Our Big, Sweet Baby & Other Silly Kids

I can't believe Sabrie is 12 weeks as of Friday! I took a few pictures before church last week, and she is getting really big! I wasn't sure how big she was until her Dr. well-check on Thursday. Because of the holidays and my grandpa's funeral, I couldn't get her an appointment for her 2 month until the 15th, but then we had to go to Bryan's grandpa's funeral so we had to change her appointment to the 24th. I was a little anxious to get her in just because I get nervous about things like whooping cough, not that I enjoy my kids getting shots, but I want them protected! Anyway, here are this chubby girl's stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz (94%)

Height: 24.25 in (89%)

Head: 15.5 in (42%)

I love how smiley this baby is getting. It's hard to get her to always smile for pictures, but my heart melts when this little princess smiles and talks to me.

And then there is my silly Hoyt boy. On Tuesday he was eating lunch while I was feeding the baby and Bryan was dealing with Lexie. We didn't realize how tired he was and before we knew it he had fallen asleep and fell off the table right onto his face, giving him a nice black eye. It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but he looked quite beat up for several days.

You can see it a little better in this picture. And who doesn't love those adorable, long eyelashes! What a handsome little dude!

I decided I better take pictures of the kids in their sister and brother shirts I got for them before Sabrie was born. Things got crazy and I never did get them all in their outfits for pictures, but the baby has outgrown that size of clothes so I sat them down and snapped a few. I think I have some pretty adorable little munchkins.

I was happy that Lexie was able to finish her "Star of the Week" at preschool Wednesday and Friday. She was so excited to ring Ms. Kim's bell for snacks and enjoyed taking her favorite book to school for the class to read, and one of her favorite toys - her doll and accessories from Santa. If we could get rid of all the sickness, we might be able to get on a better schedule and adjust to everything. I have really appreciated Mickell tending for us once in a while so Bryan and I can have some dates. This week we decided to have her tend so we could go to the adult session of stake conference. It was so nice to be able to go get a little spiritual upliftment, socialize with some friends from other wards, and enjoy a little time together.

Hoyt and Bryan were both pretty sick Saturday night and Sunday morning we decided we weren't going to make it to the main Stake Conference meeting. We spent time together as a family instead. Bryan took a few videos of Sabrie talking. She tries to talk to us all the time now and it's about the cutest thing ever! The video quality isn't the greatest, but it is super cute and you can tell in the background that Hoyt really was sick. I'm really grateful for the life I have with my awesome husband and cute kiddos!

The Longest Week...

Well, 3 weeks into the year and I'm already behind. But I feel like I have a good excuse after such a crazy, long week. As I posted on Sunday I was thinking it was going to be a nice, quiet week then we would get ready to go out of town for the weekend. Lexie was chosen as "Star of the Week" at preschool so we had to make a poster for her to take to school on Monday. She had fun helping me put her name and all of the pictures on a big poster board. It turned out great!

 Our plans for the week were changed when we got a call early Monday morning that woke us up. Bryan's dad Norman called and told us Grandpa Lyman finally "graduated" and they had to rush to do a small family service on Wednesday because Norman was having surgery in SLC on Friday. So we took Lexie to school, and while Bryan worked, I spent the day doing laundry and getting things ready to go. Tuesday we finished getting packed and finally left town right after noon. I wasn't sure how the kids would do on a 5 1/2 hour drive, especially the baby because she has had her moments of screaming in the carseat. The drive took us 6 1/2 hours with stops, and no one cried the entire time! We only stopped for gas and lunch in Richfield, then to gas up in Moab. I just pumped and fed the baby bottles the entire way which worked out nice because we didn't have to stop to feed her every few hours. The kids were beyond ready to get out and play by the time we got to Grandpa & Grandma Lyman's house. Sadly, that is the first time in almost 4 years that we have been to Blanding. It just hasn't worked out for us to go for several reasons so this was Hoyt and Sabrie's first time and only Lexie's second. James and Jenny got into town right after us so Bethany and Lexie played together and had so much fun until it was late and we all needed to go to the motel where we were staying. Lexie and Hoyt just couldn't wait and kept asking "When are we going to the hotel?" It wasn't the nicest place we've ever stayed and had some serious issues like the only heat was space heaters so it was pretty cold most of the time, but we stayed in a suite with 2 rooms, a bathroom, living area, and kitchen. Luckily the kids were super tired so they slept good (even if the Mom didn't). Sadly, the only pictures I took were in the hotel right before we left. I wish we would have gotten pictures with family and the service.

 

Hoyt ran around like a crazy kid the entire time we were at the hotel, opening cupboards and getting into everything. I was barely able to stop him long enough to snap a picture.

 Lexie wanted pictures with Sabrie on the couch.

 Sabrie is one of the best babies I've ever known; she's happy, rarely cries, and in every way is just a sweet little girl! Several of Bryan's relatives wanted to hold her, and she was good for all of them and I think she only cried once or twice the entire trip!

Because they didn't have much time to plan a funeral, the family decided to do a small family viewing on Wednesday with some songs and a family prayer, go to the cemetery to dedicate the grave, then eat lunch at a the Old Tymer Restaurant. They will do a full memorial service this summer when Bryan's Aunt Yvonne will be able to come (she has been in the hospital), and Norman will be recovered from his surgery. Here is a picture of Grandpa/Great Grandpa Stanley Lyman from a few years ago. He was 96 1/2 years old when he died, and had a great life with a great posterity! I only met him a few times, but from the things I have heard of him, he was a really great man who will be missed by many!

Like I said, I didn't take many pictures the entire week, so I borrowed some from Bryan's cousin Brad that he posted on FB. They hauled the casket in Grandpa Lyman's 1972 Chevy pickup that is still running with over 500,000 miles!

  "Grandpa's last ride"

The pall bearers...a bunch of really great guys!

Bryan with his parents and siblings at the graveside. I had to keep the kids in the car because #1 it was freezing cold and I didn't want the baby out in that, and #2 Hoyt was asleep and boy did he need a nap! After the graveside we all ate lunch at the restaurant which Uncle Clisbee (Grandpa Stanley's brother) bought for everyone. It was really nice to eat and visit and a lot of the family stood and shared stories about Grandpa which was really fun and a great tribute.

 The rest of the day we spent and Norm & Margie's house while Hoyt and Lexie played with their cousins Bethany and Patrick and the adults all visited. We had an adult family meeting and the boys all gave blessings to Mom & Dad Lyman before they left the next day for the surgery. It was a long day, but it turned out really nice! After not sleeping very well again, we got up and had no hot water in our hotel so we had to just get ready and eventually they got the hot water going in time for Bryan to at least get a shower before we packed up to leave. Then we found out someone had been breaking into cars stealing stuff in the neighborhood during the night. Bryan's parents got their van broken into and they made a mess and stole some money. The owners of our motel got their truck stolen and a few people got things stolen from their cars, but luckily none of the rest of us had left our cars unlocked or left anything valuable in them. We all had breakfast together and visited some more and one by one we all started the trek to our various homes. We left just after noon again Thursday and stopped in Moab for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant that was pretty good. Another short stop in Richfield, then we arrived back home around 7 taking us almost the exact same time as the trip there. No one cried until we reached Cedar City...success!

 

Friday Lexie went to school and I once again did laundry and tried to get things done so we could again leave town Saturday to head to my family's house for Jen's birthday and baptism. Again, I didn't get the camera out while we were there because it had just been such a crazy week and juggling 3 crazy kids took up all of my time. We had a hard time getting out of town as early as we would have liked, but we got some Papa Murphy's pizzas for everyone and to there just in time to bake them and feed everyone dinner before they all headed their separate ways for Saturday night activities. We went to church Sunday morning and had dinner then relaxed for a bit before getting ready for the baptism. We're so proud of Jen and her decision to be baptized. She's such a special girl in our family!

The baptism went great! I lead the opening song, and Bryan was a witness and helped with the confirmation. There were lots of family and friends who came to support Jen and after the baptism we headed over to my parents house to have dinner, then cake & ice cream. It was a great day!

 

We decided we were too tired to head home that night, and Monday morning Nate was going to take Bryan shooting. We stayed and were able to visit some more with everyone and headed home Monday afternoon. Whew...the week was crazy and boy were we tired when we got home! Hopefully we don't have to do any more funerals or quick trips around the state any time soon!

Week 2

I'm doing my best to at least keep at least one New Year's resolution this year...most of them are not going well 2 weeks into the year mostly due to me being sick the first 9 days of this year. So here is my second weekly blog of the year. This week started out rough because my sickness got worse Sunday night into Monday, and Sabrie got croupy which scared us because she is so tiny. Bryan contemplated going north to work Tuesday because the CEO of Xerox was set to be in town to meet with them, but with me being so sick and the baby having such a rough time breathing, he finally decided it would be best for him to stay and make sure we were all taken care of. I seriously have the best husband ever! By Tuesday night we were both feeling much better (an extra thanks to my Grandma Mickelson for putting our names in the temple - which I have no doubt really helped us get a speedy recovery). Here's to hoping we can keep more sickness out of our house this winter - especially the flu that seems to be running rampant (I hope I don't regret not getting the flu shot when they told me to in the hospital). Now we just have to deal with the freezing cold!

Baby #3 gets some disadvantages. For one thing, I can't leave her alone where the other kids have access to her or bad things could happen. She hasn't gotten the tummy time she probably needs, but the other day I got out her new toy she got for Christmas to see what she thought. Basically she just liked to eat it, but I'm sure she'll figure out how to play with the toys soon.

 Lexie had to sneak in a picture with her sister. She loves her baby Sabrie so much. We finally got the crib set up in Lexie's room and she can't wait for the baby to actually sleep in there. So far the baby usually sleeps either with us, or in her swing. Because she's had a stuffy nose she needs her head elevated. But the past few nights she has slept 8 hours...GO BABY!

 Friday I was able to go to lunch with my awesome friend Jill. It was her birthday Tuesday and I was going to take her then, but because I was sick we had to postpone until Friday. We went to Pastry Pub which was delicious! I had such a fun time catching up with Jill and finding out more about her new married life and her pregnancy...plus, it is nice for me to get out and have a little fun without the kids!

Friday evening Bryan surprised me with flowers! He hasn't done that for a long time (mostly because he's scared I'll get mad that it wasn't in the budget or something). It was a gorgeous arrangement of a unique marbled red rose with little purple flowers, etc. I loved them and I love my sweet hubby!

 Hoyt really wanted to smell the flowers; I thought it was cute.

 Here I am with my cute and crazy 2-year-old. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever survive this boy in this terrible 2 stage. He's so cute and says the funniest things all the time, but he's also BUSY! Every time we leave the room for a few seconds, or I try to feed the baby, he getting into all sorts of trouble. But even though he keeps us on our toes, he is the most loving little boy. He loves to give hugs and kisses and always tells us to "Put the baby down and give me hug".

 My sweet little smiley baby girl is getting so big and so much more expressive. She learned to roll over this week from stomach to back, but I have yet to catch it on camera so you'll just have to take my word until we can catch her in action. She probably could have done it a lot sooner if I had been able to put her on the floor without being worried her siblings would do some damage.

I was just thinking today how grateful I am for my little family. We finally all made it to all 3 hours of church for the first time in a month and the kids did great! We have so much to be Thankful for, but I must now sign off until next week...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I always have several goals for the new year in different categories such as financial, spiritual, personal fitness, etc. One goal this year is to blog once a week on Sunday afternoon, because this blog serves as our family history. I still have to make up the past 2 months, but I have all the posts started and ready to complete. Once I am caught up, I hope to stay that way. I decided to at least start out the first Sunday with a new post so I don't get even further behind, and I'll catch up as soon as I can. New Year's was kind of boring this year because I have been sick for over 2 weeks now with different things. First I had mastitis right before Christmas which was NOT fun, then I have come down with several small bugs and haven't completely recovered yet. I think being pregnant, then having a baby and getting no sleep has made my immune system crappy. I'm hoping to be back to normal very soon and get going on my other goals...especially the fitness ones (I seriously need to lose the baby weight and then some).

The only picture we got for New Year's was our midnight kiss. Bryan and I started watching a movie, but I fell asleep about 1/2 way in and after it was over we both got ready for bed and fell right back asleep.

 New Year's Day I decided to start getting a little more organized. For Christmas we got the kids some organization bins for their rooms (they were probably more of a gift for the parents). We spent the day getting their toys all organized and so far it seems to be helping. I'm finding that picking up their rooms at night is taking a lot less time. Here are some pictures of their organized rooms.
Hoyt's cute Pooh Bear room.

 

 The Princess room.

 

 January 2nd, Sabrie turned 2 months old! I can't believe that much time has gone by since she was born. It goes by so fast which makes me a little sad in some ways, but I also love that she is getting chubby, starting to smile a lot, and making cute "goo" sounds. Sabrie is such a pretty baby, and has all of us wrapped around her little finger. She is starting to sleep through the night great, usually sleeping at least one 7 hour stretch. She's been such a good baby, only crying when she's really hungry or cold. She has never taken a pacifier because she's never upset enough to even need to be soothed. Obviously she eats great because she is getting a lot bigger and I can't wait to find out how big she actually is now at her appointment in a week. Lexie and Hoyt both LOVE her (a little too much sometimes), and are always asking to hold her and giving her kisses. I have just felt bad that she's also been sick with a cold and had a stuffy nose, but hopefully she's on the mend. We love our sweet baby girl!

I love all her cute expressions. :)

She is also getting interested in her hands.

And Lexie was begging to get in a picture with her baby sister.

As for the rest of our week, there wasn't too much exciting that happened. Friday night Mickell was nice and came over to watch Lexie and Hoyt so Bryan and I could go on a date with the baby. We went to Winger's for some sticky fingers then did a little shopping. It was nice to get out and be able to spend some time together with just one kid who can't talk yet so we could have an actual conversation. Saturday was just a normal busy "get ready for Sunday" type of day. Because the baby and I are sick, Bryan just took the older 2 kids to church with him today. Lexie is now out of Sunbeams and is now a CTR 5. She was so excited about her new class and can't wait to get back to preschool tomorrow to see all of her friends! Hoyt is still in nursery and loves playing with his favorite toys and eating snacks. The switch to 9 a.m. church will be much better for the kids...it will just be getting there in a timely manner that might be the hard part. And that is a wrap up to my first post of 2013. We are hoping for good things for our family this year (even though it seems the country will be going through some pretty tough times). We hope to make the best of everything and have a great year where we make many fun memories!