Prayer

Ok, so we just finished saying our night time prayer as a family. Due to the fact that we have 3 very young children we usually try to keep our family prayers short and sweet before our kiddos have the chance to act up. Craig was saying the prayer tonight and Chase and Mallory were both kneeling there very still. Seeing this, Craig took advantage and kept praying. Obviously Chase noticed the prayer was getting longer. So out of nowhere he pipes up and says, "STOP! STOP! We're all done now!" I was trying not to giggle, and Craig still kept praying. A few sentences later Craig prayed that "Mom would have patience with the children." (Heaven knows I need that!) After Craig said this Chase turns in the middle of the prayer and says to me, "You gotta have patience with the children." As if he knows what patience is!! Now I'm really trying not to giggle!! Craig even started to mask his giggles after this comment! He quickly ended the prayer and we put them to bed. Kids are so funny! They make me smile :o) I wonder if Heavenly Father even got a little giggle Himself. . . .

Karate Kid

We signed Chase up for karate classes about a month ago. He has mixed feelings about it. Sometimes he loves to go and he's excited and sometimes when I go to put his uniform on him he says, "I don't like karate. It's just too hard." We go twice a week. The little kids are so funny to watch! They are hilarious! Any type of side-kicking exercise and they are falling all over the place. They have the hardest time keeping their balance!

The instructor always starts the class by doing a few warm-up exercises. Push-ups, bicycles, arm circles, etc. Chase does push-ups by keeping his elbows locked so his arms remain straight. Then when the instructor says "down" Chase slams his hips into the floor. I can't imagine that being very comfortable - especially since he's male. I keep trying to explain to him that a push-up is an upper body move. I have even demonstrated and worked with him at home, but he insists that I have it all wrong!



Sometimes he pays really good attention, and sometimes his mind is running laps in La-La Land. . . . .



He's signed up to go all year so we'll see how he likes it once he gets into the program more. They teach good life skills in the class. Right now they are doing discipline. All the kids have to repeat, "Discipline - doing what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it." That's even gospel related! So it's a good thing. Craig took karate when he was a kid so it's something he wants Chase to learn too. I just wish it weren't so expensive! But Chase seems to have a good time, and that's what matters most!

Cuteness!

I took the kids to get pictures for Valentines Day. We gave the grandparents and great-grandparents pics for their "Love Day" gifts! I love Chase's smile, he's turning into such a handsome little man! And Miss Mallory looks like she's a little beauty queen. We're in trouble when she turns 16! She looks like her Aunt Crystal (Craig's sister)- who is gorgeous! (Sorry, sometimes I like to brag about my kids :o)) Clark slipped off Mallory's lap right when the photographer snapped the picture. But this pose was still my favorite!


Clark's 3-Month picture. I take my kids to get their pics taken every 3 months their first year of life. They change so fast!

Seattle Trip

We took a quick trip up to Seattle over Super Bowl weekend. Craig's brother Scott lives up there with his wife and kids. They just had their third child in December and they blessed him on Super Bowl Sunday! It was actually a surprise. We did not tell Scott that we were coming. Craig's parents, Marc and Treesa, live here and they had planned on flying up for the blessing. My mother-in-law asked us if we wanted to go too. They were so kind and paid our way up there. (Thanks again Marc and Treesa!) Craig's mom is a flight attendant so she has the opportunity to get tickets for cheap - or cheaper at least! :o) It was the perfect weekend to fly! There was no one at security when we got to the airport! We were trying to get out of Phoenix, but everyone else was trying to get in for the big game - so the airport was actually pretty dead. Craig's mom pulled some strings with her powerful title of "Flight Attendant" and she got to take Chase up in the cockpit to have a look around.



There were only 30 some odd people on the plane to Seattle so we had the whole back of the plane to ourselves! Which was great with three kids! Chase was great! He stayed in his seat the whole plane ride. We put Thomas the Tank Engine on Craig's laptop and he fell asleep for half the plane ride.



Mallory was a little energetic on the way up there. The flight attendants loved her! She kept playing peek-a-boo with them between all the aisles. As always, when she realizes she's the center of attention she takes full advantage of the moment! And Clark pretty much slept the whole way too. I was a little worried because it's a 3 hour plane ride, but the kids were great!

We surprised Scott at Taco Time. Craig's mom called Scott and she told him to meet her and Marc at Taco Time for lunch. We watched for Scott to pull up and then Treesa walked out into the parking lot to greet him. She took Clark with her. We all watched inside from a window. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but Scott got this look on his face like, "Whose baby is that?" (He hadn't seen Clark before). We saw Treesa smile, then we saw a light bulb come on in Scott's head, and from watching his mouth move it looked like he said something along the lines of, "Is that Clark?" "Is Craig here?" They came inside and we surprised him! It was a great surprise! I love surprises! The blessing was beautiful and it was great to see them again. Craig and I always laugh when we talk about the ages of our children. Scott has a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 2 month old. We have a 4 year old, 2 year old, and a 4 month old. Their 4 year old is 2 months older than Chase and their new baby is 2 months younger than Clark. We had all three of our children sandwhiched in between the time that they had their second and third! (I told Craig he needed to keep his hands off of me! Hee Hee Hee!) It's like we're rabbits or something! :-)


Declan (7 weeks) and Clark (3 1/2 months)

The plane ride home was great! The plane was practically empty again. We flew home while the Super Bowl was being played. So most people were on their couches at home watching the big game instead of flying. It was a quick trip, but it was a sweet weekend. I love baby blessings!


Clark and Craig on the flight home!


One of the ways we kept Mallory entertained on the flight home was by blowing through straws at each other! She just loved it!

Dirty Jobs

WOW!! What a week! My family is so sick! It started last Tuesday when Chase threw up just before dinner time. He had had hot dogs for lunch, and after cleaning up his throw up, I think I will no longer voluntarily eat hot dogs. He tried to make it to the bathroom, but ended up losing it in the hallway then trailing it into the bathroom. It was everywhere - the walls, the toilet, the floor, his clothes . . . . . sorry, maybe that was a little too graphic. Our house stunk so bad that we went out for dinner that night. There was no way I was going to prepare a meal with the stench of throw up! So we opened some windows to let the house air out and left! Then on Wednesday and Thursday Clark started. He wouldn't hardly eat and what I could get him to eat he would just throw up. Thursday night Craig and Abe (thanks for letting us borrow him Donna!) gave him a blessing. And he's been fine ever since. I love the priesthood! Mallory started having problems out the "other" end on Saturday. After cleaning up two poopy messes - I will spare you the details - (Craig stepped in and did the second one. Thanks honey!) I just stuck her in a diaper. Sunday at 2 in the morning she threw up all over in her bed and on her bedroom floor. So I pulled out a blanket and had her sleep next to my bed on the floor the rest of the night. She throw up again at 6am. I can't tell you how glad I am that we own a carpet cleaner! It's GREAT for times like these! Craig cleaned the carpets before church while I cleaned and laundered the bedding. I kept her home from church. She was so sweet. She begged me to let her go to church. And when Craig left for church with Chase she started crying, "I want to go to church." My sweet angel girl. I hope and pray that she always has a desire to go to church. She was fine the rest of the day Sunday, but then she threw up again this morning. And 45 minutes later she threw up AGAIN!! Luckily those two times were on the tile so the clean up was fairly easy (tender mercy from the Lord :-)). Craig went to bed last night with a headache and body aches. I'm wondering how much longer I will be able to avoid getting the flu!

We only have basic cable at our house. We have up to channel 23 - which is the Discovery channel. So needless to say we watch all the cool shows on Discovery. One of our favorites is Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. Craig loves the Dirty Jobs marathons! If I'm not mistaken at the end of every show he petitions all of the viewers for future show ideas. After surviving this past week I am convinced that MOTHERHOOD IS A DIRTY JOB! Between puke, poop, pee, snot & boogers, blood from scrapes and scratches, baby throw-up, slobber, spit, and any other type of bodily fluid - or solid - that you can think of I am 100% sure that myself or any other mother could get an audition for the show! Motherhood is a dirty job! Anybody else agree?


Mallory after one of her MANY baths this weekend! I think she was glad to get the puke out of her hair!

I hope this finds you all healthy and well!!

Potty Training Continues. . . .

So our little Mallory has been potty training for almost three weeks now. It seems like she is too little to be such a big girl! Potty training Mallory has come with many successes, but also a few mishaps. It started with her taste testing the toilet water. Which obviously didn't taste that great because she hasn't attempted to drink it again. Either that or I invoked enough fear in her that if she did it again. . . . hmmm, I don't remember what I threatened her with - (use your imagination)! We were in Target the other night as a family and Mallory pipes up and says, "I need to go potty." Of course we were on the other side of the store from where the bathrooms were so I grabbed her hand and we started running (she was sprinting, I was jogging) across the store. Every 10 seconds I was parroting to her, "Don't go in your panties, don't go in your panties." We made it to the bathroom and she went like a champ! I was so proud of her! I also realized I had to go to the bathroom too. She was in the stall with me, I used the restroom, and she says, "Mama, you go pee-pee! Good job!" Next I expected to hear, "You get a candy!" Wow! She has my lines memorized! I also ask her every couple of hours throughout the day if she needs to go poop. (We're still working on that one.) So we're walking back to where Craig and the boys are in the store and I'm telling Mallory what a big girl she is and that she did such a good job and Mallory starts asking me, "Mom you got poops?" "No Mallory, I don't have poops." A few aisles later, "Mom, you got poops?" "No, Mallory. . . " After she asks me three times and after getting a weird look from a man covered in tattoos - who had obviously overheard our little conversation - I finally told her to quit asking me if I had to go number two in public! Is there any privacy with children?!

This afternoon I had to wake Mallory up from her nap so we could take Chase to his karate class. I got her out of bed and had her sit on the potty upstairs before we left. As usual, I was running behind, so I left her sitting up there by herself (big mistake, I know) while I ran downstairs to get Chase in his karate uniform. I got him in his uniform, gave him his shoes and socks to put on, and ran back upstairs to see if Mallory had gone to the bathroom yet. The bathroom is at the top of the stairs and the first thing I see is her little nakie behind bent over with her head in the cupboard under the sink.
Me: "Mallory, what are you doing?"
Mallory: "I'm getting more toilet paper."
Me: "Why do you need more toilet paper?"
Mallory: "Because it's just all gone."
Me: "Why is the toilet paper all gone? Did you go poo-poo?"
Mallory: "No."
I had reached the top of the stairs at this point and when I looked in the bathroom I realized what a big mistake I had made in leaving my two-year old alone on the potty - again! (You'd think I would have learned the first time!) The floor was covered in water! The toilet was overflowing, full of toilet paper, and water was drizzling down the sides of the toilet bowl. Lovely. Just lovely. "MALLORY!" I screamed! I told her she was no longer allowed to flush the potty. (yes, I know it was irrational.) I was soooo mad! And I was also in a big hurry - I didn't want Chase to be late to his first karate class! So I threw underwear and pants on her and decided to clean the water up when I got back from karate. The class is only a half an hour long. The mess could wait. Karate went great! Chase did so good and he looked so cute in his little uniform! We got home and I had completely forgotten about the mess in the bathroom. How? I don't know, but I did. (Kids kill brain cells). About 7:30 tonight - Craig and I are watching TV - Chase and Mallory come downstairs giggling and laughing and tell us, "We were swimming! We're all wet!" Craig says, "What do you mean you're swimming?" Chase says, "We're swimming in the pond upstairs!" Oh crap. Then I had to explain to Craig. . . .


I swear that child has a thing with toilet water! But regardless of the handful of "adventures" we've had, she's actually doing really well. She has an occasional accident, but she's learning very quickly. I on the other hand am a slower learner. . . . note to self: don't leave Mallory alone in the bathroom!

Baby Shower

This has been such a fun week! I spent it preparing for my friend's baby shower. I offered to throw Kasie a baby shower a few weeks ago and we just had it on Thursday. I have never thrown anyone a shower before so I was way excited to do this - a little nervous too, I guess. I was afraid I was going to forget something or what if there wasn't enough food? How many people were going to show up? Does my house smell like pee? (Yeah, potty training's a blast! You forget they pee on everything! Need I say more.) Anyway, Kasie's sister, Janeal, and her in-laws helped soooooo much! They took ALL of the food assignments. And the food was delicious! I usually don't like cheese balls, but Kasie's sister-in-law brought one and let me tell ya - it was amazing! Kasie had a lot of people come to support her. She got tons of clothes for her soon-to-be baby boy and lots of diapers. Good thing - we all know how expensive those are! The party was great, here's some pictures of the fun:

Gifts of Necessity




You can tell by the look on her face how excited she was to get a car seat! She gave her other one away and needed a new one. When she finished opening it she said, "Ok, I can have the baby now that we have something to take him home in!"


Babes from the Sarival Ward! Melissa, Kim, Amie, and Crystal.


The ladies who supplied the yummy food: Moira-Lyn, M'liss, Miche, Marni, Carla, and of course Kasie.


Me and Kasie. I think this picture would have turned out cute, but my camera was acting weird. Oh well, what can ya do?


Thank you to all you ladies who came and celebrated with Kasie!