Exhausted

This has been a difficult week for me. I am not really sure why? Nothing out of the ordinary, normal busy schedule and life as a pregnant mom of 3 little boys, but I have been feeling completely overwhelmed and stressed. I am not able to get all of the things done that I need to get done each day and I feel like I am trying to figure out how to balance everything I need to do. This might sound silly, but I felt like I was close to losing it yesterday over some laundry, when this sweet boy emptied the dishwasher for me. It meant the world to me. I felt like he gave me some reassurance I was looking for, that I don't have to do it all alone. I have an incredible husband who is so supportive and is my very best friend and 3 wonderful boys that make me smile every day! I am so overwhelmingly happy with life right now and things are going so well and I still can't believe I have a DAUGHTER on the way! This is my reminder, that life can be stressful at times and I might feel like I just can't do it all, but my family is what is important and I have the very best family there is!

Play With Me

My independent boy that has always loved playing on his own, is suddenly always asking, "will you play with me?" I am trying harder to stop what I am doing and play with him, because I know this won't last long where he actually wants to play with mom:) And I am always glad when I do, because I get to enjoy dinosaur vs dragon fights and our family made out of Mr. Potato Heads! I sure love this sweet 5 year old!

Lost Tooth

This boy lost his 3rd tooth! It's been over a year since he lost his bottom two, so I am loving seeing a little gap again!:) I sure love my happy 7 year old! 

Grandma and Tracen

Tracen has a birthday party on the same day as Donna's birthday, so we got to celebrate both of these special people! I am so grateful for such an incredible mother-in-law, who is such an amazing example of the type of person I hope to become someday! I hope she had a wonderful day! Sidenote: Parker and Ryler came up with the plan all by themselves to decorate her house for her birthday and made signs and everything and were so excited to stay up "late" to put them in her yard so she would wake up and be surprised on her birthday. I thought it was so sweet of my boys and am grateful for their kind hearts!

Valentine's Day

It was such a wonderful day, starting out with being spoiled by the Hubers! They brought the boys a toy and chocolate, so they were in heaven! Parker and Ryler both had Valentines parties at school and exchanged valentines and had so much fun! After school they made valentines for their grandparents and we took them sugar cookies to tell them we love them! That night we got a babysitter and Matt and I enjoyed a date night to My Big Fat Greek Restaurant and frozen yogurt for dessert. It was the perfect day with so many people that I LOVE SO MUCH!!!!!!

New Beginnings

We had an "UP" themed, New Beginnings..."Adventure Awaits" and it turned out so cute! The girls had a great time and it was the perfect way to kick off the year in Young Women's this year! This is only a handful of girls left towards the end of the night, but I am truly grateful for every girl I get to serve with!

Cubs Stadium Ribbon Cutting

We were invited to the ribbon cutting for the new Cubs Stadium and it was an honor to be part of something my dad worked so hard for. Three different people mentioned my dad during the ceremony portion and it was special to hear that they had not forgotten him! Not a day goes by where I don't miss my dad and I am so glad in a small way, his legacy can live on! We can't wait to go to our first Spring Training game together as a family! 

Snow much fun!!!

Tanner and Chaya had a timeshare stay in Flagstaff and invited the Allen's up to play in the snow! We drove up and back on Saturday, which made for a long day...but it was SUCH A BLAST!!! We had such a great time, sledding and having fun building snowmen! The boys were in heaven and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! It even got warm enough to shed our jackets after awhile! Everyone in the family was able to be there, which is quite the task to get us all together at the same time, but it was SO FUN!!! What a great way to spend the day! 

Friends Date Night

Some friends from my last ward all got together for date night at Serranos. We rented their private room and had a fun night, full of laughs and fun! I love these forever friend of mine! And will always be grateful for the Granite Reef Ward for introducing them to me!

Carden Boy

This boy cleaned me out of quarters on one trip to the store. I think he rode 5 different moving "rides" and if I had more quarters, he would have been able to talk me into even more:) He is just too cute!!!

Gilbert Temple Open House

What a special experience to go through the Gilbert Temple as a family, before it is dedicated next month. Matt took the day off work and we had Parker stay home from school and we enjoyed a beautiful day as a family. The temple is absolutely gorgeous and my boys had a great time finding all of the Acai Plants, a theme throughout this temple and the design is found on walls and chairs and windows and carpet and more. I love my family so much and glad we have the opportunity to be together FOREVER!!!

Dollhouse

I may never live this down but I bought my baby girl a DOLLHOUSE!!! I have been wanting one for years but had no excuse to buy one with all boys. Being 5 months pregnant with a girl, isn't really a good excuse either, but I couldn't resist! My first purchase for my princess needed to be a dollhouse!!;) And like it or not...my boys LOVE it too!!! Matt doesn't know how he feels about them playing with a dollhouse, but they are just preparing to be great older brothers and awesome husbands some day:) Now...let's fast forward 10 years so my daughter and I can decorate this dollhouse together!!!

Frozen

My mom hadn't seen Frozen yet, so we got together the day after her birthday with the kiddos that didn't have school and went to see Frozen and then went to Barro's for lunch! It was a fun day of celebrating with her!