{ A Great Day... }

I love my sweet Hallie. I had to write this experience down before I forgot.

This week we started swim lessons again. If you remember me writing about it last year, you'll remember that it was a horrible experience. (SEE HERE). Well this time around, I got some private lessons for her with someone much better. She said she didn't want to do it, but didn't fight me too much on it and ended up saying that she'd do it. Deep down, I know she really wants to learn how to swim. But she's scared.

So yesterday was the first day. I told the teacher that I wasn't expecting her to learn how to swim by the end (it's 4 lessons). I would call it a success if she just put her head under the water confidently without being scared or freaking out. I mean...this is the girl that's scared to even go in the wave pool because she doesn't want to get splashed in the face with water. Well the first day went okay. No tears, so that was improvement from last time. She was nervous, but didn't quit. And it was much more on her level. She seemed ok, but on the way home she told me she didn't want to go again.


Which leads me to this morning. We were getting ready and she kept saying, "I really don't want to go. Why do I have to take swim lessons? Why can't you just teach me? I'm not going....etc." I gave her a little pep talk about how it'll be so awesome to learn to swim. How it may seem hard, but it will be so great when she knows how. I threw in a little, "All your friends are learning to swim too. Don't you want to be able to swim with them instead of sit on the side and watch them?" Well...she left my room while I finished getting ready and I thought she'd just gone to play.

A little later, she came into my room with a very different attitude. She was really sweet, had a smile on her face and said, "Mom. I just felt the Holy Ghost." Right after she said that I felt such a strong feeling too. It was really powerful. I said, "Really? That's so neat. Tell me about it." She said, "It felt really good. I know it was the Holy Ghost." Didn't say much more. Didn't fight swim lessons again either.

We headed to swim lessons a little later in the day and she was seriously AMAZING!!! I was shocked when I looked over to see how she was doing. She had her entire face in the water and was floating on her stomach. I thought the teacher was holding her until she gave me two thumbs up and yelled, "She's doing awesome!" I about died. I thought for sure she was holding her. Did she have a third arm? ha ha. Well it only got better. By the end, she was putting her entire head under the water, holding her breathe, blowing bubbles, and swimming a little to the teacher by herself!!! She went from one end of the pool to the other (taking lots of breaks). I couldn't believe it! I kept saying to my friend, "Holy cow! I don't know what got in to her. Maybe my little pep talk did something." ha ha.

She was so proud of herself! She was so giddy and just so happy. We all were so happy. I took her to get an ice cream cone on the way home for doing so awesome. The whole way home she sang, "Swimming is so much fun to do. Fun to do. Fun to do. Swimming is so much fun to do. To do to do to do." She was so cute.

Well later when Aaron got home, we showed him the video I had gotten of her on my phone. He was as shocked as I was too. . He asked me what got into her as well. We didn't understand how all of a sudden she could do all that. We had no idea, but we were all so excited for her. Aaron said, "Hallie! How did you get so brave???" She looked at us, smiled, and said, "I said a prayer. And then I felt the Holy Ghost." Wow! What a special little girl. I had no clue she had said a prayer. She did that all on her own. Nobody told her to do that. But she was scared, and her initial thought was to say a prayer. Wow! She has so much faith. She knew that Heavenly Father would help her if she just asked.

What a cool experience for her as well as Aaron and myself. Just thought I'd share. And record it so we don't forget. Hallie is always teaching me so much. She has always had so much faith and believed so much in the power of prayer. It's cool to witness this in your own children and see them having these experiences. For sure, faith building for me. I am so grateful for the gospel and for the comfort we can receive from the Holy Ghost. And I am extremely grateful to have these sweet little angels in my life!

{6.29.11 }

{ PRESCHOOL DAYS ARE OVER }

Hallie finished up preschool at the end of May. Time flies. It seems like I was just shipping her off for her first day not too long ago. I can't believe she'll be starting kindergarten in the fall. We have LOVED this preschool and had such a great experience. Such a great environment with amazing teachers and kids. I can only hope she'll have the same for Kindergarten. They had a little program at the end of school. It was really cute.

We love Ms. Shem. She's awesome. Always made Hallie feel so special. She was cute and made these tshirts with them. The kids drew a picture of themselves and then all the other kids put their thumb print on the shirt. It said, " It's ME and "thumb" of my friends."

Hallie, Alyssa and Clare.

Ms. Shem had made these for each kid. All the kids had said what they liked about Hallie and then read it aloud to everyone. Fun to see what their little friends say. Here's what they said about Hallie:

You like flowers. You are so quiet. Your friends like to play with you everywhere. Your friends love that you play with them. You are kind to everyone. Your friends love all of your "beautiful things." Your friends like your sharing things and think they are beautiful. Your friends love you."

And we can't forget about cute little Peyton. She was such a trooper and usually a good sport about taking Hallie and not being able to stay. I lost count of how many meltdowns we had in the parking lot. ha ha.  But I loved having that one on one time with her while Hallie was at preschool.

I will miss our Target dates. The girl that used to HATE shopping. BUT I am proud to say, she has become my little shopping buddy (or "shopping Peyton" because she is "not a buddy. she's a girl"). If I ever said we were just going home she would beg, "No! I wanna go to Target. TJ MAXX. Costco. Home Depot. The drinker store.." I bet Target has really been missing us. The popcorn all over the isles, the endless refills of DDP, the eyeshadow makeup samples all over Peyton's face, the clearance deals I had mapped...Oh...I better go back. I miss it :0).

We had a picnic lunch with everyone after the program.

 

All the great teachers and Jennifer the program director.

Class Photo--Back Row: Abram, Hallie, Todd, Haylie, Ms. Shem, Nathan. Front Row: Alyssa, Clare, Judah (I stole this off your blog Meg :) thanks!)

We will for sure miss preschool!

{ ROUGH LIFE }

{5.17.11}

{ 3 MONTHS }

KYLER is:

LaUgHiNg..........SMiliNG alot.........Finding his ToEs and loves to hold and eat them..........Trying so hard to RoLL oVeR. Rolls to his side and has now rolled over 3 times(all in the middle of the night while sleeping)..........JAbbERing alot...........AND........discovering the TV.

In fact..so much that he can't even look at me for a picture because he is so fixed on it.

Oh fine Mom, what do you want? Why are you bothering me?

{ ONE YEAR OLDER }

Wow! I'm getting quite up there in the number department. I just had my 28th birthday! That is basically 30! Seriously? Am I really that old? I feel like I am forever 21. jk.

It was a fun Sunday birthday. My sweet husband and kids were so cute to me. Aaron had the day off which made it perfect. It was the best birthday present of all. They treated me to a wonderful breakfast in bed, Aaron made a fabulous dinner of homemade pizzas, the decorations and cards did not disappoint and I got a lot of little hugs, loves, and "Happy Birthday Mommy". Not to mention a super yummy chocolate sheet cake. Thanks for all the calls, letters, gifts, etc. I am truly blessed to have so many loved ones.

Hi. My name is Peyton. I look a little homeless. And...I really like to eat ice cream with my hands. Who needs a spoon?! Spoons are for the weak.

"Do you want a bite?"

Hallie is the little photographer in the house. She thinks it quite fun to try out my camera.

{5.15.11}

{ MOTHERHOOD }

Some days can be a little rough. It's been a few days of "single mom" around here and I found myself in tears by the end of tonight. I had tried so hard to make my girls have a fun day and all I heard ALL day was, "I had that first. Give it to me! I wanted the pink plate! I don't want to clean up.You makin me sad Mom. You makin me mad Mom." etc. etc. Needless to say, I was done for the day and so were they. I put them to bed exhausted and feeling a little defeated.

Then my sweet Kyler wakes up. I go in to get him and he is cooing and smiling from ear to ear. I needed that so much at that moment. I sat and rocked him for awhile while singing songs. Before I knew it, tears were rolling down my face and I just felt such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I thought back to my girls at this age too and how much joy they bring me as well.

I am SO blessed to be a mom. To be able to be raising God's children and to have these sweet little spirits in my life. Even on days that aren't so stellar and I am at my wits end. I'm so thankful for this wonderful blessing I have in my life. I am so lucky.

{ 8 YEARS... }

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband. I can't believe it's been 8 years. Pretty crazy. As I was looking through pictures trying to find one from our wedding, I got a little side tracked. It was so fun to go back to pictures from when we were dating, first married, first kids,etc. I was laughing so hard at some of the hairdos, outfits, memories,etc. And then also realizing how old we've gotten. Wow! We have been through so much together.

In 8 years, we have...

Moved 4 times
Lived in 3 different states
Had 3 children
Graduated undergrad school together
Graduated medical school
Completed 2 years of residency (4 more to go:))
And lots more...but....too tired to think :). ha ha.

Life is great. I have a great husband who is so wonderful to me. I think I got the better end of the deal than him. Thanks for 8 awesome years babe! I love you more than ever.

{ DESPICABLE ME }

"Pickle da me" ..... "Mickle da me" ......"Smickle da me"

If you think you are the number one fan of "Pickle da me", you are beyond wrong! Peyton wins that category. We saw Despicable Me when it was in theaters and this was the first movie she stayed awake through the whole thing, didn't keep asking when it would be over and laughed out loud through the whole thing.

Everytime we go to Redbox to rent a movie, Peyton requests, "Mickle da me! Mickle da me!" Grandma laughed at how many times we had rented the movie and soon the girls got a little package in the mail. We all love it. Probably one of our family favorites for sure.

Do you think she's excited about it?

{ MOTHER'S DAY }

I am so lucky to be a mom to these darling little kiddos. My heart is very often overfilled with love and gratitude for this great blessing. They bring me so much joy.

They were so adorable and couldn't wait to give me a great day! Kyler even slept through the night for me (and through the picture time :)). He planned that one perfectly. I can still hear Peyton's little voice saying, "Happy Mudders Day!". I lost count how many times she and Hallie told me this. And Hallie was so excited to surprise me by singing in sacrament meeting at church. She was adorable.

Peyton's nursery teacher (who she LOVES) gave them flowers to give us. She was hiding it behind her back waiting for me to come and whips it out to yell (in church), "Happy Mudders Day!!!" As soon as we got home, she wanted to go plant it for me.

Notice the girls other flowers from previous plantings? ha ha. They had started planting a flower in a little cup inside the house. One day they asked if they could go plant them outside. I said yes and sent them off (Hallie has helped Aaron plant alot of things). I came out to find this :). They water them everyday (still in the cups) and think it's so fun.

I am also SO thankful for an amazing mother, mother-in-law, sisters, and grandmas who I love dearly. They have all been such great examples to me, each if different ways. I am blessed to have all our their examples.

{5.08.11 }

{ LOOK WHO GOT A HAIRCUT }

Short or long? Tangled or not? That has been the big debate around our house. Hallie's been contemplating cutting her hair for awhile now. After the movie Tangled, Hallie decided to keep it long because she felt she looked just like Rapunzel. Long blond hair, green eyes...

Well, one day she said let's go cut my hair. So we did it. And we both love it. Nice for the hot summer too. She loved the place. Got to sit in a Barbie car, watch a movie, get her nails painted, take home a balloon and sucker and a purple clip (what she was most excited about). After we got her haircut, we took a date to McDonalds and then to find a new swimsuit. She is growing up too fast. I love spending one on one time with my kids.

BEFORE: (hair not done :))

AFTER:



her poor eyes are so sensitive to the sun :).



{ GIRLS WEEKEND }

At the end of April I headed to UT for a much needed girls weekend trip! Aaron was able to stay home and watch the girls and I headed off with Kyler. It was a blast! I definitely needed this rejuvenating trip. It was so great we could all be there this year!

We were having so much fun, I didn't take hardly any pictures. Except for these crazies! I bet the sales lady was super excited we came into her store! ha ha. We had tons of fun shopping, eating, talking and laughing non stop! Thanks for a fun trip girlies! Bobbi Ann, I swear you were hiding in our last year's group picture too. Are you embarrassed to be seen with this awesome bunch? jk

My cute mom and Aunt Dicksy. Thought they'd give Kyler a ride.

Tammi surprised my Aunt Dicksy and her sisters by coming. She's getting close to moving to Slovakia and didn't think she'd be able to come. It was so fun.

We also were able to get together with my Grandma, Aunt Kristy, Aunt Ruth and my cute cousins. It was fun to see them and meet Jill's new baby and Erica's boyfriend. My mouth always kills by the end of the night because we laugh so hard together!

It was fun to see alot of Aaron's family too. They were so sweet to take the time to see me and meet Kyler.

This picture is too funny. I laughed out loud for probably 5 minutes when I saw it. My dad and I have the exact same pose. Had no idea we did when we were taking the picture. I always joke that I am more like him than I think I am and this goes to prove it. ha ha. Love that my mom has our ice cups ready for a nice drink too.

I love my sisters! They are the best. Black rules! Glad we all got the memo.

And I love my brothers. Jordan had his birthday while I was there. It was fun to have a family dinner all together. Him and I are the same age for 15 days! I used to love saying that we were twins when I was younger. Love you Jord! Thanks for taking time to see me.

Dustin, I love you! And I know you love me now because 1, you let me take a picture of you and 2, because you SMILED!

And yes Natalie, I'm with Cho on this one. Bet you do wish you let us take one more picture. Eyes closed in mine too! ha ha.

It was so fun to bring Kyler and have everyone meet this cute little stinker. He was such a good boy and I love him to pieces!