Book Recommendation

I had to let everyone know about a really great parenting book. In all of the parenting books that I have bought I think that this one is the first one that I have finished. Usually I get bored or don't really agree with what the people are saying. This book is different. I saw it on one of my long walks through Target. I was hoping my feeling sick would end and was tired of feeling totally exhausted and boy, those hormones. I needed something to help me seem more sane (or at least so my kids and Patrick could think I was). Not to say it has led to never screaming, but it has help tremendously. For those of you who are familiar with the "Love and Logic" technique, this follows it really closely. And even for those people who don't scream or can't, (ha, ha, Cadi - is this getting old yet?) it is really about just keeping your cool when your kids are driving you crazy. Hope you enjoy it and learn as much as I did. My next book that is coming in the mail is "How to talk so your kids will listen and listen so your kids will talk". I will let you know what I think of that one.

Snips & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

Yes - we did it! We are having a boy! We went to my Drs. appiontment yesterday and had the ultrasound. Everyone wanting to be there so Patrick and all 3 girls watched on waiting for the big news,and he had everything he needed to be a boy (a puppy dog tail-that must be where it comes from). From the beginning Lexy, Kalley and I had voted on a boy. Cassidy and Patrick were on the girl side until about 2 weeks ago when Cassidy decided that it was a boy. So Patrick was the lone duck waiting out the girl. You would think that there were all kinds of cheers from Patrick, but no-it was shock. He commented later that if it had been a girl he would have had an easier time loving it already because he could relate it to how much he loves his girls now. But this is a new thing! This is the first child that I really felt I knew what it was going to be. But I really didn't want to get myself to set up so that I wouldn't still be happy for a girl. So I went in there really OK with whatever this baby chose to be. So for all of you wondering how we managed it - I could give credit to the book How to Chose the Sex of Your Baby? (Very helpful if anyone is interested.) Yes we resorted to the book and from there I left it up to Heavenly Father what it would be in the end. I just figured that we would do the "work as if everything depends on you" and then "trust as if everything depends on Heavenly Father". So now everyone may ask if we are done - and the answer is most likely not. He needs a brother! It is amazing how all of a sudden he takes on life when you can see that little baby moving around in there will all the body parts necessary to be a real baby. About last week I had decided that I was going to write up all the awful things about pregnancy. Patrick keeps telling me that I need to write it all down so that I could look back and remeber when I started feeling like having another. I told him that it really wouldn't matter. But I thought that it would be funny to look back on. I knew though that if I didn't do it before the ultrasound that I would lose that hatered real quick. And I did. All of a sudden all of the bad things don't matter as much because I have seen my little baby who looks to be all healthy and I can now feel him moving. So once again all of us CRAZY MOM'S will understand why we forget so easily (and the father's don't)!

Cassidy's Dance Class

At Cassidy's dance class the had a parent's share day. Lexy, Kalley, and I all got to go and see what she does. I tried and tried to bribe her to do what she was suppose to the whole time but at the end she was sitting on my lap crying. With all of the performing that she does around here we are always surprised that she won't perform when she is suppose to. These pictures are prior to her breakdown.

She has her sweet cousin Tenley in the same class. So every Wednesday Jenny and I switch off letting them play before dance class. They get along so well and so it is fun that they get to dance together.

My Big Girl!

Cassidy turned 4 on the 17th, I can't believe it. I think the first 3 1/2 years we have been going crazy with this little ball of independent energy. But see has been such a joy to have around, and it is only getting better. I love having her here with me during the day. She always comes up with the funniest things. She loves singing songs and has a dance that goes with them. If only 4 years ago I would have known that everything was going to be OK with her I would not have stressed out so much those first few weeks. She is such a blessing to our family.

She seems to all of a sudden have new found abilities. She finally buckles herself in her car seat right away and without a fuss. and she writes her name, all by herself. She cracks us up.

Camping over October Break

Sorry for not posting lately. Life has been crazy!!! My parents aged on me overnight but things seem to be back to normal now. My Mom ended up having emergency surgery and had to stay in ICU overnight. And my Dad could barely walk the length of the halls to see her because he was having so much pain in his hip. After two long weeks they seem to be better and so our family decided to do an overnighter in the mountains. It was freezing cold to us and so we had to stay in the trailer(we were able to borrow it from my parents - thank goodness) most of the time. We have never camped just our family and so it was fun to spend a little time together - just us! Kalley and Cassidy were all ready for bed and it was still light out.

It was soooo windy out that while we were there a huge tree fell over - we went to investigate and this is what we found.

There were these huge worms inside the remaining stump! It was disgusting. We also stayed busy making fairy homes. This kept Lexy busy the whole time! It was fun to look around and find things that would work. We also did a lot of rock collecting. I couldn't convince Cassidy to not pick up so many so I would have to throw some the other way while she wasn't looking.

I tried at all costs to hide me growing belly. It is amazing how quickly my body has decided to be pregnant with this one. I am 3 months pregnant looking like I am going on 5 months. Oh well !

Sick and Tired!

So I know it has been awhile since I posted last. But I have a very good reason. We are expecting a new baby. With that though there have been lots of sick and tired days. The baby is due on April 8th and so far the ultrasound shows that everything is going good. I don't think that I am as sick as I have been with the other pregnancies but Patrick thinks that I just don't remember. On most days I feel like I am managing things just fine. If I just eat when I am suppose to, I usually feel OK. I don't know if I can contribute this to a different pregnancy or a stage in life. I don't think I have the option to be sick and not cook food. I don't have the option to lay in bed and just feel sick. So here we are just trying to keep the dirty dishes out of the sink and the house under control. We just told the girls on Monday. We were waiting till the first Drs. appiontment to make sure that everything was for sure OK. They were so excited! It has been all the talk around here - Our girls kept asking when we were going to have a baby because "everyone else is". So now Lexy can't stop patting my belly (which is already growing) and they have to say goodbye to the baby before they go to school. It is an exciting time, but I have to say it has been overwhelming. I keep having dreams with babies -that aren't mine- and they aren't being taken care of. For some reason when I find the babies their diapers are never changed. Is this a sign of some fear I have? So aside from being so tired that I am in bed at 8 o'clock and gaggin everytime I brush my teeth. I think we will survive this one-we shall see!

First Day of School - 5 weeks late!

Here are Lexy and Kalley at school on the first day. I always take a picture of them by this wall so I can compare how much they have grown since the last year.
Cassidy started preschool 3 weeks later but here is her showing off her artwork from the first day.