Roxy and Mia's Blessing Day

What a fun day. Roxy and Mia, Jon and Ashley's little girl got to share this day. Both Rich and Jon gave the girls beautiful blessings and the testimonies shared were beautiful. It was so fun for these two to share such a fun day. We hope they will always be close, like sisters.

Welcome Roxy!

We have had a very exciting few weeks. On August 29th at 1:32 pm we welcomed baby Roxy to our family. She weighed 7 lbs 15 oz (biggest baby to date) and was 20 inches long. I have to admit getting her here was not easy. After 3 dates of scheduled inductions that didn't happen, I was convinced I was in for another stubborn child but so far, she is a gem. She sleeps well, eats well and I love those big eyes of hers. Most everyone who knows me, knows I am not a baby person but guess what I am singing a different tune. All I want to do is hold her. Maybe it is because I know she is my last.

The kids are great with her. Piper is a second mother and always willing to help me out. Thayne loves to hold her and call her "sweetheart" and Micah....well it was touch and go for a few days but he is great with her too! No doubt that she was meant to be in our family and now it is complete.

Some other big new. Our house is pretty much done. The boys moved from cribs to the downstairs and into bunk beds and are doing quite well. Rich finally cut the tip off Micah's binky and now he thinks it is gross. I know he misses it and secretly so do I. Everyone who knows Micah knows it is his trademark. In fact some people don't even recognize him without it. Piper started kindergarten and happily announced after the first day that she "LOVES IT!" Thayne started preschool and he has announced that he doesn't like it and he isn't nice. So many afternoons it is just Micah, Roxy and me. They sleep and I get some time to clean and work. Rich did a great job on the house and it will be nice to not have all of his time devoted to this house.

Basically things are going smoother and better than I thought. I love this little family and know that I am blessed to have four healthy and somewhat happy children and a great husband.

Summer Update

It has been such a busy summer but so much fun. Between the remodeling the house, swim lessons, birthdays and getting ready for baby number four, there hasn't been a dull moment. I thought I'd add some pictures and do another blog when Rich gets our photos downloaded.

Piper became an awesome swimmer. Watch out swim team next year!

Unsure at first about swim lessons, Thayner ended up loving his lessons and did the best belly flops off the diving board.

Big shocker, Micah crying. He is getting better and he is off the bottle.

And it only took him six weeks to get in the water. He is stubborn.

Thayner's 3rd Birthday! Thanks to Missy, Thayner got his baseball cupcakes.

For now that is it. Stay tune for more Summer fun and baby news!

"I a big boy!"

I will be the first to admit that I am not a real ambitious mother. I just kind of let things happen when they happen. However, Monday night as we were having family night, Rich and I talked to the kids about setting goals. Most everyone knows that I let Piper fall asleep to TV each night. I have been less than motivated to potty train Thayner and my two year old, still has a bottle. So we set the following goals. Piper would get a few stories at night and then would have to go to bed. We did say it was OK to listen to her primary CD. Thayne needed to be potty trained sooner than later and Micah would have to lose the bottle.

Tuesday, I had no motivation at all. I just wanted to stay home. However, after months of excuses from Thayne, such as "I not wear my Diego underwear, I like diapers." or "I not a big boy, I a baby." or my favorite, "I not go to Discovery, I not like school." he finally gave it a try. Since Tuesday, he has been in big boys and only has had one accident.

I promised him that I would get him a kiddie pool and that is all it took. I haven't had to do little treats or anything else. So on Tuesday night, Piper, Thayner, Micah and I went to Wal-Mart to get his pool. This definitely benefited them all and they had a great time. Now only if the weather would get good again so they could use it some more.

On to Piper, she has done her goal the last three nights and I am so proud of her. She knew she couldn't start kindergarten watching TV at night and I know after a 2 1/2 year habit, it was hard to break but she didn't.

As for Micah, two goals in one week may be enough because I
haven't even attempted. I have a feeling this is going to be the
hardest one to break. And after the bottle, we have the Binky. I don't know why I let my mother convince me that Binky's are so wonderful. I mean it has been great but I just don't love getting rid of it.

Cha Cha Cha Changes

What an interesting week and it is only Tuesday. I thought I would title this changes and then I thought of the good old David Bowie song and thought I'd add a little Cha Cha to the title. One of the last times I heard that song was one of my last days on my mission. We were in downtown Copenhagen and it was playing. I remember thinking how my life was going to change quite drastically from my mission. I guess, change is a good thing....once you accept it.

After a week of speculation, I mean assuming it happened, the two wards that meet in our ward building were combined. I have to admit, it was a change I wasn't sure about but something has stuck out in my mind. I was in the mother's lounge with Micah during most of the changes, but I believe it is our new Bishop, Mike Anderson who said change is what the Gospel is about. When he first said that, I thought well isn't the Gospel the same yesterday, today and forever but when he continued on to talk about repentance, that hit me hard. The Gospel is about change and growing and repentance. And aren't we lucky that it is?

To be honest the hardest part for me is my calling. I feel selfish for saying this but it has been a huge blessing in my life. It was an answer to my prayers in many ways. Most of all, it helped me to get to know so many of the sisters in my neighborhood and ward. I can't even begin to express the impact that the sisters of the old Wilford 1st Ward have had on me...old and young. I have made some wonderful friends and have found so many sisters to look up to and I can not express enough how fortunate I feel to know the sisters in this area. I have been quite emotional and will miss this calling but as a dear older sister said today, you will have other opportunities.

I have learned so much from the sisters I served with in the presidency. I have also been blessed to have two fabulous leaders and a wonderful committee. The Relief Society organization is truly a blessing from God and I am so blessed to have it in my life. Thank you to each sister who has been a example and friend

So onto something lighter. Mother's day. Isn't it great to be a mom. Piper for weeks has been talking about Mother's Day. On Sunday morning, she came up to my room and told Rich to get up so they could get Mother's day ready. I wasn't allowed to get out of bed. I knew they were going to make me a fabulous breakfast in bed. However, the next thing I know Rich walks in and apologizes because he has rewired our whole kitchen and he didn't get the stove done. I was fine with that. We had coco puffs and less of a mess to cleanup in our bathroom, since our kitchen is fully out of order.

Church even with the changes was nice. Piper gave a talk in Primary and did a great job. Micah made it through nursery for the second week in a row and I got to have snack time with Thayner in nursery.

After church Rachel, Katie and I (members of the RS presidency) got to visit some of the older sisters in the ward. You just have to love those older sisters. Between trying to get a sweet sister to understand that Rachel and I are two different people and being told your face is full and you look different, it made for some good laughs. I was going to include a picture Rich took of me on Saturday, but I it only confirms the full face and enlarged nose.

Finally dinner at Heidi's with the family. It was so fun. I got to hold my sisters new baby a lot of the night and hopefully he won't end up sick. My kids had a great time playing kick the can and steal the flag and once again I am reminded of how blessed I am to be part of such an awesome family. The only bad part, I ate too much. This pregnancy I am eating for two. And next year at this time, I will be a mother of four.

The Best Day of My Life

For a year now, Piper has been bugging me to do soccer. So when Ashley asked if she wanted to do soccer with JD, I knew we had to sign her up.

Last Thursday was her first practice and game. She is on a team of seven boys and three girls and no big surprise, but she loves it. They have these fancy neon green jerseys, which is quite appropriate because it looks a lot like her new bright green room. The team name is the green aliens. Of course Piper suggested the green mermaids or green princesses. I am guessing that didn't go over too well with the boys because her suggestions lost out.

She is the smallest on the team but she is right there in the middle of all the action. She is competitive and aggressive. Not sure who she gets that from, certainly not her parents. The best part was when she came running off the field and said, "That was the best day ever mom. Even better than my birthday and Christmas." I guess I am off the hook next birthday and Christmas, I'll just make sure she plays soccer year round.


The first game was a huge success and they even won. Piper even took one for the team. She and a little boy were trying to score and bonked heads. She managed to get a little bit of a black eye but it hasn't stopped her at all, she LOVES it!

Well things are back to normal in this house. Micah is feeling better and is making up for not eating for ten days. His new favorites - Costa Vida and Cafe Rio. He eats more than Piper and Thayne put together. I am glad to see him eating. He has even started talking more. He says ball, catch, hand, up, down, etc.. Now I am sure some of you are thinking big deal, he's two, but it is a big deal to us. I never thought he'd talk. He even made it through nursery today. Maybe he is growing up. Just in time for ?

Week in review

What a crazy few weeks we have had. The biggest event of each day is keeping Micah from breaking out in a fever, cleaning up his throw up or changing his messy diapers. After two weeks of me saying something is wrong with this child beyond his normal crankiness, we found out he has phenomena. The poor kid and I don't say that often about Micah. He is losing weight and miserable. You'd think I'd be glad for modern day medicine but what I am learning is it is hard to get good help when your child is sick. I hope he will start getting better for all of our sanity, including his.

Wednesday after a two hour insta care visit, I went to Piper's spring performance. In true Hilarie fashion, I never plugged the video camera in and the camera battery was dead. It was the dang cutest performance and I have nothing to show for it. There is something about a group of enthusiastic 5 years singing that makes you smile. Her class sang songs like, Octopus's Garden by the Beatles and one voice is a solo, two a duet. Not only was it fun watching Piper, I equally enjoyed sitting by Thayner and watching his little body that can't hold still. It is fun to see him coming out of his shell.

The remodeling is coming along. Piper's room is almost done. She chose green and it is definitely green. But with her cute hot pink bedding, kitchen and new dresser from Jon and Ashley, it is turning out darling. If I ever get my battery charged, maybe I'll post some pictures. Thank goodness for Mimi because she keeps showing up with little additions to add to her room. We start the kitchen in a couple of weeks and the rest of the basement is coming along well. I am praying we are done for when the baby comes.

So update on baby girl. She is active and moving and I am trying to get Micah use to the idea of a baby. We are still debating names. I can't keep up with Piper, one day she loves a name the next day she can't stand it and if I like it, then it definitely is no good. Good thing it is my baby. I tell her when she has her baby, she can name it whatever she pleases. Thank heavens for opinionated children. Any suggestions?

Well I guess that is it maybe next week will bring more excitement!