A BOYs LIFE

 Sharing applesauce with sister.

 "You like that buddy-boy? Mom, he likes it!"

 Happy to be free.

 Mom, do you need help with the dishwasher.

 I will help.

 Bath time is my favorite time.

I giggle when my sister plops my rubber ducky into the water and it makes a splash.

SWEET SIERRA's BAPTISM

 

In case you are wondering why this event isn't well documented, note the lack of cooperation between two co-conspirators to thwart my efforts. Nate, Sierra, I am calling you out.  I love you and it is your choice, but if you ever wonder why their aren't a lot of pictures of this beautiful day these first two pictures will remind you. Crazy kids!

I love you so much little girl you mean everything to me. I got to stand up before you baptism and talk a little bit about you. It was precious. I want you to always remember how truly loved you are. You came into our life at the perfect time. Your daddy and I are so blessed to have you as an oldest daughter. You have been such a sweet friend and companion to your father. You have always been enthusiastic about engaging in all of his adventures from scorpion hunting to fishing. You are the dearest big sister to Madison and James and a great example of choosing the right. You are the best helper to me. You assist me in everything from cooking dinner to scrubbing the toilets to bathing your baby brother. 

 

When you were baptized and your daddy was standing with you in the baptismal font as he started to say the words, "Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ." He got chocked up because the spirit of our Father-in-Heaven was so strong and beautiful in the room. As I was waiting for you at the waters edge, my mind was called back to our wedding day. Your father was given a special blessing when he was a young man and was told that when he married his wife, "the glory of the Heavens would be poured out upon him." He expected to receive that promise in one beautiful moment in the temple as we were married for eternity. Our wedding day came and I have to tell you your daddy was so nervous we were grateful to just make it through the day. He was a little disappointed this miraculous moment was never felt. When he was standing there in white with you and pronounced the words of your baptism, the spirit said to me, "This is the moment and there will be more." The glories of heaven were felt. I hope you felt it.

 

You came out of the water shaking. I felt bad. (I will remember to bring a blanket for Madison.) You couldn't get warm. I tried to run you a hot shower but the water wouldn't turn hot, so I scratched that idea and got your dressed really quickly and held you tight until you were warm. I asked your dad, "Was the water cold?" He said, "No." You said, "Mom, why did they heat the water for dad and not for me?" I giggled because you were in the same water.

 

 

We went back into the chapel and your Grandpa Craven talked about the guiding power of the Holy Ghost. Madison started whining she was hungry and thirsty, so I could barely hear. Then she got this look of absolute fear on her face and cried out, potty! I was sad I missed grandpa's talk. I hope you remember his words.

 

Grandma and Grandpa Craven took you out for a sundae afterwards.

 

I wish I had of gotten a picture of everyone who was there. Your Grandma and Grandpa McKnight came at great sacrifice. Your grandma was really sick and Aunt Bonnie just had a new baby. They could only stay for the day. Uncle Brandon and Aunt Heather came and brought Caleb and Jarom. They could only stay for the day. Grandpa and Grandma Craven, Aunt Kimberly and Aunt Tamara, and Uncle Derrick and Aunt Jennifer and baby Charlotte, all came for two days.

 

By the evening, all the McKnight family had gone home. We made fajitas and chocolate chip cookies and sat around playing a game where you say the names of fruit without showing your teeth. You were always the first to laugh.  

 

 

 

JAMES and CHARLOTTE

I was so grateful Jennifer and her husband Derrick made the long trip from Utah for Sierra's Baptism. James loved seeing Charlotte. He said hello by grabbing her binky out of her mouth and popping it into his and crawling away. Little punk.

JAMSEY that is JESUS

I still haven't anchored this picture to the wall, so it sits in my living room on the floor. I watched James crawl across the floor and climb up and stand against the picture and look at it really closely. Madison was sitting on the office chair watching her baby brother. She said, "You know what Jamesy that is Jesus. You can live with him forever and ever if you choose to be good." Then she looked at me seeking to confirm her words, "Right mommy?" I replied back, "Right, Lu."

Don't you just want to eat that face up? I am so glad I get to snuggle it every day. Best job ever!

MY BOY

Before the sun breaks through my window each morning, I will hear this little boy calling to me from his crib. Most of the time my tired eyes don't want to open, so I drag my unwilling body out of bed and across the hall. I see these beautiful blue eyes peeking through the slates in his crib. He gets the biggest grin on his face. I sigh, my tired face breaks into a smile, as I lean on the doorway and say, "Good morning blue eyes." I can't imagine a more glorious sight to greet me each morning.

MUD

This little girl loves mud. She loves it. I can't keep her out of it. I can't keep it off of her. I am so glad, most days. Although, on occasion I have to banish the anal retentive side of myself that wants to yell, "Don't get muddy! Please don't get muddy. I don't want to clean it up today."  But look at that face, she is just so happy.

SURPRISE VISIT (I GOT TO SEE SHELLY!)

My sweet friend Shelly from Pittsburgh stopped in to say, hi. I haven't seen in her three years. She has four beautiful children now, two of which I hadn't even met. I was so excited to see them in person. We spent the evening eating a simple homemade meal, talking and letting our children play. James, Nate, Sierra, Hailey and Beckett went scorpion hunting on dinosaur hill. Shelly and I opted to spend time hanging out and attempt to get the children to bed. (Who doesn't love a good scorpion hunt, but hey someone has to tend to the little ones.) Madison wanted to bunk down with little Audrey but she too excited to actually sleep. We eventually had to split them all up. I was a bit sad knowing it maybe the only evening they spend together....ever, but sleep is necessary. Drat.

 

They had to leave early the next morning. They have a busy month ahead of them. I don't envy there schedule but hopefully everything will go smoothly. I gave Shelly a big hug and she was off. It was like a dream. I am still not sure if they were really here, thankfully I have pictures to prove it.

 

 

(BACK ON-LINE!) YEAH! TOAD

 

 I have been cleaning the windows in our basement apartment. There seems to be a plethora of toads down in the window wells. Madison is thrilled every time she spots one. She names the toad Fred and keeps it as a pet for the day. Sierra sets it free at night. Then Madison is begging to clean another window the next morning. The master bedroom window well was a bit creepy. We found five toads petrified in various froggy positions; jumping, crouching, mouth opened, and mouth closed. Madison was giddy. She kept giggling and proclaiming, "another stick frog!" I wasn't as impressed.

She loves playing with these toads. She has raced them across the floor and helped them jump from amazing heights. I love listening to her little voice say, "Now mommy we have to make them a habitat. Okay mommy? We need something tall so they can't jump out." I let her use the tub as her habitat for a little while, until she found a box and put a few rocks in it. She would let the toad jump around and then say, "No, no, Fred not that way!"

KIM's BABY SHOWER

Lily and I threw Kim, a young mother of two boy's a baby shower. Lily is really close to Kim and asked that I make a special quilt for her new little girl. I have never made a quilt like this for anyone except my sisters, not even my sister in-laws, sadly. I want to make one for everyone of my nieces and nephews, but they are expensive to make. Lily said, "I will pay for it if you make it." We went to the fabric store and picked out the fabrics together last Saturday. The baby shower was in one week. It wasn't much time and with a clingy baby it was hard, but I got it done. It turned out beautifully. 

Saturday morning as I was getting ready for the baby shower I was running around like a nutty mommy again. My girls were hungry and teasing. I had Sierra sit down and sew a simple skirt for the baby and Madison made scrambled eggs. She made two batches. She did it all herself except turn on the oven. Her daddy came home and said, "I hope some of those are for me." She said, "There are some for everyone cause no one will starve while I am cooking." I thought she was so precious. Sierra did a beautiful job sewing the skirt for the baby. She wants to sew another one for her sister and her. We will see. She is so talented. She can sew a straight line just as well as any adult. The skirt was beautiful. She was so excited about it.

The shower was a bit overwhelming and I dropped the ball on a few things. I don't think I will attempt to help throw one again this year but it was fun. Kim was so sweet and grateful. The blanket was beautiful, although I don't think the picture does it justice. You could feel that Kim loved it, which made every crazy second I spent on it worth it.

When the shower was over I came downstairs to crazy children who were overtired and hungry and a husband that was frustrated. I handled it with grace. I sent Nate to get a few things for dinner and had him make dinner while I bathed our babies. Then after they ate, I tucked them all in bed.

Madison has been asking for stories about her unicorn. I have to get a picture of that thing. (Side story: My sister and brother-in-law took Madison on a little day date while she was staying at Jennifer and Derrick's, to get better after that awful sickness. Karalee and Benji won a stuffed unicorn. When we meet up with my sister in Price and brought Madison home, Sierra burst into tears because she was jealous of all the attention and stuff Madison had. She said of the unicorn, admidst her tears, "Well, it is a little weird looking, but still it isn't fair.) Madison has slept with that unicorn every night since she got back. I started making up stories about the adventures of the unicorn. She wanted a quick story before she went to bed. I was telling the a story and said the word "poof" and apparently it is the funniest word on the planet because baby James giggled hard belly laughs over and over. I was still smiling about his giggles as I tucked him into bed that night. I was overwhelmed with how grateful I was to be the mother of these three precious souls.

MADISON'S LULABY

The other morning James was being very clingy. I really couldn't get anything done. I had spent all week making a quilt for a baby shower. I needed to go and buy the back and the binding. I was running around trying to get out the door. James was fussy. I just put him in his crib while I finished getting ready. I knew he was going to fuss for a little while longer but I didn't care. I didn't have time. He screamed for a while. Madison often seems to regard James's screams as background noise. Most of the time it is like she doesn't even hear him. She came in to the bathroom while I was quickly doing my hair and she said, "Mom, is it okay if I try to calm down Jamesy Boy?" I said, "If you want to." I heard him stop about the time I finished up my hair and so I went to check on them. She was sitting in his crib singing to him. She was singing random songs she had made up in a really sweet quiet voice. It was so precious. I had to take a picture. He wasn't asleep, but was just laying there peacefully. I love moments like these.

VOLCANO's

Sierra wanted to make a tornado in a bottle. She saw the experiment in a book at school and she wrote it down and brought it home to make. I used to make them all the time as a kid but I can't remember how. The internet connection is less than steller, so I have made scarce attempts to logon and google how to do anything. I had vinager and had read directions for how to make a volcano, which seemed cooler anyway. We built this volcano in the backyard. The girls loved it. I was a little disappoionted I expected a little more of a show. My Sierra thought it was awesome. I need to get a book from the library on more experiments she can do. 

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LAST DAY of SUMMER

Notice his two teeth. He is crawling everywhere. He eats everything he finds and the combination is lethal. I strongly wonder if he is going to make it. He is constantly chocking on something.

His sister was carrying him through the kitchen and slipped on a toy, thus the knot on his head.

He wakes up every morning with a huge grin and I always say, "Good morning blue eyes!" All of my kids have blue eyes but none of them as piercing as James's eyes.

I am so sad for summer's end. I always wish we had of spent more time playing. We had to move again, which put a huge kink in our summer plans. Next year we will be going no where. We are just going to stay home and play. If you want to join us in Fruita you will have to come here. We have big plans. We are not moving again!

 Love this picture. It just makes we laugh.

 I know I am bias but I have beautiful babies. I think we should have a dozen more.

I think he is eating a blade of grass in this picture. Silly boy won't stop eating everything in sight.

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY

 Sierra turned eight years old this week. I can't believe how much she has grown. She will be baptized on the 31st of this month. I am so overwhelmed with the thought. She is such a beautiful girl. She fills our family with so much joy. She was telling Madison stories she made up the other night and it was so sweet to listen to them chatting and giggling together. Sunday night I asked the girls to clear the dishes and rinse them and stack them in the dishwasher. They did it every bit as well as I could have and never complained, it made smile. I thought this is why you put all the effort into teaching them. Having a little helper in life makes life easier.

She wanted a friend birthday party. She has never had one before. Last summer she cried because she wanted one so much but we were in the middle of moving and I told her I promise next year but this year it just isn't possible. Well another year passed and although we had just moved again I had to make good on my promise.

It was a simple party. We made personal homemade pizzas. We had cake and ice cream and watched Pete's Dragon and painted toe nails.  Her friends had a good time and she had a lot of fun.

I bought her a table for her birthday and told her that was all she was getting from us because she was having a birthday party and her friends were bringing presents. We went out to lunch with daddy and Nate said, "So squirmage what did you get for your birthday." She said, "A table!" He said, "Wow, a table. Your mom got you a table for your birthday. Wow." He was not impressed. He came home from work and crashed her party with snorkeling gear. She was so excited. Earlier that morning she was screaming around the house that she was now eight so she could learn to scuba dive. She has been anxiously waiting since she was three to be eight. She wants to dive with sharks, that's my girl.

TONGUE

James has discovered his tongue. He is growing in beautiful ways and I love every ounce of him.

I have hated not blogging over the last month. My life was turned upside down for a moment while we moved again. Oh my, will it ever end? I hope the next move will be into a home we own. Where we can stay as long as we want. I think there must be something in me that likes change because I seem to always end up in places where we don't stay long.

I was a bit overwhelmed with this last move and absolutely didn't want to do it. I was dragging my feet for weeks and was really undecided on what we should do. Our friends who owned the home we were living in decided to sale the home, so we were looking for another rental. My Relief Society President offered her basement apartment. I was unsure whether I wanted to give up a single family house, but in the end decided to do it because Sierra would be able to stay in her same school with her friends and we would be able to continue in the same ward. Besides, her basement apartment is over 2,000 square feet, so there is plenty of room.

My sweet, amazing sister Tamara came helped for a week. She was so sweet during my crazy emotional rollercoaster and was grateful, I am sure, to be out of the drama and back to her own life.

Then my in-laws came into town for a family reunion. We planned it at Christmas time not realizing we would be in the middle of a move and Nate would be in the middle of one of his most stressful weeks of work he has had since opening his practice. I wanted to just call and cancel but they wouldn't let me out of it. I am glad they didn't. Although there wasn't much fun had, they helped me move my entire house. I felt so blessed. I have never needed them more and been so grateful for their rescuing hands. Brandon did everything I needed done and couldn't do and Mom, Dad, Heather and Jarom hauled box after box after box. I would not have made it without them. A simple thank you could never be enough.

We are now basement dwellers and we like it. We have a storage room for all of our food storage which is unheard of in this valley. We finally got the internet and life fells normal again. Sigh....