Celebrate Good Times

This weekend was an eventful one for me. On Saturday it was my 26th birthday. Ben said "you're over the hump and on you're way to being 30" YIKES!! I had a great birthday! Ben took me to Johnny Carinos for lunch and then we went and bought me a new jogging/bike stroller. After that we came home and went on a bike ride, ate cake and watched movies together. It was fun. My kids of course always make my birthday more fun. Emily kept saying "Mom, happy!" That was good enough for me!

On Sunday it was Mother's Day of course and we celebrated it at my Mom and Dad house. We had a BBQ and all of my family was there. I am grateful to be a Mom. It can be challenging, frustrating, maddening and many other things all at the same time. And then one second later it can be so sweet, rewarding, and joyful. For example, the other night Emily was being naughty and I wasmaking her sit on my lap and talk to me then she made this funny noise that made me laugh and I couldn't stop laughing. Everytime we looked at each other we would laugh more. She is one of my best friends, even though we butt heads sometimes and she is only 2. then there is Caleb who is just so cuddly and cute. Today I was talking to my sister and he was just grinning at me because he thought I was talking to him. I am glad he thought that because I love his smiles!!! I love being a Mommy! And I also love and respect the Moms in my life. My mom and sister are 2 of my very best friends. They cheer me up when I am sad and also make me laugh so hard I cry! They are great examples to me and make me want to be a better person. I am also so thankful for Ben's mom!! She is beyind wonderful!! After I had Caleb she stayed and helped me. She never complained even though I am sure there were times when she wanted to! She was more help than I could ever ask for and I just love her so much!!

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Me, Mom, Amber (my sister)

Grandma Empey, Mom, Amber and Caleb

Having some Mother's Day fun...baseball!!

Dad

I would like to dedicate this one to Courtney...

Let the good times roll!! I added a song on my playlist just for my wonderful sis-in-law....we miss you and hope you are doing good....by the way does Miley ring a bell? Love ya!

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Reflections of Christ

My friend Chelsea...(thanks Chelsea) sent me this link and it is simply beautiful!! I watched this after a long day (and night) alone with me kids. So being exhausted it of course made me cry! It is well worth the 5 minute it takes to watch. It just makes me think of how grateful I am for the gospel!!

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

Catchin' some smiles

Caleb is now starting to smile...yeah!!! It is hard to get a picture, but we managed. I love the hair in this one...it is out of control!

Caleb's Blessing Day

Yesterday we blessed Caleb. It was a beautiful day and we were able to have almost all of our family here. Ben gave Caleb a really beautiful blessing! I am so glad I married that boy, he is such a wonderful husband and daddy!! After the blessing we got together and had yummy sandwiches and salads. It was fun to sit around and talk with everyone and have them in our home! caleb was going to wear Ben's blessing outfit but he is too chubby to fit it, so I had to buy one. I thought he looked like the most handsome little blonde hair, blue eyed boy, I have ever seen!

Here are some family pictures we took before church...

Just another day in paradise!

Buddies!! I love to see Ben and Caleb together because they look so much alike! I love the look Caleb is giving Ben.

Emily loves Caleb! It is so much fun to see Emily want to kiss, hold or simply take care of "baby"! Today she went in my room and got a blanket out of the laundry basket and went and covered Caleb up. Very cute!

I thought this was really funny! Whenever Caleb sleeps he totally sacks out! He also loves his swing, so he was is heaven!

This is my cute little niece Taylor. When we were in Utah Caleb starting crying and she went over and started talking to him and he stopped crying. Ever since that day she is just sure that the reason he cries is because he misses her and wants her to hold him.

Lights, Cameras, Action!

So we are finally back from SLC! I haven't drove there by myself in over 5 years, yes I am a chicken, but my mom and I made it there alive on Tuesday night! The shooting of Mystery Diagnosis was a little harder and more time consuming than I thought, but it was fun to help my sister out! On Wednesday I watched my sister do alot of silly acting, but none of it was really as funny as I thought it would be, mainly because she was reinacting events that were serious and sad. Caleb was such a good sport though, he had to cry alot and be a little sleep deprived the first day. At the end of the day I think we all were ready to hit the sack!

On the second day we spent the whole day at Primary Children's Hospital. Being there again was a little weird especially for Amber and James...you both are the strongest people I know!! Caleb dressed up like a baby girl again (poor kid) and we hooked him up to a couple machines and the shooting began. He was a great little actor...at times James even called him an over actor (He did the crying scenes very well)! At one point I even got to stand next to my sister and pretend to be praying--which we did alot of when Averi was in the hospital.

So overall I now have 2 famous children and one extrodinary famous sister! She did great! I have a new respect for Amber because seeing Caleb have to act like a sick baby was very scary and almost more than I could handle, luckily I knew it was just pretend.

We also just recently had Stake Conference and I actually took something from it! Ben, Caleb and I went to the adult meeting on Saturday night. The speakers talked alot about the importance of family. Jeffery R. Holland said "We don't bear children to raise them, we bear them to save them." This hit home for me. I vowed after that to be a better mommy to my two little babies! We are trying harder to spend time as a family, so we'll see how it goes this week.

Family picture

Ben's Grandma took this picture and I love it even though you can't see Caleb's face. It is so much fun to have a family. We are going to SLC this week because my kids are acting in a Mystery Diagnosis Episode (see Amber and Jamed blog for more details). I am excited, and I hope they do Taylor and Averi justice. I am more excited to see my sister have to reinact scenes from her life. It will be hard not to laugh!!!!!

Some cute kids.....

Here are some cute pictures I took the other day of Caleb and Emily. (Sorry about the blur)

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Song for a fifth child....

Well Caleb had his first doctor's appointment on Thursday. He is growing so fast...mostly horizontally! He has already gained over 2 pounds and he is only 4 weeks old. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 9 oz. on Thursday. I guess I need to gain more muscule in my arms so I can keep up with his growth! The Dr. calls him his little surfer dude, which he pretty much looks like. I might spoil him a little too much by holding him alot, but they grow way too fast and I don't want to miss a second of it! I learned alot from Emily and now things are more relaxed and I have leanred to "let them be little" and just enjoyed them. My mom is always quoting part of this poem to me...

"Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

"Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

"Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby. Babies don't keep.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
(first appeared, Ladies Home Journal, October 1958 as "Song for a Fifth Child")

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This poem is so sweet and so true! Emily has already grown WAY too fast and I have forgot alot of things she did. So this time around I know better than get all caught up in the small things! This is my soap box for the day.....