Wes and Maggie

My sweet Bella

2012-01-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

So by the Elk's Lodge they have that metal elk that is kind of by the road. Well, Bella saw it and she said, "Look deer............we need to shoot him!" And that is what we teach our kids, when you see an elk....you need to shoot him. She is hilarious!

Walmart really came through today!

2012-01-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

If you know me, you know that I really don't like to shop at Walmart unless I absolutely have to. People are grouchy, cashiers like to argue about every coupon..... Well today was one of those days that I had to go, however I was pleasantly surprised by all of the deals I was able to grab.

First off, people are always skeptical when I tell them that I can get things for free and even make money off some items. Well in this picture are all of the items that I scored for free + made a little bit of money:

Here is how I got these lovely items for free:

Scrubbing Bubbles toilet bowl cleaner. these were on an end cap and if you actually walk down the aisle and get the exact same item without the yellow stripe down the box it is $9, for the exact same thing! - these were $3.97 - in Sundays paper there was a $4.00 off coupon

Reach floss - $0.97 - printed 4 coupons for $1 off

Yup that is KY jelly which has many useful purposes ; ) $2.84 - in Sundays paper there was a $3.00 coupon, actually made a little money

Glade candles - $0.25 (all Christmas items were marked down to $0.25 while I was there!) - I had a coupon that was for a $1.50 off two Glade holiday scents, so I bought 2 for $0.50 and ended up making $1.00! Not all places allow overage like this, but Walmart states they will give you cash back in their coupon policy!

Colgate toothpaste - (this was actually at Safeway) on sale for $0.99 - I had a $0.75 coupon that doubled up to a $1.00. That is why I love Safeway.

So as stated above while I was in Walmart they announced that all remaining Christmas items were going for $0.25 each. This is what I found:

Paid $2.00 for all of it. My kids LOVE to do gingerbread houses and I'm pretty sure they don't care that they are doing a Christmas one after Christmas is over. Lights, boxes, sprinkles, all I will use next year!

Sorry, not trying to make this blog all about couponing but it is really fun!

Another example of why I coupon

2012-01-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

Sams club used to be the place I would shop, always thought they had the best deals and I was getting a lot of product. I have 3 kids that still wear a pull-up at night, we go through a ton of pull-ups so I would always just buy a box from Sams. At Sams these are $28.98 per 90 ct box (2T-3T) or $0.32 per pull-up.

Well at Target (have I mentioned my love for Target) this week they have a special where if you buy 2 boxes of pull-ups you get a $10 gift card. So I printed a $2 manufacturer coupon per box and I had a $3.50 Target printed coupon for one box and a $3.50 Target mobile coupon from my smart phone (they scan the bar code from your phone). You can use 1 manu. coupon and 1 Target coupon per item.

So the breakdown per box is:
$25.99 full price
- $2 manu. coupon
$3.50 Target coupon
$5 (half of the gift card)
$15.49 for a box of 72 count (2T-3T) or $0.21 per pull-up

I bought 2 boxes for $30.98, $2 more than buying 1 box at sams club, but I also got 54 more pull-ups for that extra $2. Plus I pay $40 annually for a Sams Club membership! This isn't the best deal I've seen on pull-ups either but we were completely out so it had to do.

Without the coupons and gift cards, yes Sams is a better buy. But, Target has deals like this quite often.

Huggies has a new diaper called the 'Slip-on' diaper. I would probably not have used these on a baby but they are made the exact same way a pull-up is made and since they are a new product they had great sales and great coupons for them. I was able to get them for around $2.50 for a jumbo pack doing this same kind of deal and they worked great as pull-ups for my kids!

Don't get me wrong I still shop at Sams for some things but they don't always have he best deals.

Christmas clothes

2012-01-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

In our mad rush to get ready last week we didn't get any pictures of the kids in their Christmas clothes. So in our mad rush this week I stopped everyone for a second and took a few and this is what I got. Is there ever a perfect picture where all kids are looking and smiling and being good? I don't think so, but they sure did look nice today.

I told you he was sweet...

2011-12-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Just cuz......

Why coupon?

2011-12-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

Back in March I started couponing because we were spending a fortune on groceries and I was tired of it. I heard about a website called 'The Krazy Coupon Lady.' They sell a really good book about the ins and outs of couponing. There were so many things I didn't know. I always looked at the $.25 and $.50 coupons and thought it wasn't worth my time. The book points out so many different things, for example at Target.com there are target coupons. Usually at most stores you can only use one coupon per item, but at Target you can use a regular coupon (manufacturer coupon) and a target coupon together and if the item is already on sale it's even better. You can do this at Safeway too and Safeway doubles manufacturer coupons up to $1.

Several people I've talked to recently have said that it's too time consuming, or they can't find coupons for the things they use or they just can't make it work for some reason.

Here are a couple of examples of things I found at target recently. This first one is the Welch's juice that I would always pay full price for at Walmart, this is what my family drinks. It was on clearance for $2.08, regularly $2.99. At Target I always check the end caps for their clearance things and see what coupons I have to go on top. Well this week they had about 20-25 of these on clearance. Now to most people a difference of $0.91 is not that big a deal. Well when I add my $1 off coupon to it, it makes them a steal. I bought 14 of these bad boys for a total of $15.12. Now full price it would've cost me $41.86. This is at least a 2 month supply of juice for my family and I won't buy it again until I find another steal, which I've seen every few months but it's usually at Safeway.

The trick is to stock up on an item when it's at a low price like this so that you aren't paying full price ever if you can help it. This is a great way to build up a food storage and coupons and sales are always rotating so you are constantly buying different things for your food storage.

A lot of times when a manufactuer is promoting an item and they send out coupons, the store is also trying to promote it by putting it on sale, which makes for very cheap and a lot of times free items. There are several things that I have gotten for free such as:

toothpaste (colgate, crest, etc)
toothbrushes (Colgate, Reach)
deoderant (Secret, Right Guard...)
scotch tape
bbq sauce (Jack Daniels, Kraft, KC Masterpiece)
ketchup (heinz)
pasta (Healthy Harvest)
soap (Nivea, Olay)
shampoo (Finesse...)
conditioner (Finesse...)
reams of HP printer paper
Excedrin and so many different kinds of medication!
bandaids (Curad, bandaid brand)
pens (papermate)
Revlon tweezers
dish soap (Gain)
worchestershire sauce (French's)
Glade, Febreze, and Air wick candles and sprays

I could go on and on. These things aren't just the cheap, off brand either, all name brand things that I used to pay full price for, and everything I just listed I easily have a year supply of. Some examples of some really cheap items are:

Glad trash bags
Hefty/ziploc bags
Clorox cleanup ($.49 a bottle at Walgreens)
Laundry detergent (Wisk, Arm&Hammer, All, Gain)
Duracell/Energizer batteries (got these from Amazon.com)
peanut butter (Skippy, Planters)
jelly (Welch's, Smuckers)
Huggies diapers and wipes
Puffs tissue
Target shower curtains and pillows
HP ink
Gillette razors
shaving cream
Banana Boat aloe vera
Nivea shaving conditioner for electric razors
Cereal (try not to pay more than a $1 a box) (Kelloggs, General Mills, Post...)

Seriously, I've never even had close to a year supply of any of these things but now I do and it's all due to couponing. If I had to pay full price for all of this to try to get a year supply I couldn't afford it.

The other day Wes was saying that we needed some supplements around the house, that day I went looking at Target to see what I could find. Here is what I found:

These are $11.99 each full price, which I would never pay! But I had a $5 manufacturer coupon per each item and a $2 Target coupon per item (these I got from the Target pharmacy coupon booklets-just ask for them at the pharmacy). Already that brings them down to $4.99 each, but that still wasn't going to be good enough, then I noticed that they were on an end cap and if you buy 2 of them you will get a $5 Target gift card. So, I decided to get 4 of them which will give me 2-$5 gift cards and after factoring the gift cards in that brings them down to $2.49 each. But wait, I also had a coupon for $5 off a $50 purchase, I am very close to $50 so I threw in $2 item that I was already buying and dividing that $5 between the 5 items it makes my Centrum $1.49. That's a price I can afford and so I did 2 separate transactions. I bought these first, got the 2 gift cards and then used them on my next transaction for the other items I was buying. I LOVE Target, they are the best! Full price these would've cost $47.96+tax, but I only paid $4.96+tax for all 4 of them. This is why I coupon! It is so fun getting deals like this.

Ok one more example and this was actually back in Sept. Back in May or June I got a $2 off coupon for the Off! fans (mosquito repellent). These are usually about $8.49 each and even with a $2 coupon it would not be good enough and I really wanted to try it but was not going to pay $6.49 for just one. So I held on to these coupons throughout the summer all the way until Sept and they expired about the middle of the month. About a week before they expired Target had these clearanced out to $2.12! So I bought 6 of them at $0.12 each = $0.72+tax for 6 of them! I will hold on to these until next summer!

One other thing I have learned though is that you can't be brand loyal. For example, I used to love Tide and that's all I would buy. Tide is really expensive and very rarely have I seen it for a good deal and I would see really good deals on the ones I listed above. You know what? I think they work just as well as Tide does and I'm saving money.

Always stock up on seasonal items after the season/holiday is over for the next year. I already have all of my kids Halloween costumes for next year and I paid $1 per costume (as opposed to $15-$20 per costume) the Saturday after Halloween.

I could go on and on with examples of different deals but it would take forever. Just know that couponing is worth it and we have saved so much money and it is really fun!

10 years ago..............

2011-12-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

I have always thought that Wes was just the cutest thing. We were always really good friends in high school and we hung out together often. He was hilarious back then, wearing his latest find at the arc or just walking down the hall in a wife beater (I think that's what those white tank tops were called). We lived across the street from each other all during high school and we were in the same sunday school class all through those years too.

Wes has always been very sweet, when we were 16 I went to stay with my dad for a few weeks during the summer out in Ohio. He thought I was staying there permanately so he sent me flowers and a letter telling me that he wanted me to come back and that he wanted to take me on a date. I had no idea that he wanted any sort of realtionship beyond friendship. When I returned home, we did go on our first date, although the second date didn't come until much later. I was a difficult teenager, not always seeking after the best things and I felt that Wes was just a really good friend. He was more like a brother type to me then and I always felt somewhat protective of him.

A few days before Wes went into the MTC, my cousin Karen told me that he was leaving and that we should go see him before he leaves. I had not seen him for a while and I think he was a little surprised that we had come. It was really good to see him but even then I didn' realize that this would be my eternal companion someday.

A few months after Wes came home from his mission, I had just moved back from Cincinnati, it was the beginning of December and I was coming out of my mom's house and walking to my car when he pulled up behind me. I heard he was home from his mission but I had not seen him yet. He walked up to me and gave me a big hug. He looked so different to me, I had always thought that he was cute (how can you not?) but it was the first time that I really thought he was HOT!. We visited for a minute and then he left and I could not stop thinking about him. I didn't think that he would want any sort of realtionship with me because surely he had girls waiting in line for him. But, a few days later he called and asked if I wanted to go to the luminarias at Berg Park. Um, YEAH! That was our first date 10 years ago...and everything fell into to place after that. I am so grateful for him. He works so hard for us and I just love him. I truly feel blessed to have him as my eternal companion.

Can't wait!

2011-11-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

Know your shapes!

2011-11-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

The other day I was helping Easten with his homework and we were going over shapes. He's really good and knows all of them, apparently better than I do. When we got to a diamond, he paused for a second and said, "that's a rhombus!" Well if you know me I hated Geometry and I don't even remember what a rhombus is so I had to look it up and I found out that he was right because "a rhombus is a type of parallelogram, and what distinguishes its shape is that all four of its sides are congruent, which a diamond is and a diamond is not technically a mathematical shape whereas a rhombus is." I hate it when my kids are smarter than me!

This is what happens when daddy leaves town....

2011-10-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

Something big seems to happen every time Wes goes hunting. Last time a pipe broke that was coming off the hot water heater. Had he been home, he could've fixed it because he is handy that way. I, on the other hand, am not quite that handy so I had to call the plumber. The time before that, I was up at the kid's soccer practice and my car battery died, good thing Jonathan is handy and could help me replace it. Well this time my little Bella was running, tripped and fell, hitting a kitchen chair at Grandma's house. It bled pretty good for a few minutes and since it was so late all of the urgent cares were closed so we had to go to the ever so exciting ER. They did a great job, although her screaming was probably a little unsettling. They numbed her pretty good but what really made her mad was being restrained. They wrapped her body up real tight in two sheets so she couldn't move and then they put drapes all around the cut so that all we could see of her was the cut. This did not go over well, she couldn't see anything, and she screamed. But she is doing better now and I hope no one gets grossed out easily cuz it's a pretty good split. Thanks to Audrie who watched my kids and did my dishes while we were gone and thanks to Gwen for coming to the hospital and supporting us through.

Before:

After:

Almost 24 hours later: (It's really swollen)

The annual Trunk or Treat

2011-10-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Noah is always happy and up for anything!

Easten and his usual happy face!

Bella Bee!

Katelynn was helping me get them ready. Thanks Katie-lynn!

That's a little better!

The kids had a great time trunk or treating. They always do, and this year my husband was able to join us. He is usually working every year, don't think he has joined us since before Easten was born. The kids all looked so cute. I love being able to be at home and do fun things with them. Grateful to have a husband who works so hard for us so I can be at home.

Picture day!

2011-10-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

First day of preschool

2011-08-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

Noah has been wating for this day for a long time. Every time Easten would get on the bus to go to preschool last year, Noah would ask when it would be his turn. Today he finally gets to go and he is thrilled. The preschool here is really an awesome deal. First of all it's free, can't beat that! The bus stops right in front of our house and it's only preschool kids, they feed the kids lunch, keep them for about 4 hours and they get to socialize with kids their age. So glad Easten got to go, they really worked on his speech with him and he needed that interaction before starting kindergarten.

The first day of school

2011-08-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

School has finally started! I'm not sure who was more excited, probably me. I love my kiddos and we had a good summer but I also love to wave to them as they get on the bus. : ) Abbie is a busy girl and she is in constant need of something to do, so school is perfect for her. Easten was excited to get to go to Abbie's school this year and ride on her bus. Abbie is in third grade with Ms. Franklin and Easten is in kindergarten and has Ms. Greenwade. They both love school and are doing really well.

Baseball/Softball

2011-06-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Abbie played baseball this year and was the only girl on her team. She had the option of playing on a girl's team but she wanted to play with her cousins. She did really well, she's a good batter and she's fast. She even tripped and fell once while running the bases and she still got up and made it home. Her team was really good this year and they got second place in the tournament. It's always fun to get a trophy!

Abbie's baptism

2011-05-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Katie and Abbie

Katelynn and Bella

Colton and Noah

I can't believe I have a child old enough to be baptized, time is really flying. Abbie was baptized with her good friend Katie Parsons (Noel Bloomfield's daughter) and her cousin Kristoffer. It was really a special day for her. Her dress was so pretty, she loved it. She's been looking foward to this day for a long time. So grateful for the gospel in our lives and a worthy priesthood holder in our home.

Abbie is 8!

2011-04-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how old Abbie is. She is my primpy girl. Always trying to look her best. She is really smart and is always on the honor roll. She is really liking the Harry Potter books and movies right now, even though I'm still not sure how age appropriate some of those movies are for her age. Abbie is pretty good at soccer and softball. She was on a boys team for softball this year and out did a lot of the boys, she is really fast. She is a big help to me with her siblings and around the house. We love her. Happy Birthday!

Noah is 4!!!!

2011-04-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

My little Noah just turned 4! He is a very sweet and tender hearted boy, he has the personality of his daddy. Noah loves to do anything with his dad, very much a daddy's boy. He really loves to shoot his bow and he is pretty good at it. He has felt really left out this year, both of his older siblings are in school and they both played soccer and softball which he is too young for. But next year will be different, he will get to do all of those things. Happy Birthday Mr. Noah!

Belly Boo is 2!!!

2011-02-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 2 today. She is getting so big. Bella is a sweet little girl with a spunky personality. I think she wakes up every morning and lays there and thinks of all of the ways she can make Noah cry that day(which is not hard to do). She has to be tough to keep her brothers from picking on her.

Bella loves the 'Tangled' movie, she has a Rapunzel doll she carries around and says "pretty hair." I should take a picture of this doll because her hair is a matted mess, but she loves her. She would sit and watch that movie all day if I would let her.

She loves to follow me around when I'm cleaning and she will ask over and over "what y doonin mommy?" It is the sweetest thing. She can completely dress herself, including shoes and socks. She is such a good helper and a good regulator of the boys. She will yell at them and try to spank them if they get out of line, really funny.

She definitely has been a wonderful addition to our family and we love her very much.

Happy Birthday Belly Boo!!

Look what my honey brought home...

2011-02-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

So Wes went Barbary Sheep hunting in southern NM and he actually saw one and brought one home. These are hard to find and really hard to kill.Wes said it was the hardest hunt that he has been on. So I was pretty proud of him and he was really excited.

The last picture is of his foot. Wes said it looked like he had broken it some time ago and it had healed with the foot pointing in the opposite direction than it should be.

She's a big girl now!!!

2011-02-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

She is holding Abbie's pj pants. I'm sure I've mentioned her love of soft things, anything soft and the thumb goes in.

She usually has this going on!

Please excuse my messy house. I love this one-Noah is trying to do the bunny ears but he's holding up 3 fingers instead of 2.

My miss Bella Boo is officially potty trained! How did I accomplish this hard task? I put underwear on her and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom. She has done the rest herself. I have a book that swears all kids are ready to be potty trained by 22 months. She is 23 months and she was more than ready. So last Thursday I told her no more diapers and I let her see me throw them away (that is what the book says to do-I didn't actually throw them away), and she hasn't had a diaper on since that day. She does still wear a pull-up at night though-that's a whole different story. She still has an occasional accident but always catches it before it's a full accident. Can I just say what a wonderful feeling it is to have all my kids out of diapers, except for pull-ups at night of course. Makes me sad though cuz my kids are growing up so fast and I am going to miss them being small, they will never be these ages again. But I look foward to the years ahead with my little family.

Christmas clothes

2010-12-26T07:19:00.000-08:00

Love Noah's smile in this one!

And I love Easten's smile in this one!
I hate trying to do pictures right before church, because we are always in such a mad rush to get ready. But we were able to get a few shots in. Unfortuately Bella was having a nap, and I have rules about waking her up before she is ready-she gets pretty cranky. They looked really cute though and I just love them.

Christmas day 2010

2010-12-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a little different this year. This was the first year that we celebrated Christmas in our own home. Even when we were living in Las Cruces, we would always come here for Christmas and stay with Wesley's parents. So this year we were able to stay at our own home to open presents. Really enjoyed it. The kids all had a good Christmas, except for Easten who had strep on Christmas and couldn't really go to many of the family functions. So grateful for my family and my Savior.

Abbie's Christmas concert

2010-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Abbie had her Christmas concert today. It lasted for about 10 mins and half the songs they sang weren't Christmas songs, which I thought was weird. They did a great job though and looked like they were having fun.

Turkey Bowl

2010-11-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Abbie got to play in the Turkey Bowl this year-it's flag football between the 2nd and 3rd grade. She had fun but it was freezing outside and she had left her coat inside. Brrrrrr. Then both teams got to have a pizza party after. Not sure if I'll let her play next year or not- it's really more for boys.

This is Abbie's cousin Colton-he was on the opposite team.

Easten's Birthday and more catch up

2010-11-19T09:04:00.000-08:00

My little Easten turned 5 in October. We had a small party with just family for him with a 'Cars' theme and he just loved it. We let him open his presents from us in the morning and had the party at night. (The pictures are all out of order) Easten is a sweet mama's boy. He loves to gives hugs and he will let me hug on him. He had a bad case of the terrible 3's and 4's but he has really sweetened up the past 6 months and is not quite as stubborn as he used to be. He loves going to pre-school and he loves Ms. Ida, his teacher. He is my Easten Wovey (Lovey). I started calling him that when he was born and he pronounces it Wovey. He and Noah are like twins expect Noah is about a head shorter than Easten. They love each other and are best friends, it will be so nice having them a grade apart in school. It won't be so good when they go on their missions though, they won't see each other for 3 1/2-4 years. Happy Birthday Easten, we love you.

In other news, I have started working. I have struggled with deciding to go work for a long time. I had a couple job offers from the hospital, but they wanted me to work full time and I cannot be away from my kids that much. I know it's only 3 days a week but it's 3 long days. I leave before my kids get up and get home at bedtime. Plus the hospital was not willing to work around Wes' schedule, so we could possibly be working at the same times. Who is going to watch my kids? I don't do babysitters, unless it's just to watch the kids while we go out or something. I don't have to work, so if I had to get a babysitter so that I could work I wouldn't do it. Anyway, in summary, the hospital was not going to work out.

So I applied to one of the home health places in town and I told them I wanted extreme part time and what the situation was with Wes and the kids and they were willing to work with me. So I work 2-8 hour days a week and that's all and they pay me good money to do it. It has worked out really well and I'm so grateful that they are willing to work with me.

We finally got around to setting the internet up the other day and I decided I should probably update my blog. So keep scrolling down, there is more. Hope everyone is doing well.

A whole lot of catching up

2010-11-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't updated my blog for a while, time is going by so fast and I feel like there is just never enough of it. We've had quite a few changes in the last few months. For starters we finally closed on our house at the end of August, YAY!!!!!!!! The whole process was such a nightmare and it drug on and on for months.

First off we were going to build a house in Harper Valley so we were trying to find a good sized lot to actually put a house on that would fit our family. If you look in Harper Valley right now at the empty lots, they are really small and awkward shaped and expensive. I have never designed a floor plan before-it's not really easy and the one we wanted would make it to where we would not have had much of a backyard at all. Things were not coming together very well and the house we wanted to build was just going to cost a lot for something that we weren't overly thrilled about.

So frustrated, and still living with Wes' parents we started looking for a house again. In May Wes went and talked to Mark Duncan to see if he knew of any houses for sale in the area. That was a good day, he knew of a house in Harper Valley that was a 'For Sale by Owner' and had just became available. It was built in 1984 and had not been well taken care of by previous renters. So we contacted the owner and we took a tour. I think my mouth fell open when we walked in the door. The inside was trashed, the flooring was all taken out, the walls looked like they had not been painted for years and there were the ugliest, dirtiest pink curtains in the living room. The owner had renters for a while that did not take care of things. He knew it was trashed and he insisted on selling it "as is." So we went out to the backyard and it was huge, one of the biggest lots I've seen down here and he gave us a price. I think my mouth fell open again, his price was so low, and we were able to talk him down even lower. He was just wanting to get rid of it and not deal with renters anymore.

So we prayed about it and decided that we could really fix this place up because we were anticipating a house that was going to cost a whole lot more and the lot size was exactly what we wanted. We decided to talk to our mortgage company to get things rolling and have it appraised. This is when the headache really began. The appraisal took about 3 weeks to complete and come back to us, it's a very frustrating process. Then on top of that the bank would not give us a loan for the house in "as is" condition. There had to be flooring and the walls had to be painted. Well that was fine but the house was not officially ours yet and the owner said he did not have the money to fix it up.

After thinking about it we decided to take the plunge and hope that they would give us the loan after we put a lot of money into fixing it up. It took about 1 1/2 months to finish everything and then the bank said we had to have it reappraised again and yes it took another 3 weeks to get back to us. About to lose my mind and I'm sure my inlaws were about to lose theirs we finally got word back that we were approved for the loan and because of all the trouble the owner came down on the price another$5000 which was absolutely amazing. So we closed at the end of August and we moved in.

So after 7 years of living in the NMSU campus housing and 1 year living with the in-laws, we finally have our own home and I absolutely love it. I love having my own space again and the house looks 100% better on the inside. I wish I would've taken pictures of the inside before we started renovating, you wouldn't even know it's the same house. So we'll start fixing up the outside next year and eventually add on. But we are so excited about it and know that Heavenly Father knew our needs and blessed us with and incredible house that we got for a sweet deal. Thanks to all of those who helped us in any way, we appreciate all of you.

Halloween

2010-11-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Random cuteness!!!

2010-09-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

First day of second grade 8-16-10

2010-08-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

Little Abbie is in second grade. She is getting so big. This girl LOVES school and so does her mom, if it were up to her she would never have a day off. She is very smart and tries really hard. She made strait A's last year with very little help from her parents (cuz she didn't need it). I'm glad that she loves to excel and I hope she always wants to do her best. She really likes Ms. Begay, her new teacher, she really gets along with everybody. She is a sweet girl.

24th of July celebration

2010-07-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

She was quite upset that she didn't get to ride on the float.

Random update

2010-07-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

I see that I haven't updated my blog for a while, not that we haven't been doing a whole lot but I'm just not much of a blogger these days. We just got back from Silverton, CO yesterday after camping and watching the fireworks-it was fun, WAIT-it was camping. Camping is hard with four kids under the age of 7. But we took the pop-up and made the best of it. The kids had a blast of course cuz they love to 4-wheel and fish and all that. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures cuz I forgot my camera. We had a good time with the Warner fam though.

Went and saw Eclipse last week-loved it of course especially the part where he officially proposes to her, so cute. My sis-in-law Kym and I went and we ate at Blue Moon Diner first which I absolutely love. It was a fun kid-free night and Kym won't have many more of those nights. :)

Speaking of child rearing, there are a lot of people prego right now. Bella is at about the age my babies are when I think about having another one. I cringe at the thought. I think having the 4th kid has almost pushed me over the edge. So sadly, I am pretty sure we are done having kids. I love all of them but I think it's time to throw in the towel. Everyone else can go right ahead and I will love your babies and play with them and then I will hand them back to you with a smile.

In other news, my sweetie turned the big 3-0 on the 2nd. Happy Bday babe. I just love him. We have so many things in common it's scary. I might have to make a list of everything.

I would be fine with Wes turning 30 but it reminds me that in less than a month I will also be leaving my 20's. I am having a really hard time with this. 30 is old to me. I have lines under my eyes that weren't there before, I weigh a whole lot more than I used to......shall I go on??????? No, it's not a pretty picture. That reminds me, I have been doing the body combat and body pump classes at Defined Fitness-LOVE THEM!!! They are hard but so much fun.

Moving on, literally, we are trying really hard to close on our house soon-we've had a few barriers but things are looking up and hopefully we will be the proud owners of one of the houses in Harper Valley. It's an older house that needs lots of work but it has a huge backyard and we are so excited about it. So hopefully everything will go through.

Anyway that's what we are doing right now. Lots of randomness and no pictures, sorry.

8 years

2010-06-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

May 28th was our 8 year anniversary, yes I am a blogger slacker. Time has really flown by. Wes is an amazing person and I just think he is so cute. Can't believe the time has gone by so fast and that we have a 7 year old already. I am truly blessed with the family that I have.

So for our anniversary we went to Red Lobster. I LOVE crab legs, but I'd never tried them until after Wes and I got married because I could never get used to the idea of breaking their legs. But I'm ok with that now-cuz they are good. Then we went and watched the new Robin Hood movie which was also pretty good. We had a very nice, kid free, date. Love u sweetie!!!!!!!

Fun in the orchard

2010-05-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

Women's Conference

2010-05-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Audrie and I got to go to Women's Conference this year. It was too much fun. We left Wed. and came back Sat. We got to leave all kids at home and go shopping at the quilted bear, we got to eat at PF Changs and Olive Garden and oh yeah the classes were good too. It was so nice to get to sleep all night long without being woken up. We got to sit in the jacuzzi and relax. It was a nice break from reality.

The classes were really good, and Elder Oaks was the last speaker in the closing session. A common theme throughout the conference was that of service and the greatest service that a mother can provide is to her children. This takes priority over everything. I have been struggling to decide whether I should go to work or not, at the conference I just had a really positive feeling that my place is at home. I would be going to work to provide money for the extra things that we don't need. It is more important to me to stay with my kids and make sure that they get proper care and nutrition, and I would be devastated if I had to go to work and they were sick. I am so grateful for a hard working husband who provides for us so that I don't have to go to work, and who encourages me to stay home. Something else that was spoken a lot about was that the world puts motherhood on the back burner and other things have become priority. It has become "uncool" to stay at home and "just" be a mom. My reply to this is that motherhood is the hardest job I have ever had, harder than college or any job I have ever had. So world, yes I am "uncool." But I have the support of my Heavenly Father and I will never have the chance to raise my children again and I don't want to miss anything.

Abbie's 7th birthday

2010-05-04T09:32:00.001-07:00

Abbie turned 7 on April 20th. She is getting so old. The day she came was a surprise to us because my water broke 3 weeks early which happened to be Easter Sunday that year. It was a nice surprise and that was 3 less weeks of being pregnant. She was 6.9 lbs so she was fine and we took her home the next day.

We just had cake and ice cream with family and I asked her if she wanted me to spend the money on providing a dinner for everyone or go do something fun-she decided that we should go get our nails done. So we had a mommy, daughter outing and went and got manicures and pedicures. She is such a cool little girl and she is so helpful with her siblings. We love having her around. She is one of those kinds of people that is nice everyone. The friend that she plays with the most at school is a cute girl in a wheelchair in her class, they get along so well. Anyway we just love her so much.

Happy Birthday Abbie Lou Lou!

Belly boo's 1 yr pics

2010-04-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here are Bella's 1 yr pictures, they turned out so cute. I just love all of them. She was in such a good mood that day and it was really fun. Trisha Christensen took her pics-505-360-1302 or trishachristensen.com-she did an amazing job.

My poor bella boo does not feel good

2010-04-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Bella has had a fever, vomiting and diarrhea for four days. I feel so bad for her she has just been lying around since Tuesday. No energy, won't hardly smile, very unlike her. Poor thing she just looks like she's in a daze. She did finally start drinking again last night which was quite a relief. I really don't want her to lose any more weight, she only weighs 16 lbs. One good thing about it is that she will snuggle with me but I just worry about her. I hate it when my babies get sick, it just hits them so hard. :(

Seriously, how do people make it that have kids with cancer. I get worried sick with a sickness that lasts for a week. Some kids go through chemo and radiation for months, years-and what is chemo-POISON!!!! It wipes out their immunity causing them to become neutropenic which makes them susceptible to catching whatever they come in contact with. As soon as they get a fever they go straight to the hospital where they stay until the fever is gone and there are no signs of infection. Then the process repeats itself-these poor kids have to go through hell. Poor Kristoffer had to have a tumor that was wrapped around his kidney removed along with the kidney. He had to have a port and a feeding tube placed and the feeding tube became ulcerated and was leaking stomach fluids because his idiot doctor didn't check it right away. What I think is even harder is being in the parents shoes and being able to do absolutely nothing but sit there and watch their kid suffer, not knowing what is going to happen when their kid is diagnosed with cancer-are they going to be able to make it throught this? I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle it. So my hat is off to my sister who had to sit by and watch her 6 yr old boy go through all of this and more and still care for her other three kids at home. Takes a strong person.

Easter clothes

2010-04-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

They all looked so cute today.

Miss Belly Boo

2010-04-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

When I go to get Bella Boo up from her nap this is usually how I find her. She just sits there and kicks her legs.

My baby Noah is three!!!!!!

2010-04-05T20:44:00.001-07:00

He loves to work outside with his dad, his Papa and GG got him a wheelbarrow and garden tools.

We know everyone will be in shock by this but we got Noah a bow for his bday. Now try to contain yourself, it is pretty crazy. This kid loves to shoot bows-he is just like his daddy and brother. I've decided it is a genetic trait.

Little Noah is such a big boy now. I can't believe he is getting so old. He is the sweetest little boy in the whole world. It seems like only yesterday that we were absolutely in shock that I was pregnant again (Easten was only nine months old) and I was very worried because he was due right in the middle of my first semester in the nursing program. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing though and everything worked out and we are so glad that he is in our family. His face in the first picture pretty much sums up his personality. He is so shy. I just love him. He is patient and agreeable and calm and mellow-he pretty much goes with the flow which is such a blessing because his older brother is the complete opposite. I like to call Easten my trial child-thats what he is and I love him too. Noah has a personality much like his daddy-he did have a fun bday-I could tell he felt very special and loved. Happy Birthday Noah!!!!

Crazy hair day

2010-04-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

It was crazy hair day last week so we died Abbie's hair red with kool-aid. It worked really well and her hair is still a little pink. After we put it in it made is so heavy and nappy that I couldn't even curl it, I think I put too much in but Abbie loved it and didn't want to wash it out. The shower was bright pink when she finally did. It was fun.

Happy Easter!!!!!

2010-04-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter-on Saturday we went to the annual Flack Easter egg hunt and the kids loved it of course. It was kind of a low key day with general conference, but it was nice to relax and enjoy spending lots of time with family and letting the kids eat way too much candy.

Leprechaun Traps

2010-03-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Easten and Abbie had to do leprechaun traps for school. Never heard of these before and thought it was retarded at first but the kids thought it was cool and so I guess it wasn't as retarded as I thought. We made them out of popsicle sticks and Abbie was just thrilled cuz she really thought she was going to catch a leprechaun. We had to have a little talk about what's not real, I don't think she believed me though.

Snow day

2010-03-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

We have had a ton of snow this year. I don't really like to get out of the house when it snows but Wes was home one day last week when it snowed and they had a lot of fun. The boys built a fort and a big ol snowman. Poor Noah was worn out just from walking through the snow, poor little shorty. So glad we bought the kids some snow gear this year.

Abbie's little baby

2010-03-03T08:12:00.001-08:00

Bella got this stroller for her doll. She fits perfectly into it and Abbie loves to push her around. Bella justs sits back and enjoys the ride. It is so cute.

Bella turns 1

2010-03-03T06:24:00.000-08:00

She loves babies.

Having a cig. Too funny.

The chocolate in that fountain got thrown out after the party. All of the kids loved it and Easten got caught sticking his tongue in it.

I made a little tutu for her to wear on her bday and it looked so cute and she actually didn't mind wearing it.

Audrie cut these letters out using a band saw. She's really good at it. They turned out really cute.

My Miss Bella turned 1 on Feb 24. This year has sped by. She is such a fun little girl. She is the only one of my kids that has sucked her thumb, it is so funny because she will only suck if she has something soft in her hands otherwise she acts like she doesn't know how to suck her thumb without it. She had a pair of soft fleece pants on once and so she had a thumb with it and was trying to get her pants up to her face. I just love her and all of my kids. I am so grateful to be a mother and to get to stay home with them.

There were a lot more pictures but they were all really grainy cuz someone forgot to use the flash. Not naming any names though. :)

Blogger slacker

2010-01-03T18:55:00.000-08:00

So I have been told that my blog has not been updated for two months. Yes I know I am a slacker, but I don't have 20 mins. of uninterrupted time to post anything. I can't use school or work as an excuse because I'm not in school anymore and no I don't work. So what do I do all day long that keeps me from blogging. Well I have four kids that I have to feed or breastfeed, bathe, fill and refill sippie cups for, read to, color with, break up when fighting, keep from climbing on the furniture-counter-refrigerator, remind them that we don't shoot our bows in the house especially not at our brother, redress because they like to be in their underwear (boys), keep from shooting their nerf darts at the plasma TV, tell them they can't ride their bikes and scooters in the house, make play-doh ice cream with, feed again and pull back to the table to finish their food, remind them to point their things down when they pee then clean up the pee when they don't listen, change diapers, put their sheets back on their bed after they have stripped three beds (a favorite for my boys), wipe snot, fix hair, pick out clothes for school (if I don't pick out the right clothes-there are tears (Abbie)), try to remember to have FHE with, say prayers with, paint fingernails, fix more food that is nutritious and something that all of them will eat, read scriptures too, tell them I love them......and when there is a quiet moment run don't walk to see what they're doing cuz it might be scary. (The list can go on and on)

I have four kids that are absolutely crazy but I also absolutely adore them. Raising them is by far the hardest thing I have ever done, but along with all of the hardships I get a lot of hugs, laughs, thank yous, wet kisses, hi mommys, smiles, that's a great idea moms, I wike this-dinners, homemade cards, and I wuv yous-I get to witness everything that goes on in their lives. When I die I doubt that Heavenly Father will say wow you really missed out on having a good career, I'm sure he wouldn't want me doing anything else at this point in time.

Now on to the awesome husband that I have-the one who also handles the above mentioned crazies plus working nights trying to sleep during the day while the crazies are being crazy. We are always his first priority and I love to watch him interact with the kids because I can see the love that he has for them. And when the day is over he still manages to tell me how much he loves me. He is very hard-working, supportive, thoughtful, patient, loving, sweet, hot, devoted and I just love him. This is our life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Sorry blogging world-I've been busy.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

We had a good Christmas. The best part was we didn't have to drive six hours to be with our families since we live here now. We do miss Las Cruces but we don't miss the drive. The kids especially had a good time. We knew Abbie would peek at her Santa gift before we got up so we kind of hid hers by the front door. She walked right passed it and didn't see it. I had to point it out to her after everybody was awake. She was so excited. The boys are thrilled with most anything, Easten got a scooter and Noah a work bench from Santa. Miss Bella Boo loved talking to her Cabbage Patch doll. But Abbie stole it after a while.

Miss Isabella

2009-11-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

I love this little girl. She is so much fun. (I love all of my other kids too)

Trunk or Treat

2009-10-29T08:17:00.001-07:00

We went to the trunk or treat last night-it was cold and it starting snowing again as we were leaving. The kids had a pretty good time. They all looked so cute. Abbie was a princess, same as last year, Easten was a lion, Noah was a dragon and Bella was a lamb. Of course I didn't think to take pictures while we were actually at the trunk or treat.

Cute crocheted hats

2009-10-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law bought some really cute crocheted hats online, so I ordered a few in a bunch of different colors for Bella and Abbie. These babies are only $2.75 each. I can't even make one myself for that cheap. They look so cute on, and I just bought the flowers at Hobby Lobby and took the stem out of them and glued them back together. I love having little girls. She is such a little poser.

Sutherland Farms

2009-10-17T17:51:00.001-07:00

Of course we have to pee, he will pee anywhere.

Milkin the cow, it's so much like the real thing.

We went to Sutherland Farms today and it was pretty fun, for the kids. I liked it. They have a bunch of fun things for kids to do and they had a good time. Yeah we probably won't ever go again as a family but it was fun for today to do something different. Our friends Bev and Austin Clawson and their kids came up for the day and went with us. We miss all of our Las Cruces friends, we really did have a fun time there. I really wish they lived closer, it was really good to see them again.

Easten's 4th Birthday

2009-09-28T19:35:00.001-07:00

My little boy turns four this week, he is getting so big. We celebrated his birthday yesterday with the family. Easten is very much into shooting his bow just like his daddy and he has been shooting Abbie's old bow which is a right handed bow and Easten is left handed. So we thought it was time to get him his own lefty bow. He LOVED it. Shopping for him is just way too easy. Thanks to everyone that came, it was a fun party. (By the way the pictures were loaded in the wrong order, I hate how it does that)

My cute girl!

2009-09-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

I love having girls to dress up and have fun with. Abbie looked so cute at church today. So glad I get to do it all over again with Bella. Don't get me wrong boys are fun too, but it's much more exciting to shop for girly things.

I hope my girls and I have a close relationship as they get older.

Abbie's first year in soccer

2009-09-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

I was nervous when Abbie started soccer this year because this is her first year and a lot of the other girls on her team have already been playing for three years. She did go the wrong way once in her first game, but today was her third game and she is doing really well. She was very aggressive today, a little too much. She did almost score a goal today too, so fun to watch them.

Durango, CO

2009-09-18T12:34:00.001-07:00

We went up to Durango yesterday and had fun walking down Main St and eating at Francisco's. I do love going to the mountains, I'm not much of a camper but I love the scenery. The kids had fun, poor Abbie missed out because she was at school. It is so good to be near family and be able to be here for important events. So glad we made the move.

Red fox

2009-08-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

So there are two fox that like to play in my in-laws yard in the mornings. I got a picture of one sitting on the bow shooting target.

First day of first grade-August 17, 2009

2009-08-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

Abbie was so cute on her first day. She did end up being really nervous when we got to the school and she did cry after I left, says her teacher. But she has had a little time to adjust and she really does make friends fast. She also started soccer for the first time and her first game is on Saturday, I will post pictures. I think she does really well at practice, but yesterday some girl on her team told her she wasn't good. What is wrong with some kids? So obviously it made Abbie cry. So many new things, but we are glad that we made the move.

On a different note, the preschool that Easten will be starting as soon as we can get all of the paperwork done had a little boy that tested positive for the swine flu AND they sent 28 kindergarteners home on Friday for flu like symptoms and 17 preschoolers home I think yesterday. Were parents informed of this? No-so glad Easten hasn't started school yet, maybe we'll wait a few extra days to make sure that everyone is feeling better. I know the swine flu isn't much different from the regular flu, but when one of my kids gets sick they all do and I especially don't want my baby getting sick.

Home sweet home

2009-08-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the neighbors that surround us. Right next door are our Korean neighbors. They have lived in the NMSU student housing for 10 years-while he got his phD in chemical engineering. Wow that is a long time. Of course I never thought that we would live here as long as we did. Our plan was to live here for 4 years so Wes could get his chemical engineering degree, I had absolutely no intention of going to school. 7 years and 4 kids later I would never have imagined that we would still be here in this little itty bitty house. Amazing how the Lord had a different plan for us, one that we would've never thought of on our own but are so glad it turned out the way it did. We have been EXTREMELY blessed. So back to our Korean family, they have decided to leave us and move to Arkansas. Well this last year or so of visiting family at home has made us homesick-we miss out on a lot and it has been extremely hard living so far away from everyone. So after much thought and prayer we have decided to pick up stakes as well. That's right we are moving back home!!!!!!

I just love her

2009-07-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that she is the sweetest baby. (Got a lot of new posts so keep scrolling down)

Keeping the boys busy

2009-07-30T13:10:00.001-07:00

Abbie is still up north at her GG's house so I have to try harder to keep the boys entertained. I bought some plastic containers to help us move and timed how long it would take the boys to be in them. It took less than 2 minutes. Had to take the lids away because they kept closing eachother in. Pretty sure they can't breathe in there. Bella loves to watch her siblings. My kids frequently have no clothes on, its just too hot.

After the 24th festivities

2009-07-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

They wore themselves out.

The 24th weekend

2009-07-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

We went home for the 24th weekend and had a good time. Jen & Omni have a bonzai slide that we set up. The kids loved it. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of them at the 24th celebration. Wes, Abbie and Rodney ran in the 5k. Abbie's my little endurance runner. Then we went to the church for all the fun festivities. Easten is going to be a bow hunter just like his Daddy.

more 24th pics

2009-07-30T12:44:00.001-07:00

Daddy's new tent

2009-07-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Wes got a new one man tent for his high altitude hunt this September. The kids thought it was so neat, except I'm not sure what Easten's deal was.

After the rain comes the play...

2009-07-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

It doesn't take much to flood the streets of Las Cruces. Heaven help us if we ever really have a flood. Today we had a really good storm blow through and created some fun puddles in the streets. So Wes said lets go play. They had a lot of fun and I took a few pictures.

My sweetie is getting old.

2009-07-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

Wes turned 29 on Thursday-he is really getting old. Of course I can only say that for about another month before I join him in the 'old' category. We celebrated by taking the kids to watch Ice Age 3 which was pretty good. Then we got a babysitter and went out to eat at Red Lobster which was so good. Gotta love the crab legs-right Audrie? While we were there, a man was sitting next to us telling the waitress that he was allergic to shellfish and was demanding that his dinner be absolutely free from being contaminated with any shellfish. Good luck buddy-I'm sorry why are you eating at Red Lobster? Anyway we had a good day and I made Wes' favorite cake that his grandma used to make (lemon cake) which I had never made before but I was quite proud of myself-the frosting turned out really good. I love that last picture of Bella-huh?

Bella boo is four months and Noah has cute undies...

2009-06-30T13:40:00.001-07:00

Ode to my sister...

2009-06-30T12:56:00.001-07:00

My sister thinks my blog is boring and that I need to update more frequently. So I tried to find an embarrassing picture of her but sadly I couldn't find one. So here is a picture of us many moons ago when times were simpler, children were healthy (or non existent in my case), waistlines were thinner (or at least mine anyway, Audrie has had the same since high school), money was plentiful, oh wait. Ah well, anyway love ya Smaudrie poo. Hope my Kristoffer is feeling better.

Potty trained

2009-06-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that I now only have to buy one set of diapers instead of three. My friend used a 3 day potty training book on her son and it worked so I decided to give it a try on my boys. It actually worked, they have been out of diapers for a week now and really haven't had any accidents. Goodbye diapers, I won't miss you.

Up!!

2009-06-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Wes and I took all of the kids to watch Up (that's right all four of them). They did amazingly well and did not get up once (except for Abbie's two bathroom breaks). It was a really cute movie and I was just thrilled that the kids all liked it. Bella fussed a little but I think it was because it was really loud.

Riding home...

2009-06-02T09:47:00.001-07:00

On our way home yesterday we saw a rainbow, it was really neat. This isn' t the best picture but I was trying to drive and take it @ the same time so this is what I got. Keep scrolling down, there is more from our trip.

Slippin n Slidin

2009-06-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting Kirtland we stayed at our GG's house and played on the slip n slide. They have a beautiful yard and the kids had so much fun playing and watering GG's flowers. Thanks for letting us stay GG.

Homemade pizza...

2009-06-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

I have decided to document more of our everyday lives because I want to print off this blog someday. One of our favorite meals is homemade pizza and Easten is my little helper. He loves to sit on the counter and help me make it. Sometimes he helps a little too much but I still love that he is interested and I've heard that if a child helps prepare the meal he will be more likely to eat it. For those of you who don't know Easten he is extremely picky so I'm hoping that if he helps prepare it then he will be more likely to eat it. Of course what kid doesn't like pizza? And with this pizza I like to hide things in it that he can't see (wheat flour and some good veggies) and he has absolutely no idea.

Colorado mountains...

2009-06-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

We went home for Memorial Day and had a good time, we went to the Colorado mountains for a day and the kids had a lot of fun. It's always so beautiful up there and it rained. I love the rain because I don't get to see it very much. I didn't take as many pictures as I should've but here are a few. Easten is just like his Daddy-he loves to shoot his bow.

It's official...

2009-06-02T09:14:00.001-07:00

We have our very first thumb sucker.

Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

Today is our 7 year anniversary and it's so sad because Wes is in Cruces and I'm in Kirtland. But I just want my sweetie to know how much I love him and I miss him and can't wait until I get to see him again. The last 7 years have been awesome and I am looking foward to eternity. Love you honey.

Emptying the fire hydrant

2009-05-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

A couple times a year they empty all of the fire hydrants on campus. Abbie and her friends decided to get wet. They had a lot of fun, Easten was not so willing to participate. The only problem with emptying the fire hydrants is that it turns the water in our house brown for a day so no laundry, showers, etc until the water clears up.

My girls

2009-05-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

My friend Amber took pictures of my kids. They turned out so cute-she did a really good job. I'll post some of the other ones later, I just thought this one was so cute. Bella now weighs 10 lbs 7 oz and is 21 in. She's all smiles now and I can't believe what a good baby she is.

What do you think?

2009-05-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

Everybody is having a hard time figuring out who Miss Bella looks like, Wes and I included because our other three children all looked a lot alike in their birth pictures but Bella looks different somehow. So Abbie is the one in the bath and Bella is on her pink blanket-What do you think? Do they look alike?

Nap time

2009-05-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

I love this time of day. We do get a lot of use out of that bouncer, hope he doesn't break it. But I'm not going to wake him up.

2009-05-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

We took some shots of the kids before church today that turned out really cute. We didn't have enough time to take some of Bella on her own but I'll have to take more of her and post them.

2009-04-21T07:09:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we went to Kirtland for Sabin's reception, Abbie's birthday and Bella's blessing. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at the reception but it looked really cute. Here are some pictures of my cute kids and don't you love our current family picture? (at least all of the girls cooperated) Bella's blessing dress was so pretty-Wes' mom made it. We had a really fun weekend and wished that we lived closer to family.

Happy Birthday Abbie!!!

2009-04-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Abbie turned 6 today. Can't believe she is that old. Unfortunately we didn't do a whole lot today because we were traveling home but we celebrated her birthday on Saturday up in Kirtland. It went really well and I even attempted to make a real birthday cake. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted but she liked it and she was spoiled by everyone. Thanks everybody for thinking of Abbie on her birthday.

Birthday boy!!

2009-04-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

My little Noah turned 2 today, I can't believe he's that old and we already have a baby younger than him. I still call him my baby. For his birthday we did a 'Cars' theme and he just loved it. Easten was convinced that it was his birthday too and has pretty much claimed all of Noah's presents. We are so grateful for all of our kids and don't know what we would do without them. Noah is such a sweetie and he is so shy. Happy Birthday Noah!

My big girl

2009-03-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

My little girl is growing up.

Maggie Warner, RN

2009-03-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

I passed boards, I am so excited! It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. But it's done and now I can go get a job-yeah right. I think I'll just spend time with my new baby.

Kristoffer update

2009-03-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to do a little update on Kristoffer. He had a cat scan done today to check on the size of the tumor since starting chemo and it has shrunk 92%. Very exciting news.

3 weeks old today!!!

2009-03-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

The best invention ever. She is still a little small for it.

Isn't this a beautiful sight, this was when we went home last week.

Miss Bella is 3 weeks old today. Time is really going fast. She is really a sweet baby and very alert, I could hold her all day long. Here are some recent photos and yes she just barely lost her cord. I swear it didn't take this long with my other kids. The other kids just love kissing and hugging on her, almost too much.

The dreaded N-CLEX

2009-03-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

Now that I have had Miss Bella I have to concentrate on something that I have been putting off since I graduated-the NCLEX. I really have zero motivation to study for it. I did talk to one of the girls in my class yesterday and everyone that she knows of that has taken it has passed it, that makes me feel a little better. Guess I'll start studying and I'll let everyone know in a few weeks how it went-unless I don't pass and then I won't say anything. Any words of encouragement from any fellow nurses out there?

Miss Isabella

2009-02-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our sweet little girl. Her hair is really dark like the rest of our kids when they were born, it probably won't stay that way. The last picture I was feeling really relaxed with some good drugs and an epidural. I don't do well with pain. Some ladies at an assisted living place here knitted hats and booties for the infants, they turned out so cute.

Glad to be home

2009-02-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note and I'll post pictures later. Isabella Sarah was born on Feb. 24 at 11pm. We thought she weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz and 19 in long, however we later discovered that the nurse weighed her wrong because when they went to weigh her again she only weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. We freaked out a little thinking there was something horribly wrong with her but no she is just fine and the pediatrician said that she must have been weighed wrong intially because she is eating, peeing and pooping just fine. S0 she weighes 6.13 ilbs. Sadly we don't know what she weighed right when she was born, oh well. She is so sweet though. I love new babies. Hope everyone is doing well.

Still waiting.......

2009-02-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

It's official, I have never been pregnant this long. My doctor didn't give me much encouragement at my appointment yesterday which was quite upsetting. To add to my frustration, they scheduled my next appointment for me, the day after my due date. I am really trying to stay positive but it's hard when you just can't move anymore.

Waiting for baby....

2009-02-11T13:06:00.001-08:00

Well, we are almost down to the wire, I will be 38 weeks tomorrow and I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. So glad that I don't have to deal with school anymore. With our last baby, Noah, I was in the middle of my first semester of nursing school when I had him and that complicated things. We are hoping that she will come this weekend, all of my babies have come at least a week early and that has been so nice. However, one of my boys woke up puking this morning so I'm glad that she isn't here yet.

Wanted to say thanks to my awesome friends here that threw me a baby shower last weekend and to all of those that showed up and supported us. So nice to have good friends even when one decides to skip out and go on a date with her husband instead. (Just kidding Carolyn, I know it was pre-planned)

To update on Kristoffer, in case you haven't seen Audrie's blog, he went back into the hospital last night for a fever which unfortunately happens when you are on chemo and have a depleted immune system. Thankfully they are able to take him to the hospital close to where they live. He is doing well other than the fever though and they are running antibiotics through his port to try to fight any infections. Keep him and his family in your prayers. By the way the fundraiser dinner went really well from what I hear and they had way more people show up than expected.

Fundraiser for Kristoffer

2009-01-29T06:51:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody, next Saturday, February 7 from 4-7 at the Kirtland High School cafeteria there is going to be a fundraiser for Kristoffer. It is going to be a Navajo Taco Dinner-the tickets will be $5.00. If you would like to purchase tickets call Karen Northup or Kristen Kennedy at (505) 598-5855 or (505) 320 6860. Tickets at the door are limited, so please buy ahead of time if you can. Any help is greatly appreciated. Donations can also be made to an account at Four Corners Community Bank in Kristoffer's name.

Just a little side note, Audrie is updating her blog daily to keep everyone posted on Kristoffer's condition. I hope this will keep Kirtland gossip to a minimum which I hear is getting a little out of control with somewhat inaccurate information, probably being told with good intentions. (That's Kirtland for ya) I know she is grateful for everyone's support and Kristoffer is doing well and has the same high spirits that he always does. Just keep praying for the best.

Kristoffer

2009-01-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

As some of you may have already heard, my nephew Kristoffer was life flighted to Phoenix early Thursday morning. He has a softball sized tumor on one of his kidneys and some spots on his liver. He will be starting chemotherapy to reduce the size of the tumor before it can be removed. Your prayers are greatly appreciated and Audrie is very greatful for all of the phone calls and the help she has received in caring for her three other children.

Fun in a box

2009-01-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

I ordered a new car seat from Amazon.com for Bella because the one I had for the boys is trashed, I love buying girl things. We didn't really get to buy pink things for Abbie because they weren't sure if she was a boy or girl. We ended up buying a lot of neutral things (greens and yellows), this time everything is pink and I love it. And can I just say that Amazon.com is awesome. They have the best deals and free shipping.

It's amazing how a box can be so entertaining. My poor Easten looks like a cancer patient. I couldn't get his hair to look quite right so I shaved him bald, poor kid.

A day at the park; or maybe a half an hour anyway

2009-01-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

We decided to get out of the house today and go to the park and when we got there decided it was too cold. We did stay for about a half an hour though. Abbie is really proud of her first lost tooth, you can kind of see it in the picture.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T13:26:00.001-08:00

We had a really good Christmas visiting family. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and have a Happy New Year.