The Edwards Family

Rhett's Pirate Dance

2009-12-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO1mKtK677U

We took Rhett and Bree to Princess and Pirate Day at the Paul Mitchell Hair Academy. Two of the girls at the school put on a little "pirate flag dance." At the end they invited the kids to come out and "twirl" with the princesses. Rhett was the only one who would do it. He went out there and instead of twirling around put on a show of his own! It was totally unexpected and I laughed so hard I started crying. Though truthfully I started crying before I started laughing..for some reason I always cry when I see my kids doing something I think they are too small to do, but it was so funny I had a good excuse. At the end you see Bree actually started to go out to twirl, but Rhett had stolen the show, so she didn't have much of a chance, but at least she tried!! It's hilarious you have to see it! Rhett comes out about a minute into the video...

Fooled ya'

2009-04-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

So I had no idea Heath loved April Fools day SO MUCH!! For some reason I have no recollection of him being so giddy our previous 5 years of marriage. He was so funny though! He pranked pretty much everyone at work seperately then came home and told me about it. He begged me to make a phone call to the Weed Man Boise office, because they had gotten him. It took me ten minutes to talk myself into it and come up with a whole story in my head and I ruined it with the first 4 words out of my mouth... What happened to me? I cannot tell a lie! It's a mommy gene or something.. Then he went and stole my dad's truck and parked it in our garage. He called his mom and sister and told them I was pregnant with twins. He told his dad that his brother had gotten mad at his boss and quit his job. We went to grab some pizza and he also took home 4 empty pizza boxes to take his workers that night. While we were at Little Ceasar's he saw an old employee and talked him into wearing a mask and bringing a fake gun and trying to "rob" the sales room that night. I'm telling you - he was absolutely giddy all day! So weird. While he was gone I googled April Fools pranks, because I thought that someone needed to really get him. I kind of have that attitude a lot.. so and so needs to be brought down, so I'm the one that is going to do it. I found a couple funny ones, but then I imagined April Fools day for the rest of my life, salt on my toothbrush in the morning, getting sprayed by the water faucet thingie after I'm dressed, weird toilet tricks.. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I decided we should leave things at the unofficial truce we seem to have between ourselves on April Fools day. Go get them honey!

Reflection, Harmony, and Happiness.. or is it Peace, Love, and Rock n' Roll...

2009-03-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

I was reading a friend's blog and she presented the question "What makes you happy?" I could probably write a discourse on what brings me true happiness and joy, having ridden a bumpy life through my teenage years trying to figure this out. Of course, anyone who knows me now would know that I find true happiness through God and my family, which to me are so closely intertwined they are almost one and the same. But aside from my family and my religion bringing me joy... there are some things that just make me Happy. I could list a hundred things but how about my top ten?
10. I love looking up at the night sky - not the city night sky, because you can't see the stars, but most of Rexburg is okay, the further out of a town you get, the more you can see and the happier it makes me. I love seeing the stars twinkling and all the different stages of the moon. It is just so much bigger than me and reminds me that there is something out there bigger than us all. There has to be. You can just feel it when you look out there.
9. I love to walk with my kids. But only when they are in the stroller. Double joggers, yeah!! I love the fresh air and the exercise. My kids love it too, which makes me happy. (PS walks with kids not in the stroller are okay, but don't make the top ten, because I constantly have to be reminding Rhett to stay where I can see him, not to knock on people's doors, and to leave that dang cat alone!)
8. Idaho sunsets are the best. I have seen sunsets all around the world from Australia to Brazil. from the Ukraine to Utah, and Idaho sunsets are my favorite. I love the pink and orange colors that signal the transition from morning to evening, and they can be seen from pretty much wherever you are. Watching an Idaho sunset - definitely in the top ten, but really any sunset will make me happy.
7. Blankets. I love curling up with a blanket. For whatever. Reading a book, watching a movie, just cuddling and talking with my husband. No matter what time of year I like to end my day cuddling up with a blanket around my toes.
6. Dancing. Dance has almost always been a part of my life. I used to do a running leap through the playroom everytime I went to my bedroom (for as long as I can remember, which means all the way through high school). Performing, however, I don't love. But in college I could dance all night long and never get bored. I miss that. Now I just do silly dances for my kids, but I still leap through rooms from time to time.

It's funny that most of the times I remember being most happy are also the times I remember feeling most at peace. These next things are rare occasions that don't happen much, but they are still things that make me happy.

5. In the winter in Hawaii the waves are huge and the ocean isn't really a place to swim, but a place to watch (at least for us non-natives). I loved going out and sitting on the beach and watching these awesome waves crashing down on some poor rock. I guess I just really like moments that remind me there is some power out there bigger than us all that created these awesome forces of nature. It is beautiful and awe inspiring. Sometimes when I am sitting on my front porch I think about that.
4. Sitting on my front porch, watching the neighborhood kids play and reminiscing.
3. Another Hawaii moment. We used to go camping on the "West side" and in the morning (I think sunrise in Hawaii is prettier than the sunset) we would get up and go swimming with the dolphins. Really dolphins. Swimming right by us. Jumping around us, swimming with their families. I dreamt about that for months after I left Hawaii, and it always made me wake up happy.
2. I use to LOVE going snowboarding all day. Working my body until it was exhausted and then taking the last chair lift up the mountain. My friend and I would sit at the top of the mountain, until everyone was gone and it was just me, her, and the mountain. I love the fresh crisp mountain air, the snow covered trees, and the view of patchwork farm lands below. I still remember the stillness of the air, the smell of fresh mountain air, and the sting of it on your cheeks. We would then quietly take our last run down the mountain with just the sound of our boards cutting through the snow and head for home. Those memories are SO vivid in my mind and I miss them so much it hurts a little.
1. I used to hike up in the mountains with a book and a journal. I would then find a big rock or tree stump and read and write. Usually it was my scriptures. I find nature to be an incredibly spiritual place. I think "communing" with nature is "communing" with God. I think it is easier to feel God, or at least his Power or Spirit, in one of his biggest and most beautiful creations. I just feel so at harmony with my life when I spend time with my spiritual side in nature. And really I can even do it in the backyard under a tree, whatever gives me the feeling of His awesome power and that force that I keep talking about that is so much bigger than the little bit of life that I can comprehend. Like I said it creates harmony for me and makes me happy.
So that's my top ten happy moments. Some I experience a lot, some I wish I experienced more, and some are moments that I experience again and again through my memories and they never fail to make me happy. So I pass the question along, What makes you happy?
Peace and Love - i'm out.

A little of this and a little of that

2009-03-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of President's Day, or more truthfully to celebrate Jenna and Chase being in town, we decided to do a family snowmachining day. We took Rhett, Bree, Jenna, Chase, Quinn, and Mitch to the sand dunes. Look how adorable Bree looks in her little beanie!!

She was so happy to be involved.

Until we got outside. Then she went comatose on us. She just curled up on Jenna's shoulder and went to sleep. It was her nap time, and she slept on and off, but even when she was awake she didn't make a peep for the entire 3 hours we were sledding.

She pulled the coma on us once before... The first time we took her swimming at Green Canyon. As soon as she hit the water, she curled up on my shoulder and wouldn't lift her head or smile or cry or anything for about a half an hour. Finally she decided she wanted to try one of the floaty devices we had and splashed around and jumped into the pool and had fun for the second half. If I wouldn't have had this first coma experience to look back on, I probably would have thought she went into hypothermic shock and spent the whole time in the car with her.

And here's the happy fam. Rhett had a blast! He was all over the place. He loved riding the snowmobile and getting off and sledding down the hill with me. He even went down a couple by himself!! Which I was grateful for, because the last time he went sledding down a hill by himself he somehow ran into cement (I don't know I wasn't there, if I was I'm sure it wouldn't have happened - Heath and Mitch). He still has a slight scar on his face from it. The kid was tireless and it made me so happy to watch him have so much fun. I also REALLY appreciated Jenna sitting on the snow or sled or whatever pretty much the whole time holding Bree for me. Sometimes I really don't think I'm cut out for this mommy job. I have a hard time standing back with the little kids instead of being out there in the middle of the fun. I'm pretty sure when we go to Lagoon and stuff that I'll make Heath sit out on the rollercoaster rides with the baby while I get my thrills. Otherwise our marriage just might not work. HA HA Just kidding. But he would have to sleep on the couch for a couple nights...

The pictures aren't real high quality because they are taken with my phone, but I decided as long as I was downloading them to stick all the good ones in this post.

Here's Bree the day after I bought curlers!!!! She pulled a "no doing my hair" strike on me and would pull everything out as soon as I put it in, over and over and over, until I gave up. One of my ideas was to just curl it and let it be, but lo and behold... She likes curlers and always lets me do her hair after having them in... go figure...

Here's her hair during the hair strike. Very boy like. But check out the cute little mittens!

"MOM, stop taking pictures of me!!"

For some reason she loves putting my boots on even though they are as tall as her legs and she really can't walk in them at all.

Funny girl.

On to the Rhett-ster. We got to tour the Fire Station for our playgroup. Rhett was in heaven, he was so interested in everything. They let them walk through the ambulance and sit in the firetrucks. The kids loved it!

Rhett got scared to get down from the fire truck. He was creating quite the pile up and he wouldn't move until Mike, our Chief of Emergency Services, and family friend (aka the guy we go to whenever Rhett gets hurt to see if we need to take him to the hospital...Lindsay - you remember him, right?) helped him down.

The whole group. That was pretty nice of our local emergency workers to let this many kids, mostly under age three, invade their place of business. They were all so excited, it totally made their day. Give a shout to firefighters/EMT's!

And that is the conclusion of the pictures off of Trish's phone.

and so it continues....

2009-02-03T17:26:00.000-08:00

I was making myself the perfect omelet. I cut up a red pepper, a green pepper, some leftover ham (Real ham - not deli stuff), grated some cheese; I've never put so much effort into an omelet before. I was right to the point where I had dumped everything into the omelet and was going to start folding, when Rhett comes running up holding himself and babbling.
"Rhett - go to the bathroom right now!!"
He starts running to the bathroom and then runs back to me, yelling, "Mommy HELP ME!!" I pick him up and run to the bathroom, pulling his pants down, putting the toilet seat up, and turning on the light all at the same time - don't ask me how - something to do with mommy endorphins.. Anyway, there he is standing in front of the toilet doing his business, and I ask my standard question, "Why don't you try and poop, Rhett?" and I glance over at his little Elmo potty thinking about how I'm going to make him sit on it for awhile tonight...When "thooump" - I felt something hit my leg right below my knee.. I look down...
yep, for once in my life Rhett had decided to instantaneously obey me and interestingly enough had shot it out and hit my leg before it plopped to the floor. I just sat there and stared at the poop sitting on the rug right in front of my leg with my mouth wide open.
Rhett just stared into the toilet like nothing had happened.
I guess I asked for that one.

My omelet? Burned...

A Poopy Payback

2009-01-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

It all started one dark night, about two months ago, when my husband was out of town on business. I let Bree toddle around naked after her bath. She looked so adorable just learning how to walk, and those cute little baby bottoms are so funny to watch. I must have left the room for a minute, all I remember now is discovering about four little lumps of poop in a line across the floor from the family room to the kitchen. I just laughed and thought, "This must be payback."
There is a funny story that I used to LOVE to have my mom tell me about when I was a baby and someone was changing my diaper (my dad?). Whoever it was left me alone for a minute between taking the old diaper off and putting the new diaper on, and came back to find a trail of poops from the diaper changing spot, right on out the front door, where I was still walking, then squatting, walking, squatting. I thought it was such a funny story, mostly because my mom said she laughed so hard, but my dad was so mad (I think he had to clean it up). I asked to hear the story again and again.
Anyway, I also laughed and cleaned it up without a second thought.
Yet, the story continues. Apparently retribution was not enough. The next day Rhett was helping me wrap some presents and as I was taping, he took a pen and started drawing all over the couch. I sent him to his room for a time-out and started cleaning it up. After a couple minutes I went into his room to get him. I opened the door to find that he had pooped his pants, taken them off and distributed the poop all over his whole room. I have never smelled anything so disgusting in my life. He had it on the walls, on his garbage can, all over his legs and fingers, and had even ran multiple cars into it so it was stuck up in their wheel wells. I was FURIOUS. I put him in the tub, wiped him down with wet wipes and then washcloths, I threw his underwear away as well as half off his cars (any that had poop on them). The other half didn't appear to be contaminated, but were at the scene of the crime so I threw them into the tub with him, took Rhett out and poured clorox in. I dressed him and told him to go into Bree's room, because I could hear her waking up from her nap, probably due to my barely controlled, not too gentle, very continous scoldings. Luckily, we have a Kirby vacuum shampooer thing, but I had never used it so I was reading it and trying to figure it out, however Rhett and Bree kept bugging me and trying to go in the room, so I told them they had to stay in Bree's room. After awhile I figured it out and after manually carrying the poop out, I shampooed the carpets. (I was supposed to go to a baptism of one of our new young woman at 5 in Sugar City, this happened a little after 4, I also need to take some mashed potatoes that I had made to the ward Christmas party at 6, and Heath was driving home from Utah and was supposed to be home around 7 - when the party started). By the time I was done shampooing, it was 5, I wasn't dressed for a baptism and neither were my kids, so I missed that. I felt awful AND the room still stunk. I went into Bree's room and discovered....the kids had taken a new roll of toilet paper out of the bathroom and tore the whole thing up into teeny pieces. I went ballistic. I went and got, yet another plastic bag to throw the toilet paper away and was yelling about whatever, and throwing the toilet paper away, and then I decided it wasn't worth it and I sat down and cried. Now before any judment happens here, remember that not only had this been a very trying day, Heath had been gone for 5 days and being alone with two kids 24 hours a day is hard, even on a good day. I was at the end of my rope. Poor, sweet, naughty Rhett came and sat down by me and put his arms around me and comforted me. That just made me cry harder. Then he started picking up all the toilet paper without me even asking. He threw it all away as I calmed down. That is the only thing that saved us all.
You would think that the price had been paid, huh? My dad's revenge exacted? Not to be....
The next day Rhett woke up with a poopy diaper. I was so exhausted and sick of poop, I laid in bed a told him I would change him in a minute. We heard Bree talking in her room, and as usual Rhett ran in there to be the first to greet her. They sounded like they were having fun so I laid in bed awhile longer. Heath was already at work. I don't remember if I decided to take a quick shower, I think I did, or if I just went into the bathroom for a little while before going to get Bree and change Rhett, but when I went into Bree's room, Rhett's poopy diaper was sitting there with poop spread out around it and then poop wiped all over Bree's crib. Rhett was also in Bree's crib, hands cover in poop. I could not believe it. I walked out of the room, called Heath, and told him he needed to come home before I murdered his child. (I REALLY never would of!! But I REALLY didn't want to clean up more poop) Poor, wonderful Heath did come right home, maybe a part of him believed me... and he helped me clean up the poop, wash bedsheets and kids and everything else. He left while I got to shampooing Bree's carpet. The kids wisely stayed out of my way and I was impressed, until I actually turned around and saw what Rhett was doing. We left the salt and pepper shakers on the table from the night before and Rhett had climbed up and dumped them out all over the table, under the table, on various things in the family room, such as the computer, camera, couch, speakers and toys. I could not and still to this day do not understand why he was torturing me so. Maybe it was a test, if so, I probably did not do well on it. But I probably at least passed, for I did not beat my child. I did discover that I had been shampooing the carpets not exactly right and figured it out at last and vacuumed and shampooed all the carpets in the house. Rhett's room finally smelled better. The end?
Think again. The next day, I noticed that Rhett had been in the living room a little too long. I ran in there and discovered his pants off and a poopy diaper laying on the floor. I heard him in the bathroom and went in there to find poopy toilet paper stuck to the toilet. Later Heath said, "At least he was trying to clean it up." Doesn't help. But at least it wasn't that much to clean. I shampooed the front carpet again anyway.
I know, your thinking, okay its got to be over now. This is the poopest post ever. I thought it was over too. There were little things, like I would find a little bit of poop on Rhett's wall that I had missed and I would wipe it off, but for the most part I thought that I had paid back my penance to my dad for my own poopy mishaps.
Then last week I again took the kids out of the bath. I put a onesie on Bree so she didn't get cold and then she took off. She loves running away from me as I try to dress her, so I throw her onesies on first because I don't like seeing her shiver. Then I turned to Rhett and dressed him completely. He gets colder faster because he has no body fat. Then I told him to grab Bree for me. He loves carrying her over to me. He picked her up laughing, but then he threw her down half on the floor and half on our bean bag. I scolded him for throwing her down and he said, "But Bree's poopy." In the middle of telling him "no, she's not" I noticed a big pile of poop next to the walker she was trying to climb into. Great, I checked her onesie and it had just a little trace of poop on it (I hadn't done it up), I wiped it off and put her diaper on. I wiped Rhett's hand off, because someone he had gotten poop all over it and then I told him to go wash it in the bathroom. I once again got out the plastic bag and deposited poop in it (wasn't this the reason I never wanted a dog). Rhett came back, but I had never heard him wash, so I sent him back to wash his hand. I quickly cleaned up the pile of poop and was congratulating myself on staying so calm, when Rhett came out of the bathroom again. A little exasperated I told him to go wash his hands, this time he said, "MOM, Bree's poop is on my foot!" I looked down and saw, that sure enough his foot was covered in poop. I took him into the bathroom and made another grand discovery. Rhett had tried to wipe the poop off with a comb, a bath toy, and a little head scubber I had for Bree. Poop was deeply embedded in all of these, not to mention on the rug, the toilet and the stool. Also quite ironically I had just cleaned that bathroom that morning. I have to admit I lost my calm in that moment, wondering quite loud to myself WHY he didn't just TELL me he had poop on his foot. I cleaned it up and then noticed the trail of poopy prints all over the kitchen floor. After I cleaned that up and scoured the family room floor to see if there was anything I missed. There was. Finally done and tired I leaned back and put my arm down behind me to support me, and stuck my hand into poop.
The End
I hope.

Edwards look-a-like contest

2009-01-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

So we saw this look-a-like meter on Heath's cousin's blog and we wanted to see how it worked with our kids. (See below - last two posts). I can't really tell who looks like who, but my bro-in-law, Chase, always calls Rhett mini-Trish, so I was expecting a little more lean to my side. What do you think? Who looks more like who, or are the meters right on?

Edwards Look-alike Meter

2009-01-12T20:38:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Descendants - Free family tree software

Edwards Look-alike Meter

2009-01-12T20:31:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Christmas '08- Last Christmas with Grandma Merrill

2009-01-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

My Grandma (dad's mom) passed away a few days ago. It was very sudden, and we are all in shock, but luckily we were able to spend Christmas Eve with them at my parents house and have a good time together before she was gone.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

God be with you 'til we meet again!! We love you.

Our Christmas Baby- one year old!!!

2008-12-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

Exactly one year ago Dec. 20, 2007, Bree was born! She weighed 6'13, our little Christmas angel. She now weighs almost 18 pounds. She has been pure joy to have in our lives. Bree started smiling at three weeks and laughing at four.

Exactly opposite from Rhett, she has always had quite the appetite...

Is that an apple in the bathtub???

Besides fights over toys, Rhett has loved her from day one!!! Everyday he is so excited when Bree wakes up and is usually the first one in her room to greet her. When people come to visit, he proudly introduces his sister ("This is Bee") and takes her to them so they can hold her, whether they want to or not..

No one can make Bree laugh harder than Rhett. She loves to play with him, take baths with him, and chew on all his toothbrushes.. He goes through a lot because she destroys them or loses them.

Just for fun here are some more of my favorite pictures of Bree...

I hate how I look in this picture, but it is so funny, the way she laid in my belly to make it look like this!!

She never leaves anything on, but at least I get some good pictures before she rips it off!
What can I say, she's so cute!

Every baby does it right? But does every baby look so darn adorable while doing it???

Bree can say,"Hi!"

Bree in her cute new dress. Ready to take Dad's scriptures to church.

This year has flown by, I can't believe my sweet girl is already a year old! Happy Birthday Bree!

The Exploits of Rhett and Bree

2008-12-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

"Just one more thing..."

So I was letting Rhett help me make some soup and I turned around to put some stuff in the sink and I could hear him saying, "Just one more thing," and opening up the cupboard. I turned around in time to see the "one more thing" was going to be orange and black sprinkles! This by far would have been one of his more tastier additions. He always puts stuff in when my back is turned and I usually don't notice until we eat or I try cooking whatever it is and I'm thinking, "Why is this so runny/thick/various colors..??"

"Mommy, I pee!!"

This time I was in a totally different room when I thought I heard the front door close. So I called out for Rhett - he likes to run outside when he sees someone and start talking to them - (scary)..He came into the room with his pants down and said "Mommy I pee!" At first I clapped for him and was so happy, but then I wondered what this had to do with the front door closing, so I took a look.... What??? Where does he get these ideas????I couldn't be mad because it was too funny. Can you imagine driving by and seeing this little boy peeing out his front door??The next time he did it however, I was not so kind!!!

This is Bree when I try to unload the dishwasher.

This is when I am trying to cook...

Notice her cute headband is around her neck...

When I am tring to clean....

Everytime I do her hair!!!!!

"What is this thing?? I want it out!!!"

This is Bree looking so dang cute I can't get her dressed, I have to take pictures instead...

You might ask yourselves, "How does she get anything done?" The answer is I don't......

Pilgrims and Indians

2008-11-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

To kick off the Thanksgiving fun we went to a playgroup and made little Indian outfits. Rhett's was ripped to shreds by the end of the day, but at least I got some cute pictures of it.

I love that Rhett's so cheesy for the pictures. Of course he didn't actually eat Thanksgiving dinner, but he did go out and ride the horses (he can ride all by himself, with Heath walking alongside) and the four wheelers, (he actually drives himself... just kidding).. And after dinner we had races.

At first we just made the kids run, but then Heath, Alan, Dari and I decided to race. Who won? Well, technically it was Alan, but his legs are twice as long as mine so really I'm much faster than him and if Heath wasn't pushing me back, I probably could have done better than the one second I lost by. So if we really have to name a winner I'd have to go with me....Then I saw cat poop on the ground and quit racing, because I really wasn't wearing the shoes for it, so I was going barefoot and the bragging rights suddenly just weren't worth it. But I'll brag anyway. I'm just dang fast...

Later that day we went to my parents house and played a game... Would you rather? Wow. My family gets so competitive. Most the time it's funny, but sometimes it just ends in a fight. This one was bordering. It asked questions like, "Would you rather sleep every night in jeans and shoes or in a motorcycle helmet?" Motorcycle helmet right?? I was outvoted on that one.. Really..shoes???? "Would you rather have a bottle cap stuck on the tip of your tongue for a week or a bean shoved up one nostril?" That one was close but the majority went with bottlecap, which seemed like the best answer to me. The one that almost pushed us over the edge was "Would you rather have your wife disappointed in you for something you really did or your child disappointed in you for three years over something you didn't really do?" We were still debating it forever after the game was over...So I want to know, what would you choose?? Think it over, ask your spouse what he or she would choose... you might be surprised!!Remember to report back to me and tell me what you came up with!!!

Halloween Fun

2008-11-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

We bought our pumpkins 2 days before Halloween. Rhett was so excited, he wanted to sleep with his pumpkin, eat with it by his bowl or plate, and play with it. When we started to carve it - only the day before Halloween - Rhett cried out, "Daddy, don't hurt the pumpkin!!"

I asked Rhett if he wanted triangles or circles for eyes and he said, "Stars!" So his had star eyes and Bree's had heart eyes. He was so proud of that pumpkin, it was so funny!

The pumpkins' final resting place was (is -I still need to get rid of them) by the scarecrow. This was right before we left for the library. Rhett is a cowboy riding a horse. He named the horse Nerf, which is the name of the horse that he rides at his Grandpa Edwards' house. Bree was a unicorn, but she kept taking her little hood off. She looked hilarious crawling around with those huge wings on the back.
I tried to get a Devil costume for Heath and an angel for me, but Heath doesn't think he looked like a real Devil..

I did what I could..

Heath and I took turns taking Rhett around the block, but it turns out that he thought it was WAY more fun handing candy out to the kids who knocked on our door. Go figure...

Ode to Bree

2008-10-31T14:03:00.001-07:00

Since a lot of my posts are about Rhett's accomplishments, they don't really include Bree. Even the last one had our whole family and not one picture of Bree, so I decided to contribute a post to her!! Among her recent accomplishments - turning 10 months old, standing alone, and getting two bottom teeth, without hardly any trouble!!

After making fun of my sister for taking 70 pictures at Rhett's b-day party, I read that to get one really good picture of a kid, photographers plan on taking about 70 pictures.. So one day I just started snapping away. These three were some of my favorites.

Bree is so tiny!! These are pictures of her around May or June. This cute little outfit is 3-6 months and I was so worried that it would get to hot for her to wear it before she grew out of it. In May she was five months and I saftey pinned it on!

Here is Bree now - It's started getting chilly so I pulled out warmer clothes and decided to try this outfit on again!

Perfect fit at 10 months - 15.3 pounds, 27 in.

She won't leave the bows on anymore. I've given up. I do her hair once in the morning and then just leave her headband by the door after she rips it out so we can get it if we are going somewhere or if someone comes over!

Bree loves Rhett and hates it when he's sleeping and won't pay attention to her.

Bree loves climbing on to chairs...
Or under chairs!!!

She's alittle monkey. She even climbs into this walker by herself!

Besides being a monkey, Bree's my cuddly bunny. Everytime she wakes up she gives me great big hugs, laying her head on my shoulder, and wrapping her little arms around my neck as far as they'll go. She then opens and closes her little hands- giving me little squeezes as she hugs. When she's tired and your holding her, she pets your hair or shoulder and gives kisses.

Snuggling is one of her more feminine qualities. She does this along with growling, headbutting, hairpulling, and screaming at or along with Rhett! Bree is such a character and brings so much laughter into our home! We don't know what we would do without her. Love you Bree!

Fun Night Out!!!

2008-10-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Moores for calling us Monday night to go ride in their Dune Buggy!!! We had an impromptu fun night out. Heath grabbed his parents' four wheelers and Moores brought their Dune Buggy, marshmellows, and cookies, and headed out to Badger Point. Rhett is in the backseat with Annie. He loved riding in that thing, even though he would scream as they went up and down the hills.

I impressed everyone with my girl scout firemaking skills and made us a little fire out of sagebrush and Weed Man envelopes!!

Around the fire is Rhett, Colin, Annie, Rachel, and Jenna. Jenna was so funny! She loved riding the four wheeler, Heath took her around a bunch of times. Her helmet was kind of small and it was squishing her little cheeks, Rachel and I were laughing so hard. It was SO cute, I loved it. Unfortunately I was laughing so hard, I could never get a good picture, because everytime I went to push the button I started laughing and it blurred it.

While Heath, Bree, Annie and I were sitting around the fire. Annie told us all about her boyfriends in Kindergarten and how Jenna went to "Pretty School." We loved it!! I'm always amazed that Rhett is such a boy - without anyone teaching him the things he comes up with!! I took him potty out in the sage brush and he started making shapes in the sand.. When we came back I told everyone, "Rhett made a square in the sand!" Later Jenna had to go and she asked her mom, "What shape did I make?" When we were leaving Rhett had to pee on the fire before we could go... How do boys come up with these things???

Thanks again Moores - it was great!!

Rhett's Potty Trained!! - pretty much..

2008-10-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

When I faced the potty training time, I did what I do with about every subject in my life. I read about a hundred books on it, different theories and perspectives, learned everything about everything, confused myself, decided it was too hard and found a thousand reasons to keep putting it off. Rhett was helpful by showing no desire whatsoever to go on the toilet or be a "big boy." About four weeks ago we were at the park with a playgroup and one of the little boys had to go, so his mom and him ran to a tree and went. Of course I pointed out what a big boy he was and Rhett thought it was so cool to pee on the tree!! He wanted to go do it to, so I let him. One of the mom's was telling me how she made a chart and bought a toy, etc..I had read about this kind of stuff before, but I was inspired this time. I decided to combine the multiple theories floating around in my head and forget about all the "signs" he was supposed to display and wasn't etc. etc. I took him to the store, found a toy he wanted (a sword) and for the first time he was interested in the big boy underwear and picked some out he liked so he could get his sword. We rushed home and I made him a really messy potty chart, put the toy up, used the potty doll, gave treats for dryness and double treats for going on the toilet, like I said combined everything and ta da!! (as Rhett says) For two or three days his only accidents were during his nap, but after that he did pretty well. He's had two or three pee accidents since then, but he will NOT poop on the toilet!! I don't know what to do. He holds it and holds it until night time and then poops at 1 or 2 in the morning - and then comes and gets in bed with me..Any suggestions??

I know he is way to skinny!!! I try to feed him, I really do!!

Prop 8

2008-10-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

My friend is campaigning for Prop 8 and challenged everyone to blog about it. I feel like I can't do much since I don't live in California, but I do have strong feelings about the sanctity of marriage and I pray that our country will "under God" preserve the title and right of marriage to be between a man and woman. It is not only the sanctity of marriage at stake, but the of the family unit as a whole. I fear that making the definition of marriage so open will speed up the breakdown of the family in our country which eventually will lead to the breakdown of our society!! Please everyone do what you can to help pass Prop 8.

Catch up from August - Summer Olympics!!

2008-10-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

For some reason I can not move on until I blog what I was going to in August and never did. I have new stuff, but I wanted to post this and I never got around to it, so I have to do it first...First a picture of Rhett's first, and I'm sure not last, black eye..actually I think this might be his second, but the first was overshadowed by the stitches in his lip... He got this black eye from fighting me in the bath tub. I won. No just kidding, he was throwing a fit in the bathtub and turned his head right into the soap dish. I really didn't think it was that bad, but it just kept growing and growing...

Rhett is in a gymnastics class and they do a Summer and Winter "Olympics," when you can invite family to come watch and they show their stuff. It is SO cute, especially the look on Rhett's face when it is over and they get their medal. He is always so proud of himself, for that reason I will never take him out - until he decides he wants to stop. I love that look, I hope I get to see it all through his life.

Each class carries a sign around with the name of their group. Each member gets a turn carrying it.

Here's Rhett on the bars and the pommel horse. He's pretty good on the bars, but he just goes totally limp on the pommel horse, unless they let him ride like a horse, which they don't do in the Olympics...

They walk from event to event in a "train." I guess this strengthens their arms and gets them ready for the pommel horse. Rhett just likes to climb in the bucket and swing around!! Coming up...THE look....

You probably can't see it very well, but in the first picture he is raising his arms above his head and cheering, in the second picture a boy is copying him (what a trend setter, they probably all showed up the next week with black eyes) but Rhett has The Look on his face. You probably have to zoom in, but I can see it.

I'm throwing this random picture of Bree in so you can see how much she's grown in my next post. This was in August so she was 7 or 8 months old. Plus, I wasn't sure I had enough pictures...

handbags

2008-10-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

So there is this handbag that I really want to win. If I post this I get more entries in the contest. Check it out, there are some cute ones. I especially think Heather and Lindsay would like these!!
www.handbagplanet.com

Happy Birthday Rhett!!

2008-09-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Rhett is 3 years old - Sept.12, 2008!

We had a "train" party on Saturday to celebrate Rhett. I actually made that engine!! Even if mother-in-law did do all the frosting. I crushed the oreo's..... Rhett was so funny when the pinata broke. He grabbed all the Dots. He doesn't even like Dots. All he wanted were the suckers after that. We brought boxes that we've unpacked (the few) and let the kids color them and play "train."

Rhett opened presents and loved the bike we got him, along with all the bike riding gear his aunt and cousins got him. But who knew we would be totally upstaged by the Medical Doctor kit his friends gave him!! He likes to put his helmet on and be pushed on his bike, but for some reason he can't get the circular pedaling motion going... He plays with his doctor kit every other hour and even took it to church with him last Sunday. I have to call him Dr. Rhett or he gets mad. He takes my temperature with the shot needle and says, "much better," and looks at my ears with the reflex hammer - that I taught him, because I didn't want to him to go around hitting everyone with it to test their reflexes. Another favorite present is his train set that Grandma and Grandpa Edwards gave him. We have it set up in his room so Bree doesn't destroy it and he loves to go back their and play with it.

Bree got really into eating the cake and ice cream too!! Then Jenna got really into taking pictures. Heath and I figured she took at LEAST 60 of the 77 pictures taken at the party! But she did get these adorable shots of Bree and Rhett!

I can't believe my kids are growing up so fast!!! Happy 3rd Rhett!!

Special thanks to Jen for the pictures and Lori for all her help - and everyone else who came to the party, it was a blast!

I've been Tagged! Joys, Fears,etc.

2008-07-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

JOYS:
1. Nap time - both kids napping at the same time!
2. Sunshine/Outdoors - which usually means the park. I love a good obedience filled, good natured trip to the park. However, they do not all happen that way.
3. Walks with my new double jogger!
4. Waterskiing
5. BBQ's
6.Sunday dinners with family
7. Hearing Rhett and Bree laughing together/at each other - last but definetely not least!

FEARS:
1. moths - i don't know why, but they terrify me
2. I have an irrational fear of sharks, no matter where I am at - Rigby Lake, Ririe, the swimming pool....
3. Scary movies- hate them, hate to be scared.
4. That someone will break into my house and steal one of my kids..that's probably irrational too

GOALS:
1. Be more organized
2. Stop letting Rhett watch so much TV
3. Think before I talk!!!
4. Dedicate more time to scripture study.. I mean time to scripture study
5. Have a happy family

CURRENT OBSESSIONS:
1. Rental properties - we are renting our house out and it is a lot of stuff to figure out!
2. I don't really have time to be obsessed with anything right now!!!

Ok I Tag: Lindsay, Heather, Ange

Family Fun Time

2008-07-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

With Heath working so much at work, and on our house, we've been trying to have some fun Saturdays and Sundays! (This is the old, ugly "dining room," it will be Bree's room soon.) We've gone to the Nature Park to feed the ducks, we went

to Bear World and rode the fun rides and got to pet a pig and a deer among other animals....

We've had some fun at the park, with Rhett and Daddy playing on the playground and Mommy and Bree relaxing in the shade....

We started our 4th of July celebrations early this year. We started out by going waterskiing Wednesday night, then again Thursday night, and then doing the parade and a pool party on Friday the 4th. By the time Rhett was dragged out of the pool, we were exhausted and bagged our plans for the rodeo and opted to just go to bed instead!!!

At the parade, stuffing his pockets. Watching the floats go by. Rhett and Bree were so tired they both fell asleep on the way home.

Pool party, playing with Ruby (or Dooby) as Rhett calls her.

I think we are done "having fun" for awhile. I've got to get Young Women's Camp out of the way and work on peeling wallpaper from the house, then maybe we'll be ready for more waterskiing!!

Change of Plans

2008-06-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe how boring my life is. I don't really have anything to blog about. Let's see the new things in our life is that Bree can now sit up, Rhett can count to ten.. most of the time.. and I got a new haircut (yeah!!). Rhett has started saying, "I love you too mommy," after I tell him I love him, it's so cute, it makes my heart melt. Bree has picked up growling, from her big brother, and it's basically the only noise she makes. Very feminine. We bagged the brand new house and ended up buying a cheaper, though bigger, foreclosed house that we are currently trying to fix up. So.. I guess we're moving. I have mixed feelings about all of it. Rhett is now in the bedroom waking Bree up, so I better cut this post short and rescue her.

First Post

2008-05-12T12:33:00.000-07:00

Here's our first "post" I guess, whatever that means, I'm still getting the hang of this. I guess I just tell the latest news and update this part a lot right? Hmm.. Well right now we are working on plans to build a house. Nothing too fancy, just a bigger home, with an unfinished basement so we have room to grow. It seems to be cheaper to build than buy right now, and we figured might as well move while the interest rates are still low! So I'm trying to really organize and clean the house, (something I should of done almost three years ago when we moved in)so we can sell it or rent it, or whatever we are going to do, which is also something we have to figure out. Heath is into his "super" busy season, every season seems busy, but this time is the worst, and even more so because Idaho completely skipped spring and seems to be bouncing back and forth between winter and summer (that's spring you say? no way. snow one day and sunny 60's the next?) Fertilize my lawn - no wait, why are you out there in the snow? - why aren't you here yet? - Don't spray my lawn it's too cold - Get out here and take care of my dandelions! What's a lawn care company to do? So life is crazy right now, but what else is new? Rhett has started toddler lab and seems to enjoy it, he also is in gymnastics which he LOVES!!! Bree is so sweet and love to just sit and smile and yank all the hair right out of your head. They are such different personalities, it is so fun to have them both around, even if my life has been reduced to feed, change diaper, nap, feed, change diapers, nap, feed, change diapers, PLEASE TAKE A NAP, feed, etc....
Well that wasn't so hard, I'm sure I have rambled on enough for today, so enjoy!!