Goodbye Mullet

"Business in front, party in back"

I know some of you are reading this and saying "Thank goodness, it's about time" but it was a big decision for me to make. I don't know if it is finally having a girl after three boys that made it even harder. I loved that Ivy had such long hair at such a young age ; even if it was just a few wispy hairs that amounted to nothing more than a 1980's rewind. But after my husband spoke up about it I finally gave in. I was always on the fence about the whole thing anyway and I am SO glad we cut it. Her hair is so cute now. Well, as cute as an 11 months old can be. I don't have any really good pictures of it now but here is what it looked like when we cut it.

I have been tagged!

I have been tagged by my friend Jessica so beware, some of you are tagged at the bottom of this :)

A. The Rules are posted at the beginning. B. Each player answers about themselves. C. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people, posts their names, and goes to their blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
1. Planning a wedding
2. Working as an Executive Assistant
3. Living on my own in Provo Utah and loving it
4. Playing as much as possible
5. All of the above

5 Things On My To-Do List Today (for tomorrow):
1. Go to the gym
2. Wash my hair
3. Laundry!
4. Enrichment Meeting
5. Scrapbooking

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Potato Chips
2. Veggies and dip
3. Strawberries with powdered sugar
4. Chips and Salsa
5. Baguette Bread with a good oil and spice dip

5 Things I'd Do if I Were a Billionaire:
1. Have a house cleaner and cook (only for the days I don't feel like cooking or cleaning)
2. Travel around the world
3. Get out of Debt
4. Help someone who really needed it
5. Get some really cute clothes

3 Bad Habits:
1. I recently stopped biting my nails but now I pick all the polish off everyday
2. Talk to much
3. I gossip (I try not too really!)

5 Jobs I've Had:
1. Baskin Robbins (I had a nice forearm scooping all that ice cream)
2. Walmart - Everything from Cashier, Night Stocker, Jewelry Dept. to Customer Service Manager
3. Wild Planet- Retail sales (It's a cool hippy store, we even sold iguanas)
4. Sundance Film Festival Receptionist- Yep, talked to a lot of famous people
5. Convergys- Administrative Assistant and Executive Assist. Hiring people for new projects we were working on.

5 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me
1. I am addicted to cleaning supply smells! I literally clean just so I can inhale the fumes. (don't judge me)
2. I love a clean house and don't mind cleaning it. My poor kids are afraid to move some days.
3. I am nosey and love to know what is going on in everyone's lives.
4. I think I am a positive person and look at the bright side of things.
5. I'm a "coalminers daughter" I grew up in a small coal mining town and my Dad was killed in the coal mine when I was 13.

I hate tagging others sorry! I am tagging laura, Amy, Stefanie, Lisa, Jaime.

Mother Of The Year Moment...

There are so many women around me right now that are pregnant, everywhere I look I see women who although I am very happy for them, I am mostly happy that it is them and not me. The other night I was reminded of a funny story when I was pregnant with Ivy. Let me preface this story with, I get VERY sick when I am pregnant and Ivy really did a number on me. I didn't get off of the couch for about a month with her so this is the result...
Because I was so sick Russ decided to take all three boys to the Father and Son's camp out . Russ had worked all day and was just planning on coming home to grab the boys and go. The boys were so excited that while I lay on the couch they decided to pack for themselves. They each brought down a bag and said that they were packed. I didn't even check inside the bags I just thought "thank goodness I have such great kids." Russ came home, packed everything in the car, grabbed their bags that were by the door and left. Well, he called me the next morning laughing and said, "real funny Jessica." He then proceeded to tell me what our boys had packed for themselves. Kanyon- had packed a bowling pin and an empty baby wipe container (I guess to gather rocks) and that is all. No clothes. Nothing. Saul- packed 10 pair of underwear, 2 pants, and a few T-shirts. Saul had packed for Eli and Eli's bag had lots of church clothes (that were two small, they were from a box that was needing to be put away because it was all to small) no diapers, no wipes, no sweatshirts, no coats, no pj's, no anything! Russ had to borrow a diaper from a little tiny kid so, poor Eli was wearing a speedo. Russ had three boys alone camping, one still in diapers with, a bowling pin, and empty baby wipes container, loads of underwear, church clothes that fit a baby and thankfully... a good sense of humor! It was my Mother of the year moment. Thought I should share.

Our Big Girl!

Ivy is walking! No, she is running! She has been taking more and more steps everyday. If you stand her up she just goes. She doesn't do it slow either she just takes off in a sprint, you aren't even sure if she is stable on her feet and she is half way away from you. She falls a lot and still has a lot to learn but trouble is on its way! Ivy is already the most curious little ball of fire, we can hardly contain her. She has mastered stairs and is talking up a storm. She only says a few words we can actually understand but she always has a lot to say. After three boys we are in a whole new world with our little diva. She has turned my life upside down! She is almost 11months old and completely controls this house. Thank goodness for her brothers and her Dad who take such great care of her when they are around. She is definitely Daddy's little girl. I owe her early walking to her Dad because every night when he comes home from work he takes Ivy walking laps around our house holding her hands. Ivy's first word was also Dad. So my question is... Why do Dads have all the fun and get all the love and us Mom's do all the work and have to chase the kids down to get a hug??
Actually, Russ does A LOT around here and I can't complain one bit but, now that he has been successful at getting Ivy to walk, he will be at work while I am here chasing her around and trying to keep her out of trouble. What a trade off.... Pretty good one I guess when you think about it. I always feel sorry for the Dads because at least here at my house he always misses the good stuff. The funny stories, funny phrases, my one day of good parenting and on and on.. So really I am happy right where I am at! I at least don't miss the good stuff....

Sweet Victory!

Don't you love it when you watch your children eating something healthy and loving it. Well, normally that doesn't happen at my house. We have a son who will only eat things that are white. REALLY! He lives on milk, tortillas, cereal and bread. This is no joke! You cannot make this kid eat anything healthy. He may if we are lucky venture in to the orange color.. Cheese on his tortillas and a carrot if we really insist. I have never seen him eat anything green, until last night!
For Christmas I received a great new cook book. I was so excited about hiding veggies in everyday food I couldn't wait to get started. The concept is to cook some veggies and then puree them and add them to the food you cook. I started with squash in pancakes and the kids loved them! I actually heard "Mom, these are the best pancakes I have ever had! Music to my ears! Then I tried squash in Mac and Cheese. Not a hit! My son noticed right away that something was different and wouldn't eat it. So, I went for the squash in a grilled cheese sandwich. I began to realize that my son has a built in veggie detector. He noticed after he had eaten half of the sandwich and would not resume eating the rest... I almost was about to give up and then I thought since pancakes worked so well I would make a big deal that we were going to have green pancakes for dinner last night. I set the food coloring on the counter so they really thought that was all I was adding and I put two cups of pureed spinach in the pancakes. They LOVED them! We all did really. I hope Saul's system isn't messed up from his first experience eating something green and healthy. Russ and I had a great moment hi-fiving each other and watching our white only eater devour spinach. I will actually sleep well tonight knowing that just because he had a tortilla and white rice for dinner tonight.... Tomorrow he may be eating broccoli hidden in his chicken nuggets.

Wii Time

Here at our house we have a new favorite pastime. It is the Wii. Now, my boys have been wanting one ever since they first heard about it, which is only about a year, but to kids a year is a lifetime! And for parents hearing about it for a year feels like a lifetime! So as the boys were making their Christmas list they made sure to put that on the top. Luckily Grandma L. heard about the request and helped give the boys "the best Christmas ever". Russ and I knew that it didn't matter what we or Santa got them for Christmas the Wii would over shadow it all. It happened to be one of the last gifts they opened and I had the camera ready. It was priceless! We have had friends over to play and we have had many family Wii nights. It has been a fun new addition.

Painting Party

Most of you have seen these pictures thanks to Tisha's blog. For those of you who haven't I thought I would post them on my own blog since I finally have one.
Over the holiday Russ's parents came to visit, as did my Mom and brother. Russ's Mom is an art teacher and we thought it would be fun to paint a mural on the kid's bathroom wall. I really didn't like that bathroom and was totally up for a change. I just didn't expect it to turn out so fantastic! Katie (Russ's Mom) and I spent over twenty hours in the bathroom while all the rest of the family partied. I really have no artistic talent and just painted in the lines where Katie drew. But together I think we made a masterpiece! We love it! I am thinking of charging a fee!

Here I go!

Ok, so I have been bullied into doing a Blog... (You know who you are). We will all get to see how it goes. It's funny how the only ones that I think are going to be checking it are the girls I hang out with almost every day. But it is worth helping them all avoid children and housework to snoop into my life. As if all of you don't hear enough from me already. (I am speaking of those who get Newsletters from me each and every month.) Who knows if that will continue or if this will take its place. Time will only tell. For now enjoy! The Blog isn't cute yet because I am still figuring it out and as you find below my time is limited. So hang in there and I will make it cute and fun soon.

~US IN A NUTSHELL~

We are the Beechers . Russ is the man of the house, he is a Resident Physician. I am the Mother, Wife, Cook, Nanny, Maid and otherwise known as "the best Mom in the whole wide world" (It only took a few hundred times of me telling them that that is the name I preferred to be called). We have four really cool kids.
Kanyon- He is 8yrs old. He loves science and one day I believe he will be a famous inventor.
Saul- He is 7yrs old. He loves to read and doesn't need much sleep at all!
Eli- He is 4yrs old. He loves to eat and has a great sense of humor.
Ivy- She is 10months old. She loves her binki and has a very sweet disposition.
Well, that is us in a nutshell welcome to our journey!