Oh it's great to be eight!

SO.....Allie was baptized on June 5. It was a crazy few weeks for all of us and because of that...I just barely got her pictures done. I love them....all of them. I mostly love how Allie is positive that she hears the holy ghost on a daily basis. It goes something like this:

Allie: Mom! I just heard the Holy Ghost tell me to hurry up!


Me: Um......honey, that was the neighbor kid outside.


Allie: Well......it sounded just like him!


Many pictures......I {heart} all of them. By the way, this is her first set of pictures without wearing a bow. For reals.

Leapin' Lizards!

One audition. A second callback. Two solos, a memorized poem and one song and dance got this girl.....

a part in.......

For more info go HERE

Six years ago as I was laying on my couch sick as a dog, busy growing the baby that would come to be known as Easton, I watched my curly headed little girl as she sang and danced around the family room of our tiny apartment to the movie, "Annie"

She wore only a diaper and a plastic tiara.

This August she will be IN the play Annie....and I will be there watching her and wondering how in the blink of an eye we went from diapers to dress rehearsals.

I'm so proud of her. Break a leg Allie-Cat! :)

In like a Lion....

I'm behind. So I've decided to dump some of my pictures of March from my camera and just describe what happened.

So in February Allie brought home a note from school explaining that all the second graders were being asked to complete an "at-home" art project. They are starting to learn geometry and they had to build either a castle or robot completely out of geometric shapes. I just LOVE when projects are sent home like this. (note the sarcasm) because what happens is that it becomes a contest between parents.(You know its true.) It also explained in the note that a FEW of the castles would be picked to be on display in the school library all next year.
GAME ON!(bahahaha) SO! Allie picked doing a castle (surprise, surprise) and because I'm not one to back down from a little parental competition(insert evil laugh here)I started saving every box from the Eggo's we eat, to the box that Olivia's diapers came in. I bought a glue gun, silver paint and $9 in jewels and crap and WA LA!!!...........

OUR CASTLE

Look how big it is. (I got excited and really into it) It barely fit in the back of the Tahoe and when I say "OUR" castle I use that term loosely. It's really mostly MINE and some of Paul's(he spray painted)and Allie approved the use of the colors. Pink and purple-of course!

As a side note: Allie's (MY) castle was one of them picked to be in the library. I wish I would have taken pictures of some of the "competition" because if you think hers looks like a lot...you should have seen some of them. It was like a dueling match between mom's and our choice of weapons were glue guns. Ridiculous...

OLIVIA TURNED ONE!

As much as I begged her to stop growing up so fast.....she still went and turned one-how rude! It was a fun day!-for her. A melancholy day for me. I actually made a DVD of pictures and video of her first year of life. It was set to music and looked a lot like my wedding video(not joking) and made me and my mom bawl our heads off. Think I'm having a hard time having my last baby??! Well, your right. I'm one step away from needing anti-depressants. The morning of her birthday, I dressed her up all fancy and took her to Costco and pushed her around and this sweet old lady came up and said, "She looks like a cupcake! So cute!" I grabbed onto her arm(the old ladies) and began to tell her that exactly one year ago and at that VERY moment one year ago I was having her(Olivia) and about how wonderful she is and how sad I am and that we are having a party tonight and on and on and on...............she finally got away from me(the old lady) and continued to pick out her pork. I then called Paul and told him that I'm having my IUD removed right now! *silence* He said he was busy. (Why is he always so busy? I was having a existential meltdown in the bulk warehouse and he was BUSY? Whatever......;) But party we did! We spoiled her rotten and kissed her cheeks raw. I can't imagine that we ever lived without her.

The birthday girl...yes, those are feathers on her head. Cuteness multiplied by 100 I tell ya.

Opening her gifts....

The White Five......

A baby! My baby loves babies! She picks them up and pats their back like I do to her. Which is a good thing because Allie informed me that she is NEVER going to have babies. She explained that she wouldn't have time for babies while on tour. *silence* I then told her that she could have them and I would watch them for her because I didn't get my fill with three. (That's a hint for you Paul....mwahahaha!)

I was going to buy one of those expensive sheet cakes.....but I got a hankering for yellow cake with chocolate frosting and since I'm the one who "birthed" her, that's what we had. :) The frosting was divine.

A baby with her baby stroller. Stop. I could die........(Dear heaven, thank you for sending me another bundle of pink. I hadn't gotten it all out of my system with Allie. PS-I'll take another if you have one wandering around.) Again, that was for you Paul. This is just funny now.

With Gaga and Papa. Look at my Dad! He's melting away. I wish I would have gotten a picture of him standing up. He has lost so much weight!! People ask me all the time what he is "doing" and honestly he is just eating healthy. No pills or shots....just good food. :) I'm proud of him-GO Dad!

She ate all the frosting off one cupcake. Which was A LOT of frosting. Very entertaining. Very cute, but not so cute when she woke up at 3 a.m. crying with a bad tummy. THAT was annoying. And I felt bad. By the way...her shirt said: "I'm the birthday girl, now gimme some cake!" Oh stop it.

We started Easton in soccer. He loves it. He actually is pretty good and I run drills with him in the back yard. Okay that was an exaageration. Really I ran one drill with him and was winded....haha. He looks cute out there and I love yelling, "GO Easton!!" I have a feeling a I will spend a lot of years yelling that same thing over and over. Happy to do it. :)

Easter/conference Sunday. I took two pictures. WHAT?! Yeah, I may have actually sat the camera down and just ate and played. It was nice. Here are two of my pictures. Could you die over her hair? I tell her that she had to wait a LONG time for it to come in, but man! She has the prettiest hair. Natural curl to die for.....She is eight soon and I'm sad. Am I really old enough to have a eight year old? I know I don't act like it....

My song bird. :) She sings to me all the time and I LOVE it. Whatever ancestor she inherited her voice and singing from, I thank them! She is still in piano and loving it. I need to put a video on of her latest song. You will be shocked at what she is playing in less than a year's time in lessons. Money very, very well spent.

I had a birthday! One year older and wiser too.......at least I can hope. I love where I am right now. Now if I could just figure out how to make it slow down a bit. I spent the day carpooling my kids around and changing diapers. Exactly what I hoped to be doing at 34. :) Paul did give my wedding ring an "update" and I love it. Love him.

So that is about all for the month of March. April is flying by and May is the big month of EIGHT for Allie. I'm doing her pictures soon at the Salt Lake Temple in her dress(which has yet to be found) but I can't wait to share them. Wow. I need a diet coke! Laters alligators. :)

I enjoy being a GIRL.

She is almost ONE! (sniff-sniff) Here are some of her one year pictures. Many, many more to come.....(This is just the first group:)

Get your skis-HELL JUST FROZE OVER!

There are no words. We are still in shock!
WE GOT ALLIE TO GO SKIING!
I know that it was huge for her to try it and not be afraid and she did SO good for her first time. Miracles do happen people! I saw it with my own eyes and this miracle was adorned with skis and a pink princess hat. hahaha...

This is how she looked at the beginning of the night...

And here she is at the end of the night.

And of course Easton......he was in rare "show-off" mode for Allie. This video is hard to see because Paul was shooting from the bottom of the hill. You'll see me in the black coat and the little person behind me is Easton. I could go as fast as I wanted to and everytime I would look back he was right there behind me.

Now I get to cross off #4 on my New Year's resolution list. I'm one happy mama. :)

A Day in the Life...

6:30 a.m. - Up. As in me sitting up in bed wondering how I could justify sleeping in. No justification....so I stand up.

Wake Allie up(not an easy thing to do).

Make Allie's bed.

Together, pick out her outfit-again, not an easy thing to do! Lots of thought put into THE outfit. We settle on black leggings, skirt and black rhinestone/red flower shirt. Whew!

Get Allie into the shower.

Easton wakes up and I decide to throw him in there too. (They are still young enough right?)

Both kids out-dried off and dressed.

Waffles made, buttered, cut and syrup poured. One glass of milk. One glass of orange.

Olivia squawking for someone to get her out of the crib.

Get her a bottle.

Easton wants one more waffle-butter,cut and syrup....

Do Allie's hair-side ponytail with a great big red flower. Pick out black/white shoes.

Have her wash hands,face and brush her teeth.

Meanwhile.....pack her lunch. Love note from home included. :)

Wipe off Easton's face and put Olivia in car-seat.

Everyone in the car and we drive Allie to school, while drilling her on her multiplication(x2's)

Drive back home-get Easton ready for school.

Pick out show and tell.(Not an easy thing to do) I find a cool bouncy ball that lights up-he looks at me in horror and says, "Mom! It's pink! We settle on the LED re-chargeable hand crank flashlight. Whatever...

Shoes on, hair gelled, coat and backpack on, hugs and kisses.....leaves with carpool.

Gulp down multi-grain Cheerios and clean up kitchen.

Change Olivia's diaper and clothes

Make Easton's bed and my bed.

Put Olivia in the high chair with cheerios and Elmo movie and I go shower.

Use new shampoo. It smells heavenly. :)

Get ready for the day.

Make my bed and Easton's bed.

Check facebook. (a mom's guilty pleasure)

Check CNN.com

Start load of laundry(the first of at least five that needs to be done)

Notice floor of laundry room is starting to resemble the lint trap so vacuum and mop it right then and there.

Decide I better not stop and mop the kitchen and bathrooms as well. Cleaned the toilets while I was at it. Pat myself on the back for the roll I'm on.

Stop and notice that Adam Sandler is singing on Sesame Street. Weird?

Eat a piece of string-cheese.

Change laundry.

Change Olivia.

Notice its snowing outside-BOOOO!

Check my email, put a bunch of things in my "shopping cart" on my favorite website, but stop short of "continue to check-out." (Ever do that? I left it sitting there. Maybe I will buy, maybe I won't.)

Change laundry.

Force myself to do Jillian Michael's workout. (bleh...) Olivia watches me and laughs from the jumperoo.

Eat black jellybeans. (Yes, I love them. Yes, I'm the only person in America who does).

Vacuum downstairs family room.

Decide that we are buying an Oreck vacuum with some of the tax return. :)

Call and tell Paul that I refuse to move to California and live in an avocado green house with a gravel roof. (No, we weren't ever planning on it. I just wanted to be clear.)

Look outside and realize that I'm probably going to have to shovel the snow off my driveway. Re-think my stance on California. ;)

Easton comes home from school-loud,excited, obsessed with his "skull" and doing the pee-pee dance. (They are learning all about their bodies this week.)

Get lunch ready for all of us. Macaroni beef baby food for Olivia. Turkey sandwich with all the fixings for me and him. :)

Clean up lunch.

Help Easton practice writing his letters, name, numbers etc...

Help Easton set up the shooting game(Cabela's big game hunter) on the Wii .

Give Olivia a bottle and rock her to sleep. Enjoy her sleeping while I watch Paula Deen on Food Network.

Call visiting teacher.

Pay two bills.

Fold laundry.

Get snack ready for Allie.

Allie comes home from school-loud,excited and DEMANDING a snack. haha..

Listen to the tales of a second-grader. (Very amusing I might add).

Send her to practice her piano songs before her lesson starts.

Olivia wakes up-change her. Smother her bald head with kisses for awhile. Love that head.

Tell Easton to press pause and "GO TO THE BATHROOM!" (Serious pee-pee dance going)

Get everyone in the car and on our way to Piano lessons.

Drop Allie off, start a movie in the car for Easton, hand Olivia her toy. Pray for quiet for 30 minutes.

While waiting for Allie to come out, I read over my young women's lesson. Read the paper.
After 15 minutes reading-I piggyback on the teacher's internet network and check facebook from my ipod. :)


Bored.


Call Paul....he says he is busy working. I tell him that if he is in Florida any longer that we might end up paying Florida taxes. He says he has to go now, will call me later.

Out comes Allie-loud, excited and talking a mile a minute.

Back home we go.

I eat an apple. Pay the kids in jellybeans to clean up the toy room.

Start dinner in the crock-pot. Gotta love the crock-pot. Especially on Wednesdays.

Yell for Allie to get ready for TaVaci. Change Olivia.

Back in the car we go.

Drop her off at "Glee Club" hahaha...

Go get a fizzy beverage for me. gulp,gulp. The world looks brighter. ;)

Go to Smith's. Buy apples, lettuce, Eggo's, wet wipes and Parmesan cheese. Weird?

Pick up Allie-loud, excited and singing.

Back home we go.

Turn on my music in the kitchen. The kids run downstairs and I fix dinner with an 11-month old glued to my hip.

Dinner's ready!

Who will say the blessing on the food? Me! No! Me! Okay....you. GO! Amen.

Clean up dinner.

Allie gets out her homework. Arithmetic, reading and learning to spell: imagination and conservation. Finish homework and pack up the back-pack. (It's a messenger bag mom!)

Pick up family room: shoes, bags, toys...

Hang out in the family room and watch Olympics with the kids.

Call Paul.

Everyone in pajamas. Teeth brushed. Prayers said. Foreheads kissed. Lights out, nightlights on. GOODNIGHT!! :)

Bath Olivia. Pajamas on. Rice cereal. Play on the floor. Warm bottle and rocking chair.

Into the crib. Nightlight on. Music playing.

GOOD NIGHT!

Clean up the bathroom.

Get a glass of water.

Sink into couch and watch American Idol from DVR.

Check computer.

Take my vitamins.

Wash face/brush teeth.

11 p.m.-Say a prayer of gratitude because THIS kind of day is exactly what I grew up wanting my days to be like. I don't get paid. I'm not all that important. I'm not solving world problems......but I'm MOM and that means something to me. I'm shaping three little lives.....one turkey sandwich and diet coke at a time. ;) I wouldn't trade anyone else's day for all the money in the world. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Since you've been gone.....

Dear DaDa,

I have learned lots and lots while you have been away. You will barely recognize me! For example....
Since you've been gone, I've learned to sleep all night without waking mommy up once in the night. One night I cried and cried for hours for her to come and get me. She never came, the big meanie!! She said something about the fact that I'm almost 11 months old and its time that I sleep all night-blah, blah, blah. You would have NEVER allowed me to cry all night. It broke my heart and mom didn't even care! Pfff.......... But since she won't come and get me, I've decided to sleep until its light in my room. Mommy seems happier for some reason?? whatever!....... ;)


Since you've been gone......I have fallen in love! Yes, its true. He is wonderful! He is smart! He is red and loud! His name is Elmo. I spend lots of time with him and watching his movies-especially when mommy is doing homework with Allie? :)

(sidenote: I can't help that my mom sounds like an idiot. Try and tune out the baby-talk, which isn't easy. She is VERY loud, but you already knew that.)



I wave "Hi!" and "Bye!" all the time now........at least thats how it looks when you guys wave at me! haha!

I have also learned that I like to lick the fridge and the oven. It takes all kinds Dad....

Lastly, just so you know that I still remember what you look like.....

Love you,

Olivia.