around the farm– not my favorite bumpy ride due to my huge belly!

The wagon stopped a few times and our guide brought over tons of fresh vegetables for everyone to try. The girls tried fresh onion, celery, kale, cilantro, carrots, and radishes– and actually ate them!

We were allowed to eat the berries as well as pick them and I thought the girls would be sick from all the strawberries they ate!

We had to keep an eye on Meredith who kept picking the little green baby strawberries.

Time to go home and devour the rest of our pickings!

Lots of love,

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April Happenings

Here’s a random April photo dump!

Samantha and Amelia are SO silly– particularly when they don’t nap (we still do quiet time for a minimum of 1.5 hours a day, even if they don’t fall asleep). They literally walked downstairs on a random Tuesday after quiet time was over like this and I started filming– it’s one of their funniest videos of all time. And in case you are wondering why they are wearing sports bras, they convinced Jake to buy them each one on a random errand run to Target (because they are manipulative and know they can convince Daddy to buy them anything!)

I have a feeling Amelia was the instigator on this one.

Our friends, the Erpeldings, got a new bunny, Mango! Meredith and the twins could spend hours over there cuddling him.

Meredith and Gavin on a “date.”

The girls always make me the prettiest bouquets.

Meredith loves to make cakes and cupcakes for me at the park.

Toddlers not interested in the games their mommies want them to play!

The days where it is just Meredith and me can be the most challenging. The twins are really great at distracting and entertaining her, so when it’s just her and I at the park, she’s bored out of her mind!

 

So strong willed. This happens 5.8 times a day.

Easter crafts!

We worked on refreshing our table manners because meal times were driving me absolutely crazy with all the getting out of seats, bouncing up and down in seats, elbows on the table, talking with mouth full, etc. We instituted a short-term ticket system where the girls were able to earn tickets to a private “Manners Tea Party” once they reached a certain number of tickets for good table manners. The twins were so excited for their tea party (Meredith obviously did not earn enough to join us!)

A fun taco, s’mores and movie night with Kennedy and Sebastian!

 

Daddy daughter date checking out a fun new park.

Meredith loves gymnastics and is very strong compared to the other kids.

Daddy daughter date to the Bubblefest show at the Cube and dinner out afterwards.

One of Meredith’s favorite pastimes is dumping out the contents of my purse. She loves to sneak away after breakfast when I’m distracted getting the girls ready for school and cleaning up and usually runs under the dining room table, going through lipstick, my wallet and any other treasures. Here she is caught red-handed!

Good thing you are cute, Meredith!

Lots of love,

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Spring Break in Utah Cont’d

Besides Easter excitement and skiing on our quick, 5-day Spring Break trip to Utah, the girls scootered on the walking trail and fed all the horses along the way.

Jake mcguivered a ride-on toy truck onto the swing in Grammy’s backyard with some zip ties– hours of entertainment!

 

 

The twins’ favorite babysitters, Claire and Charlotte, left CA last year to go to school at UVU, and they happened to be available for a last-minute meet-up before we left town.

Pippi Longstocking hair!

Post-braid crimped hair.

Dress up box time! Oh the memories playing with these dress up clothes with cousins!

What a diva!

We woke up at the crack of dawn again for the return trip and made it back in another record-time trip with just a few bathroom stops. Definitely our greatest success with a road trip to date!

Lots of love,

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