Happy Birthday Grandpa Waite!

What an insane week! I think we have officially gotten into the summer months because life got all too busy this week and I have a sneaky suspicion that it is not going to calm back down...ever.
Monday we went to Severence to visit with one of my friends that I used to work with who also just recently had a baby. It was a long drive there but was totally worth it. Laurie's little girl was tiny! There is only a two week age difference between our kids and there is a significant size difference thanks to her little girl being so bitty and Parker being so manly! haha. It was fun to hold such a tiny baby since I don't apparently know how to make little 5 lb babies like Laurie does. The girls had a blast playing with Oliva while Laurie and I enjoyed some socializing time and time to catch up on all the happenings in the past few years that we haven't seen each other. After our visit I made a mad dash to Longmont so that I could go visit the dentist (again). I left the girls at the park with a friend and with some ice cream so they were some very happy little girls! I got my tooth adjusted and everything worked out great!

Tuesday was equally as busy as Monday was. We started the morning in Loveland going bowling with Natalie and Jackson. There is this program across the US that does free bowling for kids all summer long. They get two games and all I have to pay for is shoe rental for Eliza (Alayna's feet are too small). The kids had a blast playing and next time we will only bowl one game because two games for three kids 4 and under was just more than their little attention spans could handle. It was fun to watch them help each other and get so excited! Most of them cheered before the ball ever even made it down the lane! After bowling we went to the Loveland Library to pick out new books for the girls. They sure love it there, I really need to get better at going to our own library with how much they apparently enjoy it! After that we went to Grandma's house for some lunch and then came home.

The girls got their 'loot' From their aunt Lindsay... She sent them homemade gummies they were so excited it took everything to convince them to eat dinner first!

Bowling with Natalie and Jackson, waiting for the ball.

Wednesday I officially blew through a full tank of gas in less than a week. Happy 51st Birthday to the BEST Dad a girl could ask for! I went to Loveland while we had Lois over at our house making it sparkle! We spent the day playing with grandma grandpa and the aunts and uncle who are still home. At one point we gave in and set up the water table for the girls again. They now have swimsuits that just live at grandma's house so they can do the normal 'play in the water' thing that they have taken such a love of.  Grandpa Waite went on a very long (57miles) bike ride in celebration of his birthday so since he had the day off the girls took full advantage of him all afternoon while he was at the house to entertain them. Poor guy is totally whipped by those two little girls who love him so so much! It's adorable.

Thursday was the first day of the week that wasn't scheduled to the end of every moment of that day. I figured we would utilize that day to .stay.home. We did do just that. I got a call from the Reedy's that morning and we were lucky enough to have their two little girls come over and play for the day. It was lots of fun and they girls were relieved that I wasn't really going to make them stay home all day without anyone else to play with (this is apparently the end of the world, just ask them!) The afternoon was spent cleaning up from friends and cooking dinner.

Friday I had my six week appointment after having Parker. The girls went and played at the Bond's house while I went in and they had way too much fun because they sure didn't want to go home when I came back to get them! My appointment went very well and I am good to go do anything I so desire. Now all I need is for my back to calm down, my hips to roll back into place and maybe it's time to just give in and go get a massage so that I can actually work out without being in so much pain! Darn babies, they really like to mess up your back when you have them! When I picked up the girls I had the chance to talk some more with Jessica about doing the co-op preschool in the fall and I am getting excited about it!

Saturday was a good day. It started at 6am when I got up and got ready to go to the temple for Sandy Depew's wedding. I then got Ben and the kids up and got everyone out the door (thanks to the help of my husband!) and we made the trip to Denver. I apparently put the wrong time in my phone for the ceremony because we were there WAY too early. Ben took the kids to the park and I walked over after I realized just how early I was. When it was actually time for the ceremony Ben stayed out with the kids and I went and enjoyed a very beautiful temple wedding. I am so so happy for Sandy and Josh!! It is always fun to see your friends get married! After the wedding we quickly made the trip to Loveland and went to Alan's graduation. Congrats to Alan for graduating from high school and good luck in Colorado Springs in the fall! After graduation we went to my parents house and Ben and I watched a movie while grandpa entertained the girls (he even made a fire for the girls and Eliza LOVED that!) She is my little camper she loves anything that has to do with camping! That evening was Sandy and Josh's reception in Loveland so we went to that. I got to see some old friends that I haven't seen in a very long time and it was wonderful to chat with them! Sometime around 9pm we arrived home and transferred 3 sleeping kids into their beds and 2 very tired adults crashed as well!

Sunday was church, we had great meetings but boy was I exhausted from a long night! We made a trip to Loveland for family dinner and eventually came home to crash, yet again, well past our bedtime. It is going to be the death of this family if I don't do a better job of cutting off my socializing and taking my kids home for bed at a reasonable hour! It's just so hard to quit talking sometimes :-)

Alayna found a cowboy hat.She looks exactly like her daddy! They are in swimsuits because they got soaked in grandma's flooded back yard and that was the only dry thing for them to wear!

We told her to smile, she struck a pose and gave it a little sass!

The end result of the very very busy week. She fell asleep almost every day on the drive home!

The new Library

Gah!
I am constantly a day behind on getting the blog done in time for Eric's P-day... I must improve on this flaw!

Our week last week was fun. and it is officially May... let the insanity begin! In fact it has been busy enough that I don't exactly remember everything we have done all week. Just that it felt like I halfway lived in the car just getting from one task to the next.

Tuesday I tried having a park date with some of the new people in our ward but let me tell you that it's just a hard time of year to get a hold of people so we made great effort and were lucky enough to have one family come join us for some fun in the sun!

The highlights of the week came on Wednesday and Thursday so I'll just cover those days. Wednesday was a blast! We went to Loveland and Mom had errands to run but they were the funnest errands ever! We went to the Loveland library which has recently been completely renovated and overhauled! It is now all fancy and amazing! We happened to be there for the preschool story time and the girls had a blast with that! They even got to make little paper worms to go with the theme of the storytime. I was pleased to see how well Alayna did I wasn't sure if her attention span would tolerate a pre-school level story time but she did great! As soon as she saw that Eliza was into it she joined in the fun and did great! After that I needed to bake cookies for Ben for his activity that night and so we went back to Grandma's house where I could bake LOTS at one time. The girls were making me a little bonkers so we set up the water table and sent them outside to get soaked and play their little hearts out! They sure had a great time!

Thursday I was lucky enough to have the Mott kids over to play while their mom was at the school playing piano for the choirs that had a concert that night. We had way too much fun with friends and the kids really wore eachother out so both of my girls were dead beat tired by the time the day was done. They both crashed and were out for the night by 7:00 without a single fight to go to bed that night.

Friday I made attempt #2 at a park date with the new people in the ward and had much better success. We had some old and some new people there so it gave everyone a chance to get to know eachother a little better. The biggest perk of that day was that I was offered a possible spot in a co-op preschool for Eliza in the fall. I was very very excited by this! I am not 100% committed to it yet they want me to come to their planning meeting before commiting to it (which is nice of them!) Either way I am very excited about it!! At the park we found out that they had turned on the slash park. I wasn't thrilled that we found out while I was stnading in the middle of splash pad and Eliza turned it on... Eliza then spent most of the time getting soaked and Alayna ran around the edges trying to not get wet but also still be involved in all the fun. She's so funny and hates getting sprayed in the face. She'll dunk her  head in a pool or tub without thought but spray her in the face and it's the end of the world!! Friday night Ben went to a campout at the girls camp so they could do the stake service project there the next morning of taking care of some of the beetle kill in the area (chopping up trees) He called me that night and said it was rainy and cold... but I don't think any of them expected what came the next day! I took the girls to Loveland and went to a baby shower for a friend of mine from highschool. It was nice to see Scott and his cute wife but I was reminded that I have not lived in that area  for a long time and I am not close friends with pretty much anyone there anymore. I'm glad I have grown up and moved on!

Saturday Ben did the service project for the girls camp... they got snowed on the whole time. I don't think they were really anticipating snow in May because no one came prepared for that! I spent the entire day going from one end of northern CO to the other. At least that's what it felt like to me. I made a trip to CostCo to buy some icecream that I needed for the seminary graduation on Sunday night but when I got there they only had overpriced half gallons and that was NOT going to happen! The one good thing about going to Costco anyway was that I scored a few Disney movies at a really really great price because they happened to have 'instant coupons' witht them! So I called my mom and ended up trecking from Thorton back to Loveland to go to Sams to buy the icecream there. It was a long drive but worth it in the end! After my trip to Sams and stealing mom's coolers in order to get the icecream home I went to Walmart and picked up 24 2 liter bottles of rootbeer that we needed and headed home crossing my fingers and praying that the icecream wouldn't be all melted and gross by the time I got back to find a freezer for it! Thankfully the Merritt's were nice enough to let me use their freezer while they are gone and the icecream only melted a tiny bit so it went just great! After that I did a mad dash clean of the house and Ben did the dishes for me! House cleaned and ready for messing up again we had a quiet restful night at home.

Sunday was excellent. Aside from running about an hour behind schedule in my normal routine of getting ready for church and forgetting to put on makeup for church the morning was uneventful. Abby called she needed a blessing because she was really sick. Ben called her ward's Elders Quarm president to come assit and then Ben gave a very touching blessing.  I can't remember the last time the spirit felt so incredibly strong in my house and it was beautiful. It is always such a sweet reminder to know that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he is willing to share such a powerful feeling with us. That evening I went the the seminary graduation and did my duties of serving. Parker came too he was a very adorable little helper... but he just couldn't get the hang of the whole scooping icecream thing. We'll work on that. In the end we had 2.5 gallons of icecream left over and 8 2 liter bottles of rootbeer left. So I apparently over bought but better that than not enough! That was the week... it was fun but I'm completely wore out and next week will be even busier!

Happy Mothers Day

The week started with some incredibly rainy weather I mean it was a little gloomy on Sunday but it rained all most all night that night and then most of the day on Monday. That alone kind of put a  bit of a kink in the plans I had made with Sandy to take the girls to the park. So instead Sandy was fantastic and was still willing to come over and allow me to swallow her day in the normal everyday running around of a stay at home mom. I sure hope that I didn't scare her out of ever wanting kids of her own! That said, we had a fantastic day! I managed to go to Costco and get the things I needed there and after that we loaded up and took the kids over to Flatirons mall to play on the indoor play area. Eliza got bored there (first time for everything I guess) and we ended up walking around the mall and making a very LONG stop at the Disney store for the girls to walk around. I think Alayna touched every single toy in the store before we left but they had so much fun! We topped the day off with a stop at Goodtimes for ice cream which the girls thought was the very best part of the whole day of course!
Tuesday was fun we mostly hung out at the house and played with each other. I read enough books to make myself horse and the weather took a fantastic turn and warmed up enough to dry things out so we could go to the park that afternoon with some friends. The girls had a blast running around and being back outside! I was reminded just how important good weather is to me and the ability it gives me to send them out the let the sun wear their overly energetic bodies out a little! Plus it is always nice to go to the park with friends and get some good adult conversation for myself! (personal perk of the day: Rachel called and I got to have a great sister chat! I love my family!)

Wednesday we went to Loveland to play while Lois was here cleaning the house. Thanks again Bryan and Diane for the wonderful gift of someone who can make my house sparkle the way that Lois does it has made a huge difference so thank you! While we were in Loveland I managed to NOT loose my cell phone this time. And I didn't abandon any of my siblings. Therefore it must have been a better visit than the last one by default! I stopped by ARC (thrift store) and forced the girls through a little bit of cloths shopping for their mommy who can't bring herself to put maternity pants on one more time! I found 3 pair of capri's and 2 shirts that don't make me look like I am anticipating a flood (my 'baby-fat-flotation-device' is pretty prominent these days). The girls made it through almost the whole shopping experience without issue up until the very end when Miss Alayna ran away (she reminds me I am s.l.o.w.) and hid in the cloths racks. I was livid. We went home. Thankfully the 30 min drive home cooled me down and we had a nice peaceful evening while daddy was at scouts.

Thursday the girls went to playgroup at the Mott's house and I went the dentist. My favorite place...HA! Overall it was not a terrible visit but it still took about 7 hours for the numbing to wear off of the one side of my face. After the dentist I ran a few errands and then spent the afternoon playing outside with the girls. I am loving the current weather! It hasn't been too hot and not cold either just kind of perfect. If it weren't for the miserable allergies I think Spring and fall would be my favorite times of year!

Friday was good. I actually spent an entire day at home. AND I was perfectly content with it. Usually I go really stir crazy if I don't leave the house at least once a day but that day I woke up with the full knowledge that I HAD to get the laundry done so I wasn't leaving the house until I finished. somewhere after the 6th load I quit counting how much laundry I was doing and managed by the end of the night to have all the laundry done and folded! Hooray for me! The girls were a bit annoyed at having to stay home but they got over it.

Saturday was a good day for me. Ben had to work in Denver that morning so I loaded the girls up and took them to the Waite's house to play until Alan's swim meet started. We went to Alan's last swim meet of the year and watched him swim. Eliza just loves to cheer for sporting events, it really makes me laugh, but she had lots of fun watching Alan and screaming at him from the bleachers! Someday she is going to be that loud sister in the stands that makes her brothers and sisters want to hide or else glow with pride that his sister is so proud of them! That evening I was beat tired I went to the store got some of the things we were really needing and came home and crashed!

Sunday: Happy Mother's Day!! especially to the two most wonderful mothers in the world! My mom is the best mom and friend a girl could ask for I thank her for all the advice and patience over the years and wish that there were some way to repay her but knowing that there isn't I pray that I as I continue to be a mom myself I will somehow end up half as good of a mom as she is! My Mother in law is the other. She made Ben into the man he is today and I was lucky enough to get him for eternity! Thanks for all the help and the love for me and my kids you have touched my heart!
My mothers day was great! Church was excellent and the girls were well behaved I got a very cute flowers picture from Alayna and Eliza made me a flower as well each pedal had a question with the answer that she provided... It was so adorable that I have to record it here!

I love my mom because: I like her
My mom loves me because: she really likes me
My mom Makes the Best: Breakfast (*mommy note: it's cold cereal)
My Favorite Thing to do with my Mom is: Puzzles
My Mom is good at: Letting me watch TV (*mommy note: really!?)
My Mom is as Beautiful as: her dresses
My Mom teaches Me: Ballet

the rest of the evening was spent in Loveland with family enjoying the time together and then coming home with three sleeping children that were all just transferred into beds for the night! It was a fantastic Mothers day!

Better

 Miss Eliza

 Miss Alayna

 Mr. Parker

Let's start this week off with the official statement that this week was much better than last week. Thank goodness for that because I don't think I could have done another week like that. I will happily pass on repeating that week ever again.

Monday was spent at home with the girls. Aside from the awesome afternoon/evening with Sandy Depew coming over to play, I don't remember what we did all day but I am sure that it was fun and messy because of what we ended up doing all day Tuesday!

Happy 32 Birthday to the BEST husband and father in the whole wide world! I am proud to call you mine and could not be happier that you are the father of our children! Tuesday was spent cleaning the house. And by saying 'cleaning the house' I really mean that I cleaned my room. I spent all.day.long. cleaning my room alone. I have a very nice vanity area in my room that I get ready in every morning and it was a frightening mess. There was a few weeks ago when Alayna managed to accidentally dump the pathetically organized boxes of hair stuff on my floor. In my exhausted pregnant state I ended up scooping all of it up and just dumping it back in the boxes without a second glance. SO that meant that when I cleaned my room I got to go through all of those boxes and actually organize all of that stuff. It took FOREVER but I managed to get it done. In the process I was again reminded just how impossible it can feel to get such tasks done with two toddlers and a newborn. Everyone needs my undivided attention all day long therefore cleaning is obviously not nearly as important. The good news is that I did finish the task even if I didn't get it done before Ben got home like I wanted to. And I got the living room and kitchen clean too once he was home to manage the little guy! That night we ordered pizza for dinner because Ben loves me so much that he forgave my exhausted state and agreed that it was an acceptable birthday dinner! (see this is why I am so lucky!)

Wednesday we went to Loveland. I got up and suddenly got really motivated to take the kids out and get some new pictures for my wall. I am proud to say that I did it! I am not sure what exactly makes a perfect day for taking pictures but I am pretty sure that this day was exactly it! it was a little overcast and the kids were in the perfect, agreeable moods for taking pictures they did everything ask and even gave us a few real smiles... this never happens I don't think I've ever gotten everything to work together so nicely. I wished we could have gotten Parker to open his eyes more but admitably it was bright outside and he was really sleepy! Then the girls played at the park for a little bit, we ran some errands. I realized that I lost my phone and spent a good amount of time trying to hunt it down and thus stranding poor Heidi at her friends house. (bad sister award, yes.) The evening thankfully went a lot smoother than the desperate hunt for the phone did. Turns out I'm just that forgetful and I apparently just left it at home on my desk... I also managed to have more phone calls that day and more messages than I usually get in a week and that is not counting all the times that I tried calling it in my attempts to find the silly thing in the first place!

Thrusday was playgroup for the girls. They were more than a little excited about getting to go play at a friends house and I was in desperate need of a nap so I was also thankful for the girls having somewhere else to be. I also got a little shopping done as well that I needed to do and it was much easier to manage with just one kid instead of three! The afternoon was a bit drama filled. Both girls were whipped out from playing so hard at their friends house and so they were a bit grumpy for the evening. In the end they both got put to bed early and they also both passed out before we made it through our normal bedtime routine so obviously they had a great day!

Friday was kind of a funny day. I had no plans, just the normal 'to-do' list but then I got a spurr of the moment invite to go play at the park with Natalie and her son Jackson so we made the trip to Ft. Collins to play for the morning. After that we crashed Grandma's house for lunch (because it was 2pm by the time I realized I should really feed the girls something other than just goldfish from the diaper bag). I hemmed up a few more receiving blankets and enjoyed some time with mom before heading home to a wonderful evening at home. That night was not so wonderful thanks to a little man with a tummy ache that kept him and mommy up from 1-4am. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Saturday was productive! We got the house cleaned, Ben mowed the lawn and I got a nap! After naps we went to the new Goodwill that just opened here in town. It was a very very clean and well organized store but I have to admit that I felt like the selection at the Loveland ARC is better and that I usually find a better deal there as well. So I will continue watching the Goodwill but my expectations are officially lower now that I have been. Ben then went over to his parents house and mowed their lawn as well while the girls and I got dinner ready.

Sunday was good. Church was great and the kids were very well behaved. I was reminded how much I love church with a newborn especially now that I have two others. It sure is great to have time that I have absolutely no other obligations and I can sit and snuggle my babies for a few hours without any other kids needing something from me! I love it! We were lucky enough to have Abby and Zack over for dinner that night and it was great to see them. I sure feel lucky that we have so much family that is so close to us so we can take advantage of the little things like Sunday dinner.