Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn's self portrait. She loves to steal my camera and take random pictures.Kailtyn turned 5 years old in April.

Of course since Ben had such a great time at Chuck E Cheese, so we had to go there again. This time we invited more family and some friends. She had a blast and loves getting her pictures sketched in the little photo booth. She got some really fun presents and loves them all. She tells me all the time that her toys are "very special" to her. Oh I love her cute face.
She enjoys playing outside, particularly jumping on the trampoline and riding her new Barbie scooter that she got for her birthday. She also enjoys helping me plant flowers and weed the garden, I know I am lucky. She still loves all things Princess, and is currently fascinated with Rapunzel. Tangled how we love thee and must watch you at least twice a week. (It would be everyday but mommy is not that nice).
She is a great helper and assists me all the time. Here she is pushing the stroller home after taking our friend Isaac to school. And yes, Ben is in the bottom of the stroller, he was to exhausted to walk home (we live right around the corner from the elementary school, I mean like a five minute walk, seriously Ben!! oh well). Kaitlyn loves to write her name and is so cute when she tells me she has to sit at the table and do her homework. She is not even in school yet. Her homework is mostly coloring and working on writing her letters. This was a huge birthday for her because now she is old enough to go to Kindergarten, and believe me she talks about it all the time. I love her excitement to start school and am getting pretty excited myself. I promise I will not cry on her first day of school , but the second day who knows?

Happy Birthday my tough girl!!! I love you to pieces!!!!!

Benjamin

So I am way behind on posting...

Our cute family at the Ogden Temple before it was shut down for remodeling (minus me, I was of course taking the picture).

Our fun little Benjamin turned 3 years old in March.

It was a great day. We took the family to Chuck E Cheese. The kids had lots of fun playing games and riding the rides. He got so fun presents that he really enjoys playing with. He loved a Mater toy, that he got to pick out at the store on his birthday. He loves riding his cool new Cars scooter around the neighborhood. He is pretty good at it too. Also, he got several new puzzles, because Ben sure loves to do his puzzles.

We sure love having Ben in our family. He is one crazy kid. He can be so sweet and loving one second. Then the next second he is ramming people with his head and generally being mean. Ben makes the funniest faces. He is still a very independent kid; getting dressed on his own (most days), putting on his own shoes and coat, climbing to get whatever he wants out of the cupboard, and putting movies in the DVD player all by himself (Blue ray DVDs are so worth it). He is still not to excited about potty training, so I am not pushing it. Ben continues to have speech problems, so we still meet with a speech therapist once a week. He really likes his new speech therapist, John, and thank goodness for that. John is awesome and somehow has the energy to keep up with this kid. He is slowly starting to improve enough that people other than his family can understand what he is saying. Woohoo!!! We sure love Ben and I am so thankful that three years ago Heavenly Father trusted Brandon and me enough to give us this feisty little soul. I am sure He laughs a ton watching us try to figure out how to raise Ben.

Happy Birthday my crazy boy!!!

Paul

My baby Paul turned one in February. He is such a blessing and a joy in our family. I have to admit, when I found out I was pregnant with Paul, I was very upset. It was an easy pregnancy, so I had nothing to complain about when it came to my health. I just was not prepared for another baby. I was enrolled for two semesters at full-time status. I was teaching Joy School once a month for Kaitlyn and three other three olds. We were still trying to figure out everything after Brandon's injury and adjusting to the new normal in our family. Right after I got pregnant, we lost a very special friend, Paul, the man who taught Brandon the gospel and helped so much when he was struggling. A few months later, we my maternal grnadfather, Heber "Rob" also passed away. My Grandpa Rob performed the sealing for Brandon and me. He was an great man who always gave me great advice when I was struggling. These are the two great men that we decided to name our little Paul Heber after. They left him a great legacy and I only hope I can raise him to be a great man someday.
I was induced to have Paul a week before his due date. My labor was relatively easy. A little after midnight on February 12, Paul made his entrance into the world. I hoped that after Paul was born I would stop feeling so sad. It didn't happen. I tried really hard to enjoy those first few weeks, but it was tough. Of my three children, I only experienced the baby blues after Paul was born. I think I was just feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened during the last couple of years. Slowly, things started to get better. I know it was Paul that saved me. His sweet temperament and easy disposition made it so easy to be his mother. He slept really well, ate like a champ, and rarely cried (the occasional brother is using me as a chew toy scream), and was healthy. He was a little jaundice at first, but thankful he did not have to use the Billi lights like his older siblings. He has also be healthy most of his life, with only a few minor colds and one ear infection. Paul is still one of the easiest going kids around. He takes Ben and Kaitlyn's constant teasing in stride and just goes with the flow. He jabbers all the time, and happily Mama was his first word, followed by da (for dog) and then dada. Even at one, he still loves to cuddle me a tons and gives me the cutest grin when I go to get him out of his crib in the morning. He would scoot, crawl, and now runs to me or Brandon when ever one of us comes home. Paul is also a real ladies man, he loves to coo and smile at the ladies. If a guy starts talking to him, forget it, he wants to find a cute lady to snuggle. He even walked up to the receptionist at the doctors office and started to cuddle with her. I love that he adores Brandon. He follows him around, we often call him our little stalker because you turn around and he is likely right behind you. He also likes to just sit next to Brandon on the bed and play with Brandon's hair. It is the sweetest thing on the planet. When Brandon is carrying him, he will cuddle up really close and grab his arm. I could just eat his cuteness up.
Do you know my favorite thing about Paul? His eyes, I just want to melt every time I look into those big brown eyes. When Brandon and I were first talking about having kids, I wanted them to get Brandon's blue eyes. I always felt like my brown eyes were so boring and plain. Kaitlyn has my brown eyes and we are learning together how fun brown eyes can be. Ben varies between blue and hazel eyes, and I think they will end up being hazel, which is pretty cool. Paul on the other hand has the darkest brown eyes. Even right after he was born, he had dark blue eyes and at about two months they turned into dark brown. I could get lost in his eyes and when he flashes those beauties at me I want to give him anything he wants (luckily for me right now that is usually food). We are in big trouble with this cutie!So why do I tell the whole story about our Paul. If you would have asked me in July 2009 if I wanted another baby right then, I would have said no way. Now, I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with such an amazing child and new better what Brandon and I really needed at the time. Paul has taught me more about how your heart can open up to more love than you ever thought possible. I am so proud to say that I am a mother to three wonderful children. I am striving to be a better mother and woman because I know that my kids deserve the best.
Happy Birthday My Precious Paul!!! I am really thankful that you came to our family.

The Birthday Boy

Here is my cute boy the night before his birthday. He is telling me about the presents he wants for his birthday. He has the cutest expressions ever.

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!!! March 25, 2008

I can't believe it has already been two years. We have so much fun with Ben and love having him in our family. Ben is such an active little guy, I have a hard time keeping up with him. One thing is sure, he loves his sister and brother. He likes to hold Paul and kiss his head, and has to play with whatever Kaitlyn is playing with. We had a wonderful birthday, full of fun. He loved his presents and loved ripping the paper off of them. He got some more trains and tracks to go with his train table.

Kaitlyn picked out a little Cars puzzle for him.

If you know Ben, his new passion is Toy Story, especially Buzz Lightyear. So of course, we had to get him both Toy Story movies, that he absolutely loves.

But the ultimate present was the Buzz Lightyear doll. It is supposed to be like the doll in the movie. The wings pop out, he has over 65 phrases that he can say, and he comes with a space ship. I tried to get a cute picture of Ben flying Buzz around the house, but Ben was not very cooperative. Anyway, he adores his Buzz doll and it has slept with him for the last two nights.

This is a cute picture of Kaitlyn celebrating for Ben, and of course I had to add one of Paul enjoying the party.

So what does a birthday boy do the day after, he dresses up with big sister and dances around the kitchen. He loves Kaitlyn's Cinderella dress, but this is the first time he has put it on. I sure love these kids, toooooo cute!!!!!!


Finally, Paul wondering what is going on. I could photograph my kids all day long.

Kaitlyn's Birthday

I have a ton to catch up on. So I am going to break it up into a couple posts.
First, my adorable Kaitlyn turned three. She had a wonderful party with her friends and cousins. She played and loved all her presents. She loves telling people that she is a big girl now because she is three.

In honor of her birthday, I would like to list the three cutest thing about Kaitlyn.

1. The way she says "I love you this much," while she stretches her arms a wide as she can. Then, she gives me a big hug and a kiss. She is such an affectionate child.

2. How sweet she is to Ben and how she expresses her love her Ben. She is the sweetest big sister in the universe. She loves to tell me when Ben needs something.

3. Kaitlyn is a great friend. She prayers for her friends every night and is so thankful for them and being able to play with them. She is getting better at sharing her toys. She has the cutest personality.

I love this girl and know she is going to be a beautiful woman and a great mother someday.

Ben's Birthday

On March 25, Ben turned one. I can't believe a year has already passed. He is getting so big and is as cute as ever. He runs and climbs on everything. We had a great birthday. Kaitlyn, Ben, Sierra, and I spent the day playing. After Brandon got home from work, we had cupcakes and opened presents. Ben loved his cupcake and made a huge mess, but it was well worth it. Then, Ben got to open his presents. He got some big Lego's, some more balls, and a cool sports center. The sports center has a little basketball hoop, a baseball, and a football. Ben loves to play basketball. I think Ben had a good day.

On the Saturday after his birthday, we had a little party with my family and Brandon's parents. It was nice to spend time with family. Ben was a little cranky from getting his shots the day before, but I think he had another fun day. He loved sitting in his highchair and eating ice cream. He also got some more neat toys to play with and some cute summer clothes. It was a fun party and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. It is amazing that my baby is one already.

Santa

On Monday night, we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. Kaitlyn was really excited to go. She ran all over the house saying "Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas," because that is what Santa says. When we got to the mall, Kaitlyn was a little apprehensive to sit on his lap and talk to him. Santa was very nice and they started talking about the princess stuff she wants for Christmas. Ben was cute, like always. He sat on Santa's lap without any problems. We got a cute picture of both of the kids with Santa. It was a fun family night.

December is the month of birthdays. Kaitlyn, Ben , and I took Grandma Jody out to lunch for her birthday and we had a blast. I love being able to spend time with my mom. We heard that Alexia had a wonderful Hannah Montana birthday party. We are glad she had a great day. We hope that Jacki and Jared had happy birthdays. We also wish Steven a very happy birthday.

We are still doing good. The kids keep me busy and I love watching them grow. They bring such joy into our home. I especially love this time of year. I love teaching Kaitlyn about the birth of Jesus. This time of year reminds me of how truly blessed we are and of how we need to share those blessing with others. We are trying to have the Christ Spirit in our hearts and home.

New Computer

I am really excited. Yesterday afternoon, we had a little birthday party for me with my family and Brandon's parents. My family gave me a new computer for my birthday. They are so wonderful and will never know how much I love it and appreciate it. Brandon helped me set it up last night and it works great. It is tons faster than my old computer and does not freeze, which was causing me loads of stress. I constantly lost info or had to stop doing something because the computer would just freeze. Anyway, I have already been using my new computer to work on some genealogy. I am really becoming passionate about doing genealogy. It is an amazing feeling to find a name or date I have been searching for. This is a picture of me uncovering my marvelous new computer.

Here are also a couple cute pictures from the party. Kaitlyn and Callie were having tons of fun playing together and pushing each other in the stroller. Kaitlyn looks really cool in Grandpa Jay's sunglasses. Craig had a blast holding Iron Man Ben with Grandma Jody.

As I promised, here are some cute pictures from when Brandon was released from the hospital. Kaitlyn was happy to see her daddy, and Dotty was relieved to finally be with her human again. She has hardly left Brandon's side since he got home. She sleeps right by his feet all the time. Brandon is doing exceptionally well. We know that our Savior Jesus Christ watches over us and continues to help our family. We feel deeply blessed to have Brandon home and doing as well as he is. He still gets tired really easily and rests a lot. He is anxious to return to work. I think he is bored. I am trying to find a new hobby for him, if anyone has any good suggestions we would appreciate it. He has become an expert at napping, and Ben and him are getting some good naps together. We will continue to enjoy our time together and work on getting Brandon's strength and endurance back.

Misc. thoughts

We have had a busy week. Sunday was Ben's baby blessing. It was a great day. We had lots of fun visiting with family and friends. Here is a cute family picture. I am trying to convince Brandon to get our family picture done professionally so we can try to get one with all the family smiling, or at least Kaitlyn smiling.

We have gone to the park a couple times. Kaitlyn still loves the slide and has discovered how much fun the swings are. I had to push her for thirty minutes before we could go home for naps. Kaitlyn also got to go play with some of her friends. She had lots of fun playing with Sierra and was so excited that she is back from her vacation. Sierra has a cute little Barbie Volkswagen car. Kaitlyn loved driving it around her backyard. Later, she got to play with Jaxon and his new swing set. Brook (Jaxon's mom) said she had a blast and Brook really enjoyed playing with Ben. Brook watched the kids while I went to the doctor for my mommy check-up.

Brandon had a good birthday. We went out to dinner at Sizzler and Kaitlyn was so cute telling him Happy Birthday the entire meal. This week I finally broke down and let Brandon buy a grill. He has wanted one since we got married. We agreed that during the summer Brandon will cook dinner a least once a week on the grill, so I can have a break. I am excited and look forward to eating lots of yummy grilled foods.

Airplane Overload

Sorry I have not posted for a while. My laptop is broken and my other computer is going very slow. Anyway, yesterday we were going to ride on the new Frontrunner. The wait was three to four hours, so Brandon suggested we go to the airplane museum. Kaitlyn had a blast. She was so excited to see all the planes. She could hardly hold still and did not know which plane to look at first. She loved being able to touch the planes outside and told everyone we saw that she touched the plane. When we went inside, she had to sit in the stroller and could not touch the planes. She was so mad that she could not run around and play on the planes. Overall, we had a great time and I know where I can take Kaitlyn during the summer when we just need to get out of the house.

Kaitlyn had a great second birthday. Kaitlyn and I made sugar cookies and frosted them. She got blue frosting all over her and had fun with the sprinkles. When Brandon got home, we went to a cute little deli at the Ogden Airport. Kaitlyn loved watching the planes take off and land. She is so fascinated with all the planes. On Friday, Grandma Jody, Jeanne, Craig, and Callie came to visit. We had a fun visit and Kaitlyn loved getting more presents. Grandma gave her princess sheets and a princess quilt. I put them on her bed that day, and Kaitlyn was extremely excited to go to sleep that night.

Ben is doing wonderful and gets bigger all the time. He keeps getting longer and is going to be tall like his dad. He is more alert everyday and loves to look at faces. He is starting to sleep for about five hours a night, hooray for mommy. Kaitlyn is starting to help me even more. She has decided that it is her job to wash and rinse off Ben's body. I wash his face and hair so she doesn't pour water all over him. We are definitely having tons of fun with our two little angels.