The Lil' Cogs

Girls Night

2011-01-27T14:33:00.010-07:00

Last night I decided it was time for a fun night with my girls since we were feeling a little lonely. Well let me back up a little bit, we are lonely girls these days because Michael has gone back to school to get his MBA. He works full time so he has to go to school at Mon. and Wed. night and every other night I have to work. Thus the loneliness. So anyway I thought we should have some fun one night and this is what transpired...

Jam session

Dance party

Sponge animals, watch them grow.

"Hey there ladies"

Sienna loved her mustache

Treat time!

Is a sweet tooth genetic?

Don't get me wrong I love a night out with my friends, but nothing can beat a night in with my two best girls. I love them so much and as you can see we have a great time together.

Slacker

2010-12-06T11:15:00.003-07:00

Hi my name is Kimberly and I am a slacker. There admitting that I have a problem is the first step, the second step is doing something about it. So here is a mini post of something we have been up to (baby steps, I wouldn't want to overwhelm myself). I realize looking back at my last post that i have missed quite a bit. Sienna's birthday, Halloween and all the festivities that go along with that, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. Plus Sienna is walking and talking now so I guess I better get to it. Plus my camera broke which left me disoriented for a while but I have recovered, and found a way to forge ahead. Here are some pictures they tell the story better then I could.

Ode to Sienna Mae

2010-09-06T12:15:00.006-06:00

As every parent knows each child brings new and exciting differences to the family. They sleep, eat, play, sing, talk, cry, laugh in all different kinds of ways. I know all of this now but the day i had my second daughter was when my education begun. It was a cloudy afternoon when Sienna was born she was shy and quite from the very beginning which is a stark contrast from her very personable sister. She seemed content just to be snuggled up with anyone as long as they held tight and kept her warm. This past year she has grown in so many way. The obvious ones like getting taller and chunkier. Getting 6 teeth so far. Sitting up, then crawling, then standing and almost walking. But the growth I love to see most is in her personality.

Sienna is: quite, until you cross her

A content baby, loves to just sit and watch the world go by

Hungry, there really isn't a time when she won't take food. If you are chewing a piece of gum she wonders why you won't share.

A singing, dancing baby. She loves to shake her bum and sing along to any music playing.

Snuggly, she will lay on your shoulder for hours while she rubs your arm for comfort.

Loving, she does like to pick her favorite but when she picks you, you know how important you are with the hugs and giggles she gives you.

A sister and she knows it. She is fascinated with Averi. She watches her every move and I'm sure will try and be her shadow.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect addition when Sienna came to us. We love her so much. Happy Birthday my baby, you deserve it.

Family Gathering

2010-08-10T11:03:00.005-06:00

Among the elevntybillion things we have been doing this summer hanging out with family has been top on the list. Any reason to get together to eat and play is fine with us so when Johns birthday came around we jumped at the chance. Lachelle and the twins had come up to visit from Las Vegas and the Bennions and Hayley had come down from Logan, so basically it was party time. I volunteered our house and was excited to host because our house is not the regular gathering place. The not so funny joke about our house is that it takes FOREVER to get out here. So Averi and I decorated our house in Scooby Doo birthday decorations because what's a birthday with out Scooby really. Peggy made what our family likes to call H.I.T burritos and I made Black Forest Cupcakes with cherries and chocolate ganache for dessert. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore because, well, we ate everything in site. It was too yum-gro-nast to help our selves. Then after all of our bellies had settled and we waited the required hour we went to the pool and swam our hearts out. Okay the little kids swam their hearts out and the parents chilled but we all had a fab time. P.S. If any of you have any questions about the inside jokes of our family I can clue you in.

Clever Girl

2010-08-02T06:14:00.002-06:00

For Averi's birthday she had asked to get her ears pierced so after some discussion michael and I decided that she could so the date was set for the end of September. Well as Averi often does she asked a bazillion questions about getting them pierced. "When exactly are we going?" "Will it hurt, if so how bad?", "I can't wait can we go now?". I carefully answered each question and told her about my piercing memories. After hearing that you have to wait 6 weeks before you can change your earrings the wheels in her head started turning and this is the conversation that followed:

"So Mom how many weeks do you have to wait until you can change your earrings?"

"About 6, Why?"

"Well how many weeks until my birthday?"

"About 6 or 7, WHY?"

"Well I think that if I got my ears pierced now then I could get new earrings for my birthday and change them. What do you think?"

"Well Averi I guess that is true we will have to discuss it with your father"

So after explaining her reasoning to her father we really had no choice but to let her do it earlier then planned. Really I'm still not sure how our 4 year old outsmarted us but it happened. So on Saturday we took a family trip down to the mall and here is the video to prove it .

Averi's home!

2010-07-15T23:57:00.005-06:00

Averi was gone all last week with her Grandparents in Durango, Colorado and she had a blast. She kept saying "see you at the end of the summer" but she ended up coming home after a week. The house was quiet and we got a lot done without her wreckage going on, but we sure missed her. Michael and Averi are bestos so they have been treasure hunting (getting dirty in the fields by our house) and riding bikes non stop since she got back. Tonight I had to work and they made a little movie while Sienna was napping (don't worry John and Pegster its not another April Fools video). It is called "Sleepwalker" and Averi had to have a ton of patience to make it. Its kinda short but it took like 140 photos to make this 25 second movie! Luckily for Averi there was a candybar in it for her.

When I grow an inch I will be older.

2010-05-27T13:34:00.004-06:00

Averi is always trying to be older. I can only assume that this is common among children, but what do I know. She is always saying things like "When I wake up in the morning I will be older" and while standing on her tippy toes "When I am this tall I will be grown up". I don't know why we are in such a hurry to grow up and then spend the rest of our life trying to recapture our childhood.

In an effort to help Averi to feel more grown up and as a moving in present we got her a bike. Not just any bike mind you a "Hello Kitty big girl purple bike", that is it's official title. Averi was never really into her tricycle so we weren't sure how this was going to go over but the second we even started looking at bike at the store she had to ride them. And I must say she is pretty good. She keeps talking about going on a bike ride with her Uncle Brandon (because he loves bicycling). I just have to step back and realize that my girls will continue to grow up despite what I do so I better just enjoy it now while I can, and savor every moment.

Where do I begin?

2010-05-23T19:04:00.003-06:00

So much has been happening in our lives for the last 2 months I really do not know what to post first. I would have been keeping up with all of the exciting events except my computer has been packed away in it's box in my in-laws garage. So to sum it up we have been in the process of buying a house. moving, Averi graduated from pre-school, my brother got married in Twin Falls and Sienna has been getting all sorts of big. I thought about all the things that I wanted to say about all of the different events and so I have come to the conclusion that each event deserves it's own post but it is going to take me a day or two to get to all of them so before people get too antsy I thought that I would get on and say hold your horses the posts are coming. Here are a few pictures to wet you whistle.

Egg-citing Adventures

2010-04-08T16:41:00.003-06:00

Easter is pretty eventful. We colored eggs, ate candy, hunted for eggs, Averi told us the story of Jesus being resurrected, devoured yummy food(aka ham from heaven, scones, chocolate covered strawberries, smoothies, and potatoes.), had a visit from a bunny, received cute baskets, ate more candy,watched conference, wore matching outfits, played savages, ate some more candy, laughed a lot and then went to bed. When asked Averi told us that her favorite part of Easter was "That bunny that gave me stuff." Sienna's favorite was the colored grass on the bottom of the Easter basket. I loved spending time with family. My girls are both growing up so quickly and I try so hard to enjoy moments with them. Michael said that he loved seeing the girls enjoying all off the Easter fun, and his tape egg. It was a fun and memorable holiday.

Movers and Shakers

2010-03-30T10:27:00.005-06:00

Well Just so everyone knows I haven't fell off the face of the earth. We are moving and it is consuming all of my time. So I will post some pics of the house when we move in and some of the empty apartment when we move out. It's been interesting moving with a 4 year old and a 6 month old. Averi thinks that every time i pack something of hers that it is never coming back. And then there is Sienna who's favorite game is "if you set me down I will cry". Ps I remember when i was pregers I would always wish for a cuddly baby because Averi was not. Well i got my wish and now I think, what was I thinking? I hope this updates everyone well enough for a while because who knows when the next time I will have a minute to blog.

So the end of the movie is cut off but what Averi says is that they have to come with us "because we are little girls!" By the way it's weird that my daughters look nothing alike, hehehe.

Sista, Sista!

2010-02-18T15:08:00.005-07:00

Ever since Sienna was born, Averi and her have had an unbreakable bond. I kept waiting for the jealousy to set in but it has never came. They just love each other so much and I am so thankful for that. Averi is so patient and kind to Sienna and wants to always help take care of her. Sienna lights up whenever Averi dances or sings or talks to her. Sienna doesn't laugh for just anyone and Averi can get her to giggle at the drop of a hat. They are just the cutest sisters. Some people think that since they are 4 years apart that they would want nothing to do with one another, but I have a feeling that they will be bestos for a long time. There is no better friend then a sister and I am so happy they have each other.

All Growed Up

2010-02-17T19:44:00.004-07:00

A long time running joke in my family is that my brother has always been 7 years old. We would be recalling a time when we went on vacation or when we moved to a new house and we would wonder how old Jared was and we would just say "He was 7". With that being said it was hard to accept the fact that he was graduating high school or going on a mission. So when he got a serious girlfriend my mind went back to the default age of 7 and I thought that he was definitely not old enough for that. So when he called and told me that he was going to ask her to marry him it came as a shock. But it finally happened, my little brother got engaged to a lovely lady named Jenni Bingham. They met and fell in love at Utah State. The are planning on tying the knot on May 21, 2010. I am so excited to get a new family member of the adult kind. They are a super cute couple, and I'm sure that they will be so happy together. Here is a sneak peak of them, I will post their engagement pictures sometime next week.

One of the 1st's

2010-01-07T16:27:00.003-07:00

Sienna just turned 4 monthes old and so when we visited the doctor I asked if i could start her on cereal because if anyone knows this girl they know she is always hungry. So i was very excited to get to start her on food. I thought that she would just devour the food from the beginning but that wasn't the case. I would be surprised if any of the food actually made it to her tummy. She made the funniest faces that we all laughed at. We keep working on it every day and i'm sure she will start loving it in no time. Here for your viewing pleasure are just some of the priceless faces she pulled.

P. S. the laugh track was provided by Averi free of charge

La Cog Family pics '09

2009-12-18T10:40:00.006-07:00

Well these are pretty self explanatory. Here we are ending the year with two beautiful girls, lotsa laughs and wonderful memories. Just keep in mind that we are a crazy family with some problems all smiling at the same time, well except for me I always smile perfectly(hehehe). Just a a little warning though I have about 50lbs of excess baby weight, Michael blinks a lot, Averi is a poser with a short attention span and Sienna drools but other then that we looked pretty cute. Enjoy!

Photos by Nate Evans @ uziorange.blogspot.com

Toe pick

2009-12-08T16:05:00.003-07:00

For anyone who doesn't know I grew up in Colorado. It is a cold state and so one would think that i would have gone ice skating before, but that is not the case. Year after year winter would come and go and i would still forget to ice skate. Until this year, Michael finally took Averi and me ice skating. The night we went was freezing of course, so we all bundled up in our warm winter clothes and laced up our boots and gave it a go. Averi loves doing anything active so right off the bat she was loving it. The only problem is she is in this "I can do it my self" faze so she insisted on going around the rink all by herself while holding on to the railing. It was slow going but she was definitely doing it. And then there was me, I automatically thought i was going to do really embarrassing things like flail about and fall flat on my rump. But to my surprise in I didn't fall and only flailed a little. Michael had been before so as he so humbly put it he was "a born ice skater". We all had a couple of turns around the rink and eventually were frozen so we decided to trade in our skates and grab hot cups of cocoa that warmed us right up. As we were leaving Averi said that she would never do that again because "Now my feet aren't working right. They keep trying to slide but they won't anymore. They are so confused!" I have to say that after all these years of waiting to go ice skating it might not have been all i was dreaming of but it was pretty fun and it made for a wonderful memory.

The Day of Giving Thanks

2009-12-01T14:18:00.012-07:00

When I think of Thanks giving I cannot help but think of all of the wonderful food of the past years and this year was no exception. One of my cousins told me that he gauges the Thanks giving dinner on how good the gravy is and him and I both agreed it was some good gravy. This year we gathered at my uncle Rockie's house in Centerville. I was so happy that my parents came up to celebrate with us and my brother came down from Logan. It was his first big holiday since he got back from the mission and I think that we all missed his smiling face more then we realized.
I am thankful for so many thing this year including health, friends, cute baby smiles, New Moon coming out(hehehe) but most importantly I am thankful for family!

They all mean so much to me whether I was with them or not. It is so important to me that my children know their family well. When they grow up I'm sure they will know just how much they are loved and by so many.Thank you for all of the memories. Sure hope everyone's gravy was delish!

Momsville

2009-11-12T16:48:00.004-07:00

Today i was driving down 100 E in American Fork and i was minding my own business when all of a sudden this teeny bopper pulls right behind me and is riding my tail. Let me first just say i was going 5 over the speed limit so it wasn't like i was driving granny style. But all I kept think was she better get off my rear. Then to top it all off she decides to pass me on a no passing street going 20 over the speed limit. And what do I say out loud "Hey you, you better slow down you're going to kill someone. Crazy teenagers, who do they think they are?" So it occurs to me a split second later that that is something a mom would say. You might be thinking to yourself, uh Kim you are a mom. And i fully realize this but occasionally i forget so today was a rude awakening. I'm officially a MOM.

Halloweeeeeeeeeeen!

2009-11-05T09:41:00.008-07:00

Jinkys, this Halloween sure flew by fast. One minute your buying a big bag a candy(and eat half of it your self) and the next you are dressing up like a member of the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency. For some reason I'm a little obsessed with having our family dress as a theme for Halloween. Previous years have been super hero's, the harry potter clan and this year was Scooby-Doo. Michael was Shaggy, i was Daphne, Averi was Velma and Sienna was the cutest Scooby you ever saw. Although Averi kept saying that she was more of a Scrappy-Doo then a Scooby-Doo. In my opinion Averi was a pretty spot on Velma.
This year was made even more fun for Averi by the fact that she got to dress up and receive candy so many different times. The first was for school. They had a little program complete with songs and a costume parade. Unfortunately Averi was more inclined to "investigate" then to sing in her program. That night was a sort of work party with yummy soups, pumpkin carving and falling in love. Yes Averi has found her first boyfriend and his name is JJ. He is the sweetest little boy, they held hands during Charlie Brown and the Great pumpkin and pulled quite the dramatic scene when we had to literally pull them apart to go home. All she could talk about on the way home was how much she loves JJ, but then she finally fell asleep.

The next event was the classic ward Halloween party, which was not so classic sadly. It lack...well it lacked everything pretty much, because by the time we got there they were practically taking down the tables and chairs so all we got was a small brownie. And then there was Halloween day we carved pumpkins again(because we can't get enough of that carving in) and ate some more yummy soup.
Then Brit and I took Averi trick-or-treating around her neighborhood. She got some good loot, but it wasn't good enough so we headed on up to old Vista Dr. where Michael and John took her around and made another good haul.
Needless to say we are going to be eat Halloween candy until Christmas. It was a great holiday spent with family and friends and i hope that they just keep getting better every year.

5 Times a Week Fun

2009-10-26T15:44:00.008-06:00

Averi has invented her own way of rating the fun factor of activities we do. As far as I can tell the scale is 0-7 as in 0 days a week and 7 days a week. So to explain the scale if you are having the most fun you have ever had it would 7 days of fun because you would have enough fun to fill up those 7 days, there for if you are not having fun at all then it is 0 days of fun. The way i found out about this scale was the other night we went to the corn maze with the Liechtys and Averi was loving it. She was running around trying to figure out what to do first. She played on the slides, and in the huge pit of corn, ran through the kid mazes, she bounced on the huge jumping pillow, and got terrified in the Creatures Belly, needless to say Averi told us repeatedly it was 5 times a week fun. I think that the reason why it wasn't a 7 was because she deducted a point each for getting scared in the creature and for getting "Lost" in the big maze. I put lost in quotes because we totally knew where we were going the whole time, J/k we pretty much just walked around aimlessly for 30 minutes and some how made it out alive. And all the while Averi kept saying "I warned you not to come in here". The night was so much fun, we are going to remember for some time. We all decided to make it a new Halloween tradition. Oh by the way if you are wondering where Sienna was the whole time she was tightly wrapped up in her sling staying warm and snoring pretty much the whole time. I'm sure she will start making more of an appearance when she gets old. But for now she is just a cute little passenger along for the ride.

Hold on a Minute

2009-10-22T17:54:00.005-06:00

My life doesn't show signs of slowing, so before i lose touch completely I'm going to post some of the activities that we have been up to. I have a 4 year old now and that kinds freaks me out. For Averi's birthday we had a Scooby-Doo party(what other theme would we have done, really?). She is getting so big and she is a wonderful big sister. She loves to help,3 sometimes a little too much.
The girls and I went to my parents home in Durango. To say Averi loved it there would be an understatement. She has informed us that we are moving there as soon as we pack up our things. The only catch everyone else in her life has to move there also because she thinks where ever she is, is where everyone else needs to be. She just loves her family and friends so much she just can't stand to be away from any of them. The weather was beautiful and we got to be outside a lot. One day she informed my father that she hadn't ever gone a picnic before. Which by the way isn't the truth i have picnic-ed with her many times before.
Needless to say we have been busy but having plenty of fun in the process. I kept thinking that having two kids would be stressful and challenging(and it is for sure) but I can't picture it any other way now.

2:17

2009-09-26T12:09:00.004-06:00

For 2 minutes and 17 seconds...Averi actually let us play with her legos. For Averi's birthday she received legos and as all parents should, we had to test them out just to make sure they were safe. If you have watched the video and are now wondering what in the world we were recreating, it is the new hit tv show Flash Forward on ABC. If you haven't watched it yet do your self a favor and spend the next 45 min watching the greatest pilot since Lost.

P.S. Don't be so jealous of our coolness it just comes naturally.

My dazzling daughters

2009-09-14T09:16:00.003-06:00

Here are some cute pictures of the girls that i just had taken. If your itching to see more check out our photographers blog at corihenderson.blogspot.com. Cori is so talented, she was so patient and sweet with us. I can only take some of the credit for the girls looking so cute.

Labor Day

2009-09-06T15:08:00.003-06:00

Sienna Mae La Cognata

Our second daughter was born on 9/4/09 @ 12:37pm. She was 8lbs 3oz 21inches. To my delight she was born about a week early, just in time to spend the labor day weekend with us. She has tons of brown hair (which i was overjoyed to see), and a sweet little face, and a cute pair of lips that you just can't help but kiss. Here are some of her first moments with us.

Too cool for school!

2009-08-27T14:51:00.004-06:00

Averi is officially my big girl. I thought that i wouldn't consider her "big" until Sienna was born but her going to school just made it official in my head. Michael and I drove her up to school and i thought that we would walk her in together but i was told that just her dad was walking her in and that I should wait in the car. All i have to say is if I weren't having a baby soon then i would have cried because I'm not needed as much in Averi's life.
As you can tell in the pictures that i posted she was so excited for school she could hardly stand it. She is quite the poser when it comes to pictures and think that she has no problem with her self esteem (which i am grateful for) because she kept telling me how cute she looks in her new school clothes. So look out world Averi is growing up and there's nothing anyone can do about it.(Sigh)

The Final Countdown

2009-08-22T19:22:00.001-06:00

I never thought that i would be here but it is the final countdown to the start of school, Averi just doesn't seem old enough, but it is coming just the same. So as summer is coming to a close i feel the need to do all the things i vowed to do this summer (which is quite the list). A couple items on the list were to make sugar cookies with Averi, and take Averi to the fountains. So just to prove i did them and to be able to cross them off here are some pictures and video of the activities.

I finally caved!

2009-08-19T15:39:00.000-06:00

So for the longest time people have been asking "Do you have a blog?". And up until recently it was always an astounding "No, I hate blogs!". But the more i gave it some thought the more i decided that it wouldn't be all that bad, as long as it doesn't turn into what Micheal calls a "Brag" instead of a blog.
With the new one on the way it might be easier for people both far and near to keep up with our family, if they care to know what our exciting lives entail. Plus I know that my cute mother-in-law needs a new blog to blog-stock. I hope that this makes everyone happy and that my blogging skills are up to par because let me just say that i wasn't an English major for a reason, and that my writing skill are less than great.
So stay tuned for the next exciting post, same bat time, same bat place(I really hope someone gets that joke).