Our little graduate...

We are so proud of Rian! She has come such a long way. The first couple of months in kindergarten were hard for her. She had her share of meltdowns, even being sent to the office once for screaming at the whole class to "be quiet so I can think!", and such a fear of being walked in on that she wouldn't use the bathroom. She quickly got over those issues and climbed her way to earning a spot as one of the top in the class. She is reading beautifully and knows many math problems. She even gave me a "test" the other night, which I got a "Z+" on (all of my answers were correct, but I wasn't supposed to circle them!). Great job Rian- we are proud of you!!!

Rian with her classmate and very best friend, Ava. Also with good friend Brady, and cousin Cameron.

11 Years & Counting!

Happy Anniversary, baby! I love you!

...and my life is complete!

My poor daughter. All Dakota wants right now is a dog. She begs us morning, noon and night. She can literally think of nothing else. She has had her dad sign a contract promising to get her one if he makes "alot of money" next year (that amount never was specified-he's found a loophole), she checks craiglist daily and has even searched "cheap dogs for sale" on google. I have tried to explain to her that the price of the dog isn't the entire issue, but she doesn't quite hear me. So today she drafted herself a "to do" list. And here it is...

• Go count money
• Go on craigslist
• Look for dog
• Beg dad for dog
• Get the dog
• Show Kailee
• Run away with Kailee and the dog (when asked, she told us this actually meant run away from Kailee's little brother because he always bugs them)

I explained to her that if we did get a dog, we would probably just go to the pound and try to rescue one. So, being the little perfectionist that she is, she came up with a new "to do" list...

• Go to pound
• Find a dog I want
• Go home and play with the dog
• Find a place for it to sleep
• Find a few things for the dog
• Name the dog
• AND MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!
  

Tonight when we went into her room for scripture and prayer, she was listing all the things a dog would need so that she knows just how much money she'll have to earn. It's so irritating, but she is starting to wear me down. I'm about to give in just to shut her up!!! Unfortunately, Dave isn't quite there yet. He isn't home enough to get as annoyed as myself. Any suggestions?

Happy to be a Mother!

"Making the decision to have a child- it's momentous.
It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body."
-Elizabeth Stone

Happy Mother's Day!

What a weekend!

This weekend, my sister Megan and her husband Chris welcomed a new baby to their family! Because my parents were in Virginia celebrating my baby sister's graduation (CONGRATS, BREE!), I was chosen, by default, to go to California and help out with my 2 year old neice, Emma. The flight there was very difficult. Jack wasn't quite cooperating for the 30 mins that we got to sit on the plane waiting for them to change the busted tire (apparently they don't notice those things until you are already boarded!). He decided to take out his aggressions on the pour souls around us. First repeatedly and violently kicking the seat directly in front of us, and the legs of the two wonderful people on either sides of us (I really couldn't have asked for nicer strangers to sit next to). When I tried to restain his legs, and arching his back and screaming at the top of his lungs didn't work, he decided to chuck his FULL bottle of milk over the seat and at the heads of the men in front of us. I was literally dripping beads of sweat by the time we took off! He absolutely crashed as soon as we hit the air and slept the entire flight. I didn't dare move my body an inch for fear of waking him up, so by the time we landed I couldn't feel my arm! So worth it! Here are pics from our time in Cali...




Now for the trip home... much better! I let Jack run crazy for about 30 minutes through the terminal. He tripped a few people but I just didn't care at that point. He did great on the plane and I was feeling better about myself as a mom. People on the plane gave me lots of nice compliments and the flight attendant even gave me "kudos". We landed around 8:30pm and as I walked through the terminal with my head held high and pride in my face I glanced over to see my handsome husband and two beautiful daughters. Oh no wait, those are orphans. No no, they are my daughters! Picture this... hair not combed for 3 days, wearing their JAMMIES, Rian with a tattoo on her forehead (thanks, mom) and NO SHOES!!! I was so embarassed I couldn't even make myself greet them with a hug and kiss. I walked 5 feet behind them the entire way out to the garage. Oh, and Dakota had to use the restroom before we left- gross!