Picture This. . .

. . .the boys have shut our bedroom door. I assume they are doing some form of monkeying around. I open the door. One little boy is kneeling on the bed surrounded by throw up. I throw my hands up, cover my eyes and hope the sight will go away. Because if it doesn't it means we have a long night ahead of us. Well the scene is still there, and my husband and I went about trying to find the best way to clean things up. I have to say my husband's damage control is much better than mine. I call my mom in hopes that she can take the other twin-- one sick kid is better than two and I think the baby, with his stinkier than usual spit up, had already been sick-- but it's too late. We change his diaper to find that wonderful virus green colored poop. The same poop his brother, who just threw up, had earlier. We kept them in our bed for half the night. We went through two sets of sheets, two showers and a change of pajama's for each parent and each kid. When we thought that it had passed we put them downstairs. Boy was that premature. The other twin spent the other half of the night throwing up. Another change of clothes and another set of sheets. Even so, I'm happier to get it all over with in one night. I spent the night nauseated. It wasn't a good night to splurge on Costa Vida. The aftertaste lingered in my mouth and didn't mix well with the other events of the evening. It was so unappetizing I finally had to get up and rinse with Listerine so I could fall asleep. The twins woke up with the runs, but no more vomit thank goodness. I'm glad to change poopy diapers because when the mess is down there it's easier to contain. Ugh! Sick kids, that's all I have to say.

Of course, this post can't just be about sick kids. That might be boring. Besides with my slacking off from blogging lately I do have some things to catch up on.

Don't you love the emotions of a mother?

My friend said, "It's funny what makes a mom happy. My son came upstairs and told me he threw up and I was happy to find out that it was just a little bit on his pillow and it wasn't hard to clean up."

The other day I realized that it makes me happy when my baby wakes up earlier than he's supposed to and I go in his room to find he's pooped. Yes I'm happy there's poop because it means there is a reason for him waking up and it has a simple solution.

I also find it funny that if either of them are hurting each other I get extremely angry. Especially when I come upstairs to find the twins have done something mean to the baby. I get so upset and be sure to put the child in time out and have them apologize. But sometimes I get too upset, and then I immediately feel bad for the child that is getting punished.

Seriously, sometimes I have so many emotions coming at me at once I don't know how to feel.

Well since I haven't been very good at posting lately I'll include another thing in this post.

Just a little update

The baby is now 6 months old and suddenly has become the annoying little brother. The twins don't think he should be touching or doing anything. He was even pulling on my pant's leg one night and they got mad.

Even though little brother doesn't get much kindness the twins have sure been cute to each other. If one wakes up before the other he walks around the house yelling the other's name. If he gets something like a bib, a blanket or shoes he starts looking for his brother so he can take him his.

The baby is getting better, and happier, everyday. I still have "I want to rip my hair out" days. And, I just have to tell you, he has the most awful cry in the world. My nephew even commented on it one day. He said, "I don't like the way that baby cries. It scares me." Instead of tummy troubles now we seem to be having constipation troubles. I've tried switching up foods but he still seems a little backed up. The Doctor recommended trying a low iron formula-- which we're yet to do because I'd rather eat a bee than switch formulas with this child. Then I remembered that several people I know, who have had similar problems with there babies, have used prune juice. Time to give that a try. Of course, if he does get too backed up I always pull out the Dark Karo syrup. I mix some with a little water and it gets them moving every time. And if nothing else works we'll switch formulas.

The boys have now come to an age where they have to do what their brother does. If I wash off their brother's binkie they want there's washed off. If I pull a new binkie out of the drawer for one the other one must have a new binkie too. If one needs a refill on his drink then the other one must get more to drink too, even if his cup is full. The worst part is with toys. I can no longer squeeze buy with just getting each of them their own toy. If we want to buy them something we have to plan on buying two.

And now just a funny story

The other night we were having pizza. I gave the twins each a slice and one wouldn't eat it. I started eating mine and he asked for some pizza. I pointed to his tray and said, "Look you have some." He folded his arms and turned up his noise. He wanted some out of the box. "Fine!" I said. I took his pizza, put it back in the box, waited a few minutes then said, "Do you want some pizza?" He said, "Pizza." "OK," I said. I then took the exact same piece I had just taken from his tray and handed it back to him. You know what happened? He ate it!

It's Just Being a Mom

There's ups and downs, high and lows. Sometimes you feel like you deserve a medal. Sometimes you feel like your kids should be taken away for their own good. It's all part of being mom.

My mommy experiences as of lately:

The family ran some errands last Monday, and we ended up having to stop for some lunch. We stopped at a Carls Jr in Provo- which has an awesome playplace by the way. I knew one of the twins needed a bum change so I took him to the bathroom. Well I forgot wipes, so back we went to get the wipes. The other twin followed us back to the bathroom. I took the dirty cloth diaper off and set it on the floor until I could rinse it out. I cleaned up the boy and the diaper cover, put on a fresh diaper, snapped his onesie and I was about to set him down until I noticed something funny on the floor. The other twin had stepped in the poopy diaper I had set on the floor and now there was lovely poopy shoe prints decorating the floor of the ladies room. Luckily the trail wasn't long, and I was able to wipe it up pretty quickly. Cleaning up his shoe was another story. I finally got that clean then decided to check his diaper. Well he'd been sick so he had some diarrhea and it had fried his bum and I, of course, forgot to grab some diaper cream for him. What to do? My husband was there, but he had to watch the baby so he, even if I called him, wouldn't be able to bring it to me. I'm not good at following the "don't leave your child unattended" rule. I'll take a trip to the garbage or go wash my hands while the kid lays on the table. But leaving him alone in the bathroom, bare bottomed, while I walk across the restaurant to grab some diaper cream was a little to rebellious for my taste. I had but one resource: his brother. Quickly I tried calling my husband. His phone was dead, of course. So I poked my head out the door to try and get his attention. Low and behold he was looking for me as well. Apparently he didn't know both the boys had followed me to the bathroom. Boy was he relieved! I then sent the bigger twin to him and told him to send him back with some diaper cream. I was just going to wait right outside the door for my big boy to come back, but another customer went into the restroom, so I went inside to wait with my half naked child that was awaiting his diaper change. A few minutes later I went to check on the other twin to see if he was headed my way with the cream. Well, there he was standing right outside the door with the cream in hand. Oh, it was the sweetest thing in the world! I then sent him back to his Dad, finished up with the other twin and went to join the rest of the fam for lunch. I was so proud of my big boy that day. He got just a little bigger in my eyes.



As I mentioned my little boy was sick. Well we've had our fill of sick kids around here. First it was the littler twin. We had 3-4 days of diarrhea, bum burns and vomiting. Half of it took place in the middle of the night. He finally got better, and then the next week his brother came home from a drive with Grandma and Grandpa and threw up all over the floor. "Maybe he got car sick," my parents said. I could only hope, but hope wasn't enough. He was sick. More vomiting, but less bum burn than his brother. His illness was wrapping up just as the littler twin started to get sick again. This time a lovely gagging cough. One sleepless night was full of crying and coughing every half hour. I got so fed up I took them upstairs to lie in bed with my husband and I slept on the couch. When my husband left for work I got into bed with the twins. Only something was different. The sheets had been changed. Apparently we the bigger twin had one more night of vomiting to get over. When I got into bed my little boy was coughing and gagging. It was so sad. He didn't wake up but it still broke my heart. I pulled out some vapor rub and that seemed to help relieve him.

I'm not opposed to having more children until my children get sick. Each time we add a child to the family it's one more sick child we have to deal with. At least illness' don't last forever. I just wish that they all could get sick at the same time so we could just get it over with. Why does it have to be one each week. I just keep praying that the baby doesn't end up sick now.

My husband and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary. It feels like we've been married forever. I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean that we just seem mature as a couple- not as individuals :). My parents are out of town and we couldn't get a babysitter, so we celebrated with the children. The screaming, crying, pooping children. My big boy woke up hysterical from his nap. He had pooped and it was still kind of in the diarrhea stage. It had ran all down his leg and he was very upset. I was cleaning him up and he was hitting me because he was so upset. It's one of the ways he throws a tantrum. I just tell him to fold his arms and use his words and one of those words has to be "Sorry". If it gets really bad I stick up in time out- though that wasn't an option at this particular time. I got him all cleaned up and then the littler twin wondered upstairs bawling for some reason. I stuck them both in the bath, and went to attend to the baby who was now crying- he'd been left alone for too long. Now, I'd have to hold the baby or listen to him cry hysterically. Once he gets past a certain point of the "I've been neglected" cry there is no going back. Eventually we just had to put him in his room to cry until it was dinner time. I was hoping my husband could offer some helping hands with getting our anniversary dinner on the table, but he had to attend to the crying children. Despite all this, I did manage to get dinner on the nicely set table. The kids even calmed down and we sat down to enjoy our delicious food. My husband poured the Martinelli's and passed the Alfredo. As I reached for the pasta I knocked my glass, full of sparkling cider, right into the Alfredo sauce. A small part of me wanted to laugh. A bigger part of me wanted to cry. Neither one won. I was so worried that sauce was ruined. I sprinkled in some Parmesan cheese, and all was well. The apple cider gave it a nice subtle sweet after taste. The night was rather enjoyable. I just have to laugh at all the mishaps. This anniversary was a taste of what anniversaries as a parent will probably be like from now on.



Oh I forgot to mention that my husband and I also caught a movie for our anniversary. We went the day before to see "Tangled". We wanted to catch a Matinée so that it would be cheaper, but that once again left us with no sitter. We braved it with all three children. The theater was empty except for one guy, who also had a kid with him. I was nervous. I didn't know how it would be with all three kids, but it ended up going very smoothly. The theater was dark, so feeding the baby and tracking the twins lunch down was a little hard. But I still could not have asked for it to go better. I was so prepared for having to leave every five seconds with one kid or the other, but the only time I had to leave was when I needed to get water for the baby's bottle.

I must also mention that the twins are finally paying attention to movies now. They ask to watch "The Leapfrog Letter Factory" movie everyday. The minute the wake up all you hear is "Moofie Moofie," until you turn it on. You can distract them here and there with some music for dancing or a nice meal or snack. But other than that from breakfast time to bed time its, "Moofie, Moofie, Mofie". And if you don't turn it on they'll push buttons, play with remotes and pull cords until you do turn it on. I have to admit I get really tired of watching the "Moofie". Sometimes I can get them into a show on PBS, or anther Leapfrog movie, but nothing satisfies like "The Letter Factory". I can usually tune it out, but I still get bugged that I can't at least watch the news. When I can't watch the news I start to feel really cut off from the outside world. But still my heart smiles a little each time when the menu for the "Moofie" comes on and boys start making the letter sounds. No matter how many times I see it it's still cute!

Dear Mom and Dad

From: Mother to Mother, Mother to Father, Parent to Parent

I wish to try and express how truly appreciative I am for all you do for me. There is never a moment in my life where I don't honestly appreciate all the sacrifices you have made for me and my family. I hope you won't mistake my moodiness as a sign of me being unappreciative or angry with you. Most the time I'm just lonely. I miss my husband and I am tired and worn out.

I'm sorry for all the stress we put on you. I know that none of our situations are ideal, and we are partly to blame for making your situation less ideal. We all face hard times and hard emotions. At times we don't understand fully how it feels to be in each others shoes. I forget sometimes that you are a parent just like me. You have struggle with each and every emotion I struggle with. I guess sometimes, as your child, I see you as being strong, so strong that I forget you have your own battles to fight. So much of my life has been spent trying to be less of a burden. When you were stressed I tried so hard to think of ways I could relieve you. I know it may not be believable, but I tried to not be a nuisance. When you spoke of irritating behaviors I tried not to practice those. When you spoke of lack of money I tried to think of ways I could contribute or things I could do without. I know it seems like I go through life selfishly. Only thinking of myself and what I must deal with. But I do try to think about what you must go through too. I guess I haven't been doing much of that lately.

I'm sorry if I have hurt you in any way. When I am hurt I try to find ways to express to people how hurt I am. And by doing that I usually do something stupid and hurtful in return. When I'm hurt I'm irrational and unkind. I'm sorry.

I hope you understand how much I love, and appreciate, all that you do. I love how good you guys have been to me, my husband and the boys. I love that the boys love, and miss, you so much. I'm glad that they have someone like you that they can go to when they feel troubled.

Please know that I try everyday to be the best mom that I can be. It may not look like it all the time but I love being a mom. I love those boys. I may get frustrated with them, but I'd get frustrated no matter what. At least with them I have the motivation to try and become a better person. And I do try. I know that I have been sent special, kind, sweet and obedient children. At times I don't feel worthy to raise such wonderful spirits, and I pray daily that The Lord show me what it was he saw in me when he entrusted me with the title of mother.

I love you always!

Your Daughter,
Tricia

Just Call Me. . .The Scheduler!

I admit it. I'm a huge scheduler. I may even be addicted to schedules. It's an addiction I wish I had discovered earlier in life. I could have been so much more productive. I'm a total believer in the schedule. You would not believe the change it brought over our youngest boy. He is so much happier now. And, now that he sticks to it all by himself, life is wonderful.

Here's how my boys scheduled day goes:

The Twins:

• 10:00- Wake up and Eat Breakfast
• 12:30- Snack time (though I'm not always vigilant with that one)
• Between 1:30 and 2:00- lunch
• 3:00- Nap Time
• 6:00- Wake Up and Snack
• 7:00- Dinner and Dessert
• 8:00- Bath Time
• 10:00- Bedtime

The Baby:

• 10:00- Wake Up and Eat Breakfast
• 12:30- Nap Time
• 2:00- Wake Up and Eat Lunch
• 3:00- Bath Time (he loves baths so if we're having a hard day in the tub he goes)
• 4:00- Nap Time
• 6:00- Wake up and Have a Bottle
• 8:00- Eat Dinner
• 10:00- Bottle and Bed

Seriously love our boys' schedules. Once I put the baby down at 4:00 I have two hours all to myself. It's wonderful.

Along with the boys schedules I create many other schedules. I give myself a schedule for eating. It helps me stay on my diet. I just give myself certain times when I can have certain snacks. I've also started a work out schedule. I work out on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's. So far I can only find time at night so I just do muscle building and stretching. I'd like to squeeze in some form of aerobics eventually.

I have a house cleaning schedule too. On Monday's and Wednesdays I do laundry. On Tuesday's I vacuum the floors upstairs and try to get another upstairs cleaning project done- like dust or clean the bathroom. I usually call it good if I can at least get the vacuuming done. On Thursdays I vacuum downstairs and clean up the play room- it's usually been trashed by the boys all week. Then I try to find a cleaning project to do downstairs as well. Friday is usually my day off, but I also use it as a catch up day. At the end of the month, on top of vacuuming, I try to get all the floors mopped. Though mopping the kitchen floor usually happens daily thanks to my children's messes. Of course, I also have to figure in those daily chores like doing the dishes, making the beds and picking up the boys toys upstairs. If I fall behind on those chores I usually regret it.

I started figuring in time to sit down and teach my kids some things. It's an effort to do many things. Get them to pay for a certain amount of time; teach them to do as I do with dancing or singing; start teaching them shapes, colors and to color- not just eat the crayons; and make sure I read to them regularly. I started it up because I wanted to get them used to how nursery works at church. But it's been good because I'm terrible at reading to them every night and at sitting down to teach them new things. I got the brilliant idea that if I schedule in the time I'd actually do it. So on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's I sit down with the boys for an hour or so and have lessons- I can't think of a better name for it. We usually do it around the baby's first nap time. It has been so fun to watch them grow!

Yes I'm a crazy schedule lady, but scheduling has helped me accomplish so many things. I even started to use scheduling to start saying family prayers and scripture reading. It's amazing how scheduling it in makes mountains look like mole hills for me. I really wish I had discovered this a long time ago. I just need to try and make things orderly and predictable so that life can become less chaotic and more fulfilled.

Just one more thing. With being broke I'm trying to find some ways to earn some money. I can take some nice photos and I also make some pretty cute photo cards. I'm still trying to hammer out some good prices, but I won't charge much. With the photo cards I can totally do long distance too. Just let me know if you're interested or if anyone you know is.



Go here to see some examples

Tables and Charts

I've been trying to find a good way to discipline the boys. They're at an age where it's hard to get them to understand just what I want them to do, or to understand just what they are getting in trouble for. I've asked around to get ideas and the major thing I hear is, "No matter what you do just be consistent."

Easy enough right? I did it all the time when I was working at the school. Only problem is at school we all came up with plans on how to discipline the kids. I hadn't done that with the boys. I tried to do certain things for certain behaviors, but I didn't feel like I was being consistent enough. Then when my husband's home he may have a whole different route to take when it comes to discipline. How could I expect him to do the same thing I do if I don't even do the same thing every time?

Well to solve this problem I came up with an idea. I made a table on the computer that outlines what to do for each behavior. I also divided it into different groups: Low, Moderate and Severe. Hopefully that will make sure the punishment isn't too harsh for the action. Here's to hoping it works.

I also made another chart for the boys. I got the idea from my sis-in-law. She used an envelope instead, but it's still the same idea. After I laminate these I'll hang them up and then when each boy does something good they will get a star in a square. When all the squares are full they get to pull off the yellow piece of paper to reveal the activity they get to do. I'll just pick simple things like "go to the store with mom and get a treat" or "Play with a box of tissues".


I know that the boys are still a little young to get something like this, but this is still very important to me. I've always been told to praise children as much as you can. And noticing good behaviors is always better than just pointing out the bad.

Just a few ideas we have been coming up with at this house. Hopefully it will help keep the screaming and whining down. I'm getting really tired of saying, "Use your words". They know enough words to generally tell me what they want, but they still haven't learned how to use them all them time. But when they do use them it's awesome!



P.S. The baby has finally gotten to the point where he stays on his schedule all by himself. You would not believe how much that schedule has improved things with him. He's so happy and smiley now. We're getting to were the good times are more numerous than the bad. In fact we just went on a trip and he did wonderfully. All the kids did! Best travel time ever!

A New Year! A Fresh Start

It's a new year and I'm already exhausted. My husband had such an awful work schedule. They have all the lower end employees take a few hours each on each holiday. Well all the holidays fell on my husband's normal days off, so he worked for almost 2 weeks straight. I was so lonely. Sometimes I miss him so much it hurts to breath.

Living life this way is just exhausting. As bed time rolls around I don't even know where to find the strength to put everyone to bed. They're all dressed in their pj's and everything. For some reason that last and final step of placing them in bed and tucking them in seems so daunting to do by myself.

I get really tired of being frustrated. Yes, I get frustrated with getting frustrated. Every time I start to get frustrated with something I try to tell myself, "Just stop! We're not going there remember?"

Well my New Years resolution is to work on being a better mom. Boy I love babies so much! I really do! It just brings me so much joy to watch them grow, to see their smiles and hear their laughs. I wish I was a more patient mother so that I felt like it was a good idea to have more kids because I really do enjoy them! I have a lot of great mother's in my life who's example I can try to follow. They all have traits I'd love to incorporate, so that is definitely something I want to work on.

And another resolution is to get back on the diet. The whole month of December was a bust. I simply must get back on track. I'm also hoping I can start an exercise plan as well.

Happy New Years Everyone! Here's to a new year of struggles, triumphs, joys, losses, love, laughter and much more.

What I'm Grateful For

I have so many emotions I want to vent. And though I will probably still vent in this post I'd like to try and focus on what I am grateful for. I've been watching my children and thinking about my situation, and I've just started to see how well things have worked out in life. Even when everything seems wrong. Perhaps it is because of this time of year that I've stopped to think about what I'm grateful for. Perhaps my new perspective is an answer to a prayer. Either way I thought this would be a good Christmas time post. Here are the thoughts that have arisen in my head the past few days

My baby is still fussy. When he feels good he is so calm and so sweet. But he still has problems with gas and indigestion and so, yes, he is fussy a lot. I started to wonder why he was sent to me this time around. Why not first? That way I could pay more attention to him. That way I would have spaced my children better. So why didn't he come first or even later when I wasn't so stressed? Then I realized that the twins were great training for this little guy. The twins sort of fell into a schedule and I just enforced it. Had I not had that practice I may not have put this baby on a schedule at all, and I would have been even more miserable for longer. Also, when he's good he is so good I almost forget he's there. So it's probably good that he's a fussy because then I remember to give him attention too. It's also been such a gift for me to see that my skills as a mother really do help to improve a situation. Letting him cry and putting him on a schedule have helped things improve so much. I'm glad to know that I can take some credit for how good the twins are and how much better he is getting.

Yes the baby is hard, but I've recently noticed how nice he is in someways. Putting him on a schedule didn't seem as hard as it did with the twins. The twins were so sensitive to changes and everything had to be exact. The baby is more flexible, and it's easier to mickey mouse his day.

He is easier to get to sleep when I want him too. All I have to do is swaddle him and stick a binkie in his mouth. In fact the biggest frustration with him is getting him to stay awake because he cries so I just let him cry. But then he cries himself to sleep when I don't want him to sleep. At least his crying periods don't last more then 20 minutes- usually.

He is also good at riding in the car. The twins were awful in the car. They've gotten better, but they still can be miserable. I also like that he'll sleep anywhere as long as he's swaddled and has a binkie.

Sometimes, at nap time, I'll strap him in his car seat so then we can all just take off and go somewhere. The twins only sleep if they are in their own room, where they can't see anyone.

Of course the twins have their advantages too. They learn so quickly and they are so obedient. They have learned to clean up their dishes and get their own bibs. They also bring me diapers and bum cream when I'm changing someone. They just automatically started to do it. They've learned to throw things away and go put things in the sink when I ask them to. They love to help me unload the dishwasher. They've just recently learned how to climb into their booster seats. It's amazing how helpful that is. Just more reason's I'm lucky they were first.

My little boy is wonderful. Today, while I was changing the baby, he got some tissues and he was helping me wipe the baby's bum- luckily it wasn't too messy.

He usually is the one that gets into trouble. He likes to throw my laundry soap everywhere, get into drawers and places he doesn't belong and he has started to rearrange my storage room whenever he can get in there. But at the same time he is the most obedient of the two. If I ask him to do something he usually does. Where his twin brother just ignore's me.

My little boy is great and sharing too. If his twin brother is throwing a fit over a toy they both want then my little boy will let him have it. He also makes sure his twin brother his blankie, toys and food. But on the other hand he is known to throw huge tantrums if someone starts playing with one of his favorite toys. Even if he's not playing with it at the time.

My Big boy is wonderful as well. He is very laid back and will play quietly by himself all day. He probably wouldn't get into trouble if his twin brother weren't around to show him the ropes. He really just plays nicely with his toys Most of the time. But he is also harder to negotiate with. When he throws a tantrum it's hard to get him to calm down. He is very stubborn when it comes to listening to mom and doing as she says.

He is my little sweetheart though. And he is so thoughtful and kind. He brings me flowers and he always finds ways to make me feel special.

He's also very good with words. He has learned so much and he picked them up on their meanings so quickly. If I ask if he's poopy he will say, "Poopy Poopy" and that usually means he is.

I'm even grateful, in someways, for my situation. My husband is gone a lot. Four days out of the week he is gone from 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night. It may not sound so bad but it gets incredibly tedious. On Sunday nights every fiber of my being longs to make the day last loner, longs for Monday not to come and for my husband not to be gone so long. Someday's it takes all my strength to hold back the tears. I miss him terribly. And I miss him in ways that I never thought I would. I miss the company- that I expected. But I also just miss the support. The extra set of hands that can take over if I no longer have the strength or patience. I miss everything about him. But missing him makes our time together so much more wonderful. It helps me appreciate him so much more. As hard as it is to have him gone it's that much more wonderful to have him home.

Life is hard, but the hard times are when we grow. Sometimes I enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to learn, grow and become a better person.

I also enjoy knowing that I have these experiences to my name. Each experience gives me more insight into the feelings and emotions of others. I really do love that. I love that the more I go through the more empathetic and understanding I can be.

I also enjoy learning of the kindness of my friends and strangers. My friend read my blog and offered to watch the baby overnight to help relieve some of my stress. She's an amazing person. I really admire her and want to be more like her. It was just amazing that she saw my need for help and was willing to offer her time, and more, to help me out.

Other's have written me emails with suggestions and an understanding voice- often times that is all I need; someone to talk to that understands what I'm going through.

These actions truly make me feel so special. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I'm so blessed to have friends that can see my struggles and my needs, and they reach out a hand to help. All of you are answers to prayers.

I also enjoy that seeing kindness of strangers. The woman that held my baby at the ward party so I could eat. The man that helped me get the kids on the sidewalk when I went to the store by myself the other day. Those in my ward who helped me with the kids the other night at the activity. All are people I don't know very well, but were still more then will to help me out.

I'm also thankful to my family for all that they have done. Thank you to my Mother-in-Law for coming and helping with the kids. And for all the other times you visit and help us out. Thank you to my parents for keeping me company when my husband is at work, for helping me with my laundry and for watching my kids all the time so I can have a break.

Life is hard but I have so much to be grateful for! Thank you to everyone!