Lots of Fun!

So I just thought I'd give you all a quick update of what's been going on with us for the past couple of weeks.

TJ and I took a trip out to Utah to try to find a house.  Unfortunately due to the fact that we're super picky and that half the houses in Utah are owned by banks due to forclosures and short sales we were not able to find anything.  We did, however, find a FURNISHED rental house that we're going to live in for a few months until we find something to purchase!  We're very excited and we leave here in 10 days!  

Other than all the crap you have to take care of when you move we've just been hanging out and having fun.  TJ has been gone a ton so that's been pretty sucky but he's home all this week so we're organizing everything that we have to actually take with us and not put in storage.  Here's to hoping we have enough room in our cars!

The kids are doing pretty good.  We've had some good laughs over the past few weeks with them so here are some pics.

The other night when I went to check on the boys I found them sleeping together on the top bunk.  Brady thinks there are monsters under his bed so he's either been in my bed or with Jack.  Its cute.

This is Jackson the other morning dressed as George Washington.  I thought it was very cute and he made sure to tell me that he'd used his imagination to figure out the hat.  He's quite obsessed with George Washington and the Revolutionary War.  Its good that he's learning so much!

Close-up of the hat.

Brady LOVES the book Goodnight Moon and has ever since he was a little dude.  The other day he and TJ read it about 20 times and every time they got to the "goodnight nobody" page Brady would die laughing.

Here he is with Natalie's sunglasses on.

Reecey is trying mildly hard to sit up.  She's really quite lazy and she sits the best on our bed.  The other night I was trying so hard to get her to smile while she was sitting but she was far more interested in the lotion bottle.

Here she is mid topple.

As I mentioned before she is very lazy.  She's been able to roll over for a couple of months now but never felt the desire to do it until about a week ago.  So she'll roll from back to tummy but she refuses to roll from tummy to back even though she can do it.  She just knows if she fusses and cries long of us one of us will give in and save her.  The following are pictures of how happy she was to be on her tummy.

Pathetic huh?

This morning Brady was FREAKING out telling me to come see Reecey.  This is what I'd found.  He got a kick out of putting Natalie's sunglasses on her.  So cute.

Also, did anyone else LOVE David Cook's rock and roll version of Hello from last night American Idol?  We LOVED it.  It was so awesome!  Check it out!

Overheard

So I overheard a little conversation between Brady and Jackson tonight that was hilarious and totally blog worthy.  Let me preface it by explaining that Jackson has been learning about George Washington and the revolutionary war.  So tonight when they were getting out of the tub this is what I overheard:

Jackson: Brady, lets play revolutionary war.  

Brady:  Okay

Jackson:  K...I'm George Washington

Brady:  I'm the white ninja!

Mommy Tag

1.  Typically what time do you wake up?  I'm perfect so I wake up to work out at 5:30.  Then I shower and get ready and make a pancake breakfast for my family.  Oh wait, I'm sorry, that's all in the dream world I call my mind!  In reality I wake up at about 8:00...just in time to pour the milk in Jackson's cereal and shuttle him out the door!

2.  On a good night what time are your kids in bed?  If I'm really on top of it they're all in bed by 7:30...much to their dismay of course.

3.  How long have you been a mommy?  I've been a mommy for 8 years, 3 months, and 23 days.

4.  How old were you when you became a mommy?  I was 20...almost 21.

5.  What is your favorite kids tv show?  I love the Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Hannah Montana, Drake and Josh and Backyardigans!

6.  What is your least favorite kids tv show?  I HATE the Fairly Odd Parents.  In fact my kids aren't even allowed to watch it!

7.  What is your favorite chore?  I don't really LOVE any chore but if I had to choose I'd say dusting and vacuuming.  I also enjoy getting all my laundry done in 1 day, but I have to be really really focused to accomplish that!

8.  What is your favorite meal to cook?  I LOVE to cook Chicken Enchiladas.  Well, its not so much loving to cook them but loving to eat them!

9.  What is the meal you cook most often?  I probably make Beef Dips most often.  Super fast, super yummy.

10.  What is your kids favorite meal?  They all like different things.  Jackson loves Chicken and Broccoli Braid, Natalie likes Spaghetti and Brady likes anything.

11.  What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids?  That's a tough one cause TJ is an AWESOME dad and I love everything he does with them.  He plays with them, snuggles them, talks to them, reads to them.  I guess my favorite thing is just that he adores them all!

12.  What are 5 things that make you smile when you're being a mom?  Hugging my kids, greeting Reecey when she wakes up from sleeps, when sleepy Brady tells me at 3 a.m. that there are monsters under his bed, when Jackson and Natalie get home from school, hearing them laugh together and tell each other that they love each other.

13.  If you could take your kids anywhere where would it be?  Back to Disneyworld.  We had such a fun time last spring and wish we were going again this year.

14.  When was the last time you went out without your kids?  Well this morning I hit the grocery store without them...what a treat...and socially it was on Friday night when we went out to dinner with Chad and Alaina.

15.  What is your favorite past time/activity to do with your kids?  We love to go bowling together, go to movies, have family parties, go to Red Robin.  I just love when we're all together doing something fun!

16.  Name 1 thing you said you'd never do as a mom:  I have a laundry list of things I said I'd never do as a mom but that I actually do so it'll be hard to narrow it down...I'd have to go with telling my kids what it means to clean their rooms.  For example, I say, 'Jackson, I need you to go clean your room and THAT MEANS make your bed perfectly, close your drawers, pick up your dirty clothes and actually put them INSIDE your laundry basket, etc. etc.  My mom always did that and it bugged but hey...look at me now!

17.  Name 1 thing you do that your own mom did:  see number 16 as only one example.  There are many many more.  Its just that now I understand why my mom did the things she did...good bad or otherwise!

18.  What is your favorite quality that your mom has?  There are so many favorite qualities that my mom has but one that sticks out is that growing up my mom was always there to snuggle me when I was little, listen to me when I got older and she always always always waited up for me as a teenager.  That was fantastic! 

19.  What is your favorite kids book? Guess How Much I Love You

20.  What is your advice for new moms?  I'm with Heather on this one...SLEEP WHEN YOU CAN!

21.  What is the scariest or most heartbreaking moment as a mom?  I think every mom knows the fear of having a sick or hurt child.  But the absolute most heartbreaking thing as a mom is to see your children struggle with something.  Last year Jackson struggled with reading and in baseball and seeing him go through those challenges literally made my heart ache.

22.  What is your most joyful moment of being a mom?  Everything...even the really annoying, frustrating, exhausting things eventually bring joy, even if its when the kids are in bed at the end of a looooooooooonnnnngggggggggg day!

23.  When was the last time you were told 'I Love You' by one of your kids?  2 seconds ago when Jackson left to go to a friends house.

24.  When was the last time you told one of your kids 'I Love You'? 2 seconds ago when I said it back to Jackson!  I'm a lucky mommy!

NOW ALL OF YOU MOMMY'S OUT THERE...TAG, YOU'RE IT!

Reecey Roo

Here are some pictures of Reecey for you all to look at.  I've been getting nagged at lately by some of you (you know who you are) to get more pictures of Reecey up so...ENJOY

This was today at breakfast eating her nummy graham cracker.

Today at Jackson's basketball game...she was WORKED!

A few weeks ago when I pulled out the excersaucer.  We've worked up to about 30 minutes a day before she gets fussy about it.

Thug Baby

Love the fat creases!  Her legs are the cubbiest part of her little teensy body.

My Turn for the Letter

For those of you who don't look at Colton and Lindsay's blog the following is what I would write now as an adult person in a letter to me as a teenager. The idea came from the Brad Paisley song Letter to Me. If you want to get in on the fun...TAG...you're all it!!!!

If I could write a letter to me I would write...

1. Don't worry so much about boys not asking you out on dates. Most of them are losers anyways...and you should see your husband now!!!!

2. Cherish your evenings with Angie and Shannon feeling like total losers and watching chick flicks. There will be a time when you'll miss them more then you can even imagine.

3. As weird as this may sound, enjoy what you go through with TJ. "Pain like that is fast and it's rare." (thanks Brad. That's straight out of the song) Take that time to work on yourself. Without giving too much a way, just know that it will work itself out.

4. Make sure to think A LOT harder and longer before you have some Dirty Billy man permanantly ink a flower on your back. You may think its a good idea at the time but really its not.

5. Don't "unofficially withdraw" from your singing class at BYU. Stick it out cause even though the class is during Ali McBeal, you won't watch the show past the 1st season and there will come a day when you wish you could sing well again.

6. Go to class and study. You'll get better grades (thanks for that one Lindsay)

7. Write more letters to Nana when you're in college. Better yet, give her a call!

8. Listen to Gongy when she tells you how fast time goes. There will be a time when you figure out she's right and by then you'll wish you could rewind your life and cherish every moment a little more for a little longer.

9. "Have no fear. These are nowhere near the best days of your life."

(again, right out of the song)