August!!!!

Holy Crap it has been since March!. I have been thinking about blogging a lot lately but I guess I did not put thought into action. Well the last few months have been super crazy and fun for our little family.

Our Sweet Baby Lainie is growing like a weed. She is the sweetest, nicest baby ever. I love her to death. She goes to work with me every day and she is the Belle of the Ball around the 4-H office. Despite everyone liking her there is a new county policy going into effect very soon about no babies in the work place. Woo Hoo.... NOT! I love having my good baby with me. But oh well. Kodi is also doing pretty good. She has really enjoyed the summer. The Packer family in our ward has 5 girls and this summer the 3 oldest watched the girls and they loved it. Lots of visits to the park and lots of playing outside. Maren is talking up a storm. Her new favorite thing to do is copy all the bad things that Andrew and I say. Its really fun. But really I hope she never hears me swear cause she would for sure repeat it. Andrew turns 30 years old today. I sure am glad we got married. He really is the best guy I know. Between our crazy work schedules this summer we didn't see each other very much so I am really glad things are slowing down. now I will blog more HaHaHa

March 2013

While I have a few seconds to myself I thought I would blog a little. My little children are doing well and they are growing super fast still. I have some funny/ important things I need to get down before I totally forget about them. Kodi and Maren are pretty funny and they usually can bring a smile to my face. Last night at dinner Maren was eating some carrots but she refused to eat the pasta I made. She pulled out a My Little Pony from her shirt (I had no idea that she was hiding it there. We have a rule of no toys at the table.) She set the pony on the table, picked up some pasta and tried to feed it to the pony. Of course it didn’t eat it since it is a plastic doll but Maren looks up at me and said “she don’t like it!” Then she pushed her plate away and tells me that “Mare don’t like it”. So that was that. Maren has this personality that is just so funny. The other night we put the girls to bed but they were not having it. However I was super tired and I was not moving my giant pregnant self so Andrew had to take care of all their craziness. So Kodi kept running upstairs (naked except for her panties) yelling that she has to “go”. Maren kept dragging her blankets and toys into our room wanting to snuggle and then going back into her room to find more toy pigs and monkeys. After about 30 minutes of that they finally calmed down or so we thought. They usually go to bed at 8 and this was now like 9:30pm. All our lights were out upstairs except the one at the top of the stairs and all was quite. Andrew went to get a glass of water and found Maren parked at the top of the stairs reading her pig book so she got sent back to bed. 20 minutes later Kodi comes running upstairs freaking out about Maren sleeping in her bed. So Andrew went down stairs to find our little night owl and she was nowhere to be seen. Then he sees the princess tent move a little. She was crouched down hiding from him. She is so funny. After all that they finally went to sleep and Andrew got a much needed break. Kodi has started swimming lessons and she is having a ball. She is the youngest and the smallest person in her class. She mostly says “woo hoo” at the top of her lungs the whole time she is in the pool. She tells me that all the kids in her class are her friends but she doesn’t know any names. She loves the red slide and tries to go down it the whole time and finally when free time arrives she goes down more than any of the other kids. I am really glad that we put her in the lessons. It is helping me and her at the same time. I am well aware that I am OCD and overbearing and I have a hard time with letting control go. But with her in the pool and me on the sidelines she has to do things all by herself or with the help from her teachers. Kodi is just growing up so fast I am having a hard. Well I can now say that my 3rd baby is due next month. It thankfully is going by fast. I have never liked being pregnant but I love my little girls. My little family is changing into a semi-big family. I am about to have more children than the average American. I am super glad that we bought the truck when we did. We for sure have enough room for our little addition. For a while I have been watching my really good friend’s baby on Thursdays and she is good practice for this next little baby. I at least know I can handle 3 little girls one day a week. Lol! Now I am just scared about the other 6 days. I can’t really remember what it was like to add Maren to our family. Then again we were already used to missed sleep and diaper changing (Kodi was only 6 months old when I found out I was prego with Maren). The girls are 16 months apart. With Lanie I will at least have 23 months between her and Maren. I keep getting advise from ladies in my ward, my friends and family members about #3. They all seem to think that I will fall apart once I have 3 children. I am sure that my house will be a little crazier and that I will be really tired all the time but I am determined to not fall apart. Have some faith people. Sheesh! If I can get crazy Kodi to calm down I can accomplish anything. I am 90% sure that we will not be having anymore children. I know that Andrew really, really, really wants to have a boy but our chances of having another girl are pretty high. I think I will be ok with doing girl stuff for the rest of my life. I didn’t have any sisters and I prayed a lot growing up that I would get some. The Lord has just waited to give me the blessing of girls in my life. Plus I have a bunch of friends that only have boys and someone needs to balance them out. This blog post is just a bunch of my mindless ramblings. But oh well it is more for my benefit than anyone else. I feel really bad for Andrew these days. I am an emotional mess. Seriously anything will set me off. He could look at me wrong and I will burst into tears for like an hour. I cannot wait to have my body back to normal. I have always been a cry baby while pregnant but this time around it feels much worse. Andrew is trying so hard to make things easier on me and I really do appreciate all the effort he is making for me. Wow this post is giant I better stop while I am ahead. Hopefully I will post again before the baby comes. Who knows when I will have time after?

I have a 3 year old!!!!

I said I would post some pictures of the big event and here they are. I was having a horrible pregnant day and I did not get very good pictures but these are some of the best.

The little girls just love Grandpa Tolman. Maren has the cheesiest grin.

We told Kodi that we would give her a bike when she was all potty trained. She worked really hard and has not forgotten about the bike so of course we got her one for her birthday. She loves it! When the snow melts I am sure we will spend a lot of time chasing after her. I think I will really dislike birthdays if they all go like Kodi's 3rd. I had a busy few days leading up to the event so I was already burned out. I had a scout meeting until 9pm the night before and I was babysitting my friends sick, needy baby the day of. The fist cake I made literally fell apart so I turned it into crumbs that I will make into cake pops for valentines day. I decided to try and do a checker board cake and that was the worst idea ever (those things are way harder then they look). When I finally got my cake frosted it started melting and pulling the cake apart. So I had to hurry and put it in the freezer. That led to a huge meltdown. On top of that my little children did not listen to one thing I said that day and every thing I cleaned they messed up. I mopped the floor and then Maren pulled stuff out of the fridge and spilled it everywhere. I vaccumed and then Kodi found some crunched up pretzles in my purse and she decided to sprinkle them everywhere. I won't go on because there was a lot more. Andrew told me he would get home 2 hours early to help me but ended getting home right before our guests arrived. That was the worst day I have had up until thie point in my time as a mother. I am sure being pregnant magnified it by 1,000 but i don't want to have that experience ever again. All I know is that my 2 kids + being pregnant+ babysitting a 1 year old has made me see that we cannot have 4 children anytime soon if ever. I am pretty proud of myself for not crying at all during the party. I am happy that Kodi is 3 and that she is the big sister to my other little girls. She is a real sweet heart most of the time and she is a big helper. I love her and I am grateful we have her.

Kodi is turning 3!!!

I know there is a mistake. Oops! But I guess that is how I roll. I will post more pictures later this week with her cake and party. I cannot believe that I am going to have a 3 year old. But at the same time it is good that I will since I am about to have my 3rd baby.

2012-2013

2012 is no more and 2013 is here. But I need to update on our wonderful Christmas and New Year. Sadly our little Maren was a little under the weather during most of that time and Kodi and Andrew soon followed her. Other then that we had a great Christmas. We did not do any traveling. It is so nice having my parents and Andrews parents so close to us. This year was also the first Christmas since Andrew and I were engaged that my whole family has been together. With us living in New Mexico and Payton on his mission we just have not been together. So it was really nice to spend Christmas eve with them. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas day. I made the girls scarves and there are not any pictures of me. :) I am not a dumb pregnant lady.

We are a very blessed family I have come to learn. We don't really ask for much but at the same time it is like we are never without. This Christmas I tried to make every person I gifted something. It was a lot of work but for me it just made me feel better. For Andrew I made him a fleece blanket that was Green Bay Packers. I kinda thought that he would think it was dumb since we have so many blankets in our house. But he loves it. He is just like Maren (she is always carrying around a blanket) I swear when ever he is home and all of our house work is done he is dragging that thing around. Sometimes I forget that it is just nice to have something that is just yours. Andrew is really out numbered in our house and he is overrun with girly stuff so I am glad that I could make him something that is just for him. :) For New Years eve we were pretty boring. We had Andrew's dad over for hot wings and potatoe skins (YUM!!!) and since most of us did not feel good we went to bed at like 10pm. But on New Years day we did have some fun. We went over to my parents house for Lunch and some games and after a quick nap we went bowling with our friends the Poultons. Then we went to cold stone for ice cream. At the bowling ally I am pretty sure the staff was ready for us to leave. I kept letting Kodi take my turn and the ball would get stuck like half way down the ally. Oops! But we love our little girls and we like having then with us for fun things. So I just wanted to make a little list of things to look forward to in 2013 1. My sister in law Riley is having her 2nd baby girl on the 11th on January. 2. My sister in law Lisa is having her 2 baby boy around the 17 of January. 3. Kodi is turning 3 on the 24th of January. 4. We are having our 3rd girl in April. We are naming her Lanie Jane Tolman. Lanie means Heavenly Flower. I thought that was really pretty. Jane after my mom and Andrews mom. Janet and Jean both have the letters j a n e in the first 4 letters of their names. We have not told them yet ;) 5. Maren is turning 2 in May on the 19th. 6. Boating in Bear Lake over the 4th of July. 7. Our friends the Allreds might visit us. 8. Andrew is turning 30!!!! Wow he is old. 9. Andrew is looking for a new job so I can stay home with my monsters. 10. I don't know. Spending loads of time with Andrew and my little girls. This year has a lot to look forward to and I am excited for it. Happy 2013 Everyone!!!

Big things!!!

I cannot believe it is December. This year has just flown by. I have some exciting things to talk about today. 1. Andrew is Graduating from Grad School. 2. Kodi is Potty Trained. 3. We are having another baby. So first of all after going to school for what seems like a million years Andrew is Graduating. Well he already has his bachelors of Arts (NMSU 2010). But now he has his Masters in Organizational Communications. Woo Hoo. I am so happy. He studied so hard and worked on his papers so diligently. Now no more school for us. :) Kodi is almost 3. In fact her birthday is next month. We have been struggling with the whole potty training thing for 9 months. It has been the worst thing ever. But the week of Thanksgiving I was talking to one of my sister in laws and asked for some advice. Thankfully it has worked and now Kodi is totally out of diapers. She even goes to Grandma's house in panties. On Tuesday we were at WalMart picking up some stuff and one of the things I was dreading happened. Kodi said "mommy I need to go potty". I had a little panic attack. "What if she pees her pants?!!!!!" kept running through my mind. We were at the back of the store and the bathrooms are at the front. Maren was having a little whine attack and was driving me crazy and Kodi kept walking in front of the cart as I was trying to run to the bathrooms. Thankfully we made it and she went. But still I don't like those situations. but I am pretty sure all potty training moms have gone through that. So I have just passed through an important mom right of passage. I guess. Well Big News for those that have not found out yet. I am pregnant. Yikes! I know. 3 children 3 and under. Yes we are crazy in this house. However if you really know us you already know that is true. Our little one is due in April so I am half way done. Just so I can remember since this is the closest thing to a journal I need to say how horrible this pregnancy. I am not trying to get the readers to feel bad for me. It is weird how each pregnancy is different. With Kodi I could not go into the grocery store or my own kitchen with out throwing up. With Maren I threw up every single day for 6 months. And now with #3 I have also been really sick. In one week I lost 4 pounds. That was awful. I literally did not eat for days at a time. But almost worst than that is the back pain that I am having with this baby. The days I work are the worst. By 6pm I cannot move. I mean it hurts so bad that I am brought to tears. Not many things make me cry and I have a pretty high pain tolerance. But this is horrible. It does not matter if I try to walk it off, sit down or lay down nothing relieves the pain. As a rule while pregnant I try to stay away from pain relievers and cold medicine. I even talked to my doctor about it. She of course told me that the more I exercise the better I will feel. I wanted to tell her to shove that advice. I already exercise everyday and that makes it worse. I just know that this baby is really special so I will just deal with all the crappy pregnancy stuff. Ok I am done with talking about that. Funny Tolman girl story time. This last week the girls and I were setting us the Christmas Tree and Kodi was being a big help :) She got all the ornaments and was putting them on 1 branch at the bottom of the tree. I told her it might be good to spread them out a little. So she put the rest of the ornaments on another branch. SO when she was finished only 2 branched held all of our decoations. I spread them out without her fighting me and now out tree looks great. Later that same day Kodi was looking at the tree and told me "Mommy I love the Christmas Tree in my heart". It was really sweet. On Tuesday, While at Walmart, I got us a gingerbread house to decorate. When we got home the little girls were really excited to put it together. Quickly it all went down hill. The second I opened the candy it was like wolves after a rabbit. Those little bottomless pits I call children were eating the candy faster then I could put it on the house. I guess it turned into an Ashley Gingerbread house instead of the Tolman Girls house. But I got it done and it looks great. hahahahaha. Maren is the sweetest little girl ever. I just love her so much. She has been doing this thing where she grabs your finger and pulls you when she wants something. She is also into smelling me. It is a little wierd but funny at the same time. When I pick her up she puts her nose on my shoulder and takes a big sniff. The first time she did it I was concerned that I smelled bad. But now its like a little greeting that she does. I am really excited for Christmas. Each night we have been reading a Christmas story to the girls and we have been watching lots of Christmas movies. Our house is all decorated and I love this time of the year. It just seems like everything is a little better. The girls and I have driven around our neighborhood 10 times already looking at lights and they love them. Shhhhh, no one tell Andrew. But I am working on a 12 days of christmas gift that I am excited for. I hope he really likes getting little surprises everyday. So for now. Merry Christmas!!!!

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