An Eventful trip…

This past Sunday Cory and I loaded the kids in the car, dressed for church, for the short 2-hour trip to Toledo for my cousin Shelly's baby blessing. I wish I could say that the trip was un-eventful, but I'd say it was anything but.
It all started out great. We actually got on the road when we planned and we were set to be there about 20-30 minutes early.
We were doing good.
The kids watched some church DVD's and Ethan snoozed for a bit.
About 15 minutes before arriving at the church Ethan woke up and started crying and saying he wanted me to hold him.
The car smelled horrible; I could only imagine what was waiting for us when we stopped (I was just praying it was all contained in that little diaper we come to rely on so heavily).
We arrive at the church 20 minutes early. It was a small church building with only one main entrance. Cory pulled up and I jump out to get Ethan.
When I opened the door Ethan was still crying and I can see that his church pants are wet which can only mean one thing.
BLOWOUT!!
This was NOT going to be fun.
I tried to asses the damage before I picked him up but I couldn't really tell what I was dealing with so I picked him up.
Big mistake.
It was the consistency of milk and it was just ran out the bottom of his pants in a big gush all over our car. I quickly put him on the ground. He wasn't having that and cried even harder.
Cory jumped out and retrieved his jeans from our "after church outfits" and I picked Ethan up horizontally, cradling his head in my arm and holding him up by the legs of his pants in the other.
Of course the lobby of the church had 10 people watching on as all this was happening and Ethan's crying is getting louder.
We made it to the bathroom and inside the bathroom was a little shower. I thought, "oh, this is perfect."
I went in and was grateful that no one else was in the bathroom (and they wouldn't have wanted to be in there either…)
I carefully assessed the situation and didn't really know where to start as it was all kind of scary (Cory definitely got the better end of the deal on this one). I finally got his clothes off and he was just covered and a mess.
I went to turn on the shower and there was nothing but cold water. Ethan wasn't having that and his screaming was getting louder. By this time I start to hear the babies in the nursing room start to cry and I am sure it was due, in large part, to Ethan.
The poor little boy did NOT feel good.
I quickly went to the sink and was so grateful that there was warm water. I took my naked little Ethan over to the sink and gave him a little bath.
I felt so bad for him.
I finally got him dressed again.
He wore his blue jeans, white shoes, and dinosaur shirt to sacrament and he did really well through the meeting.
Just as sacrament was about to start Cory left to take Briggs the bathroom and then Brooklyn started fussing. I was holding Ethan because he didn't want to be put down. I took a risk by putting him down (he is known to scream when things aren't going the way he wants them too) and thankfully he let me put him beside me. I grabbed Brooklyn out of her car seat and put her on my lap.
Not her too.
Yep…you guessed it. She blew out too.
So much for buying the diapers with the no-leak protection.
I passed Cory coming in as I was going out. Thankfully She just got it on her onsie and a little on her dress. That was manageable.
I got back just in time to see Ryan being blessed. Ken gave a nice blessing.
After sacrament Cory, and I took Brooklyn and Ethan over to Ken and Shelly's house to use their washing machine. He seemed to be feeling much better. Briggs stayed for primary.
We had a good time with the Bassett family and it was also fun to see my cousin Megan and my Aunt Chris.
We left at bedtime and the kids slept all the way home.
It wasn't a bad day after all…

Here are some photos from the day…

What a perfect sign as we were headed to the Bassett's baby blessing

I love this one of Jordan looking up at her daddy…

Briggs Being silly

Family photo with Aunt Chris and Megan

Megan holding Brooklyn

Ken "palming" Ryan (he's so little!)

Jordan holding Ryan (after blessing)

Ken and Shelly, Caden, Kailyn, Jordan, and Ryan

Group photo

Having your cake and eating it too…

This isn't your typical recipe blog. In fact I think this is the first one I've ever posted. But it is seriously so good that I wanted to share it with you. I am always looking for healthier ways to make meals but deserts are usually one area I don't care to make the adjustments (those of you who know me know that my recipe box is more full of desert and goodie recipes than anything :). However this recipe has changed my mind. This is for all of you who LOVE your chocolate (like me) but don't love all the fat and calories and all those extra stairs you I have to climb to work it off. My husband even liked it! I would say this is guilt-free because it is only 3 grams of fat per serving vs. the 14 grams of fat but I have literally eaten most of the pan myself the past two days so…………I guess 30 grams of fat is better than 140! Anyway, hope you enjoy!



Guilt-free chocolate cake

1 box of Chocolate fudge cake mix (or any chocolate cake mix)
1 small can of pumpkin (you can't even taste it!)
1 cup of water

Put into a sprayed pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely and top with a low or nonfat cool whip or eat plain; it is so moist!

1st tooth

Well, it is official as of yesterday. Brooklyn has cut her 1st tooth on the bottom right. That explains the clear runny nose, the waking during the night, and the constant gnawing and drool.

She loves to be hung upside down!!  Silly girl!

She is also growing so fast. Today I cleaned out her drawers to rid them of the 3-6 month clothes that she has long grown out of. She is officially getting bigger and I went shopping yesterday for some new clothes. It's a good thing I only take in so much cash to buy them with or I think I could go hog wild; I got some cute things.  

Out with the old…

Last Week and Valentines

Though I never like to have Cory gone, we had a good and productive week. It was very busy to say the least. The week started off with finishing last minute preparations for New Beginnings. On Wednesday the boys received a fun package from Grandma Jones that they enjoyed opening (I enjoyed the chocolate) I guess I should have waited to have them open it on Valentines day but when I get a package, unless it says otherwise, I open it; the boys really enjoyed it.  

Brooklyn with her valentine card

In true Ethan fashion

Later that day a friend of ours invited us to come over and decorate sugar cookies. The boys were in heaven! They both got their fill of cookies and frosting and they got to play. That was really nice for us to have a little break during the week while Cory was gone.

Risa, Ethan and Briggs

Silly picture

That evening we had New Beginnings for the Young Women and it turned out really nice; thanks to all my counselors and those who helped make the evening a success. It was a nice day…busy…but nice!

That night we had a really bad storm and mother nature took care of a tree for us that was a bit homely by knocking it right out of the ground by the roots. That makes two trees in our backyard gone in the past 4 months gone.



Thursday and Friday I decided to tackle painting the downstairs bathroom, hallway and entry, and the living room. I am always amazed at what a few gallons of paint can do to transform a room. I did a little shopping for lamps and curtains and am hoping to finish it up here in the next few weeks. It is coming together. I will post pictures when I am done. We also got to talk to Cory on Skype Friday afternoon and that was nice. We also sold our refrigerator on Craigs list; love that! I took the kids on a little wagon ride and they loved it!

The kids riding the wagon.  Brooklyn loved it and Briggs loved holding her

Saturday I got some stuff done around the house and that night I was a chaparone at the youth dance and our dear friend came over to watch the kids for me. Though not an ideal get-away, it was nice to have a break. Cory got to spend Valentines day with his sister Jodi and her husband Ben in Texas. They went to a great BBQ restaurant and went a boat tour (or something like that). Even though I didn't get to be with Cory he made sure to let me know he was thinking of me and I had a really sweet note in my inbox that morning. We did go out last saturday. Cory planned a nice date for us. We went to a really nice restaurant and had an awesome steak and exceptional service. After that we went and saw Taken; it was pretty good! It was a really nice night just the two of us.

Back to this week. Sunday was of course church. The boys did pretty good. Here is a little excerpt from Ethan's journal, "Today I braved church with you three munchkins on my own and for the most part you did great. You did start a fight with Briggs over a coloring book and screamed your loudest during the mission president’s talk as I took you to the hallway, but other than that you did pretty good. Daddy has been in Texas and he usually takes you to nursery and he goes over the “rules” with you which are, “no hitting, no hugging, no kissing, no yelling, and making lots of good choices.” Well, I didn’t do that so…I went to pick you up from Nursery and you were sitting on the floor crying (in time out). When I asked what happened I was told that multiple time you were trying to hug the little kids, which was fine, but you kept knocking them over and they were hurting their heads. They had given you a couple of warnings and tried to talk to you about it but it wasn’t helping. I felt sad for you. I knew that you weren’t trying to be mean, but I also knew that they had asked you to stop and you didn’t. You really are a tender-hearted little boy."

That morning as we were getting ready I had Brooklyn all dressed up and looking so cute and Briggs said to me, "Brooklyn looks so beautiful," then he said to me, "and you look beautiful too." What a sweet little boy. He is always saying nice things about people; what a good boy.  

Here are some photos I took of Brooklyn and Briggs after church.  

Ethan…oh, our little Ethan…

Well, today is day 2 of Cory being gone (only 5 more days to go…sigh…) and Ethan and I weren't exactly on the same page today. Perhaps it started a little too early for me with the whining, hold me, I'm hungry etc. I think that little boy is going to always keep us on our toes. Sometimes it is hard to believe that so much attitude can come out of such a small little body. But…he does keep us smiling and he can be so much fun. So, as the boys finally went to bed tonight, I got the laundry folded, and started to relax I was reflecting on our little Ethan. I had to smile at some of the fun ways that he brings joy to our lives. So, here's to a better day tomorrow, and more importantly here are some of the reasons that I love Ethan so much…

He is a tender little boy and has a soft heart.
He loves food just like his mama; so much that his world revolves around it. If he is grumpy I need only feed him and he is good to go.
He loves to wear his football jersey 24/7 but would rather play with his cars and airplanes than play football.
He loves to dance and makes me smile when I see him bust a move.
I love when he kisses both of my cheeks after giving me hugs and puts his arms out as far as he can to tell me that that is how much he loves me.
He loves to cuddle when I read to him.
He has a lot of spirit and stands up for himself (that can be a good and bad thing :)
He does and says lots of cute things, for example, most recently:


Today after his nap I came down stairs to see all of his airplanes meticulously lined up on the table. I couldn't help but smile and appreciate that little boy!


As I opened the dishwasher this morning to grab a spoon for cereal I noticed his little green power ranger hanging out with the silverware…silly boy…



He loves his little sister no matter how rough he can be at times. She seriously has her own paparazzi and Ethan is one of her biggest fans!


His favorite thing is to make other people laugh and he does it all the time. He truly shines when he is the center of attention and all eyes are on him. The more you laugh, the more he feeds off of you. I found him the other day just sitting casually with this (brooklyn's toy) on his head.


His bright eyes always melt my heart.

It was sweet, today he was up in his room trying to grab something off of his dresser when I walked by his door just as I see a picture of Jesus fall off his dresser and hit him square on the head. I immediately went to hug him and make sure he was okay. Through his tears he said in the saddest voice, "Jesus hurt me." It made me feel so sad for him. I explained to him that Jesus didn't hurt him but that the picture just fell. A little kiss on the head and a hug and he was good to go. He really is such a sweet and tender boy and I love him so much! I feel so blessed to be his mom.

Brooklyn is 6 months old…

Boy, does time fly by!! I can hardly believe our little girl is 6 months old already. Just a few things about Brooklyn. She is such a happy little baby. Always ready with a BIG smile when she sees you. She loves baths and getting her diaper changed. She likes to chew on anything we give her. She likes table food like bread and rice and she likes her baby food. She sometimes cries when she sees Ethan coming (and I don't blame her some days) but otherwise thinks her brothers are pretty funny. She is ticklish and loves to play peek-a-boo and has the cutest little giggle.


She has rolls on her legs which are adorable. She loves to squeal and screech during sacrament and when she is especially happy. She is very alert and seems to be taking in all that life has to give her. She sits really good now and loves to play with her toys. Cory and I can't imagine our lives without our sweet little girl. Here's to a wonderful 6 months of cute hair bands, BIG flowers, and a very fun and special girl…