Our Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday I took all 3 kids on Kyri's field trip to Black Island Farms. AKA The Pumpkin Patch.

Here's some of Kyri's preschool class...and some of their siblings

Right after I took that picture the battery in the camera died. I was SO sad!!

The kids had SO much fun and could have stayed ALL day!!

Even Tanzi had a good time. She got to hang out in the baby bjorn...and LOVED it!!

The kids got to go down huge slides, play in a bounce house, play in a corn (instead of sand) box, go on a "train" ride, go through a corn maze, swing on huge different shaped tire swings, and check out the animals.

SUPER fun!!

Oh, and let's not forget that we got to go on a hay ride and the kids got to pick out their own pumpkins. I remembered from when we went last year that they said these pumpkins are good to bake with and there's a TON of recipes from this website that call for pumpkin puree that look super delicious that I've been wanting to try.

So, I told the kids to pick the biggest pumpkins they could find. And, apparently, they did because all the other moms were saying things like, "Wow! Your kids both got BIG pumpkins!!"

What good, obedient children I have.

This morning Kyri asked for pumpkin muffins....I guess I better make some pumpkin puree soon :)

Tanzi showing off her new trick: holding her bottle by herself.

(she doesn't do it as much as we would like, though. She likes being spoiled....or she's lazy, I'm not sure which)

Last night Tanzi did a little better than the night before. But I got up at 4:00 to feed her and change her diaper. This is our norm and then she usually goes right back to sleep, but this morning she decided to "play" in her crib for about an hour. She was happy, but, still, if she's not sleeping I'm not sleeping. I thought maybe she had gone stinky because that's what she does in the morning. She wakes up, goes stinky, and plays for about 20-30 minutes before fussing and wanting to get up. So, I went to change her, but she wasn't stinky. I sang her a song and put her back down and she went RIGHT to sleep.

What a silly girl!

It's like she thinks, "Well, I didn't keep mom up all night crying, so I'll keep her up with my jibber jabber!! hehehehehe!"

I just KNOW that's what she thinks :)

This morning Kyri wanted muffins for breakfast. It seems like it's been a while since I made muffins (like a week or something) so, instead of getting some out of the freezer we made some.

Chocolate muffins.

The perfect way to start our morning!!

Today the kids were really good to help me clean and vacuum the house.

Then they got to have a babysitter!

(Our neighbor, Jessica)

They were SO excited about that.

And Gary took me to The Outback for dinner.

We ordered an appetizer (which we don't normally do, but it WAS my birthday dinner), but they didn't have the one we wanted and the other ones didn't sound as good, so we ended up not getting one.

However, that was one of the best dinners I've had...in a LONG time.

I got a Mahi dish that was topped with sundried tomatoes and artichokes, mixed veggies on the side, and rice pilaf. Oh my goodness...so SO good!!

Gary got a steak dinner (which I had a coupon to get it for free, of course) and I think he really liked that. I mean, it IS a steakhouse so the steaks better be good, right?

Then we got a sundae for a free birthday dessert.

YUMMY!!

And it was just SO nice to go out to dinner without the kids.

So peaceful...and enjoyable.

THANK YOU, LOVE!!

Tonight I took dinner to our neighbors.

I made Creamy White Chili, biscuits, and took them a bag of salad and bottle of salad dressing. Oh, and I gave them some of our yummy cake bites for dessert.

It was for a family of 6. Three adults, 2 teenagers, and a pre-teen. And half of them are Polynesians! I'm a little worried I didn't make enough food for such a crowd.

But I LOVE taking dinner to people. I feel like it's the one, simple way I can serve. I sometimes feel bad for not serving others more because I get so busy with my own little family. And so I will always be one to volunteer to take a meal to someone....

Let's hope they like it!

A while after we put the kids to bed I needed to go downstairs for something and I realized that the light was on in Kyri and Graysen's room! Kyri was already asleep when Gray went to bed, so I was a little suspicious about what Gray might be up to, but when I went in there he was nearly asleep in his bed. Not sure what that was all about, but I do know that he can barely reach to turn the light on and can't quite reach to turn it off :) He may have needed it on to see his "workbook" that he just had to sleep with, which is actually a funny cleaning how-to book!! Hahaha!!

And right now Gary is downstairs doing homework (supposedly) and here I am updating the blog while watching The X Factor.

What a Life!!

Sad News

Tanzi did NOT have a good night like I was hoping.

:(

I didn't get up with her at all until 4am, but that meant listening to a lot of crying in the night, which makes me sad.

I don't think it's a matter of her not being "sleep trained" and her waking up out of habit, because she does have some great nights. I think it may be just because her tummy hurts. In which case, I'm not sure letting her cry is the best solution.

What IS the best solution, you ask?

I have no clue.

But something's gotta give because this tired mama needs some good sleep!!

Today we went on a field trip with Kyri's preschool

(more on that tomorrow)

I actually remembered my camera!

YEA!!

I took 2 pictures and the battery died!!

SAD!!

Two sads do not make a happy.

Here's to hoping for a better, happier tomorrow.....again.

Birthday Details

I had such a FABULOUS birthday!!

It started off great when Tanzi slept through the night! She just woke up at 5am to eat and went back to sleep. Then the kids slept in until after 7!! Both were birthday miracles! Too bad I was up for a couple hours in the night with the world's worst headache :(

We made waffles with "candy syrup" and hash browns for breakfast.

Then Gary took Kyri and Graysen to the store and I put Tanzi down for a nap, then I took a nice, long, hot bath.

I'm not really sure where the time went during the afternoon, but I do know we all had a good time. The kids were REALLY good. Gary had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and then he came home and made me a DELICIOUS dinner!! We had cocktail shrimp, steak, broccoli and cheese, and roasted potatoes. And after we put the kids to bed we finished making cake bites. We made chocolate/peanut butter and strawberry ones. Oh, they are SO good. In fact, I'm eating some as we speak :) The strawberry ones are SUPER sweet (and delicious), but the chocolate ones aren't so much. We just used peanut butter instead of peanut butter frosting and it turned out perfect! The 2 kinds are a good combination.

To top it all off, my sister, Tawn, had her baby girl last night. I can NOT wait to meet this baby girl who has the most awesome birthday EVER :)

Here's OUR baby girl...getting herself stuck under the bed...and being quite happy about it.

Birthday snuggles!!

The cake bites.

Pay no attention to the fact that Gary and I are not good at dipping...this is not the first time we've realized this...just not our thing, I guess.

Tonight we used the leftover pork from Sunday's dinner to make nachos. We even made our own chips. And, boy, were these GOOD!!

Tanzi had another good night last night. She slept until 4am and then until 7:30. I would like to think this is a new routine, but I always get my hopes up just to have them dashed to pieces when Tanzi has a bad few weeks. So, I'm just going to be grateful for each good night as it comes.

Today I took Kyri to the dentist to have her cavities filled.

Did I take my camera?

No, of course I forgot!!

But she was such a champ! She watched Peter Pan and got laughing gas and held really still the entire time!

I'm so proud of my big, brave girl!

Too bad we all looked so homely today. I dropped Gray off at the neighbors because I didn't have the car and as I left I realized I never combed his hair, he was wearing just sweats, and had a dirty face. Then Kyri was wearing the same clothes she wore yesterday, we didn't do her hair,and she also had a dirty face. And after we got to the dentist I realized I never even put my make-up on today. And, even though I actually got Tanzi ready today Gary thought her outfit looked like pajamas. Oh, we were quite the bunch today. You see, I sort of forgot about the dentist appointment and was just planning on having today be laundry and cleaning day (which is normally Monday, but it was my birthday, so we relaxed instead) and it all showed in our appearance.

Here's to hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.

And let's hope I can remember the camera for Kyri's preschool field trip...

Sunday Catchup

My turn to take a turn with an update. I must say I am really enjoying this new Laptop. This is the first laptop I have ever had and it makes it easier to do things. It will really be worth it when I am out of town for work and can skype and communicate with the family. It will also be helpful to do my schoolwork while I am away from home.

Last night I went with Dustin to the USU vs. Wyoming football game. I try to get to at least one game a year. Last nights was a good one to go to. After the first 3 minutes of the game, the Aggies dominated, which was fun to watch. It was also fun to spend time with my brother.

Today was an interesting day. Shortly before church the power went out at the house. It went right back on in about 10 seconds thought. We didn't think anything of it until we got to church and the power was out there. I guess the church is on two different power grids because some lights worked and others didn't. During Sunday School, we lost all power to the church. As a result of no power, church got cancelled and we got to come home. I thought it was funny because it was a bright shiny day and you could still see fine with the light from the windows. Oh well, we came home and started getting things ready for the missionaries who were coming over for dinner tonight.

We did pork burritos for dinner with the missionaries. Luckily the power stayed on at our house so the crockpot continued to cook the pork. The missionaries liked it and it always makes Mauri and I remember when we were serving in the mission field.

This wasn't a very exciting post. Mauri is much better at updating the blog. Now I get to think of something special to do for Mauri's birthday tomorrow. Any and all ideas are welcome!

The Last Few Days

Thursday was such a COLD, rainy, day!

All the more reason to play outside, I suppose.

The kids really wanted to play out in the rain, so they bundled up.

Yes, Graysen is wearing Kyri's PINK crocs. Needless to say, they did NOT keep his feet dry. I guess we ought to invest in some boots for this fella.

Why is it that I never have the clothing or accessories on hand for Gray, but I always do for Kyri...poor brother!!

Kyri kept making this face at me.

No explanation.

Graysen mowing the lawn in the rain

Tanzi loves getting up on her hands and knees and then rocking back and forth.

Some might say she is close to crawling.

I say she just barely realized she can roll ALL over, so it may be a while.

However, I couldn't ever get a picture of her up on her knees...as soon as I would snap a shot she straightened her legs...silly baby!!

On Friday we took a family outing to PCMC for Graysen's appointment with a cardiologist.

I forgot my camera and am SO mad about that...for more reasons than one.

First, Gray got lots of "stickers" all over his chest so they could do an EKG.

Plus, we paid a visit to the NICU so we could see McKell and she could love on Tanzi for a couple minutes :)

It just would have been nice to document our day at Primary's.

Everything checked out good with Gray's heart!!

Even though nothing was wrong with Kyri or Graysen's heart when we took them into Primary's I am grateful we took them in. I love that our pediatrician, Dr Sigg, doesn't take anything lightly. If he feels there is any chance of something abnormal he sends us to the specialists! And it is so good to know that their heart murmurs are normal and never will be a problem for them.

The kids took the stickers off Gray's chest and put them on their hands.

I was able to get some good pictures when we got home.

Gray showing off his stickers

Kyri wanted more stickers than Gray did.

Another reason I wish I would have taken my camera?

Kyri wore her hoodie and sunglasses the ENTIRE time we were at PCMC. Pretty much everyone we passed in the hall or saw in the elevators, etc, commented on her sunglasses. She actually looked a bit like a ragamuffin, but at least she's the very cutest ragamuffin EVER!

Cute kids!

Me and my girls!!

Tanzi also realized she actually knows how to sit up on her own!

And Graysen was SO cute because he brought his blanket downstairs just so Tanzi could sit on it.

What a sweet brother!

Yes, my 4 year old still likes sitting in the high chair.

Strange child :)

It's not hard to see why I love spending my days with these kids!!

"Exploring" with binoculars and a magnifying glass

Today Kyri went to her friend, Henry's, birthday party.

When we went to pick her up Henry's mom also gave Graysen a cool pirate mask, telescope, and balloon. Oh, he was pleased as punch!! Thanks, Hannah!!

We've had a fun few days. We even had a visit from Gary's brother Todd and his CUTE as ever pregnant wife, Heather. (If you couldn't tell, I wish I looked that good when I'm pregnant) The kids were SO happy to be able to "play" with Todd and "Header"!

We love visits from anyone, actually, so any and all of you are welcome to come by any time!

The other day I was on one of my "deal" blogs I like to check and saw a deal on a laptop. Gary has been looking for one so he can take it on his business trips to do homework.

He actually has a trip coming up in about a week and will be gone for 3 weeks!! So, we decided a laptop would be nice so we can Skype! The kids will be SO happy to be able to see their daddy even when he's so far away!

The deal on the laptop was on Amazon and was for only 2 hours. We acted fast and 2 days later here I am updating the blog while sitting in bed, watching a murder mystery :)

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, Love!

It's a nice computer :)

Gary is in Logan right now at a football game. He asked if I wanted to go,but I really didn't. It's too cold and football games are too long. USU basketball games, on the other hand, are a completely different story. And I'm looking forward to going to a game this season. And for those wondering, yes, Gary has toned down his Aggie pride...but just slightly :)

Tomorrow we are having the missionaries over for dinner.

Sweet pork burritos.

YUMMY!

And I wish I could say Gary can take Tanzi during RS since he's leaving me with all 3 kids for 3 Sundays, but, unfortunately, he has to teach YM, so no break for me. Oh, well, at least my birthday is coming up and I can be spoiled then :)

An Overview - The Past Week

Wow.

This past week has been kind of busy. Too busy to update the blog. Apparently. But it's been a great week! Here's what we've been up to...in no particular order:

Kyri had pajama day at preschool, which went right along with the letter they learned that day: "P" and she really wanted me to take a picture of her on pajama day.

All my kids wore pajamas ALL day...it was awesome!

And, of course, she had to pick long sleeved (even though it was still hot outside), mismatched jammies.

Last Thursday after Gary got home from work he played outside with all the kids.

It was nice to take advantage of the good weather...before it turned bad.

They all had SO much fun!! Gary was wearing his roller blades, which the kids thought were pretty cool!

They would race to the next door neighbors (Kyri's kind of behind the tree in the driveway)

It made me laugh every time because Graysen was always SO far behind....just like he always is!!

But then he finally wised up and turned around before they could pass him!!

I wonder if he'll get any faster once he can actually reach the pedals on this bike?!?!

This same day we went for a walk. We went around the block. Just one. Gray on Kyri's "bike", Kyri on her scooter, and Tanzi in the stroller...it took us over 30 minutes! Kyri would get SO far ahead and then get frustrated that Gray was being SO slow. He's definitely the kind of guy that will stop and smell the roses....every few seconds :)

I think one must have to be really exhausted to be able to sleep like this:

The first session of General Conference Saturday morning was pretty quiet, since this is what the kids did for the entire 2 hours...nearly

Grandma and Grandpa "from Bunkerbill" came for Conference weekend. It was SO great to have them here!!

Friday morning Pops and Gary went on a nice, long bike ride (thanks for the bike AND helmet, Pops!) Then we all went to breakfast at the Golden Corral. We don't go out for breakfast very often. In fact, the last time we did was before we had kids, I think. So, it was a really nice treat!

In the afternoon we just hung out, talked, and took naps. And then Gary and I went down to Salt Lake for Gary's 10 year mission reunion. And the kids had a "party" with Grandma and Grandpa...and got spoiled rotten with LOTS of treats and movies!! :)

The reunion was really nice. It started with a session in the Salt Lake Temple. It's always nice to go to the Temple...and always a nice change to go to a live session. Afterward we had dinner over at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It was kind of pricey, but I think it was really worth it. Gary had such a great time catching up with all his mission buddies! He hasn't been to any of the reunions before this one, so there are some of his friends he hasn't seen in 10 years that he was able to catch up with. It was pretty amazing to hear so many voices singing the hymns in Polish. I'm sure 99% of them have not kept up with the language, but it seemed to come back to them for those moments. Even the prayers were said in Polish. I don't know the language. Obviously. But I thought it sounded amazing!!

Tanzi getting all the snuggles she can!! And Grandma got her to go right to sleep, of course :)

Thanks again for coming up "Damma and Papa" (as Graysen likes to say)

We had a GREAT weekend!!

Like father like son....

sleeping through the afternoon session of Conference on Sunday

I just love that she is sleeping with her feet up on the side of her crib!

Tanzi has had some REALLY good nights...and some not so good ones.

A couple nights ago she woke up a couple times, but only fussed, and went right back to sleep. I didn't feed her until 5 am!! Yea for 11 hours between feeds! Since I knew she could do it I told her I was going to have her do it again. But that meant that last night when she woke up in the night...a lot...I had to listen to her cry...a lot!

I got up and fed her just after 4am.

Then she slept until 8 am, woke up and had a huge blow out, went down for a nap at 9:30am and slept until 1pm!!

She had 2 other stinky diapers today, so I'm hoping her tummy feels better than last night and that she will sleep MUCH better.

If she's only going to choose one, I would prefer she choose to sleep good at night instead of during the day :)

The last couple days Kyri and Gray have been waking up before 6am!!

THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!

I tell them to go back to bed, but shortly after that they just close their door and turn their light on! I would be okay with it if they were happy throughout the day, but they are both SO fussy because they are STILL tired!!

Ridiculous, I say!

Eventually they will make their way into the playroom. Kyri is VERY quiet, but Graysen can not be...to save his life, I don't think! So, then I'm grumpy all day too because I didn't get enough sleep either!

Truly ridiculous!!

I am trying to convince Kyri to NOT wake Graysen up when she wakes up. And today I told her that I'm going to get her a clock soon and if it doesn't have a 7 as the first number then she has to go back to sleep!! She seemed excited about it tonight, but we'll see what she thinks after the time change and her clock says 4:30 and she has to lie in bed and not wake Gray up for 2 1/2 more hours!!

Ridiculously ridiculous!!

Yesterday I took all 3 kids to the Dentist with me. Tanzi fell asleep in her car seat and everyone commented on how cute and good she is.

While I was getting my teeth cleaned Kyri got hers done too...and Graysen did too! They all said how GREAT the kids did!! They were so impressed at how still they sat and how big they opened their mouths :) Last time we went to the dentist Gray wouldn't even open his mouth for them to look at his teeth...and he was sitting on my lap!! So, this was HUGE improvement!!

YEA KIDS!!

They were very excited about the whole thing...I'm not really sure why...strange kids, anyway :)

Unfortunately, Kyri has a couple cavities. :( They are between a couple of her back teeth. The dentist said she does great brushing, but that we need to floss her teeth every night.

Do any of you floss your kid's teeth?

Just curious.

We will do it...and promote good hygiene...because Gary and I were not the best of flossers until recently. Oh, who am I kidding? We're still not the best of flossers, but definitely better than we used to be! My mom flosses EVERY night. I know this is part of her routine....why she never flossed mine when I was 4 is beyond me....but maybe it had something to do with the fact that I'm the youngest of 7...and got kind of neglected? Haha...just kidding...I think most parent's don't floss their 3 and 4 year old's teeth.

We will now!!

After the dentist we met my mom and Tawn and Alyssa in Brigham City for lunch.

It was quite the experience!

Just before we got our food Kyri and Alyssa had to go potty...and Grammy was nice enough to take them.

Shortly after they returned my mom was holding Tanzi and discovered Tanzi had a blow out...all ever her!! I didn't have any spare clothes (really? I can't leave my house for 2 hours and not need them?!) so Tanzi wore her diaper and headband. Grammy washed off the best she could.

Shortly after that Kyri had to go potty...again....so I took her. Of course she had to go stinky, so we were in there for quite a while!!

When we got back to our table everyone was done eating and there was my food...not even half eaten.

I ate it cold...but it still tasted pretty good!!

What a day!!

I'm sure there are a lot of things I'm forgetting about this past week....I will fill you in as I remember them.

Some Chalk and an Egg

For some reason it has been hard to do my daily update. I can only blame part of it on Gary being on the computer doing homework...not sure what to blame the other part on. Laziness? Probably.

However, there are a couple things that have happened in the last few days that I thought were definitely worth mentioning.

On Monday Kyri and Graysen wanted to play outside in the front yard.

They were riding bikes and coloring with sidewalk chalk.

While they were playing I sat in a camp chair in the shade, just inside the garage (my first mistake), and looked through the mail (my second mistake).

I couldn't see the kids, but I could hear them. I got up to see what, exactly, they were up to.

My findings?

They had colored with their wet, pasty, chalk all over our neighbors nice white fence!

Oh, and they had colored on ours too!

Really?!?!

They both know WE ONLY COLOR ON THE SIDEWALK...or so I thought.

I made them get wipes to help clean it. That did nothing.

I used a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and a LOT of elbow grease and was able to get it off Brother Nielson's fence...mostly.

Then I made them knock on his door and tell him what they did. Neither of them would talk! I kept telling them to tell him what they did and they both just sat there. I finally told him.

They DID both say sorry and that they wouldn't do it again. He is SO nice and said he didn't care, but I still feel bad!

Kyri and Gray both had an extra long time out.

Then last night our house nearly caught on fire!

How you ask?

I was really tired last night, but I REALLY wanted to do something nice for Gary. He was gone playing football...or something... and I thought "what can I do to really let Gary know I love him?" Earlier he asked me to boil an egg for him for his lunch today. I didn't want to. I figured it was easy enough for him to do. But then I decided that since I didn't want to, then all the more reason to do it! Now, I know what you're thinking. You think that it's not much of a way to show my love since he already asked me to do it. And...it's an egg! Some wives actually make their husband's entire lunch. AND they wake up early enough to make breakfast before their hubby leaves for work. I'm not one of those wives. So. I guess I figured this was better than nothing.

I put the egg and some water in a pan and put it on the stove.

I ran upstairs to do something, really quickly.

I had every intention to go back downstairs in about 2 minutes.

I never made it.

I forgot about the egg.

TOTALLY forgot.

Gary came home about 45 minutes later.

I'm not exactly sure of the situation at that point but right around that same time Kyri came into my room and woke me up....and scared me half to death...I was so sound asleep!

When I put her back into bed I could smell something AWFUL!!

Gary came upstairs just then and I realized that I forgot about the egg.

The egg had exploded!!

It took all night and most of today to air out the nasty smell.

And this morning when I went downstairs I realized that the red pan I put the egg in is now black.

Completely!

Thank goodness our house is still intact.

Gary cleaned everything up.

And boiled another egg.

So much for doing something nice for my hubby.

Meeting Milestones

On Sunday Kyri called great Grandma and Grandpa Hanson to thank them for her birthday card. I didn't want her to forget anything, so I was whispering what she should say. They weren't home so this was just on the answering machine, but she said what I told her, "thank you for the birthday card....and money." Then she decided to say her own thing. I did not whisper this in her ear. "And maybe next year on my birthday you can give me MORE!!"

Apparently we need to have some gratitude lessons...and such.

Kyri reading the ads in her jammies...that's my girl!!

Graysen wearing his underwear on TOP of his shorts!

Tanzi enjoying her swing because she hasn't been in it for a couple months, probably!

Sleeping Beauty!

I know this doesn't seem very safe. Babies are supposed to sleep in sleeper blankets and not have loose blankets in their bed.

But she sleeps SO much better with her blanky!

She loves chewing on it when she wakes up, so it helps soothe her back to sleep when she wakes up in the night.

And, clearly, she loves sleeping with it on her face!

Today we took all 3 kids to the doctor for check up appointments!

Before we ever even left Kyri told me, "I don't want any shocks!!" Luckily, she and Gray could get the mist flu vaccine so no "shocks" for either of them today :)

I was looking back through the blog from Kyri's and Graysen's 6 month appointments

It's kind of fun to compare all the kids at the same age.

And, if you ask me, Tanzi sure looks a lot like Kyri at this age!

And it's funny how Kyri was already sitting up on her own and Tanzi is no where near that and how Kyri had a little tuft of hair and Tanzi has none, even though she was born with more hair than Kyri OR Graysen. Our hopes of having a child with hair are being dashed with every hair Tanzi loses :)

But look how cute and BIG she looks!!

Tanzi's stats:

Weight: 13 lbs 1 oz (between 5% and 10%)

Length: 24.7 in (about 25%)

Weight for Length: 5%...YEA she's on the charts in this area for the FIRST time!!

Head: 16.4 in (25%)

Although Tanzi still thinks she doesn't want to sleep real good, there are some things she DOES love to do.

She loves smiling...we get a lot of comments from people about how smiley she is.

She LOVES her mobile! She always smiles and looks up at her "friends" whenever we put her in bed.

She wakes up really happy in the morning and will just play in her crib...with her "friends"

She still loves her binky, but doesn't need it to fall asleep.

She loves rolling from her back to her belly, but on some days still forgets that she knows how to roll back over...other days she rolls all over the place.

She LOVES her big brother and sister...and LOVES when they laugh at her...it makes her laugh

3 cool kids getting ready to go to the doctor

Tanzi in the doctor's office

Just waiting for the doc!

Graysen's stats:

weight: 28 lbs (about 30%)

height: 2.95 ft (about 40%)

Graysen LOVES crying and always getting his way

He also LOVES to do anything Kyri does. Anything. If I ask them both the same question and Graysen first answers with one thing, but Kyri answers with something else Gray will change his answer to match hers. EVERY time!

Graysen loves doing puzzles.

This boy keeps us smiling, but is also a lot of drama.

Kyri's stats:

Weight: 33 lbs (about 15%)

Height: 3.33 ft (about 60%)

Kyri LOVES saying her ABC's

She is getting really good at recognizing what all the letters say.

Kyri LOVES her little sister and can not stay out of Tanzi's face.

She LOVES playing with Graysen...as long as he will do what she tells him.

She is a good "little mom"

Both Kyri and Graysen have always had a heart murmur. Kyri had to go have hers checked by a cardiologist when she was about 16 months. Well, today Dr Sigg said he thinks we better get Graysen's checked out. After this, all 3 of our kids will have had a visit to PCMC!

Tonight Tanzi had her first taste of rice cereal.

This is the latest we've started one of our kids on cereal, but we never really felt she was ready before now. And she ate it UP! She loved it so much more than Kyri or Gray did with their first taste! But, then again, she just loves to have something in her mouth...she doesn't even care what it is! I guess we better watch out once she starts crawling and can eat anything and everything she finds!!

YUMMY!!

Our Day

Tanzi didn't have as good of a night, but it wasn't terrible.

She woke up at 1:45 and then again at 5:15 and then slept until after 8.

Lately Kyri and Gray have been getting up SO early!! Well, actually, Kyri gets up early and wakes Gray up so they can play.

This is both good and bad.

The good thing is that they play in their room and in the play room and let me keep sleeping. The bad thing is that it's too early and they are both still tired and grumpy and they (mostly Gray) cry and fuss A LOT.....ALL morning!!

How do I know that it's Kyri that wakes up so early? Because if Graysen wakes up first he does NOT wake his sister up, he just comes into my room and snuggles me.

LOVE it!!

This morning Graysen woke up around 7 and came to snuggle me. We both even went back to sleep!! I could never share my bed with my child all night long, but I LOVE a good LITTLE sleep while snuggling. LOVE!!

Kyri woke up around 7:30. She snuggled me for a minute too, but it wasn't long before I heard, "Gray, do you want to go into the playroom with me?"

Graysen, "Wes!"

While Graysen was sleeping Kyri wanted to do her workbooks. I'm SO glad that I don't ever have to ask her, it's just something she wants to do!

Kyri also LOVES to chew gum while Graysen is napping. I only let her do it when he's asleep because otherwise he wants some too and he just puts it in his mouth and swallows it! We never even gave Kyri gum before, but recently her Primary teacher gave her some and now she asks for it EVERY day!

Thanks, Sister Smith!

She is really good about it, though, and always spits it "in a garbage with a bag in it" when she's done...so far.

Gary came home from his camp out just after noon. Then, when Graysen woke up we had family haircut time!

Graysen first, then Kyri, then Gary, then me....that's always our order.

After cutting my hair I got in the shower and when I got out and was getting dressed I could hear Kyri crying. I walked into my bedroom and Gary was asleep with football on TV, of course. Graysen was in the playroom doing puzzles. Kyri was in her room and the door was locked (we have it so it locks on the outside). I opened the door and said, "Are you in time out?"

Kyri, "No!" Me, "Then why are you locked in here?" Kyri, "Graysen locked me in!!" Me, "Have you been in here for a long time?" (I DO take long, hot showers!) Kyri, "I don't know!!" Me, "Graysen?" Gray, "Me doing puzzles!!"

Yep, he locked his sister in her room and left her there....indefinitely.

This afternoon Gary took Kyri and Graysen with him to a YW/YM car wash fund raiser. I took Tanzi to the store. She fussed the whole time! She's better when Kyri is in the back of the cart pestering her, apparently.

After they got home Gary told me he would clean the whole house...while he watched football.

Fine by me :)

Oh,I forgot a funny story from yesterday.

I was letting the kids watch a show while I was in the shower. Shortly after I got in Kyri came in the bathroom crying. (our master bath does not have a lock...sad, I know!) She was really sad because Graysen turned the TV off right in the middle of her show!!! How dare he?! After I got out this was still an issue. I came into the bedroom and Kyri was still crying and Graysen was holding the remote. Then I hear him say in the SWEETEST voice, "It over, seetheart!!"

Haha...yes, I call my girls sweetheart all the time.

Oh the things they pick up on!!

Another Trip

Tanzi woke up at 3 am to eat and then not again until after 7!!

YEA!!

I think (hope is a more accurate word) we're back on track!!

The kids and I went to Logan again today.

First, I had to take ALL 3 of my kids to Target....to get that gift card I forgot when I was there with just one child!

Oh me!

I always like to go see Grandma Dora when we're in Logan, but we didn't today because we have been sick :(

I'm just not sure Graysen is over it yet and I would hate to get Grandma sick.

But we did go see Tawn and Alyssa....we don't care if we get them sick!

Haha....just kidding. But they came here the other day when we were sick and they have had colds, too, so we felt ok about it all.

We took the kids to the zoo and park. I think they could have stayed all day!

I even pushed Tanzi in a baby swing....for the first time.

She LOVED it!

I wish I had my camera with me then, but of course I didn't.

She giggled the whole time!!

It was pretty stinkin' cute!

We ate dinner at Firehouse and then the kids and I went to my friend, Ann Marie's, wedding reception. It was so great to see her so happy and so in love! Not only did I give her a gift card for a present, but I also gave her a cookie.

Yep, a cookie.

Just one.

And this is how the story goes:

About 6-7 years ago Ann Marie and I were roommates.

We did a lot together.

Practically everything.

We even took an Institute class together.

One night at Institute we got cookies. On the way home I ate mine. Ann Marie set hers on the dashboard of my car. I occasionally reminded her to not forget her cookie. When we got home Ann Marie left her cookie on my dashboard! I reminded her again, "Ann Marie! Your cookie!!" In the morning I came out of my bedroom to leave for work to find a gift bag.

Inside?

The cookie!

Haha...that clever little gal. She tried to leave the gift in my car, but I noticed and made sure she grabbed it, so she left the gift outside my door! Before leaving for work I put the cookie in her car.

A few days passed and I forgot all about that cookie.

One day, at work, I received a very large box in the mail. (that was the one and only time I ever received mail at work, by the way)

Inside?

THE cookie!!

So, I asked some of my students that lived in Logan if they knew any guys that played the guitar that would be willing to do me a favor.

One did.

These young college boys made up a lovely song about a cookie, went to Ann Marie's work, and serenaded her with their guitars....in front of her co-workers.

They left her the cookie.

One day....several days? weeks? later another friend of mine asked me to take her to work. After dropping her off I turned the corner after stopping at a stop sign to see lights in my rear view mirror...lights from a motorcycle cop!

He asked if I knew why he pulled me over. I came to a complete stop, I wasn't speeding.

No, I didn't know.

He told me my car matched the description of a stolen vehicle. I said, "Well, I know my car isn't stolen, so I'm not worried." He asked for my ID, insurance, and registration.

After checking my info he came back....with the cookie!!

Seriously?

You found a cop to pull me over?

Good one, Ann Marie!

How in the world will I top that?

Well, let's just say the cookie sat in my drawer at work and finally was forgotten.

So, I decided to relive some memories by giving Ann Marie a cookie for her wedding!

Eternal Happiness!

The End

Some of you may not know this, but I used to be a bit of a prankster.

Take the urine sample incident, for instance.

But that story is for an entirely different day!!

So, after the reception I got the kids in pajamas and headed home.

But not before stopping at Tawn's...again....just to pee because I knew I would never make it home and I didn't want to wake up all 3 kids to take them into a gas station bathroom!

I got home and realized what a disaster my house is.

Already!

I don't plan on cleaning it tomorrow, even though I'm sure I should.

Gary is on a camp-out with the Young Men. I hope he doesn't freeze! The only sleeping bag we own is one that used to be my grandfather's. I think maybe when he was in the army or something? It looks like it could be old army equipment. We decided to wash it before he used it, as it hasn't been used in years. And years! It has just been in the back of our Toyota...just in case! I love that my dad made sure I was always prepared!! Thanks dad!! But it fell apart in the washing machine...a little. I think he'll be just fine!!

I'm really hoping Tanzi will have another great night!

I was right about not having as much time to update the blog when Gary is home and doing homework, but I got really carried away with my words tonight, didn't I?

I guess I better go to bed now, then!

Thursday Catch-Up

Today was a cleaning day!

As a mom it seems like picking up, cleaning, vacuuming, laundry, dishes etc are NEVER ending. However, it always feels good to have everything clean....if only for a moment.

So, I bribed Kyri and Graysen and told them that if they helped me clean then after naps we could watch a movie. I like doing things like that because I feel like I sort of neglect my children while I clean and so I make it up to them by snuggling them during a movie!

First, Kyri spent a lot of time in time-out, but then she decided to earn the movie and the kids were both great helpers!!

The house looked FABULOUS!!

I even managed to pre-make dinner, so that we could just throw it in the oven when it was time.

I felt like I had a really productive day!

Gary got home while we were watching our movie, so he and I swapped places. He watched the movie and snuggled the girls on the bean bag while I went to the store. Gray decided to go with me. I needed to go to Target to get a gift card for a friend's wedding.

Target has a TON of things on clearance.

I got carried away.

I bought Graysen a cute blanket set and matching lamp....among a few other things that were on sale.

Had I paid full price for everything I bought it would have been about $137

I only paid $38!!

(the bed set alone was regularly $60)

I can't pass up a good deal!

I was tempted to buy a lot more stuff, even though we did NOT need it, simply because it was such an AWESOME deal. You never know when someone will need it!

I refrained.

I got home and realized that in my excitement to find such awesome deals...

I forgot to get the gift card!!!

Gary worked on finishing a paper for school while I watched The X Factor, folded laundry, and made cookies!!

Then I read my book, The Book Thief, until my eyes burned and I could no longer keep them open.

Red Day

Remember when Tanzi was going 9-11 hours between feeds?!

I miss those nights.

I miss my sleep.

Tanzi was back to her routine of waking up around 11-ish. So, last night I just let her cry.

A lot.

It makes me SO sad to listen to her cry. She cries SO hard! But I feel like it will be worth it if she will go back to sleeping 9+ hours!

Last night I had a time I would let her cry until. If she was still crying at that time I was going to go get her (and feed her, I'm sure). She finally fell asleep 2 minutes before my deadline. Then I couldn't sleep after that. I'm hoping for a better night.

Today I watched all 4 of Ms Kate's kids again.

You see, the elementary school here is year round. So, the kids have 6-9 weeks in school and then 3 weeks off. This is the last of the 3 weeks.

The boys just played Sorry the entire time....that made things easy for me :)

Then we all (Ms Kate's 4 kids, Graysen, Tanzi and myself) went to the last few minutes of preschool. Since Kyri just had a birthday I got to "spotlight" her. I just said a few things about her and then read The Birthday Monsters by Sandra Boynton.

My kids LOVE that book and I thought it would be perfect for the birthday girl...and for ten 3 year olds :)

Today was Red Day at preschool. All the kids wore red. Even all of Ms Kate's kids wore red today...it was pretty cute!

Here's the birthday treats I made for preschool....they were a much bigger hit than the birthday cupcakes.

I decided to make red frosting and put on a red M&M...to go along with Red Day

Kyri doesn't own very much red. So, here she is in her red short shorts!

Graysen was SO cute today!!

When I told him it was time to go to preschool he just had to wear his backpack...even though it's just next door. And he wore it the entire time we were there. He just followed Kyri around and sat by her and did what she did for the 15 minutes we were there. I can't wait for him to actually be able to go to preschool next year!!

TOO CUTE!

While Graysen and Tanzi napped Kyri and I worked on her "workbooks".

I am so amazed at how smart she is!!

She knows and recognizes all the letters and knows what sound they all make. Today she would look at a picture, say the word and then tell me what letter it starts with. I'm sure she is no smarter than any other 4 year old, but it sure makes a mama proud to see her little girl wanting to learn and for her to really be excelling!

We were playing in the front yard when Gary got home from work, so he decided to wash the car. Of course he had 2 very good helpers.

Then I made waffles for dinner with buttermilk syrup, or candy syrup as my kids like to call it. Yep, we still need to go grocery shopping. Looks like I will be making a menu very soon.

As I'm typing this my clock says 9:37...and I hear Tanzi crying in her room....looks like it's gonna be a long night.

When she was sleeping so well for those few days she was also burping good during the day and having multiple stinky diapers a day. She is no longer doing either of those. And I think it makes a HUGE difference in how she feels and then, hence, how she sleeps.

What can I do to help my baby with her gas?

I have tried gas drops, gripe water, and spend tons of time just trying to help her get it all out.

What else is left?

The kids have doctor appointments next week. I'm hoping the doc will have some great advice, but not really counting on it since this is a problem we've had since Tanzi came home from the hospital and we have found no cures thus far.

Please, baby, just go back to sleep!

Happy Red Day!

PS - So, I already posted this and then something funny just happened.

I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and Kyri came walking in. She was squinting (from the light) and said, "I'm thirsty." Then just a second later (as per usual) Gray appears in the doorway. He just closed his eyes and held out his hands...without saying a word!! Haha. And apparently I wasn't fast enough getting him a drink because he peeked his eyes open and sort of grunted.

And whenever Kyri wakes up in the night, even if it's 3 am, she talks my ear off! I always take her to the potty and try to keep my words to a minimum if I even speak at all, but she thinks it is the perfect time to strike up a lengthy conversation!

So, all 3 kids have awakened before 10pm.

Awesome.

Let us hope it is not signs of things to come!