My Sweet boy

I just went and had Preston's 3 month pictures taken. He was in a really good mood and smiled for a lot of the pics, if only the teenage photographer would have been a bit more proficient, it could have been so much better. I guess that since I went to the Target photo studio you get what you pay for!

I just cannot believe that he is getting so big already, I think that he changes everyday! He is so long! I had a neighbor tell me that when her kids were infants she loved to just stare at them since they changed every hour. I have tried to stop and do that everyday, taking a minute to stop and be grateful for this piece of heaven we were blessed with. Here are his pics!

Splish, Splashin'! Drownin'?

Since it is summer we have had fun getting out more. We really love the water! It is a lot harder to go to the pool by myself with 2 kids, but for the first time today I ventured out to the American Fork Kiddie Pool with my friend Rachael and her kids. I put Preston in his car, since it was really hot, I stripped him down to his diaper and he was happy as a clam after that, staring at the striped towel I draped over his seat for more shade. I stood in the shallow water and was watching Hailey while talking to Rachael. I saw Hailey stumble in the water and go under. This is not uncommon for her, she usually just hops up. I waited a brief second for her to stand back up again but she didn't get up. That is the worst feeling in the world, to see your kid floating face down in the water! I darted over to her in about half a second flat and pulled her out of the water. (I felt like I was on Baywatch splashing through the water--without the rockin' bod!)I knew that she had only been under for maybe 5 seconds total, and she didn't even cough when I pulled her out. She was more upset that she had gotten her face wet.But this didn't make me feel any better.There were other moms sitting on the side of the pool near where she went under and they started applauding and one of them gave me a thumbs up; "Good mommy save!" she said. Rachael said that its times like these your heart starts racing and it reassures you that you really do love your kids. A little heart racing experience where nothing bad happened, (thank heavens that I was paying attention) but it made me so grateful for life, breathing air and made me want to NEVER take my eyes off of her while swimming. I put sunscreen SPF 50 on both of us, and yet Hailey and I managed to get burned! I feel like an awful mom. (she is one sunburn closer to skin cancer! ) So although everything turned out to be fine, I just feel like a bad mom today. Oh well! We still had fun and there were smiles all around as you can see from the pics!

Adventures in our little part of the world

Frist of all it is really official that our house is not going to be ours for much longer. We signed papers with the Lennon's last night. It hits me a little at a time, and last night as I was going to turn off the lights to go to bed, I took a long glance at my house (this pic is the view I saw) and it made me so sad to think of all the memories we've had here. In a split second it was like a video montage in my head, reminiscing on all the good times we've had here and I was so grateful for the time our family got to spend in our first home. I've started a candy ountdown for Dave (He is eager to not work at his stressful job anymore) only 15 days...


We went to Thanksgiving Point last week with our friends the Mostellers. If you have never been to the gardens there you have got to go! It is stunning. They have the largest man made waterfall and it is spectacular! These pics really don't do it justice! There is just a lot of lush, green grass to let the kids run and play, it made for a really good nap when we were done.

This is Hailey and her friend Jackson.

just say your sorry!

Let's start this off with the fact that I really do love being a mom, but I sometimes hate the "perks" that come with it. Today was a slow morning and I spent it cleaning, doing laundry, etc...and then my friend Shirlyn called and invited us to walk to Macey's with her. I gladly accpeted the distraction and told her we would get ready. During this less than 2 minute converstation Hailey wacked Preston in the head. I put her in time out in the corner and when I got off the phone got her out of time out and told her that she needed to tell Preston sorry. She gave him a love but wouldn't say the word, so it was back to time out in the corner. I got her out, told her it is not nice to hit and told her to tell her brother sorry. She refused, so I put her in her crib to think it over. She screamed for Mommy and then Daddy, anyone to come and save her. I went and got her, again the girl is stubborn and refused to say sorry, so it was back to sitting in her crib. Got her out, and again, nothing! I put her back, went and got her again, explaining to her why we have to say sorry but thinking that she has probably totally forgotten that she even hit her brother. At this point it was getting the principle of the matter, that I was telling her to say sorry and she wouldn't! I told her our friends were coming over to walk to Macey's with us, and then at the point she started screaming to go. I told her we have to say sorry before we could go. She screamed louder and I counted down from three, no sorry! Shirlyn came over and her 4 year old daughter, Kailey, tried to get her to say sorry, even teaching her how to sign it. At this poing I probably would have accepted it if she would have signed it. But nothing. Shirlyn proceeded to leave and I told Hailey they were leaving without us because she couldn't say sorry. She sees them walking away, her chance for ice cream walking away with them and in desperation I see her body squrim and she blurts out; "SORRY!" Ah! Victory! Score one for mom! I was going nuts, I wanted to go more than she did.So thankfully she said that one little word that took her a half hour ordeal of screaming. Oh the joys of being a mom and having to stick to your guns over one little 5 letter word. It made me think though, how many times am I stubborn and I don't want to say sorry either. (hmm, I wonder where she gets that stubborness??probably from her dad.) I have resolved to be better about saying sorry more promptly when I am in the wrong. I am grateful for those little life lessons I learn from my toddler.

We just keep on Truckin'

This is the kids on Sunday, they looked so cute in their church clothes I just had to take a pic!

We have officially rented our condo and we will be moving on August 2nd up to Bountiful.We are working on getting our new "house" ready, I use the term house really loosely, we are renovating my parents basement so we can move in. They are converting the oversize laundry room to a laundry/kitchen for us. We have been going up every Saturday and working on cleaning out the 3 bedrooms; organizing, giving items to charity and putting all of their things in sotrage so we can move our things in. It is a lot of work, and my parents are so gracious to us ,making it really nice for us to move in while Daves goes to MBA school. So far the bathroom has been gutted (wallpaper removed-that pulled off some of the dry wall so we knocked out all the dry wall and replaced the wall, re-textured and painted and laid tile, put in a new vanity...) We finished cleaning out what will be Hailey's room and painted one wall "Princess Pink" it is a Disney color and oh boy (or should I say oh girl) it is PINK! The other walls are white, but it is so bright it reflects and makes them look a light shade of pink! I guess she is a girl, and all princesses need pink, right?

Most of the time I entertain the kids while my dutiful, wonderful hubby works with my dad. Once the kids nap I can work and then when they are up from their nap Hailey goes to Grandma Jamison's to play for the afternoon so we can get things done. This past Saturday I had fun playing with the kids and the Tonka truck as you can see from the pics! I am getting really sad to leave our first home, friends, the neighborhood and Macey's grocery store, but we feel it is right and life marches onward!

4th of July!

I LOVE the 4th of July! It is the warm weather, excitement in the air and the proud patriotism that makes me get all sentimental about our beautiful country, the stars and stripes, and how blessed we are to live here.It gives me cause to reflect on the little things that I take for granted and to stop and spend time with my family and a good excuse for a party. I am ALWAYS up for a good party!

We went up to our home town of Centerville for our traditional breakfast, parade and the fair at the park. Hailey is starting to "get " this whole cnady throwing thing, but she would only pick up one piece at a time, walk it over to me, and then go to get another, buy by the time she went through that pain-staking process all the older kids had claimed all the other candy. My brother, Uncle E as Hailey affectionately calls him, went into the street with her and hoovered over the candy so the older kids wouldn't steal it from Hailey. You don't mess with Uncle E!

We spent the rest of the weekend at my parents house, working on our "soon-to-be" new home.We, by we I mean Dave since I watched the kids, tiled our new kitchen and learned how to cut and lay tile all in one day. I am so proud of him! He is turning into quite the handy man by doing all these projects with my dad to get the house ready for us to move in. The basement is getting more and more ready every weekened we go up and work in it. Slowly we are getting rooms organized, making BIG trips to the D.I. and cleaning everything. We still have one more room to clean out, but we are almost there. I am sad to leave our home in Pleasant Grove, but excited to embark on our new journey together as a family

We really do have a double stroller

Just thought I would put some pics in of both the kids, they are so cute together, Hailey loves "brother" and as far as we can tell he tolerates her loves really well. We just stuck them in the stroller for a photo-op, we usually carry Preston in a sling, he likes it better, the double stroller can be so unruly at times. Well, it is Hailey's bed time, and since Barney is almost over, I have to go and get her into bed.

Bike Ride

In my quest to get my body back after having Preston I have started to really focus on exercising, so Dave and I pulled our bikes out. Preston is too little to ride, so Dave stayed at home with him and I just took Hailey by myself in her bike trailer. I needed a new pillow ( I had to give Hailey mine since she had a blow-out on hers in the night...but we won't go into that) I thought since I was already on the bike I should just ride to Wal-mart to get a new one...it was a longer ride than I thought and a lot of it was up hill. But it was a good work out and I enjoyed the ride home that was down hill. I was crusing down the hill next to a wheat field and watching the sun set over the mountains, and I thought to myself I just thoroughly enjoy life, where we are living, our cute little family...it is nice to get out and enjoy nature!