Goings on and such

 

 

 

Well it's been almost a month since my last post and I said I would blog something happier next time, so here it goes...finally! ;-P

A lot has happened and these pictures are all out of order but I don't have the time, nor the patience to fix them. Matthew started T-ball for the first time! He absolutely LOVES it and he is really, really good at it! His coach actually gets a little upset when he misses a game (the only time he misses any games is Sunday). But, he is very understanding about the whole, "no baseball on Sunday" thing. The coach has him "pitching" almost every game. Anyways, enough bragging, hehehehe.

For Valentines Day Matthew's class had a fun party with ice cream sundaes. Mmmmmm! The girls had a blast too.

 

 

And of course we made homemade Valentines for Daddy. It will definitely be tradition from now on. The kids had so much fun! We also continued our new tradition of making heart shaped homemade pizza! It was definitely one of the best Valentine's Days we've had.

 Up next we had Payton's birthday party. I can't believe she is already 2! Where has the time gone? We had her party the same day as AnnMarie's baby blessing (I don't have time to find those pictures...sorry).

The birthday girl cheesing it up!

 We randomly went to Mt. Scott and "hiked." I didn't do much hiking since I was holding a newborn and it was kind of difficult to maneuver with her. But I did get some fun pics of everyone else having a blast and climbing all over boulders. It kind of reminded me of when I was a kid. My parents would take us kids to a place called "City of Rocks" in New Mexico. We would play ball tag on top of the boulders. It was very fun...and dangerous. LOL! 

 On the way home from hiking we saw this tank and just HAD to get pictures of it. Ha ha ha!

 Hopefully this video works, but it is Matthews first ever school performance. He was so adorable. The program was about the different seasons, and his class performed "winter." If you here a baby crying through the video and if the video is bouncy....um sorry about that but I was holding the baby while Nathan was running around after Payton. It was kind of a crazy night. ;-P.

Hope you enjoyed some happy and fun memories. Ever since Nathan quit one of his jobs, we have had a lot more time to make tons of happy memories! So happy he is home! Now if only I could get used to sleeping with him (the 7 years we've been married, he has worked nights), things would be pretty close to perfect. 

Broken

This blog is more serious and not really about the kids so read at your own risk! LOL!


 I am not very good with words but I feel like writing might help me feel better so here is my sad attempt. A lot has been on my mind the last few weeks. I have been extremely hard on myself too. Our little family is going through an extremely hard time financially as well, which has added to the stress I've been accumulating. I have also been humbled deeply! I did not know I needed to be humbled, but a loving Heavenly Father knew I did.
 
   I have not been the best mother, or wife (this is the being hard on myself part). But it is partly true. My husband is my best friend yet lately I have treated him like worse than a stranger. I am not rude or mean to him. In fact I hardly talk to him at all. When he asks me if I'm "OK" or if "anything is wrong," I give him the same response...which is, "I'm fine." But I don't feel fine. And, I have been pushing him away. And I didn't know why....Now I know but I will get to that later.
  I was also pushing my kids aside, and feeling annoyed and burdened by them. Some times I even doubted that I loved them at all. I yelled at them all day about every little thing and kept telling me to just leave me alone. I didn't want them around me...and again I didn't know why. But now I do.
  I was feeling overwhelmed too, like I couldn't catch my breath. Then I kind of stopped functioning. Instead of taking care of my home and my children (and even myself), I was on Facebook, wasting the days. Then one day during one of my "escape episodes," I came across a blog (click here http://www.themomentswestand.blogspot.com/). This blogged completely opened my eyes and gave me my "aha" moment!

  First I was humbled and I know I did not stumble across that blog by accident! Second, I realized I really did not love myself or even like myself. I was humbled by understanding that there are worse things in the world that can happen to me besides bankruptcy, or even turning 30. This woman that I read about found beauty in world that was dark. She went to hell and back and became stronger through it. And here I was, falling apart because my stomach sags a little (not the whole reason but you get the point I hope). After doing A LOT of thinking I realized why I did not love myself. And, why I was pushing my family aside. Those two actually go hand in hand with each other. I will explain...

 I came to realize that it is really hard to love others when you do not first love yourself. 

Wow I saved this blog post and it published before I finished. LOL! Thanks for the comments though. I will finish the rest now. ;-)

I have been observing other moms and saw the way they interact with their children. And it made my heart break because I don't feel I interact the same way. I don't feel like I say, "I love you" enough, I don't read or sing to them, I don't hug them enough or give them enough kisses. And my patience has been WAY to short. And I get angry too easily. It then hit me that I was becoming the mom I never wanted to be (which is my biggest fear!). That's when I was starting to feel broken. So I felt inspired to read my patriarchal blessing. And over and over they same phrase kept popping up all over. "Pray to you Father in Heaven..." And that is when it REALLY hit me! Wow when did I stop praying? That shield was gone no wonder Satan was so close. I completely let him in by not communicating to my loving Heavenly Father. Not only did I let Satan in but I let him make me believe that I wasn't good enough! And he made something so simple as dropping to my knees and bowing my head, seem impossible. Well not anymore! When I had my first child I promised I would be the Mother that I never had. And thanks to an amazing wake up call and some much needed humbling, I am being the mom I have always wanted to be. Things aren't perfect and that's okay. I still lose my temper once in a while, but I don't raise my voice in anger anymore. And to me that is a HUGE deal...because I used to yell...a LOT!
  I have definitely learned great lessons the past few weeks.
 1. PRAY ALWAYS: Heavenly Father loves ME. And no problem is too small or big for His listening ear.
 2. I am a good mother and wife, I just have to take off Satan's blindfold and see it. I need to listen to that still small voice that tells me I am doing a good job.
 3. Everyone has their problems, nobody is perfect, and I need to stop comparing myself to others.
 4. My children were sent to ME. And no one else. I have the privilege to raise some AMAZING daughters and son of God and I MUST teach them where they come from and that they are loved (because that is something I did not feel very much as a child).

So that is my crazy rambling. I don't need any sympathy. I am doing great! I just wanted show my growing experience. Thanks for reading. ;-)

MY LOVES!

Catching Up

So the last blog I posted was way back in April of last year and I said I would post about Matthew's 5th birthday..... thanks so much for not holding your breath for that post....because you would be dead. Ha, ha, ha. So without further ado here are some pictures of his 5th birthday. He wanted a superhero themed birthday but it was a sad attempt. The best I could do was the super hero cake and even that was a stretch. And the reason you might you ask why it was such a pathetic party? That's because I was newly pregnant, exhausted, and nauseous!

 

Here is my first "baby bump" picture, this was actually taken shortly before Matthew's party and I was only 4 weeks pregnant and already showing that much!

 

And these are our family/gender reveal pictures. Luckily I only gained 31 pounds this pregnancy and is the record for least amount of weight gained during a pregnancy (for me). This pregnancy was by far the best one yet. And a great one to end on. I worked out during the first month, skipped months 2 and 3, and from month 4 until 9 I exercised daily until the end. And, because of that (thank you Carrie Randall by the way for helping through the whole pregnancy and letting me workout at your gym!), I had an extremely easy labor and delivery!  

 (The sign says "We're Tickled Pink!")

 



 So the year went on and my beautiful princess Turned 4 and we had an AMAZING princess party! I guess I felt like I needed to make up for Matthew's party. That, and this was my failed attempt to get my daughter to stop sucking her thumb and pulling out her hair. It worked for a little while then she relapsed when we had the baby. :-(

 (Belle's roses)

white chocolate covered strawberries

 (Cinderella's glass slippers)

Jell-O Jigglers 

 (Snow White's dress made from cupcakes)

 



 Cinderella's carriage

 

 

 

 

Then after Kylie's birthday party, came Halloween and Thanksgiving (sorry no pictures...they were both uneventful anyways, I blame it on the pregnancy). So, here comes Christmas and I am almost 9 months pregnant. So what do I do? Take on a big craft and decide to make stockings from scratch. I started them at the beginning of December and finally finished them on Christmas Eve, Eve. Ha! Either way it was probably the best Christmas we Dill's have ever had. It was definitely a humbling experience and full of love and the spirit of Christ was better appreciated this time around.

 

 

...AND 8 DAYS LATER!!!! Here comes miss AnnMarie Lynn Dill who decided to arrive 2 weeks early and during extremely cold weather. But, she is beautiful and is the best baby. So easy and sleeps great...now (we had our days and nights mixed up for a little while there). She eats like a champ and has the sweetest little spirit. I think her older sister Payton is most smitten by her. Payton never lets her out of her sight and tries to "help" mommy every chance she gets!

 AnnMarie in her blessing gown and bonnet (which I made). I didn't make the flower barrette though, a friend of mine makes them and she is super talented. Check out her shop on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LottieandMouse?ref=search_shop_redirect

So that is our year in a nut shell. Of course a lot more has happened but with a 2 month old in my arms, I hardly have time. I am also doing this with one hand and I still have to make dinner. I will try to do better this year with blogging. Especially with all that will be going on this year, plus I still need to post pics of Paytons second birthday! Well the baby wants to eat so.....:-) 

Way behind!

 

I am deeply apologetic for the lack of posts, but I have been EXTREMELY busy lately. Well since December! Payton is walking along things but has not officially taken her first "free hands" steps yet. She had a set back and had another corrective surgery on her foot. So, she is in a hard cast for another three weeks (she has had it on for three weeks so far). I have also been crocheting A LOT! I am trying make a few extra bucks by selling the things I make. So far I am not that successful but that's okay, I am having fun developing one of my talents. Sorry I don't have more pictures, but Blogger is working against me and these are all I could produce at the moment. Oh and we also had to chop Kylie's hair off because she was pulling her hair out and causing a bald spot. Now that cutting hair didn't work to stop her, we are now taping her thumb down (this is because the only time she pulls her hair, is when she is sucking said thumbs). For now, it's working and I haven't seen her put her thumb in her mouth at all today and it's the first time she has gone all day without tape. Hopefully this is the last we will see of this problem! 

Goodness what else have I missed? Nathan and I have been married six years now, but didn't have time to celebrate....oh well. And, Payton turned one! Yay! She is such a funny baby! She is constantly trying to make us laugh and LOVES to get into things! She is my first child to actually get into things she isn't supposed to. Right now, her favorite thing is taking out ALL of our DVD' out of the entertainment center, and take all dirty laundry out of the laundry baskets. Oh it makes me laugh....and annoys me at the same time. She is growing up sooo fast, and love everything about her. What makes her laugh the most, is when changing her diaper, as soon as I finish wiping her, she likes to crawl away, but naked. For some reason she finds this hilarious, and so do the other kids. We all get a good belly laugh when she does this.

And, I also got a new calling in the church. I am now the new Primary Music Leader! So, so, so, excited!!! Last Sunday was my first Sunday and it was a BLAST! I am getting the kids ready for Mother's Day, and have fun things planned! I love my new calling!

Okay that is it for now. Coming up, if I'm not too busy, my little boy is turning 5 in two weeks! Yikes time flies!!! Hopefully I can remember to post about that! Don't hold your breath though. LOL

 

The power of a hug!

   There has been a lot on my mind as of late, normally I would post these things on Facebook. But this time the post would be WAY too long, so I figured I would blog it. Since the horrible massacre at Newtown, Connecticut, I have had a really hard time with what happened at that elementary school. I've never been this emotional over something like this. Yes, I get sad and feel bad for the victims. But, usually, by the end of the week, life goes on and I feel fine. This time however, I cried all day Friday (since the moment I found out), I cried myself to sleep, and on and off from Saturday to today, I have broke down. I don't know what has caused this emotion I have a few ideas though. First, I could be PMSing. Second, Matthew is about the same age as some of those beautiful children and it hit me that it could've happened in this nice small sweet town of New Castle and he could've been taken from me. Third, it is possible that I'm prego and really hormonal (doubt that I am though, so don't get all excited because we aren't even trying, LOL). And, fourth I keep picturing those parents not being with their child. Not being able to hug and kiss their babies. Not being able to see them on Christmas morning and their expressions of excitment while ripping open their presents. It is truly devistating to me.  Now I am starting to drag on so I will get to the point before I start crying again. Today was the first day kids went back to school since the shooting. For some reason I am feeling like I was part of the shooting and that I also lost children that day. So, I was a nerveous wreck since he left our van and walked into the school (and yes I held up the line and watched until he was inside). When I went to pick him up after school let out, I felt much better. I was still sad, but better. And the thing with me is I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. And what happened next proves this. As the teachers started bringing our kids to our vehicles I was so overwhelmed. The teacher that brought Matthew to our van noticed me through the window. Instead of leaving as soon as Matthew got into the van she lingered a bit to see if everything was okay (I wasn't crying...yet). Then, without warning, Matthew gave me the biggest, tightest hug EVER (which are usually few and far between). I hugged him back and got EXTREMELY choked up. The teacher was still watching this and then told me, "Definitely needed one of those today, huh!?" I was so choked up I could'nt respond, so I just nodded. Then she said, "They are such sweet kids." I completely agreed. Matthew always seems to sense or notice when I need those sweet hugs.  I also wanted to thank her for her sweetness and for everything she does as a teacher, but I had the biggest lump in throat ever! But, I think she got the message (because of the whole heart on sleeve thing. LOL). That whole exprerience helped me out so much. I love how Heavenly Father shows his love through children. I really needed that hug from Matthew and He knew that. Now I feel I will be okay. No more crazy woman. LOL! I know this all may sound strange, but I really needed to let this out.    

Awards...

November 28, 2012

Awards...

I know I just updated my blog yesterday, but I completely forgot that Aubrey nominated me for this...so here it goes.
So, it's called the Liebster award.



Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, and then create 11 new questions for the people you tag with the award.
3. Choose 11 bloggers (with less then 200 followers) and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them about the award (social networks accepted).
5. If you have not done so already, follow the tagger and visit at least three nominees. Spread the love!
6. And remember, no tag backs!


11 things about myself:

1.  Hmmmmm this is kinda hard. I love surprises.

2.  I used to be a morning person....until I had children.

3.  I LOVE pizza!

 

4.I love doing tons of different things at once. Like painting one thing while crocheting another, while reading a book and baking something....all in the same day. But the weird thing is, I can't stand having too much to do in one day. Let me clarify...I don't like being obligated to do a million things in one day.

 

5.   I LOVE LOVE LOVE working out, I just wish I had the time/energy to do it. Maybe when the baby is a little older and I get more sleep, this can be accomplished.

6.  I'd do anything for my family to make them happy.

7.  I secretly would LOVE to be photographer.

8.  I'm way too trusting of people. Even after being buglerized and having my debit card stolen from inide my home....I still trust people completely. :/

 

9.  I wish I was a neat freak so my house could be clean...for once.

10. If I could, I would read ALL DAY LONG....oh wait, I have done that...on more than one occasion.....oops. Mainly because once I start a book (even if I don't like it) I have to finish it at one time. My mind is too scatter brained to try and remember what happened when I stopped.

11.  I get stressed out way to easily but it's only because I care a lot about the people around me...even strangers. Along with the stress though, I have eternal joy from my children. They make me so so happy!

 

These aren't Aubrey's questions, they are Whitney's:

1. Favorite candy? I'm not a huge fan of candy (I prefer fruit), but if I had to choose....I guess I like Milky Ways.
2. What's one thing you'd change about yourself?  My self esteem. I would love to...love myself. :P
3. To cuff pants or not to cuff pants? That is the question.  I prefer to cuff....because I am too broke and lazy to tailor my pants.
4. Favorite type of crafting?  I don't have a favorite. I like to do it all....except scrap booking, because I suck at it. Hahahaha
5. The best book you've read recently?  Hands down, the Tiger's Curse saga!!!
6. Favorite way to unwind at the end of the day?  Watching TV and or playing a game called pixie hallow my friend got me hooked on (Thanks Shanilee!!! LOL), it is actually a game made for kids, oh well.
7. How did you meet your husband?  At a single ward pool party. Ironically when we met I was trying to set him up with the person who gave me this award. At least I think that's irony (I never really learned the true meaning of that word).
8. Hot cocoa or hot apple cider?  That's a really hard one for me. I love the cozyiness of hot cocoa but also Love the tartness of apple cider. But, I will go for hot cocoa...only because it's that time of the month where I crave chocolate (sorry for the TMI).
9. Do you hang-dry your shirts or dryer-dry them? (odd question, I know, but I'm kind of OCD about my laundry)  Dryer dry....I don't read the tags because I hate squinting. Hahaha

10. Biggest pet peeve?People who don't use the right spelling for Yay, Yea, Yeah and Yumm vs. Um (I have a cousin that rights "Ummmm" for everything on Facebook, instead of "Yummm") drives me BANANAS!!!!!!
11. Favorite holiday?  CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Now for 11 more questions.....

1. What is your all time favorite movie?

2. When making pizza do you put the pepperoni first and then cheese or visa versa?

3. If you had a choice, what would be your last meal before you died?

4. What is your favorite TV show...if you watch TV?

5. Josh Groben or Micheal Buble (sp?)?

6. What is your favorite quote?

7. What is your most embarassing moment?

8. What is your most memorable "Ah-Hah" moment?

9. What is your favorite baked good?

10. Team Jacob or Team Edward....and if your are a Tiger's Curse fan, Team Kishan or Team Dihren (Ren)?

11. Can you name of few of your favorite things?

 Okay and now for the nominee's!!!!!

I choose, Shanilee, Dina, Leighanne, Coty and Calista. I can't think of anyone else, so if I forgot you, go ahead and pass along the award. ;)

 

I know it's been a while but wow! I haven't even had time to breath it seems.  I have so much catching up to do....so here it  goes. One extra long post coming up! :)

Well since the first day of school so much has happened. I have some cute pics though, so yay! First off is Halloween. This cute picture was taken by a friend of the family at our first ever annual Halloween Party. We had so much fun! Although Kylie decided to be repunzel on actual Trick or Treat night. Which for some reason Newcastle never has their trick or treat on Halloween night (unless it falls on Saturday), I know...weird. But besides that, I LOVE NEWCASTLE!!! I love our neighborhood, the small town feel (yet we are only a stones throw from the city), and I love our church branch (soon to be ward). Anyways, the next pictures are of the girls and Matthew at his first ever school Halloween/Fall party. We loved it. After the party we went straight to trick or treating on Main street and then on to our neighborhood (which EVERYONE from Blanchard and Newcastle come to trick or treat), which was super crowded. Nathan couldn't come with us because he had to work (as usual :( ). So I took the kids around using my new bike and trailer. We finally had to end the evening early with Payton having a blowout. LOL! Regardless, the kids still made it home with pillow cases full of candy.

After all of the sugar and fun, things started to go down hill. First it started with Matthew getting really sick and Payton having a cold. He was out of school for three days and having a fever of 102.9 (on and off) for 2 days. Then Kylie got what he had except she had a temp of 103.2 (on and off) for 2 days. Then when she was finally getting over that, she started itching really bad. For 4 days in a row she kept breaking out in hives (somewhat randomly). I couldn't figure out what the problem was until Monday morning when I was getting everyone ready for school...... 

 

I was putting Kylie's hair in pigtails when I saw something crawling on her scalp. At that point I screamed, then I started saying some not so appropriate words (which I then appologized profusely to Kylie who was looking at me like I was a crazy person). I then heard Nathan about to leave to take Matthew to school. And, being the athletic person I am (hahaha), I sprinted to Nathan in half a second and yelled at him to stay right there. Of course his response was, "Why?" And that is when I told him....

"Kylie has LICE!!!" GGGRRROOSSSSS!!!!! I HATE LICE!!!! Since we didn't know if Matthew had it or not, he had to stay home from school. I then immediately started the de-licing process. I did the research and found out that the lice were causing her to break out in hives. I first called EVERYONE who may have been in contact with Kylie the past week, then I started the laundry, bagged up every toy in the house and put them in th gerage, cleaned out the van (including the carseats), vacuumed, mopped, and treated the older kids hair. And treating their hair meant....CUTTING their hair. So, yes, Kylie's BEAUTIFUL locks were cut. I felt a little bit me die as I chopped of the most gorgous hair ever (yes it's a little dramatic, but OMG I love her hair)! So, here is before....

 

.....and after. :(..........

 

So, I am going to back track a little bit. Before all the sickness and parasite drama, I did get to participate (for the first time ever) in the election process. I voted for the first time ever. And, never before have I ever felt so much love for being an American and having so much freedom. And also having the right to vote at all. I am forever grateful for living in this promised land (heart swells with pride).

 

 

So moving on (sorry, this is really starting to turn into a novel...oh well). After voting, and the election, things all of sudden got really stressful on our family (mostly me), and that doesn't include the ickyness that has been floating around. So Nathan did something for me that is TOTALLY uncharacterstic of him. You ready for this? He suprised me with suprise ROMANTIC (that being the key word) weekend WITHOUT the kids. It felt like we were dating all over again. And it couldn't come at a better time because I was at the end of my rope. He had lit candles and placed them all over our living room, and set up a candlit table and ordered Swadly's BBQ (which I had told him I had been craving for a while now). I was completely shocked...and loved every minute of it. He also suprised me with seasons 1-5 of Psych (which we both LOVE). So we sat and had a Psych marathon, and the rest is history ;)

Of course, right after that lovely weekend is when I found Kylie's lice, so I'm glad I had a nice break before the poo hit the fan. LOL!

So after taking care of the lice, Payton then got sick. And, she got it worse of all. She had a temp of 104.6. Luckily I got it under control and she started getting better. But then, alas, my nose starts to run. And, before you know it, I had a temp of 102. AArrrggg. It has been the month that never ends. Hahaha (I only laugh to keep from crying). So, while having this high temp I have to give Kylie a second treatment because the first hair treatment didn't kill all the lice (I definitely got them all the second time). Yeah, I passed out after spending three hours hunched over coming my daughters extremely thick hair. Luckily the girls were tired too and decided to take a 2 hour nap with me.

Unfortunately through all this crud, Nathan got a phone call because his father was in the ICU with Gianne Barrette (sp?) syndrome. It is one nasty thing to fight. In a nutshell, his dad was numb from the waiste down and couldn't walk. He is home now and on the mends (thanks to some wonderful doctors and lots of prayers).

 

Well, I think it's time for some good news....."It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!" Nathan is hanging Christmas light on our house in this pic (it's the first time we've ever hung lights). He did a great job!

Here are some pics of my centerpieces I thought of (thanks to pinterest).

 And the most important news to share, is that Nathan was called and set apart as second counselor to the Blanchard Branch Presidency (soon to be Blanchard Ward). It's going to be interesting sitting by myself on Sunday's, but I am excited to see what this new calling will bring our family. :) So that's all for now. I know it was a super long post, but hey, at least I finally updated right? ;)