Sunday, November 10, 2013

Extreme Patience

No matter what Reagan decides to do to Bella, that poor, sweet dog never flinches. She takes everything in stride, nothing that the kids can dish out seems to bother her. Bella has immense patience with my babies, my children, and for that I am forever grateful.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Coloring With Crayons

Haven and Jensen got out the crayon bucket for some afternoon entertainment today when Reagan decided she definitely needed to join them. She lasted only a few minutes before she decided that crayons made for a better snack than a coloring tool.
 
Jensen quickly lost interest too, leaving only Haven at the table to finish coloring her Halloween masterpiece.
 

Friday, October 25, 2013

Enjoying the Fall

It was such a warm day out, we couldn't keep Jensen and Reagan inside, they had to be out in the backyard. And with so many leaves already on the ground, there was no end to the entertainment.


At first they were having fun just filling the bucket with whatever leaves they could carry.
 
But that quickly turned into throwing the leaves in the air and at each other and trying to catch as many of them as they could.
 

Someone thought it was all very hilarious.
 

And then got right back to the business at hand.
 
  
 
  

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Like a Freight Train...

Ahhhh....comfy and cozy on the couch. And snoring like a freight train. How Bella doesn't wake herself up sometimes I will never know, she is just that loud.

Monday, October 21, 2013

A Wagon for Two

Craig surprised me today with our old wagon that he had restored and improved! He re-painted everything, welded the handle back on, and even re-fashioned the front wooden guard so that it swings open and closed for easy entry and exit for the kids. It's gorgeous! And of course the baby girls had to have a ride in it right away, so Haven happily loaded them up and hauled them all over the back yard. So nice to have our wagon back, and even better than before:)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

14 years

So, he's 14 years old today. Time flies. Way too fast. He's still a total sweetheart, not that he wants me saying that. I love him to pieces. The punk. I guess I have to admit he really is a teenager now. *sigh* He was such a fuzzy headed little baby. Again, time flies.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Reagan Starts To Walk

Tonight, Reagan finally started walking to and from places by herself. She just suddenly decided to walk from the cupboards over to the chair by herself. And was especially pleased as soon as we all cheered and clapped for her little baby stunt. The pictures are a bit blurry as they're action shots, but she sure is cute being such a big girl:)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Still Here

 I've been busy. I know, it's a lame excuse, but I really have had my hands full lately. Reagan turned 1 in May and we had a little family party for her, even giving her a cupcake of her own to demolish and eat, all for her big day. She loved it. While she isn't walking yet, she can, and has taken numerous steps by herself from point A to point B, but just isn't ready to walk all over. She cruises all of the furniture, and can also crawl like a speeding bullet, especially if she's trying to get to something she knows she's not supposed to have, and her sweet face lights up at the mere sight of Mama or Daddy. I can never resist her cute smile with all of her tiny little baby teeth, she is too cute!
 Summer is blazing by us it seems, with the kids enjoying their time off from school and me enjoying having the house full of them every day. I miss them when they're at school, the house is far too quiet with just the two little babies at home. I'm so excited that Craig is half way finished building the shelves in my sewing room, and I can't wait to put everything away and actually be organized and have everything out and ready to be used. I'm ready to be done with the endless stacks of totes filled with who-knows-what-sewing-notion. My goal of organizing and simplifying my life has been a work in progress, but one that has paid off in more ways than I could have anticipated.
 Life is peaceful more often than not, and I love that it's not hard to come by. Simple things done daily pay off with less stress and lots of clean spaces. Love it! My biggest goal was to get a handle on the laundry, it was so overwhelming. Every day I dreaded it. And ignored it. And wanted to cry over it. But no more! My laundry baskets are empty or half full most days, rarely over flowing, and I'm caught up with folding/putting away the clean clothes most days too. Miracles do happen folks:) Now to work on a way to continually have a clean and organized fridge.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

A Dog for Mothers Day

Her name is Bella.
She's a 3 years old Boxer.
We picked her up this afternoon.
We are so in love with her sweet squishy face <3
Happy Mothers day to me.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Reagan at 10 months

Reagan played Peek-a-Boo with me for the first time tonight while I was getting her ready for bed. As I was changing her diaper, she grabbed the pajamas I has laid out for her and began pulling them off and on her face. Every time she pulled them off her face I said 'peek-a-boo!' and she loved it! She quickly realized it was a game and loved hiding her face then quickly pulling the pajamas away to show me her big smile. She is so funny, and such a goof. Oh how I love this sweet baby girl.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Gracen's Baptism Day

Gracen was baptized Saturday April 6, 2013 by her Dad.
Afterwards, she changed into the special dress that each of her sisters has worn.
Ciel wore it first when she was sealed to both Craig and I in the Temple, then she wore it after her baptism. Then Haven wore it after her baptism, and now Gracen gets to wear it.
After her baptism we had a fun family dinner at our house with lots of cute cousins to play with. It was such a special day and we are so grateful we get to have Gracen in our family.
 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Family Seder

 This year, my sister Holly decided it would be a fun idea to have a family Seder. Yes, I realize we're L.D.S. and not Jewish, but we figured that since we have quite a bit of Jewish ancestry, and we enjoy learning more about other faiths, and the entire thing is really a great way to tell the Exodus story, that we would just go ahead.
 Everyones hard work paid off, and we had a great time. We sang an opening song, then my Mom lit the candles and said the opening prayer. My Dad told the story of Moses, Pharaoh and the Hebrew slaves, and my sister Holly explained when to taste everything on the plates in front of us and when to drink from the little cups too.The kids did pretty good sitting through everything (only about 30 minutes), and it was fun hearing my Dad tell the story of Moses. For the meal afterwards we tried to stay as closely as possible to the Kosher requirements, which my sister made sure to give a list of the do's and don'ts to us beforehand to make it simpler.
 My assignment was Matzo Ball soup, which i had never made before, nor eaten. Being totally unsure of where to start I of course googles it and read through numerous recipes online and watched several Matzo Ball how-to videos and realized it wasn't as hard as I thought. After quite a bit of reading I ended up combining several recipes into the one I used and it turned out delicious. I was surprised at how simple it really was to make. I am a total fan of Matzo Ball soup now, and frankly, I think I will be making that instead of Chicken Noodle from now on. It was so good, and so easy!
 I was amazed at how many people we seated at our house today, there were well over 40 of us! and yet we were able to seat everyone in my kitchen and dining room. Small miracles:) It helped that Craig and I now own two full size dining tables and 26 chairs just by ourselves, so my sister only had to bring two folding tables and chairs to round us out. Perks of a huge family? Yes, definitely.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Our Sweet Jemima

 After much research and discussion, we decided to buy another dog. I found a local trainer that ran a specialized program that trained puppies for 8-9 weeks where each puppy is potty trained and obedience trained and are prepared to come into your home and become a well mannered and loving member of your family. So I contacted the trainer and explained what I was looking for and she said she had just the dog for us. A Weimaraner named Sandy that was incredibly mellow and laid back, and just loved her people.
 I went out to meet her, and she was a doll! I knew she would be perfect. So we got everything ready, did all of the paperwork, and a week later we brought her home on March 1st. 
We re-named her Jemima, and she settled right in with us as if she knew she was ours. All of the kids were instantly in love and Jensen especially, calling at every minute for her "Mima", calling for her as she went to bed each night, and first thing as she woke up in the morning, always looking for her "Mima". Jensen adored her, and Jemima was so sweet and patient with her.
 But as happy as we were to bring our sweet puppy Jemima home on Friday, sadly we had to take her back only 3 days later Monday afternoon. We are heartbroken. It turns out I'm allergic to her, and my arms, from my fingers all the way up the back of my elbows broke out in itchy red bumps, basically everywhere her fur touched my skin. The reason I didn't know about this before is that our little Lucy (a 12 lb. Boston Terrier) had terrible skin issues and to snuggle her required wrapping her in a blanket to make sure we didn't aggravate her itching further so I had limited to zero fur-to-skin contact in the last few years. I also grew up with a Sheltie which is an incredibly fluffy little dog, so it seems my allergy has only recently developed.
 Sp right now we are just focusing on helping Jemima's trainer find her another home, which I know won't take long since she is simply the most incredible dog and the sweetest little love I have ever met. I am so annoyed with my stupid extra sensitive skin! I have had several suggestions about getting a poodle or poodle mix since they are considered hypoallergenic and a great dog for some allergy sufferers, but before I dive into another new dog and getting my kids attached again, I will test my skin against Grammy Lesa's Poodle/Schnauzer mix Tramp O'Malley and see if I have any reaction to him first. Then we will decide what we want to do from there. But for now, we are missing our Mima. She was simply perfect, and we were heartbroken.to see her go.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Reagan at 9 months

Reagan has just started to crawl up on all fours, doing the commando crawl only half of the time now. She has two teeth on top and two on bottom, and she loves to sit in her highchair at meal times with us and eat whatever we're eating. She still isn't sleeping through the night, waking once, often two times a night. She is the worst sleeper of any of my babies, but also the easiest when it comes to entertaining herself. She doesn't seen to want to drink much more than 6 ounces from her bottle most times, and is far more interested in what is going on,around her than actually sitting still to eat. She has started growling at funny moments, and has occasionally given a single loud shriek when she is playing with her siblings. She can totally sit up herself with no problem, and enjoys crawling everywhere in the house she can go. She recently learned how to get up and over the step up from the living room, and has to be corralled in the living room with chairs and pillows if we want to keep her in one space.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Little Miss Lucy Lu

We had to have our sweet little Lucy put to sleep today. It was heartbreaking. I am so grateful for our wonderful vet for his incredible compassion as well as his awesome staff and the kindness they showed us today. As hard as it was to make the decision to let her go, I know we did the right thing. Lucy is no longer miserable, and she is once again her happy little self, running around being the funny, quirky little dog we all loved so much. Oh how I will miss her sweet little smashy face and her funny little snaggletooth.
My sweet little Lucy Lu March 28, 2004 - Feb. 25, 2013

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Toddler Tattoos

Jensen came to me, absolutely bursting to show me the beautiful designs she drew on the tops of her little baby feet with the markers she somehow managed to get her chubby little hands on. How could I be mad at her happy little enthusiasm? Besides, the markers were washable, so I was able to clean up her body art without much fuss.

Reagan and Mama

Reagan is almost 8 months old. She has two teeth on the bottom. She rolls around on the floor and gets everywhere she wants to go most times. She picks everything up off the floor and wants to put everything in her mouth like a little baby shark testing everything out. She likes to shriek sometimes. She giggles anytime I use baby wipes on her cute baby bum. I can barely keep her on the changing pad when I change her diaper, she twists and rolls like a maniac. She can sit up by herself, but still topples over after a bit. She has only slept through the night 4 times, and they weren't 4 times in a row. She takes two maps every day. She loves being snuggled up in a blanket, with her arms free, and rocked to sleep. She is quick to smile, and she absolutely loves her daddy.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Haven's Winter Dance Recital

It was Haven's Winter Dance Recital tonight, and she had so much fun, and of course, did a wonderful job. She looked beautiful in her dance costume, and looked so grown-up with her hair pulled back and make-up on for her performance. Her group was fourth on the program, but when they were performing their routine.e, somehow the music slipped to the end 30 seconds early and it kind of threw everyone off. So they fixed the problem and re-called her group to come back onstage close to the end of the show where they performed their routine again, this time without a hitch. Mathes, Gracen and Finn came with me to cheer her on and we had a great time. We're so excited for her Spring recital in May now!