I'm not cut out for this...

I've spent this last week in Virginia. I had a wonderful time, but it was not for vacation or sport. My sister-in-law flew to Utah for a women's conference and so my brother needed someone to tend. My mom decided to come out (which I'm very grateful for because a child would have died if I'd have been by myself.) and we just had so much fun. Here are some pictures along with the day-by-day ups and downs of being a mother of 4:

Dad dropped us off at the airport around 8. We were trying to fly cheap and so we went on

Southwest. I've only flown Southwest one other time and, well, it wasn't the best experience. So we called ahead and made sure that they knew we couldn't have any peanuts and when we went to check in at the desk.... They were SO nice. They made sure no peanuts would be served and gave me a paper to give to the flight attendents. They also let be preboard because I have a "handicap." Maybe I should check and see if I can get a parking sticker for that too. When we arrived the girlies were so cute. They all ran up to see mom and I. Dallin was a different story though.... he wasn't quite sure what to think of us. He's now 16 months and when we saw him last he was only like 9 months old.This little one just cracked mom and I up ALL week. She is such a ham and you'll soon see many of the funny things she does.

Day 1.....

Motherhood has no "snooze" button. I was up early to take the girls to school, do hair, pack bags, feed them breakfast. And that was only in the first hour.
Here are Emmy and J.J. They get along really well. They both have imaginations that go WILD. Dallin had a bit of a hard time not having his mom or dad there. He calls both of the "ma ma." The only way to please him was if mom sang "Little Bunny Foo Foo." Here is the best picture I have of it...

He eventually warmed up to us. He really is an easy child, once he gets used to you being around. We had some errands to run and Dallin did NOT want to leave the mechanical toys.
Once the girls got home from school, we decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny day and we blew up some pools and swam in the backyard. They all really enjoyed it.....

Except for Dallin that is.... I think he didn't quite understand what was happening and the water was a little cold.

We played outside for a while. Mom eventually went in to make dinner, but it took a lot to drag the older girls out of the pools. We had a good laugh over Emily. We couldn't find any swim diapers for her and so this is what happened.


I love these girls!!!! SO MUCH!!! They are such cuddlers and it just warms my heart to be with them. Cheesey.... i know!This little man started to warm up every day we were there. Of course, it helps when you shove food in his face.... that ALWAYS made him happy :)

Day 2:

Everything went really smoothly. The day was kinda rainy and after a very active day on Tuesday, we were very happy to welcome a relaxing day. We took naps, played games and then EVERYBODY helped make dinner.... everyone except mom. She was the one cracking the whip.

I absolutely adore this. He had the cutest little laugh ... but also screams like a little girl. You can't not smile.

This kid is ALL BOY!! He loves all his bats and balls.... in fact I think his first word was "ball," a fact that his father is rather proud of I think. All we need to teach him now is what things you can dunk.... obviously baby-dunking is not very widely cherished.

Day 3:

Dallin, AKA Tank, loves Becky. His "sissy" is also very good with him. It was fun to see them interact.... I can't believe how fast Becky is growing up. She's going to be 10 this year. That is so weird to me.Emily and I had a lot of fun together. She is so funny. This was right before we took her to dance class.While Emily was at preschool/dance class, Mom and Tank and I went over to Old Town Mannassas. It was such a quiant little town. We walked into this old book store that I just fell in love with. The rows were all like this picture below and it was just amazing. I bought two books. I wish they had more places like this in Utah.

Emily has a hard time saying some words. Right now they are working on the word "magic." She can say "ma" and then say "gic." But then when you ask her to put them together.... well... this is what you get.

Day 4:

We had a big day planned originally. We were going to go into D.C. but Joe got busy at work. Instead we ran some more errands........ we played around the house for a bit...
.... we ate at the best pizza place ever (Sorry B.O. It is REALLY good!!!) ...

... and then we went over to my cousin's and celebrated a birthday!!! By the end of Friday I was completely POOPED!

Day 5; Returning Home

The girls' school had a 5k run/walk Saturday morning. We decided to do it before the plane ride. It ended up only being like a 1/2 mile or so... it was pretty funny... but the girls were all excited and had a fun time.

Right after that we packed up and left. Mom was feeling really sick, but decided to be brave and faced the long ride and layover on the way home.

I love these kids so much. I was saying earlier that it was hard to leave them this time... mostly because I gained a deeper and hopefully a more meaningful relationship with them. They are such great little kids and while I know I'm not going to have kids for a bit, I'm excited to have some of my own. Hopefully they won't turn out too scarred with me as their mother :)

And on an ending note.... here is a little song from our dear Emily....