I'm Back!!!

Well after 1 whole year of not having TV, internet, or anything, I am back!!
We finally moved into our new home this past week, and are loving it. I promise full pictures really soon!

We are all well, time flies, Grace is now 7, and in grade 1. she is doing great.
Ella is turning 5 in April, is attneding pre-school, and cannot wait for kinder!
My baby Ethan, is no longer a baby, he's 3 now, and just went into Sunbeams!!!

I have been checking all your blogs, and i am so glad to be back!
see ya soon x

melted heart

Sometimes as moms we are not sure if we teach our kids the right things, but this week Grace just made me feel like i was doing ok.

We were sat in church, sarcrament meeting was about to start and her little friend walked passed, obviously upset. Grace asked " lizzy, whats wrong", her mom replied that "lizzy cant find the picture she drew in primary". they sat down and i could tell grace was upset, she quickly got up, grabbed her picture and said, i will be right back mom, i want lizzy to have my picture". I was so proud of her. she has such a tender heart.

a Must see!

Last year this great family moved into our ward. The Burton Family. It was soo funny, they had been building a home and it was taking longer than expected so for months we heard all about them. When they finally arrived, I felt like i already knew them! They are so cute. The mom Jasmine, is a doll. She is one of those ladies who always seems to have it altogether, though she assures me she doesn't ( i don't believe her ;) Her 2 daughters were in my activity day group and they were truly angels. Always friends, always obedient and just a joy to be around.
Now her husband will always hold a special place in my heart ( why, you are wondering), well a few years back Grace was very sick. we took her to the doctors and Dr Burton was on call that night. We didn't know them at the time. He was amazing with Grace. They suspected she had west nile virus, and she was so sick, i was scared beyone scared. He was amazing, Had her straight at the hosptial for tests and even called me late in the evening to give me the good news that all was going to be ok. He really went out of his way to make me confortable and happy.
Anyways, after they moved it i heard he also was an amazing songwritter/singer and had won various awards.
I jsut today stumbled upon his new song. I barely got past the first line without having a lump n my throat! It's about christmas and this is him in his home with his family..oh i HAD to share with all my friends!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbvAomsBVwA

Ethan turns 2

Where does the time go? I feel like i was just posting his birth, and here we are 2 years later.

Ethan had a good birthday. We were in Rosemary with family. He loved opening his gifts and was not interested really in his cake at all this year. He LOVED his new CAT sit n ride and dumper, and adored his Thomas train. My sister got his a really cool loop de loop car thing, the girls loved playing with it for hours.

He is such a great little kid. He's soooo funny. He makes me laugh every day. HE still take a 1.5 -2 hr nap daily and is in bed at 7. BUT he does wake at 6:30am. doesn't matter what time he goes to bed that's when he wakes. ugh!LOL

we sure love having him in our home. It would not be the same without him!

a learning lesson.

I have been not the greatest mom lately. You know when your husband is gone all week, and when he's back you are so busy catching up on everything that you don't feel like you have had a break at all. You are waiting for everything to be finalised on your house selling, however you still have no-where to live when that happens which is in less that 4 weeks.. you get the picture.

Well my patience has been thin to say the least. However, yesterday my friend Steph invited us over for a little kid party. I wasn't sure i could go, due to it been Ethans nap time, but i felt i needed to go, and off i went with them. They had a great time and as we visited, i learned a huge lesson from her. She was talking about her kids ( she has 4, aged 7,5, and twin 2yr old girls), she was laughing saying one of the twins was waking up every 20 mins inthe night, and she said, even when she does, i just have to smile at her, she's just so cute and sweet, and mine. i thought about that alot, there are so many times, where i know i have a frown on my face from a spilt drink, hitting each other, fighting. Or i am just trying to get something done and i have 3 of them calling my name at the same time, but i stopped today, and everything they asked for, needed, or whatever, i did it with a huge smile on my face, and it made a huge difference to my day. So Ethan got into my mandarin oranges yesterday = 4 poopy diapers, but every time i smile and tell him how cute he is. or Ella who cried because she wanted all the cookies her friend brought around, and i just smiled and told her no, but i loved her!

I really admire people who have the patience of a saint! My other friend alwyas tells how she never heard her mother raise her voice EVER. she's a mother now, and she's baffled how she did it.. but she did, can u imagine never having ever raised your voice to your children. How great. So, i am very inspired right now! thanks Steph for a great day ..oh and great food :)

SOLD!

Yeah,

I am so happy to report we sold our house. Well we have an accepted offer, he said he has no trouble with finances, but the condition isn't off yet, should be this week. I am thrilled. It only tool 3 weeks, and in this market thats great. We got what we wanted and we move out in 5 weeks. AGHH. We have always had a deal when it comes to moving, ( and we have moved 8 time in 9 years) Dayna packs and I unpack. It has worked perfectly until NOW. Dayna is not here all week, so I am all alone left to do it. I am hopeless at packing, it's true. One great thing is i can throw away stuff and he won't be able to stop me. He is such a horder. He has assignments from school that he has had filed awya for the past 7 years. Never looked at them, but kept them.. aahh, no longer shall they be.

We might have found a place to rent/buy. It's small but it's cheap. We will live in it until our home is built. We were planning on renting, until we found out our mortgage payment would be $250 a month versus $1000 for rent!!! we will jsut either renting it out when we are done or sell it.

Now this week, since Ethan has been absent, I went looking at show homes. Oh, how i love to do this. I seriously could go daily. I liked alot, apart from one gastly ultra modern, WEIRD spaceage house. I guess i am very traditional!! I found a few plans i really liked, so we will see what happens. Too bad we can't just bu a house already new and built. Also when you are moving to a village of 300 people ( yes 300), then the options are more than limited! But we will get it done.. somehow.

boys will be boys

Wow, Boys for sure are different from girls. Ethan has always climbed everywhere. He's had stitched twice in 6 months, fallen down the steps 3 times in one week. he's had a gooseegg for a month straight becuase he keeps bumping the same spot. He jumps off everything, if you are there to catch him or not. Seriously, my nerves are in tatters. So what do i do???... i sent him to Grandmas for a few days. He's 2 in 2 weeks, and he never spent the night away from me. Since dayna is there during the week, i felt really ok about it, as Dayna would still be with him inthe evenings. I can say, it's been blissful. It was so easy just having the girls. We went to the movies, out to dinner, looked at show homes, played lots. I have missed him like crazy of course, and he comes back tonight, and i can't wait to see him, but it was a wonderful break for sure.
Here are some pics i took last week, of course wearing my shoes!!!

feeling old

me when Ethan was born

the day i went home from my mission ( 1997)

my mission.. LOVED IT!

me @ 16... boy am i glad for CHI products!

me at 12.. look i was skinny LOL

So i am turning 35 in December, and i am starting to feel really old. Today I was thinking, my skin is starting to look old, I have wrinkles and a few grey hairs. I burst of my micro dermerbration machine and scrubbed my skin til it was RED... ooops. My body aches, i swear sometimes bending over and then getting back up i feel like i am 100 years old!! I look back of photos from when i got engaged or my mission, and think, wow, i was 21 there, and 25 there, and now i am 35, where did the time go?? I also remember my mom turning 40 and I thought she was old.. and she was only 23 when she had me.. yikes, am i gonna be the mom at Ethans school where they think i am the Grandma? So, i am feeling sorry for myself. PLUS, it doesn't help, that i have to say i am still trying to lose 30lbs. what the heck is wrong with me. I can't get past this, and i have to, i 100% have to. I do not like how i look, i feel bad. I feel sorry for Dayna i told him he got stuck with the fat old wife ( he's 5 years younger than me)!!

So, a little pity party for me. Why can't we just stay at like 21!! :)

her are a few pics from the past.. fun to look and a little depressing LOL

My first birth as a doula!

This week was so great. I attended my first birth as a Doula. 'E' called me at 6pm, to say she was sure she was in labour, and that her contractions were about 3-4 mins apart but only lasting 20 seconds. so she would call when they became longer and stronger, and things were going well at home. So i headed off to look at the new show homes with my friend Lana. we got thorugh 1.5 homes when the phone rang again. Her husband said they were now 1 minute apart, so i told them i would meet them at home ( she wanted to labour there as long as possible). I went and she was in alot of pain, so we headed to the hosptial. This was at 7pm. Her contractions lasted ALONG time, the poor girl stuck at 5cm for 10 hours!!!! she was a trooper though, and 17 hours later, a beautiful baby girl came to the world. she weighed 8lbs exactly and they named her Ambrosia 'Brosie'. she is as cute as can be. I never thought i would want to see what was happening. I never looked when mine were born but i just happend to be at her feet, helping her push, and saw everything, and i LOVED it. i thought i would be so grossed out, but i wasn't at all, i thought everything looked so much better than i ever imagined! LOL.

I really loved it. i was exhasuted. 17 hours without a break is hard work, but i loved every second, and i was so proud of her!

I can't wait for more to come :)

bedding..oh i love new things!

Well since we are SOOO up in the air about what type of house we are going to build ( yep, we are back to the drawing board), i can't think about it anymore without my head hurting. So for this weekend, i am going to focus on all the lovely new things i am going to buy LOL. Actually the only things i will be buying for the new house is new bedding for us. i decided my sleigh bed set it just fine for now. We need a big boy bed for Ethan and i am getting him this one i think.. LOVE Ikea! lOL

So here are the bedding I am looking at. I want my room black and white, and Dayna will be so happy, since i am English I LOVE colour, so he will be happy that i am not making him paint it some crazy colour. So what do you think? Do you have a favourite, tips, any you have seen you want to share.. go right ahead!

* as of now, i have narrowed it down to 2, but i won't say til everyone has commented, it's fun to see what others would choose*, oh and as lynn pointed out about the colour, i forgot to mention i am painting one wall green, and having green accessories around!

Heidix

we have a house plan!

Well we are still not 100% sure if we are going to build or buy a house in Rosemary. It looks more like we will end up building. Which is overwhelming and scary, but exciting too. After looking over 100 million plans, this is the one we kept coming back too!
http://www.nautahomedesigns.com/houseplan.php?HPID=292&PG=1&PLANNUM=TS165
I am useless with plans, i like to look around show homes and decide what i like and don't. So if any of you are experts and see something that doesn't seem right, PLEASE let me know! lOL I am changing the kitchen so it has a big island.

Ella starts pre-school

Today was the day, i sent my baby girl off to Pre-school. She woke up and was so excited. She ate breakfast, which in itself was good. She got ready in her new clothes, and let me do her hair. It's the same one grace went to, so she knew the teachers, but as soon as she got there, her face dropped. We found her name tag put it on, read a story together and then it was time for us to leave. she didn't cry, but she looked so scared. I kept smiling and waving, and inside i wanted to pick her up and tell them i had changed my mind. I KNOW she will be fine. She needs something, and has outgrown nursery at church, so this will be great for her. doesn't she look adorable!

Jace & Jens wedding.

Dayna's youngest brother Jace was married on Saturday, so an amazing girl. We are so thrilled to have her in our family. I am no longer the only 'in-law' daughter. Jen is from British Columbia, so we travelled there for the wedding. It started Friday, we packed up, and i have to say i was dreading it. 6 hr drive, with 3 kids, and especially Ethan who HATES his car seat, and I am very strict about them keeping in their car seats. We set off, and they did SOO good. Seriously, prayers were heard. The scenery was like nothing i had even seen anything like it. However, i am such a nervous passenger some of the windy roads with the HUGEST drops at the side of the mountain freaked me out!.. WE stayed in a hotel which was a first with the kids, and they loved it. Our room overlooked the pool, so thats all they wanted to do. Which was find with us. We spent alot of time in there.

The wedding was beautiful, Jen looked stunning, and Ella was soo precious, she did an amazing job as flower girl!

yeah for family weddings!