Round 4

This is my 4th year attempt gardening. The first year we were here I had no idea where to start. The second year we got a grip on most of the out of control weeds. And last year we (by we I mean Seth since I was the one doing all the ordering since I was on bed rest) finished the play area. That meant taking out all the over grown weeds, tilling the whole area, putting down bark chips and covering it with all the play stuff.

So this is my year to try and grow flowers.

I have a love hate relationship with them. I love beautiful flowers!

I hate weeds, dead flowers, money spent on flowers and weeds. Did I mention weeds?

This year I am determined that my front and back yard will look beautiful all spring and summer. Am I crazy for thinking I can accomplish this?

The other day I stuck the twins in the stroller and worked on the front yard while Claire played on her bike. And now that we have a totally fenced in back yard I plan to stick the kids back there and work on everything else.

So hopefully by the end of summer I can report back that everything went well.

I can dream, right?

PS If you have any tips I would love to hear them.

Good Times

We just got back from a great weekend in St. George. We met up with some friends and their kids and had a blast!
Lots of swimming (hours on end, to be exact), playing (more like staying up until 1am laughing and talking after the kids were asleep), eating (in-n-out burger), hiking (Zions), picture taking (too many to put on the blog), and relaxing (actually, with 4 kids there really wasn't a lot of relaxing). It was still great, though.
But, will someone please remind me that I have 4 children?!!! I don't know why I have such a hard time grasping onto this idea.
We keep trying to do things that we did before, and are surprised that's it's a little harder now. Well, duh Amy! You're now a family of 6!!

We had so much fun going hiking at Zions. But, this was one of the times that someone needed to remind me that things would be a little different with twins babies and a 2 year old.

Bella did a great job. I was so proud of her. She made it 3 miles with minimal complaints.
The twins and Claire did great on the drive there and back.
So all and all it was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.

Are You Kidding Me #25

I feel like the most commonly asked question I get is, "Do you really go grocery shopping with all your kids?".
Well yes and no. I try to never go to the grocery store during the day with all the kids. The only reason I even attempt is if we have nothing in the fridge.
I look like a freak show as you can imagine.
Actually I ran into someone, who will remain nameless, from my ward, last week at the store and when she saw me she just laughed. Not even a hello! Thanks Jonell.
Ok, I would have laughed too, if I had seen this. One reason it's so funny is because I can't see when I'm pushing the cart, because I'm so short. So I end up pushing the cart and leaning to one side.
So in order to make this happen. I have to get one of the carts with the steering wheel. I buckle Claire in and then put one twin in the cart part and the other on the top where the child would normally sit. Then the food on the bottom.
And yes Claire has stolen a nuber of things when we shop like this. The problem is I never notice until we're out of the store and getting in the car. And no I don't return anything. There is no way I'm packing everyone back in the cart to return a Readers Digest and a Twix. (Just some of the random things she's taken).

The only grocery store I don't mind going to is Costco. Since the cart is bigger the carriers fit better. We tend to go to Costco once a week. I like to time it around lunch so the kids can get lots of samples and then end with lunch.

shopping at Costco

from the look on their faces I'm not sure if they enjoy shopping

Easter

This morning Bella woke up bright and early. She came in asked me to get Claire out of her bed so they could play with the toys and books they got in their Easter baskets. Then it was off to find eggs.

The girls had so much fun. Bella was great and shared some the eggs she found with Claire. I was so proud of her. I didn't even have to ask her.

Claire loved all of her eggs. She walked around with her basket all morning. once she figured out there was candy inside she was even more excited.

It was a great way to start Easter and conference morning.

Blessing Day

We finally blessed the twins! I know what you're thinking. You haven't blessed them yet? How old are they?
Part of the reason we waited so long was because we didn't take them to church for almost 4 months and then we had family things the other months. So that's why they are almost 7 months old.
Crazy! I never thought I would wait that long.
It was a great blessing. Seth did a wonderful job. If you were there and couldn't hear anything, it's because the mike was never by his face. Long story.
I was able to hear everything he said and I thought it was perfect.
It was so nice to have all of our family and friends (all 60 of you) there. We missed everyone who couldn't be there.
I was thinking Seth was taking pictures and he must have assumed I was taking pictures so that explains why we don't have a lot.
It was such a perfect day. Sydney and Breanna were such good babies.

My amazing friend Kim made these awesome cakes. If you're interested in having one go to Parsons Bakery and ask for Kim. I think they turned out wonderful! Thanks again Kim!

The girls with their cakes

Jami, Chad and Beth

Cute Linds has come to all of my kids blessings

Laura, Emmie & Melanie

My great parents who let us have the lunch at their house.

Deep Breath...Everything's OK

A few nights ago Seth and I went out and left all the kids with a baby sitter. Well not just one baby sitter....TWO!
Our normal babysitter, who we LOVE is only in 7th grade and I was worried that 4 would be a lot for her. Plus one of the main reasons I love her so much is that she plays and makes crafts with the kids the whole time. No movies, or computer. So I was worried that if she spent her time with the twins then the older girls would be left alone.
Anyway I found another girl, who is in 8th grade, and who came highly recommended.
We were both very nervous when we left. The only people who have watched the twins are family, so this was a big deal for us.
But we didn't need to worry. When we got home we found everyone fast asleep and the twins were happy as ever.
The feeling quickly turned from delight that all the kids were fine to sick to my stomach when I remembered how much I had to pay.

Scripture Reading

While reading the scriptures this morning
Bella: "Mom I think I've heard this part before".

My Big Kid

Today I registered Bella for Kindergarten!

I can't believe the time has come. All of the sudden I understand what all the mothers before me meant when they said you blink and your kids are grown. I seriously feel like that. In fact I was feeling so emotional that I just did a post (I only saved it for my journal, I won't bore everyone else with it) about what each of my kids is like right now. I know I think I'll remember but the truth is I won't if I don't write it down.

I have to admit that I'm a little sad that Bella is going to kindergarten. She's totally ready and I know she'll do great. But part of me is sad that this is the last time she'll be with me all day every day.

Ok now, I know I'm going a little overboard. Considering the fact that she has been going to preschool for the last 2 years and it's only 2 1/2 hours a day which is the same as kindergarten. But there's just something about going to real school with a bunch of kids that I don't know.

Deep breath Amy! You have 5 more months before you need to start getting all worked up over nothing.

I don't know why she makes these weird faces. She had so much fun. She went right with all the other kids and took a tour of the school and the class room. She was most excited about seeing the play ground.

Bella and her friend Tanner

Kids Update

I was thinking the other day about each of my girls personalities and thought I should joural how they are right now.

Bella- Loves to play make believe. She is very good at playing pretend. She is just as social as ever. Always wanting to play with friends and go places. She loves to spend time with mom. I feel like she is always wanting me to spend time with her and play games, color or just watch a show.

Claire- The most active child! The only time she sits still is when she is watching Sesame Street and even then she gets up and walks around. She knows lots of words, shapes and numbers. She repeats everything and catches on very fast to anything new. She also loves to do whatever Bella does. She is very good at playing by herself or playing with others.

Sydney- She is starting to catch onto how to eat solid foods. She loves to talk to her sister Bre. She is very good at getting into the crawling position from her tummy. She also loves when her big sisters come around to talk and play.

Breanna- She can almost sit up by herself. She is also good at eating solids. she loves when her older sisters come around to play and talk.

I was wrong

There I said it.

That's a big deal.

Ask my husband.

I don't like admitting when I'm wrong

A few letters

Dear Claire,
In the future I would really appreciate it if you would not stick your hand in your diaper and then eat the poop that you found in the diaper. Also if you do choose to do it, please only do it once not twice in the same day.
I in turn will not make you take a freezing cold shower to get clean.
Another thing..I know when you're sick it's not fun. But giving me dirty looks and saying "no mom", when I stayed up with you all night is not cool.
Love, Mom

Dear Twins,
Thank you for being so happy and staying healthy all week!! Sorry we had to cancel your blessing. One day soon you'll get your special day!
Love Mom

Dear Grandpa & Grandma,
Thank you for saving the day over and over this past week. We couldn't have made it without you. Your grandchildren and I are forever in debt. We love you,
Love,
Amy & Girls

my helper cleaning the babies and cleaning the kitchen
After playing hide and go seek and having some much needed one on one time(thanks Sissy)
Not the best picture of us. But this was the best I could get.

A few days before the Chinese tea party, b-day party, the birthday girl brought Bella over a dress to wear. She and all the little girls looked so cute in their dresses with their pretty chop sticks in their hair.

Amy & the terrible horrible no good very bad day

The last few days have been really hard on me. Claire woke up sick last week in the middle of the night. Seth took her to Primary Childrens Hospital where they said she had croupe. It's just a bad viral cough. It will go away on it's own and there is nothing to give her. I slept with her for two nights because she was in so much pain and just plain messerible.

Then one morning she woke up and kept saying her ear hurt. I made an appointment for the doctor. It was a crazy rushed morning. BElla was getting ready for school and I was trying to get everyone else ready to go to the doctor. Bella's ride came and as I was putting the twins in their car seats claire reached down her diaper and got dirahera poop and ATE it!!!! I was so sick to my stomach and mad. I threw her in a freezing cold shower and then got her ready to go. I put one baby in the car and when I came back in she was touching the other baby. I know she doesn't understand that she's sick and can't touch them, but I got mad at her. She ran to her room crying. After I came back from taking the other baby to the car I went to her room and gave her hugs and kisses and she promised she wouldn't touch her poop again.

The doctor said she had a really bad ear infection and gave us some medicine.

After we were done we picked up Bella from school and came home. I was getting the twins out of their car seats when Claire went down her diaper AGAIN and touched the poop. This time she didn't eat it but she did wipe it on her pants.

I threw her in another cole shower but this time made it even colder. I was sooo mad!!!

Already?

I can't believe the twins are old enough to eat rice cereal!
They both seemed to enjoy it. Although, they almost always have a smile on their face!

Just a lazy day

Bella and Claire coloring on my bed, while the babies blow spit and talk to themselves in their crib. What a relaxing day.

Love

I debated posting this. Usually when I write something this personal I leave it just for my blog book, but I thought I would put this out there to show everyone how much I love my husband.
I got thinking today how lucky I am to have such a great husband. Having been on the the side of a not so great marriage I realize how blessed I am.
Here's just a few of the many reason I love Seth.

1)He is an amazing father. He's the one who gets up with sick kids in the middle of the night and cleans up throw up. He's also the one who took Claire to the ER earlier this week at 2am.
2)He never rats me out when he knows I'm fibbing about something, to someone else.
3)He gives the best back massages
4)He never complains when he has to stay home with all the kids so I can have a girls night. This is impressive, because I like to have a girls night at least once a week.
5)He's a good son and brother. He is fiercely loyal to his family
6)He listens and actually cares about all my lame stories I tell him when he comes home
7)He gives the best sincere compliments
8)He honors his priesthood responsibilities
9) He tolerates my birthday celebrations
10)He makes me laugh. So important!!
I'm feeling a little emotional these days. I even cried during Celebrity Rehab. And after hearing the lesson in Relief Society today about Love (Say It, Mean It, Show It) I thought I needed to tell him and everyone else how much I love him.

Are You Kidding Me #24

I saw this sign as I was leaving the bathroom at the gym today:
ALL GOLDS MEMBERS MUST WASH THEIR HANDS AFTER USING THE BATHROOM FACILITIES AND BEFORE USING THE EQUIPMENT.
Are you kidding me? Did they really need to make a sign? Gross.

Uh Oh..I'm in trouble

These pictures were only taken a week ago and I'm having a really hard time figuring out who's who.
The reason they're in their blessing dresses, is because, brace yourself people...they still haven't been blessed. Yes, I know they're going on 6 months. Oh well at least I've finally talked with the bishop and made the date. It will happen in March. Finally!

30 and loving it!

My 30th birthday started last weekend seeing Bill Cosby. It was great! Good clean humor and I loved it. We went to dinner and stayed over night in Salt Lake. It was so relaxing! I didn't realize how much I needed the getaway until I got home and noticed how rejuvenated I felt.
The only reason we were able to go was because of my amazing sister in law.
Seth's sister Kelli and her husband Nate came to our house with their 3 kids and stayed over night. So they had 7 kids under 6!!! I think I might owe them for the rest of my life, but t was worth it.
Yesterday I had my time with the personal stylist(see below). That was awesome!
Then today..the big day! It started off pretty normal. Gym, preschool..same old. But at 9:30am I was able to take my kids to my friends house and go shopping. It was so nice to have all that time by myself. I felt like I got so much accomplished.
That night we went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and we took just the older girls. It was fun to spend time with them alone. My awesome friend Chelsie watched the twins.
I thought that was it and was ready to go home and have cake with the girls. Little did I know Seth and my sweet friends had planned a surprise party. And boy was I surprised! I can't believe they pulled it off. Apparently they planned it last week. A few people couldn't make it, but all in all it was so fun! The men hung out, the women talked and the kids played. It was a great way to end the day.
We have a few more things planned throughout the week, because of course I exploit my birthday and make it last as long as possible.
I really owe a BIG Thank You to my awesome husband and amazing friends for making my 30th so wonderful!
Seth even had Kim make this amazing cake without me knowing



Claire with one of her best friends, Chelsie

Just the girls

Not the best picture of me. But I was so excited to see Bill Cosby!!!

Me & Bella at the Spaghetti Factory

Personal Stylist

For Christmas my sister Laura gave me a one hour consultation with a personal stylist. Since I'm always complaining that I feel like I have no sense of style, this was the perfect gift. I've been saving it to use for my birthday and today I finally did. Let me just say that I loved it!!!!
I've told so many people about it and many have said they wanted to know more about it.
So here's the run down.
The company is called www.totalstylesolutions.com. If you're here in Utah there are a few different companies that offer this kind of thing. I know someone who went with the "chic on a shoe string" lady from Good Things Utah and they really liked her. But since I had the free hour I went with total style solutions. They offer many different services. (Check their web site for everything). I chose to do the wardrobe planning. It was great. She came to my house and we spent time going over what colors were best for my skin tone, what style of clothes I should wear and most importantly we went through my closet. This was great. I had so many questions. Mostly about jeans. I've never felt that I wore the right jeans for my body type, so this part was especially helpful for me. We talked about shoes and shirt and shirt length. We also talked about accessorizing. Something else I'm not that good at.
By the end of our time I had a pile of clothes to get rid of and about 5 new outfits. Keep in mind I never went shopping! She was able to help me with stuff I hadn't been wearing and how to match it with other things and make it look cute.
One of the biggest reasons I loved this was because it was a complete stranger being brutally honest. I know I have a closet full of clothes, yet I'm only wearing the same 8-10 pieces. I also knew that there were things I needed to get rid of because they didn't fit right or were just plain out of style.
With the help of the stylist I feel like I'm ready to go shopping. She even said if I questioned anything I could call or send her a picture of what I'm looking at and she'll help me. I'm so excited! I have a day full of shopping planned for tomorrow. Oh and did I mention...NO KIDS!!!! (Thanks Marianne). Hooray!!!! I might actually get something accomplished.

If you're interested call Tressa at 801-755-0925.

Who's that knocking at my door?

It's the big 3-0!!!! That's right I'm turning 30 in a matter of days. I really don't mind. In fact I'll let everyone in on a little secret.
For the past 5 years, give or take, I've been saying I'm 30.
You're probably thinking, who would do that? Me, that's who!
Someone who has never looked her age. I can't tell you the number of times people have been baffled by my real age. They always guess much younger. We're talking high school age. Most people would take this as a compliment. Let me tell you, it is not. Especially when you've graduated from college, working with teenagers and pregnant. And people think you're the teen mom not the counselor.
Or when you're buying something at the makeup counter and the stupid sales person helps someone else, even though you were there first, and she says "oh sweetie, I'll be with you in a minute". Grrrr.
Actually a few months ago I was working on a shoot where I got to bring Bella and Claire. At least 5 different people had to comment that they couldn't believe I was the mother of these 2. I couldn't possibly be over 19.
Here is a conversation between Seth and one of the young men from youth conference last summer:
YM: You're on facebook?
Seth: Yeah
YM: I didn't know old guys were on facebook.
Seth: What? How old do you think I am?
YM: I don't know, 40?
Seth: 40! Well, how old do you think my wife is?
YM: I don't know 20?
As much as all these so called "compliments" annoy me, they will one day be nice. Which is why for the next 5 years I'll contuine saying I'm 30. If you read my confessions post, you know I lie. I just might be the only person to be 30 for 10 years.