Reader Family

so thankful.

2011-11-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

My heart is so full today. I have so many things to be grateful for. But today – and these past couple months in particular – this picture about says it all.

It has been a tough couple months. Seeing Crew go through so much. Knowing for the past couple months that my baby is in heart failure, and always wondering in the back of my mind if we’ll be able to see him grow up (although things are looking good now). But then I think of the blessings that have filled our lives since September 19, and my soul is overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for the reality of a loving God who doesn’t desert His children in times of trial. I have felt His love so strongly as I have cried and prayed more in the past couple months than more at any other time in my life. I’ve learned so much. Maybe Crew had to go through this for me. So Heavenly Father could teach me things He couldn’t in any other way. I am grateful for the things I have learned…and the things I have yet to learn. I go to bed each night and offer up prayers of gratitude for all that I’ve been given . . . and I’m sure to get up the next morning enjoying the profound and unceasing blessings of a new day.

eight weeks old and an update.

2011-10-09T19:07:00.001-07:00

And what a whirlwind these past eight weeks have been! Parts of them have flown by, and some minutes have seemed like hours. From adjusting to a newborn at home and becoming a family of 7 (it still blows me away that I have 5 kids!), to a week in the hospital, and learning about Crew and his likes, dislikes, and little internal schedule as he is home and recovering.

This is a day after coming home from the hospital (he’s off of oxygen now)-

And yesterday when he turned eight weeks old-

Isn’t he cute (I might be a little biased)? And do you see that slight hint of red in his hair?!

We went to his follow-up appointment with cardiothoracic surgery on Wednesday. It didn’t go quite as I had expected. They took his weight (he’s gained almost a pound since he’s been home – you can even tell from looking the pictures above), checked his vitals, did a chest x-ray, and did an echo to check his heart function. Then you meet with the doctor. Instead, three doctors came in, and each one examined him. They then left the room and came back a few minutes later. I would have bet they were going to tell me everything looked great. Instead, they told me that Crew has a new heart defect called coarctation of the aorta. They reviewed all of his past echos, and it didn’t show up at all. It had developed in the past nine days since he had been home. This is super rare (as Crew’s heart apparently is) to develop it this late. The echo showed it was fairly severe. Normally, they would have admitted him and planned for surgery to correct it. However, since Crew wasn’t showing any severe symptoms during examination, they wanted to wait a few weeks since there is a 5-10% chance it will correct on it’s own. And since surgery is more likely than not, they felt the extra few weeks would help him build up some strength and reserve and maybe he’d put on another pound or two before they most likely have to operate again.

I’m not sure why this sweet baby has to go through all this, but it’s okay. I don’t need all the answers. I just need to have faith. And I do. I have faith that Heavenly Father’s Plan is perfect. And this is part of His plan. In the meantime, we’ll love on him as much as possible. :)

the rest of the story...

2011-09-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow. The last 48 hours has been a little bit crazy, to say the least. Here's the rest of the story...
Cor triatriatum: First reported in 1868,^[1]cor triatriatum, that is, a heart with 3 atria (triatrial heart), is a congenital anomaly in which the left atrium (cor triatriatum sinistrum) or right atrium (cor triatriatum dextrum) is divided into 2 parts by a fold of tissue, a membrane, or a fibromuscular band.

This is the diagnosis that has changed our plans a little bit this week.

The past couple weeks, Crew's color had been a little 'off'. He was a a yellow color, but not a jaundiced yellow color. Then about a week ago, we started noticing he would have short periods of time throughout the day while he was sleeping that he would be pale and clammy. 'I'll just watch him,' I thought, as a few minutes later he would return to baseline. I checked his temperature a few times, and he didn't have a fever. 'Maybe that's just him,' LJ and I continued to think.

However, over the weekend, he became a little more irritable than usual. And he wasn't eating quite as well, he would only eat while the milk came easily and then stop.  L.J. set up a surprise visit from my mom and sister on Sunday to celebrate my birthday which was earlier in the week. I'm glad they came to see me, but looking back I know it was divine intervention. They spent the day with us and confirmed our suspisions that something was a little off with Crew, and I wasn't just being a paranoid mom. I called the clinic where we take him, and got an appointment for in the morning.

The morning went on as usual, and we went to his appointment at 11:00. I went, 90% sure they were going to check him out, say he was okay, just to watch him, and send us home. Afterall, there were just a few little things that concerned me, but nothing was blatantly wrong. I would have been okay with that, feeling better that he was checked out by the pediatritian.

The pediatritian checked him out and spent about 45 minutes with us. He said he heard a tiny heart murmur, but only because he listened really hard, and this wasn't too unusual for a newborn. He said with his coloring, he could have a liver issue, or with his irritability and lack of zeal to eat well, he could have some pyloric stenosis. He said, "it might just be nothing. But my gut is telling me that he needs to go to Primary's and get checked out." And I thank Heavenly Father everyday since that Dr. Gould listened to his gut.

We went home and I grabbed some lunch and a book knowing that the wait in the ER could take a while. L.J. and a neighbor gave Crew a blessing. How grateful I am that I have a husband and we have neighbors that are worthy and willing to administer a blessing at a moment's notice.

We arrived at the ER and talked with the doctor. He ordered lots of blood tests and a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray showed that Crew's little heart was very enlarged. They then did an echocardiogram to get a closer look at his heart.  In the middle of the echo the cardiology fellow walked in to say hi, glanced at the screen for about 10 seconds, and asked the echo tech if it was 'cor.' She said that it was. He then explained to me that he was born with three atriums instead of two and there was a little hole in between two of the atriums. Due to the way the blood is pumped through the heart and lungs, his right ventricle (which does a lot of the pumping) was very sick, and a lot of the blood it was able to pump was not oxygenated. Blood was backing up and causing high pressures in the blood vessels to his lungs as well. They would admit him and do surgery on Wednesday. I asked the echo tech if this was common, and she said she had never seen it. I later asked the cardiology fellow how often he had seen this condition, and he said 'never.' I was so impressed that for having it be such a rare condition, they still knew exactly what is was.

Several hours later they took us to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU)  hooked him up to more monitors, and drew more labs.  About an hour later after some concerning lab results, they decided to take him to surgery that night. They took him to surgery at 11:00 pm. The surgeon told me there was a 5% chance of complications in surgery, but 100% risk of mortality if the surgery was not done. So in 12 hours we went from thinking they would just send us home from the pediatrician's office to emergent open heart surgery.

We prayed and cried and prayed some more. How helpless you feel when your little baby is having his chest cracked open, and his heart stopped and circulation halted to his entire body. Knowing the only thing we could do was pray, that's what we did. We prayed and hugged and cried and prayed.

At 2:30 am, surgery was over. It was a success. They did have to shock his heart once after the extra membrane was removed to get his rhythm back to normal, but he responded well. He did have a big pleural effusion, but that was expected. He told me the extra membrane in his heart had a hole the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen that that the blood was flowing through. He told me there are about 200 documented cases of this heart defect since it was discovered in 1868. Crew was the third baby in 25 years he had seen with his condition. Most die of heart failure before it is caught. He said that Crew should make a full recovery. He should not need any further surgeries. Recovery would be a few weeks at least so his heart and lungs recover and learn to function how they should without the extra membrane. I hugged Dr. Gruber (who happened to be the chief of staff of cardiothoracic surgery who was on that week) and told him thank you for everything.

Post-op day 1.5, recovery is slow but sure. Crew is awake for short periods of time and making progess towards getting the breathing tube out. They are feeding him a tiny bit through a tube in his nose now that his GI system has enough blood to function properly. He is still on a lot of meds to help his heart function a little bit better, and control his pain, and has needed some blood transfusions. But he will do great. He know he is in capable hands. All of this is par for the course - of open heart surgery that is. They told me there is not really a par for him since his contition and surgery are rare. Every one new that comes in his room says something along the lines of, "oh, this is the special boy!" :) Yep, he sure is.

I know that he is still here for a reason. It's Heavenly Father's plan. Crew has such a noble spirit, and here to accomplish great things. We are overwhelmed with all of your love and concern and support. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your prayers in his behalf.

We love you little buddy, all 9 pounds of you. And we are so happy your broken heart is fixed. <3

goodbye, summer.

2011-09-12T00:44:00.001-07:00

hot summer nights

playing with cousins

sleepovers with grandparents

camping

riding bikes

road trips with family

the drive in movie

staying up late

flips flops

campfire peach cobbler

bbq's

swimming, swimming. and more swimming

fireworks

parades

bear lake

birthdays

playing with friends

sleeping in

getting ready for baby

no schedule at all

and

just being together as a family.

This summer has been a wonderful one.

I am so sad to see it come to an end...until next year.

he melts me…

2011-08-27T14:49:00.001-07:00

…can you see why? :)

he’s here!!

2011-08-21T20:44:00.001-07:00

Introducing…

Crew James Reader

August 13, 2011

at 3:52 pm

7 lbs. 6 oz.

21 inches long

There is something magical about having a baby. Your baby. The way you know just how they like to be held. The way their eyes light up when you walk into a room. The way you can understand every noise they make. The way your heart feels like it just may burst out of you when you watch them sleep at night. I just can’t seem to get enough of him. “There is something about a boy that just gets you,” moms of boys tried to tell me. Possible, but not likely, I thought. I won’t know what to do with a boy, I know how to love baby girls. Boy, was I wrong. When they laid him on my chest for the first time, I was completely overcome. I knew that he was mine, and I was his. I am so excited to get to know him, what gifts he brought here with him, what motivates him, what makes him unique, and why God sent him to me. So blessed to be his mommy.

So now we are home and adjusting to life as a family of 6. His big sisters cannot get enough of him and daddy is pretty darn happy to have another boy in this house. I am just so very grateful to have my sweet little baby boy home, safe and sound. He is the best and life is good.

no training wheels!

2011-07-19T21:31:00.001-07:00

We’ve had such a fun, busy summer and I have been so bad at blogging! I just wanted to do a quick post – Ellie and Addie can ride their bikes without training wheels now! Ellie wanted hers off – it was kind of a random request last night as she had never mentioned it before. Well, L.J. took them off, and she did great! Not one crash, not even running along side her for a while. He gave her a little push, and she took off (and this is the girl who trips over her own two feet and walks into things all the time). We were surprised! But so dang proud. Well, Addie was not to be outdone, and wanted her training wheels off too. We were not so surprised when she did great on her first try as well. She’s a pro. The girl is athletic and competitive. And barely 4 (oops, need to catch up on birthdays too!). Grant and Mace were there to cheer them on.

What a fun night. :)

Overheard 4

2011-06-02T12:23:00.003-07:00

Just overheard in the last 24 hours:

Macie fell asleep really early last night and decided it was time to get up and watch Dora at 5:30 am this morning. I was up getting ready for work anyways. When I was headed out the door, I gave her a kiss and a hug and said, "Bye Mace, I have to go to work now. I love you!" Macie said, "I go to work with you?" "No," I replied, "I have to go to the hospital and take care of the patients." She responded, "But (fake cough, fake cough)- I sick too!!" I sure wish I could bring her with me!

Last night I was laying down by Ellie and she had her hand on my belly feeling the baby move. She said, "Mom, I just love our little baby so much, and I haven't even met him yet! But I am a little worried about one thing." "What's that?" I asked. "I'm worried I won't want to go to first grade because I will just want to stay home and kiss him all day!"

Last night I was in the other room and Addie yelled, "Mom, you need to come here right now, or I start freaking out!" Thank goodness she warned me. :)

This morning I was doing my hair and Macie walked over and pulled up her shirt. "Look at my belly blubbon, Mom! It's cute, huh?" she said.

Last night I was doing some reading with Ellie and we were working on sight words. The flashcard said "good", but Ellie sounded it out and said "goed". "Ellie," I asked, "is goed a word?" trying to get her to think through it logically. "Umm, yeah, like we just goed to the pet store." Oh right. What was I thinking? :)

Ellie was saying the prayer last night, and for about five minutes offered an extensive list of things we are thankful for and things to bless. She finally concluded the prayer by saying, "and please bless all the people that have died, and everyone in the city, and everything in the town. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." I guess that covers it.

Macie can't say the "s" at the beginning of words. Some of her words that have become part of our family vocabulary are "lurpee" (Slurpee), "poon" (spoon) and "prinklers" (sprinklers).

I sure love these little girls. They crack me up and melt my heart every single day. :)

end of school hoopla.

2011-05-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

School is OVER. And I am so happy about it. Don’t get me wrong, I think school is great. But I’m just excited to have my kids all to myself on my days off. Go where we want to go and do what we want to do. And we have big plans.

Time is going by way too fast. Addie was in preschool two days a week with Miss Tara. She did such a good job with them. And as sad as Addie will be when she realizes that she doesn’t get to go to kindergarten next year (she is dying to go), I think she will be okay because she will be going back to Miss Tara’s class. Their end of the year program plans got rained out, so they did it under a church pavilion instead.

They sang and danced and it was super cute.

Ellie’s last day of kindergarten.

Ellie with her teacher, Mrs. Hyre, who we adore. So sad to leave her!

(On a side note: see that freckle on Macie’s hand? It is her only freckle and she is OCD about having her hands clean and wants it washed off all the time. :)

Aren’t they cute?

Man, I love these girls. And I am still amazed that I get to be their mom. When I watch them sleep at night my heart still skips a beat. My heart overflows more than ever with love for who they are, and who they are becoming, and who they help me to be.

the bathroom is FINALLY done!

2011-05-27T14:24:00.001-07:00

We started remodeling the girls’ bathroom two years ago. And while it’s been functional and mostly done for about 23 months, there was always something missing, or something I just wasn’t happy with. But now, I can honestly say that it is done and I love it.

Here is the before…

and here is the after!

I painted the cabinet and added some cute hardware. Also got a new faucet and accessories to match.

And a new mirror and a new light fixture installed by my own personal electrician. :)

And this was the kicker to finish it all off – that cute shelf L.J. made for the girls’ towels. And the best part -

they have their names on them so there is no longer any fighting over who gets the Mermaid towel and who gets the Cinderella towel. My sweet neighbor made these for us, and I could just kiss her for it – bath time goes so much smoother now. Thanks again Laurel!!

And just a couple more photos to show off L.J.’s mad skillz – these are some shower can lights he installed. He also put four other regular cans in the other part of the bathroom. When the girls are bathing they love to just turn on the cans above the tub and have the rest of the bathroom dark (they are on different switches). They think it’s “magical.” :)

Here is a shot of the crown molding. I love that he can do that, I think it just adds so much.

And one last one of the tile. He’s Mr. Fancy Pants. When he does it, he does it good. :)

I wish I felt the way I do about the bathroom about the rest of my house. :) One project at a time, I guess. On to the nursery!

soccer fever

2011-04-18T17:00:00.001-07:00

We have some definite soccer fever going on at our house. 4 days a week! Ellie is playing again this year-

Aren’t they cute? :)

And Addie is too! She has been so excited to play for the past year. Last year, every time Ellie would go to practice or we would go watch her games, Addie begged to play. We kept telling her, “You’re not old enough yet, just a little bit longer…” and then her day finally came for her first game! She was SO excited, and felt like a million bucks all dressed up in her own official uniform. We arrived at the field, and no one from her team was there. There were two older teams playing. We called her coach to see what was going on, and he was out of town and had no idea… eventually we found out they changed the U5 schedules the night before – and most coaches/players didn’t know about it. So she didn’t end up having a game, and this is what she did the entire time during Ellie’s game -

totally heartbroken with big old alligator tears running down her cheeks because she didn’t get to play soccer. It was the saddest thing ever. However, she was much happier last Saturday when she got to play her first game. :)

She was smiling the entire game – even when we had to go get her from the playground to sub in. So glad we have a happy girl now. :)

We have a happy dad too – he is playing soccer three days a week. We has been playing indoor soccer on Tuesday nights -

and has been doing so good he got recruited for an outdoor club team. He’s loving it. And kicking some butt.

So Tuesdays L.J. plays indoor, Wednesdays Addie has practice at 5:00, and Ellie has practice at 5:30, Thursdays L.J. has games for outdoor, and Saturdays, Ellie and Addie have games and L.J. has outdoor practice. So if you can’t get a hold of us, you can bet where we’ll be. :)

the brother.

2011-03-23T22:32:00.001-07:00

There is a celebrity at our house. He is here for nine days over his spring break. And we are all head over heals about him.

He doesn’t get a break. We all want to be right by his side, and he almost always happily obliges. Sometimes he even gets rewarded with back tickles. Today Ellie was doing her homework and she said, “Grant, will you sit by me?” “Why?” he asked. “I just want you to be with me,” she responded. And he did.

We are soaking up every minute with this boy. We love it when he’s here.

P.S. If you haven’t heard, the girls will have another brother to swoon over in August. :)

love.

2011-02-14T23:15:00.001-07:00

Valentine’s is one of my favorite holidays. There is nothing like having a day or two to reflect reflect on how full your heart is. And mine is SO full. I adore my friends. And family. And this year, especially my kids. To say the least, things have been a bit crazy around here lately. So I decided that the way I could show my kids I loved them the most was to spend some good, quality, girl time with them. So last Friday, (since I worked today), I made them pink heart shaped crepes and pink smoothies for breakfast. Then we went for girls day out (plus Dad needed some time to tile without three little helpers). First, they got their toenails painted at the nail salon (and I’m so mad – I brought my camera but left the memory card in the computer). That was priceless. They were SO giddy. And the cute little oriental man was super cute with them. Here are Addie’s nails – the other two were playing outside in this nice weather and didn’t want to come in.

Next, I offered to take them anywhere they wanted to go for lunch. Applebee's? Pizza Hut? Arby’s? Subway? Cafe RIo? No way José. Try as I might, I just couldn’t talk them out of McDonald’s. But this day was about them, so I gave in.

Next we had an impromptu play date with some good friends, and then did some shopping. We ended at the Purple Cow, this great children’s bookstore in town, and I let them each choose a book (and I may have chosen a couple too. Why are children’s books so dang irresistible?).

We came home and had a snack, then headed with Dad to do one of their favorite things ever – go swimming.

(this picture just cracks me up – a swim suit and snow boots?? That’s Addie for you :))

Do you think they had fun? :)

It was such a great day. Saturday, we made cupcakes (Mace was taking a nap).

And we got the girls’ Valentine’s ready for school -

We printed their pictures out wallet size, punched a hole in the corner, and tied it to a sucker with pink ribbon and curled the ends.

We sure had fun. I adore my girls (and the Grantster). But most of all, I adore my own, original Valentine. I'll just say that he fulfills my every need, he's the one behind everything good that happens in our family, and he's my very best friend in the whole world.

Love you, Babe (even if you are dressed cheesy to cheer for your team, you’re still super hot). :)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

little miracles.

2011-01-26T22:42:00.001-07:00

Before I go any further, thank you soooooo much to everyone for all of your sweet comments and words of encouragement! It's been an overwhelming month to say the least, so it was nice to read through all of your congratulations. Thank you! Some days it feels totally normal that I'm pregnant, and then other days I still have those moments of, "What?!!?? Is this really happening??" It has been a crazy time. Pregnancy is not my favorite thing – but I could definitely have it much worse than I do . Now, when I say that, it doesn't mean I'm not grateful...I know there are many out there who would give anything to be pregnant. My back’s been ‘out’ for almost three weeks and I’ve had more nausea this time than ever before (maybe it’s a boy? :)) And I've especially felt the weight of that this time around while trying to take care of 3 little ones as well as myself. Let's just say that my husband is a lifesaver and the most patient guy ever!! He does way more than his fair share around here, so we are very very lucky girls!! We've had many a laugh about our situation right now...sometimes it's just easier to laugh about it all!

I've been so focused on getting through feeling so blah and just asking myself the constant question, "Can I really take care of 4 children?" that I needed to be reminded of the absolute miracle that having a baby is. I loved all of my hospital experiences and remember the birth of each of my daughters perfectly. It is hard to believe that we'll be having another baby in August, but looking at these pictures of my precious little newborns is giving me something to look forward to.

Ellie Ashlyn – June 29, 2005

Adelyn Cate – May 25, 2007

Macie Abigail – August 31, 2008

And one of my favorite things ever – when they meet their new sister for the first time (look how stinkin’ little and cute they were back then!).

one little word 2011.

2011-01-04T12:37:00.001-07:00

Last year I started doing “one little word” for the year (you can read about it here). It was great. Although I didn’t achieve all of my goals 100%, I made some definite progress, and am glad that I did it. This year, my one little word is smaller, and a bit more focused. With life getting even crazier this year, I needed something simple but important. My one little word is

PRAYER.

According to the Gospel Library:

‘The Lord Jesus Christ commanded, "Ye must always pray unto the Father in my name" As we make a habit of approaching God in prayer, we will come to know Him and draw ever nearer to Him. Our desires will become more like His. We will be able to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that He is ready to give if we will but in faith.’

I can’t think of anything more helpful in my life, my relationship with my husband, and in raising my kids than the blessings from sincere prayer promised here.

I also want to be super consistent with family prayer, and truly teach my kids how important prayer is.

Gordon B. Hinckley said:

‘I feel satisfied that there is no adequate substitute for the morning and evening practice of kneeling together—father, mother, and children. This, more than soft carpets, more than lovely draperies, more than cleverly balanced color schemes, is the thing that will make for better and more beautiful homes.’

I am so excited for the new year and all of the adventures and experiences it will bring. And I know it will be even better with consistent, meaningful prayer.

Do you have one little word for 2011?

sometimes….

2010-12-29T22:29:00.001-07:00

sometimes, when you think you've got it all figured out...things change.

...life throws you a curve ball, just to make things a little more interesting.

...an "accident" or a "surprise" if you will.

...'cause, you know. life isn't crazy enough already, so let's just make things a little bit crazier.

ya. oops.

this was the little "surprise" that L.J. and I received on Christmas Eve.

wish us luck. 4 (and sometimes 5!) seems like a really big number to me right now!

christmas magic.

2010-12-28T22:19:00.001-07:00

Our Christmas was magical. Visiting with Santa. Stewart family Christmas party. Christmas Eve dinner out then Temple Square. Getting new fleece jammies to sleep in on Christmas Eve. Seeing what Santa brought and unwrapping presents. Playing. Homemade doughnuts Christmas morning. Family. Remembering Baby Jesus, and why that baby is so important. It was perfect. Hope yours was too. :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T14:46:00.001-07:00

some pages.

2010-12-06T15:25:00.001-07:00

There hasn’t been anything too exciting going on around here, just work, cleaning , laundry, and getting ready for Christmas. But due to some complaints that I haven’t been posting very much lately (guilty!), I thought I would post some scrapbook pages I’ve done recently. I’ve had a few friends come over lately that want to get started in digital scrapbooking so I could show them how to get started and show them my favorite sites. If anyone out there is interested, I would love to show you too (not that I am a guru or anything, but I sure love it). Let me know. :)

thankful.

2010-11-16T23:00:00.001-07:00

So, I LOVE Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to it. It makes me, and everyone around me happy. We realize how blessed we are. And we're thankful.

I'm thankful for the "regulars"...the givens. You know, our house, our clothes, our cars. So thankful. But this year I've been thinking a lot about all the little things I'm thankful for.

Like how all of my girls say “don’t let the crocodiles get you!” every time they say goodbye to someone in person or on the phone.

Or how Ellie will take it upon herself to “read” stories to Macie forever until Macie’s little heart is content.

I'm thankful for Grant and how he get so “into” things and they make him so happy (right now it is Bey Blades, before that it was origami, before that it was baseball cards…)

I'm thankful for digital scrapbooking. That I can document our family history and photos and let my creative juices flow. I need that. And that I can make pages without making a mess.

I'm so thankful for the way Macie shakes her bootie (gotta get it on video), and how she cracks me up everyday.

I’m thankful for great co-workers/friends. If I have to be at work, at least I can hang out with them.

I’m thankful for disposable diapers and garbage bags.

I’m thankful for Ellie’s young, pure testimony. The other day out of the blue she said, “Mom, it is so cool that if we do something wrong, we can pray to Heavenly Father and he will forget about it, huh?”

I’m thankful for Addie and her big brown eyes and how they twinkle when she is really happy. And how she loves Elvis. Seriously.

I’m thankful that my kids genuinely love each other.

I’m so thankful for L.J. and what a great dad he is. That he takes time for the kids and that our family is his #1 priority. And that he backs my car into the garage every night so it will be a little warmer when I leave for work at 6:15 am.

I’m thankful for my (recently inherited from L.J.) iPod. I’m thankful that I can have my music, book, scriptures, day planner, kid entertainer in the store, and brain (notes) all in one teeny tiny place that fits in my pocket.

I’m thankful that I get to be a mom.

And most importantly, I'm thankful for my testimony of what I know is true....we have a loving Father in Heaven who wants us to return to live with him again some day. I'm thankful for the example of Jesus Christ in my life and that I can share all this with my kids.

And I’m thankful for my warm bed that is calling me.. :)

cute.

2010-11-04T21:23:00.001-07:00

I think this is my new favorite photo.

This is typical Macie. Running around naked with some type of accessory – this day it happened to be a piggy hat. She cracks me up everyday. Wow, I love that girl.

booyah.

2010-10-27T22:15:00.001-07:00

L.J. went hunting here -

And shot him. At 300 yards.

Booyah.

(Never mind the fact that I am all but vegetarian and forbid deer meat entering the doors of our home in any form other than jerky. I'm still excited for him :)).

i love my mom.

2010-10-12T14:28:00.001-07:00

My mom came for her monthly visit last weekend. And boy did we have fun. My kids LOVE it when my mom comes. It has become a tradition in itself.

We started off the fun with a visit to Gardner Village (it is Witchapalooza right now):

We had so much fun just hanging out and being together. That night we baked for hours. All sorts of yummy things, including a new recipe for homemade granola (it is fabulous!).

The next evening we went to the elementary school Halloween Carnival. I loved that my mom could be there. The kids had so much fun playing games, playing in the bounce houses, and getting spoiled with all sorts of treats.

That night (after all that sugar!) my mom watched the kids while LJ and I got to go - are you ready for this? On a REAL date. With another couple. We had fun. Meanwhile, my mom and the girls played Pirates – a longstanding tradition that must take place whenever Grandma comes for a visit. I’m not really sure how it got started, but it is one of their favorite things ever. And each time my mom comes she has a new pirate accessory or new pirate tattoos. Grant’s bed is always the ship.

Ellie was a mermaid princess this time – she is always Princess Pink.

Addie is Captain Jack or Princess Tiana depending on her mood. Here she is a little of both. :)

And Mace is always Baby Button.

See pirate rules here.

Although I’m just a little bit independent, my mom has always been there whenever I’ve needed her. One day, a few weeks after having Addie, my back went out really bad. LJ had to carry me to bed, because I couldn’t walk. About an hour later, LJ went out to get the mail, and a bee flew out of the mailbox and stung him. He knew he was allergic to bee stings, but hadn’t been stung since he was little, and he couldn’t remember how allergic he was. He immediately got some Benadryl in him, but it was only helping a little bit. And there was no way I could take him to the hospital. Finally, after 150 mg of Benadryl and a few minutes later, LJ was breathing normally but was out cold. In the meantime I was stuck in bed with a newborn and a 2 year old to try to take care of. So I called my mom. She was there in 2 hours (and she lives 1.5 hours away). She stayed for a few days and literally saved us.

We sure love her. My kids adore the non-stop attention, thoughtful activities, books read to them to their hearts content, movie nights, and falling asleep next to grandma. I love to watch them interact, and hanging out with one of my best friends.

I am so thankful for her. And all she does for us. I realize not everybody has that. Sometimes I sit and wonder if my kids will ever realize how extremely blessed they are to have that...two sets of adoring grandparents who would do anything in the world for them.

Love you, Mom.

check me out.

2010-09-17T11:08:00.001-07:00

So, thanks to a sweet friend I canned for the first time this year. And I’m pretty proud of all these jars.

We canned spaghetti sauce, salsa, black beans, peaches, and peach jam. 74 jars of goodness. On a funny note, a few days ago I had gone to bed a little while before L.J., and had fallen asleep. When he got in bed he tried to snuggle me, but I guess I kept kicking and pushing him away. The next morning he asked me what that was all about. I dreamed he was smashing blanched tomatoes all over me. “Too much canning,” was his reply. :)

kindergarten.

2010-08-31T18:34:00.001-07:00

So. The day has come. The day I’ve been dreading for five years. The day Ellie’s been head over heels excited about for the last six months. Today was the first day of kindergarten.

We started it off with Ellie’s favorite breakfast – crepes and smoothies.

Then she got ready – which took all morning. Good thing she is in afternoon kindergarten! Here is a girl ready to take on the world.

Oh little-big girl. So beautiful on your first day of one of the Great Adventures of life. I am full to overflowing with pride (look at this person! this being of grace and intelligence and laughter and spirit!) and wonder (how did you get to be so big all of a sudden? you are so beautiful!) and anxiety (are you ready for this? have I prepared you enough? will this school experience be what it should be?), and I wipe a few tears, because what else does a mother have but a heart has expanded wide as the universe, and can’t be contained, and so it flows out her eyes?

And now, having had you almost literally all to myself for these five years, I feel a rush of hope - tinged with, what is that? sorrow? which sounds like the wind through new leaves as I lift and open my arms, and watch you fly…

Alright, so everyone I have looked at or talked to for a week has given me that consolatory look - that mourning-with-gladness look that EVERY SINGLE MOTHER has who has sent a kid to kindergarten. I think you must learn how to give that look as part of the first day’s rites of passage.)

And here - my last view of her as she went into her new class – the beginning of the next 13 years of her life.

As for her?

She climbed into the bike trailer at 3:30 and I said, “How was your day in kindergarten?”

She sat down with a supremely satisfied look on her face, and said, “It was pretty much great.”

Yeah, sweet girl. I knew you’d love it. It’s ME that we need to fix up. :)

overheard 3.

2010-08-28T12:29:00.005-07:00

Funny things the kids have said lately:

Ellie was all dressed up in her favorite new outfit for school to go to kindergarten testing (tear!). As we were driving home, I said, "Ellie, I just love your outfit. Do you feel so cute?" She responded, "Yeah....but I just REALLY like the panties I'm wearing!" (she got new panties too :)).

One night at bedtime I was laying down with the girls and kissed them all goodnight to leave. Addie said, "Mom, you can't leave or I start freaking out!"

Ellie: "Mom, it goes 'January, February, Stansbury', right?"

One day I had gone school clothes shopping for Ellie (without her). I bought her some shoes I thought were super cute and that she would really like. They were on such a good sale, I decided to get Addie some too because she would be sad if Ellie got some and she didn't. When I got home, I pulled Addie's shoes out first. Ellie saw the box and and immediately had tears in her eyes. Trying to not burst into full on crying she said, "those are Twinkle Toes - by Sketchers!" Totally surprised (because that's exactly what it said on the box), I asked her how she knew that. She said "from the commercinal!" (commercial). She was devastatated. Luckily, she got Twinkle Toes too. Those tears of sadness turned to tears of happiness, and luckily both girls ended up happy.

yellowstone.

2010-08-25T10:31:00.016-07:00

Man alive have we had a fun, busy summer! One of the best things we did was go to Yellowstone (without Macie who doesn't travel well lately). We camped for 5 days and 4 nights and had so much fun and made so many memories. I think I could live there if it didn't get so cold! :) LOVE that place.

A pretty view driving into the park

Teton Lake

Ellie tickling Grant's back - they did this for hours and both of them loved it. We have a love triangle going on here: Ellie adores Grant and Grant adores Addie. So Ellie got her Grant time and Grant got his back tickled for hours. It worked out pretty good. :)

Tent hair!

Yellowstone River

Mud Volcano

I love this swing! Going to try to sweet talk LJ into making one for the front porch. And the girls are pretty dang cute too. :)

At Mammoth Hot Springs

The colors are amazing!

Waiting for Old Faithful. She is trying...

Mom and Sass goofing around - still waiting...

there she goes!

Grant and Ellie did the Jr. Ranger Program - this is a Ranger Class by Ranger Brad.

Another beautiful view. I swear the sky is bluer and the clouds whiter there!

A family picture (by the dad of a cute family with 7 girls we stopped to talk to then saw again a couple days later at church in the lodge).

Painter's Point. No explanation required.

Dragon's Mouth- this cave lets off steam AND roars like a dragon!

One day it rained really hard for a few minutes, luckily we were in the car. A few minutes later we stopped at this beautiful overlook and saw this view. Does it get ANY better than two rainbows after a rainstorm in Yellowstone? Nope.

My cute boy fishing a beautiful river at sunset. Be still my heart!

Best buds.

The whole cute crew around the campfire. Sure love these guys!

Some bright beautiful ponds.

The one thing LJ really wanted to see this time was a black bear, and...

He got his wish! We actually ended up seeing 4!

A Yellowstone sunset. Heaven.

Time seemed to slow down in Yellowstone. The love in the van as we drove to and around Yellowstone was tangible. I tried to memorize exactly how each of my children looked, how their laughs sounded, how they interacted with each other. I could think of nowhere in the whole world I'd rather be than right there, surrounded by my husband and children with their faces tanned from the summer sun and their hair all messy from camping. I tried to soak it in, every second.

more camping.

2010-08-05T19:51:00.005-07:00

We went camping at Vernon Reservior a few weeks a ago. I'll tell you what, this place is a hidden gem (especially for the Tooeleites).

We got to enjoy beauty like this:

There were so many fun 4 wheeler trails and we couldn't get enough of the water between swimming and fishing. This little guy lived in the roof above our table. He was so close, and would just whiz right through us. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

These are some happy campers. :)

Grant got into archery this summer -

(isn't he so cute?)

and these two boys did too. They both bought new bows a few months ago, and can't seem to get enough shooting in. They would do it everyday if they could - oh, wait, they do!

I'll tell you what, this girl knows how to get dirty.

And we ended our day with this view-

And a campfire and smores. Have I mentioned how much I love summer? :)

the girls.

2010-07-26T18:11:00.001-07:00

My sweet friend Keli moved to the Chicago area a while ago, and came back for a visit and did some photo shoots while she was here. We were lucky enough to get one! I just did the girls since Grant wasn't here yet, but I couldn't be happier with how they turned out.

Thanks again Keli, I love them!

i (heart) the parade.

2010-07-26T16:47:00.004-07:00

Man alive, summer is going by way too fast. I am loving it. Loving the heat (really, I do), the barbeques, and going on a bike ride or letting the kids play outside until 10:00 pm when it finally gets dark. The drive-in. I love mowing the lawn (and smelling freshly cut grass), and playing ball. I love waking up with the sun at 6:00 am and feeling refreshed and energized. I just love it all. I could totally move to Arizona or somewhere warm year round. But until I can convince L.J. (which will probably be never), I just have to soak it up while I can. And believe me, I have been. This is what we did over the weekend:

We went the Days of '47 Parade. I (heart) that parade for so many reasons. I love it because it means it's summer. I love it because it's just so well done. I love it because we are celebrating the arrival of the pioneers to Utah. I appreciate and love them more and more the older I get. I love to sleep out at the parade and relax and talk and play games and read and light sparklers and be SO tired right before the parade starts but get a second wind to watch it (we didn't get to sleep out this year because I was on call, dangit). I love it because I met one of my best friends there (sleeping out) 11 years ago. We are still best friends and now both bring our kids to watch it. I love Utah.

ellie is FIVE.

2010-07-02T07:21:00.003-07:00

Sass turned five this week.

I'd be mad at her for it if she wasn't so dang sweet. She's pretty hard to get mad at.

She had her first friend party. We rented an inflatable waterslide and it was a hit.

div>

Even the big boys got in on the fun.

Taking a popscicle break.

<

I made her a flip flop cake.

And she scored a new bike for her birthday. She would spend all day on that thing if she could. She loves it!

And for Ellie's fifth birthday, here are five things about Ellie:

1. She is (still) my pickiest eater. She lives on yogurt, chicken nuggets, and anything covered with syrup.

2. On the phone or in person, whenever she is saying goodbye, she says, "don't let the crocodiles get you!" (I think it's her version of 'see you later alligator').

3. She is the best helper. She loves to help clean, cook, and unload the dishwasher. A few times a week she asks for her 'supplies', which are a water bottle and a wash cloth, and goes to town cleaning whatever her little heart desires (and sings like Giselle on Enchanted while she cleans).

4. She is a snuggle girl. She loves to snuggle in bed or on the couch, especially right after she wakes up or before bed. And sometimes in the middle of the day she'll just randomly ask to snuggle. And she loves to love on Grant whenever she can. :)

5. She has a heart of gold. She is a peace keeper. She will give up a toy or a crayon, or a chair or a book to keep her sisters happy. She is so willing to sacrifice her own desires so someone else can be happy. And she says, "that made Jesus happy, huh Mom?" Oh, sweet Ellie girl, may you always continue to make decisions that make Jesus happy. :)

Man oh man, we love this girl, and are SO thankful she is part of our family.

help!!

2010-06-28T20:15:00.005-07:00

So... this is how we end up by about 5:00 am most mornings. LJ and I are going nuts. It has got to stop. But how? You see, these girls are sneaky. Very sneaky. They come in one by one. And they are quiet. You don't even know the first one is in bed with you until you get a foot in the face or a knee to stomach. But at that point, you are still mostly asleep. Too asleep to carry the offending child back to bed. So you flip them right side up, schnuggle with them for a minute, and fall back to sleep in a few seconds.
A little while later, the second offender comes in. But like I said, they are sneaky. And two is still somewhat manageable as long as they are lined up right. And you are not even sure how long they have been in bed with you by the time you realize they are there. So a little adjusting, and you can sleep for a couple more hours.
Sometime in between 3:30 and 5:00, the last one sneaks in. At this point, it's really squishy. And cold. Because someone had stolen or kicked the blanket off. But it's almost morning, and on work days you get up at 5:00, so you can endure it another hour or so. Because you're really tired. And when you get up, there will more room for them to spread out, so they will all sleep better. It's more work than it's worth at this point to put them all back in their beds. And then the alarm goes off.

(and just imagine me squished in there under Macie's head and next to Ellie {with her hair in my face} )

Please help!!

P.S. We don't have the heart to lock them in their rooms. Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

making silver.

2010-06-11T07:19:00.008-07:00

ANNA QUINDLEN : Life is made of moments, small pieces of silver amidst long stretches of tedium. It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won't happen. We have to teach ourselves now to live, really live...to love the journey, not the destination.

I love that quote. These are some of our attempts to love the journey these past couple weeks.

Backyard camping - One night at the spur of the moment we decided to camp in the backyard. We put up the tents, let the kids play until midnight (our fun neighbors came over too), and read stories with the flashlight. Somehow, spur of the moment things usually are the most fun. :)

North Willow - Our friends from Las Vegas (the Olsen's) were in town for a little while, and we were lucky enough to be able to spend a day with them. We planned on camping, but it was so rainy the day we were going to leave. The next day was perfect, so we headed to the canyon that morning. We ate lunch, went hiking, rode 4-wheelers, and played catch (Julia and I played softball together for 10 years and still play catch whenever we see each other - even when we were both 8 months pregnant with Addie and Jake :)). And to top it all off we cooked some amazing dutch oven chicken and cobbler. In hindsight, it turned out even better that way than camping, especially with a 7 month old. :) Everything was perfect.

div>

My goal is to make as much silver as I can for us this summer. :)

goodbye, crib.

2010-06-01T13:42:00.003-07:00

For Macie's entire life, she has been the best baby to put to sleep. You put her in her crib, she smiles at you, rolls over, and closes her eyes and goes to sleep. Well, things have changed this week. She's been crying when we put her in her crib. Just for 5-10 minutes or so before she falls asleep. Last night after putting her in bed, she came walking into our room. We were astounded. We put her back in her crib. To see how she got out.

If that's not a broken arm waiting to happen. So she slept with us. For the first time in her life (Ellie didn't quit sleeping with us until she was three, so we learned from our mistake and never let the other two sleep with us). So today her crib is being converted to a day bed. And don't worry, she's much happier now.

turning 3.

2010-05-28T15:21:00.004-07:00

Boy howdy was this girl ever excited for her "Doda Bofday". She fell in love with Dora about a month after her last birthday and had been talking about her next birthday ever since. Even after all that anticipation, I don't think she was dissapointed. We just had a little family party/BBQ with grandparents, and some aunts and uncles and cousins. She loved every second of it:

We sure love her! Thanks to everyone who came and made her Doda Bofday so great. She got so spoiled and will remember that special day for a long time. She's already talking about her next one. :)

overheard 2.

2010-05-20T15:55:00.002-07:00

Overheard from our kids recently:

Ellie: "LOOK at the tail on that chicken!!" - it was really a phesant at Cabella's.

One day my mom and sister came to visit for the day. Addie didn't want them to leave, but they promised they would be back soon for her birthday party. "Okay. Then YOU (pointing at Grandma) bring the Dora cake, and YOU (pointing at Brianna) bring the Dora presents." Seems she's got the art of delegation down. Especially when it comes to doing chores. :)

Ellie while talking on the phone to Grandma Reader: "It is raining in our back yard AND our front yard. Can you believe it?"

I've been trying to get my kids to eat and like fruits and vegetables. I explained to Ellie in four year old terms why they are important for digestion. About a week later she was in the bathroom and yelled, "Mom, mom, bring me an apple!"

mothers day.

2010-05-15T18:38:00.002-07:00

I must sum up Mother's Day before the week completely passes me by.

So grateful to be a mother to these sweet girls-

(and grateful to that guy for making it all possible.)

and a step mom to this amazing boy.

LJ made me breakfast.

I completely enjoyed church without being on-call and with all the girls in primary/nursery.

We hung out with my wonderful mother and father-in law-and enjoyed a delish dinner.

We played in the yard and enjoyed the weather.

We went on a bike ride. Wore all three girls out. Who knew riding in the back is so hard?

Watched The Blind Side and schnuggled with L.J. while the kids continued to sleep. LOVED it.

Ellie gave me one of her favorite toys. She seriously has a heart of gold.

I got told about 462 times "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!" with hugs and kisses to go with it every time.

I cherished every moment of the day. Man, have I ever mentioned how much I love being their Mother? Just wondering. Because man, do I ever. I am one lucky girl.

Meet Cowboy.

2010-05-07T19:31:00.002-07:00

He's our new friend. He loves the kids, likes to watch movies with us, and begs for treats. He and Macie like to kiss. LJ is in love. And the best part is - he's not ours! He's our neighbors'. We 'share' a backyard (the end of our backyard touches the end of their backyard, but there is no fence). All the perks without the responsibility. That's a dog I can handle. :)

fun in the sun.

2010-04-15T20:27:00.009-07:00

We have sure been enjoying the sunshine. Perhaps a little too much. :)

This is what we have been up to:

Planting a garden. I've really wanted to do this the past few years, but just never really got around to it. I wished I had taken a 'before' picture of this. It was completely overrun with weeds. You see, the people that lived in our house before us had a garden, but we just never paid it one bit of attention. L.J. has been hard at work this week weeding, tilling, and digging to get ready to plant. We are on the final step before planting: a little fence to keep out the little kids and the neighbor's little dog. :)

Riding bikes. I bought this little bike trailer used from a co-worker a few years ago, but we have not really been able to put it to good use yet. We haven't gotten in a whole lot of bike riding between being pregnant, having babies, and a broken leg. But now it's time. We've probably taken these kids 10 miles in the last two days. They LOVE it.

Tonight we were at dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Reader and Grandma asked Ellie, "What do you do sitting in the bike trailer? Do you get bored?" And Ellie said, "No. We just sit back and enjoy the ride. " :)

We went on our first fishing 'trip' of the year. Complete with a princess fishing pole. Ellie caught a fish (she has a killer cast for a 4 year old) -

Addie caught a fish (she was all business when it came to fishing) -

and Macie even got in on some action (but didn't catch a fish).

But the funnest part was chucking marshmallows at the ducks.

A flower from our yard.

Man oh man, I love summer. I'm looking forward to lots of sunshine and adventure (and no injuries)!

first barbeque.

2010-03-30T19:00:00.006-07:00

Last Saturday marked our first barbecue of the year. I just love barbeques. It means it's warm outside. That means I'm happy (I'll move somewhere warm as soon as I can convince LJ. Still working on it :)).

We also played with cousins from California, Idaho, and Utah all weekend.

Love that dimple!

At The Gateway.

Easter egg hunt at Wheeler Farm.

Love, love, love weekends like that. Family, fun, good food, and sunshine. Does it get any better? I don't think so!

vacation.

2010-03-19T08:52:00.003-07:00

This is where we were last week. It was totally a spur of the moment, last minute thing. It was a blast.

(can't get the photos in the order I want them, so here they are randomly)

We stayed with some dear friends, Adam and Julia Olsen. Here we are with a storm trooper on the strip.

Julia and I have been best friends since we were 2. Seriously. We grew up living two houses away. We are true BFFs. :) Love her to pieces.

We attended a fundraiser luau for the Downs Sydrome Foundation with Julia and Adam. It was so cool.

This is their Brooklyn. She's the sweetest thing ever. I got asked a few times how old the (her) kids were, and/or if they were twins. All three of Julia's kids have red hair (and mine have blond). We say it's from hanging out together so much when we were little. :)

Me and L.J at the luau.

The awesome fireknife guy that performed at the luau.

The view from the windows of the Stratosphere. We got tickets to go on the rides but they shut it down due to wind by the time we got there. I was sad about that, L.J. was relieved. :)

Probably my favorite site at Las Vegas - the fountains at the Bellagio.

And this is the idea that sparked the vacation, to watch BYU play in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. They didn't do fabulous, but it was still fun to be there live. The game was actually a nail biter, we lost by 2.

What a cute boy!

This is a collage I made of some fun shots from the Bellagio.

Man oh man we had fun. And the weather was beautiful most of the time. A huge thank you to Mom and Dad Stewart for watching the girls, and again to Adam and Julia for being such great hosts! Love you!

worth documenting.

2010-03-10T21:57:00.005-07:00

I just wanted to document this day - the first time I can remember that we have ALL made it to church on time! Um, our church is at 1:00. but it seems that inevitably, something comes up. Rather it be a page from work (I'm on-call every other weekend), a child throwing a tantrum over the crooked toe seam in her tights, lost keys, or a variety of other things, it seems that something always prevents us from getting there on time. But not last week! Hahaha! We did it!!

We were actually taking photos because Macie is officially 18 months old now. It was her first week in nursery! Did you hear the choirs of angels singing? Because they were. It was the first week in almost three years we were kid free. It was heaven, I tell ya, heaven! Mace wouldn't cooperate for photos by herself, but we sure love her anyways. :) Everyday Ellie tells me, "Mom, Macie is the cutest baby in the whole world, huh?" And I say, "Yep, she is." And I mean it. :)

afternoon tea.

2010-03-05T18:07:00.003-07:00

Today we had afternoon tea. It was delightful. Every week for the last few weeks when I've asked Ellie what she wanted to do for the FHE activity, she says that she wants to have a tea party. Today we finally did it. The girls dressed up in their princess dress ups and we had cookies and tea (pink lemonade) in their Disney tea set. They were perfect angels. Ellie said, "This is the best tea party I have ever been to!" (It's the only tea party she's ever been to). I think it was a success. :)

things i am loving right now:

2010-02-22T13:13:00.012-07:00

(aside from my five favorite people, of course :)

1. The Olympics. I. CANNOT. GET. ENOUGH. Not sure why, but I just LOVE them. I could just curl up with a blanket and watch them all day long. 99% of the time I would be perfectly happy not even owning a t.v., but I'm sure loving it right now.

2. This smell:

Man oh man, we go through so much of this at our house. It's the only lotion L.J will. use, and we both have incredibly dry skin. So you can imagine that the kids do too. We all take a bath in it at least once a day, and sometimes more.

3. Aquaphor. Ditto to #2 for the reason why. I actually use it as face lotion twice a day - way cheaper than the fancy stuff and it works like a charm.

4. These:

In general I am not a store bought cookie fan. I love me some homemade chocolate chip cookies, plain and simple. However, I have such a weak spot for Oreos. I love the mint ones too. My kids have learned the true love of Oreos as well (remember this?).

5. My new dishwasher. The old one was not too pretty and did a mediocre job. And it leaked a lot. This one is sleek and smooth, and cleans like a champ. And the best part? All of the buttons are on the top (not the front), so the kids can't reach them.

6. Windex. Have you ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Well, I'm not quite that bad - I don't use it for medicinal purposes (yet). But I clean EVERYTHING with it. Seriously. My cleaning supplies consisit of Windex and Ajax (for the toilets). I clean the counters, sinks, wood floors, appliances, bathrooms, and mirrors with it. I detail my car with it. And it's cheap. That makes it even better.

7. The way Macie smells when I get her out of her crib in the morning. It's not clean, it's not dirty, it's just a warm, comfy smell - you know what I mean? And then the schnuggles for at least 15 minutes after she wakes up. I know it won't last forever, so I'm just trying to soak it up while I can. Sometimes I think my heart's just going to burst when I think about how much I love that girl. :)

valentines loves.

2010-02-16T15:26:00.003-07:00

Holidays are getting funner and funner now that the kids are old enough to understand and appreciate them a little bit more. Valentines was so much fun this year! Ellie had the best present she could hope for - a weekend with her cousin Kai. He lives in Idaho. Now these two are not normal 4 year old cousins (they are two weeks apart). They are in love. Seriously. They are going to get married, and there is no talking them out of it. They held hands, danced, and gave each other numerous kisses on the cheeks (we have outlawed kissing on the lips). During sacrament meeing, Kai put his head in Ellie's lap and she played with his hair as they gazed into each other's eyes. Ellie has eyes for no one else. Hopefully they'll grow out of it. :)

We also made valentines cupcakes, heart attacked the girls' bedroom while they were sleeping, and hung out with family. Daddy got all of his little valentines a rose, a balloon, and chocolates. They were in heaven. I got a new blender and some orchids out of it.

They say Valentines is fabricated romance, the day of romantic disapointment, or all about the commercialism, but I sure like it.

happy birthday L.J.!

2010-02-07T11:39:00.009-07:00

The top ten things I love about L.J. for his 34th birthday (last week):

1-He loves me. I feel it. And he takes such good care of me. I always feel safe with him.

2-He's an awesome handy man (electrician by trade). If it's broke, he can fix it. If I can dream it up, he can make it. And then makes it even better. And I love that we have the same style when it comes to house stuff - I never have to worry how it's going to turn out.

3-He's am amazing dad. Everyday, all day long. And he's fiercely protective of our kids.

4-He knows everything there is to know about current events. Sometimes I complain that he watches too much Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and news, but secretly I think it's kinda sexy that he's so smart and informed.

5- He's one of the kindest people I know. A good part of my days off he spends doing service for family and friends.

6-He sees the "big picture" so well, but still knows how to play. He loves video games, superheros, and soccer.

7-He has a great sense of humor and makes us all laugh everyday.

8-His counseling wisdom. He's always the one I want to ask for advice, and he always knows what to do in tough situations. He's my best friend I can tell him anything. I love it when we stay up late talking.

9-He's had a lot of trials in his life. But instead of letting them get him down or losing faith, he learns from them, grows from them, and becomes better because of them.

10-He's drop dead handsome.

We love you so much babe! And here's to no major injuries or surgeries this year, okay? :)

2010-02-01T21:12:00.002-07:00

Anyone who really knows me knows that my favorite hobby is scrapbooking. Over the last couple years I have switched over to digital scrapbooking. I just love it. Can I show you why?

One page with 3 kids = print three copies instead of make 3 pages.

Make one cute page...

(Ellie)

(Macie)

(Addie)

...swap out the photo, date, and initial on the other 2 in about 10 minutes. Call it cheating, but at least it's getting done! And the best part is, no messes!!

very tired.

2010-01-25T00:01:00.003-07:00

Man, oh man is church at 1:00 rough on the kids (and Mom and Dad, too)! We have sacrament last, and by that time the kids are SO tired and hungry. Macie fell asleep on the two minute drive home, and this is where we found

Addie about 5 minutes after we got home. Asleep on the dirty laundry pile.

Love it.

multitasking.

2010-01-16T13:22:00.003-07:00

One of the great things about having three girls...

Bath time is fast AND fun!

my 2010 word.

2010-01-08T12:24:00.008-07:00

My word for for 2010 is consistency.

I make new years resolutions every year. And this year was no exception. But I wanted this one little word as my "mantra", something simple to remind me what I really want to accomplish. Something in the back of my mind to remind me what's most important, and to help me focus on the big picture of what I want to become.

I tend to get distracted with the little things in life - redecorating the house, getting the girls ready for the day, keeping the house clean, work projects, etc. Sure those things are important too. But they sometimes get priority over the things that matter the most.

Sometimes it seems like I'm running in circles - on my way to do one thing, getting distacted by another, then thinking of something else that I have to do, and the first thing I set out to do never gets done.

I love this quote by Elder Uchdorf:

"We know what matters most in life-the Light of Christ teaches this to everyone. We as faithful Latter-day Saints have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to teach us things of eternal value...our weakness is in failing to align our actions with our conscience.

"Pause for a moment and check where your own heart and thoughts are. Are you focused on the things that matter most? How you spend your quiet time may provide a valuable clue. Where do your thoughts go when the pressure of deadlines is gone? Are your thoughts and heart focused on those short-lived fleeting things that matter only in the moment, or on the things that matter most?"

I do know what matters most. But sometimes my actions aren't aligned with what I know.

So I will be CONSISTANT this year on the things that matter most -

1: Prayers - individual, family, and companion.

2: Scripture study - individual, family, and companion.

3: Family Home Evening - every week without fail.

4: Work out - 5 days a week.

I realize these are very basic things. Things I'm okay at, but not great. I want to be great at them before I tackle the bigger things. And really, I think, everything eventually boils down to the basics.

Do I think that because I have written this down it will just magically come to pass? No. I know I need to have a serious plan. And stick to it. Be CONSISTANT. But half the battle is done: I know what I need to do.

I'm thankful for a new year and a fresh begining.

2009 awards ceremony.

2009-12-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's time for the 2009 awards ceremony. These awards rival the Emmys and are accepted with much pride in the Reader family.

The award for cheesiest grin goes to...

This little girl walks away with the best dressed award...

And the winner of most dramatic goes to...

Acceptance speeches will be cut short since only 1 of the 3 recipients really talk....

Here's to another great year!

snippets of christmas.

2009-12-30T18:16:00.002-07:00

It was a great one!

the best christmas present ever.

2009-12-24T12:13:00.002-07:00

We are ecstatic to announce that we are being sealed forever as a family this Tuesday.

I think that's the best present I could ever ask for. I can't bear the thought of not being with these amazing people who I love so much after this life. And now I don't have to! This has been a long time coming! L.J. and I were married civilly in 2003. Not because we didn't want to be married in the temple. We were both completely active. Both returned missionaries. Both attended the temple regularly. The problem was that L.J. had been married before and his x-wife was not cooperative in various things that delayed the process of their sealing being cleared so he and I could be sealed. After lots of pondering, praying, and tears, we decided we would be married civilly, knowing it could take a year or more for paperwork to be completed and approved. Since we have been married, we have started the process four times. First, we moved. Then our bishop was diagnosed with cancer and released. Then our stake presidency changed and the paperwork was lost. And this time, it finally worked. I'm so excited.

Dresses are bought. Dinner is planned. Heart is overflowing.

christmas fun.

2009-12-20T19:28:00.006-07:00

Some fun things we've been doing the past couple weeks:

Grant got here Friday night. Yeah!!! They are schnuggling (as we call it at our house) getting ready to watch A Christmas Story. As cheesy as it is, we love that show!

Ellie and I had a little Girls Night Out last week and went and saw the Christmas lights at Temple Square.

We had a FHE (idea found here) on wreaths and made these.

We went the the Festival of Trees a couple weeks ago. The girls LOVED it - especially the dancers and the cinnamon rolls :)

This girls makes my heart squeeze something crazy.

The bubble machine! Despite what this picture looks like, Ellie actually loved it, and was trying to blow a bubble (while in a bubble) here.

LJ's favorite tree. BYU, Jazz, and Real Salt Lake (forget that little Utes plate in the tree and it's perfect). They also had a Star Wars tree he loved - wished he could have taken it home, but the vintage figurines on it were worth $28,000. He's a Star Wars nerd.

Hope your Christmas season is happy too!

my little bakarellas.

2009-12-03T22:29:00.002-07:00

Speaking of Bakerella, have you seen her website? I love it. Gotta try some of those cake pops soon. :) These girlies are quite the little bakers themselves. They LOVE to help in the kitchen! Even if it's as simple as making smoothies for breakfast, they have to be involved in every aspect of it (or I get in lots of trouble :). This day, we made 4 dozen sugar cookies for a fundraiser. 8 batches of dough, 4 batches of frosting, and 8 hours later, they were still helping (could only cook 4 at a time, they were big!).

This is one of my favorite Addie smiles!

They feel so official in their aprons :) (and what cute aprons they are, Keiauni!)

The finished product

Who knows, maybe with 16-20 more years with such good helpers in the kitchen we'll all be gourmet chefs by then!

thanksgiving.

2009-12-03T17:16:00.005-07:00

Thanksgiving 2009 - photos in no particular order (Blogger not cooperating).

We celebrated Thanksgiving at LJ's parent's house, with my parents and Jeff and Brianna. Erik & Allison and Sherina were in Tennessee and Trevor spent his first married Thanksgiving at the in-laws. Soooo, we all got together and had a shin-dig in Tooele. I love love love that we can do that. Love that both sets of parents are open and willing, and tthere is no akwardness. And our kids were in heaven with both sets of grandparents there! We enjoyed a fabulous meal - everything was just perfect. Have to say I think my favorite part is the stuffing.

My cute parents

Ellie and Emma making cupcake turkeys

The kids table

Justin and Karissa

Macie during dinner :)

Jeff and Brianna (one of my favorite people in the whole world!)

I just love this picture of Addie. It's so her. Upside down binky on purpose. She won't have it any other way. And I love those big brown eyes.

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for a few reasons. It's so stress free. You just get to be with family, enjoy great food, and relax. And be grateful for all of your blessings. And another reason is because I entered the MTC the week before Thanksgiving. Those were great memories by themselves, but then we got to hear about being grateful from general authorities all day. Those impressions and inspirations have stuck with me. I could go on forever, but I must run. Hope you had a great thanksgiving and continue to be grateful!

he's the cheese to my macaroni.

2009-11-22T21:14:00.013-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated six years of marriage. The journaling pretty much says it all.

"Today we celebrated six years of marriage. Someday I'll figure out why I am so blessed to get to spend eternity with L.J. Until then, I will savor everyday with his never failing humor, contagious smile, and how he takes care of me in all of the little ways."

I love this boy. A lot.

oh, the drama + tender mercies.

2009-11-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

I took all three kids to the pediatrician last week. Ellie needed a follow-up visit for a kidney infection and Addie and Macie needed well child checks and immunizations. L.J. was going to come along, but decided not to because his leg was hurting (more on that later). No big deal, I thought, realizing there would be a few shots and a few tears. That's nothing.

(All three girls are doing good, all three in the 50th% for height and weight with the exception of Macie's height - she is off the chart tall. {Note to self: most of my friends and relatives do a separate post on each child with specific stats for yearly appointments. Does that mean I'm a slacker when I can't really even remember the numbers except to the tenth place and clump all three of their stats together into one sentence? Yeah, probably.})

Ellie got her blood sugar checked - her sample from when she was sick showed a really high glucose. She had also been really thirsty all of the time - a hallmark sign of diabetes. Lots of anxiety for me as everyday I see the ravages of diabetes on patients of mine. Result=116. Big sigh of relief. It's normal.

Everything else checked out fine with her and the other girlies. Then the medical assistant came back in. She was carrying the immunizations + flu shots for them. She had eighteen syringes in her hands. EIGHTEEN! Five immunizations each + a flu shot. I started to panic. Not because of the needles (give me a break), not because my kids were getting shots, but beacuse I didn't know how I was going to hold and console three crying kids.

I quickly worked out the order in which I thought that things would go the smoothest. Macie first. She didn't know what was coming, and would probably be the easiest consoled. That worked well. There were some tears, but after a couple minutes and a sucker, all was right with her world again. But Ellie and Addie had watched and knew what they were in for. This was a tough decision, but I knew Addie would give us the most trouble, so I saved her for last. Ellie's turn it was. I told her it was her turn. She said, "okay." Really? "Okay?" She was supposed to fight and cry and tell me she didn't want to get shots. That would have made it easier. But "okay?" She even pulled her little pants down to her knees by herself so they could get at her thighs. As she sat there I said in her ear, "I'm so proud of you. This is going to hurt, and it's okay to cry. Squeeze my hand, okay? Cry as loud as you want. I'm not making you get these shots to hurt you, I'm making you get them so you will be healthy and strong. It will only hurt for a minute, but they will keep you healthy and strong for a long time, okay?" Her reply: "I know, Mom. It's okay." She was tough. Really tough. With each shot she said "ouch!" And by the sixth one, there were tears trickling down her face. There were tears trickling down my face too. For an instant, I thought I understood a bajillionth part of what our Heavenly Father felt seeing His Son suffer for our sins. He understood to some degree what had to happen. He knew it would hurt. But he did it so willingly. ("Okay.") Understanding that the suffering now would benefit so much in the future (I know Mom.) I'm so thankful for those little learning moments - the spiritual tender mercies that happen when you least expect them.

On with the rest of my story - Addie got her shots and, as expected, totally freaked out. But they were all in. All eighteen of them. Whew! Almost home-free, I thought. Turned out, not quite. Addie's freaking out made Ellie start to cry. Then Macie, who had totally stopped crying, started crying just because the other two were crying. (this is where the oh, the drama part comes in :)). They all sat there on my lap, fitting the best they could, and cried for about 5 minutes. Then one stopped. Then another stopped. Then finally, the last one stopped crying. Then Addie started crying again (I think the silence reminded her she was supposed to be crying). Then Macie started, then Ellie. And so it went for about 15 minutes. They finally all stopped crying long enough to make it out of the office. Then we had another 20 minute session on the couch right outside the office doors. FINALLY, after promises of treats at the store, were we able to make it to the car. Yep. LOTS of drama with three girls. Lots of tears. Lots of loves (and a little cursing L.J. because he wan't there to help). And a stronger testimony, too.

Being Thanksgiving this month, I've been focusing on realizing my blessings and the little tender mercies afforded to me on a daily basis - spiritual, physical, financial, whatever they may be. Like a couple days ago when I stepped away from the computer for a minute to change Addie's diaper. Macie climbed onto my chair, onto the table, and promptly dumped over my full 20 ounce water that was sitting right next to the computer. Somehow, it missed the computer and and just seeped underneeth. No damage done. But I know that should have dumped all over the laptop and fried it.

The next day, L.J. was doing laundry (sorry, he's still taken:)) and heard a rattling start in the dryer. He immediately stopped the dryer took it apart, and found a hair clip that got sucked through the filter and was about to be sucked into the motor, where it would have been irretrevable and it would have been time to shop for a new dryer (not a good time of year for that). But somehow, L.J. just happened to be standing there and turned off the dryer one second before it was too late. (L.J.'s leg is mostly healed, and he is walking/limping again. Things are starting to get back to normal again. It's so nice!)

Maybe it’s the hot bath and the slather of lavender vanilla lotion, but I feel so peaceful tonight. A kind of floaty bliss that just makes me smile a little bit. I am so incredibly, amazingly blessed, so lucky, so undeservedly fortunate that I’m humbled to just think of all the little beautiful things in my life. There are the Big things - home, family, health, safety, a job to do, a husband who loves me. And I had hot water for a long luxurious soak. And it’s 1 a.m. and I’m getting ready to snuggle down in this comfy bed. I hope you’re feeling blessed tonight, too.

fall fun.

2009-11-11T12:08:00.008-07:00

Umm, yep. These are a little late. Good memories though!

These are at the local pumpkin patch:

And Halloween night at the Trunk or Treat:

Aren't they the cutest little bugs you've ever seen? Me too. :)

a conversation with ellie.

2009-10-23T23:32:00.002-07:00

Text: Mom, come here. Hurry! I need you! Come here! Fast! Mommy, I need a hug and a kiss, right now. Thank you, mommy!

Love that girl.

what we've been up to.

2009-10-11T19:32:00.005-07:00

Here are a few things we have been up to lately:

Stumbled across a blog post on how to make sidewalk paint with cornstarch, water, and food coloring, and in an effort to enjoy every last minute of the warm weather, decided to give it a try. It was lots of fun.

Ellie is DEEP into all things girly right now - princesses/rainbows/unicorns/butterflies/paint-my-nails/everything must be pink phase.

Addie - well - see previous post. Turned my head for two seconds. Two seconds! I swear she had it planned. Good news is, it's super washable.

Ok, and I had to stop and look at this photo for a minute - is this my little girl? This girl is BIG! She’s completely lost those baby features in favor of a girl’s face. Beautiful and heart-pulling all at the same time. Wow. Motherhood is an emotional web of complexity, and it seems like just when I feel like I’m finally getting hold of things, well, goodbye toddlerhood and hello Little Girlville.

We've really focused the last few months on reading scriptures as a family every night. A couple of times a week Ellie will tell us she needs some "peace and quiet" and goes to Grant's room to read her scriptures. We find her like this every time. I swear, this girl is everything good.

We went to Logan last weekend to pick up Addie Cakes. She stayed with them for a week. My sweet family has been so good about helping us out with this whole broken leg thing. We hung out for a few hours, went to dinner at the Olive Garden (a couple minutes after they brought us out our food we were all digging in. Nobody noticed Addie was standing in the aisle and had taken off her pants and diaper. Nobody except everybody sitting at the nearby tables). When we were leaving my parents took our vehicle and the kids and we took theirs. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, until we pulled up to Anniversary Inn. He had completely surprised me. After four months of broken leggedness at our house (and still a few more months to go), we both needed a little getaway. And it was pure bliss. We stayed at King Arthur's Castle - complete with a sword in the stone.

Sometimes I miss L.J. We live in the same house, sleep in the same bed, sit at the same table for dinner, raise the same kids. But sometimes, when things get really crazy, like now, it's like we're strangers passing each other in the hallway with ringing headaches from screaming kids. On a typical evening as we try to talk...him asking what is on the agenda for the next few days and me telling him some story that happened at work. Ellie is interrupting to tell me (in a very dramatic way) every detail from her imaginary princessland, Addie's screaming for who-knows-what and Macie is pounding on her high chair tray and throwing her roll across the table. And I have lots of extra chores to do, that LJ normally takes care of, but aren't really do-able with one leg. And LJ's going nuts not being able to do those things.

But this night, for twelve hours, I got to have him all to myself. Oh boy, was it nice. I sit and wonder sometimes what I ever did to deserve L.J. I know that sounds as cheesy as it gets, but man oh man I hit the jackpot. He has the kindest heart I know. And he can see the "big picture" in life better than anyone I've met. On our wedding day 6 years ago I thought I was head over heels in love. But when I look back I realize how much deeper love can be. Has it been butterflies and rainbows the whole time? Heck no! But I'll tell you what: I still get a little heart-jump when I see him across the room. And I adore him more than I can ever even try to express.

And to top it all off, we got to enjoy the awesome fall colors of Sardine Canyon on the way home.

LJ Update: healing but VERY VERY slowly. At his last appointment two weeks ago, the plan was for a walking cast, but his bones hadn't healed enough to do so. At least they are healing, a little tiny bit. That's better than last time! Then yesterday his incision was really red and swollen with some pussy drainage coming out of it (I'll inhibit my nursing instincts at this point and stop with the description). He woke up with a fever of 102. His disolvable sutures have not dissolved and have turned into abcesses (infection) = super high dose of antibiotics and pray the infection hasn't gone to the bone. At this point it's wait and see for a few days. I'll keep you posted.

my artists.

2009-10-04T22:15:00.008-07:00

Ellie is turning into quite the artist. She colors or draws for at least a couple hours everyday. Here are some of her works:

(this is a bird)

Addie is becoming quite the artist as well. Here are some examples of her works:

Good thing I just bought a bottle of Wonder Cleaner from the traveling salesman that looked homeless so I felt sorry for him and bought his Wonder Cleaner that "cleans anything" and is non-toxic for $35 because I'm such a sucker and have a really hard time saying no, especially because he looked homeless. I'll be needing it.

love this.

2009-09-24T01:36:00.002-07:00

Ran across this today and loved it. It applies to us everyday, but I know a couple people who could really use it right now. :)

our naked superhero.

2009-09-09T21:30:00.023-07:00

Meet Captain Huggy.

She's our resident superhero.

And most of the time, she's naked. She's usually not completely naked. Sometimes she's wearing shoes, or a purse, or a necklace, or a cape. But in her comic book, two year olds don't need clothes or diapers.

This girl cracks us up.

P.S. #9, baby. Oh, yeah. :)

round 2.

2009-09-04T18:21:00.006-07:00

This morning was round 2 of surgery for LJ's broken leg. His leg just wasn't healing. They took out all of the old hardware and put in bigger stuff. They filled in the breaks with bone paste.

right before surgery (isn't he cute in a bouffant cap?)

the stylin' cast

The big decision of the day was which color cast to get. It was a hard decision between BYU blue (21 hours until kick off - GO COUGARS!) or camo. But LJ insists he's going hunting no matter what, so camo it was. They came out half way through the surgery to give me an update, and I asked them if they would do pink, but they didn't. LJ's sure happy about that. :)

And that funky little thing is a bone stimulator. It sends impulses to the bone and is supposed to help it heal better. LJ needs all the help he can get! But so far so good. We'll see how he's doing tomorrow when the nerve block wears off...

what a fun weekend.

2009-08-31T17:05:00.002-07:00

Ellie's first soccer game +

Macie's 1st birthday party +

good food +

grandparents +

friends +

off work for the weekend +

perfect weather =

one great weekend.

family fotos.

2009-08-18T20:48:00.006-07:00

My friend Keiauni took these photos for us. I love how they turned out!

i hate this part.

2009-08-07T23:12:00.011-07:00

Grant went back to Arkansas a couple days ago. We have all been moping around the house ever since. Life is not normal at our house without him. We had tons of fun while he was here. Ellie adores him. She always calls him "my Granster". He adores LJ. He bonded with Addie. (Give him another year for Macie.) Him and I have a lot in common. We won't see him again until Christmas. We love him a whole lot!

I Like Her A Lot.

2009-08-02T22:58:00.006-07:00

Macie is at a fun age. Old enough to be saying words and showing personality, but too young to "know better," so her mischievous deeds are still a little endearing. Except for that day she found my scriptures and ripped about 50 pages out of them. That wasn't very cute. Some of my favorite things about her:

Her newest word is "ta-to" (thank you). She really knows when to use it.

When she wakes up in the morning and after naps she wants about 15 minutes of snuggles then she's off, and pretty much entertains herself until she gets hungry or tired. Perfect balance.

She usually waves goodbye with both arms.

She recently learned how to give kisses. I will do just about anything to get one (you know, the open mouth ones). Sometimes she gives 'attack kisses' - like ten in a row - and usually this is unsolicited.

She loves to share her food. Okay, really it's force feeding. When she wants to share, she won't take no for an answer.

She is becoming a little tease. Several times I have been holding her with LJ standing nearby. I will ask her for a kiss and she she will come in for a kiss then turn to LJ and kiss him instead (or vice versa). Then she laughs and laughs. She knows she's funny.

She's such a sweet girl. We're not really sure what we ever did without her.

Capitol Reef.

2009-07-23T20:28:00.013-07:00

I have this whole week off for vacation. We were going to go to Disneyland. I tried to convince LJ that it would be great because we could go to the front of every line since he is in a wheelchair, but he didn't go for it. So we settled for something a little closer to home and more low-key - Capitol Reef. It was super fun. We listened to everything from Handel's Messiah to Pearl Jam, talked, read good books, and saw beautiful scenery. The best part was just being together without worrying about anything else.

Grant and Ellie and some beautiful scenery.

The swimming pool at the hotel was one of the highlights for the kids. Ellie kept calling the hotel "our new home." She didn't want to come back to our "old home."

Grant being super brave. This is the kid who wouldn't even play at McDonalds Playland by himself until he was six.

Addie enjoying our breakfast on the road.

Some cool petroglyphs.

On one of our little hikes, this little stroller barely made it through!

This is how Macie spent most of the trip - happy on Dad's lap. It was actually really nice not having to haul the double stroller around.

A funny story about from trip - we got to our hotel around 7:30 pm. We checked in, unpacked, and got dinner at a local cafe. We left and went to buy some milk for Macie and could not find a gas station or grocery store open within a 20 mile radius! So we gave Macie a bottle of water for bedtime. She was not impressed. So she didn't fall asleep easily like she normally does. Instead she crawled around on our bed for TWO hours - in the dark - saying the only 'word' she can say - "Uh-oh!" (like what you say when something falls). She literally said that over and over for two hours while crawling all over me and LJ while we were trying to sleep. She finally sacked out on a bottom corner of the bed with her bum up in the air and didn't move an inch until she woke up the next morning.

SO much fun!

Learning.

2009-07-08T21:55:00.002-07:00

The other day as I was holding Addie, an overwhelming concept just randomly hit me. Hard. About the worth of a soul and my incredible responsibility as a mom. I'm amazed by the reaction it creates within me by simply thinking about the possibility of someone mistreating my kids or teaching them bad things. I'm definitely a mamma bear. Don't mess with my babies. I thank God everyday for these little miracles. Then I plead for Him to help me know what to give them and teach them so they can make it through the filth of this world with their integrity still intact. The thought of bringing up such precious and wonderfully innocent little people in this world full of filth and selfishness is enough to bring me to my knees over and over. I believe that is the key to doing the best I can. The Lord knows what they need. I need to keep myself in a place where I can feel His promptings. If I tried to do this on my own I would end up with serious regrets. It's a mistake I cannot afford to make; they would ultimately pay. I won't know every little thing that is happening in their lives, but He will. Suddenly the counsel given over and over that doing things halfway isn't going to cut it really sinks in. What do I want most for my kids? I want them to have joy and peace in their lives. Both of those can only be obtained through following the Savior and living as He would. Everything the world has to offer is temporary and ultimately leaves one empty. Whether people will admit it or not they are ultimately looking for joy and peace. The ones looking the wrong direction seem to think the next leap in the wrong direction is somehow going to be the means to an end and always end up disappointed. Satan is clever isn't he? The more he can keep you jumping off into the dark the harder it will be to know which way is back. There are examples everywhere. Morality has taken a dive off the deep end. So many have beaten down the light of Christ to a point they can't see past the nose on their own face. Once they have shut out the spirit from their lives, seemingly intelligent people will believe and say things that leave common sense on it's death bed. I can't afford to underestimate Satan. Which means doing everything I can to keep the Savior close. The right choices are so much more obvious and troubles less insurmountable when I'm looking the right direction. I think about how to get my girls through adolescence intact a lot. It's something I don't want to figure out when it's too late. Ultimately I always come back to humbly recognizing that what I need is divine intervention.
Thanks for listening. :)

Grant Ready.

2009-07-04T12:09:00.007-07:00

Grant got here last Sunday from Arkansas. He will be here for 5 weeks. We are SO happy to have him here! I just wanted to post some pictures of his room we got ready the day before he came (although it's been in the works for a while).

(Hi Addie). I got this headboard for a killer deal and we kind of worked around it for the rest of the room.

The awesome crown molding and casing job (notice the rope lighting) - done by LJ before the broken leg.

My dresser-in-a-day. I picked this up at the D.I. for $15 Friday morning, slapped some new paint, glaze, and handles on it, and it was done that night.

(before)

So it's fun having just a part time boy to buy stuff and decorate for. Girl stuff is still more fun (sorry to those of you who have all boys, but it's true) but it adds some nice variety. :) This room is totally Grant - sports bedspread, Star Wars, Superman, and Ironman posters on the walls, and BYU picture frames I made. And this morning he arranged all of his 42 Marvel action figures on the headboard and threatened anyone who touches them. :) We sure love this dude!

Four Years Ago...

2009-07-02T13:35:00.004-07:00

Four years ago our lives were changed forever as we became parents for the first time to this little girl.

Since that time, we have just loved her more and more everyday. She really is the most giving, kind-hearted little girl I know. She is a peacemaker and wants everyone to be happy. She will give her toy to Addie if she wants it, or offer to help with whatever you are doing. She loves snuggles, yogurt, dressing up like a princess, and helping daddy in the garage. She sings all day and her favorites are 'I Love to See the Temple' and 'Little Mermaid Where are You?' (written by Ellie). We love this beautiful, amazing little girl and we are SO blessed that she is part of our family.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

So Far So Good.

2009-06-25T13:35:00.007-07:00

We have had quite the week! Here's a little photo documentation:

6.16.09 - the initial break

6.19.09 - some nice bruising

6.23.09 - fixed with a plate and 6 screws

Surgery was delayed a little bit from the initial plan. We didn't like the orthopedic surgeon the hospital sent us to, so we went to our regular guy. Yes, I know most people don't have a 'regular' orthopedic surgeon. LJ's a bit more fragile than most. This was surgery #4 by Dr. Douglas in 3.5 years. I asked him if he did a punch card, like buy 4 surgeries, get the 5th free. The sugery went well. LJ was hating life yesterday after the nerve block wore off, but doing a bit better today. He can't put any weight on it for 12 weeks. Our summer is going to be a bit more laid back than we had planned (Grant gets here on Sunday for 5 weeks. Yay!).

And a HUGE thank-you to all of family and friends who have helped us out and offered to help this past week. You have been life savers!

Funny, LJ.

2009-06-19T12:57:00.004-07:00

(Interpretation: Name: Lawrence Reader

Diagnosis: Right distal tibia and fibula fracture

Plan: 1 New role playing game {Playstation} + popcorn weekly

Signed: John Douglas)

NOT WHAT I HAD PLANNED.

2009-06-16T19:24:00.006-07:00

This is not what I had planned to do today.

I planned to read lots of books with my girls, take them on a long walk, shnuggle, and watch Cinderella. LJ was going to our friend's house to help him do some remodeling all day. All was well until about 10:00 am. LJ was standing on a ceiling truss and it broke. There was no ceiling, and he fell to the ground floor and broke his leg in three places. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday. Hopefully that will go as planned!

Check it Out.

2009-06-10T20:48:00.003-07:00

You've got to check this You-Tube video out. My friend, the amazingly talented Steve Nelson (the guy in the red shirt) is the celloist. You will love it!

{at Disneyland - an awesome road trip - temples - the beach - John Williams and James Taylor at the Hollywood Bowl}

Did you Hear?

2009-06-09T19:54:00.006-07:00

Did you hear? Clothes are optional today (if you ask Addie). Spread the word!

Addie's Birthday and a Family Reunion.

2009-06-05T10:43:00.007-07:00

Memorial Day was Addie's Birthday. She turned 2! We had a little party. Here she is opening presents and trying on her new dress-ups - Ellie's helping too :).

And here she is as happy as could be. Wearing her princess dress and blowing bubbles all while swinging in her new swing. And all of the grandparents were there. It doesn't get any better than that for Addie!

Later that night, what started out as a little barbeque for Memorial Day and Addie's birthday, turned into a family reunion with aunts and uncles and cousins. I loved every minute of it!

My family is so fun and neat. I LOVE getting together with them. We need to do that more often!

Dance Recital.

2009-06-05T10:29:00.006-07:00

Ellie had a dance recital last Friday. She did so good and looked so pretty!

Addie went nuts during the fast songs. She couldn't contain herself and had to go dnce in the aisles. It was pretty funny.

This is Ellie and her best friend Shelby. They got little trophies after the performance and they were SOO proud of them!

With Daddy,

Grandma Reader,

Grandma Boots,

and Grandpa Nemo.

What a fun night!

Typical.

2009-06-02T21:03:00.005-07:00

Two little stories that happened today that are so typical of Ellie's and Addie's personalities:

Every morning when I'm at work I call and talk to LJ and Ellie (and Addie if she will).

Mom: Good morning sweetheart! How are you?

Ellie: I'm good. I just cleaned everyfing in your room with the blue spray (Windex)! And guess what I dreamed about, Mommy?

Mom: What?

Ellie: I dreamed about a beautiful rainbow and it was sparkly. And it was soooooooooooo cute! And it smelled like flowers! I just loved it!

Tonight I was reading books to Ellie and Macie (because Addie won't sit still for a whole book). Addie walked up to me with a wrapped tampon she had found in my purse and she wanted me to open it for her. I explained to her that it wasn't candy so I wasn't going to open it for her. I took it from her and set it on the table. A few minutes later, she moved a chair over to the table, got the tampon, and opened it with her teeth. After licking it, biting it, and smelling it, she finally decided that it wasn't candy. It then became her magic cursing wand. She cursed each one of us growling sounds as she pointed the tampon at us. We had to fall over dead or she wasn't satisfied. She thought it was so funny.

I love both of these girls so much - it's just amazes me everyday how different their personalities can be when they are raised in the exact same environment! Ohhhhhhh, we are in for it with Addie. . .

Teething

2009-05-27T08:51:00.003-07:00

What were you doing at 2:30 am this morning?

I was feeding Macie popscicles and frozen Thin Mints. Teething is the pits.

I know you're jealous.

:)

2009-05-19T21:28:00.006-07:00

This girly girl is so happy all the time (as long as she's not hungry!). I love these pictures - they show her cute little teeth, her hair is finally long enough to put in a little pony tail, and these are her super happy smiles. Most of the time she is on the verge of a smile, just waiting for any excuse. She will smile when you look at her, at something the TV, or even just laying in her crib by herself before or after a nap. I think she's about as cute as they get - maybe I'm a little bias, but don't you agree? :)

(Yes, she has a little piece of paper in her mouth, and yes, that is drool dripping down her chest.)

Back to Work

2009-05-16T07:07:00.003-07:00

Well, my week off work is officially over. I started again last night. It was so great to be home! We went to the park and/or on a walk everyday. I love, love, love the warm weather!

I made some good new recipes. This is Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden - LJ's absolute favorite. I just Googled it and found this great recipe. It was dead on! (Note: I don't eat red meat, so I added more potatoes, took some soup out before I added the sausage, added more kale to mine, and added a spoonful of sour cream to make it creamy. It was delicious that way too!) It made a lot, so I froze the rest for leftovers. Gotta love that!

Macie chowing down on a biscuit served with the soup.

It was so fun just to be together. We all got LOTS of extra snuggle time with LJ (since he wasn't going anywhere) , and he is doing great now. It was a great week!

Mothers Day, Surgery, and a Week Off (sort of)

2009-05-12T18:54:00.003-07:00

I hope your Mothers Day was wonderful! Mine was. The celebration part anyway. I had to work on Mother's Day, so we mostly celebrated on Saturday. We went to dinner, and I came home to some beautiful flowers and one of those recordable cards that the kids talked on with a cool song, and some presents. I did my own Mothers Day shopping - a few decorations for the house, a new church outfit, and a book on motherhood. It was perfect.
I love being a mom. I am so grateful the Lord has given me the opportunity to be a mother to His daughters, and a special mom to Grant. I can't even thank Him enough for the beautiful, wonderful kids we have been blessed with! They are all so different from each other and each has captured a special place in my heart forever. I am so grateful for my mom and the great example she is to me. I am also grateful for her friendship and for being such a good grandma to my kids. And of course for my husband's mom. What a wonderful woman! I admire her so much and am so grateful for all she did to raise the super wonderful son that she did. My kids love their grandmas SO much. Whenever they hear either one of their voices when they walk in our house, the kids drop whatever they are doing and make a mad dash to grandma. We love you both so much!
Being a mom is hard but so great. The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that motherhood and missionary work have a lot in common, as I’ve come to realize after thinking about this for a couple of weeks. You are called into full-time service. You are sent into strange lands, set to doing unfamiliar things. You are given responsibility over souls to teach and to show the way to live. And it can be the great spiritual experience of your life, if you let it. Before I was called on a mission, I was excited about the glamor of missionary work. I get the black tag, I get to wear a dress every day, see thousands of people baptized and teach discussions to dozens of eager listeners. Then I WENT on a mission, and I realized that missionary work is mostly just plain WORK.
Before I became a mom, I was excited about the glamor of motherhood. I get the cute stroller, the Baby Bjorn, the diaper bag, the walks in the park and at the mall. And let’s talk about shopping for the teeny clothes! Ah, be still my heart. Then Ellie was born. She was a good baby, but still - a baby. 23 months later, along came Addie. Then 16 months after that Macie arrived And I knew I was in for it bigtime. I began to realize that motherhood is mostly just plain HARD WORK. And for motherhood, just as in missionary work the development of virtues that may not come naturally, like patience – oh, so much patience. And longsuffering, the ability to keep long hours, the ability to see deeply and with perspective, the ability to see that these are choice spirits whom Heavenly Father has entrusted me with for a little season. Is a gift that only comes because of the sacrifices involved.
I love the quote by the First Presidency, "Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind." But it often doesn’t feel that high or that holy. Especially on your knees scrubbing, or folding endless laundry, or the rounds of cooking and cleaning and cooking again, washing sand out of hair and clothing and, well, pretty much everywhere – learning to tolerate a much higher level of noise and chaos, and that "barely keeping it together" feeling. But it is so worth it. Oh so worth it.
On another note . . .LJ had knee surgery yesterday on a torn miniscus. This is his most painful recovery yet (oh, yes, this is is 4th knee surgery), but he's doing okay when the pain pills are working. Normally he's nice and sweet and funny - but it's even better when he's on narcotics. I felt like a sexy supermodel all day between the anesthesia, IV pain meds in recovery, and the pain pills. :)
So, I have the entire week off to help LJ and watch the kids. It's been so fun to be home. But (refer to paragraph above), hard work. At the beginning of the week I had a giant list of everything I wanted to accomplish this week since I was "off work" - work out everyday, keep the house perfectly clean, organize all the closets and make a D.I. run, blog everyday, clean the basement (storage), paint the laundry room and pantry, make an incredible dinner every night, scrapbook . . . but without LJ's help with the kids, it's just not happening. Between feeding kids, getting kids ready, changing diapers, holding crying kids, changing Addie's clothes when she decided to jump in Macie's bath water fully clothed. . .you get the idea. So I give up. I decided I'm just going to enjoy the week. Focus on LJ and the kids and just BE with them. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Happy.

2009-05-03T19:46:00.002-07:00

It has been such a great week. Two of the best things happened. #1: We got new carpet! I can't tell you how happy I am every time I see it, walk on it, smell the new carpet smell when I walk in the door... it's just wonderful! Our old carpet was a light beige color and so ugly! There were lots of stains and it was just cheap - the cheap stuff they put in when they build the house. It was just gross. And our new carpet is plush and clean and dark and multicolored and oh so soft and comfty (Ellie's word). I'm so happy! We have done so much to our house, but the final results were always not quite as good because we still had ugly carpet. Now that we have nice carpet, our house is so much cuter! Can you tell I like it just a little bit? :)

This is after they pulled the old stuff out:

And here's the new!

I could just vacuum it all day! We are being super strict about no food, drinks, or shoes on the new carpet, but just in case, does anyone have any spill-proof sippy cup recommendations? (We haven't found any that we love.)

And the other great thing was Women's Conference! This is a two day conference at BYU that I LOVE going to and look forward to all year. There are fabulous speakers in the morning and evening (Julie B. Beck, Camille Fronk, and Elder L. Tom Perry this year), and wonderful classes to choose from during the day. I went with my cousin Emily and my mom and sister and loved every minute of it. In the evenings we shopped, went to a great concert (put on for the conference), talked, ate good food, and shopped some more. Everyone should go! It is wonderful!

On the beatiful BYU campus in the rain. That almost made it more fun!

With the girls. We stayed together for some classes, split up for some classes, and each went to the ones we thought we needed most. We all came away refreshed from getting away for a few days, with our spiritual buckets filled, with stronger friendships, with lots of new books (dang BYU Bookstore does us in every year), and some new clothes, jewelry and WALLETS (a whole story in itself :)) Does it get any better that that for a girls getaway? Nope, I don't think so. :)

And a HUMONGOUS thank you to LJ for watching the girls for basically 5 days straight between the days I worked and the days I was at Women's Conference. I left a few days after the carpet was put in, so our house still wan't totally put back together. When I came home, it was completely put back together and spotless (AND the baby is teething). I think I am married to Superman.

And, he was supposed to have knee surgery on Monday, but was SO nice to wait so I could go to Women's Conference. So it's next week instead. Isn't he the BEST? I sure think so.

I sure have a lot to be happy for.

Rockin'

2009-04-17T15:19:00.002-07:00

These girls love to dance! They inherited (or learned) from LJ a love for loud music with a good beat (he used to install car stereos). They jam with Dad on a weekly basis, at least. Addie will start dancing to a song on a commercial if it has a good beat. Here's a peak.

Easter Fun

2009-04-14T20:41:00.005-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to our house on Saturday this year because I had to work on Sunday. Luckily the girls are small enough that they didn't know the difference. :) The Easter Bunny hid their baskets, and they had fun finding them. Of all of the fun things in them, the biggest hit with all of them was the $.50 suckers. I'll have to remember that for next year. :)

Then we went to an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood. The girls were kind of timid with so many kids there, but still had a great time.

I know this probably puts me in the Bad Mom Category, but I did not color Easter eggs with the kids this year. I hard boiled them, then backed out. Addie is Sister Destructo, Macie would try to grab the bowls of colored water and put them in her mouth - and now that I think of it, Addie probably would too. I felt pretty guilty until this morning. I was eating one of those hard boiled eggs and had the salt shaker out to put some salt on it. I went upstairs for maybe two minutes to get Macie out of her crib and change her diaper, and Addie had dumped the entire (full) salt shaker onto the table, floor, and laptop. My guilt was washed away. Definately don't want to take my chances with various bowls of brightly colored liquid dye. Maybe next year, girls. :) But we had a fun Easter anyway.

Catch Up

2009-04-09T22:03:00.005-07:00

Oh my goodness, I have been such a bad blogger lately. Just wanted to do a little catch up. First of all, Granster was here for his spring break a couple of weeks ago. He is such a good kid. We had grand plans to go to Capitol Reef for a few days. Unfortunately, Grant threw up all week and it was really cold. So we stayed home, watched movies, played video games, snuggled, and read. Even though things didn't go as planned, it was nice just to have Grant here. The day before he flew out, he lost both of his front teeth.

Macie has had a big week. She cut her first two teeth...

(Not being incredibly cooperative for photos.)

learned how to crawl, holds her own bottle now, and best of all...

Had her first Oreo!

(I promise this mess mess was made with only one Oreo. How, you ask? It's a Macie Mess. She has it perfected.)

And we've been working working on re-doing the bathrooms as well. Hopefully more on that in a couple days when the first one is done.

Addie helping out.

And here's to better blogging! :)

Sleeping Beauty?

2009-03-14T20:46:00.003-07:00

This little girls LOVES to be outside. Everyday after breakfast she leads one of us upstairs by the finger and asks for her shoes and coat so she can go in the backyard and play. Even when it's freezing cold. She doesn't care. She just wants to be outside.

Yesterday, while I was at work, LJ opened the back door to let Mojo out (our foster dog) - and found this. Addie sound asleep on the back porch. He took pictures, the dog stepped on her (it's a little dog, don't worry :)), and he carried her to her bed, and she slept through it all.

And LJ is busted for not getting her dressed. :)

Piggies

2009-03-10T18:12:00.005-07:00

We have had a fun girly day today. Painting toes, watching Tinkerbell, playing games, taking a nap, and just relaxing. Love these kind of days!

Ellie Macie Addie

6 Months!

2009-03-09T22:43:00.005-07:00

Macie is 6 months old! She is growing up too fast. She is the smiliest, most happy baby and I simply cannot get enough of her!

She is sitting up perfectly, and rolling all over the place. She will only sleep on her tummy (despite my best efforts). She loves squash, carrots, rice cereal, and applesauce. Her favorite thing to play with right now is paper. At her checkup today, she weighed 16.2 pounds (47%) and was 27.2 inches long (98%). She also had an ear infection and got 4 shots. :(

I love this little girl so much and feel so blessed to be her mommy.

2009-03-06T15:42:00.004-07:00

New Sweaters

2009-03-06T15:15:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago I was ordering some clothes from Childrens Place. Ellie saw this sweater and said "Mommy, that is the prettiest shirt I''ve seen in my whole life." It was on sale so how could I resist? And I got Addie one too. :) Ellie was so happy when her shirt arrived, she acually asked me if I would take pictures! So here they are.

Sugar Cookies

2009-02-22T20:14:00.003-07:00

A couple of nights ago the Relief Society Presidency dropped off a giant sugar cookie with a cookie cutter attatched as a little thank you for working in the Relief Society (I'm a teacher). Ellie saw it as she walked out the door to go to her friend's house. A couple of hours later when she got home, the first thing she said was, "Where is that cookie? I want to eat it." Unfortunately, Addie and I ate it while she was gone. When I broke the news to her, she was in tears. I promised I would buy her some cookies. The next morning while she was still asleep, I kissed her goodbye before I left for work. Without opening her eyes she said, "Mom, will you bring me a pink heart cookie with stripes on it?" Well, after stopping at three grocery stores on my way home from work, I couldn't find any pink heart sugar cookies. So, we made some instead! It was lots of fun. Both the kitchen and the kids were a huge mess afterwards, but it was worth it!

St. Louis, Arkansas, and Edward (heart)

2009-02-16T20:58:00.007-07:00

Last weekend LJ and I went to St. Louis to see his family (his dad's family still lives there) and then we drove to Arkansas so LJ could baptize Grant. We didn't take any kids - our first real get away since Ellie was born. Despite missing the kids, we had a blast! It was so fun to talk and hang out, it almost felt like we were dating again!

LJ and his Grandma Alice

Grant's baptism

Olive Garden lunch after the baptism

After lunch, we got to take Grant until the next morning. We swam in the hotel pool, and had grand plans of going to Build-a-Bear and bowling. On our way to Build-a-Bear (at an outdoor mall), we stopped at Borders. Three hours and 8 books later, it was too late to go bowling or to Build-a-Bear. We only left because the store was closing! So we went to IHOP instead. I love Granster so much, and it was fun to be able to spend some quality time with just him.

And last but not least, Edward. Between 20 hours of flights and driving, I knew I needed to take a book. I planned to go to the store and buy one, but never got around to it. So LJ convinced me to read Twilight (he's read them all and we own them). LJ was smart enough to bring the second book too. In 4 days, I read the first two books and would've started on the third if we had brought it. I couldn't put them down! I now fully understand and appreciate the excitement related to these wonderful books (Kristen :)). And I'm totally Team Edward (just finished the third book). LJ says it's okay if I love him, too. :)

The Ghost Babies

2009-02-03T09:31:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday we watched our neighbor's kids. Suddenly, LJ & I realized that the house was very quiet for four toddlers playing. We checked on Ellie and Shelby, they were playing princess dressups in the toy room. However, we still didn't know where Addie and Anthony were. We finally dicovered them in the baby's room - with the door locked - looking like this.

One bath (and a few hair washings) later, good as new!

Huggy Pages

2009-01-30T08:15:00.005-07:00

Seriously, nothing much to post about - so here are some Addie pages (still by Mom). I can't believe how sweet she used to be. Okay, she's still sweet sometimes. . .

Sass Pages

2009-01-28T19:04:00.004-07:00

Here are some Ellie pages. Now I'm off to watch American Idol - in Salt Lake!

Digi Scrapbooking

2009-01-23T23:22:00.002-07:00

I wish I could say these pages are my creations. But they aren't. My mom made these! She has become a great digital scrapbooker. Last time she was here she brought her external hard drive and loaded her pages on my computer and loaded some of my pages on her hard drive - so she can make more cute pages of my kids! Because I can only load 5 pics at a time (does anyone know how to do more? that is one of my biggest blogging frustrations), I thought I would break them into kids. So here is Grant. . .