Girls Weekend to St. George!!

Heather and I riding bikes behind the condo. (like our matching jackets that mom got us?)
Heather cutting Hailey's blanket to be tied. Our fingers hurt after tying them all!

Me with Kate, Mom, Carole, Maddie and Heather hiking to the ruins in Leeds.

Carole and Mom doing "1,2,3!" with Maddie.

Maddie was playing peek-a-boo with Kate.

Me and Mom with Lacey. She taught us cooking classes and then moved to SG.

Doing what I do all the time, rocking the baby and enjoying holding my sweet girl!

Grandma with kate and maddie in their matching monkey jammies from Christmas.

Heather and I on a mammoth rocking chair at the gas station in Beaver!

Carole, Kate and I at dinner, yummy!!

Ah, a break from the everyday life and daily tasks, to the warmer climate of Southern Utah!! Since Kate is still attached, literally, she came with us on our girls get away. It was a great trip! We hiked Leeds to some Anasazi ruins. Shopped, hung out, went on a bike ride, made blankets for my kids and just enjoyed the good company and good food! Already planning to go again! :)

4 months and growing

My sweet little kate'r bug is getting so big! She will smile at anyone who talks to her and laughs easily! She likes to rub her big toes together (Our peditrician says it's a comfort mechanism). I can't keep socks on her, even if I pull them up to her thighs. She just kicks them off. I have invested in shoes to keep her socks on and altough they are cute, it is one more accessory to put on her in the mornings and keep putting back on as she gets out of them. But they keep her feet warm. She has just started to notice people eating and will watch you intently as you eat. She also has stared to notice the TV. I used to sit down at nights and watch my shows to nurse her, but she won't nurse, she'll turn her head and would rather watch the light box with moving pictures! (I have been getting some good reading in!) She is strong, she has always been strong. Since day 1 at the hospital she would curl her legs into her chest and roll to the side. And although she would rather be held, when I put her down she likes to scoot herself sideways on the floor on her back. (I am soo in trouble as soon as she can REALLY move!) She is not sleeping through the night yet, but she has her own room now. We moved the older 2 kids together so we can let Kate learn to sleep longer without waking her siblings. I have yet to do this, I find that I enjoy my alone time with her in the quiet of the night, even if I do fall asleep in the chair holding her and wake up with a kink in my neck! Or have her fall asleep next to me in bed. She is my tender girl, and I look back at these last 4 months and can't imagine life without her, she seems to have always been here!

Aw, that's my boy!

Preston is getting bigger and more curious daily! He tries to put his own coat; although he doesn't get it right, I let him do it because that is one less coat I have to put on before we leave! Here he has it on upside down! (But on a high note, his hood makes a nice bum cover!)

I knew we'd have a problem once he got enough tourque on that screw driver and sure enough the other day he did it! He got the screws out of our door hinge.

The kids wanted to know how a combustion engine works so I was trying to explain it in simple terms and when I got done Preston told me, "No, Mommy! That's not how it works! I blow and the car goes! See!" He then takes in a deep breath blows out and says, "See!" I love my boy!

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat...

I LOVE this time of year! The nostalgia, the friendly strangers, clerks saying Merry Christmas, buying into the commercialism of it all, reading the Nativity from the Bible...it's all so magical! The kids wrote letters to Santa and have really been looking forward to Christmas this year. I just love being a Mom, it's so fun to re-live Christmas through my children. Hailey got emailed a video from Santa(made by her Grammy Jamison), and he told her she needed to be better about cleaning her room. She ran right upstairs to start cleaning her room before the video was even over. After all the pleas to Santa for a bike, Preston decided to change his tune and ask for the same thing. Although I was done with Christmas shopping, the thought of disappointing my little boy on Christmas was too much to bear and since I had Kohl's Cash from previous shopping, I decided to use it and order him a razor Jr. It was all worth it when he came down the stairs and exclaimed, "My bike!" Hailey on the other hand was not quite the reaction I was hoping for. She acted like she had done all that was required of her and therefore the bike was inevitably just going to be there! She did like the bell and since the weather wasn't too freezing and there was no snow, we took the kids out to ride their new bikes. Then it was off to visit families and then come home to work on the mess! I can't believe how much of a mess Christmas is! And then there's the arduous task of finding a place to put it all!

The day after our tree was taken down and all the decorations put away. We just don't have a ton of space for a tree and I was so sick of picking up the ornaments that the kids would take off and walk to another part of the house and deposit them everywhere! I found them in the kids room, the bathroom, the toy box, Hailey's doll house and even in my bed! I asked Hailey what her favorite part of Christmas was, thinking that it would be the gifts, or parties, or even that special visit from Santa on Christmas Eve, but no! She told me it was singing at Poppy Jamison's grave. She learned the new song "Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat..." and loves singing it. )apparently that was his favorite song.)

Hate to say I'm glad it's over, but I can wait another year for this to come around again! So glad it does come once a year!

Baby Cakes 3 months

What? Where did those 3 months go? I swear when you are pregnant for 3 months it seems like an eternity, and now that she's here I can't believe that she is that old already. Kate is a great, happily contented, chubby cheeks baby. And if I could hold her all day she would never cry! :) I just love her to pieces! I am telling all of you out there, baby #3 is magical! I am loving this! (you remind me of this when she is crawling and getting into everything and I am pulling my hair out!)

My bath time kids, look alikes?

I was wondering if the kids really do look alike, what do you think? These pics are all from their first baths. Preston first 2, Kate the next 2 and Hailey the last 2.

Thanks-a-lot-day!

A bit fuzzy, but at least the kids are looking, dressed and clean!

Lisa and Kaylee with their amazing pies!

Rick and Kate

me an my Grandma

My dad with Kate and niece Madeline.

This year we hit 2 Thanksgivings and the movie Tangled. We do every other year alternating with my family and Dave's family and since we still do both sides of my family I always miss my Mom's side, hence the double dinners! It was super yummy and always so good to get together with family and then to prepare for BLACK Friday. I had a "Thanksgiving Miracle" and was delivered a newspaper with all the ads in it. I literally screamed and almost cried out of excitement. Ran inside and spread all the ads out to go through them. I got some great deals, mostly price matching at Wal-mart, and had a great time with my cousins, Jaycee and Kaylee, who are zany enough to go shopping with me from 10PM to 4:30 AM! First in line at Kohl's for their 3AM sale, enough excitement for me to last until next year! :)