Baby on the move

I have been overly worried lately that I haven't felt the baby move yet. I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow and I swear I would have felt the baby...
2 days ago I FINALLY started feeling it move. I was so excited, but now it seems like the baby is ALWAYS moving...lol. I love the feeling, knowing that my baby is alive and well in my belly but holy cow settle down child. Just hoping this isn't a sign of when he/she is born.

Holiday madness almost over...

This last couple of weeks has been crazy for us as I'm sure it has been for all of you. We are still slowly getting settled into our home but kind of put it on hold due to getting ready for Christmas.
Christmas was the best Christmas I've had in years. We went to some great Christmas parties and had a blast and I made an awesome meal including honey glazed ham, scalloped potatoes from scratch, green bean casarole, rolls and salad. I was very proud of myself, not only because I made a meal from scratch but because while cooking this meal I was watching 2 additional kids and doing gingerbread houses and such... but the best part was Nathan came down to spend time with us! Nathan, Khaliah and I made cookies for santa and left carrots out for the reindeer. Dustin and I didn't really do anything for each other since we had just bought a house, but we did get some family gifts of a kitten and puppy. The girls of course were loaded up with stuff from us, santa, Nathan and Melinda and grandpa. Jaysen was of course spoiled again this year as well. We got to pick him up Christmas early afternoon.
Now I'm back on the house decorating planning. All I can think about is painting walls, finish carpentry and furniture. Every room I'm in I can't stop picturing what its going to look like. AAHHH, its driving me crazy! lol.
I hope all are enjoying your holidays as much as I'm enjoying mine. Have a great New Year!

Best Weekend!

This weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. It started off with Dustin not having to work Friday so he did so much work around the house. He got all the furniture put where it goes, hung up wall decorations and organized a couple of rooms. Our house looks like a home thanks to him!
We decorated the tree and put up stockings! YAY! It snowed a ton on Saterday, but that night the girls got to play at their cousins house while Dustin and I watched the Ultimate Fighter Finale.
On Sunday we went sledding. The girls had a blast. Taysiah didn't care too much for the sledding part, but she loved just playing in the snow.
It was such a relaxing weekend and I'm so thankful for having the best family in the world!

Finally a moment...

The last couple of weeks have been insane busy! I haven't had a chance to get on here to update everyone on everything that's been going on.
We tried to go up to Provo to have a great Thanksgiving with my siblings but on the way our trusty Durango blew up. So Thanksgiving was terrible. We had a broke down car, no food and nothing to do. Not to mention on Thanksgiving day our laptop hard drive crashed. Not fun. The week and a half following we wasted money and time on trying to fix the Durango just to find out the block had cracked and we'd need a new engine.
Life was so frusterating trying to run my errands and get Khaliah to school. We did however close on our house Dec. 4th, but due to not having a car we didn't move in right away. This past Saturday Dustin brought home a Jeep Cherokee Laredo for us to use until we buy a bigger car for when the new baby is born. Then the Jeep will be all Dustins.
Things are looking up because not only did we figure out our car situation but we are now in our own home. I LOVE it. It needs so much work, but its ours and after the remodeling its going to be adorable!
We have put up some Christmas decorations outside and the tree is up and we will be decorating it tomorrow. There is still soooo much to do unpacking wise, but I'm trying not to stress myself out about it.
The kids are doing great. They love their new rooms and now have all their toys back. And I have to mention that I LOVE my new room as well. Keep in mind I haven't had my own room for 6 months.
Well that's about all the time I have to update, sorry such a sloppy post.
P.S. Christmas cards are coming.

Crazy 8's Tag- Thanks Jamie

8 TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH:

1. One Tree Hill
2. The Hills ( I know, dumb)
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Dr. 90210
5. Chelsea Lately
6. Jay Leno
7. any lifetime movie
8. Jon and Kate plus 8

8 FAVORITE RESTARAUNTS:

1. Happy Sumo/Ninja (good sushi)
2. Chilis
3. Applebee's
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Olive Garden
6. Lefty's Hideout
7. Red Robin
8. Teminyaki...how do you spell that...hahaha

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

1. Took Khaliah to school
2. Deep cleaned the house
3. Made a fun lunch for the girls
4. Did some paperwork for the closing of the house
5. Talked to my sister and brother on the phone
6. Picked up the CD with our pictures
7. Wrote a bunch of emails
8. Got all the kids ready for bed

8 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO:

1. Moving into our own house!!
2. Thanksgiving with my siblings
3. Christmas of course
4. Decorating the new house
5. Having our new baby
6. Meeting my new neice in April
7. Going up to Provo in December for the Heber Train
8. My hunny to get home and give me smooches

8 THINGS ON MY WISHLIST:

1. A happy and healthy family
2. That my kids will love their Christmas
3. Mahlayah wont be upset when she finds out she's not the baby anymore
4. A very healthy new baby
5. Dustin will love me forever
6. Nathan will make 50 million dollars and support us :) (that was for you brother)
7. A happy happy new year
8. That we'll get to see Jaysen a little more

8 PEOPLE I'M TAGGING:

1. Ari
2 Sarah
3. Ciara
4. Lindsey
5. Adrienne
6. Melinda
7. Kim
8. Michelle

Picures are here!!!!!!!!!!

I'll just go ahead and say it for you, my family is beautifu...yeah, I know!!!

Oh and you think this is a lot of pics, I have like 100 more. She gave me a HUGE cd with pictures!!

Weekend Craziness!

Besides being honery the last few days this weekend has been a pretty good one. On Saturday we got our family pictures taken and I can't wait to see them. I think they should be pretty good except for it was super windy so we'll see how 4 girls turned out hair wise. Everyone had their hair down so that was bad planning on my part. -Which actually reminds me, email me or leave me a comment with your name and address so we can send you our holiday cards-
On Saturday I also received my sewing maching and craft/sewing table my mom got me for my birthday. I'm totally loving it so thanks a ton mom!! I now need to find a sewing class I can attend so I can make a million cute things! A little bummed because we're not in our house yet so I wasn't able to see what the craft/sewing tabel really looks like cuz we're not going to set it up at Craigs house for a week...so it's storage shed bound with all the rest of our belongings :( But on the bright side I will get to set it up soon!
I've been totally busy all weekend just getting our things together and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We move in less than 2 weeks and I don't want to spend that time fixing Craigs house I wanna be busy making mine look gorgous, so I figured while I'm waiting in anticipation I'll do my best to get everything ready ahead of time.
As far as new baby goes...I look like a blimp now. My belly is so big it looks like I'm like 5 months pregnant...I'm not even 4 months yet. YIKES!! I guess after 3 babies my body just knows how to flex to fit. I feel like a cow and even though I'm not even unbuttoning the top button to my pants and I've gained weight no where else yet, I feel crappy. I find this very ironic considering that a week ago you couldn't even tell I was expecting. Shoot. And I thought this one was gonna be my good weight pregnancy.
Not so much going on just been getting ready for all the new things that will be happening in the next week and a half all the way to the next 6 months. Everyone is doing well and Khaliah is excelling in school. She loves it. I'll keep updates about the move and such!

ITS A GIRL!!

Last night I got the privilage of companying Melinda to her 19 week ultrasound to find out how the baby was and if she was having a girl or boy. The whole family except for Khaliah was convinced she was having a boy. I really wanted to her to just for my own selfish reasons of needing a nephew or some baby boy in my life....Khaliah of course the whole time was saying she was having a girl. It was the cutest thing because after the doc does all the measurments he goes to show the privates to reveal the mystery. Of course because Melinda has the worst luck the baby was spread eagle with it's hand over it's privates. The doc suggested she walk for about 5 to 10 minutes. At that point we knew it was a girl just cuz you could not even see a hint of boy part in there. Sure enough we went back in a few minutes later and the perfect shot of the girl part. 100% says the doc. Here's another psycic moment for my little girl. And I can't wait to welcome yet another neice into this world. YAY, congrats Melinda!!

Crazy kids!

So last night Khaliah and Taysiah were playing with their babies on the couch. Eveything seemed normal then I look over again and Taysiah is laying down with a blanket over the lower half of her body with her legs up and Khaliah is saying something to the effect of "Push Taysiah it's almost out, just one more push." She then takes the baby out from under the blanket. HOLY CRAP! Now, I know all 3 were there when I was spread eagle with the doctor (lack of babysitter) but nothing like that went down. My kids are too funny and too smart for their own good!

Just an update...

I don't really have a whole lot to report, life has been pretty simple since the halloween craze calmed down...but I did want to stop by as share a little bit of good news.
We close on our house Dec. 4th!! We decided to buy a house instead of renting, which was our original plan, because the deals are sooo good and renting is getting expensive with our massive family. Our house is older, so a definate fixer upper, but after spending 2 hours at home depot with Dustin looking at all the possibilities we are so excited to get our hands dirty. We'll be installing new carpet, bamboo flooring in the kitchen, new paint everywhere, lots of finish carpentry upgrades and eventually new windows. We will be doing as much eco friendly things we can, so that will include new light bulbs, new faucet fixtures that use 1/2 the water, better insulation, bamboo, recycled products and so forth. Hopefully we'll be able to fund this big adventure but we're too excited!
I do have to mention that I am enjoying watching people vote on my baby poll determining whether it will be a boy or girl. It's hilarious how the majority of people think we're having another girl...I agree, but Dustin and Khaliah would argue. I do not feel pregnant at all yet. It's so weird but I'm not showing, just still getting a little chunk around my belly area and I'm back to feeling 100% so I tend to forget we're even expecting again. I still fit in my 28 jeans and my shirts still look the same...hmmm, maybe false ultrasound...lol. It will be interesting when my belly starts to look big and I see a person on the ultrasound machine. Maybe I'm just not noticing the being pregnant part because I honestly don't even have time to dwell on it.
The girls are doing really well. Khaliah is just excelling in school and loves every minute of it. Taysiah is just being little 'ol sweet, cute Taysiah. She's been learning a lot too while I help work on stuff with Khaliah. And Mahlayah is just blossoming into such a fun little person. I'm having so much fun learning who she is and her personality. She's my little fire ball.
Dustin is doing great at work. He just got a promotion so he thinks he's super cool now. And he is, so that's ok.
I am doing really well. I'm feeling good and I'm already getting ready for christmas...hahaha. I just bought a bunch of outside christmas decorations yesterday and of course Dustin thinks I'm crazy. My birthday is this weekend so I can't wait to get presents :) I really want a sewing machine...my mom said she'll get it for me, so mom when you read this I'm looking forward to recieving that present :)
Well, it looks like this post was really a bunch of blabber, but I hope it gave you some info about whats going on lately!

HALLOWEEN!!!

This last week has been so busy with halloween and dressing up, pumpkins, birthday parties, the works. I feel a litte relieved that I don't have to put the girls in their costumes any more. I felt like day after day I had to paint faces, put stockings on, make sure hair was perfect...etc. But on the other hand the girls have had such a blast celebrating a holiday. I swear every year gets more fun because as they get older they look forward to the festivities.

Last Wednesday Khaliah had her first birthday party she was invited to. It was for her friend from school named Ellie. She had a halloween themed party so Khaliah got all dressed up in her kitty costume and went to Ellie's house. They had fun doing halloween crafts and playing. She was so excited to get the little halloween gift bag at the end. Meanwhile Taysiah, Mahlayah and I went to Discovery park down the street and played. They had so much fun swinging and sliding down the slide. It's so awesome to finally be able to just chill when I take the kids to the park. I don't have a little baby I have to carry around. I have toddlers that just say bye mom or push me.

Thursday Khaliah and Taysiah got all dressed up for dance. Khaliah in her kitty costume and Taysiah in her devil costume. They danced and exchanged candy. Real cute. Later that night we did pumpkins. Dustin and I didn't want to carve out a million faces so we decided to get the girls face pieces they could just stick in the pumpkin themselves. They had fun playing with that. I carved out a gobblin which didn't turn out fantastic because I broke like every carving tool we had. Dustin just did a simple smiley face...wuss...hahaha.

Friday was a little bit crazy for me. My pregnancy sickness kinda went away around week 8 so I was very surprised when I woke up friday to find that I was more nausous than I've probably ever felt before. I ended up throwing up in the morning while trying to get kids fed, Khaliah dressed in her costume for school and driving. I have never thrown up in pregnancy history so I was a little shocked. The feeling finally went away by the time I had to pick Khaliah up from school, but yuck, I hope I never have to go through that again. Dustin only worked a half day on Friday so it was nice spending the day with the whole fam getting ready to go out trick or treating. We probably spent 3 hours out hitting the doors. It was the most fun year so far. Mahlayah was a total hoot. She wanted to walk the whole time and the first door we went to she saw she got candy and just sat on the porch to eat it. She didn't care about anything else in the word...other than Dustin picking her up so we could move to the next house. She was a pirate which if you know her is totally her personality. I couldn't imagine putting a fairy dress on her she would just look really off.

Overall it was a great week, although I am glad it's over and we can focus on Thanksgiving now! YAY! Here are like a million pictures for people to enjoy. Sorry my camera is broken so all were taken on the phone.

Refresh Button

Our 5 year anniversary was this weekend. Holy hannah I've been married for 5 years!! It's been a bumpy ride at times, but I love that we love each other so much we can work through anything. We had so much fun this weekend celebrating! We were going to go to Vegas but decided to stay home and just enjoy day to day life without being parents for a couple days. Dustin took me to a great sushi place (yes I know people I'm not suppose to eat sushi when I'm preggo) and we then went to see Saw 5-not that great-On Saturday we had a yummy breakfast at Denny's and spent the day in Saint George shopping. We finally bought some clothes for ourselves and didn't buy the girls anything, a great accomplishment. When returning from Saint George we picked up Bajio for Dustins fam and watched the UFC fight...couldn't miss it...Sunday was more a lounge day. We ran a couple errands and had lunch at Chili's and watched a movie I had rented like 7 days earlier. Pretty low key to people without kids, but so much fun for us considering those are day to day things we really never get to do without carting around our army of children. I didn't realize how much we spent eating, lol.
So the girls had a lucky chance to go spend the weekend at their favorite, grandmas and grandpas house! We met my mom halfway in Filmore on Friday and picked them up on Sunday. The got to go to Chuck E Cheese, do the trick or treating at the zoo and hang out with Nathan and Gus (Nathans dog). They had a blast being spoiled and spending time with people they hardly get to see anymore. I got to hear about it all the way home. I'm so lucky I have a safe place to take my kids when Dustin and I need some one on one time.
Now it's Monday and we're getting back into the groove of our day to day life. Dustins back at work, Khaliah in school...it's like it never happened...lol. But we have such a fun week of preparing for Halloween, Khaliah was even invited to her first birthday party for Wednesday. It's gonna be a costume week considering all the Halloween parties the girls get to go to. And YAY halloween on Friday!!
Thanks for the weekend mom and steve and of course Dustin for it pressed my refresh button.

Favorite things my kids say!

Kids are fun especially when they start talking and developing their personalities along with their view of life. My kids say some really adorable things...
KHALIAH:
"Thank you my princess mommy."
"I need a phone number so I can text and call people at the store."
"Open your heart and let it be true."
"We're just trying to be parents but it's hard cuz my kids are always crying and hungry. They're always hungry."
"Well we're going to dance so we can be married."
"I'm going to marry my dad cuz he's a boy."
"Look Mahlayah wants a nuckle sandwich."

TAYSIAH:
She will come up to me and say "I wanna hold you."
"She's being mean to me."
"But why?" (she learned that from her sister)
"You're Lisa, I'm Taysiah, and Daddy's daddy."
"We're being dinosaurs."
"Wanna fight?"

It's definately not as funny when writing them down, but put them in a certain situation and it's hilarious. I know there is like a billion things that are more funny than that, but these are just some recent random things that make us laugh on a daily basis. Enjoy.

Need recipe help!

For some reason my mind has gone completely blank and I can't ever think of something good and healthy to make my kids to eat. It seems that everything I can think of is something they don't want...hmmm...any suggestions? I already know sandwich veriations, and quesadillas... else is there? Why didn't I have trouble before, I know I made more...my mind has just been so blank with EVERYTHING on my mind!

First Snow!

This morning we woke up to a bucket load of snow on the ground. YAY! I for one am so ready for winter...maybe it's the holiday bug. But just turning on Craigs fire place, drinking hot chocolate, putting on warm clothes and slippers, the scent of the heater turning on just reminds me how exciting the first part of winter is. I can't wait to buy cinnamon scented candles to fill the house with holiday joy. Snowmen, sleding, snowball fights...cuddling in bed watching a good movie with the one you love....awwwe the winter life. I think I'm overly excited, but experiencing extreme emotions seems to be normal right now. Here are some pics of what we woke up to on an early October morning!

The curse of nasea!

I am dying right now with just feeling sick, sick, sick. I haven't thrown up but I want to just to relieve myself from this feeling. I can't find anything to eat that doesn't make me want to gag. So I just snack all day to keep from feeling hungry which makes me feel even more sick. I haven't experienced this symptom with the 3 other pregnancies and it really does make life hard trying to get through the days. I'm hoping it doesn't last very much longer!
I've been absolutely freezing everyday so wearing a sweatshirt, pants/sweats, socks and a blanket is very necessary. And it sucks because Melinda is always burning hot so she likes to crank up the air. Burrr.
Just thought I'd stop by briefly to complain about the horrible symptoms I'm having and had not expected. But on the bright side everything still seems to be ok as far as the pregnancy goes...or at least the baby is still healthy.

The Jinx...the psychic child...the blessing...

Feeling funny, emotional, tired, and most of all....off. I decided to take a pregnancy test like I have many times in the course of having an IUD. Call me paranoid... so without telling Dustin I was thinking about how weird I felt I decided to take a pregnancy test by myself "knowing" I was just being silly. Much to my surprise it turned up positive. Anxiously hyperventilating in the bathroom I thought about the last few weeks of conversations I had had with various people. One being my mom saying I better make sure I not get pregnant again, one from a friend saying she knows 2 people who have gotten pregnant on the IUD, and one that stuck out the most, Khaliah arguing with me about having a baby in my belly. "No, Khaliah it's aunt Melinda that has a baby not mommy..." "No mom you have one too. Yes you do, I know."
Next thought, how dangerous the odds are when you conceive while on the IUD. Eptopic pregnancy, infection to baby and mommy, high percentage of miscarriage, and deformations. Really scary stuff and stuff I've never really had to deal with because I have been so lucky with my other 3 pregnancies.
The hardest part at that moment was going through it alone because here I was in a bathroom by myself without my husband to share these worries with me. I was most of all scared to tell him in fear of what he might say. This was definately not part of our "plan" nor was it for the future. We have been so content with the family we have now and have been so excited to have them getting older meaning we got to do more fun activities as a family.
I hurried and called my sister Vanessa who immediately came to my rescue. She was such a huge support and was naming off the countless blessings I have in my life. How much I love being a mom, how great my 3 other kids are, my great marriage, and love all the way around. I just realized how lucky I really am and how though we're not perfectly set up today to have another baby in our lives we will be by the time it comes...and that's reassuring.
Luckily, by the time I told Dustin-right when he was falling asleep-he just laughed and helped me get through the tears...
On Sept 24th I went to an early doctors appointment and got the IUD out, along with an ultrasound. The doctor was very reassuring and at least helped with a little bit of worry because it's not an eptopic pregnancy, I was lucky to be able to get the IUD out, and because I called them right away and got it taken care of, my chances are a little better. I am still high risk right now for a miscarriage, but taking some down time and not even spotting I feel very good. I was even far enough along that the ultrasound picked up the heartbeat which read 108 beats per minute...boy maybe?
I was going to send out cards to family members and some friends and let them know of the new addition, but that for some reason is too much work for me right now. So here is my announcement to all....YES PEOPLE I'M PREGNANT AGAIN.... with a due date of May 21st that makes me 7 weeks pregnant on Thursday. We are very excited and are already getting back in the familiar groove of thinking of names and looking at very tiny clothes.

Khaliah drew this picture of the baby. She was at the ultrasound.

A is for Apple

This last week Khaliah has been learning about the letter A. She's learning the different words that start with A and learning to recognize the letter as well as writing it. Everyday after school we practice with a little worksheet I found on the internet. She does the full page by herself and she is so proud! I'm proud of her for being so interested in learning new things and having fun with it!! She is making so many new friends at school and she LOVES going. She would rather go to school than anywhere else.

Mahlayah has grown soooo much. She has such a personality shining through and I love it. She's pointing to things she wants, she plays with babies now feeding them and the whole bit, she likes to get dressed and undressed, she loves to give hugs and kisses and laughs, laughs, laughs. She will let you know when she doesn't want you to do something or she doesn't like something. She wont eat unless its food she wants to eat. She calls EVERYTHING "laylay." I love getting to know her personality as she begins to grow into a little toddler. On the 26th she will officially be 1 1/2 years old. Yikes!!

Date night long time coming!

Last night Dustin took me out on the town while Melinda watched the kiddos. We went to our fav restaraunt Chili's where I had an AWESOME steak. We sat there enjoying each others company, cuddling, laughing, talking...we really got to enjoy each other alone. After that we cruised around Walgreens and bought some unnecessary items for us-for once-and then headed to the movies. It was awesome to just finally spend some much do one on one time with each other. Its still awesome that after all these years we can still look at each other like we were in the dating stage again. I can't wait for next time! Love you baby!!

One Proud Mama

It's been a little while since I've updated everyone on what's been going on...I've been a lot more busy than usual with our new schedual which at times leaves me hungry, tired and sick....BUT my daughters love the new business we constantly have during the week. Khaliah had her first day of school on Sept 3rd and she didn't have as hard a time leaving me as, well, Taysiah had with her leaving. When we dropped her off and walked her in the classroom Taysiah had a total meltdown that we were leaving her. She threw such a huge tantrum telling me I "better not leave LayLay." To calm her down we went to Walmart and got her some bracelets for her to play with. She loved the bribery. Ever since we have had a farely easy transition with the running around on a day to day basis. Khaliah loves her school and her teacher so much. She also has a blast at dance and she does so well taking instructions. So it makes me one proud mama.

Things have been very mellow, easygoing, natural almost. Nothing over the top or crazy has been happening which for once has been a nice break. Dustin loves his new job and I've been going crazy with reading and getting ready to start scrapbooking. I started working part time at a little mexican restaraunt which has left me completely exhausted but I LOVE having my own money I can spend on whatever. Life feels complete and stable at the moment and that's all I can really ask for. I'll keep everyone updated!!

Hobbies!

Lately I've been working on getting everyone a hobby including myself. I also have many goals that I can accomplish just by doing my hobbies. Not only have I been cooking up a storm making meals I would normally never dream of, but now I am reading more than I have my whole life. One of my goals was to read 3 books by the end of the year. Dustins cousins wife DeeAnn suggested that I start reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer and I love them so much I'm almost done with my second book and just started reading them 3 days ago. Next on the list is learning quilting, photography and starting the girls scrapbooks.
Khaliah just started Dance class today. She absolutely LOVES it. She did so well!! We're going tomorrow to pick up her dance clothes and her shoes. The class I found for her is perfect because they do all aspects of dance. She learns ballet, tap, jazz and tumbling. I like that they work on everything so she can decide which one she likes the best. She gets to go to dance on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 1 hour all by herself and she loves that. She also starts her preschool tomorrow. She's had her backpack packed for weeks now, but she finally gets to start. I'll let everyone know how it goes but she is soooo excited. She'll go to school Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So lucky for her she has something to look forward to every day whether it be school or dance!
Because Taysiah is only 2 (almost 2 1/2) she doesn't get to do dance even though they let her participate today. She really doesn't have the attention span even though she did do most of the moves. I'm looking in to getting her started in gymnastics until January when she starts dance. It's hard around here to find something for her age group, but if all else fails I can create something special for her to do that makes her feel proud of herself.
And of course Mahlayah doesn't know which way is up or which way is down, so all she expects is some food and a fun place for her to walk around. Which by the way I don't think I've posted that yes, she is completely walking. Real late, but YAY!!
Dustin has always had his hobbies so he didn't have to work real hard on that one, but he has now added hunting to the list since he went this labor day with his dad. Bummer they didn't get anything because they didn't get close enough but they're going this weeking and wont come home until they do finally get one. Yes, he's still got the samauri and yes he still has snowboarding and every other thing he does. So, he's covered...but I guess he always has been.
Things are definatley perking up because we have a plan and have stuck to everything so far. We will be moving out by the end of this month to a small apartment so we can save the money to start building our eco friendly home next year. Still so much to accomplish, but we're all really having a blast developing ourselves!!

A new man...

So, if people didn't notice, Dustin has been growing out his hair and "beard" since we moved to Cedar City. He totally looked like a mountain man and you can kinda see that in his pictures... well, I cut his locks today :( and strangly enough I was a bit sad. I loved his longer hair and scruffy face. It just suited his personality perfectly, even my mom said that...hahaha. Now he looks all clean cut and htough he's still sexy to me I will always remember the day when he tried something new and I actually loved it...lol. Love ya babe!!

Taking a Moment!

So, I've been so busy and feeling bad that I haven't talked to anyone or been on here updating. But I wanted to stop by for a brief moment and fill everybody in and hopefully I'll be able to return phone calls soon.
Our dear Jaysen left this afternoon, returning home to start school. He's getting so big it's amazing. He starts the 4th grade and he's excited to wear his new clothes and hang out with friends again. We had so much fun with him here and although it did add extra stress it was in a good way. We never get to spend that much time with him and I for one had a blast. We took him rock crawling, fishing and he played for days at his cousins house. I wish we could have done more but Dustin was working up a storm so we did as much as we could. It's a bitter sweet good bye, but we're excited for when he get to have him again.
The girls are doing great and still getting so big. I've been guilty of wanting a boy so bad but am now finally over that and enjoying having girls. We have so much fun together doing our hair, painting nails, doing crafts, dressing up, all the girl stuff. It takes me back to the good ol' days when I was little. I love getting them all dressed up to do stuff and I love how they still get dirty and play in the dirt. It's incredible to think that my youngest is almost a year and a half while my oldest will be starting kindergarden next fall. Oh lord.
We did however start new chores including cleaning up their toys, making their beds and helping mommy. They are doing so well with it! Time outs have been hard, so Dustin decided to start his mom's approach by putting the girls nose on the wall in a circle for 5 minutes. So far, it's been working. They hate it. A much cleaner house, well behaved kids, and happy parents. Being that they're so close together (khaliah and taysiah 20 months apart and taysiah and mahlayah are 11 1/2 months apart) I'm finding that they fight over everything and as soon as one is loud the other ones have to be louder, hence no talking on the phone anymore.
No, 3 months later we're not in our own home yet...but it looks hopeful and we're just trying to stay positive. Focusing on the good things helps, baking and planning for a new baby....gotcha, not ours, Melindas; but still having fun thinking about being an aunt and uncle again. Tension can be high but remember the positive in people is what keeps it sane. Yes, still loving every moment here and having fun learning new things and a new way of life!

Holy Hannah!

My baby just turned 4 years old today!! Khaliah Love is no longer my baby girl. She's a preschooler! I can't believe how fast they grow and after wishing for so long that she would get bigger, I now want my little baby back! Happy birthday baby girl!!

Our Fun Vacation!

It was part Khaliahs birthday celebration with my family, but we went up to Salt Lake City for the weekend. We had such a blast!! We did activities like feeding the ducks at the park while having a picnic with my mom and Steve. We went to Place Heritage Farms where the girls got to ride the horse and pet lambs and goats. We went swimming and ate at the Mayan. Loads and loads to do and lots of fun for all the kids.
The best part for me was being able to see my neices and be able to visit with my mom and brother and of course spend time with my kids and husband. It was fun to be in the city and do the activities the city has to offer along with sharing the time with people I love. I wish I would have seen my brothers more, but theres always next time. It was funny seeing the goats and lamb because normally we would be in amazement but we're use to seeing those animals now. Good times, good times.
We're back home and getting into the groove of things and although I miss living close to my family I love being able to spend quality with them and then getting back to the country. I can't get over how quiet it is here and how different it is to Salt Lake. We did get to bring back a great souvinere, JAYSEN!! We get him for 3 whole weeks before he returns to the 4th grade. Plans for fishing, camping, and 4-wheeling are already in the works!!

-Okay so I added a lot of pics-

A Fun Baking Day!!

Today the girls and I decided to bake bread and bagels since we were nearing the end of our last loaf. We had so much fun together, except Taysiah is a little young to understand how to stir without making and mess. Taysiah helped make the bread doe as Khaliah helped with the bagels. Both got frusterated when it was time to let the doe rise, but after all is said and done we have the best tasting bread and bagels in the world!!!

Tator Grace

Taysiah had a hard weekend last weekend and although it's not funny to her, she sure does and say such wild things....we will always have memories to talk about.

"She's being mean to me..." One of her favorite things to say even when no one has done anything. I think she's just happy to say a full sentence for once.

Last thursday she thought it would be fun to play in a red ant hole...uh, she found out quickly they didn't like how big she was and I think every ant had to bite her at least once. OUCH!!

Last Friday, she wanted to be like daddy and sat in the tub playing with the axe body wash. After dumping the whole bottle out she quickly found out axe in the eyes is very unpleasant and wont stop stinging for hours and hours.

Taysiah is the sweetest soul and I couldn't love any 2 year old more... but she does keep us on our toes and I will never have a dull conversation about her.

The Big 28!

My grandma and her husband visited this week and it was so nice to see them. The girls always light up when they see a familiar face. My grandma read them some stories as John was telling us his stories about his experiences in this area. It's nice to see a little more of them and hopefully we can build a better bond!

We mostly spent this week and weekend just playing outside in the dirt while Dustin and Craig worked on Melinda's engine for her car. They worked practically all weekend, but luckly got great results as the car does finally run. I just find it amazing that on the boys spare time they help whoever they can. It also amazes me how many skills each of them have. Not very many people I know can just pull an engine out of one car and put it in another. My hats off to them.

Even though we didn't really do anything spectacular this weekend it was Dustin's 28th birthday! He got a bow which makes him so excited to go on the bow hunt. He and Craig practiced a little with a target in the backyard on Friday. You can definately tell they are father and son! Happy birthday baby and I hope it was a good one, even though you were working hard! Here are some pics of the week!