So I was reading some older blog posts of mine the other day and decided that if nothing else, I love reading about my kids and their cute little quirks and mannerisms at the time. With my Adult ADD I have a hard time focusing on one thing…so sometimes my scrapbooking is really great, and sometimes it seriously lacks:)

So update on the kiddos -

Dominic

For Chirstmas, DD got a Wii. Life hasn't quite been the same! He loves to play SuperMario Brothers. I thought he would never love anything as much as Diego…but it appears he has traded in Baby Jaguar and Rescue Pack for Mario and Luigi.

He is in the pre-k program at the school he is zoned for kindergarten. He has two really sweet, yet firm teachers that have been teaching for like 25 years. I have helped a few times and am extremely impressed with their structure and patience! The classroom runs like clockwork! They encourage imaginative play and everything is about vocabulary and the children communicating effectively with one another. I think it is pretty awesome. I can see tremendous growth in Dominic. It was pretty cool in his "parent-teacher conference" back in Dec. his teacher showed me examples of things he knew/wrote etc. in September vs. what he was doing now. It was wonderful to see the progress. I, of course, think he is one smart little guy, but it's nice to hear other people think he is smart too.

He loves to play with his cousin Lukey. Yesterday we went to Sara and Mike's for dinner. Luke wasn't home yet. Dominic sat looking out the window watching for Luke. He often saves treats and things he gets to share them with Luke.

He also has this neat little bond with Hudson. He is very protective and good to him. I hope that is always the case and they are always super close.

Dominic has also gotten in habit of wanting to share his testimony of fast Sunday. I am in that place where I am torn because I want it to be appropriate, but I also want him to have confidence and always have the desire to share his testimony. So we are 2 for 2 so far in 2011…which means I go up there with him, which means I bear my testimony too. So I suppose he is gently pushing me to be a better person.

Jade

Jade is one funny little girl! First of all, she is completely girly-girl! In fact, I just went through her clothes today and got rid of almost everything that wasn't dress. She loves dresses and that's what she wants to wear. Every. Single. Day. Not just dresses, fancy ones that spin and twirl like Taylor Swift. Speaking of Taylor Swift, she has a nit of an obsession with her too. Loves her music and knows all the words to pretty much every song. She also loves make-up. She asks me to put it on her every day when I'm doing mine. She isn't satisfied just just some shimmer on her cheeks either. She wants mascara and eyeshadow and base. Oh my…did I mention she's 3! I love that when I tell her she is cute or beautiful she giggles and says, "I know." I hope she always thinks she is beautiful. The world would have a lot less problems if more girls believed they were beautiful:)

Jade has shown an interest in the computer. She loves to get on PBSkids and NickJr. She likes to play with barbies and babies and loves to play outside too. She got a kitchen for Christmas and likes playing house with it.

She is a very verbal kid! I can't remember when she didn't talk! But a while ago she started talking in this "baby voice." It was driving me nuts! I can't even explain it, but it was like another language. Then one day I heard her talking to Brad. They were both talking like that. It kind of cracked me up and made me furious all at the same time. Now we all say "Dadoos" as kind of a joke. Funny enough, when we were all joking around about it instead of me getting angry with her, she stopped doing the "baby voice." Isn't that how parenting goes? The things you think are SUCH A BIG DEAL at the time turn out to be nothing.

Jade also loves to help clean if she's helping me. Leaving her alone to clean something up in her room, not as much. But supervised, she can be a huge help. She was loading the washer for me today, wiping down chairs and putting away clothes. I'll take all the help I can get, thank you:)

We love our little Jade. It is such a different experience her being a girl. She is definitely more emotional. When Jade gets in trouble, I can just spat her on the bum, not even hard, and she loses it. Whereas Dominic can seriously gets spanked until my hand is throbbing and laugh. Proof that you have to tailor your discipline to each child.

Hudson

Okay, what can I say about this little guy and his infectious smile and laugh? He is talking up storm. I'm sure what he says isn't clear to everyone, but to me, the toddler whisperer, it is pretty darn clear:) I have to say, the funniest is when he farts, laughs and says "far-t" TMI, I know, but pretty stinkin' funny:)

He eats all the time. He loves foods. All kinds of food. Today he ate an entire pumello. What's a pumello you ask? It's a big grapefruit looking thing only not as sour, more sweet. He loves them. I can't section them off fast enough. He also loves his chocolate milk. There are days when I think it might be cheaper and more convenient to have a dairy cow in my backyard. I don't think I noticed the increase in food that much with just two kids, but three seems like I am at the store every other day replacing the staples…milk, bread and eggs:)

Hudson has got this nickname, "Roonie." It started as Buster, then Buster-roonie, now affectionately shorten to just Roonie.

He loves music. The other day when he woke up he has two pacifiers in his hands and was singing, "Sa-she, sa-she, na, na, na." It was pretty cute. He love to dance and bob his big ol head to any music.

They poor little guy went from having like 4 teeth to every single tooth coming in at the same time! His little gums are so swollen right now in the back. I feel bad for him because he will take my finger and stick it in his mouth and try to bite as hard as he can.

He still has his cute little dimples…he is daring and has no fear. He falls down, cries, and gets back up and is trying to climb something again! He is the "climber" in nursery. He is always on top of the tables. I have to put all my chairs on top of the table or he is climbing up on it every chance he gets!

Okay, that should do it for some documentation:) As for me and Brad… we are loving having Brad home more often since he passed all of his CPA exams! We are very excited that HUGE weight has been lifted off our shoulders! His bosses are signing off on his hours and his stuff goes before the board in March. YEAH! We are hoping for some new opportunities soon.

He has been able to relax somewhat, watch a little TV, spend time with me and the kids, go to FHE, and work out again. He also managed to beat Super Mario Brothers after one week. Dominic was so proud:)

Me, I have been attempting to keep our house cleaner. I have been trying to dedicate every Monday to laundry. I usually do every speck of laundry and whatever else I can get done. Today it was steam mopping floors and cleaning the kids' drawers out. My house is by no means clean, but much better than it has been.

I also have been busy with photography stuff. This past fall was super busy, but we are super grateful because we were able to have extra Christmas money. I love it. I also love crafting in general. I got a sewing machine for my birthday and finally took it out of the box on Saturday! I made Jade a little dress. I am excited to learn more and take on more projects!

Fun Halloween banner

I made this cute little Halloween banner the other night. It was so simple.

Cut some tags from my cricut, used some paper fan things left over from Hudson's b-day party, cut out letters from my cricut on the super cute glitter paper from Target. Hung over my "spooky" fireplace. (The thing really is spooky in more ways than one…) That's it.

15 months already?

Buster is 15 months old today! He is turning into a little stinker too. A dang cute stinker with his big 'ol dimples and gorgeous blue eyes. He is really moving. He looks pretty funny walking on those twiggy legs of his, but he is getting more and more comfortable doing it everyday. But being in no hurry to walk has not stopped him from climbing on things. He climbs on everything. Most are dangerous, the rocks, the "lunchroom" table, chairs in nursery, etc. He thinks it is especially funny to climb on things, look for my and wave his finger up at down (like he is saying, naughty, naughty, naughty.)

In the last couple of days he has taken to chucking things as hard as he can. Tonight it was water bottles. Earlier at the library, it was books. Sure hope he is going to use his amazing skills as a baseball player or something:)

He loves balls. I mean seriously, the kid would be happy with a room filled with balls. I have found him a several times laying under the changing table surrounded by his bouncy balls. Do I have a picture of it, no.

He loves the bath, he loves to eat and he is finally starting to become a good sleeper. He loves his brother and sister. He waves to everyone and says something that sounds like bye-bye to me. He is such a sweetheart.

And with his continued love of food, he is chunkin' up and and just might grow into that dome of his;) Love. This. Kid.

Today's edition of gratitude

Two posts in a row: WORLD RECORD!

Today I was grateful for naps. (Although I wish I could count myself as one of the nappies…)

Jade was having a rough day. She had a meltdown at my friend Janine's, she had a poo and pee accident resulting in two cold showers. She was basically a mess. So after the second cold shower, to bed she went. Nestled in her crib with her "pacifier blanket" and pillow sweet sleep brought peace to the house and peace to my little girl having a rough day. She woke up refreshed and in a much better mood. I was too.

General Conference

I was inspired by the talks given today and yesterday by our great church leaders. I look forward to rereading them in the Ensign online so I can fill in the gaps I missed taking Jade to the potty, making sippy cups, cleaning up, etc.

In a world with so much turmoil and sadness, immorality and filth, political opposition, greed, pride and selfishness, how comforting it is to listen to men and women who radiate and preach such hope, love and comfort. It gives me hope that there are good people all over who want a good world for their children to grow up in, and that makes me happy.

It's like the most t.v. I've watched in a long time:)

I was especially happy to see Dominic listen to a few talks while filling out his little word bingo card from primary. He carefully listened and check marked gospel words during a few talks. (Hey, he's 4…a three-talk attention span is nothing short of a miracle in my book!)

Well I want to be more grateful. Too many times I catch myself wishing, wanting and aspiring for more. That is okay sometimes. but I also recognized that I need to be grateful for the present. So I am going to strive to be grateful. And unlike my normal ADD self that has a tendency to do a million things at once…that's it. I am going to be more grateful. I think that alone will help many more things fall into place. And since everyone has basically left blogging for facebook…I'm pretty sure I can post my gratefulness as I please:)

And I'm going to list, because that's how I roll:

1. I am grateful for the gospel. It's a scary thing in life to not have a foundation. One that answers all the important questions. I have that. I know who I am, where I came from and where I am going.

2. I am grateful for my family. With every rear I wipe, and cry I quiet, I know I am needed and loved. I have a loving, compassionate, funny-as-heck husband that treats me well and loves and provides for our children. I know that he is working towards our eternal marriage just as much as I am. And that feels good.

Okay…those are the big ones for tonight. The two that are always mentioned in my prayers. There are many more, obvious ones. And some not so obvious. But here's to being grateful! I hope if you are reading this…you will find some things to be more grateful for…

It's getting hot in here…

So we took a trip to Utah to attend Sawyer's baptism and hang with our cousins. We had as much fun as could be packed into a few days with 7 children and two adults… (two adults who happen to be sisters that have no qualms about spending 5 hours at various TJ Maxx stores)We went to this super fun children's museum in Salt Lake. It was perfectly geared toward my children. If I lived in Utah, I would have a season pass! There was this cute little "town" that the kids could have stayed at all day long. This is Stockton and Jade reporting the weather on a green screen. Jade kept mimicking Stockton…it was cute.
They had a real life "Flight for Life" helicopter and heli-pad on the roof. Dominic was in Heaven. He waited patiently to be able to "fly" the chopper. I think at one point he really thought it was going to take off!
Even Hudders was enjoying the play kitchen with all the food. He was so cute standing up and grabbing everything in the little playhouse!
Annika and Hudson - Annika was quite the Miss Helpful babysitter during our stay. She was quick to help me watch the kids…especially Hudson!
These two girls had so much fun rocking out to "California Gurls" and playing dress up!

Hudder wudder turns one

One year ago I was recovering from my third c-section in three years…and our family was blessed with Hudson. (Although we didn't have a definite name for him just yet…)

Hudson Boyd was born at 7:54 a.m. and weighed 7 lbs 10 oz. He was a really good baby. He has been the smallest of my three kids…he only weighed 16 lbs last week at the doctor. He army crawls all over the place (just like Dominic.) Only he uses both arms, not just one. He has the most amazing smile and little dimples that light up his whole face.

Dominic and Jade can really get this kid giggling.

He loves to eat… and although he is small, he shovels food in like a pro. He can eat two packets of instant oatmeal, bananas, chocolate milk, nurse, and like candy too. If he doesn't want something, he pulls it right out of his mouth and throws it on the floor!

He is a mama's boy, and a daddy's too. He loves to be held, but recently loves to crawl everywhere. He even wants to stand, but his little legs are seriously…little! They look like twigs trying to support all 16 pounds of him.

Hudson loves balls! He will furiously crawl to one and say what sounds like "ba, ba ba!" It is by far his favorite thing to play with. He will wrap his little body around the whole ball and then slap it with his hands. So dang cute.

We seriously can't get enough of this guy. Happy birthday to him!