Good morning

It is so wonderful to wake up to this smiley face! Lately, Eli has slept in and just hung out happily in his room in the morning. When I come in, I'm greeted with grins!

Babies

Tonight, my brother and his wife were in town with their new little one. Vivvy is just a few months older than Eli. Lilli is about a year older. So they are the youngest 3 until my other brother and his wife have theirs next month. Babies!!

School stinks

My current class is kicking my butt! And now after a long mentally draining day... I'm up burning the midnight oil with Eli.

Wiped

I keep thinking I've got the whole three kids thing pretty under control but by the time I get home from going anywhere by myself with all three I'm completely wiped. Tonight, James had the cast party for his ballet and went straight there from work. My original plan was just to veg at home with the kids. However, with my back being out for the first half of the week and needing to clean the house for the second half- the kids and I were going stir crazy. So I decided to be brave and go to our ward chili cookoff and pinewood derby. It was fun. The kids wouldn't eat anything of course. But they LOVED sitting next to the track to watch the cars race. And thankfully friends helped watch Sariah and Ben so I could feed Eli.

So all went well. Came home fed the kids a snack. Got pjs on and put them to bed. And now... I'm exhausted!!

Hopefully, Eli will go to bed early so I can get some sleep! Fingers crossed!

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Today's big accomplishment

I got Eli's room clean. Eli's room is also the toy room. I sort of wish I would have taken a before picture but honestly it would probably have been too embarrassing to share. So here is just the after glow!

Making the switch

So we have decided to switch to organic milk. Hopefully we can also do local with Shatto but at least organic. This is honestly a big switch for us. We aren't the kind of family that just uses milk to cook with or on cereal. No we go thru 3 gallons a week! So at double the price yeah it is a bit of a budget killer. But I truly think it is better for us and James is on board with the switch. I'm also trying to make other changes- buy more organic produce, cage/antibiotic free eggs, and hoping to change some of the meat we eat. All part of getting away from packaged food. So we'll see how it goes. But today milk...

Helping out

So I was trying to help my niece. I was doing the right thing. Self sacrificing and all......

I now have 4 boxes of girl scout cookies.

Pretty sure this isn't going to help me lose the baby weight.

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Better

My back is dramatically better today. Thank heaven! I went to the chiropractor and have iced my back much of the day. And I can stand again on my own with only a little pain. So I'm super pleased. Now I just have to keep myself from over doing it. Easier said than done in my life!

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Oh my aching back

So tonight I am flat on my back- my super in pain back. I have been having lower back pain for a few weeks now. I have seen the chiropractor a few times. I just went in Friday and he said I was moving great and he was really pleased with where I was at. So after that of course my back starts hurting again. Then Saturday all of a sudden it is intense pain. I bent over to get Eli and had to sit down. I could barely stand up or sit down all night. Today is still pretty horrible. I've learned how to scoot to the edge of a seat and then brace myself and push/pull myself using my arms and legs as much as possible and my low back as little as possible. Yeah it sucks. I can't really care for the kids very well. Especially picking up Eli. I have a friend coming tomorrow so I can go to the chiropractor again and probably the doctor. Hoping it is nothing major and that they can put me on something that I can still nurse while taking.

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Date night

Tonight our older kids are staying with Grandma Ransom overnight. Eli hung with some good friends while James and I went on a date with our friend Cat and her beau Chris. Such a fun night. Hopefully Eli will sleep well so we can all enjoy our quiet house. :)

Abs

I've decided to try this abs challenge I found on Pinterest. I'm getting anxious to try to get back in shape. My efforts have been slowed, because I threw my back out last week. I've been to the chiropractor a few times and it is getting better. I'm holding off on running until it is a little better. I ran last week and that made it hurt super bad. But it was hard for me to get the weight back off with Ben so I don't want to wait too long. I also don't want to really diet, because that made my milk supply go way down last time. So since my stomach is my main concern I'm trying this. It says I should see results in a week- I'll keep you posted. :)

Sariah's dream

This is actually from last week. Sariah came home from preschool with a bunch of stuff on Martin Luther King Jr. But this little beauty took the cake!

Hair cuts

So today I cut Ben and Sariah's hair and then went and had someone else cut mine! Sorry no pictures because I'm a slacker like that. Maybe I'll take some tomorrow.

Also got the van cleaned out and vacuumed! Yay! It was pretty bad. I always resolve to never let it get that bad again and then it always does. Ugh! Maybe this time...

So I didn't get everything off my list but I did get some things done. And tomorrow another day...

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Learning about Jesus

Today after church Sariah was so excited to tell me ---"I learned that Jesus has a body just like me!"

I love her excitement to learn about Christ. It is so sweet to hear her and know that she already has a sweet testimony of the Gospel and of her Savior.

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Eli Photos

Noise

I think Eli sleeps better with a lot of noise. We are at The Grove. And there are a MILLION KIDS!! And he is happily sleeping.

Eli ROCKS

So Eli is my favorite child today. He slept from about 12:30am-7:00am. Then didn't really wake up. Just fussed a bit. So I snuggled him back asleep in bed till almost 8:30!!! At 6 weeks!!

Yep he is AWESOME!

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Out of the house

Tonight was AWESOME! I got to get out on my own. James was home with all 3 kids. My friend Angela does a Girl's Christmas Party every year. It is always so much fun, great food, tons of chatting. This year it was postponed until tonight. Which was actually great for me because it gave me more time to recover from having Eli.

And it was just what I needed. Before leaving, I really debated just staying home. I was seriously just that tired. But I put some makeup on and dragged myself out. And I was super glad I did. First it was so nice to leave all the kids home. Bless my wonderful husband!! I needed a mental/emotional break. And it re-energized me. It was just the perfect pick me up.

Thanks to my AWESOME HUSBAND!!

Thanks to Angela- for always throwing such fab get togethers. You really are the queen hostess!

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The dentist.

Went to the dentist today. Truly I do like my dentist. He is a nice guy, does good work, and sings oldies to you in the process. But I must say I really don't like going to the dentist. I don't like how my mouth feels afterwards. My jaw has had popping problems since I was a teen so I hate holding my mouth open for long periods because it hurts and pops more after. And my teeth just in general ache after. Probably because I'm a lousy patient who doesn't floss regularly.

But I'm proud to say my daughter is great. She hopped right up and pleasantly let them clean away the sugar bugs out of her mouth. Because girls have pink sugar bugs and boys have blue ones. And proudly showed me her new Ariel toothbrush and hair accessory that she got to pick out for being so good! Love that girl.

Ben however screamed a bunch. Not because he was having his teeth looked at- the kid didn't even have an appointment. He screamed because he didn't want to leave dad so that dad could get his X-rays done. Ugh. Just wait in 6 months we are going for them to clean his teeth. That should be fun.

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Headwraps

Ben decided he needed a flower head wrap just like sissy and mommy!

Sleepless nights

I think everyone knows being a mom means some sleepless nights. There is really nothing you can do to prepare for how hard that really is. And more kids just means less sleep. And if anyone is sick.. less sleep.

For someone like me who really would sleep 9 hours every night as my ideal, this is so hard. In fact it is one of the hardest parts of having a newborn at least for me.

Last night- super rough. Ben is sick and Eli was starving and Sariah try as she might had trouble sleeping through the noise. It went something like this-

8:30-10:30- Eli is cranky and wanted to nurse the whole time.

10:30- Ben is crying and has a high fever. Gave him Tylenol and sat with him for a while.

12:40- Eli is hungry

1:30- Ben wakes up and comes in my room. Snuggle him. Get him some gatoraid. Lay him back down and sit with him for a bit.

2:40- Eli is hungry

3:10- Ben wakes up an crying in the hall. Snuggle him. Get him some more gatoraid. Lay him back down and sit with him for a bit. Then Sariah is up and wants a drink of milk so I get that.

5:00- Eli is hungry

And here I am now feeding Eli. Ben normally gets up for the day at 7am. I'm hopeful he will sleep in. Either way I'm not sure I will be coherent enough to get anything done today.

I knew I would have sleepless nights as a mom. I still don't know how to cope well with them. There are many prayers asking for strength and energy these days.

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Celine

Crack up moment of the day. Watching James and Sariah do interpretive dance to Celine Dion in the kitchen.

Only wish I had caught it on tape.

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Some days are just rough

What did we learn today..

Sariah started Primary today. They sang the "Hello" song to her. And the happy birthday song. And she got a candy bar for her birthday.

On the way home she told me, "I learned who the king of the church is!" I asked who and she wouldn't say. So I said Jesus(which is usually always the answer)? And she said no. I said Heavenly Father? And she said, with a beaming smile, YES! It was so cute!

Then we got home and I discovered that she had taken a few bites of her candy bar,which I had told her she could have. But then the rest she had just held in her hot little hand. A pure chocolate Hershey bar. Yep I should have taken a picture. It was hilarious. Melted chocolate completely covering her one hand!!

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Sariah is 4

Today is my sweet Sariah's 4th birthday!! I can't believe it. She seems so grown up. I asked her if she felt older tonight and she said yes. So cute. I started an "interview" with her that I plan to do every year. The video is too long to send from the phone so sadly I'll have to add it when I have time to do it from the computer. I will also add pictures tomorrow. I took them on the nice camera.
When we asked her what her favorite part of the day was she said opening presents. We made her wait until the end of the day but all day she asked when she was going to get her presents.
This year she got a new game for the DS(that dad got her for Christmas). She also got a Prince Charming doll and a Flynn Rider doll. She got some new PJs and princess bracelets. And a new book- If the Savior Stood Beside Me.
Ben was most upset that none of the presents were for him. He just cried the whole time Sariah opened her gifts. He then fell in love with the Flynn Rider doll. And ran around making him talk and fight. It was super cute.
Sariah got to do tons of fun things today. The was a PJ and Pancake breakfast at church to welcome everyone to Primary. Sariah is in the Sunbeam class now. Then she got to have special time with daddy. They went and got a new Tinkerbell game for her DS. She also got a new yellow cloth flower- James said was singing the Rapuntzel song to it. And other goodies and snacks. Then she and dad snuggled and watched a movie. Then we did some coloring with this special paper and pens. Played with play dough. Then got McDs for dinner and went to Fun Run. It is a bouncy house type play place. Then came home and did presents.
So a nice full day! We didn't have time to make a cake so she said it was okay if we did that later. :)

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Better mom report

I don't know that I will blog every week what I did with the kids but today I feel like it. One resolution was to try to be a better mom. With that my goal was to do something fun just for/with the kids. I have set aside Friday for this as it is the one day Sariah won't have preschool. But it doesn't have to only be Friday. This week I have quite outdone myself! I did several things.

Wednesday, we cooked together. The kids helped me make a yummy blueberry breakfast cake. They didn't like it as much as I did-too many blueberries said Sariah. But to me it was delish. And they did have fun making it. They are also finally getting used to the mixer. It used to scare them and they would hop down everytime I turned it on. One thing I would love in our future house is an island to cook at with the kids. It is super tight to squeeze the three of us up to the counter to cook.

Thursday, it was crazy warm here in KC. Like 60s in January. Unheard of! So we went to the park. It was packed with kids. They had fun playing on all the stuff. We also walked down to the lake at the park to see all the geese. The kids thought they were ducks and loved them. It was also fun when someone brought their dog over and all of the geese flew off together very dramatically.

Friday, we went to the gym. So this wasn't exactly me doing something with them but it was fun for them. We haven't been for a long time. Ben didn't want to go play so I let him stay in the stroller and walk the track. He got bored and asked to go play. Then threw a huge tantrum when I took him in. But calmed down and was having a ton of fun when I came to get him. Sariah loved that they had the game Twister going in her room. She is super hopeful they will have it out next time she comes. And Eli did awesome. Just slept in the stroller the whole time.

So fun mommyness accomplished this week! Go me!

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Dreamy

This is the beautiful dream home we pass by every time we go to my in laws. I've never been inside. I don't know who lives there but I love the house. I'm sure the inside is equally as amazing. Yes I would take it in a heartbeat and move in tomorrow. Ahhh for now I will just dream about it.

Tummy time

I'm not sure Elias completely understands what tummy time is supposed to be. I laid him down for a bit of tummy action and a few minutes later found this:

A real bath

Or as real a bath as you can have in the kitchen sink.  Eli had his first real bath on Dec 11.  As you can see, he didn’t really enjoy it. 

 

My boys

Ben has finally started calling Eli by his name sometimes and not just calling him baby. Ben's thing right now is to come close and say "Hi E-why" and then kiss his forehead. So cute!!

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Stocking Photos

As the usual tradition, we stuffed Eli in his stocking to get the required “first Christmas Photos”.   Mom must be making them smaller because he was super hard to get inside.  As you can tell it wouldn’t really go up over his little belly. 

Good daddy

There are times where I catch James doing something with the kids and I think "he's such a great daddy!". Today there was one of those moments. Sariah brought him Peter Pan and both kids just climbed up to have him read. It was totally adorable. Yep Dad is AWESOME!

Today's photo

Eli

New years resolutions- A Better Me

I must say I like the new year. I like resolutions. A time to set over all goals and push to better. That is my focus this year. To be a "better me". Not a perfect me. So if I don't do each of these or do them perfectly that is okay with me. Just to try to do them or be better at each category is truly my goal. I just like something specific too so that I can be able to somewhat measure my progress rather than just saying be more of x.

So here are my little notes of what I'm trying to do to better myself in the upcoming year. And yep with blogging this I can check one off today. :)

New years resolutions- A Better Me

Better mom- Fun Friday
Try to do something fun each Friday with the kids

Better wife- 2 dates a month
Set up 2 dates each month for James and I

Better Physically- Running And Biking
Run one race at a 10 minute mile pace
Do one bike race with James

Better Emotionally- Blogging and Crafting
Blog something each day and hopefully take one picture every day
30 minutes of crafting every week

Better Spiritually- Scripture Study
5 minutes of Book of Mormon everyday

Better Financially- No Spending Month
Complete a no spending month challenge in February

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