Hangin' In There

4 months...

2011-12-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Lilah is already 4 months old! She has just recently found her toes and is rolling over to her side. She drools all the time, she babbles, and she smiles like no other. We sure love our little girl :)

Lilah's 2 months old!

2011-10-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here's our cute little girl already 2 months old. She just barely laughed for the first time about a week ago (the cutest thing EVER) and loves to smile when you talk to her. I love the way her face lights up when she recognizes you, and I love her gi-normous burps that she lets when you finish feeding her. She is the funnest little girl, and even though I get pooped on pretty much once a week, I still love being a new Mom...........again.

We love you Lilah.

Working my way BACK

2011-09-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I'm a few months behind here, I've decided to post our most recent photo's and then work my way back. If you stop by every so often, keep going back and you'll find new posts...if you care to :)

First up: Lilah on her blessing day. I loved, LOVED this dress. If you didn't know this already, we don't like to find out if we're having a boy or a girl when I'm pregnant. We like the surprise.

Earlier in my pregnancy, we went in for the "big" ultrasound. During the ultrasound, the technician says, "Well, it's a girl." Chance and I just sat there, stunned. I was super bummed that our surprise was ruined. But guess what?! I got to go shopping. GIRL shopping. What could be more fun than that?! So I found this website that sold christening gowns and fell in LOVE with this dress.

We didn't want any of our friends or family to know that WE knew what we were having, so I just told everyone that this store had an amazing return policy...(like a 6 month grace period). :) Anyway, Cute dress, cute baby, one amazing day.

Chance was able to give our daughter a name and a blessing and it was so much fun having all our friends and family there to support us. We had a fun get-together at our home after and ate until we were sick. I heart eating. Anyway, enjoy the photo's, and know that I love my little family and my husband that has the values and morals that are important in this world today. Love you Chance.

First Day of School

2011-08-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

Here's my 2 goofballs on their first day of school. Grace started Kindergarten this year and was pretty hesitant once we got there to drop her off....but no tears. (yay!). Morgan started 3rd grade which is pretty weird. See, I can remember back to the days when I was in 3rd grade. This gives me a lot of stress because now I totally have the responsibility of being a good parent. If I screw up big NOW...my kids will remember. So. Much. Pressure.

Aren't my girls cute though? I think so.

Quick Post

2011-05-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

Okay here's a random post...I'm hoping to win this huge giveaway for my business. There are 56 vendors involved, and the giveaway is worth about $4000! Yeah, I never win anything like this, but a girl can't help but try...right?

Here's the link for the {big vision} giveaway if you're interested!

Good luck ~ I know I sure need it. :)

Easter Egg Hunt!

2011-04-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

This year we went to our typical, local city Egg Hunt. It was ~ as usual ~ a lot of fun for the kids. Dad ~ also as usual ~ got out the "fast spray" to put on everyone's feet. See, this special spray makes the kids run faster. Morgan even got out her cleats because she didn't want to slip. We were able to go with some friends and I think Grace set some records with the amount of candy she snagged. Gage even had a good time. Here are our "before" and "after" photo's. Enjoy!

Gage getting hooked up with our special spray...

The cute kids. Aaaaawww.......

Dad practicing with Gage in our front yard before the big event.

Don't they both look thrilled to be here?

Crede was pretty excited...

Aaand this is what happens when you have a good 15 minutes to kill before the hunt actually starts...

Gage checking out his bounty... ( P.S. check out Grace's basket there in the front. It was FULL.)

Morgan and Crede with the creepy Easter Bunny ~ Grace wouldn't get anywhere near that thing...and Gage wouldn't even look at him. Ah well.

Yes, that's a Goose, and yes ~ it's in a basket strapped into a stroller. **shrug**

Happy Birthday Grace!

2011-03-31T13:40:00.001-07:00

Yet another birthday come and gone. I can't believe my little Gracie has turned FIVE. She is such a funny person. She doesn't complain much...and is so happy to be alive. She is always being goofy and wearing a smile. We wanted to do something fun for her big day and, by her choice, decided to go swimming. Gage was pretty much freaked out the entire time. Crede was having a blast, Morgan was being her crazy self, and Grace LOVED it.

Let's see...the highlights of our day consisted of:
*preschool ~ Grace was sung to, had chocolate doughnuts, received a crown, t-shirt, AND
birthday book.
*opening her presents ~ a "Barbie and the Fashion Fairy Tale" FLARey, cat and dog, and even
a cupcake necklace.
*helping Mom make her chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and licking everything clean
*blowing out candles
*swimming
*staying up late to play Mario Brothers

Happy Birthday Grace, I love you, and we are so happy to have you as part of our family.

The all-important FLAREy...

Our play would NEVER be complete without some type of hot-wheels car in the mix (thank you Crede). This one is accessorized with a fun purple scarf. Rwar!

Grace after her chocolate binge...

Crede and Grace playing Barbie. (We've GOT to get Crede into Spiderman...Batman...even DIEGO for crying out loud.)

The poodle feasting on his bone...

Gage was enthralled with the cooking cake. Plus who can resist this lighting?!

Patiently waiting her finished cake ~ sitting at the kitchen counter...

Singing "Happy Birthday"...

And the big moment...

At the Aquatic Center...Crede was loving this fountain.

Our little boy ~ after his traumatizing trip with Dad around the pool...

Morgan and Grace havin' fun...

Gage FINALLY got out of his comfort zone and started playing with the fountain. Yahoo!

Morgan standing under the waterfall...goofball.

At one point we had to clear out of the pool for "sanitary" reasons ~ so here we are as we waited....

And that's it! Happy Birthday Grace.

Favorites

2011-03-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Gage is in one of my very favorite stages in life right now. He is learning SO MANY new things, and he is actually putting words together. Granted, I don't understand 99% of them, but he definitely gets an "A" for effort. His little personality is beginning to really come through. It's a BLAST.

His favorite thing right now might have to be "shoes". He says that word constantly, and he will hunt down any pair of shoes in the house to put on (including my Sunday shoes with the 3" heel). He loves to point out "ears", "eyes", your "tongue" and your "hair". When he sees you for the first time during the day he'll say, "Hi mamaaaaaaa." or, "Hi Dadaaaaaaa". He loves to kiss, and anytime Mom and Dad give each other a smooch he's right there making a kiss-ie noise and puckering up as much as possible. (you have to be careful though ~ his kisses tend to last a very long time and it can get a little awkward.) He's just learned how to say, "Buh Byieeeee!" and he Loooooooves his Grandma. When she's around, Mom doesn't exist. Oh, and did I mention the fact that he loves books? He'll find one that tickles his fancy and will sit and look at the entire thing. I'm sorry, but what 1 1/2 year old BOY does that?! I know, he's a genius.

I love this kids chubby cheeks, and when he smiles, he points is top lip in the middle with a smirk that's about the cutest thing you've ever seen. His legs look like they haven't seen sun....EVER....and that kid can run.

Gage, we just love ya.'

Baptism Day

2011-03-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

It finally came. All those years waiting for the big e.i.g.h.t. and then all those DAYS waiting for the big b.a.p.t.i.s.m.

It ended up being a VERY nice day. We had a LOT of family and friends there to support us, and Morgan really did a great job. She got a little nervous (which is SO understandable) but I think she was able to have a lot of fun.

Chance was able to baptize and confirm Morgan. She had 2 amazing talks (given by Sister Rudd and Sister John) and even sang a special musical number ~ "I am a Child of God" ~ with all the other kids turning 8 this year. My Mom bought her a cute corsage to wear around her wrist, and we got to go lunch afterward. (I heart Robintino's).

The only thing I would have to change would be a small embarrassing moment for myself. See, I have an old photograph of myself on my baptism day ~ standing in the water with my big brother (who baptized me). So in my head I thought, "Yeah, I'll take one of those photo's for Morgan to have." As I plowed through the 45 kids in the front to get a good "angle" on my shot, Chance glanced up at me and said, "Uh, I don't think you're supposed to take a picture of this." I glanced over at our Bishop who said, "Oh, yeah...sorry...I didn't notice you were wanting a photo. We're not supposed to take pictures." Did I feel a little dumb? Oh, sure. At least I didn't trip and fall on my face on my way back to my chair ~ right? **sigh**

But on a better note...Morgan, you did a great job, and I am so happy that you made this choice to be baptized! Your Dad and I love you.

Morgan and Chance hangin' out before everyone started showing up...

The serious one...

Aaaand of course we had to throw in a silly faced one. (Thanks Chance)

Morgan and Sister Rudd (who spoke on Baptism ~ she made Morgan a white embroidered towel...so. CUTE.)

Morgan and Sister John (who spoke on the Holy Ghost ~ her talk was amazing.)

The fam eating at Robintino's. Here you have my Mom, Brother-In-Law Kelly, Aunt Janet, Aunt Joyce, my Dad, Crede and Chance. Oh wait ~ I'm there too in the window at the end there. Hi!

Okay here's my Mom again, Kelly, my nephew's Preston and Carter, my sister Annette, Brother Bob and my Nephew Kendall.

Crew (Chance's Brother) and Grace

Chance's Dad and Mom, Morgan and my niece, Lexi.

Snowday!

2011-02-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to a BEAUTIFUL, snow-covered, sunny, outside. We got all the kids bundled up (Christmas Story-like) and let them ride around on sleds and 4-wheelers in our backyard. Grace is NUTS on that little 4-wheeler ~ she was riding down our cement stairs going full-throttle ~ and she made Chance show her how to do a "doughnut". She's so different than Morgan. Morgan is always so cautious.

Gage was also a little scard-ie cat. He SCREAMED when Chance tried to put him on the sled. He warmed up after awhile ~ but it was sure sad.

Anyway, for the most part...they had a lot of fun, and it was so, so pretty! Enjoy the photo's...

Grace on her "machine"

Dad and Gage being pulled by either Grace or Morgan...what a brave, brave soul.

Oh, hey Crede!

One of the MANY times Grace got stuck. She would always try to blaze a new trail through some deeper snow.

Our neighbors stopped by ~ so of course I had to take a picture of Gage with Uncle Dave! We love our neighbors...they're also such good friends of ours.

Crede and Morgan making some wicked-awesome snow angels.

Hey Bug.

Gage was in love with his zipper. At least it kept him busy...right?

'da boys.

Grace on her sled.

Morgan playing chauffeur.

Hey Gage.

Snowpants

2011-02-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

After pouring Gage into these snowpants this morning I KNEW I had to take some photo's of him. We woke up this morning to find it sunny, and VERY snowy. Chance, of course, got the 4-wheeler out, attached a sled, and ~ voila! Fun morning. I just had to laugh at Gage though. He looked so stinkin' cute in those pants.

Happy Birthday Morgan!

2011-02-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

What was I thinking? At the last minute I decided to throw together a birthday party for Morgan. It's not like I was lacking of things to worry about (with the baptism day lurking)...but I wanted Morgan to have a fun day. We had the girls wear their very best "dress up" clothes ~ and we had a photo shoot. We ate pizza, cupcakes and ice cream and we opened presents. We played games (the m&m game was the knock-down favorite) and we even had time to watch a little Fineas and Ferb. Fun times.

If you want to see more of our photo shoot, go to my photography blog here.

The cupcakes...(do you think Morgan likes the looks of 'em?)

The table-full of girls eating their lunch... (Abigale, Destiny, Morgan, Breauna, Alaina, and Ashley)

More cupcakes...

The girls...

Alaina was hil-ar-ious. She worked it. It was so funny ~ she was just striking those poses left and right. You go.

Morgan with her most "tame" photo of the day. She decided to spaz out and pretty much give me nothing but crazy.

Breauna....she's such a cute girl.

Abigale with her boa ~ I had to coax her to peek her eye out. :)

Opening presents

The girls all looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested we do, "Heavy Heavy Hangover" with the presents. Am I really that old?

Morgan, I hope you had a good day ~ I love you!

Internal Struggle

2011-02-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with myself whether or not to blog about this...obviously I decided I would. But here's my disclaimer. I am not telling this story to get you to say, "oh, poor, poor Emily." I want to tell this story because of how blessed our family is. You have no idea how much I have come to appreciate all my close friends and neighbors.

Friday night we had a really good night with some really good friends. We went to the temple, and then B-lined it over to the church house for some dessert. I heart dessert. After eating about half I decided that I wasn't feeling too hot so I threw out the rest. Well.

We hung out a little longer with our friends and then decided to head home. We brought home our sitter, and then I talked Chance into letting me read while he went to sleep (with earplugs.) I read for about an hour and then turned out the light. About 20 minutes later I woke up with some crazy, painful cramping. See, most pregnant women won't tell you the craziness that is your intestines during pregnancy. And if they DON'T have crazy intestines ~ they need to keep it to themselves.

ANYWHO ~ I thought I was going to pass out. I was lying in my hallway thinking to myself, "Chance has earplugs in. He can't hear me if I call for him." At this point I was in a lot of pain, and my arms decided to go numb. I'm freaking out because I'm wondering if I'm having some kind of stroke...fun times.

Well I stumble into our bedroom, shove Chance and basically start demanding that he help me. He ran into the kitchen to get me some tylenol (my entire body felt like it was on fire) and then decided to get some consecrated oil so that he could give me a priesthood blessing. As he was gone, my hands decided to start freezing up. I couldn't move them, and I couldn't feel them.

Time to call 911. The paramedics come, bombarded me with questions (which I'm not feeling so inclined to answer...I get a little grumpy when I'm in a lot of pain...) and then told Chance that they couldn't see anything there. They suggested I get checked out at the hospital ~ so I stumbled, barefoot, down the stairs, into the freezing cold and went for a most-memorable ride to the hospital. PS ~ getting an IV in an ambulance? Not one of my all-time fav's.

Chance stayed home so he could find someone to watch our kids. What's amazing is that he arrived at the hospital only about 5 minutes after me. I love my man. Okay so the final outcome of this? They think I was having a food-reaction. Lactose Intolerance? Perhaps. The reason my arms were going numb? Hyperventilation. Who knew? The doctor mentioned how pregnancy messes with your body (no....really?!) and how problems can get a whole lot worse during pregnancy (again.....noo, are ya' sure about that?). So in the last few days I've avoided milk after about 12:00noon. So far, so good. Oh, and one more thing. Here's an ER tip: When going to the ER, make it a point to find some shoes, or SLIPPERS or something. Going home after the ER with bare feet, a T-shirt and no coat? Not so fun. Chance said he'd try to find some matching pajama's for next time as well. Those red plaid pajama pants and camo shirt didn't really hit it off with the nursing staff. Hey ~ at least we looked like we belonged together, right?

Now. Here's the point of this whole story. Do you have any idea how many phone calls, visits and even dinners have been offered and brought into our home?!? So many that I feel pretty unworthy. I phoned ONE friend Saturday morning who brought our Morgan over to the Church for a service project. She then called me right back offering to take ALL of our children that day. She kept Morgan at her house the ENTIRE DAY to play... AND she also showed up that night with some more good friends of ours and brought us dinner. HELLO?! You guys are amazing. AMAZING.

Oh, and then there is our good neighbor a couple of doors down who came over Friday night at MIDNIGHT to sleep on our couch so that Chance could be with me at the hospital. She then called me on Saturday asking to bring us dinner. I got another great visit that evening from yet another good friend bringing me chocolate and support. She wanted to make sure I was okay. Does it end here?! Uh...no.

Sunday came, and with it brought about 8 inches of snow. Grace was sick, Chance was snowplowing, and I was home in my pajama's. Well guess who shows up to shovel our driveway? Oh, only about 1/2 of our Young Men's group from church. You guys are great. THANK YOU. Later that night we even got cookies from one of our neighbors 2 doors down the OTHER side of us. Seriously?!

I so appreciate all the thoughts and acts of service on our behalf. I cannot believe how loved we are. Let me just say though ~ the feeling is definitely mutual. Us Bailey's are so blessed. THANK YOU everyone for helping me and my family this last weekend. We love you ALL.

My Excuse

2011-01-17T12:14:00.001-08:00

Yep...

this is the reason why I haven't been "catching up" like I promised back in...

oh....

NOVEMBER...

See, about a week after that post I started feeling reaaaaally cruddy at night. Hmm. I started having a LOT of headaches, felt nauseated, basically I had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. I took the test, and ~ well ~ as you can see here I'll need to change the address of this blog to thebaileyfamilySEVEN.com

Let's just start by saying.... AAAAaahh! We knew for awhile that we had another child up there for us, but it's one thing to PLAN for another child and quite another to actually HAVE another child. I'm pretty nervous, but excited at the same time. This ultrasound (which I'm SURE you can all see perfectly, right?) was really cool because I could actually see the baby's legs crossed, arms, fingers, everything.

Anyway, we're still not going to find out what we're having until that blessed day in July....so keep stopping by. :) And now that I'm feeling a bit better I can actually start catching up on my blog and my photo's.

Catching UP

2010-11-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

It's a sad day when you realize that you still have oh......about 300 photo's still on your SD card just waiting to be downloaded to your computer. **sigh**

I'm here, and I'm behind. My sanity has been around though, so maybe that's a GOOD thing I haven't been blogging so much lately. My organizational skills have improved, my vocabulary isn't quite as lacking (due to my book obsession as of late) and I've actually been spending time with the Childdrrrn (Cat in the Hat reference there...)

So, the point of this random post? Keep checkin' back for some fun filled (and late) posts. I promise, you will be left breathless. (Or at least you'll smile to yourself.)

Lataz.

GAPkids

2010-10-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm just posting this short post because I just entered my cute kiddies in the GAP casting call. If you want to go vote for them, go here for Grace, here for Crede, and here for Gage. I'll have to enter Morgan next time 'round.

Here are the photo's that I entered:

Nichole Van

2010-08-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have the best husband ever invented. This guy has been so great. Ever since buying a new "entry level" DSLR camera, I've re-discovered my love for photography. I can't believe I've gone 10 years being happy with point-and-shoot snapshots. I'm also so glad that I have the background in photography that I do so that I actually know what F-stops and Shutter Speeds have to do with exposure. I'm not going to lie though ~ it's taken me a while to get to the point where I don't have THINK so much during a photo shoot. It's so easy to forget things, and I'm grateful that this "hobby" has been found again.

I found this amazing photographer ~ Nichole Van ~ and she just happens to offer some AMAZING photography workshops. Whoda thought?! I asked Chance, he immediately said I could go, and VOILA! Here are my finished photo's. I had SO much fun, and met some pretty incredible ladies. Enjoy...

Our last day...Bear Lake Camping Trip

2010-08-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

The morning before leaving for home we decided to go on an official, LONG, 4-wheeler ride. The kids all got geared up and we headed out. It was such a cool morning that we all had to wear our sweatshirts. It was NICE. We rode for awhile and then came back to camp to eat a quick lunch before leaving for home. Of course we had to set up the tripod to take some "group" photo's ~ and we had some fun doing that as well (as you can see.)

We're very lucky to have family that we are close to. Thanks Token and Corey for a fun trip. Here's our pic's from this last day. Enjoy!

Here's our little Gage all ready for his big ride. Cute little boy.

Oh Grace. Crede didn't look too thrilled....crazy kids.

Smile!!!

Aaaand here's our group pictures. Yep ~ we's crazy.

Day #2 ~ Bear Lake Camping Trip

2010-07-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

We drove to Bear Lake today. I didn't bring my camera because #1...I didn't feel like it, and #2...I could just picture sand and more sand. 'nough said.

We spent the day there, had fun ~ UNTIL ~ Token's cornea got scratched somehow. It kept getting worse so we decided to pack up and drive back to camp. Token, on the other hand, drove to the Dr. We got back to camp and finally decided to OFFICIALLY sing to Gage for his first birthday. See what happens when you have 4 kids? This never would have happened with Child #1. We stripped him down and gave him pure sugar. I'm not sure that he liked it all that much though...oh well.

We let the kids play a little that evening, and then a HUGE thunderstorm rolled in. Thank HEAVENS for camper trailers. Needless to say, we spent the remainder of the evening watching movies and playing card games. Token got some eye drops that helped numb her eye, and she was good to go. Fun times.

Here's our Gage just before getting his sugar-fix.

Yeah, I guess it wasn't a big hit. Aw well.

Crede with Tatem and Hadlee playing.......who knows.

Yeah, for the record, I didn't think this was such a good idea. Grace and fire should never be in close proximity.

Day #1 ~ Bear Lake Camping Trip

2010-07-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's our annual Bear Lake Camping Trip. We didn't arrive to camp until about 10:30 at night, so this was our first, REAL, day of camping. Corey and Chance had to drive into town for a part (for Tucker's dirt bike) so Token and I hung out at camp all....day....long. We sat, relaxed, and watched Morgan find a cow skull and the proceed to hammer the teeth out of it with another bone found nearby. We also got some fun photo's of the kids just sitting around too.

Here's Morgan practicing with a BB-gun...she had to sit down to keep herself steady. This was only allowed while DAD was in camp. I don't care for firearms. :)

Grace and either Tatem or Hadlee. I can never tell. Sorry Token.

Oh boy. Grace is crazy on this thing.

During the boy's absence ~ what else was there to do? Photo-shoot!! Here's Morgan...
Grace...

And token being the good Mom that she is, brought some fun coloring pages for the kids to play with in her camper. Crede loved it.

Yep, the skull....and the teeth. SICK.

Grace's feet after ONE day. Not even a full day really ~ just a 1/2 day.

Crede doing what he does best.

Aaaand my "photo-shoot" with Crede.

Token and Corey fixing our hobo-dinners for the night. Do you like Corey's wicked awesome "ove-glove"?

And Token, yet again, being the amazing Mom that she is ~ brought "Minute to Win It" games for the kids to play. Complete with prizes. here are Grace and Crede just before trying to jump the ping-pong balls out of their kleenex box. Cute kids.

Morgan really got into it.

Our last game of the evening ~ unwrapping a present while wearing gloves.

The prizes......

The kids couldn't wait to blow up those balloons. They were actually pretty fun!

Gage and Dad sittin' by the fire. Chance just has a knack with this kid. He loves his Dad SOOOOoooOO much.

Night little man. Little one-toothed hillbilly.....

Happy Birthday Little Man

2010-07-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

We had so much going on this summer. I really felt bad, because Gage's birthday fell during our camping trip to Idaho. I was either busy packing or busy putting stuff away to stop and actually celebrate our little man's #1 birthday. As you can see, he got to open a small present from Grandpa Angell ~ and he loved it. I made a cake and brought it with us up camping the next week so that we could sing to him and actually CELEBRATE the fact that he's ONE. Happy Birthday Gagie Gage...we sure love you.

Gage is the funniest little boy. He's so different than Crede, it cracks me up. Crede's all serious and (for the most part) mellow. Gage has Grace's personality. Quirky, crazy, and BUSY. Gage is always looking for something to get into. He's swam in our toilet more than I can count and he finds any opportunity to go into a room he isn't suppose to go ~ just because the door has been left open. He's eaten lint, dirt, sand, stale food on the kitchen floor...you name it. He laughs ALL THE TIME and is always quick to smile. And unlike Crede, he is Dad's #1 fan. It's been that way ever since Gage was a little baby. If he was upset, I would hand him off to Chance ~ and voila! He'd calm right down. Gage LOVES his Dad.

As I'm writing this (in JANURAY 2011) Gage has learned how to say "yes", "Dad", "Mom", "Jesus", "car", "all done", "shoes", and he TRIES to say, "ouch" (it comes out as ow), "sock", "elk" (thanks Chance), and many others. He is always copying what his older siblings do, and he LOVES to give kisses. He'll pucker up and you'll know what he wants.

We love you little boy....and we love to watch you grow. I hope you had a fun first birthday (even though you won't remember any of it).

Happy Pioneer Day

2010-07-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July Chance mocked my sparklers that I bought. He remarked how "puny" they were.

Well.

I was shopping at our nearby Winco Foods and noticed THESE sparklers. Do you think Chance complained again?

Nope.

Of course he invented all kinds of ways to ENJOY these sparklers. Leave it to him to be creative like that. Oh, and yes, we're the lame parents who light their fireworks at 7pm so that our kids won't be up so late. Dang daylight savings! It doesn't get dark until 9:30! Perhaps when some of our sanity has returned we'll let the kids stay up late. I'm not making any promises. Don't judge.

My Garden

2010-07-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Considering this is our official first year of gardening, I'm pretty proud of our achievement. Chance dug out our grass this last Spring, poured the cement around it, and then hauled in some old farmer's dirt where they just built a new Winco. (I heart Winco.)

We then planted peas, radishes, corn, pumpkins, tomatoes and peppers. I am amazed at how well our garden is growing. See, our last attempt at a garden yielded 4 corn stalks about waist high and maybe 10 potatoes. Our weeds got completely out of control. It was a mess.

Anywho, I'm so excited for our harvest-to-come and the homemade salsa throughout the winter. Mmmmmmmm...........Salsa.

The Garden.

Nice! It's even taller that I am.
Can you hear the jungle music in the background? These, my friends, are my tomatoes. Ho-leigh Crud.

Some nice scenery to keep my veggies company...

My first pumpkin! We might just have to enter some pumpkin contests this fall. I see potential in this one. :)

Corn Silk!!

Aaand my peppers. Aren't they pretty? **sigh**

Yuba Lake ~ Day #4

2010-07-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

The last day.

Day #4.

You know what that means, right? Group pictures! Oh, and clean-up. Again, you can go to my other blog if you want to read more details about today. Basically we were all super ornery because non of us slept the night before (it only got down to about 85 degrees that night). It was hot. We were tired. We still managed to take some fun group photos. Even though I've included a TON, just know that these are only a FEW of my favorites. I'll spare you the other 200.

Here's Owen chillin' as we try to pack up our stuff. Do you think we can put Gage in there too?

Apparently not.

As we were getting all the kids ready for THEIR pictures, we told them to go sit on the table. Crede....the OTHER side of the table you nut.

All the kids......(at least we got one of Owen completely in the picture.)

with Deer Antlers (a fitting tribute to Chance)

Bears.....

Um....this was new this year...

Muscles....

And it wouldn't be complete without silly-faces.

Here we are. Aren't we sooooo good lookin'? Especially after 4 days of camping. OW!!

Ggrrrrrrrrr....

Muscles (I know, we're soooooooo original)....
Again...this was new. And Ken? We're not quite sure what he's up to over there.
Okay here we are again all laughing....wait. Chance? We're done with the choking picture. Put Gage down.....slowwwllyy.......

All us crazy adults...

Aaaaaah!

All our sad attempts at fishy-faces. **snicker**
Wow. Don't I look strong.
Ken looks like he's going to snap Gina's neck. Just ooooone little twist. I think there are a few men here that might suffer from some passive-aggressive issues. Just sayin'.

Yuba Lake ~ Day #3

2010-07-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

Okay...our last big picture day. Day #3. If you want full details, go here ~ if not, you'll get a good idea from these pictures. Enjoy!

I swear Gage was only in the water for about 15 minutes. Check out those prune feet!!

These next few crack me up. Crede was doing some serious digging. I said, "Crede...Smile!" Can you tell the difference?

Mmmmmm....cheeto's.

Elizabeth and Ella Bella...

Hi Grace...

Grace came to get me so that she could show me her creation. She brought me over, showed me the face (and then drew in the smiley face for me), the ears and then the rectangles...which I can't quite remember what those were.

My Peeps.

Aaaah, garbage and a dragonfly.
If it's not running football, it's tube football. Crazy Men.

Hi Crede.

Here's all the cute boys in our group playing "basketball" with a bouncy ball and a tube. They were having a lot of fun.

I swear that kids have a 6th sense. They can sense when another kid is in time-out and will then try to cheer them up. My kids do this all the time at home. Owen was taking pity on poor, poor Grace.

Oops ~ Grace wasn't supposed to see me.
Yep, time-outs are hard.

It finally caught up with him...

Yep, her mouth is full of Wheat Thins. Goofball....

Pretty, pretty Grace. She was one tired little girl.

Oh Owen....that must have felt nice on your bare bum. I will refrain, however, to post the really GOOD pictures of this moment. **snicker** You're sure a cute little boy, Owen.

These seagulls knew what they're doin'. We started packing up our belongings, and JUST when we were finishing up ~ here came the seagulls. They were a little freakish. They would hover RIGHT next to you, and then there were these mean grey ones that would scare the white ones away. Those guys would scavenge anything left on the beach.

Yep, I was feeling a bit "Alfred Hitchcock"-ish right about now. My main goal was to escape without poop on me. Yuck.

Yuba Lake ~ Day #2

2010-07-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Day #2

We spent the entire day at the beach. Oooooh yeah. It was so relaxing, cool, and we had some pretty awesome snacks. Go here to read more if you so wish...

Until then, enjoy our pics. I have to warn you though...there are a LOT of pictures. Proceed at your own risk.

Gage's first time playing in the lake. He was lovin' it. This was also before he discovered the sand...and that it didn't taste all that great.

You go gir......um, I mean.....Rwar!

Rylee and Gage. Cute Rylee, she was so good to play with our kids.

Hi Grace!

Chance and Nate...our husbands looooove football.

What the?!? This lovely anchor was hiding underneath the water. You know who stepped on it? Collin. He was just lucky it didn't puncture a lung or somethin'. Dang people who don't take their gigantic, metal, sharp, anchors with them!

Yep, Gage love it in here.
Nate playing with Moses...

Hmmm...do ya' think Adam wanted Nate putting mud on his back? Nyeah...me either. The thing about Nate is that he attracts children. They all LOVE him. He will play with anyONE at anyTIME.

Morgan digging her trench...

Aaaah...now how artsy is that.

Nice save.
John and Collin fighting for that catch. I won't tell you who ended up winning though. **coughcollinandchancecough**

Chance taking a little breather after his football game...

The kids originally found this mud-hole...and as you will see later, it proved quite fun.

Cute Gage...this inflatable tube served us quite nicely. Thank you, Gina.

HOURS later, Gage decided to relax a little bit. He was content as could be.

Owen decided to join Gage ~ obviously he didn't mind too much.

Okay I have to tell you the story behind these next few pictures. Chance and Nate sat in this muddy hole and decided to initiate some members. Any poor soul who thought to walk next to the hole got dragged in. Once they were in, Chance and Nate would "welcome their new customer" with a hearty mud-fight. Aaah Rachel. Alas, she got too close.

Poor, poor Elizabeth. She couldn't escape her "welcoming" in the end.

These are the girls that hung out together. Morgan, Grace Pack, and Alaina. Occasionally, they let OUR Grace play too.

Crede ~ oh you're cute. Here I said, "Crede! Wave at Mom!" He always has funny faces. I love this kid.

1/2 of our group playing "hot box".

Poor Tyler, he kept getting "out" early.

Grace, you are such a crack-up. Always pulling a face. Here are Grace, Ella and Alaina posing for picture #1...

And now for picture #2...

Ella and Alaina looking at the clouds in the sky....

Ella Bella...
Nate and Sara have GOT to be one of the best parenting-teams I know. Because I was taking a lot of photo's this trip, I really got a close-up look of how much they spend one-on-one time with their kids. It really made me think about the way I parent. If I could be 1/2 of what the Packs are, I would consider myself lucky. They're even going on baby #6. SIX! Amazing.
Cute Cody...she was so busy this trip with her almost-two-year-old, Owen. I hope she had fun, I had fun taking their pictures. :)

My kids love Rylee. She is so good with them. Here are Grace and Crede enjoying some extra attention.

Here's John playing "Hot Box"...one of our groups favorite games to play up campin'.

This is Crede's idea of sitting still for a picture. He's such a boy.

Chance playing with Gracie

My beautiful friend, Shari.

Sara became our offical "hair stylist" this trip. She has some mad french braiding skillz. Every girl in our group asked Sara to do their hair. She also gave me some good pointers...although I don't think that I'd ever do well. That's okay though.

Here's Nate playing with Ella Bella and Moses.

Cute Owen.....so tired...........

Here's cute Rylee relaxing on her Dad. I love this picture.

Yuba Lake ~ Day #1

2010-07-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

Day #1.

We drove to Yuba Lake, which is about 30 minutes south of Nephi City. On our way we stopped in Nephi to get some Subway Sandwiches for dinner (and yes, I ordered an entire foot long...a little embarrassing considering almost everyone else ordered 6 inches...) and then arrived at camp.

If you want to read more about our day #1, go here.
For now, here are my favorite pictures of the day.

What more can a parent ask for....they're so stkin' cute when they sleep.

Leave it to the girls to think up a skit right when we arrive. Here Morgan is jammin' out on her Saxophone Kazoo (that someone found when we arrived). I believe their skit had the song, "You can be anything" in it.

I. AM. A. ROBOT.

And of course, the parent section....

Everyone kept teasing Crede...he was dancing his little heart out. He just has his own rhythm. John kept saying, "He needs to listen to more black music." It's okay Crede...you dance 'til your heart's content.

Aaaaah, Star-catcher. Grace hauled her pony around the ENTIRE TRIP.

Just one of the gagillion "Can I have a Drink?" moments on this camping trip.

The Yuba Day#1 toes. Believe me, they didn't look like this when we left. Yikes.

Aaaaahhhh.....Collin knows how to braid. Grace was very appreciative.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Oh man it was a fun day yesterday. We woke up a little early and drove to West Point to watch their parade with Token and Corey. It was FREEZING. (And by freezing I mean that it was about 60 degrees. Chance called me a wus a few times.) While we were waiting a golf cart showed up full of KRISPIE KREME'S! They were giving them away. Cha. Ching. We ate doughnuts, and watched a pretty fun parade. My kids LOVED it.

After the parade we went to West Point Days ~ basically a lot of food, booths that try to sell you stuff you don't really need, and a rock-climbing wall. We let the kids play at the park for awhile, freaked out for about 10 minutes when we couldn't find Crede anywhere and then when we DID find him (over by the bounce-houses butting in line) we drove home and he spent some time in "time out".

Chance then spent the afternoon replacing our faucet in our upstairs bathroom. We ate some pizza and then left to go to the fireworks with Token and Corey again. We even caught up with some old friends ~ Chad and Cara. Our kids slid down the hill next to us all. night. long. The grass was totally dead, so they didn't have any problems sliding down on their behinds. We snacked, and my kids loved the fireworks (as you can see from their faces).

We drove home, plopped them into bed and then cringed when 7:15am rolled around. Needless to say our kids are now all taking a nap. We had so much fun, and I'm so happy to live in a free country. Happy 4th of July!

Our kids and their cousins...

Our cute little family...

Gager...

Grace waiting for the parade to begin...

Crede making the most of his waiting time...

So before we left for the fireworks we told the kids to all use the potty. Grace came running out of the house to leave....um Grace? Do you feel a bit of a draft?

Aaaaah......

Poor Gage, this is what he did most of the night. He was pooped.

You can't tell, but it was a BEAUTIFUL sunset. Here I am....striking a pose? Hmm..I'm not sure.

During the fireworks...

ooooh........aaaaaahhhh....

Crede's fascination....

Can you tell Morgan ate a lot of licorice? Naa....neither can I.

Grace ended up lying down to watch the show. Cute little girl.

Gage FINALLY went to sleep. JUST as the firework show began. Little goofball!

Our Patriotic Tribute

2010-06-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

We spent the morning at our church house. Our ward put on a breakfast/patriotic tribute. It was a lot of fun! I had no idea how many people living in our area either serve in the military NOW or have served in the past. It was neat. Those individuals brought pictures, medals, and some even wore their uniforms. (I made the embarrassing mistake of saying, "Oh, you look good in your OUTFIT." to one of the military men that came. I quickly recovered, and said, "Wait. It's not an outfit. I meant your uniform." Geez, what a geek I am. They had a bike station where all the kids could decorate their ride with fun streamers, etc. As you can see from the pictures, our kids loved that part.

We ate breakfast (consisting of all kinds of artery clogging foods), Chance ate seconds, and then we sat through a little presentation. At the end we all stood and sang, "I'm proud to be an American" and I am, again, such a geek but I was happy to be wearing sunglasses so that no one could see the tears running down my face. I know, I know... pull it together!

I am so happy to have been born in this free country. I, pretty much, have taken that for granted up until this year. I am so blessed to live in an area of peace. I know that this country was founded under God and I know that we are living in a chosen land and that, especially now, our freedoms need to be protected.

Sorry...soapbox there for a sec.
Here are the fun pictures of the kids after the whole thing was over parading their new rides.

Here's Grace after she realized that her tire was completely flat. She wouldn't stop pedaling though.

Just....a little.....farther...............

Now...that's more like it. This was after we got Grace's scooter out of the truck.

Here are all the kids in all their glory. Ta da!!

Morgan's bike...she was pretty proud of it.

Crede...the only thing he had on his was a string of stars hanging off the back handle thingy. Yes, we also realize it's a PINK big-wheel, but I have to admit, it's his favorite.

The Ice Cream Truck

2010-06-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

Every so often we have an ice cream "Van" that comes around the neighborhood. I don't know, but for some reason, I don't quite like the idea of a strange "van" filled with ice cream roaming the neighborhood looking for kids. Call me over-protective...

Anyway ~
Tonight we splurged. We let the kids get out of bed (I know it looks all bright and sunny outside, but it was really about 8pm...I know that's early for some of you folk out there, but I likes my alone time in the evenings.) and we hunted down the ice cream van.

Can you believe one Popsicle was $1.50? We opted for the less-expensive Creamie totalling in at .75 each. MUCH better. Mmmmmm.....Creamies. Our kids had a good ol' time, and the ice cream "van" hasn't really been around since.

I love this picture. Grace is such a cuddle-bug.

The final result: CHOCOLATE!

First Grade Awards

2010-06-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Morgan's school teacher called me the day before this awards ceremony and told me that I MIGHT want to be there. Of course I showed, equipped with camera. Morgan received the "Best in Math" award for her 1st grade class! (When asked, "Morgan, do you like math?" She told me, "No, I hate it!") She also got an award for reading so much during the school year.

Her school was holding a contest for a new bike. They put everyone's name in a drawing (who read and tested on AR books through the year) and then picked the name during this assembly. Morgan had her fingers and toes crossed in hopes that her name would be drawn.

Alas...it wasn't. The girl who was drawn went up, put her hand on the bike and said, "I didn't even WANT a bike!" Morgan was a little bummed out, but was quickly reminded that she had a perfectly good bike at home. She came home with 2 awards and 4 new books. Yay Morgan.

I'm so proud of my biggest 7 year old.

Morgan and her friend, Mallory...

Dump Truck Ride

2010-06-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

One afternoon, while I was sitting at home, Chance called me. He was driving by in the dump truck and wondered if any of our kids would like a ride. Morgan was at school, Crede was taking a nap, Gage wouldn't have known any difference, so Grace was our chosen one. She was super excited...as you can see from our pictures.

She had a fun time hanging out with Dad, and Chance said that would probably be the last time she would be allowed at work for a very long time. (Apparently she tried to drive a back-hoe all by herself.)

2010-05-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

Morgan spent all morning outside with her little brother and sister. She made them lay down and she traced their entire body. Grace also traced Morgans.

Morgan then drew their outfits in amazing detail! I found it funny. Morgan wasn't around during the picture-taking process, but I guarantee, her outfit matched her drawing just perfectly.

Morgan's picture wearing her "cereal shirt"...
Grace's likeness of herself...

Morgan's picture of Grace...

The real thing...

Morgan's picture of Crede...

The real thing...

Spring Rain Bike Rides

2010-05-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Once again I will say how lucky I am to have a husband like mine. It was POURING rain out, Chance came home from work, the kids were in bed, and he asked, "Can the kids come out to play in the rain?" I protested at first, but then caved (as I usually do). The kids had SO MUCH FUN out there. Our gutter was completely overflowing so, of course, the kids started riding their bikes through it. They even had some gutter trash races to see whose piece of trash or stick or whatever won.

Such a fun memory.

Crede riding through the gutter...

Grace...

Morgan...

Yes, we're aware his bike is pink. He loves that thing.

Our Front Door Bendaroo's

2010-05-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

I am SO not a fan of Bendaroo's. My kids got them from Santa this last year and since then I don't think they have been allowed to play with them much. They were a little fun at first, but every. single. time. they are played with, I spend about that same amount of time scraping sticky stuff off my countertop. Grr.

I think this happened on a Sunday, but I came home from Choir practice and saw some neat Bendaroo art on my front door! My kids were so excited that I had to leave it up. I just so happened to paint my front door the next day (coincidence? You be the judge.) - so - shoot. I had to take them down.

PS - the front door was that awesome cream/tan/gross color when we moved in. I've just procrastinated painting it for a good 7 years now. It was preeetty bad.

The before...(yikes)

A couple of close-ups of the neat Bendaroo artwork...

I was actually pretty impressed with this one...

And the after. Better, don't you think?

Springtime Swimming

2010-05-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Literally, this was the first day of the year that broke 70 degrees. We have had such a wet, cold spring that it felt WONDERFUL today. Therefore, we broke out the kiddie pool. Morgan and Grace were invited to swim in our neighbor's HOT TUB, so we filled our kiddie pool with water from our water heater. Sweet!!

Gage, obviously, had never seen the sun up close before, and Crede was soooo excited to get out and play in the water. They had a lot of fun.

Here's the debut of "albino baby".

Crede was trying to help Gage play with some fun pool-toys.

Check out those ab-rolls!

Gage looks like the Micheline Man here. Either that or the State Puff Marsh-mellow Man.

Gage cuddling with Dad on the swings.

Swimming Lessons

2010-05-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and signed Morgan and Grace up for swimming lessons. We go camping every year with some close friends of ours, and we always make it a point to camp by some type of water.

Last year we couldn't find Crede for about 10 minutes ~ and then he came walking through camp with wet socks and shoes. He had just decided to walk down by the water...ALONE...and wade his feet. I will tell you how freaked out that made me.

So.
Swimming lessons it is.

It was quite the ordeal taking all 4 kids to swimming lessons. Chance was only able to come twice, and let me just tell you how much I appreciated it when he came. What was hard was when Grace, or Crede, or Morgan would come up to me and say, "I need to go potty!!" I would then have to take Crede, Gage and whomever else in the bathroom with me. It's hard when you can't put your baby down for a minute to help wipe. Ya know? I would always finish out of breath. I made a nice friend who always sat by me ~ she gave me this cute magazine that she was looking at (after I sat and read over her shoulder the whole time) and I'm looking forward to hanging out with her again this summer (her daughter signed up for the same time as we did).

Anyway,

Here are some pictures of Grace. Morgan's year went a little worse. She was so freaked out of the water that each week she was in tears during her lesson. Her teacher kept telling her that he was a lifeguard and not to worry. I was so happy that she had a caring and patient teacher. She wouldn't have made it otherwise. She finally got used to it after about 5 lessons. This summer they will be taking more classes, and I'll get more pictures of Morgan then. In the meantime, here are pictures of Grace...and one of Morgan doing what she does best.

Oh Grace...

Yep, that's what she does best.

And Gage...

I like how she has a perma-grin on her face in all of these pictures. Goof-ball.

TIme is going waaaaay to fast.

2010-05-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

It hit me today. Gage is 9 months old! This is his last milestone before he turns the big One Oh. Wow. I can't imagine our lives without this little man. He is so stinkin' cute and funny and chubby and yummy. I love to smell his head and nuzzle into his cheek. I love that when he wants you to pick him up he will "head butt" you in the leg. I love when he talks to me, saying, "Bah bah bah bah" or even just opening and closing his mouth over and over to make that popping sound. When I was taking his picture today I kept saying, "Boo!!" I swear to you, he said it. I know, my kids are GENIUSES.

(They get it from their Mom.)

Happy Birthday Crede!

2010-04-18T12:57:00.001-07:00

Crede, I can't believe that you are now 3 years old. THREE! You have been such a fun little boy. Before actually having a boy in our family, I didn't know how much fun they could actually be. I was nervous and apprehensive when you were first born. I didn't know if I'd be a good Mom for a boy.

You are SO. MUCH. FUN. You make me smile each and every day. You have a fun little sense of humor, and your little belly makes me laugh. When you were about 1 1/2 we would tease you because your tummy stuck out so much after you ate. It looked like a little basketball under your shirt.

Anywho, you turned three, you had a very fun birthday and even had your "car" birthday cake, as requested. I am loving the birthday hat Morgan made for you, and you were loving the Lightning McQueen car she bought for you. We all love you very much, and I hope that you enjoyed your third birthday.

Your puppet show...

Your be-yoo-tifull birthday hat...Thanks Morgan

Even birthday boys have to sit in time-out sometimes...Sorry Crede.

Yeah, I know...my cake skillz are amazing. I would officially like to announce my retirement from the cake world. Sorry kids, but next year we're going for taste rather than shape. Mmmmmm.....red velvet.....

Easter Part Deux

2010-04-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Saturday before Easter is always quite the event. This year we had THREE Easter Egg Hunts to go on. Here are the kids practicing with Dad before leaving for the big hunt.

I cannot believe how COLD it was. I am thinking it was literally 30 degree's outside. Here are our kids all bundled up. Cute Morgan...

Crede...

Gage hiding out in his stroller...

And Grace...

Now. These next few pictures were taken on Easter morning. Gage was thoroughly excited (as you can see here). Mainly he just tried to eat the Easter Grass. Oh well. Next year will be more fun for our little Man.

Crede got a new friend in HIS basket (and we can even take him to church with us!)

Here are all the kids as we were waiting for the time to leave for the Grand-Baileys' house.

As you can see here...Gage has PLENTY of love.

Here are all 15 Grandkids just before the Easter Hunt at the Grand-Baileys' house. It was a lot of fun.

Poor Gage...didn't quite grasp the concept. Oh well.

Easter Eggstravangza

2010-04-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here are our eggs before:

Aaaand after:

(Can you guess which egg belonged to Chance?)

Morgan drew that Easter Bunny all by herself on that egg. I thought it pretty cute.

Happy Birthday Grace!

2010-03-30T20:47:00.001-07:00

We had quite the fun day today. Grace turned four. I can't believe it. Here are some of the pictures capturing our very memorable moments. If you want details, go here. If not, enjoy the pictures.

Grace playing in her room with her new toy.

Morgan even graced us with her presence. They were getting along just wonderfully. **sigh** if only this was a more permanent occurrence.

Whomever invented these would have to be called "genius". This kept Morgan, Grace AND Crede busy for a very long time.

Oh, and you notice how the beads are all color-coordinated? They're not this way anymore. Right before dinner Crede and Grace were fighting over them and knocked ALL of them on the floor. It was lovely. As it was falling I actually covered my eyes. (As if that would make it all go away....I dunno sometimes I hope.)

Aaaand what birthday wouldn't be complete without a butterfly birthday cake that looks like it was baked just for Jerry Garcia? Is it a "special" cake, you ask? Why don't you come over and have a piece?
That's it. That was Grace's birthday. We love you little girl. I hope that you had a very special day.

Backbends and Backwards

2010-03-22T12:32:00.001-07:00

Gage has now started crawling. This is his big day. Before, he had this odd combination of backbending, kicking, backbending, kicking, etc. This would get him to said location fast and easy. He has since realized that he can actually crawl. It's pretty funny because 80% of the time he goes backwards. It reminds me of the "Running Man". Those of you that were in their teens during those crazy 90's understand that analogy, right?

Here's Gage during his patented backbend. Oddly enough, Grace used to do this EXACT same thing. Did you know that Gage and Grace look just the same? Perhaps they got that little piece of DNA that makes them look the same...however **gulp** I hope they don't end up ACTING the same. Heaven help me.

AAaaaaand here's Gage crawling around the front room. I know, he's cute.

Seven.

2010-03-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's official. She's seven. I still can't believe it. She's no longer the "innocent" toddler who can barely walk and talk. I look at her feet and find it strange that they are actually getting closer to MY size. Her big hoodies might POSSIBLY fit me (you know, when I finally lose that baby weight) and it's just plain WEIRD that she's growing up. She sure is cute though.

Morgan's Lost Puppy

2010-03-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

After searching our kitchen for a piece of paper to jot something down on, I came across this riveting story written by my very own 7 year old. It shouldn't come as a shock that I found another "book" seeing as Morgan will write about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, I just found this one too funny not to share.

It is told in the first person, and in every single picture Morgan is in complete anguish.

Just in case you can't tell...

Her heart-felt letter written especially for puppy.

Here's Morgan sitting on a chair painting a picture of her lost puppy.

And a collection of her favorite puppy pictures all neatly displayed on her table.

Now I'm not sure whether to laugh or take this picture to a well-paid psychologist. This is how the story ends...pretty abruptly don't you think?

I wonder what will be next in my little Author's repertoire. Autobiography? Memoir? Another fretful story filled with loss? We shall see.

Girlz gone WILD!

2010-03-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well not wild persaaaaaay...just crazy. Morgan had her birthday party last Saturday. It was a night to remember. Chance was away at a Jazz Game while I was home playing with 7 little girls. They were so much fun and cute that I'm glad we had them over.

As you can see, we had a Hannah Montana themed party. Not much else had to do with Hannah Montana other than the plates and cups, but Morgan didn't really notice that. We ran around, sung loud, watched Scooby Doo (again...so sorry you guys) and played house. I hope that these ladies all had a good time.

Here is a glimpse of our most beautiful place settings.

And a little glimpse of a present before it got ripped to shreds (thank you ALL for the fun gifts - Morgan has been in 7th heaven the last few days)

Hayley, I SWEAR I didn't take this picture because you were digging. I took it because you were being so cute...it's just that you stuck your finger up there RIGHT as I clicked. You're too cute.

Morgan and Breauna. They have such a fun friendship - I'm glad that they live so close.

All the little girlies eating their ice cream.

Does Morgan like to make goofie faces? Yup. Here's Morgan and Breauna.

Cute Hayley eating hers right up. (When asked, "Do you want vanilla or chocolate?" Hayley answered, "Both!" When asked, "Ice Cream Cone or bowl?" Hayley answered, "Both!")

And here's Hayley's big sis - Mallory.

Alaina playing with the favorite member of our family. Poor Alaina had her eye hurt pretty bad at school...hence the pirate patch. Aaaarr! We love ya' Alaina.

And yet another favorite of Alaina. She loves to pick up Morgan (because Morgan's our little shrimp).

Mallory and Abigale chillin' on the couch just waiting for the right moment to join in the festivities.

Morgan making an all-important announcement in her microphone.

One of Abigale's cards that she made for Morgan.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun that night. Once again, I am happy that these little cuties were able to come to our house for a little party-time. And for the last time this year, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN!

The da da ddaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....Dentist.

2010-03-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

You have to say those words above with scary music in your head or else it just won't work. Go ahead....I'll wait.

...

alrighty. As you can see, we went to the Dentist today. None of us had any cavities. Can you believe it? Naa...neither can it. This was Grace's VERY first time so we had to bring along the camera. Here are my favorite shots of the day.

Here's Grace just waiting for her turn.

The Dentist counting all of those pearly whites

Morgan waiting for HER turn (and insisting I take a picture of her.)

Love the grin. Are you GROWLING?

This is the "I'll smile...SORTA...just so I can see the picture when you're done." You little faker.

Grace showing off her newly cleaned teeth. Can you hear the "ding!" coming off those bad boys? What shiny teeth you have!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin......

2010-02-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

Gage was in our front room today, content as could be. I was in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast. I walked out, and found Gage pinned beneath my Wooden Easter Bunny (yes, EASTER Bunny. I put my decorations up already. You got a PROBLEM with that?!). The funny thing was the fact that he didn't make a peep.

Don't you love those eyebrows? It's as if they are engraved into his forhead. I love it.

Yep, the vase was also a casualty. Who can resist that face? Really.

He's looking at me as if to say, "So.......you gonna help me now?"
Or it could be, "Will you put the dang camera away already? " I'll bet it was the latter.

Maybe it was all the adrenaline pumping through his little body. Maybe it finally hit him how much danger he was actually in during those 3 minutes. Maybe he knew he had straw all over his clean shirt. For whatever reason, here's my poor, poor, sad little boy.

Who can resist that face?

Creder's Cars

2010-02-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

Um...so can you tell we were a little bored today?

Cabin fever you ask?

Why yes.

Happy Birthday Morgan!

2010-02-24T21:25:00.000-08:00

If this doesn't tell you how my day begun, I don't know what does. Can I just tell you how much I fell out of love with Betty Crocker today? Her directions for this cake were not forthcoming. This was the result of my first attempt at making Morgan's "purse cake". Yummy!

Here's our big SEVEN year old getting her birthday spankin' from good ol' Dad. She looks terrified, don't you think?

We broke down and let Grace open one of Morgan's presents (after asking Morgan if it was okay.) She was literally shaking from excitement. What's funny was what ensued after this picture was taken. See, Grace really thought the gift was for her so when Morgan came over to take it from her, Grace started screaming and throwing a fit. I was just laughing (inside of course) and watching the drama unfold when something inside of me said, "HELLO?!?! You should be stopping this argument!" I quickly pulled myself together, tore the two girls apart, and took a picture of the present in question. You know what it was?

The GIVING TREE. Anyone else find this ironic? I'm sorry...maybe it's just my twisted sense of humor. I, personally, found it pretty entertaining.

Here's a glimpse of the present we got Morgan. It's a karaoke system. I know, you're thinking, but how could the Bailey's afford such an extravagant gift?! You want to know a secret? It wasn't very expensive! You hook it up to your MP3 player, it comes with a microphone and you can even hook it up to an electric guitar! (Sweeeet!) If you are ever in the neighborhood and hear some stray guitar sounds coming from our house, come on in.

And here's our birthday girl herself. Her hair is a little disheveled...it's after school you know.

Yes, and Grace had the most fun with this gift. Morgan was feeling a little too shy to sing, but apparantly Grace didn't have a problem with it.

Here she is singing, "Best of Both Worlds". What a natural. You can just SENSE her stage presence. Watch out American Idol.

Oh yes, and here is the FINISHED cake. A little boxy (because I had to MAKE UP my own recipe for the dumb thing) but functional.

Morgan, I hope that you had a very Happy Birthday. We love you so much and I, personally, am so proud to be your Mom. You are a very strong and fun little girl. Happy Birthday Bug.

Brothers

2010-02-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

I love my 2 little boys. Before having kids I wasn't sure how I'd react to a new baby, let alone a BOY.

See...I'm a girl (most days) and I know how us girls think. I know how complicated and hormonal we can be, and I can deal with that. A boy? What if my boy was a crazy-man? What if he threw toys around all day long and didn't know how to be "soft"? And the coup de gras ... How do I potty train a ...

BOY?

All of these fears flew out the window the second I laid my eyes on Crede. He was my SON. To this day Chance teases me about the fact that I am tied around Crede's little finger. I love my 2 little men, and I am so glad that they will be able to grow up together and play trucks and even ... **gulp** hunt with Daddy. (I know Dad appreciates this fact every day of his existence).

Here are my 2 boys playing together.

Superbowl Sunday

2010-02-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

I have a small confession. After staying home from church due to Grace having a fever and sleeping the entire 3 hours Chance was gone, we went to our friends house for a Superbowl Extravaganza. We had SO MUCH food and a lot of fun too. We downed childrens Motrin all night long, ate until we were sick, the kids all played together excellently, and we laughed at all those awesome commercials (except for a slim few).

Here's little Gage kickin' it on the floor...his very favorite thing to do.

And Grace. She's growin' too fast these days.

Crede eating his sugar cookie.

Aaand a close up of the "healthy" part of our day. They ARE apples, after all.

Growin' Gage

2010-01-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

Gage turns 6 months on Thursday. Happy 6 months little man. If you want to read about him go here. We love you Gage.

Snowmen and their Accessories

2010-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well we finally made a snowman this winter. (And by WE I mean Chance and the girls). I was in my nice, warm, dry house...ran out to take pictures...and ran back in. Does that make me lazy? Perhaps.

Here are Morgan, her friend from across the street, Amy, and Grace. Love the head tilt little girl.
Quick story...Grace loves to eat snow. I also need to state that Grace is NOT a snow-racist. She loves snow from any PLACE and of any COLOR. Thank you Chance for teaching her that it's okay to eat snow. Let's hear it for him, ladies and gentlemen......

Are those BULLETS for the eyes? Why yes! Morgan kept saying, "Mom, he looks mad." I know, Morgan...I know. This is what happens when you scrounge round OUR house for snowmen accessories. I, the Mom, provided the carrot. Thank you, thank you.

Cute Morgan.

Cute Gracie.

Does that snowman have antlers you ask? Why yes it does! Are we the red-neck family in the neighborhood that everyone makes fun of? Why yes we are!

Bendawhat? Bendawho?

2010-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

Bendaroo's!

Obviously the kids have enjoyed their Christmas present. Chance took some time one afternoon to make some nice glasses for everyone. In addition to glasses, we've had a pretty impressive lion, a frog, and even a stick-man that danced. Prrretty impressive!

what a smart baby.

Grace.

Disregard the degree of chaos in the background. That's just how I roll.

Christmas Afternoon....FINALLY!

2010-01-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

Okay instead of freezing up and not posting ANYTHING, I will bite the bullet, post a few pictures (and when I say a few I mean a LOT) from our Christmas afternoon so as to not disappoint my dying fans out there **snicker** and then MOVE ON.

Our little Creder.

Aaaah....video games.

Morgan and Grace showing Grandma what Santa brought them.

Mmmm...doesn't that chocolate look lifelike?! These were the toys Grace chose to bring (along with her leapfrog).

Yeah, pretty much this is what Gage did the entire morning. He had plenty of visitors and was NEVER bored.

We finally had to take the leap frog away from Grace so that she would interact with the family.

I particularly like that the trucks are parked on the napkins, dont' you?

Here is Morgan thoroughly enjoying all the laughter and good times when it comes to opening presents.

What do you suppose Grandpa got for Christmas? Hmmm.....goggles perhaps?

Crede and his never-ending car obsession

Merry Christmas everyone. Too bad it's now January 16th...I know I know...I'm gettin' there.

Christmas Morning Wrappings

2010-01-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

Well finally I've gotten our pictures of Christmas morning. Gage found everything verrrrrrry interesting, and the other kiddo's just enjoyed tearing that wrapping paper off as fast as their little fingers would allow. Here are some of my fav's from this day.

The kids with their very first present.

I think Crede is thinking, "Did Grace get something better than I did?"

Bendawhat? Bendawho? Bendaroo's!! For more bendaroo fun go here

Crede and his Semi-truck

Here are Barbie and Semi meeting for the first time. They get along great these days.

Grace showing off her Hi-Ho Cherrie-O game.

I think Chance might just be as excited as Crede to see that Semi-Truck....just a hunch.

Gage in wonder at his new toy.

The first glimpse of the front-room madness.

What? Gage got finger food? Yep.

Aaaaand wrapping paper.

Stay tuned for even MORE Christmas madness. I haven't even posted our AFTERNOON pictures yet. I'm sure you are just on the edge of your seat aren't you. AREN'T YOU!!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

Oh man...I'm behind. Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve Excursion. We went to go see "Alvin and the Chipmunks, the SQUEAKquil". That, I am pretty sure, was the longest 2 hours of my entire life. Has anyone else found it disturbing to watch the Chipette's shake their goods to "All the Single Ladies"? I dunno... I just thought the entire movie was torture.

On the PLUS side...my kids LOVED the show. They loved all the music, all the stinkers (and the accompanying sound to go with said stinkers) and all the kids in the show. I mean, what is Christmas all about really? Chipmunks!

Oh, I am sooooooo kidding there. We really know what CHRISTmas is all about. We went to the movies, came home, watched the Nativity Story and then finished up the night with ol' Mr. Krugers Christmas. (It was the first time Chance has watched that one...and, no, I didn't miss the eye-rolling the ENTIRE show)

I will post some Christmas pictures here shortly. I just wanted everyone to know we are still alive and kickin here. :)

Here are all the kids before leaving for the movie.

Little Gage content as can be.

Crede was in awe at all the movie displays in the theatre.

Grace trying her very hardest to behave herself.

Morgan being her cute self.

And Gage right before succombing to Dad's magic spells that he seems able to cast. He fell asleep shortly after this one. Cute little boy.

Aaaand here's Crede again...trying HIS best to behave before they let us in the theatre to sit down.

Ode to Grace

2009-11-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

Today's post will be directed towards my 2nd child - Grace. I'm going to focus on her today because she is taking me for a ride. It's like a puke-inducing ride that you would get on at "Six Flags." There are some days where you just don't feel like getting on the ride because the ride doesn't EVER slow down, and it makes your stomach drop at inopportune times. Once you get on the ride you find yourself enjoying it. (That is IF you weren't motion-sick to begin with.) There are even parts when you can't help but laugh out loud. When the end of the ride eventually comes you find yourself thinking, "Let's do it again!" That's my Grace. Never a dull moment.

She is such a funny person. She is just happy to be alive. She is ALWAYS smiling (except for when no one is paying attention to her or she is in trouble.) and she is always full of very funny antidotes.

Grace, we love you. I hope that you get a child just like you.

struttin' her stuff in her new skirt. (Her very favorite thing to do in her pettiskirt is to "shake her rump" to see her skirt shuffle)

The "pre" photo-shoot glamour. I wanted to see what hot rollers would do to her hair. Needless to say, she didn't enjoy them too much.

Well this is how we started our morning today before church. If you want to read the entire story, go here: www.onesmallglimpse.blogspot.com

Official photo shoot.

2009-11-13T21:42:00.001-08:00

I've officially started a new venture. It's called emily bailey photography. Yeah, I know...reaaaaaaaaaaaaaal original. I took my kids out today for a photo shoot and I realized something. You know what it was?

Taking pictures of 4 kids by themselves aged 6 and under is not an easy task. All of my "group" pictures don't look the greatest, but I had a fabulous time with their individual pictures. This just tells me that I'm going to have to practice and practice. You're welcome to check out my official website with other photos on it at www.emilybaileyphotography.blogspot.com if you feel so inclined. If not, that's great - here are some of the photo's from today:

Grace cheesin' it up

Crede's signature look. Little stinkpot!! He goes into this world of "I'm not going to look at the camera even if you bribed me with pure sugar." and will NOT look at me. This is when he was finally coming out of it.

What a sweet big sister. Gage wasn't too enthralled with our photo shoot today. He sure looked sharp though. Sharp and round at the same time. Go figure.

Our Morgan I know this one is just a tad out of focus...but I still am enjoying looking at it.

2009-11-06T14:21:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Chance! The big 4-0!! (not really.....)

If ya' want to read the whole "mushy" post I wrote about him, you're welcome to go to my other blog, www.onesmallglimpse.blogspot.com and check it out. Otherwise, here is my favorite picture of my favorite partner in crime.

Happy Birthday, I love you!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! We started off our festivities this year with a little pumpkin carving. This year Chance stepped up his game by adding actual horns to his pumpkin. Usually his pumpkins just have a deer carved right into them. Morgan got to draw the face on hers and we carved it out for her. Here are their pumpkins. Cute cute. Grace and I carved the ol' standard Jack-O-Lantern face...nothin' too exciting there.

Here are the kids after carving their pumpkins. Cute little kids in their PJ's.

The day of Halloween I had planned a very exciting day. Our neighbor gave us this gingerbread house kit (which LOOKED so cute.). When we got it out of the box I noticed that you needed to be a professional cake decorator to do some of the details shown on the box. Come on people!! The dumb icing didn't hold up like it was supposed to, and I wasn't about to sit and wait 2 hours for it to harden up before moving onto the candy part. Anywho, as you can see below, my impatience and lack of professional training helped our house to look like this.

Here's a nice close up for you too. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......gooey.

After the gingerbread, I wanted to take my kids out to take their pictures in their costumes. Morgan and Grace did really well. They held still, and I got some really cute pics of them. Crede, on the other hand, didn't want ANY part of it. He ran around, giggled, and wouldn't look at me to save his life. Gage was asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake him, so we only have pictures of my 3 kids instead of all 4. Oh well....maybe next year, right?

Here's Morgan:

She was a "charm school" witch this year. Her hat was huge so we took some without it.

Here's Grace, our little ladybug. She was so stinkin' cute in her outfit.

Check out those eyes!

And finally, our stinker, Crede. He was a skunk. He wouldn't let me put his "hat" on, so this is whatcha got.

And lastly...all 3 kids with their bags ready for the fun to begin. Candy here we come!!

Well there you have it. Our Halloween. Gage, next year you will have a lot more fun, I promise. Love you kids!

My New Camera Update...

2009-10-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

I originally posted some pictures taken with my new camera, but deleted that post because I needed to tweak them in my "darkroom". So.......here the are - officially.

Morgan: my favorite thing is the freckles.

Grace: My favorite pic is this first one. That's just a classic look.

Crede: This is the only really good shot...he just doesn't sit still!

And Gage: He's so much fun.

I love this part of babies...the neck rolls....aaaaaaaaaah sweet baby smell.

And of course the feet. So cute.

The Kind of Mother....

2009-10-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine posted this on her blog. SHE got it from her Mother in Law - who found it in the newspaper. It brought a smile to MY face today, so I thought I'd share it too. (Thanks Rea!)

"Sometimes motherhood is like being on a merry-go-round that just won't stop turning. Even when you're getting a tad too dizzy, some ornery kid gives it another push.We have to try to hang on and enjoy the ride.

Kids make sure the excitement never stops - don't even think about sitting down to rest - they need a drink, a toy from the high shelf, a bandage for an aching wound you can't even see... some urgent issue is bound to arise just as you put your feet up.

Sometimes, amid the cracker crumbs, foot-impaling plastic toys and sibling squabbles, we need to reaffirm what this job is all about. We must remind ourselves.

We must remind ourselves that the perfect mother is one who recognizes that family life isn't perfect. It's all about making sweet lemon bars out of a sour lemon kind of day, and not worrying to much about the high sugar content. Just this once.

Instead of muttering to myself in a corner, I share my affirmations with you, fellow parents, grandparents and curious gawkers.

I will be the mother who holds her children's hands a little too tightly, always thinking of the awful what ifs in this world.

I will be the mother who serves her kids the same meal I'm eating, refusing to give in to the chicken nugget diet youngsters wish to subscribe to.

I will be the mother who sometimes gives them the Popsicle they really want even though they already had a cookie and a doughnut that day.

I will be the mother who won't give her kids soda, because I said so.

I will be the mother who teaches them to play by the rules and also makes sure they win sometimes.

I will be the mother who lets her kids watch television and make no apology for it.

I will be the mother who won't let her kids listen to iPods and send text messages throughout dinner.

I will be the mother who doesn't really care if the kids make their beds.

I will be the mother who care very much about how the children treat people.

I will be the mother who sometimes says "yes" when I shouldn't.

I will be the mother who sometimes says "no" when I shouldn't.

I will be the mother who loves my children more than they can imagine, on the best of days and the worst of days."

Smiles everyone!

2009-10-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

This nationwide event happened last Sunday. Okay, maybe not nationwide...not even statewide. Let's say - This BAILEYwide event happened last Sunday.

Gage has been very elusive and shy about showing his emotions. I know, I know - men. I keep telling him, "Gage, it's really okay to show your soft side. You can laugh and STILL be a man." He just keeps flirting with me (wait - not flirting - that would be weird). He just keeps TEASING me and TESTING my attention span with his smiles and fake coughs.

Last Sunday was THE day. I started in with the soft tickles on his cheeks to get him to trust me. See you have to go in like you don't really WANT him to laugh. He didn't even see it comin'. I went in for the under-the-chin ... in-between-the-fat-rolls tickle that seems to be so popular with other babies these days.

Aaaaaand voila! Gage laughed.

Je t'aime Gage. (deep french laugh) hhhhaughhhh haugghhhh hhhauuugh

Fall Fondness

2009-09-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

It's about time I update our family blog. We've had quite the uneventful month. Don't get me wrong, I have a crazy everyday life (you can read about that in my other blog: http://www.onesmallglimpse.blogspot.com/), it's just we don't do anything notorious. We DID have the privilege to bless our little Gage in church at the beginning of the month. I should probably say CHANCE had that privilege, I just have the privilege to be married to him. That was neat, and, as always, a HUGE relief once it was done.

Let's begin with the pictures that document our month.

ME

I am in charge of a "Scrapbook Getaway" every 6 months, and it fell in September this time. We get a hotel, provide all the meals and prizes, and have about 30 people come. It's a lot of fun, and a little work. We also stay up all night (if we can). This first picture was taken the night after I got home from the overnighter. My eyes are totally bloodshot, I'm a little queasy because I'm so stinkin' tired, but Gage is the one that gets to sleep anywhere, anytime. I envy that little boy. One little disclaimer: I totally hate pictures of me...especially when I'm still trying to lose 10 more baby pounds. So take that however you would like to.

CHANCE

Did I mention what a good husband I have? This picture was taken after Gage's baby blessing, in our backyard. The REASON I took this picture is because Chance is over on the left-hand side, and he's talking to that table full of family. Do you want to know what he was talking about? Hunting. He was telling (in INCREDIBLE detail) a story about a deer he saw and "stalked" and didn't get. Seriously, his stories are verrrrrrrry detailed. I'm NOT going to say long, because that would be mean. Love you Chance. The only one that looks interested in his story is his Mom. That makes me laugh. Anyway, cute picture.

MORGAN

This is our BIG little Morgan playing with her cousins after the baby blessing. She's on our swing set (which I should include a picture of THAT too.). Our swing set is made out of telephone poles. It's as tall as our house. The kids absolutely LOVE it. Our backyard is ginormous, so it's not like it takes up the entire backyard, so that's good. Morgan's on the right, waving at me. Cute little girl.

Here she is again. This is just a cute picture. I took this when she lost her top tooth. She looks so funny now without a tooth there. It is really weird to think that I have a 6 year old who goes to first grade. She's getting so old! She is doing so well in school. She brings her homework home and gets it done in about 20 minutes. (It's supposed to last the whole week). I can't take any credit for her "smarts" either. She just completely absorbs all information given to her. Take TV for instance: She watches a show once, and she remembers specific lines from that show. I think people think that all she does is watch movies and TV, but it's just that she remembers everything.

GRACE

Oh Grace. My little time-bomb. You NEVER know what is going to come out of her mouth, or what she is going to do. This first picture was taken after Gage's baby blessing. She got into a chocolate chip cookie that had been sitting out a little long. The chocolate was all melted, and she thoroughly enjoyed that cookie. Here she is, proud as can be. My little cookie monster.

Now here is Grace on a sunny afternoon playing outside. I first caught her with my watering can, watering our rocks in the front yard. I don't know why I buy white shirts for her either. They obviously don't stay white. Here's one of her silly faces that she pulled as I was taking the picture.

Oh yea. If you want to read the entire story about THIS picture, you can go to my other blog. (http://onesmallglimpse.blogspot.com/2009/09/she-looks-innocent-enough.html) This was taken after her haircut, and after the hairspray was involved. What did I tell ya'. Her hair looks like "Something About Mary". It's a good thing she's cute. That's all I can say.

CREDE

This picture was cracking me up. We sometimes have the TV on during dinner when Chance isn't home from work yet. It's mainly to keep MY sanity. So this evening we were watching "Babar" on the QUBO channel. There was a spooky part on the show and Crede was totally enthralled. He didn't BUDGE for about 10 minutes. The only thing that DID budge were his eyes. He kept going wide-eyed whenever it was super spooky. I was laughing. I didn't, however, get a great picture of it. He's not fully wide-eyed here.

Here's Crede after the baby blessing chowing down on a cookie. What a HANDSOME little boy I have.

GAGE

Yes, this is his blessing picture. He was NOT in a good mood that morning. His face is BEET red in this picture, and I just get a kick out of his fists. He's just MAD.

This picture is what happens when I leave him alone with Dad for 5 seconds. Chance is always keeping me smiling. He has a very subtle humor (most times). I walked into the room and Gage was just sitting there, content as can be. Chance was just sitting next to him, watching TV like nothing happened.

Here's Gage in his Halloween onesie that I bought while I was pregnant. I was pretty excited that it actually fit, and it's actually only a month away. I think that Gage is going to be a tootsie roll for Halloween. I love this time of year. This is only one picture out of about 25 that I took. I get a little crazy with my camera sometimes. Cute little boy.

That's our family for yet another month. We don't do much, but we are happy. I love my little family. (Except I need to stop saying we're little...there's 6 of us!)

Life with 4 kids.

2009-09-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well I am still here, and still kickin'. (on the days when I have enough energy to kick... heh heh). Everyday I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants. No plan, no organization, nothin'. Just pure instinctual survival. Outlive, Outlast...what's that Survivor motto?

I've also been itching for a new project. My right side of the brain has been feeling neglected lately, and I've needed a creative outlet. What to do, what to do. My good friend Amie gave me the idea of keeping a blog 365 days of the year. Each day I take a picture and blog about it. I started that, and I'm finding that I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It has been fun getting my "photography" self out again, and actually "thinking" about my photo's. If you're wondering where this blog is, here's the link:

http://www.onesmallglimpse.blogspot.com/

I have listed it in my blog's on the side of THIS blog too if ya want to check it out. I am finding it a nice outlet for journaling and photography. Nice.

Well this month has been pretty eventful. Not only have I tried to balance 4 kids, I'm trying to find my sanity as I am by myself for 2 weeks while Chance is gone hunting. Baaaaaaah! It's been interesting to say the least. Here are some photo's of our month.

Here's a picture of what I do best ... and that is to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Is that considered some sort of talent? I sure think it is. I mean, who else can fall asleep in 5 seconds flat?

Here's another one of me holding my little boy - I have to apologize for the blur - I mess with the settings on our camera all the time, and as a result - Chance doesn't know how to change them back. I turned the flash off for some reason. Anywho, that's why it's blurry. I had to laugh at Gage because he was looking at me and his face seemed to say, "who is this crazy woman holding me? Is she REALLY my Mom?"

Now this is the other end of the spectrum. Chance gets all the smiles and giggles. Well not really giggles yet, but all the smiles are his. This next picture just melted me. I love the fact that Chance's face has just as big of a smile on it as Gages does. My cute boys.

After I took that last picture, Grace wanted in on the action, so I handed her my camera, she pointed it at Chance, and this is the picture that she got. Lovely.

Ahh little miss Morgan. She started first grade this month, and she has absolutely LOVED it. Her teacher is very nice, her name is Mrs. Hagen, and her very good friend, Breauna, is in her class. This is her picture on her very first day.

One night after putting Grace to bed, she came running downstairs saying, "rainbow Dad!" So Chance looks out the window and says, "Lets go see!" This rainbow was huge, and right over our house. This picture really doesn't do it justice, but pictures never do.

This is the only action our treadmill has seen recently, sad but true. Grace was just entranced with her cartoon watching this day. Her favorite thing to do is climb up here, and balance for a second, and then climb down. She just kinda got stuck up there one day. Crazy girl.

I felt ambitious yesterday (now today was a completely DIFFERENT story...you can read about it in my other blog listed above) and took the 3 youngest kids to the park after dropping Morgan off to school. It was BEAUTIFUL weather, and it was a lot of fun for all of us. Gage did great, and it felt nice to get out and get fresh air. Here's cute Grace gallivanting around the bigtoy.

Right after having Gage our cute neighbor girl volunteered to babysit for me 2 times for free. Her name is Elizabeth, and my kids absolutely LOVE her. This is the day that she came to OUR house for a few hours and just played with the kids while I got stuff done. Elizabeth, we sure appreciate and love you! And P.S. - Crede's silly face is pretty impressive dont' you think?

Here is my cute little boy playing at the park. I am not sure that I'm biased - I really doubt that I am, but Crede is the CUTEST little boy around. Oh wait - I'll now have to say that he is the cutest TWO YEAR OLD around. Love you little boy.

Now for the cutest NEWBORN boy around... Gage. He went to church for the first time this last Sunday, and he looked sharp if I do say so myself. I had to take his picture right before. Too cute.

Well that sums up my month for the most part - We're just barely gettin' by and loving every minute of it.

Morgan's first day of 1st Grade

2009-08-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here's my big Morgan starting her first day of 1st Grade. This is a picture of Alaina, Morgan and Mason. They have been friends since they were born. I love that Morgan has good friends to spend time with. I hope that they stay friends their whole lives. Cute kids.

Aaaand here's Morgan waiting patiently in line for school to begin. What a cute girl we have.

Randomness

2009-08-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

I find myself thinking about blogging quite often. What can I ramble on about that people will actually care to read? What can I say that is of huge importance? My answer to both of these questions is...... not a whole heck of a lot. Is that going to stop me? I'm sorry to say, it's not.

Let us......**deep breath**.......BEGIN.

Last night I was so excited to see that the "MATRIX REVOLUTION" movie was on TV. When I watched the first "Matrix" movie, I was in awe at how "cool" it was. I talked about that movie to everyone and anyone that would listen. Well as I tried to better myself, I banned all rated "R" movies from my life. It was pretty crappy at first, as the "Matrix" #2 and #3 came out. Did I give in to temptation? I am proud to say....yep! No just kidding....I didn't. Well last night I thought "Wah hoo. Now I FINALLY get to watch this Matrix sequel."

Hmmmm....lets just say, Keanu Reaves really should be called Keanooooooooooooo! My favorite line in that movie? Let's set the scene. Keanooooooo (oops I mean Neo.....or NOOOOOO for you non-fans) just battled Mr Smith in his ship just before Him and Trinity took off to battle those darn machines when he was horrifically blinded. Okay first off....both his eyes were magically scabbed over right off the bat and....wait! He could still see Mr Smith! Oh hooray. So he pummels Mr Smith in the head, finds Trinity again and you know what his line was? You know what it was? "You're going to have to drive." Yes folks......***shaking head***......"You're going to have to drive." But you have to say it like Keanooooo. Very breathy and you need to think "duhhhhh" as you say it.

The ending of that show bothered me as well. I won't go into THAT as it might be a tad long. But thinking of crappy lines, I got to thinking of the book "Angels and Demons". Anyone read that? You'll have to forgive me because it's been so long since I've read it, but the main character and his woman sidekick are trying to get into a secured room when they look down and see an eyeball. Yes, **gasp** a human eyeball that had been cut out of someones head. Guess what the next line was. Something like "she would recognize that color of hazel anywhere." COME ON!!!

Okay that will now end my rant. I was just bothered that I invested my time and attention to that lovely movie last night. Aw well. I will now know not to watch the other Matrix movie that I haven't seen yet. I will stand by my first statement though - the first Matrix movie is still cool.

What else.....

So my mind has been wandering lately. Maybe it's sleep deprivation, maybe it's just that I have a busy head. Regardless of the reason, as I drag my tired behind through my day I think of things that I used to take for granted. Things like.....

1. a skinny "pre-marriage, pre-children, high school" body.

We read a book in our book club that is called "I feel bad about my neck". The author says that if she would have realized at age 20 what her body would look like at age 40, she would have worn a bikini every day of her life. **sigh** I'm not 40 yet, but I long for the days of tight abs and being able to jog without feeling my body behind me struggling to keep up!

2. driving.

When I first got my license I thought to myself, "man, I am NEVER going to get tired of driving a car." The windows down, the music loud, my long, silky hair blowing in the wind... oh wait - I didn't have long hair. Scratch that last one. My car was my pride. It was clean. It was a 1986 Toyota Corolla stick shift. Maroon. Aaahh the memories. What happened you ask? 15 years, and 4 kids later.....driving stinks! I have 4, yes 4 carseats in my car. It takes military precision to get all 4 kids in the car at once, making sure that one of them is not running AROUND the car instead of jumping inside it. Sometimes in the grocery store parking lot I am aware of stares around me. I can hear their brains thinking, "man, that is a lot of kids."

Let's progress to the actual act of driving. On a single trip I can guarantee either: a) a total meltdown from ONE or MORE of the children, or b) a total meltdown from me. What triggers these said meltdowns you ask? Well Grace will lose a flip flop. I will then hear, "Mom, my flip flop fell off!" I will then begin to repeat over and over and over again, "Grace we'll get it when we get there." Does that help? The ear piercing scream in the backseat says no. Crede will drop his matchbox car and the same scenario will begin. I really would like to get a partition installed in my Explorer...you know...like limo drivers have. I can just roll up the partition and....**ahh** total silence. The only evidence that there is a problem in the back? Their beat red faces screaming at the top of their lungs. I can then turn my "cool" music loud, roll my window down and let my long silky hair blow in the wind....er...my mid-length, color damaged, gray tinged hair blow in the wind.

3. fashion.

When did happen that I can't figure out how to dress? Could it be that I've turned into a bargain betty? Is it because I don't just go to the mall to "walk around" anymore? Is it because I do 90% of my shopping online now?

Here's my fear. Okay all you early 1990 fans out there, do you remember those sunglasses that were "cool" around this time? They were black, a soft plastic, and the ear stems were any shade of fluorescent. If you were lucky one stem would be...say...pink, and the other side would be green. NICE. Don't forget the all-important "fanny pack" either. Now. Will I be one of "those" that sports the fluorescent sunglasses and fanny pack at age 65 thinking this is a "good choice"?

Well that's about it for the moment. I will now try to enjoy the times in life that I am taking for granted. My little kids with easy problems to fix (usually with a band-aid and a kiss), my comfy home that's not huge but fits my family just right, and all of my family's health to name a few. We'll catch ya' again soon.

Hospitals are so much FUN!

2009-07-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some photo's of my little kiddo's at the hospital last night. I don't know what I was thinking, but somehow in my head the visit went a whole lot "smoother" than it did in real life.

Here is how it went in my head:

me: "Kids! I am so happy to see you! Come in and sit right here. That's right....sit right there. Good! Now here's your new brother!"

At this time, I'd let each child hold him verrrrry carefully. I would listen to how much they all missed me, and we would all talk in soothing, calming voices. My kids would then all say:

Kids: "Mom, we Loooooove him!"

During this time Gage is calm as can be, I am skinny as can be, and we're all a happy, smiling family.

Hmmm.....so this is how it REALLY went. My kids RUN into the room, forgetting to put on the hand sanitizer (which they had to walk back out and put on immediately), they handed me some treats in a Smiths bag, a balloon and then proceeded to hunt around the room for their new little brother. Grace was climbing up the side of the bassinet, Crede was running around the room laughing, and Morgan was knocking on the clear plastic of the bassinet like Gage was a little fish.

My kids were bouncing off the walls, touching all the fun buttons, and I think they called the nurse in about 4 different times. There were shoes thrown everywhere on the floor, Grace wanted to go "potty" constantly because it was so cool looking, and Morgan kept "suggesting" baby names for us. She apparently really likes the names Marcos, Carlos, I think she even suggested Willie.

I am pretty sure that my neighbors in the rooms next door were thinking, "holy cow what is all that racket?!"

So by the time my family left, I was left pondering what the heck I am doing?!!!!! Am I really going to be able to handle these little people all at once? I hope that by the time I get home I will be able to handle my kids a little better than I did yesterday. **sigh**

On the plus side, Our baby now officially has a name. He is now named Gage Chance Bailey. Yay for having a name!! He was born July 28, 2009 and weighed in at 7lbs even. He was 20 1/2 inches long, and he's just the cutest newborn out there, frankly. :)

Here's Morgan holding Gage. She is the ONLY one that got to hold him, by the way.

Grace just wanted to jump on the couch thing. I can't get over how much she's aged in this picture. She looks like a 6 year old. Pretty little girl.

Aaaand here's Crede caught in a moment as he was running around laughing. Little Stink.

This is my verrry cute husband. I really think that he is so dang handsome. Woot Woo! Love you Chance!

Alrighty then. We'll catch up with you again soon. Enjoy your day, and keep us in your thoughts...hopefully then we'll be okay inside our house of craziness.

Our new little BOY!

2009-07-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here he is. Our loooonnnng awaited little baby BOY. Oh man he's cute. He looks EXACTLY like Grace did when she was born. My labor didn't go as easily as Crede's, but I can't complain because I have a healthy baby and I didn't have to have any emergency procedures. YAY! Here are his very first debut pictures.

I'm going to try to take some fun ones tonight. My other 3 cuties will be joining me at the hospital to see their new baby brother. They weren't able to come to the hospital last night because...oh lets see.... 3 nights ago Morgan AND Grace woke up puking all OVER the place. It lasted 24 hours, and I didn't want any of those fun germs making their way to me or the baby. They've been better for a little while now so they'll be able to come visit.

This little blog entry is going to be super short because my eyelids want to do nothing but close. I am very sleepy so I will try to rest a bit before heading home to my house of havoc. OH and I will keep you posted on our name. He doesn't officially have one yet. To be continued...........

At least it's blue....

2009-07-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I'm supposed to be "done" blogging until our bundle of joy arrives. Too bad Crede decided to play dress-ups with the girls this afternoon. He's played before, just not to this degree. Oh well - at least the dress he chose was a blue one. Crede, this is what you get when you live in a house-full of girls.

P.S. - only 4 more days!