OH, MY LIFE!!!!

Okay, so I know that I haven't posted in quite a while and when I do it's this huge update with a hundred different posts. And nothings changed this week either. Here's my week in a nutshell:

1 sick baby
1 sick Brock
1 house still not built
2 trips to Target
3 trips to Walmart
1 printer in my closet
2 bedrooms to live out of (better than just one)
1 trip to Home Depot
1 trip to Lowes
2 Christmas Parties
1 trip to Forever 21 (that was fun)
1 trip to the mall (that was not fun)
1 slightly dehydrated baby
1 trip to the ER
1 sick Daddy
5 trips to the gym (to keep my sanity)

Well that's the gist of it. And I forgot to mention my new calling as the Relief Society Secretary (should I say more?). Really I love my life and my rolls as a mother, wife and member of the church. I understand that it gets busy at times and I can't do what I want to do (blog). But I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and that I am able to take care of them and provide all that I can for them. Hopefully soon we will be in our house and things will get back to normal...whatever normal is?????

SHE CAN STAND

I could hardly believe it... My little girl can stand by herself. Not just for one second or two even but for like minutes. She even danced a little. She is quite funny though. The first time I stood her up (which was yesterday) she looked at me, looked at her feet, smiled and then started walking to me (about 3 steps before she fell). Well she didn't like falling all that much so she wouldn't do it again...until...later that same afternoon. I was sitting in a chair and I stood her up and she walked 5 steps to me. Well now she thinks it's a game...I stand her up, move back, and say "come here" she'll stand there forever (it seems) and then smile and drop to her knees and crawl to me. What a silly little miss. We are very excited for the sturdiness that has come into her life and maybe soon she'll get some fire under those little feet and walk.

Happy 1st Birthday Embry

Wow the time has flown by. I can't believe it has been a year. I remember when this picture was taken, Embry was one month old. She hasn't grown much since then but she sure has learned alot: How to say; shoes, mama, dada, dance, na na (her pacifier), nigh nigh (night night), and tries to repeat most of what we say. She is such a sweet girl and loves to give kisses, to her daddy most of all. She has brought such a sweetness to our home and can always make us laugh.

We love you Embry!

Her very own cake, Nannie and Niki bought it for her

Still not quite sure how to blow out the candleShe wasn't sure what to do at first She was very delicate about eating it...
Then she realized how good it tasted and dug right inThat was YUMMY
After a quick bath it was present time. She loved all the fun stuff her cousins and family got for her. Her favorites were the babies, she wanted to kiss all of them. She had a great birthday with all of the family around. Thank you everyone for the gifts.
A fun Thanksgiving Birthday, can't wait for the rest!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

We went to El Paso this Thanksgiving to spend time with family. We were so blessed to see our twin cousins Travis and Ty return from their missions. What a blessing to have them return on Thanksgiving Day. It was so great to have so many people at the airport to greet them. I was looking around feeling so blessed to have such a big supportive family.

WELCOME HOME TY AND TRAVIS!!

The wonderful mother
You think she missed them?
Happy to be homeWhat a great example for our future missionaries

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...

Okay so I haven't blogged in about a month so here we go... PIGTAILS! My favorite thing is pigtails on little girls, especially mine! Isn't she just adorable?

POOR BRODER DOO

Our poor little Broder got an ingrown toenail. I can't believe that we let it get so bad, but I honestly didn't even know that his toe hurt until his soccer game on Saturday and he said that he didn't want to wear his shoes. What kinda of mother am I?
I took him to the podiatrist and he gave him four shots to numb his toe and cut out the ingrown part. He was so tuff, but I know that the shots really hurt him. This is his toe about four hours after it got cut out. It looks so much better now and the doctor said that it will grow back out and be fine. Feel better soon Broder.

EARLY FIRST BIRTHDAY

Embry's birthday this year was on Thanksgiving Day. We went to El Paso to celebrate with my family so we celebrated with Dustin's family the weekend before. She wasn't a year yet so we put her candle in a roll and let her blow it out, or let her try anyway.
She had never blown out a candle before, but we showed her how and she tried really hard. Look at that cute face.
She loved all her gifts and Mama really loved all the clothes. Thanks everyone for all the great gifts. I will post her actual first birthday soon.

Diaper Cake

We had a baby shower a week ago for my sister-in-law. Tenay (another sister-in-law) and I made this diaper cake for her. It was so fun to make and not very difficult. I have seen them on-line and they are definitely not as cute as ours!

HOME UP-DATE

Counter tops, cabinets, paint
Master bathroom counter tops, sinks and faucets
Basement tile
More has been done and I'll post more when I take more pictures. Cross your fingers that we'll be in by Christmas!

SHE KEEPS ME ON MY TOES

Embry's new favorite thing to do is sit on the bottom step of the stairs and bang her feet against the wood. She loves the sound that it makes (which is really loud).

I can't let her out of my sight, she bolts straight to the stairs and she will crawl all the way to the top in 1.5 seconds. She has also learned that if she crawls up the left side of the stairs ,where it is more narrow, she can get to the top faster. We are still working on coming down the stairs (hence "She keeps me on my toes").

BRODY'S PARTY

Brody had such a fun party! He invited all his friends and they got to play at the park (one of Brody's favortie things to do.)
First time ever playing pin the tail on the donkey! Pretty good aim for a first timer!
Isn't this picture priceless. Brody did get a chance to blow out his own candles after Kyler took his turn.
His most favorite toys in the world "Power Rangers"
Brody had a great time at his party! Thank you to everyone that came and celebrated with us. And thanks for all the fun gifts!

Happy Birthday Brody!!!

I remember the day our little Brody was born. It was such a blessing to have him here and he has continued to bless our lives since. I didn't want to have a Halloween baby so he came the very next day. Ever since then he has been such an obedient little boy.

What a funny boy he is, we are always amazed by his wit and sense of humor. He is very smart and catches on very quickly. Last week we were at a Halloween party and he pulled out some silly glasses Nannie gave to him and said "Wow these glasses are impressive", only little Brody! Here is Brody's Birthday in a nutshell:
Birthday dinner at "the place with the beans"

(Gecko Grill/Cravings)
Birthday dessert at the "snow cone place that has pink bubblegum"

(Bahama Bucks)
Fun Birthday calls from Nannie and Grandpa Larson

His favorite gift from Mom and Dad (Power Ranger underoos)

Ah Brody, what would we do with out you? You are such a good boy, full of love and joy. We could all learn from your happy, energetic, fun loving spirit.

Our newest little pumpkin

For those of you who don't know, we have a family tradition of putting our kiddos in a pumpkin the Halloween before they turn one. This year was Embry's turn. She was not very happy about it (Brock, Kenley and Brody all loved it). It was probably due to the fact that she needed to poo cause halfway through taking pictures her face turned red and she started to grunt. We were able to get some cute ones, though, most of them she wouldn't look at the camera. She was a cute little pumpkin no matter what.

Oh, how sweet they can be!

Yesterday I was dropping Brock and Kenley off at school and I saw the sweetest thing! Kenley's back pack was really heavy because all her treats for her class Halloween party were in it. When she got out of the car she said, "My bag is so heavy." I told her that it wasn't far and to set her bag down in line when she got there. I kissed them both goodbye and said I would see them after school.

I have a habit of watching them until they round the corner, so as soon as they shut the door I turned to watch them and I see Brock grab Kenley's bag and carry it all the way to her class line. Kenley was soooo happy! I could see her bouncing and smiling the whole way. Wow, what a good boy! It's times like those that help me to realize that maybe they are listening and paying attention! Brock has such a great example in his Dad. He is always helping out around the house and very thoughtful, always paying attention to what I need. I am so grateful for his example to my boys. This is proof that they are always watching. Thanks Brock for being such a good boy and a great example for Brody!

Flinstones...meet the Flinstones

Happy Halloween! We are off to TRICK or TREAT and eat lots of candy! Hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween.

MOM

What can I say about mom? You guessed it... Plenty! Here are the top 5 reasons I am grateful for my mom.


5. Her house cleaning abilities! I know this sounds silly but I am so grateful that I was taught how to clean. I remember not being able to go any where on Saturday until my chores were done and I hated it. But now that I have a family and home of my own (almost) I am grateful for the lessons.
4. She always makes a big deal out of Holidays and Birthdays. Not one birthday went by unnoticed (except maybe hers I'm ashamed to say). We always came home from school to see our room decorated from top to bottom and our favorite dessert or dinner or whatever waiting for us. I'm sure she didn't just do it because it was fun. I feel she is truly grateful for the day each of her children came into her life. Which leads me to...
3. Her love for her grandchildren. She rarely misses a birthday, blessing, baptism, would love to be at every sporting event (if she lived in the same town she would), lost tooth, first step, first laugh (most of these over the phone) she's even made it to a couple primary programs and she has never missed any of her grandchildren being born. She cherishes her grandchildren just like they were her own. For that I am so very grateful.
2. She will drop everything and come running if one of her children need her. A perfect example...One night when I was almost due with Brody and having contractions most of the night she hopped in the car and drove three hours only to find that it was false labor. She turned around the next day and drove the three hours again so she could make it back to work. The following weekend Brody was born and she was there! Thank heavens she only lives three hours away!
1. And the number one reason I love my mom... Her strength. I have seen my mom go through a lot, the lost of her mom, menopause, my dads cancer etc. Some things have been extremely hard and would make most want to give up. Not my mom! She always picks herself up and keeps on truckin'. She has taught me a great lesson... No matter what comes your way or how bad it is you can always pick up the pieces and continue.

Mom you know the perfect balance between mother and friend. You are one of my very best friends (can't forget about Dustin), I am so grateful that we are close. I am grateful for the example that you are of what a mother should be! When I grow up... I want to be my mom!

DAD

So it's Sunday and I was thinking of all the things I am grateful for in my life. One thing that really stands out lately has been my parents! So I thought I would post the top five reasons why I am so grateful for them (Dad first). You know how this works right 5 goes first and you count down to the number one reason which is really #1 (like on Letterman).


5. His love for hunting. I am so grateful that he has a hobby that he can pass on to my children, something that they can go and enjoy with him as they get older.
4. His love for politics, I really don't have a love for them and if I ever need to know how to vote or why I should or shouldn't for a particular proposition, I can call and he will talk me through it.
3. His parenting style. I may not have agreed with it always when I was a kid but now that I have kids of my own I am grateful for how I was raised and the example I was given to raise my kiddos.
2. His love of the gospel. I know that if I ever have a question that is church related I can ask him and he will usually have the answer, but even if he doesn't before long he will. He always encouraged us to read and study the gospel growing up and I am grateful that he instilled that in me.
1. And the number one reason I am grateful for my Dad is... He was always there. He raised me like I was his very own, even though I don't share his blood. I never felt like I wasn't his, he cared for me, fed me, clothed me, loves me, and supports me just the same as if I was born to him.

Dad I love you, I am grateful for all you sacrificed for our family, for your hard work (to buy all my shoes), for your kindness, and most of all your unconditional Love!

What's a mom to do?

OH, NO! I've got a little criminal on my hands! Today my sister-in-law and I were out with the kids doing some shopping for Halloween costumes at JoAnn's. Shopping with two three year olds and a 10 month old is always a little bit crazy, but for the most part it went pretty smooth... or so we thought.

As we were in the parking lot making sure our little three year olds were getting their belts buckled we noticed that they were holding candy... that we didn't purchase. My first thought: OH MY GOSH! MY CHILD JUST STOLE SOMETHING! My second thought: (a little calmer) what a great teaching opportunity. So my sister-in-law and I explained to them, that we do not take things from a store without paying for them. We then proceeded to march them back in the store to return the candy and apologize for stealing. They did and I hope little Brody will always remember not to steal.

Who knows if he really new that he was stealing (he never tried to hide it, which I thought was funny) but now he does know and has learned a pretty harmless lesson. This post is titled "What's a mom to do?" and I hope I did the right thing. I love you Broder.

Fall Break

Okay, I'm a little late, it's almost been a week since the kids fall break! We had a great time enjoying a week of no school, no homework, no bedtime, movie night every night, sleeping in, and playing all day! Monday night our Daddy took us bowling and we had a blast. Kenley got the first strike of the night and her first strike ever. Embry was Dustin's lucky charm and helped him bowl every round. Brock really started to learn how to bowl and even created his own stance. For little Broder it was his first time bowling, but he didn't have any trouble getting the hang of it. We had so much fun and the kids can't wait to do it again.

Later in the week we went to Discovery Park and played with cousins. A nice cool drink from Sonic, great company and good weather (notice I didn't say great weather) made for a fun afternoon.

I can't forget to mention that we went to Jeapers (also with great company) and rode the roller coaster, bumper cars, monkey barrels, airplanes and safari jeeps. Of course I forgot my camera that day.

On Friday they each got their own Webkinz and began to care for them. My hope is that this will teach them some responsibility and help them understand a little bit more about money. I'll post more about later.

I hope you had a great fall break my little munchkins, I know I did. Now it's back to the routine and I miss our lazy days, but if you weren't at school how could I get any Christmas shopping done?