CHRISTmas time

Tonight as I type, my heart is so very full. I think back to where my family was this exact time last year. Quinn had lost his job, totaled the car and had started a new career that would take him away from his family. I was eight months pregnant and on the worst emotional roller coaster I have ever been on. That night, the start of the 12 days of Christmas, opened my eyes to how blessed I was. I was blessed to know who my Savior was and who I was in regards to him. I am daughter of God. He know our needs and will always provide for us. It might not be in the ways we had planned, but if we open our eyes and seek Him, we will see the blessings. I was blessed to have my family and my ward family that took it upon themselves to shower my family with love and compassion. Not a day went by that something was not left for my children on our door step or a phone call was made just to check in on us. Not a day went by that I did not know how much my Heavenly Father was watching out for me. In such a dark time, I have never felt closer to my Savior. Not a day goes by now that I do not see his sweet grace surround me. Yes, it was a hard time for my family. It was also the best time for us. My sons were shown the TRUE meaning of Christmas and I am forever grateful for that.

Top Ten

These are the top ten reasons I have not been blogging.

#1 I just don't want to.

#2 Every time I get on the computer I have to look up something related to Star Wars

#3 Can't blog when you are living it up at Silver Dollar City

#4 Emmett is so stinkin cute that I spend to much time kissing his chubby cheeks.

#5 I'm too busy dancing to Boom Boom Pow with Porter

#6 Corban had taken over the computer playing Indiana Jones Lego games. And he can navigate anywhere online. He's 4.

#7 Too busy giving my sister-in-law a hard time when she came to visit.

#8 My husband is pretty hot

#9 My babies are getting way too big and I am trying to stop time.

#10 I'm too busy reading your blog!

So stop your crying, I know you've missed me. I'll be back sometime!

Mean Mommy

Let me set the scene for you. It's around 10pm and the boys have been asleep for about 45 mins. I hear the fireworks from the church down the street's celebration. I think Corban would love to watch this.

I (thinking I am an awesome Mom) go wake up Corban and take him downstairs.
We go outside and I tell him there is something awesome I want to show him.
He looks at the sky and says (with FAKED emotion)" Wow mom, that's great. Can I back to bed now?"
I tried.

Photo update

Quinn and Corban just getting some snuggles.

We went swimming one day last week and I tried this on Porter to make sure it fit at 10:00 am. When we left at 1:00 it was still on.

Poor Emmett fell asleep playing and his brothers "gave" him some more toys to play with.

Someone loves his new Bumbo seat.

My baby graduated his first year of pre-school. He can count to 100, write his name and all the letters/numbers and is starting to sound out words. I am beyond proud of that boy!

You never know. . .

I have been blessed in my life to be surrounded by amazing people. I am amazed by some of the women in my ward. Here is one of them Carland Starla. They are currently trying to add to their adorable family and are trying to get the word out. If you know of anyone looking or thinking of placing a child for adoption, feel free to pass the word on. This family is awesome. The love that they have for each other is amazing. I wish they could adopt me! Good luck guys!

Pat on the back

So I am SUPER stoked at my shopping today. I followed the advice found on this web site here. This lady is here in Memphis and is AMAZING. She checks the sales here in town and posts links to coupons. Basically she does the hard work and I reap the benefits. So see the all of this???? FOUR packs of diapers, SIX wipe boxes and TWO refill wipes. ( the super cute boy was free) Guess how much I paid. Just guess.

All of this for $36.00 Go ahead, be amazed. I am.

My little buggers

Conservation with Corban :

Me: You guys (Corban, Porter, Emmett) were supposed to be sleeping. Why did ya'll wake up after only 30 mins?

Corban: I don't know. I don't want my nap anymore.

Me: Where is MY nap?

Corban: You can rest right here on the couch

Me: I have a filling that you (tickling Corban) and you (tickling Porter) and you (tickling Emmett) will all start bugging me as soon as I lay down.

Corban: But Mommy that's not true.

Me: Why not? Are you gonna not bug me on the couch?

Corban: Well, Emmett can't bug you cause he's short and has little arms that can't reach the couch.

Makes sense to me.

It's the Birthday Boy!!

Porter and I had a date for his birthday. One of his favorite things to do is jump on these things at the mall. So here is a recap of our date!

He really gets some air. All the way back to the car be kept saying WEEE and bouncing his hands. I loves this.

Eating some yummy chicken nuggets.

And what birthday isn't complete with out Star Wars? Build-A-Bear has these super cute costumes that he kept screaming "Skywalker!!" at.

Two years already???

Happy Birthday Porter!!

Oh my how the past two years have flown by. I guess that's because Porter keeps me on my toes. So I would like to slow down of a second and tell my sweet boy how much I love him. Porter, here are some reasons why I love you:

you give the best snuggles
you look so darn cute when you do the Funky Monkey
when you try to be "super sneaky"
you growl
you want to be just like you big brother
you have to kiss Emmett good night everynight
when you "squeeze me tight"
whenever I ask you what you want for dinner you yell "TACO!!"
you answer to the name Skywalker
your big blue eyes
your contagious giggle
because God knew I needed you so I could just stop and laugh sometimes

What Mom's go through for one good picture.

This is Corban telling me "Mommy, Emmett is crying" (see him pointing) Just in case I didn't notice. Porter is in his own world again. Not listening to anything I say. Playing with his own camera while I take pictures.
Porter is not letting go of the camera for anything. And Emmett is still crying.
The result: Pretty dang cute if I do say so myself. Sorry ladies, they are all spoken for!!

I LOVE THESE BOYS!!!!!

Too soon

Corban came home from preschool with homework. My baby is growing up. I tell him this as I get a little teary eyed and he said "Mom. you knew this was gonna happen. All kids grow up to do homework."

4 vs 1- and the 4 are winning

Some days I comb Corban's hair. This was not one of those days. Maybe this is why I have three boys. And some times Porter wears pants. Again, this is not one of them.

Porter REALLY loves Emmett. He wants to be around him all the time. No matter how many times I tell him to get out.

This is how I find Porter every morning. He looks out the window while drinking his bottle in Emmett"s bathtub. Gotta love that kid. Gotta love him.

We tried a photo shoot. Didn't end up that well. Newborns don't look at the camera when you need them to. Or they start crying. Or spit up.

So here are a few pic of the new addition and the new activities that have been happening in a house of 4 males and one lone female.

She's crafty. . .

Not me. I'm far from crafty. I made a blanket. Once. (hope you like your one of a kinda Miss Emma) I am AMAZED at the women I know that are so crafty. Here is an example of one that I am lucky go to church with. Not only is she SUPER crafty, she is just an all around great person. I personally have been blessed by her sweet attitude and kind spirit and look forward to getting to know her better. Check out some of the amazing stuff she can do and I can just look at and say WOW. There are some awesome tutorials for those of you that sew. (I'm not and I am Okay with that) She makes it look so easy. Guess it would be if you had talent like she does!!

Let 's hear it for the boys!

How can you not be in love with that? Emmett has been such a good baby. He LOVES to be held and will sleep in you arms all day if you let him.
And this face, this face was made to kiss!! Porter loving some yummy cupcakes.
My sweet sweet Corban. This boy will entertain himself for hours. The Lord knows I need him to sometimes. I think he played in that box for like 30 mins or so.
I love the fact that no matter what time of day it is, whenever Quinn sits in this chair and holds Emmett, he falls asleep. Happens EVERY time.

So, these are a few of the things I'm in love with this week!

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home

Quinn was able to come home for a few days last week and I will refer to them as heaven. Here are a few of the FUN things we did. Despite Corban's face in the pic, he really did love PumpItUp. They had a blast. Porter kept climbing up the huge slide all by himself.

Here we are catching some serious air. You really do get some speed gong down these things!
One Happy Birthday party at Chuck-e-Cheese. Porter really enjoyed the Star Wars cupcakes.
Corban kept smiling so big you couldn't see that he had eyes! We had a great time and want to thank all of our friends and family for coming and sending awesome gifts.
This is how things were spent most of the time. Corban and Quinn playing trios' (kinda like Lego's but they snap together. They are awesome) and Porter glued to Quinn's side.

More stuff that happened but no pictures: a really fun day at the Children's Museum, me beating everyone in boxing on the Wii, me getting my trash kicked in baseball on the Wii, yummy dinner date to Huey's , good food with friends, another trip to ChuckECheese, and finally one round of a nasty stomach bug with one trip the the hospital for dehydration.

Yippee for Daddy coming home!! We love you.