Be Where Your Feet Are

Look Who is Walking!!

2012-01-27T18:23:00.001-08:00

Ty is 15 months old! He weighs 27 pounds (80%) and is 32 and 3/4 inches (88%).He is a big boy!! He can say quite a few words but I feel like he put his language on hold while he was focusing on walking. Now that he is walking, just in the past few days he has been talking more. He can say uh oh, ni nite, nana, baba, dada, mama, cacker (cracker), allda (all done), appa (apple), bye, hi, danka (thank you).

He is really good at throwing tantrums and throws himself onto the ground sometimes when he doesn't get his way. Because he has hit his head on the ground when he does that, now he throws his body down, but then slowly lays his head onto the tile and then throws a tantrum. It is quite humorous.

Ty likes to get his way and is pretty stubborn. However, he has a very sweet side too. He loves to cuddle while he is watching cartoons. He loves to give kisses with his mouth wide open. He loves to be tickled and teased and has the most adorable smile and laugh.

Speaking of cartoons, he reminds me alot of Tate at this age. Even this young, if a cartoon was on Tate would always stop what he was doing to watch. Ty is the same way. He will easily watch a 30 minute show without hardly blinking! It's ridiculous that I have to limit his TV time and he is only 15 months olds! :)

Ty is a bruiser!! He has gashes and scabs and scars all over his pretty face. He loves to climb on things and is quick! When Heather was babysitting him she looked a way for a few seconds, when she looked back he was on top of the electrical box (they were outside). As she ran toward him, he fell off the box onto his face. Almost weekly, the child has some new bruise, scratch or scab.

Ty is going through a very weird phase where he will only let 4 or 5 people hold him. He gets extremely shy and starts crying if someone else tries to hold him. It is quite annoying. My dad happens to be one of the few people Ty "allows" to hold him. It pretty much makes my dad's day to be Ty's favorite! My dad always says to Ty, "When your a big linebacker in the NFL remember papa was your favorite!"

A New Chapter

2012-01-23T19:39:00.001-08:00

It has been 4 years since Bob has sat with us in Sacrament meeting. Last Sunday, he got released from the bishopric. It was bitter sweet to look back at the last 4 years of our life and know that we have been so blessed because of his service. But I will say, I have anxiously been looking forward to the day that he would get to sit with us.

I have anticipated that there would be a bit of a learning curve though. Back in June, we were at my brother's mission farewell in my parent's ward so obviously Bob sat with me and the kids. During the opening song, Macie wandered over to the church bag and went to pull out a toy. Bob quickly said, "Macie we don't play with toys before the bread and water." In typical Macie fashion, she started protesting very loudly to the point that most people around us were now staring at us. I shot Bob a dirty look and he quickly handed her the toy. I then said under my breath, "We don't do SNACKS before the sacrament, but we DO TOYS!" He realized then that having gone from one kid to three BY MYSELF in sacrament, I have a system that works and that he cannot mess with my system! :)

However, now that he is released I am willing to let him have a say in the "system". So yesterday was our first Sunday sitting as a family during sacrament. I'm sure it was a great relief to the poor elderly people who usually sit behind me that the Monroe Family Circus no longer exists. I told Bob that he was on "Ty Duty" and that the other two were mine!

I've always known that Tate and Macie could be more reverent during sacrament than they usually were. But with Ty on my lap demanding every second of my time, I could not focus on their reverence. I was in pure survival mode trying to keep Ty as calm as possible.

After talking to my good friend Niki, I decided that now that I could focus on my little darling 3 year old and 5 year old, uninterrupted, it was time to drop the hammer. What do I mean by that??!? Well, I decided no more toys, drinks or snacks at all during sacrament meeting. I've always known those items were more of a distraction than a help.

I was very nervous to undertake such a big task, but I knew Tate & Macie could do it. I did threaten them beforehand that if they decided to not be reverent I would be happy to drive them home and have them sit on the couch where we would then read scriptures for 2 hours instead of attending primary. They know I'm crazy enough, that I just might do it.

These were the rules of sacrament: They were allowed to look at their scriptures and the hymn book. Counting freckles on their arm was also game.

They did surprisingly well. Tate ended up finding a string in his shoe and wrapped and unwrapped it around his finger countless times to stay entertained and Macie discovered a clip in her hair that she snapped in various places on her dress. They fluctuated between looking at words in the scriptures and the hymn book. Tate can read some of the words, so it held his attention a little longer than Macie's.

All that matters is....they made it. They made it all the way through sacrament meeting without needing more than just a few friendly reminders that I would love to take them home to read scriptures.

It felt good. It felt good to give them the attention they need to teach them an important principle like reverence.

It felt good to not be the ring leader of the Monroe Family Circus.

It was good to have Bob back. Yes, as predicted, he spent most of the time in the hall with Ty. After 4 years, I think it's only fair!

The Practice of Patience is Perpetual

2012-01-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

According to dictionary.com, the definition of perpetual is: "lasting an indefinitely long time". So the practice of becoming patient lasts for a very long time!! I definitely believe it!! I sure have not mastered it yet.

The title of my blog post is the title of the chapter of a book I am currently reading. Although, the chapter I am reading is geared toward patience with children, I actually think that I STINK at patience in general!

Those who know me well, would agree, especially poor Bob. For example, if I have an idea to go to Ikea to buy Macie a dresser, then I want to go today even if it's not the most convenient day to do it. Today, right now, always sounds better to me than later.

At my doctor appointment on Monday, I had been waiting in the waiting room for 57 minutes. It felt like NO ONE was being called back and so I was sure I would be sitting there all day! I told myself that in 3 more minutes I would get up and kindly ask the receptionist how much longer it would be. I justified this to myself by thinking I needed to get back to my kids and start dinner, etc. So when the 3 minutes passed, I walked up to the receptionist desk and kindly asked how much longer it would be. I wasn't even done asking her the question, when the door opened and they called my name. I was so frustrated with myself. If I would have just waited 0.5 more seconds I wouldn't of had to ask and would have taken a big step in the right direction in my pursuit of patience.

With just these 2 experiences of MANY, you get an idea of why I feel hypocritical when I try to teach my kids patience when I struggle with it myself. At least I'm willing to admit it, right?

Back to PARENTING with patience...

I will admit it is hard to be patient after Bob & I spend 45 minutes doing the "bedtime" routine with 3 tired, little kids.

It is hard to be patient once we have them tucked in and Macie just has to tell me "One more thing", before I shut her door. The girl never stops talking. Which I love, but not when its bedtime.

It's hard to be patient when my children have asked for fruit snacks for the 15th time in the last 12 minutes and I keep having to tell them no and try to kindly remind them AGAIN that apples are available if they would like.

It is hard to be patient when my ever so stubborn baby refuses to eat the 3rd thing that I've made for him in one meal sitting, trying to find SOMETHING that this kid will eat.

It is hard to be patient, when I'm running late.

It is hard to be patient, when I hear whining instead of talking.

And the list goes on and on.....
Phew! That was quite cathartic to get that out! :)

Let's face it, it is hard to be patient when your a mom. Some days I feel like I am on my "A" game and can talk in a very calm soothing voice COME WHAT MAY. Most days I'm on my "B" or "C" game where I raise my voice more than I'd like to.

The author in the book I'm reading suggests to overwhelm your kids with calmness. Easier said than done. However, I've tried it for a few days and it kind of works. If I am somehow able to stay calm with my feathers unruffled amidst the whining, crying and screaming of my little children, it actually does rub off on them. I have found my tone of voice actually deescalates the situation regardless of what words come out of my mouth.

Also, in regards to patience, it helps to laugh. Like the example where I had made 3 different things trying to get Ty to open his mouth to at least TRY a bite of something and then he STILL refused. I felt my "typical" impatience boiling inside, but instead I smiled and looked at that little cherub face and said, "Well you must not be that hungry if you are able to be this picky." Then I got him out of his high chair, put him on the ground and off he crawled away to play with his toys.

It was a step in the right direction. A small step but a step.

It helps me feel better when I realize that practicing patience is perpetual. It is going to be something I will probably always struggle with. What matters is, that I am trying to overcome some of my tendencies in hopes of being an example to my kids that it IS possible to be patient.

House Progress in December

2011-12-29T20:44:00.000-08:00

Who would have known that building a house could be so fun? Every weekend we go check the progress on our house! It's so fun to see what progress has been made the past week. Here are the highlights of the progress this past month!

Dec. 4th- We have windows!! One of my FAVORITE things about this house is all of the windows! I love the natural light pouring into the house making it so bright and cheery! When the windows were installed we were very excited. This is a picture of the great room..I love that from my kitchen I can keep an eye on the kids...notice they are already out there playing. The Graves Family came with us one weekend to check out the progress and the kids went straight to the backyard to play on the dirt hill.

Dec. 10th- We have roof tiles sitting on the roof & we have styrofoam.

Dec. 26th- We have the siding & we have drywall!!

This is the island in the kitchen.Rumor has it....that just in the past 3 days, they taped the drywall so it's ready to be painted and the stucco has been done on the outside of the house. We will go by Saturday to see!

Catching up!

2011-12-26T19:46:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I make a "blog" book. Basically I print out my blog each year in a book format. It takes a lot of work to upload the pictures into my book and cut and paste the text, etc. So the last month, I've been just updating my blog book because I'm getting close to the end of the year when I get to print it. It is over 300 pages and I'm not done yet!! Needless to say, I have neglected my blog and updating pics of what we've been up to. So here is a reader's digest version.. ENJOY!

At the kids Thanksgiving party, they had fun making turkeys, doing relay races and eating pumpkin pie. I LOVE this picture of Macie and her school friends!

Tate & Macie's preschool field trip was at Superstition Dairy Farms...I snapped lots of cute pics of them feeding the animals and enjoying homemade icecream and choc. milk, however, I am lazy and only uploaded a few pics. This is Tate's really good friend Hayden.

Me and Heather and Erin contributed "most" of Thanksgiving Dinner this year! It was fun to get to try new recipes!

Grandma making sure Ty didn't starve:)

Tate & Uncle Eric playing footballThe 3 Amigos.

Christmas at the Fast home this year looked alot like this! We all gathered around the speaker so we could talk to Elder Fast when he called home. We got to talk to him for an hour and a half. It was so wonderful getting to hear his voice!!

The first 30 minutes, Tate stood front and center listening to everything TT had to say.

Me and the kiddos

We had lots of fun at ammy's house too!

Macie insisted on sitting right next to Braden while she opened her presents. It was cute! Plus, I love this pic of her:) She looks so grown up!

The Village People

2011-12-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

I am a strong believer in the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." I never really understood what this meant or why it would be true, until I had children of my own. There is no possible way for parents to teach children everything they need to know. There is no possible way for parents to be the only people that influence their children. There is no possible way for parents to be with their children constantly. Because of this, parents DO rely on the people in the village to help them out. In other words, as parents, we rely on other people to play important roles in our children's lives.

The village people I am specifically talking about today are Tate and Macie's teachers at church. Judy Scott was Tate's nursery teacher for 2 years and now has been Macie's nursery teacher for 2 years. She has given the kids a desire to learn about Jesus at a very young age and to truly love Jesus and want to be more like Him. She is a great example of Christ and the kids can feel how much she loves them when she talks to them. I am so grateful that she was their teacher during their very young, formative years. Neither one of my kids ever cried or threw a fit when it was time to leave me and go to nursery. That is because of Judy. I am very sad that we are moving and that Ty will not have the "Judy Nursery Experience".

Another village person I am very grateful for is Tate's primary teacher Sis. Webb. She has been Tate's teacher for the past 2 years. Being a primary teacher is sometimes rough. It's hard to know how much the kids are actually listening to and learning. But I know for a fact that Sis. Webb taught Tate so much. It's because of Sis. Webb that Tate randomly told me one Sunday afternoon, that Joseph Smith saw Jesus in the Spring time. It was because of Sis. Webb that Tate lovingly said the other day, "Macie we are not on this earth just to have fun, we are here to show Heavenly Father that we can be like Jesus." Almost every Sunday, Tate would have something to tell me that he learned from Sis. Webb. She truly made gospel learning fun for Tate and I will be forever grateful to her.

Last Sunday marked Macie's last week with Judy and Tate's last week with Sis. Webb. My kids were both sad to say goodbye to their teachers. My heart has been full of gratitude to both of these sweet ladies. They might not realize it, but they have made a difference in the lives of my children. Their dedication and perseverance has been admirable. As a mom, I just want to say thank you to these two village people for helping me raise my children.

Ty at 14 months

2011-12-14T12:00:00.001-08:00

Okay, so he is 14 months in a week, but close enough:) So what can I tell you about this boy? He has the sweetest face. I try to complain to people about how naughty he has been lately and they look at me and then look at him and then don't believe me! I was all worked up telling the pediatrician how he won't nap and won't take a pacifier or a blanket and wakes up at 5 am every morning and won't eat most foods, etc., etc.....While I was talking he started shaking his head "no", which was a coincidence but funny because it was like he was telling her not to believe me. She looked at him and looked at me and then started laughing and said, "I'm sorry I can't take your complaints seriously he is just too cute!" Story of my life.

Example #2, I call my mom to complain to her about his naughtiness and how I'm going to let someone "borrow" him for awhile until he starts napping again. She then repeated what I had said out loud to some teachers standing by her desk and they all volunteered to "borrow" him for me even though he has been so naughty.

I've never seen anything like it. I think those blue eyes and chubby cheeks of his, cast spells on people which make them disregard what I say.

So, for journaling purposes (since none of you will believe me anyways), Ty has been a stinker this past month. I've been working hard to teach him how to walk. Yes, he still doesn't want to walk. He cruises furniture just fine, but then lets go of the furniture and crawls around everywhere. I decided this was getting ridiculous so I was going to MAKE him walk. So I would put on his walking shoes and we would go outside and practice walking on the sidewalk. He would drop his weight on purpose, arch his back and throw the biggest tantrum I've ever seen a baby throw. My pediatrician said, "Stop forcing him to walk. He'll walk when he wants to." So I agreed and lo and behold, he has taken 2 or 3 steps without hanging onto anything quite a few times this week. I'm starting to figure out he is stubborn like his sister. It's his way or no way.

He has gone from 4 teeth to 10 teeth in like 6 weeks time. Ever since all these teeth started popping through, he refuses to take his pacifier, which means he hardly naps at all anymore, maybe like one hour nap a day. He went from two 2 hour naps a day to a one hour nap. The pediatrician said "Do whatever you can to have him still take it," she said, "use honey, sugar, I don't care, just make him take it." She wants him to nap longer, as do I. So I came home and Bob & I dipped his pacifier in syrup and then put it in his mouth. He sucked so hard on that thing for about 5 minutes. Then he took his hand, grabbed the pacifier out of his mouth and chucked it across the room as hard as he could. He did the same thing when we dipped it in honey. Do you see what I mean about stubborn?!?

So I guess the pacifier is gone...by far my youngest kid to stop taking a pacifier. With my other 2 I had to take it from them because they were so attached. I will admit that the last few days he has taken a 1.5 hour nap...we are making a little progress.

Ty is eating a little better, not as picky as he used to be but still my worst eater by far!

Ty is a daddy and papa's boy. If my dad or Bob are around he perfers them over me, my mom, anyone. The other night he let my dad hold him for over 40 minutes, while they walked around, when I went to take him from papa to go home, he started crying and was hanging onto papa tighter. Both Zack and Ty adore papa, which is so funny because Hallie and Macie have always preferred my mom. Tate just loves everyone.

When Bob is home, Ty is near him...all of the time. I could leave to go shopping and he wouldn't even bat an eye, but if his daddy leaves he cries and cries "dada!" The other night Ty fell onto the corner of Tate's bed and got a black eye. I happened to be gone. When bob called me, I could tell something bad had happened because he sounded really worried on the phone. When I got home and saw his eye I coudn't help but smile a little of how upset Bob was about it, when it wasn't THAT bad. It's obvious,Bob adores Ty too! By the way, he is one of those that never believes me when I complain about Ty. He's always like, "but he's so cute!"

What else is Ty up to? He says, "cracker, dank you, nana, papa, dada, mama, bye, hi, uh oh, baba, ball, and woah." He loves his shoes and socks on, he will crawl over and get them and bring them to me and Bob to put them on him. This morning he got Macie's shoes and gave them to Bob to put on Macie. He knows how to make a barking noise and makes that noise when he sees Zeke.

Ty loves remotes, cell phones, anything that he can push buttons on. He loves songs that have a strong beat and bobs his head up and down in his car seat while we are listening to the radio.

Okay, enough journaling...here are the pics of Ty!

Tate in December

2011-12-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

While we were driving, Macie was saying, "We need to try to be like Jesus AND Santa." Tate responded with, "MACIE, we shouldn't be like SANTA, he doesn't eat power foods, he only eats cookies and milk." ( I've taught the kids that fruits and veggies are power foods).

Macie has made great progress in preschool over the last few months. I was asking Tate, over lunch, how she got so smart. He said, "Leapfrog letter factory, Miss Jessica and me, worked together to make Macie smart!"

Tate spent the night at Ammy's house so he got to go to church with them. Aunt Brittany is the primary teacher for his age group. I guess 2 of the boys were arguing and one boys said to the other, "No one in the world cares!" Tate heard this and quickly interrupted this boy by saying, "That's not true! I pray for everybody in the world every night. People in the world DO care!"

Because I lost the majority of my voice today, I have relied on Tate to mainly be the one to communicate with Macie. On the way to preschool, she wasn't listening to what he was trying to tell her and was being sassy to him so he said, "Macie! Don't talk to me in that stern voice!"

I'm not sure what brought on this conversation, but I heard the tale end of it. Tate said to Macie, "Macie, we are not on this earth to just have fun. We are here to show Heavenly Father we can be like Jesus."

Tonight my mom is babysitting Ty and Macie while we take Tate to the Forgotten Carols. I just said to him, "Tate, you need to take a nap today since we are staying up late; if you don't, you are going to have to stay home with grandma." He paused for a minute and then sincerely said, "I can't decide if I'd rather go to the show or stay home with grandma!" Note to self: Staying home with grandma is not considered a punishment.

Macie in December

2011-12-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

Holding her hand over her neck she said, "My heart is beeping, that means I'm 4 (years old)."

A few nights ago, Tate was being so whiney, and wouldn't eat and wouldn't sleep. Teasing, I told the kids to make a sign that said, "Please take me, I'm free" , so we could put it on Ty. A few days later Ty happened to be eating his dinner. I was telling Bob how could Ty did eating dinner. Macie overheard our conversation and said, "Oh good, now we don't have to make a sign for Ty Ty."

2 months ago, Macie did not even know one letter of the alphabet, she now knows most of them and most of their sounds. She can even spell and read simple words! I am so impressed!

Today I woke up with a sore throat and very little of a voice left. Macie hasn't acted like she feels bad for me, she acts like she is annoyed that I can't talk to her. She said to me, "Why does your boice (voice) sound like that?!?" I told her my voice was broken. She hesitated for a minute and then said, "Fine! You can have mine!"

Yesterday my kids were at grandmas and papa's. Macie, Tate & Hallie built a fort upstairs and really wanted papa to come look at it. Papa forgot about it and started working in his office. About 30 minutes later, he said, Macie walked in, came and stood right in front of him and in the sweetest voice said, "Papa, Tate and Howie weally (really) want you to come up and wook (look) at our fowt (fort)." Papa said they sent the right girl because he couldn't tell her no!!:)

Rescuing

2011-12-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

A few days ago Bob said to me, "You do too much for our kids!" As much as I HATE to admit when he's right; he might have a point. When Tate asks me to button his pants or Macie asks me to put on her shirt, I do it. Although they are capable of completing these tasks, I do it for them.

One reason for this, is it is EASIER. It's easier to just do it instead of listening to them whine or complain about it. It's also easier because I can do it so much quicker than they can. Especially when I'm in a hurry, I'd rather just do it myself! Same goes for when they want to make their own PB & J sandwich, for example. They know how to do it, I've let them multiple times, but it's so much EASIER and less messy if I just do it for them.

The second reason that I do tasks for my children that they are capable of doing, is I am a SUCKER! I am a sucker for those cute faces..who ask so sweetly for help. Because they know I am totally a sucker, they take advantage. What I mean by this, is they would NEVER ask their dad to do certain things for them because they know the answer would be no. However, mommy will always do it!

After Bob's comment, I've started thinking, maybe I am doing my kids a disservice rather than a favor. After all, I want them to be confident, self reliant people. I do try to teach them to do hard things. But, kids these days are entitled. They want what they want and they want it now. They do not want to wait or be told no. They expect to be bailed out of situations instead of facing the consequence of their actions.

I know there are extremes to parenting. There are parents who never bail their kids out and parents who always bail their kids out. I want to be somewhere in the middle. I want to let them face the consequence of not doing their homework so they will become more responsible; but, I want to bring them their gym clothes for PE so that they know that I love them and would do anything for them.

I found a quote that says, "Our job as parents is to wean ourselves out of a job. We want our kids to be strong, noble, contributing members of society, not ones that need to be petted and pampered through life." What it means to wean ourselves out of a job, is to take a step back, every once in awhile, and let our kids be responsible and STOP parenting so much that they can't even attempt to make a decision on their own; It's a chance to see where their values lie and what choices they make when there is a tough decision in front of them. I would rather my children had the freedom to make choices now and face the consequences instead of waiting until they are teenagers to see where their values lie. It is hard for me sometimes to just stop parenting and instead, listen and watch and see what they choose.

I find myself testing their values occasionally. The other day, we were making Christmas Brownies. I told the kids not to eat any more brownie batter because they had already had plenty.. I left the kitchen for a few minutes to grab something. When I came back in, I slowly looked around the corner to see what I would find. To my amazement, they were both just decorating the brownies not a bite in their mouths. I was actually quite shocked that this is what I had found. It seems simple. It is simple. It was a test to see if the values I am teaching my kids every day, like honesty, are sinking in.

Although, I don't want to totally wean myself from a job, because I NEED to be a mom...I LOVE it too much; I do want to raise confident, responsible kids.

I am starting to read a book entitled, "The Entitlement Trap: How to Rescue Your Children". I'll let you know if I find any other pearls of wisdom!!

The Polar Express!!

2011-11-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago, we drove to Flagstaff and went on the Polar Express to the North Pole! It was freezing, but the kids had a blast! We then, went and spent the night at my Aunt Sherri's house! We had a great weekend!

Macie was SO excited!! She had the biggest smile the whole time!

Ammy & her grandkids

Mace & Lincoln looking for the North Pole

This was right after they asked the question, "Who is on Santa's nice list?"

Santa handed out bells to all the kids, Ty chewed on his.

I love this picture of Macie and Santa..too bad it's a little dark!

When we got back in the car, Macie said, "That was SO awesome!"

The Framed House

2011-11-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

In 6 days, our house went from a concrete slab, to a framed house! We could not believe the progress in just one week!

Archway between the great room and living room

Living Room

Stairs..Tate and Macie climbed up them and looked around upstairs with Bob. Macie got a little too close to the open window for my liking. My children will not be going upstairs again until windows and walls are installed:)

The back of the house!

Tate in November

2011-11-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Today at recess Tate said one of the younger girls Elsie asked another boy, Owen, if she could play football with him. Tate heard him tell Elsie "no" so Tate went up to her and said she could play freeze tag with him and Hayden instead. I told him I was so proud of him. He said, "Mommy was I kind of like the Good Samaritan?" I told him he was. He said it made him feel happy inside to be nice to Elsie.

Tate spells to communicate. For example, "M-O-M C-A-N- I- P-L-A-Y M-A-R-I-O?" It cracks me up that he spells everything.

Tate said, "I know why daddy doesn't care if we get hurt and says 'you're okay', its because he is not a nurse like you."

Today Macie had left her Trick or Treat bag with the blinking lights ON. When she found it she was so sad because she was afraid that it would not work for very long tonight when we go to trick or treat. Tate quickly jumped up and said "Macie I don't want you sad, you can have my bag."

Heather was babysitting my kids and all 5 kids were being a little difficult all at once. Heather had said, "You guys are driving me nuts." At lunch time, it was Tate's turn to pray, he said, "Please bless that Macie and Hallie won't drive Heather Bell nuts!"

Bob & Tate were setting up the Nativity tonight. Bob asked Tate if he thought baby Jesus should be on the left or on the right side of the table, so it could look like the wise man were traveling to see Him. Tate responded with, "Dad! Baby Jesus should be in the middle!" So true Tate!

The other day we were talking about TT being on his mission. Tate said, "Why can't he come home yet?!" I explained that he still has about a year and a half to go, because he hasn't found all the people he needs to teach yet. Tate responded with, "Well then, I'm going to be a missionary too just like TT." Then he said, "Do you know what I'm going to do mom?" I said, "What?" He said, "I am going to sing the 'I want to be a missionary now" song every time I go somewhere!" He has kept his word...Last week he sang the song for Miss Jessica at preschool and yesterday he sang it in front of 20 of us at Thanksgiving. He doesn't act nervous at all...just belts it out. I know TT would be so proud of him, if he could see him trying so hard to be a missionary! We are thankful for TT and the good example he is to all of us to be a missionary now!

Tate, the Brave Cousin

2011-11-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago at Ammy's, the kids were playing in the backyard. Next thing we know, Lincoln came running toward the house crying and screaming. We look and Tate and Kinsley were coming toward the house crying too. Apparently, Kinsley had climbed under the fence and was heading towards the cow. Tate was so scared because he thought the cow was going to eat her. So he told Lincoln to run for help. In the meantime, he went and grabbed Kinsley and pulled her back under the fence and "saved her". Tate was crying because he had been so scared and thought she was going to get eaten by the cow. He said, "I wasn't very brave because I was scared." Bob & I reassured him that he WAS brave because even though he was scared, he didn't just stand there, he went and rescued her. It was so sweet to see him so concerned about his cousin!!

TGFM (Thank Goodness For Mondays)

2011-11-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have minutes/hours/days where you feel like a sign is posted on your head that says "Insult me or be rude to me. Don't worry I can take it." Kinda felt like I was wearing this sign ALL week. Not to mention 2 of my 3 kids were sick ALL week. Also, some of my projects I had been working so diligently on, just didn't turn out as planned. I could really continue listing all of the crappy things that have happened this week. As I was venting to my husband about this list of things that are going WRONG in my life, he stopped me and reminded me of the list of things that are going RIGHT in my life. As much as I don't want to admit he was right, he WAS. Tomorrow is Monday, a chance to start over. Wish me luck!

Monthly Migraine Day

2011-11-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

Once a month, I wake up with a Migraine. It sometimes falls on a day I have to work, sometimes I'm lucky and it falls on a day Bob is home, most times it falls on a day that I'm home alone with the kids...and it makes for a very long, miserable day....for all of us.

Today was monthly migraine day. Unfortunately, my migraine chose a bad day. It's my anniversary AND I had a really cute gift idea to make for Bob, AND I promised to take the kids to the park today AND we were going to make a Thanksgiving craft .

Tate & Macie were so cute trying to take care of me. Macie somehow scaled the baby gate, got downstairs, got me a yogurt and then scaled the baby gate again with the yogurt and brought it to me. I hadn't asked for it, she just thought it would make me feel better. She said "This is hard wook (work) taking care of mommy and it's NOT wooking (working)!!" Tate said, "Mommy its your anniversary and you have a headache, this is NOT good."

As I lay on Tate's bed moaning while Ty slept and Macie and Tate played like little cherubs quietly with toys in Tate's room, I started thinking....what am I going to do?...Especially when Ty wakes up. At one point, Tate said, "Let's go to Heather's and tell her we need her to play with us since you can't mommy!" I felt so bad. They were being so sweet, but I could tell it was going to be a long day, and their sweetness would turn into frustration soon if I wasn't able to lift my head off my pillow!

Then the idea hit me. Say a prayer. The reason I hadn't thought of this before was...well, really, does God really care if I get to enjoy my anniversary or get to keep my promises to my kids? But then I thought,maybe He does. Tate prays for everything....for owies to feel better, to find his missing lego piece, to help him not have bad dreams, etc.( I talked about this here.) You name it, the kid prays for it, and it ALWAYS works for him. So following his good example, I decided to say a quick prayer. I decided to have faith that maybe God DOES care about the little things.

No sooner had I finished praying, I sat up on the side of Tate's bed and my headache was better! No dizziness, no nausea, no light sensitivity, nothing! It worked right away. I'm thankful for the example of my boy who reminds me to pray for the little things. I'm tellin' you, it worked! Boy am I grateful! Now, on with the rest of my day!

House Progress

2011-11-13T19:02:00.001-08:00

When we first bought our house, the real estate agent asked Bob what he did for a living. He told him he was a Construction Attorney...they talked for awhile and Bob mentioned that he had been a project engineer for Kitchell and a plumber for a few years prior to that. So not only will Bob know if they did something wrong when they are building our house, but he can sue them if they did. I'm TOTALLY kidding in that Bob would not sue them obviously, but that must be intimidating to build a house for this guy!!

October 15th they broke ground. I'll spare you the picture of the dirt lot. The next step was to dig trenches and put in the underground plumbing.

Here is an example of the underground plumbing...of course Bob would want a picture of the plumbing...and of course he walked around to inspect it.

Once the plumbing was all done, they put up these post tension cables... Now we are ready for the concrete to be poured.

The concrete. We just saw it yesterday!! It feels like we are making some progress finally:)

Bob knows what post tensioned slab means...I do not. Nor do I really care..haha. I just thought their hands looked cute pointing to these words.

These two are just as excited as we are to see their house being built!

This is the next step...framing the house...Here is the wood ready to go!

Hopefully by next weekend some of the house will be framed....Stay TUNED!

Halloween!

2011-11-10T12:53:00.000-08:00

Ty found the Halloween Candy...do you see it all over his face?!?

Linc & Tate trick or treating

Amz & her pirate grandkids

Grandma and her pirate grandkids!

The Pirate Family

Just a Day; Just an Ordinary Day

2011-11-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I gave myself a timeout and went to "Timeout for Women" with my mom and sister and we even met my grandma there! It was so wonderful to spend a whole weekend with 3 of my favorite ladies! I thoroughly enjoyed all of the speakers. They spoke right to my heart and truly put things back into perspective. With 3 young kids it's easy to feel like all I do is my to do list. I do try to "pencil" in moments that matter with my kids. But this was a great reminder of not taking things for granted and enjoying the moments, no matter what those moments may be.

Today I was welcomed home to Macie having the stomach flu. I literally ran her to the bathroom at least 15-18 times today. She was in a very lovely whiney mood because she felt miserable, and I can't say I blame her. Ty welcomed me home by being extra irritable, crying and whining at everything and everyone. I took him to the doctor and found out he had a "horrific" ear infection and currently has 4 molars trying to pop through too. Oh joy! Amid all the whininess and sickness, I managed to clean the house and make dinner, play a board game with Tate, sit and hold Macie during her favorite show (because really that's all kids want when they are sick), kiss Ty a million times because I felt so bad he had suffered through an ear infection this long. Oh ya, a couple of times Tate and I turned up the music and danced. It felt good. It felt good to have a "typical" day and to see it with a new perspective. Even though it was just ordinary. I'm grateful for the ordinary days.

Miss Macie

2011-11-07T19:11:00.001-08:00

The past few weeks, Tate and Macie have played GREAT together. They both are at ages they can use their imaginations. So they play literally for hours!! It's so great that Mace is a fun friend for her brother!

When I got home this weekend from being at Timeout for Women, Macie was so excited when I went in her room to kiss her before she fell asleep. She said , "Wait!" Then she climbed up on her bed and looked out the window to make sure my car was there. Once she saw it she agreed to hug me. I guess seeing my car in the driveway confirmed to her I was home to stay!

I feel like I am a teenager when I leave the house at night. If Macie hears that gate open or close or my car unlock or sees my headlights in her room, she stands up on her bed and looks out the window to see where I am going. Bob says she then proceeds to cry. She is in a phase where she is pretty attached to me. I try to sneak out the best I can to not upset her. But while I'm being sneaky, I feel like a teenager sneaking behind their parents backs.

Macie is a good runner. She is fast and she is competitive so she runs her heart out. Tate, on the other hand, is a lazy runner. He is faster than Macie but kind of just runs next to her or even a little behind her for awhile and then speeds up at the last minute to win. Tonight at the park, he did that a few times, but when he sped up, she still beat him because he waited too long. I was so proud of her!

Ty is ONE!!

2011-10-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

For Ty's birthday party we had donuts, muffins and fruit at the park. It was a beautiful morning and the kids had a blast! Here is a random collection of pictures I snapped at his party!

Ty's One Year stats are 23 pounds 10 oz (60% for weight). For height, he is 31.5 inches (93%). His weight is almost identical to Tate at one year, but he is an inch taller. Ty's vocabulary has really grown the last few weeks. He can say ball, dada, mama, uh oh, go, cracker (cacka), hello (hewo), whatsthat (whatsit). He is starting to understand a lot. Like he holds the phone to his ear and says "hewo". If I tell him to give one of his stuffed animals a kiss, he'll lean forward, open his mouth and touch his mouth to the animal. He can clap, give high fives and point to things now. I f I say, "clean up the shoes" and then put one shoe in the basket, he'll pick up the others and put them in the basket.

He sleeps at least one long nap a day, sometimes 2 short naps. He sleeps from about 630 am to 630 pm, so he's on the same schedule as his brother and sister which is nice. He is super fast and crawling and climbing but still isn't real interested in walking. He cruises furniture occasionally, but still prefers crawling. When I try to make him walk he pulls his legs up in the air rather than putting his weight on them to walk.

The first 11.5 months of this baby's life, he has been the most mellow child I'd ever seen. Well, he is definitely making up for that now. He is turning into a super picky eater. If we try to give him food, he swats it away...he will consistenly eat bananas and eggs. The rest is hit or miss. I'm not worried about him losing weight, but I do worry that he is getting enough nutrients now that we are weaning him from the bottle. I know that he is teething so we are hoping he is just refusing most foods right now just because it hurts. We'll see. He has 8 teeth; 4 on top; 4 on bottom.

He has started to get a little more ornery lately I think because we have to tell him "no" so much and it makes him mad. He wants to keep up with his sister and brother so bad but because he is still crawling he can't really play very easily outside with them or at parks on the slides, etc. He gets so mad when I won't let him go with them. Every time they come inside and then go back out he cries and cries. I tell him as soon as he walks, I'm happy to let him run around with them. He doesn't seem to understand:)

He doesn't like to get dressed or get his diaper changed, it's like wrestling an alligator to get him to do either one....a very strong alligator I might add.

He likes to say "OOOHHH" when he sees something that is interesting to him or that he likes.

He is a daddy's boy. He likes me just fine if Bob is gone, but if Bob is home he follows him around saying "dada, dada". He loves playing with Bob and rough housing with the boys. He loves to be teased. Like if Bob takes a toy from him and then gives it back, he thinks it's so funny! He is so different from Macie when she was a baby. She HATED being teased and still does. And she was definitely a mommy's girl, and still is.

He gets into EVERYTHING: Cupboards, bookshelves, movies, toilets, computer, cords, ETC! The other day one of the kids had left the bathroom door open and he had crawled in and dipped his graham cracker in the toilet and was eating it. EWW!!! I was so grossed out.

Him and Mace bathe every night together and Tate showers himself, since he is getting so big. Ty loves splashing in the bathtub!

Although our angel baby is getting a little more feisty, we all adore him!

Fun with Grandma & Papa

2011-10-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last night we all went to Vertuccio Farms in Mesa. It was a fun place and the weather was nice and the kids had a blast! Here is a pic of some of the gang!!

Me and Macie riding an inflatable pony.

Papa and Tate

Riding the train...look at my hand placement on the steering wheel, I'm such a nerd:)

The kids jumping on a fun jumpy thing.

We then went through the 3 mile corn maze. We made it all the way to the end and back. Bob, Nick & my dad took turns carrying the exhausted children. The kids were so excited we made it the whole way. Grandma helped the kids mark their papers at the check points.

Tate led our whole group most of the way.

Macie getting a break from walking

The gang in the corn maze....minus me and Nick. I was taking the picture; not sure where Nick was. By the end, we were all totally covered in dust...I actually looked tan for once in my life:)

After 2 hours at the Farm, my parents took us all to Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had a blast there too! Thank you mom and dad for such a fun day!

This is all I've got.

2011-10-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been a major slacker in the picture taking department lately. It's not that we haven't done fun things I just haven't brought the camera along. I snapped this picture of my favorite model today just so I'd have something to post. Sorry, I'll try to do better!

Tate's artwork and imagination....

2011-10-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Tate is definitely in a pirate phase right now...he says things like "ahoy matey" and "you scully wag"...he also LOVES to draw treasure maps and then has me and bob follow the maps around the house. He always has a "treasure" waiting for us at the place where X marks the spot. The treasure has varied between raisins and wheat thins. (sorry the picture is sideways)

At the science museum they have a display that talks about hot water and cold water and sewage and where is runs to in a house. Tate has only seen this display maybe twice and yesterday he drew this picture from memory. The blue is obviously cold water, red is hot water and green is sewage. He also explained to me that he pretended like the hot water pipes broke and shot into the sky his name. Notice there is a sink and toilet in this house he drew.

During conference today, Tate decided he wanted to make something for papa (my dad). So he spent a good 40 minutes in on the kitchen table working on something. Once he was finished he brought these 2 pictures into me and said, "Mom, even though I know how to write can you write down the story for papa since you write faster!" I agreed. So I wrote as fast as I could to keep up with him so it would be worded the exact same way he said it. In this first picture when he says "seven oh oh" he is referring to 7:00. If he stays up later than that we usually make him take a nap that's why he said that. I thought it was such a cute, creative idea to give papa a glowing shirt so he wouldn't be scared!

Notice how he signed his name on both pages and added a heart. Papa loved it and put it right next to his keys so he wouldn't forget to take it to work tomorrow.

Pray Always

2011-09-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tate prays like 10 times a day. If anyone gets hurt or is sad, he either stops what he is doing and says a prayer in his head or goes in the other room to pray.

The other day, I dropped the kids off at preschool and then went to the dentist. When I picked them up, Tate said, "Mommy, did you cry at the dentist?" I told him I didn't and he said, "That's because I prayed for you that you wouldn't cry."

When he prays at night in family prayers he'll pray for everybody but himself. When I ask him why he doesn't pray for himself he says "because I like to pray for other people." He also says in his prayers, "Please bless all the people, even people I haven't met yet."

The other night we were sitting at the dinner table and Macie had bumped her head on the table and was crying. Tate climbed underneath the table, folded his arms and was praying underneath the table for his sister.

He constantly is consulting with the Lord throughout his day. What a great example to me. I am grateful for this boy of mine.

10 months old

2011-09-07T13:25:00.001-07:00

With 2 older kids to keep up with, I haven't been as diligent as I should be at recording what Ty has been up to. At 9 months old (July 23rd) Ty weighed 21 lbs 9.25 oz (60%) and was 30 & 1/4 inches tall (95%). This kids is big! Everyone who sees him thinks he should be walking already! He reminds me of a puppy, with his big hands and feet. Currently, at 10 months old, he drinks three 8 oz bottles a day and then eats baby food, our food, whatever food he can get in his mouth. If we are in the kitchen at all, he is moaning and/or whining wanting a bite of something. He definitely doesn't like to be left out if someone is eating. I LOVE when babies get close to a year old because you can start seeing their personalities develop. Ty is super mellow, he NEVER cries unless hungry, tired or hurt and even that is rare. He is very patient. He recently has been stacking blocks on each other and if he can't get them quite right, he doesn't cry or whine, he just quietly keeps trying until he gets it right. It impresses me so much because I distinctly remember Tate & Macie at this same age frustrated very easily when they couldn't quite do something. He is pretty smart in that he can stack up to 3 blocks on each other. The tricky thing about these particular blocks is they have to have the circle thing pointing up or they won't fit. He has figured this out and stacks them the right way every time. Ty LOVES to jabber...he can mimic almost ANY sound we can make. He loves to wave "bye" and makes sounds that sound like the word bye when he is waving. If he sees someone he knows or wants you to hold him he points at you, it's so cute. He is getting more shy and especially in big groups where he doesn't know many people he clings to Bob or I and lays his head down on our shoulder if anyone he doesn't know tries to talk to him. Ty loves to be teased, tickled, etc. Bob is so good at getting him belly laughing when he is teasing or tickling him. Bob is in heaven because Macie hated being tickled and teased and STILL does...so he is happy Ty likes it! If Tate & Bob are wrestling Ty crawls right over and tries to get in the middle of it. Ty is sleeping about 12 hours at night and still taking 2 naps. He is a great sleeper, which probably is why he is such a happy, content baby! Ty and Tate are such good buddies. The other day Tate fell and hit his mouth and was crying really hard. Ty's lip started quivering and then after a few seconds he was crying. He did not like that his big brother was crying! Ty is REALLY good at playing for hours and hours. If we just let him go free he goes from movies (taking them out of my cupboard), to toys, to balls, back to movies. He will play for hours and hours and not get grumpy as long as we aren't restricting what he can play with. Ty's hair is super curly, esp. when wet. Bob really doesn't like boys to have long hair, but I think it's way too cute to cut...so our deal is, he can keep it curly and cute until he is 2 years old and then we'll cut it. I have a little over one more year to enjoy the curls!!:) Ty is so much fun with such a sweet personality. WE love, love, love this curly haired, blue eyed boy!

AZ Science Center!

2011-09-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

Bob has been home with us for 8 weeks...Yes, we are spoiled and Yes, we are going to go through MAJOR withdrawals when he has to work again. Some of the benefits of having him home include getting to go do FUN stuff and it’s easier on me because he is there to help. One day, we decided to venture out to the AZ Science Center. We had never been before, but figured we’d check it out. It was $60 for one day for the 5 of us and a year membership was only $90, so yes, we got the year membership. Which is awesome because we can go as much as want. The kids love it and so do Bob and I. A week after we went for the first time, we invited Heather and her kids to come with us. Again, it was SO nice to have Bob there to help us with all the kids.

The girls trying to work through the maze of ropes.

Like father, like son

Bed of Nails...I couldn't believe Tate & Macie were brave enough to do it.

This picture is my absolute FAVORITE. Anytime you get kids laughing THAT hard because they are having THAT much fun...it's PRICELESS. Bob happened to snap this candid picture. I love it.

The 3 of them thought they were SO cool that we let them walk through the maze all by themselves (of course Tate being the fearless leader).

Making clouds...

Tate, master of the maze.

Have I mentioned I adore my sister? What will I do when I don't live down the sidewalk from her??!? P.S. I'm not the only one who adores her...can you tell Tate does too? She has babysat him since he was born and he talks about her all the time and wants to be near her any chance he can get.

I love my diamondbacks

2011-08-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

The Dbacks were having an awesome deal on ticket prices so we decided to take the kids to the game...it was Macie & Ty's first game! Some of Bob's family came with us and it was super fun to have them there...it was Lincoln & Kinsley's first game too! We started out 3 rows up on the 3rd level, but it was too squishy with all of those little kids, so we moved up to about halfway up the 3rd section and it was wonderful...it was cooler up there and the kids had more space!

Bob & I made this sign for Macie...she didn't get on TV like we were hoping but she had people coming up to her to stop her & see what her sign said. Even the always serious security guards would smile when they saw her coming! (Daron Sutton & Mark Grace are the dbacks announcers, FYI)

The Gang

Ammy bought Tate this snake & he loves it!

I was so impressed that Tate just sat, eating his popcorn watching the game, asking Bob questions about the game, etc. He said, at one point, "Dad, I want to practice baseball tomorrow!" It was only his 2nd game and he acted like a pro fan!

Ty sat just taking in everything!

Love this picture!

The Simple Life

2011-08-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

The whole idea for the mountain getaway stemmed from the thought that Bob & I wanted to take our kids camping. We both agree its so important for kids to get outdoors and just explore and use their imaginations. My main hesitation though was camping with a baby (no sound machine, pac n play, etc.) I found this great deal on a 3 night stay in Greer and decided that was as close to camping as we were going to get with 3 little kids.

I told my kids there were 3 rules while we were there: #1 You only have to come inside to sleep #2 You have to get dirty, no staying clean and #3 No TV, DS, WII, Ipod, computers....just dirt and bugs!

They were so excited about these rules (mainly rule #1 & 2) that they could hardly wait until we left. Macie called it the mountain house...we finally taught her it was really a cabin. Then she referred to it as the "cavin" the rest of the time. Now if you ask her about it she says "CaBin" to emphasize she knows the right word.

Tate & Macie played outside for 1 and a half days straight (other than sleeping). They LOVED playing the in creek which was freezing cold but they didn't care. Their most favorite game was to have one of them drop army men at the top of the creek and then the other one was at the "end" of the creek by the bridge standing there waiting to catch the army men as they floated by. They probably spent 3 or 4 hours playing this game!! They also loved exploring over the bridges and in the grass, picking flowers, finding the "perfect" walking stick, hiding and looking for gold dablunes (the idea came from a Disney show)etc. It did my heart good to get them out of the city and let them be kids!

At night, once the kids were in bed we wanted to keep the TV off too, to really enjoy the "camping" experience. So Bob & I played scrabble and monopoly....2 games he will never play with me back home, I LOVED every minute of it!

We had one incident where Macie slipped and fell on her behind into the water...both her flip flops flew off and started flowing down the creek...we were able to find one but not the other. I had brought her tennis shoes but she hated wearing socks so she wore Tate's 2nd pair of crocks that were like 3 sizes too big, most of the time.

One afternoon, Tate and I were doing a puzzle on the front porch while the other 3 slept...we turned around and saw a deer walking right by the stream drinking the water...we ended up seeing this deer 3 or 4 different times. We also saw 3 or 4 bald eagles fly down from very tall trees to the pond and pick up fish in their talons and then fly away. It was so cool!!! If you are familiar with the Tim McGraw song, Live like you were Dying, there is a part that says "Watched an eagle while it was flying", I see now why that would be on a person's bucket list. There is something so majestic about watching those big beautiful birds.

Since the TV was off and we had lots of time to just talk and listen to what the kids had to say I wrote down a lot of funny quotes.

Some of Macie's hilarious quotes:

As she is standing in the rapidly running freezing cold creek water she says "Water, I am not a rock, I AM a KID!"

"Can we come back to this beautiful place sometime?"

After Macie had used her fork for enchiladas, she was trying to figure out how to use it for her watermelon. She ran into the bathroom and came back out saying "I washed it good and clean!"

Macie refers to Ty as HER baby. She gets very upset if anyone challenges the idea of Ty being hers. At one point Ty was coughing on something and she said "What is my baby choking on?" Bob teasingly said, "That's my baby!" She very defensively responded, "Mommy said we have to SHARE that baby!"

Tate really had a great time too!

He said, "The mountain house is even better than I thought...can we stay 2 more days instead of one?"

While we were there Tate hurt his finger. Macie was very worried about it. Tate said, "Macie is worried about me mom. It feels like there are tears on my face it makes me feel so happy."

Bob jokingly said "Should we name our next baby Felipe?" Tate responded "Sure if he looks like a screwdriver." (Felipe is one of handy manny's tools).

Both of them would say, after they got dirty or spilled something or made some sort of mess, "Mommy, I don't have to say sorry because we are at the mountain house, right?" It was hilarious!

Our humble abode.....Oh how I loved this cabin. It was only 600 square feet..super small!! But it was perfect..if it was any bigger the kids would have wanted to stay inside which is NOT what I wanted.

We ate most meals on the picnic tables outside

Ty with a cookie face...He loved being outside! He did scream and moan most of the way to Greer and most of the way home because his ears were plugged, but other than that he was his normal doll baby self.

Chillin' in the shade

LOVE this picture

Eating gogurts on the porch

WE LOVED sitting on this bridge watching the kids play in the water...Bob and I also took our books and read out there!

Look how close the fire got a few weeks ago...so crazy!!

Macie was not sure about the freezing creek water at first, but then she got used to it and NEVER wanted to get out! When she did get out her toes were purple!

"The Simple Life"

View from our front porch

One afternoon it rained...so we got out the umbrella.

Macie dressed up cute to go to dinner...that was the only time in the 3 days I let her wear a headband or be somewhat dressed up...It's good for her to be dirty and not prissy sometimes!

Seeing Ty in this hoody made me excited for Winter!!

I figured I needed to be in one picture!

When we first got to the cabin, it was like "Wow, we have nature to entertain us. No relatives, No TV....just each other!" It was the first time the 5 of us went on vacation alone without anyone else. It was so good for our little family and we really enjoyed each others company!! I am so grateful for this week... it gave me perspective on what REALLY matters.

Randomness...

2011-08-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

I bought Macie this cute new outfit and her aunt Brittany made her this adorable matching headband. Lucky for me, she happened to be in a mood to pose for the camera...she totally poses herself...it cracks me up!! How do girls just naturally know how to work the camera? Tate (and most boys) would be clueless:)

Ty wanted to get in on the photo shoot...this picture cracks me up because of the angle of Ty's face he looks like he has the chubbiest face ever! Also, notice that Macie is like 9 shades darker than him.

Here is a normal angle of Ty's cute face...look whose hair is getting curly!!

Gettin' their "groove" on!

2011-08-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

They both crack me up in this video...but Macie's expressions are hilarious!

He is 5!

2011-08-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today my baby turns 5. I have mixed feelings. I wish he could stay small and little and my baby forever. But I also love watching him grow, learn and progress. He is such a handsome, sweet, spiritual, smart boy....and every year that passes I just sit back in awe wondering what the future holds for this boy. Moms never like to see their kids grow older but I love the little man that he is turning into. Tate, mommy loves you so much! I hope to be more like you when I grow up...you are a great example to me and everyone who knows you. Happy Birthday.

Yes, Tate has the word "Sears" written all over his face but I couldn't wait a week until I get his 5 year old picture back. I wanted this pic with his birthday post!

Tate & Furry

Swim & Gym

2011-08-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday afternoon this summer, Me, Tate & Ty went and supported Macie and watched her to gym at 3:00 and swim at 4:00. It was good for Tate to get to sit and support his sister, since usually we are watching him do things since he is the oldest. Anyways, it was quite a long summer of Macie crying and screaming at swim lessons because she HATED floating on her back!!

After quite a few weeks she would stay still and float on her back if her teacher held on to her

Then we FINALLY got to this point where she could do it herself for 10 seconds.

After 8 long weeks she PASSED her swim class and got to ring the bell

Then she got to stand on this platform while the olympic music played and her ribbon hung around her neck

Tate, who painfully watched his sister progress this summer, was so stinkin' proud of her when she graduated! I don't know who was more relieved, me, Macie or Tate. It was so hard on him to watch her scream and kick every week. I was so glad I snuck a pic of him kissing her! Yes, they both got suckers to celebrate!!

WOOHOO!!

Few random swim pics...

Just cause he's freakin' cute...AND he deserves to be in at least one picture for supporting his sis all summer!

Macie at her gym class...look at those muscles!

Every Wed. between Gym & Swim we had a half hour to kill so I brought snacks, they played in the toy area or got to watch the movie that was playing. They had a blast!

Macie & her gym teachers

Bob's 32nd Birthday!

2011-07-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

For Bob's birthday we decided to go to Amazing Jake's...pizza, rides & fun!! Bob was laughing that we were going there for HIS bday. But with so many little kids, restaurants are kind of out of the question right now:) We all had a great time! Happy Birthday Babe!

So cute! Macie had to be right next to her birthday dad!

The kids helping Bob blow out his candles

Tate & Linc

Miss Kinsley & her fork:)

Annie & Lydia

Cameron trying to decide between cake and ice cream

Macie liked the roller coaster but was still a little nervous the first few times, she convinced quite a few of us to ride with her. When she rode with Braden, she snuggled right in next to him. It was so cute.

She then convinced Jeremy to ride with her!

Tate loving the frog hopper!

Ty loving Pizza Crust

Macie loving her ice cream cone!

Me & my birthday boy

Tate lovin' his choc. cake!

Most of "The Gang"

Soccer!

2011-07-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

Tate loves soccer! He has made SO much improvement from the beginning of the season. This is the first organized sports team he has been on. The first game he was so surprised by the kids swarming around the ball, that he stayed a few feet back at all times. Now, 6 weeks later, he is right in the middle of the play and is one of the most aggressive ones on his team. It has been so fun to watch him grow and learn that you can be aggressive and it doesn't mean your being mean. He has such a soft heart it has been good to see him out there knocking kids down. Not like shoving kids, obviously, but like going for the ball at the same time and one of them falling down. I have seen his confidence grow right before my eyes. What a great experience! Since its a million degrees outside they had their games indoors on a basketball court.

It's so hot the coach brings a water bottle to practice to spray the team!

Tate dives all over the floor when he is goalie! He loves being goalie!

Hard Kick

Right after he scored!

Look how cute & aggressive he is now!! His facial expression cracks me up!

Tate & Coach Sam

9 month comparison!!

2011-07-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

If you take a little of this cute face

and add a little of this cute face

you get THIS cute face!!

I think Ty is a perfect mix of Tate & Macie!!

Messy!!

2011-07-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

By about 7 or 8 months old most babies learn how to EAT more baby food than they spit out. Not Mr. Ty. He LOVES baby food but still has a hard time just eating it off the spoon without getting it everywhere! I'm not sure if he is a bad eater or I'm a bad feeder:) Either way, his face is cute, even with baby food all over it!!:) Maybe one of these days, we will both figure it out!! Until then, this is what he looks like after every feeding.

Life is Hard

2011-07-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Janet & I had a wonderful conversation the other night. We were talking about some hard things people we know are going through and struggles we each have been facing. My grandma wisely pointed out that life being "hard" is more the norm, not the exception. She said, looking back, there was rarely a phase in her life that wasn't hard. In other words, we should expect life to be hard and then if we have a day or week here or there when it doesn't feel as hard as usual, we will be grateful. This is a better approach than whining and complaining because life is hard and we are waiting for the point of life where its JUST easy! Hate to tell you, but that day ain't coming!

Anyways, I walked away from the conversation feeling wiser. A few days later my grandma emailed me about a RS lesson she heard where the teacher said that the best way to raise confident kids is to teach them to work hard and to do hard things. It just makes sense doesn't it!!?!? If we sugar coat life for our kids growing up, they get out into the real world as adults and are not confident, are helpless, because life IS too hard.

Ever since she told me this, I have been LOOKING for opportunities to not shelter my kids from "hard" things but instead give them the opportunity to grow and become more confident. I want them to be able to know that they can accomplish things EVEN if they are hard!

Two examples....

#1 Macie is currently signed up for swim lessons. She is awesome at holding her breath and putting her head under the water. Doesn't even phase her. However, if you make her do a back float, she FREAKS out! In this particular class, she has to learn to do a back float for 10 seconds by herself (without crying) in order to go on to the next level.

There are very few things that MY Macie is afraid of! Trust me, this girl is brave! But, she literally is TERRIFIED to float on her back. I see it in her eyes. Its this panicked look that I'm not used to seeing with Macie. The first week she screamed bloody murder; the teacher made me leave (because he thought it would help if "Mommy" wasn't there). She only screamed harder once I left. The second week she screamed and kicked and screamed but then once he got her on her back and let go she did fine because she is smart enough to know if she cries when he's not hanging onto her, she will go under. But then she cries and screams and carries on once she's done. Every week, I tell her "Macie, I know this is so hard for you! I promise you are safe. Just stay still when you are doing your back float and your face won't go under." She always responds with, "Okay mommy, I'll try my hardest!" It just about breaks my heart. After last week, I told Bob I want to just take her out of this class, its too HARD. She can learn to swim next summer.

Bob said it was up to me. After a lot of thought about the conversation my grandma and I had I decided against letting her "quit". Today she went to swim lessons and did a back float perfectly without crying!! I have no idea what happened between last week and today, but she DID it! You should have seen her face when she did it and everyone at the pool was cheering because they know how hard it has been for her. I wanted to cry (and did get a little teary) because I know what a huge accomplishment that was for that 3 year old little girl. I wanted so bad to shelter her from the pain of doing something hard. But I fought my motherly instincts to "rescue" her and she is a more confident little girl because of it. She knows she CAN do hard things now!

#2 Another example is Tate and his soccer team. Tate LOVES soccer!! He LOVES scoring goals. Who doesn't?!?! So I signed him up for the YMCA soccer season. The first few practices he LOVED it. Then came game time. It was a lot HARDER. There were like 12 little 3 and 4 year olds swarming around the ball, making it nearly impossible to get his foot on the ball let alone score a goal!

I remember at halftime of his first game he came running to me with tears in his eyes. Surprised, I said, "Tate, what's wrong?" He said, "Mommy, I haven't even scored ONE goal yet!!" I told him to not worry about scoring but try to just get to the ball and kick it hard and one of these times he would get to score!

Four games passed and he still hadn't scored a goal. Every week, he has been getting better and better and more aggressive. He has "nearly" scored 5 or 6 goals, where they bounced off the pole instead of going in. I could tell he was getting discouraged but I told him to just keep trying. With only a few games left I was starting to worry he might never score a goal this season. But last Saturday, he kicked the ball so hard, passed the other team, right into the goal. I thought I was going to pass out I was cheering so loud. The look on his face was priceless...it was almost one of unbelief. Its been 5 days since he scored that goal, but he sill says to me "Mommy, remember when I scored that goal last week?" I tell him that of course I do remember and I'm so proud of him for working hard at games and practice until he finally was able to score!

My long drawn out point is this...I think it is human nature to want to quit or cry when things get hard. I know that is my instinct. But, if we give our children experiences when they are young to go outside their comfort zone and do things that are "hard" we are setting them up to be more successful, confident adults. That's my hope anyways:)

Momma's Boys

2011-07-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

My boys bring so much joy into my life. They are both so mellow and calm and have the most adorable smiles and I just love them to death. Fortunately, they just adore each other too! Tate will play with Ty for hours...just the two of them! He LOVES making Ty laugh and loves to "babysit" Ty to help me out. Today, I was SO desperately wanting a nap that I told Tate I would take a nap right on the couch but he needed to follow Ty around (since he gets into EVERYTHING now) and make sure he didn't put anything small into his mouth. I bribed Tate with a dollar, which he thought was awesome since I don't pay him to do anything:) Anyways, I slept for about 20 minutes which was just what I needed.

I hope Tate & Ty will always be momma's boys cause this momma sure loves them!

June...

2011-06-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

We took this pic of Taylor & Eryn and the kids before he left for his mission! All of these kids just adore him..Its weird to think they will be 2 years older when he gets home!

The 3 kids getting ready to dig into some ice cream!

Yum! Grandma has the best ice cream:)

Aunt Erin & Eli came to visit for a few days at my mom's house. Heather & I pretty much lived their too so we could spend as much time with them! Grandma & Grandma came and stayed at my parent's house too! It was a super fun couple of day! We hope they all come back to visit soon!

Tate with Grandma & Grandpa

Erin reading the kids some books she brought.

Ty & Eli (Yes Ty is HUGE compared to him)

Eli 3 months, Ty 8 months, Zack 1 year
All such cute boys! Poor Eli looks scared to death! The way those 2 were attacking him, I don't blame him!

Build A Bear

2011-06-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

My mom and dad took Macie to Build-A-Bear for her birthday present. She LOVED it! They came and picked her up, she was so excited. Then they went and made the bear. They said she knew exactly which bear she wanted and never changed her mind from the hot pink one. She also knew exactly which clothes she wanted the bear to wear. With a little help from my mom they decided on the name "princess" for the bear! Then my parents let her play at the mall play place and then they pretzels and cheese for dinner (Macie's favorite!). During dinner, they were watching some crazy kids on the toys. My mom said, "Our grandkids are so......" Macie filled in the blank by saying "wild!". My mom and dad laughed because my mom was trying to say her grandkids were so "calm" compared to most kids but Macie filled in the sentence with "wild" before my mom had a chance to finish. Too funny!! Macie loved her time alone with grandma & papa!

The HAPPIEST Place on Earth

2011-06-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Disneyland…Probably as much or more than my kids. It IS the happiest place on earth. We went to Disneyland 2 days while we were at Newport Beach. The first day was Bob, Taylor, Me & my 2 kids. The second day there were about 19 of us that went. Both days were super fun!

This was Macie’s first year that she really LOVED Disneyland. Our first ride we took the kids on was the Haunted House. I was a little nervous that they might be scared. Tate rode with me and Macie rode with Bob. When it got to the end where you look in the mirror and the ghost is sitting right in between you, Tate buried his head in my lap. Bob told me Macie looked at the ghost and said, “You’re naughty ghost!” Yep, she wasn’t scared at all! That ended up being her favorite ride.

It was hilarious! Every time something scared Macie she said it was naughty. At California Adventure, there is a teacup like ride only it has ladybug faces on the front. When we were walking up to the ride, Macie was looking at the ladybug faces. All of the lady bugs had kind of a grumpy look to them. Macie said, “I don’t want to ride on these, they look naughty.” I assured her we would find one that wasn’t naughty to ride on. When it was our turn to ride, I went to get in one of the lady bugs. Macie proceeded to walk past me to the front of the lady bug. When I asked her what she was doing she said, “I needed to check and see it this ladybug was naughty…and it is!” I told her once we start moving the ladybug faces get happier She was cracking me up!

When we left Disneyland on Day One Macie said, “Mommy the ghosts (on Haunted Mansion), the ladybugs, the alligators (from Jungle Cruise) and the bees (from the Bug’s Life 3D show) were NAUGHTY." She had been keeping a running total I guess of all the naughty things she had seen!

Tate LOVED Disneyland as well. This was his first year that he was tall enough to go on pretty much all of the rides. Bob & Taylor made sure he went on EVERY ride he was tall enough for including HOLLYWOOD TOWER OF TERROR, which I haven’t even rode because I’m too scared. I told them they were not taking my son on that ride but because there was 2 of them and one of me, they won! Plus, he said he wanted to go. He didn’t cry on the ride, but buried his head in Bob’s lap the whole time. When they got off the ride Bob said, “Tate do you want to go do it again?” His response was, “Not today, maybe tomorrow!”

Tate’s favorite rides were Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn and Soaring Over California. He rode Soaring Over California 4 times! He always says he wishes he could fly, so it was THE PERFECT ride for him! He shrieked for joy every time he rode it! So did I, I love that ride The second time we got on it, he said, “When that thing comes flying at us, I’m going to cover my ears.” I didn’t even know what he was talking about. But sure enough, when the man hits the golf ball “right at you” it makes a loud sound and Tate covered his ears. It was funny to me that he remembered that.

The second night we were there we stayed and watched the World of Colors Show at California Adventure. It was awesome! We were all in awe!! On the shuttle back to the parking lot, I asked Tate if he LOVED the show? Fully expecting him to say yes, I was surprised when he said, “I didn’t like it because fire and water can’t be together at the same time.” There was a part in the show where fire shoots out of the lake and is coexisting with the water shooting up. He just couldn’t wrap his little brain around how this was possible. After we talked about it for awhile, he said, “Maybe there are little sidewalks in the water that we can’t see and the fire shoots up from that.” Once I told him that was probably the case, he seemed to have loved the show!

Ty was a DREAM baby. He only went one out of the two days. But we were able to take him on most rides. His eyes were wide open just taking everything in and NEVER made a peep. We were very lucky!

Someone told me once, “Why do you take your kids to Disneyland before they are 7 years old? They won’t even remember it when they are older!” My response to them is “THEY might not remember it when they are older, but I will ALWAYS remember their cute little faces so full of excitement and wonder. The funny things they did and said at Disneyland this trip, I will always remember.”

Breakfast with the Characters! Totally Awesome & Totally worth the money!!

The character came right up to our table!

Macie having attitude because she wanted to be the only one hanging onto the wheel

The girls

Macie wore her cute Minnie necklace from Brittany! She loves Minnie!

Not sure why her hand is over her heart:)

The GANG! SO FUN!

Vacation!!

2011-06-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

We spent a week at Newport Beach in a beach house one block away from the beach. It was so much fun!! The kids had a great time! Ty was an angel. I apologize he is not in any of these pictures but I already posted his beach pictures on my previous post. I took over 200 pictures while we were on vacation so I thought I would just give you a "sample" of how fun our beach trip was. We also went to Disneyland...I will post those pics in a few days!

Taylor came & spent a few days with us...Macie & him were burying their feet!

Posing

Bob & I buried Tate.. he thought it was so funny that we made him a little body.

Kinsley

Tate, Lincoln & Bob flying a kite

Lincoln & Macie

Delanie & the kids

We had Macie's birthday party while we were at the beach with Bob's family. All she said she wanted was a cupcake at the beach. We ended up having a cupcake at the beach house which she said was good enough:) She wanted pink frosting, white cake & sprinkles. Her and Tate helped me make the cupcakes. It was a fun little party and super fun that we got to celebrate her birthday while we were on vacation!!:)

Macie's Birthday Party!! Notice all the pink decorations.

Macie is THREE!!!

2011-05-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Macie had 2 birthday parties this year! The first one was at Newport Beach in our beach house with Bob's family and the second party was at our swimming pool with my family today. Such a lucky little girl to have 2 parties! I will post pictures of her first birthday party when I post all of my beach pictures!

Macie LOVES to be in the swimming pool. We have one here at our complex and she asks to go in it everyday so I figured why not have a swim party!

Cody, Hallie, Macie & Tate

Ready to Swim!

The lifeguards on duty

Backup lifeguards...

Macie looks like she has a "great idea".

The Macie Birthday Train!

Even Grandpa got in on the swimming fun!

Papa Mark!

I made Macie cupcakes at the beach, so I was just going to buy her cupcakes for this party. My sweet Grandma Janet would not stand for her to have a store bought dessert for her birthday so she made her this adorable CAKE!!

Macie LOVED her cake!!

Tate & Zacky

Heather Bell & Mace

Cute Boys!!

Katie Sue was SUCH a good sport to swim & play with the kids. She constantly had kids hanging on her!

Happy Birthday sweet Macie! We love you!

Ty is 7 months old!!

2011-05-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

The month of May has totally been a blur. Between Bob graduating & a week vacation to California, it has flown by! Since I didn't post anything about Ty when he turned 6 months, I thought I better post something about him at 7 months! Today he is officially 7 months old! Most of May he has been teething like crazy. His first 2 teeth poked through at the same time right when he turned 6 months old (so about a month ago). He says words like "dadadada" & "babababa" but so far seems to just be jabbering without really knowing what any words mean. He eats 6 oz every 3 to 4 hours and sleeps an average of 9 hours at night. Recently, we went to the beach and he did great! He tried to eat the sand and face planted in it a few times when he lost his balance sitting up. WE also took him to Disneyland 2 days where he was a perfect angel the whole time. He didn't cry once on any rides. He was just wide eyed looking at everything. He slept whenever he needed to in his stroller. We couldn't have asked for a better baby!!

Ty is so smiley. He can't help but smile when people talk to him. He also has the most kissable, chubby cheeks. He giggles when we kiss him under his neck! Just the past few days he has started officially army crawling to get around. Today he has been everywhere. I found him in the bathroom, under the table in my kitchen and chewing on an electrical cord in my family room. The kids think it is great fun to crawl after him to see what he will get into next. I, on the other hand, do not want to baby proof my house again!! It feels like I just did this with Macie!

Ty is very social!! He loves having Tate & Macie in his face talking to him..even if they are right in his face touching him & talking to him! He doesn't seem to mind. In fact, if for some reason he is left alone in a room he starts crying wanting someone to come back to talk to him!

At his 6 month appointment Ty weight 19 lbs 14 oz (90% for weight) and was 29.5 inches tall (100% for height). So, yes he is a big boy! He wears 18 month shirts and 12 month shorts. Tate has always been tall for his age and Ty is a good inch taller than Tate was at 6 months and more than a pound heavier.

We give Ty rice cereal every night but have been too busy to really focus on baby food. So today, I figured the poor chubby baby needs some food!! So I took the 3 kids to Target and we bought him 40 jars of baby food, 2 sippies with handles, puffs, and biter biscuits. Bob accused me of trying to make our baby grow up. I told him I think we've waited long enough to feed him some food!! We LOVE our Ty!! The name Ty means "God of Peace", so far he has definitely lived up to that name!! We'll see if it continues now that he is mobile!

Ty loved the beach so much he gave it a thumbs up!

Look at that big boy!! He is only 7 months old and is obviously outgrowing his bath tub!!

I told you he is teething on everything! I meant everything!! Here he is chewing on a beach chair!

This boy just melts my heart!!:)

Graduation Party!!!

2011-05-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

We decided to have Bob's graduation party at a really cool place called "Noah's". We had great food, great company and had a great time!

These are bob's good friends from high school & their wives...we have kept in touch over the years & LOVE hanging out with them, they are so fun!!! Sometimes we ditch the boys & just us girls hang out!

Bob and his "moms" who have both been such a great support to us throughout law school!
(and my dad has too, of course)!

The awesome, supportive "Tarwater" gang!

Part of the "Fast" Gang...minus Heather, Lisa & Janet...where did you guys go? lol.

The Eldorado Ward Gang! Best ward in the world!

DeAnn & Teri made everything look so nice!

My sister made the cute signs!! Thanks Heather!

Us & The Abneys! We love the Abneys!

"The Game Room"

"The Banquet Room"

Carrot Cake...Bob's Favorite!

Look at the "spread"...We had Yummy Mexican Food, some we made, some we had catered!

The dessert end of the table

Bob & I...its been a long road, to get to this point!

Big thanks to all of you who came and supported Bob! We really appreciated it and loved sharing such a special evening with our closest family and friends!

Easter Party 2

2011-05-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday, Teri had a big Easter dinner in her backyard. It was delicious food and the kids had a blast!

My niece Kinsley...she never seems to be in the picture with the bigger kids, so I snapped one of her alone!!:)

Amz & Ty: It's hard to resist kissing those precious cheeks!!

The kids patiently waiting for the adults to hide the Easter Eggs.

The kids were TOTALLY entertained by this cart...they took turns pulling it, sitting in it...this particular picture cracks me up...because it looks like the boys are fighting over Macie...when in all reality they were just fighting over the cart! If you look closely at Macie's face...she doesn't look too thrilled about being in the middle of this tug of war!!:)

Look how strong Tate is...LOL.

Macie really concentrating hard...

Tate getting a ride.

Another cute picture of Amz & Ty

All 4 "big" kids in the cart

Happy Easter Part 1

2011-04-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

We had 2 super fun Easter Party's this year. This is Easter Party #1, Friday Night with my family. Pics from Party #2 will be posted next:) I think since I missed Easter last year, I went a little crazy taking pictures this year!!

Grandma and her GIRLS!

During the blessing on the food, I opened my eyes and this is what I saw. Yes, I took a picture during the prayer. I couldn't resist. I would have loved to know what they were talking about.
This picture cracks me up...look at Macie's "teasing" face, & Hallie's "mad" face.

I feel bad because whenever we do anything fun it seems like Ty is just watching from the sidelines...I look forward to the day when he will get to join in the fun too! But for now, this kid is an ANGEL. Especially if we are outside, he does not make a peep!

Uncle Taylor & the nieces and nephews ( minus Ty who was chillin' in his stroller).

Grandma being such a good helper to find the eggs with Macie:) Uncle Taylor hid some of the eggs a little too high this year...LOL.

"Branching out"

2011-04-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers of My Blog,

I'm starting a new blog that will be journal & discussion based. You have probably noticed that some of my blog posts are more "personal" in nature. I do not keep a journal. I am a much faster "typer"and express my feelings better through typing than writing. Although some people would not feel comfortable publishing their "journal". I do not mind sharing my feelings, testimony, etc. with my closest friends and family, which is what I consider you. I feel like we can all learn and grow from each others experiences in this life. Another thing I am going to try and encourage on my "new" blog is discussions. The purpose of certain posts will be to present questions, thoughts, etc. that will hopefully generate discussion among me and my fellow bloggers. This will definitely not be a "man bashing" blog by any means; but at this time I only want female readers so women feel comfortable expressing their thoughts to other women. And it will help me generate discussion and topics if I only have female readers. This "new" blog will not have new pics of the kiddos it will only be journaling.I will update our life "events" and pics on my current blog, but keep out the more personal aspects. Anyways, if you would like to be an "invited reader and participant" of my new journaling blog, please leave your email address; I will write them down and delete them as soon as I see them and I will check frequently. If you would rather not read my journal blog, no problem!! I wanted to give all of you a choice rather than automatically inviting everyone to my new blog.
Sincerely, Lindsay

Easter Pageant

2011-04-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

This year is the first year that I really felt like Tate was old enough to "understand" the true meaning of Easter. For Family Home Evening we talked about the Crucifixion and Resurrection and showed them pictures. Both Macie & Tate seemed to understand more than I thought they would. Bob mentioned to me that he was going with the mutual to the Easter Pageant so at the last minute I decided the kids and I would go too. My parents watched Ty because I knew he wouldn't make it. Bob had to stay with the youth until the Pageant started so it was me and the kiddos at the Easter Pageant 2.5 hours early so that we got great seats and the kids would be able to see the pageant. My parents thought I was crazy to take Macie at such a young age to sit 3 hours before it started, way past her bedtime and then have her sit for the hour show...but I know my Macie and I know she is awesome! So I went with my gut and took her with Tate & I and she did GREAT! Tate's preschool teacher happened to be a few rows back so my kids played with her kids for maybe an hour while we were waiting and then the other hour and a half they colored, did puzzles, and ate our picnic dinner. It was so great to spend those hours with my kids on the temple grounds. As a mom I feel like there are certain days that go under the "Days to Remember" category. This was for sure one of them. I so enjoyed it and love those 2 kids so much!

Tate & his friend Hannah

One of the soldiers let Tate hold his sword, it was actually pretty heavy.

We had awesome seats only 10 rows back, right in the middle.

During the pageant, Tate hung on every word that was being said. He was asking all sorts of questions like "What does baptism by fire mean?" He had to look away when they were whipping Jesus. But he really loved the end when Jesus was resurrected. Both kids sat on our laps the entire time watching it (Bob was able to come sit by us once the pageant started). Macie keeps talking about when we went to the temple and saw Jesus be "wesurected". I love Easter and I love that my kids are old enough to understand the true meaning.

Father & Son Bonding

2011-04-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

Bob's professor at law school is friends with the legal counsel of the Diamondbacks. So his professor took the whole class on an "insider's tour" of Chase Field. Bob brought Tate with him. It was a 2 hour tour!

When it was over, Bob said, "Tate, did you have fun?" He said, "I had fun but my legs got bored!"

It's been a year!

2011-04-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

This time last year I was on bed rest. That was such a difficult experience for me to endure. This past week I have found myself emotional at random moments thinking about how grateful I am to be up WALKING around enjoying my kids. I keep getting teary eyed whenever Ty smiles that adorable smile at me because I feel so blessed that he is mine, that Heavenly Father performed that miracle to heal me and kept Ty safe while he was in me. Elder Orson F. Whitney said, “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. … It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”

It means even more that this one year "anniversary" occurs at Easter time. It IS and will ALWAYS be a beautiful reminder to me of God's tender mercies. I am thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ who suffered not only for my SINS but also for my imperfections, my insecurities, and I'm grateful to HIM for helping me carry the burdens that I CANNOT carry alone. I know the only reason I got through bedrest was because the Lord carried me through the experience. Looking back a year later, I still wonder, how on earth I sat on the same couch for 8 weeks without going INSANE.

Another reason why I feel so emotional & humbled lately, is the miracle of my brother experiencing a change of heart and deciding to serve a mission. One year ago on Easter Sunday, I was lonely and sad because my kids and husband were gone and I wanted so badly to be with them and not on the couch staring at the TV. I called my brother up and said "Your sister needs you to come be with her!" Being the good brother that he is, he agreed. Together we spent Easter Sunday talking about "life". I had the impression to ask him if he every thought about going on a mission. At that point in his life, it was not even being considered. We had a good conversation but nothing really came from it. Fast forward a week. I went to the doctor and they told me "Your tear is not any worse but it is also not any better. We don't know if you will EVER heal." Despite all of the worries I had at that time, I walked out of that appointment with the thought "The Lord wants Taylor to figure out what HIS will is for him." I was SO confused as to why out of all things, this was my first thought. I called Taylor and said, "We need to talk!". He came over and I proceeded to tell him what had happened. I said, "I don't know why, but these 2 things (bedrest & you figuring out your life) seem to be connected." I told him, "You need to try hard this week to find out what the Lord has in store for you and your life. Otherwise I am not staying on bedrest because I might be here forever if you NEVER take the time to get an answer." He has such a tender heart and wanted me to stay on bedrest to give his nephew a chance at life, so he agreed. To make a LONG story shorter, he proceeded to fast & pray the next week and ended up getting a definite answer that he needed to serve a mission. TWO days later, I was healed. ( I made more progress that week than I had in the previous 5!).

This past year has been such a long, hard year for my brother full of doubts and Satan working SO hard to get him to change his mind. Taylor has stayed strong. Last Thursday, my brother got his mission call to the Baltimore, Maryland mission. I know without a doubt that this is exactly where my brother is supposed to be and exactly what he is supposed to be doing with his life. The Lord knows him perfectly and knew that he has such a tender heart for his nieces and nephews that ONLY when one of them was in danger, would he put forth the effort necessary to get his answer. Taylor & Ty will always have a strong connection, they already do. A few months after Ty was born, I overheard Taylor saying to Ty as he held him, "Buddy, why is it so important that I go on a mission?" Ty just smiled back at him.

This picture was taken shortly after Ty was born...without Taylor knowing. I turned it into a bookmark and added this scripture. It now is the bookmark in his scriptures, my scriptures and my parents scriptures.

I will forever be indebted to my Heavenly Father for the miracles I have seen. I am thankful for this Easter time of year. It has such a sweeter meaning to me this year than it has in years past. I'm sure I will shed quite a few more tears of gratitude before this Easter Season is over.

Tate's First Field Trip

2011-04-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Tate's preschool class went to the zoo for a field trip. Tate had so much fun with his buddies from school. Macie & I got to tag along too. Macie tried to keep up with her brother and his friends. He was so sweet to include her.

He wasn't too cool to hold his sister's hand.
I couldn't ask for a better big brother for this little girl of mine...

Already!

2011-03-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, Ty is 5 months old. He is the most kissable, squeezable, baby I've ever seen. He is at the age now that when I kiss his cheeks he chews on my face. It cracks me up! He is chewing on everything!! Obviously teething. He is rolling everywhere. He won't stay on his back for more than a few seconds before he is on his tummy. He is "babbling" more often and louder. We've started feeding him rice cereal this past month. He is reaching for everything and trying to hold onto toys, he tries to get them to his mouth to chew on. He eats 5 six ounce bottles a day with a few ounces of rice cereal at night before bed. He still takes 3-4 naps a day. At night he sleeps from 9pm to 6:30am. Tate & Macie still adore him, especially Tate. He still wants to hold him all of the time. I know they are going to be great buddies!

Here we go......

2011-03-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

I do NOT like eating healthy. Nothing about it do I enjoy. I do not like doubling my grocery bill to buy produce. I do not like eating cottage cheese and pineapples, I had to gag it down today subtly, so my kids couldn't see my facial expressions. I do not like eating snap peas that taste like eating grass. Even fruit, I can eat some of, but get sick of it easily. Fruit does not sound like a good "snack" if you ask me. It never fills me up! So if this is so tortuous to me, why on earth am I eating like this you ask? For my family. Bob is trying to lose weight, and I want my kids to have better eating habits than I do. They already like fruits and vegetables and do way better with them than I do. But I've decided I can't give my kids cottage cheese and then go eat a bag of M&M's when they are not looking. No, I do not need to lose weight, which makes this even more annoying. Yes it is nice to have a fast metabolism and eat whatever I want and never gain weight. But in a way, its a little deceiving because it makes me think I can eat all the crap I want and not have any repercussions. I know that is not true. Even if I do not gain weight my arteries clog just as easy as anyone else's. I've decided to bite the bullet and eat the things I want my kids & husband to eat. Its day 1, I don't feel hungry, but I feel irritable. Eating healthy makes me irritable. I know I am an emotional eater...snap peas just don't do it for me. I'm hoping over the next few weeks, my body will kind of detox and the "healthy" things will seem more appealing to me. Let's hope so....

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

2011-03-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

With Tate...everything is BLACK & WHITE. On the way home tonight, our low fuel light came on. I knew it was Sunday & I knew we needed to stop for gas since we still had a 20 min. drive. I also knew this would present all sorts of moral conflicts for Mr. Tate. He was upset when I told him what we were going to have to do. He said, "I don't want to break the sabbath day!" I explained, that if we didn't stop for gas, we would run out and then we would be stuck on the side of the road and it wouldn't be safe for us. I told him Heavenly Father likes us to be safe. I said I would ONLY buy enough gas to get us home and we would get the rest of the gas tomorrow. I also told him we would pray to Heavenly Father to forgive us when we said our bedtime prayers. He seemed okay with it. So we pull into the gas station and he says, "Mommy, look at all these people that are going to have to ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness!"

Some "culture" for the kids

2011-03-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

Bob and I took the kids to the Natural Museum of History. They had never been and they loved it!! Tate has been learning about the ice age, dinosaurs, etc. so this was right up his ally!

We are standing in front of some kind of crater:)

The Woolly Mammoth was huge!!

It looks like a dino is about to eat my kids!

Panning for gold....

The boys in front of a volcano..yes, Ty was there!:)

Macie loved panning for gold!

Tate loved being an Archeologist and discovering fossils!!

Tate's foot wasn't quite as big....

It was a really fun morning at the museum!

Which of these three doesn't belong?

2011-03-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

I know I am pathetically white!! I wish I could just borrow a little of their darkness. Its not even summer yet and they are already tan! No fair!

Updates...

2011-03-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, Ty is a chubby big boy...he is wearing 9-12month clothes and is only 4.5 months old...but seriously he has the cutest face ever!! I'm so in love with this boy!

In other news...Macie recently decided to throw her pacifier away and we bought her a big girl bed!! I can't believe she is almost 3 years old! She is so stinkin' cute with THE BEST personality. One minute she is dressed up in her princess clothes walking around in high heels, the next she is out throwing a baseball with the boys. Although it gets annoying at times, she thinks she can do ANYTHING & EVERYTHING...but in reality she CAN...she is so confident and capable. I hope she will always be like that! I love my Macie!!

What is Tate up to? LOVING preschool. Loving learning, Legos, puzzles, playing baseball and playing WII. He is definitely growing up and getting smarter, but is still staying my sweet Tate!! I've decided to have him do another year of preschool instead of starting Kindergarden (since he would be the very youngest)...so I get him one more year home with me... YAY!

A glimpse into our crazy life:)

2011-03-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

The other night Bob went to put in Ty's pacifier. He had been up late studying and was super tired & I was in bed with a migraine. So half asleep, he picked up Ty but he said he felt funny...not as "top heavy" as usual. Bob looked down and Ty was hanging upside down staring up at him with big eyes. Ty had flipped upside down in his crib and Bob had picked him up by his legs. When he told me the next morning, I couldn't stop laughing. Poor Ty!

For dinner I decided to make a new delicious recipe- Cincinnati Chili over spaghetti noodles(trust me, its yummy). It takes about 1.5 hours to make. Once it was FINALLY done, Macie says, "I no like meat!" Tate says, "I don't like spaghetti" and Bob says, "Sorry babe, I ate a late lunch!" That was way too much work for just me to enjoy it!!

Macie LOVES preschool!

2011-03-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

I've noticed I haven't posted anything about Miss Macie lately. Recently, Heather, Aubrey & I decided to have preschool every Wed. morning with our 3 girls and switch off teaching. Today was my turn. It was super fun! Macie LOVES having these girls over to her house!

Notice Macie has her hand on the door knob. She's probably thinking, "Okay mom, we are ready to go outside! Enough pictures already!!"

Ty is 4 months!

2011-02-23T18:29:00.000-08:00

This little angel boy is 4 months old today. He is 16 pounds 15 ounces (90%) and 26 inches long(90%). He is a big boy. He is 4 months old, but is wearing some 9 month old clothes because he is so long! He has rolled from his back to his side (not all the way to his tummy yet). And a few times has rolled from his tummy on to his back. He is starting to reach for toys, etc and tries to get them to his mouth. He loves chewing on his hand. He has the cutest little giggle when we kiss him under his chin...it cracks me up! Ty is so mellow that honestly sometimes after I rush to get everyone in the car to go somewhere, I have to stop and think, did I grab Ty because unless he's hungry or overly tired he doesn't make a peep. Luckily, recently, he is starting to talk more and coo so when he is awake I remember he is there. I have to consciously make an effort to lay him on his play mat when he is awake so he can practice rolling and holding his head up. The problem is when he's awake, I want to hold him. Between Bob and I we don't put him down very often. He is eating about 5 1/2 oz every 3-4 hours and then sleeps about 8-9 hours at night. He loves to have people talk to him! He is all smiles. Even if I'm on the phone but looking in his direction he starts smiling like crazy at me. We love this boy! Secretly, we were planning on being done having kids after Ty. But he is so much fun, he is making us rethink that. I told Bob that Ty must have a sibling in heaven that told him to be on his best behavior so that they could come to our family:) Well, so far its working:) We love you Ty!

Legos!

2011-02-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Lately Tate loves building legos!! The lego sets that say ages 4+ he can build by himself. For Christmas, we got him some harder lego sets that say age 7+. We figured it would be fun for him & Bob to build together. The other day, Bob was at work & Tate said I want to try & build this one myself. There are about 25 pages in the instruction manual. He sat here for an hour and a half & built the whole helicopter himself. I did not help him at all! I couldn't believe it!! What a smarty pants!

The helicopter started out as lots of little pieces like these

Here are some pages from the manual

The finished project!

Valentine cookie fun!

2011-02-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

My good friend Heather Stone & I decided to have a sugar cookie frosting party with some of the kids in our ward. Heather is the primary president and the kids just adore her! She said she would make the cookies if I would host it at my house. I said "Deal!" We had three 2 year olds and three 4 year olds, we were missing Adeline & Penelope Carter but they were out of town! We decided we would let each kid frost a cookie for themselves and one for their primary and nursery teacher. Then we loaded all the kids up and took them to their teachers houses.

Heather & the kids!

Yummy!!

Tate & Stetson

Macie, Stetson & Hallie hard at work!

Tate, Mylie, Talon & Heather

Tate & Talon
Macie & Stetson watching Diego
The 4 year olds and Sis. Webb, their primary teacher.
The 2 year olds (minus Mylie)& Sis. Scott their nursery teacher

Some of the yummy cookies they made!
On the way to deliver the cookies

2011-02-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

In case your wondering where the chubby cheeks come from....look at this chubby cheeked baby....can you guess who this is?

That's what brothers are for!!

2011-02-03T16:10:00.001-08:00

Macie was trying to recruit someone to play dollhouse with her. Tate finally agreed. I was surprised. I went and peeked my head in to see if he was actually playing dolls. I found him with a squirt bottle totally soaking the dolls, the house and everything in it. When I asked him what on earth he was doing he said, "Its a rainstorm!" Now I understand why he agreed to play dolls. LOL!

Minute to Win it

2011-02-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I watched Minute to Win it. I had at least one MILLION things I needed to get accomplished. I usually am not very interested in watching this show but tonight I got sucked in to the 2 hour special & got NOTHING on my "to do" list done! Anyways,there were 5 siblings ages 10-19 who were on a team and made it to the million dollar challenge. It was impressive that they were so talented. But what was MORE impressive to me was that they were "good" kids. It was SO refreshing to see!!! From the home videos they showed in addition to watching their interaction on the stage, you could tell they genuinely LOVED each other. They were all really modestly dressed, clean cut, kind, sweet kids. There family of 7 lived in a small 3 bedroom house & owned one car. They said they were going to use the money they won to help pay their parents' mortgage ( the parents were a fireman & teacher). The kids said "It was the least they could do after all their parents had done for them." Seriously!! Do kids like this exist anymore? All around me I see teenagers who are so "entitled". They want things to be easy and handed to them. They take things for granted. They are never satisfied, they always want more. This is the trend of the world these days, so I don't blame it on the kids. However, watching this show tonight made me realize it IS possible to raise kids like this. I think the dad of these kids summed it up best. When the show was over, he said, "You try to raise your kids to become the best people you can. We've had our fair share of good times and bad times. But seeing them tonight has shown me the kind of people they are becoming. I could go to my grave today a happy man, knowing I have a left a legacy like this in these 5 kids." I couldn't have said it better myself. How do you get kids like this? I have some ideas. I feel hopeful. I think too often parents place the emphasis on being popular. This comes at a price. Things that are "popular" often times aren't good. I certainly agree everyone needs friends, but I think too frequently kids are "popular" for the wrong reasons. I think instead the focus as parents should be on raising upstanding, kind, grateful, respectful, intelligent, capable children. If they happen to be well liked by their peers too, thats a bonus! This is my focus. Glad I didn't get ONE thing done on my to do list tonight. I NEEDED TO SEE THIS!

Some of Tate's "buddies"

2011-01-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

Tate calls his brother & all 3 of his boy cousins his buddies! Its so cute. He'll say, "Hi buddy!" and gets right in their face!:)These pictures happen to be of him and 2 of his buddies, Ty & Zack. P.S. Yes there is a 4 month difference between Ty & Zack. And Yes, Ty is almost as big as him. He's a chunk what can I say?!

This picture cracks me up for two reasons, One, because it looks like they are deep in conversation. And two, because Ty's cheeks are so chubby!

Lets compare the Chub!:)

2011-01-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

Here is the Monroe Children Chubby Cheek comparison at 3 months old. Yes, Ty's cheeks are right on schedule for chubbiness!

Tate

Macie

Ty

P.S. Boys should not have eyelashes like this. Its not fair!

The Scriptures according to Tate

2011-01-27T16:51:00.000-08:00

Tate's interpretation of the some basic scripture stories:

Picture of Jesus & the fishermen. I asked Tate if he could tell me what was happening in this picture: He said, "Jesus is telling the men, drop your fish, and come with me."

Story of Noah's Ark: After I told Tate the story. He said, "Don't worry mom I know where some wood is at Papa's house. I can build us a boat."

When we were talking about how Satan tries to tempt us to make bad choices, he said, "Is Satan a snake?"

The miracle of Jesus feeding 5,000 people. He said, "Jesus said a prayer and the bread broke into enough pieces to feed everyone."

I can't get enough of this face!!!

2011-01-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

Bob says I need to stop showing favoritism...LOL! I can't help it!!

Good thought for a Sunday...

2011-01-16T18:51:00.001-08:00

“Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father.

“It matters not our circumstance, be we humble or arrogant, poor or rich, free or enslaved, learned or ignorant, loved or forsaken, we can address Him. We need no appointment. Our supplication can be brief or can occupy all the time needed. It can be an extended expression of love and gratitude or an urgent plea for help. He has created numberless cosmos and populated them with worlds, yet you and I can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer.”

-Richard G. Scott

Tate's Preschool

2011-01-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

I heard about this preschool from my sister. Its a lady (Mrs. Jessica) who teaches out of her home and she is in my mom's ward. She has a morning & afternoon preschool class. Everything sounded great except that it was in Mesa, so it would be a 15 minute drive one way, 3 times a week. No one does any preschools out of their home near us so I decided to do it. I called Mrs. Jessica & secured her last spot. There is actually a waiting list to get into her preschool. The first few weeks I wasn't sure if it was worth the drive but I soon found out it was well worth it!! Tate LOVES it. It is soo good for him to get to interact with lots of kids his age. They are all such sweet, well behaved, adorable kids. Tate is loving it; which makes the hassle worth it!

Ty is 2 months old!!

2011-01-04T17:33:00.000-08:00

I took Ty to his 2 month appointment last week. He is in the 97% for height & weight! He weighed 2 pounds more than Tate & Macie at this same age. He is a very big boy, but oh so cute! I don't know if it was the 2 months on bedrest that we bonded while he was in me or what, but I feel so connected to this little boy!! Yes, there is a good possibility he will be very spoiled by me. He is so mild mannered, sleeps 12 hours at night only waking up once to eat, and rarely cries at all. He totally has won his dad over too, this child has both of us wrapped around his little finger. We STILL fight over who gets to hold him. We LOVE you Ty!

A New Start

2011-01-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

I love the start of a new year. I love the chance to set new goals. Or in my case, renew my efforts to do better at the same goals I set every year. This weekend I have been thinking about choosing just a few simple goals rather than overwhelming myself with too many things I want to do differently. I couldn't figure out what my "few" simple goals should be. Read a certain amount of books? Exercise a certain amount of minutes? Eat certain foods? Practice the piano? None seemed right. It wasn't until tonight when we were saying prayers with the kids that it hit me & it came from the mouth of my son, Tate. It was his turn to pray. He has been saying such heartfelt prayers lately. Saying things, Bob & I don't typically say in our prayers so I know he is not just copying us. I love to hear what he will pray for. Tonight, was no exception. Toward the end of his prayer he said, "Please bless that we will follow our Redeemer." Surprised, I asked him, after the prayer, if he knew who our Redeemer was. He said, "Its Jesus!"

Thank you Tate for the reminder. I don't need a list of 50 New Years Resolutions, I need to follow my Redeemer & His example while He was on this earth & pattern my life after His. Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we spent with Chuck & Sylvia, it was a very fun night. I promise Tate was there, I just didn't get any pictures of him because he was way too busy playing with all the cousins to smile for the camera.

They bought Macie this Princess snuggie, she loves it & insists on wearing it when she watches cartoons.

3 amigos

Loreal (Bob's Stepsister) & Ty

Macie with her cousins Jersey & Lana

Me & the kids Christmas Eve

We spent half the day on Christmas at my Parents' house. It was super fun!

The Gang...waiting to eat Christmas dinner

Papa helping figure out the toys

Ty trying out his new play mat for the first time. He wasn't so sure about that singing sun! LOL!

Tate, his legos & grandma!

My cute nephew, Zack!

Eryn & Taylor bought the girls jammies for Christmas, so they had to open them at the same time:)

At Ammy's house the second half of the day. It was a blast!

I attempt to get all 3 boys looking at me...it never happens, so I thought I would just snap one of them playing.

Uncle Braden & Ty chillin'

look at all the presents!! wow!

My cute niece, Kinsley

Macie & Amz

We had a super fun day with both families. Merry Christmas!

December Fun!

2010-12-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

My parents went & saw temple lights with Bob, me & the kids. It was so fun to have grandma & papa there with us! I was telling Tate about how far the wisemen had to travel to see baby Jesus. He proceeded to say, "That was very brave of them!" Too cute. Poor Ty was bundled up in the stroller. I should have snapped a picture of his cute face in the stroller.

After temple lights, my parents took us to Mesa Frozen Yogurt. It was delish.

Grandma, Papa & the kiddos!

We decorated gingerbread houses at Annie's house. It was super fun!

It's a fun tradition we do every year & look forward to it!

Tate & his gingerbread house

My nephew Lincoln trying out some candy

My nephew Cameron eating Candy

Bob & Tate working on the gingerbread house

Macie eating candy

Ammy helping the kids make gingerbread houses

Tate & Macie bundled up before we went caroling around the co-op with some friends.

We have had a super fun December!! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Ty's Blessing

2010-12-15T17:52:00.001-08:00

We were going to wait until the first Sunday in January to bless Ty. But when I went to try on Tate's blessing outfit, it was already to small for Ty. I had to borrow Zack's & we decided to move up the date before he couldn't fit in Zack's either. This boy is growing so fast!

We have an awesome supportive family! Thanks for coming everyone!

Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Sister! (tomorrow)

2010-12-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

Top 8 reasons why I have the best sister in the world ( in no particular order)

#1 She is totally fun to hang out with. Whether we have our kids there, our husbands, or its just the two of us, it is a blast!!

#2 She is training with me for my 5k. Since we take all 5 kids with us to work out, she ends up just mainly babysitting while I run on the treadmill & never complains that she doesn't get as much workout time in.

#3 She is super thoughtful. She thinks of kind things to do for others all of the time. I love this quality about her.

#4 She loves my children like they are her own. She disciplines them like they are hers & loves them like they are hers. Most days my children would prefer her over me:)

#5 She has babysat my kids while Bob has been in law school & I worked, for pretty much pennies just because she loves them so much & doesn't want them going anywhere else. I will truly owe her forever for this. It has been such a relief to know my kids are in good hands while I'm working!

#6 When I was on bedrest for 2 months, she helped watch my kids pretty much daily, she went grocery shopping for me, made meals, cleaned, and sat & cried with me when I was having a bad day. I couldn't have made it through without her. Little Ty wouldn't be here without her. I honestly, with all of my heart, believe that!

#7 Before I had Ty, she made 5 or 6 freezer meals for me, so I would have dinner for my family, fully knowing that I would be sleep deprived and that making dinner would be low on my priority list.

#8 Whenever, I am in a bind (including today), she is THERE to help me out. No matter what she previously had planned, no questions asked, she drops everything & helps!

There is a lot I could learn from you sis! I love you! Happy Birthday! I couldn't ask for a better sister in the whole wide world!

From Couch to 5K!

2010-12-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

My newest endeavor is to train for a 5K! I signed Bob & I up for the Pat Tillman run in April. Ever since my bedrest & being pregnant, I am totally deconditioned. I seriously get winded going to get the mail. My OB wanted me to wait until 6 weeks after I had Ty to start working out. Well Ty is 6.5 weeks old, so its GO time!! I worked out at the gym for the first time yesterday & it felt awesome as I jammed out to Bob's I-Pod. My goal is to jog the whole 4.2 miles (5K). Any friends & family who want to cheer Bob & I on at the finish line are more than welcome...it's April 16th!! I'm going to post my progress as I train...just to hold me accountable & keep me motivated. Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to take all 3 kids with me to the gym. Wish me luck:)

Lots of Updates

2010-11-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

Macie Update:

Her hair is getting longer & staying just as curly. Its adorable! She has been quite the big helper with Ty. She is so much fun these days! Here are some funny things she has said. She found the wipees and said, "We wipe we bums with these!" Yesterday, Ty was screaming & I was doing Macie's hair for church. It was obviously driving her crazy. After a few minutes, Tate walked over & put Ty's pacifier in. Macie, obviously pleased that Tate finally made Ty stop crying said, "Tate you are a superhero!" I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Brotherly love:

Yay, for helpful big brothers!!

Ty Update:
This sweet boy had his first ear infection this past week. We took him to the doctor today & they said it looks better. Thank goodness! He is measuring way bigger than Tate ever did:) His cheeks are totally chubbing up, right on schedule:)

Ty has totally learned how to smile this week when he's being smiled at. Its adorable!

Tate Update:

A little over 2 weeks ago, Tate fell 7 feet flat onto his face on some tile. Bob, me & my parents watched in horror as he fell & none of us could get to him in time. I still have that image of him falling playing in slow motion over & over in my head. It was horrific! He missed my parents fireplace by 6 inches. After he fell, Bob ran over & picked him up immediately (we didn't think to leave him there in case he broke his neck). My dad then drove us to the emergency room. Once we got there they put the neck brace on. Right away my dad & Bob gave Tate a blessing. In the blessing it said, that Tate would be healed and that there would be no repercussions from this accident. It was hard to have faith that this would be true as I watched my baby laying on a stretcher in the Emergency Room with a neckbrace on. Bob kept reminding me we HAD to have faith. I was so grateful for his strength. After a long afternoon & lots of tests later, we found out that everything looked fine except he had a little crack in his eyebrow bone(the bone that took the brunt of the fall) & some bleeding behind his eyeball. We spent the night at the Children's Hospital as a precaution. The doctor fully intended to keep us for a few days, but after 12 hours Tate was able to open his eye a little bit & so they sent us home. We still weren't sure about his vision. A week later we met with the Opthamologist. After a very extensive exam, the Opthamologist couldn't believe that there was absolutely no damage to his eyeball or vision at all! We have had to keep Tate sitting up so the blood behind his eye doesn't get worse & we have had to keep ice on his eye. We literally have seen his eye healing right before us, he has healed so quickly. He said to me the other day, "Mommy its not time for me to live with Heavenly Father." I'm not sure exactly what happened that day. Maybe I'll never know for sure but it has truly been a miracle. I am so grateful that my little boy is totally healed. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father & I am thankful for the power of the priesthood. This past weekend my grandma, with tears in her eyes, said, "This little boy must have something great to accomplish." After witnessing what I have witnessed these past 2 weeks, I couldn't agree more.

Tate's eye almost completely healed, just 2 weeks later:

Ty is 1 month old!

2010-11-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

With everything going on this past week, I feel like I missed a week of Ty's life. He has been such a good baby & has required the least amount of attention out of the 3 of my kids. He basically only cries when he is hungry, that's it! He is starting to follow us with his eyes, which they call "tracking." We have been starting to put him on his tummy for "tummy time". He is so content, he just lays there instead of trying to lift his head up to make his neck stronger. Seriously, he is such a doll baby I don't even mind waking up with him all night to feed him.

Can you see why I just want to sit & cuddle with him!

I had to get a close up of that sweet face:)

Busy

2010-11-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

People have been taking shifts to help me out. But today, I was alone with all 3 kids awake for 2 hours this morning. It was the longest 2 hours of my life. This is what my morning consisted of. "Macie, please don't dump water all over the ground." "Macie we color on paper not on the couch or carpet." "Tate please sit down, I don't want you to trip & hurt your eye." Ty crying for no apparent reason (which is not typical). Me, holding Ty following Macie around. Macie climbing up on my chair to get to the snack cupboard, almost slipping and falling but I caught her with one arm. Tate trying to walk to the bathroom by himself with one eye which makes his depth perception way off & he almost runs into everything! Putting Ty down, helping Tate to the bathroom. Ty screaming again. Macie found bubbles & dumped them out all over the back porch tile making it extremely slippery. Tate crying because he wanted to go outside & blow bubbles with Macie. Helping Tate outside to a chair so he can blow bubbles with Macie. Threatening Tate to not move until I come back. Making Ty's bottle. Feeding Ty. Out of the corner of my eye seeing Tate trying to walk back inside, across, slippery, wet tile (thanks to Macie). Me yelling to Tate to stop walking so he doesn't slip & hit his eye. Putting Ty down to rescue Tate. Ty screaming. Helping Tate back to the couch. Picking up Ty & finishing feeding him.

This was probably only about 15 min. of the 2 hours. Now you know why I am exhausted! At nighttime, Bob is sleeping on the ground in Tate's room to make sure he sleeps sitting up in his bed & to help him to the bathroom. I am taking the majority of Ty's feedings which are still every 2.5 to 3 hours. We are tired, we are busy. But we are all together, so we are happy & we are grateful:)

Life is fragile!

2010-11-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon Tate fell off my parents 7 foot spiral staircase flat onto his face. Other than a swollen eye & broken eye brow bone, he is okay. It is truly a miracle! Thank you for all of your prayers. He probably has a few more weeks before he'll be fully recovered but we are so grateful he is alive!

Seven Years!

2010-11-14T08:53:00.001-08:00

Today is our seventh wedding anniversary! Last night, I was thinking about everything we've done in the past 7 years. Its quite amazing to me! Bob & I definitely have NEVER chosen the easy road. When we got married, we agreed that education & family were our top priorities. Rather than working on one priority at a time, we decided to accomplish both at the SAME time.

How did we accomplish this?

1. I finished my nursing degree. When I got married before I even started the nursing program, I had skeptics tell me I would never finish. I would get pregnant & quit. That didn't happen. I graduated summa cum laude in May of '06 & Tate was born in August of '06.

2. I past my boards and have been a Registered Nurse for over 4 years! One of the best decisions I ever made was to become a nurse!

3. Bob started & finished his undergraduate degree also graduating summa cum laude in Construction Management. He went to school & worked at various jobs to support us.

4. Macie was born.

5. Bob decided to go to law school, while being in the bishopric & me in the RS presidency. This decision changed everything, because now I would be supporting the family & having to work enough to get benefits & pay our bills.

6. Ty was born. This included 2 months that I was on strict bedrest & Bob was right in the middle of finals. Still not sure, how we survived those 2 months. Lets just say, we witnessed many miracles!

7. Bob graduates with his JD this May & takes The Bar in July.

WE have moved 6 times (4 times in the same complex), had 3 kids, finished 2 undergraduate degrees & 3/4 of a JD degree. We are always juggling a million balls at once, both Bob & I. We have had terrific support from our families & close friends. We have witnessed many tender mercies from the Lord. There is no disputing that our lives have been busy. Yes, it would have been easier to accomplish our two goals, one at a time. But we wouldn't be where we are today & know what we know. I wouldn't change it for the world. I love you babe! We make a great team & I'm so grateful that 7 years ago I married you. Its been a great journey so far...and I look forward to the rest of our lives together!

Its already been 2 weeks!

2010-11-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ty is 2 weeks old today. I have tried to really enjoy his newborn stage because I know how fast it goes by. I definitely have been willing to set aside other things in order to just sit & hold him as much as I can with 2 other kids running around! I took him to the doctor for his 2 week appointment yesterday. He weighed 9 lbs, 9 oz (75%) & 22 1/4" long (90%). He is a big boy. These were similar to Tate's measurements at 1 month. Bob hopes this means Ty will be his football player son:) We just love Ty. I snapped a few pics of his cute face. His cheeks are already starting to chub up & he's losing some hair, but is just as cute as can be. He definitely melts our heart. Even when he's fussy, which is pretty rare, we just adore him. P.S. For some reason when I was snapping pictures, he had just woken up & couldn't open his left eye all the way, not sure why:)

It looks like he is being choked in this picture...but he's not, just getting burped by Bob:)

Twins??

2010-10-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so after Ty was born, the first thing that was discussed of course was: Who does Ty look like? We thought that Ty's eyes and nose looked similar to Lindsay's, and that Ty's mouth and chin looked like mine. But we finally found out who Ty really looks like -- TATE!! Check out the pictures of Tate and Ty at about the same age -- they look like they could be twins!! I happen to have a picture of Heather holding each boy at about 2 weeks old...so I thought we should compare those too!

So this is Tate at a couple of weeks old:

And this is Ty:

What do you guys think?

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last year Tate & Macie were Peter Pan & Tinkerbell. I wanted their costumes to "match" again this year but Bob said Tate was getting too old to wear "cutsie" costumes. I did find a way around it though. Both of them are insects. Macie a ladybug & Tate a bumble bee (transformer). I thought I was very clever:)

Ty was too little to go to the Halloween Carnival. So he had fun bonding with papa while they watched some baseball.

Life, now, as we know it with 3 kids!

2010-10-26T20:05:00.001-07:00

I totally anticipated the sleepless nights, the discomfort my body would be experiencing, the change in routine, basically our whole world being turned upside down with the addition of Baby Ty.
However, I did not anticipate............... loving it this much!
We are so happy to have Ty with us finally!

Ty Robert Monroe

2010-10-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Ty finally arrived this weekend. He was 8lbs 14 oz & 21 3/4" long. In other words, a big boy! From the chubby cheeks, dimple in his chin & dark hair, he is definitely a Monroe. We love, love this little guy. They started me on Pitocin at 1 pm. I dilated from a 5 to a 10 in about 45 minutes (after staying at a 4 for 4 hours). After 1 push, I was waiting for the next contraction when I said, "It feels like his head is slipping out." The doctor said, "It is, but I'm here to catch him!" His head literally slipped out & I pushed one more time to get his shoulders out. Not bad for a 9 lb baby. Needless to say, he looks like a c-section baby because he had no trauma at all during birth. Macie & Tate are in love, as expected. So far Ty has been a very mellow baby. But tonight is our first night at home with him. Historically, our babies like to stay up all night once we are home on our own and have no help from the nurses:) Welcome Baby Ty!! Here are a few pics.

I had to throw in this picture of Macie holding him. I love her expression. Can you tell she is happy he is finally here?! More pics of all 3 kids to come...

Picture Overload....October Update!

2010-10-16T21:05:00.001-07:00

Heather & I found this fun play place for the kids with stuff to crawl in & bounce on. They loved it!

Most of the time the girls couldn't reach the next step so Tate boosted them up, one girl at a time, for an hour and a half so they could play with him. Heather & I couldn't believe how sweet he was to do that!

My Grandpa Elwood & Grandma Carol came to visit for a few days. The kids loved getting to see them! The girls sat at the piano singing primary songs with grandma.

Macie LOVES her Uncle TT.

Over conference weekend, we spent the weekend in Prescott with Lisa, Robert, Chad, Grandma Bobbie & Grandpa Roger. We had a blast!! They took us to a lake to feed ducks. My kids loved it. Macie fed the ducks and fed herself the bread:)

All weekend, Macie was Aunt Lisa's shadow. She had to be near her at all times. Every time we ate a meal, she made Lisa sit by her. Lisa, spoiled her like crazy. If Macie didn't like what we were having for a meal, Lisa would make her whatever she wanted. Macie did not want to leave Lisa & has been saying, "How 'bout we go to Lisa's tomorrow?" every day since then.

We ate like royalty the whole weekend. These cinnamon rolls were just the appetizers Sunday morning.

Delicious!

Lisa & Robert in the kitchen! Thanks guys!

The kids with Lisa & Robert

The kids with Grandma & Grandpa.

We had an awesome weekend. We are sad they are moving to Denver because we want to go back SOON to visit. Guess we'll have to buy plane tickets:)

My nephew Cameron had a super fun birthday party. His parents rented a petting zoo to come to the party. My kids loved it.

We have had a super fun October!

Just because she's too cute!

2010-10-12T20:32:00.000-07:00