It's been awhile

I don't even know where to start, It has been way to long since my last post.
Life has a crazy way of getting away from me as it has this last year

My kids are growing too fast
Mckenna is starting 3rd grade, Carson is in 1st and Halle is starting preschool.
Claire is almost out of diapers.
I know I should be happy, but that really only means that she is growing up
and I no longer have a 'baby'.

I am trying to find my way again.
We need schedules and plans and goals that involve something other than our business.
Baby Half Off has wings of it's own and growing in record speed.
We moved to a warehouse and opened a boutique this month.
Crazy!! I still can't believe what it has become, how blessed we are with the business.

School starts next week- so of course I had to buy 20 packs of brand new crayons!
I am a certified crayon snob...I like the new pointy ones and buy them in bulk.
I think another 20 or so packs should last until the next back to school sale in 2011.

Claire is up right now, as she usually is late at night when the others are already asleep.
She chatters and talks and repeats everything we say.
Kyle sings, she sings. She walks around naked because she had to go "pee now" or "poopy now" and we are both too tired to put another diaper (yes, a cloth diaper) on her.

Today is our 10 year Anniversary. Kyle cleaned out most of my front room and moved the Baby Half Off shelves over to Seth and Amy's garage. It is so nice to have my home be a home and not
a warehouse. Thanks for making life more sane Kyle :) What a great Anniversary present (other than my new Droid that you are getting me)....you know me too well.

I know every year I say that I post that I am going to start posting more regularly
But this year I mean it.
I need to remember and document our family experiences
I have too much going on to remember and enjoy the little things each day and I hope that my blog can help me take some time and remember the day-I don't want to miss this! :)

A New Post-Gasp!

It has been forever since I have posted. Again.
For some reason even though I would love to be a daily poster, I am not.
Life is busy, so busy in fact that I feel like it is passing me by-and I don't want to miss it.

I want to remember the good times. Blogs are good for that!

Claire has reached the 'no' stage. Everything to her is 'no' and it is not a nice 'no', it is a high pitched quick NO! It really is cute, at least for now. Funny how quickly I know that will change. She really is stinkin' cute! Everything she does is cute-I love this age.

Mckenna reads ALL the time. I love it. I have my own little book worm. She is turning 8 in a few months. I almost can't believe that she will be baptized soon. I remember thinking about how that day was so far away when she was born. I admit in those first few sleepless months, I couldn't wait for the day she was older. Now, I would like her to slow down a little bit and my baby for longer.

My life is crazy busy. I can't imagine being any busier or even fitting one more thing in. I wish that I had time to read(like my little book worm) something other than business e-mails, invoices, company info. etc... Please tell me that someday life will return to at least half way normal.
Don't get me wrong. I am happy for the success of Baby Half Off. It has just grown so fast that
there really wasn't a slow growing/adjustment period.

I hope to post more often. I need to get some pictures on here.

In the meantime-go check out www.babyhalfoff.com-my other 'baby'

We are back!!

We arrived home late last night from our 11 day San Diego trip. I am exhausted and wishing that I was still in Cali. I have a ton of pictures and fun stories to post, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Kyle still needs to get the pictures off the camera and I need to go to bed. We had a blast and made some great memories!
More to come.....

A Great Giveaway!

I have set up a new blog for my Cloth Diaper Business and to celebrate it's opening and the arrival of one of the BEST cloth diapers out there....I am hosting a giveaway! in collaboration with the Work At Home Mom's (WAHM'S) behind the AppleCheeks Diapers we are giving away an AppleCheeks Starter Kit. Details are on my DiaperStyle Blog or on the front page of the Diaper Style website!

Just wanted to share!

Sickness.

So the Flu has made it's rounds in my family. It started with Mckenna having a headache for 2 days. It quickly turned into a fever and a really bad achy body. Then Carson, Halle and Claire all had a fever and were throwing up. Next Claire and I got what Mckenna had. We are both still fighting it off, but it seem's like we are on the mend. Kyle has managed to avoid it all so far (what a blessing!). In true form, I can't find any pictures that I took over the last few weeks-augh!! I think that it is time that I learn how to download pictures off the camera!

Swinging Double Style

This video and picture is from December. I can't believe some of the things that the kids
come up with or for that matter, the things that we let them do-lol!
We got them another swing for Christmas, so now there is one for each of them.

I can't seem to get the video to work, I will have to have Kyle fix it when he gets back from church. I am home with Carson-he is sick today.

New Blog!

I am starting a new blog for cloth diapering info. and for posting specials and giveaways from my cloth diaper and more store, Diaper Style. I love to share how great cloth diapers are, but I want to re-focus my blog on my family. I am determined to keep it current and hopefully be able to print a book next year to keep for family history. I have a ton of scrapbooking stuff that I just don't use and figure my blog is the next best thing for keeping a record of what we are doing!
So...you are welcome to bug me when I am not keeping up on it, in fact you are encouraged to do so! It is so easy to let things slip, but I think that keeping a record of our lives is important and really only takes about 15 or so minutes to update.
So here it goes.....again!

Here are some cute pictures we took of Claire (for my website) yesterday at Kyle's family Easter Party.
There are more pictures to come of the rest of the kids during the easter egg hunt, but for now these are the only pictures that I can find on my computer.

Claire has started to walk. She takes tiny little steps, it is so cute.

I can't believe that she will be ONE yr. next month.
My little baby is growing way too fast!

Hello!! Anyone there?

Wow, I can't believe how fast time goes by. It has been a long time since my last post. There has been so much happening that I don't really know where to even begin?

We have had 3 birthdays in the last month. Halle turned 3 on March 23rd. We had a little family party for her complete with her highly requested Care Bear cake.

Kyle and Mckenna turned 37 and 7 on April 4th. Kyle and Mckenna started their birthday off by going to get free breakfast at JB's and then on to Krispy Kreme for their free dozen donuts, each (like i really needed 2 dozen donuts around here).

Mckenna got a new bike this year and she loves it! She really wanted a girly but sporty bike and I think we delivered. She has pegs on the front and back, it is a cool green color but has a black floral design on the frame. Kyle had Mckenna, Carson and Halle all on the bike at the same time riding around the circle (Mckenna sat side saddle on the frame, Carson was on the back pegs and Halle was on the front pegs), it sorta looked like a circus act. I wish that I had a picture of it, but I couldn't find the camera (next time I guess)

That night we went to Joes Farm house for dinner. They give you $10 off on your birthday, so we got $20 off !! We ate outside under the citrus trees, it was a beautiful day. Joe's is the perfect place for a dinner with 4 kids. They were able to run around and play until our food came. The food was good and afterward we walked across the little road to check out the farm. On the way back to the car the kids rolled down the grassy hills and then we booked it home so that Kyle could get to Priesthood.

I will add pictures in a day or 2, I have to get Kyle to get them off of the camera first.

A call for action!

There are a number of small business (that provide safe toys and clothing for your family) in a world of hurt right now. You can help! Please take a moment and read this and this for more information.
Thanks!

Another Giveaway!

Diaper Style is being featured on Momma In Flip Flops 2. I have offered a Thirsties Fab Fitted and Thirsties Diaper Cover for a giveaway....be sure to check it out on her blog and enter for your chance to win. Momma In Flip Flops 2 has on going giveaways, and lots of great reviews on products that we as mom's need and use often! So Fun!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving!!! I will post some pictures as soon as Kyle gets them off the camera and on too the computer. I spent the day today fighting crowds and loving the deals!
Even though I didn't have a lot of $$$$$ to spend this year, I can't seem to avoid the hustle and bustle of Black Friday, it starts the Christmas Holiday off for me. What a day:)!

Sweet Baby Kaiya

My good friend Angela was blessed with a precious baby girl on October 29th (she looks just like a Hodges baby-so cute!).

Kaiya was born with a heart defect and has been in the hospital being treated since birth. On November 12th Kaiya returned to live with her Heavenly Father.

Angela posted this message on her blog....."Last night, our sweet baby Kaiya went home to be with her Heavenly Father. She is now in the loving arms of her Heavenly Father. She no longer has to endure the pain. She got to spend her last day in the arms of her mother. We will miss her more than words can explain. We have faith that we will meet again one day and cradle her in our arms."

For those of you that know Angela and Kevin, Kaiya's funeral will be held this Friday (Nov. 21st) at 9:30 a.m. at Green Acres Cemetery located at 401 N. Hayden Rd. in Scottsdale.

A fund has been started to help pay for the Funeral services and other Medical bills. A link to the paypal account is on my friend, Jennifer's blog, if you would like to donate . There are also a few auctions going on to raise money (the funeral services alone will be around $10, 000.00).

Jennifer has thought of another way to help out the Hodges (I stole this from her blog too!)

"SO! I was just thinking that another great way to help the Hodges out with the horrid bills they will be paying is to buy a bag from Angie! She sells way cute hand bags, totes and diaper bags!

Here's a link to her online boutique: Afton and Elaine's!

Her shipping prices are very reasonable! Just remember that she's going to be in Arizona for a while and so your order will take a little longer to be shipped!

Just another way to help...and get a cute bag too! Who can resist that!? :) "

Anyway....I love the Hodges. I am so sad that they are going through such a hard thing. I think about Angela all day and pray for her to have some peace and comfort. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers!

Photo Shoot

Our camera bit the dust a few weeks ago and so Kyle has been playing with our new one using our kids as test subjects-what could be better?

Carson my handsome boy.
(We need to work on what is going on in the
background when taking pictures)

Last Sunday when I got out of the shower
I found Kyle giving Carson a BUZZ cut!
I about died. But at least Carson is proud of his buzz cut
and it is starting to grow on me.

Kyle built a light box for taking pictures of my inventory for my web site.
We decided to see if Claire would fit in it and take some pictures.
We will edit out the box edges before we print them up.

Claire has just started sitting up this week.
She is growing way to fast.....slow down baby girl!

Playing with Photo Shop!

We will be using Claire to model some of our cloth diapers for the website and she will be on my business cards.....too cute!

And the winners are.....!!!!!!

First a big thank you goes out to everyone that visited my blog during the bloggy carnival!

I had Halle draw 2 numbers out of a bowl to pick the winners (I know, so technical)

The winner of the first giveaway for the Paci Clip is comment #39 who said "It really doesn't sound as horrifyingly hard as I imagined. And there's no "dunking or swishing" needed these days? Yay!", congratulations Brianne!!

The winner of the second giveaway for the set of 6 Thirsties Fab Wipes is comment # 12 who said "I like the orange! I would use these instead of the homemade cloth wipes I made! Thanks for the chance to win. =) It's great to find contests cloth diaper related."
Congratulations Andrea!! I hope you enjoy these super soft cloth wipes! And it is good to find someone who understands my love of all things 'CLOTH' :)!

Thanks again!!!

Bloggy Giveaway #1

I am so excited!!! It’s the week of the quarterly Bloggy Carnival at BloggyGiveaways.com
In the past, I have always enter the giveaways hoping to win something :), this time in celebration of the opening of my new store, I am giving away 2 items (yea! my first giveaway).

This giveaway is for a Customized Paci Clip. You pick the ribbon and the saying from the many choices on the website!

And so how do you win?? Here are the rules!
1) Visit Diaper Style and take a peak around!
2) Leave me a comment telling me something that you did not know about cloth diapering, or what your favorite item is from the website.

*Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address if you are not a blogger

*I will randomly pick a number out of a hat on Friday Oct. 31st (after trick-or-treating)
and will notify the winner:)

The LUCKY winner will then get to choose a ribbon and name/saying for the paci clip. It will be shipped to your door in about 2 weeks!

Good Luck

***Through Oct. 31st, I will be offering a 10% discount on your whole order (whether it be cloth diapers, baby carriers, mama products etc.)!!! Just use coupon code "first10" at checkout!

And remember: These aren't your mama's cloth diapers!

Bloggy Giveaway #2

My second giveaway will be for 1 set of 6 of the Thirstie's Fab wipes.

"The average household will spend about $800* in wipes from birth to potty. Switching to washable baby wipes, is a simple solution to put money back in your pocket.
Thirsties Fab Wipes measure 8x8 inches and are 2 ply. A textured cotton velour on one side to assist with bigger wipe-ups and delicate microfleece on the other side for drying or for lighter messes. These wipes will fold and fit perfectly in a recycled wipes container or warmer, or look great stacked on a shelf or changing table displaying all the beautiful colors!


How to win...Here are the rules!
1) - visit Diaper Style
2) There are many other uses for fab wipes besides just for babies. Just tell me how YOU might use the FAB WIPES and what your color choice would be.

Good Luck

Bloggy Carnival

Feeling Generous?

Today is NieNie Day!!! Please help support this amazing family.
Go here to join all the fun!

There are MANY great auctions going on with all the proceeds benefiting the Nielson family.
And don't forget them in your prayers!

First Day of FIRST grade!

Mckenna is now in 1st grade! Here is her first grade photo shoot taken by Kyle (yes, I got mad at him for having her lay on the sidewalk in her new school clothes!) I can't believe that she is already a BIG first grader. I was surprised at how different first grade is than kindergarten. They expect so much more out of them, when really they are just a summer time older. When we went to curriculem night Mckenna's teacher was talking about how they would know their multiplication to 12 by the end of the school year.....WHAT???? Starting in September she will also have about a half hour worth of homework every night. She is only 6 for crying out loud! I am blown away by how much she has to learn to learn this year. She is already getting extra crabby and emotional. She has pretty much kicked Halle out her room at night because she claims to need her sleep because 1st grade is much harder than kindergarten.
Here she is with one of her friends from her class last year. They are happy to be in the same class again this year. Mckenna was pointing to their teacher from last year, we will miss Mrs. Standage, she is an amazing teacher!


On a side note: Halle is a little night owl and usually is up later than me, so no one really wants to share a room with her. Whatever room she ends up in, you can guarantee that she will keep them up until at least 9 or 9:30. Sometimes we keep her out of the bedroom until the other kids fall asleep, but she doesn't seem to mind too much because she gets to stay up late with her dad and eat cereal. Halle usually doesn't fall asleep until between 10pm-11pm.

NieNie Dialogues

One of my favorite blogs to read is NieNie Dialogues. Stephanie and her Husband were in a private plane crash last week and are in need of prayers and support. Please check out her blog by clicking the "I read Nie" button.

Claire's Blessing day

Claire was blessed on August the 3rd. Kyle's mom has made each of my girls a Blessing dress, this year she made it and sent from Palmyra, where they are on their mission. As usual, the dress was perfect! Thanks Marie!! We are lucky to have almost all of our family here in town with the exception of my Brother Matthew and his family (they are in Texas) and Kyle's parent on their mission.


It was a wonderful day. Kyle gave Claire a beautiful blessing. Claire did great during the blessing. She just laid there and looked up at the men with her big blue eyes! She is a keeper that's for sure!

Prepare yourselves....

I have some time and Kyle finally made these pictures accessible from my computer so I have a ton of posts to catch up on!