Word to your freakin' mother yo!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun Halloween this year. We have had lots of opportunities to show off our Halloween costumes. We went to a carnival at Mirabelli, we went Trick or Treating at the middle school, the girls had parties at school, and we had our ward Trunk or Treat. It has been quite the week. A big thanks to Grandma Joy for the fantastic costumes.

The ladies all decked out

The cutest 50's girl ever Snow White Pink flamingo (Lucy is hiding under all those feathers) The fam all dressed up

Lucy is Two!

2010-10-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lucy had her 2nd birthday this month. She is quite the crack up and she keeps us smiling. She had a fun birthday celebration week. She has done some very big girl things since turning 2. She is now sleeping in a big girl bed. She gave up the binkie. She is experimenting with sitting in a big girl seat at the table. She has her first dance class on Tuesday (I will post pictures) We sure love her and her big girl ways.

Big 2 year old girlTrying on her new coat

Taking a whack at Elmo
Elmo cupcakes

Make a wish!

Kindergarten graduation

2010-09-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

I realize that this post is out of order and should have come before the start of first grade, but that is how the cookie crumbles. The morning of Leah's kindergarten graduation was somewhat crazy. The battery in our van was dead, and Brian was at scout camp, so my good buddy came and picked us up. Leah made it just in time to join her class walking in. The program was cute and the singing was fantastic. Leah was lucky enough to have two best friends in her class. She had a good time in kindergarten and is ready for 1st grade.

"Riding the school bus"

Telling the audience that she wants to be vetrinarian when she grows up Leah and her teacher, Mrs. AukampLeah and her buddies Lizzy and PeytonYeah, she made it!

Here are some links from her graduation for your viewing pleasure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwwpnuUwdoc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKgTyKU1zbQ

Hula

2010-09-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Annie took hula lessons and she had a performance in June. My friend is the one who teaches the lessons and she does a great job! Annie enjoyed learning hula and is looking forward to more lessons.

Annie and Uila, her hula teacher
Using the coconut shells "Put your little hands on your hips"
An island cutie

Back to School

2010-09-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I have posted, but I figure it is time to repent. We had a busy summer and I might get around to putting some of that stuff up, but for now I will go with the school year that just started. Brian started the year at Durango High School and he is very impressed with the school and those whom he is working with. Leah started first grade at Gilbert magnet school. She is riding the bus and will get t0 partake in some fun learning experiences. Annie is going to Ms. Heather's and she is excited to be going with her good buddy Trey. Our schedules are a bit chaotic, but we are making it work so far. Here's to a good school year!

Waiting in her classroom line Lucy keeping us entertained while we wait for the bus

Waiting for the bus
Mr Owl and Miss Leah

Trey and Annie
Miss Annie and Mr Owl

Touch-a-Truck

2010-03-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Leah and Annie performed at the Touch-a-Truck event today. We had never been to this event, but it was quite fun. There were 80 different types of trucks/vehicles that you could climb on and explore the inside. You could honk the horns, which was somewhat out of control, but the girls enjoyed exploring some cool trucks.

Annie attempting a cartwheel Driving her car

Leah swooning
Bob the Builder

More Bob

Go Brown!

Where's the fire?

The whole fam

Awesome!

So cool!

School Days

Going up in the Century Link crane

HONK!!

Spring Time

2010-03-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

We were invited by some friends to visit the Conservatory at the Bellagio. I have heard fabulous things about the displays, but we had never ventured over before. It was amazing and I'm so glad we have discovered this little gem. It was decorated for spring and was a combination of Alice and Wonderland, Bugs Life, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I can't wait to go back. p.s. my girls were matching 2 days in a row. i think that is my quota for the month.

Annie and the ants Leah, Annie, Lucy

Lady bug!

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time celebrating St. Patrick's Day. The girls woke up to green colored milk. I told them that a leprechaun had come in the night and turned the milk green. Annie said that hers tasted like apple pie. We also had a green dinner. We had potato soup (colored green), green jello, green Kool-aid, and greed cupcakes. It was a fun day. p.s. Leah helped me label the pictures.

YUM-O Green Special K

Reese's Puffs and green milk-a lovely combination
Matching green shirts

Green Dinner

Annie

Lucy enjoying the goods

Leah has green dinner

Lost Tooth

2010-03-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Leah lost her first tooth a few weeks ago. When she discovered that a tooth was loose, she was overjoyed. She has been waiting for this moment for years (literally). She has been pretending to have a loose tooth forever. I thought that when she actually lost her first tooth it would be somewhat anticlimatic, but I was wrong. When I asked her how she felt after her tooth came out she said she felt like a new person. This is just the beginning of losing teeth (the one next to it is loose now), so we will look forward to more to come.

What a big girl!

Her note to the tooth fairy with her tooth inside.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2010-01-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to Disneyland. Leah and Annie performed with their gymnastic team at California Adventure on Saturday morning and then we got to play the rest of the weekend (The girls were so excited to hit the rides after their performance that I didn't get one picture of them in costume with their medals-oops). We had a great time. The first day and half we had beautiful weather, however, we did experience some rain. the second half of our time there. We tried to make the best of a somewhat soggy situation. We met a lot of fun characters, rode some wild rides, and ate some yummy food. It was a fantastic trip.

Lucy waiting for sisters to be done

Mr. Incredible (after the picture, he asked Brian what time it was) PocahantusLeah participating in the High School Musical 3 parade Mickey MouseLightning McQueen
Donald Duck
L is for Leah A is for Annie
L is for Lucy
Flying high with DumboPaying a visit to Miss Minnie Mouse
Leah in Minnie's kitchen-she didn't want to leave
The whole gang with Mickey at his houseAll dressed and ready for dinner with the princesses
Ariel-Lucy is not too sure of this experience
Princess Aurora giving her autograph
Belle giving Annie some princess advice
Cinderella and Cinderella Lucy
What adorable royalty
Snow White and 3 dwarfs
The soggy slicker bunch
Princess Jasmine and the handsome Aladdin

Cheers

2010-01-03T19:10:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

Snow Days

2010-01-03T18:55:00.001-08:00

While in the frigid weather, we took the girls and went sledding. It was actually quite enjoyable. Lucy slept for most of the time in her pink marshmallow suit. Annie went down the hill twice (once voluntarily and once by force). Leah loved it and went down the hill many times.

Annie and I posing as friends (even though I forced her

to go down the hill with me once and she was not happy!) Lucy enjoying the adventure

Leah ready to head down the hill solo
The first run of the day

Annie showing off her snow gear

Lucy woke up to take one trip down the hill

Christmas

2010-01-03T18:31:00.001-08:00

We stayed home for Christmas this year and then went to Utah the following day. We had a great time. Brian's mom and dad came down to help us celebrate. We were spoiled and I think my girls were pretty pleased with the things that Santa left for them.

Lucy enjoying a giftLeah received a blast from the past-Lite Brite
Waiting for the carnage to begin
Keeping those lips moist

Lucy not wanting to be left out of dress-ups

Super girl!

Abby Cadabby

Annie (wearing the Abby wig) opening her new bear

Leah can barely contain her excitement over her booster car seat

Lucy hanging out

Showing off her "pretties"

Checking out the goods in their stockings

Slacker

2010-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

I have been informed that people have been checking my blog only to find nothing new, so I will try and rectify the situation. At the beginning of December, I ran in the Great Santa 5K Run in Las Vegas. All participants got a Santa suit to wear while running. It was quite fun to be part of such a big event. It was a bit difficult to really break free and run because there were so many people, but the atmosphere was super fun. It was definitely something I will attempt again next year and hopefully I will be able to recruit more peeps to join the fun.

Me and my running peeps All done!
The whole fam

Great is Eight(y)

2009-11-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

Brian's grandma turned 80 years old today. She didn't want a bug fuss, so hopefully she won't be too mad that I put up a post about her. Charmaine is fantastic. She is a super grandma and great grandma. She makes a special cookie for each grandchild and is a terrific cook (everyone gains at least 5 pounds with each visit). My girls adore her and we are so glad we got to help her celebrate her big day! Happy birthday Great!

Where is Lucy? Annie enjoying some ribs

Have some meat
Who needs teeth to eat ribs?
The fabulous Great

Halloween

2009-11-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

We had a super fun Halloween. We went to our ward's Trunk or Treat on Thursday and then went to St George for the holiday weekend. We had lots of fun. Leah was a Wildcat cheerleader, Annie was a chef (I decided that one, but it was so cute, I couldn't pass it up), and Lucy was a bumblebee.

Annie posing with the pumkins Check out those cheerleader skills
She was sharing her graham cracker with the pumpkin
Trick or treat! Lucy is all ready to go What a cute chef! Go Wildcats! Three crazy little girls After we survived the cornmaze Lucy enjoying a treat at the Trunk or Treat Ready to get some candy!
Yeah for candy!

Pumpkins

2009-11-02T10:37:00.001-08:00

Our girls decided that they wanted to paint their pumpkins instead of carve them, so that is what we did.

Leah and her masterpiece Lucy getting in on the action

Getting ready to color
Annie preparing to attack her blank canvas

Displaying their wroks of art

Snow College Homecoming

2009-11-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

My girls and I met my mom and my niece in Ephraim last weekend to celebrate Snow College's Homecoming. I planned a little reunion for the student officers from my year, so we got to be part of a small town for a couple days. It was fantastic. It was fun to be back in San Pete County. We ate dinner at Fat Jack's Pizza (now called Roy's Pizza), and we went to the pararde and of course, the big game where the Badgers won big time. The reunion was all about good times and I am now an official member of the Snow College Alumni Association. I would love to go there and live, so we will see what happens.

Me and my peeps

Leah and the BadgerAnnie at the game
Lucy enjoying some football game snacks
Buying pumpkins
Lucy waiting for the parade to start

Roadshow

2009-10-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

For the past 8 weeks, the youth have been preparing to put on a roadshow. It was somewhat of a daunting task, but we managed to pull it together and the kids delivered stellar performances two nights in a row. The first night there were "celebrity judges" and we were given an A+ for our perfomance. I have loved being a part of this experience and I will always be one who loves roadshows. Our show had an 80's theme, so we embraced the opportunity to get out the 80's garb. Briab was in the band and he totally embraced his part.

These are the fantastic ladies I get to work withMe and Garth (Wayne's World)
What an awesome rocker couple!
My young women who totally rocked it! Living the dream

Happy Birthday Lucy!

2009-10-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

It is official, Lucy is one. Her birthday was yesterday, but we have been celebrating for a few days. She has such a funny little personality and we are so glad she is a part of our lives. She can stand up all by herself, so steps are probably not far away. She loves to sing and play with her sisters. She has multiple faces that she likes to pull. Happy Birthday Lucy, we love you lots!

Ghost cake with flaming eyes

A little unsure of what to do about the flaming eyes
Let's see how big of a mess I can make
Look at those skills
Who needs a fork?

Happy girl!

We love Tutti Belli

New shoes
Clapping during "Happy Birthday"

Let me try this on

I love presents!

Big girl in new jammies

Half-time show

2009-10-14T09:33:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night, Leah and Annie had the opportunity to perform at half-time for the UNLV vs BYU football game. Over 500 dancers, cheerleaders, and gymnasts performed. It was a special performance for breast cancer awareness. The Magic gymnastics team was right in the center of the field. Leah and Annie did somersaults and cartwheels across the 50 yard line for their part of the performance. They did a fantastic job and it was super fun to see them out on the field.

Stretching during the dress rehearsal Marching to their spots
Leah waiting in line to go onto the field Lucy getting all glammed up
Gotta love the sponge curlers
Ready to rock it!
Lucy enjoying the game Leah and her friend after the perfomance Cute girls!

Mickey D's and Me

2009-10-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today was the big fundraiser at McDonald's for Leah and Annie's gymnastic team. I signed up to work two half hour shifts working the drinks at the drive thru window. Leah and Annie were supposed to help, but apparantly, McDonald's has some tough child labor laws, so that left me to do the work. When I first got there, someone had already been assigned to the drink job (why have sign-ups?), so I got the buns assignment. That is right, I was in charge of toasting the buns. There I was in my flip-flops, apron, and hat toasting buns for 30 minutes. Not the most stimulating job, but not super terrible either. I was right right there in the thick of things, watching how the sandwiches are assembled, and I am pleased to say that I could probably still order one. I was not going to miss the drinks assignment, so when I had my fill of the bun toasting, I hustled over to the drive thru at the "shift change." I am also happy to say that I was pretty efficient at putting the lids on the cups. Brian and the girls went through the drive thru and I got to give them a little shout out. All, in all, it wasn't a bad way to earn some money for the girls.

Country Superstars Tribute

2009-09-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Brian's aunt Cindy called and wanted to come down to the Country Superstars Tribute in Primm for her birthday. Tickets were available on Houseseats, so we each got a pair. We took Leah and Annie with us and we had a fun time. Leah was dancing in the aisle and Tim Mcgraw came over and danced with her for a minute. Garth Brooks gave them each an empty water bottle, and Willie Nelson gave them each a high five. They liked Reba the best, so they each had their picture taken with her after the show. During the show a lady came over and gave them each a free glass from the show and a free bottle of water to pour into their glasses. At the end of the show, this same lady told them if they waited, they could each have a drumstick from the show. They were thrilled with their trinkets. We were glad we got to celebrate with "E"!

Annie and Reba Leah and Ms. McEntire
Showing off their free stuff

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

I just realized last night that I have not posted about Annie's first day of preschool. I thought, "Oh great, she is going to be upset that she is being neglected and blame it on being the middle child." Supposedly they are the ones who are always forgetten about. I will have to work on that so she doesn't spend years in counselling. Anyhoo...she is loving preschool. I thought she might have a hard time going in, but I was way off. She said good-bye to me at the corner (while we were still driving), hopped out, grabbed her backpack and walked right on in. I had to call her back for a love. She has done her first homework assignment and loves sitting at the table doing homework with Leah. She already has her teacher wrapped around her finger, so the year should be a good one.

All ready for the first day

She's so excited, she is poking the owl's eyes out

JOYful weekend

2009-09-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

My mom came down for a visit this past weekend and we had a fabulous time. She got in late Thursday night. I didn't tell my girls she was coming, so when they woke up on Friday, it was quite the surprise. We picked Leah up from school and then we headed south to sunny (and incredibly humid) San Diego. We got there about 45 minutes before the sun went down and headed straight for the beach. Leah and Annie strapped on their suits and hit the water. Leah loved it, Annie was a bit apprehensive, and Lucy thought we were all crazy. We went to Sea World on Saturday and saw all that we wanted to see. The new Sesame Street addition is great and my girls loved it. Before we started the trek home, we went to Seaport Village. It was fun to wander around the shops and inhale the ocean air. When we got back to Vegas, my mom and I hit the Barry Manilow show. It was an interesting experience. On Monday we went to the Lied Children's museum. We wanted to check out the Grossology exhibit, which was awesome, but the rest of the museum was terrific too. I am a little sad that we had never been before, but now that we know about it, we will definitely be returning. Thanks mom for a great weekend!
Annie getting accustomed to the beach Cute beach babies

Lucy enjoying some beach time

Watch out Sport's Illustrated

Strike a pose We love Shamu Zoe and Abby Cadabby and us Bert and Ernie rule Getting ready for the 4D movie Ready for the show Manatees are the best Lucy's first encounter with the sea cow Lucy diving right in with the sting rays Check out the starfish Annie enjoying the tide pool Lucy would just reach in and grab out the starfish Bird's of a feather Lucy riding the merry-go-round-she wasn't so sure about the ride Leah on her horse Annie on her trusty stead Barry Manilow shaking his stuff Annie and the Snot man Making farts
Annie doing some shopping (all ice cream) Leah ready to purchase her groceries Annie fixing the car Leah adding the washer fluid Annie girl the pilot Running to catch their flight Playing the gigantic Operation game

Training them young

2009-08-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Las Vegas, our family has become big fans of In N Out burger (come on, how can you not be a fan?). Well, we have this little antenna topper that looks like a soda cup from In N Out. It somehow ended up in the toy basket and Lucy has discovered it. She has just figured out how to drink out of a straw, and discovered this little cup. She doesn't just play with it, she carries it around and will take a sip every so often. She thinks there should be something in there for her to drink. It is quite hilarious and she is just so pleased with her little self. She is 10 months old and doing all sorts of fun things. She is officially crawling (no more army style), she is pulling herself up on things, she has her first two teeth (I am trying to get a picture, but her tongue is somewhat problematic), and she is enjoying new real people foods (she likes graham crackers, corn on the cob, chicken, and marshmallows). This is a fun stage and we are so glad to be a part of her new discoveries.

She is just parched

Having a sip Refreshing
She thinks she is so funny

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the first day of school has finally arrived. Leah has been ready to go for weeks and she was excited for the big day. She kept calling today her "special day" and asked if anyone was going to say congratulations for her "special day." I told her if she finishes kindergarten she will get congratulated, but today we would wish her good luck. She went right on in and had a fantastic day. They read a story about a raccoon on his first day of school. He was a little afraid and a little shy, but he made it through the day because of the advice from his mom. The kids colored a picture about the story and sent home their handprint. It was quite tender. They learned the rules for the playground and played hopscotch. All in all, I think it was a success. The only one to get emotional was Annie. She said that she missed Leah and wanted her to come back. Brian even got to sneak away to see her off. It is official, I have a kindergartener.
The traditional porch picture

Getting some love from the wise, old owl

Giving Annie a comforting love
Leah with her friends from the ward, Mallory and Elizabeth (who are both in her class)
Proud mom on the first day of school
Brian wearing his Del Sol shirt for the first day back
Posing with the cute neighbor girls
Marching into the classroom
Waving good-bye to mom

Utah Extravaganza

2009-08-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

We were in Utah for almost two weeks. We crammed in lots of fun things and it was fun to spend time with the fam. Here is a quick run down of some of activities we participated in.

Oquirrh Temple Open House Joy's RN graduation-my mom is awesome!!! Annie enjoying a s'more
Yum-o-gotta love the mallow, graham, and chocolate
Old Faithful
Peek-a-boo at the cabin in Asthon Climbing the pig at the Frostop in Ashton, IDLucy enjoying a kid's meal treat-OREO The SWEET Candy Factory tour-it was fabulous (Lucy has a beard net on her head) Enjoying the Pionner exhibit at the Treehouse On the boat at Pineview Snoozing on the beach Leah taking a plunge Annie hanging on the beach Making the best of the broken boat situation

So proud of herself for sneaking a Capri Sun and drinking from it

The new dragon ride at Lagoon

Brushing a ginormous cow at the fair

Getting our redneck on at the Demolition Derby

We also went to a Raptor's game where Leah received a ball from the 3rd base coach. She got three autographs and then signed her own name on the way home. We went to Bear World, which was phenomenal, but I forgot my camera. We went bowling, ate at lots of our favorite haunts, had a BBQ with friends, tried a fun new ice cream shoppe, partook of numerous snow cones, and stayed up too late. It was quite a trip, and we had a blast.

Survival

2009-07-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

I returned from Girl's Camp on Saturday. We went to Pine Valley, Utah (near St. George). It was quite fun and the girl's had a good time, which is most important. I was a loser and didn't bring my camera, so I will try and steal some pictures from the other leaders.

p.s. This was my 101 post. That is pretty amazing considering I was a non-blogger for such a long time.

9 Months

2009-07-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Lucy turned 9 months old on the 13th. She is quite the mover and shaker. She is growing up just way too fast. Here are a few fun facts about Lucy.

-She weighs 16 lbs

-She is a master army crawler

-She can pull herself up

-She loves Cheerios

-Her mouth is constanly in an "Oh"

-She has started to really interact with her sisters, especially Annie (watch out!)

-She is adorable and we love her lots!

Tonsil removal

2009-07-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Leah had her tonsils removed last Monday. She was having lots of throat infections, so I took her to an ENT and he said they definitely needed to be taken out. I decided that we should do it before she starts school, so Monday was the big day. Leah was not very happy about this decision. She was not excited to have her tonsils taken out. She did really well though and is recovering nicely. She is eating lots of ice cream, popsicles and Ramen. She should be back to full capacity in another week.

Anxiously waiting to go back Not exactly thrilled to be going under the knife Getting her vitals taken with Minnie Sleeping off the anesthesia
Finishing off her popsicle so she could go home

Fourth of July-part 2

2009-07-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of snacking going on during our day. Annie just cracks me up with her swimming style. She swims for a minute, gets out, has a little snack, swims some more, gets another snack. I think she has the right idea. Lucy also had some first foods. She discovered Cheetos and enjoyed them immensely. She had three in her hands and Brian tried to take a couple away. She grunted at him and wouldn't let go. She also partook of her first Red Vine. Leah refused to get out of the water for anything. It was a fight to get her to choke down some lunch. What a day!

Needing a sugar rush

Annie having an apple

Annie and Lizzie enjoying the cheese balls

Dangerously Cheesy
Loving the licorice
Not letting go of the candy

Fourth of July-part 1

2009-07-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth of July. Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. I love everything about. We decided against going to the parade and sitting out in the heat. Our friends in the ward always have a big party at their house and they invite all who want to attend to come on over. I made my flag cake, which is delicious (six sticks of butter between the cake and frosting, it better be good!). We swam and had a BBQ for lunch. We went home for a rest and then to In n Out for dinner. We returned to our friends' house for a fantastic fireworks display. Leah and Annie opted not to watch the fireworks, so they went inside and watched a movie instead. Lucy loved them. It was a great way to celebrate America's birthday!

The delicious flag cake

Lucy enjoying a dip in the pool Lucy and our cute neighbor Audrey

Leah after her long swim (p.s. I made their shirts)

Lucy feeing refreshed after her nap Leah and Annie avoiding the fireworks show
Lucy enjoying the fireworks and her glow-in-the-dark bracelet

First Swim

2009-07-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

We went to the Desert Breeze water park a week ago where Lucy participated in her first swim. She was a fan of the water and enjoyed watching all the kids play. She also looked pretty cute in her swimsuit! I'm sure there will be much more swimming to come in this little girl's life.

Hanging out with Dad

Being mauled by the sisters Showing some skin-seriously her suit is a 3-6 monther.
AHH, we love swimming

Ears pierced

2009-06-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Annie has been saying for some time that she wanted her ears pierced. Being able to express desire for holes in your ears is pretty much the only requirement in our house to take that crucial step in a young girl's life. She decided to be brave yesterday and do it. Leah kept saying that this would be Annie's first time to get her ears pierced and Brian kept following up with the fact that it would be her only time to get them pierced. It was funny to watch Leah be of assistance, seeing as how she has been though the procedure before. Four down, two to go, ears to be pierced that is.

She has no idea what she is in for

Pinning the hair back
Marking the point of entry
After the trauma-getting her ears cleaned
Watching the event at home

Primm

2009-06-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night, Neal McCoy preformed at Buffalo Bills in Primm. I was able to get tickets for the show (yes, I admit, I enjoy country music) and a room at Buffalo Bills through Houseseats. I invited Brian's aunt Cindy to come to the show with me. Her and Charmaine (Great) came down and we all went down to Primm for an eventful evening. My girls were so excited to stay in a hotel. Leah talked about if for hours before we got there. Who needs Disneyland when you can drive 30 minutes, stay for free, and get the same happiness? We had been in our room for about 8 seconds when Annie strips down to her skivies, announces she is tired and proceeds to climb into one of the beds. Her and Leah were obsessed with the beds. Leah also loved the phone on the night stand. I had to disconnect it from the wall or I probably would have had a major charge for all her calls. Brian helped get the girls ready for bed, while Cindy and I were rocking out. He left when we returned to the rooms because he had a teaching job the next morning. The girls slept great. We woke up and had breakfast at McDonald's. After breakfast, Charmaine and Cindy took Lucy with them over to the outlet malls while Leah, Annie and I went to swim in the buffalo-shaped swimming pool. After our dip, we cleaned up, and went over to the mall. We did some shopping, had some lunch and headed home. It was a fun little get away. When Brian asked how Leah enjoyed the hotel, she said it was the best night of sleep she had ever had. We will have to return to the loveliness of Primm soon. Thanks again Cindy and Charmaine for coming down to play!

Leah jumping in (she got those floaties for free when we got our towels)

Good times with the girls Annie chillin' by the side of the pool

Panty Fairy

2009-06-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday night, the panty fairy stopped by for a visit. She collected all the diapers and left Annie with 35 pairs of panties (how I accumulated 35 pairs I have no idea) flung about all over her room. Annie has done great with the transition. She goes running when she gets the urge and has been making it to the potty in time to do her business. She likes trying on different pairs of panties throughout the day, so she goes through 3 or 4 pair a day just so she can wear an Elmo pair, a princess pair, and a Hello Kitty pair (maybe this is why I had so many). When the panty fairy came to visit Leah, she didn't take the Pull-ups because for some reason I felt that Leah wasn't ready to wear the panties and stay dry through the night. Well, this time was different. I figured we might as well go for the gold, so the panty fairy not only took Annie's diapers , but Leah's nighttime Pull-ups as well. They both went to bed on Monday night wearing panties. I was a bit skeptical, but both woke up dry and have done so for three nights in a row. Brian told them if they woke up dry, he would bring them a surprise. He came through and got them a goldfish that they named Flo. Needless to say, I am one excited mom to have just one in diapers. Maybe we can arrange an earlier visit from the panty fairy for Lucy.:-)

Showing off her skivies (I told her to cover her nibbles)

What a big girl!

Happy Birthday Annie!

2009-06-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Annie is three years old today. Everyone who knows Annie just adores her. She has this special power to make people give her treats (sometimes she gets them for free from the store). She had a bug party with some friends. It was quite entertaining. The best present was actually for Brian and I because this morning when she went poop in the potty for the first time. It is very good timing because the Panty Fairy is making her appearance tonight. She is a dream and we are so glad she is a part of our family.

Showing off their bug bags

Looking for bugs
Opening presents
Eating dirt and worms-Yum-o!
Super cute birthday girl

8 Months

2009-06-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Lucy is eight months old. She is getting to be quite fun (not that she wasn't fun before, but now she is more interactive). Some of her skills include:

-Sitting up

-Holding her own bottle to eat

-Scooting around on her tummy

She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, so I am assuming that crawling is not too far off. She is enjoying food more and likes to try new things (this morning she partook of pancakes). We enjoy her immensely and we sure love her lots!

Cool Shades Sitting up tall

Enjoying her first lollipop

Grad Nite

2009-06-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

Brian and I were chaperone's for our stake's Grad Nite to Disneyland. We left Wednesday at 4:30 in the afternoon. We stopped in Barstow for dinner at In N Out. We arrived at Disneyland about 10:30 pm. The park officially opened at 11:30 pm. It was mayhem. There were so many kids there. The wait for the rides was out of control. Around 2:00 am, we were sitting in the chaperone area having a snack when we noticed a lone wheelchair. After much deliberation, we decided to "borrow" it for a bit. Brian pushed me around and we were able to go to the front of the line for a few rides. We were so punch drunk from lack of sleep. The wheelchair kept us entertained enough that we didn't fall asleep standing up. We left the park at 6:00 am and then headed across the street to Denny's for breakfast. After we ate, we hoped on the bus and headed for home. Charmaine and Cindy took our girls and they drove down to bring them back on Thursday. Thanks again ladies for watching the girls!

Brian at the beginning of Main Street

Me and Dumbo (one of my favorites)Handicapable?

Preschool Graduation

2009-05-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, Leah has been a superstar student in Ms. Heather's preschool. Last night was graduation. It was a great little program. The kids shared the things that they do in preschool each day. They sang songs, recited the pledge of allegiance, presented the calendar, and shared books that they had written. Heather is a magnificent teacher. Leah has learned so much with her. She read 33 books and learned 50 sight words during the past year. I can't believe that she is reading and she's not even in kindergarten yet. I learned to read in 1st grade and my teacher, Mrs. Reese, instilled a love of reading that is with me today. I hope that Leah will think of Ms. Heather as I think of Mrs. Reese. Heather shared some little memories about each student. She told of how when Leah was in her 3 year old class there was a day when she lost her star (the star is given each day for good behavior). Of course Leah was devastated at the loss of her star. She told Ms. Heather that she was never going to lose another star and she kept her promise. She received a star each day of preschool for the rest of last year and this entire year. We are going to miss Ms. Heather, but we are looking forward to kindergarten.

The processional

Perusing the books they wrote and illustrated
Showing off her skills
Leah with Ms. Heather

Free from Bondage

2009-05-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Annie had her cast taken off yesteday. She was not a fan of the saw and let the doctor know it. She screamed through the whole procedure. However, I am pleased to report that there were no stow-aways inside of her cast. She was a good girl and hadn't crammed anything down it. The doctor was impressed with that too. I asked her if she wanted to take her cast home and she told me no. Her leg is healed perfectly and she is getting along pretty good. She is still cautious, but she is walking and getting more confident as time goes by. We are now looking forward to our first trip to the pool!

One last shot with the plasterCast-free

Track Meet

2009-05-17T17:29:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, our stake hosted a track meet. It was one of the best church activities that I have attended. Our young women made signs and splatter painted their shirts. Points were awarded for spirit, participation, and the winning of events. The meet started off with a 5K and then other races followed. There was something for everyone and I was impressed with some of the skills that I saw. Brian ran in the 100 yard dash and he finished second to last in his heat. He said, "I was lucky to still be upright at the end. I was seeing black dots and everything was fuzzy." He even stayed home from church the next day with heat exhaustion! I am already looking forward to next year and hopefully I will be better prepared. I also found out this morning at Ward Council meeting that our ward took first place for the meet, so that made it just that much better.

Walking the 5K (we inherited another kid along the way) Leah and Lizzie running a stretch of the 5K

Brian gearing up for his race

Leah getting ready to run her race

The fam
Annie taking a break from the sun with an Otter Pop

Seven months

2009-05-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

Lucy turned seven months old on the 13th (Leah's birthday). She has starting sticking her tongue out a lot. I think she might be getting some teeth soon. She is still rolling all over the place and working on sitting up. She is a cutie and we love her lots!

The ever present tongue Cute girl!

Fancy Nancy

2009-05-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Leah decided she wanted to have a Fancy Nancy party for her birthday this year. She invited her friends (girls only!) and they all showed up dressed in their fanciest attire. The girls decorated little pink purses and made bracelets. Pizza and parfaits were served. Leah received some nice gifts and they even got to watch Brian do a little dancing. It was a fun party!

Lucy in her fancy outfit (a Build-a-Bear-costume)

Making bracelets
Eating yummy pizza
Enjoying delicious parfaits
Callie and Annie digging into their treat bags

Happy Birthday Leah!

2009-05-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Today is Leah's 5th birthday. She woke up and said, "I'm five now, so tomorrow I get to go to kindergarten?" She is a crack up. We are so glad to have her as part of our family. She provides the girly-girl drama that every family needs to experience. She loves to dance and play with her friends. She is doing so well at preschool and is learning how to read. She had a Fancy Nancy party this afternoon (it's late, I'm tired, so I will post pictures tomorrow). Leah, we love you lots! Happy Birthday.

Broken

2009-05-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

As a mom, these things happen. I'm not surprised because I went through it more than once growing up. I just figured it would strike when my kids were a bit older, and doing more things that would warrant this result. You just never can predict when one of your kids ends up in a cast. Last week, Annie feel victim to the plaster confinment. On Monday, she was jumping on the neighbors trampoline and while jumping, she started complaining that her leg hurt. In fact, it was bothering her so bad that she was brought home in tears. I gave her some motrin and she went to bed. The next morning she couldn't walk on it, so I took her to Urgent Care to see what was going on. X-rays were taken and I was told that she had not broken anything. The doctor told me if she still wasn't able to bear weight on it the next morning to bring her back in. We went home, she got another dose of motrin and went to bed. The next morning she resorted to crawling, her bun leg dragging behind her, as her mode of getting around. Brian and I kept trying to get her to walk, but we were unsuccessful in our attempts. On Friday morning, she saw a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. He took more X-rays and informed me that she had broken her tibia (big bone) up by her knee (way to go Urgent Care!). She selected a lovely purple cast that is now a part of her life for the next three weeks. She is still crawling, but she is being brave and standing and showing us how she can take a few steps. It's like having a 35 pound infant because I usually end up carrying her where she needs to go. We aren't the first to endure a cast and we won't be the last. I'm just glad that it's not 110 degrees outside yet.Notice the purple nail polish on her toes. She had to match her cast.

24 Hour Turn Around

2009-04-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

There are some days where I just don't know where the time goes and I wish there were more hours in the day to accomplish all that I need to get done. Then there are times when I am quite amazed at what I can cram into a 24 hour period. Last week, I had a whirlwind of activities divided into 24 hour chunks. It was a crazy few days, but I was able to do a lot of things. On Wednesday afternoon, Lucy and I flew up to Utah to see my sister, Carrie, graduate with her LPN. It was a nice ceremony and it was fun to see my mom "pin" Carrie. We were there just over 24 hours when we flew home. Once I got home, I visited with Brian, Leah, and Annie for about 24 minutes and then I had to rush out and teach my lab. I came home crashed. The next morning, I had to pack suticases because the girls were going to Great's house and Brian and I were to be chaperones for Youth Conference. At 1:00 on Friday, I had to go and pick up one of the 15 passenger vans that would be used to transport youth up to St. George for their youth conference. I must admit that I loved driving that van. We had a good time, even though it rained. Late Saturday night, I drove the van home and finally got home at 1:00 in the morning! On Sunday we went to church, to a friends house for dinner, and then I went to the testimony meeting to conclude the youth conference. Needless to say, I was pretty tired when I got back and I was ready to bed down and rest from all the running around.

Lucy's first plane ride (she was sitting on the tray table)

The siblings plus one nurse
The dance at Youth Conference-are all kids so awkward at that age?
We went on a hike and there were four Book of Mormon characters that spoke. This is a picture of Enos.

Half way to one

2009-04-18T16:12:00.001-07:00

Lucy turned 6 months old on Monday. She is just getting too big, way too fast. She is such a good baby. Her older sisters love to hold her, hug her, lug her around and she is a good sport about it all. She is always ready with a smile and when she does smile her whole face lights up. She is rolling all over the place and she loves to play with her toys. She went for her check up yesterday and here are the stats:

Weight-14 lbs. 10 oz. (25-50th percentile)

Height-25 1/2 inches (50% percentile)

Head-42 3/4 cm (50-75th percentile)

She is healthy overall and is starting to eat fruits and veggies. She has had sweet potatoes and carrots so far. She has also partaken of the ever popular "puffs" (I think Annie has reverted back to infancy because she has eaten twice as many puffs as Lucy since we opened the container). We sure do love her and we are excited for lots of summer fun with Lucy!

Just kickin' it

Sporting her first pair of summer shorts

Cutie patootie Yum-o puffs Trying to decide if she likes the sweet potatoes
Adorable-need I say more?

Easter

2009-04-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter Sunday. The bunny found the girls and left them some fun things in their baskets (nighties, new swimming goggles, a summer outfit). They wore cute new Easter dresses to church (thanks Grandma Cheri!). We just hung out and enjoyed the day together. Spring break is over and now we will look forward to summer vacation.

Showing off their loot Lucy is pleased with her new spoons
We are trying the no bangs look-what do you think?
Annie ready to head to church
Trying not to fall over
Cuteness is all I can say

Johnny Jump Up

2009-04-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

My mom and sister were insistent that we get the Johnny Jump Up out for Lucy to use while they were here. I dug it out of the garage and I am glad I did. Lucy loves it! This might actually be an understatement. She enjoys it immensely. I like it too because when she is done jumping, she is so tired she just goes right down to rest. Gotta love the Johnny Jump Up.

Good times

2009-04-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

My mom, sister and brother-in-law came down and spent a couple of days with us. We had a great time. On Thursday, my mom got to come to my Micro lab (now you know the nerdiness is hereditary-just kidding mom). Friday we dyed Easter eggs and went to the Clark County Fair. Saturday we went to our ward Easter breakfast, did some shopping, and had lunch at In N Out. It was a short visit, but we crammed a lot in. My girls were especially sad to see them leave. Thanks again for the fun visit Mom/Grandma Joy, Carrie, and Brian!

Leah with her puprle egg

Annie working the red dye

Enjoying the fruits of their labors Annie just eats the yolks
All the colors
Lucy trying to catch her egg
Annie on the ride she got for free-yes, she got free stuff again. Brian and the girls were waiting in line for a ride. We notice that Annie is missing, so we start looking around where we were waiting and the man running the next ride over points to Annie sitting in this giant duck ready to go for a spin. He said that she looked lost, so he just put her on the ride. She was still holding the ticket in her hand that she was supposed to have used for the ride she should have gone on. Crazy girl! The ever classic Merry-go-round Annie getting her face painted like a cowThe ward Easter egg hunt

Valley of Fire

2009-04-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

Brian took Leah and Annie camping on Wednesday. They went up to Valley of Fire and had a great time. They hiked all day over the red rocks that were near their camp site. They built a fire and roasted hot dogs and made smores. The girls even slept great in the tent (Brian not so much-it was super windy). Lucy and I stayed busy getting good deals at CVS and Walgreens, but I was sure lonesome for the others. It was interesting to just have one kid to tote around, especially when that one kid doesn't talk or really move. Maybe Lucy and I will have to join them on the next outing.

Leah hiking around on the rocks

Brave girl
Peek a boo
Hello down there
Annie enjoying her fire-roasted hot dog
They survived the night!

Future gymnast?

2009-03-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

I am always wanting to do crazy gymnastic moves with anyone who will participate. I have mostly recruited my siblings and Brian. I like to see what kind of crazy moves we can do. We usually end up on the floor laughing so hard we almost pee our pants, but it is great fun. Well, Leah has started to do the same thing. She has a few tricks she can do with Brian. Her latest one is running and juming up onto to his shoulders. It is quite impressive. I think that her skills are better than mine. Brian just told me that Annie has also attempted this trick, but basically just runs up and slams into Brian's back and then yells out "Up!" Her midgetness is really hurting her chance to be a gymnastics super star.

5 months and 6 years

2009-03-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday (the 13th), Lucy turned 5 months old and Brian and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Lucy is doing so much better. Those breathing treatments are really effective. She is back to her happy, smiley self. She can roll over from her back to her stomach and then over to her back again. She would be a fierce competitor at steamroller. She is so fun and we love her lots. Brian and I managed to sneak away and get some dinner (the Cheesecake Factory is divine!) and go to the bookstore-somewhat nerdy I know. Our life together has been quite a whirlwind, but it has been filled with goodtimes. I can't wait to see what other adventures are in store for us.

Cheese

Watching Leah and Annie dance around like maniacs
Impressive skills-holding up that gigantic noggin

Mid-roll

Big time stinging

2009-03-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

My dad use to love to go to stores when they were having a good sale, take in a bunch of coupons and "sting 'em." He would drag us along, so that he could use multiple coupons. We would each have to take an item, the coupon, and then the money needed to pay. It was quite a process. Well, Ron would have been proud of me today. Poor Walgreens really got stung! Here is the breakdown of my sting operation:

Total money spent-$31.82

Total savings-$44.44

MFG coupons-$31.00

WAG coupons-$13.44

Walgreens was having a great sale and I had excellent coupons. I had to do three different transactions, but it was all worth it. If you can't tell from the picture I got three packs of Huggies diapers, a Gillete Fushion razor, 2 boxes of Ziploc freezer bags, 2 cans Cream of Chicken soup, one can of pineapple, 3 packs of Orbit gum, 2 bottles of Ajax dish soap, and one tube of Sensodyne toothpaste. It was awesome!

Sick

2009-03-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

So the health gods have been pretty good to me. My girls have been relatively healthy. Sure there has been a cold here or there, but no ear infections, no tonsil issues, no real life stopping infirmities to speak of. This is quite a feat with little ones. The weather here started to warm up and cold and flu season was winding down, or so I thought. I got a little cocky thinking that I had made it through another winter unscathed. Well, I was wrong. My luck has changed and it all hit the fan yesterday. Annie started out with a cough early last week that just keep getting phlemier and more rattly as the days went by. Lucy started in with a cough the day after Annie started with hers (It is near impossible to expect a 2 year old not to touch her baby sister when she is like a walking petri dish. I try and explain contagious, but she just looks at me like I have three heads.). Needless to say, things went downhill pretty quickly. Lucy's appetite decreased dramatically and she was lethargic and sleeping more than usual. Annie coughed so hard she threw up. Obviously some type of intervention was needed, so Saturday morning the entire family wound up at the doctor's office. The result: Annie has bronchiolitits and an ear infection (caused by the build up of snot in her sinuses) and Lucy has RSV. Fabulous. I am now a regular Florence Nightingale. I give antibiotics (only to Annie because they would do nothing for Lucy and I am glad my doctor recognized that) twice a day, breathing treatments for each girl every 4-6 hours, Tylenol every four hours, and extra loves during the times they are awake. The breathing treatments are quite entertaining. Annie does pretty good about holding the tube in her mouth or close to her nose, but she wanted to give her toes some medicine and then her knees. My mom told me that some kids get hyper from the steroid and so of course, Annie falls into that category. She is like a midget on speed. She keeps us quite entertained for about an hour and then she crashes. Leah is starting to get the cough that Annie has, so I think I will just start giving her the breathing treatments too. I wish I could isolate them in their own bubble in order to avoid the cross contamination. Brian has been a huge help this weekend and his parents are coming to visit tomorrow, so I'm grateful for the extra adults to help maintain control. Hopefully, we will all be feeling better soon and the health gods will smile on me once again.

The drug regime Annie holding her own treatment tube and Brian holding the receipt from the pharmacy showing that we didn't have to pay anything. I love health insurance!!
Annie being such a good girl.
We tried the mask first and she really wasn't a fan.
Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever seen?
Lucy having a go with the tube

This might actually be the saddest thing

Cutting babies out

2009-03-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Leah had a doctor's appointment to get caught up on her vaccinations in order to be ready for Kindergarten registration (gulp!) On the way there she was asking me questions about the doctor because this was her first visit to this particular office. She wanted to know her name and what she looked like. Then she blurts out "Is she a doctor who cuts babies out?" Apparantly, this is how my child thinks that all babies come into the world. In her mind, it's not a beautiful, spiritual experience, but more of a gory, messy procedure. Technically, I have my babies cut out of me, but I felt that I explained things a little less bluntly to her when Lucy was born. Obviously I was wrong. I told Leah that her new doctor was not one who cuts babies out, but one who focuses on keeping kids healthy. Needless to say, I am going to have to do some damage control, but I just didn't have the energy at that moment to correct her twisted conception on the miracle of life.

It's about time!

2009-03-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

We moved into our house the first week of October. Our garage has been filled to the gills with stuff since we moved in. We have managed to get most of the boxes unpacked and out of the house, but the garage was a different story. We weren't really in a big rush because we have a nice long driveway where we parked the van. Well, we had some friends in the ward, who moved in across the street from us the last weekend of January. They too had stuff in their garage and parked their van in their driveway. Last week I look out my window to see my friend return home, open her garage, and pull all the way in. What was that all about? Well, I got a little case of keeping up with the Jones', or in this case the Dayton's. Yesterday Brian and I spent most of the day going through our crap in the garage. The goal was to be able to pull the van into the garage before dinner. Well, we did it, and it only took us just under 5 months to accomplish. Now I just have to worry about not slamming into my house as I back out.

Lucy hanging out in the garage while we sorted through things.

Brian standing proud of his accomplishment

(Please don't focus on the left side of the garage. Remember,

the goal was to get the van in, not to completely

get rid of all the stuff).

A better view in the light of day

Rice cereal

2009-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Lucy's first go at rice cereal. She loved it and did a pretty good job getting it down. I forgot how messy the whole feeding procedure is. Rice cereal was all over her face, even up her nose. She is just growing up too fast.

Big bite

Why is my face starting to feel so stiff?

Trying to get the cereal out of her nose before it turned into paste
Finger-lickin' good

4 months old

2009-02-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

Lucy turned 4 months old on Friday. She had her well check today. She is a healthy little girl. Here are the stats.
Weight-12 lbs. 10 ozs. (a little less than the 50th percentile).

Height-23.5 inches (25th percentile)

Head-41 cm (50th percentile)

She is a bit on the midget side, but that is how it is with all of my girls. She got the green light to start eating rice cereal. She had to get 4 shots, but she handled them like a champ. She is so fun and we are enjoying her immensely.

Pedicure

2009-02-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I got out the nail polish to do manicures and pedicures on Leah and Annie. They love to have their nails polished. I decided to do Lucy's toes too. They turned out super cute and I was glad that the polish I used dried in 60 seconds because she was kicking like crazy. I am looking forward to the day when we can all go to the spa and have pedicures done together. Brian will have to go hunting or something to offset all that girliness.

Leah, Lucy, and Annie toes

Pretty little piggys

Valentine's Party

2009-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Our playgroup had a Valentine's party on Friday. The kids passed out Valentines, decorated cookies, and we had a delicious potluck lunch. It was a great little celebration of love.

Annie frosting a cookie Annie decorating her bag to collect her Valentine's Lucy hanging out and feeling the love Leah with her bag of Valentine's to pass out

Haircut

2009-02-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

So Leah has wanted her hair cut for sometime. She wanted it like her friend Maddi's. We went today and here is the result. I love it. My brother said she looked like she is ten. She does look more grown up. My baby girl is getting too big too fast.

cookies and milk

2009-02-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

I just realized that my last two posts have been regarding cookies and milk. That was not intentional, but somewhat comical.

Valentine cookies

2009-02-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

We decided to decorate Valentine cookies for family night. It was quite the adventure. I gave each girl a bowl of frosting, a knife and a couple cookies to decorate. They turned out quite interesting. Annie's each had one little blob of frosting and about 25 pieces of candy that wouldn't stay on (due to the lack of frosting) she she would just eat them when they fell off. Leah actually did a pretty good job frosting hers and had pretty good control when adding the sprinkles and candies. All in all, it was pretty fun.

Leah going for the sprinkles

Yum, frosting!

Tasting her handiworkLucy during the decorating
Annie and her tiny blobs of frosting

Trying to cram as much candy on as possible
Brian supervising the sprinkles

Got Milk?

2009-02-02T15:10:00.001-08:00

Breast milk that is. Well, I have plenty. In fact, I have enough to share. Due to this abundance, I have become involved with an organization call the International Breast Milk Project (IBMP). It is quite a magnificent program. I donated breast milk that will either be sent to infants in South Africa who have been orphaned due to AIDS or it will be used for critically ill infants here in the United States. It was quite the procedure to be apporved as a donor. I applied before Lucy was born and I just sent my first shipment out today. My application was screened and both my doctor and Lucy's doctor had to be in support of me donating milk. Once I got past that stage, my freezer temperature had to be validated. I then completed a DNA test and had blood drawn. It was quite the process, but I am thrilled to be able to help out a baby in need.

My stockpile

I have another ode to breast milk. Many of you know that Lucy has suffered with a clogged tear duct since she was born. Her poor eye was always all gunked up, especially in the morning. Well, my friend Natalie asked me about Lucy's eye at playgroup. I told her what was wrong with it and how I was massaging it and hoping that it would clear up, so she wouldn't have to have surgery. She told me that one of her kids had had the same thing and she just squirted some breast milk in the eye and it cleared it right up. I was willing to try anything. I got home and the next time I fed Lucy, I put a couple drops in her eye and waited to see what would happen. It was amazing. There was improvement in just a few hours. I continued to put a couple drops in her eye for the rest of the night. I figured the real test would be over night, because her eye was always the worst in the morning. The next morning her eye was gunk free. Incredible! I was just sad that I hadn't tried it sooner.

Gunk free eye(her right one)

So glad her mom decided to do use her as a guinea pig for a science project

Comic Relief

2009-01-29T18:36:00.000-08:00

Things were a little tense tonight at dinner. Annie spilled Brian's milk all over the table and his plate, Leah spilled her milk, and the parents were both on the tired side. Just as we were finishing up, Annie sticks her fork in between her toes and props her foot up on the table. We all just busted up laughing. At least I know that if she ever loses her arms she will still be able to feed herself.

Cruella DeVil

2009-01-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

A teacher who works with Brian has a daughter a year older than Leah and she gave him 2 garbage bags and a huge box full of clothes for Leah. We only peeked in one of the bags and Leah found a black fur (fake) coat. She has worn it all day long. First of all, who buys something like that for a four year old little girl? Secondly, why in Las Vegas would a coat like this be needed? Maybe in Russia it would be useful, but Vegas, please. Needless to say, it is crazy, but I think I will have a hard time getting Leah to take off to go to bed.
Strike a pose

She was singing the Cruella song here
Leah was gracious enough to let Annie have a go
Annie singing the song

Watching a movie while wearing the coat

3 months

2009-01-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

Lucy is 3 months old today. She is moving into a fun stage. She is starting to grab and hold onto things. She will visit with you and loves it when you visit with her. She is still a great eater and an even greater sleeper. We sure love her lots!

Don't Eat Pete!!

2009-01-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

While going through some old boxes I came across an old game that I played growing up. My mom made it and it is called "Don't eat Pete." It is just a file folder game, but my siblings and I loved playing it. I dusted it off, grabbed some M&M's, and called my girls over for a rousing game. This is how the game is played. There are nine squares featuring a picture of different types of candies. A piece of candy is placed in each square. One player leaves the room and the others designate a "Pete" for that round. When the player returns he/she starts grabbing candies one by one. When the designated Pete is reached for, the rest of the players yell out, "Don't eat Pete!" (my girls started crying the first time I yelled out, and Leah told me not to yell at them). They quickly recovered and had a good time grabbing up the candies. It was Annie's turn for family home evening tonight and she picked to play the "M&M" game. It was great fun. I'm glad that I found this old treasure. If you want to play, come on over, but you might have to bring your own M&M's.:-)

Waiting to play

Annie showing off the game board

Leah running in for her turn
She got lucky and got to eat a piece
Carefully picking
Annie running back in (this was the funniest part of the whole night)

Annie taking a turn

Back to Real Life

2009-01-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over and it's time to get back to real life. We had fun visitng family and traveling all over the state of Utah, but it is time to buckle down and get back on schedule. Brian and Leah go back to school this week (which I'm secretly glad about-2 weeks is long enough. Brian will need to find something to occupy his time this summer or I might have to be committed-Oh the joys of being a teacher:-)). It is nice to look back on the year and look forward to what is to come. Here are some of my memories and things I am looking forward to.

2008 Reflections
10. Spending another crazy summer between Las Vegas and Ogden
9. Surving Girl's Camp
8. Being told by one of my students that I was one of his favorite teachers
7. Witnessing Annie receive free french fries from Arby's.
6. Watching Leah learn how to write her name
5. Brian finally getting hired on with the school district
4. Watching my mom graduate from the LPN program at the DATC.
3. Selling our house in Utah in 9 days, so we could buy a house in Vegas.
2. Finding a house in Las Vegas for an awesome deal!
1. Welcoming Lucy into our family and enjoying her sweet spirit and contagious grin

2009 Anticipations
10. A fun family vacation-who knows where or when
9. Getting into shape (anyone who would like to participate with this, let me know, it might be less painful with a group:-))
8. Book club-we have a great list of books to read
7. Figuring out how to sell my crazy pillowcases
6. Getting down to writing my book
5. Annie going to preschool
4. Leah going to kindergarten
3. Lucy growing up and doing all the things that babies do their first year of life.
2. Applying for the PhD in Public Health at UNLV.
1. Finally being able to paint the walls in my house!

p.s. Thanks Alison for the idea for this post.

Free french fries

2009-01-01T22:00:00.001-08:00

We went to St. George for New Year's Eve. One of Leah and Annie's favorite things to do in St. George is go to the feed yard and see the cows and the horses. Annie thinks it's hilarious when the cows poop and Leah loves to give the horses apples. When Clayton (Brian's grandpa) was alive he would always go to Dutchman's (a gas station) for a Pepsi after a visit to the feed yard. We weren't going to break tradition, so we headed over after we had our fill of poop and the apples were gone. There is an Arby's in this particular gas station. Upon entering, Annie walks over to the Arby's counter and says, "Fries?" The workers laugh, but I manage to get her attention and she comes over to me and I am helping her pick out a drink. The next thing I know, an Arby's employee walks over and hands Annie a bag with french fries inside. I give her a puzzled look and she says, "That's what she ordered." I said, "She's two." The lady replied that she was aware of this, but since she was so cute she was giving her free french fries. Unbelievable. Annie thought it was the greatest thing ever and enjoyed sharing her fries on the ride back to the house. Later that same day she got free pudding at the deli in the grocery store. What is going on? If she is going to continue getting free stuff, I hope that she will move on to bigger and better things.

Showing off her free goods

Snow days

2009-01-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

Since it snowed almost everyday we were in Utah, Brian took the girls sledding to take advantage of the white stuff (I graciously agreed to stay home with Lucy:-)). They had a great time. Annie could have been Randy's twin (the Christmas story), but Leah did pretty good walking around in all the snow gear.

Leah kept losing her boot in the deep snow.

Brian was proud of this shot.
Annie and papa

Annie and grandma

All the kids done sledding and ready for some cocoa

Christmas

2009-01-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

We made the decision to stay in Utah for Christmas and we were glad that we did. There was lots fun activities, time with family, and snow! It was fun to experience a white Christmas. We had a good time, so thanks to all those who helped us have a great Christmas!

Christmas dresses

New jammies for Christmas Eve

Stocking fun

Leah reading through her photo book
Annie looking at her ABC book
Lucy modeling a new shirt
Annie perched upon her new potty (hopefully Santa brought her the will to use it)
Annie girl showing another fun gift
Lucy wearing her first pair of blue jeans-super cute!

Strolling around

2008-12-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law has these strollers at her house that are intended for the baby dolls to ride around in. Well, just for fun I decided to see if Lucy could ride in one. It was a perfect fit and Leah and Annie had a blast pushing her around. I am trying to decide if I could get away with taking one to the mall and letting the girls do all the pushing.

All aboard!

2008-12-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

To celebrate my mom's graduation the girls went up to Heber to ride the Polar Express. It was quite enjoyable. We wore our pajamas and enjoyed cookies and cocoa on the train. We listened to the story of the Polar Express and sang Christmas songs. Mrs. Claus paid us a visit and Santa gave us each a bell to help us remember the spirit of Christmas. It was a super fun night, even though is was freezing cold. We desert rats managed to survive.:-)

Matching cupcake jammies

Annie enjoying the festivities
Leah and her cocoa
My sister Mary, Leah, and the big guy himself
Lucy wondering what the heck we were doing
Leah and Annie with the elf named Snowflake

(Leah said if she was an elf her name would be Diamond Sparkle Walker)
Leah and Mrs. Claus

Joy's graduation

2008-12-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night my mom graduated from the DATC with her LPN. She has done so well and she is half way through with the nursing program (she will get her RN at the end of July). She also received a special award. She was nominated by the faculty as the best student during clinicals. She said it was a surprise to her, but I was not surprised at all. She has worked so hard and I am so proud of her. I must admit that I got a little emotional when her name was called for this award. When she was down to visit after Lucy was born, she brought her pediatrics text book (which I even enjoyed reading) and she showed me all the tests that can be done on newborns. It was fun to be a part of her studies and have her show me what she has learned. I'm so glad that my girls have such a good example to follow. She is awesome and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her. Way to go Mom, you are awesome!!!!

With her school buddies Receiving her special award from the nursing coordinator

Receiving her diploma from the president of the DATC

All five kids with our fabulous mother

Grandma with her crazy granddaughters

Average again

2008-12-15T21:47:00.001-08:00

Lucy is two months old. I can't believe it. She had her doctor's check up today and she is registering in the 50th percentile with her measurements. Here are the official stats:

Weight-10 lbs. 3 ozs.
Height-22 inches long

Head-39 cm

She is happy, healthy and doing well. She really is a great baby. In fact, last night she slept for 12 hours straight (8:30 to 8:30). Wahoo!! Here are a few shots I took at the doctor's office while waiting for shots to be given.

She is happy because the shots have yet to come

Being emotionally gifted

Lucy's Blessing

2008-11-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

We decided to bless Lucy while we were in Utah forThanksgiving to ensure that everyone would be able to participate in her special day. It was a fabulous day for our little family. She was blessed in my mom's ward (the ward I grew up in) and then we went to Brian's parents for a lovely luncheon after. Brian did a great job with the blessing and my mom made her a beautiful gown. It was a great day and we were so grateful that our families were there to share it with us!

My mom proudly displaying her handy work

Our little fam

The women in my family-AWESOME!!
My cute girlie girls
The star of the show

Baking Day

2008-11-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is always Baking Day in my family. My mom, my sisters, my girls, and my niece all get together to bake the pies and rolls that will be devoured the following day. We make the same kind of pies every year-pumpkin, banana cream, and the infamous Razzleberry. In fact this year we looked at the date on the newspaper article where we got the Razzleberry recipe and it is 14 years old. This a long going tradition that is one of my favorites. I am especially grateful that my girls are able to participate and that they enjoy baking day as much as I do.
The next generation of Baking Day participants

Leah rolling out the pie crust

Lucy's first Baking Day!
Annie mixing the pumkin pie filling

Afternoon with Annie

2008-11-15T21:24:00.000-08:00

Leah had a birthday party at a friend's house this afternoon and Brian was at a school meeting, so Annie, Lucy and I went to the Fall Festival at Mountain's Edge park. It was pretty low key, but Annie got to do some fun things. She danced on the stage, jumped in the bounce house, did a cake walk, played a couple games, won a coupon for a free ice cream cone, and ate a sno-cone. It was quite an enjoyable afternoon. She is a super fun girl!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2008-11-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

On Friday night we went down to Town Center to see Santa arrive. He came into town on a horse drawn sleigh and he helped light the gigantic Christmas tree that was there. He then went into his house to greet the children (for a nomial fee of course). There was even snow. In fact I had to chuckle because I was standing on fake grass looking at a fake tree, with fake snowflakes falling on us. At least they try to create the image of a white Christmas here. I was afraid that we were going to miss the big event, but Brian did some awesome (and probably somewhat illegal) driving to get us there in time. It was a fun night, but I have to admit that I felt the festivites were a bit premature considering that it is November 15th and we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet. I guess the Christmas season is just around the corner and I need to face the facts and get prepared!

Waiting for Santa to arrive

The big guy makes his appearance Leah and Annie pose at the base of the tree

Strawberry Jam

2008-11-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

We did a chocolate fountain at a wedding on Saturday night and we had a bunch of strawberries left over, so I decided to make some freezer jam. It turned out super yummy. Maybe you can sense how good it really was by the following photos.

Needless to say they were a sticky mess and had to get in the shower. I am just glad they liked the jam so much.

One month

2008-11-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Lucy is one month old! I can't believe how fast the time is going by. I wish that it would slow done a bit (maybe I should just slow down a bit-yeah right). She went to her check-up today and all is well. Here are her stats:

Weight-8 lbs 13 ozs (50th percentile)
Height-21.25 inches (50th percentile)

Head-37.5 cm (50th percentile)

So she is pretty much average. I always worry about the head measurement because my kids have large noggins and the doctors always seem concerned and want to have a neurology consult done. If Brian was at the appointment they would look at his head and say, "Oh nevermind about that consult. The gigantic head seems to be genetic." Lucy will probably have to deal with this later in her life, but for now we are pleased with being average. She is getting to be more animated. These are pictures that I took of her when we got home from the doctor. She was pretty happy considering she got a shot.

Mom,

I just wanted to let you know that she was not left in her car seat for very long after we got home. I snapped some pictures and got her right out.:-)

Joy

2008-11-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my mom came for a visit. We had a fabulous time. On Friday we went and saw High School Musical 3. It was awesome. We were the only ones in the theater, which is totally the way to go when watching a movie with kids (even Lucy attended). I will even admit that I got a little emotional during the graduation scene. We missed seeing my sister on the big screen, but we enjoyed ourselves none the less. We did some shopping on Saturday and then she got to come with me to book club that night. It was a great time. We read the book Water for Elephants (which I highly recommend) and we went to the circus and saw some great acts. Sunday was the Primary program and Leah did an excellent job with her part. I was glad that my mom was here to see her perform. All in all it was a great time. In fact Annie woke up yesterday and the first thing out of her mouth was "Joy?" Usually her first word in the morning is "breakfast", so she was obviously impressed with grandma Joy. Thanks mom for coming down. It was a great weekend!

Halloween

2008-11-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

This year we had a great Halloween. Our trunk-or-treat was super fun. Leah invited her little friends from across the street to come and they did. We passed out lots of candy and saw some great costumes. The best part of the holiday was our surprise. This year Nevada Day happened to fall on Halloween, so since Brian didn't have school we decided weeks ago that it would be fun to drive up to Ogden for the 3 day weekend and surprise our families. This was especially exciting because there were so many who hadn't met Lucy yet and they got a chance to get acquainted.

Photos of Lucy

2008-10-26T17:20:00.001-07:00

So I took some pictures of Lucy today. They are a little on the boring side seeing as how she just lays there, so they all pretty much look the same, but I figured that the peeps in Utah wouldn't mind. I can't believe that she will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. She is super good baby and we just adore her.

I think that is almost a smile

If this had been Leah or Annie I would have told them that I was going to cut off their tongue with the scissors, but I will let this time slide

Great Harvest Bread

2008-10-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard me rave about the awesome tour that we took to Great Harvest Bread. I couldn't believe how cute it was. On Friday night there was a little Halloween party at Great Harvest Bread and we were not disappointed. There was face painting, fortune telling, candy gathering and cookie decorating.

*Just a note to let you know that the girls are not wearing their costumes that are for this year. We are still waiting on a few important minor details to be completed, so we used costumes from our ever growing collection.

Leah requested a sparkly nose and whiskers

Annie got a sparkly, pink butterfly

Decorating our cookies

More cookie decorating (Lucy is snuggled away in the black pouch)

McKee Ranch

2008-10-26T16:42:00.001-07:00

On Friday our little playgroup went to Mckee Ranch. It is a fun little farm that houses animals of all kinds. It is open to the public and you can bring snacks for the animals. Needless to say, it was a big hit with the kids, especially mine.

Annie giving the chickens some crackers (Check out her super cute pony tail!)

In goes a carrot

Leah feeding the horse a cracker (who knew horses eat crackers)

Annie and her friend Ethan checking out the duck

Annie taking a spin on the merry-go-round

Halloween party

2008-10-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a playgroup Halloween party last Wednesday and it was so much fun. The girl who planned it did a terrific job and there were lots of fun stations for the kids to participate in. My girls had a fabulous time.

Leah eating her donut with no hands

Annie attempted the game once and then just grabbed her donut off the string.

Leah is successful at bobbing for apples

Annie also managed to capture an apple, but she had a little assistance

Leah taking a whack at the pinata

Breasting

2008-10-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so trying to figure out the in's and out's to nursing with a new baby is always an adventure, but doing it with a 2 year old and 4 year old in tow brings the experience to a totally different level. Leah is totally repulsed by the whole process. First off, she refers to it as "breasting." Who knows how she came up with this phrase. Now I need to mention that this is the girl who I have told on multiple occasions to "Cover up your nibbles" or Don't let anyone see your nibbles" and now mine are on display multiple times a day for anyone walking through the room. I'm sure it is confusing to her. She is constantly telling me to cover up, but she can't stop staring. It's like the bloody car accident-you don't want to look, but you can't tear yourself away from the scene. She is also having fun playing with my nursing cover-ups. Who knew they were the latest fashion in dress up? Annie just knows that when the boob comes out, the milk is on it's way and Lucy will be getting "munch." It's been quite the experience so far, and I'm sure there will be more special moments as time goes on.

Cheese

2008-10-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

Annie saw the camera when she got home from church and wanted her picture taken too, so here she is cheesing it up for the camera. Notice the cute bows that were made at Fabulous Friday.

I told her to try and keep her eyes open
Sending a shout out to all her peeps

Lucy Elizabeth

2008-10-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

My sister and I decided to take some pictures of Lucy while the girls and Brian were at church. We used some of the bows that we made at Fabulous Friday. I thought they turned out pretty cute.

Lady in red

This flower is the same size as her face, but I guess that is the style right now.

more photos

2008-10-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

Timber!
Chillin like a villian!
I wish that she would of kept her hand down, but what do you do?
She was letting me know that she was done taking pictures and ready to eat.

Sisters unite!

2008-10-15T19:49:00.001-07:00

Annie filled with joy at meeting her new little sister

Leah checking out her hair
Brian is smiling because he has yet to realize the amount of estrogen that just keeps coming.
The fam

Annie and Leah were so excited to meet their new little sister. Annie was especially excited for the big moment. She came busting into the room and immediately the oohs and aahs began. Her visit was about 20 minutes long and she held Lucy 3 times! She calls her Loocis and just loves to rubs her checks and give her loves. Leah also enjoyed holding Lucy and examing her tiny parts. Leah was more concerned about the fact that my skin was cut open an how I was dealing with that. They were both glad to have us come home today.

She's here!

2008-10-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

Waiting to be wheeled back to the operating room

Getting a little air Teeny little thing

Eyes open for the camera

She was posing for two cameras at once. Lucy Elizabeth was born on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 7:56 in the morning. She is an itty-bitty thing, weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces. She was 19 1/2 inches long. The delivery went smoothly and I was impressed with how much easier it was than my other two. She is a good eater and is sleeping well too. She is a cutie we are enjoying our new addition.

First Night

2008-10-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our big move day. Brian and the boys from the elders quorum did a great job getting a majority of the big stuff over to our new place. Since our beds were included in the big stuff, we were planning on spending the night in our new place. After much deliberation as to the sleeping arrangements for Leah and Annie, I finally decided that they would sleep in the same room on bunkbeds (Leah on top, Annie on the bottom). It was a tough decision because Annie can climb up to the top bunk, but then is unable to get herself down. She also loves to annoy Leah, so I was sure that drama would be involved and I was right. Brian's grandma and aunt came down from St. George and took the girls out on the town for the day. It was a huge help and we really appreciate their assistance. Well, the girls were just worn out from all their running around, so I was hoping that they would be super tired and just climb into their beds and go to sleep. On our way home from dinner and a quick trip to get lightbulbs (seriously, who thinks to pack up all the lightbulbs?) Annie fell asleep. I figured that I would just put her pajamas on and lay her in the bottom bunk and all would be well. Wrong. She woke up during the changing and was charged and ready to go. We finally tucked them both in and then waited to see what would occur. Brian and I were also exhausted from our day, so we got ready to bed down too. It took the girls awhile to settle down, but soon they were quiet. About 15 minutes later, Leah wakes up and is crying hysterically. I go in to see what is the matter and find Annie perched up on the top bunk. Apparantly she climbed up, found Leah's water bottle and dumped it all over Leah, who was peacefully sleeping. What a mess! I put Annie back in her bed, helped Leah get dried off and told them to go to sleep. Leah did fine until morning. Annie ventured into our room at about 4 am, but went right back down. I obviously should have considered another sleeping arrangement, but what do you do? Annie will just have to learn that it is not nice to dump water on your sister when she is sleeping.

Finally

2008-10-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the view from the street

The kitchen/dining area
The kitchen
The family room
The backyard (this could also be described as heaven on earth)

Well, yesterday was a big day for us. The first thing that happened was that Brian finally got things squared away with the school district and was officially offered a contracted position. Yeah!! He will go in and sign the papers today. It was a lot of running around and stress, but all of his hard work has finally paid off-literally. Second, we signed papers for our new house. We were pleased to hear when we got there that all the paperwork on the seller's side was present and accounted for so we should close today or tomorrow. Another yeah!! This is good news since we have to be out of our place now by the 10th and oh yeah, we have a baby coming in less than two weeks-yikes. Our lives are crazy, but I guess that is just how things are for us. Thanks for all the offers for help while we pack up and move. I'm sure we will be cashing in on those offers soon. These are the generic pictures for the posting. Once we are in, we add some more with our personal touch.

Surprise!

2008-09-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

I must start out by saying that I have some pretty fabulous friends. Yesterday I was planning on going to lunch with a couple of friends, Mical and Melissa. They wanted to take me out before this baby comes. I was excited to get together with them. Well, lunch ended up being a surprise baby shower at Mical's house. I was supposed to meet at Mical's house at 12:30. I got there rang the bell and she answered the door. As I walked up the stairs, a group of my friends jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" I was so shocked I almost peed my pants. I had no clue that this was even in the cards. Apparantly Mical and Melissa have been planning this for weeks. Brian was invovled to get a list of girls in my current ward to invite and he diligently extracted from me some things that we needed for this new baby. I got a bunch of diapers (thank you, thank you, thank you), some clothes, blankies, and other necessaties for a newborn. We played a fun game, ate lunch, and just visited. It was a great time. I knew that I had wonderful friends, but they really pulled out all the stops for this one. I was beginning to dread the fact that I can no longer jump in the car and go, but will require the constant companionship of a 17 pound diaper bag. However, after yesterday, I feel that at least I have some essential items to toss in the bag.