Boston

I took a last minute, emergent trip to Boston at the end of April to go meet this little guy for the first time...

This is my newest nephew Bryant Andrew. Now, I'm sure that just by looking at him you can tell why the trip was completely emergent. He is truly precious; seeing him would certainly have been reason enough to go. But in reality, I took the trip because his mother (my sister-in-law) had some health problems after the delivery and had to return to the hospital. She was given the order to "take it easy" after she got discharged. But she has four young kids, so she obviously needed some help.

It was a wonderful trip. I took Annalise with me and left my other two kids with Ryan and my mom. It was fun to spend some quality time with her and her girls. They are so sweet and fun. The above picture is 6-year old Savanna holding her baby brother. She is so loving and gives the best hugs.

This is Abby. She is so darling and fun. I love her little smile in this picture.

This is the oldest, Kiley, who is almost eight. She is such a big helper and is so smart. It is so hard to live so far from them now (they used to live only five minutes away). I will always treasure the week I spent with them and hope it won't be too long before we see them again.

Fun Around the House

Preston got this new helmet as a hand-me-down from his cousins. Since there has been a shortage of bike-riding weather this Spring, Preston has had to invent excuses to sport this little treasure. In this picture, he and Adelyn thought that playing with clay presented some potential cranial dangers.

What a little princess! We also got this Ariel dress and Tinkerbell doll from cousins. Ever since she could walk, Adelyn has loved to dress up like a little princess. One of these days I should line up all her pictures in dress-up clothes as she's grown older. Now that would be precious.

This is a darling little picture of Annalise cheesin' it with a ridiculously dirty baby-food face. She LOVES big-people food. In this picture I think she has just polished off a whole jar of baby food and a gingerbread waffle.


A cute little close-up of my fair little red-headed baby. She is 9 months old and is such a little sweetheart. She has become quite a proficient crawler, eater, talker (baa baa, da, da), mess-maker, etc. I cannot believe how quickly she is growing. I am already mourning her lost babyhood.

Spring Evenings

We have an amazing park near our home with a huge lake. We went there one evening for FHE to enjoy the weather and feed the ducks. Addie and Preston loved it!

Annalise is always ready and willing to smile. She is such a sweetheart and just makes me so happy.

I love this picture of Preston with the beautiful view in the background. He is wearing this proud smile because he has a strong arm and has turned into quite a competent little duck feeder. We just bought a fishing pole and we are excited to go fishing with the kids the next time we go.

Living Planet Aquarium

We decided to get a yearly pass to the Aquarium this year for something fun to do inside during this not-so-warm Spring. We have loved it so far. Some of our favorite things are the giant octopus, the sharks, and the crocodiles. My kids still haven't mustered up the nerve to pet the sting rays, but hopefully they will soon.

Here's our Addie in front of the giant slug statue by the area where they do story time everyday.

Preston, working really hard to steer the ship. Look at those muscles!

Annalise still prefers the view from the Bjorn over that of the stroller, so this is usually where she ends up. Fortunately, she is not too heavy yet, so I don't mind.

This was our first time seeing the penguins and we absolutely loved it! They were so active and entertaining the whole time.

Easter Weekend...(finally)

Although very over due (as usual), I wanted to post about Easter. I always love it when Easter falls on Conference weekend because it is such a great family time and so easy to focus on the Savior. We had a really nice Easter weekend this year. Adelyn was so wonderful and wanted to watch all eight hours of Conference. During one of the talks, the speaker mentioned children writing up a simple family tree to teach them about genealogy. I didn't even think she was listening, but a few minutes later she showed me her beautiful drawing of a tree complete with all of our immediate and extended families' names on it. She is such a good girl; I am constantly amazed by her. We went to my parents' house in Salt Lake that evening during the Priesthood session. The kids dyed Easter eggs and went on an Easter egg hunt with all of the cousins. We had a great time.

Preston with his Easter basket on Easter morning. We continued the tradition from my childhood and the "Easter Bunny" hid their Easter baskets on Easter morning.

Adelyn with her Easter basket sporting her cute morning hair! We had pancakes cooked on Ryan's new griddle (also from the Easter Bunny) topped with strawberries for breakfast. YUM!!

I made my first traditional Easter feast this year: honey-glazed ham, funeral potatoes, asparagus, carrots, and croissant rolls, with strawberry shortcake for dessert. We had Ryan's family over to share it with us, and the kids got a third helping of Easter treats from Ryan's mom who brought tons of eggs for another egg hunt. Annalise even got to share in the hunt and especially loved playing with the plastic eggs.

Adelyn's Tinkerbell Pirate Party

Adelyn turned five this past weekend. Her birthday party was so much fun! The kids all came dressed as pirates, fairies, or lost boys. We made fairy crowns for the girls as we waited for everyone to come. Then we played hot potato to princess music followed by "Pirate, pirate, Tinkerbell" (otherwise known as "Duck, duck, goose.") Then the kids followed clues to help Tinkerbell find the "Lost Treasure." They started outside and trekked up and down the mountains (the stairs), through a rainstorm (a spray bottle), went outside and inside again, and finally found the treasure chest of candy. It was so cute to see them parade around looking for the clues. Then we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. It was so much fun!

The cake turned out really cute thanks to some major help from Ryan (oh, and we bought the cake topper at Albertson's).

This is Ella and Kiera from Adelyn's preschool class. All the fairies looked so darling all dressed up.

The "Pirate, pirate, Tinkerbell" game in action.

Whatever you do, don't pick a fight with this Lost Boy.

Ryan is sure proud of his five-year old girl. They have always been such good friends.

Adelyn was completely spoiled by all of her friends. She has enough jewelry, Barbies, and Polly pockets to last her a life-time.

Look at my little Tinkerbell with her pointed toes! Addie, I am so proud of you and all that you do and are! You are my little sunshine and I am so lucky to be your mother.

Addie's Birthday with Family

We had our family over for brownies and ice cream on Addie's actual birthday, which has been Adelyn's request for quite some time.

Only a little girl would be this excited about getting clothes for her birthday.

Addie loves Hello Kitty. She got this bath and body set from Grandma Ostler. She loves it; thanks so much!

Annalise is sure happy to be having a party.

Adelyn finally got the princess umbrella she's always wanted and a princess shirt to match it!

Preston lovin' on his little baby sister.

Ryan's mom and sister Amber. Ryan looks really tall in this picture compared to them. :)

We were so happy that my sister Mary and her boyfriend Tim came to celebrate with us too.

Adelyn is Almost Five

Adelyn started taking ballet at the beginning of this year and she thinks it's the best thing in the world. She has the most amazing teacher ever who has such a creative way of teaching children. They use all the real French words (so of course Ryan approves), and you can often hear her practicing around the house: "Sauté, échappé, sauté!" It's pretty amazing.

She wants to take ballet until she becomes a "princess ballerina" like the ones she sees on the ballet posters (in costume and on pointe). But she also really wants to take gymnastics and play soccer, so we'll see.

Adelyn is never happier than when she is making cookies (I think she got her sweet tooth from me). And she really does love to help me around the house. While Preston sleeps, we have worked out a little system for having fun while still being productive. We do a chore together and then play a game or read a story together, then do another chore and play another game, etc. She has become quite handy at putting away the dishes, folding the laundry, and cleaning bathrooms. It's nice to have a little cleaning companion.

Adelyn also loves to play on the computer and always wants to print out a craft to color and cut out. She has redecorated my house with the craft assortment she has taped all over the walls. She is really enjoying preschool and is getting much more comfortable with reading and writing. Yesterday she drew a picture with the caption: "Adelyns DafuDil Flaowr." I just love to watch her figure out the world and become more confident. She constantly asks me questions about different things and then repeats what she just learned to Preston like she has known it all her life. She is such a little character and I love her so much!

Preston at Two and a Half

My sweet Preston is also growing so fast. He has always been quite a handful, but he's also so much fun. He litters cars and airplanes all around the house and stacks them in different formations and shapes. He loves playing "monster trucks" and making jumps out of whatever he can scrounge up (empty boxes, magazines, cooking utensils...) He loves blue and thinks that everything blue in the house belongs to him (which drives Adelyn crazy).

Speaking of Adelyn, she and Preston are the best of friends (and they of course fight like cats and dogs too). But he just adores her. He always wants her to kiss him when she leaves for preschool and is just brokenhearted if she ever forgets. They play everything together from cars to Barbie's and of course love to just hang out on the couch too (see below). They make forts and secret hide-outs, conspire to get out-of-reach treats and forgotten toys put in time-out, help me cook (whether I want their help or not), and make up all sorts of games. It's pretty hilarious to listen to them playing.

Preston is very head strong and opinionated and begs to go to the park everyday, even in the middle of a snow storm. He loves to hear imagination stories and enjoys telling his own: "Once upon a time there was a car and a dinosaur. The end." He has an EXTREMELY hard time sitting still and doesn't have a clue how to whisper, but he loves church, especially "nursery time."

Oh, and he loves pajamas. He's going through the "I-want-to-wear-my-Cars- (Spiderman, dinosaurs, spaceships, or dogs) pajamas-all-day-long" phase. Gosh, maybe the kid has too many pajamas and that's the problem? Anyway, he also enjoys being naked, so getting dressed has become quite an affair lately. But he is doing great with the potty, although he still prefers his little potty to the normal one (which I suppose is fine for now since I'm not prepared to teach him how to pee standing up yet).

Ryan is Preston's biggest hero. He wants to do everything he does, including shoveling the walks (even with a garden shovel). He is seriously like a miniature Ryan. They have so much fun wrestling and playing around. Ryan can get him to laugh like no one else can. Anyway, I love this little guy.

Annalise at 7 months

Annalise has changed a lot in the last few months. First of all, she is eating solid food and LOVING IT!! She eats it so much better than either of the other two did at this age, probably because Ryan didn't feed her a chocolate chip cookie at 3 months like he did Adelyn. :) But I think she's also less picky overall (let's hope). She seriously just chows down. It is so fun to feed her, although we usually make a bit of a mess (okay, a HUGE mess).

She also has amazingly fast hands that are always grabbing at things. She has recently made a habit of pulling my dinner off the table and dumping it all over me before I can even blink. Then she stares at me so innocently. I've learned not to hold her while I eat anymore. :)

She loves this little exersaucer thing (thank you Mom, for letting me borrow it). She enjoys standing up, walking around it, and playing with all the toys. Her other new talents are sitting up independently, rolling all over the floor as a means of transportation, and singing songs in her crib in the morning when she first wakes up. She is one of the smiliest babies I have ever known and she grins, squeals and laughs the days away.

She has come into the separation anxiety stage quite early unfortunately. She always gives me big hugs and nuzzles into me when someone tries to take her away from me. I really don't mind though, because she is quite a pleasant companion most of the time. She is growing and learning so fast. I love my precious baby girl.

Top 5 Things You Should Never Do as a Mother of Three

5. Make dinner while all the children are awake, especially if they all want to help. Food will be everywhere, the kids will fight constantly over who gets to pour what, and very little food will actually make it to the table.

4. Take your children to a ward party alone (this one actually happened to Ryan when I was at work). Getting everyone food and sitting down will be a nightmare; the kids will get lost several times in the halls while you are trying to finally enjoy your food; and the baby is certain to have a blow-out all over you.

3. Take all three children with you to your child’s kindergarten physical, especially if your kindergartener is not feeling well, hates shots, and is not in a cooperative spirit. There will be a lot of screaming, tantrums and embarrassment, and you will leave feeling like you are the worst mother in the world.

2. Go to Walmart alone with the children, especially if you have to buy storage bins. But if by chance you find yourself at Walmart alone and the storage bins cannot wait another week, get the storage bins AFTER you do the rest of your shopping. Trust me; you will feel like you suddenly have FIVE children and the two plastic ones keep jumping out of the cart.

1. Let your license expire passed six months, then take all three children with you to the DMV during lunch time and just before naps. Chances are the DMV will make you wait at least 30 minutes in a line, and then inform you that you have to retake the written test. Your toddler will undoubtedly start pushing buttons on the screen to help speed things along, then climb on top of the computers when you ignore him, and surely have to go to the potty by question fourteen.

Anybody Else?

I think this is going to be the last day. I'm going to make my blog PRIVATE tomorrow (that is if I can figure out how to do it :). So if you want an invite, please leave a comment with your blogger email. I must say that this has been a very fun experience. I am excited to get reacquainted with some old friends that I haven't talked to in forever through blogging and keep up with my new friends as well. Anyway, stay tuned...

Time to go private...

So, I have been procrastinating this for a long time even though Ryan keeps telling me to make our blog private. But I think the time has come. I haven't been posting very much lately because I am up to my eyeballs in motherhood and whatnot, but I am hoping to do much better and I think having the blog private will make me less hesitant to write my true feelings. So you know what to do: leave a comment with your email and I will be sure to invite you. And I promise to erase your email address after.

Please don't hesitate to leave your email address even if we haven't talked for 10 or 15 years and you think I might not remember you. Trust me, I have a really long memory. But don't be so confident in my memory that you think I might have memorized your email address, even if we are best friends. I'm not that crazy. Okay, maybe I am, but not about email addresses. Anyway, I'd like to make the change in about a week, so don't forget.

Six Months Already

This little one of mine is growing up WAY too fast. I cannot believe Annalise is already six months old. It breaks my heart. I have just loved the baby stage so much with her, probably because she is my third and I realize how quickly it passes by. She is so precious and easy to love. Here are a few more pictures of her to enjoy.

Big smile showing off her new teeth.

"Smelling" the roses or eating them, whatever works.

Big girl sitting up. I love her little pink feet.

Mold, flu, and mud puddles

You know, there's always something. "If it's not one thing, it's two," as the sweet old lady I used to live with always told me. So, Preston is potty trained (FINALLY!!); I have retrained Annalise to only wake up once a night again; and I am getting along much better with Adelyn.

However, now we have mold inside our main level wall from a leaking upstairs toilet. Ryan tore the whole wall out on Saturday--sheetrock, insulation and all. Fun stuff.

And now my kids have the stomach flu, so I've been washing sheets and underwear like they're going out of style. Awesome.

But, surprisingly enough, I am still okay with life because I am a new woman. I have decided to just roll with the punches a little better and I know it is making a big difference. This attitude has made situations like the following a little easier to laugh (rather than cry) about:

I was walking across the parking lot with my kids the other day. I opened the van door and Adelyn got in. Then I started walking around to get Annalise in her carseat and Preston in his when he pulls away from me and runs across the parking lot toward a huge puddle. I'm in the middle of yelling: "Preston, get back here. Do NOT splash..." when to my horror he lays down on the muddy asphalt and starts lapping up the brown puddle water like a dog.

I was speechless, completely dumbfounded and frozen in time. He then proceeds to run back to the car, with a big satisfied wet grin on his face (his arms and legs covered in mud), and jump in his car seat while I just stare at him, still open-mouthed and bug-eyed. He is the craziest little boy! I don't have any idea what goes on in that little head of his. He was apparently REALLY thirsty.