4th of July Weekend

We took the kids bowling then had a BBQ and did some fireworks before bedtime. (in daylight since it stays light til almost 10 pm in Utah) The we put the kids down and watched some fireworks while playing canasta out on the deck of Brian's brothers house. They live up on the hill on the north side of Utah county, so we were able to see a few different shows at once!









The Fifth was BRIAN'S BIRTHDAY!! He tuned the big 3-0! His parents were there for the weekend and watched all the kids(even the baby) for us and we went out to a nice dinner, and then we went and played arcade games at boondocks. We even got the boys to do the dance revolution game. Believe it or not, Jared scored way better than all three of us! Who would have guessed that one!


On Saturday Papa took the boys (and Kamryn went to hang out with them too!) fishing up the canyon! They didn't end up catching anything, but they had a great time, and Kamryn only fell into the pond one time.

Utah...

We got to Utah just in time for Lucy's Birthday Party. The kids were excited to go swimming and play after the long drive. Poor Lucy's face reaccted to the sunscreen and her eyes were killing her, but beside that she had a great time.

One Month

10 lbs 4 oz (60%)
22 1/2 inches (80%)
His head was around the 30%

I just love this little guy! He has been so much fun to have around. I probably hold him too much, but he just loves it and is so content. Plus, if he's in my arms then I don't have to worry about Payton picking him up like a puppy and carrying him to me...or her laying on the ground with him on her belly as she rolls back and forth singing rock-a-baby, rock-a-baby....over and over. She has good intentions of helping, but she's two and she's Payton...that should explain it all.

Kamryn is my go getter and she loves helping me out in anyway, any chance she gets.

Tanner has to be in the mood, but when he is, he'll come to me and ask if he can rock him or I'll find him just hanging out chatting with him. One time he came out of his room at night and asked "how much longer until Blake can sleep in my room??" And he was rocking him in the nursery the other day and then came out empty handed and told me, "Mom, I rocked him to SLEEP!" He had then laid him down on the ottoman-that rocks (not the best choice) but he was pretty proud of himself!

He doesn't smile all the time yet, but each one of us has been able to get him to so far-even the kids! But of course he won't do it for the camera yet.

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks...

He's finally starting to grow out of the cross-eyed stage and is able to focus better.

He hasn't gotton all the way in the water yet. He still doesn't like the bath even, and kinda freaks out when I'd dip his feet in the pool.

Here's his bedroom....I decided to not even try and finish the bedding until school starts back up, and the walls are pretty bare other than what you see, but he doesn't complain-so I'm good with the empty walls!

Scottsdale...

The kids and I headed up to Scottsdale this morning to meet up with Thea and her girls for some swimming. We had a fun time trying to beat the heat and summertime boredom.

Thea-did you get a better picture than I did??

Blake, Jamie
Kamryn, Tanner, Payton, Nicole, Maya

The poor cute babies zonked in the 110 degree heat...

Time is flying by!

Well, these past few weeks have gone by so fast that I have not been able to keep up on my posts! I did try and do a birthday/anniversary(June 22) post for myself last Sunday, but blogger decided to go offline JUST as I clicked publish....and yeah, it was gone! It was a long one too! I had decided to journal the story of how Brian and I met, etc...oh well, maybe next year I'll attempt it again!! I did have a GREAT day though. Thanks to everyone that made it special!

So, I do have a quick story for you....Are your kids going nuts inside these days?? MINE ARE. They are just bored, and trying to find new things to do. Well, almost EVERY day last week I was going into our (empty) formal living room and straightening up the curtains. And each time I'd tell the kids (mostly Kamryn) to STAY out and to leave the drapes alone. Well, obviously she didn't get the message. Sunday I was taking a nap and woke to a loud noise. I laid there for a few mins racking my brain as to what the noise could have been! No kids were crying, I didn't even hear anyone talking out there....then it hit me. My precious silk velvet drapes! Then the word "KAMRYN!!!!" came out of my mouth as I realized what the noise had been. I really didn't want to see the result so I went back to sleep and decided I'd pretend it didn't happen for a little while longer.

Here's an old picture of the room....

Here is what it looks like now...

Some of the wood rings even broke to pieces in the fall!....

After she got her time out and lecture, she reminded me what was most important...she said, "Mom, good thing only the soft part landed on top of me right??"

Blake is one month old today!! I want to take time and post some pics from this month, so I will try and work on that tomorrow!

Officially Introducing....

THANKS for your help! And, the winner is the combination of the two! It is actually what it looked like the first time I made it, so I just went back to the original and I'm going with it!

Random thoughts....

He's gotta have Brian's skin....the little cutie is SO pink all the time! Just like his Dad!

What color will his eyes be?? Will I have brown eyed kid #4? I forget what the others looked like at first?!?

His hair always looks so much darker on top than it is because it gets so greasy from being touched all day long. This picture shows the lightness in the back a little better.

Do Payton and Blake have the same nose or what??

Blake slept in his crib for the first time last night (no, the bedding and room have not been finished yet...I really am going to try and accomplish that this week!) because cousin Lucy was sleeping in the pack n play in the basement. (yes, I a wimp and as soon as I started stressing about being home alone last night, my brother and sister in law packed up their kids and came to sleep over here!) I thought I'd be fine, but after being awake most the night between Payton throwing up every 2 hours, feeding the baby every three hours, and Blake being wide awake....it was SO nice to not have the anxiety of being scared to keep me awake during the few quiet times we had last night. SO THANKS GUYS!! I owe you big time! Maybe someday I'll grow up and be a brave Mom! And I'm not sure why Blake was awake-he hasn't done that yet, so it was unexpected. He got his PKU yesterday and maybe it made him sleep more during the day than he usually does....?? I hope it was a one time thing! Also he used to go 5 and a half hours at night not 3!....hhmmm...fun times! I deserve a nap today, and when Brian gets home from the scout campout I might just need to go for a quiet drive.

Congrats to David and Jessica!!!

The Wedding Dinner:
David and Jessica both come from families with SEVEN kids each, and they are both 5Th in line with 5 girls and 2 boys in each family. So with married siblings all with children of there own, it made for a LARGE family dinner the night before. We were also joined by close family and friends that traveled from out of state for the occasion. We decided it would be more personal and more fun to have a catered dinner at home as opposed to at a restaurant (plus we'd have to reserve almost an entire restaurant to fit everyone!) My Aunt Karina is an amazing chef and came over from CA to cater the event all by herself! It turned out SO perfect....Here's some photos from Friday night...

(we were able to fit 56 people seated inside and only 15 +/- had to sit outside....and the weather in the shade was not too bad, so it worked out great!)

Married for Eternity:





The Reception:






It was SUCH a fun weekend and I was glad I was able to have Blake 5 days early so I could be there to enjoy the fun times with old friends and family.

Chickens anyone??

We woke up Sunday morning to find 2 chickens roaming in the backyard. Yeah, we were thinking the same thing, "what the?" Anyway, the kids got a kick out of watching them peck there way around in the dirt all day, and Tanner would even go chase them around for a while. We weren't sure how they got there, until later that day we noticed a box cardboard box out there that we knew wasn't ours. Sure enough, it was full of chicken poo. Apparently, someone chucked the box over our back wall??? We tried to call the animal people to come pick them up, and sure enough, they were closed on Sundays. Then yesterday was a busy day and we forgot to call. I came home last night to find them chillin on the window seal outside the kitchen window. Almost kinda creepy looking to see them through the window in the dark. We were nice enough to give them some bread crumbs and some water, and to thank us, our patio is now covered in nasty chicken poo.



UPDATE:
After 2 days of searching online and calling every place I could think of to find someone to pick up the dang hens....I found a gal on craig's list and she wanted them and picked them up at 10 pm last night!!!

First few days home...

Blake had his Doctors appt this morning. He weighs 7 lb 14 oz. He's down a bit, but most likely he's on his way back up....we're checking him again next week to be sure. Everything else went great!

He has been a pretty good baby so far. I can not believe how much he has been AWAKE also. Even one day in the hospital he was awake for over 3 hours in a row. And I'm pretty sure it was closer to 5 hours yesterday. Maybe I just forgot and that is normal...It just cracks me up because he just lays around and stares. Almost with an "I'm completely bored" look on his face.

He had his first bath last night. He wasn't too happy at first, but once I started washing his hair he was loving it. Then when he got out he was screaming again-I think he was just cold! It's always fun to see the hair get all wavy when it's wet also....or course it dried straight again.

The kids have been great with him. Payton is a challenge, but more vocally than physically! She's such a little Mom-boss! She's constantly getting mad at me, cause she says, Blake wants this, or he wants that, etc. Like mostly in regards to his sleeping location or the color of his pacifier. They stayed the weekend at my moms, and haven't even been home for 24 hrs yet, so I'm sure it'll wear off.