THE PERRY'S

A New Year!

2012-01-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

Here are a few cute videos of some of the things the kids are into right now. Hope you enjoy!

I have been inspired by some family members to start updating my blog on a regular basis. I have decided to keep it simple and start from now, rather than try to go back and update pictures of the last 6 months that I have missed. I also would like to blog once a week or at least every other week. Therefor, my posts may not be interesting every week, but they will be nice and short and should never get too overwhelming. I may not always have a lot of pictures, but I will try to post at least a couple every week. Like I have mentioned before, my blog is more or less for my sake of keeping a journal. I would like to start printing my blog into a book every year and wa-la...my journal. I do hope, however; that this will also be a means for friends and family, near and far, to keep in touch with our little family.

Chris: Chris is doing very well at his job, which allows him to work from home. He works for, I believe 3 years now, for a research company that is in the business of getting military documents for veterans. We are very fortunate to be able to eat every meal (or at least most) with him. He does work hard, and has his own office, but when he has a few minutes to spare, he comes in to say hello and interact with his family. And of course, I have the ability to go in just about any time I want to have a conversation with him or just enjoy his company. Not to mention the money we have saved being able to have one car, one cell phone, no work clothes, etc.

For years now, Chris has been talking about different entrepreneurship ideas. He has come up with an idea that really looks like it's going to fly. He and a friend, have spent several hours, ironing out all the details of their plan. They are getting closer and closer each day to it taking off. I have full faith that they will do great. I believe that within just a matter of a few weeks, maybe a month, it will finally take off running.

Chris is also going back to school. I am very proud of him, but what makes me even happier, is seeing the pride he has in himself. He is really focused and doing great. He should complete his bachelor's in Spring 2013.

He is such a great guy. He is a loving husband, a devoted father, a loyal employer, a successful entrepreneur, and a diligent student. He works at these all full-time! I love him so much and am so lucky to be married to such a great man.

Emily: I have been enjoying my time as a wife and mother. I am still substitute teaching, however, I have slowed down greatly. I realized this year that we only have a few months left with Aleigha home at all times before she starts school. Chris is jobs pays the bills and allows us to put a little into savings. We don't have the extra money to do anything too elaborate, but I'd rather not work and be able to spend this precious time at home with my children. When my kids are in school, I will have plenty of time to work if need be. As for now, though, I am going to enjoy every craft, every art project, and every game that my kids want to do. Okay...I may not enjoy every whine that is made in efforts to do these things, but I really do prefer to be home with them than working.

As the wife and mother of this household, I am responsible to what my family eats. After assessing the things that we consume on a daily basis, I have realized that we are far from healthy eaters. It is my goal this year to transform our eating habits, to create a life style that will extend the quality of health that we have. It seems that so many medical, physical, and mental health issues stem from one's diet. I am determined to give my children the best start. I wish I would have started this 4 years ago, but at least my kids are still young, and the sooner I start, the easier it will be for all of us, especially for them. I have found a 12 step program (1 step per month) called, '12 Steps to Whole Foods." It is a lifestyle that consists of eating whole foods (not processed) and 60-80% of those foods need to be raw (fresh fruits and veggies). The first month consists of drinking "green" smoothies. And let me tell you, they are delicious!

As well as eating a healthy diet, we feel that exercise is an important lifestyle change. Chris and I, for years, have gone in and out of work out phases. We are really trying hard this year to make it a habit for life. We try to go to the gym at least 3 days a week. Once the weather gets a little warmer, we will be excited to start exercising outside a bit more. We are letting the children know the importance of exercise by taking them to the gym with us once a week. One of us stays in the basketball court (which is rarely used on Saturday mornings) and plays tag, ball, and other games with the kids. They really enjoy going to "work-out" with mommy and daddy. Right now, we are in a competition that includes Katie and Wade. In fact, Katie and I are a team, and Chris and Wade are a team. The goal of our competition is for us all to improve our lifestyles while making exercising "fun." We are measuring the competition by the number of times working out together plus the biggest change in appearance. Teams get one point after both team members have spent time exercising at the gym. The biggest change in appearance is suppose to be judged by family members at the end of our 12 week plan. The winning team gets to take a day trip to a nearby ski resort. So far Chris and Wade's team are winning...by points that is; Katie and I are rockin' the bodies..lol jk.

Church: Chris and I both hold callings in our small church. Chris teaches priesthood, "The Teaching of the Prophets" on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of every month. I teach the youth Sunday school class. The kids enjoy going to primary. Last Sunday, our family was sick, and could not go to church. Aleigha was very sad and devastated over this. She started to cry, and through her tears said, "I have to go to primary, it is sooo important that I go!" I felt so bad. She did not understand why she couldn't go because by morning she was feeling good (however, all the kids were sick). The only way I could calm her was to tell her that church had been canceled because there were so many people that were sick. I felt horrible doing it. Her sweet soul though, came up with the brilliant idea, to have church at home. We dressed for the occasion, and we had a small primary lesson and sang a few songs at home. I am so glad to know that the gospel is so important to her. It makes me feel that we are doing something right.

Aleigha: She is so brilliant. I know that most parents are biased, and it is hard for me to explain, but Aleigha is beyond her 4 years of age. She uses logic to reason, she knows how to problem solve, she can hold a very intelligent conversation with adults. She is a very smart girl. I just hope that I can continue to foster her intelligence the way it will benefit her most. Sometimes she uses her intelligence in ways to deceive and manipulate the situation...so that scares me sometimes. She comes up with the most brilliant and witty comments some times. I am going to try to keep a record throughout the week of the funny things she says and then include it in my weekly blog. Some of the funny and wise things she has said this week:

Her favorite song right now is "Mary Did You Know." I showed her how to find the music videos on youtube via the ipad. That way she can listen to it any time she wants. She stumbles across the video that uses footage from the movie "Passion of the Christ." The first time she watched it, I had to turn it off because it was too much for her. I then saw her watching the same video a few hours later. I told her that she probably needed to turn it off because that was the one that made her sad. She told me, "I know those men were mean to Jesus, but it's okay, because that was part of the plan. That had to happen so he could die for us and that we can be with him again."

This past weekend we celebrated Kenli's first birthday I was starting to stress because I couldn't find some of the ingredients for the cake. Aleigha was helping me the night before by putting all the groceries away. The morning of the party when she wakes up I asked her this morning if she found the oreos for Kenli's cake when she was putting away the groceries last night. She informed me that she never saw them. I told her I must of left them in Katie's car or at the store. She quickly responded, "Oh don't worry. I've got a plan. We'll call Katie, if they are in her car, we can go get them and make her the orea cake. If they are not there, and you left them at the store, we'll just make an orange cake. It's not a big deal mom. We'll get it worked out."

We were talking about how our kids have never been in a diaper higher than size 3, more or less b/c how small they are.
Chris says to Aleigha, "Aleigha, you could probably still fit in a size 3 diaper."
Aleigha, "Yeah, I could wear it, but it would give me a wedgie."

Aleigha asked me: "When Jesus comes back, can we meet Him, and Mary, and Joseph?"
Me: "I'm sure we could. That would be great, wouldn't it."
Aleigha: "Yes, I am soo excited. We can even invite them for dinner."
She later told my mom (I was no where around and have been told this part by my mom): "When Jesus comes back, we are going to have Him, and Mary and Joseph over for dinner. I can't wait, but I'm pretty scared too, I've never met them before."

Aleigha: "I'm not yelling, I just have a loud voice."

Since Christmas, Aleigha has been obsessed with the song, "Mary Did You Know." She is always singing the part, "Mary, did you know, this child that you deliver, will soon deliver you."
This morning she asked me what delivered means. I explained the definition in different concepts. Ie: mailman delivering mail, pizza boy delivering pizza, and a mother delivering a child. I then asked a few questions to make sure she understood me. She did. But then asks, "So, Mary delivered Jesus."
Me: "Yes, that's right."
Aleigha: "Okay, I understand that, but HOW did Jesus deliver MARY??"

She astounds us with some of the things she says, and other times, just makes us bust out laughing.

Brenton: I don't even know where to start with this little guy. His talking has really developed over the last few months. He also says some pretty hilarious things, I will post them as well. He is our happy little guy. His smile is so unbelievably contagious. He can brighten anyone's day with just one smile. He loves his sisters soo much. He always wants to do what they are doing...even if that's playing dress up or painting nails. However, he is all boy! He teases Aleigha and Aubrey to no end sometimes, calling them "stinky feet," "turkey butt," "butt muncher," and the list goes on. He knows ways to push their buttons. Although this causes a lot of fights, it's pretty funny to see him deliberately torment them (we try to hide our smiles though). Brenton also has some odd obsessions at this moment in his life. The main one, being his obsession with chap stick. He wakes in his sleep crying for his chap stick. He will tear apart his bed and the couches looking for them. And the worse is, that he wants different ones at different times for no rhythm or reason. So if he can't find the one he wants, we can't console him with a different one. We have been trying to slowly break him of this. It's gotten a little better, but still a ways to go.
Brenton has been potty trained for almost 6 months, only wearing a diaper at night. However, for a reason, unknown to us, he is slightly regressing...having about one or two accidents a day. I am guessing his chap stick addiction and obsession is the underlying root of his regression. He is thinking too much about chap stick and not enough about having to pee.
Brenton LOVES superheros. Especially Spiderman. It is very cute to see him dress up, and run around the house yelling, "I Spida-man! A rescue! He does "flips" aka rolls on the floor trying to defeat his nemesis. He sticks out his hand to release his web, and even cases the wall! He is a great super hero.

Kenli: Kenli just turned 1 yesterday! Oh how time as flown. She is such a happy, pleasant baby. She is hitting milestones like crazy. Here is what I wrote yesterday about her:
One year ago, in the wee hours of the morning, almost making her entrance w/o the doctor, Miss Kenli decided it was time to come into this world. Her entrance should have been a good indication of her personality. Out of three happy, easy babies, she was the most laid back, the most happy baby. However, in the last few months, she has showed us her strong and independent personality...much of what we saw the morning she was born. She is still a very happy child, but one who knows what she wants, and isn't afraid to let others know either. She is full of love for others. She plays with her brother and sister almost as if there is no age difference. Last night she took her first steps, she has 2 teeth (I know...not much for a one yr old..haha) and a few more about to surface, she signs several words, and is distinctly trying to talk. I have 3 children, ages 4 and under, and technically, none of them are babies. I have one preschooler and two toddlers. Excited for the next stage...but sad to see the time pass. Happy Birthday to my beautiful, happy, and strong little girl...who forever in my heart, will be my baby. Happy Birthday Kenli Marie!

Today Kenli learned to dance w/out holding onto anything. She also learned that slapping herself in the face is pretty funny. She continues to make us laugh by doing a fake, forced laugh just to get us to laugh. She's a pretty funny girl.

I can honestly say, that I am glad I had my kids so close in age. They are truly each others best friends. They do have their knock out, drag down fights, but they really enjoy each others company.

I know that I have written a lot this week. But now that I have the main happenings in our life, things should be much shorter in the following weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Spring Time

2011-06-28T21:50:00.001-04:00

Of course, I have once again. let my blog slip to the back of my mind and get way out dated. No need to mention that our lives with 3 kids age 3 and under, is quite busy. There is a lot going on and a lot that has happened in the last few months. The best way to update is to just post pictures with comments that explain a little bit of what has happened. I'm also going to write a brief exert of each of the kids. Enjoy!

Aleigha: She is doing great. She blows our minds with the hilarious and brilliant things that come out of her mouth. She is very intelligent. She just finished her first season of dance. We haven't decided if we are going to keep her in it or not, but she really loves it. She is a great help with her little brother and sister. She is starting to get a bit of an attitude, and we are trying to steer that in the right direction. But overall, she is still our loving, logic reasoning little girl.

Brenton: Once Brenton hit two, it was like he hit every developmental milestone with a vengeance that occurs at this age. His talking has increased and has got a little more clear. He actually eats his food rather than throw it across the table. His potty training is coming along quite nicely....still working on it, but he's doing a lot better than I thought.

Kenli: She just turned 5 months old. She can roll over in both directions now (belly to back-about a month old, and back to belly-4 1/2 months old) She is scooting across the floor...in no particular direction yet...just where ever her little legs take her. She gave up her binki about 2 weeks ago. We are still occasionally trying to give it to her (for our own sanity), but she refuses it. She is a very happy, pleasant little girl.

Easter morning...the kids baskets! The Easter bunny hid the eggs in our house b/c it had rained a whole lot. The kids absolutely had a blast searching for the eggs. Brenton's expression and face was priceless when he first saw everything the Easter bunny left. Unfortunately, he was the first of the kids to wake up and I didn't know he was awake until he came out into the living room, and of course I didn't have the camera ready at that point. But I will never forget it!

Brenton's doctor cap and mask that the bunny left in his basket

My little Easter bunnies

me and my girls

of course Chris had to change the second church was over...he was sporting yellow, so we were all in a different spring time pastel

our beautiful baby boy who is growing so quickly

at a small town circus...the kids were able to sit up right by the ring...they absolutely LOVED it!!

Once the circus was over, these three hadn't gotten enough yet, so they decided to take over!

My baby...so beautiful and peaceful. Kenli is such a calm and relaxed baby. Everyone who spends just a few minutes with her is surprised by her incredible disposition. She makes having three kids easy (well...i'd be lying if I said it was easy...but she hasn't made it any more difficult.) We are very lucky!

Aleigha of course is rocking it like always. This is her lego house that she made 100% on her own! Very proud of her.

This was our pet for about an hour. Aubrey named it "froggy" although she knew very well that it was a turtle. Aleigha named it "Maxy Jaxy"

This is what happens when daddy is left in charge. But hey, why have a sand box if you can't have fun...right?

May 28, 2011. Aleigha had been practicing all year for her recital. We were stressing a little bit over all the money we had put into dance for a 3 year old, and worried how much it was going to go up every year. Then, the night of the recital, made it all soooo worth it!! She loved it!! She did such an incredible job!! We were soo proud of her as she was of herself. She was soo nervous and scared before hand, but you'd never know it once she was up there. And the recital was nothing but small...a couple hundred people were there cheering them all on, and they rocked it!!

Below: Couldn't be prouder of the rose we gave her....and it came from our own back yard, in our very own rose bush! (Some of the petals fell off before we gave it to her..so it's a bit smaller than it was, but she couldn't care less)

Strawberry picking-Brenton would pick one, take a bite, then toss it. But he enjoyed every minute of it! Now he loves eating the frozen strawberries that he helped picked. He calls them "berry balls."

Even daddy and Uncle Wade were excited to go strawberry picking. It has become a family tradition over the past few years, and it is something we look forward to doing every year now.

Brenton's birthday (some how got out of order)-he was soo excited that the day revolved around him!

The kids hard at work picking strawberries...or maybe putting shoes on??

"But MOM....HE MADE me eat it!!!!"

our inside zoo...rainy day activity

seriously Brenton?!?! we might only have one boy, and he might like to play dress up and have tea parties w/ his big sister....but he is ALL boy

swimming and rockin' the shades

Brenton...stylin' of course...he picked this hat out all on his own. He has never liked to keep hats on, but I was trying them all on him anyways. He kept throwing them off saying "too mall, too big, too mall." Then he pointed to the red one, and insisted that we tried that one on next. I had to move all the other hats off the rack to get to the red one. And once it was one, he wouldn't take it off. He kept it on the whole time at the store, and all day after that.

Although Aubrey's face doesn't look that relaxed in this picture...she LOVED this raft. She floated around the whole pool in this little ring.

Aleigha in her awesome sunglasses....seriously, if i could get away with big sunglasses, i would so wear these

sleeping pool side...i can't help but smile when i see this picture of her

the masks they made at story hour on the Africa theme...Brenton's a hippo, and Aleigha a snake?? she says frog...which i suppose will work as well

seriously...this boy knows how to clean up...when he's not running around (or sprawled out on the couch) with his hand down his pants...he looks really sharp

I don't know what to say for this picture because I can't get over the nastiness of Brenton's shoes...lol

the kids around the first camp fire in our very own back yard since we've moved in

This picture is posted to help me always remember the story behind it. Brenton and Aleigha were watching tv in her room. Kenli was on the floor in the living room, while I was from room to room cleaning. I walked into the living room to find Kenli's playmat lacking a very important Kenli. I rush into Aleigha's room, to find this scene. Not only did Aleigha carry her from the living room to her room, she also put her in a sitting up position to watch tv. (note: Aleigha's room is about 35 feet or so from out living room)

again a little out of order...Aleigha dancing

Brenton's birthday party...Chris picked this hat out for him with much love. Chris has recently picked up golfing, and he just had to get Brenton this hat when he saw it.

little cutie

Brenton got a bug collecting kit for his birthday...this is the apron that came along with it

Aleigha is becoming quite the bike rider :)

my beautiful mom with my beautiful Kenli

me and the kids with my Uncle Bob- In May, we went to NJ because I was in my best friend from childhood's wedding. It was a quick trip, but it was great to see family and friends. We had a very nice time, and were able to enjoy a beautiful wedding!

At the wedding, one of the most embarrassing moments of my life occurred. I was giving the toast in front of, oh i don't know...200 or 300 people. Aleigha came up with me. The second I started giving the toast...ALL eyes were on me, Aleigha decided she wanted to hide. Where do you ask??? She decided to just lift up my dress and climb underneath. I think I gave some a show that they weren't expecting. Of course, it got a good laugh, which embarrassed Aleigha, so she ran and hid under the table. I having to continue on with the toast, did not have the same luxury of hiding under the table. Although it was embarrassing, it gave for a really funny story, and a moment that will never be forgotten (although I probably would never forget the moment anyways).

Kenli's Photo Shoot

2011-03-29T13:42:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures that we had taken when Kenli was about 2 weeks old. We had a friend/photographer come to our home to take them. She also took a few family shots and some pictures of Aleigha and Brenton as well. We think she did an awesome job...and of course, she had 3 beautiful models. Hope you enjoyed them!

New Developments

2011-03-28T11:11:00.001-04:00

Life is very busy with 3 young children, but I am loving every minute of it...well, almost every minute. My days consist of cleaning, cooking, feeding, diapering, cleaning, cooking, feeding, diapering. I actcually made myself a sticker chart to make sure I am spending enough quality/learning time with Aleigha and Brenton....how sad is it that I have to have a sticker chart to spend time with my kids??? I felt like I was getting so caught up in the whole cleaning/cooking routine, that the time I did spend with the kids wasn't quality and that I wasn't teaching them like I should. So my chart consists of things like: literacy (ABC's), math (counting), exercise, music, art, creative play, dramatic play, etc. And I allow Aleigha to add the stickers so that's an added plus. I realize now, that I am able to get much more done around the house and spend the much needed time with each of the kids :). It has made life easier...and a lot less dreadful. So any of you who find yourself stuck in the same routine....make yourself a stick chart...it just might pay off.

Chris and I have started working out 3 days a week. I feel great after working out. I am so glad that we got back into that routine. I've gone in the gym w/ a migrane headache and have walked out feeling rejuvinated. It's also helping with those few extra baby pounds that I'm having a little harder losing this time around.

We are all doing really well. The kids are continuing to grow, and they amaze me each and every day.

Aleigha: almost 3 1/2, weighs 26 lbs (still a tiny little thing), loves her dance class and is doing great, also loves going to story hour at the library once a week, continues to blow our minds and sometimes almost pee our pants at the hilarious and profound things she says. She is an amazing little helper, and her fashion skills are turning out quite nice as she changes at least 4 times a day and choses her own outfits :).

Brenton: almost 22 months, weighs 21 lbs, for those of you who know him, he has always been a late bloomer. However, you have always seen his little mind working and the gears turning. He is a bright little boy. We always joke how Aleigha is going to be the lawyer and Brenton the doctor....we're awaiting to see how Kenli's personality develops...but I am sure we will feel she will be something amazing as well. Anyways, for months and months, the only thing Brenton would said was "What's this?" or "Whose this?" However, the last couple of months his vocabulary has grown a few words at a time. However, the last few weeks, his vocab has been growing like crazy. My favorite thing he says, "I wove you." He loves to play with his big sister and loves to cuddle with his little sister. He is such a loving little boy. I love his random kisses. He also loves to dance to music and even do the gymnastic moves that Aleigha teaches him...maybe he'll be like his Daddy and be in gymnastics when he's a little older.

Kenli: 2 months old, weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 3/4 inches at her 7 wk apt. On 3/21 (8 wks old) she rolled over for the first time from belly to back. She continued to roll over several times. Also this week, during belly time, she has straightened her legs and lifted her whole body, making a triange w/ the ground. I am amazed at how strong she is. She also does great at lifting her head, neck, and chest off the ground. We have gotten lucky again with such a pleasent little baby. She loves to interact with others and she smiles all the time. It amazes us and all those who know her how content and happy she is....even with Brenton and Aleigha climbing all over her. If she cries it's one of three reasons...she's had a blow out diaper (if it's not a blow out-she doesn't cry), she's hungry, or she's ready for bed. She also is a great sleeper. She has slept through the night (8 hours+) about 4 or 5 different times, and several nights over 7 hours, and rarely does she go less than 6 hours before waking up. I am very excited to see all the developments over the next few months.

As of right now, (and I say "as of right now" b/c it is subject to change) we believe Kenli is our last child. We both feel really good about our family right now, and it seems complete. However, saying "you're done" seems so final and sad. We don't want to say that until we know with 100% assurity that we're done...and who knows if we will ever say that. But as of right now, we are taking stronger means to not get pregnant. We will reassess our feelings and situation in a few more years. So, needless to say, I am trying to soak in all the major developments and hold on to them with Kenli, because she very well may be our last little baby.

As for Chris and I: Chris is still working hard at home. The company is doing very well which means Chris is doing very well. I just started going back to work as a substitute teacher (March 25th). I will probably work any where from 1-3 days a week, depending on how I am feeling. With working as a full time sub last semester, I have made a "home" in the middle school, so I am offered plenty of days to work in just that school alone. I have also been called as the youth Sunday school teacher at church. Things are going well so far with that...I just hope that I can teach them the way they deserve. We are also thinking about starting one or more business adventures-possibly getting another American Bulldog and breeding it with Thor. If anyone is interested in having an American Bulldog...come to us :).

Pictures to come.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

2011-02-18T00:33:00.002-05:00

This post is purely for posting pictures. Hope you all enjoy!

Funny video of Brenton laughing

Christmas photo

Breton=Joseph; Aleigha=Mary; Titan=baby Jesus

One of my family's Christmas traditions is to read and act out the story of Jesus' birth...this year we did not have many actors to choose from...this year our main stars: Aleigha, Brenton, and Titan

Such a handsome Joseph

They traveled such a long way to Bethlehem

obviously some of our pics are out of order

Christmas morning

Santa's thank you letter

Aleigha's new hat

Brenton starting out early with "HIS" chair..good thing Aleigha has one too

sledding and having a good time

about to make the trip down the hill

and off they go

"That was soo much fun...let's do it again!!"

enjoying his favorite treat...a lollipop

just can't help but to love these little ones

my in-laws at Christmas

they love their chairs...esp. when they are sitting together :)

my other in-laws at Christmas

the morning of her first dance class...she was sooo excited

waiting patiently for class to start

first moments w/ Kenli...such an incredible experience

he loves being a big brother

he is sooo in love with her :)

belly time

first time to church w/ Kenli

he decided he could share his chair w/ his favorite lil' gal

how can you not love this little guy

Titan and Kenli...2 months apart..maybe if Kenli was born first she would have a chance in size...doubt it though...Titan is just one big boy

Aunt Molly and Kenli

some more belly time

giving his girl kisses

how can you not love these kids :)

my beautiful "oldest" baby girl

love love love

Life As We Know It

2011-02-03T14:19:00.020-05:00

Aleigha and Aubrey about to go play in the snow

enjoying a day in the snow

snow bunnies making snow angels

our beautiful baby

Aleigha recently started dance classes..and she loves it! We can't wait for her recital in May!

Her dance class is a mix of jazz, ballet, and tumbling

Aleigha does great with Kenli...she loves to hold her

for all of you who think Aleigha looks like Chris...well this picture proves that there is a little bit of me in her....many ppl have mistaken this pic for me....she certainly has my profile at least

they are both sooo in love with her...they are great little helpers to me too...now if they would just let me sleep :)

1st time in the swing...loves it...except when Brenton climbs in with her...not so fond of it then

Such a good big brother...he was so proud that he was able to hold her all by himself in HIS chair

such a good big brother that he will find any way to check on her
(he climbed onto the couch and into the pack-n-play changing table...i'm not sure if there is any where in the house that I can leave her for even a minute w/out him finding a way to her)

she's soo small...not even sure if this is safe
by the way, the car seat cover you see here was made by love from Katie and Wade
they did an absolutely amazing job...THANK YOU!

our silly adorable little boy, Brenton

precious angel

waiting to be discharged...running on about 8 hrs of sleep in the 72 hours prior to this pic

even though mommy had very little sleep...she got plenty :)

Kenli might just be as big as Aubrey ;)

brotherly love

3: 3 and under

so in love

Grandma and Kenli

can't stop admiring her

Big Brother Brenton

Big Sister Aleigha

Baby Sister Kenli

Daddy with his baby girl

precious feet

love at first sight

smiles already?

our beautiful baby girl, Kenli

me and Chris walking the halls of the hospital (I have monitors on my stomach...so I look a little bigger than I really was)....false labor

when I went into false labor...trying to walk, squat, and lunge Kenli out of me

All the Thornburgh children at Pat's wedding...we know Jeremy was with us there

Katie, Chris, and Wade para-sailing...I unfortunately was not able to go b/c of being pregnant...too hard to hide my pregnant belly in a bathing suite.

so in love...enjoying a night out while my parents watched the kids

Brenton and Mommy enjoying a nice swim

Mommy and Aleigha enjoying a nice walk on the beach

Let the baby races begin....diaper derby...needless to say, Brenton had no ambition to even join in...he sat here the whole time and didn't budge. (L-R: Brenton, Jaxon, Aubrey, and Ollie...all cousins born in an 8 wk prd)

Aleigha and Lexi...these two little girls had a blast together in Florida. This was about the time they got into Aunt Sue's "Mary Kay" make-up...and locked themselves in a bedroom...silly girls.

our little ball player

Brenton burried his cousin Aric in the sand..he thought he'd be nice enough to let him breath and see all the fun he was missing

family pic in Pensacola, Fl

Well, once again it has been quite some time since I have posted. A LOT has happened in the last few months. I'm not even going to say "I'll try to keep it brief"...because we all know what that means....lol. Now I will be spending a lot more time at home, so I hope that I will be able to post more often.

On November 17th, 2010 our dream finally became a reality. We finally closed on the house that we were so desperately trying to buy. It is a small 3 bedroom house. Even though it is little, it is great for us right now. I absolutely love it. We are now home owners and it feels great. We had lots of help moving from family and friends. The first night in, I finally felt home. It felt like I was where I belonged, that I had lived there for years...it just felt right.

On Nov. 19th, Molly gave birth to her little boy (my adorable nephew), Titan Dean. He is now 2 1/2 months old. He is absolutely adorable and his personality is beginning to show. He is a welcome addition to our family :).

Thanksgiving, like usually, was an enjoyable day spent with family and eating lots of delicious food.

A week before Christmas, we surprised my parents with our annual "sibling gift." Each year all the sibling throw in money to buy a big gift for my parents. This year, we were able to get them a new couch and love seat, an ottoman, and even a new set of dishes (they needed something to open on Christmas morning..lol). They were very surprised and love the couches very much. They were very appreciative, and the couches look incredible in their house! Thank you everyone!! I will post pictures for those siblings who haven't seen them yet. Also that night, we did our annual Christmas caroling. Aleigha was the most excited, but we all had a blast doing it.

We spent the evening of Christmas Eve at my parents doing our annual Christmas traditions. We had a birthday cake for Jesus. Every year since I was a child, we have acted out the story of Christmas from the Bible. A few years, when we were short on characters, we just read the story. This year, our characters (who I might mention, did an INCREDIBLE job) consisted of Mary, mother of Jesus, played by Aleigha Perry; Joseph, played by Brenton Perry; and Jesus, played by Titan Boyce. It was an amazing performance. To end the evening, we each got to open one gift.

As for the night of Christmas Eve, Chris, the kids, and I came home. It was the first Christmas that I have spent some where other than my parents house. But it was nice to spend Christmas in our new home. Aleigha is 3 now, and we figured that magic of Christmas needs to be in our own home. The kids got lots of presents and were so excited that Santa came to our house. Later we went to my parents and then onto Chris' mom's house. The next day we spent with Chris' dad. We had a great time at everyone's house. We love being able to spend so much time with family.

New Year's Eve, like every year, falls on our wedding anniversary (lol). My parents watched the kids while we went to the movies and out to eat. We watched Little Fockers (the 3rd movie of Meet the Parents) and ate at Oliverio's. It was a nice, much needed date away from the kids. We then spent the rest of the evening at my parent's house. We watched the ball drop, and ate cheese, steak, and chocolate fondue...a tradition that my mom has been doing since a child.

On Jan. 5th, we received the sad news that Chris' grandmother had passed away. She was a great lady. She will most certainly be missed. I was very sad that Kenli did not get a chance to meet her while here on Earth, but we all know, they have met :). Chris flew out on the 8th for a few days for her funeral. I couldn't go because I was too far along in my pregnancy to fly.

Jan. 7th, I finished my last term as a long-term substitute. For the whole 1st semester of the school year (minus the last week), I taught 7th grade English. I had a great time teaching and really enjoyed myself. I loved the people that I worked with and look forward to working with them again. I made a lot of good friends. The students were great, and I really enjoy teaching. When I first started thinking about teaching and substituting, I thought that middle school was the last place I would want to teach, but honestly, it was great.

On Jan. 24th, I was scheduled to be induced to give birth to our 3rd child...Kenli Marie Perry. I wrote the following on the day she was born. Since I consider this my journal, I decided I wanted to post it here:

Jan. 24, 2011:
Well...the day has finally come. I was suppose to be induced on Friday Jan. 21st...when the doctor called to officially schedule the induction, the hospital said no b/c there were no open beds. They decided to schedule for Monday (Jan 24) morning. I was instructed to come into the hospital at 11 pm Sunday (Jan 23) night. Plans were to give me "cervadil" to thin my cervix at midnight, followed by petocin at around 6 or 7 am. However, in the wee hours of Saturday morning (Jan. 22), I was pretty sure I was in labor. We made the trip in -2 temperature. I was having regular, strong contractions, and everything was pointing that it was the real deal. After about 1 1/2 hours or so, they asked me to walk to see if we could just get it moving a little faster. My contractions got a lot stronger...and then I laid back down. My contractions came to a complete STOP. I was soo frustrated. They had me walk some more...the contractions came back, but has soon as I laid down again, they stopped again. I was sent home.

Now to put us at 10 pm on Sunday (Jan 23) night, Chris and I headed back to Camden Clark. At 12:30 AM they gave me the cervadil. The contractions started immediately, and I was getting uncomfortable rather quickly. At 2:30, knowing the anesthesiologist was still in bed and wouldn't be in for awhile, I asked for some pain medication. It started working almost immediately, and for about 15 mins, I was pain free. Those 15 mins. came to a sudden stop though. I was getting contractions about every 45 seconds. By 3:30 I called for the epidural. The anesthesiologist came at 4. At this point I was dialated to 5 cm. Unfortunately, the epidural did not take. However, the anesthesiologist stuck around and was able to reinsert another one. Between the two epidurals (20 mins), I increased to 6 cms. Then my water broke all on it's own. The anes. was working as quickly as he could to get the second one in. Before he was finished, I was telling the nurses that I was pretty sure I needed to push. They checked me again, this time I was at a 9, and the baby was starting to crown (only about 15 mins. had passed since I was a 6). The doctor was called, and the nurses ran around like crazy to get everything together. I tried as hard as I could to not "push." The doctor walked in at 4:42 am. Literally, after 1/2 a push, she was out, on my chest, and in the baby "wamer" before 4:45. I was amazed at how quickly everything went. The second epidural kicked in about 10-15 mins. before the nurses allowed me to push. So needless to say, I pretty much did a natural child birth 90%+ of the time.

Kenli Marie Perry was born at about 4:43 am, weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz and 18.5 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful.

She is a precious little addition to our family. The kids are absolutely IN LOVE with her. They are doing well adjusting to the change. They are both great little helpers in getting my diapers, wipes, burp cloths, bibs, you name it. Aleigha is obsessed with changing her clothes, so poor little girl wears about 3 or 4 outfits a day...and doesn't need to (not yet anyways)! Some battles are just not worth fighting...so Aleigha picks out an outfit, and then together we change her. Luckily, since Kenli doesn't need quite that many outfits in a day, I put the clean ones back in her drawer b/c I don't have all the time in the world to do laundry. As for Kenli's disposition, it is great. She is not much of a crier, just when she's hungry, or in a dirty diaper. She is nursing well, and sleeping just as great. She is def. a joy to have!

Things are going great in our life. I couldn't ask for anything better. I love my home, my husband, and my children! I have great family and friends. LIFE IS GOOD. We have a lot to thank God for!

Enjoy the pictures.

Summer Fun

2010-08-23T10:48:00.004-04:00

Well well, It's been quite a while once again since I have posted anything on my blog. We have been super busy but have been having lots of fun :). Unfortunately, I don't have too many pictures to post because our memory card failed us and all our pictures from Brenton's 1st birthday to the middle of August were all erased...I know very very depressing :( However, Katie has been here taking lots of pictures with her camera, so not all is lost.

Here are some of the the fun things we have been up to:

In May, Chris and I went to King's Island with his dad and his wife. We had a really fun time.

Just a couple of days later, we found out that we are expecting Baby #3. (I can't remember the exact date we found out, I will have to go back and figure it out). On August 26th, we found out that our newest addition will be a little girl. We are all very excited.

June 2nd-Brenton turned 1! We had a small family get together to celebrate such an awesome boy!

June 12th- I turned 25!!! A whole 1/4 century old...crazy! We celebrated my birthday by having a joint 1st birthday party for Brenton and Aubrey (who's bday is June 17th). We had a large turn out of family and friends. We had a bbq and lots of water games. We then celebrated my birthday by going on a double date with my sister Katie and Wade to Olive Garden. There they had a magician who put on a personal show for us at out table. It was a great birthday :)

July 2-12: We went to visit our friends near Baltimore for a few days. We were able to celebrate my friends birthday along with the 4th of July with them. They have two little girls right near Aleigha's age, so she was in heaven. We had a great visit with them.

After we left their house, we continued on our way to NJ. There we were able to spend time with my Uncle Bob, my brother Tom, his wife Rox, and their two little girls Jadyn and Kaya. We were also able to visit with lots of friends of mine. Again, it was another awesome trip. Aleigha had a blast while playing with so many friends and cousins...esp. her age.

In July, we went to Florida. We went with Chris' mom Leta, and her husband, Richie. We visited his grandma and uncles and their families. We also visited other family. While we were there, we went to the zoo, to a water park, and the beach. We did lots of swimming, and just had a lot of fun.

A couple of weeks later, in August, we went to Florida again. This time to Pensacola Beach. My brother Pat got married. My whole family was there for it. It was great to have everyone there. We were missing a few in-laws and grandchildren, which was very sad and they were greatly missed. It was the first time though that all the siblings were together. Hopefully it won't be too long before we're all together again for a happy occasion. Some of the family, including us, went in together to rent a beach house, just across the street from the beach. We also had our annual family reunion at the beach. It was a great time. There were lots of games and activities and a delicious bbq. Also while there, we went go cart riding, mini golfing, and Chris went para-sailing (I couldn't go b/c of being pregnant). Chris loved it though. He highly recommends it. We will go again sometime when I can go. Overall, we had a great time. It was a lot of fun. I love spending soo much time with family.

On our first trip to Florida, I received a phone call and was offered a substitution position for the first 6 weeks of school. Which then turned into a whole semester. So since August 23rd, I have been working as a 7th grade English/Writing teacher. I like it a lot, but I will be glad when I can be home every day again with Aleigha and Brenton and Baby #3 as well. I miss them greatly when I'm at work.

I will be working until about Jan. 13/14th. My due date is Jan. 28th...so just 2 weeks after I am done. They induced me a week early with both Aleigha and Brenton. I won't be surprised if they induce me again...but regardless, I have 1-2 weeks after I'm done working to get my life in somewhat of an order before it all changes again.

Now fall has arrived. Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather has been great and outside looks beautiful with all the leaves different colors and falling. Despite me working and being really busy, we are trying to enjoy as much of this fall season possible. In the last several weeks, we have gone to football games, the park, and lots of other things.

October 6, 2010, we celebrated Aleigha's 3rd birthday. Chris, Aleigha, and Brenton picked me up at work, and we headed to Parkersburg. We went to Toys 'R Us and Aleigha got to pick out her birthday present...a bike. And she didn't let us forget she needed her "holmo"(it sounds like homo when she says it) too so she could be safe. After we got her bike, helmet, and license plate we went back towards home and stopped at the Pizza House where we met Grandma and Pop, Grandma Leta, Molly, Katie, Wade, Aubrey, and Wade's brother Wyatt (who was passing through the area). We enjoyed some pizza together and then had cupcakes. The servers sang Happy Birthday to her...she freaked and ran under an unused table. It was quite a site. It was a great evening to celebrate a great little girl. She is such a blessing to us. She is such a joy to have in our family. We thank God everyday for her, Brenton, and baby to-be.

Last week, 10/9/10, Chris and Katie surprised Wade and I, and we went to the Blennerhasset Island by candlelight. We had to take the ferry to get to the island. When we first got there, we had a typical meal that was eaten during the 1800s. We then had our palms read, sat around the bonfire at the servants' party, and toured the mansion. In the mansion, they were hosting a typical "party" that would have been held during the 1800s. It was a very neat experience and I'm so glad we did it.

October 10th was Katie's birthday. It was her SUPER SONIC birthday, 10/10/10. It is very rare to get a birthday like that. We celebrated here at our house by having lots of family and friends over for a bbq, some corn hole, and a bonfire. Again, it was lots of fun.

Yesterday Oct. 17th, we held a bigger birthday party for Aleigha. All of her family members that live close by were able to come, plus a couple of friends. It was a Halloween costume party. Aleigha insisted that everyone had to wear a costume if they wanted to come....and just about everyone did. Everyone looked great too. I had a lot of fun activities planned, but of course, with the choas of everything, not much of it got done. But the kids had fun playing, and the adults enjoyed the food. Aleigha got lots of neat presents, including a life size doll...it's 4 feet tall!! That's taller than her. Katie and I had also made an awesome "Graveyard Dirt Cake"....it looked and tasted great. I was very happy with our accomplishment.

Now, it brings us today. After the party last night, I got pretty sick...a bug as well as little sleep and over working myself this weekend plus being pregnant...made my immune system pretty weak so it hit me pretty bad. So, I decided to take the day off to recuperate. Aleigha was hit this morning...but nothing like me. She is just a little nauseous and tired. So me and the kids are still in our pjs and we are watching movie after movie and just spending some time together. I'm enjoying my day with nothing to do but spend time with my kids. I think I might even get a nap in today.

Well, that has been the last 6 months of our lives in a nutshell...a very big one. Like I said earlier, something happened to our camera that caused us to loose over 3 months of pictures. And since Katie has lived here, she has been doing a great job at taking pictures. So hopefully soon, I will be able to post several pictures from her camera.

Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of year!

Nursery Story

2010-04-28T09:19:00.002-04:00

Aleigha absolutely loves going to the nursery at church. She is sometimes the only one in there and when there are other children, it is her cousins Abbie and Maddie. It is taught by grandma and sometimes grandpa is the one who teaches. So needless to say, she gets a lot of attention. We all know that children are like sponges and it is best to teach them when their minds can absorb so much. Yet, I still think we often under estimate the ability a child has to learn. It is a great feeling though when your child demonstrates or explains or even lifes what they have learned. I know Aleigha is learning constantly..but here is a special story I wanted to share with everyone of what she learned in Nursery:

Right after class was over, she ran into the room I was in, held up the children's hymnal. I can't remember the name of the song...but the picture was of Jesus holding and kissing 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls-one brunette, one blonde). She tells me as she points to each person, "This is Jesus, this is Daddy, this is Brenton, this is Mommy, and this is Leigha" She proceeds with, "When Jesus comes, I am going to give him a BIG HUG and a BIG KISS. I will also give him a bandaid and kiss his booboos."
Me: "Oh, where is Jesus' booboos."
Aleigha: She runs to the nursery and returns with a picture "Right here, and here, and here, and here."-as she points to each hand and foot.
Me: "Aww, poor Jesus, what happened to him?"
Aleigha: "Bad mans hurt him."
Me: "What men hurt him?
Aleigha: "This man, and this one, and this one, etc." She continues to point to each person in the picture.

Aleigha will randomly bring up Jesus and tell us how much she loves him and how she will give him a hug and kiss when she sees him. It is inspiring to me to see the love she has for our Savior and to see that she understand that He loves her. Children truly have a Christ like love and we should all follow their suit.

More Holidays

2010-02-13T11:17:00.010-05:00

I feel like I'm a little behind on my postings. I started writing this blog entry on Feb. 13. Needless to say, some of this goes way back. I didn't even put all the Christmas pictures on yet. Some of the stuff is outdated. However, I've put too much into it to just start over. I'm going to try to update and add to it...so if it seems a little choppy...you know why.

Let's start with Christmas...lol. We had a wonderful Christmas. We were very fortunate that I had started my substitute job at the beginning of December, and was able to work several days before Christmas break. We used that money to buy Christmas presents. The kids got lots of toys and gifts. Aleigha was soo excited with everything. She was even awake when Santa came. He gave her a couple of gifts and told her she needed to go to bed, and then he would come back and leave the rest. She diligently obeyed. Brenton also loved unwrapping the toys and playing with them...especially the wrapping paper. Next year though, Santa is going to be making some cut backs. I think they are young enough they will never know any different.

New Year's Eve: As most everyone knows, Dec. 31 is our anniversary. We always debate whether or not we should do something with family/friends or if we should do something alone. In the previous years, we have gone out to eat just the 2 of us, and then we would spend the night with family/friends. This year we decided we needed a treat. One the 31st, we went and stayed in Elkins, WV. We went out to eat at a little bar and grill. We watched live music and brought in the New Year by playing pool. Just after the stike of mid-night. We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express. The next morning, we went to Timberline Ski Resort for a fun day of skiing. This was the first time (and only time at this point) I left Brenton alone overnight. Well, obviously not alone. He was def. in good hands with my mom and several of my sisters.

During this holiday season, we had the opportunity to spend lots of time with family and friends. We were very fortunate that so many of my family members came in during the holidays. We always enjoy spending time with everyone. We definitly missed those who couldn't make it in though.

Valentine's Day: This is holiday that so many people celebrate, so it's not the easiest to find a babysitter for more than a couple of hours. We decided to stay home and Chris made me a wonderful steak dinner. We let the kids eat and play in the living room while we had a dinner alone in the dinning room...we almost made it through the whole dinner alone. We decided not to do presents this year since we are trying to save to buy a new house. Of course though, we had a little candy and I bought each of the kids a book about love. It was a very nice evening at home with our little family.

Chris' Bday: Chris' birthday falls one week after Valentine's day. We went out to eat a couple of times with family to celebrate his birthday. We also hung out with some friends of ours the night before his bday. Then on his real birthday, we spent the day celebrateing his little cousins Sequoiah's 3rd bday.

Jeremy's Birthday: Every year, my family gets together on or near Jeremy's birthday. We get balloons and then write letters to Jeremy. After reading the letters, we attach them to the balloons, and all together, let them fly off to heaven. It's a wonderful tradition. I love the fact that we still celebrate my brother and the life he lived. He will never be forgotten. Because of this tradition, I feel that even Aleigha is getting to know her Uncle Jeremy that left this Earth before she entered it.

Easter: We had a wonderful Easter. We stayed the night before at my parents house. Aleigha had a fun time dying the eggs that the Easter Bunny was going to hide. Even Brenton gave it a nack...after breaking a couple...we decided that maybe finding them would be more his thing. The next morning we awoke to see the wonderful treats the Easter Bunny left for us all. We each got a basket full of candy and Aleigha and Brenton each got an Easter book. Then the kids started with an egg hunt in the living room and found several plastic eggs with more candy! Then we made our way outside and found all the eggs for our breakfast. Brenton was much better at the finding and playing with the eggs than the dying of them. Aleigha however, found more than 50 eggs all by herself!! We then enjoyed a delicious breakfast. After we watched converence and then ate an awesome Easter lunch, we went to Crystal Lake for another Easter Egg Hunt. Aleigha and Brenton got a special treat...they were able to see the Easter Bunny!!! They were both scared at first. Aleigha finally gave him a hug...but would never sit on his lap or let him hold her. Brenton turned away from letting him hold him at first, but finally gave in. After the bunny left, Aleigha said, "I'm ready to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap now." Unfortunatly it was a little late. All-in-all, we had a wonderful Easter.

Work: In the middle of Feb. I started working a long term substitute position. I taught 6th grade reading and English, and an 8th grade literature class for about 5 or 6 weeks. I enjoyed my time working there. I really enjoyed the people I worked with; however, I was def. ready for a break to be with Aleigha and Brenton again. I hated leaving them every morning. Now that I am done that position, I am still working 2-4 days a week. It is rough leaving the kids in the morning...especially if they wake up before I leave (which seems to be happening a lot more lately). The opportunity to work so much has come at a great time though with trying to save money for our 1st home.

Home: As I already mentioned, we have been trying to save money to buy a new home. This has been a nightmare in itself. We have looked at 30+ houses in 4 different areas. We have toyed around with numerous ideas. We had to deal with real estate agents, private owners, banks, construction works, and a number of other people or organizations. After much thought and prayer, we have decided we want to build on my parents land sooner than later. My parents bought the land they did with the idea that they would deed off several acres to each child, in hopes that we would each build on the land. At first we were going to buy a log cabin kit, similar to Julie and Scott. After researching all the ins and outs of this idea, we decided we weren't quite ready for that. That route is going to cost a little more than we are wanting to spend right now. Also, there is a lot of work Chris would have to do himself, that would be too hard when he works full time and we don't live that close to the property. Who knows how long it would take to be move in ready. So our final (hopefully) decision: buy a nice little trailer, put in next to where we want to build our house, save money, and then build in 3-5 years. Going this route, makes it that we will have already paid for all the utilities to be put in this spot (road, septic, well, electric, etc.). Many of the major costs will already be paid for. Our payments will be less than what we pay now, so we will be able to save a good bit. We will be able to walk out the front door and start working (instead of driving almost an hour each day to work on building). We will have the option to sell the trailer when we are completely done with the house, or we can keep it as a guest house (and it won't hurt our pockets). And best of all, we are close to family...we will be in walking distance of more than one babysitter, and yet still live in the country (lol) :). It is a great place for the kids and Thor. In fact, Chris wants to possibly start a small dog breeding business to be able to make and save even more money...and this spot is ideal for that. So there you have it. Of course, if you ask any of our family that live close by, we change our minds more than we do our underwear. However, I'm hoping this one will stick :). Of course, we'll keep everyone updated once everything is set in stone.

Our latest update on a new home: We've decided to stay put for about another year to save some money. This way Chris will have had his job for 2 years and we will not have to get PMI insurance. This way we only have to put 10% down rather than 20%. Also, it makes it so that we will qualify for a higher loan. We do still want to live out on the land. Whether we live in a trailer first or go straight for a house...we'll see.

Aleigha: Oh my, I don't even know what to say about this girl. She is her own little person, that is for sure. She has so much charcter all of her own. I seriously feel like I am talking to my best friend when I talk with her rather than a 2 year old. She seems well beyond her years. Of course, she has her 2 year old melt downs quite often. She is in a stage were she doesn't get a nap every day (esp. if I'm at work)...so when this happens, beware, the melt downs are sure to come. Other than her melt downs, Aleigha is a very happy, pleasant child. She is so full of life. She doesn't know a stranger (which scares me sometimes). She says some of the most off the wall, yet amazing things sometiems. One of the biggest things in her life right now are drama plays. She went and saw her cousins, Aric and Sarah, in the play The Fiddler on the Roof. She loved it so much, we took her a second night to see it. Before that play, they performed a smaller play...Rikki Tikki Tavi, she loved that one just as much. It's been almost 2 months since the play, and she still talks about it. Chris, being the great dad that he is, put the whole sound track of the the play on her MP3 player and his IPod...so she can listen to it any where she goes. Also, we have a couple of copies of the actual play they were in...and she watches it several times a week. She has so much of the songs and even some of the scenes memorized. She has performed her versions for just about everyone we have met....including all those private owner house sellers I was talking about, and cashiers at the grocery store, and our servers at resturants. We have been saying since she was just a couple of months old that Aleigha would be a performer one day...I still hold on to that believe.

Aleigha received a burn on her bottom a couple of weeks ago. We were at my parents house and she had just eaten breakfast. She spilt a little milk on her clothes, so she took them off. She moved into the living room and was standing in front of the fireplace. It was not on, but had been just 15 mins before, so it was still hot. Brenton saw his sister and decided she would make a good climing post. Brenton weighs almost as much as Aleigha, so his weight knocked Aleigha backwards into the fireplace. She received 1st and 2nd degree burns on her bottom. It was about a 5-6 inch circle on her bottom. We had to take her to the Emergency Room, and 2 additional check-up visits. We had to clean it twice a day. Other than the initial burn, she handled everything very well, except the cleanings. It broke our hearts to see the pain she was in when we had to clean it. All-in-all though, she is a trooper and a very tough cookie.

Brenton: This little guy is growing too quickly. Of course, he is still average or maybe even a little below average size..but he is so much bigger than Aleigha was at this age. He is on the 25th percentile for his height and 50% for his weight. So he is going to be like his dad, a little short and a little stalky. He is about 10 1/2 months right now. He doesn't have any teeth...but I'm not complaining. However, I think they are bothering him...you can see that it's much whiter under his gums and it seems to be a little swollen. I know it's just a matter of days before one pops up (of course, I've been saying that for over a month now). He has been crawling for a couple of months now. He pulls himself up onto anything or anyone. He has taken steps along our entertainment center. He has stood up on his own with absolutely no support for about 3-4 seconds. He is trying to stand up from a crawl position...yet he hasn't quite mastered it (although it is very cute to see his little butt stick up in the air). He signs: more and milk and love. One day I went to get him out of bed, and the sun was shinning right on him. He was talking away in his crib. When he saw me, he got a big grin on his face and signed "I love you." My heart melted. He has only signed it a couple of times since, but it is a memory that will never be forgotten. He gives hugs...and very sloppy open kisses. He has also mastered the art of clapping. He is going through separation anxiety though. I think working doesn't help. As soon as I get home from work, he cries until I pick him up. He won't let me put him down...not even to feed him or change his diaper. Anytime I try, he puts a death grip around my neck, straightens out his legs, turns his body into mine, and cries...it's heart breaking. That is the worse thing about working. Other than these moments, Brenton is one of the happiest babies I know. He is just content about life and all it has to offer. I think this is Chris' laid back perspective of things coming out in him.

Now Brenton is 11 1/2 months. I thought I would delete everything else, but since I haven't written it any where else, I decided I would keep it. Brenton's first 2 teeth came in on April 23rd.

He is crusing along everything now. He took 1 complete step (each foot) on May 13th. He has not attempted any more steps though. He had said "gamma (grandma)" and his favorite word to say is "GO"...he says this every time Thor enters the room or gets too close to him. He even points his finger at him while saying this. It cracks me up...I suppose he has seen me do this one too many times.

Life happens so quickly. I am glad I can spend it with my best friend Chris, and my two wonderful children Aleigha and Brenton. My family means the world to me. I am blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Need I say....life has been busy. Hopefully this blog wasn't too long and you were able to finish it...lol. I hope you enjoy the few pictures. I promise, in the next couple of weeks life should slow down...school ends, so I won't be working. And maybe, I will have time to post more recent pictures. I figured if I don't get this sent now, it might be another month...plus this is long enough as it it.

Aleigha trying out her new rocking horse that Santa left under the tree

After Santa's delivery

Rockin' out on the keyboard that Santa brought....thank you Aubrey for the beautiful singing

We spent Christmas Eve with Chris' family...we had a great time and we got some awesome gifts from Gramma and Papa Richie...Brenton posing in front of the tree

Holiday Fun!

2010-01-09T10:54:00.006-05:00

Our little princess-she got 6 pairs of dress up shoes, 2 tiaras, a magic wand, and a princess dress from Grandma and Papa Richie (among lots of other fun things)

Our Christmas Superhero!!

getting ready to go out and play in the snow

the view of our house from the road after the first big snow storm of the season (we got about 15 inches) and b/c of this snow, we had a white Christmas

the road in front of our house

Daddy and Aleigha trying to build a snow man, but the snow was too fluffy

our little snow bunny

the hedges in front of our house were folded in half

the snow came to Thor's chest (and if you have seen Thor lately, you know he is not a little dog)

Brenton and Santa

Aleigha telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas.

Aubrey and Brenton on Santa's lap...Brenton was very much into Santa's attire

Christmas shopping

Brenton thinks this must be the most comfortable lap he's ever sat on.

hmm...I wonder what was going on in his mind when this picture was taken

she's not the easiest person to take pictures with anymore

Daddy and Mr. B

The Perry family on Thanksgiving

Aleigha and Brenton on Santa's lap. They got to sit on Santa's lap about 6 times this year. Brenton even did the "beard" test, and confirmed that this is the true Santa. Aleigha did a great job every time telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas...there was no way Santa didn't get the message that she wanted toys, books, and a baby doll...and Santa stayed true to her wishes.

"Merry Christmas Everyone!"

We hope you all enjoyed the holiday's as much as we did. We had lots of fun spending time with family this Christmas season. I have always loved Christmas and this time of year. I have always felt the magic and love that Christmas has to offer. However, when you have children of your own, there is a whole new magic. Looking in the face of a toddler, when they see Santa, Christmas lights, gifts, etc is such a wonderful experience. It's another joy of being a parent. Here are a few pictures of the start of our holiday fun. I have lots more on another camera, so there will be more to come.

Simple Joys of Motherhood

2009-11-20T13:11:00.006-05:00

There are lots of simple joys of motherhood. Every day my children do things that make being a mother the best job in the world. But yesterday, something happened that was extra special. In my last post, I mentioned how Brenton has been reaching for anything and everything. He was in his walker, playing with a toy. He started to get a little fussy. When I went to get him out, I noticed the toy had fallen into the walker. I put the toy back up top and Brenton stopped crying. I thought that was all he wanted so I started walking away. When I got behind Brenton, and he could not see me anymore, he started to cry again. I went back and put my arms out to lift him out. He also lifted both his arms up and reached out for me. I know this was such a little act that from now on will happen over and over again. But any mom and dad, now that the first time a child reaches for you, your heart melts. I love my little ones.

Thor kept licking Brenton's hands, and every time he did Brenton would laugh and laugh. Every time Thor stopped, Brenton would reach out and stick his hand in front of Thor's mouth. He was quite a sight.

I bought some Christmas decorations and decided instead of storing them for a few weeks, why not decorate a little early. Aleigha did a great job helping to put the ornaments on the tree. She's doing pretty good taking them off too...but she makes sure to always put them back.
We had a fun night decorating the house followed by all four of us dancing in the living room to Christmas music.

Thor is having an identity crisis...he's not sure if he's dog or human

Aleigha decided she would help make it move, since Brenton's feet didn't quite reach the floor.

We brought out Aleigha's old walker for Brenton...however, she insisted on reminiscing on happy memories.

A New Fan of Wal-Mart

2009-11-17T16:10:00.006-05:00

sporting the sweater that Grandma Leta gave him...it's a matching boy one to the one she gave Aleigha for her bday (shown in previous blogs)....absolutely adorable

close up of my precious little Brenton

sitting up...he can do it w/out the pillow too

just relaxing

Things have been going really well lately. Nothing to exciting has been happening though. We spent last week at Chris' Aunt's house. We had a good time visiting with her and her family. They have a 2 1/2 year old little boy and he and Aleigha had a lot of fun together. They did argue quite a bit though...it was pretty funny...they seemed like a married couple sometimes. Also, we got a new car a couple of weeks ago...a standard. I had never driven one and was quite scared to start. However, I have been practicing a lot and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I've even made a few trips out on my own.
Brenton is now weighing 15 1/2 lbs. That's right....at 5 months he is outweighing what Aleigha did at 1 year. He is still an average size baby, but compared to Aleigha, I feel that he is a big boy. He is sitting up for several mins at a time now. We have to put him in the sitting position still, but he is doing really well. He is also rolling over from back to belly...however, his arm still gets in the way, so he hasn't mastered the technique quite yet. He is grabbing at anything and everything. He has also found his feet and blows raspberries. It is amazing to see how quick he is developing. He is such a sweet little baby. I just adore the times that Aleigha play's with him. There is so much love between them. The other day, Aleigha was playing peek-a-boo with him and he belly laughed for 15 mins., only coming up for air for a few seconds at a time. It was the sweetest thing ever.
Aleigha is continuing to get smarter and smarter every day. Right now she likes to count and say her alphabet. She says phrases of the alphabet...for example, "ABCD" "LMNOP", "QRS." However, at any time you say the alphabet and pause, she will say the next letter..no matter what letter is next. She hasn't gotten the counting down perfect yet..."1-2-3-4-9-4-9-6-7-8-9-10." But for just over 2, I think she's doing excellent.
Okay, so I know I brag about me kids a lot...I just can't help it. I have been soo blessed. I love them so much. And of course, what kind of parent would I be, if I didn't brag about them...lol. And also, this is pretty much my only journal. I have another one, but you know how that is. This one gets written in much much more. I'm having it printed out in a book form soon so I will actually have a hard copy.

So one last thing: Wal-Marts Newest Fan

I bought Aleigha an outfit a few days ago at Wal-Mart (the purple one below). Of course, she looks absolutely adorable in it like she does in all her clothes. Well, someone commented on it, and of course, I like to brag about the sales I get too. So I told the woman that I got each piece for $2 at Wal-Mart. Later that night, I was sitting with Aleigha on the couch. She says, "I got my clothes at Wal-Mart." short pause "I liiiike Wal-Mart."
I just thought this was too funny. What 2 year old should like, let own liiiike, Wal-Mart. All I can say is, at least it was Wal-Mart and not Gap.

she absolutely loves her new slipper boots...she hasn't taken them off since we got them
I think they are pretty cute too

the bargain outfit from Wal-Mart

Happy Halloween Blessings!

2009-11-02T20:45:00.013-05:00

I hope you all had as great of a Halloween as we did. We took the kids trick-or-treating. They dressed up as a gypsy princess and Tigger. Aleigha had a great time trick-or-treating. She really enjoyed herself. It was so cute to see her go up to the doors, open her bag, and say "Trick-or-treat....thank you....Happy Halloween." She only got a little scared at some of the costumes. However, she got really concerned when she saw someone wearing a skeleton mask that had blood pumping through it. She kept saying..."He bleeding mom." She was so concerned that she went to the next house and told them, "He bleeding, he bleeding. That guy bleeding." Brenton enjoyed the nice outside while being pushed in the stroller. They both looked absolutely adorable.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, Chris gave the kids their Baby Blessings at church. It was a wonderful moment. And of course, the kids looked adorable all in white. After wards, we had a potluck lunch in honor of Aleigha and Brenton.
Today Aleigha said one of the most special things to me. I was in the bathroom and had just finished putting my hair in a messy bun....she looks up at me and says, "Mommy, you so pretty." I bent down on her level, gave her a hug and kiss and told her how much I loved her. Then I told her how pretty she was. She got a big grin on her face, and said, "Just like you mommy." She certainly made my day. What a special little girl I have.
I have two great children and a wonderful husband. I am such a lucky person. God has blessed me abundantly.

we had spent about a week camping out in the living room...the last night Aleigha really wanted to camp...so we got out her tent, and she slept in it all night

the beginning of Chris' master piece

it's coming together

almost done

the pumpkin in the dark...the pictures don't do it justice

the finished masterpiece

the Indian Warrior pumpkin

Chris worked for about 2 hours on this pumpkin. He did it completely free hand. He found a picture on-line to get the idea...but that was it. I think it is the best pumpkin I have every seen.

Aleigha was a gypsy princess...and a beautiful one at that

Me and Brenton at the town's Halloween hot dog roast.
It had rained all day, but stopped about an hour or two before it was time to go out. It was a pretty cold evening, but Brenton's Tigger costume was just perfect.

I know this picture is way way blurry...but I absolutely love it

my pretty girl

Brenton 1st experience at trick-or-treating

Aleigha after the first house...she was so excited, she wanted to show everyone what was in her bag...she got really good at saying, "Trick-or-Treat.....Thank you....Happy Halloween."

Brenton not really sure what to think of all this

out trick-or-treating...Chris and I didn't dress up this year like we had last year, but we still had a really good time dressing up the kids and taking them out

On Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009 Chris gave the children their Baby Blessing...he did a wonderful job and they were really well behaved

I suppose we had to at least post a picture of the four of us on such a special day...but it is really not that great of me (really bad actually). It was truly a wonderful day. We had waited such a long time for this and the children looked beautiful.

her treasure

enjoying the fruits of her labor

the amazing night sky on Halloween during trick-or-treating

Grandma, Aunt Molly, Pop, Brenton, and Aleigha after their Blessings

They love their Aunt Molly

Grandma and Papa Richie with the kids

We had a nice break the fast potluck lunch after church in honor of Aleigha and Brenton

due to the time change...our little sleeping beauty is falling asleep before bedtime (which is actually the time she needs to go to bed)

Fall Time

2009-10-29T20:55:00.010-04:00

The last couple of weeks have been pretty good for the most part. However, we have all been sick. The kids got sick first, followed by Chris, and then myself. We were exposed to the swine flu, and thought that maybe we contracted in. Under the doctors advise, we kept them home and treated the symptoms. Yesterday, we finally took them in to see their doctor. He was pretty sure they don't have the H1N1 virus, and said if they did, it was minor. We all have cold symptoms, but no fevers, aches, or pains. Anyways, we have been enjoying this time together.
Update on the kids: Brenton at 4 1/2 months: 13 lbs 12 inches. He has just started eating baby cereal (a couple of weeks ago), and baby food. In fact, yesterday he had his first jar of baby food. He scarfed down a jar of sweet potatoes in about 15 mins. He liked it quite a bit. As for the green beans he had today, not so much. Also, on Oct. 6, he sat up for a few seconds on his own. Now he is sitting up for longer periods of time...about 20 seconds...lol. With just a little help though, he can sit up for several minutes.
Aleigha at 2 years old: 2o lbs and 31 inches long. I once was told that if you take the height of your child on their 2nd birthday and double it, then you will have their height when they are full grown. That puts Aleigha at 5'2", that's a half inch taller then me...so I'm happy with that. Aleigha is counting to 4 and sometimes 5 with absolutely no help. She knows how to reason quite well. I was finally able to ween her on her 2nd birthday. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we often count down the mins before she has to either do something or stop something. In the last 4 weeks, she has rarely made mention to even want to nurse (except for the first few days after she was weened...she would tell me "I'm not yet 2, mom."....she knew that 2 meant she was a big girl.) Anyways, the other day, I was nursing Brenton on the couch. She climbed up and sat next to me. She says, "Mom, I need 2 minutes (as she holds up 2 fingers)." I respond with, "2 mins for what?" Her reply, "2 mins to drink booby juice." I was pretty shocked at this, but was certainly impressed with her. Of course, I reminded her that she was 2 now, and that was the end of it. Now, something I'm not so proud of (my parenting skills that is). She has had a bad habit of saying "shut up." I'm embarrassed to say it, but I think she has learned it from me by yelling at the dog when he barks. Also, her favorite movie Annie, uses this phrases, which only has reinforced her to say it. Anyways, we have tried breaking this habit. My latest attempt, to ignore her. The other day, she told me "shut up, mom." I said back, "That's not a nice word, and I'm not going to talk to you when you say that to me." She kept saying, "talk to me mom, talk to me." After a couple of minutes of not talking to her, she says, "Brenton, I get mommy to talk to me." She then stands on top of his bouncer (which he was in), facing him, and then grabs the top of it and starts shaking it. She knew she would get attention from this!!! To make a long story short...about 20 mins later she finally told me, "Sorry saying shut up." Sometimes, I think she is too smart for her own good. But on a good note, I have learned a very valuable lesson from this. I have since started to try to redirect her attention to do something more positive (when she is doing something she shouldn't be doing). This way she is not getting the negative attention and she usually stops doing the negative behavior once she realizes there is something else to do. On a side note, I know (and have known well before having children) that by yelling at her when she acts out, isn't the best solution, but it's a lot easier said then done to do something else....I'm sure most all of the parents out there understand what I'm saying...or at least I hope they do. Anyways, enough writing...on with the pictures. I hope you guys enjoy.

I made potato soup the other night, and Aleigha decided to take a bunch of potatoes out of the sack and play with them. I found potatoes in Brenton's swing, pack-n-play, and a bunch of other places. Here she is showing Brenton her new found collection. As you see, he thought it was just as cool as she did.

She had 10 potatoes stuffed in her purse

Brenton's going to be Tigger for Halloween

In his pumpkin outfit

sporting their Halloween attire

She thinks this light-up Halloween shirt is the coolest shirt ever

Okay, so I know this is a Christmas outfit, but it obviously won't fit him at Christmas time (hopefully the hat still will). I thought it was too adorable to not get a picture of him in it. And hey...all the stores have their Christmas items out...so what the heck....Let's be jolly!

The rest of the pictures are some outside pics of the kids. It was a beautiful fall day and we got some really good pictures of the both of them in our backyard and at the park.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY ALEIGHA!!!

2009-10-19T21:07:00.004-04:00

I can't believe my little girl is 2!!! It's crazy how time has flown by. Although she is pretty tiny, she doesn't seem like a two year old to me. She is so full of personality and spunk that you would think she was going on about 10. She will always be my baby girl. She is soo much fun to be around. She's not just my daughter, but she is becoming one of my best friends. It's amazing how a 2 year old can be there for you, to make everything all better (I'm sure anyone else who is a parent understands what I am saying, and anyone who is not, will realize soon enough when you are a parent.) For instance, I was laying on the couch, suffering from a migraine headache a few days ago and was crying. She came to me with a sympathetic 2 year old voice, held my face with both her hands, and kissed my forehead and said, "Feel better mommy." Today, she came into my bed to wake me up, after she was successful at her task, I looked at her and told her that she was beautiful. She responded with a bashful, embarrassed but most certainly flattered, "Don't tell me that mom." I felt like I was talking to an adult friend who was trying to be modest. She just seems beyond her 2 years.
On her birthday, Oct. 6, we had a big party planned for her. However, we had just gotten back from Fl, and realized we were no where ready for a big party. So we rescheduled the big party and threw her a party at home with us, my parents, Molly and her boyfriend, my sister Julie and her children, and Chris' mom. We had lots of fun, and Aleigha was so into it. She definitely knew this party was for her. As for the big party with additional family and friends, was canceled once again due to the weather forecast (which turned out to be wrong). In turn, we decided the one party was enough and we have decided not to throw her another party until she turns 3. The day after her birthday, Chris and I decided to take her to El' Ranchero's. And of course, like always, that was a blast as well. Hope you enjoy all the pictures.

Brenton wanted to test out the sombrero from El' Ranchero's

celebrating Aleigha's birthday at El' Ranchero's (just the 4 of us)

After she was sung Feliz Couplianos to
we told her that Dora's cousins were going to sing to her so she wouldn't be scared

showing off her new age..after lots of practice w/ putting just those 2 fingers up

Aleigha playing dress up with the tiara and jewelery set, and shoes (unfortunately that were cut off) that Brenton gave her for her bday

showing off her new sweater that Grandma and Poppa Richie gave her...an absolutely adorable sweater

Daddy and Brenton hanging out at Aleigha's party

reading her card

she liked all her presents, but this Dora doll from Grandma and Pop was by far her favorite, she went crazy over it, especially when she realized Dora talked and danced

opening presents

trying to get everyone who was there on camera

Aleigha's Dora cookie cake and cookies

she kept picking at the icing...look close at that finger

she was so stoked about the chairs I brought home for her, for all the little girls that would be at the party (Aleigha, Maddie, and Abbie)

Florida Trip

2009-10-09T16:49:00.021-04:00

We had a great trip to Florida. We were able to do many things and visit many people. We had a blast. I was a little worried about having a stressful trip because of traveling with two little ones, however, it was a very stress free experience. Aleigha had her moments, but what two year old doesn't. Since we have been back, Aleigha has had her second birthday, but I did not want to combine that blog with the Florida trip due to having so many pictures...hopefully I will get to that with in the next few days. I have written a good bit under most of the pictures, that pretty much narrates most of our trip, so I will leave it at this. I'm not always the best with blogspot, and I always end up putting the pictures in the wrong order. Our trip begin at the bottom of the post and worked it's way up (if that makes sense). Enjoy.

Aleigha with her cousins Hannah and Brian
One evening we went to the beach to just visit, it was beautiful to go and listen to the waves crash and just enjoy God's creations.

Me and my two babies enjoying ourselves at the pool

Every time we went swimming, we had this whole pool to ourselves.
A lesson learned: I read in a magazine that you should give your children time limits for things (like how long they can play with a toy before letting some one else play with it, how much longer before you have to leave the park or some where else that is fun, how much tv they can watch, etc). So we decided to do this, and realized it worked like a charm. We would tell give her a 5 or 10 min. warning before we would leave somewhere she didn't want to leave(amongst other things). We would also give her a visual by holding up our fingers. Then we would count down every min or 2. Well, one night while we were in the pool, Brenton started getting cranky so I immediately said, "Alright, it's time to go back up." Aleigha then looked at us, held up one finger on each hand and said, "Two minutes to go." We were amazed at her reasoning skills, that we gave her those two minutes. She has since used it several times.

The bottom of Aleigha's bathing suit was wet from the previous time of swimming, she thought she must have peed in them, so she took the off as soon as I got them off and decided Brenton's trunks felt a lot better...and surprisingly his 0-3 month swimming trunks fit my 2 year old.

Even Brenton likes Aleigha's dinosaur

Okay, so the story behind this picture:
I realize there are certain things that you teach your child never even knowing that you are teaching them. Then there are other times when you realize you didn't teach them something, such as what a curb is (there are not very many curbs in WV..at least not where we live). However, at times like these, your child often uses things that they are familiar with to relate to this new object. In Aleigha's case, this curb. I was holding her hand and letting her walk on it while I hear her saying over and over again..."bubble rock, bubble rock, bubble rock." When I asked in clarification if this was truly what she was saying she answered, "Yeah mom, bubble rock." I started to think about it, and I can definitely see where she would come up with this.

Aleigha and Brenton enjoying the swings

Us with Chris' Aunt Sherri, and cousins Justin and Amber

Chris and his grandmother

Aleigha got to go to Build-A-Dino in downtown Disney. She was pretty upset until she walked in and saw all the dinosaurs. Once she saw the dinosaur she wanted...it was love at first sight.

After she picked the dino, stuffed it, and put a heart in it...she was able to brush out the fur, she said she was giving her a bath

She got to dress the dino too...it had on 3 outfits before she found the right one (which is not the one in the picture)

she named her dino....Dinosaur (however we put Pinky on the birth certificate)
I liked the name...Pink-apata-sauras, but we couldn't talk her into it

Chris, Aleigha, and me in front of the lego dragon in Downtown Disney.

In Downtown Disney, we ate at the Rain Forest Cafe with Chris' Uncle Gene, Aunt Carie, and cousin Olivia. We had a great and memorable evening with all of them.

first time on the "tire" swing

Aleigha climbed up the whole slide!!

Brenton's first time in the baby swing..and he loved it

enjoying the big girl swing

Brian and Aleigha...both of them were posing just like Brian, however, I couldn't get Aleigha to keep that pose

jumping on the trampoline

crashing in the waves

too cute

Hannah, Aleigha, and Brain hanging out on the trampoline at their house

my sexy husband

It was such a beautiful day! Look at the sky and the water...we couldn't have picked a better day to spend at the beach

Daddy taking Brenton out into the ocean

Family picture out in the ocean

collecting seashells

oh look at those blue blue eyes

Brenton enjoying the beach

She absolutely loved the ocean!!

The ocean water was soooo nice and warm!! We all enjoyed it!

Aleigha in the hotel pool....at about 9 pm...the water was perfect!!

Brenton working on his floating skills

Aleigha and Brenton in their matching zoo shirts sitting on Daddy's lap

we met Chris' Aunt Nicky and cousins at a restaurant in Tittusville, Fl
we had a good time with them on several occasions during our vacation
from left to right: Amanda, Brenton, Nicky, Brian (Nicky's son and married to Amanda), Emily, Chris, and Aleigha, Hannah, and Brian (Brian and Amanda's children)

Chris' cousins Brian(left)-his daughter Hannah, and Bobby(right, also son of Nicky) sitting with Aleigha

Aleigha, Hannah, and Little B

We went to the Brevard County Zoo and had a very good time. We saw lots of animals while we were there. We saw these giraffe's from the safari train ride we got to take. Unfortunately we didn't get to see them up close because it was time for them to eat dinner. Aleigha's favorite animals were the monkeys. We got lots of pictures of all the different kinds, however they didn't turn out very well.

ostrich eggs

Aleigha, me, and Amber (Chris' cousin) on the safari train

turtles

Aleigha was so excited to see the crocodiles that she had to call grandma and pop (who kept telling her before we left that we would see crocodiles) right away to tell them of her discovery

up close croc

we got to be turtles...so much fun!!

Brenton and Aleigha hanging out in the stroller before we entered the zoo...it was the only time Aleigha sat in the stroller

just chillin'

Everyday on our trip we got to visit with Anne (Chris' grandmother), as you can see, Brenton had no problem warming up to her and getting to know her...and neither did she. It is so cute to hear Aleigha say her name... she's calls her great grandma aunt anne. It was so nice getting to spend so much time with her.

us with Chris' cousins Amber and Justin..we had a great time spending so much time with them over the week

me and my baby boy

Of course, it never fails...where ever we go, we must find a disc golf course. I think Aleigha is going to be the youngest pro disc golfer...a week before her second birthday, and she has perfect form...now she just needs to work on distance.

Daddy chillin' with his little ones right before he gave them yet another lesson in disc golf

family pic at the disc golf park

Chris, Aleigha, Brenton, and Anne

Anne holding Brenton for the first time

Chris asleep...Aleigha not so much

Right before take off. The kids were amazingly well behaved on the flight there. The flight back though, we had to wake up at 6 am, so Aleigha was pretty tired...she cried for quite a bit until she feel asleep. Luckily we were beside another 2 year old. Overall, I can't complain too much.

Daddy and Aleigha in the airplane. The flight attendant gave Aleigha and Brenton First Time Flyer certificates. The pilot, co-pilot, and all flight attendants signed it. It also had the flight # on it along with the airports that we departed from and arrived to. Thanks for the idea Katie!

Aleigha was sooo excited to finally be able to fly in an airplane. We had been talking about it for weeks..so when the time finally came...she was certainly ready

So, they are saying kids are becoming more technology advanced earlier and earlier these days...it is so true...you should have seen Brenton on the playstation!

using the cat to prop himself up while he checked out his fingers

It was sooo cute to see these two play and talk together. Aleigha, 2, and Seqouia, 2 1/2, would have conversations between just the two of them. They are too darn cute.

Seqouia, Aleigha, and O'rion playing in the loft of the boy's bedroom...such a neat idea, and they loved it!

O'rion reading to Aleigha and Sequoia (who is evidently reading to himself). O'rion was so good with Aleigha. These are Chris' cousins. On our way to Florida, we stopped and visited with Chris' Aunt Loree, her husband Wind, and their children River, O'rion, and Sequoia. We had a great time with them.

Brenton rolls over

2009-09-23T22:22:00.007-04:00

So, not a whole lot new has happened recently. I have been busy working on all the requirements for becoming a substitute teacher. I have successfully completed the course, and now I am waiting for my certificate so I can then get my permit. So now I am just pretty much waiting for all the paper work to get in order. We've also been busy planning Aleigha's 2nd birthday. She is pretty excited about it. I can't believe my little girl is almost 2!!! Time has flown by sooo quickly. She is growing up so fast. She amazes me with how smart she is and how quickly she is learning. She is such a sponge. I am trying to take this time and teach her as much as I can while I know her mind is ready to absorb it. One of her favorite activities right now is playing school (in her words..."play skcool."), which entails reading books (with the familiar books, I'll read part of a sentence, and then she finishes it), picture flash cards (she will tell you what the picture is and with cards of multiple things she will point to each item and tell you what it is), practicing her ABC's, 123's, shapes and colors. Of course, we don't do all that at once b/c she is only 2 and her attention span only goes for so long. She will usually tell me which one she wants to do and when. She is also very big into playing pretend now. She loves to play "tea party" and house. Brenton is almost 4 months old. He is getting so strong. He is rolling over more often. He has yet to roll from back to belly, but he is getting pretty close. He gets up on his side, stays there for awhile, and then falls back on his back. His legs are super strong as he kicks, pushes his butt in the air, and rotates himself all using his legs. I think he'll be a little athlete just like his dad and all his uncles.
Well, we are heading to Florida today. We will be visiting with Chris' Aunt Loree and her family and my brother Adam and his family on our way there. We actually fly out in a couple of days. We will be visiting Chris' grandmother, uncles, and many members of his family. We are all very excited.
I hope you all enjoy the blog. Also, I tried uploading a video of Aleigha talking, but it was too big. I had to upload it to Youtube instead. I have also sent it to my myspace. But the youtube link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sumgRMrcko (you might need to copy and and past into your url window). It's pretty cute, so if you haven't seen it yet...check it out.

Brenton doesn't look to excited that Aleigha was crowding him in his bouncer seat

I think these two will have a lot of fun (and mischief) growing up together.

she loves to hold her brother

I did my observations last week so that I can start substitute teaching soon. Chris watched the kids ( a perk while working from home). However, because he was busy working, he put Aleigha in the living room to play and Brenton in his crib for a nap...that way he knew Aleigha wouldn't be torturing Brenton. However, she got a little too quite for him. He went to go look for her. She wasn't in the living room. He walked into the nursery...and thought that her stool probably shouldn't be right there. As he walked a little closer....

....this is what he found....

....Aleigha laying right next to Brenton, tucked under the covers, and sucking on a pacifier.

Thor has out past both of our children in size rather quickly. He is now about 40 lbs at 4 months old. By a year old, I think he will have me out past.

Aleigha is such a good sister. She loves Brenton soo much.

cuddly time with his doggy blankey

Brenton is getting so big and strong.

Here is a video of Brenton rolling over at 3 1/2 months. It has taken us quite some time to finally get in on video.

just hanging about

2009-09-09T16:37:00.010-04:00

Sorry it's been a little time since I last wrote...pretty much because not a lot has happened in the last few weeks. I have been enjoying time as a mom to my two wonderful children. The last couple of weeks I have been working on completing a substitute training course. Today I had an interview for a substitution position...I think it went pretty well. If it didn't...well then, more time with my babies :). Otherwise, I'm pretty excited about working a couple of days a week. I still have to complete some classroom observation and get a permit...so it will still take some time before I even know anything. Anyways, we've been having a good time just hanging out at home and spending time with friends and family. Brenton is getting to be a very big boy. He weighs about 11 1/2 lbs now. He's rolling over a lot more now, grabbing things, smiling and laughing all the time. He brings a lot of joy to our family. Aleigha is growing up all too quick as well. She is learning every day. She is so smart and so much fun. These two kids together are mine and Chris' pride and joy. We are a very blessed and fortunate.

Where did our little girl go?? I think she skipped being a toddler and went straight to pre-school age. (Sorry it's sideways.)

Aleigha pulling Brenton around in her wagon.

Just hanging out

Maddie and Aleigha posing for the camera

a bowl of ice and a couple of cups and these girls were kept busy for a couple of hours

Aleigha wanted to redecorate Molly's bday cake

Aleigha hanging out at the "big kid" table of Molly's surprise party...and fitting right in

The girls at Molly's surprise party

Aleigha and Daddy bowling

My parents threw Molly a surprise party for her 16th birthday at the bowling alley. It was a great time.

My beautiful baby girl

trying out the see-saw

having a fun time at the park

climbing up the slide

my little beauty

Alright...I know this last video of Brenton isn't much to brag about...but the smile at the very beginning is worth it. I wish it was a picture rather than a video, but it is what it is. He was constantly smiling for seriously 10 mins before I took the video...then he decided to stop. But there aren't a whole lot of pictures of him in the blog, so I wanted to add something of my amazing little boy.

Temple

2009-08-16T19:18:00.008-04:00

On August 12, Chris and I and our two beautiful children were sealed together in the Washington DC temple for all time and eternity. It was a beautiful and wonderful experience. I am so thankful to know that I will be with my family for even after this life is through. Aleigha and Brenton looked absolutely beautiful in all white. It was a great day that we have spent a long time looking forward to. There to join us in this joyous occasion were my parents, Katie and Wade, Liz and Craig, and Molly and Aubrey.

New Jersey Vacation

2009-08-16T16:50:00.024-04:00

We took a week long vacation to New Jersey. Some of the high lights of our trip include: We spent a couple of days at Ocean City, spending time on the beach and the board walk. We also ate dinner one night at the Rain Forest Cafe in Atlantic City. We visited with some of my friends. We got lost in downtown Philly (the scariest high light of our trip). And we spent lots of time with family; Tom, Rox, Jadyn, Kaya, and Uncle Bob. We had a wonderful time, but I do have to admit that it was very stressful. Aleigha is not at a good age to go on vacation. She was a great traveler in the car, but there was always too much going on that she never wanted to take a nap or go to bed. So a very sleep deprived child made for a very cranky child. We have decided that for our next trip, scheduled naps are a must (naps to and from in the car will not do)....I think we learned a lot on this vacation for things we will do different next time. After we left NJ we spent a couple of nights in Washington DC for our sealing (pictures on the next post). We relaxed by swimming in the pool and sitting in the hot tub of the hotel the first night in DC. The following day we were sealed in the Washington DC temple for all time and eterenity, it was an incredible experience. We then had a nice dinner at an elegant Chinese restaurant. Because it was so late when we were done eating, we decided to stay another night in DC and spend the following day in downtown Washington DC. We got out pretty late the following day, so we only had a couple of hours in DC, but we were able to visit the The Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian. We then made our way home and were very happy to sleep in our own beds.
I have to add one thing about Aleigha that I am very proud of (and b/c it's funny). She is talking really good right now. On the car ride home she said her longest sentence to date. It was 7 words!! To set the stage first, we put her in a diaper on the car ride home because we figured she would sleep most of the trip home. If she is awake and wearing a diaper, she is still really good about telling us she has to go potty. About an hour or two into the trip, she was still awake and she started saying "poop, mommy, poop." I kept telling her to hold in...finally, after about 10-15 minutes of telling me she had to poop, she says, "I wanna poop in the bathroom (pronounced bassroom), mommy." And let me tell you....she was not lying. We were able to stop, and she was successfully able to hold it.
Enjoy all the pictures. The first few are from Katie and my mom's camera before the trip, but w/in the last few weeks.

Brenton and Aubrey sharing the stroller while we spent some time at the mall....everyone thought they were twins. (Everyone has thought they were twins for the past 3 weeks).

Aleigha and Katie on the motorcycle ride at the county fair.
Later that same night, Chris went to take Aleigha to ride this ride again...as he approached the the ride, one of the motorcycles fell of the track...thankfully no one was on that one...and needless to say, Aleigha did not get to ride that ride for the rest of the night. However she did go up to the man who was working that ride and told him, "Fix it, Guy."

Eli, giving the babies bunny ears

me, Katie, Molly, and Brenton at Mountwood during a family barbecue

Aleigha absolutely adored Aubrey

at the Smithsonian

Aleigha at one of the dinosaur exhibits

Kaya and Aleigha giving hugs...Aleigha loves her cousins Kaya and Jadyn to pieces. She had a great time visiting with them and was sad when we had to leave.

on the beach at Ocean City

the girls, very engrossed in, what looks like, a very scary story that Aunt Katie is telling

During this trip, I had to pump a little so Brenton would have a bottle in the temple. Aleigha thought it would be fun to feed him. It was really cute to watch her...she did a pretty good job. Just for reference, Aleigha does NOT use a pacifier; however, every once in a while, she feels the need to try it out...I guess this was on of those times.

Aleigha holding Aubrey

me, Uncle Bob, and Brenton

Group Picture

Hmmm....I wonder who is watching Aleigha???
(there in the corner, swimming in the water)

sun bathing

taking daddy for a trip around the beach

taking Pop for a trip around the beach

Aleigha getting her trip around the beach

she appeared to be the only one on the whole beach

taking a nap on the boogie board

one of her tantrums she threw on the beach

Wade catching a wave

Kaya learning to surg...Aleigha was very intrigued

I thought this was a really cute picture with my dad, Tom, and Chris, holding the girls who were all in pink

One evening, everyone else went to Ocean City again. While Chris, the kids, and I decided to stay back and relax. We decided to spent a few hours at the mall. These pictures were taken at the food court..Aleigha was getting very tired and kept propping her head up...it was too cute not to capture. The whole trip, Aleigha only had one accident. It happened to be while we were at the mall. The mall was huge!! I was in a fitting room trying clothes on when she first told me she had to go potty. By the time I changed clothes, and found the closest bathroom, she didn't make it...I give her credit it though for trying. Right before we left the mall, I took her to the bathroom again. In the family bathroom, they had a small toilet and a small sink. I decided to let her try it by herself. She did great getting on the toilet, but when she tried backing up, she feel right into it. At first, it freaked her out, but after I started laughing, she thought it was pretty funny as well.

A group picture taken outside the Rain Forest Cafe. Someone standing by was kind enough to take it...unfortunately we didn't realize till later that night that she cut off half of Aleigha and all of Katie :(

Fun, Fun Summer

2009-08-05T15:12:00.023-04:00

The last two weeks have been very very busy....hence why I missed writing a blog last week. Although I didn't write a blog, I still continued taking lots and lots of pictures. We've been very busy but have had a lot of fun. Since there are sooo many pictures and too much to write about, I've decided to just write a little longer captions under some of the pictures to explain some things we have been doing. We are going on "vacation" in the next couple of days, so I wanted to catch up b/c I know I will have a lot more to post when we get back. Enjoy all the pics...and certainly don't miss out on the video at the end.

Thor...looking so cute wearing Chris' shoes

Beat after a fun filled day at the lake

We had a great time swimming at Crystal Lake. Afterwards, Katie wanted to test her skills at photography by taking some family pics of us. She got some good pictures, however, it was pretty hard with two little ones that were absolutely exhausted by this time.

A couple of neat reflection pictures

Funny family pic...somehow ALL 4 us managed to make a funny face all at the same time
....not an easy task w/ a 2 month old and 22 month old

another neat reflection picture....the reflection is the top part of the pic

out on the pier

so in love

Aleigha was trying to swim like she does in her baby pool at home....
(putting her hands down on the ground and either kicking her feet or walking on her hands)
luckily she tried this where she could reach, however, her mouth kept going under the water and she kept screaming "Help...Stuck!!" It was pretty sad but really cute...I had to come to her rescue.

Before I came to the rescue

Grandma and Grandpa swimming with Aubrey, Aleigha, and Brenton
I'm not sure what Aubrey and Brenton were thinking....but Aleigha seemed to enjoy it.

family pic while swimming

group pic

Gramma and Pop with Aleigha and Brenton
Aleigha sure has missed them this summer...but she is having a blast with them now

Aleigha holding the babies....good thing she had on her life jacket bathing suit

Aubrey and Brenton enjoying a nice float in the lake

Man, I'm telling you what...so far this kid has rolled over on his own, sat up on his own...and now floating on his own-he's growing up too quick...
(the only true part of the above statement...is rolling over on his own)

my beautiful baby girl

Grandma and My Little Man

Daddy and Aleigha hanging out at Crystal Lake

amazed at all the fish in the lake

she loves to be swimming

this is what you get when you let a toddler be in charge of the gold fish bag and her juice box

swinging at the play ground at Crystal Lake

This duck kept trying to take Aleigha's gold fish...she actually hit the duck and kept saying "Get away duck...stupid duck"(a dreadful word she picked up from me calling the dog stupid-when I stepped in one of his "accidents" in our house)
Luckily other than the dog and this poor duck...she hasn't called anyone else stupid

this poor duck was missing part of his top bill...he can't pick up food...it's sooo sad, he tries but he just ends up pushing it all over instead

my beautiful sister Katie and her adorable little girl Aubrey relaxing at Crystal Lake
Katie, Wade, and Aubrey came in to visit for a few weeks. We have been enjoying their stay very much. We have been trying to keep busy while they've been here.

Uncle Johnnie letting Aleigha be a life guard for the day
He is great with her

we thought she'd like it a little more than she did

Aleigha being a fire fighter at the breastfeeding party

Just like the kids, Thor is growing up too quick
He is doing so much better now. In one week he went from 8 lbs to 16 lbs...and he's grown even more since then

Aleigha has had a thing for showing off her muscles recently

my adorable baby boy

my precious little girl

she's too darn cute

this pic is a little blurry, but it is a great picture of Aleigha laughing...she has such a great laugh...a true down in the belly, rolling laugh...i love to hear it

being silly

she's taking fashion tips from Aunt Molly

We went to visit with our friends Brian and Emily and their kids.
Of course by the end of the night, Aleigha didn't want to leave and Lilly didn't want her to leave either. I went to go get her in Lilly's play room. Lilly turns to me and says, "She doesn't want to leave, so she's hiding." Can you believe what a 2 and 3 year old (not quite 2 and not quite 3) are capable of!!

trying to hide a little more in the toy box

Aleigha and Lilly swimming....Aleigha loves Lilly and going to her house.
The last time I remember her truly crying all the way home in the car was when she was about 9 months old. On the way home from Lilly's she cried and cried for a solid 60 mins and then feel asleep for the last 10 mins. It was a miserable ride home, but we had a great time while we were out.

One of the fun things we've done this week was go to the Ritchie County Fair. They had a pet show. Someone had brought their pet snake....a Boa. Katie decided it would be fun to get pictures with Aubrey and the snake (leave it to Katie to ask the guy to let him put his snake around her newborns neck). Sure enough, Chris liked the idea and got in on the action. Brenton laid back, relaxed, and let the snake do it's thing.

Aleigha wan't quite as chill as Brenton. She wouldn't let it around her neck. Look at her having a stare down with it though.

Brenton and Aubrey taking a nap together in Brenton's bed

hanging out
(check out Aleigha's art work on the mat)

Aleigha thinks she's in heaven, with 2 babies!!

play time

2 peas in a pod

my little stud...he is such a happy baby

Eli, Brenton, and Aubrey
Brenton and I went to Columbus to pick up Katie, Wade, and Aubrey from the airport. We then stayed the night at Adam's house. Although our visit was short, we had a great time haning out with them all.

she is just too cute

i have a feeling these 2 (along w/ some other cousins their age) will get into some mischief together

a hard day at work for Chris...Aleigha's hat, Aleigha's room, and my rocking chair

she loves her brother

what a handsome boy

hanging out at grandma's house

she loves to color

although this pic is a blurry and half of Brenton's cut out....his face is too cute not to post this pic

all bundled up

relaxing by the pool

our little model

catching some sun rays...in the shade

I watched some of Julie's kids...Aleigha loved the company of her older cousins
this is a beach ball sprinkler that shoots water out of it from lots of different spots...they had a blast rolling it around and getting each other wet

having fun in the pool

This is a hillarious video of Aleigha dancing at the fair to some guy singing accapoulo. She is so into dancing right now. She will pull Chris into the living room while saying "music daddy, music." As soon as Chris gets it started, she dances away. We've decided to put her into dance classes as soon as she is old enough...which is 2 1/2 around here.

Exciting News!!!

2009-07-23T09:26:00.007-04:00

This has been a very exciting week. We have not done a whole lot this week, but nonetheless, it's been quite exciting. Thor spent the weekend at the vet because his illness continued to get worse. However, after 4 days of IV fluid and medicine, we were able to pick him up. He is acting 100% better. With each passing day, he poop gets a little thicker. He is still on medicine, but he is making a nice recovery.
This week, we got the exciting news that the newest member of our family was born, Oliver Seth Owen (I believe this is the official name)-Laura and Todd's second little boy. He makes the 4th baby born in 8 weeks. He is absolutely adorable, he looks like a little Parker. We can't wait to meet him, as well with all the other babies. Our first chance to meet one of the newest babies will be next week, when Katie and Wade and little Aubrey come to visit. We are anxiously awaiting their visit.
It is not uncommon for toddlers and young children to regress a little when a new sibling is born. Aleigha has, for the most part, done well; however, there have been some things that have changed. For instance, she was 100% potty trained during the day. Now she has pee accidents (fortunately she has not had any poop accidents), about every other day and sometimes twice in one day. I think we are going to go back to the M&Ms to reinforce her to use the big girl potty again. It worked within days after first starting, so hopefully this will get her back to being fully potty trained during the day. Also as a little incentive, we taught her how to use a stool and climb on the BIG potty (w/ an attachment of course) all by herself. She gets very very excited when she climbs on it with no help. I have included a video of her doing this; however, the memory card became full as soon as she climbed on. So unfortunately, we did not get her reaction on camera.
Another regression has been that she was sleeping all through the night. Now she wakes up and wants to come into our bed. This week we took down the side of her crib to make it a toddler bed that she could climb in and out of. We were a little weary of doing this because she has no door to her room, and I didn't want her to wander around the house looking for us. And since she has never tried to climb out we thought we would keep her in the crib for as long as possible. We are fortunate to have a second crib for Brenton, so we don't need to move her out. Despite all this, I thought that the excitement of not having the side of the bed would make her excited to sleep in her bed instead of ours...HAHA. The only plus side of it was that we didn't have to get out of bed to get her...she came to us. It assured her coming into our bed. The first night, we thought that maybe it was a success. She slept all the way through the night in her own bed. The only scary thing was that when she did wake up around 7:30, before we were awake, she searched the whole down stairs for us. When I heard her calling out for us, I got up to get her, and found her in the kitchen. The second night, I woke up (I guessed I sensed something, b/c I didn't hear anything), to find her standing right next to our bed. All I could see was her eyes up. She didn't say a word...it scared me half to death. The next night, Chris awoke and found her laying on the floor beside our bed with her blankie and bunny. It didn't take long for us to put the side back up. I included a video of her playing in her bed. She did like that she was able to climb in and out whenever she wanted; however, it didn't keep her in bed at night. When we get back from vacation in a few weeks, we are going to try to do sleep training. It worked for her when she was 9 months.
Alright, so for what makes this week the most exciting.........drum roll please.........Chris and I will be going to the Washington DC temple to be sealed together and to our children for all time and eternity. We were able to set the date and get our interviews all in the same. We are inviting all friends and family that are able to go to join us in such a joyous occassion. For those who can not go into the temple, are more than welcome to come see us outside the temple and then join us for a celebration dinner outside the DC area. We will be sealed on Wednesday, August 12 (aprox. 3 weeks away). For any more details, please contact me.
Here are a few pictures and videos from this week. Hope you all enjoy.

She put herself in Thor's kennel

sneak peek at what Brenton will be wearing for his baby blessing and for the sealing at the temple

an absolutely adorable summer outfit...
thank you Mrs. Nolan...we are forever greatful for all the
wonderful things you have sent to Aleigha and Brenton

Brenton in a cute little onesie that Aunt Carrie bought for him

Aleigha is showing off her muscles

she's so much fun

since Brenton has been born, everything has become her baby...
including this Wii remote cover

Beautiful Aunt Molly taking a nap with Brenton

Parties, Parties, Everywhere

2009-07-15T20:07:00.015-04:00

Yet another week has past. It has been a pretty good week for the most part. However, it has also been a little stressful. We were kept very busy with lots of parties and the addition of a new puppy. Last Thursday, Chris bought a new puppy. I agreed to the puppy as long as he understood that it was HIS puppy. That meant, he lets it out, he walks it, he cleans up after it, he takes it to the vet, and any other additional things that it might require. Well, the puppy had diarrhea when we got him and within 24 hours after getting him he also became very lethargic, was not eating or drinking and also started vomitting. So of course, who had to bring him to the vet first thing the following morning...that would be me. The vet visit went alright for the most part...they tested him for several things, all of which came back negative. They diagnosed him with an inflammed bowel and sent us off with some medicine. He has seemed to make a remarkable difference in now that he is eating, drinking, and playing. He has also stopped the vommiting; however, the diarrhea is now full of blood. We contacted the breeder and had to meet him to pick up some additional medicine. And guess who had to pick it up...again, that would be me. I really can't complain though, Chris is doing all the dirty work. The puppy wakes up more than Brenton in the middle of the night...and that makes me happy. The puppy is absolutly adorable and Aleigha loves him. He is a full bred American Bulldog named Thor. He was a bit costly but we plan on breeding him and should make our money back fairly quick. Like our beloved Saddie, he has done great with both kids.
Also this week, my parents and Molly came back from their trip to Idaho (to see Katie's baby, Aubrey, be born) and Texas (to meet Bob's baby, Jaxon). They were home for three days before heading to NJ (to care for Uncle Bob and visit with Tom and his family). However, they were only in NJ for 1 1/2 days before my mom flew to Arkansas (to see the birth of Laura's new baby boy...yet to happen) and my dad came home. Molly and my Dad will be headed to Ak as soon as Molly comes home from church camp. We missed my parents while they were gone. We had a great time with them while they were here, and now we are missing them (well my mom) again. Hopefully we will be able to spend a good bit of time with my dad before he leaves again. We were very fortunate to be able to spend the day with him today. Us Thornburgh kids sure do keep my parents busy with all these babies. First it was wedding after wedding...and now baby after baby. However, I know they enjoy being able to travel and spend time with all their children and grandchildren. They are great parents and I have been so fortunate to be born to them.
Over the weekend, we were kept busy with 3 parties in 2 days. First, Aleigha, Brenton, and I went to my friend, Jami's bridal shower. We had a good time there, spending time with friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Later that day, all of us went to the Satre's Mega-Party (as I heard someone in the family call it). Scott along with Allie, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Abbie all have July birthdays (Abbie's the first week of August). With so many birthday's so close, they decided to have one big party for them all on Allie's bday. It was a lot of fun...although it felt like Christmas (only some of us not getting presents). Then on Sunday, we went to Chris' step brother, Shane's going-away party. Shane will be serving a two year mission to Russia for our church. We had a great time spending the day with family and friends. We were sad to see Shane leave, but we are very proud of him.
Today, Brenton had his six week apointment. It is heartbreaking for a mother to hear the cries of their baby getting a shot. It broke my heart to hear him cry out in pain. He is a trooper though; he cried for about 2 minutes but has not let out a cry since (it's been about 8 hours). At 6 weeks and 1 day, Brenton weighs 9 lbs 5 oz and is 21 3/4 inches long. He is growing like a weed. His personality is developing more and more everyday. For about the last hour or two of sleep this morning he slept in our bed. I awoke to the noises of him cooing and laughing. I turned towards him, to see him afixed in a gaze, looking up in the corner of the room. He was very excited and seemed to be "talking" to someone that I could not see. It seems that many parents have observed their newborns in a situation like this at one time or another. To me, it seems clear that the veil is thin for them and that they are communicating with some being that they knew in the pre-existence. It is an amazing thing to witness, and I cherish every moment that I am blessed to see him (as I did with Aleigha) have an experience like this.
I believe I have made up for last weeks short post. I hope you all enjoy. I appreciate all those who take the time to read and look at my post, it means a great deal to me. Take care.

Heisman Pose already-our future football star

black mail on Aleigha (I know it's mean to post these..
but I just can't help it...it's too cute)

Brenton sleeps just like Chris and Aleigha

We were a little worried how the puppy would act around the kids...the first morning we had him, Aleigha left the baby gate opened...the dog went into the living room where we had been sleeping...Chris and I ran in as soon as we realized where the puppy went...this is what we found

Aric's twin brother Won Twon
Aric was stung by a bee right above his left eye brow (on the inside-if you look close you can see it)...they had to take him to the ER b/c his face swelled..the bee stung him in his sinus'...so his poor face looked like this for about a week

At Jami's bridal shower w/ Jami and Amanda...we had a good time
Congrats Jami!!

She loves her Gramma and Pop

Sporting her boots

but not the pants (or underwear for that matter)

he was fed up w/ me taking pictures during his nap

Thor sleeping w/ Chris

me and my handsome husband...I think after 2 kids we're still looking okay
(well atleast when we try)

me being vain (although I had to take about 30 or more pics to get one that I liked)

Aleigha, gramma, and Thor

She was a big hit in this outfit...so there are several pics (from different angles)
of her in this dress

our little beauty

oh...i love it!

she loves here gramma

so this outfit came to be b/c she insisted on wearing the boots...being summer and not a whole lot of options for boots I went through her clothes and put this together...I think it turned out great!

Daddy-Daughter pic

Grandma Leta with her two grandbabies

Brenton looking adorable

grandma love

It takes about 30 tries to get a decent family picture....and this is about the best we get

she wore it well

he is very aleart now-a-days

what a stud!

an absolutely adorable bathing suit

she is such a happy girl...i love it!

so precious

so much personality

precious boy

he also has a great personality

he's got awesome lips, just like his sister

our newest addition....Thor

American Bulldog

at 7 weeks-8.8 lbs
expected weight at 1 year- 90+ lbs