Happy Birthday Grandma!

Our Grandma turns 29 today.....again! Happy Birthday Grandma. We love you.

To celebrate your birthday we decided to sing Happy Birthday.

Quick AZ trip

Last weekend we made a VERY quick trip to Phoenix for the blessing of our new nephew, Hyrum. We were only there Friday - Sunday but we packed in lots of fun and enjoyed the absolutely GORGEOUS weather. It is only the 2nd time I've been back since we moved from there but it really made me miss living there. Allen had to keep reminding me how much I hated the long, hot summers. We stayed at the super luxurious Arizona Grand Resort and spent lots of time playing in the pools. They do have a water park but it was only in the 70s and not quite warm enough to spend the entire day in the water (bummer!). We ate at some of our favorite restaurants, including THREE trips to In N Out during our 3 day trip (I have been doing WW again and miraculously lost 2 lbs over the weekend even with all our yummy food!) Kids snuggling with the baby in bed:

On Saturday Allen's mom very graciously took our kids to the children's museum in Mesa while Al & I did a bit (A LOT!) of shopping. The kids had a blast panning for gold, digging for dino bones, seeing the old prison, etc. She has lots of pictures on her camera from the Saturday fun that I will have to get and add to this post.

Sunday morning we got the kids ready and took lots of pictures on the resort grounds. I regret that we didn't have more time because there were some GORGEOUS spots to take pictures. This might be my favorite picture ever!!!We took a few pictures after the blessing. (I still definitely prefer to be behind the camera at this point!!!)We had to leave right after church to drive home but we're so glad we were able to spend some time with family, though it is never enough! We're hoping to get back to AZ soon for a longer visit so we can see some of our friends too!

St. Patty's Day, Part 2

St. Patrick's day fell over spring break this year so we were able to make it an extra fun day! The kids woke and found that our naughty leprechaun, Lucky, had been up to all sorts of crazy antics during the night. He dyed the toilet water green, turned our milk green, left footprints everywhere and turned all our chairs upside down. Carter and Makenna had created quite an elaborate leprechaun trap and were very disappointed they did not catch him this year. I'm mostly disappointed that I didn't take a picture of the trap before they took it apart and chucked it in the trash.

Lucky DID leave a few surprises though. He left a box of Lucky Charms along with funny leprechaun pens that light up and some green candy. The kids loved it! I thought I would get out of making shamrock pancakes due to the Lucky Charms (which I normally never buy but my kids love) but they wanted to stick to tradition.{the kiddos with their surprises. I never managed to get a shot of them in their green outfits and the thought of recreating it was way too exhausting. Oh well!}

We had an all green lunch which the kids thought was fabulous! Green mac n cheese, green grapes, celery, kiwi, green yogurt with sprinkles, green marshmallows and little cans of 7 up.

For dinner I decided to make a traditional Irish meal. We had corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots and Irish soda bread. I wasn't sure they would like the meal but they LOVED it - especially Addison, which was a huge surprise. For dessert we had mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches:

I had these sitting on the kids' plates before dinner:And made bigger ones for the gals I visit teach:

A couple days before St. Pats I got together with a couple friends and made this darling banner:I love how it turned out and it was EASY and cheap!

I have no idea where my love for St. Patty's came from this year but we've had a blast with it! I've found some fun new traditions that I think we'll carry over from this year too!

{CUTE banner idea and rainbow printable are both from Simple As That}

{PS - I get asked OFTEN about the candy in my apothecary jars and how my kids handle being around it. I can honestly say my kids very rarely ask to eat the candy in the jars. They are used to having it around and when they ask for a piece I usually say yes to ONE piece. I try to keep my smallest jar full of something really yummy because it is less expensive to fill and it is usually what the kids want. Some stuff I don't let them eat - like the Skittles- because I don't want to spend the money to replace it every year. I DO save my candy from previous years so I don't have to invest the money every season. I have two plastic bins full of candy that I swap out in my jars.}

One Month!

I'm a couple weeks late posting about Emery at one month! Wow! What a first month it was! Ems is seriously a delightful baby. She is a great sleeper and usually only wakes one time per night to eat. I feed her right before I go to bed (between 10:30-11:00) and then usually feed her around 3:30 a.m. and then she sleeps until 6:30ish when I feed her again. I wouldn't say I'm well rested but it could definitely be a lot worse. She clusters nurses a lot during the day and she thinks that if she's awake, she needs to be eating. She is packing on the pounds too. At one month she was 1 ounce shy of 12 lbs. She is chubby and it is adorable. She has about 4 rolls per leg and her arms are beefing up nicely too!

She is also our spittiest baby and we go through burp rags like crazy! She loves to be swaddled when she sleeps and still loves snoozing in her carseat. I think she would like the swing but it is in our family room and she gets no peace if we have her in a main area of the house so she doesn't get a lot of swing time.

Emery was diagnosed with RSV when she was just 3 weeks old. It was a very scary and exhausting 10 days while she was sick. We gave her breathing treatments every 2 hours, around the clock, for 4 days. As soon as the doctor had us back off the treatments she went downhill fast. She was barely able to avoid hospitalization and we spent hours at the doctors office during those 10 days. She turned the corner really fast though and it went away about as fast as it came one. We are VERY grateful that she is ok and never had to be in the hospital.

Emery loves to be snuggled and against a warm body. We wondered the first couple weeks of her life if she would ever sleep without being in some one's arms but she sleeps great in her "bed" (aka carseat) now. She loves her binky and it makes us happy that she does. Addie is a thumb sucker and I'd rather deal with a binky any day over having to break a thumbsucker.

She is starting to find her voice and it's so funny to watch her startle herself when she "talks." She definitely knows her parents and turns towards us when she hears our voices. The kids are, of course, completely smitten with her. She is a patient baby with all the prodding, poking, loving she gets and has gotten used to the noise level at our house. I truly cannot imagine my life without her in it. She is such a love and has made our family complete!

Emery's Newborn Photos

In her blessing dress:

{this is the same dress that I was blessed in and now all 3 of my girlies have been blessed in it too. It's so sentimental it makes me want to cry!}

My friend Stephanie took pictures of Emery a couple weeks ago. I am totally smitten with this baby and I'm SO (x a million) happy with how well Stephanie was able to capture her in all her newborn deliciousness. I don't even think I can pick a favorite! She also took the picture of my kiddos in my new header! She tried really hard to get a good one of everyone but it was a bit rough! I've been wanting to update the look of my blog for awhile but for now a picture of my 4 darlings together will have to do.

St. Patty's Day

I'm the first to admit that I've never been into St. Patrick's day. I like to make the day fun for my kids but have never had a desire to decorate for it. However, with Easter being so late this year I needed something to fill in some of my spaces. A friend came to the rescue with some cute ideas for my apothecary jars and I scoured the internet for a few more ideas to "borrow." I like what I've come up with don't think it's overdone or cheesy.

Emery was diagnosed with RSV this week and we have been home all week. It has been HORRIBLE having a sick baby but she was healthy enough to stay out of the hospital. I haven't dared leave the house with her for days so I have been able to get a tiny bit of crafting done. She has mostly just wanted to be held so I worked on my projects in short spurts.

St. Patrick's day decor:



Isn't this idea CUTE?!?! Love!! It took me about 2 hours of sorting 8 bags of skittles to get them arranged as a rainbow. I caught up on a lot of TV during this project.

{If anyone knows how to take pics of glass and not get a glare, please hook me up. I can't get it no matter my settings and this was with natural light and no flash}

Dining room table:


A close-up of this little beauty:

So cheery and happy! I'm so glad I saved my button collection from my scrapbook days! I seriously looooove how this turned out. Glue gun + buttons I already owned + frame I already owned!

Burlap Wreath:

I saw this idea about a year ago on another blog. When I went back to look at the tutorial it was gone so I just winged this one. 1 yard of burlap, cut in strips and then threaded on a wire hanger. I see lots of possibilities for this idea.

Front door wreath:

Maybe bordering on the cheesy side but I liked it enough to buy it from Target. They had some other cute things that I hope to score at 50% off after the 17th.

I guess I can't say that I don't decorate for St. Pat's any more. I will say that when Easter falls in March again, the Easter decor will always take precedence.

Goals - February & March

Ahem. I'm keeping myself accountable with my goals by posting here. Let's be honest right off the bat - having 4 kids is seriously kicking my rear. My February goal of NURTURE was an epic FAIL. I did not accomplish a single thing on my list.

What I DID accomplish:
- Gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl in the world
- Nursed said baby approximately 3 million times in the last month
- Pulled off a baptism, baptism party and baby blessing on the same weekend
- Started and finished a scrapbook for Carter's baptism (I will share pics at some point because it turned out GREAT!)
- Sort of stayed on top of laundry, house cleaning, running kids around, picture of the day project
- Bought fabric for a couple home decor projects (that my mom is very graciously sewing for me) and completed a couple of St. Pat's projects (pics to come)

That's about it. I even managed to forget to pay my electric bill and got a shut-off notice on my front door {mortifying}. I didn't crack a book the entire month either. I did download a book to my iphone to read while I nurse but usually fall asleep while I'm nursing. I've kept up on most my friends blogs on my phone but never manage to find time to go back and comment.

For March I feel like my word of the month should be SURVIVE or BALANCE. I'll get back to you on that. I'm just trying to survive and find some balance with having 4 kiddos!

Makenna's 6th Birthday!

Makenna turned 6 on Sunday. Lucky girl, we spent the entire weekend partying and were lucky enough to have my parents here with us for it all.

Since her birthday was on Sunday this year we spent Saturday going to lunch at Chili's and going swimming for her birthday activities. She had a blast being the center of attention! At lunch:

{Love this pic of her!}

Addison enjoying the dregs of the milkshake the waitstaff brought out for Makenna.

Swimming:

While Al and the big kids swam, I hung out with Emery while she did this:

{Isn't she seriously delicious?!?}

Sunday was her actual birthday and she could not wait to get the party started. We got up very early to make sure she could have her celebration before our 9:00 a.m. church started.

With her gifts:


Makenna didn't ask for much except for the unicorn pillow pet and a pink iPod. She also got the new Fancy Nancy & Silverlicious books, jewelry and a jewelry tree, a Fancy Nancy blanket from my parents, a princess watch from Grandma F, a fairy craft kit and some new nail polish. She loved the pillow pet and blanket the most and Addie has decided her life is ruined until she gets her own pillow pet!

After gifts we had a delicious breakfast of crepes with Nutella, strawberries and whipped cream. Serious yum!

For dinner she requested pizza fondue and chocolate eclair cake. We had some friends over for dinner to help us celebrate and had a grand time.

A few things about Makenna at age 6:

- She is an extremely tender-hearted child. She has a very nurturing personality and is always showing concern for her family and friends. She can often be found writing little love notes to members of our family along with an illustration of her and the person holding hands. I have a large stack of love notes from my sweet girl.

- Loves to play "Harry Potter" with Carter and babies or pet store with Addison. She hates playing by herself but loves to play with her sibs. If there is no one to play with her, she is glued to my side. It is how she has always been!

- Along with that, she doesn't really care for toys. I have bought her so many things that never get played with. She loves her dolls, playing dress up and doing crafts. She LOVES her play make up and jumps at the chance to play beauty parlor whenever I let her. She loves to put makeup on other people and do their hair.

- Still SUPER girly. She loves to wear dresses (and would every day if it weren't for that darn P.E. twice a week), wear jewelry, hair accessories, etc. We have an enormous collection of accessories for this girl and she wears and loves it all.

- Great reader and student. She lacks confidence and does not like to show that she is smart. It is a bit frustrating and we are working hard to help build her confidence.

- Loves music and dancing and loves to sing a long and perform anywhere we are. Loves her little dance classes that she is in and is starting cheer leading this spring. We're still trying to push her to try a sport and she has grudgingly agreed to try a season of soccer next fall.

- Loves to cook and bake and would spend all day in the kitchen with me if I let her. When we have our "dates" she often asks to spend our time cooking together.

- By far my best helper. She loves to help me cook, clean, care for Emery, fold laundry, etc. It's so cute that she wants to be my helper and has been invaluable this last month as I've been in a chair nursing so much.

- Best big sister to Addie and Emery. She is always, always the first to nurture and comfort them when they're sad.

We love our sweet spirited Makenna so much. I can't imagine my life without her snuggles and kind words and love notes. Our entire family is blessed so much by her presence in our home.