life lately--April

These little boys have my heart. Being a mama is tough! I'm writing this post way after these pictures were taken on a day when I had a big mommy mess up--I said shut up. I feel so so awful and ashamed that I said that to my sweet babies. I was so frazzled after a trip to town and running late to try and get dinner to the missionaries and my little people were pushing every button that they knew of {excuses}. I don't think they really understood what I said, those words never get said in our home. But I knew what I said so with tears I stopped the car and told them that I was sorry and that we needed to say a prayer. They asked why and I told them because mommy needed to say sorry to Heavenly Father and ask for help. We prayed for momma to have patience and little boys to be better listeners and that we could be kind to each other. It was short and sweet but exactly what needed to be done. I hope I turned a bad mommy mistake into a teaching moment for my boys. I want them to love the Lord and know that He is real and always there for us. I know these things are true with all my heart. I also know that I couldn't do this amazing and amazingly hard calling of motherhood without the love, guidance, comfort, forgiveness and understanding of my Savior. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have of the gospel and the atonement. Where would we be without it? The fact that I can pray not only for forgiveness but for my Savior to take away my feelings of shame, hurt, sorrow and everything else can be eased  and replaced with love and comfort, what a blessing! I know my Savior loves me. I wish I would have never said those words to my littles and I made a promise to myself to try my very hardest to {never} do it again but through that experience I felt my Savior's love for me and saw the tender mercy of sweet boys who easily forgive and offer a smile and kiss for their mama. 

I am not going to give up. Tomorrow I am going to try harder and I am going to be a better mama than I was today. I love you my sweet little boys. Being your mom is my greatest joy!

that smile!

Grandma and Grady at Mackie's camo birthday party

this boy is so silly and hase about a million different faces!

late night or was it early morning {probably both} snuggles with mama

the thumb sucking is about the cutest thing I have ever seen!

SLC

Vacation time! Ter had a work conference so we all loaded up and made it a family trip! Poor Ter though he was working while the boys and I played. We drove up Thursday night and the boys were so excited to get to the hotel. They slept great and then Ter headed out early Friday morning and I was on my own. I think I learned pretty fast that traveling with 3 little boys is tough! We got some pretty good looks down at breakfast. We went with Joel and Tesha and their family so that we could play together while the dad's were at work. 
After breakfast we tried out the hot tub and then got ready (oh goodness, packing up and getting all our stuff packed up and down to the car without losing any of the boys was a huge success-thank heavens for luggage carts!) and we headed to the zoo. All of the animals were pretty active and the boys had a blast with the Vincent kiddos. Tesha's parents treated all the kids to a train ride and the boys were in heaven. After the zoo we were meeting Joel and Ter at Scheel's which meant driving back to Sandy in {rush hour} trying to follow Tesha! The boys were all asleep and I prayed the whole time that they would stay asleep and that the other drivers would be nice and just let me in! We made it and I was SO relieved to pass the driving off to Ter!
 Then we headed to Cabela's and had fun spending a gift card Ter had gotten from work. Then we zipped by Temple Square, Bryke was pretty disappointed that we couldn't get out and go in :) We made it to Grandma Aileen's house late and chatted for awhile and then they fed us a yummy breakfast the next morning and then we were off to the Tree House Museum in Ogden which was so much fun! From there we headed home from our mini-vacation. Bryke had a bit of a breakdown because he missed the hotel and wanted to go back, it was sad but I couldn't help smiling. Overall, it was such a great weekend!

loving the hotel!

best zoo trip-we saw all the animals!

Bryke thought the Rhinos were getting just a little too close :)

my sweet little crazy boys! Grady was such a little trooper!

Bryke with is buddy Maylee and the cutest little baby orangutan 

the Tree House Museum!

Keegan could have stayed on the fire truck the whole time

I love this picture! Grandma Aileen with Grady

--3 months old--

Oh my goodness this little man is a dream baby! He is so easygoing and very rarely cries. He loves his snuggles and being held. We love you so so much Grady baby! And mama can't thank you enough for being so easy going especially when I am finishing up a semester of A & P!

a name and a blessing

What a great day! Ter gave Grady an absolutely beautiful blessing. The part that stood out to me the most is when Ter blessed Grady that he would be close to his brothers and have a good relationship with them. That is something that is at the top of my list of mommy dreams. I want to raise our boys so that they love each other and have unbreakable bonds and I know that with the Lord's help Ter and I can do that. I felt the spirit so strong this day. Surrounded by our family and friends and having such a sweet little boy who is so fresh from Heaven made me so aware of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I know that he loves me and is mindful of my family and our needs. He has given me the greatest blessing I could ever ask for in that of being a mama to my sweet crazy boys. And on top of that He has blessed me with the greatest partner in crime to figure this parenting thing out with. I am so thankful to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I know the gospel is true and that knowledge is such a comfort to me. Because of this gospel and the love that my Savior has for me I can live with my family {forever}--is there any greater promise?! I have a testimony and I guess that this is one small way that I can share it :) So if there is anyone reading this that would like to know more go checkout this great website lds.org or feel free to ask me any questions! 

We love you Grady Allan Darrington!!

--2 months old--

2  months old and still the sweetest little babe! He rarely cries and still loves his sleep. At his checkup he weighed 13 lbs 13 oz and was 23.25 inches. I was looking back at Keegan and Bryker's monthly posts and they are pretty much identical for 2 months....chubby, red-heads, and almost out of 3 month clothes :) Grady isn't loving his mimi as much as his brothers already were though. He loves to just hangout and observe. When we can get him to smile he does the sweetest little scrunch of his nose. He really is such a good baby who has been so much fun to add to our family-we love you Grady!