we have a new bundle of JOY

that

is a

rather

LARGE

bundle of joy.

And no it is not a new baby. We just purchased a brand new house. It is all of about four streets away from our current home, in the same neighborhood, same church ward, but much larger. We are so incredibly excited to once again put in a backyard, decorate, paint, and make it our new home! Our life has turned just a tad bit CRAZY as we make the transition from one place to another, and we are loving every minute of it!

The BEST medicine

We are finally starting to recover from all the yucky sick bugs that have invaded our home this winter. What could be the best treat for that? Why a BEAUTIFUL spring day spent playing in our backyard of course! I was so excited to be able to put the kids in shorts/capris and just a shirt today that after Robby's morning nap we headed outside for most of the day. We simply played and enjoyed the warm sunny weather together which was ohhh so fun. We even sat on our little picnic bench and had lunch outside. After the afternoon kiddy naps I dragged them outside once again to enjoy the warm weather. We even loaded up in the wagon and took a nice long walk around our neighborhood. What a perfect day it was! The funniest part was that by the time we went to bed it had started raining outside. I am seriously so glad we took the opportunity to enjoy our perfect day.... I just can't get enough of this little girl. She is so funny. She is obsessed with wallets at the moment. She calls it her "pocket" and is constantly asking to play with our wallets. Maddie will spend all day pulling all the cards out and back in the wallet. The only problem is that she keeps losing my bank debit card...yikes! She absolutely insisted I put her hat on before we went outside and she absolutely HAD to wear her pink crocs as well. She has probably worn these shoes every waking minute of her life for the past two weeks. When she wakes up in the morning, she opens her closet and will pull out every shoe in there until she finds these shoes. She will then happily parade around the house in her princess pajamas and crocs!

And yes... it is official, Robby is now walking. I guess he really has been walking since around his first birthday a few weeks ago. But, just in the past few days he will actually purposefully let go of an object and walk away. He also will walk all the way across the room to me, instead of crawling. He tends to start out looking happy enough, but as he gets closer to me he starts to cry or whine and inevidently those little hands raise up in the hopes that he will then be picked up. Aahhh, he is just a tAd bIt of a momma's boy, but I seriously love it (most of the time :)

I guess I went a little crazy with the day and seriously pulled like half of the toys from our family room out onto the back lawn so we would have plenty to do! LOVE IT!! That's all I can say about his picture. I know it's a tad blurry thanks to my pro skills with the camera :), but this is such the Madison we know and love at our house! She was playing peek-a-boo with me during this picture. She would turn her head away from me and I would pretend like all of a sudden I could no longer see her. Then she would turn back and laugh like crazy when I acted surprised by her....so funny~

Robby has taken a new liking to the flowers in our front yard. While left all alone with them, he decided to try them out to see how tasty they were. Judging from the look on his face at the end...he obviously didn't like them as well as he thought!

The Three Bros

I have one brother and Jesse has two: combined together that gives us three brothers. The neat thing about the three of them is that they all have birthdays within five days of each other. I am doing a combined post for all their birthdays today!!

The first of the pack is Benjamin, my younger brother. He turned eighteen last Friday on February 15th. I cannot believe he is already all grown up. It seems like just yesterday that he was born. His birth was quite memorable for Lori and I. When we were little we would always tell our mom that we wanted a little baby brother. We were thrilled when mom announced that she was pregnant. My dad was beside himself with excitement when Ben was born and he finally had his little boy. Lori and I were like little mommy's to Ben when he was a little baby, always wanting to hold him, change his diapers and take care of him. I remember making up little nicknames for him and singing songs to him. Ben was an incredibly active little guy (my little Madison is JUST like him in this way) and would always keep us on our toes. He would run around with a big grin on his face as he destroyed the house! He had several memorable accidents as a little boy:

1. Going down the basement stairs in his walker when the door was left open- thank goodness he mainly just scared himself.

2. Falling out of his high chair and breaking his arm- we have pictures from his 2nd birthday with him in a blue cast!

3. Stitches on Christmas when he tried to open up a puzzle box with a knife

4. Diving headfirst off the top of his bunk bed.

He used to love to experiment and make all sorts of potions with anything he could get his hands on. I still have an aversion to milk from when he sneakily had me try one of his potions that contained hairspray, perfume, milk, etc.

Ben is seriously so smart. He gets straight A's in school and already has a full ride scholarship to ASU to prove it. When he was younger he used to love to read the instruction manuals for anything electronic. He would learn how to do all sorts of things no one ever got around to reading about. He figured out how to put the child protective locks on our car and it took us a while to realize what had happened. He used to reprogram the TV and would play with our mom's cell phone and change all the options without her knowing it. Whenever I have a problem with anything malfunctioning he is the one I call (he has reprogrammed the remote to our TV several times for us).

Ben has always loved children. After Jesse and I were married for a few years, Ben used to tease us about having kids. He would always remind us that it is a commandment to multiply and replenish the earth. :) He was so excited to finally have a niece when Madison joined our family. Even still he is always up for babysitting for us- THANKS!!

Ben holding baby Madison

Ben holding Baby Robert (Robby and Ben share the same middle name- James)

This past summer we went to Hawaii with my family. Ben was kind enough to always ride in our car so that he could help out with the kiddos. He also stayed with us in Hawaii an extra 9 days so that he could continue to help out with our kids. He even babysat them for a night so that we could go on a romantic dinner cruise! Happy birthday Ben! We are so proud of you with all you have accomplished and for what is yet to come!!

Brett's birthday is the second of the group. He was born on February 18th and just turned 19 years old yesterday! Although I don't remember him when he was born :), he has always been so sweet to me from the day I met him. He is forever our "boo-hoo Buddy" of the family. Brett's middle name is Robert, so our little Robby has a lifelong connection to his Uncle Brett.

When Brett graduated high school last May, he ended up moving out to Queen Creek for a little while into a house with a few friends. It was so much fun to have him stop by from time to time and visit with me and the kids. He is always so kind and patient with them. He has even helped me tend them a few times when I have had activity days to attend to. He takes care of our lawn maintenance right now and comes several times a week to mow, blow and clean up outside. Madison gets so excited each times he comes and will stand by the window on her step stool and watch him work. After he is done outside, many time he'll come inside and hang out with us for a little bit. I sure treasure the chance to spend time talking with him one on one! As he is preparing to turn in his papers to go on a LDS mission, it is exciting to see him grow and mature in many different ways. We cannot wait to see the changes in him as he serves a mission but will also miss him so much! What a great example he is to my children.
Brett at his high school graduation last May
Brett and Madison in Colorado Feb 2006

Madison, Brett, Adam & Robby at the temple this past Xmas

Last, but not least there is Adam. He will turn 27, tommorow February 20th. Although he is far away from us right now in Boston, he is constantly in our thoughts and prayers. I always remind him that he is my older brother that I never had! Some of his baby pictures remind us a lot of our little Robby. They were both chunky little babies and are both very snuggly and loving. Adam has always been by far the most affectionate one in Jesse's family, and I love how he always gives me a great big hug every time I see him. He truly adds a fun little spark to Jesse's family and we always look forward to seeing him. Things are always a little more exciting with him around.

He is such a caring and thoughtful person. He always remembers to buy his mom flowers for her birthday, mothers day, etc. and one year, he even gave me a mother's day present just because. Jesse and Adam have a special relationship, being the oldest two in their family. They both served missions in Peru and can both speak Spanish fluently. Whenever Adam is in town, Jesse can always count on him to help out him out at the stores where needed. I love it when he calls me out of the blue just to say hello and he is constantly doting on and spoiling our kids! We can't wait to see him in a few weeks when he comes into town, and we are also excited to be able to go visit him in Boston in March.
Maddie giving her Uncle Adam a flower at his graduation ceremony from Arizona State University Dec 2006
Adam with Robby on Easter 2007

My poor SICK house

I decided I must document the yucky winter that we have had this year at our house. We have had sick kids pretty much constantly for the last 6 weeks straight. Here is Robby's long list of illnesses: ear infection, croup, stomach flu, upper respiratory infection, bilateral ear infections (both ears), chronic cough and NOW "erythema multiforme". Maddie has had: pneumonia, upper respiratory infection, ear infection, chronic cough and NOW influenza A and bilateral ear infections. I swear I try to keep our house as clean as I can and I try to keep my kids from eating food off the floor, and playing in toilets, and eating dirt outside, and well I guess you get the idea :) It makes me so sad (and tired) to see them sick constantly. It was almost a joke today, because I took Robby to the doctor in the morning for the latest medical condition where he has these horrible red welt looking patches ALL over his body. It turns out to be "erythema multiforme", which is caused by a virus that produces this awful allergic looking reaction to the skin. Unfortunately there is not a lot you can do about it, other than lots of Benadryl. Then later on, Madison woke up from her nap with a high fever and cough. So it was back to the doctor's office in the evening with her. One of the ladies that works at their doctor's office even recognized me and laughed about me being there earlier that day with my other child. It turns out that Maddie has Influenza A (respiratory flu) and ear infections in both ears. Sooooo, once again we are all back on antibiotics hoping for better luck this round. I might just go crazy if we don't get better soon! I guess the one light at the end of the tunnel is that I haven't gotten sick through ALL of these yucky bugs (knock on wood). I hope everyone else has healthier households than us and I especially hope that it warms up even more around here so that the sicky germs will begin to go away.

Cousin Time

Last Tuesday, I had the fun opportunity to babysit my one and only niece for my older sister while she went to work. Maddie sure loved sharing her house and toys with her little cousin, Kaylin. Robby is actually only about one month older than Kaylin (she will turn one on March 1st), but probably at least twice her size. Kaylin is such a little peanut, while I have a giant for a little boy :) We went outside for a little while in the morning, which equals dirty, dirty little children. That was when I decided to do a bath with all of the kids. They all had so much fun playing in the tub together and Maddie wanted to give Kaylin hugs the entire time. We cannot wait to have another play date together!

A day as a mommy!

So I was inspired by Jenna to do a post about my day. She wrote about what she would do if she didn't work (she doesn't have kids yet). So I thought I would go through and write down what I do as a stay at home mommy!

wake up (whenever the kids dictate the time, is when you end up pulling your booty out of bed...anywhere between 5am-7am).
feed robby his morning bottle while maddie gets her sippy cup of milk to appease her.
beg, plead, and otherwise trick children into wearing clothing (maddie has already expertly managed to undress herself out of the pj's).
throw some kind of breakfast out on the table for maddie, while jesse finds himself something to eat.
feed robby his yogurt- always making sure to have some kind of edible object in front of him so he doesn't yank the spoon from me.
wash children off after eating.
give each child their antibiotic (sometimes includes being incredibly flexible so that I can hold all body limbs down while I force it down their throats).
make myself breakfast--normally gets partly eaten when a child starts crying or needs something (sometimes that food will sit out all day without being touched again).
go to the gym and drop kids at the kiddie kare area!!
rush home for robby's morning nap.
shower, get ready, while maddie goes through my purse, hiding credit cards and pictures at times.
robby wakes up.
feed children lunch.
make myself lunch, which once again gets partly eaten before a child beckons.
play on the floor for a few minutes with the kids.
afternoon nap time for both children!!
rush and clean the house or do laundry for the few precious hours that they both sleep.
kids wake up--diaper changes for both of them.
cook dinner.
jesse comes home from work, includes lots of kisses and hugs, as well as some fun play time for robby and maddie (I always love to watch him interact with them after being gone all day).
feed the two kids and jesse their dinner.
bath time.
once again convince the kids that they must wear clothing to bed.
antibiotic for both kids (this time I have jesse's help in making sure they take it).
7pm bed for robby.
heat up my own food and eat.
8pm bed for madison.
wash dishes, do laundry, clean up the kitchen, put all the toys away, etc.
watch suns basketball game with jesse, or some other random show (normally while folding laundry).
check on each child before I go to bed (one of my favorite things to do each day..when I see their sleeping faces, it makes everything else TOTALLY worth it) 10:30pm bedtime
(this includes the absolute possibility that I might be woken up several times at night by one or both children)

Happy Birthday Robby!!

We sure love our little guy and wanted to wish him the best birthday ever. Even though this past year has flown by, we don't know what we would do without him. He has been so sick this past month, always seeming to be battling something different, but he is such a tough little guy through it all. Robby has the sweetest personality and we can't get enough of his smile and laughter. He is so patient when his big sister is constantly stealing the toys away and has truly learned how to fend for himself. He even lets Madison sit on him for a few minutes before he gets upset. He has figured out how to play peek-a-boo and loves to pull the blanket over his head and scare me again and again. I love his squel of delight when I say peek-a-boo each and every time. He also just recently learned to clap his hands and loves to do it and then giggle because he is so proud of himself. He just began the adventure of walking in the past week and will now pull himself up and take 4-5 steps away before falling...I know that means getting into even more things, but it is sure fun to watch as he learns and grows! Even though at times it is hard to get things done when he is awake because he's clingy, I sure love all the cuddles and loves I get from him. It is a wonderful feeling to have someone always want to be in your arms! Happy Birthday Bubba, we love you so much!