I’m a brunette.  Yep - it’s true.  My husband would characterize me throughout our eight years of marriage by my hair phases... when we first got married I had LONG, fairly straight hair, light brown with natural blonde highlights.  It pretty much stayed that way until I got pregnant with Megan and it turned curly and started getting quite a bit darker  - probably because I spent my days working  in a commercial real estate office instead of out playing in the sun.  Right after Meg was born, I chopped it all off... about a foot and donated it to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children without hair.  There went any remaining blonde and it was even curlier when shorter.  When I as pregnant with Ben my hair was starting to get long again and desperate to feel good in the end of pregnancy, I went and got highlights.  Despite paying a fortune for the highlights, the hairdresser did a great job messing up my hair and 2 1/2 years and lots of $ later, I’m still trying to get all of my hair back to its’ natural  color and get rid of the red that somehow ended up in there!  Whenever I contemplate fun summer highlights, Matt instantly shoots down the idea and reminds me how much money and frustration they caused me the last time... I don’t know, we’ll see, maybe I’ll do it again someday.  So, my pregnancy with Zac was a brunette curly-haired pregnancy... medium long.   Matt likes it long - don’t ask me why men are so into long hair, I don’t get it - I think there are plenty of adorable short haircuts out there.  I doubt I’ll ever get to try a short haircut now though, not with all my curls, it would just look like an afro... so, I’m learning to deal with the curls... and learning to deal with the 3 kids the brought my hair to this point!

I’m a mom.  I’d say that if I had to choose one word to describe myself it would be “mom”.  I live for my three little munchkins.  Sometimes it’s very overwhelming.  I’ll admit I’m not perfect.   It’s hard to be even close to perfect when dealing with a “4 year old teenager” and potty training a stubborn 2 year old all while carrying around a 15 pound colicy infant in a baby carrier with only the occasional break from having him on me to nurse him every 2 to 3 hours... and people wonder why moms go insane!  I tell Matt that I may as well still be pregnant since I have him on me all day anyways.  Most people have no clue how hard it is to bend down, make beds, clean the bathroom, clean up a 2 year old’s potty messes, unload the dishwasher, do laundry, etc... with a 15 pound baby hanging from your shoulders... I don’t know what I’m going to do when he gets heavier.  I have to admit that my view of motherhood before I had kids was so different that what I am living.  I heard a quote the other day that said, “I was a good mother, until I had kids.”  I thought that was funny.  I think I’m still a good mom... I hope.  It’s just not a life of baking cookies and doing crafts... it’s lots of cleaning (which I have to remind myself is not always so important), lots of teaching, and lots of laughter & love - which I think makes all the sacrifice worth it, in fact, I know it does.  I just hope my children will always remember how much I loved them as they’ve grown.  I’m still living my dream, although it’s a little different than how I’d initially dreamed it.  I’m so grateful for the blessing that I have to be home with my children, help mold their personalities, and watch them grow and smile and tell me they love me.  It’s the most rewarding thing I think I could ever do.  Sometimes it’s hard because you get little recognition for the hundreds of things you work so hard to do on a daily basis - I’ve struggled to overcome that.  I just hope to someday receive that recognition from my children as I see them grow into good people.  I now appreciate so much more what my mom did for me growing up.  I don’t know that my husband or anyone who isn’t a mom will ever truly be able to appreciate the emotional, physical & personal sacrifice that a mom makes.  Then again, I will probably never understand all the sacrifice and struggle and stress he goes through on a daily basis to support our family and give me the opportunity to be home with my children.  I’m so grateful for a husband who has worked so hard to make his way through dental school, open his own successful practice, all while being a wonderful husband and a dad who has the most incredible relationship with his children.  And through it all he’s been a great example of faith, love and patience.  I’m glad that we have each other to carry out these different and important roles in our family.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME -

I’m the oldest of 7 children

I grew up in Hudson, NH

I attended college at BYU in Provo, UT where I met my husband, Matt

Matt & I were married April 29, 1999 in the Washington DC LDS Temple

Megan was born August  24, 2002

Ben was born August 3, 2004

Zac was born March 22, 2007

I like to play piano & sing

I think being a brunette is just as fun as being a blonde =)