Anna's 2nd Birthday!!! (And a whole lot of catch-up)

Merry Christmas From the Rogers! I can't believe that Christmas is this weekend! This month has just flown by and now after Christmas we have about 3-4 more weeks and then Baby Cole will be here! We are so excited to have another little baby in the house! Monkeying around.....these two are starting to be better friends, I think that once I'm busy with the new baby they might play a little more than they do now.

Anna's 2nd Birthday was the 18th of December and we just couldn't be more proud to be her parents. She requested a Tinkerbell (bell-bell) party and we gave her just that. We kept her party small with a few friends and of course the Grandma's came over. I don't know if my friends will ever know how much they help fill the void that I sometimes feel about my parents not being here to celebrate these special milestones in my children's lives.

Her tinkerbell cupcake cake with about 5 lbs. of frosting on it, it was good though!

She loves her new pillow pet and her tinkerbell jammies, she wants to sleep in those jammies every night and she carries around her pillow pet with her all over the house

She got lots of great toys and took them right over to daddy to have him open them.

She went to the doctor yesterday for her well-child check-up, she weighs 28 lbs. and is 34 inches tall, and is at the 75 percentile for both heighth and weight. She has had a little growth spurt, I'm hoping she will keep growing taller and taller, it's no fun being short! We are so happy for another happy, healthy year with her and look forward to many, many more!!! Thanks to everyone who came and made it a special day for our little Anna Kulia!!!

UglyChristmas Sweater Party!!!

We had our annual Christmas party earlier this month and it was a good time for all! We all wore our ugliest Christmas sweaters and the boys looked smashing ;) It is my favorite party of the year! We all made yummy food and played Dirty Santa and this year Chris and Clare won for the most creative Dirty Santa gift, they wrapped up a huge photo of some random family that was left in the crawl space of their house when then bought it. Pam opened the picture and asked, "who the hell is this???" it was great! Chris and Clare


Our new friends James and Jane, they fit right in with our goofy group!

All of the handsome husbands, Otto's sweater was handmade and he jingled wherever he went :)

I'm so grateful for all of my friends. I just don't know what we would do without them, all of our kids are friends as well and it's always a great time when we get together!

Brock's 4th Birthday!!!

I can't believe that my little man is four years old! Time really does fly by! We had his Birthday at our house once again, it was a pretty day out and the kids loved playing in the backyard while the adults sat in the air conditioned house :) He requested a pinata again this year and he picked out the same one he had last year. The kids had a blast hitting that thing! His birthday party was of course Transformer themed, complete with a cool Transformer cake that had actual Transformer guys on it, he was way impressed!


Brock and all of his loot!

Didn't mean to put this pic in but doesn't Pam look really happy :)

Here is his cake without the toys on it............

These weren't really the pictures I wanted to put on here but that's okay we still had a blast and Brock's guest of honor his Uncle Timmy was able to make it down, my son thinks his Uncle Timmy hung the moon! It really is a shame that we don't live closer to each other my son would be over at his house all the time! Thanks for all of our friends and family that came and helped my little man celebrate his special day!

Goings On At The Rogers' Home

We have had a pretty good couple of months, I'm enjoying this stage of pregnancy, I only get sick every once in a while and I'm not too terribly big just yet, Cole is my most active baby of all and I just love feeling him move around in there. Brock is very curious about Cole, he'll ask me quite often what Baby Cole is doing in my belly and I'll tell him that he's just growing and growing and he usually answers me by saying, "mom, I think baby Cole is doing some flips in there". It's pretty cute and if meeting my cousins baby Kiera is any indication of how Anna will be with a new baby I am in for it! She is more help than anyone truly needs :)

Anna has been very interested in sleeping with her baby dolls and I just think it's cute! It's definitely a difference between a little boy that snuggles up to Transformers and a little miss that loves on babies!

Oh Gus! He is 7 or 8 months old now and we just love this big fat thing! He's by far my favorite dog I've ever owned! He is great with the kids, other than chewing up all of their toys, and we just love him!


My cuties on the way to church, if you look really close you can see all of the mosquito bites all over Brock's face, he got attacked at his Gma's house the night before this pic.

Anna singing while riding on her four wheeler

We are in birthday mode full swing around here. Joe's birthday is today and Brock's birthday is soon to follow and then his party. I've been planning for his party for a month now and I hope it all turns out great! Pics to follow!!!

going private

Due to some scary comments from some stupid annonymous people I am choosing to block any/all readers that I don't want reading about me and my family. Please list your email addresses if you want to read my blog anymore, sorry I know it's a pain but for my family's safety this is a step I need to take!

Brock is relieved.......

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday for an ultrasound and we found out what Brock already knew, we are having another Boy!!!! Brock is so excited for a brother it's pretty cute! We have a first name picked out but are still working on his middle name. I would like to name him after my brother but I don't want him to feel left out that everyone else in the family has a Hawaiian middle name except him, so we are still working out the details but for now this new baby will be named Baby Cole and he will be here sometime in the middle of January!!! We are very excited and happy!!!

Love

I just love this picture of my mom when she was about Anna's age sitting with my Grandma and Grandpa. They all are truly missed, not a day goes by without me thinking about my mom and what a hole is in my life without her here! I would just love to ask her mothering questions and if I did this or that when I was a baby just to have something to compare my children to. I love ya Mama and can't wait until the day that we meet again!

Brock and his funny stories

My Brock is 3 1/2 now and he sure does say some funny things! About two days ago he was trying to take a toy away from Anna and it was stretchy and as they fought over it it stretched farther and farther, well without thinking I told Brock to let it go and give it to his sister and he did just that, he let go and it popped her right on her bare chest. I was scolding him and made him come over and look at the red spot that was on her and he innocently looked at her nipple and said, "oh no and there's another spot, I'm so sorry Anna". I couldn't correct him I was laughing so hard. Such a funny boy!

If you've talked to me in the past month you've probably already heard this story but I'm writing it down for memories sake.
We were in walmart at the checkout and I was putting stuff on the conveyor belt not paying attention to my surroundings and I heard Brock excitingly repeating "Ahoy Matey, Ahoy Matey!" and I looked to see what he was talking about and there was an old man in line in front of us with a patch on his eye, I didn't know what to say and before I could find my words he's asking the man if he knew Captain Hook or Mr. Smeed. The lady in line behind me was about to wet her pants she was laughing so hard and I was just wishing to get out of there as fast as I could. It was just too funny! Then about a month later when we went back to Walmart for the next time we saw another man with an eye patch, and Brock turned to me and said, "Mom there's another pirate they are all over this place!" That boy just keeps me laughing constantly he's just a hoot!

Anna's 18 Months Old

Anna I can't believe it's been 18 months since I first held you in my arms! You are very independent and want to do EVERYTHING your brother does! You are a little daredevil, you can climb up the rockwall of our swingset and

Anna, I can't believe it's been 18 months since I first held you in my arms! You are very independent and want to do EVERYTHING your brother does! You are a little daredevil, you can climb up the rockwall of our swingset and slide down the fast slide all by yourself. You just love to climb and in fact the other day I took you and your brother to a bakery to get a little treat and I brought home a dozen cookies for your daddy to take to work and after your nap I thought you were playing in Brock's room and I went to check on you and I found you standing on top of the kitchen table covered in chocolate and all that was left of those dozen cookies were four of them and lots of crumbs! Needless to say you didn't eat much dinner that night your belly was full of sugar!

Your new face to make when we get the camera out is the "cheese" face. You say "cheese'' as soon as you see the camera it's pretty cute!

Words you can say: cheese, please, Brock, mama, daddy, mine, bubbles, ball, shoes, no-no, and I'm sure I'm missing a couple more!

At your last doctor's appointment I can't remember the exact numbers but you were 90th for weight, 50th for height and 15th for head. You are just growing like a little weed and love to dance and dance, whenever anyone sings a song on tv or for you, you clap and spin around in circles. You love all things girly, playing with your dolls and feeding them bottles. You love for me to put a diaper on them and you just laugh and laugh. You are a joy to have around and we are so thankful for you!

Love ya Baby Anna!

Wow.....it's been a long time!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted anything to my blog! We'll just credit that to the picture below. I've been feeling like crap and I was very very moody so I decided to take a pregnancy test, so there I was peeing on a stick in the Target bathroom with my two hoodlums running wild and when I looked at the stick it said negative, just at that moment I was thinking to myself that it was probably for the best because I've certainly got my hands full with these two. I washed my hands and went to throw the test in the trash and to my suprise it had turned positive! I just stared at it in disbelief. Joe and I had been taking precautions and we decided that since he had graduated from college and we would hopefully have a full time job soon that we could go ahead and get off the pill, well I was off the pill approximately two weeks and BAM I'm pregnant with number four! I certainly was suprised! Our newest bundle of joy--who Brock swears is going to be a brother for him--is due around January 24th. Joe is very sad that the baby won't get here before the end of the year for tax purposes, but I'm glad that Anna's birthday(12/18) and the new baby will have a decent amount of time between them. Christmas is going to be kinda sucky because I will be too far along to travel, but I might beg my doc to let me go to Memphis to be with my brother and the rest of our fam down there!

I have been pretty sick but I think that it is finally coming to an end! I haven't been sick in two days and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the worst is over! We are so blessed and thankful to Heavenly Father for giving us another child to care for and raise!

Memphis Zoo and Easter

We have been busy but I haven't been blogging about it! First things first Joe is almost done with school!!!!! I am so proud of him and can't wait for him to get a grown up job that he loves! He has worked so hard to support our family and go to school all at the same time, it's been challenging for the both of us but I couldn't be more proud of my husband! We also got a new roof courtesy of our insurance company and of course Joe! It looks good and as soon as we get the trim all repainted I'll post pictures! I painted our kitchen and other than a couple of touch ups it is entirely finished and I am very happy with the way that it has turned out! Here are so photos of some of the happenings at the Rogers' home!

My little babies all ready to go to church Easter morning. I got Anna's dress at a consignment sale for 4 bucks! I love a bargain!
We actually attended three egg hunts this year. Let me tell you I was definitely egg hunted out by the end of it!

This was Anna's first real hunt and she was too cute! She found her first egg and she wouldn't budge from that spot until I opened the egg and gave her the candy! Once she had her candy in her mouth she was good to go on and hunt for more eggs! She's no dummy she knew where the good stuff was :)

We went to Memphis a couple of weeks ago and we took the kids to the zoo, let me tell you this zoo is worth a trip to Memphis(especially if the only zoo you've ever been to is the Little Rock zoo where all the animals are either missing from their exhibits or close to death) it was a little pricey but it was worth it for Brock! He has been talking about going to the zoo for months! We caught the sea lion show and it was so neat! This sea lion put on a really good show for us!

Daddy and Anna!

Love their polar bear exhibit!

Lazy Hippo! This thing was HUGE!















This was the only decent picture of the kids! They are growing up so quickly!

We had a great Easter weekend and now there is more and more rain! Yesterday we were walking to our cars after church and Brock and I almost got swept away by the downpour! The water was up to his knees poor kid! I am definitely ready for some warmer (not hot) weather!

just some thoughts

I haven't written a blog in quite awhile so I thought I would type a little up while the kiddos are taking a nap. This weather has been beautiful! I absolutely love this time of year with the windows open and the kiddos playing outside all day long it is just wonderful! I was reading back to some of my older post, I really enjoy how this blog is like a journal for me to remember all the important times in my life whether they be good or bad. In a couple of weeks it will mark the anniversary of my Dad's passing. It will be five years. Wow I just can't believe that it has been 5 years since I've heard his voice, seen his smiling face or have had one of his hugs. I miss him terribly. The other day we were looking at some pictures and I asked Brock who he thought this pic of my dad was and he said....hmmmm....I don't know. It just makes me so sad that he truly doesn't know my dad, I feel like my kids were shorted in a way by not having my mom and dad in their lives. I just try to make up for it by being a good mom all though I fall short most days! I have made a new goal for myself and I feel like maybe if I write it down I will be held more accountable to myself to follow through with it, I have started to read my scriptures again. I feel like with my calling I am running around on Sundays and don't get many spiritual moments so I have felt like I am lacking a bit spiritually and I don't like letting Satan get his foot in the door! I feel like when I start my day out on the right foot it helps me be a better mom and wife.
I have been doing a lot of baking lately and sure do love it! I made homemade cinnamon rolls last night and they were so good that was all I ate for dinner! I made Joe take the rest of them to work with him so that they weren't here to tempt me! I was watching a show the other day called too fat for 15 and it was just so sad the kids on the show were so obese that I feel like their parents should be locked up for child endangerment! But the nutritionist on the show said something that hit home, she said that these children were so used to eating fast food and already prepared foods that they didn't know what to do with food that was prepared and took time and love to make, so that has been something I have been working on, I have been trying to make a lot more dinners and to be home around dinner time in order to cook for my kiddos and I have enjoyed it! Well, I've rambled enough for one post and I hope that everyone has a great weekend and enjoys this wonderful spring weather!

Family Pics

We finally got some long overdue family pictures done by a friend of ours and we love how they turned out! The kids actually cooperated and I was so happy for that!

The one of the kids in front of the door is my very favorite and I can't wait to blow it up and find a cute frame for it! My little rugrats are alot of fun to be around and I love being their mommy! I am not going to pretend that it's all roses and rainbows around here, I am a referree most days and that drives me nuts but for the most part we have a lot of fun in the Rogers home! I am currently battling pink eye and we have all been sick on and off for the past 4 weeks! This winter has been rough on us but I think that I can finally say that we are all on the mend and it's a wonderful feeling! I wouldn't wish sickness on anyone! Anna is now 14 months old and she is already talking! She says "shoes" and she can usually be seen wearing at least one shoe all day long, she yells "brock" down the hall when she wants to pester her brother, she says "bye bye" and when you ask her if she wants to take a bath she pulls up her shirt and pats her belly. When we were taking our pictures she wouldn't smile unless we said "anna, are you hungry?" and then she would grin and nod her head yes. My child loves to eat! She eats and eats and eats and then when she's done in her highchair she gets down and roams around our plates to see what we can share with her. She is a funny little thing and we just enjoy her!

Our Newest Renovation

Joe and I decided that we were ready to tackle the dreaded 70's orange kitchen, this project needed to be done when we moved in but we weren't ready to sink thousands of dollars into a house that we wouldn't end up making money on in the long run, we had some bad winter weather lately and Joe wasn't able to work for about two weeks straight and he needed a projects or two, he painted our foyer and hall a light tan color and then we decided to do the kitchen, I love how it turned out!

Here are the awful orange counters and backsplash and the white cabinets.

We started by painting the countertops with a special paint,

Then we put in a gold/silvery backsplash(this is my favorite part of the new kitchen)
We weren't going to paint the cabinets but after the counters and backsplash were done we decided that we had to just do the whole thing, so we picked out a brown that we thought would go well and finished it off.

Here is the completely finished project! I couldn't be happier with it! Pictures don't do it justice! And the best part is we probably only spent $400 on the entire thing!

I sure am glad I married such a handyman! He is amazing!!