Crazy, hormonal Mommy...

I know, I haven't posted for a long time... I really need to be better at it, but it seems like blogging has taken a huge backseat to facebooking. I also had lost my camera's computer connector after Christmas and I didn't have any pictures to post until now... maybe I will do a brief update of the past year... we will see- I don't have tons of time.
I do, however, want to share how wonderful my children are and brag about them for a second. I have been really struggling this pregnancy with illness and discomfort and mood swings. Abby has made me several "I hope you feel better soon," drawings that were completely unprompted... I am so grateful for my little angel. Well, the other day I lost it for no real reason, honestly I started to yell at my kids because we couldn't find the tape to put up a Halloween decoration with and for some reason that got me really mad just thinking of all of the lost tape, pens, and used paper that they steal from my office. I was also fed up with their messy rooms which I had been trying everything in my power to persuade them to do without forcing it on them... finally I blew a fuse and started yelling at the kids- I told Abby she had to clean her room or go straight to bed... when after several times of yelling at her to try to keep her on task and still not getting results, I put her to bed, yelling at her the whole time and her crying. She got herself back up and cleaned her room... later when I put her to bed, still angry from before, she hands me this note:



For those who can't read kindergartener, it says, "Mommy, I hope you feel better, To Mommy from Abby." I lost it and started to cry, I felt like the worst Mom in the world for getting so ticked at my children for not having really done anything wrong. I still can't believe that a sweet little girl decided on her own to make this for her mother who was screaming and yelling at her and calling her a theif and it is so full of love... I now have it hanging in my office where I can see it prominently for 6-7 hours a day and remind myself of the kind of mother I should be. It is easy to blame my behavior on my hormones, and I will admit, I have yelled at the kids way more than I used to lately... but I need to be better. I just hope that I haven't damaged my sweet, loving children by the time my hormones balance themselves out again!!! I just have to say how blessed I am to have the kids I do- I certainly know I don't deserve them, but I am super grateful for them!!!

Lucas's Church Comic...

Okay, so at church we allow Lucas and Abby to do drawings in their "sketchbooks"- today I was shocked when I figured out what Lucas was doing, so I am sharing it with you- see if you can figure out based on his first grade education what it says...

Okay, so for those of you who need a little help reading this, the first page says "The Adventures of Jesus"

The second page caption at the top says "Jesus and the Storm"

The first panel says "A time on the earth Lamaites (he didn't quite get that part right) were in a storm screaming:

The second panel says "They woke Jesus and he said STOP"

The third panel says "And He said "Calm Storm"

The fourth panel says "And they finished sailing with Jesus"

I know, we were shocked, especially when we saw the first page, "The Adventures of Jesus"- yes, a little on the not-reverent side, but we were so amazed- Shawn started laughing and didn't stop for like five minutes...

I am so proud of my Lucas for doing this "comic" about Jesus during sacrament meeting... it is amazing what the kids learn and show and teach us every day! I thought you would all enjoy it as well!

I. Hate. Being. Pregnant!

I know, it sounds terrible to say it, but it is true! Pregnancy is 9 months of misery for me- I am sick for the first 15 or 16 weeks (I know, other people have it worse, other people have to be hospitalized and stuff, I am not that bad, but I am sure that if it weren't for a prescription from my Dr's office [I love working for my OB, it makes it so much easier to get drugs and stuff] I am sure I wouldn't even be functioning most days- and I can barely get the essentials done as it is...) Then I start to have the hip problems and back problems that pretty much last me the rest of the miserable time. This is why Abby is 5 and a half and we are finally deciding to have #3. The thing is, I honestly feel guilty- we have never had a hard time getting pregnant- seriously, every single time Shawn and I have said, "Let's do it"- there we go, we get it; and we haven't had any accidental pregnancies yet *knock on wood*. This especially makes me fell guilty because I know a lot of people who have really struggled in getting pregnant and I just sit here and whine about it. At any rate, we are thinking this will be the last one with all of the pains and problems that accompany me being pregnant, but seeing as how I will be 12 weeks this week, I figured I might as well post about it for those of you whom I haven't told yet or who don't do Facebook (which I don't think there are many of you, but here you go!) So, I am preggers- wish me luck!!!

Abby's Little Mis-Adventure

So, yesterday the little 3 year old granddaughter, Kaya, of our neighbors came over to play with Abby. I wasn't feeling well after a little bit, so I went and layed down in my bedroom at the back of the house. I could hear the girls playing fine and I wasn't worried about them. Well, after a little while Lucas came home, he was upset about some girls who were teasing him on the bus, so I let him watch TV in the living room, and between that TV and the one I was watching in my bedroom, I didn't think about the fact that I couldn't hear the girls very well because Abby has never done anything bad.
Well, a little bit later the neighbors came back to get Kaya and I went upstairs to get the girls from Abby's closed bedroom door. They weren't there, but I wasn't worried, I just figured that they must have gone down to the unfinished basement to play, so I checked down there- no girls. I started to worry, mostly feeling bad that the neighbor was asking for their kid and I didn't know where they were. I searched the whole house, calling for them- nothing.
I heard the neighbors son's motorcycle start to drive around the neighborhood and I thought, well, she probably took her for a walk, sometimes Abby likes to go for walks around the block, but she knows that she isn't allowed to go alone, so I sent Lucas up one way and I went the other, we met party around the circle and still no sign of the girls anywhere.
Now, I really started to panic! I started to go to some of the neighbors houses that Abby had gone to to play before, but no one was home. We all started walking around the streets- I sent Lucas to check at the park. We still couldn't find them. Now the neighbor with the motorcycle had checked out entire neighborhood and couldn't find the girls. I started to cry... I didn't feel in my heart that something bad had happened, but intellectually I couldn't shut my brain up from thinking of how easily they could have been taken by someone... I also was feeling absolutely terrible that this happened to my neighbors little 3 year old on my watch...
We saw a couple of teenage boys on the street and they mentioned that they had seen the girls and told them to go home, but clearly the girls hadn't listened to them. Those boys started to help us look, running around looking for the girls. I ran into a few other neighbors to helped to start the search. There must have been over a dozen people looking for the girls by now.
Finally the guy on the motorcycle drove up the main road in our community and found the girls at the constructions site of the new school that is being built, it is probably a little less than half a mile from our house. I started running in that direction, the guy on the motorcycle gave me a ride and I was so relieved and mad when I saw Abby again. Motorcycle guy took Kaya home and I carried Abby yelling at her and making her cry right along with me as we walked back home.
Another friend who was out driving looking picked us up and gave us a ride home. Needless to say I was feeling so grateful for so many wonderful neighbors who were so willing to help out. I also grounded Abby for a week and took away her TV priviledges for a few days (this actually hurts me as much as her, but it is her favorite thing, so I had to do it!).
Now, I am thinking very strongly of putting a chain lock on the front door so that the kids cannot get out without me knowing about it! Needless to say I felt like the worst mother ever and I am sure that the neighbors won't let Kaya come over to play with Abby ever again!

Thanksgiving 09

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family. Brent, Becca, and their five kids came up from Tucson, Shelley, Derek, and their two kids came over from Denver, and Joe and Shanna and Nolan came up from Phoenix. It was a crowded house with all of those boys and Abby running around and playing! But we had a wonderful time! One day we went to the Dinosaur museum, which was a total blast!!!


Shelley is an amazing photographer and she took family pictures of all of us! We love it- although, it was really bright and sunny out- sorry for the squints!

Isn't Abby adorable?!

We celebrated Edison's birthday during that week- Shawn and I made the cake...

All in all, it was a crazy, full house, but we had a lot of fun!!!

Happy New Year!

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have posted something- heck, I haven't even updated my wallpaper since November! At any rate, I will try to catch you all up on our going's on, once I have uploaded my photos from Christmas etc- for now, this is just a simple post wishing you all a happy 2010!!!