Riley

 Riley has been running a fever since Sunday, but today after sleeping until 930 he woke up happy as a Lark.

Food Makes him happy!

Ethan loves taking pictures... so all of these pictures of Riley are the Work of Ethan.

I had to laugh at this because he had THREE BINKIES that he was carrying around! 

And here he was trying to share with Mason.

RILEY

Where do I begin with Riley... His eyes. He has such beautiful bright big blue eyes that always melt your heart. He LOVES his brothers and loves to tease them. He also is getting to where he wont put up with Ethan taking his toys ha ha.

Riley is such a sweet heart. Very social and very cuddly, VERY much a mamas boy, and I wont complain about that one bit.
When you see him he isn't afraid to come right up to you and give you hugs and just hang out with you, and you cant help but pick him up and cuddle him. He is simply squishy! :)
Riley is very chill and full of a personality that gets you laughing. He doesn't talk much but sure jabbers A LOT, so I guess he does talk I just don't understand what he is saying. Unless he starts pointing at me and rolling his arms, this is a sign he wants to sing patty cake.
Riley is only 1 and I feel like I missed out a lot on his baby stage... so I still treat him very much like a baby, I can't help it. I remember with Ethan he was easy to take his binki and bottle away... Ethan was about 10 months when he no longer had a binki and he was fine with it, Riley on the other hand... well its his best friend.  I'm not sure how to go about taking it from him because he just gets Mason's and puts it in his mouth... so I might wait a while before I take that step.
I am so thankful for the happiness and life Riley brings into our home, he is such a blessing and I couldn't be more thankful for him and for the joy he is.

Ethan

 I was doing my Pilates workout and couldn't stop laughing at Ethan....  he kept saying good job mom!! keep going! and when i asked him what he was doing he said "Im working out mom! Stop taking pictures!"

This kid makes me laugh, besides the fact that he was actually really good at it.

And here are a few pictures he took of himself.

Ethan is full of life... I don't know if all three year olds are full of it but this boy sometimes brings more on in life then I know how to handle. He is way to smart for his own good at times but makes me laugh so much... Ethan is such a sweet boy that loves to be involved with ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING! He is a big helper when he wants to be ;) He LOVES being out side and playing with anyone and everything he can . He is Very social and isn't afraid to ask a complete stranger "Hi!, WHAT YOUR NAME?" and carry on a crazy conversation with them. He is growing up so fast and has some of the darnedest things to say.
The other day he was sitting in our office chair and Layne was spinning him around and around... we took him out and his eyes were going back and forth and he couldn't stand up, while we were laughing he pipes up and says.
"Dad! What is happening here!?"
There is never a dull moment with him.

Ethan has such a funny personality and will grab your attention quickly with those big brown eyes he got from his dad. I have to say I'm sure they have saved him a few times from a spanking :)

I know that kids will be kids and I try my best to not just teach Ethan by my words but also by my actions... SHOWING kids I have learned sometimes is the best and quickest way for them to learn anything from the way they speak to the way the treat others. I have seen my not so good side come out in him. I have seen a small play back of myself when I watch him at times... and its not always good. I am struggling with how to handle him and honestly think about going to counseling so I know how to best handle him... I have MUCH to learn at being a mom. The hardest part of it all is he IS SUCH A SWEET BOY! HE DOES HAVE MANNERS! HE DOES LISTEN, and he CAN be SOOO sweet to his little brothers and everyone he is around, but when this side of him that shows more often then it has in the past comes out I sometimes fall apart... the tears begin and the frustration comes out because I am at my wits end. HOW DO I TEACH A THREE YEAR OLD TO LISTEN? I feel like I am constantly getting after him to share, to not yell, not to whine, to just listen when he is told something... I need help! ANY IDEAS!?

Im afraid I am not handling him the right way and I know that by the age of 4 or 5 they say if they haven't learned it yet then your pretty much outta luck... I know he knows what is right and wrong because I see him do the right things, correct ME if I say a bad word... (Stupid, hate... those kind of words), he will even tell me to be nice to Riley , this is if he starts to cry ha ha  because I have told him no no.

Being a parent is hard and wanting the best for your child is all I can think about.SO, if you have ANY ideas Id LOVE to have you share them with me.

On the more positive side... Ethan IS a loving great big brother... he is so sweet and melts my heart when he cuddles up to me and say I love you sweetheart followed with a kiss. :) He is such a blessing in our home and I AM thankful for the life he brings into our home. I love him with all my heart and AM so proud of him.

A few pictures...

 so peaceful.

 Poor Riley was not feeling very well after his little accident in the bath tub... He slipped and fell, resulting in his tooth going THROUGH his tongue ...  and this was just from his drool.... the other washcloth was soaked. 

 But he still smiles through it all. I wish I could be more like him.

 Ethan being silly.... kept asking me to come and find him... I SPY....

Oh Found him!

Sweet little hands... knowing they will do great things makes them even more special.

Ethan, Riley, Mason

Here are a few of the boys... Ethan is anti pictures when I want them but when I don't have my camera he insists on me taking pictures... and then I have to get him when he is sleeping. The one picture with Ethan asleep next to Mason was a sweet little moment...

Mason was crying so I asked Ethan if he would go in and see if he was okay. So he went in there and layed next to him gave him his bink and started singing to him... singing to not  be sad or scared because I am here little brother I am here.

It was great to hear and see. :)

Patty Cake

I figured that I haven't posted a video in a really long time so here are a couple that we have taken. 

Riley loves doing this. When he is having a bad moment doing patty cake and singing the I love You song always seem to calm him down with a little of his head bobbing. :)

Our little get away

Okay so the pictures are backwards, and I dont have enough time to fix them so you can start from the bottom if you want to.

Now that Layne is a regional manager for Vivint. Every once in a while We or I get to go with him when he goes out of town. This time I actually left all three of the kids with Three different friends of ours. It was really hard to leave the baby because he was only 2 months old and I just up and left him ha ha so I struggled a little bit... I almost bailed out, but I knew that this would be a good thing for Layne and I to have a few days together, since we haven't been away from the kids together since before Ethan was born. So I figured it was about time.

We loaded up the kids and after dropping them all off we did just what we didn't want to do... hit rush hour, it was a night mare but we made it through and laughed at each other the entire 6.5 hours to South Padre Island. we finally got there at about midnight and fell alseep... it was a great nights rest with out having to worry about waking up with ANY of the kids... even Layne. ;)

The next morning we got up and had a morning walk out on the beach and it was beautiful... so peaceful I didnt want to leave. We didnt do a lot other then we drove around and checked things out... next time we go we will hopefully have some more money to do some of the activities they have there... but it is expensive.

Layne went to his meetings and I went to the beach. The first day that we were there we just spend it on the beach with each other and had a good time laughing at people... cause we are awesome like that. :)

I know we are glowing but believe it or not NO SUNBURNS!!! it was awesome...

These are a few of the sand sculpting we did while we were laying on the sand. his was a creepy weird face ha ha and Mine was a sand turtle... not bad huh.

Layne was holding down camp while I took pictures... I had to laugh because Layne was about to break that umbrella in half... ha ha ha he was having a devil of a time getting it in the ground. He couldn't figure out how the other guy that put his in the ground did SO MANY (for people to rent)... well I just said well... he probably used his muscles... well I didn't tell him later that I saw the guy with a little sand drill that was a good 3 feet long ha ha ha.... so I just laughed when Ours BLEW UP out of the sand and the next thing Layne is chasing it down cussing the ol umbrella. PIECE OF JUNK WE WAsTED OUR MONEY!!! I just smiled and said "Its okay Honey." with a big ol smile. :)


This was a cool pirate ship :)
This is the bridge that we had to go over! I have the worst phobia of bridges with water under them... and this one of course has broken before!!!! AGH I had to close my eyes and Layne just laughs and says OH JUST LOOK!

"Forget you, and PLEASE HURRY!! "is all Im thinking.

We had a great time and it was so great to get away for a few days with my husband and just enjoy each other! AND no babies came from this awesome trip! THAT WAS A PLUS!

3 months today!

Our Little munchkin is already THREE MONTHS TODAY!!! He has been a lot of fun and its crazy how much easier they get... or at least for me I realize I have more patients to deal with all of it. He is moving at his own pace of doing things that is for sure. Here are a few things he IS doing.

1. MY FAVORITE SMILES A LOT and GIGGLES a lot. Giggles a lot in his sleep.

2. Hold up his head really well.

3. Sleeping All night... some nights he wakes up to eat but then goes right back to sleep.

4. Loves belly time.

5. Drinking FIVE oz of Formula every 3-4 hours.

6. LOVES to cuddle. He is going to be a mammas boy Im sure of it... He sometimes wont go to sleep unless I lay down with him and he can feel my cheek on his forehead.

7. LOVES his brothers... he will smile more at them then me sometimes.

8. Always is chewing on his blankets.

9. Loves to be tossed in the air... ha ha and we dont THROW him in the air he doesn't even leave our hands.

10. SCOOTER! He scoots everywhere... I have to watch the little stink or he would scoot right out the front door!

Im so thankful for Mason in our home. He brings such happiness and joy with all he is. The Lord again has blessed our family tremendously. Its so fun to watch all my boys love each other and I know they will become the best of friends.

Together Forever.

Houston Temple

Ethan kept saying that he wanted to go inside because Jesus was there. :)

I am so excited for the day to come when we will be able to take him inside such a special place.

My sweetheart.

Riley Enjoying himself in his ride.

Riley was having a good time.

Ethan of course loved the water, but I was trying to help his understand that we shouldn't be swimming in the water fountain.

When we pulled up to the Temple, I said Ethan look where are we, and he knew exactly where we were! "ITS THE TEMPLE MOM!!" it melts my heart that he can say he wants to see angel Moroni.

I'm such a lucky girl to have such an amazing husband. I wouldn't and couldn't ask for a greater father and husband for our family. Im so thankful for the blessing he is in my life, and that I get the blessing of being with him for eternity.

He is a goof ball, but how can you not laugh at this silly little boy.?. YOU JUST DO IT!

My pride and joy.

I couldn't have asked for a better ending to our Saturday night. We had planned on going to our ward luau party tonight, but the kids had fallen asleep and when I say kids I mean ALL THREE OF THEM including myself so FOUR kids were sleeping... When I woke up it was 5 and that was the time it started. I started to panic because I had made a potato salad to take and we were LATE! LATE! LATE!

Long story short Layne didn't want to wake us up ha ha. He has been so busy and we have been on the go so much that today was a day we all were just being totally LAZY, and it felt great!

We ended up going and getting the kids some shoes because poor Riley has ONE pair that fit him and they are looking very... WORN and UGLY, soooo we finally went and got him some NEW ones! :)

On our little outing we thought we would drive around and look at some neighborhoods that we would like to look for a house in... lets just say our taste is out of our price range. :) So on our

way home I wanted to stop at the Temple because we pretty much were driving right by it. When we pulled up to the temple Ethan's eyes got so big and he was so excited that we were at the Temple. He kept saying that he wanted to go in. So we explained to him that when he gets older he will get to go as long as he is obedient to Heavenly Father and his parents ;)

Even though we explained this to him... he still kept walking towards the front doors saying that he wanted to go in because Jesus was there. When he said that it made my heart melt and thank my Heavenly Father for the first time for such an observant little boy. :)

We walked around and Ethan loved the water fountain and I had to make sure he wasn't going to jump in and take a swim. Riley loved the flowers when I pushed him around close enough he could just drag his little hands over them. I was surprised that he didn't try to yank on them... he just wanted to feel them and so I let him.

Mason of course was a sleep.

While we were there I couldn't help but feel the Spirit so strongly. Being able to see all of my boys and my husband there... even just outside I thought... this is heaven... this is what we are all working so hard to have in the end...

Every day we are blessed with the chance to have a little bit of heaven on this earth when we are all together as a family... it made my chest burn and I had to keep myself from crying. While I stood there I began to think about a few families that have lost their little children in one way or another... all too soon in this life. I began to feel a loss for them as I looked at my sweet little boys. I felt almost guilty that I was able to walk up to my little boys and hug them, kiss them, and just breath in their scent. To SEE them there at the Temple made a moment in my heart Ill never forget. I am so grateful for the chance that we all have to live forever with our families... to have them for always. I always keep those families in my heart and every time I hug my boys I for whatever reason think of them and I take just one more second or two to soak them in, to enjoy that moment a little longer for them. I don't know if that sounds crazy... but I keep them in my heart all the time and pray for them always.

I know that families can be together forever. And I want to live everyday working for that special gift and promise out Savior and our Heavenly Father have promised us.

I'm Thankful for my family and couldn't ever say that my Father in heaven didn't love me... because when you love with all your heart... you are given the greatest of gifts...