Again...

So Cooper got burned again. No chemical this time, just the stove top. Brian was helping me get dinner ready and he told Cooper the stove was hot and just as Brian took the pan off, Cooper stuck his hand down. He was pretty upset of course, but he's been doing really well. He didn't really complain the day after it happened. It was sad though because I gave him soup, not thinking about him not being able to use his hand, and I was thinking "he's kind of struggling with that soup. My sister then pointed out he was using his left hand. It was actually kind of amazing to me how good he was with his hand.

Happy New Year!

Well I don't think I've ever gone this long between posts, but I've been busy editing wedding pictures and entertaining kids.... so here's a catch up, in no particular order...
Caroline decided she wanted to be an artist. First she went with the more natural approach. We weren't big fans of that one, so Bri hooked her up with some acrylic paints and she decided she wanted to paint live forms. Needless to say, her art went a little unappreciated that day.



New Year's Eve, Bri and I have decided, is way too overrated! We decided to just hang home with the kiddos. We ate dinner and then for dessert thought we might start a new tradition of banana splits. Well, if you're like Elizabeth, you don't like ice cream (odd, I know) and you don't want bananas either, so you have a whip cream split. The recipe is whip cream, carmel syrup, chocolate syrup and sprinkles. She didn't eat much. None of the kids had bananas, so that tradition might not stick. After that, we did some little fireworks and put them to bed. They didn't stay, so we let them stay up. I thought it'd be fun to make some music videos, but Bri was a poop on that one, so me and the girls did videos. Might have to work on that one for next year. Then we let them watch movies until 12:00. Elizabeth made it to about 11:30 and Caroline was 11:50. I tried to get them to wake up so they could bang some pots outside, but they didn't budge. Bri and I flipped on the tv, had a quick kiss and finished our board game. Just another night for us, just a little later.




Christmas Eve we went to my parents house and hung out and then after dinner, headed back home to try out another tradition. I got this one from my friend. It was to make home made pizza. Well, I counted Boboli as homemade since I didn't have enough time to make the dough. The kids had fun making their own, Cooper thought just eating the sauce was cool enough I guess. Then we opened pj's that Bri's Mom made and sent the kids to bed. They came out to let us know they heard the bells from the sleigh on the roof. I kept telling them they better go to sleep so Santa could come in. I think I said it with a little too much excitement 'cause Caroline jumped out of bed and said, " I want to sleep in your bed. I don't want Santa to come into my house." Well, we calmed her fears and then she was all excited again. Christmas was fabulous too. We woke up and did the whole presents thing. Caroline was the most excited. She was so thrilled that Santa came to our home. When we first moved in, Elizabeth asked us how Santa was going to come in because we didn't have a fireplace. I didn't even realize that we didn't have one until that point. Well, watching The Santa Clause with Tim Allen showed her how a fireplace just magically appears if you don't have one. We spent the morning opening presents and visiting with Brian's family on webcam. We were all pretty happy with our surprises that morning. We were blessed to get all that we did from eachother and from family. Then we packed up and headed to my parents for the traditional brunch which is fabulous! My Mom does such a great job on all the food. I look forward to it each Christmas. We ended up sleeping over because of the snow storm and stayed up until about 1:00 playing games. Jill and Paul got stuck there too, so that was fun.





We had a fancy night with Brian's work party at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was a nice dinner and of course he was "talked into" performing a little song for the group. It was well liked as expected. He's a great performer, and doesn't he look hot in his suit!



Isabelle now has her 2 bottom teeth in. They were a little rough in their journey, but we all made it! She also had her left eye's tear duct open up, so we're glad about that. She's a smiley baby and we're having a lot of fun with her in our family.


Earlier in December we made the trek to Salt Lake to see the lights. We took the front runner and trax and I don't think we'll do that again. Quite the long night, but the kids were great and had fun seeing the lights. We stopped for a minute to catch a few snowflakes on our tongues.


Elizabeth loves playing in the snow. She was out there for a little bit by herself and then she came in and walked straight to the fridge and tried to put her snowball in there. She wanted to save it for later. It was so funny.

Been Busy

So we've been busy around these parts. I wish I could remember what it was that's been making us so busy, but I can't seem to remember. Last week I headed out to South Carolina to shoot my cousin's wedding. It was so much fun. I took Isa with me and we had a great time. She was nearly perfect on the plane both ways and a lot easier to handle than all 4! It was great to spend time with my Grandma and see all the fam out there. I got to watch a bunch of HGTV (we don't have cable) and just relax. We took a trip out to the beach just to walk around, walked around downtown and enjoyed the festives of the wedding. I've been working on a lot of pictures lately and although I enjoy it, I'm anxious for a break. I have another wedding coming up in 2 weeks, so I'll get a short break. Bri and I have a babysitter for tomorrow so we can get our Christmas shopping done. I know.... procrastinators! Oh well.

I've lost my wedding ring. I went through 2 weeks of garbage, even opening dirty diapers. And just incase you were wondering, their smell does not lessen after 2 weeks! I didn't come up empty handed though, I found one of Cooper's shirts and a knife in there. I'm going to guess Cooper put them in there. I'm also blaming him for my ring being lost. I don't know for sure though. I've looked in vents, all the drawers, random toys, bags, just about everything I can think of. Hopefully it turns up.

Isabelle turned 5 months. I have a few pics in honor of her 5 month bday. Here's amazing for you.... last night we put her to bed at 7:30 and she woke up around 4:00 and then went back to sleep until 7:30. Then, at 9:00 she went to sleep for 5 hours, then down again at 4:00 and is still sleeping. So in the last 24 hours, she's been awake a total of 3 1/2 hours. Not sure what's going on there. I keep checking on her to make sure she's breathing. Must be some major growing going on.

Cooper has figured out how to get out of his crib. I'm surprised it took him this long, but now bed times and nap times are a little of a challenge.

Caroline has been a major stinker! My Mom had all the kids for 2 days while I was gone and Bri was at work and I think 90% of the "issues" were Caroline. She's miss drama queen. 3 years old totally kicks 2 years old! I've lost my sweet Caroline for a little while. Hopefully she grows out of it quickly. She still does sweet things every now and then I guess, she's just a lot more.... teenagery! :)

Elizabeth has been a lot of fun lately. She loves playing games in the car like I Spy and 20 questions and name that tune. We played it for an hour on the way to WeeMama's house. She loves to stay up and try to get out of going to bed. She's also way into Star Wars and XBOX. I think the Star Wars marathon went on while I was gone.

Brian was great to help me out during my excursion. He seemed totally calm every time I called. Not sure why I get all the craziness! :) He just finished a vball league. The were so close but ended up taking 3rd. Still a major improvement from last go-round.

Well, Merry Christmas to all of ya.

O Christmas Tree!

So there's been a lot going on lately, but I'll skip to this real quick. We heard of this tree farm from my sister and since it was just up the street, we decided to Lampoon it this year and cut down our own tree. Here are a few shots from the event.

First almost stitches

Well Monday morning I got a call from Elizabeth's teacher. Somehow she slid on a LEGO and slit her leg open. I was sure she was going to be freaking out and bawling, but she never cried a tear. We got to the doctors office, yes, all 4 kids, and were in there for about 45 min before we walked out with some glue, bandages and a few suckers. I tried to find a neighbor to help with my kids, but I only really know 2 well enough to ask and one wasn't home and the other was leaving. How I miss my old neighborhood! :( So, we all went. I couldn't believe how brave Elizabeth was. She skipped out to the car on the way to the office and was coloring while waiting on the table. I'm so glad she didn't have to get stitches! After a few "moments", I caught Cooper making faces in the mirror. Didn't catch a great one, but thought it was funny he was doing that.

Anniversary Weekend

Well we made it to 7 years. Yipee! Brian and I decided to take turns planning our anniversary. We couldn't remember what we did last year, but I was sure I planned it. Come to find out, the anniversary we thought we did 2 years ago was last years. Boy that was a long year! So Brian ended up planning the last 2 and he did a fabulous job! We stayed down town at the Hilton for 3 nights, kidless. Special thanks to all my family for helping with all of them. I was really nervous to leave Isabelle, but it ended up being a great break. We did see her 2 times though, so that helped. Friday night we went to see the musical "Into the Woods". It was fun. They did a great job. That's one of Bri's favorites, I think mainly because he performed that one in HS, but none the less, it was a fun play. Oh, before that we went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner and had an hour before the show started, so we went to Cracker Barrel and walked though their store and then ended up outside on the rocking chairs to play a game of Checkers. Brian was convinced it was played like Chess, but I corrected him and ended up winning. :)

Saturday we woke up and got our Continental breakfast and then headed down to the gym to work out. I know right? Are we awesome or what? Well, we had to do it because of all the great food we were eating! After that we headed over to my sister Jill's real quick and then out to lunch at Cucina in Salt Lake. Yummy! After that, we were off to see the play Noises Off. It was a real funny play with a lot of craziness! After the play we went back to the hotel and just relaxed for a bit. We got some little snacks at the hotel and then Brian surprised me with a massage. Loved it!!! I haven't had one in over 2 years and it was just so wonderful! Then we went to the Executive Floor (doesn't that sound cool) for dessert and then fell asleep relaxed!

Sunday we woke up and walked over to Music and the Spoken Word. It was great. Every time I hear the MoTabs sing I really feel like Brian should be in it. Of course I'm sure I'll hate it because that's 2 more days I'm parent-help-less, but I know he would love it and I'd love to see him doing it. He has such a beautiful voice and loves to share it and is so great about sharing that talent. He'd also really like to sing under Mac because he had him at BYU and really enjoyed him there, so we'll see. I went ahead and made the plunge and told Bri I think he should do it. He thinks it'll be better in a few years, but is there really a good time to abandon your family? JK. So we'll see. Auditions are in July so we have a little time to think about it. After the music we just walked around Temple Square. I can't remember the last time I went in the Visitor Center. There was so much I hadn't seen. Also, we got to watch the Joseph Smith movie that came out a few years ago. Brian missed half of it because he had to take Caroline out, so we had the chance to watch it uninterrupted which was lovely. As I sat there I realized so many things I'm doing wrong and so many more that I need to be doing. What amazing sacrifices all the early members made and how little I feel I sacrifice for the Church now. I'm so far from where I need to be. Will I ever get there?!!! It was fun to be at the Salt Lake Temple since Sunday was our official anniversary and that's where we were 7years ago. Afterwards, we laid in bed and watched tv uninterrupted. No one asking us to get food, or drinks or this or that. How lovely. I even got to take a nap! That never happens. We got some lunch at Tony Caputo's. It's fabulous. They have a meat ball sandwhich that can keep you full for hours. We actually didn't even get dinner because we were still full. We took a little dip in the pool and relaxation time in the hot tub. I know.... we're so bad 'cause it was Sunday. I think we'll be forgiven though! I'm sure the Lord knows how important a little relaxation time without kids is and how rare it can be! Okay, I'm just trying to make myself feel good about it. Don't judge me! :) We ended up getting a little too much tv/relaxation time and neither one of us had a great sleep.

Monday we woke up, ate breakfast and headed over to Costco to grab a few things before we were off to see the new James Bond movie. (Hence the picture of the gas prices. I think it's even lower than when we were married! Well, not quite yet, but I was shocked at the price.) The move was good. Your typical violence and action happening so fast you have no idea who's who. But still entertaining. We had some good alone time and I'm grateful to Brian for planning such a wonderful weekend for our anniversary. I love that guy and he does so much to help make my life easier. I love being able to spend time with him and just talk about life, where we're going, what we need to do and just be with him. I think I'll stick around for another year! Love you Bri!

FYI

I just thought I'd throw out there that I printed off my blog into a book through blurb.com. It turned out great and it was so fun. I can't wait until next year to do it again. They have this way easy way to do it called slurp. I had a friend try it a week or so ago and she said that slurp wasn't working, so you might want to wait until it does because it's so easy. You can choose where you want your words, which pics on what page, how many on a page blah blah blah. Way fun, so don't waste all your memories you take the time to put on a blog. Print it off so you can remember them forever. It's so fun!

What a sweetie

Caroline fell off her chair at dinner the other night. She fell right on her head on the tile floor and was really hurt and upset. Elizabeth asked me to paint her face like a clown. I asked why and she said, "I want to make Caroline laugh and feel happy." I thought that was so cute.

Miss Isa

So we've hit 4 months old. Well, 2 days ago. Surprisingly considering the fact that she's "loved" all day by her older brother and sisters. She's doing good though. She's 25.5 inces (92%) and 14 lb 6 oz (70%), so she's thriving! :) She's into her hands and feet and is getting close to the roll over milestone. On the sad side, she cleared up her infection on her right ear, but snagged one in her left ear. Hopefully we'll be sickness clear for a little while.

Another one down.....

Elizabeth has lost another tooth. It was pretty loose, so Bri finished it off and pulled it. She was so brave. I thought for sure she was going to cry because it looked like it hurt, but she didn't. We got new callings in church on Sunday. Bri and I were called to team teach the 12 year old Sunday school class. They waste no time here. This was our 2nd week and already called to duty. It'll be fun though. We're excited. We also had the Primary program. Elizabeth had a short line and froze. All she had to say was, "Read the scriptures", but she got up there and put her fingers in her mouth and they kept saying her line again and again to her, but she just wasn't up for it I guess. She finally whispered it. We asked her about it later and she said, "there were just too many people". I wouldn't label her as shy, but the past few weeks she put on a little "shy act". Oh well. I'm sure she'll be out of it soon!