Our Brave Boy

On Tuesday Luke had his Kindergarten checkup at the doctor. I cannot believe that he is old enough to go to Kindergarten- where did the time go. So I knew what was coming with the four shots but I thought I would keep that to myself until it happened. Great idea but someone spilled the beans at preschool and when I told Luke that he was going to his Kindergarten checkup he said "I have to get shots?". This might have been better to prepare him because he was a champ. Let me first start with the stats: Weight- 53 lbs, Height - 46 3/4 in. He is 95% in weight and almost off the charts in height. The doctor was so happy with the stats this time. He was also pleasantly surprised when Luke sat calmly through his checkup. The doctor was use to leaving with a few bruises after Luke's checkups. What a difference a few years make. I was seriously so proud of him. I called in backup, Joey, for the shots and Luke opted to sit on his lap. He cried just a tiny bit but was still and brave. We left after to go to his Tball game and the first thing he did was lift up his shorts to show off his band aids! What a great boy! I am truly blessed to be his Mom and to watch him grow year after year. Love you Lukie!

What a day to Remember

I am sitting here with Cranky Nash on my lap, so I will try to get this post done. What a great day we had. It was Memorial Day and so Joey was home from work. We did not have any plans but knew that we wanted to make it a fun day. So we decided to go to the Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point in the morning. The kids are always asking me to do the maze and I don't dare without Joey's help. So we did that first and then spent another hour touring the gardens. The kids had so much fun and nothing is more fun than watching them have fun. Then we went to Del Taco for lunch. The kids have wanted to play in the new playplace so that we did. Then we came home to get some things done. We got the cars cleaned out and the garage. It was great to all work together while Nash was napping. Luke and Harlee then got in their swimsuits and ran through the sprinklers. After the work was done we went to the grocery store and bought the necessities for a cook out! We bought a fire pit a few weeks ago and decided to try it out. We made hot dogs and then smores. It was a blast! How blessed are we to have a fire pit in our backyard? I cannot wait for many summer and even winter nights enjoying that. We all sat around the fire and Joey told hilarious spooky stories- something about a "coffin" coming upstairs and stopping it with a "cough drop". What a funny guy! Now we are about ready for bed with 3 very tired kids. All of the fun wore them out. What a terrific day. Nothing beats a day spent together with the family. We are truly blessed to have each other and I will always remember days like this.

Bring on the Broadway

I just finished my 5th year of teaching at the Dance Depot. I must say that I am blessed to teach there. It is a little studio that allows me to teach what I love and get paid for it. We just had our recital on Friday May 15th. I teach 2 tap classes and 2 jazz classes. The theme this year was Broadway- so not my favorite but it actually was a good show. My younger class did "Puttin on the Ritz" for tap and "Ease on Down the Road" and "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" for jazz. My older class did "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" for tap and for jazz they did "All that Jazz" and "Wind it Up". They all did really well and I look forward to teaching them again next year.

Pick your battles

So Harlee is wearing this really cute dress today and she insisted on wearing her Dora snow boots that light up. What a cute outfit! Just makes me realize that all of the rules I made for myself before having kids are really not too important. I always swore my kids would look great. I would not be one of those moms that takes their kids anywhere looking disheveled and messy. No way! Well wouldn't that be nice if that was the case. To just make it out the house with all three of them is an accomplishment. And if they happen to be dressed all the better! You just realize how much those things do not matter. As long as they are happy then I am doing my job! I sure love these little ones. They are so busy and often drive me crazy BUT I would not trade them for anything. *Here is the picture of Harlee in her sweet summer boots and one of each of the boys.

Preschool Graduation

I seriously cannot believe that Luke is leaving preschool behind and moving onto kindergarten. Is he really that old? We had his graduation on Tuesday night. We were told it was going to be an hour and fifteen minutes so you can imagine our surprise (pleasant surprise) when it was only 15 minutes. They sang 3 songs and then each got a certificate. Miss Mikki, Luke's teacher, told me after that Luke is one of her best singers! He did a great job and we are so proud of him for doing so well in preschool. I will post the one and only picture I got from the event. My battery died after this first and not so great picture. Way to be prepared!

What's That Mom?

We have entered the question phase. Even if cute Harlee knows the answer she has to ask "Mom, what's that?" about everything. At first I thought it was pretty cute how she had so much on her mind, now it is about driving me nuts. She seriously never stops talking. It is funny because I use to think that Luke talked a ton but Harlee puts him to shame. Such a girl huh? Here's to hoping the question phase does not last too much longer, I might need to cut off my ears.

My "Card"

Not sure how this came about but Harlee has her own little spot. She found an empty cupboard in the kitchen and decided to make it her own. She spends quite a bit of time in there and fills it with all of her treasures! If ever something is missing that is the first place we check. She calls it her "card". At first I thought she was saying store or cupboard but she corrected me. With Luke's help we figured out what she was saying. What a fun treat to be able to clean that out! I think I will give Joey that job.

I Can't Get Enough

I seriously cannot get enough of this little guy. Nash is a dream baby. He is so mellow and always happy. What an example! He is growing so fast and is quite the big boy. He has a million dimples on his chubby little face and there is no way you cannot smile when he does. He thrives on attention and just loves it when you talk to him. What a gift he is to us.

Oh the things they say!

I just love to listen to Luke and Harlee talk. One of my favorite things is when they have a conversation together. Last night we were up in our room and Harlee started singing "Popcorn Popping". Luke asked "Did you sing that in nursery?" "Yes!" said Harlee. "I use to sing that in nursery and I sang in in primary yesterday too!" said Luke. They just seem like little adults. They are starting to really have fun together. If we can ever get Luke off the Wii ( new rules coming tonight at FHE) then they love to do things together. They are such joys in my life. Here are a few of the other funny things they have said lately:

Luke- "Mom when I grow up I want to be..... (I was thinking, doctor? policeman?) Spiderman! I will be able to help people. " At least he has great intentions!

Harlee- We went to get dinner on Saturday night and it took way too long. All of the kids were hungry and grumpy. On the way home Harlee was getting upset. She said something and Joey said "You are not the boss!" and Harlee said "Yes Me Am!" I love the grammar mix up. She is too funny.

I cannot believe how quickly they are growing up. Luke will be 5 in just a few weeks. I seriously feel like I just had him. It scares me to think of how quickly the next 5 years will go. I just want to enjoy every minute and keep them little!

Rolie Polie

On Wednesday, May 13th I was having our RS Presidency meeting. Nash was being pretty wiggly so I laid him on the floor. One minute I was looking at his cute smiley face and the next minute I was looking at his cute bottom! He rolled over. I could not believe it. He is seriously getting too big. After a few minutes on his tummy he was getting a little frustrated because he could not get his little arm out. That was Wednesday and almost a week later he is a pro! I took a few pictures this morning since I did not have a camera ready on Wednesday. What a BIG BOY!!

An example to me

Luke is such an example to me. For anyone that knows me, I am a little bit shy and have a hard time going into new situations without feeling nervous. Last night, Luke's preschool teacher reminded me that he could make up his class he missed yesterday by going today. My first thought was, he will not want to go because he will not know anyone. I realized that was MY thought and MY feeling. Luke is so not afraid of new things. I asked him and he really wanted to go. I walked him in and he was immediately talking to all of his new friends. What a great attitude he has. He has such a terrific spirit and I want to do all I can to celebrate that. Thanks so much Luke for teaching me to be brave and to look at new things as opportunities, not reasons to fear.

A Mother's Day Surprise

Ever since Joey and I first got married I have been asking for a Kitchenaid. I have always dreamed of the massive amounts of treats I would make with this wonderful mixer. Well my dream came true this morning. I was upstairs changing Nash and Harlee came up and said "Come down and see present". We went downstairs and on the counter was the most beautiful black machine I had ever seen! What a great surprise. There was also a sweet card and two chocolate bars. I could not wait to get home from church and make my first batch of cookies.

I have to mention on this special day, how grateful I am to be a mother. No present could ever come close to the "presents" that Luke, Harlee, and Nash are to me. They give me purpose and they teach me so much each day. I never knew that I could love so much until I became a wife and a mother. Thanks so much Joey, Luke, Harlee and Nash for making my Mother's Day so special. I love you guys more than you could ever know.

Latest Victim

As I mentioned I took Luke to his game on Saturday afternoon. Upon returning home, Joey came up behind me and said "Guess who has pink eye"? I turned around to see poor Joey with the goopiest eye. By the end of the day both eyes were infected. They were so swollen and he could hardly see. I had to take some pictures just to prove that it is so contagious. As I am finally getting to this post on Monday, he is doing a ton better. He stayed home today but I think he will be fine to go to work tomorrow. Luke came down with it yesterday and I did too. We got right on the drops and both of us are already doing better. Not a big fan of the pink eye and I cannot wait for all of us to be done.

Latest pictures

On Saturday we went to Target to have the first pictures taken with all three kids. I always stress out on picture day. This time was especially stressful because I had dance rehearsal until 9:30am and the pictures were in Sandy at 10:40am. This meant that Joey was in charge of starting to get them ready. Aside from a small argument about Luke needing an undershirt, things went off without a hitch! The kids were really good and my stress level was actually quite low. Harlee was a stinker and did not want to smile the whole time but we got some really good ones of each of them. I cannot wait to get them back and get them up in the house. Nothing like having the cutest kids in the world.

Another TBall Game, Some better shots

Well in the first tball post I put a picture on there that Joey had taken at his first game. I am pretty sure it is Luke in the picture but it is not guaranteed. So I was lucky enough to take Luke on Saturday to his game and I got a few better pictures. It was so fun to watch him play. I just love Luke. He is seriously one of a kind. He was out on the field telling his coach all about the spiderman toy that he had gotten that day. He is so good at focusing on things that he is interested in. He is really good at tball. He hits the ball further than any one on his team and he has a great arm. One of the dad's mentioned that Luke was going to be a pitcher. I know that Tball is pretty boring but I think that when he can play real baseball he will really enjoy it and will do a great job.

All of my blessings in one chair

If anyone knows us, they are well aware of our love for KSL and any bargain. We found this nice big chair on KSL last week. After a much needed shower on Friday night, I came down and Joey said that they all could fit together in the chair. They looked so cute that I had to take a picture. What a cute family I have. I could not feel more blessed to have such a wonderful husband and three beautiful children.

Too Cute

Joey stayed home sick on Thursday so Nash and Mom were going to run a few errands. I got him dressed and he looked like a babe. I cannot believe how quickly he is growing. He is not a baby anymore. He is such a part of our family and I do not know what we ever did without him.

I wonder how he got pink eye?

Poor Nash woke up this morning with a pink eye. If ever I doubted it was contagious, I have had my mind changed. Harlee is always all over him. She just loves him so much an insists on being in his face at all times. So I was not shocked when I saw him this morning. I took him to the doctor and she said it was the worst case she had seen. The whole time she is checking him he has his happy grin on his face. He is such a happy baby and does not seem to be phased by all of the ailments he has had to face. We all can learn a lesson from Nash's great example. So sorry bud, you should be back to normal in a few days!

PS- The last picture is how he looked after his nap- poor little guy!

A new look??

I love the independent, opinionated daughter we are raising. If she has this much to say at two, cannot wait until the teenage years! Well this morning she did not want me to straighten her hair because she said the straightening iron was too hot. So we opted for a little gel and she actually has some curls. I am not thinking that I prefer this look but she is cute no matter what. Well off to clean up another mess. Harlee just put diaper cream all over her doll and she is trying to put a diaper on her. What a cute little mommy! If only someone else could be the cleaner of the mess.

Too Big

It is amazing to me how quickly babies change. I seriously feel like we just brought Nash home from the hospital and he is already outgrowing the baby phase. He is such a happy kid. He loves the Wiggles and will contently watch it for a long time. Joey commented yesterday that the Wiggles were our baby sitter. Well with the growing up comes new fun toys and he has discovered the exersaucer. He loves all of the toys and has learned to turn himself around. He is so smart and following in the footsteps of his brother and sister.

Rub a Dub Dub, Three CUTE kids in a tub

Nash has certainly outgrown the baby bath. Every time I try I end up wearing most of the water that I put in the tub. So I got out the bathtub seat and put him in with Harlee and Luke yesterday. It was so cute that I had to snap a picture. They were having the best time together and I will use the pics to document the fun and remind them every time they are not getting along. I hope that they always stay close, maybe not so close that they continue to bathe together, but I hope they will all be great friends and examples to each other.

Did she really just say that?

I would like to think that our children are perfect and they would never say anything that was not kind. But we must be realistic and that reality hit hard last night. I am not sure where she heard it, could quite possibly be out of my mouth, but Harlee has learned the word dumb. She was mad at me one day and said "Dumb Mommy". I was shocked and she went straight to a time out. I explained to her that we do not say that word and that it was not nice. Well last night we went on our Sunday drive through Traverse Mountain. Harlee kept saying that she wanted to go to St George. I told her that Grandma and Grandpa were there in the condo with Tom and Yvonne. I said that since they were there, there was not enough room for us. So after thinking about it a minute she said "Dumb Grandma and Grandpa". Are you kidding me? She is too smart and such a stinker. Again she got the we do not say dumb lecture and hopefully this time it will stick.

Nash is a Big Boy

Well yesterday, Sunday May 3rd, was the start of the solid food for Nash. We fed him his first bowl of cereal and he loved it. He is definitely our little eater. Last night he pretty much slept through the night. He was up for the first time at 5:22am. You bet we will be feeding him that cereal again tonight! Way to go Nash- you are growing like a weed!

I can do a front flip!

"Mom, I can do a front flip!" Great Luke, wink wink- sure you can! Well turns out he really can. Joey called me outside last night when they were jumping on the trampoline. Luke was doing flips over and over. I asked him how he learned to do that and he said that he taught himself. It was pretty amazing especially for a 4 year old. No fear that boy! I took a few pictures to document the new found talent. Let's just hope he does not break his neck!

What a difference a day makes!

Poor little Harlee. We found out on Friday that she has pink eye. She woke up from her nap with her eye crusted shut. So when Joey came home, I took her to the InstaCare and was not surprised with the diagnosis. She was so good at the doctor and did not cry one bit. It is funny because on Thursday when I was getting ready for dance, she wanted me to put mascara on her eyes. So I did and took a picture of her gorgeous lashes! The next day you will see what happened. Poor thing. She is not a fan of the drops but already it is so much better.