Crafty?!

Ok seriously what is with me and crafts? I don't do crafts. But for some reason lately I have LOVED them. A few days ago my kids and I made all these with the exception of the hair bow frame. I have had so much fun crafting!

All my kids helped with the cookies. Yummy! Snickerdoodle anyone? They were sooo good. Maybe cause they were made with so much love. My kids rock!!!

Kinley and I made the hair bows together. She loves them so much. Now I need to learn how to make the ones out of ribbon. Oh wow that will be a chore for me. But just like everything else I'm sure I will love them and end up making a ton.

I made the tiles with out any help. I need to get the ribbon on them so I can hang them in the kids' room. They were a lot of fun. I'm totally into mod podgeing lately.

The following day I also made hooded towels to auction at our family reunion. Wow what a busy beaver!! Let's see baking, mod podgeing, painting, and sewing.....who is this girl? Where has Suzanne gone?

Ty

This little man is my baby Ty. He is now 15 months old. We called him Baby Ty when he was first born but now it doesn't seem so appropriate. We have moved on to calling him Ty-Ty. Isn't it funny when someone has a single syllable name you give them a two syllable nickname. Crazy! Usually names are shortened.

Ty is my sweet cuddle bug. This little man loves hugs, kisses and cuddles. I LOVE it!!! The downfall to that is he has to be held to go to sleep and he does not like to share his Mommy with his sister. If Kinley climbs up on my lap he starts crying and runs over to me. Usually she has to share my lap with her little brother. Ty is a total Mommy's boy! It works out great...Ty is Mommy's boy and Kinley is Daddy's girl, Trav is old enough that he doesn't really need either of us.

Ty brings so much joy and laughter to our household. He is a funny boy. Everything makes him laugh. He also loves to dance. Kinley is the bootie shaker and Ty is the bootie bouncer!

He is ALL boy. He loves to make Kinley scream. He's also destructive, dirty, mean and loves to wrestle. He loves to play with rocks and bugs and play in dirt. Oh and did I mention he also likes to eat all those things. Yuck!! Yep, it's pretty gross but we still love him dearly.

Travis

This is Travis. He was part of a package deal when I married Jeremy. He was 7 when we got married and in 26 days he will be 13. That's right people I will have a teenager! Holy crap that makes a person feel old.

Trav is a special person. He came to live with us a few months after Kinley was born. About a year after living with us Jeremy got full costody. He is my son in every way. He was even sealed to Jeremy and I in the temple 2 years ago. He is a great brother to our little kids and a wonderful son to us. He is such a huge help to me. I don't know what I would do without him. I love you Trav!!!

McKinley

This is my BEAUTIFUL daughter McKinley Jane! She is 3 years old. This girl is so much fun. Everyday she does or says something to make me laugh. She loves to dance and sing. I tell you this girl is a bootie shaker! She is a good sister to both her brothers, she sure does like to tease her older brother though.

When I got pregnant all I wanted was boys but I was SO excited when we found out she was a girl!! In my experience girls are harder but they are totally worth it. Kinley truly is a joy. She is a blessing in our lives, especially her Daddy's. She is a Daddy's girl and she doesn't mind letting everyone know it!

We love you Kinley!!

As most of you know our yard has looked like crap for 2 years now. As of last night it is finally completely landscaped! I love it! I think it turned out great. It has been kind of fun because Jeremy and I have been doing it ourselves (with the help of a few friends). I think we are more proud of this because we worked so hard on it.

I wish I would have taken some before and after pictures but I didn't think about it early enough. Our yard used to have grass and a huge, beautiful tree. We had to cut it down because the roots were going to destroy the foundation of our home and the neighbors home. Last year we tilled up all the old, dead grass and just left the yard because we didn't think we had the money to fix it. Well between the economy and tax returns our yard looks nice again! And bonus, no more HUGE water bill!!!

Potty Training Complete!

My wonderful 3 year old McKinley has been potty training off and on for over a year now. I made the mistake of trying to train her before she was 2. I wanted her potty trained before the baby was born...then I gave up. She definately was not ready then.

When Kinley was 2 1/2 we started again. It was a little more successful that time. She has been "day time" potty trained for months now but she has still been wearing pull-ups at night. I tried a few different times to let her sleep in panties during the night and every time she would wake up wet. She just went for two whole weeks waking up with dry pull-ups. So we tried it again. SUCCESS!!!! McKinley has been sleeping for 5 days in panties and waking up dry every morning. She even woke up once in the middle of the night to go potty. GREAT JOB my girl!

No more pull-ups. No more remembering to pack them when we go out of town. No more tears when the ones with two princesses are all gone. No more spending money on something we don't really need. No more baby girl. No more potty training!!!! At least for a year or two!

Cabbage Leaves

Ok so this might be a little personal but I'm ok with that. I don't mind sharing things that are personal and it's my blog so here goes.

I stopped nursing my baby a few weeks ago and I was in MAJOR pain. I was so full and sore. I put a post on facebook asking all my lady friends for some advice on how to relieve some of my pain. I got a lot of awesome responses. A few women suggested I try cabbage leaves. Seriously? I just thought that was a little strange so I did not do it.

After 10 days of being in pain I finally called my doctors office and asked the nurse what I could do. What did she say???? Use cabbage leaves! OH MY GOSH! This is coming from my nurse! She said a lot of lactation consultants are suggesting it because it works so well. So I went to the store a got a head of cabbage.

So I must say cabbage leaves are AWESOME!!! I used them off and on for 3 days. You place them directly on your skin for a few hours and go about your day. Within a few hours I was feeling better. The pain was starting to go away and so was the milk.

It has now been 5 days since I first used them and I feel totally better. They took away the soreness and my milk supply. So now I am back to my usually small breasted self. That is the worst part. I do miss the large breasticles.

So for all of you out there that are, will be, or know a woman that needs relief after nursing may I suggest......CABBAGE LEAVES!!!!