EVERY Time

EVERY time I've recommitted to blogging this year it just hasn't happened...maybe this time? 

Here's a huge post I've compiled to make up for all that I've missed this summer!

 Grandma Reed's 80th Birthday

In April, we planned a big birthday bash in Pima for my AWESOME Grandma! It was so fun! We surprised her and it was SO good to see  my family all together for the first time in a LONG time! It was a lot of work, but she's SO worth it!!

The whole crew, minus a few

We had a photo backdrop with props, TONS of new and old photos from her life, LOTS of good food (thank you Aunt Sheryl!), games, cake, stories from her life and tons of fun!

We also got to make it to Spring Sing to see Uncle Ry's last performance! The kids did great and it was good to get to see Ryan!

Grant Plays TBall

Grant played his second year of TBall this year! He loves it and he's the cutest little player! He was on the Athletics and was coached by Yours Truly. It was a disaster. Don't think you're a cool mom by coaching your kid's tball team. You're not. All it means is that your kid's friends and parents get to see you be crazy! Celina helped me and I couldn't've done it without her! We also got to have Chase on our team, but never got a picture of the four of us. I love that Grant loves tball, and that I'll get to go WATCH the games next year! :)

Saw Man Turns 1!

 I can't believe this happened!! He's my BABY! We had a Tom Sawyer themed birthday. His birthday kinda snuck up on us, so we didn't have much time to plan, but most of the stuff we already had so it came together pretty easily. Really, i just wanted some cute pictures, which I think we got!

My dad baked us some homemade pies so we had pie and ice cream, lemonade, watermelon, a "fishing hole", a cave and treasure and a fence to whitewash. Sawyer slept through the whole thing, but the other kids had fun. Our friend Bonnie is about as loyal as they come and took the time out of her day to bring their kids to a one-year-old's birthday party! She and my family were our only guests. :)

 

4th of July 2015

I don't think I need to go through the whole song and dance of how AWESOME the 4th is in Eagar! Everyone knows it! I will say though, that I'm enjoying it more and more every year and this year didn't disappoint! We're excited to start starting some new traditions now that our little family is getting older.

I was excited to get a picture of my brothers and their mini-me's! Everyone ALWAYS tells us that Saw is a mini Dallin and Grant is a mini Ryan. I never think our kids look like Mike or me, but I can totally see how these two look like their uncles (minus the beard! ;))

The kids felt so cool getting to watch the fireworks on the top of the car with their older cousins

Grant

"Sweet" is always the first word that comes to mind to describe Grant. He's the BEST big brother and I don't think we could ever be convinced that there's another kid that would be a better oldest kid for our family. I don't have very many pictures of him alone. Mostly because he's just such a good brother, he's always taking care of his siblings.

 

He LOVES Sawyer and loves to make him laugh

Grant is so teachable and very literal. He loves to learn and he loves to share what he learns. I always worry about how sweet he is, and that someone could easily take advantage of him. However, when he knows something is true, he's pretty stubborn about it and he doesn't cut people very much slack with excuses or misbehavior. I hope that sticks with him! He knows the first three Articles of Faith and has started really getting into the chapter books Mike reads them at night. He loves doing science experience (experiments) with Sal, being a helper and catching bugs! I'm SO not ready for him to go school.....next year!

He loves Rolly Poleys!

 Remington E.

Biz, Bizzy Bot, Lizard, Riz, Rizzy, Liz, Rizzo, Remster, Remi Girl, Remi Roo, Rems, Blitz......

Remi still has a million nicknames and a personality to match! She's ALWAYS talking about princesses or following her brother and uncle around. The common sight is her in a dress or tutu, doing some boyish activity. She's sworn off pants and is always showing me princess poses.

"Princesses go like this"

She LOVES watching versions of "Let it Go" on YouTube and knows every word and choreography move. She's also obsessed with toy reviews on YouTube?

The other day, I'd gotten her out of the bath and she had her towel around her and kept whining,
"I cold, I cold, I cold!"
Then all of the sudden, she threw her towel off behind her and exclaimed,
"The cold never bothered me anyway!"

A lot of her pajamas are Grant's old ones. She gets bummed every time she has to wear shorts instead of a dress.

 

The only way she'll wear pants is if they're pink. She dressed herself on this day. I tried to help her turn them around, but she wouldn't have it. She's pretty stubborn too!

 

 She LOVES sweets! She used to wake up every day and go through the list of sweets she wanted to eat for breakfast. When I'd tell her we didn't have something, she'd move to the next option. I was surprised how many sweets she could come up with first thing in the morning!
"I wanna brownie", "I wanna cookie", "I want ice cream", "I wanna donut", "I want cake", "I want candy", "I want pie", "I wanna cupcake", "I wanna popsicle"...

The other day, I KNEW I put underwear on her, but after she went to the bathroom (by herself), I couldn't find them. We put some new ones on her and finally realized where the originals went.

She's pretty spunky and does not hesitate to tell you where you stand! A while back, she wanted some oatmeal with brown (her favorite breakfast), but we didn't have any brown sugar so I told her she couldn't have it. She stomped into her room, but came back to tell me, "I am MAD at you, Mommy!!" with a huge scowl on her face. She's also a Daddy's Girl and goes to him with her sob stories when I'm "mean". Usually, as much as he wants to support her, he knows he needs to support me, in which case she usually runs to Sal next to try to get what she wants.

She goes to Jean to get all gussied up from time to time. Jean did her nails and made her some jewelry.

She also gives Remi her hand-me-downs, which Remi wears with pride (usually all at the same time)

She LOVES being a helper, especially if she can help Mike

Saw Man

This kid is impossible to describe in one sitting! I pretty much just sum it up by telling people he's a nut! He's goofy, energetic and EVERYWHERE!! Once he gets his mind set on something, he NEVER stops until he gets it! Even if it's hours, or even days later!

He went through a phase of having these TERRIBLE rashes and the only thing that seemed to make them feel better was an oatmeal bath. It got to where I was giving him 3-4 oatmeal baths a day, so I finally wised up and got this big bowl from the dollar store and just kept oatmeal water in it and put him in it every time I changed his diaper. As you can see, he loved it!

 

He's had a hard time with his poor little tummy from the get-go. I felt like I REALLY had to watch my diet when I was breastfeeding him because SO many things I ate made him uncomfortable. Then, after I started him on formula because breastfeeding just was NOT working, he kept getting those bad rashes. With my other kids, I SO looked forward to cow's milk but I was really worried about what we were going to do for Saw once he turned a year. I'd had lots of moms tell me to try goat's milk for Grant because he had some lactose sensitivities, but I never found anyone who sold it. 

I mentioned it at Young Women's one night, and one of the girls said they had a goat. That night, I got a text from her mom and they brought us a quart of it to try. He LOVED it!! He drank the whole quart that night and has gained 4 lbs in 5 weeks of being on goat's milk! Considering the fact that he'd only gained like a pound a month in the past four months before that, we've been ecstatic!! It FINALLY feels like he's being properly nourished! ;)

He can't get to it fast enough! He flaps his little arms whenever he sees me pick up the jars and he's really grown to love the Shumway family for being the "founders of the feast"! And so have we! We can't thank them enough for helping us keep our little Saw Man healthy!

Speaking of people lending their help and support to Saw,  Rusty and Ashley Wilkins sent us these new boots for Sawyer's brace a few weeks ago. I'm so thankful for Ashley taking the time to message me and get me through some of the tough spots of this clubfoot thing! I almost wanted to cry when I saw all these boots in the box she sent! Each of those boots costs between $400-$500. To know that someone was thinking of us and willing to give up making a buck or two to help our little family was so touching and we can't thank the Wilkinses enough!!

He's finally started to pull himself up on things and take steps. I was so worried because of the clubfoot, he's been a little developmentally behind my other kids. Now that he finally has the braces off for most of the day, he's rapidly catching up! (Not that he would've let the braces stop him from getting into trouble!)

He's so playful and in-your-face! He's always pounding on the back door to let you know he wants to come out and play. He's also the loudest baby ever! He's never complaining, he just likes to tear things up and make NOISE! I don't think I've sat through an entire Sunday School class since he discovered his pipes! They're all happy noises, but disruptive nonetheless!

 

Summer Fun

In Q-Town for my dad's play!

This is our driveway in the summer...it makes me never want to move!

Our Young Women made pies for Father's Day to raise money for Girl's Camp. It was a lot of work, but in the end I thought, a smashing success! I LOVE my calling and our girls!!

Mike's making the kids a fort and we've been spending a lot of time outside!

 Whenever I see the three of them together, it's overwhelming! My cup runneth over!

This is progress in the fort!!

Other Happenings

*We planted our first garden this year! I'm SO excited! It's been my dream for a while now! Thanks to my dad and Mike for making it a reality! It's not as hard as I thought! (Especially when it rains every day!)

*Mike went to working part-time in May. It has been SUCH a good decision for us! I was a little nervous about how we'd survive at first, but now, I'm sad he didn't do it sooner! He gets to spend a lot more time with us, he's less stressed and we're getting lots of projects done that have been on the back burner for YEARS!

*Mike finished the Pathway program and will be starting on his second Bachelor's Degree in software engineering through BYUI SOON! Another blessing we're SO excited about!! If you're looking into schooling options, look into Pathway! It's been such a blessing for our whole family!!

*I did another goal weight challenge and my sister won by losing 15 lbs in 8 weeks!! I'm SO proud of her!! Now if I could only follow her example!

*Mike has started a group to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It's tough! But I LOVE being married to someone who's always seeking improvement and pushing us both to be better.