Moments

Working with lots of kiddos at my house make those special moments few and far between. Some days I really want to just be done working so I have quiet time with just my kids during the day. I crave that special one on one with my two kids. I find myself coveting you stay at home moms position. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that I can work from home and don't have to put my kids in daycare, but I'm not a stay at home mom. I work 10 hour days 5 days a week. Most days I'm so tired of it all by the time its just me and my kids that I don't take that time to sit and chill with them. I usually slop some dinner on the table, bathe them, put them to bed and then take a long bath myself to rejuvenate myself after a long day.
Yesterday though, Kyler had had it. No nap Sunday, no nap before the Jazz game we went to on Monday, staying up late, no nap Tuesday cause of preschool, and noisy house, he lost it. I sent him to his room cause he was screaming so out of control. I could tell that hurt his feelings.....in fact he told me I hurt his feelings that i just sent him to his room. I wanted to cry for him, I wanted to cry for me. I couldn't do it all. I couldn't take the time he needed to feel loved right at that moment, and get snack for 7 other kids. I couldn't keep two toddlers from tearing each other apart in frustration right at that moment, I couldn't keep 2 after school kids from running around the house like they had been cooped up in a classroom all day. I might have kinda lost it myself. Ok, I will admit, due to pregnancy hormones i might have dropped a tear or so right at that moment. I was sad for him and frustrated with the day.
So, I turned on Elmo for Brooklyn(recently she has a crush on Elmo and he can occupy her for a good 20 minutes!), got a snack for daycare, and set out some playdough for them to do when they were done. I went in Kylers room and found him sobbing on his floor. I started rubbing his back, he asked for songs and crawled up into my lap. I sang all his favorites. All nice calm songs. He didnt budge an inch. He was so content. I hoped he knew i felt bad, That I really did love him and he was important. He was out cold in about 5 minutes. We just sat there for a while. I might have started crying cause I had a mini pity party that I wished things were different for us. But, overall it was one of those moments I love and wish could happen more often. Ignoring the noise in the other room, ignoring life for just a moment. It was perfection.
I love my kiddos more than my life itself. So grateful I was sent such special little humans to teach and love.
Here is the pic I took of our moment. Just cause I had a phone with me and I wanted to remember my moment with my boy.

If You Get to Tend 3 Cousins

for 5 days, you might have a BLAST!!!!
We got to take 3 of my nieces and nephews this past week. It was so much fun. I have such fond memories of going to my Aunts houses while my mom and dad went on trips. They all made it so much fun for us while we were there. So i guess thats why i feel the same way about what i need to do when they come here. Is it weird that i am grown up enough to be tending my nieces and nephews while their parents go places? I swear i am only 18, I swear! :)

Anyway, They came and we did and did and did. We did so much that I sent the 3 of them home exhausted and my own son was so far beyond exhausted that we are still recouping. He is still asking for longer naps, when before he insisted he just needed short rests on the couch. :)

My favorite part of it all was getting to know them each so much better.
Madie is incredible, brilliant, beautiful and so caring. She reminds me a lot of her mother. Did i mention how smart she is! I was not that smart at 8!! I loved having her around to help me with the kids and to chat with. I could talk to that little girl all day. Its like talking to an adult. I mean that literally. I love my Madie Joy.
Craigy--Oh Craigy. You remind me of what your daddy would have been like at your age. Busy boy with an agenda that doesn't like being interpreted  Lover, quiet spoken....unless you make him mad and then he can defiantly let you know he is not happy with you. Just like his daddy! :) He also, so smart. He was reading books the whole time and i was fascinated with his skill and his desire to read. I never liked reading as a kid. I loved my mom to read to me, but this kid, he was reading to Kyler, Brookie, Finners and himslef the whole weekend.
Finners--Oh little man. I loved this kid to death. I had the chance to take him close to exactly the same time of year 2 years ago. I loved him then, but now, he is just a joy. He is such a talker with the cutest little voice ever! I loved watching him play with the play dough and pretend play with all the older kids. He loved Brandon, which is no surprise  he just loves to be around men. He is so smiley and friendly and well I couldn't get enough of him. He loved playing with the trucks that made lots of noise and the red tractor. They were out on the couch the entire weekend. I would put them away, and 2 minutes later they were back out and he was playing with them again  What a boy! At one point i also caught him "reading" a book to himself. These kids mommy is defiantly doing something right. They are good kids and smart kids from a young age.

Our fun included, but was not limited to (sorry I didnt get pictures of it all, that would have been fun if i would have, but i kinda lost my camera half way through the week!)
**Making french bread pizzas

**playing in the snow (coloring it, sliding down the slide, chasing eachother, and the big bang....when Uncle Brandon hooked the tube to the 4 wheeler and took them around the yard.)

**Going swimming
**Making a hut to sleep in

**Making jello candied popcorn
**movie time

**Making yummy snacks everyday
**playing "playdough surprise" (thanks pintrest, they loved that one!)
**Crashing at 6PM because Aunt Marci is wearing you plum out!

**Continuing to play with their special playdough colors the rest of the time for hours on end
** running around screaming and playing
**Full tub of perfect babies!

**and so so much more


Thanks Luke and Hil for sharing your kids. Hope they had fun! We loved having them here!!!

sneak peak of the new house

My family and friends that dont live close keep asking to see the new house. I really wanted to wait till it was perfectly decorated and well cute. I am now realizing that isnt happening anytime soon. Due to lack of decorating budget and ideas ( i need my mommy) i am in a rut.
So here is a couple before pictures. We forgot to take some before pictures before we started painting, so the only before pictures are when we came by when the previous owner was still in the house, so all the crap everywhere, its hers, not mine. :) I will post more when its a cute house, not a plain ol not decorated one. :)
Not the whole house, missing the office, laundry room(or closet), kids bathroom/hallway, but i dont want to go take more pictures, and they are just as messy as the ones i did take, and i have pride. Im not exposing myself completely tonight! :)

 Previous Owners House

Look at that nasty nasty carpet. NASTY!!!!!! We had it cleaned, it kinda came clean. :)

This is actually right before we painted our master room. The carpet looks better huh?

Do you think she ever cleaned that floor? Its supposed to be bright white!

Sadly this is after she clean out 4 plants that were growing in there. Gross people. Gross. It took 3 days to clean this tub. 

 MY HOUSE!!!

We painted it a grey color. My plan is to have a grey with red accent kitchen/family room

These were my bday present i created from loving mom and mom in law who just give me money i can burn.......I am in love with them.

The kids shared room. Might i add i love kids sharing a room. 

daycare playroom for now....it will be the babys new room when daycare moves downstairs.

Ok dont judge the mess.....i was too lazy to pick it up to take a picture tonight. We painted that weird brown, tan, pinkish wall grey, the same as that nook with the table. 

My sanctuary. I love the blue

The kitchen, again dont judge the mess....it is clean...sometimes. :)

Our room, so much better than nasty forest green walls. Notice the carpet...still has that dinge to it, just not as bad. Any donors for the "Marci wants new carpet fund" can contact me at anytime. Any amount is appreciated. :)

I like to compare

I think I have mentioned this before. But i love to compare everything. Its my way of measuring up myself, my family, my life, my work, etc. So its so surprise that i have compared myself with each pregnancy. Here is a picture to help me compare myself belly wise....and oddly enough it tells me a lot about how i have changed in the last 4 years of my life. (and can yo hear the disappointment  I cannot find that stripped shirt from the first two kids anywhere. I am slightly depressed. A) i loved that shirt. B) Now my comparison shirt had to change which doesn't make me happy.) Anyway.....

*Look at my baby #3 belly....Where is it!? I just look fat. Ky and Brookie i think i at least look pregnant by now, this time, Im just fat.

*Now look how short my hair has gotten with each pregnancy. Young me back in 2009, long silky hair. Me in 2011 a bit shorter and wow out of control  How did I go places with that hair do, its ugly! Now me 2013, shortest haircut i have ever had. I love it, love it, love it.

*Look at baby #3...Kyler had to join in on the picture. Had to. He could have cared less when i was pregnant with Brookie, and well he was in his picture we just couldnt see his handsome face. Have i mentioned how excited he is for this baby. Like WAY excited. The other night he asked if we could just go to the hospital and take the baby out cause he wants to hold it NOW. Sorry buddy, its still growing. He although got to be the first to feel the baby kick. He beat daddy. He loves to lay on my tummy and feel it.

*Oddly it looks like i have grown in height. That isnt so. But funny its worked out that way.

*Lastly, i look old. Or at least a lot more "mature" than i did when i was pregnant with Kyler. When did that happen. I still feel like im 21!!

Here it is. Tell me what you think...

Food

Food. Such a simple word. Somthing we all love. Something we usually consume without tons of thought. That is all true till you add food allergies into the game. I have despised learning to cook dairy free. But remember when I decided this is something i need to embrace and become good at. Proving to Heavenly Father that I can be disciplined. At least in some form, well now i like the challange some days. Which is an improvment. I am learning to cook within limitations, and its working.
So meal planning has changed, a lot. I have bought dairy free cook books, found my favorite website in the world that allows you to look through all recipe sites within it, but you can tell it if you have food allergies, it looks through the ingredients and omits the recipes with the allergen  For the most part is does an exceptional job. You get a few, but i can deal with a few. Go HERE to experience the bliss if you have allergerys.
Besides that me and pintrest have become good pals yet again. Lots of people with food allergies (or annoying people who cut stuff out of their diets just cause they are weird. Sorry if you are one of them, but unless you have to, WHY!!!!!!!!!!!) Pet peeve of mine. Maybe cause im still a little bitter about having to learn to never ever use it when i didnt want to and they choose to take things to extremes when they dont need to. Annoying.
Anyway, back on track. I wanted to share my favorites we have had the last couple weeks. I am so eternally grateful for a husband who goes along with all my new recipes. He didnt grow up that way. I try 5 or so new recipes a week at times. Sometimes every meal will be new. He also encourages me to be better about not eating what i shouldn't  Technically beef is in my moderation level. So only eating it once a week or so. Hello i grew up on Beef, with occasional turkey, pork and chicken. Its hard for me to turn away from what i know there, but we have. Its expensive. But i feel so much better and heck we are all so much healthier. We have beef 2 times a week usually, but the rest of the nights its pork, turkey or chicken. We arent vegetarians here. We have meat every night, maybe once a month we will have something without (like last nights dinner) But we eat meat. :)
Anyway here are some of my favorites, and if you have dairy free meals that you love send me to them.
quinoa black bean burrito bowls --didnt add cyanne pepper, added more chili pepper. SO GOOD!
Turkey Burgers--oh my goodness i am in LOVE. They were so yummy. I loved the leftovers. Made it just how it said. Just added some avocado with the lettuce and tomatoes  Dreaming of these. I love ground turkey by the way.
Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast--this one i just omitted the cheddar cheese and butter. I used olive oil in place of butter tohelp brown the chicken.
French Dip Cresants--this is a family favorite. I have made it several times. I bought dairy free mozzarella cheese, the only dairy free cheese that doesn't make me want to puke. Sorry but cheddar is nasty. So for me and Ky i use the dairy free, Brandon and Brookie get cheese sticks cut up. Also, make sure to check the label on the cresants. You can buy dairy free cresants, but look at the labels  some have dairy in them. I think Great Value brand is what i used last.
Cream of Chicken Soup--for this i just substituted soy milk for the milk. I use it in all sorts of stuff. Like we had Hawaiian Haystacks one night then the next night we had Chicken Enchilada soup. To die for. Makes an extra step in making dinner. So i have only done it twice in the last 5 months or so. Lazy. So we dont eat much with cream of anything in it anymore. Which is sad cause i used to use it TONS.

Anyway i just thought I would share some good recipes. Even for Dairy people, these are soooo good. And all this eating healthier stuff....or maybe just really thinking about what i put into my mouth makes such a difference. I still weigh 5 lbs less than i started this pregnancy as....and today marks week 23. Could never say that with the other 2 kids. :) I still get to wear my regular pants, which makes me a happy happy girl.

Merry Christmas!

**overload on pictures...just for you mom, cause you asked. :)

Merry Christmas! We have had a wonderful Christmas season. Kyler has been so excited for Santa to come. He has been asking for days if it is Christmas time yet. I loved every minute of it. We had our friendly elf Alfie come for the first time this year and we adored him. He was so fun to have around. I loved waking up every morning to the most excited boy when he had found where Alfie was hiding and what he was doing.  Brookie loved when Alfie was mischievous with sweet things, like the day he took a marshmallow bath, or when he brought candy cane seeds that grew candy canes. Towards the end she would be excited when she could see him too. I think Kylers favorites were when Alfie would decide he needed a long nights rest and would be found in his bed with him. Those were ironically the days when he had the hardest time finding him too, but once he did he was so excited he got to have a sleepover with Alfie.

At our Ward Chirstmas Party we saw Santa for the first time this year. Kyler....LOVED it and i got my all time favorite picture there on my phone. Brookyln, she was a mess.

The season was busy busy as usual, so we didn't get to do an advent type activities like i would like to, but the kids had a great season i think. We did make it to one holiday advent i have wanted to do for years. I just found out that Fountain Green puts on a live nativity. So on the 22nd we drove the 45 minutes, took a hay ride and got to see baby Jesus, and the town of Bethlehem. It was so special and so fun. Kyler loved the donkey and sheep like i suspected. But that boy loved baby Jesus. The next morning he was up early and came in running and seriously gave his mom a heart attack when he woke her up by yelling, and i mean yelling, that he loved seeing baby Jesus last night, and that he was soo cute!!!! Love you Ky. Mom thought for sure her heart monitor she is wearing right now was going to freak out with how scared she got when he came in so unexpectedly and loudly. :)

 For the Childs Christmas party we all met together, had great food and visiting. Brandons one cousin just had a baby 2 months ago and i had to steal the cutie from his mom :). But, then Kyler wanted to steal him from me. We decided to share cute baby Braxton. Kyler loves babys. He keeps begging for me to go to the drs and get our baby sister taken out (remember we dont know what it is for sure, but ky 'knows' its a girl) He adored Braxton. I adore my sensitive/nurturing boy. Brookie, Oh she hated him. She didnt want anything to do with him and tried to push him away from me. I think we are in trouble. She isnt a nurture, she is the fighter of the family. We keep saying she is going to have to be Kylers protector in school. :)

My fruit plate for the party. I think its pretty! 

Kyler stole my camera for a bit at the party, he took this picture. I love it.  Kyler and Huestons boots. 

Look at that pure happieness, so much excitment!!

Look at that fear and trying to get further away from that scary scary man! (yes she is wearing a boy shirt. She decided to play in the drinking fountain and got soaked and in the diaper bag all i had was a spare shirt for Kyler. 

As close as she would get...and still has her nercous biting her own finger thing going on. 

She got a tea set, and has LOVED it. Her favorite thing is mommy will let her put water in it. Messes, oh the messes. But all for a good cause. 

Kyler got a nerf gun. He loves it. I hate the darts all over my house. :)

It came with two guns, so Ky and Hueston pulled up two chairs at the party while the parents did thier exchange and shot the glass doors. 

Me, Ky and baby Braxton. 

 Christmas Eve we packed up all the presents under the tree, packed some clothes and headed one town over to Grandma Jo and Papas. There we played with our cousin Hueston, made cookies for Santa, and finally watched the Nativity movie and read Christmas books before Ky and Huest got to have a sleepover in the playroom downstairs together and Brookie, well she is too little for that kind of special treatment :) She slept in the pack n play with mom and daddy. Brookie had been kinda fussy and clingy all day Christmas Eve. She went to bed early and we were praying she would snap out of it by morning. In the pictures to come you will see no such luck happened. In fact she is now, 4 days later, still a sick little girl. She is still as white as a ghost, everything still running right through her. Poor girl.

Look at that tongue hanging out, i love it. 

Christmas Eve in thier new Jammies Alfie brought as a fairwell gift

They woke up Christmas morning, ok so we technically woke them up about 8:30AM. Brooklyn had woke up and we decided that it was time for Christmas. :) So we got the boys, they woke up the rest of the sleepy house (6 other adults) and we all gathered in the front room waiting ever so patiently (or not) for everyone to get up and head in. The boys were greeted with a room bright and full of colored paper and boxes. Santa had even left footprints where he came in from the fire place!! Kyler and Hueston had one unwrapped present ready to go....Ky a police truck and Huest a police car. They took them for a loud spin around the room before settling down to open a slew of presents. Brookie, well Brookie felt yucky. She sad with daddy while he pretty well opened all her presents. Not a smerk came to her face, no when she saw her hot pink cozy coop, not with all the candy out of her stocking, but when that puppy bear turned on and she could hold it, that was the first attempted smile of the morning. We continued to open presents. Played, made messes, had some breakfast, ate candy, watched movies, ran around, and fought over each others new toys. :) Perfect Christmas day.

waiting for everyone in the front room

Poor baby doesnt feel good

still trying to wake up

Childs police force

cleaning up santas footprints

Kyler got an innotab from santa....just what he wanted!

the fav puppy bear

Gma Jo and Papa got him a bike with pedals.....he has lots of learning to do! 

Kyler made us a calender at preschool for mom and dad

She loves her coop

Inside Brookies new tent

Brooklyns Loot

Kylers loot

Then off to bed early from a long happy for ky, sick for brookie day.

Now we are home. Toys are put away. Rooms rearranged to accommodate the new slew of toys. Mom was a little over zealous to get her new house looking like she wanted so down went the tree, down went all of Christmas. I wish i felt bad, but I have to say it makes me happy to have my house back...well i never really had it to start with, we moved in and put the tree right up a week later. The kids are lovign their toys and loving being home with no other kids here!

where are the kids.....inside playing with new toys. Perfection

Kyler LOVES his 'ipad' its an innotab by vtech but he calls it his ipad and he loves it. Brooklyn loves her colors and purse.

 

eating with her tea set spoon

Christmas has come and gone. We are all happy and all but one are healthy so i count that as a special Christmas holiday. Hope you all had a wonderful one. Here is to a Happy New YEAR!!