Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to tell my good-looking hubby Happy Father's Day! Our kids couldn't ask for a better dad. If for some reason you're not spending as much time as you want with them it is because you are working way to hard to provide everything for us. You are such an amazing guy! I can't believe how hard you work for us and how much you really do love us. Thank you for all that you do.

Peyton Turns 1!

Happy Birthday to my little sweetheart! It seems like such a miracle that we've got to have you part of our family for the last year. After losing not one but two babies your dad and I had resolved that having another baby wasn't in the cards for us. We didn't let your brothers and sister know that we were expecting you right away. We didn't want them to be sad in case we lost you. Bailey even said one day that if we had a baby and it was a girl she should be named Peyton. Dad and I just looked at each other and knew we were expecting, and that your name would be Peyton if you were a girl, and smiled. We had such a good feeling about you! I had a bad dream one night that daddy brought me a baby girl from heaven. The bad part was that daddy was in heaven too. We were VERY nervous up until we had you. Once we had you in our arms we couldn't quite believe we actually had you here. We had you at 11:00 am and brought you home that night at 10:00pm. We couldn't get over how chubby you were. You weighed in at 9 pounds! Of course you lost weight right away and have been a little runt ever since. Your first tooth appeared at five months right around the time you were learning to sit up! You started to crawl at six months and last month started walking! You are such a smart, happy, beautiful baby. We LOVE you soooo much! Happy Birthday Peyton!

Aunt Amber made you this ADORABLE cake!

My Little Players

The boys baseball seasons are finally over. Easton played his last year of t-ball/coach pitch. Caleb played his first year of Peewee. While Easton is fun to watch no matter what he's doing I must admit the older league was a bit funner to watch. Caleb's team was younger but managed to annihilate every other team. Caleb was nervous about the pitching machine at first, but by the end of the season had good solid hits every time. it was so fun to actually see the boys make real plays. Who knew that kids could actually catch the ball when thrown to first? I'm excited that next year both boys will be playing on the same team. They are really starting to enjoy playing sports now that they understand the games more. Next up soccer season. Now if only Bailey ever had a break from cheer...

Hawaii!!!

Mat and I finally got a vacation for the two of us only. We love having the kids and are not deprived of vacationing by any means but it was nice to just have the two of us. Originally we planned a trip to Cancun. We never felt that great about it from the beginning. The week we were scheduled to leave was the week of the swine flu outbreak. We took it as a great way to feel good about not going. We rescheduled for Maui. Our trip was delayed a month so we were very anxious to go. We had been saving spare change in our little jar and were able to do some fun things. We rented jet skis, rented bikes to bike down Haleakala ( a 34 mile volcano ride ), got massages, and had one night where we treated ourselves to a spendy dinner. The weather was a bit warm but the beaches were beautiful. Mat had a great time snorkeling and I fended off crabs from my beach towel. We missed our kids too much and kept thinking how much they'd enjoy everything we did. We love our home and are so happy to be back safe and sound with big hugs from our kiddos. Aloha!

My Little Ballerina

This weekend was Bailey's ballet recital. Mat and I have been going back and forth wondering if we should have her continue to take ballet. Before her dance even began you could see it in Mat's eyes. I asked him halfway through her dance if he wanted to stop the lessons. He very quietly replied I never do after I see her dance. Bailey has been in dance since she was first potty trained and we have loved watching her going from shaking her hiny to becoming a very graceful dancer. The picture above is from her 1st recital. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. She seems to be talented at anything she tries. We feel very fortunate to have this special little girl bless our home.

My Mother's Day

I really don't want to be a braggart but I'm going to be one anyways. I had such a wonderful Mother's Day. So much better than the first one after I had Bailey. That one ended in a big fight and Mat (of all people) running on the store on Sunday to appease his wife and get me a gift.

My morning started off fantasitc. Breakfast in bed. Not just any old breakfast because I'm not a breakfast person, but a platter of fruit and picked peas from the garden. Along with flowers and gifts from the dollar store from the kids. So sweet. I did get a little frustrated while getting the kids ready for church. Mat didn't want me to have to do much so he got all of the kids and himself bathed and let me sleep in. Of course that meant no hot water for me. :( Then, as I was looking for a shirt for Bailey I noticed Mat had done some laundry and washed Peyton's $68.00 dress that was dry clean only. BTW of course I didn't pay that much! It was one of my favorite though that I was planning on hanging onto regardless of the fact that we aren't having more kids. Then we went to church. I was tense from the dress incident and as we got to church on time I realized Peyton wasn't wearing shoes or socks. I drove like a madman home and realized her shoes were in the car so I went back to church and one had fallen out. I quickly got over it though hearing Mat speak in church about the tender moment that I became a mom and realized the other stuff just didn't matter. We had a fabulous lesson on motherhood in Relief Society, followed by massages from all the kids and Mat when we came home. The kids let me take a nap while they made an excellent and beautiful dinner. I was a little disappointed thinking Mat hadn't gotten me anything but a card. Inside the card however, was cold hard cash, with a note saying to have fun at the what women want expo. The day was complete with visiting our own wonderful mothers and talking to Mat's little sister in Argentina. Can't everyday be Mother's Day? I am so truly blessed. :)

We must be doing something right after all...

So the other night we were pulling into the driveway after Caleb's baseball game. Caleb looked quite mischievous when he told Mat and I we should go lay on the hammock and relax while Easton and he "played". Now, if this had been Easton concocting something we would have stayed close by but after all it was Caleb, and he did give us a free pass to relax undisturbed. We opted for going inside however. It was 50 degrees and very windy. After a while we figured we better go assess the damages. When we came out we were pleasantly surprised to see Caleb washing Mat's truck! He looked like he was freezing! He smiled and said it wasn't cold. We praised him for being such a sweet kid and that's when Easton (who was completely dry) chimed in that he helped too. My day before had certainly been a rough one so this was such a nice way to start the weekend off. Thank you Caleb for being such a great kid and example to others. We love you!