Tyce is Nine Months Old!!!

My baby is nine months old! Gosh, before I know it he'll be a year and then time just speeds up from there!

Tyce had his nine month check yesterday and, other than his iron being a little low, everything looks great! He weighed 21 pounds, which is the 50%. I was pretty surprised by that because he looks so chubby to me! However, I did have preemies so I guess that's what I was used to. He was almost 30 inches tall, which is the 90%. Sounds like he'll be tall like his daddy and Jackson!

Tyce sleeps about 8pm-7am and takes two naps a day. He loves table food like Cheerios and Kix to snack on. He is pulling himself up, can stand for about 5 seconds by himself, and loves to walk along things. He also loves to walk while we hold his hands. He loves to make messes in the pantry pulling stuff out. He loves to pull the toilet paper roll out. He loves to get in my kitchen cabinets and pull all my pots and pans out. Basically, he loves to explore and make messes!

Tyce loves attention, especially when it's from his brothers. His face lights up when the boys come in to the room. He LOVES when they play with him and they can make him laugh better than I can! He is currently teething so he is very very very fussy and high maintenance. AKA he is driving me crazy. I know his teeth hurt but how does me walking around holding him make a difference? Well it must because that's what he wants 24/7! Hopefully it will be better soon. But we love our little Tyce so much and love watching him grow and develop!!!

I snapped some pics this morning...

In other news, CHRISTINE IS HERE AND LIFE IS GOOD!!! =) More on that later.

Fun with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Denae!

Well today is my only day without visitors so I decided to hurry and blog about THIS week before all the excitement starts this weekend! =) My wonderful grandparents and aunt came to visit this week! They got in Monday night and left this morning. My grandpa and aunt spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in DC seeing all the sights and had tons of fun. They had ideal weather, timing, and service. My grandma stayed home with me on Tuesday and Thursday which was SO fun! My grandma and I are very close and she is so full of energy and love. Tuesday we went to Chuck E Cheese and Thursday she babysat the kids while I took a NAP and went to the doctor. It was so nice just having her here with me. Probably the highlight of the trip was our nightly gathering at Nathan's Dairy Bar-pretty much the best ice cream ever. There's a bench there that looks like a cow that the boys just think is the coolest thing ever. So we had lots of fun and I miss them already!

The good news? Shane comes tomorrow night to stay over and spend Mother's Day with us and then Christine comes Sunday afternoon to stay for a month!!! YAY!!! The boys are so excited, they just love having people here and we just want everyone to keep on coming! =)

Here's the crew before they left this morning...

A Tribute to Jenn, My Wife, My Love, Our Wonderful Mother!

Jenn, I thought I would give you one of your Mother's Day presents a little early. I hope it gives you a boost :) You have so many special characteristics that make you so successful as a mother and wife. It may not be glamorous and exciting at times, but I think you are doing an amazing job. You are also one of the best friends I could ever hope for and I think everyone who meets you gets to know you for the compassionate and fun person you really are, despite the three kids who seem to steal the show everywhere you go. You do mean everything to your four boys. We Love you so much sweetie!

Who Am I?

It's 8am, I've been awake since about 5:30am, and my mind has been racing. When I was in Utah two weeks ago I had two days without a husband or kids. For the first time in a VERY long time, I felt like JENN again. Not wife Jenn. Not mom Jenn. Just Jenn. I was happy. I like being just Jenn. Life is easier, I can be selfish, I can be rested, I can focus on ME and do what I want to do. To be honest, I don't remember what that was like. I got married at 19 and it all seems so long ago that I was just Jenn. I can't help but long for that life again on days like today when my grandparents and aunt were able to get up early and head up to DC for a fun day of sight seeing and I'm stuck here with my kids, as always. Not that I necessarily want to head into DC (been there done that a million times), but I'd love the FREEDOM to do so.

There are so many women in my life that I feel like are "natural born mothers." I, unfortunately for my kids, am not one of those. I love my kids more than I can even express, but I feel like I have to strive every day to be HAPPY in what I'm doing. Maybe I would be put to better use as a working professional? My personality is such that I feel like I could be successful in the work place, whereas I feel like I continually fail as a mother and as a wife. Would I rather be single? Sometimes. Would I rather not have children? Sometimes. Would I rather be working? Sometimes. But then, I fear, I would find emptiness. I think spouses and children bring life to life. Yes, life would be easier if I was just Jenn. But it would not help me fulfill my mission here on earth-to learn, to experience the good AND bad, to grow. I guess I just need to find ways to be happy, to make myself happy as wife and mother Jenn and give up on the idea of ever being just Jenn again. I love my husband and I love my boys SO much, I really do. For some reason though, I'm struggling to find true happiness in my calling as a wife and mother.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

Cute Guys...

I just thought the boys all looked so cute today for church so I thought I'd take some pictures. They LOVE getting new clothes so they were super excited about their new shirts and ties ($12 at H&M!). Jackson gets to do the prayer and scripture next Sunday in Primary and Josh gets to give a talk! They'll be so cute! Future missionaries huh?!?