Fun Monday

Well, we have been having fun so far this summer. I should say that Karen and the kids have been having fun. Because of my work schedule, I haven't been included in many of the fun things until yesterday. For our Sunday/Monday/Tuesday family activity (our church was cancelled because of the swine flu so have split our Family Home Evening up over the last few days) we decided to go bowling. Let's take a picture chronicle of the days events.


Karen starts us out in a cute little green polo, capris, socks and very fashionable shoes. She looks so adorable. Cory took this picture and Karen will hate that I put it up, but that is OK. Afterall, making up is so much fun.

Next we check in with Cory and Hailey in their bowling adventures. Cory bowled his first strike and Hailey bowled a couple of spares. They both did really well.

Cory and Hailey were having so much fun they started dancing/singing to the music. (well Hailey did at least)

Sophie was really good. She looks so cute in her car seat sitting and watching all of the action.

We had so much fun we forgot all about changing Hailey's wet diaper. Check out the huge bulging diaper in this shot.

After bowling we decided that we were hungry (it was 6:00 after all) so we made the sacrifice to go to Texas Roadhouse Grill. While we were there, I was such a proud dad. Cory looked over the kids menu and decided to order the kids steak and proceeded to eat the entire portion. Sophie also decided to get in on the steak action and tried some of my sirloin. (we just skipped the cereal and baby food stage and went straight to adult food)

We had to hurry out of the restaurant and made it to the park just in time for Cory's baseball game. He did really well. I think the favorite part for the kids is trying to tag the runners as they come into home plate.

That ended our exciting day. It was alot of fun to spend time as a family. For one last bit of information, Hailey had her first official haircut today. She sat so still and was really good the whole time. Karen cut 2 inches off of the back to even up the length of all the hair. Hailey looks really cute (well, I guess she always looks adorable no matter what.) I love how her blond hair blends in with the wall.

Sophie's Pictures

We went to get Sophie's pictures taken at Target this week. It was like pulling teeth to get her to smile. Just like how Cory was! The weird thing is, she smiles so easily for us here at home when we're right up close to her face. But when you take pictures you have to be back a ways, so she just wasn't smiling! We still managed to get a couple cute ones.

This was her general expression and where she was looking for the majority of the pictures.


We finally got her to look up! (Yes, mom, I made the bow.)

This one cracked us up so much--her pose, her expression, it's just too good. It would've been SO cute if she would've smiled! She is a very big 3 month old!

She was smiling at daddy for this one.

This is the one I chose to blow up and put in her room.

Sophie's been crying SO much lately, so we took her to the doctor on Friday and asked about acid reflux. She spits up WAY more than my other 2 ever did, and she cries for hours after I feed her. We have to hold her any time she's awake, or she's crying. So either, she's sleeping, she's crying, or I'm holding her--there is absolutely nothing in between!! We got her on Prevacid and we're going to see if that helps her crying and her massive amounts of spit-up.

Our Frustrations

So we have really been trying to be patient and endure our trials but I think that yesterday was the straw that broke the camels back. We have been "surviving" our situation the best that we can. Anyway, last week I got a call from a recruiter that was trying to place a position with a pharmaceutical company. Well I go and find out more information, pray about my decision and decide I need to pursue the opportunity. On Monday I went to the company for a formal interview. The interview went really well. I felt really good about the company and the potential to grow. Anyway, yesterday I got a call from the recruiter and she said the she had heard back from the company. She said that the company said "I did really well in the interview, however; the company announced a hiring freeze today and although they want to pursue the situation more, they were not going to be able to make an offer at this time." AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I was really disappointed. I can handle not getting a job because it is the wrong fit or I didn't interview well or some other reason. I am struggling with the fact that I didn't get the job because of a hiring freeze, especially the day after I was interviewed. Why would they even bring me in? They had to know this was coming. I guess it is a business thing where the right hand just has no clue of the left hand. How frustrating.

On a more troubling issue, we are starting to feel that are misunderstanding/misinterpreting the answers to our prayers. It seems as though our answers never work out. For example (besides the one above), when I was called to be EQ Pres, I was given a few names to choose from for counselors. As I prayed I received an answer to who to call. Anyway, to make a long story short, one counselor moved out a month after being called, and the other just got activated and will be deployed sometime soon. So after being a presidency for 2 months, I am alone again. We have decided that we will do the opposite of my feelings. :-)

On a serious note, we haven't lost faith. We know that we don't see the entire picture. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we have to be patient. In other words don't worry about us. It has just been frustrating. Also, you might want to avoid asking us to pray for you. Apparently everything works out exactly opposite of what we pray for right now. We will let you know when we can be used again. HaHa

How Do All You Amazing Moms Do It?

Okay, this is just going to be a journal entry--no pictures. (Not normal for me.) First of all, I just spent the last half an hour looking at most of your blogs, and I just have to say, you are all amazing women! It seems like half of you are selling your own creations, and the other half are just busy doing creative, fun things with your kids all the time. I am so overwhelmed with the physical aspects of caring for children right now, I haven't read a new book in months (for those of you that know what an AVID reader I used to be, that is a very big deal!), I have to plan WAY ahead just to be able to go running only 3 times a week for 25 minutes, and I have to stay up until midnight just to fold my laundry and clean my kitchen. Maybe it's because I have 3 kids now, and that is so much more time-consuming than two--esepcially since Hailey is in that needy 2-year-old stage (she is still really hard for us to understand and she's not talking NEARLY what she should be at this age), and of course, I have a 2 month old that is still pretty fussy from 6pm-11pm or later. Trent's work schedule is killing me because he's gone from noon until past midnight. That means for Sophie's most fussy time, I am home alone trying to make dinner, feed children, clean and straighten the house, bathe children, read them stories, put them to bed, all while trying to nurse and carry around a fussy infant! In Sophie's defense, after she is fussy all night, she sleeps for 7-9 hours at night without waking up at all! She's been doing that since she was a month old, so I know I am very blessed in that area. I think if she wasn't doing that, I would be on meds by now. At least I'm getting my sleep at night! I used to spend my spare time at night doing digital scrapbooking, making hair bows, and reading my latest book. Not anymore!! I can't remember the last time I did any of those things! But I know this time is short-lived, and soon, Sophie will be going to bed at the same time as my other kids, and maybe, just maybe I'll have an hour or two to myself at night that doesn't involve scrubbing poop out of clothes or cleaning my bathroom.

You are all such great examples to me because most of you have at least 3 kids, but a lot of you have 4 or more! Seriously, how do you not go insane?!?!?

The reason I even had time to check my blog tonight is because Sophie miraculously fell asleep by 10:00 and now it's 11:45. So off, to bed I must go. Goodnight, to you amazing women.

Hailey's Antics and Sophie Smiling

This is Sophie's adorable smile. She started smiling at 5 1/2 weeks, and she smiles so much now--it's pretty easy to get a good one out of her.

This is very typical--especially this week since Trent's been sick. Sophie LOVES to sleep in this crook in Trent's arm. A little too much.

Sophie is so strong. She was holding up her head like this at 4 weeks.

My two cute girls last Sunday for church.

This is Hailey "modeling" her several articles of clothing I got her last week. She had to come home and immediately put EVERYTHING on and show daddy.

Sophie at 10 Days Old

Well, now Sophie is officially 1 month old. I can't believe how the time has flown! Life can be tricky with 3 kids, but it's not that bad! In fact, I am really loving it! Sophie is so fun to have around. She still wakes up for an hour or so in the middle of the night and just wants to be held (cries if we even think about putting her down), but I know that will get better. I'm a little more tired these days (or some days, I feel drugged because I got 5 broken-up hours of sleep), but life is good. So these pictures were taken on Feb. 18, when Sophie was just 10 days old. Trent's sister, Stacey, who lives nearby, came over to our house and took them. Thanks again, Stacey!

This is one of my favorites.

She was yawning in this one:

She seemed very alert during all the pictures and did very well!

This is my other favorite.

Baby Photos

Here are some photos I promised. I hope you enjoy them.

This is how bruised Sophie was after she was born. She is so much better today.

The proof is in the scale. I still can't believe how big she is.