The Ingram Family

2011-10-23T22:00:00.010-04:00

Its my computer's fault!!!!!

2011-06-12T11:52:00.004-04:00

So I am obviously sooo very behind on my blogging. I could blame it on my computer, which... no offense computer, but it is mostly your fault!!! But, there is no reason why I cant get on here and blog about all of the good/ the bad/ and the ugly... but mostly wonderful things that are happening around here lately. I wanted to post a lot of pictures of my kids and adventures but my computer says it is "full". Full of what? Of pictures. I have been trying to work on some family memory books but I started 3 books at once and now it is grumpy and wont let me open my blurb program to work on the books and i cant upload any more pictures onto my computer because it keeps saying that it is full. Grrrr. We have tried everything we know how to do, so now... I have just been sitting, waiting. (well laying, waiting).

That seems to be the theme as of late. Lay and wait. Yuck. I know, I know, I need to lay down for baby and take it easy, I am mostly ok with that part. But I have also been "laying and waiting" on other things that I dont need to be. It seems to me that I have been pretty lazy in other areas in my life and letting, actually forcing, time to go by. I need to stop that!!!! hahahahaha. I will probably look back on this last bed-rested-ness and think, "Dang it, why didn't I do that when I was just laying around all day?". Especially when this little one is out and i will be running around again with my little crew and wondering how in the world I am supposed to get everything done!?!!

We always want what we cant have. haha.

So I am wondering?? What should I do right now, to prepare me for what is coming.... in like 5-7 weeks? Yikes?! I feel like I have been blindly counting down the days to "get this part over with", but I have not been "preparing myself" for what is actually coming!!!!

I am not talking about the physically demanding part of being ready. Heaven knows I wont be ready for that after the atrophy of what is now my body. You know, the kind of preparing that it takes to emotionally/spirtitually/mentally handle jumping back in there again. I will go from listening to the clock tick ever so slowly to running full speed with my 4 kids and I really, really REALLY want to be enjoying it!

I want to soak in those little moments that I feel like I have been missing out on! But if I am not careful, I am just going to be a stressed out, yelling "monster mommy" who isn't taking the time to just love and enjoy that newborn baby smell, or the sweet little faces those newborns make when they are sleeping, or taking hundreds of pictures of my big kids loving the new one that we have all worked so hard to get here.

Thankfully after about a month I will have running on my side again... well... haha, walk/jog/panting is more like what it will be..... but still, the whole moving around and getting endorphins from that will help.

Anybody and anyone: Give me specifics! If you had one month to really prepare yourself for the RE-ONSET of motherhood... what would you do???? I have an amazing opportunity here. It is the calm before the storm, I know it is going to be crazy! What books should I try to read? What should I try to organize (bad question, haha, everything!!!) What should I "do" with my big, little ones to help them be prepared and excited for her to get here?

Any tips you have will be great. As moms I know we all have in the back of our minds a list of "If i only had a little more time I would _______________ to help me be a better mom!" Granted I need to do most of it from my couch but still......... I want those lists! :)

Sweet Tender Mercies.

2011-04-10T11:58:00.006-04:00

So its Sunday again and here I am...... At home while my sweet husband has taken those sweet kids to church again. He is amazing!!!! When they all pile into the car to go to church and in one second, chaos has turned to absolute silence..... ..that is when I hit bottom. This wave of depression hits me and guilt instantly takes over. Why am I here?? Why am I not at church?? Why is my husband having to pull soooo much more than his fair share? Why do my kids have to make their own breakfast? Get themselves ready and help their little brother too? Then, I am the one crying.....instead of my kids, or for heaven's sakes..... Greg. That man is a rock. I cry because I think... Steph, get a hold of yourself... lots of people go to church when they are sick. Just suck it up and get ready and go! Pick yourself off of the floor (literally) and do something good with yourself! But then a sweet peace comes. A peace that can only come from a loving Heavenly Father, who, .... knows just how I am feeling. And helps me to know that for now, I am doing all that I can do. He helps me to humorously remember all I did do this morning to just help a little bit and how much I had to lay down to avoid any hittings of my head. haha. And, that bringing this sweet baby here, is the best thing that I can be doing. Wow. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude. I truly learned, and re-learned something today. I was reminded of a scripture I have always loved but was able to really appreciate today! Its in Matthew 11:30 v. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. and in Mosiah 24: 14 in the Book of Mormon: V. 14: And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. I am so blessed, I get to have another baby, I am already blessed with 3 other amazing ones! I have a husband who is strong, has this amazing sense of humor and who has always seen the bright side of things. The only burden in any part of this for me is that I have to watch the people I love most make sacrifices I don't want them to have to make for ME. And the guilt that comes with that. But as promised, He makes our "burdens" feel light. So here I am feeling guilty, for not doing more and His spirit comes, to bring me more comfort and peace, to make this "burden" seem... light. If I do my part, He will help me to know, just how much I SHOULD "DO" so that I have an equal balance of keeping baby and me healthy, and "doing" enough so that I know I am "doing" my best! And in the process, making this "burden" light. Being a mother, and becoming a mother, truly will help me become a better person if I let it teach me what I am supposed to learn!! This, assuredly, being one of them. Sweet Tender Mercies. They just seem to keep pouring in!

Its a girl!!! :)

2011-03-16T17:55:00.002-04:00

We found out on Friday, March 11th; that we are having another little girl. So our last little one will be a girl! Names.... that will be somewhat of a struggle but we are so excited. Of course Grant said that he would have preferred to wrestle with a little brother in the future but that he could wrestle a little sister just as well and teach her all his tricks.

After we were able to "see" our little one we were thinking about how long we have known about her. When I was 20weeks pregnant with Grant and hooked up to IVs in the hospital we talked about him being the last baby but we immediately felt like there was one more. She is suppose to come to our little family and she is suppose to come now. Amazing! We can't wait to meet this special little girl.

And the escaped convict got caught!

2011-03-16T08:09:00.002-04:00

So, I am supposed to be laying low for a couple of days because of the incident on Sunday....hahaha. I had fully intended on doing just that! Promise! Monday: Totally layed low.... layed on the couch... on my right side of course because the left hurt too bad. Grant kept "trying" to sit on my head though, hahaha, its like he knew that would be bad. hahaha. I was a good girl, went and picked up the girls from school and then rested some more.

On Tuesday, the day started out much of the same, only little buddy did not want me to just lay down, he was all done with that mommy. So we played with the things he loves, did some laundry, which felt like quite the hike to the basement and back and then layed down when I could sneakily do so.

Grants balls are in a polka-dot basket in our family room, he loves to dump them out and then throw the basket. Which he did this time, only my head was in the way. Ouch, I tried not to cry so it was one of those laugh/cry combos, little buddy was still throwing his balls and having a blast.

I was talking on the phone to my sister a little bit later and I felt my wound and then looked at my hand and there was new blood. dang it! It hurt, but it wasn't excruciating and I talked to Greg and he said that I probably didnt lose any of my prized staples but he said that he would need to look at it when he got home. I then proceeded to take a shower, which I was petrified to do!!! But it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would and I felt better when I got out.

It was time to go and get the girls from school and while I was in the car lane I very carefully brushed my hair, that did hurt! My original plan was for all of us to go to the basement when we got home and play and clean up the craziness in our play room, Grant loves it down there! But, when the girls got in the car they were so excited that it was "Fun Day Tuesday"! They get out an hour earlier on tuesdays and they dont have any scheduled activities on tuesdays until later so its perfect to go to the library, the park when its warm, or McDs when its cold and mommy just sits while everyone runs like crazy. I thought, sure, why not!!?? All I will do is sit and the girls will chase Grant around and it will be perfect. I can "lay low" at the McDonalds playground!! Right?

As I was laying on the ground and coming to......I woke up to my sweet little buddy giving me a hundred kisses all over my face. Seriously he would not stop. He must have been worried. I heard the girls saying, "She is ok, she is just per-eg-an-ant!!" Then I heard a sweet lady say, "Sweetheart, the ambulance is on its way!" Oh no!! And the McDonalds manager say,"Here is some orange juice and cookies, they always make me feel better when my blood sugar is low." Wow!!!!! So nice! But so, so embarrassing! But in my best slurred-after-passing-out-speech I explained to them that I have low blood pressure and that this happens everyday.......only just ...... not at mcdonalds!

When the EMTs got there, they checked my blood pressure, which was through the roof because I was so stressed. They asked me a ton of questions and gave me a pillow to lay on, which was nice because can you imagine what your face is smushing against on the floor at the McDs playland? They were really really nice and he kept telling me that I needed to lay on my left side but I kept trying to say that I had 8 staples in my head from a fainting episode on sunday. That went over well. I declined a ride on their stretcher and their ambulance but they were not leaving until someone could drive me home. Dang it!! I was caught, I had to call Greg.

Greg arrived like a night in shining armor! You know when you are little and you get sick at school and your mom comes to pick you up and you finally feel like you can cry. Thats just what I did. :( The kids were so excited to see him too. Halle kept on running up to me and saying, Can I run out to the road and wait for Daddy. Um no Halle. Seriously, it felt like I was an escaped convict who was trying to make a run for it and got caught!!!!

So.... apparently I am on official house arrest. Greg called and explained to the needed people that I would not be at all the things I was supposed to do this week. Activity Days tonight, Pinewood Derby tomorrow night... etc. I dont blame him, he cant leave work whenever I have an episode outside of the house!

So, here I am, in very familiar but unwelcomed territory. It makes me sad. I am trying to not get too claustrophobic and am reminding myself that this doesn't have to be for the next few months if I can just behave and lay down when I need to!!! Yes,lay down even when I am at McDonalds (even though I really dont see myself going back there) when the floor is gross and I decide that I will just make a run for it instead... dang it, that trick never works!!!!!

A very, very expensive haircut!

2011-03-15T21:56:00.004-04:00

Sunday, March 13th, hahahahahahahaha.

Steph's Version of the story:
Church starts at 10:00am
7am: Grant awakens, he is mucho hungry and needs his oatmeal 15 minutes ago... seriously where is the food? and oops, I slept in, nice, my phone alarm was on vibrate!!. Because intead of being 7, its 8, yup, we are "springing forward!" Baiby is still in pajamas with oatmeal still smashed on said pajamas.
8:30 wake up girls and get them downstairs to eat and then start on their hair and get church bags ready.
9:00 hop in the shower and start on my own hair...thank fully, hair is behaving, gotta love good hair days.... beginning to feel a little.... sickish. Which is completly normal by the way!
9:30 lay down for a sec, dont want to pass out like I do every sunday morning!!! check on Greg who is sick with a yucky fever and cough and sore throat in bed.. poor guy, i get to take care of him for a change!
9:45 yikes, 15 min till church starts..... baby, still has smashed oatmeal pajamas on and now has the addition of a poopy diaper, dang it. Still feeling a little sick...ish. I am good though, gotta get some pictures for sharing time for primary today, just real quick of course.I will just stand in the kitchen next to my dishwasher and the fridge and lots of kitchen cabinets and other hard objects because that is always a good idea when I am feeling... sick...ish. Maybe I should lay down.... hmm..
9:50 Yuck, I think... I will ....go and lay...................................................................................

dang it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tay and Halle's version:
8:45am: Our hair is so pretty! Mommy curled it! so cute! Lets go do hand stands in the family room and jump on the couches! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you think mommy will notice if we turn on the t.v.?
9:30am: So i think i will bring my bouncing, singing bunny to church, and some stickers, and crayons, all the crayons we own in fact, and some pop tarts, and..... hmm.... its not fitting in my church bag.
9:50: "We were jumping on the couch and then we heard the loudest bang ever!!! We knew it was mommy because she is so big and loud when she faints!"
9:51: We run upstairs to go and get daddy and get mommy a trash can because she is throwing up. gross. She is bleeding and cracked her head open!!!!
9:56 Mommy is crying like a little girl, like this, "wah,wah, wah", then Daddy says that stinky Grant and us can watch veggie tales!!! yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fun times huh!
Sorry for the very long background story! I totally fainted (which is normal) and threw up (normal again) but hit my head on something very hard (which is a given when you are standing right next to hard things but thankfully has never happened like this before), and actually cut my head open. I feel really bad for Greg who had to come down and find me with a little pool of blood and still passed out. Not fun. After assessing the damage he decided that we better head to the emergency room to be safe.
When I woke up this time i could tell that I had been out for a little longer than normal because Greg was already there... and there was a bloody pillow under my head and the throw up had been cleaned up already. Gory details. gross, so sorry!
We decided that we better head to church first and see if we could drop off the kids to primary, along with my sharing time lesson. (hahaha) On the way there, Tay said, "Mommy, I did not know that grown ups cried when they got hurt."

Did you know, that if you walk into the ER in your "sunday best" with a big pregnant belly and blood on your, "sunday best" and a bloody rag on your head... that you do not have to wait your turn and that you will get in to see the dr. super fast!!! :) good things to know!

After some needles in the head to numb the pain, they "sprayed" some of the blood out and then gave me a nice little trim around the cut, the hair there is about a 1/4 long... or so Greg tells me. I probably just recieved the most expensive hair cut I have ever had... I probably wont be going back to that hairstylist again!! (hopefully not anyway). Then the Dr. gave me 8 staples in my head, he said the cut was pretty deep and was about 2" long. wow.

I cannot end this post without first thanking my Heavenly Father for some tender mercies in all seriousness!!!

*It is amazing to me that this is my 4th pregnancy and that this is the first time I have ever had a major head trauma after ..... I dont know, hundreds of times that I have passed out!
*This happened on a sunday morning, when the girls were around and I wasn't alone with just Grant!
*Greg was home when this happened! He was supposed to be at his early morning church meetings, instead he was here!
*I felt so much peace and love from my Heavenly Father before we left for the hospital and knew that baby and I were going to be fine.
*I was feeling a lot of swelling and pressure on the left side of my head and then I recieved a blessing (a special prayer) from Greg before we left for the hospital... that pressure feeling went away. When we were at the hospital the Dr. said that if I was having any swelling problems that it would mean that I had internal bleeding but that since I didn't that I was ok! Definitly not just a coincidence!!!!!!

I am supposed to lay low for a couple of days and rest... so I will do my best at that. My hemaglobin was 10.9 and I guess its suppose to be more around 12 so i need to find a way to increase my iron. I will do my best at that too.

Long winded again. haha. Oh, and the dark hair, totally came in handy because i couldn't wash my hair for a couple of days and you couldn't even see the dried blood all over. hahaha. another blessing. :)
PS. Halle also said that, "this is the best most funnest sunday ever!! We got to watch movies all day!!!"

February Picture Updates

2011-03-15T21:31:00.003-04:00

Feb 21st: Halle and I having some "mommy-time" up on her bunk bed... and yes... we laughed really hard at mommy climbing up onto the bunk bed. hahahahaha.

Feb 17/18th: This picture was taken at the Louisville, KY Temple. We were supposed to go here on his birthday weekend but he was so sick with strep throat so his Mom so graciously offered to watch the kids the following weekend, which was the 17th/18th instead and we were able to drop the kids off for the night and we got a hotel and then went to the temple on sat morning. I made it through the whole session which is a first for me in a pregnancy!! :) It was sooo good to have some time together! Thanks so much Debbie and Bill for watching the crazies!

Feb 18th:I was able to go on a field trip with Tay's class to the musuem and got some cute pics of her with her friends! This is Tay with her "BFFL", Kim. They have a secret handshake and everything! :)

Oh, spring, please come soon, these "teaser" days we have been having are sooo very welcomed! Everyone is in a better mood when we get outside to play. AKA, not as much fighting.

The following pics wer taken outside on a somewhat warmish feb day, just some fun that was much needed. And yes, this is the "what use to be black hair but then chilled out to a brown after a few washes" hair. hahahahaha.

I do know that the following picture is rediculous and silly and that I do not in fact look like Zoolander but look at that babies hair! I couldn't resist posting it. hahahaha.

Valentines Day

2011-03-15T21:22:00.002-04:00

We had so much fun celebrating this fun day. I felt great so Grant and I dropped off some treats for the girls at school and then when everyone got home we had "heart shaped" turkey burgers and played a few games, (V-Day Bingo and a conversation heart candy game) really simple but so fun.

Eww, does not look appatizing at all, but they all loved it. :)

My Valentines. So very awesome.

Seriously!? So cute! And we get another Ingram!!!!! 4 kids, so insanly crazy and busy but I am sure..... it will be so awesome!

Grant is getting so big and so silly

2011-03-15T21:10:00.002-04:00

This little guy is so fun and so busy! He LOVES to play with his blocks and balls!!

I do have to say that I am quite impressed with the little towers that he puts together. :)

Ok, this is the perfect example of the little faces that he has been making when i pull out the camera. hahahaha. So hilarious! I wonder if he thinks that is what we look like when we "smile" for the camera. :)

He was "hiding" on the stairs but staring right at me through the railing. :)

Happy Birthday My Love! Feb 11th

2011-03-15T20:22:00.004-04:00

Greg came down with strep throat on his actual birthday which was quite sad because we had some fun surprise plans but we just postponed them for the next weekend and had a "fun" weekend at home instead. The following pictures are out of order but here is what we did to celebrate. :)
Fri, Feb 11th- picked up some antibiotics for Dr. Ingram that he reluctlantly decided he might need. haha. Then we watched Dispicable Me (love that movie!!) and had pizza and he opened some presents.
Sun, Feb 13th- we made him his favorite dinner which is homemade lazagna and we made a yummy cake for him. This cake has lots of names and the girls were asking us what it was called and we started out saying that it was called,"Better than Kissing Cake" and that didn't stick too well with them and so we kept on trying new names for it. Here is how the conversation went,
Tay: So, why is it called better than kisses cake?
Greg: Well, because some people think that this cake is better than getting kisses from someone you love.... (Greg and I sat snickering to ourselves of course).
Tay: hmm, lets think of another name.
Greg: How about NICMO cake. hahahaha. heeeheehee. (We thought that was funny.)
Tay: What is Nicmo?
Greg: ???? um. Non Commital cake. (more laughs from greg and I)
Tay: yeah! i like that! I am going to tell my teacher we had non-commitititiall cake. (no more laughing from greg and i!)
Me: How about another name
Halle: How about the "Kiss Me Cake"
We all decided that that was the very best name and the term non commital has been dropped from anyones vocabulary. hahaha. ??

They sure do love their Daddy!! Even when he is sick he lets them climb all over him. :) The face that Grant is making is his new "mommy has the camera our and she said to smile" face. It is hilarious! We love it!

That would be the gangster sign for 33. In case you were wondering!!!

This would be the "kiss me cake" as discussed above.

Some major wishes going on before the candles are blown out. haha.

Everyone into Dispicable Me, including the little guy. He loves pizza movie night. :) as we all do!

What it must feel/look like to be 33!!!!

***My Greg. I love you!! You are truly amazing and I am so honored to be called your wife and friend! Happy Birthday!

She's here!!!!

2011-03-04T01:46:00.005-05:00

I just spoke to her. It's 1:30am here in my land.... Its 11:30pm in Utah where her plane has just landed after 30 hrs of flying.

Megan Dustin has been serving a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, for more on our beliefs go to www.mormon.org ) in the Philippines for 1.5 yrs... serving the people there and sharing some of that amazing light that she has inside of her and sharing her knowledge of how that light comes from Jesus Christ! Amazing!!!

I wasn't able to sleep (nothing new there.. haha) and had been texting Bridget in hopes that I might get a little play by play of her walking off the plane. And then, my phone silently rang while I was folding laundry in my family room and I heard her voice for the first time since September of 2009. :) She has a little accent, her voice kind of trails up at the end of her words. Cute! Proof of speaking another language for a long, long time. She sounded so good and happy, of course! I of course couldn't speak, just some tears and choking going on there but I am sure she thought I was just really sleepy.

Perhaps I can sleep now! Although I am almost finished with this basket of laundry..... so I will finish that up and then try to sleep. :)

But really? Can it get any more comforting than knowing that someone you love so much is back in this beautiful America? I have missed her so much. She is gorgeous! Happy! So kind, A true desciple of Jesus Christ and now....she is home. :)

Thanks for the call Megs!
(If you want to read about Megan's mission experiences, my mom has diligently updated it with her emails and also my brother, Josh's mission emails from Argentina..... They are sooooo inspiring and awesome! The blog is http://www.dustinmissionaries.blogspot.com/

(Now..... to wait for Joshua to get home from his mission!)

Confessions of an antisocialite

2011-03-03T13:04:00.005-05:00

Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am an antisocial chic.

Now, why is it that an antisocial person would have the audacity to openly share such information on a blog?

That is a good question.

I have a few theories on my personal craziness:

1. admitting something sometimes helps you move beyond an issue.... not always though.
2. admitting something sometimes helps solidify and justify a certain way you behave... good or bad.
3. hmm. thats all I've got right now.

I have the small inclination that I just might need to change my antisocial ways. Not completley mind you, because that just might be catastrophic to my soul. But the inspiration is there none the less.

The inspiration is Grant. Yes it has taken my 3rd child, and 4th pregnancy-induced-permission-to -be-antisocialness.........to make me see that although I may be just fine moving through life, all protected and emotionally safe and very comfortable in my own little reality.... I may need to be... (gulp) social-ish to help him... them survive.

He is literally screaming to leave the house and play. In the morning when everyone is rushing around to get ready for school/work... he is madly running around trying to find his little shoes and coat so that he can be ready too. Breaks my heart!

Today, I did something crazy.......... I went to the gym. Why? Because I knew that he could play and that other little kids would be in there for him to have some interaction with... and because I knew that for an antisocial person I could "easily" go..... and walk on a treadmill (???) and possible lay down on a public couch (???) and take a shower (?) and give little buddy some time to play.

It was a success. I did all 3 of the things listed above plus a trip to the bathroom of course. He had so much fun! hahaha. When we drove into the garage he wasn't screaming the way he has been lately. Interesting. Its almost like............ the need for interacting with other human beings is a basic level need to survive. hhhhmmmmmm. shocking.

While I was there a really sweet mom invited me to a playgroup where Grant could play and I could.... socialize with other moms. I broke out into a cold sweat panic and lied through my teethy smile that,"That sounds really fun, we would both love that! If I am feeling ok I will try and make it." I am a strange, strange chic. I am ok with that but really...?? In my brain I think I am better off on a treadmill in my little "condition" then sitting on a chair surrounded by other moms.... strange. Dont get me wrong! I admire other mothers to no end, I watch and try to learn from all of their wonderfulness.... but to "socialize"...... its like my brain tries to click backwards to find a way out, my body freezes, and my spirit says that I should move forward. strange. haha.

Hmmm, what should I do with this new-found, "dang-it, I always knew I was weird and was ok with it but I probably need to change to help my children be a little healthier than I am....." ? Follow me? hahahahahahaha.

Perhaps...(gulp) its time for me to stretch out my chalk-lined boundaries I have set for myself a few inches. 3 inches to be exact.

Maybe I should go to the playgroup tomorrow at 9:30am. (gulp)

Perhaps I shall just stretch out my chalk line an inch.... just one.

Awareness..... it truly is the great motivator.... there is kind of no going back. Especially when improving one's self is for your chidren's sake.

dang it!!!

I'm in an incredibly good mood today!!!!!

2011-02-17T13:16:00.008-05:00

a few reasons why:

*I dyed my hair yesterday, hate it......... its black. No there is not a picture... and there wont be one....so dont ask.
*I tried to have a good attitude about it because I knew that the people who loved me most would still think I am beautiful.
*Tay said,"Mommy its hideous."
*Halle said,"You look different Mommy, its kind of purple."
*Greg hates it and I quote, "needs more time to get use to it". :(
*****Grant hasn't skipped a beat and has still given me a hundred kisses this morning with his oatmeal/chocolate chip pancakes face. I have gladly taken them. :)

*I am in a rut, can't/wont get out of it.
* I miss the MOUNTAINS!!!!, the fresh smell of rain there, the sense of peace i get when I look at them and feel small compared to Gods power, spending time in them, feeling like they are the only sense of "home" I have after 17 years of moving to different places.
*I hate missing out on wonderful things happening in my family because we live so far away. My Bridget getting married, Megan getting home, Josh getting home, Matt and Janet's new baby, Danny's baptism, Mackenzie's b-day.....etc. etc. etc. etc.

*I'm having trouble focusing right now on what it is that I am supposed to do as a stay at home mommy.
*my dryer is broken, my purpose for being a stay at home mommy has died, staying up on laundry was my purpose I think.... hmm, didn't do that before it died.
* My baby and I were just eating jelly bellies for lunch (you can judge, I already am!) and i just fed him a "banana" flavored one and actually felt good about it for a second... then I cried.
*Said baby is still walking up and giving me kisses saying "thank you" for the "banana" and is dancing and wearing a bucket on his head!

*Motherhood requires sacrifice! Some sacrifices I dont want to make!!!!
*My running- seriously deprived of some good endorphines right now.
*My energy- really no matter what I say, fainting is not fun and then coming to, and cleaning up my own throw up on the carpet, is not "rewarding". (eeeww, sorry)
*My time- bachelors degree?, wanna finish, gonna finish, when am I going to do that?

Steph!! What else do you want to be doing though???????????

The answers are quite obvious:
Getting kisses from the cute and dirty baby, helping Tay with her Math, reading with my Halle, getting another little one who will probably love me just as unconditionally as they all do when Mommy monster comes out.

And being loved by a man who although may not like my hair, still overlooks the fact that the house is a mess, dinner is an emergency situation most of the time, my budgeting and organizing skills seriously need an overhaul and I hold him accountable for my emotions when....really!!? Was he supposed to know that he needed to like me with black hair yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!?????

Greg Ingram, I love you!!! Thank you for being the man you are!

I'm in a good mood. Because who wouldn't be? I am truly blessed.....black hair and all.

Some January fun.

2011-02-10T06:51:00.002-05:00

How cute it this little boy! Such a Greg-mini-me. It was 100 day at school and he also wanted to get a snapshot of what he looked like on this 100th day of Halle's Kindergarten. :)

There they are.... the little people who are my world!

The princess of 100 day!!! So cute, and so smart! She loves, loves school!!! She has grown up so much this year! Oh, the places you'll go Halle!

He just finished (well in the sense that it is all in his mouth not in his hands) a brownie, and he is getting ready to make the sign for "more"!!

Happy bath time! He use to be petrified of bubbles, it was hilarious to watch! Is that mean? He is use to them now but he detests when they get on the toys he is playing with, especially his prized bouncy balls!!!

The Ice Storm...... :)

2011-02-10T06:07:00.003-05:00

fun on the stairs with bean bags, what else do you do on day 4 of being locked inside. :)

Crazy, fun Daddy went outside with all of the little ones to give them a break, they had a lot of fun!

This picture does not do it justice. Our trampoline was so weighed down from all of the ice/snow/ice/snow combo from the last couple of weeks. So they went out and jumped on it to break up the ice and super strong Greg took the huge ice pieces and threw them over the net. Fun to watch! By the way, Grant was screaming in this picture!

Slippery, Icy slide. They had a blast!

Hahaha. Tay beginning to feel the effects of being out in the snow after not leaving the house for a while. Halle, totally loving it!!! Cute girls!

The ice storm started on Tuesday and the school systems had already canceled school for the day. Greg decided to close his office and went in and did paperwork during the day. Since Tay wasn't feeling so great anyway we just colored, watched a few movies, read books and relaxed. On Wednesday, the "officials" (whoever that is!) declared that we were on a level 3 wheather advisory and that only emergency vehicles were aloud on the roads. So since Greg was home we all just played, relaxed, and worked on some projects around the house. Greg went back to work on Thursday but school was canceled for the girls for the rest of the week. We did more of the same but we all genuinely enjoyed it. Church was even canceled on Sunday and we had our own little "church" in our family room. The girls loved it. :) We each gave a little talk and it was awesome!

Halle gave a talk on Temples and that she is glad that our family can be together forever, she even colored pictures to go with it. Cute!

Taylor read a story from the Friend magazine called "Beautiful", about a little girl who didn't like her freckles and wished that she looked like other girls who she thought were more beautiful. But then learned that Heavenly Father made her, and made her absolutly beautiful. And the girl decided to love herself because she is a daughter of God. Taylor said at the end that she loved reading the story and that she loves the freckles that Heavenly Father gave her because it makes her special. :) It was really, really sweet!

Greg just briefly explained "The Proclamation on the Family" given by our Church leaders and talked about how awesome it is to be in a family and what our different roles are. :)

I just read a couple of quotes I like about motherhood. I was talking with Halle the other day and she said that when she grows up that she is going to be a teacher! I said that she would be such a good teacher and that it would also help her to be a great mommy. She looked at me with such a confused look and said, "I cant be a mommy and a teacher, so I will just be a teacher!!" I thought I needed to do some clarifying on that issue. I told the girls that going to college and preparing themselves for a career is one of the most important things they can do, and that Heavenly Father wants them to do that! I also told them though that there will be nothing more important than being a mommy and that it will be the very best part of who they are and that it will help them to become who Heavenly Father inteded them to be. We talked about how I didn't finish my formal education before they came to me, but that when the time comes that I will finish it.

It was a great experience to have our little church at home. :)

wow, long post again. hahaha

Cant Sleep

2011-02-10T05:18:00.002-05:00

Well, I am sure that this is just the way my other pregnancies were, but I really dont remember the whole, not being able to sleep at night kind of thing. Funny huh! I have been awake since 3am..... I should have just gotten up a long time ago. I need to go for a run and really wear myself out. Dont ya think!!? Ahhh, if only. A run would be so helpful right now. I can think so clearly during and after a run. Priorities, goals, perspective and reality come into clear view. Hmm, I need that. I wonder what would happen? Me, running, outside.... no scratch that... how about inside, on a treadmill. Would I just pass out in two seconds? That would definitly not bring clarity. Or, would I ..... amazingly feel better and run super fast (that never happend even when I wasn't pregnant, haha) and just run, and run and be healthy and......stuff. (See what I was talking about with all of the clarity and reality talk....) Anyway. Case in point. I need a run!

So, my little ones have been sick. Strep throat found its way into their little bodies and it is totally sabatoging the mood around here lately. Tay got sick on Jan 28th, it was pizza movie night and after school she had that look... and she didn't want any pizza. (!!!!!!!!??) So we waited it out through the weekend and then took her to the Dr. on that monday, the 31st. Yep, strep throat. Fun. Luckily for her, school was canceled for the rest of the week due to the ice storm. Then the little buddy got a super high fever on thursday of that week and I didnt even wait, i just took him in and had him tested so he could start the meds too. And then, Halle got sick on this monday after school, the 7th, and i just took her in yesterday and yep... strep throat. Halle never, ever gets sick. That is one nasty bug! Guess who else is running super high temps? My Greg, the birthday boy! Looks like I am going to have everyone home today. Oh, which brings me to my worry, the worry that is keeping me awake. Wow, I am long winded - eh?!

Taylor is still sick!!! When we were at the Dr. yesterday I had her check out Tay again. She got better last thursday and friday but then started running a low-grade fever again on Sun, started throwing up again, sick on Mon, Tues, Wed...... she is still having the same symptoms and has lost 3 lbs. So today she is having some blood work done to see if we can find anything. That little girl has missed two weeks of school between last week's ice storm/strep throat and this week's..... whatever it is. My mind has, of course, been coming up with it's own senarios of why she is still sick and they aren't pretty... so that is why I am here, on my blog... journaling. Not giving my mind the satisfaction of pumping scary stories into my head that just make me want to cry. hahaha. I am a funny pregnant lady, who really, really needs a run. (See what I said about reality!) Here are some pics.... FINALLY!

Dear T.V., to know you is to love/hate you!

2011-01-27T21:30:00.004-05:00

I cant sleep. What the heck? I feel exhausted but here I am.... on my....blog? So I have a story, that I would like to think that I could say, "this is the short version)... but I dont see that happening. haha.
Since we moved to Richmond we have had a t.v. for the soul purpose of using it for movies and such but we have not had any channels on it. I have loved, loved not having the option to turn on the t.v. when I needed some extra parenting help in the last 2.5 years. haha. Well, during family movie night a couple of weeks ago, the sound went out on our little die hard of a tv.... it totally quit working. So since we had been talking about getting a new one (we bought the current tube t.v. 1 year after we were married after we saved and saved for it) it seemed like the perfect time to do so. We bought one and I felt like it was monstrous! Well, when we hooked it up we got perfect reception on 3 channels..... all PBS channels, one of which had PBS kids. I was thrilled, Greg was not, he was hoping to get a few channels so he could watch some games. The next day I turned it on in the morning and layed down since I felt nasty, and Grant, cute little buddy of mine, played and watch PBS kids... who cant resist Curious George, or Dino Train, or Sesame Street, thats what I would like to know!? After school, the girls were so excited to watch t.v. that they hurried through homework to watch Arthur and Krats Creatures. Ahh, T.V. is not so bad! Why did we wait so long to do this?..... but then.... after a week, I started to remember why. Perhaps its me.... and I would like to think that it would be different if I wasnt nasty, and sick and eternally tired right now....but it kind of became sort of a focal point and routine. "Turn on the t.v. while I do this one thing so Grant will be entertained, I feel sick... (always) so i should turn on the t.v. so he has something fun and interesting to look at and listen to while I just lay here, plus its educational." "Oh, the girls are done with there homework, lets turn on the t.v. because...of course, I feel too sick to do something fun with them and PBS kids is fun... and educational!" Plus, if homework took a little too long and they missed the chance to watch it, there would be much wailing and nashing of teeth! "And oh, I ..... feel sick, you guessed it! and all the kids are in bed and Nova is doing a special on earthquakes that I totally want to watch and its ... educational! (remember not a lot of other options). And so I sit and watch instead of................................................ everything else I could be doing and did before the t.v. came back into our lives, sick or not sick. hahaha.
Well guess what....a blessed thing happened! Greg decided after 15 days of having the monster that he really, really wanted a different one with the option of hooking up the internet... So, we packed it back up and took it back. !!! We went through total withdrawl symptoms for about an hour the next morning. After everyone left for the day, Grant ran into the family room and jabbered at the t.v., waiting for the "fun" to start and that is all it took to snap me back into my, "Oh, yeah! It doesn't matter if you feel nasty! Get on the floor and play with your little Grant because he too.... is growing and will pass this little age way too soon!!!!!!!!" So we went back to how it was before...with the little guy following me around the house to do the little chores, which he loves to do. We built a cool fort with the table and blankets with flashlights on and snacks, played with his trains, read books, played with puzzles, colored, played with legos and played with all of the balls, of course!! Really we ran out of time and then it was nap time and we both layed down because I was (really sick) but I had the best day with my little guy! When the girls got home they were bummed that the option to watch t.v. wasnt there... but we also spent more time on homework, coloring, reading and....gasp! They went outside for a little bit and played! The rest of the week has followed suit. In fact, I havent heard anything about the t.v. in two days. :)
Now... some might say that its because we have deprived ourselves of t.v. for so long that that is why it is an obsession when the option is there.... This is probably true. But, I like not having the option. There, I said it!
The t.v. will come back but now that I remember how it feels to have it.... and the flip side of not having it, there will be balance. Is it bad for my little guy to watch Curious George for a little bit after I recover from the latest battle with the toilet. (eeww, sorry) No, probably not. But then it goes off and we go on with our day of... yes, feeling sick but also doing all the fun stuff and oh, lets say,...laundry! that needs to get done. For my girls to watch t.v. after school for a little bit is not a bad thing... they are so busy as it is that its not like they even have the time to watch a ton... but its just the mindset that has changed. Yeah, this was a long, long blog.... no short story here. haha

Cute Baby! 12 weeks along

2011-01-14T11:10:00.003-05:00

Pictures make it all so real doesn't it! Here it is with its hands up by its face

During the ultrasound the baby had its feet up in the air the whole time. I was amazed that at even this early in the process I could see the details of its toes and fingers. Its cute huh!

Hahaha. Kicking and Swatting already. Watch out Grant.... this ones gonna come and get ya! The ultrasound tech said that there is a somewhat new hypothesis that even though you cant see if its a boy or girl at this stage that there are developmental features that literally point one way or the other. She has been trying out the hypothesis and she has been right 5/7 times. Not exact but fun either way. She said girl.... which confirms what I have been feeling all along. We shall see! :)

Oh Hello.

2010-09-15T11:09:00.002-04:00

Hello! I just thought I would write a post because its something out of the ordinary for me. I guess I am feeling a little crazy! woohoo. Watch out day, cause its gonna be exciting!
Life is good! Why? Maybe I could list my top 10 as of late.
10. The wheather has cooled off!
9. Grant ate my homemade spaghetti and he loved it! ;0
8. Greg thinks I am slightly above average. haha.
7. Tay was sick a few days ago and we got to hang out and watch a movie together. odd fav. I know
6. Halle loves, loves kindergarten, and she has a cute crush (shh, dont tell that I blogged about it)
5. My St. George marathon is only 2.5 weeks away (this could be viewed as good and bad)
4. I want to get a dog!
3. Morning devotionals as a family are making a huge impact!!!!!!!
2. Volunteering with the PTO is not as scary as I thought it was going to be
1. Grant's catheter is out, and all is well. :) heehee.

So in other words, what is not to love?! (I would post a picture..... but I am on a good streak, I wouldn't want to ruin it by "promising to update the pics"... so we will just leave this one without one.)

Time!!!!!!!?! Its almost June!

2010-05-31T21:37:00.000-04:00

Be forwarned... there is really no journaling, just a snapshot of the last 5 months..... sort of. Little gymnast. Taylor at her gymnastics preformance. May

Halle-weeze. super gymnast! May

Mini marathon- prerace. :) Freezing cold! May

Yum!! He found the chocolate chips. This picture so doesn't do it justice! May

Time out for women!!! with John Bytheway!!!! Grant even loved him! April

One small puppy dog for her school play "Arf". One small word! Cute! April

Happy Easter with the Ingrams! So fun! Love, love the basket Kaley! April

Happy Easter! :) april

Spring Break in New Jersey with Auntie Em. :) Love you! Where are my statue of liberty pictures? Luckily everyone else took excellent pictures! March

Grant looking into the Makenzie's eyes! "I am so happy you are here... perhaps I shall eat you because you are so cute, and because I am hungry!"

Tay's rainforest project! Good job! March

Our crawling monkey...without the helmet! :) March

Happy Sweet 5th Birthday Halle! Someday our family photo books will show all of the fun we did on your special day!!! Love love love you!

My lovely helmet heads! March

Happy Birthday my love! Feb 11th. Lucky for you... I love you more than my blog could ever tell. hahahaha.

raaaawwwwwrrrrrrrr. Feb
Go Colts!!!! Feb
Tay's Bb Feb
little dude in his helmet!
Night sledding! Jan

Disneyland!!! :)We are going for speed here people... no time for journaling from me. hahahaha.

Christmas Morning!!

2010-02-01T09:45:00.000-05:00

Greg's Christmas Present from the girls. They absolutly loved giving this to him!

Grants duck. :) He loves it.

So...... as a Christmas gift and as a total surprise, we went to Disneyland. These pics got out of order but we had a big box, with smaller boxes (wrapped) inside. They had to open up each box, read the clue, try to figure out what the big surprise was and then go to the next one. The clues were things like "where do the princesses live?", "where is the happiest place on earth", "Where can all your dreams come true?", "where is a special place you have been wanting to go for a long, long time?" Fore almost all of the answers they said Disneyland....but they still did not get it..Greg and I were laughing to say the least. :) Anyways...it was too funny. This is the last "clue" and as you can see, they still had absolutly no idea what was going on. hahaha

After we told them what we were doing and where we were going... this is finally the reaction we got! haha We were driving in the car later that day and Taylor says..."Mommy, what is Disneyland anyway!!?!!" Again, much laughter erupted from Greg and I.

This is obviously the big box, before it was opened. Our friend Amy helped wrap the beast... Thanks Amy. haha

Yeah!!!! Books from Grandma and Grandpa Dustin. Thank you!!!!!!!!

haha. Halle bought Grant these little hats at the dollar store with her own money and she was SO excited to give them to him. The only problem was that they were a little bit too little. So sweet. You can tell he is the 3rd child because this is the best individual closeup picture that I got of my baby boy on his first Christmas morning. haha

Some of the fun in December.

2010-01-31T20:59:00.000-05:00

That Santa, he sure does love us! haha. Tay had wished for a "Moxie Girl, becuase they are modest Mommy and they are soo so cute". She's right! Halle had wished for "A little Pink Pig, so that I can love her and take care of her!" Halle said the cutest thing a couple of weeks after Christmas! We were in the car and Halle said," Mommy, why did I get presents from Santa?"
And I said"Because you are such a good girl and that is what happens at Christmas time". Long pause. "But Mommy, I sat in time-out a lot this year and I did not make some good choices,... Santa should not have gave me all of those presents." hahahahaha, so cute!!!! I reasured her that of course she was a good girl, and recommited myself to making sure that she knows that.:/

Wow, our little family of 5....Love it!!! I am so blessed! When I look at this picture I think about our crazy christmas eve. It was a little too rushed, and a little too hectic. We did some fun secret santa stuff. Had zuppa toscana for dinner, opened our christmas eve present (jammas), wrapped a few last minute things, packed for disney..... Christmas itself just didn't feel like it got the respect it deserves, or should I say, that Christ did not get the Respect that He deserved. Next year, I really will keep it simple. Its so much more awesome when we do!

My 3 kids! Christmas Eve pajammas. So fun, this picture just makes me smile!!!!

Our friend Amy came over on Christmas Eve and it was so great having her.

Thank you Bridget!!! She sent this beautiful gift to us and we absolutly love it. We opened it on Christmas Eve.

2009 Family portrait.

Snowmen. check. Hot chocolate. check. hot homemade bread. nope. cute girls. check.

We had soooo much fun making these. It was absolutly perfect snow!!! All we had to do was just kinda make a little ball and then kick it around and it just turned into this huge ball! so fun. can you see little Grant's snowman on the end! haha

12/13 A favorite tradition is to read in our Christmas Devotional Book every night that my mom made for us. It is excellent and it is such a great way to remember daily what the season is all about.

12/12.... Oh my goodness! Love him. Everytime I go to take a picture of my little guy I think the flash surprises him and his little smile vanishes for a second. haha.

Grant had his hypospadias surgery on December 4th. His Dr. was absolutly excellent! The surgery itself took about 2 hours. I couldn't believe how heartbreaking it was to come in and see him hooked up to IVs and just barely comeing out of his anethesia. I couldn't imagine how it would really feel if his surgery needs were more serious! He just slept pretty much the whole day

Here he is with the anesthesioligist just before his surgery.

Sweet boy, he was so happy and in just the best mood, had no idea what was coming at him. Haha.

Did you know they made such small hospital gowns? I didn't and look at the little booties. Cute.

There is an area in Richmond called the 'Depot District' and they have a big Christmas thing every tuesday night in December. It was a lot of fun this year. They have horse-drawn carrage rides, hot cocoa, balloon-animal-thingy-magiggs:) Santa, face painting.... anyway, lots of fun!

A slight overview of October and November...Slight

2010-01-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

Just talking on the phone at the Halloween Safety Village trick or treat

Happy Halloween...my silly little ones. haha

1, 2, 3, jump!

The three racers. It was such a fun day!

10-16 Amazing.. he ran this half marathon in 1:33 and he had been injured and hadn't trained as much as he had wanted to. He is training for a half-ironman in July. and also the mini in May. Wow

As a family we went to a corn maze and it was really fun but super, super muddy. Haha, Tay even fell down so she was covered in mud. Awsesome memories!

10-6 To the pumpkin patch we went...it was super rainy, the corn maze was closed and their was not hay ride...what? Oh well, we still had a ton of fun!

I had to grab a picture of her latest loss.... Two teeth missing, just in time for Christmas....perfect!

11-30 Taylor working so hard on a Christmas tree craft on "decorate the house for christmas night.

11-26 Cute Tay, Happy Thanksgiving!! Missing one little tooth on top.

10-25- Taylor Jayne the Pirate

10-25I eat lunch with Tay a couple times a month...should be more.....but anyway, I stayed for recess this time and caught a few pictures of Tay at her finest...Taylor and Recess, is there anything else that goes together so perfectly?

Hahaha, I found these on my camera that the girls had taken one sunday morning.

She did it!! She ran her first 1 mile race all by herself! Good job Tay!

10-16 Their race day that they shared with daddy... :) Tay is so good about taking care of her little brother and sister

Halle Louise....October and November run-through...

After decorating the Christmas Tree, she was just exhausted!!!

11-30 Halle completly organized a little craft for us all to do. It was awesome, she set out construction paper for everyone, a water bottle for each of us, some craft glue, markers....it was so cute! We had a lot of fun doing it!

11-12 at Greg's hockey game

as a comfy arm rest for Tay.

10-29 beautiful halle on our family "hike"/ trail walk...

10-26 we went trick or treating at Safety Village" it is so cute....all of the buildings, etc... are child size- they had a ton of places in there... mcDonalds, banks, scools, telephone booths, just to name a few..

10-26 Beautiful Queen

10-16 Raced a whole mile. Way to go Halle!!!

10-18 playing in the back yard in all of the leaves!

10-13 A pony ride at a fall fair

10-14 so silly, on our pitch black corn maze

10-10 Little mommy!

9-26 Halle loves, loves, loves Grant!

Grant: quick summary of October and November.....

11-22 those cheeks!

11-15

11-12 first hockey game, thank you very much

10-30 a cat-scan for the crooked noggin

10-29

10-29 chillin cute dude!

10-27 cool kid in your bumbo and camo.....

10-26 little lion

10-22 yuck! Mom, don't ever do that again

10-22 first feeding... haha

10-22 Haha just barely still able to fit in the sink.... I wish I would have gotten a picture of you when it looked like a jacuzzi you were stitting in!

10-16

10-14

10-10

10-6

10-4

9-26

9-23

GRANTS BABY BLESSING and THE DUSTINS!

2009-10-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

Grant, this was your special blessing day! August 2, 2009. At our church when a baby is a couple months old, the babies are given a special blessing, or prayer. Daddy blessed you to grow up strong and big, to know of your Heavenly Father's love for you, and among other things-to know how much we love you! You had so many visitors and family members and friends that came for your special day! Grandma and Grandpa Dustin, and Aunt Megan and Uncle Josh flew here from Utah and Grandma and Grandpa Ingram, the Brewers, Dyers, Petersens, Jones', Kelly's and so many others made the special trip from Indy. So many people love you!

You were pretty tired by the end of the day......Aunt Heather let us borrow this blessing outfit that your Knowlton cousins were blessed in.

Dustins! We had so much fun with you!!!!!!!!! It is always way too short! We loved going to the lake and cooking out, to going miniture golfing (and not cooking you a nice dinner because we played instead :).......watching that crazy, funny movie-permanantly ingrade in each of our heads....anyways-lots of fun. We miss you so much!

My family was seeing fireflys for the very first time.....the girls were showing them how you catch them.....

Crazy, that they will both be gone on missions....such awesome missionaries they will be!

Where's Grant? Oh, he is just getting smoooshed....

At Megs request, we made banana boats -so yummy! and fun to eat! and fun to make!-this the after picture of Megan eating hers!

Sweet baby boy-2 months old!

"the kids" ";) with Grant's "Blessing cake" decorated by the girls!

Myself, Greg and Julie.....the milking maids as Bill (Greg's dad) referred to us as.....Greg-SCARY!

How beautiful is this picture?! I love it!

Megs, we miss you!...The next time you will see him he will be almost 2....CRAZY!

Miss mermaid Halle...

Miss mermaid Tay

The cuties out of the sand....I was so surprised they sat still for so long!

The mermaid beauties! My Dad buried the girls and started to make the shapes and Meg, Josh and my dad turned them into awesome sand mermaids. heehee.

hahahah

One of the things on the girl's "summer list of things to do..." was to learn how to blow bubble gum bubbles...well, we bought a big bag of bubble gum-the sugary kind-yikes!!!!-and we all had fun practicing! the girls still dont quite have a grasp on it but ohwell. Fun memory none-the-less.

Greg's master bubble. hahaha. The dentist is out of practice with the sugar-gum. I thought about using this picture as blackmail somehow............

My bubble, thankyou very much!

hahahaha. I miss you Dad. I still hear the weird, scary song from that movie when I look at this picture for some reason......oooowie, oooowie, ooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha

Oh, mom....He was crying so hard and grandmas calming touch completely melted him! Sweet. Miss you so much.

CUTE!

RUNNING IN THE RAIN....something Dustin's have always loved to do!

Now the little Ingram's do too! I have often wondered what our neighbors think, when we are out there running around in the rain (with no lightning of course).......ohwell. Happy memories. I have already programmed the girls that we run around in the rain, get dried off and have hot chocolate....haha. Fun times Josh and Meg!

Bike-riding fun! (end of july...)

2009-10-03T21:12:00.000-04:00

A Lot of days this summer were spent riding bikes....

July randomness

2009-09-16T10:36:00.000-04:00

Silliness....haha

Yeah, they recieved the certificate for the summer reading program at the library for reading more than 15 hours......they were excited. I love our library.

Look, he is just a tiny bit bigger than my running shoe. haha

A sweet view from behind!

Camping July 11th

2009-09-16T10:09:00.000-04:00

Taylor is letting us know that she is done....Malia looks like she is loving it..haha

We had so much fun seeing Heath and Amy Bland and their family when they were in town!

It had been raining all day but we decided to go anyway and we are so glad we did. It didn't rain on us at all that night.

Like father, like son.

Halle totally surprised us! She was eating her hot dog and it kept on slipping out of her bun so she put down her plate and bun and just picked up her hot dog with Ketchup on it. Her hands got dirty and everything!!!!? What?!

Hiding in the net from all of the mosquitos!!! We think he enjoyed his first camping trip!

Richmond 4th of July

2009-09-14T13:51:00.000-04:00

Happy 1st Fourth of July Grant!!

Richmond had their fireworks on sunday night so it was perfect, we just walked over to the middle school and sat on the grass.

4th of July

2009-09-14T11:41:00.000-04:00

Sad, just sad. haha

Jake, we never knew!!!! Master hula hoopin skills right there!

My little hula dancer

The crazy dancin never stopped.

Love it!

Miss Molly! She was so cute! She had to work pretty hard to get some candy at the parade!

It was the coldest, rainiest, 4th of july in a long, long time.....

Aahhhh, so pretty, just so pretty. Back off ladies, he's mine. :) (Greg, I knew you'de appreciate this picture!)

Little Grant and Em.

Some fun random pictures

2009-09-14T11:05:00.000-04:00

7/7- See the green blanket he is laying on, well, Halle bought him this blanket with her own money, Cute huh!

6/30....that passy looks like it is as big as his head!

6/30-tummy time-obviously we cant get enough pictures of him like this.....I guess he loves it too.

June 30

June 30th- cute huh!

June 27th- touching the temple...

June 30

Our primary at the temple June 27th

June 28th

June 27th

june 27th

June 29th

June 27th, 2009 TAYLOR IS SIX!

2009-09-14T10:17:00.000-04:00

Dear Taylor,
I am so proud of you! For six years I have been able to enjoy being your mom! You bring so much energy and life and joy to our family. You are silly, funny, and so curious and even a little mischeivious sometim es! Ha, Ha. More often than not I am laughing about something you said or did. I love how much you like school and meeting new friends. It is something that you are very good at. You are quite the gymnast these days and I haven't decided yet if doing gymnastics on the couch is really something I should fret about. Sometimes, your Dad and I just look at each other and wonder how a little person has so much energy! It is amazing. We must funnel that energy! haha! The other day when you got home from school you had ten pages of homework and that was not the norm so I asked you why you had so much work and you said, "Mommy I just love to talk and then I don't have time to finish my work..." We addressed the issue by pretending that I was a friend sitting beside you, trying to distract you and you had to concentrate on your work, I even had a cute baby for you to look at and you stayed focused...amazing! You are doing much better at getting your work done at school now. You are so silly! hahah... I love you Tay! I hope you know because knowing is everything.
Here are some more pics from your Birthday!

For Tay's Birthday she wanted to go and eat breakfast with Daddy and ride horses. We went to Whitewater State Park about 20 min from our house and they have horses that you can "rent" and go on a trail ride. She loved it! Greg and Tay rode their own horses-she even controlled the reigns on her own! Grant and I watched Halle have a pony ride. It was a really fun family day. The next Day, Aunt Emy was in town and we went to the fair, it was awesome to have her here to share Tay's special day.

The lighting of the cupcake....ooooooooo...

SWEET BABY TAY, TURNING ONE YEAR OLD!

"I wish I had treasured the doin a little more and the getting it done a little less"

2009-06-25T10:44:00.000-04:00

I want to stop saying this each night when I go to bed! That tomarrow will be different-that I will take advantage of TIME tomarrow.

How many tomarrows do I think I have? How many tomarrows do I think my daughters are going to be there-waiting for me to take advantage of the time I have with them on the next day? It always seems so clear in the evening when they are all asleep- The things I should have done different, the things that should have been on my priority list, the laughs I should have had with them if I would have let myself laugh. Greg always says,"You are always saying "no" to something, every time you make a choice. How many times am I going to tell my girls "no" before they are done waiting? Today-its a beautiful word.

Yep, she's still gone

2009-06-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

Uh, I am ready for you to come home now Bridget!

My Bridget left this morning-Uggghhhh

2009-06-23T12:56:00.000-04:00

Miss you more than you could know! It sounds so inadaquate but, "Thank you!" We will cherish this time that we have had with you! Dash-it-and-diamonds, flippering frogs, curses and crowns...there, I said it!

Life is sweet...

2009-06-23T12:09:00.000-04:00

He is getting so alert! It is too fun. Doesn't he look so cool in his camo shirt? He thinks so. He took his first real bath today because his belly button is finally all dried and cleaned up. He loved it! He is 2.5 weeks old (19 days old!)

We came home from Indy this past weekend at 1am in the morning and this is what we found in our bedroom upstairs. Apparantly the crack in the ceiling that I have been worried about really did finally fall. Ugggh.

hahahaha

No one mournes the tubers!!!

Just Relaxin after a hard t-ball game...

So classic for their personalities!!!

Grant is 13 days old!

Hey guys! Whats up?

T-Ball!!!

2009-06-22T22:55:00.000-04:00

They just finished their first game...."so tired, and hot, and hungry", Ah, the thrill of victory!

Greg, gets to help out a lot....Halle has fallen twice while running to 3rd base. We think the helmet is top heavy, ya think.

Go Tay, go!!!! She loves it, she has caught the ball twice!

Cuteness.

"So coach Daddy, is it snack time yet?"

Run, Tay run! I love that Taylors pictures are actual action shots and Halle's are poses, and holding her helmet. haha

Hey, batter, batter, batter, Swing!

She's Ready! she is so into the game the whole time.

Halle's playing in the dirt...just like her daddy

Take me out to the ball game! He is so ready to get out there and play, can you tell?

Gymnastics!! Yay!

2009-06-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

The girls started gymnastics on june 10th. They love it! It is so fun to see them learning new things

Grant Ingram, you are soo cute!(Day 7)

2009-06-22T22:16:00.000-04:00

I love that face! It's like he is a little monkey or something!

Just out of the bath, chillin in his bathrobe! My favorite! (day 7)

Halle, just loving her baby brother!

Totally content, I love it after he has had his bath and smells so sweet! and he has eaten, and pooped and burped and then he just lays there, so clean and calm.

Lots of fun random pics!

2009-06-22T15:11:00.000-04:00

Our glow worm! On day 6- we went and had to get his billirubin checked cause he was one little yellow guy! His had a level of 17.5 so we started the billi blanket and he glowed at night

Oh, the heel stabs! Each of his little heels had 4 each! Sad... his levels finally peaked at 18.6-yikes.

Cute little boy who grew a tail. The billi-blanket was bigger than he was. It was just this rectangular, flat, thing with a cord sticking off the end, that had the fiber optic-ish lights shining through, he was uncomfortable with it at first but then I think since it was so warm, he didn't mind.

Sun in a box...

When I got home from his second round of heel sticks at the hopital "soak up some indirect rays".

Cuteness. Love this blanket! It is ultra soft-I want one.

So little, 4 days old

Just a little teeny super guy! (4 days old)

Nice, hot, 1st day of summer vacation.....

Bridget got out the buckets and soapy water to wash the van and she asked the girls if they wanted to help and they just looked at her crazy cause they thought the only way to wash a car is to drive it through the car wash....looks like I need to be less lazy and wash my car by myself once in a while....naaaahhhhh.

1st day of summer vacation....bubbles! Tay got some bubbles from Mrs. Oler and as she was walking outside they spilt and she just burst into tears....She has missed her kindergarten class so much and Mrs. Oler! Its been a hard transition for her...I am trying to do summer school but it is pretty shady right now! Hopefully it will only get better...haha.

The girls are doing sooo well with him! They keep wondering when he is going to wake up!

Loving his car seat....can you tell?

First walk-3days old

Our yellow little guy,

Before Grant came, Halle always asked me if baby would be as big as this blue doggy and I told her that he would be bigger...she reminded me the other day that I was wrong!

Taylor Jayne is Graduation Girl

2009-06-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks for coming to Graduation Grandma!!! It was so fun to have you there for the big day. :)

All smiles....thanks to some unwelcomed post pregnancy hormones I cried. How did she get so big?

What a little ham. She seriously had a photo shoot for about 15 minutes and posed with all of her classmates. So cute. She is really really going to miss kindergarten.

Halle loved posing along with her sister. She is excited to have her home with us now!

Ah, the diploma...what a gorgeous thing it is.

We were so happy that she sat on the front row so we could see her! She just sat up there in her little chair for the 15 minute production. If someone knows how to push the pause button just let me know!!!

Backtracking just a bit......

2009-06-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

On June 2nd, Taylor's school had a Family Literacy night and everyone was invited to make a book float....Tay chose to do her's on Good Night Gorilla since it been one of her favorites since she was little. She did such a good job! So cute!

Oh, Bridget....what will I, we, do without you? The girls have had so much fun with you. It's crazy how much time has passed while you have been here!

On Memorial Day we went to Whitewater State Park, Bridget and I were laughing a little that there is such a thing as a state park with no mountains and that there is no "white wate
r" at this state park. ohwell. haha. We had lots of fun on our picnic. It was raining but we grilled our chicken and toasted marshmallows and played a fun game of hide and go seek.

Little Miss Sassy. She is getting so punky, besides the fact that we dont want it to stick around and we would never let her know it, its kind of cute. I just keep that to myself though! Her hands are on her hips these days more often than not.

On sunday night the girls and Greg slept out on the trampoline. They all slept out there until 9am....we all thought that they wouldn't sleep well but apparantly they did!

Beautiful Bridget...reading Lillys Purple Plastic Purse! Oh my heck, I love Keven Henkes' books! They are my favorite!!!!!!!!! All of them are so awesome!

I snapped some pictures while we were playing Pretty Pretty Princess one day.

Very pretty princess! Good times Bridget! When you are home and missing us you can think of all the games you got to play with us while you were here. You know, the ones where they lasted forever, and you and I would never win! haha

Halle and Tay had been on the trampoline all of 5 minutes when we heard some awesome screaming...Halle had recieved the first casuality. We made a pretty big deal out of the fact that she was the first one to get an injury and so she thought it was pretty cool!

Jumping queens

After spending a couple of hours putting it all together, these awesome people were ready to play!

Hard at work. Yeah! We bought a trampoline and it has been such a fun, new addition to the family! Whats summer without a trampoline, thats what I would like to know. haha

Tay was having the hardest time falling asleep one night so she came down and we made her a little bed on the couch while we were playing a game...5 minutes later, she was out. so funny.

Movie night. On friday nights we have family movie night and it has been such a fun tradition. If you have any movies that you would like to suggest just let us know....they just have to be clean, no swearing, fun and not totally a princess theme since we do have boys in the family! haha

Wm. Grant Ingram!!!!

2009-06-06T17:35:00.000-04:00

Sweetness!!!! I love you my little boy!

Welcome Home!

Grant and his cousin Lydia, who was born on May 29th are only 6 days apart! Love it!Can any parent get use to all of those little faces that newborns make? I can't!! Look at that mouth! haha

Sweet, sweet boy! He is really so tiny. When we left the hospital he weighed only 5.1 pounds. His pediatrician said not to worry that if when we go back to see him if he only weighs 4.5 pounds or less. Yikes!!!!!! Ok, he reminds me of Greg in this picture!

Beautiful Bridget!!! What would we have done with out you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? I love you so much! Since my sister was here helping us we were just able to leave for the hospital when the time came and she took care of the girls and the house and everything!

Two big sisters! I love them tons. It is always such a strange feeling to watch your babies walk in and hold your new little one. Oh, how I hope I can be a good mommy to all of them. They deserve the very very best!

So tiny!

Proud Daddy! Greg you are the best! I would not have wanted to trade places with him for the past 8.5 months. He has had so much on his shoulders. Thanks for all the support Greg! It looks like he has his ear pierced.....haha

Tay-Tay is so excited, of course! She was asleep on the floor in our room and when we were getting ready to leave for the hospital, Greg picked her up off the floor and put her in her bed and she said,"But Daddy, Mommy said that I could sleep here!" When he told her that we were going to the hospital to have her new baby brother-the smile on her face was huge, she couldn't say a word! Taylor was actually Speechless!

Halle! Since the day she found out he was comeing, we have talked about him non stop and daydreamed together while Tay was at school about baby being here and what he would look like and how much fun he would be to play with. Look at that smile....it says it all! The wait is over!

Just minutes old and already making silly faces for the camera-so Greg!

Father and Son! Sweet.

Have I mentioned that I feel amazing! Other than being a little tired, I havent felt this good for....8.5 months! I haven't thrown up once since he was born. Amazing

Just waitin on Greg! Seriously honey enough primping...., lets go have this baby!

The following birth story is mostly for my own journaling, so skip ahead if you dont want to read all the boring details....)On Wednesday night (June 3) I could not sleep. I woke up at 11:30pm and couldnt fall back asleep, I layed there, thinking about how much longer I was going to have to wait for him to come, I was naseaus and was having some braxton hicks but those were the norm....at about 2:30am It felt like he just kicked twice and then it felt like a "pop". I sat up really quick and said "Greg, I think my water just broke" He said,"Ya think!" because our bed was seriously soaked. gross..haha. I jumped up and called my Dr's office and they said to go to the hospital. Greg went downstairs and told Bridget and we were all soooo excited. We got to the hospital at about 3:30am and got admitted, my contractions started coming really hard at about 5:30am and I got my epidural (blessed thing!!!) at 7:30am. Grant's heart rate was scaring the dr's and nurses and me! because everytime I had a contraction his heart rate would fall from 140 bpm to 50 bpm and they would all just stare at the screen and wait for it to jump back up. They kept saying that if it wasn't going to go back up they were going to do an emergency c-section. They all looked like they were about to jump at any second....They checked me at 9am and I was dialated to a 6. I had forewarned them that once I get to a 5 or 6 that I go really fast. And sure enough, 5 minutes later I was an 8 and then 10 minutes after that I was a 10 and was ready to start pushing! About 13 minutes later, Grant was here!!! Surreal!

Being patient for something makes it all the more worth it right? Right! We love him so much! He is perfect and so cute and we cannot get enough of him. Was he worth all of the fainting and throwing up for 8.5 months? Yes...I would do it again in a heartbeat! I have officially fallen in love.....again. I love you Grant. Thank you for coming to us and for sticking with me through all the icky months. It looks like you were starving right along with me!! Sorry little man! You are quite the little fighter!!

How does your Garden Grow? April 17th......

2009-05-08T08:27:00.000-04:00

The Kindergartners at Charles were able to put on a little musical with the 1st-2nd graders and Tay couldnt have been more excited!! We talked about it for a month! She decided that she wanted to be a carrott for the musical so we made this thing. hahaha She was adorable but it was a little restricting for a little girl who is always on the move!

Grandma Ingram drove all the way over from Indy for the the 20 minute production-Thank you!! It meant so much to Tay!

The Carrot and the carrot fan!

Sooo cute. I loved it! Ah, Kindergarten, the only time you can dress your kid up in a crazy costume and they still like you for it! There was a little girl with daisies on her head that sat right in front of Tay so you couldn't even see her during the program but I suppose thats ok.....

Halle, waiting so patiently for the program to begin She is such a fan!

Easter Weekend!

2009-04-22T13:48:00.000-04:00

Hmm, every picture of me is of me laying down.....seriously, its not all I do. I will have to talk to Greg about taking other kinds of pictures. Why even put the picture in!? For posterity sake I suppose...

She is admiring her basket of goodies with her friend of the week....."chicky", such creative nameing! :)

Bailey is Wes' daughter and is so cute! She had such a good time hunting!

And the hunt is on!

Sleepy Halle with her Basket!

Happy Easter Tay!

Greg took pictures of the girls after church....Love the forced smiles!

Halle just relaxin on the new couches! Yeah!

Yeah! All of that saving for months paid off and Greg drove over and picked up our couches on Friday night. We had a hard time finally agreeing on a couch but we finally got there and here they are. Now we can move down the list on other fun things to save for. When we were first married, Bishop Danes in Orem told us to never buy anything that you can't pay cash for. He and his family (6 kids) lived in a new house for 2 years before they had any furniture....anyway-very inspiring.....blah blah, I know. :)

Beautiful Easter Eggs! The girls and I spent a ton of time just decorating eggs. I realized that once the baby is here we wont be able to be so relaxed with our time doing things just the three of us like!

My sweet girls!

The Great Smoky National Park!!!

2009-04-20T17:16:00.000-04:00

As you will see, we had a ton of fun!!! Thank you Ingrams, Reynolds, and Brewers...the memories are wonderful!! From hiking, to driving go carts, the wonderworks, and miniture golf, and best of all "wherewolf" every night-so much fun!

The boys had so much fun racing each other!!!!!

We played miniture golf and these people can seriously golf.

Here I am as a lawn ornament/golfing challenge....ah, fun times on the ground.

Racing!!!!! They had a blast!!

Some of the pirates....we had Halle's cake on the vacation and everyone had lots of fun making fun of everyone else with their eye patches on! haha

The Ingram family after we reached the little waterfall. An epic achievment for sure!

The Brewers! Thanks for planning the trip!

Halle and her golfing skills! Seriously impressive. She was so determined to do it all by herself!

Taylor loved it! She did this awesome upside down between the legs shot. hahaha still makes me laugh

Pure enjoyment...she sped around the track without a problem at all-she just wanted to go faster!

Halle........we were all so proud, and so very surprised that she willingly and and determindly signed up to race! She did great! We all were laughing so hard because she was barely pushing on the gas and she kept bumping into the edges and the guy working there just followed her around to help her!! Afterwards she said-Mommy my car did not go very fast but I dont mind, I like to go slow!

The racers, waiting to get into their cars!

These five went on an 8 mile trail run one morning!

Ah, what would be a trip to Tennessee without goin' to a "hoot 'n' hollar"? We had so much fun, the kids loved the singing and dancing and the dinner was awesome!

Issaac got picked out of the big crowed to go up on the stage and help out. Thanks for the laughs Issaac!

We decided that Em and Jake are not allowed to have any kids of their own because they help out so much with all of ours!!!! Thanks guys!

The girls loved the show! We all ate and watched, they were amazed. haha

We went to a "children's" musuem and it was amazing. It is called Wonderworks and the architecture of the building was awesome. The entire thing was made to look like it had been picked up and turned upsidedown!!! Awesome! The entire musuem was family oriented and was just as fun for the adults as it was for the kids. All of it was hands-on and it was awesome!

Taylor was eating a cheesburger at Wendy's and when we were getting ready to leave she ran up to me, so worried and said-"Mommy, my tooth is missing!!!!!!" Apparantly her very loose tooth that had been hanging there by a thread had gotten swallowed with a cheeseburger bite! Proof that she does not chew her food. She wrote the cutest note to teh toothfairy!! And amazingly enough, the toothfairy still delivered some money under her pillow in the hotel even with out a tooth!

Here is Halle on "the bed of nails!" at the musuem.

A "bubble factory"! We obviously spent a lot of time in here!

Here's Halle racing on a cyber motorcycle!

Greg about to ring the bell on the climbing wall. We need to get that man on a real wall this summer somehow! He loves it!

Ah, my little climber! She did awesome! Isnt she cute! She has the best attitude and loves to try anything new! Love ya Tay!

So very brave!

I am sorry but I could not resist!!!!! The cyclops pirate and the other one. so fun, thanks for being such good sports with the pirate party.

In the park there were some neat old cabins and mills that you could hike around to!

Halle's candles went out before the little pirate could blow on them and we are not sure if she realized that or not! haha

All the cute kids enjoyed the hike so much. We noticed though that they didn't really mind what we were doing as long as they were together and being silly and active they were totally happy and content! Kids are good like that!

Halle loves her Uncle Jake! Halle was quoted as saying," I am so excited to see Santa Jake, bringing me presents in the night...." hahahaha, what?!!! Love you Weeze!

We really did try to get a group shot of all of us in front of the sign but it didn't turn out so well..sorry, no offense Greg! we all know you tried your hardest!

Yeah! We are adding two more babies to this crazy bunch!!!

The girls rode down to Tennessee with Grandma and Grandpa so we had room to bring the cake! Seriously the thing was huge!!!!!! The picture of this cake is what inspired the "pink pirate party". It actually tasted really good too! Surprising!

Isnt it so cute...and huge!? There is a girl that works in Greg's office and she also works part time at a bakery because she absolutly loves to do this kind of stuff- we showed her the picture of the cake and she made this thing. WOW! Thanks Erin!

Halle Louise Ingram, where have the years gone?

2009-03-27T15:44:00.000-04:00

3 years old

2 years old

1 year old

newborn baby.....

Halle totally surprised us and wanted a Pink Pirate party? What is a pink pirate party you ask? Well you act like pirates, have a treasure hunt, say "Arrggh Maty", have pirate cupcakes and have a pink, heart shaped eyepatch apparantly!

For dinner we ate "like pirates", no silverware, no manners and totak mess while eating spaghetti! Taylor absolutly loved it!!!!!

Halle laughed the whole time throughout dinner. She still pretty much ate one noodle at a time so as to decrease the messiness. hahaha

Arrrhghg, me matys. We really did have such a fun night. We had a treasure hunt that led us all around our house and in the yard, reading pirate books, having dinner and getting pirate cupcakes!

They really got into it!!! It was hilarious! Our pink princess Halle wanted a pirate party.....go figure!

There were six things that Halle specifically wanted to do on her Birthday-so cute! In a jumbled order, they were as follows: #1 Halle wanted to decorate cupcakes with Tay-Tay. A little too much blue writeable iceing, ya think?

#2 She wanted to do homework with Tay-Tay. I found some "birthday" themed worksheets online. I love the internet!

#3 Halle wanted to go get Chocolate Ice Cream "in a cone" with Mommy and Daddy-Luckily Greg was able to sneak away during his lunch break and do just that.

Ok, she carried this "Happy Birthday" balloon around with her the whole day-so funny!

Four years old!

#5 She wanted to paint her fingernails and toenails....

#6 She wanted to snuggle and read lots and lots of books :) PERFECT!

Silliness

2009-03-27T15:02:00.000-04:00

I am so happy when they are both home and just playing. I am so grateful to have such sweet and awesome and crazy and energetic little girls!

This is the art that I promised to post when the girls finished their projects and they finished them in January....we had so much fun putting them together. We "copied" the idea from Pottery Barn. This is the one that Tay put together-she painted the canvas and picked out the fabric and paper and put together the flowers-and helped cut out the different shapes.

This is Weezer's, she did such a good job. It was fun to work on a project together. Both girls loved putting together their flowers....they are my "new" obsession...super glue, flowers and buttons! We made a ton of cute magnets with them too!

Can you say SPRING?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The girls came running inside one day last week and said Mommy! Spring is here, spring is here! Hallelula!

A "looth tooth" and Halle-fun

2009-03-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

Ok, you can't really tell from this picture..(shhhh, don't tell her!) but she has a "looth tooth", she has been working on it for a couple of days now and she it just sooo excited.

Halle-Weeze, no longer wants to be called "weeze"-her name is "Halle". Don't worry, I "accidently" slip it in there once in a while and she doesn't seem to catch it! Our days at home together are filled with taking care of all of her little "friends". Quite literally they are her friends and while she is taking care of one animal/friend she constantly worries if the other ones are getting their feelings hurt because she isn't caring for them. Oh Halle-I need to get you out into the real world...but for now-I love that you are home with me and our days are made up of make-believe!

I came up the stairs one day and I found this on the stairs.....Halle said that it was the two of us in the hospital bed and that she got to stay there with me this time...with elephant of course. Sweet.

In an earlier post I had a picture of Emily and Halle, well this is her sister Kelly and she comes on Mondays and Wednesdays and teaches Halle a preschool lesson and takes her on a fun outing. Cute huh!

On one of Halle's outings they went to a farm store and Halle got to hold a baby duck!!! She was so excited!

Spring, Chalk and Chipmunks!

2009-03-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

Taylor "colored" her eye pink with chalk. silly girl! heehee

We have had a few nice days and even I went outside and layed on our front lawn.. (gasp) We got the sidewalk chalk out and the girls had so much fun playing hopscotch. Tay is an old pro, and Halle is at that cute stage where her hopping is a little run/skip/hop/bounce and I LOVE it!

Ok, so for Family Home Evenings we have been going through President Hinckleys Be's and two weeks ago the topic was "Be Smart". So each Monday night we have been picking something new to learn about. Well, we learned all about squirrels/Chipmunks...Taylor and Halle can give you a refresher's course if you need one, and we learned that we have "fox squirrels" in our back yard.

We normally only see one at a time in our backyard so Halle calls "our" squirrel "Chippy". Its too funny!

We actually purchased a piece of furniture! We bought this table and chairs at the end of last month with my Mom's help and we love being able to eat in the Kitchen again...(our other table is in the "dining room" aka homework and project room :)....oh and the wallpaper you see in this picture is basically all gone thanks to my awesome girls who come and help me since I am disabled... :) Oh yeah, I put them to work on all the really vital important stuff!

Time is actually moving, we are in our 3rd trimester and amazingly enough I am still alive. :) With that acknowledgement and the fact that spring is here or is just around the corner-it feels like I can breathe again. I just may survive this yet!

Happy Valentines Day...at the Newport Aquarium

2009-02-25T17:30:00.000-05:00

The aquarium was so neat and it had really, really neat sharks. There was one that they had bred there at the aquarium that was part sting ray part shark. It was freaky looking...They had exhibits of Jellyfish, seahorses, otters, birds, alligators, frogs, and obviously a lot of neat fish.

My Dad flew out for Valentine's weekend and it was so wonderful to have him here with us! We put him straight to work, poor guy! Sorry you had to live for so long without Mom!! Ok, that shark looks like it is seriously wanting to eat Taylor's head...

I survived almost the whole day. I sat down a lot and layed down some and passed out in the parking garage but all in all it was a good day! :)

There was a guy that was charging $15 a picture but my mom stood right next to him and took this picture. haha

Happy 31st Birthday Greg!!!!

2009-02-25T16:58:00.000-05:00

Is February really almost gone?

2009-02-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

Greg wanted me to blog about the hospital visit complete with pictures....uggh, The girls Had so much fun at the hopital! They thought it was great..there was a t.v. and everything-you could tell that they have been tv deprived for 5 months....

They came to visit me but since I had a ton of drugs going through the IV I couldn't even keep my eyes open.

No caption necessary...

One more glorious picture and we are done!

This would be me.....with my seabands on, looking really cute in my "Handy Helper". It was my big day out. haha My mom and I laughed soooooo hard! I sat down in the cart and we were both just laughing-I guess it felt weird to both of us to have to push me around. Well just as we turned a corner in Hobby Lobby this little girl, probably Halle's age said,"Oh Mommy, that lady is really old!" We didn't really know what the Mom was trying to say to her daughter for making the comment because we were both just laughing so hard! If I had been hydrated at all I definitely would have peed my pants and my mom just about did! Then we saw her again in the store and she said, " Oh mommy, look, she does have a booboo!" That poor mom, we have all been there right, when your kids say something somewhat phopaw and you just want to run and hide. Happy memory with my mom for sure!

Mmmm, Halle needed a tea party with mommy so we decided to have

'Watermelon Tea"...aka water and I think she made us some "corn on the cob". She is ready for summer!

Halle was taking some pictures one day and I deleted of the ones she took-ya know, close up pictures of our table and stuff but I could not delete this one. How cute that she took a picture of her little feet with pink tights!

Baby blue eyes. When she was a baby Dr. Hensley checked to make sure she didn't have any cataracts or problems with her eyes because she had never seen a babies eyes so wide open.

Greg went o!n a fieldtrip with Taylor's class and they went to a musuem who was having an exhibit on the Mexican culture. This is Tay with her class. I love how she can't "just" smile!

Tay and a "favorite" classmate. haha

Taylor on the bus. Its not something she gets to do very often so when she does ride on the bus, it is a huge deal! Thankfully Greg was there this time to catch a photo of our big girl.

Halle totally fell in love with Tay's horsie this month-she dressed it in pink jammies almost everyday.

Oh, Grandma, we love you!!!!!!!!!!! We miss you so much and cant wait to be with you again! Thank you so much for your month of service to us!! We will never forget it...ever, ever!

So funny, we went in to check on Tay and Halle and they were both completly out but it looks like Tay was thinking about getting up but only got this far!! haha

My mom shoveled our driveway so many times while she was here! She thought she was getting away from the snow when she moved from Wyoming at the beginning of January but we grabbed her before she could enjoy any of that warmth emanating from Southern Utah

Oh, my girls, always there to help out.....Maybe they thought they could eat all the snow to help Grandma.

Wow, Please ignore previous post-Can you say "Whiner"

2009-02-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

Just a little bit of pregnancy hormones kicking in there. I changed my mind....the help is AWESOME! haha, today I had a ton of stuff that I needed to get done and Emily did most of it, and played with Halle and helped her her letters, while I layed around and felt really sick. Awesome! I am almost Giddy-You know, I am totally getting spoiled and I'm already thinking of ways to slyly convince Greg that I need to keep the help even once the baby is born. Let me know if you think of any ideas! Hee hee.

Lou, Lou Skip to my Lou!!!

2009-02-23T21:54:00.001-05:00

You know that quote from Sister Hinckley that says (and I am paraphrasing) that she would rather laugh than cry because crying gave her a headache. Well, I am wondering what she did when she missed her Mom, or had days like today. Laughing just wasn't an option, at least, I dont think it was. We hired a girl to come in twice a week to help out with some errands, clean a little but most of all, play with Halle while Tay is at school and give her some perschool time. After my Mom was her for a whole month, going back to the messy house, no dinner, no errands done kind of life just didn't sound appetizing.....so we hired someone! The girl is awesome! We are so blessed to have found her. Halle loves her and had a ton of fun with her. But....It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! When we went to go pick up Tay, Halle wanted to skip so she and Kelly skipped up to the door and I followed slowly behind. Sooo so sad to watch it. I feel like I am willingly just stepping out of her little life. Who knows how much longer I have that she will even want to skip with me places. That doesn't sound like a big deal but to me it is, missing these little things in their lives is the stuff that motherhood is made of! They are only this little once. I feel like I am just being a big (yes I know I'm big) whimp!! I feel like I would rather pass out and throw up after skipping with her than miss it all together. Maybe I will give our helpers another week or so, and if I am still having an emotionally hard time than I am just going to have to tell her "sorry...but I need to be a mommy, even if its a sick one...." You know, I really am so lucky that I am just pregnant and not dying from some awful disease...because I really do get to say, Ok..I can skip with her in July. It's "funny", it is going to be a lot "harder" when baby #3 comes out but I cannot wait to take on the challenge. hahaha I am sure I will be writing in July-Help, this is so hard. The point to this LONG blog....................SKIP NOW WITH YOUR LITTLE ONES!

January Fun!

2009-02-02T15:32:00.000-05:00

We (I use the word "we" lightly) went sledding when Greg got home from work one night and the girls thought it was so fun to go sledding in the dark. We have a park called Glenn miller Park that actually has a big grassy hill that was perfect for sledding. You could hear the girls screaming all the way down to the bottom of the hill. Love it!

It finally snowed here in Indiana this month..Tay had lots of snow days and delayed school hours so their was plenty of time for playing in it! Tay loved going out and playing, but Halle just loved the dressing up part, and getting hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.... go figure.

When I get the chance I will post the finished product of their art...

I love to watch them sleep.....is that weird?

I went in to check on the girls and Halle had gotten out of bed and put on a crown...the magic wand is behind her, obviously she fell asleep in the middle of the imagining....perhaps she wished herself to sleep. Even princesses must get their rest I suppose.

Cute things they say!

2009-02-02T15:13:00.000-05:00

The other night, after I had gotten home from the hopital, I laughed really hard at something Taylor said and she said to me..."Oh, you laughed like the regular old mommy!" It was way cute and made me realize that they know there is a difference between this mommy and the one that laughs with them and takes good care of them. I can't let myself get depressed at my current state of mommyhood because this is the tiny price I pay to recieve another one of "His" children. Sadly, they get to pay it too but I am hoping they forget by the time they see how cute he is!! Halle said to me the other day...."Mommy, you were pretty when you got married...right?" How funny is that! She was probably looking at me and thinking, ok that lady had to be pretty at least when she was getting married because that is just mandatory. I told her that I was gorgeous on my wedding day and that I would even put on makeup and maybe take my hair out of a ponytail when I was all better She was really excited about that....perhaps we should lay off the perfect princess barbie movies for a while...they make mommy look frumpy!

Yeah....more I.V.s!!

2009-01-29T21:21:00.000-05:00

I am here in the hospital...and you know I told that baby, no more hospital visits until he was good and ready to come out. Boys....they can be so difficult sometimes :) I actually dont mind the IV in, it gives me the fluids I need that I can't keep down. We are going to see how I do after this hopital visit and then if I still end up coming back then we will probably just do a pic line (is that really how you spell it?) so that I can just have a nurse come to the house and help with it every so often. My mom is amazing I am so, so grateful that she is here! The girls love it. And needless to say, so do Greg and I.
The hardest part about all of this is that I feel like my relationship with my girls is deteriorating, since my Mom is here to do all of the Mom stuff I am not feeling very close to them. Which proves to me that the service we render to someone...especially our own families will only help us to feel closer to them and love them even more. Perhaps through my prayers....scriptures...and Sister Hinckley's book, "Glimpses", I will be able to feel that peaceful spirit that in return they will feel as well. I love the gospel, the testimony I have now, and the knowledge that with my Heavenly Father all things are possible....even being a good mommy on bedrest. These are precious years when they are little...I already feel like I am running out of time.

So it is the boys who cause all the trouble!!!

2009-01-26T11:15:00.000-05:00

I am finally home from the hospital....and hope to never be there again until about 18 weeks from now! On tuesday evening (1/20) I realized that I had not kept down any solid food since the previous Saturday (1/17). I and probably all pregnant women get so used to throwing up that it wasn't until I looked back that I realized where I was... I switched to all clear liquids and couldnt keep that down so when I talked to my Dr. on Thursday he immediately admitted me into the hospital and got me on IV fluids and vitamins. I had a lot of cramping pain that they (and I) were concerned about so while I was there I got an ultrasound!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH! I was going to have to wait until I was 28 weeks along but look at what I will do to get my way and see it sooner!!! :) And we are haveing a BOY! We are so excited, baby is perfectly healthy, its amazing to me that it can survive an entire week of no food and 2 whole days of no hydration!! Cause I felt like I was dieing!! Anyway once I kept down all of the drugs orally and kept down some chicken broth and toast I was able to leave. I haven't moved my diet much from the broth and toast idea but its working. OH, AND MY MOM IS HERE! We talked to her Friday and she got on a plane on Saturday and she swooped in and saved us all!!! Yeah!!!! I am sooo grateful to have her here. I am so dizzy and weak and tired so I sleep a lot so my Mom is literally doing it all. THANK YOU MOM! I LOVE YOU! And thanks Dad for sharing her! Thanks to all of you for the phone calls and emails....we are doing great!!

Ok, just more cute pictures of my girls!

2009-01-19T16:41:00.000-05:00

I saw a post on the shabby apple website for the "picture princess" and I just had to put pictures of the girls on my blog and then put the shabby apple link on my blog so I thought....why not?! So, here is my little plug for my girls on why their mom thinks they are the best things ever! I love you Tay and Halle!!!!!! If you (other readers of my blog) have never checked out the shabby apple website I would highly recommend it. Beautiful dresses...all totally modest and they have sweet little girl's dresses as well!
Halle- 3 years old, will be 4 in March and is such a cute little girl. Halle's personality is one that is sweet, caring, and honest. Her amazing blue eyes and captivating smile are what make her a picture princess. Halle's favorite dress on the Shabby website is: http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-108-45-words-per-minute.aspx

Taylor-5 years old and so smart! She is a ball of energy and fun. From her sprinkles
(freckles) and her permanent smile or silly face she never has a dull moment! She is a perfect picture princess! Tay's favorite dress on the shabby website is: http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-185-canary.aspx

Christmas with the Ingram clan!

2009-01-19T16:26:00.000-05:00

Everyone looks sooooo happy!!! haha Sorry for catching everyone off gaurd with the picture.

Kaley, Heidi, Halle, Riley, and Tay.....Thank you for all the gifts everybody!

We had such a great Christmas! Thank you to both of our families for making it so great!

Winter fun in the Perfect Winter Wonderland!!

2009-01-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

Seriously, these girls are gorgeous...and they are "boarders" So cute...miss you girls!

Love it, Tay was able to go skiing for the first time ever and she had a blast.

The adventurers, they drove there and home in a blizzard but they all said it was well worth it. Next year we will all be going!!!

The girls were jumping off the balcony to Greg and they loved it.

She did really well in the snow..she loved sledding, eating the snow and she didn't even mind the cold.

Beautiful Aunt Bridget! Halle would sqeeze her eyes shut before they even started going down the hill..I am going to miss that sledding hill!

Dustin family, we had sooo much fun with you! My girls are still talking about their sweet, cute cousins. We miss you Evie and Camille

Three little friends!

We woke up the day after Christmas and this is what we saw. Tons and tons of new snow.

Can you see our rental car in this picture? I know, its hard to find!!

Christmas Morning with the Dustin clan!

2009-01-19T15:36:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa gave the girls a cupcake maker, they were so excited! Here's Halle, working studiously on her cupcake creation

Tay's cupcake was a red velvet cake, can you tell?

We cant tell if Halle is awake or not.....

Christmas morning is the best with kids!!

We had sooo much fun with everyone. We miss you guys!!

My Gregory!

2009-01-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

I am convinced that I am married to the most amazing man alive...no offense to others. I just thought I would brag about him just a little bit. I feel so indebted to him! Since I have gotten sick, he has taken care of me, the girls, the house, not to mention his own practice. Thank you, love of my life!

Thank You Becca!!

2009-01-06T15:37:00.000-05:00

My amazingly talented friend Becca, took our family pictures this year and I think they turned out soooooo cute. I want to put all of these up all over my house!

Sweet!

We said, "ok girls, act crazy" and this is what happened one second later....they are what they are!

Poster size, anyone?

2009-01-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

The five of us ran the 4.5 mile Thanksgiving Dash and it was sooo fun!

In november, Tay's school had a Skating night so we went and the girls loved it!

Cute huh!

The big Cut!

2009-01-06T14:59:00.000-05:00

Both girls donated their hair to Locks of Love...I was a little worried that Halle was having way big second thoughts!

Cute huh!! Tay had been bugging me about cutting her hair since this summer so she could "share" it!

So cute, Halle was able to donate 8"

Tay donated 10"

So pathetic!

2008-12-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

I have so much to blog about! Blessings are like blog posts, so I should be writing like every minute but what in the world do I do with my days? I suppose I am mothering and stuff. Strange. I have my newer pics on Greg's laptop and he is out of town this weekend so I just wanted to blog quickly and then I can post pics up later. I have noticed that I am not a journal blogger. I am more of the, here are cute pictures of my kids (like 3 months ago because I am always so far behind) kind of blogger. But since I absolutly stink about writing in my own journal ...mabey I will sort of kind of journal on here...nothing too personal of course!

You know, I find it kind of funny that I was throwing such a fit about moving to Richmond, crying...using the silent treatment...complaining to my running group....cursing under my breath (no I wouldn't do that:))...and what did all that negative energy do? Nothing...not a stinkin thing! I still moved to Richmond! Uggh, did I think that all of that fit throwing would actual stop me from moving? The actual outcome was still the same...except that I had just made it that much harder on myself!!! well, and for my family. It taught me that no matter how hard we complain or whine or beat ourselves and other people up over the things we have to go thru in this life, we will still have to go through them!! Complaining and dragging our feet will only make it harder, it wont stop the trial no matter how small or big from coming our way! That negative energy is so very draining. So, I guess, I need to say sorry to all those that I constantly complained to! I dont love Richmond, but I am loving my life!

Ok, next post, pictures!

Halloween

2008-12-07T15:14:00.000-05:00

Halle, coming home with her loot...look at that proud face!

This picture doesn't do it justice....our neighborhood was packed with people!! It was like that scene in ET when the streets are just covered with Trick or treaters!

Poooooor Tay...She got so sick over her fall break, On wednesday night she got sick with what we thought was the stomach flu but then it just lasted...she was sick on Friday (halloween) and come to find out, she actually had step throat, without a sore throat! Strange! She didn't get better until tuesday and she had lost 5 lbs! Thats a lot for a very little person.

Halle-busy creating her cheese jack-o-lantern for her hamburger (a dustin tradition) and little Tay eating a green popsicle.

On wednesday, before school got out for fall break, the school had a halloween parade...sooo cute!

Pretty Snow fairy princess the weekend before Halloween at the Indy trunk or treat

Princess Belle, she was so excited this year to dress up and trick or treat...it was really fun.

Two best friends!!

Digging my heart out with a spoon...yeah,it felt kinda like that!

2008-11-11T10:26:00.000-05:00

So much trust in a few little steps!

She was so excited to go and stay all day at school....She couldn't believe she was going to be able to eat lunch at school!

Ah best buddies...seperated for 7 hours a day. Halle and I cried the whole first day, it feels like I am just handing her over to the world to take care of now. I totally understand how some mom's say that they live for summer, when their kids belong to them again.

The New Neighborhood

2008-11-11T09:58:00.000-05:00

Tay's new school, Charles Elementary, its only 4 blocks away and so we walk home from school when its nice outside.

A view of our neighborhood....we love the sidewalks and tall trees and all of the homes are so unique!

The crazies on one of our fun family walks....