Crazy busy..but so thankful

It's been slightly busy around here. Photoshoots, and editing, and more photoshoots and more editing. I love it though, and am having so much fun with it. Because of all the busy fun I've been having, I've gotten behind, again, with my thankful posts. So, here we go again with a little longer post.

#19 ~ I'm grateful for my laptop. It allows me to hang out in the living room with Kevin at night while I edit photos, or just play online. I may be somewhat addicted to it though. Kevin would say that I am. I try to be good about it, but what can I say? I'm grateful that it's quick, so I'm not waiting around all night for things to load or whatnot. (photos and the editing software take up loads of space). and I'm grateful that I'm not locked away in the office all night by myself.

#20 ~ I'm very grateful for my two favorite drinks.  First is Diet Coke,  it keeps me going on those days when I've had too little sleep. Okay, everyday. :) I don't keep it in the house though, cause if I did I would never drink water. It's a treat when I go out, or stop by McDonalds for a large fountain soda. My other favorite drink is a seasonal specialty, hot cocoa.  I LOVE when it's hot cocoa season. I probably gain tons of weight from my cocoa consumption alone. I have at least one mug a day when it's cold! Also, you HAVE to add creamer, hot cocoa without coffee creamer is just not as good, plain and simple, it makes all the difference.

#21 ~ I would be lost without a very, very simple object. The pony tail holder, aka, rubberband. Some days I just have be going and out the door before I've managed a shower. Some day's I just don't feel like doing my hair. Some days it too darn hot to have my long hair hanging down, and I need to put it up. Whatever the reason, I love this simple little object that allows me to hide my dirty hair, hide my messy hair, or keep myself a little cooler.

#22 ~ I am super grateful for traditions. We don't have a ton in our family, just a few, but they bring us closer on a daily basis. Currently my very favorite tradition takes place every morning as Kevin heads off to work. When he comes out of the room, ready to leave for the day, we're almost always at the table eating breakfast. (well, the girls are, I'm making lunches or signing papers or whatever else needs to be done to get the girls ready). He goes around the table and says goodbye an kisses each of the girls on top of the head. Then he comes and gives me a kiss and heads to the door to put his shoes on and leave. As he's putting his shoes on, one girl, always followed by the other two, runs over to him to give him a hug. It started by Lexie or Peyton deciding they didn't get a good enough hug, and running to dad. Now, it's evolved into Halli screaming "tradition!" from the table and running over to him. I love how much these girls love their dad, and how they show it. I'm also so thankful for the traditions that let them show it every day!

Motherhood

I am grateful that I get to be a mom. I know I've said how grateful I am for my children, but I'm also grateful that I get to be a mother to them. I'm not always the greatest mom. In fact lately, I've probably been a slightly lousy mom. I'm cranky, and impatient, and sleep deprived, which makes it all worse.

Earlier this evening I was waiting for a family to meet me for a photo session, and while waiting a mother showed up with her three boys. She was just bringing them to take a photo of all three of them together. The boys were excited and running around, happy to be out of the house and in a place with water fountains. They were probably between the ages of 6 and 10 if I had to guess. All dressed up and ready for mom to snap some photos of her beloved children. They all  grouped together on the edge of a fountain, smiled for mom as she snapped away. After moving to another spot and snapping a few more photos they turned to leave and one of the boys ran for the fountain. Their mother instantly yelled at him, and then proceeded to grab his arm and reprimand him. After that they quickly left and I could tell she was in a hurry and probably thinking about the next thing on her list.

I just thought it was interesting. How often have I done the exact same thing? Tried to capture these little people who are the loves of our lives, only to treat them as if they aren't. She may have had a very long day for all I know, and this was the only rushed time they had to quickly take pictures. I don't really want to judge, I've been there before. I feel like lately I'm there too often, but I really do love my kiddos with all my heart. I love watching them grow up and learn new things. I love that they need me to comfort them, and reassure them. I love that they just want to play with me, and could care less about the fact that I look like I've been hit by a truck, they'll still cuddle with me, cause I'm mom.

I think showing them that we love them comes in these little moments.  Do we take a minute to look them in the eye and have a "moment" with them, connect with them and let them know that we have time for them, always? I don't always do that, but I should. I'm most definitely a happier mom when I do, and the kids are generally happier too. So, for my kids sake, I'll try to slow down, and show them every day that I'm beyond grateful that I get to be their mother. They are amazing kids, and I am one very blessed mom.

4 months old

Last friday our little man turned 4 months. I guess I really shouldn't call him a little man, cause he's slightly huge.:)

He has blessed our lives and I'm amazed that this guy is my baby boy, how lucky am I?

He's healthy, and happy and getting bigger every day. I just love everything about him!



At his Dr appointment he was 18lbs 2oz, which is the 95th percentile. His length is 26", 84th percentile, and his little head was only in the 25th percentile. Luckily, his head does not look small compared to his body. Hopefully this doesn't mean he'll be a dumb jock. (although Kevin says that as long as he's a jock that's all that matters:) 

For now, I'm just trying to soak him in and enjoy this baby stage, all the while trying not to stress too much about the fact that this kiddo is not the worlds greatest sleeper. at all.

So, he spends a good portion of his days here....

Hopefully sleeping peacefully, but if Lexie is anywhere around, he's usually not.

Ahhh, someday, he'll nap quietly in his crib and sleep through the night. someday. Luckily I just can't help but love my sweet JJ despite it all!:) 

Sleep

I am thankful today for Sleep. I love sleep. I miss sleep. I'm thankful for the limited sleep I am getting right now, and am looking forward to the day when I get more. Sleep makes me a happier mom. When my kiddos sleep, it makes them happier kiddos, which in turn makes me a happier mom. See, there's absolutely nothing bad about sleep. I am grateful for sleep, and someday, I'll be grateful for a full, uninterupted nights sleep. I sure do hope that's soon!:)

I may not have posted, but I am still thankful

I know, I'm REALLY behind now. What can I say, sick kids, and a painting project will do that to a girl.:)

#12 ~I am incredibly thankful for the sweetest baby boy that joined our family a mere 4 months ago. It's amazing how quickly a baby can come home and feel like they've been there all along. I'm thankful that he's 4 months old...and getting a little easier every day, well, most days. Hopefully he'll be sleeping through the night soon, we're almost there!  He is such a happy boy, with a contagious smile, and a love of his paci. I just realized the other day that he almost never yawns. That's a little weird for a baby, but he really doesn't. Thought you might enjoy that interesting tidbit! I love sweet JJ, and am incredibly grateful that he has joined our family.

#13 ~ Not to be forgotten, I am so grateful for my adorable pixie daughter, Peyton. She is so sweet and adoring, and really loves her little brother. She's amazing at keeping him smiley and happy. She's so good natured and is generally content to do whatever we ask her to do, and play whatever her sisters are playing. Really, she is an incredible and beautiful little girl. I can't believe how fast she's growing up, and I often feel bad that because she's so good natured, she gets lost in the mix of these 4 kiddos. I hope I can always let  her know just how amazing I think she really is!

#14 ~ This one may seem weird, but I am thankful for Photoshop. I'm grateful for the creative outlet it gives me, and helps to keep me sane. I'm especially grateful that I can have that outlet without it causing a huge mess, that's one thing I need less of in my life, that's for sure!

#15 ~ I am super duper thankful for books. I LOVE to read, I love getting lost in a good book. I've always been that way. Kevin hates it when I get into a book, cause I'm pretty much useless till I've finished it. and I'm so thankful that that same love for books is being passed down to my girls.

#16 ~ Last for this post, I'm thankful for craigslist. I buy alot of our furniture off craigslist. I've gotten some amazing deals, and I've been able to refinish the furniture how I like it. I love that I can look at "yardsale" stuff from the comfort of my living room, and get some awesome deals on stuff you won't fine anywhere else that helps make our house feel like our home.

A busy homebound weekend

We've got sick kids at our house...again! I swear, this has to end at some point, right? The two little girls both threw up on Thursday night. Peyton had a fever all day friday, and luckily, once Lexie threw up, she wasw pretty much done with it, thank goodness for that.

With the kiddos being sick, and some not too fabulous weather (which caused both of my sessions to be canceled on saturday), we found ourselves with some free time on saturday. So, we decided it was finally time to put together the nursery for our four month old baby boy.

We started bright and early saturday. Peyton's fever was gone by now, so the kids had free reign of the house while Kevin and I locked ourselved in the room to paint, without three girls who REALLY wanted to help.

We got to this point and I loved the darker paint on top. But I had something else in mind too, I just wasn't sure I wanted to go to all the work to get to the end point that I had in mind.

So I decided to do just one wall to see if I really loved the look, and if I did, then I would finish off the rest of the room.

 Yeah, I kinda REALLY loved the stripes. But I SO did not want to do the rest of the room. Measuring, and taping, and more painting.

What can you do but start? I got the tape up last night, and finished this morning.



and I LUUUVE IT!!!! Oh my goodness, I love how the stripes look in the room! We moved some of his furniture in, and the crib, now that Lexie is officially done with it. That's what happens with kiddos get sick. Halli wanted to be seperate so she didn't get it, so we put her in Lexies room, and Lexie with Peyton. She's been in the big girl bed since!



I also repainted the dresser that had been in the girls rooms when they were babies. I'm still trying to decide in the stripes on the front are too busy with the stripes in the room...hmmm.



All in all, I'm glad it's done, and I think this little guy LOVES it too!



Thankful #10 & #11

Since I missed yesterday, again, I get to do two again tonight. So first, I'm incredibly grateful for the most stubborn, exasperating, fiesty, little two year old I've ever met. Yes, Lexie is all of those things, but she is also so incredibly adorable and loving! I have SO many stories I could tell about her, but I won't take up your whole evening.
She doesn't like to listen, folds her arms and bows her head with her bottom lip sticking out when she's upset and doesn't want to do what I want her to do. She loves to suck her thumb...all. day. long. I'm going to have a very hard time breaking that habit. She is very back and forth, completely, blissfully happy, or steaming mad and biting her sister. Only one sister, poor Peyton.

But how could you not just love everything about a sweet little girl with curly hair that's about as blond as anything I've ever seen? Her laugh is absolutely contagious, she had us all laughing at dinner the other night when all four of us were copying everything she did and she ws cracking up about it, and her smile brightens the room, and someday I hope to have the patience I need to really be able to handle this girl!

Now for #2, I am over the moon grateful for our Halli. She is suprising me every day with how old she's getting. I think everyone can imagine having a baby, and what it's like in some ways to have babies and little children at home. We can picture it, and love it, and that's why we have children. What's been harder for me is imagining what it'll be like to have older kids. Can I just say that so far, I am loving it!

Just today Kevin and I noticed that she doesn't have to climb on the counter anymore to reach the bottom shelf of the upper cabinets to get a cup. That was kinda shocking to me that she could reach that high. Then, after dinner as we were all hanging out together, miss Lexie threw up...so fun, I know....and as I was cleaning her up, and Kevin was cleaning up the mess, JJ started crying. Thank heavens for Halli, she pulled him out of the swing, took him over by her on the floor and kept him happy so I wouldn't have to touch him. She even barricaded them both in with toys so Lexie couldn't come near them. She does NOT want to get sick!:)

In fact, she's getting so old, that when I drop her off at school on the rare occasions Allie doesn't take her (like tomorrow), she won't even say goodbye to me as she gets out of the car. Heaven forbid you talk to your mom as you climb out of the minivan! She's way too cool for that!:)

I am constantly amazing at this girl and how responsible, happy and caring she is. Yes, there are days when our personalities clash a little, the teenage years are gonna be fun! But I truly love this sweet girl and am so grateful that she made me a mom just over 7 years ago.

ANOTHER blog, and going private

In an effort to somewhat simplify my life, (HAHAHA), I have a new blog! I know, you'd think if I really wanted to simplify I would just delete them all, but no,  I'm just deleting taffy apple and the photography blog, and am making them both one blog, Hopscotch Studios. It's mostly done, and maybe I can post on it more than once a month, but we'll see.

Also, because my blogs are all linked together, and I don't need people from all over the world reading all about my kiddos, I think I'm going to go private. So, if you wanna keep reading, cause we're so very interesting,:) send me your email!

Ever so thankful!

So I missed yesterday. I kinda have a feeling that's gonna happen more than once, what can I say, I'm a slacker that way!:)

So, I've got a couple things I'm thankful for today, you know, to make up for yesterday. So today, I'm so grateful for the health of my family and myself. So often, we aren't thankful for our health until we're sick, and having recently been there I really am grateful for good health. Not only that, but Thank goodness we have modern medicine to help us recover quicker, or at the very least, ease our pain while we are sick. I can't help but think of mothers way back when, who had to watch their children have fevers, and not be able to do anything about it. It's awful to have to watch your children suffer when they're sick, and not know how to help them, seriously, motrin can be my best friend some days!

Now, this next one may seem a little shallow, but to me it's such a big deal! I am SO grateful that the yucky spider I smashed tonight with Peyton's bike, was outside. Cause when I smashed that yucky spider, about a hundered yucky baby spiders scattered!!! I have heard that happens, but haven't actually seen it. OH MY GOSH! I have the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it. I may have a nightmare tonight. I can't imagine what I would have done had that thing been indoors. I probably couldn't sleep here. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but I would have used a whole can of raid. So I'm grateful that bugs are generally outside, and I may start rethinking smashing spiders in the house, just in case.

Dylan's birthday party!!!

This little guy, just turned 5! Check out some more photos of his awesome party here!

The priesthood

There is just something so wonderful about having the priesthood in your home. I am so incredibly grateful for the wonderful husband I have and for the fact that he is a worthy and strong priesthood holder that can help guide our family.

Tonight we were able to join the rest of the Williams family to bless my newest neice Adelyn. It is always so amazing to see these men all dressed in their suits surrounding these tiny infants to bless them. How incredibly lucky we are to be able to not only see this, (on a fairly regular basis in our family, and ward as well), but that we're able to be surrounded by amazing men who hold the priesthood.

I have been the recipient of priesthood blessings countless times, and my children are able to grow up surrounded by men who love them, who also hold the priesthood. How very grateful I am for that! One of the biggest reasons Kevin wanted a son, was that he wanted to have the opportunity to share the priesthood with his own child. I know it's a long way off, but that will truly be an amazing day!

The {N} Family

Check out some more photos of this super fun, and busy family here!

Extended Family...#6

Today I am ever so grateful for our amazing family both near and far. We're blessed to be able to have Kevin's whole family live close enough to have most of them be in our stake. Meaning that our children get to grow up around all their cousins, and grandma & grandpa can be there and help us out in a pinch. Not only that but my own sister, (weird that she's considered extended family now), lives just a quick drive up the road as well. Especially cause she's an awesome help when I need one, for example she came and stayed with our girls over night when my water broke out of the blue with little JJ. Not only that but her little cutie daughter is always good for a laugh, seriously, she has THE cutest laugh ever!

When we feel like a little mini break, we can always head up to college station to see my brother and his wife. Then there's always the super fun long vacations to cali to visit my parents and all the fun stuff there is to do out there. Halli is always asking to go to california, some day I hope we head out there again...soon!:)

I"m so grateful for the love and support of our families and for the love that they show our kids. I don't think a child can ever have too many people there to love them and let them know what true unconditional love is. How thankful I am that we're able to have so much of that in our lives!

Thankful #5

There really are so many things I'm so thankful for...so there are a bunch of things floating around in my head right now. But at this moment, I'm so thankful for our home. I feel so blessed to have a comfortable, warm home for us and our children. It's pretty big for us, sometimes too big seeing as how I'm really not the best housekeeper. That along with the fact that the amazing playroom is WAY upstairs, thus causing our little girls to always bring their toys downstairs by me, tends to make for a fairly messy family room most days.

But I do love it. I love our big yard, I love the extra things we've been able to do to this home. The added storage under the stairs, the playroom, and the finished bedrooms for the girls. Soon Jaden will have a finished room too, but I've been lazy getting started on that one. I've got big plans for this home too, who knows how many will actually happen, but I like to daydream.

But more than all that, this home is where our kids are going to have some of the best memories of their childhood. This home is going to be central to their lives. I moved a bunch growing up, and I loved to move, I liked the change. So I have quite a few homes that make up my memories. I like it, cause I can always remember how old I was when something happened based on the house we were in at that time. But our kids are going to probably be in the same house for the majority of their childhoods, and I am grateful that it's this home.

Halloween Happenings

We had a super fun Halloween this year. I love watching kids around Lexie's age, when the finally "get" what Halloween is about. She was a champion trick-or-treater and remembered to say thank you most of the time too!

We had an eclectic bunch this year, with a witch, Dorothy, a kitty cat, and a little super baby. Bonus was I only had to buy one of the costumes, we had all the rest. We started Halloween early by heading out on wednesday evening to a fall festival at Peytons preschool. I just took a picture at home, and left the camera. Kevin didn't join us, and I wasn't sure how it would go with all four by myself, so I knew I wouldn't get to take pictures anyway. Luckily, the kids did awesome, and I love having Halli around to help hold Lexie's hand and keep her with us. We did a trunk-or-treat, and all the girls got to go one one mini roller coaster ride.

Skip to saturday night, and our ward trunk-or treat. We got the kids all dolled up, and headed out for chili, and candy, yum yum!

We had some cute kids, I love seeing everyone in their Halloween costumes. I don't know how many people told us that we're gonna have to keep an eye on Halli as she gets older. I guess when you put make-up on a girl, and doll her hair up, it's an instant flash forward to the future...scary!

 This little red headed clown is Lauren, one of the young women in our ward, and she is amazing! She played with Lexie and Peyton the whole time, and even took them trunk-or-treating. Between her, and Kevin taking Jaden while he handed out candy, I was a free woman and felt like I didn't have anything to do. Thanks Lauren!

After trunk-or-treating, we all gathered on some grass by the church, and started digging into our candy. Well, into the kids candy. :)  

Our little inseparable group. Halli and Blake ran around the whole time, I barely knew where they were. But they were together and having a blast! Then Peyton and Braden took off cause they needed to go faster than the mom's were going...so fun to watch these kids play together, I love it!

 I just had to add this one of little Izzy, she was a little fairy, and looked adorable!

A little out of order, but on tuesday night, we sat down and carved our pumpkins. The plan was to do it for FHE on monday, but I was a little sick and quarantined to my room, so we did it on tuesday instead. Lexie didn't join us, cause she was having a rough night and actually went to bed before 7.

After getting over the disgust of the pumpkin seeds, the girls dug in and started to clean them out.

Kevin got to the game a little late and somehow missed out on cleaning the pumpkin and went straight to the carving. I don't know how he does that, but someday, I'm gonna do it and make him do the cleaning.:)

We went for a little non traditional carvings this year, lots of fun, but lots of work!

Out of order again, but on thursday, Peyton had a Halloween party at school. They even did a costume parade first thing. Unfortunately with all the being sick around our house, I didn't know they were doing a costume parade in the morning, (she was dressed up though, I knew that part), so I didn't have my camera to capture all these cute kiddos, dang it.

But I did get to join them for the party, by then all the kids had changed out of their costumes. We had pizza, apple slices, cheese, and of course cupcakes! Yummy, messy cupcakes.

Almost done, I promise. Oh Halloween evening, we had Britt and Brett over for dinner and we had a spooky meal with mummy meatloaf, ghost mashed potatoes, and homemade Halloween croutons for our salad. The girls loved it, and ate really well, yay!

All-in-all, it was a great holiday, and we had a blast spending time with our family. Now we have tons of sugar cookies left over, and WAY, WAY, WAY too  much candy. That combo with my weak will-power is NOT a good thing! 

Thankful through Thanksgiving

I'm a little late with this, but then again, when am I not late? I want to take this month to document a little bit every day about what I'm thankful for. I have been incredibly blessed, so now y'all (yep, I"m turnin texan!), get a sneak peek into my wonderfully blest life!:)

I'm an all or nothin kinda girl, as in, I don't make my bed every day, but when I do, it has to be perfect, type of thing. Or an even better example is my overwhelmingly strong sweet tooth and the fact that I can NEVER have just one piece of candy...I so wish I could though, so I either eat all the candy, or none! So, since I'm all or nothing, I'm gonna make this an extra long post and catch-up on the last four days that I've missed. So settle in, this may not be a short post.

Looking back on my week and what I probably would have written, I'm going to start #1 with how thankful I am for my awesome swagger wagon (aka minivan). I am able to transport my kids to school, preschool, soccer, parties, grocery shopping and whatever else I have on my plate in any given day. I can open the doors at the touch of a button, which is awesome! The doors don't swing open, so I don't have to worry about the car next to us getting dinged, and there's a dvd player, which is such a huge lifesaver on most days. But on monday I was especially thankful for a comfy car as I drove to every hobby lobby in the houston area (literally, I went to seven on monday alone!).  It also has great storage space for all the stuff I was able to get at said hobby lobby's.

#2 would have to be how thankful I am for friends, old and new. Those who are there for me now, and help me manage my life by just being there and influencing me and my children for the better, as well as those who made up my past and helped me become the person I am now. It is absolutely amazing how much influence the people who surround us have on our lives, for better or worse. I hope my children can learn this early and make a point of surrounding themselves with good, decent people.

Tuesday I ran into an old friend I ran track with at the U, I hadn't seen her in 8 years, and ran into her randomly in the toy aisle at walmart. I was only on the team with her for two years, but man, I LOVED those years! I especially loved the girls I was able to spend day in and day out with as we practiced, and competed together.Then, at the same time my Amazing friend Allie saved me by picking Peyton up from preschool when I wasn't able to make it back on time. Friends are amazing and essential at all ages, truly!

#3 would have to be how incredibly thankful I am for the most amazing ward! Our ward family has made our lives in Houston so wonderful! One of the reasons why when we moved 3 years ago, we chose to stay in the same neighborhood was because of this amazing ward. It seems that when you're LDS, and most of your friends and interactions come from those in your ward, having a great ward family is essential. Some day we will move out of this neighborhood, but it's gonna be hard, cause I don't think we'll want to ever leave our ward.

Also, on the third of November we had our craft day for Relief Society, this is why I visited every hobby lobby in houston, it was so much fun, and I hope everyone was able to enjoy doing their crafts and get a head start on christmas. But the help I had from the women in the ward was amazing, and I have some of the best examples from the women in this ward alone.

Last but not least (for today anyway) as I catch up on my november thankfulness is #4. I am beyond thankful for my husband's job. I'm not always excited that he works in a family business, but there are some great upsides to it! His job supports our family, gives us security, health insurance (which has been invaluable this year!), and some flexiblity. Today as I went to the dentist..again, he was able to stay home for the morning and watch the kids so I didn't have to find a sitter or worry about Jaden (I'm a little weird about sitters when I have a baby). Because of his flexibility, he's been able to do real estate as well, and he's able to be there when I need him to be. There can be downsides to a family business, like the family doesn't get together a whole lot, probably cause the boys see each other every day and don't always realize how long it's been since we got together, but by far, the blessings we've received from his job far outweight the downside.

so, bear with me throughout the rest of this month as I post how very blessed I have been. I need to remember my blessings more often and express my gratitude for all I have been given. Hopefully I can remember to do this every day, we'll see!