On being a Mom

Since about the day after Thanksgiving, each member of our family has taken a turn being sick with some form of ailment or another. And because of that, the people in this house are straight up going crazy. We are all wearing thin on patience, emotions are haywire and the house looks like it belongs on the East Coast post Hurricane Sandy. We rarely go anywhere, so we have an extreme case of cabin fever to top it all off. I've heard, "You're a mean mom!" and "Mom, why are you so evil?" (yeah where did he learn that?)

I'm not proud of that... I am just trying to get some order back in this house and no one wants to help me out.

So I was feeling like a failure as I climbed into bed with sick little Rylan last night in the same clothes I had worn all day... Thinking of all the things that didn't get done and all the tricks to get my kids to clean, get dressed, brush their teeth, etc. that failed miserably, and just as I was about to close my eyes in shame, I heard Parker's little voice from his bed across the room. 

"Mommy, did you know that Jesus was born on Christmas?"

"Yeah... That is why we celebrate Christmas, huh Parker?"

"Yep. Did you know that he was born in a barn because there were no hotel rooms for his mommy and daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"And Mommy, did you know that the animals in the barn knew Jesus was coming?"

"They did? How did they know?"

"Because they were smart."

"Ha ha."

"And mommy, then Jesus got big and the bad guys killed him but don't worry he got resurrected. And when we die, we will get resurrected too. But I don't want to die."

"You are a good boy Parker. I love you."

"I love you too.... and I love Jesus."

It turns out that you don't have to be a perfect mom. You don't have to do everything right every hour of every day. All you have to do is your best and your kids will take what they learn form you and turn it into something wonderful. 

Things My Kids are Thankful For

I tried to ask Parker and Rylan what they were thankful for each day of November leading to Thanksgiving. Here is a list of some of the things they answered with:

Jesus

Horsies

Baby Noel 

My Sisters

"Parkee"

Daddy

Mommy

Candy

Trees

Playing with my Sister

Doggies

Grandmas and Grandpas

Blankets

Milk

Football

Preschool

Horsies

Horsies

Horsies

Kids, they are a good example of being thankful for just about everything...

Except bedtime :)

Pumpkin Palooza

I love Fall. I love all of the wonderful foods of Fall. I especially love all the delicious pumpkin treats of Fall. So far I have made:

Pumpkin Donut Holes

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carmel Apples

And I have bought:

Dreyer's Pumpkin Ice Cream

Krispy Kreme Pumpkin Spice Donuts

I plan to make:

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Oreo Cheese Cake

Pumpkin Pie (obviously, right?)

Conclusion: Fall is a terrible time to be trying to lose weight after having a baby. At this rate I am pretty sure I will weigh the same amount as I did when I was 9 months prego by the end of December.

Worth It!

If you want any of these yummy recipes you can find me on Pinterest- they are on my "Halloween Fun" board. They are worth trying!

Blessing Day

On Sunday, September 30, we enjoyed the wonderful experience of blessing Noel at church with our family and friends. I know how much Tyler loves the day he gets to bless each of his babies, as a matter of fact, he has told me those days rival our wedding day for the greatest day of his life.... and honestly, I'm ok with that. As a mother, it is very special to hear your husband talk to your children though the Spirit and tell them the things their Heavenly Father wants them to know. I can only imagine how wonderful it is for Tyler and I am really glad he enjoys it so much.

I have said this a lot about Noel, but when I try to describe her, what always comes to mind is that she has a very sweet and "soft" Spirit. I'm not sure where the "soft" comes from but she is like a teddy bear to me. She is the world's best cuddler, she has big beautiful eyes and an adorable grin that gets closer and closer to a full on smile every day. She is always content and loves to be close to people. When I lay her down next to me to free my hands for something while I'm sitting on the couch or in bed, she wiggles her little body until she is right up next to me. I love it. I love her. We are happy to have her in our family and we know she has a special mission here on Earth and will be blessed with special talents to achieve that.

Daddy and his little girl. 

Happy Family

I am very grateful for the blessings the priesthood brings to our family. I love the gospel and I love my family!

Noel Abigail

Welcome to our family little Noel!

We have a new addition to our family. We were blessed with our little Noel Abigail on August 25th. We are so happy to have her. She has such a soft and sweet little spirit and she has eased right in with our crazy little family. Her siblings adore her, contrary to some of their expressions in our hospital pictures. They love to show her off, even to complete strangers. They love and kiss on her and hold her every chance they get. Especially Rylan. We are very excited to watch our kids grow together as siblings.

Noel, much like Rylan, was in a hurry to get here. I was induced Saturday morning, got all hooked up to the pitocin by about 7:30 am and Noel arrived by 10:52 am. We had a little joke running with my doctor that he needed to beat my last laboring time with Rylan which was about 2 hours and 57 minutes. Noel was not about to make things a competition though... as I got closer and closer to a 10, she decided to come down a little crooked, slowing the process just enough to make this labor a little longer at about 3 hours and 22 minutes. She was also, by over a pound, my biggest baby which also slowed things down. She required a little more pushing than I'm used to, and I'll be honest, it was also quite a bit more painful getting her out of there! But everything still went smoothly and flawlessly and I was so happy to have that baby girl in my arms when it was over. 

Our first, slimy cuddle:

My 8lb 3 oz baby:

Daddy, with another little girl who's finger he will be wrapped around:

 Rylan loving on her new little sister:

A few shots on her first day home:

So far she has been a very easy-going baby. She eats well and sleeps so much better than Parker and Rylan did at first, so let's hope that is a good sign for my future! 

I know this little girl came to our family with lots of blessings in tote. She is such a warm spirit to have in our home. And she is such a cuddly little thing. As a matter of fact, one of the night nurses who brought her in to me told me that she was one of the cuddliest babies she had ever held. I love holding her... which is a problem because I don't get much else done. We are feeling very blessed to have another beautiful and healthy child in our family. We love you baby Noel!

Summer Pre School Show

If you don't already know, my mom, in addition to being an awesome grandma, also owns an awesome preschool, and we feel very blessed to be able to take our kids there two mornings a week. I actually had the opportunity to work there for about six months as well and I am so impressed by what my mom has accomplished with her school. It is a wonderful environment and she really works so hard to make every student and their family feel special and loved. Plus, my kids are practically geniuses thanks to her curriculum :) 

At the end of every summer, the whole school puts on a show where each class comes up with a couple of skits and dances. This year both Parker and Rylan were in it and had so much fun! I was a little worried that, being my children, they might come down with a case of stage fright once they got up there. Nope. They obviously inherited their father's love to show-off.

Playing before the show:

Parker's class in "The Circle Dance":

 Rylan's class making shapes in the air to a cute little song:

Parker as a dog in one of his skits:

Parker with his surfboard after dancing to "Surfin' USA":

Rylan was very into her dancing!:

It is really fun to get to watch these kids work on something and have a chance to perform it for their families. We are very lucky to have this opportunity for our kids and love watching them learn and grow while making friends and having fun!

Thanks Grandma Kerry for all you do!

Your Preschool Rocks!

Rylan Takes on the Two's!

My little baby girl is no longer a baby. She moved up into the toddler world yesterday. It is really amazing how quickly she turned into this little toddler person. It seems like six months ago she was still just a little baby and now she is a big girl, determined to do EVERYTHING (putting on clothes, shoes, unwrapping food, going potty, opening and closing doors, buckling her car seat) by HERSELF! You get quite the earful from her if you try to help. 

Her personality is blooming as well. She is not in the least bit shy. She loves to make friends, she loves to show off for the camera and she is not afraid to talk to anyone who will listen. Especially if there is a phone involved. She loves her brother and insists on doing everything with him. Her favorite response to my questions such as: "do you want a popsicle?" or "do you want to play at the park?", etc... is "Parkee (Parker) too?"

Oh... and her giggle! I have never heard such a joyous little sound. She has such a fun giggle! And 90% of the time her giggling accompanies running around with her brother. Whatever mischief they are getting into, she is usually the give-away with that giggle. I want to bottle it up and save it forever!

Happy birthday to our little princess. She woke up Saturday morning asking to see "worsies" (horsies) so we thought and thought of a way to grant that birthday wish. Lucky for us, the fair is in town and what do they have at fairs? Horses!

 Rylan got to ride a pony, watch a riding competition, and pet and kiss all the 4H horses and mules. She was in Horsey Heaven! 

We love you Ry Ry and can't wait to watch you grow some more! But feel free to slow down... like I said with Parker's birthday post... my kids are growing up way too fast!

Four Years Old!

My little blue-eyed boy is now four years old. Sloooow down Mr! I can't believe how fast you're growing up! Should we look back on the past four years?

Here's Parker's first day at home. Getting a little too comfortable on Mom and Dad's bed... still his favorite place to sleep. Parker loves to cuddle when he is sleepy. And we have a hard time resisting his cuddles.

On his first birthday... still in Mom and Dad's hotel bed... hmmm. 

 On the day of his 2nd birthday party. Sweaty from running around at the park with his balloon and water gun. All a two year old needs in life.

 My little pirate last year at his 3rd birthday party. Such a little character. 

And this year at his fourth birthday party. He has grown so much from that first picture. And his personality has gotten bigger too. He is a caring and personable little boy. He loves people, really loves them and loves to meet new friends, play with good friends, take care of his little sister, and have a conversation with anyone willing to chat. I love having him around. 

On his actual birthday he got to spend some "Daddy Time" with Tyler in the morning, they went and got birthday donuts, got their hair cut, and did some other "manly" things. Then we went to a fun little water park with our friends. As if that wasn't enough fun... we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Milligan's for pizza and cake and then we raced off to the Rodeo (Parker is a big fan of the rodeo lately). It was a very busy day but I think he really enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday Sonny.... I have loved every single day I've shared with you. You are very special to your whole family and we love watching you grow up!

Gone Fishin'

Tyler has been really excited about taking the kids fishing lately, so on the 4th of July, after going to the awesome Parade with Grandma, Grandpa and Jake, we all went to the neighborhood pond for a little fishing. And to our great surprise, Parker and Rylan both caught their own first fish! We were all so excited, but I think Daddy was beaming! He was so proud of his kiddos for even having the interest and patience to sit with him. They loved it. Parker got to help cast and reel his little trout in and Rylan got to catch hers off the line in her Barbie fishing net (that she insisted we get her while in Cabela's). Grandma showed us how to stick a worm on the hook! And Uncle Jake took Rylan frolicking after butterflies with her net when she started to get bored. It was a fun little adventure. 

We finished up our 4th of July with Grandpa's famous BBQing and some big fireworks downtown. And the kids actually stayed awake for them this year! A great 4th of July for sure!

Ry Ry's 3 Phrases

Rylan currently has three phrases that sound very similar and at times, getting them confused makes for some funny moments. Here is the list:

1. Grandpa pronounced something like "Bompa" - easy enough to understand when she is talking to Grandpa directly but could be mistaken at other times.

2. Butt Bomb pronounced "Bombom"- The butt bomb, of course, is most frequently used when wrestling with Daddy and Parker, it is a signature Pooley move in wrestling where someone jumps and lands on another person with their butt. She most frequently lands her little toosh on someone else's head and yells out "Butt Bomb!"

3. Sponge Bob pronounced "unge bom"- We all know Sponge Bob, and even though I think Sponge Bob is one of the most annoying TV shows ever!!! I do let them watch it occasionally and she thinks it is pretty funny.

Anyway, the little girl is full of words and phrases these days. She says something new every day and it amazes me how one day, my baby just started talking, like a little adult. It's so fun to have conversations with her. And the best part is listening to Rylan and Parker play together. Parker can communicate his little imagination to her and now she contributes by adding in her two cents. They make up all kinds of fun games and I love to stand back and watch them in their own little world.

Rylan has also decided she is big enough to go potty on the potty. She has been very enthusiastic about it and basically all on her own account. The most entertaining part of this all is that Parker has taken it upon himself to be Rylan's Potty Training Coach. He cheers her on every time she goes, sings songs with her while she sits on the potty, helps me read her potty book to her and especially loves working the Pull-Ups iPhone App, because yes they do have an app for that as well. It is the same app I used to help Parker potty train not too long ago. I think he has some nostalgia every time we use it now :)

My kids are growing up way too fast. That seems to be how it goes at the end of my pregnancies, my older kids just seem to grow up over night. Can't they just stay my babies forever. I would like that very much.

Walla Walla, WA

Walla Walla, Washington

The kids and I decided to tag along on one of Tyler's appraisal trips over the weekend. We haven't been able to go with him lately because he has been traveling so far away so we were VERY excited to take a little mini vacation again. Parker was so excited that he packed his own suitcase, full of all the necessities such as his favorite stuffed animals Bunny and Jingle, a monster truck, a Nerf gun and a little school house. I had asked him all morning if he wanted to help me pack up his clothes but he was too distracted with other things. Then, right as we are about to load up, he walks out of his room with an additional suitcase and says, "Mom, I packed my suitcase!"

We were kind of surprised by how quaint and pretty Walla Walla is. We got there, took a little rest in the hotel, found a beautiful park to play in for a few hours, found a yummy Italian Restaurant for dinner, went back to the hotel for some swimming, watched the Blind Side (one of the greatest movies- I wish I was Sandra Bullock's character in that movie!!) and got some sleep. But not too much sleep because the sun came pouring in the windows at 6:30 am and woke our kiddos right up!! Then we drove all over the country side to take care of Tyler's appraisals. 

It was a very much needed break. Plus we really miss going on these little trips with Daddy!

Pioneer Park, the gorgeous park we found, was full of all kinds of different giant trees. It had a super fun play ground, a bird aviary- which we wandered around checking out all the cool birds, oh and Rylan lost her shoe so mom got to go on a little shoe hunt- and a fun gazebo. It was perfect weather for playing and we were all enjoying a little piece of Heaven on Earth that night! Here are some of the pictures we had to snag of our beautiful kids in the park.