Survey Says

Tanner's building went into survey and he was gone all week. He was actually home earlier with the survey team being there than he was last week as he was prepping his team. But all went well with survey and we are so proud of Tanner. He is smart and hard working and we support him in his quest to provide for us!

I signed Rayleigh up for a month of pre school through the community center. Courtney signed Mia up too so we took the girls together. Rayleigh was so excited the first day! She got all ready and even tried to wear all her "crowns". She had to say a nice long goodbye to her baby, Ella. When she got to school, she ran right in and made friends! Unfortunately, our sweet little Ray of sunshine just isn't ready for school. She was too rambunctious for the teachers to handle. They said she was very sweet and tried to comfort all the little kids who were crying after their mom's left. They said she was super entertaining too and would say the funniest things like, "Hey! Check it out! It's Rayleigh!" But, she didn't do her worksheet so they didn't let her do the craft. What a bunch of jerks! They said they weren't sure if she was ready for school so I pulled her out. I don't need her feeling like she's in trouble for not sitting and doing a worksheet. To me, she is showing extraordinary character by being kind and lovingly comforting those other kids. I love having her at home, I just want what's best for her. And isn't she so beautiful!?

Jack is still my most entertaining child. He is talking up a storm and is so sweet and kind. He apologizes a million times whenever he gets in trouble and laughs so easily. He is quick to listen and obey and loves when I sit down and play with him. His "go-to" pretend game of choice is me following him with a car or airplane and us "talking" to each other as we walk around the house or back yard. He's the cutest.

MY favorite game, "Let's pretend we are taking a nap". They seriously play this game all the time.

I had to give Jack my phone when we picked up Rayleigh from school so he would sit quietly in the stroller as I talked to the teachers. Poor Jack.... he took this picture. It's like he's saying, "The park is so close.. and yet, so far."

It's still been pretty hot and I still can't get in the pool but it was nice to sit out back with the kids the other day while they splashed around.

So obviously, I've been trying to get back into a routine, sign the kids up for school/classes, work on our weaknesses, and have fun! They have open gym on Wednesday mornings at the Talent Factory so I took the kids and we were the only ones there! It was so great! They ran around and jumped on the trampoline and showed me all their cool tricks! It was so fun! They can't wait to go back and the best part is hearing them try to pronounce "gymnastics". Love it!

"Ahoy! Look mommy! I'm a pirate!"

Another favorite is hide and seek!

After gymnastics we picked up Parker and headed down to my mom's. I had a wound check because my incision opened up. I was really upset about it but it turns out that its ok, it's just going to take forever to heal.When I took my Rx to CVS, the kids thought I was at a fast food restaurant and started ordering chicken and chocolate milk. When I told them we were at the pharmacy, Jack said, "Oh! The cow says moo!" Get it? FARM-acy! This day happened to be Brody's 4th birthday and Jon had asked my mom to babysit. So I stayed to avoid evening traffic and the kids all played! They dressed up in my mom's costumes and we ate spaghetti in the backyard. We sang Happy Birthday to Brody and then we all went to Chuck E Cheese! We thought it would be empty on a Wednesday night but it was NOT. It was packed! My mom and I make a great team though and the kids had fun despite our dislike for Chuck E Cheese. Parker scored a ton of tickets and came home with an obnoxious toy. I showered the kids at my mom's house and then we headed home and straight to bed. We didn't get home until 9pm! Late night for us!

Can you even handle how cute Jack is?

Thursday was hard. I cried and talked to Kari who suggested I cut myself some slack and get some Wendy's for dinner. I'm wearing my #momlife shirt which was totally appropriate. I love my kids so hard. So hard it hurts sometimes. And I love my big sissy so much!

Sometimes at night, I let Rayleigh feed the baby a bottle while I'm brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed. She LOVES it and she's actually really really good at it. She props the bottle and makes sure Ella is getting the milk. She is sweet to her and sings her songs and talks softly to her. It's adorable. Well, this night Jack had brought her the phone to show her a game and I had to snap a picture! She looks like a millennial mom for sure! ha ha

Ella has them all whipped.

Parker is my best little helper. He likes to burp her. They are all relaxing right before bed, waiting for Daddy to come home and say goodnight.

WOW. So this popped up the other day. Still the cutest kid on the block.

My nature loving girl. Too bad we have fake grass. Give this girl some dirt or sand or rocks or sticks or leaves and she's in heaven!

I love these people. We make a good team.

The kids are getting super excited for the holidays so the other day we practiced trick or treating at our door. Then I remembered I had some chocolate bunnies I'd hidden away at Easter because I didn't want them on a sugar high for church. So I hid them in the play room and they used play binoculars to find them! They were so stoked to find and eat chocolate bunnies! Now they ask every day for the Easter Bunny to come over.

The. Best.

I finally busted out all of the bows I have for the baby. Only 50 of them... no big deal.

Ella is by far our most smiley baby. Most babies smile around 6 weeks and anything before that is typically caused by gas or extremely rare. This girl smiles all day long. Every day. She is the sweetest!

The girls. She was watching Rayleigh's fingers.

This was Ella's one month birthday. She has her first boyfriend, her Daddy. Tanner took the kids to church and they all did great! We've been having some issues with Rayleigh being wiggly in primary which is a distraction to the other kids and hard for the teacher to handle. Well, we had such an out pouring of love when I mentioned my concerns for the sunbeam class and the way they had been handling Rayleigh. She had a great Sunday which did my Mamma heart good. Audrey helped in her class and she said that at one point she gave Mabel a hug and said, "You're my best friend." then paused and said, "... in the whole world."

Ella is still in newborn clothes and diapers. She sleeps most of the time and loves to hang out with me in the Solly wrap. When she cries, she immediately stops when I pick her up and will sleep 6 hours at night. I still love to co sleep but I've been putting her in the Rock and Play recently. She makes the sweetest sounds when she's on the floor playing and has the strongest neck strength of any newborn I've ever known. Everyone comments on her fuzzy hair and it looks like it's getting lighter. Her eyes are blue and they look like they are staying that way! We are smitten with this precious princess!

My goal for this next year is to take a family picture every Sunday. While Tanner was at his meetings, I set up the tripod and the camera, got the kids ready, and made sure we were all set to take a picture right when he got home. He had to run home and grab the kids and rush back to church to make it on time. Well, the first take is my favorite but poor Tanner cut off his head! The next 2 aren't too bad. They don't have to be perfect, but it will be neat to see how our family grows and changes this next year.

My sweet sisters came over for dinner and to see little Ella after church! Kari and Cami are the BEST big sisters! They are ALWAYS there for me and always make me feel so special and loved. I wanted to make the most of my "sister" time so I told Tanner we were going to hide away in my room and chat for a few minutes before they had to head home. Sweet Parker brought us each a bowl of ice cream and had it all on a tray and everything. He's just THE. BEST. I absolutely LOVED having them come to see me. Sister time does NOT happen nearly enough. I am so blessed with the best family in the whole wide world!!!!

We usually have the babies sit in their high chairs when they eat to contain the mess (or at least TRY to) But we wanted to all sit together at the table. They thought this was super cool and they also made a super big mess. But it was worth it. They looked so cute.

Kari held Ella so I could finish eating and clean up a little bit. Cami helped with the dishes. I mean, I can't even remember the last was that we got to hang out without our kids running around. Obviously mine were with me but it made a huge difference not having Kari and Cami's kids around. We could actually TALK!  ha ha

Best Sisters Forever!

We love our Sunday evening swims. I called Kim and got caught up with her as I sat outside with my cute little family. Or big family, I guess. Have we crossed over? I feel like 4 kids is so manageable... Ella loves the water and they love when she joins them in the hot tub! Maybe next time I'll make sure and get everyone in a swim suit...

Jack has never ever had a hair cut and I'm not planning on cutting those sunshine tendrils anytime soon. But the other day I did give him a man bun....

This boy loves his Daddy. This was Monday and Tanner was not too quick to get up and go to work since Survey was over and he'd been working so hard. Jack didn't make it any easier for him to feel motivated to get up. ha ha

That night he slipped home a little early and we all worked in the yard for FHE. I'm loving the cooler temps at night! Jack was absolutely adorable following Tanner around with his little toy lawn mower. He loves that thing and loves to play "gardener." 

Avid rolly polly hunter

Baby Ella never leaves my arms, and I love it.

After the yard work was done and we ate dinner, Parker made us a little FHE treat and gave us a lesson on "What's good on Sunday Sundaes!"

It was National Cheeseburger day so I tried to make little cheeseburger patties but I pretty much didn't know how. OOOPS! And I kinda burned the fries. And Parker made the crescent rolls... and we kinda ran out of fruits and veggies. So maybe we should have just gone to Wendy's???

Well, my life is pretty much heaven. I love my family and my sweet baby. I love my house and my hard working husband. I love my friends and my awesome ward. I'm going to keep trying to establish a routine for the kids and I. I want to be more diligent about teaching them the gospel at home, singing primary songs, reading the Friend, reading the scriptures... as well as crafting and working on secular skills. I'm excited for the holidays, too! This year is going to be so fun!