Our Kylin is Four!

I seriously cannot believe that it has been 4 years since Kylin way born! She came into the world much earlier than we planned and had a pretty rocky start in the NICU for a while with being a preemie. Her lungs were not developed and had a huge infection in them and on top of that she didn't want to eat very well. She had tubes and monitors and was in the incubator for a long time and we couldn't hold her. I remember it like it was yesterday. But, I am so glad that she got through it and is apart of our family because I cannot imagine my life without her sweet spirit. She is such kind and thoughtful little girl and defiantly brings a lot of love into our home. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY...MOMMY LOVES YOU SOOOO MUCH!

And here she is today...can't believe my baby is getting so big! Funny cause her nickname still is "baby"

Some Things About Kylin at Four:

1. She loves to Dance

2. She loves to play dress up

3. She is very smart at her number and letters

4. She never lets us forget to say prayers

5. She always has to give hugs and kisses before we go anywhere

6. She always shares treats with Piper without even being asked

7. She is a snuggler and loves to watch movies in our bed

8. Her favorite color is pink and purple

ps. Huge parties are happening this week:) LOTS of fun decoration ideas...you guys know how I love parties....so stay tuned!

The Apron...

I have been trying really hard to capture everyday things around our house and I think I am doing an ok job. I have a new post like everyday. hehe. So, here is another one of those that maybe no one else will care about, but I know that Ky will remember....HER NEW APRON!

She has been buggin and buggin me to make a new apron because her other one is a little small...and we bake A LOT around here :) And even though this week is crazy busy, I decided to do something fun with her and not care about anything else and all the work I need to get done for a change! We went to Joannes and she picked out the fabric she wanted all on her own. I would have liked to do something a little more vintage inspired and when I tried to help her to pick what I wanted she said, "Mom, I thought you told me I could pick!" hehe. So I backed off and it was pony's and rainbows and sparkley purple. That girl knows what she likes and wants, that is for sure! She even helped me sew it by pressing the petal. She was so excited when it was all done and has not taken it off since....she even slept in it :) So here she is twirling like the little princess she is.

Wish I had her pick out another color for the waistband tie...oh well still cute. I made the pattern up, so I am glad it worked :)

She kept dancing, So I could not get a the perfect sun flare picture I wanted...but I just LOVE that picture still even though it is not perfect.

I have been sewing Piper lots of the tunic shirts you have been seeing her in too...I just love to sew. When things slow down a little with my photography and my Sugar Pop, I am going to try and get some aprons and tunic shirts on Etsy...TRY is the key word there :) I have 3 photo shoots I am proofing and my store is out of control with Mother's Day orders and on top of that Piper is teething and ornery as heck...I can't put her down!!! But, I can't complain because I am so SO so grateful that business is going well. I even hired someone to sew for me so that I won't go crazy :) Sorry-I will stop rambling here....maybe I spend too much time with kids all day and just need to talk in grown up language. hahaha

Better late than never...Kylin's Birthday Party!

My little Kylin turned 3 back on the 17th and I haven't had a chance to post pictures yet. I usually go all out for birthday's but this year has been so crazy with not fun family stuff and me being sick and Kylin was sick. So, I only got a few not so great pictures :) But some is better than none and I think that she had a lot of fun and a GREAT day!!!

I sent these invites out to everyone...Ky was so excited about mailing them.

The boys and their crowns...hehe

The kids were all SOOO excited about Kylin's dollhouse. Which, my mom drove 2-hours to pick up for me. THANKS mom! I looked for about 2-weeks for a big dollhouse for her and they are sold out everywhere. Finally on the day of her birthday I looked on KSL and found this one ONLY $50 brand new in box! So my mom drove to murray to get it for me :)

I put this together for 3 hours on MY birthday (which is the day after) and it was TOTALLY worth it....she LOVES it and it is taller than she is!

My sister is the best! She let me have the party at her house becuase it is a lot bigger and closer to everyone. She decoarted so cute and made these AWESOME crepe paper balls...SO CUTE!

The cake. Ok- so this was kinda thrown together pretty quick, but thanks again to my sister who did the fondant and most the decorating because I was not feeling well. Kylin LOVED it. Sorry all these pictures are so blurry.

Blowing out the big three!

I let Kylin look through about 5 different kinds of cakes and this is the one she chose for me to make. She is in love with all things princess.

My brother....awwww doesn't he look so cute :)

I wanted a girlie girl...

AND I GOT ONE...well mostly :) Kylin is funny because she can tackle Mckay and take him down, but she LOVES to get all pretty and dressed up too. All day long she is constantly switching between these 3 dresses. I have even had to take her to the store and different places because she wont change without a fit. I put up with it because I think she is adorable and it is my own fault for pushing the girliness. So, I love my little princess!

Fun Stuff...

Yep, there has been some fun stuff going on here :) We are enjoying fall, which now I think is just about over since it SNOWED today! Blah, I really HATE snow! But I think I am the only one cause the kids LOVED it! Here are a few things that we have been up to lately...

THE PUMPKIN WALK:

Logan has a pumpkin walk that was kinda fun...AND FREE! You get to walk around and look at some cool pumpkins that people have carved or painted and created some interesting stuff.

Mckay's favorite part was all the pumpkins kids had made and they were all lit up.

There we some cool pumpkin scenes...I really liked this Michael Jackson one and there was a PC & Mac one that was pretty funny :)

I think the kids favorite thing was riding the shuttle bus to and from the event....they couldn't hold still and were laughing the whole time.

We only stayed about 45 minutes cause it started getting cold and afterwards we went to Village Inn for some yummy hot cocoa!

FIRST SNOW:

Today, the kiddos ran outside in the their jammies to go play in the snow. They were so excited and wanted to build a snowman...THANK GOODNESS there was not enough snow for that.

CRAZY KYLIN:

This is about 6 seconds of Kylin mood swings. She really cracks me up with her different multiple personalities...I can't keep up :

ONE- MONTH OLD ALREADY!

I can't believe a month has already gone by! She wasn't gaining weight at first and had a little trouble getting rid of her jaundice, but after substituting a little high calorie formula into her diet she got better. She still wakes up every 2-hours to eat and I am EXHAUSTED. But, we love her sooo much! She has been having LOTS more awake time now, and I am starting to get into a groove and figuring out how to take care of 3-kids :)

So, that is what us Howe's were up to these past 2-weeks or so...Lots of fun Halloween stuff coming soon. Now I just need to finish Mckay's costume!!!

Mckay's First Day of Preschool & My New Lens!!!

Mckay had his first day of school on Wed. He actually just turned 5 and really could got to kindergarten, BUT we wanted to hold him back a year since he is right on the deadline...that way he can be the oldest in his class instead of the youngest :)

We had a REALLY REALLY hard time finding him a preschool up here. We were on about 3 waiting lists to get into one, but after calling and bugging this preschool a million times...HE GOT IN! It is so great because not only does he get to do all the important learning stuff, but he also switches off between swimming, tumbling and tennis as a daily activity. It is such a nice school....it better be for the FREAKIN price. But, totally worth it when I see how much he loves it and is excited every day to go to school.

I cried after I got back in the car from dropping him off his first day...silly i know. But, I feel like he is all grown up and from now on he won't be home with me anymore. He will be at school and with friends and it just makes me sad to have him not be my little Mckay anymore :)

Ok enough with the sappiness- So MY NEW LENS!!! Wahoo... I have been wanting it FOREVER. So, I sold my NICE 24-70mm f/2.8L lens (which was really hard for me to do) and was able to buy a fixed 85mm f/1.8. It is gonna be so much fun...I just need to get used to it and practice LOTS more. good thing I have a cute guinea pig. Too bad I had to bribe her with pizza and a trip to the park, so there was only about 5-minutes of good light left :)

ps. I am going to be selling these headband soon...so stay tuned if you are interested :)

My Baby Got a Haircut!

We took Ky to get her hair cut today, and I think it is really cute and great fo summer- plus I am sick of trying to comb through all the snarls. She just doesn't look like my baby anymore though!

20-WEEKS!

FINALLY I am 1/2 way there! Well probably more than half way if this baby comes early like my others. But, hopefully not! I have been having contractions already, so I hope that I am not dilating yet. I started dilating at 25-weeks with my two other kiddos and they put me on bed rest and gave me some medicine and shots to stop the contractions.
So-we will see how it goes, I am sure it will be the same story with Piper. But, I want to keep this baby baking as long as possible. It is hard having these high-risk pregnancies, and then the NICU, but I am SO GRATEFUL I am able to have kids even going through all of this.

I have been trying to get all of Piper's stuff ready, I figure if I do it gradually it wont be so overwhelming. So, I decided to go through all the kids old clothes and get rid of all the boy ones and the girl ones that are going to be the wrong season for Piper.

I have come to realize I have a little bit of a addiction to buying my kids clothes. I should have shown you the HUGE piles of clothes after I dumped all these bags and totes out. But, in my defense I am an AWESOME bargin shopper and found such good deals on most of this stuff that I couldnt pass it up. I am selling LOTS of ebay and took a bunch to kid-to-kid. It has kinda been fun going through all the clothes and having the memories of my kids in a certain outfit, and a little sad to get rid of them.


On a random note- This is what happens when Kylin is left alone for more than 5-minutes....this is her toilet seat stuck on her head! She was screaming because she could not get it off!

And this is a video of my silly Ky dancing! She cracks me up becuause this is really how she is ALL day...NEVER runs out of this energy.