My little piggy.

We've had such nice weather lately, it's been fun to let the kids out to play in our "backyard". I put that in quotes, because well, truly it's just a glorified patio, but hey--the kids don't complain, so why should I?

I walked into the family room and saw Leda looking in the window like this. It cracked me up, and since I have nothing else too exciting going on, I thought I'd post these pictures of my little piggy!

Aren't "just because" flowers the best?

I came home this afternoon to these beauties on my porch. Aren't flowers delivered to your house "just because" the BEST kind to get?! I still need to play around with the arrangement (I'm bad at that) but I think they are gorgeous! I believe that Aaron (still out of town) earned the sweet husband award today ;)

---

Edited to add: Aaron just called from his hotel room (I'd told him I took pics of the flowers) and turns out these are the wrong ones! The roses (colors) and vase are opposite of what he ordered and there were no chocolates. A girl NEEDS her chocolates...so maybe after a call to proflowers I'll be getting another "just because" bouquet delivered soon? lol

Tagged!

Typical Time of wake-up? Depends on Chase as my other kids are excellent "sleeper-inners"...usually between 7-7:30ish. (Shannon, don't curse at me--it's not nice ;)

On a good night when do your kids go to sleep? Every night is a good night for us, as we have established a pretty strict bedtime routine. No monkey-business-Aaron and I need our time! Chase is in bed 7-7:30, Leda 7:30 and Spencer after a one on one game with either mom or dad (sometimes both) around 8ish.

How long have you been a momma? 5 years, 23 days and counting!

Favorite kid's show? Dora (lame, I know) or Blue's Clues

Least favorite kid's show? Caillou---he's way too whiny-but I do like the fact that the dad doesn't have a job and stays home all day with the mom. That'd be cool---if we could still afford to live and all. lol

Favorite chore? Just picking up. I like putting away toys and making the place presentable again.

Least favorite chore? The dishwasher (Shannon, again don't curse) but I can't stand emptying it. Maybe cause I do it everyday and the kids cups and bowls always shift and they are filled with gross water? I just despise it. I know I should be grateful for my dishwasher, and I am (yes, Shannon, I hear you :), I just wish a dishwasher could empty itself. I sometimes even put it off until right before dinner. Which is a total disaster as dishes from the day have stacked in the sink, but some mornings I can't bring myself to do it! lol

Meal you cook most often: Salmon and rice. Weird, I know, but it's healthy and my kids INHALE it. It's my meal when I really want a quiet dinner. The kids won't complain and we eat in peace! Amazing!

Kids favorite meal:
Spencer: Salmon and rice
Leda: chicken nuggets
Chase: anything he can dip. It's my way to get him to eat anything. I always give him a side of ranch/ketchup. Messy? yes...but it does the trick.

Oh and they all LOVE fruit. Can't get enough. Any kind of fruit will do, but particularly blueberries.

5 Things that make you smile about being a mom:

1. When my kids show love for each other and aren't fighting.
2. Spencer's smile when we play a game one on one each night before bed (without the disruption of his siblings)
3. Leda when she grabs my cheeks and pulls me in for a kiss saying, "I just LOVE you mom!"
4. Hearing Chase scream, "Momma! Momma" whenever I leave the house. He is SUCH a mommas boy, and always fine right after I leave of course, but hearing him profess his love for me in tears (the only way he can right now) it just warms my heart. Weird, I know :)
5. When they are safe and asleep quietly in their beds!

Favorite thing your husband does with your kids: When he makes them laugh by doing silly dances, puts them on top of his shoulders and runs around the house, and when he sings to them each night before bed: "I am a Child of God", "I love to see the Temple" and "There is a Green Hill far away" (all verses!) are his specialities. Not joking.

Last time you went out with no kids: This afternoon for Kindergarten roundup. I dropped them off at my moms house and enjoyed 1.5 hours to myself (well, with a ton of other K-moms) and toured the K classrooms. SO cute! I can't believe Spencer's going to Kindergarten! sniff sniff.

If you could take your kids anywhere where would it be? Lake Tahoe. I want them to experience a vacation there like I did growing up. Camping on the sandy beach, hikes, and river rafting. Some of my best childhood memories were made in Tahoe. Now if we could just afford to do it with our little family! Sigh. Someday!

Favorite pastime/activity with your kids: The park is always fun with all of them, but a park with no swings. Swinging three of them simultaneously, or making sure Chase doesn't walk in front and get clocked is tricky! lol I love playing games with Spencer, I love doing makeup with Leda (she loves to watch me and wants to "share" my stuff) and I love it when Chase just wants to be held and loved.

One thing your mom did that you do now: Saying "I love you" whenever we leave each other. It's the last thing we say after we say goodbye.

Favorite kids book: "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day"

Best advice for a new mom: If it's your first: sleep when the baby sleeps. If it's not your first: good luck to you...just push through!

Scariest or most heart-breaking moment as a mom: With Spencer, when he had surgery at 18 months old to repair a birth defect on his ear (accessory tragus). When they took him from me to take him into surgery---I thought my heart would break. Also, with Leda when she was admitted to CHOC hospital at five days old and they didn't know what was wrong with her for two entire days. It was awful. Oh, it was a nasty UTI btw and after a week in the hospital, she was fine!

Most joyful moment as a mom: Not that I love Leda more than my other kids ;) but I specifically remember a time when Leda was a few days old. It was late at night, Aaron and I were watching a movie in bed, and she was between us. I was totally overcome with this powerful feeling of love, joy, gratitude for family, and just knew that Leda was special and meant for our family. The moment really came out of nowhere, actually at that moment I was feeling the postpartum achy and cruddiness...but anyway, it was that particular moment that helped me through the next week with Leda in the hospital and not knowing what was wrong. Deep down I knew she'd be okay, even though doctors didn't really know at first what was going on.

Last time your child told you he loved you: Tonight before bed. Leda especially won't let you leave her room until we've ALL said, "I love you; see you in the morning"

Last time you told your children you loved them: Tonight. I just can't leave their rooms without saying it.

I tag: Specifically, I tag Shannon, my SIL Lindsey and Camille. But if you want to do this, please do!

Know what bites.....?

... Getting a call from your husband (whose been out of town the past four days on a business trip, whose expected to come back to you and your rugrats on Saturday night) telling you that he's most likely going to have to extend his trip for various reasons beyond his control. NOOO! Being a "single mom" is tough stuff and I don't like it one bit!

I shouldn't have answered the phone.

I miss you babe, hurry home!

Tostitos, anyone?

This afternoon I came downstairs to find that Chase (16 mo) had helped himself to some chips from the pantry. I'm impressed he got the bag from the pantry and up on the big chair without making a complete mess!
It's been a while since I posted a picture of my bubs, so here he is. I just love that smirk he gives me (with his eyes squinted) and those big beautiful green eyes of his. I'm also loving that he's still a complete toe-head. At birth, Dr. Carruth had told me he'd be a toe-head (something about his eye-lashes/brows) but I didn't quite believe him. I figured with me being his mother that he would've gone dark by now, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon! Hooray!

Our UT trip!

Well, we're back!

Aside from the fact that when we arrived in UT, my nephew McKay and BIL Philip were sick...and Spencer now seems to have caught the bug, we had a GREAT trip! We got to do so many fun things and spending time alone with just Spencer was priceless. Thanks babe for taking off a few days to be with the other kids at home.

The day we were due to leave to come home (Tuesday), Spencer got a fever (101.5) and said his tummy hurt. Lovely. So I called JetBlue in hopes to change our flight and found out it was going to cost me $200 to do so. Ya, no thanks. So as much as I hated to do it, I dragged him on the plane at 8pm at night fully expecting a puke fest on isle 25...but he did great. We made it home and the puking began at 3am. But at least we made it home!!

Thanks to my sister Carrie for a wonderful time. I'm planning on going back up there the end of March (sans kids!) to help Carrie for five days when little Gabe joins their family. I can't wait for that! Thanks also to my cousin Tamie and her husband Ryan who hosted a yummy breakfast of coconut/banana pancakes and a fabulous day with the cousins!

Aside from returning home with a sick kid and humungous big house envy---oh and even more backyard envy (sigh), I'm so glad that we went. It was a great time! Here's a few pics of our trip:

Leaving for Utah! We rode on the plane with an Osmond, though not sure which brother it was. I was trying not to stare and have it look obvious I knew who he was, but it was kinda cool! lol
Just arrived and all bundled up in Aunt "Kiki's" car! He was SO excited, but this CA boy didn't know what hit him. It was COLD there at 11pm at night!

Aunt "Kiki" (Carrie) and her boys!
Sleeping in the sleeping bag at his cousins house was one of the highlights!

Dinner with my Grandma, Uncle Rob, and his girlfriend, Blythe
We met my friend Megan Wayman (Hill) at Ikea. We had so much fun. Megan is pregnant with her second boy (why didn't I get a pic of her Oliver?! He's so cute!) and it was so fun to eat, shop and get caught up.
My sister Carrie, cousin Tamie, me, and cousin Katie
The cousins LOVED Tamie's house because they had a rollercoaster there! They took a sleeping pad and slid down the long stairs to their basement. They couldn't get enough it, it was so fun!
Me and my beautiful sister Carrie (36 weeks pregnant)

Spencer helping to build an igloo in my cousin Tamie's backyard!
It was funny, because Spencer was the only boy to not walk on the sidewalk the entire weekend. Whenever he had the chance he took off through the snow.
Us at the Dinosaur museum at Thanskgiving Point
Spencer and Mom
They had this neat room there where they could build things with wet sand. Spencer had a blast!

And we're off!

I'm copying my friend Patience (and her cute idea) by snapping a picture of Spencer and I before we leave for our Mommy/Son trip to Utah! Spencer is soooo excited he can hardly stand it, and to be honest, so am I! My heart actually skipped a beat when I realized that I didn't have to carry diaper wipes in my purse for FOUR WHOLE DAYS! lol Catch y'all when we get back!! I do feel bad for little Leda though. She is just old enough to know what's going on and is so sad she isn't going with us. She wanted a picture with Mommy too, so I can't resist putting that pic up to share as well.

I'm pretty sure...

the Primary song entitled, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" was not written for the kids, but for the MOTHERS!

For those who aren't familiar, the song goes like this:

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, glad as I can be
Clap my hands and shout for joy, and climb upon his knee
Put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this
Pat his cheeks and give him what? A great big kiss!

I swear, at the end of the day, I can't begin to describe my excitement when I hear the deadbolt unlock! It's at that moment when my kids decide they can leave my side (and Chase climbs out of my back pocket) and they divert their attention from me and transfer it to their Dad! Yesterday was just one of those days. I had a splitting headache (seriously, it killed) from Chase screaming pretty much all day long. I think he's cutting teeth. Aside from his nap that he took just fine (go figure) he was literally unhappy and screaming all day and I totally blame him for my headache. Luckily I had Enrichement night at church to go to (yipee!) and when I returned home a few hours later, Aaron told me that Chase was a perfect angel for him. Not one tear, cry or whine the entire night. WHY is that?!?

Anyway, this picture obviously wasn't taken last night (I left the house too fast, lol) but it's one of my favorites of the kids with their dad. Aaron had just arrived home from work, and Leda and Spencer had just tackled Aaron and he'd pretended to fall back on the couch in defeat. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture, so I threw Chase on top of the pile (he was five months old) and he gave me this cheesy little grin. We all LOVE it when Daddy comes home---but no one more than Mommy :)

The Hinckley Challenge--wanna join me?

I came across this today and wanted to be a part of it.

Here's a bit about the challenge taken from the website:

President Hinckley often stressed our making the Book of Mormon part of our lives. He was 97 when he passed away, and we would like to celebrate his life and teachings by reading the Book of Mormon in 97 days.

And the website:

http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/

Reading the book from cover to cover after my beloved prophets passing would have personal meaning for me. Not that you have to have a reason like this to read the Book of Mormon, or a schedule in order to do it, but for me I thought it had a nice purpose. So here it is in case you wanna join in!

I won't post the entire reading schedule (it's on the website) but here's the month of February. Notice it starts today!

February

4 1 Nephi 1-2
5 1 Nephi 3-5
6 1 Nephi 6-9
7 1 Nephi 10-11
8 1 Nephi 12-13
9 1 Nephi 14-15
10 1 Nephi 16-17
11 1 Nephi 18-19
12 1 Nephi 20-22
13 2 Nephi 1
14 2 Nephi 2-3
15 2 Nephi 4-5
16 2 Nephi 6-8
17 2 Nephi 9
18 2 Nephi 10-12
19 2 Nephi 13-16
20 2 Nephi 17-20
21 2 Nephi 21-24
22 2 Nephi 25-26
23 2 Nephi 27-28
24 2 Nephi 29-31
25 2 Nephi 32-33 Jacob 1
26 Jacob 2-4
27 Jacob 5
28 Jacob 6-7
29 Enos-Jarom

March
1 Omni to Words of Mormon
2 Mosiah 1-2
3 Mosiah 3-4
4 Mosiah 5-7
5 Mosiah 8-10
6 Mosiah 11-12
7 Mosiah 13-15
8 Mosiah 16-18
9 Mosiah 19-21
10 Mosiah 22-24
11 Mosiah 25-26
12 Mosiah 27-28
13 Mosiah 29
14 Alma 1-2
15 Alma 3-4
16 Alma 5
17 Alma 6-8
18 Alma 8-10
19 Alma 11-12
20 Alma 13-14
21 Alma 15-17
22 Alma 18-19
23 Alma 20-21
24 Alma 22-23
25 Alma 24-25
26 Alma 26-27
27 Alma 28-30
28 Alma 31-32
29 Alma 33-34
30 Alma 35-36
31 Alma 37-38

April
1 Alma 39-41
2 Alma 42-43
3 Alma 44-45
4 Alma 46-47
5 Alma 48-49
6 Alma 50-51
7 Alma 52-53
8 Alma 54-56
9 Alma 57-58
10 Alma 59-61
11 Alma 62-63
12 Heleman 1-2
13 Heleman 3-4
14 Heleman 5-6
15 Heleman 7-8
16 Heleman 8-11
17 Heleman 12-13
18 Heleman 14-16
19 3 Nephi 1-3
20 3 Nephi 4-5
21 3 Nephi 6-8
22 3 Nephi 9-11
23 3 Nephi 12-14
24 3 Nephi 15-17
25 3 Nephi 18-19
26 3 Nephi 20-22
27 3 Nephi 23-26
28 3 Nephi 27-30
29 4 Nephi to Mormon 1
30 Mormon 2-3

May
1 Mormon 4-7
2 Mormon 8-9
3 Ether 1-3
4 Ether 4-7
5 Ether 8-9
6 Ether 10-12
7 Ether 13-15
8 Moroni 1-7
9 Moroni 8-10