End of April Update

We have had a really good April. Now, if the weather would just continue to stay in the 70s then everything would be fabulous!

Where to begin...Riley has been phenomenal! He only had 1 incident at school this month and not many at home. He is even helping to teach Tyler to do right. Tyler learned the word idiot from Riley and likes to use it all the time, I mean all the time! So Riley has stopped using it and when Tyler gets in trouble for saying it, goes to time out and has to apologize before resuming his activities but refuses to apologize, Riley will help Tyler out by saying, I'll do this with you if you go tell mom or dad you're sorry. So Tyler will and Riley checks up on him to make sure he has apologized and then tells Tyler what a good job he is doing. It's been so fun to watch! There was a time when we wondered why Riley was the big brother and have helped him realize the responsibility he has of being a big brother and setting the example and he is rising to the occasion! Way to go Riley!!!

The next picture is obviously of me with my 2 ear infected boys...they have each had 2 ear infections in the past month! This is why we need warmer weather, to get rid of the colds and in turn ear infections! Tyler weighs 33 pounds and Brock weighs 13 pounds 14 ounces! They are growing up fast!
Finally, we have repented as a family and have officially started scripture reading and have been faithful for the past 2 nights in a row! I know that we hear all the time to read your scriptures daily as a family and individual and I always say we are going to do it and then life happens. Well on Sunday, we had a wonderful Relief Society lesson and several sisters bore their testimonies about the Book of Mormon and how it has affected them and their family and I felt the Spirit so strong and knew that it didn't matter what we haven't done in the past, but to start today so that is what we have done. Ryan and Riley read the kids version in the mornings and Riley got a lot out of that and has a superb memory. Now we'll read one chapter a night and take turns reading. Riley is an excellent scripture reader! The first night, Tyler was wild, so the next night Ryan would whisper to tell him what to say for his turn and Tyler would say it. So we'll see how this works. (I know that I have a few blog readers, so if you have young kids and have a good idea, please leave a comment and let me know...thanks!) I know that life still has its ups and downs, Riley will still have meltdowns (but they are getting fewer and farther between!), boys will be boys, but at least I know we are a step in the right direction. Maybe being a parent isn't too bad after all!
And one more thing...Ryan is still riding his bike, but he won't be racing cause all his money went to his new bike! In fact, he has started riding with other guys in the ward and has thoroughly enjoyed it!

Brocks smile!

So we finally have a picture of Brock smiling! Of course when I sit down to upload pictures and type, he decides to wake up from his nap, so I will have to continue this post another time, but for now enjoy this way cute picture! :)

My New Addiction

So several ladies in my ward have these way cool watch bands and so of course I needed one too! I found a great website that sells bead kits and watch faces and so I have ordered several. They are so much fun and so addicting! I got mine from http://www.scarletlimebeadart.com/chunky.html and then click on beadart and check out the watchart. Here are a couple pictures of my favorite ones! This website has a great tutorial on how to make them as well, so Ryan and I have had fun making them! Yes, Ryan did help me make them. He is quite the crafter!

Easter Photos

We have had a great Spring Break thus far, despite the snow yesterday! Today is a beautiful day and the rest of the week should be nice as well. I just thought I would post some pictures of the kiddos from Easter. They each had 3 Easter egg hunts: one at daycare, one at a neighbors house and then one that the city had. Brock looks so cute in the outfit that Tara got him!





We enjoyed listening to conference and definitely feel the weight of the responsibility that we have raising our 3 boys. They really are good boys and I shouldn't complain. Riley has an amazing memory and is super smart! We are currently reading the 39 clues books and book 8 came out yesterday. He is quite the reader and it is fun for Ryan and I to take turns reading with him each night! Tyler has the sweetest personality and is really caring. He sure loves Brock and his "mama" and makes us all laugh! Brock is the best baby a mother could ask for. He is "talking" now and is so fun to listen to and talk with. He loves watching his brothers and can't wait to play with them. They are growing up so fast and I should just savor this opportunity that I have. It is hard working (but when the medical bills pile up, especially $2000 for Ryan's CT scan! I sure am glad that we have the good insurance!) I try not to bring anything home so that I can spend the evenings hanging out. Below are some other fun photos! Tyler woke up Saturday screaming and sure enough he has another ear infection. He will only take his medicine from Riley and Riley gets him to do it by saying, "you can't play games until you take this." and Tyler reluctantly says okay.

So Tired!

We are super exhausted at our house these days and are counting the days and hours until spring break! (just 2 work days to go!) Who would have thought that having 3 kids would be so hard!? Riley was super easy until Tyler came along. Thank goodness Riley has had 2 super good months! Tyler was the perfect baby and was sleeping through the night by now! Now he has become ornery and demanding, especially when Sheree is feeding the baby! And Brock still isn't on a schedule and just when you have 3 nights in a row of a good 7 hour stretch, he has 5 shots and his schedule or kind of schedule is gone and you have to start over!
Then sicknesses keep coming and going...Ryan has strep throat and some other pain that we thought was a kidney stone, Tyler has pink eye (thought it was gone and it's back again today with all the goop!), Brock had an ear infection and so far Sheree and Riley have steered clear of everything. Of course the house is a mess and laundry keeps piling up, but we are trying. Thank goodness for conference weekend and hoping to relax a little, but it's also Easter and we haven't been good parents teaching the meaning of Easter, so all our kids think about are Easter egg hunts and candy and I have nothing ready for that! Haven't taken a picture in a couple weeks and need to do that cause the kids do change, especially Brock!
So anywho...that is life around our house!

Brock's blessing

We blessed Brock on March 14 and as always Ryan did a great job. We are so blessed to have a worthy husband/father who is able to hold the priesthood and give numerous blessings when needed. It was nice to have family in for the short weekend...Grandma and Grandpa Mansius flew in Thursday night and left Sunday night. Grandma April and Brent came Saturday to help with the preparations. Then on Sunday we had Amber & Jake, Todd & Brenda, Linda & Barr and Sheri's family come. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it like we did! So thanks for coming. Below are some pictures from the weekend.



Brock is quite the talker now as well and has finally started to smile! We had his 2 month appt on Monday and he has an ear infection! Thank goodness he takes his medicine really good! He now weighs 12 pounds 1 ounce!

Other fun items...Riley had an assembly at school and he was one of three that got chosen to participate! He received a cool yo-yo and the balloons. It was totally the hi-light of his day and we are so happy for him!

Back in the swing of things...

So Sheree went back to work on March 1 and we survived the first week back! Brock is going to the same daycare where Riley goes when he is off track. (Next school year he will get to go to Northridges daycare.) He took a bottle just fine all week long and loved all the toys that he gets to look at cause when he is home he seems fussy unless he is being entertained! We definitely hold him more at night too. It was really hard to leave him on Monday and Sheree cried as she was taking Brock out of the car and Tyler goes "Why you sad mama?" and she said cause she hates leaving her baby. Then on Tuesday morning as she was getting Brock out of the car Tyler goes, "Why you not sad mama!?" So it got easier as the week went on! Tyler had so much fun playing with his friends at the daycare. Every morning he got up really good and let dad change his diaper and then would ask if Tessyn, Alex and Adison were going to be there, so it has been really good for him to play with friends again! Riley had 5 super good days at school this week...yeah! He even lost 2 of his teeth, one on top and one on bottom! Man he is growing up fast (sometimes not fast enough though!) Below are some fun pictures that we took this past month but never posted.