These are the moments.....

Last night I had such a special moment with two of my boys. Liam has a cold and wasn't sleeping very well. He was tossing and turning all night and kept whining in his sleep. I finally got up with him at about 3:15am and came out to lay on the couch. He was in a really snugly mood, so I just lay there holding him while he slept on my chest. About 15 minutes later, right as I was dozing off Ronan came into the front room and woke up Liam. ARGH....I was so mad!! I went and put him back in bed and a few seconds later in he came again, with his pillow this time. He climbed up on the couch beside me and put his head on my chest. I had Liam on the right side and Ronan on the left. I had 2 choices, I could get mad at Ro, yell at him and put him back in bed or I could let him be. I decided as long as he was being good I would just let him stay there. I am so glad that I did. They both lay right there and went to sleep.
As I sat there in the dark, listening to their breathing and snuggling my babies, I suddenly got really emotional. My babies are all past the cuddly stage, they are usually fighting to get away. It is those priceless moments that make it all worthwhile. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a Mam. I am not perfect, I have a lot to learn. But I am grateful for my children and the things I learn from them every day. They are so loving and forgiving and love me unconditionally. I get so busy and caught up in the every day things of life that I often miss those sweet, simple moments. I am so grateful that at 3:30am I was able to experience this one.

Halloween 2008

For FHE the Monday before Halloween we carved pumpkins. The kids were so excited to do it but after about 10 minutes they were bored and poor Scott ended up doing all the work.



Once again, Kian was afraid of the inside of the pumpkin. On this pic you can see him trying to get away from Ro.....who thought it was funny to scare Kian with the guts. Hahaha



Here's the finished product, didn't Scott do a good job. Hahaha



And here they are all lit up on Halloween.



The kids had so much fun this year. Ronan really grasped the concept of trick or treating. He would say "treat, treat, thanks, see ya" all in one breath before grabbing a hand full of sweets and then telling Scott and I to "huyee up" to the next house. LOL. My original plan was to dress the kids as the characters from the Wizard of Oz. As you can see from the pics my plan failed miserably...hahaha.



Kian would not be the tin man....no matter what I tried to bribe him with. Apparantly when you are 5 it is not cool to be the tin man. A black knight (with a sword) is a much better option.



Ronan has a fab scarecrow costume....unused in the closet. He would not wear it and threw the biggest fit because he wanted to be Mr Incredible.....again!! Yes it is the same costume he wore last year, but for those of you who know Ronan, we take whatever we can get. I have a feeling he may be Mr Incredible every year until he is 10 ;-)



I did manage to get 2 of my kids to humour me though. Niamh was the prettiest Dorothy I have ever seen. Seriously, I know I am biased but isn't she beautiful. I told Scott that night that he is in big trouble when she is a teenager and wearing make-up and stuff. The boys will be breaking down the door.



Liam didn't really have any choice in the matter but he did make an adorable Lion.



We had a lot of fun but I am really, really glad that it is only once a year. I think we may have enough candy to last us till then too.

Kian's 5th Birthday

Wow, October was crazy busy around here. I feel bad that it has taken me so long to update the blog.
October 30th was Kian's 5th birthday. Kian was sure that it was never gonna be his birthday. He asked me every day for about 3 weeks if it was his birthday tomorrow...poor boy!
He had a fabulous birthday and was spoiled rotten. Having a birthday so close to Halloween is hard. Everyone has a crazy busy week scheduled already and then the kids are so hyper, we might have to have an un-birthday in the summer. We didn't do a big party this year. Kian had school on his birthday and Katelyn's birthday is the day before so Julie and I arranged it that they would take "boy" and "girl" cupcakes to school. Kian was so excited.
We told him he could choose anywhere he wanted to go for dinner. At first he said "SubMay"......lol but at the last minute changed to "the place that has peanuts on the floor" (Texas Roadhouse....lol).



He had a fab birthday dinner , they gave him free cake and ice-cream at Texas Roadhouse and then when we got home we had a little surprise for him. Nicholas (Kian's best friend in the whole world) was coming over for more cake and ice-cream. He chose this cake all by himself and was more interested in the motorcycles than the cake...lol.




He got some pretty cool presents, as you can tell by his face on the pictures, he LOVED his Iron Man stuff.





I can't believe that my baby boy is growing up so fast. It seems like only yesterday that he was fighting for his life in the NICU and now he is going to school and being a monster....lol. Kian truly is my miracle baby. There were so many times when we were told that he wasn't going to make it but he is a fighter. I have no doubt that Kian has a very special, sacred purpose to full fill on the earth and that he was saved for the last days. He is sooooo strong willed and at times I have to remind myself that I am the Mam. He is a joy to have in our home, he is the sweetest, most loving boy. He is quite the comedian too and always keeps us laughing.

Kian, I love you so much buddy. Thank you for being my special boy and for keeping me laughing. xxxxx

Vinyl Party Anyone???

Julie and I are trying to get some vinyl parties booked for October and November. If anyone is interested in hosting one let me know and I will get you a list of the dates we are available. Now is the perfect time to host a party, just before the holidays, so you can get some ideas for Christmas gifts and earn some free vinyl!!
If you host a party you will receive a hostess gift, (a vinyl quote up to $5 in value) and 10% of the total sales from your party in product.
Even if you don't want to host a party, check out our website.
We are adding new pre-designed quotes and ideas every day.

Liam's 1st Birthday.

Liam's 1st birthday was on Sunday 21st. Wow, my baby boy is growing up. What happened to the last year. It went by so fast it's crazy. I can't believe that my sweet, newborn baby is already 1 and wanting to be independant and cause trouble!

He loved opening his presents. He wasn't too sure at first but he caught on pretty fast. Of course the older kids were more excited than he was but it is so fun to see them so happy for someone else!



We saved some presents for Sunday night when we had a little party with Scott's family.



I have to say that I think his favourite part was his cake. It didn't take him very long at all to warm up to it and he knew exactly what to do with it. As you can imagine, he was a BIG mess by the time I took the cake away and yes I was a mean Mam and didn't let him eat the whole thing! Once he took his bib off and threw it on the floor he was all done!





Liam is such a sweetheart. From birth he has been the most easy going, laid-back baby. There have been many, many times that I have been grateful for that. Especially the times when Ronan needs some extra attention! I am reminded every day when I look at him that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and can always see the bigger picture. Liam is such a joy to have on our home and I couldn't imagine life without him. He is such a blessing to us and I am so privilaged and honoured to be his Mam.

Liam, you are such a special boy and I can't wait to watch you grow into a handsome young man. I love you sweet boy xxxx

Stylin' new clothes and a silly smile

Liam looked so cute in his new clothes he got for his birthday. I just can't believe how big he looks though, what happened to my baby?? He was so funny with his shoes on. He didn't move. You would have thought that his feet were glued to the floor.



He has got this new crazy smile going on though. When I tell him to smile he scrunches his nose up. He looks so silly but so cute!!!

Cookie Monster

This morning I caught Liam in the kitchen raiding the cookies. It didn't take him very long to figure out where the good stuff is kept, did it??? I don't know how I am going to keep up with this boy. Good thing he's cute!!!

My little "helper"

Liam like to "help" me do the laundry. His idea of helping is running away with the socks. For some strange reason he likes to put them in his mouth like a little puppy.....lol!

Mr Frankenstein

I love it when my babies first start walking. Their little legs are so stiff and they are concentrating so hard. They look just like Frankenstein. Liam was only walking around the funiture until yesterday afternoon, when he suddenly decided to be brave and walk across the front room! I was so excited to catch him on video. I know I am crazy to be so happy about it because once he starts running around I am in BIG trouble, but he is just soooo cute! How can that not make you smile???

Your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman!

My parents recently went on holiday to Turkey. When they were there, they found these awesome Spiderman hoodies. The hood zips all the way over the face. They came in the mail today and my boys have been in heaven.

This is Ronan wearing his.



This is Kian.



And even Niamh had to get in on the action. She had to try on Kian's for a picture.



Liam has one too but I haven't tried his on him yet.

Kian cracks me up!

Kian is so funny....he keeps us lauging constantly. Here are a couple of things he has said lately.

Kian: "Dad, you are so smart!"
Scott: "Thanks Kian, you're smart too."
Kian: "I am NOT smart too! I'm just smart!!!"

On Friday morning we were getting ready to take Ronan to school. Kian wanted to go to the library and kept asking and asking me. I was so tired of telling him no that I finally said I didn't know if it was open. Kian walked a few steps away from me, closed his eyes, then opened them and said. "The Library is open Mom, Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost just told me in my heart." LOL!!!!

Kian's first day of Preschool (YAY!!!)

So it wasn't really Kian's first day of preschool, he is just going back to the one he went to last year, but he was so excited for the first day of school. Niamh went back on August 21st, Ronan had his first day on August 29th and Kian had to wait until September 3rd. Poor boy kept asking me "if he was ever gonna be allowed to go to school, ever again!" Bless him!

He had found this Bumblebee shirt at WalMart back in July and begged and begged for it so we got it for going back to school. Every morning we would have the same conversation.

Kian: "Mam, can I wear my transmormer, bumblebee shirt?"
Me: "No Kian, it's for school!"
Kian: "But Mom! It's never gonna be time for school and you are never gonna let me wear my cool bumblebee transmormer shirt and it's never gonna fit me!"



Well, as you can see. He finally was allowed to wear it and guess what, it still fit him.....lol.

He is so excited to go to school this year. He has some kids in his class that he made friends with last year but the best part is that Katelyn is gonna be in his class one day a week. He really misses having her across the street, (I do too!)so he is super excited that he will still get to see her at school. They were so cute when they saw each other.

Liam's first haircut.

About a week ago I gave Liam his first haircut. Now you have to understand that having a bald baby is not normal to me. Niamh wore pigtails at 6 weeks. Ronan had his first haircut at 12 weeks and we cut 5 inches off. Even Kian had a haircut at about 7 months and we cut off a few inches but Liam....I have no idea what happened to him. So finally his hair was getting scraggly on the ends and he had some long pieces that were starting to grow over his ears so when I did the boys hair I buzzed his too.

Here's the before pic. If you click on it and enlarge it you can see the wisps, i promise!


It has actually made what little hair he does have look thicker. The other day I gave him a bath and did his hair in a mohawk while it was wet and it dried that way. He looked so cute!

Ronan's first day at pre-school.

Ronan had his first day of school today! Argh.....when did my baby boy grow up?? Yes, I bawled like a big baby when I dropped him off. I did make it to the truck first though so he didn't see me.



He looked so big when he was all ready for school with his backpack on. Never mind that it is nearly as big as he is!! He loved wearing it though, cause it has Spiderman on it and didn't want to take it off when we got to school.
He is going to the Early Intervention Center (I know it's spelt wrong, that is how they spell it over here!) He qualifies for the free services there because of his speech delay and sensory issues. They have qualified speech therapists and occupational therapists at the school who work with the kids and all of the teachers are trained to deal with kids just like Ro. There are also kids without developmental delays or disabilities in the classes to encourage the kids to accept other children and develop social skills. It is going to be such a blessing for us to have Ronan go there.
He made a great first impression today...lol. He walked into the classroom and one of the teachers came over and said Hi to him and asked if she could put a sticker on him so they would know his name. Well he told her "NO!" But she went ahead and put it on him anyway. So....he looks down at the sticker, looks up at the teacher. Rips the sticker off his shirt, slaps his teacher on the arm and tells her to "GET OUT" and points to the door. He was not impressed.....lol!!

Niamh's first day of 1st Grade

Niamh's first day of school was August 21st. She was so excited to be in first grade and stay at school all day. It was a big change for her this year. Not only did she get to stay all day but she also had to move to a totally new school as the boundries changed. So far she is loving it though and she has made some new friends already. Her favourite part of being at school all day is that she gets to eat lunch there. She still hasn't been brave enough to ride the bus yet though.



It has been really strange for me having her gone all day. She is such a good helper with the boys that I really miss having her there sometimes. It's hard to see my baby growing up!!

Sleeping Beauties!

Every night before I go to bed I go in and check on my kids. One night they were all sleeping so peacefully that I had to take some pics.
It doesn't matter what kind of day I have had with the kids, watching their precious faces while they sleep always melts my heart!

7 years!

Well I know I am a little bit late posting this but it's the first chance I have had and I couldn't let it pass completely.
Scott and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on Monday 28th. I can hardly believe it has been 7 years already! 7 years and 4 kids later, who would have thought!!

Scott, I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and appreciate all you do for me and the kids. I know I'm not the easiest person to live with, but you put up with me and still love me ;-) that's gotta be worth something! You truly are my best friend and I am so grateful to have you as my eternal companion. I couldn't ask for anything more than you already give me. Thankyou for all you do. I love you babe xxxxx

The smallest things bring the greatest joy!!

One of my fears since we found out about Ronan's problems, has been that he would never speak. That I would never hear him say simple things like "I love you". Something that I have totally taken for granted with my other kids.
This past week has been amazing. Ronan has said "Love oo" (Love you) to my Mam on the phone. He has told Scott to "Su Up" (shut up) when he was singing in the truck and Ronan was trying to watch his movie. He told me to "Hu-ee up" (hurry up) when he was waiting for me to get him out of the truck last night.
Just this morning something precious happened and I am so glad I was able to see it. Ronan took a toy away from Liam. When Liam started to cry Ronan said "uh oh" and gave the toy back. Then he said "soy-ee, y'alrite?" (sorry, are you alright) and kissed Liam on the forehead.
It was the simplest exchange but it meant so much to me. It makes me cry now just typing out the story. Ronan has come so far in the past month and every day I am reminded that it is the small, simple things that mean so much and bring us happiness.

Grab a tissue!!

I saw this on a blog I was reading and it really touched me. I just had to share it.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
I will think about the Mothers and Fathers who are searching for their missing children, the Mothers and Fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and Mothers and Fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.
And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day.............

Niamh's 6th Birthday

Niamh's birthday was July 16th. I can't believe my baby girl is 6!! Where did the years go???

She got an awesome bike, thanks to her Dad. She would have just got the cheap one if I had gone to get it! lol. She was pretty excited about it because it was a total surprise.



Niamh wanted to have a birthday party for just her friends this year so we took her and 8 of her friends swimming at the Aquatic Centre. They had a blast. We started off with pizza, then did cake and presents and then swam for an hour and a half. She had a Hannah Montana cake and all of her cool presents from her friends were Hannah Montana stuff. She got Hannah Montana pj's, purse, shirt, towel and flip-flops. She thought it was great!!



Here are all the girls right before we went swimming. Scott took the boys home after the pizza and presents.



I can't believe how big my Niamhy is getting! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday! She is such a special girl with a heart of gold! There are times when she thinks she is 16 and I feel like we are never going to survive till she really is 16, but all in all she is a good girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family. She is quite the little mother to the boys but we would all be lost without her, she helps so much!

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be Niamh's Mam. She is an amazing little girl with such a beautiful spirit. She is definately as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside! I have no doubt that she has a sacred work to do on the earth. She teaches me so much. How to be a better Mam and how to love unconditionally and without judgement. Thankyou Niamh, for being so loving and forgiving me when I make mistakes! I love you so much sweetheart xxx