8 YEARS HAVE PASSED

8 years ago today I sat in a hospital holding a hours old Aidan in my arms. He didn't have his cute freckles yet, or his cute tooth filled smile, or his sometimes not so desirable attitude. But, he did have my heart, completely and fully. Today he has an abundance of freckles across hi nose, the angel kisses we call them. He has an infectious smile and laugh, and beautiful blue eyes. He has an undying yearning for learning, which we try to encourage everyday in the hopes that he never loses it. He is a great big brother and an appreciative little brother. He is a true and wonderful blessing in our family!

We chose the name Aidan because we loved that it was such a strong Irish name, and the bonus was that it meant "fiery spirit," which is Aidan in a nutshell. His middle name is Bryant, his great grandfather's surname. Aidan has a lot to live up to if he wants to become like his great grandfather, and I know he does. He will certainly accomplish all he desires, he is stubborn enough to never quit and smart enough to do it all! There are already so many things about Aidan that remind us of Papa, almost as if they were kindred spirits. Amazing!!

Happy birthday to you Aidan Bryant Ireland!! We love you so much!!


Ready to start Scouts, very intently reading his Wolf book



Happy to open some presents before dinner


Aidan chose where he wanted to sit and Gaga made him a sign to mark the chair

I have survived....

I have survived several things in my 37 years...including earthquakes, floods and childbirth. As of today, I have survived 2 slumber parties in my house! I am fairly certain that is a huge accomplishment. The noise level during last night's balloon fight was something to be reckoned with. I survived it. Craft time and creating of one's own pizza? Survived it. Opening presents and treat bags? Survived it. Movies, popcorn, and sleeping? Survived it. Fun was had by all.

I made a pretty awesome camouflage cake with army tanks and guys on it. As soon as I figure out how to get the pictures off of my camera and on here, I will post.

One more day until Aidan turns 8, officially. Four more days until Aidan is baptized. Still have to find a pianist and decide on songs. Happy, happy days!!!

Crazy Fun Days.....

Through the last nearly 11 years of being a Mom, I have been a Stay at Home (working) Mom, a Work outside of the home, a part time stay at home/work outside the home mom, and a Full-time student/stay at home/work outside the home mom. I'm sure you see the trend there...I have been a Mom for nearly 11 years, and I have worked for many more than that! I am in a Work outside the home Mom stage now, and probably will be for the rest of my days. I am okay with it, probably because I have a job which allows me to have "Family Sick Leave" time, vacation time, and many holidays to be home with my boys. In fact, I took the whole week off this week, to be with the boys, and plan for Aidan's birthday and baptism. Let's just say that working outside the home is much easier than staying home! Don't get me wrong, I have great kids! It just takes much more energy to be home than it does to go to work each day.

Today's activities are a great example:

*Help Connor make breakfast for everybody, while doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen
*Clean the house, with help from boys (help=asking the boys to stay on task once every 5-10 minutes for 2 hours)
*Clean up the bathroom floor and part of the boy's room floor, using all but 2 towels in the house, after the toilet overflowed
*Make 2 different dishes for lunches for kids, while realizing that we were late getting Korbin to school
*Getting Korbin to school
*Errands in Eureka to get the remainder of birthday party supplies (I hope) and birthday presents (this included far more than I planned on spending at the Scout store!)
*Stop for Connor and Aidan to eat
*Picking up Korbin from Gaga and Pop's house
*Feeding 3 boys again, while they watch a movie

Still left on the list?
* Bake the cake and make the army colors frosting so that tomorrow I can make an "Army fighting" scenario come to life on the cake. (any idea how to make land mines?)
* Put together treat bags
* Clean the bathroom
* Fold mountains of laundry (including all those towels used to clean up the toilet water)
* maybe get some sleep

Being home takes much more out of me, but I am surely more rewarded by being with my children! I am grateful for each of them!

Happenings.....Korbin's 4!!!!!

Look! My tongue is green!

Crazy! That is life in the Ireland house, always. I have come to accept the fact that I am a working mom. Not that all mom's aren't working moms, but I have to work outside my home. Thankfully I have a mother who takes care of my beautiful children, and thank you to my dad, Jay, for letting her be home to care for them. If not for "Ga-ga," it would be at least 100 times more difficult to go to work each day. Thanks mom and dad!!!
So, I work full-time. Thankfully, again, I actually do like my job and at the end of almost everyday I can say that I helped at least one person. Because I have the kind of job I have, I am blessed to also earn paid time off. So, because I do work full-time, and sometimes I feel like I miss out on some "mom" moments; I take the day off for the birthday of each of my children if they fall on a normal work day. This last Monday was that day for Korbin. My baby turned 4! How can that be?
4 years ago, John and I were at USF medical center, hoping to bring our baby home from the NICU sooner rather than later. After a week of being there and missing our other 2 boys (thankfully mom was there then too) we finally got to bring our tiny boy home. He was our smallest at birth and even smaller when we left SF, the only one who had to have preemie size clothes. Korbin went to school with me from February to May of 2006. That was one of my best semesters ever. My pregnancy with Korbin was a bit of a surprise, but never has he been anything short of a miraculous blessing! Shortly after he was born, Korbin received a Priesthood blessing at the hands of two Priesthood holders from our ward and his breathing problems were gone within 20 minutes. I was reminded that day just how much we are truly watched over by a loving Father in Heaven. It was by the His sacred power that Korbin was healed, and continued to be healed, for the remainder of that week. In looking at Korbin today, one would never know that we ever had the slightest worry. He is a joy to have in our family. Korbin is precious in every way. He is, so far, a combination of his brothers in physical appearance and attitude. He is smart, funny and full of spirit! What a blessing we have been given, to be Korbin's parents.
Korbin loves cars and trains, but not just any cars or trains. He likes cars from the Disney movie "Cars" and he likes Thomas the train and friends. He can put together puzzles in no time, and loves to be challenged by puzzles with lots of pieces. He wanted a train cake for his birthday, so that is what he got. The first one fell apart, so I spent mostly my entire day off of work baking, frosting and decorating cakes. You know what, though? I would do it all again just to see Korbin light up at the sight of his cake! He got lots of Cars presents, and he loved it.
Korbin, we love you and are grateful to have been blessed and valued enough by Heavenly Father to be your parents here on earth. We look forward to many birthdays yet to come!! Love you, Bubby!

Sticking his finger in the frosting.

Mommy even made tracks, look. Those are cracks (tracks in Korbin's language).

I am really tired, but must smile for the traditional "cake picture."

Why must Aidan always be silly? Because, he is his own self...that is Aidan!

That is enough already, I want to play with my new toys!

Look, I got a new puzzle. It has 100 pieces. (He has already gotten it 3/4 put together two times now.)

Happy birthday, Aidan Bryant Ireland!!!!!!

Aidan, our 2nd child, turned 7 today. He chose to have a "Wii bowling tournament" for his party last Saturday. We had the party at our church building because the gym is much more spacious than our living room. I made him a bowling lane cake, which was fun. We had a tournament that started with four competitions and went down to the final two competitors. The final two ended up being Aidan and his big brother, Connor. Connor won, but not by much. Tonight we had family party at my mom and step-father's house. My mom and my step-mom actually made lasagna together for the party and I made a 3 layer chocolate cake. Aidan wanted a new pocket knife, which he got from Mommy and Daddy. He also really wanted a Zhu-Zhu pet, which is apparently the most popular toy this season. My mom found him one on line. He as thrilled! If you don't know what a Zhu-Zhu pet is, look it up, they are cool. Aidan also got some cool marbles and a marble mat from Grandma and Grandpa Annis. He is a lucky little boy!

I still can't believe that it has been 7 years since Aidan came into this world. Aidan was supposed to enter this world, via planned c-section, on November 26, 2002. However, he felt the need to come the day before. I woke up at 5 a.m. that Monday morning, in labor, not liking it. I sat in the bath tub, I moved around, I tried everything I could think of to stop the pain. I finally called to doctor's office at about 9 a.m. and they told me to go to the hospital if the contractions continued or became closer together. About an hour later I took Connor to the Hamilton's house, next door, and left to the hospital. My mom had just started a new job that morning. John and I got to the hospital and checked in. The anesthesiologist came and checked my lungs, telling me he would see me the next morning. I told him I was having a baby that day, not waiting another day!! Dr. Anderson said that he wanted me to walk around a little bit and he would come over to see me at lunch and decide then if we would deliver that day. The contractions continued. My mom arrived. Mimi arrived with Connor. Papa arrived. Dr. Anderson came in and talked to me. He said there was no reason to wait a day. The nurse started prepping me for surgery. I was so excited to meet our little boy!! Dr. Anderson asked Dr. Cannady to assist him, and I remembered that he had assisted in my appendectomy when I was 6. Only in a small town would that irony take place. Aidan entered the world at 2:39 p.m., weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce, and measuring 19 inches. I had to go to ICU because recovery was packed. I had a nurse that I had had when I was recovering from my appendectomy, another irony.
I got to my room about an hour after Aidan was born and what a beautiful sight!! Connor and daddy had helped bathe him for the first time. He was wrapped up all snugly in a blanket with a cute blue hat on his head. I held him for a few minutes. It didn't take long for Papa to take him from me. That was the beginning of a special bond between Aidan and his great grandfather. They were almost inseparable most of the time. Aidan still lets us know, at least once a week, that he misses his Papa.
Aidan is still as sweet, kind and beautiful as the day he was born. He is funny! He is smart. He is active. He never really stays still, even when he is sleeping. He has more freckles on his nose and cheeks than his brothers. He has beautiful blue eyes. He is the smaller, in stature, of my boys, but what he lacks in height he makes up for in personality! Aidan makes me laugh everyday, and I am so thankful for him.
We had a few names chosen, but knew the moment we looked at him that Aidan was it. His name means "fiery spirit" and that he is! His middle name is my grandparents surname. We gave it to him because we had told Papa when Connor was born that if we ever had another boy, we would give him Bryant as part of his name. Bryant is a name to be proud of and one that Aidan will always live up to, I am sure. We have always called him "Bug," a fun nickname for a fun boy.
We am grateful to have Aidan as part of our family. We cherish each moment with him and look forward to continuing to watching him grow up to be a great man!!
Happy 7th birthday, Aidan! You are the best Aidan in the whole world, don't you ever forget it! We love you for always and forever, Aidan Bug!

Belated Birthday wishes....

So, the hard drive in our Macbook crashed and burned last weekend. Bummer for us on a few levels, but especially since it meant that birthday wishes for our Mimi would have to be belated. However, we did not forget Mimi's special day...........

Wednesday was my grandma's birthday. I won't tell you just which number birthday she celebrated, because that just isn't my place. Suffice to say, she became a grandma at a fairly young age, making her still young today, in my opinion. Mimi was 2nd born to her parents and the only girl. She grew up in Ferndale, married my grandpa, became mom to a daughter and two sons, later became grandma to me and one other granddaughter and even later became great-grandma to my sweet boys. She and Papa were married for 53 years, practically their whole adult life! She's my Mimi! Mimi is a great example of hard work, dedication and love. She really is wise and wonderful. She is truly our family's matriarch in every sense of the word. I truly believe that Mimi is a remarkable woman! I am grateful for her love and support always, and I am grateful for her strong example of being a wife and a mother.

Happy belated birthday to you, Mimi!