You've come a long way baby

Our happy little family once Cami decided to come join us!

I know this is a little late...that seems to be how life is right now. BUT I couldn't skip a small celebration of Cami.

Cami turned 6 a couple weeks ago and I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Cami was such a miracle. She saved me from a huge loneliness. Even still I am amazed that we have her and she is really ours to keep. She came into our lives at the perfect time and the perfect place. She was such a perfect answer to so so so many prayers and pleadings. Seeing her sweet face reminds me every day that Heavenly Father is merciful and loving.

Cami is by nature a very sensitive sweet girl. She can't stand to see someone hurt or wronged. She can't stand even Disney movies where something semi scary or mean is happening. Every time Taryn gets in trouble she runs to her room and cries and hugs Taryn and tells her its OK. She is a good sister. She begs to hold Jocelyn every chance she gets and is really cute singing and talking to her. Lately Cami and Taryn have enjoyed playing steamroller and WWF in the living room and it is so funny to watch them enjoy each other in a crazy way.

After school Cami often comes running with her arms open to hug the nearest sister or mom. After work Cami plows Brent down hugging his legs. At bedtime she calls us in at least 36 times each night for just one more hug or kiss. She is so affectionate and loving.

She can't lie-at least not for long. She always comes to me in tears and confesses. Her teacher at school has told me very frequently what a smart good girl Cami is. That she plays well, and does her work well, and is never in trouble. She really works hard to do a good job of whatever she is doing. She can read almost anything she wants and is great with numbers too.

I really appreciate that Cami is an easy child to parent. She can have a completely rational conversation and accept the decision whether or not she likes it. She makes me feel good about myself even though I really can't take credit for her good little spirit.

Every day I am more thankful for my beautiful blue eyed beauty and for the happiness she has added to our family. We really scored getting Cami as a daughter.

Newborn Cami all ready so cooperative...

3-6 month Cami-she is still rarely found without pink kitty

Daddy's girl through and through

Cami about 8 or 9 months old. How could anyone not love that little happy face?

Cami about 9-10 months old all ready giving us fabulous family outings.

Cami about 12 months eating the plants...and confessing.

Cami blow terrific snot bubbles and giving us good laughs.

Cami 18 months old staring out at Lake Superior

Cami at age 2 with two of the cutest pony tails ever.

Cami age 2 1/2 loving the sunshine and soccer and making mommy love her even more.

Cami being a terrific sister age 4

Cami a few months ago. She gets cuter and more endearing every day.

I love you forever my sweet sweet Camilla.

Pre birthday ice bash

The week before Cami's birthday we still hadn't planned a party. So I wanted to do something exciting for her but I wasn't sure I had a party in me. Brent came home from work saying he'd found cheep tickets for Disney on Ice and I was sold. I was a little nervous to take Jocelyn out but I knew the girls would absolutely love it. So we did a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas and back. We dashed down for dinner at the Rainforest cafe. The girls were a little nervous about the snake in the tree and the thunderstorms until Brent took them on a walk and showed them it was fake and very cool. We then headed over to the stadium where the girls changed into their Disney princess garb and found the cotton candy (which was expensive enough to make up for the discounted tickets : ) ). They are truly girls after my own heart. So they settled in and watched the show and ate cotton candy out of their pixie hallow hats...They both were captivated the whole time and it was so fun to see their faces. I think Taryn's favorite was seeing Aerial ice skate but Cami was all about the fairies. Jocelyn was a really good sport and only made a peep when she was starving. We headed home and after Brent was properly caffeinated we made it safely home at 2 am. Needless to say the girls were tired the next day but what a great night of memories! I love my girls and thanks to Cami for giving up the friends party in favor of a date with all of us!

Cami making friends with the animals

The girls and the fish-all of whom were named Nemo, even the ones that looked nothing like Nemo.

Brent is so lucky to be surrounded by so many beautiful girls! (Yes he does think so)

The girls hoping to meet are real live princess at the stadium (no such luck but they did of course see them-just not close)

Taryn enjoying (and not sharing) the cotton candy and flower hat....

Cinderella/Cami also in her hat and loving (and sharing) her cotton candy.

This is how their faces were all night long...

Sears....three kids in an hour

So I have been meaning to take the girls to get their pictures taken but taking all three kids seemed daunting and making three trips to take them individually seemed daunting...SO when Brent's parents were able to be here to help I hurried and made an appointment. BUT the catch was Cami had school an hour after the photo studio opened. SO we tried to do all three girls in the space of an hour....This is how it turned out...Not spectacular but their lives have been captured for yet another year...and hopefully Jocelyn will learn how to smile more on demand before we do this again. Incidently the girls have come up with another nick name for her (besides the ever present baby faye nick name). They call her google eyes (from a book they read) and hopefully she takes it as a compliment as she is old enough to realize what they are saying. Big thanks to Grandma and Papa for helping with crowd control!

Jocelyn Faye 3 months (almost)

Taryn 4 years (and a little)
Camilla 6 years (almost)

Jocelyn's blessing day

Since last weekend was a long one and some of the family could travel down here we decided to bless Jocelyn. Brent's parents and a couple of my sisters were able to make it as well as the local family. I always love blessings because of the glimpse of the baby's spirit it gives you. I have always been in love with Jocelyn for being willing to come to our family but I very much appreciate her little spirit too. She is a fairly easy going baby. She rarely gets worked up despite being carted around the universe and smothered by two older adoring sisters. She consistently sleeps 7-8 hours through the night. She is beginning to really smile and have conversations with us. She seems to be on the verge of rolling and is getting such cute chubbies. We feel so lucky to have her. And in true fashion of a third child we forgot to take pictures until we got home and had family dinner with everyone. Here are some of the highlights of my beautiful, perfect baby...WOW I almost can't believe she is ours and we get to keep her!!!

Daddy and princess #3

Daddy Mommy and Jocelyn Faye-picture taken by Cami-impressive huh? She's secretly been practicing (see last post).

The power of the priesthood....lookin' good guys..lookin' good!

Ok for reals-Uncle Glen, Mark, Dad, Me, Papa, and Uncle Josh-I'm so lucky to have so many men who love me!

Rebekah, Amy, Mary Esther, Sarah and Jocelyn-(The rice girls)

Mom, Grandma Rice and ME!
ME and great Grandma Jennings (great in every sense of the word).

Papa and Grandma Weight and ME!

Self?Kid photography

Lately every time I download pictures from the camera I find a few extra ones I didn't take...After investigation Cami and Taryn are great self/closet photographers....Here are a few examples...

What we've been up to lately.....

We haven't been up to too much lately...Brent got a cold, Taryn shared...Cami got the barfies again....Jocelyn has become very consistent with her 7-8 hours of sleep a night...We cleaned out toys...Moved furniture around so Cami and Taryn could share a bedroom and finally set up the crib....Anyway here is our latest..

Jocelyn is an Angel (just in case you notice she is sleeping on her stomach it was only so people could see the wings in a picture...she normally when not getting her picture taken for 2 seconds does sleep on her back)

Taryn is happy even when overflowing....

Cami is a fantastic big sister and helper while I fold laundry...

Cami's latest

The other night at dinner Taryn spilled her rice all down her shirt and said "oh dang it!" and was actually very sad...
Cami jumped up to hug her and whispered to her "Tar, don't worry. No matter what you are still a child of God."

Her favorite thing to say to Brent (or anyone really) "Dad, You're WEIRD!" (We are assuming this is the influence of starting school and being around other children)

The girls started sharing a room a few nights ago. After the first night we were complimenting them on how quiet they had stayed. Cami smiled and said, "There was a whole lot of whispering that went on."

If you didn't get one by mail....

Weight Family 2009 Top Moments to Celebrate…
(In no particular order)

* Jocelyn made a surprise early entrance to the Weight gang and she is a well behaved, cuddly,beautiful baby! WE SCORED!!!
* Cami started kindergarten and could apparently read much to our surprise.
* Taryn started preschool and LOVES it because of a fabulous teacher!
* Brent’s company sold some of their Beta machines and is still operating.
* Amy got to sport a huge baby belly and enjoy the miracle of a little nudger.
* Amy is no longer hugely pregnant and can once again bend over, hold kids on her lap, drive without adjusting the seat, and can give up the Tums…
* Brent ordered new furniture from a furniture store (a first to not have hand me downs) for the girls and he didn’t have a heart attack when he paid.
* The girls rocked it in dance camps and swimming lessons all summer with cousins. Hip hop rocks and princess camp was magical!
* We all survived the (swine?) flu.
* Cami sang in the school choir and even was brave enough to do a solo speaking part.
* Taryn got a two wheeler and is as good as Lance Armstrong with training wheels.
* Both girls mastered the art of the slip and slide.
* Amy discovered that even though trailer camping is not REAL camping, a heater does make it a lot more enjoyable and she worries a lot less about freezing kids even when one of them smashes and looses a thumb nail in the process.
* Cami whooped it up on the monkey bars and mini zip line all by herself.
* Cami had her first birthday party and has dreamed about the fun ever since.
* Taryn had the biggest food baby ever made of strawberry lemonade and it ended up all over mommy’s lap in the restaurant and we got to give the waiter a BIG tip.
* Brent survived hiking the narrows and several other hikes and camp outs with a bunch of scouts and only walked funny for a few days.
* Cami learned how to be aggressive on a soccer field and how great if feels to score and win. The best was watching her cheer for herself when she did score.
* Taryn got to start speech classes and can now make a T sound… (And n. m, and f)
* No one fell into the lion/tiger/elephant/giraffe enclosure at the zoo while getting a good look.
* No one got lost, maimed, or too grumpy on the Rice family Father’s day camp out except the camp ranger….
* Amy and Brent hit the big 10 year wedding anniversary and still really like each other! They celebrated with a fun trip to Zion National Park for several days without the kiddos.
* Brent finally enjoyed a holiday without working at Thanksgiving and even took a couple days off when he got the flu and when we had our baby. It was great to see him!

**Check out our blog http://weightfamily.blogspot.com/ for updates throughout the year.

Big love and what Jesus makes....

Taryn keeps us laughing and guessing everyday. Last Sunday we took the girls to the outside nativity at the temple. As we got in the car to go we were talking to the girls about Christmas and Jesus is why we celebrate etc...We think we are having a great building spiritual moment with the kids and after a minute of thinking Taryn busts out with "Mommy, do Heavenly Father and Jesus make pooh?"

That's my Girl!

The other day while folding laundry I look over and this is what I see...

Yes I did save Jocelyn and Taryn does have a lot of BIG LOVES to give.

ps-Taryn has developed this extreme sense of fashion. She mixes and matches a lot and wears dresses with tights every chance she gets...with regular shirts underneath.... I try to persuade but I figure if she's into it then its really not worth the fight....just in case you were wondering what/why she is wearing what she is wearing in these pictures...

Heavy head

My mommy insists on putting these dang bows in my hair everyday and they get so heavy I just can't even hold my head up! Can you believe it?!

decking the hall and other december highlights

'Tis the season to be jolly and it really has been a very happy time at our house. How could it not be with this looking at me everyday? December has been a busy month with decorating, choir concerts, dance recitals, and new baby times. So more than a narrative on the month so far I will just post pictures and you can imagine the fun yourself...

Cami is truly helpful these days with anything we ask of her. She sets a mean table and can scramble like a banshee for a burp cloth...she was genuinely good at helping with the tree. I think Santa is definitely going to find this little lady.

Taryn begged and negotiated and in the end got the honor of putting the angel on the top of the tree. She is such a passionate intense child. Every minute of the Christmas season is appreciated by her...and we try hard not to laugh at EVERYTHING she does...note Brent trying to restrain.

This is how Jocelyn helped with the decorating....Perfectly perfect!

Cami performed in her school choir and even did a speaking part. She volunteered herself to do this and we were quite surprise based on our experience with her stage fright/anxiety. We were a little concerned she would get up there and not be able to do her part then have a horrible experience to reinforce her fears. BUT she surprised us all by just getting up there and saying her part word perfect without so much as trembling. This was definitely one of those really proud moments of parenting where you just look at your kid and tear up with happiness for them. Dang Hormones! She faced her fear and she didn't let it stop her. I was really tempted to stand up and yell "THAT"S MY BABY!!! SHE"S MINE!! YES MY GIRL!!!" but I figured it would have put an end to her desire to be in choir. Yesterday Jocelyn tried out the Bumbo for the first time. She's got the skill but is missing the love so far. Mommy however definitely loved it and Jocelyn will become more acquainted immediately.

The annual dance recital was fabulous. Both girls knew their parts and had tons of fun. It was way more organized and shorter this year so we had more fun too. We did have a minor incident of Cami curlers REALLY curling and her hair looked like a finger in the outlet version of 80's hair. Brent and I were both in tears laughing (as privately as possible) and Cami was in tears crying...We managed to get a pick through it and fix all the make up smears and only be 15 minutes late...I think she was ok with the hair after the initial shock and we washed it out to leave no evidence. Taryn did a great job of her dance and of picking her nose at the same time...yet another proud moment of parenting. Also she stopped and wouldn't get off the stage at the end of the dance because she was so busy squinting into the dark audience looking for me. I had to yell way to go Taryn really loud so she would hear me and then she smiled and ran off. I asked the girls to strike a pose afterwards and these are as good as it got...

This is just a ps and has nothing to do with the above post. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how when Taryn is eating and she likes what she is eating she will start unconsciously humming. You can totally tell how good she thinks the food is by whether she is humming or not and by how loud she is humming. I hope she is always so happy go lucky.