A Girl After My Own Heart...

This video of Maddie is a couple of months old but super cute. I thought it was the perfect place to start playing catch up on our family blog.

The question of the day is....

Q. What is it like living in a house with four little very girly girls?


A. Even the toy puppy gets a make-over every now and again.




Today, after school I was doing some baking and looked over the counter to find Emily "doing the puppies hair for him". "Doesn't he just look adorable?" I smiled and said "Most definetly." But more adorable to me than the puppy is that cute little girl of ours. I seriously love having girls.

Maddie is ONE!!!

It's so hard to believe that one whole year has gone by. Maddie is such a fun and wonderul little girl. This last year she flew through the rolling over, crawling, walking stage and now is at the running away from her sisters stage. And yet, we still only have two very tiny little teeth. Some of Maddie's loves are nursing (I still love nursing her too), ice cream (so yummy, she's a girl after my own heart), Gerber macaroni and cheese, her binky, the show Super Why, and her cuddly pink blanket.



For her birthday we had some family over for cake and ice cream. It was so much fun to see all of her cousins shout for joy as she ate her first bite of cake. All in all it was a great day.

Daycare Opening

I'm sad to say the sweet little girl and boy that I have taken care of for two years are now both in school. We have come to love them very much and are seriously going to miss them both. And their leaving now leaves me with an opening. I'm very flexible and my rates are really reasonable. So if you know anyone who needs daycare I'd love the referral unless you know of anything else I can do at home to help support my sweetie through school.

My sun glasses broke and I got pulled over.

It sounds silly that these two events could be related but they are. So, this morning we were rushing out the door to run a couple of errands and I find at the very bottom of the diaper bag my sun glasses in two pieces. So sad. But I remember that Brandon's were in the car so I decided to wear his. They're way too big and I have to keep pushing them up but they work. I drive just barely out of our development when I see a police car behind me. My first thought was, "Oh, how sad. Someone is getting pulled over." I pull over to the right hand lane to give the nice police man plenty of room, to realize he's pulling ME over. What!!! What on Earth could I have done in 3 minutes of driving time. He walks up to me and I roll down the window. He then asks me if I've been on my cell phone, which is lying in the center console right next to me. I told him. "No." Then he asks if I'm sure because he thought he saw me with my hand up. Then I told him all about my glasses and how I had to wear my husbands that the phone is there out of habit and I surely know the new law and he could check my phone if he wanted. So, he believed me and I didn't get a ticket but I was so shook up I got lost on the way to the library which is really lame because it was only 3 blocks away from where I got pulled over.

Happy Father's Day

Sweetheart, You are my every dream come true!!! You are the world's most wonderful father and husband. And I love you so much. Your loving and tender ways make us all feel so loved. The service that you give to us and anyone else you see in need is such a great example to us all. The way you lead our family, always considering Heavenly Father and Jesus's wishes, keeps us on the right path. Thank you so much for all you do on this special day. We love you with all our hearts.

And a big Happy Father's Day to all of our family. To Dad, Cesar, Dan, Rick and Jeremy we wish you a super wonderful and fun day!!!

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

Our sweet little girl turned 7 years old today. I'm in awe that that much time has gone by so quickly. At this age Katie loves everything girly. She loves to put on her lip gloss and bracelets, play on the monkey bars, and hula hoop. She's learning to play the piano and is really picking it up pretty quickly. She's so fun to be around. Katie is truly one of the most thoughtful and caring people I know, she almost always puts others needs first. We are so blessed to have her in our family. Katie we love you, Happy Birthday Baby!!!!!!!

Emmy Lou is Five

We were once asked at the mall, "Is that her real name?" No it's not but that's what we love to call our sweet little girl. And now she's 5 and too cute for words. She loves to hula hoop, catch bugs, and eat ANY form of sugar. Emmy is a great little mommy's helper and has hugs and kisses that make all my stresses seem to go away. We love our little girl so much. Happy Birthday Emily.

Summer's First Swim

We love swimming. Each summer we go as often as we can. We love the water, the warm weather, and the girls are so fun. So, last night was our first swim of the summer. It started out really rocky. We had one of the biggest scares parents can have. While Brandon was standing less than 1 foot from Olivia he turned his head for just enough time to look down and find the floaty he was going to blow up and Livy fell in. She couldn't have been under for longer than a few seconds but he looked over and saw her in the pool, jumped in and pulled her out. He handed her to me and then got out himself. She looked dazed for a second and then started throwing up. No water came out so we think she was holding her breath. She was fine after that but we are still a little upset about the whole incident. After the shock wore off we all had tons of fun. Maddie went in the pool for the first time and the girls had a blast swimming around. And this morning I looked up swim lessons for Livy and the new family rule is you can't go outside without your floaty on and in place.

Livy Lou Kangaroo Is Three!!!

It's so hard to believe Olivia is 3 years old. We love our spunky little girl so much. She has hugs and smiles that melt me like butter. And I love those big eyes. At three Livy's favorite things to do are sing ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ride her bike in the backyard, and go down the big, twisty slide at the park. We love the spice she brings to our family and her sweet and tender cuddles. Happy Birthday Olivia. We love you so much!!!

There's No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk

I thought I would randomly post some of our families favorite sayings. This by far is our favorite. Probably because... someone is always spilling something. Nearly once a day and sometimes twice someone spills their drink, cheerios, or entire plate. We try not to get frazzled by the messes (though I'm sure you all know it's really hard to do) and we tell them not to worry, there's no use crying over spilled milk. A few days ago Livy dropped her playdough on the ground and started to cry. I'm sure it wasn't because she felt she'd made any kind of mess but rather just because her playdough fell. Emmy told her, "Don't worry Livy, there's no use crying over spilled playdough." I think I like her new twist on a family favorite.

Maddie's Journey to 8 months

I know, I know. Just when you think you've heard enough or seen enough pictures of Maddie. I post more. I really can't help it. It's been a fun road to where we are. We've had lot's of fun firsts like rolling over, sitting up, eating, and now waving "Hi". She's a doll...just like her older sisters. We're really blessed!!!

Mommy I have a big owie...

Olivia came up to me while I was making lunch today and told me she had a "weally big owie." I bent down and asked what was hurting. She replied, "My feelings... Emmy yellded at me weally loud and hurt my feelings." As I was trying very hard not to laugh I asked her where the owie was and she pointed to her mouth. I gave her a big kiss and that seemed to be enough to make her "weally big owie" go away. Kids are too cute!!!

Maddie is 7 months old

Here are a couple of pictures on Maddie's 7 month birthday. We can't believe how quickly this 7 months has gone by. Our little Maddie is still super fun and smiley. She can roll around to get to whatever toy she wants and sits very well on her own. She's not really crawling yet but does a very cute imitation of an army crawl and of course brings great joy to all of us. Her sisters still love holding her even though she now weighs over 19 lbs!!! As fun as it is to see her doing new things I'm sad to see the baby days go by so quickly. I love holding her and rocking her when she wakes at night. Actually that's the one hard thing about her. She doesn't sleep on a regular pattern. It's very random. Some nights she'll sleep 12 hours straight and then the next night she'll only sleep 6 and wake every 3 after that. I love rocking her and cuddling her so much at night maybe it's her way of giving me that alone time with her. I guess it doesn't really matter what the reason is we love her so much we'd do anything for her.

Red Marbles

Brandon forwarded this to me today from work. I thought it was worth passing on.

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes.

I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprizing a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes, but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas.

I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'

'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.'

'Good. Anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' adm irin' them peas.'

'Would you like take some home?' asked Mr. Miller.

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it' said Miller.

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.'

'I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?' the store owner asked.

'Not zackley but almost.'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble', Mr. Miller told the boy.

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.

With a smile said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever.

When they come back with their red marbles, and they a lways do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.'

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man.

A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one.

Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.

They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men.

One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking.

They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket.

Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket.

Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles.

With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them.

Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size....they came to pay their debt.'

'We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho '.

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral : We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

Today I wish you a day of ordinary miracles ~

An unexpected phone call from an old friend.

Green stoplights on your way to work.

The fastest line at the grocery store.

A good sing-along song on the radio.

Your keys found right where you left them.

I hope this story warmed your heart as much as it did mine!

I've Been Tagged

Natalie this is for you.

How long have you and your significant other been together?
We've been married for 8 years. And we've been together not much more than that. Our first date was in August of 1999. And Brandon pretty much proposed the next day by saying I'm thinking about December. I was stunned but we both knew it was right. To our defense we had been friends for over a year.

Who eats more?
Brandon

Who said "I love you" first?
We don't know. It sounds awful to say but neither of us can remember.

Who is taller?
Brandon.

Who sings better?
Brandon sings better, but I sing more (off key and out of tune - I love it).

Who is smarter?
We each have our thing.

Who does the laundry?
I would love to say that every Wednesday I wash all the clothes, iron them and put them away but that never happens. We have four little girls and our oldest is 6! I never get the laundry done and there are days if Brandon wants clean clothes for work he has to wash some. Then he winds up washing ALL the dirty clothes. He's such a trooper.

Who does the dishes?
It's 50/50. It depends on who wants to tend the kids or wash the dishes.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me because it's closest to the door so I can get the kids at night.

Who pays the bills?
Me and I don't like it. It's the ickiest job ever.

Who mows the lawn?
Brandon.

Who cooks dinner?
Me.

Who drives when you are together?
Brandon. I'm good driver but I always get lost. For years, no kidding, I only knew where Babies R Us and Costco was. I even got lost going home from work one day. So lame.

Who is more stubborn?
We mutually share that title depending on the subject.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong?
I'm so lucky. It's Brandon all the way.

Who kissed who first?
It was mutual and it was magical. We both remember every detail.

Who proposed?
Brandon. It was perfect.

Who is more sensitive?
Me all the way.

Who has more friends?
Neither. We both have old ones that we keep in touch with and new ones we love to hang out with.

Who has more siblings?
Brandon. I'm an only child.

Princess Wishes

Last night we took the girls to go see Disney's Princess Wishes on Ice. It was one of the most fun nights we have had together. It was so fun to see the girls faces as they saw their favorite characters dance and skate on the ice. I even loved it myself. The skaters were so talented and their costumes were beautiful. Mom and Dad Aldridge were able to come with us and having them there with us to share in the memory of the night made it a perfect night. When we first told the girls that Nana and Papa were coming too somehow Emmy thought that meant that Papa would be skating with the Princesses. I'm not sure where that thought came from but she was so in awe with everything going on she didn't seem to miss seeing him skate on the ice. The finale left the girls speechless as Tinker Bell was raised up in a carriage and fireworks went off around her. And the car ride home was filled with giggles as we talked about Arora being kissed by Prince Philip and Cinderella dancing with Prince Charming. I hope the memory of the night never fades.

Six Months Old !!!

It's so hard for us to believe that six months have gone by. Maddie is such a good and fun baby. We love having her with us as part of our family. Since she was 4 months old she has really wanted to eat. She would watch every bite of food go from the plate to my mouth. We held her off till 6 months and now her time is here. She loves it! Yesterday she even giggled when I put her in the highchair and she saw her food coming. It's so cute. She's just like Katie.

We've taken the plunge

We are now the proud owners of a fish! I actually quite love her. Her name is Betty. She is a red and white Betta and she lives on the kitchen counter so I can talk to her while I do the dishes. The girls adore her, for now, and love to watch her swimming in her bowl.

The girls have wanted a pet now forever and we've pushed them out as far as we felt like we could. We had promised them we would get a fish after Maddie was born and considering she'll be 6 months next week I think we pushed it out as far as we could. But now that we have her I really like her. She never talks back, she eats all her food and only requires food once a day, and I only need to clean her once a week. Piece of cake!!! I think we might even buy her a friend if she continues to work out.

She melts my heart

I know my last entry was how sweet our kids comments were on a family night we had but I just have to share what Katie said today. We were in the car in between errands when Katie asked if rich meant you had more money than you needed. I said yes. She then asked if poor meant you didn't have enough. I again said yes. She then said that she wished every rich person would find a poor person and give them all they needed to not be poor any more and that would make everyone perfect. Life through the eyes of a child is beautiful. I look forward to the day when the Savior comes and makes her beautiful wish come true.

From the Mouths of Babes

Last night we had a family night on "ingredients." First we made brownies and everyone had a turn putting in the ingredients. Then, while the brownies were cooking, we talked about the ingredients we need for a happy family. The girls came up with the best list. Their "ingredients" are: family prayer, sharing, service, eating together, laughing, respect, obedience, being nice, hanging out, and forgiveness. Then they said that love, Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father were what we used to stir it all together. They melted my heart. I love those little girls. It's nights like last night when I realize they really are listening.

5 months old

Maddie is 5 months old today and still very much the joy of our family. She smiles, giggles, and almost rolls over and sits up. We have fun with her every moment of every day. Maybe sometimes too much fun when there's a fight among her big sisters as to who gets to hold her next but even that's fun to see because they love her so much. So, Happy 5th month Birthday Maddie! We love you so much. You are a great joy to us.

Christmas Memories

Christmas was a blast this year. On Christmas Eve we sprinkled reindeer food on the grass and made Santa and Mrs. Claus some supper yummy cookies while Brandon read The Night Before Christmas. Then Christmas morning we woke very early to find that Santa had left us some presents. We knew he was watching and had seen that our girls had been very good this year. But the real highlight of the holiday was being with family and friends in celebration and honor of our Saviors birth.