Paizlei Turns 4

December 17, 2008, was one of the scariest and happiest days of my life.  At 7:58pm, I gave birth to our GORGEOUS baby girl.  She was 2 months premature, weighing in at 4 lbs. 10 oz and 17" long.  She surprised everyone, doctors and nurses included, and came into this world full of sass, spunk and a lot of attitude.

As we celebrate her BIG 4th BIRTHDAY, marvel at just how strong-willed she is.  She came into the world kicking and screaming like she was ready to face the world all by herself.  And, if you ask her, she will tell you just how strong-willed she is.  I absolutely LOVE her BIG ATTITUDE, sometimes her sass, and always LOVE her spunk.  She is one of the sweetest little girls, best little sister, best big sister, loveable, huggable, caring, kind, imaginative, creative, funny little girls I know.  How truly blessed Zane and are, to have been chosen to be her parents.

One thing that I will never forget the night she was born, was when I was wheeled back into recovery (I had her in the L&D OR because it is closer to the NICU), my Daddy bent down, kissed my forehead, and whispered 6 sweet words into my ear.  "You just made your Grandpa proud."  Even though I was super drugged up from the preeclampsia, headache, and labor pain, it hit me.  That day, December 17th is my Grandpa Young's birthday.  How sweet it is, that such a sweet, sassy, spunky, lovable, huggable, caring, kind, imaginative, creative, funny little girl, gets to share her birthday with her Grandpa.  A Grandpa she never met...only in Heaven.  I'm sure he protected her with she was in Heaven.  I'm sure he told her to come into this world fighting.  I'm sure he told her to be strong-willed.

On Saturday, December 8, 2012, we celebrated Paizlei's birthday.  This was the first year she was able to have a friend party, which she thought was SOOO NEAT!!!  She was so excited to go pick out her invitations and to take them around to all her little school friends.  Her little friends that came were, Jaylee, Rylee, Esme, Sariah, Autumn, and Gracie.  After her friend party, we also had a family party.  Those who came to her family party were, Grandma and Grandpa Young, Grandma Black, great-Grandma Despain, Aunt Melanie and cousin Jacob, Aunt Shaunna, Uncle Travis, cousins Bridger and Kanyon.  She got completely spoiled...and LOVED every minute of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIZLEI MAE!!!

Your bring so much love and joy into our little family!

I LOVE you as BIG as the sky!

For Paizlei's friend party, we decorated salt dough ornaments and made hand print snowmen on glass ball ornaments.

It was a HUGE hit!  All the little girls LOVED it!!!

 The star and heart shaped salt dough ornaments they decorated.

 The crew decorating their salt dough ornaments.  Each one had already put their hand print on the glass ball ornament, hence the reason they are in the cups.  

 Of course Paizlei would choose Hello Kitty for her birthday party theme!  I found a kit to make these Hello Kitty red velvet cake pops.  This is the first time I have made them so they actually stay on the stick. 

 She also wanted strawberry and vanilla cuppiecakes!

 Paizlei's very own cuppiecake for her birthday!

She LOVED blowing out the candles!  She thought it was the coolest thing!

 For her family party,m I had this Hello Kitty cake made!  She LOVED it!!!

 This was the look she gave everyone while we all sang "Happy Birthday"!

LOVE IT!!!

 Cousin Jacob, Hunter and Paizlei playing with the wooden paper dolls Mommy, Daddy, Hunter & Cooper gave her.

 My GORGEOUS baby girl!!!

LOVE HER!!!

 Paizlei, cousin Jacob, Hunter, cousin Kanyon, and cousin Bridger had an absolute ball playing with the balloons!  I was honestly surprised that no one was hurt.

Cousin Jacob and Hunter...Hunter wanted to show Jacob how to play his Batman game on the Wii.  They were both so into the game.  It was funny.

Cooper's Blessing

On Sunday, September 9, 2012, we were able to bless Cooper.  It was such a beautiful day.  I'm so grateful to have an amazing husband, who is a worthy priesthood holder and was able to give our sweet Cooper a name and a blessing.  We chose to bless Cooper in a private, family and friends only, setting.  We blessed him Sunday at 12:15pm at the Gunnison Stake Center.

The amazing men who stood in the circle were:
  ~Zane
  ~Dad Young (my Dad)
  ~Javier (my sister's husband)
  ~Kyle (my brother)
  ~Burke (Zane's other Dad ("other" because step sounds aweful))
  ~Kent (Zane's uncle)
  ~Chad Powell (Zane's buddy from work)
  ~Bishop Judy
  ~Brother Tucker
  ~Brother Ellett

Zane gave Cooper such a beautiful blessing.  I was in tears when he was done.  After the blessing, Zane told me he wasn't at all nervous like he was when he blessed Hunter and Paizlei.  He said, "I felt completely calm and completely peaceful.  I felt the spirit speaking right through me.".

Those in attendance at the blessing:
  ~Mom and Dad Young (my Mom and Dad)
  ~Mom and Dad Black (Zane's Mom and other Dad)
  ~Grandma and Grandpa Despain (Zane's Grandparents)
  ~Kent and Mary (Zane's uncle and aunt)
  ~Melanie, Javier & Jacob (my sister and her family)
  ~Ginger, Preston, Wyatt & Kyler (my sister and her kids)
  ~Kyle, Corinne, Caylee and Coral (my brother and his family)
  ~Erin, Jerusha, Syrus, Ezme, Arwyn, Sariah, Tavish Miner (friends from our      neighborhood)
  ~Chad, Bri, Olivia, Brayden, Hunter, Gregg and Tyson Powell (friends)

After the blessing, we had a nice luncheon at the Gunnison park.  We had a great visit with lots of friends and family.

Thank you to everyone who came to support us on Cooper's special day.  Thank you to the men who participated in the blessing.  Thank you to everyone who brought food.  And HUGE THANK YOU to Bri for being my photographer.  You did an AMAZING job!

Our handsome little man...R Cooper Kash V.

  My adorable nephew Kyler playing with Cooper.

 My sister Melanie, her little boy Jacob and Cooper.

 Melanie's husband Javier.

 Zane's Grandma Despain and Cooper...LOVE this BEAUTIFUL moment!

 My sweet, freckle-faced Hunter...LOVE him!

 My BEAUTIFUL princess Paizlei...LOVE her!

 Zane's Grandpa, Grandma, Cooper, Zane's Mom, Dad and Zane

 My nephews Kyler and Jacob...they are both so iinto Cooper.  They love him so much.

 Zanes's Grandpa, Grandma, me, Cooper, Zane's Mom and Dad.

 Me and Cooper with 3 of the most important ladies in my life...Zane's Grandma, Zane's Mom and my Mom...I LOVE these 3 ladies and admire and look up to them so much.

 Me and my little man.

 My Mom, me & Cooper and Zane's Mom.

 I LOVE my Mom!  Next to Zane, she is my best friend.  LOVE HER!

 My Dad, my Mom, me & Cooper and Zane

 Can't even put into words how much I LOVE these two boys!

 Our sweet little family...cannot put into words how much I LOVE them and what they mean to me!

 Awe, Cooper was so tired of being passed around.  All he wanted was to go home and go in his swing.

 Some of my family...top left: Wyatt (nephew), my Dad, Ginger (my sister) middle: Corinne (SIL), Coral (niece), Kyle (Brother), Preston   front: Javier (BIL)

The Powell kids: Olivia, Brayden, Gregg and Hunter

 Seriously...I'm SO proud of my watermelon bowl for my fruit salad!  I HAD to have a picture of it.  :)

Life's Little Lessons

You know how, as a parent, there are things that you just don't want your kids to do, but they are going to do them anyway as they grow, learn and get older?  Then there are those conversations that you just dread having with your kids because of said action?  I dealt with it twice yesterday.  Once with Paizlei and once with Hunter.  The topic of the action and the conversation: STEALING!!!

You read that right, stealing!  I had to run to the market yesterday to drop off Hunter's prescription for his Concerta (long-acting Ritalin), and pick up a few things while we were waiting for them to fill the RX.  We were coming down an isle and Paizlei found some bubbles...ridiculously priced bubbles.  I told her I wasn't buying them and asked her to put them back on the shelf where she found them.  She kept telling me she wanted them.  Each time, I calmly told her I wasn't buying them because we had a HUGE bottle of bubbles at home and asked her to put them back.  I turned my back to see if not having me facing her would make her put the back.  She runs off with them...bee-lines for the doors.  I leave Hunter and Cooper where they were at in the store and ran after her.  While she was exiting the market, the manager is watching the whole thing unfold.  A sweet lady from my ward was there, and went to keep and eye on Hunter and Cooper.  I finally caught her.  We walked back in the market, and to where the bubbles were at, and asked her calmly to please put the bubbles back, she bee-lines for the door.  To make a long story short, I finally took the bubbles out of her hand and put them back where they go, picked her up, put her in the already crammed shopping cart, went and paid for our things and left.  When we got to the car, I sat her in her seat, buckled her in, and told her when she walks out of the store with something she hasn't paid for, or Mommy or Daddy hasn't paid for, it's called stealing.  I told her it's illegal, the cops can be called and if she were older, she could go to jail.  Bless her sweet little heart, she hears the word jail, and she pipes off, "I can go be with Daddy and go to work with him!  He work at jail!!!".  Not quite the answer I wanted.  Anyway, I calmly told her, no, she wouldn't be going with Daddy and that Daddy probably wouldn't be there.  There were other things in the conversation about choosing right from wrong and stealing.  Not sure if she got it, and I'm pretty sure I will be having more of these conversations.

Yesterday afternoon we were at my Mom's.  She has this booklet that goes to an old game that she threw away or gave to the D.I.  Hunter ALWAYS plays with this book when he is at her house.  He even has it marked with his name.  He calls it his checkbook...it kind of looks like a checkbook.  When we were getting ready to go, he asks my Mom if he can take it home.  My Mom told/asked him, "If you take it home, what are you going to play with here?".  He goes on playing with it.  A few minutes later, he is playing with the diaper bag.  He zips it up and brings it to me and tells me it's all ready to go.  Not thinking anything of it, I ask him to go sit the diaper bag back down and I will get it when I am ready to go.  Later, when we get home, I'm unpacking the diaper bag, putting Cooper's milk back in the fridge, I notice the book!  It's tucked nice tight underneath the clothes in the diaper bag.  I pull it out and ask him what it was?  He says, "Grandma said I could take it home.".  "No! Grandma didn't say you could bring it home, Hunter.  Grandma asked you if you brought it home, what would you play with at her house.  That doesn't mean you can take it home.  That is stealing, Hunter.  You took that book out of Grandma's house without her knowing.  You cannot do that.  You just did the same thing that Paizlei did this morning at the market.  Do we do that?".  I made him call my Mom and tell her that he brought the book home and that he will bring it back up to her house next time we go to Ephraim.  I made him promise her he would not take something from her house again without her knowing first.  I'm pretty sure he understood more of what I was saying, than what Paizlei was understanding.  This morning when he woke up, he says to me, "I not steal today, Mommy!  I will ask before I take it!".

Frustrating happenings of the day!  I didn't think after having the conversation with Paizlei earlier in the morning, I would have to have the exact same conversation with Hunter a few hours later.  Being a parent, is one of the hardest jobs EVER!  I just hope that in the end, when my kids are grown up, they will choose the right and these little lessons we are having right now, will pay off.  I want for nothing more than my kids to be well-behaved, well-manner, trusted, honest, likable kids and adults.

Found on Pinterest

Pinterest is one of my most favorite places to look for new, fun ideas on things to do with my kids, for my kids, crafty things, ideas for scrapbooking and photography, among MANY other things you can find on this website.

Around Christmas time, I found this super cute idea to make Christmas trees out of my kids hand prints for my kids Grandparents (and one for our house, of course!).  I had to improvise a little because I didn't have all the supplies and couldn't find all the supplies down here in the sticks.  They were so fun and the kids LOVED every minute of making them.

 I used foam board and acrylic paints.  The paint is really easy to wash off kids, tables, tile and whatever else you get it on.

 I think they had more fun painting their tummy's and putting their own hand prints on their tummy's!  They were both so dang adorable and cute about it.

Yes, she even tried to eat the paint.  The one place you can't see the paint, is in her hair.  She was having so much fun with it.

Just before we took one to Grandma & Grandpa Black.  I just got them out of the tub, so they both had wet hair, hence the hats.  

Hunter Turns 5

I am still in complete shock that my baby boy is 5!  5!!!  I am still trying to wrap my finger around it and wonder where the last 5 years went.  He is at such a fun age right now, constantly asking, "What's this?" or "What's that?" or "Where does ___ come from?" or "How does ___ work?".  It's a whole new world to me being able to explain things to him.  It's so awesome because he soaks it all up.  We can be driving down the road and he sees something he remembers asking me about, and he will tell me about it.  He is such a smart little boy!

Hunter's actual birthday was on the Wednesday, January 4, however, we celebrated his BIG day today (01/07/12).  He has been looking so forward to this day all week.  As I was decorating his cupcakes, I asked him what color's he wanted the frosting to include him in the preparations.  His face lit up when I asked him.  His smile was priceless.  I asked him who he wanted to invite, so he invited his friends Paislee, Riker and Hunter.  His Grandma & Grandpa Young, Grandma & Grandpa Black, Grandma & Grandpa Vincent and great-Grandma & Grandpa Despain, as well as his aunts, uncles and cousins.  Hunter had such a FUN birthday party and had all of his Grandma's and Grandpa's and his friends Paislee and Riker.

Here are a few photos from Hunter's BIG day.

 Hunter's blue and green cupcakes.

 When we were at WalMart buying the stuff for his party, I asked him what candles he wanted.  These tall, skinny, colorful candles are what he picked out.  He said, "Them are cool, Mom!".  A Mom can't argue with that.

 As soon as we started singing "Happy Birthday" to Hunter, he curled up on the floor and wouldn't look at anyone.  I kept looking at him (in between taking pictures) and he had a BIG smile on his face.  It was so cute...and so funny!

 How's that for a great shot?  Captured that one perfectly!

 I think he was a tiny bit happy with this present!  Hunter has been eyeing this toy EVERY TIME we go to WalMart.

 Opening his BIG present from Mom, Dad and Paizlei.  He was actually with us when we bought this...it's a BIG racetrack for Cars 2.  It retails at $40...we got it right after Christmas for $10!!!  I couldn't believe the awesome price!  He LOVES it though!

 I had to share this cute picture of Paizlei.  Not sure if she feel asleep because it was nap time, or if it was because Grandma Black was rubbing her chubby little feet.  Usually when she gets her feet rubbed, she will fall asleep in no time.

Happy Birthday, my Hunter!!!1  I hope you had a SUPER FUN day!!!  Mommy, Daddy and Paizlei LOVE you!!!

Grandma's Piano

This last Saturday, me and the kids spent a few hours with my Mom and Dad.  My Mom's piano is ALWAYS a HUGE hit with all the grandkids.  One day, we will have a piano...I LOVE to play!...our sweet friends, the Kemp's from St. George, gave us a keyboard shortly before we moved back to Gunnison.  I haven't had it set up since I had Paizlei, I think it's time to set it up again...now that I have the room for it.

Aren't they so cute?  This is the ONLY picture Hunter would let me take of him.  He has learned that Mom is a pathological picture taker.

She was so into playing the piano.  She would hold her hands above the keys and rock back and forth between her pinky finger and her thumb...like she knew EXACTLY what she was doing.

Her personality is shining right through her face in the picture!  She is so funny, happy, giggly, always smiling...just like in this picture.