Emily, Steve & Easton

My Fabulous Weekend Away

2012-01-25T06:49:00.000-08:00

Getting to go to Harlan's birthday party meant being able to spend the weekend with my parents all by myself. I don't think that has happened since...ever. It was just what I needed. So fun, so relaxing, so healing and so quiet. My parents spoiled me rotten and I had a blast spending time with them.

Straight off the airplane we went to a yummy breakfast downtown. My parents have gone to this place every Christmas Eve since I can remember for their traditional breakfast. It was fun to see what it was like and the food was so yummy, and this Vegas girl got to sit right by the fire. It was nice, and the only person I had to feed was myself. :) After that my mom and I went to get pedicures, which I needed SO badly since I can't reach, let alone see my toes anymore. Thanks Mom!!

Next was the fabric store so my mom and I could get started on a quilt for my baby. The first thing I have done for this new baby we're having in 2 months. I love sewing with my mom; she knows everything, makes me feel like I'm awesome and does all the hard stuff for me.

The rest of the trip I actually got pictures of.

My cute Dad. It was freezing outside but he was still out, working away. This was right before we went to the dump. I used to always go to the dump with my dad, so I was pretty pumped that I got to go again! Weird I know, but it was fun.

This is the bowl I have made for my dad not once, but twice (one broke). He eats out of it every morning, but this Saturday morning he let me use it. I don't know if he does that for just anyone. This was also the morning that I slept in until 9. That is amazing by itself, but the fact that my bladder let me do it is mind boggling. A true miracle.

Here we are eating again at a yummy Chinese place. LeAnn came with us and it was so much fun! I can't tell you enough how I enjoyed not feeding my kids. I missed them like crazy, but I didn't miss meal time. This was a great dinner right up until my dad got his fortune cookie with no fortune in it. He tried 2 more times and still nothing. What does that mean?

After the birthday party in Washington, another bonus was our stop in Portland to see these cute faces!! This was when I was really wishing I had my kids with me, they would have LOVED seeing all of their cousins. Marc and Connie have a gorgeous new house that I had never seen, and Cameron has grown up way too much since I saw him at 2 weeks old.

He's a chunky cutie and so smiley!!! Love these boys!

Okay back to sewing. This was the first thing I made since joining the pinterest world. It was just my style and seemed simple enough. I'm hesitant to post pictures of it because if anyone reads my sister's blog, they'll see hers and see how AMAZING it is! We sewed for 8 hours straight on Sunday and thanks to my mom doing the binding, we were able to get it done.

It was really hard to lay on my stomach for this.

And of course, we had to squeeze in some scrabble in between sewing. I believe my dad and I tied. I think that's a first.

I also had a great time at church with my dad (mom was off doing ward conference). Sitting through every meeting and listening! Everyone needs that every now and then. It was fun to see old friends from their ward and get caught up.

I will always remember and treasure this trip. As much as I missed my family, it was so good to see my parents and be spoiled. I imagine, with this baby coming, that it will be a LONG time before I go anywhere. Steve took great care of the kids and I don't even think they missed me. I also have great friends who helped out while Steve had to work. THANK YOU!!!!!

I love Oregon.

Baby Harlan Turns 1

2012-01-20T13:30:00.001-08:00

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!

Yay for 2012, the year of our third (and according to Steve, final) baby. The start of this New Year was not so kind to me. I fell into a funk that I just could not get out of. I don't want to get all serious and whiney on here, but I had a rough few weeks where most days it was crying, yelling and barely making it through each day. Nothing like that had ever happened to me and it was hard. The good news is that I had a trip to Oregon planned that could not have come at a better time. The reason for the trip was this cute baby boy named Harlan!

This is my oldest niece, Cierra with her little boy. He was born with HLHS, which is a heart defect, and also an extra chromosome. He fought hard to make it to 1 year and since I had never even seen him before I decided to make the trip. And Steve, being the awesome husband that he is, let me go all by myself so I could spend some qt with my parents. More on the rest of my trip later. It's amazing to me that this little guy went from this:

To this!!! It's just a miracle. He has had several surgeries and several long stays in the hospital, but when I saw him, I would have never known. He was a happy, chubby, snuggly, cute little boy. He just melted my heart right away. My niece threw an awesome party and was the best host to so many people. It was so much fun to see her, my sister and my other nieces and nephews that I hadn't seen in years. It was just what I needed. I'm in awe of my niece and think she's the best mom ever.

This is my oldest sister Tina and my brother, Darren. I've always looked up to Tina as a mom, and love watching her be a grandma too. She sure loves that little boy and is so dedicated to his health and treatment. She's a great mom, grandma and sister.

More party pics. I was just so impressed at the decorations. My niece did it all herself and went all out. It was a monkey theme, and apparently this is my dad's version of a monkey face.

I was so happy that my brother and his family could come down from Seattle, making my trip even more special. These 2 boys were busy with foosball the entire time. They are so cute and grown up I just love them.

And baby Erica is the cutest thing. She didn't want much to do with me, but that's okay because I have a daughter who is the same exact way. She loves her daddy and her grandpa though, and I just had to show this pic of her gorgeous curls. Love her!!!

It really was one of the best trips ever, and just what I needed. I think that break can get me through these last 2 months. I've never had my parents all to myself for a whole weekend and it was the best. They get their own post though.

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday sweet baby Harlan!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T20:48:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year once again. It was our 3rd year staying home and just being our little family and we loved it. We miss our other family of course, but this is fun too. Christmas Eve was spent at some good friends' house but nobody got any pictures of it! We had a blast with the Wayments and Grahams and love our holiday traditions. The kids had fun exchanging gifts with each other and were bouncing off the wall excited for the next morning.

Love this picture of my cute boys.

Carly loved her Christmas Eve jammies. Easton not so much. Before opening he says, "This feels like clothing." And after, "Um, this isn't exactly what I wanted..." Before long we had him thinking that sometimes clothing can be cool, especially when they are star wars pj's. But I think 5 year olds probably like toys best.

Now this we did a good job with. We finally have a Wii and Easton got his Mario game. The sad news is that I might love to play it more than he does. I can see fights ensuing. Can't wait until I have a newborn and can stay up all night playing this.

Carly got set up with a new scooter. Isn't she cute in all her pink? It's her favorite color and if she weren't so dang adorable I would oppose it.

The kids got new crocs because that is what they live in around here. I love that we got to ride bikes outside on Christmas. The weather has been in the 60's. Who the heck needs a white Christmas?

Carly got a princess book to paint but even though there are 4 other princesses in it, she only wants to do the Ariel ones. It has been a week and they are all gone. She's going to have to start liking the other, sub par princesses.

Check out the concentration. Easton scored with more legos thanks to his cousins and my brother. He was so excited to put them all together.

For Christmas dinner we kept it low key and went to the Grahams for some yummy sandwiches. Christi was days from having a baby (she has since had her precious baby Stella!!!) and I didn't want her going overboard like she did on Thanksgiving. I love these 2 friends.

Carly's first tu tu. And mine. I feel there will be many more of these in my future.

I love my kids and Steve and I had so much fun with them this Christmas. I'm sad for E to go back to school and Steve to go back to work, we have had a good time being together.

Remember the red pawr rangr that Easton wanted? Well, come Christmas Eve, Santa couldn't find it and was very, very frantic. Everything was all ready to go ( how much fun is playing santa, btw?!) except for that. I watched Steve look high and low for that thing for a long time. He was genuinely concerned that Easton wouldn't have it on Christmas. I know it sounds silly, and that's how I started my prayer, but I prayed so hard that Steve would be able to find that red pawr rangr that Easton wanted so badly. And he did...just before he was getting ready to head to Walmart to buy a new one. That was my favorite moment this Christmas. Seeing my husband wanting to make his son so happy. It made us both a little teary...probably me more than him, extra hormones and all.

I don't want to forget the best present of the day! My new camera! Now you all don't have to listen to me whine anymore about not having one. Steve came to my rescue and got me a beautiful new camera that I'm in love with. I gave him a kindle, which hardly compares, but I think he has been enjoying it. Thanks to our family for all the amazing gifts for our kids, they were spoiled and they loved it.

Church on Christmas was awesome. Loved the music and the messages, and the fact that it was only one hour. I think we should always go to church on Christmas, it really made the day more meaningful for me.

That wraps up Christmas 2011! I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Santa: Fiction, Jesus: Nonfiction

2011-12-24T08:19:00.001-08:00

At school they have been learning about what is fiction and what is nonfiction, so Easton asks me which one something is a thousand times a day.

Last month Easton asked me the big one...straight up, if Santa was real. I wasn't prepared for that question at all. I tried to change the subject and get him to forget about it, but he wouldn't. We were at the grocery store and he kept asking and sounded genuinely interested about it. Steve and I talked about how we would handle this situation before we even had kids, but I didn't think I would be faced with it so soon. Anyway, I looked at his little face and knew I couldn't just blatantly lie to him. I asked him if he thought Santa was real and he said, " I just don't know...is he mom?" So I stopped the cart in the middle of the condiments aisle and looked him right in the eyes and told him that no, Santa wasn't real. We talked about how Santa was a fun story and tradition for Christmas time and that if he wanted to believe in Santa he could, and that I thought it was still fun to pretend that Santa was real. He seemed okay with that. And we also talked about how he wasn't allowed to tell any of his friends that Santa wasn't real...I didn't want him being the one to ruin it for anyone.

He has done pretty good at keeping the secret, only telling his friends a few times that Santa wasn't real, to which they adamantly object. He was happy to sit on his lap and no, didn't pull on his beard or ask him if he was real, just told him he wanted a mario game for Christmas. So at this point I think he's just completely confused about the whole concept. He tells me that he knows Santa isn't real, but still talks about him and pretends, which is I guess what I was hoping for. He may not be real, but it's fun to pretend he is.
It also sucks for me because these past 2 weeks have been rough and I can't use the "santa's watching you" line to get him to shape up, or other santa related threats.

We have however been learning a lot about the true meaning of Christmas, which is what we all want our kids to understand. I'm so grateful for this time of year to remember the birth of our Savior. I don't know if it's sticking in their heads so much; they are distracted by the stack of presents under the tree, but I think they are starting to get it.

I hope everyone has a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My 4 Kids

2011-12-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

This picture might be my favorite ever to make the blog. I cried actual tears when I saw this. Easton loves school and is a great student, but his writing and drawing skills have always been pretty terrible (notice Santa's awesome hat and beard?). Steve and I aren't exactly artists, so I'm sure he gets it from us. His writing has improved a TON since he started kindergarten and it makes me so happy! I don't know if you can see what it says or not if you click on the picture, but it says, " Der Santa, I wud lik a pawrrangr thak yoo. " You better believe I sent a text message to Santa and he went right out and got him a red power ranger.

We had our first parent teacher conference and it went so well and was super fun. There's something great about listening to your kids' teacher say awesome things about your kids. She said he's responsible, helpful, smart and fun. I'm so happy he's good at school...sometimes home is a different story.

No our baby isn't all of a sudden 9 months old. This is Anniston, a girl from our neighborhood that we have been babysitting for a couple of months. She is the cutest and my kids love her! I think it will be good practice for them for when their baby sister comes. Every day they ask if Anniston is coming and Carly loves to snuggle (smother) her. She's a sweetheart and we're enjoying our time with her.

Carly is WAY too big. It seems like the more kids you have the faster they grow up. She is doing and saying things way sooner than Easton ever did and I think it's because she has an older sibling. I want her to stay my baby forever but sometimes she just sounds and acts so grown up. We have conversations about everything and her voice is my favorite thing in the world. She could be potty trained but her mom is too lazy. Maybe after Christmas we will tackle that.

This is what baby # 3 looks like. We just recently had another ultrasound and she looks great! I'm 27 weeks and she is a feisty little thing. She was doing somersaults and flipping around while we were watching her. It was pretty fun. We haven't really talked names yet, but we sure are excited to meet her!

I absolutely can't wait to snuggle her.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

This year we got my parents for Thanksgiving! The last couple of years we have been lucky to get Jenni and Michael for Thanksgiving, and I love our tradition with the Grahams...but this year was extra special because my parents came. This is huge people, my parents don't leave home for Thanksgiving. I remember one time growing up that we weren't home for Thanksgiving. So...I was pumped and we had such a good time!!!

The kids got lots of play time in with Jenni and Michael. I think they wore them out actually.

We played lots of games.

Cooked a lot of food. Pies mostly, the most important. I think we made 6 pies and a cheesecake. Everyone left and I had almost 4 whole pies left in my fridge. Don't worry, I took care of all of them.

The whole gang! Christi is an awesome host and makes a mean turkey. I love having Thanksgiving over there.

A little black friday shopping. We were spoiled by my mom! Jenni and I had fun shopping for maternity clothes together.

Kicking off Christmas with a trip to the cactus gardens. One of my very favorite things to do in Las Vegas. And it's free! Unless you buy a ton of chocolate while you're there...which I don't. but their peanut brittle is AMAZING!!

Easton was complaining that he didn't have enough action figures. So Jenni told him they could make some. They made the whole Incredibles family out of cardboard and Easton thought they were awesome. Plus I don't have to buy action figures anymore. We have since made Spiderman, Green Lantern and Captain America. Thanks Aunt Jenni for being more creative and willing to make my kids happy than I am.

It was a Thanksgiving I will remember forever. Thanks to my parents and sister for coming, we LOVE YOU!!!

November Fun

2011-12-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

I finally get to post about our fun November. It was jam packed with visitors, which is just what we like. First we were visited by Steve's dad for a weekend so he could go to a Boise State game here. I don't have any pictures of that because they're boys and don't care about pictures. But it was fun to see him for a short time and the kids always love a visit from grandpa.

Next up it was the Nielsons!

Baby Tyce turned 1 the week before so we got to celebrate with him. He is the CUTEST little boy and my kids, especially Carly are crazy about him. And so am I. It was so fun to have him wobbling around our house for a week.

Thanks to our good friends, we spent the day at red rock and did some rock climbing. Well, all the adults but me climbed, and I spent the day stressed to the max about little kids falling off the edge onto very sharp rocks. Everyone had so much fun though and it was a beautiful day. Thanks Binghams!!

He's so cute! I really love little boys!

We love Aunt Aimee!

See Steve, she loves you. Carly is going through a major mommy phase right now, so I'm glad we got this picture of her with daddy, and smiling.

This was the biggest shocker of the day. Easton got brave and tried the harness and everything. He's only about 3 feet off the ground, but still. For him this is HUGE. He's scared of most things.

Here's the whole cute fam; Aimee, Ryan and Tyce. Thanks for coming to see us, we miss you guys!

Aimee taught Carly a new trick. She can do it all by herself and it's so fun! I don't think Easton can do a somersault yet...after our horrible experience with gymnastics I quit trying so I wouldn't traumatize him more.

Pregnant Sisters

2011-12-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

Well here we are. I look really gross in this picture. I generally don't get out of my pajamas. Jenni was about 25.5 weeks and I 24. She's due 10 days before me. It's pretty dang fun being pregnant at the same time. I love seeing her pregnant and am SO EXCITED for her!! We are both having girls! All weekend we were arguing about who was bigger, but here we look pretty much the same. But I have gotten even bigger since this picture was taken (7 days ago).

It's nice to always have someone to complain to (other than my husband, who tunes most of it out anyway) who knows exactly what I'm going through and knows me so well. We exchange some pretty humorous texts and phone calls about all this pregnancy business, and I thought I'd share a few gems with you. It might only be funny to me, but if you have been pregnant before I'm sure you can relate.

* ...don't worry, I just peed my pants when I sneezed
ooh yes, I do that too, ha ha ha

* You will not be in bed at 9:30.
Why not, it's an hour later than I normally go to bed. Steve calls me grandma.
Pregnancy makes me feel like a grandma in so many ways.

*Problem: I put on these jeans because 2 days ago they would fit if I used a hair tie around the button. Today they won't even zip.

* Well I'm going to eat it all (pie) and get fat. Thanks a lot.
LOL! Yea well I just ate a blizzard so I'm right there with ya!

*The elliptical and scale were both very unkind this morning
SAME! I was so winded ha ha ha! I felt like a total fatty!!

* My thighs are just days from rubbing together. Sad day.

* Well I ran out of pie so I had to make cookies today.
Ha ha ha I plan on making brownies tonight. I can't go too long without treats.
Have I mentioned how glad I am that you are on this pregnancy journey with me?

Sad that they are mostly about food.

So excited to have girl cousins!

So Thankful

2011-11-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for:

* My family. For a husband who has been a huge support and comfort to me this year and has helped me through a lot. For Easton, whose smile and laugh is contagious, and for Carly and her sweet voice and cuddles that melt me on a daily basis.
* Good friends; who listen, help me with my kids, make me go running, support me and inspire me.
* The gospel and my testimony and knowledge of the Savior.
* My calling in the church. I love those kids!
* Dr's and modern medicine. I'm already looking forward to my epidural.
* Nap time
* Visitors! We have had a lot lately but I can't post about it until they send me pictures! They spoil my kids and are so helpful to me.

We had such a fun Thanksgiving and I'm sad our long weekend is over. I hope yours was great too!

Our Lives In Phone Pics

2011-11-20T20:29:00.000-08:00

Easton went mini golfing for the first time at a friend's birthday party and I got this text sent to me from his friend's mom (his pre-school teacher from last year). A hole in one! I thought it was pretty cute, he got to write his name on the wall.

What's left of our latest trip to BJ's for a pazookie. In case you don't know the history of these, it all started in high school for me. My best friends and I would go and order one of these giant cookies and eat and chat. I introduced them to our friends here and we now have the ordering and eating down to a science. Chocolate chip, peanut butter (not over-cooked) and white chocolate macadamia nut; 5 spoons, no plates. Good times.

More ice cream! Once a week Steve wants 3 hours to himself to watch his Boise State football game. I don't think it's asking much considering how much he does for me, so I try to find something for the kids and I to do. This time we went to get some frozen yogurt.

Big girl bed!

They let the parents come in to Easton's class for a little while to see what they do. It was fun for us to see our little man in action. Kindergartners are the cutest.

I'm Grateful For...

2011-11-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

And for my husband, who has had to pick it up for dinner way too many times during this pregnancy. It's just a life saver. When I was pregnant with Carly it made me sick and I couldn't eat there, but this time around, it is as great as ever. The problem this time is my dang laziness!

Kindergarten Woes

2011-11-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

In Easton's class everyone starts the day out on green. And green is where you want to end the day. If you talk or are disruptive, etc, you may be moved to yellow and if you continue the behavior, maybe to red. There's a chance to redeem yourself and get moved back to green, but only if you cease the bad behavior. All greens at the end of the week and you get something from the treasure box, any yellows and just a sticker, any red; nothing. Well, the other day Easton got a yellow...his first one. Seems he was a little too chatty in class.

The next day I kept him home from school because he had a nasty sounding cough, and I have this thing about coughs. I hate them and I hate kids who have them (okay I don't actually hate the kids, but you know what I mean.). Well he was fine the rest of the day and didn't cough at all after that or during the night. This morning when he woke up he seemed a little congested but pretty much ok, so I told him he could go to school. Well...he didn't want to go. Easton has never NOT wanted to go to school. I had a thought but figured I was wrong, but I asked him anyway if the reason he didn't want to go to school was because he got on yellow. He gave me the saddest look and nodded his head. I about started bawling.

He was so sad he got on yellow and was worried he would again and he just didn't want to face it.

Steve and I both talked with him and ultimately Steve got him to want to go to school. And when I picked him up he was so happy to tell me that he stayed on green.

I realize that it's just kindergarten, and not the end of the world, but it was a big deal to him and it about broke my heart to see him so worried/sad about something . I'm not going to be able to handle teenagers, I just know it.Isn't he cute? I just love him.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

How great is Halloween with little kids? Once again this year we celebrated with the Mathews and had a great time. Spooky dinner was spooky ( a little too spooky for Carly) and trick or treating was a hit! Who wouldn't want to give out candy to these 4 cute kids? Is it just me or does it seem like half the people in las vegas don't love trick or treaters? Most of our neighborhood was dark and no one was home! Boo! Maybe we just don't know the "good" neighborhoods to hit...we better get that figured out before out kids turn 10.Thanks to Kara for taking pictures so I could actually document something happening in our lives. I can't believe I have lived this long without a camera. When I finally get one it's going to be picture overload on here.

Our music was too spooky!

I love this picture with Jackson and Carly knocking on the door. It took them about 3 houses to figure out trick or treating, but after that they were running faster than the older kids and busting their way through to the front. Love it!

Love Halloween, but I love Thanksgiving even more!
Happy November!

You Guessed It!

2011-10-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

It's another girl for us! I know I told everyone around me that I really really really wanted a boy, but in the days leading up to my ultrasound I changed my attitude and decided that what I really wanted was a healthy baby. I haven't felt sick at all with this pregnancy, but it has been an emotional one and until today I have kept my excitement inside. Now I just want to shout it to the world that we have a healthy(and most likely, LARGE) baby girl due 5 months from today. I couldn't be happier!

The kids seem excited too, they had fun looking at the ultrasound pictures and Carly likes to talk about the baby she has in her tummy too. Easton is an awesome big brother and said he wanted another sister, so he is happy, and a friend reminded me today how much fun it is for a girl to have a sister. So true. To celebrate (or maybe more an excuse to yet again not make dinner) we went to get a giant cheeseburger that I have been wanting for a long time. It really hit the spot, and it was fun to see our friends who joined us.

A Whole Lot of Crazy

2011-10-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

I love this picture because they are both smiling real smiles, not cheesy ones. I look at this picture several times a day on my phone, because it's my wallpaper, but also it helps remind me that I do love these kids even though they have both been CRAZY lately. Let's start with Easton.

* I think Easton takes after Steve a lot. He's quieter, sensitive and generally pretty soft spoken. Lately though, he has been the opposite; loud, defiant, mean, and DISOBEDIENT to the max. I'm left wondering where my sweet boy went. I think this all started happening right around when school started.
* He says things like, "whatever", " I don't care," and "I'm not gonna listen!"
* He has some killer mean looks he dishes out...if looks could kill...
* As far as I know, he behaves great at school and church. He saves all the naughty stuff for me.
* There have been days where I literally want to run away because I don't think I can handle it for one more second.

Now for Carly. I feel like she has a better excuse because she's only 2. And I still pretty much think she's a perfect princess. But don't let her bright blond hair, blue eyes and purple, sparkly toes fool you... she can be sassy.

* She wants to be big like Easton so she wants to do everything he does and it drives me crazy.
* These 2 fight over things like: who gets to turn off the tv, who gets to pick the show, who gets to close and open the garage door. Since when was a garage door opener that exciting?
* She picks up 5 year old things and talks like crazy and repeats everything, so I hear a lot of: "I don't WANT TO!" or "Nanna nanna boo boo." and any of Easton's other choice sayings.

I think the main problem lies with me though. I have had zero energy or patience and have been too lazy to really try and correct or discipline this behavior. I try, but after a couple days I get tired and give up. I keep hoping with Easton it's just a weird phase and soon my sweet boy will emerge, and Carly, well, she's 2.

I am open to suggestions though, so send me all of your brilliant parenting advice for defiant little 5 year olds. I think he's ready to have more responsibility, more chores, things like that...but again, there is an insane amount of laziness going on over here. But I promise there's a good reason for it, I bet you can guess:
* no energy
* major fatigue
* extreme moodiness
* patience is nonexistent
(is this not the recipe for mother of the year?)
* all I want to eat is hummus and cookies
* my pants don't fit anymore
* I don't just cry at some parts in Parenthood, but through the whole entire show
* generally feeling and acting crazy all of the time...much like my 5 year old

The Very Best Stuff

2011-09-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Easton is 5!! Can't even believe it. I was so excited for what was going to be a super fun weekend; my mom was going to be in town and E was having a little party. Fun times. And then I woke up that Friday morning with the flu. It was still a great weekend, I was just kind of lazy and boring. I haven't been that sick in a long time and I really couldn't move too much. So it was actually kind of perfect that my mom was there, even though I'm sure her weekend plans weren't taking care of me and throwing a birthday party for crazy 5 year olds...she saved the day for sure!

Anyway, the past few months I have been L.A.Z.Y...hence the lack of blogging, or anything else that is extra (and by extra I mean anything besides getting dressed in the morning). Not very much cooking, cleaning, crafting, socializing, grooming, etc...you get the idea: lazy. But I REALLY wanted to celebrate my favorite boy turning 5, so we did.

Our house really has no business accommodating 9 kids, so I tried to think of something low key we could do for a party. We decided on a movie night and watched Rio. The kids did so good. They started out like this, all bunched up on the couch, but then they quickly segregated...

...to this. Boys and girls. So cute.

I figured the more snacks they had, the longer the movie would hold their interest...I mean, it works for me.

100% my child.

Presents are always my favorite part. I love seeing kids get so excited about GIVING. They love giving gifts to their friends and it's so sweet. They were all so thoughtful and caring and I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I mean, look at all the cute cards they made:

*Nathan drew a picture on his card. He said, " Easton, it's you and me and we're in a HOT AIR BALLOON!!!" His enthusiasm was awesome.
* Emery drew a picture of what I think is Emery, Easton and Reagan. Love it! I hope they are always always always the best of friends.
I love seeing their handwriting and drawings, it's just the cutest.

And of course we celebrated on the actual birthday with some cookie cake. Easton is crazy and doesn't like cake, so my nice friend Sara came to my rescue and made the cakes for his party because I was sick. Giant cookies, which was perfect for him. Thanks Sara!

Easton was spoiled by EVERYONE! Thank you all for the gifts and cards and phone calls, I think he felt loved and had a really special weekend.

And here's Easton with his new bike! He pretty much couldn't have cared less about it at first (he didn't really ask for a bike, we just thought he should have one). He didn't even give it the time of day when he came down the morning of his birthday to see that his dad had put it all together. Sort of a Christmas morning type moment is what we were going for, but seriously, he didn't even care. But now he LOVES it and wants to ride all the time. See how awesome I look in this picture? Love the flu.

I didn't get ONE picture with my mom in it. I'm so mad! She spent the whole weekend taking care of me and the kids, playing with them, helping with the party...everything. When she was playing games with Easton and I was lying on the couch, Easton said, "Grandmas are the very best stuff." It was the cutest, and I agree.

Thanks Mom, we love you!!

And He Loves It!

2011-09-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

We have had a great first week of school! I love seeing everyone's first day of school pics, it's just such an exciting time! Easton barely lets me slow the car down before he hops out and runs across the street into his class. It's awesome. But so far, all I know about kindergarten is that he practices his letters every day (and I only know this because there is evidence in the form of a worksheet), and he sits at the red table. That's it. This kid won't give me anything! I grill him every day and he tells me nothing. He says he forgot.

He's happy to have a friend in his class...look how cute they are!!!

Carly and I have been enjoying our one on one time. She has done pretty good, although I know she misses him. She plays with her babies and her tea set and it has been really different for me to watch a girl play. When Easton is home she joins in and plays bad guys and dinosaurs.
We love school (although I'm not sure why since I don't really know what they do there...)!!

'Twas the Night Before Kindergarten

2011-08-29T02:20:00.000-07:00

It's 2:30 in the morning and I can't stop thinking about this:

I was doing so good holding it together ( and by holding it together I mean begging Easton not to go to school and not sleeping for the past 4 nights) until now, and it just seems like it's impossible that he could be starting school. I know it's only kindergarten, and I know it's only half day, and I know he'll be fine...but still. Steve and I went back and forth on our decision to send E to school this year for months (he'll be the very youngest), and now, the night before it starts I can't help but doubt myself about it. He's my little buddy who has been with me every day since he was born and from now until he leaves my house and after, he'll be going to school. It's just weird.

I'm trying not to be too dramatic about the whole thing, but clearly I'm one of those moms who has a hard time letting go. And hopefully by having a meltdown in the middle of the night, I'll be fine when, in 6 hours it's actually time to send him off. It helps that he is so dang excited and doesn't seem scared at all. As a mom that makes me feel pretty good. I want him to be confident and I'm glad he loves school. He has made it very clear that he's not going to miss me at all. I guess that's a good thing?

Good luck to the rest of you moms dealing with the same thing...hopefully you have it a little more together than I do.

August...So Far So Good!

2011-08-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

We went on THE most fun vacation to Idaho and Central Oregon a couple weeks ago. I want to blog all about it and pretend I'm still there, but I have to wait for fam to email me pictures because...my camera's broken, remember? It. Was. A. Blast.The kids loved going for bike rides. I need a Burley! Well, and a bike.

Steve and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. Crazy. We were able to ditch our kids for the night and headed to Lake Las Vegas. We had never been there and it was nice to not have to do the bed time/morning time routine. Thanks Grahams, it's nice knowing our kids were in good hands. We ALMOST didn't come pick them up. :)We took this with Steve's fancy new I-Phone.

I hate Steve's fancy new I-Phone. Sure they're awesome and can do everything, but now he's on his phone even more than before, and Easton whines all the time because he wants to play games on it.

I got Easton's kindergarten info in the mail. I almost immediately started bawling. It's 2.5 hours a day for crying out loud but it still makes me sad that he's growing up so much. He's my little buddy and I want him to stay that way forever. He's so excited though, it's fun to see him love school.

Remember when he was little? And had hair? So cute!

Dang Google

2011-07-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Reader wasn't picking up my new post, and I didn't want ANY of you to miss out on reading my previous post about Harry Potter. It's riveting.