I'm a Minivan Mom

I'm so not ready for this, but it happens to the best of us. (No offense to those of you who own a minivan) I recently acquired a minivan to replace my car I totaled. I LOVED my car and I didn't want anything but one just like it , however with the money the insurance paid out and what we have saved this van just fit the bill. So I now am in the minivan club. I do have to say that getting kids in and out all the time is much better , I have much more room to haul my month's supply of groceries, and the gas mileage is the same as my car was. I just really liked my car. It was a part of all my travels for nine years and I was sad to see it go. I will get used to the longer vehicle to drive I suppose. But at least I do have a vehicle now. Cory was none to thrilled that I had to use his white work truck for my "car" these past few weeks. I think he was going through withdrawals :)

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve day Sadie, Lexi and I made chocolate chip cookies to put out for Santa. Sadie decided that he needed a drink too, but wasn't up for putting out a glass of milk. She thought Santa needed a pop, but couldn't decide if Santa was a Pepsi drinker, or a Mountain Dew drinker. I told her to put out one of each and see what he drinks. Well we found out Santa drinks both but prefers Pepsi because it was all gone and the Mountain Dew was only half gone. (That tells you which of Santa's helpers stayed up the most doing all the work! Me!)




We have a tradition that we get new jammies for Christmas and this year I decided to make them. The girls got to pick out the material, which wasn't pink and purple flowers much to Cory's surprise! They settled for a giraffe print that we could all wear and we all wore our matching jammies. It was fun. The girls had a great time opening gifts from us and Santa who spoiled our children this year :) We then had our tradition of Sourdough Pancakes for breakfast with Buttermilk syrup (they are so yummy, if I can figure out how to put the attachment on here, I'll put the recipe up). We then went over to Cory's parents house for their part of Christmas. The girls were spoiled there as well, even more so. Haylee got a Bumbo seat which I personally was VERY GRATEFUL for. Sadie and Lexi each got a dump truck to play in our future sandbox. Cory got some for Christmas when we were first married so now we have our own fleet of dump trucks! Hee Hee! We traveled down to Rigby to see my family a few days later and got to do it all over again! We were very blessed this past year and are eternally grateful for the abundance of blessings and family in our lives. Merry Christmas to all-

A day to remember: Sadie's Birthday

There are a lot of events to catch up on so I will try to break it up a bit. December 16th was Sadie's 5th birthday. The day started out as a trip to Salmon for Haylee's four month shots and running errands. As we headed away from the District Health Department, Sadie was talking to me about her party that night and asking me questions about the details. I looked up in the mirror to look at her and smile without noticing the stop sign in front of us. We collided with another vehicle and thus ended our carefully planned day. Nobody was seriously injured, Sadie got the worst of it with a bruised up eye.

I was sore from whiplash but we were really lucky. The other two girls were just scared. My car was totaled and we had to wait for 90 minutes in the laundromat before Cory could come get us and take us all home. We were very blessed and I am humbled to think what could have happened if we weren't all wearing our seat belts.

Sadie still wanted to party when we got home. So the guests arrived and we had a great time. Her friends Brooke and Jordan came with their mom, the Herbsts, Whittakers and of course the Birds were all there. She requested a Barbie cake which I was planning to do when we came home from town but because of the events of the day, I ended up with only an hour to do it in.

Sadie was pretty shaken up over the accident, I think the party helped her put it out of her mind though. Opening presents was a major highlight along with the toys, clothes and candy she got. She will always remember this birthday for good and bad I guess. But the day turned out enjoyable for us all.

Lies, Lies, Lies

I cannot believe what a liar parents become! You have to of course to make the whole Santa thing work but it doesn't help my telling more lies to cover up my misfortunes. I did so bad this year with the whole Santa thing. Sadie has seen three presents this year somehow, (not all hers) but asked questions and I stink at covering it up. Now all those gifts she saw will have to be from Mom and Dad insted of Santa or she may just get suspicious. She seems to have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time for me. Oh well, I guess ithis whole Santa thing comes with a learning curve right!

I'm Freezing!!!

Okay literally I am freezing. This whole week the weatherman had said "Tonight will be the coldest night this week" and that was on Sunday! I always check the temperature when I get up at four in the morning to feed Haylee and I was surprised on Monday morning when it read -11 degrees. I was shocked to see -14 degrees on Tuesday morning. I was appalled to see -18 degrees Wednesday morning. I was absolutely floored to see -24 degrees this morning! My kids are crazy because they haven't been outside much and we are going through soooo much wood for the wood stove. I hauled in wood just now and it is already - 4 degrees at 5:30 p.m. My hands about froze just touching the wood even through my gloves. I heard that winter was here, but I think Jack Frost is out for vengeance this time around!

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the pediatrician's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with a red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years. Here are my Christmas wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone. On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your sister," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a styrofoam container through a window in a bag with a clown on it. If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be to much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family. Well Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my daughter saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think she wants her crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
Mom

P.S. One more thing....you can cancel all of my requests if you can keep my children young enough to always believe in Santa!

Old Toys, New Joys

I was cleaning out the spare bedroom trying to de-junk and remove clutter when I happened to come upon a box of my old childhood stuffed animals. Inside was a variety of things and I thought the girls would like to look at them with me before I donate them to the DI. Sadie was so excited to see my many Tiggers and loved my Cabbage Patch Doll. My mom made clothes for the doll for me for Christmas one year and they are still in tact. Sadie has loved playing with "Darcy". Lexi was more interested in the Bouncing Tigger and Tumble Time Tigger. She played with them for an hour on the kitchen floor. Thank goodness for the OFF switch! It was fun to tell my kids what I did with the toys and stories about me and my sisters when we played together. I had a perfect example for Cory of how me being a "pack rat" payed off!

I even still have the authentic birth certificate for the Cabbage Patch Doll!

Blessings in Disguise

It has been said that the mother of the household sets the tone of the rest of the house. With that being said, I was having a particularly hard day a week ago or so and was having difficulty putting it behind me so I could be a happy mom that day. It was a day that I didn't get in the shower until 1 p.m. because of business demands, crying and tantrum children, etc. So as I was in the shower, contemplating how I was going to snap out of this mood and get happier when I heard the door to my bathroom open. I just sighed, asked Lexi what she was doing. Nobody answered me so I hurried to finish my shower and go check on the girls, who were supposed to be coloring at the table. I came out of the shower and there on the counter were two folded pieces of paper. I opened them to see Sadie had helped Lexi draw and color a heart on the paper for me. The other piece of paper Sadie had colored a heart with my favorite color and tried to spell out I love you on the paper. I just stood there as the tears started to fall and I realized I have much to be happy about , which two of those reasons just did the most thoughtful thing for me. When I later asked Sadie why she did that for me she said "I just thought you needed a picture to show you I love you." What a blessing she is for me!

Thanksgiving 2009

I'm a little behind here but I will try to catch up. We were kind of boring for Thanksgiving. We stayed here in Leadore but went over to Cory's parents house for dinner. We had a good time and the kids had fun. It was great to just relax and visit and play games instead of going over there with a time crunch. Cory's sister Angie was going to come up with her family but her daughter got sick so they had to stay put instead. I am reminded of all that I have received for blessings in my life at this time of year and how blessed I really am. I love that Cory's family literally surrounds us out here where we live. They are such a blessing and we enjoy being close to them. I love my family and miss them during the holidays as we don't see them as much. My little family is so fulfilling to me. I enjoy most days (we all have some days we wish would end so a new one could come) staying home with my children and I feel very blessed to be able to do so. My Heavenly Father has given me so much in my life and he continues to do so, I am continually grateful for all that I have.

What a weekend!!!

Last weekend was really crazy around here. I somehow got asked to help with the Super Saturday crafts from my friend Aubree. We did some cute simple crafts but it still takes lots of effort and time to get everything ready as many of you probably know. We took a trip to Idaho Falls to go get all the supplies which ended up being an all day trip. We left about 8:30 a.m. and got home about 6 p.m. Four hours of that was driving time but the rest was running around finding everything. Of course getting the right amount of everything is the key here. We had sign up sheets but you just never know who might show up and want to do something so be bought plenty of extras as well. I turned out to be a great day on Saturday. We had a good turn out and sold most of the extras we bought. My kids were neglected all day at the church getting to eat snacks of all kinds and watch movies but they had fun running around the rooms and playing with Aubree's kids. We were the only ones with kids there. My two big girls and little Haylee were SOOOO GOOD though. Haylee was just a happy baby all day even when I thought she should be getting hungry, she never screamed or cried too much all day. Sadie and Lexi played and had a few moments of disgruntlement but all in all they did pretty well. And it was another long day too, we were at the church from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ( 6 must be the magic number to get home by). Now I just have to have a day at my house to do my Super Saturday crafts, I was helping people or cutting things out with my Cricut that day!

On last Sunday we finally blessed Haylee. We had plenty of family come and friends that traveled too. I have never seen a bigger circle around an infant, and they were all family. We even had a few family members missing because of being sick. But we had a great time visiting with everyone afterwards and having a nice lunch. I love the fact that we can use the church for having those kinds of gatherings, there is only one ward here so it works out rather well considering our house wouldn't fit everyone anyway. Here are the best pictures from the day. Again my camera needs to be fixed or broken so I can get another one-the pictures are dark again. We took LOTS of pictures to get some good ones but you know how it is to try to get some with kids-they don't always turn out!!!

Below: The five birds in the Bird's Nest!

Below: Engberson four generation picture.

L to R- Cory, Grandma Engberson, Jan, Haylee

Below: Bird four generation picture

L to R-Kurt, Cory and Haylee, Grandma Bird, Grandpa Bird

It's Official, she's a Bird

Haylee is officially a member of the Bird family. The trademark traits are the bald head and chunkiness all over!!! I think she fits the profile. My pic looks dark again even though I took it in the daytime with the blinds open. I think I need a new camera. It is five years old now.
I can't believe she is three months old already. She's growing so big and smiling all the time. She talks quite a bit too and tries to sit up in her bouncy chair already!!! The other night, she was laying on the bed with Cory and she rolled on her side towards him. I think it was a chance encounter ( or so I hope ) so we shall see. I just love her big cheeks and huge grins!!!

Red or Pink?

I finally had a somewhat warmer day to get our bully barn painted! I have been waiting for a day when it got warmer than 35 degrees by 10 a.m. this last two weeks and it eventually came! Last Tuesday and Thursday I taped up the windows and doors to go out in the wind for a wet look :) It took me two days to finish it and the help of dear Susan who came the second day to make it go TONS faster! Cory thinks it looks pink, I might need a second coat to make it darker red, but I think it still looks red. Some agree with Cory and some agree with me. Tell me what you think! The sun makes it look a lighter color, so I can't decide. The name of this paint is High Drama, the perfect name for Cory's "Man Cave" as he calls it and Sadie's "Playhouse" as she calls it. We'll see who prevails on that account later when it gets finished (I'm not holding my breath for that one).

A Happy Halloween

We had a fun time for Halloween this year. I let Sadie and Lexi decorate the house with me. They loved putting up the static window clings and coloring pages to hang on the walls. We bought pumpkins to carve, but we didn't get them carved to I let the girls help me make pumpkin pie instead!


Sadie couldn't WAIT until she could put on her costume. I bought costumes on clearance last year so it was great that she loved it so much! Sadie was Alexa from Barbie and the Diamond Castle, Lexi was a pumpkin princess and Haylee was Eyeore. I takes a lot of effort to get three girls ready for Halloween and out the door! I have pitty for those mothers out there with more than three kids! We went to the trunk or treat this year at the church and after that the YM and YW in our ward put on a Halloween carnival at the church. It was a big hit. The kids had lots of games to choose from and play. There were prizes at every booth so they had TONS of candy. We went back to Grandpa and Grandma Bird's house afterwards for family time with Cory's sister and her family. It was a terrific Halloween. The weather even cooperated and it didn't snow (which is a first for the last 6 years)

My Ranching Crew

This pictures turned out darker than I thought, Sorry! It's still cute though-

Kung Fu Princess

Recently we are getting a free three month preview of the HBO movie package on our satellite package. While we are getting it I'm recording anything I think the kids would like to watch on our DVR. I came across Kung Fu Panda which my kids have never seen so I recorded it and they watched it one day. They absolutely loved i!!!!! Now I'm so sick of Kung Fu Panda that I could vomit, but my kids love it so I guess I will stand this phase until the next one comes. It has been very fun though. They pretend to be characters on the movie and Kung Fu the air. Lexi gets such a face of determination when she does Kung Fu. Sadie likes to jump and twirl and kick all simultaneously off the spare bed. Lexi is also into a princes stage however so one day she was doing her Kung Fu and I asked her if she was the Kung Fu Panda. She said "No mommy, I Nun Fu Prwincess". I got a good chuckle out of that one!

Sadie is pretty flexible and imaginative doing Kung Fu.

Lexi is so serious and stern looking when she does her Kung Fu.

Brothers and Sisters

These are just some funny pictures I took. Our two dogs, Tuff and Fudge were laying side by side and they look just like they were brothers, so I snapped a pic. Sadie and Lexi were sitting on the couch so cute together so I couldn't resist either! So thus we have the brothers and the sisters.

Not so Terrible Two's

First of all the pictures are dark because we took them at night and there is no light in my house to take good pictures, especially where my wall are a dark brown paneling. That will all change eventually but for now the pictures are going to be dark, Sorry!
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Lexi's birthday was on the 13th and she turned two years old. I can't believe how fast they grow! Lexi wants so bad to be a "big " girl like Sadie and it seems more often then not, she succeeds and that makes me a little sad. I'm supposed to have to little girls, not two big girls. We didn't go all out even though we should have considering her last birthday was the day we moved our last load from IF to Leadore last October. She didn't ever really get a birthday but she got one this year! Lexi likes to sing and when she sings "Happy Birthday" to anyone it comes out "Happy to you". So she sang that all day. I had Sadie color a big poster to hang up on the wall and little pages of birthday pictures to decorate the house. Sadie's masterpiece was our family "portrait". She even colored a dog for Tuff:

We just had Grandpa and Grandma Bird, Uncle Cody, Uncle Buzz and our family get together for a party. She was so excited about every present. It was great to watch her reactions. Uncle Cody and Uncle Buzz got the best reaction by giving her some cans of Cream Soda. She wanted to open them right away.

She got some new clothes, and PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa Bird which she liked too. I wanted to take her picture holding the PJ's and this is how she held them while she said "Cheese":

She also got lots of dress up and princess stuff. She is so into that lately. Her new favorite movie is Barbie and the Diamond Castle. She would watch it twice a day or more if I let her.

I let Lexi and Sadie help me decorate her Diamond Castle cake. We had lots of fun making messes in the kitchen and decorating. The clean up wasn't as fun but it was worth it. The girls are already talking about doing the next cake for Grandpa Bird's birthday on the 28th! They enjoy decorating like I do which makes it a mom and daughter time we can do!

The Almost Blessing

We were supposed to bless Haylee this past Sunday, but due to events beyond our control it didn't happen. Many of you know all about this so bear with me if you do. We received a phone call from Cory's mom on Saturday morning saying that school was cancelled for Leadore on Monday because of so much flu and sickness going around. Over half of the school was out sick on Friday. So we called the bishop of our ward to see what they would be doing for church on Sunday. The bishop is also a school teacher so I found out the reasons for missing school as well. There were no reports of swine flu just a lot of colds and regular flu going around. So the bishop first told us that they would hold church regularly. We called all our traveling family and friends to warn them of the spreading sickness out here just as a courtesy. Then the bishop called me back to tell me that church had been changed to just sacrament at 10 a.m. So I made another round of phone calls to let them know of the change and found out people were not coming because of the time difference or because they didn't want to get sick so we decided it was in our best interest to cancel the blessing. Jenn and Clay were already planning on coming up so they came and we had a fun time with just the Andrus family. Here is the kids lined up eating dessert on Saturday night.





We all stayed home from church because we were healthy and I wanted it to stay that way for Haylee especially. It was nice outside so we let the kids to ride horses in the corral. They had as much fun playing in the chutes as riding the horses!

On Monday I found out that two cases of swine flu are reported here and one was a girl in the high school. I kept Sadie home from pre-school on Tuesday as well to find out that still half of the school kids were home sick. I think it is more prominent here where there are so few kids in the school but this flu bug seems to be kicking everyone in the rear!! Hope all you are healthy and staying out of this cold spell!

Camera Crazy!

Just thought I'd put some fun pictures I took the last couple days on here. Haylee is smiling a ton now and I got a great photo of it! My girls are getting to big on me, it's hard to imagine life without them.

How to be like Daddy

Sadie came out in the living room last night after I had asked her to get her pj's on and was only half dressed. I asked her why she didn't have her pj top on and she said "I'm going to be like daddy". I was puzzled and didn't make the connection so I asked her how that was going to happen. She replied " I'm coming out in the living room to button up my shirt." Cory has a habit of putting on his work shirt but not buttoning it up until he comes out to sit down and put on his shoes at the same time. I never made the connection until Sadie pointed it out!


This morning she was watching Cory build a fire (we had such a high temperature this morning of 8 DEGREES!!!!!) when she said to him " I need to be careful around the fire don't I? If I caught my hair on fire then I would look like you daddy." I get such a chuckle out of Sadie when she shocks Cory into silence! :)

Why we aren't in potty training . . . .

Fudge

We have a new addition to our family, and he is such a cutie! Sadie and Lexi got a new puppy this past week. He has been the topic of conversation whereas he is so short. Sadie named him Fudge and he is a blue heeler/corgie cross. He won't be a working dog so he gets to stay home with us and get spoiled by the girls. They wake up every morning and come to the window so find Fudge. I'm not that crazy about having a puppy for the cold winter months, but I guess we'll make do. He is adorable though.

Bean Bag Fun!

On Sunday after we get home and get naps in we try to find a fun activity to do as a family. Most of the time we go for a drive and go for walks, but this time Sadie got out her tub of bean bags to start a war with Cory and Lexi. I think Lexi and Sadie beat Cory, he even had a bruise on his arm from a bean bag Sadie threw at him! They had tons of fun! This entertainment went on for at least an hour, it was great. Lexi thought Cory was being bad and kept telling him to "ock it off" (Knock it off). The simple things that enrich our lives-

From the actual Bird's Nest

I bought a season pass to Tauphaus Park Zoo this year so every time we go to Idaho Falls shopping or to run errands, we make a stop at the zoo. We met up with the whole Bird clan to go this time and had a great time. The older "kids" didn't want to go to begin with but they were the ones who weren't ready to go when the actual kids were tuckered out! The kids never get tired of seeing the same animals over and over it seems, they just love being with the animals.

Below: Sadie loved the tigers, that was her favorite part as you can see here. . .

Below: Lexi thought she should be pulling the wagon, not riding in it. Her cousin Abbie wasn't sure she wanted to ride in it either after this event-

Below: Abbie loved feeding anything, the ducks, goats, or anything she thought needed to eat some pellets of food.

Below: Lexi loved the monkeys. She would stay there all day and watch them if she could. Uncle Cody took her to them at least three times I know of.

Is this what it is like raising boys?

I cannot say that I know how it is to raise boys, but I think I get the gist. My girls are not really girly girls, they would rather go outside and play in the dirt than pain their nails so I shouldn't be surprised by this last few days. It all started with Lexi. She recently had her bunk bed altered because she consistently wanted to go up on her sister's bed. We resolved that by raising her bed and moving it out beside Sadie's bunk so Lexi sits in the air too. Well she woke up the other night screaming and crying because of something and tried to get out of bed to fast and fell down on the floor. She had a gash in her head and scratches on her hand but nothing too serious. I worried about a concussion but she acted okay. Then Sadie and Lexi were playing the other day and when I asked them to clean up their room, Sadie got upset and swung around with a toy in her hand which happened to whack Lexi in the eye. She had a black eye but was fine afterwards. Then Sadie was playing around and wrestling that night with Cory, she ran around the hallway and right into the refrigerator! Somehow she managed to get a rug-burn like scab on her neck from that incident. The next day while playing at grandma's house, Sadie was running in the back yard so their puppy would chase her but looked back at the puppy just as she came to the trampoline so she barreled into it. her chin received the brunt of that whack and a cut with a huge bruise around it developed on her a day later. Needless to say I learned that girls get bumps and bruises just as much as boys do I think. Until all the scabs and scrapes get healed, we refrain from public appearances! My kids look pretty beat up-but what can you do when keeping them inside the house doesn't help the battle scars from not appearing.

Ross Park

I finally took my girls to Pocatello to go to Ross Park for a swim. It was the last weekend they were open and there weren't very many people. Cory's sister Angie came with her daughter and Cory's mom came with us too. It was a fun day, Cory's mom stayed out of the water to watch my Haylee while the rest of us played in the pool. The girls had a great time and I enjoyed my time with my kids.

Below: Aunt Angie and cousin Abbie

Below: Lexi pretending to be a dog and lapping up the water-yes it's disgusting!

Below: Sadie coming out of the water slide making a big enough splash you can't really see her!

Below: Lexi and Sadie on the tire swing, I recall making specific instructions to NOT have my picture taken by the photographer, who shall remain nameless, but it didn't happen.

Update

I took some more pics of Haylee and they turned out pretty cute. I like this one because she looks like she is waving!





We went to a garage sale of some neighbors and got some really cool stuff. Cory sometimes has to push the girls on the battery operated 4-wheeler so he used a board so he didnt' have to bend down to there level. Our dog Tuff likes to chase them on it and they think it's great!

I have never had the lovely experience of dealing with thrush before so I guess now I get to. I noticed a red, spotty rash on myself that was particularly painful the other day and decided to call the doctor. It was decided that I had thrush or an bacterial infection. Without seeing me they wouldn't get a prescription for me without determining which one. I called my sister Sarah and she was a major help in helping me determine that if Haylee had patches in her mouth, it was thrush. I checked Haylee on Thursday and she didn't have anything. I checked again on Friday and nothing so I was thinking I should just call and get the prescription for the infection bu the day was so crazy I didn't get it done. So Saturday morning I was in such excruciating pain I new I couldn't wait until Monday. I checked Haylee's mouth one more time and there were little white patches in both her little cheeks. I noticed at our three am feeding that morning she wouldn't eat much and should have thought to check her then, but at least we figured it out. I got a prescription called in for me but had to call a family doctor for Haylee. The one in Salmon is closed on Saturday and would have had to pay an emergency visit fee, even though the doctor there just saw Haylee on Monday for a checkup. I wasn't thrilled to realize if I wanted to get Haylee her medicine, we would have to go to Idaho Falls and see another doctor to get the meds she needed. Thus went our Saturday, a fast trip to the doctor and then to Walmart to pick up both of our medicine. I was so annoyed but I guess that is a price we pay for living out in the wilderness! Needless to say, we both are doing better now and the pain in bearable now.

Sadie is so jealous of everyone in school. Leadore started school Tuesday this week, but the pre-school doesn't start until next week. She is way excited for another year of pre-school and can't wait to get her back pack ready to go. She still is my helper, just in the fact that she keep herself occupied with things to go while I feed Haylee. I love that fact that she can entertain herself with her toys, a box or anything available.

Lexi still is loving her little sister. She mauls her about every hour. I have to put Haylee in the pack and play to sleep or sometimes just for a break from her big sister! Lexi has now figures out that she can climb up the steps to Sadie's bunk. I have to keep it blocked off during the day so she doesn't get up there and fall off! Last night however, I went in the girls' room to check on them after feeding Haylee to discover Lexi had climbed up again onto Sadie's bunk and they were both asleep up there. I asked Cory to beef up the boards on the sides so we have nobody falling down in the middle of the night. We shall see if that keeps me from worrying.

Haylee is growing like a weed and doing pretty good. I just wish she would get her nights and days switched back already! She sleeps so sound during the day and a lot of the day. Nights she is content to let you hold her and talk to her. If any of you have any great ideas on how to help this process, I'm all ears.

Cory is working diligently on the bully barn between helping his Dad and brothers on the ranch. He has a couple jobs lined up for the next few weeks so that will keep him busy. He is great to check on me during the day and see if I need help. I had to have him rescue me yesterday for a while and take the two older kids outside with him. I was loosing patience with the three demanding my attention all at once. But he is great to help out.

I am doing well, and getting it all together. I am figuring out how to spread my time between three kids and keep up my chores as well. Some moments I have to just breathe and tell myself to get through the next hour before I scream, but most days are great. We take walks or go outside and play. I just have to remember that I don't have to do it all, all the time. It's okay to not have all the toys picked up, or a throw in a frozen pizza for dinner, or just to play with my kids and let everything else go for a while. I'm definitely not perfect, which is okay.