Our Baby Factory

Fall 2011 Update

2011-09-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'm kicking myself in realizing it's been almost an entire year since I've blogged about my family! So there's a lot to catch up on.

Starting with Bella, we still call her "baby" even though she's 2 1/2 because this Halloween looking for costumes we are still looking at size 12-18 months. Yup. Still teeny. Matthew and I are definately keeping our hands full with her! She has proved the most time-consuming of all our children at that age. She wants to do everything. And if she is unhappy o boy does she let you know. She's got the pouty lip and dramatic sulk to a fine art. What she lacks in size she makes up for in enthusiasm and fearlessness. Three times is how many times she's split her head open this past year. One of those requiring staples to her head. Three times is how many times she's decided to run away! One of those times resulted in 15 min of panic, a phone call to 9-1-1 and 3 neighboring families helping look! Now I'm actually quite the mother hen with the kids and make sure I can see them at all times. The times she disappeared she was in a fenced in area! Totally fenced. She is so tiny she fits through holes you don't think a rabbit could squeeze through. One time she got out she got inside a neighbors backyard which is completely surrounded by vinyl fence! Dogs don't even get in there and to this day we still can't see how she fit.

But as enthusiastic as she is about adventure, she feels the same way about love. She loves to be held and cuddled. She would let me carry her around all day long (thank goodness she's so light!) if I could. She adores hugs and kisses and anytime someone cries or sulks she's trying to kiss them better. She puts your face in her hands and gives you a kiss and an enormous smile and says, "all better." It's precious. This little girl can make your heart melt. Just ask my husband who tries to stay firm and tough and has to turn his head away half the time when he disciplines because she just makes everyone smile. She's learning how to keep herself entertained while I'm working with Hailey which is a new transition from a very attention-needing little girl. She loves counting, even though not usually in order, and boy does she talk. She pretends to be on the phone and has conversations in her own language whenever she's around new people. This conversations usually involve her being the boss and she let's you know what's what with the finger point.

Hunter has started school this year. The first two weeks were kind of nightmares and we actually contemplated pulling him out. We are talking potty accidents, total melt downs, refusal to sleep at night. But on week three it was like a 180 turn. He was happy to go to school. Loves going. Tells me all about his teacher and the fun he has. He's learned how to pee standing up (thanks preschool) so now he feels like a big man. He's having fun and getting used to being around other adults. He cries a lot less when going to nursery now on Sunday too! He already knew his colors and numbers but he's talking about them a lot more. He watches when I work with Luke on learning to read and has memorized quite a few sight words. He loves to learn! (Hailey's sibling for sure!) He and Luke have a blast together but as typical brothers, fight just as much. It's usually when wrestling and someone gets hurt or they're building a road for cars or a tower for the bad guy and somehow it gets ruined.

He loves trying sports, even though he isn't old enough yet to play himself. He likes to play soccer and t-ball and race like a race car. He's starting to be a little more independent now and so lately has been testing the waters in breaking the rules. Hopefully he will learn quickly, he HATES time-outs and is finally learning if he screams it doesn't get him out any faster. He does love my cooking and him and Bella eat a lot more of what I make than the other two even when it isn't hot dogs or mac and cheese. He is another snuggler and LOVES trying to cuddle me anytime I sit down. He will just lay next to me forever while I read a book.

Luke has started Kindergarten this year. He is having a blast. He is learning a ton already. He loves learning from other adults, especially pretty girls. LOL! He is my social butterfly talking about new friends the first day he came home. When he's not in school he is busy building. Building roads for his cars, castles or towers for super heros or villians. He is not picky about building materials either. He uses blocks, books, blankets and ropes. The imagination on this boy is amazing! He is also quite the artist. He LOVES to draw. He makes books and comics with police men and bad guys. He invents animals and tells me all about them as he draws a picture of it. He is by far my pickiest eater and prefers most snack food to any meal period. He likes to negotiate and as soon as he learned he gets money for chores he LOVES to do chores and then gets so excited when we are going to the store so he can pick out just the right hero/car/villian/ etc for his collection. He can be so very helpful when he wants to be and he really is quite the little man.

The one thing we are realizing he doesn't care for is organized sports. We tried t-ball earlier in the year (he said he wanted to) and it was quite the fail. He would cry when it was time to go and him and Matthew often fought about him even going on the field. When we finally would get him out there he would sit down and fill his glove with dirt. Then he said he wanted to do soccer so we agreed to sign him up with Hailey. It's not quite the fighting as t-ball was. But he always says he needs to take a break (there's often at least 1 child sitting out at a time during the game) sometimes because he wants to hold the flag, he's tired or just last week because soccer makes his "brain hurt." He would rather sit in the grass and pick flowers than even look at the ball. We've talked about the importance of finishing what we start but we will not be continuing until he asks us to sign him up for something.

Hailey on the other hand LOVES soccer. (Yes that's Luke sitting in the middle of the game), but Hailey is getting right in there. She loves chasing the ball up and down the field but until recently has always felt bad about taking the ball from other people. She's starting to learn that that's the game. She enjoys going and never wants to take a break. She gets pretty hooked on the game and gets sad when the other team scores but this year (unlike last) she doesn't have a melt down over it. I'm glad she likes soccer because it gives her some great social interaction. This year we made a monumental family changing decision and decided to homeschool Hailey.

SHOCKED?!? So were we. But we spent a LOT of time fasting, praying, researching, discussing and ultimately reaching this decision. You see, Hailey is autistic. She however has an IQ well above her age level. And last year we decided to focus on her social skills and enroll her in public school in Kindergarten. Hailey had a great teacher, and she loved going, enjoyed her friends and had fun. However, at age 3 Hailey taught herself to read. And I don't mean I practiced with her and she picked it up. I mean she brought me a book and started reading to me without me ever doing anything to teach or train her. At age 5 she was well beyond the alphabet and the sounds of letters and sight words which is what they focus on in Kindergarten. I went to the Principal and asked she be placed in 1st grade because of her abilities or at least be given an additional challenging reading curriculum. He refused because of her diagnosis and age (she is the youngest already in her class). Based on a lot of advice from others we focused on the social skills she would learn in kindergarten. She aced the test the students take at the beginning of the year. And again, great teacher, had fun, but was not challenged like school should be. At the end of the year her testing scores were below her beginning of the year scores. And I don't mean a few points. They dropped quite a bit. Am I saying she learned nothing? Absolutely not, she did learn. But not enough, she was bored, never did the school work, followed the kids who misbehaved all day because they looked like they were having fun. We decided this year, we would homeschool her and focus on the gift Heavenly Father gave her.

She will always be autistic. Her social skills will always be lacking. However, she has been given an incredible gift of intelligence and fast learning, an amazing memory. This is where we are putting our efforts this year. We had her tested to find where she ranked academically and at a national level (which has higher requirements than the state) she qualified for the fourth grade. While we knew that she could probably surpass the 1st grade we didn't want to jump to far ahead. We have enrolled her in the 2nd grade, with me homeschooling her. We are aware that there is more to school than the standard math and language units (which she is doing at 2nd grade level) and therefore this year we are doing a curriculum of both 1st and 2nd grade levels in science, history, art and music. She has been doing this curriculum for a little more than a month so far and is loving it. It took me and Hailey a little bit to get through the school day without one of us getting frustrated but we've learned the importance of breaks and patience (on both our parts) and are doing delightfully well. She is being challenged and for the first time she is being asked questions she doesn't immediately know the answer to. She is actually learning. She is enjoying the stuff she learns and while we all figured science or language would be her favorite subject she cannot stop talking about math. We are not sure what the future holds for us. If the principal will let her enroll in the third grade next year we will probably give public another try. But we will see. Until then, we are doing the best we can in giving Hailey a chance to use that beautiful gift she's been given.

As for me and Matthew. O well now, basically the same. Matthew is working his crazy bum off, like usual. One of his jobs now is working in the oil field though. He's enjoying the work and loves his boss and the pay is better than most of his copping work. It's a lot more physical labor and his first day home he tells me Wow, that's hard work. Other than that he fills his time usually with XBOX or hanging out with his friends, often times both. I am just busy doing what I do. Never realized how time consuming being a 2nd grade teacher is, but wow do I cherish the time I'm not in school. I am learning to let a lot more things slide and I'm sure next summer my whole house will need a complete overhaul. Between homeschooling and Bella I apparently decided that wasn't enough and agreed to coach soccer this year. What was I thinking? I'm not sure. I need to work on learning to say no. This will definitely be the last year I do it, with 2 children running on the field or street during games, 1 refusing to play at all or laying on the field mid-game and only having one engaged and actively playing, I am pretty worn out by the end of that 45 minutes. I'm still trying to bake/cook and get new and exciting FHE and lessons going for my kiddos all the time. I am struggling to find any spare moments. But we are making it work. And I know in a couple years all my kids will be in school and I will miss them all so dearly.

Winter Blues

2011-01-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

What's new at the Pratt household? Not much, unless you consider the snow. Wait a second, that's not new! I must say in the defense of Roosevelt, this winter has been the easiest we've had so far. It didn't start snowing until after our California trip for Thanksgiving (Thank GOODNESS!) and we really only had one major snowfall. It's gotten to sub zero temps, BUT they only lasted a few weeks. In fact this week was mainly in the teens! I sure am hoping this is an upward trend we can look forward to (so I can get out and RUN!)

Despite this however, 3/4 of my kiddos still love finding things to do inside.

I'm still afterschooling Hailey and informally preschooling the two babies, and whenever Luke is around.

They LOVE working on math. When we are talking about tens and ones, etc we use the unifix math cubes and if the kids can listen to my whole lesson they get to play with the cubes. Not sure why they are so much more exciting than legos, but these sure are a hit with the kids!

Hailey is doing really well in school and lately her teacher has been having her read in front of the class instead of the teacher. This gives Hailey a fun way to link social skills (her least favorite thing) and reading (her most favorite thing.) She hates the snow as much as mom and she even began crying when PE at school was a snowball fight because "it will just freeze my hands out there in the cold."

She is getting SO great about her allergy. She knows the kinds of things that normally carry wheat and she will ask "Does that have wheat in it?" I feel bad sometimes, cause most treats contain some form of flour, but we have found some of her favorite treats we always make sure to have on hand, like these gluten free doughnuts! I have to be careful around her because she sure reminds me of the way I act sometimes. I've been known to get frustrated with the kids and say "I give up, I need a timeout" and walk into the other room. She reminded me of this one day she was reading to Luke who kept turning the pages prematurely. She throws her hands in the air (apparently what I look like) and says "I give up, I need a time out" and then walks into the other room. We've implemented a new you can't eat dinner (or lunch) until the toys are cleaned up. One day they were being particularly slow and as Bella and I entered the kitchen she says,

"Mom are you and Bella going to eat dinner?" I told her yes, since Bella and I had cleaned up our part. She responded with "Mom, that is selfish. You shouldn't eat in front of the hungry." She teaches me more and more everyday and she sure is such an amazing blessing!

Little Peanut is tiny as ever. She is SO messy all the time! Hailey had so much more hair than her, I never remember the constant bedhead look with her, but Bella sure has it. It is a rare occurrence you will find Bella without 2 fistfuls of what she considers food (sometimes edible, sometimes not). Despite all her frequent

binging she hasn't gained a pound. She will be two years old before she turns 20 pounds I'm sure. She is, however, meeting all her milestones. She is now potty trained (still the occasional accident) except for bedtime, however she stays dry upon waking up, mom's a little concerned with jumping that hurdle yet. She still loves her "puppy" which consists of almost any stuffed animal. She LOVES to cuddle and as long as she's not eating she has a blankie and either a "puppy" or baby in her arms. My little sweetheart is counting (out of order) "1, 2, 6, 4, 8" and speaking TONS! Even though size way she remains tiny she sure is growing in so many other ways.

My little man, sure has hit the 2's stage. His tantrums are quite dramatic (such the drama king!) But he's the quickest to change and always gives a HUGE toothy grin and asks me "Mom this make you happy?" He LOVES getting caught being good (which gets a reward... find out about that HERE), and still adores helping mom in the kitchen. He doesn't mind if it's cleaning or putting away dishes but his FAVORITE is cooking. Treats particularly and his joy in life seems to be licking the beaters or spoons while waiting for things to bake. He is trying so hard to be like Luke and some days cries when he can't follow him to school. He is a tad bit obsessed with TV, and since we only watch on the weekends for a show or two at a time, he gets pretty bothered when it goes off. But as I said before he changes his mood almost instantaneously. He loves getting his picture taken... what a HAM! Love it!

The reason I said 3/4 of the kiddos hate the snow like Mom, is because of Luke!

He LOVES the snow. Kicking at it with his boots, making foot prints, hiding things in it, even playing baseball with daddy in it. He's always asking to go outside, and because Mom is way more chicken than her 4 year old when it comes to being cold, he usually has to wait for daddy to get home to do it. He's been doing great in school and from what I hear is quite the social butterfly. He's "the cool kid" as his teacher says. He's doing much better focusing his attention and when something catches his interest he sure hangs on. He still LOVES the scriptures and Jesus stories. We were reading the story of Jesus being tempted by satan and Luke says when he goes to heaven he's "gonna help Heavenly Father and throw oranges at that big fat fat satan and the hit him with a stick so he leaves for good." After yelling prayer because "heaven is so far far away" and he "wants Heavenly Father to be able to hear" him, he tells me, "Mom, when we go to heaven it is so far all the boys and girls better stay with their mommies and daddies so they don't get lost." I told him that's right, most mommies and daddies know the way and he says "Mom, when I go to heaven, we will hold hands. I want to go to heaven with you."

*tear* What an angel. He has such an amazing sweet spirit and even though he seems all full of fighting and wildness (what little boy doesn't?) he is all fluffy and soft inside.

Matt's still working crazy, and I'm doing all the mom stuff, really hoping for it to get warm so I can get in race "shape" for this year. Trying to keep busy with crafts and entertaining the children.

Until next time ♥ Kimberly

...and that's a wrap!

2011-01-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

so it hasn't been an entire year since I've blogged.... only 4 months :) I'm getting better! Still better than Steph! :) hehe (jk sis)

So 2010 is now over and I still can't believe it flew by so fast. I would love to tell you all we have an exciting announcement, but the truth is, we don't.

(you can breathe now mom ;) Still taking a break, but we do want a couple more little pratt kiddos (don't worry nana, more to spoil).

We have enjoyed this year a little more than most because I think we've all grown closer than we ever have before. I can't really say exactly what it was, perhaps my near brush with death :0 and being in a coma, or our monthly trips to the temple but we have definitely grown

stronger as a family. In so many ways Matthew & I are such polar opposites, but there are certain unflattering traits that we equally share, such as our stubbornness. BUT this year we have both worked hard on giving a little and it has really made such a difference in our homelife. The kids have joined the band wagon, Hailey and Luke have become the best of friends.

When Hailey goes to school on Monday I often get the following from Luke, "Mooooommmm, when's Hailey coming home, I want to play with her."

Matthew is busy with the same ol same ol life of a cop. Working his life away but now when he comes home he enjoys spending time with us instead of running out to do "boy things." We are getting closer to paying off our debt (our LONG term goal) and once we do, he will get to spend even more time at home (**JUMP FOR JOY**). When we were in Cali in November he got to ride along with LAPD Air Unit and had a blast (other than the motion sickness) he even made it to the ground without losing his lunch ;)

He was just called as the Teacher's Advisor in the Young Men's for church and is so excited for his new calling. Being a convert Matthew didn't get to do all the fun stuff I did as a teenager like stake dances and summer camp and now he gets to! (Better be on your best behavior boys!) He's had his transfer request for St George for quite some time now and it doesn't look like it's going through anytime soon. We have spent a lot of time praying on this (since as you all know, I REALLY struggle living out here) and have decided we are meant to stay here for now. Not quite sure why, but I don't always know best (Yes, Matthew I did just say that). So we will continue where we are (with happy hearts ;) until it feels like its time. Did I mention Matthew got trooper of the year? He couldn't really enjoy the party since he had gotten his wisdom teeth removed the morning of, but we have the plaque to hang on our wall as a reminder (as if we need it). He's a great cop, willing to help the public and coworkers as much as he can and of course stop those lawbreakers! :)

Having the kids in school has actually made things even busier for me (I thought I'd be getting a break - HA!). I joined the PTA and signed up to do Red Ribbon Week for the Elementary school. I thought, 1 week and then nothing what an easy gig. Again, HA! Lol. It turned out to be quite the project but with Matthew, his work friends and North Eastern Counseling Center out here I think we pulled off a pretty great week. We even made it in the local paper twice!

And now Matthew is on a committee for drug prevention for the Basin. I've been getting back into running (this was before it was -20 outside) and up til Christmas probably going between 3-6 miles at least 4x a week. It's not as far as I'd like, but my time is limited since I can't take the kids with me when it's so cold. I am training for race season next year. I blame my brother Rob, we watched him run the St George Marathon this year and I was hooked,

I need to run my own.

I am planning on 3 10ks and a half marathon starting memorial day and the last in august. Other than that, I'm still babysitting during the week and busy with all my crafts and projects (always something new, you know me ;) I get so excited, I can never nail down 1 hobby and as Matthew always says, "I could open my own craft store with all the stuff I have." Don't forget to check out my other blogs for crochet and cooking (mycrochetivity.blogspot.com and 5starfavorites.blogspot.com) .

Hailey is soaring in school (did we really expect otherwise?). Some things take her a little longer, she's still struggling on fine motor skills (it would help if she'd pick a hand and focus - she is amidextrous ;) but her reading is off the charts. She likes to sit down next to me while I'm reading a novel and usually finishes the page before me. (I better be careful what I read now!) The biggest improvement is her social skills. She's making friends and asking for playdates (I often don't know who the kids are that she asks to playdate with so those have been limited) and just the asking is an amazing leap on her part. It's for this reason we have decided to continue in public school for now.

After she ran away the first day of school we were almost ready to pull her out! It was quite the decision for us, because IQ & reading level wise she is at at least a 3rd grade level and the school doesn't offer anything other than kindergarten because of her age (shes the youngest in her class) and her social skills. At home I have been working with her and she absorbs anything we study, often remembering facts we talked about way after I've forgotten. So we are doing an "afterschool" program. Ever heard of it? It's a mix of public school and homeschool. Since she's half day at kindergarten and her learning need isn't filled in so few hours I work with her after she gets home. We learn about whatever she wants.

Mostly science (she LOVES anatomy and astronomy) and self help skills (hygiene and cooking) and of course she joins in when mom does crafts ;) She still gets plenty of time to read and I often catch her reading at 10:00 at night when I'm going to bed! :0 She's had a few meltdowns but overall school has been a great blessing, and she loves her teacher who really gives Hailey the extra love she needs.

Luke is loving school and really getting awesome at writing his name and drawing me pictures. Usually of soldiers or robots or cars. He has a best friend Stockton who lives just around the corner and if a day goes by where I don't hear "Mom, I wanna go play with Stockton" then I'll know something is wrong. Thankfully Stockton and his mom seem to love playing with Luke so this happens often :) Sometimes I have to remind myself that not all kids get as into school work as Hailey and when Luke doesn't want to work anymore I gotta let him run and be a boy. He is going to be quite the scriptorian (sp?) when he grows up because his favorite part of the day is scripture reading. Of all our books, this is what he chooses to read in bed every night. He LOVES watching the living scriptures and his absolute favorite story in all 4 books is when Jesus is crucified and he reminds me it's because Jesus did this so we can all go to heaven and be together forever. He loves saying prayer and really talks to Heavenly Father like they are good friends.

Hunter thinks Luke is the coolest boy ever and tries to act like him, unless of course Luke is watching and then Hunter tries to argue (is this a man thing or a 2yo thing?). Bella and Hunter have become much closer. Oh, they still need to work on sharing but they love being nice to each other. Hunter is all about copying everything we do. Talking on the phone, using camera, typing on computer. Hunter still loves cooking, but his time is mostly filled with trains, cars, balls and warriors. Whenever I make cookies though, he's first one in the kitchen asking to "dump" ingredients and always lick the spoon ;)

He's become quite attached to movies, and of all my kids, he will zone out for an entire movie before moving an inch. We don't watch tv during the week so we movie night Friday night and then a cartoon on Saturday and a church movie on Sunday. He doesn't quite get why we don't watch TV all day long and when it's time to turn it off the tantrum ensues. The terrible twos have hit hunter harder than any of our other kids but he is also my most cuddly kiddo loving to climb up next to mom or dad on the couch and cuddle for hours.

Baby is still a teeny thing. Still fitting into 6 mo stuff we are trying to put her into 12 and 18 mo clothes. She is completely potty trained and 6mo onesies no longer work for a potty trainee. She eats a ton and has developed a new love for the words "cookie" and "cracker". Bella's new best friend is her "puppy," (THANKS RPD ;) She carries this thing with her everywhere! And when it's time for meals and puppy needs to stay in the other room she gets hysterical. We've compromised so that puppy sits behind her chair during meals (and I'm washing puppy probably 3x a week!) She has also adopted Hailey's present a kitty and calls it puppy too but

knows it says "meow." If she can she carries both around, although they are probably the size of her.

She loves to do everything the big kids do from wrestling to coloring and wants to use the big potty and big chair not her tiny ones. (which is hard cause her tiny bum just isn't big enough). Her and Hunter keep me on my toes while the big kids are at school and we sure have a blast. Every day is a new experience and a new love. They are all growing so fast I hope I don't miss a thing! (And remember to document it all!)

♥ from the Pratts ;)

LONG TIME NO BLOG!!!

2010-09-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!

Has is really been almost a whole year since I've blogged?! WOWZER! Where do I even begin? Its been a crazy new year. And I missed about a week of it since I was in a coma. Yup. Pretty stinking crazy. I got epiglottitis of all things. Never heard of it? Don't worry, I hadn't either until it was killing me.

But we survived THANK GOODNESS! And mostly because of great friends and family!

Other than that what have I been up to? Well, you know me, busy collecting hobbies. This year I have been learning to can (yikes!), making everything from scratch including all our cleaning products and spices/condiments, think taco or cajun seasoning, and honey mustard dressing (YUM!) and crocheting. I've started selling some of my patterns on etsy, mostly toys and I've been so busy that I've even started faltering there. You can check them out at mycrochetivity.etsy.com I've started day-caring a few new 2yo boys in our home and having 3-4 2yo boys under one roof is quite the adventure. Spending most of my time with my 4 little ones and finally getting back into running.

Matt's still busy being a cop x3 with all 3 jobs. We miss him but still so proud. Our state has lost a lot of officers this year, one of whom was a very close friend, and its making me ever more stressed (if possible). He has developed a new talent in woodworking and has constructed me the COOLEST food storage/craft station out of the garage! I am SOO happy he's all mine :)

We've also painted the garage floor so it's more like an extra room than a garage but let's call it "THE MAN CAVE" to appease Matthew.

So pardon the mess on the floor and shelves,

I'm getting ready to do some more canning so there's an abundance of extra fruit but, you g

et the idea. My craft/food storage central and Matthew's workshop. I'm super proud of him!

My sweet angel Hailey, 5 years old!! This year her and Luke had a joint jungle themed water birthday party. We all had a total blast! Due to numerous melt downs last year during dance, we decided to go with a new sport this year and tried soccer. Hailey is having a BLAST! She absolutely LOVES it!

She has also started Kindergarten and we are not quite sure how that's working out yet. We are a little frustrated because she is just not getting everything she needs. We are gonna keep working and take one day at a time. I am afterschooling her, so after she gets home from school I still do circle time and some pencil work and we read a chapter book almost every night. She is SO amazing! She reads Ronald Dahl's "Fantastic Fox" and "Charlotte's Web" Over and OVER! She's staying busy and getting in lots of trouble at church but we are working at it. We still struggle trying to keep up with her food allergy, but we are getting

better.

My boys crack me up. "Picture me!" LOL

Luke is growing up. He's my little social butterfly and my super helper. He's always trying to help Daddy and Mommy with our projects. He's so excited to be going to school 4 days a week now. He is still going to Con Amore but now to Miss Penny's class. He has so much fun and loves bringing home and hanging up his work. He's a little jealous he can't play soccer too and actually cried the whole first week we took Hailey to a different school,

but finally got the hang of it and is doing great. He's learned how to spell his name and is now excited about learning how to spell other words too.

Hunter is maturing like crazy! He speaks entire conversations that are entirely understandable! He's got all his colors, shapes, letters and numbers down and can't wait to go to school. I hate to tell him he still has 3 years! He LOVES sitting in when I'm working with Hailey and just soaks it all up. My little sponge! He's also my little boss. Always pointing the others the things THEY should be doing, even if he's not. He was struggling with biting for awhile but I'm pretty sure, KNOCK on wood, that he's finally over that stage.

My sweet Baby BELLA is still our little peanut. At only 16lbs at 17mo you wouldn't believe this girl can pound 3 waffles or 4 pancakes for breakfast and is STILL hungry at 10am. I'm not even exaggerating! She's decided she's done with diapers and is trying to potty train herself. I have been trying to get with it, but I've been so busy she pushes me more than I her. She's starting to talk to, now saying the word to go with the sign. She says "more, help, please, thank you, yes, no (of course), shoe, potty, poop, eye, seep (sleep), up and out (for outside) and of course Mommy and Daddy". She wants and tries to do everything the big kids do and if she was any taller she'd be out of that crib and into Hailey's bed because that's where she wants to be! Because she is so little the big kids love carrying her around even though she's not very fond of it.

That's kind of the basics, for now. Will try to keep updated a little more often. :)

BRRRRR Already?

2009-10-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can't believe that its been 5 months since I've blogged. Wow... Just about as long as its been for me and Matthew on a date. Which last weekend was supposed to end our streak but now I'm not quite so sure if it counts since he got called out and we had to fly (& I mean almost literally at 100+ miles an hour for 60 miles to get to an accident). But we did get to eat some yummy Mexican before it happened so that is a definate plus. (The food options out here SUCK!) But Matthew is working as hard as ever only getting 1 or 2 days off a month typically. Working for all levels of law enforcement and still loving it. He has finally built up his bike that he's been working on for a year & now it is getting too cold outside to use, poor guy. So instead he has been doing the P90X workout with a work buddy for a week now. It is a love/hate relationship. We have a little competition going on to see who can keep with their workout schedule the best. I didn't think the boys have it in them, but when they push each other they are more reliable... uh oh .... i might be in trouble. Matthew finished the playhouse and it's great! Has been so much fun for the kids this summer. The only bummer is the wasps & hornets that were attracted to it. Matthew just got the stuff to paint the garage floor and a new saw so he can build some shelves and workbench for garage. What a man!

Hailey is growing by leaps & bounds & her brain is just an enormous sponge! She took a reading test yesterday and would you believe that she is reading in some areas at a 2nd grade level and a 4th grade level in others?!?!! She can read the words unpredictable and presumptuous (i don't even know how to spell that one). I am not as worried about her diagnosis with autism because with brains like hers she's gonna kick autism's butt! She started up preschool again at Con Amore ( a special school in Myton for children with disabilities). She takes the big girl bus 4 days a week and she has such a blast. She is making friends & having so much fun, plus she's learning its a blessing all the way around! She finally stopped pulling out her hair, but a lot of it is still gone but growing back. Her and Luke are taking gymnastics once a week and I think it gives the teachers more of a workout than them. They are all over the place (poor teachers), but have so much fun and want to keep going.

Luke is growing up. We had him enrolled for preschool since last year & he started this year, but then stopped the same day. The teacher said she took 3 & 4 year olds and then told me that first day that she changed her mind about 3 year olds, they were too hard (SHEESH!) It was kind of an answer to our prayers tho because I didn't feel comfortable leaving him there because the facility (her basement & backyard) was just screaming with child hazards. Hanging cords, shelves and bookcase type things not attached to walls, holes in concrete for feet, no grass just lots of dirt and rocks and sticks. Might not be a big deal for some kids, but if you know Luke. I mean when we went to parent orientation he was climbing up the shelves already. LOL. So he got kicked out right away and that was that. We started another place that we feel more comfortable with but also had him tested at Con Amore. To get into their preschool program you have to test and qualify in certain areas for extra attention. For preschool some of the kids are just considered "late starters" and not necessarily have a disability like the older kids. So we tested him last week and he got in! Matthew wasn't quite as excited as me, because he sees him as a typical 3 yr old boy, & I agree. HOWEVER, this is the teachers who all have degrees and specialize in giving kids that extra attention. A state of the art facility that is safe and has so much available! AND we save $55/mo which is what we were paying at a woman's home, this is FREE! We find out more on Monday when he has his IEP, but he will be in afternoon school and ride the bus to and from with Hailey. We aren't sure how many days, either 2 or 4. But me & Luke are both very excited with this new development. He's been wetting the bed again just recently, which is kind of frustrating because he's been potty trained for over a year now, but I'm thinking its just all the change. Once we get him situated in school and get a schedule going I bet things will pan out. He absolutely Loves playing pretend with Hailey & he teaches her SO MUCH about pretend and imagination. He's still fascinated with cars and trains and goes crazy if someone moves them out of line, which of course Hunter loves to do. Hunter is 18 months! He doesn't let his size stop him from anything, he simply moves a chair to anything he wants & goes for it (sometimes much to Mom's dismay such as the cheerio box seen above). I think he learned that from Connor (Hunter gets to go to nursery!! It would be this weekend, but since its general conference we gotta wait 1 more week. Just in time tho, because having him and Isabella in Sunday School & Relief Society and then having nursery bring me Luke to go pee, its quite a handful. Hunter was born to be a chef! He LOVES playing with pots and pans. We have bought him set after set and he loves them all, but nothing more than the real thing! He gets so mad watching me cook if I don't let him help. And I mean, he really wants to help, stick the spoon in and stir, or use the spatula to take off the pan. He pretends everything is cooking/food. We started potty training him, and he uses the potty bowls as bowls for his cooking creations. He really watches mommy and he puts all kinds of ingredients in and then stirs them around, he even licks his finger and then pours it in a pan or on a baking sheet. It is the BEST! None of my kids have ever gotten into something like this & so early! We just started the potty training 2 days ago but he can sign potty and poop and if you ask him where to go potty he shows you. He also loves to clean up his own mess and he likes to wipe (even if he didn't go). LOL It's a blast! He is sitting at the big table now since Isabella has just started cereal and is starting to eat less because of all the distractions the table offers. But still mesmerized by cooking.

Isabella is 5 months old now and we just started her on cereal. She LOVES it. Usually you get that tongue thrust action spitting it all out. & she had that for about 3 bites and then she learned and boy can she gobble! She cleans a bowl of what I think I made too big. & then she wants more and then to nurse. She is scooting all over the place and rolling around everywhere. It hard to keep her still. I don't think she has quite the control she wants and just flops all over the place but she sure is moving! She still in itty bitty clothes fitting into 3 month stuff still and drowing in the 6mo. I remember Hailey used to have to wear a whole size or 2 bigger to fit (she still does!)

As for me, I am just trying to catch my breath! Loving every minute of the craziness. I even added to it because now I wake up at 430 every morning to work out. This is the only time that I know Matthew will be home and all the kids asleep. So I still have time to get home, water plants, shower and get breakfast going as kids waking up. Yet I still can't fall asleep any earlier (hence the 1am writing of this blog). So some days I am rather sleep deprived and to be honest not a happy camper LOL. But the exercise does give me more energy surprisingly and does help things look up. I am finally trying to get back into all my projects that I have started and never finished & we just finally figured out how to fit our computer desk in our room (SUPER SQUISHY tho). But beggers can't be choosers. This is the reason for such long gaps and now that it's in here, perhaps I will be more frequent. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the mounding lists of projects I wanna get done, but we won't be going anywhere soon & I'm sure I'll have plenty of time. Temp last night was 23*. This is sad news. All my tomatos and peppers have died before I could can them. And we are lacking in an air compressor to drain the sprinkler pipes before they burst. Kids can no longer go outside, we tried and poor Hunter's lips were blue after 2 min because of the insane wind that gushes thru here and thats with his winter coat. Matthew already had numerous accidents in the first snow of the season and I hear around that this will be the worst winter they've had in a very long time. I HATE the cold. I miss sunny warm california. But here I am and must make the best of it. So I am thinking lots of fuzzy warm jammies and blankies, and lots & lots of hot cocoa! Tomorrows high is supposed to be in the 40s... LOOK OUT! LOL. At least we are still double digits and even still above negatives ( I know it will get that cold soon). Hopefully I will survive!

no sleep for a whole month?!

2009-06-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well, as you know, our sweet and precious Isabella has finally come home and her medical problems have all gone away. However, my sweet princess, is unable to find comfort and unable to sleep. Poor thing doesn't sleep longer than 45 min at a time. Which means I don't get more sleep than that either. Even less, since I can't sleep during the day. We went to the doctor last week and he prescribed us with prevacid and a whole week later and we aren't seeing a difference. I think she slept 1 or 2 naps for about 2 hours but thats about the only change. I figure its not just colic since it the entire day and night. And I don't think it's GERD since she not projectile vomiting, isn't even really spitting up too much. I've changed my diet, we've tried all the tips and advice (sometimes unwanted) we've been given. LOL. We've swaddled her, we've rocked her, done the swing, the fan, the dryer, the car (which makes things way worse), the shushing, the singing, the sling (she absolutely HATED), the backpack, the vibration, the teddy that sounds like a heartbeat, everything you can absolutely think of. So, since the doctor says she's healthy, we have just got to learn to life with a very high maitenance little princess. Well, I do. Matt and the kids sleep thru it all. They don't even stir. Me? I wake as soon as she hiccups or whimpers. There is no drowning out the screaming. LOL. I know all babies are different, but I sure would have LOVED to have my first this high maintenance, instead of my fourth! Because my other 4 are up at 6 in the morning. In addition, they are all under the age of 4, so there is no resting, napping, and barely even any sitting down during the day since they need me so much. At least I have 2 of them potty trained, that does help. I just gotta make it to September. Then Hailey & Luke will both be in preschool and a couple days a week I will nap with Hunter and Isabella. LOL. So how is life with 4 under the age of 4? Well it is total chaos. And I love it. If you know me, then you know I am totally anal retentive about certain things and let me tell you, nothing shows you how to not sweat the small stuff when you have to hold going to the bathroom for hours at a time, and find it a luxury to sit down to eat during a meal, let alone have a meal. LOL. But I think it's also to my advantage because I am a super organized person. We have a set schedule for the day and for the week. Certain days we do certain chores, certain activities, run errands. Kids live by a predictable schedule from meals, to baths at the same time, as well as our little "circle time" and "work time." This isn't just for me, but for Hailey as well since autisitics thrive in scheduled environments and go completely nutso without it! I not gonna lie and say there aren't days when I wanna pull my hair out or when I just sit there and cry along with Izzy. BUT those days and times are quickly erased by all the joys that my angels bring. Like today, Hunter started dancing for the first time. I mean he's like bobbed his head and shook his hands before. But today he got up and started shaking his hands and waving his arms and head and moving in circles all to the beat. And the best part, he was laughing so hard he almost couldn't breathe. It was priceless! Another great thing, Hailey is learning to read!!! She has already memorized a ton of sight words, but she also taught herself the word "Mars" and "bird". For an autistic 3 year old, I am SO very proud!!! She is still autistic, and still struggling with lots of communication and social skills, but I am feeling very confident that she will be able to live a normal life. Just gotta keep working with her, she is such a brilliant little girl. As for Luke, well he is learning his alphabet, and numbers and is SO much harder to work with than his sister. She will sit there for hours doing flashcards and answering questions, and playing games as long as its learning. His attention span is all of like 5 min, which I'm thinking is probably typical for a 2 year old. But he humors mom and does his work time before running off to play. My favorite thing about Luke right now is his LOVE! He adores Isabella and "wants to hold it" everytime he sees her. And he is all about hugs and kisses now. All the time, to anyone who will let him and dish them out. He will hug and cuddle for hours! I know that this won't last long and I wanna relish in it as long as I can! What a sweetheart! He keeps his sweet loving personality, he is gonna make such a great husband one day! Matt is still in shock that we have 4 kids under 4 and repeats "I don't know how you do it" more than I can count. He loves wrestling with the kids and gets out all their wiggles and is still working his butt off. Right now he is working on building a playhouse for the kids, although the weather has put a damper on things (darn you afternoon madness) it's almost there. We just take it one day at a time, and I tell you, without spending so much time on my knees I wouldn't have made it this far. One of these days I will get some sleep and O it will be cherished!

The life of Isabella, poor princess.

Tanning bed at 2 days old?

2009-06-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

So my little princess decided to be quite a handful the morning after she was born. All my kids have high levels of jaundice, for whatever reason and usually have to have a bout with bili lights their first week. Well Isabella proved no different, however, she was quite the extreme of all my kids. And not just with the bili. Right after she was born they noticed her O2 levels weren't quite where they wanted them and so they put her on oxygen and kept her in the nursery for the first 6 hours. Then I went to go feed her and to my surprise she was all hooked up with ivs. Apparently she also tested positive for an infection and they were filling her with antibiotics as well as the iv since I still hadn't nursed her and they wanted to try flush her system. So by the next morning she was off oxygen but they'd have to continue the ivs for at least 4 days, until another they got back a test result and Her bili levels shot to 18.7. Usually bili doesn't get this high until a couple days old. Well if you read my last blog, the hospital was hoping that day with 8 new babies born that morning and me and my sweet bella were not high priority. The doc came in at 7 that morning and told us they were gonna put her on lights right away. At 1pm the nurses still hadn't brought the lights. Around that time I buzzed for a nurse, probably for the 10th time that day but this was the first time anyone answered. Izzy's anitibiotics were done and beeping to be taken out of the iv. The nurse who came in, came in while talking on a cell phone, and not only took out the antibiotic but turned off the iv. Well she wasn't supposed to be off the iv, just the antibiotics. But like I said, she was on a cell phone, didn't even look at me and left. So I called for the nurse. 2 hours passed and still no nurse, so I finally went out and pulled the nurse out of the nursery and asked her to check on Izzy. Well no surprise but her iv had clotted since it was closed for 2 hours. So now they had to do another iv on my poor baby girl. Not to mention since her bili levels were so high they had started doing bili serums every 4 hours, so by the end of her second day her poor little feet looked like hamburger all cut up and swollen it was so sad. The next 2 days her levels jumped as high as 22.8 . The doc said at 25 you have to worry about brain damage and should do a type of dialysis that filters all the bili out of her blood and then puts it back in. But of course, they don't have the capability to do that out her and she'd have to be transferred to primary childrens' hospital in slc. So the next day is spent on pins and needles waiting for her levels. They stayed the same, even under the lights, didn't go up but also didn't go down. By the next morning she went down to 22.1 and doc said as long as she doesn't go up we will keep her here. Which had me torn, cause I obviously didn't wanna have to go to slc, but on the other hand, if they could give her better treatment, maybe it would be worth the ridiculous medical bills we'd have to pay. Of course, since I had no complications at all, I was released the next morning 36 hours after I'd had her. But she was to stay. There is nothing so lonely or empty than going to the hospital pregnant and leaving without your baby. The doc put her on formula since breast milk sometimes causes jaundice to go up so I wasn't even nursing. It was really depressing. Matt was already back at work by the time I got home. She was supposed to be fed every 2 hours, but of course I go home and try and get some rest and when I went back almost 5 hours later she hadn't been fed. You see my reason for wanting to take her to slc??? SO i went back every single 2 hours to make sure she was getting fed. Now matt went back to work, so I was awake pretty much constantly. Next 2 days her levels stay in the low 20s and never went any higher, but also weren't going lower. So the doc ordered more lights and put her on 3 banks of lights, and upped her feedings to every 1.5 hrs. We finally got her levels down to the mid teens and were able to bring her home, but had to bring lights with us. Doc said I could nurse finally but I'd have to only take her out of the lights for feeding and put her right back in and go back every day for another bili serum and weight check. First day home her levels were down to 13 and so doc said take her off the lights. So we did, next day levels jumped to 19. So back on the lights another day. Then back off, finally her levels were at 13 for 2 days in a row and he said we could ditch the lights but it looked like she was losing too much weight and I needed to feed her every 1.5 hours. If you ever nursed then you know it takes at least a half hour, to nurse 1 side, change them, nurse other side. And then you supposed to start from when you first started feeding, so me and her weren't sleeping more than 45 min to an hour at a time in between feeds. Went back to the hospital the next day and the scale had been off, she had actually gained more than her birth weight and she wasn't even 2 weeks old yet. I was excited, yet mad that me and her were up all that time for no reason! So finally she was home, off the lights, and I could hold my little yellow baby whenever I wanted. O ya, the infection seemed to respond to the antibiotics and the culture came back negative, so everything seemed ok. I thought finally I'd be able to get some rest and relax at home with babies. Little did I know that the madness was just beginning!!!

Could it get any crazier???

2009-06-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

So it has been quite awhile since I've done the posting thing, but I had an excuse since I was prego and I have my 3 other monsters to chase around. Pregnancy went well, except for one night about 6 weeks early I went into preterm labor. Matt was working but raced me to the hospital and i had dialated to a 4, they hooked me up to IV and gave me some terbutaline to stop contractions and there I stayed. Once the contractions stopped I went home, against doc's orders, but Matt had to work and i had the 3 crazy little uns. I was prescribed "bed rest" which we all know when you have 3 other kids is a crazy joke, but i did try to take it somewhat easy. Little did I know that my sweet angel was either coming that day, or waiting till the very end. At 39 weeks I saw the doctor who said i had made absolutely no more progress and he didn't think the baby would be coming any time soon. So we talked about going in the following week for an induction. I went home and cried to Matthew, each baby stays in longer and my pregnancies seem to go on forever, when my first 2 were more than a month early, that last month sure drags on. The next day after the doc appt was me and Matt's anniversary. For our anniversary Matthew decided to get us a new tree for the front, since our landscaping in the new home is still rather lacking. We waited till after Hunter's nap, then went to the local garden place, my new favorite place since spring started. We picked out the perfect tree and then headed home. We had the van, so Matthew was gonna go back with one of his friends and their pick up truck. When we got home, I had packages waiting for me. I have been ordering all our landscaping plants online and getting them shipped bareroot. Well I had about 30 plants waiting for me. Now by the time I got home I was noticing some contractions, not too much, not too strong and not too frequent, but enough to make me tell Matthew I think you should stay home for a little, just let me get these plants in the ground. After all, bareroot stuff has to get planted right away and if baby did come soon, Matthew would have gone crazy trying to watch 3 kids and plant stuff. He not exactly a gardening man. LOL. So out I went, now the thing about Roosevelt, is its windy in the Spring. I mean rip shingles off of houses and throw trashcans, and swing sets done the street kind of windy. And of course it was one of those windy days. Yet I kept on. Before I got the first 3 planted I noticed my contractions coming real consistent, not painful yet but very steady. But I kept going. About hour later I had gotten all but about 5 planted and the contractions were even closer and every once in a while they were pretty painful. I went inside and told Matthew, you better not go to friends, just in case. I went back outside and tried to get the other plants done and only got 2 more in the ground. By now they were right on top of each other and I was covered in mudd and dirt. So I went inside and showered and tried to lay down and time contractions. They were about 4 min apart, but I couldn't remember if I was supposed to wait till they were 2 min apart or 5 min apart. Now remember, not even 24 hours before I saw the doc and he says I'm nowhere close. So I'm thinking, I really don't wanna go and be sent home. I mean this is my fourth, I don't wanna go unless I'm 100%. So I tell Matt, let's wait another half hour. He told me NO. Now, if you know Matt and me, I'm usually the one that says NO outright, I am the stubborn one, he usually goes with the flow. But today he said, NO I'm calling Melinda to watch the kids, and we are going to the hospital. Now knowing me, I argue, I didn't wanna go and be sent home and he says "who cares." If we get sent home at least we'll know, I'm not delivering this baby here. So we got our neighbor to watch the kids and off we went. We pulled in the hospital pkg lot at 7pm. They sent Matt to check me in and they put me in a room and had me change. About 10 min later, the nurse comes in and hooks me up to monitors and says she's gonna check me. Well, remember I'm thinking they are gonna send me home. So she checks me and says, well, let me have the doctor check you. So I'm thinking, they are going to send me home. SO I start crying and I'm mad at Matthew, I told you we should have waited! 4 kids and I can't even tell I'm in labor! So about 715 the doctor comes in, and checks me. He smiles and I'm rather mad cause I'm thinking he sending me home. And he says, "Kimberly are you ready to have a baby?" I say, "ReallY?" Now I'm excited. So I say, "Gonna have her today? How far am I?" And doc says, "9 plus." I says "9? As in no time for an epidural 9?" He says "No, no epidural." So I say, "Ok, how about a local?" He says, "Kimberly, you don't even have time to down a few motrin. Tell me when you need to push." And he starts putting on his gloves. Well, let me tell ya, as soon as he says that it starts hurting. I mean this whole time, I felt it, but it wasn't bad. But then, at that moment, it hurt. It hurt bad. I didn't scream, I just said "Ow." Over and over and over. He says Kimberly I need you to breathe and not say "ow" that doesn't help. Well it helped me and I didn't wanna breathe! LOL. So about 5 min of this pain and saying ow over and over I feel I gotta push. He tells me, don't push. What in the world you mean don't push? I'm not pushing, she is coming. He says just a second, don't push, they getting instruments ready. Well, any woman in labor knows that when baby is coming, baby is coming. I wasn't pushing but she was coming. So I did yell at the doctor. "I'm not pushing! SHE IS COMING!" So he says, ok, go ahead and push. 1 push and her heads out, 1 more and she's all the way out. Isabella Marie Pratt, born at 7:22pm. 22 min after the hospital. Only about 7 min of pain. And yes I yelled, and was in pain but once she was out, it was like, "That's it?" I imagined something a lot worse! And then, I was figuring my body would be in so much pain and agony, all exhausted and muscles sore. But to be honest, it wasn't that bad. Not gonna say I wasn't sore, but it was really no big deal. After the epidural I remember every muscle in my body hurting, probably from pushing so hard, since I couldn't feel anything. But this time, I didn't have that. I will say tho, that those after contractions sure hurt worse than labor. So I gladly took the motrin and percocet they gave me the first 24 hours, but then there were 8 babies born in 4 hours the next day and me and Isabella were no longer high priority and to be honest I don't think a nurse took my vitals or answered any one of my calls that next day. So not by choice, I delivered with no drugs, and was off pain meds in 24 hours. My labor of love, sweet Isabella Marie Pratt, 6 lbs. 9 oz.

These are the only pics taken at the hospital with me and matt's cell phone. The next week things got a little wild....

busy busy busy!!!

2009-03-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

So SPRING has arrived, well, somewhat in our little town of Roosevelt. And as my due date approches I have been busy NESTING! Its driving Matthew crazy but there is just SO much I wanna get done before I have 4 little ones underfoot! My biggest projects lately have included the landscaping, crocheting, and rearranging.

Matthew has been a great help and we made our garden box for square foot gardening! I know hubby thinks I'm crazy but I'm hoping that this guy that came up with this knows what he's talking about cause from what I hear, gardening out here is not that easy. At least for us "non-farmers" who live in new developments with only red clay as opposed to actual dirt, let alone top-soil. LOL. But, I ordered most of my plants and seeds online, which is a first. Matthew found it hilarious because when my box came it was about 1/4 of the size we expected and inside looked like nothing but sticks and dirt. He and the kids watched me and he told them how mommy was planting sticks instead of plants. I got most of my shade plants and shrubs in, and a lot of the winter hardy veggies, which took me a couple weeks to get all set. Now I gotta wait for it to warm up to do anymore. We've actually been having some beautiful days... its been getting into the 40s and 50s! WOOHOO! O, I forgot to mention, Matthew also put up a fence, nothing fancy, just welded wire, but it'll keep the critters out and the munchkins in! Works for me! I sure am learning a lot since I have never gardened before and the owner of our local garden center knows me by name! I sure am happy I went over there before I started, didn't try to sell me anything but gave me some great advice that I'm sure my plants will appreciate! I'm doing a little of everything, from fruits (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries) to flowers (clemantis, roses, bleeding hearts, sweet peas, etc.) to veggies (lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, squash and more) and herbs (cilantro, chives, oregano, basil) and we are hoping to get a few fruit trees going as well (peach, apple and maybe pear or apricot). Gotta wait till the money comes in for those, since they SO EXPENSIVE!!! I'd show pics, but right now everything is seeds and sticks so all you'd see is a bunch of dirt! LOL.

As far as rearranging, we have decided that new baby Isabella won't be able to share a room with Hailey. Hailey has decided that jumping inside Hunter's crib and sitting on him is absolutely hilarious. SO to save our new bundle of joy from a traumitizing first year of torture and us the comfort of knowing shes safe, we decided to move Luke into Hailey's room. This way, he can fight back. LOL. It has been quite eventful. Matthew only had one day off this entire month so I attempted to do all the moving myself. It actually proved quite funny when me and my big belly got wedged between wall and dresser and couldn't move in or out. And then of course little Hunter stuck on the other side and wanted mommy so he started crying which made things even more difficult because now I had another obstacle to avoid while trying to manuver. Thank goodness Matthew was home, working nights, so he was sleeping, but he heard my cries for help and came to the resuce. Once everything was moved I figured the first couple nights would be difficult for the 2 older ones, having all new toys and a friend to play with at night. But I sure didn't imagine that these 2 would come up with the idea of both climbing ontop of the chest of drawers they share and jumping off. Well, wouldn't you know it, the chest of drawers came tumbling down! Now this could have a tragic ending but THANK HEAVENS! neither of them was hurt, they were both standing there in awe, with jaws dropped staring at the scattered and broken wood when I ran in. Of course, Matthew was gone, so there I was attempting to pick this full dresser up so I could at least get the wood and nails out of the way. It was quite a night! Hunter has absolutley LOVED the new arrangement. He goes to bed right away and wakes up when he wants! No crying from Luke waking him up or getting blankets, pillows or toys thrown at him by his helpful big brother. Again, no pics, cause well, now all I have a show is a broken chest of drawers which of course is now anchored to the wall so no more tumbles shall occur!

My final project has been crocheting. I have been learning and enjoying all new types, especially amigurumi, which is crocheted toys. I made Hailey & Luke a bowling set,

I made sweetheart boy and girl dolls for Cami & Kati's B-day,

a box of chocolates for valentines day decoration,

a airplane for Taylor's B-day (and the propeller even spins!)

a little car for Tyler's B-day (which I need to make for Luke now once he saw Tylers),

and purses for Erica and Brooke's B-day (sorry they were late!)

Notice the nice big belly and cut hair? Something new for me, well not the big belly! LOL... but always had long hair till now!

As far as Matthew goes, all he does is work. He been working 3 jobs, the highway UHP, the city RPD, and now the Dam all the way up in Daggett. He only had 2 days off the month of February and only 1 the month of March. Other than working and sleeping he spends his time dreaming of toys like guns and bikes. LOL. O yes, I forgot to mention our little princess is losing her hair, yes our 3 year old girl is dropping chunks of hair by the gripfuls! We went and had some labs done and everything came back normal, so we are thinking it narrows to down to only a few things, and those of which we can do nothing about. Hopefully it will all grow back. Tomorrow is picture day at school, so it will be interesting figuring out a way to make it not obvious she only has half a head of hair. Boys are doing great, being boys, Luke just busy being 2, decided he absolutely LOVES to be naked and dumps his clothes anytime I walk away and becoming my little dare devil climbing up and jumping off anything he can find! And both are IN LOVE with being outdoors! Now that it sunny enough and we have a fence we try to go out everyday and boy do they LOVE it! Unless its windy, which by the way I had no IDEA was so bad up here! Its way worse than the Santa Ana winds from CAli! I mean these gusts blow away the kids slide into the fence, and moves our full trashcan to the neighbors! It's way cute tho cause when it gets windy, the kids say "Storm is coming go inside!" & Hunter loves it, but HATES the feel of grass and stays on the blanket I lay out for him. He walking along walls, which the other kids never really did, I mean they all do furniture, but he like scales walls sideways and does this spider/crab type walk where his legs are totally straight and his bums in the air, but he still has his hands on the ground. He is still super tiny... but our kids have been way skinny. I just hope that he reaches the 20lb mark soon so we can move him up in carseats by the time Isabella gets here, since she'll be needing his.

So that's the scoop, what's been happening with our little abode. I'll try to keep up to date a little more. Hope everyone is enjoying the joy of springtime!

a pratt family christmas

2008-12-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

Gifts from home seemed to be the theme this year, with a complete lack of $$$$ during this terrible economy! So, our home had a "kids christmas" in which only the kids got anything from santa and matthew & i simply enjoyed the holidays a la carte, no presents. it was a little stress relief since we didn't have to worry about presents for each other and finished shopping for the kids in november when we were visiting my sister for thanksgiving. so at least we avoided the mad crowds and insane lines! i, however, was a little stressed with the baking & craft madness that consumed my days the last couple of months. for matthew's sgt & his best friend I made quilts,

for my girlfriends, i crocheted scarves,

and i crocheted Hailey a princess dolly...

i crocheted my mom a blanket...

and for our neighbors and matt's friends and coworkers i baked cookies, lots and LOTS of cookies! i made 2-3 dozen of 12 different kinds of cookies! i was a baking machine for probably 36 straight hours! the poor kids survived off cereal and hot dogs for meals since matthew was working doubles the days the baking needed to be done. But FINALLY it was over!

So on christmas everything was finished, and we got to simply enjoy watching the babies open their presents, and then of course matthew had to work...after all it seemed car accidents were up in numbers this past week... but he was able to make it home for christmas dinner, so that was nice.

it was a beautiful christmas and we are very blessed.

early christmas morning hello from hailey...

hunter starts the show, but needs help opening his presents...

then it was Lukey's turn... notice the lightning mcqueen underwear... thanks grandma he LOVES them! AND doesn't wanna wear pants to cover them up!

and hailey's turn...
luke had to learn about taking turns... but then it was his again...

we hope everyone had a very fun christmas like we did and hope the rest of your holidays are full of love and happiness!

Our HOME

2008-11-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

Well, since we live in the TOTAL boonies! I suppose I should share with you all our house since I highly doubt anyone will come all this way! lol I have a friend flying in to slc and she couldn't believe there are no trains, buses or anything that comes out this way... lol o yea... & i am disappointed in finding that after FINALLY visiting the ONLY restaurant IN roosevelt, they have NO IDEA what good food is!!!! Oh my! How do you screw up french fries? and the dino chicken nuggets from costco were WAY better than what poor lukie had to suffer through! LOL

& to top it off they had banana cream pie... one of my FAVS 2nd only to cheesecake... only to discover they don't know how to make that either!!! HOW can you screw up banana cream pie? i mean we are talking pudding, bananas, whipped cream, and a sweet crust... BUT let me tell YOU it was BAD! and for someone who gets to go out to eat only couple times a year!?!?!!! i couldnt even finish my $5 pie, yes $5 for pie that was not even good! SIGH

but... aside from all the things i am NOT liking out here we do have a brand new house... so that is nice... (once they fix all the things that have already come apart in only 3 months! lol)

So here is our new home. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, garage (yeah no treking in snow)!

So this house is smaller than our last square footage wise so... we've had to turn our garage into not only a spot for both cars (which we FINALLY fit both the van & patrol car in now!) but also our extended kitchen as well as office & craft room! lol... notice the computer in the garage? this is WHY i post so rarely... its FREAKIN COLD OUT HERE!!! lol.. right now my tootsies are like mini frozen popsicles! brrrrrrrrrrrrr

our rooms are pretty close quartered... so trying to figure out how to take pics is kinda funny but nevertheless.... here ya go

Here is our living room ... (car on floor courtesy of luke)

notice the empty et center again
courtesy of 2year old boy that

enjoys pulling out everything

he can reach but now has made this

his favorite hiding place! lol

& yes that bookshelf is ALL kids books, except for the few on very top shelf which are parenting or autism books! lol

So here is my darling VERY MESSY

princess who i am lucky is sitting down since she LOVES throwing tantrums when i say anything about eating and here is her room... like i said it really hard to see the whole room!

& my boys now they LOVE to eat...

and here is the boys room! like the

decorating? lol... its only been a few

months & matthew wont let me

paint yet, since it new paint since we just bought the house... but it will come! & my little man who eats so fast & runs off to play with cars or trains!

and the kitchen... when it not a mess!

and our yard ...

and where the truck is parked we are planning on cementing that all in and covering it ... but for now the truck sits in dirt! lol

& one day we will get fences... for now we DREAM!!!!

don't think you need to see our bedroom or the bathrooms... they pretty basic... lol so thats our house!

I've been tagged!

2008-11-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

SO Becky tagged me forever ago, but I didn't know it becauseI haven't ventured into the coldness to get to the computer (which is in the garage) BRRRRRR!!!!!

SO...How to play this game of tag: Post these rules on your blog.Name 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections and 3 random surprising facts about yourself.Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.Let them know that you have tagged them by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys: Baking, Running & My FAMILY

3 Fears: I have a terrifying fear of submarines, I am totally claustophobic (sp?), & I have a very unrealistic fear that one day a creepy man will come up through my crawlspace!

3 Goals: Start a cake decorating business, turn our house into a home (paint & decorate), have 6 healthy babies!

3 Current Obsessions/Collections: BAKING COOKING & BAKING, crocheting (homemade xmas presents) & quilting

3 Random Surprising Facts About Myself: i used to hate chocolate & now i can't live without it!, i absolutely HATE the cold snowy winter (ok maybe not so surprising) , i miss going to school

I don't know enough people to tag... but i guess, Robbie, Brandy, Steph (since she didnt answer Becky's yet), Shelly, & Amy!!

Diapers Diapers EVERYWHERE!!!

2008-11-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

So our precious 2 year old LUKE has decided that wearing diapers is SO NOT COOL! He wants to be just like "Heyee". So no matter how often I follow this little guy around he ALWAYS finds a place and time to strip the diaper! Now the problem with this is he isn't POTTY TRAINED!!!! He has good intentions and runs to the potty once he sees himself going but then we got a fun pee trail to follow & clean up and by the time he gets the potty his bladder is empty! Matthew says we should duct tape the diapers on but if he WANTS to learn I don't wanna tell him no! So we've compromised and got him in the training underwear so the mess doesn't get everywhere & he is not in diapers! Let me tell ya tho, I sure am doing at least 2 loads of laundry DAILY! LOL The good news? He is making it to the potty EVERY SINGLE time when he has a BM & I'd much rather clean up pee than that! LOL
SO now i've got only 1 left in diapers! YAHOO! SO although we are going through carpet cleaner & laundry soap like crazy! My babies are growing up & learning! Makes a mommy proud!

And so it begins...

2008-10-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well Robbie this is for you! JK. We are starting our very own blog. Matthew laughs at the thought. Never imagined that we would have a blog he says, who wants to read about us?

Well, a lot has changed for us in the past couple months.

But it all started in January when Matthew starting the academy for the Highway Patrol. Now, I TOLD Matthew I would NEVER NEVER marry a cop. So he decided to sneak around that and marry me first, then become a cop! Not that there is anything wrong with cops, just as a wife didn't want to have to handle those hours! But he is my hubby, so supportive I will be. And now that he doing it, I can't really imagine him doing anything else. He LOVES it, like it's in his blood. This is what he should be doing. So after months of the academy came graduation and then his calling, Duchesne County, Utah. Now coming from California, Utah County was a whole other world, but Duchesne county? well it's an entire different universe! We had a hard time finding a home and Matthew had to live out here without me and the kids for awhile. But we finally found a brand new home, and then had to wait for it to be finished and now, long overdue, we are all together again as a family.

So now we live in Roosevelt, Utah. We have finally settled in, as all of our boxes are unpacked. It is great having a garage, considering this house is smaller than our last, our "office" is out here, as well as all my craft supplies and half the kitchen. Matthew has jumped right into being a trooper out here, as well as joining as a reserve officer for the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office and the Roosevelt Police Department. Can you tell he loves being a cop?

Hailey has started preschool and goes 4 days a week. She rides the big girl bus! I didn't think I would have to worry about my baby going to school until kindergarten! But at 3 years old she puts on her backpack and heads to the bus stop (with mom of course!) She is doing great, absolutely loves it! And she has only had one tantrum thus far! The teacher was completely shocked when it happened, she said, "I never knew something could come out of such a happy sweet little girl." LOL Welcome to my world! I think there was definately a reason she was born so cute! She is completely potty trained during the day, now we just gotta work on staying dry through the night!

Luke is busy being 2! As a typical 2 year old boy he LOVES making messes, cars, balls, throwing things, wrestling, and getting into any trouble possible! It is a new world for Matthew since Hailey didn't go through this stage! He absolutely loves the movies CARS (for obvious reasons) and MULAN of all things! He loves the fighting and takes out Hailey's recorder and pretends it is a sword!

Hailey sure misses horse riding and they both miss playing outside, but it's already too cold for that, plus no fences, and we only one house from state street, so we stay inside all our days! Talk about CABIN FEVER!!!! Every night these two LOVE to watch Disney's Princess Sing-A-Long and at the very end when every one is dancing these two grab each other and dance around the room laughing the whole time! It is absolutely ADORABLE!

Hunter is growing by leaps and bounds! At 5 months old, he already had 2 teeth! At 6 months old, he is crawling everywhere and even gets his tummy off the floor most of the time, the rest its more of the army crawl he has down packed! He is loving solids and for the most part sleeps the entire night! However, he has decided he is old enough to only need one nap a day! Insane! Apparently my kids aren't nappers cause Luke and Hailey don't nap at all by 2yo. He still refuses to sit up and if you try and make him he folds himself completely in half so his tummy is still touching the floor, or rolls immediately to the side. He loves to chew on anything he shoulding, especially cords, and loves pulling the door stoppers out and gnawing on the caps. Obviously, I've had to remove all these from the walls! He hates being in a room alone, and if you leave, he is right behind you scooting as fast as he can!

So what about me? Well, I'm busy being a mom, working part-time as a 911 dispatcher in Vernal, which is about 40 min away. And as always, I LOVe baking and entertaining! We have already had 3 bbq's and probably 2 dinner parties, and now that it's the holidays a lot more are coming! I bake as often as I can and share with all the guys matthew works with, I don't think they mind, and I need someone to test my goodies. I am thinking I will start baking and decorating cakes from home and hope to quit completely and devote my time at home!

Everyone always asks if we are insane for having our babies so close together, but we wouldn't have it ANY OTHER WAY! It is so great having them at the same stage, doing the same things together & being so close! The second question is always, if we are done, and nope, we are not even close! We love being mommy & daddy and want to do it more! There is nothing greater than these beautiful blessings that HeavenlyFather has given us! Sorry it's so long, but that's the jist. Will try to keep updated and add more as we can!