Babies, babies, babies!

Oh, how I love them. Whenever I see them it takes my full restraint not to go over & make nice with the new mom, just so I might get a chance to hold them. Don't get me wrong, I love talking with other mom's, but there's something about the pull of a brand new sweet little one that is hard to resist for me.

I remember when I had Tyler I swore I'd never have any more kids. It was no reflection on him. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I was 19 & still very selfish. I was also single & I knew I didn't want any more kids to grow up without a father. And I had a traumatic birth experience with him, which I never wanted to repeat. The pregnancy wasn't all that wonderful, either.

It's nice to be able to look back on that time with some perspective. Though it was a stressful time in my life, I'm so glad for those experiences. I know I wouldn't be where I am today, had I not had them.

Anyhow...back to the sweeter side of it all. I wonder if the pull I feel has anything to do with the fact that I know where those sweet little people *just* left. The spirit world is still fresh for them & they hold so many secrets that I can't remember anymore, but long to.

Needless to say, I'm SO baby hungry right now. I'm pretty sure we're done having kids though. I've wondered for a while now if, when you know you're done, you still experience that deep desire to have more kids. I suppose only time will tell. It would be nice to experience the beauty of it all another time or two. Again, I guess only time will tell if that's to be or not.

The perfect house

Well, almost perfect.

We've been house hunting for a while now, knowing a move was around the corner. I really wanted something that was single story, but those are hard to come by. In our area, unless you're willing to settle for something small or with little to no back yard, you're stuck with the custom homes that cost a fortune. After a long search & after seeing many homes that aren't quite right, we found one that we love.

The only bad thing about it is the fact that it's about a mile south of the ward boundaries. We've been in the ward for 5 years now, which is the longest our growing family has been in any ward. I'm very sad to have to move on. Our ward is like no other I've ever been in. The sense of a ward family is so strong here. I can only pray we'll someday either be back in it or find another of its kind.

We're supposed to get the keys on the 6th of next month. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. We won't be moving in right away. I want to take a week to paint the kids' rooms before we move in.

I'm excited to get a crack at decorating this gorgeous home! I'm not good at decorating (unlike every other female I've ever met!) but I have a few ideas & I'm looking forward to giving them a try. I'll be grateful for volunteers in this department. My dearest friend, Onala, has an incredible knack for decorating, but she's busy awaiting a new arrival 10+ whole hours drive away from me. :(

For our family & friends who come to visit, until Vickie comes to claim it, we have a casita in the back for everyone to stay in. It's cute & I'm glad we're able to have something like that to offer. I think it can be hard staying with our family since the little kids haven't figured out that whole privacy thing yet. LOL This solves that problem, entirely! :)

Fifteen minutes

Why is it that, in the course of a normal day, fifteen minutes can fly by before you know it? Yet when fifteen minutes is spent holding a (wheezy, chunky coughing, struggling to breathe) toddler still enough to administer a breathing treatment in the middle of the night, fifteen minutes feels like an eternity!?!

And I would love to know why it is a 6 year old can do the same breathing treatment in half the time!? What's up with that??

This is the third illness the little kids have had in less than 2 months. I'm ready for a break or Spring or something!

I'm pretty sure it's Jordan picking things up from other kids at school. He always seems to be the first to get it. I had to take him to the doctors Friday so she could listen to his lungs because he was wheezing a bit. It was a good thing I didn't wait because I'm pretty sure if I had we would've spent most of today in the ER. His blood oxygen levels were pretty low, to the point where he was close to being sent to the ER in an ambulance from the doctors office. They did a breathing treatment in the office & he perked up pretty quickly, thankfully.

Dave was agreeable & will be the one staying home with the kids so I can go to church tomorrow. He doesn't have a calling right now so it worked out okay. It'll be weird sitting in Sacrament meeting & actually getting to listen to the speakers. It seems like most of my time is spent catching bits & pieces of the talks here & there, in between trying to keep the kids' volume levels down. I think it might be a fun change! :)

Christmas 2008

Two days before Christmas, I decided we probably ought to go see Santa before it was too late. We got a chance to see him on the Polar Express, but he was so busy giving out bells he didn't have time to sit with us & talk.

Hayleah was pretty sick & I figured she wouldn't enjoy sitting on some happy strangers lap anyway, so I just took Jordan & Logan while Tyler stayed home with Hayleah. Ty wasn't interested in pictures with Santa this year, either.

We headed over to the Silverton to find the three of us made up the line, which was a very pleasant surprise! Santa was talking with his elf's when we spotted him & Jordan immediately declared he wasn't going to go sit with him & get his picture taken. He swears it wasn't the real Santa anyway, so why would he bother. The real Santa has a much longer beard, according to Jordan, so this imposter wasn't going to be blessed with his stubborn presence that day.

Logan, surprisingly, was very open to sitting with Santa, so he's the only child I got a picture of this year. The pictures the elf's took turned out very funny. He was smiling this ridiculous smile that made him look like he was in pain. Too funny! The one I got wasn't so bad...sort of.

Vickie wasn't able to join us for Christmas this year. So instead of sending presents, likely paying more for the shipping than the actual presents, she opted to send a gift card & I did all the shopping. I found the art desk you see in the picture below at Sam's Club as I was walking out with my purchases. I had to unload & head back in for it, it was such a good deal!



Tyler got a game rocker for Christmas this year from Santa. He's been wanting one for a long time & finally got his wish. Jordan got the race car track you see in the picture below, which he absolutely loves. Hayleah got a set of baby furniture & a stroller for her baby dolls. She puts everything in that stroller! Luckily, I've been able to convince her (this time) it's only for babies & to date it's still in one piece. :)

Jordan was the gift-hander-outer-boy this year (maybe one day we'll come up with a title for that LOL). Since learning to read, he's decided this is an appropriate job for him & really enjoyed being in charge like that.

Hayleah got her first tricycle from Vickie this year. It has all the bells & whistles, just like she likes. All the kids like it, actually. Sometimes it's hard convincing them they need to take turns with it! Logan got a basketball hoop from Santa this year. He's the most natural athlete I've ever seen & really enjoys all sports, but has a lot of love for basketball (just like his Daddy).

Jordan got a pair of Heeley's this year. He's been wanting them for a long time but they didn't make them in his size. He's pretty pleased with them, though he still doesn't have the hang of it.

Hayleah got a little water baby from me this year. She is the sweetest little mommy & takes such good care of her little babies. Jordan got Logan a little dinosaur that roar's & moves. The first day she was so scared of it, she cried & ran off every time it roared near her. The second day she was fine with it & would play with it herself, but when it started making its way toward her new baby, she freaked out & snatched up her baby to protect it, yelling at the dinosaur the whole time. LOL It was priceless!

New photos....finally

I thought all my pictures from Christmas were lost, only to try again this morning & find the memory card wasn't corrupt like I'd originally thought. YAY!

I'll add more pics as I get time to digi-scrap.

Christmas Eve, we spent the day getting the house ready for our company. My brother & his wife were coming the next day & I wanted to get the toy room cleaned up & the majority of the toys packed away. We knocked it out in no time & I was pleased with the progress we'd made so early in the day.

While helping Jordan clean up his room a bit later, I sent Tyler to vacuum the toy room. After a while I started hearing more giggling than cleaning going on so I sent Jordan to go see what was going on. After a few minutes I realize I hear even more giggling than before & Jordan has yet to return, so I head off to go check things out for myself.

Upon entering the room I notice, to my irritation, the vacuuming has yet to be started. I only wonder for a moment why the I've been hearing the vacuum run for the past 10 minutes....the kids spot me & make a run for it! They leave Tyler, sitting on the floor with his back to me, all alone holding the vacuum hose, looking the most guilty.

To my intense irritation, this is what I see when he realizes Mom's standing behind him & turns around to face me...

Of course he had no idea letting Logan & Hayleah (then later Jordan) suck his cheeks with the hose would leave any marks. The pictures really don't do it justice...it looked like he went to a blanket party or something! I was so mad at him at the time! Now it's just funny. :)