Double Digits

I can't believe I have a daughter who is now in double did-gets. Bella turned ten in March. I only have her for 8 more years before she is 18. She is a fantastic daughter so kind, likeable, inclusive and smart. I love that she is at an age where she can observe things about life and add her humor about what she sees. I couldn't ask for a better oldest. She is thoughtful and protective. She is just below my chin, which is the same distance that is between Benjamin and I.






Bella had an Asian party, we made invitations that had a pair of chopsticks and a fortune cookie inviting them to an "Asian dinner." I made homemade egg rolls for 12 girls (that was a lot of frying). We lowered our tables to get that authentic fee, each girl went home with a fan, some actually made it home without breaking it :)



Bella prefers brownies so I marbled it with caramel. This is a picture of Bella posing with one of her best friends Emerald. Bella's cousin Morgan even let her borrow her Asian Halloween costume, which Bella was excited about.

It was a great night, and when China takes over our country in 2015 our family will be ready to embrace the culture.

I love you Bella! You are a delight, I love the young woman that you are becoming. I consider myself extremely lucky to have you as a daughter. I love traveling this journey with you.

Blah Blah Blog

I can't believe I haven't posted since January. I have had some posts floating around in my head but haven't had the gumption to get to it. With laundry, cooking, doing the dishes, laundry, dishes, preschool and my calling at church, I just haven't gotten around to it. Plus I don't have a lot of friends and relatives who blog regularly, I think if I did I would be more likely to spin stuff out. In an effort to weed out unproductive things in my life I no longer belong to facebook, not that I spent a whole lot of time on the thing, the bad just outweighed the good to me. So I have kind of dropped off from the computer. A great invention and horrible one all at once. For preschool it is fantastic, for wasting time its bad.

My last post about Anna came right before she got her molars, she is back to her wonderful self. My little blondie, her vocab has increased with; doggy, dog, puppy, Wilbur and Luke. She is a gem. It is great how much she talks despite all her ear infections (we are treating one right now).

Benefits of a blog is the ability to go back and remember things.

I was in the drive though window at the bank and the woman teller sent back with my receipt lolly pops for the kids. Holman said, " Dogs are mans best friend and kids are women's best friend." I thought that was great. Love all the women who show my children their mother hearts.

Parkin was yelling for me to "come wipe my bum Mom." Which doesn't annoy me at least he enjoys good hygiene (which I cant say for all of my children). I arrive to help him and he says, "your such a nice lady. " I tell Parkin that he has special powers. He can always brighten the day and defuse a heated situation with his comments and his sweet smile he often tells me, "mom you are my best friend." Love that boy.

Olivia and Bella may not be twins but they sure are close. I am glad I have those two. I know if I were their age i would have wanted to be friends with them (and cheat off their papers) joking, sorta :)

First words

Our little Adrianna is very independent. When the kids try to pick her up she will squeal if she thinks it is a bad idea. Her first words have been "don't", "no"and "stop." She has managed Ma and Da and I think Luke. Truth be told she has been extra cranky lately. She has had three ear infections and the doctor said if she gets another one he will put tubes in. I took her to see the pediatrician and I said she either has an ear infection or a personality disorder. No ear infection. Her squealing/ screaming got so bad that Olivia has taken to praying that "we all will love her like we should." Bella was saying that she was at the bottom of her list because of all the whining, Holman responded that Adrianna was the only person on his list. That girl has a huge fan-advocate and she doesn't even know it :)

1/1/11

What a great baptism date! Olivia was so excited to get baptized. She was baptised in a dress that Barbara made over 30 years ago, Olivia thought that was awesome. Benjamin and I talked to Olivia about how everyone can know for themselves if the church is true, how our Heavenly Father wants us to come to him with questions and concerns in life and how he will answer every prayer. She said I already know that I want to be baptised, I feel good about it. Olivia is always one of the first to suggest prayer when something is lost or needed, she provides our family with a lot of faith, laughter and vocabulary. We had so much fun shopping for her after baptism dress.That girl knows how to shop and is amusing during the process.

We had family and friends come to our house after the baptism for meatball subs and waffle bowl ice cream, good times. Thanks to all family and friends who made the event (the Smiths drove down from Bountiful, what a drive! Amy from Minnesota was there, dotcha know. Sarah from Virginia and Aaron and Jen's family from AJ, its in Arizona but its still a drive). Olivia I love you so very much and feel extremely blessed to be your mother. You are so kind, forgiving and helpful and so much dang fun! You are beautiful inside and out! Thank you for being an excellent daughter!

Six and sausages

Holman turned 6 on December 1st. He wanted a Knight party. I made a picture of a knight to pin the sword on, we even found a dragon pinata. He invited his class, his cousins, and some of his play date buddies, we had a full "castle." Unfortunately my camera died right before the party, my mom luckily had her camera so the party is documented. Parents sure gave some nice gifts, I have decided that I must be extremely cheap for birthday party gifts. Holman has a play date once a week with a friend from another ward and school, they still keep in touch because I really like his mother. Anyways my friend took her son shopping for Holman's gift, she explained how much he was allowed to spend, and with much enthusiasm he told his mother to buy Holman sausages. He insisted that Holman would love it. Sure enough when it came time for Holman to open his gift he was way excited. He rationed them out to last a couple of lunch and breakfast times. Who knew. They must have had a serious heart to heart about their love of processed meat.














Holman is a joy to have around. He is thoughtful, helpful and an excellent big brother and son! We love you so very much!!

Health Care Totem Pole

Sorry, this is going to be long...

Last month I took Anna in for a check on her ears she was extra cranky and I could tell she just wasn't herself. On the drive over Holman yells "Anna has poop everywhere!" Sure enough I look back and she has a monster blowout, I mean epic. I get to the doctors office and I realize this is not going to be a quick wipe down in the car. She has it up down and all around the car seat. I carry the car seat in with the shade pulled over so the poor patients in the waiting room won't barf upon seeing her. I sign in and explain my situation, DEFCON 5, to the receptionist asking her if she can give me a trash bag so I can bag up whatever isn't nailed down. She gives me a total dead pan....crickets chirping, leaves rustling in the wind. You would've thought I walked into a bank asking for a plastic bag for a blown out diaper, this is a pediatrician's office!! I then looked at the woman and said a trash bag would work, "oh we don't have trash bags." What the What! I then said do you have a paper bag? Nothing. I stare at her and she says, "I will ask the nurse and see what she can do." Wow don't go to Egypt for me or anything. I take Anna into the bathroom strip her down and proceed to make a monster pile of wipes and paper towels, then I get realistic and literally bathe her in the sink, while she is screaming her head off and Parkin is going to the bathroom. He finishes and walks to the door to leave, I yell, "don't you open that door son!" I had water splashed all over my pants. When I finally left the bathroom I scooted all the wipes and paper towels out so the poor bathroom wouldn't reek. Fifteen minutes later I finally decide to throw it all in the trash there is no plastic bag coming. Poor waiting room trash can, it's a bout to get a whole lot of ugly in there. They call Anna's name and in passing the secretary says oh yeah did anyone help you? I don't think i could even answer her....Can you imagine if I didn't have a diaper?! The pediatricians office would look at me and ask "you need what, a diaper? what kind of thing is that?!" What a trip, at least she had a double ear infection so my 20 bucks and poop extravaganza wasn't for nothing. Children are at the bottom of the totem pole.

I had a doctors appointment recently. I was seen an hour and a half after my appointment time. Which wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to worry about putting a babysitter out. I frankly enjoy the time to sit and read a magazine. I couldn't help but notice how well the bathroom was stocked. They had a changing table, wipes, PLASTIC BAGS, 4 different size diapers, tampons of every variety, nail filer, air freshener, there probably were mints too. My time means nothing but at least they have nice amenities. Women are in the middle of the totem.

When Benjamin and I took Luke in for the first visit after his accident. We were greeted by the receptionist who said she had heard such nice things about him. He is a dog. Then as we are waiting in the waiting room, the ER doctor who treated him when we brought him in on Saturday, came out to see how Luke was, she said she was not the doctor who would be seeing hem today but she saw his name on the roster and wanted to personally see how he was doing. Then the nurse comes out to take is weight and she said that she requested to be his nurse because she just loves Cockerspaniels. The doctor comes in talks with us takes his time explaining his condition and gives us the medication right there that we will need to care for Luke. Yes folks at least according to my experiences as of late, mans best friend is at the top of the totem. Or is it because he is male....

Its been a year

Our little Adrianna is now one. A year goes by so fast and slow all at the same time. On her actual birthday (sat. November 27th) I was knee deep in paint doing a room makeover for Bella and Olivia. It took literally all day (pictures to come of the makeover), and I was feeling bad that I hadn't spent hardly any time with Anna. It made me remember her time in the NICU when she spent ten days there. I would go about four times a day and spend a couple of hours just holding her there, and singing to her. It was close to Christmas and the NICU was all decorated and I think I sang every Christmas carol I knew. It was an uncertain time the highs and lows of hearing the doctors say she is improving and then the next time them telling us there has been a setback and we are concerned about.... Her time there was short, but I think everyday that you leave your child in the hospital it feels like a week, but I look back with fondness that all I had to do was hold her. I didn't have to be a mother to anyone else, I didn't have to do the dishes, answer the phones, pay the bills or think about what I was going to cook for dinner. I arrived at the hospital knowing the most important thing was for me to hold her so she could hear my heartbeat and hear my voice.

So by the end of her birthday when I realized I hadn't done anything with Anna, we headed to the park so she could swing on the swings her favorite thing. After that we picked up pizza and cupcakes. We bought her one present a doll that giggles, that we forgot to give to her until the next day. This age is so easy to please.

I love you Adrianna, my pretty little Adrianna. We were waiting for you to come and when you arrived we loved you from the start. You complete our family, my sweet angels XXX000