Gavin's 2 years old!!!

Yay! As of yesterday, I officially have a two year old in the house. He had his well child check-up today and he is 30 lbs and 4 oz. He is in the 86 percentile for his weight and the 63 percentile for his height. He's so big, but Peyton is not far behind him. I also think Mikayla may only be a pound heavier than Gavin is right now. Pretty interesting!!!

Meltdown Central!!

The past few days have been completely meltdown central at my house. I have been really struggling and think perhaps along with the situational issues our family has going on, I may be having some post-partum depression as well. I don't know how else to explain what's going on in my head. I just keep crying and breaking down all day long. Since like, Friday. I know the holidays can play into it as well, but I am going back to the Doctor tomorrow and seeing if he'll refer me to someone who specializes in mental conditions. Somethings gotta give, but I don't want it to be my family. I also know I am not alone out there. I know several people who struggle with depression, anxiety, and other various mental conditions. I seriously gotta figure out a better way to deal with my kids and my house. But in the meantime, it's great to vent. even if nobody ever reads it, or the whole world does. I think I'm going to write a book...don't know what about, but I may try it anyway...

Any one else gotta hangover...sort of!

So does anyone else out there have what feels like a Christmas hangover? I am still working on cleaning up the mess, the toys, the wrapping and boxes, and I have also gotta take down all these decorations. And of course I have had a lack of sleep over the last couple of days from helping out Santa and such. Am I the only one who loves Christmas but is struggling with the aftermath? I also have been having a hard time getting myself on the right medication and have been feeling very, very anxious and overwhelmed. I was also somewhat disappointed by what happened on Christmas eve. After I had prepared lots of stuff for my whole family to enjoy, it ended up being only my family and my Mother and Father. That's it!. In reality, it probably made things less hectic, but I was still sad about it. Plus I got annoyed with my children asking everyone who came over on Christmas if they brought presents. I hate that and I expained to them how rude it was so we'll see how it works for us in the future. Hope everyone's having a splendid Holiday Season!!

Santa's getting excited!

So today, Santa let me know that he was wrapping several of the gifts he had for our children, and he was really excited for the items they were getting. They are receiving various items, but many of them are educational, which I love!
Also, I got a reminder in church today to talk with the kids about what gifts we can give to Jesus Christ, seeing as we are celebrating his birthday. One of the great things that was stated, was that we must remember that Christ told us that If you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Our family home evening lesson is going to be surrounding that very thing. We are going to talk about what gift, or gifts, each person wants to give to Christ on Christmas this year, and everyday in the year to come. I pray that we can all take the time ourselves to answer this question and remember the Christ in Christmas. He lived and died for us and our Heavenly Father sent his only begotten son to do those things for US, for all of us. Be good to each other!

Christmas is Coming...

Well, we've got just more than a week until Christmas. I have been sewing in hopes of getting all of my children outfitted with a new dress clothes for Christmas. It'll be fun to see how everyone looks together in matching outfits. We'll have to post a pic when we get them done and on.

Last night, for Family night, we discussed the True Meaning of Christmas and what we could do to remember that Christ's Birth is the most important part of the day. We had lots of suggestions and talked about making or getting gifts for each other that would follow in line with that idea. We drew names and everyone is going to get $3 to buy, or make, or both; something to give their drawn out name. The kids decided they wanted it to be secret. So, they don't know who is who's Secret Santa's, but the adults know. It's fun teaching the kids about giving and helping them remember the importance of our Savior during this blessed time of year. I think I may start leaving little notes and fun stuff out for the kids to find and help them count down to Christmas....We'll see how this turns out.

Our Five Little Elves!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Already December...

I can't believe it's already the 5th of December. I love the holidays and Christmas time is my favorite, I just can't believe it's already here! I am not prepared for it. We just got into our Christmas decorations and put up our artificial tree, but discovered we had not ONE strand of lights. I went and bought a couple of strands of clear lights. I think they work the best because they match with everything. So far we have a tree up and I just put lights on it. That's the most decorating we have done as of today. Hope everyone's getting excited. I know I am! We are in our own house for our first Christmas. We are hosting Christmas Eve dinner at our home. We are also going to tell the Christmas story and sing carols and let everyone open One present (which undoubtedly happens to be PJ's every year...) It's going to be great!

9 Months old and counting!!

Peyton had his 9 month check up yesterday, (yes, it's a couple weeks late...) and you would not believe how big he already is. He weighs 21 pounds and 11 ounces!!! He's 28 1/2 inches tall. I forgot what his percentages were, but I'm betting he's up there! He has the same chubby legs that Gavy had, but he's not really "fat" He's just solid! I love his pudgy little legs!

Leftovers

So, I love it! I have tons of leftovers from Thanksgiving. We just ate dinner tonight with some of them. We will probably have turkey sandwiches tomorrow for lunch, I am making Turkey soup for dinner on Monday, and then we'll see what we have left after that. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hooray! Happy Turkey Day! I hope everyone had a joyous and filling day full of Loving Family, Great Food, and many statements of Gratitude! I am truly thankful for my family, all of 'em, even those who aren't blood; for my faith, through which, I can do all things; for all of my friends, past, present, and future; and for the many, many blessings I have each and every day of my life. I am even thankful for my challenges. For it is through them that I grow, and become stronger. I am thankful for everything I have and everything I am.

Baby Steps

Well, we have a couple different kinds of baby steps happening in our house. Peyton, at only 9 months old, is walking all over the house. I keep thinking, "He's too little" but he's doing it! Also, we are making steps towards being able to take our family to be sealed in the LDS temple for all time and eternity. We are one more step closer to our goal and are looking at next year for our projected date!!! Ya! I am so excited for our family!

Another week!

So we made it another week. Our family has been making changes of a spiritual and physical nature and we have come through another week unscathed, and better off. The attitude in our home has become much more calm and we are getting along better. We are constantly working on becoming a closer and happier family. Here's off to another week!

It's been a while...

I haven't posted for quite some time. It is now nearly the middle of November. We have finally settled in, for the most part, to our new home in Springville. We've had an eventful past several months; involving many, MANY ups and downs, but we are still doing well and our family has actually become closer through it all. Thanks to everyone who offered support to us. We are truly greatful to have such great people around us. Everyone's doing OK. We'll post some updated pics soon. Bye for now!

Packing, packing, and more packing!

So, it seems as though I will never get done. I know I am close to having everything packed, but I am just tired of it all. Saturday is the big move in day, so hopefully we are done after that and I can just unpack and organize. Won't that be fun. I better get back to my bedroom and the big stack of boxes...

Got the kids home today...

...At least part of them anyway. Mariah and Alex went from their Aunt's house over to their Grandma's house. They will be gone until next Sunday. Over a week! And they've already been gone a week! Even though it's nice to get a break and be able to get lots of stuff done while they're gone, I'm sad. I'm gonna miss them tons. I am so happy to have the younger kids all home with me. I know they will make it 3 times harder to get things done, I'm happy! ...Soon, we'll be all moved into our house, I'll have my surgery, and then the kids will start back to school. It's gonna be crazy, but I love it!!!

Cleaning

Today, Matt and I took Peyton to our new house to do some cleaning. We vacuumed with carpet deodorizer, and did some dusting and wiping down all over the house. The bedroom that will be for the boys is the one room where the cat smell is still a serious problem. I figure tomorrow night, once it's cool, I'll go over and shampoo. Then we'll see if we have to try anything else. I hate cleaning, but it is exciting too. Because we know we're getting things ready for all of our stuff to get moved in. Yaaay!

Just the three of us!

So on Thursday, I took all of my children except for Peyton to my sister's house to stay until next Wednesday. I got home late and then Friday, after assisting my Father at an appointment with the VA Hospital, got to go to Roosevelt to pickup Matt and Mike.
Now it's Saturday and Matt, Peyton and I are sitting at home relaxing...just the three of us. We also just got the keys to our new house today. We are going to spend this weekend cleaning the floors and stuff and then we'll really get down to packing everything. I am so excited! And it is really nice and quiet here right now.What ac hange from the usual roar.

Another Monday

So, today starts another week of fun-filled packing, driving, and some time "alone". I didn't have to drive the guys up today because Peyton had a Cardiologist appointment to check on his heart murmur. He's good! It's still there, but no problems. Since we are getting ready to move, I have been little by little packing things everyday. Plus, the kids go to their Aunt's on Thursday until next Wednesday. All of 'em, except Peyton. Since he's still at least partially attached to Mama! So I am going to pack up all of the kids stuff while they're gone and then that part will be done. Fun,Fun, Fun...

We found a house!

So this past week I went to look at houses like I have been for the past couple of months, but this time, I found one I really like!

It's in Springville. I believe it was built in the late 1800's and has been added on to in the rear of the house since then. There are 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Lots of great built-ins and good woodworking. We just signed the leas and the house is our as of August 1st! YAAA! We are so excited. Now we just get to do all the packing, moving, and unpacking before I have surgery on the 30th of this month...um, we'll see how that goes...

What a week!

Wow! Who'd a thought that having hubby at home for almost a week would make the time so crazy! We had some great fun-filled days and nights. We did fireworks on more than one occasion, went fishing, went out to eat, did all kinds of things together. Our special event of the weekend was of course Mariah's baptism. It was great! Even though they weren't initially sure if her uncle had said the correct last name and almost baptised her twice, she loved it. She said she would be happy to get baptized twice. Then first thing Monday, Matt headed back up to work. Oh, they did have to be taken up there because the little old car they had gotten "threw a rod"...whatever that means in car talk, I'm not sure. But I was told it means the car is toast. So here we go again, taking 'em up and bringing 'em home. At least until we find another junker for them. So here's to the start of another week! Cheers!

Hopefully she learned...

Today Mikayla was found out on the highway in front of our house. I mean in the middle of the road! Right where the cars could have just ran her over like nothing. Needless to say she got in A LOT of trouble. Since she will no longer be allowed outside without me or her Dad right there (she used to be able to go out with older siblings, but not anymore...), I really hope she has learned her lesson about staying out of the road.

Surprise!!!

So, it's Tuesday night and I just got done spending a really full, fun day with my family...including my hubby! He came home last night and surprised me, well almost. He was gonna surprise me, but couldn't wait so he called and let me know while he was on his way. They are getting days off this week instead of next, so barring any problems with their pipeline, they are home until Monday. Yaaaaah! How fun for us! We can spend 4th of July together as a family!

I love the smell of boogers in the morning...

So I don't know why just one of my kids can't get sick! Instead, I've been up throughout the night with Mikayla coughing, (more like barking) Peyton being so congested that he keeps coughing and gagging on his own boogers. Gavin is just an endless supply of snot running down his face towards his mouth. I wipe it, and it just comes back!!! Then Alex, he can't tell me why he doesn't feel good, he just doesn't feel good... him still being asleep right now is a good indicator that indeed, he's not well! So, here we are. Mariah and me are still feeling normal. Of course, I can't take these snotty kiddoes to church. So I get to deal with sickoes on my own. Yep, it's gonna be a good day!...

This Sucks!

So I hate that Matt doesn't get to come home and spend the weekend with us! The bigger check is the only consolation, but I still hate it. I miss my hubby! And so do the kids. THIS SUCKS!!!

Home, then gone again!

Matt got to come home last night because he had a Doctors appointment early this morning that he couldn't miss. So he got here about 9:00 or so last night, got something to eat, and then went to bed. We had to get up at 6:00 this morning to get ready and be to his Salt Lake appointment by 8:30. Which was sort of a pain since they didn't give us specific information about where we needed to go, but we found it anyway. Once done there, we headed back home, got him a few groceries to take back up with him, and he headed out to drive back to work. He won't be coming home again until next weekend...I hope I can make it until then, and that my children are still alive...We'll see!

The morning after...

The kids were so excited to go with their Dad to the Zoo yesterday. When they got home, Mariah cried herself to sleep because she didn't want her dad to go. Then this morning, all the kids wanted to play with their new things. Mariah actually got a helmet with her new bike, so she was good to go. Mikayla had her Cinderella outfit on for a while this morning until she felt the top was too itchy. But those slippers are not leaving her feet. Alex, on the other hand, has not been able to take his skateboard out to have fun with it yet. His Dad said he couldn't find any boy helmets, so we looked around and found his bike helmet and he can use that. But I think I have convinced him that he doesn't want to ride until he has pads as well. He took it intothe kitchen and tried riding it and fell off onto the tile floor. It HURT! So now he won't ride till we get him some "good pads". We'll just have to see how it goes.

Gone with their Dad

Mariah, Alex, and Mikayla just left about 5 minutes ago to go to the zoo with their Dad. It's the first time any of the kids have seen him or their Grandma for nearly a year. Except Alex had about a 15 minute visit a couple of months ago when they came by. Mikayla went with them just fine, as I thought she would. Heck, her older sister and brother are going and who doesn't want to go to the zoo?! They brought the kids birthday presents, too! Mariah a bike, Alex a skateboard, and Mikayls some Cinderella dressup clothes. They all love the gifts, though Mariah and Alex won't be able to use theirs until they get helmets and pads.

Lost Teeth

Um, OK. My son Alex started getting his second loose tooth today. He was so anxious once it started loosening up, he messed with it and messed with it and then finally tugged it out. He's a tough little bugger. As much as I wanted to when I was little, I could never get myself to do much more than play with it and carefully pull it out when it was ready. He has done this with both of the teeth he has lost. So then, a few minutes ago, Mariah comes out of the bathroom and she has pulled one of her teeth out as well. She says it was loose and just came out, and though she is not nearly as tough as Alex, she was bleeding quite a bit so that made me think she had to have worked a bit to get it out. Alex bled for a while today because he tugged it out...Uuugghhh! My kids are very interesting little beings, that's all I can say.

Monday again!

But at least this week, I didn't have to get up at 3am and drive dearest hubby to Roosevelt. They finally got a beater car they can take all by themselves. I am still on the hunt for our future home. Today, after much stressing out the last little while, I vowed to only look online a couple times instead of randonly throughout everyday. I also created a blank spreadsheet to put all the info about any houses I am interested in. I use a pencil so I can erase as needed. It seemed to work better today so we'll see how it goes. I have faith we will find the right place for our family. I just really hope it's sooner rather than later...

"Horton Hears a Who"...

Today we took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who. The kids did very well considering we had all 5 of 'em. They loved it and we only had to take one potty break at the beginning of the movie. It's nice to be able to take the kids somewhere once in a while...

TGIF

I am so excited that tonight Matt gets home. I miss him while he's gone all week long. I know the kids are excited too! Now if only that, "let's hurry and get things cleaned up before Matt gets home" mentality would last throughout the week. We do on Friday evenings, what I push for them to get done all week long...Oh, well!

GavMan and PeyPey

It's kind of funny to think about how our kids get their nicknames. Mariah has just been Riah, for short. Nothing crazy there, right. But Alex somehow acquired the name Bubba, which he is still called today. There's no reason behind the name, just something we called him when he was a baby and it just stuck. Mikayla has also just been Kayla for short, though some close friends have heard her called something else by her daddy, (Matt) that I won't mention online. Not swearing or bad, just pretty weird and something I don't want published...Anyway, then we get to Gav Man, which is some how short for Gavin, or long for it. But now little Peyton has begun to be called PeyPey. My sister thinks it's weird, but oh, well. My friend has a little boy names Colton, whom she calls Coco, which I think is cute! Hopefully, they will outgrow these names. I don't want anyone to be teased for it in school...Cause I have the feeling they'll all have enough little quirks to be teased about...

It's only Tuesday

So hubby won't be home until Friday and I already can't wait until then. I love my kids, however; they are gonna push me over the edge some day. Earlier I thought that might happen today, but I finally got them to take a nap. How awful am I that naptime and bedtime are 2 of my most favorite times of the day?... They look so cute and innocent, don't they...

Start of another week

Well,today was hopefully my last day having to drive my husband to meet the company truck in Roosevelt for work. Only been up since about 2am, but no naps for Mama. I responded to some ad on craigslist about a company looking for someone to have for a weight loss documentary. They provide 3 weekly training sessions and then I must commit to 2 a day cardio sessions on 3 other days during the week. Also, they have you taking an all-natural supplement called Orovo. I am not really sure I can commit (or want to...) that much time everyday for the next 6 weeks to exercising. Plus, I don't want to take a suppliment while nursing and who know if it may contain ingredients that I'm allergic to. It seemed like a great idea at the time, and I do want to get in shape; but I don't think this is my method. Thoughts anyone?

Better...

Despite being up with a pukey kiddoe last night and getting to shower a three year old with a full head of vomit in her hair from her big sister at about 4 am; I feel better today than yesterday. Just another mama's delight at our house. Today is Alex's 6th birthday! Happy Birthday! Now let's eat your favorite mac-n-cheese, and then have cupcakes and ice cream. Open presents and enjoy!!!

Wow! Really tired today!

So today is just one of those days. I am tired just because I have a 3 month old and sometimes can't sleep without hubby. But I'm also tired of having to fight with kids. Tired of having to clean constantly, and then turning around and you'd think nothing had been done in months. Tired of feeling like I wish I could get this extra weight off my body from babies and foods I really enjoy. And just tired of being tired!!! I am sure some of you out there can relate! I need to go take a nap! :()

A few months later...

It's been a few months since we have posted anything to our blog. So why not give some updates! Mariah just turned 8 yesterday! She is so excited to be baptized in a few weeks. On July 5th at 9:00am to be precise! She's also excited about the new MP3 player she has been wanting forever. Alex is turning 6 on Thursday, but he won't be getting the present he wants just yet. He wants a 22. Mmmmm, nope, no gun for little Alex yet. Mikayla doesn't turn 4 until July, but you'd think her birthday was tomorrow. She is such a princess. Gavin, our little football player is starting to talk with many more words. Such as; NO, UH-UH, Stop, YAH, YAH, YAH, and even an occasional "Shu-up" Wonder where he picked that one up from?... Peyton is going to be 4 months on the 18th of this month. He is starting to really watch us eat food, though he has barely even had a bottle throughout his lifetime. Matt is working on a Natural Gas pipeline in the mountains near Roosevelt, Utah so he is gone throughout the week and home with us on weekends. It's hard, but he is enjoying himself. As for me, I'm all recovered from the surgery I had a few weeks ago and just having fun chasing everyone around now that it's Summer vacation! That's the update for now. We'll talk soon!!

Here's some pictures of baby Peyton! He's so cute.

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