I love being a mother! no I love being a mommy.....

tonight I thought I would do a post or shall I say an ode to motherhood. I didnt have a particularly wonderful day, so no thats not why I'am writing this, I just wanted to write this for my posterity, so that someday my children will know that even though mommy runs around like a chicken with her head cut off and constantly pull her hair out when the monster emerges (my alter-ego nate calls the monster because I look like one when im upset and I tend to growl like one as well!) I still enjoy being just that a mommy, I love to cook and fill my house with comforting smells of food, I love (even though I hate to admit it) to do laundry, I love the clean refreshing smell it brings to my home and the kids shirts, pants, whatever it brings to my families sweet backs, I love to clean my house and look on in awe at what I have accomplished and the up-lifted spirit it brings to myself and nate, cuz you know cleanliness is next to godliness! :) I love the thank you kisses I get from me babies because I played with them, or made them something to eat or just because they love me. I love to watch them sleep and see their sweet faces in such peace....I love motherhood it is without a doubt the most humbling, hard (at times frustrating), rewarding and precious job I know I will ever have. I know my heavenly father chose my children for me perfectly and even though times with coby can be REALLY tough, he chose me to be his mother for a reason and im gonna try my dang hardest to do the best job I can for him. I know chase was sent to me, to bring me peace in times of utter chaos and despair, if you could just hear that lil babes giggle and see his smile you'd know exactly what I mean! :) and I know that my lil princess Caitlyn (to be) will add something to the mix that is much needed. I love my babies and yes there 4 and 17mon.'s but to me they will always be my babies!....well with that I will leave you all and my babies with a pic. of the belly for those that havent seen it yet!

our attempt at a family photo! :)

not the best photo, but I will have more soon! im gonna get some taken! but here is the bump at 32wks. and IM 35 NOW! soo.....its a lil bit bigger now!

Kind of a Fixer-upper......

I know, I know it has been FOREVER since I have posted, but since we have been super busy with Nate in school full-time, me (tiff) in school full time, Nate picking up shifts here and there, Coby in preschool and tons of other appt.s and such, our pregnancy, and keeping up with an ever-changing 16 month old and lots of personal things we have endured, its a wonder how we make it through the day, most days.....but more on that in my next post.......as the title reads "kind of a fixer-upper" well keeping up with our ever-changing toddler Chase has been fun, and EXHAUSTING! he is a super busy-body boy from sun -up to sun-down constantly getting into things and getting hurt in some way, shape, or form. everyone says he is just like me an "ultra-clutz" and he is! he is constantly walking into walls, doors, falling down, bonking his head "you name it" and well tonight was a whopper....you see anyone who has been to our house knows we have a little island bar in our kitchen with real wood "HEAVY" bar stools. well chase has also takin a likeing to those said bar stools and thinks its funny to pull them down on the floor and hear the loud "BANG" that they make. I have tried and tried and tried again to get him to stop doing that and well...........I think he has now gotten the point (we can only hope). You see chase decided to pull the said bar stool down tonight to once again hear the loud "Bang", but this time he made one HUGE mistake and didnt move his toes out of the way this time and almost completly severd his two toes on his left foot:

exhibit A:


I know sick right?! you can blow it up to see it better. when chase dropped the bar stool on his foot it landed on the "sick toe" (this is right after they RE-ATTATCHED IT!) and nate said it splatted blood everywhere almost immediatly it was so GROSS! and I mean GROSS the pictures really dont do it justice the toe was completly smashed and hanging on by a little bit of skin and oh how it BLEED! im not exactly sure how many stitches he has, but quite a few. at first the dr's were skeptical if they would even be able to save it or have to partially amputate it, luckily we have heavenly father on our side and he decided to save it!...some maybe thinking "well its just a toe!" but still who wants to walk around with a funky toe. am I right?!

exhibit B:


yeah the pictures just dont do it justice! it was sick!

anywho were home now and our little buddy is relaxing comfortably, but it was quite the ordeal for him, because they had to Pampoose him (sp?) which basically mean they wrapped his body in a sheet, then they put this strap thing on him to he could not move a muscle and it totally freaked him out and he screamed and screamed and had good reason too.....poor baby they gave him a local anaesthetic and some versed and tylenol w/ codeine and that STILL did not knock him out, but he was a trooper though.....in case you are wondering "did he break anything?" SURPRISINGLY NOT! crazy huh?!


here's his foot all wrapped up afterwards....dr's say it could take weeks for it to heal and hope they it had successfully reattatched itself although it will look a little deformed, but hey at least he will have a story to tell in case anyone ever notices and asks' about it.


and here we are all done and as happy as can be, to have our baba, our blankey and to see and be held by mommy and daddy! WHAT A TROOPER!! he was.....we love you little monkey boy!

more to come about us soon, as I know some are dying to see the baby-bump and have an update on such....we love you all and a special thanks to my bro-in-law Will and my sis-in-law Terril and my mom-in-law and father-in-law for your help......coby was FREAKING out about his brother being hurt and only Uncle Will was able to calm him down, poor guy he was so scared for chase and all he kept screaming was "my baby momma! my baby chazzzz, baby, baby!!!!!!!!" it was so sad, as many times as those two fight, they sure do have tender hearts for one another!

Family Update and Oh how fun it has been....

shopping for a GIRL. seriously I cant even express how fun it has been. Of course its always fun shopping for babies period, boy or girl. but with that said it has been far more fun to shop for Caitlyn than it ever was for the boys, because of the sheer selection, there is about 3x's as much of a selection for girls stuff than boys!.....so with all that being said please feast your eyes on these sweet, adorable things I got my hands on for our lil' Princess-to-be so far........

how adorable is this skirt it is so much cuter in person. its poofy and I love it!...I got it on sale at the childrens place for only $4.99! crazy huh? I got it in 9mon. so it will fit her next spring.

what a cute lil onesie huh? I got this for $1! at walmart I got a few other in other colors like white and lavender with different things on them too....oh how cute and I got them in newborn so she can wear them as soon as she gets here.




arent these just too cute!....same thing only $1! at walmart I also got them in a light pink and newborn size as well...love them!



and this is the dress she will be coming home in!....I love it, seriously the picture does not do it justice it is so dang cute! and it was only $3!......you cant beat that its a new born size and I bought a cute headwrap and lil' pink bow to go with.....oh I cant wait!

oh and just so I dont leave out the boys on our blog check out these adorable 4th of July shirts I got them.....I know what your probably thinking july is 2 more months away, but I waited til july last year and then they were sold out of 4th of july shirts EVERYWHERE!...so im ahead of scheduele this year YAH!!!......ok I just tried to load the shirts on here and my computer is giving me trouble DANG IT!...well anywho the shirts said "Daddys my hero!" on them they were navy blue and the "hero" in daddy had the american flag in the lettering. they are so cute and they match, I know its kinda dorky to dress your kids alike, but I LOVE IT! so WHATEVER! :)

well alot has gone on lately and I want to load new pictures of my bambinos on here, but everytime I try to load pics on here from my camera, my stupid computer crashes DANG IT!...oh well were getting a new desk-top here in just a couple more weeks YAH!!!! hal-li-freakin-lujah! :) cant wait!...I have so many of the boys and family pics. and of course "The Belly!" anywho like I said alot has gone on lately. Nate finished another semester of school! YAH!....were so proud of you honey!.....im starting school May 27th! hallelujah! im beyond excited....on a sad note Coby was diagnosed in february with P.D.D. (Pervassive Developmental Disorder) on the spectrum of Autism. it was a hard day that we spent in Iowa city when we got the diagnosis, but at the same time we prepared our selves for it and were relieved to know that it is the mildest and highest functioning form of Autism so his future prognosis is good. he will soon start occupational therapy and private speech therapy and will continue on next year at his current preschool. they have worked wonders with him and he is talking more everyday and understanding more everyday. Coby is such a blessing and wonderful addition to our family and he has taught and continues to teach us so much!....we love you bubba!....now on to chasers...oh my chase, my chase, my little chase....saying he is a handful would be the biggest understatement of the century! NO JOKE! he is a busy-body, he is into everything and is SUPER EXPRESSIVE, he makes coby look calm sometimes! heres a list of what he has been saying:

*Mama
*Dada
*Ball
*Car
*Vroom-vroom (cars noises)
*wow-wow (for his show wow-wow-wubzy)
*more (which he can also sign)
*NO! (of course)
*ooooooon, ooooooo, eeeeee, go! (1,2,3, go)
*eddy,et,go (ready set go)
*bath
*bottle
*choo-choo
*wee (when asking for the park)
*bye-bye (which he also waves)
*oby (coby)
*ace (chase)
*papa (grandpa)
*ma-ma-ma (grandma)
*Yyyyyyyeeah (yeah, but a big emphasis on the y)
*boom-boom (for his guns)
*elmo
*nigh-night
*HI!
*dah (for down)
*up

i feel like theres more, but not to bad for a 14 month old! and he adds something new everyday, but hes so funny, he dances in circles and laughs and is a SUPER SUPER MAMAS BOY!!! and such a cuddler!...we love you buddy!

we have lots going on and lots coming up and were just excited for the summer! YAH! of and huge shout out to my bestest gal-pal Robyn for the absolutly adorable baby bedding for miss Caitlyn! WE LOVE IT! SERIOUSLY THANK YOU! nate and I BOTH have not stopped looking at it and we thank you!....more to come soon.

it's a.................

GIRL!!!!!....... I know I can hardly believe it!!!....were are so excited, I cant even think of the words to express how excited we are....we already have a name picked out, which will be dun ta-duh.....Caitlyn Marie.

AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!.....

ok so who doesnt love a great giveaway!!!......I know I love one!!!!.......anywho this very crafty mama is offering a fantastic giveaway on her website just go here and follow her instructions and check out her beautiful merchandise SO CUTE!

Realization....

ok so yeah since I don't ever truly keep much of a journal (which I know is terrible) I'm going to treat my blog as sort of a personal/family type journal and hey you never know maybe i'll create more posts (but who knows) because of that......anywho I have a lot to blog about considering I just got back from a week long hiatus to vegas to see my family and boy oh boy what a trip that was, but no thats not what I want to talk about right now. I also need to blog and post pictures of my sweet baby chases' first birthday, which was such an awesome yet bitter-sweet day, yet again thats not what i'm going to talk about right now, so I'll just save those things for a later post.

for now I want to talk about somethings that I have come to realize and have come to terms with this week, for starters people are who they are and I've come to the conclusion that there is not
a damn thing is this world that I can do to change that.

ponder this for a moment: have you ever met someone and your perception of them was totally different than what you thought? and have you ever for a second been disapointed? I know I have.I've met a ton of people who I thought were totally different than they actually are and a few of them I was a little disapointed for a second, because my perception of them was totally in the wrong ball field. anyway I have come to terms to not at all be disapointed anymore, because for one its not ever fair to judge a book/person by its cover and for two I wouldnt want to be judged that way either.

I know that sounds weird but its something I have pondered about for along time and finally came to terms with.

some other things I have come to terms with this week is I either have to accept certain people for who they are no matter how badly my heart and head aches or just leave them which also leads down the same path. oh well what can you do?.......

I have also come to realize that its ok to admit to and accept help when its needed. for those that didnt know, but have probably been wondering. no nathan and I arent selling our house we are losing it to foreclosure, we have tried our hardest to keep it, but have come to the bitter realization that we just cant financially or physically do it anymore. we have been taking out extra student loans to cover the mortgage (which isnt astronomical, but it still pretty expensive) and nathan worked like a horse to pay the difference and it was taking a serious toll on him in every aspect of his being. and its just not worth it. its not like its our dream that we thought we would be in forever, heavens no we want property someday and we would like to be able to actually afford our student loans someday when we have to start paying them back and using them to pay for a house, at the time sounded smart, but in retrospect is completly dumb, because we will never truly recoup that money no matter how much ecquity we build up. so in a nut shell that has been about 40% of the stress we have been dealing with and has been eleviated. the other stress is just too personal for me to just open right up about, but for those that know what I'm talking about were ok. we have legal help now and all is being taken care of. thanks for your help and support. and nathan and I have never been closer because of these trials that we have been put through. it brings me back to our old prophet president hinkley and his council to pray for the trials, because of the rewards and blessing that they can bring to your home and family. well hes right and I'm grateful for it. and I sure do miss him!

anywho there are more things i have come to realize this week, but its getting late and if I dont get my beauty rest, heaven help my poor family in the morning :)


Thanks again, mom and Robyn and all of my great friends and family that have helped nathan and I get through these trials, we love you and are so grateful for you.

BRRRRRRR and GRRRRRRR!!!!......

ok I know I havent truly updated in like FOREVER, but i promise I'am working on a long, long VERY LONG update post with lots of pictures and few videos, although i'am not done with it yet. it will be published on here very soon!.....anyway with that said I just need to RANT and RAVE on here for like just a minute, cuz today has just been a day! with that said here it goes: I HATE THE FREAKIN' STINKIN' DANG COLD! I'AM SO OVER IT!!!! I know you Iowa natives out there are like "JUST SHOVE IT WITH THE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE COLD ALREADY", but I cant help myself I'am just so over it!!!! like I love the four seasons and I look forward to winter, but thats until january ends and you then realize that you've already gone through 3 months of winter and you still have 3 more to go and to that i want to tell Mr. Frost and mother nature to TAKE A DANG HIKE!!!! because it is torturous, it has put me in the fowlest mood and for someone like me who is still suffering from a little spout of depression, this weather does nothing to help it!

I just cant wait til my trip to Vegas in March when it will be in the high 70's if not 80's and my family and I can enjoy bright sunny days and I can see my family that I havent seen in 2 (YES 2!) years I still cannot believe that I have not been home to see my favorite person (besides you mom!) my granny in 2 years! I cant tell you the pain it gives me going to sleep every night and knowing that is one less day I could be enjoying the precious time she is here with us, she is almost 84 after all and she is the sunshine in our lives, because shes not just some old lady knitting in a corner (no offense to those that are) no she is a feisty, witty, very humorous woman and I just adore her and I didnt really know how much I adored and admired her until I got married and had my own kids and it just pains me that she hasnt met chase yet, neither has my sweet brother (miss you tony!) or my best friend/sister Becca (miss you sissy!) I cant wait to see you guys in a month and a half! anywho with all that said i'am just ready for some sun! because i have become so white that Casper the friendly ghost himself looked at me yesterday and said "DANG GIRL, I'VE GOT MORE COLOR THAN YOU!" I think warm, sunny days will be just what this PREGNANT (YES I'M PREGNANT! AGAIN!) Woman needs (im almost 12wks. along for those wondering) and I just cant wait for warm weather and my vegas trip and the beautiful spring and summer here in Iowa. Please dear heavens let that stupid ground hog see his dumb shadow and bring the spring early. with that said I hope everyone is having a better winter than me.

here mom heres a few pictures to satify those cravings of seeing your grand babes!

I just love this picture of Coby, its just so him, his face reads" Yes in fact I do have a hidden agenda!"

hope that can suffice for now. I love you all out there!