Month: March 2012

We made chicks today! It was fun but super crazy. Caleb had school today so we packed in a project and lunch and potty time for everyone before school. Ciara loved the chick so much. I made an extra one so that Ciara could hug it, she took it everywhere with her. I had to keep gluing him back together.

For school Caleb went to a farm, they learned all about farm animals. (Kind of funny because the Elmo we watched this morning when the kids got up was all about farm animals) When I went to pick up Caleb after school he got in the van and said “Mommy did you know that eggs dont come from the store? They come from a real chicken! They lay eggs! Then the farmer gets them all and they go on a truck to the store! And thats how we get eggs Mommy… from chickens!” I laughed and said “No Way!” He then went on to tell me that the farm dog came right up to him and licked him. And they saw real cows and horses. What fun!

Ben brought me Cafe Rio for lunch today. (He is trying to make it a Friday tradition) He has been really diligent about keeping track of his blood pressure. Im so proud of him.

After Kaiah and Maisie left today I took the kids down to the dock to the swings. Caleb pouted when I tried to teach him to pump his legs so that he would stay higher when he swings. Ciara giggles so hard when I push her. Then the kids played in the sand for a while.
The weather was so nice today. It was in the 70s and there were no clouds when we were at the dock. Caleb found a tadpole in the lake and we watched the small fish swim under the dock. Caleb kept climbing on the rocks to cross the river. I got a picture of when he almost fell, but a couple minuetes later he really did fall on a rock. He got a little bruise on his bum. I felt so bad. He just got to confident and stopped being careful. On our way home he said he was mad at the rocks and that he never wanted to go there again. I find it silly that such a small thing would cause such a harsh opinion.

When Ben came home from work the kids picked on Daddy. We laughed so hard! Ben was in such a good mood. The kids rough housed with him. Caleb kept farting on Ben so Ben decided to give him buttercups. Gross I know but what a bonding experience. Then Ben picked up Ciara and chased Caleb to tickle him. He kept whispering in her ear to tickle big brother. We all got headaches because we were laughing so hard.

I put Ben in the corner for teaching Caleb how to buttercup people!

Then we went to blockbuster and rented Bedtime Stories. When Ciara fell asleep I took the opportunity to paint my nails. Wanted to do something a little different to see what I could do. Its a little crazy I know but its for Easter 🙂 What a great day!!

Ciara was in a very lovy mood today for Caleb. She followed him around everywhere. Caleb has been pretty mean recently, trying to get Ciara to scream at him or scratch at him so he can tattle on her. Sometimes he will yell when she cries so she will cry louder and it just drives me crazy! He tends to do that in the car. We have an elmo sound track that plays the classic nursery rhymes that all the Sesame Street characters sing. Ciara knows all of the songs. Tonight she replaced every word of twinkle, twinkle little star with dada.

During Kaiah and Maisies nap time Ciara and Caleb played sword fight. They took turns winning and losing. They all jumped on the trampoline as usual, Caleb played some wii games and the girls pushed all the babies around in the stroller. Ciara loved on the dog for a while. We got Simbia when she learned the word dog and thats all she would say. We got Simbia from the pound, he is a little older but already trained and he takes so much from the kids. He sleeps with Caleb downstairs. He also goes running with me. I think Simbia makes everyone feel confident in being alone when we have to be. Ciara loves to use him as a step stool or a pillow. Today he was licking her hand and she returned the favor by kissing his nose. Gross I know.

Ciara wanted a nap time bottle and when I made one for her I said go cuddle Caleb and have quiet time. She said “Yeah”, took her bottle and ran over to her brother. I watched from the kitchen as Caleb helped her up onto the couch and into his lap. Then she watched him play Mario. So sweet!

I bought the kids a little toy that molds little plastic rods into the shape you push them in, like pixels. Caleb started putting it on his face which looked really cool. Then he put it on Ciara’s face and she thought that was the funniest thing ever! I got a picture of what it looked like when she started laughing. It was pretty sweet.

I planted some seeds for flowers for our front yard area. I have never thought of myself as a gardener but it was pretty fun. Ciara enjoyed playing in the water when I watered the soil things. And Caleb helped me put the tiny seeds into their pods. I hope they turn out well. Caleb has started picking up my camera and taking pictures of me when I do things! I think he is catching on to me doing it all the time to him. Pretty smart kid!

Ben had a better day today. My mom visited for a little while and Ben got off work late so we decided to go out to eat. Money has been a little tight for us recently so we havnt been out much. (When we first met thats all we did! It was like a date every night!) Ben decided to take us to Red Robin (yum) and we enjoyed out time away from the house.


I took Simbia running tonight and he just loved it. I did too. I really want to hike Timp this summer again but it was really hard on my body last time. So as long as the weather stays kind of nice I will try to keep up the running. It really does make me feel good even though its hard. I wore my shape up shoes which make a big difference. We will see if I can keep it up. 🙂

These are my three favorite people in the world!!!

I was not all the way together today. I did get the trampoline fixed and all three kids helped me. They picked up all the trash in the backyard including all the springs to the tramp. They were all very excited for me to fix it, its only been a couple days without it but as soon as I got it together they were all so happy!

There wasn’t anything special today, just hanging out. Ciara was being sweet and helped me burp the baby. She can also climb into her highchair by herself. Today she put some decorative apples on her highchair, climbed up in it and said “mama apples!”

I think Caleb may direct or write movies one day. He is constantly telling me to watch his movie and then he plays it out with either his body or his action figures. We watched Tall Tale yesterday and I noticed some of his “movie” stole some scenes from there. He is a super smart kid.

For some reason with all the commotion outside I forgot Caleb had school today. On school days my day is on a tight schedule since Kaiah has to nap for 2 hours and Caleb’s school is exactly 2 hours. I have to time it just right, and when I noticed what time it was (school had already started and no one had lunch yet) I couldn’t take him and allow Kaiah to nap the whole time she needs. So Caleb took one for the team and stayed home. Ciara is really starting to pick up words. I notice when she plays she will say something I havnt heard before.
When the girls left we went to Grandmas new work to visit. Then I bought the kids an ice cream and when Ben came home we all watched the Incredibles (one of my favorites) and the kids ran around the house. Ciara is getting really good at going to bed. Ben wanted to work on his project so I rocked her for a little bit. When she seemed sleepy I told her it was time for night night, she gave me a big kiss and daddy a big kiss, then we found Bert (the bear) and she cuddled him while I laid her down. She cried for about 10 seconds and then was quiet. Last night Ben and I heard her sing herself to sleep. She has the prettiest little voice. Caleb also has a great singing voice. Sometimes he will make up songs, my favorite ones involve how much he loves me.
Ben and I had a hard day filled with stress and worry but the kids didn’t seem to notice. I really do cherish the time I have with Ben and I hope one day we will have more time then just at night.

Some flowers my mama brought me 🙂

The weather was still kind of nasty today so I brought the outside toys inside for the girls to play. They played on the slide a lot. They made little games with each other like making a train as they go down, and using it as a ladder to jump onto the couch. Little baby Maisie was extra cuddly today. She didn’t want to be in the bouncer for long, she just wanted to be held.

Ciara also decided that her bear (Bert) would like to go down the slide. She grabbed all her babies and the bear and lined them up in the bouncer. I guess she thought they looked really comfy in there so she sat on them. Kaiah thought this was so funny that Ciara was sitting in the little baby bouncer that Kaiah joined her. There were lots of giggles. Meanwhile Caleb played the wii, today his favorite game is the Lego Star Wars. When Maisie wasn’t enjoying a good head rub from me Caleb decided to make her laugh by playing peek-a-boo. She has the biggest smiley baby face I have ever seen.

Kaiah pointed at my nails and said “Pretty Sara” and I asked her if she wanted me to do her nails. Of course everyone including Caleb said yes. I let the girls pick out their favorite colors for the day. Kaiah wanted blue for her fingers and pink for her toes, Ciara wanted the opposite. Caleb begged and begged me to paint his fingers, so I tipped each finger in black (Daddy’s favorite color) and then took it off immediately so no one would see and think he was silly.
Daddy came home for lunch to dress up a little nicer. He met with an acquaintance to talk about the business he is trying to establish. It went pretty well. But he couldn’t leave the house without giving everyone a big kiss! (Especially me!)

When the girls left I took my kids on a long walk. Caleb rode his bike and Ciara sat in the stroller for a while until she didn’t want to. She asked Caleb if she could sit in his lap. He rode for a long time with her in his lap. Once he became tired he asked her to get off and she threw a fit because she didn’t want to walk or be in the stroller, she wanted me to hold her (which I couldn’t because I couldn’t push the stroller and carry her) She cried and got really mad at me. Caleb finally told her to come see him. He gave her a big hug and told her he would take her on his bike if she wanted it that bad. Ciara gave him a big hug and rested her head on his shoulder while he peddled her to the park. It almost brought tears to my eyes to see my kids being so sweet.
We played at the park for a while but there were lots of kids there and the weather started to turn cold so we headed back. On the way home Caleb found some neighborhood kids to play with for an hour. We had a pretty good play day today 🙂

Today started out so horrible! I woke up when Ben came to tell me (before he left for work) that the trampoline had blown into the neighbors yard. We had a terrible storm, the news said our area received 75 mph gusts of wind. Our trampoline was up against my neighbors house, it had flown over the large fence. We were lucky that no windows were broken. The worst of the storm happened while Ben and I pushed the tramp back over the fence. We then had to take the trampoline completely apart because it kept blowing up. It was snowing and the wind was blowing hard… it was so cold! I couldn’t help but feel like the world was out to get me.I begged Ben to stay home. I had a pretty bad feeling about the day.

Maisie and Kaiah were so good, all the kids played very well together. Ben went with me to pick up the girls and as we put Kaiah in her car seat Jer said to her “Kaiah, are you excited to play with Uncle Ben and his wild rice?” If we had a family band that would totally be our name! He has said that before but today it just seemed to stick.
Ben took advantage of taking a day off and say a doctor for his allergies. He received a shot that is supposed to take care of it all year, he is very excited to see how well it works. When the girls left we had to buy Caleb new shoes and a blood pressure cut to keep track of Ben’s always high blood pressure (the doctor said this shot would raise his already high blood pressure.) We all took our blood pressure, Bens was the lowest its been for a while!

We spent the rest of the day together. I made chocolate truffles for something sweet after dinner.
Then Ben took the kids downstairs and started playing with them. I joined in and we had so much fun! It was the perfect end to a terrible tear filled day. Thank goodness for my family!

Ben caught in the act!

We visited my in-laws today in Heber. It had been out Sunday tradition for a while now. Braxton was visiting his dad this week so we got to see him. He looked so handsome all dressed up for church. Jeff wasn’t feeling well today so we didn’t get to see him. Jer and Kasie joined us so we almost had all of the grandkids.

 Lori wanted us adults to watch a movie so she volunteered to watch all the kids, so we took the opportunity. The film was called Courageous or something like that and was about being a good father and believing in the Lord. My favorite part of the day was when we went on a spontaneous walk around the cemetery near Loris house. Lori just wanted to take Brax and Ciara to see the horses down the road but we all ended up going with her. Braxton followed Meisha the dog all over and Ciara never left Grandmas side. Caleb followed Uncle Aaron and Daddy. Ciara would run really fast and Lori didn’t want her to fall so she ran backwards to catch her which made Ciara laugh so hard. She did end up falling down and hurting her knee, it wasnt very bad but she had to tell everyone she was hurt. It was very sweet seeing her get all the sympathy from Ben, Lori, Aaron and me.

 I painted Ciara and Lori and my fingernails today. I wanted to do something fun so I did poka dots. I really liked how they turned out. And Ciara just loves getting all pretty. Ciara was very fond of her Aunt Kasie today. While we watched the movie Ciara climbed up in Kasie’s lap and just watched the movie eating popcorn. It was so cute! I love visiting family! I always feel refreshed and ready for the week. 

 Ben, Aaron and Caleb rough housed. Ben actually threw Caleb up in the air and Caleb was all impressed how strong Ben is. Ciara’s vocabulary has grown so much in the last couple days. Its like if she tries really hard to say a word she can. My babies are growing up so fast!

Sleepover day 2, Aiden’s mom stayed another night so he did too. The boys played outside all day… literally. They both got the first sunburn of the year, its not bad but it is a sunburn. I didn’t even think about sunscreen. (Shame on me I know) It was cloudy and a little windy but like in the 70s so it was perfect. In this picture they were using Caleb’s belt to pretend that they were fishing off the trampoline. They also caught lots of bugs in the backyard, flew paper airplanes, played swords and hunting and at one point they were vampiers. A day filled with their imagination. It was really good for Caleb. Sometimes they argue about what they should play but they always settle their agreements peacefully. Makes me proud. Ciara followed them around like a little puppy, trying to do everything they did. We went out to get pizza and all three of them sat in the back seat and sang to the elmo soundtrack I have. It was so cute! I love how she just adores her older brother. When we went to the store she didn’t want me to help her down the stairs or hold my hand across the street because Caleb wasn’t doing it. She wanted to be all independent.

Ciara said Pizza for the first time today! She says piece for bread so it wasn’t far from the word but we gave her a piece of pizza and asked her to say it and she did. We all laughed and then she said it a million times again cause we were so proud. She used lots of words today playing with the boys. She is one tough cookie. Daddy played an Elmo game with her on the Ipad, he would say yay Ciara you did it and she would say “Yay I did it!” Super cute! I love how my young children can play with the latest technology without a second thought. 

While in the store today we found an Elmo jammy for Ciara. She held onto that jammy like a blanket until we got home. Needless to say she wore them tonight for bed. She had her jimmies and her Elmo doll. Love this baby C! I could not take that bottle away after I gave it to her. She is down to having 3 bottles again, morning, noon and night. 

  The kids played on the trampoline almost all day! Caleb had the girls sit in the middle while he bounced them and showed them all his cool tricks. His new trick is to jump really high and land on his hands then kick his feet up. Then the girls decided to ride on Caleb like a horse. It was so much fun! The bug we played with yesterday came back for a visit. Kaiah and Caleb ganged up on Ciara because Ciara was trying to sit on the bug and they just wanted to poke him. Pretty funny. It was a little bit windy today but still really warm. When we went inside Caleb pretended to be a doctor. Most of the time he tells me he wants to be an Army doctor.

Below is a picture of Caleb eating onions raw. I think this is the weirdest most gross thing ever! I was cutting onions to put in Chili and he asked if he could eat the rest! I was like sure thinking he didnt know what he was getting into but he ate almos the whole thing! I guess Grandpa started this gross behavior. My girlfriend went out of town for the night and asked if I would have her little boy over, so Caleb had his first sleepover tonight. We had lost of fun. They played on the trampoline for a long time, then we had to run a couple of errands and we picked up lots more candy. When we came home we built a fort and bought the incredibles. It was hard to get the boys to settle down for the night in their tent. We set them up in the living room and they were just so excited! 

 Yesterday was really hard for our family.
Caleb had difficulty sleeping which made everyone in our home not get enough sleep.
Caleb woke up at 3:30am bacause of a bad dream. We have a little monitor for his room since he sleeps downstairs, it has a camera so I can actually see him sleep. I guess I have been sleeping so hard that I didnt hear him. He came upstairs and chewed me out because I didnt hear him say Mommy in the monitor. I told him to try to be quiet since Daddy has to work. From then on I didnt get to go back to sleep. He went from Ciaras room to our room and back and forth. Around 6am my body hurt from lack of sleep, and Caleb started making lots of noise in our room (he had already woke up Ciara and she was now sleeping in our room at this point) so I lost my temper. I told him to sleep in Ciaras room if he could not be quiet. Then he decided to scream and throw a tantrum. I grabbed his hand and his blanket and pillow and put him in Ciaras room and went back to bed. Maybe 10 min later he comes into my room telling me what a horrible mother I was for throwing him in the other room. This was the first time as a mom when I was told I was doing a poor job by my own son. I was so hurt! I asked Ben if I had pushed the limits and he agreed that I couldnt have handled it any better. I think this is when parenting becomes really hard. When you have to put your foot down for the greater good.
Oh Boy… so needless to say we had a rough night. No one got enough sleep. I called Jer and told him I couldnt watch the girls because I couldnt see straight. That day Caleb still wouldnt nap, I dont know how he kept moving. He even had energy to jump on the trampoline. In the picture below Ciara is mad because I wouldnt let her take her shirt off. Caleb has his shirt off because all he had on was a sweat shirt and the weather was way to nice for that. We all apologized to each other and visited Daddy at work for lunch. The rest of the day was spent quietly watching movies trying to rest. We all struggled through the day but ended up apologizing to each other.
Ciara has been wanting to wear hats recently. She can also open the door that goes to our garage. I love when she wears hats!

Today was much different. My Dad picked up Caleb so that he could see my Grandpa who was stopping by to pick up my Mother (they are going to Vegas for a promotion for my Grandfathers books.) Caleb and my Dad found some real Army pants and Caleb told me on the phone “All the girls wont be able to stop kissing me when I wear these pants!” I think he will be in the military one day. My dad has him trained well. He decided to stay the night tonight so Grandpa could take him to school in the morning. I dont think Caleb will be sleeping downstairs again for a while.

Ciara demanded to wear the orange Xango hat daddy got from work. She was so cute! While I was folding laundry Ciara grabbed an extra laundry basket and put her baby in it. She then followed me wherever I went putting the baby in and out of the basket like I was doing with the folded clothes. It was so cute!!! I love when she tries to be like me. She is now wearing deodorant and perfume (and pretends to put makeup on) because I do it, in the morning she does whatever I do to get ready. Now that Caleb’s hair is so short he pretty much gets himself ready. He can turn on the shower, wash himself and even pick out his own clothes. He actually hates when I pick out his outfits now.

 Then the girls played on the trampoline for a long time! The weather was so nice out that I had to put on the AC. They were the best of friends, holding hands and chasing each other. They followed one another and the yard was full of giggles! I brought the baby out in her bouncer in the shade and Maisie just loved to be outside. Her little feet just kicked and kicked. I think she wore herself out though cause she fussed long enough for me to come pick her up and then she took a nap, pretty happy kid. The girls wouldnt leave the trampoline! They loved it! We have a big net that goes around it to make sure they cant fall off but parts of it are missing. But the girls were really good at staying in the middle of the trampoline. A bug landed on the tramp and the girls were fasonated by it. Kaiah was touching it while Ciara watched her. Kaiah kept getting closer and closer to the bug and then she kissed it! I was like EWWW lol. It was so funny.

When Ben came home I noticed a little mustache he was growing! The whole time I have met him I have never seen him grow any significant hair under his lip (not even in pictures!) So I said congrats! You should grow it out! So we will see how that turns out. I took a pic to keep up on the progress.

We have been pretty stressed recently so we decided to take a drive toward Eagle Mountain. It was just what we needed… we lost ourselves in the beauty of Utah. We love where we live!

Today started out pretty slow. The kids wanted to watch a movie. Before I got the movie in the girls picked up an Elmo book and started reading it to each other. Its so great that they both love Elmo. Ciara grabbed all her babies and her Bert (she is always carrying around as many babys and stuffed toys as she can everywhere she goes. She also has named her blanket and a couple stuffed animals including her monkey Bert, not sure why but we love it) Then the three kids cuddled up under a big blanket (it was cold this morning) and watched a movie. That lasted about 20 min.

Then the sword fight began. The two girls and Caleb all grabbed a sword and there was a continuos sound of clanking from the plastic and dying moans. It was so funny! The girls are getting pretty good at the fake deaths. Ciara quickly gets up after she makes a dramatic death but Kaiah rolls around with her tongue out. Caleb would draw out his death… and ask for kisses to get up. Ciara would also scream with triumph when she would win.

Ciara’s vocabulary has grown so much! This morning before Ben left he told her to have a nice day and she said “You too!” Her speech isnt perfect but we can tell what she is saying. She tries to say love you and her own name. Her new thing today was up and down, like when she wanted me to pick her up she would say mama up. She says piece when she wants a piece of bread. All done, no, poop, potty, pee pee, nana, papa, mama, dada, and a little made up song that she used to sing alot. She did this little breathing beat and followed it up with bo doh ba dah, her and her daddy used to sing it at night. But she knows tons of songs now.

Caleb used a little claw to pretend that he had a robot arm. He chased the girls around. He was really good today. He had a friend over today (yeah… total of 5 kids! But it was great) he had so much fun that when Aiden had to leave for school they both were upset. We will be having a sleep over with Aiden this Friday which they are both excited about.

Maisie was a little fussy after I fed her and I was trying to burp her and Caleb came over and said “Mommy if I rub her back she will be happy” So he came over and started rubbing her and she burped and was happy. It was so sweet.

Then we went outside and the girls run up on the little hill and were having a great laugh at each other running up and down. I was lucky enough to catch this with my camera.

When the girls left my kids played on the trampoline. The weather really got nice this afternoon.

I also made time to clean out my pantry! It is so clean now! Woot! I am the master of that pantry! hehe

I call this the sexy pantry pose. 😉

Ben took his picture on the new ipad of himself and the played with it. What one is scarier?