What a Difference a Year Makes

Today my baby turned 1. I will share "then and now" pictures with you all. Warning, this is pretty picture heavy! We all had a fabulous day celebrating both Seth and Amelia's birthdays. Enjoy.













































































































































































































































































































































































































The kids had to eat their pizza in the coolest place, the bottom of the big basketball hoop Seth got (thanks Bea and Ryan!)





















And finally, our newest edition to the family, Josie.

Sick Girl

There's a first time for everything. Miss A has her first ear infection. She will be 1 on Saturday, and she has a double ear infection. My poor baby girl. :(

On a brighter note, I've sold A TON of dresses!!! No pictures this week, because I keep forgetting to take them. But this week I sold 12 dresses and 1 yoga mat bag! I'm finally turning a profit. I am so excited!

His Big Brother

Seth informed us tonight that he has 2 brothers. He has a big brother and a little brother. His little brother is "Seth, just like me" and his big brother is Samuel. I asked him where Samuel lived and he said "down by his Grandma and Grandpa". We then asked him who his Grandma and Grandpa were and he replied,"Collie and Fade". Well then we had to ask him about Samuel's parents? Am I his Mom and Dad his Dad? He informed us that, "No, his parents are Cake and Tock".
Jeremy and I were laughing SO hard. I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Happy Birthday Seth!

Today my baby boy is 3. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of my little man. He is such a joy and makes me laugh every day. I love him more than he will ever know. He saved me, literally. He came into our lives when Emma had only been gone for a month. He was my VBAC baby (vaginal birth after cesarean), and he was the reason that I stayed here on Earth. He is such a happy boy, and while we struggle, I am truly grateful for him everyday. I love you little man!

One more thing...

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Go check out this lemonade stand. This is my friend, Val, and she is having it for a very good cause. So, let's all go get some lemonade!

Frustration, poop, and piano dancing.

*stepping on soapbox*

I am just so amazed at people and their lack of courtesy. My brother ans sister-in-law have 8 children. Their children range in ages 15 to 1 (next week) and they are EXTREMELY well behaved, just awesome kids. Well, my sil is from Oklahoma and doesn't get back out there very often to see her family. So, she and the 8 kids flew to Oklahoma on Tuesday. They left SLC and arrived at Las Vegas just in time to walk onto their next flight. They were flying Southwest, so they didn't have any assigned seats. Well, they get there, and there are NO seats together. So, the kids all had to sit separately. Well, no I take that back, there were 2 seats together where my nieces (13 and almost 3 sat together). So, my nephew, who is 6, understandably didn't want to sit alone. So, the stewardess is asking people if they would switch seats so that they could sit together, no one would do it. She got on the PA and asked a couple times, no one would do it. Finally, she offered a free alcoholic beverage if someone would let this mother and child sit together, they got an offer.

What does that say about our society? Where we won't move on an airplane to let a Mother and a scared child sit together?? He was crying, clinging to her leg, yet no one would move. Not until they were going to be compensated.

When did we stop getting up off of bus seats to let Mother's sit? When did we start driving by someone whose car isn't working, assuming someone else would stop? When did our society become so self-absorbed that we can't see when other's need help?? I am just really saddened and sickened by this. So, let's all of us who read this blog, start helping others. Doing the random acts of kindness and trying to make our world a better place to live. Let's start being nice to one another. Not because we're going to get something from it, but because it's the right thing to do.

*stepping off soapbox*

Speaking of being sickened...we had a milestone this weekend with my darling daughter. A has had a really bad diaper rash, so on Sunday, I let her have some naked time. J and I were in the kitchen making breakfast and I went to go check on her. I look at her under the high chair and she is covered, from head to toe in poop. She's pooped, played in it and is now starting to eat it! Oh.My.Gosh. I thought I was going to throw up. I scooped her up and took her to the bathroom. I eventually got her cleaned up. There are no pictures of this...for obvious reasons. I couldn't stand having her put one more piece of feces in her mouth just to get a picture! YUCK!

This weekend my in-laws were in town. They flew in on Saturday and left today to go to Provo to visit J's brother and his wife. They fly home tomorrow.

We had such a great time with them. We ate lots of good food, had many laughs, a few debates (all friendly of course) and generally had a fantastic visit. J and his Dad built some fences for my tomatoes to grow up, bought some herbs for our herb garden, and went golfing. Mil and I went fabric shopping, I got a lesson on how to do gathers and zippers, and we played with the kiddos! Oh, we can't forget that 2 children are having birthday's this month. So, they got to go birthday shopping. Here are some pictures of them and their birthday gifts. They were both hits!































































This is my little girl singing and dancing while playing the piano. I think she has a future as an entertainer!



















A boy and his barn. As I type this, he is playing with some dark blue (per his request) play-dough that we made. He is putting his farm animals in it like water and seeing all their different footprints. He is a nut.

And, one last picture to leave you with. Grandma and Grandpa. We miss you!

The things he says...

Seth just came in and told me this;

"Mom, penis dancing is a class what I go to and teach people penis dancing". This is all accompanied by him dancing. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that I am taking belly dancing classes. I laughed. He is funny.

Beautiful Spring

I love spring. I really think it is my favorite time of year. The green grass, buds on the trees, my garden coming to life. I love it. I really wish that I would have had my camera this last weekend. We had such a great time!
On Saturday we went to the Gardener's Market. It is just such a fun place to hang out. Seth got to play with his friend, Olive, and Jeremy and I met a lady from KC, MO. Always good to talk to someone who knows the same places we do :)

After the market, we loaded up the van with us, and our friends, Bea, Ryan and Olive, and headed out to a BBQ Competition in Hyrum. We were SO excited. The judging was going to be done by Kansas City BBQ Standards, so we knew it would be good. We got there around 2:00 just to find out that the competition was OVER. Oh man, Jeremy and I were so sad. We decided to pay the entrance fee into the park and see if we could beg leftovers off of anyone. So, we went and it worked! We had some great pulled pork sandwiches, brisket and ribs (oh the ribs!). There was one guy there that was from Kansas City (graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest) and another who knew two of Jer's uncles (not hard to do in Logan!). The BBQ was so good and just wet our appetites. Neither of us were very satisfied. It was just SO good!

After we ate, we decided to go find the beach and let the kids swim in their undies. So, off we went, followed the signs and ended up at a grassy area that bordered the water. Oh, there was a little sand, but as our friend Bea (a CA native) said, "That's no beach, that's a shore!". It was fun anyway. Seth was LOVING the water. He was sitting in it and having a grand time. He even made some things in the sand. I wish that we lived closer to the ocean, he would love it! He's definitely my son...loves the water.

Speaking of water...the kids are starting swim lessons on June 11. Seth will be taking level 1 and Amelia and I will do the WaterBabies class. It is going to be so much fun!!! I am almost as excited as Seth...but not quite. We went to sign up yesterday and he was ready, swim suit and swim cap on and ready to go! He was very sad and didn't understand when I told him that we weren't actually going swimming! Poor kid.

Here is a picture of my two babies playing. They are just so sweet and fun. We are really blessed!

Happy Mother's Day! Another blog that I read had this poem on it. I loved it, so I stole it! :) Hope you enjoy it and are having a fabulous Mother's Day. I know I am.

Now That I Am Forever With Child, by Audre Lorde

How the days went
while you were blooming within me
I remember each upon each--
the swelling changed planes of my body
and how you first fluttered, then jumped
and I thought it was my heart.

How the days wound down
and the turning of winter
I recall, with you growing heavy
against the wind. I thought
now her hands
are formed, and her hair
has started to curl
now her teeth are done
now she sneezes.
Then the seed opened
I bore you one morning just before spring
My head rang like a fiery piston
my legs were towers between which
A new world was passing.

Since then
I can only distinguish
one thread within running hours
You, flowing through selves
toward You.

This is my gift from my Husband. We were at Ross Dress for Less last night, and saw this painting. We've never bought art before (weird huh?). We saw this and it was just HOME for us. We had to get it. It hangs in my kitchen, not crooked like it looks in the picture, and it is just beautiful.

Oh.My.Gosh

Seth never ceases to make me laugh. Today we went to the Gardener's Market and had a wonderful time. Seth and Jeremy played in the (very cold) creek and made me a Mother's Day present :) Amelia and I walked around and danced to the music. We all had so much fun. When we got home today, Amelia was down for a nap and Seth and I were downstairs sewing. I was working on getting a hem just right and concentrating when he says, "Mom, I have a foot nipple". That got my attention and I immediately turned around and said, "What?". He said, "I have a foot nipple, look!" He was pointing to a blister on the inside of his foot! I laughed so hard! I then told him it was a blister (gotten from playing in the creek in his too small crocs), and he lifted up his shirt and said, pointing to his real nipples, "Oh yeah, these are my nipples!" This kid really is a crack up!

Oh, and if you want to see pictures of what I've been sewing and knitting, go over to my knitting blog!

She's a Movin!

Amelia's new favorite thing to do is climb up the slide and go back down. Here are some photos I took of her doing it the other day.




































































































Looks like fun eh? Now, she's not one to let the weather keep her down, so this weekend as it has been snowing, she has mastered the stairs. As I type this she is going up and down the stairs. What a nut!