9/11

Last night Tanzi had the best night...EVER!

She did wake up right as I had just fallen asleep at 10:45!

How does she ALWAYS know when I'm going to sleep? For an entire week she has done that, whether it's been 10 or 11....she knows!

Well, I let her cry, just like I told her I would.

She cried really hard for 10 minutes, then she sort of fussed for 5 minutes and then went back to sleep.

She didn't wake up to eat until 3 am! She went 9 hours between feeds!!

Hallelujah!

Well, I made it through church without Gary today!

The kids looked SO cute for church...I just had to take a picture :)

It's impossible to get a pefect picture, but I still think this is pretty stinkin cute!

I just wanted to share a few thoughts.

These last few days I have been really appreciating all the 9/11 tributes.

I'm pretty sure everyone can remember that day and has a story about exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the horrifying news. Here's my story:

I ate peaches for breakfast.

I remember as I was eating I felt sick. Not like I was ill, but it was as if I new something was wrong. Terribly wrong. After eating only half my bowl of peaches I proceeded to get ready to go to beauty school with my roommate, Jacque. Shortly after breakfast my mom called. Through her tears she informed me of what had just happened. I remember asking, "What does this mean?!?!" I believe she told me something along the lines of a terrorist attack...I don't remember the exact conversation, but I do remember that she also informed me that my family was unable to contact my brother, who lived in NY at the time, and his wife, who worked 3 blocks from the World Trade Center.

Jacque and I wondered how we would make it through our day at school, but then we were just sure that school would be cancelled. School was not cancelled. There we were, doing hair, while people's lives were crashing down around them. Literally.

I later learned that my brother was ok. But was still unable to contact his wife. It wasn't until hours later that we heard that she was ok. Pregnant and on her way to work, after getting off the subway she had to immediately start running as the first tower came crashing down. She had to walk hours out of the city. And, after some of those hours her sister, in Hong Kong, was finally able to contact her and was then able to call my brother and let him know she was ok. But was she really ok? Were any of us really ok after experiencing and watching such horror unfold before our eyes?

We all have a story. This is mine as I remember it. And now, 10 years later the world pays tribute to that day. A day that will never be forgotten. But what I can't help but think is how evil this world is. The adversary loves more than anything to attck the family. Well, that's just what he did on 9/11 ten years ago....and that's what he's doing today. Not only did he steal the lives of so many on that day, but so many families are still being effected because of that day. During one of these many programs on TV today I heard a man say, "I'm not a fireman no more because of 9/11. Umm....I'm not married no more because of 9/11." My hreat broke....for this man. He didn't lose his life that day, nor did he lose his wife. But that family has been broken since. What power this evil has. How grateful I am for the gospel and for my ETERNAL family! How truly grateful I am for the Savior and how He is holding my family TOGETHER!!

Movie Day

Last night was not a good night.

I went to bed right around 10 and fell asleep really fast. Less than 10 minutes later Kyri came in. Before I could even walk her back into her room Tanzi was awake and crying. After putting Kyri back in bed her and Graysen both cried about being thirsty. I got them a drink. I let Tanzi cry and she fell back asleep about 20 minutes later. Shortly after that Graysen woke up (I'm not actually sure he ever went back to sleep) and it woke Tanzi up. Gray needed another drink. Tanzi cried off and on for another 45 minutes. I finally decided if I was going to get any sleep I should just get up and feed her so we could all go to bed.

And that's what I did.

I think it was between 11:30 and 12 when I got done feeding and burping Tanzi. Shortly after that Graysen woke/got up. Thirsty. And he did it again after that!! Between all this waking up and fussing I somehow managed to watch Freaky Friday. I think it's a really funny movie. But I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't constantly being interrupted. I finally fell asleep around 1 am.

Tanzi woke up about 3:45. I fed her, burped her, changed her bum and got back to bed around 4:30.

Kyri and Gray woke up around 6:30.

I wish Gary was here to help.

I admire single mom's.

A lot!!

We still had a really FUN day, though!

As soon as Gray woke up from his nap (and Tanzi woke up from her 3+ hour nap) we popped the popcorn!

I later realized I never fed the kids lunch. So, really, their lunch (and mine) consisted of popcorn, M&M's, licorice, fruit snacks, and chocolate milk!

I'm such a good mom!

We moved our big bean bag into our bedroom. The kids thought that was pretty cool! We normally don't eat food upstairs, but today was a special movie day...I just had to make an exception.

I'm such a good mom!

Ready for Ratatouille!

Cute movie

Graysen hasn't worn onesies in over a year, I think, but all his PJ's are dirty and I found a couple onesies. He thought it was pretty fun to wear a onesie like Tanzi!

Yep, her shirt is too small and she's wearing mismatching shorts.

Love those beautiful blue eyes!!

Tanzi was laughing at Graysen. She LOVES when anyone laughs at her.

She thinks it's hilarious!

I can't even believe that you can't even see her scar!!

SOOO precious when she's sleeping!

If only she would sleep for more than 3 hours at a time!! (Now that would be even MORE precious!!)

Thank goodness Gary wasn't here when this thing came creeping into the kitchen! He's slightly, ok VERY, scared of spiders. And this thing was HUGE! Luckily, we haven't seen a lot of spiders around here, but it's unfortunate that the one I do see has to be so disturbingly large!

Not a lot happened today besides movie day.

While Gray and Tanzi were sleeping Kyri and I got her birthday party invitations ready. She has about a dozen friends she wants to invite. She is getting really excited and I'm getting nervous to entertain that many 4 year olds!

I'm not looking forward to tackling church by myself tomorrow...wish me luck!

I told Tanzi when I put her down tonight that if she wakes up between 10 and 11 I'm just going to let her cry. So, I told her to just not wake up then so we don't have to both be sad tonight.

Let's see if she listened to anything I said!

Now I'm off to take a nice long bubble bath (since I never did get around to showering today) and reading my book.

Another Day

This morning I told the kids that if they helped me clean the house today then tomorrow we would have a movie day with popcorn and M &M's.

This was them "cleaning"

I decided it would be better to turn the TV on for them to distract them so I could clean. Even Tanzi watched an entire episode of Word World (she LOVES watching TV...our other 2 never loved it at this age. In fact, Graysen still doesn't love watching TV)...I got A LOT done! But I DID leave a little for the kids to clean. They were happy to do it! And so later we went to the store to get some M & M's. Not to mention to price match diapers at WalMart that were on sale at ToysRUs for only $5 and then I had coupons for $2 off! Not a bad deal! That is when I wish I got like 5 Sunday papers! (at least)

Tanzi did NOT have a good night last night. I'm not sure what to do. Tonight I'm going to try and let her cry longer when she wakes up between 10 & 11. We'll see how it goes. She did, however, take a 3 hour nap today...but I think I prefer my sleep at night. While Tanzi and Gray were sleeping Kyri and I read Ratatouille since that's the movie we'll be watching tomorrow for movie day. None of us have seen the movie, we just got it on Netflix, so we're pretty excited! Then we painted our fingernails and toenails!

I love girl time!!

Tonight I actually made dinner.

Since Gary's been gone I've been making sandwiches and cheese tortillas and such for dinner. Tonight we had ranch chicken, mashed potatoes, and yellow squash from our neighbor.

Delicious!

When we were getting ready to go to the store Graysen grabbed his hat and Kyri grabbed her "Wolf hat from preschool"

(not sure where she got "wolf" from....it is clearly a lion!)

Yes, I let her wear it to the store.

Why not?

I'm not ashamed of my CUTE kids!

Normally on Friday nights I love to watch the murder mysteries that come on Dateline.

I'm addicted.

I LOVE them!

I'm crazy!

But I can't watch them while Gary's gone.

It freaks me out too much and then I can't sleep.

So, I'm glad that tonight Dateline is about 9/11 That's something I can watch by myself...I think...and this way I'm not tempted to watch a murder mystery by myself!

With a clean house (mostly...and I LOVE when I have a recently vacuumed house) I am officially ready to RELAX!

A Trip to Logan

Today we spent the day in Logan.

First I dropped my kids off at my sister, Tawn's, house and then I went to visit my Grandma Dora. She lives in the Alzheimer's unit in the nursing home and it is often hard to see her so confused about what's going on in her life. However, today was a fairly good day for her. I only heard her swear once!! :) She called me Tawn several times, but at least she knew I was her granddaughter. And when I told her I thought her lunch looked delicious she said, "Then YOU eat it!!" And she got a good laugh out of herself on that one! I told her I liked visiting her and she asked me why. I told her it's because she's my Grandma! She said, "I guess that's not gonna change any time soon." I told her she was my Grandma forever. Then I told her the other reason I liked visiting her was because I loved her....and that I will love her forever! She seemed to find a bit of comfort in that. I'm glad I had the little bit of time I did with her today.

Then the kids and I went to lunch with a couple of my Beauty School friends!! And Tawn and Alyssa joined us. It was SO much FUN!! I have not seen those friends in YEARS and it was great chatting and catching up. They are some of the best of friends! But next time I think they should come down here when Gary can watch the kids and we can have a GIRL'S NIGHT!!

Afterwards we just went back to Tawn's to hang out. The kids were playing SO good together in the basement and when we finally got around to checking on them we discovered a DISASTER! It was such a HUGE mess!! So, we all helped to clean up the basement, but then we could only find 1 of Kyri's shoes. We spent 20 minutes looking for it and then decided to go without.

Then we went over to Dustin (Gary's brother) and Cassidy's house. Kyri and Gray had SO much fun playing with their cousins, Rylee and Miles. It's been a couple months since we've seen them so it was fun to just play!

We decided we need to go to Logan more often...it was just SO much FUN!!

Oh and Kyri said some pretty funny things on the way home. First, we stopped to get a Kid's Meal from Wendy's the kids could eat for dinner on the way home. This is not the funny part. I wanted the kids to just share one, but I knew they would both want a frosty so I asked the lady if I could get a frosty instead of a drink. She said, "It already comes with a frosty." I said, "I know, I want 2, so can I get one instead of a drink?" She told me no because the frosty is complimentary. I told her I'm still paying her, but would like a frosty instead. She told me no. So, I asked if I could not get a drink and pay less for the Happy Meal. She told me no. I was going to get a frosty for myself, but I was irritated with her so I just went over to Charlie's and got a raspberry/Reese's PB shake :)

Anyway, so after Gray ate ALL his food and was going to town on the ONE frosty Kyri said, "HEY! Someone took my chicken nugget!!" I just started laughing and asked if she dropped it or something. She said, "No, because I can't find it ANYWHERE!!" A couple minutes later she said, "I think I actually already ate my other chicken nugget!"

Silly girl!

Then I had to stop in Brigham City to feed Tanzi and Gary called. YEA! When I was done I put her back in her car seat and away we went. Tanzi was being good and very happy. About 1 minute later she just started screaming. I said, "What happened?" And Kyri told me, "I just said, "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

No wonder she's screaming.

We have all 3 car seats in the back of our Accord.

Kyri can get RIGHT in Tanzi's face.

And apparently she did.

Needless to say it was time to end my conversation with Gary.

I think she was kinda ticked at her....as soon as Kyri fell asleep (20 minutes later) Tanzi quit crying and was great for the last 10 minutes of the car ride.

First Day of School

Before I get into the excitement of our day I HAVE to mention the SWEET post by the BEST husband EVER!! So, make sure you check it out ;) I love love LOVE that guy!!

Okay, so today was Kyri's first day of preschool!!

She was SO excited!

And looked SO cute!!

Her pants were a little big, but she LOVED that she got new pants just for school!

Too bad I didn't have a new shirt that fit....and wasn't too winter-y....she was still happy to wear an old shirt...thank goodness!

Oh, and the other day I FINALLY bought Kyri some new panties.

She has been wearing 2T panties since she was potty trained....2 years ago!!!

Today she got to wear her cute, new 4T panties...and never complained about them "getting stuck in [her] bum" :)

There she goes!!

And at this point I said, "Turn here! Turn here!"

I didn't see the point of walking all the way to the end of the drive way just to walk all the way up the next one.

Kyri LOVES her backpack, but I just ordered her a new one online.

If she is loving this one, though, I may save her other one for kindergarten or something.

The only bad part is that another girl in Kyri's class has this same backpack....we'll see.

Going into school with her classmates and teacher.

(Sorry I cut your head off, Ms Kate!)

While Kyri's at school Graysen gets to play with a friend!

Jade is Ms Kate's little girl and she will come over every week....a trade off....I watch Jade and I don't have to pay for Kyri's preschool. It's fantastic! These 2 were SO cute together!!

Right after Jade got here Gray said, "You like babies Jade? Me go get you one!!" And he came back with a baby doll that was "hers" for the day.

TOO cute!!

Doesn't it look like she had a fabulous time at preschool?

I have no doubts she is the smartest girl in class :)

I love you BIG Kyri girl!

Happy First Day of School!!

Our day was pretty laid back besides this super event.

I made 2 more batches of the Cantaloupe Bread I made some into muffins and more loaves.

Then, while Gray and Tanzi were napping I taught Kyri how to play UNO. She told me she already knew how, but she didn't. So, we played a couple games. It's kind of fun playing cards with a 4 year old....you get to see all their cards and can make the game go really fast :) It was a lot of fun! Then I let Kyri watch a show while I took a little nap. It was nice because this evening I actually had the motivation to clean up a bit around here instead of wanting to just relax and watch TV after the kids were in bed.

The kids were all in bed by 7 again. I guess I'm getting used to this routine without Gary, even though I still don't like it much.

I think Tanzi knows EXACTLY when I'm going to bed.

2 nights ago at 11:00 I was less than 2 minutes from being in a nice, deep sleep when Tanzi woke up wanting to eat again.

Well, last night was no different except that it was 10:15 instead!

I was kind of irritated that she wouldn't just go back to sleep and I tried to ignore her for a while, but I did eventually get up and feed her.

And now I can't complain. She woke up later at 2:40 and then not again until 7am!!

This is FABULOUS for her!

Here's to hoping for another good night!

Missing My Family

I didn't want to miss out on all the fun so I figured I would put a post on the Blog. This past week has been more difficult than I thought. This is the first trip I have been on this entire year so I can't really complain too much. I do like to travel, but I really hate leaving the family. I'm glad Mauri is such a super-MOM and can handle all three kids by herself.

As Mauri mentioned, I have been in Charlotte, NC for the past week and will be here for another week. This is my first time out here and it has actually been a pretty fun experience. I am learning how to use my southern accent and learning a few new words I had never heard before. I have had to eat out every day which hasn't helped me maintain the 25 lbs I had lost. I do try to work out in the fitness center at the hotel and I really like swimming. There isn't usually anyone in the pool so I practice all the different swimming strokes. The other day, someone apparently had been spying on me while I was swimming and commented as I was walking back to my room, "That is a nice butterfly you have." I thought it was kind of funny.

I'll keep it short, but just wanted to tell Mauri and the kids how much I love and miss them. This last week better start going faster than it is right now. I am anxious to get home with lots of hugs and kisses for the entire family.

Cuteness and a Yummy Recipe

I love having all 3 kids in bed by 7:00!! And, believe me, that's not an easy task without Gary. But I know that if I can accomplish that then I can regain my sanity before tomorrow :)

Kyri was SO cute today!!

But let me back up.

Before Gary left we were talking to Kyri about priesthood blessings. Father's blessings in particular. As Gary was explaining them to her she quickly piped up and said, "Daddy, will you bless me before I go to preschool?" It was so sweet of her to ask rather than us asking her if she wanted a blessing. Well, we thought Gary could do it the day before he left, but that ended up being such a CRAZY day and by the end of the day Kyri was fast asleep on our way home from Logan. We wanted her to be awake and alert for the blessing so Gary decided he would wait until he got back. That means Kyri will go to one day of preschool before she will have a Father's blessing. The very next day (Sunday) we were at church and Kyri said (not any too quietly) "DADDY FORGOT TO BLESS ME!!"

I told her he would be able to do it when he got back and she was good with that answer.

So, today, out of nowhere Kyri said, "Oh, man! Daddy can't bless me before I go to school tomorrow!"

SO cute!!

I told her she would only have to go one day and then he can give her a blessing before school next week.

I love that this is something that has been on her mind.

I hope that means we're doing something right.

Tanzi slept a little better last night. She still woke up at 11 pm to eat...after eating 6 oz at 6 pm! But then she only woke up every 3 hours after that. I am hoping for an even better night tonight.

But I won't keep my fingers crossed.

Tanzi did, however, have 4 stinky diapers today. I'm hoping she is figuring out her body a little better.

And even though she slept better last night I could NOT, for the life of me, get a burp out of that girl!! I spend 10 minutes feeding her and twice that long trying to burp her. I have tried every trick I know! I guess maybe it doesn't matter THAT much if she's sleeping better than when I DO burp her, right?

Who knows?

Last week at my parent's Tanzi did some neat tricks.

First, while on her belly, she pushed off with her feet. She wasn't sure, however, what to do with her arms. So, she did nothing. She just put her head on the ground and started pushing. She scooched herself clear across the room! But I think she decided that didn't feel very good because RIGHT after that she started rolling....across the room! She kept this up the few days we were there.

Well, I guess she forgot that she knows a new trick because since we've been home Tanzi only rolls from her back to her belly and then scooches in a circle on her belly and then gets REAL mad because she doesn't want to be on her belly anymore, but she won't roll over!!

What a silly girl!

We made cantaloupe bread today.

FANTASTIC!!

Yesterday at WalMart I got 3 cantaloupes for only $.50 each!!

And then I tried my sister-in-law's recipe.

Cantaloupe Bread

Kyri starts preschool tomorrow and is SO excited about it! It's RIGHT next door. How convenient, right?

Whenever there's a good sale and I have a coupon I buy clothes for my kids for the next season...for WAY cheap. So, tonight I decided I would pull something out of the gift box to give to Kyri for her first day of preschool tomorrow.

Well, I learned 3 things.

1) Everything I have saved up is for winter....heavy sweaters and what not. Not really going to work for tomorrow.

2) I have a HUGE pile of super cute things for Kyri (some of which may be too small because she has grown SO fast and has a very long torso....sigh)

3) I only have about 3 things for Gray. This seems to be the story of his life. As we speak all his church pants are ridiculously too small. I guess I will be going clothes shopping for my little boy soon....let's hope I can still find things for super cheap! But that's just the problem. I can't usually find boy clothes for cheap....or I would already have a HUGE pile of them for Gray too!

We miss Gary and can't wait for next Tuesday to get here!!

We miss Gary.

A lot.

I hate going to bed alone.

We can NOT wait until Tuesday!

Good night love!

Update

A few weeks ago I decided to go back and read about when Tanzi was in the NICU. It brought back a LOT of feelings that I thought would last forever, yet many have dwindled since bringing her home. It also made me realize how much I LOVED having a daily record of our lives. I'm not good at keeping a journal...so our blog is it! Then, recently, one of our friends made their blog private so it could be more of a journal of their family's daily happenings. She inspired me to get back to that point with our blog. (Thanks, Jenn!!) So, hopefully I will be MUCH better at updating the blog....as boring as that may be for many of you.

Gary is out of town for work. He's in North Carolina. He left on the 28th and this will be a good way for him to keep up on the craziness around here. Tonight it's going to be a lot of recent pictures, but from here on out it will probably be less pictures and more words (yes, it's possible for me to be even MORE wordy :) ) But before I get into the pictures here's the excitement from our day:

Gray often cries for his daddy when he gets sad, but today it was especially sad. When he cried for his daddy I told him daddy was in North Carolina. I asked him if we should try to call daddy. Gray said, "No!! Me want my daddy!! Me want my daddy to come home now!" Oh...it broke my heart...it's gonna be a long week.

For Family Home Evening I decided to talk to the kids about a slight change in how we discipline. I recently read "1-2-3 Magic" by Thomas W Phelan and felt like we could definitely try his technique to help have a happier home. Gary took the book to read on his trip, so I decided I would get going on this before he got home so he could just jump in when he gets home. We already use some of these strategies, but there are some changes. So, I was talking to Kyri and Gray about what would change and how I would actually set a timer for their time outs (then I won't accidentally leave them in there for far too long) and we even bought some timers at the store today. They both seemed excited about it, but let's hope it doesn't cause them to TRY to be naughty so they can have a timed time out ;)

Graysen found the exhaust pipe.

I didn't have the heart to clean it off....it stayed on from about 10 am til he took a bath that night.

I'm such a good mom!

Drawing a picture for daddy...and drawing on themselves

A mess

Chalky hands? Check. Pink bike? Check. Exhaust pipe mouth? Double Check.

Okay, you're ready, dude!!

Peek?

Tanzi loves sleeping with her blanket over her face....just like her big sister!!

Sitting with Grampy on a visit to see Great Grandma Dora

On the 28th I had a FUN dinner with some of the best of friends!! These are my fabulous girlfriends from my "college" days. We used to get together quite often for dinners, but it had been over a year and half, so I set one up. Even though Gary later found out he would be out off town I decided to go ahead with the dinner. It was much needed time with my girls. I feel like I ran around a lot with my kids, but I'm used to that, since that's what I'm always doing with 3 kids. But we had a great time!!

Kyri, Gray, and Logan eating the fabulous cupcakes with neon frosting Denet brought.

And, not to be gross, but changing Gray's bum the next couple days sure was....interesting....to say the least. He had bright blue poop which actually stained his bum blue!!

Hahaha!!!

Ann Marie, Joe, Amber, and Johnny

Ann Marie and Joe are getting married next Saturday (Congrats!!) What a cute couple!

And Amber is dating Johnny, who just so happens to be the lead bass guitar player for the band Air Supply.

Yes, he was in my home.

And he is very nice and down to earth.

He is welcome to come back any time :)

Craig and Denet

Also engaged...and perfect for each other!

I LOVE seeing my friends so happy!

Jenn, drawing for my kids, who will probably now ask me to draw them elephants and snakes with chalk.

We really did have a great time!!

I love the look on Amber and Ann Marie's faces in this picture :)

Always entertained

Last week I took the kids to the pool in Pocatello, while visiting Grammy and Grampy.

We had fun with Tawn and Alyssa. The kids could have spent all day in the lazy river....maybe next summer!

Sleeping beauties!

They spent 5 nights in this big bed and the first night home Graysen fell out of his small toddler bed with rails on the side....go figure.

Tanzi wakes up SO happy in the morning.

And it's a good thing because she has not been sleeping well at night. Last night she woke up every 1 1/2 - 2 hours!! She kept acting like her tummy was hurting and just wanted to eat...all night long....but today she had 3 stinky diapers....let's hope she got enough out to sleep well tonight!

Hahahaha!!

Gray came to me today and this is what I saw (well, I saw the front side and even took a picture of the front side, but thought this was more appropriate for posting)

Oh I LOVE these kids!!

They are both wearing their "running shoes" and were running as fast as they could around the house. Then Graysen told me he was wet (I think he merely trickled in his diaper...what a waste...doesn't he know how expensive diapers are?!) Maybe it's time to start potty training!

I couldn't help myself. I had to post this. Please click to enlarge.

Hahahaha!!

Here's a really funny story:

So, my kids like to pretend to drink Coke. I'm not sure where they got it from because Gary and I don't drink Coke. Ever. In fact we rarely drink any soda at all. So, they must have heard it from someone else. And I'm sure they don't even know what Coke is. Sometimes they even pretend to drink "Spicy Coke" Well, on the way to Idaho last week Kyri and Gray were both pretending to drink Coke. They were playing together so well. Then, suddenly, Graysen started crying with real tears. When I asked him why he was crying he said, "Sister take my Coke!!" So, Kyri "pretended" to take his "pretend" Coke, yet he had very real tears. I just laughed and told him to take it back. He did. And then he was happy!

The End

Sure LOVE this family!!

This picture was taken less than a week after our other family pictures. Yes, I cut my hair. Why didn't any of you tell me my hair looked so bad long? And, yes, Kyri's hair has been cut since this picture. I also LOVE her haircut. What can I say? Short hair is totally my thing!!

Family Pictures

In July, our super talented sister-in-law took some family pictures for us that turned out amazing. Just because they are all so good, I will limit the writing and let you enjoy the shots. Thank You so much Amber! These are beautiful.

Lots of good family shots.

Graysen and his adorable eyes.

Really just loved Kyri's shots on the rocks. She had this model pose down.

Families are Forever

A few of our favorites of the kids.

Tanzi, can you be any cuter?

Teaching moment!

Tanzi in her blessing dress, so precious.

I don't think Mauri and I have had a shot of just us two since we were married. We really liked this one.

Thanks again so much Amber for these wonderful, priceless pictures of our family.