News From the Week

My little Lucy Bear has been quite the bear this past week. She is not nursing well. About half the feedings a day she will nurse for a very short amount of time ( 5-10 min's total) and then refuse to eat. I'm not quite sure what's going on. I thought it could be my diet but something I eat may not bother her one day but I can eat the same thing the next day and she's bothered. Then I thought maybe it was reflux but the medicine the doctor gave me doesn't seem to help either. So I am not sure what her deal is. If she wasn't so chubby I would be more concerned but when you look at all her rolls it's hard to be concerned. 

Also this week she has been very into sucking on her hand. She has gotten a hold of her thumb a few times but I caught her in the picture below sucking her ring finger and middle finger- the fingers of my choice when I was a baby...

Steven has made me proud this week- he memorized the first article of faith and mostly learned "I am a Child of God". I even captured it on video tape so I have proof should he choose to be stubborn or forgot he knows such things! Also this week he got a letter from his Aunt Mariah who is currently at the MTC but will be in Minneapolis Minnesota by the end of this week. She drew him an awesome picture of the tooth fairy paying him a visit and though he LOVED getting mail from and he carried it around proudly for the rest of the day, he was quick to point out her mistakes in the drawing- #1: He doesn't have black hair & #2: He has a bunk bed, not a single bed. Oh the little turkey.

And in the picture below, Steven made his own preschool for babies. He was not wearing pants so he decided that this was a "No pants allowed" preschool & he would put that sign on the doorway. He was super cute about the whole things so I had to snap a picture.

Oh my Benny has been lots of drama lately and the pictures below capture this perfectly. However, I am also proud of Benny because for a 2 year old he has done a pretty good job learning the first article of faith. He may not have it perfectly like Steven but he can say "We believe in God & in the Holy Ghost!" when he's willing. It's cuteness! And lately I've been realizing what a poor middle child he really is. I can never think of fun stories to tell about him. All I can ever think to say is that he's drama...Poor middle child Ben :(

And as for me & Tyler---well Tyler has been even more busy this semester if that's possible. I really feel like his Scouts get to see him more than me since they get him on camp outs. I maybe saw him for a total of 3 hours this week!? It's been hard because I don't do well at being a single, working mother- I need support! But I've been working at getting up earlier so that I don't start off the morning feeling frazzled and that's been helping some. However, then I'm exhausted which makes me emotional SO....It feels hard to win sometimes. I am grateful I am not working full time anymore though or subbing anymore because then I know all this would be even harder. AND for some BIG news- Tyler might actually graduate this December instead of May 2014. He will just have to take a class in summer school & make sure he passes all his classes. I REALLY hope that happens because I would love for that light at the end of the tunnel to be that much closer. That would be wonderful!

The Countdown

Despite the fact that his 5th birthday may mark the beginning of losing teeth, Steven is still VERY excited for his birthday. He has decided that he wants a ghost/graveyard cake, a remote control car and a penguin dream lite. He wishes Carlos Bakery (from show Cake Boss) would make his cake, but he said daddy's cake will have to do. To help him countdown the days until his birthday we made a paper chain. Everyday he gets to take one chain off and when they're ALL gone- it'll be his birthday!! And an added bonus, Patty & Brian will be coming in town on his birthday and staying with us- double count down!

And an update on our health. Daddy has been the only one to remain unscathed by the flu thus far (which is good since he had a scout camp out this weekend). Steven, Ben & I are all suffering from a lingering cough and runny noses. And poor Lucy has gotten a mild fever on & off, congestion, and watery eyes BUT despite all that she is still giving me smiles (can you tell she loves this bouncer, it's in like every post :) ) :

Since we've been home bound so long with sickness, we finally got our booties out of the house Thursday (to the "train bookstore") and oh it was wonderful! I know people probably hate us because we are all coughing away and spreading our disease but it is so nice to get out. I forgot how much happier it makes the boys (which in turn makes me happier).. Also this week, I totally forgot about preschool Wednesday and ended up dropping off Steven a half an hour late- so unlike me. I swear this being a mother of 3 children is really a hard adjustment for me- hopefully I start adjusting soon!

A Long Week

This week I realized how hard it is to be sick and the mom of 3 kids. Tuesday afternoon I started to get a head ache, and basically achy all over. I was also getting chills and then heat flashes. It was awful and only got worse the next day. It seems I managed to get a bad case of the flu with every crappy symptom possible & through it all, I had to take care of my kids so it took forever for me to recover- I'm still not fully there. Poor Ben & Steven got it too but they were able to get lots of R&R and they have recovered much more quickly than me. 

Now for some updates on my cute kids:

Lucy had her 2 mnth check up this week (although she's actually 10 weeks now) and she still tops the charts. 24 inches tall (97th percentile) and 13 pounds (90th in weight). I love my big girl! 

Lucy is officially doing great at the whole eat-wake-sleep thing. Though the amount of time that cycle may take varies, I still feel like we are in a comfortable routine. The eat & wake part lasts 1-1.5 hours (Lately more like 1.5 hours)- this is when I usually try to run errands. The sleep part lasts 40 minutes to 1.5 hours- she may fuss when I put her down in her crib but she always does sleep. She usually naps longer in the morning and less in the afternoon. Things I can count on: Lucy will only wake up just once in the night (somewhere between 2 & 4- usually closer to 2) AND she will have her last feeding of the day between 8:30 & 9:30pm. 

Ben is my little cutie pie. He loves to burst out into loud laughter over silly things. He gives great kisses and excellent hugs. I especially love when he runs at me full speed for a big giant hug! He loves his brother and is broken hearted whenever he leaves him out- even if it is just out of the bathroom. I love this boy, I just wish he wouldn't cry so easily. He cries over EVERYTHING, and it sometimes it makes me cRaZy!

Steven is back in the co-op preschool- yippee! In August we didn't do it because only 3 other moms expressed interest. But now there are 6 other moms that wanted in and that is much better. That means I only have to teach every 7th week- me likey! So Steven is back in preschool. It meets Mondays & Wednesdays from 9-11:30. It is so good for him to be back in something, learning & socializing. And it is so good for me because now I can run errands again with just 2 kids- so much easier!

Also this week Steven and I had a fun conversation about loosing teeth and the tooth fairy. He was very curious as to how the tooth fairy gets into your house (which I really don't know, I said it's comes in through the window) and he also wanted to know if it wakes you up and has you get off your pillow so it can put the money under it. I had to explain that it just slides the money under you while your sleeping. He was starting to get excited until he asked the fateful question, "Does it hurt when your tooth comes out?" I truthfully replied, "Yeah, sometimes..." He was quiet for awhile and then said, "At my next birthday I'll be 9. Will all my teeth be out when I am 9!?" I guess he's not so excited after all...

7 Years Later...

Tyler & I celebrated our 7th Anniversary this week! It's amazing to me that I met this guy on a blind date of all things and that despite the crazy trial of work & school we are still happily married. It certainly hasn't been easy and always wonderful but I am glad we have stuck it out because I really do love Tyler and I am truly grateful that I get to be with him for an eternity. 

We weren't able to celebrate on our actual anniversary but on the Saturday after it we did some major celebrating. We had an excellent 6 hour, kid free date!  

We started out at Ruth Chris's Steakhouse. Tyler has been raving about this place since we were married (he went there for senior prom ages ago) but we had never been there because of the cost. However, thanks to his very generous grandparents we were able to go there. Now, I am not a huge steak person and will probably never rave about the steak the way Tyler does (it was very tender but I didn't think the flavor was anything spectacular) but just seeing how happy it made my hubby made it all worth it. I did really like the mashed potatoes though ;)

After filling up there we headed to Jesterz for some improv comedy. We just barely made it there on time so we ended up sitting in the front row. I was worried because with improv the front row can be risky but thankfully we were never called on to do anything embarrassing. Instead they called on a poor Australian girl to make sound affects for a fishing skit- she was super shy about it which really enhanced the hilarity of the skit. However, my favorite skit was when one of the actors pretended to be a first grade boy- so funny!

And when the Jesterz show was over, we still had about an hour before we needed to get home so we went to Applebee's. We were going to get dessert there but instead we ended up getting an appetizer- a second dinner! It was yummy and it was nice just to spend more time chatting with Tyler.

It really was the perfect date and I am so grateful to Keshia & Scott for watching our kids. We are definitely going to owe them lots of free babysitting when they are able to have kids of their own.

Pictures

Tara is an amazing photographer but my boys & even Lucy were very uncooperative when we tried to get photos from her last month. And since Tara is pregnant with her fourth boy I really didn't want to ask for her to try again. SO when my best buddy Rebekka got a fancy new camera and offered to take our pictures with it, I said "Yes please!" And even though Steven threatened to destroy all efforts at a good pictures again, somehow we got him to behave and these were the AMAZING results:

2013 & A Date

This year I was feeling very lame sauce and not entirely excited about ringing in the new year...especially after having a rough day with my kids. A day that included Ben shoving too much food into his mouth & then vomiting it all over himself at Wal-Mart AND it also included a little girl who did not want to nurse. No fun. But I have 2 boys who love to get out and 1 husband who needs to get out so out we went.

We begun our celebrations at my good friend Karen's house where we were served some delicious food and able to socialize with adults. There were a ton of kids there so this was good for me- I got to have adult time while the boys had there kid time. And I got to eat yummy food- all things I like. But by 7:00 or so I was already pooped (isn't that sad) and ready to go home. I was ready to pretend the New Year had arrived, feed Lucy & then sleep- like I said, I was ready to be lame sauce.

However, we still had to go to his parent's house to hang out with his family. I love his family but I was not feeling very social at this point. And Ben made sure that I didn't get any social in. Tyler's dad had bought a bunch of fireworks and Ben was terrified of them! 

Here he is hiding behind Keshia:

I ended up spending most of the night with my scared, little Ben in the house while everyone else lit fire crackers and socialized:

Steven and his daddy, however, had lots of fun:

After awhile I left Ben alone in the house and tried to keep Steven warm outside while everyone drank hot cocoa and talked around the fire pit. About 11:00, we went home, I fed Lucy and then crashed. It was like 11:45 when I went to bed but I couldn't even stay up those extra 15 minutes to greet 2013. I hope this isn't a sign that 2013 is going to be exhausting.,.

On New Year's Day, while Tyler went on a hike with my brother Mike & cousin Fred, I went on a date with Steven. He's been being very naughty lately and I think it's because he's been in need of some attention so my mom was nice enough to watch Ben & Lucy while me and Steven went and saw "Hotel Transylvania" at the cheap theater in the mall. Our tickets were only $1 each which was AwEsOmE for thrifty me! And the movie was surprisingly a good one. I was worried because I hadn't even heard of it but I enjoyed it & Steven was able to sit through the whole thing.

After the movie, Steven & I headed to the food court and had some DQ. Steven asked for the chocolate dipped cone but didn't even eat the cone...apparently he hates cones. But he did love the chocolate. Next time I'm thinking I'll get him a Dilly Bar...  

It was fun to hang out with my little boy (who is growing up much to quickly!) and actually have a long period of time with him where I wasn't yelling at him to stop doing something. It was a much needed date and I really need to get better at having those with him more frequently.

Snow Day!

Every year we take a trip to see the snow- that's what people who live in Gilbert, AZ do- instead of the snowbirds that flock away from it, we flock to it. Usually we go with all of my family but there were lots of lame-O's who couldn't come this year- Tyler was plumbing, my mom was working in the temple, & Mecca had to stay behind with sick Oliver. So it ended up just being me, my dad, my brother Mike & my kids that headed to Payson. 

My kids did relatively well on the drive up, little crying from Lucy and very few complaints from the boys. When we got to Payson we ate at McDonald's & then we headed up along the rim until we came to the perfect patch of snow. We found a nice snowy spot that we had been to a couple of years ago. This spot is not my favorite because it is super windy and I can't cope with the wind when it's already cold. But I didn't venture out into for very long so I suppose I can't complain.

After decking out the boys:

I had to feed Lucy and by the time I was done, these crazy boys:

...Had long since disappeared with their poppy & Uncle Mike into the woods:

While there, I later learned that Steven had a little trouble keeping his pants on (apparently the adjustable band needed some adjusting) but he didn't seem to let that get in his way:

 

When all the crazy boys finally came back into view, me & Lucy took our snow picture as proof that we were actually there:

And then we quickly returned to our toasty van accompanied by Ben:

  

While Steven continued to enjoy the snow with this Poppy & Uncle Mikey Dude:

And once they had all had their fill of snow we headed home.

I am so grateful for an excellent dad and brother who played in the freezing cold with my boys while I hid away in the van. And I am also thankful that my brother who took such great pictures for me. And although I basically spent the trip in my van, I enjoyed most of my time 'cause I got to hang out with my excellent dad & brother. They're the bestest :)