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Spring brings warmth and sun and with it…motivation! I had ambitious plans to tear out my flower beds and start over with something extremely low maintenance. I do not enjoy yard work therefore my flower beds were over grown with weeds, rose bushes that refuse to die, and insufferable grass that crept in from the lawn. I started my annual “lets clean up this mess” massacre of hacking at bushes, ripping things out, cutting grass then getting tired, giving up and leaving it like that for the rest of the year. Only this time I was determined to keep going until I had something nice. All I wanted was to be able to walk home from church and not think, ugh this place is ugly. I also wanted something really, really easy to take care of. So I dug out every bush and plant and lots of dirt. I soaked the ground with weed killer then covered it with black weed preventing fabric. Then I planted a few of the very smallest, easiest plants I could find, and filled it in with gravel. James bought the gravel and unloaded one of the loads and about half way through unloading the second truck load of gravel, the Missionaries came by and helped me finish. Everything else I did myself, it took a couple of weeks and more than once I thought “this was a bad idea, what have I gotten myself into?” It was hard work but the end result was worth it. I have no before pictures (because why would I take a picture of my ugly flower beds?) and the plants need to grow and fill it in a bit but I am very happy!

The next project was much smaller, a cute little decoration for Savanna and Avery’s room. We moved the crib out and put Avery in a new big girl bed! The girls both got new matching comforters and I made the sisters decoration to match. Cute. 

Last but definitely not least, I have been working to improve myself as a wife. This has been going on for quite awhile and I fail more than I would like to admit, but I keep forging ahead. I read a lot of books, my favorite being The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. This is an amazing book and I highly recommend any wife or anyone who thinks they might become a wife to read it. She talks about how the feminist movement has hurt the family because of the idea that a woman doesn’t need a man to be happy. Which is true of course, but if you choose to get married then you have a man, and must respect the fact that you need him. She also talks about how a lot of women feel entitled to have it all, that they can stay home with their kids but also be able to go out whenever they want and expect their husband to provided everything for them and do all the house work. From the beginning of my marriage and especially when I quit my job to be a stay at home mom when Savanna was born, James and I have had a clear idea of what the husband and wife roles should be. James works incredibly hard to provide for our family and I am the primary caregiver for the children and keep house. Of course there are many times when James is working on something at the house or watching the kids or I am running an errand or sending emails for the business, but we have been able to find the balance that works for us, and it’s made us happy. My improvements as a wife have focused and making sure James knows how much I love him, respect him, and understand how hard he works and how much he does to provide every single thing the kids and I have. When he comes home my primary goal is to make him feel welcome, respected, loved and appreciated. I believe what Dr. Laura teaches, that the wife is the one who directs the mood of her home and family. My actions will set the tone for the day and it’s up to me to make sure we have good days. I love my family and husband and I know I am extremely blessed to have the life I have. Life is always changing and as I get older (30 next week!) I understand what is important and what areas of my life I need to improve upon. I only hope I can continue on and keep making a better me.

I love stuff like this. Someone takes a song, a bunch of iconic imagery from various works and re-cobbles them together into a whole new production that is just enjoyable.

Push Play!

I love Easter, I really do. My kids really, really love Easter. Savanna was especially excited and counting down the days. Savanna had lost a tooth the day before and put it under her pillow that night, so The Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny visited our house. Savanna was extremely excited about this and she would not go to sleep! She kept coming out of her room every five minutes saying she couldn’t sleep and didn’t settle down until almost 1am! This made the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny very tired. Then as soon as my head hit the pillow… Avery woke up, yay! James slept with Miles in his bed and Avery slept with me in my bed so nobody got a very good night sleep. However, Savanna was up at 7 ready to go! The kids hunted for eggs and hot wheels cars and ate a ton of candy. We had our traditional bashing of the eggs with the carrot bat and covered the living room in jelly beans. I made a big breakfast which no one ate because they were all full of candy. Then we went to church, I got the girls new dresses and Miles a new tie and I thought they looked super cute! Miles had the prayer in Primary and Savanna gave the talk, it was really fun to watch both of them. That night we went to James’ parents house for a yummy ham dinner and another egg hunt and more candy! What a nice day!

So… it’s been awhile since the blog has been updated. I thought I should get a post in before March was over. Not too much has been going on. We have been enjoying the new family room in the basement by watching too much TV. We have been enjoying the warmer weather by going to the park a lot and playing in the yard. We have been enjoying literature by reading a bunch to get Savanna’s 500 minutes in March chart filled up. (she gets a Seven Peaks day pass if she does it, oh yeah!). We have been enjoying more sleep by giving Avery melatonin drops before bed, yes they have finally started to work! We enjoyed seeing the newest member of the Bayless family, little Adalynn, who was born this month. We enjoyed adding to our rock collection and searching for Topaz at the Rock and Gem show. We enjoyed St. Patty’s day with green pancakes and milk, and green diapers for the next few days. We enjoyed a visit from Bubbas, up from AZ for a few days. And Miles and Avery enjoyed a mud bath in the backyard, I don’t think they enjoyed the hose shower they got after though.

Because this blog is a way for me to capture my family memories I really wanted to write about Savanna’s sleep walking. I want her to someday read about the silly things she does that she never remembers in the morning. Savanna has been sleep walking for awhile now, it comes and goes in frequency but for that last few weeks it’s been almost a nightly event. It always happens about an hour or two after she goes to bed, so James and I are usually still awake to witness it, and keep her safe. The first time she sleep walked James was working late so I was home alone. This was kind of freaky. She walked into my bedroom with this strange look on her face. We now are able to identify this glossy eyed look and know she is not fully awake. However, the first time she did it I had no idea what was happening. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she just stared and me with glossed over eyes and a huge goofy grin. I kept asking her what she needed and she just kept smiling at me, then started giggling and darting her eyes around the room. The giggle got louder and she never said a word. If I asked her if she was okay she would nod her head and keep giggling. It was so weird! It definitely freaked me out. I let her lay down in bed with me until she stopped laughing and I could tell by the look on her face that she had woken up and was conscious of what was going on. Sometimes she will wake up and come out of it but usually we just take her to the bathroom and put her back in bed. It always starts like that, she gets up, has that strange look and is giggling. She always goes pee, I think that is what gets her up, her need to potty, but she never fully wakes up. Mostly that’s all it is but there have been a few exceptions. One time she wandered into my bedroom, pulled down her pants and undies and started to squat, I hurried and grabbed her and set her on the potty. Sometimes she grasps at the ground like she is trying to pick something up. One time she was reaching into Avery’s crib trying to grab something and saying “I just want a pickle, give me the pickle!” Probably the worst time was when she climbed into Avery’s crib! I heard Avery start crying, then Savanna joined in. When I went in their room Savanna was in with Avery and kept saying “I don’t know! I don’t know!” Thankfully she has never gotten hurt or tried to go outside or anything like that. Like I said, it almost always happens when James and I are still awake and can take care of it, and have a good laugh. Needless to say, we have decided against bunk-beds.

Ok, so I really did hesitate when deciding what to title this post. Butt Munch? How wildly inappropriate! However rude it may be, it’s a befitting title. Despite my efforts to be a good mother and shield my children from the awful things of this world, Avery loves Sponge Bob Squarepants. It all started when I went out somewhere leaving the kids with James and it was discovered that all the seasons of Sponge Bob are on Netflix. For whatever reason, Avery fell in love! The inappropriate part is the way she says Sponge Bob: Butt Munch. I don’t know why, that doesn’t really sound anything like Sponge Bob but that’s how it sounds coming out of her mouth, Butt Munch! So for her 2nd birthday we had a party, Butt Munch style. I made the cake and was pretty proud, it started out looking like Bart Simpson but with a little more work, we had a Butt Munch cake. Grandma gave her the Butt Munch t-shirt and stuffed doll. Auntie Trish made her a very snugly Butt Munch blanket, Ave’s two favorite things: Butt Munch and manky’s. She had Butt Munch balloons and plates, got a Butt Munch DVD and was soooo happy! We also had a birthday dinner at Nana’s (I didn’t get any pictures) where she got Butt Munch pj’s! She also got spoiled rotten by her cousins and Aunts and Uncles, the family was very generous, Thank You! It makes me very sad that my baby is 2. She is such a sweetie, loves to snuggle and hug and say I love you. She is so smart and talks up a storm. She has a very loud voice when she needs to be heard above the din of her big brother and sister. She’s a bit demanding and possessive, MINE!! But she is so much fun and at such a fun age. HAPPY BIRTHDAY V! Challenge: count how many times I typed Butt Munch!

Valentines day began with my sweet Savanna bringing James and I cards she made while we were still in bed. I gave the kids their valentines, heart shaped suckers and a box of conversation hearts. They were so excited to have a treat and we all sat in our bed eating treats and saying “Happy Valentines Day!” and “I love you!” over and over again. I’m planning on making heart shaped grilled cheese for lunch and going to Savanna’s school to help with the Valentine’s party. Sounds like a fun day to me!
I wanted to mention how romantic my wonderful husband is. This year I did not get 3 dozen roses or perfume or jewelry as was typical when we were dating. This year and for the past 6 years now I have gotten the gift of being a stay at home mom. Being able to raise my children myself, not having to carry the financial burden of supporting them. I have a warm, comfortable home, a nice dependable car, all the food and clothes I need. I have kitchen cabinets, tile floors, pretty furniture, all that James built. My children have all those things too, plus so much more. James spent all day everyday for almost three weeks finishing our basement. I have a gorgeous, comfortable family room that we can all enjoy together. I have an extremely good life and a wonderful man to share it with. He is my best friend and an awesome father. All those things he does for me and our kids are the most romantic thing I could ever think of, I love you James!

Last year after Savanna’s birthday she told me “Mom, I am so excited because next year I will be six!” I started to correct her, “No dear, you will only be five. Wait. You will be six!” Six seems sooo old! My babies are growing up so fast I can’t believe it! We are having fun though. With the kids getting older it is much easier to go out and do things and we are getting much more sleep! Savanna is loving kindergarten and is a star student. She just advanced to reading level H, which is just about where kids should be at the end of first grade, I am so proud of her! She brings her readers home every night and it’s exciting to hear her read a book she has never read before, she is learning new words everyday and really reading, not just reciting memorized stories. She is the most creative kid I know. I have stacks and stacks of cards and pictures she has made me. Her Aunt Bubbas gave her a huge pack of scrapbook paper and stickers and pens and glue and markers and she spends most of her time making creations. She is my big helper and is always fetching things for me and entertaining Miles and Avery. She is a very good big sister. When she started school her classmates started losing teeth and she would come home and tell me all about it. One day I told her we should check her mouth to see if she had any loose ones yet. She told me “I don’t mom, I check all my teeth every night and none of them are loose.” Eventually she came to the conclusion that she would have a loose tooth when she turned six. The morning after her birthday she came into our bedroom and announced her first loose tooth! She is so excited to lose it and have a visit from the tooth fairy!
After Miles’ pirate party last year I decided that we would do birthday parties every other year and when we didn’t have a party they could choose a family activity. Savanna chose to go bowling! It was so fun, all the kids really liked it and were good the whole time. Avery even packed around a ball and rolled it down the lane. Miles kept intentionally pushing the ball down the gutter but it didn’t matter because he ended up winning the game! After bowling we came home for cake and ice cream and presents. I had taken Savanna shopping for clothes a couple of days before and she got Hello Kitty slippers and undies on her birthday. It was a great day!