Princess Morgan's Birthday Party

Last Saturday, we had the cutest little princess party for Morgan. I don't really feel that I should put pictures on here of the other kids without their parents permission, so instead, there's just pictures of us. Brian was teasing me and asking me who the party was really for... Me or Morgan. I asked him as the day got closer if I could have a party like this, and if I did, if he thought my friends would come dressed up. He smiled, and said "Of course they would" So, I am going to have a princess party on May 31st for you all to come to. ha ha ha, okay the party really wasn't about me, but I had SOOOO much fun planning it for Morgan, & she LOVED it when the day finally came. We had 11 kids total... crazy I know, but I had so much help (thanks Brian, Mom, Karen, Melanie, Brittany N. Brittany D., Carly, & Kaylie you guys are awesome) We colored Princess pictures, introduced all the kids, made crowns, danced, ate cupcakes, went on a treasure hunt, & opened presents, my sister Brittany even dressed up as a princess & told the kids the story of how "she" was the princess that had to sleep on the pea. The kids were so cute! The girls all lit up when they opened their treasure boxes & saw lip gloss with a princess on it. It was so much fun, and Morgan seemed to be loving all of it. I love my little princess!
Our cute front door. The poster was so much fun to make. Brian thought it was a lot of work, but to me it was like doing a scrapbook page, only bigger. Look at that cute little princess!
Jayden (my niece) Morgan & Jackson (aka Prince Charming)
Princess Britanny from the Princess and the Pea, and Morgan. Morgan is such a sweet little princess.

Happy Birthday Princess!!!

Today Morgan turned 4 years old! I can't believe that 4 years ago, my first sweet little baby was placed in my arms. With Morgan, her birthday's are a little more special to me... I have been a mom for 4 years! wow, how the time flies She has been so much fun ever since, and I absolutly love having a little girl like her. She is so goofy sometimes and loves to tease anyone and everyone. Morgan is also very tenderhearted. Brian said that he has to talk calmly when he talks to her, or her eyes fill up with tears, which is says will be her defense for the rest of her life ( I wonder where she got that from?) :) She has such a sweet and caring nature about her, and constantly is taking care of Hallie & Jackson. Morgan loves to be organized, she makes her bed every morning, & her closet is always left exactly how I cleaned it, which I'm not sure if all of that is normal for a kid her age. :) She loves being in charge, or being the leader, and coming up with a game or activity for her and Jackson to play. I am so glad she is our first. She is so responsible, and I feel that I can trust her with helping out with Hallie. Morgan is our little princess. She loves being called "Angel Cake" & "Sleeping Beauty" She loves girly stuff, like lip stick, princess shoes & clothes, & especially nail polish. She has Aunt Kaylie paint her toes every time we go to my parents house, which is usually once a week. Morgan's highlights are when my friend & visiting teacher comes over and gives Morgan & I pedicures... we both LOVE it! Morgan is growing up so fast, and when I think about her starting pre-school in the fall, and kindergarten next year, I get a little teary eyed that she's growing up so fast. She is beautiful, & funny. I think Brian and I will have a couple of boys hanging around our house a lot when she's older. Somehow, I think her teasing now will change into major flirting too. :) I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent this sweet little girl to our family. We love her so much & she makes us smile everyday! Happy Birthday Morgan!!!

Getting Dirty

Saturday was beautiful! The weather was so nice, so Brian & the kids headed outside to work on the backyard. Since we did the addition on our home last year, our backyard is just dirt now, so we, or should I say Brian (since I'm not a big fan of being in the dirt) has been working on getting it all ready for grass. He is such a hard worker, and I'm so glad that he enjoys it, because if it were me, I'm sure it would never get done. Brian is getting an area ready for us for our garden. In these pictures, he is taking all of the top soil, and transporting it over to the garden area. The kids loved helping him. They were outside all day, and when they came in at 5:00, they were all covered in dirt... but at least they had fun. Brian told me later, that he felt bad that he didn't play with them very much, but earlier around 4:00 I looked outside, and he was sitting with them in the sandbox digging & building things with them. I told him that I think it's great for them to see how hard he works, and especially work along side him. And of course playing with them after their hard work. After they were cleaned & the floor was vacuumed and mopped, ( I think I got a pound of dirt off our kitchen floor while they were in the shower) we all went downstairs and watched "Enchanted" their new favorite movie. I love Saturdays!
Brian told me that Jackson filled up more than half of the wheelbarrow by himself. He is all boy, & LOVES being outside. I told Brian that it probably wasn't work for Jackson, but just fun. When they came in for lunch, Jackson had dirt caked in his hair. I asked Brian what had happened, and Jackson kept throwing dirt up in the air so he could watch it fall. What a funny boy!
Yep, even all covered in dirt, this little princess has to pose all cute.. what a funny girl. She loves being outside, and I love that she loves to get dirty, but is still a girly girl.

Hallie... 2 months

What a cutie!!!! I can't believe that 2 months have already gone by, where has the time gone??? It seems that just yesterday I was holding this new little baby in my arms, and she is growing so fast. So much faster than my other 2. Anyway, today Hallie is 2 months old! I'd have to say that these were the EASIEST & probably most enjoyable pictures I have ever taken. Hallie was so cooperative. I waited to take the pictures while the kids were napping. My goal was to get some sleeping pictures of her, but she woke up, and was so happy! The pictures were so fun to take. She just kept smiling and cooing at me. What a fun baby! I love these pictures because they show her smile, and her fun personality.




I couldn't decide what picture I like better between these 2, so they're both on here. Her personality kind of seems like that of a little jokester. I kind of think that she secretly thinks that she is so funny. :) We can already tell that she has a great sense of humor. ;)
I just love how sweet this picture is.
I love this picture! I love the rolls, & look at her arms... she looks like she has biceps, and I love it!

Hallie's 2 months pictures continued

I love this face... I love the scowl (?), the belly, & the cute rolls. This is what I imagine Hallie was thinking in each of these pictures.

Really??? You want to take my pictures, I'm not sure how I feel about that. ;)














Okay, now I think you're kind of funny... I might give you a little smile.
Okay, now I think you're hilarious!!! That joke you told was so funny!
She is so cute! I love Hallie so much! She has such a fun little personality. She is such a blessing, and I am so grateful that we have her in our lives. She makes me feel grateful everyday for the little miracle of babies.

Just Another Day in Paradise... Really???

The last 2 days have been LOOOONNNNGGGG!
At 4:00 when I woke up with Hallie, I thought.."Good I have 3 more hours to sleep before the kids wake up" well, those 3 hours went fast. Luckily the kids slept in until 7:30. I was so tired though, and got a little teary eyed as Brian left for the day, thinking, can I really survive another day of taking care of these kids when there are 3 of them, and only one of me??? I soon realized, I really didn't have any other choice... I don't think my fairy godmother was going to show up, so I got out of bed, & went to see how the kids were doing. Brian is such a sweetheart, because he always gets them breakfast started & entertains them before he leaves for work. So today, they were happy. I walked out, and this is what I found. Morgan wanted to hold Hallie, and with all 3 of them sitting there in their cute pajamas, I couldn't help but take a picture. Our typical day is long! The kids eat, make a mess, we watch Curious George (8:00 a.m. I don't know what I would do without that little monkey... watch for an " Ode to Monkey George in upcoming posts) & then start the day, I take my 5 minute shower, 10 minutes if I'm lucky, clean up the mess made while I was in the shower, play with the kids, do breakfast dishes, give the kids a bath, or at least get them dressed, & if I'm really lucky, I actually get to eat something before 10:00. 10:30 we watch a movie while I do something like laundry for the 5th time this week, eat lunch, and at last the kids take a nap! This is the time when I SIT! :) I eat, read, & use the computer, & just rejuvenate myself. The kids sleep for 2 hours, and if I'm really lucky, Morgan will even take a nap while Jackson & Hallie sleep. The kids then wake up for a snack & play & even argue with each other a little more, and then, around 5:00 I hear one of my favorite sounds all day the sound of the garage door opening, and I know my help has arrived. :) I was thinking about it yesterday, and how nice it will be when the kids are all in school, and I will have all day to myself to get LOTS of things done, but then I thought about how lonely it will be. How lonely it will be to not hear little giggling because they're making a mess with the soap and it's so funny, or the funny little things they say that just make me laugh, or even at least being blessed to having a little mess to clean up after. Today I was grateful that while I was getting dressed after my quick shower, & Hallie was crying, that Morgan went & gave her the pacifier & sang "I love to see the temple" to her and immediatly Hallie calmed down and went back to sleep, and I thought, "I am doing something right!" And, even the little mess I had to clean up (Jackson decided to spread his nice blue toothpaste over anything that looked like it needed some color in our bathroom while I was in my 5 minute shower) really wasn't that bad. My mom came today to watch the kids while I went to the grocery store, and I am so grateful that I have someone like her that can help me & is such a good friend to me. At the grocery store I saw 2 of my really good friends from my ward, & realized what a blessing it is that I'm able to have a car to drive to the store, and to have $ to buy groceries for my family... plus some fun things like ding-dongs for Brian :) I feel so blessed, and at the end of the day, I realize that I really am living in paradise!
Here's some nice pictures of us in the morning, and by the way, X-May on the makeup- Kay! :)
We took turns with the camera. :)

Conference Weekend

Our whole family was together for conference weekend. We went over to Mom & Dad's for breakfast Saturday morning & watched conference together. The last time I have watched conference together with my family was probably 8 years ago. I remember living in Texas, and going to the stake center with all of my family for all 4 sessions to watch conference since we couldn't get it on our T.V. at home. It has been so nice being able to watch it at home. I loved conference this year. My favorite sesson was the Sunday afternoon session. I loved the talk from Elder Ballard (I think) to all the young moms, & I love Pres. Monson. It was so nice being with family. It was a little bit easier to hear the 2nd session on Sunday because it was just our little family, and the kids were sleeping.
The kids were a little quiet so Brian went to check on them, and this is what he found... reading books. :)
Saturday night while the men were at the priesthood session, my mom brought out all of her costumes to divide up between Jen & I. Jackson loved trying on all the different hats, and was making the goofiest (is that even a word?) faces.
Once again, a goofy expression on Jackson. The poor boy only has girl cousins in the smith side... hopefully that will change in September since my sister Brittany will have a baby then. Congratulations Britt! :)