Top Ten

My Top Ten List of Things I Have Recently Taken For Granted

10. A nice, long fall
9. Someone to "car pool" kids to school with
8. A good metabolism
7. A really good elementary school with a really good special ed program
6. Not having to pay rent
5. Sleep
4. Living near family and friends and having plenty of babysitters
3. Having a grocery store in town
2. My mom
1. Clean, clear city water

Lesson learned: Be grateful for what you have...things can always get worse!

This move is going to be hard on me. I am losing a lot of helpers, I'm not sure how Matty's education will be affected, I am going to have to think ahead and plan meals and be careful not to forget anything at the grocery store (since the nearest one is 30 miles away). I am going to have to deal with a lot of snow and mud...and worst of all, well water. In. My. Home. Well water that has been sitting in the tank and pipes for years. Brown, stinky well water.

But...it can always be worse. I know someone who will have to move to China soon. China is worse than Meeteetse...right??

P.S. I will be making a list of positive things about my move just as soon as I get settled. And as soon as I think of some. :)

Slow Down!!!!

I have had so many things to blog about during the past month but just haven't been able to find the time to actually do any blogging!! It seems like time just keeps slipping through my fingers. I need it to s-l-o-w down.

A few highlights from the past month:

• Our very, very good friends, the Gublers and the Hamiltons from St. George surprised us by driving all the way up to the middle of no-where (here) to come to Mason's blessing. We felt so loved and enjoyed their company.
• Anastyn, my three-year-old, developed her very first crush. Oh my.
• We took the girls on their first fishing trip ever. In case you didn't know - those cute little Barbie fishing poles are pieces of crap.
• Matty lost two more teeth. She just may decide to be a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. :)
• My sister (oh, how I love her) came home to have her wisdom teeth removed.
• After walking around with tape holding her glasses together for a few weeks, Matty got yet another new pair of glasses. :)
• Kari and Tyler had a beautiful wedding and reception.
• Kyle started his new job at Marathon and thinks he will love it!

That's a lot of stuff. All of those things were worthy of their very own blog posts. It makes me sad because there are a lot of great details that I would like to remember...sigh. The condensed version will have to suffice. And that's better than nothing.

Mason turned three months old yesterday. Three months old. Can it have been three months already?? He is getting so big. (sniff, sniff) He weighed in at 13 lbs 8 oz and measured 25 inches at his doctor appointment last week. I snapped a few pictures yesterday to capture in time my 3-month-old baby boy.

At 3 months, Mason:

• smiles and coos and has even chuckled a time or two!
• holds his head up well
• doesn't enjoy being on his tummy
• still does not sleep through the night
• enjoys his swing
• loves being entertained by his sisters
• wants to suck his thumb...but mommy and daddy just won't let him! (he can thank his bigger sister for that!)
• loves to wiggle on the floor
• looks quite a lot like his mommy
• takes a lot of naps
• is such a good baby and rarely fusses!

Mason's Blessing Day

We blessed Mason this past Sunday. It was a very special day. Mason (and his father) looked so handsome. Kyle gave him a beautiful blessing and we were able to spend the day with so many loved ones.

Life is Busy!

I am still here! Lots of things going on in our family at the moment! I sure do love my children a lot....but I was so ready for school to start! Matty is finishing up week #1 of kindergarten. This being her second year of kindergarten (and going to three sessions of extended school year through the summer), it hasn't been as big of an adjustment as it was last year. She is so good at being a school-girl...I am proud of her! And the house is so much quieter between 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. without the girls fighting and master-minding terrible messes, etc. :) Anastyn is enjoying having mommy and Mason all to herself. She is a pretty good helper.

Kyle has accepted a new job with Marathon Oil, which we are super-excited about! The only bad part is that we will have to re-locate. He will be working in the Spring Creek Field just outside Meeteetse, Wyoming. I'm not sure how I feel about moving...very mixed emotions. We haven't started checking into housing just yet...so I don't know if we will be living in Meeteetse or Cody, but we will keep you posted. :)

Mason is growing like a weed. He is such a good baby and still sleeps quite a bit. We sure are enjoying him. He is so snuggly! He is a very serious baby - we really have to work to get a smile out of him...but when we do it is heart-melting!!

I don't think I have any more updates, but I wanted to record some of the funny things my kids have said lately before I forget. Sometimes I wonder what goes on inside their cute little heads. :)

• For some reason, every time Anastyn is thirsty and wants a drink, she says the following as fast as she can, "A lot of apple juice in a sippy with a lid!" It is the weirdest thing. It is as if she is worried I will only fill the sippy with a tiny amount of apple juice! And if I wasn't going to put a lid on the sippy, why would I even put the apple juice in a sippy cup at all??? I can't figure out why she says it.
• Matty has been funny with names lately. If we call her a nick-name or use a term of endearment like sweetie, or stink-butt (is that a term of endearment??), or cutie-pa-tootie...she gets all upset and says, "No! My name Matty!". And Kyle likes to call Mason "Turbo". She doesn't like that one bit because his name is not Turbo....it is Baby Mason Beau! Too funny.
• Anastyn likes to call people names - names that she has made up. She will call someone a kook-a-look, shibby-shab, goob-a-doob, or shy-la...what ever pops into her head. Sometimes I get after her and tell her it isn't nice to call people names. Oh well...it's not like she called the person an idiot or stupid-head, right? Hmmm...