Tagged... Thanks, Mom!

Wasn't it thoughtful of my Mom to tag all her daughters with a new one? Yeah... we all think so. :)

I am - - - tired.
I want to be - - - a Corporate Lawyer (that isn't to say that I don't love being a mom- it would just be nice to know that I accomplished the feat of Law School)
I need - - - a big chunk of chocolate to munch on.
I wish - - - my kids would sleep past 7am on any given day.
I'm scared - - - of deep, dark water.
I will never forget - - - the fun teenage years I had growing up with my brothers and sisters... we were so blessed to have each other and had such a good time together! In case anyone is wondering, I have the BEST family ever... seriously- you should all be jealous.
What the world could do without - - - cockroaches- really, what IS their purpose?

OK- I tag all past roommates who read this- you know who you are.

Fourth of July Celebrations

So, I'm a little late in posting pictures for the 4th... It seems so long ago I can hardly remember what we did! Believe it or not, swimming lessons weren't canceled for us, so we spent the majority of the afternoon at the pool. It suited us all fine, because it was so stinkin' hot outside. We came home, had our own BBQ, then went to our friends, the West's, for some fireworks. Just as we were finishing up, it was time for the big fireworks downtown, so we drove over to watch. I think the girls had a great time. They were absolutely exhausted when we got home. Both Alexa and Callie said they needed to be carried to their room because they were too tired to walk. This is the kids throwing Pop-its. Gotta love those things.
Leah wasn't a fan of fireworks. I think they may have been too loud for her liking. Andrew and I had a fun time talking about the first 4th of Julys for all the girls. Alexa was a few months old, we were living in Provo. We watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks from our neighbors, the Butterworth's, yard. She laid on a blanket and slept through all the noise. Our friends, the Brinkerhoff's, kept commenting on how good she was and were amazed by her. She was, of course one of the only babies around at the time in our circle of friends... none of us knew any different. :) Callie was only a couple weeks old on her first 4th. We watched fireworks from Aunt Carrie's Dad's house. Callie slept through the whole thing in her car seat. I remember being so relieved because I hadn't wanted to go anywhere that night. She was great. Last year Leah also slept in her car seat during the fireworks show, but from the car. We drove to the field by Summit and watched from there. It has become our new place to watch the fireworks from. Such a good view and so easy to get home!

I hate lighting off fireworks... it makes me nervous. Thanks to the West's for taking on the responsibility and letting us partake in the fun!

A Total Bust

So, I tried to take the girls to see a Kung Fu Panda last night. Tried is the key word. The air conditioning happened to be broken in the one theatre room where the movie was being shown. It had to have been at least 95 degrees in there. We had to leave early... Callie was sweating like a pig (or perhaps a large overweight panda). Anyway, she wanted to sit on my lap and have me blow on her neck and feet (I know- gross) so she could cool down. So, I was roasting from the body heat factor. I went to complain twice to the manager. The first time he played dumb and said, "Oh, is the air not on in there?" DUH!!! The second time I wasn't as nice and he gave us free passes to come back another time. Smart guy. Alexa didn't want to leave, but I insisted. If I had to listen to Callie any longer I would have gone crazy. One of the girls' friends who went with us was even complaining of a headache it was so hot in there. You just can't live without air conditioning in a place like this. How did they do it in Brigham Young's time?!
*Like my little picture below? From what we did see of the movie, it looked good... I would possibly recommend it if I had been able to concentrate on any of it. I'll give a full review once we see it again.

My Battle Wound

This is the nasty bruise I received while running through the forest at Girls Camp last week. It looks way worse in person, I assure you. Long story short: I was trying to get to one of the girls quickly, jumped over a log that was partially covered in tall grass, hit my leg on two knots that were sticking out but were hidden by the tall grass. I have no idea how it didn't bleed. I kept pushing on my jeans waiting for the blood to seep through. Instead I got a disgusting bruise that looks like someone took a swing at me with a baseball bat. Gross, huh? I figure it will be lingering on my leg for another three weeks....

I'm Ba-ack!

I spent last week at Girls Camp with my ward. It was a great week and now I am exhausted. We had 35 Young Women, 7 Young Women Leaders, 6 tents, 4 fun-filled days, 1 not-so-fun evening of torrential rain, and a massive clean-up of mud when we got home. We were one of only six wards in our Stake to stick it out through the downpour- five wards went home Friday night. I am very lucky to work with AMAZING women in Young Women's. They made the week more than enjoyable, despite all the hard work to pull it off. We also have some pretty amazing Young Women. They make it easy to work hard because they are worth it! Despite the one evening of rain, the weather was fantastic. It was cooler than St. George, but was hot enough to burn nearly everyone's noses and necks on the first day. We were grateful the camp added flushing toilets this year- a major upgrade from last time. Now, if we can convince them that hot showers are a must...
Andrew had the three girls while I was away. He was a trooper to stay with them so I could be gone. I am thankful he makes it possible for me to fulfill my calling and doesn't complain about it. He suffered through swimming lessons in 110 degree heat, fevers in the middle of the night, and potty-training. And despite it all, was in a good mood when I got home and told me it really wasn't that bad! He even had dinner planned for Saturday night, had the house clean, and let me take a nap in the afternoon. What a great Dad he is!
So, there will be more posts to come- I'm far, far behind (I haven't even posted our 4th of July pictures yet!). I'm just too tired to do it now.... Just wanted to let everyone know that I am alive.

Isn't she cute?

Here are some of the most recent pictures of Leah... just because she's so cute. She is endearing in every way except one: for some odd reason she has the highest pitched scream I have ever heard and she likes to use it frequently. My ears are going CRAZY. I can hardly stand the sound of it. I have come to the conclusion that we must just live in a loud house and she wants to be heard as well. I hope it will go away very soon before she starts breaking mirrors and china with her noises. You know she's tired if she is willing to lay down next to you and fall asleep. It doesn't happen very often, but I love it when it does.
Alexa left her half eaten apple on her stool one day last week. Leah went over and shook the stool till the apple fell down.
And then she feasted. She was fairly proud of herself. I was impressed with her ingenious plan.
Leah usually plays in my room while I shower and get ready in the morning. Well, either my shower was WAY too long or she was still tired a couple hours after getting up. She emptied the contents of the basket she always plays with and then fell asleep in it. So sweet.
This is her new favorite place: Callie's chair. Uh-oh.... not good. We have had several fights already; the chair had to be taken away today because Callie completely pushed Leah out of it. What will I do with those two? If I had known that Target was never going to make another chair EXACTLY like this one, I'd have bought five. I'm not kidding. Everyone wants to sit in this chair. It's not like the normal moon chairs that fall over and kids can't get in and out of. This one is perfect. Even Leah can crawl in and out of it without hurting herself. If only I had known how great it was three years ago...

Camp Rock

Callie's birthday was a success last week. She has been waiting for so long to have it be her day. It's hard being so young and seeing everyone else in the family have a birthday before you. On each of our birthdays she has asked how long it is till hers. We tried to make the day extra special for her because she waited patiently through Andrew, Alexa, Leah and my birthdays without much complaint. We decorated the house, had pink donuts for breakfast, and a new outfit for her to wear. She was a happy little three year old. Opening her new clothes. A Dora skirt, of course. I've really gotten soft in recent months to actually be the one to buy clothes with cartoon characters on them!
Her other presents had to wait till Dad came home from work. Actually, Andrew came home and Callie was gone with Grandma at the Bear Mill making a cute pink birthday poodle.
Jordan and Parker came over in the morning and played for awhile.


We had Callie's birthday party on Friday night. I think she had a great time. She was really looking forward to having friends come over to be with her. I let her choose the menu for dinner: pizza, soda, cupcakes, popsicles, strawberries, grapes, and Hershey kisses (which I forgot to put out; luckily, she didn't notice). We watched the premiere of Camp Rock on the Disney Channel. These girls were hilarious. As soon as the movie started they were dancing and screaming and yelling. It was really loud in our house. They eventually lost interest in the movie, which we knew they would, and mostly just played together. However, since Friday, my girls have watched Camp Rock once a day. So, it was no great loss on Friday- we've made up for it. More Dora stuff... do you see a trend? Her favorite present was a Camp Rock pillow.... the picture of it wasn't great, so I didn't put it up.
A Dora purse from Aunt Andrea. And, Dora underwear. Now, if she would just USE the underwear. Ahhh.... what am I going to do with her?
We looked everywhere for Camp Rock plates, napkins and stuff but couldn't find any. We settled for Dora. Have you had enough Dora yet?
Callie and her cousin Amber waiting for pizza.
The movie started and they were crazy! And, when the Jonas Brothers actually came on screen they were even more crazy. How did I, of all people, get girls who are such girlie girls? I'm surprised no one got hurt with all the jumping around they did.
This was in the beginning of the movie when we had high hopes they would actually watch it. We knew better, of course.
Pink cupcakes with pink frosting with pink candles. Another request from Callie.
Callie's new nightgown after the guests have all departed and she wound down from her eventful day. Happy Birthday, Callie! We love you so much!

Three Years Ago...

I can hardly believe it has been three years since Callie's birth. She came a week and a half early, much to my distress. Yes, I was willing her to be right on time. We were living with Andrew's parents waiting for our house to be done. It was, of course, behind schedule. I knew if she came right on time we would be in the house; any sooner and we would not. So, of course, all my baby stuff was packed in the back of our storage unit when she decided to come. It was around 2 AM when I woke Andrew up and we left for the hospital. She was born at 6AM. We had to borrow a car seat to get her home and clothes to get us through the first week. The house was finished on her due date and we moved when she was just a week old. Through all the craziness of her birth, you'd think it would have been a hard time. But, I remember it was easier than I had expected. I felt great and she was such a good baby; I never had any trouble with her. We were so blessed. Callie is so special. There always has been something about her that is endearing. You can't stay mad at her no matter what she has done. Her smile is contagious and she can melt almost anyone's heart. I love her so much and am grateful to be her mother. Happy Birthday, sweetie!
She weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. We thought she was small... until Leah came along. Yeah, crummy picture of me. Remember, I was in labor in the middle of the night. :)
Living with Andrew's parents had its perks that first week. I never had to worry about cooking meals and there was always someone to take care of Alexa when I needed it. My sister and her girls came to stay that first week, too. (Remember, we were supposed to be in the house by then...) I still remember one of the first nights that my sister stayed up with Callie for hours so I could sleep. I will always be thankful for her. I have such a great family.
Callie was always the best sleeper. She is the one child I could lay in her crib awake and she would just lay there till she fell asleep. She is still a great sleeper.

Happy Birthday Callie, Brielle and Benjamin!

It's always so fun sharing a birthday with others. Happy Birthday to Callie's cousin Brielle, who turns 8 today and will be baptized tomorrow. We wish we could be there. And to Benjamin, our favorite 6 year-old! We have been playing with Benjamin since before Alexa was born. We love you and miss you still. Hope your day was wonderful!

Brielle showing a recently lost tooth.


Benjamin, Alexa, Christian and Callie on their last visit to St George.

OK, I know this is a small picture... those of you who know the Disney Channel will recognize these three boys. My girls are in love with the Jonas Brothers. I'm not kidding. I've got Callie telling me that she wants to marry them and kissing the TV when they come on, Alexa telling me that she loves Nick's curly hair (funny story- we saw him on TV not too long ago and he had gotten his hair cut so some of the curl was gone. Alexa looked at me and said, "What happened to his hair?! Oh, I can hardly look at him." Yes, I am totally serious.) And the real kicker is the new Disney movie that premieres tomorrow- Camp Rock- featuring those crazy boys. Tomorrow is Callie's birthday. She wants a Camp Rock party. So, we are indulging her three year old request and having friends over to catch the new movie. She has been talking about it for weeks... literally. And, whenever we hear one of their songs on the radio (which they know all of them), she asks me to turn it up and she "rocks out". That is what she calls it, not me. WHAT HAVE WE GOTTEN OURSELVES INTO WITH THREE GIRLS?!?!
We'll take pictures of the madness going on at our house tomorrow night. Don't you wish you could be here?

Amber is 8!

For the last eight years, I have had the great opportunity to share my birthday week with my niece, Amber. Her birthday is the day after mine, so we frequently have family gatherings to celebrate our birthdays. Today was one of those great occasions. Amber is amazing- she has lived through more in her little lifetime than most people ever do. Amber was born with Down Syndrome, she is in remission after a long fight with Leukemia, and has had heart surgery to repair holes in her heart. Amber is sweet and loving and concerned for the welfare of everyone else. We are lucky to have her as a part of our family. Today, she was in all her glory. It was so fun to see her so excited about a day devoted to her. Michelle told us that today in church she went around and greeted everyone before Sacrament Meeting and informed them it was her birthday. She was genuinely thrilled at every birthday present she opened and her whole face was glowing. Happy Birthday, Amber! We love you so much! (By the way- the last three pictures here are specifically for Aunt Andrea who couldn't be here today. They are of Amber opening Andrea's gift. We missed you, Andrea!) Amber and the crew of kids... actually I don't think this is even half of them. Well, maybe half.
The two birthday girls... and a bunch of other people who couldn't be nearly as important as Amber and I. OK, that's a little harsh considering two of the other people are my own kids. The girl holding Callie is actually Michelle and Steve's neighbor, Andi. She is everyone's swim instructor and we LOVE her. Callie especially has taken to her. We wish she lived on our side of town so she could babysit for us.
It wouldn't be a birthday if Alexa wasn't helping someone open their present.
Littlest Pet Shop Go Fish. They tried playing before we left... it was a valiant attempt.
Workbooks to do over the summer for letters and numbers. Amber informed her mom that they HAD to do them. And, Michelle said they would because Andrea said so. It was funny.

Happy Birthday to Me...

Yesterday marked the 29th anniversary of my birth... I suppose we can call it a birthday. It was a good day. I went to library where I spent as much time looking through books as I wanted (no, it's not odd- I go to the library with the girls all the time and never get to leave the children's section- I hate that. I really wanted to go and look at a book that was more than 50 pages long), I went shopping and spent as much time as I wanted doing it, Andrew and I went to a movie (Indiana Jones... what did you all think of it? Was the alien thing a little weird?), and then we celebrated with the girls. One of my better birthdays, I think. I spent most of the day wishing that it was my 30th birthday. I know most people have an aversion to getting older- I really don't. With three kids, I think it's time for me to be older. I certainly can't be 23 anymore. So, even if I don't feel older (or even look older for that matter), I am glad to be aging and for life to be moving on- as it should. The girls are all in their Pajamas with wet, out of control hair- maybe we should have planned the eating of the cake for a better time....


Leah can't quite figure out candles yet. She had a hard time with hers on her birthday too. And, in typical Callie fashion, the flame was out before I really got the breath out of my mouth to do it myself.

Our Little Fish

We started swimming lessons this last week. Callie is taking lessons with her cousin Amber and Alexa is taking with her cousins, Breanna and Cade. To my surprise and pleasure, the girls are both doing great. Alexa will FINALLY (this being her third year of lessons) swim underwater from the side of the pool. The really great part about lessons is that they are back to back, so we get lots of playtime at the pool too. The spa has a great kids pool and three other pools to choose from, so we are never bored! It is never crowded, which is a bonus as well. And, we love hanging out with our cousins three days a week. Amber and Callie playing in the pool after their lessons were done.
Breanna, Haylie and Alexa before their swim lessons started. Haylie was filling in for Cade on Friday while he spent time with his Grandpa and other cousins.

Pretty in Pink

We wear a lot of pink in our house- I guess that goes without saying. It is a rare day that one of the girls isn't wearing the color. Recently, the color pink has taken a new meaning in our home. About a year ago, my sister Siri's niece, Ashley, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain tumor. She is Alexa's age and because of this, we had several opportunities for the girls to get together and play when we would go up North. Alexa loves Ashley. There wasn't a single day in the past year that Ashely wasn't mentioned in her prayers. She passed away just over two months ago. Her parents and family members asked that in memory of Ashley people wear pink to the funeral. Hundreds of pink bows were tied around trees in her neighborhood to remember her as well. We did not go up North for the funeral. However, we all wore pink on that special day to remember her. And now, every day that we put pink on in our home has become a time to talk about Ashley. We talk about how we can be more like Ashley throughout our day. She was an amazing little girl. We were blessed to be able to spend time with her and her family. If you want to read Ashely's story, click here.

Up, Up and Away

On Saturday morning when Alexa woke me up, I could hear the familiar sound outside- it was once a strange sound, but now is welcome and fun. Even my kids know what the sound is. Ever since we moved into our house nearly three years ago, this hot air balloon has become a part of our weekends during the spring and summer. It practically floats right over our house and my kids love running outside to see it. The noise is, of course, the hot air that fills the balloon. It floats low enough that we can even see the flame. Alexa wanted a picture on Saturday because Callie wasn't awake to see it. By the time I grabbed the camera, it had floated farther away, but it had been right over our backyard. So fun!

Kitchen Girls

(Alexa titled this blog)

On Sunday my cute girls decided they wanted to help with dinner. They got themselves dressed in these adorable "kitchen" outfits and went to work. Callie kept running around the house yelling, "I need the recipe" over and over and over. So, even though Mom had the recipe in her head, I had to get out the cookbook and show it to her. They tried so hard to be helpful. Callie almost cried when I told her she couldn't take anything out of the oven. She assured me over and over that she was big enough and strong enough to do it. Maybe in a few years...

Let Her Eat Cake!!

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Leah's birthday adventures. We kept it small and quiet this year. Grandma, PopPop and Uncle Nathan and KoKo were the only ones who came to the house for cake and ice cream (Aunt Lydia had to work). Leah gets a little tense when there are crowds around. And, with it being the last week of school, everyone is so busy- it just seemed like a good idea to do simple this year. I'll spare you the pictures of her sisters opening all her gifts, but the cake was lots of fun. We sang, Callie blew out the candle and then Leah stared at it. I had to put icing on my finger and let her lick it off before she understood what she was supposed to do- or what she could do with a whole cake to herself.
Alexa didn't think the cake I made for everyone else was as fun as Leah's. Luckily, Leah was willing to share. This is actually how Leah first started eating the cake- she wouldn't touch it with her hands, she just shoved her face down in it so she could get bites. It was really funny.
It took a little coaxing, but she finally got into it. She would pick up handfuls and squeeze it through her fingers before she would attempt to get it in her mouth.
I love this picture. Leah thinks it's really funny to feed me while I am feeding her. So, she is offering me a bite which, as a mother, you can't refuse. It was pretty good cake, I must say.

This is the aftermath of eating cake- don't they always end up getting a bath in the kitchen sink and then spending time with no clothes on?
It was a fun evening. We are so grateful to have Leah as a part of our family. Just seeing her little face in these pictures makes me smile.

Happy Birthday, Little One!

It's been nearly nineteen months since I first endured the shock of being pregnant. I was scheduled for testing to see what it would take to get pregnant after I ran the marathon. Imagine my surprise to find out I was already there!! It took an ultrasound to discover I was due on June 7th- my birthday. Near the end of my pregnancy I started having problems. I had three or four doctors appointments each week to monitor my fluid levels. On May 19th, we went to the hospital when the baby's movements changed. After a few hours of monitoring I had the choice of staying or going home. I chose to go home (yes, I'd rather deal with the pain on my own couch till I really can't stand it anymore). I slept all night and we were back at the hospital in the morning when her movements changed again. My doctor was waiting for us- he didn't give me a choice this time. He broke my water around 8AM. Leah Jayne was born at noon. My doctor happens to be in my ward... they had to call him out of Sunday School - he barely made it on time, but was done in time to make it to the end of Priesthood. :) Although Leah was a surprise, she has been nothing but a blessing. She is sweet, and cuddly, and loves to make her sisters laugh. She adores them. Each morning when I get her out of her crib, I thank Heavenly Father for sending such a beautiful little girl to my home. We have been blessed. At just five pounds when we brought her home from the hospital, I was afraid I would break her! We were so lucky she didn't have any problems from being born three weeks early. She is still our tiny girl- weighing in at a whopping 16 and half pounds.
Her sisters still adore her. Alexa is such a good babysitter and Callie... well, Callie tries really hard to take care of her too... in her own way.
Under that hat is piles of dark hair. She had more hair than both my other girls and we thought they had lots! She also had blue eyes, which was a shock for us. I thought for sure those Italian genes of Andrew's would give us all brown-eyed babies. How fun to have a blue-eyed girl too. I still look at her eyes and smile.
She didn't even really fit in this car seat when she was born. I tried not to take her anywhere just because I hated having to try to make her little body fit in the seat!