Cami turns one!

Remember when? I can't believe how fast time goes. Babies really grow up so fast. Remember Cami's crazy entrance into this world? How her dad was in CA on an internship? How our neighbor/friend was the only one with me? How I had a baby an hour after getting the hospital? How I didn't get the epidural? Well this crazy story was the beginning of this sweet little girl's life. We have loved having Camilla Jo in our family and can't remember life without her. Here are some fun pics on the birthday. Isn't turning one fun?

I think she looks like Kevin in this picture.

Here is my little poser. And a pointed toe!
One of my favorite pics. My grandma, so Great-grandma, sent Cami a card and a one dollar bill for turning one! How cute!
Hey girl, I guess it is your party and you can cry if you want to!

A Fun Weekend!

I have to blog about these things to remind me of the fun and exciting things we get to do as a family. We were able to drive to the middle of Utah and go to Capitol Reef National Park and stay at our friend's cabin. Thanks again for inviting us! We saw amazing rock formations and had fun going on little hikes with our kids. We also went to Goblin Valley State Park. Well worth the drive, it was awesome! Here are just a few pics. Us at Goblin Valley. Crazy rock formations!

Umm...who does this to their kids? (Before you get too upset, Kevin was holding onto them from behind. :)

Or this to their kids?
Maybe they get it from their CRAZY dad, who wanted to climb to the top of everything all weekend!
Here is Cami flying through the air. Yes, it did start snowing on us while we were there.

There were lots of fun holes for the kidos to sit in. And cute for pics.
These two, as usual, were inseparable. We love that Jacob is biting his shirt.

We had so much fun. It was a relaxing weekend with cool sites to see and great friends. Thanks again!

Confessions of a two-year-old

So I stole this idea from my friend's blog, thanks Rachel! I thought every once in awhile I would just write down funny things that Emma says. So here goes todays:

I told Emma to go do something like put a toy away or something. She responded with: No Mom, you are drivin me nuts!

Pet Peeve #1

My number one pet peeve was emphasized today with a trip to the park. I will tell the following story to illustrate what really makes my blood boil.

So I take my kids to the park today. Emma is busy playing with all the other kids there today. (Yeah, it was almost 60 today, so I think every mom wanted to take their kids to the park). Emma starts collecting sticks and pine cones around the park. She soon gets in a fight with one of the other boys at the park. We will call him Bob. So Bob and Emma start pulling on the same stick. I shout from across the park, "Emma you need to share! Give him a turn." Bob then loses interest in the stick so I just drop it. Bob's mom then comes over close to me, doesn't look at me, but says in a loud voice, "If you just say please to Bob, he will share. He is really good at it." Well I guess I should have gone to her school of mothering. Or maybe life is worth getting in fights over a stick!

So here is my pet peeve. I can't stand it when people give unsolicited parental advice. I mean come on Bob's mom, didn't you hear me trying to correct the situation with my own daughter?

So beyond giving unsolicited parental advice, I can't stand it when people who don't have kids give advice. How do you know how life really is with kids? And if you have kids, EVERY child is different, so your advice, Bob's mom, might not work on my Emma.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Thanks for hearing me out. Before I sound too much like a hypocrit, a few posts ago, I ASKED for potty-training advice from those of my friends who have been through it with their kids. And I appreciated all the tips from those who have been-there-done-that.

Alas, we have only had one successful use of the potty. :(

On a lighter note, this morning when I went in to get my girls out of bed, I found this:

Emma just wanted to play with Cami, I guess. Or she was helping out. Emma had re-hung the baby mobile on the left of the crib. So now what do I do?

Clarification

After re-reading the last post I did (and the comment from Summer :) , no I am not pregnant. The baby on the way is Kevin's sister Kim. (She is the one that got married in Sept. click here.) Good luck Kim! But stay tuned, this family has all their kids in 'rounds.' When Emma was born so were 5 other babies within 5 months. So when one person gets pregnant, chances are we will be getting more neices and nephews soon. :)

American Idol and the MTC!

So before I tell about our crazy few days, I thought I would share what is really going on at our house. I have found an addiction to American Idol. I watched it all last year while Kevin was gone on his internship. So this year found me watching it again. The world stops on Tuesday and Wednesday. My kids are really liking it too. As you can see, Emma thinks she is the next American Idol. She has a toy microphone and sings along with the contestants. Watch out Simon, my two-year-old can rock! We spent the past few days being with Kevin's family in Idaho and in Utah as we took Bryndon to the MTC. He is going to the Ukraine Dnepropetrovsk Mission. While at the MTC we ran into this pic. Does anyone else find this as funny as we did? The sign was supposed to mean that the field that the missionaries play soccer on is closed due to bad weather. But it does leave you wondering?

We went up to Idaho for Kevin's little brother's missionary 'farewell' over the weekend. We came up from Utah and one of Kevin's other brothers flew in from Missouri. It was a small miracle that ALL of the family could be there together. It is a miracle considering there are 10 kids in Kevin's family, 2 parents, 7 spouses and 27 children! For those of you who can't do mental math like me, that is 46 people. (Did I mention there is one baby on the way?) And we got an updated fam picture. Unfortunately with that many people, not everyone is looking at the camera. That is what you get with the masses.Here we are again at the MTC. This is us saying goodbye to Kevin's bro. Good luck Bryndon! It was a little strange to back at the MTC. I haven't been there since I went on a mission. It brought back tons of memories!

Here is our future missionary...well maybe.

P-day!

First off, thank you for all the birthday wishes. We had a great day! Did I mention that I have a great husband who loves to spoil me? I love it!
On a different subject, I could use a little encouragement right now. I am hoping that positive comments will help me to stay positive today. We are starting to potty train. And by noon, we had already had 3 accidents and no sucess in the potty. :( So I think by tonight I am going to be exhausted. Really any suggestions would be great. What did you do? What worked and what didn't?
With all of this I am realizing that my kids are growing up. Cami just turned 11 months old and she has decided she is done nursing. (Which is nice for me since she was biting). But I also feel a bit nostalgic. If I am done nursing then I don't have a baby anymore. As cliche as it sounds, kids really do grow up too fast.
Wish me luck on this new phase of life!