Brothers and Bicycles...

This has been an exciting month at our house! Jake has learned to ride his bike with NO TRAINING Wheels, and Joe has learned to USE THE PEDALS!!! GO BOYS!

These two have such a special relationship. I am so grateful that they play so well together. Jake is very protective of Joe, and vice versa. They love to play cars, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Transformers, and most of all ride bikes together. As long as they are together they are happy! Today we went out and rode bikes while Courtney was napping. It's a little too windy outside for her, so she stayed inside asleep and the boys and I played outside in the front yard. I love watching my boys ride bikes together, so I thought I would share some of the magic!

Three months.... ALREADY?

Little Courtney hit the three month mark this week!

YIKES! She is growing up fast!

At this point in the game she is a sweet little baby, who absolutely ADORES her daddy and her big brothers. (They adore her too!) She weighs about 12 lbs. (this is with me on the scale and then subtracting my weight!). She still has those bright blue eyes, and the hair... wow it is coming in! She has really fine hair, and it sticks straight up! Love it! Her favorite thing to do is swing, and kick and wiggle on the floor! She sleeps pretty good, usually getting up once a night at 4AM. Sometimes she sleeps through the night, but not consistently yet! She loves to be held... and she loves to coo and stick her tongue out. She loves her binky, but she will not touch those cutesy MAM binkies... it has to be the standard green hospital binky! So cute! She doesn't mind having her brothers kissing and hugging on her all the time and will usually look around to see them if she hears them in the room! We as a family are so grateful for her, and just love her to pieces!

Being a Mommy

As I sit down here in my basement, I can hear my sons' feet running across the floor upstairs. Laughter is roaring as they make weird noises, and call eachother boo-boo's. (weird I know but they are boys.) I look at my daughter, she smiles. Her bright blue eyes are studying just about everything around her. She loves to swing. Moreso she loves the animal print on cushion and surround on the swing. She stares at it, the mobile, and she has the biggest smile, I have even heard a little laugh come out of her!
Lastnight while at the gym, I thought of these things. They are simple things. Oftentimes I get annoyed when my sons are noisy, when they run around the house, when they call eachother goofy names, when they ask question after question, WHY?, How Come?, When? etc. BUT, as I was running lastnight, I thought, what a joy it is to be a mommy. Truly. I love every minute of it. Are there times I am a little frantic? YEP! Are there times I just want some quiet? Absolutely! Are there times that I WISH Miss Courtney would sleep through the night? Once again, OF COURSE!
Yesterday I was prepping a bottle for Courtney. Joe was asleep on his bed. Courtney was swinging and Jake was just a talkin'. Non-stop. Questions. Answers. Telling me about Mrs. Parker (his teacher.) I looked at him, and I just noticed, my goodness he is growing up. I see my children every day. But do I really see them? Do I really take in every moment I can? Do I see the joy in their eyes when they learn something new? Or am I just rushing through the day to get the tasks done.... I hate to admit this, but the latter is the answer for me. I rush through so much, and I neglect to see the little things.
I am extremely happy to stay home with the children. I am happy to make their three meals a day. To give them snacks. To make their beds. To kiss their boo-boos. To teach them our phone #, to teach them to put their clothes away. To bathe them. To referee fights. To discipline. To make them clean up their toys. To teach them to pray. To teach them about why we have bugs, spiders (EWW!!!), snakes, and dogs! I never thought when I was growing up, or even when I had Jake, that I would enjoy being home with my little ones as much as I do. Honestly, one of life's greatest blessings!

Not spoiled... Just LOVED!

I see this phrase on license plate frames all the time, and frankly I roll my eyes. However, I couldn't think of a better phrase for this post... so there ya go!
At the end of April, I turned 31. Yes... 31! I hardly feel mature enough to be 31. I still act like I am a teenager I swear! I guess no matter what your age is, if you act young, you are young!
My family went out of their way this year to SPOIL ME! Yes Spoiled! I admit it!!!
I received new p.j's, a necklace, a great book, gift cards, and a gym membership!
I have loved everything!
Starting about two weeks ago I started going to the gym. I LOVE IT! I am addicted! I get super sore, and I LOVE IT! It's my way to gauge whether I am working hard enough! I started running on the treadmill. I am not happy to admit this, but after 25 min. of running I am totally POOPED! It's amazing what a year will do. Last April, I ran a half marathon in 2 hours... this year, I can't even make it 4 miles!
Along with all of the goods I received, Turtle bought me a BOSCH! Yep, you got it... a BOSCH! Am I spoiled? Ummmm that would be an absolute YES!!!! But I must say I have used it... LOTS! It isn't something that just sits in the cabinet... it is used at least twice a week! I started making my own bread... (Thanks Manda for the tutorial!). It is so yummy! I have to admit I am pretty proud of my little domestic self!

Jake's First Sleepover!

I did something I thought I would never do... I let Jake have a friend spend the night. I know, I know, I am a terrible mother! Growing up we weren't allowed a whole lot of sleepovers, and frankly when I did have sleepovers, I was usually causing trouble! (Who me?) But I have to take into account Jake is the ripe old age of SIX and he would probably GREATLY enjoy it... so we did it! Friday night, we had his buddy Wyatt over! Talk about Heaven on Earth for Jake! He was absolutely THRILLED that his buddy didn't have to go home! They ate pizza... They had breadsticks, they played Lego Star Wars, watched movies, and Wyatt showed him how to play Ghost Busters! They had a great time!

Turtle and I decided it may be fun to let the boys "camp" in the front room. We set up the tent, gave the boys flashlights, and Voila!!! Instant campground! They had a great time! Jake loved playing with the flashlights as if they were Light Sabers, and also playing chase in the basement in the dark with them... (cuz that is totally safe!)

Here are some pics of the night!

Happy that this tent is being used for something!!!

This picture SCREAMS comfort to me... how about you?

And...homemade Cinnamon Rolls for BREAKFAST!!!

Love of Hondas...

Call me silly, but we have had Turtle's hoopty for nearly 10 years. It was our first big purchase together, and it has been a great car. Yesterday it hit 200,000 miles. Seriously this car is the best! It still runs great! No major mechanical problems (knock on wood!) and still gets almost 40 mpg! Can't go wrong with this car, other than the fact that it's a theif magnet! We thought this milestone was one to remember so we took pics! Yes, we did. I know. We are crazy. It's okay, we know! No really... we do!

Check out our Hoopty!

Notice the trip meter and the Gas Gauge... if I had 258 miles on a tank of gas, I would be on E!

Courtney's Big Day...

We had such a wonderful day on Sunday. Turtle blessed our little Courtney! It never ceases to amaze me how strong I feel the spirit when he blesses one of our children. I am so grateful that he holds the priesthood, and more importantly honors it. When he blesses the children, I get this indescribable warm feeling... wow, I am blessed!

We had lots of family and friends come to join us in celebrating Courtney. I am so grateful for the support that we had. Thank you to those who took the time and effort to be with us. It was a special day for Miss Courtney and our family, and that was what it was all about.

I loved seeing everyone on Sunday. It is a neat feeling to have family and friends with us to share this special day. Here are some of the pictures...

Don't they look so handsome!!! I am so proud of my boys!

Miss Courtney with Grandma and Grandpa Nadauld

My parents !

Cousin Lea with Turtle!

My good friend Breezy and I!

I have more pics... these are just a few!

Thank you to all of you who came out... it means a great deal to us! We love ya!