The Cat and Bird Family

Almost Done...

2010-07-20T15:03:00.002-07:00

incubating this baby girl! I'm so excited!
I'm excited to meet her and see who she looks like and for her to be out so I can get my body back to normal in a few months.
I'm so anxious for her to come out so that I don't hurt anymore. I hurt every single day. I don't know how my belly has gotten any bigger than 2 months ago, but alas, it has.
I'm totally nervous for her to come out though because, um, hello?! 4 kids! Craziness.
I'm nervous about how I'm going to handle the following situations (with 3 crazy boys running around as an added bonus):

a new baby
a GIRL baby (keep in mind that pretty much all I know is boy, boy, boy)
nursing (because I've only ever really nursed one of my kids)
nursing with 3 crazy boys running around (just had to throw that in again)
school starting (Scott has meet the teacher on August 10th, school starts on the 11th, Ben has meet the teacher on the 13th, preschool starts on the 17th, and I'm not technically due until the 19th so she could come at a very inoppurtune time)
being able to attend appointments that have been made (Ben has a neurologist appointment on the 25th for his headaches, plus all the dr appts the new baby will need)
Ben's birthday (which I somehow have to plan) is on September 9th (which he happens to share, or close enough on the 10th and 11th, with 2 cousins).

Plus I have to fit in, with all of my own business, going to a double birthday party for my niece and nephew on July 31st and another birthday party for another niece on August 14th.

PHEW!
That was exhausting just writing it all out!

On the other hand:

I have finished her room (just have to hang the curtains and her name)! I will post pictures if my camera will take them.
We have enough clothes, diapers, wipes, shampoos, hats, socks, etc. to make it through the first few weeks! (We have enough diapers to last a few months actually, thanks to a kick ass diaper party we had last weekend!)
Officially I have 1 week and 1 day until Baby C will be considered full term!
I'm not on bed rest anymore which is a relief!
She is growing like a weed!
We've had her name picked out for 4 months now without changing it! (which is a miracle, trust me)
I've only gained 22lbs. Horray!

This week seems to be going by rather smoothly... I hope that didn't just jinx myself. But nonetheless, it's true... my mom says it's a sign that Baby C will make her arrival very soon.

I agree.

Nesting... on Bed Rest

2010-06-23T13:46:00.003-07:00

I think that is an oxymoron. Nesting on bed rest that is. How the heck am I supposed to be getting anything done for this little girl if I'm not supposed to do anything!?

It's very very frustrating.

I was put on bed rest two weeks ago. Supposedly for 6 weeks total. That means worst case senario I have 4 weeks left to my sentence. BUT, with any luck I will be given parole for good behavior. I go to the Dr. tomorrow. I have an ultrasound scheduled to see if my cervix is changing at all and to check on her size. Two weeks ago she was measuring a few days bigger than I am, but the amniotic fluid was a little bit low so now I have to have that checked every two weeks with the ultrasound also. I was told to drink lots of water (duh) and to take a warm bath everyday. Well... my bath tub is on the small side and I am not. SO I concluded that a warm swimming pool should work the same way, right? Right, so that's what I'm doing, but we don't have a pool so I'm trying for every other day right now. I guess we'll see.

I had some odd swelling of my feet and ankles over the weekend. It was really sudden and very painful. It felt like my legs were on fire. So I had to go into the hospital to have it checked out. They needed to monitor my blood pressure. All and all everything was fine and I went home an hour later. And from that hospital visit they concluded that I hadn't dialated anymore than my previous visit. Almost at 1cm. So that's good. Anyway, I go in tomorrow and I have some hope that he will tell me I can do more than go to the bathroom and make a sandwich. :)

My boys are having a really hard time with all of this too. It's not just me. Their attitudes have gotten significantly nastier. Not only with each other, but in response to others too. And that just pisses me off.

His Name is Ben!

2010-06-05T18:20:00.003-07:00

Ben has more care and concern in his little body than I have ever witnessed in a little 3 year old boy. He talks about how you shouldn't do something that will hurt yourself. It's kind of funny. Oh and by the way, how the heck is he still 3!? I always feel like he's 4. He looks 4, he acts 4, and he just seems like he's 4. I have to think about how old he is whenever someone asks me.
He's hilarious though. We have a lot of nicknames for our boys. Ben's main one is Benja. He hates it. He yells at us whenever we call him anything but Ben. He throws his arms down at his side, puffs out his chest and lips, sticks his nose up in the air, and yells "DON'T CALL ME THAT! MY NAME IS BEN!" or he says "MY NOT ______! MY BEN!" Because he doesn't understand how to use the word "I" instead he says "my". And whenever I try to correct him, he tries to fix it and ends up saying, "I, my can't" instead of "my can't" or "I can't," he mixes them.
He starts preschool this fall. I'm so excited. He's going to love it. He's been asking to go to school since Scott started last year. This next year is going to be hard, but really great. I'm hopeful anyway.

Low Rider

2010-06-05T18:00:00.002-07:00

This baby of mine likes to ride low. I mean L-O-W. I'm so excited for her to be here. Not that I can't wait because I can. She needs more time, I need more time, my house and the whole family need more time. But I am so excited. She is going to be wonderful. We call her by her name all the time. (But I'm not telling until she's here) We talk about her like she's already here. She's going to be so loved and spoiled and cared for and doted upon... just like every girl deserves.
We had a bit of a scare with her. It wasn't really scary, just a stressful situation and a worrying time. During the ultrasound when we found out she was a girl they found something unusual in her brain. They found little cysts which might indicate a chromosonal abnormality, such as Downs Syndrome. So we had to have a few different tests to see what it was all about. I had a special blood test and a couple of "Level 2" ultrasounds. Level 2 ultrasounds are just a little stronger. Well after a few weeks of worrying the results were in and everything seems normal. We went back after a few more weeks to see if the cysts were being absorbed and they were, so that's good. We truly won't know for sure that she's okay until she's born and we see her, but it doesn't matter. She's going to be perfect whether she's "normal" or not. I completely believe that my Heavenly Father won't give me more than I can handle. And if it ever feels like too much, I know I can turn to Him and it will all be okay.
But anyway, she's a low rider... and whenever I really do go into labor, she just might come out in less than a couple of hours. Or like my father-in-law says, she might just fall out. lol

Zac turned 2!

2010-06-05T17:37:00.002-07:00

Zac turned 2 in April. He's so far ahead of my other boys at this age. He talks all the time. He's ready for potty training, in fact, he asks to pee in the toilet everyday... not everytime, but everyday at least once. We are starting next week. He is sleeping in a big boy bed now. Oh how I love him. He makes everyone smile when they see him. He's so playful and loving. He's such a cuddler too. He loves to give hugs. But at the same time, he's meaner than the other boys were. He thinks it's funny to beat up Ben. He laughs at Ben whenever he cries about getting hit or bumped or anything. He's kind of a punk. But he's also really tenderhearted. If he's in trouble, he puts his head down and figdets with his hands and then starts to cry. It's really cute. He's also curious about the baby in mommy's tummy. It's funny, he asks to see it all the time. And whenever I say "ow" about anything he assumes it's the baby's fault. He says "baby owie". Oh but he has a word that he uses for everything too. Anything he doesn't know exactly what it is he calls it "hoanay."

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-05T17:24:00.002-07:00

Scott graduated from Kindergarten on May 26th. He's so big.
I wish I had a picture, but our camera has been crappy lately. It works and then it doesn't.
Oh well.
So part of the ceremony was for each child to have a turn with the microphone to say what they want to be when they grow up and why. So it went like this, "I wonder about ______, that's why I want to be a _________ when I grow up." There were some really good ones. One boy wants to he a heart surgeon, one girl whats to be a teacher, another girl wants to be a pilot, and another wants to be a vet. Then there were a couple that want to be a cowboy and a cowgirl. Then there were the creative ones. One boy stood up there and said he wanted to be a ninja, another wanted to be an INVISIBLE ninja. (haha) Then there were two boys that aspired to be fast food workers, one at Chik-fil-a and the other at a place called Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger. Those two made everyone laugh! It was classic. Not that there was anything wrong with them wanting to work in fast food. Not at all. It was just really cute. Scott said he wants to be a Monster Truck Driver. I love him and am so proud of him. The improvements he has made this year have been astounding. I am truly grateful to his teachers and incredibly amazed at his accomplishments. He is awesome. Congratulations to my Buster.

I. Will. Get. This. Done.

2010-06-05T17:13:00.002-07:00

I've been re-doing my house a bit lately. I think I've been nesting in weird ways this time. My house is a constent disaster and it's driving me crazy. No what's really driving me crazy is the fact that I can't do anything by myself! I can't move the furniture where I want it, I can't paint what I want, I can't put things up because they are too heavy, I can't pick up a bed (from a different location, not physically pick it up... which I can't do that either), UGH! I'm so tired of having to rely on someone else for help. If I had someone that would help me it wouldn't be such a big deal... HINT HINT BIRD! But no. I don't. So with every effort I can possibly make, I. Will. Get. This. Done.

2010-03-23T14:31:00.002-07:00

my hopes have come true....

my prayers have been answered....

we are having a girl.

sigh.

The Happenings of Us

2010-03-07T21:46:00.003-07:00

So I haven't posted in a while. I'm lazy. I'm tired. I'm just not that interested really. Oh well. Things are going along just fine.
The baby's getting bigger and so is the belly. We are hopeful that we will find out whether baby is a boy or girl on March 22nd. I have been feeling a lot of kicks today. That's exciting. It makes me realize that I'm not just fat. HA.
Scott turns 6 next Monday (15th) which is just CRAZY. I know. And he's super sweet most of the time. He's so affectionate. He loves to hug and give kisses, but he complains that nobody lets him kiss them. So I told him the truth (like any good mother would right?) I said to him, "well that's because you slobber... a lot." He didn't have any response. But trust me I didn't hurt his feelings, I could tell.
Ben is a pain in the booty because he whines all the time, but he's also super cute so it kind of evens itself out I guess. He says he can't do things all the time. I ask him to hold his cup, he says, "my can't" I ask him to get his shoes out of the basket, he says, "my can't do this." Haha, he's even cute when he whines. He tells us all the time how much he loves us. He says, "mommy, my love you lot," and I say "I love you too Ben," and he says, "my love daddy lot too." And he gives a big hug. He's so cute.
And Zac is huge. He turns 2 in April. He grew an inch and a half in ONE MONTH! Yeah. He's talking a lot now, he says, "hi, bye, out, now, ew, keys, love ya, thank you," and a few other things I can't think of right now. Oh, "pee," yep, he's asking to go pee. It's awesome! And the other night he actually went in the toilet! HOORAY! Usually he'll go on the floor and then look at it, point to it, and tell us, "eeewwww, pee" hahahaha. But oh my goodness, he is loud when he talks. I mean L O U D. Ugh, it is annoying. I can only take so much volume.
And Bird is fine. No lung issues so far. Finger's crossed it will stay that way too. Ah, I love him.

View from the Side

2010-01-21T15:31:00.007-07:00

I had my first OB visit today. Eveything went well. There was some trouble finding Baby's heart beat which is pretty normal because Baby's not very big yet, but the doctor found it in the end. And let me tell you it was loud! The doctor was surprised he couldn't find it right away. Apparently he wasn't looking in the right spot because Baby likes the view from the side, not the top. So anyway, Baby's heart beat is super loud, super strong, and much higher than the boys ever were. Baby is running a steady 175! That makes me happy, very happy, because out of all the things I've read or heard, girl heart rates seem to be faster than boys. HOORAY! But obviously this is not a sure sex determination by any means, it just adds to my *hope. And if Baby turns out to be a boy... my poor hope will be shattered. Not that I won't be happy with another boy, no, no, it's not that at all, it's just that I have had this hope since I was a little girl and since this is my last baby, well, the hope will be gone. Gone. And just to clarify, I will love a boy just as much as my others, but I just might love a girl more. Go ahead, call me what you will. Sometimes the truth just isn't nice.

*The hope I speak of is my hope for a girl. The hope for cute, frilly dress, tights, and bows, shoe fetishes, pinks and purples, butterflies and flowers, Barbies and baby dolls, princess stories, books, and movies, playing dress up and house, and the love of fairy tales. The hope for a daddy's girl just like me and the hope for a relationship as close as mine and my mom's. The hope for a daughter... and a friend. This is the hope I speak of and dream of daily. Granted I may not get everything I hope for wrapped up in a cute little package because she's much more likely to be a major TomBoy instead of the frilly little cute girl I imagine, but either way she would be here and she would be mine...

That's really what my hope is about.

2nd Annual Snow Day

2010-01-05T00:00:00.003-07:00

We had our 2nd Annual Snow Day on Friday. It was such a blast! We even took Zac this year! We drove up about 4 or 5 miles North of Christopher Creek and pulled off onto a side rode, drove down a little ways and voila!... there was a nice little area with no one else around so that we could play! It was so fun.

Zac was AMAZED as soon as we started seeing snow on the ground. Ben just wanted to get out and play in it as soon as we saw it (even though it was the side of the highway in a little patch no bigger than an area rug). And Scott kept asking if we were there yet.

It did seem to be taking a really long time to get there, but once we got there the snow was PERFECT for snowman making and was even better for snowball fighting!

Zac didn't really like it at first because he couldn't walk in it very well, but then Bird busted out this mini shovel and Zac thought it was so awesome! He dug and dug and dug, until it was time to sleep, then he just stood there and cried until one of us picked him up.

The first thing Ben did was ask if he could eat it! He cracks me up! So while the rest of us were making snowballs and throwing them at each other he was making snowballs and eating them! With his "Buddy and Buzz" (Woody and Buzz) hat and gloves on.

Scott's main focus was on building a snowman. He's been planning this for a long time. They all worked hard to make this one great. Scott even went searching for the perfect arms by himself. He had such a good time and as soon as it was done and pictures were taken he wanted to destroy it! And after that the snowball fight was on.

Bird and I were ganging up on Scott, but took the time to get a few in on each other. I got him in the butt once (unfortunately no pictures) and he get me in the face (again no pictures). Scott got a few good throws in on us too, and this one in particular was hilarious to him...

POW! Right in the side of my face! He's such a bugger!

(BTW that's him laughing at me)

So much fun, seriously the best weekend in a long time.

So Far

2010-01-02T21:37:00.004-07:00

So far my pregnancy has been going pretty good.

So far I have not been terribly sick. No morning sickness really. I do feel a little naueous in the morning or whenever I don't eat for a while but nothing too bad... so far.

So far I haven't gained any weight. I look like I have (stupid bloating), but the scale says no. BUT, my pants are already feeling tighter than I would like. Boo.

So far I have managed to be a SUPER BITCH everyday in some way. Ugh. I really hoped that wouldn't have come out so early.

So far my face has broken out, um, yeah. MY FACE IS BREAKING OUT! DAMN IT! Never in my whole life have I experienced more than a zit or two on my face at the same time. n-e-v-e-r. I am very upset about this.

So far is not sounding very good right now... because if these are the things that have been happening so far, I think I'd rather deal with morning sickness than my zit having, tight pants wearing, super bitch self right now. So far.

BUT!

So far, out of my three other pregnancies

(all boys as if you didn't know)

I have not experienced these things. So maybe, just maybe, there's a chance for my baby girl after all.

So with my prayers made and hope in my heart, I cross my fingers and I wait...

UNTIL APRIL!

So far my patience is already wearing thin.

Hospital, Baking, and Christmas

2009-12-24T13:58:00.002-07:00

So Bird was in the hospital from Monday night until Wednesday morning. His lung collapsed again. This time it was only a "tiny" collapse... phew! He went in Monday night for pain in his chest and shoulder (which is the same thing that happened last time), they admitted him for observations. The next day he had another xray that showed the collapse had grown slightly. He was told he needed to stay another night and that the surgeon would be in to talk with him in the morning. Morning rolls around, he gets a CT scan and finds out there is a small amount of fluid in his lung now. The surgeon says surgery will be scheduled for Thursday morning (today). Bird says no. He doesn't want surgery is there anyway around it? The surgeon says yes. You can go home as long as you come in for follow-ups with the pulmenologist weekly until the lung gets better or worse, but surgery is probably in your furture. Bird says awesome... I want to go home. So he's home. YAY! We are all so relieved that he is home and feeling pretty good. We prayed he would be home for Christmas. Thank you, God, thank you.
Christmas makes me want to bake. Stress makes me want to bake. So over the last 3 days I have baked... and baked... and baked! A LOT! I have made 15 dozen cookies and 7 dozen pizzelles. Oh and I made 5 batches of play dough. I know. That's a lot. I told you.
Now for Christmas... it's tomorrow! I'm so excited I can hardly contain it! I've been dancing around the house, singing Christmas songs, BAKING! hahaha. Wrapping presents, shopping, being happy. I love Christmas. I love December. It is by far the most difficult time of year for us every single year, but I love it just the same. It's my favorite month of the year. Hands down, no contest.

1 More Makes 4!

2009-12-14T14:40:00.002-07:00

Yep... Coming August 2010.

Have I mentioned how much I love babies?

Where The Heck Did That Come From?!

2009-12-02T15:00:00.004-07:00

Straight out of LEFT FIELD! That's where! Jeez... IT'S DECEMBER!!!!! Holy cow. And the 2nd day of it no less. What the heck!?! So anyway before I know it, it will be January. This is just getting to be ridiculous... one minute it's September and then it's the new year! SO ANYWAY! Next subject... we have a lot planned for December, just like everyone else I'm sure. We are going to Utah in a couple of weeks, then after Christmas we are taking the kids up to Heber for a night so we can play in the snow. Last year, well, actually this year in January, we took Scott and Ben up to a little past Payson to play in the snow... it was so much fun that we are going to stay longer and bring Zac this time. I hope it's as much fun as it was last time! Scott still talks about the snowman we built, he even asked to go visit it back in August... unfortunately I had to tell him it had melted no doubt... he was very upset. So then for New Year's we are going to the dunes! Yep, I've never gone before... NEVER. I'm a little nervous about how the boys will do... actually, I'm not. They'll probably be fine, but I'm a little bit crazy about how I take care of them. A bit super strict about some stuff, but then WAY laid back about others... I think it's just that I don't know what to expect as it pertains to my kids, you know? Oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. I'm excited though. It should be super fun.

Excited!

2009-11-19T10:41:00.002-07:00

I'm really excited! Tonight I get to go see New Moon, tomorrow my sister comes to visit, Saturday is the last soccer game of the season and my dad is getting baptized, and Sunday we are celebrating Thanksgiving (while my sister is still here) and then going over to the in-laws to celebrate a birthday! Very busy weekend up ahead.

6 Years

2009-11-15T19:52:00.003-07:00

I can't believe it has been 6 years already that we have been married! It's just nuts. And we've been together for 8. WOW. I guess I have been busy enough for time to fly by though. That's what kids will do.

Happy Anniversary Bird! I love you.

Glorious

2009-11-12T15:53:00.004-07:00

So Scott started Kindergarten in August. We had some issues at first. I was a little late coming to terms with the fact that my baby was starting PUBLIC SCHOOL. So freakin scary. Anyway, so in July I interviewed the principle for the school he is zoned for and was enrolled to start at in August. I was okay with it.... until... 2 days before school started was "Meet the Teacher" night. I'm sure she was a nice person and a good teacher. Yeah, yeah, whatever. To be frank, I didn't like her. She didn't acknowledge Scott, except to say "Hi, I'm Mrs. ..." and that was it, no hi this is going to be your room, we will do this and that, and we are going to be learning these things, or we are going to have sssoooo much fun together, I'm really excited to have you in my class.... blah blah blah. Nothing of any of that nature was said or even hinted at. I sssooo didn't like that. Anyway, he had to start school that first day. So he started where he was enrolled at and it was AGONY for us. He went the first day and I thought, well maybe this will be okay I'll just see how things went. He HATED it. :( He was sad, I was sad, we were all sad. BLAH. So day 2 comes out of nowhere and he has to go AGAIN. It was even worse than day 1. arg. So in my totally depressed state I call around to all these schools to see if I can meet teachers and tour schools and whathaveyou, but I wasn't allowed to because school had already started. blah again. I call my mom and talk to her about it (because that's just what I do, I call my mom) then I call my sister and talk to her about it (because again that's just what I do) and my mom is all supportive and like yeah i understand I wouldn't want him to be unhappy either yadayadayada, but my sister is all well that's just the way it is, public schools suck and kids don't like school, so tough shit tell the kid to deal with it. (don't let this reaction fool you, she loves Scott to death, that's just her attitude and ususally mine too, but not this time) So finally I remember that one of my *besties* (haha, I hate when people say that, but for whatever reason I couldn't resist) told me about the school she enrolled her daughter at and that she liked it and really liked the teacher. So I decide to go check it out. So after his 2nd day at his original school I take him over to meet the kindergarten teacher (there's only one because the school is that small) and she is AWESOME! The first thing she does is talk to Scott. She doesn't even acknowledge that I am in the room, she pays full attention to Scott and has a full on conversation with him! The best thing ever! I was so excited to talk to her after they had their convo that I couldn't even think about what I was going to ask her. So she answered all of my questions without me even needing to ask! Ahhhh. It was great. When I say "the" up there it means that she is the one I hoped would be my son's teacher, she is the one I dreamed would be my son's teacher, she is the one I prayed for. It was just wonderful to find her. And she has yet to disappoint. So anyway, day 3 rolls around and he starts at his new wonderful school, I go disenroll him from old crappy school and all is well. No complaints from him, nothing at all. Glorious I tell you, simply glorious.

Read This Blog...

2009-11-11T21:24:00.005-07:00

Okay so I was blog surfing the other day and came across this blog,

http://meanmommyacademy.blogspot.com/

SERIOUSLY! Read this blog! It's hilarious! My favorite so far is this one...

http://meanmommyacademy.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-fold-sheets-like-girl.html

Read it... if you are a mom you will love it! And any other woman can appreciate it too!

New Moon

2009-10-21T13:19:00.009-07:00

WOW! I'm so excited for New Moon to come out it's crazy! I had no idea I was so excited until last night... for whatever reason I just remembered it was soon and then all of a sudden BAM!!! I was stoked! Crazy... I know, right?!

So last night I finished reading Blood Promise a Vampire Academy novel (which was awesome by the way) and now I'm debating whether or not to re-read New Moon before the movie comes out. Anyway... yay! I'm so excited!

I'm am so Team Edward...

But OH! MY! GOSH!

is this boy nice to look at!

Mm. Mm. Mmm.

Beautiful Weather

2009-10-12T14:44:00.004-07:00

Now this is why I love Arizona weather...Partly cloudy, Winds at 6 mph, High of 85, Low of 61. Current temp is 82.

Simply beautiful.

Choo Choos and a Fuff

2009-10-07T22:51:00.005-07:00

This is Zoey.

She is a Golden Retriever and is 6 weeks in this picture.

We got her on September 8th.

For Ben's birthday present.

He turned 3 on September 9th.

She is Ben's dog.

He asked for two things this year....

choo choos (trains) and a fuff (dog).

He got both.

But he loves her the best...

Long time...

2009-07-14T13:21:00.003-07:00

WOW! It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Holy cow! So we cancelled our internet to try to save some money and that's the reason why it's been so long. Plus the fact that I have to go to my mom's or Bird's mom's to use a computer. Usually I blog at night after the kids go to bed. Because as I sit here typing, my kids are running around like the crazies they are, destroying my mom's house. And that is why I have to go now. Just thought I'd give an undate on why I haven't been blogging lately.

Favorite Book

2009-05-20T10:53:00.004-07:00

This is Ben's favorite book. Mine too, actually.

I love it. Grover is my all time favorite.

But Ben! Oh Benjamin, he's so silly.

He loves reading this book. He calls it the "raw" book.

Even though we've read it a hundred times, he still gets nervous (or at least pretends too). Then at the end he says, "It's fine mommy, it's fine."

Super cute.

Ode to Thursdays

2009-05-14T11:16:00.006-07:00

Ah, Thursdays.
Oh how I heart you Thursday.
Such a glorious day.
I will always heart you... until the season is over. :)
Tonight is the night. Season Finale night.
Well Thursday, we had a good run.
Tonight will be the goodbye party.
Until next season. Remember how much I heart you.

http://tv.msn.com/greys-anatomy-top-ten/photo-gallery/feature/?gt1=28146

I love Grey's Anatomy.
Wait, that's an understatement.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Grey's Anatomy!

And last week was the Season Finale of Private Practice.
Talk about a cliffhanger! Until next season to you too. *love*

Super Adorable

2009-04-25T09:54:00.001-07:00

BABIES BABIES BABIES! I LOVE BABIES!

These super adorable, brand new, tiny babies are my nephew and niece.
Born yesterday April 24, 2009.

Colton Christopher D. born at 6:14 am. 6 lbs 7 oz 18 1/2 inches

Eden Elizabeth D. (Edie) born at 6:15 am. 5 lbs 12 oz 18 1/2 inches

And This is Why...

2009-04-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

I keep having kids.

1) I LOVE BABIES
2) Mmmm... the baby scent
3) They're so dang cute
4) I can squeeze them
5) Their innocence
6) The Love plus hugs and kisses XOXO

7) Baby sugar

8) "The First's" i.e. - smiles, words, steps, etc.

9) They make me happy

10) Giggles :)

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few tips to help us all help the plant:

1)Change a Light Bulb
Installing a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) is the quickest, easiest way to save energy -- and money. Unlike incandescents, CFLs convert most of the energy they use into light rather than heat.
Good for You: They consume about 75 percent less electricity and last up to 10 times longer (10,000 hours as opposed to 1,500). Replace one 75-watt incandescent bulb with a 25-watt CFL and save up to $83 over the life of the bulb.

2)Unplug Things That Glow
Anything that has an LED (light emitting diode) that glows even after you turn it off continues to draw power (that you pay for). Your TV, cell phone charger, and printer are likely culprits. Unplug the offenders from wall sockets and plug them into power strips instead. When you leave a room, flip the strip switch to cut the flow of electricity.
Good for You: Unplug appliances and electronics that glow and you could save $200 a year.

3)Recycle Your Electronics
Americans tossed out a whopping 5.5 billion pounds of electronics -- TVs, stereos, cell phones, and computers -- in 2005, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The result? Millions of pounds of chemicals and heavy metals ended up in the ground even though it's easier than ever to recycle electronics. The Consumer Electronics Association created mygreenelectronics.org to help people find a recycling resource in their area. The site also provides a list of electronics, from laptops to baby monitors, that are easier on the environment and your energy bill.
Good for You: The average American household has three cell phones stashed in a drawer. Sell unused cell phones to greenphone.com. You'll receive about $35, and the phones will be refurbished and resold. If 1 million people recycled one cathode-ray tube TV this year, we'd keep 4 million pounds of lead out of the ground.

4)Audit Your Energy
It's easier to save energy when you know exactly how much and where you're using it. Investing in a home audit takes a couple of hours and pays off with a list of things you can do to curb consumption. Find an auditor through your utility company (at low or no cost), or hire one ($450-$650). A list of auditors certified by the nonprofit Residential Energy Services Network, is at resnet.us (click on Consumer Information).
Good for You: On average, an energy audit shows how to save up to 30 percent on utility bills.

5)Support Local Farmers
If your food could talk, it would tell quite a tale. Typical grocery store produce travels nearly 1,500 miles before it ends up on your plate. All this traveling burns fossil fuels and results in carbon emissions -- a fancy term for pollution. Buying from local farmers means you're not only getting the freshest food possible, you're saving energy.
Good for You: To find farmers nationwide, visit localharvest.org, sustainabletable.org, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture at www.ams.usda.govfarmersmarkets/map.htm.

6)Fix That Drip
When you next fill your water glass, think about this: We each use about 100 gallons a day, enough to fill 1,600 glasses. Household water consumption has increased by 200 percent since 1950, even though the population has grown by only 90 percent. As a result, more than 36 states are expected to face water shortages in the next six years. Stemming the flow is as easy as fixing a leaky faucet or toilet; a dripping faucet can waste up to 74 gallons a day, a leaking toilet up to 200 gallons a day.
Good for You: Repair a leaky toilet and you can save $30 a year, which may not sound like much until you realize it means 73,000 gallons.

7)Let Your Grass Grow
Spending less time tending to your lawn actually makes it greener -- in every sense of the word. Most grass species fare best when they're kept at least 2 1/2 inches tall. The length creates more surface area to absorb sunlight, which creates thicker turf and deeper roots, which means you won't need to water as often.
Good for You: Save money by letting grass clippings remain on your lawn; it adds nitrogen to the soil and discourages weed seeds from germinating. You'll need less fertilizer and herbicide. Plus, leaving clippings on lawns means less in landfills; in 2005 Americans disposed of more than 12 million tons of yard waste.

8)Look for the Label
When it's time to replace a household appliance, choose a product with an Energy Star label. Sponsored by the EPA and the Department of Energy, the Energy Star program rates products from light bulbs to kitchen appliances. Energy Star labels guarantee that products are energy-efficient. For example, a battery charger labeled with the Energy Star logo will use 35 percent less energy than a standard one. You may even be eligible for a tax credit when you purchase an Energy Star product. Information at energystar.gov.
Good for You: A household with Energy Star products uses about 30 percent less energy than the average household -- an annual savings of about $570.

9)Do Full Loads
Whenever you wash just a few clothes or dishes at a time rather than waiting for a full load to accumulate, you're wasting water, power, and money. The average American family of four washes about 540 loads of laundry a year, which consumes up to 21,000 gallons of water, and more than 150 loads of dishes, which uses about 1,500 gallons. Most of the energy consumed by washers goes toward heating the water -- about 90 percent in the clothes washer and 80 percent in the dishwasher. Combining half-loads, choosing short cycles, and using cold or warm rather than hot water in the clothes washer racks up savings.
Good for You: Wash two fewer loads of clothes and one fewer load of dishes a week and save up to 4,500 gallons of water a year.

10)Work the Critters
Your backyard ecosystem is as intricate as any wild patch of land, and it pays in many ways to enlist its creatures on your side. Birds eat many insects; they just need a water source and trees and shrubs for cover and nesting. Many insects are beautiful -- and beneficial. Ladybugs aren't just cute; they are voracious eaters of aphids.
Good for You: To understand which backyard insects are garden friends, visit garden.org and click on Pest Control Library for photos.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY: bhg.com

He's One!!!

2009-04-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday dear Zachary!, Happy Birthday to You!!!

This picture was taken at my In-Law's on the 18th.

Zac decided to put the candle out with his fingers!!!

This picture is his reaction... totally stunned, so funny!

And he didn't even get burned, he had too much slobber on his fingers!

HAHAHA!

This picture was taken at my Mom and Dad's
(he didn't dare touch the candle this time, Ben blew it out for him!)

Sugar Rush!!!! Super cute!

And this is one of my favorite pictures of him...

taken a few days before his birthday.
I just love him.

Side Note: After I had Scott I didn't even want to think about having any more kids, in fact, I believe I said that I was never having more. But once that 18 months mark rolled around I started getting the itch. Then after I had Ben I already knew I wanted more and the itch came around the 6 months mark. And BEFORE Zac was born I knew we'd have another (hopefully a girl because 4 is my limit), but I don't have the itch yet. Phew! We have planned it out so that hopefully by this time next year (because I'm an even numbered year type of girl) we will be announcing that we are expecting #4. (My hope is for a November/December baby girl, but only God knows). I already have names picked out for either though.

I know, some of you probably think I'm crazy and maybe you're right. :)

He's Walking!

2009-04-09T23:07:00.000-07:00

Such a big boy... he turns 1 on the 18th! WOW!

Side note: True story, me and Zac are at the doctor's office on Tuesday and as soon as we walk into the back part a student nurse (one I had never seen before) starts talking to Zac from behind the desk. Okay so far this is totally normal, but what she said was kind of weird... okay really weird and was completely annoying... she says something to the effect of "Oh look at him so handsome I want to take you on a date" ... okay?!... then we are at the scale and she walks over and says "you just name the place, we can go to McDonald's or Chuck E Cheese's and I'll pay" and then after he was weighed I start walking back with him and she starts to follow and tries to poke his belly and "ooo's and ahh's" over him. So I get him into the room and think to myself "That was weird, annoying, and creepy. I hope they tell her to knock it off." So I'm in the room with him and forget about the creepy student nurse girl, the doctor comes in, we go through all that and then we're done, we walk out of the room and go to the counter to check out and she walks up behind us and starts talking to him again about taking him on a date (her words exactly... "a date"). By this time I'm just completely annoyed and about to tell her to please leave him alone (or hit her one or the other) when all of a sudden Zac looks over at her and does this, but a little bit more pronounced....HAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it, he flipped her off! Maybe not intentionally, but it got her attention, she said "oh you're going to chew on that finger! I see how it is." And that was the end of annoying, creepy student nurse girl! The best ending ever! (PS - that is his finger of choice, he points with it, chews on it, grabs things with it... it's a little strange actually, but CLASSIC none the less!)

A Boy of Few Words

2009-04-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Ben has just recently started saying words that we can understand. He's 2 1/2. I know it's kind of late, but Scott was a pretty late talker too. And I think that is how Zac will be too, but maybe not. Anyway, Ben talks a lot about trucks, bicycles, dirt bikes, and motorcycles. He calls all of them by the same thing... "be die" (the "be" means "big" or "dirt" and the "die" means "truck" or "bike"). He specifies by adding a "my" or "daddy's" or "Cottie's" (which means Scottie, BTW) in front. He also says "moe" for "water" and "go wee moe" for "go play in the water." But don't confuse that with "oh no moe mommy" which means "oh no, I need more mommy." And then there's "I eat uh mommy" which means "I want to eat something mommy." He says "ew" for "poo" so when I ask him if he has a dirty diaper he says "no I no got ews" or he doesn't answer which means he does. One of my favorites is "ruff ruff" that means "puppy or doggy." He also uses "ruff ruff" for just about every other animal he sees, but he does call cats "kee." Oh, and "t" means "thank you." The one word that he says that frustrates me the most is "be noi noi." I sincerely dislike this word. It has too many meanings to really be considered a word, it's more of a general use term that he uses whenever he can't think or say the right word. So that's Ben's very wide (haha) vocabulary. And here's a picture of him riding his "dirt bike" or in his words, "go bye bye on my be die humm" (the "humm" is his motor sound).

That's My Baby

2009-03-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

So Big

2009-03-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

He's getting so big! I can hardly believe it!!! He's almost an expert walker now.

Teeth...

2009-03-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

So Scott has officially lost 3... yes, THREE, teeth. Before he turned 5 actually. Kind of crazy. One was by way of knock out, but the two bottom front teeth fell out on their own. AND one of his adult teeth is starting to grow in already!!! OH MY, I don't feel old enough for this.

Lost tooth #1 (just before Christmas)

Lost tooth #2

Lost tooth #3

FIVE!!!

2009-03-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

My Scott, he turned 5 on the 15th! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Scottie! I love you.

Landscaping Improvements

2009-03-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

We had our landscaping done in January... here's some before & after pics.

*FRONT YARD BEFORE*

*FRONT YARD AFTER*

*BACK YARD BEFORE*

*BACK YARD AFTER*

Yes, I know that the AFTER pictures have a few imperfections (all the toys), but we didn't even have the yard completed before Bird and the boys started "reloading" if you will. Regardless, I am in love with it! I absolutely possitively love it! However there are two draw backs... 1) the water bill went up $20... and 2) we have discovered that Ben is allergic to the Rye grass which is the grass that was put in the back yard. We just recently figured out the allergy because up until the past two weeks Ben has been wearing pants and now that the weather has warmed up he is in shorts, so he keeps breaking out in a rash wherever his skin touches the grass. Ben falls a lot so his legs are pretty red most days. So I give him a children's Claritin and it goes away and he plays the next day. Anyway, now that I've rambled on and on... the name of the company is

IDT Landscaping 480-829-8530 they're area is valley wide and they are very reliable. (my sister owns the company) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY CAT!!! haha. seriously though, great company with great values and great customer service.

MONSTER JAM!!!

2009-02-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

We took Scott to Monster Jam on the 24th when it was in town. We took him as a birthday present (his birthday is not until March). HE LOVED IT!!! Check it out!

Scott's favorite... Grave Digger

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
McGruff

My favorite... Backwards Bob (first of all, he looks like he's driving backwards all the time, second of all, because I love to say the name BOB... it makes me laugh just thinking about it)Blue Thunder
So we didn't tell Scott where we were going until we got there. All he knew was that we were going to have a "Super Fun Saturday" with just him, mom, and dad.

The ride to the Super Fun Saturday

Once we got there he was so excited!

Then he got pissed off because it was too loud.

I was his ear plugs for a while.

The didn't have anymore at the arena, so we made some out of unchewed gum... it really works! HAHA!

Then he was super happy.
During intermission he got so excited about Monster Jam FreeStyle. It was so much fun to see him get really into it and start cheering and everything! I love to see him come out of his shell. Yeah I know, some of you may be thinking "Scott has a shell?" Well, he really does. He's usually so timid and shy when there are much more than 5 people around. And especially in a new situation. So this was awesome!

My How Time Flies

2009-01-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

Scott is starting Kindergarten in the fall. Tomorrow I have to go register him. I can't believe my baby will be starting public school! AAHHHH!!!! It seems like just yesterday I was taking him out to the driveway to meet Kathy and Alicia for the first time just after he was born! He's going to be 5 years old on March 15th, but he already seems so much older. It's crazy. He started preschool in August of last year and I thought that was crazy. This is like a whole other world. I'm petrified for him. But oh how glorious the break of all day kindergarten will be for me! So this is completely bittersweet. I'm lovin the idea of it, but I'm so happy I have a few months to get used to it!

My Benjamin...

2009-01-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

My little Benjamin is something else. Don't get me wrong, I love each one of my kids with every bit of myself, but there's something about him that gets me in a way the others don't. It's the hardest thing to explain. Like last night, Bird took Scott and Ben to lay down and go to sleep. So they are all in my bed (so not typical, trust me, I hate it) anyway, all in my bed as I'm straightening up the house and I hear Ben start laughing. If it had been Scott laughing I probably would have gone in there and pitched a fit about them not going to sleep, but Ben... no. I just started laughing too. Then he started growling or "revving his motor" (that's kind of his thing) and all I could do was laugh more. It's so obvious that I play favorites with him, I won't deny it, and I do feel badly, but I just can't help it. The way I like to describe it is that "he tugs at my heartstrings." My two other boys definitely have just as many moments of complete and utter cuteness as Ben does, but his are different. It's almost like I cherish his moments more because the number will be limited. Oh boy... I think I need to explain that. When I was pregnant with Ben I was very uneasy about his health. I always felt like something was going to go wrong at any second. At first I thought that it was just because he was my second and I had a better idea of what to expect, but then Bird had the same feelings and after I got pregnant with our third, I realized I didn't have the same reservations as with Ben. We've had a few concerns with him and a couple of scares, but for the most part he's been fine so far, although, there have been more health issues with him than the others. The worry is still there. Well, anyway, there's just something about my Benjamin that gets me. He tugs at my heartstrings.

SNOW DAY!!

2009-01-05T18:14:00.001-07:00

I am an Arizona girl through and through (the stereotypical, desert and cactus kind). This was offically the 3rd time in my entire life I've ever seen the snow. And I do mean SEEN. Offically the 1st time I've ever played in it!! A little crazy I know, but if you knew how much my parents hate cold weather you'd understand. Seriously, my mom wears a winter coat whenever the temperatures drop below 70 and my dad won't even go outside unless it's absolutely necessary.

The fun begins...

Scott making a snow angel

The Snowman!

Scott lovin it!
Ben not so much.
He's sweet, but was hating the cold.

Who could blame him? He kept sinking.

My Bird.Me loving it!
Two tards in a pod... so in love.

Bird's truck's first snow trip. Check out the front bumper.

About an inch of snow fell in the hour we were there!

So this was our first family trip to see and play in the snow.... it wasn't really complete because Zac didn't come with us for obvious reasons (flippin freezing!), but it was super fun! Ben didn't really like it though, he kept following me around saying "cold mommy, cold mommy" until I'd pick him up. And whenever I'd put him down he'd cry about how cold it was. Plus he refused to wear the mittens he had, so I had to walk around holding him with my coat unzipped so he could put his little arms around me to keep them warm. Then it started snowing more and he started freaking out about it getting on his face, so I put him in the truck. He played DJ for us from that point on and seemed to have just as much fun as the rest of us. He'd look at us from the driver's seat and smile while he pretended to drive. There was about a foot of fresh snow on the ground, but it looked like there was 4 or 5 feet because of the giant block of ice under us! Scott had the time of his life! He ran around slipping and sliding all over, and laughing when he'd fall on his butt! He was covered from head to toe in snow and never once complained about it being cold. He loved catching the snowflakes on his tongue and eating the snow. Me and Bird has a little snowball fight, basically he threw a couple when my back was turned and I'd turn around right as they hit me in the face, unexpecting as I was. That happened twice before I started yelling because it stung so bad. Then we decided it was time to go, we get in the truck, strip off the layers of clothes, shoes and all, except me, I left my shoes on. Bird goes to turn the truck around and has to do the forward, reverse thing a few times because the truck is gigantic, on the 2nd time be ran into the ice along the side of the road, after he got completely turned around he asked me to get out to check on his bumper. I got out and it ended up just being his trailer hitch had a huge block of ice on it, so as I'm getting back in the truck I grabbed a handful of snow and chucked it at him! Yep! I got him right in the face. It was pretty sweet if I do say so myself! So that was our snow day!!! And I had a blast!

How Great Was 2008?!

2008-12-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know about anyone else, but 2008 has ended up being an awesome year! Even though it started out with a funeral, it ended with some kick ace fun!

Let me take you through a play by play...
**January**
my grandmother's FUNERAL (boo!)
my 8th nephew was BORN *Caden Seth Baldwin* (yay!)
**February**
2 of my nephew's were BAPTISED (hooray!)
**March**
my oldest son, SCOTT, turned 4... wwhhaaattt?!?!?! (super fun!)
**April**
in and out of the hospital for the first 3 weeks of the month
because of pregnancy and Bird's weak lungs, pneumonia again (boo!)
HAD MY 3rd BABY BOY! *Zachary Zane Zaccardi* (super YAY!)
**May**
my HUBBY turned 25! (hooray!)
had the BEST Mother's Day ever! I love my family! (yay!)
my 9th nephew was BORN *Van Matthew Zaccardi* (yay!)
**June**
my hubby and I went through the TEMPLE for the first time (awesome!)
me and the hubby were SEALED together and to our children (incredible!)
we had a BABY BLESSING for our little Zachary Zane (yay!)
**July**
BABY BLESSING for Van (hooray!)
**August**
took a family VACATION to UTAH (fun!)
Scott started PRESCHOOL... wwhhaaattt?!?!?! (exciting!)
**September**
my middle child, BEN, turned 2... sheesh! (super fun!)
my 10th nephew was BORN *Henry Michael Winfield* (yay!)
found out that I am going to be an Aunt AGAIN (wow!)
**October**
started my baby weight loss attempt, so far so good (hooray!)
found out I will be an Aunt to TWINS (super hooray!)
discovered a passion for READING, who knew?! (yay!)
Scott's first SCHOOL PICTURES (super cute!)
attended the best BACHLORETTE PARTY ever (super fun!)
**November**
BABY BLESSING for Henry (yay!)
had a wonderful 5th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (awesome!)
AND attended the wedding of GREAT FRIENDS in the same night (sweet!)
HOORAY FOR ***SCOTT AND ASHLEY***!!!
the youngest of ALL of my sisters-in-law's, GINNY, turned 18 (wow!)
had a wonderful THANKSGIVING with my WHOLE FAMILY (the best!)
had a visit from my SISTER Julie and her family (so fun!)
my whole family was together for the first time in years so we did
FAMILY PORTRAITS (a blast!)

**December**
the kids got SICK (super boo!)
Bird got SICK (boo!)
I got SICK (ew!)
I TURNED 25, I love my birthday! (yay!)
Scott had his first SCHOOL PROGRAM (super cute!)
found out that the twins will be A NIECE AND A NEPHEW (exciting!)
had an amazing CHRISTMAS EVE (so fun!)
had an awesome CHRISTMAS DAY (hooray!)
wished I had been able to go to THE DUNES for New Year's (boo!)
but will be SPENDING the HOLIDAY with the FAMILY instead (hooray!)

All in all 2008 was great! I'm looking forward to 2009!
From our family to you and yours, have a SAFE and FUN New Year's Eve and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tis the Season

2008-12-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I'm so stinkin busy it's absolute mayhem. I know this seems to be the busiest time of year for everyone else too what with the Holidays and all. Well, that's not the only reason for my busy schedule. Not only do I have Christmas shopping, I also have 4 birthday's to plan for, an anniversary, and Thanksgiving. November and December are crazy. And to top it all off, this is the time of year (usually the first week of December to be exact) that my family gets sick. And it's not ever just a cold. Scott has bronchitis, Zac has an ear infection, and Bird has some other type of infection (pnemonia, sinus, bronchitis) as of right now we aren't sure, he goes to the doctor today, I just hope whatever it is doesn't land him in the hospital again. But who knows, maybe the 3rd year's the charm. So anyhow, this year has been even more difficult than last year in it's own way (last year my last living grandma died 3 days before my birthday) I don't really mean emotionally, just more stressful. My children and husband are sick yes, but usually I am able to steer clear of any serious illness. Well this year I have a couple of different issues concerning myself to stress over. I have an umbilical hernia, which I've had for a few years, but now it's really bothering me, so I went to see a general surgeon to see what I needed to do about it. I need surgery... BUT, I have to decide if I want anymore children. He says because the muscle tear has been there for going on 5 years now the muscle was not being used and has deteriorated, so there's this hole around my belly button, which means they can't stitch it back together, they have to use a piece of mesh and sew the remaining muscle to that, so if I were to get pregnant again after surgery sometime, it would just tear open again because the mesh is not stretchy. I mean come on! I'm just barely 25 and have to make that kind of decision! What the heck!? But that's not all, no, no, that's not all. I might have to get my gallbladder removed too. That one's a little harder to explain, so I'll just leave it at that. OH THE CRAZINESS THAT IS MY LIFE. And it always seems to happen around this time of year. Always. I suppose "Tis the Season" can have a lot of different meanings. And now for a little comic relief.

Scott's School Pictures

2008-11-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

Scott had pictures done last month in preschool. They turned out pretty awesome! He's so handsome! The photographer that did the pictures is Amy Kroff Photography (480) 588-8202.

Scott says that this last one is his favorite. I can't really choose a favorite, I love them all!

Super Sitter & More!

2008-11-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

Zac has decided that he can sit now!!!

About a week ago he started like this...

Then two days ago it progressed to this...

This one's my favorite!It's funny the way he sits. It's almost like he's doing Yoga. And to top it all off... he's crawling now! He just started today! He's not even 7 months old yet! Scott started at almost 9 months old and Ben didn't until 11 months old! Zac's just so advanced!! (hehehe, inside joke!) Sorry no pictures of it yet. I hope he crawls for a while before he starts walking! That's all I need... 3 boys that can run! AAAHHHH!

Such a Colorful Character

2008-11-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

Scott has been coloring his face a lot lately. He just has to show off his colorful character to the world I guess!

A Boy and His Tricycle

2008-11-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ben absolutely adores riding his tricycle! He loves it more than anything else right now. He is incredible on it too. He can use the pedals, manuver around almost any obstacle, and even backup using the pedals too! He (along with my other two boys) continues to amaze me everyday.

He's Doing It!!

2008-11-08T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well, almost...

And so proud of it!!!

This Is My Favorite Time of Year

2008-11-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is my absolute most favorite time of year. Why? you ask. I'll tell you. First of all, I absolutely love the fall season because it finally starts to cool off and kind of starts to feel like we could actually have a winter season. Second of all, because, to me, fall always means family. I am so blessed that all of my family lives close enough to come visit for the holidays almost every year. It reminds me that I have so much to be THANKFUL for. My family means the world to me. (And it always means yummy food, which is just awesome!)

And then to top it all off, along comes Christmas. My most favorite holiday of them all. It's not about receiving gifts, it's not even really about giving them (although they are both fun). It's about the birth of Jesus Christ. And the significance that event holds. The greatest gift of them all was given to us in His birth, His crucifixion, and His Resurrection. And that is what I am MOST THANKFUL for. I am so thankful that He took upon Him my sins so that my burdens would be light. I am so thankful that He died for me, so that I could live. And while He did those things for all of mankind, I like to think that He did them for us as individuals not just us as a whole because He knows each one of us personally. He knows me personally and I know Him personally. And I am thankful for that too!

Costumes & Candy... Must Be Halloween!

2008-11-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

BumbleBee from Transformers

nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana BATMAN!

He's supposed to be a ghost, but he looked more like a chollo! HAHAHA!

The top of his beanie is white and says BOO! With a ghost face on it.

No More Pull-ups!!!

2008-10-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I am probably going to jinx myself now, but FINALLY after a year and a half of potty trained gloriousness, Scott can sleep through the night without a pull-up! Oh the excitement is uncontainable!!!!!

BEN-JA-MIN!!!

2008-10-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is what happens in my house when Ben is allowed in another room by himself for more than 2 minutes. Chaos. Notice the oh so cute little footprints? The good thing is that food coloring doesn't stain everything, the bad thing is it does stain some things... for example, skin. This was 2 days ago and his foot, toenails, hands, and lips are still stained!

And this is just the latest thing he's gotten into... over the past month, he's squeezed all the toothpaste out of the tube all over the bathroom floor then tried to clean it up with clothes, he drew on himself with Sharpie, he colored on the wall at his Grandma's house, squeezed lotion all over my bed, dumped laundry detergent all over the floor at his Grandma's... twice, "cleaned" the toilet seat with hand soap, and I can't tell you how many times I've found him playing with toilet paper... IN THE TOILET, and as if playing with it in the toilet isn't bad enough, he really enjoys eating it too, all soggy. EW is the understatement of the century!

Laundry Day

2008-10-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is HALF of my family's laundry for one week.

(There are 4 baskets under there).

It's ridiculous.

Today I spent my afternoon folding...

and folding and folding.

And then I finish and realize that was only HALF of it.

Damn laundry.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

2008-10-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!

These two are starting to get along...

Scott was "taking care of the animals"

while Ben "fixed the tractor."

I love that they can play nice now!

No Lessons

2008-10-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Look who's riding a bike! All by himself!

He had no lessons, no help, he just picked it up and said

"I want to ride this bike" and that was that.

Wrestling

2008-10-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

Wrestling has been their "new" thing lately.

There is always a blanket down on the floor because of Zac...

so Scott and Ben take full advantage of it.

Ben loves getting on Scott's back.

Scott tries to stand up and then they both fall over and laugh about it!

This is Scott trying to stand up.

But it's all fun and games until Ben gets stuck!

"tuck, tuck!" (his leg is stuck under Scott)

And more often than not, Zac is just watching and laughing... I really think that he is memorizing their moves so when he gets big enough he'll already know their strategies and will be able to take them down faster.

Bounce Boy

2008-10-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Just having fun! I love him.

Super Scott

2008-10-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

It's like he's flying. And he thinks it's awesome. I love him too.

Cowboy Take Me Away

2008-10-06T13:44:00.001-07:00

So beautifully handsome. And him, so much love.

Family Definition

2008-10-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

I come from a family of 6 with 4 kids. Both of my parents come from 6 person families with 4 children in each. Therefore, I have 11 Uncles and Aunts (after marriages). This has resulted in having 15 or so cousins for me. Bird comes from a family of 8 with 6 kids. His dad comes from an 8 person family as well with 6 children and his mom's family is that of 4 persons with 2 children. Therefore, Bird has 12 Uncles and Aunts (after marriages). This has resulted in 24 or so cousins for him. These numbers may seem big or small to some of you I'm sure, but either way is beside the point. The chances of us getting anymore 1st cousins is pretty slim considering the ages of our Aunts and Uncles. Now here's the point.
Our children have 15 cousins already. Bird's side of the family has 9 (3 of which were just born this year) and not all of his siblings have even had children yet and I don't think that the ones who have had children are finished. My side of the family has 6 (with twins being expected in late spring of '09). After the twins are born (congrats to my brother and sister-in-law), I'm fairly sure I will be the only one having anymore kids on my side, although, my sister is planning on adopting a few I think. I guess this isn't really all that exciting, but I found it quite interesting that they have already caught up to me and are quickly passing me by well on their way to their dad's number with no end in sight.
When I read what I have wrote I realize that I'm not even getting into the half of it, my brother and sisters and I only share one parent, which means there are that many more siblings and cousins due to other marriages that I can't even go into because I don't really know. With such a large extended family, what amazes me the most is that our families are forever growing and changing, but no matter how much growth and change takes place they are still our families, they are who we are, who we will become, and once we are gone, who we were. Our families have defined us (whether we like it or not) through the years that have past and will define us in the years to come. I absolutely love my family and would never in a million years change any one of them. I love who I am and where I have come from, and if I were to change anything I wouldn't be me and I'm not sure I'd like that very much.
Our children have a luxury that me and Bird did not have growing up. They are super close with their cousins. They get to play and have fun with them about once a week. It's like being on recess at school everytime we get together. I love that we have such a big family and I love that it is forever growing.

Sweet Memories

2008-09-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

This is my brother-in-law, Scott. His birthday is today, he would have been 23. He tragically lost his life almost 7 years ago due to a motorcycle accident. He was 16. This is his last school picture taken his sophomore year in high school. There are only a few moments that I remember with him, but there are a ton of things that I remember about him. Here are just a few... he had the best smile, the bluest eyes, and the most genuine personality. He was sweet, kind, fun, hilarious, goofy, awesome, and a truly incredible person. Oh, and his walk. If you knew him, you know the walk that I speak of, if you didn't know him, well... I'm sorry, but it's indescribable. He is a person that I cannot imagine not having known. And although I did not know him very long, only 3 short months before his untimely passing, it only took me 3 short seconds to love him. I am so grateful just to have known him for the small amount of time that I did. And because of this, I am blessed.

This photo is one of the last pictures of Scott, it is actually the last family photo with him in it, taken a mere week before he passed. (The photo you see has been cropped and enlarged, but it originated from a family photo). It is amazing to me, that even in the midst of such tragedy, there is a bit of grace shining through. This last photo is proof of that. And even though he was unconscious, the fact that we were able to have that last day with him to remember and reflect with him still there was a moment of grace all in itself. God is amazing.

There are 2 more things I would like to say about this:

1) If you are the one driving the motorcylce, dirt bike, or ATV... ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET! It could save your life.

2) If you are driving any other type of vehicle... BE AWARE AND WATCH FOR MOTORCYLCES, DIRT BIKES, OR ATV'S! Remember that they are smaller than you and much less protected than you, which means you need to YIELD TO THEM! It could save a life.

If any of the persons involved in the accident would have done either of these 2 things, this tragedy could have been avoided.

Happy 23rd Birthday my dearest Scott. You are greatly missed.

Family Photos!

2008-09-16T00:06:00.001-07:00

So we had some family photos taken last week by my wonderful sister (not a professional, but still nicely done). So here are some that show the struggle of a family photo with young children, which also happen to be my favorites. I love my family.

And the grand finale...

with some lady in the background! Oh well, at least all of our faces are showing, in focus, and not upset this time.

First Teeth!

2008-09-16T00:06:00.000-07:00

My baby Zac has gotten his first teeth over the past week! He's getting so big, so fast. He's definitely the biggest of all of them at this age (5 months)... he's 18 pounds! and wears a size 6-9 months and that is starting to get a bit small for him! He's my tubba tub and I love it.

It's kind of hard to see the teeth, only one really shows in these pictures, but there are definitely two in person. He's so smiley and happy all the time, unless he's tired or hungry obviously. He's got such a great personality, so fun and loving. I adore him. He has such a darker skin tone, hair color, and eye color than my other kids... it's so different than what I'm used to. It's definitely a nice change of pace. :)

Ben's the Big 0-2!

2008-09-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

This is Ben. He is 2 today. It's amazing. He is such a fun little boy, he loves to laugh and smile, and it shows. Everyday he's happy, just in love with being a kid. He has such a genuine spirit.
Lately he has been saying actual words that make sense. And what is the most astonishing to me is how he uses them. He is so 'matter of fact' about things. I told him it was time to take a nap, he said "no," so plainly and definite that I had to laugh. No whining, no crying, just no. And it's almost like he thinks whining is a joke. Earlier his dad came home to wish him a happy birthday and to say hello then he had to go back to work, so we all go the window to wave bye and after he drives away Ben, with eyes squinting and a little whiny voice, says "Daddy, no bye bye Daddy, ooohhhh, nnnooo, Daaddddyy," and then started laughing. The great thing about him is that he's been like this since he was a tiny little baby. Always smiling and laughing (well, by 6 weeks anyway) and very playful, but so mellow. He's not so mellow anymore, but you get the point. He comes to me all the time pointing at where he was and telling me something in his little language and then laughs, like it was so funny. I love him. He just tugs at my heart-strings. He is so content just being. I love it. I just hope he stays this way!

4 Short Years...

2008-09-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

My oldest son, Scott, started preschool in August, he's 4 1/2 and oh so big. I was looking at some baby pictures of him yesterday and started thinking about how weird it was that just 4 short years ago he looked like this...

and now he looks like this...
Now, some people might say, yeah he's growing up and?, but to me it's the weirdest but coolest thing I have ever seen. I have two other boys, Ben is 2 and Zac is about 5 months, and looking at them now I can't even begin to fathom them being as big as Scott and that's the part that's weird, it's so hard to imagine what they will be like a few months from now, let alone a few years. The cool part is knowing that I will be there to watch the transformation taking place.

5 years ago I remember feeling like 4 years was an eternity... and now I wish it would slow down a bit so I can enjoy it more. And what's really amazing is that in these 4 short years, I have witnessed three of the most incredible things I will probably ever see... the growth and development of each one of my oh so different children.