Moments...

Today did not start out as a very good day. During the middle of one of the biggest tantrums I have ever seen from my older child, I placed my baby girl on the couch so I could get after Dallin. After I placed him in his high chair to lock him in so he would eat- I turned back around to get Allison and didn't see her on the couch. I found her on the floor, crying so hard that she wasn't breathing. I lost all sense of reality and started bawling the second I got to her. It scared me so bad... I can't even tell you. I was pacing back and forth, praying she was alright, while all three of us were crying. Luckily, everything was ok- she was just mostly scared.
I had two great friends come to comfort me and to check her over to make sure she was alright. One just happened to be on a walk and had a feeling to come check on me... The other threw all of her kids in the car the second I called and was here in just a few minutes. I really am blessed with such great friends here... Ones that are in tune to the spirit and so willing to be there at a drop in the hat! Thank you so much Ann and Chantelle.
After being quite emotional for a few minutes there... Chantelle took Dallin to the park for me and I had some time alone to think. There are days that are hard... Very hard... I always feel like I take one step forward and two steps back in my parenting... I really felt like a failure of a mother today...
But I know that no matter what. No matter what mistakes I make- I love my kiddos with all my heart. I want so much for them. Slowly I'm learning to be a better mom... And thankfully my children are patient with me. They are my world. I wouldn't trade my moments with them for anything!

Moments like these:

And these:

Moments where a piece of chalk makes a boy's day:

And seeing him and his socks like this after playing outside:

Moments of watching your kids grow and learn:

And become great friends:

I'm so glad the Lord trusted me with them.
I love my babies...

Kellie BELLY... :)

Isn't my little sister the cutest? :)
She's due with a little boy on July 11th, and she really is one of the cutest preggo people I've ever seen! We had a baby shower her this weekend and it turned out great. Unfortunately, my camera died and I couldn't find my spare battery in my mess of a car- So Luckily she had some pictures on her facebook, and I had a FEW that I took before it died.
As you can see- it was a Dr. Seuss theme.
I've seen the idea before so I was able to save a lot of stuff from Seussical (the musical I did this year at the high school), since I knew I was doing Kellie's shower in this if she was having a boy! And sure enough- she was!

For the announcements- I made these up, and had everyone bring a book with their gift:

(I revamped a poem I found on somebody else's blog- Thank you!)

I don't have pictures of a lot of the details from the shower :(
but here's a few:
You can't tell- since all the food is almost gone in this picture :) but we had GREEN deviled eggs and HAM Sandwiches. (Green Eggs and Ham) and lots of cute BABY size desserts. It was a lot of fun, and I was glad Kellie got a LOT of cute things! Her boy is going to be such a stud! :)

Love you Kellie! Hope you had fun!

Photo Savvy...

My friend Errin is a great photographer! She just started taking pictures not too long ago, and she's doing a give-a-way to promote her business! I'm entered in the drawing to win a free hour photo session!

WISH ME LUCK!!

Or Check out her website for yourself and Enter too!

Allison's Blessing Day...

This Easter Sunday was not only special because we celebrated the resurrection of the Savior... But also because our precious Allison Elizabeth was blessed! It was such a beautiful day! She must have known she was getting blessed too because she was just so happy all morning. She hardly made a peep! She just wanted to look around and coo. :) She looked beautiful too! But of course I'm her mother so I always think she looks beautiful. :)

I loved her cute dress and I made her a special bracelet as well:

Jeff did a wonderful job giving her a blessing. I love listening to him give blessings. He is such a wonderful man! :) (I was worried about Allison crying during the blessing... but Jeff said she just filled her pants a little and she was fine after that. :) haha...) The blessing talked a lot about her serving other people, and being mindful of their needs. I thought that was such a great thing! I wrote the whole thing down word for word, so I hope she is able to go back when she is older and re-read about the council she was given.
We had lots of people that were able to come and be apart of the circle: Jeff, Jeff Sr. (Jeff's dad), Nate and Steve (Jeff's Brothers) Jared (Judy [Jeff's sister]'s hubby), Garrett (Kellie's Hubby), my Uncle Clint, my Papa Bill, and our two friends Brent and Bruce. There was also the Bishop (and our great friend and neighbor)- Shane, and Brad Adair. We are definitely blessed with lots of family that love us and that were able to come!

Allison's Great Great Grandma Ilean:

We definitely are proud parents! :)

We all love this sweet thing!

Easter and Eggies...

For family night last week, we painted some Easter Eggs. I know it was a bit early but Dallin was so excited! We had fun. Dallin carried around his egg in his cupped hands all night and wanted to take it to bed. :)

Our neighbor also got us a egg carton with plastic eggs- and inside each one was something that represented part of the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. It was actually pretty neat! It was a great way to share the story with a child because he got to open each egg and learn about each part. This is a short video from one of our Apostles, Jeffrey R. Holland, about the Savior. Please watch:


I'm grateful for a Savior who went through all of this for us. How amazing is it that Christ atoned for our sins and overcame death! I can't imagine going through this life alone. Our Savior is there. Our Heavenly Father is there. I have a strong testimony of them and I'm so grateful for their presence in my life...

Anybody game?

So...
I'm totally doing this someday...
Anybody game??
:)

Milestones...

In this last week, my two babies hit milestones...

Dallin turned three!!

I can't believe I have a three year old. I know I'm going to be saying this every birthday with him... But I really can't believe it! He really is one of my best friends- since I talk to him all day every day. He makes Jeff and I laugh constantly with the funny things he comes up with. He's so sweet- always saying thank you, or no thank you... making sure I'm always ok... seeing to it that everyone has some of whatever we're having (he's a great sharer)... giving Allison constant kisses... giving the best hugs... He is such a character and has such a fun, crazy personality! He's our smart, wonderful, charming little boy- with stunning blue eyes... :)

For his birthday this year he really wanted a "Handy Manny" birthday party:

We tried... :)
By the time it was time for the party- I hadn't gotten hardly anything done that I had wanted to (I'm still getting used to balancing my time management with a 3 year old and a nursing baby), and the little toppers that I had ordered for the cupcakes hadn't come in the mail yet...
But of course Dallin didn't care. :) All of mommy's stressing was not needed. He had a fun time with his friends and our neighbors, and loved his Handy Manny play sets his mom scored off eBay. :)

All of the kids were able to take these home too:

He had a great birthday! (Or at least he keeps telling me so :)

The second Milestone:

Allison turned one month!!

She's doing so well! She's was up to 8 lbs last week (She's growing so much faster than Dallin did) and is a strong little thing! We sort of new that at the beginning though- When we took her back to the hospital after she was born for help with nursing, the nurse put her on her tummy on the hospital bed, and she started scooting across the table! She's been holding up her head completely on her own for a couple weeks now, and she loves to look all around. I love it when I have her facing out against my chest, and look down to find her looking up at me. One of her favorite things is her tounge. She has such a long one!! And today- she's starting to smile!! She's growing up so fast! We love our sweet girl!

(I decided to take her picture with this little bunny every month to see how she grows. :)