Update On All My Chillins!

Mileena
is in the 7th grade! Ahhhhh! She likes all of her teachers which is important in middle school. She is still in band but her flute has been in the shop since school has started, hopefully we will get it back soon. She is thinking of being on the newspaper staff, but isn't sure. She has been very responsible this school year so far and has a lot more extra time to spend with us and her siblings rather than on homework.
Riker
has been saying the funnies things lately! I just love his funny little personality. His most recent thing story was:
"Noa (a girl from in his pre-k class) said I'm not cute. I told her my mommy thinks I'm cute!"
Man , I love this kid! He is so inquisitive also, you can just tell his little mind is thinking of how things are working when you look at him. He asks so many questions! I am grateful that he is in preschool for 3 hours during the day so his teacher gets to answer some of them. It's not that I don't love him wanting to know things at all, but it is hard to explain the things he asks about so that he can understand them. He asked me why it gets dark at night, and so I explained the earth is round and went on the whole sh-peal like I was a science teacher. And he STILL had questions about it. He is definitely a smarty pants and I hope he wants to be this knowledgeable his whole life.
Austin
Is a crazy little boy! He prefers making a screaming sound than talking, but I have been trying to get him to use his words lately. Some of them are:
drink-"dink" he says this while tip his head back and it's also a throat sound more than a word.
mama
dada
sissy-"sssss"
riker-"dii-der"
no no- "nee" he shakes his head while he says this too
cookie-"doo-dee"
more-"moooow"
popsicle- "he makes all types of weird tongue movements for this one :)
banana-"na-na-na"
book-"dook"
He loves it when Mitchell comes home from work but would prefer to stay with me in the mornings right when he wakes up. He absolutely loves Riker and is so excited whenever I say "Let's go bye-bye, it's time to get Riker!" He runs over to the door and tries to open it all by himself. We just love our little goober (yes that is his nickname around this house) and we think he is adorable :)

That's all folks!

I Will

Caution: Post with no pictures! I wish they weren't all in my attic. PLUS, super emotion post!

I'm going to apologize in advanced, this is a very emotional post for me. This is a journal for my posterity, because I am no good at writing in one. Thank you for understanding.

Last night I was thinking about how I never knew what time I was born. Whenever I asked my mom she always told me she didn't know. Being adopted I figured that was pretty normal. When I turned 18 my mom gave me some paperwork from LDS Social Services (the adoption agency I was adopted through) and 3 letters. So, I decided to go through the paperwork to see if it had what time I was born.

What I found out:

-Born: 12:52am, May 28, 1988

-Labor time: 13 hours

-She got an epidural.

-She was 39 weeks pregnant.

As I was reading this it was around 12:30am, and it just hit me:

23 years ago at almost this EXACT time a woman that I have no memory of went through 13 hours of labor and then held me in her arms and told me she loved me. She then handed me to someone knowing she wouldn't see me again. I had an overwhelming feeling of love and sadness. I have no idea who this person is that brought me into this beautiful world. I heard her voice for nine months and all of a sudden she was gone. I have no memory of the moments we shared but I know how special they were. I am extremely grateful to her. She gave me life and then gave me a better life than she could've ever given me. She gave me to my parents who were sealed in the temple for time and all eternity and they taught me what was right. I will never be able to repay her for the gift she gave me. I would not have the amazing husband or kids I have today if she hadn't been so selfless. 

I have never thought about her on my actual birthday, but I always knew that she was thinking of me somewhere in the world on this exact day. And that makes me feel closer to her.

I few months ago I tried to find her, but there was no match in the paperwork I sent in. When I got that letter in the mail I was hurt. It felt like she didn't care anymore and that I would never know her. I gave up on ever finding her. But as I read her letter last night, the last line said:

"All my life, my love, and prayers are with you.

                              Your birth mother

                               and eternal friend,

                                      I love you!"

I have read this letter many times before but the "eternal friend" stuck out to me this time. I will see her again and I will be able to thank her and tell her I love her too. If not in this life, the next, and she will be waiting for me. It makes me want to work that much harder to do what is right and return to our Father in Heaven. I will see him and her again.

Mother's Day Take....

I don't know why I always want to take pictures before church (even when we're running late) on every holiday that falls on a Sunday. But it never fails and my excuse is that the kids will get messy at church, which Austin usually does. 

Anywho, we were running extremely late on Mother's Day but I of course still insisted. The hubbster was trying get a picture just the way I like it:
--All the kids looking at the camera
--Me looking at the camera
--All the kids smiling
--Me smiling and not looking squishy
--Camera pointed down on us subjects (did you know that makes you look thinner?)
--etc., etc., etc.
This is what I ended up with:

Take One:

Take Two:

Take Three:

Take Four:

All worked out in the end and I am awfully grateful that my studly hubby puts up with my OCD mess.

I WILL get better!

I will get better at blogging, I promise!
I look at all these cute blogs and I want to have one too. There just isn't enough time in the day! 
Between a 12 year old, a 4 year old and a 1 year old when I get time alone I like to watch Grey's Anatomy :)
I have realized that there is no way I'm going to be able to catch up on everything in the past how ever long it's been. So.....

Here's a little picture for your thoughts--My adorable little goob squashing my adorable little dude!

One day I will be better at this blogging thing :)