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Carson Vaughn Backus! He was born Saturday, March 9th at 9:25pm. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and 19.5 in. 

Skiing, Fire trucks and a random video

We had a fun visit from Uncle Scott. He and Matt when snowboarding on a Friday in Vail. Then the next day they took Blake and Tyler with them, I think mostly to give me a little break, and Uncle Scott treated them to skiing lessons. I was a little worried that after awhile they would get too tired and cold and not have very much fun. Boy was I wrong. They loved it! Blake came home asking if he could go back on Monday. I loved hearing all about what they had learned. Part of the lessons included lunch. When I asked the boys what they had Blake said, "fingers and toes...no wait...chicken toes!" In our home we usually call them chicken nuggets, and not chicken fingers. We got a good chuckle out of it. 

Tyler 

Tyler

Blake

Blake

 Not too long ago we had new neighbors move in around the corner. They have a boy that is between Blake and Tyler's age. We love making new friends and we are glad they moved here. The other day they brought over their 1932 fire engine and gave the kids a ride. I think they felt pretty cool as the others kids on the block ran out and waved at them.

Here are some videos of the boys skiing and a random video I found of Lacey that makes me laugh. I hope they work!

Wrap up of 2012

January

Started off the new year by packing up our home of 4 months in Colorado Springs and moved it all back to Arizona! We moved into a two bedroom apartment in Mesa. Matt searched for a job and was able to find a temp job working for Turbo Tax. The kids and I enjoyed the warm Arizona sunshine and spent lots of time at Grandparents homes taking advantage of their backyards and extra room to stretch. The last day of the month I had my first doctor appointment for baby #4. We were sad to find out that the baby had died and I miscarried the baby very early the next morning at home. 

Playing at SanTan Mall

February

Matt continued to work for Turbo Tax and  look for a more permanent job. He found a job at Ryan,an accounting firm, in Sandy, Utah. Blake enjoyed having preschool with Grandma. I got to help and watch my sisters get ready for their upcoming weddings. Matt and I flew to Utah to find a place for our family to live, because of delayed flights and a missed connecting flight we had less than 12 hours to find a place. Thanks to the help of some friends we were able to find a home to rent in Riverton, UT. Whew. Back to AZ

March

My sister Noelle got Married to a great guy Ryan Briggs. We loved seeing all the brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. Once again we packed up all our stuff put it onto a moving van and headed to Utah for our next adventure. 

April

Nellie gets married to another great guy Justin Tongisala (still trying to figure out the correct spelling). Lucky for us they got married in Salt Lake so we didn't have to do any traveling. 

These next couple of months are blur.

May

We explore Utah and find fun parks and splash pads. Lacey turns two!

Exploring trails by our home

Making smores in the outside fire place

Mud Bath

June

Matt and I celebrate our 7th anniversary. No seven year itch for us.  We also got visits from grandparents and aunts and uncles, but I can't remember who came for what months. We did enjoy them all. 

Talks with Grammie

At the Riverton Art Festival with Grandma and Grandpa

We loved living only 10 minutes away from Great Grandma Wyeth

July

The boys get to participate in the Day's of '47 parade. I'm not sure what their favorite part was being in the parade or getting to rife the light rail to Salt Lake. We find out we are having another baby. We went to the beach for the Backus reunion and enjoyed the ocean and warm sand and Matt celebrated his 32nd birthday there. And although we were grateful for the job Matt had, he got a better offer from Dish network in Englewood, Colorado. 

My little beach babes

on our way to the parade

August

We bought our first home in Parker, Colorado. We pack up our things once again and move back to Colorado. I love Colorado and was more than happy to make this move. Blake started kindergarten! We lived in a hotel for about a week while we wait for our house to close. Blake turns 5!

1st day of Kindergarten!

September

Tyler turns 4! My Grandma passes away.

He of course choose green cupcakes

October 

A visit from Grammie. We find out we will be having another boy. And of course Halloween celebrations. 

Making spider cookies that Grandma sent

Making homemade root beer. I told them to make a scary face and this is what they come up with.

All ready for trick-or-treating

November

We had our first Thanksgiving with just our little family. Grandma and Grandpa come for a visit.

December 

I turn 28. We enjoy the snow and we have our 2nd Christmas again with just our little family. 

I am sure I am missing some important events, but that's what happens when I procrastinate! 

Lacey

Lacey, you just turned two and you so badly want to be like your brothers. In your eyes you are just as big as them. You get frustrated with me when I hold you in the swimming pool, because I think it is too deep for you. In fact, I have even let you go very quickly to show you that it was too deep. Yet, you see Blake and Tyler walking around so you KNOW you can do the same thing.
I love how you say "Whaat?" in falsetto when you think something is silly. It is something we all do now.
Because, you follow two old brothers,you think bodily noises are funny and something to be proud of. The only princess you know of is Princess Lea from star wars. In fact you know a lot about Star Wars. You can imitate Yoda, you go around the house singing the "Darth Vader" song( the one that goes: dun dun dun dun du dun du du dun) and I think you get more excited over a storm trooper than you do about Pooh Bear.
You love your Daddy so much. You always let me read to you at night and put you to bed, but you won't go to sleep unless Daddy comes and sings, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Popcorn popping, and I love to see the Temple".
Your favorite books are "Let's Be Polite" and "Little Quack's Opposites".
I love how you call Fruit Loops, Fruit poops.
You love to play the game where we pretend we are asleep, then you sit up and yell "Mawnin' time" I tickle you and then we do it again, over and over and over.
Your new favorite toys are Raggedy Ann and Baby doll, but Teddy is still your main squeeze.
You loved to get your nails painted. When the polish comes off one of your fingers, you will follow me around holding that finger saying. "polish not working" I know you want me to repaint your nails, but I try to limit it to twice a week.

Intended and Unintended

Before I start this post I know it has been a really long time since I have updated. So to put it in a nutshell we moved to Arizona for a few months and then to Utah were Matt got a job with a tax firm. There, you're caught up. Here are a few pics from then to now.

Cousin Time

Grandma took them to the children's museum where they learned about bats!

At the Tulip festival 

Cinco de Mayo party with the Idaho family

Pinata time. Blake did a lot of the work making this pinata.

Okay, so now to get to the real post. Being a mom of small children you expect messes. I expect my kids will get dirty, in fact I want them to get dirty. You might think I am crazy, but I want them to explore and  play in the dirt or make mud pies. I want them to enjoy being kids. Sometimes, we will do activities that I intend to make a big mess, but it is worth it to me if they are having fun and maybe even learn a little something. I believe little kids learn through playing and having fun. However, with life and small children there are loads of messes that are unintended and frankly catch me of guard. Here are a few examples:

Intended mess: letting the kids cut up paper and glue them into whatever shapes and objects they want. 

Unintended mess: Blake cutting Tyler's hair

Intended mess: Setting the tent up in the living room on a cold day. Bringing every pillow, blanket and stuffed animal to cuddle with. 

Unintended mess: Lacey hidden from view behind the tent, playing in the fire place ashes.

Intended mess: Letting the kids play in shaving cream drawing pictures and letters. Getting hands clothes and table smelling like daddy. 

Unintended mess: Tyler sneaking into the hot pink food coloring and dumping half a bottle into Blake's shaving cream pan. He was hot pink from his fingertips to his elbows for several days.

Then there are the times when you are trying to clean up one mess while unbeknownst to you another one is being made. For example I was having a problem with a slow drain in my bathroom sink. With out getting into the whole story it went from slow to clogged. I tried taking matters into my own hand just to get sprayed with gross water from the pipes.

doesn't that look gross!

While I was dealing with that Lacey was getting creative with the dish washing soap.

This particular day had been a long day. FYI- The ashes, and the clogged pipes happened on this day. When I walked into the kitchen, I had no desire to clean another mess so I poured a little bit of water onto the floor and we had a slip n, slide party. I think Matt was a bit surprised to come home to a tent in the Living room, clogged pipes in the bathroom (fyi- use baking soda and vinegar to unclog), and his wife and kids sliding in the kitchen. I guess life just gets messy whether you plan those messes or not! 

Happy Halloween!

THE SCARY GHOST

"FRANKLINSTIEN" with "FAT HAIR"

CUTE (but oh so Grumpy) CLOWN.

Trick-or-Treat