What's Happenin'

This has been an absoultely crazy month. We have had three birthdays, well baby exams, Taylor had a Salt Lake exam, two different activities (we were the ward activities chair people--we got released), Brent got called to the High Counsel, Halloween parties, teeth falling out, temple sealings to watch (so good to see your cute family, Kristina), and just trying to stay ahead of the mischief which is, in itself, a full time job. Here are some pictures of all the fun:

This is Ally right after she lost her first tooth. I will say that it is a blurry picture, but I love how Brent snuck in the back. She was riding on Brent's back and he bucked her off on to the couch and the tooth popped out. In the morning, the tooth fairy came and Ally was so happy. She kept telling Taylor, "I can't believe a fairy actually came to our house." The both were dancing around all day because a fairy had made an appearance.

This is pretty much how we have spent the month...eating cake. Bailey has really enjoyed the cake part.

Taylor's birthday was great. This is the only picture that I have downloaded, but, as you can see, she loves cake batter. She got dress up clothes and it has really helped my laundry load because that is all that she has worn. She has been anxiously awaiting her birthday. Any time she sees something on TV she says, "I get that for my birthday." The funny part is that it can be anything...the other day she wanted a Lexus. My kind of girl.

Both Brent and I had good birthdays, too. It is just so fun to have a kid's birthday. They get so excited.

Kennedy is doing well too. She is such a good baby. She will just sit and watch the girls. She talks and smiles and...ROLLS! She recently picked up that new skill.
Anywho, things have been going great for us...busy...but great.

From the Mouth of a Babe

By that title, I am talking about Kennedy, not me. I know it is an easy thing to confuse so I thought I would clear up any misunderstanding. Maybe the title should be "From the Mouth of Babes." I better stop now.

I just figured out how to put video on my blog and so I put the one of the girls dancing below. Now, I am putting one of Kennedy. I have to tell you, she is so cute. She will sit and talk and talk to me. I just love her cute little baby noises. If all my babies were as good as her, I would have a million. (That is, if I didn't have to be pregnant to get them here).

I have no words for my performance in this video. Kennedy even looks at me like I am crazy. Anything for a smile...

Dancing with the Stars

I just figured out how to add video to my blog. This is a great picture of the girls dancing...well mostly Taylor. Enjoy!

Kennedy's Blessing Day

We blessed Kennedy on Sunday and it was a great day with family. Kennedy likes to pitch a bit of a fit when she's not in mama's arms, so I was afraid the blessing would be short just to protect the congregations ear drums. Luckily, she was asleep when Brent took her up. Halfway through the blessing, she woke up and looked around at her situation and Brent said she gave the funniest look. It was like, "what am I doing here?" I thought that was funny. Anyway, she didn't cry and looked absolutely beautiful. I hope you get the idea--I didn't take time to figure out how to turn the photo.

Ally's First Day of School

My Ally started school today. She's a big 'ole first grader and goes to school all day long. She was so brave and excited for school. Good for her. I cried three different times during the day when I missed her. Who's the baby now?


The other girls have missed her too. I think that she has been their main source of entertainment. The scary part is that they are filling up their time with all manor of mischief. Taylor spent my showering time emptying all of the stuffing from one of the couch cushions.

Bailey is automatically drawn to any kind of water. Yes, that includes toilet. I find that the time that I am feeding Kennedy is a prime time to fill with all manner of "fun." I'm sure that we'll all adjust to this new schedule. Until then, if anyone sees my kids out in the middle of the road with no clothes on and covered in toilet water, just send 'em my way.

Kennedy in all Chubbiliciousness

So we went to the doctor yesterday and found out that she weighs 15 lbs 6 oz! No, this isn't a type-o. Some doctors once told me that all women's milk has the same amount of calories, but Kennedy eats like any normal baby and look at her! Two months old and she already has quadruple neck folds. Good job Kennedy!

She's Here!

The induction went as planned and Kennedy Megan Clements was born at 11:30 a.m. on June 15th. She was 8 lbs and 6 oz and 20 inches long. She is pretty cute. I went in to labor and delivery at 6 a.m. and they started me on Potasin at about 7 a.m. and an epidural at about 9:45 a.m. It was right after that that my contractions, surprisingly enough, started hurting. The anethesiologist told me that if my legs are numb that my belly should also be numb. Now, I have felt contractions (no drugs with Ally), and these were indeed contractions, and I felt them. I went from a 5 to a 10 and Kennedy was born in only 15 minutes. When we were done, Brent was animate that he was not paying for that epidural. I think they should owe me.

After Kennedy came, we noticed that she was laboring quite a bit to breathe and so they had to take her to the NICU for two days. It was stressful, but she came out of it and she came home with us on the evening of the 17th.

Her sisters were introduced the next day, and it was crazy. They just loved her and me and it has been nice to have things calm down just a little. We are all glad to be back together as a family and so thankful for such a sweet baby girl!

To Say, or Not to Say

I just talked to my doctor today, and I found out that I am going to be induced on Monday, June 15. I have never been induced so I am a little bit nervous, but the thought of not being pregnant and having a cute baby to show for it is something that I just can't pass up. So... in honor of pregnant women everywhere I present (drumroll please)....

THE TOP FIVE REMARKS I HAVE HEARD WHILE PREGNANT
5)"You're still pregnant? You looked ready to have your baby a month ago!"
4)"I can't believe you are still pregnant. I was just thinking to myself, 'it seems like she has been pregnant forever.'"
3)"You have just blossomed like a rose."
2)"I wonder if there is another baby hiding behind their sister."

and the #1 comment.....
1)"Do all pregnant women get bellies that big?" (Aren't we all standing in line to be his wife?)

While pregnancy has its obvious rewards, I look forward to being at a place in life where people don't just say the first thing that comes from their mouths and think it is Okay because you're pregnant.

Lots of Family Fun

We have had a lot of fun over the past little bit. To start off, Ally graduated from kindergarten. Her whole class sang some songs and then they got to accept their diplomas. They even had graduation caps on. I have been so amazed how well that Ally has done in school. She works so hard to concentrate and during the performance she didn't even crack a smile because she wanted to do well. She hardly even talks in school, and anyone who has ever even met Ally will know that this is not like her at all, but she is a great student. Am I a proud parent or what?



For Memorial Day, we took the girls to Tauphatus Park Zoo. It is a little zoo in Idaho Falls, and is perfect for little kids. It has some good animals to look at, but you can go through the whole thing in a couple of hours. The girls loved the lion, the otters, and the flamingos probably the best. They also loved these monkeys that would come right up the to the glass. They were just inches away from them!






After the zoo, we went found a place for a picnic at the park. It was the best weather ever! We loved being able to enjoy the weather and have some fun with the fam!

A Wicked Good Time

This weekend my sisters (minus one) and Mom and I all went to Salt Lake to see Wicked performed by the Broadway cast. About 25 members of Brent's family were at the show too. It was amazing! We absolutely loved the show and I was impressed with the talent. Along with the show, we went to dinner, stayed in a hotel that night, and went shopping at Park City the other day.
It was a real treat to spend some time on my own. The three girls stayed home with Dad, and both Brent and I thought that they would have a great time, but he got sick with a fever and cold. While we hope that it is not swine flu, he is still pretty sick and I think that he was more than relieved to turn the reigns over when I got home. It was still totally worth it (for me, anyway).

Happy Easter!

We had a great, candy-filled Easter. It all started with the Easter egg hunt that we do in the neighborhood on the Saturday before Easter. They fill the park with hundreds of eggs and all the eggs are found in a matter of seconds.



When we got home, we decorated Easter eggs. Now, I haven't figured out if I am crazy to attempt to deorate Easter eggs with such little girls. They really loved decorating the eggs, but it was quite the event. By the the time that we were done, everyone was pretty much covered, no matter what precautions I took. Bailey's hands were the color of Frankenstein for the rest of the day...but they had to much fun decorating those eggs.





The next egg hunt was at Grandma and Grandpa Freeman's house. We walked in and the whole place was filled with candy and eggs. Ally is quite a pro at hunting. It is hard for her to pass up any candy that she sees on the way. Everytime she was told the number of eggs that she could have, and everytime she would go significantly over her quota. She's already a go-getter. Taylor was so pleased with every egg that she found. It was so fun to watch her find eggs. Bailey was the same. She still loves to look for eggs. Most of all, I learned that those kids can pound down the candy. We had to keep baskets out of range or I think they would have downed the whole thing in one sitting.



Finally, on Sunday, we had our family Easter celebration that included making Empty Tomb rolls. They are supposed to be pretty cool, but most recipes take me at least 3 times before they actually work. What you do is buy croissant rolls and you cover a marshmallow in butter and sugar and cinnamon then wrap it in the roll. When you put them in the oven, they come out empty inside. The marshmallow represents Jesus who starts out in the tomb and then is resurected after a brief time. I'll have it down by the time that they can remember the object lesson, but it is a great way to help remember what Easter is all about.

That is probably good, because after our lesson, we treated the girls to yet another Easter egg hunt. The best part is that in the eggs we put a puzzle of this swing set:



This is actually the swing set in our backyard after we put it together the next weekend. Let me just say one thing: yeah for family. We had my two brothers-in-law there building that huge swing set all day. Our house was filled with cousins and family. They played so hard that they all were exhausted! You may notice that on the trampoline is Wonder Woman, a Barbie bride, and a princess along with others.



The girls love it! I thought it would make things easier to have that swing set in the backyard, but I quickly learned that the girls always want to be out there being pushed on the swings, having a picnic, or having me catch them on the slide (It is the fastest slide ever). But it is wonderful to have the park in my backyard so we don't have to go far to have fun when our new little girl comes (see the next post, there is a picture of her).

Hope everyone else had a great time. Boy, we're getting excited for summer!

Ain't Technology Grand?

We got a 3D ultrasound of our baby girl two weeks ago and thought we would show what she is supposed to look like when we actually get to see her in June. Cute eh?

Fun at Island Park

We just got back from Brent's parents' cabin at Island Park where we enjoyed snowmobiling, hanging out with family, watching endless March Madness, and eating. Did I mention eating? It was a great time.
Ally loved the snow. She made a Princess Leah snowman (not a bear or Koala) with her cousin.

She loved the snowmobiling. I took her out once and told her that she could try to drive. Well, she slammed on the gas and I about fell off of the back. After that, her Dad did the drive training and she did a pretty good job.

One time she got stuck in the snow and she called to my niece Karen who was cross-country skiing and at the top of a very tree-filled hill. She yelled for help, but Karen had no way to get down until Ally yelled, "Karen, you're my only hope!" If you haven't seen Star Wars, this will not be funny. As soon as Karen heard Ally's desperate pleas, she got off of her skiis and trudged down the hill to save her. What a character that Ally is.
Taylor had a great time. She loved all of the cousins to play with. She actually liked the snowmobiles. I was a little unsure the first time around, but she begged to ride again afterwards. There is a tubing hill just by the house and we took Taylor and Bailey down the hill. At the end, Taylor said, "I yike dat." She liked that.

One night Taylor decided that it was time to wake up at 4:30 a.m. I tried singing to her, drinks of water, explaining kindly that it was time to sleep, explaining not so kindly that she better go to sleep, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, Brent got her out of bed and took her out of the room. He showed her the dark cabin and said it was time for bed. Well, Taylor saw that and she ran back to her bed. I could hear her in her bed, "it's dark, I go to sleep." I guess you can reason with a two-year-old.

Bailey had a wonderful time at the cabin. She did not care for the snowmobiles, and could handle the tube run. What she loved was the luggage. All of those bags to root through. She was always coming downstairs with some new find: cords, shirts, makeup. It was one-year-old heaven. She also loved trying on the endless pairs of boots by the door. Any time someone would go out, Bailey would run over and try to put on some boot so that she could join in the fun.

We went home on the 23rd of March (Monday) and enjoyed making our way through 1 1/2 foot ruts in the road. Not kidding, they were huge. Yeah for the burb.

Happy Valentines Day!

For Valentine's Day, it is a good thing that in our family we like to celebrate holidays all week long because I was sick on the weekend. Brent is mostly responsible for all of the early Valentine fun. He got us all flowers on Thursday night. The girls were so cute with their flowers. Taylor kept yelling, "I'm married!" Ally was excited that her flower had the name spider in the name. Bailey just wanted to destroy her flowers. Where am I supposed to add the other baby we have coming in all this madness?




In all of that fun, I got to learn some differnt methods of donut consumption with our morning breakfast of donuts and chocolate milk (my favorite!). It is funny how the way my girls eat their donuts reflects their personalities. If you want to learn more about my family, bring us some donuts.
Ally likes to lick the frosting off before she tries the donut. The donut must be clean before she will enjoy the rest. She has to enjoy a sample before really digging in.




Taylor likes to play with her donut. It is a telescope, a circle, an "o," anything but a donut. All the play makes leaves her bored and she will only eat half of the donut.



Eating is not a problem with Bailey. She will dig right in. She doesn't care about mess. Speed is the name of her game. She is going to be one adventurous kid.



If you forget the actual weekend, the days before Valentines were really fun. I was in charge of decorating for a Stake Dance on Thursday, we got flowers, and a yummy breakfast from the best Valentine ever!

Not Blogging for a Long Time Equals One Really Long Post!

It has been a really long time since I have taken time to write a good post, so I thought I would take a Sunday night and let everyone know what we have been up to.

1) I'm pregnant! For those of you who don't know, we are expecting another little one at the end of June. I wanted to make sure that I let everyone know before we write that we had a new baby in passing.

2) A Fun Christmas! We went to Buhl for six days of the Christmas holiday. It was fun to see most of Brent's brothers and sisters. It is so much fun, but let me tell you, we do not get much sleep. There is so much game playing and talking after the kids go to bed that I come home feeling like I have been at a week long slumber party.
The girls were so cute on Christmas morning. Ally is at the stage that she is in awe of what Santa can do if you are good. Taylor just looked at all of her presents and then played with one puzzle the whole time. Bailey tried to eat everyone's food in socks, etc.
They all got beautiful Christmas dresses from Brent and I. That is one reason that I love to have girls. I love dressing them up:

We ended the week going to Shelley to see my Mom and Dad where Bailey took her first steps. I tried to put in video of the big moment, but I have no idea how to make that one work. (I got a new camera for Christmas) She is still in very new walker mode, but she is getting better and better every day. Today, she actually stood up by herself and took some good steps. It's only a matter of time.
While in Shelley, we took the girls sledding. We went outside and thought that it didn't feel too cold. Boy, was a wrong. We got to the hill and I thought the wind was going to take my face off. It was really cold. Even in the cold, I couldn't believe what a dare devil that Ally has become. She was taking these huge hills all by herself. She would slide down the bottom at super speed and then she would need help to get three steps up the hill. She is still my Ally.


3) A good New Year's. This year it was my kind of New Year's. We went over to some friends and played games, ate good food and rang in the New Year at 10 p.m. with New York City.


We got the little girls in bed and then Brent and I and Ally stayed up until exactly 12:01 a.m. and then went to bed. Didn't I used to be a lot more fun?
All in all we had a wonderful holiday. Brent was able to take two weeks off of work and we really enjoyed being able to hang out as a family.