COMPARISON (6 months old)

BRIDGER: February 22, 2006

Weight: 16lbs 3oz

Length: 26 inches

Head Circ: 17 inches

ADDISYN: January 17, 2008

Weight: 18lbs 6oz

Length: 26.5 inches

Head Circ: 17 inches

COOPER: May 27, 2010

Weight: 15lbs 2oz

Length: 26 inches

Head Circ: 17 inches

   

I LOVE to look back at “old” pictures. It takes me right back to that time. This is what each of the kids looked like a 6 months of age. I see similarities in each of them, and such differences in them as well. I love watching them grow.

  

Addi was 6 months old in this cute pictures. How lucky am I to have these 3 little ones in my life, and that they call ME MOM!!!

MY LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

Rub it in…

My hubby is just the best. I am so grateful that he is in my life, and that he is Bridge, Addi and Coops dad. He brings something to the table that I just don’t have. I love the influence that he is in there lives. He has a very outgoing personality and thinks of things that I just do not. He teaches the kids “I can be in a rock n’ roll dream”  a ACDC songs, and “peace brother” and stuff like that, while I teach the ABC’s and “I’m a Child of God.” I think it keeps them balanced and MY LOVE IT!!!

Recently when we would give Addi kisses she would rub them off, and we would always tease her about rubbing our kisses off. THEN…Jas told her that she wasn’t rubbing them off but that she should…

“Rub it in to keep it FOREVER”

Isn’t that just the best! NOW every time we kiss her she says “Rub it in to keep it FOREVER.”  My LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!! He is so wonderful.

6 month check-up

6 month check up:

Height: 26 inches            45%

Weight: 15lbs 2 oz          10%

Head: 17 inches              25%

We got a good report from Dr. Hopkins today! He is just a small little fart, but staying on the same scale as he has since he was born. I think the 6 month check up is my favorite! ONLY CAUSE THEY HAVE SO MUCH FUN WITH THE PAPER ON THE TABLE!!! At first they just love the sound, then they love to explore it with there mouth. At the end of the appointment Coop was literally rolling in the paper. It was so cute, and so hilarious!  It gave me a good laugh for the day!

At 6 months old:

-Cooper is rolling over from front to back.

-Decided that he didn’t want to sleep through the night anymore and wakes up at 11, 3, and 6 or 7…

-Only likes Sweet Potatoes. Spits his tongue out in complete disgust with any other baby food.

-Loves it when he gets extra attention from Bridge & Addi.

-Is a little…well a lot spoiled!

-Is not a good traveler.

-Loves his little jumper and saucer.

-Puts everything he touches in his mouth.

I am sure I will think of more but right now its time to get kiddos to bed!!!

_________________________________________

A BIG THANKS to Chant today for everything she did!!! I love you, and appreciate you so much. Your the best!

WANTING TO BAKE

I LOVE to bake! I LOVE to eat what I bake!

I WANT to bake! I WANT to eat what I bake.

This poses a serious problem!!! I CAN’T HAVE SWEET BUT ONE DAY A WEEK RIGHT NOW!!! SO, I don’t bake, so I won’t eat what I bake. My mom had the most amazing baking blog Get off your Butt and Bake, and she posted her delicious smooth and creamy fudge and I WANT SOME!!!!! I found a recipe for some homemade granola bars, and was wondering if it is considered a sweet, and or an unhealthy snack! For those of you doing this wellness challenge what do you think???

1 egg white

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 cups oats

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

Mix together then add:

1 stick of melted butter

mix again and add:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

(I would keep out the chocolate chips and add craisins)

Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam, then line with parchment paper and spray the parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 15min. Let rest for 1 hour before cutting and enjoying them!

So…unhealthy or not???

Does anyone have any good healthy recipes for stuff like this??? If so please share with me. parkfamily@live.com!

Sweet Addisyn

I love it when Addi lets me play with her beautiful long hair. It is so much fun for me. Most of the time she likes it, and when we are done she will say “I look prettyful” or “My Cinderella.” It is adorable to me!

A few other things Addi says that I think are cute:

-“I can’t reach the wiper” talking about the toilet paper.

-“My LOVE YOU” I think it is so cute, and Jason and I say it all the time. Very rarely do we say “I love you” anymore. It has kinda stuck.

-“OH, Him Luv me!” Anytime Cooper touches, or looks at her she says “OH, him luv me.”

-“My woke up this morning” Every morning she says that, and EVERY MORNING I FEEL VERY GRATEFUL SHE DID!!!

Isn’t she just the cutest! I think so. You don’t see her playing with dolls, or having a tea party very often, BUT I LOVE THAT ABOUT HER!!! She isn’t afraid to climb into a dirt pile, and she thinks worms are beautiful…SO FUNNY!!!

Best Friends

These 2 are BEST OF FRIENDS when they want to be. Some days they will play so well, and have the best time with each other. I LOVE IT!!! It is so fun to watch them laugh, giggle, and smile with each other. You can tell they truly enjoy each others company. I HOPE and PRAY that it will ALWAYS be like that. I hope Bridger will always have Addis back, and that Addi will always look up to her big brother. I HOPE that when Cooper is a “little person” and not a baby that he will fit right into the mix. I sure he will! Some days though he just seems so small and little that he will always be so far behind the others. I know that isn’t the case…believe me I do! Soon he will be Addis age, and Addi will be Bridgers age and Bridger will be in school…I know that is not far off…crazy to even think about!!!

Content…

COOPER LOVES THIS THING!!! For those of you that don’t know what it is, it has a mesh end on it and you put fruit in it and they suck all the juices out of it. I can put fresh or frozen peaches, or strawberries in there and he is content for at least 30 min. He just loves it…sucks and sucks and sucks! Literally when he is done there is NOTHING but pulp left.  I am sure I would get a different reaction if I put a cucumber in there, but I just might have to give it a try.

HONK…HONK…

The other morning I could hear “HONK HONK” over and over again. I was looking all over for this goose…FINALLY I found him on the tip of the little barn!!!  These guys have been hanging around all “spring” long. We just love them.

1 week down…

So I made it through the first week. It wasn’t terrible, but some things were harder for me then others. I did it though! The hard thing for me about this challenge is that it isn’t completely defined for me. There are so many variations of what people think are good for you are unhealthy. I am making smarter decisions, but some of them may not me what others would do. Like I made a yogurt fruit dip with yogurt and cool whip…is cool whip considered a sweet??? To some it might be, but it is such a smarter decision for me then a cookie, candy bar or something like that, that I didn’t count it. I am not sitting down and eating the whole tub of cool whip either…just a small portion. 

I am loving Zumba. Chant got the DVD’s a while a go, and let me borrow one so I could try it out! IT IS SO FUN!!! Then I also love this Winsor Pilates I have. It is great for me. So hopefully between that and my Wave, and riding my bike when weather and KIDS permit, I can stay motivated to exercise every day.

Frozen fruit has been a life savor for me. When I have that craving for something sweet, that is what I go for. It does help…it really does, and it is delicious!

My goal for last week was just to make it through it. My goal for this week is to spend 1 hour a day PLAYING with my kids. Weather we dance, read books, color, play games or whatever. I want to spend 1 hour a day making them feel extra special. Jason was able to take Bridger to a father son outing at my cousins ward this last weekend. On the way there Bridger says to Jason…”You know the dollar you owe me-do you have it?” Jas says “Yes” and pulls a dollar out of his wallet and hands it to Bridge. Bridger says “No dad, you keep it, I need to pay you something for taking me camping.” Bridge was so excited that he got to spend some special time with Jason that he was willing to pay him a dollar, or call it even!!! As a stay at home mom, I don’t get those moments very often.  You would think that it would be different then that cause I am home with them all the time…BUT I am always trying to get caught up on all the stuff that needs done around the house. Last week I did 6 loads of laundry, and I have 5 more that I could do today…really it just doesn’t end!!! SO…I want to take 1 hour, I know that isn’t very much, and make my KIDS FEEL SPECIAL!!!

Here goes week number 2…off to a good start! 20min Zumba, and 20min Pilates first thing this morning…

SNOW!!!!!

This is what I WOKE UP TO!!!!! I have to admit that it is beautiful, BUT NOT ON MAY 22, 2010!!!!

Flip…Flop…

Bridge and Addi LOVE to jump on the trampoline. They seriously LOVE IT!!! It is fun to listen to them laugh and giggle and carry on. This is what I saw when I looked out to check on them…BOTH of them without shirts on.  The new “cool” thing to do is a “back flip” which is actually a front handspring or something of the sorts…but to them they are doing the COOLEST BACK FLIP EVER!!!!! I LOVE IT. I cringe though when Bridge does this…I am just waiting for a bone to break and making an emergency room visit (knock on wood). But I just can’t break the spirit he has.

Look at that skinny little worm. I say worm cause that was my dads nickname growing up. He is skin and bones as well…like grandson and papa!!!!

My NEW Favorite…

Before I started this challenge…and could INDULGE in the finer things in life I discovered this…

It has to be my NEW FAVORITE CHOCOLATE (and that is saying something because I LOVE CHOCOLATE)!!! I only found it a day before I started, so maybe it was in my head because I new that I couldn’t partake of its creamy, rich delightfulness starting that Monday. I have done well this week with this challenge. I have 40 out of 40 points thus far, but I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO A FREE DAY so I can put this decadent treat in my mouth again!!!

What would you choose?

I got this off of Jessica's blog and thought it was fun!

I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 5 items. You can only pick one thing from the following departments. What is it?
1. Produce: Strawberries

2. Bakery: Broulims Macaroons Right now…there so good.

3. Meat: Chicken…I have Steak in my freezer.

4. Frozen: Ice Cream (It will have to wait till I decide to have my fee point though).

5. Dairy: Milk

Let's say we're heading out for a weekend getaway. You're only allowed to bring 3 articles of clothing with you. So, what's in your bag?
1. lounge pants 
2. a comfy tee shirt
3. flip flops

(Copying Jes on all of those…)

If I was to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day, what 4 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?
1. That’s ENOUGH

2. Good Morning

3. Just Get along

4. I love you.

So, what 4 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn't get to do, you probably wouldn't be in the best mood?
1. Eating…I am grumpy if I don’t get to eat

2. Cuddling my kiddos

3. Kissing Jason

4. Not sure there is anything else… I will keep thinking.

You're driving down the road, and suddenly you're hit with this sense of road rage. What 3 factors probably contributed to it?
1. I got attitude from someone and I didn’t do anything wrong, so I then get mad.

2. When someone wants to turn right on a red light and THEY DON’T TURN.

3. People who don’t even go the speed limit.

Sweet, you just scored a whole afternoon to yourself. We're talking a 3 hour block with nobody around. What 5 activities might we find you doing?
1. Blogging

2. Play my Piano

3. Play on the computer

4. Take a shower BY MYSELF with no interruptions

5. Clean, Laundry, grocery shopping…the stuff that still has to get done, and it is so much easier without 3 kids!!!

We're going to the zoo. But, it looks like it could start storming, so it'll have to be a quick visit. What 3 exhibits do we have to get to?
1. Monkeys (aren't they so much fun to watch)

2. Giraffes

3.Tigers 

You just scored tickets to the taping of any show that comes on TV of your choice. You can pick between 4, so what are you deciding between?
1. Greys Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. Days of our Lives (not so much lately cause I haven’t watched for a few months cause I am always listening to Barney, Calliou, or Word World!!!)

4. So you think you can Dance.

You're hungry for ice cream. I'll give you a triple dipper ice cream cone. What 3 flavors can I pile on for ya?
1. Vanilla
2. Huckleberry

3. Snickers

Somebody stole your purse…in order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside to claim it. So, what's in there?
1. A Diaper and a thing of wipes
2. Nursing Pads

3. My wallet

4. My Checkbook
5. A pack of gum

You are at a job fair, and asked in what areas you are interested in pursuing a career. Let's pretend you have every talent and ability to be whatever you wanted, so what 4 careers would be fun for you?
1. Radiologist (Specializing in Ultra Sound. This is what I would have gone to school for IF I didn’t get married in stead).

2. Dancer…I dream of Dancing like people can. I LOVE DANCE.
3. Actor-I think it would be fun to play someone completely different then me.

4. Own a successful Boutique of some sort. I would love to have all the means to make the things that I have in my head…

Brandi-ology

I was tagged by my mom. This was it, genealogy that must be recorded and written down for future lineage of Brandi.  Enjoy . . . Consider yourself tagged!

Brandi – ology

***********FOODOLOGY***************

What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch or Catalina

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?Chiz’s in St. Anthony. Do bar-stools count?  If I don’t feel like inhaling my food, while onlookers stare . . . that hurry yourself up look………I take it to go and sit-down in my car.  HA! (I copy my moms answer exactly. Its the best place to eat.)

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?  PIZZA – morning, noon and night. (again copy my mom)

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Canadian Bacon and Pineapple and breakfast bacon. Sometimes a little olive is delicious.

What do you like to put on your toast?  I usually just put butter on it, but I do like peanut butter on toast as well.

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

How many televisions are in your house? 2

What color is your cell phone? black

Are you computer savvy? Not the best, but I am learning.

***************BIOLOGY******************

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right

Do you have any children that are left – handed? Not yet…Coop still could be.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?

Just 3 babies…They weren’t removed, I worked very hard to remove them!!! Does that count?

What was the last heavy item you lifted?  This last weekend we did yard work…I guess lifting tree and piling them up counts.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?NO

************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?  I don’t know if I could handle it. I would get very anxious the closer it got.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? No I wouldn’t. I like my name.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? No! I might consider it for $10000…

************DUMBOLOGY******************

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?  I just threw away a bunch from last year that looked gross, for I have 2.

Last person you talked to? Chantri…Just got off the phone with her.

Last person you hugged? Addi…this morning when she woke up.

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

Season? Fall

Holiday? Christmas

Day of the week? Friday-I just always have.

Month? December. I love the whole month.

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

Mood?  Content for right now.

What are you listening to? Bridge and Addi playing.

What should you be doing right now?  CLEANING CLEANING CLEANING.

Current favorite TV Show: Greys Anatomy and Private Practice. The 2 hour finally is tonight! So excited.

Worrying about? Lots of different things.

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

First place you went this morning? Had to make a deposit at the bank.

What’s the last movie you saw? Yesterday I watched some of Homeward Bound with the kids.

Do you smile often? Yes…I try to smile A LOT!

Sleeping Alone Tonight? Not planning on it. I might be going to bed after Jas, but he better be next to me.

***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

Do you always answer your phone? NO – I am guilty of that. Sometimes there is just to much commotion going on to even talk!

It’s after ten o’clock in the evening and the phone rings. Who will it be? Really doesn’t happen that often.

If you could change your eye color what would it be? My eyes are hazel, but I think I would like them to be Dark Brown.  Who cares about the color, I would just like them to focus! ( I am copying my moms answer again. I love BIG BROWN EYES.)

If you could have a body part altered, sucked or botoxed, which part would it be?  Don’t even get me started on what I would CHANGE.

Do you own a digital camera? Yes – A Nikon D-90 THANKS MOM AND DAD.

Do you have a pet?We have 2 dogs. Mallard and Ruger. They are starting to slow down a little though…coming on 10 years in a few months.

Favorite Christmas song(s)? I couldn’t say that I have a favorite. Love them all.

What’s on your wish list for your birthday?  Maybe a good dinner. I have a hard time spending money on me. There are so many other places that money needs spent on.

Can you do push ups?A few I guess…

What are you looking forward to?   Some sunny weather, and NOT CRAVING SUGAR ANYMORE. Will that ever happen???

Does the future make you more nervous or excited?  Not at all. I will turn 30 in August, and my mom said those were her favorite years. I am looking forward to them.

Do you have an accent? I don’t think I do.

Do  you cry easily?  Depends on what it is. I certainly can, but I am not a softy.

Plans tomorrow? I have VT coming at 3:30, then I am going to watch my Little Athlete play more baseball…If it isn’t raining.

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? I think everyone feels like that occasionally. I just always try and stay optimistic. I really do try not to sweat the small stuff.

Name 3 things you bought today:  havent been to the store, and probably wont go today!

Have you ever been given roses? Yes. I love flowers, but they are expensive and die so I would rather have money for a shirt or something else.

So, now I’m supposed to pass this award on to 7 people. I enjoy so many people’s blogs,  so if you are reading this, consider yourself awarded and tagged!!!

Placing the order…

I am going to be placing the order for the Monthly Frame Accent on Saturday. If you want in this month, please email me at inspirationsbybrandipark@yahoo.com.

If you want to know more about this please see HERE.  Just a reminder it is $24.50 (unless you got last months, you get this months FREE). You customize it with the 4x6 frames of your choice! I have really enjoyed mine over the last few months. It has been a fun way to decorate.

This is a picture of this months Monthly Frame Accent

Can’t wait to hear from you! Hope you all have great fun plans for SUMMER…

Family Pictures

So as I have mentioned a few times, my amazing sisters do photography. My baby sister lives in Virginia right now, and you can check out her work here. One of my other sisters lives in Rexburg and we had her take our family pictures in the end of April. I just got the CD of images from her and wanted to show you how talented she is. I just love them. Check her out here.

 

Aren't they just so adorable. I am so happy with them. Even if I didn’t get a good one of the 3 of them. As you can see Coop didn’t want anything to do with it after the family pictures. There was nothing that I could do to make him happy!!! So…this is what we got. I still think they are adorable. I am SO LUCKY to have Chant as a sister. So LUCKY she is willing to take our pictures. I am excited to order a HUGE picture. Just wish that I had a different house to put them in, but am thinking that we might never get this house sold.

What a great family I have. I feel so blessed to be a wife to Jason and the mother to 3 beautiful kids. Part of this wellness challenge I am doing is to read something spiritual or uplifting on a daily basis. I have been reading the conference talks from April. I read a talk this morning from Elder L. Tom Perry called “Mothers Teaching Children in the Home.”  He says “Teaching in the home is becoming increasingly important in today’s world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread and he is attaching, attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society, even the family. Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility.” That made me wonder if I am teaching the proper things in our home. Then he goes on to say “According to the great plan of happiness, it is parents who are entrusted with the care and development of our Heavenly Father’s Children.”  To think about that makes me overwhelmed. Not because of the challenge of being a mother and teaching our children, but because our Heavenly Father entrusted me with HIS sons and daughters. His Children. Could you as a mother or father fully entrust the care of your most precious children to someone else to raise.  I don’t believe that I have the faith enough If I was told to give Bridger, Addisyn and Cooper to someone else that I could.

“There is no such thing as over preparing to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.” How much have I prepared? I feel inadequate to be blessed with the 3 kids that I have. I get overwhelmed when I think about how I (and Jason) are completely responsible for them right now.  Are we being good examples? Are we teaching the things that need taught right now? There is always room for improvement and believe me there is plenty of room in my life that needs improvement. BUT, I try my best (most days) to be the best mom I can be. Some days I could just cry myself to sleep though because I let the best of a situation get to me, or I got so wrapped up in laundry and chores or the computer that I couldn’t read that book that one of them brought to me, or play candy land or something of that nature. Anyway, morning is calling me and it is getting difficult to type with Coop on my lap.  Elder Perry closed his talk with a quote “ Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the home adds another layer of insulation to protect our children from worldly influences.”  How many layers do you little ones have right now???

Wise beyond his years…and OOPS

On Sunday we had just got home from a drive and the kids were all asleep. While Bridge was waking up from his nap he said…

“A big person stands up for himself, an even bigger person stands up for others.”

When he woke up fully I asked him what he was dreaming about, he got all shy and said he didn’t remember! I thought that was so cute and so sweet…

THEN…he did this (and yes, I am guilty)…

I was giving the boys a haircut and I had done Jason first, and then it was Bridger's turn. I try and be very fast with him cause he gets so itchy…well, I had finished the majority of it, and was trimming around his ear when I nicked him and he said…

“Mom, you burned the SHIT out of me.”

You read that right…that's what he said. Without even an ounce of hesitation. I couldn’t help but laugh. It caught me way by surprise. After I laughed for a min (I know that is just terrible, but I couldn’t help it). I told him that he couldn’t say that and gave him the whole speech…

What is this?

 

So with Coop being born in November, and our snow just barley growing away (we actually still have a few patches)…at almost 6 months old he is just learning what grass is. It was so funny to watch him. He would touch it, then throw his hand up, or curl his feet up. It was pretty cute. I think he is still trying to figure out what the prickly green stuff is!!!