Many thanks....

Thanksgiving was a very busy weekend. Dinner with my family at Dee and Chester's house on Thursday, Black Friday shopping on Friday, and a birthday party on Saturday. Thank you Dee for the very fun filled weekend!!

In 6 days my little girl is going to be 2 years old. I am so very thankful to have this little person in my family. She is such a cutie and sweetie.

We had a little party on Saturday for birthdays in November and December. Mike's birthday was Saturday. I made him chicken enchiladas (his request) and we saw the movie 4 Christmases. Mike loves to go to the movies.

Dani turns 2 a week after Kay does. She is one funny little girl!

I am very thankful that Konner loves his Grandma. He asks frequently to go to Grandma's house.

7 weeks to go until our little Kylie Nicole is here! In some ways I am soooooooooo ready to have her here. But in other ways, I am not ready. I still haven't figured out where she'll be sleeping! I have two little kids who are light sleepers and having a baby in the room with either will give me two awake children in the middle of the night. Not fun. Unfortunately I won't have a closet big enough to put a sleeping baby!!

My buddy is a big boy now

When I look at the faces of my children my heart is full. Konner has been my little boy for 3 years now. I love this little person. Kaylin and I got home about an hour ago from dropping Konner off for his very first big boy visit at Grandma's. He wants so bad to be a big boy and believes without a doubt that he is. He told Kaylin today "My a big boy. You're a baby. You has to go home wis mommy!"

Mike and I have only ever left our kids behind twice. The first time was when Konner was 6 months old. We couldn't take him on the cruise with us so he stayed with my friend for that week. I called every day on our vacation and had a $500 cell phone bill that month!! The second time was a year ago when we went to Utah for Mark and Amanda's wedding and and Jim and Becky's sealing. We only left them behind because we couldn't find anyone available to take with us to watch the kids during each ceremony. Again I called daily. But other than these 2 experiences, my kids go where I go. So whenever my sister has asked to have Konner for a week, no has been my answer!

It started about 2 weeks ago. Konner has been difficult to say the least. He's been angry, he's been ornery to me, he has totally ignored anything I tell him, and he has been talking back to me. I don't know if this is normal behavior or not. (Please anyone who has been through this let me know!!) Two weeks ago was a whole week of misery. I cried daily. I found myself responding in ways that made me cry all the more. And no matter how much I told him I loved him and loved it when he was sweet and helpful, he was still not being nice. What happened to my sweet hearted baby? So I called my sister after a week of this. I asked her to have him for a visit and I cried and cried.

This past week, he has actually been a little better behaved and a little less angry. I asked him what he needed to feel better. I asked him if he needed more time with mommy. He said "Yah. And daddy too. You, me and daddy. But not Kaywin!!" I think I may be getting to the heart of what is going on with him....

Mike and I talked and we decided that it would be good for Konner to get a "big boy" visit with his grandma and aunt and cousins. We also decided that it would be good for me to get some sleep!! So I have spent the past week preparing him for his big boy visit at grandma's. And every day he has been very eager to go, but he has wanted to me stay with him. I have explained that I need to come back home but that I would be back to pick him up in a few days. So we headed up to my mom's last night. This afternoon Kaylin and I were getting ready to leave and I told Konner that Kaylin and I had to go home but he gets to stay and have his big boy visit and asked him if he wanted to stay. He shocked me and said he wanted to stay ( he always wants to be with me). So I hugged him and kissed him and told him I loved him so much and that I would be back to pick him up in a few days, and I told him to have fun. He stood outside with my sister and niece and nephews and waved good bye to me as I drove off. Immediately my heart ached. I missed him already. I mean I do not even leave the kids over night with their dad, they go with me!! So 5 minutes after I left I called my sister to see how he handled my leaving. She told me that as soon as I turned the corner he wanted down and shouted "Come on Austin!! Let's go play cars!!" I called Mike and told him that Kay and left and were on our way home. Then I started bawling and wanted to go back and get him. Mike reminded me that we miss him but it is only for a few days and he got to go visit cousins when he was a kid (but at age 3???) and this will be good for Konner. Am I stupid for aching and missing him and crying when it was my idea in the first place to let him go visit his grandma, aunt and cousins?

The night Konner has lived for...

Konner and Kaylin sat out on the porch and helped daddy hand out candy. Although it is my suspicion that they also helped daddy eat some of that candy they were handing out!



But first they did some trick or treating of their own.

I got Konner to wear his Spiderman mask for about 2 seconds so I could get his picture with it on. Kaylin was completely agreeable with whatever I wanted her to wear.

I am going through things and packing some things so our house is a disaster right now! We'll be moving in a month and a half. I am just so ready to have the stress of the move over with!

I love little kids and the adorable things they say!

Angels Explained by Children

--Olive, Age 9 Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.

--Matthew, Age 9 It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, and then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes.

--Mitchell, Age 9 Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.

--Henry, Age 8 My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science.

--Jack, Age 6 Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows.

--Daniel, Age 9 Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven.The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead.

--Reagan, Age 10 When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado.

--Jared, 8 Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter.

--Antonio, 9 All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it.

--Sarah, 7 What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love , they shoot arrows at them.

Costume (as Konner calls Halloween) is coming!

This first picture was taken at the Pumpkin Patch that we love. The kids played and picked out pumpkins. It was fun. There are more pictures and videos of their fun on their site http://www.3littlerigbys.piczo.com/.

These next pictures were taken at our ward's Halloween party. This woman in our ward takes amazing pictures. I snuck in and took a few of my own, but mine were not so good!

So this year is the first Halloween that Konner got to choose his own costume. So he picked Spiderman. I thought really? He would have made a cute Peter Pan to Kay's Tinkerbel! But he wanted to be Spiderman. Our conversation in the store went something like this....

Konner: My wanna be Spiderman!!!!
Me: But it comes with a mask.
Konner: My want it.
Me: But it comes with a mask. You don't like to wear masks.
Konner: But my want it!
Me: Konner, it comes with a mask and I know you won't wear the mask.
Konner: BUT.........MY.........WANT.........IT......MOM!!!!!!
Me: Are you really going to wear this mask?
Konner: Yes my will.
Me: Really?
Konner: YES.........MY.........WIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

Notice he does not have that mask on or even in his hand?

My guy...

Can I just tell you how much I love this man?
I had a rough week last week. I was stressed out at work. I was stressed out at home. Twice Mike had to sit on the phone and listen to me cry on my drive home from work.

I have been at this job for 3 months now. It’s a huge company, and I am working in the Environmental Health and Safety department. To say that my boss is difficult would be putting it mildly. I am her third employee to fill this position. The one before me lasted less than a month. Mike and I have agreed that I would work until the beginning of December and then quit to move and stay home with the kids. We realized that it would be more cost efficient for me to stay home rather than work and only make enough to pay the babysitter and gas in my car. After last week we agreed that I can either quit a month early or continue to endure to the end (our end) so that our kids can have a better Christmas. I am still on the fence while enduring!! I keep going back and forth, because I keep thinking that if I can hack it a little longer, then the kids can have a better Christmas and I can get all the new clothes and shoes they need before quitting and the burden falls to Mike. But with all this hacking and enduring, I am stressed out!!!

So last week Mike called me and asked me if I wanted him to stop and pick up new church shoes for Konner on his way home. I told him no because, well honestly… I was afraid he wouldn’t get shoes that I like, plus my income goes to the children’s needs. But he insisted, so I agreed but told him to bring me a receipt! He came home LATE that night with his arms full of bags. He bought all the necessities for the kids that I have been needing to go get! He bought both of them church shoes, he bought both of them PJs, he bought both of them a few pairs of pants, and he bought me a box of the yummiest chocolates, a gift card to Bath and Body Works, and then handed me some cash to add to my fund for Christmas and Kay’s birthday. Then he hugged me and told me that he hoped this lessened my stress load. How is sweet was that?!?

As I am sure you guys have figured out about me, I am not the warm and fuzzy, affectionate gal. I am the cactus behind all the walls! Sap makes me so uncomfortable that I fidget and must run far away!! But Mike’s thoughtfulness made me feel a bit warm and fuzzy. And it made me realize just how much more I love him than I thought I did when we were running up $600 phone bills living in 2 different states years ago!! ...Still really sorry about those phone bills, Jim....

3 years old

I love this little boy. He has such a sweet heart. He loves me, he likes to share his cars with me, he likes to share his treats with me, he likes to get hugs and kisses from me, he likes to give me hugs and kisses, and he likes to spend his days with me.

I finally got Konner in for his 3 year photos. He was so good. I told him that if he did whatever the photographer told him to do, then he would get ice cream after the photo session. He cooperated completely!