It's About Time!

I have been really bad at keeping up on my blog, so I thought that I would just start from here, and update past stuff when I can get to it. The problem is that I get so far behind that it is intimidating to try and get everything caught up. So, let's see, what has happened lately. . .

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In December we were lucky enough to have my parents come and stay with us for a week. I love having them come to see me, and I wish that I could see them more often. I love living in Utah, but I miss them so much! We had so much fun while they were here. We also got to see Jacob, Natalie and cute little Preston. It was great to see them, and I can't wait til he and Hayden are big enough to play together. They will be such good friends.

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On January 4th Hailey turned 10. I can't believe that I am old enough to have a daughter that big! It was so fun. She wanted some boots called Lugz (knockoff Uggs). They were on the pricey side ($50), but it was the only thing she wanted. So John and I tricked her. John bought me a pair, and we pretended that he was buying me 2. But instead, we bought a pair for me and a pair for her too. When she opened them she totally freaked out. It was hilarious! Other than that I got her the Maggie Moon series (she is obsessed) and some lipgloss. I can't believe that my baby is growing up. She was the first one to make me a mommy and I love her so much. She is getting so big and I know that we will be close and have so much fun together.

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On January 6th, John and I both started our first semester back to school. We are both attending UVU full time. He is pre-med and I am pre-nursing. We are super excited to finally be doing what we have wanted to do, and we are doing it together. He got into a higher math class than me, but we are taking our other three classes together. We plan on doing that as long as we can, so that we can do our work together and help each other more easily. I am loving school, and getting straight A's. I will talk about it more in another post.

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After homeschooling the kids for the first semester of school, I enrolled them at the local elementary school in the middle of January. They got great teachers, are doing great, and are loving the fact that it is just down the street which means I let them walk there and back. We pulled all 3 boys back a grade, and they are doing WAY better! I am so glad that we did it, and only wish we had done it sooner. Now instead of Hailey and Austin being in the same grade, I have Camren and Brooklyn together (but not in the same class of course).

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Also, in January John and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I know that our marriage has been far from perfect, and that my family and friends thought I was crazy to marry him, but I really love him and I am glad that we are a family. In the last year our marriage has become so much better. I know that we still have a lot of work to do, but that's what happens when 2 divorced single parents with 5 kids between them get married after a month of knowing eachother. There are bound to be issues. But we are committed and working on them, which gives us a heck of a leg up on my first marriage.

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In February I turned the big 3-0. I know that most people look at turning 30 with dread, but I was actually excited. I told John, now I'm a real grown-up. Haha! Plus, as I get older it doesn't sound so bad to say I have 7 kids. At least not until people find out how old they are. Oh well.

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On March 4, my cute little chub Hayden turned 6 months old. Boy how time flies! He is rolling all over the place, which is fun to watch but not so fun when it's the middle of the night and he wakes himself up. He is FINALLY starting to sleep through the night. I thought the day would never come. Of course there are still nights that he wakes up and ends up in bed with me, but I love it and I will enjoy it while it lasts. He is eating baby food and loving it. He is such a little vulture! I love watching him eat because it is so funny! He gets so into it, he starts bobbing all over the place and waving his arms in the air. I have to hold his hand (always the right hand) because he will get so worked up that he will stuff it in his mouth. Too cute. Today I was feeding him and IM'ing my friend Rebecca. I turned away from him for a minute, and when I turned back he had grabbed the bowl and spoon and was stuffing it in his face trying to feed himself. He was like, Mom! I am too hungry to wait for you to do it! I thought it was so funny. The only bad thing about him eating cereal is that he refuses to eat it if I make it with formula. With all 3 girls I used formula, but when I tried doing it with Hayden he acted like I was feeding him rat poison. I originally started him on cereal made with breast milk, but switched to formula because I was having to pump so much. He was totally horrified. At first I thought maybe he was screaming because his throat hurt since he had been sick with a cough, but then I made it with breast milk, just to see, and he inhaled it. Three bowls worth to be exact. So now I am back to pumping. Sigh. Oh well, at least he likes eating everything. It could be worse.

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We are currently living in Orem. I totally love the house we are living in. We originally signed a lease through the end of May (so as not to move twice in the same school year), but we totally love it here and now we hope that we can extend the lease at least for 3 years until we're done with the first round of school. After that John will be applying to med school, so you just go wherever you get in. I am really hoping that he will be able to get into the U so we can stay here. I love Utah, and I love where we live and I don't want to leave. The only thing that would make it more perfect would be if my parents lived right by me so I could see them every day.

I also love that my best friend since 16, Rebecca, lives maybe a mile away. It is nice to have a friend that lives so close that we can hang out all the time. She is getting ready to have her first baby in June, and I am super excited! I told her that her baby can marry Hayden and then we can be mothers in law, and share grandchildren. I think this is an excellent idea!

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Well, I better go. It is after 1am, and I have to get the kids ready in the morning. I will continue to post current stuff, and just try to update previous stuff as I can.