Hailey Goes to School

This day was filled with tons of emotions for me. I was mostly anxious because I was expecting to have to drag my screaming daughter down the street and onto the bus. My mind kept filling with questions such as, "Why is my Child the only one who hates school?" I desperately wanted it to go well for HER. Lots of prayers and blessings in preparation for this day. I knew that we needed to be very READY with everything in order. I made sure that the house was perfectly clean, that her new clothes (that she COULD NOT wait to wear) were hanging nicely from the end of her bed, her backpack was packed and ready to go. We had a yummy breakfast...BLUE waffles (anything to get a smile!) and we spent the morning snuggling and keeping the atmosphere at LOW stress. She took a nice, long, warm shower and was so excited that I let her blow dry her own hair. I was still praying for a miracle...for my daughter to NOT cry when the bus arrived.

I debated on driving her...but thought that putting her on the bus screaming would be better than putting her in her class screaming. The Principal at her school asked us to NOT drive our children to school on the first day (sad...) which just pushed me to letting her ride the bus.

She has afternoon Kindergarten which at first I thought was AWFUL. John quickly reminded me that we have a little girl who likes to stay in her PJ's as long as possible and MUST eat breakfast before she gets dressed for the day. She loves to watch morning cartoons and does not do well with being pushed out the door...or being rushed getting ready. I am so glad that we have the morning to relax, hang out, and get her ready SLOWLY!

So you may be thinking....What is the big deal?....and Why in the world are you so worried about this-she'll be fine! Let me remind you of the HORRIBLE experience we had last year with her attending Preschool and JUST HOW MUCH SHE HATED IT! She cried all year long and it killed me everyday. We finally pulled her out early (April instead of June) because it was breaking my heart and because it was only preschool and WE COULD! Kindergarten is necessary and she NEEDS to be there.

The good news is that she doesn't have to take a nap or eat lunch there which are big pluses for her.

All ready to go. Not too worried about the day yet. Still excited that she wearing her SUPER long dress like her mommas!

Now we are at the bus stop...in the rain...and she is NOT happy. Getting her on the bus was better than I expected. I had to help her get her feet on the bus, one leg at a time, and then I had to push her to keep going but she was not sobbing...only whining. COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE!

She is ALWAYS happy when she gets off of the bus and today was no different. This is her friend Kali (1st grader) who she adores...and was so glad that she was able to ride the bus home with her.

Yesterday John brought her to the bus stop and said that he had to put her on the bus and the bus driver had to help him. Today was not bad...she was crying but got on herself. Her bus driver is a little stern and I think that she would rather do it herself than have the bus driver help her.

The good news is that she likes school....a lot. She says great things about it so I think that she'll soon stop complaining about getting on the bus ( I hope).

Happy Birthday T-Dawg!

Here's the spread!! We decided to do a football party early on...it was supposed to be a tailgating party (on Saturday) right before the big BYU game but all of our guests were at a Law Picnic and we couldn't have a party without them. We bumped the party back and still had a football blast! I served boneless buffalo Strips (just plain chicken strips for the kids), sausage stars, mexican cheese corn dip, little weiners, and of course cake and icecream! The recipes for some of these are on my friend Heidi's food blog. If you haven't checked it out yet...you have to. Now! Or atleast after you finish reading my post! It's here.

John is really good at decorating cakes and he is such a good baker so they taste delicious too. He made this football field cake just for his boy!!! I think that we both had a lot of fun planning and thinking about this party. After doing 7 little girl birthdays, we were ready for a change! My friend April is an amazing cake decorator and she made this sweet personal cake just for Talon! It was just perfect! Thanks April!!!
My friend Jill told me about these cupcake sticks and she warned me that it was going to change my life! I think that it MOST DEFINITLY HAS! I not only had a blast making them (with her help) but they also taste DIVINE!! Seriously, they are amazing! You can make them into any shape or design that you want to. These footballs are seriously chocolate cake underneath that coating of delicious chocolate. For directions on how to make these you can go here (again...after you finish reading my post)!

Look at him grabbing for it!!

One is such a big birthday because they learn how to do so much, SO fast. It's like they turn one and they decide that they are not babies anymore...crazy! He starts off his birthday cake with a spoon...just to make his momma happy.
He decides VERY quickly that a spoon just ain't gonna be fast enough. This is what the crowd was waiting for!

He had a blast and ate ALOT of cake!

The fellas'!

The sistas'!
There were LOTS of children there too...I promise...but they were so busy playing that we hardly noticed they were there.

Talon received a few more gifts from John and I on his actual birthday (September 7th a.k.a Labor Day). We went to a great BBQ and spent all day playing hard. We are working on our car collection and so that is what Talon got...cars, cars, and more cars!

Talon is such an amazing little guy and I love him SO much. Even though he keeps me up all night and he requires MUCH lovin' and holdin', I am so thankful that he is mine. He is funny and smart and snuggly! He loves John and I so much. He loves his sisters to pieces. I cannot wait to hear all of the things that he has goin' on in his mind.

Talon is very close to walking...any day now! He is climbing on everything which is new for me...out girls are not climbers at all. I have found him numerous times in the bathroom on the top of our two stepped stool, playing in the sink. He is on the dishwasher door the second that it is opened and if we are anywhere that there are stairs, he is at the top before we even notice that he is missing!

He is starting to eat more now that his tubes are in his ears. He will eat an entire bowl of oatmeal and scream when it is gone because he wants more. He just points to the empty bowl crying...it is so sad. I have to now make two packs at a time to fill up his belly! He has been the smallest of our babies yet! He started out about the same but he has weighed 20lbs. since he was 4 months old. He just keeps getting taller (95%) and skinnier. We are hoping to chunk him up with his appetite change...we don't know what to do with the little ones?

He still likes to be rocked to sleep which I do not love but since he does, I'm doing it! You owe me Talon...some day!

He is getting ALL of his teeth right now. His molars are breaking through and it makes him very sad...I cannot wait for them to all be in. He has a gap in his two front teeth just like his sisters did. Good thing that I know that it closes up very nicely!

Talon likes to pull hair. While rocking him he grabs hold of my hair SO tight and wraps and tangles and swirls. I think that it must be a soothing thing for him. He has done this ever since he had control over his hands. He wraps it around his little hands until it is pulling so hard that I cannot stand it anymore and I have to disrupt the almost sleeping baby to unwind it. He SCREAMS and is SO mad at me when I do this but I can only take so much pain!!! My head will sometimes hurt for hours because of all of the hair that he pulled out. Ponytails don't even help...he pulls them out.

I could go on and on but will save it for another post. Happy Birthday Talon! We love you!

This is how I get it done!

Cooking dinner is one of my favorite things to do. I don't dread it...I look forward to it. If I don't plan for it...then I dread it but if I am organized and have a menu then I LOVE it. John is still at work while I am preparing dinner and the kids are usually getting tired and are hungry and someone almost always wants to be snuggled when my hands are covered in something. Talon loves to have his own pot and spoon. He instantly stops crying and is entertained for at least 20 minutes (THAT'S HUGE!) Isabella usually ends up on the counter and Hailey's chair (which she uses to stand on) is usually placed right next to wherever I happen to be. We have a tiny kitchen...it can get a little snug...but I love it. usually.

Primary Talent Show 2009

This is me and our Primary Presidency at our Primary Talent Show a few weeks ago. So we totally have eyes on our chins...they are too light so you can't really tell! I think that we had more fun practicing and doing this than anyone will have from watching it!! We laughed so hard we were crying! So I was wearing a skirt (like always) and when I did that 2nd kick I swear I was about to show the world what I got! That was when I freaked out and jumped up like a weirdo. I like how I am the most bouncy one in the bunch...hmmmm....embarrassing. Can you figure out which one I am?

Just provin' that we had eye's on our chins!
Hailey LOVES to bake! I think that her favorite part is the tasting...but either way this is what she wanted to do for her talent. She had a lot of fun! She totally tried to sample everything as she was pouring it in her bowl. FOR REAL! She took a handful of oats and downed them before I even had to a chance to realize what had happened. EVERYONE was crackin' up...seriously Hailey....OATS? She sure thought they tasted great!

Are you kidding me?

Last night was AWFUL! Seriously it was worse than it usually is. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? He tossed and turned and tossed and turned and whined...and whined...and whined! He totally was grabbing at his left ear like he was trying to tell me something...but I have NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON! I am so frustrated and so tired. I am thinking the worst of course... the tube didn't get placed right and it has fallen out. Maybe it's just an infection. We may be visiting the ENT again very soon!

No pictures necessary for this post!! Talon went in this morning and had tubes put into both ears! That poor little guy has been suffering with way too many ear infections and we are so glad that this day has come and gone.

So far so good. The real test is TONIGHT! Will he sleep better? I hope so!!!!!!!!

Lost

Seriously....still no post with all of the uber cool pictures from the mommy luncheon! I know!

I lost my camera battery charger and my battery is SO dead. I can't get the pictures off of my camera. My mission tomorrow is to find it. I promise!