Shooting with dad

Tyler went shooting with his family and decided to take Braxton along. Braxton had such a fun time with daddy that he even shot some guns, bigger then him. I love that Tyler likes to spend time one on one with his kids or with all of them and they love it also.

I am glad that it turned out to be an enjoyable day for them even if it was a little more work for Tyler, but they both loved it.

Christmas Day

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year. We decided to do things different this year due to last years ungrateful attitudes. We told the kids that they can choose if they want presents from Santa or from Mom and Dad but we are not doing both this year. So they decided that they wanted presents from us, Christmas eve we put out stockings on the table so Santa could at least fill there stockings up.
We had a plan that we would go to church first since it was at 9 o'clock and then come home and do presents. But the this year the kids decided to wake up early (usually every year we have to wake them up lol). They woke up at 7:30 we were going to just make them sit in there rooms till church but I decided that it was too long for them to just hang out in there, so we decided to allow them to look in there stockings before church and do the rest after. As long as they got ready for church first.
Before they came out we had them stand in a line from youngest to oldest and I had a quick talk with them to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas and to be thankful for what we get or don't get this year.
They all walked out in a line and walked up to the table and looked at there stockings and realized that there was nothing in them a little confused but not one complaint that Santa didn't come. They then turned around to the couches and noticed that Santa did indeed bring them Christmas gifts. Santa must have thought that they were good boys and girls this year.
Going to church was such a nice way to start off the Christmas Morning remembering the birth of our savior. It was short but sweet, singing Carols and a short talk by the bishop.
We came home and opened presents one by one from youngest to oldest taking turns. A lot of fun gifts were giving with grateful hearts this year.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. And Happy Birthday Jesus.

6 month check up

I am now 6 months along and loving the baby bump. Its not quite too big to cause any discomfort yet. But big enough to know that I am pregnant. I cant believe where the time has gone it just felt like the other day I was in my first trimester and being sick for 2 weeks eating crackers and drinking sprite but I am glad that has past and I can start enjoying this pregnancy. Once in a while I still get sick in the morning if I don't eat right away. But nothing compared to the first trimester.

The doctor app went well. We were able to hear the babies heart beat right when my dr put the doppler on my belly, no searching this time that means she must be getting bigger :). They weighed me and I gained 6 pounds in a month, so now I am at 127 pounds I have gained 18 pounds so far this pregnancy, which I can tell lol. But its better than being sick all pregnancy and losing weight.

I am excited to be able to feel her kick and move around but I am more excited that Kenzie has felt her move, she absolutely loves it. I think she likes Kenzie, it seems like every time kenzie has her hand on my belly and talks she moves around.

Braxton is getting fond of her and loves to kiss my belly. When we found out what we where having he was upset that it wasn't a boy he wanted another brother, so I am happy that he is starting to come around before she arrives.

The Polar Express

Today we were able to ride the polar express (Heber valley railroad). We started off by taking the bus up there with the Make a Wish Foundation and K bear 101 who sponsored the trip. First we stopped at Mcdonalds and had lunch then we made it to the Polar express and rode the train and sang Christmas songs. Each child got a bell which was the first present from the movie polar express.

We then arrived at the North pole where Santa was awaiting to greet all the kids. Makenzie and Braxton was so brave that they actually sat on Santa's lap. I think the only reason was because Santa had tables full of presents that the kids could choose from. But I loved seeing them sit on his lap with out crying lol.

Then the kids colored and ate cookies. It was a fun filled day and the kids loved riding the Polar express and going to the North pole.

Surprise Mommy and Daddy I'm a?????

We went to the Dr's to find out what we we're having we were all excited to see if the baby was going to be a boy or girl. We have girl names picked out but not boy names so if it was going to be a boy we are in big trouble lol.

We picked up Ashleigh cause she wanted to come with us to find out what the gender is. We got to the doctors, and waited patiently for my turn and finally it came. It was my turn so they took me back and started checking on the baby to make sure everything looked good and it was growing and all the other stuff they look for.

Finally it was time, she asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby but when she was looking we could already tell that it was a beautiful GIRL yep that's right we are having another girl. Our trend continues with girl, boy, girl, boy, and now another girl.

After the tech was done she had the doctor look at the ultra sound and she came in and wanted to just check somethings out. She looked for a cleft lip which it looked fine. Then she looked at her brain and saw that there was a cyst on her brain and told us that it is common and they usually go away. Ya that is a little scary to hear you never want to hear that there is something going on with your baby. But the Dr seemed confident that it will resolve itself and go away. And don't panic about it. So in 32 weeks I need to go back so they can check it out to see if it went away. So we have been praying that it will resolve it self and go away and that she is growing healthy and strong.

Also in a month I have a feto echo scheduled to check the babies heart to make sure she doesn't have a heart defect. I will update that when I get her checked out.

Reading

I have started to home school Braxton more faithfully this year since he is now 4 years old. We started the same time as Kenzie started her home school in August. But he defiantly has a shorter attention span then Kenzie was at that age so it is a little more challenging for me to teach him. But he is doing amazing.

We started by identifying the Alphabet, upper and lower case which he did really well on it was more of a refresher over summer break so we started on sounds he still has a few we are working on but he has picked most of them up pretty quickly.

Since he has started the sounds he has wanted to learn to read so with some of Kenzie words list that she has passed and has known for a year we are using them on Braxton. He has learn to read and sound out some AT words and It words and a few easy one's that are easy to put together and sound out. Of course we still have a ways to go on getting him to combined some of the sounds together of the word but he is doing awesome and seems to be on track for when he starts kindergarten.

I love the fact that I get to watch my kids expand there minds and watch them grow in every aspect of there lives and to know that I am the one who gets to teach them. That is one thing I love about being a Mom.

Way to go Braxton what an amazing accomplishment.

20 week check up

Went to my 20 week check up and everything went well. I got my weight checked and I am up to 121 pounds. That means this pregnancy I have gained 12 pounds so far.

The baby was wiggling all over when my doctor was trying to get it's heart beat, so it was hard to track the baby down but we got it. When we heard the heart beat it was 155 bpm.

I can now feel the baby move around in my tummy but not quit yet when I feel my stomach. But man does this baby like to jump around on my bladder.

On the 28th we get to find out what we are having we are super excited. Yes there are preferences on what I am having between the kids. But I am praying for a healthy happy baby.

16 weeks

I went to my 16 week check up and I gained 5 pounds. yes my tummy is getting bigger. It was a pretty fast visit. I got my flu shot then my Dr. came in and we were able to hear the babies heart beat this time, the baby was big enough to find it on the doppler, so I was pretty excited that we were able to hear it.

I still get sick once in a while so I am hoping it gets better so I can start enjoying this pregnancy. I love being pregnant even though I have gotten so much sicker this pregnancy than my other 2. It is such a blessing to be able to carry and bare a child and I am super excited to be able to start feeling my baby kick.

12 week check up

I went to my 12 week check up and was excited to hear the babies heart beat. Kenzie and Braxton came with me they wanted to hear the babies heart beat as well so they were also excited to come with me. Unfortunately Tyler had to work, so he wanted me to keep him updated.

First they weighed me and I only gained 3 pounds, I thought by the look of my stomach I would have gained more than that lol. But I guess with all the throwing up I have done with in the past few weeks I didn't gain as much as I thought.

Anyways, my doctor finally came in and measured my stomach and said I was measuring where I was supposed to be. Then she started checking for the babies heart beat. Searching and searching and she couldn't get it. She decided to go get a smaller doppler to see if that will help. Still searching for a heart beat and she couldn't pick anything up. So she decided that I should get an ultra sound just to make sure everything was ok. I text Tyler to let him know what was going on and we were a little nervous you never want to hear that they cant find a heart beat, he text me back and asked if I think we lost the baby I think he was more nervous than I was. Something inside me said that everything was ok, plus I was still throwing up and feeling pregnant and I am getting the baby bump. But there is always that thought in the back of your mind especially if the Dr cant find a heart beat. We had to wait for the room to open up so Kenzie decided to say a little prayer that the baby was ok, how sweet is that.

It was finally my turn to go in and yeah there was the baby moving all around, the heart beat was 170 bpm and everything looked healthy the baby was just sitting towards the back of my uterus, which was the reason why the Dr couldn't pick up a heart beat. What a relief to know that everything was ok.

We also got a good picture of the baby waving Hi. Yep that is the babies hand.




After we left the Dr's office Braxton said a little prayer to thank Heavenly Father for protecting his baby. I have such sweet kids.. I am glad that they know that they can go to Heavenly Father in time of need and also remember to thank him for our blessings. I am thankful that we are teaching our kids that its ok to ask for help and thank him for our many blessings, where ever you may be.

My baby turned 4

Braxton turned 4, wow doesn't time fly by! It felt like yesterday I brought him home from the hospital snuggling him in my arms. It amazes me how he has grown into a little man, after 4 years. I love this age it is fun watching his personality come together and to see what he is capable of doing.
We had a little party for him family and friends came over and celebrated this special day with Braxton. All day he was saying "it isn't my birthday yet I haven't had cake or presents". lol yes he is at that age where presents are important to him on his birthday, but we made sure he gave everyone a hug and to tell them thank you when he opened the gift from that person.
He is into Toy Story so I attempted to make a Toy Story Cake of Andy's bed. I thought it turned out cute but the head and foot board didn't turn out how I wanted it to but the kids sure thought it was a fun cake.

Braxton's Birthday cake

Opening his presents

31

Yet another year has gone by and I am 31. Time does fly by when you are having fun and life is crazy busy with kids but I wouldn't change it for the world. I thought turning 30 would be hard but it wasn't. I am excited to see what 31 brings me. Health, love and happiness is what I am looking forward to within my family.

Expanding our family is one thing that we are super excited about this year. Yes it is scary to think about financially and were are we going to put the baby in our apartment but. It will all work out I am those kinds of people who look at things like "things happen for a reason" and if the lord thinks we can handle another baby then it is meant to be.

31 feels old especially with my babies growing up but with family and friends to share it with hopefully it will make it even better and I hope it makes me feel younger lol.

Here is to another year of love and happiness,
Thanks for making memories with me

And so it begins

I am now 7 weeks pregnant and the last week has been nothing but nausea and vomiting I guess it has been a while and I forgot what pregnancy was like and it is kicking my butt. The last 4 days I haven't been able to keep anything down that I've tried to eat and I am hungry. My last 2 pregnancies I've had nausea with vomiting but it hasn't been as bad as this one at least I was able to eat lol.

I've tried to tell Tyler if I have to live off of crackers so does he since he did this to me lol. Yeah that didn't fly with him. But we are excited that we are having another baby, it is amazing how your body goes through so many changes and how a little tiny human being in your body can make you sick but bless your life forever.

Everyday Kenzie and Braxton want to check to see how big the baby is and what it looks like. I am happy that they are excited with us and want to have a little baby in the house it will only strengthen our family and are love will grow stronger.

2 wheeler

Today was an exciting day for Braxton he learned to ride a 2 wheeler yep a 2 wheeler. He did it before he turned 4. What a proud parent day for us to see our little boy growing up and doing amazing things. Even when he kept falling he still got back on and tried again until he got the hang of it, which is something he should be proud of, we are all proud of him even though he kept falling he kept on trying until he figured it out.

Way to go Braxton


Try, Try again

AND YOU DID IT

Surprise

The last few days I have been feeling tired so I woke up today and I felt nausea's. So i decided to take a pregnancy test thinking nothing of it, just that maybe I'm just not feeling well. I had a dollar store test which I have never used with my other 2 kids but hey why not use it.

So I took it and it had a dark line and a really faint line but I wasn't sure if it was positive because it was a dollar store test. I sent a picture to Tyler who was at work and his response was "when did you take that". Haha I asked him what he thought and he told me he wasn't sure so I said I would buy a digital one to make sure.

The longest day ever waiting till 8 for Tyler to get home but he finally got home and I took the test and it took for ever, longer than 3 minutes that it said it takes. So I figured it was a NO. finally it popped up with this.
Yep we are having another baby due in April!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We told all the kids in a fun way I recorded it but it took a little longer than I thought but it was fun telling them....

An Amazing Husband

It has been so busy this week that I am trying to catch up on my blogs.

Anyways last Saturday Tyler was asked to help a family move that was in our ward so on his day off at 8 a.m he went over helped them move for about 3 hours came home went to the store to get bacon he decided to make pancakes and bacon for his family, he also surprised me with flowers.

Then around 1 he took Ashleigh to go clean the court house (our side job) while I dropped off the kids at my mom's house and then met them over there to help out. After we got done we went over to my mom's house so Tyler could set up the swing set that my parents bought for the kids. So while he did that the girls BBQ burgers for lunch. 3 hours later he got everything done that he could (there where some screws missing to finish).

After we got home he wanted to take me out on a date so we walked to Kmart got a few things for Braxton. and picked up candy so we could take some to the movie's, we decided to see transformers.

At the end of the day I thought to myself how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband that even on his day off would work hard to help out people and his family and also have time to take his wife out on a date.

I love my life and my Husband!!!!!!

Zoorassic Park

Last Saturday Tyler decided that we should take the kids to the zoo to see the new Zoorassic themed park. Jerica, Jennifar, Brock and Karson joined us. We arrived there around 11:30 and boy was it packed we had to park far. Also If you have kids and want to go and get kids in free go to Les Schwab and they have coupons for buy an adult ticket get a child in free it saved us $21.00. We like saving money in this house so it was perfect for us.

They have so many dinosaur's around the park and some of them were life like and as big as they were back in the Jurassic time's. We were able to see all the animals, we watched a neat bird show, we brought a picnic lunch and ate there also.



The kids enjoyed it I thought for sure Kenzie would have been scared of the dinosaur's but she loved them. They really loved the one that shoots out water from its mouth and the T-Rex that one was big.

It was a fun day and we love summer here and can't wait to do more fun things with the family.

Bitter Sweet ending

I have been trying to potty train Braxton for quite some time on his own terms because it is just to frustrating if the child is not ready and finally he is in underwear he has been in under wear for a few months now I have just been to busy to catch up on my blog. He is still wearing diaper's at night because he wakes up with a full diaper every morning. I don't know how to break that but it will happen sooner or later.

Why you ask a Bitter sweet ending because my baby is growing up and wears big boy undies during the day and it just breaks my heart to no how fast they grow up, and start becoming independent, which is a good thing . It just seemed like yesterday I brought him home from the hospital and look at him now wearing big boy undies and going potty all by himself. But on the upside it will save us money from not buying diapers as often.

Money, Money, Money

I have been watching Extreme Couponing on T.V. It is so crazy to watch them get so many items and pay little to nothing the only thing that I don't get is that they don't ever show them buying meat or produce it is more junk food than anything. Anyways I had a mission today to see if couponing really works or not and if it is worth your time to find the best deals and cut coupons. This trip was suppose to be a shopping trip just on using coupons and buying nothing else, to see if it really works. I have used coupons before but here and there and with my other groceries so it didn't really take that much off and my bill is always around $150 for 2 weeks and then I always have to go run to the store and pick up little things during those 2 weeks so I average about $400 a month and I need to learn to cut that in half or more if it is possible, that would be nice.

Anyways I only went to smith's for the experiment I didn't want to go all over to different grocery store's. I took along my kids and had them get the items that we were searching for of course they wanted this or that but I told them that if we don't have a coupon we are not buying it. I truly had to see if it works. It got a little frustrating when I had a coupon for a free item and they were out so it kind of messed up my goal I had in mind. Smith's was having there mega event sale where you had to purchase 10 item' s mix and match to get $5 off at the register so I had it all planned out to get 32 item's for under $10 but with item's out of stock I had to go another way and find cheap items to cover the 7 item's I was missing so I didn't use coupons on the campbell soup. Now that I think about it I should have just put 3 things back lol, but luckily I use cambells soups a lot in cooking. And I also needed milk and didn't have coupons for that either but I didn't want to go back to the store for that item later. Anyways we finally got everything we needed and went to the check out and started scanning our items it was so nerve racking watching the price climb and it finally hit $53 which That was defiantly not the number I wanted to pay. So i gave the cashier my smith's card and it was fun watching the numbers drop. It got down to $37 and now time for my lovely coupons and it dropped to $15 with a $5 smith coupon as well on top of the manufacture coupons. I Didn't hit my goal of $10 which I would have if I got those items that were out of stock, I had a couple of more coupons for free items that would have covered the 10 items you needed. or bought the milk. which were $2.33 each. But it was my first try with using that many coupons and getting that many things for $15 even the cash register guy said not bad you did pretty well. I then told him I didn't hit my goal but it was pretty good and he laughed. I think I did pretty well. Hopefully I can keep it up and save our family money and cut our grocery bill in half each month. And learn more rookie moves and not do it again lol.



If you can't tell I got 14 pasta's all for free 2 boxes of cereal for $ 1.50 2 bags of chips for $.98 2 Single's cheese for $1.58 the 2 cookie dough for $2.48 the Jello pudding sensation for $.99 and a rookie mistake which I realize now to cover 10 item's 7 can's of campbell soup $4.83 which would have knocked my price under $10 dollars if I would have just put back 3 item's to save me a little over $5 and of course the 2 gallon's of milk $4.66. But all in all I have never done that before and it was actually a rush. I think I am going to like this couponing stuff.

Mommy Daughter date

Yesterday was a fun day for Kenzie and I Earlier that day we went shopping for summer dresses and found some cute ones Kenzie of course wanted them all, she loves trying on clothes but being the frugal mom I am I had some really good coupons from Kohls so she got to pick 2 dresses. I got the 2 dresses for $14 dollars and originally they were both suppose to be $48 dollars for the 2.
Anyways we got 2 tickets to see the River Dance thanks to the hopekids Foundation. It was at Kingsbury hall so Kenzie wanted to dress all cute so she picked out one of the dresses to wear then she wanted me to wear a dress also so we both got all dolled up and ready to hit the town.
The River Dance was amazing they move there feet so fast. They had two main dancer's a guy and a Girl. The whole time I was watching them dance I thought of Tanner and Shontel. I could see them both dancing up there together taking the stage.
Kenzie loved it the whole time at her seat she was standing and dancing trying to move like they do. We had the best time and I think these are going to be the days Kenzie will remember I love having one on one with my kids and spending that quality time with each of them. After this experience I think I want to try and do a one on one date with each kid once a month so they can get that one on one Mommy time and Daddy can spend time with our other child so they can get daddy time as well. I want them to have memories of going out on dates with Mommy and Daddy.
It doesn't have to be expensive just something we can do to spend time together.

Princess Day

Saturday I had a special day planned for the girls. It was a surprise so they were very anxious to know what I had planned. Kenzie got dressed up as a princess in her Cinderella dress.
We headed out to the Paul Mitchell school were they do A princess for a day. I think I was more excited then the girls, when we got there the girls were able to pick out a Tiara and a wand and then they were sent to go get there hair done. Ashleigh was excited but Kenzie was unsure what was happening she was pretty freak out actually. But once she calmed down she really enjoyed getting her hair done. Next they did her makeup and then her nails.
Kenzie was all done before they even got Ashleigh's hair finished. But then they started doing Ashleigh's makeup and nails while they finished up her hair. She looked like she was really enjoying it.
After they were all done they got to make a frame, to put there picture on it and enjoy cookies and drinks while watching a Disney movie if they wanted. We watched the movie while we were making the frame.
It was a perfect day for the perfect princesses in my life.