Baby Face...You got the cutest little baby face!

Wow does time fly! I can't believe that Presley is already 4 1/2 months old! She is really growing too fast. Infact, I just went through her dresser yesterday and had to move onto the next stage of clothes. It made me sad because it is probably the last I will ever see them. We have definately accumulated quite the little girl wardrobe!

We have had so much fun with Presley. The girls just love her to death and love to take care of her. Katie has been such a big helper and Alyssa loves to entertain her baby sister. She is already starting to roll over, and drink from a water bottle. And just the other day she said "MaMa". Ya, I know, it was in her babbling but still, I can count it right? I just have to teach her to say "DaDa" in the middle of the night. That way there is no argument as to who has to get up with her. : ) I couldn't believe that I haven't put pictures on the blog of her besides when she was born. I realized that most of them are of her lying down, but she is such a good baby that I can (most of the time) put her down and she will entertain herself. Life has definately been pretty crazy for us but I wouldn't change it for the world. Here are some cute pictures of Presley. While I was putting this together, the song..."Baby Face" came to mind. She definately has the cutest little baby face. (I'm not partial am I?)

Meet Barbara, "Barbara the Builder"

As you know, we have been really busy with our new house. When we first started building, Alyssa loved to go around and measure everything. The poor thing has only known building this house from the day she was born so for it to actually be happening, it's no wonder she has really shown and interest in it! For Christmas, Alyssa got a new tool belt with all the "fixins". She has a real tape measure, levels, hammer (that is so real she thought she might distress some stuff for me), chalk line, safety glasses, gloves, and a flashlight. And to make the whole onsomble complete, she had to add her princess cell phone. One day, Katie and I were joking around and we said she should be called, "Barbara the Builder" because ever since she got her tool belt, she has wanted to go and help Grandpa. We have joked saying that Dad is "Bob the Builder" because he is always out to the house checking things out to make sure everything is going according to plan and to try to get in on some of the action. If he can help the sub contractors with something, he is all for it. THANKS DAD!!! YOU'RE THE BEST! Well, I had to finally take her out to the house one day so she could help Grandpa. She loved it!! I couldn't stop laughing at how cute she was. Here are a few pictures of our daughter, "Barbara".

This actually sparked something funny that happened in Primary the other day. She is a new Sunbeam and seems to love being a big girl. Well, our theme this year is "My Eternal Family" and the theme song talks about being a builder, working each day, to build your family. Alyssa's eyes got really big when they started to sing it that she stands up and says, "I'm a builder!" The chorister said, "Yes, Alyssa. Your family is building a new house huh?" Alyssa answers, "Yep and my Grandpa is "Bob the Builder" and I'm "Bawbwa" the builder (and no its not misspelled, that's how she pronounces Barbara". Everyone in the Primary room just busts out laughing. I guess no family jokes will ever be a secret with her around! Just be careful or we may have it brought up in our next singing and sharing time! : )

Always my sister, Always my friend

My Sister and Brother-in-law took some pictures over Christmas for us. This one was so cute of Presley. Amy & Trev...I will try to decide on them as soon as I can, I promise. They do such an awesome job and they make it look so easy that we decided to get a camera like them to see if we could do it too. (So far I'm flunking out in Photography : ( Trevor took this picture of the Logan Temple and I am going to use it for my Primary bulletin board. IT'S AWESOME! Thanks guys.

I'm not that busy...am I?

Well, I guess it's been awhile since I blogged. I guess you don't realize how busy you are with a new baby, sick kids, building a house, Christmas, a baby blessing....need I say more? Practically, I don't really remember having Christmas! That's pretty bad. We have definately had our hands full these past few months. It seems that we have caught every sickness that has gone around and decided to keep it for awhile. We just couldn't get rid of it. Presley is growing like a weed. She doesn't look like she is starving, that's for sure. In fact, at 5 weeks she had gained 3 1/2 pounds and grew 2 1/2 inches. I'm not used to that. My other two girls were actually under in their weight but over in their height. I was able to have them wear the size under their age. Oh but not this little girl. She is already in 3-6 month clothes and when she went in for her 2 month checkup, she weighed a whopping 13 pounds and was 25 3/4 inches long. She is in the 98% for her height and weight. She is so much fun. I can't imagine our lives without her. She loves "talking" already. She makes all kinds of cooing sounds and smiles, smiles, smiles! The girls still are crazy about her and love to show her off wherever we go. Now only if they just wouldn't fight with each other! : ) Well, I thought I would post some pictures of the house since that has consumed the other part of my life. The siding guys came today so they should finish this week. I will try to post some more pictures then. I will also try to get some pictures of Presley but my camera battery just died so I will get them on later.

She's Here!!

Well, most of you probably know...our latest arrival came on October 27th. Ok, ok.. maybe not by mother nature but I don't think I could have taken it any longer. I went into the hospital Monday morning to be induced. I was only 2 days from my due date. Believe me, I tried to get it done earlier but I couldn't convince the doctor enough. I even went in and had 2 massages and an adjustment but I guess she was just too comfortable in there!

Being induced wasn't bad at all. Infact, I wanted everyone to go on about their day and go to work and school. I figured since I was having her in town that I could just call them when things started to happen. Joe came around noon so it was good to have him there. He was taking the phone calls for me about the construction on the house. (Not really the best time to be calling me asking me what we wanted to do about the cement flat work : )) Anyway, things went really well with the delivery.

At 6:30 p.m. , PRESLEY MORGAN was born, weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 21 inches long. She has really long fingers and toes, dark hair and chubba cheeks and boy does she have a good set of lungs. Right after she was born, she just let out a big cry! You wouldn't know that now though. She is the best baby. She hardly makes a sound. And her sisters definately LOVE her! The look on their faces when they came in to see Presley was priceless. I am so lucky to have 3 beautiful girls who will be my best friends forever!

Katie is such a great helper. She holds Presley whenever I need her to and is so willing to help me out. The other day she just got up and made muffins and hot chocolate for breakfast (all by herself). They were GREAT!! Alyssa can't get enough of her new baby. She loves to hold her and thinks she can do everything I can for the baby. She likes to help change diapers, and get anything that I need. Its great because I catch her just singing to her and Presley is mesmorized.

This was taken the other night around 1:00 in the morning. Alyssa had a really late nap and just wouldn't go to sleep. She was coloring her "homework" while I was feeding Presley and she finally said, "Ok Mom, now what do I do?" I told her to just lay down and rest her eyes for a minute and when I looked over, she was asleep so I just layed Presley by her and looked at them. There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping child. But holy cow! Alyssa seems so big compared to her sister now. They definately don't stay little for long. Treasure every moment!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

October 16th was Alyssa's 3rd Birthday! Boy did she have fun. We weren't able to celebrate it on the actual day so we made it last ALL weekend! Katie even made her a cake on Thursday and then I made her Princess carriage cake for her party. She definately loved being fussed over! I can't believe she is already 3. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital and I was having to relearn what to do with a baby, all over again. She is such a joy to our family and definately the life of the party. She is always coming up with such funny and cute things to say. We hope you had a great birthday Alyssa! We love you lots!!!

Alyssa was reading us the card that Katie had made her. It was really cute! Katie had made her a necklace and some rings that now she can't leave home with out! : )

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I haven't been able to blog for a little while. We have been busy building our new house (which I'm sure will start to be fun once we have this baby!!) I don't climb the dirt piles too easy and climbing in and out of the "house hole" as Alyssa would say, isn't getting any easier either! It's fun to see things progress. It has definately been a long time coming. I'm hoping now that we can get things enclosed before the snow comes. We at least got the footings poured before we got a snow storm this last weekend. I was a little worried but it turned out fine. Today they are finishing putting up the forms for the basement walls and the cement will be poured. So many decisions to be made that having a baby sounds a lot easier right now! : )

Baby....
Well, last week we went in for a checkup and thought that the baby might be breech. (Great, just what I need!) I joked with the kids about having a C-section just so I could have a few more days in the hospital to rest but when they said she might be breech, I was quick to say I was kidding about the C-section! I definately don't want to choose that! Anyway, we had an ultrasound and she is right where she's supposed to be, HEAD DOWN!!! I was relieved to hear that. I guess she will fit right in with the rest of our girls...she'll just have a boney little bum! : ) I tried to convince the Dr. today to induce me this weekend but he didn't really go for that. The soonest I could induce would be on the 22nd which is only a week until I'm due. I guess I will have to walk out to the property or jump on the trampoline if I want it any sooner! Just kidding! She'll come when I'm not ready I'm sure. I'll keep everyone posted. We're still deciding on names too. Alyssa is funny because if you ask her what we should name the baby she says, "Mom, I think I'll just have to see her when she's born and then decide!"

Tagged...

I was tagged by my sister-in-law Andrea and I'm supposed to put the 4th picture from the fourth folder and then write about it.

This picture was taken during the NBA playoffs this year. (Need I say more?...) The Lakers were on and the girls thought it would be fun to lay on their pillows and blankets and watch the game. Looking at the picture, the game must have not been that exciting but once you've watched game after game after game...... they all start to look the same (at least from an 8 and 2 year olds standpoint.) I can say that I tried to watch them too but I would much rather go for best out of 3 than best of 7...because you know they'll always go 7!

I tag Amy, Amber, Brooke, Ashley and Mandy S.

What kind of cars will our kids be driving?

Yesterday, Alyssa and I had just left the dealership bringing Joe some lunch and I thought I would drive out to the property...again before I washed my car. Well, we'll just say the conversation I had with my "almost 3, going on 20 year old" was pretty funny. Here's how it went.

Alyssa: "Mommy, are we going out to the property?"

Mommy: "Yes. Do you like going out there?"

Alyssa: "Ya, are we going to go over the lake?"

Mommy: "Yes, but it's a reservoir, not a lake, babe."

Alyssa: "It's a lake Mommy. Is your car going to be a boat?"

Mommy: "A what?"

Alyssa: "A boat! We need it to be a boat to cross the lake."
Mommy: "Mommy's car doesn't turn into a boat. That is only pretend on TV."


Alyssa: "Why doesn't your car be a boat? Rocket does."

Mommy: "Rocket?"

Alyssa: "Ya, Rocket! You know, on Little Einsteins!" (said in a disgusted way, like I'm supposed to remember all of these things.) "He turns into a boat so they can go in the water! They just push the buttons. Doesn't your car have buttons Mom?"



Mommy: "My car has all kinds of buttons (that I still haven't figured out what they all do) but I don't think I have a button that turns the car into a boat. Sorry."

Alyssa: "Oh." (sounding disappointed)

Mommy: "That would be pretty fun though to have a car turn into a boat." (Thinking... that if we ever do have something like that someday, I would never see Joe because he would always be over to the golf coarse!)

Alyssa: (laughing) "Ya, it would be!"

I am just amazed at some of the things that she says. She is always thinking and has a pretty thought out answer for everything. Who knows, maybe when she is old enough to drive, there will be cars that will turn into boats at the push of a button. :)

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to stay home with my kids and get to have all these funny special little moments with them. Nothing in the world could ever be more important or replace the time we have with our children. Thank you Joe for working so hard so that I can stay home with our kids and have the best job in the world!


P.S. Here is a picture of my "wanna-be" boat car! : ) It can do almost anything... but go through the reservoir!

Golfing with the Girls

Joe had a Monday off a few weeks ago and so after school was over, we decided to take the girls golfing. It was fun to go with Joe and see him with his girls. They all had a blast. Katie sure is getting good and Alyssa loves to follow her sissy! I enjoyed just watching and driving the golf cart... that is until Alyssa thought she could drive it. She got a little crazy! : ) I had to make sure not to go into labor after that one!




Alyssa would put her ball right next to the hole and then she would get so excited about getting it in there she would run back to me all excited. She's also a good cheerleader to bring. After every shot Katie or Joe would make she would say, "Good Job" or "Go Daddy, Go Katie!" It was fun to see that our house would just be across the reservoir. You'll be able to see the course from our backyard. Maybe I could catch a few holes with Joe's binoculars and see for sure what hole he's really on when he's supposed to be home! :) I really liked the first picture because in the background is where our house is going to be!

Labor Day Camping!

Well, I better get up to date on some things. We had our usual Labor Day camping trip and it was sure nice to get away even if it was only for 3 days! The kids all had a blast. I don't know if they could cram any more into their days. They were going constantly! Katie and Alyssa seemed to get rides on any four wheeler that was leaving camp. Pretty soon Katie will have to start learning how to drive them. I remember driving the four wheelers around to put my little brother to sleep. : ) Who knows... maybe next year, Katie!


I decided to start bringing out this princess tent for Alyssa, Kiersten and Kailey. Katie got it when she was little and it has only been used in the living room. I thought it would be a fun little get-a-way for them because the older kids have a fort that they always play in. It's a fort that all of us kids made when we were little. It's fun to see them get excited about going in and cleaning it up. :) Anyway, the girls loved playing in the tent and would get out Alyssa's princess hair styling things. All you would hear from them was giggling! They sure make you wish to be a kid again!

It started to rain a little when we were there so Alyssa got out her umbrella and her and Kiersten would walk along singing in the rain. It was so cute! They definitely have a lot of fun together. It sure has been fun to have girl cousins so close in age.

It's "ALL" about the Moisturizer!!

The other day I was busy cleaning the house and getting some things done when I passed by the bathroom. Alyssa had just been in there and she likes to put lotion on her hands after she washes them. She even likes to add a little to her cheeks. She always says, "Mom, I need some lotion on my cheeks. Their "chapty". Anyway, I just happened to glance at her very carefully pushing down on the nozzle and didn't think much of it. Well, after awhile I didn't see her so I went to the bathroom to see where she was and this is what I saw.... I guess she thought you could never have enough moisturizer on your face! It was quite funny because when I asked her what she was doing she just simply replied that "her cheeks were chapty!" What girls go through to be beautiful and to prevent those darn wrinkles! : ) There's never a dull moment at our house!

Watch Out 3rd Grade!

Katie is off for her first day of school. I never thought she would go to bed last night. Infact, I planned on getting back on a routine a few weeks early to get ready for when school starts but "THAT" never happened. Anyway, I was trying to get her in bed by 9:00 but it was 10:30 by the time she crawled into bed. I'm not sure if she was just too excited or it was my lack of parenting skills and discipline. I set her alarm and told her she needed to be up and ready in the morning because we should be there early. Well, 6:00 rolled around and I didn't want to get up. I thought I would have to drag her out of bed but while I was showering, she came in and asked what she needed to put in her backpack. I couldn't believe she was already up. Infact, she was all ready for school by 7:15! THAT NEVER HAPPENS! She was trying to hurry me along. Grandma had made her some of her favorite bubble bread for her first morning of school. (its kind of like little rolls that are rolled in cinnamon and sugar) She couldn't wait to eat them!

Joe stayed home with Alyssa while I took her to school and sure enough, waiting in the hall, was her friend Haley. They are in the same class! Watch out Mrs. Gambles! We already assume that they probably won't be sitting by each other because all they would do is talk and giggle. When we walked in the room, Aunt Mary greeted her and she was told she could sit anywhere she wanted. Well....it's kind of obvious who she would choose to sit by and there just happened to be two empty seats by Haley! I overheard Mary tell someone that this seating arrangement might only last for today! : ) Written on the dry erase board was "WELCOME TEAM GAMBLES" and Mary had little gold medals for the kids to wear. It was cute. Katie came up to me before I left and said now her last name is Gambles. I guess you can't tell that she loves her Aunt Mary! I left without even crying! I'm sure she'll have a blast this year! THANKS AUNT MARY (MRS. GAMBLES!!) ...oops. I told Katie she needed to call her Mrs. Gambles and not Aunt Mary!

This is the outfit she wanted to wear. We found a cute shirt with a dog on it that says, "DOGS ARE FOREVER" and she was in love at first sight. Who would have guessed she likes dogs or any animal for that matter?! : )

Her hair cut~ She really likes it and I'm sure it will get easier to do. Today I fussed a little more than I normally do. I think she was relieved to know that!

Where did the summer go?

Well, tomorrow Katie starts school!!!! AHHH!! My big 3RD GRADER! I think the last time I really cried was when Katie started Kindergarten and I was pregnant with Alyssa. I think it was mostly the hormones though. : ) I wasn't sure what I was going to do all by myself at home but soon found out it was kind of nice to have a little bit of time to myself, to do some laundry and clean and not have the house all torn up when I finished. Then Alyssa came along two months later and life was crazy again! Now there have been times, I ADMIT, that I just couldn't WAIT for school to start. (I'm sure my kids would agree that I probably haven't been the most patient mother lately. Especially trying to get our house going, which by the way should be finalized this week!! YAY!!) It seemed like we always had 3 months of summer vacation but it now is only 2 months and that is just not enough time for us with so much going on. It seemed this year that we never had a spring...we just went from freezing cold winter to blazing hot summer. It even snowed in June!!! I'm not complaining of the heat because the minute you do, it seems that winter comes sooner and stays longer. So "I LOVE THE HEAT, I LOVE THE HEAT!! Yep, even if I am 30 weeks pregnant! : } Katie is so excited for school. We had gone school shopping a few weeks ago and when she found out she had Aunt Mary as her teacher, she wanted school to start the very next day. She definitely has been counting down. Alyssa thinks it's pretty cool that Aunt Mary is her teacher. She says, "I just can't believe it!" I just hope that I can pry her away from the classroom in the morning after I drop Katie off. Who knows, Mary may have to add Alyssa to her class list too! : )

Yesterday, Katie had her friend Haley over and they decided at the last minute to set up a lemonade stand. Just as they got things set up, Haley had to go home so Alyssa was Katie's helper. Our street isn't such a great street to do business on. It isn't busy at all and we hardly get any traffic. (Which I am not complaining about, but for the Lemonade business, it makes for a slow day!) Haley and Katie made signs and then would walk up and down the street yelling, "Lemonade for sale!" Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins, Brandon and Grandma and Grandpa Gambles stopped by along with some of the neighbors. They did pretty good. I don't think anyone just paid the 5 cents they were asking. They were getting tipped pretty good! Then when they would leave, Alyssa would say, "Thank you for coming to our lemonade stand!" It was cute! They sure had fun. Maybe we'll have to set one up on Grandma's street next time.

Yep, if you noticed, Katie convinced me into letting her cut her hair! It turned out really cute. It's an "A" line so the back is really pretty short. Everyone thinks it is so cute on her. I was going to do before and after pictures but forgot. I will get better pictures tomorrow when she starts school. : .. (