.: May 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009

The end is almost here!...actually...THE BEGINNING!

So with just a few weeks left until Baby Olivia is here, I wanted to just make a little entry about what has been happening with our family!

*We are pretty smooshed in our little apartment here waiting on ANYTHING to happen with our house. But we are grateful for the pool and playground that keeps us busy 90% of the time.

*Brady is training for the Spudman Tri-ath-alon in July..shortly after Olivia arrives! He is doing GREAT in preparing for it!

*McKaylee and Brinley are in school for about another month...and Alex finishes pre-school in 2 weeks

*Brinley will be baptized next week and we can't wait!

*Mom..(me) is about the size of a hippo and doesn't do much of anything since her BP has been up and down. Now back up! (Spent Friday afternoon at AVH Women's Center having a Fetal Non-Stress Test. ) But all is well..I just have to take it easy this last little bit!
***Overall, we are all healthy, happy and can't wait for Olivia to arrive!!*

And now for an "ODE TO MY LITTLE FAMILY"
(OK, not so much an ode...as a note)

Dear Brady, McKaylee, Brinley and Bubba,

Thank you all so much for being so patient with me over the last several months! It's not easy being pregnant! :) I know I have been grumpier, more tired, and probably just not as fun of a mom as I could be! But I'm almost done and soon we will have our little princess, Olivia here and you will also have your mom back! I can't wait....and I know you can't either!
Brady, thanks so much for being so understanding and tolerant of my mood swings...ugh!
Kids, thanks for helping take care of me this last little bit by helping me pick up stuff off the floor, so I don't have to bend down...and just doing extra little things to make it easier for mom!
I love you all so much and am so blessed to be your mom!!!
Love,
Mom
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Dear Baby Olivia,

We are so excited for you to come to our family! Your brother and sisters can hardly wait! A few days ago, we got all of your clothes washed and ready and it just got us all so excited for you to come to our family! Bubba sings to you and kisses my tummy ALL the time! And McKaylee and Brinley light up every time we even talk about you! They both sat here the other night feeling my tummy as you were kicking me like CRAZY and got so excited! I also know your Daddy can't wait for you to be here! He can't wait to hold and kiss you!

We know you are leaving a beautiful place with all of the people that both you and we love so much, but can't wait for you to come to earth to be a part of our family! ...We are pretty great too!! :) We'll see you soon......but don't come 'til you are ready, unless you really really want to!
Love,
Mom

Olivia.....We can't wait to have a new family picture with our sweet Princess finally here!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy 8th Birthday Brinley!!!

I can't believe my little Brinley is 8 years old today!
Brinley, Brinley, Brinley..............You are so much like your mom in sooooo many ways!
Sometimes it freaks me out a little bit at how much of myself I see in you!
You are such a happy little girl! You love to make people laugh! You just bring a smile to every one's face that is around you!

You have such a contagious little laugh! I love to listen to you laugh! Especially when it is one of your "gut" laughs! People can't help but laugh with you!!!

You have such a sweet little spirit and are so thoughtful! I love how you love writing little notes and doing things for me and for others!

I love how absolutely carefree you are 99% of the time! Again, just like your mom! :) You bring such a happy, fun spirit into our home and we love you so much! You help me remember that life is too short to worry about the "little things" and to just ENJOY EACH MOMENT! Life would definitely not be as exciting without you and your fun little spunky personality in our home!

I love you so much and am so proud of you!! You are also such a good friend to your brother and sister! We love you Brinley!!!.....And can't wait for your Baptism in a few weeks!!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Brinley's 2nd Grade Wax Museum and 8th Bday party!

Yesterday, Brinley had her 2nd Grade Wax Museum. All of the kids pick a famous person...past or present and study about them and then you go up and push their little button and they give you a 30 second description of who they are! So Brinley decided to be the GREAT Julie Andrews. She dressed up like Mary Poppins and at the very end of her little shpeel...said, "Some say, I'm 'Practically peeerrfect in every way!' " It was so cute! She did it with the accent and everything! She did such a great job! Way to go Brin!

Bubba thought it was the greatest thing EVER! He kept going around to all the kids and pushing their buttons to hear what they had to say.....especially all of the athletes! He was AMAZED at the whole thing!

Really...could she be any cuter?? Brinley, you made a great Julie Andrews!

For our kids 8th birthday's we have gotten them a limo and let them pick up their cousins and drive around for a bit and then spend the night at a hotel with everyone! It was so much fun!!!
Brinley was soooooo excited and we had such a great time! We used the same Limo Company we did for McKaylee's, All Transportation ...They do such a great job and are pretty cheap compared to many others. This year we got to ride in the only Lexus limo in Utah. It was really nice and the kids had a blast! We drove down to Gateway and the kids got to roll the windows down and wave to everyone as we drove through!

Then we went to a hotel and had her little party and stayed the night with her cousins! They were crazy hyper and had such a fun time!

Happy Birthday Brinley! ....Her birthday is actually Monday/Memorial day so we will be celebrating it with family then too!

Friday, May 15, 2009

McKaylee's Piano Federation and Choir Concert

McKaylee had her first ever Piano Federation a few weeks ago. For those of you who are not familiar with Federation, it is where you memorize and try to perfect your pieces then go in front of 3 judges and are judged on each piece. I did it growing up along with my sisters, and it was much different! It was up at the U of U in a HUGE room and was so intimidating and scary. This was much different. It was just at Riverton Music in a fairly small room. Although I know McKaylee was still pretty nervous. But she did GREAT! And got all SUPERIORS!!!!! That is pretty amazing on your first Federation! So WAY TO GO MCKAYLEE! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

Last night McKaylee had her School Choir performance! It was great! They worked really hard with these kids! The kids went to Choir practice twice a week at 7:30 am for 8 months to prepare for their performance! They all really did such a great job!

Brin and Bubba had a hard time sitting still for the entire hour, but did pretty good considering!

McKaylee sitting with her good friends, Hannah and Haylee.

McKaylee and Grandma Zella

Cute picture....ignore the puffy whale in the middle!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Apartment Sweet Apartment

We have made yet another move....YEP! We decided to relocate to some apartments out by our old house. It will be so much better since the girls have 2 more months of school, piano lessons, and Bubba has preschool a few times a week along with t-ball 2 days a week! We were really getting tired of the running BACK and FORTH several times a day! So we just decided since the whole "Short Sale" process on the home we want is taking FOREVER, we would try and get somewhat settled somewhere before the baby comes!

Last night was our first night here, and I was a little nervous about noise, but I didn't hear a thing the entire night!!! I must say the most annoying thing about being in the apartments is having to take Hank out in the middle of the night to go potty! It's a little trek out to the "dog potty area" so that was a joke! And he got up twice last night!!!
But overall, it's not so bad! We're a little smooshed in here, but the kids think it is GREAT! And the pool opens tomorrow so that is a perk!

This is Bubba and Hank just chillin' out on the patio!

We have the kids all in one room! They actually love it! Thanks to my mom for all of the "make shift" bedding! We had to get all new sheets, pillows, etc...All of our stuff is packed DEEP in storage!

My kids thought I was the greatest mom in the world because I let them each pick out a poster to go above their bed..........ONLY FOR THE APARTMENT! They were a little upset when I told them the posters would NOT be coming with us to the new house! :)

Here's the greatest part! It's like Recess 24/7 around here! And I can sit in here in the family room with the screen door open and actually hear everything going on out there! And there are a million kids! My kids LOVE it and have already made so many friends! This will be GREAT for the summer! My kids may not want to leave having the pool, playground and all the other fun stuff! :)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Sisters....and soon to be cousins...

So this is the first time that any of us as sisters have been pregnant together! And it is so fun! I am due June 29th and my baby sister Kristin is expecting her 2nd baby on July 24th. ...As you can see, she is quite a big smaller than me. :) It is so fun being pregnant together! They are not finding out the gender on this baby so we are so excited to see if our baby Olivia will have a boy or girl cousin to play with!

Soon we'll have 2 sweet little babies instead of these GINORMOUS bellies! Can't wait!!!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Love Notes and McKaylee's birthday

The other day, I was at home with the kids and they all surprised me with these fun love notes! I LOVE getting love notes! They knew I had been having one of those days and needed an extra boost! Not sure what gave it away, the fact that I was completely SOBBING to Brady on the phone, Just plain ornery with them or maybe it was when I locked myself in the bathroom and cried for 20 minutes!!! I love them so much! My mom has always been the greatest giver of Love Notes and I love doing it for my kids too! They truly did make my day! Here are a few of them that they made for me!

These were from McKaylee..."Good for" coupons! :)

This one is a snake eating a tootsie roll made by Bubba!...He knows I LOVE my tootsies!

Brinley made a bunch of these "Clean ticits"(tickets) for them to do jobs for me!

McKaylee's to me..."Good for 5 cleanings, 2 bed makings, good for 8 anythings. "

(She knows I DESPISE making the bed right now. It's so hard to maneuver around the bed when you are as big as a house! )

Another from McKaylee...This one for Brady..it says, "Good for 5 cleanings, 8 anythings, and you take me ONLY to the bike shop and I help there! j/k unless you really want it!

This is from Brinley..."Hi Mom, I love you so much. Can I play with Abby? You make me Smiale. I love you. You are so speshil to me. I love the way you smile. I love you love Brinley"

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We went to Fat Cat's on McKaylee's birthday! We always let them choose where they want to go as a family, and she chose Fat Cats! They had a great time bowling. I had a great time watching!

Earlier that day, on McKaylee's birthday, Grandma Zella took her and Brinley "sporting" to get some fun stuff for BOTH of their birthdays! They had a great time and got some cute stuff too!

Thanks Grandma!

Kids say the darndest things.....

9.1.10 Today Alex is home with the Stomach flu. It is so sad. I hate when my kids are sick. He has been in the bathroom every 15 minutes and just runs around the house holding his stomach crying! He said to me this am, "I'm never gonna get better! Can we PLEASE go to the dr?" When I explained that the dr can't do much for the flu he said, "Can you call and see if they like have a different kind of stomach I can use or something just til mine isn't sick anymore?"

4.29.10 So I was out late..late... tonight after a fun Jewelry party. I got to stay and chat with some good friends. About 1:00am, Alex climbed into bed with Brady and said, "I just didn't want you to be lonely since mom's not home yet!"

3.22.10 Brinley came up to me yesterday and said, "Mom, what does 'maturation' mean?" (McKaylee has her Maturation program tomorrow) So I said, "Its where you learn about how your body matures, and what changes your body will be having in the next few years."

She looked at me, giggled and said, "Oh yah, So they are pretty much just gonna talk about getting boobs?"

3.23.10 Yesterday, Alex came rushing in the kitchen and said, "Mom!! Can we go to the store today? There is something that we need on the Breakfast Isle!" So I said, "Ok, what is it?" He said, "Hang on!" and ran back into my bedroom to rewind the commercial he was just watching. Then came back out and said, "Frosted Flakes! Cause they make you play soccer better so I need them!"

2.26.10 Our kids are constantly DISGUSTED by any affection Brady and I show toward each other. They are constantly saying, "Get a Room!!" Not sure where they learned that. A few weeks ago, Brady and I were having a discussion at the dinner table and we decided we couldn't go into the whole discussion in front of the kids, so Brady said, "We'll talk about it later in our bedroom". And Brinley starts giggling and says, "Oh, I know why you are gonna "talk" in your bedroom.." ( she actually did the air quotes too! Then she said, "That's code for lets kiss"....sheesh. Where does she come up with these things?

2.26.10 Bubba had an eye infection a few weeks back and I told him that we needed to go to the doctor and that all he would do is shine a light in his eyes to check them. He looked at me and started bawling and said, "I don't want him to put a light in my eyes cause that will make me have different hair".. ...HUH? I had no clue what was going on in that little head of his so I asked what he was talking about and he said. "If you shine a light in someone's eyes it makes them blonde"..(not sure that he even knows that he is blonde, but to him this meant he would have different hair...HILARIOUS! ) He has always heard us say, "Don't shine the flashlight in someone's eyes cause it can make them go BLIND". So funny!

2.08.10 Today me and the kids were watching Michael Jackson's "This Is It" and I was explaining to the kids how several parts of the movie were filmed just a few days before he died. During one of the songs, "Jam", Alex turned to me and said, "So did he do this one while he was up in heaven? And are those dancers up in heaven with him?"

Funny. Then a few minutes later he said, "So is he in our heaven?" and I said, "I don't know. Probably." Then he said, "Oh that's awesome. He's probably up there taking care of Jada's dog, Lexi. (who died a few months ago! )

2.08.10 This morning, Alex and I were talking while we were having breakfast and out of the blue he said.."I know why Jesus died for us" So I said, "You do? Why?" Then he said, " So we could live" I said, "You are right! Wasn't that amazing that he would do that for us?" Then he said, "Yah. And I know he died on the cross, but what does that mean?" So I explained to him that the wicked people put nails through his hands and feet and then just left him there to suffer ........He sat there for about 30 seconds without saying anything and just looking at the ground and said, "He must really love us cause I bet that hurt him so bad. I can't believe he did that!" .....WOW! What a great moment as a parent to have your child truly understand what Christ went through for us.

11.14.09 The other morning we were kneeling to have family prayer before I rushed off to my hair appointment and Brady left to work. Sadie, my neice was coming over to babysit and the last few times she has come, Bubba has been sooooooo naughty and said horribly naughty things to her so during the prayer I said, "Please bless Alex, McKaylee, Brinley and ALEX to be good" (making sure he heard me) well he did..and he whispered, "Mom, you already said Alex". :) ....Then when Sadie was over he of course had a few naughty moments and said the dreaded words, "I hate you" well, when he found out he didn't get the little prize I brought home for him he said, "Mom, I didn't say 'I hate you' I promise! I said 'I ate you' cause I was hungry! " .....Man that kids thinks he is just too smart!

8.26.09 A few days ago during family prayer Alex said this,

"And please bless everyone to feel good and not be sick, except for bad guys".....So there you have it. If any of you Robbers or murderers out there have been feeling under the weather, well, now you know why!

7.17.09 So tonight we were sitting around talking with the kids and I explained to them that not all mom's "breastfeed". McKaylee said, "Really? I didn't know that! " and Brinley said, "That's not weird, I'm for sure not going to!" So I asked her why and she said, "Because it's so GROSS!" Then she stood up and pointed to her boobs and said, "These precious things don't ever wanna be touched!".........................WHAT??? Seriously! Not sure where she comes up with these things!

7.14.09 The other day when we were going thru our new house I was showing my sister around and had showed her the "office" in the front of the house. When we were leaving, Alex came up to me and Kristin and said, "Hey! Dad doesn't have to go to work anymore cause he has an "office" in this house!"

6.15.09 The other morning I was in talking to Brady about a conversation I had with a friend..I used the term, "She threw me under the bus" ...and about 2 seconds later, Alex came running in and said, "WHAT? She threw you on top of a bus? THAT'S MEAN!"

5.30.09 Last night I was down on my hands and knees in my P.J's scrubbing the floor...(I know..quite a site! ) And Bubba came around the corner and said, "Whoa! Your bum is humungous! I thought baby Olivia was just in your tummy!" ....ahhhhh...Gotta love how honest your kids are!

5.19.09 Last night I was laying by Alex and out of the blue he said, "I don't wanna get married like you and Dad"...So I asked him why and he said, "Cause I don't ever want to kiss" Then I laughed and said, "Bubba, someday you will find a girl that you love and you won't mind kissing her when you are married." Then without even hesitating he said, "No....kissing is disgusting. I don't want to ever do it! It's gross!" So I just said, "Well, we'll see...maybe someday when you are all grown up you will like girls more!". Then after about 2 minutes of silence he said, "Ok...I'll marry Ashleigh. I would like to kiss her, I think!".....(Ashleigh is Brady's best friend Troy's 14 year old daughter!) So I said, "Oh yah, Ashleigh is nice and she's pretty". Then he said, "No mom, she's HOT!"

4.16.09 Alex had tball practice the other day and there is a darling little boy on his team who has Down Syndrome. Alex asked me why he was a little bit different and I said, "Well, he has special needs. He was born with something called Down Syndrome, but he is very sweet and you could be a good friend to him!" He sat there for a second and said, "Ah man, so can he run faster than everyone cause he has 'special knees?' "

4.04.09 Today my Dad was released as the General Young Men's President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We watched as Elder Uchdorf read his release. Brinley said, "Ooh, does that mean he won't go on as many trips?" And McKaylee said, "Does that mean he has to take the picture of him and all of the other YM President's down?" Then Alex turned to me with an extremely sad face and said, "So is Grandpa gonna still be funny?"

3.31.09 This morning while Alex and I were having breakfast he said, "Can I please name our baby?" So I said, "Why? What would you name her?" He said, "Rori Ana"...(My friend named her ADORABLE little girl Rori Ana...she is beautiful!)

So I said, "If we named her that, we would get her mixed up with Jennine's Rori Ana. " Then he said, "Well, I just really don't want a baby with no hair"..(we have bald, bald babies)

Then he said, "I think if we name her Rori Ana, she will have lots of black hair and be really pretty!"

3.23.09 So we decided that Hank needed to go stay with his friend Tweeder and Tweeders mom, Jennine for a bit, while we are at Brady's parents. It is much less stress on Grandpa! We are all pretty sad, but Alex has been soooooo sad! Tonight he said..in all seriousness. "If Hank is gonna sleep over at Jameson's, I am gonna just go to! And you won't have to worry about me cause Hank will be there too! You can just drop me off in the morning!" So sad! Thanks Jennine! You are a lifesaver!

3.14.09 Last week when we first started packing, Alex had been so so so excited to pack his stuff! He turned to me and said, "So are Tyson and Tanner and Jameson all packing their stuff too?" ....So sad. He really thought our whole circle would just pick up and leave with us! :( I would be dealing with things much better, if that were true!

3.09.09 I'm sitting out here on the couch after a LONG day of packing...along with everything else, and I can hear Brinley in her room singing herself to sleep with this sweet little lullaby..haha......"Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me. Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me..Don'tcha! Don'tcha!"...........Ahhhh, only Brinley...:)

2.26.09 Last night Alex was laying in my bed to go to sleep since Brady was gone. He turned to me and said, "When I get married to Jada (his cousin) we will probably kiss." And I said, "You will?" Then he said, "Yes! Cause after you get married, the guy says, 'You may now kiss the BRIGHT!'"

2.26.09 Yesterday Alex and I were at Target. He was sitting in the cart and a lady came behind us and couldn't get through the isle so she said, "Excuse me.." and walked through. Alex said (very loudly)..."That's DISGUSTING!" When I asked him what he was talking about he said, "That lady just walked by us and tooted!" I said, "She did?" and he said, "Yah! She said, 'excuse me' so that means she tooted...GROSS!"

2.07.09 Tonight Brinley got a letter in the mail from the Primary that said they were having a "Baptism" fireside tomorrow night for all of those who would be baptized this year. She is so excited about it, but keeps forgetting the word "Fireside"....Tonight she was saying her prayers and she said, "And bless me to have a good time at my 'campfire' tomorrow."

2.02.09 Me and the kids were in the car today, out running errands. I had none other than AEROSMITH playing ....of course! (Most of you know I am an Aerosmith fanatic!) The song, "Dude looks like a Lady" was on and Bubba said, "Yes!! I LOVE THIS SONG!" So I said, "Can you tell me who is singing?" Then he overly confident said, " Yep! It's Joseph Smith!!" Oooops! Pretty funny though, Aerosmith/Joseph Smith do sound a lot alike! I made sure to correct him though!

1.22.09 At the moment, Brinley is in her room absolutely sobbing...here's why. Brin has a hard time with constipation sometimes, so I told her she couldn't have any cheese for a few days because she LOVES cheese!! She ran in her room crying and said, "Why are you doing this to me? You are ruining my life! I cannot survive without cheese!" She just came out to me to apologize and said, "I'm sorry I freaked out.....but CHEESE, mom! This will be the hardest thing I ever have to do!" Ahhh....can't wait for her to read this when she is older!