Proof

All of Trent's siblings and spouses (and us).








After my last post my sweet MIL and SIL sent me more Powell pictures, that even included me!
Henry gives "rhino loves" sometimes. He especially likes to give them to Tucker. He gets all smiley, comes in close like he's going to kiss, and then gives a head bonk. I love it!Here is Trent on the air-chair.

Powell Recap

Lake Powell was lots of fun and lots of work, as usual. The kids had a great time swimming, riding the boat,(where Charlotte took her naps) jumping on the trampoline, playing with cousins, and Henry enjoyed dipping all his food in sand before putting it in his mouth. Trent did excellent on the air-chair, landing several back flips! Tucker even tried out the knee board on his own. He didn't pull himself up onto his knees, so he said it was belly-boarding, but I was just surprised at how brave he was being out there on his own and hanging on for so long. It was basically impossible for me to get pictures of those activities since I was holding Henry at all times on the boat. Andrea got video of Trent, but we haven't uploaded it yet. And yes, I WAS there this year, I just happened to be the one to take all the pictures.

Bean Face

I am not dead

So we're back from our annual Lake Powell trip. We had a great time and I'll do a post all about it once I get the pictures on my computer.

I have been a lame blogger. I didn't post about our fun Fourth of July at Bart and Dusti's house. I didn't do an 11 month letter for my Henry.

Henry learned to say uh-oh over a week ago and it is the greatest thing ever. I love to hear his little voice saying it whenever he drops something or falls down. Since we get such a kick out of it he will usually start clapping immediately after he says it since I do a lot of the time. He is walking everywhere with ease now and his thighs are more solid than ever. He is smiley and happy and his hair is getting so blonde, And long. For us. He had a bad allergic reaction last week and his poor eyelids were swollen for 24 hours ( I don't really feel like elaborating). I am struggling with ideas for a 1 year birthday treat for this guy. I don't think you can make a wheat-free, egg-free, dairy-free cupcake. Maybe we'll settle for Soy ice cream (sounds good, right?) with a candle- I seriously don't know.

Other stuff. I still can't decide about the nursery. I like the idea of using reds and yellows and blues and greens, but Charlotte's room has a lot of brown and I don't think I want to use brown in the new nursery, so I didn't buy the set. I am going to shop around or look around for more ideas before I buy anything.

Names. Please give me some ideas! Our top two right now are Amelia and Leila. But I am not set on anything. I really loved Lucy, but when we remembered that Trent's brother has a dog by that name it sort of rained on that parade. So help me out and comment with a few suggestions.

Baby's nursery

When I saw this fabric
I wanted to use it somehow in the nursery for our new baby. However, I don't know if I'm up for making a bumper pad cover and crib skirt again, it was a lot of work! But I was thinking I could use those colors and use that fabric for accents around the room. But now I have also found this crib set at Walmart.com for a killer price and I am starting to reconsider the whole plan of the room. What do you think?

Funny Tucker

While looking out the window at a tree, "I think I'm allergic to that tree, cause when I look at it my eyes get itchy."

While wiggling around at the dinner table, "The Holy Ghost is controlling me."

The fun never ends

Tuesday night was a great time and tasty dinner at Benihana with my parents and our good friends Jimmy and Laura. It was both Trent's and my first time. At Benihana, that is.

Wednesday was Trent's actual birthday so we gave him a couple of small gifts and brought him 30 helium balloons to his office and took him to lunch at In 'N Out Burger. I think he enjoyed it, although eating with co-workers might have been more relaxing than eating with 3 small children.

Thursday Dusti came over with her 3 boys, handed me some unexpected birthday money and got me out the door. I had a wonderful 5 and 1/2 hours! I hit up Sears (where I had some store credit), Ross (where I had a return and found some cute maternity stuff), then met my great friend Lindy for lunch at Rumbi Grill where I ate every last bite of my huge salad.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After lunch I headed to Barnes and Noble where I had a gift certificate I had almost forgotten about in my wallet. I got a Jane Austen collection of 7 novels that I can't wait to get into. Then I headed to Marshall's where I found a few great things for the kids, some lip glosses I've been needing, and a couple cute items for the kitchen. What a joy it was to be able to look at whatever I wanted to without little people whining at me, making me take them in and out of the cart repeatedly, and complaining that they're bored and asking for toys and candy. It was truly a wonderful day!

Birthday week

The beautiful tulips and irises that Trent sent me.

I turned 27 on Sunday and Trent turns 30 tomorrow. We celebrated with Trent's family on Sunday with dinner and presents and launching water balloons with a sling. Good times. I got the cutest bag from my Troy and Jennifer and other fun stuff from everyone (Sarah, Emily, my mom, Lindy, Jill, Abbie, Blake and Andrea, Trent's parents, Karen, and cards from Lauren, Nancy, and Gina- thank you so much everyone for making me feel loved!). My SIL Dusti is giving me my very own day out on Thursday. 6 hours to myself! I can't wait! I will be spending some of my birthday money from Trent for sure. Tonight we are going to Benihana ( a tepanyaki style restaurant) for dinner with some friends. So all in all things are looking pretty great.
Me with Dusti and Jen at Andrea's shower.Here is a hideous picture of me to entertain you all.

My motivation to blog or do anything besides rest is waning lately. Maybe it is the pregnancy or maybe i am just a bum. Anyway, I hope this year I will be my best self. A crazy 27 year old with 4 great kids and a fantastic husband who I find absolutely beautiful. I hope to improve as a mother and a friend and a wife. I plan to work on my spiritual and physical fitness. I hope to improve as a homemaker, and find joy in each day and not sweat the little stuff.

Corn dogs = sweaty?

The baby shower went really well last night. To see a full report go here.

I noticed something funny today.
Well, I am sweaty. That's not new. Add that I am pregnant, emotional, and living in the literal Valley of the Sun, well I just sweat a lot. Sorry, I know that's gross. Deodorant does virtually nothing for me. Someone suggested to me that I try the Mitchum brand. No, I wasn't sweating so badly that strangers were randomly offering me deodorant advise, it was someone that I was talking to about my gross sweatiness. Anyway, I didn't really notice or care that Mitchum was apparently men's deodorant because it is unscented. But today I noticed something on the lid that made me laugh. It says, "If your favorite vegetable is a corn dog, you're a Mitchum man."
Whaaa? I'm not sure what my preference for corn dogs or vegetables has to do with my brand of deodorant, but at least I was entertained.

Actual plans

Last week Trent was in Havasupai with the priests from our ward from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday morning. I am quite jealous and can't wait to go there one day. It is like the strangest oasis paradise in the middle of the desert. The pictures and videos Trent took of the beautiful waterfalls and of them cliff jumping right there in the waterfalls are amazing. With him gone I didn't get out much.

This week I actually have things to get ready for and to do. Yesterday I took the kids to my mom's and went to Hancock Fabric where I got some really great fabrics. The green floral one is for my kitchen valance and since the kitchen opens up into the family room I am going to use it for some accents in there as well. Then I went to the dollar store and found some cute little stuff. Haven't done that in a long time.

Thursday my SIL Dusti and I are hosting a baby shower for my other SIL Andrea at my house! I am excited about it, but I have a lot to do. Then on Friday morning I have the joy of my glucose test. Why do I hate getting my blood drawn so much?
Saturday is the primary talent show, wow stuff for me to do.

So those are my plans for this week, how about you?

Happy Father's Day

To the amazing Dad at our house!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My life right now

In pictures






We go in the pool. Every. Day.

And that's ALL I do pretty much.
Other things of note: Henry got his first major forehead bruise and he also learned to clap on Wednesday.

Henry walking, swimming, and getting into things!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This week

This week we have been swimming 3 times in our backyard with Andrea and Ashlyn. She has a couple of cute photos of it on her blog. Last night we even grilled dinner afterward with our husbands, it was wonderful.

Other than that this week hasn't been terribly exciting. Henry had his appointment with the allergist who confirmed his allergy to eggs, wheat, milk, and added that he is also highly allergic to peanuts. They will recheck him in a year to see if he has outgrown any of his allergies.

Henry's walking improves every day. He has now gone over 25 consecutive steps!

I have managed to turn Charlotte's crib skirt into a valance, so we can still have it in her bedroom. It is one of the first things I ever made and I wanted her to be able to keep it. I will post a picture once it is hung.

Also this week I hung various bed linens over the kids windows because I thought I was going to die if I had to keep waking up at 5:30! This morning was much easier at 6:30.

Me and my Henry

Funny things my kids say and do

Everything Charlotte says lately just kills me!
It is mostly her voice and pronunciation that makes it so great, so this post won't really help you understand until I get some video.

Some of my favorites:
"Eeew, gross."

" I like it, I lick it, I bite it."

" I do my shirt by myself, I don't need help."

" I'm Daddy's pretty little girl."

"I'm not happy."

" Baby in my tummy, Mommy."

Yesterday Tucker told me, " Guess what Mom? People that are changing into 5 year olds help their Moms."

He has also taken to practicing sounding out words and trying to spell them himself with fantastic results. Here is just one example.
SBGEDE =spaghetti

Henry continues to practice walking, sometimes taking 6-8 steps at a time.

Oh May

I got to do a lot of fun things this May. I wanted to write down the things I did that I stupidly forgot to get pictures of.

A Diamondbacks game with Lindy. Just the 2 of us at the game in fantastic seats just a few rows behind home plate! Fantastic, even if our team did get their butts kicked.

Girl's night. Dessert with Andrea and Mel at the Cheesecake Factory. There was never a dull moment. Even though Mel and Andrea didn't know each other we had easy, fun conversation the whole time. I loved that night!

Had Jimmy, Laura, and their 2 handsome, funny boys over for dinner. We grilled chicken, steaks, and hot dogs. We also had pasta salad, potato salad, chips, and corn on the cob. I was stuffed. The kids played so well together and we adults had a great time too. We even watched Hitch and ate Rocky Road ice cream to finish the perfect get together!

May 31. 9:00 Temple session for Lindy's first time through. It was so emotional and wonderful to see her there. I love that feeling. We went to lunch at The Landmark Restaurant after, where Lindy and I met while we worked there.
I got home to Trent who was there with the kids and he had them fed, Charlotte in bed, and the kitchen was spotless! Go Trent! I spent the afternoon playing in the pool with the kids and Trent and it was just a really wonderful day. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday!

Henry 10 month letter

My funny little guy,
You turned a whopping ten months old 2 days ago. I can't believe how quickly the time is going by. You are doing all sorts of things and I love every minute (almost).

You are so close to walking. You pop up into standing all over the place and take a couple little steps before you bend back down and decide to crawl. You are a speed crawler. You chase your big brother and sister which can be quite a challenge as they tend to run back and forth all over the house. You are just happy to be in the same room as them.

You want to find out what the toilets are all about, so I have to remember to keep bathroom doors shut. I've also found you a couple of times in our walk-in shower, that must have seemed like a cool place to play. Another thing you've discovered is your privates, which are a big hit. :)
You chase my feet everywhere and pull on my legs asking to be held. When the other kids run to Daddy, shouting his name when he gets home from work, you are never far behind waiting for your turn for a hug and kiss. Trent seems to adore and enjoy you more each day.

It is hard to feed you. You do not want to be fed baby food anymore. You are much to mature for that stuff. You still do great with formula, but I still trying to find more finger foods for you to enjoy. You will not eat avocado or fresh banana or canned pears or mandarin oranges. Since you are allergic to milk, wheat, and eggs my task is even more difficult. You will eat small amounts of beans, chicken, vienna sausage, and green beans. I am still trying to find more options for you. You fight whenever I try to place you in your high chair. You have to be strapped in now that you've discovered how to stand up in there, even with the tray on. Sometimes once in the chair, you will repeatedly throw your head back into the seat back to show your displeasure. I will give you a handful of corn Chex to snack on while you are playing on the floor sometimes. You will either pick them up with your cute little fingers or sometimes you will promptly lower your head and eat them right off the floor, puppy style. You crack me up!
You have a new grown up look now that you have 4 top teeth and 2 bottom. You are as beautiful as ever and I love seeing you grow and develop. It is hard to capture many pictures of you, because as soon as you see the camera in my hand you head straight toward it and try to swipe it. Why?
Well, I love you little boy! I am sorry you will have to share the limelight with a little sister so soon, but I know you can handle it. You are used to sharing everything already. I hope you will have a great friend in her and enjoy being an awesome big brother. I love you with all my heart and can't imagine my life without you. I know you are very special and that you have so much to offer this big world. I am so excited to see what an amazing man you will become and hope to always keep you close.
Love,
Mama

It's bed time

Well, it's time for Charlotte to get a big girl bed, that is. Hopefully I can score a cute twin headboard at a garage sale or thrift store this month. Wish me luck.

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday night we went out with Blake, Andrea, Ashlyn, Abbie, Jake, and Sophie for dinner at Fuddruckers. We enjoyed ourselves, but were ready to go home and get Henry to bed right after. Saturday Trent did much cleaning of the yard and garage and finished Charlotte's cupboard shelf thingy (picture later when her room is done). The morning we had light rain (wonderful, as well as the 2 other days of rain we had, which I loved). I mostly hung out inside with the kids and tried to get a few things done. Sunday after church and the kids' naps we had dinner with Trent's family. Perfect day for an outdoor BBQ, the weather won't be that nice again for a long time! Luckily Trent's dad and brothers planned a fun day at the lake for Monday or Trent would have spent the whole day working in the yard again.
So Monday was spent enjoying family at the lake. We four wheeled up the back way which we haven't done for ages. It was fun doing it with the whole family in the suburban. Than we played in the sand on the beach and enjoyed some time on the boat. Trent enjoyed showing off on the air chair and Tucker and Charlotte even had a tube ride with Daddy behind the boat (I'll have to get pictures from Grandpa). It was a great day and we all had lots of fun! Andrea has more pictures on her blog here.

Not so shrimpy

Henry has already gained 1/2 a lb. since his last appointment and that was even with the pukies. And guess what else. He took 4 steps all by himself last night! Go Hanky!

P.S. Congrats to my sis Emily on a perfect little baby girl. When I talked to her this morning she had not finalized a name yet, but was exhausted and said that everything went well. Baby Girl is 6lbs. 10 oz. (tiny compared to Jonah) and Nana says she has thick black hair and feminine cuteness! Can't wait for pics.

Ebates

I signed up for a website called Ebates a couple of months ago. It is a cool website that gives you cash back for purchases you make online. Different sites have different percentages that they pay you back for your purchases. For instance I think if you shop Target.com through Ebates, you get 4% of your purchase back in a check in the mail. They also have all the store special listed for you to easily view. I like it because I can shop at all the places I would buy stuff online at anyway( Children's Place, Old Navy, WalMart, Target, etc.) and I get some money back for it! If that sounds good to any of you go sign up, it is free and right now you can get a $10 sign up bonus. Tell them I referred you and I can get 10 bucks too. Not bad. One of the things I like to get on there are restaurant gift certificates. You go to Ebates and type in restaurant.com and put in your area code to find deals. They have $25 gift certificates for $10 all the time because they are usually for use only mon-fri and you have to spend a certain amount like $35 -$60, so check the details before you buy. They do 50% off specials all the time. I have gotten several $25 gift certificates to Charleston's for $5 each. I think it is a good way to pay my friends back for babysitting or for a little gift or to get Trent to take me out. Check it out.

I promise not to do anymore promotional posts. I just actually happen to think joining this site makes good sense!

Our little graduate

Yesterday was Tucker's preschool graduation. It was cute and funny. They performed their "zoo phonics" song and The Bumblebee song. Tucker was the kid crossing his arms and sulking. I still enjoyed his grumpy little face. Trent's mom said he did that same thing at every performance he ever participated in which made it even funnier to me. He warmed up a little when they counted to twenty and then backwards from ten and yelled "Blast Off!" Then it was time for the diplomas. This picture is about the greatest thing ever. They presented each kid with this little "diploma" along with a smartie award. The Smartie Award was a little paper they read aloud that the child had filled in the blanks. When Tucker had been asked why he was a smartie, he said " because my mom makes me." and when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied, " A visiting home teacher." That got a pretty good laugh from about half the parents there and the other ones were left a bit confused I think.
After the "ceremony" we headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Thankfully my great MIL took Henry so he could nap and I could focus on playing with Tucker and Charlotte. We had a great time.

After we got home we had even more fun. Jill, Jordyn, Macey, and Kiley came over and we took a dip in our pool. It was a great day for it.

Henry was fevering on and off yesterday and last night it spiked to 102.2, he had a rough time falling asleep. Luckily he seems to be feeling well this morning and I am feeling very grateful and happy for my healthy, hilarious, darling kids and am feeling excited to have another one. I seem to fluctuate between excitement, gratitude, and complete fear of having my fourth baby.

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

My good friend Bonnie, from my pole-vaulting days at MCC, just launched a line of baby announcements at www.inventingmatilda.com . These are the cutest, coolest things I've ever seen. Check them out. And also, feel free to tell everyone you know about them and link to it from your blog.:)

Mother's Day Weekend

Friday we had a nice little trip to Costco. All was well until Henry emitted huge amounts of vomit all over the shampoo aisle. The rest of the day he couldn't keep down even an ounce of formula.

Later that afternoon we went to pick up Claire ( my 9 year old sister) to spend the night because my parents were at a hotel in Scottsdale for their anniversary. In the short amount of time that we spent there waiting for Trent to call and tell us he was ready for us to come pick him up Tucker managed to drop one of the baby kittens on it's head and hurt it. Henry was covered in puke and then it was time to get Trent at a coworkers house, since he had just gotten back from 2 days of real estate meetings in Texas.

We went and grabbed take out from Panda Express and Pedialite from Fry's. I was exhausted.

Saturday Henry spent a lot of time sleeping and the other kids spent a lot of time ( at least 3 hours) going back and forth between the hot tub and the pool. Trent even got to jump in for a while between doing projects in the yard. After dinner I was still without mother's day presents for my moms and headed to the dreaded mall. I could have spent hours in Borders. I hadn't been to a bookstore in a really long time. I got home at 9 o'clock to a snoozing husband.

Early Sunday morning I got a call from my lil brother Mark from his mission in Mexico! What a fun treat. Sunday seemed to be going quite well. Trent made waffles which is absolutely unheard of and I had roses and cute cards to wake up to. We were 15 minutes late for church, but that isn't unusual anymore at our 8:00 meeting time. Trent and I napped while the kids did, which was great. We enjoyed all of Trent's family at a big Mother's day dinner until Henry vomited all over his lovely Aunt Kim and everything in the nearby vicinity.

Henry's allergies

Got a call from the doctor yesterday. Apparently Henry is allergic to cow's milk, egg whites, and wheat. All to varying degrees. Cow's milk being the worst allergy he has. Now we need to make an appointment with the allergist so they can prick my baby's skin.

What a little shrimp

Henry had his 9 month well-check on Friday. He only ways 16 lbs. and 2 oz. (only a couple more ounces than his check up 3 months ago). The doctor was concerned about his overall height, weight and head growth. The problem is more than likely that he wasn't getting enough calories and nutrients before we got him on the formula. They had to draw some blood for a couple tests :( and we have to take him back to re-weigh him in a couple weeks. He has me thickening Henry's formula with extra formula or rice cereal and Henry is eating great, so I think he'll be beefing up soon! None of my kids inherited my fat baby gene. I was a huge chunk.

Henry's newest trick: standing on his own! I mean with no assistance at all. He's been doing this for almost a week. He will stand up in the middle of the room without holding on to anythig for support. It is pretty amazing. He goes from sitting into this little squat and just stands right up. I know our other kids didn't do that until they had started walking, I remember because they would walk a few steps and then have to crawl over to something to pull themselves back up before they could walk again. Way to go Henry!

Trent took Tucker for Father and Sons campout on Friday and after I got the other 2 kids to bed I was joined by Lauren, my soon to be SIL. She bought me Pei Wei and we just sat around and talked. It was great.

Tonight I am joining my friend Lindy to go to the Diamondbacks game. It is so exciting. Only 2 weeks ago I couldn't go anywhere before Henry was in bed since I was his only source of food. Wow, I feel so free! I wish I could still give him his bedtime feeding, but my body has decided that I am all the way done. That's okay, I am glad Henry doesn't seem to mind.