Singing to my babies..

I think it's time for another baby.

I have been reminiscing about singing to my babies. 

Ella loved it, snuggled next to me and just listened.  Sometimes fell asleep.

Alissa used to shhh me.  From the time she was little she knew SHHH.  So I stopped singing.

Molly sang along with me.  I really think it was probably 5 months when I noticed her humming the song I was singing as I sang to her.  It was crazy!  I still sang to her, but only when I wanted her to stay awake.  Otherwise she would sit humming as long as I would sing.

I think it's funny how different they all are.  All female, all made from the same mom and dad, blonde hair, green eyes, yet so very different.  I love them all just the way they are too.  So grateful for Heavenly Father allowing me to be their earthly mommy.

My Mom the Magician

I have been in the doctors office at least 4 times in the last month Molly has had UTI, Croop, Ear Infection and Alissa had a basic well visit.  I am so fortunate that the doctors office rarely takes more than 5-10 minutes before they are ready to see you and they have a giant fish tank in every room for the kids to sit and admire or if you are Molly then you lick it.  (I have to have humor in these things or I will make myself CRAZY!) 

I was just thinking today, this mothering stuff is a lot tougher than I ever imagined.  I always dreamed of being this calm mom who took all this time to help her kids learn and know they are loved and they would be involved in activities and always look nice.  With each kid I have become more an more lenient and let my kids wear unmatching clothes or 15 ponytails if that makes them happy.  I all too often have a messy house because I took time to blog instead of clean and I didn't realize that activities cost a minimum of $40 a month!!

Well, whatever right?  All I can do it try my best and pray for help. :)

So I was thinking again (too much thinking I know) about how it seemed like we were often sitting in the doctors office growing up.  4 kids and my mom.  I can almost remember what it smelled like.  Without fail my little brother would pass gas and my mom would be so embarrassed when the doctor walked because the air was thick with stink.  All of us would try to sneak into the doctors drawers to see what treasures we might mess with or maybe we were just trying to get a reaction out of mom?   These were the days of no Ipad or other cool electronic devices you would entertain your kid with like I find myself doing.  She would dig in her purse and find fingernail clippers or some other small item and turn into Magician Mom.  Somehow she could make those crazy clippers disappear and reappear in our pockets, ears, you name it!  She was good and we loved it!  Oh, good mom.  I'm sure she was praying the doctor would walk in any moment as she tried to contain and entertain these 4 kids and at least 1 being sick.

What a fun memory. 

I also am a little sentimental that my kids doctor is the son of my doctor growing up.  I'm going to take a picture of that good man.  He sure is great! 

New Years Resolutions

Better late than never.  At least it's still January, right?

2012 Goals:
Read & Study the Book of Mormon personally and as a family.
Keep a daily gratitude journal.
Kneel to pray, everyday.
Attend the temple 12 or more times.
Complete 72 hour kits.
Don't drink caffeine.

I am really sad to say I didn't do very good on my goals for the past year.  I did fine until about summer time and then I quit writing a daily gratitude journal and started drinking Dr. Pepper again.  Kneeling to pray ended pretty quick.  I am a bed prayer - I was hoping to break that habit.  I am happy to say I read the Book of Mormon entirely and we read it as a family but didn't complete it (which I am ok with).  I was able to attend the temple 12 times and complete our 72 hour kits.

Other Accomplishments:
We did a lot as a family this year - a lot of mini vacations!
One year closer to paying off our car & house. :)
One more year recorded on the blog.

2013 Goals
Attend the temple 12 or more times.
Read/Listen to the Doctrine & Covenants.
Do more physical activities individually and as a family.
Finish 2011 and 2012 Blog Books
Continue to build Food Storage - 6 month storage by end of the year.

Alissa reading by the end of the year.
Ella memorize Articles of Faith by baptism.

Ella made goals this year too.  Here is what she wrote all by herself.
#1  My goal this year is to be a better piano player.
#2  My goal this year is to make the world a better place to live.
#3  My goal this year is to learn how to make cookies.
#4  My goal this year is to exercise more.
#5  My goalt his year is to make better crafts.

Skiing

NRF (Dustin's work) had a discount ski night at Kelly Canyon.  Dustin loves to ski and has asked me to go with him a ton of times.  We attempted to go last year but the road got closed and we stayed home.

I gladly went with him while we were dating, but he immediately left me with his friend who was learning to snow board all day because I had only been skiing a few times and wouldn't be able to keep up with him so I vowed never to go with him again.  :)   He hates when I tell this story because he says I was a dumb 19 year old!  I guess I will have to try to forget it now.

My parents watched the kids for us and we went up night skiing.

 

I got some really super tight boots on and by the time I was almost to the top of the bunny hill my legs were shaking, I was sweating and felt like I was going to throw up.  I told Dustin and he seemed a little irritated by my over reacting and helped me get back to the rental shack for a change.   The new boots felt SO good and I was good to go for the rest of the night. 

 

 

I was glad I surprised Dustin that I could actually get off the bunny hill after only 1 shot and ski behind him without even falling once. He said I had painted a pretty big picture of how terrible of a skier I was and I told him I did that so he could be pleasantly surprised and not disappointed at my lack of skill.

 

We had a good time! A fun date night for sure. I thought my legs were going to be so sore the next day but they actually felt better than when we finished skiing.  Who knows, maybe I will go again before another 11 years goes by.

Happy Birthday Alissa!

Friday was Alissa's 4th birthday!

 

A few weeks ago she decided she wanted a Minnie and Mickey Birthday Party and she wanted to invite all of her friends from Joy School.  So we made some cute invitations for her to take to school and hand out.

 

We actually had the kids come at 9 so we could do an hour of preschool before the party since we missed school on Monday.(-16 degrees so school got cancelled)

 

After we finished our school for the day we had Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets and carrots for lunch. 

 

I got ambitious and made the kids Mickey/Minnie ears out of a headband and felt.   

 

We made about 55 mini cupcakes for her parties.  Each kid got to decorate a couple of cupcakes and we also put candles in all of their cupcakes so they could blow out the candle with Alissa.

 

We played Minnie Mouse Bingo and then opened presents.  Alissa gave them all a treat bag with some fun party favors in it and by that point their attention was seriously lacking so I sent them to play for the last 20 minutes.  I think they had way more fun playing on their own than the games I planned.

 

Parker, Molly, Hadley, Macee, River, Elise & Alissa. 

 We waited for Ella to come home to give her the present from us.  We got her a new bike with a baby seat in the back.  We blind folded her and had Dustin brought the bike upstairs.  When we took the blindfold off she got so embarrassed and threw herself into the couch and started to cry.  We realized she really doesn't like to be the center of attention.

 

We invited family to her party at Leo's that night and had Brian & Cindy Family, Devin & Johnna and Aaron (was also Johnna and Aaron's birthay) Sindy and Family, Kirk and Family, Grandma & Grandpa Bateman, Mom & Dad, Cody & Kylie & Lilly, Kailey and Kaitlynn and Mike and Farrah and family.  We had over 35 people in that little room in Leo's! 

 

Alissa got spoiled again with presents from friends and family. 

 

Again was too embarrassed to react or say anything.  She would have loved to crawl under my arm had I let her.

 

 

Such a fun day!  We are so blessed to have such good family and friends who live so close by to celebrate with us.  It's really crazy to think that Alissa is already 4.  Part of me feels like she should be a lot older because I can't remember life without her and yet when I think about her as a baby I wonder how in the world that time passed so quickly.

 

Here are a few pictures I found of her.

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Alissa!  Sure are thankful Heavenly Father let you come live at our house.  You are such a sweetheart and we love you so much!!

 

Some things I want to remember about her at 4 years old:

Weight: 31 3/4 lbs - 22%

Height: 41" - 57%

 

*She knows all the letters and struggles only with 2 letter sounds.

 

*She can also write most of the capital letters by memory.

 

*She knows colors and some shapes as well as the months of the year, days of the week and the Pledge thanks to Joy School.

 

*She is a singer!  She loves to sing and sings a lot but ONLY if she thinks nobody is listening.

 

*She rocks at puzzles.  She loves doing them and is really good at them too.

 

*She recently started to color a lot more and is getting really good at coloring in the lines.

 

*She is really picky about giving hugs.  She will only consistently give them to mom.  She gives them to dad after scripture and prayer at night once he made it a game to see how hard she can squeeze him.  Now she loves it.  She doesn't normally give them to anybody else though.

 

*She is still so small.  She often asks for Tuna and crackers for lunch.  Pretty unusual for a 3/4 year old if you ask me.  She also loves green salad and likes water or strawberry milk in her sippy cup.

 

*She is the most quick to listen out of all my kids. (right now) 

 

*She loves to go to the grocery store with just mom.  If Dustin is home I will try to leave the kids home with him but Alissa is always the only one that begs to go with me.

 

*Alissa is a morning girl.  She is usually the first one asleep and the first to be awake and ready for whatever we're doing that day.

So much fun in Sun Valley!

My parents invited us to go with them to Sun Valley this weekend along with my brother and his family to just hang out.  They had a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom "cottage" they were staying in and it was wonderful. 

 

When we got there Friday afternoon we hit the outdoor pool.  

It was so warm and fun with all the kids. 

 

We went back and showered and bundled up for a sleigh ride. 

The kids got to pet this HUGE dog while we waited.

 

We rode a sleigh pulled by 2 horses through the snow covered golf course and many times between trees for about 35 minutes to a restauraunt where we ate a super yummy dinner.  Thankfully the kids all behaved pretty well too. 

 

 

 

After the sleigh ride we walked around and saw a few ice sculptures like this chair.

And a snow sculpture like this sun.

 

Saturday we got to ride the gondola up the ski hill multiple times. 

 

Ella smiled before it started.

 

And then instantly decided it was a little scary once it moved up the hill.  We had to move her to the other side so she could see up the hill and not down.  Then she loved it.

 

 

 

I could have rode it a few more times, it really was beautiful up there. However, it was FREEZING and the kids didn't have snow pants so we needed to be done.

 

We went back and got in pajamas and all the kids grabbed an electronic device.  The younger kids took a nap while the moms got groceries and the dads watched football.

 

We were having so much fun we transferred "cottages" and stayed another night.  We did a 9:00pm swimming trip with the older kids and grandma and grandpa watched the babies. 

So much fun!  We really are so spoiled to be able to go enjoy such a luxury vacation like that.  It was beautiful, relaxing, fun and something we will remember.  We got to forget about the worries of home, school, church callings, etc for a few days.  I'm glad all the cousins can be good friends and that my parents are so patient with these crazy 6 girls.  We are so blessed.