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.

Disney On Ice

Matt had asked the rep they use to get Jazz tickets if he could get us discounted tickets to Disney on Ice. Matt reached out to him a couple time but never heard back so we didn't plan on going. Friday night on our way to family pictures Matt got an email that the rep had sent us complimentary tickets. We didn't know for when or how many. So while driving down to pictures Matt found out that we had 4 tickets for the Saturday matinee. We decided to just take all of us and see if we could get us all in. If not we would buy a cheap ticket and still just sit together. Our tickets were on the end on the 11th row on the end. They were great seats. We left early enough to run some errands, grab lunch, and then surprised the kids with where we were going. Since we only found out the night before we decided not to tell them until we were on our way...they were pretty excited. 

Liam seemed to really enjoy the show he stayed awake until intermission then had a nap for the 2nd part of the show before eating again just before it was over. He did much better than I expected and it was fun to have him along with us

It often sucks how much Matt travels but his job really does come with some great perks. Free tickets to any event like this is definitely one of them

Cocoa was a new addition to the show this year

This is our attempt at a family picture..not super successful but hey we were all there and had a great time being together

As was Moana but Elsa remains the favorite

Hallie is currently my least needy child most days. I at times feel guilty that I don't get to spend the one on one time with her that I would like and that she definitely deserves but days like today are so fun and help with that guilt a lot.

Couldn't live without our kiddos..they make life worth living for sure

It was a fun afternoon and after we got out we headed to have some dinner with out grandma and papa. Until next time Disney on Ice thanks for the memories

Jack Comish Holmgren

Jack Comish Holmgren was born March 6th @ 5:31pm after Mondi's water broke a couple hours before that at home. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20.5 in long. Both he and Mindi are doing well.

Mindi and the kids

Jack and a picture of Corey as a newborn

My heart both breaks and is so happy for her. I wish we lived closer so I could stop by or visit more often. I want so badly to know what to do to help but I feel so overwhelmed with my life right no I don't have much to give but I will continue to do what I can and hope and pray I will be lead and given what I need to complete that.

Skiing With All Three

Matt braved skiing with all 3 girls this week. They stayed on the magic carpet and had a good time. Matt called to see if I would come get Em but while we were talking Gracie said she was tired as well so Matt said they would come home. An hour later I still hadn't seen them so I called Matt only to find they had gotten a second wind and were still skiing. Im grateful Matt's willing to take they girls to do fun things even though we aren't quite to the point that Liam and I can go. The girls have really enjoyed skiing and I see it as something we will really enjoy for years to come.