Happy New Year!

I know, truly sad that it's already March, and this is my first post of the year! If that gives any sort of indication of how busy we've been, you might have an idea.
Life has been pretty good, the girls keep us, especially me because I'm home with them, very VERY busy! They have had fun lately coming up with new ways to create more work for me.... like drawing with crayon ALL OVER THEIR WALLS AND FURNITURE (I think they got the idea from the book Harold and the Purple Crayon), "drinking" a liquid lip gloss (no worries checked poison control because I was super worried and it's not harmful and actually pretty common), spilling peanut butter on our freshly shampooed carpets, getting good at "selective hearing, and everything thing else a 2 and 4 year old can contrive.
Isaac is still working for glanbia in safety over the trucking department. His job keeps him really busy and sometimes makes me wish he still got paid hourly vs salary...but only sometimes :) He is still serving in our ward as Elder Quorum's President, which also keeps him very busy. It doesn't bother me too much, we have pretty much fallen into a routine with it all, so it's not too crazy. Isaac has been toying with the idea of coaching or assisting coaching in wrestling, and has actually had a head coach approach him from Twin Falls wanting him to assist this next year. We're not quite sure how that would work out with his job, but it's a fun idea to think about.
I have been keeping busy with our three little girls and trying to keep up with everything while expecting our fourth kiddo. Yep, I'm preggo! The little tyke is due the end of August, yes, we are hoping for a boy, but we would be equally happy with another girl- we just want a healthy babe. :) I have recently gotten into "extreme couponing" and LOVE IT!! I'm not like those people on TLC who save like 95% off of every purchase, but I do love finding deals and saving money. (Last week alone I saved over $100!) So that's been fun and my hobby as of late. I am still serving in the Young Women's and love it! It is so much fun. Although I don't feel much older than them, I was reminded earlier this year that my 10 year (gasp!) high school reunion is THIS YEAR! Eeek! How's that for scary!
Gabi is doing great and growing so much everyday. She loves to draw and paint and write her name, and everyone else's everywhere. She is incredibly smart and surprises me everyday with connections she's made from things I teach her to the world and real-life application. She is very creative and has a highly active imagination. She and Madi are always playing made up games or, let's pretend, or something else. I love seeing her learn and grow. She is very independent and very sure of herself, which I admire. She would be a friend to anyone and is constantly asking if so and so and "be in our family." :)
Madi is also doing really well. She practically potty-trained herself, it's been wonderful! She is very smart and very caring, always making sure everyone is okay. She wants to be just like Gabi and is determined that she will "ride the bus with Gabi" when she goes to school. We'll have to see about that...  She loves to dance, a lot- like a ballerina, and rarely misses a chance to do so. She picks up on things very quickly and knows letter, numbers, and can almost spell her name on her own. She loves nursery and gets along with the kids so well.
Brynlee keeps us all on our toes! She's a good mix of Gabi and Madi in looks, but is looking more and more like Gabi, and definitely takes after her in personality. Those two just feed off each other. Although she I think she gets her loud screams- whether happy or mad- from Madi. We have had to work a lot with Brynlee lately because although she is advanced in her fine motor skills and verbal skills, she is lagging in her gross motor skills. We have been working with a physical therapist the last several months to get her up to speed.
All in all, we are doing pretty good. Some days are purely survival mode, while others are lots of fun- mostly lots of fun. We are so looking forward to nicer weather and spending more time outdoors!
Hope you all are happy and healthy!
Love,
The Knights

what i love

i love Gabi's grown up sayings like, "oh mom, you're going to be just fine." Or, "don't worry, I'll come check on you in a minute." She's so perceptive and a very understanding and caring person. I love that she loves her sisters and takes the time to play with brynlee, even if she doesn't really want to. i love madi's beautiful blond hair. I love her stubbornness and her desire to be an individual and not always follow what others are doing. I love her caring and compassionate disposition, and her desire to make brynlee happy. I love hearing from either of my girls, "mom, i just make (gabi, madi, brynlee) so happy! that make you happy too?" I love their smiles and their contagious laughter. I love that they always want me to be the "horsey" and give them a ride around the house, or piggy back rides nightly to go brush their teeth. I love that they love church. I love that they truly know what is good and desire to be it. I love that i have a husband who will get up with the kids when he knows I've had a rough night or day or both. i love my little bryners and all of her snuggles, her smiles, her laughter. i love the bond that brynlee and gabi have- those two were cut out of the same cloth. i love how much madi reminds me of Isaac, how much gabi reminds me of me, and how much brynlee is a perfect mixture of both. i love that we love each other and love being around each other. i love this time of year and watching the girls as they grasp the concept of the true meaning of Christmas. i love that every baby that they see in a nativity they know is baby Jesus, and for madi, every boy baby in books she calls baby Jesus :). i love being a mom and being there for my girls day in and day out. i love life's little lessons that we've learned along the way. i love seeing my girls grow and learn and emerge in personality. i love that i have a husband who puts up with all of us girls, and keeps a sense of humor. i love my family. :)
I hope this season finds you all well and happy and reminded of the wonderful things in life. :)

Seriously been way too long

I can hardly believe it's been almost a month since the last time I blogged, so sad. If that's any indication of how busy we've been, it's true, we've been super busy. So much has happened and been going on lately, I can barely keep track of what day it is! I have a ton of pics from this last month, as well as this summer that I really want to blog, but, as it stands, I still have a million things to do before I go to bed, and it's already 11pm. Sheesh!
I will give a quick update on everyone:
Isaac is doing tons better since his surgery, and he was super happy to hit his 6 week mark and have his weight restrictions lifted. He's super busy with work, his calling, and his house full of girls. He's an awesome husband, and an amazing father.
Me: Just celebrated my...28th birthday! Not quite as horrible as I thought it would be, and have finally come to terms with the fact that I'm in my "late 20's" :) I recently was introduced to essential oils, which have now become a part of our everyday life, and it's been awesome. (more on that later)
Gabi: is growing up WAY. TOO. FAST! She is conintually learning and growing. She has become increasingly good at linking concepts, we have to be careful about what we talk about when she's around because we're likely to hear it again.
Madi: is talking more and more and more everyday. She's still a little shy, but smiles a ton. I love that little blondie! She loves to sing everything she talks about, but gets shy when we notice. Today one of her songs was, "Gabi is a big girl! She wears big girl undies and goes pahhhhhhteeee!" In a cute little sing-song voice. So funny!
Brynlee- is growing up so quickly. She's a smart little girl and cannot wait until she can keep up with her sister's. She sits on her own (she's been doing that for the last two months, sorry!) still hates tummy time, smiles a ton, and has turned into a real mama's girl. She is loved anywhere she goes largely due to her contagioius smile, and big blue eyes.
We added an addition to our family, a little kitten that's barely 6 weeks old. Despite me swearing up and down over and over we would NEVER have a pet, I succummbed to peer pressure last sunday when we went to visit our friends, and I found one of their kittens. So cute! He is now a member of our family- for now, and is fondly reffered to as; kitty, her, him, and bubba.
We hope you are all doing well too!

We're so glad when Daddy comes home!

We are so excited to have Daddy home! It has been a super long week full of ups and downs laughter and tears- sometimes laughter with tears, and lots of wishing Daddy's trip was shorter to he could be home sooner. Today in preparation for Daddy to come home, the girls made a "Welcome Home Daddy" poster to put in the window. The girls loved it and were so excited to put it up and eagerly watch out the window for their Daddy. They were so excited to have him home. The primary song that goes something like this, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home. As glad as I can be! I clap my hands and shout for joy and climb up on his knee." took on a whole new meaning as I say my girls do just that when he got home.
It's amazing how much simple things can be taken for granted until you go without them for awhile- like having someone help put the kids to bed or read stories or keep them calm during family scriptures and prayer, the list goes on. We are so grateful to have Daddy home with us! And yes, story time was much more enjoyable for the girls- Daddy does a WAY better job!

Hanging out this morning

She LOVES  the Bumbo

Her Rock n' Play sleeper

She sleeps SO good in this!

Yeah for Daddy being home!

Laughing because she's so ticklish

Gabi and Madi tracing their hands on the Welcome Home poster

Madi's still trying to get the hang of it  :)

Gabi's practically a pro :)

Side Story:

Brynlee's Diaper explosion

Yes, I was holding her

Yes, it got on me

No, it didn't get on her

No, I don't know how that's possible

I was holding Brynlee, and without warning I heard something dripping on the floor, at first I thought it was Gabi peeing her pants, but as I looked down this is what I saw! Somehow little Bryners had shot it right out the back of her diaper. She didn't get any on her clothes, but managed a spray of it on my shirt and pants, all over my shoes and definitely all over the floor. Isaac said it looked like it shot right out the back of her diaper. Strange, but true. True, but gross.

Love, The Knights

Almost in the Clear

Isaac has been gone on a business trip these last few days, so life has been kind of crazy. Despite the craziness I promised I would blog everyday so that he wouldn't miss out on much. Lucky for him I've actually done it! Unfortunately it's usually super late. We are sooooo excited to have him home.
The girls haven't really understood what's going on and why Daddy isn't home yet. At least today I was able to tell them they would see him tomorrow. It was still hard when they would say things like, "Doesn't Daddy want to eat dinner? Isn't he hungry?" or "Doesn't Daddy want to sleep in his bed?" or every time a car would drive by the girls would run up to the window and say, "Oh, it's Daddy! He's home!" Seriously would make me cry sometimes because I wish he was home too, only for different reasons. :) The girls have seriously missed story time with Daddy, I just can't do it justice. :) We miss him tons! Tomorrow cannot come soon enough!
Well, today. Today we tried really hard to go outside, but it was super cold. I let the girls pick some flowers on our way to the car. I was in a have to get out of the house before I go crazy mood, so we headed to Jerome and went to Walmart. I really need to go grocery shopping but lacking the emotional energy today to handle all three girls, I decided the trip to Twin would have to wait until Isaac got home. Lucky and unlucky for us they had just marked down all the Easter stuff to 75% off! Since they were just barely putting up the signs, there were still some yummy things left, like Reese's PB Bunnies and Nerds jellybeans (my new favorite!) among several other things...I won't mention them because I'm actually kind of embarrassed at how much candy I bought. Not to mention a doc in our stake was in the line behind us and we chatted, pretty sure he must have been thinking something like, "Not the healthiest choice..." Oh well. I was caught in a weak moment, and hello! I am seriously an emotional eater...kind of goes without saying if you know me... Anywho, I digress.
The girls have actually been pretty good all things considering. For some odd reason they have been going to bed earlier, but have also been waking up earlier. Except Brynlee- still going to bed late and waking up early. Speaking of sleep...it is calling me.
One last story for the day. My girls, like most kids LOVE to splash. The more water out of the tub, the more fun. Seeing as how I have to take care of Brynlee means less of a watchful eye that those two little mischievous girls. Usually I have to wipe up the floor after the bath, not tonight. Oh no, not tonight. Tonight I had to MOP up the floor. Quite literally. Yes, I knew once I heard uncontrollable laughter, something had to be going on. Yes, they had been DUMPING water onto the ground. They took one look at my face and stopped laughing- well Madi let out a little chuckle. After "the look" they new trouble was there. I guess I couldn't get too mad at them...I was needing to mop the floor anyway.

Brynlee has just discovered her tongue this last week and it's ADORABLE!

Seriously LOVES bath time and is such a chatter box!

Gabi LOVES holding Brynlee and is always asking

Brynlee appears to be impartial :)

Madi's "cheese" face (i'm in love with it!)

They discovered they both have pockets, a new-found love

Totally ready to snooze and totally done with pictures

Hope you've had a great day! We love and miss you Isaac! Can't wait to see you!

To Boise and Back...last night

Yesterday we did something we rarely ever do. Very much spur-of-the-moment we decided to jump in the car when Isaac got of work and head to Boise to check out a vehicle, a Honda Odyssey to be specific. We have been looking for quite awhile for a larger vehicle that would suit our growing family. This vehicle they had just gotten in and already had two other people looking at it. So off we were to Boise to go check it out. I have never had to wheel and deal at a car lot before, so this was all new to me. I didn't love it, and our sales lady was less than pleasant. (She also ruined one of our DVDs trying to get it to work in the player, which I was super mad about) We didn't really anticipate getting into all of the negotiating, we mostly wanted to check it out, and if we felt that it was what we were looking for, go from there. Well a few test drives, a mechanic, a trashed DVD and three hours of negotiating later we actually ended up walking away van-less. We would have gotten a pretty awesome deal if we would have purchased it, but when it came right down to it we plain just didn't feel good about it. So we picked up our kiddos from my parents who were kind enough to watch and feed and entertain them for those three hours, and we headed back to Wendell, getting home about 12:30am this morning. So all in all it was pretty stressful but we felt good about our decision, and it was nice to get away for an evening.

Introducing... Brynlee Knight!

BRYNLEE KNIGHT

We are so excited to announce the birth of our third daughter, Brynlee Knight.

She was born January 22nd, 2012 at 10:52am in Twin Falls, ID.

She weighed 8lbs 0oz and was 21inches long.

She has dark brown hair, smiles and looks a lot like her sister, Madi, when she was born.

We are so excited to have her here and look forward to what the future holds in our growing family.

Thank you for all of the love, support and prayers, we couldn't have done it without you!

(More to come on the actual story :))

The Perfect Day- at least it was supposed to be

We have been looking forward to today all week long! This morning we had a Glanbia Christmas Celebration for the family- they rent out the theatre and we get to go as family and enjoy a family appropriate movie (This year was Puss in Boots) complete with popcorn and a drink compliments of Glanbia. After the movie Santa comes and the kids can sit on his lap if they want and take pictures and then each child gets a gift. Later we planned to go out to lunch and enjoy family time, come home and finish putting up decorations and then go with our friends to see some awesome lights.
We were soooo excited!! Unfortunately, as it usually seems to happen, none of that happened. We made it to the movie theatre and were about 15 minutes into the movie (mind you this is about 9:15am) and Madi starts losing her breakfast all over me, Isaac, and the seat in front of us. Interestingly enough my purse caught most of it...inside. I guess I know what I want for Christmas- ew! So we rushed out, and got Madi all cleaned up, poor thing!  :( She wasn't looking so great, so much to our chagrin we left the theatre in search of a new outfit for little Madi since where we were was 30min from home and we felt like that would be undue punishment to ride home stinky. So we zipped over to Fredmeyer's and grabbed a new outfit for Madi and a new shirt for Daddy. We had a few errands we needed to run, so after Madi had a few crackers and a sip of water, she was out and we tagged teamed getting our errands done. Not quite the afternoon we had planned.
When we got home not a one of us were in the decorating mood, so we all took a nap. We were hoping that Madi would be feeling better so that we could at least go see the lights. But alas, after a 2 1/2hr nap, she woke up really pale and had a fever. So, sadly, we had to forgo the lights and seeing our friends, our last hope of reviving our wonderfully planned Saturday.
Instead we went for a short car ride to see some of the lights around the neighborhood and came home and let the girls open one of their Christmas presents early- Rio (sorry Brit!)
So I guess no matter how well we plan, sometimes it just doesn't work out and you just have to roll with the punches. Even thought not a single thing went as planned, we were able to spend the entire day together as a family, and that was wonderful.

Watching Rio, highlight of their day!

Gabi saying "cheese" and super excited to watch Rio

Remembering Riley

This last week our sweet little dog Riley passed away. It has been a hard week for all of our family- goodbyes are never easy. Any of you who know me know that I am not an animal person, but Riley was more that just the "family pet," he was a dear friend. He was there for each of us when we needed him most. He was a friend, a hunter, a comforter, a listener, a member of our family.
 I remember when I came home from my mission. He hadn't seen me in a long time, but he still remembered me. In those days and weeks that followed my return home, when everyone else was gone at work or at school, Riley and I bonded. We went on walks and runs, watched movies, and just hung out- helped ease the adjustment to being "back." He became my bud. As I eventually moved away and went back to school, later got married, and started having kids I wasn't able to see him as much due to distance, but I still thought about him and missed him. He had so much personality. He could tell if you were having a bad day and just needed someone to listen to, he always seemed to understand with his knowing eyes.
He was a hunting buddy to my dad. They always enjoyed those outings. I loved how when my dad came back, little Riley all tuckered out, he couldn't stop bragging about what a great hunting dog he was and how he out-ran all of the other dogs there. Riley was always very curious and playful. One particular hunting trip Riley had a run-in with a porcupine, poor guy! Not only was he tired but he had little red dots all over his face where the quills had been pulled out. I think he learned not to mess with those porcupines,  but that never stemmed his enthusiasm for new things.
Riley loved to run. I think his favorite place was the dog park at Marymoore park. He could run so fast! He always looked like he was smiling when he was running, we always would say that's because he loved to run so much. At that park he had the best of everything; other dogs, lots of room, and water that he always managed to jump into and get a swim.
In fact Riley sometimes would run off, we never really knew where he went, but he always came back dirty, stinky, tired, but happy. I think he just needed to get out every once in awhile.
When Riley would come back from getting all shampooed and groomed we would always think it was so funny how he seemed to strut around with his new do, all nice and clean.
There are so many memories we each have with Riley, and his passing did not come easy. I think all of us could agree that he is in a much better place, free of pain. I imagine him running as fast as he can through hills of grass chasing a squirrel or a bird or even a butterfly. Riley truly was one-of-a-kind and he will be greatly missed by all.
We love you Riley!

LOVE sunny days!

Today the girls and I headed off to Boise to go and see grandma and grandpa horne. Before we left we went and visited Isaac at work (no, that is not what he wears on a regular basis:) ) We then headed off to Boise. The girls did pretty good, and we all sang to the Tangled soundtrack...the entire way... We had a ton of fun in Boise, Gabi knew immediately where we were when we pulled up to my parents, she's such a smart little wipper-snapper.:) We had a ton of fun at a nearby park, poor Madi was asleep the whole time, hopefully we will get to go back tomorrow.:)

Daddy n' lil Madi

Daddy n' Gabi Gabi's first experience at a park on a very scary looking Dumbo

Playing tic tac toe...

Mom and Gabi going down the slide, wahoo!

Grandpa had some fun too, and yes, he really

did go down the slide!

She didn't love the swings quite as much...

Going down the fast slide!

The end of the slide, luckily gma was

there to catch her:)

Madi sporting my sunglasses

She likes 'em!

Watching Tangled with Gpa, yes, we love that movie!

Gabi ready for bed after a long day

Madi...not quite ready for bed yet

What can I say, she's a Knight :)

Hope you enjoyed these pictures! Have a wonderful day!

Love, The Knights

P.S. Daddy, we love you and miss you tons! Can't wait to see you tomorrow!

And we're back!

So, it's been awhile. It kind of goes without saying, but I'm very sorry to all of our wonderful family and friends that live far away and are wondering what in the world we are up to.

Well...we are doing pretty good. Definitely looking forward to spring and sunshine, but all is well. Madi is doing really well and hasn't had any problems related to the Chylothorax so far, so we are very optimistic that the problem has been resolved. She is the best baby EVER! She rarely cries unless she's really hungry or really tired, which doesn't happen often because she is on a pretty set schedule. She sleeps 10-12hrs a night and smiles and smiles and smiles and smiles! We love her so much!

Gabi is 2 going on 20 with an attitude to boot! She talks a mile a minute, some makes sense, and some doesn't, but usually it makes sense. The other night it was bedtime and I told her, "Gabi, it's time to go night night!." She briefly looks up at me and then continues playing with her barbie (she refers to all barbies as "friend," it's cute) and said, "No, I busy." I couldn't stop laughing. I still laugh when I think about it! She sure keeps us on our toes! Talking about toes, for those who are aware with her obsession with lint free toes, she's still at it in full force and checks her toes at least 3 times a day. I don't know why I put socks on her! She also loves to check Madi's toes out whenever she gets the chance, much to Madi's chagrin.


Isaac is doing well, and is really busy, but that's okay. We make sure we get plenty of family time with Family Home Evening and Saturdays.


All in all we're doing great. I promise I am going to try really really hard to be better about blogging.


Love ya guys!



Here's a few photos, most were taken today :)

Love,

The Knights