I Love It

I just love seeing kids learn. Lexi has recently been interested in writing her name, so today I asked her to practice and this is what I got:

I think I counted 11 "legs" on her "E". Isn't that cute? I used to do the same thing - I honestly thought that the more "legs" on the "E", the better it was. I'm sure it's a common kid thing, but I just love it.

Another laugh Lexi gave me today:
We were at Costco, and when we went through the check-out, she was in the cart on the other side of the checkstand than me. She kept mouthing something to me and smiling really big, and doing some unique signing with her hands trying to tell me something. I kept saying "what?", but didn't undertand what she was telling me, so I just smiled and said "Mmmm, hmmmm" like a good mommy. So we finished checking out and I walked over to push her in the cart and she said in an embarrased tone"Mommy, why does that boy have earrings?". I looked back and the checker had huge black gauge earrings and, in her little mind, she was TRYING to figure out why in the world that would ever be. I just laughed and tried to explain that lots of different types of people wear earrings. Constant entertainment, I tell ya!

Why I Get Groceries WITHOUT Them

Where will all the groceries go???

Peyton's carseat doesn't fit in the front part of these "fun" carts, so she takes up the whole basket. And, sure, the girls COULD walk...but the trade off would be me saying "girls, watch out, you're going to run into that person", "stay right by me", "come back here", "no, put that back", etc. until my voice was gone! Soooo, this is why I go at night as I said before, unless it is an "emergency" like this one. I do have to say...one fun thing about going grocery shopping during the day is all the food samples we got! Yum!

Jordyn

We registered Jordyn for Kindergarten today! She was so excited and felt so "big", and it is so wierd that she is moving into the school phase of life. Scary.

And a little about piano....we are soooo proud of her - she has just really taken to piano. She loves it and excels at it. Her teacher is so proud of her and just adores her. It is just brings us such joy! So I was extra excited to get a letter in the mail that she was awarded a 6 month scholarship for piano (they will pay 1/2 tuition). Isn't that great!

I just want to say to Jordyn: how much we love you and are so thankful you are a part of our family. You are so smart, talented, happy, helpful and loving. Thank you for being such a bright spot to us!

I'm Going Bald

Or at least it feels like I am! I swear I didn't lose a hair on my head while I was pregnant, but about 8 weeks after, it began. I mean, now I lose TONS every day and it is scaring me! Please tell me its normal and it will STOP eventually! I seriously have to fix my hair different in the front, and I'm hating it!

On top of that making me feel blah, I also feel fat. I don't mean that to sound trite, but I just hate how my stomach bulges and hangs over my pants...and maybe after three kids that's permanent? That's always been my problem area anyway, so now that it's summer-y and I can't wear my hide-my-mid-section sweaters, I feel frustrated getting dressed every day.

And lastly, I am so tired all the time! I need to do something about that because it makes me feel cranky. It doesn't feel good to wake up in the morning feeling totally wiped out.

Sooooo, besides all that I am happy. Really, I am. It's strange how you can feel happy, but overwhelmed and cranky all at once.

Pey's Latest Trick

Both feet!

Happy Birthday Lindy and Mike!

Lindy and Mike's birthdays are about a week apart, so tonight we went out to dinner at Cattlemen's to celebrate. We got a babysitter for Jordyn, Lexi and Lyric. Lindy is 24 and Mike is 26.

Happy Birthday you guys!

They even got to KEEP those special birthday hats

my baby sister Kristy, mom and dad

Tucker at his finest

Peyton's first time in a restaurant high chair!

My traditional personalized birthday cakes:

Mike loves eBay and Lindy loves Target :-)

While We're Still on the Topic of the Blessing...

I thought I'd do a little flashback...isn't this precious?

Me (the day I was blessed) - 1977

Peyton - 2007

Some More Family Fun...

(I hate how blogger only lets you post 5 pics at a time...so, here are some more)

Maren and Brock (7 1/2 months)

Lyndsy always provides the massages, facials, makeovers, waxing...she's a walking full service salon!! We love it!

It was so warm, the kids ran through the sprinklers - so much fun!

River (13 months), Lyndsy, Brock and Tucker swinging outside

It's that time of year again, our million pet frogs emerge from hibernation. Jaden and Taylor had a blast with them!

Family Time

We had a great time hanging out this weekend! We ate, played games, the girls shopped, the guys golfed and watched all the grandkids play. Some of the family came out from Utah and a few others from Arizona. Here are a few fun pics from the visit!

Taylor with little bro' Brock and Jordyn with little sis' Peyton

(can you believe how many red heads in the fam?)

Tucker is so good about entertaining the kids...

Neal had a chance to "catch up" on his rest on this vacation!

Isn't she a cute little Gam?

Jordyn and Taylor had lots of fun together!(they are 1 1/2 years apart)

Dentist

There are many "firsts" you go through as a parent, and the dentist is one of the inevitable ones. Because this was our first time, it caused me much anxiety, which I tried to NOT pass on to my kids! The girls actually did GREAT. We made it a fun family affair, and they kindly let our whole family in the room at once. I was so proud of how brave they were. Lexi's teeth look fine so far (they didn't do x-rays yet since she is still young), but unfortunately Jordyn is not so lucky. She must have inherited my weak teeth. She has a cavity so deep in one molar, that she has to have it completely removed! She also has to have her front left tooth removed because she chipped it when she was younger and the root has died and become infected. Ugh. Not fun. But at least their first experience was positive a one, right?

She's Just So Cute

I just can't help posting a few more pics, Peyton was SOOOOO cute today!

Blessing Day

Wow, it's been mighty crazy around here lately (in a good way). We have lots of family in town for Peyton's blessing. We blessed her today and had a great afternoon gathering. She looked SO DANG cute in her fluffy white dress! She was sweating after a while because it was like 90 here today! But we had lots of good food and fun.

a list of 4 things about me...

I have been "tagged" by Debbie. I'm so bad about being tagged, but this one seemed simple enough. Can you really stand to know more about me than you learned in my list of "100"??? Well, here you go anyway...

A) four jobs i have had in my life
1. baskin robbins
2. chili's
3. substitute teacher
4. siebel systems

B) four movies i could watch over and over:
1. the wedding singer
2. back to the future (all three)
3. the sound of music
4. dirty dancing

C) four places i have lived:
1. california, all over
2. slc, utah
3. laie, hawaii
4. north carolina

D) four television shows i watch:
1. grey's anatomy
2. the office
3. what about brian?
4. yes, american idol

E) four places i have gone on vacation:
1. hawaii
2. japan
3. lake tahoe
4. jackson hole

F) four websites i visit almost daily:
1. bloggers
2. hotmail
3. weather.com
4. bank/credit card

G) four of my favorite foods:
1. brownies
2. LOVE mexican
3. homeade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
4. buffalo wings

H) four places i would rather be right now:
1. hmmm, I'm pretty happy here
2. but I'd always, always, always take Sunset Beach, North Shore Oahu
3. shopping
4. I'd rather be...in my pre-pregnancy sized pants, or better yet, my pre-CHILDREN sized pants (ha ha, i know that's not what the question means, but it's true!)

The Ladybug Swimsuit...and a little Photoshop

I LOVE Adobe Photoshop!!! You can do some fun things with this program! Anyway, this is a swimsuit that was Lyric's and Lindy & I thought it would be funny to do a photoshoot with Peyton to really show off the rolls she's sporting!

Hello?

These girls sure know how to imitate phone mannerisms :-) Wonder where they get that from?

Guilty Indulgence

It sounds sort of lame to admit it, but I love going to the grocery store at night without kids. It's actually fun to me! Whenever I go, it's almost ALWAYS between the hours of 9-10 pm. The night crew knows me pretty well at our local Albertsons. And I also have to admit to one of my guilty indulgences - especially if I'm feeling like I "deserve" a treat. I will get a box of Entenmann's Glazed Popems (YUM) and pop those healthy little suckers (ya right) into my mouth throughout my shopping journey. Doesn't particularly fit into my eating plan at the moment, but sometimes you just gotta break free, right? ha ha

I *heart* amazon.com

There are many reasons I love to shop on amazon.com, but here is just one example: We found a great deal on a Samsung plasma 42" TV on amazon for hundreds less than anywhere else, plus free shipping and no sales tax. I thought we were as happy as could be. But, no, there was a little more happiness still to come. I randomly checked back on amazon 5 days after we bought the TV and the price had dropped by $140! Luckily I had heard from my bargain-soul-mate-friend Tiffany that amazon does price adjustments within 30 days of the purchase - so I emailed them and *poof* $140 credited back to us the next day! Isn't that great customer service? They get 5 stars from me! Love it.

Flashback Friday

1984

(Not very good at remembering Flashback Friday, but I'm trying.) Here's a good one. My mom with three little girls, just like me now. Mom says she thought she was "done" with three girls, but 6 years later started over and had the final two kids. Woah, don't think that will happen to me (knock on wood).

Acupuncture

Well, the arthritis has reached an all time bad. I NEED to do something about it, so I decided to initially explore an alternative route. My mom helped me a find a couple of great options. So, today was my first attempt - a chinese medicine doctor. She is an MD, but practices herbal medicine and acupuncture. So I experienced about 12 needles poked around my body today (including my forehead - sorry I forgot the camera!) and I have to say it wasn't too bad! She also mixed me up my own special batch of dry herbs which I am supposed to boil down and drink for the next week. Yummm. It's worth a try, right? It's a slight bit out of my natural comfort zone, but I want to explore ALL options for my health and my body. By the way, I'd love to hear anyone's experiences or encouragement in this specific area!

My Three Girls

Aren't they cute?

Blessing

Typically in our church, babies are blessed within the first few months of life, and it's done on Sunday during church. But we've decided to do it a little different this time around. We decided to wait until a weekend that Tucker's family could fly in from out of state, which ended up being next weekend, March 17th. We also have decided to bless Pey at home on Saturday. We want it to be a calm, relaxing day filled with lots of family and lots of good food! We're so excited to have family come visit and to have a full house of the ones we love. Here's a pic of her blessing dress I bought on ebay!

edited to add: i can't use the dress i used for the other girls because pey out-grew it during her first month!! ha ha

Baby Stats

Peyton had her 4 month check-up today. I always hate shot day. She got three shots, and they have a new oral vaccine for the Rota virus - which Peyton HATES anything that is not milk in her mouth, and gags like crazy. Anyway, here are her stats:

*21 lbs 4 oz

*25.5 inches

*Ready to start on rice cereal, fruits and veggies!

To give contrast to her size...at 4 months Lexi was 16 lbs and 22 inches. So Pey is definitely off the charts! The doctor was like "what does she eat?" and I said "mostly breastmilk, but I supplement with formula". He seemed a little horrified and said, "you don't NEED to give her formula in ADDITION to breastmilk, she seems like she's getting plenty!". I was like "well I give her formula in PLACE of breastmilk sometimes...". I mean, its not like I'm shoving food down her throat when she's not hungry JUST to see how chubby she can get! I feed the babe when she's hungry, for goodness sakes! There's nothing wrong with a chubby baby to me!