Our Life

Sethisms

2011-01-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

Whenever I tell people he's 6, he quickly chimes in with, "And a quarter!"

On Christmas Eve I was tucking him into bed and he said, "I hope Santa leaves me a note." I asked, "What do you want the note to say?" His reply, "Probably, I'm sorry that I didn't get you everything you wanted." Oh boy . . . lol!

Tonight I reminded the kids to keep the lid closed on the trash can so Ben can't get into it. Seth walked up to Benjamin and said, "There's a reason we call it a trash can you know. It's because there's TRASH in it!" Laughing, I reminded them to keep the toilet lid closed too. Seth looked at Ben and said, "Now that's gross buddy."

(Side Note: Seth has lost his 3rd tooth already and has a 4th one that is loose! All of them are on the bottom.)

Benjamin's First Birthday

2010-12-27T09:37:00.001-08:00

Our baby has turned 1 year old! He had a great birthday complete with a chocolate pancake breakfast, a party with lots of family, and some great new toys.

He isn't quite walking yet but is super close. He holds on to furniture, lets go, and then laughs and giggles like crazy and tries to take a step. He's taken about 2 or 3 steps in a row so far so it won't be long before he's running all over the place. He has eight teeth and a great gappy smile.

Happy Birthday to our big boy! Gift from Granny & Pappy

Chocolate Chip Pancakes are the best!

. . . and something healthy to balance it out a little.

Just a few days old. (Dec. 25th, 2009)

In the hospital (Dec. 23, 2009)

Kid Quotes of the day

2010-11-20T19:38:00.001-08:00

Me: Benjamin, do you want some milk?
Benjamin: Signs night night
Me: *smiling* Milk and bedtime are not the same thing, buddy. (This bedtime weaning thing is going to be tough!)

Brenna: I want some juice!
Me: What do you say?
Brenna: Please, Your Majesty?
Me: *chuckling* That'll do

Ashyln: When me and Seth are grown ups, you and dad will be dead.
Me: What?!
Ashlyn: Yeah, you guys are really old so you'll be in heaven.
Me: *thinking fast* Well who will be the Granny when you have a baby then?
Ashlyn: OK, you can stay.

Seth: *shocked* They just said a bad word on Thomas! (Thomas the Train and Friends movie.)
Me: Huh?
Seth: Thomas said Pistons!

Hahaha!

Underoos Revisited

2010-10-16T23:17:00.001-07:00

Found this pic in an old photo album. I'm Wonder Woman! And aren't Kris and Nate just so cute. :)

Bathtub Adventures

2010-10-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Benjamin fell in the girls' bath headfirst today with his pajamas on. He was NOT happy. Then tonight I made him a bubble bath. I set him in the water and he started screaming so I yanked him out thinking I'd scalded him. I checked the water again and it was fine so I put him back in and he started screaming even louder! Turns out bubbles freak him out. lol

Loose Tooth

2010-09-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Seth discovered one of his teeth was loose just a few days after school started. I totally teared up when he wiggled it for me. I didn't cry when I dropped him off for his first day of kindergarten but that loose tooth got to me. lol

When the tooth finally came out, we were at church. I told him to keep it in his shirt pocket but of course he didn't and he lost it. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy accepts drawings of "lost teeth that get lost." Haha! So Seth drew a great picture and left it under his pillow. Sure enough, in the morning the drawing was gone and a dollar was in its place. :)

My Little Preschoolers

2010-09-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

The local preschool raised their rates quite a bit this year so we decided I would teach again. Oh my, think we can make it past C this time? Two years ago we did preschool at home about 3 times, then we moved and I was pregnant, etc etc and that was that. This year we're going to stick to it! :)

The girls are absolutely loving it, of course. And I'm having a lot of fun too. So wish me luck on our Home Preschool Program this year! :)

Here are a few pictures of the girls Bouncing Balloons, making Bubbles, and learning all about the letter 'B' and the number 2.

Benjamin - 8 months

2010-09-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Little Benjamin is 8 months old already! He is crawling on his hands and knees, babbling like crazy, saying "mama", and cutting 2 more teeth!

Ben Loves Lemonade :)

Seth's First Day of School

2010-08-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

My little boy started kindergarten today! I am so excited for him. Doesn't he look so grown up? He was so excited that it took a while for him to fall asleep last night and he practically jumped out of bed when I woke him this morning. It reminded me of that scene in "Finding Nemo." Seth was the little orange clown fish hopping around saying, "First day of school! First day of school!" lol

He and his cousin Dylan both started today. They asked for a special back-to-school breakfast of waffles and hot chocolate. Yummm.
All set and ready to go. Just one last kiss for mommy first! :)

Best Buds

A little nervous but excited

Ok, mom! One more picture and then you're leaving, right?

This is where I say all the cliches like, "It seems like just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms as a sweet, tiny newborn." and "My baby is so grown up!" and . . . lol Well, it's true!

Utah Trip: Grandma & Grandpa John

2010-08-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Utah in July visiting Steve's family. The kids are already asking when we are going back to Grandma and Grandpa John's. They got to sleep on the trampoline every night, ride in the back of granpa's truck, eat lots of candy, and generally got way spoiled.

The Kids were SO cooperative getting their picture taken with Granpa John!

Going for a ride in Granpa's truck

John Family BBQ at Mike & Martina's

Ben loves grandpa

Utah Trip: A Little Stream

2010-08-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

This stream was VERY cold but oh so fun!

Utah Trip: The Herzog Farm

2010-08-26T22:51:00.000-07:00

This place could give the "Zito Funny Farm" a run for it's money! Steve's sister, Kristy, has 6 kids, 3 ponies, a bunch of goats and rabbits, a llama, and . . . I can't remember what else but there are lots more. Holy smokes! Hoe does she do it?! Needless to say, our kids LOVED the visit we had to Kristy's house. We were bummed that our time was so short there, though.

Ashlyn is usually our most cautious but she really really liked riding the pony. She didn't want to get off! Her cousin, Jocelyn was nice enough to walk her around the yard like 10 times. (Thanks Jocy!!)

Brenna and Seth were not too impressed with the ponies. They were pretty scared of them actually.
10 day Old Baby Goat (I'm glad it's not my Kid. lol)

Utah Trip: Grandma & Grandpa Dennis

2010-08-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Steve's mom had recently been in the hospital for a heart condition and wasn't feeling too well but we were really glad that she was up to a visit on our last day in Utah.

Utah Trip: Logan Acquatic Center

2010-08-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

2010 Kids Photos

2010-08-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Brothers & Sisters - 2010Seth Nathaniel 5 yrs.

Ashlyn Marie - 4 yrs.

Brenna Larae - 3 yrs.

Benjamin Steven - 6 mos.

Remember These?!

2010-08-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I LOVED these babies! lol I think I was maybe 5 or 6 years old when I got my Wonder Woman Underoos and my mom had given all of us kids a homemade super cape for Christmas. I refused to wear regular clothes around the house for months! Gotta love the 80s.

The Park

2010-08-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Before & After

2010-08-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

with Sisters-in-law Amber & AnnekeAFTER

Aubrey (3 wks.), Charlotte (2 mo.), & Benjamin (3 mo.) Taken April 2010

Remember this post?

My Least Favorite Stage

2010-08-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

Why do babies have ato put EVERYTHING in their mouths?! I hate trying not to gag Benjamin as I try to sweep something out of his mouth without pushing it down his throat. Those fat little baby tongues just make it so tricky. lol

Ben has the crawling thing down pretty good now. He doesn't get up on his hands and knees but he can really motate with the good old Army crawl. He comes looking for me now and follows me all around the kitchen when I'm cooking. He really loves the bath and scoots for the bathroom as fast as possible if he hears the water running. Sometimes he goes so fast, he falls forward on his head with his feet up in the air. Gotta get video of that.

Figuring out the crawling thing . . .

One Week Later

Seth & Ashlyn Climbing the Apple Tree

2010-05-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Tummy Time?

2010-05-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

Junior Reader

2010-05-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

I didn't even pose these. He kept grabbing the edges of the book like he knew what he was doing. So cute. :)

What a Trip to Walmart Looks Like :)

2010-05-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

A few FIRSTS for Benjamin

2010-04-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Benjamin has had quite a few "firsts" in the last week or two. He tried baby food, discovered daddy's goatee, read/heard his first book (I know, he's four months and I haven't gotten around to it until now!! I'm such a slacker-mom. He gave his first real laugh to Mrissa (still trying to get him to repeat that one.), learned to make spit bubbles, and has rolled over once. Whew! It's been a busy 2 weeks for the baby. :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-28T14:42:00.001-07:00

Easter Morning at Home

Dying eggs at Nick & Brittany's house

Egg Hunt at Amber & Nate's House

Curly Sue One and Two

2010-04-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

ASHLYN

BRENNA

The Drive-In

2010-04-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Whoa! SEVEN kids in the Excursion at the Drive-In. Needless to say, we didn't hear a whole lot of the movie but the kids all loved the experience. My cousin, Beth and my niece, Mrissa were there too. Yee Haw! :)

Brenna's 3rd Birthday

2010-04-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

Brenna turned 3 on March 6th. Isn't she looking so grown up?

I love the expression on her face in these next two. Think she was excited about this little chair?

A Webkinz just like the big kids! She named her Pawkgirl.

(Like Hawk Girl from the "Justice League" movies but pronounced in 3-year-old style.)

I read the "The Grouchy Ladybug" and my auidence was enthralled.

Blowing bubbles and stomping poppers

We wrapped up the party with a little game of Grasshopper, Grasshopper, Ladybug.

(A little twist on Duck, Duck, Goose.)

Silly Seth & Sweet Benjamin

2010-04-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn's First Day of Preschool

2010-04-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

Seth started going to Preschool right after Christmas but after a month or so, he decided he didn't like it. Ashlyn was absolutely DYING to go so we just asked the teacher if we could have Ashlyn come instead. The teacher agreed and now everyone is happy. Seth loves being home and doesn't feel like he's missing out on family stuff while he's at school. Ashlyn comes home each time preschool is over and is just glowing from feeling so grown up.

Everyday she asks me when preschool is. It doesn't start until noon and is only 3 days a week but if I tell her it IS preschool day, she runs and puts on her backpack right after breakfast and keeps it on until I drop her off at school. What a cutie pie. Brenna is super excited to "go to school after summer is over." (They will be in preschool together this Fall) As for our little Preschool Dropout (hee hee), he is looking forward to kindergarten.

Fun with Mommy's New Mac

2010-04-01T00:10:00.001-07:00

Smiles

2010-04-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

Easy Bake Oven

2010-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Aaah . . . who doesn't remember these? I was almost as excited as the girls were when we got Ashlyn's new Easy-Bake oven out for the first time. I have some great childhood memories of "baking" with my mom in one of these babies. lol The girls absolutely loved it and the microscopic chocolate chip cookies were fantastic. :0)

Happy 4th Birthday, Ashlyn!

2010-03-31T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn turned 4 on February 13th. She is such a sweet kid! Steve bought her this little apron set and had her help him cook the chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. She was in heaven! I love these pics of her hamming it up for the camera.

Can you guess what the theme was? We went to the Dollar store a few days before her birthday and she saw the Valentines stuff everywhere and begged for a heart birthday. It turned out really cute.

She had 16 kids at her party! Whoa! They all had fun decorating their heart shaped cupcakes. Some of them had more sprinkles than frosting.

Who-ho-ho! A Barbie electric guitar that sings "Girls Just Wanta Have Fun"!

She loved all of her presents and definitely got SPOILED. Thanks everybody! She got so many cool presents that she didn't want to play any games so they all played with her new toys in the living room and had a great time.

Making Valentines Cards

2010-03-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

Benjamin & Charlotte

2010-03-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a difference 5 weeks makes. Benjamin looks HUGE next to little Charlotte.

She is the most recent addition to my brother, Johnathan's family. Click her name for more pics. She is one cute baby! Congrats again Hoj and Anneke. :)

All dressed up

2010-03-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

All ready for church. Aren't they cute! Seth didn't want to be in the pictures. :(

They were all actually pretty good in church. Taking six kids to church by myself was a bit scary but my friend's daughter, Megan, sat with us and a nice sister sitting behind us took the baby for me for the whole hour! (Thanks Megan and Jennifer!)

Ashlyn with her cousin, Dylan

Brenna with cousin, Jasmine

What a bunch of cuties

Brothers

2010-03-02T12:00:00.001-08:00

Sad Sad Story

2010-03-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

To preface here, I know I should have been backing up my hard drive at least once a week! Waaah! :( Yes, it's true. The laptop crashed and the hard drive is completely toast. We lost all of our pictures from 2008 & 2009! How dumb is that?! Up until 2008 I have all of our pictures on CDs along with a backup CD just in case. Aye, yi, yi . . . what a dummie! The only thing that kept me from crying is the fact that I have my favorite pics on this blog. If it were not for these I would be much more upset. I mean, what if I had lost all of Benjamin's hospital/newborn photos, the last 2 Christmases, etc etc?! Not to mention so many others. Well, that's my sad/stupid story for the year, I hope.

On much brighter note, my awesome hubby bought me a brand new 27" iMac! Oh yeah, happy birthday to me! My husband spoils me that's for sure. There is a bit of a "learning curve" going from PC to Mac but I really love media editing and all the reviews I read said this is the way to go. I've made a few slide shows so far and plan to start editing some home videos this week. (Of course, I'm backing everything up every Friday and after each big project.) I hope to become proficient enough with the new programs soon so that I can make slideshows and movies for people. I think it would be a fun way to make a little extra money. I know lots of people already have businesses like this but maybe I can break into the market on a small scale at least. It's something I love to do and I can do it at night after the kids go to bed. Fun, fun.

Just in case you want to drool, here's a pic of my birthday present . . .

Ain't she a Beaut??

Oh yeah, and all I had to do to set it up was plug in the power cord. No kidding! Wireless keyboard, mouse, printer, AND the computer and monitor are built in as one. Wow huh.

So loved . . .

2010-02-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

: Baby Love :

=======================

Brandon (cousin)Lexi (cousin)Josie & Megan (cousins)Seth (big brother)Daddy

Aunt Merilee Becca (friend)

Josie (cousin) Aunt Amber

Ashlyn (big sis #1) Brenna (big sis #2)Mommy

Baby Ben Meets Granny & Pappy

2010-02-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

Granny came to our house when Benjamin was a few days old. She kissed on him, took a few pictures, and then she gave me the BEST gift . . . She took all 3 older kids home with her and kept them for 4 days! Don't I have the greatest mom ever.

My dad and sister helped out too, of course. Thanks guys!

-------------------------------

Granny& Pappy with 9-day old Baby Benjamin

Family Photo Shoot

2010-02-07T00:11:00.000-08:00

We attempted a family photo shoot on New Years Eve but it didn't turn out quite the way I'd hoped. Number one, can I just say I HATE my new camera?! Boohoo! I want my old one back so bad. Where the heck did I lose it?! This one takes forever to focus so a lot of the good poses came out blurry. Talk about frustrating! And number two, the Tootsiepop bribe didn't last very long. Oh well, maybe someday we'll get around to getting some professional ones done.

The Best Dad

2010-02-06T23:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning

2010-02-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was a blast. I just love Christmas!

Steve got a creeper so he doesn't have to lay on the cold concrete anymore when he's working on his truck in the garage.

Steve had these necklaces and matching earrings made from stones we collected at the Yellowstone River this past summer. It was a really sweet, thoughtful gift. Now I'll never forget that great day we all spent at the river together getting as excited as the kids about finding cool rocks and just having a great time hanging out as a family.
I bought about 10 Halloween costumes the day after Halloween for just a few dollars each. Here's Seth as Iron Man practicing karate on his new kick boxing tower.

Ashlyn was thrilled to be the Super Hero, Wonder Woman! And look at that hair! Doesn't she look so different?

And here's little Dorothy.

Love the braids.
The girls got a new dollhouse. Didn't Santa's helper do a great job putting it together!

The cap gun was by far Seth's favorite gift.

Benjamin was totally into the whole thing! Well maybe not but our little 3 1/2 day old is the best present of all. :)

Christmas Eve - Not a Creature is Stirring

2010-02-06T23:02:00.001-08:00

Not a creature is stirring? Well, except Santa's "helpers" that is. They were up until way past midnight. :)

Christmas Eve

2010-02-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

About a week before Christmas, Steve took each of the kids out to buy eachother gifts but we didn't get around to wrapping them until Christmas Eve. It was so cute watching them concentrate so hard on wrapping each present just right. (Oh, and don't I look GOOD for having a 2-day-old? lol Uh, say yes . . . wink wink.)

When the kids finished wrapping presents, we all got to open our Christmas Eve gifts. You'll never guess what they were?! Did you say new PJs? Huh . . . how'd ya know? Well technically mine's a Snuggie but that counts too, right?

The kids were all in bed by 9 p.m. but it took them a while to fall asleep. Not only because of the excitement of Christmas Eve but because of Daddy's new tradition. (He did this last year too but with real bells.) The heater vents in the office conduct sound down into the kids' basement bedrooms pretty clearly so Steve found sleigh bell sounds and Santa's Ho Ho Ho on the computer. Then he put the speakers right next to the vent and played the sounds. We could hear the kids' reactions and it was so funny! Seth said, "Uh oh! Santa just flew over our house! We better pretend like we're asleep so he'll come back!" The girls just giggled and went crazy over it! Pretty cute. I think Steve finally let them go to sleep by 10 p.m.

Dinner & A Sleepover - December 21st

2010-02-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

Seth, Ashlyn & Brenna stayed at Anneke & Hoj's house for the 2 nights I was in the hospital. Here they are with their bags all packed and ready to go.They were enthralled with Johnathan's fireplace. Steve made a great dinner for all of us. Thanks hun!
--------------------------------------------------
Are there words for this?! :D
Me with two of my sisters-in-law.
Left to Right:
Amber (6 months), Anneke (8 months), Me (9 months)

I have less than 12 hours to go!

2 weeks Old

2010-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

I was going to catch up on my December/Christmas blogging tonight but it's so late that I decided to just post a bunch of cute pictures of the baby. (and yes I know I'm way "camera happy" lol)

Sweet Baby Feet

Aaaah

Snoozing on mommy

So peaceful in his cousin Lexi's arms

Ooooh, is he mad!Just needed that Pacifier

He hates the flash going off while he's trying to sleep. lol
Ooooh

"I still live with my parents" (cute outfit, huh?)

He looks so tiny in that big ol' crib

I LOVE this super soft blanket given to me by Merilee

Clutching mama's finger

"Please, no more pictures, mom!" heehee

Benjamin's Birth Story

2010-01-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

We had dinner with Nate, Amber, Anneke & Hoj on Monday night (Dec. 21st) and then left Seth, Ashlyn & Brenna there for a "sleepover." We were supposed to go home and get a good night's sleep but we went to Gordon's house, Steve's brother, to drop off the puppy and ended up staying until after midnight! I figured I wasn't going to get much sleep anyway. I wasn't really nervous or anxious or anything, just excited.

Steve and I got up and 5 a.m. and made it to the hospital around 6:15 a.m. My C-section was scheduled for 7:30 so I thought we were plenty early but it turns out they wanted me there at 5:45. Hmmm . . . I wonder why they didn't tell me that. It looked like they were on the verge of rescheduling us because we were so "late" plus all the rooms were full but they decided to squeeze us in. Phew!! (Luckily, there was a room available by the time I was out of surgery so I didn't have to spend a lot of time in the triage room that we were temporarily using.)

Since this was my 4th C-section, I knew the ropes pretty well so I had some specific requests. My biggest one was that I wanted an epidural instead of the spinal because last time, with Brenna, the anesthesiologist tried for the spinal for about 45 minutes and stuck me a dozen times or so and then finally went for the epidural and got it on the first try. So this time I told the guy I would give him 2 chances to get the spinal block in and then I wanted the epidural. I don't know why I didn't just insist on the epidural. I guess I hoped that the last time was just a fluke but . . . after about 30 minutes of trying, he got the epidural in on the first try. Hmmmm . . . I don't know how many times he tried but it seems like quite a long time for just 2 attempts.

When I was finally numb, they let Steve in and we got the party started. :) Everything seemed to be going fine until I heard the doctor grunting and panting and out of breath and then heard the vacuum thingy pop off of the baby's head. What in the world?! She tried 3 times and opened the incision further twice and then called for a third doctor to come in and they all pushed on my belly as hard as they could until the Benjamin literally popped out on his own. Poor baby! His initial apgar was a 3. Pretty scary. They worked on clearing his lungs of fluid for a while and then his apgar was up to 6. At that point, they wheeled him by in his bassinet and stopped bagging him just long enough for me to see his face. Steve says that's the last he saw of him or even heard about him for over an hour! He was highly irritated that no one would or could give him answers about the baby and they wouldn't let him into the NICU. When Steve finally did go in, they had Benjamin on CPAP and IV antibiotics just in case of infection from the fluid that he hadn't cleared from his lungs.

After all of the drama was finally over, he did just fine. He was off the CPAP within about 6 hours, I think, and on the second day the blood test results came back negative for infection. He nursed great right away, his bilirubin levels dropped quickly, and he was doing just perfectly! I was so excited when they discharged him from the NICU on Wednesday and he finally got to "room in." He is such the sweetest little thing! His hair is brown right now and his eyes are blue but Brenna and Seth were the same and ended up with green eyes and blond hair so we'll have to wait and see on that one.

As for my recovery, things are going just great. I had a hard time for the first hour or so because of the pitocin and my sore muscles where they pushed so hard were cramping and hurting SOOOO bad! After 7 mg of morphine, I was doing just fine. Haha! :) I was out of bed and off the morphine a few hours after that and stopped the Percocet the next night because I had a "pain pump" directly inserted in the incision and that was all I needed. I HIGHLY recommend getting one if you have a C-section. Beg, cajole, insist on it!! :) On Christmas Eve we got to go home. I was thrilled to be home for Christmas and the kids were way excited to have their early present, Baby Benjamin, to hold as much as they wanted at home.

Well, that's the long version. Hope no one gets to grossed out. This post is mostly for my journal/memory pages.

Welcome to the family Baby Benjamin!

Benjamin Steven

2009-12-26T20:19:00.001-08:00

Birthdate: Tuesday, December 22nd 8:45 a.m.
Weight: 7lbs. 8 oz.
Length: 19 inches
Home: Christmas Eve @ 6 p.m.!!

He spent the first day and a half in the NICU and was on the CPAP for about 8 hours or so but is doing fine now. No complications or long term anything. More details tomorrow . . .

Benjamin's very first picture

Daddy visiting in the NICU and taking pictures to show mommy in recovery

About 6 hours old I got to hold him for the first time. (AND he was off the CPAP!)

Finally out if the NICU and rooming in! Daddy bought him this super cute, huge, stuffed dog.

--- Wednesday, December 23rd the kids came to meet their new baby brother ---

Big Brother, Seth

Big Sisters, Ashlyn & Brenna
We have 4 kids! Holy Cow! Awesome . . . :)

New Puppy

2009-12-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

I must be insane! Well, maybe not yet but I might be soon. lol I always swore I would not have a puppy, ESPECIALLY at the same time as a newborn! So what did we do? Back in mid-november, we got this tiny, adorable Pomeranian-Chihuahua from Uncle Gordon & Aunt Kim. The kids are absolutely taken with him. I think he's super cute too but his stains on the carpet . . . not so cute. lol We're working on house training thing but not having a ton of success so far.

He's technically Seth's dog but we can hardly get Brenna to put him down. Sometimes lately he runs and hides under my bed if he sees her coming. I guess he just doesn't want to be "cuddled" by a 2-year-old all day. :) Seth decided to name him Tracker because, "When he grows up, he can track baby foxes so we can save them." Aaaaah, how cute is that? Ashlyn adores him too and is super helpful when it comes to feeding him and letting him outside often.

Here are a few pics of us taking him on a walk. Isn't he ADORABLE!!!

Out with the Old, In with the New

2009-12-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

My posts are so out of order! That's what I get for procrastinating so much. I'll have to go back and re-order them later. Anyway, we moved to our new house during the first weekend in October. My parents and my sister took the kids for a few days so we could move without our 3 little ones under foot. Thanks you guys!!!

Last day in the old house. All the beds were taken apart so the kids got to sleep in sleeping bags all in the same room. They thought it was a great "campout adventure." The girls helping with the last odds and ends after they returned from Granny's house.
Brenna playing in the sink. I guess there was nothing else left to play with!

Brena sharing a burrito with Pappy in our new house.

Random Photos

2009-12-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

The kids and I were hanging out in the car one day waiting for someone so we just took some random, silly photos.

Trick Or Treating & A Birthday Party

2009-12-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

Steve's brother and sister-in-law, Gordon & Kim, moved to Billings last year. I met them once about 4 years ago so it's been fun getting to know them better. Their twins, Josie & Meagan, were born on Halloween so we dressed up and went to their fun, spooky 6th birthday bash. (P.S. Kim, I hope you don't mind that I swiped these pics from your Facebook Page!)

Brenna, Seth, Meagan, Jasmin, Ashlyn, Josie, & Mrissa (also our niece)

After the party, we went home and did a little Trick-Or-Treating around the neighborhood. Steve was at work but our neighbors had their grandkids over so we all went together. It was super cold but the kids had tons of fun. We got home pretty early so the kids sat down with their buckets of candy and munched away in the living room. Every time the doorbell rang, they would jump up and bring our bowl of treats to the door shouting, "Happy Halloween!" I think their favorite part of the night was getting to hand out treats to the other Trick-Or-Treaters.

I let them have their fill of candy that night but the next day the "Thanksgiving Turkey" took all the candy and left a note. The note said that he would hide 2 pieces of candy for each of them every day until all the candy was gone. They didn't complain at all and looked forward to the treasure hunt every day. He also gave them each a feather to color and add to the Turkey they had colored to help count down to Thanksgiving. (I got the idea from Family Fun magazine.)

Belly Photo Shoot

2009-12-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

My friend, Misty, took a few belly pics for me today. I don't love the way I look when I'm pregnant but these are Must-Have photos, right?!

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This last one I took myself last night. I debated about whether to post it but I think it's too funny not to. I had to lean way over to get my toes in the picture. HAHA!

Baby News

2009-12-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

Nice pic huh. Don't you love the "I hate trying to take my own picture in the mirror" face.

---------------------------------------
So, no news is good news at this point! :) We're hoping Benjamin waits until the scheduled C-section on Tuesday the 22nd but you just never know. I've had a couple of false labors that lasted 2 to 3 hours but I've been dialated to a 1 for two weeks and seem to be holding there. Yay!

Physically, I'd love to have the baby today! Right this second! But mentally, I'll be much more at ease if he comes on Tuesday when Steve is starting his 4 days off, the kids are all at the babysitter (thanks Hoj & Anny!), AND we can have a relaxing non-contraction filled drive to the hospital. I mean a C-section is no fun so you have to take the perks where you can get them, right?

Seth, Brenna, & Ashlyn are having a good time with the Santa Beard Countdown that Aunt Jen made for them. Each day they count how many days are left until the twenty two for Benjamin and the twenty-four for Santa/Christmas Eve! I hope to be home on Christmas Eve and the doctor seems to think that will work out if no complications arise. So the baby and I should be home for Christmas!!

Halloween Week - Day 3

2009-12-16T09:42:00.000-08:00

Day 3 -
Instead of carving our pumpkins this year, we fingerpainted them and used face decorating kits. We didn't capture the funny looks when the kids pulled out the pumpking "guts" this year but it was still a lot of fun. Poor Seth had a fever of 103 and wasn't very into it but he was happy with his "giant scary" pumpking face the next day when he was feeling better.

The pumpkins are in order L to R:

Brenna, Ashlyn, Mommy, & Seth

Halloween Week - Day 2

2009-12-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Day 2 -

Steve took Seth to the Haunted Corn Maze! Seth LOVED it! He said his favorite thing was the scary chainsaw guy. lol I wish we had two cameras because I would have liked t0 get some pictures of the boys at the maze.

While the boys went off for their "scary" night, the girls and I stayed home and had a princess chocolate milk & cookies party. They got to wear their Halloween costumes early so they were thrilled! After our snack, complete with princess cups and PINK spoons, we danced in the living room for over an hour. (Well, at least the girls did.) What a fun night!

Halloween Week - Day 1

2009-11-25T10:01:00.001-08:00

Steve had to work on Halloween night again this year so we made the best of the 4 days he had off before Halloween.

Day #1
We built a yummy chocolate Haunted House. Let me just say that I am NOT a fan ov black frosting! That stuff took days to wear off of their skin. :)

Corn Maze Daze

2009-11-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

Brandon, Lexi, Seth, Ashlyn, Brenna, Josie, Aden & Heather had a great afternoon at the Corn Maze!

They got to go on a hay ride and a little train, played in a huge pile of feed corn, slide down some cool slides, pet farm animals and get lost in a huge corn maze! What a fun day.

Seth

Lexi, Ashlyn, & "Butterscratch"

Uncle Johnathan ("Hoj") & Josie
Mommy & Brenna

Brandon

Uncle Nate & Heather

Aunt Amber & Lexi

Ashlyn & Butterscratch

New Ultrasound

2009-11-19T22:10:00.000-08:00

I've lost a few pounds over the last couple of weeks so I had an ultarsound today to make sure the baby is growing well. He is a bit small, 9th percentile, but everything seems to be just fine. (Blood flow, brain, heart, arms, legs, etc etc) It was nice to have the peace of mind and the great bonus of some new ultrasound printouts!

Isn't it amazing what you can see now with the 3D ultrasound?! I think this is so cute. He looks like he's relaxing with one arm across is face and resting on his bent knee. Doesn't he just look so peaceful? (34 weeks)

Hay Ride to the Pumpking Patch

2009-11-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

We managed to get to the Pumpkin Patch before the freeze so we got some really great pumpkins. The kids had tons of fun taking the hay ride out to the patch and then picking out their pumpkin. As you can see, Brenna was particularly excited. :) (She didn't wake up until we stopped at the patch and forced her awake.)

Seth and Brenna picked out HUGE pumpkins and Ashlyn picked out a rather small one. It was fun watching them decide.

Disclaimer: This is my first attempt at photo collages. I'm not so sure that paint.net is the way to go. It runs SUPER slow for me and I can't get the pictures to upload as big as I want. Hmm . . . any tips, Loree! :)

Budding Artist

2009-11-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn drew this sweet picture of me with Baby Benjamin in my belly. Next to me is a drawing of her. She said, "and that's me with long hair like Lexi."

Updates . . .

2009-11-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

I found my card reader so I will be doing LOTS of catch up posts in the next few days! I'm so happy that I found it. I was getting ready to just buy a new one.

On the pregnancy front, things are going well. I'm a tiny bit concerned that I've lost 3 pounds in the last few weeks but the OB doesn't seem worried about it at all. She did schedule me for an ultrasound next week though so we'll get to see the baby one more time before he's born next month. Next month! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. (And how slow it goes by some days, too. lol) Only 5 weeks and 2 days to go! Whew! I'll have get the hubby to take a preggo pic for me and post it tomorrow.

Where Oh Where . . .

2009-10-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you put things in a "safe" spot so you'll be able to find them later? I did that with my camera charger and camera card reader and no I can't remember which box was the "safe" box I chose when we were packing. lol Guess it's time to unpack more boxes and stop procrastinating. I just can't post about the pumpkin patch and corn maze without pictures! :)

Bad Mommy Moment

2009-10-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate those "I'm such a bad mom" moments. Yesterday I bribed the kids with a treat if they were good while we shopped. They all behaved really well and I was extremely happy about that. So we got to the checkout line and there wasn't a lot to choose from. Seth chose a little foam airplane but the girls wanted candy. The choices were gum or mints. I was just thinking we'd have to go find the candy aisle in the store when I spotted the Ice Breaker Sours. The girls were thrilled. They love those things! And here's the bad mommy part, I didn't monitor how many they were eating and they each got their own box. By the time we got home, they had both eaten nearly the entire thing. About an hour later, Ashlyn fell asleep on the couch complaining of a tummy ache and feeling really yucky. She wouldn't touch her dinner. And then Brenna started in with puking and diarhea! Ugh! She threw up like 3 times and I had to change her diaper 4 times in one hour. Did I ever mention we have WHITE carpet even in the bathroom! That was fun to try to clean. Oh, AND the washer is broken and won't be fixed for a couple more days!

I can't be positive it was the sour candy that did it but they are perfectly fine this morning and Seth and I haven't been sick at all. Conclusion . . . I am such an irresponsible mom sometimes! Poor little girls. Oh well, I'm a good mom most of the time so I guess they have a good chance of making it through their childhood. LOL

We're Getting There

2009-10-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

There's still quite a lot of work to be done but the new house is getting there. I didn't really think about how hard it would be to unpack and organize a new house while trying to keep up with 3 little ones AND deal with pregnancy fatigue! :) It has been fun putting together our new home. It just seems that every time I get half way through a project its time for lunch, dinner, baths, one-on-one time with the kids, shopping, or a much needed break for my aching back and bulging belly . . . AAAH! lol Lots of people have offered to help but at this point it's pretty much a million little projects that I need to do myself. Oh well, I'm having fun anyway.

We are saving like crazy to get a couple of updates done to the house right away. So far David, Misty's husband, has put up walls for the girls room downstairs and we're hoping to save enough very soon for the downstairs bathroom remodel and at least one egress window in the basement. Plus, I want to paint the kids' rooms, repaint the trim outside, decorate the baby's room, and a bunch of other things that aren't at the top of the list right now. Doesn't it sound fun, though?! I'm lovin' it.

Moving Update

2009-10-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well, there have been a few glitches with the closing date which has now been moved from October 1st (today) to October 6th. I was pretty bummed about that because we have lots of help lined up for Saturday and Steve is off for 4 days. However . . . we were able to negotiate a "move-in before closing" contract so we can still move in on Saturday!!! Yay!

I really wasn't sure what we were going to do because if we tried to move on Tuesday, who would help Steve move all the big furniture and appliances? I certainly can't do it being preggo. Plus, Nate and Johnathan's trucks and trailers wouldn't be available on a weekday, AND our friends from church wouldn't be available on a weekday either. We would have had to wait until next weekend and pay another $200 rent here and utilities for BOTH houses! Yikes huh. :)

Anywho, the move is on! I have to send out a HUGE thank you to Anneke for helping me get the upstairs done! It is such a relief to know that a big portion of the house is finished. Seth's room is also done and quite a bit of the living room. Tomorrow a friend is coming to help me finish the kitchen and the closets and then I think our Saturday move will be a breeze. Well, I'm hoping anyway! :) Here's a few pictures that were on the listing. Notice the cat sitting on the kitchen counter. Don't ya just love that? Hsssssssssst!

The Moving Blues

2009-09-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

We've been so spoiled up until now with the military providing a moving company for every move we've made. We just waited for them to show up and then cleaned up behind them and checked out. :) Aaaah, those were the days . . . oh wait, being an Army wife was really really hard sometimes. hehe

I've just been a little overwhelmed by the sorting and packing the last few days and looking ahead I see mountains of boxes to UNpack! Ugh! Anyway, I'm just a whiner but since I'm pregnant I can whine and cry all I want, right?! lol My sister-in-law, Anneke, is coming over today and Steve has today off so we're hoping to get the upstairs completely finished. We have 3 beds and a crib to dismantle, the toy room to pack, and a couple of closets and dressers. Not too bad with 3 people, I think. Then we'll clean the walls and I'll cross my fingers that the kids won't find anymore colored pencils or sidewalk chalk to "decorate" the upstairs with. :)

Well, away we go! . . . We're super close to being Home Owners!!!!!! Yay!!!

Preschool Pics

2009-09-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our little Preschool. (I finally got all my pics uploaded so hopefully I won't be a slacker in posting them and writing about them SOON!) Anyway, here are my little "students." I love it when the call me "Teacher". It's so cute.

Recognizing Numbers

Finger painting and the Doughnut Shop Game

The Letter S

Suitcases, Sailboat Sandwiches, and more!

The Letter B

Learning poster and Bottles of Bubbles, Bread sandwiches and Bananas for lunch, and tracing our Bodies. :) Aren't they just so cute?!

The Letter C and Counting

Coloring Caterpillars in a Cave, Counting Candy, Baking Cookies, and singing the Cookie Monster Song

How Do Viruses Spread So Fast?

2009-09-21T18:01:00.001-07:00

Well, we all ended up getting the flu this weekend. How does that bug spread so dang fast anyway? We washed our hands over and over, cleaned clothes, doorknobs, sinks, bathtubs, and even the couches with disinfectant. We were probably all infected before I even started cleaning. lol Needless to say, on Saturday, I washed linens, clothes, clothes, and more linens! Fun, fun. Well we're all over it now so that's good. I guess in the end we'll be happy to take the good ol' stomach flu over respiratory flu any day, right? :)

On another note, I took Loree and Anneke's advice and bought the universal card reader for my camera today. Maybe I'll even post some pics tonight? Actually, probably not. The house needs more cleaning, dishes need washing, and I haven't planned preschool for tomorrow yet. :( Maybe I'll get to those photos tomorrow . . .

PS - Anneke, I will take you up on that offer to help with the closets sometime this week if you're not too busy. :) And can't wait to hear the ultrasound results this week!!!

Please Let It Be a 24-hour Bug!!

2009-09-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Seth woke up at 2 a.m. puking and puking. Poor kid. He was/is totally miserable. He's been doing a little better since 11:00 or so. He's kept down a few crackers and a few sips of Sprite. Hopefully he's on the recovery side of it. I just feel so bad when the kids are sick and miserable and there's really nothing I can do.

On the selfish side, I am SOOO tired! :) I went to bed at midnight and then woke up at 2 a.m. with Seth. After his bath we spent the night on the couches. He woke up every 45 mn. or so and I had to take care of the "puke bowl" (yuck, I know) and comfort him and then we both would go back to sleep. Over, and over, and over. Ugh! I couldn't ask Steve to take a turn because he only got 3 hours of sleep yesterday after coming off a night shift. Plus, yesterday was his birthday! He's 39, by the way. Happy Birthday, Steve!

Anyway, at this point we're doing tons of handwashing and hoping we can contain this to one family member. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Where's My USB Cable?!?!?

2009-09-16T13:25:00.001-07:00

How can I possibly blog without pictures? lol I can't find the darn USB for my camera and it's loaded with hundreds of pictures. So frustrating!

Anyway, a few quick updates . . . without pics. :)

1) The pregnancy is going great. I'm 25 weeks now. The baby is big enough that the kids can feel him kicking so they are loving that. It's so cute to watch their faces. Seth always says, "Benjamin is boxing again!" lol

2) We made the VERY difficult decision not to send Seth to Kindergarten this year because his birthday was so close to the start of school. (1 day after actually) I'm sure he'd do fine since he is right on track socially and knows his numbers, letters, can write his name, etc. Steve and I just debated and debated about it and finally decided that he will benefit from being the oldest in class and the biggest (or average since he's a little short, hehe) rather than being the youngest and smallest in his class for the next 13 years or so. Anyway, I still question the decision occasionally but I'm having tons of fun with Home Preschool this year and I get my boy with me full time for one more year! :)

3) Ashlyn and Brenna are growing like crazy and they both love preschool too. Their favorite part is art, especially finger painting. I can't believe how fast they pick up the new concepts each day. It's got me so motivated because they are learning so quickly and having so much fun. Every morning, at 7:30 a.m., right after breakfast, they are asking if it's Preschool time yet. I usually don't start until 10 a.m. so by the time we're done I can make lunch and then it's nap time. Aaaaah . . .

4) Everything is right on track for closing on our new house on October 1st. We are way excited and a bit nervous too. We keep hearing layoff rumors from the mine, none are substantiated, though. We're also going from 3200 sq. ft. to 2080 sq. ft. and a garage that's a bit smaller. But . . . it will be OURS!! Our landlord is being super helpful and letting us stay here in the rental until the 7th so we'll have plenty of time to move out and clean. Steve is working until the 3rd so that works out perfectly. I've been wearing myself ragged getting things packed and organized in hopes that the move will be a quick and smooth one. Anyone want to come help me weed out the closets?!

5) Things seem to be going well at the mine for Steve. We're just hoping and praying that it continues that way. We have a contingency plan in the event of layoffs but a lot of it revolves around him finding another job nearby so we don't have to sell the new house and pay back the $8,000 tax credit. So, keep us in your prayers. :)

Well, that's it for now I guess. Hopefully I'll find my camera cable soon so I can post pics of the County Fair, Seth's birthday, Preschool, etc. etc. Where can that dang cable be??!!!

It's a . . .

2009-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

It's a BOY!! It's a BOY!! We couldn't be more excited. We were so hoping for a little boy so Seth could have a brother. Yipee!

It was tons of fun taking the kids with us to the ultrasound. They were making all kinds of funny comments. On the drive over they were asking how the "doctor" could see the baby inside my belly. I told them the tech would put a little plastic thing on my timmy and it would see through my belly. Seth was shocked, "Will it hurt?!" So of course I had to explain in a little more detail. lol

When we got our first glimpse of the baby, Seth and Ashlyn were shouting, "It's baby Benjamin. It's baby Cara!" Brenna kept saying, "Baby's playing with bubbles." (lol I guess a lot of the ultrasound does look like bubbles.) When we finally got around to the part of finding out the sex, the tech said, "It's a boy." And Seth shouted, "Yes!! Benjamin!!" Ashlyn looked a little disappointed and said, "That's o.k. Next time we can have a Baby Cara." Seth thinks it's really cool that there will be 3 boys and 3 girls in our family. (He's counting mommy & daddy, I guess.)

We videoed some of the kids' reaction so I'll try to get it up here soon. Plus the newest ultrasound pic, of course.

Wahoo for baby Ben! :)

Pink or Blue?

2009-08-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

The ultrasound is tomorrow at 4 p.m. I'm so excited to find out what we're having! Seth is certain we're having a "Baby Benjamin" and Ashlyn is sure we're having a "Baby Cara". (not sure about the girl name yet.) It's going to be fun to have the kids there to get their first glimpse of the baby. Can't wait!

Stay tuned . . .

I love Olive Garden!

2009-08-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took the kids out to Olive Garden. They LOVED it! Yay! I'm so glad because it's my favorite restaurant. Brenna especially enjoyed the giant meatballs and Seth and Ashlyn had "slurp the longest noodle" contests. lol Good thing Steve is so smart and brought all of them some pullover bibs made by Granny! (You can order yours here. They are such life savers!!)

After dinner, we took the kids to Drop-in Daycare and went to see the new Terminator movie. I was expecting a lot of blow 'em up shoot'em up but it actually had a pretty good story line too. Don't ya just think date night is the GREATEST!!

Gag Me - Blech!

2009-07-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Haha! I had to write this down because I think it's just so funny. I've been procrastinating picking up the clutter in the living room for the past couple of days. Tonight I decided that I was going to clean it no matter what! The kids were all asleep by 8:30. Yay! (That's qiute the feat lately.) At first everything was fine. I gathered up a few pairs of shoes and then started picking up toys that need to go back upstairs, when suddenly I started gagging every time I bent over. What they hay? Too weird. I was determined to keep my self-promise, though. So I kept at it just squating down instead of actually bending over. Hmmm . . . nope! Still gagging. SO NOT fun.

Well, I finally gave up and decided that Living Room can wait until morning. I've piled some laundry on the couch and I'm plopping down for a movie. (Maybe folding laundry will make me gag so I can quit that too! lol)

Thanks, little baby! Who knew that sometimes gagging could be a good thing. Ha!

Quickening

2009-07-28T21:01:00.001-07:00

I've been feeling the baby move for about the last 2 weeks now. I SO love that feeling! I'm 18 weeks today and just trying to enjoy every minute of this pregnancy. In the back of my mind I keep thinking, "This could be it. This could be the last time I get to experience pregnancy, a newborn . . ." I don't want it to rush by AT ALL! With my other pregnancies it seems like I was always trying to rush things. Hurry, Hurry! I want to feel that first kick. Hurry, Hurry . . . how many more days until the 20 week ultrasound. Come on, Come on . . . when will I REALLY start to show! HOW many weeks left until D-Day?!?! And on and on. This time I don't feel any of that. I'm super excited to be pregnant and really looking forward to meeting this little baby but I don't want it to fly by so fast.

We haven't really decided for sure if this will be our last baby but there are lots of reasons to probably stop at four. Four C-sections is a lot, 4 kids might be my "mommy limit" lol, I'll be almost 34 and Steve will be pushing 40 . . . I guess the indecision just comes down to the fact that we haven't felt a difinitive answer to our prayers about it yet. So for now it's up in the air. :)

(I was going to post a belly pic but I couldn't seem to get a "flattering" one. Especially since it's 10:30 p.m., I'm wearing my glasses, my hair is a mess, AND I'm trying to take a self-portrait. Don't ya hate those?)

Tell Me The Stories of Jesus, I Love To Hear

2009-07-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I was clearing out some boxes in the garage and found our collection of Living Scripture movies. On a whim, I decided to remove all of the kids' other DVDs and videos and replace them with these. (Am I mean? lol) I expected a lot of fits when they first realized their favorite Barbie and Star Wars movies were missing but they hardly asked for them at all. We must have around 40 movies depicting stories from the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Famouse Historical Figures, and Prophets. So they were pretty excited to have a whole new library of movies to choose from.

Quite often we do "Quite Movie Time" in the afternoons instead of nap time. Mommy sleeps on the couch for an hour and the kids get a movie. These movies are all only 20 minutes long so the get 3 movies! :)

The sweetest thing happened tonight. The kids always ask for a bedtime story and I usually make one up or tell an old fable or something. But tonight Ashlyn said, "Mommy, tell us a story about Jesus." And Seth and Brenna both piped in, "Yeah!" Wow! Talk about melting my heart. Family scripture reading & prayers every night, changed TV habits, and in just one week the kids are asking for stories about the Savior! How cool is that?!

Well, I HAD to keep "While You Were Sleeping" and "Man from Snowy River"!! :)

And of course "The "FIRM Workout" that I never do. Haha.

Fun in the Sun

2009-07-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a long morning

of playing in the pool . . .

. . . topped off with a picnic lunch of Ramen noodle soup and watermelon! Yum, Yum!

A Mixer Right Next Door!

2009-07-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

The kids were thrilled to see a Mixing Truck pouring concrete right across the street from our house. I brought our little bench out (to help keep them from running across the street) and they sat there for over an hour!

Seth used to have a real obsessions with "Big Machines." The whole family knew almost every machine we ever passed on the street or highway. I think "Loader" was one of Brenna's first words!

All About Seth

2009-07-27T20:23:00.001-07:00

I love how helpful our little boy is. He often goes out of his way to do something nice for me or his sisters and then says, "Mom, was I helpful? Did that make Jesus happy?" Aaah. How sweet is that.

He's also been helping us keep on track with our family prayer and scripture reading lately. I can hardly believe how long Seth and Ashlyn will sit and listen to me read the Book of Mormon to them! Tonight I tried to stop afer 5 or 6 verses and they kept insisting, "Don't stop, mom!" I'm sure they don't understand all the words but they seem mesmerized. They must feel the Spirit of the words even if they don't understand them all. Last week Seth made a paper chain in Primary and each day we read scriptures together, he got to take one off. When the week was up, he got very excited about making a new one. So for Family Home Evening tonight, all 5 of us made a 7 day chain. Fun huh.

Seth is also our most physical child, I think. He begs to run on the treadmill EVERY day. He jumps off of everything, even things that I'm sure are WAY too high. He can stand in the doorway, stretch out his arms to grab the frame, and then do pull-ups! Yikes. The other day he told me that it's o.k. that our new swingset doesn't have monkey bars. I started to ask him why, when he climbed up the side of the swingset, grabbed the top bar, and shimmied across to the other side. Hahah! OK, no monkey bars needed. :)

His favorite food is PB&J with no peanut butter and the other is Dirty Rice. Mmmmm! We all love that one. His new fave candy is Sour Skittles. Yellow used to be his favorite color but now he says they're all his favorite except pink. His hair seems to be getting darker and darker and I'm wondering if he's going to end up a brunette like me or stay a blonde like his daddy. Hmmm.

Well, that's our Seth in a nutshell I guess. Can't wait to do a new post like this in 6 months or so to see how he's changed. I LOVE my boy!!! :)

Family Reunion . . .

2009-06-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

The family reunion last week was a lot of fun. I miss Leonard and Kris and their families already! Seth can't stop talking about Cousin Camp at Granny & Pappy's and the little ones enjoyed our 2 days of Cousin Camp Junior here at my house. I'll be adding lots of pictures soon!

All About Ashlyn

2009-05-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn loves playing dressup. She changes into a different dress-up outfit about 5 or 6 times a day. It's so funny to see what she comes up with. (The ballerina pj's in the pic are a gift from Merilee) She absolutely LOVES all of her high heeled plastic shoes and begs me for "green eyes" every day. (She likes my green eye shadow.)

One of her cutest obsessions is swimming suits. Whenever she finds one, she carries it around with her for the whole day. Sometimes she has 2 or 3. She found one yesterday that was Brenna's and looped the shoulder strap across her forehead so she could wear it like a headband. It was so funny! She used to want to wear them all day long but now she seems content just to carry them around or wear them on her head! lol

She really likes to sing and dance too. Her favorite songs are "Connected" (from Barbie and the Diamond Castle), A Dream is a Wish (from Cinderella), and Jingle Bells. Hmm . . . not sure what's up with that last one but it's a favorite. Brenna dances and sings with Ashlyn all the time now. It's so cute to see the big sister influence. I love to watch the girls wrestle. Ashlyn is usually pretty gentle with Brenna but sometimes they get pretty rough. It's quite fun to watch.

Ashlyn is also quite a sensitive girl. We have to be very careful how we discipline her because she gets her feeling hurt quite easily. I think this trait makes her even more sweet and helps her be conscious of other people's feelings too. She sure is getting grown up!

(Notice the swimming suite she's holding in this picture. lol)

Bummer

2009-05-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

You know what I just realized? I'm going to have to start carrying around a diaper bag again next year! Shocking, I know, right? But I have SO enjoyed going places without a diaper bag without even really noticing the freedom. Brenna is not potty trained yet but diaper changes are few and far between with her now, so I just keep a few diapers and wipes in the car and run get them if the need ever arises (even at church!!) No pacifiers, diaper cream, change of clothes, nursing pads, etc etc.

It was getting pretty crazy on Sundays for a while there because I had a diaper bag, a church bag (for teaching primary), and a little backpack with entertainment and snacks for Seth and Ashlyn. Yikes! Try holding 2 kids' hands and keeping track of the 3rd while carrying that load! Haha. We finally have gone to no snacks and just pencil and paper for "entertainment" so all I have to carry is my Primary bag with the lesson stuff and my scriptures. Aaaah. I'm lovin' it. Now, if we could just find Steve a good paying job that doesn't require him to work Sundays so often . . .

Anyway, I guess now that I've had this ephinany, I better truly appreciate the next 7 months diaper-bag-free. :)

All About Brenna

2009-05-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Brenna finally figured out how to climb out of her crib. Darn it! :) I loved putting her in the crib at night, singing her a song, and then listening to her babble and sing herself to sleep. It was a relief knowing that at least one of the 3 kiddos would be staying in their bed! lol It was pretty cute the first morning, though. She came down the stairs and shouted so proudly, "I wake up myself! Mama, I wake up myself! I the baby." Haha. What a cutie pie.

I love all the cute things she's been saying and doing lately. Her sentence structure goes something like this . . .
Mommy! Ashlyn hit it, my head.
You fix it, my pony?
I heard it, the church bell.

Yesterday I told her that her diaper was wet (I gave up on potty training this week. Ugh.) and she said, "S'not wet! Don't say that." hehe

I love it when she talks about Pappy because she calls him Happy. She even emphasizes the 'H' sound. Pappy loves it.

Her favorite game is "let's pretend." You never know "who" she's going to be next. This morning she said, "I'm Liana. Ashlyn's Alexa." (from Barbie and the Diamond Castle) She has quite a list of alter egos. Here are a few . . . cat, dog, snake (complete with animal sound effects and actions), superman, batman, spiderman (she runs around in circles shouting whichever super hero she is), mommy, daddy, princess, and her favorite lately, "the baby." Whenever she's the baby she goes, "Aaah, aaaah, aaaah."

Oh, I so don't want her to grow up! :)

The Verdict . . .

2009-05-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

One baby, measuring 8w2d, with a heartrate of 155! :) Yay. Everything is right on track for our beautiful little "gummy bear." I have to admit though that I was quite disappointed to find out we're not having twins. In the begininng I thought, "No, no! Not twins! That will be SO hard." Then after a few days I thought how exciting and fun it would be etc, etc. Anyway, we're super happy that the baby is doing well so far and are excited for another ultrasound in a few months to find out if we're having a girl or a boy.

I showed the ultrasound to Seth and Ashlyn and explained that it was a picture of the teeny tiny baby in mommy's tummy. They both stared back and forth from the picture to my belly with wide eyes. It was so cute. When I told them he or she was about the size of the tip of their finger, they both stared at their hands and then looked back at me as I explained how the baby would grow and grow and my tummy would get bigger and then we'd have a new little baby in our house around Christmas time. Seth said, "Cool mom. I want a boy baby. I need a brother." Ashlyn said, "I want a girl baby, a baby Ashlyn." We're going to bring all the kids to the 20 week ultrasound so I can't wait to see their reactions then! :)

Pins and Needles . . .

2009-05-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the ultrasound! We're on pins and needles wondering what the results will be. Aaaah! :) Less than 24 hours to go. Stay tuned . . .

Sunny Day

2009-05-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was finally a nice warm sunny day! We bought the kids water soakers and water balloons a few days ago and they've been dying to have a water fight. I told them they had to wait until it was 80 degrees and yesterday was finallly it. It was so funny watching them throw water balloons at eachother. I didn't realize how hard you have to throw them to make them break. lol They just kept bouncing off and breaking on the grass. Brenna finally got smart and put it next to someone and squeezed it hard until it broke. I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures because my camera battery was dead. Dang it!

We also walked to the Gas Station and bought corn dogs at the Deli. We took them to the "Kid's Kingdom" (the kids call it the Castle Park) and had a picnic. Unfortunately, the kids were all in long sleeved shirts because when we left at 10 a.m. it was still kind of chilly. So by noon the kids were super hot and we headed home. What a fun day! I love the sun. :)

Baby News

2009-05-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

I had some spotting on Monday when I was in Wyoming so I went to the doctor there. I really wasn't very concerned but wanted the ultrasound for a little reassurance. Boy did I get more than I bargained for! A whole lot of worry that is. The u/s tech said she saw 2 sacs but only one baby. She and the doc were both pretty confident that the 2nd baby (if it was a twin) was not viable. Hmmm. My HCG (pregnancy hormone) level was 42,00 and the larger sac measured 6w3d. (Average for 6 weeks is 1,000 to 50,000)

Two days later, Wednesday, I went to see my Doc here in Billings and he did another ultrasound and blood test. His machine wasn't as good as the Wyoming one but he did see the one larger sac and it measured 6w5d. My HCG was 64,000. Technically it's supposed to double every 48 hours so that was not necessarily good news. When my doctor called me, he said that the high HCG levels had him concerned that it may be a molar pregnancy. Uh . . . what!!! That's bad! Molar pregnancies are overgrowth of abnormal tissue that never developed into a baby. The tissue looks like grape clusters and causes most of the normal pregnancy symptoms along with bleeding etc. It can also turn cancerous which is way scary.

Needless to say, I was having a hard time sleeping that night and last night so I asked Steve to give me a blessing. In the blessing, the Lord assured me with these words, "Everything will go well with this pregnancy." and "This pregnancy will bring you joy and happiness." After hearing those sweet comforting words, it was much easier to fall asleep as my mind felt quite peaceful. I wasn't told if it's a baby or babies but I am satisfied that Heavenly Father is mindful of our little family and that is enough. :)

Today I went in for my 3rd Beta and the HCG was 77,000. (I'm within nomal ranges now because 7 to 14 weeks average is 5,000 to 290,000) My doc said that it's o.k. that the numbers are not doubling because they are so high and they are increasing. He also said he no longer suspects a molar pregnancy! Yay! I asked him about the possiblity of multiples and he said that hormone levels can't really predict that but we will have some conclusive evidence on Thursday at the next ultrasound. I will be 7w6d then so things should be quite a bit more clear on the ultrasound. Plus I will be going to the Fetal Diagnositc Center instead of just having one on the cheapy old machine in my OBs office so that's good.

On one hand, I'm hoping for twins but on the other hand, my life is pretty busy and crazy already so it scares me! One of the greatest benefits would be that we can have the 5 children we were hoping for but only 4 C-sections! Hmmm . . . we'll be on pins and needles until Thursday!

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

Steve and I celebrated Mother's Day early last week because we knew he'd be working Mother's Day weekend. We had a nice movie date and a little time alone to just relax together. It was really nice. Our anniversary was yesterday (7 years!!!) but we're going to wait and celebrate that in a couple of weeks. Hopefully Merilee will be able to finagle her schedule to take the kids for a couple of days. :) We'll do the same for them in October when they celebrate theirs.

The kids and I went up to my mom's for the weekend. The kids had a great time playing in her sandbox, riding the lawnmower with Granny, watching Tom & Jerry with Pappy, and playing on Lexi and Brandon's new swingset. On Sunday, we had a nice dinner for mom and gave her a cool present. Merilee gets all the credit for that one! Thanks sis. :)

Holy Hunger Pangs, Batman!! :)

2009-05-09T09:13:00.001-07:00

Sheesh! I seem to be hungry about every 2 or 3 hours with this pregnancy. I eat a nice breakfast and 2 hours later my stomach is growling and I feel like I skipped breakfast. I even wake up at midnight just STARVING but I refuse to allow myself to get up and eat. If this keeps up, I'm going to be an elephant mama by 9 months!! LOL :)

Jogging partners

2009-05-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Seth loves running on the new treadmill. He can run for up to 30 minutes at level 6!! Crazy huh. Steve is excited to have a family of runners. The girls enjoyed sitting on daddy's shoulders while he jogged but Seth was kind of freaked out by it. In one picture you can see Brenna putting on some chapstick and just chillin' leaning against Steve's head. Now that's my kind of jogging!! :)

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-05-09T08:37:00.001-07:00

We had our Easter dinner and Egg Hunt at Nate's house. The kids loved it.

Easter Morning

2009-05-09T08:30:00.001-07:00

Yay candy! :) Ugh! Nothing like loads of sugar for breakfast and then heading off to church. The kids were actually pretty good considering their sugar-high. The Easter Bunny left a note thanking the kids for the orange they left him. He even left them some Easter pictures to color at church. What a cool Easter Bunny! lol

The girls had cute matching outfits for church and Seth got a new tie but I couldn't find his white shirt so he had to wear an ugly blue t-shirt. lol

Coloring Easter Eggs

2009-05-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun coloring Easter Eggs. Ashlyn made several pink ones, Brenna made a couple purple ones, and Seth was very proud of his BLACK one.

Easter Family Home Evening

2009-05-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

Steve likes to recreate a Passover Dinner every Easter. It incoporates the restored gospel as well and is quite interesting. This year we invited the Betts and Wiscomb families. It's always fun and it seems like I learn something new every year.

Random Pics

2009-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

My little angles all dressed up for church. I wonder what Seth and Ashlyn are saying to each other.

Notice the pouty face on Brenna, so cute!

Flying kites at Aunt Amber's house. The kids got bored pretty quickly but Amber and I had a good time flying kites on a super windy day!

Brenna and Heather - I think they loved not being bounced all over the place by the big kids.

Brenna - my little 2 year old princess

Ashlyn - Our 3 year old princess! Cute pose!

Seth - the 4 year old Karate Kid. Hi-Ya!!

Sunday Challenges

2009-05-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of months, Seth has been having a VERY hard time in church. He won't sit on the bench in Sacrament meeting, refuses to whisper or be reverant in any way, hits me, hits his sisters, and on and on and on. He also has been refusing to sit with his class in primary or even go to his class. He spends the entire 45 minute class period sitting in time out! I have a class of my own to teach so the Primary Presidency keeps an eye on him for me. (Bet they love that.)

I've been at my wits end trying to figure out how to curb this behavior. I've tried time outs in the bathroom so no one can hear him screaming at me that he doesn't want time out. (That's super fun.) I've tried threatening, bribing, spanking, forced naps after lunch, etc. etc. So . . . I'm going to admit something that I feel somewhat ashamed of BUT it worked! (I think.) My brother, Nate, suggested that I break something he really likes as a punishment for his crazy misbehavior in church.

So 2 Sundays ago, I warned him that I would throw away his Power Rangers video if he didn't sit on his chair, whisper, and go to his class. Of course he didn't do it. He scratched my arms and kicked my shins during time out and eventually "lost" his movie. So when we got home, Steve took the Power Rangers VHS and stomped it into tiny pieces. Seth was quite upset and frankly, I was mortified at our tactics. BUT, it seems to have worked! Last Sunday Steve was working so I had all 3 kids on my own and they were almost perfect! (Ashlyn lost a Barbie DVD the same Sunday Seth "lost" his movie too, by the way.)

When it came time for Primary, I could tell he wasn't going to do as well as he had in Sacrament meeting. So I followed my mom's suggestion and dropped him off and then went to my classroom instead of sitting with my class. And wouldn't you know it, the absence of Mom suddenly turned him into a different person! He sat in his chair, SANG the songs, and went to class without a fuss. Holy Cow! When the Primary teacher was telling me afterwards, tears welled up in my eyes. Finally! A break through!

Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me that this all wasn't a fluke. Sunday is only 2 days away so we'll see!

(Someday he's going to have kids of his own who are giving him the fits on Sundays and he's going to ask me how I handled 3 little ones on my own so often. I can't wait to let him read this! lol What a sweetheart. I love him!)

Expectations

2009-05-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

I've been having a hard time blogging lately. I feel like I have to go back to 4 weeks ago when I started slacking off and catch up with that. I need to have pictures on EVERY blog. It needs to be interesting and . . . blah blah blah. I think I'm going to change my expectations for this blog now, though. Instead of worrying so much about to entertaining my "readers" (all 10 of you! lol) I want to record things that my kids will enjoy reading someday. And write down memories that I will enjoy reminiscing about when the kids are grown/growing up. Anyway, my blogs don't have to be spectacular, they just need to be THERE! :) So, hopefully I'll get back into the journaling mode and get on the ball before I forget all the great daily happenings of being a mother of young children. Here we go . . .