MIA or what?

Geez. . . I used to be SO faithful . . and then like almost a month goes by. What the heck? I feel like I have been SO SO SO busy. i haven't had time to do anything. Cory has been gone almost this whole month and with birthday parties, school, and cheer . . I've been running mad. We are FINALLY completely settled into the new place and I went to the new ward today for the first time--- and yes I tackled it going solo. Lets just say that it was SUPER hard to carry a 30 lbs carseat around with a 3 year old hanging on me. My biggest fear came to be when in the middle of sacrament meeting I get the whisper "Mommy, I gotta go potty." Yes, this happened when I JUST got Canden to sleep in the carseat and all our stuff was everywhere. Luckily, this nice lady behind me said she'd watch him while I ran her to the bathroom. I was a bit nervous--- but we were at church right? It was SUPER hard trying to do it by myself with a baby who is helpless. So I am rethinking my strategy for next week. As stated, Cory has been gone like always. He finally came home from Oregon last Monday, but had a fair in Pocatello all that week so we hardly saw him. Then he was done and we got his attention for pretty much Saturday--- (well more like he was relaxing catching up on House.) Then today rolled around and he left early this morning for his 2.5 week trek to Oregon again. Ag Fairs galore for him right now. Then when he comes back in a few weeks he is home for like a day and then gone to Utah for training. Life is pretty unstable here . . . its SO weird being USED to him being gone all the time. It has been SO hard on Araleigh. That little girl is so attached to her dad. Its been really hard because he is the ONLY one that can calm her down and reason with her. As she is exactly like me . . . so we bud heads often. I feel terrible because she just misses him so much and all she cries for is her daddy. Like tonight she woke up with a nightmare . . . was crying for her daddy. I picked her up (she wasn't awake but was screaming) and she peed all over me. She had a nightmare and wasn't awake but it was terrible that I couldn't seem to calm her. Nights like these is when I need help. Right now I am also watching my niece Kenzi, so its hard to keep one calm and not screaming (which Araleigh does LOUD and OFTEN when she wakes up) without waking up the other 2. Hopefully the next few weeks will fly by. Then we can start concentrating and working on some more important things.

Canden--my little bundles of smiles --- is ALL by crawling normally. He is ALWAYS on all fours and he pushes himself backwards and he hops forward. He can go from laying on his stomach to sitting on his bum and he pulls himself up to his knees. BUT HE ISN'T CRAWLING yet. Little stinker. He gets everywhere he wants though just by wiggling and plopping himself all over. His hair is out of control and his smile is getting bigger. Did I mention he adores his sister. I have never seen quite a connection. If she comes into the room, he BEAMS . . . if she leaves the room-- he searches her out and if he can't find her . . . he cries. They love each other so much, its incredible. She is always singing to him and talking to him when we are in the car (they sit right next to each other) and calms him when he is fussing. Its so cute. For a 3 year old, she really does help me. Canden waves "bye bye" and "hello" . . . . and is spoiled rotten. I don't care anymore though-- because I decided that there are so many unloved and unfortunate children in the world that I want to make sure that mine know how much they are loved--- and if that means holding them and kissing them for 18 hours of the day-- I am okay with that. Cory gets so mad at me because i cannot handle when Canden cries-- mostly because he is screaming "mamamamamama" breaks my heart-- so I go scoop him up and nibble on his cheeks til he laughs. I love that little guy. Araleigh just amazes me everyday. She is getting so smart (I mean sassy. haha) She loves school and her teaches and really is learning alot, I think. She loves to draw and is currently obsessed with stickers. I try and smooch on her too everyday--- but usually only get a few in before she is wiping them off and saying "thats gross." Me and Araleigh have found a new relationship . . now she is getting older it seems like she has become my little best friend. She has a lot of Cory's personality as well--- and even though we are mad at each other all the time--- she gets me laughing all the time from some of the things she says to me. Today at church-- it was the sweetest thing ever. Cory and I have had many talks with her about the Temple and Jesus (as well as church)... well the past while she keeps asking to go see Jesus. Today she looked at me and said "mommy, I want to go to Temple and see Jesus" I said . . "Jesus is in Heaven and we can only feel his spirit in the Temple" and she says "but can I go see Him" . . . all I could say was "No you cannot go see Him, yet but someday you will all be able to see Him." It just touched my heart that she just really wants to see Him. she always BEGS me to drive by the Temple and she hoots and hollers when ever she sees it. She is my light in my life right now . . . it seems like when I am struggling she comes up with these sweet things to say to me when i am not expecting it. I guess thats why Children are gifts from God right.

As for me, well I am just blah. Nothing happening except for kids. Thats what happens when your a mom . . . your life is your kids. I FINALLY made cory go get the elliptical for me to start using before he left. so that is my goal. I am gonna be having a bunch of weddings this summer, prolly and I HAVE to lose these L.B.'s. Its getting ridiculous . . . so I am hoping to start working some of these midnight cravings for milkshakes or Lindt truffles (have you had those?. . . INCREDIBLE . . although slightly addicting!) Anyways, I am thrilled that ALL of my shows have geared up again. Although no DVR anymore. Can I just say I have NO IDEA how to LIVE without DVR. Its been horrible. Once you got it you can't ever go without it. Too bad we have to . . but MOM HAS IT! So we are DVRing at her house! haha Anyways, its late and I have 2 girls and a baby to man handle tonight. . . wish me luck!

Oh Canden Boy . . .

Well, times are flying and I feel like I am standing at a stand still in the middle of this whirlwind. I CANNOT believe that my baby is now almost 7 months old. It almost makes me sick to think about. Canden has hit a few milestones since my last post:

* He says "mumma" ALL THE TIME. He now knows who I am and is CONSTANTLY calling for me. Although, last night we laid him down for bed-- and all he could say was " Da da da da". ha ha. It was funny cuz Cory REALLY didn't want to go get him. Now that he says mama he hardly ever says dada. I love it. He now plays patti cake all the time and when you say "hi" he throws his hands into the air and waves. Its the cutest thing ever. He is almost crawling. He gets on all fours and rocks like a mad man! This past week has been the roughest week with him. He was super sick for 2 days-- I wasn't sure what was going on because he is NEVER fussy. So I finally took him in on Sunday because we all slept a total of like 2 hours MAYBE those past 2 days because of him not sleeping. We just couldn't get him calm. Well, as a result he had an ear infection in his right ear and a VERY sore throat--- hence the extreme fussing and did I mention he didn't eat for 2 days. I was pumping like crazy. On top of that he had a cold and couldn't breath at all through his nose-- which also kept him from eating. Well, we finally got him on meds and yesterday was the first time he ate and acted like himself again. Then the ONE night he finally went to sleep Araleigh was up all night with a bellyache. in the past week we have had hardly ANY sleep. But things are on the up now and we are getting back to normal.

When we took Canden to the doctor he weighed 17 lbs 6oz. CAN WE SAY FATTY?? He is so cute. I just can't even stand it--- I munch on his fat cheeks all day almost. I have never seen a happier baby. Last night he was teasing us and trying to put his baseball hat on because Cory had his on. It was so cute. We just love this little guy and I am so relieved to have him start feeling better. Hopefully sickness will stay AWAY from my family so we can catch up on some sleep and get some much needed energy back.

We are in an apartment as mentioned before and we LOVE it. It's kinda weird not being in our house . . . but I will say that the place we've rented it great. Its VERY spacious and has just been a great place for us to be until we figure out where we are going! Araleigh hardly wants to leave because now she has her playroom with ALL of her toys. (When we moved to Arnolds we had to just take a few toys and the rest were in storage.) She loves it here. I am so relieved and greatful that we are here . . . Pictures to come later.