Flashback to 2005

I don't find it coincidental at all that just when I was going to start working on my life history a bit (as exciting as it is), I stumbled upon these gems.  I was doing some spring cleaning in the office, which mind you opens up a can of worms for some major dissagreements in our house! I wouldn't call Weston a hoarder, but he does like to keep things around "just in case".  There is no "just in case" in my mind. I figure if we haven't needed it for the last three years, we simply don't need it at all.  Hence all spring cleaning must be done while the husband is at work.  Most of the time he doesn't even notice the things I've thrown away.  Today for instance I cleaned out the mudroom.  Weston owns no less then 15 coats or jackets to everyone else's one, and we won't even mention  hats and gloves.  There will certainly be some whining when he gets home and sees that he has an empty hook to hang his jacket and that a plethera of hats won't fall out of the closet when he opens the door, however he won't be able to identify a single thing that is gone.

Anyway back to the main story, in one of the drawers in the office sat our old camcorder.  We have had a Flip video camera for a few years and love it.  Along with that and our phones, we just haven't pulled the big camera out for a long time. The battery was dead but I noticed an SD card slot. I hadn't even remembered it had one of those, but I plugged it into the computer and was so excited to find these pictures of my baby girl that I didn't even know I had.  I reminisced for a bit and may or may not have shed a little tear.  I can't believe how fast time has went.  My heart ached for that little baby, I miss her.  I love big Kallie, but I am sickened to realize that the baby years in our home are rapidly flying by! (If not already gone!)


Kallie was so big when she was born, a whopping 10 pounds 2 ounces.  She is five months old in these pictures and probably only weighed 13 or 14 pounds.  She stayed so small for so long.  We spent days agonizing over the fact that she refused to eat.  She wouldn't nurse, she wouldn't take a bottle, and she cried... A LOT! After many trips to doctors, including a visit to Primary Children's, we treated her for acid reflux.  (even though she rarely spit up) At about three months old she finally would drink about two ounces of a bottle. Her voice even changed and we were told that her throat and vocal chords were being burned by the acid.  She became much more pleasant and did eat better, but she was so small and really would only let me hold her. 

Kallie was brilliant though, she hated other people to hold her and especially babysit her.  I was going to school so I had to leave her a few hours a week.  She would cry until she threw up a lot and even faked asleep for my sister so she wouldn't touch her.  (No lie, she would be awake and jabbering and when my sister would go in the room to get her she would close her eyes and hold real still)
Kallie basically potty trained herself at 18 months old, and talked really well by that age too.

 

I am so grateful that Kallie was my first baby. Not only is she a great big sister and helper to me, but I was naiive then.  I didn't realize how hard she actually was at the time.  It was rough and I spent a lot of time in tears feeling like a total failure of a parent, but at least I had all my time to devote to her.  As much as these pictures made me miss little Kallie and even the simplistic life we had then, I am overjoyed to have big Kallie.  She is most definately a huge part of what makes me "me" today.

 

 

Musings of My Mind

I recently mourned my 29th birthday, it's tragic to me to think that I am in the last year of my twenties.  I will then reach "middle age" where I am told I will finally start becoming a little smart.(Or so I am told by a very "wise" 35 year old)  I guess that is a perk of being "not so young", however I am rather fond of my ignorance toward life.  I guess to me if graduating from college, giving birth to three children, paying lots of bills and having a successful marriage for the last ten years hasn't given me any life "smarts" then I don't really want them! I don't claim to "know it all" by any means, but I don't appreciate being called stupid!

In preparation for my pending oldness, I have been having these strange old people promonitions.  For example; I have this pressing need to go to bed ridiculously early and get up at an uncanny hour every morning.  It makes me feel strong, accomplished, and a lot like my across-the-street neighbor.  I am recently obsessed with historical facts, particularly WWII. The more I study the more I find that we may be rapidly moving into a socialistic society, not all that different from the cause of the big war.

However the most recent event that helped me realize my "soon to be mature" self, occurred at our Stake Conference a couple weeks ago.  Our Stake President encouraged all of us to begin a life history.  Normally that "encouragement" wouldn't have been meant for me, but for all the older people in the room.  The idea struck me as something I really needed to do though, and right away! You see, I am afraid that in my old age my mind will not be able to remember a lot of things that I experience now. What if I can't remember to way we all squeal with delight when Hagen actually pees in the toilet? What if I forget the way Kallie's pigtails bounce when she walks in from the bus, dragging her coat through the mud? What if I didn't document the fact that cutting Cole's fingernails is the single most dreaded moment of his week?  The fact is, if I don't write it down I will forget. I have already forgotten so many things!

The need to document our present life is ever pressing on my mind, and I feel like this blog portrays our "now" pretty good.  The past is past, but it is still a very important part of who I am.  I want my kids to know me "way back when", so in an attempt to follow the guidance and inspiration of our leaders I am going to begin inserting snipets of my life before.... so stay tuned for a blast from the past!

Pippi

I was at my parents house one Saturday and Cole wanted to go out and help my dad feed the cows.  Being the fantastic parent that I am, the kid didn't even have a coat with him.  We scrounged through the closet of old clothes until we found the above ensamble.  Cole didn't care at all what he looked like he was just excited to go out and work.  I'm sure someday he will hate me for taking a picture of him wearing my mothers Pippi Longstocking leg warmers from 1980 as snowpants! 

Wild Weekend

My sister and I were working out on a Monday morning a couple weeks ago, when we realized that our husbands would be out of town that weekend. (not together:) A further investigation told us that our other sister's husband was going to be gone as well! Can you say Par-tay?? We planned a little adventure to Jackson Hole to the Rec Center. My kids love that place and so do I because it is pretty safe and easy to watch the bigger kids while still playing with the baby.  We ended up inviting my brothers and mom and dad also.  We had so much fun and will for sure be doing it again. 

We obviously picked the perfect night to go because there were only a couple of other families there besides us.  The kids the the slide a million times and honestly I don't worry about Kallie and Cole there a bit.  The water isn't too deep and the slides are just right.  Hagen loved the water as well, and was quite the little fish! He thought all the pool toys belonged to him and was ever frustrated that he was physically unable to play with them all at the same time. 

 

 

My brother Hank should've had like 20 kids, however I am really glad he didn't because he always snags up ours and take such great care of them. 

 

 

 

 

This is the only picture I got of the girls and we are missing Haylie.  They were wild, running up and down the slide all night long. 

That very seriously look on my face is in protection of Hagen's toys that all the kids kept trying to steel from him.  He would scream at them and they found it hilarious. (Also that receding hair line I have going on is getting more intense all the time, I hope my kids don't end up with two bald parents!)

We ended the night with a very rowdy dinner at Pizza Hut and then drove a bunch of sleepy kids home. 

I was beginning to feel bad for Weston, having missed out on all the fun. Come to find out he had been having some fun of his own.  His food show in Orlando ended up starting later then they had planned and so he and a bunch of guys just went on over to Universal Studios and rode some giant roller coasters! I was so glad he was having a good time, but next time he is out of town we are going to have to step it up a notch! Swimming just isn't very competative with amusement park!  Just Kidding!

Christmas Break

I am a little embarrassed to admit that our Christmas break consisted of doing eight puzzles and then another really hard one in January.  Once I start, I get a little addicted and can't focus on much else.  Jalyssa was right there with me, I think she was glad when we were all done so she could go home! We had a lot of fun though and Kallie and Cole actually helped with the puzzles a lot.  Weston even put in a few hours one night so that I would watch a movie with him. 

Old Man

Weston turned 32 in January, he is so OLD!!! It is really strange to think that we have three kids and are now middle aged.  Weston always get the short stick when it comes to his birthday.  It is so close to Christmas that everyone is all partied out and I am always feeling nauseous over spending so much money.  For the last ten years Weston's birthday gifts have been very lame with the excuse of "well your Christmas present was for your birthday too." This year I started to feel a little bad and the kids were very excited about the big day so I attempted to get Weston a gift and surprise him. 

He has been talking about a gun that he wanted for some time so I counseled with his dad and he helped me out. I had just picked Cole up from school a few days before Weston's birthday and Bruce called about the gift.  Cole was asking all sorts of questions about why grandpa was calling me and then I finally told him about the gun.  He was really excited and promised not to tell.  Well later that day we met Wes in town for lunch.  My phone was sitting on the table when Bruce called again, Weston was pretty suspicious about why his dad was calling  me and Cole informed him that it he had been calling all day about his gift.  Weston poked and prodded and tried his best to get Cole to tell but he was tight lipped. 

We get back in the car after lunch and I had bought a big tupperware box for the Christmas tree that was in the back.  Weston asked what was back there and just being funny I said, "none of your business, don't look back there." Cole was confused by this answer and so he said, "Why mom the gun isn't back there!" He instantly realized what he had done and felt really bad.  Weston and I laughed about it for a few days though.  That boy is so much fun!

Anyway Weston was excited about his gun, and the kids helped me make a strawberry shortcake for him.  We sang and ate the cake at Grandma's house and then we took the kids to my mom while we went to dinner. 

The kids made these cute birthday posters for Weston, and they were pretty proud of their work. 

Christmas 2012

This post is way over due but I am really going to try and get caught up.  Christmas was so fun this year.  The kids were very excited about everything.  One of my favorite parts of the Christmas gift giving is when the kids exchange gifts with each other.  I love their creativity and the thought that goes into their giving.  (Some of them give things that they want and know will be able to play with, some give creativly and put a lot of thought into what the other person would want, and some are babies that let mom pick out the gift they give:)
 

Cole couldn't have been happier to recieve a month's supply of tape.  It is truly his favorite thing to play with and was on his Christmas list right next to a stapler??

Hagen was pretty excited about the police car that Cole gave him, and Cole had a very hard time letting Hagen play with it!

 

Christmas morning was pretty exciting and a little chaotic.  I focused my attention on running the video camera and therefore didn't get hardly any still shots. Each kid got one big gift this year and not much else, but they were thrilled and their "one gift" is played with every day still so to me that means it was a success!

 

 

Christmas afternoon we did the usual, run from one set of grandparents to the next.  We did get to talk to Braxton for a few minutes though and we were pretty excited to have Regg back for Christmas.  It was a great day and I was especially excited to take all the Christmas decor crap down the next day!