Family Newsletter Style

Brynlee is such a fantastic helper! I don't know what I would do without her help, she is always so good to entertain and play with her brothers. Brynlee loves playing with friends, playing the computer, playing outside, playing polly-pockets, playing with her dolls and stuffed animals, and playing games. I guess I could just say she really loves to play. She also loves reading books, dancing, and watching PBS kids. Lately she loves to tell me about things that "humans" can do, it is quite fascinating and keeps me laughing. She's super observant and comes up with all kinds of creative questions. I can never stay in a bad mood around Brynlee because if I am in one, she picks up on it and will ask me what's wrong and say its okay mom just be happy and she's right, all of the things I seem to get worked up about are things that don't really matter in the long run. She loves doing little "projects" and she is becoming a very good artist. Almost everyday she says, "this is the best day ever." All of my kids are so good at helping me remember the things that are really important.

Ridge just had his first bowl of rice cereal on Tuesday night and he loved it! I was surprised to see him actually getting it down on his first try but then again he is a growing boy. Ridge is such a fun baby! I could spend hours just talking to him, watching him smile and listening to the cute noises he makes. He's growing out of the snugly stage and into the curious I just want to watch my brother and sister stage. He loves to be where he can see what is going on. Brynlee can make him laugh harder than anyone. Don't you just want to smooch those chubby cheeks?!

Nash always has to be busy doing something, whether its something he should be doing or not is a different story. His personality is so big you almost expect it to come popping out when he's trying to express himself. He loves to copy cat and has learned a lot of signs. He is also trying to say a lot of new words although his face is so expressive he doesn't really need to use many words. The other day I had him sitting by the basket of stuff on my bathroom counter, I looked over and he was rubbing my deodorant under his arm so I just watched him for awhile. He put deodorant under his arms, lotion on his hands, pretended to put shaving cream on his face, pretended to rub gel in his hair and then he saw me watching him and stopped. This kid doesn't miss a beat. Today in sacrament meeting we had a beautiful piano/violin duet. It was so beautiful that even the children were quiet listening, it was silent as the ladies ended. But when they went to take their seats, Nash decided they needed a standing ovation, he stood on the bench and started clapping and yelling yeah as loud as he could. We quickly hushed him but everyone around us was already laughing, which just added fuel to the fire for Nash. He loves being in the spot light and he's only two. Wonder what it will be like when he's ten?!

This year is going to fly by for Brady since he has something planned for every week of the year. He is great at planning and organizing things that need to get done or that he wants to do and following through with them. I'm trying to take lessons from him. Brady loves his new position with Allegis Financial Partners as their VP over career development, it really suits his passion for helping people reach their goals. The only downside is that he is travelling a lot but even that has a positive side since most of the time when he's gone he has to be in Utah, we can go with him and visit family. He loves playing with the kids and is always saying wouldn't it be cool if we could freeze them at this age.

And then there is me...I always have more that I need to or should be doing. 24 hours a day never seems like quite enough time but its good because I am learning to prioritize and take care of what really matters first. I won't lie, being a mother isn't easy or glamorous but I absolutely love it! A lot of times when I am picking gum out of the carpet, or changing the 50th diaper of the day I loose perspective of how important my job as a mother is, but then I am always blessed with little reminders. I know that being home with my kids is the best place that I can be and I'm glad I have the opportunity!