Thursday, January 31, 2008

Tribute to the Prophet

I saw this on youtube this morning and I loved it so I thought I'd share. I know there are a lot of them going around, but this one really touched me.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Reunited at last!


About an hour ago we learned that our beloved Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley has passed away. We are overcome with sorrow and joy. It is so hard to imagine that he is really gone. We took time as a family to reminisce of him and talked for awhile about the power of his soothing words and unshakeable testimony. Just listening to him speak would strengthen my testimony more than I can even describe. I am so sorry for myself for the loss of him but so overjoyed that he is with his sweet Marjorie at last. He has missed her so much and has counted the days until he could reunite with her once again. He did such a great and marvelous work here on earth and will be so incredibly missed. We were reading the scriptures in the front room this evening when Mark's mom called and left the message on our answering machine that he had passed. Joshua was very visibly shaken by it, he gave Mark a look of complete shock and you could tell his little heart wondered what on earth we would do now. We let him lead us in prayer and then we all took a turn thanking our Heavenly Father for this wonderful man. We also took a minute to explain to the boys what would happen from here, and made sure to let them know what a happy and wonderful time this is for our sweet Prophet. I am going to miss him more than I can even express, but my heart is truly content. I feel so blessed just to have been able to know him. I can't help but feel overcome with emotion when I think about where he is now. He has dedicated his life teaching us about the things he is right this very moment experiencing, I find such incredible power in that thought. Good-bye dear Prophet. We love you and Miss you already.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

FINALLY....

added more of my favorite bloggers to my blog list. I LOVE this blogging world and am so happy to be able to add more friends! I LOVE you guys!!

P.s. Since I have them listed in alphabetical order I can't help but feel a little sorry for my sis who will always be on the bottom unless I can find a blog to add that starts with an x,y or z. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

p.s.s. Don't you think "keep your eyes peeled" is a weird expression? It sounds kind of gross to me, but apparently not gross enough to make me stop using the phrase. :)

p.s.s.s. should I be saying p.s.s. or p.p.s? I REALLY need to go to bed. GOODNIGHT!

p.p.p.p.s. I just walked myself through it....doesn't P.S. stand for "post script" so "post.post.script" makes more sense than "post.script.script." I got it now. However I could still be wrong. Okay, I'm REAAALLLYYYY signing off now, but in my defense when I logged on tonight I had like 5 new bloggers to read all about! You guys are killing me! (but please keep it up!)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

What we've been up to...

Playin' with Little People toys in our underwear
Watching Bob the Builder - or Bobba bulder, tan we fik it (Bob the Builder, can we fix it?) as Gabriel likes to call it. Notice the baby in the lower right watching along, I think you can almost make out his little nose stickin' out of the bouncer. :)
Making and eating Grilled Cheese sandwiches
Isn't life exciting?! He,he!
On a side note...isn't it pretty sad when you tell your five year old that you're having Grilled Cheese sandwiches for lunch and he asks "from where?" ...sigh. :)
I thought I'd also include a picture of Sam with his "long hair" he has LOVED growing it out and has forbidden me to cut it. It is finally getting to where it doesn't look quite so disheveled and out of place. All of the cowlicks are calming down a little and now I don't have to stare at him in Sacrament meeting and think about all the mothers who I just knew were thinking "I thought she cared about what her kids looked like in public, how sad" anymore. Whew.

American Idol

I just got to watch it this morning. I've been SOOOOO lazy today. I sent the big kids off to school and me and the littles crawled back into my bed and that is where we spent the morning. My choices of things to watch were Law and Order SVU or American Idol. Since the babies were in the room I chose American Idol - Gabe loved it last season and I thought he might like to watch it with me again. I was right. The bed soon became a stage for his singing, dancing and entertaining, it was more fun watching him than watching the show. :) My favorite by far was Brooke White. I love how she showed the world how you can be so pure and sweet and still be happy. I loved her voice and I hope she goes far. She would be such a great role model. There were some others I loved and others that I watched with dropped jaw. Camille and Tib have also mentioned the show in recent posts...It's so fun to share and talk about stuff like this with other blog buddies. Anyone else join in the fun???

Here is the clip of Brooke's audition in case you missed it.

Monday, January 14, 2008

CuppyCake

Seriously, this is the cutest thing ever. Shar sent me this song on my phone forever ago and I've always wondered who actually sang it because she sounded so incredibly cute. I finally took the time to google it and found it on youtube. LOVE IT!

Hands Down...


my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE picture in 2007. I can't tell if Will's expression is sheer terror or complete shock. Either way, I think it is hilarious and it is priceless to me. :)

My little...Table Potato??

The boys (including Gabe) all got these really cute little video/mp3 players (called the Disney Mix Max) for Christmas in 2006. Yes, Gabe was only 1 and 1/2 but I got them for a great price and I knew that he would want one someday too so I got three. Thanks to my amazing cousin Chantel I have every episode ever made of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that I can put on his little "ipod". Well, sometime last year there was a great deal on this darling bear that doubles as speakers for an mp3 player. It has incredible sound and lights up and is so cute! Gabe loves it. The other day he decided to have lunch at the kitchen table and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on his "ipod" at the same time. He also loves sneaking his snacks onto the couch when he is watching cartoons so he can watch and eat at the same time. Why do I get the sinking sensation that I'm creating a monster here?! Seriously, this can't be good. :)


***I had to edit this after I looked at the post because I realized how "posessed" the bear looks in the pictures. He really is quite cute, I promise!***

SO BIG!

I took Will to his 4 month well check last Tuesday. I just can't believe how big he is getting already. He was actually 4 mo. 2 weeks and 1 day, because when I took him to his 2 month checkup I was supposed to pick up Emi at preschool and meet our friends at Gardner Village afterward and I was running SOOOO late that I just ran out without making his next appointment, so then when I finally remembered to make his 4 month appt. he was already 4 months. Sigh. Anyway, he weighed 13 pounds 12 oz, was 25 3/4 inches long and his head measured 42 1/2 inches. This put him at the 25th percentile for weight, the 75th for height and about 55 % for his head. The Dr. mentioned that he is very tall and I told him I knew that because his legs stick out of all of his 3-6 month clothes! 4 months has always been one of my very favorite ages. I just love how bright and aware he is, I love how he smiles back when you smile at him and how he follows your movements with his eyes and how sometimes when you walk completely away he starts to cry because he wants you to come back. We got him a new Bumbo seat and he loves it. I can't believe how big he looks when he sits in it. We had a Bumbo for Gabe and then I sold it after he grew out of it and just figured I'd get a new one when I had another baby. I went to get one at Target but they didn't have any - they were recalled so they could put a warning label on them telling parents not to leave them in the chair in high places because they might fall out - and apparently Target hasn't stocked them back up yet. Anyway, they had another chair called the bebe' pod (I think) that was about the same price so I thought we'd try that one. It seemed okay at first (though right away I liked the look of the Bumbo better, the other one looked too much like a potty chair to me) but then we realized that it had a really funky alcoholish smell which we didn't like. Then, at Walmart the other day they finally had a Bumbo in blue so I bought it and plan on taking the other one back. That was a REALLY long story just to explain a chair. Sorry. We also started him on solid foods a few weeks ago to see how he would do. I started with rice cereal and fully expected him to thrust his tongue back out the way tiny babies do when he tasted it but he totally swallowed it and gave me the biggest grin. It was so funny. He seemed to like it so I was really excited. Then when I tried the next day he wasn't as thrilled and when I tried the third time he didn't want anything to do with it. I gave up for a day or two and then gave it another shot and he loved it again! My Dr. had suggested that I put a little Sweet Potatoes in his milk at his 2 month check to help his little digestive system, I only tried that a few times in his bottle as it didn't seem to make a difference, but after trying the cereal for a few days I thought "hey, if I can put a few baby spoonfuls in his bottle then he should be able to try it just plain" so I gave him Sweet Potatoes next and he LOVED LOVED LOVED them!! He has now tried Cereal, Sweet Potatoes, Applesauce and Bananas (I know, I know, you're not supposed to go with the sweet fruits first, I just can't help myself - which is probably why I have such picky eaters!) and his favorite BY FAR is the sweet potatoes. He gets SO excited when he eats them. I love that he can eat a little now because whenever we are eating he just looks at us with his little mouth watering and I know he wishes we would share! He found his two fingers last month and they are ALWAYS in his mouth, I think it is the cutest thing! It makes for quite the mess when he is eating though because then he gets food all over his mouth AND fingers and everything his fingers touch before I can wipe them clean. :) He is just so much fun.

Some other Will characteristics at 4 months are:

He HATES noise, small noises, loud noises it doesn't matter, he just does NOT like noise. We always joke that he was supposed to be an only child but switched tickets with another kid at the last minute before the bus ride down to earth. Poor kid, he's going to have to get used to it, because there is absolutely no way I can make this house quiet, though I long for it at times too I must admit. :) When I am nursing him in his room and one of the boys come in to talk to me or ask me a question he just comes unglued - it is so funny how he just can't handle it. Poor little guy.

He LOVES his bed. He amazes me with how good of a sleeper he is and he'd MUCH rather I just lay him down in his bed then rock him to sleep. He can be WIDE awake and I'll lay him down and he'll be sound asleep in less than a minute. What a sweetheart.

He still looks a lot like Joshua did as a baby to me, but as far as personality goes he seems to have Sam's characteristics all the way. He loves to listen to Mark talk (Sam was a Daddy's boy from day one and he would just stare in absolute awe when Mark would talk) and will smile ALL day at you but he hardly EVER laughs. Samuel even still rarely belly laughs, so when you do make him laugh it makes you feel like you are the most hysterical person on the planet. (Neither Mark nor I are big belly laughers so Sam and Will come by it naturally I suppose - who knows what got into Josh and Gabe!) :) He is so bright eyed and beautiful and you can tell he is just soaking in the world. I remember when Sam was a baby I would tell people that I could just see the wheels turning inside that little head, this is a lot how I feel with Will, he just seems like he doesn't miss a thing.

He LOVES LOVES LOVES blankets!! He just loves them, he's my only baby that has really loved them like this. They totally calm him. When Gabriel was a baby he could be calmed by music, ANY kind of music and he'd immediately stop crying...this baby - not so much. In fact because he really doesn't like noise as I mentioned earlier music actually seems to make things worse. But BLANKETS! Those blessed little blankets work every time. He loves to hold them and move his hands back and forth with them. Lucky for him, he has a Grandma that practically specializes in baby blankets and he could have a different one every day for a month and still not run out.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that HE HAS HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!! I actually saw it last Tuesday on our way out of the Dr.'s office. He was crying (he had a REALLY bad day with 4 shots and a fever all that night and the whole next day) and I saw something white on the bottom so I felt and there was a TOOTH!! I couldn't believe it! The Dr. didn't notice it either I don't think, at least he didn't mention that he did. Gabe seemed to get his teeth really early too but I don't think as early as 4 months. I could be wrong though....I wish I had written these things down!! All in all, he is just getting WAY TOO BIG and it just isn't fair.

Friday, January 4, 2008

My cute brothers and sister

My brother and Sister-in-law Mike and Charlotte vistited us from Arizona (along with Mikele, Corbin, Kyle and Kole) between Christmas and New Years this year. It was so much fun! I don't know what my kids were the most excited about, Santa coming or Kyle and Kole coming. I think it was dead even. They absolutely couldn't wait. They played and played and played and played and PLAYED! They get along SOOOO unbelievably well and their kids are just SO GOOD. I got to see Courtney and Chandler and baby Talon, he is so SO CUTE. Courtney is expecting a baby girl in March and has the cutest little belly. I also got to see Danielle which was a treat, I just don't see them enough. She looked beautiful and very happy, which I was so glad to see. I kept meaning to take pictures of the kids playing together and I never did which I just can't believe. GRRrrrr.

Mike was so cute with baby Will (they all were) and probably would have held him forever if he could have. Every time he made so much as a squeak Mike would go pick him up and walk around with him. So cute. They brought me a darling bear that he got from one of the companies he's worked with called a Benny Bear (I think) - they make them every year and he put a neat little present inside which was SO SWEET.
One of the nights (I think Friday) my brother David drove from Tremonton (about 2 hours) to come and hang out and Shar came too which meant that we had all four kids together which NEVER seems to happen anymore. We took some fun pictures even though I looked like poop which I wasn't happy about, but my sister can be very persuasive. When I look at these pictures I can't help but think abuot my relationship with these guys. I just love them. My sister is my best friend which has already been discussed so I won't bore you with more but I really couldn't live without her, I haven't always been close to Mike because he's 12 years older than I am but as I've grown and become an adult we've grown a lot closer, I think we are a lot alike in some ways and I just love how he treats my kids, they ADORE uncle Mike. I give David SUCH a hard time but I really love him so much. He is very fidgety and sometimes EXTREMELY grumpy (GRRrr) but also SO sensitive and sweet. He is always the first person to call me on my birthday and he calls me way more than I call him and I love him for that. SO, looking back I guess I'm glad my sister can be very persuasive because I'm thankful we were all together and actually have pictures to prove it. :)

Blah...

What I need to accomplish today:

Sweep, mop and vacuum floors:



Make Banana Bread (ewww):



Do Laundry:


What I wish I needed to accomplish today:



Sigh.