Big Brother

How can you not LOVE this boy? He is the sweetest thing. Our family has been battling being sick for a month now. Last week, Cami was hit pretty hard by a cold. All she wanted to do was lay on the couch. Grant informed me that he was her big brother, and he needed to take care of her. I LOVE that he is so awesome with his sisters, and that he treats them well.

Well, most of the time

Kara's 4 months

I realize that she will be 5 months in 2 days, but I wanted to put up some things that she is now doing. I forgot how quickly they change, and she too is no different. Novemeber 30th, she rolled for the first time. She knew what she wanted to do, and did. The next day, she started going from her tummy to her back. Again, she knew she wanted to roll, and she did it.

I took her in for her 4 month check up last week and she was 12 pounds 13 oz, 23 inches long. I haven't enjoyed the kids doctor down here, and so I took her to a new dr, and all I can say is I love him so much more!

She is still pretty cranky, and wakes up every 2-3 hours during the night. But she does have some good moments during the day. Her hair looks like it is coming in, and it appears to be a strawberry blond. I just look at her, and think, WOW, she does look a lot like me. Hopefully, she won't be the handful that I was.

We love having her around. I'd say Kara loves me the most (so sad, right ;D) and then loves LOVES Grant. But she is getting better with Mark and Cami. Mark is sitting behind me and commented that she tolerates him. I love it! Happy 4 months!

2nd annual Black Frid.... I mean Thursday

OK, this just makes me sad. I feel so bad for the employees who have to work earlier and earlier each year on Black Friday, because of, well me! This year I wasn't going to go, but thought, oh why not?? And SO my wonderful husband agreed to go with me! He even bought us hot chocolate!

They had 2 things (1 thing for each kid) that we wanted to get. So we seperated, and waited. Mark was a good sport about it all.

We had to take Kara with us. Though, I was VERY judgeful of those parents last year who brought their kids out with them, Kara is a really fussy baby and it make me nervous to leave her with people, even Grandma :(. Surprisingly, she did amazing!!! And I have yet to hear from CPS about it, HA HA HA!!!

I did work Friday morning at 4 AM. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, other than being really sick. But then again, I really like my side job.

Here's to another Black Frid.... Thursday!!!

Memories in the making

I'm not sure when, but a few years ago my mom gave me her old bike. And we took it, hoping to get it repaired (it just needs new tires). But it has just sat in the barn. Out of sight, out of mind totally rings true in this case. When we moved, I saw it, and I so badly want to take it for a ride. Maybe we will get a trailer for the girls to ride in for Christmas.

However, last Saturday Mark wanted to start working on cutting down the trees on our property. Naturally the kids had to be where dad is, and I secretly love being near him too ;) I started riding my mom's old bike around, and Cami wanted to go for a ride so bad...

So I started working on different things.

Note:
*I lived my childhood being unsupervised and doing crazy things like this ALL the time, and I'm still around ;)

*Cardboard boxes only work on snow

*It is NOT as easy as it looks

Note:
*We had a great time laughing and trying to figure out how to make it go

*Riding lawn mowers (without the blade going) works great when you put the kids in the trailer

*This was a great memory in the making!

Halloween 2011

What kind of mother am I?? A week before Halloween, it FINALLY dawned on me that my kids are going to need to dress up. This isn't the kind of thing I can write off, now that Grant is in school, and knows what's going on. I so badly want to be the creative mother, and come up with a really awesome custome for the kids... yeah, that didn't happen. I rushed them out and had them pick out what they wanted to be.

Grant naturally saw Thomas, and nothing else mattered. But he was excited, so how could I say no?? Halloween day was the best day Grant has had so far. It was filled with going to school, and celebrating there in his pj's. When he got home, we headed into town and spent the rest of the evening at the Maroney's.

Cami could have cared less about what she was. But I'll admit, she made the cutest minnie mouse. Ever. Cute. Cute. Cute!

We (Mark, Shelby, Morgan, and myself) took the kids out trick or treating. Kara decided early on that she did NOT like Halloween, and was upset almost the entire night. So I stayed back and tried to keep her calm. Didn't work, at all.

Overall, the kids had a great time. I am so glad that my kids are getting older and starting to understand these things better. Kendi, I have been working on enjoying the moment. Life's a little different now. Try it ;)

Missing life on the Blog

A few weeks ago, I received an email from my Aunt, expressing her desire to know more about what was going on in my life; since there really hasn’t been a trace of me on here. I must admit, life has not “felt” easy for a few months. I know, I have been blessed and things are going the way they are supposed to go. I, however, have been battling (and still am) the worst postpartum depression. I won’t go into it, but it has been bad, and I even, well told Mark I was done and leaving the next day. It’s not fair, and I wish there was a quick fix. But I am trying to get through this, day by day.

So in the misted of this dark cloud in my life, everything in my life changed. Drum roll please……

We purchased our first home! Let me tell you, once we were moved in and everything else was done at the other house, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I love being here. It is very spacious, and CLEAN! No matter how much I cleaned the house we were renting, it never felt clean to me. I love the extra space here. We are slowly finding a place for everything. I am excited about the 4 acres, and what we can do to it. But setting it on fire is NOT an option, lol. I love having more than one bathroom, three full baths to be exact! To put it into words, I just feel home. We had been interested in 2 other homes before this one. The first home was good, and I “liked it” but the well wasn’t right. The 2nd home we looked at, I really “liked” until we got into it, and it was just set up funny and I couldn’t picture where to put our furniture. But again, the well wasn’t right and the bank wouldn’t approve it. The day after looking at the 2nd home, Mark was online and saw a home that looked promising, and it was a brand new listing… So we headed out and peeked through the windows. As soon as I saw it, I was way giddy, but refused to get excited because of the previous 2 homes. Plus being a new listing, who knew what was happening with it. So I contacted our realtor and told her that we wanted to put in an offer, without being “really” inside. I was able to walk through it, but Mark had to work. I fell in love. Grant walked into a room and told Sister Clayton that this was his room… He had never done that to any other homes. Regardless, we put in an offer and they counter, and we accepted it. As I sit here, looking at our beautiful views, I know this was meant to be our home.

With getting a home, I decided I should be a little proactive about things. I decided I wanted to get a part time job. I could have gone back to the hospital, but then the kids would have to go to a baby sitter. As Mark and I talked about it, we decided that retail would be the best thing. That way I could go to work in the evening 3 times a week, and we could have extra income to help with the things we want to do to the house. It ended up being a great thing, since we were misled on how much money we were getting back. Either way, it gives me a break and allows me to socialize with adults. Plus there is no stress and they work with me on my schedule. I honestly CAN NOT wait for black Friday, this time it won’t be me looking stupid =D.

Anyways, I love my new home. And I am excited about it, and the potential the land has! I’m sure more is to come about this new adventure ours!!

There is a fireplace in the front room. The living room, dinning room and kitchen are just one big OPEN area. Love love love it!!

The kitchen is very open, with a breakfast bar!! I love it because I can put my lap top up on the counter and follow recipes without getting it dirty or running back and fourth!

PS. Everything out here is larger... I can wait to see a snake!

Safety Fair

One of the things I love about living in Sierra Vista, is that they do due a lot activites through out the year. Yesterday we (my mom and I) were able to take the kids to a saftey fair at the mall.

The kids LOVED the helicopter!! But they were also able to go into a "smokey building" and learn what to do if there's a fire. It was just cute to watch them with all the different activities.

2 months!

Kara is now 2 months old!! Now it seems like time is flying by a little faster, which makes me sad. We still struggle with sleeping at night, but we are slowly working on getting better!!

She had her doctors appointment on Friday and weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces, which is 50%. I was surprised because she spits up so much!! But the doctor didn't seemed worried. She had a good check-up, including shots, which wasn't so fun. But much to my surprise, she is doing really well with them. I have to take her to get some labs done, and I am not looking forward to that. I have never had to have this done, so I'm very nervous!

She is also slowly becoming a more happy, and content baby. She had a hard time adjusting to life in the beginning, but she is getting better. She loves to smile at me, and being held. She is starting to coo, which I had forgotten how much I love listening to that!!

Overall, she is a good baby, and we all love having her with us, especially Grant!!! I can't keep him away from her!!! =)

Hip Hip HORRAY!!!!!!!!

I really wasn't expecting this!!! But she clearly had other plans...

My baby girl is potty trained!!!!!!!!!

Labor Day weekend!

As I mentioned in a previous post, Kara's blessing day fell on Labor day. Which was good in some ways, and not so good because some people already had plans. My family has gone camping in the past, but since everyone has moved away, it has stopped. So this past Labor day, Mark borrowed a camping trailer from a friend and we had my parents trailer down here and they were all able to semi-camp. HA! I am glad that they came down. My kids LOVED having Marcus around to play with!

Megan and Crispin came down Saturday early afternoon. The kids ran, and ran, and ran! They didn't stop until it was time to go to bed.

I am so glad we have land where we can do different things. Saturday night, the men made dutch oven chicken and potatoes. After, we let the kids make s'mores. Oh my, it was a good night!!! I wish they could have stayed longer, but I'm glad they made it at least for one night!!

Kara's Blessing

I've tried sitting down a few times to blog about Kara's blessing. But it ends up being short. I figure, oh well. We had a great weekend, and it was a great to watch Mark bless her. I'm so blessed to be married to a man who is worthy of the preisthood and who also has a strong testimony! Thank you Mark for being so wonderful!!

Pretty sad that these are the few pictures I have of Kara in her blessing dress!! I guess I had better take some more before she out grows the dress... which she may have already done!!

It was nice to have my parents and Megan's family here. It makes me miss the rest of my family, but I am glad they traveled to be here! And I'm also grateful for the Maroney's, who are always supportive and here to help!!

One Month

Kara is 1 month!! It hasn't flown by. We are still learning about each other, and getting adjusted to life. These past 2 weeks have been better, and she is starting to be more on a schedule. But I'd like to state that she has a pair of lungs, and BOY does she use them!!

On Friday, she offically smiled at me for the first time!! Oh it melted my heart and made the struggling more doable. She is getting use to this crazy world, and in return, isn't as fussy. Although, she is like her brother, and does not like to sleep! Cami we could just put down and she would be out. I have to work with Kara to get her to pass out. Oh the joys of newborns =)

Preschool

Grant had been put down on a waiting list for the school districts preschool. They called me a week before school started to let me know that Grant could attend! I was so excited, and Grant, well he was off the walls!!

The school provides a bus ride to and from school every day! When I'd ask him if he wanted me to take him for his first day, he told me, "No Mom, I want to ride the bus." And so I let him. He wasn't even scared!!

They had a meet the teacher day, and we took him. He walked in and introduced himself to everyone in the class, and wanted to know their names. He is so going to be my future school president!!

I am so upset!! I took a ton of pictures with my camera, but when I downloaded them, they weren't there!!! So I guess this is the picture I get to keep to remember his first day of preschool!

Rain

I realize I've been laggin' with my blog, but it seems there is so much else I need to do, but that stuff never gets done either! So here is my attempt to get a few post up!

Every day, Cami and I go outside to wait for the bus to drop Grant off. These past few days have been really stormy about the same time. Yesterday, we went out and watched the rain. Cami was so happy when it finally stopped!! Because mommy let her do this.......

She's cute, how can you tell her no all the time??

Last, but not least

I would suppose that the story began Tuesday. I went to my doctors appointment and had told her about my contractions. To my surprise, she told me that if I was having more than 5/6 an hour, to go to the hosptial, and she would do a c section then... in her words, "why wait?". This made me excited, and it also stopped all the contractions!

On Thursday, I woke up and started on the house. Much to my surprise, I was able to get almost all of it clean, and it was a deep clean. I texted Mark and a few other people telling them that the baby could come, because the house was ready... One reply was, well you better have it in the next 24 hours or follow your kids around for the next 5 days. Which was completely true! That night Mark and I watched a movie, and I began noticing the contractions. They didn't hurt, but they were 5/6 an hour. I waited 3 hours and around midnight I woke Mark up and told him to call his mom.

She came out and we headed to the hospital. When I got there they put me in triage and had me wait... and the contractions kept coming, and coming. Around 5 (by this point I was upset because I could have stayed home, and let Mark sleep) it was sounding like they were going to be sending me home. I will admit it, I was annoyed beyond anything!!! I already had an IV in, and I was ready to have this baby!!

They had a nurse change and the new nurse told me she wanted to put us into a room, so that we could rest. We weren't being admitted, but she felt bad. So around 6:30 we were put into a private room. Not long after my doctor showed up. She was hung go, and said let's have a baby. Great, right?? Yeah, I began to panic and get extremely nervous. Mark was a rock, and tried to calm me down.

At 8:30 I walked into the OR, and once I had the spinal block, I was at ease. Kara Beth Maroney was born at 8:51 am, weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. My first thought when I saw her was, well she looks just like her sister!!!

They escorted both Kara and Mark out. I remember a few things. A. They had to give me a shot to make my uterus contract, I guess that's not very normal. B. My doctor asking me to not have any more children because my uterus could not handle any more. WOW. I guess I figured that everything would always be ok, but here I was being told this would be it. I won't, or can't, lie, it was hard to take. Still is. However, I have been blessed with 3 healthy and beautiful children. I, in no way, can be selfish and try to have another one. My children need me, and I can't take a risk like that.

Kara is healthy. We are still learning about her, and it has been so much fun. I find myself trying to take in every moment, more so than with my others. Grant and Cami love her to death!! It makes me so happy to see them with her, and their desire to be near her all the time. I can only hope this transistion will continue to be easy.

Welcome to our crazy family Kara. We love you!!

The day I've been waiting for!!!

OK, so it isn't a baby. BUT I have dreamt of sitting down to a meal and having everything out of my garden on the table. I know, I should have dressed up the table with better bowls and stuff... I'm working on that!! So what made it better???

We had these for dinner as well!! That means ALMOST (I'd say 98%) everything we ate tonight we "grew". I said I'd never do pork again, but it was worth it tonight!

Love at Home

While getting ready for my doctors appointment this morning, I heard silence from my children... Which usually means that they are up to no good. I came out and found this:

Can I really complain??? For once it's not Grant stealing Cami's blanket and teasing her with it... And it's not Cami stealing some of Grant's food and running down the hall screaming bloody murder because she knows her brother is chasing behind her.

With all the teasing, and fighting that goes on here during the day, I love the moments when they love each other. They really are best friends!!

Where this is headed......

Oh my.

I have this little girl, who can put on the face to melt your heart, and in return she tries to get out of trouble. She understands way more than I remember Grant being able to at this age (but my memory has gone south since being pregnant). Her vocabulary has exploded, and all of the sudden it seems that she is saying new words every day, but you have to listen closely to understand them. With this has come a world of sass. My mother in law had her yesterday and come to find out Cami cried and threw a fit for 5 minutes because she didn't want to get in her car seat. She does this with me, however I place one of my arms across her lap and then strap her in... Which results in a HUGE melt down for the entire 20 minute ride home. And when something doesn't work like she wants it to, she starts yelling in words that I don't understand, probably best I don't!

But with it all, she is still the cutest little girl, ever. My favorite thing is that she gets so excited about anything, and I mean anything. I started pulling baby stuff out and she was acting like it Christmas morning. I'm sure she learned this from her brother...... Oh her and her brother! He is her best friend, and she wants to be every where he is. On our way home yesterday Grant fell asleep. I looked over at Cami and she had her head all the way to one side and was pretending to sleep. I love that she loves him so much, and that together they are the bestest friends, well most of the time.

Cami is so much fun, and most of the time very easy going. But she is starting to get her, for a better word, sass. And when she breaks out with it, it makes me think about where this is all heading...

Ugh.

35 weeks, 5 days, and still counting. This picture was taken at 34 weeks, but you get the drift of it.

I am surprised how different this pregnancy is compared to the other two. For the longest time I was in denial, and I refused to face the music. But baby Maroney is not letting me forget right now HOW pregnant I am (or feel!). I've gained 10 pounds less than I did with Grant and Cami, and I'm hoping it stays right there. Mark and I have a very comfortable bed, well at least I thought so until about 2 weeks ago. Now every time I get in it my hips ache and I want to cry because of the pain. The only comfort I have is the couch, which gives me a strong reminder that they need to be cleaned, and soon!!! I won't even get into the heat, because it's enough said. I've started doing the pregnancy shuffle when I walk, and I try SO hard not to. But in this heat, I honestly have to remind myself to take a step and then another one. This pregnancy is different, in the fact that right now I don't really want to eat. Nothing, NOTHING sounds good to me. Wait, I take it back, ice water sounds great all the time.

This baby is getting ready to come into this world. At 32 weeks we had another ultrasound and it is measuring big, almost 3 weeks ahead big. The tech told us that it had a big head and big cheeks, thanks Mark for that ;). I just had my start of weekly visits to my doctor. Man, I really like her, and I feel that I'm in good hands. She had scheduled my c-section for the 29th, but moved it up 2 days, and yes I was excited. She did say she would probably take the baby early, if, and I mean IF, I go into labor on my own. Which I'm sure my body doesn't know how to do.

So here's to the next 20 days, and trying to get everything done that I need (or want) to get done!!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a quiet 4th of July. I know I should be letting my kids run around, and play in the water, and all of that fun stuff. But we just did things around the home. Later we went to Jack and Patty's for dinner. It was nice to watch the kids play. My body just hurts quite a bit right now, so I liked that they were able to get out and play.

While the kids were napping and Mark was making ice cream, I made sugar cookie dough, in hopes the kids would decorate them when they woke up. However, we ended up just heading into town. So today (the 5th) I made up for it, and we decorated them.

Grant being the older one got what to do, Cami on the other hand just enjoyed the extra sugar! Gosh, I love her, and I say that with the biggest grin!!

I guess they didn't understand the only decorating the cookies...

My little diva. She is just a poser. Whenever she sees a camera, she cheeses right up.

What is not to love about this face???

Don't be a hater

Don't be a hater because her hair curls into perfect rings with the humidity. Just because I spend tons of money to find ways to get my hair to curl like that.... Yeah, she's pretty lucky!!

Fish

On our trip up to Grandma and Grandpa Bingham's, Grant learned some new tricks. My dad was in the pool for at least an hour a day with him, and on Saturday he spent 3 hours with him in the pool. I had left and came back to this...

My little boy could swim with floaties on!!! He changed completely and is so confident about the water now.

Yes, my little fish who loves to "super" jump! Good job Grant!!!