I can't believe I've never mentioned this yet....

Okay so back in DECEMBER... yeah a few months ago and even as far as last year!!

Well our little Heidi girl wanted to get something special done. A something special that we've reserved for our girls to decide if they want to do or not when they turn 8 years old. The other two girls decided to do this special thing when they turned 8 and Heidi wanted to be just like them!!

 BEFORE

 Here she looks a little ... I'm not sure.

 Trying to "FREAK OUT" at just getting her earlobes cleaned. 

 Looking for the perfect spot on each ear to make the "DOTS". 

  The anticipation is "killing" her!

And on 3.... they "shoot" the piercing guns at the same time!

 For an instant she thought about throwing a fit, but as soon as 

she was handed the mirror to see the AFTER... 

 

She got an instant SMILE on her face!! She really liked 

the earrings!!

And here we have an AFTER picture of the left ear. 

I post this now, because she's been anxiously counting down the 

days till she can change the piercing studs for some other kinds of 

earrings.  And that's coming up really soon... I'd be more pricise but she's 

in bed and I don't remember exactly. But I do believe it is sometime this 

week.  And Chris watched Heidi get her ears pierced this time since in the 

past he always had to stay home with the other kids. But this year we had 

Kaylee stay home and watch the boys while we took Heidi and Katherine 

with us to do this "special" thing with Heidi.

Bitter/Sweet Milestones ....

Okay this mama was about to cry today! 

WHY?

Well my little boy who is turning 4 in April started in Primary today.

And for me that is a HUGE bittersweet milestone for me.

It means he's getting older and can do more things, but it also means he's not my little baby anymore. He still likes to snuggle with me, which I'll gladly take a time out from my schedule to spend with him snuggling.

I had to seriously hold back the tears today, because that's how I roll. 

I get emotional, and I love my kids and knowing that he's 

the last one makes everything else that much harder to go

through with him. I'm trying not to cry right now while I'm making this note.

I thought he was going to have a rough transition from nursery, where they 

get to play with toys, and have a snack, to going to Sunbeams, where they don't get

to play with toys, and they don't get a snack. 

During Sacrament meeting I saw him acting up and getting all grumpy like, as he was before 

church.  He claimed he didn't want to go to Primary because there wasn't any toys in Sunbeams. 

Luckily as it was time for Primary to start, he went without any problems.  Afterwards, I asked him how 

he liked it, and he said, " It was good, but they don't have snack! And I like having a snack!"

Looks like we'll have an okay time, I just wish the same good fortune to the other **families that have

a child going into Primary for the first time.  ** You know who you are.  

Now we're off to see what other adventures we 

face for the next year / phase of our life. 

First toothless Smile for Heidi

Okay so you all have a child you know that has either lost their first tooth, or is about to. You know all those stages that lead up the tooth coming out.

• It gets a little wiggly. 
• After a time ( be it a few days or week or more) they start complaining. 
• They complain that it hurts when they eat.  Biting into something doesn't happen anymore. 
• You tell them to cut up or break up the food they want to eat. 
• Finally they CRY and WAIL over the pain this little object causes.  
• You try and convince them that it won't hurt if they just get it out. 
• They hesitate and may not let anyone touch it, and just keep complaining for days or weeks until the thing just falls out on it's own. 
• They might walk around chewing on a dry rag trying to loosen it some more. 
• They may or may not grab a pair of pliers to pull it out.  
• They may or may not let mom or dad have a stab at yanking it out.  

Well my youngest daughter Heidi who just turned 8 a few weeks ago lost her very first tooth last night (Sept , 2010)   She lost it with help from ME!! That's right the little kid was so different then her two older sisters and actually let me grab her tooth, and I PULLED it.  Yeah, she cried a little, and it bled a little.  But I didn't lie to her, I said it would hurt a little but then tomorrow (meaning today) it wouldn't hurt anymore.  And guess what ... I was RIGHT!!

And we'll have a little hiatus until the 5 - 6 teeth in her mouth that are starting to become loose all fall out. And then she'll complain of not being able to eat AGAIN.  But oh, how cute they are like that!! 

A first for me...

I must be a little or maybe a lot on the extremely dumb side right now. It's after midnight here, and I'm still awake while everyone else has been sleeping for hours. Okay not quite hours but still it's been a little while, but just as soon as I update this, I promise, I'm going straight to bed.

I ventured out to create my very first digital paper pack.

Why?

Good Question. Well, there is a good friend, and neighbor that we have who was recently in a bad accident that has left him paralyzed. Members from my church congregation are going to host a community fundraiser through a yard sale and such but are also going to do an online fundraiser too.

I really wanted to be able to contribute something of a "tangible" donation and racked my brain trying to figure out what I could do. I started thinking about what my talents are... yeah I love to take pictures of my kids, and I want to be better photographer but lets face it... I not really equipped to do that kind of thing, and I'm not that great. But I also really like to bake rolls, cookies, and will eat them for free too.

Then I switched gears and realized that I could do something along the lines of digital scrapbooking. So I created my first paper pack that I can "donate" to this cause. Of course, it can be bought over and over with just the creation of it once. So to excite fellow digi users I decided to put together a two page layout to show off on my blog.

So here is my creation and everything is MY OWN.

.. and the CRIB came down.

I can't help but to look at my little Ethan right now and just LOVE him so much. He is now almost 17 months old and has grown so much!! He isn't the happy content, non mobile little sleeping baby he was over a year ago. He climbs out of the CRIB, he grunts and screams when he wants something instead of asking for it, but then again he's always cried when he wants something. He doesn't want to be held in one place for very long because he likes to get up and roam around quite abit. He does get jealous of his brother --especially when I'm holding Thomas, and Ethan comes up on it. He also doesn't sit in the High chair anymore, he sits in a booster seat at the table now, insists on feeding himself. He is very much an independant little boy -- so this post comes as another bittersweet milestone comes about in his short little life, I FINALLY TOOK DOWN THE CRIB!!! Very sad for me, because it's the first time that it has been taken down and not set up. I BAWLED MY EYES OUT!!! He's growing fast and with the realization that he is probably my baby -- it's sad for me.

So his room went from having a crib set up to having a toddler bed in it's place. It's been a rough couple of nights. The first night Thomas came into my room around 4 in the morning and said that Ethan was under his bed -- CRYING!! So I quickly ran to the room expecting to see him half under the bed -- but NO he was completely under the bed in the back corner and I had to pull him out. I just don't know how he quite got under there because there are all sorts of shoes, and toys and even a few books that have made their home under Thomas's bed. So he was screaming and seemed quite distraught over the whole experience. And little did I know that it would be another hour and a half before both of these little guys would fall asleep again. Needless to say I was extremely tired on Friday (the 19th of August) and going to pick up the girls from school that afternoon was quite a challenge for me. I WAS REALLY TIRED!!

So sometimes I just wonder how long will the TIREDNESS go on ? So the tiredness only builds because the boys have both been running fevers today, and I stayed home from church to "nurture, and love and comfort" them, and still I've not been able to nap myself. So I really hope that tonight -- all will go well to get some decent time alone with my husband and drift off to sleep by his side. I always feel better when I can fall asleep with him close by. I don't know why but it just happens.

May 31st 2008

What a weekend!! It's been great and busy, filled with lots of family and friends!! And food too!! This weekend Katherine was baptized!! What a great day!! We enjoyed the baptismal service at the church and invited the guests over for a BBQ afterwards. What fun!!! I think we'll have to do more of those in the future. It is so great to be able to live so close to family or have the distant family travel for these occasions. We had family from both sides of our family there both sets of Grandparents were there, as they were with Kaylee too!!

Here Katherine is with her Dad right before she was to be baptized.

And I remembered to be in one of the pictures before hand!! I totally forgot with Kaylee -- I mean what more could I have done, I was only about 4 weeks post partum and healing from a c-section. So actually remembering this time was a blessing!!

Katherine got there and was surprised to see one of her best friends getting baptized the same day!! We happen to be members of the same stake so that was neat too!! Katherine also mentioned that two other kids from their second grade class were also getting baptized the 31st as well. So that was four kids in one class that we know of -- how great that is!!

Our family picture right after the service was over. Will these kids ever co-operate!! ?? Thomas was screaming and had actually lost his shoes to the floor because they slipped right off from his feet. But of course, Chris had to hold him, and so his shirt is totally being raised up. I'll look at these later in life and laugh for sure!!

Here Katherine is with her Grandparents (Chris's parents) and I totally forgot to get one with mine. Maybe next time!!

We also managed to get a picture of all of my parents' grandchildren. Seeing how I have five of them and my sister now has three, and we both live in Utah -- you would think that my parents would want to be closer but that isn't the case!! So we managed to get a good shot or two of all of the kids. They weren't very happy about it either!!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY ETHAN !!

I can't believe he's been with us for a whole year now!!! WoW!! How time flies, or doesn't when your busy with a baby. These are some fun pictures from his first year of life. So you can see him grow up right before your eyes. I've enjoyed having him in my life and when I look back at what he looked like a year ago I just want to cry!! Because he's grown so much !!! I love you ETHAN!!! Happy Birthday BABY BOY!!!

Here is his newborn picture taken in the hospital~~ I can't believe that I still haven't ordered them -- until today!!! A whole year later -- I've never taken that long to order them before. CRAZY!!!

Here he is on his blessing day, May 6th, 2007 almost 1 month old!!!

This was in August when the kids had their "summer reading party" with the Provo Library!! He was about 4 months old. We went to Thanksgiving Point to the Cornbelly's place and here Ethan is with his dad. This was in about September - so he's about 5 months here.

Here he is as "Winnie the Pooh" for his first Halloween!!! His first time with pumpkins -- October 2008 ( He was 6 1/2 months old)

Ethan on his first Christmas !!! Playing with one of the new toys he just got. He was 8 1/2 months old!! This was Ethan's first SUPER BOWL PARTY!!! Okay -- not much of a party but really darn close!! I can only imagine what it will be like as the boys get older!! February 2008 --

One of his times being SICK!!! He didn't feel well at all and this is how he laid for most of the day. When normally he was crawling all over the place. February 15th
This was in December right before Christmas!! You can see his bottom two teeth pretty well!! I just love his SMILE!!! He was 8 months old!!

First Time I really let him go out to the SNOW!!! This was after we had a few good snow storms in a row in January ( I think??)
He is the most flexible baby I know!! He is basically just sitting up and then laid his head on the bed. How many "chubby" babies can do that??

The Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma & Grandpa's house!! March 22, 2008

Ethan on Easter Sunday ( March 23rd, 2008) What a handsome little guy!!!

And today when he turns 1!!! We'll get better pictures of his party later tonight and I'll post that tomorrow!!!

HE TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS!!!

Holy Moly!! Ethan just took his first steps tonight !! I managed to pull out my camera and catch some video of it. Now that he's realized that he can move his legs -- he can't stay balanced while standing up anymore because he's trying to RUN!! He was even holding his bottle and walking 5 - 6 steps to reach Chris laying on the couch. It's crazy and he'll be one in just a few more weeks. I hate how the grow up so fast!!

Here is the one picture I took while he was taking another step. It was so exciting and the girls and Thomas were all thrilled to see him reach this milestone. I guess this week he'll be doing this more and more and then I'm in some serious big trouble again. OH BOY!!! This is going to be FUN!!

MORE MILESTONES!!

So this last weekend Kaylee was able to finally change her earrings after having them pierced a little over six weeks ago now, and she was so excited and counting the days down and when it finally came she was being such a baby about it!! Finally she let me pull out the piercing studs and put in some of her earings she got for Christmas. She's so darling, if only I can get her to concentrate on brushing her hair all the time. AGGHH

Ethan -- is nearly 10 months old, and can now crawl all over the place, he can handle the stairs in the back of the house and can even stand up to furniture and walks along the front of the couches. He'll be walking before too long !!! Then I'll really have more work cut out for me that I won't be able to handle.

We also watched the Super Bowl and had fun watching the GIANTS BEAT THE PATRIOTS!!! My men had a nice little party!!!

Thomas has been working on Potty Training now since a few weeks before Christmas and he's doing AWESOME!!! He mostly sleeps dry too!! So now I only have Ethan in diapers and within about 18 months he'll probably be potty trained too!!! Crazy --- how your kids just seem to grow and change over night!! I think I'm going to be one of those moms who is completely emotional whenever my kids get recognized for something or whenever they move from home, I don't even know that I'll ever be a non emotional woman again in my life!!! Oh well!!! That MY LIFE!!

More and More Milestones

Katherine has lost her 4th TOOTH !!!




Now I like to call her "doublewide" -- because of the big gap on the top.











Everything goes into this kids mouth!!! I sure wish that the older ones would learn to keep things picked up and put away.














And LOOK here he has TWO teeth that you can see well -- they both came in when when he was 7 months old.


















Just recently Ethan has started to stand up to various furniture around the house. Isn't that crazy!!!! He's growing up too fast and he's already 9 months old.

Ethan has teeth !!

It's so crazy Ethan has seemed to hit a bunch of milestones all in the same month. Lets see first he started crawling, and sitting up -- almost simultaneously. Then last week his first tooth came through his gums, and now his second tooth has come through the gums as well. Plus this last week he has begun to finally sleep all night. I think of the last 5 nights only one night he woke me up in the middle. Plus -- he's been eating more solid foods. So there could be something to the whole eating solids and sleeping --- who knows? Because Ethan is my only child who has not slept through the night by now. My others were all sleeping through the night by 2 months old and were only breast fed. CRAZY !!!

And good news for Thomas -- we went last Wednesday the 28th, and bought him some CARS and Diego underwear and he's been using the toilet every day since and has had a few accidents. So just maybe he'll be completely potty trained before his birthday which is Jan. 8th!! Of course, he hasn't quite gotten down the whole poopy thing -- but with practice it will happen.

This is so great!!! Of course, now that I'm sharing in my excitement something will backfire!!