A week full of Crystal!

I love my little peanut.  She is my only daughter, and my most responsible child.  She is the dream child I never thought I could possibly deserve.
This week we got to spend a lot of time appreciating her, starting with Monday afternoon when she had her school program.  The program was centered around grandparents, and so she invited my parents to come and watch her perform.  She did a great job.

Every song was about how much they loved having grandparents, and during her speaking part, she mentioned that she loves going on vacations with her grandparents, and that when she's a grandma she will go shopping for pretty clothes.
After the program, my parents and I joined her in her classroom for milk and cookies.  It was a great day.  She was so excited to perform, and my parents were crazy enough to show up an hour early so that they could get the best seats to her show.  Granted, it's a huge elementary school and if you don't show up early for these things at her school you have no place to sit, but my parents fully admitted that they were nuts and they were okay with it.

So the other big thing for Crystal this week was that she got to perform in her first dance recital ever!!  I loved getting her all made up and doing her hair.  Also, I've decided that the cutest thing in the world was seeing all the little girls in big frilly tutu's all dressed up like princesses to perform.  All the kids outfits were adorable.  Crystal's dance/theme was centered around the movie "Brave" from Disney.  Here she is in costume and makeup.

All made up

Her cute little outfit

She did a great job being patient and letting me do her hair!  I had to make it pulled back so that the wreath would be prominent, but also wanted to make it pretty and not just a bun.  This is what I came up with.

The stage!!!  Crystal waas SOO excited to perform on a "real stage" at night time.

The recital was Disney themed.  

In front of the programs at the enterance

There she is!  

She loves this movie

OH my gosh there were so many cute little girls and performances!!!  Loved all the little performing princesses.

Here she is with her friends, talking and getting ready to go on and perform:

With her friend/school mate

Jacob kept surprisingly busy during the recital.  I was worried because  he is so crazy but he actually had fun entertaining himself.

He's roaring like a bear

Watching the other performances

Friends!

Waiting in line to go next.  I love Crystal's face in this one because it shows so much of her personality.  

Performance time!

She did a great job! She looked like a little angel up there!

I am so proud of her.  I can't say that enough.  Mostly I'm proud that she found something that she loves doing.  I didn't want to be the kind of parent that pushed her into anything to make her feel obligated, but she chose dance herself when I asked her what she wanted to learn to do, and it's been doing a great job building her confidence and making her feel talented.  The first time Scott saw her dance he had a smile from ear to ear.  He was proud of her too.  He said that he had no idea that he would like watching her dance so much, that it would make him feel impressed that she was developing a talent, and that she is good at it.  I loved watching Scott's face while he watched her dance, it made me fall in love with him all over again.  He is such a loving father.
She was also excited to see her grandparents there to see her again, her aunt Denise, her uncle Matt and her future aunt Ale.  Thanks guys for coming to watch her perform!

Roses from grandma

She also got a little packet with a tiara, wand and bracelet from her teacher before leaving.

Most of all I'm thankful for an opportunity to honor my little Crystal.  I'm thankful for her spirit in my home, for her helpful attitude, her willingness to please, and her unconditional love.  She truly is my little princess, and I am so lucky to have her.  She is everything a parent could want in a daughter.

How we spent our Easter

I say this every year, but I love Easter, and I was so so happy that we had a warm Easter this year since the weather here has been so bi-polar lately.  Just the fact that it was warm outside was fantastic.
The kids woke up to their Easter baskets waiting for them on the kitchen table in the morning:

We usually put very little if any candy in the baskets every year because I hate the way my kids act when they have sugar in their little systems.  So instead we put little toys in there and only a couple of tiny packets of candy in there instead of a chocolate overload.

Crystal was so happy to have a little woven purse/bag in there that she could bring her scriptures and pens to church in! She also got stickers and sidewalk chalk, which are two of her favorite things.  Her "bonus toy" was a giant pen that we knew she'd get a kick out of.

Seth Got bubbles, a frisbee, and a water gun. All things which he immediately tried to put into use. His bonus toy was a slinky, which he and Crystal broke by the afternoon, because they tried to straighten it.  Oh well.

Jake had already climbed on the table and opened his up before I could get a picture of him holding his basket.  He got a couple of toy cars in his basket, and toy cars are his favorite thing in the world right now, so he was in heaven.  

So a few things I learned about Easter morning with three kids.  For now on I'm going to make sure my kids are dressed and ready for church before they open their baskets, because they get distracted with their toys and it's harder to get them dressed later on.  Also, Just because Scott says there's plenty of time to get ready, doesn't mean anything because he can get ready in 5 minutes, and I am very particular about how my kids need to be dressed for church so it takes time along with packing the diaper bag with every emergency need I can think of.  Even though I made sure we were up two hours early, we were still scrambling for things and rushing out the door.  The culprit was Crystal's hair, because some of the braids I was putting in it were not cooperating   It's a good thing she's my only daughter.  I get way too distracted with her hair on Sunday mornings.

Sacrament meeting was...not easy.  

Jake was having a hard time holding still, as usual.  Some days he's an angel, but he chose Easter Sunday to be grumpy, which he continued to do most of the day.  Honestly, I think he was over stimulated with all the activity happening in the same day.  He liked it, but it also exhausted him.  I ended up taking him into the mother's room where he ran around in circles and screamed the whole time.  No really, he just yelled and ran around in circles the whole time. So that was Sacrament meeting.

  I got called to teach Sunday School to the 13 year olds, which has the biggest number of kids in our ward.  My class has over 20 kids, and it's basically like teaching a class at a public school rather than a small group of kids.  So for my first day in my calling,  I got to teach the Atonement because it was Easter.  It was awesome.  It was like being a missionary again.  In my second area as a missionary, (which I stayed in for 6 months) I worked with the entire youth in the ward there, which had the most teenagers in one stake in the whole mission.  I love the youth.  My biggest success as a missionary was working with the group of teenagers in the ward there.  They always brought their non-member friends to church, and it always provided us with families to teach when their friends or parents or siblings would want to learn more.  It's amazing how one teenager can influence their whole family when they try to live the gospel, and even get their parents to listen and want to be part of it, when they see the change in their teenager's demeanor. On my last Sunday in the country before I went home, the bishop asked me to come back and visit that ward, and speak in church, and it was so awesome to see my favorite kids still active, and to have them run up to me so excited to see me again, after the meeting to talk to me, tell me how they're doing, and to say goodbye.  It is one of my favorite memories ever.  To his day those kids have a special place in my heart.  So getting this calling with youth again makes me think of them, and it makes me happy.

  The lesson went great, they tried to pull a few fast ones on me, but I saw them coming a mile away, and even though there are so many of them and they all love to talk, I had them quiet, and listening by the end of the lesson.  I'm excited for this calling.  

After Sunday school, Scott looked like he was still having a hard time with Jake in the halls, so I took Jake into nursery, where I used to help teach singing time to the kids.  Jake goes into nursery in 3 months, and I figure the more exposure to nursery he can get before this new baby comes, the better.  So from that moment on, I decided to take him in there for the last hour of church every day, and help him get used to the routine and teachers there. I figured it's a good compromise since he won't let me sit through relief society anyway and he needs to learn to get along with kids his age and get used to a routine on Sundays.

After Church, we went over to my parents house for their Easter egg dinner and hunt.  The kids also had Easter baskets from my parents waiting for them there too.  Here they are enjoying their Easter toys.

These are some of the only pictures I got of them in their Sunday clothes for Easter.  Unfortunately, it was kind of chaotic on Easter with kids running everywhere and Jake refusing to cooperate.  I'm sad I didn't get good sibling pictures of them in their Sunday best like last year, but at least you get a peek.

Looking cute and grumpy.  When he's not in a good mood, he scowls.

Trying to fan the camera

Playing with bubbles

Jake got cars in his Easter basket at my parents house, which was great because they kept him busy.

"Look Mommy! Bunny ears!"

He cheered up a lot when we took him out of his church clothes so he could eat.  He HATES being dressed up.

Playing with his Great Grandpa

This was the only picture I managed to take of all the kids during the Easter Egg hunt, which was also chaotic.  Also, my parents have a bouncy house that they set up for special occasions.  You can see that in the background.  The kids love the bouncy house. 

Crystal and Seth got in a fight during the hunt about who was stealing eggs from who and who was pushing who out of the way to get to an egg before the other.  So that kind of made it less endearing, but that's life.

Jake was more concerned with opening his one egg he found, and eating the jelly beans inside than the actual  hunt.  He didn't really care about finding any more eggs.

It was a good Easter.  More chaotic that I had hoped, but really good.  The food was excellent, and it was warm outside. 

Easter is my favorite Holiday ever, so at first it was frustrating when my kids weren't co-operative at helping me make the beautiful Easter memories I had dramatized in my head with perfect well dressed children, when I was thinking about how the day would be when I woke up, but I came to realize during the day that once you have kids, Holidays aren't "just for you" any more, and it's more about your kids than yourself.  I think at times during different Holidays during the years, I've made the mistake of trying to make it "my" holiday, instead of my kids holidays.  When I relax and think about my kids more than "how the holiday schedule needs to be", I'm happier. After all, holidays are only really meaningful when I have people to share them with.  I may not have had a spiritual sacrament meeting or beautiful pictures of my kids in their Easter outfits  sitting in the green Easter grass, I may not have had an easy toddler who understood everything that was happening, but they all made memories that day, they all had fun, and they all make my life richer, fuller, happier and more meaningful.  

I'm happy to say that at the end of the day when we went home, my little Jakey was calm and good for the fist time that day.  It took all day, but he came around.  At one point he was playing with his cars on the floor and we made eye contact.  I stretched out my arms, and he dropped his things and ran to me as fast as his chubby legs would let him, to give me a hug.  All the hard work with him that day  paid off with that little but meaningful moment.  I could feel the perfect love my little boy had for me.  It was a wonderful Easter after all.  Not because it turned out the way I'd imagined it, but because I learned something about myself, and because that hug was perfect.  The love I had for him in that moment, combined with the love I felt he had for me, was just like feeling the Saviors love. I hope that like my little boy, that after all the grumpy and bad days I have, that it will be the Savior that will open his arms to me and I can run to him at the end of the day and feel that perfect, mutual love.  I'm glad that the real meaning of Easter can remind me of that. Happy Easter!!!

As a mother, attitude is everything

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually enjoying this pregnancy.  I've never enjoyed a pregnancy in my life.  I've always hated being pregnant.  I love the pay off, but being pregnant has always been tough on me physically, emotionally, and mentally.  In the past, I've described it as being tortured for an entire year.
I'm not saying that this is an easy pregnancy, perhaps its because I know what to expect because I just went through this, but it's actually been easier to get pregnant within the first year of my recent babies life than to wait two or three years like I did with my last three.  I still have hormones, but I have a great routine that helps me out, and like I mentioned earlier, for me, exercise makes an incredible difference, even if it's just a walk.
It's hard not to be hard on myself when I'm pregnant and look in the mirror.  In the past my brain hurt when I saw my reflection and I would think, "I'm NOT supposed to look like that! I am a giant rhino with long hair and makeup!!!"  I've taken on a new attitude lately though, I look in the mirror and I think, "This is exactly what's supposed to happen to me, this is a miracle.  This is a blessing. My body is doing just what it's supposed to, and it's beautiful, and I'm thankful for it."  Having this mind frame makes a difference.  People say it all the time, but it's true.  Attitude is everything. Especially as a mother.  Cheesy, even annoying to admit at times, but it's true. Happiness is a choice.

Five and a half months pregnant with Jake

I'm learning all the time how important optimism and positivity are, whenever anything unhappy comes into my mind.  It's strange because I honestly thought I mastered this skill as a missionary.  I had my brain wired to push out negativity whenever it came into view as a missionary, because I could not teach with the spirit when I didn't. Somehow, over the years when I came back home it started to creep back in once and a while.  Maybe it's because I didn't have the constant help of the spirit as a missionary, maybe it's because the world is so much more distracting when your life is not dedicated to teaching the gospel 24 hours a day, but it crept back in.  Not all the time, but with different challenges as a "grown up" it crept back in.  Maybe it's just harder to keep out because the real world is hard, but dangit I'm going to fight it every day.  I have to.  My quality of life depends on it.
It's funny how those thoughts creep in there too.  Crystal takes dance classes at our local athletic city center, and while I'm there waiting for her, I put the kids in the stroller, and walk around the track to get some exercise for the hour she's there.  Three days ago while I was doing this, I started to get annoyed because I felt tired.  I'm used to the runners lapping me, but even some of the speed walkers were lapping me too.  I was annoyed because I couldn't walk as fast as them, I was annoyed because there were little 10 year old kids who could lap me too.  I started to have negative thoughts about how out of shape I am because of this pregnancy, and how I was lame for not being able to keep up with them.  Then I realized, I was pushing a huge, bulky double stroller.  The stroller alone is at least 10-15 pounds, plus my two boys who were in the stroller, one about 25 pounds and the other about 35 pounds.  There was also a huge diaper bag full of drinks, snacks, wipes, toys, etc that had to be another 7-10 pounds.  Also, minor detail, but being six months pregnant, I get braxton hicks contractions all the time, along with what feels like pulled groin muscles when I walk sometimes.  With all that work, I was still there on the track doing my best.  What the crap did I have to feel negative about?  With that in mind it was easy to smile at the people lapping me and feel good about myself, because my perspective had changed.  I stopped being comparing and competitive and felt grateful for what I can do and the abilities I do have.
Being able to enjoy the little things is a huge part of feeling good.  Another great thing is the time of year I've gotten pregnant this time around.  I'm always happier when the sun is out, and now that it's springtime, I love going outside and just breathing in the fresh air and feeling the sun on my skin.  It makes all the difference. It gives me energy.  Last night we opened the patio door and just had the screen door between the house and outside, and all the fresh air filling my house put me in the best mood ever, the smell of springtime reminds me of night games and staying out late with my friends as a kid.
       The thing that makes me the happiest though, is that I know this is worth it.  Not only is it worth it, but it was my decision to go through with it even though I knew it would be hard.  I was prepared for this to be my hardest pregnancy ever (because they take a bigger toll on my body every time) and instead, it's been my most enjoyable.  Oh the pain is still there, just today I pulled some muscle in my inner thigh chasing my one year old outside, to keep him from getting hit in the face by a kid swinging on a swing.  (It still hurts, and it's been 4 hours) but I was able to smile about it.  My two friends, who were there with me, told me that they couldn't believe that I was pregnant, and chasing a baby and watching my older two at the same time, and that they didn't know how I could handle it.  I told them that for me, the secret has been that I stopped thinking about "how to handle it" and I just do. A lot of what makes things stressful  is thinking about them. I do this not only  because I have to, but also because I choose to.  Understanding that this is my choice has made all the difference.

More than anything, I'm able to have a good, happy, fulfilling attitude, because of the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Since my favorite holiday, Easter is coming up, it always causes me to think about the atonement a little bit more, and how it applies to my every day life.  It's easy to think of the atonement as the ability to be forgiven of sins, and the ability to overcome trials, but honestly, it's so much more than that.  The more I understand the atonement the more I realize that it's applies to every day things, like the way I choose to see difficult situations, the way I apply my willpower, the way I can choose to do something good every day that I don't initially feel like doing, and the fact that instead of wishing for hard situations to go away, I've realized that through the atonement, that I shouldn't wish for those things to go away, I just need to ask for the strength to do them.  Forgiveness of sins, and comfort in suffering are a big part of the atonement, but so is every day motivation, like unclogging the dang toilet for the thousandth dang time because my son is going through a "lets put fun things in the toilet and then flush" phase; and then looking into his eyes and smiling face, and realizing how lucky I am to have a little guy like him, even if he can't leave the toilet alone.  (Just an example.)

Sure I have days that are better than others.  Every once and a while I feel myself feeling a little burnt out at the end of the day, but just like when I was a missionary, I can honestly say, something that I used to write my parents frequently:  "I've never been so tired and so happy at the same time."  As a missionary, I don't think I realized that that feeling was so incredibly similar to what motherhood feels like, if not identical.  (The tired and happy part at least...motherhood is even better than my mission in so many ways.) Also, if I have a hard day, guess what?  I can try again tomorrow, and tomorrow will be better, because I choose to make it better. Not easier, there is no easy when it comes to being a mother, but better. I love being a mother.

As a disclaimer, I just want to say that I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, I'm just letting you know how I've found inner peace, and inner strength to magnify my calling as a mother.   These beautiful children I've been given, are God's children, and he's trusting me to raise them, love them, help them, nurture them, and teach them; and I love that I can look anyone in the eye and let them know that I'm honored to do it, and that having my little family in my life is worth it.
 Before I end this post, I just want to share a specific quote that Elder Bednar uses when he talks about the atonement and how it applies to motherhood, because I absolutely love what he says,  so I'm going to share it here:

"The greatest lessons I have learned about the enabling power have come from the quiet example of my wife in our own home. I watched her persevere through intense and continuous morning sickness and vomiting during each of her three pregnancies. She literally was sick all day every day for eight months with each pregnancy. That challenge was never removed from her. But together we prayed that she would be strengthened, and she indeed was blessed through the enabling power of the Atonement to do physically what in her own power she could not do. Sister Bednar is a remarkably capable and competent woman, and over the years I have seen how she has been magnified to handle the mocking and scorn that come from a secular society when a Latter-day Saint woman heeds prophetic counsel and makes the family and home and the nurturing of children her highest priorities. In today’s world a righteous woman and mother in Zion will need both priesthood support and the enabling power of the Atonement. I thank and pay tribute to Susan for helping me to learn such invaluable lessons."

The whole talk is about the Atonement and the way we choose to use it in our daily lives.  It's a great talk for people to read this time of year when they think about the blessing of the Atonement this Easter Sunday.  If you have time, I highly reccommend it. You can read it here:
http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=251

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.

Scott's birthday

It's an interesting dilemma when you're married to an accountant who's birthday is right in the middle of tax season.  Even when Scott was little, his dad, who is also an account, couldn't be home till later at night to say happy birthday to him.  This is why we've never had a spring baby either, because Scott want's to be able to be home during his kids birthdays, and the three months of tax season would prevent that.
So it's hard coming up with stuff to do to make sure Scott has a decent birthday every year.  This year I started with making him a cake.
I am no baker.  I don't make beautiful and amazing cakes like my sister in law Kelsey, and she wasn't around to help me with a cake this year, so I had to figure out something on my own.
So I made started fairly simple.  Scott's favorite cake flavor is lemon, so I made him a nice round lemon cake with cream cheese frosting in the middle.  Then I just used basic lemon frosting on top.  Nothing exciting.  Since I don't know how to decorate cakes, I used candy instead.  It may not look like much, but it took more time than I want to admit, and I'm a little bit proud of it, even if it may look like poo to the more talented people of america who know what they're doing with cakes.

I realize it looks like an Easter cake, but I wanted the colors to match the yellow frosting.  Also those aren't cupcakes around the cake, they're chocolate cake batter cookies.  It may be selfish, but I had to add SOME chocolate.

It was funny when I posted this on instagram because people were surprised that Scott is younger than me.  Even funnier because people think of 2 years as a huge difference.  It's not.
The good news is that Scott actually loved the way the cake tasted.  The bad news is it had way too much candy...I think i got instant diabetes from the piece I ate.

Speaking of candy, I also put together a basket of goodies, including the biggest cookie I made together with a balloon to bring to his work to surprise him for his birthday. I also had an envelope in there with a birthday card that the the kids (except Jacob) signed, and a list of 31 reasons why Scott is awesome, which I wrote about in my last post.  Also two movie tickets to Stephanie Meyer's 'The Host.' As cheesy as the movie sounds, Scott and I read the book together, and we love going to see a movie after we've read the book even if the movie may turn out bad.  This is an activity we've always shared together, so yes, I included tickets to the movie in there.

All his favorite candies, along with his card.  

Here is his balloon attached to it.  

Scott was actually surprised to see me show up at his work, so it was nice being able to surprise him with his little basket.  He giggled at Seth's signature on the card (he can write his name, but we're working on handwriting and sizing of letters).  He also really liked the tickets because he was thinking of going out and buying some for us anyway.  There are few movies Scott will actually take the time to see with me in the theater, but this was one of them.  We sat and talked for a few minutes, and then I headed out with my mom to help her pick some new shirts for Scott that she wanted to buy for his birthday as well.  I didn't get any pictures of them, but he liked them too.  He is really picky about the kind of shirts he wears, they have to be certain brands, certain textures, and he likes all button down/collar shirts, so my mom was happy to have me help her pick them so that she would get something he would wear.

Scott's cousin, Johnny and his wife Dani, wanted to host a small get-together at their house that night to celebrate his birthday.  Scott eats really healthy during the week, and only cheats on weekends.  Since it was Friday and officially the weekend, AND it was his birthday, Scott chose to have breakfast for dinner, because it's been a long long while since he had an all american breakfast.  We ate waffles, sausage, eggs, bacon, hash browns and orange juice.  It was awesome, and the biggest fan of "breakfast for dinner" turned out to be Seth, who ate a ton and called it a "dynamite dinner".  Here are a couple of pictures.

Baby Austin, Jon and Dani's newest addition, who is all smiles

Jon, Dani, Scott and Kyle around the island getting food out to cook

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!!!!

Here is Johnny bonding with Jacob who was getting sleepy.  Jacob really took to his  "Uncle Johnny."

Blowing out the candles after singing 'Happy Birthday'

It was really great of Jon and Dani to have us over and it was fun to hang out with them and talk.  The kids did really well there, they went downstairs and watched Disney movies in the basement while the grown ups hung out, and Jakey was busy all night playing with Link's toy cars, he thought the cars were so cool he didn't make a peep, except to exclaim, "Car!" to anyone who would listen.  It was sort of a miricle that the kids were such angels, and we stayed out until one in the morning hanging out which was really nice.

The next day, I didn't take pictures of, but my parents took us out to dinner at Tucano's to celebrate Scott's birthday, and then they sang to him AGAIN at their house when we ate there for Sunday dinner.  So it was really cool to have sort of an entire weekend to celebrate Scott's birthday, even though he had to take work home with him and do it at home on the computer whenever he had down time.

It was a great weekend because we were able to spend time together as a family, and I daresay he had a good birthday in spite of the busy season.  I'm so glad.  I really wanted him to enjoy his birthday.  It's nice to be able to do things for him once in a while since he does so much for us.  Love that man.

31 reasons why Scott is Awesome

For Scott's birthday, the kids and I made a list of 31 reasons why Scott is Awesome.  One for each year of his existence.  Since I wanted to elaborate on said list, I'm doing it here.  That way those of you that know me through Scott can read about your buddy, and those of you who know Scott through me, can learn a little bit about him.  Hurray for the mushy crap!!!

31 REASONS WHY DADDY IS AWESOME

1. HE TAKES GOOD CARE OF JACOB AT CHURCH

I know I've mentioned this before, but Jacob is my most wiggly, agressive, and active child.  He is a handful, and not the easiest to look after.  Worth it, but not easy.  Church is when we have the hardest time.  Luckily for me, Scott takes over during church.  He holds him on his lap, walks him through the foyer and hallways, and takes him while I teach my class.  Last week he took him for the entire three hours and I got to enjoy relief society without being distracted every thirty seconds.  It was wonderful.  Jake and Scott get a long great and just when I'm burning out from watching the kids all day, Scott usually takes my most energetic one off my hands which makes a huge difference.

2. HE CAN DO COOL TRICKS WITH A YO-YO

Not a lot of people know this about him, and he doesn't do it often now that he's a grown man, but as a kid he taught himself all kinds of fun crowd pleasing yo-yo tricks and he can still do them today.  I love that he knows how to do something so random.

3.WE MISS HIM WHEN HE'S GONE

The kids came up with this one.  It's pretty self explanitory, and since it's tax season, this one was one of the first things they thought of.  It says a lot about a man when his presence is missed when he's not in the room. Some people are relieved when certain people aren't around.  That's not the case with Scott.  His wife misses him, and his kids miss him too.

4. HE GOES RUNNING EVERY MORNING

Running takes discipline   Any runner can tell you that.  I love running too, but for me personally, when I'm not pregnant, I run in the evenings, or whenever I find time during the day...but waking up early to do any exercise is immoral in my personal bible of "Lisa."  He is amazing to me for doing this.  He says he has no choice because it's the only time he has to run, but seriously, working 12-15 hour days, every day, it's easy to just consider yourself too busy and call it good. Not for Scott.  Ever since last year he has committed himself to a healthier lifestyle and is honoring that commitment  and it shows.  He looks great.

5. HE SUPPORTS HIS FAMILY
In this day and age, a man being the sole breadwinner is becoming more and more rare.  Not only that, but he's the sole breadwinner of  more than the average 2.5 kids that most Americans have.  He is a wonderful provider. Not just for financial support, but moral, spiritual, and physical support as well.  He's a great Husband and Father for our little family.

6. HE'S A SUPER DUPER PROBLEM SOLVER
Scott loves to solve problems.  Whether it's figuring out what's making the computer glitchy, or why the vacuum is making a weird sound, or how to organize things, or making plans, or fixing things around the house, Scott sees every problem as a challenge.  He will stay up at night thinking about whatever current problem  is on his mind until he figures out a way to solve it.  This comes in handy for me, because I have a tendency to get frustrated and give up with some challenges, but I can usually count on him to help me figure things out, and he likes it.

7. HE LOVES TO LAUGH
This is one of my favorite things about him because we have this in common.  We both know that we can always agree on a good comedy when we're trying to decide what kind of movie to watch together, I love that I can show him things on the web that I find funny, and he's got a wicked sense of humor.  He's made me spit out my drinks, snort, and laugh so hard I cry.  He makes the kids laugh so hard that it echoes through the house, and when we all laugh together we make the best memories.

8. HE IS A GOOD TEACHER
Again, the kids came up with this one.  They love it when Scott takes time to teach them something new, whether it's sports related, or schoolwork, or just facts of life, the kids are all ears when their daddy has something to teach them, and they don't forget the stuff he teaches once he teaches it.

9. HE KNOWS HOW TO FIX THINGS
You could probably say that this goes along with problem solving, but problem solving goes a lot more than just physical things to fix.  He fixes the computers both here and at work whenever they're acting funny.  (He speaks computer)  He's fixed the garage door, the vacuum, the treadmill, the ceiling fan, the clocks, the DVR, the rocking chair, the kids beds, the wiring in the house, the televisions, you name it.  He almost always finds a way to fix things.  When we were first married, he would fix people's X-box's for money through KSL whenever their X-box would break down.  He would also buy broken ones, fix them and then sell them for more money.

10. HE DRIVES US EVERYWHERE
The kids thought of this one, but it's a good one because he really is the chauffeur in our home.  I hate driving, but I do it when I absolutely have to.  I can't imagine having to always be the driver whenever our family goes anywhere.  Carpooling and taking the kids to their lessons is enough for me.  He also always fills up both cars with gas whenever he notices that we're running low.  Both things are appreciated.

11. HE HAS THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS WILLIAM SHATNER!!!
This just makes me happy.  Who doesn't love William Shatner?  It just proves that people born on March 22 are Shatastic!!!  Hahaha!

12. HE LOVES FOOTBALL
Okay, so this isn't my absolute favorite thing because I don't really care about football, but every man should have something they love and are passionate about. I am thankful for it in the sense that it keeps him emotionally healthy and gives them a good break from the everyday pressures of life. Not to mention he's talented at it.  He played on the varsity team way before he was a senior, and was also the captain of the team, and also had a brief stint on the Utah State University team during his freshman year in college. Scott credits football a lot for keeping him out of trouble growing up in high school. He was always so busy waking up early and staying after school for practices that he says he never had time to get into trouble.

13. HE LOVES VACATIONS
I will never have to pressure him to take a vacation with me.  Like me, he needs to get away every once in a while and I love that I have this in common with him.  Every year we make sure to take time to make memories together as a couple and as a family, and in my opinion, some of the best memories you can ever have in life are through vacations with people you love.  Some of the best memories of my childhood were family vacations, and I love that he's feels the same way, and wants to give our kids those memories, not to mention enjoying something out of the ordinary together.

14. HE HAS BIG, GREEN EYES
Interestingly enough, I always said my ideal man would have dark hair, olive skin, and green eyes.  I love green eyes, and I was always partial to them in my dating life.  Not only does he have those eyes, but they are huge. With the longest all natural eye lashes I've ever seen in my life.  I'm always tempted to put mascara on his eyes to see how long they would look because women all over the place pay good money to have eyelashes like his.  Seriously, it's like looking at an animated Disney character.

15. HE HAS A  DAUGHTER WHO LOOKS JUST LIKE HIM
Crystal came up with this one.  Haha!  She has a good point though.  At least someone in this family inherited those amazing huge eyes.  She's actually a lot like him genetically and I'm very thankful for this because she's responsible, a problem solver, and a good student at school.  All of which I believe she inherited from Scott.

16. HIS BROTHERS ARE HIS BEST FRIENDS
Most guys have their buddies, their chums, their bros that they spend their weekends with and hang out with to do guy stuff.  It's pretty awesome that he has 5 brothers that are relatively close in age the he does ALL these things with.  When anyone asks him who his best friend is besides his wife, he always says his brothers.  I love that he's so close to his family because being raised the way I was, I was taught that family is everything, that your forgive each other, that you learn to get along, that you help each other, and that you love each other, because in the end, you will always be connected to them, and after this life, you will still be connected to them.  I love that Scott has those same ideals when it comes to his family.

17. HE'S A GOOD HULA HOOPER
Honestly...we used to complete at hula-hooping on the Nintendo Wii and he kicked my trash every single time.  It's impressive really.

18. HE'S EXTREMELY SMART
Again, this can kind of relate to his problem solving skills, but really, he is able to figure things out efficiently and quickly, his mind is just, organized.  He seems to always see's clearly when it comes to figuring out dillemas and it's like he's a computer, programmed to immediately find faster, cheaper, easier, and more effective ways to do pretty much anything.  Whenever his friends and family can't figure out something on their computer, they call him.  (He BUILT his own computer as his Christmas present to himself one year).

19.HE LIKES MUSIC AND CONCERTS
I'm glad I married someone who likes music.  He may not like singing or dancing, but he will always enjoy a good tune on the radio, and he goes to concerts with me.  We've been to several music/rock concerts since we've been married. In fact, he just bought us tickets to another one in May.  I love that we can share those experiences together.

20. HIS FAMILY LOVES HIM VERY MUCH
Seth brought this one up, and he's right.  It's not a small thing.  Both his extended and immediate family care a lot about him.  His children adore him, and I don't know what I would do without him.  The few times I've wondered what life would be like without him send me into a panic.

21. HIS NAME MEANS, "PAINTED WARRIOR"
Go Scott Go!!!  Actually, according to this website, " People with this name have a deep inner desire for a stable, loving family or community  and a need to work with others and to be appreciated. They are excited by change, adventure, and excitement.  They are dynamic, visionary and versatile, able to make constructive use of freedom.  They fight being restricted by rules and conventions.  they tend to be optimistic, energetic, intelligent, and to make friends easily.  They may be changeable  restless, untidy and rebellious."
... This is all true except for the rebellious thing.  Scott isn't really rebellious at all, and he enjoys playing by the rules.  This is something we actually don't have in common.  I had a little rebellious streak growing up.  Scott brings stability to my life.

22. HE PLAYS WELL WITH HIS KIDS
Again, the kids came up with this one.  They all got baseball mitts for Christmas and they are always asking him to have a catch with him when he's home.  He loves to wrestle with the boys when he's home from work, and he's the one the kids go to when they need excitement.  Especially with my pregnancy, my energy runs out fast.  I don't run around with them like Scott does.  I'm the one who lays by the pool and lets Scott play all the games with them.  When we were on our trip in Mexico, people at the resort would always look and smile and Scott playing with the kids in the pool as they walked by, he would get just as involved in the games as they were, and people could tell he is a fantastic dad.  He loves to play with them.

23. HE USUALLY COOKS DINNER
I will always consider it a blessing that I married a man who loves to cook, who makes excellent tasty meals, and who is happy to cook the whole family dinner when he comes home from work.  For most of our marriage we have a system where he cooks, and I do the dishes.  I hate cooking, he hates dishes, so this works out for us great.  I miss this dynamic during tax season.  Cooking is not my thing.  I'm not like most Mormon housewives in this aspect.

24. HES' A THROUGH PLANNER/RESEARCHER
If it's a product he's looking into, a vacation he wants to go on, or anything he doesn't know too much about but wants to, he will spend HOURS researching about it.  It's because of this that we've had awesome vacations as a married couple.  He will know what thing we're doing on which day, where to eat, where to buy the best souvenirs  and what to do.  He loves planning stuff like that.  Since we run most of our errands on weekends together, he usually has a game plan of how to handle our errands in which order every weekend.  He also knows which products get the best customer reviews and why when we want to buy anything.

25. HE ALMOST ALWAYS TIPS THE WAITER/WAITRESS AT RESTURANT, AND HE'S GENEROUS
I LOVE this about him.  When I was single, I spent two years working as a waitress.  I know how hard the work is, I would go home sore with my feet aching and smelling like food after a long shift.  I know how hard it is to handle multiple tables and carry multiple drinks without dropping them, and having a good memory to remember who needed refills on what drinks, and to be sympathetic to picky eaters.  It's hard work, and tips mean the world to you when you do that kind of job.  When I was single and would date guys, I always paid attention to whether or not they tipped and how much, because it told me whether or not they were selfish or generous, picky or easy going,  anal or understanding  cheap or willing to spend money, stingy or kind, absent minded or thoughtful.



26. HE'S AN EFFECTIVE AND GREAT FINANCIAL PLANNER
It's nice being married to an accountant.  He knows how to handle our money, what we can and can't afford to spend, and he's great at helping us stick to our budget.  He makes things work out so that we can afford vacations and still pay the bills.  It's because of his planning that we were able to afford our home, our lifestyle, and four children.

27. HE IS HONEST
I love this about him.  There have been times when going to the grocery store that someone has accidentally left something in their shopping cart after purchasing it, and even though it was something I knew he liked, he turned it back in to the customer service desk.  There were times when we were buying our own stuff at the cashiers desk when Scott mentions to the cashier that they forgot to charge us for something or that it didn't scan on the receipt and ask that we pay for it.  He does things like this all the time, because according to him, loosing his soul isn't worth a few stupid dollars.

28. HE GIVES WONDERFUL GIFTS
Scott is really thoughtful.  He has often surprised me over the years with things I've wanted but haven't tried to get for myself or attempted to ask for.  Sometimes the surprise is a short getaway for the day, or concert tickets, or a surprise stop at my favorite restaurant  or actual gifts from shoes, hair products, and trips to the spa.  He loves surprising me, and he always does it when I don't expect it.

29. HE GIVES PERFECT HUGS.
His hugs are the BEST.  Even when we were just friends I remember slow dancing with him at a dance and noticing how nice his broad shoulders were.  He has nice shoulders to put arms around.  Also, he smells good, and he feels good.  Always a good thing.  There have been times when I reeeally needed a hug, even though I didn't know it, and he has provided me with a perfect hug at just the right moment from time to time.

30. HE IS LOYAL
I've never had to worry about Scott looking at other girls.  He has the kind of mind frame/dicipline that he won't allow those thoughts to even enter his mind.  If a pretty girl walks by, he looks away.  I've never seen anything like it.  My whole singe life, I had accepted that guys were guys, and that even though they love one girl, they still notice other ones out of habit.  Scott never seems to.  I'm sure some of you won't believe me on this one, but it's 100% true.  I had no idea that guys like that existed until I met Scott.

31. HE IS A TALENTED WHISTLER
Not the most incredible thing to end on, but it's true.  Scott has a good, loud strong whistle, and it's got a specific tone to it that we as his family all depend on.  We have a system that whenever I loose him at the store, he knows to do the whistle because I recognize it's his and know he's trying to find me.  It also works on our kids.  His whistle is loud enough that he can hail any taxi anywhere we are.  He also whistles radio tunes, which gets songs stuck in our heads all the time, but it's nice to hear his cheerful whistle in the house during the day when he's home, because he also whistles when he's happy.


So those are 31 things me and the kids love about him.  In a couple of days I'll finally have time to post his birthday stuff up on here, but we had a great weekend with family and each other.  It was nice to have him home for his birthday.

Lifey as a wifey...and mom...and fat pregnant lady.

So not a whole lot of people knew I was pregnant aside from family.  I announced it on my blog around 4 and a half months, and then I announced it on Facebook at 5 months.  (Mostly because, even though I enjoy facebook, it's more of an amusing playtool for me, than an actual way to express my life.  I leave the life stuff to the blog.  I figure the people who really care go to the blog, and the people who are bored, go to facebook.)
It always seems like as soon as everyone else knows I'm pregnant, time starts to get much much slower.  Mostly because I just want to fast forward until I can hold this little guy and figure out a routine. Also it feels like now that people know, I get a lot of questions about how it's going, and really nothing new is happening except that I'm getting fatter and the usual aches and pains and gripes that aren't really interesting news to anyone, especially me. I wish I had something cool to tell people like, "Oh yes the baby grew three inches in my belly today and then danced the polka,"  but honestly, I have no clue.  He moves every day, his hearing must be intact because whenever it's loud or I raise my voice he moves. My biggest weapons against what I call the "pre-baby blues" is exercise, eating fresh food, and lots of sleep.  I read an article that mentioned that 70% of women experience symptoms of postpartum depression before the baby is born.  Which is understandable, but I refuse to let it happen to me.  I had weird symptoms when I was pregnant with all my babies.  With Crystal I got extremely paranoid.  I had nightmares, I worried all day, I couldn't stop cleaning..I got up at 3 in the morning just to clean sometimes, it was psycho.  Scott forbid me from watching the news back then because I would have nightmares every night about all the bad stories in the news. I had some kind of anxiety for sure.  With Seth I got sad, a lot.  I knew it was hormones, but I got sad a lot and so it made the pregnancy harder. I felt hopeless way too often, and it made me irritable and emotional.   With Jake, it was stress.  Turned out working 20 hours a week on my feet, moving houses, chasing two kids around the house, hosting thanksgiving and Christmas at my house were all stressful. It took me months to feel less stress and for my hormones to figure things out.  So this time around I'm doing my best to have a good pregnancy.  I'm trying not to eat too much junk food, (I admit I cheat though). I'm making time to exercise, which improves my mood more than you can possibly imagine, I'm getting fresh air every day and making sure I get enough sleep.  I don't try to clean/disinfect the entire house all day, I let SOME rooms stay messy so I can play with my kids, and I take time for myself every day, even if I have to be strategic on how I find that time.  I'm learning to say no to situations that are or will be too hard, but keeping myself busy at the same time.   I'm also mapping out a plan for when after the baby is born, so that I'm not overwhelmed, or stressed, or taking on more than I can handle.  It may take some sacrificing  and missing out on fun activities and/or vacations, but it will make me a better Mom, wife, and person, so I'm willing to do that.  I'm figuring out that just because I CAN do things, doesn't necessarily mean I SHOULD when it comes to my overall well being.
It doesn't help much that it's tax season, and so I see Scott for only a couple of hours a day until we go to bed. I miss him.  This time of year is frustrating because I miss not having him around, and when he hugs me goodbye in the morning I tell him I miss him and he will say something like, "one more month left." Then at the end of tax season, I get used to not having him around and then we have to adjust to being around each other all over again.  In the meantime I do my prenatal exercises, I make sure and clean at least the most important rooms in the house if nothing else.  Different rooms get rotated depending priority. I help the kids with their homework, (It's amazing how much homework a seven year old can have...that and Seth has speech therapy, and I home-preschool him), I change diapers, give baths, read my scriptures, play on the internet, and pick up a book and read.  Sounds boring, but I've learned that when I'm pregnant, routine helps.  I make a list of 10 things I need to accomplish every day and it motivates me, because something about crossing things off of a list turns me on.  Depending on the kind of day I'm having, the list can get very very basic, but at least I can say I accomplished 10 things every day.  I'm finding the balance between staying active and motivated and biting off more than I can chew.  So there is my life lately.  Not very romantic or exciting, but necessary, and life is about doing what's necessary so that you can enjoy it more when the good times come.

Some fun stuff is that Crystal is taking dance classes!  Her class covers the basics of classical ballet with a hint of the barre. They also touch on modern dance. She absolutely loves it, and she's so cute in her little dance outfit!  She will already have her first recital in May, and I'm just as excited as she is!

Amazingly, there is a girl who is actually shorter than she is!  Haha!  I had to take this picture through the glass window because they only let students in the actual dance room, but you can sit on benches directly outside of the room that have glass windows so you can see what they're doing in there.

I'm glad Crystal is involved in something she can enjoy.  She hates sports, and had no interest in gymnastics, but she did say she would try dance, and I'm happy to say she really likes it so far.  She also wants to take piano and singing, which I'm trying to find a good teacher for in the area that doesn't charge an arm and a leg.

Seth is back playing Sports.  Right now, he's signed up for 'Itty Bitty Ball', which is basically a class that covers some basic skills in baseball, volleyball, football, soccer, and basketball.  It's from the same people he took football from back in October, and he actually winded up with the same coach, who requested him when she saw his name because she loves him.  Which of course makes me happy.  I love it when I'm not the only one who adores my kids.

Most of the pictures are pretty similar to the football video I posted back in October, but here he is on baseball day:

They hung balls from ropes on the ceilings and had the kids practice hitting them in the air

Here he is after he just hit the ball in the T-ball area

So far he really likes it.  I didn't get any pictures of Volleyball because Jacob was being really clingy that day and wouldn't let me take any pictures, but the kids had one of those huge beach balls that they would hit over the net at each other to practice hitting over the net.  He loved it.  The only thing he really hates is soccer.  He can't stand it.  He keeps trying to pick up the ball and run it like a football, and the idea of not being able to grab the ball is ridiculous to him.  He told me that "soccer is the worst sport ever, and it's stupid" after his first day at soccer.  I just laughed and told him that his daddy would probably agree so it's okay.

Jake is growing up so fast, and is so so smart.  He walks around the house like a champ these days, and his three favorite words to say to people are, "No", "Food," and "Car."  He is bossy and demanding, so naturally the word "No" is one of his favorites, and he shakes his finger at you.  He is also an eater.  He loves to eat and is always asking for "Bwoo" which is food.  Also, he really really loves cars.  He points at them whenever we're out of the house, he is obsessed with toy cars, and he makes me put on Disney's Cars movie for him every single day by pointing to the TV and demanding to watch "Caw" .  He also makes the "vroom" sound when he plays with cars.  He loves to play with his older siblings.  He absolutely worships Crystal, he treats her like another mom.  She is so great with him too, she helps me with him all day, and cuddles him, holds him on her lap, and helps him.  He see's Seth as more of an equal.  He loves playing with Seth, but hates it when Seth tells him what to do, or takes things away from him.  He treats Crystal as more of an adult, but not so much Seth.  Sometimes Crystal and Seth get all worked up and start playing hyper, and even though Jakey has no clue about what the game is about, he's content to chase after them and giggle and laugh along with them.  It's great.  His two favorite things in the world are his binkie and his blanket.  Crystal was also (and is still) attached to her blankie, so Jacob having a favorite blanket is nothing new to me, but I've never had a kid who has been attached to the pacifier before.  I'm just going to pretend I won't have to wean him off it at some point for right now because it makes a fabulous "mute button".


All three of the kids miss their dad this time of year.  Crystal told me yesterday that she hates tax season "because daddy is always gone" it made me kind of sad.  Seth doesn't make comments, but on days when Scott is here he is happier and keeps telling his dad how much he loves him.  Jake misses Scott like crazy.  Out of all three of my kids, Jake seems to have bonded with his daddy the earliest.  The other two, though they loved their daddy, as infants they still clung to me because I was the mom, and only mommy could fix every thing.  Not for Jacob.  He is crazy about his dad and when Scott comes through the door he tackles his legs and demands to play.  Interestingly enough, Jake is also much better behaved with Scott than with me, which is why I make Scott hold him during church, because he whines a lot less when Scott is holding him.  Maybe I should feel jealous, but it's actually nice to have Scott take him from me some days, and I like seeing the bond between the two of them.  Plus Jake and I have a good relationship, he's just a big time daddy's boy.

Anyway, that's how we're doing for those wondering.  We keep busy around here...I sit and wait for both of my kids with Jake when they go to their lessons, which can be a lot of work loading the kids in and out of the car now that my belly is nice and big, but it's not so bad, and I get out of the house.  The double stroller has been a life saver in that aspect.  Life is busy and crazy here at home, but I actually really really like my life in spite of the chaos.  My kids make me laugh every day.  I miss Scott, but three months out of the year is a small price to pay because on the off season he only works 4 days a week and spends a lot more time with us.  This pregnancy has been surprisingly manageable.  Maybe because I just had one so I know what to expect, maybe because I expected it to be much harder since I already have three kids, maybe because the warm weather is creeping back and the warm weather makes me happier, I'm not sure, but I'm counting my blessings.