Journal Post...

For journal purposes (if I ever print all these off...which I should) I'm going to update about my life. So sorry if it's boring. Unorganized. And probably full of bad grammar. I just need to get my thoughts out while they're fresh or my prego brain will totally forget!

First the good news. Chase is doing absolutely AMAZING potty training! It was a little rough at first and I was unsure if my patience was going to outlast his stubbornness, but then a miracle happened.
M&M's.
That's right. If Chase goes pee in the potty he gets a couple M&M's. They are his favorite treat. The one he wants no matter how many he's had already. He's becoming quite the pro at going pee even just a little bit to get more M&M's! What a way to work the system....but I don't care! Even during nap time and for the most part at night he wakes up dry and hurries to go potty as soon as he wakes up.
Now poop is a totally different story. He has been a lot like Kyla. They both struggle with constipation. As soon as Kyla potty trained she finally didn't need suppositories to help get it out. I was hoping this would be the case with Chase as well. Well...it has taken a LOT of convincing that it doesn't hurt nearly as bad on the potty as it does when you're confined by a diaper. He still tries to hide in the corner and push even in his pull-up.
UNTIL TODAY---
Today I finally got sick of cleaning up poop from pull-ups he had taken off and got all over his legs. Luckily no real mess like in the carpet or anything but I laid down the law. I took all his clothes off and told him he wasn't allowed to be dressed anymore unless he learned to poop in the potty. No more diaper/pull-up/or even clothes! He whined about being cold and I told him Tough! I'm such a mean mom....lol....but guess what?!?! IT WORKED! He was in the bathroom just a little later and went poop! You have no idea how monumental this actually is. Of course I threw a HUGE deal out of it and gave him like 10 M&M's. He was extremely pleased with himself. I even put a pull-up back on him. Which he then tried to poop in... (wah wah wah...) So I stripped all clothes back off and made him eat lunch. All of a sudden he got down from eating and went to the bathroom. I could hear him trying to push, didn't last long, and he came down with a huge grin saying he wanted more M&M's. I didn't know whether to believe him or not. So I went up to find the BIGGEST turd I have ever Seen him poop out all by himself!!!! He has been perfect potty boy all day since and I hesitate to say I have a fully potty trained little boy!!! I can't believe we did it. There was seriously a time not too long ago I didn't believe it was possible. :)

On to not so pleasant topics...(yes. poop is a good topic for me...lol)

Apparently I have a heart murmur. Most pregnant women get them from all the extra work the body goes through to make a baby. I never knew that. I have never had the problem before so it was kind of a shock when I went in Monday thinking I had low blood pressure cause I can't breathe at all! Dr. Johnson said my heart is working around 140% which is high even for a prego lady. So he ordered a bunch of tests including an EKG, chest x-ray, and blood work to check if I'm anemic. So I went in Tuesday morning first thing to take the diabetes test and all of the above. I didn't sleep at all the night before. In fact I thought I was going to end up in the ER because I couldn't get any air. No matter how deeply I inhaled I just didn't feel like I was getting any air. So I tried deep slow breathes to not hyperventilate and it was more work to just breath deep and still didn't work. Luckily I have the best husband ever, who is a worthy priesthood holder and he was able to give me a blessing and get me through the night. No ER.
After I took all the tests Tues morning I was told to take the sheet of paper saying what they had done up to see my Doc. Ok. Go up there. He's not in. He won't be in until this Friday. Possibly this Monday! Nice. So to ask someone what to do if I had another episode like "last night" I saw a different OB. Long story short...He told me since he wasn't there with me he couldn't tell me what was going on. And "What do you want me to do?". No lie. It's in quotes for a reason. Well...If I was the doc then maybe I wouldn't need your advice! Think? I was in shock. Overly tired. And starving (from the diabetes test). He made me feel like I was lying to him. He told me more than once since my 02 sats were fine (96) that there was nothing wrong with me. What a good guy hu??? Needless to say, I left crying and after I ate something and felt better, I called and filed a complaint with Tanner Clinic. We'll see how that goes. I'm not paying for it, let's put it that way... SO - I guess the only thing to do now is to take it easy (sooo boring...) and try to stay out of the ER until my doc can finally tell me my test results and what to do to feel better.
I will put a little note. I have the best husband, best friend, in the whole world. He's been so supportive and caring and worried in his own way and trying not to show it. He takes very good care of me and the kids. It's been easy to take it easy, but he's been home so far. He goes back to work tomorrow. Hopefully I can handle it. :) I also have my super duty ultrasound to measure Collin and see how he's progressing. I can't wait to see him. :) It's been 12 weeks since my last ultrasound so I'm excited!

sledding, sleeping, and potty training...

Guess we will start with sleeping....(pics aren't loading or moving like I want them...)

The other night, after watching TV and the kids were in bed, Chad and I came upstairs to go to bed. Chad said he thought he heard Kyla sneek downstairs and could hear her snoring. We couldn't see her anywhere on the floor in the living room or kitchen. I asked if Chad had seen Jasmine, our cat, cause she usually would sit on my lap while we watch TV and I hadn't seen her all night. One of Jasmine's fav spots to sleep is under this table. Innocent enough...

When Chad lifted up the table cloth to see if Jasmine was underneath this is what we found!

LOL It's a good thing we looked!!! I laughed so hard, and couldn't pass up the chance to take pics. Her face was half covered by the cloth on the other side but we couldn't see her AT ALL until we looked under the table. And found Jasmine too. LOL

Ok, on to sledding...

Back at the first snow storm, Chad went outside to shovel the driveway. Me and the kids all crowded onto the couch to watch him out the window. One of Daddy's favorite things to do is clear a small running path down the driveway and then slide as far as he can. The snow was quite icey and it made for a very slippery driveway that night! After watching Chad for a while and laughing as he threw snowballs at the window, I couldn't help myself and we all got bundled up and went outside to play in the snow. It was past bedtime, but I just couldn't pass up the chance to play! The driveway was so slick that the kids could sled down it, even with no snow! Pics...ok. So the last time I tried to post pics it was acting screwy too...So they are at the top. Stupid but I don't know how to fix it!!!

Without trying to do any more pics - I am attempting potty training with Chase today. I know I've said this before but we have NOT had success yet. I am refusing to buy any more diapers. We ran out yesterday. I bought some pull ups with the cool alert. I don't know what it is but he REFUSES to potty train. I read somewhere online that it's not a matter of when they are ready (he is ready - smart wise anyway) but a matter of when the parents stop being whimps and just do it. So that's the goal. Please pray we can master this. It seems like an awfully large hurdle. Any tips are MORE than welcome!!!

Tis the Season

Tis the Season...

To be Jolly!
To Remember the True Meaning of Christmas!
To be broke!
To give more than to receive!

What is it that happens to the air we breath that suddenly makes us want to give more than we have to make others happy? (I know that sounds bad. Not trying to whine, just truly wondering.)
What is it that makes us remember Christ more? Or do we remember Christ more? We really should. He is the Reason for the Season. He is the Reason for everything really. Let us remember to be kind. Let us be a little more gentle with our children. Let us forgive quickly. Let us be who we should be all year long. Let us try to not forget who that is this year, and carry the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all the time.

God bless. Merry Christmas!

Trail of Trials update...

Add to the list....

We had to take Kyla and Chase to the doctor yesterday. Chase had a 103 degree fever and Kyla's was over 100. Neither have bronchitis but they both got antibiotics "just in case" their coughs turned ugly. Kyla has an ear infection. One which she actually told me about off and on for almost a month but I didn't know what to think because it was so sporadic and only when she didn't want to go to bed. So we left to go pick up more meds.
Daija came home from school not acting quite like herself. Gave her IBProfin before bed and by morning she had a full blown fever too. So...in case you weren't counting...that would be 5 out of 5 of us that are all sick and on medication to get better. It's beyond ridiculous and almost laughable if it weren't extremely NOT funny.

In the last week we have spent over $100 for a small pharmacy. You should see our counter top. We have 4 different antibiotics. Child's Advil, Triaminic, Robitussin and 2 different cough meds on top of that (special ones that help mommy and daddy sleep at night - and the only ones that make mommy feel any better since I can't take anything else while prego).

BUT I am very HAPPY to report that we are slowly but surely starting to feel better! The kids of course think they are all better and driving me crazy. Chad and I are still sounding like seals but at least we are feeling like doing a little more than sleeping. I even made it to the store tonight to grab some essentials and didn't feel like dying by the time I got home. :) We may just yet see healthy again....KNOCK on wood!!!!

Trail of Trials

Try that title out for a tongue twister. haha

Ok seriously though...

For the past 3 months (no exageration needed) our family has been riddled with illness. It goes so far back I can't really remember who got sick first. It was just a little cough (Chad I think) that turned into a flu. I got what I thought was food poisoning. (Still not sure if it was that or the flu.) It made me go to the hospital for two bags of IV cause I got way dehydrated, way fast. Each of the kids took their turns puking their brains out. And then the only one left still coughing was Chad. The poor guy, it has never left him this whole time. Just as soon as we think it's getting better, it comes back! Then I caught (this time I know it was..) the flu. Almost put me in the ER but under Chad's ICU skills I got better fairly quickly and we didn't have to make that trip. The kids have had colds. Yucky, nasty runny nose colds. Then, Chad finally decided to go see a doctor about his cough. They gave him antibiotics and some cough medicine. He's not getting any better. A few days after he started his antibiotics I got a tickle in my throat. (Sunday) By that evening I was coughing pretty hard and all night it racked my entire body so much that my back was cramping and my poor prego tummy ligaments were pulling. My ribs (lungs) hurt so bad I thought for sure they were going to collapse. One of the worst pains I've ever experienced, EVER. I go into the doctor on Tuesday morning. It's bronchitis. I get antibiotics. Chad's still getting worse as of today (Thursday) and now Kyla and Chase have fevers and coughs and are going to the doctor this morning. Hopefully they are easy to fix and Chad can pick up some new antibiotics that will work this time.

I wish I had a happy ending to my story. Maybe next week I'll be able to follow up with the happy ending. I'm frustrated with this season of sickness. I've tried everything to disinfect our house!! Even in our sickly state Chad wants to just pack up and go somewhere warm and get out of this yucky air and away from all the illness that seems to be haunting us.

Mommy Discovery

I have had an epiphany. I have come to this revelation through trial and error and confusion only to be figuratively struck with it upside my head while eating breakfast.

My son has an objection to change.

I know it's not something life altering...well maybe it is... altering in a sense that I need to slightly change my tactics. Leading up to said epiphany...

Chase has a way of doing things. He sleeps on the floor at the foot of our bed every night. I have tried over and over and over to get him to sleep in his own room for ....well, forever! Several occasions have led to small victories of a few months of him actually sleeping in his own room - all alone - and then somehow (I blame Daddy) he gets his way once and then the streak of good luck is over! Daija went through a similar dilemma until Kyla was born and we moved them both out of our room together which worked quite well. So instead of being the mean Mommy that I always claim I am. I have designed a little "doggy" bed on the floor for him and officially given up until Collin is born and we move them out together.

Chase has a jacket. Poor word choice - I always called it his "coat" when I would ask him to put it on during the chilly fall months. Normally I would not have thought this was such an issue. Until it started to snow. The BIG blizzard of the century is breathing down our necks and I decide I HAVE to go to WalMart RIGHT NOW and get Chase a coat before the big one hits. Well, I find a wonderful, black, very thick, and warm coat for $13. (Momma scores!) Later that day we are trying to get out the door and I proudly announce "this coat is for YOU!" to Chase. To which he replies "NO- I want my blue one!". Hmmm... I eventually wrestle him into the coat (the real black one) but we continued to have this debate every time he had to put his coat on for several days. FYI: He now wears it just fine...but it took some convincing it was HIS "coat".

The newest predicament that made me realize my naivete's has been a blanket. Chase has a "blankie". He is the first of my children to find such an attachment to any object. None of them ever took a nook or sucked their thumbs or ....had a blankie. Until now. I am aware of his need of blankie. (although I admit I hate that word...) Every time he gets hurt he cries for blankie. Every time he gets in trouble he cries for blankie. He will NOT sleep without it - no matter what. He takes it in the car with him. He carries it around the house. Well, as you can imagine, Chase is getting bigger. He is outgrowing blankie. It is no longer suitable to keep him adequately warm at night and I have tried to add another blanket on top. He refuses. I sneak one on him after he's asleep. He wakes up, gets MAD, and until JUST blankie is on him will not go back to sleep.

Enter - Spiderman Blanket.

I (in my genius-ness) decide if I get a bigger blanket with something COOL on it then he will instantly LOVE it and let me add it to blankie. Not replace. I'm not that cruel.

He hates it.

Refuses to use it other than as a play toy to jump onto off of the couch.

Last night I finally had a small victory. He let me put spiderman UNDER him and blankie on top. YAY!! Can you hear the Hallelujah chorus??? I think if I slowly keep having small victories like this it will lead up to the day (just like with the coat) that he will finally be ok with having Spiderman AND Blankie together at last!

Now for potty training..... (dun dun dun....)

Daija is 7

My little Daija is 7! I can't believe it...

here's her cake.

Daija's Birthday Cake

This was time consuming but sooo much fun! Chad helped me a ton. The design concept is mostly his. The sweat of work is mostly mine. :) It was a great team effort and it turned out great! Not the neatest, cleanest work in cake terms but extremely awesome to a 7 yr old!

read - if you dare...

Smells stay in your nose way after you "get rid" of the cause of the smell.

That being said....

Did you know that when you leave rice-a-roni in the fridge for too long it turns black?
Did you know when you leave mixed veggies in the fridge for too long carrots turn white?
Did you know macaroni and cheese stands up surprisingly well...except for the clear slimy stuff all over it....?
Did you know that I would rather throw away tupperware rather than find out what the... what is that in there?!?!

Set the dishwasher on Sanitize, extra hot wash, hand wash a pot just to get the smell of lemons from the dish soap, and then wash your hands with extra bath and body works Vanilla Brown Sugar hand soap, and THEN spray the kitchen down with Fabreeze.
It's STILL IN MY NOSE!!!!

No. I did not clean out MY fridge today. (I would never let it get like that!....)
Yes. You can come see how awesomely clean it is.
LOL

I love CLEARANCE!

Call me cheap. Call me a penny pincher. Call me married to a penny pincher! I don't care what you call me....but I LOVE ClEaRaNcE!!!

Thanks to a friends' tip. I was able to go to Babies R Us today and find some AWESOME deals. If I had more money I would have found MORE deals. BUT I was able to constrain myself and after $22 (including tax mind you) I was able to find a NB outfit normally for $17 for $4.99, a 0-3 months pj set (with hat and bib) normally $10 for $2.90, a 0-3 pant/shirt outfit normally $15 for $4.99, a 3-6 shirt normally $10 for $2.90, and a 6-9 pant/shirt outfit normally $15 for $4.99. That's a $47 savings! Holy cowboys - awesome! Isn't that a killer deal???

I never find the good deals. My deals are usually the cheap stuff at Walmart. So for me to go to Babies R Us and get name brand for the same clearance I would get at Walmart is kinda a big deal for me. Thought I'd share. I'm quite pleased. :)

Two more....

Here's my other two little Christmas signs. I LOVE them. I think they are the best ones...I like them all but I have to say the BE GOOD one is my fav. I made four of each of them (except the name one...) and I'm going to try to sell them at a Craft Fair tomorrow. Wish me luck!!! :)

Crafty Craftiness...

I am trying to get some things made to try to sell at a Craft Fair this Saturday. Ambitious because I only decided to do this fair last week and have NOTHING ready for it. Guess I bit off a little more than I can chew and the stress is obvious... BUT I know it will turn out! I would love to know what you think? I'm going to sell them for $10 each. And have the option to order a custom one with their own last name on it.

Tell me what you think! :)

pics don't want to move....so they're staying at the beginning...

It's (going to be) a BOY!!!!

I am officially HALF DONE!!!!

With a little drama ... we found out what we are having! IT's a BOY!!! :) We ended up going into the doctor a few weeks ago after I got the 24 hour flu. It didn't last long, but it was enough to dehydrate me so much that I needed two bags of IV. It was rough, but when we looked at the baby to make sure everything was fine we found out that there's a little extra something in between the leggies. It was the silver lining on the clouds for sure!

We have chosen a name. Believe me it was definitely the hardest choice out of all our kids by far! But we finally have settled on....

Collin Miles Barrett

I think it's awesome! And when you write it out with all the other kids names it looks great!

Daija Barrett

Kyla Barrett

Chase Cavrin Barrett

Collin Miles Barrett

Don't you love my little list?!? It's getting to be quite the list hu? But I love my babies. And I can't wait to meet our new little bundle of joy!

I've been feeling him kick for a couple weeks now. It's just light little kicks. Too light for Chad to feel yet, but it's funny how reassuring it is to feel those little nudges. Makes me feel like everything is ok in there. :) I can't wait for Chad to be able to feel. Honestly I don't know how much he really "cares". Not that he doesn't...more that he is just better at the holding and caring after the birth and you can AcTuAlLy hold the baby. :)

Keep you posted ....

cute pics and new-ish bed

In the (almost) four years we've lived in our house we have not had curtains in our bedroom. Blinds yes. Curtains no. Chad has wanted to move our bed to the window. So I found these beautiful curtains on CLEARANCE. (I LOVE clearance...)

My parents bought my new bedding for my birthday. I love the color. Now if my walls weren't so boring...hmmm....

And I know that you love my half naked kids and messy bedroom...I'm still organizing...and getting ready for the day. :) Here's a close up of the black pattern...
What do you think??

Ok...I know I've done a ton of post pics for our anniversary. But this is what we looked like for our actual anniversary date night. I couldn't help but post them... My hair was quite nice. :)

I love when spur of the moment pics turn out absolutely perfect!!!! Chase is seriously the most adorable little boy I know. (I know I'm slightly biased...but you know...)

Have a great weekend everybody!!!!!

October 18, 2002

Today is my anniversary! :)

I know I did a huge post on this already with our trip to the temple and all. But I felt like it would be wrong to just not acknowledge today ...on today.

I can't believe it's been 8 years. It's weird to me to think back and see how young and naive we were when we got married. At least we made some good decisions along the way. :) It's hard to believe we have 3 1/2 kids already. We are so excited to have our next little baby. (o ya... i have an announcement concerning that too...but we'll save it for a different post)

I've debated on how long to make this post. Do I want to look back on the last 8 years? Or keep it short and sweet? Let's do a little of both.

We got married on a beautiful fall day. This year the colors haven't changed and fallen quite yet. But on our day they were gorgeous and fallen on the ground which made for beautiful pictures. It was warm enough not to need a jacket. Seriously couldn't have been a better day! Besides forgetting my white shoes in the car everything went really well. I don't remember anything going wrong. We were on time for everything. Our reception went off without a hitch and we had many people show up to wish us well.

Our honeymoon was quite delightful. (Besides the obvious activities...) We had a great time. We rented this amazing house out in the middle of NO WHERE. We took a helicopter ride through Bryce Canyon. It was breath taking and the tops had snow covered peaks. We enjoyed a fun hike up The Narrows, in Zions. It was such a beautiful time of year to go. Not busy with tourists, not too hot, barely cold, and this cute, little, old, Chinese guy took our picture for us.

Life has certainly caught up to us. We've moved several times. We're having our 4th child. The most important thing I can say though, is we made it through our 7 years and on to 8! I will admit this last year has been difficult at times. Thankfully I can say, though, I feel closer to Chad now than ever before. He is truly my best friend. He knows me. I know him. We get each other and understand what each of us needs and wants. We work together to make life better for our little family. I can't wait to enjoy the next 8 years and 8 years more after that and 8 more after that. :)

8 Years Anniversary

Last Sunday we were able to go down to the Mt Timpanogos Temple and visit the grounds. 8 years ago on October 18th, 2002 Chad and I were sealed for forever. :) We haven't been back to our temple since our wedding day and it was wonderful to take the children and get some beautiful pictures. I know this is a long post. But these are some of my favorite pics!Our beautiful temple.

Kyla is such a beauty.

Chase thought doing this was so funny. And I really LoVe how the pic turned out! :)

We actually got a pic together - thanks to Daija and her super camera skills. hehehe

Me and all my kiddos. I love Mommy & Kids pics.

Just me.

Chase being silly. Unfortunately he fell off the ledge a little while after this and scratched his face. We decided we were done after that and came home. :)

Daija and Kyla being...well, Daija and Kyla. They are such little posers. lol

After like 100 pics we actually got a GOOD family pic! Going in our living room for sure!

Chase thought he was so funny showing off his stick. But that cheesy grin is too much to pass up!

Gorgeous Daija. Chad is such a good photographer...

Proud of himself for running down the hill and not falling down the hill. He did it over and over again, cheering for himself every time he made it down safely. Boys...

No these aren't in any particular order. But I hope you enjoyed them a little. I love my kids so much. I love my wonderful husband. He takes such good care of us. 8 years looking forward seems like such a long time. But looking back on our last 8 years seems like it went so fast! I am so excited to continue our lives together. It's so nice to be happy.

Corn Maze and Crazy Hair Day

Ok...all my pics loaded backwards...but what the heck let's just roll with it...

Daija had a crazy hair day for Red Ribbon Week. She had a blast doing all of the activities like crazy sock day, hat day, and especially loved wearing jeans to school on Friday. I just had to get a picture of her hair. It was awesome! I think she was a little nervous to go to school so crazy but after getting a ride to school from Daddy on the motorcycle it did go down a bit. Then everyone else had crazy hair too so she didn't feel bad at all. :)

We went to this cute little corn maze in West Haven (i think that's where it is...). It was a fun little maze that we got totally lost inside. And for a moment I did start to worry that we were really lost, but we made it out alive. :) They had this giant slide that looked harmless enough. We all went down as a family and it was sooo much fun! It was faster than we thought and the kids LOVED it!


We let Chase lead the way at first. Every time we came to a crossroads he got to pick which way to go. It was funny and he LOVED being in charge. :)

Daddy and Chase...they are so cute!

This is actually a pic just as we entered the maze. I love Chad and all his little ducklings...

Baby Bump

So everyone keeps asking for belly pics. I've been avoiding it quite honestly. I know I am extremely GIGANTIC. But without further ado...here is my belly.

I'm at 15 weeks ~ Now comes the "growing" stage!?...sheesh!

I've come to realize that after you have one kid; each kid after that you get bigger. I don't mean that you have to keep that weight AfTeR the baby's born but I do mean that your body goes, "O I've done this before!" and immediately starts to prep for carry/delivery. This means that apparently, by the time you are having your fourth child, you look like you're about halfway done LONG before you are actually halfway done.

(Proof? I've had about 10 people ask me in the last two weeks if I know what I'm having yet? umm...well you don't find that out until 18 weeks and I'm only 13! But thanks...)

Unless you are my neighbor who just had her fourth and was so stinking skinny she looked like she had just shoved a basketball under her shirt for fun...BUT we aren't going to get into that!

Chad and I have had much debate on if we want to find out what we are having this time. We have two girls and a boy so far. It doesn't really matter what we have this time...right??

WRONG! I'm DYING to find out! Without too many boring insurance details let's just say it will cost us $200 to find out what we're having.

That's how much an ultrasond costs. In case you were wondering...

So we've debated really, on whether or not we want to spend the money and pretend that we want to be surprised. Ya... I'm pretty sure at this point... We are going to spend the money and just find out! We find out right before Halloween...I'm soooo excited for Halloween.

Another reason I want to find out is that I've told Chad I just want baby stuff for Christmas. I think it would be the perfect way to get excited for the arrival of another baby. (Even more than we already are...) And he can't really get me a whole lot if we don't know what it is!!! ....see my point? :)

September so far...

So apparently my prego brain doesn't work anymore. Every time I think about doing a new post I blank about if I have anything to write about... So... here's an attempt. Cause I need to catch up. Believe it or not. I do stuff. I feel so busy all the time and yet... hmmm....what do I do?

Last time I updated I included Chad's birthday. So since then...

Daija is doing wonderfully in school. She's doing choir and comes home every Friday singing Christmas songs. It's fun to hear her talk about what she learns in school. She LoVeS to learn and actually enjoys her homework and wants to do more when we're done.

Kyla has a hard time keeping busy while Daija's gone at school. Probably partially because Mommy is lazy and doesn't like to get messy things out for her to play with. You know it would be great to let her paint, play with play dough, color, etc... Yet I don't let her do it enough. I have extra kids a couple times a week and it takes it all out of me. I need to be more dedicated to let her do more... plan a day that she just do a bunch of art. She would LOVE it!

Chase is growing in leaps and bounds and talking better and better every day! It's rare that I don't know what he's saying. And he repeats things almost perfectly. He loves to watch the Letter Factory and sings the songs with every letter. It's fun and hopefully he's actually learning. I have had to rededicate meals to include a fruit and veggie at every meal. Chase is having major issues with constipation. It's so sad. Kyla had the same problems until she was potty trained. Hopefully Chase will be better when he's potty trained but he's just not ready. We've tried a couple times and no luck so far. But I hope up-ing his veggies/fruit and being consistent with Miralax it will really help. Wish me luck cause it's quite frustrating...

My birthday was on the 16th. Nothing too special really. In fact my actual birthday was stressful and no fun but I really was spoiled for like a week and a half! hehehe Which doesn't bother me at all. :) I got some awesome new piano music to work on. Flight of the Bumblebee....which is very intimidating and I am not sure if I will EVER be able to play it right but so far I can play the right hand on the first page well enough that I'm trying to speed it up. O dear...it's going to be a slow process. BUT worth it if I ever get it down. :) My parents also bought me a new bed set! I have wanted a new one forever! It's a beautiful, dark red sheet set with a comforter. It's like a red on red stripe and just elegant. I told Chad I feel all grown up in our mature, pretty bed now.

I can't believe I'm 14 weeks into this pregnancy. I know I've got a ways to go but overall it seems like it's going by faster than others. I don't obsess every day about how awful things are. Probably because I'm so busy taking care of the rest of the chillins that I don't really remember. Besides the big belly (I swear I look half done already!!!) and feeling sick/tired all the time I don't have that many reminders. On October 22 we go to find out what we are having. I am sooo excited to find out! I have to admit I wish I knew now!

We are finishing the basement. It will be the girls' bedroom. We are going to make it the most awesome girl room you've ever seen! I can't wait to post pics when it's done! We are going to try to paint a mural on one wall of a castle wall with a climbing vine going up it. The rest of the walls will be this gorgeous purple/pink color. I'm making different crafts that hopefully turn out. And we are spray painting their beds white. They are excited and I have to admit it will be a little weird to have the whole house done! To not have anything unfinished will be liberating. Chase and the new baby will go in Daija and Kyla's old room. And Chase's tiny room will become the office/craft room. Which will be extremely AWESOME to have it all organized. :) Yay!

I suppose besides all the tedious every day stuff that goes on around here that's really all. Chad and I are starting an advertising company. We are still working out the details so I can't really expand on it too much yet. Not until we know what we're doing!!! hehehe

Pictures and more updates to come. Bye all readers for now...

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I've been neglecting my blog. I've been so consumed with trying to get anything done on a day to day basis I guess to take the brain power to write anything down is just too much to handle. So here's my attempt to update. Even though off the top of my head we aren't up to too much.

Daija started first grade! I do have pics ....somewhere....downloading....

Ok for real. The second day Daddy took her on the motorcycle! :) The first three days of school were short days. We've made it through the first week of full days and every morning she "wakes" up and says...."I don't want to go today..." And then she wakes up and gets ready and she's excited for the day. :) She drives me crazy, but she's so good getting ready on time....even if Mommy wakes her up late. Every night she makes her own lunch (with Mommy's help...or it would all be snacks in there!) It's so helpful cause it's one thing I don't have to worry about. Now if we can manage to start getting her clothes laid out the night before we would be set!

My pregnancy is going well. Minus the sickness. Minus the headaches. Minus the gas and constipation. Minus the exhaustion. Minus the heartburn. Minus the Mommy....LOL The baby is doing great! :) I'm 11 weeks along now. I go back in to the doc on September 13th. A better update on baby then.

Chad had a birthday! August 23rd Chad turned 32. I think birthdays for him have lost their appeal. I think until he turned 30.... I haven't quite got to the unexcited phase yet. September 16th I turn 27. Seems old. Guess we'll see... BUT back to Chad. We surprised him with a cake and ice cream at his parents house. His birthday was on a Monday and he planned on mowing the lawn when he got home. That is just not fair to have to do that.... So it only took me an hour and half, 5 breaks to empty the bag and take 5 mins or more for ice water, and he didn't have to do it when he got home! :) Yay!

We were able to take a nice day date the Saturday before and enjoy some quality time together. Chad got some new motorcycle gloves. His old ones had holes in the fingers.

So he really needed them. :)

My adorable Kyla. She has turned into such a good helper when Daija is gone all day to school.

Now if only I can get her to play nice with Chase.... :)

My handsome little Chase. I can't believe how big he's getting. And he's talking sooo well!

Gideon Cole

I have a new nephew! I found out RIGHT after he was born! And I thought I would die until I could annouce it to the world. You know it's just not right to tell all before the parents get to. :)

SO....DRUMROLL......

Introducing (without photos because I don't have any of my own...) Gideon Cole Thalman.
Born at home after 6 hours of labor at 11:26 am (Ohio time)
8 Lbs. 2 Oz and 19 3/4"

I love new babies! Gideon makes number 5 grandkiddo for my parents.
Mine will make #6. That's just weird... They are rackin' em up. And that's only from two of their 5 children so far.... :)

ah children...

Isn't it funny that we claim to know how to raise children? I have several - you would think I would know what I'm doing by now. How is it that the most important thing we could ever do in our entire existence is all up to trial and error? In my case lots of error...


My three (soon to be four) kids are all beautiful. I know the 4th one will be because of the odds...



They are so alike and so completely different all at the same time. How is that even possible? How does God sit up in the heaven's and look down and go...you would fit well with this family. And this mommy is going to teach you everything you need to know, with a little help from this daddy. Because you need both. I can't even imagine the challenge of not having both...


So I have been given 4 kiddos to train to be good adults. Hmmm... what does that mean exactly? To be a good adult? All those Primary answers will work... Go to church, be honest, don't be mean to people, respect your elders (including me), take good care of your body, be a good example for your siblings and friends - you never know who's watching you to see what you do, and all that fun stuff.


Daija is sweet. She is caring, extremely too smart for her own good - the girl ReMeMbErS everything!, and motherly (almost too motherly - no you can not tell them what to do!) and sensitive. She is Mommy's biggest helper. All the while being sassy, sneaky and trying to grow up too fast much like her mother-y. And even though she sinks like a rock in swimming lessons, I love her more than words can say.


Kyla is super cute. She is crazy and brave and smarter than she lets you believe - because she lets you believe that she is very, VeRy BlonDE! She has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is say "Please" with those big puppy dog eyes and he's gone. She is stubborn. You know that "I know exactly what I'm doing even if it's going to get me killed before I let you help me" kind of stubborn. My hope is to channel it for the better good....(I am willing to take good hints if you have any.)


Chase is hilarious. He lives to make his sisters laugh. -Can we say class clown here I come?- He's brave and fearless and physical in everything he does. From jumping down 4 steps (no mommy doesn't let him do that many!), doing somersaults, doing flips on the couches -he truly believes they are his jungle gym-, to begging Daddy for motorcycle rides for as long he can go and still throws a fit when he has to get off!, to having an addiction to running through sprinklers -so much so he will run down the street if he sees them on just to get wet! He has his sister's stubborness and every day tries to prove he "can do it" all by his big-boy self.


I'm sure the 4th one will be just as awesome. And while I know this post tends to glamorize motherhood. And I must say makes my kids seem like little angels... any mother knows that if you don't focus on the good then all hell breaks loose and you can get overwhelmed in the meantime. So pick your battles. Love them anyway. Appreciate the good times. And always remember they aren't yours. They are Heavenly Father's. And He expects you to take good care of them. Which means you can always turn to Him for help. And He's always going to know the good hints to give you. :)

Reaching Out...

Ok...So I need to vent a little. I am like the worst mom EVER!
Last Monday we started swimming lessons. All of us. Daija is in her second year and doing great! It's Kyla's first year. And Chase and I are in a Mommy & Me class.
I noticed yesterday that Kyla was just sitting on the steps and not doing anything. I tried to watch her and pay attention to what I was doing with Chase...unsuccessfully. I thought maybe it was just not her turn to do something. Today before class I went over to her teacher and asked how Kyla was doing in class. She told me the Kyla is not doing what the other kids are doing. So I told her to make her do it. Halfway through class today I look over to check on Kyla (again - I had noticed earlier her teacher making her jump in which is good) and saw her sitting on the steps and crying (not with her class who was walking along the wall). Hmmmm.... I told my teacher that I would be right back. I go over and get Kyla - who clings to every part of me almost exposing my boobs in the public pool (darn prego boobs won't stay in the halter...note to self: need a new swimsuit...) and I try to calm her down. She's TERRIFIED. So I try to get her to go to class with me and Chase. She won't even do what we are doing in the BABY class. So the teacher (who doesn't care if kids cry) take her and dunks her under to get her to blow bubbles; which is what the rest of us are doing... It doesn't go over well. And since Kyla is freaking out, Chase refuses to behave, and they are both screaming and scaring all the little babies.

Not. Cool...

Chase's teacher is nice enough to take him the remainder of class. He wasn't too happy about it but LOVED blowing actual bubbles with her and was content. Finally...

So I take Kyla to the part of the baby pool where she can touch the bottom. As soon as she realizes that she could touch she calms down. So now I'm stuck with a no win situation. Do I take Chase out of his class so I can pay attention to Kyla and try to encourage her to participate in her class? I can't take both Kyla and Chase to the baby class at the same time. It's not fair to the other kids, or the teacher to have to take Chase, or to Chase cause he's supposed to be with me. That's the whole point...MOMMY and ME. But I feel like I've completely skipped supporting Kyla and thrown her into that unknown realm of middle child syndrome without even realizing it. I have to get her out of there and back into the "mommy loves you as much as everyone else". It was hard for me to be nice today. It was quite embarrassing and distracting to everyone in the pool that could hear her sCrEmInG! So what do I do???? I need advice from better parents than me.... help me out people!

PS...just so it doesn't look I've forgotten Daija. She's doing great! :) YAY!!!! She even bobs under the water when the teacher asks her to...even though she doesn't like it.

Chad's photos

I wanted to take the opportunity to brag about my husband a little bit. He's becoming quite the photographer. In no particular order...(with slight explanations...)

We went hiking a couple weeks ago. I just did a big post on the hike. I know a couple of the pics are repeats but Chad is a great photographer and he took them all. And there was a big rock too...

This one is Chad's favorite. It's also the last one he took on the way down. The lighting is really pretty. I love early morning light. :)

He took some pics at his parents house. His mom has an amazing garden.

Before the birds (and Kelly) got to them all Chad got a great pic of them. This is one my absolute favorite ones he's ever taken so far!

We went on a nice drive and I made him take a pic of me. Luckily my makeup was done that day. Just couldn't let it go to waste...have I posted this one? I think so....o well.

And last but not least...

I actually took this pic. :) This is my little project for the next 32 weeks or so. LOL

I designed this adorable little onesie with hopes to surprise Chad. He wasn't surprised,

but the onesie is just too cute not to share.

Coming to the Barrett Home in March 2011.

HiKiNg...

My pics are all out of order...literally backwards. BUT they are all beautiful and I'm not going to fix them. :) On the 5th (Monday), the last day my sister, Raeanne was here we were able to get up super early (too early) and go hiking up Adam's Canyon. Anyone who lives or has lived in Utah knows that it's in Kaysville and has a giant waterfall at the very top. It's not too far (about 3.5 miles round trip), and in an attempt to be more outgoing, live an active lifestyle, and be more outdoor-sy type people, Chad and I have decided that every weekend we are going to do a different hike in our area. We have lived in Utah most of our lives and almost out entire married life together (almost 8 years) and we haven't seen hardly any of it. So before we move any where else (whether that's soon or not only the Big Guy Upstairs knows) we are going to make the most of it.

As you can see the hike was BEAUTIFUL. The kids did extremely well since this was only the 2nd time we have EVER hiked with them. Daija was quite the trooper. Kyla loved when we would stop so she could explore rather than walk. And Chase loved being carried....most of the time. Unless he didn't want to be carried which then Chad carried him...most of the way up. And I carried him most of the way down. Except for that one time, when he wanted to walk...and almost tripped and fell down the mountain...but didn't so we wont' talk about it!

....please continue after looking at some pics...
Having another adult to hold a child's hand was WAY better than if Chad and I had tried to go alone! Raeanne basically kept tabs on Daija and helped her when it got hard. Thanks Rae!!!

We found this AwEsOmE log that had "seats" cut out of it. It was our favorite spot we stopped at. The area was big enough the kids could run around and I didn't have to worry that they might fall down a cliff or slip into the stream. We stopped here for treats and drinks and some really cute pics. :)

The kids loved stopping here and throwing rocks into the running water. The pic is kinda small but you can see all of us. I'm glad Raeanne was able to get a pic of our entire family instead of always having one of us missing. :)

Hiking....hiking...hiking.... Kyla told me the her "legs were hurting" when we were almost to the top. Not bad for a basically first hike.

Chad was able to get some amazing pics. I love nature and the fact that none of it bit us while we were out in it made it even better. In fact we only saw mosquitoes (ok well I know I got bit once...nothing serious though) and a little lizard on the way down. Besides the many dogs with their hikers there wasn't anything else we saw. The water was awesome and cool. The kids LOVED it and since we had such a good time they will actually look forward to the next hike which, let me tell you as a mother, is priceless.
We didn't actually get to the very tip top because the hike got too scary for Chad to carry Chase and not have two hands to hold on to something so they didn't fall to certain death. We could almost see the falls around a corner, but not well enough to get a picture. Which is slightly disappointing, the goal was to get to the falls! But we were close and it wasn't worth the risk of my family. :) We will try again later. Maybe when we can get a couple more adults to help hand off kids and such! On the way down I held Chase most the time because Kyla wanted Daddy. He fell asleep with about a 1/4 of the way down still to go. Can I just say...Carrying dead weight down a steep hill is HARD! But we made it!

Today...being the next day...I am SORE. I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning. Which is OK with me. :) My fat butt needs it. And I hope that doing these hikes helps build an everlasting love of being active in my children. I've gotten lazy in my old age. No blame on my parents. We were quite active growing up. But Chad's parents weren't. Not their fault they don't enjoy it. But we do and we are very excited about the little family we envision ourselves becoming. Stay tuned to see more posts about our mini adventures!!! :)