Summer is winding down...

So, I have been busy, busy, busy rearranging my house. I switched my front two rooms around. So, right when you walk in, is our living room, and the room to the right is a playroom! I figured I needed it with Jake and Jenna getting so big and being very busy, and needing to be entertained all the time. I know I am probably insane, but I have decided to open up an in home daycare! I figure, I am staying home anyway, and I have the playroom all set up, and I have a degree in child development, and I need extra money! I am getting a business license, etc. So, pretty excited. I will start Sept. 1st. Still need to do a lot to get prepared, renew my CPR certification and First Aid, take an orientation on the state child care licensing process, have a home inspection, build up an outdoor play area, advertise, etc. It will help so much too, because I will have to be so super scheduled, and keep my house extremely clean. It will be really good for my family to tighten up our routine/chores. I have recently been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. It is basically hypothyroidism, but mine is an autoimmune disorder. Antibodies are attacking my thyroid. I have been on medication now since the end of May and feel MUCH better. I have lost 16 lbs, and FEEL WONDERFUL physically/emotionally! I no longer eat ANY gluten, dairy or soy. I have never felt better in my entire life. So, I am sad that summer is winding down, but am looking forward to this new school year and all of the memories/adventures/challenges that are headed my way!

So, it has been over a year since I have written on here. I have had this nagging feeling lately that I need to start writing on this more. I think I have a phobia of writing things for others to see. There. I admit it. I am like that with facebook also. But, it is actually something I need to get over. I want to have a document of little memories, and big ones for that matter, that we can look back on. That is one reason why I enjoy scrapbooking so much. You capture a moment, and can look back on it. So, needless to say, my twins are 14 months old now and I haven't posted anything on here since right after they were born. I had a friend ask me if I had a blog and told me that she was interested in how life is with twins, etc. So, I made a commitment that I would start keeping up with my blog at least weekly. This year has been seriously crazy. I have gone through emotions and feelings that I have never experienced. There were times of sadness when there was serious lack of sleep, and I so much wanted to be my happy self, but struggled emensily. After the twins turned 6 months, life has gotten easier by the day. I still am amazed that I am mother to 5 children. I love it!! In having 3 children before the twins, I knew how it was to love ALL of my children unconditionally, but I had never had the bonding, sheer joy of reaching each milestone, the proud feeling of hearing "mama", the wanting to hold the infant in my arms for hours at a time, rock in the rocking chair, nurse, etc, times two. It is seriously DOUBLE the JOY. And, it has been such a unique experience seeing things through my eyes with all the training and experience I have with young children/child development. I have watched as they alternate in discoveries. One day, it seems that Jake has caught on to something (signing "more" for example), when two days later Jenna picks it up also. Or thinking Jake will walk first, becuase he learned to pull himself up and stand independently, while Jenna was still trying to stand on her tip toes just a few months ago, and she is the one who is walking now! And, I don't care WHAT people say about gender. I truly believe that gender is embedded and engrained in your DNA. Jake is all about the dinasaurs, making ROARING sounds, etc. While Jenna just wants her baby. And can say baby! It has been a tremendous experience and blessing to have them. I can't imagine my life any other way.

Bad at this, but trying to be better!

For some reason we are SOOOOOOO bad at updating this thing! Anyway, I am trying to be better, but I am sure as you all know it is just going to get harder with two brand new babies coming!! I am 35 weeks today. I have no more than 3 weeks to go. My doctor will schedule a c section between 37 and 38 weeks which means between March 19th and March 26th. I am nervous and excited!! I am so ready for them to get here!!! This has by far been the hardest pregnancy I have had, just LOTS of back pain, hip pain, leg pain, etc. I have gained a ton of weight:( But, it is all for two very good reasons! We are so excited to have them join our family. The kids are so excited too! I think Lexi will do good, but I definitely think she is going to feel a little out of place with two babies. She is such a little Mommy and great helper so I think she will be ok, it will just be a little adjustment. Our ward and friends are so awesome!! We love living here in Utah, especially here in this house! It is so fun! Mike is gearing up for the garden again this year!! We are hoping that we have as much success as we did last year. That's all for now.

Christmas, Lockton's b-day and looking forward to the New Year

We had a really nice Christmas. It was very laid back, but very nice. We were all hoping it was going to snow, but it didn't. Hopefully it will snow next week. Lockton had a nice birthday, I can't believe that he is 6 already!!! We had a family party for him on his birthday and a little party with friends today. It was nice. His friends, the vallejos, the mauzys and the glidewells came. We are excited for this new year, especially since we will be adding two new little ones to our family!! I am getting pretty big. I am only 6 months and feel/look like 8!! Yikes! We will keep you better posted on our family!

Lots of news! 8 months in the making!

Seriously, I thought I was going to like and be good at this whole blog thing. Yeah right. It has been pretty embarrassing how often we post something on here!! A lot has happened since our last post! We had an amazing summer. Lots of swimming and we took a trip to Arizona. Mike had to stay here and work, but it was a good trip. We moved my mom, stepdad, and my little sister Sammie out here to live by us. They actually live right behind us! It has been working out great. We found out at the end of July that we are expecting another baby. And three weeks ago, we found out that we are expecting 2 babies!! A boy and a girl! We are so very excited for them to join our family. I am due April 9th, 2011. I will try and be better about posting on here!!

We got our van fixed!!

So, we sold our white van. Bought a white GMC Yukon, and just two days ago, we were able to get our red van fixed for half of what we originally thought it would cost us. So, we have two cars again! Yay! Anyway, Katelyn and Lockton are starting up soccer. And they are both doing well in school and enjoy it, but are very excited for the warm weather, summer, swimming, and our garden! We are planting a HUGE garden in our yard. We are so excited about it! Lexi is doing great, she is talking so much. We found a worm in the dirt the other day and she said, "OOOOOOHHHHH, a snake!!" It was so cute. So, Mike told her no, it is a worm, but it kind of looks like a snake, huh? Then he proceeded to spray it with water, and she was SOOOOOO concerned! She said, Snake no die!!!! It was the cutest thing ever, I wish I got it on video. Anyway, she is learning like 4 new words a day it seems. Things are good. I miss AZ, need to get back and see my family, it has been 1 year since I have been back. That's all for now.

New car, two sick kids and one sick husband

Well we found a car!!! Yay! It is a GMC Yukon! We are really excited about it. We are hoping it will do our family well for years to come. Mike got strep throat on Saturday. I felt so bad for him, he couldn't sleep a wink the whole night! I get it really bad too when I get it. Luckily I didn't get it from him, which is the first, last fall we passed it back and forth 3 times!! So, yesterday I took Lexi to the doctor, she has mild bronchulitis and a severe diaper rash due to major diarrhea UCK!! And then, I had to take Lockton to instacare because he had an ear infection, so two out of three kids are on antibiotics for the next ten days. I am just glad we found out the problem and they can get better. So I have been running again. I ran a mile this morning!!!!! I am going to run the 5K here in provo on july 4th. Katelyn wants to do it with me!! So, we will take it nice and slow, but it will be cool to say we have done it. I am going to sign Kate and Lock up for soccer. They played two seasons in Arizona and loved it. Tah tah for now.

2 broken down cars, 2 birthday parties, and 2 super fun days

So BOTH of our vans are broken down with blown engines. Fun times!! Luckily it is at the right time with our tax return coming soon. Katelyn is so excited for Caitlin Mayer's birthday party on Friday night!! And Lockton gets to go spend the night at Kristyn's for Liam's Birthday, he is so excited!! I am so excited for Sat. Feb. 13th we are having a sit down dinner/dance at our ward for valentine's day!! And I am excited for Valentine's Day!! Hope it is a special day with my wonderful hubby!

Slow recovery

So I started going running for the new year, I went 2.5 weeks and was up to 1 mile plus a lap. Then, I pulled or tore my calf muscle. It has been a slow recovery. This is going on the third week, and it still hurts. I hope it gets better soon, I was looking forward to dropping 20 lbs by May. We will be going to Disneyland and the beach and I was hoping to be in better shape by then. I am still doing other exercises at home, but I just hope that this recovery will happen soon.
So, I finally have put an ad for Mike's DJing business on KSL and Craiglist, and he will be doing a Bridal Fair in April. I am hoping to start selling on ebay and starting up a scrapbooking business. Charging to create scrapbook pages and/or whole scrapbooks for people who don't have the time or the know how. Anyway, hopefully that will work out for me. The kids are doing great. Katelyn has started an after school program, art and crochet. She is so good at crocheting already! Lockton can write his name really good and is learning letter sounds. Lexi is talking a ton! She is in the imitating stage. She imitates everything we say. Life is good, we love our ward!

32!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I am 32!!!! I can't believe that this year will be our 10 year wedding anniversary!! Crazy how time REALLY does fly! Yesterday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day! I spent most of the day at my favorite place THE MALL!! And then I ate dinner with my family at Red Lobster YUMMY!! It was great, we haven't been there in over a year. My kids were so sweet yesterday they kept reminding each other to be good "cause it's Mom's birthday!" They really helped to make it a special day. Mike got me the sweetest card in the world. It made me cry. I missed my mom, Bill, Sean, Sara and Sammie, but it was still a great day! We are den leaders in our ward, that is taking a lot of our time, but we are really enjoying it. We are hoping to go to Disneyland for our 10 year anniversary, can't wait!

Trying something for the new year

So, I am going to try and post on here at least weekly. No excuses! We had a wonderful Christmas just our little family at our home in Utah. It was different not having my family around. We got together with all of the Riley's on Wed. Dec. 23rd and that was a lot of fun. My kids always have SOOOOO much fun with their cousins. I am so glad we moved out here for that reason especially. I have started my low carb diet again, now that I gained 4 lbs back during the last six weeks ARGGGGHHH!!!!! Anyway, and I have started to go running with some girls from my ward. I am stoked!!! I am hoping to lose 25 lbs by my 10 year wedding anniversary on May 13th! That would be my goal weight, and Mike and I have a bet, and I could win %500!!!!! I am so gonna beat him!! Lockton turned 5 on Dec. 26th and had a great Birthday. Katelyn is doing great, she hasn't been feeling well lately, Lexi too, she has had a runny nose for like a week, but at least they are out of school, and we are trying to take it easy around here. Now, we are just looking forward to the New Year.

It's been a while...

So, I can't believe it has been almost 6 months since we have blogged! A lot has been happening in our family. Mike is working at Big 5 Sporting Goods and he really likes it. Teresa is staying at home with the kids!!! Katelyn is in 2nd grade and she loves her school. Lockton is going to preschool and he loves it too! And, Lexi is starting to learn some new words! She really is starting to show her need for independence! Kristyn and Steve have generously offered for us to rent their rental home, and we are really enjoying living here! The kids love the big yard, and picking pears off of the pear tree! It has been fun. It was a wonderful summer! Sammie, Teresa's sister came to visit for 6 weeks. And the kids had a lot of fun swimming and playing outside. We are really enjoying Utah, and we will be better at keeping up with our blog:)

Snow!!!

Wow, we are still loving this new stuff called snow.  There was nothing on the ground at 11:00 am and these picture are from around 3:00 pm.  That's crazy for us.  Finally on a day that we had some time to play with it.  It will probably all be melted off by the end of the day tomorrow.

Why did I try for so long?

Why did I think it was worth fighting for. What a joke!

Winter wonderland... Again! and 3 weeks since we left AZ!

So, we woke up again to SNOW!!!! I even drove in it just now. But, it was fine, there is only about an inch or two, and it wasn't coming down too hard. Just enough to cover Everything!! Rooftops, lawns, cars, mountains, everything in sight! It is fun though. I think we moved out here at the perfect time. We came at the tail end of it so it is still fun, but it will start to warm up and then we will have another 9 months or so, before winter comes back around again. Mike is still busy looking for a job. We feel really good about his last interview, but we will see. He should hear from that company by Wednesday.
Grandma Riley is making Lexi and Katelyn some Easter dresses! She already made Saedree and Annistyn some and they are CUTE! I am excited for Easter. I hope we have a BIG RILEY easter with a big easter egg hunt, etc. But, we will see what happens.
So, it has only been three weeks since we left Arizona. I find myself daydreaming as though I am driving around my old stompin grounds. My mom warned me that I should cherish the last two weeks I was there doing luncheons with friends, etc, that I would miss it. I kinda already do! I am really enjoying it here and can't wait until Mike gets a job and we get into our own house, but I do miss my family and my friends. But, I am enjoying Mike's family and the opportunity that I have to make new friends!!!! Here are some pictures with me and my family the last day in Arizona.

Draper Temple

We got to go to the Draper Temple and do a tour of it yesterday. It will be dedicated next week, and after that you can't go in unless you have a temple recommend. I just have to say it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The celestial room was breath taking and the sealing room was wonderful. I could totally feel such a peaceful feeling while I toured the temple. I am excited for the day that Mike and I will be sealed for time and eternity with our three beautiful children. I know that it will be soon.
Utah is so great! I am really loving it here. Katelyn and Lockton are doing suprisingly well for being uprooted in their home and town that they were used to. Katelyn loves school and Lockton is well...being a four year old fun, energetic, wonderful littly boy! Lexi is doing great. She said Mama today!!!! I know it was just a sound and not purposeful, but it melted my heart none the less. She is getting extremely close to walking. She will let go and stand there for a few seconds before she realizes that she isn't holding on to anything. Well, that is all for now, we will post more pictures soon.

Bountiful Cemetary

We went to Bountiful Cemetary today. Something I just haven't had time to do in my visits here. Now we have the time. Here is my grandpa's grave Samuel Lloyd Riley. He is who I was named after Michael Lloyd.

Here is Katelyn, Lockton and Lexi at my great Grandfather's grave. I named my son Lockton Michael after William Locton Riley's grandfather who also was named William Lockton(Locton) Riley.

Here are Katelyn and Lockton by their great, great, great grandfather's grave. Arthur Riley

We looked for their great, great, great, great grandfather's grave William Lockton(Locton) Riley a bit but ran out of time. Does anyone, any relatives, know if it is there?

Happy Birthday Papa!!!!

Today is my stepdad's birthday. It will be the first in a long time that we are not able to celebrate it with him! I hope you have a great day, Bill! P.S. we will post pictures or a video later today, and I promise that I will be a lot better at blogging! There is still some snow on the ground here in Santaquin, Utah. My kids are having a blast with the change in weather. We have gotten to see a lot of family and friends here in one week already! The kids have been LOVING spending time with their cousins. Katelyn loves her new school and Lockton will be starting headstart soon. Mike is busy looking for a job and Teresa is excited at the opportunity to stay home with the kids.

"hi Dad" you be the judge

Sounds like "hi Dad" to me.

Moving in 4 weeks!!!

Well, we are trying to pack ALL of our stuff. We are busy tying up loose ends, and trying to think of all the things we need to do before we move. Mike has been hanging out during the day with Lockton. They have been having a lot of fun together. Lexi has been hanging out with Nana (Teresa's mom) during the day to give Mike time to get stuff done around the house. Katelyn is going to school and her teacher knows that her last day of school will be on February 27th. That day will also be my last day of work. I gave a 6 week notice at work. It has been bittersweet. I have been with Southwest Human Development for 8 years!! That is 1/3 of my life!!!! Anyway, we are really starting to get excited. The kids are hoping that we will still get to see it snow.