Belt life and life with kids!

Yay, 2012!!!

2012-01-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

I can't say 2011 was a great year, it had many great parts, but right now I am still reminded of many hardships that it also brought.

Trevor turned 9 this year. He seems lost on who he is supposed to be. He loves being a big kid, and doing all that comes with a bigger kid (staying up a little later, going to scouts, riding his bike out of the circle alone, etc) at the same time though, he still loves being a little kid. He will sit down and play with "baby toys" and actually enjoy it. He has struggled with reading comprehension, even though he reads every night, this just isn't his strong subject. He on the other hand is great at spelling and math. He has liked being in fourth grade a lot, and he is getting better at helping me without being asked, and is a really great kid. It will be interesting to see what the double digits brings. He has liked playing soccer again this year, and has done awesome, but he has found a new love....swimming!

Dilan turned 7 this year. I missed his birthday blog, but he is an amazing kid. He is so sweet and lovable. He is growing up too, and has realized that it isn't all its cracked up to be. He really struggled starting first grade, because he was gone all day, and he missed me...ha ha I really had to point out it was boring at home, and we don't get to do the "fun stuff" he does at school. He does really great in school though, and he seems to enjoy it for the most part. He loves reading, but finds it more fun to play with his Batman toys than read. He is also a really great older brother, and is so willing to help everybody ;)He is really good at soccer when he wants to be, but if he decides to keep playing, he has the talent to exceed in this sport.

Bryson turned 5 this year. He is growing up faster than his body can keep up. He is in afternoon kindergarten and loves it! He is doing really well, and has been reading since the first day of school. Even though he one of the youngest in his class, his teacher has said he is one of the smartest, even suggested getting him tested (which we declined) He is a ladies man, and loves everybody and everything. His favorite color is pink, and he is very proud of it. He is an amazing older brother to his little sister. He will play with her for hours, and will make sure she has her needs met. It still amazes me with how great this little kid is, and how far we have come! He will do great things one day if he can learn to trust who he is, because he has the personality to charm anybody, and the smarts to get wherever he wants to in life.

Tyler turned 3 this year. We started potty training at the beginning of the year, and once he finally gave in and got it, he has done awesome! He is a little obsessive compulsive. He likes things to be done a certain way and at a certain time. He really struggles if things aren't done this way, and why I think preschool isn't just a want, but a need. He started preschool in September and has loved it. He still struggles sometimes, but his teachers are amazing, and I usually will give them a heads up on how the morning has gone to any issues he might be having. He has come so far already though, and I think the rest of the year will be a good one. He had his first program and was so excited! His loves right now are Mickey Mouse and Mario. He is a really great kid, and is still so mellow, unless things are out of order :) I try to make things out of order a lot to try to teach him that things can be different everyday.....I can try? He got new underwear for Christmas, he was not happy! He cried about his Mickey underwear for three days, and how much he missed them. He finally understood they were too small, and has finally moved on to new underwear being okay. He really is a sweetie, and a great kid though, and I love how vocal he is becoming, he is pretty dang funny.

Kairi turned one this year. She is only one, but because of her hair, she looks three. Many people don't believe me when I say she is only 20 months. She acts like she is already two though. She can say a lot of words, and loves throwing a good tantrum. She had her first time out, and I have to say she made me laugh the whole time she was in there. She is one crazy little girl. She is into everything all the time! She follows me everywhere! It is impossible to clean with her around. She is always into whatever you are trying to clean, or pulling everything back out. She is a MESS! She is an Ipad expert and can find and play any game. She loves babies and is a girl, but she also loves trucks, balls and trains. She is a picky eater, but will try anything. She loves her binkie, and has had it the longest of any of our kids. She screams binkie when it is bed time, and its so cute when she finds or gets one. She loves her bed, and will still take a 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon, my sanity time :) She loves her brothers, and can get them to do about anything for her. We love her, and I am so glad we made the hard decision to go through and have our fifth kid, she was well worth it! I can't wait to see what this year brings out in her...ha ha

Spencer is still working for Cache Valley Electric. He has been made QC (quality control) over a new job site. He is a hard worker, and does so much for our family. He is so supportive and an amazing dad. We celebrated out 10th anniversary this year, best 10 years of my life! I made a goal to read 36 books at the beginning of the year, and I completed this goal on New Years eve :) I also helped our ward team get to second place in region basketball and volleyball.
I have had a hard year though. In May I not only learned that my mom had breast cancer, but that my sister had endometrial serous carcinoma. My mom had a lumpectomy in July and started 16 rounds of radiation in August. She got an infection in her breast that has taken a long time to heal, and still isn't quite there. She so far is clear with her cancer, but only time will actually tell. She had chest pains last month, and we took her to the ER. Her heart was having issues, and she ended up having surgery to get a stent put in. Sleeping over night in the hospital was a surreal experience and way to close to home for me. It hasn't been that long since I was in the hospital with my dad dealing with Cancer and Heart issues. There is nothing that puts more perspective to life that seeing somebody you love go through heart issues and cancer in the same year, and the reality of loosing my mom has been more than I ever want to admit too. While watching my mom go through her cancer I also had to watch my sister go through uterine cancer. She had a full hysterectomy in June, and started Chemotherapy in July. She has always been a strong person, but watching her face the unknown of her future, made me realize just how strong she really is. She took on her cancer, and looked it straight in the face, and kicked its butt! She had to do four rounds of chemo, and she lost all her hair. She also got chemo rash, bubbled fingernails, sensitive teeth and many other uglies that come with chemo. On top of chemo she also had to do a few radiation treatments, basically burning her insides. She is getting her hair back, but she was actually really cute bald too. It hasn't been an easy road for her, but she is a fighter and an inspiration that life gives us really hard things to go through, but we can make it through anything if we really want to. I am just glad she is so far cancer free, and around, because she is a really great sister.
2012 can bring anything besides cancer, heart issues, or death and I will be more than happy. After all that I have been given though, especially my family, I have realized that it isn't what life throws at us, but who is there by us. I have some great friends, and I have realized this year more than any other, that not all friends are here forever. Sadly, some are only supposed to be here for a little time, but its the ones that will always be there no matter what that we need to trust and hold on to. This year I really want to focus on me again, and finally not feel selfish doing it. Finding me again is important to everybody around me, especially my family and friends. In finding me, I hope to find a better mom for my kids, wife for my wonderful husband, sister and daughter for my family, and friend for all those that are still in my life. 2012, I hope I am ready, so bring it on!

on another note, I am going to start a new blog with a shorter title :) and I am going to make it private for the protection of my kids :) cause man, I sure do love them!

Swimming!!!

2011-12-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

We have wanted to put the boys in swimming lessons for a long time, but I always seemed to miss the sign up date, Dilan got tubes in his ears, and after school is always so busy. I finally decided that off-track lessons would probably be our best option. We put the older three in, because most people have told me to wait till your kid is at least four, because they grasp the lessons and principles they need to learn better, and I really don't think Tyler is ready. My kids are like fish, they love the water! Bryson was in the pre-level, because he was only five and hadn't had lessons. Trevor and Dilan started in level one, because they were older and hadn't had lessons. Trev has been able to swim for a while, but we wanted him to learn the proper techniques and different things that go along with swimming. This was good and bad, because he knew how to swim, he thought it was okay to goof off more. As a mom it was so frustrating to see him goofing off with his instructor, but I have to say his teacher had a lot of patience and really kept his cool....I was going nuts watching him though. I was also trying to hold a super squirmy 18 month old, which added to my frustration. They ended up being the only three to sign up in both classes, so they combined the classes and made one class. This worked out to my benefit in some ways and not so much in others. Tyler's preschool got out the same time as the swim lesson. If it was just Trevor and Dilan I would have felt better grabbing Tyler from school, and coming back for them, but I just couldn't do this with a five year old. Wednesdays were super busy mornings, but the boys loved swimming and it made it all worth it in the end.
Here they are on the side listening to their teacher.

and here is Bryson on his back

I wish I could have gotten more and better pictures, but Kairi really hated sitting there for the 30 minute lesson, and my phone (which is the only camera I usually have on me) was busy trying to keep her busy with either a cartoon or game. The swim lessons were a big success for two main reasons. First, they learned to swim a little bit better and second, it gave them something to do every other day while off track. It made off track time so much more fun, and seemed to make time just fly by. We plan to do another round of lessons next time they are off track too :)

YUM!!

2011-12-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Just a cute little blog on Tyler....Every once in a while we like to have ice cream downstairs. We really don't eat ice cream a lot at our house, and only after somebody's birthday do we even have it in the house. One special night we were eating ice cream as a family and watching a movie together. Can we say yum? Look at that long tongue!

Digging in deeper...

Spoons are for suckers!

He came up for air....

He managed to get every drop!

and look at that big, happy, messy grin....He is such a cutie most of the time.

Halloween!!!

2011-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Wow, time really does fly when your having fun :) My blog is so sad lately, it has been a month, A MONTH! We had a great Halloween. The kids were off track, so it didn't feel rushed at all.
We went and got pumpkins about a week before Halloween this year. The boys picked them out so fast, it only took about 5 minutes. Kairi loved riding in the wheelbarrow.

I really wanted a cute picture by all the pumpkins, this is what I got....

and this....at least some of the kids are cute in each one...ha ha

Then we took a hay ride. Everybody likes the hay ride :)

Carving pumpkins was fun, and the kids were crazy, but really I am not sure when they aren't crazy :)
Tyler was happy, because his was a happy pumpkin.

Trevor had a hard time deciding what he wanted to do this year, but he liked it in the end.

Dilan ended up drawing over the entire pumpkin. It was hard to get him to pick the face he actually wanted, but with some minor adjustments and a good scrub, later he chose his face.

Bryson wanted a mad pumpkin, and copied the same expression....seriously, he is so crazy!

Then he proceeded to kiss it!

I also managed to get this little video of the "Real Bryson." Dilan is funny in it too....they loved this video and have watched it a million times.

Trevor wanted to be a mad scientist, but I couldn't find a lab coat, so I suggested a zombie. He decided that he didn't want to just be a zombie, but a cone head zombie off the plants vs zombies game....here is what we came up with.

Bryson went to a pirate birthday party, and got most of his costume there, but we added the earring, beard, a better eye patch, and rotten teeth!

I bought this dragon costume a couple years ago a bigger size than I needed, because I couldn't find the size I was looking for. Then I went to another store and found the smaller size, so I planned to take this one back. Well, it has been sitting brand new in the bag for two years, and I decided to just pull it out and put it to good use. He was excited to have a tail, and didn't remember he was a dragon two years ago :)

Dilan wanted to be his favorite super hero BATMAN! I am actually surprised he hasn't wanted to be this before, because he loves batman! He looked awesome too, but he didn't like how the mask hooked under his chin (there is a little of his mom in him.)

Kairi was a ballerina, because her costume is actually a pair of pajamas she already had. I did get the little slippers for her. She was so cute, and seemed to really enjoy all the Halloween festivities that were going on.

We had a great Halloween!!

Labor Day!!!

2011-10-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have some really great friends in my neighborhood. My friend Amy asked all of us if we would like to join her at her parents cabin in Island Park, ID over Labor day. We couldn't pass up an offer like that, so we drove up Friday(9/2/2011) afternoon, and got to the cabin about 9 pm. We ended up stopping and grabbing a few things I knew we had missed packing. Spencer got off early, so we left a lot earlier, and I ended up packing really fast. There was five different families that ended up going, 25 people in all.
Here is an inside picture of the loft in the cabin. This is where our family slept.

Saturday we all woke up and we were in charge of breakfast. We made waffles with Strawberries and whip cream or syrup for the non-fruit eaters, and then bacon(our bribe tool.)
We all got ready after and headed to Cliff Lake. It was a beautiful blue lake....amazing blues for being a lake.

The kids loved going out on this little paddle boat.

They were just as excited to sit on the little dock.

We had a picnic lunch on the shore.

Trevor went off his first rope swing. I didn't get a picture either :( We walked along the edge of the mountain to a spot that had a wire hanging down. It was steep, and you fell into the water about 15 ft from swing to water. Trevor didn't even hesitate to go. There were all these teenagers going and some were really scared, but Trev got on and went so fast all I could do was panic. He did awesome and loved it! Dilan wanted to go too, but we didn't have his ear plugs (I was secretly happy) Here is a shot of one of the husbands going.

This is a group of all the "friends." These girls are so awesome!

After the lake we went home and got everybody ready to go to West Yellowstone. It was only about 15 minutes away, so we decided to have an eat out night. We went to a little cafe type place that only had one server, one busser, and I am guessing one chef, because things were moving pretty slow! It was all good though, we had a lot of fun and laughs with everybody.
Sunday morning we decided to go to Upper Mesa Falls. These falls are huge and beautiful! We even caught a rainbow on them.

Here are some of our kids with Kate. Poor Kate only had boys to play with, she is such a cutie.

Kairi's new word was wow! She said this the moment she saw the falls, I managed to get her mouth open :)

Our kids wouldn't hold still for a picture of all of them, but I did get a blurry one!

Then we headed to a spot on the Warm River that you can't fish in. There are soooo many huge fish in this section, and if you throw bread in, they will come up to eat it. It was awesome, because some of these fish (I think were rainbow trout) are HUGE!
We all had fun seeing if we could get the really big ones to come up, especially the boys.

Then we headed back to the cabin for some lunch. After lunch a lot of people took naps, I read on the deck for a little bit. Then Spencer and I decided to head outside to shoot an air soft pellet gun. Trev had gotten the gun for Christmas, and we hadn't had a chance to use it. It was fun! Trev went first, and he was the only kid strong enough to actually cock it.

Dilan had this funny way to shoot, he likes to think he is a secret spy, so it was fitting.

Tyler was cute trying to shoot, he could careless if he hit something.

I am not sure what happened to my picture of Bryson shooting, but he had an amazing aim, and always hit a target. We let any other kids shoot that were awake or there, because some were packing up to leave, and some were with some family. We had a fire Sunday night too, but I didn't bring my camera out, but we got to roast marshmallows while we listened to coyotes howl (it was awesome!)
Monday morning we woke up and cleaned the cabin. It was pretty easy, then we all packed up our cars and headed for Yellowstone. We didn't have a lot of time here, so we went to see Old Faithful.

We packed Kairi around, because it was crowded. Spencer held both Tyler and Kairi, so I could get my picture....he is so awesome!

Then we ate a picnic lunch. We were down to three families, and 16 people by this point, but a table full of kids still :) Look at all those boys!

Kairi was so cute playing in these trees.

Then we headed to the painted pots. We let Kairi walk this one, because we were trying to wear her out for our drive home.

Here is a group shot of all of us Sunday morning.

All the kids actually got along and played together a lot. We as adults every night would get the kids in bed and go downstairs to hang out. There was a pool table, ping pong table, foosball table, air hockey table, big screen tv, and games to play. It was so much fun at night to just play around with a group of adult friends. These are times in my life I will never forget, it was a really great weekend, and we are so blessed to have such awesome friends in our lives.

First days of school!!!

2011-09-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

This year was kind of a crazy start. Trevor started fourth grade on Monday August 15th. He got an awesome teacher named Mrs. Mower. I can honestly say she is awesome, because I know her personally. She is in our ward, and we picked our track purely on the wish of getting her. Trevor was really excited this year for school, and so far he is doing really awesome too.

Dilan went to meet his new teacher Mrs. Rubalcava on Monday, but didn't actually start First grade till Tuesday. He was really excited, more to eat lunch at school, but he is a great student and is super excited to have his buddy Parker in his class.

They were so excited! and so cute together :)

Bryson was sad he didn't get to go yet, but put a smile on for the camera anyways.

I got all three boys in for the next picture...nobody wanted Bryson to be sad.

Bryson went in Wednesday August 17th for his testing, and did really well. I have had so many people tell me to hold him back, because of his birthday being in August. I didn't feel like this was right for him as his mom. After his testing in which he read a book, his teacher Mrs. Woods was super impressed. I told her I was a tad worried, and she agreed that holding him back wasn't necessary. His first day was on August 23rd, and he was so excited to ride the bus!

Tyler started preschool today September 14, 2011. He has been so excited to start school, but today when I went to wake him up, he told me he decided to not go. I laughed and asked why, he said it was because he had an cut on his finger, so I told him we could put a Mickey bandage on, and he was all smiles and ready after that. I thought there might be a little hesitation when I dropped him off, but he didn't hesitate at all and went right in with the teacher, I was so proud of him! When I picked him up he was really happy, and said he had so much fun. He played in the sand box, made his hand, and sang and elephant song. Sounds like a successful day :)

and we got a group shot of the smallest three while we were at it.

I know preschool isn't necessary for every kid. I like to read and teach my kids at home too, but I think there is something else they get from going to school and away from mom and their homes. I LOVE PRESCHOOL!!! Here's to hoping for a great school year!

Bryson is 5!!!!

2011-09-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Bryson!!!!
He wanted me to add in this picture because it makes him look like a mad scientist, ha ha he is so funny!

Bryson has wanted to be five for most of his life. When he turned three, he actually said, well only two more years, and I will be five! Most people have known Bryson was my hardest baby, but he has turned into one amazing kid, and I am so blessed to have him. I found some adorable baby pictures of him, and I couldn't resist adding them in.

Ha ha ha no wonder he has so much personality

He looks so sweet here.

I am glad I have all these cute pictures of how fun he has been too.

This year he got a friend party, so we made it a swim party :) He had fun with his little buddy Brooklyn, while eating hot dogs and chips.

My sister let us borrow her slide, so everybody had lots of fun!

There were tons of kids! I think we had at least 20 with some parents here, it was awesome! It was also our first peanut free party, with peanut approved ice cream and cupcakes. He really liked opening his presents, but I think he just loved having a lot of people over.

He decided he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday dinner

We celebrated his birthday with Spencer's family in the canyon along with celebrating Spencer's, uncle Dave's and Grandpa's birthdays.

We ate hot dogs and s'mores.....yum!

We had his party with my family the Sunday after

He got some more awesome gifts, Thanks everybody!

Five years seems like such an accomplishment with Bryson. He is one of the craziest, unique, frustrating, smart, and adorable kids I have ever met. He makes life really hard sometimes, but he adds so much more to everything! Bryson, you are truly an amazing kid full of a sweet personality and strong will that I love more and more each day. Thanks for teaching me things I never knew I needed to know, and for showing me how be a better mom for everybody! I LOVE YOU BUDDY!

Easter!

2011-08-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

I do realize it is now AUGUST, and the very end of August at that, but I just couldn't let this post pass by and not get posted. Easter was kind of a big day for us, because it was Easter, Tyler's 3rd birthday, and the day we celebrated our other two April birthdays with my family.
The morning started with the kids finding their first egg starting their scavenger hunt to find their baskets. Kairi woke up with her ever so beautiful hair.

Tyler was still in bed with his first egg, it was his birthday, so he should sleep in right?

The boys quickly found their baskets, but I think Bryson was the fastest this year.

Dilan was close behind though and so excited for the new bug gear :)

Kairi loved the eggs, crazy girl would suck and choke on them, so we did our best to quickly dispose of most of the eggs.

Trevor was the last to find his basket, but in his defense, the bunny did leave a lot more clues for him...ha ha ha

We got ready for church, because what's Easter without our Savior? The kids looked so cute!

Kairi really looked like a little princess, I love this dress, on my little mess!

Then we headed to my moms house for family Easter stuff, and a birthday party for three. Here is my solution to a cake. I have always made my boys a train cake on their third birthday, but I didn't want Tyler's train to have girl all over it, and I wanted them to each have something their own.....So, we got Tyler's Toy story train on one side, Kairi's Tinkerbell train on the other, and Trev's boulder mountain of brownies in the middle. It worked out great!

Then we headed out for a pinata.

Followed by an egg hunt. Here is all the cousins waiting to start.

and they were off!

Kairi loved all her little treasures, mainly eating them, ALL OF THEM!

Then we went inside and enjoyed cake and ice cream, and the kids opened gifts.

It was a really great day. It was super busy and crazy for the most part, but it was overall an exceptional day. My family has always been amazing and my kids are so lucky to have so many people that love them. Thanks everybody!

Father's day!

2011-06-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

Father's day is a bitter sweet day for me. I LOVE my husband, and I LOVE the wonderful dad that he is. Instead of making breakfast in bed this year, I made my own Cafe Rio. Spencer loves the pork barbacoa, so I decided to try to make my own. To my surprise, it turned out delicious! We had Spencer's dad and two sisters over for our own barbacoa, and it was a really great night with good food and family.

Spencer is and extraordinary dad that is always there to help when they need him, to comfort a scrapped knee, to just sit back and relax, or cuddle. He has always been great to help with diapers, bottle feedings, and cleaning up puke at 2 am. Spencer is an unbelievable dad, who is there for our kids through the goods and bads. I know most families have one parent that is more of a disciplinarian and the other is a softy (good cop, bad cop.) Spencer and I don't have that kind of relationship with our kids. We both take active steps to teach our kids the rights and wrongs of life. A lot of dads have a "my way or the highway attitude." Spencer doesn't have that either. We let our kids make their choices, and while they aren't always great choices, we are just supportive in their decision to try again with some friendly parenting advice. We all make mistakes, and I am grateful for forgiveness. Spencer and I both know as parents we have made mistakes, but we are in this together, and life goes on. We point out our mistakes to our kids too, because really nobody is perfect. You know that saying, you never know how good you got it, till you got it? Well, I got it, and I LOVE IT! Thanks Spencer for being such an amazing, great, loveable, fantastic, devoted dad. Our kids are SO lucky!
"Grandpa" is also a great part of our kids lives. He is really a great man, and I am glad my kids have a grandpa to be around. There are times when Spencer's dad just comes out to visit and will sit in a chair and just read to each kid. They love it, and I am more than grateful for his love for our kids....We are all blessed by his kindness.

Father's day is also a very sad day for me. I miss my dad! It is so hard to have to visit a grave instead of a warm embrace. My dad was one I could go to for everything. When I needed advice, had car trouble, or just needed an ear. My dad was an amazing grandpa. When Trevor was born my parents helped watch him so I could work. My dad was so great with him. He would take him on walks, rock him and sing, show him his shop and tools, swing him in a swing, make foam bats to hit balloons in the house with, and just love him! It is so sad that my kids will never know this amazing man, and two of my kids weren't even here before he passed. Life really is too short, LOVE the ones around you before you too realize how much truly is gone, and you are visiting a cold grave instead of that familiar warm hug. Happy Father's day Dad!

TEN!!!

2011-06-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2001 Spencer and I were married in the SLC temple. It is amazing to look back. I never understood when older people would say they blinked and life passed by, but honestly these last tens years seem to have just disappeared. I look at my five kids and wonder how in the world they are all mine? I still remember my wedding day very clearly though, and I will never forget the happiness and love that day I felt for my wonderful husband. I knew Spencer was a great guy, but really I never knew he would ever exceed my expectations so much! We have endured a lot as a married couple. I can't even imagine having to go through most of that alone. Spencer is my rock, or my soft spot to cry. When something is wrong, he just holds me for however long it takes me to get back my composure. I don't cry often, but seems like lately I have had more than my fair share of crying to be had. I remember thinking, man when we get to our ten year, we are going to do something awesome! Little did I know that we would have five beautiful kids all 9 and under :) I have been pregnant for basically half our marriage, and yet we are still married. HA! Our tenth anniversary was a normal day, but we did go on a date to the cheesecake factory, and came home to enjoy a night full of LOST episodes while eating our dessert. It was perfect, because we were together doing what we enjoy most, spending time as a happily married couple. Here's to 60 more if genetics will allow :) and since that doesn't look promising, eternity will do!

Tyler is 3!!!!

2011-05-26T20:49:00.001-07:00

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Tyler has been such a fun little boy. He can always give you a great smile and loves to be tickled

He found a potato bug outside, and loved it crawling all over. He told me that it loved him too.

He loves to be outside, especially playing with Dilan.

He tries so hard to roll down the hill, but just can't seem to get those elbows tucked in.

He is a little OCD already and likes thing to be a certain way all the time. He likes routine ( sometimes a little too much routine) and when things just don't go as he would like, we get this side of him.

For the most part, he is a happy little guy that loves doing anything...like decorating cookies....YUM!

He is my little baby elephant with these amazing long lashes. He also has some really beautiful eyes to go with them.

And he can be a good sport when I get a good laugh out of a funny face.

Tyler wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. This year his birthday fell on Easter Sunday, so we went the Thursday before, Aunt Liz and Aunt Emily came along with us.

Then we went and got some FROGURT after, it was yummy :)

Tyler is a really great little boy. He is fun to play ball with, wrestle, tickle, read, cuddle, and laugh with. I am so grateful for his calm in the mass chaos, and for the love he always has to give. I LOVE YOU TY-GUY, and I am so grateful to be your mom.

This post is way late. I haven't done any reading or writing of blogs for awhile, YIKES!

My baby girl is ONE!!!!

2011-04-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has already been a year since this little girl entered our life. Kairi is such a fun happy little girl. She has all of us wrapped around her little finger, and she has since about two hours after birth :)
I can't believe she was ever this small....amazing!

She never became a skinny baby, she has always had these adorable chubby cheeks.

She has a true go getter personality and has never wanted to sit still

She had a special birthday outfit, because the boys wanted her to look like a princess (I forgot to put on her little tiara Dilan picked out for her though)

She got this tinkerbell chair from Spencer and me. She loves it! I think she loves that she can sit down when she wants, but she is crazy enough to stand too, so we have to really watch her when she is enjoying her sit down time :) (lasts all of about 10 seconds)

She enjoyed a dinner at Training Table, because she loves the turkey sandwich :) YUM!

We didn't have cake, but she enjoyed a nice donut after we sang to her.

She still tore it to shreds too :)

I think overall she had a great first birthday. Kairi has changed my life. I have loved being a mom to all my boys, but I always had the "wonder what" in my mind for a girl. Wonder what she would look like, act like, how her hair would be, how the boys would be with her, how I would dress her, how would life be different/would it be different etc. Life will obviously never be the same with her in our life, but it is more than just another body, it is an experience to make me whole. This one little girl has changed us all, and all that change for the better. The boys are already extremely protective of her and love her to pieces. She is a daddy's girl and loves to see him after work. She is my little angel, and I am just honored to be called her mom. Happy Birthday Kairi! I love you SO much my little princess.

Her one year appointment she was 21 lbs 4 oz or 60% and she was 29 1/4 inches or about 70%. A big, beautiful, healthy baby girl :)

Principals Pride!!!

2011-04-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Dilan got nominated for the Principals pride honor roll at school. They had a special award ceremony before school for the kids to present them with the award. Dilan's teacher wrote, "Dilan has a very positive attitude. He is always happy and gets along well with his friends. If I ever need Dilan to help out, he is always very cooperative. Dilan's great attitude makes our classroom a fun place to be."
Here is Dilan with his medal and certificate.

This award doesn't shock me at all for Dilan. He has always been a very obedient kid. I have always loved this about Dilan, it makes me so proud to be his mom, and to see him being true to his nature. Congrats Dil, you are an awesome little boy!

Happy Birthday Trevor!!!

2011-04-21T11:10:00.001-07:00

It is amazing how much Trevor has grown and how little he actually has (he is still so short!) I can't believe he is already nine years old. I can still remember his birth so clear. Trevor has a hard role in our family. He is the oldest of five, and as much as he loves his brothers and sister, I know some days he has a hard time being "the big brother." He is really cute when he comes home from school though, because he will run up and give them hugs when he gets off the bus. He has to read for school every night, and we make him read 30 minutes instead of the 20 his teacher requires.
He was reading to Bryson, when Bryson fell asleep....This picture makes me teary eyed as a mom.

Aspen has become "his dog"

He loves when she can sleep with him. There are many nights the other boys want her, but Trevor would have her every night if he could.

He has enjoyed being in scouts this year too.

He did such a good job making his "rocket" for the big race

He is fun to be around and make you smile

I love his unique personality. He is such a fun kid to have, he is so helpful, and he is great at helping me fix dinner. I love my Trev, what a goof-ball!

Oh, we also went to Planet Play on his birthday. It used to be called incredible pizza, but since has changed management. It was fun. Aunt Liz, grandpa and his great aunt and second cousin joined us too. I don't have many pictures of him here, because him and Dilan went around playing games together, but here's him eating :)

And She's Off......

2011-04-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Kairi is now walking. She has been cruising furniture taking little steps between each piece of furniture and walls for a long time. She has been able to take like 8 steps for a long time, but would only do so between Spencer and I.
She has been scaling walls around the entire basement for months too.

She finally will take off from the couch and cross the whole room without any encouragement. She was fast to get into trouble before, and I can only imagine what kinds of stuff she can find now, and how fast she can destroy what she finds :)

Hopefully, this video works!

Visiting Uncle Dave!

2011-04-05T10:30:00.001-07:00

Friday we decided to take off to Vegas for the weekend to visit Spencer's brother Dave. Most of the boys did great in the car, Kairi hates long car rides, but she still did pretty good. The first night Kairi wasn't fond of the port a crib we brought for her, so she slept next to me for half the night. Ty had a lot of trouble sleeping for some reason. He wouldn't lay still. Finally, Spencer took him over by Dilan and he came to sleep next to me. I moved Kairi into her bed and thankfully she slept, because Ty still had trouble. Dilan ended up sleeping on the floor because Ty kept kicking him. It was funny by morning, even though Spencer and I were exhausted!
We all enjoyed the pool and hot tub the next day.

After swimming Kairi was getting really tired, so I stayed with her in the room while Spencer, Dave and all the boys went to eat at the UNLV campus. Dave showed the boys around the campus and his office.

Trevor had his first war head...ha ha ha makes your mouth water huh?

They came back and got us, and we all headed to a park with a big pond of ducks. The boys love feeding ducks, but I think these ducks were over feed and done with bread by the time we got there.

Then we headed to the playground

The kids were worn out after the park, so we decided to redbox a movie and grab some snacks the have a movie night in the hotel. It was a nice night, and a lot of the kids fell asleep during it. Kairi slept really good this night, but Ty was still having issues, ended up falling off the bed, and finally with Spencer sleeping next to him we got some sleep. We packed up the car and went to look at the aquarium at the hotel we were at. It was pretty cool.
I LOVE when they all line up like this to look at stuff :)

Then we headed to another park to meet up with our Friends Lynn and Joseph. We meet them at this really awesome park. I would love a park like this by my house :) Dave and his girlfriend Sara came with us too. They were true lifesavers, because they would follow around some of the smaller kids. Thanks you guys!
There was this tower that you would climb up, and you could look out over the whole park.
Here is Bryson standing in it.

They are at the top!

The older boys loved this net climb

There was teeter totters!

A metal stagecoach is always fun to play on.

How cute it this?

There was some really green grassy hills to roll down

and rest on!

There was lots of slides

a huge snake in a digging yard

We ate a picnic lunch and then said goodbye to our friends.

It was a beautiful day! Then we came home to snow :( Oh well, at least a we got a taste of summer :) It was great to see Dave, and the kids loved playing with him all weekend. Usually vacations end to quick, but with the lack of sleep, I was good!

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just another day, but it turned out to be a pretty good one too.

The kids Grandma gave them some fun green headband and bow ties to wear. So, we took a picture of them all with their green on.

We had to put a bow tie on Kairi's head too!

I had a regional basketball game that night. I didn't want to go, but went to support my team, and we ended up winning! That was a pretty big shocker, I think it was because I had my lucky shamrock shirt on still :) While I was gone, Dilan lost his first tooth!

I have to admit I was a little sad I missed it until Spencer described how he got it out. Dilan has had this loose tooth for months, and just joking I said "too bad that tooth won't come out, maybe a leprechaun will bring you some gold with the tooth fairy money." Well, Dilan decided it needed to come out, so Spencer pulled it out using a tool. Yup, glad I missed that. The leprechaun didn't disappoint, and brought him four gold coins! Dilan said this was his best day ever, of course that just means it was better than most, but I did get him with his loot.

Normal day, but a LUCKY one too!

Little Vampire!

2011-03-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Kairi has become a vampire! This picture is blurry, but getting her to hold still is hard, plus adding in having to hold her mouth open is a whole other story. If you look though you can see two white teeth on the sides...she is one of a kind :)

it is so cute when she smiles and you can catch them...My camera isn't fast enough for that picture though :(

Success!!!

2011-03-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

Here is my Tyler, who is now "a big boy!" I usually like to potty train in the summer when it is warm, but Tyler wasn't ready. So, I planned on starting in September/October area, but he still just wasn't ready. I hate potty training! There I said it. I have only had one kid take to it really well, and the rest haven't enjoyed this fine stage of life at all. I like to wait till my kids are big enough to almost reach the sink by themselves, move the stool from place to place, be able to pull up and down their own pants. I also like to wait till they will tell me they have to go. I decided that the new year we were going to finally start the adventure. The first couple of days Ty did okay. He would pee when I asked, but never would say I have to pee. So, we had a lot of accidents, which is totally normal, but then he rarely would go in the potty at all. When it came to pooping, he was TERRIFIED! I mean seriously scared to go near the potty when he had to poop. I would have to hold him down screaming, kicking, and crying. It totally broke my heart to watch him, but once the diapers come off, there is no putting them back on in our house. The next week I really struggled to keep my cool and patience with him. The next week same thing, he would go pee okay, but pooping was still so scary for him. He would hid and hold it in for days till he exploded. It was soooo NASTY! Finally, I took a step back, and realized he needed something more for encouragement. I went to the dollar store and found Disney pez dispensers....Tyler loves Mickey, so it was perfect. I also had hotwheels for him, and they were only for pooping. I finally watched him and looked for the signs he needed to go and would sit for hours waiting for it to happen. This is not an easy task with a very busy 9 month old baby, but I would wait and wait. He would cry, but we would sing and read to try and make it more fun. Finally, he had success! He then would stop peeing, so when I focused again on the peeing we had poop accidents. He hated everything about the potty. Dilan has a stuffed dog he loves. Tyler told me he wanted a puppy, so I took this as his motivation. I bought a dog. I had him pet him, kiss him, and hold him. If he could go a week with no accidents the puppy was his. At first he still would have accidents, but I would tell him that poor puppy needed some hugs or kisses. Finally, he decided this was worth the effort. He has now gone two weeks with no accidents, and will gladly say he has to go potty.
He decided to name his puppy "chocolate" because he loves chocolate. I love how he named him all by himself for something he loves...funny kid. This picture is so sweet, because chocolate is now his bedtime buddy.

Through all this he also learned how to get dressed completely by himself (minus the socks, getting all the little piggies in one place is quite difficult..ha ha) We took him to Chuck E Cheese as a final success. He was so excited! He got all the tickets for himself to pick out his big boy prize. Two months of a lot of tears, facing fears, and a worn out mom but it is worth it to end with so much great success in this great little boys life.

Giggle

2011-02-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

There are hardly any better sounds in this world than little kids laughing. Bryson made this plane in preschool yesterday. We found a rubber band today to give it a try.

and the end results are....the plane didn't fly that great, but Kairi loved it!

sorry it is sideways, but I couldn't flip it :( Oh well, it is seriously adorable!

Nine Months!

2011-01-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has already been nine months! Kairi is such a sweet baby. She has started to cuddle more, and she knows when she just wants to sit on your lap and snuggle in close.
She is into everything! She can now use any object to stand up. She loves being up on her feet and looking around. She can't just get up, but she already knows how to get back down to crawl around again.

She loves to get into anything that she isn't supposed to, she can find anything small enough to fit into her mouth, and loves to try and catch Aspen. Her new trick as of yesterday was climbing up the stairs. I could't believe when I looked down the stairs and saw her four stairs up! Needless to say, the basement now has a gate. She can also wave hi and bye, and changing her diaper is a nightmare!

Kairi is a really happy baby, most of the time. When she sees her bottle, she wants it, and she wants it now! She hates mushy foods, but she will now eat some baby food. She loves food, she just loves to be picky about which ones she loves. She loves bread, turkey, avacado, olives, popcorn, crackers, yogurt, cheese, rice, and fries. She also knows that I almost always feed her, so if she is hungry, she looks at me and whines. She can self feed the little foods she eats.

She is growing at a great rate. She had her first ear infection last week, absolutely hates her medicine, and can spit it back in your face. It is the worst! While at the doctor though, she weighed in at 20lbs and 3oz. She doesn't look super chubby, but this baby can hold her own. She sleeps from about 8 pm till 8 am, and then still takes two naps a day for two hours each.

She loves being in the tub, but is super crazy and all over the place. Her baths are kept short for her own safety. She loves her brothers, and they can always make her laugh.

She loves when her daddy comes home though, and gets to him as soon as she can. Daddy's girl!

I feel like the last nine months have been a blink of an eye. This little girl has totally changed our family. She is an absolute blessing and joy to have, and I am so grateful to be her mom.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was a little hectic. After coming home from vacation I had to really rush to finish getting presents, and then money was super tight, because we just had vacation. Spencer ended up only working three days the week of Christmas. I was a late shopper this year, which I hate, but at least I got everything done. Christmas eve we let the boys open their two gifts from us, because it is a Danish tradition. They all got pajamas, and a toy.
Tyler loved his of course, they were Mickey Mouse.

Bryson loved his dinosaur ones too.

Christmas eve night we headed up to my moms house to be with the family. I love my family!
Tyler wanted a picture by the tree, and Kairi obviously wouldn't leave it alone.

I love my boys, and they were proud of my moms tree too, because they decorated hers also.

We had a great dinner, and I love when my kids can go and sit with aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. They love to be with family. After dinner we cleaned up, so we could pull out the Christmas tree and "dance" around it. This is a Danish tradition that I used to really hate, but after loosing my dad, have really come to love. My kids are such good sports about it, and seem to enjoy it more than I did as a kid.
After dancing we got to the presents....my kids are always so spoiled. It isn't about the presents for me, I just can't believe my kids are so lucky to have so many people love them.
Bryson showing off one of his gifts

Ty was great and took a break for me to get a picture

Trev and Dilan were sitting by each other, and ended up buried!

Kairi wasn't too sure what was really going on, but she liked sucking on the paper, and playing with the boxes.

Then it was time for Santa to come. Bryson has been wandering up to our room, so we decided to just start him there. He coughed all night! After finally making it to bed, we were up most of the night till about 4 am. Lucky for Spencer and I, the kids slept till after 8 when my mom woke us up. She was going to have to leave soon, so we jumped out of bed and got the kids up. Kids sleeping till after 8 Christmas morning, my kids are awesome!
Tyler first found his treats.

Tyler also loved his guitar.

Bryson's face is priceless in this picture. He was holding his kung zhu pet or his "rat."

His favorite present had to be his "froggy boots" but his camera came in a close second :)

Kairi was really out of it, because it was morning and a lot was going on. I say her favorite gift was her new car seat though.

Trev's favorite gifts were his air soft gun, Diary of a wimpy kid series, and rollerblades.

Dilan loved his Batman cave, Heely's and Tag system.

My mom always has her own pile from Santa, this year it was a gift from her sister though.

Then we headed out to Spencer's moms house. Most of the kids got pillow pets. Trev the penguin, Dilan the monkey, Tyler the dog, and Kairi the ladybug. Bryson already has a pillow pet, so he got a stuffed frog.
Kairi with her dad, and it is blurry because Spencer wouldn't hold it still.

Tyler loved his doggy.

After we left his moms house, we headed to our house for an afternoon break. I really wanted Kairi to get a good nap in. Then we meet his dad and siblings down at Temple Square for some lights!

I loved all the red lights

The temple in all its glory was as beautiful as always.

I just love the Salt Lake temple. It was awesome to be there on Christmas night and remember the reason for Christmas was the birth of my savior. It was a fun family night, and I hope we do this every year, and in the end we had a great Christmas!

Disneyland!!

2011-01-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

After Spencer was in Texas for three weeks, we decided to have a fun vacation. Disneyland came to mind because Tyler LOVES Mickey Mouse and we hadn't been there for a couple of years. I really wanted to see it at Christmas time, so we decided to wait till the boys were off track in December and go. We obviously had some meltdowns and tantrums (five kids 8 and under!) but it was an amazing week!

Thursday December 9, 2010 Pictures of most of the kids first plane ride :)

We flew JetBlue so everybody got a TV...I love JetBlue!

We landed at the Long Beach airport in California. I had never been to this airport, but thought it was awesome because we unloaded outside. It is a small airport with only like four gates, but nice because we could find our way around easily.

The boys didn't know any difference because the ones that had flown before were too small to even remember it. We took a shuttle from the airport to our hotel. After a couple of hours of just sitting in our room, we decided to go to the hot tub.

The next morning we ate the breakfast buffet at our hotel and headed out to our actual destination DISNEYLAND! This is not the night picture I exactly wanted, but it would get so crowded around the castle at night for the parade and fireworks...and my husband stays clear of crowds like that, so this is the best I got :)

Spencer does love the tea cups, I don't have the same love.

Mr Toad's wild ride was fun

Taking a break to eat was even fun

and miserable for others that didn't get exactly what they wanted :(

The scenic view was never a disappointment!

Toon Town was perfect for a bunch of little boys with lots of energy!

Of course we saw characters. We were in California adventure one night and just happened to walk past an employee who invited us into this special event. They had all the main characters. We just walked up to each one and got pictures taken. It was SO awesome! They got some real time with all of them, and Minnie loved Bryson, she kept kissing him, and when we were leaving he said I sure love Minnie, but why did she keep kissing me?

We got a nice family shot

After this we walked out to find Sully

Bryson was dying to find Woody, so of course we did!

And then there was Jessie with a soldier. While waiting in line for his turn, Bryson turned to Spencer and asked "Where's the green guys surfboard?" Spencer couldn't believe it, seriously he is so smart...but he said why don't you ask him. The soldier replied it was at Jessie's but I am sure he really didn't know what Bryson was talking about.

We split up one day, I took the younger three and Spence took the older two. I thought this was going to be hard, but it ended up being great!

It's a small world is decorated for the holidays too, and it was nice hearing We Wish You a Merry Christmas in the mix of the small world song....added some spice, and the ride did not disappoint. It was also a longer ride, so it was kind of a nice break from it all.

Splash Mountain! This is my favorite ride, and I took the older two boys first. I took pictures of our picture, but Spencer didn't take any of him. Bryson was too scared to go on this ride. It didn't help that we started the first day with Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. Tyler and Bryson were terrified by the time we got to Splash Mountain and didn't want to go on anything else. ha ha They quickly got over their fears, but we still eventually bribed Bryson to go on, and HE LOVED IT!

I did finally get to go on the Tower of Terror with Trev and Dilan. They are so big!

The Toy Story ride was new since we were last there, and we all loved it. You wore 3D glasses and the ride was actually 5 different game screens. It was a cool way to play carnival type games this way. Tyler LOVED this ride. The only bad thing was there wasn't a fast pass and the line was always at least 45 minutes long, and it never failed I was holding the kid that fell asleep in the line, but we made it :)

Played in Tarzan's tree house

and while they did this....I sat with two sleeping kids. Spencer took this picture from the tree house, and by then Kairi was awake.

Kairi was really good. She never really cries anyways, but she would sleep when tired, and eat when hungry. I did make it a point to leave her alone for at least one good nap during the day, and she slept in the stroller pretty good.

It was awesome having all the Christmas trees around, because it was so warm, it didn't feel like December at all!

The color of wonder show was absolutely amazing! I wish I could have viewed it by myself in the front...ha ha. We stood by some awesome people who let the boys get in front of them to get a better view...there are still good people in this world :)

We did take time off from Disney to go swimming though too....can you even believe swimming outside in December? It was so much fun. Kairi of course looked adorable in her little swimsuit.

Spencer took a hold of most of the boys, because Kairi was squirmy...I think she did awesome considering the water had a slight chill at first. The boys were in heaven.

Trevor does pretty good swimming on his own, and enjoyed a couple of cannonballs!

Dilan has always been a fish.

I had to throw this picture in too, because I love her eyes in it.

We also played in Downtown Disney. We enjoyed ice cream, pretzel bits, and buying most of the boys toys there. We were hanging out by a fountain and the boys were running around crazy, it was getting dark and the lights on the trees came on, it was so cool!

Before we knew it, it was time to go home :(

As worn out and tired as I was, I was so sad to see it end. It was so fun to take the time out to get to know my kids on another level, talk to them on the shuttles to and from Disneyland, watch their eyes dance with the whole experience, and to just let them be true natured kids. Took off from Long Beach to come home to a cold snowy city.

All Aboard!!!

2010-12-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

My sister Mandy got me a great hook up on gingerbread train kits. It was such an awesome deal we were able to buy one per person. We always do a house together, but everybody has a different way of what they want things to look like, and they all want to be able to put the candy on, so this was SO awesome to let their own imaginations fly.

Tyler did so good, and he had enough patience to get his all decorated.

Trevor assembled his whole thing by himself. He of course had to pose for the picture :)

Dilan was really into it, but his kept falling over, and he eventually got bored waiting for it to harden enough to decorate. He is making quite the face too!

Bryson was having a bad day, and he really didn't seem that interested, but once he got going he loved it! He would tell his dad where he wanted the frosting, because he couldn't squeeze it out by himself, and then he would go to it. He couldn't wait to get it done, so he could eat it.

This last one is mine. I had helped with all the other boys, so by the time I got to mine I was kind of done with it, but I think it turned out okay :) Spencer didn't even do his, guess he kind of felt the same way. It was a fun activity with everybody though and it was nice to just let them have at it.

Gardner Elves!

2010-12-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

I am so behind on this post, but better late than never!

We got invited to go to the elves with some friends. I had never been and letting the kids go play with friends is always fun :)

What is it with kids and ducks? It was cute watching them all look over this wall though.

The elves were very interesting looking, a little bizarre (on the creepy side)

Bryson trying to be a ladies man...ha ha ha

Dilan must love this thing, because this was his favorite for Halloween too

All the kids were just running around together, while we walked behind and talked. They missed this one, but all had to come running back to take a look and laughed so hard at this particular elf...it was so funny watching some of their faces trying to figure out what they were supposed to be looking at.

You can tell we were here early by looking at the sun rays, it was awesome! There wasn't any other people around, so the kids could just play together and have fun.

Trevor has been such a big helper lately. He pushed Tyler the whole time in the stroller. He is turning out to be an unbelievable kid, so glad he is mine :) and of course he had to pose!

It was a fun day, and a much needed. I was going to pass because I was trying to get us all packed for our trip, but I am SO glad I decided to go.

How lovely are your branches?

2010-12-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight December 5, 2010 we finally got our tree up. It has been a super busy week, and Spencer working six days and sixty-six hours made for an even longer busier week. I would love to say Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are you branches! I am not sure this song applies to our tree. The boys were super excited to get it up, and they all helped this year, so it was up and done in record time.
Tyler was having so much fun adding on ornaments, but couldn't for some reason get them to stay on

Bryson was trying to hurry, because he wanted to put on the most

Trevor has been an awesome helper this year

Dilan had fun finding all his, and didn't want anybody else to hang them up

Kairi LOVED the tree. She kept crawling back to it no matter how many times we pulled her away.

Tyler had the least amount of ornaments to actually hang, so we decided he should put up the star...he was so excited, and Bryson was sooo mad :)

It was a little crooked....ha ha just a little!

The final product...notice the lack of ornaments towards the top...love it!

Bought these pajamas last year for $2. Tyler wore them for a little while, but I figured the best way to end the night was in Christmas pjs.

Trevor's Christmas program

2010-12-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

How I wish I could put a video on here. The third grade classes at Trevor's school had a big Christmas program on Thursday December 2nd. It was one of the best programs I have seen in a long time. They had actions, props, and loud voices. They did this mash up of different snowman songs...it was AWESOME! Trevor was really proud of the performance and so was I. I did manage to video tape it despite being there alone with my five kids. My arms were exhausted after, but I really wanted Spencer to see it too. Here are a few pics I managed to get before it was over, blurry of course :)

2010-12-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

Trevor picked this one as his favorite.

Happy Birthday Dilan!!!

2010-11-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, six years sure have gone by fast! I still can remember Dilan being born, or really I can't remember much of that day after his birth..ha ha. Dilan has really grown up this last year. He is such a great kid and so much fun for our family. He is my sugar lover. Dilan confessed to licking the icing off the Halloween cupcakes, because "It was so YUMMY!" I love this kid though. He is a great big brother, and an excellent example to anybody watching him. He loves everybody and can make a friend anywhere. This year was a hard birthday, because I had region volleyball championship games on the night of his birthday. I was more than willing to pass the games for my little man, and I left this decision up to him. I sat him down and told him I had a volleyball game, but his birthday was far more important to me than any silly old game. I told him to decide if I should play or skip it. At about four that afternoon, he told me he really wanted me to play my game. What an awesome kid! I don't do a lot for myself, and this is one thing I really enjoy, so I was beyond grateful he was so loving and thoughtful towards me....who couldn't love him?

We took my mom with us to a Dairy Queen lunch....it was all about the blizzards this year :)

He got the at home Blizzard maker from us, with some itunes money for plants vs zombies and a few other games he has really been wanting. Then we took him to Incredible Pizza for dinner. He wanted to ride the go carts with Spencer, blurry picture, but I was holding two kids while taking this shot.

We had a family party for him on Sunday. We ate his choice of food.....hotdogs, chili, chips, pasta salad, cake and ice cream. He of course couldn't wait to open his gifts.

He wasn't too sure of this cake at first. He wanted a monster truck cake. I planned to make my own, but at 11 pm the night before the party, I knew I wouldn't have enough time, and I thought this cake was so nice. I bought the little monster trucks to go on it, but he wasn't happy at first when he saw the cake. He said "I didn't want a cupcake?" When he saw it was a cupcake cake, and Toy Story 3 and the little monster trucks, he couldn't have been happier (neither could I.)

It was "the best sixth birthday ever!" he told me later. Thanks for all the love and support from our families, a birthday he says he won't forget :)

Halloween Weekend!

2010-10-31T21:12:00.001-07:00

Our Halloween weekend was so much fun. We really wanted to ride to a witch this year at Gardner Village, but we missed it again...DARN! We had fun looking around at the witches though, and Spencer hadn't ever seen them all, so it was fun walking around anyways.

They loved all the witches, especially the fire fighter.

Dilan liked all the dancing witches

Thought it was cute all of them watching the ducks, and of course quacking with them

I wanted a picture by the cornstalk, and I don't think this picture could be any cuter....I love my Tyler!

Trev wanted a picture by the hula hooping witch, and it wouldn't be a picture of Trevor unless it was posed....he cracks me up!

Bryson had to dance by his witch, and his fingers had to be in the picture, by this point he just wanted his picture taken!

Loved this picture of Kairi with the barely seen pumpkin in the back...ha ha

Despite missing the ride, we had a really fun night and plan to look at the calender next year, because this is strike two with us on missing the ride to a witch...BOOO!
Costumes were fun this year, because they really amazed me with their picks. Well, most of them amazed me, but they all turned out soooo cute!(except Trev's ha ha)

Dilan as "Captain America." I loved this costume, but was surprised he picked it, because I didn't even know he knew who this was.

Bryson as "Iron Man 2." He was the silver one, and he wanted this one specifically. He got the arm inceptor for his birthday, so it worked out great!

Tyler as a werewolf. He didn't want a costume at all. When we went to pick them out he said no to every single thing we held up, but he found a scooby doo costume that was $40 he liked, and I said ummmmm No. So, we had this and he didn't care when it came down to it, he just wanted to go with his brothers...and that worked for all of us :)

Kairi was a Butterfly Fairy. She is absolutely adorable, and it was so fun dressing up a girl this year.

Trev was "Scream"

He wasn't just any "Scream" but a "Bleeding Scream" I couldn't believe it when he picked this costume. He is finally growing up and out of the super heros and got so many compliments on this costume. He was so funny making all the older ladies grossed out with the blood. It was a really cool costume actually, and it was fun to have a really spooky costume for once.
Spencer took the boys Trick or Treating while Kairi and I passed out candy. Then we headed to our annual visit to our friend Charlotte's house. We always have so much fun here, because she has donuts, nachos, soup, chili, pop, tons of candy, and soooo many fun halloween things around. We stayed way too long and didn't get home till after mid-night! It has been a really fun weekend, and I have loved spending it with all my kiddo's, and the huz of course :)

Cupcakes?

2010-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, I have really tried this year to have some real Halloween fun. I made Halloween cupcakes the other day. I even added applesauce instead of the oil making them healthier. I had them just sitting on the cooling rack on the counter for the kids to have after lunch. I walked up later to let Aspen out and found this....I could only laugh. How cute is this? I still have no idea what kid or kids have done it, and I don't want to ask, because I am afraid they will think they are in trouble. How can you get mad over a kid being a true natured, innocent, mischievous, sugar loving kid?

PUMPKINS!!!

2010-10-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

To me Pumpkins are the root of Halloween. I know for my kids the dressing up and trick or treating is their favorite, but I love doing the pumpkins. We went to the same pumpkin patch we did last year, but it wasn't dark and cold, so we actually got to enjoy ourselves. The boys loved the free corn maze. I loved that Tyler could go by himself and feel so proud he found his way back out. We had a great ride on the tractor ride, which Trevor insisted was a haystack ride, loved it!

Our rule for picking out pumpkins is, if you can pick it up by yourself and carry it to the wheel barrow, you can have it.

The boys are super cute with this, because Bryson tried to get a bigger one, but couldn't carry it, so he said "Oh man, that one was way too heavy." Trevor always gets the biggest one he can and struggles to get it, but always somehow manages to get it up and in.

We got our pumpkins last week, but haven't had time to carve them until tonight. For obvious safety reason we use the knives, and most of the boys aren't strong enough for the safety cutters. We cut off the top and have the boys clean out the middles. They were pretending to sneeze out the goop, called it orange ghost poop, and acting like it was puke. I love how creative they were this year doing these pumpkins. We helped finish cleaning them out, let them draw what faces they want, and we cut out what they drew.

I love how cute they all turn out. It is so fun just letting them use their imagination and have fun. This years were some of my favorites :)

Dilan was so cute with his, and very impatient with the picture

Trevor of course had to pose with his, he is so funny!

Kairi's has the bottom tooth like her.

Tyler loved doing his this year, he was very proud!

Bryson wanted a Jack from The Nightmare before Christmas and I think his turned out so cute! He told us that is the pumpkin he always wanted...ha ha
Spencer and I actually dug out most of the seeds this year and will cook them up, yum! The boys can't believe that people eat the seeds, so hopefully they will actually try them. I am now more in a Halloween spirit and I am getting more excited with the boys. It is so fun with them getting older and loving to do these fun things, it was a really great fun family night!

Seriously....SIX months!

2010-10-16T13:24:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my baby is now six months old. I would like to report that she is still the sweetest, but she is becoming a real girl now...ha ha. She is still adorable beyond measure, fun to play with, sweet when she is asleep, and her laugh is to die for, but she has become quite the mess! She will not eat her baby cereal. I have tried to add in flavor, but she still won't eat it. I decided to screw the cereal, because Trevor wouldn't eat it either, and move right into baby food. Oh no, she will not have that either. She gives a face like you put the worst stuff possible in her mouth. Her tounge pushes it out faster than you can scoop it off her chin. She will not even eat her bottle like she used to. She pulls off every other second and is so squirmy. I have to guess her mouth is hurting or her new bottom teeth are tripping her out, but it is beyond frustrating to feed her anymore. She has had some parts of popcorn, rolls, crackers, and puffs and doesn't seem to mind these like everything else I have tried. She is getting so big. It is sad she is already so big, but what can you do? I love watching her eyes when she sees something new, her face light up when Spencer or one of the boys walk into view, and the way she shoves her whole fist into her mouth. As hard as she has been the past couple of weeks, I still could never imagine my life without that adorable, precious, lovable baby.

after all who wouldn't want to wake up with this every morning.....love it!

Oh Blog....how have I missed you?

2010-09-16T21:15:00.001-07:00

Let's just say I have been really busy, and when I have a moment, somebody needs something!
July 26th Trevor started the 3rd grade. His teacher is Mrs. Turner and so far he really likes her. I really like her too, because she has this folder with everything they need in it, and she give a daily behavior score. It is seriously the best thing for a parent. His teacher has already figured him out too, and that makes me even more happy.
August 3rd was Dilan's first day of Kindergarten. He was so excited! I had some issues with his paperwork. I thought it was all done and ready for him to start, but apparently something had happened on the doctors side and we ended up having to do his kindergarten appointment all over. It was a NIGHTMARE! It didn't matter to Dilan, he was so excited to ride the bus with Trevor to his new class, and has loved every minute of school so far. He was the VIP the second week, so we got to make a poster of him, and I went to talk to his class about him with a treat of course.
August 12th Bryson turned the big 4! He was so excited to have a birthday. He has been waiting to be four for most of his little life, because he knows that means only one more year till five. We had a family party for him, took him out to dinner, and pretty much the whole week seemed to be celebrating his birthday. I wouldn't have it any other way :) He had his four year check and he was 37 lbs, and 40 1/2 inches tall.
August 14th Kairi is four months! I can't believe she is already so big. She had her normal four month check and her stats were....15 lbs 2 oz 80%, she is in the 95% for her height, and 50% for her head. She is a happy little girl, and rarely cries. She loves sucking on her hands, watching her brothers. She can roll from her back to her front, but rarely front to back. She is strong and really doesn't like to be held or lay down in your arms unless she is asleep. She loves being laid down in her crib, and will usually smile as she is going to sleep. She wakes up at almost five every morning, but otherwise she sleeps pretty much through the night. I LOVE HER!
August 17th Dilan had surgery. Dilan has seemed to have hearing problems to Spencer and I for a while. We finally got it checked and sure enough, it wasn't good. We meet with the ENT and he told us straight up Dilan was going to need tubes. He had a lot of fluid sitting in his ears, and it was old and thick. We scheduled his surgery right away wanting to get it taken care of, so he could hear better at school. While they put the tubes in they checked his adenoids. His were large being a 3+ with a 4 being the biggest. Needless to say they removed them to make sure they would no longer cause problems either. He was such a trooper and so sweet. He came home to a huge Batman balloon, popsicles, and a bear. He was so excited! He went to school the next morning, and the doctors that called were shocked, because usually with adenoid removal it makes kids really off for a few days. By the weekend he had really over done himself, and we did have a chill weekend.
September 6th we headed up to Silver Lake or the board walk. We wanted to get the kids out for maybe the last chance of the year. It was so crowded! I couldn't believe how busy it was, but even with all that we had fun. We ate beef jerkey, licorice and M&M's on a bench. We walked around the lake and enjoyed the fresh air. It was a perfect day! We also bug bombed our house while we were gone :)
September 12th I am a single mom for who knows how long....my sweet huz went to Texas.
September 14th Kairi is five months! Kairi is still a sweet baby. She does make you really work to get a giggle out of her though. She is starting to scoot a little and she can really hold her body up. She can get around in a circle trying to get a hold of something. She has had a few servings of rice cereal and so far isn't a big fan....ha ha. She seems to know some what how to eat it, but still finds the food being put in very intrusive. She can munch on a few puffs already, and she likes them once they are soft, but the initial shock of it being put in is still funny for her. Bryson is so cute with her. He calls her his "Best Girl." She was definitely worth the wait, and I could never imagine life without her.
September 15th I am now 32. It was kind of hard birthday not having my husband here. I woke up to a normal day, because it isn't like the boys really understand my birthday with Spencer not being here to remind them, and I didn't really care. I went to McDonald's for lunch with some friends, and that really helped make it a better day. My mom wanted to take me to dinner, so I went to meet her and she planned for my whole family to come. She tried to surprise me, but a few goofs in conversation had me suspicious and I kind of guessed it before I arrived. It was so nice to have the family there because by this point I was really missing my husband, even though he did send me a dozen long stemmed white roses. I ended the day playing volleyball, my favorite thing of the week, and it ended up being a really Really great birthday minus the huz :)
September 17th Rest in peace dad, but Happy Birthday! sure do miss him :(

This was a really fast way to catch up the blog, and hopefully I can add some pics soon.

Let's go HIKING!

2010-07-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

DONUT FALLS

July 26, 2000 was a day I never thought would be really that important, but you truly never know what will happen. Ten years ago Spencer and I meet for the first time on a group date. The date wasn't even set up for us, but for two of our friends. For the date we hiked up to Donut Falls, so last night July 26, 2010 we decided to hike the same hike again. It started raining the moment we got there. We had planned for some rainy weather and had all the kids bring a jacket. Only did we find out after we started hiking that we had forgotten Tyler's at home....Oops! We packed along some Lunchables to eat for dinner.

We didn't go all the way up the falls, because it was really wet, and we didn't want any of the boys to fall. Trevor was a nice big brother, and he gave Tyler his jacket to wear. It really wasn't that cold, but just really wet.

I carried Kairi in our Snugglie and she even ate her bottle in there. She didn't seem to mind it was raining, and loved just being carried around.

Dilan loved playing in the water even though he was soaked!

I couldn't get Bryson to keep he feet out of the water, so I had him stand on this rock for pictures....it worked for a while.

Trevor had to pose while I took his picture...he even did that face on purpose. He is so funny sometimes.

Spencer and all the boys.

Then on the way back down from the falls, Bryson spotted this rock and said it was a submarine. I love to look through a three year olds eyes sometimes.

As we were heading down the canyon we saw a deer on the side of the road. This in my mind made it the most successful hiking trip possible. Deer always make me think of my dad, because he loved when we got to see them when he took us hiking. Even though it rained, this was a really fun thing to do with our family, and we have decided that it will be a tradition we do as a family every year.

July 4th weekend

2010-07-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to write this for a while now...date will be off :)

What a fun weekend. I saw somebody comment on how dumb that we didn't just celebrate the fourth on the actual fourth, but I completely disagree...why celebrate one when we can do three? Saturday, Spencer and I worked most of the day on a swing set for the boys. It is still not nearly done, but we did as much as we could that day. We headed up to my moms house for the fireworks/carnival at the Eaglewood golf course. This has been an annual tradition for my family now, and I LOVE IT! My kids now look forward to this every year and talk about it all year long. This year almost the whole family came, plus friends too. It was awesome!

Us with just the boys

Tiffany and Natalie

Kairi with her aunt Kay

Tobi and Mason

My Mom sporting some sunglasses

My sister Mandy took these pictures and she isn't in one, Thanks Mandy :)

Monday my family headed up to pineview reservoir. We got the boys life jackets this year, so it was even more fun, because we didn't have to stress where they were constantly.

Bryson loved just laying on this raft

Trevor playing in the sand

Dilan loved that he got to eat ding dongs at the beach..ha ha

Tyler thought the water was too cold, so he enjoyed playing with everything on the sand.

My mom just read on the beach too, but helped out holding Kairi for us too.

Spencer enjoyed his day with the boys

It was fun with Kay, Ben, Tobi, Mandy, Chris and her fiance Randy and mom Gloria, and my cousin Jenny too. We ate hot dogs for lunch, and of course treats :) Days like this make me so grateful for my family. I love that my kids get to be with their aunts and uncles for holidays, and I hope they realize how lucky they truly are to have so many people that love them around.

Mega Blog!!!

2010-06-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

So, I am way behind on my blog....here is my mega blog to catch it up.

Anniversary!

June 7, 2010 Spencer and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. In the nine years we have been married we have had five kids, which means I have been pregnant for half our marriage, and pretty much the other half we have had a newborn/infant. I can't believe we have been married for nine years, and almost together for ten. I wonder where the time has gone. I find it more amazing that people can get divorced after years of being with the same person, because I couldn't be more in love with my husband now than the day we got married. Spencer is the greatest person I could have ever imagined myself with, and I think our kids are just so lucky to have him as a dad. I look forward to the many more years of life with my wonderful husband, and our five beautiful kids :)

Vasectomy Time!

Friday June 11, 2010 Spencer went in for his vasectomy. It has been a week, and he is back to pretty much being normal. He was in quite a bit of pain for the first couple days, but still went into work Monday for a 12 hour shift. This was a pretty fast decision for both of us, but we both knew we were done having kids. It was a bitter sweet moment that morning waiting for him in the waiting room though. I know we are done having kids, but the idea of never being able to make that decision again was a little odd. Ever since we have been married it was always when are we going to have the next baby, or oops I am pregnant. I had so much love for him when he walked out though, because I knew he had done this for us. I could have had my tubes done while I was having Kairi, but I have heard horrible things about having this done from many women, and I made the choice not to have it done. This meant Spencer needed to have a vasectomy, or we would always worry about getting pregnant. I really appreciate my husband and his willingness to just go get this done without any kind of disagreement, Thanks Babe!

Two Months!!

Kairi turned two months on June 14, 2010. I can't believe it has already been two months. I love this little girl so much though. People always told me that there wasn't a difference between the boys and girls until they were older, but I couldn't disagree more. I am not sure if it is because I have only done boy for eight years, but to me it has been very different. Changing the diaper is obviously different, but with a girl you have the hair bows, flowers, tights, bracelets, necklaces, shoes, outfits, and earrings. My little baby is so sweet too. Even when she is crying I find her so cute. At her two month appointment she was 12 lbs and 3 ounces, and 22 1/2 inches long. When she got her shots she cried so hard, and I pretty much joined her. I think I look at her different though, because she is the last one. She will be the last baby that I get to do all the infant things with. I don't mind getting up and feeding her, because she will be the last one I get to have this moment with. I love her so much, and I couldn't be more grateful that we chose to have her.

Father's Day!

Father's day is a really hard day for my family. My mom has a really hard week leading up to it, and I think the rest of us do, but we don't show it as open. I miss my dad, and so wish I could still tell him in person what a great dad I think he was. On the other hand, I have such a great dad for my kids, it kind of balances out. Spencer is a really great husband, and a super dad. Spencer's dad and family joined us at our house for pulled pork sandwiches, salad, and ice cream cones. His dad also brought along a friend he taught on his mission from Belgium. I love my husband and the awesome dad he is, and his dad for the awesome grandpa he is as well. I am writing this late, but Kairi just initiated him fully as her father. She pooped all over him! It was a getting to be bed time and time for a diaper change. She is at the point where she doesn't poop as often as the newborn, so it had been a few days. Well, those few days ended up all over Spencer....I laughed so hard, Dilan's eyes got huge with disgust, and the other boys just laughed with me. What a fun night from a mess!

Wonderful White Weekend!!!

2010-06-09T21:51:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was one of the best weekends of my entire life. The weekend started off to a great start with Spencer being able to baptize Trevor. This was a huge decision for Trev. I have gone over baptism with him for the last two years, because I really wanted him to make his own decision with out the influence of anybody else. I didn't want him to do it because all the other kids his age at church were, because we wanted him to, or because he felt pressure to do it from teachers. I really wanted him to make his own decision. I told him I didn't care if he ever did, and I didn't. To me this is a really big decision, and I really wanted him to remember making it himself. For a long time he told me he wanted to wait till he was ten. I am not sure why ten, but I never cared. When his birthday got closer he told me he decided he wanted to do it this year. I told him to really think about this decision, because it was the first big one of his life. Well, Saturday morning we went to a wonderful service and watched my oldest little man get baptized. I was so proud of him for making this decision, because I have been truly blessed by this in my own life. It was one of those surreal moments where you are so happy you want to cry, but too proud to do it. After the service we had waffle bowl ice cream sundaes at our house. It was so fun having everybody over eating ice cream. The boys loved it! We had six different kinds of ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, sprinkles, whip cream, magic shell, and even cherries. If you didn't want a full sundaes we had ice cream cones too. After everybody had their fill we headed down to Pirate Island Pizza to celebrate Trev's big day. It was fun and uncrowded....the way we like it :) The we headed home to play outside and go shopping for the next day.

Sunday morning was a beautiful morning, and a busy morning as well. We got our beautiful little girl dressed in a beautiful white dress to get blessed in the church. She was also wearing a little sweater her great grandpa made before he passed with matching booties...so adorable! Her dad gave her a wonderful blessing and she was such a great baby during it. We had many people join us for the meeting, and I really appreciated all the support, especially from all our non-member friends as well. Then we headed to our house for a barbecue. It was such a great turn out with so many family and friends. Unfortunately our air conditioner decided this was not a day to work, ugh! My sisters did an awesome job taking pictures of everybody with Kairi. As warm as our house felt, it really was just an awesome day!

Trevor holding Kairi after he was baptized, she is wearing my blessing dress.

Preschool Graduation

2010-05-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last night the boys graduated from preschool 2010. The program started by doing an alphabet rock. They were so cute wearing their sunglasses rapping in the mini microphone.

They did many other fun songs with all the stuff that they have learned with numbers and a glow stick, days of the week, months of the year, and fun ones like tooty ta.

They each had a part to say and a mini part in a skit. Bryson was part of the monkeys swinging in the trees being snapped by an alligator, and Dilan was the biggest goat on the troll bridge. It is amazing at how much the shy kids have come out of their shells. Bryson got the award of being able to make anybody laugh. This is so Bryson. The other day I walked them into the preschool and he was laying on the floor with his tongue out. All the kids were laughing at him, and I was like "yup thats my kid!" Dilan got the joy of helping out award. He was always making sure the kids cleaned up their messes, like a little mom. They each got a book from all the stuff they did this year. It includes things like how big they got, how much better they can write, and the many preschool field trip adventures. My boys love preschool, and I love that it is so close, and that their teacher is such an awesome person. She couldn't do a better job, and I really am grateful that she doesn't charge as much as other preschools especially with two kids in...YIKES! I can't believe the year is already almost half over, but I know Dilan will be reminding me everyday that he soon will start kindergarten. He asks me everyday if it is August yet....at least he is excited for school so far :)

Field Trip

2010-05-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

So, I am a little late in writing this, but wanted to write it anyways. The boys had their last preschool field trip for the year to Kennecott Copper mine. This was one of my favorite field trips. It wasn't even anything really special, but because Spencer is working for Kennecott right now, it was fun to go see. We went up to the open mine which was far bigger and way cooler than I had expected. We went into the visitor center, watched a movie, and looked at many years worth of history. The movie was pretty cool, because it showed what they did at each location of Kennecott. I found this to be really cool, because Spencer had tried to explain this to me, and now I got to see exactly what he was saying. Dilan and Bryson loved when it would show the blasting and the big trucks. In the rest of the visitor center it showed models of each location, how they help the rejuvenate the environment, Olympic medals, different rocks, metals, trucks, and ways to use energy. Then we headed to the Copperton(?)city park. It was a fun park for kids, but I as a parent, found it to be a little dangerous. My sister Mandy had the day off so she actually came to the field trip with me, and took all the pictures. The boys and me both enjoyed having Mandy with us. She was a life saver at the mines and carried Kairi the whole time. She was fun at the park because she played with the boys while I sat with Kairi on the grass. Not sure if it was having Mandy with me, or if this really was that fun of a field trip, but between the two....it was my favorite!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

2010-05-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Tyler is now two, and well it is true about two, he isn't quite as sweet as he was. He now shows he is two in so many ways. He can go down stairs by himself, kick a ball forward, uses mini sentences, points out his body parts, can count some numbers, and throw a tantrum many two year olds are so proud of and can't stack up to. He definitely has his opinion on many things including his footwear of choice. I was buying him sandals the other day, and planned to by some little Keen's so he could wear them for whatever, but he threw the biggest fit when I put this shoe on. I tried the Teva brand with the same style and same thing. I was getting frustrated with how loud he was being, and I had just planned to find his size and leave. He spotted some regular Teva's so I tried those on, and his reply? Yup, that one. They are cute with little dinosaurs on them, so I bought these with his satisfaction. It is amazing to me that he is so opinionated already about his clothing. My little guy is growing up! We celebrated Tyler's birthday early this year on Easter Sunday with his big brother Trevor's. When his actual birthday came it seemed weird to celebrate it again, kind of already been there done that in my head. I felt so bad at this point. So, we took him out to breakfast between soccer games, then took him to the toy store to get his gifts. He got their free balloon and hat and was truly ecstatic about it. Then we went out for ice cream, he was in heaven! Then we headed to my sisters young women fund raiser. He carried his little free balloon every where, and he was happy all day. In the end I think he had a great birthday, and it was so low key we all had a great day. Even though he is now showing his two year old side, he is still my sweet little Tyler, and I couldn't be happier than to be his mommy :)

Wow, Three weeks!

2010-05-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has already been three weeks. Time seems to just fly sometimes. Kairi is still a sweet little baby. She wakes about every three hours on the dot to eat. I can't complain as far as a newborn, because three hours is great. On the other hand I am so tired, because I still have four others to take care of during the day. She is starting to wake up more in the day, and Dilan still loves to just look at her eyes. At her two week appointment she was back up to her birth weight, and was and inch longer. I think she has to be part piranha though. She has quite the sucking power for such a small thing...YIKES! I have to say some of the cutest moments is when her dad gets to hold her. Daddy's little girl! I don't blame him, what can I say? I love this little girl too. Between her and the boys life couldn't get any better :) Picture is a little blurry, but she is a lot squirmy :)

Mr Personality

2010-04-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Bryson is my personality child. I got out of the shower to find this today. I was in a huge hurry, but had to take a picture. I didn't however get the little booties on his toes....darn!

Welcome Kairi!!!

2010-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sugar and Spice and everything nice, well so far.....our little girl is precious! Last Wednesday April 14, 2010 we got to welcome little Kairi Inez Belt into our family. Surgery was scheduled at noon, so I had to get to the hospital at ten. It was a normal morning, besides the fact I was up at five folding laundry, doing dishes, setting out clothes, and getting ready to have a baby. We got to the hospital at ten being bombarded with a lot of paperwork, you would think we were buying a house. We were put into a room where a student put in my IV. I wasn't sure about having a student do it, because I think the IV is one of the worst parts of having a c-section, but she did good enough. We then learned that another doctor wanted us to wait to have my surgery because they might have to do a c-section on one of their patients. My doctor said no way, and I guess he won the duke out, because a couple minutes later I was walking into the operating room. I always start to shake at this point, not sure if it is nerves or because it is only like 60 degrees in there, but they wrap me in warm blankets....love that part :) Then the anesthesiologist does a spinal block on me by placing a really long needle into my spine and injecting some kind of potent medicine so I can't feel anything from the waist down. Before I knew it they were talking about seeing her hair, and then I heard the sweetest little sound, and out came my "little" baby girl. Tears streamed down my face as they held her little body over the shield for me to see. Kairi was weighed at 9 lbs and 4.5 oz and 20 inches long. She was just beautiful, and a amazing surprise to see all that hair. She was high on the apgar scores, and she was handed to Spencer and the baby doctors left. We haven't ever had our baby just handed to us and have them walk away. They finished sealing me up, using some super super glue this time. They wheeled me out with my baby in hand. I then feed her for the first time as they kept taking vitals and making sure I was ok. Of course I was until the puking began. I always puke after but this time I puked for the next 18 hours. Turns out I had a fuse in my intestines that wasn't letting anything past. My doctor was off that next morning, but made a trip in to see me. He got me on some really good drugs and before I knew it, I was actually hungry. I LOVE MY DOCTOR! They got me out of bed and took out that nasty catheter, and I didn't have any other issues :) I was released from the hospital the next morning....less than 48 hours from when surgery began. It has been so nice to be home again. Kairi is a sweet tempered little girl. She sleeps really well when you can get her to sleep. I am amazed how mellow she has been. I love just looking at her little face, playing with her thick head of hair, and smelling that newborn baby smell. With each kid I always wonder if I have enough love for another one, and if I can be a good enough mom. Well, I know for sure I have enough love, because this little girl already has me won over. I love all my kids so much, and I just count my blessings to have each of them. It has been fun watching the boys with their new sister. Trevor loves to tell her that he is her big brother, Dilan loves to see her eyes (getting right in her face), Bryson is the most mommy like to her making sure her needs are being met, and Tyler loves to just say baby, wow! I think it is really cute watching Spencer with her. She will definitely be a daddy's girl, and I love it! Too bad he can't do the breast feeding though :)Kairi will be the end of kids for us, and I can't think of a better way to end than this beautiful little girl that will call me mom.

Trevor is 8!

2010-04-18T14:20:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it has already been eight years since I gave birth to my first baby boy. I never really wrote on Trev's birth last year, so I am going to this year. Trevor was due April 19, 2002. I begged the doctor to induce me, because I was so big and swollen. I couldn't wear shoes anymore at all. I was even wearing slippers to work. They decided the induction would take place on April 11. I was so excited! Well, that day came and went with labor and pushing. It was decided that he would need to be born by c-section because his heartbeat was going up and down with each contraction. I was wheeled in to the operation room and at 12:34 heard his little cry. He was a big baby weighing in at 9 lbs 13.5 oz and he was 21 1/4 inches long. They rushed him right out, and I didn't get to see him again till 3:30. I will never forget the moment they placed him in my arms though. I was finally a mom! I had waited most of my life to be a mom, and now this "little" baby had made me one. Trevor has always been a very strong kid. He was crawling at six months, walking at nine, and running before he was one. It has been amazing and awesome to watch him grow into the older brother role he now plays so well. He loves people, and he can't stand to watch anybody get hurt. This year we celebrated his birthday quite a lot. We had family parties on Easter, had a friend party the Friday before his birthday, and then we took him to Chuck E Cheese on his birthday. I love my kids birthdays. I love making them feel super special for one day, or many days. I love my Trevor and I really love the person he is becoming. It is so fun to watch him grow and change, and I think this year is going to be a great one! Happy Birthday Trevor!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

I think holidays are so much more fun with young kids. I don't even remember having this much fun on holidays when I was a kid as I do watching my kids. Maybe holidays are really more fun for parents, because we get to see so much joy and laughter in our kids. Easter this year was busy for us. We woke up to another picture scavenger hunt set out for the boys by the "Easter Bunny." It is always fun to watch the boys run from location to location trying to find their baskets. I think they are actually some what disappointed when they do find them, because they love getting each clue. This year that bunny had them outside, and our house had a good couple inches of snow. I found it amazing that they didn't even seem to notice the snow, but just the hunt of that egg. After they all found their baskets we loaded up the car, and headed to my moms for breakfast. This year was more challenging, because we were celebrating Trevor's and Tyler's birthdays along with Easter. This Easter Sunday was also General Conference for our church. It was nice to eat breakfast and watch conference. We then ate lunch, did an Easter egg hunt, and eventually had cupcakes with ice cream cones. The boys got to open their presents, and it was just a really nice day with the family. We celebrated Easter night with Spencer's family as we celebrated birthdays too. We played a game called "Killer Bunnies" (go figure!) and then ate dinner together. It was a nice night with his family, and the boys got to open more presents. It was an exhausting day, but we had so much fun with both families, and it is really nice to have the birthdays done for both families.
There are a lot of religions that celebrate Easter for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a time I look back on how lucky I am to have him in my life. I am grateful for my wonderful boys, my fantastic husband, and right now this little baby growing inside my belly. I am grateful for my heavenly father and all that I have been blessed with. Whether you have a specific religion, or you don't believe in religion at all, Easter can be a time for lots of fun with family and friends too.

I love this kid!

2010-03-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Tyler is almost 23 months, but he already acts way older than two. He is already talking in three word sentences, will totally feed himself, drink from a cup (spilling occasionally still), and the biggest event.....HE IS IN A BIG BOY BED! I have to admit I was really scared of this event coming. I knew we were going to need the crib, and I wanted him out before the baby even came, because I didn't want him to connect the two. I had no idea how to even go about the big boy bed from a crib. Tyler is our first to successfully sleep in a crib. I decorated his room with more animals, and he thinks it is awesome. I found a great deal on the vinyls I had in his other room (thanks angie) so I bought a bunch to really make his room cute. Then we got the double rail so he wouldn't fall out, and I tried his first sleep at nap time. I couldn't believe it when he just went to sleep. I was so happy, but night time could be a whole other story. He sleeps at least 11 hours at night, so I wasn't sure if this would continue or he would sleep less. Lucky for us, he sleeps the same. He wakes up happy, and proud he can get out of bed all by himself. I have to say he is just the best kid, and I am so happy to have this little almost two year old in my life :)

five, five, five!

2010-03-10T09:19:00.001-08:00

Lately it seems like a lot in my life has to do with the number five.

5 years-

It has been five years since we decided to keep me home with our kids. I can't believe is has already been five years. Looking back, I can still remember deciding that this was the best for our family. It was going to be a really big stretch financially, and most of the time we weren't even sure we could pull it, but here we are five years later and still making it. I could have made close to $150,000 had I still been working. WOW! That could have paid for a lot of things we could have used and really wanted in the last five years. We could have had a bigger house, a better vehicle a long time ago, and all sorts of fun trips. Would I trade it for the money? No way! Being a stay at home mom is not what I thought it was going to be like. It is a lot harder, and really mentally demanding. Going to work was hard too, but it really is just different mentally. Work was hard, but I got a nice breaks, I could pee without interruption, I had adult conversation, I missed out on a lot of dirty diapers, and my house was a lot cleaner(go figure). I love being at home with my boys, and I am so happy I truly get to enjoy even the un-enjoyable moments of their childhood. They will only be little once, and I will only get to cuddle and hold them for so long. I will rejoin the work force at some point though....feeding four teenage boys is going to cost a lot! ha ha

5 weeks-

I now have five more weeks till I am scheduled to bring this baby girl into this world. Some days it feels like forever still, and other times I feel like I have so much to do, and I might not get it done in time. My placenta previa has cleared and as feared by my doctor, it is not attached to my c-section scar. We are going to be having a very big baby. A week ago she was approx. 6lbs 9oz. I think I am very lucky to live in this time period with the technology we have to be able to get this big hairy baby girl out. I can't wait to meet her!

5 others-

I had to take five tums last night, I get up five times for either kids or my bladder almost every night, I have at least five contractions a day, I have lost five pounds since they put me on my diabetic diet, and in five weeks I will be the mom of five beautiful kids! Here is a recent ultrasound of our Kairi. Little blurry, but she is looking at you with chubby cheeks....oh so cute!

Jr. Jazz

2010-03-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

This year Trevor got to play Jr. Jazz. He was so excited to be able to play, and it was really fun to watch him play. For kids this young they actually hang another basket on top of the actual basketball hoop, so it is shorter. This had some pluses and minuses. It was nice because kids this age have a hard time throwing the ball hard enough to always get it to the basket, and it made a lay up possible. The only really bad thing about it was that it would put the hoop further into the court, so the kids would pass it up, because they hadn't made it to the out of bounds line yet. Trevor got to play with a lot of boys in our area, and he really enjoyed goofing off with them every Saturday. We decided that Trev's best quality in basketball was definitely defense. He never let the kid he was guarding get the ball. I felt bad for that poor kid, but I was so proud of my own for doing such an awesome job. In the end he got a certificate and trophy. He took the trophy to school for good news Monday. It was fun watching him play, but I am always glad when the sport season is over with...ha ha!

Honest Scrap.....hummmm?

2010-02-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

So, my awesome friend Angie decided to nominate me for this. I had no idea what it even was, but apparently you just tell ten things about yourself. Well, I don't want to just say anything, so I have been thinking about this for a while.

First...I find myself to be really blessed. I feel like we have had a rough first years of marriage, but in the end I can't even complain, because I have the best husband and cutest boys ever!

Second....I love my friends! I am kind of picky on who I choose to be friends with. I am not one of those people who will just talk to anybody and act like a friend. If I am your friend, I am a real honest true friend that will do just about anything for you. I sometimes can be taken advantage of because of this, but I don't even care, because it is the friend I wanted to be.

Third....I am seriously scared for my kids futures. I think this world is scary, and I think it is just getting worse. I want to just keep my kids close and let nothing happen to them, but then I am not really being a good mom that way either...a double edge sword if you ask me.

Fourth....I miss my dad. I have been feeling a little guilty lately, because I have a hard time even thinking I actually had a dad. Seems like the memories I had of him could have been dreams? I hate the fact that my boys had such an awesome Papa, and they will never even know it, and that is about the only thing that makes me know my dad was really a good dad, and he was actually here at one point in time.

Fifth....I really don't like being pregnant. I think this is funny, because technically I am on my sixth pregnancy. I may not like this part of life, but I love love love the results of pregnancy. Who couldn't love a sweet baby? (or a horrible one, that will eventually turn sweet..he he)

Sixth....I really really really hate the fact that all the crack whores in the world can have kids, or get pregnant and abort the sweet little embryos, and then other really great people can't have kids at all. This is a really sad and hard thing for me. My heart seriously hurts for all these couples. I also hate that insurance companies won't even help these couples at least find out why?

Seventh....I have some weird phobias. I don't like balloons, or the thought of them popping actually. I can't reach my hand in places I can't see. I hate clowns! I hate the feeling of being stuck or in a situation I feel I have absolutely no control at all of. I can feel a little claustrophobic in weird situations. All these give me anxiety and are really unpleasant.

Eighth....I find being a mom the hardest, but most wonderful thing I can ever imagine. I never knew how hard it was to actually be a mom, but there is far more involved than I ever knew. In turn I think because it is so hard, it seems like such a pay off when something goes right.

Ninth....I never thought I would become one of those frumpy moms, but here I am! HA HA It isn't that I want to be frumpy, but I have a hard time with why I need to look nice to just do dirty laundry, dishes, floors, sheets, carpets, and changing poopy diapers etc, all day long.

Tenth....I can't wait to find some of me again. In the almost nine years we have been married, I have been pregnant roughly half of them. If not pregnant, I have had a newborn or toddler before it all started again. Over time I have lost parts of me. Many people may judge me on this because I have obviously gained weight. I don't need anybody to tell me, believe me I know, and it isn't something I am proud of either. I can say until you have been in my shoes....please don't judge. It is hard to find me in a body that doesn't feel like me at all. My abs are so separated that my intestines can get stuck in there, and cause a lot of discomfort and pain. My stomach is so stretched it is indescribable. I haven't had any real me time for a long time. When I have an awesome husband working long hard hours to keep me home with our sweet boys, I don't have much me time to work on anything. Would I change any of it? HELL NO! I know my life isn't what everybody wants for themselves, but I can honestly say I am a happy proud mom of almost five kids!

Wow! That could be too much but for now I am leaving it, because my dryer just finished, and I have no more time. I don't know many people in the blog world, so I am asking Becca Vala, Jessi Carsellers, Jessica Grose, and Allison Loosli to all do this.....IF you don't wanna....don't. Those are about the only blogs I follow...ha ha Love you all!

BEATLES ROCKBAND!

2010-02-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Last year the boys got Rock band from one of their aunts for Christmas. They have always had fun playing it, but they all just wanted to play the drums. Recently Spencer decided to buy the Beatles Rockband game for me as a surprise. I thought he was the best, but didn't really see the boys still wanting to do more than fight over who got to play the drums....boy was I wrong! We showed them Yellow Submarine first, and of course it was an instant hit. Now they are familiar with more of the Beatles songs, and they take turns singing too. Trevor is getting pretty good at the guitar as well, so we can have all of them doing something if Trev plays the guitar. Generally, Spencer and I play Bass and Guitar and they do the drums and singing. It is awesome to hear your little ones singing Beatles songs. One day at Target, Bryson started singing Lucy in the sky, and the lady in front of us turned around to see who was singing. I think she was shocked finding it was a three year old, who by then had switched to singing Yellow submarine. She told us it was awesome that he knew the Beatles. This is truly one of our favorite things to do as a family now, plus it is a good introduction of true music for the boys to learn to love, just like their parents. Tyler can't obviously do any of them, but he always has to have his own guitar while we play...it is so cute!

Dinosaurs!!

2010-01-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

Today the middles preschool had a field trip to the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum. I haven't been to the museum for about ten years. I remembered it being kind of dumb, and I really wasn't looking forward to going. WOW! The museum sure had changed since I was last there. Being with the preschool we didn't have a lot of time to look at everything. My kids were interested in some of the displays, but others they hardly even glanced at. Lucky for me there were some older girls on the field trip that were off track, and when they are off track they usually help out at the preschool. My boys were excited to see them, and they held my boys hands most of the way through the museum. It was nice to just walk through and show Tyler everything. We eventually got to this sand water play area. They have dinosaurs and plastic trees in there to play with. The boys loved this area the most. The preschool was only in this area for maybe ten minutes, so we kind of ditched them at this point...ha ha. I let the boys play here till they were ready to move on, which was about a half hour after the preschool had moved on.

We headed back into more of a museum area and the boys kind of just walked through, because they had heard that there was a place you could dig for bones farther ahead. We finally found the place you dig for the bones, and they loved this area too. We played here for about 20 minutes. They only really wanted to leave, because it was now 12:30, and they were getting hungry. It ended up being a pretty good field trip. I am really glad I ditched the preschool, because they had so much fun playing longer, and I feel like I got more out of our money...he he

12 weeks....

2010-01-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

So, I now have 12 weeks to go till the birth of this baby. I am super excited to see her, and I feel like time is definitely not on my side. April still seems so far away! So far this pregnancy has been a whole different story. I mean I have the typical pregnancy symptoms, but they are different ones than what I had with the boys...different is not always better. Insomnia has been one of my hardest symptoms. I am awake most of the night. I wake up every hour or so, and sometimes can get back to sleep within a half hour, but most times it takes me well over an hour or two. I have always gone back to sleep after Spencer leaves in the morning at 5:30, well not lately. I lay there till my alarm goes off. It is so frustrating! With the boys I always slept rather well till about the last six weeks to a month. I am tired most of the time, and I feel like it shows...YIKES! Weight, while being pregnant has never been too hard to regulate. Trevor I gained the most, but most of his was just water retention. I haven't had that with any of the other boys, and so far I haven't this time either. The other boys I gained only about 17 pounds each. I hadn't gained a pound with this one till 18 weeks, and now I can't find the weight switch to turn it off. It could be that all I want is dairy, or anything sweet. Cravings are super strong too. I ate chicken noodle soup at Chick-fil-A a week ago and I can't stop thinking about the stupid soup. I also have been loving chocolate milk, really cold water with lemon, totino's pizzas, anything chocolate,and most of all Starbucks frappucinos! Cravings are normal, but having obsessive cravings I don't really think are that normal. Constipation is still a very strong issue. It is horrible! I think I need not go into further explanation. My hip is another issue...I vacuumed the downstairs today and my hip hurt so bad after I could hardly walk. I have horrible hips, but they have never been this bad either. I am super excited to have my baby, and I wouldn't change the decision to have her in the least bit. I do wish I could pass on my fertility with somebody else after she is born though. As much as I am not happy with pregnancy symptoms, I do feel really blessed to be able to have a baby, and my heart seriously hurts for all those awesome women in this world who can't have kids of their own.

Oh Christmas?

2009-12-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

First off we started all our fun on Christmas eve. We met at my moms house for a wonderful dinner. It was nice to sit down with all the family and just enjoy good food and conversation. We have a Danish tradition of singing Christmas carols around the tree as everybody holds hands and you walk/dance around. I used to hate this as a kid, but watching my kids enjoy it so much has actually changed my perspective a lot. I also find this to be far more meaningful without my dad. I miss him while we carry out this tradition, because he was so proud of his danish heritage. Then it came to opening presents. Dilan had been waiting all day for this event. He talked and talked about getting to open presents, and wondering what kind of surprises were in store for him. The boys got more than spoiled, Thanks everybody! I am always amazed with the loot we walk out with, and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Bryson loved being able to play with, and hold his little cousin Melanie. She is a very patient one year old. Bryson and her brother Brandon passed her back and forth. It was super cute watching him play with her, and made me even more excited to see how he will be with his own sister. Then we packed up the car, got the boys changed into their pajamas, and headed home. Only Tyler feel asleep on the way home, because the others were still on cloud nine with all their new toys.
The next morning we woke up my mom and Bryson about quarter to eight. We started to head down the stairs and Trev met us at the bottom so excited that in fact Santa had come. We woke up Dilan, and watched the boys stare in amazement at the scene in front of them. They were a little overwhelmed at first, but eventually started to find out what each of them had in their piles. Bryson got a Handy Manny workshop. He said it wasn't for him, because Dilan had wanted it for his birthday, and it made him really sad. It was so funny. We told him that it was his, because he had wanted it too. Dilan found underwear, and looked at me so amazed....Santa bringed me underwear, I didn't know Santa bringed underwear? He was even more excited that the next pack was transformers like his bike and scooter. It was hilarious watching how dramatic he was with everything he found. We woke Tyler up a little later, and he really wasn't sure what was going on. He was most excited to find his Pez....Tyler loves Pez! Trevor was most excited to find his Heely's. He has no idea how to use them, but he sure does try. It is funny to watch him go flying down the hall, and thank goodness, so far hasn't sustained any injuries.
About nine I dropped my mom off at my sisters house, and we headed to Spencer's moms house for breakfast a little after that. We had a great morning with his family, and the boys got spoiled even more....Thanks everybody! Then we played a few games and just hung out till we needed to head home for Tyler to get a nap. Bryson and Tyler both fell asleep on the way home and ended up sleeping till after six. We got dinner ready for Spencer's dad, sister, and brother to come over that night. Spencer and I made a salad, dinner rolls, red potatoes, and ham. Spencer had gotten the ham from work, and it ended up being a sugar free ham...blah! So, I took brown sugar, nutmeg, and a pinch of cinnamon to make our own glaze. Amazingly enough it turned out okay. We had a nice relaxing night just hanging out with them, as grandpa read stories to Bryson, and the rest of us chilled. It was a really nice night. Overall, it was a really great Christmas. I am so grateful for such a wonderful family. I am grateful for the wonderful family that I married into. I am always grateful for my family, but this time of year I think about how truly blessed we are. I am so grateful for my four beautiful little boys, my wonderfully awesome amazing husband, and for the little girl growing inside me. I am grateful for all my friends and the differences and samesies we all share. I love my life and feel so incredibly blessed!
I wrote this post right after Christmas, and I couldn't find my camera. UGH!

First Moments...

2009-12-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the first pictures of our sweet baby girl. We have decided to name her Kairi Inez Belt. Kairi is a name we have had picked out since I was pregnant with Dilan. Trevor was actually the one to come up with this name. It is from a video game he has loved since he was three, and Inez is after my Grandma. I have gotten a lot of reactions with this name, because it is really unique. Some like others not so much, but for us it fits. I had my main ultrasound today to make sure she was first and foremost a healthy baby, and second to double check nothing had grown, and she was still a girl. The tech couldn't believe how clear all her pictures were coming out. She was an ultrasound model, and she was so precious to watch. She was opening her mouth, pulling her feet up by her hands, stretching, and possibly sucking her thumb. It was so awesome to watch her. Spencer and Bryson felt her for the first time yesterday too. I did learn I have placenta previa though too. Placenta previa is a complication of pregnancy in which the placenta grows in the lowest part of the womb (uterus) and covers all or part of the opening to the cervix. My doctor is hoping that as my pregnancy progresses that it will move up farther into my uterus. If this does not happen, my delivery could be interesting as he put it. Not what any mom wants to hear, but I have decided to not freak out till another ultrasound is done in a few months to see if my placenta has moved, or is still covering my cervix.

Happy Birthday Dilan!!!

2009-12-16T15:41:00.001-08:00

I can still fully remember the day Dilan was born. I went into the hospital at 11:30, which means I was starving! I was so excited to give birth to my second son, and also really nervous as to how our first little boy was going to like him. Dilan was born at 2:02 pm. He looked so small when he was born weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz. The first two things I noticed about Dilan was a huge dimple on his right cheek, and his really dark black hair. I was having some issues with puking, so they gave me some medicine to calm it, which in turn knocked me out. I had people come and visit, but had no memory of them coming, yet there were pictures of me smiling with them...WEIRD!! Dilan was a chunky little baby who was always smiling and giggling. He was so much fun, and his really dark hair changed to platinum blonde. Dilan used to run with his arms to the side like he was some kind of speed walker. It was the cutest thing, and I am actually sad that he doesn't still have this cute trait, but I wouldn't want kids to make fun either. Dilan has always been one to just sit and play. He hasn't ever been a big TV kid, or need somebody to play with him. He is content to just find a toy and make a story to go with it. He can tell you the best stories, describe creatures he has made up, and even what he thinks some houses should have. He is a really great addition to our family and I am so grateful that this sweet, yet very determined little boy is mine!

We did a lot with Dilan for his birthday this year. We first took him to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. It was actually a blast, because one of the machines was off and kept giving tons of tickets. Then we had a friend party for him, 17 kids were invited, and 13 actually came. We had monster truck races, and the kids got to pick and keep their monster truck after. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this party turned out. We had to postpone his family party till after Thanksgiving, because half our family got sick, so his birthday really lasted a whole month. Thanks everybody for giving this little boy the best fifth birthday ever! He really deserved it :) I know this post is super late, but such is life!

Comments!!

2009-12-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

This will be short, because every time I start a blog lately I know it will end up making somebody upset. I have had my fair share of comments lately about our life. I am not sure when our choices in life became everybody's concern, but it is really starting to wear on me. I am always feeling defensive. I don't sleep that well at night for the most part, but all these comments are making me not sleep at all, because I have real issues shutting off my brain. It can be a simple comment on how my boys are doing, what we are doing for the weekend, or have I finished my Christmas shopping? These are normal questions, but because I am so frustrated with the million other comments people are making about our life, that I am starting to not see that point anymore. I am feeling very defensive and ornery, so if I come off as really rude to a normal question...I just want to say I am sorry!

Blue or Pink?

2009-11-20T07:42:00.001-08:00

Who would think blue and pink could be so controversial? I found this little pink and blue box on the internet. It claims it can predict the sex of your baby as early as ten weeks. I thought that was so awesome, and how much fun would it be to get maybe a little glimpse as to what was actually going on with my baby. You can buy this test at Walgreens for five dollars cheaper than you can on the Intelligender.com site. The controversy behind the test is that some people may want a boy, and when they get a girl result, decide to terminate the pregnancy based completely on the gender. Now the company claims it is 90% accurate, but studies have found it closer to 80%. They will not sell this product in China and other oversea countries that long for one sex over another for this very reason. I thought this was actually really sad. I have wanted a girl, because who doesn't want at least one of each, but I would never think about killing my beautiful baby boy to get one. I on the other end took this test, because it sounded like a fun thing to do in all the misery of the first months of pregnancy. I was amazed when our first answer was girl. I thought well maybe it isn't that accurate. I ended up actually taking two of these test...ha ha. I took one at 10 weeks and another at 16 weeks. They both said girl, but I was still absolutely shocked when the ultrasound tech told us for sure we were having a GIRL!!!

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-02T16:11:00.001-08:00

We had a fun Halloween, actually they seem to just get more and more fun. This year we were so busy that I decided I would just help the boys carve pumpkins during the day while Spencer was at work, what was I thinking? Some reason when I said it, I never thought about having to actually carve 5 pumpkins, all the scrapping of goo..EWW! I did make the boys work on them while I helped another one, but really I did most of it. I didn't even get a finished picture of each of their pumpkins...darn! They were really cute digging in though. Halloween day was so busy. I had some shopping I had to get done in the morning, and I have a great husband that got everybody ready while I was taking care of some business. Then we headed to visit my mom, his dad, and his mom. The boys got loaded with candy. They had already had school parties, and grandpa's work party that had loaded them, but what is Halloween with out trick or treating? They only went down one street basically in our neighborhood, and were loaded! I have weighed the candy in at 19 lbs. Then we headed to my friend Charlotte's house. The boys love going here and couldn't wait till we went. We ended up staying here till after 11 and I am sure they were glad to see us go, but seriously they are so fun to be with. All in all, I am so glad Halloween is over, because I don't want to hear about costumes again for a long time...ha ha

Pirate Island Pizza!

2009-10-28T13:51:00.001-07:00

So, we have gone to a new restaurant in Orem, Utah. It is called Pirate Island Pizza. It is a lot like Chuck E Cheese. You go eat, and then they have an arcade for the kids to play games, win tickets and get prizes. We had a really great time when we have gone both times. The food for us was really good, but the Barbecue sauce is a little on the different side. My sisters have gone down, and they didn't have as good of an experience as we have had. They went on a Friday night, and we went Saturday day. They had a rude waiter, but we have had great waiters both times. They weren't too impressed but I think if you have kids, you might have a different perspective than an adult would have. My boys think that going to eat in a place that is decorated is awesome. They could careless how the food taste, but as long as playing games is included after....it is all good. These pictures aren't the best, but I only had my phone on me. All in all we had a great time, and I am sure we will be at Pirate island Pizza again sooner rather than later.....our kids just keep talking about it :)

Pregnancy

2009-10-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well, if you didn't know....now you do! We are expecting our fifth, yes fifth child in May. Well, due date as of now is May, but it will be born early April. I thought by the fifth pregnancy that I kind of knew most things about pregnancy....NOT! This pregnancy has thrown me for a loop. I have a lot of different things this time that I haven't had before. I have insomnia so bad! I go without sleep for four or five nights, and then I sleep the next one or two. I am tired all the time, because if I don't sleep I am still taking care of my boys, and if I do sleep that is all my body wants to keep doing, and I can't because I have four boys! I have also had constipation. I haven't ever had this during pregnancy either. You all know that constipation sucks, so I need not go into more detail. With the boys I always craved spicy stuff, and loved Taco Bell. This one spicy makes me want to hurl and for some reason Arby's is all I want. Even though all this is new I am not going to predict one sex or another, because all my pregnancies have been very different and they have all been boy :) The decision to have another child was really hard for me. I had Tyler to the point of some independence, and I just didn't want to go through another c-section. I mean who wants to go early to a hospital, get an IV put in and your privates shaved by another woman? Then to walk to a freezing cold operating room, where they prick your back several times with a local, and then stick a huge needle into your back? Then immediately you are laid down on a table to let the good old spinal make your whole body go numb. At this point they strip off your gown, and you lay there completely naked as all the nurses and doctors walk casually around you. I am a pretty private person, and I always find this part to be so freaking funny. Then I watch them clean and put on a large sticker type thing over my tummy and up right by my face. I have oxygen put on as well as little stickers all over to get good heartbeat and blood oxygen numbers. Then I smell flesh burning as the cauterize the incision across my hips. This always makes me want to hurl, but luckily I have only puked during one of these operations. Finally, they pull out my beautiful baby, and stitch me up. Recovery isn't bad till they try to move me, and I start puking my guts out. It is a really long day, and at the end I just want to show off how beautiful my baby is. So, I wasn't sure I wanted another baby....but when all came down to it, I knew it was just right for our family. I never thought I would be a mom of five, and I was never sure I wanted to, but as of now.....I am so excited! I can't wait to find out if we are finishing our basketball team, or adding a cheerleader?

Volleyball!

2009-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I got to play church volleyball with our ward. I haven't played volleyball much since high school. Our team did awesome though, and I actually had a really fun time playing. I was a little confused when we didn't stop playing at 15 points and went to 25. The rules have really changed and I found some of them to be really funny actually. Like the fact you can actually use your foot, and you aren't allowed to come in contact with the other team when changing sides? I think the best part was listening to my kids cheer me on from the side lines. It was so cute to hear a GO MOM! We only play two more weeks, but five more games. I am excited and can't wait to play again.

My Dad

2009-09-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

It has been two years since my dads passing. I can't believe it has already been two years, but it has made me really think back to what my dad was to me. My dad wasn't just a normal everyday dad. He really made our life fun. As a kid I remember the numerous Halloween parties with funny races to put big shirts on while getting a quarter to stick in your eye, having a ball between your legs and an egg on a spoon. He always made sure we had a great firework show and of course the neighbors were always invited. He was an official Girl Scout, and he went with us to Disneyland and Yellowstone. He would take us to Liberty park at least once a week as a family and play fat bat. We went rollerskating, miniature golfing, to the arcade, and bowling a lot. We would go on a family vacation at least once a year, and he always made sure we got to see the best of where we were. Many times it was in Yellowstone. He didn't just hike and camp here. He would set out cans of tuna fish hoping to see bears and other wild animals. This always freaked me out, but we did get to see some really cool animals. My dad taught us how to flip over the end of the couch using pillows and a mini trampoline when my mom was gone. He would take us hiking almost every Saturday. He always showed his love of this world while we were hiking,he often would bring along his little pistol and taught us how to shoot too. We always went camping,and of course he would freak us out talking about bears the whole time. As I got older he would still make sure we had some good family times. He was an awesome Grandpa! When my mom watched Trevor he would take him on walks everyday at lunch. I would come after work to find my dad singing Peter, Paul and Mary songs to him like Lemon Tree. He made these soft bats for my boys to play balloon ball with him in the house. That is probably the thing I really miss about him. Most of my boys will never get to know my dad or the love he had for them. I was barely pregnant with Tyler when he passed, but every time I saw him before he would ask how my little embryo was doing. It always made me smile. This picture below was taken almost two years before his passing in Yellowstone at his favorite geyser. It is one of my favorite pictures of him, and our last vacation with him too. I will never forget the morning I learned my dad was no longer here on Earth with us, or my moms voice saying "He's gone Holli, we've lost him." I can still hear it echoing perfectly in my head, but I also never forget the great dad he always was either. Love my dad!

Preschool!

2009-09-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was Dilan's and Bryson's first day of preschool 09'. They were super excited! It was only a half day because it was the first day, but they came out so excited about everything they had done. I am lucky this year to have found a preschool just a couple blocks away. I enjoy walking them to and from everyday. Three hours of preschool full of fun with painting, singing, playing with kids, and of course the fundamentals of knowledge. I have decided that preschool is as good for the kids as it is for the parents and other siblings. I enjoyed a couple of hours to do what I wanted. Being that it was my birthday yesterday, I gave myself the day off from everything house. I watched a few shows off the DVR, and I played cars with Tyler. Last week he seemed a little lost and confused without his brothers, but yesterday he really seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Tyler can now say car, so he would hand me a car saying it, and I would repeat and push it around with noise. We had a blast, and it was so much fun having a little one on one with him. The other boys didn't miss us a bit seeing how they got to paint with blue paint and do the hokey poky. All in all.....I LOVE PRESCHOOL! Seriously, don't you love their faces! ha ha

Mini Vacation

2009-08-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

We realized we still hadn't made it camping this year. We bought a new tent a couple of months ago, so we would be all ready to go, but here it is August, and we still hadn't made it. So, we packed up Saturday afternoon and headed down to Diamond Fork campground in Spanish Fork canyon. Our neighbor suggested this location to us, because they have walk up available. We found a great campsite and set up the tent. It was really hot outside, so we decided to leave and head to the Harley store in Lindon. We had always wanted to go, but never made it. The boys loved looking around at all the motorcycles. They had said it was a museum too, but only like four were actually old. We were a little disappointed that it was just a store and not quite the museum they said it was, but the boys loved it anyways. We went and got them slurpees after and headed back up the canyon. We got out our hot dogs for dinner. It was funny to watch the boys see how long it took to actually cook a hot dog. It was a little scary having the fire with Tyler, because he loved to look at it and doesn't quite understand "Hot" all the way. He did really good though. He tried to help start the fire too by adding dead grass, and blowing on it like I did. Finally, we got dinner done and started on the best part of camping.....S'mores. We took a walk down to the stream, so the boys could see the water. There is something magical about watching little boys throw rocks into water. I think they liked this part the best, because they always had a smile on their faces and laughed at each kerplunk noise. It was so fun to watch them be little boys in the wild! ha ha It was starting to get dark, so we headed back and got the tent set up and all our food into the van. Bryson was freaking out that bears could be near by, but I told him as long as the bear couldn't smell food it would most likely not come around. He made sure all the food was put away too...ha ha. We all got into sleeping bags, Tyler wasn't fond of being stuck in the tent, but eventually calmed down. Then we all took turns telling stories. The three older boys did really good at this, but I would have to say Dilan has the best imagination of them all. His stories were so cute. We left the fly off the tent so the boys could see the stars as they fell asleep, but at 3 am it started raining. I had to just laugh, because it was so funny to me. Tyler freaked when Spencer started putting the fly on though. Bryson eventually climbed into my sleeping bag because he was cold. It was a fun little get away, but I have to say camping isn't the same as it used to be. Some people had brought skateboards, bikes, electric cars, and roller blades with them. There was a group that had some kind of party going on. They had music blasting as they laughed and talked till the rain came. I was glad at least the boys slept! All in all it was a fun night get away, and I only wish we had done it more this summer.

Happy Birthday Bryson!!!

2009-08-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Bryson's third birthday. I feel so accomplished getting him to three. Since this is my first birthday blog for him, I am going to go over some early things about him. Bryson was born 8:28 am on a Saturday morning. He was 8 lbs 15 oz, and three weeks early. He was a big baby! He had a few lung issues at first but very quickly recovered. He was a great baby till about day five. Then he started this sleep for an hour, eat for 20 minutes, and then scream for the next hour. I spent many nights crying with him because I was so tired and felt so hopeless for not being able to console him. Our pediatrician said some babies just come this way, and eventually grow out of it. He finally started to sleep about three hours, but was still in the bassinet. He was now 16 pounds, so we needed to change him to a crib. He went back to every hour of waking. The pediatrician suggested to put the bassinet on the floor and leave him in that if he was at least sleeping three. Good suggestion, but that didn't work. We tried the cry it out method and first night he screamed for three hours, slept for ten minutes and another three hours, ten, three...etc. Second night same thing, third, fourth fifth! Finally, I just needed sleep and put him in our bed. He was now close to nine months, but he slept a whole four hours before screaming, and then went back to sleep for another four. This continued till he was 18 months! By this time I was pregnant again, and he finally started sleeping ten. There is nothing like sleeping eight hours and being pregnant. Bryson is an extremely strong willed child. He started talking really early and that helped out a ton. Over the next year a lot has changed in him. He is now a very pleasant little boy who still gets very frustrated with people, but has learned to control it a ton, and is way advanced for his age. At two and a half he could say all his letter by sight, their sounds, colors, shapes, and could talk like a five year old. He is a joy to have, and I am so glad I had this sweet little boy.

I always make my boys a train cake for their third birthday. He requested his look like Thomas, so I did my best, because I wouldn't ever want my kids to not have the best birthday. We had a lot of fun with family that came to celebrate and here are some pics of his special day. Thanks everybody!

If Bryson could type....

2009-07-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when we went to the zoo with Becca and Dave? Do you remember when we saw the birds at the show? Do you remember when we went to Ethan's house? Do you remember when I went hiking with Becca and Julie, and I got really tired? Do you remember when I threw that rock at that car at Chilies and you got mad at me and I cried? Do you remember when I threw that block at Dilan's head, you shouldn't do that, and I was naughty huh mom? Do you remember when we had fireworks on our street and we ate ice cream? Do you remember when Nana came to sleep with us? Do you remember when Dad pushed me down the slide and jumpin' jacks? Do you remember when Trevor pushed me off the couch and I cried, because he was naughty and shouldn't do that. Do you remember when Brooklyn came to play in the water? Do you remember when that baby was sick? Do you remember when I ran through Target and you got mad at me, you shouldn't do that mom. Yup, and that's my story.

Do you remember when Bella bit me? No, that's not my story.

Seriously it is never ending! He is such a sweet boy, but sometimes in the car I am extremely grateful for my radio....

This is what Bryson would type if he could, and I am totally not kidding.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

2009-07-30T10:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Spencer's birthday. He spent most of his day working, but when he came home we had a nice night. I had taken the boys to Target to let each one pick out a gift for him. This is fun for everybody, because they pick out a toy they really want, and then they can give it to dad basically to share. Bryson picked out a bop it, Dilan picked out the game elefun, and Trev picked out the video game UP. I went in with Tyler, and we gave him a new 4 GB Ipod shuffle. We went to the dollar store and they each got him a balloon with a couple of Kit-Kats. Then we headed to Dairy Queen and got him an ice cream cake. Then when Spencer got home we surprised him with everything, and he really looked shocked. We headed to Chili's for dinner. We ended up having to wait for 20 minutes. Tyler was starving by the time we got seated and was screaming. We sat for like ten minutes and nobody had come to even talk to us, yes Tyler was still screaming. This group got sat behind us and immediately got helped. Spencer said if she walks away without talking, we are out of here.........sure enough she did! So, we got up and left. We walked next door to Winger's and got sat, drinks, and popcorn with in two minutes. We got our free dessert to go, because we had cake at home to eat already. While we were eating Bryson said dad you smell like 1, 2, 3...Spencer said well what does that smell like? Bryson quickly answered 4. ha ha We laughed so hard......it was funny! Spencer is the greatest! I am so lucky to have this wonderful man as my husband, and a fantastic father to our boys. I can only hope they truly grow up to be like dad! Love my man! Happy Birthday Babe!

huh?

2009-07-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

So, I really haven't been in the mood to much lately to do anything. I could say I am a little depressed. Spencer hit a deer a couple of weeks ago, for those that didn't know, and I have been without a vehicle while his was being fixed. Our deductible later it is finally done. We had just put new tires and belts on his car, and we are still paying for my way over priced surgery......so UGH! It has been a month, and I guess it has brought me down just a little. I am way behind on blogging, and at my current state of mind, I say who cares? We have been having fun playing in the water this summer though. Trev got a slip n' slide for his birthday, and we have really put it to good use this year. My friend and her girls have come to play a couple of times, and I really appreciated it when we could get no where. Thanks Ang! The morning of the 24th of July we even got Spencer out to play, and he became the boys favorite ride. He was sure sore the next day. ha ha! All I can hope for is the future to be a little brighter than the past month....well see?

A day at the doctors......

2009-07-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today my mom had a doctor appointment. It was at the old Cottonwood hospital, so she couldn't get there herself, and asked me if I could take her. Trev is out of school, and dragging four kids to a doctor is a lot of work, but for my mom I would do more than I would actually like to. I told her I wouldn't sit and wait, so we left to go and find a park nearby. I got to 5600 s and 900 e, and I realized Wheeler farm was just up the road.

My kids were starving, because we had a very rushed morning. I still had snacks in my bag from the previous day, so we found a big shade tree and sat down to eat snacks. This was fun for the boys and they played on the little hill we were sitting right by.

Then we headed over and feed the ducks, geese, and swans some gold fish crackers. The boys thought it was hilarious to make them fight over these crackers. Then we headed to the rest of the animals. It was about time to get my mom, but Trev had to go and see the horses. It was a totally unplanned day that turned out to be a really great day! Oh, and I have no idea why Bryson is pointing to his tummy? ha ha

AHHH Gall Free!

2009-06-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well, you all know I had surgery, but why not tell about it anyways. So, I had to go in a couple days before surgery and have blood drawn for testing. The only time I could do this was in the day, so I had to take three little ones with me. Funny because I don't mind getting blood taken, but having three kids stare at you, really puts on a whole new feeling. Bryson was very concerned. He kept asking the nurse if she was hurting me, and why was she hurting me? It was actually really sweet, and when she was done I got a big pink band aid, which Bryson was also very worried about for some reason.
Day of my surgery was interesting. We got up really early, and I took a shower. We had to be at the hospital by 6:30. They got money from us and took me right back. I had to change into a hospital gown. I was also on my time of the month, I was so lucky!, so I also had to change into hospital panties. They started my IV and took me back. I hadn't even been there an hour, so I was glad I was one of the first. Then the anesthesiologist started asking me where we lived. I think they are sneaky jerks. I think they totally get a kick out of asking you questions and watching you answer them as you can not ever finish.. UGH! Next thing I remember is waking up and being a little confused to where I was and why my mouth tasted like burned rubber. Then they wheeled a little kid in next to me that had just had his tonsils out and the poor thing was kind of freaking out. They ended up giving him a little more sedation, but wheeled me out by Spencer in recovery. I told the nurse I had a headache, so she gave me IV ibuprofen. It was the best stuff ever, like instant head relief. I told the nurse I had to pee, and she was so excited. I didn't understand that was a good thing yet, but I got up went to the bathroom. I drank a little more juice and said I was good to go. It was so nice leaving so quick. I got home feeling good still, but I still had all their drugs in. I eventually started feeling way nauseous and eventually puked. I went back to sleep and slept most of the day. AHHHH! Sleep. I slept the whole night and till like nine the next morning. It was so nice. Spencer had the boys, and I slept most of that day too. I think Saturday was when I finally started to actually live again. It wasn't a bad surgery, and I think I was pretty lucky, because I only had the gas pain in my shoulders a little bit on the first day but not much at all......So far, gall free is a great thing!

This is the actual picture of my gallbladder. Your gallbladder is supposed to be a blueish green, but as you can see, mine is pure white. It was really infected and swollen. The stuff in front of it is a fatty tissue my body built around it to keep it seperated from the rest of my organs. My body is so smart! ha ha Pretty gross, but just glad it is gone!

Congratulations!

2009-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Spring soccer season of 09' was a huge success for the boys. They loved playing soccer, and they were so excited to get their trophies after their final game on Saturday. They both learned a lot about soccer and improved so much in the sport. Trev needs to learn how to focus more, and he would be an unbelievable player. Dilan learned how to be more aggressive and actually go for the ball. It was a fun season to watch, and I think I will kind of miss enjoying the outside for hours....ha ha ha.

He is a walking!

2009-06-14T19:32:00.001-07:00

AHHH Cute little Tyler is walking. He has just started walking more and more. He still stumbles and sometimes doesn't get very far, but he is definitely more and more interested in walking, and we are so excited! Walking is a double edge sword. They can get into more stuff and can do this far faster, but they get to enjoy our world and so much more to life. I love seeing the excitement on his face when he has made it from Spencer to me. Tyler is fun, and even though his one year old attitude has totally come out, he is still my sweet baby.

Camping with Mom

2009-06-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Trev got to go with me this year on our girls camp out weekend. I never can go the whole time, but I always go at least one night. This year Trevor got to go with me though, and it is one of the first times he even remembers camping. He was so excited to lay out his sleeping bag, got his face totally covered with fire soot, and was so excited to make smores. It was a lot of fun having just one kid. Dilan cried when he found out we wouldn't be coming home for the night, and Trev missed him so much, but I think they found a great love as brothers with a little space. I can say it was probably one of my favorite times camping, because I could see so much excitement in Trevor's face and his love of nature. Plus, he got to play with his cousin, and he loved that probably the most. I think it is awesome my sister plans this every year for us. It is great to have a weekend to just have fun with the ladies.

Look who's a Big BOY!

2009-06-14T19:14:00.001-07:00

Bryson is now potty trained. I swear having to potty train your child is a cruelty to the parent more than the child. It feels like the longest month of your life. We were lucky with Bryson, and it only took two weeks really. Once he knew we were serious, and he had no more diapers, he really caught on. I swear though when you are cleaning poop out of underwear for the fifth time in two days, sanity is really on the brink. At least we are done with that for another year.......YIPPEE!

Dilan's first year complete

2009-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Dilan has completed his first year of preschool. He did so good, and we are so proud of him. The beginning of the year he only knew three letters, and one sound. He could count to 20 skipping a couple of the teens, but never knew the number just by looking at it. By the end of his year though he has done so good. He now knows all his letters and all the sounds, all his shapes, his 1-10 numbers by sight, and we also learned he is really a good little artist. After his first year I totally know more than ever that every kid learns very different. I can't stand those parents that always think their kid is the best, because I think every kid is the best they can be, and we should be so happy that kids can be that......Kids! I love my Dilan!

Big Brain Project

2009-06-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so what I remember of first grade is nothing like what they have Trev dong. He has to complete a big brain project. So, what is that? First he must pick a topic. Trev decided to do Killer Whales since we just went to Sea World. Then they have to complete a three page questionnaire on their subject; with what they know, want to find out, and what else they have learned. It is a lot, but that isn't it. They also have to complete an artistic thing, poem, song, sculpture, etc. As well as put on a presentation for the class and keep them interested in the subject. Does anybody else think this is a lot for a first grader......guess you all know what I will be doing tomorrow....UGH! All in all I think Trev did an awesome job though. I hope tomorrow goes well.....we are giving the kids salt water taffy...he he

Too Funny!

2009-05-31T18:54:00.001-07:00

Tonight after dinner and eating a very healthy dessert, cookies and pudding, Bryson said he was done. I said "Are you sure you are done? You didn't even touch your cookie." Slowly he reached his little hand over and with one finger reached out and touched his cookie. Then he said "Now I touched my cookie!" Ha ha Spencer and I just started rolling. It was way too cute......I am in for it with this kid!

My day in the ER!

2009-05-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

So, I woke up yesterday not feeling well. I thought it was just gas pains or something, so I drank some water and tried eating a yogurt. Then I started to get really nauseous and really not feeling well. I started puking and the pain was getting worse and worse. Finally at noon I decided I needed to call Spencer. I was doubled over in pain and I couldn't get comfortable no matter what position I was in. I had talked to my sister Tobi earlier that day. She told me she would go get my mom and come take care of the boys while I went to the doctor. I knew this wasn't something little, and I rarely go to the doctor myself. So, Spencer and I decided to just go straight the Emergency Room. When the nurse checked me in, I was in a lot of pain and my blood pressure was 138/98. This is way high for me, and finally after sitting in the waiting room for almost two hours I got in to a bed. They started my IV, took blood samples, and urine. They made me pee in the smallest cup ever. I couldn't believe I actually got some in it. Then they finally gave me some pain medicine. This stuff was like morphine and made me feel like I had hit a brick wall. Then they wheeled me into the ultrasound room. Within like ten minutes they had the results and they were GALLSTONES! So, I have an appointment next week with a surgeon, and from there I will have surgery to get my Gallbladder removed....UGH! When I left the medicine made me sick and I puked green stuff up. It was hella nasty and my blood pressure was back to 105/77.

Our Clown

2009-05-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Just thought these pictures were too stinkin' cute! I made cookies and Tyler is really, and I mean really enjoying his to the fullest......who says you need make-up to be a clown?

Hair Cut!

2009-05-24T15:24:00.001-07:00

Oh, I love and hate this part of my boys life. It is so bitter sweet to see your little ones grow up. Never had a girl, but I would imagine it wouldn't be as hard. With my little boys it is really hard to loose all that baby hair, but after you do, it is so amazing how different and older they look. Tyler had his first hair cut yesterday. He was actually pretty good too. It obviously is a little off here and there, but I think it isn't too shabby, and his big beautiful eyes sure shine out more now than they ever have!

Seriously!

2009-05-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so last week was a rough week. We returned from our trip with three of four kids sick. Tyler was really bad. He didn't get near enough sleep while we were gone, and so the whole sickness got him bad. Let me just explain Thursday....So, I wake up early and start getting ready. I was starting my girl thing, so I took a shower of course. I had the same massive headache, so I took an 800 with pepsi. Bryson woke up screaming......LOVELY! Tyler woke up to that of course, so I carried him down to wake the other boys. Trev didn't want to wake, but Dilan got right up. I got Trev off to school and started heading to preschool. Dilan starts crying and said he puked. Great! Well, when we got there I noticed it wasn't much and looked like he chooked on spit, so I wiped him up and took him in. I wouldn't normally do this, but it is down to the last days of school, and they always do so much fun stuff, I didn't want him to miss out. He did great till it was time to play and running and having had a cold......not a good combo. I went and got him about twenty minutes early. Got home and I had leaked on the way...Fantastic! Got myself changed and decided we were just having crackers for lunch. They ate few and drank some juice. About three Bryson pukes all over me. My sweatshirt weighed about ten pounds. I went to carry him upstairs to clean him up, and I step in dog pee at the bottom of the stairs. So, I had to change all my clothes again. Dilan had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up puking too! I still had my headache and had now been puked on and cleaned up more than my share. Tyler also had leaky diapers...UGH! So, we stayed in most of the week, but by Friday I had cabin fever so bad, and all the kids were starting to feel lots better. So, I suggested we got to Rock Creek pizza. They have an all you can eat pizza/salad buffet and kids eat free. So, we all get to eat for $22 and Spencer can eat all he wants. It is a good deal for us. So, they have quite a bit of seating, but when you have six people it is far more limited. There was one table we could use without having to combine two others. There is two couples sitting next to that one, and they have a carseat on the floor between the two tables with a baby. I understood that, but then one of the lady's took out the baby and left the carseat leaving trev barely enough room for his tiny little body between the chair and the table. I thought it was so rude, and they totally could have moved it. I wasn't in a mood to ask though, because you know when you feel bitchy, well I don't talk to people when I feel that way. I always make things far more complicated at that point, but I did take a picture......ha ha I mortified Spencer doing so, but I totally wanted proof for this blog.............ha ha ha ha hahahhahahahhahahahahhh (evil)

A little Fun in the Sun!

2009-05-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

I am a little late posting this, but it has been a hell of a week since we have been back. So, we went to San Diego this year for our vacation. It was a blast. We took two days driving down, but we got to see Spencer's brother Dave each way, so it was nice. We left on Saturday and drove to Vegas. The drive wasn't too bad, and we stopped to take breaks here and there. We also brought Emily with us, because she had never been to San Diego and was out of school. Sunday morning I got a text from my friend Lynn that lives in Vegas inviting us to meet them at Chuck E Cheese. It was a lot of fun to catch up and the boys loved playing with their Daughter Libby. The drive to San Diego was anything but fun, but we made it! ha ha....Monday morning we got up and headed to Sea World. Tyler was tired. He really wasn't fond of the port a crib that we brought for him to sleep in, but he eventually did sleep. We had an amazing day though. It was a lot of fun and it wasn't crowded so we got to do a lot, but that place is huge so we still missed a whole side. Tuesday we went to the zoo. This was our least favorite thing. It was hot, and you have to walk so far between exhibits the boys were just getting bored. We ended up leaving a little after two, and we headed back to swim at the pool. It was so much more fun....ha ha. Wednesday we went back to Sea World and had another awesome day there. We got to see the other side, and I got to see Trev finally hold his arms up on the ride there. It made me so proud to see him so happy at his bravery. He is growing up so much, and I just love it! Then we headed to the beach. The original plan was just to walk down it, because the water was really cold and it was kind of breezy that day. Well, Dilan went down with about the second wave and we couldn't get him back out. He was shivering like crazy, but loved it! He was definetly our little beach bum. Then we headed to our hotel to clean up and then went out to dinner. We drove to the San Diego temple. I don't care what religion you are or if you have one, you have to admit this is a really pretty temple. It is amazing in person, and Trev loved getting out to see it....ha ha! Thursday we headed to the Wild Animal Park. It was like another zoo, but we liked it better. It was cool to see the safari like quality and the boys loved feeding the nectar to the birds. We left here early too though. It was hot and the pool was calling us! We went to dinner at my favorite restaurant ever.......Pick up sticks. Friday we woke up really early and headed back to Vegas. It was a great drive and the boys slept almost the whole way. AHHHH! LOVED IT! We went to the Ethel M Chocolate factory first and then checked into our motel. Saturday we got up and got ready for Uncle Dave's graduation........Congrats Dave! We had some time still, so we walked to the M&M store. The boys went crazy with all the stuff there. We watched the 3D movie and headed back. After the graduation we went swimming again. Trev learned to swim without his nose plugged, jump from the side, and then swim back to the edge. It was awesome watching him succeed and work so hard to be able swim though. Sunday we woke up early again and headed home. It was a wonderful vacation, but it was also really nice to be home. Tyler was most excited to see his crib again......ha ha. There are tons of pictures, but I want this for my kids someday, and want to be able to have lots for them to see.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

2009-04-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Tyler's first birthday. I love my kids birthdays. It is one day just about them, and I love to make it the best possible. I have included a slide of Tyler's first year, and there are a lot of pictures. Tyler was not expected and the timing seemed so wrong, because of my dads passing, but he has been one of the greatest blessings ever! He has always been a calm baby and really loving. His first days of life were really hard, but he was so worth it. I can't believe it has already been a year. I love you Tyler!

Soccer Monsters!

2009-04-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend the older two boys started soccer. It was freezing that morning, but the boys still went and played. Dilan's team played first and if you have never seen little pre K kids play soccer, then you have missed an extremely funny part of life. Dilan's team was so confused at what they were supposed to be doing that they ended up scoring a few goals for the opposite team......It was hilarious! Then Trev played an hour after Dilan's game was over. Trev took the first kick of the game, and he ran it right into the goal. It was the only goal his team got, because after that both teams woke up. His whole team did really well, and they were actually in positions. It was a really good game, and the whole team did awesome!