May 8

Today is Mother's Day. How I love being a mother to my little brood! They are all so different and I learn every day how to be a better mom to them. I was totally spoiled and got to relax and hang with the family all day while Allen took care of everything.

May 7

Miss Emery is 3 months old today. Man, she has changed a ton this month. She is much more awake and interactive. We all love seeing who can make her smile and she usually does not disappoint with her open mouthed grins. She also loves to have "conversations" with us and will respond to us with her adorable coos and baby babble. She is doing great sleeping at night but struggles with her naps. We're still trying to work out the kinks in her schedule but hope to improve her sleep habits this summer. We are so grateful for Emery and her sweet spirit and all she brings to our family!

May 6

Oh man. The dreaded ice cream truck has been making the rounds in our neighborhood. I hate it. The kids always beg for a treat but it is ridiculously expensive. Today Carter kept bugging me so I told him he could buy something with his own money but that he had to share with his sisters. Little did I know that he bought himself and both of them a treat. $8 worth of treats. It was very generous of him but I think he got the hint that he can buy at least 2 boxes of treats for that price.

May 5

Ugh. We're so bad about balancing our checkbook. I decided I had to get on it for this year since we have an insane amount of medical bills that we need to track so we can write them off on our taxes. I spent hours on it this afternoon and did not even finish.

May 4

Carter's most recent school project was to research and invention and find a way to adapt and make it better and then to build a model of his invention. He also had to write a paper about his invention. He chose the microwave and his adaptation was to have it take the steam to heat and humidify a home. He got a great grade on his project and had fun doing his research.

May 3

I totally stole this idea from a couple of friends. I created this "mom kit" to keep in my car. I use it ALL the time. Included are medications, a comb/brush/mirror/ for all our hair emergencies, laundry stain stick , bandaids, neosporin, sunscreen, santizer, leatherman, etc. I highly recommend.

May 2

I found this print off of a blog I follow and printed it up in the colors of the living room. Love it!

May 1

Addie cracks me up and has been wearing her swimsuit every single day again this spring. When I went in to wake her from her nap, she was in her suit but had slept for 2 hours with an open umbrella on her bed. So funny!

April 30

Tonight we finally got out for our anniversary date. We went to the Melting Pot which is an anniversary tradition for us. We had a delicious meal together and love that the meal is so involved so we get lots of time to relax and chat. So grateful for our wonderful 10 years together!

April 29

I'll admit to getting sucked into the royal wedding hoopla. It was super fun to watch today even though I don't generally care about the royal family. One of my earliest childhood memories is watching Charles and Di's wedding in the middle of the night with my mom and sisters when I was 5 years old. I thought Kate was a stunning bride!

April 28

I finally got smart. I bought 4 sets of cups in different colors and assigned each of the kids a cup color. Now they always know which cup is theirs and we aren't using a million cups every day. And yes, Miss E already has her own set. It's the little things.

April 27

Today is mine and Allen's 10 year anniversary. Sadly, Al is out of town working this week and we aren't able to be together today. He is adorable and left me a fun treasure hunt to go on with our GPS device. Each clue had a fun poem about our something that has happened in the past 10 years. The treasures included some of my favorite treats, letters from Al and the kids, gift cards to a few of my favorite places (iTunes, Chick-fil-A, Giant for drinks, pedicure). It was such a sweet and well thought gift. I am so blessed to be married to Allen and am grateful every single day for our marriage!

April 26

Today Makenna had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day so I just kept her home from school. After her appt. I took the girls to lunch at Dion's and then we had a fun spa day at home. We did pedicures and I made a yogurt/oatmeal mask for the girls. They thought it was fabulous. I love being the mom of little girls! It's so much fun!!!

April 25

GAH! I love this baby so much! She is such a good baby and her chubs just makes her even cuter. She is still the spittiest baby and has to have a bath every day to keep her from smelling like stinky spit up. She's such a love!!!

a

April 24

Today is Easter Sunday. We had a wonderful day and were able to attend a special church meeting where we had a visiting General Authority speak. It was a very special and spiritual church meeting. We got the kids dolled up for church and I loved having the girls in matching dresses and Carter coordinating. We are so grateful for the Savior and the blessing of the resurrection.

April 23

This morning we got up and colored our eggs. I had purchased a glitter tie dye egg kit and it ended up being awful. We punted and made our own dye with food coloring and our eggs turned out so vibrant and pretty. It was a super fun morning together.

April 22

Easter Egg hunt and potluck lunch today with some AKCS friends. Allen had the day off so it was fun to have him there too. We had the hunt, played with some real bunnies, ate yummy food and had a great time with our friends.

April 21

I saw this idea on one of the bazillion blogs I read and had to recreate. These were easy and yummy and we stuck them on sucker sticks, packaged them cute and took them to a few friends to get us in the Easter spirit.

April 20

Much to my chagrin, Makenna adores stuffed animals. She sets them up in her room every morning before school so they are waiting for her every afternoon. And no, this isn't even close to all her stuffed animals.

April 19

Taking a 3 year old anywhere is always a bit of extra work. Everything is so interesting to Addie and it takes us forever to get anywhere. Today while running errands she was balancing on all the concrete dividers in the parking lot.

April 18

Today was K/1 day at the zoo. It was the perfect field trip to help with since I was able to bring the little girls with me. It was fun to see Makenna with all her cute friends and to spend several hours at the zoo with the girls!

April 17

Tonight as we were getting the kids ready for bed Carter and Makenna came in with their hair done. They thought it was hilarious. We obviously have a plethora of girl hair accessories at this house!

April 16

I found out about a community theater here in ABQ that performs different children's plays throughout the year. Their most recent play was Charlotte's Web and I decided to take Makenna on a Saturday afternoon date. We both LOVED the play and she especially loved getting to meet the characters after the show. Afterwards, we hit Chick-Fil-A for a shake (for Makenna) and a diet Coke (for mom). It was a wonderful afternoon spent with my girl!

April 15

After a little refresher course on riding her bike, Makenna wants to ride every single day this spring. She's getting a bit big for her bike but we moved Carter up to a big bike too early and he got really frustrated. It's so nice to have two kids riding proficiently because it makes family bike rides so great!

April 14

I love this picture! Today the weather was delightfully warm so we decided to wash our cars. Addie was totally into it and was happy to have an excuse to wear her swimsuit and play in the hose.

April 13

Mom made me some new pillows for the living room this spring. I wanted to freshen things up a bit and incorporate greens and blues into my decor. She helped me shop for fabric with my very limited resources here in ABQ. Then she took the fabric and did the sewing. Good thing or they still wouldn't be done. I love the new look for spring!

April 12

Another super glamorous picture! All of my hair that fell out while I was getting ready this morning. My hair was SOOO thick by the end of this pregnancy that I was having a hard time doing anything with it. It wouldn't hold a curl or anything. I hate inevitable post-baby hair shedding because it's such a mess but at least my hair will be more manageable.

April 11

Makenna's project this semester was to research and animal and habitat and do a report on it. She chose the jellyfish and we had a great time researching it together. She turned it in this morning so I took a quick picture of her with her poster before school.

April 10

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother purchasing clothes for Addison. She wants to wear her pajamas or her swimsuit 24/7. She is especially fond of these mermaid jammies that we found at Costco the other day and never wants to take them off. All of my kids have gone through the jammies-only phase and it's so darn cute!

April 9

Today I held a private garage sale at the house to sell all of my maternity and boy clothes. Al helped me get everything set up last night and I had a great turnout and sold about 1/2 of my boy clothes and almost all of my maternity clothes. It was a great way to get rid of stuff and make a bit of money at the same time.

April 8

I know this is disgusting but this is SO my life right now. Every time Ems poops she has a massive blow out. It is so gross and I feel like I spend half of my life dealing with poop. This was the aftermath of one of her 3 poopy diapers today. My life is so glamorous. I think it might be time to try a new brand of diapers.

April 7

How is she already 2 months old? Seriously? I love this baby to pieces. She was the best decision ever! She is such a sweet, cuddly and good baby and we just can't get enough of her. Everyone comments on her chubs because it is the cutest thing ever. I love that she is starting to smile this month and how attached she is to me!

April 6

This has to be one of my POTD this year because I pick this dang towel up off the floor about 20 times every day. Addie can reach the sink to wash her hands and can pull the towel off the hanger but she's not tall enough to put it back up. Someday I will miss this though so I try not to feel too annoyed by it!

April 5

I decided to grow wheat grass in my white bowl for the spring. The kids had so much fun watching the grass sprout and then grow like crazy for the last few days. I love how fresh it looks and how easy it is to grow!