Did he really just say that?

Well what a day. I always love Tuesday's and Thursday's with no preschool. Makes for a fun day of Mom doing all of the entertaining. So after naps I decided that we were going to get all of the upstairs rooms clean. Once this was done, Luke was playing in his room and Harlee wanted to watch Wiggly Safari in my room. Luke came in and offered to turn it on for her since I was feeding Nash his bottle. So sweet of him- or so I thought! When he went to put the movie in he saw his Goosebumps DVD that he wanted to watch. Knowing his sneaky ways, I noticed that he was going to turn his movie on. So calmly I said (really I did speak calmly. Along with the shower everyday goal this week, I also made a goal to not raise my voice) "Luke if you put that DVD in I will break it in half." Not the best thing to say but I knew it would get his attention. To which he replied under his breath "How about I break you in half?" Are you kidding me?? He is 4 going on 14. Cannot wait to hear what he says when he is older and talking back. Needless to say, he was punished. He had to clean his closet and then we chatted on his bed. I asked him what he did that was wrong and what he thought should happen if he did that again. He said that he should not get to play on the computer or play wii. To which I mentioned that this would be the punishment for talking back, fighting with Harlee, and yelling. We will have to hold him to it.

P.S How perfect a picture for an entry like this!

Caught in the act

On Saturday I was getting ready to run some errands- just me and Nash. So I got him dressed in a cute outfit and decided to take a few pictures before we left. We were unsuccessful at getting a smile but look what we got! Is he going to be one of those kids? So funny and so worthy of his own post!

What to do on a snowy spring day?

Well it has not been the healthy home around here so we have been spending most of the day at home- especially because it has been snowy for the passed few days. What do you do with 3 little kids all day long? Here are a few ideas that we tried out. Yesterday we ran to the Redbox and rented Bolt which is a new Disney movie that came out. We came home and built a fort where the kids were going to watch the movie. I made popcorn and got blankets and I was ready to relax while they watched the movie. I think I may have been a little too optimistic. Harlee made it through the first preview and Luke about 20 minutes. It did get better though and Luke returned to watch the rest. He actually enjoyed it. I guess I need to understand that the attention span of a two year old is not that long! Another fun activity we did today was Freeze Tag. Luke explained the game to me that once you were tagged you needed to freeze in a pose. I had to snap a few pictures of the creative poses they came up with. It was really fun to play with them today. They may be crazy but I would not have it any other way. How lucky am I that I get to spend my days watching movies and playing tag?? Oh how great would it be if that was really all I had to do!

What a way to start the day!

Our poor little Nash cannot catch a break! For the passed few days he has been fighting a stomach bug and we have for sure helped keep the laundry detergent people in business! Every time he eats, he gets sick. So after a long night of trying to comfort him, he was up again at 6:20am. Joey was on his way out for work but had a minute to make him a bottle. I was planning on changing him in the meantime. So I changed him and within a minute he needed to be changed again. So I put down the new diaper, lifted his cute legs and it happened. I have never seen anything like it. He pooped with such force that I was covered. I was wondering where the video camera was- we would possibly win a prize on one of Luke's and Joey's favorite shows "America's Funniest Home Videos". I could have laughed or cried but I chose the first option. It was so funny and there was really nothing you could do but laugh. Luckily after I got him cleaned up, Joey had a minute before he had to leave so I could get cleaned up. What a great morning! At least there is a pretty good chance the day will get better from here!

Love the weather

On Friday the weather was beautiful. I think it was over 70 outside. I seriously love when it is nice and warm. You break out the spring clothes and the mood in the air just seems to be happier. When I got home from preschool carpool, grandma called to see if we would want to go to the park. I let Luke choose which park he wanted to go to and he decided on the park by Uncle Ryan's old work. So we got in the car and headed over. The kids had a great time. It was Nash's first time at a park and he got so excited he really messed his pants. Grandma stayed at the park with the kids and I rushed Nash home for a much needed bath. I love the nice weather and cannot wait for it to be warm for more than one day.

Saint Patrick's Day

Mom- what is Saint Patrick's Day? Luke asked this morning. Thank goodness there was a news story explaining it for me. Not the most gifted with Irish knowledge. So I told them the importance of wearing green so they would not get pinched. After baths they were all dressed in their green attire including our little Nash. We then went downstairs and I made them green eggs for breakfast. They thought it was so fun. Of course our little gal who will eat anything loved the breakfast and our picky paul was a little skeptical. I love the little opportunities to make memories- a great way to start the day.

USA Tykes Preschool

Luke has been attending USA Tykes Preschool this year with Miss Mikki. He is learning so much and I love to see what cute craft he will come home with each day. Today they made Leprechaun masks since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Luke was so excited and looked so cute that I had to take a picture. I am grateful to Miss Mikki and her no nonsense way of teaching. She has been so good for Luke and he has shaped up so much over this year. Makes me a lot less nervous to send him off to kindergarten. Maybe I will not be called down to meet with the principal on a daily basis! Just teasing- He is such a terrific kid and I know he will continue to succeed in all of his schooling.

Can you be inspired to clean a bathroom?

In thinking about the above question my answer is yes! I could not sleep on Saturday night and was up thinking about everything. I was wondering how I could have less stress during the week to free up more time to be Fun Mom. One thought I had was to get the cleaning done on the weekends. So yesterday I cleaned all of the bathrooms- not easy when you have 5! I am now thinking that I was not only inspired to clean bathrooms to free up time but also because someone knew what was about to happen! I had to take this picture. Harlee was playing upstairs in Luke's bathroom in the toilet. I swear I cannot leave her alone for a minute! She loves to pretend lately that she is going to the bathroom so she pulls down her pants. Then she proceeded to wet her hair and face with the toilet water. How GROSS! I am just so thankful that the toilet is not used very often and it was clean. Guess it could be worse. You just have to love all of the things that these little ones do for fun! I also have to add that she insisted on wearing two different shoes today- such a mind of her own! This picture is so true to Harlee!

Favorite Pictures

I was thinking about how I have some pictures that have been taken lately that I would love to have on the blog. So I thought I would take a moment to write a little bit about each of our three greatest blessings.

Luke is our oldest and definitely loves to be in charge. He has such a big personality and thrives on attention. He is always making us laugh with his original jokes or silly faces. Lately he has so many "dreams". If we read a story for family home evening he just happens to have had a dream that is very similar to that story. Last night we read about the Holy Ghost and he told me how he could feel the Holy Ghost in his eyes, arms, legs, etc. He is still changing clothes too many times a day. He loves to create costumes and become his favorite character of the hour. He is doing great in preschool. On Friday he counted to 100 for me, told me the days of the week, the months of the year and we worked on learning his address. He is such a smart boy and has the greatest ability to retain any information he hears. Definitely a quality he got from his Dad! He loves to play with Harlee. This morning he begged me to wake her up because he wanted to play with her. I love this little guy and know he will be such a great example to Harlee and Nash.

Harlee is our little princess. She is so sweet and so sneaky. I always have to keep her in my eyesight because she is always into something. She LOVES the wiggles write now. One of her favorite activities is to watch all of the wiggles songs on Youtube. We bought her some big girl underwear and even though she is not quite ready to potty train, she insists on wearing it over her diaper. This morning after her bath, I forgot to grab her a new pair and she said "Mommy wheres my underwear?" She is very territorial. She is often telling Luke that I am her mommy and not his. She loves her brothers. She watches everything that Luke does and I tease that she is his echo. She loves Nash and cannot keep her hands or mouth off of him. She is such a blessing to our family and we love her so much.

Nash is our little angel. He is so mellow and quiet. He is definitely the third child and I feel so bad that his attention is more limited due to his louder/more demanding siblings. Anytime you can sit and talk to him he just loves it. He is starting to coo back and do the cutest smiles. His health is so much better and I am working on getting him into his crib. He is napping in there and I think does well with a little more quiet. He has such a peaceful spirit and I feel that will be the role he will take on in our family. He will be the little peacemaker. I always wonder when a new one comes to our family, if I will have enough love for the new addition. Not a problem with Nash. I love this little one so much and it is crazy to think that I felt our family complete without him.

So there is a little update. Crazy days but loving every minute- well most minutes!

Another 6 month checkup

As I mentioned in the previous post, Luke and Harlee had their 6 month check-up today. Luke was a champ. He goes in, talks up a storm, and is so brave throughout the whole checkup. His teeth look great with just two spots that need special attention so that they do not turn into cavities. I guess I should be flossing his teeth. I did not think this is necessary since Luke has very adequate spacing in between his teeth. So if Luke was a champ he gave the dentist a little rest period before dealing with the terror. Harlee was horrified. Even though they tried to get her to rest in a chair and watch Dora, she was not having any of it. She sat on my lap and forcibly laid back in the dentists lap- awkward?? She screamed through the whole event but then was excited to choose a purse as her prize. Her teeth look great. I have to say how grateful I am for insurance. It is so nice to be able to do these preventative checkups and so hopefully they can keep their teeth healthy.

Change of Plans

This morning started off a lot earlier than planned. By 7:10am everyone was up and ready to go. Instead of begging the kids to go back to sleep, I figured this would be good because we had a lot to do. Luke and Harlee had their dentist appointment at 10:30am and I mentally made a list of things to get done and out the door by 10:15am. So I made the kids their "bottles" and thought after I would exercise and get all of us ready. So as I fed Nash he proceeded to change my plans. He has been on formula that makes him pretty constipated. After 2 days with no incidents, he was working on it this morning. When I felt he was done I went to change him. I am not even sure how this happens but he had poop all the way up his back and in his hair. Are you kidding me? What a disaster. How does something so stinky come out of something so cute? So the quick diaper changed turned into the 30 minute bath and clean up. Even though it was truly disgusting, I would do anything for this little boy. I know that it is probably not PC to blog about poop but seriously this is what I deal with on a daily basis. Definitely not the most glamorous job but I could not be more grateful to have it!

Creative Messes

I'm loving the stage that Luke and Harlee have come into. They are becoming such good friends and spend a lot of the day playing together. They both have been blessed with great imaginations and I love to see what activities they come up with. This week they spent quite a bit of time building a fort in our room. They found all of the pillows and blankets in the house and stacked them up high. Then they found some toys to add to the fort. It was quite the mess but they had the best time making it. Another thing that they came up with was a ship. They moved all of the chairs to one side of the kitchen and called it their ship. They played for a long time pretending if they got off they would sink. Such creative play and I am so glad that they are doing it together.

Guys night out

Lately Joey's boss has been out for foot surgery and he has had to do all of her work. Out of appreciation, his work gave him 2 tickets to the Jazz game last night. He decided to take Luke and have a guys night out. It was a late game and I guess after about 20 minutes Luke was asking how long until it was over. With the help of a churro he lasted a bit longer. He was so excited to tell me about it when he got home and this morning it was the first thing he talked about. "I had so much fun at the game last night!" he said. I am so glad that Joey spends this special time with Luke. He is such a good example to him and I pray that Luke grows up to be just like his dad! P.S Thanks Joey for being so willing to take a nice picture!

Our crazy days

Our days are anything but boring and I decided today to take some pictures to prove it. I LOVE these pictures. They are so indicative of our day to day. Luke is in pajamas. Luke is our guy who loves to change his clothes. It is the first thing that he asks to do when he gets home from preschool. Today in his batman the dark knight pjs he claims to be the black spiderman. Then there is Harlee- she is always messy. Her hair is all over the place, there is lunch on her face as well as on her clothes. Then Nash- still wearing the same outfit as yesterday. Poor third child kind of gets the shaft. They are such fun kids and such blessings in our lives. Although the days seem to be full of chaos, I would not trade it for all the money in the world! I feel so blessed to be able to stay home each day to take care of them. I am so grateful for Joey and how hard he works for our family which allows me to stay home. I am a lucky gal. *What cute kids in these pictures- I love Nash's face in the center picture. He is really enjoying the kisses from his siblings!

Did this really happen?

This morning after I gave Nash his bath, I set him on our bed. I put him on his tummy to keep working for the no helmet cause. I ran down stairs to grab his blanket and when I came back up he was on his back. I could not believe this. Isn't it too early? I thought that maybe Harlee or Luke had moved him so I decided to try it again. I put him on his tummy and within minutes he was on his back again. What a big boy! It is so amazing how much they change and how quickly they develop at this age. We are enjoying every minute of it!

Are you kidding me?

Last night I was feeding Nash on the couch, Joey was finishing his workout, and Luke/Harlee were up in our room watching Goosebumps- so we thought! Joey went up to shower and said "Jamie, you better come up here." I went up to find Harlee covered in my makeup. She had spilled my expensive Bare Minerals all over including in the toilet and all over herself. She had mascara all over her face. After I got upset, a little too upset and I felt really bad, I decided this would make a great blog entry. I told her that if she ever wants to do makeup to let me know and I would help her. She is definitely our sneaky one- I should know that if she is out of sight she is most likely into trouble!

Oh the questions that come out of his mouth!!

Luke is such a smart boy and it is very obvious that the wheels are always turning in that head of his. He always seems to have a funny question or some great dream to talk about. Here are a few of the entertaining ones we have heard over the past few days:

"When we go to Heaven will school be cancelled?"
"When we are in Heaven where do we go potty?"

I was telling them how the wind was so strong that if he and Harlee were outside it would lift them up to the sky. Luke said "We would go to outer space? That is where Heaven is!"

He also told me about a dream he had. This was following family home evening where we had read about Laban and the brass plates. He said that he had a big sword and he killed Satan and got the gold plates! A little twist on the real story but great dream!

What great thoughts he is having- on such a spiritual wavelength right now. I was thinking that thought when I called Joey at work to tell him about all of the funny questions. He said that I should hear the question Luke asked him last night- "Dad, why do girls have boobs?" Hmmm- how does he even know that word and way to burst my spiritual bubble! We sure love Luke and with him it is never a dull moment.

How many babies do we have?

Since Nash has been born Harlee has all of the sudden become his twin. She insists that she is a baby and not a "Big Durl". She cries until I make her a bottle every time that Nash has to eat. All of the sudden on Friday she was playing in her toy box and came across a pacifier. She calls it her binky. And now, the girl who refused to take a "binky" when she was really a baby, needs it all of the time. She does not suck on it she just sticks it between her teeth. When is she going to grow out of this phase? I have heard about the regression that is quite common when a baby is born but she is extreme. Good thing she is so cute! We love our two little babies!!