One month old already!



Aunt Monica took a few picture of Elizabeth to celebrate her one month birthday!  She was so sweet and feel asleep during the pictures.  Can't believe it's been one month already, but it seems like she has been in our family forever.  What a sweetheart, she is so precious!





Here she is with cousin Allison.  They are both on the sleep all day and stay up all night plan!  They look so different but make all the same grunts and noises. 

Thanks Mono!



Things I want to remember...

I have been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am. I have a nice home, comfortable life, great husband, the gospel in my life and four beautiful & healthy children. Because most days lately feel monotonous, exhausting and sometimes overwhelming, the days blur together. Having four little kids is hard work and some days it seems like it will never end. But they are growing up fast and there are things that I want to remember about them, so that I can be reminded of the way they are right now. This blog is my way of journaling here are some things I want to remember about my little family.

 
I want to remember...

• How Elizabeth has brought so much joy and excitement to our family, everyone loves to snuggle and kiss her and help feed and change her diapers.
• Her newborn smell, grunts and groans as well as her crying late at night and wanting to sleep in bed with mom and dad.
• She is a sweet spirit, sent straight from heaven.

• Everyday when we have family prayer Isaac yells "I prayed last night" so he won't get asked to say the prayer.
  
• He is demanding and super stubborn. He's a big baby, still has his binki, wants us to "fluff" his pillow before bed and wants me to baby him. At least he still takes a nap everyday!
  
  He loves to read the same few books over and over. We read books while I feed the baby and he always chooses the same books, every single day.
  
• He laughs really loud, out loud when watching "Tom & Jerry".
  
• He knows how to play "Angry Birds" and "Bubble Ball" on our ipad. He is really good at the games and teaches me how to play.
  
  He lectures everyone (especially cousinBecca) to chew with their mouth closed and then proceeds to chew with his mouth wide open! He is a bossy boy.
  
• He loves to play rough, he wants to have pillow fights, wrestle and play hard.

• Emily is my best helper, willing to do whatever I ask. She'll even play with Isaac when he's being a stinker.
  
• She adores her new sister and wants to be close to her.
  
  How she insists on choosing her outfits and doing her own hair most days. She likes to get it wet, comb it down and put lots of bows and headbands in her hair.
  
  How she is learning to read and spend lots of time drawing pictures and writing words.
  
• She also LOVES living on the circle, and is getting independent in going to play with her friends (without me)!
  
  She's shy and doesn't like to go new places without me.
  
  She has a happy personality and is happy most of the time.

• Taylor loves to read; "Boxcar Kids", "Magic Treehouse" and non-fiction books are his favorite.  
• He has to be reminded to use soap and shampoo every time he takes a shower.
• How excited and dedicated Taylor was to start reading the Book of Mormon. He would stay up late at night reading chapter after chapter, not knowing a lot of what he was reading but knowing it was important.
• Learning about fasting and being willing to fast once he turned eight years old, even though he is hungry. 
• He gets so excited to learn new facts about the world, space, tools, animals etc..  
• How he absolutely LOVES living on "the circle" (the street of our new house). He loves living by so many friends and being able to walk to school, scouts and church. He never wants to leave the street and go anywhere because he is so happy staying at home and playing with his friends. This makes me life so easy and uncomplicated. I don't need to drive him anywhere lately.

• Danny is the steady rock of our family. I can be hormonal, emotional and totally unreasonble and he will help me feel stable again.
• The kids favorite thing to do before bed is wrestle with Danny. He takes them downstairs and throws them around on the couch, and they love it! 
• Danny is a good teacher for our kids; teaching them about tools and how to make stuff, about animals etc.. and about the gospel.  
• He has a lot of patience, more than me most days.  
• He is a wonderful provider, and great father and a fantastic husband.

 My goal this year is to enjoy my kids more and not worry about the never ending "to do" list as much. I want to be more patient, kind, loving and live each day to the fullest. I want to snuggle and hold Elizabeth until she falls asleep, and enjoy each of her adorable baby stages. I want to read Isaac "The Pokey Puppy" ten plus times a day, take him on bike rides, teach him to play soccer and do fun, messy crafts. I want to take the time to teach Emily how to read, draw rainbows, help me cook. I want to spend time with Taylor talking about science or space, playing basketball ( I let him win) and practice memorizing the "Articles of Faith". I love how our kids want to spend time with us and get so excited about the smallest thing like making milkshakes, doing our "family sandwich" ( a big family hug) or having Friday night "movie night". These memories are priceless to me.




I know these days will pass far too quickly, and before I know it they will all be grown. I wish I could stop time and stay right where we are, because I love the stage of our family right now!

Another week

Well Elizabeth is three weeks old!  She is such a sweet, adorable, nearly perfect baby!  We all love her so much!  Three weeks has gone by so quickly, yet so slow at the same time.  How does that happen?  We are anxious for spring so we can get out in the warm weather with our little baby.   

She is doing great at all of her daily tasks: eating, pooping every hour, peeing, burping, crying when necessary, and sleeping all day while staying up at night! She likes her binki, and sucks her thumb when she can get it to her mouth. She doesn't like baths yet, but loves getting swaddled nice and tight and then held close to a warm body.
 

Big sister, Emily LOVES helping with baby Lizzie.  She likes to pick her outfits, and accessorize her with bows and a cute bracelet, as well as help change her diaper and hold her.  She is such a great helper!

Elizabeth spends her days in the bouncy seat, sitting in her new swing, getting some tummy time, and sleeping wherever she is when she gets tired.  She doesn't mind being in her carseat, which is a huge relief.  Isaac HATED his carseat for the first 2-3 months and would scream whenever we were in the car.  She just falls asleep. 
We are thoroughly loving this sweet new addition to our family!  We think she is just perfect!  Here are a few more pics. of her. 

Emily had "Wacky Wednesday" at school this week.  She had big plans of wearing a really crazy outfit with underwear on her head etc.. Instead she decided on totally practical clothes (which is rare) and to wear 2 different shoes!  Then she wanted her hair with one bun and one braid?!  She is so funny about what she wears and how to do her hair!  She definately has her own sense of style!

In other news... I am SO happy Easter is coming soon.  I LOVE Easter candy!  It's one of my favorite holidays for many reasons, but one of them is for the delicious candy.  I have been buying and eating too much candy, but I want to enjoy it while it's here! Can't wait for Easter-Have a great week!

Isaac's B-day party

We had a gret Birthday celebration for Isaac on Thursday.  He started his day with a sugar cereal of his choice, "Cookie Crisp".  He loved the little cookies, and gobbled up two bowls of cereal.

It was a good day for Elizabeth too, it was her due date, and she is already two weeks old! Here is Emily holding her, which is what she wants to do all day long.  She loves holding and helping with the baby, and I am SO grateful for her help.  She is a fantastic older sister! She is already accessorizing Lizzie in headband, bracelets etc..

Here is Elizabeth with her cousin Allison, they are one week apart!  They are sure to be life long friends/cousins.  Love those newborn faces! They are so adorable and even more precious!

We had a little party for Isaac.  He wanted hostess cupcakes for his treat, and Mexican food for dinner.  After dinner he opened his presents he got spoiled; a backpack, superhero cape, remote control car, the movie "CARS" and some new books!  What more could a three year old want!  Here are some pics. from the party.

We can't believe you are three.  Time goes by too quickly!  Now it's time to start potty training, if he would ever act interested in it! 
It was a good day, he was all tired out by bedtime! 

 

Isaac turns 3!

Happy Birthday, Isaac! 

We can't believe you are three already!  I was induced on my due date, 3/10/08 and thought he was going to be a girl named "Olivia".  The labor went well and relatively quick.  He was born at 3:20 in the afternoon.  When Dr. Jones announced "it's a boy!"  I was thrilled and shocked!  Isaac weighed 8 lb. 1 oz. and had fat little cheeks. 

That is why I love the anticipation of not knowing the gender during the pregnancy.  It is SO exciting to find out after all the work, stress and exhaustion of labor.  It makes it all worth it!  

Taylor helped pick the name "Isaac".  I was leaning towards other names, but he really wanted it.  Now we think it fits him perfectly, and he goes by "Zeek" and "Little Toot".



 Isaac was a sweet, happy and mellow little baby.  He was loved by his older brother and sister right from the start!



He has a contagious smile and laugh, and constantly keeps other laughing at the funny things he does and says.

Isaac's bright blue eyes, and  blonde hair make him look so different from T & E.  He has always been smaller and shorter than the other kids, but is catching up now- thanks to unlimited whole milk, lots of butter and ice cream on demand. He definately has his own look.   

Isaac has a stubborn almost feisty personality.  He likes to do things on his terms and wants things to be done his way.  He's a smart, chatty, fun boy who is willing to try new things.  He is talking and asking questions constantly.   He's adventurous and daring, but not crazy or scary where we have to worry about him being safe.   His favorite things right now are: playing with cars and trains, riding his bike, doing playdoh, playing outside, playing anything with Taylor or Emily and wresting with dad. 

Isaac LOVES playing with Emily and her friends.  They baby him and carry him around, and let him play in their games.  Sometimes they even let him dress up like a girl!  This has stopped recently because Goofy Grandpa told him "boys don't wear dresses, crowns, jewelery or makeup, and you are a BOY!"  Isaac repeats that often, he doesn't want to disappoint Goofy grandpa!

Isaac is a wonderful son, full of personality.  We know he will make a great big brother!

You have brought so much joy and laughter into our family!
We love you little toot!

Taylor's Baptism

Taylor was baptized yesterday and it was such a special day for him.  He looked so cute in his new suit and white shirt and tie.  He really looked grown up.  He has been excited for this day for along time and was happy to become a member of the church. 

There were lots of family and friends that came to support Taylor at his baptism, it was a real struggle to get some good pics. of him.  He HATES pictures and will not cooperate most of the time. 

Here's our first picture with our whole family!  It seems like we have such a big group now, with little Elizabeth in our family.  We didn't bring her to the baptism, too many people and germs for a  one week old baby. 

Danny did a great job of baptizing Taylor and gave him a beautiful confirmation.  Taylor shared his favorite scripture story, Captain Moroni, and his favorite primary song, "I Am A Child of God" with everyone. 

Here's the whole group after the baptism.

Taylor was lucky enough to have all of his grandparents and great grandma Shields attend his baptism.  It was a great day and we are so proud of his choice to be baptized. 

We love you Tay, thanks for setting a wonderful example for your younger siblings.