Christmas 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Disney Princess on Ice

Thank You so much to my good friend Holly for giving us the tickets. I was able to take Bee and her best cousin, Ryleigh, to the show. In fact the day we went was Ryleigh's b-day. What great memories the two of them will have. Thanks again Holly!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What's Up!

Since Brooklyn is confined to home and I have the rest of the week off, I decided that I should post and update you all on 'what's up' with us. Fall has been way fun for us; the leaves, friends, canning, Halloween, playing with friends, and just hanging at home.
The girls are good. Brooklyn has this nasty H1N1 bull crap along with croup and some viral flu. We have had some scarey days with her but I am sure we are on the down hill. She loves to go to day care and play with Ms Wendy and the kids. It has gotten to the point that she doesn't even cry anymore when I drop her off. She waves goodbye and says "C YA!"
Bee just loves going to school and learning. She comes home and talks about her day and how all her friends are mean to her and how she hates Jessie, but in the long run she has a great time with school. She likes to tell stories about her friends being mean to her, but it is the other way around. Bee likes to be the boss and when they don't want to do what she wants them to do, she says that they are being mean! GO FIGURE!
Work for me is going good. I really enjoy what I do, but realize that it won't be forever. Not that I want to be on my own just yet, but I now if I want to do that I need to find a better job that pays more and has longer hours. I have decided not to do the extended program after school anymore...my girls need their mom at home! It has been nice to be home for awhile, not that I want to have Brooklyn be sick, but I have gotten a lot of stuff done. I do, however, look forward to going back to work on Monday.
Here are some pics of some of the stuff we have done in the last litte while. Hope all is well with all of you!

JT

I haven't blogged for a long time and thought I would just give a little shout out! The title of my post may catch some of you off guard, but that's okay. I have a cousin who was expecting and at 25 weeks delivered a 1 lb. 4 oz. baby boy. With complications with her BP he came that fast. His little feet were half an inch wide and he looks just like an angel. Over the past three weeks he has gained 5 oz. and is doing really good. He is getting his mom's milk and retaining it well. You are probably wondering why I am telling you all this.....well as a mom my heart goes out to my cousin. I am not sure I would be able to hand what she is going through. I went over to see her the other day and she is sooo strong. She said to me, "I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father gave me JT because he knew I could handle it. I know that he doesn't give me things that I can not handle." What a strong woman my cousin is. I am sure that I would be a wreck if JT was my son. Leaving the hospital without your baby and watching all the other mothers be able to would kill me. It makes you look at life and realize how special life is!

So, I have made myself a bracelet that I will wear until little JT comes home or maybe forever. I had a hard time trying to figure out what to put on the bracelet or what it should mean. My cousin has incredible strength in dealing with this that I thought 'Strength' should be the theme surround it. So I googled the word 'Strength' and colors today trying to find what color is attached to 'Strength'. I came upon a great web sit that listed all the colors and their meanings. This is what I found:

'When I think of orange, the colors of fall come to mind. It is still warm, but the cold of winter will be upon us soon. Orange is strength and endurance. It will keep us warm until the signs of life stir in the frozen land once again. Orange is vibrant and warm. Survival and Strength.'

Also:

'In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.'

The bracelet that I made has JT's initials in it and lots of orange colored beads. So, to my cousin who has great strength in having to go through this hardship in her life and to JT that he may have the strength he needs to continue on his journey.

Soccer

So I asked Bee what she wanted to do this fall, play soccer or dance. Well she decided to play soccer. So our first game/practice was pretty good. Bee came up with the name of the team, we are known as the 'Green Machines'. We left and Bee says to me in the car, "Mom I think this is going to be really fun!" Well Thursday's game was not so great. We played the Killer Bees. Bee was doing great for never playing soccer until her and a opposing teammate collided and hit each other in the head. See, because they are so little, the coaches can be on the field to help out and no one tends the goal. Some of the same rule applies, but not all. So when the two collided Bee turns to me and I shout "Its okay, shake it off!" She then continues to play and when the other team scored, I ran out to get her. She is still crying and doesn't want to play anymore. Well she went from me to her dad to Grandma Donna to Aunt Colie back to her dad and then to me. While she was going back and forth she happens to say to all of us: "I wish I would of picked dancing!" We all go a chuckle and she decided not to finish the game. Through all of the drama, we still won 5-2. We got home that night and she said that she didn't want to play anymore and I told her that the decision was up to her. Well, Friday came along and her dad called to ask is she was going to play on Saturday and she responded with: "Ya, my team needs me to be there to help win!" So, we went Saturday to play and she did really good. She got the ball a few times and kicked it, but other than that she pretty much stays away from it. We won 10-1. I don't blame her for staying away from the ball. We are going to practice before the next game on Thursday and then she can decided if she wants to play or not.


We just scored our first goal. 1-0


Bee getting a touch of the ball.


Bee and her friend Abby passing the ball.

First Day of Kindergarten

Bethanie started Kindergarten this year....OMH! I can't believe that my Bee is going to school. It seems like just yesterday I had her. She loves it and that is all that matters. We have a lot of work to do, Bee is a little lazy! As long as she applies her self, she will be brilliant. Bee is a smart kid and she knows it, but when she get lazy we have issues. I wonder where she gets that from...not me!!! She did great the first week, but now she seems to struggle. I think once Bee gets in the grove, she will be just fine. We took pics (of course) of her first day of school and thought we would share them with you all. Thanks Uncle Matthew, Aunt Kat, and Zoe for the outfit. It was a hit for the first day of school!

Gotta love that face!

Love the Cheese!

Happy Birthday Bethanie!

August 9, 2004 I gave birth to my first child, Bethanie Ann. Most mothers can remember those days like they were yesterday. Bethanie was not born in Utah, but in Albuquerque New Mexico(Don't Ask). We moved back to Utah when she was 6 months old. She weighed 7lbs. 8oz., was 20 1/2 inches long, and had lots of jet black hair. So here is to you, Bethanie my love, may you never lose that spunk you have and the sweet spirit inside you. Mom loves you sooo much and will always be here for you! Happy Birthday my little peanut!

Birthday

I have decided to make Bethanie's birthday cake this year! I am a little nervous that it will not turn out how I want it to, but what do ya do. My mom's mom made wedding cakes and cakes when she(my mom)was younger so it will be nice to have her help and knowledge on the matter. It is going to take me three days to get it done. We start on Friday.........wish me luck!

Oh my holy DUCKS!

Ever since we moved in with with my parents,we have gotten ourselves into a little routine. We have become duck feeders. There are a lot of ducks at our complex! Everyday we the girls and I are out there feeding our little friends. There are even a few ducks that will eat right out of our hands. It is sooooo much fun. I decided 2 take a few pics so that you all could see our little duck friends!

~15 months~

I can not believe that Brooklyn is 15 months! Where does the time go? She is still only 20 lbs, but she is 30 and 3/4 inches tall. She ranges in the 75th percentile of her height! She still is not walking on her own, but that is ok. She has taken about 5 steps on her own, but then falls to the ground and crawls! Lazy is what I call it! She loves to say Heidi (my mom has a dog named that), Adi (my niece's name is Addison and they call her Adi), she knows what hot means (she pants like a dog when things are hot or you say the word hot), and she knows what dirty means. That one is kind of funny, you say dirty or gross and she makes this sound and she knows that it is dirty or gross. She also says "whats that?" which is dang cute. She has figured out that she can say that to anything and get a response! Brooklyn likes to scream, especially at Bethie! Gotta love that sisterly bond they have going on! She loves to sit in chairs that are her size and will play with them forever. She really likes to give hugs and loves her Aunt Nichole and Grammie Donna. Speaking of Grammie Donna, she has got Brooklyn hooked on crushed ice! You can't even fix a drink without her screaming cause she KNOWS that there is ice in that cup! Thanks mom!!! Just think she could be truning five and going to kindergarten! Now that is a differ post!

Monday Night S'mores!

We went camping last weekend....Yes I took the girls camping and let me tell you I will NEVER do that again until Brooklyn is about 6!!!!! Don't get me wrong...it was fun, but it works a lot better when there are more hands (like husband hands) and your kid can walk and not crawl around eating the dirt!!! So Heather, my little sis, was telling us about oven s'mores! That they are better than any fire roasted marshmallow s'more. And that we will never eat s'mores again if we have then oven style. So Monday being FHE we decided to make oven s'mores! Oh my heck was Heather right! They were so goooooood! My parents, Bethanie, and I had two each! I could of had five, but.....I didn't! Thanks Heather, from now on we will being having FHE and Monday Night S'mores!!!!





Bethanie says to me: "Mmmmm, Mom these are great!" Ya you should of seen her face after she ate them, that pic is PRICELESS!!!

Recap.....

A lot has gone on the past couple weeks and I thought that I should just do a recap on our family events. I worked during most of June, but our weekends were fabulous. We have spent them at the Zoo, the pool, friends houses, and of course we attended my sister's annual July 3rd party!!
The Zoo is a great place to be. This is the second time that we have owned a zoo pass and we love it. They have what is called "The Safari Sunrise Walk" which is for members only. They open the zoo at 7:30 and allow the members to watch as the zoo wakes up. We love it, not only me, but the girls too. Brooklyn loves to watch the monkeys and yells at them when they don't move. Bethanie loves....well everything.
The pool on the other hand is sometimes a scary thing. I don't mind going with our best friends in Bountiful, but when it is just the girls and I, I have anxiety! They both love the water so much...it is hard to keep track of both of them. So no more outings to the pool without friends. We also went to the Oquirrh Hills Temple open house...that was a great experience for me and Bethaine. She is so excited to go when she gets older!
We also hang out a lot at Amy and Natalie's house. The kids play and Amy and I do crafts. The girls love to be together and I love hanging out with Amy and making stuff.
For my sisters annual party, we had a blast. They do it on the third every year and then head to Granite High School for the fireworks. She used to live right down the street from Granite and we would just walk to the High School and watch the fireworks. She has done this party for about 12 years.....(that is a guess. I am not really sure how long it has been, but it has been a long time.) So now we just have a great BBQ and then we all get in cars and drive over to a church parking lot and park and walk to the school. I haven't been in a few years, my x and I kind of started our own tradition and....well we all know what happened there. It was sad for me to not be up at Eaglewood Golf Course with great friends and fam watching the fireworks, but life happens and things change.
I have compiled a little slide show of our events for the past couple weeks. Enjoy!

NO more pencils....NO more books.....

Summer school is officially over!!!!! Great for me...no job!! (NOT) Pretty sure I can make it to August 24th when school starts.
Things are going good in our lives. Brooklyn just gets bigger and bigger everyday. She is blabbing like crazy, but still is not walking. Hey...I am not concerned...the later it is the better. No hurry Little Miss! We went to a really good friends birthday party yesterday and she surprised me by getting off the deck herself. She just turned around and went backward off the deck. She loves B's build-a-bear, but not her own. I think it is because B's has music in it and hers doesn't. Little Miss loves the water....it is funny, she hates the tub, but LOVES the pool.
Bethanie is getting excited to go Kindergarten. She surprises me everyday on what she has picked up. Today she asked me how to spell my name, so I told her how and she says:"Well, how do you do a K?" So I showed her and she did a pretty good job. That birthday party we went to was for Hailey, a girl I used to babysit, and B had so much fun. She loves to play with Hailey and cries about not being able to. She gets really upset sometimes and says to me: "Can't we just move back to Bountiful so I can play with my old friends Haybug and Natalie?" It breaks my heart when she says stuff like that, but we get through it and move on! Thank goodness for cars and roads so I can get her up to Bountiful. I can't believe that she will be 5 in about a month...where has all the time gone?????

This is B and Haybug before we moved.

This is the girls last year!

Summer begins....

I have had some great and not so great summers. This year will be a great one.....even though I have to work. We have spent a few days up in Bountiful, with Amy and her girls, at the pool. We love the pool. Brooklyn loves the water. In fact the first time I put her in the pool in her floaty, she climbed out of it and fell in the water. After a recovery of water up the nose and mouth she refused to get in it again. She would kick and scream if I tried to even put her in it. So, thanks to her dad, she has a new bathing suit with floaty things on the inside. She likes it, but she still falls over head first, if she gets too far into the water. This week may not be a good time for the pool. My sister has a rule about the pool, she doesn't go unless it is 80 degrees or hotter. Well this week it is suppose to be rainy and cool. Dang it! I was hoping for some sun on my pasty white legs and on my farmer tan from recess duty. Happy Summer to you all!

Brooklyn's nickname!

So my mom told me that in my last post, I used the spelling of Brooklyn's nickname as something that you use to clean your car window. Well we can not have that!!!! So I have been thinking and I can't come up with the correct spelling. Well my mom came to me with a way to spell it, so here it is: Squiggy

So from now on that will be Brooklyn's nickname. If you don't know B's nickname...ask her dad. I hate the nickname he has for her, so I just use the name the nurse gave her when she was first born. That name would be Peanut.

'Squeegee'

So you might wonder what the heck that says or how we came up with that word. Well, my mom made it up for Brooklyn. She wiggles and squirms so much my mom started to call her 'Squeegee'. Take the two words and what do you get...... Just look at the pic, she would not hold still for me to even get a good one, so here is part of her head. Maybe that is not the best way to spell it, but just ask my kindergarten kids how to spell a word and they will tell you to sound it out. So I sounded it out and that is what I got. If you have a better way to spell it, please let me know.

Mother's Day Present!

So I found this in a bag that was given to me for Mother's Day from B and thought you all might get a little chuckle from reading it:

The Pool!

So I promised B that we would go to the pool yesterday after dinner.....well her friend came over and we had dinner and they played til about 7:30. Well once Afton left guess who wants to go the pool??? Yeap B. I told her that we would go the next day after I got off work. Once again we ran into a road block, the pool didn't open til 4 and we went at 3. So we ventured back home til after dinner. I really did not want to go, but a promise is a promise. So off we went and the only thing I am going to say is I will never go to the pool again unless I have: 1. Two more arms and 2. a STROLLER. I have a stroller, but it is a double stroller and I am NOT dragging that thing into the inside pool.

Go Go Go....

Today was a go go go day. I was up at 6 and it is 9:39pm and I am still awake! B had a Dr's. appointment today and she had to pee in a cup to check to see if her UTI has gone completely out of her system and she refused to do it. Finally after 45 mins in the office area I said to her: "Bethi if you go pee in the cup we can go to the Zoo!" Well that worked. Sure as stuff the minute we went in the bathroom with the cup, she went! The things we do as mothers to get our kids to do stuff. So off to the Zoo we went. We saw whatever animals she wanted to see, we rode the train and the new carousel, had Kettle Corn, and decided that we better go before it got to busy. Then we ran 'mom' errands, went and saw my grandma (who is in a nursing home), and headed home. We walked out the door this morning at 9:15 and didn't get back til 6:15. Then we did our nightly routine and now I am ready for bed. The kids passed out hours ago. What it would be to be young again!!

The many quotes of a 4yr old!

So Sunday's have been a challenge for me the past couple weeks to the point that I don't even want to go. So last Sunday Bethanie was given a talk before we went to church and then right before sacrament started. So as the sacrament was being blessed, Bethanie threw herself on me and said that she was tired and wanted to go home. So I quietly said, "Bethanie we are not going home, please be quiet during the sacrament!" The blessing was done and they started passing it to the congregation and she says at the top of her lungs: "But I am just a child who needs to take a nap!" I said "Bethanie please be quiet!!" She then says, "But I am just a child who has been here for a long time!!" So I quietly got up and took her to the hall. Great! Why does it have to be so hard!!! Good thing that I have a sister and her family that can help out!

Birthday Pics!

Brooklyn Nichole Freeman

Slideshow #2....something was wrong with slide.com so I went to photobucket!

Brooklyn Nichole Freeman

Today is Brooklyn's first Birthday......OMG where has the time gone. Happy Birthday my little angel, Mommy loves you very much!!!!

What a great road traveled for her to get here.

Months after:
Having to go on a diet...I guess I was too fat to have a baby?
Pre-eclampsia
High blood pressure
Throwing up morning, noon, and night
Bed rest for three weeks or maybe it was a few months????
More hours at the hospital in labor than I anticipated
Piece of cake delivery with pushing for maybe a half hour
Coming home and feeling the blues
Hard time with the whole breast feeding thing
Trying to be a wife and a mom
Jaundice
Lights
Give up the breast feeding thing and went to formula
Blessing day
Croup at three months and an overnight in the Hospital
Having a great baby!
Love of my life....Need I say more!

Easter Pics

Whatever came to mind.....

So I haven't blogged for awhile and thought I would take the time today to do a little. First things first.....MY DIVORCE IS FINAL! Yeah for me! Can you tell that I am excited? There are still days that I miss the whole marriage/husband/wife life, but then there are days where PJ is a jerk about something and I thank my lucky stars that we are not married!!!

Bethanie is good, still her smart little self. She is so sassy sometimes that I wonder what her age is.....4 or 20? She says that she is not going to Kindergarten. I tell her "Yes B you are going to Kindergarten whether you like it or not." She stomps around for a few minutes and forgets what we just talked about. Like my brother Paul says: 'Give'em five minutes and it is over.' B loves her sister, so much that I think she strangles her every time they hug! Gotta love siblings.

Brooklyn is growing sooooo fast. She is now crawling like a race car and loves to be able to move around. Her and Danny (her uncle that we live with) play this game called 'Bonk'. Danny says 'bonk' and they smack each other in the head with their foreheads. It is so cute. She is starting to pull herself up on things, but only to her knees. She has her days where she loves bb food and then she goes on strike and has to have adult food. Go figure! She loves her Aunt Nichole and screams when you take her away from her. She is talking like crazy. She goes to my mom's three times a week and loves my mom's dog Heidi. In fact she can say Heidi. The other day we were getting into the car and she saw another dog and says "Heidi" So now every animal is called a 'Heidi'. I woke one morning with her laying in her bed, holding her stuffed cat, and her saying: "Heidi, Heidi" It was the cutest thing ever.

Here are some recent pics of the girls:

So...tonight we had our first spring BBQ with my parents. We were just BSing after dessert and we hear Carter and Ryleigh asking B to move out of the way of the television. I asked Ryleigh what was going on and she said that B was running back and forth in front of the television. So I asked B to come up and see me. Well she came running upstairs and was upset. I said: "Bethanie, why are you running in front of the tv?" She responds with the most serious look on her face and says: "I was exercising my legs!"