Messy Hair

I woke up this morning feeling guilty.  Feeling like a crappy mom.  I guess not necessarily a bad mom, but definitely not a great mom.  And that's something that I really want to be.  Thinking back on this week, I felt like a failure.  Most days I barely managed to get dressed, let alone wake up early to get the girls' breakfast before I had to feed Kya.  I certainly didn't attempt to do anyone's hair, including my own.  The house has been kinda messy, and I didn't cook very many dinners.  I had a goal of really working on alphabet letter recognition with Taylee, and I haven't even pulled out the flashcards once in the last week.  I could go on and on about the things I was kicking myself over.  I mean really, this last week has been caked full of completely unimportant activities.  However, as I was looking back through the pictures that I've taken the last 4 days, I realized that most of the activities that we DID do, were meaningful to the girls. . . . . which makes them important to me too.  Don't get me wrong, I still feel bad about the things I didn't get to, but I know the girls certainly don't care about their messy hair or the state of our house.  They are happy, fed, and most importantly loved!  So I decided to give myself a little bit of a break.  Anyway, please excuse the ragamuffin hair, and enjoy the completely hilarious attitude of Miss Taylee and girls!


We made the cornstarch / water recipe.  I'm not actually sure what it's called.  My girls have played with this before and are always so fascinated with it.  It creates a disaster (especially when Taylee runs through the house with it dripping from her hands), but it is super entertaining for all involved (yes the girls finally had to tell me to go away because I was hogging it all).  Do you like how it's dripping from Tay's hair?  And this is nothing compared to how we ended things!

 

I love how Tay bug always has her tongue sticking out:  

 

Meanwhile, I had to sneak a peek at this thumb sucking angel:

 

Friends + Dress-Ups + Dancing = Perfect

I love Halle's pose here.  Brielle was shaking her little booty and Halle just struck this pose for like 10 seconds and it cracked me up! I could watch them interact all day long.  So funny.

 

Taylee likes to layer her dress ups.  Then as soon as she gets several on at one time, she wants to change.

 

Oh yeah, check out that face.  Reminds me of Uncle Randy's fighting video....right Bren?!



 

They all had some pretty sweet moves.

 

 

I mean seriously, they are rocking out!



 

 

Taylee wanted me to take her picture, so I told her to do a dance pose for me, she came up with this:

 

After I got done laughing (she didn't even crack a smile), I told her I wanted to see another one.  Here ya go:

 

And one more.  (All she did differently was open her mouth.)  Oh yeah, this girl knows how to rock it!



She got horribly stuck getting dressed.

 

So she decided to throw in a wink.  I absolutely love this girl!

 

Then of course Breezy wanted to be in a picture winking.  Unfortunately for her, my 2 year old is a much better winker than my 4 year old.

 

Caught in the act: Thumb sucker.  No sticker for you today!

 

Sweetheart:

 

Brielle is such a fantastic sister.  She is so helpful, and I love the way she is looking at our little spitter.

 

This is what Taylee looks like when she gets mad.  She always yells, "I am so mad" or "I am so frustrated".....then she pouts until she forgets about it 6 seconds later. (PS: her face is all scraped up from falling while running on the tramp.)

 

Brielle is like a mini mother to Kya bear.  She's always trying to make her smile or comfort her.

 

Aha!  Caught in the act again!  2 thumb suckers.

 

 

Karate kid:

 

 

More dress ups.

 

We had so much fun doing makeovers this morning.  We all let each other put makeup on us.  It was terrifying and so cute all at the same time.  They thought that was the best thing ever!  I spied on them checking out their makeup in my mirror.  The faces they pulled had me laughing SO hard!  They kept saying, "I just look so beautiful.  So, so beautiful!"

 She thought she looked exactly like snow white.  She couldn't have been more thrilled with her makeup.  Hmmm....apparently I need to get more makeup.

 

Pouting because mom was being mean and wouldn't let her have candy at 9:30AM. 

 

6 seconds later, she'd forgotten.

 

6 seconds after that, she asked me for candy again, to which I responded no......again.  Back to pouting:

 

Meanwhile, Brielle is just in her own world, blowing kisses and imagining who knows what, completely oblivious to what's actually going on in her world. 



 

The Many Faces of Kya Mae (Because I NEVER want to forget the details):

 

Bright Eyes:

 

I call this one "Jowls"

 

Happy:

Hilarious:

 

Curious (I realize most of them look exactly the same, what can I say?  She's a happy baby!):

 

With an occasional "stink eye" (PS: she now has her 2 bottom teeth through):

I simply love her too much to not post more.  I'm sorry.

 

Look at her cheek.  You can actually see the shine all over her fat parts from my chapstick.  I kiss her way too much, I'm sure of it!

 

How can you not though?

 

I love everything about her.  I love how tightly she holds my finger when I cuddle her.  I love the way she stares at me while I feed her.  Like she loves me so much.  I love how she smiles EVERY time she sees me, even if she's just been crying.  I love how she crosses her cute little ankles and I love how she laughs every time I take her shirt off because she's ticklish. Oh man is she ticklish!

 

I love the blue eyes she and her sisters got from their dad, and I love her perfect little lips and nose.

 

And I love her pouty face!

 



Randy & Jordan Sittin' In a Tree

 

Let's start with Jordan's Bridal Shower.  My Mother, Misty and I were so excited to plan a little open house shower for Jordan.  I'll skip most details but the important part is that she is Almost a Rhodes!

 

"Have you the ring?"

 

And food.  Food is the other important part.  We had lots of yummy food.

 

 I may or may not have gotten distracted from taking pictures of the shower because of this little sweetheart! 

 

 

Feb 15, 2013:

(Jordan River Temple)

Patiently waiting for the Bride and Groom to exit.  These guys crack me up.  Some of them seem like brothers to me too, so it's always fun to see them.

 

Mr. & Mrs. Rhodes:

 

 

They had a luncheon at Christophers Stake House and the reception was at Jordan's parents house in Logandale, Nevada.  Everything was beautiful and the weather was WARM!  So excited for spring now!  Here's our little photo shoot:

Taylee Jane:

 

These cute little girls were stuck on the fence and yelled for help.  Taylee ran to their rescue.  I think it's safe to say she was a hero that day...!

 

I'm fascinated by this sweet looking fire pic from a tiki torch that Trav took:

 

Miss Brielle Cherie:

 Brielle just wanted to run off and play with the other girls.  No time for pictures!

 

 

I still have my Kya Mae though, who I am so completely in love with! 

 

Cake time! 

 YAY for weddings! 

 

 

 

Horsing around at home:

 

 Brielle's Valentines: (We had SO much fun knocking on doors and running away!  Brielle thought that was the greatest thing EVER!  I'm pretty sure I felt the exact same way:))

 Thank You Pinterest

 

 

In Other News:

Ice Fishin' Success:

 

Wait for it.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait for it.......

 

 

 

 

 

 BAM!  Yep, the biggest fish of Trav's life thus far. 31 pounder.  Almost pulled his pal Clayton in through the ice (Clayton was just trying to guide this fat fish through the little ice hole).  Kinda crazy, but not really because Travis seems to be good at everything he does!  Super cool though:)

 Good Job Babe!

 

 

YW Cabin Fun (I love my calling!):

 

SNOWBALL FIGHT!   I threw snowballs at the boys until I could no longer feel my hand.  Unfortunately, I don't remember actually hitting that many of them!  I'm a little off my game.  Been a while I guess!  So much fun though.

So, that's what we've been up to.  Don't get me wrong though, we have lots of boring days too.  Days where I don't do my own hair let alone 3 little girls!  I just prefer showing pictures to actually writing.  It's more fun that way.  For Journaling sake though, I'll update on a couple things. 

Kya is seriously about as sweet as they come!  She is such a fun baby because she just smiles all day long.  She's been rolling over now for a couple weeks although she still does occasionally get stuck on her belly.  She still spits up a TON! 

Brielle is absolutely in LOVE with her preschool and gymnastics and that girl is getting pretty dang strong for such a tiny little thing.

Taylee is still crazy little Taylee.  She is stubborn and knows how to get what she wants.  She has quite the little attitude and really knows how to push our buttons. She is such a cute little dancer though and loves to do tricks and shake her little booty. 

I was playing hide and seek with them yesterday.  I was scrunched up in a little ball in the coat closet hiding for a good five minutes even yelling out hints every now and then.  Apparently they'd gotten bored though and moved on to something else, leaving me hiding in the coat closet for nothing.  Those turds!

Travis stays busy with work and building his parents house.  They should be done very soon though so it's quite exciting!

And as for my update.....To be honest I've really been struggling with numb legs and a painful back more than ever lately.  It started in 2006 and it's been pretty on and off but ever since I've had Kya I'm numb almost all of the time.  The pins and needles sensation is actually quite painful and frustrating because I stumble over myself regularly, which throws my hips out of alignment and makes them ache all of the time.  MRI results showed a bulging disc (which pinches my sciatic nerve), a tear in my disc, and also an abnormal spot on my brain surrounded by fluid and swelling.  I'm heading to a neurologist very soon so hopefully we can get this all sorted out.  It makes me super grateful for the priesthood in my life though because after being on the receiving end of a blessing, I honestly haven't worried much at all about that spot on my brain.  I'm so grateful for that.  I know this sounds cheesy but I've been thinking about it a lot and have realized that  gratitude can really change the way you live your life.  I'm so grateful that I'm alive, that I'm a mother and a wife.  The more I think about those facts, the more I want to get on the ground and just play with my kids.  Play and read and sing and just be happy.  Because I am........happy that is......oh yeah, and grateful!