There's Life out there

This year we're determined to figure out how to make our gardens grow. We're really have no clue how to make our yard look as nice as it did when we moved into it and I was pretty sure we killed off everything that was alive in our yard but Lizzie brought me proof of life in our garden the other day. So hopefully we can get our yard to look as pretty as we would like it to. If anybody has any gardening advice please feel free to share it. We could really use the help.
This other picture of Abby makes me laugh. This is her new pose whenever we take her picture. She had just finished an entire moose bar when I took this picture but I think a good majority ended up on her face.

Utah Weather

I'm so frustrated with the weather out here. On Friday it was finally sunny so we decided to pack a lunch and head out to the park. On arriving to the park we found out it was still winter! It was freezing! So we ate our lunch as quick as we could and tried our best to play on the swings and slides while wiping our running noses. It really made me sad. Saturday was a little better so we went to the discovery museum. Sunday was awesome but we have 1 o'clock church so we made the best of the weather when we came home from church and then yesterday was supposed to be near the eighties but unfortunately living in the windy area that we do the wind could knock a grown person down. So here we are again back to the mid 40's and struggling to figure out this crazy weather. Meanwhile here's some pix from the park.

Abby was at least happy to get on the swings

You can see how pretty the sky was in this pix totally deceiving

Lizzie giving Abby a little push

I love Lizzie's hair whenever she goes in those tunnel slides.

Pretty Dinners

(WARNING: THIS IS SUPER LONG BUT I FEEL BETTER NOW THAT I WROTE IT!)
My mom is a fantastic cook. She's currently the executive chef at a ranch for executives and other such big wigs. Growing up my Mom was an at home caterer. We did all kinds of fancy shindigs along with weddings and large banquets for important people like governors and higher ups. As I worked side by side with her through those hard and long hours to produce these feast of perfectness, people would always say to me "You must eat like kings at your house." I would always laugh along with my mom and shake my head no. We ate normal stuff like mac and cheese, frozen pizzas, and casserole galores. Don't get me wrong Mom could bake the heck out of anything she wanted but we always ate just food. Nothing fancy like Apricot glazed chicken breasts with a side of almond rice pilaf, parsley baby carrots, a crisp dinner salad and black forest cheesecake. I knew my mom could make all of that stuff in a snap for crowds of 50 none-the-less. Yet we ate Hamburgers and frozen french fries for dinner. I never really understood until today. I'm kind of pretty good cook, not like my mom but I can hold my own. Today I was craving something that looked pretty. I know that sounds weird but to me sight is a very very important part of eating. So I decided to make Cream Chicken with mushroom Pillows, Steamed broccoli, Rice with an easy chicken gravy. It's not a hard dinner to make but it sure looks pretty on a plate. I mean when those pillows come out of the oven lightly golden brown and the steamed broccoli is that vibrant color of green it's very pleasing to the eye and thus more appetizing to the palate. As I started on this meal of course the house is in slight chaos as usual, after all what can you expect with 3 kids under the age of 4 the youngest two both under the age of 2. Will has been going through what I call Heaven Withdrawal all my kids go through this at about 3 months where they just cry and the only thing that calms them down in to hold them. I think they seriously are just figuring out how hard life is going to be and they really miss Heaven. Anyhow Will has been doing this for the past couple of days, to top things off Abby is well just Abby. It's not a bad thing it's just a lot of time and energy consuming mommy stuff. Lizzie is on this 20 question thing not to mention the whole "Mom Mom Look at Me!!!!" as she does a little twirl or she's done something with my hair etc. But I can all take this in stride because my knight in shining armor is on his way home to whisk the kids away. My knight in shining armor came home and was stricken with some sort of plague. I couldn't believe it. My dreams of eating a pretty meal where faltering quickly. I gave Jeremy the 3rd degree just to double make sure he was really, really sick and then after the obvious he was sick answers (biggest give away was he lost his appetite) I sent him to our bedroom to rest. I was still determined. Will began to cry and cry and cry then Abby thought she would help then Lizzie thought she could help then they fought over who could help Will the most. Soon enough I had three children who needed help. But there I was chopping my chicken. I figured if I chopped loud enough everything would work itself out. Then sweet Lizzie started singing I am a Child of God. Which made me feel a little better but really didn't help the fact that Will was still crying. So I started humming along. Then Lizzie and Abby decided to "help" Mommy. Now i'm trying to blend the cream cheese and butter while Abby is hugging my leg like she'll never let go and Lizzie is "doing" the dishes a.k.a splashing as much water with a single utensil as humanly possible. Finally I mix all the ingredients together and hurry and pinch off my dough and sprinkle them with bread crumbs to give them a great professional look. Set the timer and run to Will who has been crying and screaming this entire time. When I pick him up his head is soaked with his own neglected tears. I try calming him down and try to find something for the girls to do for the long 25 minutes that dinner will be cooking for. I usher them downstairs and hope to find a movie or something to entertain them but Lizzie wants to watch Toy Story and Abby won't watch it unless it has a twirling princess in it. I decide to cave into Lizzie and pray that Abby will find the cowboy doll entertaining. I run upstairs to feed Will while the rice is cooking in the microwave (thank you minute rice). As soon as I get upstairs Abby starts crying and sure enough in a split second her head is laying on my lap while I'm trying to feed Will. I keep telling myself to breathe and it's all going to be OK. Will finishes eating and spits up everything all over me and himself and he is now soaked, but I have 4 minutes till the pillows will be done so I've got to get the gravy going. I've mastered bullion gravy and whip that up as fast as I can. The pillows are perfect nice and golden and I realize I forgot to steam my broccoli so I decide that frozen corn is going to have to do it tonight. I get Abby and Lizzie's plates out dish up there food and it looks really good minus the corn yellow was just the wrong color but the kids like corn. I call Lizzie up from downstairs and get Abby in her highchair and we say a prayer. Lizzie takes one look at her masterpiece on her plate and says "Yuck! I don't want to eat this." Abby pushes the food around and then dumps her water all over her food and proclaims that she's done and wants down. Lizzie takes two bites and I make her and I mean make her swallow them. Then she whines and cries that she's done and she doesn't want to eat any more. So alone I sit at the table with my almost masterpiece dinner and it was like a light bulb went on. This is why Mom didn't cook like this for us. 1. the kids don't appreciate it. 2. It doesn't seem like it takes that much time but when you're on your own anything longer than 20 minutes is too long. 3. I'm tired! I put all the kids to bed a little bit before 8 and I felt like I could just fall down on the ground and sleep. But no I have a baby and then the clean-up......No I can't complain anymore. I had a pretty dinner and that's what really matters here. And I also had a great enlightening moment on why my Mom did things the way she did. I think I'll go to bed now and plan on something like Mac and Cheese or a frozen pizza for dinner tomorrow.

Lizzie gets a haircut

So Lizzie has been bugging us for months to get her hair cut. Since I am such a big fan of long hair and missing my own long hair I've been just putting Lizzie off thinking she'd stop asking, then on Easter Sunday while I was trying to rest my eyes a little Lizzie came in my room with gum stuck in her hair. I knew it was time to cut it. The next day I kept trying to talk myself and Lizzie out of it but she was dead set on having it done. So we went to our local Wal-Mart and i tried to entertain Abby while the sweet lady made Lizzie feel like a princess. As I was unsuccessfully entertaining Abby and watching this lady do Lizzie's hair I realized a couple of things: 1. Although I've been blessed with super thick and for the most part long hair I am clueless on how to do my own child's hair. I mean watching her blow dry and round brush her hair I should be able to do that but really I can't. And really I need to try different ways to do her hair pig tails and braids are about the extent of my talent and so I need to try just a little bit more. 2. Lizzie looks so grown-up with shorter hair. We only trimmed off a couple of inches which really just evens it out and makes it look a lot fuller but I don't know if it's her face or what after this hair cut I just thought that Lizzie isn't my little girl anymore.

Will at 3 Months

Our Little Will Man.

At first I was frustrated when I took this pic because Abby wasn't looking at the camera but it's now one of my favorite pics. You really can see how much Abby loves her little brother in her smile.

Hooray Abby is looking at the camera with a smile!

I can't believe it Will is already 3 months old. It's so funny with our first I just couldn't wait for Lizzie to get bigger and bigger. Each new thing she did was huge and I couldn't wait for the next step. It took forever for her 1st birthday to come around. Then with Abby, she was born 2 weeks before we moved, 2 days after Jeremy had started his new career and it didn't help that she had an older sister, but we were excited just the same with each new development but her 1st birthday came a little quicker than Lizzie's and she is on the verge of turning 2 now! It makes me want to cry just thinking about how fast Will's 1st birthday is going to happen. A lot of my friends are all having babies around now and as I look at their little precious scrunchy babies and see my rolly polly baby boy I just know it's going to get harder with each kid to enjoy the things they do. Like right now Will coos and laughs at me and every time he makes that gurgley sound my heart feels like every ounce of joy is going to come busting out everywhere. He is such a happy boy and only cries when he needs something, if I can just figure it out what it is. (It's usually food!) I feel so blessed to be in the role of a mother and even more blessed to be able to be at home with them and enjoy these sweet little spirits while they are still little. So thank you to Jeremy for letting me have my dream job, even if I complain about it from time to time. And most of all thank you to my Heavenly Father for trusting me with such special spirits.

abby pictures

Abby will be 2 in May and I am so struggling to get a great picture of her. Abby is a very beautiful girl but can't hold still long enough for me to take a picture of her. She really makes me laugh all the time. It's so amazing how different each of our kids are, I guess it just goes to show you that there really is so much more to these little ones then what others would leave you to believe.

My pic of the week

I sure love my kids. It really doesn't hurt that they are so stinking cute!

Rolling..... rolling..gone

So Will is starting to roll from his stomach to his back . He's really great at it if he could just stop crying when he finally gets to his back.Going........

Going.....

Gone...

What did I do?

Whatever it was I'm not sure I liked it!

Tagged

Instructions:
Four people will be tagged.You have to answer the questions, then post on the person tagged, let them know they are tagged, and then they post the answers. It is always fun to learn more about people!!!

10 Years ago I was: A jr. in high school lovin' life. Working at my mom's store and doing every single possible after school activity. I was really busy in High school and don't regret a single moment.

5 Things on my To Do List today:
1. I'm really bad at lists but I can't do anything till my kitchen is clean.
2. Organize my bedroom i.e. finish folding and putting away my laundry.
3. Get Will's room ready to paint.
4. Plant our vegetable garden (I'm so excited to see if my pea's actually make it!)
5. Send a package off to my little brother before he leaves the MTC this week

Things I would do if I became a billionaire:
1. Pay off all of our debt
2. Pay for our parents retirement and see if I could have them move within an hour of us
3. Travel, Travel, Travel
4. Get Jeremy his 18 different dream cars and help him become a race car driver
5. I really want to say pay for my kids education but Jeremy and I both feel blessed to have worked our way through college so I'd have to work out some sort of system.

3 of my bad habits:
1. I'm way too unorganized, I honestly believe if I could conquer this I would conquer the world or at least my world.
2. I watch way too much T.V. I'm literally a waling T.V. guide and it's really bugging me lately.
3. Being Sarcastic. I tend to let that get in the way of a lot of things.

Places I have lived other than here:
1. Logan (married-days)
2. Logan (single-days)
3. Spanish Fork (Single days)
4. Price (college)
5. Orangeville
6. Spanish Fork when I was a little girl

Jobs I have had (recent to past):
1. Northern Title (receptionist) 4 years
2. USU imaging deptartment
3. JC Penney shoe dept
4. Pinnacle Elementary Tutor/ After school program
5. Paperworks
6. Swenson's Catering (these were both of my parents businesses and I don't think I learned more at any of my other jobs. I started working for them when I was 14)

Things Most people don't know about me:
1. I love sports just about any sport not that I can play them well but I love watching them, especially college football.
2. I'm a European history buff and love learning about history.
3. I miss my long long hair
4. I was a ballerina since the age of 4 and quitting was one of the hardest decisions ever.
5. I'm hoping to run a half marathon this year but sometimes I lack ambition. I keep hoping if I tell enough people that I'll run just so I don't disappoint them.
6. Someday I want to be a photographer

I tag:
Kylene
Amy P.
Melissa
Amanda
and anyone else who wants to do this I check all of your blogs all the time.

The writing on the wall

I consider myself an open person and can usually admit when I'm wrong, unless it's to my husband. For Christmas Santa gave Abby some crayons that she can color with in the bathtub. I seriously thought it was a genius idea. Sure enough in the bathtub they were a huge giant hit! Anyhow Jeremy warned me that now Abby was coloring on the walls in the bathtub she would think she could color anywhere she wanted. I protested saying Lizzie never colored on the walls and thus Abby would be just as good. Well darn it all Jeremy was way too right! So I've been cleaning up graffiti off of our walls and Lizzie has been really good to help me magic erase it away (how did anyone survive without that amazing thing!). Well the other day as I was taking some laundry upstairs I noticed something on our stairs. Lizzie tried her best to explain to me that it was Abby but well, Lizzie's handwriting is just getting better and better and well you can see for yourself. Well at least it was in pencil.

Ode to a Car

Jeremy recently sold his old storm for those of you who knew us in college this car was quite memorable and lets be honest the reason I started dating him (Just Kidding). Anyhow as we watched the new owners drive away I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness creep in my heart. We had so many good memories with that car like the time I couldn't get my old Omnit to start during a super cold Logan morning and used my womanly charm to get Jeremy to drive me to Salt Lake to a family party, as we were driving the temperature gage steadily rose until it said it was hot, now mine and Jeremy's account vary on what happened he claims I told him it was fine and to continue to drive and I remember not knowing what to do leaving the decision in his hands regardless the car died on I-15 leaving us stranded fortunately my uncle came and towed the car for us. Luckily it was only a water pump but still quite memorable. I always wanted to find a cool name for the car and only after we sold it did the name come to me. "lightning" what was I thinkin'! anyhow we are so grateful for the car and are sad to see it go but thanks for the memories and may you have a happy life with your new owner.

Few more pics

I guess it's been awhile since i've posted so here's a great story from a week ago. We made cupcakes for Family Home Evening. The kids love licking the bowl and such, we didn't have time to frost the cupcakes so we decided we'd do it in the morning after morning chores. That morning I decided to take a quick shower while the kids were watching cinderella. I came downstairs just to find cupcakes all over the place with one bite out of each of them. Lizzie was near tears saying she tried to stop Abby but that she just kept getting a new cupcake. So out of the 24 cupcakes there were 12 that had not been bitten into. So we decided to frost them all anyhow. Seriously I need to tie the chairs together or something so Abby will stop getting into things. She's such a turkey.
Abby was chewing on this beater trying to make sure she got it all off
Lizzie loves the rubber scraper she's really mastered cleaning off the bowl with it.
One of Abby's half eaten cupcakes artfully decorated
Happy St. Patrick's day to everyone. Just so you know that fluffy white frosting is great!
And what would a post be without our little happy guy. He's for sure getting a kick out of his sisters.

Great Day

We blessed Will on Sunday and it was a fantastic day. We are so grateful for all the family that was able to make it out and celebrate our special little guy. Here's a few pic's unfortunately Abby was unwilling to sit in any of pictures but at least Will looks super cute. He's grown so much in the past 8 weeks he's nearly doubled his birth weight and has grown another 2 inches. i'm just hoping his dark hair sticks around.I saw this cute picture online and had this idea of my two girls and Will but Abby just would not cooperate on Sunday so this picture will have to do.
Lizzie really loves her little brother and is such a big help. I just wonder how long till Will gets put in a dress...
Doesn't this picture say "Yes, I'm a little man." He's such a tough guy.
I love this picture! The blanket he was blessed in was made by my great-great grandmother for my dad on his blessing day. It's fully of amazing detail.
Wouldn't you know the only picture that was in focus of our family was this one. Abby had just barely ran out of the picture Will screaming his head off and Lizzie thinking she's just adorable. All in a day...

Do you believe in Miracles?

A miracle has occurred in our home today All 3 kids took a nap at the same time! Huzzah Huzzah! If only I would have been able to sleep for more than 15 Minutes that would have been beyond awesome. Unfortunately my phone rang every 15 minutes during the blissful hour and 15 minutes that the kids were asleep. Oh well,there's nothing like the sweet sound of all your children sleeping soundly. Sweet Dreams.

Lizzie was a little cranky so we played the who can close their eyes the longest game, she won.
Abby sound asleep in her crib, although all the sheets were torn off...She's been in a mood lately
Will sleeping on the couch, I know babies sleep all the time but his timing was great this time.

Lizzie's Question

We were driving late and Lizzie whom I thought was asleep asked, "Mom, what do star's feel like?" I gave her a very scientific answer as in my way too grown up way explained that star's are like our sun but very far away. Lizzie then told me what she thought star's were like...They're round like cookies and warm like houses. There are times I wish I was like a 4 year old the world was a lot simpler and full of things that made more sense.

Abby story 1 &2

Story #1
So Abby is hitting a very interesting stage in life. She's very curious and slightly mischievous in a very innocent way. For example on Sunday she was in nursery enjoying snack after the nursery leader had put cheese crackers on everyones plates he said that when they finished the crackers they could have a fruit snack. He then turned his back for a second and when he turned around Abby was holding up her empty plate ready for fruit snacks. When he went to put the fruit snacks on her plate he noticed that Abby had dumped all of her cheese crackers on the floor.
that brings me to
Story #2. Yesterday after feeding Will I went to find Abby to put her down for a nap. I called and called for her but she wouldn't answer nor would she run to me. All of the sudden the lamp on our side table fell down and there was Abby hiding under the table. She gave me a big smile and that's when i noticed the pen in her hands. i frantically searched the carpet, walls and furniture to make sure she hadn't drawn anywhere. After finding everything to be clean I felt very lucky and that's when she lifted up her shirt to show me her "artwork". Someday I'm going to get this whole mother of 3 thing and by then the kids will probably be in College.

New List

Random Picture I think Will is saying "Ladies, Ladies please." These little girls sure love him!

So I've started a "Things that are keeping me sane" list. I have been so grateful for these items. I was going to call it a love list but it feels really weird saying that I love things more than my family so let me give a brief explanation of these things. I'm lovin' my Bella Band it's like a tube top for pregnant ladies that help you make your jeans last a bit longer by holding them up the nice thing is you can wear it post pregnancy and sneak back into your favorite pair of jeans. I mean I know I still look fat but there's something reassuring about being able to slip back into a size 8 pair of pants even if I can't zip them all the way up. The baby swing I forgot how much I love mine, it has this great sensor in it that if will starts crying it'll start swinging again, I really feel sorry for my mom who had the 15 minute hand crank swing from way back in the day because this one totally rocks! Abby has been taking like 3 hour naps which gives me enough time to clean the house up plus take a nap of my own it's really been rocking out! And my honda pilot oh how I love being able to get all of my kids in it neatly, have a DVD going for them, the heated leather seats and so many more features it really has made my life a little simpler. And the Ipod I can feel the inner teenager applauding this item. It's been really nice to mix my playlists to suit my mood and action and to be able to pull out some old CD's that I totally forgot I had (hello Reality Bites Soundtrack and Mariah Carey) It's not that I haven't been listening to music but it seems to have been brought into such a better light. Anyhow watch the list and if you ever have a question about one of the items just let me know. I know I love hearing about peoples good experiences with products especially when they make our lives a little easier.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you out there. We figured we had so much love in our house we could probably share it with all of you. Love is one of those funny things the more you try to give it away the more you get back. Will is surly feeling the love from his older sisters. We hope you all know how much we love and appreciate you all for your prayers, love and support and hope that all is well with you.

crazy

so my last post i talked about little brother tyler going into the mtc the sunday after i posted it i got a text from my sister-in-law mandy in Logan saying Tyler was on the front page of the Hearald Journal (Logan's Newspaper) and sure enough my mother-in-law emailed me this pic today. What a crazy world that my little brother would wind up in a newspaper of a town he's never lived in. anyhow thought you would all enjoy.
ps i promise this isn't going to be a tribute to tyler blog now just thought this was interesting.

Oh how we love you Elder Tyler

Yep he's going to miss Little Miss Lizzie but they'll always have their "Hey Hey"s
Ya Abby's oblivious but the crazy thought is when Tyler get's back she'll be Lizzie's Age
What up little guy! Tyler was so excited for Will to get here and now he has to go it's alright we'll play some more when you get back in a couple.

My little brother left for the MTC yesterday and we are surly going to miss him and his mad "uncling" skills but are so excited for his new adventures in Mexico and the great decisions he has made. Lots of love to you my brother!

The Mommy Survey

Sorry Lex I saw this on your blog and had to copy it just to see if I could remember it all.

1. Age(s)? 4, 20 mos and 3 1/2 weeks
2. Name(s)? Elizabeth Jean (Lizzie), Abigail Grace (Abby), William David (Will)
3. Birthdays? 9/27, 5/25, 12/31
4. Time(s) of birth? 2:13 A.M., 5:20 P.M., 2:54 P.M.
5. How long did labor last? Lizzie was 21 hours, Abby 8 hours Will 7.5 hours I was induced with Abby and Will I don't know if I'll ever go on my own again I loved being induced!
6. Who was in the room when baby was born? It's always just been Jeremy and the Dr/nurses. The Dr almost didn't make it in time for Will (Slightly Scary and stressful. I had to ignore the baring down pains for almost 30 minutes and once the dr got there he just said "Go ahead and push" I found it kind of frustrating)
7. How long did you push? Almost 2 Hours with Lizzie (she got stuck! They had to use a suction cup to get her out) Abby was 3 pushes and she was done! Will it seemed like forever but it was about 10 minutes
8. Weight? 7 lbs 13 oz, 6 lb 9 oz, 7 lbs 4 oz
9. Length? 20 1/2 inches, 21 and 21
10. Any hair? Lizzie had peach fuzz and a yamaca looking bruise, Abby tons and Will tons
11. Who does baby look like? I never know Abby I think looks like my side of the family but then again she looks like Jer's as well. I guess it just depends on the day.
12. Be honest...how much weight did you gain while pregnant? 35, 23, 30
13. Was baby early or late? Lizzie was 6 days late, Abby 2 weeks early, Will 1 day early (for tax purposes!)
14. Who drove you home from the hospital? Jeremy. I still remember with Lizzie feeling like I should have some sort of parade or something. I honestly remember thinking It's not everyday I give birth!
15. How many baby showers did you have? 2 with Lizzie, 0 with Abby, 1 with Will (Thanks to friends out here in Tooele I would have had no boy clothes without it!)
16. When did baby start sleeping through the night? Lizzie at 4 weeks, Abby at 6 weeks, Will came close last night 10-4
17. Did you breastfeed? Lizzie and Abby for 1 year and Will is acting like he'll never stop!
18. Who takes care of your baby/kids the most? Well I'm a stay at home Mom so it's my job but Jeremy definitely pitches in when he's home.
19. When do you want to have another one? Talk to me in Two years and I might be able to tell you then
20. How did you pick the name(s)? Elizabeth was the only name we could both agree on at the time Jean is my mom's middle name. Lizzie picked Abby, Grace is my Great Grandma's middle name. William David goes a couple of ways My Great Great Grandpa was William. David was his son one of my favorite Grandparents (he was an amazing man!) Jer's dad is David and also an amazing man!
21. How did you know when it was time to go to the hospital? With Lizzie I just couldn't take it any more and figured if I cried enough they'd let me in and the other two we had appointments for
22. Anyone spend the night with you the first night home? Mom did with Lizzie but the other two my Mom kidnapped the siblings instead (I love you Mom!)
23. Did you cry the first time you held your baby? No I think I was just in amazement with Lizzie that all of that had happened. I think it was the same emotion with the other two
24. Where was the baby born? Logan, Logan and Tooele (Logan is still my favorite)
25. Did you video tape the birth? No thanks I guess I'm super private about all of that stuff, I'm not a big fan of watching myself struggle.

New Baby Boy

William was born on Monday December 31, 2007 at 3:00 PM. He weighed in at 7 pounds and 4 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Black Hair

This is pretty much all he does.

This is the widest I've seen his eyes open