Hi

Doug has been out of town on and off for most the summer, at music festivals that are too incredible to pass up. I am feeling large and tired most days, taking care of 2 2/3 children myself. I miss my husband. I miss our extended family. We haven't been able to visit them for almost two years. But I feel such love from our "family" here. Thank you for all your support. On days that I feel I may lose it, you reach out to us, maybe not even realizing it. It means so much to me.

Our kids are such a joy. I love to be with them. Whenever I leave them with babysitters, I miss them (although I don't always want to admit it!). Our little family is everything to me, and I can't wait until we're all together again...and our family of four becomes a family of five.

Pink, pink, pink

When the oldest child is a girl...

The second child becomes accustomed to headbands, necklaces, and pink blocks.

Happy Mothers Day!

I'm so grateful to be the mother of these two beauties...and so thankful for my hubby who has spoiled me rotten. Hope you all have a wonderful Mothers Day!

Updates

When we first moved here, we did a free trial at Silverlake. It's a lot like a YMCA. I vowed that someday we'd get a family membership there.

We've decided to stay HERE in Cincinnati! My other job at Fitworks fell through--perfect timing, in a way--so I applied and, through some friend's connections, got a job in the Kids Club at Silverlake. Free memberships and discounts for only a few hours of work a week!! Took the kids in to do the paperwork today and they couldn't stop staring at the indoor splash park/pool. This is what happened when we got home:

"I want to go swimming!"

The kids kept stripping. Zach put on those accessories all by himself!
I think we're all sick of this weather. Good thing we can go swimming anytime now at Silverlake. They have an outdoor waterpark too, so you'll know where to find us this summer!

Summer....doesn't that seem so far away?

Nursery and Sunbeams

Our little girl isn't so little anymore. She's no longer in nursery--now she's in Sunbeams!

I get to see her for the last half hour when we combine Senior and Junior Primary (I teach the 11 year olds). I was beaming watching my Sunbeam. She waved to me and grinned, then sat back in her seat. I never knew I could feel so proud of my girl.

Lately, her knew saying is, "Jesus comes to our house."

She got spotlighted today. They took her up front and she wasn't shy at all. Here's what they read:
My favorite color is red.
My favorite food is pancakes.
The color of my hair is blonde.
I want to be a doctor when I grow up.
My favorite thing to do outside is slide at the park.
The color of my eyes are green.
My favorite Primary song is I Love to See the Temple.
I was born in Rexburg, Idaho.

She got a special sticker and had to put it down low on her shirt.

Little Z is in nursery! They let him in early--about three weeks--and he's doing surprisingly well. I almost feel naked without the kids...but I'm not complaining!

And some last pictures for making it this far in such a long post:

Here's the craziness these two get into. I have no idea what was so funny. But, apparently, it was FUNNY.

P.S. I found my wedding ring a few weeks ago! In one of Aubrey's many purses, hidden behind her door and under a stack of other toys.

Notice

Hi everyone! We're back, and have so much to post. You know that overwhelming feeling where there's just too much to do? I was feeling that way about the blog. So I'm just starting where we're at now, and I'll try to back track about our holiday fun later.

I made a goal for the New Year to choose one word to think about: NOTICE.

Aubrey grins the most when she's with her grandparents!

I want to notice the little things more. To notice when Zachary says something new. To notice when the kids share. To notice how blessed I am to have a home, food to eat, wonderful family, and good health. To notice the beauty all around me; and to notice my strengths more than my weaknesses. Most of all, I want to notice when I can help brighten someone else's day.

I am excited for a new year. Thanks for being such wonderful friends who brighten our days!

The simple things

I knew it was time. Zach has an ear infection (his first one--I know, we're lucky!), and Aubrey got a flu shot today. They were both in tears on the drive home from the doctor.

It was time to whip up some mac n' cheese--from a box--and turn on Cinderella while eating. What can I say? Doctor visits call for special times.

She's worried about Cinderella.

This grin shows it all.

The smiles these kids have when they eat this stuff is AMAZING! They were happy and laughing by the end of the meal. There's nothing like comfort food and a good show, eh?

And now, for some Aubrey moments:

Most mornings, Aubrey wakes up and points to the window.

"The light is on!" she exclaims in delight. (pointing to the window)

Today, when we saw a police car zooming by with its sirens going off, she said: "That's a fire car."
"Actually, that's a police car," I said.
"No, it's a fire car, mom!"

Such simple things make life so wonderful, don't they?

Life around here

She fell asleep on the couch.

Whenever I turn on music, the kids race to the bed and dance. I see no point in making the bed, since this is a daily occurrence around here!

And please, don't try this at home. Falling off the bed is dangerous and strict supervision is required. (There, now no one can sue me.)

Pre-Halloween Fun

Don't know if I'll be posting for a while...I've been burned out lately, as you know. So here's some pictures until I get back into the blogging mood!

Friday, Doug and I went to a Halloween party. I really despise coming up with costumes, so Becky helped me out. It was fun to go on a date...it's been awhile!

I went to Old Navy on Saturday and the kids got free shirts for wearing costumes, plus I got $5 off any purchase. So we got 3 shirts and a pair of pants for Aubrey for a grand total of $7. I love shopping like that.

Oh, how Aubrey loves princesses!

I took apart her dress after this (see how tattered the bottom is?), and she was devastated. So my friend is putting a new sparkly material on for me, since my sewing machine is having issues. Yay for friends!

Meet Spiderman, who's always ready to punch those bad guys (or walk away from his sister)!

Of course, he can be calm and cuddly when necessary.

Brian and Becky, aka Frankenstein and the Mrs.

Doug is the magician (couldn't find him a top hat), and I'm the bunny that's supposed to come out of the {missing} top hat.

Have a great Halloween!

Fun times

We went to Kinman Farms on Monday. Went on a hayride, pet animals, picked pumpkins, and jumped on haystacks. It was a blast. No pictures though, because my camera ran out of batteries!! :(
We painted pumpkins for family night. This is one of mine...

And here's many of Aubrey's. She LOVED it! (I love the silver paint under her eyes)
Note: I took out this picture...figured shirtless girls shouldn't be online.

I found Zach talking on the phone the other day.

He picks up things so fast. He's learned how to say "no" already (thanks to his sister), book, oops, mama, dada, lots of animal noises, this, and wow. He LOVES books and says "Booookkkk" with a very pronounced k. These moments make me smile!

Our Little Olympians

This is now our double stroller. Aubrey's over the 20 lb. limit, but no worries--it's sturdy. I love the look people give me when they suddenly see there's 2 in there.

After our Sunday walk, Zach discovered he could sing. His first tune was the Olympic theme, courtesy of his sister's constant warbling. Our poor children--bound to be music nerds!

Home

I grew up in Utah. Then I moved to Idaho for college. And now we live in Kentucky.

Staying with my parents and my in-laws in Utah brought back my memories of home before kids. The carefree days where I could go anywhere; where I could earn money and spend it on anything; where I could stay up late on summer nights, knowing I could sleep in as long as I wanted to.

At first, the trip was hard without Doug. I felt overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of 2 little ones alone. Vacation used to be where I got a break from life--yet raising kids is a 24/7 kind of job. And Doug helps so much with them, that it suddenly felt like I was working overtime!

Then I started realizing how much others were helping me. My relatives played with the kids all day long. I could go upstairs to grab something and know others were watching them. We had activities planned every day. I made dinner only twice that month! Others were so sweet to pay for us to eat out, to spoil the kids. We had so much fun.

Now I've been back "home" in Kentucky for a week. The first few days, I was so excited to be back. To be with my husband again. To have my own house to live in, to clean and take care of. I worked non-stop those first few days, cleaning, cooking and organizing. The next few days were filled with doctor appointments, outings, the Olympics, working out, YW's...I was going to "do it all". Then it hit me.

I was exhausted! I didn't want to do it all. Now I'm in charge of the meals again. The laundry. The children. No one is there to do it for me. I began to miss my mother and mother-in-law especially. I didn't realize how much I relied on them while in Utah. But the load of being a "single-mother" for a month had been lightened knowing that they would help. I began to feel discouraged about myself and my confidence as a mother.

Then I read this post on Jenni's blog about Stephanie, a mother who just lost her 14-month old daughter. Stephanie's post here really touched me, especially when she said this:

"Take a minute for me tonight and record the little things your kids do right now. They don't even need to be cute things. Someday when your baby is grown you may even miss the food thrown on the ground or the face wiped on the sleeve. Cherish the little things. For the little things are the spice in life."

God is my strength. He helps me. And my wonderful husband and I continue to work together. The responsibility is still there, but what an honor it is. I'm so grateful to have so many homes...and all of them full of love. I'm blessed to be able to watch my children grow. To watch Zach grin, his dimples crinkling up his face as I help him walk across the room. To watch Aubrey sharing a toy with her brother. What a blessing to be a mother, and to be in my own home, raising our own little family.

Crawling, crawling, crawling

Our boy's now mobile! He's been crawling since May 22, and lately has been pushing himself up, trying to stand. As you can tell, he's sooo happy to have freedom to run toward or away from his sister. His favorite time is right after dinner, when he's messy and we let him run around naked a bit before plopping him in the bathtub with his sister!

9 Months

Zachary, you're 9 months old. 9 MONTHS!

Your weight 3 weeks ago was 16 lbs, 6 oz. and your height was 29 inches.

Zach, we love how you love your sister--even when she strangles you.

You love to play outside.

You love Baby Einstein.

You want to crawl SOOO badly...

...but instead end up doing pushups. What a strong boy!

You love to play with toys. You have such a sweet personality, and you drool constantly.

We can hardly imagine what our lives were like before you entered our family. We love you Zach!

Back again...

It's incredible how fast the time goes. I haven't had much time on the computer this week, and I've been trying to limit it anyway. Once I get the cleaning done (which is so hard for me sometimes!), the computer becomes a fun reward. This last week has been a blur, but I tried to take a few pictures along the way.

Saturday and Sunday Doug's grandma and her partner Arlyne came for a surprise visit. All the way from California. It was short and sweet, and the grandkids loved them.

Aubrey sharing her money with Great-Grandma Tingley

Zach bonding

Zach and Arlyne

I've been working a lot at the gym. Here's some photos of life there. It's amazing how exhausted you can get after taking care of 30+ kids for a few hours. The other moms there are such good friends though, and it's so nice to have a social life. Plus, I can't complain about extra money!

Also, I've been making a few gifts for Mothers day. I'll post pictures later--in case they're reading this. Have a happy weekend!

Bedtime...or not?

Aubrey migrated back to sleeping on our floor again. It was time to move her back with Zach for REAL. But it hasn't been easy. Caught in the act--waking up Zach

Bedhead

"Peekaboo!"

Zach sleeping in the pack-n-play in our living room so Aubrey won't go "play" with him.

This has put potty training on hold once again...any suggestions? Zach goes to bed earlier than Aubrey, so she's always waking him up. Anyone want to lend us a 3rd bedroom?