Happy 7th Birthday Riley!

Seven years ago, we became parents! It was the day after Mother's Day and Sheree awoke at 4am with major pain! She waited until the contractions were 5 minutes apart, and at 7 am we left for American Fork Hospital. Riley was born at 11:30am. He was a super good baby but hardly slept! He has always been really tall for his age and has played better with older kids. He is super smart, loves to read and play videogames and put together his Star Wars legos. He is a joy to have in our family!

It was fun to go back and look at all his baby pictures cause there is definitely a resemblance between Riley and Brock!

Happy Mothers Day Sheree

Everyday should be mothers day, at least at our house. Ryan has briefly hijacked the blog in order to let Sheree and everyone else know just how grateful I am for Sheree. She is the one who keeps us all together, keeps us moving down the right road, though try as I might to take a detour. Sometimes it is hard on both of us when all 3 of the boys want her at once and you know that 2 are going to end up unhappy, but it is a testament to her. Riley, Tyler and Brock just adore her and want to tell her everything and be where she is. She can keep them calm and defuse situations easier and better than i could ever dream of. i think that she just lets me do stuff so that I will feel needed when in actuality I probably make thing more difficult that it needs to be. She just seems to know what we all need and when we need it. She sacrifices so much of her time to let the boys or me do our thing. She is the constant good thing in my and the boys' lives. It has been fun this year to get the cards that the boys have made for her. This isn't much but there is not enough time to list every way that she makes our lives better. Sheree, I love you and your kids love you. We couldn't ask for anyone better. Thank you for all you do everyday. Happy Mothers Day Sheree! Love, Ryan, Riley, Tyler and Brock

Happy Mother's Day!

For the most part, I enjoy being a mom. If I could change anything, it would be to stay home with my kids. However, its not even a possibility so I need to get over it and quit feeling guilty. One day soon, I believe we can make it happen. When I was expecting Riley I said that I would stay home if he was a girl...well 3 boys later I am still working, so unless I get a girl...! The one good thing about working, is that my boys made the cutest gifts at their daycare centers and school. Since they brought them home for me yesterday, I just thought that I would post them...they all made me cry! What wonderful boys I have!

Brock is such a sweet little baby! These handprints are so precious! His favorite thing to do with them is to eat them and he has been chewing on them so much that his hands are starting to get raw, so we have started giving him a binky. He is grabbing at everything he can and continues to grow way too fast! The saying on the picture says: "Sometimes you get discouraged because I am so small, and always leave my handprints on the furniture and walls. But everyday I'm growing big, and soon I'll be so tall, then all my little handprints will be hard to recall. So here are special handprints just so you can say...this is how my handprint looked when I placed them here today."

Tyler is way too wild! He is definitely all boy and there is nothing that scares him or stops him! He wants to be just like Riley and his favorite activity is sneaking in Riley's room to play with all the cool big boy toys! He is very lovable too. He has his 3rd ear infection since the first week of April as well as a fever virus...had a temp of 103 last night! Hopefully it goes away quick!

Riley is getting super big...can't believe he will be 7 on Wednesday! He is doing so well academically and socially...look at how well he is doing writing! He wrote this note at school and brought me home a flower. He is done with 1st grade on May 28. He is becoming such a great big brother and setting a really good example for Tyler and is so patient with him. His favorite activity is still to play video games and he loves to play with his friend Robbie too!

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.