Proud Mama!

I am so proud of my son. I am one of those moms who show random strangers pictures of my kids. I really do...I did just that the other night at the Jazz game. Seriously.

All of a sudden Finn just started busting out his letters! He sat down at the table tonight and asked me how to spell the names of our family. After he did this, he did his numbers 1-10. I am so proud of him!! He is 4!! My son is a GENIUS!!

Sleep

3 AM and Neelah is SINGING in her crib. I can hear her through the monitor. Singing people!! Who sings at that awful hour?

In a diaper box

Yesterday while I was cleaning the house, Finn and Neelah spent an hour + with a diaper box. What is it with kids and boxes? First they climbed in and played and then when it broke, they had the brilliant idea to make a house. I love it when they play together.

This morning after Finn crawled in bed with me he told me that "Mom, you are the best mom I ever had". He drives me nuts with all the talking that he does ALL DAY LONG but when he says things like this, it makes up for it and then some. I love my kids!

2 moms, 6 kids

Brinn was here visiting on her last few days of xmas vacation before she went back to Kentucky. I LOVED having her and her kiddies here with me but it DID get a little CRAZY! Above is the shot of all of the kids in the car. From back to front: Neelah, Brooklyn, Finn. 2nd row: Kabren, Brielle, and Savvy. Brinn and me in the front. Imagine for one second what it looked like for us to pile out of the van. Seriously.

Here are Brinn and I with our two babies at the annual Brewer Xmas Party. It has been years since I have attended and I loved to see everyone! Savvy and Kabe are 2 weeks apart in age but Savvy definately has the weight advantage over Kabe. Makes sense, its the same for the moms too.

Here is Brielle, Derek (Brinns brother), Brookie and Finn.

Change in venue...

For those of you who don't already know, our plans have changed. Instead of going to Hawaii, we will be moving to Maryland. This makes Eric sad because it means less time in the ocean spearfishing but it is good news for me since it makes coming home just that much easier. We don't know where we will live yet. Somewhere close to Columbia so that Eric doesn't spend eons traveling each day. Any suggestions for a cute suburbian neighborhood? I know that some of you will be disappointed as well since you won't be able to visit us in the tropics but you are still welcome to visit, just come to see the capitol of our nation instead!

feel the love

Have you all taken the Love Language test? If you haven't, you need to. Go HERE to take the 30 second, readers digest version. Anyhow. I am an even split between "Acts of Service" and "Gifts". In other words, I am bi-lingual. I am most likely to show my love an appreciation to you by giving you a gift or doing something for you. These are also the ways I need to be shown appreciation.

My favorite part of the Christmas Season is getting cards in the mail. I LOVE IT!! There is something about mail that gives me the hugest warm and fuzzy feeling. Not only is it a "gift" but it is an "act of service" since it takes time to write it out and send it in the post. Here are all of the cards we got this holiday season. Can you find yours?

I have to say that Mandy's made me laugh the hardest with Sara's coming in a close second. Who doesn't laugh at a doggie wearing a Santa hat? Warren's was probley the most heartfelt and I loved getting a card from my Dad.

Thank you everyone who thought of us. It made my month of December THAT MUCH BETTER!!

Things we give up to be a mom...

This post is a little on the confessional side. Maybe I should keep this stuff to myself but as I have afore mentioned, I don't really filter myself.

Being a mom of three I do my best. That is all I can do. My house is usually in decent shape, only rarely do my kids skip a daily bath, they always have clean underwear (diapers) and clothes. I on the other hand, suffer a little more. I try really really hard to shower everyday. Honestly, I never go longer than 2 days but even after 5 months of having 3 kids, I still am not used to not being able to shower everyday and take my time in a nice steamy, relaxing shower. So, that being said, it is an even bigger deal when I wash my hair. If I wash it, it takes at least 30 min for me to do (blow dry, put in rollers, flat iron). It isn't so much that I don't have the 30 min to spare each day, but more about what Neelah can get into in that same 30 min. The child is out of control. For real. Not a day goes by without her falling off something that she isn't supposed to be climbing on. I love her dearly but she is a mess and that is exactly what she makes when I take my 5 min shower and try to do my hair.

This is what she walked around in for the entire 30 min yesterday morning. Seriously. It's the bag that I keep my velcro rollers in. She decided that a ziplock would go nicely with her pj's and dumped the rollers on the floor to add this to her ensamble.

Savvy Laughing

Finn is the only one who can get Savvy to laugh on a regular basis. And she always laughs hardest when Finn is around. I am so blessed to have happy babies. SO BLESSED!! If Savvy was a hard, colicky baby I just wouldn't make it. She is so much FUN!

Maryland

Like I said in my last post, I loved being with Eric in Maryland. It was so much fun to just do whatever I/we wanted to do!!

This was as close as I got to The Pentagon. Here we are driving to the airport to drop me off to head back to SLC.
And here is as close as I got to the Washington Memorial. It was a pretty cool sight from the freeway, I can't imagine what it must be like to actually be there. Maybe next time....

Can anyone say "VAY-KAY!!"

I am currently in Maryland visiting Eric. I left all 3 kids at home. Some of you may be thinking, "how could she leave her 4 month old???" It's okay if you are thinking that, I think the same thing about myself at least once an hour. But after the last year, I NEED A RESET. It has been way hard being away from my kids. This is the first time in 4 years that I have been without at least one child in tow.

Eric and I are having the TIME OF OUR LIVES!!

I had this whole agenda planned for my 3 days here. That immediately went out the window. I soon realized that what I REALLY wanted to do was WHATEVER I WANTED!! If I wanted to get back in bed after breakfast, that is exactly what I would do (and what I DID do).

Eric and I have gone out to see some sights. We went to Annapolis today and walked around and shopped. We ate at this cute little pub and shivered as the sea winds blew. I love the old 1800's architecture and seeing all the sailboats. It is all so very QUAINT.

We have roamed the mall and plan on dinner and a movie tonight. What more can I ask for? This quality time with my husband is GOLD!! So even though I am judging myself for leaving my babies, I will be a better mom when I get home tomorrow.

I must be stupid

Today I took Savvy for her 4 month check up. The day started out relatively okay, all the kids were dressed and in the car...even the girls had their hair done! I knew that Savvy was going to have to get some shots today and since Neelah never got her 12month shots I thought to myself that I might as well get them done so that I don't have to make another trip.

We get to the Dr.'s office and just as they call us back Finn announces that he needs to go to the bathroom. The catch is that he doesn't want to go by himself. After working it out with the nurse, she stays to watch Savvy and Finn, Neelah and I go into the bathroom. Finn remembers his 4 year checkup and decides that it was GREAT FUN to pee in a cup! He insists on peeing in a cup. I am trying to get him to quickly pee in the toilet while holding Neelah so that she doesn't put her hand in his stream. Seriously.

Then comes the fun part of keeping all 3 kids locked in the room while not allowing Finn or Neelah to break anything or make a mess. So Savvy gets all checked out and she weighs a whopping 16lbs 4oz and is 25 1/4 inches long. Then come the shots. She gets 4. OUCH! I work on getting her settled down and then it is Neelah's turn. She gets 4 too! Double ouch. I take my two crying girls out and all the while Finn is asking about when he gets a treat. To top it off, I just realized that Neelah has 3 incisors coming in!! 3!!!

Yay for me. Today is going to be a REAL picknic!

Holiday Beginnings

Today, being the last day that Eric was in town, we decided to try to get a shot for our family Christmas Card. Thanks so much to Amy who was my very own personal shopper for the shoot, coordinating all the different outfits. And thanks to Melissa who came over last minuet with her super new, super NICE camera. These are some of the cute shots that didn't make it to winner but that just were too cute to file away and never be seen. Most of them included Neelah since she was the one who was thrilled to have her picture taken.

Love those freckles on my little Finners!

I wish I could duplicate the gene that gave her these eyes and somehow mutate it to my own face.

Savvy was feeling a bit under the weather today. She has caught the cold that I had last week. Poor thing. But her chubby cheeks will always be DARLING!

American Music Awards

Was anyone else as disturbed as I was tonight by Annie Lennox's performance? I like the Eurythmics as much as then next person but tonight was just....very strange.

Finn: "MOM LOOK!!!"
Me: "what am I looking at?"
Finn: "A CEMENT CASTLE!"


Conversations that occur when the kids don't watch movies while driving in the car. Apparently there are all sorts of interesting things to see!

updates

Okay, so I began the process of "privatizing" my blog. If anyone knows of anyone who got left out, let me know. Dang it takes a long time to enter in all those email addresses!! But since I have never been one to censor myself, it is best for all involved.

This picture didn't turn out very well, it was taken through the window with my phone. Finn decided that he needed to "shovel" the leaves up so that he had an un-obstructed path for his scooter. My son is a genius!

Rainy afternoon activities

Where is my prince??? Eric needs to come home quick!
Today we spent a fraction of the afternoon putting together these animal puppets. I bought the kit at JoAnn's for 11bucks. What a deal!! Finn has been flying the bird around for like 30 min. Neelah just wants to eat the sticker backs. This girl puts everything in her mouth. Yes, she is one of THOSE kids.

When I worked in the ER in Hawaii, we were always getting kiddies who had swallowed something, usually a penny. I always enjoyed looking at those xray films of lungs, spine oh and THERE IS THE PENNY!! Luckily, she doesn't swallow things, she just sucks on them. What an odd child.

Speaking of odd...this is random...I saw a little preview for 20/20 this coming up Friday. Some dude who is PREGNANT!! Anyone else see that? I am SO watching that one.

Join the club

Hey guys, I am joining the club and taking my blog private. I am totally open to anyone who wants to read it, you just need to tell me and I will authorize you. I seriously put too much personal info on the web for any wack-job to read and need to be a little more careful. Post a comment or email me if you want access.

just a few more....

Just a few more shots from today. Neelah and Savvy. My precious girls. I am telling myself tonight that that is what they are....trying to convince myself really while Neelah is screeching at me as I type this. ULGH!

Brrrrrr.......

This morning we awoke to a world covered in white. Finn has been waiting patiently for the snow to come so he can make "snow tracks". Very exciting. We went to the store this am to pick up some winter gear and then we went out to play. Above is Finn making "snow tracks" for his scooter.
Neelah didn't much like the snow. She didn't mind standing there but when it was too deep for her to walk in, she cried.
Of course they helped me shovel the driveway for about 30 seconds. Where is Eric when I need him!!
Check out my little abominable snowmen! Does this remind any of you of the movie A Christmas Story!!? I love it!!

last of the halloween shots!

Here are the kids doing the actual trick or treat. Neelah insisted on walking in the gutter and kept falling because she was off balance by her heavy bag of candy!