First Bath!

Need I say More?

Lucy and Animals!

Lucy is a sweet little girl that loves animals. When James and the family went to Mount Rushmore she got to see tons of different animals. Here she is with the burros on Iron Mountain Road.

Who's Guilty?

I thought this picture was priceless. Thomas and Lucy are here with their cousions Kyle and Breanne. Grandpa Lawson caught these kids just a little too early in the morning.

The Circus, an unenthusiastic yeah.

We heard that the circus was in town and thought, "the kids can't miss this. We HAVE to go." Well, it was the type of thing that is meant to drain the money out of your pockets and we had not budgeted for that type of fun. So first, I had to say no to all the things that the kids wanted. Luckily for the kids, we sat next to some friends that were nice enough to share their Cotton Candy. Second, it was a bit rainy. Aren't circuses in tents? I thought so. The rain got worse and worse and a fun filled night at the circus turned out to be a cold, wet, short trip to see an elephant. Someday we will really see the circus. On the bright side, we learned that Lucy is a huge fan of Cotton Candy (does that really surprise anyone?)

Dylan's Baby Blessing

Dylan's Blessing went really well and we were glad to have Grandma and Grandpa Lawson and Brooke and her family to celebrate with us. Here are two pictures of our happily growing Family.

Confessions of an Over-Stressed Mom

Wow, the jump from two to three kids has been crazy. But I am so grateful for this new little baby. I feel like I can appreciate so much more. A thoughtful call, ten minutes with my book, or kisses from the kids. I love being a mom and Love being Thomas, Lucy, and Dylan's Mom. Not every day goes great and I am learning to let go of control (or the feeling of being in control. I have a theory that I was never in control, I just thought I was). I am trying to just soak up all the joy motherhood has to offer and not let everyday stresses over rule my life (and that can be hard with the up coming move). I guess what I am trying to say is I am trying to find joy in the journey. I just remember what President Thomas S. Monson said that someday I will miss the toys scattered, the piles of laundry and the fingerprints EVERYWHERE! (That talk can be found here)

Our New Little Man!

Welcome to the World

Dylan Lawson Britsch

May 10th 2009

2:05 a.m.

7 pounds 1 ounce

20 1/2 inches long

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I got the best mother day gift anyone could ask for, an adorable little boy! He was born at 2:05 a.m. He is a little guy at 7 pounds and 1 ounce. I can't wait for everyone to meet him. We are still working on a name, but we have some ideas. Pictures are to come, check back often! Oh, and I also got some roses and tulips from James and the kids. Aren't they nice?

The Waiting Place

That is where I am right now. Dr. Seuss was right, it is not a good place to be. We are waiting for the baby and waiting for our house to sell. We are waiting to move and we are waiting to send out news. Just waiting.


From Oh, the Places you'll go!

The Waiting Place......for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow.Everyone is just waiting.Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pantsor a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

Excitement on Tax Day!

April 15th generally comes and goes without a second thought except for this year. It turns out I had some preterm contractions and earned a night at the hospital. We are fine now, it's just that the baby is a touch too little to be greeting us right now (34 weeks). So I am learning to "take it easy" and keeping the baby in. It was a small scare and we are hoping to see the baby soon, mid-May.

Yeah, It's Done!!

Lucy Is Potty Trained! Yippiee! So I decided that I was done buying diapers, so I stopped using them. All day today Lucy has been wearing big girl underpants and she hasn't had one accident! We even made a trip to Wal-mart, still no problems. She is still wearing a pull-up at night, but at least we have ditched the diapers. Now how do I avoid diapers with this next baby? Still haven't figured that one out.


Hooray for underpants!!!!

Happy Birthday, James!

So I am so sorry it is going to be a lot harder than I thought to keep up with my blog. Without the Internet at home I have to bring all the pictures and stuff with me. It stinks. But I did promise I would post about James' birthday. It was fun. We went out for Mexican, went to the movies, and ate cake. His birthday cake of choice was a Fudge Ribbon Cake, which is a dense chocolate cake with Cheesecake swirled throughout it. The only problem is that a "Leprechaun" got a hold of the cake and turned the swirls green. Every bite I kept expecting a hint of mint. But it was good no the less. I will try to post a recipe soon.

Imagine it looking something like this only green: So The birthday was fun and the cake was good, but the surprise that I made for him was a mint truffle. It was a recipe that I found on Bakerella. They are so simple to make and oh so yummy. you have to try them. They are made from mint Oreos, cream cheese, and chocolate chips. For a decadent treat you can't get anymore simple than that. Here is the recipe, enjoy!!

Our trip to the Ballet!

We were lucky enough to get a private ballet performance. We thought that it was so good and entertaining that we recorded an excerpt and decide to share it with everyone. We hope you can enjoy it as much as we did.

As A Result...

Well, we have decided to cut our tv and internet services. As a result I have had time for projects. I have made a tiered skirt for Lucy and a rag quilt for the new baby. Both were so easy that I can't wait to get more fabric and make more. I just wish I had more choices for fabric than just Wal-mart.

I have also been able to make something for James' birthday on St. Patrick's Day but I can't post about that until after his b-day. (I don't want to give away any surprises.)

Oh No....!

We caught Lucy in the lotion AGAIN! Of course it had to be the expensive Eucerin.  Just imagine how the rug, couch, and surrounding blanket looked. What a mess!

What's So Funny?

I was looking through some old pictures and found one that brought back a flood of memories. When my sisters and I get together we can not stop laughing. I guess it has been happening since we were little. I think I am about five or six in this picture. 

What is it with Zoos?

One thing people may not know about our family is that we love zoos. Every place that we live we find a way to go to the nearest zoo. While in Nebraska we have found that we have been to the Denver zoo quite a few times. So with our latest trip we saw a theme developing and I thought I would share. 

This first picture is the summer of 2005. 

This second picture was taken in September 2007. 

And Finally, this picture was taken February 2009. It seems we are averaging every other year.

Can it be done?

Today I am attempting the impossible. I am going "unplugged" for a whole day. I am going to turn off my computer and television and unplug both of them. At least I'll have the phone and therefore will not "fall off the face of the earth" (well, I hope not). 

So here goes my first social experiment. I will have to be creative on how to fill my day. I know that my house has been suffering, maybe I will start there. Has anyone else done this? How did you do? Any tips? You might have to call because I won't be able to read responses (well maybe not until Wednesday).

New Month, New Trial

This month we are again trying to potty train Lucy. Anyone who has attempted this knows how frustrating it can be. So far we have been successful with #2 but we have only been working on it for about two hours. Any suggestions? Ideas? Help?

When I potty trained Thomas it took about 6 months. Once I found his motivation, it worked. When he had accidents he lost television and computer privileges. After that, he was potty trained almost overnight. The only problem is that Lucy couldn’t be more different from Thomas. So I am really up for any ideas anyone can spare. 

Our Picky Eater!

As a mother of toddlers, I am constantly worried that the kiddos aren’t getting enough proper nutrition. I was told by a far off source that if a child is lacking protein, carbs, and/or vitamins they will crave and eat those foods to fill that void. Boy is that off. Needless to say I have a picky eater, a VERY picky eater. Every meal we would put veggies and fruit on the lunch and dinner plate and every meal they would go untouched (unless they floated in the drink.) I tried not to make too big of a deal out of it, thinking that someday she would get curious about the “other” side of the plate. But when I found out that she was becoming deficient and it was affecting her health, I knew I had to take immediate action. So here are some tools that I have used to help solve my dilemma.

“Deceptively Delicious” book—it’s a recipe book by Jessica Seinfeld teaching mothers to sneak in veggies and fruit into everyday “kids” foods. I still serve the green beans with the spaghetti and meatballs but I don’t stress out that they don’t get eaten. The spaghetti is now fortified with wheat pasta, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes and spinach. I LOVE trying the new recipes and inventing my own with the added veggies. In all honesty, the food tastes good and we are finding it fills us up a lot faster than before (we are getting added veggies, too).

“Eat this Not that” book—this book is comparing the pre-prepared items in the grocery store. It is teaching the consumer (me) that just because it looks or says that the food is healthy doesn’t mean that it is (and it tells you why so you can make an informed decision). So now I am taking this book to the store with me and every time I buy a premade dinner, bread or juice. I then consult my new healthy food reference and make the best possible choice. I love it because it brings a new challenge to the food shopping trip and I can still get my chocolate and sugar fixes (and not feel guilty.)

The Snack Boxes—we bought a small Tupperware for each of the kids. We let them decorate it and color them. I then put the boxes in the fridge filled with good choice snacks. Now when the kids want a snack they can go into their box and grab which ever suits their fancy. Each snack is the proper portion size and since I control what goes in there I only put the best in there. I only fill them up once a week so once it’s gone, it’s gone. So when snack time rolls around I am not scouring the cupboards and then settle for fruit snacks or the eighth cookie that day.

I am still in the beginning stages of this uphill battle but I thought I would share some of the things that I have found that works. Do you have a picky eater? Do you have any advice? Let me know what you think?