The Berry Buzz

It's a jolly Halloween with Mary

2011-11-02T10:23:00.005-06:00

We love the Fall and the kids have been watching anxiously for the leaves to fall off the tree. Finally one day it seemed to happen all at once and they didn't waste any time-not even to change out of dance class clothes :)

Getting ready for Halloween and carving our Pumpkins! Love Maisley's face!

Bert the Chimney Sweep

Mary Poppins
The crew
The maid

We had a GREAT Halloween. RV trick or treat street-where the kids had to empty their buckets 3 times! Chili and Witches brew at Aunt Carolyn's house and then trick or treating with Oogie and Bill! Fun Fun Fun

Little Update

2011-10-20T23:41:00.003-06:00

MaiMais!!! (but these' pictures are a little old, so multiply the hair!!!!-we're talking AAAFFRRO!)

Goof-ball, smarty pants Merik!
Sass Princess Karma!
I wrote a friend an email and kind of updated her on my life so.....wrote it once, post it twice? Sorry I'm such a bad blogger but here's a tiny summary.
We're doing a kind of preschool co-op thing with Merik and we love it! But, we are definitely excited for merik to start school next year tho. We've found a language immersion school for him and are really looking forward to that experience! Learning a language early has always been so important to me-considering my time in moscow, so this is perfect! He'll be learning Chinese! Karma is still a TOTAL diva/wierdo/drama/princess/GIRL! She's hilarious! And just today told me there couldn't be any girls that dressed scary for halloween because that wouldn't make them ladies. Right then. I do preschool with her 1 day a week with 2 of her little friends and she loves it so that's fun! Maisley is the ruler and terror and light of our house! She is 14 months old and walking like a champ. She broke her leg a couple months ago and we wondered if that would stunt her walking but she's a head strong little thing and didn't waste much time after getting her cast off. She's a terror and EXTREMELY demanding but also such a sweet sweet little thing. She just makes us all smile with her love (and her full white-girl curly hair Afro doesn't hurt the laughter). She's very fun. We actually have our 4th on the way! It was probably sooner than we would've planed on our own but when you feel the promptings-you don't really argue. We're excited but definitely stressed about it at this point because i've been sooooo sick and it just doesn't seem to be letting up-which makes the excitement start to die :) I'm about 13 weeks and due the beginning of May! Crazy! Pat is a Firefighter/Paramedic and loves it! He had to have shoulder surgery a few months ago and is actually just going back to work after being on modified duty for 3 months, tomorrow-so that's exciting! He wrecked his mountain bike and had to have full rotator-cuff and labrum surgery-rough; so we're glad he's able to go back to work again. I've had a desire to do something little on the side for work and finally I think I found something but it's still VERY new so we'll have to see how it goes. But I went out to Utah and became a certified Eyelash Extensionist. Crazy-but if I can do it out of my home...when my kids are in bed...perfect! You can look at my website if you want butterflykisslashes.blogspot.com. We'll see but I'm very excited about it so far! We have a 8 month old goldendoodle and he's plenty for me to handle-but totally adorable!! That's us as we sit today! Love you all!

Maisley

2010-11-12T13:24:00.002-07:00

Maisley is just an incredible baby and is so fun and happy ALL THE TIME! We are so lucky! Here's a taste of our darling girl!

Off to see the wizzard!!

2010-11-02T21:04:00.003-06:00

Halloween Time!!! This year we had a GREAT Halloween. It was Pat's 1st year off with kids and he was SUPER excited to take them trick or treating. The kids dressed up as Dorothy, The Tin Man, and a Wicked Witch and no I don't think I was a terrible mother for dressing my 9 week old as the witch, even though several others expressed their distaste for my choice. I think she was cute! We carved pumkins a few nights before and Merk drew his own face!! Impressive!

Our ward Halloween party was the first time the kids got to get dressed up and of course because Merik got to wear "make-up" so Karma had to also! But she got to wear "mommy make-up" and she did some of it herself! Note the concentration-I dont' think we'll have too hard of a time teaching mascara.

The kids got lots (way too much) candy and had a blast with dad.......

And then the sugar high kicked in! :) She twirled forever and Merik just ran around screaming! (but that doesn't translate well on a camera) and we only let them have 2 pieces! Happy Halloween everyone!

Blessing day

2010-10-25T22:38:00.004-06:00

Maisley Nichole Berry was blessed a few weeks ago and it was a wonderful occasion and she looked beautiful! We are so lucky to have her in our family! She continues to be such a sweet, calm, patient baby and we are loving her! She seems to have a special attachment to her daddy and is constantly giving HIM smiles, and coos and only occasionally giving her mother any attention. Already a daddy's girl! She's so fun! PS No comments from the peanut gallery- we got NO pictures of us with her or with her bro and sis! Crappy parents! Maybe we'll stage it another day.

It's a.............

2010-09-10T16:24:00.008-06:00

Ok. Yes I know it's been since parachute pants were cool that I've blogged, and yes the rumor is true... I was deflated!

The birth story: (if you don't care you are allowed to scroll down!)
At 39 weeks and 3 days I went into the hospital to have my water broken. They opened the flood gates at 10am and I had my first contraction 5 minutes later. Pat and I went and walked for about an hour and a half and I was then dilated to a 4. My mom and sister got there shortly after that and about 45 minutes after that I was to a 6. I thought it would be this great thing to have my mom and Joslin in the room for the delivery...and it was...what was not such a good idea was having them with Pat in the room for my labor! They were obnoxious, sarcastic, annoying, and hilarious-but they're hilarity was not what I could see at the time!

This is my "yes, you're so funny to be saying that you think I'll be in labor until 7 pm tonight!" "I'm laughing so hard" face. aka "shoot me now I'm dying" face.

Yes I did the whole birth natural which wouldn't have been a huge deal, considering I've done two other natural births, except.....

About an hour later I was to an 8 (per my sweet, obviously optimistic nurse) and a few minutes after I was checked I knew I NEEDED to push!!! No getting around it, no relaxing through it, I NEEDED TO PUSH!!! My nurse went and got my Midwife who promptly came in, checked me, and notified me that not only was I not fully dilated but that I was only to a 7 and could not push or I would tear my cervix! Yeah right! Since I was doing it natural and that urge to push was so strong the only other option was for her to stretch me to a 10. Yes ladies-that means exactly what you think it does. Pleasant...I think not! Needless to say I was not the model of strength, endurance, and control for those next 25 minutes! Yes there was yelling, and maybe some screaming but I can't be sure. All I know is that I've NEVER felt pain like that before and just about blacked out because it was just too much for me to handle. Wimpy I know. Finally I was to a 10 and life was good again! I was back to having contractions I knew, was prepared for, and could handle and the baby was ready to be born. Because the baby was right there for so long and was waiting for my body to catch up I was reassured that pushing would be quick.

My wonderful paramedic husband got all "dolled up" in his "catching" attire and prepared to deliver his third child, whatever it was going to be! I began to push and the baby was born after 2 pushes! Well I'm used to midwives who immediately hand the baby to me after it's born, but Pat apparently missed that memo and delivered the baby and just held it! I quickly, in the nicest way possible I'm sure, said "give it to me!" Which he quickly did. In all the excitement neither of us remembered to check under the hood to see what the new addition to our family was! Joslin (who took a fabulous discrete video of the whole thing for anyone who's interested) said "well, what is it!" I'm incredibly impressed by her because she'd already seen what "it" was and still had the self control not to blurt it out! I quickly lifted the legs to reveal....It was a GIRL!!! Wait.....What?!?!?! Ok, not what I was expecting. I thought I was prepared for either, until it came out a girl! Then I realized just how much I had been expecting a boy. I was in total shock! On top of that, this little baby looked nothing like our other kids! This was going to take some getting used too!

Ok not that much getting used to!

Maisley Nichole Berry was born at 2:35pm August 23, 2010. She weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 19 7/8" long!
Well the kids, especially Merik, had been calling the baby inside me a boy since the beginning. When we told him he had a sister, he just stared at me and finally said "what?"
They quickly became bonded and in love! They absolutely adore their little sister and are such big helpers! :)

When I got home from the hospital Merik looked at me and said "mom what's that?" I explained that I was wearing a belly band and what it was. He quickly shot back "no not that, why is that so big?" Thanks kid! Not only did you just call me fat, but you referred to my entire mid-section as "that!" Gotta love 'em!
We've been home for a couple of weeks now and everyone seems to be adjusting to the ever so demanding, but ever so cute munchkin in our house. She's a very good baby, very happy and very patient, and she will be an even better baby when we get her on a schedule so she sleeps longer than 45 min through out the night.

We've already had some Priceless experiences ! 2 year old Karma is ALWAYS carrying around her accessories! She has several purses, a pumpkin(usually full of things), ponies, bracelets, phones, and babies and ALL must be with her at ALL times! One day Mais was crying so I went to hunt down a bink. I came back to find that selfless Karma had carefully tried to comfort her with her treasures.
Another night Merik wanted to hold Mais so I put them together on the rocker and quickly Karma climbed right up next to them. I hurriedly ran into the other room searching for the camera hoping to catch this precious moment and when I returned I found Merik and Karma singing "I am a child of God" to their new little sister. Yes, tears flowed!

Maisley has already truly blessed our family and her sweet little spirit fills our home with joy! We are so lucky to have been given her and are so excited to get to know her and her little personality better! It's a girl, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Karma Sue turns 2!

2010-06-11T22:04:00.003-06:00

There's our typical 2 year old- Climbing! We can't believe it but Karma is 2!! We had a couple great celebrations for her! We have great friends who's daughter also turned 2 on the same day! So we all got together for a fun double 2 year old birthday party at the park! My darling friend Joy made the girls little tu-tu's that were a HUGE hit! Karma just ran around swinging her arms to hit the skirt-it was so cute and a really fun night!

The next day we had Karma's Princess Party! It was really fun! But definitely one of those parties where the vision was a lot better than the execution! I had bought Karma a whole little princess get up with a crown and wand and little princess shoes that we let her open right before her party. Well I ended up having to WAKE her up from a nap 10 minutes before her party started so she was in no mood for the get up! The dress was all we got on her and that only lasted half the party! She loved her new stroller from Grandma Oogie (Pat's mom, whose real name is Susie) and new baby from G-ma Karma (my grandma). She was very cute opening presents on her throne and blowing the candles out on her castle cake! Merik was hilarious as always and decided at the last minute that the knight costume was good enough and that the ninja was a better option. Over all it was a great party and I think the birthday girl had fun!

Karma is so fun and getting so old so fast! Typical of a 2 year old her favorite things to say these days involve yelling at me or Pat "no you stop it" or "don't talk to me"---she's so cute :) No, we do adore her but her attitude is definitely here and causing us worry for the teenage years!

Happy Birthday our little Angel Bug!

Easter!

2010-04-08T10:36:00.007-06:00

"On your mark...Get set...GO!"

Our friends Choloe, Caden, Tristan, Merik

Merik's so proud of his egg!
Merik took this!!
Ahhhh!

Easter was really fun this year since the kids are both old enough to really understand looking for eggs! We thought it'd be fun to hit up the city's Easter Egg hunt---jury's out on whether or not it was actually fun. The parents were allowed to go in with the 3-4 year olds and the walking -2 year olds. Stupid parents! The kids couldn't get any eggs because the parents were scooping up piles and hoarding them for their children! Seriously!?!?! Poor Karma actually got eggs taken from her as she was bending down to pick them up! Merik, on the otherhand, developed a different strategy-he went for the suckers that were just laying on the grass! Parents left those so he ended up with about 15 dumb dumbs-smart kid!
This year was a little different with Conference being on Easter so we had to wear our "easter clothes" the week before! Easter sunday started with an easter egg hunt around our house. While the "easter bunnies" were hiding the eggs it brought back many memories! When Merik came down to find eggs he picked up all of the real eggs and said "mom these don't belong out here! I don't want these!" and proceeded to put them all back in the crate! Then we got to go to a DELICIOUS breakfast at a friend's house! Good thing I don't have much of a figure to protect- I ate myselft to death! We "watched" the first session of Conference and then headed over to my grandma's for a yummy easter lunch! The traditional food: Ham, artichokes, jello, rolls, scalloped potatoes! We finished by going and hanging out with Pat's family and blowing alot of bubbles (Merik liked eating them -Wierdo!) It was a great day!

2010-01-22T15:41:00.002-07:00

I realized I haven't blogged about the biggest change in our life lately...Pat's back in school. West Metro Fire Department puts all of their firefighters through Paramedic School. It's incredibly INTENSE because it's normally a 2 year course they complete in 6 months. He goes to school everyday, all day, and spends the evenings and weekends hiding in our room studying. I'm so proud of him! I can't imagine having to learn everything they have to know so fast! I never realized everything Paramedic's are required to know. They are basically ER doctors on wheels. They spend countless hours learning cardiology, they have to know every possible drug and med known to man and every way to treat ANYTHING all in the back for a car! He's working incredibly hard and has done very well thus far!

Well....

2010-01-22T15:32:00.002-07:00

It is well known, really throughout the world, that we have beautiful children! My uncle Brad took these amazing pictures over Christmas that I thought I would share.

I love this one! It just cracks me up! It shows his personality so well.

Our little darling Karma! She's so beautiful...definitely didn't get that from her mom!

And....introducing....the tadpole! Yes I'm pregnant! I'm still not sure how I feel about this whole thing since I've been so sick I can't hardly get off the couch each day. I'm almost 9 weeks and due August 28. No...we're very excited and just can't believe we're doing this again. Lets pray our other two aren't so gorgeous that took all of the options for cuteness already.
Pregnancy...bring it on!

Yee Haw Stock Show Time!

2010-01-22T14:33:00.005-07:00

The Stock Show is in town and Joslin had the FABULOUS idea that I take Merik on a date. Since Pat's gone at school all the time now I really felt like Merik could use some individual attention so we went on a date! It was wonderful! He got to pick what we ate for lunch, which direction we walked, and how long we stayed in each area, and he LOVED it!
I just love this picture!

The rodeo bulls were kept just outside the Stock Show and Merik loved watching them. They were so calm but huge! He thought he'd be really funny (and yes I tried to upload this too but it wouldn't work) and make this goofy face at the bull that was laying just beyond the fence. The bull had a trick of his own...he got up and walked right up to the fence! Merik quickly backed away almost in tears. I was in tears also because I was laughing so hard! That bull got the best of him!

Merik begged me to ride this pony and he thought it was hilarious that it's name was Cowboy!
Merik LOVED the petting zoo full of pigs and goats! But he fell IN love with this black and white goat! We sat with it for at least 10 minutes while Merik talked to it, tried to feed it, let it wear his hat, and cuddled! It was so cute!
We had an incredible time just to two of us! The stock show is so fun! Yee Haw!!!

Christmas!...yeah I know i'm beind

2010-01-22T14:03:00.004-07:00

So yes I'm a little behind on my blogging, but I promise I have a good excuse (it will follow in a blog). Christmas this year was awesome! A little backwards because of Pat's schedule but wonderful. It's so fun to have kids old enough to know what happens.

To get in the Christmas mood we picked out a tree took the kids to see Santa (fun as you can tell) and invited the Welling's over to decorate ginger bread houses.

Every year that I can remember we spend Christmas Eve at my grandparents house. As a tradition my grandpa reads the story of the Nativity from the scriptures and in goofy absolutely amateur costumes the grand kids (obviously no matter how old) act it out.

Merik was a Shepard and a darn cute one at that! I love this picture my Uncle Brad took. He just looks like an angel!

Christmas day was great! I tried really hard to upload the video of the kids Christmas morning but I haven't been able to figure it out so I gave up. Merik ran down the stairs with a giant fire truck sitting in front of the tree and picked up a little page of stickers out of his stocking and just yelled "Mom! I got stickers!!" Well dosen't take much to please him! The kids got a "stage" for Christmas. In our basement there's a mostrous finished opening for a TV I assume even though I know they don't make TV's that big anymore. They kids love to do shows in there so we hung a curtain up and, with the help of my wonderful mother, bought all the left over halloween costumes for them. They love it! It's so cute to see them dress up in all the silly outfits and dance on their stage.
The kids were absolutely spoiled, not that I'm surprised, by their grandparents. It was a wonderful holiday and we are so blessed!

Merik's 3!!!

2009-12-22T23:29:00.003-07:00

I can't believe it but Merik is 3!! He is so adorable, smart, energetic, and crazy! He truly brings great joy, laughter, and the spirit to our family. He is incredibly grateful and kind and yesterday even said "mom, did you clean my house? Thank you, it looks incredible!"

I decided to throw him an "I can do it all by myself" birthday so he even made his invitations!

He got some great gifts at his family party including his new big-boy bike from us and this adorable hat from uncle Brady that matches his!
Cup cakes are always a hit; especially when you get to put as much frosting as you want on it!
Merik was so funny about the presents. This year it finally clicked what his birthday meant and he was jumping around and dancing when people came with gifts!
We had his first "friend" birthday and it was a BLAST! We invited 6 of his little buddies over and they did everything by themselves (messy but fun!) They decorated their own shirts, made pizzas, and decorated cup cakes.

I think he had a fun birthday! I just can't believe he's so big!!

Updates!

2009-12-07T12:15:00.004-07:00

November....well was busy!! Thanksgiving was awesome! Most of my dad's side of the family came into town and we had a blast! True to years and years of tradition we started our day off with bowling and if you were wondering....I BEAT PAT!!!!-he'll love that I posted that! Yes there were bumpers but it's not my fault if chose to use them as part of my strategy and he didn't! Dinner was great as always and Merik and my cousin Reagan were adorable in their costumes.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving we got to travel to Utah for Baby Eden's blessing!

Karma was the perfect mother figure for baby Eden. She walked around all day collecting "binks" and bottles to bring her and was sometimes upset when Eden didn't seem int he mood for 5 "binks" at one time!
Merik became the protector of Eden. One night she was fussing in her bouncer and he quickly ran to her, began singing "I am a child of God" to her and then we heard him whisper "it's ok baby Eden I will never leave you". It was so sweet!

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-02T00:04:00.005-07:00

Introducing....Peter Pan and TinkerBell (or stinkerbell as she's been known to be called).

We went Trunk or Treating at church Friday night which was great because Pat had to work Halloween night so this was his chance to be with the kids.

We finally got around to carving our pumpkin-yes it was pushing the deadline but we got it done and it was HILARIOUS!! Merik was so disgusted but the pumpkin guts he was gagging and Karma would've swam in it if I let her! Merik finally agreed to scoop it out if I'd scrape it so he didn't have to touch it but the line was drawn when Karma began taunting him with the guts and trying to throw them at her!! Hmmmm does our girl have a little of her dad in her???

We stopped at Shawnana's and Grandpa Craig's for special Halloween treats!

We went to Aunt Carolyn's for an awesomely spooky dinner complete with blood to drink and eyeballs for dessert!

They were both so excited when they figured out all they had to do was say 3 simple words and people dumped CANDY into their buckets!! Karma decided she was big and wouldn't hold my hand, which would've been fine but Merik was running from house to house and little Karma just doesn't move as fast! I had an odd realization that I'm old! I have two kids, not two babies! Both of our kids are old enough to trick or treat in real costumes! Where has life gone?

We ended the night going to the Berries! Aunt Nichole had made them special halloween rice crispies treats and they had fun surprises from Grandpa Bill and Grandma Susie! Lastly we did more trick or treating to top off our stash! It was great fun!!!!

Ay Ay Ay! Mexico!

2009-10-29T21:17:00.008-06:00

We were so lucky to be able to take an amazing vacation to Riveria Maya Mexico! It was just the two of us (the kids stayed with the grandparents) and we got to celebrate our 6th Anniversary too! It was an absolute blast!!! Here's a few pictures!
We went on a tour with an LDS tour company and they were fantastic! We went to 3 different locations and it was just us! Miguel was one of our tour guides and we just loved him! If you're interested their website is www.almaldstours.com.

This is Ik Kil! It is a fresh water cenote (under ground sink hole) in Yucatan. It's 84' under ground with trees and roots cascading all the way down to the amazingly clear water! There's a staircase you can see in the 3rd picture that is what we jumped off! Ok...I was absolutely scared to death. It's a good 20' high and the water, while really clear, was really really dark because it's so deep! I was totally shaking in my suit but I couldn't look like a whimp so I jumped. Yes. Apparently if I was told to jump off a cliff I would.

Chitzen Itza!This archeological site was built a few hundred years after the Nephites were destroyed so it was very interesting to see resembalences in Book of Mormon times and evidences of traditions being passed down from the Book of Mormon people mixed with serious wickedness! The Mayan people were so intelligent and it was incredible to see such remarkable architecture and knowledge! The picture on the right is the "Monument to the 2000 Warriors." It is hundreds of round columns that surround a few square columns symbolizing a legend of 2000 warriors that were surrounded by a million others and survived. Sound Familiar????
Ek Balam! The picture on the right is of a "white" man teaching several darker men.....ring a bell? Ek Balam was incredible! It was built during the time of the Book of Mormon and has several evidences of the Nephites and Lamanites living there. Ek Balam was only recently found so it's not a huge tourist site yet; because of that we were the only ones there! It was such a peaceful and incredible place and we were so blessed to have visited there!
With Pat's appetite it was a must that we stay at an All-inclusive resort. It was a beautiful hotel and whatever we didn't drink we ate!! We ate 2 dinners every night and I had my fair-share of frozen drinks...non-alcoholic of course!

Our hotel was in the middle of the jungle so we walked this path every day to get to our room and the beach! There were always huge iguana's lounging during the day.

The amazing water! and Crazy bird that kept trying to eat our lunch!

Our fantastic Beach and my hunky husband!

New tradition!

2009-10-21T02:11:00.003-06:00

It is so fun to have kids old enough to do things with! We went to a little pumpkin patch a few minutes from our house and had an absolute blast! Yes, I know, I should have dressed the kids cute so these pictures could be framed or something because there's a few that are adorable-but I am their mom. This place also had a kids’ corn maze, that we spent about 45 minutes being led around by Merik in circles, and a corn box-as in sand box full of corn kernels! It was amazing! Seriously I think I had just as much fun feeling the thousands of corn kernels as the kids did! We had a blast and I love fall-there's just something in the air! (by the way I have NO idea why this stupid post will only post as a link-sorry to disspoint but there's nowhere else to go from here. Annoying!!!)

September Fun

2009-09-16T14:41:00.004-06:00

We've had a busy and fun summer but alas it's September. Here's a few snap shots of our last few weeks.Merik and Karma got to go to the Harvest Festival Parade with Grandma Shawna-na and Grandpa Craig. They'd never been to one before and it sounded like the loved it...especially the candy!

Heritage Square...
Merik loved riding the bumper boats with grandpa Craig at Heritage square!

Riding the pony-that pooped!
Cute little Karma playing while mom tried not to puke riding every spinning ride Merik could find!
Outside watching Merik
Merik got a new scooter and it was ADORABLE! In all of his pads Pat decided he'd probably be safe jumping the Grand Canyon but he sure looked cute. He did pretty well too! It was a great investment considering he stayed on that thing for 3 hours the first day and is constantly on it now! It's so fun to watch him grow!

My Kids, My Teachers!

2009-09-06T12:53:00.004-06:00

I am constantly learning so much from my children but this week I learned especially a lot! When I woke up I thought it was a normal day, Merik, however had other plans! Immediately he was a disaster and wouldn't let me enter the kitchen! Well that progressed into a full on fit that then took a hour to do a 2 minute time-out! I was so exhausted and frustrated! I sat him on my lap and with him crying and saying he was "sorry mommy, I not do it again" I had hope. Well my hope didn't last long when we walked back into the kitchen (still neither of us having anything to eat) and because I couldn't hold him while he drank his shake he turned to me and dumped it all over the floor! I just stood there. I didn't even know what to do! I was stunned and immediately defeated as a mother! Whose child does that? So again we started the time-out process with him running out, and me standing him in the corner again until I was so fed up I decided I was done and he could stay in his room until he decided to be in time-out. Well....his door doesn't have a lock on it (or didn't that day, but yes it does now) so I had to stand there and hold it shut with all of my strength-and he's strong! Meanwhile poor Karma is crying for attention and because Merik's out-of-control ranting and screaming is scary. I finally couldn't hold the door or my tears any longer so I grabbed Karma and we went to call my mom! After some reassuring words and great advice I felt ready to deal with Merik but very discouraged as a mom! This is my only job and I'm obviously failing if he'd act like that. Needless to say it was a VERY long day as a mother and as me. Later that day, I was trying to pick up the disaster of a house and I heard this excited voice from the play room. As I walked in I saw a beaming face and he announced "Mommy, I cleaned all by myself!" I knelt down next to him and just started to cry! My crazy, naughty, or as my grandma calls him, exuberant little boy was so sweet and kind hearted! I told him thank you and how much that meant to me; and he told me that he needed to tell Heavenly Father that he'd cleaned by himself. I was speechless as he knelt down in the middle of the playroom floor and offered the most innocent and heartfelt prayer. It was so simple! "Heavenly Father, I cleaned up all by myself and mommy cried! I love you. Say these things..." Well I thought I was crying before? Wow! I learned so much from my children and from his prayer I learned that I need to pray not just in repentance, not just in asking, and not just in gratitude for the big things. But I need to tell my Heavenly Father when I succeed and do things right so he can let me feel proud. I love my kids!

She's on the move!

2009-09-05T10:02:00.004-06:00

Karma was 15 months old yesterday and is finally walking! I can't believe in 4 short months she's gone from not rolling over to walking. Its like she just snapped out of whatever it was she was in! She went from barely standing on her own to walking in about 3 weeks. She's so cute and still is doing the "walk with both hands out" walk-I love that and they don't do it for very long. She's totally starting to get an attitude and unfortunately for Merik she's discovered that she has an opinion-and it's a strong one. Gee, I wonder who she gets that from? She's started talking but it's hilarious, everything she says had a weird accent. Instead of moomm-my she yells mo-mmeee. Its really funny. She's totally my angel and we love her so much! She's so fun!

First Dentist Trip

2009-09-05T09:41:00.005-06:00

Well Merik finally has a full mouth of teeth so I decided it was time to start the dentist routine. I found a fantastic dentist just for kids called "My Kids Dentist" and scheduled him an appointment. Trying to avoid a complete meltdown we practiced and played dentist and he had a great time so I was optimistic--too optimistic. It was meltdown city-hence only the 1 picture from when he'd just sat down and didn't know what was going on. He actually did ok considering the thought of going to the dentist still makes me queasy! They Doctor was amazing and actually got him to calm down and even laugh a few times during the cleaning, asking him if the tooth paste tasted like hot dogs. It was cute. They loaded him up with tons of fun goodies and he admitted it didn't even hurt so hopefully the next time will be better.

Children's Museum

2009-08-27T12:43:00.009-06:00

Pat was gone for 8 days straight. He had work on each end of a special trip he took to California to be with my cousin Jaren as he went through the temple for his first time in preparation of him leaving on his mission. So in the midst of the insanity that is our life I decided it would be fun to take the kids for a special day at the Children's Museum! (Really it's a special day where mom doesn't have to do the entertaining for a few hours!) We had a blast! We were there for 41/2 hours and I had to finally drag Merik out because Karma was so tired she couldn't take it anymore! Here's a few pictures of the day!

Merik as a Veternarian! He was so serious about his job!

Merik has alot of career choices ahead of him!

They were so cute together in this boat! Karma is getting to the age that she adores Merik and everything he does and she was so interested in him catching the fish!
Merik was chasing Karma through the tunnel and they were both laughing so hard! It was adorable!
Fancy Socks!

Wedding Season!

2009-08-17T22:01:00.002-06:00

Pat's sister Nichole got married this summer and it was a BLAST! We had a luau for the rehearsal dinner and had so much fun talking to family that had come in from out of town and hoola-hooping (which is a surprising work-out!)

The food was great!!!

Aunt Kathy and little Karma

The whole family and the beautiful bride!

We had so much fun at the reception!!!! I felt like I was in high school again dancing, except for the fact that my 2 1/2 year old was totally showing me up! He was the center of every circle he could find and was a way better dancer than most of us adults! He definitely likes attention! Nichole was gorgeous and the wedding was wonderful! Congratulations Curt and Nichole!

Back in touch with the world!

2009-08-11T11:41:00.007-06:00

We’ve had a few crazy weeks, hence my absence from the online world. But don’t worry I’m hopefully getting my act together again and will post pictures of the exciting events that have kept me from blogging…I know I know you’ve heard that before! First new post…House! Finally I’ve gotten enough done to post some pictures, not that you necessarily care, but posting them gives me a sense of finality. I had a ton of fun and we are so blessed. We can’t wait for all of you to visit!

Our bedroom, and yes it's striped. Crazy...I know but my motto is: You can ALWAYS paint over it!

Little Karma's room! Pat says it's so girly she's bound to be a tom boy but I love it!

Mr. Merik's room!

Our family room. My beloved office!

Pat would be furious if I didn't include his santcuary...The GYM!
Our dinning room, with the lantern that everyone but me hates! It was Pat's grandma's and no one wanted it and I was so excited that I got it!
Our living room with the piano pat re-did for me a couple christmas' ago.

2009-06-03T09:32:00.001-06:00

Surprise Susie!

2009-06-03T08:50:00.010-06:00

Before

Pat's mom, Susie, has hated her kitchen for years so for a Mother's Day/her birthday surprise us kids re-did it! Susie and Bill went to Gunnison for a long weekend and we got to work! We painted her walls, back splash, and cabinets. It turned out really good-but I'm biased. Her reaction was hilarious and so fun! She is such an incredibly deserving person! Besides always cooking us fantastic meals and just being a good mom she is so devoted to helping everyone around her and is such an example of Christ-like service. We love her dearly and had a lot of fun .

Utah Fun!

2009-06-03T08:18:00.004-06:00

So its been a little while since I've blogged but things got CRAZY here! My sister called a few weeks ago and told me I should fly to Utah to see her. That was Monday, we left Tuesday! It was so fun, I found tickets dirt cheap (tickets plural because I have to buy one for merik, painful!) so the kids and I hopped on a plane and left for Utah! Merik LOVED flying and karma did great....until we started to land. I picked her up to put something in my bag and realized I was soaking wet with....poop. It was everywhere! The poor little girl was literally covered head to toe! It was disgusting and because we were landing I couldn't go to the bathroom, plus I had a two year old who needed to pop his ears sitting next to me. So I got her cleaned up while on my lap and it all turned out ok-barely! Thankfully it was all women sitting around me and they were all incredibly understanding! Think of me if you're ever on a plane with a screaming baby-maybe the poor mom is covered in poop.
Utah was a blast! Joslin's house is darling-surprise, surprise and it was just so fun to hang out with my sister. Dusty was an incredible surrogate daddy for the week and definitely made a new best friend with Merik! I loved that he had someone to play with but didn't quite appreciate him teaching Merik the word "dookie!" We got to meet the newest member of the fam...baby Bridget, who is adorable! My whole family was there randomly for Meredith's clogging competition at Lagoon so we had a fun barbecue and Joslin's and got darling pictures of three great-grandchildren.
Lagoon was the highlight though! Merik was hilarious and still talks about it. The bumper cars were so funny I thought I was going to pee my pants. He did a good job steering if there was someone around him but he got stuck in the corner and couldn't get out. He was so cute, he was trying so hard to get out but was just spinning in circles screaming "mommy help me!" It was so sad and so funny all at the same time!
We also got to visit a long time friend from high school that I haven't seen since my wedding. Emily Tripp (now Culpepper) for any of you who remember her. We had a great time meeting her darling little family!
Our final activity was taking Merik (and Karma but she doesn't care) to see the Temple! He was so excited and it was so sweet! He's so little but already understands so much and has such a testimony. The whole drive there he kept informing me that Jesus would be at the temple! I was so sweet and he was so excited to see the Christis. But he went crazy when he saw the statue of Nephi. He LOVES Nephi, so that was darling. He had to go to the bathroom while we were there so I took him but while he was in there he disobeyed me and threw the paper towel away in the toilet instead of the garbage. I told him that wasn't ok and that he needs to obey and that Heavenly Father wants him to obey also. We were running out of the bathroom and he all of the sudden dropped from my hand and I looked down and he was kneeling in the middle of the floor praying to say sorry. I almost started to cry! Its just so amazing to see the innocence and faith that a child has. Its no wonder why Chirst visited them first. They must have been so excited.

Utah was great and we can't wait to go back!

New Links

2009-04-21T09:44:00.000-06:00

So I got into the whole coupon thing a while back with inspiration from the Queen-Mariah! So I added a couple websites I love-again thanks to Mariah-that are really useful! CouponMom is free and is the program I use to help me clip coupons out of the Sunday Paper, there's also a link on the couponmom website to get the weekend addition of the paper for 75% off. Frugal Chic Living is a blog this woman keeps with all of her tips and secrets. She also has her meals and shopping lists to allow her to feed her family for $50 or less each week. Her tips are really good and I've learned alot! Hope this helps!

Easter

2009-04-18T11:46:00.007-06:00

Merik's posed smile

Our 2009 Easter was wonderful! Merik ran down stairs to see if the easter bunny had come and was so excited to see eggs he peed all over the floor! It was hilarious! Just like a dog. We went to church and had a great day and Merik was so cute and can now say "rezurrekted". After church we hurried to Pat's grandma's house for family time and an easter egg hunt for Merik (he's the only one old enough to walk! Lucky kid!) He definitely got the hang of that quick. After Nana H's house we went to my grandma's house for dinner and the traditional artichoke-I look forward to it every year. All in All it was a great day with lots of family time which is always the best! -but really its about the clothes-arent' they cute?

The Greatest Day Ever!

2009-04-14T17:16:00.003-06:00

Well the day finally arrived! We started Potty Training! He started throwing huge fits everytime we went to change his diaper and he got himself breakfast so the combination was a little revelation that maybe it was time to be done with diapers! I was really scared but I decided to jump in. With some much needed encouragement from Jan and a great "potty TRAIN chart" we sat on the toilet with a pile of books. Well surprisingly he had 2 accidents the first 2 days and that was about it. (He did pee all over the floor sunday because he was so excited to see his easter basket but that was the first in a long time!) I was so impressed and shocked! Within 4 days he didn't even have to be reminded, he just went by himself; and within a week he was going, dumping, washing hands, cleaing the potty, and putting it back together. The only time I know if he went is if he remembers about a treat! Its crazy but so nice! I tried to get some cute pictures of his first times on the potty but he decided he likes his privacy, hence the screaming picture! But potty life is good!

The Berry Buzz

2009-04-04T14:44:00.001-06:00

Going into battle!

2009-03-29T15:03:00.002-06:00

Well today was the first day I had to go to church all by myself! Yeah I know, whiner! But I've been really nervous. In our old ward we gratefully had my mom to play with and help with Merik during sacrament meeting but in our new ward it literally takes everything out of both Pat and I to keep Merik under control and not screaming and to keep Karma-who's nap time is during the meeting, from melting down. So today as a single mom I marched into battle backpack in tow but with a secret weapon, a new mr. potatoe head! Thanks to the many prayers of Pat I'm sure, it worked and we actually made it through all of church! I am so grateful that we did it one, and two that its over!

This week was a typical busy week! Not much to report, but Merik did get his first spanking! He ran out into the middle of the street, so there it was a valid spanking, but I don't know if my neighbors who I'm sure saw the new crazy lady beat her little boy in the road would agree. Don't you love kids?

So many freedoms we don't often see

2009-03-23T12:06:00.000-06:00

Many of you know I spent 4 months teaching english in Moscow right before I got married. I lived with a wonderful family Tonya (the mom) and Dima (her then 16 year old son). Sadly Tonya passed away almost a year after I left but I have kept in close contact with Dima and love him dearly; he is my 3rd little brother! We were talking the other day and I expressed my deep desire for him to come visit me here in the states, something we've both dreamed about since I lived there. He explained they have 2 passports there, one that allows you to travel inside Russia and one that allows you to travel outside of Russia. To obtain one that would allow you to travel outside the country you have to be over 29 or serve in the military. No way around it (well, legal way!) Serving in the military in Russia is a very scarey and dangerous thing. They are not well taken care of and for someone like him, who has no family, its a fear that he'd be allowed to be in more dangerous parts because there's no one to miss him if something happened. (That is how Tonya explained it to me when I lived there!) I so often forget and take for granted the freedoms that come with being an american! We can leave when we want, he is litterally not allowed to leave the country. At a recent fireside I attended a South African man who had served as a mission president here in Colorado talked about the whinny attitude Americans seem to have! "You are richer than 95% of the world" he said! Think about that! 95%!! He also pointed out that every news program you turn on is complaining about something, blaming someone, when we have nothing to complain about! We complain about katrina and the trailers not being provided in time-THEY GOT TRAILERS? Our country is amazing and he told us it is so because we are a nation of action. When a natural disaster occurs we don't hope they survive we take work off to travel there to serve.
I know I seriously take for granted the things I have just because of my address. There are so many blessings that come from living here that we don't even realize we have because we're so far from the rest of the world. When I spoke to Dima I remembered! We have so much!

Merik's art project

2009-03-11T10:20:00.000-06:00

Don't you love the decor of our room? Did you notice the stripes on the wall that took forever?? Oh wait, that's not what you're noticing? You're wondering about the lovely towels on the floor? Oh, you don't think they quite match? Hmm, I'll take that into consideration.

Oh wait there's a reason they're there! Yep, you guessed it, that big white spot...PAINT!!!! Are you kidding me?

Merik was playing, stepped on the paint can and it tipped over and popped the lid off. I immediately started hyperventilating, appropriately so, and Pat-thank heavens-just walked over and started scooping it up with a dust pan. Merik was so sweet and came over and started rubbing my back saying "paint make mommy sad" "its okay mommy, be fine". Well I was determined to clean it but in pat's wisdom he convinced me it was hopeless!

I guess its officially home!

Yeah Yeah Yeah, I know what you all are thinking!

2009-03-10T14:07:00.000-06:00

Karma at Christmas!
Merik at christmas with his new Bicycle (the only thing he asked santa for-really! And he didn't even know we already had it!
Home swee home! (and the inspector's truck)

Hello Long Lost Blogger World! So things got really hectic and our computer crashed!-See I do have an excuse! Yeah, got to love that! Hence my leave of absence from this wonderful outlet of life. Things are fantastic and we feel so incredibly blessed! Merik turned 2 in Dec and is an absolute handful/hilarious joy in our lives. He says the funniest things but definitely is learning how far he can push his limits, which sadly for him, isn't very far! Karma is still adorable and still slow. We took her to her 9 month appt and again they told us to bring her back in a month for re-evaluation if she isn't doing a laundry list of tasks. Whatever! If the girl wants to chill her whole life away who cares!!!
Our biggest news surprisingly isn't a growing belly this time, its a growing environment!! We bought a house. It was an incredible and spiritually uplifting experience. We decided in January we were finally ready to get serious about expanding our ever suffocating walls. We began to look and houses with no prevail. I was obviously stressed about the location and just felt overwhelmed at the prospect of choosing where our family would live for the rest of our lives! How are you supposed to make that decision. So like all other overwhelming decisions I am faced with I decided I couldn't make it. I knew with the magnitude of how it would affect all of our lives surely the Lord would help. After much praying and fasting and much searching our realtor called and said he wanted to take us somewhere different from where we'd been looking. I was game! The minute we walked into the house Pat and I both knew! It was awesome. It felt like we'd always lived there and the spirit was almost waiting for us. Then we got to see the house and around every corner was something more than we'd ever dreamed we'd live in, let alone live in right now! We were so taken back and litterally just laughed as we walked from room to room exploring. Now that we're living here we keep discovering things that are just beyond what we would've put on our "build our own house" wish list, let alone "go find an existing house" wish list! We feel so humbled and so blessed, words just can't describe! Its amazing.
Moving into a much larger space has created some interesting situations however. I am constantly searching for Merik! I'll yell to him and ask him where he is and his answer is always the same..."right here!" like that helps! Its so nice to have a place to call home and its so fun to decorate-overwhelming, but fun! Maybe someday I'll actually be able to take a minute and hang something on the wall!
We are so excited and just so thankful!

Animals and Fish

2008-09-17T12:54:00.000-06:00

We decided it was time to take Merik to the zoo, he loves animals and was very funny there. We thought he'd be so excited and he was but it took a while for him to realize that the animals were real. He was definatley confused why the things he sees in books were huge and moving!

His absolute favorite animal was the Penguins. We had to watch them for 20 minutes because he just couldn't take his eyes off of them. They seemed to like him to. He would watch them jump onto the rock and he would begin counting 1-2-3 over and over until they jumped off again. He totally thought they were listening to him! It was hilarious!

We took the kids swimming one afternoon and had a great time! Darling little Karma was sporting her little bikini but HATED any water but the hot tub water. We don't disturb her comfort level or she lets us hear about it! Hmmmm I wonder if that will be a trait we see in her teenage years?
Merik loved swimming, especially going down the slide with Pat! He is a fish and forgets he can't swim so we had to watch him very closely.

Ahhh strut your stuff little one!
Pat is such a great dad and was so patient exploring every corner of the pool with Merik.

Summer Fun!

2008-09-17T10:27:00.000-06:00

We got to go to Pat's Great-Uncle's house for some UNBELIEVEABLE food! Merik became uncle Richard's best friend because he was handing out "tastes" of amazing smoked beef and pork that were the size of a steak! Merik also became obsessed with watermelon, and probably half of one! There's nothing better than a watermelon face!!!

Our friends from california, Lindsey and Aaron and their darling little kids, Grace and Ethan came for a little visit! We really miss them and had so much fun! Merik got to have his very first slumber party with Grace and they had a blast!

We went to the fountains by the Arvad Library with Jan, Carson, and Baby Brody. Carson hated the water and took some encouraging by Merik! There best buds!

AHHH the two little ones Karma and Brody!
Two-year olds love water balloons!

We have had a great summer and have did lots of fun things!

Karma's Blessing Day

2008-08-23T00:44:00.000-06:00

Last sunday we finally blessed Karma Sue Berry! It was a great experience except for the fact that I didn't hear my own daughters blessing! Supposedly it was beautiful blessing but they couldn't find the microphone and the chapel isn't really sound friendly, so annoying! All of Pat's family were there which really meant alot to us and hopefully they could hear more than I could sitting on the other side of the chapel; Joslin and Dusty also came down and just by chance my cousin Cardon and his wife Whitney, and my cousin Mekelle and her husband Jake were all in town also! But comparing notes with Joslin, Mekelle, and Pat she was blessed with a strong body and mind, a strong sense of the spirit, and that she would be a beacon of light to those around her and an example of the gospel. Im so excited to get to know this wonderful little girl that Heavenly Father obviously has big plans for! Its such an odd feeling to think of your little infant as getting married and having children of her own, but it also brings her life into reality and the fact that she is Heavenly Father's daughter and it is only my job to raise her as He would. What a wonderful day! Ok so the outfit....adorable if I do say so myself! Grandma Karma wanted to buy her blessing dress-symbolic don't you think? She actually bought 3 and then pat and I picked this one as our favorite! I made her little head band because I couldn't find anything that was obnoxious enough for my taste and then made her a little bracelet to match. So cute! It was a great experience and I can't believe I've blessed my 2nd child...I'm so old!

Jackson!

2008-08-22T14:05:00.000-06:00

We got to go to Jackson, Wy to visit Joslin and Dusty! It was a blast, a lot of driving, but lots of fun!! We went to Yellowstone National Park and saw "old faithful" and some of the hot pots. Those hot pots were so inviting and so scarey all at the same time. And the most common question, "did we see any cool animals there?" NO! I know no one believes us, but I think they heard Merik's screams and ran for safety because we never saw anything. Actually the kids did pretty good in the car. Merik had quite the setup with his little DVD player, but I'm pretty sure no one in my family ever wants to hear another Wiggles song again! We also got to go bird banding at the private school Joslin works. What is bird banding you ask...we helped environmentalists tag birds they caught to track their nesting and breeding to eventually help see the affects of development on the environment. Ok really, we're not the granola type but it was actually fun. The funniest thing was how they weighed them, they turned them upside down and stuck their heads in a piece of pvc pipe. Our only real involvement was letting the birds go. We also went rafting down the river behind Joslin and Dusty's apartment in little tubes we bought at KMart. I was really fun and obviously we looked quite goofy! Pat's tube completely deflated around him and Joslin did get her rump high centered on a rock-HILARIOUS! We had a great time in Jackson and it was beautiful! The Grand Teton is in a class all in its own!

Gunnison

2008-08-03T14:33:00.000-06:00

So we just got back from back to back vacations with each family! With pat's family we got to go down to Gunnison, Colorado. It was a blast. It was the best "camping" i've ever done...we stayed in a cabin! it was fun though because we got to do the whole camp fire thing and fishing and being dirty, and then we could shower and sleep in a bed. The kids did really good and Merik was in heaven, he spent the entire week outside. He went fishing for his first time and had so much fun because he caught a fish every time he cast (there was a darling little red fish attached to his line). It was so cute to see him and pat doing that together! He also got to sit on one of his new favorite things, "twaaacters". Pat, Steve, Bill, and I got to go on an incredible hike down into a canyon. Pat carried Merik in a back pack we have and he did pretty well and loved the amazing lake we found at the bottom. It was unbelievable georgous and luckily worth the massive hike back up-yeah I thought I was going to die! We had a great time!

Update

2008-08-03T14:01:00.000-06:00

Ok I know you're all mad but i'm just not very good at this regular blogging thing! We're all doing well, just busy. Karma is 2 months old and I can't believe it!! She's huge...yes huge! 10lbs 3 oz huge to be exact! That's 4 lbs she's gained in 6 weeks. She's just trying to keep up with the weight gain of her mommy, but she has a way to go. Merik is doing great and is as active and busy as ever. He still loves Karma but understands she's not going away. Today he was mad at me and hit her. Naughty-yeah he was in the corner for that one! He also is in the habbit of calling us by our first names. Its so funny, he'll ask for something from mom and when I say know he asks "tan-tae" and he's constantly asking for "pat". We're having fun as you can tell. I will be starting a new job soon and am very excited about it! I will be taking pricing calls for the mortuary my uncle works for. It is such a blessing as it will allow me to work from home! We just can't believe it! Life is good but busy!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-06-20T16:48:00.001-06:00

Karma Sue Berry

2008-06-20T12:25:00.000-06:00

Little Karma entered this tough world June 4, 2008 at 5:29am weighed 6lbs and was 19" long. My water broke the night before and 6 hours later, she was here. We were so excited to have her but unfortunately she wasn't quite ready and coming 4 weeks early her lungs weren't quite developed. They let me hold her for a few minutes and then Pat carried her to the NICU. The first day she was under a hood that blew oxygen around her. They thought she'd only need that for a day or two, but she had other plans!
Day 2 she was put on CPAP which blows a certain percentage of oxygen directly into her nose and mouth. She wasn't being fed at this time but she was hungry based on the way she devoured the pacifier! By the end of day 2 she couldn't breath on her own anymore even with the help of the CPAP so the morning of the third day she had to be intubated (put on a ventilator). It was very sad and scary knowing that this was the worse case scenario they had given us on day 1. They diagnosed her with premature lung disease and a surfactant deficiency. Surfactant is a lipid rich layer that coats the lungs and acts as a lubricant during the oxygen transfer into the blood stream. Infants make surfactant in the last weeks of pregnancy and hopefully make enough to last them the aprox. 3 days it takes for their bodies to trigger the production of it on a regular basis. Because she was early she had not made enough and by day 2 she couldn't breath anymore. They gave her a synthetic version of surfactant and immediately she began to improve. We did have a scary experience when her tube became clogged by the surfactant and we watched as the nurses rushed to save her. She turned completely blue and flat lined. It was horrible but we were blessed to have wonderful nurses that were experienced, knowledgeable, and calm and everything ended up fine.
Pat was able to extubate her (take the breathing tube out) on day 5 and she spent the next few days learning how to eat, gaining weight, and slowly requiring less and less oxygen. She was finally able to come home after 9 days in the NICU! She is still on oxygen and probably will be for a while. She's on almost the smallest amount possible but is very attached to it. We were sent home with a monitor that she wears at night that warns us if her oxygen levels or heart rate become dangerous. We are so grateful for nurses and doctors that took such good care of her. It was a very scary, sad, and long week and a half but we are so grateful to our Heavenly Father to have our beautiful baby girl home and healthy. We are very grateful also for all of the prayers and support we received! We couldn't ask for better family and friends!
Merik is totally in love and takes very good care of her! He is always asking about her and wanting to check on her! I expected him to not really care about her but he adores her! He has been pretty cranky and clingy but it could be worse. She has had a toothbrush and a ball thrown at her head but they were deflected and she was saved.
We're so excited to have our little family and can't wait to see her grow up!

These boots were made for ME!

2008-05-29T13:20:00.001-06:00

"Look at my muscles!" "So Cool!"

Feeding the Ducks

2008-05-29T13:14:00.001-06:00

We took some old bread and fed the ducks at the park. Merik enjoyed it but kept trying to eat the bread!

2008-05-29T13:11:00.000-06:00

My pregnancy is going great. I'm 35 1/2 weeks, and dialated to a 2. The midwives say anytime so we'll let you know when it happens. I hope I make it to the hospital or Pat may be working overtime for this little girl! We're really excited but definatley not in reality. I finally did pack a bag though and cleaned really well so if it happens at least that's done. Hopefully it will set in that I have 2 kids once i'm holding her?

Goofy Kid!

2008-05-29T12:50:00.001-06:00

Merik is definately Pat's child and already has his sense of humor. He's realized that he can do things just to make us laugh and spends a lot of his time doing those things. He recently smelled his shoe, which smells horrible, and made me smell it. After my reaction that is now his favorite thing to do is make other people smell his shoes. He just thinks its so funny. He also loves to scare you. He is still a dancing fool which always shocks us because he'll dance forever. We were at yet another wedding the other night and Merik was of course on the dance floor stealing the show, until he made himself sick by spinning too much. It was really sad but funny. I am always shocked how much food he can put away also! We went to a mexican restaurant last weekend and ordered him a kids meal (12 and under) which had a bean burrito, a beef burrito, beans, and rice. HE CLEANED THE PLATE and then ate my guacamole and beans and rice. PIG! I don't know that I expected anything less from Pat's offspring but jeez! He and pat love to wrestle and make farting noises, another shocker. He's just adorable and we're having so much fun playing with him.

2008-04-17T17:04:00.001-06:00

Ok every mom says this but my child is so cute! Here's a little update on all the adorable things he's doing today. First its wedding season, especially for our family! Pat's cousin was married 2 weeks ago, Joslin got married last weekend, and my cousin Mekelle gets married next weekend. Busy Busy Busy! But with weddings comes....music and dancing! Merik's heaven. He is such a mover and shaker. He has a whole repertoire of moves and he loves to bust them out! It's so funny, especially to see him do certain moves depending on the music. Needless to say, he loves weddings. He has been the center of attention and loving life at every event we've gone too. He also loves to spin which gets him into trouble sometimes because he's not an ambi-turner so he gets dizzy really quickly but doesn't understand what is making him dizzy. He loves to jump which consists of squating and standing up really fast, never having his feet come close to leaving the ground. He loves to help these days, especially sweep! Goof!

Ok life isn't perfect with our little ball of laughs! He is a screacher and squealer! We've tried everything we can think of. We've asked him nicely (yeah right), we've gotten mad, we've ignored him, we've flicked in the mouth and nothing works! We're doing the corner as dicipline but the problem is that he never seems to scream when we're somewhere I can put him in the corner. He does it in the car or at a restaurant and I need ideas! Any suggestions?

I am deep into motherhood. Yesterday I laid Merik down for a nap in just his diaper because it was really hot. About 30 minutes later I heard him crying really hard like he was in pain. I ran in to see what he had gotten stuck in and found him sitting with his blanket, butt naked, next to a pile of poop. He was crying because he had stepped in it. Yum. I wanted to grab the camera but I felt bad making him sit with poop on his foot for the sake of a picture, plus I'm sure it won't be the last time. It was so funny. I'm just glad I didn't find him eating it or something!

Eat Sand!

2008-04-17T13:58:00.000-06:00

Ok so I know I started this awesome blog and then did nothing with it- SLACKER! But I am determined to make it a habit to update things. We just got back from california for Joslin's wedding and had a great time! We had a great time! The wedding was wonderful and we are so excited for them, they're so cute! Pat, Merik, and I stayed 2 extra days after the wedding and had a mini vacation. We were so lucky- the weather was in the 80s! We took Merik to the beach and the first day he really didn't want anything to do with any of it. He'd walk on the sand but that was the extent of his interest and even that took about 30 minutes to happen. The second day, however, was a different story! Pat coaxed him into the water and from then on he was a natural beach bum! Pat finally brought him in because Pat was cold and only his feet were in the water. Merik was up to his waste being hit by waves, shivering, but screaming because he didn't want to stop. His new thing is saying "So Cool!" and its hilarious! Its not that he says it that is so funny, its that he says it appropriately! Everytime a wave would hit him he, of course, said "so cool!" After we dragged his little blue lips out of the water we were able to convince him that sand was also fun....again, another mistake. Next thing we knew he was eating it by the handful! I wish I had pictures but my camera battery had died but it was hilarious! We kept trying to get him to stop but apparently it tasted really good! We had a great time!

2008-03-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

Pat's new dog Sierra and Merik's favorite bed! Gross!

Gotta love the bath and the snot bubble!

Day in the life of Merik

2008-03-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

So this whole blogging thing seems to be all the rage so we thought we'd get in on the action! Merik is 14 months old and still a wild man! We went to the park with our friend Jan and her son Carson and got these adorable pictures of the two of them. Merik loves being outside, so much so that we have to discuss the possiblity by spelling outside because if he hears the word he's at the door banging on it until we can go, like a dog! He just loves it. Daddy and he go to the park everyday its warm enough while I'm at work and play and run and eat goose poop-he's teaching him all the great wonders of the earth. Merik also loves the bath but is quick to tell you when he's had enough. We don't know when it's going to be but when he decides he's done he tells us finished and that's it. For a new baby update if you haven't heard we're having a girl!!! We're really exicted but kind of nervous that we're having a whole new experience all over again. We don't know anything about girls. I'm due June 28th and her name will be Karma Sue Berry. There's a short update for now. Enjoy the pictures!