Heather and Randy's Family Blog

Nope, no baby yet

2012-02-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

We thought for sure that since this baby was bigger and measuring two weeks ahead all through the pregnancy that she would either be born a little early on her own, or that I would be induced early because of her size. But as you can tell, that hasn't been the case.

I really did/do not want to be induced and want to have her when she and my body are ready. So thanks to a supportive midwife, we are waiting (somewhat impatiently) for that to happen. My midwife says that if I'm not worried about her size then she isn't either.

This little baby of mine is still giving me a rough time though. She has tricked me into thinking I was in labor multiple times now and yesterday we headed to the hospital (although I knew I wasn't in labor) because I though I may be leaking amniotic fluid. That wasn't the case though, so we headed back home. I was actually really glad too, because I had been vomiting on Saturday night and was not feeling at all well on Sunday. Not well enough to have the energy to deliver a baby that's for sure. Thanks mom and dad for taking the rest of the crew while we were at the hospital!

Anyway, so we are still playing the waiting game with this little one. My due date is this Wednesday the 15th. But if Tyler gets his wish, she will be here tomorrow on Valentines day. How fun would that be? As of Friday, I am measuring down another centimeter or so at 36 where a couple of weeks ago I was at 39 plus! So she is still dropping down a little at a time. I also lost 2 lbs this week and am dilated at a 2. I'm hoping that means she is on her way. I have another appointment with my midwife scheduled for Friday morning, but She thinks (and I hope) that we will see each other at the hospital before then. Here's hoping!

Tricky Baby

2012-02-04T19:33:00.001-08:00

So, I was having a lot of contractions on Thursday night and started timing them. They were about 2 minutes apart while I walked and 5 minutes apart while I was resting. They were 5 minutes apart for about 3 hours but weren't getting any stronger. I thought for sure that she had decided to come, but around 11:30 PM I fell asleep, waking only occasionally with a strong contraction. Then, the next thing I know it is morning and there are no more contractions. Bummer...

I had an appointment with my midwife on Friday morning and was excited to see if anything had changed at all. Well, I was disappointed to learn that not much had changed since last week. Other than the fact that she has dropped down further. I can breathe again and I no longer have horrible heartburn all the time. YAY! It was funny because last week I measured at 39 centimeters and this week she said she might be able to barely get 38.

I talked to her about an induction that she wanted to have on Wednesday, but we decided that I could wait a little while longer for her to come on her own. My midwife said that if I go past my due date then she will want to talk to me about induction again. Hopefully it won't come to that. Wish me luck!

Getting Excited!

2012-02-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

I'm getting excited for our baby to come soon. I am 38 weeks today! She is measuring at 40 weeks though so I feel gigantic! Anyways, I have her room ready, her clothes clean and folded, my bag ready just in case and a bag for the kids as well. I told her she can come whenever she is ready, but I also asked her to try to come before next Wednesday when they would likely want to consider inducing labor (measuring at 41 weeks). I guess we will wait and see what she decides.

I have been practicing my hypnosis and listening to my affirmations everyday in preparation for her birthday. Today I watched my hypnobirth videos from Jacob and Lily's births. I love watching them. It is such a fun day when your baby decides to be born.

It may only entertain me, but I'll put them up anyway. I can't wait to show the next video of our newest birth in a week or so. wish me luck!

I had to be in the bed more often than I would have liked with Lily's birth and I am glad that my group B strep test came back negative this time around so I don't have to have an IV and I'll only have to have minimal monitoring. I am hoping that my midwife actually makes it for the birth this time around too. I guess when you hypnobirth, the nurses don't think that you are as far along as you really are. For example, I asked the nurse to check me with Lily because I felt a lot of pressure and she said "Oh, I just checked you and you were at a 6. I will check you in a 1/2 or so." But I persisted and when she checked me I was an 8+ and had the baby about 10 minutes later. For both of the last births, they had to pull a doctor from the hallway to "catch the baby" because it caught them by surprise. Crazy.

Lily Says...

2012-01-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

As I picked up Lily from nursery yesterday, her teacher pulled me aside and told me what Lily has been saying. Lily said "Ohh chocolate! My Dad likes chocolate, but chocolate isn't for daddies, it is for MOMMIES!

I have to say...I agree.

My Baby's name

2012-01-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

I put up a poll of our favorite baby names and would like to see what you guys think. We are trying to stick with the "flower" theme everyone seems to suggest. "Heather" is a shrub with flowers, and lily is of course a flower as well. I'm not too keen on most flower names, but these we like. I know that off hand you wouldn't think flower, but they are.

Juliet- a type of rose called "sweet Juliet"

Kate- "kiss me Kate" flower

Alyssa- Short for Alyssum,

OK, so Rain isn't a flower name, but there is something we like about it. It is a little out of character for us (as far as being so different from names we have already used) and we have had quite the response when we mention that name to people. No, we don't think we are celebrities. We just kind of like it.

I won't tell you which one we are leaning towards the most, but let's just say that Randy and I have a different #1 choice.

We have had a lot of fun throwing out ridiculous names such as Chrysanthemum, rhododendron, pansy, hyacinth, ect.

Thanks in advance for voting!

Oh- baby update, I saw my midwife and she told me that because my baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead, she won't let me go past February 8th (a week before my due date) due to her size. We don't want to deal with the issues a 10 or 11 lb baby can cause. At that point I will be measuring at 41 weeks, so I suppose it makes sense, but I'm not on board with an induction as of yet. I will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to see just how big my little fatty is getting .:) I just hope she decides to come before then on her own. I'll keep you posted.

Sneak Peek

2012-01-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

We were excited to see our baby girl via ultrasound today! She looks just like our other kids when they are newborn babies. I just want to kiss those sweet little cheeks. We had the ultrasound to make sure there are no surprises once she decides to come. I am 34 weeks along and she is measuring at 36 weeks (just like I have been measuring 2 weeks ahead at each appointment). They estimated she weighs about 6lbs 7 oz right now. When Randy asked her if the due date would be changed she told us that they don't change the due date at this point. She said that maybe the baby will come early on her own, or maybe she will be born right around her due date and be really big! I guess we will just wait and see. I'm not worried about having a big baby since my others have been fairly large. (her due date is February 12th-15th)

I sure love the 3D pictures they take of our little one. I'm also glad that she appears healthy and happy so we don't have to worry about her.

I thought it was fun when the ultrasound tech said "Are your kids born with a lot of hair?" I said "Well, our boys were not born with much hair, but Lily was born with a ton of hair!" She said "It looks like this one has a lot of hair as well." Then she showed us the floating hair on the screen. Oh so fun! We sure love our sweet baby girl already.

Pregnancy Update

2011-12-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted about my pregnancy for a while, so I thought I would share what is going on. This time around it has been so very different from the other three. It has been a little rough to say the least. I am still sick, but not nearly as sick as I was starting out. I still take Zofran for nausea but instead of 3 times a day, I take it once at night. I am 33 weeks pregnant, so I still have 7 or so weeks to go. If you asked me, I would tell you that I feel exactly like I do when I am 40 plus weeks though. I feel like it is hard to breathe, it is hard to move and it is crazy to me that I am only 33 weeks along! Randy thinks I look a lot bigger than I did with the other kids, but I don't weigh more, nor am I wearing larger clothing than I did with them. I guess I could just be carrying her differently.

I have been having other issues as well. I am having contractions all the time. Some are Braxton hicks (which don't bother me at all) and some are actual contractions that stop me in my tracks. Because I have been having so many, my midwife has told me not to do anything at all. When I told her "I will try" she said "That isn't good enough, I want you to take it easy and not do anything." She hasn't put me on bed-rest because she understands that I have three other kids and a husband to take care of. So, I have been trying my best to take it easy, especially in the last couple of weeks. Randy and my mom have been very helpful by taking the kids off my hands and helping out with the housework. The last thing I want is for this baby to be born before she is ready.

Another interesting thing is the fact that I am still measuring big for how far along I am. I have always been right on my due date, measurement wise, for the other pregnancies, but for this one, I am consistently measuring at least two weeks ahead. My midwife has ordered another ultrasound for the 6Th of January. We will see if my due date is still around February 12-15Th or earlier, or if I just have extra fluid, or if she is just a larger baby. We just want to make sure there are no surprises when the birth time comes. I am excited to see what is going on with our little one again. We have no reason to think anything is wrong, I am healthy and baby girl seems healthy as well. We are just checking her out again.last night Randy and I took a hypnobirth refresher course to get ready for the birth. It has been nearly 5 years since I took the 4 week course when I was pregnant with Jacob, and even though I did a natural hypnobirth with lily, I have been a little apprehensive this time around and thought a refresher course was in order. I'm glad we took it. I feel a lot more prepared for the birth again. I know I have touted how wonderful hypnobirthing is many times, but seriously, if you are looking for a natural drug free painless birth, this is the way to go. It works. I know it is crazy, but after doing it, I look forward to the actual delivery of the baby because it is so amazing. It is the best part. I'm glad I have such a supportive husband/birth companion. He is amazing and I know that he is half the reason that it works so well for me. (I sure hope we can keep this baby inside for anther 7 weeks.) If you want more info, you can go to www.hypnobirthing.com.
or you can e-mail me for more info.

Christmas Day

2011-12-27T21:23:00.001-08:00

On Christmas morning Randy and I go up at about 6AM to get ready for church. After we were ready we woke up the kids and had them open a present Santa had left by their beds. After that, we got them dressed in their church clothes and then they opened/looked at their stuffed stockings.

The kids clothes laid out ready for them to get ready for church.
The Christmas tree after Santa came
The kids checking out their stockings
Excited childrenWe rushed out the door about 7:15 and headed to Bountiful to attend my parents ward where President Eyring spoke in Sacrament meeting. My parents sang in the ward choir and their meeting had one other speaker besides President Eyring. He gave a wonderful talk. He talked about the spirit he felt there and that he hoped we would all remember what we felt. He talked about remembering Christ when we take the sacrament, he talked about Mary and Jesus and serving others. He got really emotional throughout a lot of his talk and he spoke for about an hour. My kids had had enough of sacrament meeting after the hour was up, but for me, it was still wonderful to hear him speak; no matter the length.

After Sacrament meeting, we headed back to my parents house and mom started fixing food for us to eat for lunch. I needed to rest, so Lily and I took a nap together. When I woke, Michelle's family had arrived so we were ready to eat. Again, Randy was a sweetheart and put everything I needed for my salad together and then my mom made it for me while I slept. We had a great lunch with my parents, my sister Michelle and her family, Ali and her family and Ben. It was really yummy and I was sad I couldn't eat more of it. (I tend to fill up really fast now that the baby is getting bigger.) After lunch, we decided to open presents. It was fun to see what all the siblings got for the family they were assigned. Ben had our family and he gave us a Kinect sports game which we will have fun playing. My parents shocked us all when we opened our presents from them and we saw we had each received a kindle fire! Unfortunately for me, Randy had already given me that gift for Christmas and I had opened it a few days earlier. Still, it was awesome to see every one's faces when we opened the gift. The kids opened their presents from my parents and of course they loved those as well. I neglected to take my camera out of the car, so I don't have any photos of us at my parents house.

When we got home from my parents, it was about 5PM and we decided it was high time to open our presents under the tree. We gave/received so many things. It was magical for the kids and they yelled "Thank you Santa!" after they opened presents even if the tag said it was from us. Christmas is so much fun. I love watching the kids open the presents I get them and Randy as well. It is truly much more fun to give than to receive.

The kids opening presents

They each got Disney booksLily got a new jacket from Grandma Bremner

Tyler with some books from Grandma Bremner

Randy's brother's family gave us a Wingers gift card. Yum!Lily the girly girl of course got a princess dress up set.

She opened it right away and opened the rest of her presents this way.

Jake was overly excited about opening the CARS 2 X-box game. Yes, this is his excited face, although to me it sort of looks like a crazy I want to kill you kind of face. It makes me laugh.

Jake opening his large present

It was a giant helicopter with guys and guns and everything!

Tyler loved his "long Nerf gun" it was what he had been asking for since September.

After a long day of fun, food and present opening, this is how I found Lily in her room around 7:30 PM. That's my silly girl.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

On Christmas eve at 1:00PM we headed to my grandmothers house for a nice lunch and Christmas program. We do this every year and I love it. We had some yummy food including pulled pork, turkey, ham, potatoes, lots of different salads and desert. My midwife has told me "don't do anything!" so Randy was a sweetheart and made the desert I said I would bring. (I will post more about my pregnancy later). Ali had the program prepared and the kids sang I am a child of god and other Christmas songs. Then, my brother-in-law talked about his experience in Afghanistan. After that, Randy read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2. We then sang more Christmas songs and the great grandchildren opened presents from Grandma great. They all received books that they adore.

Most of the Great grandchildren singing.

Uncle Ben with Lily and SarahMy mom with Jake

I love how Will (Michelle's boy) and Tyler look the same from behind. Can you tell who is who?

Lily opening her book from Grandma GreatShe absolutely loved it!

Jacob got Diary of a wimpy kid and loved that all the other kids were offering to trade him for it.

Tyler got a couple magic tree house booksI took this photo because Lily rarely goes near cowboy Ben. She has been slowly warming up to him and we were surprised that she sat on his lap for him to read her new book to her. It looks like Alonzo likes the book too.

We headed home shortly after that and got the kids bathed and they opened their Christmas eve pajamas. We set out cookies and celery for Santa and his reindeer. The kids went to bed early, but I had a difficult time staying awake waiting for Tyler to go to sleep. He was so excited he couldn't sleep. He finally fell asleep around 11 PM. I fell asleep very shortly after that.

Birthday Baptism

2011-12-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

Our pre-baptism pictures. I took them myself and yes, they are a little bit cheesy.The baptism invitation

Tyler's eighth birthday was yesterday. I can't believe I have an 8 year old son! He was lucky enough to have his baptism on the same day as his birthday (we got special permission because Randy's parents are going to Kuwait). We didn't do much during the day except prepare by getting the house and food ready for those coming over following the baptism.

The baptism itself was wonderful. Mu mother-in-law gave a short talk on baptism, then we had the baptism itself. We almost had to do it a second time because Tyler's toe came up out of the water, but it was decided that he was fully submerged before that happened. Next, My dad gave a talk about confirmation. He gave a nice object lesson to go with it. My dad also played the piano for us and did a great job. Tyler was then confirmed and I feel bad because lily was running around making trouble. I missed a lot of the blessing because I was trying to hold her and keep her away from Randy while he was giving the blessing. I whispered to her "If you want cake you need to be quiet" she then replied in a shout "I AM BEING QUIET MOM!" Sheesh.

Randy and Tyler

(side note:I usually avoid pictures of myself at 32 weeks pregnant..or any weeks pregnant, but I suppose if it is your oldest son's baptism day, you should make an exception.)

Tyler got many gifts at the baptism. Randy's parents gave him a brand new set of scriptures with his name on them, my parents gave him a new journal, the primary president gave him a bag with soap (to remind him of repentance), a compass (to remind him that the holy ghost will be his guide) it also had a picture of Christ and the faith in God booklet.

There weren't many in attendance, but both mine and Randy 's parents were there, Randy's sister Amanda came from Idaho and my sister Michelle and her four kids came. The bishop and his wife were there and so were Tyler's primary teachers and the primary president. We were asked to keep it small and simple.

After the baptism we went back to the house and had dinner of ham and potatoes with salads and cake and ice cream. I made a CTR cake. I couldn't come up.with any other good baptism cake ideas....anyway, After we ate we opened some birthday gifts. Tyler was excited to get a solar system kit, an angry bird, a new scripture case, a board game and some money. It was a great day. I am so thankful that Tyler decided to be baptized. He is such a.good example for his brother and sister. He is so good at following rules, helping others and generally making good decisions. I am thankful to have such a sweet good boy in my life. We are truly blessed to have a son like Tyler.

The cake
Tyler with the cake

You can tell I'm pregnant because I'm including a picture of the food. It was really really yummy. Thanks everyone for pitching in!
Yummy cake
Opening presents
A celebration like this calls for dancing!
Happy Birthday Tyler bug!

birthday party

2011-12-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

We had a fun birthday celebration for Tyler on Saturday night (December 17). Our family and Randy's parents picked up his friend Philip and drove down to Provo where we met my parents and my Bother-in-law Ben for dinner. We ate at the piazza pie cafe. We ate entirely too much piazza, pasta, and salad, but we ended with singing happy birthday to Tyler and eating some basketball decorated cupcakes I made. After dinner we headed to my brother Ben's UVU basketball game. They ended up losing the game which was disappointing, but Santa was there and we caught a Frisbee and four t-shirts; so if wasn't a total loss. :) Here are some pictures of our fun birthday bash.

Ty opening his present at the pizza placeIt was awesome!

Lily found Santa at the pizza place

She is not shy with Santa at all

I think lily also ate more pizza than I did

My mom and Dad at the restaurantTyler with his cupcake and UVU shirt

I made basketball cupcakesJacob, Tyler and his friend at the game

It was VERY exciting for the boys

Uncle Ben shooting a foul shot
Happy Birthday Tyler!

Sing a Song

2011-12-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

We sing a lot at our house. Lily was singing this morning and I thought I should grab the camera and share with everyone what a cutie she is. I asked her to sing for me and she insisted she only sing a song she made up herself.

Then, when she realized that didn't quite work, she sang the cookie Jar song...which isn't exactly a song per Se, but it is cute nonetheless.

I sure love my sweet girl.

Ward party and Santa

2011-12-12T12:23:00.001-08:00

We had our Ward Christmas Party last week. Santa came and we waited in line to see him for nearly an hour. (He spent a ridiculous amount of time talking to each child.) By the time it was our turn to see Santa, nearly all the tables, chairs and dishes had been cleaned up and put away.

Well anyway, here are the photos I took of the kids with Santa.
Tyler asked for a Long Nerf gun
Jake asked for a bow and arrow and Lily of course asked for a pink gun. Her eyes are closed of course.

I thought they looked pretty cute while they talked to Santa.

I got them all together for about 4 seconds. But alas, Lily's eyes are closed once again. you can't blame me for trying can you?

Lily Says...

2011-12-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Lily sits on Santa's lap and he says "What's your name?" She proudly shouts "Lily!" Santa then says "And what would you like for Christmas?" Lily says (in the same proud voice): "A GUN!...a PINK one!" I know she looks like me, but obviously this proves she is her father's daughter.

side note: apparently, I can't write "Santa's" without it being misspelled. So here are the options that come up when I try to fix the spelling error.
Sana's
Satan's
Shanta's
Manta's
Sanka's
I'm sure I meant to say "Satan's lap" or any of the other options. hahaha

Cyber Monday

2011-11-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

I still absolutely adore Cyber Monday. I seriously look forward to shopping for and shipping my gifts on this day every year. I got some pretty good deals this year on gifts that I'm pretty excited about. I got 2 Pyrex pie plates for 2.99 shipped for free as well as .39 cent Christmas cards delivered and stamped for no extra cost(that is cheaper than a stamp!). Plus it feels great to have all of my Christmas shopping completely finished! BUT, it is 11pm and I have been at the computer all day long (with the exception of going to Ben's UVU game tonight) Frankly, I'm a little surprised I am still able to type anything but my name, address and credit card information. So here's to some much needed sleep.

I'm going to re-post my poem I wrote last year. It seems only fitting.

Deals deals deals that's all I can say
and with free shipping they're all on there way!
Toys and electronics flash on my screen
and with only a card they're no longer a "dream"
No traffic no crowd
no kids being loud.
I can't believe I spent all day
just looking at stuff that COULD come and stay
No dragging the kids out of the house
I do it all with the click of the mouse.
Budget don't fret; I came in just under
that's how I do it; no need to wonder
then it is over and I can calm down
I got so excited NOT going to town
My spouse can relax and call me "honey"
cause I got all our Christmas and saved lots of money
-Heather

Jacob Says...

2011-11-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

We were in the car on the way to my little brother Ben's UVU basketball game and I say to Jake "Hey, Jacob, do you know how to spell your name?"

Jake:"Uh....well...no."
Me:"Really? I sing the song (to the tune of BINGO) "There was a mom who loved a boy and Jacob was his name-o J A C O B, J A C O B, J A C O B and Jacob was his name-o."
He loves this and is all smiles because the song is about him.
Me:"Now can you spell your name?"
Jake:"uh....no. But I can spell it backwards" he continues, "B O C A J".

I look at Randy who is driving and say "That's normal." Randy says "It probably is in YOUR family"

The End

2011-11-15T09:28:00.001-08:00

Well, It happened again, and I guess it isn't a surprise, but that doesn't mean that I can't be a little sad to see it end. Randy was released from primary as my team teacher on Sunday. Now I will have all 12 of those 6 and 7 year-old kids on my own every Sunday. Yikes. I asked the Primary president if she has someone to help me out and she said she was working on it, but it didn't look like I would have a team teacher for at least another couple of months (also, the baby is due in a couple of months). She offered to have one of the presidency sit with me when I need help though.

You may be wondering what Randy was called to. Well, I'm glad you asked. He has been sustained and set apart as a member of the High Council. He tends to gravitate towards callings such as this. I can't keep him in primary with me forever can I? Anyway, we are excited for him and excited to see what direction this will take our family. He is very good at managing his time so I doubt it will put too much of a strain on us. We are glad you chose to serve and we love you Randy!

Here's a picture of the kiddos on Sunday after church. None of them are looking at the camera. They were, however, all looking at their wonderful daddy.

Tyler Says...

2011-11-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

Tyler: Mom, guess what I saw behind the climbing wall at the park."
Me: "what?"
Tyler: "Someone wrote " I had S-E-X here."' after thinking a moment, he continues.."I don't even know how that is possible!!"
Me (clearing my throat): "What do you mean?"
Tyler "How can someone even write on that wall? I don't know how you would do it!"

Whew. Dodged a curve-ball there.

Halloween

2011-11-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

We went trick or treating on main street with some friends and had a great time! The candy was a lot better than it has been in years past. Before we left, I made the kids hold still so I could get a couple pictures of them.
All three kids looking at the camera at the same time!!Jake showing me his muscles. that's his tough face.

Little Ladybug Lily

Tyler said I could take one photo. Well, actually I said he couldn't go unless he let me take one picture of him. This is what I got.

Trick or treating with friends on main street. Jake with his friend Chanse.

My little lady bug showing me all her candy.This is what Jake looks like when I tell him "NO MORE CANDY till after dinner."

Checking out the spoils of trick or treating on Main street.

When Randy got home from work, he put on his costume and headed out trick or treating around the neighborhood with the kids. They were so excited to go with Daddy (who has been out of town for the past week).

He asked Lily for a kiss. She laughed and tried her best. :)

I'm glad we had a fun Halloween day it was warm and a nice 55-60 degrees, today we woke to about an inch of snow! Crazy!

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

We had two trunk-or-treats to go to this weekend. On Friday, we headed to the drive in theater with a few of our friends for the charter school trunk or treat. They had quite a few people. It probably took us a good hour to get to all the cars. Afterward, they showed Kung Fu Panda 2 for us to watch from our cars. I had never been to a drive in movie before, so that was fun. It was 40 degrees outside, so it was a little cold, but we had a good time. When the movie was almost over, my car battery died, so we had to find someone to jump it for me. Thank you to the nice man who helped us out!!

It started at 6PM so we picked up a pizza on the way. Here are my little ninja and ladybug enjoying dinner before the trunk or treat.

Two ninjas and a ladybug

My friend Melissa's kids

Lily is ready to get to some candy collecting.

She wasn't too happy about having her picture taken

My Jakey had the same costume as a lot of other boys. I kept losing track of him in the sea of the skeleton ninjas

Tyler let me take ONE photo

All of the kids in the back of my van ready to watch the movie
Candy, costumes, a movie and friends! It's a PARTY!OK, so on Saturday, we had our ward trunk or treat. Not many people usually come to that, so I don't normally dress up, but the mood was right so I gave it a go. I actually won the "scariest costume award!" (my very first Halloween costume award). My kiddos wouldn't let me take pictures of them two days in a row, so I took some of myself just for fun.

I guess I am a spider witch? I just had some fun with makeup and spiders. I tried to get Ty to take a full body shot because I wore my spiffy red and white striped stockings, but each attempt failed and he soon lost interest.

striped socks

Can't wait for actual Halloween night tomorrow!!

Jehovah Witness Haunting

2011-10-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

I may be crazy, but when my doorbell rang this morning, I answered it. As I opened the door an old man in a black wool coat with white hair wearing a black hat stood before me. He was dressed nicely and smiled politely. He was a Jehovah's witness passing along information about the creator. Not so imposing right? Well, as he talked to me all I could think was "Man, this guy is creeping me out!" When I politely declined his efforts to teach me, he left. As soon as he left I locked the doors. It took me a minute, but I soon realized why he freaked me out. He looked eerily similar to the man who haunted my nightmares growing up. The preacher guy on poltergeist.

Yep, that guy!

Oh, just looking at the photos gives me the shivers. He terrified me as a child (and apparently as an adult too).

I love scary movies, but poltergeist was one of the only movies that truly scared me. the ring, no problem, poltergeist... creepy! That includes the little girl.
Maybe the JW was out haunting before Halloween just to mess with people. It sure worked on me!

Jack-o-lanterns

2011-10-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

For FHE we carved pumpkins. By we, I mean Randy and I carved pumpkins while the little ones criticized our work. Jake picked a pattern from the carving set's booklet of two skulls. Tyler drew a picture of what he wanted and then I carved his looking at the picture. He was skeptical of how I was carving his, but I think all in all, I met his approval. I made up Lily's and when I was done she looked at it all wide eyed and screamed "IT'S A GIRL PUMPKIN!" in excitement. I guess I impressed her as well.

I give you three happy kids all at the same time!Jake, Ty, and Lily's jack-o-lanterns from top to bottom

I know the pictures are terrible, but I don't claim to be a photographer, so you get what you get.

Lily would not hold still for a picture.

Halloween Party!!!

2011-10-25T16:43:00.001-07:00

We had a change of plans this year as far as the annual adult Halloween party goes. Randy and I decided to throw our own Halloween bash this year.

We invited some friends and neighbors and had a great time. the turnout wasn't what I had hoped it would be, but we had fun nonetheless. Here are some pictures of the festivities. Of course, I will start with the food. You know me, it always starts with the food.

I made mini cupcakes:

And Eyeball cake balls

As well as spiderweb cupcakes. Don't they look yummy?

I also made chocolate covered pretzels in molds that turned out cute and very Halloween. We had rats and skeletons, fingers, bones, bats, pumpkins, spiders, etc. Very cool.

I needed something else for the table so I made this floral arrangement. Candy and black roses.

We also made seven layer dip, meatballs, and yummy slushy sprite to drink. Here is the table before the guests brought more food.

I made this for our costume. Can you guess what I was? I was the old lady who swallowed a fly. I drew this onto iron on transfer paper and ironed it onto my shirt over my baby belly.

I know, I look super old and sexy right? I have swallowed everything except for the horse. If I had, I would be dead of course.that's where Randy's costume comes in. He made an excellent horse. lol. But not everyone had heard of the old lady who swallowed a fly. I was really surprised.

Our friends Melissa and Mike. Also known as Mother earth and father time. They won our costume contest. Brittney, the old lady. The best part was that she stuffed her backside so it was HUGE.

Brittney and TysonWe played fun games including "minute to win it", the "newlywed game", and "what if"-we had prizes for each game as well as the grand prize for best costume.

Melissa playing minute to win it
Brittney playing minute to win it
Randy winning the game
Jami and I putting petroleum jelly on our noses and sticking cotton balls onto another paper plate using our noses.
Kim after playing face the cookie.I wish I had gotten more pictures of people in their costumes. I suppose I was too busy playing hostess that it just didn't occur to me.

Tyler Says...

2011-10-21T07:58:00.001-07:00

At breakfast this morning:
Tyler (reading the cereal box): " These Cheerios only have 2 grams of protein." pause,
"Wow! It has 120 calories!" pause again while he reads on.."Uh... I don't see any box tops on this box mom; It doesn't seem like this is worth buying.

Later, I'm eating a banana with some peanut butter on it. Tyler says "Mom, why are you eating peanut butter on a banana for breakfast?"
Me: "Because I need a little protein this morning"
Tyler: "Oh, well, you should probably know that peanut butter has so much sugar in it that it isn't worth eating for protein."
--thanks Ty; the crazy health freak.

Tyler is slightly weird about eating all things healthy, well, not eating all things healthy, but rather knowing whether or not they are actually healthy. He determines how healthy they are by how much protein the item has. He has decided that if it has a certain amount of protein, then it is worth eating because it will therefore give him large muscles. He rarely cares how much fat or carbs or calories food has.

The other day I was sitting down to lunch just Lily and I and she said "Mom? Dis have protein?" SERIOUSLY!!!

I Agree

2011-10-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Jayna Stechschulte's Photos

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said:

'Doctor, I have a serious p...roblem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together.'

So the doctor said: 'Ok and what do you want me to do?'

She said: 'I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this.'

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: 'I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too.'

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: 'You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.'

The lady was horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!'

'I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be OK with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.'

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.

He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb. The crime is the same!

Together we can help save precious lives!

Love says, 'I sacrifice myself for the good of the other person.' Abortion says, 'I sacrifice the other person for the good of myself.'

By: Life is Dangerous: Let's Ban It

Just over Half Way There

2011-10-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

I'm not a fan of pregnancy photos, mostly because I become huge. and this pregnancy is no exception, but I figure, what the heck. you can't see my chubby face anyway. :)

I'm at 23 weeks now. I am feeling better but I am still taking medication for nausea. I'm taking half the dose I was taking before, so I guess that is a good sign. I'm doing pretty good so far. My hip has been hurting on one side and I assume it is because of loose joints. I suppose that will go away soon though. I can feel my little girl move around in there all the time now.Randy and Jacob have also felt her kick so that is fun.

Here is what she is up to: "she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

So far so good!

DIY Halloween decor

2011-10-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. It is so much fun. Yesterday and today I worked on a couple of decorations for our Halloween festivities this month.

I made these apothecary jars to keep on my piano and change each season. I painted letters and filled the jars

I think they turned out pretty cute. The fit perfectly on our piano.

I also worked on my most favorite thing as far as decorating goes. I painted our windows like I do every year. you can see some past years on this link. I decided I would change things up a bit and try my hand at silhouettes this time.

I painted some witches

And I painted a tree with birds on it. (We love the tiny spider too.)

There you have it. Our little festive albeit not so scary Halloween house.

P.S. Tyler informed me that he really loved my witches, but that I shouldn't have painted a tree. Because "a tree is not very Halloween-ee." Sigh, I guess I can't please everyone. :)

Conference Crafts

2011-10-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

It's October!! I'm so excited for Halloween. I decided to make a couple of decorations during General Conference on Saturday.

I found this snake wreath online and decided to make my own. I only had black spray paint, and I couldn't find as many snakes as the picture. It is hard to see from the picture, but the snakes look pretty cool. I also added a spider web.

I also painted this plate ad added a little spider.

Happy Halloween!

BYU game

2011-10-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended my very first BYU football game! It was so much fun too! My brother Dan had bought the tickets because he was supposed to come back to Utah for a business recruiting trip. Unfortunately, his trip was canceled and he sold us his ticket and my little brother Ben sold us his ticket. So, Randy and I were able to go to the game with my mom and dad. It was funny that the seats were so high, on the top row in the center of the east side of the stadium. But at least we had a back rest. :) My dad was generous and bough/shared some candied almonds with us that were amazing. After the game, we headed to a frozen yogurt place and hung out while we waited for traffic to clear out a bit. Thanks for such a fun date Randy!!

Mom and DadRight after a touchdown! Yes, we won the game.

Randy and I after the first touchdown.

I have to add, that going to a football game for date night is not easy to do. We had to leave the kids for about 5 1/2 hours and had three babysitters switch off during that time. Crazy I tell you. It isn't cheap either, but I think it was totally worth it.

Potty Post

2011-09-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Things are going pretty well on day three of potty training. She seems to think that I should tell her when she needs to go rather than just feeling when she needs to go. BUT, I believe she is getting the hang of it. She didn't wet the bed last night, but peed her pants standing in the bathroom this morning. She has had one successful trip to the bathroom today; so the tally is 1 and 1. I have high hopes that she will have more success than accidents today! Wish her luck.

My little goober wouldn't hold still for a picture. Yes that's pen on her forehead. I'm THAT kind of mom.

Hop Aboard the Potty Train

2011-09-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

As parents we do a whole lot of things we do not enjoy doing. For example, cleaning toilets, doing dishes, cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night ect. But one thing that parents dread the most is potty training their little ones. Do you hear the music I hear when I read that? I think it goes DUN DUN DUN! ..Yep, It is scary.

As I have been potty training Lily all day, I have been thinking about why it is so awful and terrifying all at once. Even if we haven't done it before, when that time comes around, we absolutely dread doing it. But where does that dread come from? Do we have this fear that if we do it wrong our kid will be scarred for life? Is it that we honestly think that somehow our child will never actually get it and go to high school wetting/soiling her pants everyday? I don't know.

Do you think it is a control issue? I mean, this is my third time around and it is still so hard for me to admit to myself that I have absolutely NO control over the potty situation. I can guide it as best I can, I can try my hardest to make it a positive experience for her, but ultimately it is the child that decides whether or not they actually do what I am teaching them. As parents, I don't think we tend to freak out about teaching them to read, or even teaching them to walk, talk, etc. but we DO freak out about potty training. Maybe it is the fact that this particular lesson includes nearly constant worry, constant supervision and constant fear of pee and poop ending up all around your house/child. I mean, when you are teaching them to read, if you get frustrated, you can take a break. When potty training, that really isn't an option except for the occasional bath or nap-neither of which are completely worry free. Once you start, you are in it for good.

One thing I know for sure after doing this all day for my third child, is that EVERY single child is different! I honestly thought there were two kinds of kids. Those who get it and pick it up quickly and those who are stubborn and or don't care and take a whole lot longer. My first two did just that, in respecting order. Tyler was trained in about 4 hours, had 2 accidents and one bed wetting. that was it. Jake on the other hand, had multiple accidents, didn't want to participate and made the whole thing rather difficult; he still wets the bed occasionally. Lily has been an odd mix of the two. She is very willing to participate, but continually has accidents. She will sit on the potty if I suggest it, but won't actually go on her own accord (when she really does need to go). She insists on doing everything herself as well. I am not allowed to help her do much of anything, not even to help turn her panties right side out for her. It is so weird how different they all can be.

For those who don't know, I follow the book "Toilet training in less than a day" it was written in the 1970s and I honestly feel like it is the best method out there. It is similar to Dr. Phil's method of training for one day. You basically teach the child the skills they need to have to accomplish pottying all by themselves. When you are done with the training, they shouldn't need you to do anything for them. No wiping, no cleaning, dressing, ect. Once you start, you don't put them in diapers ever again. I don't believe in the whole "My kid is "trained", but they still need me to go into the bathroom with them to help them and then they also wear pull-ups at night." What on earth would the benefit of that be? I understand that some kids have medical/sleeping problems and that they need to wear something at night because they don't wake when they need to go, but I think that includes a very small percentage of children.

I don't claim to be an expert potty trainer. Heaven knows that I had a difficult time today. She just wasn't doing what she clearly understood she should be. She could explain to me word for word what she was supposed to do (she even explained it to her doll and showed it how, but putting it into action for herself seemed nearly impossible to her. she would constantly say "I can't do it mom." like it was a fact. It is, after all, difficult to learn a new skill. Especially when you have been doing it a certain way for 2 1/2 years.

I truly hope that tomorrow goes better than today did. I was a little more relaxed than I have been with my boys in the past. I didn't push as hard because I knew that it was better to stay positive and have more accidents than to have a negative experience. I guess I will make this a multiple day potty training and see how it goes. But I am proud of myself. I didn't cry at all this time and I kept my cool when she did have accidents. That isn't easy for me.

FYI I found this article and found it very interesting. It is about training a diaper free baby from birth. While I don't think I'll jump on board for this method with our next child, I think it has some merit. Why do we first teach our children to poop and pee their pants only to re-train them later? Very interesting.

It's a....

2011-09-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

Baby GIRL!! We are very excited to be having another girl join our family. The ultrasound showed a very healthy albeit wiggly baby girl. She is measuring just as she should be and her due date is still somewhere between February 12-15th 2012.

Here are her very first pictures. Cute little leg

Girl parts. I love how the tech wrote "sister" instead of "girl"

back of head with arm

Profile

It is our fist time having 3D images of any of our kids. She didn't really want to show us her cute face. She constantly had both her hands covering her face. You can see her head, with her hand over her eye/nose as well as her leg.
This is the best shot we got of her face, She just wiggled so much!
Another attempt at seeing the faceSo cute. The clearest of the bunch. Her little hand on the side of her face, but you can see her nose and ear.

Lily was with us at the ultrasound and she was pretty excited to have a little sister. Every girl needs a sister right? When we got home, I picked up Jake and Lily told him the baby is a girl baby. It was interesting because he didn't show any signs of caring (He has been insisting that it is a boy because he wants a brother so badly.) So after we had been home for a while showing him photos and stuff, I said something about it being a girl and I watched the realization hit his face and he started crying saying "I didn't want a girl baby! I want a boy baby!" He cried for a while; poor thing.

I couldn't wait for Tyler to get home from school. He wanted a girl so much. So when he walked in the door I turned on the camera to get a video of his reaction. Here is the video.
ok, It isn't working, I've tried four times and it doesn't want to load. I'll try again tomorrow.
He was VERY excited to be having a new baby sister! Two boys and two girls...sounds pretty perfect to me.

This Girl

2011-09-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

I was making her some lunch today (beef Ramen noodles-her favorite) and I couldn't help taking some pictures of my beautiful girl. She had recently had a bath and I had brushed her hair, but didn't do anything special to it for the day. I rarely leave it down because it gets so matted and gross by the end of the day. She was busy telling me that Daddy was at school and Tyler was at work- thinking this was absolutely hilarious.

I'm so grateful for this sweet girl. Here are some of my favorite things she does.
*She rarely stops talking. I know she isn't the only one in our family who does this, but when others watch her for me, that is the first thing they say "Wow, she doesn't stop talking does she!"

*She tells jokes all the time; they are mostly knock knock jokes, but if you don't say "who's there" then you are in big trouble.

*She absolutely LOVES going to nursery at church. I never thought I would have one of "Those kids" but it is fun to hear her excitement when we sing the closing song in sacrament meeting and she says "I go nursery now?!!!!" She honestly can't wait to get there.

*She is a little mama. She loves to take car of her baby dolls and makes sure they are OK multiple times a day.

*She is all girl. This includes mood swings. She is easily offended by things we do and say. If you don't talk to her nicely, she bursts into tears.

*She loves it when Jake and Tyler are at school so she can have some girl time with just the two of us.

*Her favorite things are: The color pink-anything pink is automatically hers. Fruit snacks- I can get her to do most anything with fruit snacks. Pizza, fish crackers, chocolate and ice-cream. she loves swimming or playing in the water and that includes baths. She loves her "blankie." She also loves her brothers. Luckily they also love her back. She loves the baby in my tummy and talks about it all the time.

What a great little girl we have!

Reaping what you Sow

2011-09-14T11:50:00.001-07:00

I was busy canning salsa a couple of days ago using tomatoes and peppers from our garden. We have tons of cherry tomatoes and big beefy tomatoes as well as green bell peppers and Jalapeno peppers. this is just a picture of what we picked the other day. Looking out into our garden, it's hard to believe that it's time to pick again! Crazy how that works. Our Strawberries didn't do very well this year, we had a few, but some bugs got to them before we could. Also our pumpkin died and I neglected our Romain lettuce so much that it grew to be about 6 feet tall. But it is good to know that I can grow my own lettuce. I just need to pay attention and not be so...you know, sick for months at a time.

I found the picture Randy took of the lettuce before we ripped it out. It was taken with his phone, so it is tiny, but you get the picture.

More Willard Bay Pictures

2011-09-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

My sister Michelle snapped some pictures of us, so here are some more from our fun Saturday.

Uncle Ben on the wave runner with Tyler and cousin Will.

My dad taking Jake on the wave runner. It was the highlight of Jake's day.

Tyler and Will playing on the beach

The cousins playing

Everyone was making fun of me for wearing a fleece Jacket on the beach. I was still cold from camping the night before...so what. That's normal right?

Randy on the front of the boat

Tyler playing with the rocks

I did eventually take off the jacket AND got into my swimsuit. I'm glad she didn't get a picture of me in my suit though.

Lily sat like this in the water a lot of the time. She loves the water

Jake was freezing cold in the water. See..I'm not the only one who was cold! What a cutie.

Boating at Willard Bay

2011-09-09T20:52:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went boating at Willard bay with my family. The night before, we actually camped out in the campground right there by the bay. I forgot my camera, so these are pictures my sister gave me.

Tyler on the tube with my sister Michelle.

Randy wake boarding.The cousins playing on the "beach" I love Lily in her little pink swimsuit.

Randy on the tube. I never actually saw him do it, but I heard he was quite the show off. At one point he stood up on the tube and jumped off doing a back flip. ...sounds like Randy.

Now, I have heard..mostly from Randy, that I'm a 'spoilsport'. But I honestly don't see the appeal of being dragged behind a boat. It is terrifying to me. I have been on the tube, I have tried wake boarding and water-skiing. I even got up on the water skis. I DO NOT enjoy any of these activities. No, I didn't try anything this time, I am pregnant after all, but even if I weren't, I can't say I would have tried any of these things again. I like being in the boat, just not going too fast and I hate being pulled behind it.

I have to say that it was fun to watch the kids enjoy the boat and the wave runner. Jacob especially loved going as fast as these could go. Lily wasn't too sure about going fast in the boat either. She kept screaming "Stop! stop! We go back! Is scary!" But of course Randy was driving and couldn't hear her. She did like it eventually and even fell asleep on my Dad's lap while he was driving the boat. It was fun to watch Randy wake board and then to watch my Dad water ski. We had a great time. Randy especially loved boating for the day.

There's a First for Everything

2011-09-06T15:26:00.001-07:00

I have been driving for 12 years now. As of today, I can no longer say that I have never been pulled over by a policeman. Yeah, that's right, I was pulled over for speeding here in town. When the cop came to my window he asked how I was doing and I said "Scared. I've never been pulled over before."--and then proceeded to bawl my eyes out.--

I have always wondered what kind of person I would be if I were in fact ever pulled over. I wondered if I would try to talk my way out of the ticket, try and plead innocent by feigning misunderstanding or just be plain apologetic. I wouldn't have pegged myself as a blubbering baby. Now, I could say that the pregnancy and all its hormones are to blame for the crying, but I honestly don't know if that is right. I KNOW for sure that the hormones are liable for my inability to stop crying once I started. --seriously, I was still crying 1/2 hour after it all went down--

Apparently, The crying was to my benefit this time because he sent me away with a warning and he tried to console me by saying that he hoped my day would end up better than it had started.

12 years isn't too bad of a run and I can still honestly say that I have never received a speeding ticket (knock on wood).

Not that it matters much, but I was in a hurry to get Lily to a friend's house so that I could make my Dr.'s appointment this morning. I hadn't even realized I was speeding. I was busy talking to Lil's and wasn't paying attention. Yes, I was still crying when I dropped her off, but I had composed myself by the time I reached my appointment. FYI baby and I are doing fine, I heard the heartbeat again today and it is so much fun! I am feeling better lately, though I am still on medication for nausea. I made an appointment for my ultrasound next Friday, so stay tuned for photos and of course the announcement of it's gender.

Tyler's first day of school

2011-08-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so it isn't his actual first day of school. It is the second week of school but the FIRST DAY riding his bike to and from school. He rode with some of our neighbors who also ride their bikes. It is his first time going to school without his mommy driving him. He was pretty excited about it too. I, however, have been a "nervous Nelly" all day long because I didn't know if he made it or not. Maybe tomorrow I'll be one of those moms who secretly follows him to make sure he makes it there safely. That's totally normal right?

I may be a bad mom...

2011-08-26T11:02:00.001-07:00

..but only to one of my kids. I did not take any photos of Tyler's first day of school for 2nd grade. I did, however, happen to snap a couple of photos of Jacob's first day of preschool. He got into the free preschool at Tyler's elementary school nearby. Can't beat that right? I have two free hours every single day.

The first photo is blurry.

Jake found his name-tag and was thrilled it was a blue sail boat.

I went to tell him goodbye, but he wouldn't acknowledge me. He was too busy playing with the clay. I don't think this boy will have any troubles adjusting to life at school.

Lily told me I should take her picture too. To me she looks like she is saying "what are we going to do now that Jakey's gone mom?" You can also tell Jake is in afternoon Preschool because Lily's hair is already falling out by mid-day.

Pictures of August

2011-08-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't take many photos, but here is what i have of our visitors. We went to the Hollywood Connection in West Valley. We had a lot of fun together.Lily on the carousel

Jake on roller skates

Tyler LOVED skating. He stopped to talk to me and he said "Mom! I went all the way around the rink and I only fell SEVEN times!" I was laughing so hard.

Randy, Cenny, Qatar, Lisa and Paige (plus two random boys) all doing the chicken dance. Randy won the competition. He's bringing sexy back one booty shake at a time. :)

LilJake and aunt Lisa on the carousel

Lily with aunt Paige helping her out

Tyler on his noble steed

Cenny on the bumper cars.
Videos of the awesome dance/skate competition. So funny.

Publish Post

Busy August

2011-08-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

Whew. I have been so busy this month and it has slipped past me so fast. Randy's parents came to visit on their way back to Minnesota on the 3rd of August. They dropped off our niece Cenneidigh who is 11 years old. She stayed with us helping take care of lily, and playing with the boys while waiting for her parents to arrive in a couple of weeks. Then, about a week after she arrived, Randy's sisters Paige and Amanda came to stay. Amanda stayed for the weekend and then headed to Boise where she will be going to grad school. Paige hung out and helped take care of the kids while Randy and I attended Education Week for a couple of days (It was AWESOME!). My sister Michelle also helped watch my kids. Thank you to both of you! Also thank you to my cousin Nate and his wife Stephanie for letting us crash at their house so we didn't have to drive far to get to BYU. Stephanie has to be the BEST hostess ever! I wish we could have spent more time with them.

On the 19Th, Lisa, Randy's oldest sister (Cenneidigh's mom) came with her husband and their other 4 kids to stay with us. Their oldest son Gunnar is going to be going to BYU so they were dropping him off at college. Yep, we had 8 extra people staying at our house. I didn't know how it was possible, but somehow we made it work squeezing 13 people into our tiny house. It was fun to have them. It is interesting to see the dynamics of a family with mostly teenagers compared to my little family. Mine aren't going to grow up are they?

On the 23rd, Tyler started school. He is in the second grade. I'm a bad mom, well, (preoccupied mom anyway) because I didn't take any photos of the occasion. Paige flew back to Missouri on the 23rd as well and Lisa's family left on morning of the 25Th. Jacob also started pre-school on the 25Th and I did take photos, so I will post them later.

So that is our August in a nutshell. Yes, it was busy, but it was also a lot of fun. My favorite thing was sitting around the table chatting with my sister-in-laws. They are each so different, but I like them all. I can say that when Paige and Amanda were visiting, we found ourselves still in our pajamas by noon because we didn't stop talking long enough to actually get ready for the day. Lisa had things planned for most of the days they were here. the boys went hiking on Mt. timpanogos, we attended the service day at the church and quilted and made scarves, we went to the Hollywood connection and enjoyed skating, roller coasters, mini golf, etc. It was a lot of fun to have them around. I loved sitting on Sunday afternoon talking with Randy, Lisa and David in the yard. That is, until I found out that Jacob had been watching Lord of the Rings with all the older kids and was terrified of what he saw. Poor thing. I also LOVED playing Boggle with Lisa and David. They are freaking awesome and kick my butt, but I still had a good time. I sure hope that they come again to stay. We had some great times. If I were to describe it in one word I would say it was "balls." :)

Oh, for those of you wondering, I am feeling a little bit better lately. I'm still sick, but I have longer bouts without feeling so awful. It was nice to have visitors to do the chores that set me into dry heaving fits. Such as dishes, and dirty diapers. You guys are the best!!

Lily Says...

2011-08-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking to myself that I should post this story, but for some reason I keep putting it off. It happened a few months ago, but I think it is worth remembering because it was so funny to me.
Lily had been playing outside with her brothers and all the neighbor kids. It was time for bed so I dragged her (probably kicking and screaming as usual) into the house. I laid her on the changing table and I changed her and put her in her pajamas. When I said 'OK Lils, are you ready for bed?" she holds up both of her hands (that are in fists) and says "What I do with these mom?" I hadn't noticed her hands balled up into fists till then and I say "What do you have?" she says "Pully Pully's" and opens her hands to reveal about four or five "roly polys'" (potato bugs) in both hands.
Of course I was shocked and I laughingly said "yeah...let's keep the bugs outside please." Crazy girl.

12 Weeks

2011-08-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

I am finally 12 weeks pregnant today. I have been waiting and waiting for my first trimester to pass. Mostly because it has been all kinds of awful. I have a hope, a tiny sliver of hope that my morning sickness will pass. Even if it just got slightly better I would be so grateful.

All my days are spent tying my hardest to get something done and failing. Trying to clean, trying to make meals, trying to avoid letting my children sit and watch Netflix all day long, and failing.

I do, however, succeed at taking a nap every afternoon whether I intend to or not. If I shut my eyes for a second, I am fast asleep, even dreaming.

I have to apologize to the women who have told me in the past how awful being pregnant is because they are so sick. I honestly didn't believe you. I thought you were just whiny and must complain about everything. How could you not appreciate that miracle and make it sound like the most horrible experience in the world? I thought that being pregnant was fun and exciting. You are actually making another human being for crying out loud!! It is amazing and wonderful and there is nothing like it. Now I understand though. It can make your stomach feel like you have the flu every single day for weeks and weeks. I understand that it can truly make you wonder whether or not you made the right decision to have another child. It can have your kids telling everyone they come in contact with "my mom has a baby in her tummy and it makes her too sick to do anything." It can have your son asking you "Are you even happy about this baby Mom?" It makes you disappointed to know that in spite of all your efforts, you can't get ahead. you can't have a clean house, you can't have clean children and you can't work for a moment without feeling like you are going to vomit. I'm so sorry for judging those women. I had no idea that it could actually be this terrible for some people. I'm sorry.

Alright, I've learned my lesson. Can I feel better now?

Caught You!

2011-07-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Tyler really hates having his photo taken. For once my camera was quicker than his hand. It's so nice to capture my happy cooperative boy.

Brielle's Cake

2011-07-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

My friend Brittney asked me to make a cake for her daughter Brielle's birthday party today. So, I got out of my morning sickness fog for a few hours to bake and decorate. She asked for the same style I did Lily's birthday cake, but I couldn't find my heart shaped cookie cutter anywhere (thanks to Jake). So I did flowers instead. I have to say, I like the flowers better anyway. I also have to say Thank you to my mom for stopping by to help clean my house before CFS shows up at my door for unsanitary living. I appreciate all the help I can get. Anyway, she asked to see a picture of the finished cake. Here it is mom.

I took a picture before I put her name on the cake. Her family calls her "LaLa" so that is what Brittney asked me to write. It turned out pretty cute, and Brielle loved it.

Four

2011-07-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

We are anticipating the arrival of our fourth child around Valentines Day 2012! I am 9 weeks pregnant and feeling awful. It seems that morning sickness has taken over my life for now. I'm taking prescribed medication for the nausea, but I still can't do much without feeling extremely ill. Fortunately, I have a very understanding and helpful husband as well as a helpful 7 year old to pitch in every morning while I attempt to detach myself from the bed. So if you haven't heard from me for a while, or are concerned I never leave the house, that is why. I wish I could make it to volleyball in the morning, but I can't make it happen anymore. Cross your fingers that I feel better in the coming weeks and if you so happen to drop by, leave your judgments at home and disregard my disaster of a home.

I don't have a picture of our little bean to show yet, but as soon as I do, I will post it first thing. The kids are very excited to have another brother or sister. Lily says "I wanna sister" and Jake says "I want a boy baby because I don't like girl babies" and throws out things like "peaches" as possible names for our little one. Tyler speculates on the possible drawbacks to one or the other. For example he said "I think that It wouldn't be good to have a girl baby because Lily would be mean to her and she would get beat up by the boys." he also said "But if we have a boy, then he can wrestle with us and he will be tough." He also thinks that it would be nice to have two boys and two girls. I happen to agree with this assessment.

4th of July Hair

2011-07-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July celebration starting with a ward breakfast at the church, a parade, a BBQ at our house with some friends, and then fireworks. We were so busy running around that I didn't take any pictures of the day, but I did get a shot of Lily's hair the night before the festivities started. Everyone loved her hair and I was frequently asked "how did you get her to hold still for that?" My answer is: Candy. Lots and lots of candy and a kids TV show. And for those of you who think I'm torturing my baby, I'll have you know I specifically asked her if she wanted a star or pigtails and she picked the star. She didn't even complain once. I hope your 4th of July celebrations were as fun as ours were.

Arizona

2011-07-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

After San Diego, we headed to Arizona. We stopped in Chandler where we stayed at Randy's parents place. You can probably guess what we did in the 110 degree weather.

Yep, we swam...a lot. Probably twice a day everyday for four days.

Lily loves the water, but she adores her "boat" even more.Jake

Randy

Ty jumping in

We did do other things besides swim. Here are the boy putting together a Lego ship.

On the way home from Arizona we stopped at Montezuma's castle

And we stopped at the Grand Canyon

We didn't stay for very long, but it was fun to see it as a family.

More Sea World Pics

2011-06-27T16:07:00.001-07:00

Ali sent me some pictures, so here are more Sea World photos.

We got to pet a dolphin and feed it three fish.

It was probably the highlight for me.Tyler

He pretty much tapped it once and threw the fish. It was funny.

Jakey

He wasn't quite so nervous as Tyler

Randy

Lily missed this part and had fallen asleep.

Shamu

Jake and I waiting for the show

Lily and Tyler

The group of us patiently waiting.

We not only went to Sea world, but on one of the nights, my parents watched the kids so Ali, her husband Ben, my brother Ben, and Randy and I could go do a session at the temple. It was an interesting temple.

We also visited the lighthouse. Here is a picture of the whole group of us that some Russian guy took for us.
The lighthouse

Ben with the kiddos. I'm not sure what Jake is doing, but I'm pretty sure Lily isn't too thrilled about it.
I'll probably get this wrong, but I think this is a destroyer that we saw leaving the bay. The boys were pretty excited about it, I, on the other hand couldn't care less.
Ali, Whitney, Me, and my Mom
I don't know where this was taken, but it is Ben, my dad and me.

Zoo Safari Park

2011-06-24T19:03:00.001-07:00

While in San Diego, we decided to visit the Zoo Safari Park or "The wild animal park" as I know it. Randy was in Colorado on business during this part of the vacation, so I had the kids by myself, but had the help of my parents and little brother. Here are pictures of the boys with their maps as we headed out to see what there was to see.

If you like birds, the Zoo safari park is for you...They aren't my favorite though.

Feeding the ducks

Tyler's hand compared to a gorilla's hand

We were surprised to find that "Uncle Ben's" hand is roughly the same size as a gorilla's.

Jakey's hand.

Uncle Ben almost had the arm span of a gorilla, though he beat the gorilla in height by quite a bit. he isn't standing up straight in the picture.

JakeWe walked A LOT! It was about 90 degrees that day and we were so hot and tired through most of the visit.

My Dad and my sister Ali on the tram ride.

My mom, Jake, Me, Lily and my brother Ben. --Lily had a pretty high fever at this point of our day, so she wasn't too keen on taking the photo. I wasn't too keen on holding a super hot child in 90 degree weather either...but we do what we must.

Jake and papa looking at the giraffes.

I love this picture. I don't know what Papa is saying, but it looks important.

We saw some elephants receive their morning treat. They had quite a few baby elephants.

The boys spent a lot of time on Papa and uncle Ben's shoulders. It was hard for them to do all the walking required.Grandma and Jake

I asked the kids to pose for a picture by the elephants. When I went to take the picture, I told Jake "Get your arm out of your face!" He said "Uh, Mom! I'm an elephant." So....here are my two little elephants. --You can tell the ibuprofen worked on Lily's fever by this time.

Me and some crazy kids. --Lily's fever had come back.

While I can't say I had a great time at the Zoo Safari park, and I would not recommend it to anyone with small kids, or tell you don't go on a hot day and wear good shoes because you will be walking for miles and sometimes walk for a long time with complaining whining kids to see some tigers and then finally get to the tigers only to find that they aren't visible, and then Lily's fever comes back and all you want to do is go home, but you have only been there for 3 hours and you paid over a hundred bucks to get in so you want to get your money's worth, I will say this: It isn't worth your time, but the petting zoo made the trip worth while.

It was a simple petting zoo. It had different kinds of deer and that's all

But I found out that Jake liked the deer a lot.

The deer liked him back and gave him a little kiss.

She not only "kissed" him, but decided that his salty sweaty skin tasted fantastic. She licked him all over
.

Jake created quite the scene as he giggled while deer licked his neck and hair. He had a whole group of people surrounding him laughing and recording him on their own video cameras.

Then, without warning, another deer decided to join in on all the fun.

The boys loved the carousel too.
Jake sure is a ham for the camera.

Beach Days

2011-06-24T18:22:00.001-07:00

Whitney, Ben, Tyler, me, Jacob, Ben, and Alonzo.
Jake on uncle Ben's shoulders

Tyler, Randy and my dad.

Randy teaching Tyler how to boogie board.

Ty on uncle Ben's shoulders

Caught by a big wave

you can see how high the wave hit him.

The boys sure love uncle Ben

The boys and I made sand animals. That's my super awesome sand turtle before he was destroyed by Alonzo.

Jake and Alonzo and Uncle 'cowboy' Ben

Alonzo, Jacob and Tyler

Jake

Lily the beach beauty

Lily and Jake

Big brother Tyler helping his sister "swim in the ocean"

Lily trying her hand at boogie boarding

When we first sat down at the beach, lily grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in my face and said "Got you Mom!." She thought it was so funny. Apparently, she also enjoyed dumping sand on top of her own head.

Tyler playing in the ocean.

Jacob loved the beach but not the water so much.

Tyler digging a hole to bury his brother.

My failed attempt at a cool picture. Tyler picking up his brother's head.

He got up before I could try another shot.

While the kids and I were playing on the beach, Randy was boogie boarding by himself. I would find him every now and again and I would wave to him. He decided to catch some waves further along the shore line. I looked up and saw him and all of a sudden a lifeguard runs right past me toward Randy.So I said to the kids "Is that lifeguard going to save daddy?....Yeah, I think he is going to save daddy!" So, seeing as I really couldn't do anything other than sit there and watch, I pulled out the camera, took a photo and then took a video of "the big save." Here is the photo I took. If you click on it, you can see the lifeguard on the left and a small spot that is Randy on the right.
According to Randy, he was swimming along trying to get to some better waves and he was swimming but wasn't actually going anywhere. He started swimming harder toward the shore when the lifeguard saw him and swam out to help him, but by the time he got there, Randy had already swam out of the rip-tide. So the lifeguard told Randy that there was a rip tide right there and that it would be there for the next couple of days. So, the video is anticlimactic, but here it is.

Mormon Battalion

2011-06-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

On The Sunday we were in San Diego, our little family did not end up going to church because of tender stomachs and worry that we might pass along this horrible bug to unsuspecting churchgoers. But by mid-day we were feeling slightly better and went to the Mormon Battalion Historic site in old town San Diego. They have a fun interactive visitors center there. Randy and Jake listening intently

Papa with the rifle

Tyler holding the heavy rifle.

Randy and lily panning for gold

Tyler and Jake panning for goldJake and lily trying their hands at brick making

Jake

the boys love anything that could possibly do a lot of damage.

Our pioneer family...well, some of us anyway

A photo of all of us.

June Vacation

2011-06-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

We headed to San Diego on our 9th wedding anniversary (June 7th). Our family went along with my sister Ali and her family, my parents, and my 'little' brother Ben. We stayed in a beach house for a week and did all kinds of fun stuff. My favorite was going to Sea world. Here are photos of some of our Sea world experience. --It seems I only remembered to take my camera every other day, luckily Ali helped me take pictures on the days I forgot. I guess I will update the other pics when she gets them to me.

These are pictures from our second round at sea world.

Jake and sea lionUnwilling photo participant

Randy and Tyler waiting for the Dolphin show to start.

Dolphin....can't remember it's name. :)

By brother Ben, my dad, Jacob and Lily

I have to add a side story in here. When I took this picture I was feeling so so sick. Jacob had been sick two days before this and Tyler had thrown up the night before and wasn't feeling so swell either and we went home soon after for some naps and for me to lose my lunch in the condo bathroom.

We later returned (feeling slightly better?) for the night shows and to buy souvenirs for the kiddos.

The Shamu Rocks show at night

Jake showing us his C shaped dorsal fin before the show started. Ty finally got to sit in the "soak Zone." He had been wanting to sit there for each show, but his dream of getting soaked still didn't come true that night. I almost poured my water bottle on his head as the whale came around splashing, but I didn't get a very good opportunity to do so.Tyler and the infamous 'giant' octopus...I have to say for me, it was a bit disappointing.

Jake outside the aquarium.

After a long night, we were headed out of the park and they announced over the PA system that the fireworks would start in 1/2 an hour. When Tyler heard that he said we "have to stay to watch them!" So, even though I was feeling sick to my stomach and Randy too at that point, we plopped down on a piece of grass and waited. We watched the fireworks and waved our goodbyes to Sea world. We made it to the car, but when we got there, Randy decided he had to leave his dinner in the parking lot and threw up before we left.
Yes, pretty much everyone in the condo got whatever this stomach bug was. Ben Marchant seemed to do the best, but we all felt horrible for at least part of our trip. The babies: Lily, Alonzo and Whitney interestingly enough had fevers instead of vomiting. I have to say, as a mom, I appreciated Lily helping me out with a fever as her only symptom.

See you!

2011-06-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

We're off to Las Vegas today and then San Diego tomorrow for a whole week. Then off to Arizona and back home. I'll catch up when we get back!
XOXO
-Heather

PS for those who didn't notice, answer the question on my poll to the right of this post...I'm curious what you all think.

Bitter Sweet

2011-06-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Today Randy was released as the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. It has been bitter sweet for me today. Everyone that has come up to me has said "I bet you are so happy!" I was surprised to get this phrase from multiple people. I really don't feel 'happy' about it. I am glad that I won't have to deal with the children all by myself (or with sister Kidman who has been helping me out but recently moved) anymore during sacrament meeting. It will be nice to have Randy home more often. But, I will miss hearing stories of how his life is being blessed and hearing of others lives being blessed through him and I will miss the blessings Heavenly Father has given us for his stalwart service to the lord in this capacity. But no, I'm not 'happy' for this release. I have learned a lot since Randy started serving in the bishopric. I have come closer to the Lord as I have needed to rely more on Him and less on Randy. My testimony has also grown more than I ever thought it could. I have grown so much through this calling and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it being over...for now. It was wonderful to hear Randy's testimony today in Sacrament meeting albeit I did wear the wrong mascara and paid for it dearly. But I digress, He is such a great example to me of unfailing love and determination to do what the Lord would have him do no matter the cost. His testimony was/is amazing. I am thankful to have married such a wonderful man. I have a feeling this wont be the last time he serves in a bishopric, but for now I will enjoy having him around a little bit more often.

Dental oddity

2011-05-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

We took the kiddos to the dentist yesterday for a family check up. Fortunately for all of us, we are each cavity free! Unfortunately, we found out some interesting things about Tyler's mouth/teeth. I'll start by saying that it is ridiculous when they try to get him to bite down on the things to take the x-rays. He can't do it. He gags, coughs, and spits. Tyler is seven and until yesterday we have been unable to take an x-ray of his teeth because of these problems. Luckily, our dentist has the dental x-ray scanner thingy that just rotates around your head. Tyler was able to do this.
It looks something like this:

When Dr. Stobbe came into the room, he just stared at Ty's x-ray for a while without saying a word. Then, he said "This is something I have never seen before. Well, Tyler has a LOT of interesting things going on here." he then proceeded to tell me about Tyler's top row of teeth pointing things out on the x-ray image. For some reason the front permanent tooth is coming in diagonally. Then, his lateral incisor on the opposite side looks rather large. But on the other lateral incisor looks abnormally small. Dr. Stobbe is hoping that the small tooth is just sideways, but it could be a peg tooth (peg lateral).

This is an example of a peg tooth. It is kinda small and "peg" shaped.

Great. So then, after talking about treatments for things that may or may not happen with this odd top row, he says "OK, so on to the bottom teeth, which are REALLY weird." I'm thinking "Oh great, that's not all?!" He points out on the x-ray that we can see all the permanent teeth below his baby teeth. Yeah, I got that. Then, he shows me that underneath his central incisors on the bottom row, Tyler doesn't have any permanent teeth underneath the baby teeth. So now I know why he hasn't lost the two teeth everyone loses first. He doesn't have any permanent teeth to replace them! Dr. Stobbe said he has never seen this before. I know that it is relatively common to have missing permanent teeth. It is the fact that it is the front teeth and both of them that makes it unusual. He talked to me about how long baby teeth can last and that they may or may not last into adulthood, but that they will look abnormally small compared to all his other teeth (which they already do). BUT, that around 18 when all his other teeth are in, we can pull them and or put in some implants. I bet you can hear the super enthusiastic "wonderful" in my head. Sigh, well, he then asked if I have any questions. I looked at him and said "Nope, no questions I just need to start saving my money huh." he laughed and said that yes, Tyler would need some work done for sure. The funny thing was as Dr. Stobbe was talking to me, Tyler was oblivious to everything staring up at the TV. Dr. Stobbe kept saying things like "Now THIS is weird, I, uh, mean "special." He was constantly saying this and that was weird and then substituting the word "weird" for "special" and then looking down at Tyler to see if he heard. He makes me laugh. So now, we play a wait and see game until we can actually do something to correct the problems.

I, for one, TOTALLY blame Randy's side of the family for this one. ;)

I know a couple of you may be interested in seeing the x-ray. Here is a scanned copy of Tyler's x-ray printout we asked for. (He has lost 3 baby teeth his bottom lateral incisors and his front right tooth.)

FYI, by hour two and a half at the dentist, it was finally my turn. Dr. Stobbe told me "You are the last patient of the day and you have the healthiest gums we have seen today. Yeah, that's right, all my hard work is finally paying off! Lol.

Rock Rewards Program

2011-05-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

We have an awesome yard. We have worked really hard on it for the past couple of years. Unbeknown to us, when we purchased the house and yard, we signed on for a rock rewards program. Here is how it works: every time you dig a hole in the yard, you are rewarded with a rock. Sometimes, if you are really lucky you are rewarded with two or three! I know you are jealous and are thinking "well, how big does the hole have to be to earn such a fantastic find?" Well, truth be known, the hole doesn't have to be big at all!

Starting out working in the yard, we weren't quite sure if the rock rewards program was the right thing for us. I know, I know, who wouldn't love getting FREE rocks all the time? Well, we sure didn't like the idea of breaking our backs each and every time we wanted to add a plant or shrub into our yard. But, unfortunately, once you sign on for the rock rewards program, you are in it for life...or the duration of your yard work.

If you know Randy and I, you know that we are savers. And I'm not just talking money. We have been saving our rocks for a really long time. This weekend we were finally able to put our saved rocks to some use. Most of the rocks we have been saving are around this size. Some are bigger, some are smaller, but most rewards were right about this big.Not too shabby right? Rock rewards at its best I always say! Anyway, Randy and I worked on our parking strips for two days this weekend. I planted some plants and he put down some weed barrier in the parking strips.

Here are some of the new plants I planted. I also planted 6 new plants into the parking strips.

We got 5 yards of bark and shoveled and raked it into the parking strips over the weed barrier. Then, wait for it, wait for it...we added the ROCKS! I know I know it is super exciting after all the waiting and saving. It was hard to hold onto all those rocks sometimes especially when you have so many and you feel like you wouldn't miss one or two. But saving prevailed and our patience paid off and voila! There you have it. Finished rock, bark and plant parking strips.

Here is a peak at what it looks like. I'll even give you a before and after sort of behind the scenes look. Hold on to your hats...

Before

After

Before

After
FYI: These are only the large rocks we have saved. We still have an emergency rock pile of the small rocks just in case. Whew, I don't know if I would feel as secure using the big rocks without having the small rocks as a back up.

Needless to say, our new motto is:"Rock rewards worked for us!" -wink and smile.

Wow, That's a Lot Of Cake!

2011-05-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

I was asked in January if I would help make a cake for the stake Sunday school fireside on May 1st. So this past weekend I was busy busy baking and making a cake for the occasion. My friend Justin had me copy the design of the cake he used on the invitation to the event. I think it turned out pretty good.

The cake with the invitation.
The fireside was all about "how do you serve the gospel" He asked for a volunteer and asked if they wanted a piece of cake and then cut him a piece and smashed it all over the guys shirt. Then he asked for another volunteer and gave them a slice of cake on fine china with a fork and napkin. He then proceeded to ask us how we serve the gospel. Do we shove it in other peoples faces or do we hand it to them on a silver platter and wait for them to receive it?The cake.
Yes I know "the Gospel" is messed up; the more I touched it the worse it got. Yes I know that saying "the gospel is messed up" is funny in and of itself and I couldn't stifle a giggle as I typed it.

I loved the edible pearls I bought on Etsy. They are really cool. FYI the bottom layer is about 4 cake mixes and 16 inches wide. It was huge and very difficult for me to work with/carry. The bottom and top layer were french vanilla cake with almond butter-cream frosting and the middle layer was lemon cake with almond butter-cream frosting as well. I have to say, they turned out to be pretty tasty. I received many compliments on the flavor/moistness of the cake.

The front and back of the cute program for the fireside/workshop. It was wonderful and I learned a lot about teaching.

Another view of the cake.

I had my fair share of problems while I made it that's for sure. I had fondant cracking (I had to re-do two of the cakes fondant after failed attempts), I had letters peeling, swag falling off, an unsteady hand, my wrist still hurts today from all the kneading I did. I also had no place to put a cake that feeds 80 people! It also took me over 15 hours to finish the cake. That doesn't include the planning/preparing. But all in all it was an interesting experience. I am glad I had the opportunity to make it, and more importantly, I'm very glad that it is finished!

Easter Festivities

2011-04-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

We have had a fun Spring break this week. We went to the park often, slept in, went to the Zoo with some friends, and yesterday we visited my sister Michelle and her family in Layton. We had an Easter egg hunt in her backyard and made some treats. The kids had a wonderful time and did not want to leave.

Lily playing with baby Sarah's toys.

Savannah helping Lily find the eggs

Tyler finding an egg
The kids couldn't see that pink egg on top of the porch roof. I told them if they stood there, they should be able to see it...it took them a while before they actually saw it.
Enjoying the bounty.
Jake with his candy
Michelle and I made rice crispy treat eggs with M&M's inside that shook like a rattle. The kids loved them. Yes...we saw the commercial.inside the egg.

On Saturday morning while Randy and the kids were at the city Easter egg hunt, the actual Easter Bunny visited our house! It left us a note saying that he came a day early just for us. The bunny left us a dozen eggs and an egg coloring kit. It also filled up the kids Easter baskets with all kinds of goodies and then hid the baskets all around the house for us to find.

The eggs and note The Easter bunny left behind

Videos of the kids with their baskets.

We are so glad that we had a fun time this spring break. I am especially glad that the Easter bunny could come a day early so that we can celebrate what Easter is really about on Sunday. Happy Easter Everybody!

For Grandma

2011-04-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

I was talking on the phone with my Grandma yesterday while I made cookies for my relief society lesson. She asked me to post them on the blog so she could see them. So, here are photos I took yesterday Grandma.

I taught my lesson today on "Tithes and Offerings" and I used these cookies for my object lesson. They are supposed to look like money (if you couldn't tell).

r
I lined up 10 cookies on the table and asked for 10 volunteers. I had each volunteer hold a sign that represented part of a monthly budget. These are the signs I had them hold.

1. Mortgage

2. Utilities

3. Gasoline

4. School

5. Grocery

6. SALE (at Bath and body works or whatever store)

7. Birthday

8. Doctor

9. Insurance

10. Tithing/Phone

I gave each woman a cookie/money for the budget item they represent. When you get to the last person say “Oh, shoot, the phone bill is due”…and take a bite of the cookie and say “I can just take a little bit of the tithing money right? The Lord will understand I still have bills to pay and could pay only part of his tithing this month. I even took it a step further and took another chunk off of the tithing cookie because "the kids were texting too much this month"

So, what is the moral of the story? What better choices could we have made? When we choose to pay the lord first it not only is easier to pay, but it changes the way the whole monthly budget flows. I have read a lot of financial books and they always say “pay yourself first” because at the end of the month you won’t have enough money left over (or very little money) to pay yourself. When writing a budget, you make a list of expected expenditures in order of priority. When you choose to pay the lord first, it shows him that He is our first priority. In doing so, we will surely be blessed.

Anyway, that was just part of my lesson and everyone got a cookie. who doesn't like cookies in the shape of money? Two good things are better than one any day.

I gave some extra cookies to my little cookie monsters as well. Here are way to many photos of them eating them outside last evening.

Love AND cookies.

Cookie Cutie

Beautiful Me

2011-04-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we look better than others. The awkward Jr high and teen years are called awkward for a reason. my friend Catie put a photo of herself on her blog. A photo she deems "hideous." She challenged her readers to beat that photo and post theirs for a good laugh. here is one of my less than fine moments caught on camera.note the hair falling out of the 1/2 ponytail, the unruly main straightened and then curled again. I tried and failed. The bangs...oh the bangs.. The EYEBROWS! The gray shirt that looks like long-johns At LEAST my two front teeth had been taken care of by this time. I had to add a photo of the teeth/ hair/ shirt/eyebrows of this next photo. I'll let you guys decide which is worse.

There you go Catie! I think I look much worse in both of these than you do in your photo. At least my bra isn't showing though...:) I'll also challenge MY friends to beat me in finding the most hideous photo and share it with the world.

It's a Hair Thing

2011-04-05T15:28:00.001-07:00

I decided to buy this online for 5 bucks.

It's the topsy tail tool.

I remember using it as a kid. So yes it is a very old product. BUT if you want to flip hair through itself in a ponytail, there is no better way to do it. So stinking easy to use. Look what I did with it today.
Yes, I'm totally impressed with myself. (and her for sitting. Thank goodness for "Super Why") She sat so patiently and hardly noticed any pulling. So much easier than flipping it by hand. I highly recommend buying it for little girls' hair. The package came written in Chinese I think, so...there is a downside there, but I can look up instructions right?

Oh, while I'm posting about hair...I attempted a french braid the other day..

Girls are SO much more fun than boys!

Conference Breakfast Pictures

2011-04-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't attempt a prophet pancake but opted instead for my previous plan. Lily with a yummy strawberry

We had pull-aparts, hard boiled eggs and a fruit plate with oranges, strawberries and pineapple with yogurt to dip the fruit in. It was a lot less stressful than a prophet pancake would be. Maybe someday I'll attempt it though. No, Tyler wasn't upset at all. :)

Conference Breakfast

2011-04-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Tyler says: "Mom? are we going to have a special Conference breakfast again?" I say "yes." He says: "OK, can you make pancakes in the shape of the Prophet please?" ...uh...we'll see...

Robot Babysitter

2011-03-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

Some days it would be nice to have a robot babysitter on hand to just...you know, watch my kids for 5 or 10 minutes. This would be especially nice at times when I "Just need to run to the school to pick up Tyler and the baby is sleeping and I don't want to wake her for a 10 minute run" or when "I have to run into the store to grab ONE item and I don't want to take the kids in and out of the car-seats again." or when "I have to walk Tyler to his piano lesson just down the street but he is scared to walk by himself and another child refuses to come or is sleeping." I think this robot should be able to handle my kids for short spouts when parenting isn't really needed unless something catastrophic happens right? I'm so tired of waking Jacob to take Tyler to school and waking Lily to pick Tyler up from school. Or maybe for those times when I just need to "hide" from the kiddos for 10 minutes for my own sanity. Anybody have a spare robot babysitter laying around? Or even a single/married stay at home person available at any hour who is nearby who would love to watch my kids on whatever whim I happen to have.Thanks,
Heather

St. Patrick's Day hair

2011-03-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

My attempt at a 3 leaf clover..

This is what it was supposed to look like. :) Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Feeling slightly better

2011-03-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Giving kisses to daddy

giving cookies to mommy

My four favorite people

Even had some time to serve up a tea party with her new set Grandma Aird gave her.

Happy 2nd Birthday to Lily

2011-03-13T09:52:00.001-07:00

Lily is 2 today! I can't believe how fast these last two years have gone. I was sitting with Lily in the insta-care waiting room when we should have been in sacrament meeting, I was thinking about the day she was born. It was a fun and interesting birth experience. I'm so glad that she is a part of our family. I was also thinking about how it sucked that as we were checking her in withe the secretary, the doctor called (I could hear her on the phone as she talked to the receptionist) and she said that she overslept and would be in the office in 1/2 hour. I knew Lil's and I were in for a long wait. An hour and 15 minutes later we found out Lily (who had strep last week and hasn't finished her antibiotics yet) is allergic to amoxicillin; hence the giant rash all over her body last night and this morning. She has a tiny fever as well. But her strep test came back negative, so that's good right? We are taking benadryl and Triaminic and the doc says in a few hours she should be good as new. But until then we will cuddle and wait for those nasty itchy bumps to go away. It's not much fun to be 2 so far...maybe the rest of the day will be better.

Oh, but I did make a cake yesterday. And you KNOW I like to make cakes. Especially a cake for my little princess...
Hence the princess/heart theme.
Simple and sweet. Just like my girl.

Four

2011-03-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

We had a dinosaur party

Dinosaurs playing don't eat Pete

Dinosaur cake. Jake said it looks like a horse and Randy says it looks like a crocodile with odd legs. well, I tried.

Jake had a lot of helping hands to open presents.

Happy birthday to my Jakey! I love you sweet boy!

New Thhmile

2011-02-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

Thhho Thweet.

Also...

2011-02-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

Ben is the Great West player of the week! You can see it here http://www.greatwestconference.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022111aaa.html

Is he freaking awesome or what? Here are some video highlights from the ND game on Saturday.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

So Proud

2011-02-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

Of my little brother Ben. We were able to attend his basketball game last night (as well as Thursday night). It is so much fun to watch him and listen to Jacob yell "GO UNCLE BEN!" or "GO BASKETBALL BEN!" I made Lily and Jake some T-shirts that I haven't had a chance to take a picture of yet. It has the wolverine symbol and then it says "BEN AIRD..he's my uncle!" on it with his number 34 at the bottom.

here is an article from the daily herald about the game last night. You can also find it here. I'm hoping to find the video of the Alley oop that everyone is talking about on Youtube. I missed when I went to the restroom! I haven't been able to find it thus far though.That game winning dunk he had was so sweet! I'm glad I didn't miss that one.

Big Ben helps UVU edge North Dakota

Utah Valley center Ben Aird drives against Cincinnati forward Ibrahima Thomas in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Cincinnati on Dec.11.

There are game-winning jumpers, game winning 3-pointers and game winning free throws, but a game winning dunk, now that's a new one.

Utah Valley University freshman Ben Aird did a little bit of everything on Saturday night. He was 4-for-4 from the free throw line, he knocked down his only 3-point attempt, had seven rebounds and two steals, but what he did with 15 seconds left in the game topped them all.

A one-handed dunk that proved to be the difference in the game as UVU rallied to beat North Dakota 67-64.

North Dakota took a 64-63 lead after Troy Huff made one of two free throws with 1:48 left in the game. Neither team could convert on their next possession, but UVU got the game-winner when Geddes Robinson found some room in the paint. When he was confronted, he slipped a pass to Aird, who threw down a dunk to give UVU a 65-64 lead with 15 seconds left in the game.

UVU coach Dick Hunsaker did not allow Aird to be interviewed after the game, but Robinson described his version of the big play.

"The whole game they have been doubling down on the post so when I went to the basket my guy was there and Ben's man help over, I knew where he was going to be at so I got my eyes on the target and tried to get it to him any way I could."

After a North Dakota timeout., Josh Schuler missed two free throws with five seconds left. Aird came down with the rebound and got the ball to Isiah Williams, who was fouled with three seconds remaining.

Williams made both free throws to put the Wolverines up 67-64. North Dakota's Patrick Mitchell got off a 3-pointer from a few feet behind the 3-point line as time expired, but it was off the mark.

"It was a terrific game. A hard fought game. A physical game. A lot of runs in both directions," Hunsaker. "They really came out and put us knocked us on our cans to start the game, but we were able to play through it."

UVU led 51-43 after Aird scored with 8:30 left in the game, but the Fighting Sioux charged back to tie the game at 53 with 5:42 remaining. After a Wolverine timeout, Isiah Williams knocked down a 3-pointer, but North Dakota then got hot. The Fighting Sioux went ahead 63-58, their largest lead of the game after a Jamal Webb 3-pointer.

Robinson pulled down a crucial offensive rebound and scored and Holton Hunsaker promptly hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 63 with two minutes left.

It turned out to be a game of runs just as the first meeting of the year did when UVU beat North Dakota in four overtimes.

UVU fell behind 12-1 to start the game and needed the rest of the half to catch North Dakota. The Wolverines finally did when Aird hit a 3-pointer with a minute left in the half. UVU scored just before the half ended to give the Wolverines a 29-27 lead at the break.

Aird finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Holton Hunsker scored 15 points and made four 3-pointers. The Wolverines also got an inspired effort from Keith Thompson off the bench. He scored eight points in just nine minutes of work.

The win helped UVU improve to 9-1 in conference play and 17-10 overall. North Dakota is now 5-3, and 13-12.

The Wolverines will now have a week off before they host Houston Baptist next Saturday.

Piece of Cake...almost.

2011-02-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

On Friday I went up to my sister Michelle's house for a cake baking party. I wanted to try to stack a cake and she happened to have two birthday kids needing cakes for a party on Saturday. She was nice to let me step in and take over her kitchen for about six hours. We had a lot of fun chatting while we worked.

The cakes didn't turn out exactly how I pictured in my head, but I am improving and I learned a lot in the process. I tried using fondant for the first time and it was trickier than I had thought it would be, but I think with a little more practice fondant and I may become good friends. This is Michelle's son Will's cake. Turned out pretty cute I must say, but this was the "easier cake"

this is Baby Sarah's first birthday cake. It is pretty cute, especially considering it was my first stacked cake and my first time using fondant. (Which I did not roll out thin enough)

Sarah LOVES animals so on Thursday I made some cute little animals to attach on the cake using modeling chocolate and my edible markers. I just cut out the shapes myself.

I told Michelle before we added the bow/modeling chocolate all over the cakes that it looked like a giant partially melted marshmallow. But, we decorated the giant marshmallow anyway and Sarah loved it. Thanks Michelle for letting me come play! you can see party pictures on her blog here.

Who doesn't like to win stuff?

2011-02-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned my sister-in-law and her husband's book review blog before, but they are doing a book giveaway! I think you should check the site out. it is HERE Plus, while you are there, you can check out my other guest book review of Midwives by Christ Bohjalain on their site here. Have a nice day!

Bye Bye Banana leaves!

2011-02-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

While Randy was out of town last week, (before I got sick) I made over our downstairs bathroom. The bathroom was 'finished" in our unfinished basement before we moved into our house (nearly four years ago) and we finished the whole basement, but we hadn't touched the bathroom...until now.You see those gorgeous banana leaves that the previous owner hand painted onto the wall?..Well, they are gone now. Am I sad? No.

Will I miss the yellow, orange, purple paint around my bathroom? No I wont.

Maybe I'm sad that the pee colored baseboards are painted the same cream color as the other trim in the basement. No, not really sad about that either.

Am I sad that our guests won't get to hop out of the shower onto a scrap piece of carpet? No, these rugs, although close to the same color are much softer and nicer looking than pee stained scrap carpet.

The only thing I was sad about was when I bought these two pictures and put them in the bathroom and ran to get a hammer and nail to hang them up and when I came back into the bathroom two seconds later, Lily tripped and fell on one and shattered the glass. I was mad. Very mad/sad. But, I just decided to break the glass in the other picture and hang them up so they would match. No big deal right?

Now, you may have noticed that the towel rack was not fixed. You are right. I tried to fix it but failed. That's what husbands are for right? Let's hope so.

Where did the weekend go?

2011-01-30T11:07:00.000-08:00

All right, since I'm sitting here, I may as well let you know what's going on at our house. I am so so sick. I had a girls day at my sister Michelle's house on Thursday and I woke achy and slightly congested. So, I took some dayquill and headed up there anyway. At her house, I started getting chills and pretty much sat on the couch with my coat on and a blanket around me while the kids played. On the way home from her house I was trying to get to Tyler's school to pick him up and I was feverish the whole time. When we got home from the school around 4:00PM all I could do was crawl into bed and lay there. Tyler was a champ and took Lily and Jake downstairs and entertained them for me while I tried not to die. Every once in a while I would hear Tyler tell the kids to be quiet or not to go upstairs and bug mom. what a sweetheart. Randy came home from work and he felt my head and told me we were going to the insta-care to see if they could give me anything because he couldn't take work off on Friday and I was too sick. I went to the insta-care and my fever had gone down, but was still at 101.6. I felt terrible. they tested me for strep throat and the flu, but both tests came back negative. The doctor told me he had seen 4 other people that same day with my same symptoms but no positive tests. He assumed it is a virus but gave me prescription antibiotics anyway.

Friday: feeling slightly better, still achy, coughing, no fever. no energy. I literally stayed in bed all day and luckily the kids didn't kill themselves or one another, and Randy picked Ty up from school. It is kinda fuzzy and I think I just slept a lot.

Saturday: I decided to get up and shower and go to Tyler's Jr. Jazz game thinking that if I just got going I would feel better. After the game I didn't feel great though, so back to bed I went. I missed going to my brother Ben's UVU game, but Randy took the boys. Saturday night...the worst night of all of them. I had fevers, couldn't breathe and woke almost every hour through the night (even though I took NyQuil) . I split my lip sleeping with my mouth open.

Sunday: Feeling terrible still. Randy took the boys to church and I stayed home with sweet (healthy) Lily. She's cute, but I'm sick of her crawling all over me today. I'm still achy all over, even more congested, have a terrible headache and this cough is getting to me. Shouldn't I be better by now? Geeze. This thing is seriously kicking my butt. I hope the kids and Randy don't catch it. Oh, and someone broke into Randy's car last night and also into our outdoor cupboard in our car port.

Hopefully if you are reading this, your day is going much better than mine!

That Boy, This girl.

2011-01-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

That boy wants to be like his brother and plays the piano all the time.

That boy continues to make this pose every single time I pull out the camera. I'm not sure what he is going for, but if it is weird, than I think he nailed it.

That boy does not want to do whatever I ask him to do no matter what it is. And I can't find his 'currency' so I can't use anything against him that he isn't willing to part with. It makes for difficult parenting situations a lot of the time. Oh, and he has one volume and it is LOUD all the time. Seriously, in the middle of the night if he has had a bad dream he comes up to me in my bed and in full voice says "MOM CAN I SLEEP WITH YOU?!?" waking the entire neighborhood I'm sure.

That being said, that boy has me wrapped around his finger. And can pull the sweet innocent card any time he feels like it and I melt.

this girl is adorable

This is what this girl looks like upside down while being tickled by her daddy.

When this girl gets upset that she can't have something she wants, she looks right at me and says the only "bad word" she knows. she says "BUM! BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM!!" because she knows I tell her and the boys not to say 'potty words' like that. Isn't she a little young for that kind of attitude?

But that girl LOVES to do whatever this boy is doing. Much to his dismay most days.

But that boy loves this girl and tolerates her presence a lot more than I would expect him to.

they both are hams for the camera and cheesy faces and props make it more fun right?

And finally, because I'm a mommy and am ingrained with the innate desire to show all my children in my blog posts, without leaving anyone out, I give you...three happy children all at the SAME time. Amazing I know, ...consider me for mother of the year would you?

Cause that's who we are

2011-01-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

I grew up in a "basketball family." My family doesn't just play basketball we watch basketball and talk basketball as well. While this doesn't always involve the entire family, it seems that many family functions revolve around basketball in some way or another. So it shouldn't have been a surprise when Tyler said that he "wants to play basketball like uncle Ben" --we mostly call him "basketball Ben" and he plays for UVU right now as a starting freshman-- But it was.

So, without further ado, I give you "Basketball Tyler" in his first Jr. Jazz game ever.He is the cute number 19

I love that you can hear Jake yell "Go Tyler!" on the video. What a good little brother.

I made the cut

2011-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

My brother and sister-in-law have a book blog and I had the opportunity to contribute to it. Check it out here. I've always wanted to be a guest blogger.;) thanks guys.
-Heather