February 2011

Wow has this month gone by fast.  It seems incredible to me that March is coming this week!  We had a busy month filled with business school interviews, lots of work for me {BUSY BUSY BUSY season in the ER}, cookie making with kids, endless cleaning/laundering, outside playtime with friends, family birthdays: Adam, Brett, Ben, and of course Robby, multiple friend bday parties--and many more to come this next month--, several kid sleepovers at Nona & Papa's house complete with raking/playing in leaves, etc.....

Don't you love the pictures you take that will someday become blackmail photo ops?! I love this cute picture of Eli going "pot-teee".  Are we currently potty-training? NOT a chance.  He is doing fantastic at sitting on the potty a few times a day and tinkling and has gone number TWO in the potty twice, but I am SO not ready to train another child.  We are thinking either this summer or fall.  For now it is too cute when he tells me he needs to go potty, but then we diaper that little bum right back up :)

This big boy cracks me up with his thumbs up!  He loves to give us this sign when things are good or when he is willing to do something for us {such as pick up his clothes and put them in the laundry hamper}.  What makes us laugh so hard is that he will reply with "okay Mom I'll do it...thumbs up!"

In these pictures he is giving us thumbs up after we asked him if he was ready to open presents at his extended family birthday party!

A lazy day at home with all three kids {no school for the Miss}.  My kids love to drag three chairs by the long side of the table so that they can all sit side by side :)

A blurry picture taken by Miss M of me and my Rubba's:

 Brett's TWENTY SECOND birthday party at the in-laws.  My bigger two kids were more than ready to help him blow out all those candles.

 These three pictures I stole off my sissy in-laws facebook photo album of the three kids playing in the leaves at their Nona & Papa's house.  They are loving having Friday night sleepovers here and there at the grandparents; seriously to a point where Robby asks us every single week when they are sleeping over there again.  Luckily is has worked out to where they do it on nights that I already work.  As you can tell, they are quite spoiled when they go over there :) 

This month, I officially lost out on capturing the "Mother of the Year" Award.  Somehow Maddie was late to school on the day they had class pictures.  She was seriously only about 10 minutes late, but by the time she made it into the gymnasium where they were doing the pictures they had just finished taking her classes.  She came home that day completely devastated.  It broke my heart to see her this way, so I quickly promised her her own photo shoot at home that night.  Here are just a few of her:

{it made me feel so bad when she said "but mom, I made sure I looked extra cute for pictures and then I completely missed them".  She told me she saw them getting ready to take her classes pics and tried to run up to the front, but by the time she made it up there they had just finished}



Blessed

Today was a wonderful day filled with visiting teaching two wonderful women with my awesome companion/neighbor, early release playdates, snuggling in bed early this morning with Robby, visiting Papa and picking up E's beloved blankie while the Miss went to gymnastics, $1.79 wacky packs for dinner and a LARGE Vanilla Dr Pepper for me {mmmmm...thanks for the reminder Emily}, kids willingly helping sort/fold/put away clothes without any complaints?!, late baths and fun Geotrax building before bedtime.  Although I am missing my Mr who is far away in New Hampshire, today was the kind of day that gives me an overflow of gratitude for my opportunity I have to mother and teach these three special spirits in my home.  I feel like have been so blessed to hear those little voices call out "Mommy" throughout my day and I cannot get enough of the kisses and hugs I am showered with. 

 Being the excellent visiting teacher that I am (not), I hadn't read the lesson for this month and somehow did NOT remember it from when my ladies came by and visited me.  During our visit today, Jamie talked about the importance of the Relief Society and I was so touched with her thoughts.  I have felt such a void in my life the last two years in this category particularly.  I have been either working or in nursery for almost two years at church and have really missed the promptings I feel in my heart during the lessons that are taught each week at Relief Society.  During this time I have worked during nearly every enrichment activity and thus attended few of these which has only made this longing more intense.  It has really made me feel disconnected from our ward friends.  {I still remember when I was officially called to serve in Nursery.  I had already been basically serving in there for the past six months due to some behavior issues with Mr R.  I remember Br. XXXX coming to the house and looking me straight in the eye and asking if I would be willing to serve in the Nursery.  I was such a wimp and could hardly look at him while I spurted out a "yes".  As soon as he left I burst into tears and sobbed for probably thirty minutes.  At that moment I went on a "little" pity party and really felt like no one understood how hard my life was; I thought that Heavenly Father had abandoned me.  Gradually I "put on my big girl panties" (like Jamie Gallegos would have said) and forced myself to accept this}  Now fast forward one and a half years later and lets just say I was a tad bit excited to finally be released from this calling.  Now before I sound like the last few years have been all negative, let me list some of the positives:

*I have gained a deeper appreciation for the women {and men} that diligently serve as Nursery leaders

*I have learned that although friends are great to have and spend time with, they are not a necessary piece that I have to have in life; the most important thing is relying on my beautiful little family and leaning on my husband, Mother, sister, and in-laws for strength in dark times---and of course my Father in Heaven and elder brother Jesus Christ.

*I have come to love many of the little children in my ward: Ellie with her wisdom and kindness that are far beyond her years, Jane's spunky personality and love for all her babies, the twinnies--Brooklyn and Londyn--strong personalites and hearty appetites, Brett's LOVE of trains and equally hearty appetite, Ethan's initial shy personality that has now developed into a very confident boy that knows exactly what he wants, my snuggler E, Kinsley's sass and spunk- completely willing to stand up to Robby and deck him if she didn't get her way :), Robby with his transformation from Nursery terror to oldest child in the class, Tyler's calming presence, and Tinley--little lightweight that would fall asleep in my arms almost every week I was there {seriously LOVE her}

*I have learned a little bit about enduring.  I have learned that you can survive more than you ever thought.  I never thought I could withstand as much as I have the last two years; but here I am alive and doing well!!  I have a career that has allowed us to have a roof over our heads, food on our plates, clothes, a little bit of $ for fun with the kiddos, a wonderful husband who is working sooo hard to get back into a fabulous graduate school program, wonderful neighbors who have become some of my closest friends, three exuberant, healthy children, and the best extended family I could ask for.



Another MAJOR blessing I have had along the way is my dear, sweet Eli.  I feel like Heavenly Father really understood what we needed when he sent this special boy to us.  He knew the challenges that lay ahead and had a plan mapped out for us. He sent us exactly the type of child we needed at this point in our lives.  Eli has been the sweetest, most loving and happy spirit in our home.  Even at two years old, Maddie constantly reminds me "how cute he is, how sweet he is...."  He always has the biggest hugs and kisses to give me whenever I am in need.  He is such a great listener and rarely throws tantrums {which are incredibly mild and easy to handle}.  He is easy going and patient with us.  He does like to climb and get into things, but it's incredibly difficult to get mad at him because he has such a tender heart.  If you reprimand him at all, he gets this really sad look on his face and breaks into tears.  He loves to help out and will always put away his shoes, dishes, pajamas with only being asked one time.  He rarely says the word "No" and has even started saying "okay" when I ask him for help.  Jesse and I constantly discuss how "good" of a baby/toddler he has been thus far.  As I have really reflected on blessings today, I am openly acknowledgly that it wasn't by chance that Eli came into our family at this time.  Instead, he was a blessing bestowed to us by our Father in Heaven to help us through our challenges!  So thank you Eli for coming into our home....you are truly irreplaceable :)

Happy LOVE Day

 I sure love all of my little loves in my life.  They make every day worth living, every struggle and hardship I face okay, and each moment worthwhile.  {not to mention they are a bundle of fun...most of the time}

  {all pictures taken last Friday before our "movie night" together watching "Alpha and Omega"}

and of course, I couldn't forget the man that made these three possible.  I wish I could say I have a picture to post of him, but I don't.  One of these days I need to whip out a camera when he is around.  Unless I am too busy snuggling him that is :)

How old are you?

"FOUR"

{insert slightly excited but exasperated eye roll}
**and please note the way he holds up his fingers....he hasn't quite figured out how to hold up four fingers without assistance from the other hand.  Every time I see this it makes me want to give him a big squeeze because he looks so deliciously cute and innocent; and yet he wants so badly to be so mature and grown up ;)**

{and this is about as good as it gets when trying to get a picture of this cutie}

I am such a birthday kind of girl.  I literally get jittery myself just thinking about how much fun we will have on each of my kids birthdays {and let's be honest, mine as well}.  It's just that I remember my birthday being so magical as a child and I want my own children to feel the same excitement.  This year I was so excited to be able to give Robby a real friend birthday party of his own.  I was also looking forward to having it be a day all about him.  The only downer was that Daddy had to leave to go out of town that morning for a business school interview.  Here's some of our fun we did have: 

Loaded up in the car early that morning (6:30ish--yuck) and drove Daddy out to go to the airport. 

Had birthday balloons tied to Robby's chair in the kitchen {Thomas the tank engine and Cars of course}.

 Sang Happy Birthday to Robby while we drove, complete with our festive "cha cha chas". 

Robby decided he wanted homemade Buttermilk pancakes and hot cocoa for breakfast, so we quickly hurried home and cooked his specialty and got kids ready for school.

Off to school for Miss M and preschool for Robby.

Picked up Robby several hours later.

Frosted the frozen cupcakes and put together the party goody bags.

McDonald's lunch per the birthday boys request with HAPPY meals {loves the current monster trucks they give away in the boy meals--mom doesn't love all the stickers that go on them though, takes forever}

Pick up Miss M from school and load up for the party!

Bounce House fun with Robby's buddies, siblings and cousins complete with fun bouncing/playing, birthday song singing, balloon playing, present opening, and cupcake eating.

{He was in heaven to be able to have his own special party at the Bounce House}

Ate Chicken Noodle Casserole {again per R's request).

Opened family presents and ate some leftover cupcakes from earlier!

R's Party Pictures:
{the kids were all super excited to go into the bounce rooms}

Maddie decided she wanted to do the "spiderman" suit and jump on the wall. Too bad she was just a bit too small for the outfit. One of the girls helping with R's party assisted in sticking her to the wall after several of her own failed attempts.  I think it actually scared her a little when she was stuck and couldn't get down :)

Eli eventually got brave enough to climb up this slide and go down.  Notice the traffic backlog behind him, it took him multiple attempts before he successfully climbed his way to the top.  I was so proud of the way he never gave up and his face was priceless when he finally made it all the way.

Our cute neighbor boy, Luke, taking a swing at the baseball bouncer.  Robby pretty much considers him his BFF for life.  They love digging in the dirt together, racing their bikes up and down the street, pushing each other in the wagon or on Daddy's longboard, playing trains/cars/geotrax, the list can go on and on.

I love this picture of all the boys lined up waiting for their turn to play baseball.

{Jude, Robby, Matthew, and Asa watching Luke play}

Eli, Maddie, Kaylin, Ellie, Zack, and Aunt Lori

Luke, Matthew, Asa, Robby, Jude, and Peyton

{The girls running the party clearly did NOT have kids of their own.  When they were filling up drink cups for the kids they filled them almost completely to the brim.  Needless to say, Eli practically took a bath in his root beer...}

Birthday Night:
I have to admit it was a LOT of fun doing something small and simple for Robby's birthday in the evening.  Normally we have our big extended family party where I am in charge of cleaning, cooking, entertaining, and directing the flow of the party.  It's always a lot of fun, but also can be sort of stressful.  This year with just us home, we went completely simple on dinner plans and then did an easy present opening/cupcake eating evening.  It was relaxing and fun to open a few gifts, play with them and then head off to bed!

All in all a fun day for Robby and the best part is we had one more party for him four days later with some of our extended family :)

Love my boys...

Thanks Nona for the hats, especially the last few days when it has been especially cold around our part of the woods :)

FOUR

 It's hard to believe that our "Rubba Dubba" is already four years old.  The time seems to slip by these days.  Robby has been so excited this year to have his birthday and was quite upset last week to discover he still had one more week to go.  Luckily the time came quickly and he had "the best day ever" according to the birthday boy :)

 Four Things about Robby at Four years old:

#1: fearless.  {he seriously is not scared of anything.  whether it's riding his bike down the side of a hill--and almost wiping out, running in the middle of the street to act as a street controller, or jumping off our concrete fence he is not afraid to try anything.  he scares me to death on a daily basis}

#2: friendly.  {he loves to meet people and now proudly walks around telling everyone "hi, I'm Robby James Toronto".  he especially loves the daddy and Grandpa type and will become buddy's instantaneously with you if you fit that description.

#3: curious.  {Mr R loves to find out how everything works and is detail oriented in this regard.  he will sit and study a helicopter and want to know what every little piece is used for.  he also loves to know how cars, trains, garbage trucks, etc work and what happens inside the engine to make them run}

#4: dislikes "button up" shirts.  {he is very meticulous at making sure to not pick out those types of shirts to wear every day.  I try to trick him into wanting the polo type shirts but he is never fooled and will promptly hang them back up and pick out his own choice} 

  We all love you so much buddy and couldn't imagine our family without you.

Another birthday post to come on the actual celebrations :)

Two Wheels

 We are so excited and proud to announce that we are officially a "two wheeler" family.  Both Maddie and Robby have successfully ditched the training wheels and have learned how much faster you can go on two wheels. {Robby has actually been back and forth between training wheels and two wheels since the fall, but has finally learned how to safely get on and off his bike independantly}.  They both have BIG bikes {18 in wheels) so it took a little longer for Miss M to be brave enough to ride like this~ although she still is learning how to get on and off the bike without help. 

Last Friday we had a great time taking the kids down to the creek and riding up and down the bike path.   Eli was the only one not on a bike, and instead got to ride in the bike trailer!  The kids were so excited to show Mommy their "special park" that Daddy takes them to on the way home from Miss Marie's house.

{because we only have one car, many days Jesse will bike over to the babysitters after Maddie gets home from school,  pick up the boys, and then take them all over to the creek where there is a park.  They have eaten many picnic dinners over there together, and I have to admit I have been a bit jealous of this}