THE KINYON FAMILY

Botox? Collagen?

2012-01-26T15:03:00.014-07:00

No, I am not getting Botox.

I like to believe I still have no wrinkles, and I pretty much don't care if I do.

But I digress.

Today we are discussing my poor Lauren.

She's always had very sensitive skin {allergic to sun screen!}, and will break out in random cases of hives every once in a while.

The hives appear out of nowhere, only itch sometimes, and usually diappear in less than an hour {actually, most of the time in under 15 minutes}.

If they itch and stick around for more than 10 minutes or so I will give her Benadryl and then we're done.

Nothing else really works {Cortisone cream - nope} and I don't really worry about it because they go away so fast and don't seem to bother her.

Well, she started with a breakout on Saturday - it went away quickly.

Then again Sunday - same thing, only lasted for a few minutes.

Then Monday and Tuesday she woke up with them on her face and hands, they itched a little, so I gave her Benadryl and they went away the rest of the day.

Then this happened Tuesday night after her bath - once again, they were gone in 10 minutes.

Wednesday she woke up with them again, they went away, then they came back right after dinner.

I gave her Benadryl around 6:30.

Then Bryan game down to my office with her at 7:30 and she looked like this:

But picture it about 3 times worse.

I attempted to stay calm for her sake, but I kind of FREAKED OUT!

We took her straight to the Instacare down the street.

As we were standing there explaining what had happened, I looked down at her face and it was getting red and blotchy, and the whites of her eyes were getting red.

It was all I could do to stay somewhat composed.

They rushed her right back to check her oxygen levels, and the first thing the nurse said was "I don't like how this is going" - and I immediately started to lose it. Luckily she just meant that she couldn't get a good read using Lauren's pointer finger and had to switch to her thumb. Not the best choice of words.

She was breathing just fine and her vitals were completely normal.

They gave her more Benadryl {I had only been giving her about a half dose}, and after a few minutes the swelling started to go down.

She seriously looks like Octomom - right??

No, she has not had Botox or Collagen injections :)

We have no idea what triggered it.

She didn't eat anything different than normal, I haven't changed detergent, shampoo, soap, brands of food, nothing.

And, please don't take offense, but please, PLEASE don't offer me any suggestions. I think I've checked into just about anything and everything it could be.

But thank you anyway :)

I'm just watching her really closely and paying attention to everything she eats to see if I can narrow it down.

The doctor said that a lot of times they never find out what the trigger is and she will probably grow out of it.

Since it wasn't really a severe anaphylactic reaction where her throat closed off or she got severe diarrhea or something like that, we don't really need to be too concerned, and to just give her Claritin daily.

But, seriously, how can I not freak out when my kid comes to me looking like a face lift gone wrong??

I'm going to make an appointment with an allergist, just to be on the safe side.

I think this was the scariest "parent moment" we've had thus far.

I would like to not have it happen again.
And I have to tell you how proud I am of my sweet girl.
She stayed calm as a cucumber the entire time - much to the shock of the nurses & doctor at the Instacare.
She even looked at the doctor and listened intently {giving head nods and "OK"'s at all the appropriate times} while he talked about what to do from here on out.
She is pretty much the bravest 5 year old I know.
And the cutest.
Even when she looks like Octomom.

Amen, Sister. Amen.

2012-01-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

My cousin-in-law posted this on her blog, and I just had to re-post here.
All I have to say is
YES!!!
THANK YOU, LADY!
I love my children more than anything, but I do not and will not cherish every moment.
Because some moments are, for lack of a better word, crappy.
I don't think I should have to cherish the 5th diarrhea diaper of Jane's I changed today {it's not even 3:00 for Pete's sake}, or the moment I came up the stairs to find Mya screaming about a piece of hair that was on her hand.
And you know what????
Most days bedtime IS the best part of the day.
And I shouldn't be made to feel like a bad mom because I feel that way.
Because 3 kids ages 5, 3, and 8 months is HARD.
Working full time {even though it is from home} with these 3 little delights is HARD.
But oh how I am happy for those moments that I do and will cherish - even though they may seem few and far between :)

Knee Deep

2012-01-13T06:02:00.002-07:00

In poop. I am knee deep in disgusting, diarrhea, baby poop.
Jane has an ear infection, and as a result of being on antibiotics, she is pooping like I have never known a child to poop before.
No joke - I'm pretty sure I changed at least 15 poopy diapers yesterday.
NOT AN EXAGGERATION, PEOPLE!
And now she has the worst diaper rash I have ever seen.
Like - open, oozing sores all over her poor, red bum diaper rash.
I ran to the store to get everything I could think of:
Yogurt
Bananas
Max Strength Desitin
More yogurt
Oatmeal
After the store, I called my pediatrician to make sure I wasn't missing anything in the "what to give your kid when they can't stop pooping and now have diaper rash" category - which I wasn't {proud "I kind of think I know what I'm doing by kid #3" moment}.
But they did suggest I put children's Benadryl on a cotton swab and dab it on the bum.
What?? Um, OK.
Tried it - I will prefer to not make my baby scream like that again unless it gives amazing results {which it didn't} - thank you very much.
Does ANYBODY have any suggestions for me???
I know the most important thing is to keep it completely dry, but that is impossible with the explosive diarrhea.
I change her the second she poops, which is SO OFTEN!!
I still have 3 days - 3 MORE DAYS - of antibiotics.
I'm definitely keeping Huggies in business right now.

And on a funnier note, I was singing Mya her nightly lullaby and was doing what I normally do - get really close to her and stroke her hair.
She quietly said "Um, Mom? I need some space."
Hilarious.

Jealousy

2012-01-02T18:13:00.002-07:00

Pardon me for being a little Debbie Downer here for a moment.

So.....everyone's "year in review" blog posts are starting to pop up, and I can't help but have a little bit of jealousy.

But 2011 was great until November, and now it's like time has stopped.

And the rest of the world has just moved on.

I started a blog that only I can see where I jot down most of my thoughts and feelings about my brother and things that have happened since he passed.

But I still feel it appropriate to share things on here from time to time.

So if this annoys you or makes you sad, please stop reading right now.

I can't help but look back at the pictures of my year in review and wish for the days before Trevor died.

I'm different now. My family is different now.

I feel like I've aged 10 years in the last 55 days.

I go through pictures from before his mission and I cry.

I reminisce with my siblings and I laugh.

My love for my family has grown and deepened more than I ever thought possible.

My love for the Gospel, my faith, and my testimony have also grown.

I snagged the memory card from Trevor's camera, and I study his face in every picture, bawl through every video.

The sound of his voice is so painful and so wonderful at the same time.

It brings me comfort to see pictures like this where he changed peoples' lives and helped them find happiness.

The is the last picture on his camera that he took with himself in it.

The missionary next to him on his left is the other one who died in the accident.

This was on Halloween.
*PS - I'm pretty sure he's wearing a different tie in every single picture I've seen of him on his mission. We have at least 2 FULL boxes of them that were sent back. I guess there was a place down there where you could buy them by the pound. Ties by the pound - who knew??

We went to dinner with some friends a while ago, and I was saddened when one friend told me I was noticeably different.

Sometimes I think people are looking for it - watching to see my reaction to things and trying to find ways that I've changed.

Bryan says I'm actually the most like myself in social settings because there's so much distraction.

It's hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I've changed, but I know I have.

So please, friends, bear with me.

There will be no "year in review" from the Kinyon family for 2011.

Hopefully 2012 will bring a better year with more reasons to laugh than to cry.

And, sorry if this was so wah wahhhhhh, but you were warned!!

Jolly Holiday, Jolly Holiday

2011-12-27T07:41:00.001-07:00

Here are a few hilights of our holiday festivities this year:

The girls had the cutest little preschool Christmas program!! Here they are wearing their reindeer "crowns". It was pretty much the most adorable program in the history of he world, if you want my honest opinion.

Poor Daddy - the man can't sit down without being smothered by our girls :)

Christmas is absolutely amazing when you have kids. Amazing!!

Santa did a wonderful job of getting the girls what they wanted this year. Lucky for Santa, my girls are easy to please, and didn't want anything crazy expensive this year.

Lalaloopsy everything and some princess figurines and they were ecstatic.
Santa also left a note about sharing.....I'm not sure my girls heard a single word, but A for effort, big guy!

The closest thing to a good old fashioned "here we are in our Christmas outfits sitting in front of the tree like perfect little angels" picture just before church.

How I got lucky enough to have such beautiful girls, I will never know.

Bryan loves to wrap presents in a way that makes it impossible to NOT guess what's inside. This is a Lalaloopsy lunchbox-type thing that we gave the girls to carry their mini dolls in. It was obviously guessed instantly.

What they didn't get from Santa or Mom & Dad, they got from the rest of the family. Lalaloopsy silly hair dolls {seeing theme here?}, Monster High dolls {thanks again, Shara, for finding 2 that aren't dressed as street walkers}, and Strawberry Shortcake dolls whose hair changes with cold. They kind of live in my freezer now. It's OK, it makes the freezer smell yummy.

I found this chair on KSL a few weeks ago and fell in love. My Christmas present is getting it painted and reupholstered.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Mya has the best morning hair!

Jane learned to crawl during tithing settlement in the Bishop's office.

And then a week later, we found her in her crib standing up.

She is so unlike my other 2 kids - she is constantly wanting to move onto the next thing.

Last night she was holding onto a toy, then would grab my hand, stand up all the way, and then try and let go of me.

This kid is nuts!!

Love this picture :)

Shopping is hard work for babies.

And there is Christmas of 2011!

The Name Tag

2011-12-14T15:18:00.001-07:00

A few days after my brother passed away, we got his stuff.

And with his stuff, was his name tag.

The one he was wearing when he passed away.

As soon as I saw it, I grabbed it.

It's ovbiously been worn, you can tell it wasn't new.

I kept running my fingers over the indented letters on the front.

I turned it over, and found these stickers.

I asked his mission president's wife about the stickers, and she told me he used them to help teach kids about the Gospel.

I informed my siblings and my parents that I would really like to have it.

I don't care if I have anything else of Trevor's, I want this name tag.

I wore it the day of the viewing, and again at the funeral, clipped to the bottom of my sweater.

Now it sits on my kitchen counter, on top of a pile of pictures and CD's.

I can see it when I'm cooking dinner, and doing the dishes.

I still pick it up from time to time and run my fingers over the indented letters on the front.

I think about how many times he must have picked it up, and clipped it on his short sleeved, button down, white shirt pocket, and left his apartment to go preach the Gospel he loved so much.

And I turn it over and run my fingers over the worn stickers on the back.

This name tag makes me smile.

Zoo Lights

2011-12-07T06:02:00.005-07:00

I love a good Groupon.
So I felt I snagged a great one for half off our little family to go to the zoo for Zoo Lights.
The only stipulation was we had to go between Dec 3-7.
We figured the best night to go would be Tuesday night - we'd miss the weekend and family night crowds.
Well, there was definitely no crowd.
Because it was FREEZING!!!!
We bundled up everybody pretty well, but we all still froze our little tootsies off.
But the kids loved it - the light displays are so much fun, and they still got to go on a carousel ride {their favorite part of the zoo}. They didn't even whine about being cold {I can't say the same thing for me and Bryan}. Jane was a little bitty trooper and didn't make a peep until the last few minutes. She just stared in awe at the lights, all bundled up in her onesie, leggings, jeans, boots, sweater, coat hood, beanie and super thick blanket.
The tigers were all wrestling and playing as a little family. It was super cool.
But I do have to say, knowing you are at the zoo and it's dark and you can only see certain things is a bit creepy.
Sorry, I have no actual pictures of us there {the one at the top I yoinked from the Deseret News} because I forgot my camera, and the thought of taking my gloves off to take a picture with my phone made me want to cry like a little baby.
BTW, I wasn't aware that the iPhone touch screen only works with bare fingers. Must be a body heat thing. I learned something new yesterday!
We will definitely be going back next year.......hopefully on a warmer night :)
Christmas time is just getting more and more fun the older my girls get!!

Ripping the Bandaid

2011-12-01T06:30:00.001-07:00

I've had a bunch of things to post, but I'm having a really hard time doing it. It's amazing how moving on with life after a tragedy like this makes you feel guilty.

I feel like I'm betraying the memory of my brother by thinking about other things, by not crying every day, by getting on with the day to day.

In the days after the accident, I couldn't fathom doing the day to day. Make my kids lunch? What? Do laundry? How?

But I know that moving on and living life is the only way to truly heal.

Every time I have to integrate myself back into a normal life situation {going into the office for a meeting for the first time, first day back at church}, Bryan and I look at eachother and say "rip the bandaid". Because it's hard. You know people are going to talk to you, to ask how you're doing, and it brings all of those feelings and memories of the last few weeks back up to the surface. Ward members aren't going to still be giving me tearful hugs every single week for the rest of my life - most likely just the first time they see me. So if we just get it over with, rip the bandaid, the next time I see them things can be somewhat normal.

And I know that people care about us and love us and just want us to know that they are thinking of us and are here for support.

So I'm ripping off the blog bandaid now. I won't see Trevor's picture at the top when I open this anymore, and that's OK. It doesn't mean I don't love him and miss him.

Grief does weird things to a person.

So here we go - here's to healing!

How about these 2, huh? Decorating their Christmas tree was so much fun this year! We turned up Christmas music way too loud and danced around. Giving the girls their own tree was the best - they don't have any glass ornaments, so it's totally fine that they move them around at least 3 times a day. And it keeps them away from my tree in the living room :)

They are both so excited for Christmas, and it's so much fun! Everyone should have a 5 year old at Christmas time. Lauren is a riot and every day she talks about Santa and what she wants. Yesterday we went to Aunt Shara's to drop something off, and she showed Lo her present under the tree. Lo took it shook it and didn't really say anything. But in the car after we left, she told me she thinks it's a doll and a puzzle {she's totally right}. She really hopes it's a Monster High doll, and if she gets one from Santa and from Shara, then she can give one to Mya. This kid has such a big heart!

Miss Jane is now 6 months. What??? Yep, that's right.

She is almost crawling, and can already get where she wants to go by doing "the worm". She gets up on her hands and knees {or feet - see this beautiful downward dog?} and then flops down on her tummy while pitching forward. Then kind of pulls herself forward again while on her tummy, then back up to do it over and over again. Sometimes she face plants pretty hard, but it doesn't bother her.

For a long time, she would only push herself backwards, and then get super angry because she was moving away from whatever she was playing with.

So now we know 2 yoga positions - let's not forget her perfect plank position from a couple months ago :)

I can't believe how fast 6 months have gone by with my little Ginger Baby.

She is such a big girl - doing everything so much quicker than my other 2. She just wants to be able to keep up with her sisters.

At her 6 month appointment, she was not quite 15 lbs - still 25% for weight and 95% for height.

The doc says her metabolism must be pretty insane, because she eats A TON! At night before bed, she will eat 2 big containers of baby food {with rice cereal in them}, and then drink a 4 oz bottle {more cereal in it}. She wakes up around 2:00 and downs a 6 oz bottle, then back to bed until about 8:00.

I asked her doc about cutting out this middle of the night feeding, and he said she obviously needs it, given her stats. I'm just used to my babies sleeping all through the night. But neither of my other babies were this skinny or tall, so if the kid is hungry, I will gladly feed her. She needs the food!

She LOVES her sisters! She is so used to one of them being in her face and thinks they are the greatest things in the world. If she's fussy and I'm trying to get stuff done, one of the girls {or both} will just go talk and play with her and Jane just eats it up.

She has just about the biggest smile ever, and the happier she is, the bigger it gets. A smile is just opening her mouth as big and wide as it can get - it melts my heart!

She is starting to babble, and there's a constant stream of "babababa, dadadada" coming out of her cute little mouth.

She loves eating EVERYTHING! Everything, except peaches and apricots {what the.....she doesn't know what she's missing}. She would choose veggies over fruit any day, and is the only child of mine to like peas and green beans.

She will still occasionally snuggle. I might have to work really hard for it, but about twice a week we make it work, and it makes me so happy.

Jane is an absolute joy to have in our family, and I just want to eat her up. Sometimes I sit and think "do I seriously have 3 kids?" When did I grow up enough to have 3 KIDS???

Sometimes I cry when I look at her, because she will never meet her Uncle Trevor in this life, and he sure would've loved her.

The last conversation I had with him on the phone on Mother's Day was about how he & Scott needed to say a Missionary Prayer to get this baby out. Because of course missionary's prayers count more than mine :)

I am so blessed.

And my kids are so blessed to have such a wonderful angel watching over them.

Trevor

2011-11-18T10:35:00.003-07:00

**Just to warn you, this post is very long.

As most of you know, my little brother, Trevor, was hit by a car and killed riding his bike while on an LDS mission in Texas. He was supposed to come home a week prior to that, but chose to extend and stay for a special project until November 23rd, the day before Thanksgiving.
I've been trying to decide how to do this. How to talk about what has happened over the last week. Part of me doesn't want to write this down, but I know that years down the road, I'm going to want to see this. And I might as well do this while it's fresh in my memory. Also, to be quite honest, it's hard re-living this over and over again. So for any of you who may have some questions, here are some answers.
Let's start at the beginning.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011:
I was chit chatting a bit late after a ward Relief Society dinner {as usual}. 9:33 pm I received a call from my Mom & Dad's house, which I ignored. I figured I'd call her back in a few minutes after I left the church. 9:37 Bryan called, which I also ignored. I thought he just wanted to know when I'd be home. Immediately after he called, he sent a text that said "Call me!!" I immediately knew something was wrong. I called him, and he told me my mom had just called. Something was wrong, but she wouldn't tell him. I needed to call home right away.
I left the church, dialing my parents' number, it just rang and rang, no answer. So I tried my Dad's cell phone, which he answered right as I pulled into my garage. I could tell in his voice something was seriously wrong. He said "I have really bad news. Trevor was killed on his bike....." I know he kept talking, but all I could do was scream. I remember sobbing and saying "what about Scott" {Trevor's twin brother, also serving a mission in Tucson}. I remember trying to get into the house, but the door from the garage to the house was locked. Bryan heard me and came running to open the door. I don't really remember a lot about the next few minutes, but I somehow managed to tell Bryan what happened, and I do remember telling my dad that I was coming over and that I loved him.
Until that moment, I had never felt true despair. That is the only word that I think can describe what the feeling is. I felt like the ground below me was completely destroyed, and I had no idea what to do.
I couldn't stop freaking out, and it felt like an eternity before we could get a hold of someone to come and watch our kids so that Bryan & I could go to my parents' house together. Thank goodness for Shara & Darrell, who dropped everything at 10:00 pm to rush right over.
When I got to the house, my dad had just finished telling Scott. I'm glad I wasn't there to hear all of that conversation. My older brother, Davis, and my sister, McKell were there. My younger brother, Andy, had gone to Provo to pick up my other brother, Jeff.
The next 3 hours were filled with crying, hugging, and so many questions. My parents decided to have Trevor be a donor, and I am so proud of them for that. My dad had to answer a lot of questions from the hospital, and I know it was so hard for him to do right at that moment. We had no idea when they would be able to send him home, so we weren't sure what to do.
Scott decided to come home {he was supposed to come home Dec 17 anyway} - thank goodness for that. All my family wanted was to have Scott come home and be with us. Being Trevor's twin, we knew it would be hardest on him, and we wanted him here with us. We wanted the rest of our family to be together.
Andy got home with Jeff, there were more tears and hugs. Scott talked to each of us and we tried to console eachother. We finally tore ourselves away around 2:00 am.
Wednesday:
Awoke to Scott calling me around 7:00 to let me know he was coming home that evening. Right after I got off the phone with him, we got a phone call from a news reporter. I don't even know how they found our number. We had no comment. I then checked KSL on my phone, and the first thing that came up was a close up picture of the car that hit my brother and his companion, and the despair came again. I have a completely new perspective on the media after this. Nobody should have to see a picture of the car that killed their loved one when that car is missing half a windshield and is covered in blood.
Started making phone calls to get our temple recommends renewed.....we had accidentally let them expire, which I will never do again. We really felt we all needed to go to temple together as a family.
The texts, phone calls, and FB messages started pouring in. We were constantly checking the news websites, because they were getting information faster than we were. We still didn't have much information at all, which was incredibly frustrating.
Around 2:00, went to my parents' house to help get Scott's room ready for him to come home that night. My parents' phone was ringing off the hook - some calls coming from family, some from the Mission President and Church officials, some from the hospital where Trevor was to ask more questions about organ/tissue donation. We had no idea when we would get him back, no idea when we could start to plan things. I was going insane - I just wanted something to do. So I did the dishes at my mom's house and tried to clean until it was time to leave and meet with the member of our bishopric and Stake President to get our recommends renewed.
Then off to the airport to pick up Scott. We tried to make it as "normal" of a missionary homecoming as possible - balloons, banner, and all. But I'm sure everyone at the airport thought it was the weirdest welcome home ever.  Lots of tears, and most were obviously not the happy kind. We were so happy, though, to have Scott home, to have our family all together.
Thursday:
Met at the funeral home at 10:00 with my family to start planning. My parents decided they wanted the viewing Tuesday night, and the funeral Wednesday. We still didn't have a set time or even day when we would have Trevor back, so we were just trying to play it safe. While we were looking at caskets, we were told it would have to be a closed casket service. It was devastating news to all of us. I had thought that would be a possibility, given how he died, but to hear it was really difficult.
After making the arrangements, we had lunch and then drove to my grandma's house in Alpine to be with her for a while and to choose a burial plot. After leaving there, I came home to spend the evening with my kids & Bryan. After hearing it was going to be a closed casket, I realized we would want a big picture of Trevor for the viewing. My mom wasn't sure if Inkley's {where they had his mission pics taken} still had the digital images, so I called and luckily they did.
Friday:
My parents were informed Thursday night by Church officials that we needed to move the funeral to Monday because Elder Nelson wanted to be there and speak. So absolute craziness began. Every deadline was moved up by 2 days, so we went to work. I never knew how much planning went into a funeral. First thing in the morning, we all sat down & I typed out the obituary because it needed to be submitted that afternoon.  Then, my sister, sister-in-laws, and I all went to get Trevor's mission pictures and others we wanted for the viewing printed off. The photographer that had taken the pictures didn't do a great job, and they were kind of blurry. The sweet man I had talked to the night before had spent hours sharpening and retouching the pictures. The end result was perfect. It took us a while to get things all situated and decide what we wanted to print out - it felt like we were there forever. We then raced back to double check the obituary and get it submitted with one of his mission pictures. I just kept thinking to myself "Am I really doing this? Am I really typing out an obituary for my brother? How is this happening??". By then, we had heard that his body would be back here by that evening, and we decided to go to the temple that night. Even though there was so much to be done, that was our priority, and it was incredible. We all had such a spiritual experience, and it was a little comforting knowing that as we were there, his body was arriving here.
After the temple, we went to dinner, and then I dropped Bryan off at home and I went back to my parents' house to finish picking pictures and music for the video we would be showing at the viewing.
Saturday:
We dropped the kids off first thing in the morning at a friend's house and went to pick up the prints for the viewing and drop off the stuff for the video at the mortuary. While we were out, my sister called to tell me Trevor's stuff had arrived from Texas, and everyone was coming over to go through it. His mission president's wife was also at the house. What a wonderful lady Sister Trainor is. She cleared up a lot of the confusion we had, and talked about what a great missionary he was. Trevor's emails were always short & sweet, and we haven't seen him in 2 years, so it was so great to hear about some of his experiences and what kind of missionary he was.
We all kind of decided to take Saturday night "off" from the craziness and spend some time with our own families.
Sunday:
My plan was to sneak into Sacrament meeting a few minutes late by myself, sit quietly in the back, and try to take a moment to decide what I was going to talk about at the funeral. It didn't quite turn out that way, so I left part way into the first speaker.
We had talked to the funeral director {who is also my little brother's father-in-law} and he said it would be OK for just our family to see Trevor if we wanted to. He wanted us to come to the mortuary so that we would see him in the best lighting possible, and also to be able to watch the video in private. It was difficult, but there's some sort of closure that came for me to see his body. I think it's because it was so apparent that there was no spirit left inside.
We then headed home to grab a quick bite before heading over to the church for the viewing.
Setting up for the viewing was very emotional. My brothers and sister were in charge of the stuff we were displaying, and it turned out awesome. Putting everything out on tables like that just made it more real to me, and it was really difficult.
The viewing was supposed to go from 6:00-8:00. We knew it would go a lot later than planned, but I don't think we were quite prepared for the amount of people that came through. By 5:40 we started having people come through because the line was wrapped around the church. Hundreds of people stood in line for hours to pay their respects, it was very humbling. At one point, all of us siblings went out and tried to pull the people out of line that were there just for us to try and alleviate some of the wait for the people who wanted to see my parents. The last people finally came through around 10:30. By the end of it, we were all exhausted.
Monday:
Monday, Monday, Monday. It was strange, because we knew that after that day it was over. No more preparing, no more news stories, no more stressing about pictures and talks. We met for a family prayer at 9:30 and then another viewing started at 10:00. I'm still amazed at the amount of people that came out to show us their love and support. Elder Russell M. Nelson came into the room to meet all of us. What an amazing spirit an apostle brings. He asked all of our names and talked to us for a few minutes before he went to get seated. We then had a family prayer and headed into the chapel. It was so overwhelming to see all of those people. I think one news report I saw said something like 600 people where there. Unreal.
We all spoke, and I think we all did a wonderful job talking about Trevor, the role he played in each of our lives, the kind of young man he was. We all talked about different things, but we also all talked about the Atonement and how we know we will see Trevor again. My dad read the last sentence out of Trevor's journal that he wrote 2 days before he died: "I love being a missionary!"
We heard some wonderful, comforting words from Elder Nelson, then about 50 missionaries that had served in the Texas McAllen Mission got up and sang Called to Serve in English and Spanish. It was so amazingly powerful.
After the closing prayer, the pallbearers took Trevor out to the hearse. It was strange to see a line of camera crews across the street. Luckily, they never approached or bothered any of us. But it is so weird to see pictures of my family on the news and see quotes from our talks in the paper, especially because for us those were very private moments.  But we knew after the funeral we wouldn't have to see or hear from them anymore - yay.
Trevor was buried in Alpine, close to my grandpa and other relatives.

I am so grateful for all of the people who let us know they have been praying for our family. I'm grateful for my neighbors and friends who showed up the day after it happened, tears in their eyes, just to give me a hug and let me know they are here for me. I'm grateful for every phone call, text, email, FB message, card, and all the flowers. I'm grateful for our friends who braved the line to come to the viewing and the funeral. I'm grateful for Bryan's mom & sister who took our kids countless times.
I'm grateful for my family and the knowledge we have of the Gospel. I don't know how I would have made it through this without the support of my siblings and parents. We have been together every single day since it happened, helping eachother through it, talking, crying, hugging, reminiscing and laughing.  We have just been there for eachother.
And last, but not least, I am so grateful for my husband. Bryan has been such a strength to me. He's been supportive in whatever way I need him to be. He's been home with the kids if I need him to be, and with me & my family if I need him to be. If it weren't for him, our house would be {more of} a disaster, our kids would have never been bathed, and I never would've eaten.

It has now been 10 days since my baby brother died. I had heard from other people who have lost loved ones, that the hardest time is the "after" part. It is so true. In the days after he died, up until the funeral, there was so much to do. We were together as a family all day, every day. Now, life has to go on. My kids have school, we have work, laundry needs to be done, the floor needs to be cleaned. All these things need to be done, but what seems to be my every thought is my brother.
It is such a comfort that he died doing what he loved - he died serving the Lord faithfully. There is no doubt in my mind where Trevor is right now. I know he was called home for a purpose, and only the Lord knows what that is. And I KNOW I will see him again someday if I do my part. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm sad. I am so sad. I miss my brother.
I will miss him for the rest of my life, every single day. I will miss his sense of humor, that wonderful smile, his hand gestures and his body language. I will miss California hair, and his love of shoes. I will miss his aviator sunglasses. I will miss everything about him.
I know it will get easier. I'll go to bed one night and realize that I didn't cry at all that day for the first time since it happened. I will wake up and feel like myself again. I know this. But the road that leads to that place, to be honest, sucks.
I love you, Trevor.
And I will see you again.

Random Memories

2011-11-08T05:07:00.000-07:00

For some reason, as I was sitting in my cave of an office and working my entire evening away last night, I had a memory cross through my tired brain. The girls had just come down, all bathed, with wet curls, to give me a "kiss, big gigantic squeeze, and a hug" before bed time.

I was thinking about how I love this routine, and I'm so glad that even though I work until 8:00 Monday nights {bed time is 7:30 around here....because when you mess around for an hour in your beds before you fall asleep, bed time becomes 7:30}, I still get to kiss those wet lips {do they really have to lick them right before they give you kiss???} and fat cheeks at the end of the night.

And then I remembered Lo's old bed time routine.

Little Bill.

Every single night, for MONTHS when Lo was probably 2/3, we had to watch at least one episode of Little Bill {or sometimes Say Yes to the Dress, or Cake Boss} before she went to bed or took a nap.

I think we have seen every single episode ever made of Little Bill, and I can't say that I miss it one bit, but it's funny to remember how attached she was to that show for a while. It drove us absolutely crazy!!

But there is one super special thing to me that came from that show. In one episode, Little Bill and his dad {also named Bill} are walking down the street, and they sing a little song that goes:

"Just the two Bills

Just the two Bills

Not one Bill, not four Bills

It's just the two Bills"

Now, anyone who really knows this family, will know that it's a musical around here. We sing everything. Constantly. My girls have had their names inserted in just about every song ever made {appropriate ones, of course}, and we change the lyrics to whatever we are doing at the moment. You should try it sometime, it's the best.

So if me and my girls are snuggling on the couch, Lauren will start randomly singing "Just the 3 girls" to this little tune. It's our special little song.

Hooray for this little trip down memory lane :)

Family Pics

2011-11-02T06:33:00.001-06:00

This fall has been super duper crazy this year, and I wanted to get some quick pictures done.

I've seen some cute stuff from Fotofly from people on Facebook, so I decided we would give it a shot.

And I do have to say, as far as a studio that only gives you 45 minutes, they were pretty excellent. I thought the price was reasonable, and I'm thrilled with how most of them turned out.

When we were kids, once every few years we would get all dolled up, bangs curled, lace collars pressed, and we would go to Olan Mills. We would sit on "chairs" that weren't meant to be seen in front of tan/black cloudy backdrops, and tilt our heads in awkward positions and say cheese. I was really hoping this wouldn't be the experience here, and it wasn't. Their backgrounds and furniture are really fun, and way cuter than what I expected.

There was still a bit of the posing and hand placing, and I do definitely prefer a more relaxed, natural, candid session.

And don't worry, Sheryll Lynne, you have not been replaced {how could you be??}. You'll be hearing from me in the spring when we have more time and Jane is a bit older.

Enjoy!

*PS, I happen to hate just about every single picture that I'm in. I think that I look like I'm somewhat in pain. But aren't my girls absolutely BEAUTIFUL???

If you'd like to take a moment and let me know which family one you prefer {floor or couch} that would be great.

Thanks for taking our survey, have a wonderful day.

Halloween Festivities

2011-11-01T06:02:00.000-06:00

The older my kids get, the more fun holidays are.

We've spent this Halloween season doing as many fun Halloweeny things as we could fit in to our busy schedules.

We made cookies - complete with sprinkles. Sprinkles are the very best part of sugar cookies, if you ask Lo.

Check out this face - love it

We carved pumpkins....every time Lo would pull some of the guts out she would get this ultimately disgusted look on her face. It was hilarious.

After a dinner of mini mummy pizzas {English muffin pizzas with olive "eyes"} and scary bone breadsticks, we got all dolled up for trick-or-treating {I even dressed up this year.....I was a pretty sweet cowgirl. The girls thought I was the coolest for actually dressing up}.

Jane stood up and gave a little twirl to show off her adorable skirt. She's pretty amazing, I know.

I could barely get these 2 to sit still and focus long enough to get their pics taken. They were both so excited to get out and get some candy!

Me? Not so much. Bryan was convinced that I wanted to take the girls out this year - even though I think I told him half a dozen times that I didn't want to.

And actually, I had a splendid time. The weather was beautiful, and watching the kids run up to the doors was priceless. Lauren knows what's up - she runs up to the door, gets her candy, says a sweet "thank you" and runs back down. Mya has a different approach. Get up to the door, say trick or treat, thoroughly inspect the candy given to her, and chit chat with the person about her costume, candy, their decorations....whatever crosses her mind. I was constantly either yelling at her to come back or having to go and physically remove her myself. It kind of made for a long night.

But I love our neighborhood. The streets are lined with kids {almost like when we were little}, everyone has their porch lights on, and we get to bump into lots of our friends. And we were so close to getting rid of all of our candy {3 MASSIVE bags}.

After we got back, Mya camped out at the front door and waited for kids. She would open the door, say hi, introduce me or Bryan, and if they tried to talk to her, she would just smile and politely close the door in their face. It's business, people, there's no time for mindless chatter.

We had a super fun time this year, but I'm exhausted and I need to rest and save my strength for Christmas :)

Witches, Witches, WITCHES!

2011-10-23T15:13:00.000-06:00

This last week, we got together at Garnder Village with our good friends, the Olsens, for a little witch hunting.

We each have 3 girls and they are all pretty much the exact same ages, so it's always fun {and slightly crazy} to get the kids together.

We started off with a little game of ring around the roses....

Makayla & Lauren imitating the kissy face of the witch behind them. Silly girls.

Posing in front of the funny frogs

They just had to have a picture on the big red bench!

Discussing how to do criss cross apple sauce

Mya did what she does best.....wandered

The weather was beautiful, the babies slept pretty much the whole time, we ended the afternoon with a messy pumpkin sugar cookie, and we all had a fabulous time.

I love October!!

Thanks again, Jennie, Makayla, Annie, and Ella for joining us!

Conference Sunday

2011-10-17T11:19:00.000-06:00

We aways get together with my family on Conference Sunday, so this year we decided to have them all up to the cabin.

I didn't have my camera, but luckily Holly did and got some sweet pics of the kids that day.

I love this picture so much!

Holly sent me a billion pics of Jane smiling her little fool head off - so adorable!

The girlies - all the kids played down in the trees {and the sticker bushes} the whole time and had an absolute blast. They even caught a snake. Yuck.

I love this picture - she was really giving that candle blow out everything she had!

We all had a great time, and hopefully we can do it again next year!

The Big 5

2011-10-04T07:09:00.001-06:00

Can you believe my baby is 5??? Well I can't!

Lo has been so excited for this day, she's been so cute about the things she can do now that she's 5. Like "learn things and say big words".

She has been looking at this Lalaloopsy ferris wheel for months, and I think she may have peed herself a little when she opened it.

And maybe now I won't have to hear about this Barbie Princess Charm School doll at least 5 times a day now that she has it.

"Oh my gosh, the skirt winds up, and you push a button, and it falls back down!"

I prefer if the skirt stays down, because when it's up Barbie's nude underwear bum shows.

We had a picnic on the front lawn. It was very bright and squinty.

Every time one of my kids has a birthday, I can't help but look back on pictures past.

She was so teeny tiny!!! It's hard to believe my little 5 lb 2 oz baby is now a child who is already growing out of clothes made for a 6 year old.

Happy birthday to the most wonderful 5 year old I know.

She is so helpful and loves to learn to do chores {for now....}

She is the best big sister a sibling could ask for - she loves her sisters so much and is always wanting to help with them.

She loves clothes as much as I want her to love clothes. And she will still wear what I buy for her, even though it's not covered in Nickelodeon characters, sequins, and glitter. I buy those kinds of things for jammies, and it makes her super happy. Best of both worlds, I think!

I can't believe how smart she is. She is constantly sounding out words on cereal boxes and on signs, and loves to find out the meanings of new words.

She is such a people pleaser. She never wants anyone to feel left out, and the thought of someone being mad at her breaks her heart.

She reminds me so much of myself sometimes with her personality traits. It makes me smile and terrifies me at the same time, because it almost seems like I can see the road ahead of her.

I'm pretty sure she's the sweetest child I've ever met. So sweet that other kids tend to walk on her a bit. But she doesn't mind at all. Sometimes I want to tell her to yell back at them, or say something snotty in response, because it makes me so angry to overhear another child say something bratty to her. But it doesn't bother her, which, really, is wonderful and I hope she stays that way. It is just so heart breaking to hear someone be mean to your child.

We have been so blessed to have Lauren in our family, and she makes me smile every single day.

I can't believe it's been 5 years since she made her arrival into this world, and she has made every second of every day of my life better.

Lauren - I love you, baby girl - continue lighting up everything and everyone around you.

4 Months

2011-09-22T05:16:00.000-06:00

Wow

I can't believe Jane is 4 months old.

We went in for the 4 month check-up the other day, and she is still a "lanky" 25% for weight and now 95% for height. Keep it up baby, you'll love it when you're 20!

Some fun facts about my little Jane-E Poo at 4 months:

1. She has the funniest bed time routine. She goes to bed happily and refuses her binky, because she wants to talk to her little friend, the sea horse, that lights up and plays little songs for her while she's going to bed. Then she will decide she's ready, and yell for you to come give her the binky. She smiles at you when you come to put it in, making it hard to leave because you just have to smother her with kisses for another 5 minutes. Then she's done and we don't hear from her until the morning.

2. Her fingers {or fist} are in her mouth all the time.

3. She drools enough for 3 babies.

4. These last 2 things make solid feeding quite difficult. We just started trying solids this week, and she really loves it, but here's how it goes:

Mom puts spoon with food in Jane's mouth.

Jane tries to swallow it, but most keeps coming back out {darn tongue}.

Mom scrapes up food off chin and goes in for a second go-round.

Food is very thinned out because of the drool.

More comes out.

Then the hand goes in the mouth, trying to get the food back in.

Pureed sweet potatoes aren't exactly easy to put in one's mouth by using one's hand.

Mom tried to pin hands down. Not a good idea.

Jane eventually freaks out because she really wants the sweet potatoes, but we can't get it to work yet.

Sigh.

5. She wakes up so happy - it's one of my very most favorite parts of the day.

6. Jane loves to make noise with the copious amounts of spit she produces. She gets very creative.

7. She loves, LOVES her older sisters. If I'm in the middle of something, and she starts to get fussy, I just ask Lauren to go talk to her and immediately she is giggling.

8. She is SO TICKLISH! I swear every part of her body is a tickle spot. My favorite is her jaw. Sometimes all I have to do it kiss her chin and it puts her into uncontrollable giggles.

9. She loves when I sing the Ginger Baby song that I made up {I'll sing it for you sometime. It's super awesome} and when I sing Silly Love Songs by Wings {just the chorus}. And it only works when I do it. Which I kind of adore.

10. She loves to be outside and swing with me in the Snugli.

11. It takes her breath away when I walk really fast down the stairs while holding her {sometimes I run just to see the look on her face}.

12. She can roll - both ways.

13. She can almost hold her own bottle during a whole feeding {YES!!}

14. She has re-discovered a love for snuggling. Only because she has a cold right now, but I'll take it.

15. She almost, ALMOST has a fat roll on her thighs. We're so close!

She's such a delicous little thing.

I can't believe how time flies.

Back to {Pre}School

2011-09-14T12:48:00.000-06:00

FINALLY!!

School has started.....and not soon enough, if you ask me.

The girls are both going to preschool 2 days a week, which is making for some crazy mornings around here. I tried to keep with the morning routine throughout the summer - having everyone ready to go by about 9:00 every day, but it still seems to be just nutso getting out the door by 8:50.

Here is Lo on her second day. I tried to take a picture of her on her first day, but a certain someone put the camera waaaay high up on a shelf where I would have to use a chair to get it, and we just didn't have time for such things. So I figured the second day was better than nothing :)

She asked if she could have straight hair - I love it, but it makes her look so old! I really wish she was going to Kindergarten - she's so more than ready. Oh well, she'll be happy to be one of the older kids.

Poor Mya.....she had a really hard time with Lo going to school without her. She just kept saying "I go to school on Wednesday" - but obviously the kid has no concept of days of the week, so she was super sad when we pulled up and only Lo got to get out.

Wednesday finally came, and here is my big girl off for her first day! I'm not thrilled about her outfit, but I let her choose her shirt. Oh well. She loved it and said she has a friend named Emily and likes her teachers. I think she was most excited about getting to put her monkey "back-cack" to use. I was most excited about going to Target while she was in school and not having to be that mom yelling at anyone in the store. Yay!

And Jane just gets to be along for the ride, interrupting what used to be her greatest nap of the day. So we'll see what this new schedule brings for her.

Why did I decide to have 3 kids ages 4 & under?

Oh yeah, because I'm obviously insane.

Right Now

2011-09-08T13:15:00.000-06:00

Mya is sitting in front of me on the floor, whining about ponies {My Little Ponies} because she says that Lauren took hers. Lauren didn't. And Mya has about 8 in front of her.
That must not be enough.
And now the ponies are being thrown around the room.
This has been going on for a solid 15 minutes.
I might just lose my mind here at any moment.
I'm trying to ignore it, because it's the thing that works best with her.
And if I leave the room, she will just follow me.
But I know I still probably have another 5-10 minutes before she stops.
I need chocolate.

Folder Sept11

2011-09-07T06:42:00.000-06:00

*WARNING - this is going to be a bit of a picture fest

It's totally weirding me out that I just pulled these pictures out of a folder called Sept11. Seriously? Already? It's OK, I'm completely looking forward to September and fall, complete with sweaters and boots and kids coming in pink-cheeked from outside smelling crisp and cold instead of hot and sweaty.....let's just hope fall sticks around for at least a few weeks this year. It always seems to leave us too soon and Utah winter comes way too early.

Anywho, Labor Day marks the end of summer, and cabin weekends are winding down. Boo!

But Labor Day also means Swiss Days and a loooong cabin weekend which almost makes up for it {almost, but not quite}.

Here are quite a few memorable moments from the Sept11 folder thus far:

Did you know that ginger babies can get sunburned in the shade? We learned that this weekend. We spent many, many hours out on the deck playing and relaxing in the shade of the big maple tree. I'm not used to children than burn, the older 2 just tan, and tan, and then tan some more. I rarely even use sunscreen anymore, unless there is water involved {bad mom, I know}. And don't worry, Jane's sunburn wasn't bad. Just enough to get her little fair skinned cheeks red and now flaking a tad bit.

This is an actual spider found at the cabin in a tree way too close to the front door. It looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie. I didn't appreciate it, and am very glad Bryan's cousins removed it with them after they came to visit.

Cousins like to hold hands on nature walks.

The first {of I'm sure many} cousin pictures with Jane & Lyla. They are only about 2 months apart and we are positive they are going to be BFF's.

See? They're even trying to hold hands.

We took a little jaunt over to Heber to visit Sharalee & Darrell's horses, who just had a baby. Have you ever seen a baby horse? It is ADORABLE!!

We fed Stormy

And rode Dolly

Mya wasn't scared at all, and she about gave Bryan a heart attack at least half a dozen times.

Can I get a "yee-haw!"

The adults: "Mya, are you holding on?" Mya: "Yes!" Brock: "No she isn't!" Hence the heart attack

Darrell, attempting to mount the poor baby horse {who they think will be called Ginger}

This isn't from the cabin, but I love this perfect example of Mya's camera face. What the....

And Lo's silly camera face {that she insists on doing every. single. time. I bring out the camera}

And here is Jane's camera face.....j/k.

She's starting to grab things and LOVES her jumperoo. And in case you were wondering, there is still not a fat roll in sight on this kid. She eats...I promise!

My goal today is to get a picture of her smiling. She smiles ALL THE TIME - I actually think she is the smiliest of all of our babies. I just am too busy goo-gooing over how cute her smile is that I never get the camera out to capture it. But I vow to you, I will post a smiley picture.

PS

2011-08-26T15:38:00.009-06:00

PS - we are officially a "one child in diapers" household.
Mya poops
In the potty
And she tells us before it hits her panties
This has been a long, long, LONG road, folks
There have been many tears shed - and more from me than her
I want to celebrate, and throw a party, and shout it to the heavens
So I'm blogging about it
Which, history has proven, usually backfires on me
But I'm just so excited, I have to tell somebody!
This is the best. day. ever.
:)

Stay Young, Go Dancing

2011-08-24T05:59:00.011-06:00

This last weekend was, let's just say, horrible.

Bryan had 7 parking lots to stripe, and that is a lot, but when trying to start a business, one doesn't really want to turn work down.

And everything that possibly could've gone wrong, absolutely did.

Things broke, keys got lost {and STILL have not been found}, measurements were miscalculated....the list could go on and on.

My poor hubby - jobs that should've taken a couple of hours ended up taking 4 times that long.

And let's just say the kids weren't exactly cooperating with me at home. I had to work overtime, for some reason couldn't get any more than 3 hours of sleep a night, and ended up having a full on nervous breakdown Saturday afternoon - complete with ugly crying.

I just kept telling myself "Monday is almost here, Monday is almost here". I didn't think I'd ever be saying those words, but when you get to go see your very most favorite band on Monday, Monday becomes awesome.

3 hours in the dark, snuggled up next to my love, listening to favorite song after favorite song, feeling all the stress of the last 4 days completely disappear.

Oh, Death Cab for Cutie - thank you for playing Stay Young, Go Dancing and Transantlanticism during the encore.
Thank you for providing incredible people-watching {poor awkward teenager next to Bryan trying to look cool for his date, and crazy girl in the aisle playing air guitar the entire time - so entertaining}.

Thank you for saving my sanity after the previous 4 days.

They Just Looked So Adorable

2011-08-24T05:33:00.000-06:00

Sunday morning, Bryan was working {finishing up the most truly awful weekend ever} and I had my girls all ready to go for church a little early - shocking, because when he's home it seems we are always scrambling to get there on time.

Anyway, I looked at them and marveled in their pure deliciousness that day and realized I didn't have any pictures of the 3 of them together since Jane's newborn shoot.

So I lined them up on the couch, all in their Sunday best, ready to take what I thought would be the cutest pictures ever.

And this is what they gave me:

They weren't ornery.....they were actually all in very good moods.

This one is slightly better - at least Lauren decided to break out the smile.

Maybe Jane was tired.

BTW - isn't that headband the cutest thing you've ever seen? I totally made it. All by myself. I'm completely proud of myself, so I'm bragging.

Home girl is always begging me to take her picture, you'd think she'd at least give me a little grin!

I don't believe in the whole "say cheese when taking pictures of your kids" thing, I just end up snapping 50 in a row in an attempt to maybe capture at least one gem.

This one I actually love - such a classic Mya face :)

And now I'm totally on a mission to get a good, frame worthy picture of my beautiful babies all together.

Mark my words, it will happen!

Happy B Mya Day!

2011-08-19T22:22:00.012-06:00

This is a few days late, but my B turned 3 last Sunday!

The festivities started a week early - we took the last Friday of my maternity leave and took the older girls swimming for Mya's birthday.

We went out to the new rec center in Herriman, because they have a super fun kid area that the kids LOVED {sorry, no pics}. Afterwards, we decided to run to the splash park out there, which was perfect. Mya was hilarious - doesn't really like to be "splashed", just like her mama :)

Sadly, this pic was taken as Bryan was discovering she had just pooped herself. To stop myself from crying, I'm not going to talk about Mya and poop right now. This is a happy post.

This is a terrible picture, I know.

Anyway, we decided that the very best way to celebrate Mya's actual birthday would be for her to wake up in her most favorite place on the planet...

THE CABIN!

Filled with one of her most favorite things.....

BALLOONS!!

We spent the night before blowing up about 50 balloons for her to discover in the morning.

And, of course, she loved it

Then that evening, we went to dinner at Bryan's mom's house where we had Coldstone ice cream cake & cupcakes - ps, if you've never had a Coldstone ice cream cupcake, you seriously need to. Seriously.

Every time anybody asked Mya how old she was, she would say "Um, I want a cupcake". Weeeellll, I'm not sure why she kept saying that {and is still saying that}, but it's hilarious.

She got some AWESOME presents from everyone featuring her favorites - Ariel, Rapunzel, new pj's, a "concuter" {computer}.....she is still in heaven.

I know I talk a lot about how difficult Mya is. Because, let's be honest, she really is. She has been a trial from the beginning - always switching things up and keeping us on our toes. She is so, so, SO stubborn, and I like to believe that it's because there is going to come a time when she needs to know who Mya Kinyon is. And she will never be a follower, she will be a leader.

Here are some things I love about this kid:

Those cheeks. I might cry someday if they shrink.

Her eyes - it's very interesting, because they are still blue, but they are becoming a very grayish blue, not the bright blue that they used to be, and Lo's are. They are absolutely gorgeous, and when they fill with tears, it breaks my heart.

The "Brain Ninja". This is hard to explain, but when she wants you to do something or agree with her, she stares into your soul and tilts her head forward and says what she wants very quietly and earnestly.

If she's concentrating really hard on something, like a puzzle, she will repeat everything other people in the room say. And you can totally tell she's not actually paying attention or even realizing what she's saying.

Her hair. Oh, that poor kid's hair.

She loves anything orange - including oranges. She would eat 6 a day if I let her.

I think she may have the cutest kid bum in the world. Really.

She pretends to tie her shoes while you are tying them for her.

She says "pwetty pwease wif a chewwy on pop". I think I make her say it at least 15 times a day.

She LOVES Michael Jackson, and loves to dance. Her moves are amazing.

This list could go on and on and on.

I love this kid, she makes my every day interesting and I love her for it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIZZY B MYA!

Back to Reality

2011-08-10T13:48:00.008-06:00

This last Monday I went back to work after 12 blissful weeks of maternity leave. So now it's back to reality around here.

Back to getting up before the crack of dawn every day.

Back to excercising my brain and being able to talk about adult things instead of my conversations revolving around poop and which toys had to be taken away today.

Back to the craziness that is life in the Kinyon household:

Up at 4:00, getting in a few hours before the kids wake up. Then it's breakfast, baths, hair, grocery shopping, errand running, preschool {this year for 2 kids!}, house cleaning, lunch, etc., etc., etc.

Then naptime for the kids and back to work for me until Bryan gets home.

I have to say, I have a love/hate relationship with my job.

I don't love getting up before any sane person would ever dream of getting up. I don't love having to listen to Bryan struggle with tantrums while he cooks dinner.

But sometimes I do secretly love being able to lock myself in my office, turn up my music, and turn off that "mom" part of myself for a few hours at the end of a particularly stressful day.

Working full time is hard.

Being a mom full time is hard.

And I do both.

I guess at the end of the day I'm just so grateful that I have a job where I can do both - even though sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled at from all sides. I am very blessed that since I choose to work {yes, I choose to work, and I hate the judgement that comes from others because of it.....but that's another post for another time} I get to do it from my home, in my jammies if I want, while my kids are either sleeping or being looked after by their dad.

And I'm also very grateful for willing friends & family members who help me out the occasional few hours a month I have to go in for meetings.

So, any-hoo, I'll end this with a few things we've been doing during that wonderful 3 months off.

Yes, I need to take more pictures of the older 2, but they look the same as they did last month.....Jane doesn't.

We've been enjoying long {possibly sweaty} walks with hats that are way too big for our heads. But we've got to cover up thas sensitive ginger skin as much as we can!

We've been continuing to spend too much time on Etsy - but come on, do you blame me!?! Check these things out! I want them in every color, you can find them here. They are fabulous {and maybe a bit ridiculous} especially if your baby has super duper skinny feet that shoes will NOT stay on.

How much do you love these skinny chicken legs????

We've been texting lots of pictures like this to Daddy {you may notice the bling. Yes, I'm that mom, don't judge me too harshly}.

And ps, my first day back I had to go into the office for a meeting. Jane must have known, because that morning she gave me some glorious cuddle time - the first unforced cuddle time we've had in weeks.

It was just what I needed.

I sure love my little ginger baby :)

When Your Husband is Really Handy

2011-08-02T15:33:00.007-06:00

When your husband is handy, he can do lots of things around the house.

He can fix broken things, paint, re-finish the occasional piece of furniture, and maybe even build your children a playhouse.

But when your husband is really, I mean REALLY handy....

He can build you a mini "mud room" {that's what I'm calling it} in your teeny tiny "laundry room" {that's what they call the very small space between my kitchen & the garage that is barely big enough to fit a washer & dryer} out of what was once just a wall.

*It still needs to be painted*

Just by measuring really well and borrowing a mere 8 inches that nobody will ever miss from the garage.

That is how you know you have yourself a keeper, ladies.

Give the man a Skil saw, some MDF, and a cordless drill and he can work wonders.

I Love Bloom

2011-07-28T10:05:00.000-06:00

So funny, after I wrote my post last night, I was reflecting on it while trying to fall asleep. And then I got up this morning and read this on Bloom.
She totally nailed how I was feeling!
I feel like I'm able to just enjoy Jane more than I did the other 2, because I know how quickly it's going to fly by.
Sometimes I feel like I'm going to blink, open my eyes, and my girls will be driving and dating and it scares the living daylights out of me {such an old person phrase, by the way}.
With Lo, I was constantly thinking about where she was headed and the next stage, almost pushing her to grow up. With Mya {a little different} I enjoyed where she was at more, but SHE was always in a hurry to move on to the next stage - she just didn't want to be a baby.
So, any of you first time moms out there - enjoy where your children are at right now, because before you know it, they will be almost 5, their baby fat will be all but gone, and they will be reading. And you will so much miss those first things that you didn't take the time to cherish :)

3

2011-07-27T21:57:00.002-06:00

I get a lot of the "how is life with 3 kids" question, which has made me think about some of the differences in having 1, 2, and 3.

First baby:
Baby was always dressed to the nines, even if we were staying home all day - hair bow {check}, pants {check}, shoes {check}, picture perfect {check}

Second baby:
Baby is still mostly dressed well....most of the time, bow on {most of the time}, shoes {only if leaving the house}, pants {sometimes}

Third baby:
Baby wears a white onesie {always}, pants {occasionally}, bow {only if I remember, and only if leaving the house}, shoes {what? babies wear shoes?}

I have about a zillion and a half pictures of Lauren. I wanted snapshots of every single moment - every spit bubble, every funny face, every nap, every smile. The camera was never more than an arm's reach away for fear of missing something priceless.
With Mya I was too busy trying to keep her from crying and Lauren from having crazy 2 year old tantrums, so I don't think I got more than a handful of pictures of her until she was about 6 months old.
Jane, poor Jane, only gets her picture taken if we are in a "perfect storm" situation. First, I have to remember where exactly the camera is, and by the time I run and grab it {trying really hard to not get distracted by kids or something that needs to be picked up/put away}, whatever cute thing she was doing is now gone and she has a sister about an inch away from her face, wondering why she is getting upset.

There are also good differences.
With Lauren, there was so much trial and error. So many mistakes {who forgets to send a bottle with their baby to the sitter??} and learning experiences. So many questions about so many things. So much reading of baby books and online forums. So much second guessing.
Mya was so different from Lauren - so much more complicated. I was more confidant than with Lo, but had a whole new personality to learn. All on top of dealing with the terrible two's. But way more sure of myself as a mother and my decisions.
And now I have #3. I thought it would be so much harder - and in some ways it is. But in other ways I feel like I've sooooo "got this". Going to the store is an ordeal, and I have to give myself a pep talk for an hour before we leave, but sleep training felt like second nature. There are times when everyone is crying at once, and I think I'm going to lose my mind. But I feel like such a mom now {you'd think that would've happened before having #3}. I know which things matter and which things don't. I feel like I can be much more flexible about things, like our daily schedule, and know that everyone will still be fed, clean, and happy, and the world won't end because we are "off schedule" :). Cleaning the floor isn't as important as laying on the floor with all 3 of my girls and making ridiculous noises at Jane to make her smile.

So, how is it having 3 kids? It's crazy. Insane at times.
But it's also wonderful.

Jane's Room

2011-07-19T11:53:00.001-06:00

It's almost done - FINALLY! With being so sick the whole pregnancy, and my generally indecisive nature, it feels like it's taken an eternity to get Jane's room done.

My awesome friend Julie made this vinyl for me - she's the best!

This is what I blame my lack of blogging lately. I really wanted to put a bird mobile in her room, but I didn't want to spend a fortune on one, either. So I decided to make one, which is super fun & interesting when you don't have a sewing machine. But thanks to Google, Etsy, and my limited knowledge of how to hand stitch, I figured it out.

I think it turned out pretty cute, it just took forever!

This is my most favorite thing in the room, and I found it at Ikea, of all places. On a side note, I like to go to Ikea, but hardly ever actually buy anything. But I absolutely LOVE how this turned out with the pictures on it.

This particular item is funny to me. When I first chose the bedding fabric, I went and bought a few yards in each fabric to match paint and to "do something crafty" with. The first thing did was buy a blank canvas on sale from Hobby Lobby and covered it. Then I decided I hated it, so it has sat in the hutch in her room with no purpose. And because I spent time on it, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

Then, last weekend Bryan went and spent Friday night playing with his friends, so I took the opportunity to make headbands. And after I was done, I realized I didn't have a good place to put them.

So, I pulled out the computer and looked up headband holders on {da da da DA} Etsy and found this cute idea.

It's just little hooks screwed into the very thing I had made and hated but couldn't part with.

How fortunate, right?? And now I love it.

Here is the bedding. *sigh* I am in love with this fabric.

I found someone on {where else} Etsy who made it for me for a pretty reasonable price. And I love that it's so unique and there is NO pink in sight!

Have I mentioned how much I love Etsy? Well, I do.

Now I just need to get curtains and recover the thing I made for the window here with something that actually matches the room.

And just because she's so darn cute :)

A Ramona

2011-07-18T19:01:00.002-06:00

Today, after I left Jane's 8 week checkup {weight: 9 lbs, 9 oz, 25%, height: 23.5 inches, 90%, and now sleeping off her shot orneriness in my arms}, I ran to Target on the way home.
As I was walking in, there was a guy walking in with his 2 little girls. I had to chuckle, because the older one {probably about Lauren's age} was wearing a yellow fancy church/Easter type dress and purple/pink butterfly rain boots.
I call this looking like "a Ramona" because it reminds me of how I always pictured Ramona Quimby in my favorite books as a kid:

It made me laugh because this is about how my kids look when Bryan gets them dressed and he knows we're not going anywhere for the day. Especially Mya.
This guy's wife must not have been home.
I don't think I'm alone in this as a mom - it drives me crazy, and I roll my eyes every time I see the mismatched outfits, the odd colored headbands, and weird footwear choices my kids make. Because I would never allow my kids to walk around like that, leaving the house or not.
And why is that? Why do I care? Why do they have to match {when we're staying home}? And why is it so endearing when I see a random kid at Target dressed in a way that I would never dream of allowing my kids to leave the house in?
That's it, tomorrow I'm letting them be Ramonas.

Phrases

2011-07-14T11:18:00.000-06:00

See - I told you I'd post again soon :)

I was just thinking about this as my kids came barrelling down the hallway screaming at the top of their lungs right outside a restless napping baby's doorway, and I came out and said "absolutely not!" - they turned right around and ran downstairs to continue the happy screams in the playroom {where they belong}.
And I started thinking......I must say that a lot if they knew exactly what I meant when I said it. I didn't even get to finish with "if you're going to scream, do it in the play room".
Then I started thinkng about the phrases my parents used to say when I was a kid. They were mostly the classics, like "you're treading on thin ice, young lady", and "you've got a chip on your shoulder" {it took me a long time to figure out what that one meant}.

Here are some of the phrases that I think I say a lot to my kids:
"Don't make me come in there"
"I swear, if you {insert bad behavior/activity} one more time...."
"How sad. Little girls who {insert behavior/activity again} have to go to bedroom time." - thank you Love & Logic
"What is going on??"
"Absolutely not!"
"I know." - thank you again, Love & Logic. This one is used in response to excessive whining or complaining. Also in response to repeat requests for something I'm not going to give. Example: Mya: "I want a fruit snack." Me: "No, not right now." Mya: "I want a FRUIT SNACK!!" Me: {very calmly} "I know." I just have to say it once and she freaks out. It shouldn't be, but it's pretty funny. It's used a lot in the car.
"Do not talk about it again." - Lo can't let things go, and will try and discuss issues we have over and over again, which usually results in her getting into more trouble.

It seems as if the stuff I repeat the most is, let's say, not so fun. But I do have some nice phrases, too - really, I do!
For instance:
"I just love you"
"I could just snuggle you all day long" - this one gets interesing responses from Lauren sometimes :)
"What the!" - my kids think it's hilarious when I say this, and have now started repeating it often, which I think is hilarious.
"How did you get so {insert compliment - pretty, smart, etc.}?" - I may have trained my kids to respond with "Cuz of Mommy".

See.....I'm not so bad :)

I'd love to see what you say to your kids on a regular basis. Feel free to comment :)

I Know, I Know

2011-07-13T16:31:00.001-06:00

I know, it's been {quite} a while since I've posted.

So here's a little of what we've been up to - which is a lot :)

Jane is a really good baby.....most of the time.

She's sleeping a solid 7, 7.5 hours at night, which is awesome! She's always gone down really easy at night and just goes right to sleep. Naps, however, are a different story. She takes very restless naps during the day right now. I just hope she grows out of it. Soon. J/K, if I had to choose one or the other, I'm very glad she chooses to sleep like a champ at night.

She is now smiling like crazy - especially at Lauren. I'm pretty sure Lo is her most very favorite person in the whole world.

She is still super, duper skinny. Scrawny is a better word for it. She is sooooo loooong, and just has no meat on her bones. She is 8 weeks now, and is still wearing newborn bottoms {they look like capris, but that's ok} because 0-3 month bottoms won't stay up around her. She had better chunk out soon, because she has a drawer/closet full of 3 month summer clothes that I need her to fit into!

This is the saddest update of all: she is starting to resist the cuddling. It is very sad. She will snuggle and go to sleep if you really work at it, but she prefers to be swaddled & put down to sleep. And, having 2 other kids before her, I know that at some point you usually have to give in to the independent baby and just be grateful that they don't need to be held to go to sleep. But you still want them to want it from time to time. This is coming a bit too early for me this time :'(

This little miss loves to have a B {for those of you who don't know, a B is a blanket in our house} all scrunched up around her face.

She has also decided that she loves her binky. And yes, your eyes do not deceive you - she has really red hair. And no, I don't know where it comes from.

And yes, I am aware that I forgot to do a little red eye correction. Oh well.

This is where our kids spend a lot of their time - on the swings, begging Mom and Dad for underdogs. Which we are happy to oblige.

If you look really closely, you might spot Lo's teeny weeny little braids. She wants to have long, thick hair oh so very badly so that she can have big, fat braids. Sorry kid, not in the cards for you right now :(. I do the best I can.

The other day, we went to my friend Shauna's house for some outdoor swimming time. Being the super awesome mom I am, I have never ever taken my kids to a pool {you can take a moment to gasp}. Neither Bryan nor I like water, and the thought of going to a public pool with my kids stresses me out to no end. So I was a litte worried how my kids would do, even in a 3 foot deep one.

Well, I had to drag them out after 4 hours - they loved it! I feel much better about taking them to the rec center pool now. And then I'll be able to feel like that much less of a failure. Come on, who doesn't take their kids to a pool! I'm so lame!

I have been doing a lot of nursing {and now weaning - if you have a negative opinion on that matter, please keep it to yourself. Thank you}, finishing Jane's room {one more thing to hang and then I'll post pictures}, cabining, and playing as much as possible before I go back to work in 4 weeks.

Most of which I don't have pictures of. I can barely remember to bring everything I need for 3 kids on outings, and the last time I finally remembered to bring my camera to something the battery was dead. Woops.

I have also been enjoying fro yo again {tasted nasty while I was pregnant - it was so sad}.

Mmmmm, it just looks like summer, right?

See you soon, promise :)

Sunshine

2011-06-24T13:51:00.000-06:00

I've heard it said that sun always shines brightest after the rain.
Ain't it the truth!
Today, we filled up the kiddie pool {which, I realize, is smaller than my bathtub - we need a new one} and I hosed down the littles from the back porch while they screamed and ran and fell down giggling, and Jane slept in her swing.
Then I stuck them in my shower to wash off the sunscreen & yuckiness {I'm sure they left all sorts of nastiness in that pool} and did some straight hair.
Then the girls were back outside to swing & play in the playhouse.
Everyone smells like summer :)
And now it's nap time.
*sigh
After the horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE day we had yesterday {constant fighting, chapstick on the play room TV, a baby who wouldn't take a decent nap, and lots of tears....myself included}, this is definitely some sunshine for me!

Newborn Pics

2011-06-22T18:19:00.000-06:00

A few of the newborn pics that Sheryll took of Jane

She's a scrawny little thing :)

Check out this smile - so precious!

Notice how their feet are doing the same exact thing, just on opposite sides - oh how I love those toes!

Birth Story

2011-06-17T15:21:00.001-06:00

Here is a little sample of my birth story pictures {there are 176 total and they take an eternity to upload}.

I can't begin to describe how much I love having these pictures - I wish I would've had this for all of my girls' births.

I'm just going to throw them all in a book, which I'm sure I will just stare at for hours and hours and never get tired of.

Every time I see these pictures I will remember what a special day it was.

THANK YOU to Sheryll of Sheryll Lynne Photographers - she is the bomb diggity and I am so lucky she was able to do this for me.

This one just might put a little lump in my throat - I love my husband so much :)

I wish I could put them all on here for your viewing pleasure, but I can't, so if you ever stop by and want to see them, let me know :)

And basically, if you have a baby and you're not terribly uncomfortable with the idea, have a photographer take pictures.

It's seriously awesome.
ps - man, my nose was fat!

Bath Time

2011-06-16T19:44:00.000-06:00

I don't even know what to say other than "SERIOUSLY??"

She's just so adorable, I could squish that face til the cows come home.

Life Today

2011-06-14T13:20:00.001-06:00

Starting at 5:00 am.....
Nurse, burp, bum change, wrap baby up & put back in bed
Crawl myself back into bed
Just as I started to fall back asleep, Thing 2 cries. Her Pull-Up is wet
Crawl back into bed
Asleep for a few minutes when baby cries
Decide to give up for the moment and bring her into my bed for a snuggle {shhh, don't tell - it's my guilty pleasure}
Thing 1 & Thing 2 arrive a few minutes later
We all watch a wonderful episode of Bubble Guppies in my room
Quickly make breakfast for Thing 1 & Thing 2 while baby is sleeping
Nurse, burp, change blowout
Have to stop halfway through feeding time to get Thing 2 to the potty {by the way, there really is something to the whole "wait until they're ready thing" when it comes to potty training.....who knew?}
Get Thing 1 & Thing 2 dressed, teeth brushed, and hair did while baby chills happily on the floor
Wrap baby back up for nap time
Pump
Transfer milk from bottles in the fridge to bags in the freezer
Wash bottles
Clean up breakfast
Look at the clock and realize I have 40 minutes to shower & get myself ready before baby is going to want to eat again
Run to the shower before something or someone else diverts my attention
Force myself to shower quickly instead of just stand there and soak in the momentary quiet
Just as mascarra is being applied, baby cries {good timing}
Nurse, burp, bum change
Feeding interrupted again to take Thing 2 to the potty, again {that kid does NOT have good timing}
Put baby in the swing for some awake time
Make lunch for Thing 1 & Thing 2
Clean 3 containers of leftovers out of the fridge {gross - I rarely let things sit for more than 2 days in the fridge, and this was a reminder why}
Load dishwasher
Start a load of way-too-piled-up laundry
Move baby who is starting to doze off to her crib
Get distracted and quickly clean both toilets and take out all garbage cans
Pump
Checked email
Blogged
Interrupted while blogging to clean up mess in the bathroom by Thing 2 who did what I like to call "shot the gap", when they pee & it gets between the seat and the bowl, thus getting everywhere......lovely
And here I am at 1:20 pm
And I feel as if I have accomplished NOTHING today!!!

Baby Jane

2011-05-25T13:05:00.001-06:00

Sorry this has taken so long! Between nursing & just life with 3 kids, this is the first time I've actually sat down at my computer since Jane was born :)

So, I made it to my induction date!

Jane Leeann Kinyon was born 05/17 at 5:07 pm, 7 lbs 13 oz, 22 inches long.

The delivery went fabulous - I got started right about noon, so just about 5 hours. Not too shabby.

She has the most lovely strawberry blonde-ish hair and is a fantastic eater!

She has a wonderful disposition, and came out with an eat/play/sleep schedule already, making my life so much easier.

Lauren is completely in love with her, and would hold her all day long if we let her. Mya.....well, that's another story. She treats her with more of a mild curiosity, but she's been great with her so far.

22 inches is VERY long. Thus explaining the feet stuck in my ribs the last month or so. And she has MASSIVE feet! It's hilarous - my other girls have these tiny little feet, but Jane's are huge! Her toes look more like fingers :)

Here's the lovely first picture.

We only took one ourselves in the deliver room, because I had my friend Sheryll of Sheryll Lynne Photographers in the room taking pictures for a birth story. And I thought it would be weird having her there, but it was actually really fun. She is hilarious, and it made the day fly by having someone else in the room to relieve the tension.

And this might be a little TMI, but at the very end, I was dilated to a 10 and feeling lots of pressure. We were waiting for the doc to come in, and she had me laughing so hard I thought I was going to laugh the baby right out. She was a great stress relief!

I'll be posting those pictures as soon as I get them - and I can't wait to see them.

Jane has seriously been an angel baby. She is so sweet and snuggly.

I may have just spoiled her a little too much in the hospital. I held her about 90% of the time we were there. But knowing this is my last baby and that as soon as I got home I would have other things to do, I really took that 2 days to just bond with her and love and kiss and smell her while I had her all to myself.

That made for an interesting few first nights at home......she really didn't want to sleep on her own, but one night of forcing myself to not hold her and she's been cured of that.

I just can't wait until she gets a little meat on her bones & we can get to having some serious fun while I don't have to work the majority of the summer!
And a special shout out to all the friends & family who came to see us in the hospital {I love having friends who work in the hospital I delivered in, it makes it so convenient} and at home, and all the yummy meals & darling gifts you have brought. This baby is definitely loved :)

Tomorrow

2011-05-16T15:39:00.000-06:00

I'm being induced {finally!}
I will have 3 kids
I'm going to push a baby out of my body
I get to wear the gown I bough {oh yeah, I bought a cute little brown & white polka dot number to deliver my last bambino in}
I get to meet my sweet girl #3

I'm slightly terrified
Mostly excited - elated, actually
It's very strange knowing exactly when you're going to have a baby

See you in a couple days :)

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T15:04:00.001-06:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year.

I came into the kitchen in the morning {thus ruining breakfast in bed} to the smell of french toast {my favorite} and the sound of Lauren whispering to Bryan "can I give Mommy her present yet?".

She was so excited to give it to me, which, to me, is just as good as getting the actual present. She's such a sweet girl who loves to make people happy.

So this is what I got, from here

It looks a little different - one is a flower, one is a square, and it has my kids' initials on each one instead of their whole names.

For being a not very emotional person, I cried like a little baby.

I thought Bryan had forgotten about how I fell in love with these necklaces when I ran across this website around Christmas.

And it meant even more, because I know he had to order it weeks ago to make sure it was here in time.

And I know there is another charm with a "J" waiting for me when this baby finally decides to make an appearance.
Which could be any time, but I'm trying not to hold my breath.
I don't want to complain, but let's just say I'm getting really tired of strong contractions {the kind that HURT} that last for a few hours but never get close enough to do anything about it.
We thought it was "it" Saturday afternoon - every 6 minutes apart for 45 minutes, then NOTHING. Not a single one for the rest of the night.
Then nothing all day yesterday, but I was up all night with really inconsistent but painful contractions.
Luckily, my doc has told me he'll induce me on the 17th if I don't go on my own before then, so there is a light at the end of this {seemingly never ending} tunnel.
And this is the problem I'm having right now:
I'm driving myself insane.
I wish I could just see the 17th as the day we are going to have her, and not worry about the house being spotless and every stitch of laundry being done.
But every time I start to think about that, I have another round of crazy contractions, which makes me think that I need to be ready because she could come at any time - which sends me into a frenzy of cleaning & laundry.
Seriously, I'm going nuts :)
Oh well, 8 more days at the most - and if I happen to go early, and every piece of clothing isn't clean and there are crumbs under the girls' bar stools when my mother-in-law comes over to stay with them, it's not the end of the world.
Life will go on, and she will not think any less of me.
This is what I keep trying to tell myself......it's not working very well.
So, you may not hear from me again until I have some awesome pictures of our sweet little new one.
And she does have a name - and a lot of you know it, but for some reason I don't want to advertise it until she's here.
But you did a get a hint earlier - it starts with a J.
Anyway, until then, wish me luck!
Oh, and I may have asked my twin missionary brothers to pray for her to come sooner rather than later.....because missionary prayers might just hold a little more weight.
How could they not?

Things I Didn't Know About Myself

2011-05-06T11:59:00.000-06:00

Lo came home today with this lovely painting for me for Mother's Day. I just love it!

And on the back are a bunch of things about me - things I didn't even know myself!

My favorite color is PINK

I make Lauren laugh when I TICKLE HER FAST

I am 26 FEET TALL - wow. I mean, I know I'm tall, but I had no idea I was that tall!

I am as beautiful as a MONKEY - well, monkeys are cute, right?

I cook really good MAC & CHEESE

I am really good at PUTTING MY CLOTHES ON REALLY FAST - it is true. I would totally dominate a getting dressed race.

She loves to play DANCING with me

She loves me because SHE HUGS ME! {I do give some killer hugs}

Man, I love this kid :)

Looking Forward

2011-04-28T08:25:00.000-06:00

Yes. It's a list. Of things I'm looking forward to here in the next little while.

1. Temps above 58 and sunshine - I mean, come on, it can only get warmer from here, right?
2. Being able to sleep on my stomach. I miss it so much!
3. 3 months off - where I only have to worry about being a mom. Not being a mom full time and working full time.
4. Cabin time sans belly {tried it Easter weekend.....9 months prego + not-so-comfy-cabin-mattress = torture}.
5. Swingset time for my kids in the backyard {in correlation with #1}
6. Being able to push my kids on the swings without getting contractions.
7. Late night feedings when the rest of the house is dark & quiet {you're probably thinking, yeah right, you're really not looking forward to that. But it's something I really have always loved doing with my newborns}.
8. Wearing pants with an actual functioning zipper.
9. The disappearing of the little red dots that are now covering my face, neck, chest, arms, and hands.
10. And, of course, the thing I am most looking forward to - getting this baby out of my belly and into my arms.
11. Oh, and baby breath {yummy!!}
12. And did I mention warmer weather yet? Oh, well maybe it needs to be mentioned again.

The Iron Bladder

2011-04-19T15:02:00.002-06:00

As I have mentioned {more than once, I know} we are potty training Mya. Why can't all kids just have the same patterns/habits when it comes to this? Anyway, I just wanted to share our little experience - the Child with the Iron Bladder.
I learned very quickly that Mya could hold it for quite some time. And when I say quite some time, I mean not peeing a single drop from 9:30 am until 7:00 pm. Yep.
By about 5:00, her poor tummy was hurting and she would be running around the house crying, but refusing to go in the potty. Or a Pull-Up. Or even a diaper {at some point you just want the poor kid to relieve herself anywhere}.
And then, usually at about the most inopportune moment possible, the floodgates would open and she would unleash a river of urine - on the floor.
Thank goodness for a) owning a steam cleaner, and b) having lots of non-carpeted surfaces in our house.
We tried everything to get her to go.
Books, songs, coloring, playing games, giving her the iPod to watch movies/play games on, and of course lots and lots of fluid.
Saturday we sat with her from 4:00-7:00 and got nothing more than about 4 drops. And every time she did eek out a little drop or two, she would shake and say "no, no, no, no".
I cried many, many, many times.
I looked up every forum I could on the internet, trying to learn some fabulous tip that would work. I read nothing that I wasn't already doing.
How do you potty train a kid who JUST WON'T GO??
Sunday morning I had a little idea. Something I am usually completely opposed to, because it is so nasty to me.
I put her little Dora potty chair in the family room so she could be out with everyone else and hopefully become more relaxed/distracted and be able to let loose.
I know that a lot of people do this when they're trying to get their kids familiar with the potty, but it just seriously grosses me out.
Well, wish I would've had this stroke of genius about 2 weeks sooner, because it totally worked.
She still holds it for a long time, but not to the point of being in pain, and tells us when she needs to go. And who is going to complain about their kid being able to hold it?
So, I think we did it. I know we're not done, and I expect it to be a couple more weeks before I feel like I can maybe say that she's potty trained.
But I feel like Super Mom because of it. It was such a major hurdle to just get her to go.
To me, that's one of the most rewarding things about being a parent - encountering a problem with your child {even if the problem is pee} and finding something that works. Parenting is so much trial & error. Sometimes I feel so defeated over, and over, and over again.
So it may have taken a few weeks, but I figured it out.
And it is awesome - because I did NOT want to be buying diapers x2 this time around!!

A Day to Remember

2011-04-14T20:23:00.000-06:00

Today was a crazy day. I'm really trying to get Mya potty trained before this baby comes. Well, it's really hard to train a child who can hold it. And I mean HOLD IT. For 10+ hours. And no accidents in between. I'm trying to take a more relaxed road with her than I did with Lauren, for my own sanity. I can really only do about 2 consecutive days of hard core training before I crack and have to take a break.

Oh well, it will happen some time.

Anyway, so here is what I really wanted to remember about today:

I didn't feel like puking once today.

All. Day. Long.

I just reaized that it's 8:00 and I haven't felt nauseous at all today. I haven't had a day like this in over 7 months.

And it feels absolutely fabulous.

So even though I had to clean up a major pee puddle in my front room {fyi, when your kid holds it for a really long time, when it finally comes, it is in epic amounts}, at least I feel great today!

And I thought I'd throw in a picture since tomorrow marks 35 weeks.

That's right, 35 weeks!

**I never thought my, ahem, "top" would look small. But when your belly is huge, it really minimizes other parts, eh?

10 Things - I'm a Copycat :)

2011-04-13T06:35:00.000-06:00

I decided to copycat my 2 friends & do a "10 Things" random list, because I have nothing else to blog about, and I do not want to blog about pregnancy again right now :)

1 - I have had basically the same hair style for years and don't plan on changing it any time soon. Whenever I do change it, I can't figure out how to do it right and it never looks good. Short and a-line it shall be until the end of time.

2 - I am 0% productive after 8:00 pm. I believe that is the time to sit on the couch, and watch mindless TV for the next hour and a half or so with my husband. He sits at the end of the couch, I lean up against him with my legs taking up the rest of the couch, he puts an arm across my chest, and I absentmindedly tickle it. It's one of the most important and cherished parts of my day.

3 - I hate Dancing With the Stars. I think it's completely lame. Yet I watch it. I don't know why - I think I just want to know what's going on.

4 - I don't like to take baths. It's not really relaxing to me, and I feel like I'm soaking in my own filth. I've probably taken less than 10 baths in my adult life......maybe I would feel differently if I had a jetted tub. I don't know.

5 - As I get more & more pregnant, I withdraw more & more from people. Because I get really annoyed at just about everything everyone does {except Bryan, luckily}. It's ridiculous, really, and it's over things that normally wouldn't bother me at all. I also lose my filter more & more, so the more I'm around people the greater the risk is I will either put my foot in my mouth or just completely offend someone. If this has happened to you, sorry. Don't take it personally. For instance, I lost my temper & screamed at Bryan's friend Hyrum because he didn't like Pirates of the Caribbean {the second one}. Like I said, it's ridiculous.

6 - I can't snap my fingers. Or whistle. I believe it's some sort of birth defect.

7 - I like to think I'm creative, but let's be honest. I just steal other peoples' ideas most of the time :). Thank you internet!

8 - I love to cook. I'm not very good at it, and it usually takes a few times for a recipe to really turn out like it should. But I really, truly do LOVE to cook, and I wish I could make elaborate meals every night for my family. Unfortunately, I work every night until at least 6:00, so my poor husband is left to his own devices most of the time {unless I've decided to go the extra mile & either do something in the crock pot or put together something in advance that he can throw in the oven}. And he does a really good job, bless his heart.

9 - I love to watch bad TV. Like, REALLY bad TV. Especially reality TV. Real Housewives of wherever, Bethenny Ever After. And then there's Hoarders and Intervention. I love it all - there's something about "sneaking" into peoples' lives that is so fascinating to me.

10 - I'm slightly OCD about certain things. You know how you have those lights that have 2 switches in 2 different places? Like one at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom for the same light? Well, I'm very particular about which switch needs to be the one to control said light. If someone turns on the stair light using the switch at the top of the stairs, and then turns it off using the switch at the bottom, thus leaving the switch at the top of the stairs "up" even though the light is off, I will go downstairs just to flip that switch and "fix" it. I'm crazy, I know. My poor husband.

I hope you enjoyed this.
Happy Wednesday!!

Negative Nelly

2011-04-07T06:43:00.003-06:00

So, I realize that lately things seem to have been slightly negative around here. I know I talk alot about how hard this pregnancy has been and all the negative things associated with it.
I just want to clarify - it's not all bad.
I've been very introspective this pregnancy, because it's going to be our last {and please, PLEASE, no comments about "trying for that boy" or "wait until this baby isn't a baby anymore and you'll want another one" - I'm a bit tired of those comments. We feel like #3 completes our family, and have since we had #1. Period. End of statement}.
I've thought alot about how this is going to be the last time - the last time I feel a baby move inside of my body. The last time I get to wear my favorite secret fit belly jeans {they are soooooo comfy}, the last time I get a crazy food craving.
It's a very strange feeling to have, this "last time" feeling. Carrying a baby is like nothing else in the world, and it's different for everyone.
But here are some things I'm going to miss and want to remember.
*Our 9:00 pm "Mom's belly is a jungle gym" sessions every night. Like clockwork. I remember the very first times I felt her move - it was around 12 weeks {maybe even a little earlier} were always at around 9:00. Because that's when the girls are finally asleep and I can finally relax. I still love to just lay on the couch at that time and feel {now watch} her go crazy in there. That has always been my very most favorite part of being pregnant and I know I will miss it.
*Preparing. I LOVE preparing for a new baby. I love that my husband has let me completely redecorate the nursery with every new baby, crazy as it seems. It's my way of feeling like I did something special for each baby. And I know that it really is kind of nuts, and a total waste of money when I have perfectly good girly crib bedding. And I know that the baby will never know. It's completely a "me" weirdo thing. It makes no sense. And all of the itty bitty clothes and accessories you get to buy - seriously. Could baby things be any cuter? My other babies were more fall-ish babies, so it's been so sad having to buy a bunch of new summer things for this one :). And I'm really into making little ~~hair~~ head adornments {bald babies, remember} for this one. You can only use headbands through so many kids anyway before they just get nasty. Really, I just love new stuff.
*I will greatly miss the little half smile Bryan gets when I catch him looking at my belly and he doesn't know I'm looking. He doesn't love the whole pregnant thing - he thinks it's all kind of weird and alien-like. Which I'm fine with. He's just not one of those men who are all about their wife's belly and think it's the greatest thing ever. So when I catch him looking, and see that little smile creep over his lips, and see the little sparkle in his eyes, I just want to burst inside.
*The anticipation of meeting the newest member of the family. I sit here for hours sometimes thinking of what this little lady is going to look/be like. Will she have Lo's sweet disposition, Mya's cheeks, the same striking blue eyes that somehow both of my other girls got from who knows where? There's no question, she will be bald, but will her hair eventually be curly and light like the other 2, or will she have my dark brown? How will the birth go? Birth is such a rush for me for this reason - I want to meet my child. I want to get her out into this world, into our family where she belongs. I secretly love giving birth. The whole contracting and pushing and anticipation of the whole thing is so incredible and amazing and wonderful to me. It's very strange to think this is the last time I will actually give birth to a child.
*The "after". The late night feedings, in her room, just me and her. Quiet throughout the rest of the house. And I know with this baby especially, I will savor those moments of quiet together, because as soon as the sun rises, I will be needed for other things. I won't be able to just hold and snuggle and smell her all by myself. There will be cereal to pour, baths to give, hair to do, stories to read, fights to break up, and other attention to give. I love the feeling a new baby brings to a home - there's nothing else like it. Amid the craziness of it, there's a calm, a serenity that leaves all too quickly as they grow. You can just feel how close they are to the veil, and the spirit they bring is like nothing else. This is the last time I will bring home a new baby.

I can't believe I'm 34 weeks now, and will be meeting this sweet thing in probably more like 4 weeks {doc says I'm most likely to go early since I had the other 2 early - woo hoo}. And this is the last time I will be saying that I'm "34 weeks along". Crazy.

Closet Space!

2011-04-01T18:09:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh, closet space.

As I mentioned before, Bryan worked a little magic in the girls' closet.

I don't have a before picture, but it was just a closet rod with a shelf over it.

I'm sure you can picture it just fine.

So here's the after:

We split it {almost} down the middle - here's the right side.
Top rod for Lo, bottom for Mya. And yes, my girls have a lot of clothes, but keep in mind they are both transitioning in sizes, and it's that fun time of year where you can't quite put away the long sleeved yet, but you have to get out the short.

So they are super packed.

On the floor are 2 small bins for their shoes.

Some might think this is stupid, but we added another shelf all the way across at the top of the closet. Reason? Because I HATE stacking stuff up too high, and there is so much space up there, it just seems like a waste.

It also helps that I'm super tall and can reach it with no problem. It's perfect for stuff the kids don't use all the time {and stuff I really don't want them to have access to}.

And the left side.

4 shelves - perfect for pants, sweaters, blankets, and toys.

At the bottom is a bin for princess dresses {it is very necessary to have a large bin for these}.

I can't tell you how much of a stress relief this closet has been! I was finally able to move all of Mya's clothes out of the baby's room and put away all of the baby clothes.

Hugh sigh of relief.

Because, whatever would I do if I couldn't put baby clothes away, right?

Oh, the crazy mind of a pregnant woman.

And have I already mentioned how amazingly handy and talented my husband is? Maybe I should mention it again. Because he is.

And he's pretty easy on the eyes, as well, if I must say so myself.

Thanks honey!!

Guilt

2011-04-01T14:22:00.000-06:00

Guilt is why I want to share this today.
I just read it and started bawling my eyes out.
This pregnancy has been hard, no doubt.
I'm still sick & having to take Zofran daily {if I don't, I deeply regret it and will throw up}, and am just plain nauseous from 2:00 pm til bedtime.
It hurts to walk. all. the. time. And has for months. {I feel like I've pulled every "crotch" muscle there is}
I'm tired. I feel like poop.
I'm stressed about getting things done for this baby, and being sick is keeping me from getting a lot of these things done.
And who do I take it out on?
My poor husband & children.
Lately I get so annoyed with everything - the second I sit down, someone needs more milk {don't they know how bad it hurts to walk across the room?}, someone needs something fished out from under the bed {um, have they seen the beach ball sticking out of my abdomen?}.
I can't even push my kids on the swings {it gives me contractions. weird, I know, but true}.
I feel so guilty.
I'm short with my kids, and I'm constantly trying to tell myself that it will be over soon & I can get back to being a better mother.
But pregnancy is no excuse.
Why don't I strive every minute to be the best mother to my girls that I can?
It's not their fault that I feel this way. I should be able to push past the way I feel for them - because they are the most important thing in my life.
Reading this post just now helped me to remember what a blessing they are, and how much I love them.
Again, my children are a blessing.

The Last One. I Promise.

2011-03-28T14:21:00.006-06:00

I just picked up what I'm hoping will be the last diaper bag I ever buy.

This is a huge inside joke between me & Bryan - I have gone through a zillion diaper bags, and have never been completely happy with any of them.

Too big, too small, not enough pockets, ugly, not practical enough, bla bla bla.

So I researched until I was blue in the face and found this one.

I'm totally going to use it as a toiletry bag for the cabin after I don't need it as a diaper bag anymore, because {in my opinion} it doesn't really look like a diaper bag.

Which is awesome.

And just so you know, I really want to load it up with stuff right now. Throw in some diapers, wipes, a couple of onesies. Maybe put a bottle or 2 in one of the 4 bottle pockets.

Nesting much? Yes.

And PS, my awesome, super handy husband threw together the greatest closet for the older girls on Friday in about 2 hours. He is so amazing.

I spent a good portion of my morning today putting clothes away and reorganizing.

I feel fantastic.

Isn't nesting the weirdest thing?

Check Out the Ticker

2011-03-25T06:15:00.006-06:00

It's finally been changed to pink. Actually, I just noticed it was blue a few weeks ago, but my doctor FINALLY was able to tell that this baby is 100% a girl - no "if"s, "maybe"s, or "I think"s.

So I have finally allowed myself to go crazy on all things baby girl......again :)

It's amazing how much cuter things can get in just a few years between babies!

I have been literally addicted to Etsy and I think I'm going to give Bryan a heart attack.

But, I'm sorry....who can resist stuff like this?

I'm nesting like crazy now, which has been hard because I've only been able to do so much with the baby's room. With Lo & Mya sharing a room, we haven't been able to put all of their stuff in the same closet because both bedroom closets just have the closet rod, and we need closet organizers in order for both of their clothes to fit {I refuse to admit that my girls just might have too many clothes}.

So I have all preemie, newborn, and 0-3 month baby clothes {about 2 huge bins worth} sitting in the baby room, washed, and folded nicely. Still in the bins, just waiting to be put away properly.

My wonderful husband has had a lot of other things going on for other people, and finally this weekend his handyman skills are MINE and hopefully the closets will get done, and clothes can be moved & put away.

I am quickly moving from freaking out about having 3 kids to being insanely excited to meet this new little wonder.

And I might just be a little excited to get my body back. Just a little.

8 weeks to go as of today.

Wow.

Disney on Ice

2011-03-23T13:53:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of March, we went to Disney on Ice with Bryan's famly.

I, of course, let the girls go all dolled up in the princess dress of their choice. I was a little disappointed that the ONLY princess that seemed to be missing from the show was Sleeping Beauty, because that's who Lo dressed up as. But she didn't even notice - they both loved the show and we all had so much fun!

And oh yes, this crown lights up and flashes. It's very bright.

*these were taken with my phone, sorry about the poor quality

Mya in her Belle-esque yellow dress. I was very nervous about how she was going to be, but she actually did pretty well. It helped that there were aunties with popcorn sitting behind us :)

This picture is just to remind myself that not every part of my trip to the mall on Saturday was an absolute disaster. Lunch was glorious. You can't even tell that in 30 minutes I would be dragging both of these girls out of Nordstrom while they were screaming, and I would be vowing to never do that to myself again.

They sure are cute.

You Win Some...

2011-03-14T15:32:00.014-06:00

You lose some.
You know you've lost one when you allow your 2 year old to accompany you running errands wearing:
A pink & orange striped sweater
Jeans
Blue, white, and pink polka dot rain boots {over the jeans, of course}
Orange bows for pony tails {my choice}
And a green & white polka dot headband {NOT my choice}
It's OK, we just went to Walmart :)

And sorry, no picture. I kept trying to remind myself to take one but forgot. But I'm sure you can get a visual.

Mya Randomness

2011-03-12T13:14:00.002-07:00

I ran across these pictures of Mya this morning, and just had to throw them on here.

She is just about the funniest little thing I've ever met - everyone who knows Mya says the same thing "there is nobody like Mya".

It's so true.

To just watch her walk around and do her thing on a daily basis is quite entertaining.

She's a stinker and a half, and sometimes I want to sell her to the first {not even the highest} bidder, but I wouldn't trade her for anything.

Here she is sporting a headband first thing in the morning when she was obviously wearning pigtails the day before - jammies still on. She seems to be really irritated about something.

She ran around like this for maybe an hour one day - I don't even know what to say about it.

If you can't tell, they are tights.

She must have decided she should accessorize her princess dress with a crown.....one that is too big for her head.

I love this uber-goofy expression she has on her face.

And for the finale - one day she was playing with a baggy full of clips. I looked over and the baggy was empty.

A shoe is obviously a way better place to hold clips than a baggy.

Why hadn't I thought of that before??

"The Best Hair Ever"

2011-03-10T12:03:00.002-07:00

The grass is always greener, right?

Lo always gets so many compliments on her beautiful curls, but she's been asking me if I would do her hair straight.

So I did.

I think it's so cute, but she looks SO different!

I'm amazed at how long it is.

{also at how even it is, considering I'm the only one who's ever trimmed it and I am no professional}

After I was done and it was all sprayed and styled, she couldn't tear herself away from the mirror. She said, "I love straight hair. I look just like Giselle - it's the best hair ever".

I told her that curly hair is beautiful, too, and there are a lot of girls that wish they had hair that was curly like hers.

But she really wasn't listening, because she was way too busy staring at herself :)

And while we're on the subject of hair, here is how Mya walks around most days. She prefers to wear her headbands backwards and thinks it's super hot. I think she's just trying to distract from the mullet :)

The Freckle

2011-03-09T12:52:00.002-07:00

My belly button is an inny. The kind of inny that just looks like a hole in your abdomen. And when I'm pregnant, as my belly grows, the actual button part of the belly button starts to appear. It never pops out, just kind of shows up.
Well, this morning as I was slathering tummy butter on myself, I noticed that my button has a little freckle on it.
And I think that's hilarious.
I remember noticing it with my other pregnancies, but also forgot after each one. Who remembers something like that?
So, since this is going to be my last pregnancy, I thought I'd make a little note for myself.

28 Weeks

2011-02-24T11:24:00.037-07:00

I finally remembered to take a belly shot of myself!

Exciting, I know.

Well, it's kind of exciting for me, because this is the cutest pregnant belly I've had with any of my pregnancies. And yes, I think pregnant bellies can be cute, but normally mine don't look like this.

So here I am, 28 weeks, healthy baby kicking away - we're still assuming it's a girl {I say this because since the 16 week ultrasound I have had 3 others and this child refuses to show us the goods again}

So since this pregnancy has been so incredibly different, I'm refusing to take the tags off of things I've bought and order the bedding I want.

Because we all know someone who had an ultrasound, was told it was a girl, and come delivery day - SURPRISE! It's a boy.

So, in 2 weeks I'm having yet another ultrasound and hopefully the jelly doughnut I eat beforehand will make this kid move around enough to get a clear shot.

I appreciate modesty in my children, but COME ON!!!

Tender Moments

2011-02-23T17:10:00.002-07:00

This morning, after I got out of the shower, I heard Mya in my bedroom saying she was going to sleep in my bed.
I got dressed and combed through my hair and put it up in the way I do every morning before I blow dry it.
I came out of the bathroom to see her snuggled up with her B on my pillow reading a book.
I sat down by her, gave her a kiss, and told her good night.
She then put her chubby little Mya hands on my cheeks, put her face close to mine, and said in the sweetest little voice "Mommy....go make up your hair, Mommy".
Oh, the tender moments with my 2-year old.

Our Day of Love

2011-02-15T14:25:00.022-07:00

Time for a list - here is what took place around here on the Day of Love, aka our Half-Anniversary {we got married 08-14}.

Valentines class party for Lo - she was so exited that they came with tattoos
Dozen roses from Target because Mya just had to have them
My first {and not last} visit to the Sweet Tooth Fairy to get some love treats for some special people {cake bites....oh, my, gosh. I kind of need to forget I've ever had them because they are divine}
Schmidts sugar cookie
Beautiful bouquet of flowers from my lover {who also gave some to each of the girls. He's the cutest daddy ever}
Heartburn
California Pizza Kitchen {the most romantic spot? No. But what pregnant wants, pregnant gets. And pregnant wanted BBQ chicken pizza}
Laughing with my mother-in-law over funny stuff the girls did/said while we were gone
Snuggling on the couch watching HGTV and getting back ticklins, while listening to the girls goof around until after 10:00
It was a good night. Epic? No. But good? Yes.
Thanks again to Sherrie for volunteering to watch the kids for the evening. We didn't expect to get to go out on actual V Day, so it was a nice surprise for her to offer.
I hope everyone had a happy lovers day as well!

Yes, I'm a Whiner

2011-02-03T16:27:00.034-07:00

You know those days when you feel so completely overwhelmed with your life that you just feel like your brain is going to explode and you cry at the drop of a hat?
That's today.
Yes, I know my life could be much, much, much worse.
And I know my hormones are at a slightly heightened level.
But I feel like any minute I'm going to literally crumble to pieces.
Can I just get rid of work, school, callings, laundry, housework, just any and all things not relaxing for about a year?
That would be great.
I'm going to go and cry some more now.
And maybe throw a tantrum on my floor because I'm the mom and I can.

Quick Mya Update

2011-02-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for the advice, I knew you would all have some fabulous suggestions for me!
And in true Mya fashion, the first night after that post she slept all through the night.
Of course.
I just think this is pure comedy, because the same thing happened after I posted about trouble getting her to sleep in her new bed.
So from now on, when I have a problem with her, I will immediately post about it.
And then the next day the problem will magically fix itself.
This just shows you what kind of kid Mya is - to say she keeps me on my toes is a bit of an understatement.

A Little Help, Please

2011-02-02T06:48:00.004-07:00

So, at the ripe old age of 2 and a half, we finally got rid of Mya's binky.
We just cut the tip off before bedtime, and she recognized it was broken and threw it away. Other than hearing "binky's broken" about a thousand times, she hasn't mentioned it.
But now, every night, in the middle of the night, she will start to whimper & cry. One of us goes in her room {her eyes aren't even open} and rubs her back for a second and she's fine.
But this happens at least 5 times a night.
If she slept in her own room, I would just let her cry for a few minutes and leave her alone, but now that she's in with Lauren, I'm not really sure what to do. Lauren sleeps through it most of the time, but if Mya wakes her up she has a really hard time going back to sleep. It will sometimes take her at least an hour {she definitely gets this from me} to fall back asleep.
So I'm looking for some suggestions or tips.
Should we just let her cry and wake Lauren up, hoping that within a couple of days she won't be doing it anymore?
The thing I struggle with, is that Mya isn't even awake most of the time, she's crying in her sleep, so I'm not sure if this is a behavior that can be changed with letting her cry it out for a little bit.
Let me know what you think, Super Moms, because Bryan might not last the week {he jumps out of bed before I even realize she's crying, and with this ever growing belly I can't get up as fast as he does}. He has not been a happy boy the last couple of days :(

January is OVER!!

2011-02-01T14:16:00.002-07:00

I woke up today and noticed that for the first time in over 2 weeks I didn't have to blow my nose. And it felt AWESOME!
And then I flipped over the date on my calendar and saw that it's February 1.
Ahhh, February. That's why I'm better - because January is over.
So I'm very hopeful about February for these reasons:
1. The never ending cold is gone
2. Zofran is the greatest thing EVER and I finally feel like I can function on a day to day basis.
3. Baby girl is kicking me like crazy all the time, which is my absolute most favorite part of being pregnant.
4. Mya's binky is gone, and it wasn't even traumatic.
5. Bryan is going out of town for a golf weekend.....you may be thinking "why are you looking forward to this?" Because, my friends, the poor man hasn't been out of town for anything other than the occasional Scout overnighter in years and he deserves it. And, let's be honest, I get to watch chick flicks & awful reality TV all weekend and order pizza every night if I want to.
6. Bryan coming home from his golf weekend :)
7. Valentine's Day - we don't have a track record of having the best Valentine's Days. But every year we're determined to change that.
8. One more ultrasound. OK, I know that this is a girl. But during the last ultrasound she REFUSED to show us her lady bits, and before I take the tags off of anything or order her super cute new bedding, I want to make sure she is a little lady.
9. Potty training. So, I'm really not looking forward to the process, just the end result. I know this is going to be a fight, and I've been giving myself pep talks daily in preparation.
10. Nesting. I LOVE nesting. Having the energy & desire to clean out closets, organize drawers, redecorate, I love it. And I have been so sick that this house is in serious need of some nesting.

Welcome February, I'm so glad you're here!

Purple Ones and Playdough

2011-01-25T09:14:00.030-07:00

Mya loves purple. And anything purple she calls "purple ones".

These are her second favorite jammies to her princess jammies {of course}.

But they are my favorites, because whenever she wears these jammies, she will run in to my office in the morning after she gets out of bed and yell "PURPLE ONES!" and throw her hands in the air.

Best part of my morning.

{she has the best/worst bed head ever}

This is Mya's new favorite thing to do. Playdough.

But this is how she wants to play with it:

1. Take all of it out of the containers

2. Make sure she can reach it all

3. Don't touch it. Don't smash it, don't squish it, don't play with it.

4. Just admire it {and occasionally smell it}

5. Then, when she's done, put it all back

This kid is so weird, and I love it!

And in case you were wondering, I am fully aware that she has a mullet. She is, too - just ask her where her mullet is.

The problem I have, is that the top refuses to grow. At all. And the back just keeps growing and growing, and I usually cut it, but if I cut it too short then I can't do ponies, which is the ONLY thing to do with her hair.

*sigh*

January Hates Us

2011-01-18T15:45:00.014-07:00

That's what Bryan & I have decided. This first month of the year - the month that should be filled with new goals and aspirations - is destined to be filled with sickness and yuck.
We are working through the crappiest cold I can EVER remember having. It turned into pneumonia for my poor husband, and had him out of commission for a solid 4 days.
Mya got it last Wednesday and is finally acting like herself today.
I started to feel it late Saturday and barely feel like I can almost function today.
How Lo has dodged it for this long is beyond me - I think a TV in the play room where she has gone to watch movies by herself has saved her to this point.
I just want to ask January of 2012 if it can be a little nicer. I know it's a year from now, but maybe if I start wishing now things have a chance of being better by then :)

For Those of You Who Care

2011-01-11T20:01:00.009-07:00

Warning: this will be a post about my pregnancy thus far. For those of you who are completely uninterested in reading about this, please feel free to check out now - I'll never know :)
So, I'm 21 weeks today. Twenty. One. Weeks.
I can hardly believe I'm already past the half way mark.
Maybe it's because I still throw up a couple times a week, which is just weird to me because it only lasted until about week 14 with both my other girls.
Anyhoo - the little gem inside my tummy is quite the kicker. Bryan felt her kick for the first time a couple of days ago, which is nutso to me because I remember with Lauren I went in for my 20 week ultrasound and watched her turn somersaults and didn't feel a thing.
We have decided on a name, which some of you know, but I don't feel right about telling the entire blog universe. I'll just say it was quite surprising that we loved this name, but we do. I've never really felt like people are necessarily supposed to be named any one particular name until this baby. This is her name, and the moment I said it to Bryan it was over. And I love it. It's very simple, very sweet, and for some reason makes me picture her as being a very calm, serene baby. Honestly, I'm sure that's just wishful thinking, but you never know. Lauren was that way {until she was about 1} and that means calm babies are in our genetics somewhere, right?
Here are few little fun facts about this pregnancy at this point.
*As I said, I still puke a couple times a week. I stopped telling people I was starting to feel better and I was over the morning sickness because I would inevitably throw up that night. So I'm "getting there". I finally asked my doctor today to give me some meds, which I just took for the first time aout 30 minutes ago, so we'll see if they work.
*For the first time, I actually think I have a semi-cute pregnant belly, instead of just looking like I swallowed a keg and had a few too many Cafe Rio burritos. Maybe I'll post a pic soon, who knows.
*My saliva production is insane. I mean, really, disgustingly insane. I saw this episode of 16 & Pregnant where the girl walked around with an empty Pringles can and spit into it constantly because she produced so much saliva it made her sick. I understand why. In researching it, I think this is part of the reason I'm still feeling sick. On days where I feel yuckier than normal, I've noticed I'm "spittier" than normal. Totally gross, but you won't be seeing me walking around with a spit cup any time soon.
*I don't have any strange aversions to food - or any specific cravings, either. Just certain things at certain times. Right now I would possibly sell a kidney for a jelly donut, but after I have the coveted donut it will go away and I'll move onto something else. And water from our fridge dispenser tastes strange to me, which I know is just my weird taste buds. I went through a bacon & eggs phase, which, lucky for my thighs, passed relatively quickly.
*My girls {especially Lo} are so excited for the baby to come. She asks me almost daily how big the baby is & if it's ready to come out yet. I'm getting super excited to pick new bedding & decorate the nursery for this little one.
We went to "the" ultrasound today, and thankfully everything looks wonderful. She's measuring smaller than my original due date by about a week, but I have instructed my doctor that the due date will not be changed. And he agreed :)
But we were hoping to get that last and final confirmation that this is a girl. Well, this stubborn little thing REFUSED to uncross her legs during the ultrasound. We tried everything - she was even kicking with her legs crossed as tight as possible. The ultrasound tech thought it was pretty hilarious. So my doc said we would give it another look on my next visit to make sure. Have I mentioned how much I love my doctor? Well I do. He's the best. He delivers babies with the biggest smile on his face you've ever seen. It's pretty adorable.

And here she is - don't you just love in utero baby profiles? I sure do :)

11 Step Program

2011-01-11T06:33:00.001-07:00

11 Step Program for Those Thinking of Having Children

**I got this from a cousin, and it totally made my day! Thanks Mindy!!

Enjoy!!

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

**Hope this put a smile on your face today!

The Big Room Change

2010-12-30T16:41:00.035-07:00

Original plan:
Move Lauren into Mya's room Christmas Eve. Set up bunk bed in Lauren's room as a surprise for Christmas morning.
Mya would then get used to sleeping in Lauren's old bed in her room {which we assumed would be super exciting and fun for her}, and Lauren would get used to sleeping on the top bunk of the new bed.
Once Mya was used to sleeping in a big girl bed, move her into the bottom bunk in Lauren's room.
What actually happened:
Christmas Eve went as planned.....except it took them almost 3 hours to go to sleep. Oh well, that was kind of expected, right?
Christmas night was a nightmare. Mya was terrified of both of the big girl bed options. Finally, at 12:30 am, the crib was put back together and we all had a "good" night's rest.
New plan:
Leave the crib up and talk up the new bed like crazy, giving her the option every day. Decided the idea of the "interim" bed in her room {Lo's old bed} was a stupid idea and went straight to telling her the bottom bunk in the new room was her new bed. We were preparing for this process to take weeks, possibly months. Mom and Dad had serious anxiety.
What actually happened:
She slept in her crib for a nap, night, then next nap. Next night, she decided she was ready for her bed. End of story. Now we are just dealing with little girls who like to talk and giggle for about an hour before falling asleep. That was expected, and I actually find it quite cute {for the first few minutes, anyway}.
All that stress and anxiety over nothing. She decided she was ready, end of story.
This kid never ceases to amaze me. She's so different from her sister, who moved into her new bed happily, never got out, and never lost a minute of sleep during the transition. Mya just likes to do things when Mya wants to do them. I've never met a more obstinate child. She gives me heartburn, headaches, and makes me want to scream from time to time. But I wouldn't trade her for anything.
She's just Mya. You'd think I'd be used to this by now :)

Christmas Festivities

2010-12-28T22:06:00.004-07:00

We tried to do a lot of Christmas-y activities during December.

Here are some little craft kits I bought thinking they would be easier than actual gingerbread house kits.

Yeah, right. Nothing fit together and I had to find myself some serious glue to make anything stick.

But the kids sure had a blast!

I apparently got the worst seat to take pictures of Lo in her very first dance concert. She's in the far right of the picture. Next time I will be asking her teacher where she's at before I run down to take pictures.

Her class was #16 to perform, and she just kept asking if it was her turn. She wasn't even nervous, just super excited. I think I was more nervous than she was - she was just excited to wear makeup :)

She did great - didn't miss a step {though she was looking around more than straight ahead, as seen below} and loved every minute of performing.

And on to Christmas morning.

Since we had 2 trees this year, Santa put all of his presents to the girls under their tree.

Lauren's favorite present from Santa was her Lalaloopsy doll. She must've been a very good girl. It was all she asked for this year.

Bryan has decided to let the girls get me what they really want to get me.

This year it was a dolphin pillow pet. It is my most treasured gift this year.

Lauren told Bryan it was because she wanted me to be able to hang out in "the big TV room" with her & Mya and their pillow pets.

Is that the sweetest thing, or what?

So now I have a pillow pet of my very own. And I am not allowed to go anywhere in the house without it.

It is now hidden from plain sight for that reason.....it was kind of getting ridiculous.

But I love it, and I love why it was given to me.

Do You Speak Myan?

2010-12-16T08:48:00.035-07:00

If you did, you'd know that:
Cor Fry = Corpse Bride
Princess Teet = Christmas tree
Eeyor = Igor
Keekabew = Tinkerbell or Jingle Bells
Geekamow = Drink of milk
Wen = Lauren
Weewen = Uniqua
Iwageekiss = I want to get a kiss
Dis Baket = "This" blanket (a pink camouflage blanket)
Woken = Broken
Susan = Monsters Vs. Aliens
Foosack = Fruit snack
{and until recently} Deedoo = Thank you {now it's "kiku"}
C Cup = Sippy cup
Dia = Darrell
Fapy Waity = Sleeping Beauty

This kid has her own language. I think I only understand about 75% of what she's saying. We do a lot of "OK"ing and head nodding around here. And a lot of "What are you saying???".

Just the 3 GIRLS!

2010-12-04T15:18:00.039-07:00

At the risk of sounding like a horrible person, here goes.

I wanted this baby to be a boy.

Really, really, really badly.

And I honestly thought it was.

I have been a lot sicker and not as tired as I was with my girls, and I'm carrying differently.

I just really, truly felt it was a boy.

So imagine my surprise when the ultrasound tech at Fetal Fotos confirmed those "3 little lines" this afternoon.

I was fighting back tears, because we're about 99.9999999% sure this is our last baby.

But you're not supposed to cry because you're having another, what I'm sure will be, BEAUTIFUL baby girl.

So that's why I feel like a horrible person.

Both of my girls are 100% Daddy's girls, and I really wanted to have a Momma's boy.

I was so sure, I had this in the cart at Old Navy last week.

Good thing Bryan reminded me it was "bad juju" to buy it, so I put it back.

But within minutes I was just excited again.

I get to have 3 girls.
I was a little worried, because I've been referring to it as a boy, and Lo also was convinced it was a brother. We took her with us to the ultrasound, and she is just thrilled!
She got to see the baby on the TV {was completely obsessed with the gel on my tummy - would not stop talking about it} and is now all about helping us choose a name.

I told Bryan, maybe it's because I'm going to get so good at handling girl drama, that I get it times 3 {whatever you've got to tell yourself, right?}.

The sharing of bedrooms becomes not so much of an issue.

Not to mention the clothing situation

{Was I excited to buy an entire little man wardrobe? Heck yes. But that's OK, girl clothes are WAY fun!}

See:

So I am blessed.
I got to see my little girl moving around today, and her beautiful profile.
Bryan gets to bless another cutie in the blessing dress my mom made out of my wedding dress.
I got to see a strong heartbeat and what looks to be a perfectly healthy baby.
I'm so happy and lucky.
And I'm used to girl. I know girl.
Our house has already been invaded with princesses and Barbies - why not keep it coming, right?
And I have plently of adorable nephews to get my little boy fix.
And now, how in the world do we pick another name????

It's Time to Leave

2010-12-01T14:39:00.004-07:00

These are the words that cause Lauren to lose her mind.
At Grandma's house, at friends' houses, any family's houses, the park, the Play Place, and even the grocery store (from time to time).
We try and prepare her very far in advance - "would you like to leave now or in 15 minutes", we count down the minutes to leave starting at 10.
We stay as calm as possible, and sometimes end up carrying her out to the car.
I am at the end of my rope with this!
Today we were leaving a friend's house and she had the most epic tantrum ever - screaming at me, stomping her feet, crying.
Luckily, my friend is very well acquainted with this behavior and has seen it happen many times, so it was nothing new to her, which makes it slightly less embarrassing for me.
I'm just so tired of it.
So I'm asking you, moms who follow my blog, moms who are way more experienced than I am, moms who I have received awesome advice from in the past.
Have at it - let me know ANY suggestions you may have about what to do.
I've already exhausted every avenue we learned about in our Love & Logic class (which helped at first, but not anymore).
So please, I beg you, HELP ME!
The Holidays are here, which means a lot of parties, and a lot of leaving houses and places that are fun.
And I will be able to get a lot of practice with whatever genius suggestions you all give me :)

Thanks, Martha

2010-11-30T10:35:00.005-07:00

I came across this last Christmas while doing a search for advent calendars.

It's from Martha Stewart Kids, and I just loved it!

So I spent the entire year collecting 12 pairs of green, red, white and brown kid/baby socks to make it.

A couple of Command hooks, some twine, and clothespins, and voila!

We did one of those paper ones from Walmart last year with the horribly nasty chocolate candies in them, and every night when we did them I thought "THESE ARE SO LAME!"

And I vowed to find something better, and I did.

It's just so cute!
Some of the socks have little treats {candy} in them, some have a piece of paper with an activity listed {Dec. 2 we are going to the Festival of Trees} or do something fun {coloring Christmas pictures, reading a Christmas story, making cookies}.

I get so excited to find something new, easy, and inexpensive to do for my kids for the Holidays.

I'm so excited that tomorrow is December 1st!

Just thought I'd throw in a little bit of Lolo sass

And a sweet Mya moment :)

Daisy Dog was Found!

2010-11-30T05:51:00.000-07:00

After the worst night of sleep in my life, as I was getting ready to take Lo to school the next morning, I got a phone call from Animal Services. Someone had found Daisy and she wanted to check some information, and call her back. After I hung up with her, a nice lady named Heidi called me and told me she had kept her warm and fed in her garage overnight. I started crying - all night I kept saying to Bryan that I just hoped someone had taken her in and kept her warm. But I was seriously worried that someone was thinking of her as an early free Christmas present.
Luckily, there are some good people left in this world.
She gave me her address, and she was only about 3 streets over from us. Not shocking for me, since in the previous 2 times Daisy has Houdinied her way out of the yard she has been found no further than the corner of our circle :)
We had a lovely conversation with Heidi the Dog Rescuer - she said Daisy was wonderful and her kids didn't want to let her leave.
I thought it hilarious that when her daughter spotted her in their backyard, she said "Mom, there's a little dog in our yard". Little? If Daisy is little, I hate to see what a big dog is :)
So, anyway, she is back home and happy, and so are we.
Who knew I loved this stupid animal so much?

Daisy Dog

2010-11-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

Came home from Bryan's mom's house tonight to find that Daisy is missing.

I say is because she still is.

We think she somehow snuck out in the 10 minute window between letting her out to go potty and us leaving to go to dinner.

Bryan left the garage door open to air out after snowblowing and the man door to the back yard looked closed, but wasn't latched all the way.
She must've nudged it open.

So our dog is gone.

It's been snowing all day/night.

Bryan drove around for 2 hours and still nothing.

I left a message with animal control.

And updated my FB status so anyone that happens to see her in my neighborhood will know.

We're freaking out, and don't know what to do at this point.

Lo said in her prayers she hopes Daisy comes home and gives her "one kiss".

I pray she's OK and we find her tomorrow.

It's Beginning

2010-11-23T12:14:00.004-07:00

To look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

I usually wait until the day after Thanksgiving to deck my halls, but I just couldn't wait this year.

Lo woke up Sunday morning dying over the snow and going on and on about how it's Christmas time now.

So I decided that we might as well join in her holiday spirit and decorate!

This isn't a very good picture, but this is my most favorite Kinyon Christmas tree ever. I went the day after Christmas last year and bought all sorts of new ornaments, and haven't seen them since then, so I was a bit nervous to pull everything out and see what I had.

Lo helped put some ornaments on, and I of course moved them, which made me feel bad.

So yesterday I went and bought a little 4 foot tree and pulled out some of the old plastic ornaments from a few years ago and let the girls go to town.

And I vowed to not move a single one.

And I won't because the finished product is just so dang funny.

Mya's idea of decorating was taking the ornaments back off the tree and putting them away in the boxes they came out of.

She still very much enjoyed herself.
**On a side note, when Mya says "Christmas tree" it comes out "princess teet". Funniest thing ever.

This little grouping at the bottom is my favorite. On 3 branches are 3 bulbs, and 4 sparkly jewel things. And the big sparkly bulb is way too heavy for where it was placed, so it's only about 2 inches from the ground.

I never felt bad about not having a "kid tree" until this year, because my kids weren't really old enough to care.

And I guess I'm kind of a brat for wanting my big tree to be all pretty and (somewhat) perfect. But I think this is a good compromise.

I had thought maybe Lauren wouldn't like that the tree was small, but she loved that she could reach everywhere and it was "the perfect tree for kids".

I'm so excited to get this holly jolly season under way this year - partly because the kids are old enough to get both the Santa thing and really begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas and learn the story of our Savior's birth.

Let the Holidays begin!!
ps - enjoy the Christmas playlist. Love it.