Easy as 1.2.3

What to do when you can't reach the sink?....
Step 1

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I blogged a few entries earlier about the "hair down" practices at the Childs. Since Nash was always a part of this I figured that his brother Luke was helping him get his hair wet and down. Not the case! Since Nash could not reach the sink, he improvised. And what a gross improvision at that! Nash sticks his hands in the toilet water and uses that water to slick down the hair on his head. And to think I kiss that head! So sick. Another reason I am grateful for the at least once a week bathroom cleaning. I might want to think about doing it even more frequently. Either that or get the poor germy kid a step stool! As Joey says, he is giving himself a swirly!

Gray's Trick

Do 6 month olds have a sense of humor? Having Gray makes me answer that question with a big yes! Gray is so funny. He loves his blanket and loves to put his blanket over his face. Once the blanket is over his face, he throws his arms up and kicks his feet like crazy. At first we were really worried about him. A blanket covering a baby's face cannot be a good thing. But then we realized he was doing this on purpose. What a silly kid! We would just say "Graybees" and he would pull the blanket off his face revealing his huge smile. He is such a fun kid and just a joy to have in our family.

Unanswered Prayers

Yesterday as I was feeding Gray I turned on Oprah. She was doing an interview with Garth Brooks. He was talking about his song "Unanswered Prayers" and how they are doing a movie about the song. He then began to sing the song. My eyes filled with tears as I listened to the words. I was reminded of how I prayed many times that my life would turn out a certain way. I remember praying about a nonmember boyfriend and just hoping he would join the church so we could get married. At that moment I was so grateful for those unanswered prayers. I am overwhelmed with the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. He gave me Joey. He is the best husband and best friend I could ever have. He makes me laugh. He takes care of me and our four blessings. He is an example to me. He strengthens my testimony by his example. He helps me. He is so HOT! He loves me. He makes me better. I so grateful that those prayers about Joey are the ones that were answered. I could not imagine my life without him.

*THANKSGIVING*

It was the Childs year for Thanksgiving and it was such a nice day. Everyone arrived at 3pm and we were feasting by 3:30pm. The food turned out so good. After we sat down, Darolyne asked "Who wants to go around the table and say what we are thankful for?". As if on cue all the Childs boys said "No"! Not a surprise. After we cleaned up dinner we played some games. The first game was a know the lyrics game. It was so fun. Ryan performed just like the old days! Then we played a trivia game and singlets. It was so nice to be together as a family. I am so thankful for all of them!

Decorating the Tree

Christmas came early at the Childs! Joey, who is usually quite "scroogy" about Christmas decorations, bought new ornaments for the tree. He decided we could go with a red and silver theme and I must admit that I love it. Sort of the classy Christmas look! So Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, the Childs decorated their tree. It was quite the event. Luke and Harlee waited and waited for Joey to get the lights on so they could put the ornaments on the tree. The lights only went out a few times! Then it was time to decorate. Luke and Harlee would put the ornaments on as Nash would take them off. Gray just chilled on the floor trying to take it all in.

It was so fun to watch them get into it. I cannot believe how old they are getting. They are really starting to understand things and enjoy the holidays for more than just the gifts.

Little Helper

Nash loves to help clean. Joey was cleaning and vacuuming out the couch and Nash was by his side every step of the way. He even forgot to nap because he was so busy doing his chores. I just pray this helpful attitude continues on into his teenage years.
*Lately when Nash sees the camera he does his squishy smile and throws his head back. Too cute!

"Hair Down"

This is a phrase I probably hear at least five times a day from Luke. He is not the biggest fan of getting his hair done or "spiking it up" as he calls it. So every morning before I do his hair he makes sure his hair is completely slicked down. Then when he comes home from school he hurries to the bathroom. Turns the water on and wets his hair completely down. Not sure why he likes it this way? He did mention once that he hates his hair spiked up because it shows his freckles. Makes the person he inherited the freckles from feel a little bad! I have made him a promise that in the summer he can buzz his hair and thus it will be "down" on a daily basis.
*Today he got Harlee and Nash involved in the hair down process. Harlee's hair was slicked right down the middle and Nash kept wetting his hair. Then he would run to the mirror to pat it down in true Luke fashion. I asked Luke why such a serious face "I am trying to look cool" he replied.

The Smeller's the Feller

Harlee has always been our smeller! She loves to smell everything. If ever we get new soap she needs to smell it. She always smells my hairbrush and anything else she can get her nose on. If ever I borrow a shirt from Jenna, she knows. She can smell the familiar Prettyman scent and asks "Is that Jenna's shirt??" She has such a strong sense of smell and keeps us laughing with all of her "What's that smell like?" questions.
*Love that picture. How cute are her dimples??

Fourth Child

Gray is so the fourth child. I think that I had the camera out everyday, sometimes even twice a day, when Luke was a baby. It has become progressively less with each little one. So poor Gray does not have the blog appearances that the others did when they were his age. So today I decided to take a few pictures. How cute is he?? He is definitely the smiliest baby! If you just look at him he automatically opens his mouth as wide as he can. It is so hard to think of our family with out him. We love you so much Gray and feel so blessed to have you in our midst!

Someone else is in a big boy bed

Nash was not the only one who changed his sleeping accommodations, Gray moved to his big boy crib. No longer is he sleeping in the small pack and play in our room! I was a little nervous but we left his door open and had the monitor on. He did great! I must admit that it is so nice to get our room back to ourselves. What a big brave boy you are Gray!

PS- Nash slept through the night too in his new bed!

Big Boy Bed

Since Nash was "cribless" our whole vacation we decided to take the plunge and get Nash in a big boy bed. Before Gray was born, we bought bunk beds for Luke and Nash. He just seemed too little to put in a bed until now. Today is his first nap in the bed. I laid with him for just a few minutes and he was out. Let's hope he stays in there and let's hope this is the beginning of an easy transition. Good job Nash you Big Boy!

Our Quick Trip to Visit Nannie

The craziness began on Thursday night. The troops picked me up at dance and we were on our way. We loaded up with some snacks and a few redboxes and drove to stay the night in St. George. We arrived at about 11pm and quickly fell asleep. We woke up and left for California at 8:30am. Since we gain an hour we expected to make great time! The kids were really good for the drive. We stopped in Lenwood, Barstow for lunch at Burger King. There was a play place so the kiddos were in heaven! We made it to our hotel around 2:30pm. We got freshened up, so excited to see Nannie. We stopped at Costco and bought her some things we thought she might need (new pillows, towels, a warm blanket, a new Susan Boyle CD, some water, diet coke, toilet paper, paper towels, chocolates and some beautiful flowers) This was Joey's idea- I seriously married the man with the biggest heart. He is so generous and giving. Always thinking of others. So after the Costco stop, we picked up Wendy's and we went to visit Nannie. It was so good to see her and visit for a while. After a bit, the kids were tired so we headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we got ready and headed back over to Nannie's. We asked her to go with us to the beach for lunch but she was not up for it. So we loaded up the kids and went to Seal Beach. We walked the pier and ate lunch at Ruby's Diner. The kids loved that we were eating on top of the water! Joey took Luke and Harlee down to see the water and then we went back to the hotel. My sweet hubby then let me go by myself for a bit to Irvine Spectrum to do some shopping. I swear if we ever lived there, this is where I would spend my days! After I came back, we rested a bit and headed back to Nannie's. We grabbed dinner at one of my favorite Cali stops, Baja Fresh. The food was so good. Nannie was in HEAVEN! I don't think she looked up from that meal until it was all gone! Sure beats the microwave dinners she eats everyday! We visited a while and then said goodbye. Such a short trip but it was so worth it to see her. We slept and got up around 8am to head back to St.George. As we were leaving the hotel, Nannie called. She was crying and said how good it was to see the kids. She said everyday was like a wonderland! I thought it was more like crazy town but she did not seem to mind. So we decided to pick her up a chocolate chip muffin and stop by for one more quick hug. It was a nice little surprise and good to see her one last time. We headed back to St. George where we had every intention of staying the night. But in true Joey fashion, which I am not surprised in the least, we left around 8pm. I have to admit that it was nice to sleep in our own beds. What a great trip. So thankful for the blessings that we have that we can go and do these fun things as a family. I am truly grateful for Joey's job and hard work that enable us to make these amazing memories!

The Big 34

I had such a great birthday. It started by coming downstairs to find a table full of presents. Joey had gotten me cute PJ's from Costco(I am bending down so Harlee could take the picture!) and four cute shirts from Old Navy. He bought me my favorite chocolate almonds. He gave me some money to do my own shopping. But the best part was the CD and card. I think this year he topped himself with the card. My favorite so far! What a great husband I have. Then he planted all my tulip bulbs for me. After a day full of fun calls and messages wishing me a happy bday, Joey and I went on a date. I did have to chase him down to get a picture before we left (that is why we are in the garage)
At first he was not so happy about it

But then he gave in, it is my birthday after all!

Then we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. It was so yummy. Then shopped around Fashion Place Mall. On our way out we got a frozen yogurt from TCBY. What a fun night. Seriously no one I would rather spend my birthday with. Thanks so much Joey and the kiddos for making my day so special. I love you all so so much!

Birthday Breakfast

Every year my Dad takes Jenna and I to breakfast for our birthday. We met at 7am at One Man Band in Lehi. It was such a nice time. I never get to talk to my Dad or Jenna without the interruptions from the kiddos. It was great to just chat and start the day off with a good omelet! Thanks Dad for the great tradition and Jenna for sharing my birthday!

Harlee's new Hairdo

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Embarrassed to say that I actually started with yelling when I realized what she had done. You see we have been working three long years to grow her hair and now looks like we will be starting anew! I have found a way to camouflage it by doing a low side pony. Should I just do that for about a year until it grows a bit?? I could make a cute flower to match all her outfits and no one would know the difference.

Or do I bite the bullet and give my daughter a mullet? A little Dorothy Hammel do? Michelle, her hairdresser, is out of town. I am hoping when she gets back she can try to make something cute out of this unfortunate date with the scissors. Hopefully one day I will look back and laugh at this. So not laughing now!
PS- In my after haircut rage I told Harlee that she might have to cut her hair like a boy because it will take a long time to grow back. She said "OK mommy, let's get the tape and put it back!" Oh that sweet girl- why can't her Mom be less high maintenance like her. A solution for everything!

He Really Did It!

Well Gray has mastered a new trick. He can now officially roll from his back to his tummy. Here is the play by play:
He started like this,

Then this,

and ended up like this!

Now look how proud he is! What a big boy.

Our little stinker...literally!

I had it all planned out. I was going to put the little boys to bed at 1pm. So I got Nash's milk ready and Gray's bottle. I told Nash to go find his blanket. He could not find it so I figured it was upstairs. I told Nash to follow me up to his bed as I carried Gray upstairs. When I arrived upstairs, Nash was no where to be found. I looked downstairs and he was laying on the couch, closing his eyes, pretending he was asleep. What a little stinker! He is a lot smarter than we give him credit for. So I put Gray on the floor in my room and ran down to get him. He was cracking up, knowing he was being a tease. I picked him up only to find he had stinky pants. Changed him quickly and we both laughed all the way to his bed. Boy do I love this little guy!!

I just want to snuggle them all!!

I seriously have an issue. I will be the first to admit, I am a bit addicted to buying clothes. Nothing is easier to buy than soft snugly Jammie's! So yesterday at Costco I bought a polka-dot blanket sleeper for Harlee and two matching ones for Nash and Gray. I had previously purchased track pants for Luke for Christmas but he got them early since they did not have his size in blanket sleepers! So before dinner they all wanted to get in their news PJ's. How cute are they? I seriously wanted to eat them all up.

"Cather"

A few months ago one of the neighbor's dog came to play with the kids. They were so excited. They named him Cather. Since then he has come back once or twice. Today was another one of those lucky days. Riley was over and they were playing in the backyard. They ran in to tell me that Cather was here. They got him a bowl of water and played fetch with him. I know that Luke really wants a dog for Christmas (along with a flat screen TV, a new ds game, and a silver chain?? Not sure what the draw is to the silver chain. Is that cool in 1st grade? Should I be concerned?)Watching them play with this dog almost makes me want to get them one. But then the realistic side of me, Joey, reminds me that now is not the time. With four little ones it would just be too much. Maybe when Gray is Luke's age it could be a possibility? For now we will just thank the neighbors that let their dog roam the neighborhood!

**HALLOWEEN**

Halloween was an event. Four kids to get ready in costumes is quite a job! But we did it and everyone seemed happy with their outcome. Luke was a skeleton with green bones. Could not believe that he had switched over to the scary but after seeing his school parade, he definitely was not the only one! Harlee was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Nash was a Hamburger, perfect for the boy who loves to eat. Gray was a Hot Dog. I had bought a skunk costume for him but my friend had a hot dog costume. So I borrowed it so Gray and Nash could match a bit. They all looked so cute.
Since we live in Utah and Halloween falls on a Sunday, all the festivities took place on Saturday. We got the kids dressed up and headed down to Orem to show them off. We first went to my parents house and took a few pics. Then we went to Joey's parents and did the same thing. Then it was back to our neighborhood. We went to Riley's house for hot chocolate and doughnuts. Then came home for trick or treating. Joey took Luke and Harlee out. It was raining a bit so he went prepared. He got the double stroller to push the cold kids and covered them in blankets. Must have worked because they were gone for almost 2 hours. They came back, each of them, with a huge bag overflowing with candy. Nash and Gray stayed home to pass out candy. Every time the doorbell would ring, Nash would run and grab some candy. He loved to put the candy in their bags and then slam the door when he was done. What a fun night for the kiddos!

*When we went to my parents house, Jeremy and his family were there. Jeremy dressed up like a UPS worker- moustache, short shorts and all! I was dying!