Thanksgiving and Birthdays

We went to Arizona for Thanksgiving this year. I could have sworn we weren't supposed to, however. Everything was against us. We were going to leave on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week and it started to snow on the Saturday before. Sierra got sick on the Friday before and David got sick on Saturday. It kept snowing, however Sierra was better on Sunday and David was on antibiotics. Monday arrived and it was still snowing with a big storm that was supposed to hit us Tuesday morning. I was murmuring. I felt like we deserved a vacation and was very upset that we may not be able to go. We rarely leave Pocatello and I just new that we were going to be stuck. It was my birthday also. Anyway, I got as ready as I dared, then Rob came home and we had birthday cake and opened presents. Then Rob went back to work and I packed our bags and prayed for faith. He got home around 10 and we finished packing our bags and the car around 2 in the morning. We then turned on the tv and watched the news from earlier and decided that if we were actually going to be able to make it we had better just go. So at 2 in the morning we put the kids in the car and left. We made it and had a great time. The weather there was amazing. The kids wore their shorts and t-shirts the entire time. It was fabulous. When we came home it was white, white, white. The day after we got home the kids put their snow suits on and went outside. :)

Sierra had her 8th birthday a week after Thanksgiving. Since it was her 8th birthday we threw her a birthday party with her friends at Deleta. It was a little psychodic, but she loved it. She will be babtized on the 31st of December. Wow!

Nighttime Nightmares

A story about my kids that I will never forget. It happened Saturday night, or should I say early Sunday morning. Anyway, I'm sitting in my chair nursing my baby, completely asleep, and suddenly I hear Sierra scream and say, "No Josh, you have to wait." I wake up and run my baby into my husband because I already know what's about to happen. You have to understand my son. He is great at going potty when he needs to. However, when it's in the middle of the night, is he completely awake? NO!!! I find myself cleaning up their bathroom often because I swear he is aiming at everything except the toilet. So I run into the bathroom and Sierra is plastered against the toilet screaming and crying while Joshua is peeing all over her! Joshua is crying because he can't seem to figure out what is going on and why I'm yelling at him. I was livid. I totally yelled at Joshua, "YOU CAN'T WAKE UP LONG ENOUGH TO SEE YOUR SISTER SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU?" I cleaned Sierra up, put Joshua back into bed, and cleaned up the wonderful mess all over the bathroom floor. By the way, the next day was the primary program and I am the primary music chorister, ya that made me excited. Anyway, I went to bed just knowing that I would never find this funny. Needless to say, I woke up the next morning laughing. What a night!

Sierra's school picture

This is Sierra's school picture. We put Sierra's hair up and stuck that big flower in it and I kept thinking, "Are we just going to be seeing this big flower on Sierra's head and nothing else." But she thought it was great and really wanted it in, so we did it. I have to say that cute face outshines everything else in that picture.

Summer is over.

We went to Lagoon at the end of summer break. The kids loved it. Josh keeps asking us when we can go back. Sierra is tall enough to ride the big rides. It was great taking her on a few. She went on Wicked and impressed us all. We don't have a picture, however. It was great. Now summer is basically over for us and Sierra is back in school and Josh gets to start preschool tommorrow.

Sierra's first day of 2nd grade. So cute! She was so excited.

This is a picture of Sierra's hair. She likes to do her own hair usually. I begged her to let me do it this time, not that she doesn't do it well on her own, but I kind of wanted her to look a little more descent. Anyway, I told her we could find some cute hair do's on line and so she consented to let me do her hair. We found some super cute ways to do it, though, and I think she will let me this year. What a funny thing to fret about, I know, but I've always loved doing her hair and the little thing thinks she's pretty cool when she can do it herself. Anyway, whatever.;o)

The second day of school was even cuter, but you can't really see it. We put her hair up in a half ponytail bun thing and then stuck some flowers in it, and the front of her hair is pulled back to kind of act as a head band. Anyway, she looked awesome. I think she's realizing how fun it is to let me have my way.

I think she missed the kids while she was away. Ya, we missed her too. She did a lot for me this summer. It was a little more sad for me to see her go this year. That was a little wierd. She has to be busy, busy, busy and it drives me crazy so I get pretty excited when school starts. She walked out the door on the first day, however, and I got a little depressed. Hmm. . . better start getting calloused again, we don't want to start that blubberyness.

Some of our summer. Can't believe it's almost over.

Most of these pictures and this video are of my family reunion last month. There is a place right off of the raft river exit on the way to Burley called Steadmans. They put up these big water slides that you can tube down. It is so much fun. The kids absolutely love it and obviously so do the adults. This video is of my sisters and I sliding down the slide on one big tube.

Joshua started going down by himself at the end. He loved it.

Sierra and her cousin Trehson. They had a good time.

Tyler just enjoyed hangin out in his swimming suit.

David and his cousin Juliet.

David and his cousin Railey. Wow, he's just as pretty as his girl cousins. We're going to have to start nicknaming him PB, short for pretty boy.

This is just a funny picture of Tyler falling asleep during lunch one day. I guess he didn't want to leave his food unattended.

Longest Week Ever

Grumpy, frustrating, lacking, and emotionally trying. These are words that described my week. How rediculous that sugar makes that big of a difference in my life. There were many days when I would go into the kitchen ready to grab a handful of chocolate chips and realize that I made a commitment. I would pace the kitchen, not really realizing that that is what I was doing. One day I finally just grabbed a couple of eggs out of the fridge, put them in boiling water, and had two boiled eggs and a big glass of water, hoping that it would satiate my craving. I figured that the protein and water would fill my stomach for a little while so that I would stop thinking about a treat. It did help. I yelled at my kids a number of times for things that probably happen everyday. I was tired (of course that could have been the fact that my baby doesn't sleep well at night). I remember thinking that I shouldn't feel this way because I haven't got the regular highs and lows of sugar, so I should have more energy right? Wrong, I think that that is what happens during withdrawls. Yuck! We went to the store to shop for some groceries for the holiday, and it about killed me. Anything sweet jumped out at me and begged me to eat it. Anyway, I feel so much better this week and I feel like it is a little bit easier. So I am going to go another week and see if there is more progress in the way that I feel. I find myself eating a lot healthier. I have been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and I think that they are a great way to fight off cravings. Anyway, I am going to go for another week. Wish me luck once again.

Can I Do It?

I am addicted to sugar, well, anything sweet! I just have to have that sweet taste to keep me satisfied throughout the day. It's truly rediculous. It can be the most discusting treat and I will still eat it. And not just one either, I will eat a ton. Such as those gross penut looking, marshmallowy candies. Ya, not a big fan, but if they are there, I will eat them. Can't really figure it out. So this is my resolve, I am going off of sweets. Can I do it? I figure that if I have someone, such as anyone who might read this, that I have to be accountable to, maybe I might just do it. Of course it's going to have to be a week at a time. So I will write again on next Wednesday to let you know how I have done. This probably isn't the best time to start. However, I think that if I can do it a weekend where there will probably be a ton of food and treats, then I can do it anytime. I can overcome this weakness. Wish me luck!

Swimsuit update

My friend agreed to let me take a picture of the suit from her neck down. Obviously, I made the swimsuit so it would fit when I lost some weight also. It fits now, it's a little tight, however.:) This is a picture of it a with the flaps a little open in the front. I was thinking that it would also be a nice maternity swimsuit.

This is the swim suit with the flaps hanging closed. Anyway, it's good for hiding some of the extra fluff.

The Last Couple of Months

This is a project that I took on due to the fact that I hate all swimwear, including the modest stuff. There are certain things I want to hide on my body, and for some reason all swimsuits do not fit my criteria. I decided to have a swimsuit custom made. So I went to the fabric store, found some cute swimwear fabric, found a cute shirt and skirt pattern, and turned it into a swimsuit. I actually made it a while ago, I just felt a little dumb telling people that I actually made my own swimsuit. But I had a couple of sisters ask about it, so I thought I'd brave it and blog it. I love it. I even had my friend try it on for me so that I could see it from someone elses point of view. I still love it. I wish she would have let me take a picture of it on her, cause there's no way I'm taking a piture of it on me.:)

We went to lava about a month ago and played in the indoor pool. They have a fun rock climbing wall that Sierra couldn't get enough of.

This is after Sierra's ballet recital. She took such good care of those flowers.

Sierra performed in Swan Lake this year also. This is her wonderful friend that we car pool with. We wouldn't have been able to survive the year without them.

David at about three months. He actually turned four months yesterday, so I need to take another picture of him. He loves attention. His aunt Tiffani can really get him going.

Joshism

Josh likes to show me things that he can do. I think I need to give him more attention because it seems like he begs for it every day. Anyway, this is what he had to show me the other day.

Josh: "Mom look at what I can do."
Me: "What."
Josh: "I can squeeze my bum together without using my hands."
Me:
Josh: "Daddy taught me that."
Me: HA HA HA HA HA!

My little Nacho. :o)

Josh's B-Day

Joshua turned 4 last week. He received many things for his birthday, but I think his favorite thing was the hand-me-down bike that used to be his sisters. Rob spent the evening before fixing the tire and then painting it blue for him and he loved it. I decided that that was all we should have gotten him, besides clothes. He rode it around the kitchen most of the morning and then down in the basement. I thought Rob did an exeptional job, however he thinks he should have made it multicolored to make it look more boyish. He stayed up till one fixing that bike, if he had made it multicolored, it would have been two. I say it looks fantastic!

I made him a candyland cake because I am pretty sure that his favorite kind of food is candy. He was so excited about it. Truthfully, I was a little excited about it myself. It doesn't look quite like the board game but the candy was great.

Tyler looks ready to spit on it.

After we had cake and ice cream, Joshua opened more presents. He got a couple of Diego toys and some clothes. Tyler plays with the toys more then Josh. That is why I think the bike would have been sufficient (and cheap). Oh, I forgot, Tyler gave him a package of balloons and we blew some up to play with. That made Josh pretty excited also. So the bike and the balloons would have worked out great.

David at 2 months old. He is such a pretty baby. I don't know if you're aloud to say that for a boy, but I do all the time.

Joshua got major sick the day after his birthday. He had croup and had labored breathing so I took him to the doctor and they gave him a dose of steroids. His breathing improved significantly, however he stayed sick for days after. I finally took him back to the doctor on Tuesday and he had an ear infection. Anyway, this is the funny picture of him sleeping on the couch while he was sick. He he he.:o) "Hi, my name is chubby, my momma's chubby, my dadda's chubby, and my sista's chubby. One day... "

David on his blessing day. Awe, isn't he sweet?

Tyler hadn't eaten yet.

David and cousin George. Just take a look at those eyes.

Birthdays and Easter

Tyler had a birthday a couple of weeks after I had David. I usually decorate a neat cake for the kids but I just didn't have the energy to do it this time. He seemed to be fine with it, but I felt terrible. We had to light the candles three or four times because he kept wanting to blow them out.

Rob's birthday is the day after Tyler's. I split their cakes. I made half of an ugly duckling cake with half of Tyler's cake. I was not about to have 2 whole cakes sitting around all week. Happy Birthday Tyler and Rob.

This is David at exactly one month old.

Joshua decorating Easter eggs.

Sierra decorating Easter eggs.

We had an Easter egg hunt after conference on Sunday. Sierra got a unicorn costume from her friend the day before and insisted on wearing it.

I woke Tyler up from his short nap to come outside and hunt Easter eggs. For some dumb reason I thought he'd be a little more enthusiastic about it.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering how I'm coping with four kids, it's not to bad. However, most of the day is taken from me because I am constantly having to do something for someone. I usually find that all I have had time to clean is just the living room or kitchen and I've had about 4 or 5 hours to do it. It's kind of qsycho, but I felt more overwhelmed and crazy after I had three kids. David is a very good baby (knock on wood). He does tend to eat a ton, though. I'm getting frustrated because I feel like I should be losing weight instead of gaining it. I sure hope that that will be the case soon.

David

We did it! We finally had our baby. Thank heavens. We had him on February 17, at 7:35 p.m. His name is David and he weighed 9 lbs 9 oz. He was 21 1/2 inches long and had a head circumference of 15 in. And guess what else. I decided to be all psycho and try au' natural. Yes I did it naturally, no drugs, no epidural (however you spell that), and we went all out! Now would I do it again? That night it was a definate no. But today, I'm thinking that I might. Anyway, I call it extreme birthing. I had to at least try it once. And without that drive to push the baby out, I just don't think I would have been able to push a large kid like that out with an epidural. So I'm grateful that we did it. Anyway, this is me in labor. I know I look too happy to have done it naturally, believe me this was at the beginning, not the end. The doctor kept coming in and saying that he wanted to see me in agony. He felt pretty bad after he did see me in agony, however.

Rob holding David in the delivery room.

The kids came and visited the next day. They love their new baby brother.

Sierra holds him constantly. It's taken Joshua a little bit of time to warm up to him.

Tyler loved him right away. Look David's almost outgrown his brother.

I'm sorry but I don't know what I would do with a small baby. He is just too cute. We'll see how I feel in a couple of weeks, right?