My life just got a little better!

No, I have not had the baby, but something else great has happened. Today was the first day since we moved into our home that it has not been swarming with ants! Hooray! My dear friend Laura gave me a tip to use this spray called "Ortho Home Defense Max" and I have to tell you that if you are having an ant problem this product works wonders. I think I could be their new spokesperson, what do you think? Anyway I am just so excited about it I thought I would share the news with everyone else. This spray is also great because when it dries it is safe for kids and pets to be around it. So needless to say I love this stuff. You spray it on the inside and outside of your home and I hope that it continues to work so I can be somewhat ant free.

Wee-Ball has begun!

We signed Brielle up on a wee-ball team to play on this summer and today she had her very first game! It is like tee-ball, but for younger kids and it is hilarious. When one of the kids hits the ball, all the kids just go running for it, no matter where it is. And half of the time the batter goes running for the ball as well. Brielle is actually a good little batter, and can hit the ball pretty far, but her out fielding skills are a little lacking. Most the time she would rather play in the dirt than get the ball. It is really cute to watch these little three and four year olds play baseball. She is on the team with her cute little friends Ally(far left) and Sarah(Center). They have so much fun together and amid all the kids getting hot, tired, and bored they have a really good time!

My Little Man!

I just had to post this picture of Benson because he is getting so big and I want to remember everything about him at this stage. So this is my own personal journal entry about my sweet little boy. He is so mischievous, and if you don't believe me, you can read my previous posts. He loves to get into everything and be busy all the time. He also loves aggravating his older sister. Brielle is a little sensitive and Benson knows just what to do to bother her. He thinks it is really funny. He is so smart for his age and I can just see him growing up to be some sort of engineer or something. He loves to take things apart and figure out how things work, and wants anything he can have that is electronic. Benson is not a man of many words, which is strange for me because Brielle was saying full sentences by 18 months. He can say words such as car, mama, dada, cool, gross, yucky, bye-bye, hello, cracker, truck, stuck (which sounds the same as truck), milk, ya, please and thank you. I am sure that more words will come with time, but right now he can get by with these. I love having a girl and a boy. They are so different, but so special in their own ways. I love them both so much and thank Heavenly Father everyday for entrusting me with them.

Three Weeks to Go!!!

Well, I for sure have three more weeks in this pregnancy and I have to tell you I am definitely ready. One of my friends even made fun of me that I have the pack and play already set up in our room. If I don't have him before, I am scheduled to be induced on May 1st. I am really hoping he comes before then because my dear in-laws are coming into town on the 23rd, and they leave on the 28th and may miss seeing the baby all together. So I have been reading about natural labor induction and decided I will try just about anything except Castor oil. :) So if anyone has had any luck with anything else, let me know. I am also offering cleaning services to anyone nearby because I heard that really scrubbing the house can work too!

A new test!

Check this out! This website rates your blog on how grammatically correct it is. I am so glad that I at least reached a high school level, even though I have a Bachelors Degree! Click on this link instead of the picture to find out your rating.

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Movie Reviews

Happy Easter!

Wow, I know I am a little late posting these picts, but they are too cute to leave out! Especially Benson in a suit! Thanks Lyda! We had a great Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt with our neighbors which Brielle and Benson both loved and then Easter morning the kids got their Easter baskets full of fun surprises. Later that day after church, I made a full dinner including ham, funeral potatoes, salad, and even strawberry pie. Our friends the Clarke's came over to share it with us. It was great. Easter is a great holiday, and I think it is sad that the true meaning of Easter gets overlooked. We don't really talk about the Easter Bunny at our house, because really I think it is a little scary and I would rather keep the true meaning of Easter the main focus. I am going to put a link to my friends blog who I think summed it up quite nicely about why we really do celebrate Easter.

Our crazy life!

So on Tuesday morning I was loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen. Benson woke up so I went in to get him out of his crib and brought him back out to the kitchen to feed him breakfast. I went around the corner and I forgot that I left the DW open. Well next thing I knew Benson and I were one the ground both bawling our eyes out in pain. I had tripped over the DW and landed right on my stomach and my arm. Well, obviously my first concern was for Benson, and he had a cut on the back of his head. ( I know the poor guy has had a rough few weeks. See previous blog about ER). But other than that he was fine, just a little scared. My next concern was for the baby. I fell really hard on the tile floor and was scared, so I yelled for Brielle to get my cell phone and I called Doug. He came home from work and took me to the OB to get the baby checked out. What a blessing that everything was fine. After they did an ultrasound they told me not to worry, and that he was okay. Well, then my last concern was for my arm. I tell you what, it hurt so bad I couldn't even move it. I went and got x-rays and another blessing that it is not broken. The bones are just bruised and the Dr. said it will take a few weeks to heal. Isn't that great. So I can't really move my left arm, but it could be worse. I am just so grateful to all my wonderful friends who watched my kids, and cleaned and brought me meals! What would I do without you! You truly are my family away from family. Thank You!

Our day in the ER

Oh I guess boys will be boys right?? Last Friday Benson decided to stand backward on the kitchen chair instead of sitting in it. I was loading the dishwasher right by him and the next thing I knew the chair was tipping over and he fell face first on our wood floor. He let out a horrible scream, and I ran over to pick him up only to find his nose bleeding profusely out of both nostrils. It was so sad! He face started to swell up immediately and I couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I called the Dr. and they told me to take him to the ER for x-rays to see if it was broken! So I called my neighbor and dear friend Wanda to come and stay with Brielle and I rushed out the door to the hospital. It was a little hard to drive and hold his nose at the same time, all the while he was screaming his head off. Doug met me at the ER and they took him back at a room to look at him. At this point we realized that he was holding his finger too, and it was already bruised and swollen. So they took him in for x-rays on his nose and his finger. After what seemed like forever and Benson had finally fallen asleep from crying so much the Doctor came back in the room and told us that neither his finger or nose were broken but that they would be swollen and sore for a few days and get really black and blue. These pictures don't really do it justice, but I posted them anyway. He is doing much better now, but I am afraid this wont be the last time we will visit the ER with this child!

Another year older and Wiser too??

In our church the primary kids sing a song about birthdays that says the phrase, "Another year older and wiser too." Now I am not sure that fully believe that I am so much wiser than I was last year, but since I just turned another year older I started to think about my life. I never really expected to be 26 years old and on child number three, nor did I expect to be living in South so far away from my Utah roots. But every year I seem to have experiences that make me grow and learn more about myself and what is important in life. I am so blessed to have my little family. I love Doug and Brielle and Benson so much and I can't wait to love the baby just the same. I love living in the south and being with my family away from family. We have some great friends and we have been so blessed to meet so many wonderful people. The year from when I turned 25 to this year was quite an eventful one for our family, and I guess the experiences of being unemployed for 7 months and Doug's church calling have made me a little wiser. I just hope that I can always take the wisdom that the Lord wants me to gain and put it toward being better. That is a lifelong goal right? I really am grateful for all that I have and I hope that my 26th year in life will be one that makes me wiser too!

P.S. I had to include a picture of the Roses Doug bought me for my birthday. I usually don't like roses, but it was so sweet because I had seen an ad on TV with these exact same roses and just made a comment in passing about how beautiful they were. I didn't even realize he was listening, but he surprised me and brought them home. I thought it was sweet.

Happy Fourth Birthday Brielle!!!

I really cannot believe that Brielle turned four on the 7Th of March! She just seems so old. She had a great birthday. On her actual birthday we got up and made a pancake breakfast where I carried on the tradition of my mother and made her a special B pancake. Because Brielle starts with a B of course! Then we painted pictures and watched movies and that night we went out to her favorite restaurant...Chick-Fil-A. :) After dinner we came home and ate cupcakes and ice cream and opened some birthday presents. One of the pictures is of Brielle in a cowboy hat which was her favorite present of the night. My mom and dad sent her that, and they actually sent real cowboy boots too, but the camera died so those aren't posted. Then we topped off the night with a pajama party and watched the new Barbie movie Mariposa.

She really is a lucky girl because she got to celebrate her birthday twice! Last Saturday we had all her friends over and threw her an Island Princess Party. My dear friend Becca helped me make the cake, which was an adventure, but she loved it. We played Luau games and ate pizza and ice cream and she had a blast. The picture of the limbo is of my friend Alices girls. They were amazing at getting low. Most kids just ducked under it. We also played throw the ring on the pineapple and the kids loved it. You really don't have to think of hard party games, kids just love a challenge. We were a little sad that it was raining so we couldn't play in the yard, but overall the party was a hit!