Picture Overload!

We have not seen either set of grandparents for a while, thus the plea for and gift of pictures!! We have had a pretty busy week here, but I will let the pictures do the story telling :)

Heidi is learning to walk so fast! She has been army crawling for about two months now, with no interest in moving her little legs, but in the last three days, she has started to pull herself up on everything! Usually, this is fine - but for the first day or so, she had NO IDEA how to unlock her legs and get back down. Cut to me flying down the stairs at 3 in the morning to respond to the shrill shriek of a very confused, very stuck baby. She has since learned, thank heavens!

Heidi and her best pal, Simon. They looked out this window and growled and barked (yes, both of them growled and barked!) for about an hour the other morning.

I love that the girls are playing together now! They have a wonderful system where Michaela tells Heidi exactly how it is going to be, Heidi doesn't listen at all and usually knocks down the tower Michaela is building or throws the barbie rather than saying the assigned statement. Michaela usually gets mad, tries again and again, and then finds a different activity.

Beach Anyone? You would never know it from this picture - but she is happy to be having a picnic in the sand!

Just look at that cute little...Ponytail!...did you think I was going to say bummy? Cause that is not appropriate for the Internet, no matter how adorable those buns are!

Heidi baby avoiding a sunburn :)

Very quiet backseat after the sun and sand...(Please note Michaela's choice of "light reading!"

Root beer Float anyone?! To say it correctly in our house though, it comes out a little more like this, Root Ba-reer!

And last but not least, a lesson in child rearing. When you throw two people in a marriage, lets call them Kresge and Fife, you have two different influences available to teach your children, lets call them Kresge and Fife. In this instance you have a perfectly wonderful, sunny, low humidity day, perfect fro two things. One - napping upstairs for three hours with your baby, and Two- washing the cars! Fife absolutely won this influence, as Kresge was upstairs napping for three hours with the baby! His dad would be so proud - and SO WOULD MINE!!

Trip to the Kiddie Park

There is a really fun little kid park right down the street from our house. It's only like 75 cents per ride so it makes for one heck of a family night!

Photo Update!

We got to see Corban! Weeeee!! Last weekend, Amber, Corban and Ethan were in New York, which is way closer to us than their house in Oklahoma - so we road tripped it up there!! We stayed with Amber's wonderful family, and got to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, And the Palmayra Temple, and The Sacred Grove....basically a wonderful weekend! Michaela had such a great time with Corban, we wish we lived closer!

Corban wasn't really into the whole "kissing cousin" concept quite like Michaela was!

Here is one attempt at our Family Picture, at least Heidi looks adorable!

Attempt number 2.......

Amber and her boys know how to do it!

Snack time in the Sacred Grove

Attempt number three......

My mom calls her granddaughter's her Sunshine Girls, and I saw these jammies, and well, there you go! I tried several times to get a really cute frameworthy picture....

Attempt number 2.....

And three.....

And 4!!

Mommy: Michaela I will make you a deal, you can sleep upstairs if you go potty before you get up there. Or if not, you can sleep down here in your bed.

Michaela: Well, Samantha, I have another deal. I don't like my bed so therefore, I need to go potty. I will be right back!

Monday = Free Zoo Day!

We live about one mile from the zoo, so on Monday's when it's free for Cuyahoga (pronunciation demo in a later post) County, we GO! I don't really like to see tons of pictures of animals or things that don't have people in them, so I don't really take them. You will just have to trust me that these pictures are from the Zoo. I did see a newborn Koala today that I will be kidnapping. There is a picture of him :) And a seal - but that is because I waited in line for 10 min, recieved my two dead, frozen fish and threw them at him. Anyway, here is my post about our Zoo Day!

Starting out

Michaela wanted her face painted right out of the gate. Literally, this was right outside the entrance gate :)

Delight.

Michaela thought Heidi might enjoy having a flower on her face all day too!

Adorable teeny feet :)

This is Gross

Seriously, don't read this or view the pictures if you have a weak stomach. (No boogers Michelle, just poop,)

Heidi is a very easy baby. She laughs all the time and is such a love. She also loves her sleep and quiet time. It is not out of the ordinary to let her wake up and play for about 15 minutes before I go get her. Today was no different. I heard her cooing and laughing, flopping those crazy legs and cracking herself up. I went upstairs to get Michaela to go to sleep and Shawnie came up carrying Heidi by her armpits at an arms length away. I was thinking, "Sheesh Shawn, she just peed through her diaper!" And then I smelled it. The poop. And then I saw it. The poop. You should have seen it! She managed to take off her diaper and fling POOP all over the place! I ran her into the bathroom, sapped a few pics, called the doctor to make sure it wasn't an emergency (it wasn't) and then assessed the damage. It's in her fingernails! Her eyebrows! Her toe cracks! ....Her TEETH! (I threw up) Shawn stayed with a recently scrubbed Heidi, and I went to her room to check things out. Her crib! Her sheet! Her BOTTLE! (I threw up again.) So, lots of hot water and bleach, and room deodorizer and a shower for myself, we are back in business. Heidi smells better, the girls' room is back to normal and gone are the summer days of Heidi sleeping in a tshirt and diaper. Pants on from now on my little friend!

These Fife Girls!

These girls! One is peeing outside in PUBLIC for the entire world to see, and the other is growling and screeching so loud that people will move their towels away from us! And I LOVE IT! Michaela and Heidi are so much fun, they bring us so much joy and excitement. Here are a few quick pictures of our last few weeks. Things here in Ohio are going well, we are finding lots of things to do. We miss our friends and family, but just as we did in Iowa, we will make some new friends here and make them family. On a very light and exciting note - I do get to go see my BELOVED Michelle this weekend, for an entire weekend of scrapbooks, laughing, good Chicago food and TWILIGHT. Nope - haven't seen the third movie yet :) I also should be getting some pictures in the mail here shortly of my BELOVED sister and her girls and my girls during our last trip to Seattle. I need to unload those off my camera. Anyway that was a lot of rambling just to say, here are my crazy girls :)

Yep. She is Peeing. In Public. And Yep. I took a picture. What else can I do midstream? Now she has to do what I say, or I WILL show this on prom night.

Heidi is so precious. Words cannot describe how delicious she is. She is always laughing or smiling or cracking herself up. We love her so!

However happy she may be, Heidi HATES the water. See? You can tell!

I love how they Love each other!

She is most definitely back!

To the blogging world of course. She hasn't left our house that is for sure! And for proof, here are a few of Michaela's most recent. Enjoy :)

Mommy: Michaela, will you help mommy fold your clothes please?

Michaela: No thanks mommy, I am pretty busy right now.

Mommy: Doing what? Please help me with your chores.

Michaela: Mom, I already telled you that I have my own stuff to worry about, I just can't do your chores right now!

Michaela: (screaming) GET ME OUT OF THIS CAR!!!

Mommy: Please stop screaming.

Michaela: GET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!

Mommy: That is 1.....That is 2......Michaela, that is 3, no ice cream when we stop.

Michaela: (face crumples and she covers it with her hands), sobbs, Mommy, you just broke my heart all over the place. It needs the ice cream to make it alright

Michaela: Oh no! I am sad, the Holy Ghost just left my heart when I came to trouble

Daddy: Oh no - why don't you say a prayer and ask for it back?

Michaela: (right there on the kitchen floor) Heavenly Father, bless the Holy Ghost comes back please.

Daddy: Do you feel better now?
Michaela: Yep!

Daddy: Did he come back to your heart?

Michaela: Nope - he came back to my ear!

Daddy: Your ear?

Michaela: Yeah, kind of like a Little Jesus!!!

Mommy: Are you excited to ride in the new truck with daddy?

Michaela: Yep mom! Cause I am a (insert Tim the tool man Taylor style grunt here) MAN!

Alive?

Yes we are. I should blog about how Jordan graduated with his MBA, and show you the adorable pictures of the girls in their Hawkeye Cheerleader outfits at his graduation. Or, I could blog about how Heidi was sealed to us and how Ericka was able to come with us to Nauvoo and how special it was to have one of my dearest friends there and have Uncle Austin be one of the witnesses. (I still need to contact my photographer and pay her - hi Sarah, I am alive!) OR, I could blog or brag about how Jordan and I went to Puerto Rico WITHOUT our kids and had a magical time on the beach, snorkeling, and drinking Pina Coladas while swimming in an infinity pool. I could also explain in detail that we have moved from Iowa to Cleveland Ohio, and have been sleeping on the floor for four nights in a house with no a/c, and now we are in Seattle after a 4am flight and then a layover and then a 4 hour flight with kids who had only slept for 3 hours total.

But I won't. Not today, I only have 20 min on my battery life left. And the free breakfast ends at the hotel in 45 min.


So today, I will tell you that I have been married to my best friend for five years today. And by chance, or fate, or miracle, hotwire landed us at the exact hotel I woke up in exactly five years ago today to get ready for my wedding. I will eat my Continental breakfast with my spouse and our two kids rather than my fiance and my mommy. I love him. I love them. I love us. I love to be Fife. In our five years there have been: two BA's, one Masters, one very broken leg, eight houses, four states, two kids, three Sealings, 12 callings, two dogs, three cars, 22 states visited, two nephews, two nieces, and some of the best friends I could have ever hoped for. We are blessed, we are happy and we are alive! Pictures to come soon, someday or never!

Daddy's Little Hawkeye's :)

(Images from website - I couldn't wait to scan mine)

Happy Almost graduation Jordan! These were supposed to be a surprise, but I am way too excited at how well they turned out. ( I know Mom and Savannah will think the bows are too big - but I can't help it! :) )