Happy Father's Day!

Doug is a wonderful husband and Father. He works so hard for our family, and everything he does he does for us. I love him more than words can say, and I am so grateful that he is in my life. Thanks Doug for being a wonderful example of a wonderful father. Every night when he gets home from work the kids go racing to the door screaming "Daddy! Daddy! the whole way. There is not much better than that. We love you! I also want to say Happy Fathers day to my dad and my father-in-law! You do so much for us and we miss you so much!

What I have learned from being a mother

Some of the most important lessons we learn in our lives are from our everyday experiences, and not from any formal education and some of my greatest lessons have come to me since becoming a mother. I know of no other "profession" where you learn so many valuable skills and lessons in such a short amount of time. I have only been a mother for four short years, and yet I find myself having moments where many of the most profound lessons have been taught. These past few weeks I have felt like I have been through a crash course on parenting and now i can honestly say I am grateful for what I have learned. I would like to share a few examples of this newly acquired knowledge.

First: Our new little baby Parker is so sweet. I love to hold him and look at him and if I could I would just love on him all day,(that is really impossible with two other kids though!:)and he is just so special. So what is the life lesson...I have learned that no matter how hard you try to make your surroundings perfect for a new little baby, life is life, and nothing is perfect. About two weeks ago we took him in for his one month check-up and the Dr. found that there was blood in his poop. (sorry if that word offends anyone) Well needless to say I was a little scared, and after trips to the Doctor almost everyday to drop off more samples, we have come to the conclusion that he has a mild milk allergy. So for now I am nursing him during the day and I have to give him really expensive formula through the night. I thought that what I was doing by nursing was perfect, and I have tried my hardest to keep him from getting sick , or dirty, but I have come to the realization that I can either stress about life, or let life happen and make the best of it.

Second lesson:Kids will do things how and when they want to, and the more you push your agenda on them, the more they want to do their own. Wow! This one really is a life lesson, and it is one I have to remind myself about everyday. I really like to have the control in my house, but sometimes it is worth giving up the control for peace. The example I have for this one is Benson. He is a pretty strong willed kid and he won't do something if he is pushed to do it. Last Saturday we set up a "big boy bed" for him to start to sleep in. It has rails on both sides so he wont fall out, and we bought a really nice mattress for comfort. Everything was ready and Saturday night went great. He slept in his bed all night long, and we were thrilled because the sooner he sleeps in his bed, the sooner Parker is out of our room! Well, the next day we came home from church and I laid him down for hi nap, and this time he figured out that he had freedom. He got out of his bed about ten times and wouldn't take a nap no matter how much I threatened. I finally put him back in the crib and he took his nap. It has been like that ever since, and he has decided that he is not ready to sleep in the bed even though I want him to so badly. So I guess he will decide one day that he really is a big boy and can stay in the bed.


Life lesson three: Kids just want you to play with them. You don't have to do anything expensive or elaborate, they just want to know that you are there and aren't too busy to have some fun. This out of the three lessons I have recently learned is the one that hit me the hardest. Brielle loves to play. She is so social and wants you to be involved with what she is doing. She is great at playing on her own too, and making up all kinds of stories, but she likes it the best when I play along. She is always asking me to play princess and choose which princess I want to be. Then I have to act out the character. Or she wants me to choose which polly pocket I like the best and then I have to make up her name and all the aspects of her life (like where she lives, what her friends names are etc.) She really is sweet, but most the time I forget not to be busy and just play. Today I put both boys down for naps and I told Brielle she could play with play dough while I worked on the computer. It was great, everyone was quiet and I checked my e-mail, and blogs, and my bank statement. After a while she called me over to look at what she had made, and to my surprise she had made little play dough people. I included a picture because they were so cute. She then said to me, "Mom, maybe next time when you aren't so busy you can play with me too." Well that just hit me right at the heart and I realized she was right. I do get too busy to play and it affects my kids. I think I could have learned a lesson similar to this, but not with such a profound impact. I love my kids dearly and I hope these recent life lessons will make me a better mom and person. I am grateful that I can gain all this education for the price of having a family.
The one on the right is me and the yellow blob is Parker, the one on the right is her, and the one in the back is Benson.

More pictures of the babe!

I can't resist, he is just too cute! I had to put this picture on of him laughing. It was the perfect camera moment.

My First Bike!

I remember the day that I got my first bike. It was a little Huffy, and I was so excited because I could actually go bike riding with my sister Emily! It was a big event and I practiced really hard to get the hang of it. It is funny that it doesn't seem that long ago, but now I am experiencing the same moment with Brielle, and I have to say it is more exciting for me this time around. Brielle has been saving up to get a bike since her birthday in March. She has a bank and any money she would earn she would carefully count it and stow it away. The other day we counted her money and she had saved exactly the right amount of money to buy the bike at the store. So, we went down to Wal-Mart as a family and she picked out and purchased her first bike. Doug and I then bought her a basket to go on front and of course, a Little Mermaid helmet! She was thrilled and i was so proud of her for working hard and saving her money. we got home and Doug tried to teach her how to pedal. She was a little scared, but she will get the hang of it just like I did. It is so neat seeing your kids grow up.

The grass isn't always greener

I remember when I first moved to Tennessee and I went to an enrichment night at our ward. We were having a discussion about life and I remember one lady saying that she had three kids and no time to get anything done. She went on about it for a couple of minutes and after she was done I raised my hand and said that the grass isn't always greener on the other side because at that time I had a six month old baby, my husband was in his first year of law school, and I had no car! I remember being so bored, and thinking that I can only clean the house so much. That time of my life was hard, but I made it through, and now I am saying to myself, "What did I do with all my time when I only had one kid?" I can now empathize with that lady at enrichment and know that three kids does keep you busy! WOW! I am now facing new challenges (and being bored is not one of them). Adjusting to more kids is tough, but times like these I try to think of someone like Emma Smith. Now that lady had trials. She went through things that I cannot even imagine, but she stayed faithful, and she made it through. I know that life is not going to be perfect and as Elder M. Russell Ballard said speaking of mothers who stay home with their children, "There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration." I totally agree with this. I really love being a mom, and I pray that I can just take it one day at a time and live for the times of great joy and incredible fulfillment.

Pictures at the park

My friend Becca and I went to the park the other night to take pictures of the kids. Here are a few of my favorites. Okay so the one of Parker isn't at the park, but I thought it was cute!

New Updates

My mom and dad came out to visit when Parker was born and it was soo fun to have them here. My dad is a busy body and can't stand to just sit around, so while I was in the hospital they decided to redo my bathroom! It was the only room in the house that hadn't been redone before we moved in and they gave it a major face lift. I absolutely love it too! They did a great job. I love my family so much and I am so grateful that they were here to help with everything after the baby. My mom was here for ten days and I don't know what I would have done without her. She is an amazing person and is the best example to me. The kids loved playing with her everyday and she even introduced them to water painting. (This is where they paint with water on the sidewalk, it is great fun and no mess! Thanks mom!) I was so sad when she had to leave. I miss her dearly and I am so grateful for cell phones so I can talk to her everyday! I hope that I can one day become the kind of mother she is because she really is wonderful. I had to include picts of the bathroom and the shelf in the kitchen to show off my parents masterful decorating talents, and of course a picture of my cute mom with the kids!

Happy 30th Birthday Doug!!!!

So this is only two weeks late, but I have been a little preoccupied and am just now getting around to wishing my Hubby a happy 30Th birthday. I even got around to making his favorite strawberry pie for him. I wanted to write this post to remind myself just how blessed I am to have a husband like Doug. To say the least he is absolutely wonderful. I could not have hand picked a better husband and father if I tried. He is a very busy man with his job and faithfully serving in his calling, but he always makes time for the important things, like our little family. I was telling a friend once that it is not so much quantity time we have with him,but we make sure it is quality time.
He is always so good to me, and I just might vote him as worlds greatest listener, a trait that I wish I was better at. He is always there when I need him the most, and I know he would do anything for me at anytime. He is just so good. He loves people so much and he is always giving of himself in one way or another. It is interesting to be in the background as the Bishop's wife because so often someone will come up to me and thank Doug for helping them and I don't even know what he has done,but I never doubt that he has done something to help. That is just how he is. He is also a wonderful Dad. There have been times that I have seen him come home at night and get so sad because I have already put the kids to bed. He gets so much joy being with the kids in the yard and wrestling and playing with them. He even pretends that he is the prince when Brielle wants to play princess.
I love this man more that anything in the world. I am so grateful for him and all he does for me. I am a lucky woman that I get to spend eternity with the handsome man I love. Happy Birthday sweetheart, I love you!

A day in the life of three kids!

So, I decided that everyone I ever talked to was right. Three kids is a bigger adjustment than two. It is not so much that it is so hard, it is just that your attention has to be split three different ways and they all seem to need your attention at the same time! I absolutely love having our little baby Parker around though. Besides the lack of sleep we are doing really well. Parker just gets bigger everyday and is such a good baby. His only flaw is that he sleeps most of the day and is awake a lot at night. But he rarely cries and is pretty easy going. The other two kids really love him too.

I was worried about Benson's adjustment but he is doing fantastic. He loves Parker so much and is always petting his head and giving him kisses. Brielle is having a little bit harder adjustment, but she loves Parker too and asks me constantly if she can hold him, kiss him, and babysit him.
I know the next few weeks will be a test to get my bearings, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love these three kids more than anything and I feel like I am the richest woman alive. This is what we as women were born to do. To be mothers. And I wouldnt have it any other way.

Introducing Parker Dee Rose

6 lbs, 14 oz; 20 inches long; 1 lb of thick black hair (to spite his poor father); one healthy mom; one happy, quite baby; and one giant, humbling blessing!