Visiting 2nd Cousins and being married to *almost* superman

Last Saturday, Randy had a century bike race in Logan (each race varies, but it was 105 miles for him, y'all).  I'd show you pictures of my proud self welcoming superman Randy across the finish line, but I'm too imperfect for that.  I was actually driving to find Randy along the last bit of his ride when he texted me and said he was done & to come pick him up.  {Keri = 0, Failure = 1}

Either way, he is amazing and I'm really, really proud of him.

We are so blessed to live near a handful of my cousins.  We went up before the race on Friday and stayed with my cousin, Nate, and his wife and their family.  We had a wonderful time and I just love them all!!

Now, witness the feeding of the goat:

Pick apricots up off the ground.  

(Only the ones still on the tree are available for humans.)

Scoop the apricots into your arms.

Walk over to the garden area where the goat has obviously done a good job of keeping the weeds down.

Feed the happy, but very full goat.

Here is a better shot of Jenna feeding Butterscotch.

If only we had a bigger yard...I'm sure the girls would gladly bring Butterscotch home.

Swimming Lessons 2013

Sydney and Jenna were in the same swimming class this year.

They seemed much more comfortable in the water and both finally passed Level 1!

The last day of swimming is always a play-day.

Sydney loved the slide and wasn't scared to go down it.

Jenna still thinks she needs a life jacket on the slide.

Both girls also jumped off the diving board twice.

They both made a lot of progress and are on their way to {finally} learning how to swim.  

Hooray!

Goodbye crib, hello 9-year old

Up until this point, Sydney and Jenna have always shared a bedroom.  When Bryn came along, we moved them from one bedroom to another and Bryn had their old room all to herself.

Well, times are changing...

We took apart the crib for what will probably be the last time.  

Just slightly bittersweet.

I don't think Bryn really had any idea what was coming.  

She is now sharing a bedroom with Jenna and Sydney's former bed is now hers. 

Now Sydney has her own room.  

Her birthday isn't until next week, but we have plans that conflict with changing rooms on her actual birthday, so we surprised her this morning with a stash of new bedroom items.

She loves it! 

New bedspread, new pillows, new sheets, new curtains, new lamps, new throw blanket...

...new desk...

We just need to exchange her desk chair to be bright pink...

...put up some wall decorations beyond a party streamer...

AND paint the walls (you didn't notice they clashed, did you??).

Sydney has been begging for her own room for almost a year now, and she finally has it.

A big bed and an even bigger room for our oldest.  

For today at least, she knows we love her.

This and that, with a whole lot of work & sleep deprivation in between

Things have been incredibly busy here at our house.  I feel like I work my brains out trying to balance accounting, tax & customer support work along with being a wife, mother & all of the responsibilities that entails.  Most of the time, I am severely unbalanced.

Randy is my saving grace.  I am so incredibly blessed that he does so much for our family without complaint. 

Our girls struggle with me being less available, but are doing quite well.  We have the normal ups and downs with each of their ages and personalities.  (For the record, eight is not always great...just saying.)

If a "typical" picture was taken of me at random, it would probably show a messy house, uncooked dinner, and me sitting in front of the computer with files and piles of paperwork in front of me.  Such is the life I've chosen.  I am so fortunate that I love the work that I do.  And I do think that our Father in Heaven might have a sense of humor...I pray for work & then it comes to me in torrents.  (I also once prayed for a larger chest. Yes, He most definitely has a sense of humor!) At least I can never deny that prayers are answered.

Now for the random pictures that were taken by myself or my kids.  These should last you a while.

Until I come up for air again, enjoy.

A delightful surprise package in the mail from an anonymous giver.

Something tells me the same person sent this contraption to my sister.

Don't worry, though, word on the street is that the culprit received these useful gadgets in return.

A snowshoeing date with Randy and a few others.  

He does his best to get me out of the house after my 4-hour shift on Saturdays.

Trying unsuccessfully to be mad at Mom

4H + a pink guitar

Photo-op after taking Mom's phone again

My little nakie who would prefer to be without clothes.  

We did panties for a day (after she had repeatedly taken her diaper off the day before).

Mom is too busy right now, but I think we will both be ready to potty train soon.

My destruction.  How to recreate?

Start off with: One bottle of brand-new bright pink nail polish

Add:  A cute two-year old who wants her nails to be pretty

Mix in:  An overly stressed mom who is ready to paint the last set of toenails

Sift in: A few moments of Mommy-brain distraction

And ta-da!  Pretty pink streaks and splatters!

For maximum results, be sure to make sure carpet, comforter, bed skirt, hand-stitched baby quilt, jeans (Mom & toddler's), shirt (Mom's), walls, doors, trim work, counter top, vinyl floor, arms & legs get in on the colorful action.

Mom will stand there horrified, toddler will get upset and think it's her fault.

End result:  Forget about accomplishing anything else in the two hours you have before clocking in again.

Wanted attention from Mom, "A pitur me, Mommy, a pitur me" and then smiled at Daddy.

Valentines day for me = An hour-long massage, errands & shoe shopping {are three new pair of wedges excessive?} without kids, and buying myself zit cream.  Plus a lot of stress to do some work to get out the door & then be home so Randy could leave for a bit of work & I could begin my evening shift. Quite the day, I know!  Randy treats me well, though.

Mascara & lipstick done all by herself.  

She has a fascination with putting it on.  

I can't keep her out of my chapstick or my makeup drawer.

Wednesday, Feb. 27th; 4:30pm

Child #2

Exhausted after staying up way too late again.

 Child #1

Trying on Mom's glasses

Child #3

Making herself pretty while Mom works

Does this remind anyone else of Child #2 about 3 year ago??

Christmas Festivities and Everything Else

Our Christmas season was much lower key than in years past.

Our planning and preparation really began in September and a nice gift was given via a Google+ hangout over Thanksgiving.  Although we were in 3 different states at 4 locations, all 8 of my sibling and parents were able to take part.  Pretty amazing day.

Jenna, Brianna, Sydney & Devin watching an aunt & uncle unsuspectingly read their Christmas poem/gift notice.  Happy, loving tears were shed.

Randy's parents were visiting in early December, so we had an early Christmas dinner with them.

Randy took a sales trip to Arizona during December.  Unfortunately, our minivan didn't come home with him.  We have really missed it, and can't wait until he is able to go get it later this month.

We took our traditional drive through our town's Festival of Lights.

I was able to help a family member out and was richly rewarded with Father Christmas from the Netherlands, as well as two huge king-sized chocolate bars from Norway--with instructions that they were only for ME.  (It is possible to both enjoy them alone and share.)

Randy started feeling sick the week before Christmas.  He pushed forward and we still went to his Chipman Cousin Christmas dinner at Aunt Susan's house.  We are super glad that we didn't come home with a real-live hamster (white elephant gift), although our girls were begging us for it.

The next morning, Sydney woke up not feeling well.  She missed the last day of school before Christmas break.  By the next day, she was sleeping way too much, even for a sickie.  I took her into the doctor and she was admitted to the hospital for dehydration.  We weren't sure exactly what was wrong, until her test results came back in the wee hours of the morning confirming that she was positive for Influenza A.

Although she was treated royally (two huge thumbs up for the Pediatric Unit at UVRMC!), we were ready to come home.  Luckily, the admitting doctor noticed how much better she was doing after the IV fluids, and she was able to come home after spending 24 hours.

By the time Sydney and I got home from the hospital, Bryn and Jenna had been sick all day with the same thing.  Bryn had been unable to hold anything down all day & was throwing up with nothing in her system.  I called the after-hours number for our pediatric office, and was called back within a minute of the doctor being paged.  He met Bryn and I (and other sick patients) at 8pm on a Sunday night!  (Two huge thumbs up for Dr. Knochel!!)  I had packed my bags and was planning to spend another night in the hospital with another child, but Bryn wasn't nearly as dehydrated as Sydney was.  The doctor gave her an anti-nausea pill and Motrin before observing her for an hour to make sure her heart rate when down (from the fever).  We left for home at 10:15pm, and I was so happy to be able to unpack my bag!  We still had to re-hydrate Bryn with Pedialyte, but she fought our every-5-minutes regimen, so we eventually all went to bed, knowing that as long as she could hold things down, she would be okay.

Oh, and Tamaflu?  Crazy expensive.  So expensive that out of the 3 prescriptions we were given, we only filled Bryn's because it was the cheapest and she was most at-risk.  I'm sure the other girls would thank us...I'm pretty sure it tasted horrible.

We spent most of our Christmas break quarantined at home.  Here Sydney and Jenna are on Christmas morning before opening presents.  I'm sure they were excited, but I think being sick had taken it's toll.  Bryn was left to continue sleeping for a while longer.

Jenna was no longer contagious and wanted to go to church with Randy and Sydney, but I think she still needed some extra rest.

Of course, if 4 of the family had Influenza  I needed to get it, right?  I felt a little off on Christmas day, but by the day after, it hit me hard.  I spent the next few days wishing I could die.  After the first few days, I improved a lot each each & was feeling better by New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve was complete at our friend's home with their famous chicken wings.  Randy went home early, but the girls and I stayed all night...pretty much because I couldn't stop talking.  I blame it on being quarantined in my house for the last 8+ days.  Our friends are moving tomorrow and will be missed.  :(

And last, but not least, I now own my first pair of skinny jeans.  Super, duper comfortable...I want more!

Oh, and I've lost 22.5 pounds since August.  Not as fast as I'd like, but who's counting anyway?

Snow Much Fun

We had a few good snow storms in December.

Randy spent several hours one afternoon building an igloo with our girls and the neighbor kids. 

Bryn loves being out in the snow.  Warm snow clothes = happy kids.

Randy has taken the girls sledding several times.  They have all loved it!

At Two

I have fun looking at the size comparison of my girls.  I think Sydney was either measured big at her 2-year checkup, or she had hit a growth spurt & then slowed down.  She's definitely a shorty like me. 

I suppose none of my girls are all that tall or big, though...

Bryn thought the picture of Jenna was of her.  :)  They definitely look quite a bit alike.

Sydney

Weight: 22.2 lbs, 4%

Height, 33.5 inches, 41%

Jenna

21.4 lbs, 3%

33 inches, 25%

Bryn

24.6 lbs, 21%

32.8 inches, 19%

Pumpkin Carving 2012

We got together with Randy's family in October to carve pumpkins and have dinner.  Randy couldn't make it, so I had to help the girls carve by myself.  It actually wasn't bad at all, and I think they all turned out really cute.

Here are all of their cousins, minus Ethan who was sick, and Zoilo and Aurelia who live in NM.

I sure love my cute girls.