BEAR LAKE 2008 - I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Dearest Reese,
I just wanted to inform you of a few things and apologize for some others in this letter here. So FIRST, I would like to tell you that I am sorry that I pushed you out of that warm womb and into this crazy household. I know you miss being curled up into the fetal position because everytime I try and burp you, you get in that position thinking that I might just put you back. Not gonna happen. And I know you miss your pool and your rope. I am certainly sorry that you feel like a bobble head right now. Your neck will be stronger soon and mommy wont let your head fall off. I am also sorry that its hard to uncross your eyes sometimes. Just know you wont see double for long. You do not have two mommies. And you WILL get control of your arms and legs soon. I am sorry that you were pulling your own hair tonight and you did not know how to stop. That was sad. i am also sorry that the inside of my upper arms and my neck dont produce milk. I know you think they do, but they dont. So, I am NOT sorry that I want to kiss you non stop. I just love your little expressions and your little newborn noises, even when they wake me several times a night. i love that you try to suck on Leah's face everytime she holds you and that you give your two big sisters smiles even if its just gas. That makes them so happy. I love the peach fuzz that covers your body and every perfect finger and body part. I love that you have one of your Daddy's dimples on your right cheek. You are so lucky because I always wanted a dimple. Thank you for being a sweet , peaceful and perfect little person who has made me calmer and want to be better. I love you Reese...more than you will ever know. Love, MOM

Bear Lake or Bust!!!!

Something that I love about Matt's family is that they are really good at taking FUN trips. We have done several family reunions at some awesome cabins in some beautiful places. We tried out Bear Lake a couple of years ago and it was one big party. Six out of the seven siblings all came which means lots of kiddos too. Hayley loves being with her cousins. I love being with my in-laws..but especially their TOYS. So here are some pics. We are heading up there in a few days and adding Dave's new boat to the mix. Yahoo!!!!

" It matters not our circumstance, be we humble or arrogant, poor or rich, free or enslaved, learned or ignorant, loved or forsaken, we can address Him. We need no appointment. Our solicitation can be brief or can occupy all the time needed. It can be an extended expression of love and gratitude or urgent plea for help. He has created numberless cosmos and populatedthem with worlds, yet you and i can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer." -Richard G Scott

A Glimpse of My Life

First of all, I could just sit and hold Reese all day. She is my little peanut! OOOOH, I am so in love! And my cute Leah...WHAT do I do? Right when I am about to go CRAZY, she does something funny , like this. Maybe she got cold? We will never know.

Back to normal..almost

I am soooooo happy NOT to be preggers anymore. I still have quite a bit of shaping up to do, but I feel great!

Happy Anniversary..umm, a few days late!

I actually came home from the hospital ON our annivaersary......SO, HERE'S TO : 3 kids, 8 moves, 6 jobs, 7 reptiles, 7 guns, 87 boxes of wheat thins, approx. 3, 451 fountain drinks and LOTS of kisses later. Love you Matt.

TWINNERS

I seriously cant get over how much Reese looks like Leah when Leah was a newborn. See for yourself.....

My THREE Little Girls!

Reese was born May 23rd and weighed 8 lbs. We are SO happy to have her here!

My Mothers Day Present

My cute Matt planted flowers for me for Mothers day. i am pretty sure this was done at 3 am. I was very, very impressed.

I thought I was looking in the mirror...

Looks like there has been some fooling around on the farm... I am sure grateful that my baby isnt kicking me with its HOOVES..and that i dont have to try and get comfortable on some hard dirt.

A much needed Girls Night Out....

This last Saturday i was able to go out to dinner with some old roomates whom i consider some of the most treasured people in my life. We had such a great time. It is so wonderful to have people in your life who have contributed to the other chapters in your life and who REALLY know you. Even though we dont see eachother very often we can always pick up where we left off, laugh with one another and walk away from just those couple of hours feelings grateful that they have been and will be part of your story. I love you girls!

Let's take a closer look and answer some questions...

Would you think that I am pregnant with twins just by looking at this picture? Probably. Do I want to burn, shred and obliterate every piece of maternity clothing that I have? Absolutely. Will i miss waddling to the bathroom every hour and a half almost every night? Nope. Will i positively throw up just by the thought of someone touching my protruding, extra sensetive belly button? YES, YES and YES. Do i regret addopting Taco Bell's "fourth meal" idea? Yeeaahh. In this picture, was i storing food in my cheeks for later? Maybe. Will the South Beach Diet book become another book of Holy Writ in a month or so? Its very likely. Will Matt get jealous of the quality time i spend with Tony Horton on the P90X workout videos? Yes! Am I worried that my water might break in a public place and that I will hear over a LOUD speaker that "we have an amniotic fluid spill on isle 3!" Uh-huh. Am i excited for a giant needle to go into my back so i dont feel the pain of labor? Heck yes. Am I DYYYING to see my baby's little squished pink face for the first time and hold her close to me? Umm, yeah. Will i hug, kiss and love all over this sweet baby I have been so ecstatic to meet and feel like I want to cry my eyes out? Absolutely and positively. Will all of the waddling, aches , pains, trips to the potty, lack of sleep and weight gain be worth it? YES!!!

So, Daybreak has a freakin' lake! And its stocked with fish! We took the girls there to other day and they were SUPER excited. They would have dove in if we let them. That is Matt sitting on the dock with them. What a cute dad.

I love my family...

Matt and i had a awesome weekend. It was seriously one party after another. On Friday we had a going away party for a friend who he worked with on the Highway Patrol. we fired up the grill and ate some yummy hamburgers and hotdogs. i think we had almost 18 people over. Then on Saturday we had an early Mothers day celebration with Jenn, Rich and their kids along with Catherine, her son Laird and my mom and dad. And yes , we fired up the grill again and had a fabulous time. Since we had so much food left we had all of Matt's family over which consists of 10 adults and 14 kids. Two words..TOTAL BLAST. I love,love , love being with family and friends. And who can resist a BBQ on a beautiful day? Check out the "exotic" sister Catherine..WHERE did she COME from?

WHAT HAPPENED?!!

LEAH..where do I begin? i will be SHOCKED if she makes it to her 4th birthday. So I told you about jumping from the top bunk which led to her insisting that her 8 month pregnant mother carry her around. FYI..not fun. Then the other day she pushed a stool up to the microwave while i was cooking oatmeal and opened the microwave when it beeped, lost her balance and was dangling 3 feet above the floor, holding on to dear life. You should have SEEN her face. Priceless. You know you are an unhealthy blogger when you consider re-dangling your child from a microwave for a good photo OP. Yesterday, hayley informed me that Leah tried to hang from the garage door while it was opening. i was not a witness, so this info may be fabricated, but it would not suprise me. NOW its time for a CONFESSION. Feel free to leave nasty comments..the other day was a BAD day for me. I am not sure why but everything made my blood boil. And as I was driving with the kids in tow, my precious soda spills all over my front seat...and my reaction? And I quote " oh S*#T" . I know, I know, bad mommy, bad mommy! And since Leah has selective hearing for everything destrucutive and nothing constructive (and cant say her S's yet) she asks "mom. why ye yay YIT?" So there you go. And I have just come to the conclusion that just maybe she was in the birth canal a little too long.

Parenting Skillzzzz

So today after church, Matt and I were sitting on our front porch. We usually ask our kids what they learned at church that day. Matt asks Hayley what she had learned and her reply was "umm.... stuff". He asks her twice more. She's not sure. AND THEN HE SAYS as he spots what he thinks is a dime out of the corner of his eye.."If you tell me what you learned at church I will give you money." UMMM...WHAT? What was that tactic? I was laughing so hard that she thought Daddy was joking and blew off the conversation. Then we ask Leah. Response: nuffing. What did you learn about? Response: playing. Did you learn about Jesus? Response: nope. i also feel the need to mention that Leah jumped off the TOP bunk last night and i thought she broke something. Dont worry people, we have this parenting thing under control...right?

Doughnuts anyone?

As i mentioned before, I just had my 30th birthday. And as one of my suprises, Matt took the time to do THIS. If you read my "about me" on my blog, I mention that i would like to eat powdered doughnuts all day on my birthday. Well guess what people, powdered doughnuts have CHANGED! I dont know if these were simply not fresh, but after testing the 6th box (no joke) they were all kind of gross..they had a chemical flavor to them..like they had been sitting at the doughnut plant alittle too long. Sad huh? If anyone knows where to find really yummy powdered doughnuts, let me know. i have only 6 weeks left to splurge a little before I shed the baby weight.

Happy Birthday Babe!

CRAZY TURNS 3!

We just celebrated Leah's 3rd birthday! I seriously cannot believe it has been 3 years since she was born..one of the BEST days of my life. I am a firm believer that birthday celebrations should last longer than 1 day, so we have been doing lots of fun things like Chuck E Cheese, going to ride horses and harassing the animals at the petting zoo. And of course a birthday extravaganza with lots of cousins, good food and presents. So here are a few shots of the fun. I love my Leah-lum.

No furry pets in this house..

This picture is for Judy Hribar and Kathy Garnica.

Motherly Love

Sometimes i cannot believe the words that come out of my mouth in response to the behavior of my 2 almost 3 year old. I understand that this age can be difficult, but I am having a hard time drawing the line between age appropriate behavior and just plain craziness....for my 2 year old that is. I have concluded that I am already crazy... here are some commonly used phrases that are uttered..
Leah! get off the counter!
Stop putting your toys in the fridge!
Please dont kiss the snake..she might bite you.
Get your hand OUT of your pants!
Stop gagging yourself..you might barf.
DONT bite your toenails!
Please stop stepping on your sister!
Do NOT drag Jax (our lizard) around by the leg OR tail!
No, you CANNOT play with the mealworms..they are Jax's dinner..take them OUT of your pocket please.
Please dont spit on the floor
WHY did you pee on the floor? Again?!
Stop licking the glass!
No, you cannot watch Gremlins..it will give you bad dreams!
PLEASE, PLEASE dont clog the toilet..we have exceeded our toilet paper allowance.
No, we cannot go back to Tarzans treehouse until you get therapy!
Okay, so the last statement is not actually uttered, but almost.

I just wanted to let everyone know that my mom voted for David Archuletta TWENTY ONE times last night. So if you wanted to vote for him and didnt, dont worry, she took care of it.

Great Quote

"Science is the language of the temporal world; love is that of the spiritual world. Man, indeed, describes more than he explains; while the angelic spirit sees and understands. Science saddens man; love enraptures the angel; science is still seeking; love has found. Man judges of nature in relation to itself; the angelic spirit judges of it in relation to heaven. In short to the spirit everything speaks." -Honore' De Balzac

Im turning 30.

30 is a rather ROUND number..does it remind you of anything? Seriously people, I usually dont post pictures of ME. This was actually a request for a "belly" picture. The FP was in the house!!

"FP" is actually a term that Matt and his buddies thunk up when someone is sporting a double chin..and FP stands for "Frog Prince"...which would definately make me a "Frog Princess" in this stage of my pregnancy. To me it represents the enjoyment of eating whatever the heck i want this pregnancy..so Happy Birthday to me! Be sure not mistake the shadow for 20 extra pounds.

EASTER!

One of the FUNNIEST people alive..."Uncle "Jason

One of Matt's dear friends came to visit us this weekend and let me tell you, it was a party. I will get around to posting Easter but Jason will come first. Jason had been a roadtrip for a few weeks visiting friends and he was nice enough to come to Utah to visit our crazy family. I think we showed him a good time. Some of his activities here with us were: staying up ALL NIGHT with Matt on a ride along, going flying (in a plane) with Matt's bro Jon as the pilot over Sundance and Provo Canyon, eating ribs with the fam, snowmobiling in Deer Valley with Matt, eating "the PIE" pizzeria pizza, watching movies VERY late with Matt, Easter with the Hribar clan, miniature golf with my girls, jumping on massive inflatable things at Kangaroo Zoo and being clobbered by my kids who fell in love with Uncle Jason. We love you Jason!

Time for the freak on the right...Happy Easter!

A Happy Place

As I sit here with my massive growing belly, I am at peace because my weight gain and softness are a result of a growing baby girl. This baby is the most active baby that I have had. It seems as though she wants to get in on the action of our active family. She wants to be a part of the fun. i constantly have thoughts whirling through my head of what it will be like to have her here. But i cant help but wonder how soon I can get back in shape!!! Is that bad? She will be born in the summer and I cant miss out on any summer activities! But the reality is, i will be exhausted from lack of sleep and keeping myself sane. Getting into a bathing suit might be the farthest thing from my mind. But when i see Cancun pictures...man oh man..I want to get on the treadmill ASAP. By the way, i know this little cliff jump looks wimpy to all of you daredevild out there. But for someone who has a major fear of heights, it was a rush.

FREAKY RABBIT, PICS ARE FOR KIDS!

I'm not sure why, but I am not the biggest fan of taking my kids picture with Santa or the Easter bunny. There is just something a bit weird/creepy about it. And today's events confirmed that for me. I took my kids to the mall today to go to the play place and the easter bunny was there! But after a few minutes of observation, there was something a little disturbing about the 7 ft. rabbit with dirty and matted fur. The "thing", person or rabbit, hardly moved. Accept for perhaps a 45 degree turn of the head and a weak wave in the direction of the approaching child. I came to the conclusion that it was either A) a 95 year old man who was about to die and the photographer was a part time hospice worker B) an individual who preferred limited movement or enthusiasm in case of overheating in the obnoxious bunny suit or C) the ACTUAL Easter bunny who was coming off of a meth addiction. After the photo op I even casually circled the area and observed no change in behavior. Dont let his smile in the picture fool you, he was as boring as they come.

TATE

Tate..A.K.A. Tater-tot, Darth Tater, Mader....i mean really, just look at him! I must admit that I was a little nervous about babysitting someone else's 8 month old. But he practically babysat my kids! Anyways, I love my little nephew.

Matt is funny..

Matt has a friend coming into town this month and today he shared with me a brilliant outing for the both of them. He says " Honey! i just thought of someting really cool that i can do with Jason when he is here! we can take out Jon's horses and go horseback riding in the mountains!" Keep in mind, this would be Matt's second time riding and the first doesnt really count because it was one of those LAME guided tours and the second time it was he and i and his horse took off with him and he almost died. So then I respond " Ummm..thats NOT a good idea..these are someone else's horses and you are not even an equestrian." Then he looks at me bewildered and with some disappointment responds "what is an equestrian?" Exactly my point.

No, he really is so funny!

I feel the need to share some Matt stories since I am lacking for APPROPRIATE South Salt Lake City Police stories. I could blog about some but i might get stalked and shot. Not good. If any of you know Matt, you know that he is excellent at making people laugh. And no one knows this better than his lovely wife. Matt just bought a some tree frogs to add to our collection of bizarre pets because "they remind him of his childhood". Yeeeeaaaahhhh. So these tree frogs eat crickets. But Matt leaves the cage open during the day so it doesnt fog up..do you see where I am going with this? So what does Lori find hopping through the house? Crickets! I asked Matt about this..actually I first yelled at him and told him that it was absolutely unacceptable to have crickets wandering the house. Its bad enough that I have to have frozen rats in the freezer for the snake! So he responds by saying "But honey, think of all the good things crickets have done? There's Jimminy Cricket..Leah likes crickets..." I stopped listening after that. Anyways, even though he can make me crazy, I am convinced the humor will keep me young...and married.

Me? An animal lover? NOOOOOOO.

Can you tell that my life is lacking some excitement because i am blogging about ELK? But really, I found these elk very exciting. Actually, the other day was a really tiring one. You know, no sleep, a rebellious bladder and cranky 2 year old. We had gone to Walmart to get a few things and after AN HOUR as i was paying for my things Leah pees at the checkout...huge puddle..she's soaked. I had just happened to buy paper towels and disinfectant spray and was spraying everything that I possibly could. So long story short, that wsa the soggy straw that broke the camels back....and i needed to get away. i took the kids home to Matt, grabbed the camera and had a photshoot with some ..ELK? Anyways, they are beautiful. I guess you know you are NOT from Utah when you get really excited about an elk farm.

And where are my super MOM powers?

Almost every morning the girls and I will wake up, eat breakfast and they will watch Dora while I get myself together..or I fiddle on the computer for a few minutes. As i walk into the living room where Hayley is laying, I notice her licking her fingers...the obvious clue is the plate of cookies on the counter with the foil wrapping slightly askew. So i ask her if she ate a cookie and she giggles. I tell her that it is not a big deal and that i just want her to be honest. So she goes into a 5 minute explanation of why she would not eat a cookie this hour of the day, which to me is a dead give away that she simply ate the cookie. The problem was not that she ate a cookie, it was that i COULD NOT tell if she was telling me the truth. She was SO convincing. And usually, I feel pretty perceptive. But lets be honest. HOW perceptive do you really need to be with a 4 year old. They are not very good liars. So then i rely on my mommy powers to let me know the truth...no luck. You know, those "feelings"..the "intuition"..or "little birdy". WHATEVER. Or maybe they will kick in when something actually matters..probably when she is a TEENAGER.

A Lazy Day

So Leah's hair looked like THIS for the majority of the day...and unfortunately my hair did not look much better. It was just one of those days...