Relaxing Day

Today was such a great and relaxing day!  That doesn't happen too often, so I felt it needed to be documented!  I got a nap, I went to lunch with friends and without kids (thanks Grandma and Grandpa), I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather, we ate dinner outside in the back yard, and I hardly did any house work.  We are in the process of getting grass in our back yard, so right now it is like one big sandbox.  Me and Brad peaked out the window today and they were doing sand angels.  They were so dirty when it was time to come in.  I love the picture below.  The kids pulled Jackson around in the wagon today and then Karleigh read to him outside.  He was laughing and laughing at her.  It was too cute.  

I love days like this, when the kids are so tired that they can't even make it to bedtime because they have played so hard.  I carried this guy up the stairs to bed and couldn't believe how heavy he was. When did he get so big????  Sometimes I hate how fast time goes.  

Brad is 28!!!

Twenty-eight years ago, Bradley Earl Wheeler was born. Happy Birthday!!! We woke up this morning and had cinnamon rolls and orange rolls.  Then, we went to church.  Baby Jackson has had a little fever the last 2 days, so after Brad got everything done for his calling, he came home and put Jackson down for a nap.  When we got home from church, Brad went home teaching while I made dinner.  Then, Grandma Dody and Grandpa Norval came over for dinner.  Brad got a grill for his B-day so we cooked up some Bratwurst and I made a couple of salads and we ate outside on the back porch.  I am in love with St. George this time of year.  The weather has been amazing!!!  I hope I still feel this way in about 2 months when it is 100+ degrees.  

For dessert we had some yummy Strawberry cheesecake and Strawberry ice cream.  Brad loves strawberries.  It was a great family day!  Last night, me and the kids blew up 28 balloons and wrote reasons why we love Brad on them...I wanted to remember them all, so I thought I would write them down here...

1.  You are the best dad/hubby in the whole world!!! –Shera, Karleigh, Grayden, and Jackson

2.  You took care of mommy when I was in her belly. -Jackson

3.  You make me feel safe and because of you I don’t have to worry about so many things! -Shera

4.  When something of my stuff is lost, he helps me find it. -Karleigh

5.  He helps me get up in the morning. -Grayden

6.  You watch girl shows and moves with me.  -Shera

7.  He gives me kisses and hugs. -Karleigh

8.  He helps me get off the rocks. -Grayden

9.  You support my Pinterest addiction. -Shera

10.  You are a good, honest man who loves the temple. -Shera

11.  He helps me clean up. -Karleigh

12.  He helps me get my toys from under the couch. -Grayden

13.  He thinks I am good looking. -Jackson

14.  He loves to help people in need. -Shera

15.  He helped me when I was 4 to say my prayers. -Karleigh

16.  We play trucks. -Grayden

17.  He plays with him my rattles and stuff. -Jackson

18.  You’re not scared of anything…except airplanes. -Shera

19.  He lets me stay up late. -Karleigh

20.  He tucks me in and makes me warm. -Grayden

21.  He holds me. -Jackson

22.  You always make sure we are safe and sound. -Shera

23.  He helps me do math. -Karleigh

24.  He watches movies with me. -Grayden

25.  He says I have a basketball head. -Jackson

26.  You work harder than anyone I know. -Shera

27.  He gives me piggyback rides. -Karleigh

28.  He helps me jump off the rocks. -Grayden

Happy Birthday Brad!!!  I love you!!!

Prayers Work

Today, me and the kids went on a pretty long walk.  Karleigh rode her bike.  There is a really big hill going up to our house and Karleigh was so tired and it was pretty warm outside and she decided that she couldn't ride her bike anymore, so we left it parked at the church, and we were going to go and get it after our walk.  She was pretty nervous that someone was going to steal it.  Anyways, we made it home, and I went to go pick up the bike at the church, which is only about a block from our house.  Later that night, Karleigh let me know that while I was picking up the bike, she was saying a prayer that it was still there and that no one took it.  She was so happy that her "prayer worked," as she put it.  I love when prayers work!!  

7 Years!!!!!!!!!!!!

On March 19, we celebrated our 7 year anniversary!!  I am beyond grateful for Brad and all he does for our little family.  He is such a hard worker and such a great dad and husband.  To celebrate the last 7 years, Brad planned a little trip to Vegas for the weekend.  Brad's wonderful mother came to our house and watched the kiddos.  It was so nice to get away and enjoy each other's company, uninterupted.  We stayed in a little resort area called Lake Las Vegas. I loved our hotel.  There was a lake right outside the hotel with sand and everything.  I want to go back when it gets a little warmer and bring the kids.  I think the would love it.  It was pretty chilly when we were there.

The first night we were there, we went to the temple in Las Vegas.  I always love a trip to the temple with Mr. Wheeler.  After that, we went to dinner at BJs.  

We went to 3 exhibits Saturday morning.  We went to the Titanic exhibit, which was so neat.  It had a ton of artifacts and part of the titanic ship there to look at.  We also went to a Bodies exhibit that was really neat.  Then, we went to a shark exhibit, which was really not that cool, and I would probably never go again.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and walking around trashy, trashy Las Vegas.  Seriously, while there are a lot of fun things to do there, if you look around at all of the billboards and the drunken people, it is a pretty nasty place.  I really like people watching, so I enjoyed it.  There was one couple who was making out in the casino when we walked by and they were still in the same chair making out when we walked by again about an hour later...Now that is some good people watching.  We did spend about 30 minutes on the penny slot machines.  We spent about $15 and ended up breaking even, maybe even a few cents ahead...wahoo.  It was fun to do for a second.  After that, we went to Phantom.  It was pretty amazing.  The music was awesome and I loved the orchestra.  We also enjoyed 2 cups of Diet Coke for $10...we just had to laughed when they told us the price.  We made sure to enjoy every sip.  We were so tired after the show and walking around Vegas all day, that we just stopped at Cafe Rio on the way back to our hotel for dinner.  It was such a nice weekend.  I love you Brad!!  Thanks for the getaway!

Monday was our actual anniversary.  We took the fam to Chili's for dinner and came home and watched our wedding video.  It was so fun to remember our special day.  It was the first time Karleigh and Grayden had seen the video.  Gray wasn't too into it, but Karleigh loved every second of it, and it ended with us all dancing to a song on our wedding video.  Happy Anniversary, Brad.  I can't wait to see what our future holds!!  

Phone Pics

Here are some random phone pics...

It is so nice to have my Grandma and Grandpa Jones here in St. George.  We love to go and visit them.  Last week, Karleigh and Grayden got to frost some yummy sugar cookies.  

I love this picture.  I am so happy that my kids are getting to spend time with my grandparents.  They are such awesome people.  

This is Jackson's first trip down the slide.  He didn't really seem too affected by it.  

Licking the frosting off of the beaters.  

Such a happy baby.  I really can't get enough of this little munchkin.  

Sleepovers!

For about the last month, Karleigh and Grayden have been having sleepovers together on the weekends.  Last week was Spring Break, and they slept in the Bonus room every night.  They love it!  For some reason they always sleep until about 9:00 when they have sleepovers, which basically never happens in my house, so I am loving it.  

I loved Spring Break last week.  It was so nice to not have to be anywhere.  Karleigh and Grayden just played all day and slept in, and it made me so excited for summer!!  

Look Mom...No Training Wheels!!!

Karleigh ditched the training wheels this week.  She has been practicing for a while on her big bike, but just wasn't getting it, so we took off her training wheels on her old little bike, and she caught right on.  She has spent every minute of spare time on her bike since she learned how to do it.  She scares the crap out of me!  We live on a very big hill, and she goes sooo fast.  She did crash a few times on her little bike.  She is riding on her big bike now, and we had a pretty big crash tonight.  It was getting dark outside and she ran into a curb and crashed pretty hard, going really fast.  There were tears!!  I guess that's what we get for letting her ride her bike when it's dark outside.  She goes so fast and isn't real great on her brakes yet.  She is already anxious to practice more tomorrow so she can get better with her brakes and she definitely will be wearing a helmet from now on!  She is such a presistent little thing.  She doesn't give up easily, which I love about her.    

Gray Man

I realized it is was way past time to do a Grayden post.  He has been so much fun lately! The kids makes me laugh all the time!  He is so animated with everything he says and does.  My favorite quote from him lately is "OH BABY."  Every time he does something fun, like going to the hill really fast on his scooter, he throws his hands up in the air and yells "Oh Baby!!!"  He is SUCH a loud kid.  When he is outside playing, I can hear him inside the house....he is super loud!!  He is always making jokes, and they are pretty funny most of the time.  The other day in church, Brad said that the song that they were playing is pretty, and Grayden looked right out Brad and said, "Are you pretty?"  He really is funny.  He loves to make people laugh. 

He fell asleep watching a movie this afternoon and I took a picture of him while he was still waking up.  I told him to smile, but this is all I got!  

He is doing so good with school.  He has had so much fun this year.  Ms. Suzie, his teacher, is so cute with him.  He has made lots of fun friends.  I love how he writes his name.  It's precious! This is a picture of a sun that he made at school.    

His favorite thing to do is play with friends.  We live in a great neighborhood and it seems like there is always someone outside to play with and Grayden loves it. 

Ever since Jackson was born, I have been meaning to blog about the first time Grayden held Jackson.  Grayden, who is usually so loud and energetic, was so calm and loving towards his brother.  When my mom said it was time to go home, Grayden's eyes filled up with tears and he was so sad to leave his baby behind.  You could really tell that there was such a strong and special connection between them.  It was very precious.  He is still really sweet with Jackson.  Jackson is a baby that requires a lot of attention, and Grayden and Karleigh will sit on the ground and play with him, which is so helpful!  Karleigh and Grayden went through a rough patch last summer, where they fought about everything, but things are finally starting to get better between them.  They still have their fights, but it is getting better!  They are just little buddies and can play together for hours and hours on end.  I love it!!!  

Grayden is such tough boy with such a sensitive side.  I LOVE THAT KID! 

Fake Birthday!

Today was Karleigh's fake birthday at school.  Since she is a summer birthday, she got to pick any day and bring treats and a poster and she came home with a crown on.  I forgot to take a picture, but her poster was cute, and she was so excited to get to celebrate her.  I got this e-mail from Karleigh's teacher today and it's one of those that I want to remember.  I just love Karleigh's teacher.  She has been so great for Karleigh and she makes me feel like I am doing a good job as a mom, even though I don't take credit for what an awesome girl Karleigh is.  I think she just came that way. 

Dear Shera,



When I saw you today, I knew I had something to tell you but I couldn't remember what it was. I remembered this afternoon.


This week we wrote a book about Uu. I read Uu words from the dictionary, and every child chose their own word to illustrate. Karleigh chose the word "unlucky." When it was her turn to illustrate the word "unlucky" she came up to me and said, "I have never been unlucky. I don't know what it looks like." We talked about bad luck (black cats, broken mirrors, umbrellas open in the house) and she did a great job with her book page. I thought about her comment then and again that night. It is wonderful that she has never had bad luck or felt unlucky. Good job giving her a secure base and happy memories!


--Shauna Bigham


P.S. The birthday treats were a hit. I have leftovers I forgot to send but I will send them on Monday.

I love my Karleigh girl.  Last night, Karleigh and I went shopping for a few hours, just the 2 of us.  It was fun.  I am so happy I have a daughter that I get shop with a do all sorts of girly things with.  She is such a funny girl.  Every store we went into, she would put the sun glasses on and dance, or put hats on and talk like a cowgirl.  She had to try on every pair of shoes we walked by.  And man oh man can Karleigh talk.  She just talked and talked and talked the entire time.  It was cute.  We also rolled our windows down and blasted a little Taylor Swift.  She is under the impression that she has the exact same voice as Taylor Swift and the exact same hair as her, so they are almost the same person.  She says that when she sings, she can't tell if it is Taylor swift singing or her...haha!  Funny girl!!

Beautiful Weather

It was 75 degrees today!!! I am loving St. George weather!!!!

Parent Teacher Conference

Last week, we had Karleigh's parent teacher conference, so this post is going to be pretty braggy.  There is your warning!  

She is doing so great in school!!  She loves going and she loves her teacher.  Her teacher said she is reading at the end of a 1st grade level.  In the last couple of months, she has really taken off with reading.  She has also started writing words, and I love the way she spells things.  She is always writing notes to us and her friends.  She is also doing really well with math and handwriting.  Her teacher only had good things to say about her.  She said she gets along with the kids well.  She said she isn't part of the mean girls, but that she can handle them.  I was a little shocked that there is already a group of mean girls in kindergarten, but I am glad Karleigh isn't a part of them.  She said that she is a crazy on the monkey bars and it scares her!  She showed us her journal, and she said that Karleigh always has something to say in it, which doesn't surprise me.  Karleigh is a chatter box!  It was so fun to get to go and hear good things about Karleigh.  She makes us proud!!  

DANCE

Jackson is 4 months!!!

On February 27, Jack man turned 4 months!!! He has changed soooo much in the last month!!!  We still love him to death and is as sweet as can be, but his personality is starting to show!  He is such a talker!!  I don't remember either one of our kids talking as much as Jackson talks.  He loves to be tossed in the air.  He laughs and laughs.  Early in the month, he started reaching for his toys, although he is not too content to just lay there any play.  He likes to be entertained and loves to be held.  We love to hold him, so it works out.  He loves to be outside and he loves playing with Karleigh and Grayden.  Karleigh still loves reading to him.  He has rolled over twice.  The first time we went from back to front and then today he went from front to back.  He is a wiggle worm and loves to stand up.  He has started to sleep in Grayden's room upstairs.  Sometimes he still sleeps in our room.  When he does sleep upstairs, Grayden is so good to him.  We hear him talking to him in the baby monitor, and it's so sweet. 

Jackson HATES baby food.  Every bite we put in his mouth, he spits out.  We will just keep trying!  He is still a pretty good sleeper.  He is taking 2, 2 hour naps a day usually, although the other day, he took a 5.5 hour nap!!!  For most of the month, he slept through the night, but recently he has started waking up again.  I think he must be growing and is hungry.  I think it would help if he would eat some solids, but he is not having it.  We have started to put some rice cereal in with his formula, which seems to help.  

This little man is still looking so much like my dad!  

A lot of people ask me if he looks like Grayden.  This is a picture of Gray at 4 months.  I don't think they look too much a like.  They are both stinking cute!  

At his 4 month checkup, he weighted 17 pounds 1 ounce (87%) and he was 26-3/4 inches (96%).  His head is 45 cm.  He did not deal well with his shots.  Every time we moved him, he would just scream.  It was super sad!!  He got lots of snuggles from mom and dad.  We love baby Jackson!!  

Crazy Sock Day!!!

St. George Home Show

Leigh Ann and Candice came to St. George for the Home Show this year.  We left my house at 9:30 and didn't finish looking at houses until around 6:00.  There were 28 houses, but we didn't get to see them all.  There were so many beautiful homes and some ginormous homes.  I loved getting ideas from all the different houses, and also planning my dream house for when I become a millionaire one day! 

How fun does this pool look?  What a fun view!  

After the home show, Brad and the kiddos met us for dinner at a Pizza place.  It was a really fun day and now I want to redecorate my entire house!  Thanks for coming Leigh Ann and Candice!

Random Pictures

These are just some random pictures from the month...

One night we put a bunch of braids in miss Karleigh's hair and it was super crimpy the next day.  I asked her if her friends liked her hair, and she told me that "Everyone wants to be her."  

One day the kids wanted to jump on the trampoline in their Christmas jammies from 2 Christmases ago.  

Jackson looking mighty chunky!!!

One morning, I was working and I looked over and thought Jackson was looking pretty precious, so I snapped a photo.  

Valentine's Day

We had a nice Valentine's Day this year. When we woke up in the morning, the kids got to open a little gift from me and Brad, and then we had a yummy pancake breakfast.  

Karleigh and Grayden were excited to go to school and share their Valentine's with friends.  They both had fun at their parties and came home with all sorts of goodies.  When Karleigh left for school, me and the boys went to McDonald's with some friends.  

That day, we got a package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler filled with books and candy for the kids.  Jackson also got a cute stuffed bear.  

This pictures just makes me laugh.  Grayden was pretty into Karleigh's new doll.  

Me and Brad had a hard time finding a babysitter for the night, so we put the kids to bed at 7:00 and did take out.  We enjoyed a relaxing night watching How I Met Your Mother and eating Chilis.  I also got some beautiful roses from Mr. Wheeler.  Happy Valentine's Day!!!