Above all, you're a mother, that means the most to me

I Love You

I've been thinking a lot today about how much Lauri does that goes unnoticed. I wanted to take some time to let Lauri know how much I truly love her, and look up to her for her unconditional love and service for our two beautiful girls.

The thing I remember most about Lauri growing up was her desire to be a mother. Often people would ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Her response without questions was always - A Mother. I know we may hear that a lot from young girls and it may sound a bit cliché, but there was always something about her response that made you know she truly meant it with out any doubt.

I have often thought that Emma and Mya are truly the luckiest children in this world. I feel bad for some other kids to think that they are not blessed with an angel mother as Lauri. (That may be a little biased! J) There is also no other husband as lucky as I am to have such a beautiful wife and mother. She truly lives a selfless life for the wellbeing of our family. We are all blessed because of her in our lives. May she know of our deepest appreciation and love, for it too often goes unsaid.

Lauri-Mommy- Thank you. I love you!

“When I was young, I remember

Around September

Friday night football and the drive in movie

Me and the boys stayin’ up real late,

Talkin’ ‘bout who we’d take,

To the next big high school dance

Someone would say she better be

Tall, thin, have long blonde hair

Bright green eyes and fancy close to wear

While thoughts of this perfect girl

Danced in our heads

I knew deep inside She’d be

The joy of my life, always makes me smile

That shoulder to lean on when I’m down

As the years go by, I couldn’t count the times

I’ve thanked heaven above for sending her to be

The mother of my child

That was then and time has shone

How much we have grown

Childhood boys to working men

Me and the boys catching up on lost time

Talkin’ ‘bout who we might find,

To build our home, life, love, and dreams with

Someone would say can she

Sew and bake perfectly

When I forget, she’ll pick up after me

While thoughts of a perfect bride

Danced in our heads

I knew deep inside She’d be

The joy of my life, always makes me smile

That shoulder to lean on when I’m down

As the years go by, I couldn’t count the times

I’ve thanked heaven above for sending her to be

The mother of my child

The world may not agree with me

It’s not the clothes you wear, how you do your hair

That make you lovely

It’s your patience, your laugh, and your charity

Above all, you’re a mother, that means the most to me

And you’ll always be

The joy of my life, always makes me smile

That shoulder to lean on when I’m down

As the years go by, I couldn’t count the times

I’ve thanked heaven above for sending you to be

The mother of my child”

Bathing Beauties

Soccer Star

Emma got recruited to play soccer with her cousins. I'd like to say its because of her mad soccer skills ( which really are'nt bad if you can get her to play), but I think it might be because the coach pulled some strings. Either way its been fun to watch. And maybe some day she'll understand that you are supposed to use your feet and not your hands. Here's hoping!

GOAL! ( during practice, but still!)

Listening very intently to the pep-talk

We thought that since Emma like to use her hands, she'd be a good goalie. But I think we just confused her.

Ashlyn and Emma

And that's that!

--

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter sunday. It all started with a little Easter egg hunt Sunday morning at our house. Then it was off to church. After church we went to Grandma and Grandpa Noss's for dinner and another Easter Egg hunt. And to top it all off we went to Grandma and Grandpa Tyson's to visit. I'm surprised Emma ever went to sleep that night with all the candy she ate!

I think its safe to assume that Emma is not a morning person.

But she sweetened up when she found her Easter basket with Ariel...

.... and Cinderella.

Finding her Easter basket at Grandma and Grandpa's.

After a little help, Mya found her basket too.

So pretty!

Eggs

We had a great time coloring Easter eggs Saturday night.

Eating the spoils!

Mya had a good time too!

Who's Who?

Okay, so the hair gives it away! Among other things. But its fun to compare!

Two peas in a pod

Sad

Tonight we went bowling. I bowled the best game I have in a long time. I even had 2 strikes in a row! But..........

................................... Emma still beat me!

The "Harm" aka Farm

Emma has been talking about going to the "harm" since Mya was born. We kept telling her when Mya was bigger, and it got warmer we would go to the farm. Well, Mya is quite a bit bigger, and yesterday was a beautiful day, so we went up to Thanksgiving Point to visit the farm. It was a lot of fun. Emma was so excited you couldn't help but smile.

I was proud of her for riding on the horse by herself. It was more me being paranoid that caused me to walk beside her.

Wave to Daddy!

Note to self.....

..... Never go to Burger King again!

Last night we were driving by a Burger King, and they had a big purple slide that caught Emma's eye. So we thought, "We can eat there. Then Emma can have some fun!" We thought it was a great idea. Well, it wasn't. It wasn't the food that ruined our experience, although the food is definitely mediocre at best, it was the play land. Emma thought that big purple slide looked so fun until she actually got up into the play land. I think she was scared of the 6 or 7 twelve year old boys reaking havoc throughout the play land. She wouldn't come down so I had to climb through several kiddie sized tunnels to get her out. Then as we were trying to help Emma another time, a little girl about Emma's age comes over to Mya and wants to hold her. Not quite knowing what to do, I let her put her arms underneath mine to hold her. Then she tries to grab her out of my arms and take her to see her mommy. Then as Mya fusses, she tries to stick her fingers in her mouth. And to top it all off, a different little girl comes running over with Mya's binky in her mouth that she had grabbed off our table. All this happening while these kids parents are looking on. HELLO! Is there not something wrong with that, or am I just incredibly uptight? I thought Tyler was going to lose it. Needless to say, we are sticking with Chik-fil-A.

Mya's blessing

We blessed our sweet little Mya on Sunday. It was a great day! She looked so beautiful and pure and it reminded me how fresh from heaven she really is. Thanks to all those who showed their love and support. And thanks to our parents for all the help during crunch time Saturday night! We love you!

I think Mya must have known it was her special day. She was awake and all smiles for all our guests.

My mom made this beautiful dress. I thought it was so pretty.

Proud parents and proud big sis.

Tyson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Tyson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Those 3 little words...

Today was payoff for all the frustration and tears of the past few weeks. As we've been struggling with Emma, there were times I was sure I wasn't going to survive motherhood. But today as I was putting Emma in the car, she put her arms around me and said " I love you so much!". That's what we mothers live for.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Cuties

Five years ago today I was getting engaged up the canyon in Cedar City. It was a beautiful night, right about sunset. I had opened some presents from Tyler, and he said he had one more. He handed me his laptop and a slideshow with pictures of us starts playing. Then he starts singing this beautiful song he wrote about our lives together. I just kept thinking, " He should have saved this for the proposal!" I finally realized what was happening the last verse of the song, as the last few lines were the proposal! This is a memory I will always cherish. It was just so perfect! Now we've enjoyed 4 years of marital bliss (at least most of the time).
In stark contrast to this very romantic Valentine's Day, this Valentine's Day Tyler and I had a very romantic dinner of Taco Time, eaten in the car, accompanied by our two little girls. Not exactly what movies are made of, but I was surrounded by the people I love most. And rumor has it that Tyler has something romantic up his sleeve for next weekend. No pressure, honey! I love you! Happy Valentine's Day!

I need help!

So, I've been spending a lot of time searching the internet lately. My google searches have gone a little something like this:
" How to know if your toddler has a behavioral disorder."
or
" How to deal with a toddler who won't take naps."
or
" What to do for an insecure toddler"

Needless to say, Emma has been a bit of a challenge lately. There have been a lot of big changes in her life, so some of it was to be expected, but she has gone above and beyond my expectations. Lately she will not stay in her room to go to sleep unless someone is in there with her. She gets out of her bed and runs out crying. Then almost every night she will run into our room crying at 3 or 4 in the morning. This has been going on since we had to go to the hospital with Mya. I figure it stems from that. She woke up one morning and we were gone. Maybe she's afraid that will happen again. I just don't know what to do about it. She is really insecure. She says she's scared of the monsters, but its hard to say if its legitimate or not. When she was 6 months old we had to learn to let her cry herself to sleep. Once she did, we have never had a problem until now. But now she can get out of bed and open the door. If she really is scared, I want to comfort her, but I don't want to make the problem worse by giving her too much attention. So, I wonder if any of you child psychiatrists (a.k.a Moms) have any suggestions for me on how to handle a kicking, screaming, hitting, crying, won't go to bed, 2 year old. And if you could tell me this is normal, I would feel a whole lot better too!

Smiling in the face of adversity

We are happy to report that Mya is home and doing pretty well. We were able to bring her home last night. As you can see, she is in good spirits.

I have been so humbled these last few months. It has been one of the hardest times in my life. When it rains, it pours. Its kind of been one thing after another. But at the same time, I don't know that I've ever felt so grateful for all the good things I have in my life. My trials have certainly put things into perspective for me. I've realized its not "what"in your life, but "who" that matters. I have been blessed with wonderful family and friends. Those who dropped everything, no questions asked, to come help us in our time of need. Not only with our kids, but with our house as well. Those who have offered their support in other ways, whether it was a phone call of concern, or a comment on a blog. I just want to say thank you. I could never express in words the gratitude I feel for all of you. And especially for those who went above and beyond. You know who you are. Thank You!

Heartbreak

So my biggest fear about having a winter baby has been realized. Mya was admitted to Primary Childrens last night with RSV. There is no heartbreak like seeing your little baby suffer. Its sad to see her hooked up to oxygen and various other tubes. Its also sad knowing you have a little one at home who needs you as well, and who doesn't really understand what's going on.

So far Mya seems to be doing okay, relatively speaking. She has a lot of congestion and sometimes struggles to breathe. I'm just glad we are in good hands here. Our stay will most likely be a couple of days. Mya needs to be able to maintain her oxygen levels on her own before they will let us go. It's hard to say how long it will really be, but she's a fighter!

A girl after my own heart

This girl loves getting in the tub. Just like her mommy.

So relaxed she decided to take a snooze.

Does anyone have a comb we could borrow?