Catching Up (Nov 12-24)

Wow! Lots of catching up to do! WARNING...this will be a very long post with lots of pictures!! My mom came into town on November 12 and we immediately went to work getting stuff done. It's so hard to get much done around the house with little ones under my feet all the time, so Mom was a lifesaver. The first thing we did was paint the whole front living room which proved to be a HUGE task because of the 15 foot ceiling and the almost unreachable part by the stairs. But we got it all done (thanks Brandi for watching the kids!) and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I wish I had more pictures, but this is a little hint anyway. The color is called "peanut shell".

Mom and I cleaned closets, organized the basement, and tackled the crawl space! Wow, it looks awesome now. On Saturday my Dad flew in. On Monday after all the pain touch-ups were complete we went to the zoo. We have a pass and haven't used it since the baby was born. We practically had the place to ourselves.

Then it was off to dinner at Chilis.

On Tuesday Leighann got finished with classes and came into town. Boy, the house was getting crowded with so many people, but it was so fun. Then on Wednesday my brother Philip flew in and the day was spent getting ready for Thanksgiving. On that day Lauren turned 2 months. I can't believe how quickly time is passing us by! She will be starting kindergarten before long.

Cody and I hosted our first TG at our own house. We've always gone out of town for the holiday. It was a lot of work, but everything turned out great.

On Friday night we drove out to "This is the Place" monument park for their Candle Light Christmas event. It was pretty neat, and VERY VERY cold. Holy cow, how did those pioneers do it?

Saturday morning we went to the aerospace museum. Dad has always said he wanted to tour it when they came up here, but we never have until now. It was dang cool and much bigger than I thought it would be.

If you haven't figured it out, my Dad only wears tan jump suits. That has been his favorite thing to wear for as long as I've known him. Oh, that and Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts. Crazy character!

Just so you know...

I haven't posted anything in about 10 days because my mom has been here and we've been so busy. Now my Dad, sister and brother are here too and things are crazy busy! But we're having a lot of fun and I'll make a big post to play catch up when things have settled down again in a week or so.

Making Cookies

It was Ethan's day to bring snacks to preschool. I asked him what he wanted to take and he said "cookies". So last night we made sugar cookies and what a mess! There are many things you have to give up once you have children and perfection is one of them. I make pretty darn good sugar cookies and pride myself on how well they always turn out (a skill that has taken me years to master!) But last night I realized it was far more important that the kids had fun doing it, rather than how pretty they turned out. They had a blast and we created memories. We made orange pumpkins and red leaves and they turned out mis-shaped with finger holes and torn edges. Some where very thin and some were very thick. But who cares really. I was the class mom in Ethan's class today and he was beaming with pride as we passed out the cookies to his friends. That's what was really important.

Pink Eye!!

What fun! Yesterday my right eye started getting sore and by the evening it was sooooo red. This morning...well anyone who has ever delt with pink eye can only imagine what I woke up to. And unfortunately this stuff spreads like wildfire so it's just a matter of time before the rest of the family has it. Hailey had pink eye when she was 5 weeks old! The poor baby. I'm sure this is the first of a million germs Ethan will pick up from preschool. Luckily we still some leftover antibiotics from the last go-around of it and I was able to start that this morning. It's already looking better.


Despite feeling rotten today, it's one of those days where my heart is so full and I feel an enormous amount of love for my family and for God for all He has given me. I look at my babies, and even though they drive me crazy at times, I love them so much it hurts. Sometimes it cause me physical pain and I think my heart might explode from my chest! I don't know why the Lord sees fit to bless me like he does. I feel so unworthy. But I am so grateful. As I sit here and watch my beautiful baby girl sleep, it gives me a little glimpse of how much my Heavenly Father must have for me as His child.

Card Swap

Last night was card swap but we did something a little different. We each made Christmas gift tags instead of traditional cards. Everyone made such cute ones! I'm excited to give these out with gifts. Can't believe Christmas is just a few weeks from now!

Little Miss Sicky

In many ways I hate this time of year. With the cooling of the weather and the changing of the trees, it only means one thing: cold and flu season is upon us. Hailey has been so sick the last few days and can't catch a break. On Monday she had a stomach flu (our van has now been "broken in"). She has been snotty nosed, coughing, and feverish ever since. I am just waiting for the rest of us to get it, especially the baby!

Albertsons Field Trip

Yesterday Ethan's class took a field trip to Albertsons, and again I volunteered to go. Those class trips are crazy, but I enjoy going. It gives me a chance to get to know the other moms a little better and I love seeing Ethan interact with his friends. The class took a tour of the whole store, even all of the departments. They loved the bakery the best, and who wouldn't? Again I packed Lauren in the Snugli and Hailey tagged along beside me. She loves getting to go with the big kids.

Poor Pimply Princess

Lauren is right at the peak of her pimply stage, you know that beautiful time when Mommy's hormones are washing out of her blood and making her look like she's going through puberty! I hate it when people (those people who don't have kids and don't know that babies go through this) want to take a peek at her and then make "the face". Yesterday at the grocery store the cashier who was probably 18 said "Oh can I see her?" Lauren was under a blanket sleeping. When I took the blanket off the girl made that face. People are so rude and so dumb! But I know in a week or two she will have her sweet healthy glow back and people will once again say they want to squeeze her cheeks because they are so pink and chubby.

This is her right after her bath the other night. Her hair is dry here. Amazing how different her hair looks when she's freshly bathed! She is just so oily right now, no matter how much I bathe her. I can't wait for that to end either!

Lauren's New Dress

This picture is for my mom. She bought Lauren this dress and she wore it for the first time to church today. She looks like a little dolly!

Hair Cuts

The kids got hair cuts today. I should have taken them to Heather, but I had the impulse to it today and didn't want to drive far to have it done, and Heather's salon is a little far away. But I should have just taken them to her house! I went to Super Cuts and the girl went too fast and butchered Ethan's side burns. The rest looks fine though.

Hailey had her first real cut and I decided to have all her scraggly baby hair cut off. This way it will have a real chance of getting some good length on it with out breaking off. She did surprisingly well in the stylist's chair!! I think it turned out pretty cute. Cody's not to keen on it, but it's just hair and it will grow. It's still long enough that I can pull it up if I need to. She looks so grown up now!

Halloween Day

I feel a little guilty, but in a way I'm glad Halloween is over. It's my favorite holiday, but this year my energy level has been down (wonder why) and there has been so much going on. It will be nice to sit back and relax a little before the next holiday undertaking...Thanksgiving!

Ethan had a really fun Halloween party at school and loved it. He could name off to me what each member of his class wore as a costume, plus the teacher. Smarty pants! Then it was off to Daddy's office for their annual party for the kids. It's the one day out of the year when they open up the doors and let family members parade through. I know Cody gets a kick out of showing his kids off to his co-workers!

Then back home for dinner and trick or treating. Ethan and Hailey were sooooo very excited to go out, but when it came down to it they were beat after about 10 houses. And I was glad because I was exhausted. So the day has come and gone and now November is upon us. So until next year! (But I still don't expect Ethan to take off his Mr. Incredible costume)

This is how Lauren enjoyed the night's festivities.


My weird son with my Boppy as a hat.