10-years-old

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since I became a mother.  I was so excited to be a mom, I have wanted to be one my whole life.  We prayed for Caitlyn for over a year and lost two babies before I became pregnant with Caitlyn.  I think all of that waiting just made me love her even more.  I remember cleaning our house and getting every thing ready the night before our scheduled C-section.  My pregnancy was a good one.  I would throw up in the morning before work and then I felt pretty good.  It was like a vacation compared to my other three pregnancies.  My doctor was running late so we ended up having Caitlyn at 4:35 PM.  She was 8lbs 8ozs (a week and a half early) and she was perfect!  I never knew I could love someone so much!  I felt completely inadequate to be her mom, but I knew I could love her unconditionally.  I wanted to show her off to everyone, but I only let people hold her for a few minutes and then I had to have her back.  When I was pregnant with Jonah I was so worried that I wouldn't love him as much as I loved Caitlyn.  I couldn't imagine loving anyone as much as I loved her.  Obviously that wasn't a problem, but there is always something special about your first born. 

Caitlyn is such an amazing girl.  She is so sweet and sensitive.  She is always aware of those around her.  She is a peacemaker.  Caitlyn has had her fair share of struggles in her short life.  She is so young to struggle with anxiety, but she is handling it like a champ!  She tries so hard to be positive and look for the good.  Caitlyn's anxiety has helped shape her into a kind, loving girl.  She is very sensitive, but that makes her sensitive to those around her.

Caitlyn has a great imagination.  She loves to play house or dogs with Hallee and Wyatt.  She talks to her beanie boos and treats them like they are alive.

Caitlyn has a beautiful voice and loves to sing.  She is also doing great with the piano.

Caitlyn has loved to play outside lately.  She loves to ride scooters and climb trees with Jonah. She loves to do any kind of gymnastics. 

Caitlyn is such a wise, mature girl.  She is so good with her siblings.  She can calm Hallee and Wyatt down and she loves to see them happy.  She has been babysitting more and more for us.  She loves it and does a great job.  I know the kids are in good hands with her and that she will call if there is any questions or problems.

Caitlyn is so funny.  She says the funniest things and she loves to laugh.  She is dramatic and loves to put on a show for everyone.  She uses a lot of body language when she talks!

We love this girl so much.  Caitlyn loves to talk.  She tells me EVERYTHING.  Sometimes it is tiring, but I'm so grateful that she will talk to us.  She has to talk everything through and then she always feels better. 

It is truly a pleasure to be her mother!

I'm just smiling at you because I like you

Wyatt is seriously the sweetest kid.  Yesterday he was cleaning up (he has been really good at that lately) and I looked over and he was smiling at me.  I asked him if he needed anything and he said, "what, I'm just smiling at you because I like you and I wish you could be my girlfriend."  I love that he hugs his beanie boos every night.

Yesterday I conquered one of my fears.  I made cinnamon rolls for the first time!  There are so many things that intimidate me and cooking is one of them, especially rolls and breads.  I saw this recipe online that looked easy enough, so I went for it.  Wyatt and I made them while Hallee napped.

They turned out pretty good!  My whole family was shocked, but they loved them!  I hate how much I let fear hold me back from doing things.  It seems silly, but I was proud of myself for trying something new.

Last Friday we went swimming. I just took one picture and then put the camera away.  It was a lot of fun.  Wyatt could have stayed there all day.

Love these cute girls!

We always let the birthday child stay up and play with mom and dad.  Caitlyn decided that she wanted to on Saturday night so she could put her new Lego's together.  We had a lot of fun.

On Sunday, Caitlyn was having a rough day so Hallee and I got in bed with her and looked at all of her beanie boos.

On Monday, Mel and her family went to the Jazz game and they had an extra ticket so they invited Caitlyn to come along.  She has never wanted to go with us, but she was excited to go with Amarie!  She found out that the games are a lot more fun than she thought they were.

She especially loved her huge ice cream cone!  I called the arena and had them wish Caitlyn and EJ a happy birthday on the Jumbo tron.  I think they both liked that.  They also did a shout out that they showed during half time.  Keith and Jonah ended up going to the game too and Keith sent me a video of the shout out, it was really cute. 

Last night, Keith took the Young Men to a Jazz game.  One of them didn't show up so Jonah got to go again.  He was so exited to go with the Young Men!

You are not mommy, you are just Allison!

Hallee cracks me up. One day she was mad at me and yelled, "you are not mommy, you are just Allison."  She gets mad a lot, but she is quick to say sorry when she calms down. 

Hallee never wants me to leave her in nursery.  Usually she will let me leave after a few minutes, but lately she doesn't want me to leave at all.  She always has fun in there, but she hates saying goodbye to us.  Last week I just snuck out and she was fine.  While I was in there I couldn't help snapping this picture.  She looks so old!

When we got home from church she ran in her room and fell and hit her eye on the corner of her little chair.  She had an immediate bump and bruise by her eye. 

I probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist this picture either.  Wyatt was so excited to give a talk in primary and he looked so cute up there!

The other day Wyatt and Hallee came up in my grandpa's old ties and slippers.  They are just so cute.  When my grandpa died I took some things to remember him by.  He had a ton of ties and most of them were clip on.  I hung on to them in hopes that I would have boys that could wear them some day.

I was searching online for some ideas for crafts for activity days.  I came across a few cute ones for Hallee and Wyatt.  They loved their bunny nose and whiskers.

Hallee and Wyatt love to go to story time.  This week they made cute little bunnies with candy inside.

Friends!

Instead of a big birthday party this year, Caitlyn and I decided that she would just have three friends over.  It worked out great!  Four was a great number.  They all got along great and had fun together.  It was great for Caitlyn because she prefers small groups.

I love all of these girls.  They are all such good friends to Caitlyn.

We started with a dress up game.  I used to play this at my birthday parties when I was a kid.  We had a big bag of dress up and they passed it around while music was playing.  When the music stops whoever has the bag has to pick something out of it and put it on.  The girls loved it!  Wyatt loved being in charge of the music!

Love this girl!

I think the girls laughed the whole time. 

I love their poses.  I took a bunch of pictures of them and sent them over to the one hour photo so we could get them before the party was over.

They all decorated frames and I gave them each a group shot and an individual shot.  They were really excited about the pictures.  Caitlyn made them each a little card that said, "Thanks for making my birthday Extra special" with some gum on it.  She also wrote them each a note on the back.

After they decorated the frames we opened presents.  Caitlyn loved every present!

Hallee and Wyatt had fun at the party too.  Allison took Jonah over to her house to play with Max during the party, which was great!

After presents they started watching "Annie" while Keith went and got pizza.  We paused the movie for pizza and ice cream sundaes.  After that they finished the movie.   

When the movie was over they all got in a line and started dancing.  It was a really fun night.  Caitlyn thanked me over and over and said it was the best night ever! 

St. Patrick's Day

I have never been into the whole St. Patrick's Day holiday, but the kids think it is fun to wear green.  Jonah told Wyatt and Hallee they had to wear green!  I love how they look so similar in this picture.  They both have squinty eyes like me when they smile. 

My sisters and my mom came over that day.  The kids get so excited when they come over.  We were waiting in the front room so Wyatt could look out the window.  We started reading books and then Wyatt picked a book that had a bunch of songs in them.  Wyatt and Hallee started singing the ABC's together, it was so cute.

Wyatt picked out these masks at the craft store last week.  He had fun making them.  He has to cut everything.  He cannot do any type of art without cutting something.

Wyatt is so funny.  He can be stubborn and difficult, but he is the sweetest, funniest kid when he wants to be.  He makes me laugh and gives me hugs all of the time. 

Hallee, Hallee, Hallee!  I don't know what I am going to do with her.  She is hilarious.  She says the funniest things and loves to play with her stuffed animals.  I love to listen to her talk to her stuffed animals.  She calls them her friends.  Hallee is definitely my hardest two-year-old so far.  She is so stubborn and will not budge on things.  It seems like she is constantly screaming and upset about something.  We send her to her room when she screams and she always comes out and says sorry after.  I think the combination of Hallee and Wyatt is the hardest thing.  They are both very particular and want things done a certain way, so they spend a lot of time fighting with each other.  There are those sweet moments when they play wonderful together though.  Hallee is constantly saying something hurts.  When she gets upset she will immediately say something hurts.  Hallee is so much fun, but she is a lot of work!

This picture sums up Hallee and Wyatt pretty well.  Most of the time only one of them is happy.  Hallee also loves to tease and isn't deterred by screaming or crying.  Siblings!

Wyatt and Rockwell played outside all afternoon and Wyatt was so dirty when he came in.  I had to put him straight in the bath because he was covered in dirt.  When Jonah got home from school he helped Wyatt get his old track shirt so they could match.

That night we had the missionaries over for dinner.  The kids love when we have green food on St. Patrick's Day, so we had green eggs and pancakes.  We had whipped cream and strawberries on the pancakes, yum!  The sisters were a lot of fun to have over.  My kids loved showing off for them.  Caitlyn was the one who was the biggest show off this time.  The missionaries thought she was pretty funny!

The kids always have fun playing outside.  I love to see Caitlyn out there.  For a while she wouldn't play outside and just wanted to be inside all of the time.  She is seriously the best big sister ever.  She is a natural with kids and always knows how to make everyone feel special.

I snapped this picture the other day just because Wyatt looked so cute.

I love this one of Wyatt and Rockwell at grandma's.

They had a jar of taffy at the library and you could guess how many pieces of taffy were in the jar.  Wyatt guessed exactly right.  I told him that he won so he would get all of the candy and he said, "and I get the jar!"  It is a pretty nice jar!  He was so excited and they made a big fuss over him at the library.  He has been sharing it with everyone.  He loves that he can tell everyone how many pieces they can have.

Party Time

On Sunday we celebrated EJ, grandpa and Caitlyn's birthday.  Caitlyn sewed a G on some fabric and gave it to my dad.  She did a great job. 

She wanted to be the last one to open her presents.   

Everyone spoiled her as usual. 

She was so excited about every present. 

Wyatt picked out this beanie boo for Caitlyn.  Jonah and I picked out some Utah Jazz earrings the night before at the Jazz game.  She has worn the earrings every day. 

I can't say it enough, I love that Caitlyn has a cousin her age that she loves so much. 

She told us that all she wanted for her birthday was beanie boos.  She loves them!  She was really exited to get three medium ones.  She also got some cute new clothes.   We saved most of her presents for her actual birthday, but I knew she would be happy to get the beanie boos early!

Time is going by so fast.  I can't believe it is already March and I can't believe Caitlyn will be 10-years-old!!