Coopers Baptism

Friday was a crazy day. I ended up having to work and got home late. Luckily we had packed most of our stuff on Thursday evening so we could leave once I got home. I quickly showed and we headed to Idaho but didn't get to leave until 7. I was really worried about how Liam would do in his car seat but he ended up doing great. We put him in the convertible car seat which he seems to do much better in and we only had to stop once for him since he was crying. We stayed in a local hotel and met up with everyone the next morning. Everyone slept well at the hotel. But the kids wished we had more time to actually swim in the pool. It was a stake baptism so we sat and waited for our turn. I don't love the cattle herding feeling that comes with stake baptisms and the impersonal nature of having general speakers so Im grateful Huntsville doesn't have them. After the baptism we headed back to Ris's for lunch and visiting before heading home.

This was the first time the Pugmire were meeting Liam. Justin and Ris were the only ones that seemed interested. They both held him for a long time and Justin fed him his bottle. As a side note, I have been pumping a lot more rather than breastfeeding since Liam seems to do better with that. It also is nice to not have to leave the "party" when everyone else it visiting. We timed it just right to get him fed and played with before hitting the road to head home. I was thrilled and relieved when Liam fell asleep shortly after leaving Idaho. We had planned to stop for food and gas but drove all the way to Ogden before he woke up and no one complained because we had plenty of snacks and were happy he wasn't crying and sad 

It was a quick but fun weekend

Gracie's Music & Hallie's 4th Grade Program

It worked out so well for Gracie and Hallie to have their programs on the same day and at similar times so we could go straight from one to the other. Gracie's music program was first. They played a variety of songs and showed us how they have been learning rhythms and beats

After was Hallie's Patriotic Program. the kids sang a bunch of patriotic songs including the "Utah" song that I remember singing as a kid. She and Paige are still best of friends and I hope they will continue to be good friends to each other

The girls were both excited that Grandma Joy was able to join us for the programs and brought the girls each an Easter Bunny. Im so grateful for her support and love for us.

The girls did such a great job. Im doing my best to try to slow down and just enjoy these years as they seem to be passing so quickly

Polar Bear Plunge & Discovering His Head

Liam is growing and changing so much so quickly. We are doing our best to take it all in. In some ways Im relieved when I think about never having to start over again but at the same time sad so we're trying to soak it all in. This week Liam found his head and it's so fun to watching him learning and growing

As the snow melts and the rains come this clay up here struggles to handle all the moisture so it finds its way into the trampoline hole and becomes a make shift swimming pool for a short time. Once it starts to over flow the hole I think its time to pump the water out so we don't have further water issues. Im hopeful we are passed those days

Alivia's Baptism

We had a fun day celebrating Alivia getting baptized. It was the first time Liam had spent anytime with the extended Brower family and it was the first time of him meeting most of them

Skiing, Stories, and Hair Cuts

Hallie was really interested in joining the ski team at Nordic but after looking at the cost and how little we got for the price Matt sat down with both Hallie, Gracie, and Em and decided instead of doing the ski team that once a week they would pick an evening and go skiing. It had worked out so well. The girls are loving skiing. I missed the season this year but Ill be ready next season. It has worked out where Matt has got to take all the girls, a couple of girls, and just got to take them one on one once for each of them. They have loved it. The snow this year has been great as you can tell by the fact that we skied thru the first part of April

The girls all love to read and when one of them starts getting read to the others gravitate to that spot. I love watching Matt be the dad I always knew he could be and we all love the nights that he's home to be with us

Last week all the girls decided they wanted to get their hair cut so I made appts with Brit and when we got there the girls all decided they wanted to cut more off than they originally thought. Gracie wanted hers short from the beginning but Hallie was insistent that she wasn't cutting her hair but once Gracie cut hers first Hallie wanted to as well. Emy got about 4 inches off as well but asked for her to braid hers and then didn't want a picture. They all ended up so cute and the girls all LOVE their new dos

Surviving While Daddy's Gone

With the weather getting warmer it has been super nice to spend some time outside. Liam got to ride the 4-wheeler for the first time and seemed to like it since he slept the whole time. The girls all love the 4-wheeler. We also got the garage cleaned and organized after all the wet weather.

Liam is doing better hit or miss with his sleeping and when he does I feel like I need to run a million miles a minute to get as much done as possible. The house has started feeling very dirty to me and it has been in terrible need of a deep clean. I bought a steamer and cleaned the grout. It was so gross! I also noticed that we had never taken the protective covering off the dishwasher. Although now that I took it off I wish I wouldn't have since it was helping to protect against finger prints. I don't know that I would choose to go with stainless steel again for this exact reason.

At times when Liam wont sleep on his own I have to find creative ways to feed myself. Since I frequently walk around the island I will spread whatever I can around and eat as I walk with Liam. I feel like Ive gotten better at realizing this is but a short moment in time and I'm doing my best to enjoy all of it.

While Matt was gone I decided to try and smoke a turkey roast. To say it was a disaster would be putting it nicely. The outside ended up burnt and the inside was completely raw so we had frozen pizza instead. I had to laugh about it otherwise I would have just cried.  The following day I put in in the instant pot after cutting all the burnt off it and cooked it thru before making it into a casserole with broccoli and cheese. It was pretty good.

Emy is such a good help with Liam. Sometimes to much. I swear the statement said the most in this house is stop touching his hands and leave him alone.

Sometimes we do really well when Matt is gone and the time goes so quickly and other times the days seem to drag on and I really struggle. But weeks like the later seem to be getting farther and further apart. So although it isn't fun when Matt is gone we are dealing with it better.

Family Pictures Spring

Family Pictures are always a little stressful from finding coordinating outfits, hair, and driving to where were having them. Its just a lot. I picked the girls up early from school so I could get them ready and have time to get to South Jordan. The weather was terrible...like blizzard terrible. I left early and we still ended up late for our appt with traffic and the weather. We told the photographer exactly what we wanted and got started on the girls while Matt changed Liam into his clothes. Our photographer was my least favorite of all the times we've been there. She was spacey and kept leaving and not coming back until 5-10 minutes later. When we got to the end of our shoot she took a picture of Matt with the kids and then said our time was up and wouldn't take one with me and the kids. Matt asked her a couple times but she just said no and left. I was heart broken and it took all I had to keep it together. I was so anger, hurt, frustrated, relieved we were done all at the same time. We left to get dinner and then came back. Luckily we had gotten better pictures than what I thought we had. Im grateful for Matt and his never ending multiple talents this one including picture editing 

Hallie @ 9 1/2

She has grown up so much. She can be such a great helper and has become more of a friend and confidant than a child at times. I really enjoy our relationship and the conversations we have. She still loves to read pretty much anything and everything. Is the meat eater of the bunch. Current favorite show is Fuller House and I love it because I grew up watching the original. She is loving piano and soccer and does so well with both. I feel bittersweet watching her grow and change so quickly.

Gracie 7yrs 2 months

Gracie has the sweetest more tender heart and soul I have possibly ever met. She is very concerned about anyone around her that isn't having a good day. She is a people pleaser and is always wanting to help. She wants to do pretty much everything Hallie is doing. She is also doing piano and has picked up on it pretty quickly. She likes to be reassured she is doing it right. She decided in January to quit gymnastics and go back to singing/dancing with Brit and has really enjoyed it. She loves reading and is doing very well with chapter books. All the books we've bought are definitely well used. She loves veggies and needs some convincing to eat meat.

Emery 3 years 10 months

Where to even begin with this spit fire. She is our most social child by far. She loves to shop. She loves to be read to and her favorite stories are currently the little mouse, the red ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear and chicka chicka boom boom. She basically has them memorized and can "read" them on her own. She is also very good at "reading" by looking at the pictures. She loves preschool, cuddles, and treats of any kind. Se is the perfect definition of sweet and sassy. I feel like she has had the hardest time adding Liam to the family but loves interacting with him the most. That smile and her pout lip can get her thru just about anything

Oh sweet boy how are you already 3 months?! The days are slow but the months have gone so quickly. He loves bath time, to be swaddled, held, and to eat. He is on a pretty good schedule and sleeps 6-8 hrs at night and eats every 3 hours during the day. He takes 4-6 oz on average. He smiles and giggles more freely now and gets super excited for bath time. He occasionally take a binki when going to sleep and still sleeps in a pack n play next to our bed. I love your big blue eyes and how interested you are in the world. He is very patient with his sisters and is the perfect caboose for our family.

I love this bunch something fierce 

This picture here is my whole world. Although being a mom is so hard I would never trade it for anything

Im so glad we got some great pictures of my favorite people. Everyone is growing and changing so quickly and Matt and I are doing our best to take it all in. Being a mom is harder than I could have ever imagined but I have wanted that my entire life and I'm so grateful I get to figure out life with this crew.

Everyone's Tired

The time change has everyone a little off and that usually equals tiredness at our house. Gracie teaching Liam about selifies

Were making some progress with Liam sleeping in the swing some days. Its so nice to get something done

Gracie had some dental work done. A few cavities and her 1st crown. Matt was able to take her so I could get the Hallie off to school and let the other 2 sleep. After they got up I got ready and went to get her from Matt and bring her home. Before we got home she was asleep so I carried her in and she barely moved. She slept for 2 hours and then was good as new

Liam still really struggles in the car. Emy tries hard to be helpful and make him happy. In this instance I turned the music up hoping to drowned out the crying and help him fall asleep but it worked just for the wrong child. I thought it was so sweet to see Emy sound asleep still holding Liam's hand

Emy has gotten a little better at letting Matt occasionally tuck her in and other times she refuses and waits for me. The other night she was on one and was refusing to let Matt tuck her in but when I got out of the shower and went to check on her this is what I found. She is a stubborn willful child but I love her something fierce

 We make progress once in a while with getting him to sleep in his bed. I cross my fingers every time. Its usually 10 minutes but randomly has been as long as an hour. I keep trying new things and this week took him to a chiropractor and met with a sleep specialist to see if there were things were overlooking. His pelvis was slightly to the left and his neck slightly to the right but nothing that would effect him much. The sleep consultant wasn't much help and said we were doing pretty much everything she would suggest. And we could do more intense sleep training at 4 months.

Anyone that knows us knows we love sleep around this house

Dinner with Grandma & Papa

After Disney on Ice we were able to meet up with my parents that had come up for another ski weekend and attended a funeral. They stayed at Nic's house since it would put them closer to home the following morning. We had Chinese and it was yummy. My parents have both been sick and so they didn't really interact with Liam but the girls were happy to have all of their attention. Oh their many faces...I couldn't choose just one

The nice waitress offered to take our picture all together

My mom made the girls each a doll that looks like them complete with each of the girls favorite outfits. The girls were super excited and they turned out really cute.

It was a fun day overall but we were happy to go home and get ready for bed and settle in for the night. Yeah for another fun family packed day.