My first tag.....

(my cute hubby, Dan, holding his first baby girl)

I've always thought that these tags I've read about were fun, but I've never been tagged.......until now. Thanks Brooke! It's been really fun thinking about my eternal sweetheart, especially in the "olden days." I've gotten really wrapped up in everyday life with kids and a husband who travels all the time and I've forgotten what it use to be like. Dan, we need to find a babysitter and go out on a date this weekend!

1. Where did you meet?
We met in Arkansas. He was investigating the church and was dating a friend of mine. I always thought he was cute, but he was already taken! There's just somthing sexy about a cute, sweet guy asking questions about the gospel.

2. How long did you date before you got married?
Um.....let me think......we dated for about 6 months and then he broke up with me! I was SO devastated and I will NEVER let him live it down! He got scared and went running. I always knew he was the one for me, so I was VERY hurt and confused when he did this. Then he came back a couple months later and wanted to be "FRIENDS," which was very hard for me because I had such strong feelings for him. Then I left with BYU Singers on tour to the West Coast of Africa and Italy for about 6 weeks. When I got back, he was on his knees with roses and chocolate begging me to come back and telling me he realized that he loved me and wanted to spend eternity with me. (Such a romantic) I guess "Distance DOES make the heart grow fonder." Then 6 weeks later, we were married on August 11th 2001 in the Louisville, Kentucky temple. (Almost exactly a year to the day from you, Amy!)

3. How long have you been married?
7 years and 2 months

4. What does he do that suprises you?
He does a lot of things to suprise me......he is very thoughtful. A couple of them are: He will call up my parents sometimes just to talk. He will clean the house AND take care of the kids if I have to go somewhere for a couple of hours. And for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries he always puts a lot of thought into the gift and I NEVER know what to expect. I'm a little worried about what is going to happen on my 30th birthday coming up!

5. What is your favorite feature of his?
His hands. They are big and strong and always calloused, which shows what a hard worker he is.

6. What is your favorite quality of his?
His big, kind heart. He is ALWAYS kind to others. When you meet him for the first time, you'll be best buds. He genuinely wants to get to know people, so he'll play 20.......or 30 questions with you.

7. Does he have a nickname for you?
Babe.......it must be a guy thing because all of your husbands call you that too! When we were dating, he called me his "Lindsay-girl." On the inside of my wedding ring it says, "For my Lindsay-Girl."

8. What is his favorite color?
NOT green. His mother made him wear a lot of green when he was young because it made his eyes look greener, so now he doesn't like it anymore (sorry Sherry). I think he looks really good in green too.

9. What is his favorite food?
I've tried to get this out of him for 7 years and all I can get out of him is meat and potatoes with a lot of gravy. He is a southern boy and he likes his Mama's cookin', which I don't do because it's all FRIED! YUCK! Sorry, Dan.

10. What is his favorite sport?
I don't know because he likes to watch them ALL on TV (football, basketball, tennis, but not baseball). His absolute favorite game to PLAY is raquetball.

11. When and where was your first kiss?
I'm still bitter about this one....just kidding, Dan. He teased me for WEEKS when we were dating. He would come really close, and then just kiss me on the cheek. I was going CRAZY! So, one time when he was just talking to me really close and rubbing noses and teasing me, I just went for it........and BOY was it worth it!!! He is one GOOD kisser!

12. Favorite thing to do as a couple?
Rent a movie, he makes the popcorn, and we snuggle up on the couch after the kiddies are all snug in their beds.

13. Do you have any children?
Yes....Spencer is 6, Jacob is 3, and Lauryn is 4 months old and they LOVE their Daddy!

14. Does he have a hidden talent?
Yes......he is a poet.....and VERY good at it! I have a whole box full of poems that he has written for me over the years and some are funny, some are spiritual, and some are very mushy. I LOVE IT!!!

15. How old is he?
He just turned 30 in March and doesn't like it.

16. Who said I love you first?
I think I did.

17. What is his favorite type of music?
He listens to all kinds, but his favorites are Jack Johnson and Coldplay. There is a new one that he just told me about, but I can't remember the name of it.

18. What do you admire most about him?
There is A LOT that I admire about him, but the one that came to mind first was that he is a VERY hard worker. He's always had to work for what he's had in his life and that has made him a very humble man.

19. Do you think he will read this?
Oh, yes. He is always checking my blog to see what story I'm going to tell next.


I pass the tag to my sisters: Alissa, Heather, and Joanna.

WARNING!!!!!!!!

THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOUR KIDS DON'T PICK UP THEIR TOYS OFF THE FLOOR!!!!!









TRY TO CONTAIN THE LAUGHTER!!!!










What do you think? Broken? Yup, you're right! Last night I just walked into the family room from the kitchen, caught my toe on a toy, and fell down. As soon as I looked at my toe, I just knew. I screamed,"Dan!!! I BROKE MY TOE! I BROKE MY TOE! IT LOOKS RETARDED!" I can't stop laughing as I'm writing this even now! It didn't hurt that bad when it happened, I was laughing at how it looked! After the doctor put it back in place and the numbness wore off, it hurt pretty bad. I've learned how to take care of three kids while crawling on my hands and knees and limping around. (I wouldn't recommend it) Just call me "Gimpy!" Best of all, Dan is out of town until Friday........so convenient!

He's making progress!

After our big "Drama King" incident, things have gotten a lot better. Spencer actually WANTS to practice riding his bike! He has done it for a couple of minutes after school everyday and has improved a little more each day. He likes it when Dan pushes him and lets go on the grass because if he falls, it won't hurt.

He's gettin' there! Hooray for Spenc!

Lauryn is 4 months old.......already?

Lauryn had her 4 month check up and got the dreaded 4 shots in the legs! She is at a healthy 17 lbs. and 26 inches long. She is 97% in height and weight....perfectly perportionate. I can't believe how perfect and beautiful this sweet little girl is. The Lord has truly blessed our lives with 3 healthy children that keep growing and growing and growing and........


She is only 6 days old in this picture. Look at that black hair!


All her black hair has fallen out and I think I might have a blondie on my hands!


We started a little bit of rice cereal and she did really good!


I'm starting to see a little bit of her personality come out now. She is very content if she has had a good nap and a full belly. She is a VERY good sleeper! She absolutely LOVES her brothers! They can make her smile and laugh so much easier than I can. She likes to sit in her bouncy seat or lay on the floor and watch them play. She is getting pretty good at grabbing things with her little "iron-clenched fists" as Dan calls them. And I think she is teething because she has her hands in her mouth ALL the time and if she grabs a toy, it goes straight to her mouth. Everywhere I take her, I always get compliments on how beautiful she is. The doctor even said that her eyes are stunning! Her eyes are still a really pretty dark blue and she has really long eyelashes. I hope they stay that color! We just love our little (big) bundle of joy!

Our poor lizard, Izzy

WARNING......



MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR THOSE WITH A QUEASY STOMACH!!!!!



We don't really know what happened, but...........

I was teaching a piano lesson last week and afterwards, the siblings and my boys were all playing together in their room and they asked to play with the lizards. I said sure because they have before. I went to check on them and everything was fine. After they left, I went back in the room and our lizard, Izzy, LOST HER TAIL!!!!! GROSS!!!!!! SHE WAS WALKING AROUND WITH A BLOODY STUMP! AAHHHHHHHH!!!!! What's even worse, Dan was out of town and I just couldn't bring myself to throw it out! I couldn't even look at it! It was like a cut off finger!

When Dan got home I made him throw it out and, of course, I just HAD to take a picture! But, there is good news out of all this.......lizards grow their tails back!









I WARNED YOU!!!!!

Our General Conference Activity

This is what we did while watching General Conference. What did you do?

No more binkies!

 

It has been a week and 3 days since Jacob gave up his binkies and I am proud to say that he is doing suprisingly well! I was a little worried on the first day. We gathered up all the binkies and put them in an envelope for the "Binky Fairy" to pick up and give to all the babies who needed them. (Jake had to draw on the envelope too)

 
 

He was very, very sad. (as you can see in the pictures) We let him pick out a stuffed animal to cuddle up and sleep with and he chose a cute little doggie and named it "Coco." After we put the envelope in the mailbox, he cried, "My binkies, my binkies!" all the way back into the house and then some. I felt so bad for him! They were his best friends, and he had to give them away! But I had to be strong and stick to my guns.




The next day, "The Binky Fairy" left Jacob something really exciting! There was M&M's (his favorite) and a blue power ranger (he's going to be that for Halloween) in the package.

Naptime?? Well, let's just say there wasn't any unless we were in the car going to pick up Spencer and by the time we got back, it was over. Bedtime?? Well, it was VERY hard for about 3 or 4 nights. When I laid with him, he would just squirm and say, "I can't sleep, Mommy!" But when Daddy laid with him, he was asleep within 5 minutes! It must be that big warm body of his.

Everyday is a little better. Today I laid with him for naptime, and he fell asleep within 5 minutes and slept for 2 1/2 hrs! Tonight for bed, he cried for his Daddy (Dan is out of town ALL week!) for a couple of minutes, then talked quietly to himself for 10 minutes and fell asleep. He has done A LOT better than I thought he would!

"If at first you don't succeed...try, try again"

(Spencer on his 4th birthday)

This is the saying of the week for my kids. For some reason Spencer has a difficult time with things that are hard for him, then when Jacob sees the way Spencer acts, Jacob does the same. Today I said, "Who wants to go on a walk?" and they all said, "I do!" They were all excited, then Spencer said, "can I ride my bike?" You have to understand that he hasn't asked to ride his bike in probably a year! We bought his bike for his 4th birthday and the excitment only lasted for a couple of weeks. Then it has been a hit and miss ever since then. He is definitely NOT the daredevil in the family. When he has rode it in the past, he fell down and has been scared ever since. So, you can understand my excitement!

So we aired up the tires, got helmets on and started off. Spencer did really well for about a block and then he started leaning to one side on the training wheels and was afraid he was going to fall, so he got off and yelled, "I HATE BIKES! I'M NEVER RIDING IT AGAIN! I'M GIVING UP!" Well, we have tried to teach our sweet 6 year old that we shouldn't be so quick to anger....hmmmm I wonder where he gets that :)! Nothing we said or did helped encourage him to get back on his bike and try again. I played the good guy and Dan played the bad guy. I told him that you can't just give up because something is hard! Then Dan told him the story of how his Dad taught him how to swim. He said, "My Dad took me to the creek and threw me in and kept doing that until I learned how to swim. My 6 year old son is going to learn how to ride a bike whether he likes it or not!" I thought to myself, how is he going to MAKE him? You could've got some popcorn and sat in our driveway because there was quite a show! After taking the training wheels off, which just made it worse, and A LOT of screaming and crying coming from Spencer, we made him get on and try again with Dan holding onto the back. I stayed in the driveway with Jake and Lauryn and I could hear the crying and screaming all the way down the street and back. It took them a while because when Spencer felt the bike leaning, he thought it was going to fall, so he bailed and started running down the sidewalk. And then they had to start all over again.

Just when I thought it was all over, Dan said, "OK Hon, now it's your turn with him." "WHAT! You are going to make me do it too?" He said, "We have to be in this together." So, I still took the "good guy" side and tried to be upbeat and encouraging (good thing Dan was there with me because when he isn't, I usually loose my cool) all the while Spencer still screamed and cried all the way down the sidewalk and back. Then as soon as we got to the driveway, he jumped off as fast as he could, ran in the house, slammed the door, and ran to his room. "OH BOY, he is already acting like this and he isn't even a teenager yet!" I have got my hands full!

(Sorry no pictures or video of this one, it would've been priceless!)