My baby girl is ONE!

I can't believe a whole year has passed since Brinley was born.  She has been such a fun little girl.  She is really close to walking, and she is so smart.  We were saying prayers the other day and I was telling Whitley to fold her arms and Brinley did.  It was so cute.  It is crazy how different each of my children are.  Whitley will scream and cry if Tag touches her.  Brinley will yell and hit Tag if he even acts like he's going to be in her space.  I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to handle Whitley and Brinley being only 20 months apart, but I have more trouble with Tag and Whitley, so Brinley has been the best surprise ever.  I love her so much and am anxious to see who she grows up to be(:

Memorial Weekend

We decided to get waaay out of town for the long weekend and headed up to Idaho to go camping with my family.  Before I was married, it had become a tradition with my family to go every year.  It made me feel bad as I talked to my brother as he was telling me about going that I had not been up there in all of my 11 years of marriage, so we went!  We took the in-laws camp trailer and boy are we glad we did!!  It snowed on us that first night and it was sooo cold.  I didn't bother to bring coats for any of us, honestly I didn't think we could possibley get snow!  By the next day, it wasn't so cold and things were starting to dry out.  We did a little 4-wheelin' and we even met up with Trent's good friend, Seth, who was camping in the same area.  Small world.  We ate a lot of good food, but most important, we spent some good time with family.  I love my family soo much and I want my kids to know their cousins.  Family is just so important!!!!

Trip to Flagstaff

We took a trip to Flagstaff this last weekend for Tag's annual heart check-up. The good news is that Tag's heart is doing well. He does have a funny fast heart rate which he takes medicine to control, but sometimes it still beats out of control. So, the doctor talked about doing a procedure when he turns 7 that will hopefully zap the bad node that is misfiring in his heart. It has a 90-95% success rate and that sounds pretty good to me. Tag's pediatrician once told me that if it were me experiencing the fast heart rate, I would probably be dead, so these episodes are scarey. AND, the bad thing is, he doesn't tell us when he is having one. We have been very blessed so far and been able to get him to the ER when he is having one, but it would be nice to not have to worry about it anymore. We'll see what happens next year(:

So while we were down there, we decided to make a mini vacation out of it. We were supposed to go down over spring break so the boys wouldn't have to miss school, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. We visited a little pioneer museum. I tried to get all my kids to dress up in the pioneer clothes, but they just wanted to play with the guns. I got Whitley in an apron and before I could get the rest of them together with their guns, she had everything off again. She has not wanted her picture taken at all lately and it is quite annoying.

We went swimming at the Aquaplex, that was fun. Brinley is my first baby to actually like the water.

And, on our way home we went to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and just our luck, entrance to the park was free!!! I think the Grand Canyon is amazing, so many layers and colors.

It is difficult to entertain a 9 year old, a handicapped 6 year old, a fiesty two year old, and a sweet 10 month old. We heard, "I'm bored," from Tanner all weekend, and Tag and Whitley fought in and out of the car. I can't complain much about Brinley. She was the most pleasant of our four, but I love them all and hope they remember some of the fun things, although rare, that we do as a family.

Our sad Easter

This was a sad Easter because the week before, I was taking care of Tag and Trent with pnuemonia. Easter was the furtherst thing from my mind, and then, I got pnuemonia so there was no Easter bunny this year. No candy filled eggs, or baskets or stuffed animals. We had an easter egg hunt with the eggs Tag got from his little party at school, but the candy had already been eaten. The funny thing is, is that my kids really didn't seem to care. This was Brinley's first Easter and she just crawled around and chewed on the first egg she found.

We also celebrated Tag's 6th birthday on Easter because he was really sick for his real birthday. Some present, huh, pneumonia which came with a shot in the leg and body aches and chills. He is so resilient, and I don't think he even noticed that we celebrated a week late.

This is our cowgirl. Everyday when grandpa gets home from work, she greets him with, "You put the saddle on for me?"

And here is Brin, 10 mos going on two. She thought she was as big as her sister and tried to walk right out the door where she found herself face to face with the cement. I was going to get her pictures taken because her grandma was on the ball and made her an Easter dress, but I guess we will wait a bit for her nose to get better.

Just on Friday we found out that Whitley has pneumonia and Brinley has an ear infection so it has been a fun filled last three weeks): We are all couhged out. I didn't think pneumonia was contagious but I'll not be thinking that again! Trent lost his voice for a few days, but I think we are all on the mend, or I hope so.

It's good to be back!

I have been without a computer for way too long! You don't realize how much you use it until it's gone so it's good to be back(: It has been a rough weekend at my house. You should see my kitchen counter. It is stocked with Tylenol cold and cough, Nyquil, Dayquil, Amocillian, Augmentan, medicine syringes, and gatorade! Taggert and Trent both have pneumonia!!! And I thought it wasn't contagious. Tanner has it, too, but the doctor is baffled by him because he hears it in his lungs, but he has no other symtoms. He's wierd!! So, anyway, I am hoping that it is just a male thing, and that the female half of the family stays healthy(: Pray for us!

The latest fruit of my loins

This baby girl brings so much joy into our family. I love, love, love her!!! She was the best surprise I got have ever gotten. She is just so mellow and calm. My dad said her eyes just sparkle and they do. She is truly so fun to have around. If I could gaurantee that the rest would be just like her, I might venture out into the land of five, but nobody is ever that lucky, so we will just have to see.

I have been feeling like a bad mom because I have never had Brinley's pictures done professionally. So, I decided to try some at home. I'm no pro, but even I can see that she doesn't need to be at Kiddie Kandids to be cute(:

My family

I had a good friend remind me last night that these three guys and these two little girls are the only thing that really matters at the end of the day. No matter what happens, if we have our families, everything will be okay. There are so many things that can get in the way of what is really important, and they aren't necessarily "bad" things. It is hard to be a stay-at-home mom. There are days that I feel like I am just spinning my wheels, but then I look in my baby girl's cute little smiling face or hear Whitley singing, and realize this is exactly where I am supposed to be.