25 Years at The Land

This September will mark 25 years since Terry and Craig bought The Land. They had everyone up for Memorial Day weekend, and since we may not have everyone up there on Labor Day, Craig wanted to take some pictures now. 

25 years ago Craig took a picture of the four kids and he has taken this same picture every five years. I guess you could say this pose is what started it all...

 The family has obviously grown in the last 25 years. Now all of the kids have families of their own.

 Who knows, maybe in 25 years we will take a picture of all of the kids in this same pose.

 We had to document the grandparents with their grandkids

 Terry and Craig with their five grandkids (soon to be six)

 Baby Kenzee and Camden are just three months apart. I don't think you could find two prouder grandmas around!

We did other things at The Land besides stage photos. Terry and Craig invited all their friends up this weekend, and they had over 30 people there. The kids made some new friends, like Cale 

And Alyssa

The kids got to ride the pony. At first the kids were terrified

but once they got more comfortable with the horse, they had a great time.

Old Man Camden got to have his very first ride on the pony.

All three Jones boys fit on the horse at once. I'm sure that will be the one and only time that will happen.

Carson and Colton made a Kay-bugs sandwich.

We did have a scary moment at The Land. There were two horses that were in the pasture and when we tried giving the kids a ride the brown horse kept bugging the white horse, but it was making things scary for the kids because the white horse kept trying to get away from the brown horse. Craig put the brown horse behind the fence, and we started giving the kids their rides. The brown horse started going crazy, and before anyone could do anything the brown horse jumped the fence. The horse didn't quite clear the fence and cut up its leg pretty good. It was bleeding so bad, and we feared it was an artery. Craig called the owner, but in the meantime the horse was limping around, but at least it was walking. The owner came over and took the horse to the vet. Turns out the horse just needed stitches, and it will be fine, but it was a scary moment for everyone.

This little cheese ball was so funny. He was eating his lunch (yep, we give our kids cereal for almost every meal) and he said to me, "mom, take picture of me"

and "watch this, mom!"

We had some hangball tournaments.

Tyler and Bruce took first place

And Deena, Tracy, and Carson took 2nd place

I think the kids' favorite part was throwing rocks in the river.

And for enjoyment, here's some other random pictures of our cuties posing. 

I just love these two kids, and the fact that summer now officially here!

5 Month Preggo pic

So I have been really bad at posting preggo pictures with this little one. It's not that this pregnancy isn't exciting, it's just that I don't feel that "pregnancy glow"... I just feel fat.

I finally felt the baby move a few weeks ago, and I love the feeling and reminder that a little human is growing in my belly. I feel like I am so busy during the day that I rarely feel the baby. But I love when I lie down at night and I feel the baby start to move. I start thinking about if its a boy or girl, and I get all excited just thinking about having another baby in our house.

We had the 20 week ultrasound and baby looked healthy. The baby had its hands and feet up the whole time, so it was kind of hard for the technician to get a good picture, but here's some pictures of our cute little baby at 20 weeks:

We decided to keep the gender a secret, but the technician took a picture and put it in the envelope just in case. All along I didn't really care to know what the gender is, but now that the envelope is sitting on our counter, I just want to open it. I have tried peeking multiple times, but it is sealed up good. The technician said that she figured out the gender pretty quickly, which makes me think we are having a boy, but my inclination is that we are having a girl. I guess we'll just have to wait a few more months to know for sure!

Thoughts on Motherhood on Mother's Day

Mother's day was great this year! I got to sleep in while Tyler took care of the kids and made breakfast. When I finally woke up, the kids and Tyler surprised me with my favorite perfume and flowers for our backyard. The best part, though, was the hugs. 

We had a lot of parties to hit that day. We started out at Terry and Craig's for a bar-b-q. Sadly I didn't get any pictures, but we had so much fun.

Then we headed over to Ryan's for another dinner. I think my mom had a great Mother's day with 6 of her almost 12 grandkids.

And I'm sure my mom loves her kids too... even the ones who live far away and grow Amish beards!

Later that night I realized I didn't get any "cute" pictures of me with the kids, so before bedtime we tried to snap some pictures. My little Princess was all about posing. Gosh I love this girl. She makes my life so happy and complete.

Even when we make silly faces together.

Poor Caden was having a rough night going on just a short nap that day, so he wasn't happy to sit with me and get his picture taken. Even though these two kids are so exhausting some days, I absolutely love being their mom. Kayla and Caden are the best things that ever happened in my life (well, of course marrying Tyler is right up there, too), and I love being their mom!

And of course I love this little nugget growing in my belly. Even though we don't know the gender, I love dreaming about this third baby that will complete our family. I love to feel the flutters at night when I finally lie down to go to sleep. I can't wait until my little baby is here and I can hold him/her in my arms!

Over the last few months Tyler and I have been contemplating me working. I truly love my job. I love teaching and the benefits it gives our family. I really want to work, but not full time. The last three years I have been able to work part time, which I absolutely love! It is the perfect schedule for me and the kids. This  next year working part time wasn't an option at Oquirrh Hills Middle. The principal asked if I wanted to work full time, and I knew with a third baby on the way, that was not what I wanted. I thought about finding another part time job at a different school, but didn't want to create new curriculum while on maternity leave. The option I thought, cried, stressed, and finally felt content with was staying home with my kids. I really struggled with this decision, because a part of me thought I would just be a "stay-at home mom" and that my education and years of teaching were pointless, a waste of talent and hard work. As cheesy as it is, I came across this quote by Barbara Bush that put my situation into perspective:  "At the end of you life you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, or a parent."

So while my life will consist of reading Dr. Seuss, instead of teaching classic novels, playing barbies and balls instead of planning new lessons, cleaning the house instead of grading papers, and having conversations with my kids instead of adults, I look forward to this new change in my life. I know some days will be difficult and that I may wish I was arguing with teenagers instead of a stubborn toddler, but I will look back and realize the little things we did every day together were really the big things that I will look back and remember. So for at least the next year I will pause my career to be a mother. To me, it is not a waste of talent, but the greatest opportunity for me and my kids.

Spring has Sprung!

One of my favorite times of the year is finally here! I love spring when all the flowers and trees start to blossom. The kids and I love to spend time outside playing on the swings and going for walks. Here's our cute kids in front of some of our favorite trees in our front yard. 

 I love this tree right outside of our bedroom window. Every morning I can see the flowers on it, and it just makes me feel like Spring is here!

Which means... our flip-flop summer is just around the corner!

End of April

Have I ever told you how much I love these two? Well I do... a lot! They are both alike in so many ways, even down to their love of ice cream. Here they are sharing a bowl (although I would guess that Caden ended up getting more of it!)

And these three... my goodness they are so stinkin cute! Makayla wakes up early in the morning and she and Tyler eat their oatmeal together. This particular morning Caden woke up early too, and the three of them make for the cutest picture ever! 

 Speaking of Caden... this little boy had it rough in April. I mentioned on the Easter post that Caden was sick. He had a high fever for three days. By Wednesday he was still sick so I took him into the doctor. Turns out he had a double ear infection. I felt so bad for him because I didn't even think about an ear infection because he didn't complain about his ears or cry when he was lying down. The doctor prescribed amoxicillin and we went on our way. In the mean time, Caden was just so tired all the time. He fell asleep in some unusual places, like the kitchen rug...

 We were outside working in the yard one day and Caden disappeared. I came back in the house and found him asleep on his bedroom floor.

 A few days later he was feeling much better, but on the second to last day of his antibiotic, Caden broke out in a horrible rash and hives. It's hard to see, but the rash was all over his body.

 We ended up taking him into the doctor again with a diagnosis of an allergy to amoxicillin and penicillin. Luckily it is not terribly serious, but it is good to know the next time he needs an antibiotic. And through it all, Caden was such a trooper! We are just glad our little boy is feeling better.

In other news, we got a new king sized bed! Tyler and I have been wanting one for years, we have just been too practical to justify it. We finally decided to make the big purchase, and we are so glad we did! We shopped around for a few weeks and finally picked it out. The night before it was delivered we took down the old bed and told the kids that this was the one time in their lives they would be able to jump on the bed. Let's just say all the kids (yep, that includes Tyler) had fun jumping on our old bed.

 And here it is! Seriously, this is the most comfortable bed we have ever slept on. It is so big, and Tyler and I are just getting used to not having to sleep on the edge. Even when one of the kids ends up in bed with us (which happens a lot now-a-days), we still have plenty of room.

To finish off the Month of April, we celebrated my mom's 65th birthday with a bar-b-q at our house. She wanted ice cream sandwiches for dessert so we had to improvise on the cake/candle. I'm sure my mom would prefer to be 3 years old!

To end the post, here's a couple of cute things/sayings of our kids this month: 

-Makayla is in a new phase. She loves to change her clothes multiple times a day. Every night I have to pick up at least 5, some days as many as 10 outfits, a day. I complain about it, but I secretly think it is the cutest thing ever. 

-Makayla is OBSESSED with the movie Frozen. She wants to watch it daily. She has the movie memorized, and likes to act out the part of Elsa. She puts on a single glove and then directs me to play the part of Ana. We also downloaded a few songs from Frozen, and both of our kids run around in circles singing all the lyrics at the top of their lungs.  

-Makayla is understanding more and more that I have a baby in my belly. She has said for a while that she also has a baby in her belly, but now she tells us even more about "Baby Kenzee" in her belly. If you do something that makes her mad, she yells at us, "My baby Kenzee is not going to come out because you are being mean to me!"

-She has also been on a "marriage" kick lately (thanks to Frozen). If she's happy she tells us, "we're going to get marriage!" and if you do something that makes her mad she yells, "I not going to marriage you!"

-Poor Caden has three parents. Makayla has been parenting him a lot lately. Like when we eat dinner, Makayla tells him, "Caden, if you don't eat your dinner all gone, you won't get a cookie!"

-Caden loves to carry around his baby. He takes it with him to Brooke's everyday and to the store. He also insists on sleeping with it every night. 

-Caden's vocabulary is growing everyday. He repeats everything we say. I love to hear all the funny things he tries to say. 

-If you ask Caden how old he is, he holds up all five fingers and says, "Free" (three). So cute, but not even close. 

Can April really be over already? This year is flying by way too fast!

Happy Easter from our little Peeps!

Happy Easter! I love this time of year, and our little "peeps" love it too! 

On Saturday night we set out our Easter baskets in hopes that the Easter Bunny would come and leave us some surprises. 

 Makayla was up early on Sunday morning, but Cader-tot slept in. When he finally woke up we hunted for our baskets. Here's my handsome little man all ready to find his basket.

 We looked all over for the baskets and finally found Makayla's basket upstairs. The Easter Bunny spoiled the kids and got Makayla  her own camera, the Frozen movie, clothes, and a new dress.

 Then we had to go looking for Caden's basket. We looked all over for his and finally found it in the washer. The Easter Bunny is pretty tricky!

 Caden got a new camera, the Toy Story movie, clothes, and new jammies. The kids spent the rest of the morning taking pictures with their new camera and watching movies before we were off to our family parties.

We started out the day at Grandma and Grandpa Evans'. We had the Easter egg hunt and got spoiled with way too many goodies! Seriously, I think we ended up with FOUR, yes four grocery bags full of treats, toys, and practical items (who doesn't love toilet paper?)

 This is the only family picture we got. It isn't the best, but I sure do love my family (especially our little nugget growing in my belly!)

 Remember how I said in the last blog post that this wasn't Caden's weekend? Well he was just not himself the whole day. He insisted on being held the entire time. I can't complain, I was loving the snuggle time, but I felt so bad for him. It turns out he had a double ear infection. Poor kid!

 I must have been preoccupied with filling up my four grocery bag goodies because this is the only picture I got of the rest of the family. I need to do better at taking pictures of people other than my family!

 But how can you resist taking pictures of this Cutie! She was having a blast at the party.

 After the egg hunt we had a yummy ham dinner and strawberry cake, and caught up with the latest gossip with our family.

Then it was off to my Mom and Dad's house for an Easter egg hunt with the Thomas cousins. These four are the only ones who participated in the hunt this year because Ryan's boys were with Amy, and Cole and Hannah think they are too big to hunt for Easter eggs.

 Caden insisted on Grandma Kathy holding him the entire time.

 And Hannah was a great helper with my kids... maybe I like that she thinks she is getting too old now.

 Makayla was cute on this hunt because she wanted to open everyone of her eggs before she would go get another egg. Every time she would open one she would say, "look Mommy, money!"

 The kids got spoiled here, too, and got a lot of money to put in their piggy banks.

After our busy Easter day, the peeps snuggled up together to watch a movie before bed. I love it when they are nice to each other!

Happy Easter!