Christmas review

Christmas Eve was spent getting our sugar cookies made for Santa. My mom, dad and Jenna came over for dinner and then the kids got to open the annual Christmas Eve present, jammies. It was actually a fun, relaxing day.

The boys were so cute watching out the window as Matt was shoveling

What a wonderful Christmas we had. Our kids are at a fun stage. The girls were super excited for Santa to come and the boys figured out how fun it is to open presents. It was so fun to watch the boys discover what was inside the box. They have been having so much fun with all of their new items from Christmas.

The morning started with presents, presents and more presents. I think Matt and I spent all morning unpackaging and assembling too many toys. I was ever so grateufl to get them all put togehter. We went to my mom and dad's for lunch and more presents. Then we spent the rest of the day playing with all of our new stuff.

Paige's favorite gifts were her BFC doll from Santa and her Project Runway fashion design set from Mom and Dad.

Kayla's favorite gifts were her Disney Princess Castle from Santa and her Barbie and Polly Pockets from her brothers.

Aiden was loving the cars he got and his learning farm. Brock loves his shopping cart and Collin is in love with his Basketball and Hoop.

Matt got a scrapbook from his younger years made by me. Matt surprised me with a laptop. I have the best hubby in the world. I am thinking he might use it more than me, but who cares.

It is sad to think that Christmas is over and we are in the last week of 2009. What a wonderful year we have been blessed with and I am so thankful for all of my wonderful blessings in my life, especially my family.

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, we wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Mischievious

I have 3 little mischievious boys. One does something, the other two watch and are soon following suit. Yesterday, Brock decided to climb on top of the big bin that we keep some of the toys in. He got up on top and he thought he was so cool. I was looking at him telling him "no" and he would just smile back at me. I'm kind of a hypocrite, because as I am telling him "no" I am snapping a picture of him.

I got him down off of the bin and next thing I know, you guessed it, Collin is up on the bin. I did the same with him. I told him "no," (took his picture) and got him down.

Aiden kept thinking about getting up and trying a little but he never go up. Several hours later, I go in to check on my little guys and lo and behold, Aiden had climbed up. I just can't wait to see what they come up with next.

We had a fun weekend. We were finally able to do the Gingerbread Houses. We ended up with two this year, so the girls each got to make one to their own liking. I helped Kayla, and this is our creation.

Matt helped Paige, and this is their creation.

I can't believe there are only 10 days until Christmas. I did my wrapping over the weekend, so I think I am officially done and ready for the big day. I am so excited this year. The boys are going to be so fun to watch and entertaining I am sure.

And They're Off

We officially have 3 new walkers in our family. Within this last week they have really started taking off. I will catch them letting go of things and walking and then when they fall they resort to crawling. It is also fun to watch the other two catch on. If they see one of the others walking, they have to try it for themselves. It is almost a competition. I thought Collin would be the last of the three to walk, but he is actually doing the best. I had hoped they would walk by Christmas, and it looks like we are going to make it. They aren't 100% walkers, but we are getting really close.

Here is a movie of each of them walking. Aiden gets so excited when he walks that he does more laughing than walking. His laugh is so dang cute, I can't get enough of it.



Brock...........


and last but not least, Collin..........

Inspiring Blog

This past weekend in Utah, I read a story in my in-laws paper. It was about blogging women, who are LDS, that have an incredible following on their blogs. I remembered one of the blogs and just had to check it out. I scanned through and read some and then I came to a link of story that tells about this one lady's journey back after a plane crash. It is incredible. I was reading it and I was in tears. I just thought I would pass the link on to you all and hope you enjoy the story and journey of this remarkable woman.

Check out her blog here: http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

And check out her incredible story here: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/stephanie-nielson-intro-120609.html

Wild Weekend

We had a bit of a busy weekend. On Saturday morning, we got up very early. We left our house at 5:45 a.m. so we could be to Logan at 9 a.m. for my nieces baptism. We got the kids up right out of bed and put them in the car. That was all fine and dandy until right after Idaho Falls, Paige decided to get car sick. So after using several grocery sacks and awful, blizzardy snowy conditions, we made it to Logan. Paige perked up not long after getting there and getting out of the car. So after the baptism, we got her something to eat and loaded the kids up and headed for Salt Lake.

Once again we battled awful roads and awful trafiic. That is the one thing I dislike about Utah. We were supposed to be at the University of Utah hospital before 1 p.m. before the NICU Christmas party ended, but we didn't make it. We went anyways. It was kind of weird being back at the hospital. We took all to kids over to eat lunch at Primary Children's and then we went up to the NICU and saw two of our wonderful nurses who took care of the boys.

Saturday night we left the boys with Grandma and Grandpa Nielson and we took the girls in to see the lights on Temple Square. It had been several years since we had done that and the girls were very excited. It was really cold, but we bundled up and had a good time.

I can't believe how fast this month is going and I better start wrapping my presents soon, because Christmas will be here before we know it.

Thankful

I am really slow posting about Thanksgiving. It has been a little wild around here. Last week was so busy I hope I can remember everything. On Wednesday, Paige had a program at school. They sang some Thanksgiving songs and then she got to read a book to me that she had written. It was so good. The songs were really cute.

After the program, I was able to go to lunch with some friends from high school. It was so fun to get together, talk and see them again. Thanks girls. It was alot of fun.

Me, Kristen (Bond) Dunnells, Jana (Call) Freed, Leslie (Clements) Stinson

It was also my nieces birthday, and they were in town for Thanksgiving, so we took the kids bowling. It was a lot of fun and thanks to the bumpers and the ramp, I think Kayla and I had the same score.

Matt spent the day fishing in Salmon with my brother-in-law Charlie. They both had an incredible time and have decided to make a tradition out of it. They were both successful as well.

Thursday we had Thanksgiving with my family at my Mom and Dad's. It was a really nice day and we had a lot of yummy food. We ate, played some games and looked through the ads.

Collin, Matt, Kayla, Brock, Paige, Brook and Aiden

Friday morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and hit the sales with my sister and dad. I was able to get everything I set out for, so it was worth it. Friday night Matt's mom, Pat, Jen, Josh and Morgan came for a visit. It was fun to see them and hang out with them.

Paige, Josh, Pat, Morgan, Kayla and Grandma Nielson having cake for Grandma's birthday

We took everyone up to Green Canyon swimming on Saturday. The kids loved it. We definately need to take them more often. It was a fun time.

As I reflect on all the things I am thankful for, I am most thankful for my family. My 5 wonderful children and my wonderful, hardworking husband. I am so grateful for Matt and all he does to support our family. I definately have a busier life than I ever imagined, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I am also grateful for both Matt and my families and all the love and support they give to us.

Brrrrrrr!!

Need I say more. When it decides to be winter and cold in Idaho it really happens. The past couple of mornings it has been 13 degrees when Paige leaves for school. Good thing Matt is so nice and takes her on his way to work. She would be frozen solid by the time she got to school otherwise.

Not to much excitement in our neck of the woods these days. We are staying home, trying to stay healthy and getting projects done around the house. I did finally take the boys out. It was their first outing in two weeks and they got to go to Grandma's house. It was so cute when we got them all bundled in their coats, hats and gloves. They just sat there like they couldn't move. I guess I know what to do if I want them to hold still.

The boys are doing good through the night still. They are becoming really good little eaters. They will eat most anything I feed them. Their favorite food lately would have to be french fries. Those were a hit for all 3.

I am getting excited for Thanksgiving. That just means all the holidays are fast approaching. This would definately have to be my favorite two months of the year. All except for the freezing cold and snow. Oh well, what am I going to do about that.

Happy Belated Birthday

I am a little slow at wishing Matt a Happy Birthday. His birthday was last Wednesday (the 4th). It was a busy day, so I didn't post anything. He is the big 32. He wasn't really home on his birthday so we celebrated on Sunday. We just wanted to tell our dad and husband how much we love him and appreciate all he does for us. He is an extremely hard worker and is very dedicated to his church calling. He is such a wonderful example to all of us and we don't know what we would do without him. We love you and hope you have a wonderful year ahead of you.

Now onto the rest of the family. We have finally done it. We have trained the boys completely. They now put themselves to sleep at night in their beds and if they wake up in the middle of the night they cry for a few minutes, but they put themselves back to sleep. It is heaven. I was really worried that if they woke up crying they would wake the other two, but the others sleep right through the crying. Collin is the only one that usually wakes up crying, but he only cries for 10 minutes at the most and he is back to sleep. It is so nice to not have babies in bed with us. I actually get a good nights sleep. Yeah!!! We finally did it. Next challenge, get rid of the bottles. We will see how long that takes.

Matt was wonderful to keep the kids all day Saturday and my mom and I were able to go to Idaho Falls shopping. I got almost all of my Christmas shopping done. I still have a few things to get, but I am near the end. It is such a good feeling. It gets so busy around the holidays and it is so hard to get out and get the shopping done, that I decided to do it early. I am also not taking the boys out very much, because there are way to many germs going around. We are going to be hermits once again this winter. It will be worth it if we can keep all illnesses away from them. We are keeping our fingers crossed. I have really turned into a germaphobe this last year. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

About 3 weeks ago, we went and got family pictures taken at a pumpkin patch. I am so pleased with how well they turned out. Here are a few teasers for you. Also check along my side bar for more.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year. On Friday night we carved all of our pumpkins and the kids had fun helping with that. I think the girls favorite part was cleaning the insides of the pumpkins out. They thought that was fun.

Last night we got all dressed up and ready. Then we went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. We came home, ate some dinner and headed up to spook Grandma and Grandpa. We had alot of fun this year. The weather wasn't even too bad. Hope you enjoy our spooky pictures.

Aiden was my cute little tiger.

Brock was a little monkey.

Collin was a dragon.

Paige was a witch.

Kayla was the witches black cat and obviously she didn't want her picture taken.

Feeling Better

Once again all three boys have had a round of sickness. It started on Thursday with Collin and on Friday I ended up taking Brock in to the doctor. It was just a little flu bug with the sniffles and cough. No fever, but lots of wheezing. So I got some meds and started doing breathing treatments and it looks like we are about through the fun. I have a feeling we might see more sickness this winter. It has started early. Looking back to last year I took all three in on Halloween day for RSV tests, so at least we were a week sooner with this round. I am hoping to take the three little rascals trick-or-treating this year.

Their sleeping habits are getting better. When we put them down at night they go right to sleep. Once in a while one of them will cry for a few minutes, but they all fall asleep ON THEIR OWN. As for the middle of the night, that is a different story. Last night Matt said we couldn't get them if they woke up in the night, because he is sick of sharing the bed with them. Honestly, I am too. Around 10:40 they woke up. It was just Brock and Collin in their room, because Aiden was in with us. I know, I said we were done. Once baby in bed with us isn't bad though and he woke up earlier really congested and was very restless and upset. So anyway, when Brock and Collin woke up we let them cry, and cry, and cry. I couldn't fall asleep, but Matt had no problem sleeping with the crying. After almost two hours, I gave up. Collin was totally upset and it took me almost 20 minutes to calm him down. Brock on the other hand was wide awake at this point and wasn't anywhere near sleep. Finally at about 3:30 a.m. when Brock fell asleep, sleep finally came for me. Can I just say that I am extremely tired today. This has got to get easier. If anyone has any advice for me, I would really love to hear it.

Yesterday Kayla had the dolls and all the buggies out and was playing. Brock got ahold of one of them with a baby and he was having a marvelous time. His dad wasn't to happy to see him playing dolls, but I thought it was really cute.

Nights

About a week and a half ago, we decided it was time to start putting the boys down in their cribs at bedtime so they could put themselves to sleep. I always did that with the girls and would have liked to have started sooner with the boys, but with triplets you can't do anything the same as with one kid. They have either liked to be rocked or held to fall asleep or in their swings. Well not anymore. The first night we tried it they cried for an hour and a half. Each night gets better. One night there were no peeps from their room. That only happened once. It seems that each night there is one upset little boy who cries and cries and the other two are fast asleep. We are making progress at least. Now we have to tackle the during the night sleeping habits. Aiden does really well and seldom wakes up. If he does I put him in bed by me for a few minutes and then he goes right back to his crib. I know, you shouldn't put them in bed with you. Once again I have never done this before, but in the middle of the night when one wakes up crying it is so much easier to rush right in and get him up and take him back to my bed. If I'm fast enough I only have one crying baby and not three. Brock is hit and miss. Some nights he sleeps good and other nights I get him back to sleep and everytime I put him in his crib he wakes back up. Collin is the same way. I wish I could just leave them in their room crying when they wake up in the middle of the night, but they wake each other up. Sorry for all the nighttime drama. I am just ready to have them all sleep through the night in their own beds every night. They used to for awhile and then I don't know what happened.

Paige finally lost tooth number 10 last night. She has wiggled and wiggled it and she finally got it out last night. She has started going to jump rope once a week. I am so excited to have someone following in my footsteps. She really wants to be on the team and she has started passing tricks off. I have told her that it takes alot of work and practice and I am hoping she can stick with it. She is a good jump roper if I do say so myself.

Kayla continues to be super busy and very demanding. She wants me to play barbies and polly pockets with her all of the time. I would rather do other things with me time while the boys are sleeping, but we manage some play time into each day.

The boys are staying so busy. Aiden loves playing with the Fisher Price zoo. He stands there and plays with the animals and pushes the button continually. Brock is so close to walking. I put him behind his little walker bike and he cruises around the room. I stand him up and he can balance for a few seconds and then I try to make him walk and he justs tips forward towards me without even moving his feet. Collin is my little jabber box. He is always jabbering and being noisy. He is finally walking around things and doing stairs but he isn't quite as speedy as the other two. We are trying new foods all the time. Last night they ate Macaroni and Cheese. They thought that it was pretty good. I can hardly wait until they will eat enough that they won't need a baby food as well. We go through 6 jars a day. Yikes!!

Aiden playing toys, to busy to smile for the camera.

Brock cruising around with his walker bike.
Collin finally smiling. It is really hard to get him to smile for a picture.

Well, sorry for such a long post. It has been crazy around here and I needed to catch up.

Sand Creek Ponds

On Saturday Matt decided that he wanted to take the girls fishing. I don't know why he waited until it was 43 degrees outside and almost winter, but that's ok, we went anyways. So we got everyone bundled and loaded and headed out. The girls had a fun time but were disappointed that they didn't catch a fish. They had two bites, but no fish. The boys and I sat in the car for an hour and waited while they fished. I would have preferred to stay home, but Matt insisted we have a family outing. It is sad to think that our fall days are very few in number before winter arrives.

When we got out to get the girls all ready to fish I realized Kayla didn't bring a very warm coat. Since I was going to wait in the car I put my coat on her and rolled the sleeves up so she would stay warm.

Spud Harvest is officially over and Paige returned to school today. She was actually excited and we had no problems this morning. Yeah!!! Now I just have to find things to keep Kayla entertained all day long.

Unpredictable Weather

I woke up this morning and came downstairs and you will never guess what I saw out my window. You guessed wrong. Not rain, but SNOW. I think the kids were more excited than me for sure. They are already out playing in the snow with the neighbors this morning and it isn't even 10 a.m. Paige is out of school all week for spud harvest, so that gives them something fun to do. I am hoping the snow doesn't stay and it will melt soon.

The last couple of weeks have been a little crazy. All three boys were sick a week and a half ago with awful coughs and runny noses. Of course one got it first and then the other two followed. My favorite part about the whole thing was that Matt was out of town. I don't know how he always manages to be out of town when they get sick. Thanks to my mom's help, I survived.

Kayla is keeping busy while Paige is at school. She always wants to play games and watch t.v. I am fine with games, but not the t.v., so I am trying to find other things for her to do. Last week she played a little dress up and I had to capture this priceless moment.

Paige is liking school. She is not the best at reading and it is sometimes a battle to get her to read, but we are working on it. I wish she would realize that if she would read a little more she would be a better reader. We'll get there. She is really glad for the harvest vacation. I just hope we don't struggle when it is time to go back to school.

The boys are so mobile that it is crazy around here. They all three constantly want to go up and down the stairs so I leave gates everywhere and this drives them crazy. The other day I went upstairs and a second later I could hear them at the gate. They all three crawled over and stood up at the gate and were shaking it trying to get it down. They are super busy but they sure are cute.

Aiden, Collin and Brock trying to break free

Aiden, Brock and Collin (Brock wasn't liking his bath too much)

Lagoon

On Saturday I took the girls to Lagoon. They have been beggin to go all summer and so I finally caved and took them. My sister and her two girls met us and Matt kept the boys all day. It was actually alot of fun. It had been a long time since I had been. The girls loved the rides. I think the favorite for both of them was the Tidal Wave. Kayla's face was the funnest thing to watch, especially on the Ladybug Ride. She also loved that one. She just would grin from ear to ear. We had a really fun time and they are already talking about going again. Maybe next summer.

Bailey and Kayla on the Ladybug

Waiting in line for yet another ride.

If only they couldn't move!!!

Can I just say that I am exhausted. My 3 little tigers don't stop moving. I put them all down and they instantly head in 3 different directions. Aiden is into pulling himself up to everything and then he justs stands there. He hasn't quite figured out how to move around the furniture. Brock pulls himself up to everything and then he uses all of the furniture to walk around the entire room. That kid is so super busy. Collin is finally army crawling quite fast and now he has finally figuring out how to pull himself up on his knees around everything. They are all at different phases, but they are into everything. Yesterday I gave up trying to get anything done and I decided to sit in the living room with them and read. They instantly come over to me and all want to climb up on me. They are so cute and busy, but I love them all so much.

At night when Paige takes a shower, the boys absolutely love to be in the bathroom. They all climb up and wait at the shower door. It is so funny to watch them. I don't know what it is about bathrooms, but they always make a beeline for the bathroom.

They have finally figured out the beginnings of food. They like fruit puffs and love Baby Mum Mums. They can't get enough of those. I need to graduate to the next level of food for them. I am still trying to get them to take sippy cups and they think the cups are toys. One day they will get it.

Labor Day Weekend

Why does it seem that every long weekend turns out to be super busy and crazy. Maybe it is just me. On Friday we decided to head down to Utah to spend some time with Matt's family. We got the wood floor done in our addition and we had to be out of the house for several days for them to finish it. So we packed up and headed out.

On Saturday we went down to Leamington, Utah, where Matt's dad was raised. He gave us the grand tour of where he grew up and the farm. It was fun to see it all. Matt always talks about it, so it was fun to experience. The kids had a fun time being with cousins as well.

This picture was taken in front of the first home that Matt's grandparents built when they moved to Leamington.

Sunday we went to church with Matt's mom and dad and then we went down to his brother Darren's house for dinner and almost all of the family was there. It was fun to visit and see everyone. We don't get to see everybody very often so that was fun.

On Monday on our way home we stopped in Ogden and took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum. The kids loved it and it was fun to hang out together all day. We were supposed to be able to get back into our house when we got into town on Monday, but they weren't quite done with the floor, so we stayed the night at my mom and dad's.

Tuesday when I finally got home, I had to unpack and clean up from the mess that was in my house. It was all worth it though because I absolutely love the floor and the new addition is so open and big. I am so glad we are almost done. Finish up the electrical, put trim on and get my new table delivered.

Before...........

and After.............

My Grandma Hill passed away on Friday morning, so on Tuesday night, we had her viewing and then her funeral was yesterday. She was such a neat lady and I am really going to miss her. She was ready to go, so in a way it is a good thing. She was 88 years old and I can only hope that I live as long as her.

Today I started canning. I have done 7 quarts of fruit cocktail, 7 quarts of pears and 7 pints of pears. The rest of my fruit should be ready tomorrow, so hopefully I can finish it all up by Saturday. It is sure a lot of work to do, but so worth it when you see the finished product on the shelves.