Summer........

On the last day of school we had a neighborhood celebration. The kids got off the bus to find a water party complete with snow cones! I ate about four of them..........now I dream of them every night. Liv is now a second grader and Tate is a kindergartner. I truly can't believe it. We are going to have such a fun summer!

6th day of bed rest..........

So my body needs to rest but my brain wants to "NEST"! I am feeling like a prisoner today and even though the medicine is working really well I still am getting contractions especially when I push it too much with getting up. I really thought this little guy would be different but he is reminding me so much of being pregnant with Ms. Livy at the end. I am slowly getting things ready in the baby's room and luckily I have fabulous friends who are willing to help out. I have basically cut in half my expectations of how I wanted the house to be when Brigg got here. I know this picture doesn't look like I am really huge but I think that is the problem- My kids just don't pop out! They squish inside of me and make me feel stuffed. I am just waiting for his arm to pop out of my mouth! (remember that dream sis?) Well, I best get back to bed, I am secretly hoping that since I got ready today Chad will want to take me to lunch!

baby, trucks, wallets and broken bones! oh my!

A fun filled adventure is always evident in the Rhoton household. It just seems as of late we have have been getting hit a little harder. I am happy to say that (for the most part) we have been handling everything quite well and just have been rolling with the punches. We are the luckiest of the unluckies we always say. After the whole fiasco with Tate's arm (he is doing great by the way) , we woke up last Wednesday and found that Chad's truck had basically been chop shopped right in our drive way in the night. There were tons of parts that had been cut out of the bottom with a plasma cutter and his truck was just a goner. The police man told us that the thieves are professional and target trucks with lifts much like our redneck truck. They steal parts that have platinum in them as well in order to sell the platinum which is going for 1,800 an ounce at the moment. This of course FREAKED the kiddos out seeing as how the bad guys were right under there windows in the night doing the job. It made for some pretty scared little kiddos that just could not understand why someone would do that to our truck. We got through it (I think chad only swore once.....maybe) and then we had the big upset of this past Monday morning when Chad was supposed to work in phoenix and had to go rent a car only to find he had lost his wallet! We could not find it anywhere! Since we only had the Tahoe (truck was still in the shop) I just sent him on his way with my car and my debit card so he would not be late. Wouldn't you know that Monday ended up being the day I went into preterm labor.......oh yes it is true......Briggs decided He was done with this small space he was being forced to live and was coming whether or not we wished it.......I frantically found a way to the hospital and luckily they were able to stop it. I was a little scared being at the hospital alone with out Chad and hoping that my kids were all o.k. I am one tough lady. Chad did high tail it home and was with me at the hospital that night. Thank you di for taking over my motherly duties! I was poked and prodded and finally released and now find myself on bed rest for the third time on medication. THIS WILL BE OUR LAST BABY...please remind me of this because I know in a year or two I will forget again. The happy news to all of this is we finally found Chad's wallet! Tate and Livia had hidden it on Sunday night in a toy box at the end of Tate's bed.

tate and mommy update pictures

Tate's cast- FINALLY!

Getting the cast proved to be a little harder for Tate than we had originally thought. He had never seen his pins in his arm and he got a bit light headed at the sight of it all. As the arm was covered, Tate's color returned to normal and now he is the happiest boy alive! We went as a whole family and made him feel extra special. I can rest assured now that he is protected and can go back to being a crazy little boy again.

fort cereal!

The kids and I have been working on building a fort for them out of cereal boxes. It is a work in progress I tell you! I thought for sure with all of the boxes we had saved including friends and neighbors we would have it made but we are still lacking in boxes believe it or not. The kids still love to play in it and plan to sleep in it this weekend. I have gone through two bags of hot glue sticks in the process. It really is all worth it.

Paisley with glasses.....

Cute little Paisley got her new glasses a couple of weeks ago. Between her firecracker personality and chipmunk smile she just couldn't get any cuter. She fell asleep in my bed on Saturday after I was reading to her and it just cracked me up how cute and cuddly she was. Why are little glasses so precious!? I could just kiss her cheeks off.

more pics of the tater......

Tater has been doing great since the little hitch in his giddy up happened last Thursday. He was playing on his rip stick when he fell and ripped his arm stick! He was a tough kid and after Chad and I got him to the ER and found out how bad of a break it really was we were so proud of our little man and how brave he was being. He did end up getting surgery and a few pins put in. He had all of the nurses gushing over him of course. Tate on morphine is even more charming it seems. They even gave him a frog and put a cast on the frog's arm which he thought was so hysterical. Chad and I both stayed with him at the hospital and had ourselves a little slumber party with not so much of the slumbering part. Chad was mostly worried that Tate would not be able to throw a ball. He is healing well. He still has a lot of pain but he is still the happy little boy we love. His Grammie and Pappa came for a visit and took him to Freddies for a yummy milk shake. He has had a ton of visitors and get well calls and gifts. Now Livia wants to break a bone really bad. Livia has turned into little nurse Nelly- she hardly lets him do anything for himself and smothers him with attention. When all of his cousins and friends were here they started playing dodge ball in the backyard so Tate had to come inside. Livia came in with him even though I knew she wanted to stay outside and play. She just couldn't handle the thought of him being left out. For now Tate has a sling and a fiberglass splint with a wrap. There are some pads covering the pins but I have been a wreck with worry of him getting bumped or falling. On Monday (next week) He will get his cast and we all just cannot wait for him to have more sturdy protection. My dear friend Lauralee (who first found Tate after the break ) was such a strength to me when it all happened she was so good with Tate when I was basically falling apart at the seems. I love you Lauralee! well can't wait for this adventure to be over. Thanks for all of your calls and love.

broken bone, broken heart....

These are the x-rays of before and after Tate's surgery on his broken arm. He is such a little trooper. It was a horrible break and He has handled it all with so much courage. I will post some more pics of him in the hospital.

more belly pics

I know these pictures almost look as if I am the same size but each week I am gaining pounds galore so I know either the belly is growing or my backside. Tate informed me on Sunday that I was getting really wide these days- I was able to go to church just feeling super about myself. I guess stressing honesty with the kids can come back to bite you in the WIDE butt!

hard life lessons

As an update, tonight we were able to replace Sparkle with a beautiful female bird named Tweets. Chad even bought some bird toys for the cage which seemed to just make everything better instantly for the kiddos. Liv still gets a quiver lip when Ms. Sparkle is mentioned but I believe her heart is on the mend for sure.

baby is getting big!

I have been amazed at just how big my belly is able to get! I am already 5 pounds bigger than I was when I delivered the other two. I keep thinking that if I seriously have three more months of growing I will just explode! Are not our bodies simply amazing? At night I am up to sleeping with four pillows and Chad must have finally gotten sick of rolling into fluff all night instead of his beautiful wife because he recently ordered a pillow that supposedly will eliminate all of the chaos I have going on in the bed. I am eagerly awaiting the ups trucks sound each day. Livia and Tate are growing so fast these days. ALL of taters pants have turned into high waters and even Livia seems to be eating constantly and has horrible leg aches at night. I have the baby's room in the early stages of readiness and Tate is going to be getting a new Batman room next week. He is so very excited. I am moving him into my craft room because let's face it- I truly do not have space in my life for crafting at the moment. A season for everything- right? I keep getting so excited for this little guy to be born. I love the thought of having another Chad Rhoton baby with big blue eyes and dimples. I keep having dreams of this little chubby baby hand with the little knuckle dimples pressing on my cheeks. I know the sleepless nights which Chad and I have been free of the past 5 years are about to return and I am trying to prep myself that I will soon have to leave my selfish ways again. For me that is why having a baby is so very special. I feel like it is an opportunity for me to be a better person. We really are working hand in hand with Heavenly Father when we are given the blessing of raising a child. I was thinking last night of all the mommies on my street with little newborns. It was 2 in the morning and I was settling back into my pillow nest and I thought about Divia and Lauralee and how they were probably rocking a baby in their arms at that very moment. I am excited to join them. (please remind me of this sweet thought when it really becomes my reality) Babies, babies, babies. It is all that consumes my thoughts these days. I am trying to download a clip of Tate and Livia when they were much smaller and more controllable!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

more pictures...

sleeping on the boat
Avery doing her morning yoga
Taylor marie our sweet!
Tate can drive the boat with his feet!
Livia sporting her new boots from walmart. Lady GaGa in the making!
Eating hotdogs....
EEEWWWWWW!!!
Dad holding Liv's Fish- What a whopper.
They were on a roll!

fishing at Roosevelt Lake

Chad took the kids and the boat to Roosevelt this weekend for some camping and fishing. I was left behind due to not feeling so well. As excited as I was to have a weekend to myself (moms rarely get that) I was so sad when they drove away. The whole weekend I missed them so much it hurt. I kept calling Chad and luckily he had service so I was able to listen to them have all of their fun. I was surprised to find out that Livia has decided she will NOT touch fish anymore! That's right our little girl who used to kiss a fish dead on the lips and squeeze them until their eyes popped out has now decided she can't possibly touch such a slimy thing. Shocking. I guess she would just catch them and then make her dad do the dirty work. These are some pictures sent to me on my phone so they are not the best. I will post more after I download the camera's pictures. I love that it is like 3 in the afternoon and Livia is just chillin' on the lake in her nightgown. It is always a party with Chad in charge.

the bugs

These kiddos have gotten so good on their ripsticks! I was so hesitant when they asked for them at Christmas after seeing some kids at NAU riding them but they have been persistent and now they can go just about anywhere! Poor Livia ended up eating it pretty bad that day. It happened only seconds after I stopped recording- yuck!

the pinchers were out!

We had the best Green party on Thursday! I even painted our nails green........and made a green fruit pizza! We had peanut butter and honey sandwiches on homemade green bread and ate grapes and drank green goddess juice. It was terribly windy at the park but we still had such a great time.