Count Your Blessings

I have been avoiding posting, due to the negative spiral I was in for a few days wondering whether my parents home was still standing. I am happy to say it is finally official that it is still there. The fire was burning on both sides of their street and unfortunately many neighbors' homes were burned. We are especially grateful at this time that they will have a home to return to, thanks to the sacrifice and hard work of many fire fighters. We are still not sure when that will be. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers.

I learned a lot about myself last week. I learned that I don't handle crises very well. I learned that I don't know how to tell people what I need. I learned that I don't know how to cry in front of people. I learned that even though I love listening to others' problems and trying to comfort them, I am not quite sure what to do when I am on the other end. I learned that I have friends who love me and would do anything for me. I learned that I must learn how to be emotionally fragile and be okay with it.

Mostly I learned that I need to allow myself to grieve and be sad, and then I need to move on. I need to control the things I can and not worry about the things I can't. I learned that I need to take care of my little family the best I can and know even when I come up short I am still doing my best-for that moment.

I really am grateful for all of my blessings. Wonderful family, great friends, and the Gospel. I have learned that is all I need right now.

Evacuation

What a crazy day this has been. My mom called this morning to tell me that they were being evacuated due to threat of wildfires. It was a blessing that my sister and her boyfriend were visiting so they were able to help my mom pack her things and get my dad safely out of there. They will be staying with her near the beach indefinitely. I have not been able to stop thinking about the fires. Here is the map of where the fires are. It is within a few miles of my parents home. Please keep them and the firefighters in your thoughts and prayers. The last big fires were 4 years ago and many people lost their homes. It is happening again. It really starts to put things into perspective.

A Birthday Fit for a Princess

Happy Birthday Emily! So, this has been a long time in the making. This party was supposed to happen last Saturday, and she woke up on Friday throwing up. Lovely! How do you cancel a birthday party? Luckily, Emily does not have a real concept of time, so it was not too hard to put her off. I am SO glad we did! She was in princess heaven.

I feel like I say this all the time, but I really mean it when I say I have AMAZING friends. This birthday party would not have happened if it were not for my good friend Leslie. I will have to do a whole post about her sometime. She wanted nothing more than to give my daughter the birthday of her dreams and she did just that! She told me all of her ideas, I added a couple of mine, and she just made the magic happen. We were up til midnight last night decorating and I felt like it was prom. We had a beautiful ballroom for Emily when she woke up.

Emily always talks about "Belle's beautiful yellow dress" so that was one of her surprises. I LOVE the hoop that makes the dress puff out at the bottom. I really think Emily looked like a princess.



Leslie made the most incredible castle cake I have ever seen. I am sure you will all agree. The only problem was that Emily could not stay away from it!



So, we invited 10 little girls and 5 little boys and told them to dress in their finest. So cute! They decorated tiaras for the girls and swords for the boys. Leslie made sashes for each of the girls with their names written in Old English lettering in glitter. They loved seeing their names! Perfect!

We painted their nails and put glitter in their hair with the help of 3 of my favorite girls. (Thanks to all of you!!)





Then they danced at the ball with the bubble machine going.



(Another great friend story. I know, I am lucky! I was at Suzie Petunia's house the other day, and I said, "Can I use your curtains?" So, that is where the beautiful backdrop for the ballroom came from. Thanks!!)

It is not a 3 year old birthday party without one potty accident, so other than that, it was just as Emily could have imagined it.

She had so much fun opening each and every princess gift and Jeff and I enjoyed peace while we cleaned up as she played with her presents for the next 2 hours. (Have I said how much I love my new floors? This was such an easy cleanup. Thanks again, Jeff!)



I was tired, so we went to Red Robin for dinner. Emily kept her Belle dress on and it was fun to see everyone's responses to her. She LOVED having them tell her she was beautiful.



Oh, did I forget to mention that the entrance to my house was a castle? Yep, Leslie, you are "awesome!"



Did I also forget to mention that I had to look the part also? Jeff did too, but lucky guy, the pics of him are on my other good friend's camera. (Thanks Marie for being willing to take all the pics so I could enjoy the party!) He looked smokin' hot if I do say so myself.

Wow, what a day.

I can't believe she is 3 already. She has been so much fun and so different from her brother.

Things I love about Emily:

1. She always gives me kisses.
2. She likes to read books. (About princesses.)
3. She carries her princesses everywhere.
4. She loves to make Bryce smile.
5. She is very giggly.
6. She is rough and tumble and girly all at the same time.
7. She is very sensitive and will say sorry if she ever thinks I am upset with her.
8. She adores her dad.
9. She likes to watch superheroes with her brother.
10. She has beautiful big brown eyes.

Things That Make Me Happy

I have a lot to be grateful for today:

1. My new camera(bought it on sale-yeah!)
2. No more sick kids.
3. A new toy that is played with for hours. (building and rebuilding the track in many different ways.)



4. A feisty little princess. Some of my recent favorites of Emily's:

"I don't want to go to bed. I went to bed yesterday."
"I can't say prayer, I'm eating."
5. A baby who is sleeping through the night in his own bed again-yeah!
6. A husband who feels appreciated where he works.
7. Flowers- just because from said sweet husband.


Despite the blahness from last week- life is good!

I am not able to upload pics right now. I will add them later.

My first Meme

I have been tagged by Valerie, who has known me the longest, so here it goes:

4 Things About Me:

Jobs I've had:
1. Mom(which includes snuggler, book reader, disciplinarian, sometime housecleaner)
2. Taco Time (still the best burrito roller)
3. Research Scientist (very loosely at a multi-level marketing company)
4. Kids Gym Teacher at the YMCA
5. too many more to count

Places I have lived:
1. Highland, CA
2. San Bernardino Mtns, CA
3. Provo, UT (with 4 month internships to Texas and Colorado)
4. Portland, OR

Food I love:
1. Olive Garden Breadsticks
2. Spaghetti
3. Mexican
4. A good sandwich (made by someone else)

Websites I visit:
1. Blogs of my friends
2. Coolrunning.com
3. MSNBC.com (for the news updates, and I reluctantly admit, the gossip)
4. Newsnet.byu.edu

Places I'd rather be:
1. In Hawaii(someday)
2. At Lake Powell
3. Disneyland
4. With my Family (especially my dad)

Movies I love:
1. Little Mermaid
2. Princess Bride
3. Grease
4. While you were sleeping

TV shows I watch:
1. Scrubs
2. Biggest Loser
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. The Office

People I tag:
I am one of the last of my blogging friends to do this, so anyone who hasn't done it, go for it!

Weekend Getaway-with a marathon thrown in!

Thanks to a great friend, I have a camera to use until my new one comes in. (Thanks Carrie) So, here is a cute pic of Bryce and his toes.

This weekend has been in the works since I was 6 months pregnant and agreed to run a marathon less than 5 months after having a baby. I should never be held accountable for a decision I make when I am pregnant. In fact, I should never make a decision when I am pregnant. :-) So, we found out in May that we were selected by a lottery process to run the St. George Marathon. (Isn't it crazy that people are actually TURNED AWAY from running a marathon?!) Anyway, I didn't really think about it until after I had the baby. I refused to commit until I knew that:

a. My baby sleeps through the night.
b. My baby takes a bottle.
c. My body remembers how to run.
d. My body remembers how to run long distances.

When all those things were in place (about a month before the marathon) I bit the bullet and bought tickets for Jeff and I. The only glitch was that I would be gone over Emily's birthday(the only FULL day we were gone), and , oh yeah, that I would have to run a marathon. Also, about 2 weeks before the marathon, Bryce conveniently decided to stop taking a bottle. Just to complicate things!

There was a whole group heading out there. We met on Saturdays to run (well, we met and then I ran by myself) and everyone was pretty pumped to run. Jeff and I went to Vegas on Thursday night and stayed with my great friend, Laura. It was the best sleep I have had (even after staying up til 1am chatting.) I ended up leaving something in her car, so Friday started out a little hectic, but once we met up with the group it was better. We rented a 15 passenger van and headed to Vegas. (Unfortunately Suzie Petunia and her hubby weren't with us yet because their daughter was sick. :-(

We showed up at a beautiful 5,000 square foot house in St. George. Jeff and I were lucky enough to land the master bedroom. (Thanks Bryce!) We headed to pick up our packets and all of a sudden it felt real. We had an awesome carb-loading dinner made for us by the brother of one of the runners. (He is also the one who lives in the house. Thanks Jason!) We went to bed somewhat early, but then Bryce decided not to sleep well. Eventually we had a little bit of sleep and then Saturday morning around 4am we were headed to the race. For the full report, go to my marathon mommies site.

After the run, I talked with Ellen for a little bit and then we headed out to lunch. We then headed back to Vegas where I was able to spend more time with Laura and meet her nice boyfriend, James. What a quick, lovely trip!


I missed my kids, but they were well taken care of. Thanks Heather and Steph. Heather made sure that Emily had a great day on her actual birthday and we will celebrate it "princess" style on Saturday. Now I just want to sleep...

Just Checking in

My week was just a little too busy this week and in all the chaos I was able to manage losing my camera, my Garmin (geeky running GPS watch and I am running the St. George Marathon on Saturday and need it), and my credit cards. How frustrating! I did find my credit cards, but the other 2 have yet to appear. The camera is most likely gone forever, so I need to suck it up and buy a new one. Bryce is getting cuter by the minute and I am missing it! He just discovered his toes and I had some cute pics. :-(

On the good side- Emily is potty trained! For all my whining, that day I posted was really the only hard day. She has had another accident or two, but only when she wakes up in the morning. So, yay for her and yay for me!! I am so excited for all of us.

Dallin is enjoying school and soccer. He scored 2 goals on Saturday while I was in the truck feeding Bryce. I was sad I missed them, but he was so excited!

Jeff is recovering well and is off crutches. His exciting news is that he accepted a new job. I am proud of him and appreciate his hard work. I hope this job will be a good change for him.

I am enjoying finding many new/old friends in the blogging world. Please pop in and say hello and I will try to keep adding you to my blog roll!

Homebound

My poor sweet hubby just had ACL reconstructive surgery and is spending his time on the couch. I have been trying to be at home as much as possible (not easy for me) and nice friends have taken the kids a few times to give him some peace. I decided to take advantage of the time home and attempt to potty train Emily.

So now let's talk about why I am

The World's Worst Potty Trainer- duh duh duh!!

Emily turns 3 in two weeks and I have dreaded the whole potty training stage. My son was pee-pee trained by 2, but refused to go #2 in the potty. It was not a fun experience (let's just say it involved suppositories...). So, with Emily, I decided I would wait until she begged me. So, in CA, out of nowhere she told me she needed to go poo poo in the potty. I put her on and sure enough, she went! She did it one more time and to reward her (and give myself some peace on the plane) I let her pick out prize. She picked a Sleeping Beauty set and she LOVED it.

Back at home, I had to decide if I was really ready to go through with this. Here is our first dialogue.

Me- Do you want to go pee pee on the potty?

Emily- No.

Me- OK.

I am amazing, aren't I? I should market my genius.

Why do I give up so easily? I think it is because I have no control over it. Even if I spend all day every day with Emily on the potty, there is no guarantee that she will go. So, in my head it is not worth the effort. Nice attitude, eh?

So, my good friend and neighbor has just finished potty training her barely 2 year old, and I know she is thinking what is wrong with Kelly? She offered to give Emily a lollipop every time Emily went in the potty. So, I decided to go for it. So, about 10 times a day Emily goes in the potty and then runs and knocks on the door and asks for her lollipop.

So far it is working like magic. She has had a few accidents and even had one today at kids gym (I had to clean the mats- yuck!) but she is doing fairly well. She has earned a few princesses and is very proud.

So, we will continue to see how this goes. Wish us luck. And wish Jeff a good speedy recovery. :-)

Bryce is going through a little bit of a rough stage. He is refusing to take a bottle and is not happy in Child Watch at the YMCA. I am not sure what to do, but I am just trying to be patient. Lucky for him, he is adorable and I love him!

Edited to add: Emily is asleep naked on the bathroom floor. I had asked her if she needed to go potty and she said no. Then she proceeded to go into the bathroom to wash her hands. I heard her start crying and yep, she went all over the floor. I took away her bag of princesses and she screamed and then fell asleep on the floor. It is official- I get the Worst Mom award. And lucky for me, my hubby was there to witness it all.

My little guy is growing up!

And I am not talking about Bryce! Dallin will always be my baby. He is such a sweet kid and I love my relationship with him. The day before we left for CA he lost his first tooth! He is so obsessed with making money right now, that I would not be surprised if he wiggled it to make it come out! Anyway, he was excited to recieve a note and a dollar coin from the tooth fairy.


Last week, he started kindergarten. We put him in the local charter school for many reasons. One main one is they have a 4 day school week. I love the idea of having Fridays with my kids. That also means that kindergarten is 4 hours a day instead of the dreaded 2 1/2 hours. They also have a school uniform, which I love, and they have smaller classes. I have heard great things about the school and its curriculum and I am very happy with our decision.

Getting ready for school was a little crazy because we had just returned from our trip. I was so busy getting all the logistics taken care of, that I wasn't prepared for how emotional I would be. He looked so grown up. I am proud of him and I am anxious to see how he likes school. So far, he is really enjoying it. He loves to bring home new books from the library. He is also so proud when his card stays green. (No behavior warnings.) I am sure that will wear off soon, but for now I am enjoying his excitement. I love you, Dallin!

Peace at the beach and in the mountains

I will admit I was not looking forward to flying with 3 kids by myself. After waking up an hour later than planned and having to rush to the airport, the flight itself went very smooth. The kids were great.




I love going home to see my family for many reasons. First off, my sister Crystal lives 2 blocks from the beach. I walked with the kids down there and we had a really nice time. I love watching them play in the waves. It reminds me of when I was a kid. Dallin still loves to chase the birds and he is teaching Emily. I learned why it is always helpful to have another adult with you when Emily fell down and I was feeding Bryce. IT was a little tricky but we survived and had a wonderful day.



That night we met up with friends and Tony's parents for a fun barbeque. Emily was in princess heaven and didn't want to leave the girls' room. We watched a movie outdoors and had smores.

I went for a beautiful 10 mile run along the beach in the morning. That is one of my favorite things to do at the beach. Crystal was kind enough to watch my kids so I could run.

On Saturday there was a big pool party for Payge and Ashlynn. It was great to see so many family and friends. Crystal put the party together and did an amazing job. I am always impressed to see how many people love and care about Crystal. When you meet her, you are friends with her for life.



After the party we headed up the mountains. I love the mountains. It is so clean and peaceful. I was anxious to see my dad. He is the reason for coming home. I started my blog after he was diagnosed with brain cancer, so I never really wrote about it. The tumor was found on March 15, 2005. I was completely shocked and horrified when I received the phone call from him. Since then he has had 2 surgeries to remove as much of the cancer as possible, radiation, and chemotherapy. For 2 years he was doing really well, still able to function. In April of this year they found another tumor and he had a gamma knife procedure at the beginning of May. Since that time, the left side of his body has really weakened. He needs a lot of help to get around now. I was so grateful that he was able to come visit me when the baby was blessed at the end of May. He definitely couldn't make that trip now. So, I am going to try to get out here as much as possible. His spirits are so high, when you talk to him you wouldn't know anything is wrong. I am continually amazed by his optimism. There is nothing I enjoy more than a conversation with my dad. I have always felt that way. He is so kind hearted and genuine. He is a teaser and very cute with the kids. He has always been my biggest cheerleader, especially when I didn't believe in myself. I am really enjoying this time with him, but trying to let him rest as much as possible. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. If you haven't met him before, you are missing out. If you have met him, you know exactly what I am talking about. I love him more than words can say and I just hope he knows that.



My good friend Becky and her family came over. Here are our babies!



Becky and I have been friends since we were little and we were roomates at the good old Glenwood where both of us met our hubbies. We were married a month apart and we have had 3 kids all within a few months of each other. It has been great going through these stages of life together.

(I also wanted to thank my great friends taking care of Jeff while we are gone. We are so lucky!)

Bryce is 3 months old

Tuesday was a big day. Our 9th wedding anniversary, and Bryce turned 3 months old. I should be packing and cleaning for our early morning flight tomorrow, and instead I am holding a screaming baby and typing one-handed. I sent Jeff to work out, and I thought blogging about the happy moments with Bryce would help me feel better. So, here goes:



Extremely happy when he first wakes up. Love to see his huge grins and giggles, especially Jeff. The tongue smiles are very fun.

Mostly just chills out and goes with the flow. Great at the park, movies, wherever.

Doesn't keep me up in the middle of the night. I count my blessings on this one every morning when I am able to wake up to run!

Easy to make smile. If I am ever down about something, I can just cuddle him and smile and he will smile back.

Loves to be held. They are little for such a short time that I am trying to enjoy this stage as much as possible.

So, the one negative is that he is a major spitter upper! He doesn't seem too affected by it, and for that I am grateful.

Overall, he has been a joy to have. The kids are cute with him, and he is truly my miracle baby. I am so glad to have him in my family.

Love you, Babe (9 years down, forever to go!)

We had a wonderful night. One of my good friends watched all 3 kids so we could go to dinner and then to the temple. It was a great way to remember the vows we have made to each other and to Heavenly Father. I feel so lucky to be married to Jeff. He makes me laugh so hard. We have so much fun and as one of my Young Women said, we truly are perfect for each other. We have been through a lot in these 9 years, most things awesome, but some things difficult. We have learned a lot about each other, both our strengths and our weaknesses. I know Jeff loves me for who I am, and that is all that matters. He is a wonderful husband and an amazing father. He is extremely supportive of my goals and especially my desire to be a great mother. I look forward to many more memories together.

Lazy days of summer

It has been a nice, relaxing summer so I have no excuse for not keeping up on the blogging. I hope my kids aren't disappointed that we didn't do anything "big" this summer. But there are the little moments I wouldn't trade for anything:

*Trip to Seattle with my mom and the kiddos to visit Aunt Brenda

*Watching Dallin and Emily play together


*playing with friends at the park while Bryce just chills out.



*Dallin reading his first book out loud (a Pokemon book that I didn't want to buy him in the first place!)
*Dallin reading to his sister

*Bryce smiling and giggling




*Emily stripping off her clothes to put on any princess "pretty dress"
*Emily buying a porcelain Cinderella for $1 at a garage sale and not going anywhere without her. (Poor doll was literally loved to death.)

*Many hours singing princess songs
*Many hours doing "math" with Dallin
*Many hours building paper airplanes
*Flying airplanes at the park
*Pulling weeds to help Dallin earn money for his big bike
*Hanging out with my wonderful neighbors in the front yard, in the back yard, wherever


*Going on the boat- always a fun time!


*Dallin's first outdoor soccer practice- he was so excited when he learned a new way to kick the ball in the goal!

*Swimming at the Y with dad

*Dallin trying to come up with any way he can to make money!

We still have many more memories to make and these are just some of our favorites. I will try to post more often, but for now just know I am soaking in these moments with my wonderful children, family and friends!