Just when I thought I had it figured out.

After 5 1/2 years of being a mother I had it figured out. If I woke up early, 5:30 am, I could excersice and take a shower and I would still have enough time to get Olivia ready for school. I figured out how to have a little bit of me time. Time without having to stop and be a mom for any reason, time to not think about what the kids were into or why they were crying or who hit who. I had time to collect my thoughts before I had to change a diaper or fix breakfast .I HAD TIME......until the kids figured it out. Now for the past 2 days they are up at 5:15 in the morning. Not just one of them all THREE of them! Now I have 3 super tired and cranky kids, I did not excersice today ( I did yesterday but hopping on one foot on the treadmill while trying to kick the stuffed animal your child just threw at you out of your way is not exactly safe), I did not get to think before the poop and the cereal and the tears bombarded me and now it is only 1:00pm and I am done! I want my time back!


ps. I love, love, love, love ,love ,love my kids and being a mom...I am just done for this moment!

I can do this! I know I can!

I am not quite sure why I have such a hard time keeping up with this blog. I want to a really, really want to! So I have decided that I am going to blog but I might not always include pictures ( I am pretty sure that is where I get lazy about blogging!). So here's to trying!

I have been trying to make some changes in my life recently. As a family we are on a new budget ( I grumble a little, but really it is a good thing!), I am trying to be healthier by working out at least 5 times a week, I am TRYING to be more organized although I am not to sure I am much different in this area yet, I am trying to have a little more patience for my kids ( after all they are children! I cannot expect adult behaviors from them yet!), and I have decided that I can make all the bread our family needs, which is really not as hard as it sounds. So far so good.

Lately I have been amazed by my darling, sweet, Carley. She is a fire cracker! She knows what she wants, how she will get it, when she wants it and nothing will stand in her way. Her new favorite thing to do is trick people. She does not care who it is or if she knows them....she will trick anyone! Her favorite method is this :
Carley- You don't know what is in my hand?
Me- is it your blanket ( it is her blanket, I can clearly see that she is hiding behind her back) Carley - No - its not. Its a toy.
Me- well I can see your blanket
Carley - how do you know ?

This recently happened while Carley was doing some tests. She was asked by the lady testing her to pick the pennies off the table and put them in the box and then hand the box to the lady. Carley picked up six pennies with one hand and then quietly slid 2 pennies off the table into her other hand. She put the 6 pennies in the box and handed it to the lady.
Lady- good job Carley, but we are missing 2 pennies
Carley- no we are not!
Lady- let me see your hand Carley (shows her the hand with out the pennies) Lady - let me see the other hand Carley( shows her other fist)
Lady - are the pennies in your hand?
Carley- no
Lady- then open your hand
Carley - I cant, someone put glue on the pennies and now my hand is glued shut! (opens her hand and pennies fall out) Ha ha I tricked you!

Ty is 1!

Can you believe my little man is now one! I can't! Here are somethings we love about him:

- He is calm and collected (most of the time)

- He is a snuggler

- He LOVES his sisters

- He LOVES his blankie, which he sucks on until it stinks so bad no one want to be around it!

- He has the cutest smile ever

- He is starting to talk...he says "WOW" a lot

We celebrated his birthday with a little party. He had a fun barn cake....and a little barn cake for him. He dug right in and ate a ton!

picutres

Carley and Oliva

they thought it was so fun that the grass was taller than them

Fishin' with Granddad

4 generations of Bringhurst Hands
Great Grandpa Gordon, Grandpa Roger, Eric and Ty

Melissa and Ty

(one of the few time I am not behind the camera)

We're Back!

I am not even sure if anyone looks at our blog anymore...after a 6 month gap, who would?! Lots has happened in the past 6 months and I won't be able to update you on everything but here are a few highlights:

The house is "finished"! It has been such a long process, but the house is finally done! It is beautiful and we absolutly love it! I will definatly post some before and after pictures!

We have done a bit of camping this summer. We LOVE to camp and have added a "new to us" trailer to the family. It sure makes it much easier to camp with the kids and it is nice to have all our camping stuff ready to go.


Carley is 3! She celebrated her 3rd birthday on July 30th. She loves being three and is such a sweet,cute girl.

Olivia is a Kinddie! She started her first day of school on August 7th! She is so big and even rides the bus to school...which is her very favorite part.

Carley also started pre-school. She LOVES it and looks forward to it all week! It is good for her to do something that is all her own!

Ty is getting so big! He 8 months old now, has 2 teeth and rolls all over the place. He loves his sister and in no time will be running right along with them.

We got a Puppy! "Rusty" joined our family in the middle of August. He is a very good puppy and is a great addition to the family.

Our cat "cowboy" had kittens! Who knew, she was a "cowgirl". She had 2 adorable kittens, which have been lovingly named "Bella" and "Spencer" by the girls.

Eric has been super busy at work, often working 10 hour days then going to the office to do the "boss" stuff and working on Saturday. We sure love him for all of his hard work but do miss him when he is so busy.....We are truly blessed to have him as our husband and father.

Melissa is busy just keeping up with everyone! The remodel was tough on her and the kids, however, she loves the results and had fun throwing a big party to show her new house off!

We PROMISE to be better at updating!

Blessing Day

Ty on his blessing day.
His aunties got him the hat! We love it!

Our first family picture

We blessed Ty this last Sunday. Almost my entire family, with the exception of Amanda and Anthony, and half of Erics family was there. We really missed those who could not make it! Eric did a great job , I couldn't even tell that he was nervous.

Typical Saturday

Starts of with a little cuddling in the morning

On this saturday Olivia had a super hero party
She is super girl!

Carley is ready to do some "ranching" with her daddy


And the day ususally ends like this...asleep in the chair

Lions, Tigers and Bears

The weather has been so nice here in Colorado...so we headed to the Zoo! I met up with my sister Shauna, her two girls and the little girl she watches and her friend Melissa and her little girl and little boy that she watches. We almost had the zoo to ourselves! Olivia loved the bears and Carley loved the pink birds, but I think mostly they loved running around with their cousins and friends. Oh yeah! Ty was there and he just loved to sleep! Melissa and Ty!

I love those eyes!

The monkies at the zoo!

Shauna and Ty

Little Man

We're seeing blue!

Ty Bringhurst was born 12-18-08 at 10:13 PM.

He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and measures 20 inches long.

We were induced bright and early Thursday morning, expecting to have our little boy by early afternoon. Our plans, however, did not go as we thought. After laboring for 12 hours with an epidural that worked everywhere but in one spot, dialating to a 9.5 and stalling , and the baby was still kicking me in the ribs, meaning he had not dropped a bit, the doctor decided on a c -section. We sure are glad she did because the cord was wrapped around Ty 3 times. The doctor told us that I could have labored for days and he would never have come naturally. We are all doing well. Melissa is sore, tired and in love with her new baby boy, Eric is happy for a boy and can't wait to take him hunting, Olivia is full of kisses for her new baby brother, and Carley is not sure what to think, but will give him a kiss if you ask her to. We are so blessed to be able to raise this little boy and have him for our very own.

PS - Thanks for the pictures Auntie Erin- we stole them off her blog!

Time to update!

Time to update! I am sooooooo bad about updating!

Well the official baby count down is now 6 days! I cannot wait to hold our little man in my arms! Too bad we still haven't agreed on a name. The rules now are 1. we have a name before we go to the hospital 2. No discussions of names while I am in labor 3. or we pick a name shortly after he is born...we will have to see how this all plays out!

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Erics family here in Colorado this year. It was nice not to have to travel for a change...it sure is easier to have the 3 of them travel to us than the 10, soon to be 11 in the Colorado bunch travel to Utah! I really did not have to do much of the cooking thanks to my mother in law, who came prepared to cook. Being 9 months pregnant and doing a dinner was just not an option this year. As always, the food was great and so was the company!

There is some progress on the house! The fireplace is finally finished and our bedroom and bathroom are so close to being done! All we are waiting on is the counter top in the bathroom and for us to move our bed into the room. I promise pictures soon!

The next update will hopefully include some good news about the baby!

Let the Count Down Begin!

I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone! The doctor has agreed to induce labor on December 18th! I don't and ,I don't think she wants to ,be tied up in the hospital on Christmas. I still have SOOO much to do to be ready for a new baby in the house, but I am sure as the days creep by it will all get done eventually! The girls are more excited as my belly grows and I think Carley is a little afraid that the new baby will get her bed and blanket. We went and bought the new baby his own blanket so that Carley could have a little piece of mind. Every time she would see her blanket she would remind us all that it was hers and not for the baby! We still have yet to officially decide on a name, but if it is left totally up to me it will be Ty Ealey Bringhurst.....I don't have all of the say of course....just pray that Eric will forget about the name Otis!

Halloween

Olivia was a beautiful flower fairy
Carley sportin' her knee socks (she loves theses socks) and Halloween shirt at Olivias school

The Parade

Carley the Chicken. (she hated this costume because it tickled and this was probably the only smile!)

"EWWW, it stinks!"

So excited about carving pumpkins!

That was the girls reaction to pumpkin guts! At first they both wanted nothing to do with the insides of the pumkins, but after seeing Mom and Dad do it they both dove right in and loved it. Unfortunatly we don't have any pictures of it because we were all covered in pumpkin guts!

Pumpkin Patch

The weather this October has been wonderful! A few weeks ago the girls and I ventured out to a "pumpkin patch". Really it was a large field that they brought pumpkins too, but the girls did not care. The girls loved it, but were not in picture taking moods, so here are the best shots of the day! Olivia and a goat

Carley at the end of the slide

"look at me girls"

Olivia, ready to slide

Labor of Love

As many of you know, one of my good friends lost her husband just a little over a year ago. He had a TON of Wrangler jeans that she was not sure what to do with, so I offered her the idea of turning them, along with his flannel shirts, into memory quilts. So together we cut the jeans into squares, she and her children each picked out a flannel for the back that reminded them of him, and I sewed it all into 3 quilts. I finished one of them completely and let my friend put the finishing touches on the other two herself. It kind of turned into a family affair as Olivia and Eric stacked the jean squares as I cut them and Eric and I reminisced about the good times we had with our friend and guessed about the different stains and tears on the jeans. It was an honor to be able to do this for such a great family. As I put the quilts together I couldn't help but think about all the times their family had spent together, him wearing those Wranglers, and I wrote a little poem to keep with the quilts:

Behind the Squares

Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt
The first time they met, the relationship they built
The love that they shared, how much he cared
Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt

Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt
The rodeos he rode, the ground that he hit
The ground in dirt and the ground in cow sh*!
Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt

Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt
The miles he drove, the chew that he spit
Behind 18 wheels - that bumpy old seat - her waiting for him, he tired and beat
Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt

Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt
A daddy and daughter - a love that is truly felt
A precious jewel in her daddy’s eyes - to her he’s and amazing hero on the rise
Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt

Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt
A dad and his boy - their Wranglers a perfect fit
He wants to be just like his dad - A father and husband, the best any ever had
Behind the squares of this ratty ol’ quilt

In the Dumps about Dinner

I love to cook! I enjoy planning out meals and making the grocery list, lately, however, I am in the Dinner Dumps. Nothing sounds appealing to eat or make...so if you have any great ideas for dinner...PLEASE HELP!

more moments

Carley, enjoying her ice cream in Estes Park.
Eric and Melissa
Eric, Olivia, Carley, and Melissa in Estes Park
Olivia
Carley

Memorable Moments

A big girl riding her BIG bike!
Carley found my lipstick! She loved it...I did not!

Olivia on her first day of Pre- K!

Time Out!

Time out!



No, its not what you think. Its not the " time out!" that I am constantly yelling at my kids.....today I realized how important it is to take a time out for me.

Life has been nothing short of crazy around here lately. I have been home alone with a 2 year old and a 4 year old for over a week. The "new" house is a wreck with no end in sight and I am freaking out because our new little baby will be here in just a couple of months. These things have absolutely consumed my life, making me that "mean mommy" who is short on patience and always yelling at her kids. So, today I decided that I have had enough! While talking to a good friend today...in my freak out mode...she reminded me of what I have. I have a loving husband who would do anything for our family, 2 precious girls who are active and healthy, and roof over my head. Honestly, what more could I ask for? How selfish I have been for stressing out about these things. Yes it is hard to be alone with the girls...but they are little for only a short time and then they will grow up and want nothing to do with mom. Yes, the house is a wreck, but it is still livable and who cares if the floors are concrete and the fireplace is STILL half done...the beds are warm, the food is good, and roof keeps us dry. And yes ,the baby is coming soon....but all he needs to know is that his family loves him and can care for him, he will not care what the house looks like.

Today the girls and I took a walk to the mail box. We filled our pockets with "ear corns" (Acorns), looked at every pretty rock, watered all the wild flowers we saw, looked for snakes, and just enjoyed each other. I did not hurry the girls along or worry that we were taking too much time because I had things to do...I just enjoyed them. What a blessing!