My letter writer

Look what my sweet girl did!!! :) We sat together in the recliner while she wrote Bs and Fs and Os and Ts all over the page. So I found a clean page, wrote the letters of her name down the side and encouraged her to draw each letter. She did remarkably well, I think! I really need to work more on this with Brooklyn and Blake since they won't be attending preschool. We got these cute little Disney workbooks awhile back; I should pull those out for practice.

Brooklyn and Blake could not be more opposites in this respect. Brooklyn loves to draw and write random letters on the page, Blake just likes to scribble- STILL. Blake, on the other hand, can identify any number or letter along with it's corresponding sound and give an example of a word that starts with that letter. Brooklyn still does a lot of guessing when actually identifying letters. I think that if I sat down with Blake and practiced a bit, he could learn how to read very quickly. I guess that's my next task! ;)

A day at the zoo

Yesterday, I told Matt we were taking a day trip today and he had no say in the matter! LOL! Matt has no class on Fridays and I've been sick and tired of sitting home all day doing nothing "fun" on his day off. So this morning I hustled and bustled around, putting together snacks and drinks and hats and sunglasses and we headed off to the LA Zoo, which was a surprise for the kids! :) After we all slathered up with sunscreen, our adventure began. And boy, was it a tad toasty today!!! We tried to hit most of the animal exhibits, but Brooklyn was complaining that her feet were hurting. I told her she had to be strong so we could walk and see all the animals and she told me, "Mom, my feet aren't strong today!" Haha! She ended up hitching a ride in Gavin's stroller while Gavin had the chance to roam free a bit. Brooklyn's favorite animal was the giraffes. She kept asking when we were going to see the giraffes! Blake's favorite animal was the elephant because it was pushing a huge tire/ball toy thingy!! It was just plain fun to get out with the kids and do something that they were excited about. We spent a good 2 1/2 hours there. Of course on the way home, they all three completely zonked out.

My one *minor* complaint- driving in CA is an absolute NIGHTMARE!!! It took us freakin' 1 1/2 hours to drive 40 miles!!!! According to Mapquest, it should take 39 minutes. Yah, no. Traffic just c-r-a-w-l-e-d the entiiiiiiire way. We weren't driving during "rush hour" but it sure seemed like it!! That's one thing I couldn't handle if I lived here permanently. Good thing we're not! ;)

Of course I took a bazillion pictures, so I'll try and narrow it down! ;)

My three little animals (it's hard to get a good pic of all three kids!!!)

Gavin bumming a ride on Daddy's shoulders


Daddy holds Brooklyn up to see her beloved giraffes


The elephant, playing with his toy


Gavin loving his freedom from the stroller!


Gavin thinking he's going to climb in with the orangutans - EEK!


Blake measures up to a gorilla


Mommy & Brooklyn in front of the pretty pink flamingos

"Mom, this looks like a gun!"

Why is this a frequently heard phrase out of my sweet oldest son's mouth??!?!? I've learned that anything, and I mean ANYTHING, can look like a gun- fingers, chicken strips (!!!!), Mega blocks, train tracks, sticks, etc. Someone please tell me this is just some normal boy phase that will pass quickly?? UGH!

More new words for Gav!

"Oh no!"
"Book"
"Amen" - He says this loud and clear after we finish saying a prayer! It's hilarious!

This kid amazes me, picking up new words every day!!!

Teeth!

Gavin L-O-V-E-S brushing his teeth!! All I have to say is "brush teeth?" and he comes a'runnin' saying, "Tees!! Tees!!" :) He has two toothbrushes, one for him to hold while I brush his teeth with the other one. I almost need to give him another one to keep both hands busy because he tries to take the one out of my hand! Gavin loves taking his turn, laying across my lap (just like I do with the other two) so I can clean those pearly whites. I let him run around, "brushing" his own teeth while I brush Brooklyn and Blake's teeth, but when I try to take the toothbrushes away, ooooooh boy! He gets this death grip going and I have to PRY the toothbrushes out of his hands! He's such a cutie pie!! Here he is, double brushing it!! ;)

Delish dinner!!

On the menu for tonight was roasted pork tenderloin, parmesan potato wedges and steamed green beans. Since I was trying new recipes, I wasn't sure how it would turn out or if any of us would like it. But good news!! Tonight's dinner was a winner!!!!! Even the kids asked for more helpings! That's a sure sign that it's going on the regular dinner rotation!!

Doesn't this look amazing?? Please note, this pic was just taken for show. And the potato wedges really weren't as "done" as they look! ;)



I feel like Betty Crocker these days, trying new recipes, getting yummy results! :) I have to give a SHOUT OUT to Kraft Food & Family magazine for quick and easy meal ideas!!

And just for the heck of it, here's a picture of my Beansie, trying to stab a green bean with his fork! He's doing really well learning how to use utensils! I love our IKEA kids silverware, plates, bowls and cups!

Treats & snacks

I swear, Brooklyn and Blake (especially Brooklyn!) must ask me 1,000 times a day if they can have a snack or treat! I don't know why all of a sudden they think they get a treat after each meal???? We have dessert after dinner once in awhile, but I'm starting to think they are expecting it, which isn't going to happen. Seriously, Brooklyn could have JUST finished her breakfast and she's coming to me, asking for a snack. Sorry Charlie! We have designated snack times, morning and afternoon. That has never changed! It got so bad today that I had to put Brooklyn in time out because she was throwing a tantrum that I wouldn't give her a treat just after lunch!

No shorts!! ~ Blake funnies

Funny #1:
This morning I told Blakey to run to the bathroom, take off his Pull Up and go pee. After I wiped him down, I told him to go pick out some undies. He starts crying and I asked what was wrong. He said, "I need some clothes or my parts will be cold!!" Haha!!

Funny#2:
So, I got out shorts for the kiddos to wear today since I knew it would be warm. Blake starts FREAKING out and I was trying to explain to him that it was going to get hot today (we don't have central AC) and that he'd be more comfortable in shorts. But he insisted on wearing jeans! At quiet time, I asked him again if he'd like to change into shorts. He told me, "No thanks, my pants are just fine mom."

A Brooklyn funny

Brooklyn was in the bathroom with me today as I was brushing my hair after my shower. I noticed that her cheeks were a little flushed, probably since it was a tad warm today and she and Blake were playing in a "fort" under the table. Our conversation went as follows-

Me: Your cheeks are rosy!
Brooklyn: No, they're not!
Me: Look in the mirror. Your cheeks are a little red.
Brooklyn (after analyzing herself in the mirror): Those are my happy cheeks, Mom!

That made me laugh! I love the things kids say sometimes!! :)

Lots 'o laundry

I did TWELVE loads of laundry today!!! That's just about the only plus to having a community laundry room with eight washing machines (albeit small ones) and ten dryers at our apartment complex! The downsides are the trekking back and forth to switch loads and that it costs $1.00/load to wash and 75c/load to dry. You do the math!! We go through a LOT of quarters a month! Today I did 2 loads of towels, 2 loads of the kids' sheets, mattress pads and blankets, 1 load of Gs, 2 loads of our whites, 1 load of the kids' whites, 2 loads of the kids' darks and 2 loads of the kids' lights. It's all folded now and ready to be put away. The sad part is that I still haven't touched the rest of our laundry! There is at least 4 loads of mine and Matt's colors to do!

Maybe laundry wouldn't be such a daunting task if I wasn't so OCD about doing it. Matt has pretty much stepped back and let me do it my way 'cause once I got mad at him for folding my garment tops wrong!!! LOL! ;) Here's a little list about how OCD I am:

- I look over EVERY SINGLE item for any hint of stains.
- I pretreat each stain I find (I go through a bottle of Shout a month!).
- When those clothing items are done in the washer, I check each one before it goes into the dryer to make sure the stain isn't there anymore.
- If I find a stain after an item goes through the washer & dryer, it goes in a pile to treat again. I won't put stained clothes on myself or the kids.
(For the record, there are very few stains that I haven't been able to get out of a piece of clothing!)

- All of Matt's, Brooklyn's and my jeans/pants are hung/laid out to dry. Can't have shrinkage for us long-legged folk.
- All Matt shirts (with exception of most of his dress shirts) are hung to dry.
- All of Brooklyn's dresses are hung to dry.

- All of the kids' shirts are hung in their closets, along with the boys' dress pants and Brooklyn's skirts and dresses.
- Only belts & ties (for the boys), socks, undies, swimsuits, pajamas, onesies (for Gav) and jeans/pants go into dresser drawers.

I absolutely CANNOT wait until we move into our house and I get my super capacity washer and dryer!! Hopefully it'll cut the amount of loads of laundry I do in half, or so. Maybe then I'll actually enjoy doing laundry?? Nah, probably not! ;)

~*~*~Happy Birthday to ME!!~*~*~

I'm 25 years old today!! That's a quarter of a century old! I feel a heck of a lot older than that, though!!!!!!!

Birthdays are just regular days when you get older. I still had to get up earlier than I would have liked, make the kids meals, do the laundry and other chores. I was surprised this morning when there was a knock at the door and there stands a guy holding flowers! Matt had a birthday bouquet from the kids and a long-stemmed rose from him delivered to me!! :) Good man, he is! We went out to dinner as a family and got Golden Spoon (frozen yogurt) afterward. Mmmmm! Matt apologized for not doing anything fabulous for my birthday, but he really shouldn't worry. The elliptical trainer counts as my birthday, Mother's Day and any other "day"!! LOL! I received call after call from family members to wish me a happy birthday. It's been a great day!

Looking back on my life, I'm farther ahead than I thought I would be at 25. I'm married to a handsome honey, I have three beautiful kids, we're *almost* done with graduate school, and we're working on building a brand new house. I have much to be grateful for!! I'm also thankful to my parents for their guidance throughout my life thus far.

Here's to being 25!!

Help! I'm stuck!

After we put the kids in bed, they were playing around a bit and Gavin started crying. I gave him a sec to calm down because I thought maybe Brooklyn or Blake had done something to upset him. But Gavin kept crying, so I went into check on him and found him like this!! His poor chubby little knee was stuck in the slats of the crib! And being such the good mom that I am ;), I told him to hold on while I ran and grabbed the camera!!! LOL! After I took a few pictures, I quickly rescued him and gave him loves before laying him back down in his crib.

When the spoon is not good enough....

...just drink it!! I've been trying to give Gavin more opportunities to use utensils when eating meals. Yesterday at lunch, I gave him strawberry applesauce and a spoon and he was actually doing very well! Once there wasn't very much left and it was harder for him to scoop it out, I look over and see this- he's "drinking" his applesauce! Haha! Silly boy!

Primary by myself

Matt and I have been team teachers in Primary for the CTR 8 class (those that are turning eight years old this year) for the past four months or so, but he officially got released last week. So today was my first time teaching our class by myself. Usually, the class is pretty well behaved, but today, for some reason, they were wired! Our lesson was on the Word of Wisdom and I had them put pictures of various food and drink items into groups of goods and bads. I thought I was doing well getting them involved. I brought some fruit for them to eat- cantaloupe, grapes, strawberries, blueberries and bananas. They really enjoyed that! Sharing time was a little rambunctious (as usual) and I had a hard time keeping a couple of my kids quiet. *sigh* I hope next week is better!

I'm sure Matt enjoyed going to Sunday school and Priesthood since he's pretty much been stuck in Primary since we've been married! He also had to take Gavin with him, so I'm not sure if he actually got to listen much. ;) I can't believe that in less than 3 months, Gavin will be old enough for nursery!!!!!!!!

Dinner at Lucille's

Last night we had our annual SSA board dinner. It's just a fun way to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done for that past school year! We ate at Lucille's BBQ, which was YUMMY! I'd never been there before! We had to wait almost two hours to get in, but it was well worth the wait! It was really fun to get out without any kids and just chat. It felt like a big group date, which I guess it kinda was! ;)

Thank you Jennie, Trenda, Joanne, Jessica, Michelle, Becky and Brandi for making this year awesome and a lot easier on me!! :)

On a side note, Gavin is starting to show signs of separation anxiety. We had a babysitter last night (of course) and as we were walking out the door, Gavin started crying hysterically. I picked him up, kissed him and told him we'd be back. After we were almost out to the car, I realized I had forgot something, so I had to run back in. When I left again, the crying started all over again!! Oops! And when we got home, Gavin's eyes lit up and he said, "Maaaaamaaaaa!" and came toward me, holding his arms up, wanting to be picked up.

Making cookies with Mommy

Tonight after dinner, Brooklyn, Blake and I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. They love to help whenever they can. We have two bar stools that they drag into the kitchen so they can be up to the counter. It was really fun having two helpers! The twins scooped and poured and mixed and I even let them crack their own egg into the bowl! We had a great time and we all enjoyed the reward of yummy, homemade cookies afterward!

Mixing the sugar
Adding the butter
Blake gives the mixer a whirl

The best part- licking the beaters!!!

Me & my helpers! :)
Reading books while the cookies are baking

Dancin' to the music

Gavin loves to dance!! We were listening to the Cars movie soundtrack this afternoon and he was just bopping away! Check it out for yourself... (let's see if I can figure out this video thing) You'll notice the remotes in his hands. He has this obsession with "motes!" You'll also hear him say "Mine" as he comes to me for the stereo remote! Please excuse the mess in the background!

Rainy day

We woke up this morning to a gray, overcast sky and a wet ground outside. Mmmm! My favorite kind of day!! :) After we finished breakfast, it started raining again, and Brooklyn asked if she could go out and play in the rain. I told her she could stand on the porch, but not to go out the gate. Then Matt suggested that I let Gavin run around in the rain. I argued that it was too cold and I didn't want to have to bathe him afterward, but I relented and took Gavin outside. Yes, I let my child run around in the rain, in his pajamas, with bare feet when it's only a mere 50 degrees outside!! *gasp* I'm such a bad mommy, I know! But of course Gavin loved it and I only let him stay out for five minutes or so. And don't think I didn't have my camera! ;)

Note to self...

Keep certain words to yourself. Little ears pick up on them rather quickly!!

A few new words for Gavin

"Tees" - teeth (I have to PRY his toothbrushes out of his hands when we're done brushing teeth!)
"Shoo" - shoes
"Poop" - poop! (I swear he started telling me this when he has a poopy dipe!!)
"Mine" - !!!!!! One of the perks of older sibs.
"Deet" - drink

Gavin's new best friend

Many of you may recognize this red, furry fellow. It's ELMO!! Gavin is forever carrying these two stuffed Elmo's around the house, saying, "Ehmo! Ehmo!" :)

I guess I started the whole thing! We were looking at a lift-the-flap book that has Elmo on the front cover and I pointed Elmo out to Gavin. He immediately picked that up and like the next day, he could identify who Elmo was!! And all of a sudden, he's in love with Elmo! It's so sweet to see Gavin toting one big and one small Elmo around- the big one is almost as big as him!

Grocery shopping woes

I finished making my menus for the next week and a half and hit the grocery store tonight after we got the kids bathed and in bed. I'm usually at the grocery store late at night since I'm not about to drag all three kids with me. Once the kids are in bed, I can take my sweet time, making sure I get everything I need, without being rushed. I swear, grocery shopping in and of itself is a workout!! Everything from the shelves into the cart, everything out of the cart onto the conveyor belt. Everything back into the cart, and everything back out of the cart and into the car. Everything out of the car, into the house. Everything put away. Whew!!

Anyway, I make my trip tonight and head straight to the deli counter to get some sandwich meat. The dude behind the counter is cleaning the slicers and I ask if they are closed. He asked me what I needed and I told him I wanted a pound of the turkey on sale. He sliced it up for me and then I head to the meat counter to get some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Nope, they are in the middle of cleaning everything up. But what ticks me off the most is there is a sign on the wall in plain view, stating the hours of both the deli and the meat counters, which *should* be open until 10:00pm. Ok, well it wasn't even 9:00pm before I got there and they are both already closing up shop. And this isn't the first time that I've had this problem. I'm seriously going to call tomorrow and leave a complaint with the manager. There are some people, like me, that can only get to the grocery store in the evening after the kids are in bed. And if these counters should be open until 10:00pm, then why aren't they??!? If they are going to be closed at 8:40pm, please change the sign so I know.

Oh, but I have more. That's not where the story ends! As I go, I neatly stack the items in my cart so that everything fits, even if I'm shopping for two weeks worth of groceries. The bag boys don't quite understand that concept, apparently. Sometimes my cart is filled precariously to the brim, but tonight was not one of those nights. I had a lot of food, but my cart was not overflowing. The bagger thought I needed a second cart in order to fit all my groceries. So he proceeds to start filling another cart when there was plenty of room left in my original cart. Bag boy takes off while the checker is finishing up my transaction, leaving me alone to drag these two carts BY MYSELF out to the car. Good thing I'm a burly woman and could perform such a complicated task! Must be those days of pushing a double stroller and pulling a cart behind me that prepared me for such an event! ;) I was rather embarrassed, trying to control two carts all the way out to my car. Where the heck did bag boy go?? Probably goofing off with his friends that were calling to him while he was bagging my groceries. Thanks bagger boy, I really appreciate it.

Rip off!!!

Gas prices continue to climb to ridiculous prices. $3.33/gallon for the CHEAP stuff - now isn't that an oxymoron???!?? That means it would cost a whopping $83.25 to fill up our SUV. Thank goodness we don't drive that much and our tank is still half full! Maybe prices will settle down a bit before we have to fill up again. Oh, the joys of living in SoCal!

Picture Crazy

Yes, I'll admit it, I'm crazy. Crazy about taking pictures, that is!! Currently, just by mid-April, I've already taken 260 pictures. Last month, I took 375 pictures. Since the beginning of the year, I've taken 1279 pictures. Granted, not all those are good pictures. All I have to say is thank goodness for digital cameras!! Mine goes everywhere with me!! I have pictures of most of my kids' firsts- foods, special outings, events. What can I say? I LOVE taking pictures of my kids!!!! :) So you'll frequently see pictures in my blog. But I've never heard of someone complaining about sharing too many pictures. ;) Oooooh, I'm just coveting a new digital SLR!! I just have to keep working hard on my weight loss and I'll get it!

Twins & Sextuplets

Being a multi mommy, of course I am absolutely fascinated with anything having to do with other multis. We have a free preview of Discovery Health for who knows how long? and so I did some browsing forward to see what's on the schedule. I happened upon the premiere of "Jon & Kate plus 8" and instantly realized what it's about- the family that had twins and then had sextuplets. I set the DVR to record the new episodes and have been watching them for the past week. All I have to say is WOW! The mom (Kate) is so stinkin' calm and organized and her house is spotless..... with SIX two year olds!! I'm probably going to go nuts when our free preview is up because I won't get to see the rest of the episodes!!!

One thing that happened to catch my attention was when Kate showed her bare belly on national tv. The aftermath of a multi pregnancy = not pretty. I told Matt that my belly looked just like her belly, except mine is not *quite* as bad as hers. A plastic surgeon's wife happened to see the show and Kate ended up getting a tummy tuck free of charge. Her after surgery belly is fabulous! I really, really, REALLY dislike my stomach. I have a lovely flap of skin that hangs over my c-section scar (times 2) and then a huge pooch of skin above that. Not to mention the barrage of stretch marks. I don't know that there is any amount of work I can do to get a flat tummy again. I mean, imagine streeeeeetching your skin out, cutting it open, then stitching it back up while it's still stretched out. No chance for it to grow back "together" to it's previous state. Matt has told me that after we're through having kids and I've done all that I can do to get in shape, if I'm STILL unhappy with my tummy, then I can get a tummy tuck. Yes, I know, it's "plastic surgery." Yes, I know, it's asking for a lot of pain. But I can just imagine a huge change in my self-esteem if I were able to get rid of this saggy, baggy skin. Maybe for our 10th wedding anniversary, Matt said! ;)

Slumber party and worries about separation anxiety

Can someone please tell me why, at 10:45pm, my children are still awake?!??!??!?!? Oh wait, I know the answer! Maybe because it's like a freakin' slumber party in their bedroom each night?!

Since we are in tight quarters- a two bedroom apartment with three kids- all three kids have to share a bedroom. It works out nicely and everything *just* fits with no room to spare. Who knew you could fit two toddler beds, a crib and two dressers in a small bedroom??

Gavin was still awake because he had a poopy dipe. Oops! For the most part, they go to bed relatively easy each night. However, tonight, for some reason, the twins are just wired! I captured some footage of my little hooligans and what has been going on in their room tonight.

Here they are, giggling with each other at the ends of their beds-And then five minutes later, they are standing up and falling back and forth from each others beds!!!!
A little bit crazy, don'tcha think??

All that brings be to the second portion of my title- separation anxiety. We'll be moving into our new, four bedroom home in less than seven months. Brooklyn and Blake have shared a bedroom since birth. In the new home, we are planning on putting the boys together in one bedroom, giving Brooklyn her own room and using the third and biggest bedroom as a playroom. I'm thinking- oh yay! I get to decorate a girly room! But wait. What if Brooklyn doesn't WANT to be by herself in a bedroom? What if she misses Blake? What if she gets scared being on her own? Maybe we should put Brooklyn and Blake together in a room and give Gavin his own room. Should we let Brooklyn and Blake choose if they want to stay together or are apart? They'll be almost 5 years old at that point, so should they have some say? I know we're still a ways off from this, but I'm already stressing about it, BIG time!! It'll be interesting to see how things pan out once we move in. I'll probably look back on this post and think, "What was I worrying about?!?" Hopefully.

My Little Einstein

Excuse the brag for a sec, but Blake is a pretty smart kid. :) Here are a few things that he's done and/or said lately that just have Matt and I in stitches!

1. Blake knows his right from his left. In our car, all three carseats are in the middle row of the Trailblazer. Gavin is behind the driver's seat, Blake is in the middle, and Brooklyn is behind the passenger seat. When we're driving in the car, we talk a lot about red, yellow and green lights and arrows, and which direction we are turning/driving. Blake quickly caught on with the left and right thing. He can now tell you which is his left or right hand, foot, ear, eye, etc. He will also point the correct direction if you ask which way is left or right. So, Matt decided to have a little fun with Blake. While sitting across from Blake at the table, Matt held up both his hands and asked Blake, "Which is my left hand?" and of course Blake pointed at Matt's right hand. Matt tried to explain to Blake that when you're looking at someone, their left hand will be the opposite of what his left hand is. After a thorough explanation and a few more tests, Blake laughs hysterically and says, "Daaaaaaaaaaad, that's not right, that's your left hand!!!" I guess Blake thought Matt was trying to trick him!

2. Blake and Brooklyn were standing on their chairs at the table while I was finishing up getting dinner ready and Matt was grilling the chicken outside. Blake put on Brooklyn's glasses, looks at me and says, "Mommy, you're BIG!" LOL! Brooklyn has a decent rx, so of course everything is magnified to Blake!!

3. We're driving home from church today and Blake and Brooklyn are telling us about their lesson in Primary (I'm thankful for birds and bugs, or something like that). All of a sudden, Blake gets a scowl on his face and tells me, "That's not nice!" and I said, "What isn't nice?" He points at the top of the paper he colored where his teacher wrote his name and says, "Sister Williams wrote a one in my name and that's not nice!" I looked at his paper and saw that his teacher had written his name in lowercase letters, except for the B, and Blake thought the lowercase L was a 1!! LOL! I had to explain to him the difference in BIG letters and LITTLE letters and that a little L looks like a 1. We've been working on recognizing letters and numbers, but have only done uppercase letters. I guess we need to work on lowercase too!

And just for grins and giggles, here's a picture of Blakey with his "beanie" on!!! Hehe!

Shop 'til you drop!

Matt had clinic all day today so the kids and I decided to go shopping for a few necessities. We headed to Ontario Mills, one of my favorite places to shop. I rarely walk out of that mall without several bags!! Today, I had just a small list of items I needed to look for and did a pretty good job of sticking to the list! First stop was Gap outlet, of course! :) I got some matching summer jammies for all three kids and another bucket hat for Gavin. Then we stopped by the Carter's outlet to find some short sleeve/long pants pjs for Gavin, since we're not quite cold enough for long sleeves, but definitely not warm enough for shorty pajamas. Gavin is pretty much opposite seasons with Blake's hand-me-downs, so I've had to do a bunch of shopping for new clothes for Gavin. DARN! ;) Although it wasn't on the list, I couldn't resist browsing through the Gymboree outlet and ended up getting more matching/coordinating church clothes for all three kids! Nothing thrills me more!!! I got this dress for Brooklyn that kind of reminds me of a wedding cake. Hehe! Matt doesn't like it, but it's really grown on me since I first saw it and I'm pretty sure Brooklyn is not going to let go of the matching headband we got to go with it. I bought the boys matching sweater vests and dress shirts. Our last stop was the Stride Rite outlet to get Blake some new dressy shoes for church. I've been squeezing his poor little feet into his too small shoes for the last couple months- bad mommy! I was really proud of the restraint I exercised in not stepping foot in the Children's Place outlet. That place has seen a little too much of my debit card lately! I heard there are some sweet sales going on right now, but I resisted!

Sometimes the kids shock me. I toted them around for two hours in the mall and they did pretty darn good! Gavin wanted to get out of his stroller, of course, so I let him walk a bit in a couple of the stores and then he was good to get back in the stroller for the duration of our outing. We stopped by the Rainforest Cafe to let the kids watch the fishes swim in the big tanks and I gave Brooklyn and Blake each a penny to throw in the alligator "swamp." They were happy with that!! Overall, I think I'm lucky to have pretty well-behaved children!

Gavin is 15 months old!!

I can't believe my itsy-bitsy baby is 15 month old already (yesterday)! He's looking more and more like a little boy to me every day. Yes, we're still going strong with the nursing, usually between four and five times a day. Yikes! Still taking two naps a day, usually lasting about two hours each. Pretty much sleeping through the night (11 hours), but occasionally wakes up once in the early morning hours. VERY attached to his thumb, still!

Gavin has become a different baby over the past few months. He's starting to become more vocal with the "eh!, eh!, eh!s" and screeching. I'm not liking the screeching so much, so I'm trying to work with him on signing a bit more to see if that will alleviate some of the stress. Gavin loves to spend time with Brooklyn and Blake, but those feelings don't always go both ways. Blake, especially, seems to be rough with Gavin, just smacking him for some random reason or yanking things away from him and in turn, Gavin has learned to swing his arm and hit. Just lovely! One of the perks of having older siblings, I guess!

Gavin absolutely LOVES to be outside. If the front door doesn't get closed all the way, he thinks it's an open invitation for him to go out. And if you go outside and shut the door in front of him, be prepared for a cry-fest!! Also, if you even MENTION the word "outside," he runs to the front door! He's such a boy!

Things Gavin says: (he's quite the talkative kid!!)
Da
Mama
Go
Yah
Uh-oh
NO!
Whee!
Whoa
Hi
Bye-bye
"Eh-oh" - hello
"Nah" - banana
"Ap-poh" - apple
"Go go" - yogurt
"Toh" - toes
"Noh" - nose
"Bah" - ball
"Ba" - bath
"Nuh nigh" - night night
"Mohk" - milk
"Ehmo" - Elmo
"Wooeee" - Woody (yes, from Toy Story)
"Mote" - remote
"Beebee" - baby
"Shhhh" - shhhh! ;)

Shakes head "yes" or "no"
Signs the words "more" and "milk"
If you mention the word doggie, he says, "Woo! Woo!" (woof! woof!)


Things Gavin does:
~ walks 99% of the time
~ listens to directions and follows them surprisingly well
~ gives hugs and kisses
~ slaps hi-fives
~ plays peek-a-boo
~ likes to take things to the trash
~ dances, which is more like bopping up and down like a wild man
~ climbs on EVERYTHING
~ has discovered his belly button and "boy parts"
~ learning to use a spoon
~ drinks from a sippy cup

What the weird?? How does that happen?

Blake is day-time potty trained, but still has to sleep with a Pull Up on at night. But lately, he's been soaking through the Pull Up a LOT, which means I have to change the sheets a LOT. Well, this morning, he woke up and his pajamas were soaking wet. I told him to go strip it down in the bathroom and throw his Pull Up in the trash. Well, he hands me his Pull Up and it's completely DRY!!!! HUH??!? How does that work?? His little willy must have been hangin' outside the Pull Up or something! So bizarre.....

Happy Anniversary!!

FIVE years ago, today, Matt and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mesa Arizona temple by Matt's grandfather. Wow! Five years!! It's unbelievable that that much time has past so quickly and look where we are now! Three beautiful children, 3/4 of the way through graduate school, and we're building a brand new house in Queen Creek! Marriage definitely has it's highs and it's lows, but we're still very much in love! In fact, Matt told me today that he'd do it all over again if he had the chance. :)

Matt doesn't have class on Fridays, so we celebrated our anniversary by running various errands together as a family. We got a babysitter for this evening and went out to dinner and to see a movie. We ate at BJ's and the food was FABulous! Why haven't we ever been there before??!? Matt automatically ranked it as one of his favorite restaurants. It was nice to be able to eat a meal in peace, without having to cut someone else's food and being able to actually have WARM food. LOL! Matt and I left there absolutely stuffed! We saw Blades of Glory with Will Farrell and Jon Heder. It just so happened that our good friends, the Barneys, ended up in the same movie, also celebrating their anniversary, which is just one day, EXACTLY (even the same year), before ours! The movie was a little crude, but OH MY! I haven't laughed that hard in aaaaaaaages!!! My mascara from my bottom lashes was smeared under my eyes and I actually got the hiccups from laughing so much! All in all, it was just good to get out and be with Matt, without a child hanging off of me.

We had the babysitter take a couple pictures of us today, just as comparison to five years ago. Yes, we are both a little "fluffier" and Matt is a little balder, but we are happy as can be and that's all that matters, right??? ;)

I love you, my sweet honey! These past five years have been an amazing adventure and I can't wait to see where the next five years take us! XOXOXO

Favorites

I decided to have some fun and ask Brooklyn and Blake what their favorites of various things are. Here are their answers:

Color- Blake: blue, Brooklyn: pink
Fruit- Blake: peaches, Brooklyn: little oranges (mandarin oranges)
Veggie- Blake: carrots, Brooklyn: cucumbers
Food- Blake: lunch (LOL!), Brooklyn: spaghetti
Book- Blake: Thomas, Brooklyn: Belle & the Beast
TV Show- Blake: Handy Manny, Brooklyn: Dora
Movie- Blake: Peter Pan, Brooklyn: Charlotte's Web
Character- Blake: Mickey Mouse, Brooklyn: Cinderella
Toy- Blake: cars, Brooklyn: purse
Song- Blake: Little Einsteins, Brooklyn: Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam
Thing to Do- Blake: go to bed (again, LOL!), Brooklyn: talk (ROTFL!)
Thing to Do w/ Mommy- Blake: clean up, Brooklyn: play cards (Memory)
Best Friend- Blake: Gavin & Cade, Brooklyn: Sydney

Some of their answers had me giggling like crazy!!

Rub-a-dub-dub....

...three kids in the tub! My kids seriously love bathtime, especially Gavin! All I have to say is "bath" and he goes running to the bathroom! It's getting a little cramped in the tub with all three of them in together, so most of the time I just bathe Gavin first and then let the twins swim around until their fingers and toes are as wrinkly as raisins! Brooklyn and Blake are usually pretty successful at soaking the bathroom and I have to frequently go in and remind them that the water is to stay IN the tub!

Since the beginning of motherhood, I have love, love, LOVED the scent of Baby Magic baby wash and lotion. But Gavin started breaking out with little eczema patches after awhile and the Baby Magic lotion wasn't doing anything to help. I usually use Aquaphor to help with little dry patches, but we needed to try something different for every day bathing and lotioning. I picked up some Aveeno baby wash and lotion and poof! The patches were gone in a couple days! I'm hooked! Although the stuff is a little pricier than my Baby Magic, it's worth it for my baby to have soft skin again. Plus, it smells really good too and we all know there is nothing sweeter than the smell of a clean baby!!

EX-er-cise! EX-er-cise!

So nearly 15 months after having a baby, I've decided that it's time I do something about this "baby" fat that has been hanging on. Actually, I'd dropped all of my pregnancy weight within two weeks of having Gavin. It was all the excess that I was still carrying- not ever losing all my pregnancy weight after B&B, then a little more added after we moved to California. I think I was a tidge bit depressed and just ate, ate, ate! So technically, I guess I was plain 'ole fat BEFORE I even got pregnant with Gavin! *blush*

I finally got sick of being the fat one of the bunch but I had a dilemma- it's not exactly easy to exercise having three children. Gone are the days of the double stroller and/or jogger. When Gavin was still small, I could put the twins in the DuoGlider and pack Gavin on my chest in the Bjorn. I wasn't about to go jogging by myself in the mornings or evenings, and I'm not willing to wake up at 5:30am, just to get a workout in! ;) I need my sleep tooooo much! I needed something that I could do right here at home. So, I finally convinced Matt that he should buy me an elliptical machine. It's just a low-end model (no, we did not drop thousands of dollars on it) but I like it just the same! I've been pretty good about getting on it at least once a day. Brooklyn and Blake call it my "exerciser." :) I also made up a little page that has each day of the week where I write down everything that goes in my mouth for the day. It really helps me stay in check. I've cut down my snacking and decreased my portion sizes and it's amazing! I'm not starving to death!! LOL! I've also tried to be more healthy overall with meals and snacks.

After a month of working hard, I'm down 13 lbs, but still have about 30 to go til my goal weight. I'm surprised that I didn't gain any weight back over the last few weeks because Easter candy is my downfall! Tropical Starburst jelly beans and Cadbury eggs- YUM! Matt has promised me that when I get to my goal weight, he'll buy me a new digital SLR camera, which I want sooooooo bad!!

Teething is so hard!

Poor Gavi-bean! :( He's cutting THREE of his eye teeth- these will be teeth number 13, 14 and 15!- and has been a whiny, clingy mess! I'm suspecting this is the cause of his Easter fever and the raunchy diapers he's had lately. He won't hardly touch any food, aside from soft things like yogurt, applesauce, diced fruit. We had pancakes this morning for breakfast, which are one of his faves, but I don't think he touched them at all. He'll still drink milk and water from a sippy. It's times like these when I'm glad I'm still nursing so at least I know he's getting *some* nutrients! At least he's still sleeping well, taking two long naps a day and mostly through the night. I'm anxious for these teeth to poke through so I can have my happy baby back! I just got thinking that it'll be weird to see him with full rows of teeth!!

Easter '07

We had a quiet Easter this year, just our little fam. The kids were super spoiled by the Easter Bunny. ;) I tried to get some impromptu pictures of the kids right before church, but Gavin would have none of that! We had to wake him from his morning nap to go to church so he wasn't thrilled when daddy tried to dump him off for mommy to start flashing the camera in his face! LOL! Good thing we had professional pictures of the three of them in their coordinating outfits. Gavin ran a fever all through church and just looked miserable, laying on either Matt or myself the entire time. He fell asleep immediately after church and slept for 3 hours! I started on our Easter dinner of a ham, the traditional Mormon "funeral" potatoes and green beans. That's the downfall of living away from
family at holidays- I have to do all the cooking!!! I missed my mom's yummy rolls. *sniff, sniff* I ended up laying down after popping a couple Tylenols because I developed a massive headache. My little nappy-poo didn't help AT all but I managed to finish up dinner and it did turn out delish, if I do say so myself! I did really, really, REALLY wish that we could have been with our families and I must have said that out loud at least 3 or 4 times that day. I feel so left out because we live 300+ miles away. BUT, this will be our last Easter away from family! Yippee!

I'm such a bad mom because I'm now realizing that I didn't even dye eggs with my kiddos! Doesn't everyone in the free world dye eggs for Easter?!??!? I actually had to go grocery shopping on Saturday night, otherwise we wouldn't have had an Easter dinner at all! I don't even think we had more than two eggs in the fridge anyway. Oh well, I swear we'll do it next year!

Where is Thumbkin??

Brooklyn and Blake were binky babies, so naturally, when Gavin was born, I tried to offer him a pacifier. He didn't really take to it, but he would suck on one right before falling asleep, then it would fall out of his mouth. At three months old, I went in to check on Gavin and I found him sucking his thumb!!! Since then, he's been a thumb-sucker. Usually he would suck on his thumb when he's either hungry or tired. And today, at almost 15 months old, he's still going strong with that thing! It seems like his thumb is in his mouth more frequently than ever before! I think it's the cutest thing to see him with his thumb in his mouth, but it won't be so cute when we try to break him of the habit. That should prove to be interesting since you can't take a thumb away or cut off the tip of it, like we did with Brooklyn and Blake's binkies. Matt thinks that we should try to break Gavin of it now, but honestly, I'm not ready! I think part of the reason that Gavin has been such a good, laid back baby is because he's had that thumb to soothe himself with. No rushing in to his crib in the middle of the night to pop a binky back in. Lately, too, Gavin has become really attached to a blanket that his great-grandma Adams made for him. He'll hold the blanket in his left hand up by his face and he sucks his right thumb. Just melts my heart! For now, Gavin can have his thumb. ;)

Blake calls thumbs, "funkins," as in "Where is Thumbkin." So when I ask Blake what Gavin is doing, he'll say, "He's sucking on his funkin!" LOL!!!

Hello!

So I've decided to start one of these blog thingies up so that our family and friends can keep tabs on us. You'll hear it all- the good, the bad and the ugly! Here we go!!!!!!!!!!