Happy birthday to me!

Ok, so today is my birthday! I was greeted by Ashton at 530 this morning for his 1st breakfast, quickly followed 15 mins after her was done by projectile vomiting all over me. Then, I rolled him over, cleaned myself, him and the bed up, and went into the bathroom to get ready for my morning run. And then I hear Ashton projectile vomit. When I peek out the bathroom door onto the bed, I see Brandon, covered in vomit. Thus concluding Ashton's birthday gift to me.

Then Kaden was being such a good little boy and playing nicely with his sister, cleaning up his toys, and then he gave me my present... in his underwear.

Then, my visiting teacher was nice enough to bring a beautifully decorated birthday cake just for me.




Then, I went upstairs to lay Ashton down for a nap, and came down to this:

















And now, the cake looks like this...
















I got pictures before I cleaned him up this time... and I have had to get him out of it twicw since. UGH! BOYS!!!!!!!!

My Boggernacle

I got on facebook this morning, which seems to be ritual for me, and I found an article posted by a friends mother that gave the goods and the bads of mormons and our so called bloggernacle. I found it to be very interesting because it gave such a fair view of how mormons view themselves and want others to view them, and how others really view them and think we are all crazy for some of the choices in life we tend to make as a culture. At first, I found myself getting offended at how she said we seemed to be too happy as a culture and the state of Utah has the highs rates, statistically, of depression and prescribed anti-depressants. But, as a horrible blogger, I have to admit that the things I post of my friends walls, the stories I relay to others, and the things I hope that I and my family can do one day, I am doing the same thing, just in a different way.

As I sit here on my bed, kids watching Disney, a stay at home mother who likes to cook, bake, is guilty of scrap booking my children'e early lives, and who wants to learn how to sew, I can't help but want the things that my mormon culture encourages and excel at. Although the world may think that it isn't possible for me to be happy as a stay at home mother, because apparently you just can't be happy unless you have at least 2 degree's and an incredibly demanding career while your kids sit in daycare, I am here to say that you can. I am not sugar coating anything by any means. Motherhood is hard, no questions asked. Why do you think men go to work all day? Sitting in a desk and solving other peoples problems is much less demanding that cleaning up pee off the floor, cooking 2-3 meals a day, constantly cleaning the home, and managing everything else life throws at you as a woman. The mormon house wife is pressured from all angles; be fit and skinny so you look like you have the picture perfect life, your house has to be spotless, you have to constantly be smiling, etc.

Anyone that has ever been inside my house knows that I fail at most of those. My house is hardly ever clean, my laundry is always scattered, I rarely brush my kids hair unless we are actually going out into public, I never wear makeup, and my hair is lucky if it gets brushed on a daily basis. Even though I don't have a picture perfect life, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I think one of the main things that is overlooked about the old fashion "stay-at-home" mom that everyone tries to pull off in our culture is that when our grandmothers and their mothers and their mothers and so on had children at home, they weren't expected to have a clean house. My mom has always told me, keep your kids clean and happy, and then worry about your family. Now, my mom isn't saying that I should never clean my house because that is an important lesson to teach my children, but that you shouldn't kill yourself just because your house gets messy. It's ok to leave the mess every now and then.

I guess I like that other people notice how happy ones life can be, especially since it is drawing attention to our religion. I am also flattered that the world thinks my kids look like baby gap models.. In my personal opinion, which I can share all I want since this is my blog, is that the reason we as mormon women share all of our talents and accomplishments on our blogs is because we are proud of it! Everyone today seems to be looking for that one thing that makes them different, and to the world, this makes up different. Being the first to do something is always exciting and self gratifying.

As for me and my life, my children are my accomplishments. I have done the whole 'try to have a career outside of the home' thing, I have gone to school more than full time, and now I have spent time at home with my kids as a completely full time house mother/wife, and out of all of those, I prefer to be here with my kids, hands down. Being able to spend every growing moment with Ashton as a baby makes me sad that I may have missed some of the things that he does with my other kids, because I don't remember seeing the older 2 do it. When people look at women like me, 3 kids and at home all the time, they think I am crazy for even thinking of having one more. Well, if someone out there in the workforce could advance their career with one moere accomplishment or one more responsibility to make them better at what they do, don't you think they would do it? I know I would and since my children are my career, why do I get so much grief for having 3 kids and wanting another?

My kids are cute, they say cute things, they look cute in pictures, we like to go do fun things and take pictures of it, and I have talents I am not afraid to share with the world but this seems to make the world skeptical that you can be a stay at home mom and have it all. Depending on what your view of "it all" is depends on if you really have it all or not. I have everything I have ever wanted as a wife and mother (except for a million dollars, haha), so I would like to tell everyone out who thinks a mother can't have it all if she doesn't work outside of the home, you can!

My life is perfect just the way it is; my relationship with my husband is good, I have a very healthy marriage, my 3 kids are rambunctious, messy and yet I still want another one, and my house is a mess. Any questions?

Heelllloooo Hot Mamma!

January has been a frustrating month for me! We started potty training Kaden on Christmas day (more so because he wanted to rather than us wanting him to-I wasn't going to start until my last post-op appointment which was the 17th of this month) if that tells you anything about my past month. However frustrating it has been, Kaden has his moments that make it all worth it. For instances, I brushed Taryn's hair and put a head band in it to keep the hair out of her face and this is what I found Kaden wearing:






He was very upset when I tried to take the bumbo-bee ears off of him, and when I tried to get him dressed. I ended up giving up and just let him run around in his underwear, which is how most days end anyways.




If you know Taryn, you know that she is obsessed with collecting small things. She is constantly taking whatever she can find (mostly that she knows she shouldn't have) and hiding them to play with them later. Within this group are hair pretties. She is obsessed with them but will hardly ever let me do her hair. What was the point in letting me have such a cute little girl if I can't dress her up and do her hair?? This is how I found her napping one day earlier this month:











My sweet little baby, Ashton, is growing up way too fast. He started out on the fussy side, but is an amazingly good baby now. He goes to sleep at 730pm with the kids (he is always asleep way before the other two) and sleeps until about 5 or 530am. He generally goes right back to sleep until about 9 or 930am and then sleeps all afternoon. He is extremely smiley and loves to be talked to. He giggles when I tickle him and smiles every chance he gets at me and Taryn. We blessed him in church on Sunday, January 2, 2011, and this is the outfit we blessed him in. My mom sent it to him for Christmas and he is so CUTE in it!










Sorry... I don't know why these are flipped... they aren't in our computer and I don't know how to fix them.

Oh, and the reason the post is named, Heelllllooooo Hot Mamma! is because when we were out running around today, Kaden looked at me and shouts, "Helllloooooo Hot Mamma!" Then Taryn turns around and laughs at him and shouts, "Hellllooooo Hot Daddy!" Then they busted out laughing. They are so funny!

Hess-to-date

Well, I decided that I should blog for the first time this year, but hopefully this year I remember to do it more often! Only time will tell :)

2010 was a busy year for our Family. We had lots of hard times, but ten times as many good times. Brandon got a new job in November, a few days later we welcomed Ashton into our family, we got to go visit our families in Texas twice over the summer, we celebrated our 5th anniversary, and we were able to see the Walker family (Amanda's sister and her family) for the first time in almost 4 years!

Taryn turns 4 in March and is very excited. Even though it is still ov

er 2 m

onths away, she can't stop talking about the cake she wants, the presents she knows she sh

ould get, and the people who should come to her party. She loves doing school with mommy and is a very smart little girl. She is starting to read small words and loves to spell out the words she see's. She knows all of her letters and the sounds they make and she will tell you the instant she see's them! She is currently working on her articles of faith and has 3 memorized and is almost done with the fourth! She loves getting candy from the Bishop and putting a sticker on the primary chart. She is now a sunbeam an

d is constantly reminding us. She feels like such a big girl! She enjoys watching movies and bossing everyone around. She is mommy's big helper and is very helpful with Ashton and cleaning around the house. She is getting too big, too fast!

Kaden turned 2 last month and is talking better and better everyday. He is cu

te and he knows it. He will stick out his bottom lip to get the things that he wants. If anyone has ever had a sweet tooth, it's Kaden. He will do just about anything for a treat with sugar, no matter what it is! He is currently potty training and is doing relatively well. We have an accident a day, but each day gets a little better. It's been two weeks now and he loves being our "big guy!" And he certainly is our big buy! At his 2 year appointment, he weighed in at just under 31 pounds and talked to pediatricians ear off! (His head is finally starting to go down in percentiles on the growth chart... we couldn't be more proud haha) Kaden loves to sing, dance, and watch movies, and lets not forget his favorite activity, teasing Taryn, which proves he is his father's child (just ask his brothers and sisters).

Ashton Thomas graced us with his presence at 3pm on November 4, weighing in at 7 pounds 2 oz. Even though he was a small baby for being born in the 40 week of gestation, he is the complete opposite now! He is now 12 lb 13 oz, most of that weight being in his cheeks :) We decided not to tell anyone that we were being induced since they weren't sure I would get in that day(then I would have had to wait until the 8th), and when that happened with Kaden, I cried for days. So, to reduce the emotional stress of having to call everyone and explain what happened (like the last time), we decided to wait and let it be a surprise for everyone. The induction went well at first, but then things started moving fast and we had a few complications, but in the end, we found out we were adding another boy into our family(we never found out the gender), who came out healthy. He did end up going to the NICU for a few hours, but didn't have to go back after that. Now, he is a very happy baby and loves his mommy. He is sleep very well, about 7pm-5am, which gets a touch better every night. Last night, he slept until 6:15am; let's hope that happens again tonight. He is awake more and more every day and is constantly cooing and smiling. He loves it when we sing to him! He rolls from tummy to back very well and almost got to his tummy from his back yesterday, but I had to pick him up before he could finish trying. He is very strong and can hold his head up for a long time as well as push himself up with straight arms and hold it for a few minutes at a time.

Brandon started a new job a few days before Ashton was born and he really likes it. He was disappointed to switch to part time work of financial planning, but he doesn't regret it. He loved watching college football again and especially loved seeing BYU win their bowl game. He found out that he really enjoy's golfing so he now has a new hobby. He is always looking for friends to play COD (those of you who play it know what it is) and ping-pong.

I just finished at UVU with my associates in communications and I am glad to be done for a little while. School with 2 kids was hard, but school with 3 was nearly impossible! I figure that when the kids are all in school, I will go back and finish my bachelors. I had my gall bladder removed about 3 weeks after I had Ashton, which was quickly followed by finals, then Christmas. I am trying to learn more talents every day, the current one being sewing. The only problem is I don't have a sewing machine, but that will quickly be solved thanks to my amazing sister, Ammie :) I am hoping to go out to Ammie's house at the end of February for the birth of her 5th child and/or to help where needed. My goals this year is to get back down to my prepregnancy weight and then lose 7-10 more pounds or more. I should be cleared to start exercising next week after my final post op appointment, unless they think I should wait longer. I am very excited to get back to exercising and have my body and energy back!

All in all, we are all doing very well and we are very happy! We love to go out as a family and doing things that the kids enjoy. We have an awesome neighbor that babysits for us, giving me the much needed breaks that I need. If anyone in our area needs a good babysitter, I will give you her number :)