Jacob, Amber, and Kyla, and Baby Ryan

Kyla Speak: Geography

2012-01-24T15:01:00.001-08:00

"Hey Kyla! Where do Grandma and Grandpa Warren live?"

"Albaturkey."

"Oh really? Albaturkey?"

"No, Alba-TURKEY."

"Oh, ok. Thanks."

Kyla Speak

2012-01-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a family home evening about treating God's creations kindly. Throughout the lesson we talked about different animals and what they do for us. So when I asked Kyla where we get milk from, without even thinking about it, the very intuitive answer I got was,

"The ice cream store."

Yes, Kyla, we do get our milk from the Creamery, which is an ice cream store where you get a taste of ice cream every time we buy milk. Not the answer I was looking for, but it works!

Ryan's Newborn Pictures

2012-01-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Heather Hackney for the beautiful pictures of our sweet boy. Considering we had a winter baby, we had to find a place inside to do the shoot. We ended up at the Provo Library in the Children's section and I LOVE how they turned out.

Trip to Texas and Ryan's blessing

2012-01-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

We took our annual trip to Texas to celebrate Christmas with the Nibargers and to introduce the newest Nibarger to the family. We stayed at the Bassett house for the first part of our trip, which as always, was fun. Kyla loved playing with her cousin, especially Lisa.

They had huge boxes from Christmas, which the kids instantly turned into a house.

While there, Jacob and I were able to go to the BYU bowl game with Matt and Elisabeth. This is the only picture I got, but we had awesome seats in one of the box suites. Thanks Elisabeth's boss!

We of course enjoyed ourselves at Nibarger Christmas. Here is Kyla getting ready to open her white elephant gift.

Our happy Christmas boy.

And with Grandma Nibarger

Kyla had so much fun with her cousins.

I love this picture of the happy boys playing their games.

One of the main reasons we went down to Texas was to bless Ryan with all of his family present. It was a very special moment of our trip. I had my own little photo shoot with him before the actual blessing.

The cute little hat that went with the outfit. He didn't actually wear it for the blessing.

Here is everyone who attended. What an awesome CRAZY crowd!

And the post luncheon. We had some delicious food!

Aunt Laura took some amazing pictures of the kids and us after. These are some of them. SO CUTE!

I'm so lucky to be a mother to these two precious spirits.

We spent the rest of our vacation at LeAnne and Kevin's house, but our camera broke so we don't have any pictures, but we had so much fun there as well. We are so glad that we were able to go and visit everyone.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas! My siblings came over for a delicious ham and potato dinner, and we had a nice and comfy fire in the fire place.

We read the Christmas story and the Night before Christmas, and Kyla helped Grandpa Allan open his present from us. We got him an atomic clock which he loves because it tells him the temperature 24/7. Old men and their weather.

Our cute Christmas girl with the tree!

And both of the cute Christmas kids.

This outfit was a 6 month outfit so it drowned him. Still cute though!

Santa was good to us this year!

I went in and checked on Kyla. This is how I found her. Kids get comfy in the funniest positions!

Christmas morning we got up and opened presents. Kyla was fun to watch. She had to tear off the tag before she actually started opening the present. She did this for every present. Then she would rip one piece, put it in the trash can, rip another, put it in the trash can, etc. We had to show her that she could just rip the entire thing open; good thing or we would still be opening presents!

Kyla with her treasures. At one point in the present opening, she turned to me and said, "We are having fun Mommy!" haha, yes we were. She did really good until we opened her dinosaurs, and then she didn't want to open any others, just play with the dinosaurs.

After presents, we had our traditional Warren breakfast of pork chops and eggs, which were delicious! Then we spent the rest of the day playing with toys. It was a really fun day!

Heard in the Nibarger Home

2012-01-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

"Could my plate be filled with broccoli please?"

That wasn't Jacob (although he loves broccoli as well).

Looks like I'm doing something right.

Pre-Christmas Activities Catch Up Post

2012-01-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I know we are late. We have been so crazy busy that I haven't had an opportunity to update any of our comings or goings. But here is the attempt to get caught up with the entire month of December in one post. It's going to be a long one but a good one.

(Jacob's snowman)

We had a ton of fun this Christmas Season. Kyla kind of understood what was going on with Jesus' birthday and Santa. Her first experience with Santa was at the ward party, which I have pictures of but they are not cooperating. But she LOVED him. She told me, "When Santa comes, I have a hug for him." And she did...she gave him a huge hug. Not so much with the next Santa encounter at the Firmage Christmas Party:

This Santa was quite jovial and let's face it, a little scary!

But that didn't stop Ryan or Daddy from sitting on his lap.

(Kyla's white elephant gift. It was one of the more normal ones so she lucked out).

We were also able to get sugarified with delicious sugar cookies, thanks to the wonderful Dani.

Jacob helped in his normal way: "Hey frost one so I can eat it!"

And of course Andrew had to include a bloody angel.

At one point I looked over at Kyla and saw her putting her knife into the frosting and eating a huge glob of it. Ahhh, the holidays.

We also decorated ginger bread houses for the first time. Because our family got hit with a stomach bug the same day that I was supposed to make the gingerbread, they ended up being graham cracker houses. But they still turned out good.

Brittany got paired with Kyla, and even though Kyla didn't stick to Britt's preferred color scheme, theirs turned out really good!

I didn't get any pictures of Andrew and Dani's, and even though they had an unfortunate roof cave in because of the heavy peppermint tiles they put on, it also turned out really good. I mean, it's Dani we are talking about...of course it turned out good!

And here is Jacob's and mine. Very colorful!

Our backyard had a natural landscape going on.

One other fun activity we were able to do is go and see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. I wanted to do this last year with Kyla and it just never happened. So we finally decided to go, even though Jacob had to work and couldn't come with us. We still had fun with Andrew, Dani, Britt, and Korey (Dani's bro). We started the night out at the Pie in Salt Lake, and can I just say DELICIOUS!!!!

This pizza is called the mountain of meat. Fitting right?

After that it was off to Temple Square. It was pretty cold, and Kyla only lasted about 7 minutes before she started complaining. So this is how she ended up:

Ryan did so well and spent most of the time like this:

So snuggly!

So there you have it. The more interesting parts of our December all in a nut shell. Coming posts include Christmas, trip to Texas, which includes Ryan's blessing, and Ryan's newborn pictures! Get excited!!!!

Grandma Wardell's Funeral

2011-12-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

Last week, we got the unfortunate news that Jacob's Grandma

Wardell had passed away. She had had a stroke a few months back and had gone downhill ever since, so while it was a sad occurrence, we are glad that she is not longer suffering. The funeral was scheduled for Saturday in the small towns of Burlington and Otto Wyoming. Since we were so close and Jacob's Mom was not able to make the trip, we decided to drive up for the funeral.

After an 8 hour caravan ride with Jacob's Aunt's and Uncle's and a stay in the small town of Worland, we drove to Burlington and Otto. They were tiny towns! 250 people between the two of them. The funeral was very nice, the Spirit was very strong. The thing about funerals is they always make me want to be a better person.

At the graveside service.

The best part about traveling up there was getting to spend time with and get to know Jacob's family better. Even Kyla made some friends:

I think they are 1st cousins once removed. Adorable right?!

Me and the kids also got to meet Jacob's Grandpa for the first time.

6 of the 7 living kids of the 9 Wardells. Michael, Linda, Grandpa Les Wardell, Michelle, Celia, Brian, and Leslie. The seventh is of course Jacob's Mom, Dianne.

Something AMAZING is the little man started smiling this weekend. Here is an attempt to get a picture of it. I'm still trying to get a better picture of it.

Ryan of course was the boy of the ball. Everyone LOVES babies.

After the funeral, we drove to Billings, MT where one of Jacob's Uncle's lives. They were kind enough to let us stay at their house with them. It was so fun for Kyla because they had a ton of toys that she of course loved playing with. This little cutie loved this little couch.

Jacob with his cousin. We loved hanging out and playing games with them.

I LOVE these three!!!

We were so blessed to have the opportunity to be close enough to participate in this amazing family experience. We were also very fortunate that both children traveled like champs each way. Jacob and I both are very glad of the memories that we were able to make on this trip.

needing to catch up

2011-12-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

Wow has it really been three weeks since I last posted? The newborn/toddler combination in our house is apparently very time consuming.

This past weekend was spent on a spur of the moment trip to Wyoming and Montana because Jacob's grandmother died and we decided to take the trip up to the funeral. It was a really amazing weekend, which will be described in a later post. For now, this "Kyla speech" is just going to have to suffice.

Kyla wanted to ride on a statue of a brass elephant we saw on our trip. I told her, "It's a little too big to put you on it. I wouldn't be able to reach up that high."

She replied with, "Daddy can do it, he is bigger than you."

On the drive home, she brought up riding on an elephant again.

She says: "Daddy, can I ride on an elephant?"

Daddy: "I don't know, maybe."

Kyla turns to me and says, "Daddy said yes!!!"

Two Weeks!!!

2011-11-25T19:15:00.001-08:00

Yes, it has been two weeks. When I say it like that, it doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it seems like he has been with us for forever. It seems like there has never been a time when Ryan wasn't with us. We love him to death!

We went to Ryan's two week appointment (luckily Jacob didnt' have work so he was able to come along and help out with everything) and he is a healthy little guy. Everything checked out just fine, and the best part, he has already gained a pound, weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 14 oz! I guess eating every hour and a half to two hours is paying off! Here are his stats:

weight: 8 lbs 14 oz- 52%

length: 22 3/4- 91%

head: 37 cm- 49%

So like Kyla, he is a very tall little guy, and unlike Kyla, he is on the average side of weight, whereas Kyla was always on the very low end of weight.

And now some recent pictures for far away family.

His favorite part of bath time. Ok, the only part of bath time he likes.

It looks like she is choking him, but really they are snuggling.

I LOVE these kids!

Chillin' in the Boppy.

Jacob pulled out the Moby and tried it out. It is yet to be determined if he likes it or not.

And some Kyla pictures.

Our neighbor friend had a birthday. Can you tell they had fun?

And Kyla got stuck in the kennel. I'm such a good Mother...I just take pictures of her instead of help her out.

And lucky for me, Kyla is pretty good at entertaining herself in the morning so I can get a little bit more sleep. This is what I found when I got up this morning:

Thank goodness for built in friends that can't get away because they are zippered in.

Cute little snuggle monkey!!!

a little monkey

2011-11-18T19:49:00.000-08:00

We are absolutely LOVING having this sweet little boy in our lives.

It took a few days for Kyla to get used to him, but now she LOVES him and is always wanting to hold/touch/snuggle/play with "baby brudder." We have turned her into a little sanitizer monster...she wants to put it on her hands constantly. Maybe we can let her take some to nursery with her and she can teach all the kids how to use it...that would definitely cut back on the snotty "nursery nose" that she gets about every other week.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the last week and a half. There are quite a few, but they are ADORABLE!!!!

We were cracking up about the crossed legs:

This is a scene that has been added to our normal nightly bedtime routine. "I want to nuggle baby brudder for two minutes!"

He LOVES sleeping on chests...well mostly my chest.

Oh, more proof of that statement.

Nibarger mouth much?

And a little sleepy man.

Learning about politics with Daddy.

Haha, this one reminds me of an old man for some reason.

We are having so much fun having a newborn in the house again. He is such a handsome, precious little man!

Birth Story

2011-11-16T11:47:00.001-08:00

Here it is...THE BIRTH STORY. I know a lot of ladies like to hear how labor and delivery went, and it is good for me to get this down in the family records so that I one day tell Ryan how he came into this world.

As far as contractions go, I had had a few Braxton Hicks every night for about three nights before I went into labor. I didn't think too much about those. The same thing goes for Monday night...there Jacob and I are, watching X-Men First Class, and all the while I am having Braxton Hicks. Those contractions continued on into the night, but nothing that kept me awake. I got up at 7:30 to go to the bathroom, and I noticed I was still having contractions, but again, nothing too extreme or severe. I started our normal daily routine, got breakfast, got Kyla dressed, did her hair. At about 8 I went in and woke up Jacob and told him that I was having pretty regular contractions, and he said, "Really?" and then started a workout. I was planning on having just a normal day with some minor contractions, because that is what happened with Kyla. However, that was not to be so. At about 8:30, they started coming faster and stronger, so much so that I started having to concentrate on breathing through them. So we started to think about getting someone to watch Kyla. Dani (sister-in-law) didn't have the car until 11, so we decided that we would take Kyla to her little best friend neighbor's house. By 9, Jacob was showering and the contractions continued to come faster and harder, so much so that by 9:30, I told Jacob that we needed to get to the hospital fast (my Dr. told us to go to the hospital when the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart, and my contractions were coming 3-5 minutes apart) or we were going to have this baby at home. So we dropped Kyla off, scrambled to grab everything that we needed (and we forgot a few things) and rushed off to the cafe.

Now I had originally wanted to have the baby without an epidural, because, call me crazy, but at some point I want to feel what a delivery feels like. But after a few contractions in the car, I knew that I wouldn't be able to relax enough to have a smooth labor. The contractions were just coming so fast and so hard without any type of gradual transition that I knew I would need something to help with the pain. So we got to the hospital at about 9:45. By the time I'm checked in and in my room it was 10 AM and I was 5 cm. I asked for a low dose epidural that could wear off for the time to push (and I could still feel and move my legs), so they got that for me and at 10:30 I was at a 6+. The epidural helped me be able to relax enough. The Dr. came in at 11 and checked me and I was at an 8. At 11:20 I was at a 10 and ready to push. Two pushes later our sweet baby boy was born at 11:33. It was such a different experience with him than with Kyla because they were able to put him right up to my chest while they cut the umbilical cord. They then cleaned him up and brought him over so I could nurse him. It was such a precious experience.

So there it is. A completely different experience that I had with Kyla, and one that we learned from. I'm glad I was able to labor at home like I did. I'm also glad that it was so quick, so I didn't starve and run out of energy like I did with Kyla. I also didn't tear at all, which was very nice for recovery. I hope that in subsequent births I can find a way to manage the pain a lot better, even if I am bombarded with contractions. But all in all, it was a very good experience.

Ryan Jacob Nibarger is here!

2011-11-08T14:56:00.001-08:00

Born 11:33 AM on his due date! 7 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long. Healthy and happy little guy. He has already eaten and has a very calm temperament. He didn't even cry during his bath like Kyla did. There is nothing like holding a new born baby in your arms, especially when it is your own!

Pumpkin Costume Now and Then

2011-11-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

In two years, we went from this:

To this:

A little more hair, a little more mobile, and a little more energetic, but just as adorable as ever!

Nibarger Halloween

2011-11-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

Because there are not enough Halloween posts floating around the blog sphere, we thought we would add another one. Our Halloween was much like others that I have read about, except with the cutest little black kitty cat ever.

Kyla loved dressing up as a kitty cat, until she saw other little girls dressed up as princesses, then she wanted to be a princess. I told her next year she can be a princess. Kitty cat sufficed for this year.

Her favorite part was her pink nose and whiskers. She walked around the house with a mirror so she could see them.

Here we are pre-trunk or treat. Baby brother got to be a pumpkin.

After going around to all the trunks, she had to check out her stash.

We found her best friend from next door with an adorable home made turtle costume.

Jacob had to work for the trunk-or-treat, but he was home for trick-or-treating on Monday.

Nibarger family on Halloween. A black cat, a pumpkin, a male nurse (clever right?) and a bumblebee.

Here is the progression of these pictures. We told Kyla to smile and she frowned:

Then I told her to frown and we smiled:

And finally we got one with everyone smiling. Also, please excuse how tired and fat I look. I really did shower and put make up on and stuff, I'm just 9 months pregnant and look it.

We had intentions to go to all the streets in our ward, which is four. We got to 2 before the kids (Kyla and the neighbor friend) tired out. 40 minutes into trick-or-treating, Kyla said she was done. We convinced her to go down one more street (mostly so we could get home down that street). At the end of that street, she turned to her Daddy (who was carrying her by now), and said, "I'm done. I'm so hungry!"

Toddler translation: "I want to go home and eat some of this candy I got!"

Lucky for Kyla, she has an aunt and an uncle who helped her go through and sort the candy into appropriate piles, just like we used to do after trick-or-treating.

All and all, it was a very fun Halloween with great weather and great candy!

Pumpkin Carving!

2011-10-27T19:44:00.001-07:00

As tradition demands, we accomplished our pumpkin carving. Kyla loved that we were actually acting out the pumpkin song that she has been singing non-stop.

This seems to be the basic trend of this tradition: Mommy does the dirty part, Daddy does the carving. Kyla only touched the goopy stuff once, then I couldn't get her to do it again. She just watched after that.

Kyla decided on what kind of face we did. She said she wanted a mean, scary face, not a silly face.

It was one of those pants-less nights, which I'm sure anyone with a toddler knows all about.

The finished pumpkin with Grandpa Allan.

Please don't judge me for the pantsless girl sitting outside in the freezing cold. We were really only out there for like 15 seconds.

And the jack-o-lantern. I think it turned out pretty good, considering I hand traced the face. Jacob did really good on the carving part too!

Lots of Halloween fun activities!

Hee Haw Farms

2011-10-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Continuing our Fall time fun, we took Kyla to Hee Haw Farms with some discounted Groupon tickets. Last year, we went to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving point which was a lot of fun. I thought Hee Haw farms would be similar, but it was actually smaller and a lot less organized and dirtier. Kyla still had a blast though. Activities she loved were the petting zoo, a giant slide, animal train, motorcycle tire swing, trick-or-treat hay ride, corn maze, and corn box.

In the corn maze. We got rather lost.

Eating the lollipop she got from the trick-or-treat hay ride.

This was probably her favorite part. She played in the corn box for half an hour, having me bury her over and over.

She would only stay buried for about 10 seconds before she would wiggle her way out.

I think next year, (if we are still in Utah), even with discounted tickets, we will skip Hee Haw farms and look for the Cornbellys discounts instead.

Halloween Songs

2011-10-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks Grandma Warren for teaching us these songs...it's all she has wanted to sing for the past two weeks.

Harvest Pumpkins

2011-10-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you cross some pumpkins with a garden that is no longer growing?

Harvest pumpkins of course!

A few cherry tomatoes that have fallen from the vine, a few baby squash that will not grow any larger, and of course, the green beans...

more goofy looking than scary, but that's what we go for with Halloween when you have a toddler.

These veggies were never destined to be eaten...their destiny was much greater than that.

Happy Halloween!!!

a pinkt dinosaur

2011-10-12T20:00:00.001-07:00

A quick story before I go try to finally finish The Return of the King.

After Halloween last year, Jacob and I bought Kyla's costume on sale, so we wouldn't have to spend a lot of money this year. We got her cat ears and a tail and a cute little black skirt. Let's just say it's going to be adorable. As we have been trying to get her excited about Halloween, I have been explaining to her that we dress up in costumes and get candy and stuff. Then I told her:

"Kyla, you get to dress up as a kitty cat!" thinking she would be really excited.

She turned to me, and very seriously said, "No, I want to be a dinosaur. A pinkt dinosaur."

Luckily, by getting the ears out and letting her try them on, she has been pacified with her kitty cat costume, and tells everyone that she is going to be a black cat. I seriously can not wait to dress her up. In fact, we may do a practice run with the costume, just for fun!

he still loves me...

2011-10-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

even though I'm currently slightly bigger than when he first met me...

and how could you not love the man in these two adorable pictures!

I always wanted my husband to be the sweetest, most gentle father, and he definitely is that!

Thanks Laura and Jeremy for sharing these moments with us!!!

Treats with Daddy

2011-10-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

What is it about Daddies that make it ok to give their kids treats, while Mommies have to make sure that they are getting enough fruits/veggies/grains/protein, etc?

I guess it is ok. Kyla still loves me just as much.

Frosties with Daddy and Uncle Michael. Don't worry, the big one was mine and Jacob's, not Kyla's.

Then, the other day, Jacob goes to run a few errands. When he gets home there is a box of powdered doughnuts.

Me: "Why did you get these?"

Jacob: "These are one of my favorites from childhood. I thought it would be fun to eat with Kyla."

It's true. It was fun. She loved them!

Gotta love the powdery mouth!

BYU! BYU! BYU!

2011-10-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

We have been hearing that in our house quite often lately, some from Andrew, some from Jacob, and a lot from Kyla. We have indoctrinated her well! We went to the BYU bookstore the other day on a game day, and there were people in blue EVERY WHERE, and that is what I heard from our stoller: "BYU! BYU! BYU!"

Cute little monkey.

We got this cheerleader outfit when Kyla was like 6 months old. It fits now and is adorable on her!

She wore it to Uncle Andrew's birthday party, which ended up looking like a BYU party anyways, because it was on a game day. Except the nonconformist Joey (Dani's sister), who you can see in the picture below. Can you guess who we were playing that day?

Anyway, it has been fun watching football with Kyla. For a while she would call it basketball, and she would always mention how "mean" the guys were being. It's true little one, those football guys can be real mean!

(She had to help Uncle Andrew help open his present from her, which she picked out the wrapping for. Can you tell?)

the zoo in Daddy's stomach

2011-09-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

So picture this.

Kyla has just gotten up from a nap, and is spending her self-mandated post nap snuggle time laying on Daddy's stomach. All of a sudden, Daddy's stomach starts to growl.

Daddy say, "Kyla what does that sound like?"

At first she says "Mickey Mouse" which is a very Kyla thing to say.

Then she puts her head to his stomach again, and after an especially loud growl, sits up with a very surprised look on her face and says to me,

"Gasp! It's a lion!"

Then she turns to Jacob and very expectantly says, "Now do an elephant!!"

Oh the faith and creativity of a child!

a pregnancy picture

2011-09-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

With my Kyla pregnancy, I was really good about posting belly shots every few weeks. This pregnancy, not so much. I guess the novelty of being fat has worn off this pregnancy, plus the fact that I feel TONS bigger than I ever did with Kyla. It's ok though. I have really easy pregnancies and I love being able to carry and feel my baby boy growing like crazy in there.

So for those of you who are too far away to experience the mammothness in person, here is a picture at 32 weeks. That means 8 more weeks people! CRAZY!!!!!!

what's it going to be?

2011-09-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

a robot? (That's what she said she was)

a pirate?

or a baker?

When you look so dang cute at them, why not all three!

A little reader

2011-09-04T13:55:00.001-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that my daughter LOVES books. I'm not talking about just likes them a bit, or will listen to them occasionally. I'm talking about she have books read to her for hours at a time, and I'm not exaggerating at all. She has many books memorized, and even new library books we get are memorized after me reading them to her twice. She is one quick little girl. Well here is proof of her love of books.

And another one from a few months back. She kind of got the Mother book and the Friend book a little confused, but when she did the Mother book again later, it was just "Are you my mother?" and not "Are you my friend."

Also please excuse how messy I am and how messy the room is. This is in the middle of unpacking.

Utah Beaches and Water Slides

2011-08-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Summertime is coming to an end, but that doesn't mean that our summer fun is over. We were able to do some really fun things this past week.

Our neighbors invited Kyla and I to go to Spanish Fork Reservoir with them, while both our husbands were sleeping. We had never been there before, but it is this really awesome little reservoir with a beach on one side, albeit with gravelly sand . The water is really clear and not very cold like every other body of water in Utah. Kyla and her little neighbor friend had so much fun playing in the rocky sand, and later in the water.

Later that same day, we went to Seven Peak's with my siblings. We are trying to use our passes as many times as we can before they expire. We found out right before we left that Kyla could go down one of the big slides with Jacob. She loved it so much they went down a few times together before we left. It was a ton of fun.

It seems like Utah finally caught up with the rest of the nation in the summer temperatures, which works out great for us because we are still enjoying our summer!

the little artist

2011-08-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

Kyla has been quite the artist recently. Some of the art was sanctioned, and some, like the following pictures, was not. I haven't needed to hide the markers from her yet, but after this experience, they are all hidden. Luckily it was just dry erase marker.

Because of a coupon, Kyla was introduced to the childhood joy of finger paint.

Showing me how excited she is to finger paint. Although, she kept getting confused when I said finger painting. She thought that meant painting our fingers, and I had to remind her that it was painting WITH our fingers.

Concentrating very hard on her finger strokes.

All of these pictures, she looks really serious, but she really was having a good time.

And the final product. She's showing me how messy she got, or putting more on her belly button. I really can't tell from this picture. She sure did love it!

a "bandger" in the bath

2011-08-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the conversation Kyla and I had after her bath this morning:

Mom: "Kyla it's time to get out and get dressed."

Kyla: "Where's my bandger?"

Mom: "Your what?"

Kyla: "My bandger."

Mom: "I don't know what that is."

Lifts her out of the shower so she can look for herself. She picks up the bath foam letter "T" that is part of her bathtub foam alphabet.

Kyla: "Here it is. My bandger."

Mom: "What do you do with that?"

Kyla: "It's my bandger, so I can bang the letters."

Can you tell that Kyla has been spending quite a bit of time with her little boy neighbor friend. I guess pretending the letter "T" is a banger is a good way to prepare for having a little brother...at least they will have something in common!

Some random pictures as of lately:

Kyla blowing bubbles.

A girl and her dog just doing some summer lounging.

Trying on Mommy's fuzzy socks.

And a little hippie baby. Kyla found these little baby headbands that she used to wear and has wanted to wear one every day since. When she puts them on herself, she tends to look like a little hippie. The glasses just complete the ensemble. Cute little hippie!

A Cute Preview

2011-08-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Be prepared to die of cuteness overload!

Because Kyla got her 2 year pictures done at a local studio here in Orem called Fotogenix.

And even if it wasn't in a studio, you still would have died of a cuteness overload.

I'm dang tired and my kitchen is so dirty and the said "cuteness" has been getting up so stinkin' early lately, so I will only post a few. Also, I don't want to send anyone to the ER from one post. So here are a few of our favorites of our beautiful girl. I hope to get some more of the others up soon.

Summertime in New Mexico

2011-08-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

All righty, so on our car trip up to Utah, we stopped off at New Mexico for a few days to visit my parents. My Dad was Jacob's sister's home teacher, and my siblings and Sandi's kids grow up together, so they got to hang out for a few days. Here they are picking raspberries, and then later blackberries from the neighbors yard (don't worry, we asked them).

And what is a trip to New Mexico without Kyla playing in the laundry shot. This time, she convinced her cousin, Lisa, to join her, which was quite the feat.

And we had birthday party number two for Kyla. This time delicious strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. It was pink and sweet so of course Kyla loved it!

Kyla was really spoiled by everyone this year. Here she is with the backpack she got from her Grandparents Nibarger, and opening her doodler from Grandparents Warren. She loves them both!

Of course, more swimming.

These two got tired of swimming after a little bit, so they got to snuggle.

I LOVED these pictures. I convinced Kyla to put the bird on her head. It lasted long enough to get a few pictures.

Again, delicious food, fun games, good company. This was the best way to travel: a day of driving followed by a few days of playing. Thanks for putting up with us Mom and Dad!

Another Texas Trip

2011-08-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

So, I got a little sidetracked with my blog catching up, but it really wasn't my fault. It all started when my tooth's pulp died and then started giving me the worst pain of my life. But all of this will be in a later post. One root canal later and I am back on track. So here

goes the Texas part of the our catch up.

We caught a flight at 6 AM from Salt Lake City to Denver, and then change planes. Needless to say Kyla was tired but she didn't sleep during the first flight. She actually got her own seat which she loved.

Luckily this is what happened when we changed planes in Denver. She slept for the entire trip.

Daddy and the movie player were good at keeping her busy when she wasn't sleeping.

We got to Texas and stayed at LeAnne's house Friday evening. LeAnne was gracious enough to throw Kyla a little birthday party. We bbq'd and swam and had the MOST DELICIOUS cupcakes EVER!!!

They were homemade white cake with raspberry filling and I think a butter cream frosting. So delicious!

I just had to get a picture of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's dog. She was SO HUGE and just barley a year I think.

Did I mention how good the cupcakes were? Kyla agreed.

Kyla loved all the swimming we were able to do while in Texas.

Kyla's birthday present from LeAnne was an outfit that matched Kiki's. Cute little girls!

And the reason we went to Texas, the wedding on the lake. It was so hot, took forever to drive there (possibly because we took a wrong turn and added about an hour and a half to our drive), but it was so good to see Breeanna so happy, and all the family there celebrating.

Kyla got to hang out with more cousins, which she loved.

Us with the bride and groom. Yes, Breeanna was wearing a bikini and she looked amazing!

After the wedding, we stayed with Sandi and Clark. We headed to the Arlington forth of July parade in the morning.

I know it was a little unpatriotic of me to take pictures during the national anthem, but I couldn't not get this adorable picture!

Kyla started out loving the parade.

As did everyone else.

Then she ended up like this, because she thought the sirens were too loud.

And despite the loud sirens, this is how she ended up.

We spent the evening at Botanical Gardens with all the cousins watching the fireworks. Our camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get any pictures of that.

The rest of the time at Sandi's was fabulous! There was plenty of good food, swimming, and games. The following picture depicts one game the kids especially loved to play. Anyone guess what it is?

(It's Bang!)

We then drove with Sandi and kids to Seymour Texas (after stuffing the car with hand-me-down boy clothes (thank you Orianna!!!) and luggage), and stayed at Kevin and LeAnne's ranch house for an evening, then headed up to Albuquerque to stay with my parents for a few days. And that is where we are getting to now.

Mini Warren Reunion

2011-07-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

At the end of June, my parents gathered in Heber City for a kid-free Patrick Warren reunion (my grandpa). Because my parents were coming up, they brought my sisters along, and because Britt, Andrew, and I were already here, Jeremy and his family decided to drive up as well, making it a mini-Randy Warren reunion. Because there was so much going on, here is a layout of what we did.

Thursday night- Dad and two girls arrive. We got to Britt's football game and then go to watch the boys play basketball.

Friday- We have lunch at Vivent and then go shopping for the Patrick Warren reunion. Dad heads up to Heber City and we take the girls up to Bridal Veil for a hot dog fry. Because of forgotten buns, the girls have an epic game of truth or dare. That night Jeremy and family arrive with Mom.

Saturday- Mom and Dad go to Heber City for reunion. Girls go shopping. We all meet in Heber City for dinner with Patrick Warren family.

Sunday-church

Monday- We all had bought 3 day Salt Lake passes, so we started using those. Monday we headed to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving point, then Lionhouse Pantry for lunch (DELICIOUS!!!!) and then to the Zoo.

I have to say that Kyla and Jaidyn hit it off instantly! They always had to be holding hands or walking together or showing each other something. They loved each other so much!

Tuesday-We head over to the Salt Lake Aviary where we saw a cool bird show. Then it was a picnic lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Warren who meet us a Liberty Park.

Wednesday-We all meet at This is the Place Heritage Park where we spent the morning walking around.

Of course Kyla LOVED the pony ride. She loves mentioning that she got to ride a horse.

When we got rained out, we headed over to the Discovery Children's Museum.

I had so much fun watching Kyla play in the little kid sized store. It was amazing to watch how well she know how to get all her groceries and put them in her cart. She could have done this for hours!

Luckily my mom was there to help sort all of the food back into the shelves. I'm pretty sure the museum staff was going to offer her a job!

After the museum, we all headed up to the resort my parents were staying at and had a yummy dinner.

Thursday- We went to a Vivent BBQ, and then all got ready for family pictures up in the canyon. Then we convened in our backyard for the second BBQ of the day.

While it was a very busy and stressful week, I had a ton of fun seeing my family. I was so excited to hang out with Jeremy and Laura and family, and to meet their sweet baby Kyndle for the first time. It was also fun to go to some of the Utah attractions that we had never been to before. I can't wait for the family pictures to be done so I can post those, cuz we looked dang good!

BLOG CATCH UP!!!

2011-07-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

So when you have an elephant that you are supposed to eat, where do you begin? That is about how I feel with catching up the blog from the last month. We have been SOOOOOO crazy busy that I have just not been able to post anything here. So in the next few weeks, I will be trying to catch up on our life. It will probably be slow going, but hopefully I will be able to make some sense of our crazy life.

still no pictures

2011-06-29T21:54:00.001-07:00

So the "mustering" that was mentioned in the post before hasn't occurred yet, which is a bummer because after this week there are about a million gazillion pictures that need to be put on the blog. But that shall have to wait. I am amazed that my amazing sister-in-law has found the time to post in the past week, because I have felt like I have been flying by the seat of my pants, personally. And that has only been with my family here. Now we are going to see Jacob's family, so we shall see if that proves to be more slow paced, or if it will be just as CRAZY! I have loved having my family here though, even thought it has been so busy. Tomorrow we are taking family pictures and hanging out, and then it is off to Texas to see the gorgeous Breeana get married. I am very excited! Off to bed so I have some energy for the pictures!

on the agenda this week

2011-06-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

I really should post something more than just this, but I'm SO tired that I don't think that I could handle much more. We (and by we I mean my awesome brother and sister-in-law, who have graciously agreed to help) have been busy pulling 30-year-old cork board off of a wall in Kyla's room, and then sanding the glue down so that we can paint in there. Oh the joys of living in a 50 year old basement.

Along with that this week, I will be preparing for my parents and family to come into town. Can I just say that I am SUPER excited!!! It is going to be so fun. But obviously that means deep cleaning like crazy. So hopefully we can get the painting done tomorrow, and then the cleaning done the next day.

Other than that, I'm as tired as can be. Maybe in the next few days I can muster up enough energy to get off the couch to get the camera and post a picture or two.

The Results...

2011-06-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Roll out the dinosaurs and matchbox cars because we are having a

BOY!!!!

And the funniest thing about it is that Jacob and I both thought that we were going to have another little girl, but every time I asked Kyla, "Are we have a little brother or a little sister?" she would always answer, "Little brother!" I know who I am going to listen to from here on out!

The tech said everything looked good, and I will be going to see the Dr about it in about 15 minutes, so that should be good. We got some CUTE pictures of his little profile and his little legs and feet. I guess the charm of little things like that don't wear off for the second child.

We are so excited to expand our family and to even out the gender teams!

The polls are open!

2011-06-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

Allrighty people! It's time that time again...voting time!!! Now I'm not talking about voting for Romney or Obama or anything like that. I'm talking about the

GENDER VOTE!!!!

We are finding out what we are having on Friday so we want to know what everyone thinks that we are having.

BOY? or Girl?

And remember, the Warren side of the family is in a boy race right now, meaning that there are three granddaughters so far and no grandsons.

And as promised by Grandpa (Randy) Warren, the winner of the first grandson prize gets an all inclusive trip to the beautiful, fabulous, exotic city of....

ALBUQUERQUE!!!!

So that is some good incentive for a boy right? Anyways, comment below and let us know what you think!

Grand Canyon Camping...sort of

2011-06-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

I have seen a trend with my posts. When I don't post for a while, I usually start back up with a picture overload post. This is no except. As always, they are good pictures though.

For the past year, we have been planning a trip with our good buddies, the Bonds, who moved to Arizona last year for grad school. We have missed them terribly, so we were super excited about this trip. We had wanted to camp actually at the Grand Canyon, but apparently there is like a 6 month waiting list to get reservations. So instead, we met about half way at the Kaibab National Forest Plateau. It is a really beautiful forested part of Arizona only 45 miles north of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It ended up being a perfect place to camp with lots to do.

Our trip started off with a little excitement in Scipio, UT, where we found a little petting zoo at a gas station. Kyla was in goat heaven.

She was completely terrified of the sheep whenever it bleated. Apparently the "baa" that Mommy makes and a sheep's real "baa" are completely different. Very misleading to a poor innocent toddler.

We made it to the camp Thursday afternoon, and set up camp. Kyla became instant friends with little Grant, who is about 8 months younger than her. Grant put up with Kyla following him around, and they were really cute together.

It ended up being quite chilly where we were, hence the cute little lawn gnome hat.

Little chocolate joker face.

Jacob and Daniel had a blast being manly together. They spent the entire time boasting about how smart they were to invent a camping billows, aka the air mattress pump used to blow the fire. We benefited with deliciously warm flames and coals, for warming and cooking.

This was one of the kids favorite activities. They spent so much time in front of this license plate. Grant kept saying "8!" "8!" (There is no 8 on the plate.) Adorable!

Friday we headed to the Grand Canyon. Apparently there isn't as much to do at the North Rim, but I thought it was gorgeous just being there. I had never been before and witnessing the majesty of it was amazing.

With toddlers it is really hard to enjoy the Grand Canyon to the fullest, but we were able to do a few little hikes to some really pretty overlooks.

Two cute little hikers.

Kyla with a famous Grand Canyon mule. I forgot it's name.

Kyla and her little puppy Penny. What a cute little pair.

I brought this pool so we could give the kiddos a bath if we wanted to. Even though it was quite chilly, they loved it. Don't worry they have little swimmers on.

Kyla loved camping. It was probably because of the constant being outside, or the increase of marshmallows and fruit snacks she got. Here she is showing me her marshmallow sandwich.

And again the cute little pair.

Oh, we camped next to Jacob Lake, which is right behind Jacob. The visitor's center called it a pond or mud hole. But it was named after the Mormon Jacob Hamblin, because before there were settlers on the Kaibab Plateau, the Mormons would let cattle graze all over it. Interesting fact, poor naming.

On one of our little hikes, Jacob caught a little horny toad (which is actually a lizard). Kyla, my daughter who will pick up and hold most bugs, including the beetle she found in the tent, would not touch the horny toads. I guess those horns actually work!

Little buds.

We found an OLD playground with one of the old school slides that make you go ridiculously fast, and can get up to temperatures of 105 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun. Good childhood memories.

Usually while the kids were napping or sleeping at night, we would play games. Because it was chilly and rather windy, we put the back seat down in the CR-V and would all squish in. We played many games of Bang! and Golf. Even though I felt that we were marinating in our own campy stinkyness, it was quite fun and rather comical.

We brought Bocce Ball, but never actually played. The kids appreciated it though!

So the last night we were there (which was supposed to be the second to last night but we left early because of a random snow storm), there were high winds, so we were told that we couldn't have a fire. (This was after Jacob and Daniel had scavenged illegally for fire wood, because technically we were not supposed to use the fallen wood around the campgrounds, and we were not supposed to bring in any outside wood. You could only buy it at the office. Darn money makers!! They had found some on the side of the road though.) Bummer. It was pretty chilly, so after dinner we chilled in the tent.

There was a trial horse riding place near our campsite, and every time we went by it Kyla wanted to see the horses and wanted to pet them. We finally went there and asked the guy if she could pet one, and he was so nice and let her sit on one. She was SO excited! Now she always talks about how she rode a horse and wants to ride one again.

So like I mentioned, we were supposed to leave on Monday morning, but we found out that Sunday night it was supposed to snow. And it did. We ended up packing up that night and leaving as the snow was coming down. They gave the ok to build fires right before we left, so Jacob and Daniel were able to use all the illegal firewood, and built a huge, beautiful fire as a last hurrah.

Freezing before we left.

This is going to be on the label of their camping billows, once they have finished producing them for sale.

We had such a good time with our good friends the Bonds. It is nice to be able to pick up right where you left off after not seeing someone for a long time.

Kyla enjoyed herself so much that when she saw that Jacob was putting the tent down, she exclaimed, "My tent! My tent!" I explained to her that we had to go home to Grandpa Allan's house, to which she firmly replied, "Mommy, we get a new tent tomorrow." Haha, what can I say, we have a little camper! Despite all the chilly weather, it was a trip definitely worth taking!

Change, change, change

2011-05-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Isn't that a song? Maybe it's "Chang, chang, chang." I can't remember now. Well I just made up a new song! And that is because we went through a huge change and are now officially moved into Allan's house again! (That's why I have been MIA for the week) Our house is somewhat put together, but needs a few more touches before I would call it completely done. We are all settling nicely. Kyla LOVES going to see Grandpa Allan, give him hugs, talk to him, eat with him. They are pretty much best friends. Penny is loving having Gus for other doggy company as well. So far, things are going really well. We even have planted our garden, finally! Hopefully that will continue to grow well and produce lots of delicious food.

Anyways, this weekend we are going camping with some of our bestest friends ever, Daniel and Kylie and get reacquainted to their cute little boy Grant (who I am already setting up with Kyla because he is SO adorable!). So we are excited about that and will have pictures to show about that I'm sure. There a quick update for now.

Another New Mexico Post!

2011-05-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I warned you. This is a many pictured post. But cute pictures, so that is good news. Jacob gave me the best present ever and took me on a trip to see my parents. It was full of plenty of the normal, good food, good games, fun conversation, but we also did some things that we don't normally do while visiting family:

We got to take Grandma lunch one day. I LOVE these pictures of Kyla with her grandparents.

Friday, we went camping to embark on my Dad's new camper's maiden voyage. We went to a really cool canyon called San Lorenzo Canyon in south of Albuquerque. It was dusty and windy, but very fun! Kyla LOVED it of course.

Dirt everywhere!

Oh yeah! While we were there I went to get Katy's haircut. It looks SO ADORABLE!!!!

Blurry family picture!

On a marshmallow high!

And here she is "building a house."

Daddy/daughter picture while we are exploring a cave we found.

The awesome view from the top of the cave.

Kyla climbing the rocks.

This is out of order but this is the perspective of the cave picture from earlier.

And this is Daddy helping Kyla climb.

And Katy (with the CUTE hair!) reading Kyla a book.

Kyla's cute masquerade mask.

Great Grandma Warren spoiled Kyla with a whip cream beater.

Fun with the greats.

And more greats.

Using grandpa's lizard catcher as a walking stick.

And lastly, the spider in Moab that Kyla ALWAYS love to look at when we stop for gas. She LOVES this spider.

So some of the other things we did that are not pictured is we participated in the breast cancer walk. It was very neat to be able to remember Grandma Ann as we walked. We also were able to try out Dad's new gun. By we I mean Jacob, Dad and Kim. Very fun and cowboy like. The 20 hour drive was worth a week of BEAUTIFUL weather, and so much fun with family!

Cuteness #2 to debut November 2011

2011-05-10T15:42:00.001-07:00

Well since I posted this on Facebook, I figured it should be known here as well. And this is a good time to do it because I have been putting off blogging about our New Mexico trip because of all of the pictures, but I figure I should at least post something right? So here it is. The big news!

Kyla is going to be a big sister!!!! I'm about 14 weeks along and luckily past the nasty first trimester and not feeling like I want to gag on everything I eat anymore. So that is good news. And the fact that you get bigger faster with the second one is true, unfortunately. I feel way more pudgy than I did about this time with Kyla. Fabulous. Anyways, we are very excited about it and get to find out what we are having next month, so that is also exciting! Good stuff happening here at the Nibarger's house!

Stay tuned for summer happenings and moving news, oh and that dreaded New Mexico post!

Kyla's prayers

2011-04-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Like most parents of a toddler, we have been teaching Kyla how to pray, and have been waiting for the day when her prayers include more than just, "thank you for this food, help it to bless us."

Well for Kyla, that night was tonight.

I started her out with the prayer, because sometimes she just needs a little push to get her started.

Mommy: "etc etc, thank you for this day, thank you for Daddy and Mommy and Penny, and for family--

Kyla: "Momma, and elepants."

Mommy: "And elephants"

Kyla: "And mororcycles."

Mommy: "And motorcycles.'

Kyla: "And plopporn"

Mommy: "And popcorn."

Looks like she is starting to show a little prayer personality. Random personality, but I love it!

The Easter Bunny Rabbit

2011-04-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

I'm going to warn readers right now. This is a picture overload post. But you can't blame me. First of all I have the most adorable girl ever, and I have been excited about Easter for like a month and a half because this is the first year it actually made sense to Kyla and I had some pretty fun plans for our weekend. So here it goes.

To start the festivities off, we headed over to the Provo City Easter Egg Hunt. It was pretty crowded and the parents were CRAZY greedy and selfish and didn't even let their kids pick up the eggs, but Kyla loved it and they had a lot of neat activities that she loved. For example, a petting zoo:

Let's just say she was in heaven.

Pre-egg hunt, with Kyla trying to get warm in Jacob's jacket.

The playing field, as Jacob called it.

After the egg hunt, we stood in line for face painting, which Kyla loved as well. Out of all the things she could get, (a bunny face, a chick, an egg), she wanted a carrot. So she got a carrot, and she touched it all day to make sure it was still there. We also did the bunny ears craft.

While we waited for pictures with the Easter bunny, she got cold, so we put this blanket around her, and I thought she looked like some Easter super hero or something.

I thought she would freak out with the Easter bunny like she did Santa, but I guess we are over that because she loved the "Easter bunny rabbit." She talked about him all day.

Cute little bunny girl.

We headed over to Allan's to spend some time with him after, and Daddy bribed Kyla with Easter candy if she would sit on Allan's lap.

Then Gus wanted to audition to be the Cadbury bunny.

After a nap, we joined our neighborhood buddies (at the church, because we got rained on) for a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. They had crafts, delicious food, games, and of course, the Egg hunt through the church. Very fun!

Kyla had gotten the hang of it by now. She loves egg hunting!

After that hunt, Andrew, Dani and Brit came over for some Easter egg killing (dying, get it? It was Andrew's lame joke). Kyla LOVED this as well. Looking at her egg being colored.

And coloring on the egg with a crayon.

And showing off her egg, that two seconds later, fell and broke on the floor. She started crying and wouldn't stop crying until I peeled the egg and let her eat it. I guess she was just hungry!

Our very colorful eggs. The cute ones are Dani's of course!

And then there was Easter morning. Kyla loved her Easter basket, especially the candy.

We tried to get some cute pictures of her in her dress. I'm no photographer, and she is a crazy moving toddler, so this is about what we got.

Still adorable though.

Andrew, Dani, and Britt came over again and we had a delicious dinner of ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, jello egg jigglers, deviled eggs, rolls, and a chocolate torte with fresh strawberries. I'm still full! And then we had one more Easter egg hunt for Kyla. Again, she loved it.

On the very last egg, she said, "Find another one!"

All in all we had a great weekend. We went through the resurrection story a few times with Kyla so hopefully that started sticking. We are truly grateful for our blessings, our family, the gospel, and of course our Savior and his atonement. Hope you all had a great Easter as well!

Billy Goats Gruff

2011-04-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Kyla has recently fallen in love with the book The Three Billy Goats Gruff. She wants to read it over and over. Because I have gotten a little weary of reading it to her, we have started telling it storyteller style. Here is a video of her telling it. I will include a transcript for those who are not fluent in toddlerese.

"I see it." (She loves seeing herself in the camera. I think all little kids do.)

"Mommy, roar." (I think she thought I meant monster, which is a bit different than troll.)

"Then a troll roared loud, 'Whose that trapping over my bridge?'"

In a high pitched voice: "It's only me, the second billy goat." This is repeated over and over again, until I start the next billy goat across the bridge again, and you get the point.

But seriously! How adorable is this?!

We drove to Delta for a reception and on the way back, she chanted this whole dialog over and over again, always ending with, "It's only me, the second billy goat" over and over. This kid is such a sponge and so stinkin' smart! Cutest little troll I have ever seen!

beans, bugs, and hot dog sandwiches

2011-04-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

So things around here were looking up weather wise, and then it was rainy and cold today. But that hasn't stopped the smile of this little girl:

We are gearing up for a trip to Albuquerque before we move into Allan's house. Because Jacob doesn't want to go broke with gas fees, he worked a few extra shifts, and by that I mean he worked 9 nights in a row. Crazy man! Because of that, Kyla and I have been trying to find things to do when he leaves. The above picture shows the results of one evening escapades. Who knew that some dry beans, a few metal bowls and a few plastic cups could keep a toddler entertained for an hour and a half.

Another new favorite pastime of Kyla's has been searching for bugs. Can I just say that I birthed an entomologist. The kid LOVES bugs! She goes straight to the shed every time she is let out of the house, because that is where a lot of the bugs in the backyard congregate. She loves touching them and looking at them, but if she tries to hold one, she gets freaked out by the tickly feeling and flips it off her hand.

So what do you do with a daughter who loves bugs? You make egg carton caterpillars or course. A mommy and a baby...she loves them.

By the way, I should have posted this a while ago (because it happened a month ago), but we traded our college student Honda Civic for a family-friendly Honda CR-V. By traded I mean we bought the CR-V and sold the Civic to my college student brother. Anyways, with that now being announced, Kyla loves the "new car." She hopped up into the driver's seat and said, "Seatbelt Daddy, seatbelt." Apparently some things actually get through to her.

Yesterday it was actually nice enough to invite the family over for a hot dog roast fire pit. Delicious!

I asked Kyla what she was eating, she said, "hot dog samwich!" CUTE!!!

So the following is Kyla performing. She has started standing on this bead box that we have and then just sings and dances and is the cutest little girl ever. We don't know what 95% of the words are that she says, but every now and then we will hear something recognizable like "mountain" or "water."

Then we have the love of bugs captured on film. My favorite part of that video is her coaxing the rollie pollie in her nice voice--"Tome on, tome on!"

a snow day fort

2011-04-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

As is normal with this time of year, Utah is being wishy washy with its weather, which ALWAYS drives me crazy! It will be gorgeous weather, which will get my hopes up, but then the next day it will snow 6 inches. NASTY! And not good for the immune system! It is most especially hard on a toddler who LOVES to play outside. So, today, as it is snowing ONCE again, I had to bring out the big guns:

So far she likes it!

I had forgotten how precarious forts can be when using kitchen chairs and a broom stick, especially when she wants Mommy to get in with her. I used to fit in forts a lot easier!

Hopefully this will last a good part of the day. If not, we may have to go get the camping tent.

be prepared to be AMAZED!!!

2011-04-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you who truly know me, you will be very impressed as you continue to read this post. That is because you probably know that I am the most uncrafty, completely unartsy person in the world (thank you Mother! :) As such, it would be hard to believe that I actually thought of, and then proceeded to make, a cute and crafty wedding present for a friend who recently got married. So I took some things that I already had, and got some new things and took the following items:

and turned them into this:

That's right, those are wooden spoon stems. Brilliant right? I got the idea in the moment that I wasn't all the way awake, but I was conscious enough to think. Weird right? Then I got the flower patterns and instructions here.

It's not as cute as I'm sure other more crafty people could have made it, but I was rather well pleased with myself. Now if all crafts could be this easy and straight forward.

a quick HAPPY story

2011-04-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

To preface this story, Kyla LOVES toast. And even more than toast, Kyla LOVES toast that has butter (really Smart Balance) on it, or as she sometimes likes to call it, "butterfly on it!"

So with that being said, I made her some scrambled eggs and toast for dinner last night. As she was starting on the eggs, I buttered her toast and laid it down on her plate. When she noticed there was toast on her plate, she picked it up, looked at it, saw the butter and got very excited:

"Mommy! Der budder on it!"

"Yes Kyla, I put butter on it because I know you like it."

At this point, she raised both fists in the air, got a huge smile on her face and at the top of her lungs, said,

"I HAPPY!!!!!!"

What can I say, the girl loves her polyunsaturated fats!

Some Kyla Updates

2011-03-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Do I ever update about anything else? They are the best kind though because she is ADORABLE!!!

But first a quick story. I made a strawberry banana smoothie for breakfast yesterday. I poured some in a cup and put it in front of Kyla. She saw it and very excitedly exclaimed,

"I LOVE ice cream!!!"

HAHA, goofy girl! Well, it wasn't exactly ice cream, but she sure did love it!

Daddy has been teaching Kyla some very important things recently, one being the art of olive fingers.

She is a pro.

He also showed her how to dance with Penny. He is regretting this one now, as she LOVES to do it all the time. Poor Penny.

And as if Penny isn't tormented enough with Kyla...

She just looked so cute in her little doggie bonnet we made for her!

Please disregard me in these next pictures. It was inevitable to have the little monkey work out with me as it seems all little kids love to do it.

She is a natural at yoga.

With BYU getting relatively far into the NCAA tournament, we had to pull out the little cheer leading outfit.

A common phrase spoken in our house these days is "GOOO JIMMER!!!"

Being goofy with her babysitting aunt.

And lastly, there is nothing better than some lounging with Harry Potter, a snack, and a Penny footrest.

Kyla's vocabulary has exploded recently. She will talk in some full sentences and knows SO many words. It is fun being the Mommy who has to translate for everyone, as long as I know what the word I am translating is. For the most part she is pretty clear with her words, so that is a good thing. We love our little jabbering toddler!

a project or video games

2011-03-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

These were the options that Jacob gave me about 2 weeks ago when he had a pretty long 5 day break. He said he could sit around playing video games, or he could do a project. Obviously I choose the project. So he pulled out some of the furniture we inherited from Allan's house and started to refinish it. This is what the cabinet looked like before. The bookshelf looked similar, but worse.

Kyla was quite the helper through the whole ordeal.

Showing me her "goves."

And two weeks later, after $90 worth of paint and supplies, and lots of mess and time and sanding, here are the final products. I forgot to take a picture before we put them away.

We based the design and colors off of this chair we got for Kyla for Christmas, and I was really pleased with how well they came out. My husband is one hunky, creative artist! They will all look really good in Kyla's new room at Allan's house, especially after we paint her room the same color scheme.

Doing a project like this was really fun, but I sure am glad to have my living room back to normal!

The future holds Grandpa Allan!

2011-03-20T17:05:00.001-07:00

Well, we are officially moving out so I can finally post this post. Jacob unfortunately did not get into either of the grad schools we applied to this semester. However, there was a positive turn of events for us considering that fact.

Remember Allan?

Well before we interviewed in California, his daughter approached us and asked if we would like to move back in with him. We thought about it and decided it would be the best for our family. It will be a lot of hard work and sacrifice for us, especially me since I have to leave my bright sun-light house and kitchen and move into a dark basement again, as well as the time changes we will have to make in order to accommodate Allan. However it will be a great opportunity to continue to develop our relationship with Allan, and a great way to save more money for grad school.

So come the middle of May, we are heading out of West Provo and moving back to East Provo.

The Crib Climber

2011-03-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Let me start off this anecdote with this statement:

Kyla has never tried to climb in or out of her crib.

Ok, with that said, here is a good one. Wednesday was Jacob's birthday. Kyla and I made him some of his favorites, carrot cookies with orange frosting, and the card below, and surprised him at work.

Then, later that night, I had Andrew, Dani, and Britt come over and surprise him for a delicious dinner of chicken cordon bleu, mashed potatoes, a yummy Dani-created green bean casserole, and French bread. For dessert, I made him a creamy berry pie. So here is where the story comes in.

I'm in the kitchen getting everything ready and the pie finishes cooking in the oven. I have no counter space to let it cool, so I put it on a cookie sheet and put it in Kyla's crib. After a few minutes, she notices it is there, and I realize that she has gone into her room and closed the door. I open it really fast and ask, "What are you doing?"

She innocently goes over to our reading chair and says, "Read da bootks"

"Ok, you can read some books, that's ok"

She replies with, "Shut da door!"

So I shut the door but leave just a crack so I can spy on her. She spends a few minutes looking around the room and then back at the pie, deciding what the best plan of action would be. Then she builds up enough nerve and I open the door in time to find her like this:

"What are you doing Kyla?"

"Shut da door!"

"No I don't think that is a good idea!"

I had to watch her pretty closely after that.

I guess all she needed was enough motivation to try climbing the crib!

"It Never Rains in Southern California"

2011-02-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

By the way, that song is a lie. It rained a few days while we were there, but it didn't ruin the trip for us. We had SO much fun while we were there! We jumped right in and went to Knott's Berry Farm right after we left the airport. To Jacob's surprise and much to his delight, we did not spend the entire time picking berries or making jam. Instead we rode some awesome roller coasters.

And Kyla met Snoopy. It looks like she is not happy, but this is her "I'm happy, but being shy" look.

We got to see Aunt Heather on the way down to San Diego and then again coming back to Long Beach. Kyla LOVES her Aunt Heather.

We went to Legoland, but it started pouring right when we got there. So we went to the Aquarium instead.

After then interview, we went to SeaWorld!!! IT WAS SO FUN! I LOVED seeing the dolphins and the whales and the sea lion shows. It brought me back to my childhood days when I wanted to be a marine biologist/animal trainer.

Kyla liked the animals too, but because she didn't have a normal nap schedule, she pretty much feel asleep wherever she was during nap time. At SeaWorld, that happened to be during the Shamu show.

The next day we went to the San Diego Zoo. Jacob thought it was not as cool as it is always hyped up to be, but I thought it was fun. And of course, Kyla again loved all the animals.

She got into the elephant pen and almost got squashed like a little Kyla bug.

Before we left San Diego, we stopped at the Temple. This has always been my favorite temple (Jacob and I actually wanted to get married here) and seeing it in person was absolutely AMAZING! It is SO BEAUTIFUL!

We headed up to Huntington Beach and spent a few hours on the chilly/windy beach. Withstanding the wind was completely worth being there because the sun and the sand felt so good. Kyla loved the water (even though it was freezing) and she loved playing in the sand.

This was such a perfect trip at such a perfect time. February is always gloomy around Provo, so getting out of town was so great. It was the perfect way to get out and spend some quality time as a family.

Yeah 3X

2011-02-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here we are, Kyla and I, listening to Chris Brown's Yeah 3X. All of a sudden I look at her and she is dancing with her hands in the air. I didn't think anything of it until I listened to the lyrics....

"...people everywhere

Now everybody put your hands in the air"

Remind me to monitor what I listen to, because obviously she is REALLY listening too!

Best Girly Friends

2011-02-24T16:35:00.001-08:00

I have a major California Trip post coming, but I'm pretty lazy right now (you know the after-vacation feeling...you need a vacation from your vacation type feeling?). Anyways, these pictures will have to suffice for now.

This trip solidified Kyla's best friend relationship with "baby Starwet." She LOVES LOVES LOVES baby Scarlet.

She always had to be touching or petting or sitting next to or watching baby Scarlet.

And every morning, she wanted to hold baby Scarlet. "Baby Starwet lap!"

Think she's ready for a little baby Starwet of her own?

Also I am MADLY in love with the man below. We experienced a few "firsts" on this trip. First time to California together, first time on a roller coaster together (and to an amusement park together), and first time at the beach together. It was like a second honeymoon...with a baby.

Blog going private

2011-02-15T20:27:00.001-08:00

Jacob really wants the blog to go private, so if you would like to follow along in the crazy lives of the Nibargers, post your email address so I can invite you. Thanks!

2011-02-15T20:14:00.001-08:00

For those of you who don't know, Jacob was invited to interview for a spot at the Kaiser Permanenete CRNA program. The college they work through is Cal State at Fullerton, but the interview is in Pasadena. So, we are making a family vacation of it!!!!

And what is even greater, our good friends Ryan and Ashley and Kyla's best friend, "babee Starlet" are interviewing too, so they are going as well! Which means...

PARTAY!!!!!

I have been so excited for this trip for a few reasons:

1-WARM WEATHER!!! February in Provo is quite long and at times unbearable. A weeks break from it will be amazing!

2- It is our first family vacation that is NOT centered around seeing family. I love seeing my family, but it will be nice to play the role of tourist instead of house guest.

3-FRIEND BONDING TIME! We have wanted to do something like this with Ryan and Ashley pretty much since we first met. And now it is happening! They are for sure leaving in the fall, either with us to California, or without us to Georgetown. We are really hoping that we both get into Kaiser to we don't have to say goodbye to them!

4- IT'S CALIFORNIA!!! We bought Go Passes for lots of different attractions, so during the interviews Ashley and the girls and I will be hitting up some fun places around Hollywood, and then after we will all go to San Diego for a few days and see the Zoo, Seaworld, Animal Park, etc. I'm so excited for Kyla because I know she will love them all!

Everyone's prayers and good wishes would be much appreciated at this point for our family! The Lord's will be done in everything!

Daddy's little princess

2011-02-11T08:49:00.001-08:00

Kyla LOVES her Daddy!

Because of the unique schedule of a nurse, she gets to spend quite a bit of time with him on his 4 off days of the week. That means she gets to have a lot of Daddy/daughter dates with him when I am doing my me stuff. That also means that when he goes to work, she misses him all day. On days that he works (or has worked the night before), she wakes up and says, "Shhh! Dada seeping!" or "Bye-bye Dada! See ya!"

Recently, she has wanted a lot of comfort from Daddy, mostly because of her awful teething. When he is at work and she is in pain, she always asks for Dada. At night, (when Daddy isn't at work), we will ask her who she wants to snuggle her before bed. Before the answer was always "Mama." Recently however, the answer is, "Dada nuggle." It is the cutest thing ever!

Ever since Kyla was little, whenever we would drive by the hospital, I would always say "Kyla! That's where Daddy works! Hi Daddy!" It got to the point that Kyla would repeat after me, "Hi Dada!"

Yesterday, we were taking Brittany home and we drove past the hospital. I was talking with Brittany when all of a sudden Kyla exclaims, "Dada!!! Dada!!! Bye Dada! See ya!" It was the cutest thing ever! We sure have one smart, Daddy-loving little girl!

In the middle of a Utah winter, it is best to have a snuggly Daddy with a nice, warm, fluffy jacket.

One of the many games that Daddy has made up to play with Kyla.

Naptime Snack and Gremlin Baby

2011-02-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I went to get Kyla up from her nap and this is what I found:

No, those are not owl pellets, or rat poops, or co-co puffs, those would be pieces of dog food.

Time to move the dog food away from Kyla's crib right?

And Jacob's way of cleaning up?

What an efficient man!

And here is proof that Kyla has hit the "Sponge" stage of toddlerhood. This is one of Jacob's favorite quotes from "Just Friends," and now apparently one of Kyla's. Hopefully she won't start saying it when I ask her to do something like her father does ;)

the WORST!

2011-02-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

I've said it once and I will say it again

"CHEERIO BURPS ARE THE WORST POSSIBLE BURPS THAT CAN COME FROM A CHILD'S MOUTH!"

And yet, I always seem to get them right in my face. Why is that?

Oh the joys of being a Mother.

Cats, ponies, elephants and puppies

2011-02-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

So we have been a bit M.I.A. recently, but it has all been for good reason. After being home from our Texas vacation for a week, we set out again and went to New Mexico to visit my parents again. We met Matt and Elisabeth there for a fast and furious skiing birthday weekend. I will have to post about that later, because it was pretty fun. However, we will skip ahead to more recently.

Kyla has been very goofy lately. She is learning more and more and pretty much amazes me every day with what she learns.

Being snuggly after a bath.

Last week we had the opportunity to go to the circus with Dani and Andrew. We had gotten some BOGO passes and a free kids pass. It was a BLAST! Kyla rode on the pony and she LOVED it! She kept on asking to "rit! rit! rit!" both the pony and the elephant. I wasn't about to stand in the elephant line or shell out the money (even though Jacob really wanted to). The acts were really good and it was all in all a lot of fun to go.

So after the circus Jacob's family came into town and we had SO much fun with them. They stayed for about 3 days and there was plenty of Settlers, Mario, and and puppy searching. That's right, we helped Dayana find a puppy. She settled on a 9 week old shorkie who they named Sadie, who instantly became best friends with Penny. They played for hours. Kyla loved her to, but we know how Kyla treats her puppy, so we had to keep a close watch on her with Sadie. It was a lot of fun having them here.

bliss doesn't cover it

2011-01-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

On December 28, 2006, Jacob and I were sealed together for time and eternity and it was one of the greatest days of my life. We were able to celebrate the fourth year anniversary of that amazing day. This year, we were so busy that our anniversary was swept under a big holiday rug, so I thought I would mention now that I have some time. I have been so grateful for the past four years. I knew I loved Jacob the day I married him, but I did not realize how much that love would grow over the years. Here are some reasons why after 4 years of marriage I love Jacob even more:

I love the way that Jacob pretends that he is not a good singer, even though he has an amazing voice.

I love the way that Jacob takes Kyla on Daddy/daughter dates, and the way he dances with her all around the living room.

I love the way that Jacob has made me like so much sci-fi.

I love that Jacob will clean up obese people's bowel movements so that I can be a stay-at-home mother, and doesn't complain about it too much.

I love that Jacob will watch chick-flicks with me, and won't make fun of them unless Mylie Cyrus is in it.

I love that Jacob makes breakfast burritos better than anyone I know.

I love that Jacob will pay the bills because he knows how much numbers scare me.

I love how Jacob's idea of doing Kyla's hair is putting a clippie in it.

I love that Jacob will give me favorable Settler's trades, even though it won't help him, just because he loves me.

Even though I joke with him about it, I love that Jacob can find a coupon for anything.

I love how Jacob won't cut his hair for 6 months, and then will swoosh his hair out of his eyes like Justin Bieber.

I love that Jacob puts up with all that I throw at him.

And I love that Jacob is still the most attractive man I have ever laid eyes on.

For all of the reasons and many more, I still feel like the luckiest girl alive to be married to Jacob Nibarger, and I will be the luckiest for forever.

Jacob rewrites Twilight

2011-01-19T22:35:00.001-08:00

Jacob comes up to me while I am brushing my teeth after we have watched Twilight Eclipse:

Jacob: "Bella was going to choose Jacob until she saw that his wolf form looked like this!"

He proceeds to hold up Penny, and then makes a growling noise while he has Penny pretend attack me.

And then I remembered why I was the English graduate.

Christmas 3: Texas Nibarger Christmas

2011-01-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

Now because I know that everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for the Christmas 3 summary, I will put you at ease and post it. So Christmas 3 was spent with the Nibargers, and boy do we love Nibarger chaos! We luckily escaped the Provo blizzard right when it started and made it to the airport ok, only to have to wait a few hours because of a delayed flight. Kyla was able to have her own seat thanks to a very gracious lady who switched for us.

At least we taught her well to buckle her seat belt.

Once we got to Texas, there was more traveling in store. We drove 2 1/2 hours to Seymour Texas where Kevin and LeAnne recently bought a ranch. Then the fun ensued, including tin foil dinners, smore's, gator rides (miniature and regular sized), four wheeling, bow shooting, playing in the river (I know! Gotta love December in Texas), feeding the longhorns, playing with dogs and taking care of a sick baby for the first time. That's right, my poor little girl finally had her first real sickness. The flight combined with her already thick congestion led to a double ear infection. She had a temp all day while we were at the ranch and we couldn't do anything about it until we got back into town. She slept a lot of the day, and when she wasn't sleeping, she was miserable. Poor girl.

Little marshmallow mouth

Gator rides with the cousins.

Kevin and LeAnne got 5 longhorns, and they were so much fun to play with.

Jacob and I got to relive our first date on a four-wheeler. This is Jacob's serious face, looking out for potholes so we didn't fall off because we didn't have helmets. I love my Nurse Jacob!

Watching the kiddos in the river. Poor Kyla was so miserable.

She had a 5 minute reprieve to play in the water. Then she wanted me to hold her again.

Kyla LOVED the gator. Every chance she was on the ground, she went straight to the big one or the Hot Wheels one.

We spent the rest of our time at LeAnne's house. Here we are showing off our Christmas presents.

The girls had this obsession with the dog kennel.

The Nibarger Christmas party was crazy, as tradition holds. There was pletny of delicious food, plenty of games, laughter, chatting, noise, and chaos. What do you expect with 10 kids plus 9 spouses and 25 grandkids!

Mommy with a cute little boy.

Jacob and his parents.

Some of the cousins performing at the talent show.

This was a fun game we did where all the sister-in-laws had to pick out their husbands from their legs. It was hilarious. I found Jacob first thing. I know those hairy legs anywhere!

Kyla loved all the cousin time she got, once she got used to the craziness.

Kyla playing with Hera, the 5 month old great dane.

We attempted to ride Hera. We will have to wait until she is a little bigger.

After the Nibarger Christmas party, Jacob and I began the Tour de Nibargers. Ben and Orianna were gracious enough to lend us their car so that we could drive to see most of the Nibarger families.

The first was the Bassets in Arlington.

Kyla with all the cousins closest to her, except Alex.

The second stop was the Nibargers in Venus. Kyla loved all the pets and kids here.

The last family was the Nibargers in Decatur, but they actually came to Keller to see us. And I guess we didn't get any pictures of that fun reunion. But we had so much fun.

We feel so blessed to have been able to visit all of our families, that we have the means and the time off to keep our relationships with our family strong. Thanks everyone who took us in, fed us, drove us, and everything else you guys did for us. We sure do love and miss you all!

Christmas 2: New Mexico Christmas

2011-01-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Brittany, Kyla and I celebrated the next Christmas in Albuquerque with my parents. Jacob was such a sweetheart to let us go and leave him alone for Christmas, even though he didn't end up being alone in the end. After the long 9 hour car trip, we made it and had a ton of fun.

Kyla and Penny both LOVED playing with the dogs.

Kyla also loved looking at the snake. I would find her here like 10 times a day.

We had Christmas Eve at The Knudsens for Danish Christmas, or dancing around the tree. Here is Kyla with the luminarios.

After that, we went to Old Town to see the lights and the giant tree.

Kyla and Grandpa and Grandma loved hanging out.

Waiting to get into the tree room for presents.

Britt was not as excited as Penny to be awake that early.

Can you see a common theme? Kyla loves being read to by Grandpa.

The Christmas morning crowd.

Cute little girl!

More of the same theme.

We did something this trip that we haven't done in forever. Dad networked the computers so that we could play Outlaws against each other. It was so fun shooting my sisters!

Jumping on the tramp with Aunt Bitney.

And Grandpa

We had dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Warren.

Kyla snuggling with Great-Grandma.

Hanging out.

Sisters!

And the drive home. Could you tell the car ride made us a little crazy?

This one is always crazy.

Another successful Christmas. It was so nice to get out of the cold Provo air and into pleasant New Mexico. I'm so grateful for time with my family and for memories made.

Christmas 1: Nibarger Christmas

2011-01-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

As usual, the Christmas Spirit was not small enough to fit into just one Christmas, and we were able to celebrate three different Christmases. This post will be devoted to the first. Jacob had to work through Christmas Eve and Christmas, because he wanted to have Thanksgiving and New Year's off. Therefore, we had our own Christmas early. Luckily for us, Michael and Dayana were able to get off the truck for a few days and enjoy Christmas with us. Their kiddos were supposed to come up to be with them, but because of bad road conditions they couldn't make it. Even still, we were able to have an amazing time with plenty of shopping, Mario, movies, and whatever video games the boys were playing.

Christmas Eve we had our traditional reading of the Christmas story by candle light.

The we opened a present, even though this isn't really an established tradition. We just seem to open presents early every year because Jacob can't wait.

Kyla opening her present.

We got up at a decent 7:30 Christmas morning. Here is the beautiful Christmas tree.

Michael's super excited for presents face.

Kyla and I super excited. She had to get some energy before the big present opening.

The aftermath.

Penny's present. A little coat to keep her warm.

Kyla's favorite present. She pushes this around all over the house.

After the presents, we went outside to enjoy some snow time. The boys made a fort fit for a dwarf.

The girls made a snow woman, implants and earrings included. (Those were both Dayana's idea).

Of course, we had to make snow angels.

Kyla's new favorite way to use her new favorite toy.

And of course the kids had to play with the boxes.

Kyla got tired of Daddy ignoring us, so she took care of it.

All in all, we had an amazing early Christmas. We got some great presents and had some really good times. Jacob was lucky because after I had left for my second Christmas, Michael and Dayana ended up staying until the day before I got home. He really lucked out in not being alone while I was gone to New Mexico Christmas. And that is where we are headed now...

Jingles Bells

2010-12-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is the best I could get. She is always singing, but whenever I try to get it on camera, she stops. What a little stinker. I love how distracted she is. What a sweet little girl!

The Braid

2010-12-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the ADORABLE braid. Can you tell that I love having a little girl with tons of hair? I love thinking of new and cute ways to do it. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

I love my job!

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

We had a Nibarger/Warren farewell party for Drew because he is going on his mission on WEDNESDAY!!!! Crazy. Anyways, we decorated some Christmas cookies to celebrate.

the bunch

Andrew and Dani showing off their mad creative skills

The real reason that Andrew wanted to put frosting on the cookie

You can't tell, but she really is happy. Her mouth is just full of cookie.

Britt brought gummy worms to decorate with. Surprisingly they came in handy! Can you find them?

This cookie wont the most gory award of the evening. It all started when the reindeer I was decorating broke right at the neck. Andrew decided to take over from there. This was the final product. It was amazing to see how focused Andrew got for the 10 minutes he was designing this cookie mural! We all agreed that the bear won the fight.

In other news, I braided Kyla's hair for the first time today. It was ADORABLE!!! (But when is it not?) I will have to get a picture of it the next time I do it.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-08T08:06:00.001-08:00

It has been interesting Holiday Season so far, as this is our first "real" Christmas with a coherent child who is starting to understand the workings of the Christmas season. As such, Jacob and I have been collaborating on the types of traditions that we would like to have, bringing some from our own families and making some for ourself. So far, Jacob has told me a tradition that he would like to continue is putting candy canes on the Christmas tree. Something that I have told him that I would like to continue is doing secret families. Of course we will continue to read the Christmas story by candle light on Christmas Eve before we go to bed. But my favorite so far is the Christmas tradition that Jacob says is a real tradition, but I'm pretty sure he just made it up because he didn't want me to go buy a star for the top of the tree yet:

"You're not supposed to put the star on the top of the tree until Christmas Eve because that is the night that the new star appeared for the Savior's birth!"

Sounds logical right? Also sounds economical to me. We'll have to get a tree topper eventually, but if we can put it off then that is fine with him. I love my husband and the many traditions that we hold onto to enrich the Christmas spirit in our home.

Christmas with a Toddler

2010-12-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come to the Nibarger house in full swing, and Kyla is loving it! It has been so fun so far to have a toddler around this Holiday Season. The first time she saw the lit Christmas tree, all she could say was "Woahw!" What a cutie!

Kyla was very helpful in helping me decorate the tree. I would put a hook on an ornament, hand it to her, and she would go put it on the tree. After a few minute of this, I looked and saw:

That is Kyla's silver ornament pile laying on the branch. She is such a good little helper!

The final product. This is the first full tree I have been able to decorate since I have been married, so it was a lot of fun for me as well.

Last night we attended our ward Medieval Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and there was tons of delicious food! We dressed Kyla up in a cute little Santa dress that we inherited from LeAnne. She was adorable. I could never get a full picture of her, but these will have to suffice.

Doesn't she look like a cute little Santa's helper putting presents under the tree?

Here she is playing with the train ornament. She really likes taking the ornaments off the tree to look at them and touch them.

At the party. I asked her to smile and this is what I got ^.

I don't know where this face came from, but it was so funny!

Then we were trying to get her to hold her dress out, like she was curtsying or something, and this was all we got.

She finally did it, but was looking away from the camera. What a goofy girl.

Some other Christmas favorites that Kyla has loved being introduced to is hot chocolate (or hot toto), and Christmas lights. We love pointing the neighborhood lights out to her because her reaction is always so cute. She also has recently taken an interest in the presents under the tree, which we are hoping will not last so we don't have to rewrap anything.

We are looking forward to some more fun Christmas activities, including going to Salt Lake City to see the lights, Christmas cookies and candy making, and plenty of Christmas movies.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-30T14:46:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving season, along with all the normals (family, friends, fun, delicious food, etc), we are specifically grateful for safe tires, healthy bodies, and government officials who help us to follow the rules. For more details see the photo story below:

The Utah Nibargers were able to meet some Texas Nibargers (Kevin and LeAnne and crew, and Matt and Elisabeth) for Thanksgiving at an uncle-in-law's house in Longmont, CO. It was a lot of fun and we are really glad that we had the opportunity to go, but boy did we make some memories!!! The first one happened when we were just 40 minutes away from home, just getting out of Heber City when Jacob lost control of the car and the following happened:

It was SO scary! Luckily no one and nothing (except my nerves!) was harmed. The entire situation was not helped by the almost bald tires that we didn't think to check before we left. 20 minutes and $125 worth of towing later, we were on our way again, and we ended up passing about 6 more cars who were in the same situation we found ourselves. That's one rich tow man!

Considering that we added quite a bit of time to our normally 8 1/2 hour drive, Kyla did really well in the car. This is the face she made every time a semi truck passed by. She's pretty snug back there!

A good part of the trip!

She thinks she is going to drive the rest of the way. How could you say no to that face?

So we finally made it and got right into fun family hang out time. Kyla had a blast playing with her cousins. Here she is cheesing it up with Austin at breakfast.

The house we stayed at (Kevin's Uncle's house) was great for kids. They had so many toys in and out of the house. Kyla definitely did not get bored.

Some of the outdoor children friendly attractions were:

a kiddie car

push'n'pop

swing set

petting zoo (ok, just horses but the kids loved it!)

Can't have a family get together without some Settlers! Austin played on his own for the first time and got 8 points!

There were also plenty of toys inside to play with. This was one of Kyla's favorites.

Beautiful Momma and daughter

Kiki and Kyla fully enjoying the sun/toy room. Can you tell she loved it here?

I don't know what it is about old kids wanting to be in baby things, but this happens whenever we are around any time of little baby item.

Another big hit was Annie the very sweet and gentle dog. Penny got reprieve for a week.

More toys. They were all over!

So Thanksgiving dinner and dessert was delicious, and I am glad that we got to enjoy it, because the next day, Jacob came down with a tummy bug that made him nauseous all day. Then, he so graciously shared with me, and being the over achiever that I am, I took it one step farther than nausea. Let's just say I will probably never again eat P.F. Changs.

While we were suffering with that, we all went to Jumpin' which was filled with blow up jump houses for the kids. Kyla was a little leery of them at first, but once she understood the concept she became a pro. She loved climbing up and then going down the slide.

Poor Jacob napping at Jumpin'. This is before I started to feel icky. At least we took the sickness in shifts so that we could keep Kyla parented at all times.

Jumping with Aunt Elisabeth, who had just gone skiing, hence the ski clothes.

So we left Saturday, and Jacob was feeling a bit better, but I was still pretty out of it, which meant that Jacob drove the entire way. Because I wasn't doing too well and Kyla was more fussy than the first trip, Jacob had a bit of a heavy foot. We were reminded why they have those numbers all up and down the highway, when Jacob got pulled over and got a ticket. It was completely worth it to me because we got home an hour and a half earlier than we would have.

I was trying to get a picture of the banana sticking out of her mouth, but she got it all in before I could, and then made this goofy face.

Even though we had some hiccups in our trip, we had a ton of fun and we are really grateful that we had the chance to hang out with family. We are also really glad that Bob and Nancy allowed us to come and crash in their house. We are hoping for less eventful trips in the coming holidays.

A Precious Nap Moment

2010-11-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

As of 2 weeks ago, Kyla is officially completely weaned. This means that instead of nursing before nap or bed, we sing a song and then we get to snuggle with her blankie and baby for a few minutes before I lay her in bed so she can fall asleep. Usually I will whisper "I love you" in her ear as she is calming down. Well today, as I was starting to snuggle her, she looked at me and said "I lub you...dood nite." It was just about the cutest sweetest thing I have ever heard and a dream come true for any mother. That one little moment makes all of the hard ones worth it. I love being a mommy!

Bilingual Prayers

2010-11-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

Recently, Jacob has started to have Kyla say the prayer...and by that I mean we say a word and she says it back to us. Here is how her prayers normally go:

Jacob: "Dear"

Kyla: "Deah"

Jacob: "Heavenly"

Kyla: "Heabenly"

Jacob: "Father"

Kyla: (mumble, mumble) "paher"

Jacob: "Thank you"

Kyla: signs "Thank you" in sign language

Jacob: "Food"

Kyla: signs "Food" in sign language

Jacob: "In the"

Kyla: "Inna"

Jacob: "Name"

Kyla: "Name"

Jacob: "Jesus Christ"

Kyla: "Chesus Trist"

Jacob: "Amen."

Kyla: "AMEN!!!!!" <-(This part usually include hands being thrown up in the air in celebration.)

Ok, so half of it is in sign language...that doesn't mean that is counts any less, right? It's a very cute experience to watch, and we know that it will lead to her being able to say great prayers when she knows more words. She truly is one precious little girl!

I just had to steal this

2010-11-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

I mean, wouldn't you? How adorable is this?!

Thanks Dani for the super cute picture!