Natalie's Baby Shower

We had a great shower for Natalie this week. It has been a long time coming. I have been doing a lot to have it be the best shower ever. Cindy hosted it, Mom did the food, and I decorated and did the games.
It turned out great. Her mom was able to be there and then we just had our family there. It was very intimate and fun. The food was great. My mom of course made the cutest treats.
We got this idea from a blog that had done it in blue for a boy. We of course had to have a rubber duckie punch that was pink!

Cupcake rattles with lollipop sicks and gumdrops.

Marshmallow booties with paper cups of mints.

Toast bibs with cheese, meat and garnishes.

I love decorating for parties. I went over early that morning so that it would be ready for that evening. It was fun to set up and see where things would look good. I even brought my laptop and had a slide show of the pictures I had taken of Presley's nursery so that everyone could see what a great job she had done making it all.




I made cute pink clothes pins for the "cute" game. And I had great prizes for each winner. It was a great motivator.
I made these cute little game folders for each person with the game card in them.
We played:
Clothes Pin "cute" Game
Guess her Belly with Yarn
How many Kisses in the Jar
The Tray Game
Baby ABC's
Baby Word Scramble
Nursery Rhyme Time
We all had a great time playing the games. Even little Lucy got very into them! :)


We also filled out "Words of Wisdom" for her and gathered them for her to keep. It was fun to be able to each tell her at least one thing we had learned and would want to pass on.

She was well cared for a got lots of great things for Presley. It was fun to look at all the cute girly things.

I made Natalie a diaper cake, a "baby sleeping" sign, and a hooded towel. It was the first time I had made a diaper cake and the sign, but I think they turned out SOOO good. The towels are something I have done for a while now. I have them for my kids and they are the best.

Haven

I started teaching my first piano student in February. She is the daughter of my good friend Naomi. It was been a lot of fun and my mom has been helping me and guiding me through how to do it. She is an AMAZING pianist and have been playing and teaching for years, so I am getting great guidance.
Well, this last week was teacher appreciation week and sweet Haven and her brothers brought me my most favoritest, yummiest, most scrumdiddlieumious candy apples from my favorite place, The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. So kind!

Haven has been doing so well and I have loved teaching her and all the things I am learning as I am doing it.
Many people have asked me how I am able to teach piano with three kids running around. Well, I think this picture explains it all.... :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was exactly that. It was a great day where I got to practice how to be a good mother. Seth was sick and the boys had a hard day at church so it was home early with a lot of loved ones to care for.
I had a choice. I could either play the, "woe is me" card or suck it up and be grateful that I have the family I have always wanted and I am able to take care of them...besides they are always so cute when they're tired and sick.
Talking with my sister-in-law, Amy, I learned a valuable lesson that I hope I will remember for the rest of my life. She has a friend who got married later in life to a man with 2 teenage kids. They were married a few years and had a child with the second on the way when he was killed in a car accident. This woman now has a child, had to have one alone, and is raising the 2 teenage children she "inherited". She is upbeat and loving life. While talking to Amy she said, "You know. I got what I wanted. The husband, the family....it just didn't last as long as I had thought it would."
What an amazing perspective. I hope to live that truth. I have the husband I have always dreamed of, the family I have always wanted, and the house where we are all happy and safe. I do have everything I have ever wanted.
So to this credit I had an amazing Mother's day. It even ended great when the boys and Seth came up with a cute card and coupons they had made me with money in it (granted, the money was from my wallet :), but the thought was sweet!). :)
These are the things that really matter. When Sam and James each said to me, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you." What can top that?! :)

BIKES!!!!

When we were at my parent's house on Easter we looked outside to see Sam cruising on his cousin's bike. We couldn't believe it. He was whipping around turns, speeding down the driveway, and jumping it off the patio.
We still had Sam riding a tricycle and we looked at each other and realized that we needed to graduate him to a big kid's bike. Joy told us she had a bike for us so on the way home we stopped by and snagged it. The bike needed some work and we found that it was a little small for Sam, but just right for James, who of course has to do everything Sam does.
So off to the store for us this weekend to get Sam a bike, and helmets and bells too or course! :) We had to get one because he had been begging us daily to ride "his bike."
So here's the result.







We started our adventures yesterday and Sam looked like he was born to ride. James had a little harder time. He is pretty young to be "peddling", but sometimes it is hard for him (and us) to remember that...but by today James of course is getting it down. He is determined to not be a step behind.
We spend a good long while outside today riding in the alley. The boys loved having Couch Miller (Jeremy) and the assistant couch (self named), Seth, out helping and cheering them on.

Royal Wedding

My friend Somer invited me and Aymee over for a Royal Wedding party. It was so fun. We got up in the wee hours of the morning to watch it live and get into the action. We had a great breakfast on fine china and drank our of tea cups. We of course had to get to all jazzed up with decor, tiaras, and gaudy jewelry.
It was so fun to watch the wedding. I got so into it. Even after I came home to feed Chloe and catch a few more winks, I had to watch the rest. Will and Kate are a cute couple and it was fun to share in their moment with a good friends. It was something so quirky and fun to do that I will probably never do again! :)

A visit to Natalie

We decided that we wanted to go see Natalie. She has been coming down to our our for the past few weeks/months to work on her baby's room and we decided it was about time that we went to her, especially since she is just about done with all the cuteness.
When I told Sam and James where we were going they were so excited. I told them that she had 2 puppies and that made the days adventures even greater.
Mom went with us and we pack a lunch up and headed out. It was a long drive, especially when you head out late, have to stop for potty breaks, and not knowing exactly where you are going....but once we got there it was so fun.
We saw her and Matt's cute house and checked out the baby room. While we had lunch the boys and Chloe played around and terrorized the poor dogs. Sam especially liked their large kitchen floor where he as able to sport some of his break dance moves.
It was a short and sweet trip. We had a lot of fun being up there and hope that she and Matt will move closer soon!
(I have to note that SAM took this picture of us. Pretty good job, huh?!) :)

Chloe+Grandma=Spoiled

With my mom being around so much lately, helping me out so that I can stay down and recover, Chloe has made a new best friend!
When ever her Grandma T walks by or comes into sight she starts to kick her legs around, wave her arms, and her whole face lights up as she giggles and squeals. Her favorite thing to do when I was down was to stand on my tummy and look over the couch at her grandma and wait until she acknowledged her. I love seeing the relationship they are making.

Back on my Back

Sadly, my back "went out" Monday, April 11. I was simply putting laundry away when I suddenly had a huge pain and had to drop to the floor. I tried to tell myself that this wasn't happening again, so I tried to calm myself down and get up. Nope. There was NO way.
I called to Sam who brought me my phone. I called my great friend and neighbor, Julie, who came and saved the day. She came right over and got Chloe out of her crib, changed diapers, dressed kids, fed them, and then helped me down stairs and stayed with me until Seth could get home. I was so grateful for her and how blessed I am to have great people around me.
Needless to say, it was a LONG week! Seth's mom and my mom were here throughout the week to help and they did so much. Laundry was magically cleaned and put away, food was cooked, the ironing got done....
My mom drove the kids and I down to her house on Thursday so that we could give Seth a brake and be down there for when I got into the doctor's. Seth was amazing. He had to be dad and mom 24/7. He would have to get up with the kids and night, bring me Chloe, take her back when she was done eating...
I spent Thursday and Friday at my parent's and got the doctor's on Friday. Turns out, after a clinical exam, that I torn a disc in my low back. They think that it's and annular tear, the most minimal of 4 different types of tears. I went to my chiropractor 3 times for adjustments, massage therapy, and decompression treatments. After 2 weeks I felt much better and was able to move around again.
Getting mobile again was tough. It is hard for me to make wise decisions of what I can and should do so that I give myself time to heal and re cooperate.
I am so grateful that I have so many great people around me who are so willing to help. It is hard for me to accept it all, but I am learning....slowly. :)
After all this we did have a funny little experience. Sam came limping up to me one night and said, "my back hurts, I can't move". We just had to laugh! :)

Easter

We had a great Easter Sunday. It kind of crept up on us since I was out of it for 2 weeks, so we were really glad that all we had to do was leave it up to the Easter Bunny, Get ourselves to church, and show up at my parents for a great Easter dinner.
The boys remembered last Easter so it was fun to see them go to bed excited and wake up bursting to see what they Easter Bunny had brought them in their baskets.
They scored big with the tradition movies and books. There were also some fun goodies in there like bubbles, flashlights, trains, pez, growing capsules, tops...and treats. The Easter Bunny always leaves us donuts with our eggs so we can have a quick, yummy breakfast.
Chloe got a graham cracker, since the Easter Bunny knows she can't have donuts yet. She also got her first "Pretty Pony"-her dad's favorite! :)




We had an interesting day at church. We sat out in the foyer on the couch so that I could make it sitting through the meeting, so catching the spirit of the beautiful music was a bit tricky.
Class time was a joke! James cried and cried. It didn't help that his nursery is SOOO crowded and the kids are crying. So I had stay with him. Then I had to go check on Sam because he was laying on the floor in primary. Then back to James, then back to Sam who was yelling, "No!", then James.....then I finally called it quits. With 2 cranky boys, a tired baby, and an aching back I was DONE! :)
We relaxed the rest of the day and then headed down to my parents for a great Easter egg hunt and dinner.
The food was amazing and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and hunting for eggs.

Jeckle and Hyde

That is what Utah is! :) We had such a great day yesterday. We went on a walk and to the park. No sweatshirts, no socks. It was so nice outside.






And this morning this!

That's okay, I've learned to get used to it. So we made the most of it! :)

Tori

We have little Tori staying with us while the rest of her family is on a Disney Cruise. She has been lot of fun and the boys are loving haveing a "friend" with them 24/7.
We are doing a lot of fun things and trying to make this a fun "vacation" for her too.