2 going on 20...and shaving?!

Wow, I can't belive that I haven't posted yet about Hayden's b-day! With sick kids and everything else that has been going on, my time on the computer has been limited.
But on the 20th of June my little guy Hayden turned 2. He's such a little character...he acts so grow up and tries so hard to be just like his Dad and to do things just like his Dad. I'm glad because his Daddy is just the best and I would love if Hayden turned out just like him!
We started out his b-day by letting him open his presents. His favorite was the Geotrax sets that I got from Ebay, (the cooler sets that's no longer being sold in stores!), he played with his Geotrax trains and airplane for quite some time.
Then it was time for Dad to go shower and Chad was shaving and Hayden saw him, of course he then had to shave too! So I aloud him to use a shaver from a kit that I have that has no blades of course, so my son's first time shaving was on his second b-day! :)



He was so cute doing exactly what Dad was doing.



I'm happy to report that his face was as smooth as his bottom after he was done! ;)


After that we had some cake that we ended up lighting the candle about 5 times because he wanted to blow the candle over and over again. We took him out for dinner too and after that we just took it easy. Chad told me that I should do a little something for him and a few buddies for his b-day because I always do so much for the girls, I know I should I just haven't been able to do so yet, when his best buddy returns from a trip I'll do something like pizza and a movie for a few little guys.
Now to my little guy, Hayden you are the best! Mommy is so glad to have you around! You are soooo much fun and you keep us all entertained...never a dull moment with you. Everybody in this family loves you so very much! Thank you for being in our lifes.

Hugs and lots of kisses to my little guy,

Tine

P.S. We are going private too...Chad has been asking me to do so ever since I started this blog. So if you would like to read what's going on with the Butler's let me know and I'll add your e-mails.

Good feeling is gone!!!

Yes...I am quoting from another Disney movie. What can I say? I have 3 kids in my house and we are Disney Club Members so we have tons of the Disney movies.
This time I'm quoting from the animated movie Finding Nemo. You know that part when Dori looses the goggles and they start to swim down towards a very dark spot while Dori sings along: "Just keep swimming...". Then they see a light that makes them feel good and they are all happy, that is until they find out that the light it's a horrible looking fish that wants to eat them, then Marlin delivers the line that I like to use..."Good feeling is gone!" Well that's how I feel at this time of my pregnancy. Funny because I have never felt so good in any of my pregnancies before and now that I'm in the end I have never felt so tired...no energy at all! Or in other words...good feeling is gone! But I still try to tough it out and do things with my family without complaining specially because I love being outside. Can't stand this weather anymore...all I can say is: Where's the sun?
Anyways...this brings me to my second life lesson learned that I mentioned in my previous post. So here it goes:
When you are pregnant...and the "nesting" fase quicks in. Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, DO NOT sit down and write a list of things that you want to have done before baby is born. That is things that needs to be done in the house of course. Fight that urge with all that you got...sit in a corner and wait until that feeling is gone! Why you may wonder? Simple...because you will not be able to finish that list no matter how hard you work, or in my case...not work because most of the days I just don't feel like lifting a finger. So in addition to clean the house daily, cook and take care of the kids and now also taking care of sick kids, Bellamie came down with a case of the Swine flu but I'm happy to report that she's already doing much better, and not to mentioned how hard your body is working making that baby inside of you, it's really almost impossible to add to your list of things to do. And that stinking list that you made...well...that list will only make you feel guilty and bad about the things that you are NOT doing...even now that I have put the list away so I don't have to look at it anymore, I know what I wrote and what I want it done. So ladies...next time that you find yourselves pregnant and nesting remember...do not pick up a piece of paper and a pencil! Fight that urge with all that you got! Snap that pencil in half and throw it in the garbage if you have to. So there you have it.

Hugs and throwing away all pens and pencils in the house,

Tine

Today was a good day...then I got up!

Ok...so I grabbed the line out of the Movie "Freakey Friday". I like quoting movies every once in a while. So for those of you who doesn't know the movie...this phrase is used by this guy who thinks that everybody is out to get him and everything always goes wrong for him. That's kind of how I felt today...might have something to do with the fact that I have had very little sleep the past few days due to sick kids, first Hayden then Juls and now Bellamie. But I'm happy to report that she's doing much better this morning, knock on wood, after 3 days of about 103 of fever! :(
Anyways...this blog is to give you some insights on a couple of things that I have learned.
First, never put the removable inside liner of your slow cooker in the stove!!! Even if it is stoneware and it's "suppose" to be stove and oven safe!! I was feeling very tired after a failed attempt to take a nap and I wanted to do something that was going to be fast and pretty much take care of itself for dinner. So I decided to just throw a beef stew on the slow cooker. I used to hate slow cookers...but I learned to really like mine and to actually use it. So I decided to speed things up a little by putting the liner in the stove just for a minute to start things out. So as soon as the stew was boiling I went to remove the liner to put it back on the slow cooker and the bottom broke off from the liner!!! Can you believe it? You should have seen my face and the mess on my stove!!! Potatoes, carrots, onions and beef everywhere! Chad got home and saw that mess, I couldn't clean right away because it was too hot and I was too mad! He then asked me if the kids learned a few new words today! :) The answer is no...I did not enriched their vocab! So remember...slow cooker stoneware liners and stove together are not a good thing!
The second thing that I learned I'll have to leave it for later. Bellamie is back to not feeling so well right now. So I better get going. Have a great weekend all!

Hugs and making messes,

Tine

P.S. Tomorrow the 12th of June is Valentine's day in Brasil!! So if you need a reason to celebrate something or to go out on a date...there you go! ;) Happy Valentine's day! And happy birthday today to my brother Daniel!

Belle's Graduation day

Yesterday was Bellamie's graduation day from preschool. She did so well and we are so very proud of her! She has learn a lot and is now reading too!! Alicia is such a wonderful teacher and I hope to always be close enough for all of my kids to go to her for preschool. Bellamie really enjoyed going to preschool and she's now looking forward to start Kindergarten. She will be going to Entheos and we received an e-mail from them yesterday telling us that Julianne was accepted there too!! I'm so excited specially for Julianne, I think that she will do very well in that school. Entheos is a charter school and I really like their curriculum from what I have read on their website and from what I have heard from parents. I'm looking forward to meeting Belle's new teacher this coming week. It's very hard to get in this school so I'm very glad that I was able to get both of my kids in there!
But anyways... here's a few graduation pictures:


Bellamie and her teacher


With Daddy


With Mommy


With her friend Annie


Juju and her friend Katie

Hugs and Graduating,

Tine

Grandma day!

So this was several days ago...on the 15th of May but I have been so tired lately that I just don't feel like doing anything that I don't absolutely have to. Blogging is one of them that I don't really have to.
But anyways...for Mother's day I wanted to take the girls and do a Mommy 'n Me Royal tea party at the Gardner Village Protea Cottage. It's a very fun and cute activity to do with your little girls I really recommend! But since during the mother's day weekend Chad was gone, I couldn't do it that weekend, (can you all see Hayden in a place like that full of porcelain?! Yeah...don't think so!). Plus we do a Grandma day once a month so I suggested to Brigitte, one of the girls 3 grandmas, that we do a Grandma day out of this activity, so ended up being a Mommy, Grandma and Aunt and me activity! Aunt Natalie was there with us too!
So you get to pick the tea of your choice, plenty to choose from that doesn't have black or green tea in it! The girls got their own tea pot with pink chocolate, Julianne prefered the tea herself, she acts so grown up at times! They also serve English scones; jam & clotted cream; assorted finger sandwiches and specialty desserts with seasonal fruit garnish and the girls got to dress up with the hats and dresses that they have there. Here's a few pictures of that day.

Julianne all dressed up!


Bellamie all dressed up!


Showing off their outfits after the tea party was over.


All of us together.


The girls trying out a different hat before we left.


We did more stuff that day, we first went to feed the ducks at Wheeler Farm, then we did lunch, after that we went to Discovery zone for a little while where Chad met us to take over Hayden, after all the little guy have to have fun too right?! We girls then went to our tea party...fun full day!

Hugs and Tea Parties

Tine

Chad is coming home tonight!!!

Really he will be here tomorrow since it will be past midnight. But for my sanity's sake I'll just say tonight! :)
I'm so excited to have him home again..I HATE sleeping by myself!! If it was just me I would be OK...but since I feel like I have to be watching out for the kids at night by myself I don't really sleep well.
Pretty sad all of the horrible things that are always on the news that makes us paranoid...or maybe I should say, that makes me paranoid. Like little kids going missing in the middle of the night. :( So sad. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us, but we must do our part to protect ourselves too right?! So what I did is I dragged the girls mattress to my room and they slept in the floor and Hayden was in bed with me and I had the phone and cell in the locked bedroom with me...just in case! I know I'm pretty bad!!! But really is there such a thing as too safe? Chad makes me feel safer than anything else in this world. Speaking of him...have I told you guys how great of a guy he is lately? NO??? Well he is...I hope that I never take him for granted. I must have done something really good at some point of my life to deserve him!
I had a wonderful mother's day! It's cute to see that even thou Chad was far away he wanted to make sure that I was taken care of, and I loved waking up and seeing the roses that he sent me for Mother's day, yes got here before mother's day but that's OK! :) I was also glad to not have to cook because of the meal that Chad bought frozen so all I had to do it's throw it in the oven. Julianne and Bellamie both went up with the primary kids during sacrament meeting and sang to me. They looked so cute up there...seeing them up there made me so happy! They made me cards and painted me pictures and gave me this cute and very yummy bouquet of cookies! :) (Daddy also got those for them before he left). I got to talk on the phone with my Mom and my little sister. I also got a lovely card from Grandpa Butler and some very yummy chocolate from one of my Moms, (I have 3). I must say that I never thought that I would like any other chocolate as much as I like the Godiva chocolate...but I'm in love again after trying the Vchocolates' fresh handmade caramels with chocolate and nuts...if you haven't tried their chocolate yet you MUST!!! I'm so grateful to be a mother...specially the mother of this 3 very special little kids that I love more than anything else in this world. Well almost 4 now. :) Nothing compares to being a mother!
Yesterday was fun too! We went to the movies with Grandma, Uncle Brady, Aunt Kym and Blake and saw Monsters VS Aliens. This was the very first time that Hayden sat through a WHOLE movie and I'm very proud of him! Hopefully this means that we can take him to the movies more often without Chad or I having to stand outside with him. After that we went to the Living Aquarium. Sorry no pictures...as always I forgot to take the camera.
Before I end tonight I also wanted to wish to all of the wonderful Mom's out there that I know...yes I'm talking about you! :) A happy Mother's day! Hope you all had a wonderful day and may Heavenly Father always guide us in our journey through Motherhood.

Hugs and eating chocolate,

Tine

Our week so far...

This post is for Chad...he's away in training in New Orleans and so I wanted to post a few pictures of what we have been up to while he's gone and also for him to see the kids.
Monday we went to the Living Aquarium and had tons of fun...or at least as much as we can have without Daddy! :( Then we went to do one of the crafts over at Michaels.
Wednesday we went to the zoo and also had a lot of fun! Aftre the zoo we went to get dinner at Carls Junior and the kids played in the toys there for a long time too!
Today we went to play for a few hours at the "castle park" as the girls call it over at 7800 South and also had a lot of fun...we had to take Hayden home kicking and screaming! :) Here's a few pictures:



They moved the Ryno!



Hayden with one of his favorite animals!



Wow!







Hayden with his new PJs that he did not let me leave Walmart without it!



Check out my cape guys!



Finally one of the kids playing in the park today. We love you tons Chaddy!! Hurry up and come home!

Hugs and keeping ourselfs busy,

Tine and the Trio

Free Mother's day Crafts at Michaels

Just wanted to let you all know that Michaels craft store is doing something fun this whole week for Mother's day.
Every day of the week they have a different free craft for your child to do for you. I took the kids there today and they were making a Corsage. Here's the link to their website with a list of what they will be doing every day of the week.

http://www.theknackkids.com/EventView/Code/ev0022.aspx

Just click on the date to the left of the page to see a picture of what will be made. Also note the times...today was just for an hour between 6-7:00 so make sure to show up at the right time! I'll try to take the girls there every night. One more thing...the picture frame on one of those days you have to pay for it...it's one of those $1 frames. So anyways...just wanted to pass on the events in case someone else thinks that would be a fun thing to do with your kids like I do! :)

Hugs and Crafts,

Tine

Belle is 5 years old now!

How crazy...time goes by so fast that's not even funny. My little ones are all growing up too fast!! I wish there was a way to slow things down a bit.
Today is my sweet little Bellamie's 5th Birthday! It has been such a joy to have her in our lives! I thank Heavenly Father every day for every one of my kids and for His trust in me to raise them here on this earth.
This morning when she woke up and come over to my bed we sat there and I told her a few stories of when she was born and from when she was a small baby. She enjoyed listening to them.
When Bellamie was born and I got to hold her for the very first time I had the same feeling as I did with Julianne...the feeling of "How have you been?! It's been a while since I last saw you!" Other than of course having my heart full of joy! But at the same time it was a little like dejavu because at first she looked sooooo much like Julianne that's not even funny...well actually she looked exactly like Julianne even the little mark in her forehead! When we look at their newborn pictures we never know who's who. The only way to tell is by the date the picture was taken. Juju and Belle hit it off right away and they have been best friends ever since. Juls tried to feed her in the hospital fries and chocolate and Belle didn't mind that a bit. :) Juju also liked falling asleep on top of Bellamie. It was the cutest thing ever...here's a picture:



I love to see the relationship that they have as sisters. Bellamie is my easy going child...she's always very happy and content. She doesn't need much, she doesn't ask for much. Her happiness is very contagious!! She's very cuddly too! She will one day make a super great wife and Mom because of her always happy and positive attitude!
Happy Birthday sweet heart and I'm glad for every minute that I get to have you in my life! I love you with all of my heart to the Moon and back...and some more!

Hugs and Feeling Grateful,

Tine

Does this baby make my bottom look big?

This week I had another doctor's check up. I now have 11 weeks to go...we are getting close. Can't wait to meet this little guy! I would love to have a little red head in the family...but I'm not holding my breath. :) Everything is fine other than my iron being super low...but that's normal for me.
A couple of months ago when I went to the doctor's office they took my weight and told me my weight. I mentioned to the doctor that as long as I don't gain another 50 pounds this time around like I did with Hayden I would be happy, after all that's about half my regular weight. He then told me that he's not worry about it because I always loose all the weight very fast, talk about a good compliment that your doctor could give you! So he said that I shouldn't worry about it either. He must have taken a note on my chart because last month when I went in he came in and told me my new weight gain, this time he was off by 4 pounds...I didn't think much of it, neither did I correct him I just thought that maybe he made a mistake when he told me that I had gained 17 pounds instead of 21. But now here's the funny thing. This week when I went there the nurse took my weight and told me that I had gained 4 pounds since last time. She didn't have to tell me that I can see the numbers in the scale yelling at me.
So I walk in the room and my doctor comes in and goes through my chart and tells me that I had gained a total of 18 pounds so far...hum...that's only 1 pound more than last month...but I must say that sure sounded a lot better then the 25 pounds total that I had gained! So once again I left the subject alone. Wouldn't you?! :) But driving home with Chad I realized what he was doing...he was lying to me on purpose I'm sure! He must be worry that I'm too concern with my weight gain and he doesn't want me to start a diet or anything like that. He doesn't know me very well. I told Chad what happened and we were laughing in the car...he told me that next time I should correct my doctor and tell him that weight "X" sure sounds a lot better then "Y"!!!! :) What a good doctor I have...he even lies to make me feel better about myself! :) I must say that I do enjoy my curves right now...after all it's the only time that I actually have any! :(
But anyways...so I saw this maternity T-shirt the other day that I wanted to buy just so that I could were it when I go to my doctor's office...the T-shirt said: "Does this baby make my bottom look big?" I loved the T-shirt but $40 for it?! No thanks...not for something that I get to use for another 10 weeks or so....
Anybody looking for a good doctor?! :)

Hugs and Getting Rounder by the Minute,

Tine