Christmas 2012

The decorations are up :)

The girls made Ginger Bread Houses!  

We went to see lights several times.  At Thanksgiving Point, in Layton, in Ogden, at the SLC Temple.  

I love the lights!!  

I took this picture of the Temple on our way to the Motab Christmas Concert.  The Concert was amazing as usual, and the lights were just as beautiful :)

We met our cousins in Ogden, at the Ogden Village Lights.  This is one of my favorite traditions.  And afterward, we go to my mom's for dinner and hot chocolate.  

Waiting to see Santa!

Santa just loved Ruby!  He thought she was something else.  And I totally agree :)

My girls, and Santa :)

The cousins and Santa!  Santa was a good sport :)

Grandma Bump Bumps house!  Uncle Mark goes all out when it comes to Christmas Lights!

My girls in front of our Tree.  This picture turned out cuter than I ever could have imagined when I took it.  These three little gems are my life!  Ruby's first Christmas :)

Looks like Santa came :)  He doesn't disappoint! 

Elle's 5th Birthday

As you can see, I'm still getting caught up!  But, it won't take long.  

Last year, on December 1st, on Elle's Birthday, the day we planned her party, we had a huge Wind Storm.  It was monumental.  I'm not sure we'd ever had winds that strong before.  There were countless Tree's down, fences, roof damage, etc..etc.. all over the Wasatch Front.  Needless to say, we had planned to have Elle's party at Chuck E Cheese.  She had been counting on it, but power was out all over too.  And the power was out at Chuck E Cheese.  Luckily, even though we had a few fallen Tree's, and a fence down, we still had power at our house.  Good thing too, because my parents, and two siblings didn't have any power either.  So my entire family was amazing and came to our house and we partied here, at home.  

Well, Elle hadn't forgotten about that Chuck E Cheese party, she was supposed to have.  She remembered every day for a whole year.  A year to a 5 year old, must be a really LONG time!  So, after waiting an entire year, we made it happen.  That amazing Chuck E Cheese birthday party, and oh, it did not disappoint!  It was amazing.  I mean, if I were a kid, I would have thought so.  They gave Elle the STAR treatment!  

The kids ate Pizza, played games, danced with Chuck E Cheese, had cake, ran around like crazy, etc..etc..  There was fun for all.  I was very impressed, and would recommend having your party at Chuck E Cheese to all of my friends.  And Elle still to this day, says, "Mom, that was the BEST Chuck E Cheese Birthday EVER!"  She was very impressed herself :)

Playing Games

 Her Cake!  Oh so good.  Yay for Costco :)

Some of her sweet guests.  Don't know why the nephews aren't in this picture?  They must be off playing!  

Everyone singing and clapping, with Chuck E Cheese.  The entertainment was great!

My little Star!  Oh how I love this little girl! 

Dancing with Chuck E Cheese in the flesh :)  ha..ha.. 

And I have to mention, that Elle actually wouldn't even get near him.  She was totally afraid of the real thing.  So funny :)

My mom and Elle

Oh, this was a fantastic part of the night!  Elle was supposed to go into this room, where the tickets blow around, and she tries to catch some.  But she didn't want to, so her sister Bree went in for her.  There was one big ticket worth 5000 tickets.  And at the very last second, right before the air turned off, Bree reaches out without even knowing it, and catches the amazing 5000 ticket!  It was hilarious!  Bree was in shock,  and everyone cheered!!  One of the things that made our night :)

Ryden and Ruby :)  

What an amazing night! 

Thanksgiving 2012

I have to say that Thanksgiving was amazing this year.  I have so very much to be grateful for!  We always get to have Thanksgiving with my Family on Thanksgiving, and then with Chris' Family two days later on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It's nice that we get to see both Families every year!  

This year, I am particularly Thankful for

Chris

Bree

Elle

Ruby

My parents and family

Chris' family

Chris' Job

Our home

that I am able to stay home with the girls

Our health

Our ward and neighbors

that we have enough to meet our needs

all 4 seasons

toys and play time with my girls

vacations

no longer being pregnant

my bed

How funny and smart Elle is, and the things that she says and remembers

How sweet and amazing Bree is, and how helpful she is

That I get to snuggle and love Ruby, and kiss her, and how much I LOVE having a baby

My Person....Chris....who is the most amazing husband and father on the planet

My awesome visiting teachers, who I am blessed to call my friends

The wonderful RS ladies who brought in dinners after Ruby was born

My MOM!  who came over twice a week for a couple of months, to take my girls to school, feed and get them dressed, talked with me, brought me lunches, took us to our Dr. appointments, spent time serving us, and loving us, and so much more!!  And that should be a whole post all on it's own,  and yeah, I should do that.

And so much more!!!

I told you I love toys :)

 My little family :)

 My sister in law Monica, and my little turkey :)

Dad and the Turkey :)

 The Pie :)

 Me and MY PERSON :)

The Belnap Turkey's  minus Camber's family :)

 You know Chris' family is big, when you have to have Thanksgiving dinner at the Church.  Kind of like a ward dinner :)  Did I mention that Chris has 9 brothers and sisters.  Who all have children just about my age, who all have kids my children's ages, etc..etc...  You get the point :)

Being a Mom of Three!

Having Ruby has made me a better Mom.  

It has.  And I'm not sure why.  I just feel so much more at peace.  I am more calm.  I am a little more patient.  I am super happy to have all three girls here.  Maybe it's because I have had 2 Blited Ovems (false pregnancies), or because we waited a long while for Ruby.  Or because I was literally hospitalized and made it through all the craziness that was scary and hard.  Maybe it's because with each baby, I realize more and more what a true miracle it all is, and how very blessed I am to get to have THREE!  And by the way, now that I have made it through 3 not so fun, not so nice pregnancies, and this last experience, I feel like I can make it through almost anything!  Including helping Bree get stitches, which I talked about two posts ago.  Truthfully, I know that our Whole family is here now.  There is no one else waiting for us.  Ruby was supposed to come, and now that we have her, I am in love with my life, and with my girls!  I am enjoying these moments!

Which brings me to another quick topic.  The word ENJOY, is my new word for this up coming year.  I have decided that I am enjoying my life, and that I am going to enjoy every experience that comes my way.  I want to be extra happy, and have more fun, and I want to ENJOY these precious little girls, and my husband, and everything that we do.  And for the first time I even Enjoy getting up in the middle of the night to feed the baby, and I enjoy those huge poopy diapers, early mornings, and everything else that comes with being a mom.  I am enjoying my life just as it is.  It is perfect! :)  

The first Real Snow of Winter 2012/13

Our first big snow of the Winter Season.  November 10th 2012.

My girls LOVE to play in the Snow!  Good thing too, because I am married to "The Snowman".  And I quite like the snow myself.  I have really been amazed at how long they will stay out in it.  Until after dark, just like I did when I was a kid.  All Elle kept saying, is that she wanted me to make Snow Angels with her.  And I did.  And she even talks about it still today.  She'll say, "Mom, remember yesterday, when we made Snow Angels together"?  Because she has no concept of time, everything happened yesterday :)  I love it!  And I love to play in the snow with my girls!   

Our first set of Stitches

First off, It's been a very long time since I've blogged.  Ok, since November.  I ran out of FREE photo storage space and have been too cheap to pay for it.  But I have since decided that I need to keep this blog going, and therefore will have to pay, until I can print some books and maybe delete some of this blog, or just pay for the space.  With that being said.  I guess I'll have to post at least a few times a week to catch up!  

Our first set of Stitches!  

I got a call one day at home, that while Bree was at school, she had tripped in the classroom, falling on someones chair, and was bleeding pretty badly.  I needed to go and pick her up!  Of course, will all of the blood, you couldn't really see what had happened, or how bad it was.

  

You know how hard it is, to see your children in pain.  And let me preface this by saying, that before I had Ruby, I was such a wimp.  I mean, I've had two other children, but I went through a lot with Ruby, a lot more than I realized, and now I can see that everything happens for a reason.  I am now one of those parents, who no matter how scary things may seem, realizes that you just do what you have to do, and get it done.  So I held my girl down, while they cleaned out the wound.  And when I was actually able to see what it really looked like.  Well....WOW!  I could pretty much see into her head.  It was a much bigger, and deeper hole than I had thought.  It would need stitches for sure!  Then I had to help hold her again, talk her through it, while they stitched her up.  The needle went in, and tugged on her skin, and I told her it was no big deal.  NO BIG DEAL....are you kidding me!  CRAZY is what I was really thinking.  I am glad she couldn't see what was going on.  I wanted to say, is this for real, or HOLY COW, but I couldn't say those things out loud.  I didn't want to freak Bree out.  So I told her is was no big deal, and helped her through it.  Whoa, this is something you see on TV, like an episode of Grey's Anatomy, not something my baby was going through.  Ok, that is what was going on in my head, but really, we're talking 3 stitches.  3 little stitches did the job.  I was totally amazed.  The doctor was amazing with those 3 little stitches, and I watched as that hole disappeared right before my very eyes!  :) 

Well, she only had the stitches for 5 short days, and then they were taken out.  We have saved those stitches, so we'll always remember.  Well, really, just because it's pretty cool to have your stitches right?  I guess when you have stitches in your face, they take them out fast, so that you have minimal scaring.  And I am seriously in awe of the human body, and how fast we can heal ourselves.  Simply Amazing!!

And P.S.  Bree ended up taking her stitches to school for a show and tell.  I figured since the kids saw the whole thing happen, they might think it was fun to see her stitches.  And I heard, that the kids were screaming when it happened.  I guess it was pretty gory.