:: kennan and the gregory's ::

flashback friday.

2012-02-17T14:48:00.002-07:00

the williams kids first day of school 1988

love this.

flashback friday

2012-02-10T09:56:00.001-07:00

fun fact: my junior year in high school i had to shave my head.

{ my novas: taren, rebecca, nicole, lindsey, jana, and of course brooke }

it's not as liberating as you would think, especially for an emotionally unstable 17 year old. pretty sure, i started antidepressants about the same time... although they are not related, the shaved head probably didn't help.

lesson learned... do not bleach and bleach and bleach your hair then try to go back dark without a experienced hair dresser.

a birthday brought to you by the letter E

2012-02-08T22:14:00.003-07:00

every first birthday starts out with balloons at our house..

and its a good thing because no little one has ever loved balloons more. in fact, he is still rocking one around his wrist today... a week later.

lucky us... trevan was home for present opening!

{ side note: it had everything to do with us being up until 4am fixing our broken pantry door and not so much with it being ezra's birthday. getting trevan to take a day off is like pulling teeth... and i ask EVERYDAY! life would be so much better with him home.}

my little birthday man in his elmo jams

party time + decor

and for a non-crafter i think i did pretty good...

the E cake by yaya

my E cupcakes

i don't craft or bake... so not in with the mom's of 2012, get me out of here.

ezzie & nannie

gossip girls.

my fanatstic uncle lee, ezra's biggest fan.

a man cub and his dad.

present time... surrounded by cousins.

greta was okay for someone to have a birthday other than her, as long as she could open the presents.

she is so wonderful.

cake lover...

he sucked on it like it was my nip, and it was hilarious.

a good 1st birthday indeed.

p.s. thanks to my mom, yaya, and brooke for helping with the food. ya'll are real nice broads.

p.s.

2012-02-05T14:45:00.004-07:00

we bought a van.

and it looks a little something like this.

omg.

flashback friday

2012-02-03T10:33:00.002-07:00

i have 3 sisters...

Robyn, Brooke, and Paige

one year for fathers day my mom took us down to cory adams to have some pictures taken of his adoring daughters wearing what else than, white silk pajamas. don't you judge her... it was 1992.

{ high points : another headband experience brought to you by me and my giant forehead, brooke's bangs (mom, how did you do those?), robyn may or may not be warren jeff's newest bride, paige's overall adorableness, and of course... the white silk rose. TEARS. }

ezra is 1 today.

2012-02-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

my beautiful 1 year old son.

{saw it on pinterest... had to do it.}

h a p p y b i r t h d a y c u b b i e !

how can you be 1 already?
i love you, i love you, i love you.
you are so wonderfully perfect.
i can't wait to spend each new day with you
and i cherish every.single.one.
i could eat you, my incredible edible ez.

-mommie

{ brooke and her camera talents.... amaze. you should be jealous she's my sister, AND my best friend. }

kid fears.

2012-01-31T14:48:00.001-07:00

are you deathly afraid of anything?

well, my kids sure are...

for jude its GREEDO

and for gaga it's PINK FOOT.

deathly, afraid.

hilarious.

these are things i don't want to ever forget.

flashback friday

2012-01-27T00:24:00.002-07:00

i know i know,

flashback friday, so last season....

but when you have got gems like these:

you have got to share.

the DANCE ACADEMY 1991-92

{ fun fact.... upon seeing what i wore to picture day the instructor told me i couldn't wear my headband at performance's. sad... i'm pretty sure the sequined headband was my idea, not my mom's. i loved a little sparkle and my forehead needed all the disguise possible.}

you should be hanging on to your seats for this new weekly occurrence.

SO hide yo wife, hide yo kids... ain't nobody safe from my sacred boxes of pictures, pretty sure everyone that reads this blogs is in there, somewhere.

the incredible edible EZ

2012-01-26T16:54:00.002-07:00

apple of my eye.

my little shadow.

busy, busy, busy.

diva st. claire.

one years old next week.

sigh.

our new years.

2012-01-22T17:13:00.001-07:00

new years eve...

well, lets see here.

- WWIII with my mom, sisters and dustin (its all blown over now...p.s. it happens with 4 daughters)

- no invite for us to b&d's party... still offended

- nasty cold for me

- double' ear infections for ezra

- mcdonalds for dinner

- new years at 8:45 pm

- kids in bed by 9:00

- first viewing of crazy, stupid, love

- a real midnight kiss

yep, that about sums it up.

that being said, there is no one or place i would rather be than with my 3 adorable kiddies and 1 handsome husband. they are my people, and like mr. macguire said, they complete me.

freak, for me... mcdonald's is fine dining.

mmmmmcdonalds.

a diet coke and mcdouble... please.

upper: fake time

lower : real time

me fooling my kids? genius.

happy 2012!

christmas

2012-01-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

i can still post about christmas, right?

good, cause here i go.

the christmas traditions in our little family are set in stone and in full swing these days. i mean, its the same thing year after year but to deviate would we sinful... i never ever ever want it to change. our christmas eve and day traditions go a little something like this:

-chirstmas eve matinee (the muppet movie... ROLLED)

- dinner with gregory's (homemade salsa, lil smokies, cheeseballs, etc.)

- a "surprise" visit from santa

- a long drive home looking at christmas lights

- the opening of christmas jammies

- warm tubbies

- reading a christmas story

- children nestled in bed

- WAKE UP!

- present mania

- quick change into new christmas sweat suits/duds

- brunch at yaya's

- babies nodding off as we drive to nannie's

- present exchange williams style

- delicious prime rib & ham dinner

- lots of games and craziness

- baths with cousins

- jammie time!

- more craziness

- drive home

- put sleeping babies into beds

and finally

- mom and dad get some much needed shut eye.

things were a little different this year, with my grandma dying on christmas eve. i found out she passed as soon as the movie was over via text, i gasped and ran out of theatre and headed straight to her place to be with my mom. i cried a lot with my mom and sisters... and then i had to pull myself up by my bootstraps and head over to the gregory's to participate in christmas traditions, for my kids. unfortunately, christmas day was sort of pathetic too, the dark cloud of death just a day beind me. being with my sweet mom was heartbreaking, we all felt a little lost on christmas. my mom was as always, amazing, and still made a delicious feast for us and played happy but we could all feel the heartache behind the smile. it was all just a little weird. i guess all that was important is that we were together on christmas, the kids were happy, and i truly felt love for our savior jesus christ and his love for me on the day of his birth.

cubbie loves his yaya...

and his great grandma polly loves him.

couch dwellers waiting for santa.

how do you think jude felt about santa's arrival? he is never lacking in the excitement category.

dirty santa and creepy mrs. claus

years past 07, 08, 10

still smiling...

how is landy so old? promise he was 6 (ummm, jude is 6) when i met him!

ez hated santa...
and really i can't say i am any less freaked out by this version of santa than ezra is. right?

greta? yeah, she was ready for her turn.

my adorable family.

such a proud mama.

the christmas eve party crew 2011

freshly bathed and jammied up kids, edible.

jude and schmez's relationship perfectly captured.

cookies and milk for santa? not at our house... i'm pretty sure i heard reindeer like celery in addition to carrots (add an onion and you have a mirepoix. duh) , santa gets sick of the sweets and wants a savory snack, and we weren't sure if he was lactose intolerant so we opted for root beer (bottled, of course).

i somehow snuck of picture of the finished product AFTER santa had come and BEFORE the kids woke up.

sleepy anticipation

greta poopin' her pants over her #1 most requested gift ever, "dog that walks".

we have now entered the lego stage of our life...

and trevan has never been more excited.

cubbie and his iphone.

scoobs and her scoots.

my handsome boy.

busy boy ezra pulled the flat iron off the counter the day before while i was doing gaga's hair.... whoops.

this picture is why we do it folks,

the sheer joy of kids on christmas....

and that's all she wrote.

Florene "Billie" Genevieve Berset Ausman

2012-01-11T21:33:00.002-07:00

christmas eve my beautiful, strong, independent, wise granny billie passed away. we knew this was coming... she had been knocking on heavens door for a few weeks but no matter how prepared you are for someone to pass on, you aren't. it broke my heart. christmas is a bad time for someone to die, especially for the loved ones left behind but i guess granny wanted to be home for christmas, and i can't say i blame her. her welcome wagon to heaven was full of people who loved her. i faked my way through christmas and new years, putting on a happy smile for my kids but inside i was so numb.

i loved my grandma billie, i always felt like i was her granddaughter. i knew who i was, because i knew who she was. its funny because as a young child she scared me, but as an young woman and adult she inspired me. my granny did not have an easy life, EVER. she faced trials in childhood, in her teenage years, as a young adult, as a mother, and as a grandmother. her life story kind of breaks my heart. that being said, you would never ever know that her life had been hard if you had met her. she was always positive, always hard working, always calm and always happy. granny came from good "stock"... the woman she came from, the 5 sisters she grew with, the 3 daughters she bore, and it seems we granddaughters are lucky enough to come from that same stock. the berest woman sock are STRONG women and my grandma was no different, she was the center of it... and a word to wise, don't cross those women when it comes to their kids!

i'll miss so much about my granny billie. her sayings {oh ish, ooftah, oh lordy, for pitys sake, and how she said my name "kenner"}, her signature hand motions, those piercing blue eyes, her love for my jude {her favorite boy ever}, her love of sports, the calmness around her, her smell, her stories & the gossip, her sleeping in an armchair, and her beautiful hands. the spot in heart where she belongs is empty and it cannot be filled, she was a part of me. i miss her. i know because of my faith, that i will see her again and i know she is in a far better place and that she is happy. i can only imagine her reunion with her father who she lost at age 8 and with her best friend and sister katie who was shot and killed by her own husband in her 20's. knowing all of this, makes her loss a little easier but i am still so sad that she is gone.

i got to spend a lot of time with her while she was here in utah the past year and a half. i will cherish those times always. i only wish i had spent more time, no time with her was ever enough.... i just don't think i realized it then. i was also so lucky to be there after she passed and those memories too are so precious to me, words cannot express. i was lucky all around, to be hers.

rest in peace, my beautiful mother of my mother.

grannie with 2 of her 5 sisters.

a happy grandma billie and my grandpa don

a young mother

granny billie and her kids

always, always playing golf.

her one true passion!

basking in the sun with her cup hot decaf.

granny billie and her boyfriend jude (her words, not mine)

the last time the remaining berset sisters were together, happiness everywhere.

grandma and my beautiful mother, her care taker the past 18 months.

i will miss you and love you and remember you forever.

thank you for being ours.

read her obituary here

december.

2012-01-06T18:02:00.004-07:00

hi.

i am back.

did you know that its been a CRAZY past few weeks? well, it has.

my sweet grandma billie passed away on christmas eve. her death has really kind of thrown me off. i miss her... a lot. death and christmas don't mix.

i have a lot of updating to do, not that you care but i sure do. this little blog is my place to remember it all.

so here we are the week before christmas... busy, busy, busy.

kids in dads pants... it happens.

:: the annual williams family christmas party ::

notice my dad. so perfect.

i look forward to this party every single year. growing up this party was always on christmas eve where we would progress from one of my dad's siblings house to another. i remember starting on captiol hill at my uncle jeff's house and then ending up at my grandma and grandpa's clear down in provo, always with a nativity scene played out by us kids. i remember the long drives between houses and listening to ray coniff and john denver and looking for santa's sleigh in the sky. my dad would always tell us we had to hurry home and into bed so santa could come. as the years went on our numbers got to big to "progress", families decided to have christmas eve to themselves but the tradition has kept up and although the party has changed the spirit of it has not. my kids, like me as a child, look forward to this party every year.

greta's christmas dress 2011.... jcpenney.

who knew, right?!?!

the QUEEN's story teller

an enthralled mins and goob.

jude looked cute in his christmas dud's too...

brooke asked me why he was was dressed like al borland.

skank.

the queen's story teller and his adoring fans

alyssa, landon, greta, bella, minie, gabi, and judakins

cashee!!!
my cousin mark's little boy.

ezzie was lucky enough to be the star of the show.

he was a busy baby jesus.

greta and jude were wisemen this year. greta was pissed about her casting. after seeing countless DVR'ed performances of the nutcracker she wanted to be a nutcracker (no, not clara). so we obliged and let her be a nutcracker wiseman. 3 weeks later, she talks about being a nutcracker in the nativity.

babies.

me and my baby.

:: temple square ::

the good news is that we choose the ONLY snowy night in december to go to temple square. fyi, our weather has been bonkers and super lame this year. we went with the g's and this year we had all of trevan's siblings in attendance, it was a first and it was fun. i married into z best family, ever... EVER.

my poor kids... no love for them. OH and also, all of these boys are single (minus TedANTH... far rightt).

newly engaged love birds.... the cutest.

these SINGLE men are really good with kids and are real sharp dressers.

*cam's christmas miracle aka his mustache has since been shaved.

did you know i love my baby? he is the cat's pajamas.

yaya and papa

trevan and i knew our calculus...

u + me = us.

jude has slowly left my wing and has crept on over to trevan's side. it breaks my heart, but only a little bit. they are best friends.

stragely engouh, kid cudi was there too.... i mean landon.

trevan consoling a heartbroken greta. how could yaya leave her? don't worry little grets, we met up with them for hot chocolate at mcd's and you felt much better.

:: williams sibling party ::

now, this party always consists of a little progressing from house to house. we had it all set up to have a mexican fiesta at my house, then nannies, and end up at brad's house but then we made an executive decision to bag it. given my grandma billie's fragile state and my mom's stress level of handling it all, we thought she should be with her and we kids could figure something else out. PLUS, my dad was out of town and brooke and dustin were in a the middle of a move. it was a good decision, seeing as my grandma passed away 2 days later. yikes.

we had dinner at la costa in american fork (not half bad) and then had dessert and present exchange at brad's house. oh, and BTW i think the waiter at la costa wanted to kill himself when he got our table with 7 kids under 6 and 6 adults. freak, i wanted to kill myself.

jude and his harem of women, minus 2 ladies.

shit, he's cute.

PRESENT EXCHANGES!!!!!!

get.in.my.belly.

our gracious hosts, brad and vanessa.

i know, i know, she's really ugly, get her off of the blog.

b & d burgers.

cutest couple alert.

run run reindeer

2011-12-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

we had our first elementary program...

sob.

but maybe, i am sobbing because it was so cute!

i was skeptical.com about sending jude to our neighborhood elementary. i mean we don't live in the "best" neighborhood, the school is really old and outdated, the playground was 100% asphalt (its since been remodeled) , i had heard nightmares about the kindergarten program, and freak, it's a public school and in these days of charter schools and yuppie private schools, i was a little nervous.

turns out, i was wrong... on all fronts. its a GREAT school and jude loves it. i love that its old, it has so much character. his teacher this year, mrs. cornia, is the best and has been a teacher for over 20 years. she runs their class like a well oiled machine, and the kids are all thriving. i volunteer there on thursday's, and its such a good time, the kids are all so sweet and they are all my little friends. i love the public school elementary we have...

and i especially love the chirstmas sing-a-long they put on.

jude!

mrs. cornia & her kindergarten class

everyone got to decorate their own antlers and there were some very impressive designs. however, jude malcolm is a purest and knows that reindeer are brown and are so amazing they need no additional decor.

he's so damn cute.

oh and ez? well, he's mine.

some side notes: trevan took the day off for this momentous occasion, yaya joined us at the sing-a-long too, and greta is still pissed they didn't ask her to sing-a-long, it's her school too!

mr. & mrs.

2011-12-17T12:17:00.003-07:00

trevan's baby sister morgan is engaged!

i could not be happier for this angel girl, she's really is the sweetest girl ever and ted is the LUCKIEST to get her. duh, we love ted too and are so ecastic that he is joining our family (even if it feels like he has always been apart of it...)! if anyone knew how great the gregory family was to be married in to, there would be a waiting line across state lines to get in.

relaying their sweetest engagement story to us all. even i got a bit teary eyed, we have been waiting for this day for almost 2 years!

i'm pretty sure landon is equally excited as morgan for their engagement.

landon is in love with ted.

congratulations morgan and ted-anthony!

i CANNOT wait!

happy beginnings and joyful endings.

2011-12-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

while most people are busy christmasing this time of year, we have been busy with life changes here on carnation drive.

FIRST OFF...

the beginning of the tooth fairy business

jude lost his first tooth!

yes, that tooth... the same one he popped through 6 years ago. SOB

( was he the cutest? yes. )

the little nubbin of a tooth had been loose for a few months and on sunday he told us it was ready to come out. i felt it, and it didn't seem like it was ready to me but we tugged and pulled anyway. jude was surprisingly tough about trying to pull it out but i was right, it was not ready. in true jude form he was bound and determined to get that tooth out, he told me he saw on arthur that if he ate an apple it would come out and 5 minutes later...

...his tooth was in his hand.

* his creeper nails were promptly cut upon further viewing of this picture.

and now we get to spend the next 10 (at least) years or so watching our kids teeth fall out only to be replaced by giant, and in all likelihood crooked, man teeth. i am not so sure i am as excited about it as jude, but its hard to get as excited about anything with the same fervor that jude does.

SECONDLY...

after 3 1/2 years, our miracle girl graduated from physical therapy.

you know the one they say said my never walk?

the one they told me would die an very painful and early death...

the same girl that didn't crawl until 15 months or walk until 27 months...

the angel baby that melted in my arms because she had no muscle strength...

the baby who had to be taught how to eat...

the girl who couldn't hold her own head up until she was 5 months old...

the one who shook all the time...

the princess that has stolen everyone's heart...

yes, her.... this miracle girl.

she jumps, she dances and dances and dances, she scuttles, she runs, she climbs... she does it all.

i know that greta would not be as far along as she is right now if it wasn't for her physical therapists hard work and knowledge the passed on to me. it was work on all of our parts... but mostly on sweet greta. she did this, with the help of her wonderful p.t's.

you've come a long way baby.

2 therapists down and 1 to go.

i told you, life changing news... for us.

skanksgiving.

2011-11-30T16:07:00.001-07:00

trevan and i are on the every other year family thanksgiving plan and this year, our thanksgiving was spent at nannie's. usually, thanksgiving at my mom's is spent with a lot of our extended family... like 40 people, a lot. this year we changed it up a bit and just did our immediate family and as it turns out, that number topped out at 25 (plus 2 babies in bellies). nannie's house was full and the food was delectable.

i love thanksgiving.

i have so much to be grateful for.

nannie knows how to do kids and the kids table was full of crafts to do and food to eat.

holiday boy and his pilgrim collar.

he is insane and all mine.

the babes of thanksgiving and an insanely cute baby.

the responsible party

my first kids... abeybaby and tuck

and no thanksgiving is complete without some family photos....

our jackson's

our lamoreaux's

and us.

celebrating 6

2011-11-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

sometimes you have a child that turns 6....

its monumental, just like every age.

so you celebrate BIG.

we started the day off with balloons, singing, presents, and of course...

mcdonalds for breakfast with the jackson's and yaya.

answer to an earlier post : decided to do it, and it's been 3 weeks and we have no regrets.(a big thank you to all the responses, i really really really thought long and hard about this.) we set up rules and limits and threats and so far we have not had to implement any of them, jude gets bored of it before too long and is playing something else. also, i myself have already mastered super mario bros and trevan has spent some QT with lego star wars. lol... we may need the monitoring.

little cubbie ADORES jude, especially on his birthday.

jude's leapster for 2 christmas's ago is officially greta's now and to ward off any birthday fighting we got her her very own game and she LOVES. she on the other hand has had her leapster taken away 2x already. who woulda thunk? oh yeah, i remember now.

p.s. her morning hair is amazing grace.

this year we broke tradition of a mcdonalds birthday party with friends and hosted a pirate themed party at my house. it was a lot of work... but thanks to yaya it all came together.

i had 15 kids at my house, 15 kids under 6.

yowza.

i've learned with the 6 and under crowd that activities keep the craziness at bay so we had lots of activities in our short 90 minutes together.

when our guest first arrived they decorated their "booty" bags because at every activity they received a treasure.

cutest little wench anyone's ever seen.

and yes, those pirate costumes came in real handy this year... reduce, reuse, recycle.

we played pin the sword on the pirate, followed by musical island hop (not pictured).

boys vs. girls in my toy world.

the party goers:

cohen, kayson, tage, max, JUDE, roen, milo (william where are you?)

lucy, poppy, gabi, greta, minie, grace, bella

walking the plank over shark infested waters

max & jude

(can i tell you how much i love that jude finally has school friends?!?!?)

pirate earring toss.

pirate conecakes

pirate reading of 'the jolly pirate, roger'

and did you notice yaya in full pirate garb? she is the best and totally in her element. she is an elementary school librarian after all.

we are a family of routine, and the only place we know to have a fantastic birthday party dinner is rock creek pizza (it was jude's request). have you been yet? get.in.my.belly.

dem guys.

a really awful picture of the grandparents, but they were there and they are loved.

p.s. dad, get a new look. xo

pirate presents!!!

EZ!

(note the pirate shirt... again, as per jude's request)

my kids are the luckiest to have my mom and trevan's mom as their grandma's.

told you so.

my boy and me,

6 years together and forever to go.

give thanks.

2011-11-24T12:28:00.001-07:00

"so each one gave thanks

for love and for living

and they all had a happy thanksgiving."

{ my kids watching the macy's thanksgiving day parade 2011 }

halloweeing & halloween

2011-11-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

halloween is the #1 family favorite holiday here at the gregroyresidence, we live and breathe it. so even though it has come and gone we still have to adequately document this year's halloween season because was nothing short of perfect.

thanks to my little mom, we have found the absolute perfectly perfect place to get pumpkins and it's just down the road from us in draper. don't even get me started on the adorable 85 year old man working the pumpkin patch who was all snuggled up in his coat and happy to help, or the prices that were beyond affordable (5 big pumpkins for $11), or the BOUNTIFUL selection, or the over all quaintness of it. it was perfect, and we will be going back there every year.

she's a dance dance dance dancin' machine.

jude is halloween.

daddie and his cubbie

(fyi... cubbie is all trevan calls ez)

brotha's..... best picture ever.

denim jacket cuties.

done.

yaya and papa joined us and as you can tell, my kids are elated. we have the best family, really it's been scientifically proven.

onto the rest of halloween....

we had the funnest murder mystery party hosted by brooke and dustin, we felt pretty special getting an invite into their elite townhome friend community. really, it was SO fun. visit here for a taste.

this year marked my first time as a halloween party room mom. i had to bring schmez, and luckily greta was at school at the same time so we all partied together. oh and kindergartner's? adorable.

lol.

gaga in the preschool parade.

ahoy ezzie!

the kindergarten parade.

this is the best picture i could get but i'm super glad he's reverent while parading.

the third annual jackson/gregory halloween adventure was upon us as soon as school was over... it seemed. nannie and grandpa mike joined us for our festivities. the kids trick or treated the streets of white city in all of their pirate glory for an hour and then we came home to salad, pizza, pumpkin bars and LOADS of our childrens loot.

i like this tradition.

since jude is mr. halloween we let him decide the fate of the kids costumes this year. he was big into themes this year (ie. harry, ron, and hermione - mario, baby mario, and princes peach - luke, yoda, and leia) but when after weeks of indecision minie and poptart set their mind to pirates and jude seemed to feel like that would be okay with him too and pirates it was.

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to nannie who whipped up this costumes in her spare time (which is non existent between taking her of her mom, working full time, and making costumes for all my other sisters). she is MAMAzing.

a wench and her pirates.

since i was a room mom, jude bossed me into dressing up too.

damn he's cute.

daddies who trick or treat.

the pirate crew.

my birthday, halloween, my anti-depressants getting lost in the mail, jude's birthday, and our relief society super saturday that i was in charge of all in one week... it was WAY more than i could handle.

now i can breathe in the freezing cold air.

six

2011-11-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

my jude.

my first born.

our little experiment.

he is 6 today.

and i can honestly say, he just keeps getting better and better.

happy birthday

my ever so handsome, beautiful boy.

twenty-nine.

2011-11-03T16:53:00.002-06:00

i did it!

on october 28th, i made it to 29, the age women claim to be for the rest of their lives.

we celebrated with our family's the night before and stuffed our faces with endless rolls from texas road house... umm, their rolls? manna from above. trevan took my actual birthday off and brought me donuts and flowers to start the day off. i spent the rest of the morning at instacare with greta who as it turned out had strep throat, saddest little girl ever. after we picked up her prescription we met da gregs for lunch at zuppas. we hung around home the rest of the day and then had a quick jaunt to the mall to pick me up my new shmoots that trevan gave me for my birthday. i opted for in-n-out for dinner because nothing ever tastes better. it was a good day.

surely, this year will be my best yet.

i just realized my whole birthday revolved around eating... i may be a stunning 400 lb women by the time i hit 30 if i keep this ( and eating every left over halloween miniature snickers in sight) up. yikes.

help... he wants a nintendo DS

2011-10-27T00:29:00.000-06:00

jude is turning 6 next week... i know, i know unbelievable that he is 6, but that's not the reason for this post. the reason is, all first born wants for his birthday is a Nintendo DSi. jude's mind is made up, and that is what he wants. DONE and DONE. i am sick over it. i mean, duh, of course i bought him a special edition pokemon DSi 3 weeks ago when it was on sale at targ but now i am second guessing ~~our~~ my decisions. everyday i see it glaring down on me from the shelf it is hidden on (BTW it is so visible. i love that jude is so innocent still) taunting me. you see, i do not know what to do with that little box. i'm afraid of how that little box will change our lives forever. i am not ready to fight about time limits and video game ratings. most importantly, i don't want my imaginative jude to turn into a video game zombie.

jude has the best imagination i have ever seen. he loves to play make believe and he plays with his toys, different toys, all his toy, everyday. jude always has some world set up that he is playing in, he even invites greta and ez into his world. even when he is watching the tv or a movie, or playing on kidzui he is still playing side by side. he loves to color and draw, build forts, and he will make up games to play all day long. jude brings his toys or as trevan so gently puts it "crap" where ever we go. he always has a supply of "crap" on hand... really, you should see our car. we are always adding things to his collections. for instance, if we don't have a certain "guy" jude draws them, cuts them out, and then adds them to the collection and then into the rotation of things to be played with. we have to be real careful in these parts as to what we can throw away because everything has a place in jude's world.

jude is incredible
but
jude is also obsessive.

once jude is into something, jude is INTO something. the determination that kid has drives me insane, literally. i have gotten better about standing my ground, but he still knows how to get his way with me and trev. when jude gets into something, it takes over his life. he eats, sleeps, and breathes whatever the obsession is. do you see my dilemma... obsessive/strong willed kid & a hand held video game system? it sounds treacherous.

i know from personal experience that video games are addicting and fun. freak, don't get me started on my years of mastering sonic, beating every super mario level, hours wasted beating aladdin on the sega, dominating mario kart as my alter ego wario, killing it on the original tony hawk, and of course my high school days of playing SIMS with my siblings.

so you see, i am not a video game hater, i love a little video gaming. it's just a lot different now, and i am not sure how i feel about my 6 year old becoming a gamer.

what am i to do?
i am asking you.

is 6 too young for a nintendo DS?
am i doing him a disservice by letting him have one?
am i doing a disservice by NOT letting him have one?
how do set boundaries, without fights?
how do i tell him he can't get the only thing he wants for his birthday?
will i lose my jude forever?
am i worrying too much?
but all his friend/cousins already have them...
am i fighting the inevitable?
who? what? when? where? how?

i am confused and scared.

please, i am BEGGING you, what am i to do?
i have until next friday at 12am....

please!

for the record... trevan is already 100% anti-video games but he's a boring dad. what does he know?

fall soccer with jude.

2011-10-26T23:35:00.001-06:00

have i told you that i love that jude likes playing sports?

this year jude played t-ball in the spring and soccer in the fall and each were enjoyed thoroughly.

my 3 kids.

a boy after my own heart... a keeper!

baby.

best part about living near family? support systems at games. jude had a whole crowd cheering him on at every game.

one time we even got support of down south (ie. st. george)

ezzie & sully

(8 months apart)

go green dragons!!!!

i love my soccer jude.

p.s. next year, i will coach and you better watch out.

2-day-get-away

2011-10-19T11:53:00.001-06:00

this year has been a doozy for us financially... i'm not quite sure how having our 3rd child threw us into a downward spiral but it did. literally, we are strapped for cash. i am working again sigh 3-4 days a week and trevan is doing everything in his power to make things better for us at his job. it's been pretty rough round these parts. things could be SO much worse and we are not poor, we are just struggling a bit. blah blah blah, you don't want to hear it, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT but it's our life in 2011 and i want to remember it. all of that complaining being said, 2011 has been a perfect year for our little family. we are officially a family now it seems, we go to school, we go to games, we have schedules, we have bedtimes, and we enjoy it all. the best part is, besides some added money arguments between me and trevan, the kids don't know our struggles, they are happy and most importantly healthy. the love that we all have for each other, for our family/from our family, and our beliefs have made this year possible. FAITH. i don't ever want to be in this tough money spot again, but if i had to do it all over, i would because the family aspect of 2011 has been perfection.

being in a "tight" spot is hard. we are use to doing certain things, like vacations yearly. they are never huge vacations but they are getaways and they are NEEDED. as the year is coming to an end i realized that what we needed was a a getaway. thankfully, a really bad experience on our anniversary back in august at our hotel in park city turned itself into a good experience when they comped us another weekend of our choice back at the hotel. i choose the first weekend in october and it was delightful. we brought our kids this time, and i fell in love with them, utah, fall, and my life all over again.

oh and how do you vacation on a budget? well, let me tell you how we did it.... free hotel room, dinner at burger king, breakfast from home in the hotel room, lunch at taco maker, and a splurge dinner at bandits. the kids swam 4 times in 36 hours, there was no outlet shopping (ouch), and we couponed the alpine slide. boo yeah, kennan's on a budget! lol.

the babies.

the jude on the alpine slide.

the scenery.

greta's turn!

waiting for mommie and sis.

there we are!

happy family.

we followed up our lovely weekend by having sunday dinner back at my mom's. we drove through our future home town (midway, ut.. call me) and then over into cascade springs, up the alpine loop, drove down my favorite place (american fork canyon) and then back through my old familiar roads of highland, ut. i love going home.

favorite people.. EVER.

daddie, schmez, and the baby bjorn on a sunday walk.

this is the house that built me.

and now you know.

to the fair.

2011-10-10T12:50:00.002-06:00

we went to the state fair

and in all fairness,

its about time i post about the fair (1 month later).

i took SO many pictures so instead of lots of cute commentary, epic stories, and step by step details of our night, i will let the pictures speak for themselves... sort of.

ANTM cycle 37

my kids loved the pony rides...

minie? not so much.

daddies & daughters v1

daddies & daughters v2

i felt awkward having my doppelgänger there.

best besties ever.

dustin = the original bromance/trevan's missionary/our official third wheel for 3 years/great speller/ceo mba emtB/noBAMA/inappropriate/do-er/giver/perfect best friend/my sisters husband/good times

told you.

git er' dun.

next time won't you join us?

at least, for lil' linda's sake?

thanks.

september.

2011-10-03T23:00:00.000-06:00

*i'm behind a bit on blogging so today, we are starting here.

every september i am reminded of how much i really love truly this month....

the brisk mornings, the warm afternoon, and the cool evenings,

the newness of school,

the bright green grass and the changing of the leaves,

the new season of tv shows,

the smell of autumn in the air ,
the state fair (more on that later) ,

and it will ALWAYS remind me of the month 9 years ago that i met my trevan and the night our future began.

september, your heaven.

this september lent itself to lots of backyard playtime with my 3 kids.

judakins, almost 6 (inconceivable!) and still a little boy.

my shadow and best friend,

miss greta pamela.

our 7 month boy wonder

those darn little people and there adorable helping hands will NEVER go out of style at my house.

for the record... i love little people and aaron neville.

GET.IN.MY.BELLY

we still are virgins to video games in these parts so jude's imagination runs wild and he loves to play... but his birthday wishlist includes a nintendo DS so we are enjoying our last month of video game freedom. it's a necessary evil, right?

gretsie's little tongue is always out during times of concentration.

ezra... ugh.
i love him so so much.
and no, you cannot have him.

dear september,

call or text me. anytime, day or night.

xo,

someone like you.

2011-09-27T16:00:00.003-06:00

sometimes the girls rock out to adele in the back of brooke's swagger wagon.

today we got in on film.

tears.

p.s. minie is priceless.

dance magic dance.

2011-09-26T12:28:00.000-06:00

every parent of a daughter waits for this moment, the day their little girl becomes a tiny dancer.

and

we were no different.

greta started ballet the first week in september.

its a really low key ballet school that we put her in, but its so perfect. greta's physical therapists have highly recommended doing ballet with gaga because of the technique and because greta needs so much strengthening in her feet. i grew up watching my sisters do ballet, so it has a soft spot in my heart already. (just ask me to do any part from utah regional ballet's production of the nutcracker, you will be amazed... to say the least.) to say that greta loves ballet would be a understatement... she adores it. its all she wants to do, she sings about ballet in her bed, she tells anyone we see about it, and she
leaps and twirls all over the house.

older brother boredom.

it's hard for me to watch sometimes because with her low town/coordination she can't do all the things the other girls can... but she thinks she can and that is all that really matters. plus, with her extreme flexibility shes bound to find her niche. i've spoken to greta's teacher about her "condition" and she simply nodded, smiled, and treats greta the exact same as everyone else. it's perfect!

my own tiny dancer, and tiny she is.

xo, my angel girl.

a kindergartener & a preschooler

2011-09-07T17:21:00.003-06:00

the first day and week of school has come and gone.

and

it would seem i am officially a PTA mom.

my kids are growing right before my eyes. how did that happen? (i promise, i never even blinked!).

it seems the older 2 are kids now, and not babies anymore.

the thought makes me weepy but i sure like what they are growing into.

jude malcolm

5 years old

kindergarten

teacher : mrs. cornia

true to form... we were LATE the first day, and we weren't even on GST (gregory standard time 15 min late). somehow, i thought school started at 12:30 when really, it started at 12:15. woops! i pulled up all emotional about my baby starting public school and then realized my mistake. jude and i busted our little hineys in the school and barely got a goodbye kiss. it was so insignificant that i felt cheated a bit. however, i think it made it a little less traumatic for both of us.

greta goes to the same school jude does and has been anxiously awaiting going back to school, she LOVES it there. (isn't funny how siblings differ so much?) after we dropped off jude, she realized it was not her turn to go to school she broke out in tears, which quickly turned into a temper tantrum. she did NOT want to be at home with me and ez. obvisouly, she doesn't know how kewl we are. we are, by the way.

little man did it! he was so proud of himself, but anxious to get in the car to see ez-E.

our little station wagon, filled to the brim with our kids.

i think its time for an upgrade...

______

the next day came and FINALLY it was miss greta's turn. jude felt so proud that they were going to be at school at the same time, and in the same hallway!

greta pamela

3 years old

preschool

teacher : miss lindsay

loves this girl and the outfit SHE picked out.

she's a babe.

jude (day2) waiting his turn....

oh and its a damn good thing i had another baby... or i'd be lonely.

breakfast babies are cute.

OH and you make think to yourself "geez, what does she do with all her free time?" well, i will tell you.... drive to the school 4 times a day. that's right, 4 times.... take greta @ 11:30, drop off jude @ 12:15, pick up greta @ 1:45, and make one last drive thru the parking lot @ 2:50 to get jude. sound fun? tender mercies of having a preschooler and a kindergartner. i know, i know, all you seasoned mom's out there are rolling your eyes but its new to me, new and already getting old.

"i'm a team player... "

SL bees vs. IOWA cubs

2011-09-02T15:07:00.001-06:00

the cubs are trevan's favorite team... ever.

he's never seen them play IRL (sniff sniff sob sob). last week we did the next best thing, we watched their farm team play our bee's.

wish you were there?

well, now you can feel like you were....

key points:

my knothole club kids

cam's bunnions

grandpa mike left the house

dancing kids

best seats in the house

cam on the jumbotron

the bee's lost... but to the cubs

ezzie

the cam&greta love affair
my ever present, cannot be hidden in a turtle neck, nursing boobs

....

oh and it was my parents 38th anniversary!

and now you know.

celebrating my man.

2011-08-30T22:22:00.008-06:00

a few fun facts:

trevan is officially 30.

trevan loves baseball.

i love to celebrate.

we have the best family (and friends) in the world.

terni made the cutest baseball bat cookies (*trevan loves chocolate chip cookies, not cake) and accompanying baseball cupcakes. she is the cutest.

some of the guests

*did you know dustin bought trevan a kindle, a lighted cover, and $25 amazon gift card for his birthday? he is the best friend and brother in-law in the history of everdom. too much... and so dustin.

the man of the hour, my man friday, mr. right... senor.

and his adoring blurry son.

nannie's typical arrival celebration.

more party guests.

---

after we ate enormous amounts of delicious food, a very serious baseball game was played....

all were invited to play ball but somehow it was just the young buck men, some kids, my dad, and me. i think everyone was impressed by my skillz and...

trevan's pitching.

gaga-licious.
*note her drawn on necklace and bracelet. jude drew them on all the girls so he knew he was in his baseball club.

sexy cam.

get.in.my.belly.

see that guy lounging on the grass? well, that's rog and he is the best, really, the best man i have ever met. i am so lucky to know him, and my kids are even luckier to call him grandpa.

and

here he is playing baseball with all the littles... for an hour.

happy birthday trevan.

you are ALWAYS worth celebrating.

xo.

campers.

2011-08-28T22:15:00.006-06:00

we did it... we FINALLY bit the bullet.

after 5 years of wanting to do so, we bought our own camping stuff.

what better excuse to do so, than for trevan's 30th birthday.

a few weeks ago, we loaded up the family wagon and headed east to our beloved canyons... turns out everyone else in the tri-state area (p&f reference) were thinking the exact same thing, it was pa-za-acked. we drove and drove and drove, every campground was booked and all the "dispersed camping" spots were taken but we would not be deterred. finally, i spotted a little spot by the side of the dirt road we were on that was vacant. it looked like it would do, so we broke camp then and there. the kids were beyond stoked.

jude could not contain his excitment, but managed to do so for just for one picture.

dual survivors.

remember what i said about that spot by the side of the dirt road? weeeell, that dirt road turned out to be the interstate for all things cars, trucks, ATV's, and dirtbikes. after about 10 minutes we relized... we was in dust heaven!

at this point i was done, done with dirt, done with yelling at my kids to stay out of the road, done with dusty food, done with sneezing, DONE... but i put on my smiley face and i's made us some supper. i am a happy camper!

instead of having my kids play outside and enjoy the outdoor as they should while camping, i put them in the tent and zipped them in for safe keeping (i.e. road kill) . i could almost hear their laughter over the sound of revving engines.

my cute parents came to visit us for dinner. they turned around 2x because they did not think we would:

a. go up that far
b. camp in that location/environment

they were wrong, and luckily they found us. although, my dad is still teasing us about our dust bowl location.

it's true.
she is the best.

nannie and grandpa left us (after us reasssuring them that we would be okay without any more firewood) for the night and the headlamps came on.

my kids are the cutest.

goodnight snuggles and goodnight moon.

the kids were perfect and we slept famously. we bought this king size sleeping bag for trev and i and it is the cats pajamas. ezzie stayed warm and toasty right next to me, and there were was even room for greta when she woke up in the middle of the night scared, cold, and needing to pee. jude did not move a single muscle all night long and woke up happy to be alive. i love sleeping outside, really i do. our dust spot was right next to a river and once the ATVers hit the hay we could actually hear it and finally our spot didn't seem so bad. who doesn't love the sound of a rushing waters while sleeping?

taking down camp is always the worst part and neither of the kids felt up to helping, much less cooperating so trevan put their cute little butts in the car and there they sat rocking out to bieber, glee, and katy perry for the duration of the trip. WHAT? i didn't say they were happy about it!

all and all i would say it was a success and we CANNOT wait to go again. this time we will do it right (more wood, less food, bring fold up table, extra socks, hat for greta, change of clothes for ez, etc.) but what can we expect for our first time? trevan was great and totally in his element. he was so mindful of my fun level and made sure i was always comfortable and happy. he's cute like that. trevan was so happy to finally be doing this, even if it was a lot of work and he didn't get to fly-fish or hike... we were all pooped by mid-morning.

p.s. and i think we finally realized we are a full blown family... when did that happen?

6 month review.

2011-08-15T10:15:00.002-06:00

somehow, i think maybe while i was sleeping, ezra turned 6 months old.

why does this keep happening to us?

:: at 6 months ::

15.7 pounds

27 inches

the smiliest, supported sitting, nearly crawling, always standing, mama loving, most adorable baby boy, ever.

he's a keeper.

* images courtesy of the ever amazing, brooke

7 years

2011-08-12T14:18:00.001-06:00

imagine me and you, i do.

i think about you day and night...

it's only right.

so happy together.

happy anniversary senor.

*wedding hat

30 years of Trevan

2011-08-11T08:49:00.020-06:00

happy 30th birthday to the man of my dreams...

{ who wouldn't want to procreate with that face? amazing. }

i love you trevan.

thanks for making EVERYTHING in my life possible.

dirty 30.

xo.

-me

p.s. are you mccited for this weekend, alone with me? hubba hubba.

E.A.T.

2011-08-02T10:40:00.000-06:00

people have been telling me.... FEED THAT BABY FOOD!

is it horrible that i never ever want him to grow up? that i want to nurse him forever? that i want him to need just me forever?

i didn't think so either.

with my other kids it was like "4 months?!?!? let's eat solids!" and with ez it's more like "can't we wait until 8 months? no? okay, well, than at least 6 months?". so, after weeks of prodding from my mom and sisters {basties... sneaking him suckers and such} i finally fed my boy solids. what really put a nail in the coffin was when while we were eating dinner one night he was fussing, so i went to give him his binki and he started shaking, literally shaking, in excitment in thought of me giving him some real food. once he relized it was in fact a binki in his mouth and not some tasty delicious food, he was heart broken. so i caved.....

we started with the basics

and

we haven't looked back

ezzie and solids = 5 mo. 3 wk.

hims is 6 months old today.

batting 600 + 24th of july

2011-07-30T23:11:00.005-06:00

my dear friends...

600 posts!

can you believe it? i can.

i lurve blogging.

i may even do my first giveaway in celebration.

stay tuned.

and now we can move forward...

there are many pluses to being a gregory... too many to count. one of the best parts of being a "G" is that i get to be a part of the 24th of july bee's game tradition. this family tradition is truly, the bee's knees.

my very first 24th of july experience w/ the greg's circa 2003

{yes, trevan looks as if i just picked him up @ preschool.}

this is a pretty princess & she is adored.

this is a baby & he loves his mama

these are the bee's and the rainiers & the rainiers have a player that was stabbed.

what did we do before iphones and wikipedia?

this is cam & he loves eating candy

this is my husband, my fweethart & he LOVES baseball... so much.

these are true blue grandma's, the best they come & the love my babies.

this is taylor and cammie and a creepy bubby & they are "just friends".

this is far less creepy bubby & he is adorable.

this is that same baby & he can't take his eyes of his mama

this is landy & he is a teenage dream.

this is morgan and ted & they are REALLY cute together

would they just get married already? yeesh.

this is taylor and me & I write this blog... 600 and counting!

{you may ask yourself "where is jude?", well he was not available for documentation. just know he was there and he was in 7th heaven because his yaya brought him a transformer toy, a transformer sticker book, a glow stick hat, candy, and all his favorite people.}

dear 4th of july,

2011-07-20T00:57:00.005-06:00

you are always the best holiday, i have yet to be disappointed. i made sure our day was filled with the usuals (parade, breakfast, naps, sidewinder falls, best friends, sugarhouse park, chik-fil-a nuggets, magazine reading, gossip and of course fireworks). the kids looked amazing in their 4th of july duds, really really amazing. robyn and her family were here (* best 21 days of jude's life) and there was not.a.dull.moment. the sound of laughter could be heard from sea to shining sea. like i said, 4th of july... you are my favorite. i am so sorry i didn't charge my camera to document you more clearly. it would have been nice to document trevan in his wet white shorts going down the slide, but most importantly to document ezzie's 1st independence day. such a silly thing to forget, i should know better! thankfully, brooke that 'no-talent-ass-clown' had her camera so we did get some photos of the day. i'm also grateful that nannie and brooke have already made their 4th of july tributes to you on their blogs.

until next year dear friend,

kennan

me parading about with tiff, cashie and ez...

jude, shmezra, and a pouty pretal

ever handsome trevan, ez, and ezra's nostrils.

uncle sam...

21,22,31,32,33,34,35,41,42,43,51, and 52(crying in the background)

my crazy dad and his numbering system....

i just got cooler.

2011-07-12T23:47:00.004-06:00

today's hip thing... instagram.

i joined.
duh.

i'd love for you to join me too because

you will enjoy jems like these, daily.

kennang @ instagram
{follow me, i follow you}

learning to swim, but i aint got fins

2011-07-11T00:41:00.005-06:00

i love water.
i love the sun.
i love swimming.
and
i love kids.

therefore, i need swimming kids.

my heart. my joy. my boy.

could i love her more?

doubtful.

we are so ready for round 2 next week.

[ side note: here is what happens when best friends marry sisters.... you do everything together, or at least that is the case with the jackson's and us. why would swimming lessons be any different? ]

ezzie on the iphone v2.

2011-07-07T09:47:00.005-06:00

once upon a time i had a third child....
and he was neglected when it came to scheduled photo shoots.

really, it is a good thing i have an iphone to document his life.

why can't i be you?

2011-06-28T21:59:00.004-06:00

so much goes through my head everyday, so much that doesn't belong in my head. namely, other peoples business. i am nosy by nature (duh, i am a williams, we all are extremely nosy). in my mind, i figure i probably should know what goes on with everyone else... even if i don't know them. the thing is, i legitimately care about others people business. i probably should have been some sort of therapist. i am that concerned {side note: after months of therapy myself, i have often mulled over the thought of going into that line of work once my kids have grown}. i want to hear it all and i also want to help where i can. i love hearing about peoples struggles and about peoples joys. i love it... all. i think that is probably why i love the blogging world so much. i get to be nosy. i'll say it, I LOVE BLOGS. if you have one, i've probably read it. it's my #1 hobby.

anyway... the problem arises when i get busy in my little mind comparing myself to all of you wonderfully fabulous other bloggers. turns out, i do that a lot. i can never seem to measure up to everyone else.
like, currently...

why the crap am i one of the mom's that doesn't loose her baby weight in a timely fashion, especially when nursing. i mean that was one of the main reasons i didn't give up in those first few miserable weeks. vain? yes. true? absolutely. i want to be a skinny.

why i am not more crafty in my "free" time. i really should be making greta darling frocks and making my home more adorable.

why is my house a mess, ALL.THE.TIME? i mean, if i could get in with the cool organizing crowd that would be real nice.

why can't i be more productive in my 24 hours?

why aren't my kids doing _______ ?

why am i not doing a ragnar or a triathlon? is it too late to jump on that bandwagon?

shouldn't i be some sort of homemaking goodess?

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.... right?
it's a general "why can't i be you?" type of attitude and it won't do.
blogging is all too much to handle, sometimes.

so i take a deep breath. turn off the computer. smoosh my babies. vent to trevan. and BREATHE.

i am okay.
and
i will be okay.

i am everything to 3 babies and one handsome man.

today, that is enough.

i.am.me.

the father of my children.

2011-06-19T08:05:00.000-06:00

you make me proud,

proud to call you my own.

what a perfect father you are to our beautiful babies.

you are simply adored.

xo.

the bee's knees

2011-06-18T08:42:00.005-06:00

the salt lake bee's games are some good times.

really, they are one of the best parts of salt lake summers. this year is the first year we have been lawn dwellers(3kids).... and umm we have been missing out. so.much.fun. our first bee's game of the season we were joined by brooke and dustin, mark and tiffani, trevan's BFF blake, and some really hot lesbians who felt it prudent to make sweet love through out the whole game. (no offense to the lesbians, but anyone making sexuals in front of my children i feel is entirely inappropriate....)

senor & ezzie

snow cone love.

miss lucy bug was entertainment in herself.

kids. kids. kids.

mark, tiffi, and dustbin delavega

blake and trevan may have been the only real spectators in our group.... who goes to baseball games for baseball? ummm, the food?!?!? duh.

shmez and luce.... (she would be the best big sister... lol)

jude waited for the bee to make it to the grass lands ALL.GAME.LONG... once buzzy made it around the 3rd base line you can be sure we were ready with our camera.

bless our hearts.

one the main reasons we went to the game on that particular night was because of the fireworks. the kids were so excited about them, and so were we until the game went 4 extra innings. we tried to leave seeing as it was 11pm but we were shut down by jude's screams. it's okay though, because in the end we were all glad we stayed.

ezzie's first fireworks... stunned.

excited.

thrilled.

awe struck.

the end...

wait! we saw this man-dime at the game too.

we love bad doggy aka brennan.

sweet child o' mine

2011-06-14T00:29:00.006-06:00

{13 lbs 25.5 in}

oh ezra... why must you grow?

i love you so much, so so so much, little man.

ttt t-ball.

2011-06-06T22:06:00.003-06:00

t-ball was over 2 weeks ago and here i am just now getting to documenting it. alls i can say is, 3 kids. anyway, t-ball went much smoother this time around than it did 2 years ago. i may have jumped the gun a little by putting jude in when he was only 3 but when baseball is the family sport, it's what you do! jude at 5 is a much better ball player (listening, patience, coordination, less clingy to mommie) and he officially LOVES baseball.

this year trevan put his coaches hat on for the first time as well. TURNS OUT, it was adorable. coach gregory.... love. jude also loved having trev as his coach and it was so cute to see them bond over baseball. trevan did well in his rookie year of coaching and i think that the fact that he never lost his cool on any of the 10 kiddies is a really good sign that there are years of baseball coaching ahead of him (secretly, i think its one of his favorite part of being a father of sons).

this is roen.

roen is my great friend amber's son. they live in a different city but we still signed them up to play baseball together. it's only right, seeing as i have been friends with amber and her family since i was 4. it was so fun to see our boys play together, and even more fun to laugh at coach gregory.

m' boys.

pretal the adorable spectator.

ezzie and yaya...

they never missed a game.

coach gregory.

go jude go!

note his face, he is such a side talker.

greta was busy brushing up on her cheerleading skillz this day... it's in her blood.

go highland bears circa 1994-97!

jude's grandma's and boy does he ever love them. really, he ADORES them and everytime he saw one of them walk up to his game he did a little dance.

t-ball 2011

until next spring...

GO CUBBIES!

old man.

2011-06-05T11:18:00.003-06:00

happy 60th birthday to my handsome father.

tail between my legs.

2011-05-28T18:36:00.001-06:00

everything i said i knew about potty training????

yeah, i was wrong.

i hate this part

the dinosaur program.

2011-05-25T18:47:00.010-06:00

jude has been telling us about his dinosaur program at school for months now. for the first few months we kind of rolled our eyes at jude because we thought he was just making it up, seeing how dinosaurs were his favorite thing of the moment and he had just figured out lying. we kept telling him he was crazy and he would just laugh. finally, i asked his teacher about this so called dinosaur program and sure enough they were in fact doing a dinosaur themed graduation program. i felt bad for teasing jude all those months! once it was confirmed, i knew that this graduation program would be nothing short of amazing and it did not disappoint.

it's bittersweet having mr. judakins be done with pre-school... i am so glad that i don't have to pay $200 a month anymore but i am so sad that he is growing up, RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES.

how dare he?

jude fact: jude is obsessive, so very obsessive. when he gets into something, he gets into it with all of his heart. he calls these spells "moods" and they change from day to day. one day jude is a pirate mood (which consists of a homemade eye patch, a baseball hat with a pirate on it, a belt, one cowboy boot and one snow boot) and another day he is in a "dinosaur mood" and the next a "mario mood". like i said, it changes daily and i have to be prepared as to how we will be dressing for the day and what we will have to bringing along with us.

singing his personal favorite "elasamosaurus"

miss jennifer and miss mckenzie.....

they are some real classy ladies

and

jude ♥'s them.

the attendee's.

although, jude is technically not done with school until next week we have the certificate to prove that he did indeed graduate pre-school.

my first born.

our first graduation.

our proud moment.

beautiful child.

happenings.

2011-05-16T22:57:00.008-06:00

things around these parts have been a bit 'cray-cray' lately. i have been meaning to blog, even taking pictures to do so but life happened.... SO instead of making a bunch a lovely little posts, i am to make one gorge long one.

first off... my kids love themselves some new jammies and they love to match even more. thank you carter's for making this possible on every front. nannie stopped by to kiss my kiddies goodnight on her way home from granny billie's and since we were all monkeyed out, we had to take a picture.

them are some damn cute kids.

_____

the other day brooke and dustin needed me to watch their kids for a bit while they attended to some biznass. 5 kids under 5 sounded daunting but i was up to the task. after all, its minie and poppy, who an resist? we had a fabulous afternoon of dressing up (poppy started it), hide-n-seek, and red rover.

here they are.... the fabulous 4.

minie, greta, jude, and poppy.

have you met poppy? she is 7 shades of amazing. i love this girl. oh, and she rivals jude in her love for dress-ups(among other things). i am not quite sure what she is suppose to be, but she is working it.

greta the fairy-butterfly and fancy nancy minie.

not to be outdone... jude worked it as a ninja turtle.

lol.

_____

mother's day came and went too.

it was a perfect day.

jude's mother's day gift for me.

this bookmark will be near and dear to my heart forever and ever.

and trevan gave me these adorables.

they will be worn daily.

mother's day dinner @ yaya's.

_____

fun fact: i am not one of the skinny's.....

why the crap am i one of the mom's that doesn't loose her baby weight in a timely fashion, especially when nursing. i mean that was one of the main reasons i didn't give up nursing in those first few miserable weeks. vain? yes. true? absolutely. also, why did i get the shaft on the skinny gene's? it's fun to be the fat sister.

so i started weight watchers.

its been a week and i am down 7 lbs.... here's to 20 more.

_____

POTTY TRAINING.

not enjoyable.

every time greta has had a 'foopy' diaper in the past 3 months, trevan would mutter "when are you going to be potty trained?". jerk. i finally got took the hint and bit the bullet, she is 3 after all. in our defense, being a bit developmentally delayed makes it a bit more difficult for the prets. for instance, she cannot run yet, she cannot undress by herself, she still crawls up stairs, and there is no way she could climb up on a toilet unattended. all that being said, she is mentally capable of being toilet trained. with the method we use, it was really easy for jude so i was very optimistic for greta.

first off, no one has looked cuter in princess undies.

NO ONE.

dolly and greta, working it out.

i regret being so optimistic. greta has not been as easy as jude. we have accidents daily. she get the whole poop thing but peeps is a bit harder. it's a headache and i hate it. sometimes she asks for diapers but we will not go back. once that door is opened, it cannot be closed. i still believe in our method, i just didn't realize how easy i had it with sir jude. i CANNOT wait until we get this down.

this is greta after a accident when driving jude to school. poor tender hearted girl, she sobbed and sobbed. i don't even get that mad, she just cannot have anyone be mad or disappointed in her.

i love her, wet pants and all.

p.s. trevan will potty train ezra.

it's only fair.

______

and last but certainly not least....

mr. ezra turned 3 months old.

i am in love with this boy.

and

i cannot believe he is 3 months old.

he is such a good baby....that is until he has had enough and then he his quite dramatic, so loud.

ezra smiles for anyone that will look at him, he loves his fists, he sleeps through the night, he is a great little nurser (i love nursing SO much), he puts up with overly loving siblings, he is my strongest baby, he love his tubbies, he is NOT a snuggler, he has one dimple (just like his siblings)he only will sleep if swaddled, he has copper hair, his glorious newborn hair is almost gone, his tongue is always going, he does not like his car seat, he rolls, he's gettin' kinda chubby, and he loves his mama.

ezzie is joy.

____

and now you know.

i want to remember....

2011-05-06T09:34:00.000-06:00

EVERY.

SINGLE.

MOMENT.

the good, the bad, and the ugly.

and that is why i blog.

stop.

2011-05-05T16:36:00.005-06:00

there is a family that needs your prayers...

the denny mack family.

denny lost his wife wendy and their unborn child maylee last saturday night. their 3 very young children are left without a mother.

this is devastating.

OBITUARY.

BLOG.

how do i know wendy? our parents are BFF's. when my parents moved to highland nearly 30 years ago they had no family here in utah and the kimball's became our family. every spring break and fall break was spent vacationing with the kimball and johnson family. wendy was older than me, closer to robyn's age. i haven't seen her in over 10 years but i remember everything about her... her curly hair, her beautiful smile, and her contagious giggle. some people leave a lasting impression, wendy was one of them. truly, she was beautiful inside and out.

fall break circa 1989
paige, robyn, wendy, brooke, me, jamie, and amber.

i cannot believe she is gone, a young mother.... a pregnant young mother. i can't make sense of it. i think about it all day. how could she be needed in heaven more than she was needed here?her sweet babies! how? how does a husband manage without the love of his life and his partner in parenting? how do her parents cope with the loss of their beautiful daughter? especially since they were on a mission in sierra leone at the time of her death? and what about maylee, the sweet little angel she was carrying? i just don't get it. i am heartbroken.

life is not fair.
and it can change in an instant.
cherish it.

hop on over to easter.

2011-05-02T17:56:00.015-06:00

we had a weekend full of eastering.

full of it.

we started out the weekend at nannie's. my mom was pretty much on her death bed but still managed to put a fabulous little easter egg hunt on for her grand babies. only 5 of her 15 grand babies were present but thankfully, they were some of her cute ones.

nannie helping miss prets.

one of greta's favorite past times includes telling everyone that she "can't walk". turns out she can, she just likes to be babied. some people totally buy into.... okay, we all do.

cutest egg hunter alive.

shmezra was there too. he is edible.

easter sunday started off wonderfully. the sun came out of hiding for a few hours and believe it or not, that darn little egg-laying rabbit made it to our backyard. the kids were THRILLED. i let the kids get their baskets in their jammies but made them wait to go hunting until after breakfast was finished and they were looking presentable for the camera.

{ question: how is the real meaning of easter suppose to compare to the gift giving easter bunny? it's a hard sale. we tried and shall try again and again.}

GET.OUT.OF.TOWN

my adorables.

excited?

jude ran from egg to egg with all the excitement that his 5 year old body could contain. to him each egg was a miracle.

little holiday boy.

cute dad, copper topped son, and some sunlight in their eyes.

this year it was yaya's turn for easter. my kids love a little gregory time. disneyland aint got nothing' on yaya's house.

there was a lot of easter loot for 2 little munchkins.

meet cammy... uncle of the year.

moey & ted

::: LOVEBIRDS :::

me loves this picture, it's a glimpse at my baby jude, not my big brother jude. sometimes i forget that his is not as big as i think he is. that's the problem with your oldest child, you seem to make them older than they really are and when you look back on it you realize they were little the whole time you were thinking they were big.

bubbles = magic

even if the meaning of easter was lost on my kids, it wasn't lost on me.

i am thankful for my Savior.

his life.

his sacrifice.

his resurrection

and because of all of that, i have the chance of living with my sweet easter angels again.

spring break

2011-04-27T22:30:00.011-06:00

i had wonderful plans of joining my sister in st. george for spring break... and then life happened and we stayed home. i tried to make the best of it by lunching with friends and hanging with yaya but my heart yearned for a real spring break. trevan saw my pain and needing a break too, took the afternoon off on friday. we loaded the station wagon up and went to our happy place, midway.

after short cat-naps up parley's canyon and lunch at the dairy keen the kids were more than ready to hit up wasatch moutain park to play and fish.

jude... mr. imagination. i love that at 5 he is still as imaginative as ever. today, as he would say , he was in a "mickey mood".

i love first born.

sheer greta joy.

hi!

this is my baby, ezra.

my man and his fishing rod.

do you know i love trevan? he is a great man. turns out, i still would rather be with him over anyone, even my sisters. who would of thought?!?!? he's such a great man. really, i love that he has his hobbies of fishing and cycling but that his favorite hobby is us, most of the time ;) . not all men are like that, but i sure am grateful that mine is. oh, and talk about making my heart swoon.....

i never have loved trev more than when i saw him teaching our jude how to fly fish. i wish i had a video of them practicing casting and chanting "back and forth" together. it was the cutest. i love that fly fishing will be something he and his sons will have forever. ezzie will idolize his daddie just as jude does now.

on his own.

perfect place. perfect family. perfect day.

breathe it in.

a name and a blessing.

2011-04-16T23:29:00.007-06:00

last sunday sweet ezra was given a name and a blessing .

baby blessings may be one of the best parts of having a baby in my opinion. seeing your infant dressed in white and being held up by all the worthy and loving men in their life, it only happens once, and it is a guaranteed tear jerker. it is also the time when your baby meets the world in a sense, the blessing seems to makes your baby official. ezra is so lucky to be born into this family. trevan gave ezra a perfect blessing and it was accompanied by a perfect day. i have such an amazing family that supports me and my family in everything. i am so blessed in my life. oh, and ezra? he's not half bad.

the men

in the circle : trevan, grandpa roger, grandpa mike, cameron, brennan, bob, tim, mark, hayden, bishop horton

my sister's and mom.

paigey flew in from san francisco for the blessing and robyn drove from st. george, i have the best sisters.

(brooke will never be forgiven for choosing seaworld over us)

ezra, his father and grandfathers.

the gregory men

(minus jude, who was way to busy with his cousins)

we are all busy laughing at cameron...

... who was making fun of trevan and his glasses. did you know that one of trevan's sorest subject's are his eyes? well, it is... so back off.

me, my man, and my baby.

AND

where were the 13 cousins?

having the time of their lives together.

(minus the part where tucker ran away)

a perfect day.

we interrupt this program.

2011-04-15T00:18:00.004-06:00

there are other events i need to be blogging about (i.e. ezra's blessing) but this could not wait...

my 2 month old is rolling.

omg.

go ezzie go!

(he is so not his sister)

changing of the guard.

2011-04-12T22:31:00.004-06:00

greta graduated from early intervention

and

moved onto preschool.

it was the most bittersweet thing that has happened with greta. greta first entered the early intervention program when she was 8 weeks old. she has had an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a vision therapist, and 2 speech therapists in her 3 years in the program. all of these women that have worked with greta have shaped who she is today. greta would not be holding her head up, eating properly, rolling, sitting, walking, and talking without their help. i have had someone in my home working with greta and supporting me for 3 years. the early intervention program ends when i child turns 3 and then they are sent to preschools through the school district. greta will still have a physical therapist and speech therapist at school but it will be in a classroom setting. i hate that this part is over but i am glad we are moving forward. i owe the early intervention program so much. you have no idea how amazing this government program is, it is the reason we are where are today.

i have loved them all but i have loved one of them the most. greta's physical therapist, julie, has been with us through it all. she was there when greta could not even hold her head up, she was there when i was told greta would die from a terrible disease, julie was there when greta first sat, she was there when greta first walked with a walker and without it 6 months later, and julie was there when greta graduated from early intervention 2 days before her third birthday. i love this woman. she was more of a friend to me and more like a grandmother to greta (and jude too) than a government funded physical therapist. i will miss her minnesota accent, her catholic charm, her personal mothering stories, and of course our gossip over current fashions. julie is amazing and i hope that when i see her again in the future she won't believe the progress greta has made and the person that she is.... all because julie was their to teach and support her first 3 years. i am FOREVER indebted to miss julie jung.

and now someone else is going to be over greta's development... the public school system.

DEEP BREATH.

my baby girl left my side and when to school, and it broke my heart. greta was so excited to finally go to school and she did not cry as i handed her off to a teacher she didn't know. as i drove away i looked back at her empty car seat, i sobbed knowing that the game had changed. going to school makes her older. i was not ready for her to go to school, she is my side-kick, my best friend. i know its where she is suppose to be and that it too will make a huge difference for her but i don't have to like it. i could of used some more greta time at home. she is my angel girl.... an angel girl who loves school.