Happy fourth of July!!

So our family had one of the best weekends ever! What did we do you ask? Basically nothing, except that we were together the whole time. It was wonderful. Doug had the fourth off work, so he came home on Thursday night and he was mine all weekend! (Except for Sunday, because when you are the Bishop you never get Sundays off :) Anyway, this weekend really made me realize how much I love my little family. We played in the backyard, took the kids to TGI Fridays for lunch,(which they loved because they never get to go to what Brielle calls REAL restaurants) and just had fun being together. On Friday we cooked hamburgers and corn on the grill and went with a couple from our ward to see the fireworks. They started an hour later than they were supposed to so the kids were really tired, but they enjoyed it anyway. Then on Saturday we went shopping at Sams Club. Who doesn't love Sams on Saturdays when they have tons of samples? Then we came home took naps and then took a trip to Target where Doug bought me a beautiful dress! Can you believe it? I haven't had new clothes forever. Then Doug made us Supreme Nachos and smoothies for dinner, and after the kids went to bed we watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. That was pretty much it, but I loved every minute of it. I love having Doug home. There is probably not much more I would have liked to do to celebrate our freedom than to be with my family. Thanks sweetie for a great weekend!

Two months old!

My mom called the other day and said she needed an updated picture of Parker! I loved this one, I really think I could look at him all day! He is so smiley, and he jabbers all the time. I can't believe that he is already two months old. They get big so fast.

Nashville

Last weekend we went out to Nashville to visit our sweet friends Ben and Kendra. She has lived there for almost a year and it is the first time we have got together, pretty pathetic huh? We had such a great time though. They took us to downtown Franklin, which is so cute, and we ate at a little Mercantile Deli. Then we drove around and saw some Civil War sites. We ended the trip with a look at Alan Jackson's home, Pictured above. It was incredible. I don't think I have ever seen a home this big before. Thanks again Rabe's, we had a blast!

Girls Camp

Doug and I recently went to our Churches Girls Camp. All the Bishops and their wives were invited to come up one night so the girls could make us dinner. It was so sweet and our three cute young women and their great leaders made us hickory chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls and brownies! It was so fun. After dinner we got to stay and watch their skits. Each skit was based on the themes in the For the Strength of youth pamphlet and the girls in our ward were so funny! All the bishops were also invited that night to participate in a skit. Each Bishop was given a few lines to sing in whatever genre he chose. They were all really funny. One guy did Elvis, another guy had a guitar and did the blues, but I have to say Doug's was the best! He did a white boy rap version of his lines and it was so funny! Everyone was laughing so hard. He has such a great sense of humor. It is one of the things that attracted me to him when I first met him. Here is a picture, but I guess it is one of those things where you really had to be there to get the full effect.

Super Cute!

I had to put a link to a friend of mine. She is probably one of the most creative people I have ever met in my life. Her blog is full or her amazing creations. Her most recent ones are these bags and I wanted to share them because they are so adorable! Way to go Cally!

Sweet Success!!!

So it is official! Benson has slept in his big boy bed for four days in a row without coming out, even at nap time! See previous post to really enjoy my new excitement. Hallelujah! He gets so excited to climb up in his bed by himself, and lays down with a huge grin on his face! YAAA! The other night I took him in his room and said "Benson, do you want to sleep in your big boy bed or your crib?" He looked at both and the said, "crib, baby" Which means the crib is for babies and I am a big boy now! Needless to say I am grateful he made this decision sooner than later, and now we just need Parker to get on a great schedule and then I can have my room back.

The picture has nothing to do with his bed, but I thought it was cute!

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.