That's My 3!!

In the last few months Halley has learned that her name starts with an "H." Since her birthday was a couple weeks ago, we taught her the number 3. Now everywhere we go she says, "That's my H!" or "There's my 3!"
Anyway, so here are the pics from her three year old birthday. The party lasted a few days because we had to do one with Daddy before he left, one with my side of the family, and a few on her actual birthday. We also celebrated with Wes' parents, but I totally forgot my camera!
You will notice there is a lot of pink in these pictures. That's because when I asked Halley what she wanted for her birthday she said, "Pink." I said, "You want something pink for your birthday?" And she replied with, "Yah, 1, 2 pink." Uh, ok. So we did some pink stuff. :)
The first pictures are from her birthday breakfast with Daddy.This is her blowing out her candles on her pink coffee cake.
When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday breakfast she said, "Princesses." Ha ha ha . . The funny thing is, I don't think she really cares about pink or princesses, but her brothers tell her all the time those are the things girls are supposed to like.I love these kids!Here is her pink big wheel that we actually bought on Black Friday last year. She was very excited. I'm not sure if she'll really be able to ride it yet, but we'll see. She is a very determined little girl!
Here are a couple from at my parents' house:My sister got her this cute pink hat. I love that Dallin is in attack mode behind her!And here is her classic picture face the past little while. Gotta love it!
Her actual birthday:Gotta love that face, especially with her nice morning hair!
Here are the boys on their sista's birthday!Opening yet another pink gift . . .
My other sister whose on her mission sent her this adorable little baby. She was so excited!And, last, but not least, singing "Happy Birthday" with Daddy on the phone the night of her birthday.
I cannot believe she is THREE!! She has grown up so much in the past few months. I had a lot of people asking me if she was turning four. I can't wait to watch her learn and grow more over this next year. I LOVE my HALLEY!

Goodbye Old Friend!

I have been meaning to do this post for awhile, but, alas, time always gets away from me.
Anyway, a couple months ago we moved Dallin out of the little infant carrier seat because he is getting so big. It sat in our front room for awhile, and every time I would look at it, I'd get a little emotional.
Why? Well, since Dallin is our last child, I have had very mixed emotions about each phase he is moving out of.
For example, I am sad that he is no longer a newborn that I can snuggle up in the car seat and let sleep wherever we go. However, I am ecstatic that I don't have to lug this thing around EVER again (I actually had to visit the chiropractor to put my ribs back in place because I hurt myself carrying my humongous child around)!
I am amazed and excited that he is growing so fast, but there are days when I just want to stop time so I can always have a precious new baby around the house.
So, in loving memory of our good old baby car seat, here are some pictures of each of our children enjoying the coziness:

Bradley at 2 1/2 months old.

Connor at almost 3 months old.

Halley at 4 1/2 months old.

Dallin about 3 months old.

Goodbye old friend. I am sure you are in a dump somewhere. Thank you for keeping our children safe during those unforgettable and precious baby days!

To My Friends

I have been feeling a little guilty since my last post. I have been having a really difficult time with Wes gone, but I know it's nothing compared to what some of my family and friends have gone or are going through. This is a post dedicated to you, and I think you know who you are.

Thank you for being so strong in such a difficult situation.

Thank you for being an example to so many people.

Thank you for loving your soldiers.

Thank you for drying tears on your own face and the faces of your children after a rough night, or week, or even a rough couple of months without your soldier.

Thank you for getting up each morning and accomplishing even the littlest things all on your own, every day.

Thank you for smiling and laughing even though I know sometimes all you are thinking about is if your soldier is ok.

Thank you for supporting all the rights and freedoms we all enjoy by supporting your soldier.

I don't know how you all have done it for months and even sometimes a year at a time. Thank you for inspiring me and so many others! You are true heroes!

To My Love

I miss you.

I love you.

It's a lot different without you here having four kids and a dog.

Thank you for always doing the dishes, especially all the pots and pans and knives. You are an amazing husband.

Thank you for playing rough with the kids. I'm not very good at that.

Thank you for snuggling with Halley. She absolutely adores you, and she really misses you.

What are Superman's powers? I can't seem to remember them all, and Bradley keeps asking me all these questions about him.

Thank you for helping me carry all the laundry up and down the stairs. It is such a pain.

I miss the smell of your Axe soap filling the whole downstairs after you shower down here.

I hope you are having fun playing army games. Hurry home so you can play some games with the boys.

Thank you for eating the food I cook and not complaining.

Sydney really misses you. I am just not a very good dog owner.

I love you, and I hope the next few days go by quickly.

Love,

Your Wife

P.S. I think the van is broken again. I'll have my dad look at it since you aren't here.

P.P.S. Just to warn you, I think I have gained about 5 pounds since you left. Eating seems to make me feel better.

Death, Taxes, Mountains of Laundry and Sick Kids

All of the above are inevitable.

Since it's tax season I thought I'd do a little post about the things in my life that I can't seem to avoid. This is what my family room looked like this morning:Yes, it has been a week and half since I did laundry, and yes, I did get all those clothes put in baskets before naptime today. However, we will see if they get put away before I have to do laundry again next week . . .At least the kid are understanding. I have had to run down to the laundry room the past couple days to get clean clothes for us all to put on in the mornings.
This:is one of the reasons I haven't done laundry in so long and why I had SO much to do over the last few days. The kids have all been sick with some funky bug. We've had the whole gamut of symptoms around here - fevers, throwing up, diarrhea, crankiness, tummy aches, headaches, etc. etc. I finally got them all put on antibiotics a few days ago, and they are all doing much better. Can you believe I have six bottles of amoxicillin in my fridge!?!I am usually not a big fan of medicine, but Connor tested positive for strep, and since they'd all been sick for so long, I figured we may as well get them all on the drugs! Now, if I could just figure out what's wrong with me. I've been having these weird pains for almost a month, and I just haven't really felt up to much. I have an appointment tomorrow so we'll see if I can get started on some answers.
Halley and Dallin had fun watching me fold the laundry, and Halley even helped a little.

I am grateful for:

1. The health we and all of our loved ones are enjoying, even if it's not perfect, we are all alive.

2. Our taxes will help us to finish the yard in the next couple weeks.

3. The fact that we have clothes to wear and a roof over our heads.

4. Supportive family and friends who help me to get through the unavoidable things in life.

5. My amazing husband. (Did I mention the fact that he is gone the next two weeks? Even the easy things seem so much harder when he's gone!)

6. Four beautiful children who make me laugh and make me cry! Being a mom is the hardest and most amazing job there is!

And that's that. Despite the fact that we have never ending piles of clothes and lots of medicine to give, I still have so much to be thankful for!

I Love My Sister!

Yah, so I am a total slacker. My sister took our family pictures over a month ago, and I am just getting around to posting them. She is an amazing photographer (go HERE to see more of her work), and I was so excited to get the pictures, but then I think we all got sick and busy and overwhelmed. I am just now developing and posting them.
Here's the MAN around our house. I love that he passed those dimples on to all of our children!What can I say, I am gorgeous! He he he . . . At least, my sister's ability to photoshop me makes me gorgeous!
This picture makes me think of that phrase, "All because two people fell in love." People put it in their scrapbooks and on their walls for home decor. It always makes me think about how significant two people falling in love really is. I mean, seriously, Wes and I fell in love just over ten years ago, and KA-BOOM, now we have a home and four children to teach and love. It's crazy!Bradley was kind of being a little stinker so we only got him to take pictures in one pose. Why the curl? He wants to look like Superman. I thought about not letting him do it, but I figure, you know what, I want to remember this phase of his life. So, no knocking his handsome "Superman Curl!"
This kid has the most tender heart and loving personality. I am so proud of his amazing attitude and his overwhelming desire to please everyone.I love this little girl! Her birthday was today so hopefully I'll be doing another post about her, but she is such a wonderful little girl. She is always trying to help me, and she absolutely LOVES her daddy. It's so special.And here is our gorgeous baby boy, who isn't so much a baby anymore! I seriously cannot get enough of those eyes. I know I say that every time I post a picture of him, but it is so true!It's so nice to have a picture with the whole family in it. Of course, Bradley was arguing with me and saying we didn't have the whole family because we didn't take any with Sydney that day. So, here she is:Cristi came over to our house a few days later to take this. I couldn't believe we got her to stay long enough to get some good ones!
Here's one more of my charming, handsome, caring and amazing husband! Isn't he a hottie?!?!?Thanks again Cristi! I LOVE YOU!!!

A Mother's Worst Nightmare Come True . . .

Almost every little girl does this at some point in her life:I just never thought it would happen to Halley!! I have always been so paranoid about her cutting her hair!
While I was showering and getting ready for church this morning, Wes was cutting the boys' hair downstairs because they were looking pretty scruffy. Well, Halley found the clipper set and the scissors inside. And, of course, she cut her beautiful hair!!! She has needed a trim for some time, but I wasn't thinking quite that short!
We were all pretty devastated. Wes and Halley shed a few tears. :)Her hair was so long and beautiful, even if she did have a few split ends!I told Halley I was taking pictures so she could remember not to do it again. She was really upset at first, but we finally got her to smile.
Needless to say, we didn't go to church, not because we are prideful or anything, but because we had seriously been contemplating not going anyway because Dallin has a fever. Instead, I made a quick trip to Fantastic Sam's to see if they could do anything for us!
The employees working there didn't speak English very well - my lucky day, huh? They did understand what had happened though, and the lady tried her best to salvage Halley's long hair. She basically just cut some bangs and tapered her hair in the front around her face. I don't think there was really any way she could have given her a cute haircut, but it'll work for now.

Doesn't that face just say, "I'm so sorry Mom!"

The entire time we were at there she was scowling at all of us - me, the lady cutting her hair, the owner. Halley was not very happy. Then, of course, they offered her a sucker, and she cheered right up.
By the time we got home she was totally willing to do some "princess poses" for me to show off her new "do."It actually doesn't look too bad in these pictures, but that's because I pulled it back a little. Her bangs will look awful for awhile, but the side doesn't look that great right now either!I really love her long hair, and I am glad they just trimmed the back, but I have a feeling as those bangs and that horrible part on the side grow out, we'll probably be getting her a shorter "do."At least she is still dang cute! When it first happened I was a little traumatized, but I kept reminding myself how fast her hair grows and that it'll be grown out in no time. The This is a picture of her when she was one:
She had pretty much no hair two years ago, so I am sure if we do have to go with something shorter in the next few weeks, it won't take too long for it to grow back out!