The Dancing Queen

Enjoy this entertaining video of McKenna doing her thing. She will probably kill Matt and I when she is older/now for posting this. I suppose I should start saving for therapy now....This is her impromptu 80's dance; hence the outfit. She meant it to be funny--not serious, Becca! Thanks for letting us film it at your house and for being willing to be her audience.

Nico is 1!!

Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem like a year ago I was in the hospital about to give birth to my sweet little girl. I remember poor Matt about ready to faint and how relieved we both were when the nurses finally got her to cry. To say a lot has happened in the past year is a big understatement.
I love being a mom to my three wonderful and incredible kids and it was definitely worth the almost 7 year wait to have Nico. She has been such a sweet blessing for our family. I love to watch the interactions that happen between McKenna/Nico and JJ/Nico. Matt is such a doting father and Nico literally lights up when she hears him come through the door after work or a bike ride. I am truly blessed to have such a fantastic family.
Here are a few pictures of Nico from the past year; my how she has grown!

Nico on her first day home.

The love of a sister is like no other.

One proud and protective big brother.

Hey fuzzy hair...

Mom, I promise I'm not tired...

"I love pink and brown, well at least my mom does."

Nico makes some of the funniest faces...

On A Roll...

Since I seem to be on a blogging streak, why not make it three posts in one day. Yes, I actually do other things besides post and FB. A few more pictures of the kids since I love them so much.
McKenna the Shopalholic:)

JJ our multi-sport athlete.

Nico the ruler of the roost, what she wants she usually gets!

They really do love JJ very much.

Just Because

It seems like I never post a picture of myself; maybe because as a mom I am usually the one taking the picture. So I thought I would try and find a halfway decent picture of myself. So here is the result, a little blurry because Matt took it on his phone but of course Nico makes me look better. Becca is that you I am talking too...?

FOOD FIGHT!

So what do we do for fun on Sunday evening, why have a food fight of course. It all started when Matt decided to take a handful of mashed potatoes and smear them into McKenna's hair. This was followed by McKenna shreiking, "I just washed my hair." At this point we all, except for Kenna, started laughing hysterically. Matt thought she needed some more potatoes so in they went.

McKenna then threw potatoes at Matt, then she got a squirt bottle and started sparying him and that of course led to Matt throwing water on her. I decided I had better join in so I took a big handful of mashed potatoes and corn and smeared it in JJ's face. At this point he chased me outside and we began throwing food at each other. Needless to say I'm sure that if any of the neighbors were watching they all know that we are completely crazy!!! I still think that there are potatoes and corn outside. The kids left a little for the birds, how thoughtful.

Nico was feeling left out so Matt gave her a fudgesicle which she proceeded to devour. At least he gave it to her in small pieces. McKenna then decided to give the rest of it to her and the rest is history-she ended up looking like she had been sitting in a mud puddle.
Dinner Anyone?

I Love Shopping!

This is a phrase that McKenna says quite often. It still amazes me how different the two of us are. Don't get me wrong I love to shop but I can't ever remember saying that when I was 11 years old. I definitely don't ever recall wanting to wear any of my mom's clothes or shoes at her age. I suppose I should be flattered that she thinks I have a few items that look stylish enough for her to wear.
Joelle and I laugh about the fact that McKenna is so much more like her. If I am ever wearing anything that is "cute" Kenna inevitably asks me, "Did Joelle give you that?" Thank you Jo for helping me to look presentable enough for McKenna to claim me as her mom. She loves and adores you and not just for your sense of fashion.
I love that McKenna always asks me if she looks "ok?" Please my sweet daughter you always look fabulous and you are breathtakingly beautiful!!!
So if anyone is ever in need of a babysitter be sure to give McKenna a call. She is always in need of more $$$ so that she can go shopping because she as she informed Matt and me we don't give her enough allowance to cover all the cute things she wants.

My Hometown Hero

This post is dedicated to my Hometown Hero, my awesome hubby. Matt never ceases to amaze me. He is such a dedicated and loving husband and dad; so it is no surprise that that dedication can be seen in other aspects of his life i.e. cycling, work, etc...

As many of you already know Matt's mom was diagnosed with CLL-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. She is undergoing a battery of tests to determine the cause but seems to be holding up quite well. As a result of this diagnosis Matt has decided to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation through their "Hometown Hero" project.

For several years Matt has been an avid cyclist. Again his dedication to his training is quite remarkable. For the past several years he has raced the LOTOJA which is a one day 206 mile race from Logan, UT to Jackson, WY. Talk about a sore bottom! Needless to say my husband inspires me to be a better person.

It is no surprise when I say that Matt is an extremely private person so I am even more proud of him for putting himself out there. Now that I have written a small paper I just want to give a BIG shout-out to my Hometown Hero who just happens to look really HOT in stretchy pants!! I love you Matt!

If any of you are interested in learning more about Matt's cause just log onto http://www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org/netcommunity/lotoja2009

April Fool's Day!

So I have been sitting here for the past hour trying to Nico that she needs to go back to bed before I have to get up again with McKenna and JJ. Yes, she just finally nodded off! Anyway back to my wonderful April Fool's Day or my birthday.

I have to start off by saying I have the greatest family and friends. I received phone calls, emails, and posts on FB all day long. As KT said, "it is nice to know someone is thinking about you." Thank you to everyone. I have to give a HUGE shout-out to Becca for arranging my somewhat of a surprise birthday dinner with Matt. Thanks for watching the kids so we could go and eat some yummy sushi!

As for the funny jokes courtesy of Heather and Becca, way to go ladies. Yes I was surprised when I sat down to use the bathroom, I will leave it at that (SaranWrap)...and when I told the kids to get ready for bed 20 minutes early. McKenna walks into our room and asked, "what time does your clock say? Why does the clock in my room say something different?" Matt, "the time on the tv must be wrong, I wonder what is going on?" This is when I start to laugh hysterically knowing that the fun hasn't ended yet.

Heather you shouldn't have told me that there was another surprise and I would find out what it was in the morning-giggle, giggle. It took me about 2 seconds to check the alarm-3am.....Matt and I had a really good laugh about that one.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday such a wonderful day, especially to my sweet kids and hot husband:) Kenna I loved my breakfast and all the thought that went into it. JJ you rock my little man, and Nico thank you for finally going to sleep.

Pictures

So I finally got around to having the kids pictures taken. I used Skye Johansen and am thrilled with how the pictures turned out. I must say I think I have some beautiful kids, yes I am completely biased, but aren't all moms supposed to be. By the end of the session Nico had had enough and didn't want to sit still and wouldn't keep any of her hats on.

McKenna and JJ were a huge help. They tried every trick they could think of to keep Nico entertained and smiling through the entire process. I love Nico's baby chub and I don't think I realized how photogenic my kids are; I am a completely different story. It was worth the wait. I will treasure these pictures forever. All I have to do is look at McKenna to remind myself how fast they grow up. Enjoy the pictures.

If you want to see some more pictures or check out Skye's work just head to www.skyejohansen.com. The kids pictures are posted on her blog.

Sick and tired of being sick

Finally, I everyone is better. For the past week we have all had varying degrees of the stomach flu. McKenna and Nico had it the worst. Yesterday was the first day that Nico didn't get sick. I felt so bad for her; she had no idea what was going on. Luckily, I was spared the brunt of it since I was the nurse for the rest of the family. It is always horrible when mom is sick anyway because then things really begin to fall apart.

I couldn't wait for McKenna and JJ to head back to school yesterday and so we could get back to our normal routine. Matt asked me how I expect to survive the summer with all three home? Simple, " I will send the older two outside to play all day and lock the door....:)" Now if it would only get warm and stay that way.