The last couple of days I've been getting stressed out really easily with the kids- it seems they're ALWAYS hyper and running around screaming. I know they are not- but a lot of the time they are! They must have cabin fever from all this smog and rain. But when I uploaded these pictures it reminded me they are sweet sometimes :) and I love them so much and am so grateful for the chance I have to stay home with them- even when I don't know it.

Homemade play dough!

Kyson gives the long, hard kisses. He is sooo funny. He says, "I'm daddy, you're a princess!" This little guy is hard to stay mad at.

Lola is the newest addition to our family! She is a 7 week old bull-mastiff (bulldog x English mastiff) We have been deciding for a long time to get a bull-mastiff and when we saw a local breeder had the coloring and gender we wanted at a good price, we couldn't wait. I know you're thinking we couldn't resist the puppy face- but really I'm in LOVE with these dogs as adults too. They're so gentle and sweet and lazy (yet great protectors). I'm also sooo excited because we also got a FENCE for the yard finally- to keep her in and the kids safe too.

Here she is in her crate the first night- she LOVES it.

She also LOVES to cuddle- the logistics of this will become more complicated as she gets bigger, but I don't mind :)

Here's a short clip on the breed:

This December marked our 7th anniversary! The time has really flown by and I can't imagine it with anyone else- I'm a lucky girl to have snagged such a sweet and supportive husband, and loving father to our kids. He works so hard to provide for us the things we need and want- I don't express appreciation to him enough! Once I wrote him a list of all of the things I like about him- I hope he will take it out and read it again, they're all still true.

Here is a vintage Polaroid photo circa the morning of Dec 6th 2003- taken by the creepy bed and breakfast lady:

...maybe I should back up a little- don't think I've ever told our story here. I'll make it kind of brief. I met Tyler through a group of Bountiful friends- at the time he was rooming with "my missionary's" brother, Matt. A few of them were going to Vegas- at first I said I didn't want to go ( I was dating a couple other people at the time). Then at the last minute I decided to go. On the trip there were "the girls" (Emily, Laura & Me)

And "the boys" Tyler, Josh, & Matt.

It was all fun and games- Tyler and I pretended we accidentally had a real margarita and got married. I think the other kids really believed the drunk part :) Tyler said he knew this trip he wanted to marry me.

I took a little longer to figure it out, and poor Tyler got dumped a couple times (our friends didn't even believe we were really engaged when we finally were!) We dated for 6 weeks, only about 2 of which were exclusive before he proposed, but 6 months later this was the end result:

When you know, you know :) Love you, Ty!

At the first of the month Papa came to visit after a work training in Vegas. It was nice to see him and the kids had a blast with their papa. It's amazing how Kyson remembered him (they haven't seen him in over a year- so Kyson wasn't even 2 last time), we think it is because they get to talk on the web cam. On the first night the boys were so excited to have him they wanted to have a sleepover in the basement- the only catch is the guest bed is only a twin...a long and memorable night for all of them I'm sure :)

It was the first time Papa met miss MiaJolie, I think they like each other though. Here she is kicking back watching Clint Eastwood with him.

Sunday morning- tired but happy.

It was SO hard to get them to sit still- we'll have to take another when Nana and Papa come in January!

It's time for another small update- nothing new really but a few cute pictures. On the 14th Mia turned 10 months old! She is still cruising around with her walker and has almost 6 teeth! She got her top eye teeth first so it looked like she had little fangs- now her two front teeth are FINALLY coming through. She is trying to vocalize more, saying "dada" mostly. She is also starting to refer to herself for things- she pats her chest and nods her head- it's really cute! She is really becoming very cuddly lately and gives the SWEETEST kisses- eyes closed and all! I can't believe she's almost one...it makes me want to cry! In a lot of ways I'm glad to be done having babies but the reality of it sets in every now and then...

(She is trying to put that bow in her hair, but I think it looks like a fashion pose :)

(Excited to see the first snow)
(LOVING rides from brother)
(2 piggie tales- she looked a little devilish)
(In her cute hat and boots)

We have all been sick for about 2 months now- I hate cold/flu season! We began with colds and strep throat in October, then we all got the 24 hr flu bug a couple weeks ago. As of now we're STILL dealing with cruddy coughs (mostly due to getting all the drainage out of our lungs). And everything has been VIRAL so the Dr. can't do a thing to help!
(Poor Kyson crept into bed with me the day we were both sick- we napped and puked together :)
(The only good part about Mia being sick: normally wiggly=still & cuddly)
Thanksgiving with Tyler's family was great- though Kaden was disappointed there weren't gifts involved- he wanted to GIVE (thanks-GIVING) everyone suckers. (I thought it was cute he didn't want to receive a gift, he wanted to give one...) We all went to see Tangled at the theater that day (best tradition I think) and it was super-cute and the boys loved it, though Mia was restless after about 5 minutes, she thought the princess was cool.

Kaden's Thankful List 2010:
1. Everything
2. Video games
3. My family
4. Christmas

Kyson's Thankful List 2010:
1. Doggies
2. Daddy
3. Cereal
4. Snakes
5. Shows (he watches instant Netflix shows a LOT)

Darci's Thankful List 2010:
1. The BEST husband & Family
2. Ty's job= home, food, warmth, security
3. Good neighbors/friends
4. Disposable diapers
5. Clorox disinfecting wipes
6. Ora-gel & Tylenol

Last week we had a 'blizzard' that was really hyped up and then kind of anti-climatic, but it did leave some snow that stuck for a little while and the boys were able to go outside and enjoy it.
(Kaden bundled up and ready)
(Ok, this kid HATES to even wear socks- so putting on all this gear was like death to him...)
(Eventually he forgot his misery and ate some snow)
(see, happy now.)

I promise to be a better blogger in the next month as more things happen...
Coming up later this month:
Papa is coming to visit!
Tyler & Darci celebrate their 7th anniversary!
A new addition to the family...
Visiting Temple Square lights (if it ever creeps above 0 degrees at night)
Layton Park lights and Sill's scones/hot chocolate
Christmas!

I haven't updated in a while because there's nothing really new or exciting to blog about.

Kaden recently had 'Parent Day' at school; we got to go see a little program demonstrating the things they're learning. He LOVES school and I'm really glad we decided to send him to Bravo.

Here he is (second from left) during his "Two Talking Tucans" song, wearing his tucan hat...

Dad was able to come too! Here they are crafting a thanksgiving turkey cup:

And a pose:

Mia has been making progress in the motor department! Kaden is a great big brother- always "helping" her :)

She loves to climb onto the landing and flick the door stop-

And climb stairs!

And WALK with a walker-toy (front and backwards :)
Kyson is growing up too! His weekly music class has REALLY helped his speech- we think he's just about caught up to speed!

Yesterday Kaden turned 5 years old! It was kind of a low key event since he was sick with strep throat (luckily antibiotics were beginning to kick in though so he wasn't totally miserable). It began in the morning with french toast for breakfast and a present from Mia and Kyson

Then he had to wait ALL day for his party that night- he was pretty good about it though.
Here is his cake- far from perfect but at least not store-bought :) He wanted chocolate frosting and this was the only thing brown he could think of that he wanted.

He blew out the candles before I even got the cake down in front of him.

He loved his Legos from Nana and Papa

He got some cool space books from Grandma and Grandpa Kent in preparation for their trip to the planetarium this week! We read them at bed time and he was fascinated.

Grandma Carolyn came through with the Iron Man blaster- he's been asking for that for a while now and I kept avoiding it. It's actually not as obnoxious as I thought. He also got a mask to go with it. The funny part was that Ky was with us when she bought it and before he even started unwrapping it he started yelling, "Iron man! Iron man!!" oops...guess he remembered!

Here he is on his new, bigger bike- he was way too tall for his old one.

"I am Iron Man" Kyson got a mask too so they wouldn't fight :)

I think he had a good birthday- we love him tons and it's hard to imagine life before him just five years ago :) I'll post his check up stats/milestones later this week!

Today Miss Mia is nine months old! Here are some recent facts:

• She is finally crawling full speed AHEAD! (She has been log-rolling, crawling backwards since 7 months old) She is also starting to pull up to things- she is very careful not to bonk her head or slip (my boys never were very careful).
• She eats 2 baby food containers and a few ounces of milk at EVERY feeding (well for breakfast lunch and dinner with just a bottle in between). That seems like a lot for such a little thing. She loves bananas and sweet potatoes. (Check out her FIRST pony-tail, it makes her look so much older!)
• She is musical: she likes to sing along with princess Aurora when she hears Sleeping Beauty playing in the car. She will also start singing back when I sing her lullabies. She also giggles at classical music in the car- she has ever since we went to the symphony at Deer Valley.
  
• She LOVES to read- she giggles at her "That's not my fairy book" and she loves being apart of bedtime stories with her brothers.
• She loves Ahsoka- especially now that she can chase her around a little. She also likes to eat Ahsoka's food- gross!
• Her newest favorite pass-time is watching out the sliding door windows. She can do it for at least 15 minutes.(sock modeling)
  

Here is some footage of her crawling:

MJ is a complete joy, we don't know how we ever got along without her! I'll post her stats after her checkup next week.

**By the way Tyler and I had our birthdays- they were fun yet uneventful (we didn't even get a single picture) except for the part when my 27 candles set off the fire alarm in our house. We went to dinner and saw the movie "Wall Street" So no news except that we are both older now- and Tyler is one year away from the big 3-0!** I'll post more in a week when Kaden turns 5!

Ok this post is long but I LOVE these pictures (and hate slide shows)

Brooke Woodall (super cute and extremely nice/talented, Kyson even gave her a smooch!) photographed us a couple of weeks ago on 25th street in Ogden- a location I knew I wanted to try, but I wasn't sure what we'd find. We ended up with some awesome spots! (Didn't have time to go behind the street like I wanted because the kids were tired and DONE- maybe next time.)

Mia's close-up, she was great the whole time!

This is Kaden's for the portrait wall

We weren't sure if we got ANY of Kyson smiling but this is my fave! (Also going on the wall)

This is MiaJolie's wall pic

I like this one because Mia's standing up- that is the face Ky had most of the shoot- very GQ

I love this one for the wall too

Cute boys- this one's going in their room.

The boys- this is a good one for their room too!

MJ & Daddy I love this one because it shows Ty's eye-crinkles (LOVE them) and Mia's giggling with delight

Mia & Mommy

We took a couple shots together but this is my favorite.

This is a cute sidewalk pic- I love our faces, I am so bummed Mia was escaping instead of looking at the camera! (She was very intent on eating the leaves.)

Another family shot in a cute doorway

Ok these shots are a LOT harder than they look- especially with little kids! Oh well, it was fun.

I'm thinking this one for our family wall portrait.

So there it is! LOVE the pics, LOVE the location, LOVE the photographer!