Pictures, cuz they are so much better on Tyson's phone

So I have been really bad about taking pictures lately and it is probably because the ones I take are so blurry and dumb compared to Tyson and his cool camera phone that he has with him everywhere.  So here are older photos from mine and Tyson's birthdays.  Aren't you glad I am sharing these with you?

 Waffle House makes for cute smiles!!

 Tyson made me an AWESOME cake and it was incredibly delicious.  Love love love.

 

 4th of July parade.  We were soaked but the boys had a blast.

 

 

Then eating kettle corn at VMI

And then the infamous puddle/lake that killed our car.  It was fun while it lasted though!

 Enterprise cake

Our anniversary.  Happy 7 years!!

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

The youngest of my four brothers, Ammon, just left yesterday to go on a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He will be serving in the Brazil...(I am going to do this phonetically since spelling is not my strong suit) Cudachiba South mission.  I am so proud of him, but a little sad cuz I will miss him lots.  He comes over and is very entertaining, he would tell me funny stories, play with my kids and play his ukulele...for hours.  I loved it and will miss it.  But I am excited to actually get letters in the mail from a real person and not bills or junk.  Plus, the boys are going to have someone else to give their mountainous amounts of drawings too (hooray!)

Since his birthday is this coming Friday, we celebrated it on Sunday.  For some reason I love making fun cakes even though I am not the best baker, but I love the cake creative-ness.  So I made a shirt cake, complete with name tag.  :)  Way too fun.

Then we had to get a photo with Ammon and the boys.  I was still in my pj's and not really wanting to be photographed, but since I have one of the boys in me, I had to be in the pics as well.  :)  I'm excited to see how different they all look in two years when Ammon gets home.  That will be a fun comparison.

 And of course Tys and Ammon.  I am so glad Tys gets along with my family so well.  He loves them all and I think they all think of him as a real brother, and I'm really glad.

We will miss you Elder Hardy!  So be prepared for the mass quantities of mail you are going to receive!!  It will be weird, 12 years from now we will begin our 8 years of at least one of our boys on a mission...maybe more depending on if our last try for a girl ends up going how the last four have.  :)

Pregnancy Ramblings

Minus being completely exhausted every day, the last few weeks of the pregnancy are going well.  I've given up hiding my leg with all the heat and I have gotten several comments "what is wrong with your leg?" and "is that from being pregnant?!"  I feel bad for people that haven't had kids yet, especially my siblings, it really freaks them out and I'm sure makes them have even less desire to have kids of their own (not that being around my kids doesn't do that enough).  I will spare you any pictures of it because it just looks like big purple bruises.  Who wants to see that?

But it is all going well and I am really excited to have the little guy.  My little sister is awesome and throwing me a baby shower even though she has so little time to plan it.  She is so excited about all the games and decorations, things that I would be a mess trying to plan.  I am so glad everyone is different and likes different things.

I am a little nervous to have the little one too.  I keep having terrifying dreams.  Like I can't breath during labor or he has a mutilated face or other such horrible things.  Then I wake up like I haven't slept, which I don't think helps my sleepiness.  It is so silly to be nervous, it isn't like I haven't had kids before.  This isn't anything new for me.  But I guess it is because I have learned that I can never expect what will happen.  I thought everything would be easy and simple with my first delivery and I had a C-section.  My second kid, I ended up having to have my water broken and be kind of induced because the fluids were so low.  Then I got an epidural and it took a really long and painful time to have him, but I did have a VBAC.  So with my third, I thought it would be a long labor.  Nope, made it to the hospital and 8 minutes later he was born, all natural (with a lot of screaming on my part, I had no clue how painful it would be and I was kind of freaking out).  So with this one, I just know to expect the unexpected.  I have been practicing my breathing so as not to scream at everyone this time in case he does come quickly, but yeah, I just don't know.  I wake up every morning wondering if today will be the day.

And now that little unknown Prince's child in England is born, I keep worrying the ONE name Tyson and I can agree on will be his name and everyone will think we are naming him after the little highness.  I guess I worry too much if I am really worried about that huh?  :)

So I try to distract myself from my brain thought processes by cleaning and sleeping whenever I get a chance.  I scrubbed the bathroom today, even though I have little knowledge on what cleaning products to use for what (sorry mom, I didn't pay enough attention to all your hard work).  And I cleaned a mirror.  Hooray for me!  Then I laid down because that was obviously all the energy I had in me.  My poor kids.  They want this baby to come more than I do so they can actually have their normal mom back.

Since my due date keeps changing, but we will keep it in the middle-ish, so I have 11 days left.  That isn't too bad right?  It is funny how the last few weeks seem to last as long as the previous 9 months.  I'm sure this will not be the last of my ramblings, just so you know.  :)

Do You Know Wendi?

Josh, Caleb and Logan were sitting at the table eating animal crackers.

Josh: "Oh Logan, last night, we went swimming at Wendi's pool and -- do you know Wendi?"
Logan: "Uh...I know my mom."
Josh: "Urgh, Logan, your mom is not Wendi.  No, do you know Wendi?"
Caleb: "Josh, be nice to Logan.  He doesn't know Wendi."
Logan: "I know Cami."
Josh: "Logan, I know you know Cami, she is right there!  Cami is my mom!  She is not Wendi."
Logan: "Josh, I know Wendy's, the place you eat."
Josh: "No, Logan, not the place you eat, the person, Wendi."
Logan: "Um, no, I don't Wendi."
Josh: (huge sigh) "Okay, that is all I wanted to know." (long pause) "So we went swimming..."

I just love kids and their conversations.  Seriously I cannot get enough of them.

It's not a cupcake, it's a muffin. Trust me. I'm the mom.

Woke up around 5 this morning because I was having contractions so hard they made me want to puke.  So then I started freaking out about everything I hadn't accomplished yet and what if I was going to have this baby today.  Did I really want to go through labor again?  (haha, I know, I know, I don't really have a choice, but that is still how my brain works)

So I tried to sleep but couldn't, thus making me VERY drowsy all morning.

When it came time to get everyone breakfast, which consists of pulling bowls out of the cupboard and trying to get all the cereal orders right with the right spoons because of course that matters to each of my kids.

"I want the mixed up chameleon kind!  Part honeycomb, part lucky charms!"
"Sorry, we are all out of honeycomb."
Child collapses to the floor in utter despair because of course his day would be miserable now that it didn't start with at least one piece of honeycomb in his bowl.  Sad thing is, when it comes to cereal, I totally understand.  I probably made them this way by my freakish obsession with the substance.

Each bag only had like a 1/2 cup of cereal left each.  Which meant everybody had barely enough.  Except Matthew.  And I could give him Lucky Charms (note, they aren't actually the REAL Lucky Charms, it is the knock off brand, I just still don't know the real name), but then he would only eat the marshmallows and get serious sugar high and cranky and I'm sure his teeth would rot through out the day.

So being the incredible mom I am, I gave him a cupcake.

They didn't have frosting on them yet and they are caramel flavored so they are darker in color, looking like whole wheat muffins.  So that is what I told Matthew's brothers when they complained that they didn't get a cupcake for breakfast.

"Sorry, this is a special one, it is a muffin.  The other ones aren't as healthy."

I mean, if you tell yourself believing it enough, it has got to be true right?  I felt a little like Bill Cosby.  Chocolate cake...it has eggs and flour.  :)

I can't believe I have lowered myself to deceiving my children just so I don't have to do anything as strenuous as making toast.  But that is the privilege of a woman 2 1/2 weeks away from their due date, right?  I hope so.

Blessed

Usually every Sunday Tyson has church meetings and visits all morning.  That means I get the three boys and myself ready for church before Tyson comes to pick us up.  It isn't horrible, and the boys are usually pretty good about getting ready.  It does wear me down and by the time church comes and we corral the kids onto a row of seats and try to keep them from fighting and being loud for an hour before their classes, I am exhausted.  But I know it is worth it.

For two weeks in July every year, our congregation does a thing called "family weeks."  It is where there are no meetings outside of the three church hours a week unless absolutely necessary.  So yesterday was the beginning of those two weeks.  Tyson got to stay with us all morning!  It was so relaxing.  He let me take a shower, blow dry AND straighten my hair.  I don't think I have done that all in one stretch for like months, if not years.  He also gave the three boys their baths and got them ready.  I was so relaxed at church that I actually paid attention.  It was great.

Then this morning I found a note from Tyson in a couple's journal we have (we take turns writing notes to each other in it - an idea I got from datingdivas.com).  He wrote about our anniversary and how he is excited for our next seven years together.  He mentioned how old our boys will be then, how all of them will be in school (including the one I am pregnant with).

That seems so weird.  Only seven years from now and my life will be TOTALLY different.  Seven years used to seem like a long time, but now it really doesn't.  I'm sure I will still have to convince the boys to get ready for church.  Maybe they will be wearing real ties then, not the clip-ons.  I'm sure I will be just as exhausted and at a loss for how to convince my boys of anything since they will probably all be taller than me or getting close.  I'm sure I will be grayer and my eyes will be puffy in the mornings.  That will be weird.  :)  I might even be getting wrinkles.

But I will still love my boys and still love my Tyson.  Even more than I do now.  I am so lucky to have them all.  Even if Josh loves to turn the couches into pirate ships, Santa's sleigh, or (like it currently is) a hot tub, which is totally wrecking all the cushions and breaking the springs.  And even if Caleb cries if ANYONE comes close to him while he is playing because most likely they will tease him and wreak what he is doing or steal it (yup, Josh just stole Caleb's coloring book).  And even if Matthew gets into everything and in the short time it takes me to go to the bathroom, he has taken everything out of the cupboard and tried to open the nail polish remover and all kinds of lotions (I am only relieved from his antics because he is currently taking a nap.  Thank the heavens for naps).  And even if Tyson LOVES to poke the baby and make it move and push me so I have to pee and feel like my ribs are breaking at the same time.  I'm sure I would miss all these things if I didn't have them.  I know I am lucky and blessed.  I am so thankful for what these last seven years have brought me.  I know I have already written about it, but I am excited to see what the next seven bring.

Birthday Bashes

This last week is always full of celebrations.  My birthday, Tyson's birthday AND the 4th of July, and our anniversary. 

It is great, I LOVE it.  It really is like Christmas in July.  Tyson spoils me WAY too much on my birthday.  He usually gets to take the day off of work which is super fun, but this year I told him not to because I wanted him to take our anniversary off instead.  So my birthday came and I asked Tyson what he wanted for breakfast.

Tys: "I don't feel like eating our food.  Do you?"
me: "Um, why wouldn't we eat our food?"
Tys: "I think we should go somewhere to eat."
me: "are you serious?"

So we did.  We went to Waffle House.  If anyone knows me, they know I LOVE breakfast food, anytime of the day.  And I love Waffle House.  I think the southern environment is awesome and I love the waffles.  So that is where we went and the waitress was super nice.  She gave the boys each a cooking hat, which was adorable and they loved it.  There was a guy sitting behind us that came up to us and told us we had a really special family and that we are really blessed.

True that sir.

So I thought Tys was just going to go into work late, but he decided to go to the free movie with us (they have free kid movies twice a week at our local theater).  It was so fun!  A little crazy with Matthew, but hey, we didn't have to pay anything, so it wasn't a big deal that I kept having to get up with the little stinker.  The movie was about dragons and Caleb especially was in heaven.  He kept saying how "AWESOME" the dragons were.  Precious.

Then we went home and Tys just didn't go back to work.  He gave me my present which was a coupon/gift certificate book full of gifts from other people.  Like a girls night from my friends, a hair cut from my sister, lunch with my mom, massage from my dad, ice cream with my sister, pedi from my mom-in-law, and of course unlimited devotion from Tys (I loved that one).  It was the cutest idea and was SO sweet that he went through so much trouble for me and that I have so many people that love me.

Then Tys took all of us and my mom out to dinner too, and he ended up never going into work which he had also been planning on all along.  He seriously is perfect.

His birthday however, was not so perfect.  We went to a bike parade with the boys in the pouring rain, they handed out hot dogs afterwards and Tyson finally got to get one, but they were all out.  Then we had to stop by the store because I needed a few more supplies for his party later.  While I ran in the store, Tys drove the boys around the store.  Behind the store was a GIANT puddle, like the coolest thing you have ever seen.  So being the cool dad he is, he drove through it.  Awesome, the boys loved it.  Then when they came around, they picked me up and went to drive through the puddle with me so I could experience it.  Halfway through the super cool splash, the car dies and slowly coasts to the other side.

It doesn't start.

So we think it needs to dry out.

Still doesn't start.

We push it to a different position thinking that might help.  Nope, no go.

It is boiling hot and humid by now and poor Tyson is spending his birthday super mad at himself and the car and hot and hungry.  I hate moments like that.  I have no idea what to do to help and I can't fix the problem.

Thankfully my dad came and got us and we got home in time to get ready for the party and celebrate with our friends.  But Tyson was tired and frustrated about our stranded car, so he was not himself which only made him more frustrated.  Then we were playing with sparklers and Matthew reaches up and grabs the flame totally burning his hand.  Thankfully no emergency trip was needed, thanks to this awesome healing cream for burns my friend gave me.  Needless to say, it wasn't the best birthday for Tyson.  Not to mention my present for him (he will be mad I said this) was pidly in comparison to all the amazing stuff he did for me.

But our van is fixed now and not totally ruined like I was afraid it would be.  It wasn't cheap, but it drives like a dream now.  :)  And I really am sure we will look back on that day and laugh.  All I know is, I am going to do something amazing for that hunk of mine next year for his birthday.  I just don't know what yet...

Oh and for our anniversary, he surprised me and took me to a local Bed and Breakfast.  Seriously.  How lucky can I get?  He really is incredible.  I told him I am afraid he is secretly really ill or something because he has been WAY too nice to me.  :)  He says he isn't, so let's hope that is true.

So yeah, minus being uncomfortably pregnant, life is really good.

 One layer from the seriously mouth watering cake that Tys made me.

 Super cute 4th of July cupcakes (and yes the flags are marshmallows)

The Star Trek Enterprise cake I attempted to make Tys.  It didn't turn out too bad and Em was there to add a few more accurate details about the ship.

Mr Independence

 His very fake smile, but it is hilarious.

 He didn't want me to help him get his own crackers...so this is what happened.

 I did make him clean it up which he was all to happy to do, I don't know why.

Eating toast on the couch because that is where Mama eats sometimes and so he should be able to as well.  It stinks that he has such a cute smile that I forget to get him in trouble.

 

 

My soon to be not youngest is FULL of life.  I am kind of shocked we even decided to get pregnant with the fourth.  Matthew wears me out completely.  It is a full time job just keeping my house from getting destroyed by him.  He wants to do everything himself and just like his big brothers.  He has always been like that.  He was perpetually mad for the first five months of his life because he couldn't move on his own.  He hated his high chair, baby food, being fed, being stuck in a car seat, being in a crib, anything that hinders his movement and freedom.

He started walking at 9 months old because crawling wasn't fast enough.  We just took his booster seat out to the shed because he refused to sit in it so there was no point in keeping it out.  We took a side off his crib so it is basically a toddler bed.  He loves the freedom, but still tries to sleep in Josh's bed because he thinks it is better than his own.  He climbs on tables and opens doors and tries to wear deodorant and brush his own teeth.  He doesn't want to hold my hand in the parking lot.  He refuses to eat anything but toast and sandwiches without a utensil because that is how grown ups do it.  And he grabs a stool, drags it under the drawer with the silverware, climbs up, opens the drawer, reaches his little hand inside and grabs the first piece he can.  Luckily the ones in his reach are plastic, but I am sure one of these days he will discover something metal or even worse the sharp knives that are in there hidden at the back.

Just today he demanded yogurt and to eat it himself.  Thank heavens for my Caleb who tells me when anyone is doing anything wrong, because I wouldn't have discovered that Matthew was bored with his yogurt and had dumped it on the table and was making beautiful pictures with it.  And before he was done getting cleaned up, he escaped me and ran to decorate the already very "loved" couch.  And that was after he woke me up at five AM since he can leave his room whenever he wants now, demanded cereal and milk, and to have me comb his hair and then play games on Tyson's phone.  It was only 7:30 in the morning at the yogurt fiasco.  I already was counting down to when I would lock him in his room for his nap, which lock I am sure he will learn to bypass in just a few days.

I just keep telling myself, the kid is full of mischief and wears me down to where I feel like a washrag with tattered edges, and that is at the beginning of the day.  But I know his personality will make for a really incredible person as the years go on.  He won't take no for an answer, he will do whatever he has to in order to accomplish his dreams, and I'm sure he will do great things.  I just hope I have enough energy to get him (and his siblings) to adulthood alive.  And to teach him to restrain his temper and passions when necessary.  But in all honesty, most days I just look forward to bedtime when the sheer exhaustion catches up with him long enough to give me a few hours of rest.

Dream Big

 The after dinner planning process.  All of them were very involved.  :)

 

For some time now, Tyson has wanted to build a tree fort for the boys.  Between the huge tree that fell on our carport and all the clean up and fixing that went along with that and all of Tyson's other demands, it hasn't happened.  So this last week, the planning stages started happening.  Tyson picked the tree/trees that would make the best place for it and started sketching out his ideas.

 

Being the amazing father he is, he asked the boys for their wish list: what they would have in their tree fort if they could have whatever they wanted.  Tys and I were both thinking maybe they will ask for a cool ladder or two floors or some windows.  We had NO idea that their imaginations would be so drastic and open to impossibilities.  Good thing he asked them, otherwise the tree fort would have come no where close to their high expectations.

 

Here are just some of their requests:

bookshelf

slide

stairs

couch

carpet

fridge

bathroom with a bathtub and sink

window with a telescope

exercise weights (a weight room)

windshield wipers for the front and back

playroom with a play kitchen

a Christmas tree on top

"a sandbox in the tree house with no sticks that stick up because that way we can build sandcastles" -Caleb

a roller coaster

a pool

AND

a zip line going to the house so they can get inside really fast

 

Tyson and I just kept looking at each other with huge eyes, because it wasn't like the boys even stopped to think, they just kept giving their suggestions, one after another.  It was hilarious and adorable.  I'm excited to see how this tree fort is going to turn out.  With Tyson's skills and the boys' vision, I'm sure it will be amazing.  I'm proud of my boys for dreaming big.

My Next Seven Years

Sorry for not posting much at all the last week or so.  Anytime I am with Tyson, all my routines kind of get forgotten.  My world kind of revolves around him.  :)  This past week is like a Christmas in July.  Tyson basically has a week off of work because of my birthday, his birthday, and our anniversary.  It is great because he gets two days off for the 4th of July too.  Seriously, it is great and I get WAY too spoiled.

So needless to say, it is a good thing he works or I wouldn't get anything done.  I am sad though that today we both have to go back to real world life.  :)

Yesterday was our 7th anniversary and it was awesome.  Tyson is way too good at surprises and he knows I love them.  So yesterday afternoon he goes "Man, we have a lot to do."  So then he goes off listing the things we need to get done and then he says, "and then we need to go to a Bed and Breakfast."

me: "What?  Are you kidding me?"
He just gets a BIG smile.  So cute.

So we went and had a great time.  I am so thankful for Cassie and Dallin that they watched the boys for us.  I'm sure they were up all night and now never want to have children of their own.  But I am so thankful.

Tyson and I talked a lot about the last seven years and what we want to accomplish and do in the next seven years.  I am super excited that I am married and get to be with Tyson forever.  But it did get me thinking, what goals should we have?  We have a few ideas and goals now, like going on a cruise and taking the kids to Disneyland, and a few not so superficial things, but what do you think is a good goal for a couple with almost 4 little boys?

Stroll in the Rain

Tyson dropped me and the boys off at the library today because he needed the car.  He was going to come back and pick us up, but the boys were restless and I thought "what is a little walk in the rain?"  Haha

I did not have a stroller, but Matthew has little legs that work, so we will be fine.  And it was just sprinkling.  So, we started off.  Of course, Matthew can walk just fine, but they are really tiny steps.  Works great for me right now, since I walk at about the same pace with the waddling.  Josh and Caleb stayed at our pace for about um, 10 seconds.  Then they ran ahead, would get to a corner and then turn and run back.  This worked great for several blocks.  Matthew had to stop every two seconds and admire the grass or pick up a rock or stick or bug or anything that looked interesting.  So basically everything.

Well, we got to about a normal human five minute walk from our house and the older boys didn't wait at the corner.  They looked both ways and then crossed the street and walked up the giant hill that apparently marks known territory so they felt comfortable to march ahead.  I didn't think much of it.  Until Matthew and I started up the hill.  It is no easy thing walking 8 months pregnant up a hill.  It is totally not easy when almost 2 year old thinks he is incapable of walking on his own.

Me: "Matthew, come on Buddy.  We need to catch up to Josh and Caleb."
Matthew, sitting stubbornly on the damp sidewalk: "Nuh-uh"

I look up the hill and there are my little boys who suddenly think they are not so little, at the very top, turning the corner into a street that goes in front of Tyson's office and out of my sight.

Lovely.

So I picked up Mr. 25lbs and marched/waddled/almost fell backward several times.  It was great.

That is when my phone rings.  It is Tyson, "Hey, I am back in town, do you want me to come get you."
Me: "Um, yeah, that would be a bit of a problem.  You can get me and Matthew, but I think I have lost the older too."
Tyson: "What do you mean lost?"
Me: "They kind of got ahead of me and now I can't see them."

So Tyson drove to me, picked up the 'too tired to walk' kid and then we continued the search, him in the car, me on foot.

Luckily just a few seconds later, one of Tyson's co-workers called saying that two of his kids were playing at the fish pond by themselves.  So we found them, they were totally fine.  But I have learned my lesson:

Never walk with a two year old and other kids unless you are capable of walking really fast carrying the kid or have a stroller.  Or just never leave the house.  Or maybe it is that I need to actually exercise and stop eating the mountains of cake and sugar that everyone has been nice enough to give me.  I'm not sure.  Maybe it is just not get pregnant in the first place.  Totally kidding.  I would have no funny stories if it wasn't for these kiddos.  :)

Honesty

Tyson: "Men don't cry.  Only boys cry.  So the question is Matthew, are you a man or a boy?"
Matthew just stares at him.
Caleb: "Yup, men don't cry.  Only boys.  And mamas they cry.  They cry all the time.  That is okay.  Mama cries all the time.  Lots of times I find her crying.  That is okay.  Girls can cry.  Especially mamas."

Got to love the honest truth from his little mouth.  I can't hide anything.  Like today, I took the boys shopping at a local store to get a few things for Tyson's birthday present.

Me: "Okay guys, you can't tell Daddy we went here today.  We don't want him to know about his surprise."
Josh: "Right.  So we will tell him we came here but we won't tell him what we got."
Me: "Sure...but you don't have to tell him we came here either."
Caleb: "I know, I will just say, 'Daddy, we didn't get you ANYTHING today.  Nothing.  Nope.  Didn't buy him anything."

And that is exactly what he said the next time he saw Tyson.  And Josh basically told him some of the things we bought, then he tried to cover it up by saying,
"Um, well, I'm not sure what mom got.  Did you get that for him Mama?  I wasn't really watching."

Bless their little hearts.  Tyson will never have a surprise.  :)