calling heaven...

Teaching your 3 year old that she can talk to Heavenly Father and Jesus anytime she wants (in prayer) can sometimes back fire on you.


Lyza: Mom I am starving please feed me before you feed baby brother. (she was not starving 5 seconds ago until she saw that I was going to feed the baby)


Me: Lyza I will feed you as soon as I am done feeding your brother.


Lyza: (now whinnying) No you have to feed me now… (and laying on the ground in the midst of a great tantrum)


Me: Lyza, remember that we don’t talk like that and we need to be patient. Mom will get to you as soon as she can.


Lyza: Stands up and stomps her leg and says. “Fine then I’m not going to be your daughter anymore. I’m going to call Jesus and Heavenly Father and I’m going to live with them up in Heaven and you will never see me again.” Walks off to her room.


Oh, the teenage years should be so much fun!!

my men

These are my men.

I want so much for my little man to turn out just like my big man. I want him to love his family like my big man does. I want him to be kind, be a gentleman, love sports, have an optimistic outlook on life, open doors for girls, cry when he cares deeply about something, work hard at whatever he wants to do, oh and did I mention love his mother!!!

Hey Little Man...stay close to the Big Man and you can't go wrong.

And oh yeah...love you Big Man.

what's in your freezer?

Freezer #1

What is in mine you ask?....PURE LIQUID GOLD!

There is little that gives me a sense of accomplishment as much as these two pictures do. For those of you who know me you know what a magnificent sight this is. Represented in these two freezers are hours of hard work, months of worry, and on occasion a few tears.

Freezer #2

I had to document this moment just for my own sake. Nursing has not come easily to me on either of my children. For some reason my sisters and I like to get mastitis quite frequently during our nursing months. (To see the latest story of a bad case of mastitis visit here...oh and check out my sister darling little girl Sloan.)

Anyway, after each case of mastitis I get the pleasure of building my milk supply up from scratch again....so long story short...to see the above pictures in my freezers makes me smile.

As payback for being so "confident" on this post, I am sure I will have my next case of mastitis within a few days. Stay tuned for that post. But I will enjoy the moment and each time I open my freezers I will bask in the glory of my LIQUID GOLD!!

P.S. Sorry if the pictures make you uncomfortable...just had to document!!

we came, we saw, we got stuck in the parking lot...

Last week the "Tour" came to town. I was so excited because this was the first year the tour had come to Salt Lake. This fact always baffled me because Salt Lake has such dance talent, I was always disappointed when the tour didn't come. However, they came and they danced. They seriously danced for 3 hours. I was exhausted for all of the dancers by the time the show was over.

This night had mostly highs but also had a few lows. The highs of course were...the show itself, hanging out with my sister and friends completely child free. (I actually carried a purse instead of a diaper bag), feeling like a teenager again while hanging out with "the girls", getting to see the show for FREE (thanks Brandon), and reliving the good old days when I too could dance for 2 straight hours for a show.

Shalice, Me, Cindy, Jessica, Celesta

The Lows...parking at the E Center, parking at the E Center, oh and did I mention parking at the E Center? Seriously I have never seen such a mess in my life. It took a half an hour just to get into the parking lot before the show. Oh and by the way, once you got into the parking lot you got to pay $10 just to park. And don't get me started about trying to leave the parking lot after the show was over. Lets just say that I sat in my car and watched over 1/2 of the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." (Thank goodness for the ipod)

Even despite "The Lows" it was such a fun night. There is no one I would rather spend time with then my sisters. We are all so close and love being together. I am one lucky girl to be "sandwiched" in the middle of two amazing sisters.

Thanks for the fun...hey girls...maybe we should try out for the show next year!! We would be amazing! :)

could it be...4 months?

Could it be...you are actually 4 months old? You have decided that you're not going to stay little forever?

But don't you remember little man a few months ago? It was the middle of the night. You and I were the only ones awake. We had our little talk, a heart to heart, and you specifically promised me you would stay little forever.

You promised that you would always let me rock you and cuddle you. You said that you would stay little. That you wouldn't wish that you were 5 like your cousin Halle. (You know I hear this statement every day from your big sister Lyza) Little man, I remember our conversation very well. If only you remembered this night as well.

I guess we will just have to have our talk again. See you tonight around 1:00 am.

a month in review

Lyza on her first day of preschool age 3

Where did this month go? How did the date on the calendar get to say the 25th? Slow down "Father Time" I can't take it all in. My children are growing , I am getting wrinkles, and my 401K isn't what it used to be. I want to take it all in. I want to live in the moment.

Speaking of moments...here are a few of the highlights from this month.


Lyza had her first day of preschool. She absolutely loves school and would be happy going everyday if we let her.


We ate the "fruit of our labors" (or veggies of our labors) when our garden came into full bloom and produced more "produce" then we could ever dream to eat in one month. But oh was it good!!

We visited the dentist and to our amazement...NO CAVITIES! (not even mr. bull) Lyza did great in the chair and let the dentist count all of her teeth.

We had tummy time. This is an activity the Seth has not found the love for yet. We keep at it but it usually only last a few minutes before frustration ensues.

We went swimming with our cousins. The children and daddy's had so much fun going down the slides and keeping all the little heads above water.

Lyza opened her first bank account from money she had saved up for about a year. Funny story that the bank, she opened her account in, closed their doors only a short 2 weeks later. I guess it is never too early to have an open discussion about the Economy with your 3 year old. Lucky her entire $22.00 was FDIC insured.

Shalice, Ave (3 months), Seth (4 months), me

Best of all, we spent many happy days with family and friends. These are the moments we remember always.

watch out michael phelps

Lyza was ready for her first year of swimming lessons. Correction...daddy was ready for Lyza to become the worlds best 3 year old swimmer! Mr. Bull grew up in Southern California with a pool in his back yard. He and his brothers were jumping off his parents roof into the pool by the time he was a young boy. So anything less then that for our daughter was going to be unacceptable. Except for the fact that our daughter screamed in horror in the bath tub anytime the water would get near her face.

Not a problem Mr. Bull decided. He would remedy this with a quick couple of swimming lessons and she would be on her way. Even though we found the most amazing swimming teacher, it turned out it was going to take much more then wishful hoping to make our little blonde beauty an Olympic swimmer. (a.k.a. even put so much as her chin in the water.)

We sat through a couple of rough lessons. And when I say rough I mean, rough for Miss Loni (a.k.a. the worlds best swimming teacher.) She was so patient with Lyza and just kept at it with her.

Along the road of those first few rough swimming lessons we did hear quite a few "classic" comments come out of Lyza's mouth. (see next picture)

Lyza: "Miss Loni I want to go back to the stairs...I've had a rough day."

Lyza: "Miss Loni, my swimming suit is all sweaty." (really just wet)

Lyza: "Miss Loni, if i jump in right hear I'm going to crack my head open."

And my all time favorite...

Lyza: "Miss Loni, if you let go of me...I'm going to FREAK OUT!" (who knows how she even knew that word???)

But somehow I think Lyza could feel her daddy's anxiety, she could feel him almost willing her to love to swim. Because all of the sudden during the 4th swimming lesson the light switch went on. Our little Michael Phelps was born. She couldn't get enough of the water. She was swimming with her face in, jumping off the side, and even jumping off the diving board. It was seriously the craziest thing to watch.

Miss Loni you are incredible! Oh, and you're pretty incredible too Ly Ly!

I posted 2 videos below...this is the swimming lesson that it all turned around. One moment she wouldn't have anything to do with the water and seriously the next she was doing this!

Lyza (age 3) first day of jumping at swimming lessons

Lyza's (age 3) first jump off the diving board

Olympics here we come!!!!