Tangled Up In Fun

With the arrival of Chloe's 5th birthday this year, I was reminded of how much I looked forward to my own in the early years. I would seriously start counting down to my birthday from about the first of the year. These days they aren't nearly as exciting for me, but I love watching my kids as the anticipation builds towards their special days. Chloe's countdown began about a month ago, and started again the day after her birthday.

Chloe woke up to doughnuts that Joe picked up for her first thing that morning. We let the kids pick their birthday meals and a sprinkle doughnut for breakfast and macaroni and cheese for lunch were on the menu, but the first order of the day was opening presents.

Can you tell which gift was Adam's favorite? (Okay, so he really didn't care, but I thought it was funny) After breakfast and lunch, the focus fell on her 1st birthday party ever. I don't know that I am a very creative person and, feeling that way, I experienced some anxiety when it came to planning a fun party. Chloe had decided on a Rapunzel theme and luckily a Google search gave me some great ideas that I all too happily copied. Click here if you want to check out the origins for all my great Tangled ideas.

Here is Chloe's invitation asking the kids to come get Tangled in fun at our house

We planned a night party, for reasons to be detailed below. Chloe kept bragging that she was having a "night" party. I think the one boy she invited was a little confused when he showed up.

Food is always fun and I think we did some fun things, again no idea being my own.

Rapunzel's Tower Cake:

I did come up with the idea to stick Rapunzel stickers in the cupcakes, so I guess I'm not a total copy cat

Chloe loved the idea of doing sailboats in blue jello. The kids loved them too

The entire spread, complete with food from the movie: homemade bread, grapes, and lots of other yummy treats. Rapunzel was kind enough to let us borrow some of her hair and the kids had fun playing tug of war and other jumping games. Chloe also really wanted to do a balloon stomp, but I wasn't able to get any great pictures of that.

No matter how fun a party is , any birthday kid's favorite part is the singing and more presents. She got some great things from her cute little friends and loved being in the spotlight for the night.

Tracie and Ellie are two of Chloe's favorite young women and they were so great to come help paint nails and help out with Adam. I love these cute girls! One of the things I was most excited about for this party was to light off lanterns into the night sky. It's yet again another stolen idea, but was very cheap and way fun. There are better pictures one the link above, and here is the link if you want to buy some yourself.

We ended the night with this pretty send off as parents came to pick their kids up and we sent them home with water color paints, and hopefully a happy memory. I'm so glad that I don't big birthday parties yearly, but might be convinced if it meant watching my kid's happy faces again like Chloe's was at the end of this fun day

Five

Five years ago today I became a Mom. In some ways that time seems to have passed slowly, but mostly it seems to have flown. During my single years most of my thoughts revolved around when I would get married and when I would get to become a Mom. Some days I wondered if that time would ever come. I am so grateful that it did and that I have been blessed with a great husband and three beautiful children.

On this day five years ago, I was two days past my due date and was scheduled to have my labor induced. I remember getting up and getting ready and trying to wrap my head around the fact that my life was about to change. As we drove to the hospital that morning, Joe and I discussed what she ould look like, how big we thought she might be, and what we were going to name her. Chloe was the last name we had talked about and we both liked it - which hadn't happened with most of the names we came up with.

Checking into labor and delivery, I was full of excitement to get the action started. I was hooked to monitors, the pitocin was started and I was eventually given an epidural. For how low key this was, I could have been sitting on my couch at home. My mom spent most of the day with Joe and I. The two of them spent most of the time playing games, eating M&M's and harrassing each other. Time passed slowly. Having checked in at 8:00am, it wasn't until 4:00PM when they determined I was fully dialated and ready to roll. The pushing took about an hour and went smoothly. At 5:04 PM I was rewarded with seeing my daughter for the first time and I haven't been able to get enough of looking at her since.

I love this girl

I love how she smiles

I love how she cocks her hip to the side and holds her hands out when she's trying to make you understand something

I love how she thinks she's so old and has experienced everything already

I love how nice she is to other kids and to her brothers

I love how she is always willing to help me

I love her stylin dance moves

I love her random words of wisdom

I love to watch her artistic side

I love to see her use her imagination

I love her.

Happy Birthday to my Oldest Sweetest and Most Beautiful Daughter Ever

Thanks for making my life so much better

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Business in the frontBaldy in the back

Gotta love sweet baby hair

Oh What Do You Do In the Wintertime?

Oh what do you do in the wintertime

When all the world is cold?

Do you make your kids pose

Or take pictures of babies in new clothesand laugh at the faces they make?
Do you plan parties for Dad to make him feel glad and eat fake food all afternoon long?Do you fall asleep when you eator cuz you're just plain beat, and can do it without sucking your thumb?Do you swim in a poolOr dress like a fool, but still smile for Chloe anyway? Do you play with your brotherswhom are loved like no other as you showeror play with your toes?Do you play with paintseven if Picasso you ain't and pass the time away?

Is that what you do? So do I.

Boys Will Be Boys

I'm not sure which is the greater indicator of my immaturity in relation to the following conversation:

A. That my words began the conversation

B. That I find what was said incredibly funny or

C. That I am unable to type the anatomically correct word that makes the story funny

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My guess is that the answer is D, All of the above

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Anyhow, anyone that has three kids, and has gone through the time where at least one or all of them are small can understand the difficulty making it out the door sometimes poses. Such is the time of my life. We don't have all that many places to go, but when we do, it is always a trial of sorts and one that, today, I did not handle all that well. Chloe had preschool today and in trying to get out the door and into the car, I encountered a little girl who did not want to wear her boots, but also didn't want to wear any other shoe option, a little boy who wouldn't walk out the door without his blue Lightening McQueen (which was no where to be seen), and an even littler boy who, after going a week without a car seat ride, didn't want to start today.

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Five minutes late already, frustrated, and finally to the car, I told Chloe that she needed to get herself buckled and move her toys so that I could latch Adam's car seat into his base. At the same time that Chloe started arguing with me about having no place else to put her things, Adam started up the crying and some (easily put back in place) rubber edging came off the door frame. Having reached my limit, I swore...well my Utah version of swearing, which really I'm not even thinking of the swear words my phrase is replacing, but even with the rationalization is still not something I necessarily want my kids to hear or repeat regularly. Curious as to what I said? Picturing me in the chaos described above, try not to be disappointed when you read...

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"Freaking A" (I know, right?)

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Immediately Noah (who we have recently had to have discussions with regarding the anatomical differences between girls and boys) looked at me and said:

"Freaking P*&!s" (replace male anatomy word here - see so immature I can't even type it)

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Shocked, Chloe (who is the second mom and thinks everything Noah says is bad) said:

"Noah, you can't say that word!"

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To which Noah shrugged and matter of factly replied:

"What? Boys have p*&!ses"

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Indeed this is true and with that comment my little man proved in that moment to be more mature than his mom, giving me a laugh on a crazy Friday afternoon.

Try A Little Harder To Be A Little...

Better. A word that I feel like passes through my mind ALL the time. How can I be a better friend, a better mom, a better wife. What if I cooked better, looked better, played better? Why don't I act better, eat better, speak better. The list of things I would like to be better at is endless. Without being too hard on myself, I realize it's okay to want to be better.

Gordon B Hinckley said:

"Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving...We can improve the world about us, in our homes and in our social activities. We can do it if we will be prayerful and faithful.

We can spend a little less time in idleness...that time can be put to better advantage, and the consequences will be wonderful...May we go forward with a determination to try a little harder to be a little better"

So for my year 2011, my goal is simply to try a little harder and make myself become a better person. Some of my goals in that endeavor are to:

Look at my computer a little less

and play with my kids a little more.To be better about keeping my house clean but to not stress so much about the messes kids make having fun.Use my new Bosch mixer to become a better baker. To be better about including vegetables in meals, especially dinner. To be better about my pretzel M&M consumption (a bag of which currently is hiding in my dresser). To develop a closer relationship with the Savior and to be better about teaching my kids the principles of the gospel. To be a better example and invite the spirit into our home more often. To be better about sharing my testimony of the gospel so that my kids will develop testimonies as well. There are a lot of ways to be better and to improve. When I think of all I'm not, the ways I can improve are endless (note to self, try to be better about being nicer to me) but they aren't hopeless. I hope that as I make an effort this and every year to try a little harder than I have before, that my life will be happier and that those around me will be too.

A Whole Lotta Nothin

That's what we've been up to so far in the year 2011. Nothin. Doing nothing has never been so much fun. While Chloe had a break from preschool and we had single digit temperatures, we took advantage of staying indoors playing with new toys and each other.

This little guy is so much fun to have in our home. Yes there is the crying and always wanting to be fed, but he makes us laugh too. I love that he responds to us now. He loves to watch what we are doing and loves to show his approval by giving us huge smiles (one day I may actually catch one on camera). Chloe and Noah love him so much and have been such great helpers. Like yesterday when Chloe "helped" by picking him up and almost dropped him. Or when Noah "helped" by wiping is nose and then put his hand on Adam's face to try to help him stop crying. Great help. Really though, they do try and most of the time actually do help make my life easier.

Adam had his four month appointment a couple weeks late. We put it off as we were waiting for insurance to approve a shot to prevent RSV. The shot is very expensive ($1000 a shot) and has to be given every 28 days. This should have started in November but insurance was slow to approve it. Lucky boy received that along with three other immunizations. He also showed the doctor all the cool things he can do and we left feeling great about his development so far. His last appointment put him in the 1% for weight but this appointment found him back in 0% territory. He is still growing well though, the doctor just attributes the slow down to Adam sleeping though the night and eating just a little bit less. (Yes that's right I said sleeping through the night!!! 10 hours never passed so sweetly) So as of Friday Adam weighs 10lbs 15oz and is 24 inches long.

I have loved watching Chloe and Noah play together. Every day their creativity amazes me. From making up songs to travelling to far off lands, staying home has never been such an adventure, nor has outfit selection, as evidenced below.

Noah really loves Chloe and is almost always willing to go along with whatever idea she has. I love how much they love each other.

For Christmas, we made our parents books with photos of the past year. The one for my parents was made by all of my siblings and we were able to get a picture of all the grandkids together. I was going to post this picture earlier, but as my parents hadn't seen it yet, I had to hold off til Christmas was over. What a cute group of kiddos. Adam & Chloe McBride, Camden Morris, Jack Fuller, Raegan Morris, Hadlee Larsen, Noah McBride, Allie Solomon, and Riley Morris