Finally starting to crawl!

So Bailey just turned 9 months old yesterday (which we still can't believe) and she also started to crawl FORWARD finally, not just backwards, lol. She is also sitting on her own now and says "dadda" all day. Tonight I did hear her say "mamma" a few times, that was a bit moment for me. After all, who is the one who is with her all the time, ME!!!! Why do they always have to say Dadda first? We love our Bailey girl!

24th Festivities with the fam

So for all the mothers out there, there is a fun and FREE water play area in Highland, right next to the main shopping area, where they have a fun stream and water fountain for kids to play in. Again, it is FREE, and Abby didn't want to leave :) We went here on the evening of the 24th with all my family and the kids and my parents and the kids all loved it!

My cute Mom with the Bailey girl.......
Abby screaming in the water, she didn't like this part too much :)
Bailey kind of liked the water, but didn't like sitting in it. She was okay with her toes touching the water, but that was it :)
The cousins (Emily, Alli, Debbie, and Abby) having a good time in the water
Me
Gavin running with Abby, she was having a blast!
We also went on a fun hike/picnic up by Brighton Ski Resort with the fam. It was so fun! There were lots of misquotes to keep us moving quickly though.
Our little fam on the hike
Ryans, Colliers, Gilletts....

What the girls were up to last week...

So we found Bailey sitting up in her bassinet, it is time to move on to the crib :) we haven't done the switch yet because Abby can clime into her crib, so we were worried about them sharing a room. So for now she is in our pack and play and she loves being able to roll around and spread out.




Abby LOVES putting on all of my shoes, but I was a little surprised to see her in my black boots, she keeps us laughing.


These two keep us busy and we love them so much. All the cute and funny things they do make up for the crying and screaming. Yes, some days are long, but they are so worth it!
In Relief Society today we talked about how as mothers and wives we are part of a great work, even if it doesn't seem like it because of all the small tasks we have to do every single day. I totally needed this lesson because there are days when I feel like all I do is change diapers and make meals and clean, etc. It becomes easy to think that I am not accomplishing much of anything, just doing busy work. But I had the thought during our lesson today about how I am so thankful that my own Mother staid home with us through all of our growing up years and how she did such a great job of being a great mother, wife, and took care of the house and made time for each of her children. I don't view the things she did as small or unimportant, I completely appreciate her example and through her hard work I felt loved. She worked so hard to make our home a happy place and was always there for me growing up. I want to be like this for my kids and husband. Her example helps me to see that what I am doing as a Mother is so important.

I just need to remind myself everyday that what I am doing is important and that Heavenly Father is proud of my choice to be a mother and wife and all I do to better our family life is so important. He supports us through it all and he knows how much we can handle.

Just some thoughts!

The Good Wife's Guide

Gavin and a friend in our ward actually discovered this article on a chair at church and it made us all laugh so hard!!! Take a minute to read up to improve as a wife and mother, just kidding :) In all reality, Gavin would be happy if I were like this, but heck no!!

The Good Wife's Guide

From Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May, 1955.

View the original article as a graphic

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
• Be happy to see him.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
• Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.

Last few weeks...

I just have some cute pictures of the girls from the past few weeks I wanted to post, not really an exciting story to tell or anything :) But, we did have a garage sale this past Saturday and made $15, but possibly another $130 within the next week since we found someone who wants to buy another item of ours. It was a long, HOT day to sit outside, but we have been wanting to get rid of a few things we have downstairs, so it feels good to de-junk. Anyway, here are some cute pics....







We were laughing so hard, both girls passed out on the floor last week after a hot day outside playing, we figured out how to get them worn out finally :)
Bailey is growing up on us, she is saying "dada" and sometimes "mama", but not so much as dada sadly :) she is starting to sit up and rolls around the room all day long. She can feed herself too, that is a nice thing :) well, that is she can feed herself some snack foods, not everything.
Bailey fell asleep holding this little baby chick toy, it was so cute....

Our history/update........

***** If you don't want to read all this, there is a slide show at the bottom of this post you can look at :) it is a long post, sorry!

A lot of people ask us how we met and what we are up to and what goals we are working towards. So here is a recap of the past 4 1/2 years of our marriage and what we are up to :)

Gavin and I went to high school together and went out a few times our Senior year, but didn't really even talk much before that, lol. We met through our best friends and were set up on our first date our Senior year. Gavin had asked a different girl to his footbal banquet, grrrrr, oh just kidding, but as it turned out she couldn't attend that night. So his best friend, Jeff, asked my best friend, Lindsay, if I thought it would be fun to go with Gavin, and so he had Gavin ask me to the football banquet. It was a really fun date and I had a huge crush on him :) A lot of girls liked Gavin and I was so excited to have the chance to go out with him! After we graduated he invited me to his missionary farewell to Ecuador and he asked me to write him. So I wrote to him, not knowing how much he liked me, which I found out later on :) I always had a big crush on him throughout our school years and never thought I would every marry him! Two weeks after he got off his mission we were engaged and were married 4 months later. Apparently he told his Mom he was "saving me", whatever that means, for after his mission, lol. But I'm glad he did and that we didn't date too seriously in high school because we got to know each other outside of that relm. We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on Dec. 21, 2004 and it was such a beautiful day and a sweet memory. It has flown by since that time for both of us! Gavin and I both worked for two years in SLC while he was attending Salt Lake Community College and then he transfered to BYU almost 2 years ago. I had our first daughter, Abby, about 6 months before moving to Provo. I worked for my Dad as a receptionist in SLC until I had her. After Abby was born I worked part-time for him doing medical dictations on-line until I had Bailey, our second daughter. Bailey was born on October 28, 2008 and is such a joy to us! Abby has been so special and sweet as well, we are so lucky to have our two girlies!

Currently, Gavin is finishing up his degree in Biology at BYU and will hopefully finish next Spring semester here. He will be taking the DAT in January, so in about 5 months!!! Ahhhh! We hope he does well on it. He will hopefully interview next Fall for dental school options and we hope to get into school soon thereafter. He has worked so hard in school for the past 4 1/2 years. The month he got off his mission he started into school and hasn't stopped since!

I am loving being a stay-at-home mom with my girls!

So here are some picturs of a recap of our marraige, enjoy!!!!!!

I'm so thankful...

I know it is so important, especially as a Mother, to act upon your instincts, which are probably from our Heavenly Father.

Anyway, a few months ago I just kept having this feeling like I should have Gavin bolt Abby's chest of drawers to the wall and of course I kept playing it off. Well I finally had him do it one day and a few weeks later Abby was playing in her room after she had woken up in the morning and she opened too many drawers at once and the whole thing tipped over on her, but luckily because it was bolted to the wall it didn't completely fall on her. She only weighs about 28 lbs, so who knows how bad that would have turned out if it had crushed her. Anyway, I am just thankful that as a mother I have help from my Heavenly Father. I know he is there to help us and he is watching out for us every day.

One more quick story....

Before we had kids, Gavin and I both worked in SLC while he was going to school. Gavin went to school in the mornings and then worked from the early afternoon until 11:00 at night and I would go pick him up from work really late at night because we had (and still have :) one car. Anyway, I was driving on a road I always drive on and there wasn't hardly any traffic at all. I came to a light and stopped while the other flow of traffic was going through the intersection. When my light turned green I just had the feeling to not hit the gas for a few seconds, to just wait a bit. Right then I looked to my left and a car full of young teenagers came burning through the red light, going at least 45 mph. I would have been hit first because my lane of traffic was closest to where they were coming through. I was so thankful that I acted upon that feeling, who knows what would have happened.

I guess I always think back to these times because there are so many days where I don't act upon the strong feelings I get and it is so important!

4th of July Festivities, Collier style.....

So I think we have become old and boring, but that happens I guess when you have kids. We planned on going to the parade in Provo that morning, but I was so tired since Bailey has decided to keep waking up during the night to eat lately (multiple times a night). So I just slept in instead, lazy, I know. But we did go to Riverton in the afternoon and walked around the park with the booths, games, etc. It was fun but SO hot! That night we hung out at Gavin's sister's house in West Jordan and they put on quite the show of fireworks! I think Gavin and his brother-in-law, Justin, had way too much fun lighting off the fireworks :) One of them accidentally flew across the street right into their neighbor's window, whoops!!! It was kind of funny :) Abby wasn't too thrilled to ride any of the rides during the day, she screamed the whole time in fact. Oh well. It was a fun holiday though and it always makes me remember how lucky I am to live in this great country!

Gas Right Strips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il9Arcx4h2k

My brother-in-law shared this clip with us, I laughed so hard. Check it out for a good laugh! It is a SNL skit clip.