Fall 2011 Update

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

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!

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!!!

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?

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?!

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.