Kids

Do you ever hear your kids talking and think "where do they get that from... oh yeah, ME".

I always have to laugh when I hear it.

Me: Slade, why did you ________?

Slade: Because.

Me: Because is not a reason, I want to know why.

Slade: Madie why did you break my lego truck?

Madie: Because.

Slade: Because is not a reason, why did you break my lego truck?

...

Madie to Ben: No more juice Daddy, it will make your bum hurt.

 ...

And then there are those comments that you have to turn your head because they are in trouble and you are trying not to let them know how funny they are being.

The girls and I came home from Idaho Falls. Madie walked right into the kitchen with her muddy boots on. I asked her to take them off. She screamed "NO" at me. I grabbed the water bottle and squirted her in the face (my new attempt at curbing her sassiness). She put her hands on her hips and screamed back "My Grandma is going to spank your bum!"

I happened to be on the phone with my mom when she said this, I had to walk away to wipe the tears and inform my mom that apparently she owed her 32 year old (shudder) daughter a spanking.  Madie continued to yell this at me a couple more times. Little Turd!

Man these kids sure are entertaining!

All Things Christmas

I am only a month late posting anything about Christmas... I know I am a slacker. In my defense our Internet wasn't working at home and typing a blog post on my phone just did not seem appealing to me.

While Ben was gone working and Slade was with his mom the girls and I made Christmas cookies. We were able to send some to Ben in North Dakota to help him get in the Christmas spirit as well.



Madie thinks that helping me in the kitchen is the best thing ever. The minute that I get my apron out she has to have hers on as well. Of course aside from her apron she is only in her usual at home attire...

t-shirt and underwear/pull-up.

And what did Abbi do to help out?

Well she hung out in her highchair and eventually fell asleep. She is such a good baby!

Christmas Eve

My parents neighbor in Wisconsin sent our kiddos Reindeer food from Santa.

For about two weeks before Christmas Madie constantly asked me if it was time to put the reindeer food out yet.

The kids were careful to spread it as evenly as they could all over our front and back lawn.

It was so fun!

I definately think this will become one of our traditions even if Santa doesn't mail it to the kids.

Ben was able to come home for Christmas. He was home for almost 3 weeks. So awesome!

A little bit of Christmas around our home.

I hadn't planned to put everything up this year. I just wasn't feeling it. While I was putting the tree up Madie kept saying "Oh Mommy, you made Christmas". That totally changed everything for me... she was so excited, how could I not put it all out?

Our tree Christmas morning... can you say SPOILED.

Look at those smiles.

 

Madie with her Ruppunzel barbie.

Slade and his Beyblades.

Well this pretty much summed up Abbi's  reaction to all the chaos.

Aside from the kids Ben totally spoiled me this ye

ar. He got me a one hour massage, one hour facial, and a one hour  facial at Sage day spa... LOVE HIM! He also got me new pots and pans that I totally love!

The kids and I made Ben a blanket with a bunch of pictures of us on it so that he could have us with him while he is away at work.

What a great Christmas!

Gratitude

My sweet little Abbi is 12 weeks old this week. She is growing so fast. I really wish that I could pause time, she is so much fun and such a good baby. But that is for a different post. What I want to talk about is how her turning 12 weeks old this week made me realize is that if I were still working I would be back to work this week.

When Madie was born I took my allowed 12 weeks off and went back to work. I am pretty sure that it was the worst day of my life. It was the day after Christmas and I left my beautiful little princess that I had waited almost 29 years for to go back to work. Luckily Ben had that day off so he was at home with her but it was still so hard. I don't think that I got through a single conversation that day without crying. I was lucky enough to find a babysitter for her that was close to my work so I could go and see/feed her on my lunch hour but I still hated leaving her everyday. Two months after going back to work Ben lost his job due to the economy. It was almost a year before we were able to find him steady work again. That was a really long hard year but we made it. And through that year we understood why I had to go back to work even though I hated it.

So when we found out that we were expecting Abbi we decided that we had to get me home. It was something that we had been working towards for a while but knowing she was on her way really pushed us along. It also helped that some simple math told us that my entire paycheck would go right to daycare. So we took the leap and I quit my job.

It has been a bumpy road since then. Slade and Madie were so excited to get to stay home at first but that soon wore off when they realized that they didn't get to play with their friends all day anymore. The fact that I was sick a lot didn't help matters either. But I think that we have finally gotten ourselves into a routine and we are all functioning much better.

I am so grateful that I get to be home with my babies. I am so grateful that I did not have to experience that dreadful day of leaving my baby again this week. I can't stop thinking about how lucky I am and how far we have come as a family. I am so grateful for my husband. He claims that I worked just as hard to get me home but he is truly amazing. He worked whatever jobs were available, he made so many sacrifices so that we could have me at home.

He works so hard!

He is still making sacrifices for us. Ben working in the oil fields in North Dakota is hard. It is hard on all of us. I get terribly lonely when he is gone. Slade is really struggling with his behavior. Madie has taken to biting her nails (fingers and toes) and has resorted back to wanting me to spoon feed her again. And little Abbi doesn't know any different.

Ben has it the hardest though. While we are lonely for him, the four of us at least have each other. Ben is all by himself in his loneliness. By the time he comes home he can barely handle it. He comes home and he can't stop hugging us. He is so grateful for everything at home. A home cooked meal, his own warm bed, being able to sit on his couch and watch his own TV but most of all he is grateful to just be home with us.

It breaks my heart that he hurts for us so much while he is gone. But I am so grateful that he is willing to do the really hard part to take care of us. I am grateful that it is important to him that I am home with our kiddos. I am grateful that he goes through so many painful days so that I don't have to go through the pain of leaving my babies.

I feel incredibly selfish but incredibly lucky that he would be willing to make that sacrifice for me and our kids. He is a great man. I am so lucky to have him and I hope that he knows how much I love him and am grateful for all that he does for our family.  

Daddy you are the BEST!

We love you!

The Santas on the Bus?

Madie Loves to Sing.

I mean she can turn anything into a song and if she can add motions she is even happier.

She gets it from her Dad... don't believe me? Go for a ride in the car with him... he has some moves.

Her all time favorite song is

The Wheels on the Bus

She did pick up a few Christmas songs to add to her repertoire but she always goes back to her favorite. One afternoon I overheard her playing and singing in her room. This is what my little lyrical genius had come up...

"The Santa's on the bus go Ho ho ho, Ho ho ho, Ho ho ho. The Santa's on the bus go Ho ho ho all through the town."

She hasn't come up with a movement for it yet but I am excited to see what she comes up with.

Abbi's Blessing / Two months

On November 27 we blessed our sweet Abbigail.

She is such a good baby and didn't make a peep all through the blessing.

Every time Ben blesses a baby he is always worried that they will scream all through the blessing so he was very grateful that she didn't.

Standing in the circle with her Dad was her Uncle Mark, Oliver Clare (cousin), Grandpa Garry, Jeff Olsen (friend), Alex Weatherall (home teacher), Jeff Hoopes (home teacher), Bishop Harper and Brother Byrum.

I sure am lucky to have such a beautiful family!

I LOVE them!

All of our kids have middle names from a special family member.

Slade Benjamin after Ben and Madelyn Louise after my Grandma.

Abbi was named after Ben's sister Julie. She is such a great lady and an amazing example.

Julie is so excited to have a little namesake and we couldn't be more honored to have her in our lives to name our sweet baby after. 

Abbi and Julie

I am a little behind on a two month post.

Abbi is 10 weeks old today, but here are here stats from her 2 month checkup.

Weight: 11 lbs 14.5 oz

Length: 22 1/2 inches

Head: 40

Abbi is such a good baby. she is so tolerant. I feel like I am always telling her just a minute while I am getting someone a drink or wiping a bum. She will fuss a little and then just sit patiently until I am able to get her what she needs.

You can also tell by her weight she is a good little eater. She has some gas issues though. Poor baby! She will arch her back and cry out in pain and then just lay there totally stiff and her little tummy is so hard. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat (except dairy makes her REALLY cranky and chocolate makes her break out - Madie had the same issue... No ice cream or chocolate for me while nursing) and the only thing that seems to help at all is Gripe Water. That stuff has totally saved us! The doctor said that she probably has a little bit of colic and to just try to keep my diet bland.

She is smiling a ton now but I have yet to be able to get a picture of it.

She still has almost all of the dark hair that she was born with and she still has beautiful blue eyes.

We can't figure out who she looks like however I have been told that she looks like me, either way she is amazing and we sure love her and are grateful that she is part of our family. She is growing so fast!

You're it!

Madie has come up with a new game.

No it is not running around half dressed. Although her at home attire is a pair of undies and a shirt

(I pick my battles).

Her new game is this:

She brings me the camera, tells me to take her picture and then I have to try to take the picture before she runs off.

It is great fun.

The Man of the House

Before Ben leaves for work he always reminds Slade that while Dad is gone he is the Man of the House and that he has to take care of the girls. Slade loves it. He reminds us that he is the Man of the House repeatedly the entire time that Dad is gone.

Ben also tells him to keep an eye on Mom because she is trouble. Whenever Slade talks to Ben he reports back that Mom has stayed out of trouble and that he is keeping his eyes on her. Then he asks if Levi (Ben's friend and boss) is staying out of trouble in North Dakota and if Dad is keeping his eyes on him.

He loves having a job to do while Dad is gone. Toward the end of the two weeks Ben will always tell Slade that he can think of something that he wants to do - Just him and Dad - and they will do it when Dad gets home. He tells Slade it is his reward for keeping the girls in line, because Dad knows how big of a job that is. So far Slade has choose to go shooting both times.

This Man of the House sure does a great job watching out for us and us girls are so happy we have him.

We love you dude!