I had a birthday shout HOORAY...

Well- I'm officially an old lady. Logan kept asking how old I was going to be on my birthday. I said, "I'm 29 now, but on Saturday I'll be 30." Dillon was there with me and he says, "So you were only 17 when you had Morgan?" I pause- I didn't think about him being old enough and smart enough to do the math on my age. "Yes" I said- I was only 17." Then he says, "Aren't you still in High School when you're 17?" Shoot! I'm busted. I figured it would be better to just be 37- than to have had a baby at 17 in high school- so the cat is out of the bag. :)

Some of the treaures from the kids:



I had a good day, regardless of the number on my drivers license. The kids are so cute and love doing nice things for me. They all spent their own money and bought things at the craft store to make me gifts. They know I would rather have something they make, than something they spend a lot of money onLogan is the little artist, and made me 4 or 5 different cards. He also made me a flower out of clay. The boys also got a picture of me with them, and put it in a frame. Dillon also made me a flower out of clay. Morgan bought several different fabrics, and put them on a frame, and framed a picture of us. She also bought me a necklace and earrings. They are such sweet kids. We took the kids out to lunch. Then later on that evening, Matt and I went out to dinner. He surprised me and his whole family (adults) were at the restaurant. We had a great time. Then afterwards, we came back to our house for cake and ice cream. I didn't cook or clean at all- so it was most definitely a relaxing day.

Thanksgiving

They wanted me to make sure we got a close up of "Tom the Turkey."


The kids pretending to 'get' the Thanksgiving Turkey. :)


We had a great Thanksgiving! Before we went to dinner, the kids and I made some Oreo turkeys to bring to everyone. The dinner was great. We were in charge of mashed potatoes, and we peeled 25 pounds of potatoes. (Well Matt peeled, while I made Oreo turkeys.) We WAY over estimated- because we had TONS of leftover potatoes. We had it at Matt's sister's house. I think there were over 30 people. Everyone, except Matt's youngest brother and his wife were there. They live in DC, so weren't able to come. We had a great visit with everyone. I was able to cuddle with my newest niece Aubrey. She is 6 days old and so tiny and adorable! I didn't bring my camera- so I didn't get pictures of any of our happenings- or the cute kids. After dinner the older kids went to the park and played football, and those of us with the younger kids hung out at the house and talked. We have such an awesome family. I love all of Matt's brothers/sisters/parents and the in-laws.

Nursery

Does he look even a little bit sad to go? I don't think so!

Today was my 'baby's' first official day of nursery. He has been so hard at church from about 12 months on. (It doesn't help that we have church right during his normal nap time.) Honestly, I thought I would be thrilled for him to be in nursery. However, I don't know what's wrong with me, I could hardly hold back the tears. He's growing up so fast! He is my last baby, and now it seems he is almost not a baby anymore. I have a friend that was so sad when her last baby was potty trained and out of diapers. I remember her being depressed, and I was thinking- what?? You are are sad you don't have to change diapers anymore? But, I get it now- I'm sure I'll be the same way with Camden. It's just not fair how fast they go from newborn to nursery! On a side note- he did enjoy it and is having much more fun than with me in my class. He said, "Bye!" And he didn't cry at all. That makes one of us. :)

Milestones

Milestones today:

Camden: 18 months old today! Well care check stats: 33.5 inches, 28.9 pounds. 2 Shots, speaks over 100 words.

Logan: I got a call home from the school office today. She says, "I have Logan here in the office, I just wanted to let you know what he was caught doing." (My heart stops...) Then she said, "He was so helpful in the cafeteria today, that we gave him a 'cool colts' ticket. He gets his name in the hall of fame." (Phew...) Good job Logan!

Dillon: Revealed some very juicy information, that I PROMISED to keep a secret, so I will. It was so cute and sweet though. :)

Morgan: Did her report on 'cartouches'. I never even heard of it, before she was assigned this topic, but I think she did very well.

My day

Today instead of doing this:


I did this:








It was great!

Focusing on the Positive

In General Conference, I felt like there were a lot of talks that talked about being positive, and focusing on that. I'm getting a little bit tired of hearing about all the turmoil in the markets and the state of our economy, I want to focus on the positive. So here is a random list of my 'positives' for today.

1. I filled my car up with gas that was $1.81 a gallon. I know in other places it is a lot less, but this is the lowest I've seen it in years!

2. The garbage man comes on Fridays. He takes away all our stinky, yucky stuff, and I never have to see it again!

3. Comments my kids make. They can always make me laugh. They are so witty and perceptive!

4. There is no snow on the ground, and it has been near the 60 degree mark all week. Very good for this time of year in Utah!

5. Camden playing chase Mommy. He is so cute trying to get me, he starts panting and squealing. Then he yells, "tick, tick, tick." (Tickle, tickle, tickle.)


6. I love that my kids get *so* excited when we you these cafeteria style trays. I don't pull them out often- but everytime I do, for some reason they all comment on how they love it, and think it's 'awesome'.

Logan's room

Since Morgan and Dillon got 'new' rooms, and Logan was left in his old one, he was wanting me to paint his different too. It was already red, so I decided to add a few new stripes, to update his room as well. I always feel kind of bad for Logan, because he always gets the 'leftovers', since he is the 2nd boy. He gets all of Dillon's old clothes, coats, shoes, EVERYTHING. It's fine- that' how it should be, but he rarely gets new clothes, etc. I didn't realize how much fun that was for him. I saw a shirt that I knew he would love, and bought it for him. He was as excited for that as he is for his birthday. So that being said, he is as happy as can be in his 'new' room. Here is the finished product:

The numbers

This is the most recent picture I could find of Matt and I by ourselves. Pretty sad- because I am 9 months pregnant in this picture. I delivered Camden the next weekend! :) (He is 17.5 months old now! Time for some new photos.)


Number of years since Matt and I had our first date: 19+
Number of years waiting for Matt to come home from Brazil: 2
Number of days married: 5915
Number of years waiting for babies to come: 9
Number of months since I became a mom: 142
Number of months spent pregant and puking: 36
Number of kids: 4
Number of moves since we were married: 14
Number of blessings: countless

Monopoly Fun

Matt told me to play a Monopoly game on his website. He said that they are giving away cash and prizes. After playing this popped up:

CONGRATULATIONS JENNIE GRAHAM!
You have won a trip to NY City!

Your Trip Includes:
3 Nights & 4 Days at the Marriott Marquis in Time Square where you will be sharing a small room with 4 friends

Round Trip Airfare from Salt Lake City to NYC – Kennedy with no crying kids to worry about on the plane

$8.37 in Spending Cash

Free Professional Child Care – Tips are accepted and expected!
You leave November 13th so pack your bags and have fun!!!



What an awesome husband I have!

Snuggles

I sat rocking Camden in his room. He does not like to sit still long enough to give more than a quick hug, and then he wants to "get down." However, today he just wants to cuddle. He is laying his head on my shoulder, and patting me with his hand. It is the cutest thing ever. He stays like that for a good 3-4 minutes. (Very unusual!) He sweetly says, "Tay-too!" (Thank you.) I bend over to kiss him, while thinking this is the cutest little baby in the world. All of the sudden he perks up and says "HONK!" as he is pushing my nose. I burst out laughing and then the rare cuddling is over. He is still the cutest little baby in the world, though.

My cute sleeping baby.

Election Day

I have to say- I am SO glad election day is finally here! I am tired of all the ads, political pundits, and unsurety. I love a lot about the political process,and I am grateful to live in a country where we have the privilege of voting. I am glad that our country is to the point where an African American, and a woman are both on the ballots. My kids have become very interested in the democratic process, and I love it. Dillon particularly has been interested in the politics, the reasons behind ads, and the electoral process. It is amazing what 8 year olds know now a days! All of the kids have been interested though, and have enjoyed the mock elections they held in school. I am fairly sure how things will turn out tonight. I predict Obama will win by at least 10%- we will see. :) No matter how it turns out, I just wanted to say that I love our country and pray that we can take things in the right direction.

Goldfish

I did a post a while back about how I really dislike going to Walmart. My dislike still stands. However, I do have to give a shout out to the new, elderly cashier today. I like to give credit, where credit is due. I'm nice like that. :) When Camden dumped an entire bag of Goldfish on the ground- all he said is, "Well- the boy's gotta eat. Now's as good a time as any." I apologized profusely and he didn't even charge me for the bag he dumped. Even though Camden was eating them as fast as he could. (You can't tell he's the 4th child can you? I never would have let the other kids eat off of the seat of the grocery cart!) The cashier's right though- the boy's gotta eat- we don't want to waste, right?

Sickness....

This is one nasty bug! Now everyone in our household has had it. (Why do they always get sick at night???? And why can't they ever make it to the bathroom?) Thank goodness for all of us older people, it only lasts 1-2 days. Poor Camden is now on day 6. 3 of the 4 kids are home from church with me today, so we are just taking it easy and trying hard to not infect people. Oh well- enough whining. Things could be worse. Thanks to a couple of very inspirational blogs I read, I have gained a lot of perspective on things. For example, when Logan got sick on his sheets and I changed them at midnight, it was fine. I snuggled with him, rubbed his back, made up a clean bed, and started back downstairs. Before I even reached the bottom, he got sick on the NEW sheets and blankets, and so I had to make his bed up again. While, I can't say I love cleaning up after sick kids, the thought crossed my mind, "You are lucky to have them, appreciate the fact that they are here." I AM so grateful for them! I hate it when they are sick, and would love to take it away from them- but since I can't, I will love them, rub their backs, and sit with them until they fall asleep.