The Lakes

Oh my Hair!

2012-01-19T07:40:00.002-07:00

This is one of those pictures that she will love me for later!!
Saturday night she agreed to let me put some little twisty buns in her hair to see if it would be curly for church. Well, we got curly and then some!! I wasn't sure how we were going to save her from this hair do but we managed to get it pulled into two little piggies and she looked darling. We just laughed and laughed when the little buns came out and her hair stood almost straight up with curls.

11 months

2012-01-19T07:29:00.003-07:00

Eleven months! Where has the time gone?! It seems like I was just lamenting that I couldn't shake my post-pregnancy haze. Here I am almost a year later loving our little almost toddler. He is so much fun.

He still naps like a champ. Twice a day like clock work. Well, except for yesterday. I'm hoping that was a fluke. The above picture is what his room looks like after a nap if anything is left within his reach. He was so proud of his mess on this day. I love walking in to get him up. He will be in his own world (usually standing up waiting to be rescued from the crib) and when he sees us his whole face lights up and he starts bouncing. Love it.
He has sworn off baby food. He is on a regular food diet. I am a little worried that he will lose some weight because of the transition. He does really well and will usually eat what we are eating. Now if I could wean him off of his bottle...I'm hoping that in the next month he starts to do that on his own. The transition to water in a sippy cup to go to bed might be a shock!!

A lot of the time he is content with what is going on around him. We found him sitting by the back doors just watching the cars, or birds, or whatever was outside. It was so cute to see him so content. The one thing that he does more than I remember the other kids doing is hanging on to our pant legs. I think that is how he will learn to walk. Seriously. He loves to pull himself up on Brent or my pants. I'm really surprised he hasn't been stepped on more!
Hudson loves to be wherever the kids are and he isn't afraid to get in and wrestle around with them. He puts up with a lot from his big sister. He is quick to smile and loves to clap, especially when someone says YAY!
It is kind of strange to think that in one month we will be past the baby stage in our lives. It was a fast stage lasting only 5.5 years. Bring on the next one. We're ready!!

Wyoming game

2012-01-12T11:20:00.003-07:00

Tuesday the 3rd of January Wyoming played UVU (Utah Valley University). That is the closest the Cowboys would be to us all year so we took advantage of the $7 tickets and drove down on a whim. WE were able to sit just 5 rows behind the team with the rest of the Wyoming fans. Brittany met us for dinner and Tiffany and Jessica met us at the game. Thank goodness. They are live savers when it comes to our kids. It was a fun game that came down to the wire.
The best part was at the end when the WY fans were chanting WYO and the team turned around surprised that there were that many people. Following the game the players shook hands and then came back to say thank you for coming and cheering! They may not be the best team in the NCAA but there are some well mannered boys that play for Wyoming!

Christmas day

2012-01-12T11:12:00.004-07:00

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Christmas day we woke the kids up, opened presents, got lost in the mess, made scones for breakfast and they were yummy! I just thawed a Rhoads loaf of bread and then rolled it out and cut it into squares. Brent cooked up some sausage and we had a feast!
Grandma and Grandpa headed home to get ready for their Christmas company and we hurried to get ready for church! Oh the fun of taking pictures when everyone is tired and grumpy!!
I love Christmas programs at church. It is my favorite Sunday of the year. This year we were lucky to have it on Christmas day. What a great reminder of the birth of our Savior. Perfect way to spend the day.
After church we went to Susan's to have dinner and open a few presents. The kids had a blast playing and being together.

Our festivities weren't over! Monday the kids and I headed to Mtn. View while Brent took the missionaries ice fishing. It was fun to see the Hamblin cousins. I got a migraine headache that morning and so I was loads of fun. I spent the day sleeping and feeling sick. Thank goodness I have such wonderful parents and siblings. They took care of all four kids all day for me!

That night Steven and Vicki came into town. The rest of the week was filled with cousin time, sleep overs, throwing up, visiting and eating way too much junk!!

It makes me exhausted just writing all of this down. It was such a fun couple of weeks. It is good to be back to a normal routine though.

Yay for Christmas and all the goodness that comes with it!!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-12T10:41:00.006-07:00

I think this Christmas Eve goes down as one of the best EVER!!

We started the day out by going to breakfast with Mark and Jocy at Bear Town. It is fun to start the day with something fun...and to get out of the house. The boys averted disaster at Susan's by fixing the leak in the fridge. A couple of really big fans and a de-humidifier were brought in to curb the damage!
Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin came and spent the night with us (after a little convincing).
First item of business was sledding. We have the perfect kid-size hill by the school that provides lots of entertainment for kids and adults a like. Brent was our photographer since I forbid him to even think about sledding!
We came home and had some lunch before getting the gingerbread houses ready to go.
Decorating our houses was so much fun. I bought the village instead of just one house and the kids were so excited to make their own. Grandma and Grandpa helped get them just right.

For dinner we ordered Chinese. We brought out our Christmas plates and enjoyed not making a big meal!!
After dinner we read the Christmas story. Thank you Pinterest for helping me find the cute little story and cut-outs.
Are you tired yet?! We were.

We let the kids open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa after the nativity story.

The final activity of the night was sprinkling the reindeer dust so they would be sure to see our house.

And with that we put the children to bed! I think they were so tired they didn't make a peep all night and we had to wake them up the next morning to make sure we made it to church on time!!

It was such a fun day. There is something magical to me (probably because that is how I grew up) about spending Christmas Eve at home with your family. Thanks to Mom and Dad for sharing the day and night with us! We loved it and can't wait to do it again.

'Tis the season

2012-01-12T10:33:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful Holiday season. It felt complete, not forced. I hope it was magical for the kids as well.
Some of the highlights:

visiting with Santa at the ward party
making suckers for Bridger's class (really easy and fun to do)
Visiting Temple Square...might be a few years before we go back
North Pole carnival...again, a one time deal
Caroling with the Welling family
Sledding
Shopping
Forgotten carols...we will make this a tradition
Checking the mailbox for cards each day

Christmas Jammies

2012-01-12T10:22:00.002-07:00

Jammies get delivered early at our house, probably so they can be enjoyed for the entire Christmas season. Usually in a special package from Santa's elves reminding the kids that he is watching. They didn't really need reminding this year because the songs "Santa Clause is coming to town" and "Here comes Santa Clause" Were on repeat in their little brains. It was so fun to hear them singing constantly through the Christmas season.

Putting up the tree

2012-01-12T10:15:00.003-07:00

As the kids get older they get more involved with putting up Christmas. This year they decorated the whole tree on their own...and we left it! It could only have ornaments on the top 2/3rds because of little hands. Hudson was not the only curious child this year. The shiny bulbs just called Reagan's name over and over again!

Thanksgiving

2012-01-12T10:05:00.004-07:00

A little behind on the ol' bloggeroo? I think so. Oh well...better late than never!!

We had Thanksgiving with the "Lake" side of the family this year. I use quotations because it was really Brent's grandma's family. In my eight years of marriage this was the first time having Thanksgiving with them. It was so much fun. Seriously. Grandma Timperly is all about games.

First we ate a delicious meal. I mean really, I stuffed myself. Aunt Jo's sink was broken so we hauled the dishes to Blain's apartment and back to wash and dry them. It made it an entertaining way to do the dishes. Everyone pitched in and helped get it all done.

After dishes we did the paper sack game. Grandma and Aunt Jo put little trinkets, candy, two dollar bills, quarters, and nickles in brown paper bags. Only one has a five dollar bill in it. That is the prize. Everyone picks a bag and we went in birth order to open them. No one got the five dollars. Oh wait, what could that be? Another round? I think so. I think the adults look forward to that tradition more than the kids. My kids were just happy to have some pocket change!!

We rounded the night out with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Welling's house and some midnight shopping! So fun!

Saying goodbye

2011-12-15T11:36:00.003-07:00

I've been writing this post in my mind for the past month.
We took a little trip to Boise for my grandpa's funeral last month. Losing my grandpa was a very bitter sweet time. He hasn't been well for a while and it was so hard to see him struggling. The selfish part of me was sad that he wasn't here with us anymore. It was a wonderful opportunity to get together with family, explain the plan of happiness with my kids, and just reflect on life in general.
I love my grandpa with all my heart. In my mind I can still hear him greet me with his "oh, there is Collettee". It always made my heart happy to hear this and then see his arms outstretched ready for a hug. It didn't change when I was an adult and had kids of my own. I loved to see him greet them the same way and see their eyes light up when he gave them a hug.
We were lucky enough to live close to my grandparents. I have countless memories of trips with them, quick runs to the cabin, Sunday dinners, and just regular days that they were around.
Grandpa was never to busy for us. If he had things to do, we helped him out. He wasn't afraid to make us work. He loved to play too. I remember staying in Thermopolis one summer and waiting for Grandpa and my dad to get home from work. We were going to go swimming at the Star Plunge. I remember Grandpa mentioning that he was going to go down the slide the next time we were there. Us kids went swimming earlier in the day (I think we spent all our time there that summer) and noticed that the sign said people over 60-0r something close to that-couldn't go on the slide. We quickly tried to calculate his age and then I worried all day because he was over the age limit. Well, true to their word, Dad and Grandpa took us swimming that night after a long day at work. Do you think the age limit stopped Grandpa? Not at all. He went down that slide a couple of times.
I could go on for a long time with memories. There are lots of them. My cousins have all written beautiful tributes.
The weekend of the funeral was wonderful. It was great to see so much family. My grandpa's sisters came with some of their families, my grandma's sisters came with their families and of course all of my cousins that came from all over to pay one final tribute to Grandpa.
As we left the church it was snowing. True Wyoming form in Idaho!!

He was buried in the Idaho state veterans cemetery. My grandma didn't know what was going on but it was neat to see the flag presented to her.

Afterwards the ward put together a wonderful luncheon. We had a chance to visit and relax. Here is most of my Hamblin side. We are missing one aunt and uncle and about 8 cousins with their families.
My grandpa was known for his spud-nuts. Running a spud-nut shop is what took him and his sister to Rawlins where he eventually met my grandma. To honor him my uncle invited everyone over and we had spud-nuts. Oh. My. They were divine. We ordered pizza and just enjoyed everyone's company.

Some other highlights from the weekend that weren't funeral/family related:

Brent forgot to grab his suit so we did a mad dash to the mall with everyone in their church clothes. The lady at Macy's was so nice and helped us get him outfitted in no time.
We all went swimming a couple of times.
On the way home we missed our turn off and ended up in Pocatello before we realized we missed it! Brent didn't know how far off our route we were(he had never been to Boise-or Pocatello), but I sure did!! Luckily it only ended up adding about an hour to our trip. Sheesh!!

I know that Grandpa is happy and was happy to see all of us together. I can only think of his reunion with his momma and daddy with a smile. To think of all he can do now makes me happy. I know that we will see him again if we do our part here on earth! 'Till we meet again, Grandpa!

**all photos are courtesy of my dear, sweet, cousin, Abbie of Abbie Rufener photography...I didn't get my camera out once!**

big sister

2011-12-04T18:40:00.001-07:00

I think his entire life might go a little like this. Big sister is mostly friend and a little bit boss!

First haircut

2011-12-04T18:37:00.001-07:00

Hudson's hair was getting a little out of control in the back. He has some nice curls and we enjoyed them as long as we could! The night before Thanksgiving Brent's cousin, Brittany, cut them all off. Hudson was not a fan of the haircut but he looks like a cute little boy now.

9 1/2 months

2011-12-04T18:30:00.002-07:00

Hudson is now almost 10 months old. So hard to believe. He is so much fun. He is mobile and able to mostly entertain himself. He tries so hard to keep up with the other kids. You can usually find him right in the middle of everything. Luckily is really easy going. That could be because he is the last one and has to be patient with everyone and all that goes on around him. He is quick to give a smile. He has six teeth. The poor little guy takes forever to break teeth. That usually means that he is drooling constantly and has a runny nose quite a bit. What can you do? He pulls himself up to everything and everyone. This is usually the view of him that I get while trying to make dinner or lunch or do pretty much anything. I think he may learn to walk this way.

We love our little Hudson boy.

Winter time fun

2011-12-04T18:18:00.003-07:00

We've had our share of winter storms lately. These pictures are from the first real snow fall that we had back at the beginning of November. Yup, that's what kind of blogger I've been lately. The kids had so much fun playing together. It was even fun for me. They are getting big enough to put most of their own snow clothes on. Bridger has learned in kindergarten and it is so nice. Its the little things that I really appreciate these days.
We are in the middle of winter now, I'm afraid. Long gone are the snow storms that the sun comes out and melts 75% of the snow. Only the bitter cold follows the snow storms these days! I guess that is what we get for living in Wyoming.

Just as a little side note: we were completely ready for the first snow this year. Everyone had coats, hats, snow pants, and boots. GO US!!

Family pictures 2011

2011-11-21T10:33:00.002-07:00

Just a sneak peak at our family pictures. I love them.

Grandpa

2011-11-11T22:41:00.003-07:00

We love you, Grandpa, and we will miss you oh so much.

Good day

2011-11-07T21:19:00.003-07:00

I have new pictures to post...later. I just wanted to remember how perfect this night felt.
The afternoon was a little rocky for me. I was tired and I didn't feel like I was accomplishing everything I wanted to. I might have hid downstairs for a little bit so I didn't take it out on the kids. Anyway...as we were eating dinner the children's attitudes gradually changed from "I am not eating that to I'm not eating the green stuff to this isn't so bad, can I have seconds"? Then Brent laid out a plan for family home evening.
Dinner got cleaned up and we had our little family home evening. We talked about gratitude and the ten lepers. The kids sang Book of Mormon stories enthusiastically, participated, and the whining/fighting was kept to a bare minimum. After that I made some cupcakes while Brent played a rousing game of Old MacDonald with the kids. While the cupcakes baked I joined them. We had so much fun. Everyone was laughing and getting a long.
As I sat at the table I was so happy and grateful for the little family that we have! It felt like we were doing something right and our kids might turn out ok after all! I guess we have a few more years to determine that but it was a good start!

Playing

2011-11-02T06:50:00.003-06:00

These two played with our recycle boxes for quite a while the other night. I love watching them get a long and play together.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T06:24:00.005-06:00

We had a pretty great Halloween with minimal stress and tears! We first dressed up for Grandma and Grandpa Welling's party on Saturday night. Corbin didn't love wearing his costume that he had picked out months ago and I was worried. We quickly fixed what was bugging him and he was a happy camper once again.
The plan was to just dress up for trick-or-treating but when Bridger was all dressed for school the other two wanted to get in their costumes as well!
Enjoy the pictures of our little spooks!

All ready for school! Keep in mind that they have eaten, brushed teeth, and gotten dressed all before 8:45AM! I was impressed with us!!

This is what happened when we tried to get Hudson in the picture. He wasn't interested. The fireplace looked much more appealing! Of course, Reagan is right there telling us that Hudson is not cooperating!

Bridger's school had a little Halloween program and costume parade. Each grade sang a song and then walked around the gym. It was fun to see all the costumes. Most of the teachers got in on the fun too. Bridger's teacher was a graduate.

A few people in our ward didn't recognize him with his black hair. He loved having a different hair color for a day. Luckily it washed out really easy. We love our red headed Bridger.

After the school parade we came home, Brent had physical therapy, Corbin had preschool, went to lunch, and tried desperately to get littles to take naps. There was too much excitement in the air for that though.

Hudson dressed up. He got his own picture since he missed the festivities in the morning.

Ninja Hudson, Funny hamburger Corbin, Scary vampire Bridger, and Cute witch Reagan

(those are the labels that they gave themselves!)

All ready for trick-or-treating. For the night festivities Corbin wanted his face painted brown. He was a little disappointed that his hair didn't get sprayed black too. To compromise I spiked it up with gel. He thought that was just as funny as having it colored. We hit the down town trick-or-treat and then we went to a few aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We also went to a few houses around our neighborhood. By then we were losing parts of costumes and enthusiasm so we headed down to Grandma Lake's for some pizza and relaxing.

Whew! It was fun. Let the holiday season begin!

We were so lucky (blessed, whatever you want to call it) with great weather! There was no need to dress the kids in all their winter clothing under their costumes. It only got chilly toward the end of the night and we were done anyway so it didn't matter!

Carving pumpkins

2011-11-02T06:16:00.003-06:00

We carved pumpkins Saturday morning. We forgot to bring them in the night before and they were freezing! I think my fingers had early stages of frostbite after cleaning the junk out of the insides!
While Brent and I cleaned all 6 pumpkins out the kids painted their mini pumpkins. They loved doing that and we didn't love the mess. They were happy and having fun and that is what matters most. Hudson was a trooper and watched for a while. He had enough and took a nap about half way through. After painting their pumpkins the three older kids lost most interest as well! They were content to come check on our progress once in a while! I told Brent that next year our limit is two pumpkins. None of this all day carving party business! In case it isn't clear enough, Brent carved a smurf and eye ball. I carved the happy face and some fancy letters to spell BOO that didn't make it out to the porch. They landed in the garbage can.
Maybe next year we will let the kids decide what to carve...maybe!

Caramel apples

2011-10-31T15:04:00.003-06:00

We hit the jack pot with caramel apples this year.

Here is the recipe to our success:

make it an after school activity (instead of after dinner)
use home made caramel
label the sticks so you know whose is whose
sprayed wax paper so they don't stick

Caramel apples aren't really kid friendly. Luckily they love watching the process and deciding what is going to go on their apple. This year our choices for toppings included: mini chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, coconut, crushed kit kat and butterfinger.
We dipped and decorated and then put them in the fridge for after dinner. They were delicious and the perfect before bed time snack.

Cornbelly's

2011-10-19T21:06:00.004-06:00

To start our fall break we took a little drive to Lehi and went to Cornbelly's cornmaze and pumpkin patch. It was perfect. The crowds were minimal because it was a Thursday night. The activities for the kids were perfect. Everyone had a blast and we had no major meltdowns/blowups or blow outs!

We walked through the mini corn maze. I really can't imagine if it had been busy! The kids had so much fun finding their way to the end (which was really the beginning). Perfect for little smalls.

After we made it out of the corn maze they went for a ride on the cow train. Reagan was really brave until it came time to actually get in and she decided she didn't want to go. The boys loved having their own seats and riding by themselves. They are both getting so big!

After the train ride we watched some pigs race and let the kids just go to town on all the fun kid stuff to do. They loved the bouncy slides and the big "pillows".

Such a fun place. We will definitely be going back there. To top the night off we went to JCW's for dinner (our favorite in Lehi) and Cabela's for a little winter coat shopping. The kids were in love with all the animals and fish at Cabela's. Once again they were pretty darn good. No major fits that scarred me into not taking them anywhere again!

Only a couple of weeks left to cross some fun stuff off of our fall to-do list.Family pictures next week and then caramel apples and pumpkin carving need to happen really soon...and then the great costume reveal! Such a fun time of year. It seems like it is just flying by. At least we are enjoying it!!

The party!

2011-10-10T21:21:00.003-06:00

We ordered the best pinata ever! It had pull strings so there was no bat or blindfold necessary. Only one ribbon was the magic one that released the candy. The suspense was killing all of us. Everyone got in on the action. The best part is that I didn't have to figure out where to hang it. I could just hold it for everyone to give a pull!

Telling everyone how old she is. Sporting the cute flower Grandma T gave to her.

I love her expression in this picture. She had just blown out her candles and she couldn't believe it!

Opening presents with the help of big brother. He was quite disappointed when we told him he couldn't just open all of them for her. She was once again super excited for all of her presents. She quickly caught on that she couldn't play with anything right away so she would open it, look at it, and quickly throw it on the ground. She loved the money and had some great expressions while opening presents.

Our little two year old. She chose to stay in her church dress all day. Right down to the tights. She had to have them back on after getting her diaper changed. Whatever floats your boat, missy, whatever floats your boat!

The table decorations. Thanks to Angie for the 'R' and name embroidery. She made those for Reagan when she was born and they worked out perfect! I am in love with the tissue paper pom-poms. It took me a few tries but I figured out the perfect size. So fun to decorate with!

I think she had a pretty good birthday. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate, called, sent cards. She had fun.
Reagan at two:
She has spunk all her own. she enjoys pushing her brother's buttons. Our favorite thing that she says is "bebuzz". If you ask her why for anything she usually answers with "bebuzz or buzz". We love it. She might be a little bossy. She is a wonderful sleeper. I don't want to jinx her sleeping habits so we will leave it at that. She loves bags and dollies and her blanket. She climbs on the counter like a champ. We just love her.

She's had a birthday....shout hooray!

2011-10-10T21:00:00.002-06:00

Reagan turned two on Saturday. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that she is ONLY two. I think she is two going on about 6 1/2. All week she practiced holding up two fingers. I think she was a little bit excited for her birthday.

Her day started out opening a present at breakfast. She, literally, jumped for joy and squealed when she came out of her bedroom and saw a present at her place at the table.

She got a doll that giggles just like she does. We heard it all day long. I think Reagan thinks she is crying because she rocks the baby so tenderly as the baby is laughing a deep belly laugh.

There were donuts for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch, and the Chinese buffet for dinner. Hey, what can I say, we celebrate with food!

After dinner we went to Red Box and picked out a movie. Well, the only one left, that we didn't already own, was Rio. Then the kids picked out a treat and we had a movie night.

This is Reagan dancing a long with the birds on the movie. We need some video of her moves. They are awesome!
Enjoying some popcorn. Popcorn, kids, and carpet always end in disaster. I guess when its your birthday spilled popcorn is allowed!

We partied the next day.

Hanging out

2011-10-10T20:48:00.002-06:00

Just a random sampling of a regular, ordinary, weekday afternoon at our house. The only thing that isn't quite right is that I am on the floor playing with the kids. That is usually Brent while I am trying to get something done. I have to remind myself that other things can wait, but my kids won't be small forever. It is a hard concept for me to grasp...but I am trying!

Pulling up

2011-10-10T20:43:00.003-06:00

Hudson can now pull himself up to anything and everything; and he is so proud of himself! Makes me a little nervous. He has already pulled a couple of things on top of himself, like the blow dryer and a stool. I guess it is all part of learning. Whenever he wakes up from a nap he is standing in his crib. This includes crying in the middle of the night.
He is getting lots of BLONDE hair! We now have one of each: blonde, brunette, and two red heads. I don't think his hair will stay blonde forever, but we are enjoying it for now! He still has two little teeth and "drips", as Reagan calls it, like he should be getting a mouthful but we haven't seen any yet. Hopefully soon so he will get back to his really good sleeping pattern that he abandoned about 7 weeks ago!
He loves to jabber and talk. He is quick to giggle, especially when he is getting dressed. We just love the little guy. It is fun to watch him grow, even if it is faster than we can stand it!

Halloween canvas

2011-09-27T06:49:00.003-06:00

In an effort to recreate something I saw on another blog, I ended up with these two signs. They aren't at all what I was going for, but I ended up pleasantly surprised with what we (Brent and I) came up with. They aren't perfect because there are lots of layers of paint on them. That is what happens when you have to re-think your plans about 5 times!

Tithing

2011-09-26T21:24:00.002-06:00

Yesterday the three older kids earned a dollar from Grandma Lake for cleaning up the play room (yes, they were working on the Sabbath...can you believe it?!). Today I was thinking that we need to teach them about tithing, since this was some of the first money they had earned.
We had family home evening. I think it is a natural reaction for kids to resist FHE. Anyway...that is a different story. So I taught a little lesson about tithing using an example of if we were pear farmers and we grew ten pears. Out of the ten we would give the one of the pears to the Lord. We do this by giving it to the bishop. Then I showed them with ten dimes that they give one to the bishop for tithing. It went great. The boys really caught on quick and had no problem giving up one dime.
Fast forward to bed time. All the kids were in bed and Brent and I decided to try the pears out. The boys woke up and came to get a snack of their own. As I was finishing my pear Corbin looked up at me with worried look and said, "Mom, why did you eat the pear that we are giving to the bishop?" It was so cute. I explained why we weren't actually giving the pear to the bishop and smiled inside that something had finally sunk in.

Halloween wreath

2011-09-16T16:26:00.002-06:00

I love Pinterest. It is no secret. It makes me happy. So I saw a wreath on there made out of tulle. I have had it in my mind to recreate it ever since. Today was the day. It didn't turn out quite like I had planned, but pretty close. I think I made mine a little bit full. So, thank you, Pinterest, for helping me fill my need to make something. There needs to be another post of all the yummy recipes we have tried from there. I don't think we've made anything from my Pinterest recipes that we don't love.

Punt, Pass, and Kick

2011-09-16T16:14:00.003-06:00

Wednesday was a much anticipated day around our house. First it was a half day at school so that is always exciting. After school was the annual punt, pass, and kick contest. The paper Bridger brought home said for ages six to 15 or something. We called and they said that Bridger could participate, just not win. Because if he won he couldn't move on...you know, the age thing. He was so excited when he found out.
We got there early enough for him to practice and then lots of his little friends showed up too. I think they had fun. Bridger did pretty good hanging with the 6 and 7 yr olds. He can't wait until next year when he really can compete. We got out of there just as those dark clouds started to really dump some rain...for the next 3 or so hours!

Brent's back

2011-09-16T15:15:00.002-06:00

Brent's back seems to be healing up nicely. He went to the Dr. on Monday and she said to keep doing what he's doing...not a whole lot! He takes walks around the neighborhood, lays in the chair, and tries to not go stir crazy. Whatever it takes so we don't have to go down this road again! Three weeks down and 3.5 to go before he can join the rest of the world in sitting down!

Haircut

2011-09-16T11:57:00.002-06:00

Before

...terrible picture of her but she wouldn't cooperate and it shows how bad it looked if it wasn't up!

After

It was time for Reagan's baby-mullet hair to go. It had all grown out and didn't look as mullet-ish lately but I was sick of the scragley hair. We took her to Tina, who cuts all of our hair, and chopped it off. Reagan sat so still and loved having her hair fixed. We love the results. I have figured out how to fix it every morning so it looks cute most days. She gets so many comments on it too. Apparently people are fans of short hair on little girls!

Cute kids

2011-09-16T11:55:00.003-06:00

Everyone happened to be wearing new fall clothes this day. They were so bright we needed a picture!

Having Bridger in school has really helped our morning routine. I don't know how long it will last, infact, I can feel it slipping already, but it is nice to have everyone fed, clothed, and ready for the day when Bridger goes to school. (was that a run-on? I'm sorry about that.)

Harvest time

2011-09-16T11:47:00.003-06:00

I had some help shucking (is that the word) the ears. Football helmets were optional this year.

All three of them at an entire ear of corn raw. They loved the stuff.

This year, so far, we have harvested raspberries, corn, and tomatoes. I only have pictures of the corn. I did raspberries in August. They are my favorite. The tomatoes were this week and oh so messy. We bought a juicer attachment for the Kitchen-aid and it was so fun to use. Up next is peach pie filling and then I am done for the year.

Also, my dad brought over some wood that he so kindly cut for us. The boys had to be convinced to help haul it to the wood pile. Ok, I did too. I hated hauling wood as a child and not much has changed! Once the boys got in the back of the truck they had a blast throwing it into the wheelbarrow.

Fall days

2011-09-16T11:31:00.003-06:00

It seems like it warmed up just in time to go to school. We enjoyed a couple of weeks of nice, warm, afternoons/evenings in the backyard when Bridger got home from school.

All looking at the camera? Yeah right. This shows their little personalities perfectly!

They thought this was so funny!

playing catch with dad

we put them to work at a young age!

Hi mom!

Hudson, you wanted grass on your head, right? Ok, I'll put some on there for you.

He has mastered the sitting up skill. Such a big boy. And the grass doesn't even phase him.

They were nice while they lasted. Now it is a little chilly for my taste at night.

Kindergarten

2011-08-29T21:20:00.003-06:00

First day of kindergarten

Corbin wanted in on the photo-taking action

lining up to go inside

doesn't he look so cute with his backpack?

And so it begins. Our lives with a schedule. I know every parent says it, but really, I can't believe he is in kindergarten!

This morning he was a little bit apprehensive. Lets be honest, who isn't on the first day of school? He put on a brave face and we headed out the door. He did think that maybe they couldn't have school because some fog rolled in just as we were getting ready to head out the door. We walked the 1/2 block to the school and he took off for the playground. There are lots of kids his age that he knows from primary and pre-school so he was perfectly happy playing. I stuck around anyway just because that is what you do on the first day, right?!
His teacher is Mrs. Thornton. She is so sweet, patient,and kind, just like a kindergarten teacher should be!
Corbin came with me to pick him up and he said he had a good day and will go back tomorrow. Slowly but surely we got most of the details about the day out of him. They went over rules, had three recesses, he might have cried a little bit on the way to art, talked about numbers and letters, read a story about hearts and hands, and that is all I remember. We are so excited for this year. So many new and exciting things happening.

Corbin was missing his friend. All day he kept asking where Bridger was. At one point he told Brent that Bridger was taking a long time to get home. This is going to take some getting used to on everyone's part!

Tonight after prayers Bridger decided that he would like a father's blessing, or prayer, as he calls it, tomorrow before school. Last night and this morning he was adamant that he wasn't going to have one. I guess he thought that maybe a little extra help wouldn't be so bad after all!

While Brent was telling him good night Bridger said something about going back. Brent told him he has to go everyday except the weekend. Bridger replied with, "well yeah, I will go all the months except, like, January and February, right?!" Wouldn't that be nice? Take a little break in the middle of winter! Sorry buddy, you're in it for the long haul.

Surgery...success

2011-08-28T17:42:00.001-06:00

Brent had back surgery on Wednesday the 24th. Dr. Neal said it went well and she fixed two tears in his disc. Hopefully with the new mesh stuff she used to sew them up we won't be doing this again. He is back to no sitting for at least six weeks. It is a bit of an adjustment with all of the kids home but I think that as of this afternoon we are all getting used to it. Now we just pray that six weeks go by fast!

Go Aggies!

2011-08-28T17:39:00.002-06:00

This is the first time we've brought our kids back to campus at USU. We had fun walking around and showing them where we went to school. It was hot but fun!

We headed to Logan a few weeks ago to do a little school shopping. Lucky for the boys the football stadium was open and so we took the chance to walk on the field. The boys were in heaven. They ran and ran on the field. Corbin said that he wants to play there one day. We're still working on Bridger!

Are you ready for some football?!

2011-08-28T17:36:00.003-06:00

We have been for the past few weeks. Bridger got the BYU uniform for his birthday and I think he has worn the helmet everyday since. Corbin was more than happy to sport the USU uniform. We have him convinced that he loves the Aggies! At least one of them does. I think Reagan has the cheerleader thing down.

Five!

2011-08-28T17:11:00.008-06:00

The day started with donuts for breakfast with a side of presents. We thought it would be fun to spread the birthday love throughout the day. So he got to open a present or two at breakfast.

After breakfast we jetted off to swimming lessons while Brent decorated and set up for the party in the afternoon. Swimming lessons were especially important on his birthday because it was test day! We weren't sure if he would pass because he refused to "bob" under the water. Well, he mustered up some courage and "bobbed" eight times for his teacher and life guard. HE PASSED! We were all so excited. Probably the best birthday present of the day!

The Party

This was his first friends party. We invited some cousins, neighbors, and primary friends. Bridger requested a carnival party so we did our best. We might have had a little bit more fun planning it than the kids did participating!

The activities from top left: knock the cans over with a baseball, shoot the ping-pong ball off the styrofoam block with squirt guns, ring the water, snow cones and popcorn, football toss, musical chairs. The party was 2 1/2 hours long (due to my mispring on the invitations) so we had to do some serious entertaining! I hope all the kids had fun and were sent home with a sufficient sugar high. We played games, had treats, opened presents, had some cake, played some more, went home. It was super hot and they were all tired by the end. Success!!

Later in the evening we had the grandparents and local cousins over for some more cake, ice cream, snow cones, and popcorn, with some present opening thrown in there too!

the party crowd!

I think he had a great birthday. He can now officially go to kindergarten since he is 5!
Bridger at 5:
Loves sports...especially football. It borders on an obsession
learning to ride his bike
Has a kind heart.
A little smart for his own good.
Wants to know how and why about everything
Not afraid to ask what something means.
Takes good care of his brothers and sister
Says the best prayers

We love our not-so-little guy. Five years have flown by. We are so excited to see how he learns and grows in kindergarten. Tomorrow is the first day!!

Summertime

2011-08-28T16:43:00.001-06:00

Does it get much more summer than this?

6 months!

2011-08-28T16:39:00.003-06:00

We just love this little boy.
It is hard to believe that he is already half a year old. It seems like all of a sudden he is growing, physically and mentally!
Some of the milestones are:

Sitting up for quite a bit on his own
Eating all sorts of stuff like a champ
Holds his own bottle
He has mastered the army crawl and gets up on all fours regularly. Luckily he hasn't moved on all fours yet!
Takes pretty regular naps
Spent 4 days away from Mom and Dad. That is the earliest any of our kids have been away from us.
plays with his toys for extended periods of time.
tells great stories in his own little language
finally cut two bottom teeth. He is a much happier little guy without those bothering him!

We can't wait to see what kind of personality really comes out in the next six months!

Pretties

2011-08-28T16:37:00.001-06:00

This is Reagan's first time with curlers in her hair. She has gotten much better at sitting while I put them in...my skills at placing them so they turn out cute are still lacking. I'll keep trying though. She loves it when her hair comes out curly.

Brothers

2011-08-28T16:36:00.001-06:00

I have a feeling that this (the boys and the Wii) will happen a lot in our future! Hudson won't be a spectator for much longer.

Baby oatmeal

2011-08-11T19:16:00.004-06:00

See my little helper?

Seriously, could time go any faster? It is hard to believe that Hudson is big enough for cereal. I try really hard to wait until my kids are at least six months before introducing food. Real food means real diapers, if you know what I mean. Hudson has been eying food for the past few weeks and I finally caved this week after a little prompting from my mother, even though he won't be six months for another week. Kinda cutting it close, don't you think! He does quite well and only spits a little bit out. I have learned to feed him when he could possibly be very hungry. He is more desperate for food then and eats much better!

School shopping

2011-08-11T19:14:00.003-06:00

This fall is the beginning of a lot of firsts around our house. Here is a picture of the cookie Bridger got for lunch while school shopping. Corbin and Reagan had gone to Mtn. View and Bridger had swimming lessons. We took advantage of the free babysitting and got all of our school shopping done in one day! I am not excited for when we have four kids to take with us...

We have gone green

2011-08-11T19:10:00.002-06:00

We like to recycle our boxes. I would like to say it is because we are genuinely concerned about the environment, which we are, but it is mostly for garbage can space. We discovered that you can take all your cardboard to the recycling place for free and since then we save it up and take it about once a week or every two weeks. It makes room in our garbage can for the real garbage! On this particular day the boys had strewn the boxes all over. Brent told them to pick them up and this is what we got. Clever little people we are raising. Too bad it didn't last on the bouncer long before it fell over!

Lagoon

2011-08-11T19:07:00.003-06:00

The boys got their first taste of Lagoon this year. They were in heaven. I think they both loved the dragon roller coaster and Bombora, the new small roller coaster. I was so happy that they had fun and didn't get tired or cranky. It helped to have their cousins with them.

A month?!

2011-08-10T16:18:00.003-06:00

I think this is about the longest I've gone without updating. I'm not sure if anyone even looks here anymore. I like to keep it updated for my own sake and memories sake. Who knows when I will get a full update...but, here is the past (almost) months activities.

I had a birthday. We celebrated by sending the kiddos to my parents house and heading to Utah for the day. We went to Lagoon and discovered that apparently we are getting old? I have never been so sick as I was getting off of some of those rides. We only stayed for a few hours and then headed to the mall for some shopping.

The following day Brent went back to work and I headed up to Star Valley for a mini family reunion. Lynn and Nikki were in town and my parents had taken the three older ones up there with them. It was fun to visit and relax at Grandma's house. Still love Star Valley. That place is magical.

The next weekend I took the boys back to Lagoon. I had a bounce back ticket and they were dying to go. Jeff and Julie took their kids and Nicole and Taylour with them. Andrea watched Reagan and Hudson for me. What a sweetheart! The boys had a blast at Lagoon. They would have stayed there all night if I had let them. It was a hot day and there was very little whining or complaining. Bridger and Braxton thought that they were so big, you know, putting their hands up on the roller coaster rides. In another year or two they will be able to ride everything by themselves.

On the 2nd of August Brent went back to his back doctor because he was having such horrible pain in his leg again (and no, Lagoon was not the cause. He had the pain before we went). She confirmed our biggest fear, he re-ruptured his disc. She gave him one steroid shot to see if it worked but was very doubtful. When that did nothing for his pain she scheduled his surgery right away. She said there is no point waiting around for the inevitable. So, Brent gets to have surgery on the 24th. Let the fun times begin! The good news is that workman's comp is going to cover it again. That was a huge blessing. We really thought that since it didn't happen at work it wouldn't be covered. The doctor fought for us and got it covered. Bless her. We love her, for more reasons that that.
Last week we discovered that the washer was leaking huge amounts of water. After some serious diagnosis, we decided to get a new one. As I was moving the dryer the wires touched (or something scary) and ruined the dryer. So lucky us got a new set. Well, we decided to make sure that the drain pipe wasn't leaking and discovered that all the wood in our laundry room was wet. So my kind parents came over to help us gut the laundry room and put the sheet-rock up. I guess we get to finish the basement one room at a time, whether we like it or not! Lowe's was great to work with. We bought the washer and dryer, they matched the competitors offers, delivered and set it up for free, and hauled off the old one for free! You can't beat that. Even our in town furniture stores don't do that.
Friday afternoon we headed to Park City for the Hamblin family reunion. It was fun to see cousins that I haven't seen in probably three years (we missed you, Britty). We visited, ate, played football, went through old cards, solved the problems of the world. Ok, so maybe not the last one. We decided to stay Friday night and meet up on Saturday. Apparently it was a big weekend in Park City. The Kimball arts festival was a leetle bit bigger than we thought. Add a huge soccer tournament to the mix and that equals no hotel rooms available. Luckily the Park City lodging something had some condos available that we shared with my parents. It was fun. We got up Saturday morning and had breakfast with everyone still in town at Janet and Bill's condo and then went swimming. After swimming we grabbed a late lunch with Harold and Jeanna and Brice and Judy (and their kids) and headed home. Oh, we stopped by the outlets for one second. They were packed so we didn't stay long. Just long enough to find a new wallet.
Bridger completed his first round of swimming lessons and is now in level 2. We are so proud of him. He was really nervous at first but has gotten used to the water and even thinks about putting his head under!

Whew! I think that is about all that has been going on. There have been sleep overs, cousins over, ice cream outings, nights at the play ground. Fun summer stuff. It is hard to believe that summer is over. In fact today we found out who Bridger's teacher is. Mrs. Thornton, in case you are wondering. We are all so excited for that chapter of our lives to begin. I know it is just going to add to the craziness but we can't wait!
Hopefully I will get some pictures posted with these events sometime in the near future!

Cook out

2011-07-18T12:45:00.003-06:00

Friday night we drove up to the Uintas to have a hot dog roast. It was the perfect night. It was warm, there was a slight breeze to keep the bugs under control, not too many people around. Hudson screamed all the way up and fell asleep just as we pulled into a camp spot.

The boys went fishing for a second and then we had some dinner. The kids had fun eating outside and getting sticky with the marshmallows. Oh, by the way...we tried smores with peanut butter cups instead of plain chocolate...YUM-O! That is how we will be doing smores from now on.
Anyway...after dinner the boys were begging to go fishing again so this time the whole family went. Brent didn't have a license or a pole so the the little boys did all the fishing. Bridger even caught a little brookie all by himself. He was so excited. Of course the camera batteries were pretending to die right about then so there is no picture. Reagan and Corbin mostly threw rocks into the river. That little girl isn't scared of anything, except bugs. She would have waded right into the middle of the water if we had let her.

After fishing we packed it up and came home. My kind of camping trip. Bridger and Brent would disagree but Corbin is on my side! He kept asking if he could just sit in the car. I keep telling Brent he can take whoever wants to go camping and I will stay home with the rest. He won't take me up on it. He keeps saying something about camping being a "family" activity. Whatever.

Five months

2011-07-18T12:35:00.002-06:00

This little guy just keeps getting older. I cannot believe how fast time seems to be going. He had his four month check up a couple of weeks ago and his growth slowed down quite a bit.

Height: about 23-24 inches
weight: 12 lbs something oz

There is a resident doctor that did his initial check-up and she was very concerned that he had basically dropped off of his growth curve. We are talking 20th to 5th percentile. She said we'll have you bring him in for weight checks, blah, blah, blah. I wasn't really concerned. Then our regular doctor came in and told me that he told her not to freak out. I was a good mom and he wasn't worried about Hudson. He calls the drop in the growth curve the "bottle adjustment". I have stopped nursing completely (about 2 months ago) and so he isn't getting the same fats that he was. Nothing to worry about. We have small kids anyway. He had his shots and took them like a man. He was sore the rest of the day and the next day too. Poor little guy.

So Hudson is doing great. He is rolling all over the place. Front to back and back to front. He holds himself up on his arms pretty well. He talks to us all the time and loves to get his clothes changed. It makes him giggle like crazy. When he gets excited he tenses up everywhere.
He is still a great sleeper. We moved him into the crib today and he seems to have no issues switching. He is probably loving all the room in the crib compared to the little bassinet he was being squeezed into before!

He chomps on everything. His favorite seems to be fingers. His shirt is constantly soaked from all the drool but so far no teeth. I keep waiting for them to just pop up one day.

Fishing with dad

2011-07-18T07:46:00.003-06:00

Brent took the boys fishing a couple of days ago. They had a lot of fun. Corbin is still a little small for a very long attention span. Bridger's attention lasts a little bit longer. They were so excited to go and finally use their poles in the water. We have been casting and untangling fishing line at our house for months now. It makes it all worth it when everyone comes home with smiles on their faces...even Brent!

Getting big

2011-07-18T07:43:00.002-06:00

Both of them!
Bridger is getting better and better at holding Hudson. It makes my life so much easier. I think Hudson is getting easier to hold as well.
This is also a fun picture because Hudson is Bridger's little twin. Seriously. Go back a few years and look at pictures of Bridger as a baby. You will be amazed.

Cousins

2011-07-18T07:40:00.002-06:00

These are the two babies on my side of the family right now. Leia is such a cute baby girl and getting so big. I have a feeling she will have to tolerate a lot from Hudson in the years to come!

Baby Oaklee

2011-07-18T07:29:00.003-06:00

Brent's sister, Julie, had her baby on the 7th of July. She is such a cutie.

About an hour or two old

Meeting their new cousin and sister.

This picture cracked me up. Corbin was crying that he was soo hungry and wanted to be held so I took a picture and said: this is what you look like. He quit crying right away and kind of giggled.

Bridger was content because he had the ipod most of the day.

Soccer

2011-07-14T10:55:00.004-06:00

Bridger completed his first season of soccer. I think he had a lot of fun and made some new little friends. He had a great coach that taught them the game but also made sure they were having fun. Just the right mix of competitiveness and fun.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit

2011-07-14T10:43:00.003-06:00

We enjoyed our fourth.The original plan didn't include fireworks but when you live in Wyoming and your cousins work at one of the biggest fireworks stores around and you get a pretty good deal...somehow fireworks become THE plan! Wow, that was a run on sentence.
We had a barbeque and then watched the city fireworks. I think I've mentioned Evanston's show before. Unlike anything I've ever seen. Not the city fireworks, but the people who do their own shows. I cannot believe the money that goes up in smoke that night. Anyway...after city fireworks we put on our own show. Yup, burned our own money right up. The big boys (and Vicki) all had fun lighting them for our enjoyment. The kids lost interest long before the adults did. I am happy to report that we didn't burn our house or the neighbor's houses down and no one was injured.

Sweet

2011-07-14T10:41:00.002-06:00

This is not just another cute sleeping baby picture.
This is a cute-fell asleep on his own-sleeping baby picture.
If you've ever had a baby that needed to be rocked or fed to sleep, then you understand how wonderful it is when they learn to go to sleep on their own.

Helping Grandpa

2011-07-14T10:36:00.001-06:00

My dad spent almost two weeks at our house helping us get our basement bathroom "company" ready. The kids loved helping out whenever they got the chance. Grandpa is such a good sport and let them do as much as possible, even when they were more in the way than helpful.

Like mother, like daughter

2011-07-14T07:54:00.002-06:00

My mom sent me this picture to remind me that I got my first black eye at about the same age and to see if she really looks like me. I guess a little!

Black eye

2011-06-23T20:36:00.002-06:00

Oh man. She took a tumble on Tuesday and ended up with a goose egg on her eye! It was a little scary looking. Luckily I don't think she did any major damage. She woke up the next morning with a nice shiner. It looks like we've beat her. I promise, we haven't!

Four generations

2011-06-18T08:41:00.002-06:00

My Grandpa Hamblin came to visit my parents last week for the week. My kids were so excited to see him. Most of the time they were talking to him so fast that he couldn't understand what they were saying. They loved to sit on his lap and ask him all sorts of questions. I'm glad that they have the chance to see him and get to know him.

Rolling over

2011-06-18T08:36:00.002-06:00

Hudson has been rolling from his back to tummy for a couple of weeks now. Just last night I noticed that he has mastered the tummy to back trick. He is also holding his entire chest off the ground so he is much happier when he is on his stomach now. I can't believe the little guy is four months old now. He is very much into chewing on his hands and slobbering. He still sleeps like a champ. The other day he actually fell asleep on the floor all by himself. He loves when anyone talks to him. He is not stingy with the smiles. Lately the car seat is not his favorite mode of transportation. He screams as soon as we put him in there. It makes driving around town really fun!

Soccer...

2011-06-16T17:10:00.003-06:00

it has begun.
Bridger is playing soccer this summer and LOVING it. He is totally in his element. It is much more fun for him to play with kids his age than with his siblings. He tries to be agressive and has scored goals in both of his games. He has the dates of his games memorized and will ask people if he is coming to his game on (insert the date here). He has a great coach and such a cute little team. There are only six of them but they all seem to be good friends already. It isn't nearly as painful to watch as we thought it might be. I guess that is what happens when it is your own kid out there playing, not someone elses! Fun times.

This picture was too cute not to share. Reagan loves sitting right by Bridger when he is out of the game. He doesn't mind her hanging around either.

Late nights

2011-06-16T17:01:00.002-06:00

Corbin occasionally takes naps during the day. In turn he doesn't fall asleep too easy at bed time. So when Brent is working nights and Bridger has fallen asleep long ago I will let Corbin sit by me on the couch until I go to bed. On this night Hudson was also still awake. They were being so cute together that I snapped some pictures. I love watching my kids play together and have fun. Makes me feel like we might be doing something right as parents.

Summer...is that you?

2011-06-16T16:57:00.002-06:00

The sun was so bright they couldn't look at the camera!

They learn to talk and drive young these days, don't they!

Summer finally reached our neck of the woods. We have tried to take advantage of the nice weather by forcing the kids to play outside. Aren't we mean?! Once they get out there they have lots of fun. Hopefully it is here to stay. We had to water our lawn this week. Our water bill will be missing the rain.

Memorial Day

2011-06-16T16:51:00.002-06:00

Ashley loving on Hudson. He was content to stay with the girls all day!

I think I will eat all of these grapes, thanks!

Brittany let Reagan play with her phone and eat a graham cracker at the same time...brave girl!

The kids were so excited to go on a little mini-vacation. Brent had to work all weekend so it was up to us to have some fun!
My dad picked the kids up Saturday morning and took them to their house for the night. They went to church and then headed up to Star Valley for the night. Monday morning I drove up with Hudson and met them.
We sure love Star Valley. It is so beautiful and we love our cousins up there! By the time I arrived Reagan had just about everyone wrapped around her little finger. She was in heaven having so much attention. The boys love their Star Valley cousins. All they could talk about for days after was when they got to go back. For more on their adventure check out my mom's blog. It rained the whole time but was still peaceful and beautiful. We can't wait to go back when it is warm!!

Messy Eater

2011-06-16T16:47:00.003-06:00

Would someone please show this little girl how to eat without using her entire head? It doesn't really matter what she is eating it usually ends up in her hair at some point. She does try really hard to use her utensils, but by the end her hands get the job done much faster!

Our little graduate

2011-05-26T10:04:00.004-06:00

Last December Bridger let us know that he fully intended on going to kindergarten when he was five. He was not about to wait until he was six. We figured we had better get him in pre-school to see if he was even ready for such a big step. I was planning on having an extra year with him at home.
The local pre-school is called Buttons and Bows. It is run by a lady in our ward and she luckily still had some spots for the new semester (for lack of a better word). He has gone twice a week for two and a half hours for the past four months. I think he has enjoyed it.
Yesterday was "graduation." Kind of funny if you ask me. They sang songs and said their little poems that they have been working on. Then they all go change into their cap and gowns. They marched across the stage to the pomp and circumstance song. After they were all seated their teachers gave each kid a special award. Bridger's was that he knows all his upper and lower case letters. Some of the other awards were: shares well, loves story time/ singing time, most energetic student, etc.
For some reason Bridger turned super shy before, during, and after the program. This is the kid who has no problem getting up in Sacrament meeting to bare his testimony. I don't know what his deal was. It was painful for him to get his picture taken. Luckily I was able to snap a couple of them for posterity's sake!!

What do you do on rainy afternoons?

2011-05-20T14:29:00.002-06:00

Brent made this hat out of a ball that went flat. I hope the sun comes out some time soon. My family is going crazy!

Bath time

2011-05-20T14:24:00.002-06:00

These two have so much fun taking baths together. They always beg to stay in longer and there is always a lot of water on the floor when they are done. They are my dare devil children. Reagan practically runs around in the tub and Corbin slides down the edges like he is at a water park. I'm just glad it is one place that they don't fight like crazy!

Time for a big bed?

2011-05-20T14:21:00.002-06:00

It looks like Reagan is about ready for a real bed.

Holding Hudson

2011-05-20T14:16:00.004-06:00

Holding Hudson has become a favorite past time of the three older kids. Reagan thinks she can hold him all by herself and is always trying to push my hand away as she holds him. Hudson loves it and gets the biggest smiles on his face when any of them hold him.

Everything else

2011-05-11T18:39:00.000-06:00

Just a couple of shots of what life is like around here most of the time.

Painting the living room

2011-05-11T18:34:00.000-06:00

We had plenty of little helpers. We actually sent Reagan and Corbin to Grandma Lake's while we did the bulk of the painting on Saturday morning. I think Reagan would have been a little too much help!

This is one of the walls finished. You can kind of see the color. Look by the trim and you can see the difference.

After living here for a year we decided to remove most of the living room wallpaper and paint. Had we known it would be so easy we would have done it months ago. Oh well. We pulled wall paper about two weeks ago and finished painting yesterday. We still have a couple of walls to finish. It feels so fresh and clean. Who(m)ever plastered our house in wallpaper needs a severe talking to. It is not fun to remove or fix the wall where it was. We are getting our little projects crossed off a little at a time. Maybe one day it will look like the home we want it to be!

Bath time

2011-05-11T18:32:00.000-06:00

Hudson was happy after a bath one day and he looked so cute.

Taste the rainbow

2011-05-11T18:24:00.000-06:00

I have been dying to try these layered cupcakes for a while. I know that they are kind of old news but I've had the itch for some reason. So last week after a really bad morning as a mother I let the boys help me make these little beauties. It kind if made everyone's mood a little bit happier. They are time consuming but so fun once they are done. I used the recipe from Our best bites.

Don't mind the blurry picture. I was apparently a little bit close to the cupcake. Stand back and squint and you get the idea.

Love the bright, vibrant colors all layered up.

Even the wrapper turns out pretty!

Go make some! They will make your day better too!

PS. We made some more with bright pastel colors for mother's day. I think they were a hit. The possibilities are endless. So fun.

Cheyenne

2011-04-25T18:24:00.003-06:00

The boys got to go to Cheyenne to visit their cousins for a couple of days. My mom and dad had to go drop off some art and invited the boys to ride a long to visit Caleb and Hunter. To say they were excited was an understatement. I was asked about 5 times a day for 3 days if it was time to leave yet.
Thanks for taking them, Mom and Dad, and thanks for letting them stay and play, Steven and Vicki. They had a blast and can't wait to go back sometime soon!

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

2011-04-25T11:41:00.004-06:00

The week began with a really quick, simple family home evening about the Resurrection. I actually remembered to teach my kids why we celebrate Easter...and they actually remembered what I said! When they were quizzed about it later in the week they said, "yeah, we know, its when you come back together again. Oh, and we get to see Grandpa Lake again."

Then it was on to the festivities.
We dyed eggs on Wednesday night because the boys headed for Cheyenne with my parents the next day. We only did 18 and everyone had fun. It was a quick, painless, fun activity. We might even try it again next year! They thought that eating them was gross though.

They were happy to see that the Easter Bunny made a stop at our house. Corbin was half awake when he came into the living room. He promptly climbed up on the couch to look out the window. I asked him what he was looking at and he said he was looking for the Easter bunny. I decided not to fight them on their candy. You want all candy for breakfast? Perfect. Have at it. I (because Brent was sleeping after working all night) let them eat until they were stuffed. Surprisingly they didn't eat as much as I thought they might!

Then it was off to church in their new outfits. They all looked so cute. Reagan kept saying "pitty?" She loves getting dressed up in her Sunday clothes. Getting all of them to look at me with a normal face is impossible. I am enjoying the crazy faces because lets be honest, that is what they really look like.

After church we had a yummy dinner with my parents. It was a great Easter!

Grandma and Grandpa's house

2011-04-20T12:41:00.002-06:00

Checking out the full moon with no jackets or shoes. It must be almost summer! My kids are hoping anyway.

Corbin and Reagan at their finest. Awesome.

Just a couple of pictures that my mom sent me from the weekend. The three oldest stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa Hamblins and even went to stake conference with them. I enjoyed a quiet evening and even quieter morning at church. I love that my parents will take them for a night or two. It gives me a much needed rest to recharge my batteries and the kids get to have an adventure. They LOVE going to bampa's (that is Reagan talk for grandpa AND grandma) house .

Growing boy

2011-04-19T18:49:00.002-06:00

He is two months old these days.
Monday we (as in me and all 4 kids) took him to his well-child visit.
If that isn't fun, I don't know what is...

Stats:
Weight: 10 lbs. 9 oz
Height: 22.5 inches
Shots: 3 and an oral vaccine.

He is doing great and growing like a little weed. I would mention that he is back to sleeping all night but then I would jinx myself again. So I won't mention it. His vaccines must have taken all of his energy. He slept most of the rest of the day and a good chunk of today. He is a smiley boy and learning to be very patient with everything that goes on around him. The doctor informed me that he is no longer a new born. Funny thing, I'm not sad about it. I am so excited to watch him grow and see his little personality develop.

Easter Egg painting

2011-04-19T18:47:00.001-06:00

On paper.

Water color is heaven for these guys right now.

Bridger was too cool for a picture by their pictures.

18 Months

2011-04-13T13:32:00.002-06:00

Little miss Reagan is 18 months. She can officially go to nursery, even though she has been going for quite a few months.
I took her to her well child check-up and it was traumatizing for...me. As soon as the nurse called her back she went into hysterics. Any time the nurse or doctor even looked at her she started screaming. Crazy kid. She is still tiny. More the size of an average 11-12 month old but still on her own little curve.

The stats:
weight: 19.9 pounds
height: 29 inches

Technically she can't even be in a forward facing car seat yet. We've broken that rule though. She is full of spunk, attitude, kisses, and love. She definitely keeps us all on our toes. Whether it is pinching the boys, pulling everything out of the cupboards, or just running around, there is never a dull moment with her around. She loves her blankie, naps (and bedtime), and babies. She does not like shoes and last night wanted nothing to do with her pants. She was in only a diaper most of the evening. Such a funny little thing.
We will keep her around. She makes us laugh and we sure do love her.

The new ride

2011-04-12T20:01:00.002-06:00

We bit the bullet and bought a new car. Yesterday we drove to Murray with all 4 kids in tow. Our intentions were to look but we drove off the lot in a new-to-us suburban. We couldn't pass it up and we needed the extra space. We were at the dealership for 6 hours straight. Amazingly the kids held up quite well. The dealership has a kids room equipped with toys for them to play with. There was a short trip to toys 'r' us while I negotiated the price and terms. We bought it at Larry H. Miller and would recommend them to anyone. They were no pressure and very nice. They didn't even seem to mind that our kids were going stir crazy after about 3 hours.

Prom

2011-04-12T19:44:00.003-06:00

Brent's little sister, Nicole, went to prom last weekend. Kind of hard to believe that she is that old considering she was just a cute little 9 year old when we got married. She looked gorgeous and it was fun to go see her promenade.

Before her date got to the house. Isn't that dress gorgeous (and her)? I loved it.

three of the four with aunt Coley.

Coley with her date, Taylor.

Before the juniors promenade, or dance, they announce all of them. This might be unfamiliar to some. We called it floor show where I grew up. Coley danced with a different boy than her date because Taylor is a senior and only the juniors dance.

After they promenade and announce royalty they have a parent dance. Brent filled in for his dad and it brought a few people to tears. It was a sweet to see him dance with her.

Mom and daughter. So cute.

Jeffry, Carly, Nicole, Mandi

We have three other cousins that are juniors.
Don't they all look so great?

Good helpers

2011-04-12T19:38:00.003-06:00

We usually have plenty of little hands that love to help out. Some are more help than others but they are learning!

Happy Monday!

2011-04-11T07:57:00.001-06:00

On to regular life

2011-04-05T12:23:00.002-06:00

Random pictures of every day stuff at our house.

I think I can pretty much say that I am out of my post partum stage. Thank goodness! I feel like a human being again. I want to function. I have goals, dreams, desires...ok, a little dramatic but really, it feels good to be back among the regular world. I know that those weeks following a baby are normal but they always bug me. Then I get slightly jealous that other people don't seem to have them...Oh well. It doesn't matter. They are past us now.

Nothing really spectacular going on around here. Brent is on a long stretch working. Nine days in a row. He is making up for all the time he had off when Hudson was born. Luckily only a 3 days left and then he is off for a few days. It hasn't been that bad because my parents took the three older kids for the weekend. They are saints. If you knew Reagan's real little personality you would understand. She doesn't stop and she is a little on the demanding side. They still take her, bless their hearts! It was a nice break for me and I didn't really know what to do with myself. So, I just kind of took it easy. I did a whole lot of nothing. It was nice!

Bridger starts his pre-kindergarten classes tonight. The school has three weeks of after-school classes for the kids coming into kindergarten. They are two days a week for an hour. Bridger is excited. I hope that there are some kids he knows so it is fun for him. I can't believe he is going to kindergarten in the fall. Fun times ahead.

It is good to just have life back. I love the cleaning schedule, laundry schedule, shopping, running whatever other errands need run. Its is just good to be back.

Much needed reminder

2011-04-02T13:14:00.002-06:00

I needed to read this. Maybe someone else does too.

Blessing day

2011-03-30T16:17:00.002-06:00

He was such a good boy all day. Right after he was blessed he spit up all down the back of Brent's suit. Our family is always happy to provide entertainment in Sacrament meeting!

all four chillins. you can imagine what a feat this picture was!
Hudson is enduring!

Apparently the people who sell blessing outfits thought that it was spring and only had shorts. Apparently they weren't thinking of babies in Wyoming!

Brent blessed Hudson on Sunday. It was our first week back to church since he was born. I'm happy to say that we all survived. The blessing was beautiful and we were lucky to share the day with lots of family. Brent's cousin Mark blessed his baby the same day. We live in the same ward and so there was lots of family from all sides! There were actually more visitors than actual ward members in Sacrament meeting.
After church we had a dinner at the Days Inn. Yummy food and good company. Did I remember my camera? No. Sad, sad. There were about 110 people that we fed and it all tasted so yummy. Roast, potatoes, rolls, salad, and dessert. What more could you ask for?
Thanks to everyone who came to support us and show Hudson a little love.

6 weeks

2011-03-30T16:04:00.002-06:00

late one night we took pictures instead of going to sleep

check out his hands. he did this all on his own.

Wow. After a slow start time is really starting to fly with this little guy. It is hard to believe that he is 6 weeks old today. I took him to his 2 week well child check last week at 5 weeks. Can you tell he is the youngest? Sorry buddy. I promise to not do this to you your whole life. Anyway...He was up to 8 pounds something and 21 inches long. The Dr didn't give me any percentages. I'm guessing he's still kind of small.
He is getting life figured out. Oh wait, maybe that is me. He sleeps through the night and has mostly since he was about 3-4 weeks old. We are blessed. He likes to be held, which isn't a bad thing, to go to sleep most of the time. We'll enjoy it for now and break him of the habit later! He tolerates so much from his siblings and is pretty laid back about most things. My favorite thing is his smile. He breaks them out randomly and so there aren't any on camera yet...but soon. We love our little Hudson or beebee as Reagan calls him.

Around our house

2011-03-20T09:07:00.001-06:00

Just some random pictures of the everyday-ness at our house.

State Cheer/Basketball

2011-03-20T08:40:00.005-06:00

Tuesday while at work Brent called to see if I wanted to go to state. Of course I did. It is no fun staying home while everyone else gets to go have fun. We did have a practical side that told us it might not be the most fun we've ever had. I mean Hudson was only 3 weeks old at this point.

We debated and finally decided if there was a room available that we would go. I checked different hotels and found one. After checking with my AD secretary neighbor (who books hotels for the school activities and knows if they are ok or not) that the hotel wasn't too bad we decided we could go. Keep in mind this was about 6:30 and we had to be leaving by 8AM the next morning. We hadn't even started packing. We didn't tell the kids because we were still debating. We got as much packed as we could before bed, made a fast Wal-Mart run, and headed to bed.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and only told the boys that we were going on an "adventure". Bridger had been telling everyone that: "we don't get to go to state this year...but NEXT year when we go we would go swimming (or whatever)". We amazingly got out the door by about 8:30 and headed on our way. Bridger couldn't believe it when we told him we were headed to state. I think he was most excited to see all of his cousins that had been talking about going. Now he wasn't left out and he was happy!

The trip went really smooth. We met up with Brent's mom, sister, grandparents, uncle and aunt in Rock Springs and they were surprised to see us. We still hadn't told anyone of our plans.

The weekend started out, as usual, with the state spirit competition. It is always the longest night of the weekend but it was fun to see Coley, Carley, and Annie compete and do well. The cheerleaders got 4th in stunt, and the dancers got 4th overall.

This is how the little boys kept entertained for the night. Two ipods (the best purchase of our life) and a Nintendo ds.

Coley and the cheerleaders doing their non-stunt routine (I think).

The first night in the hotel. Our room was great. It had a queen bed, a fold out full bed (that the boys slept on and thought was so cool), a couch, table and 4 chairs, and then the regular hotel stuff too. It was nice and spacious so we didn't ever feel cramped. Very nice for traveling with 4 small children. Not too bad for getting it the night before. I mean it was no Marriott but it worked.

Of course there was dinner at Sanford's...and lots of other great places. We even went out with most of the adults to a steak house one night. The kids got pizza at the hotel. Thank goodness for older cousins who are so nice to babysit for us.

Swimming. I am pretty sure that Bridger thought this is all we should be doing. Corbin was a littel slower to warm up to the freezing (or so I'm told) water. Once they were in it was hard to get them out.

All four of our little munchkins on the last night. Reagan didn't get to sleep in the bed with them but she loved being up there with them. Mostly bugging them!

We did go to the basketball games too! They started at 9AM two days in a row. I'm happy to say that we were able to get there for the start of them both days! Pretty impressive if you ask me. If we didn't have the older girls there to help with our kids I'm not sure we would have had as much fun. They were so good to take the kids and play with them or let them run. Our kids actually did the very best at the late games. I think it was that there weren't any other kids to play with so they actually watched the basketball game.

It was a fun adventure. I am excited to do it next year with no babies! Last year was a 5 month old and this year a 3 week old. So are we crazy? Probably a little bit but it helped us to get used to carting all of them around.

busy busy!

2011-03-14T14:50:00.003-06:00

So I guess the best way to snap out of a funk is force your way out! Thanks for all the kind words. I was really ok...just felt like life was passing me by and I couldn't do anything about it. I know that these feelings come after every baby, I just hate them. Lucky for me we are on the downhill side of the newborn stage and we have survived!

I really do hope to get on here and add pictures...but, just for the record here is what we've been up to so I don't forget:

Hudson is growing like a weed. He will be a month old on Wednesday!
I survived Brent's first shift back to work since Hudson was born. Only a couple of melt downs. Once I forced myself to get out of the house and take the kids with me we all did much better.
State basketball. Yes. we took all 4 kids to Casper for 5 days and we all survived...and even had some fun.
Teresa Lewis, our friend from Douglas, passed away on Friday so we are headed back to Douglas for the funeral on Wednesday.

I am hoping once we get back from Douglas that things will slow down a bit for us. The kids have been troopers and we are all dead tired but it is a good tired. I feel so much better.

On my mind

2011-03-06T07:54:00.002-07:00

I've had some things that have been on my mind that I want to write down. I'll put pictures on here later...sorry if that is all you're looking for.

First, I am having the hardest time getting back to real life. I feel like I'm stuck in this post-pregnancy haze that I can't quite shake. I'm getting fair amounts of sleep so that can't be it. I finally feel like I am healing from the inside out. There isn't much pain. I am really struggling to get back to feeling normal. Maybe it is that there is a new normal? Keeping up with a new born and an extremely busy almost 17 month old is kicking my behind. I hope that one day my house will be clean again, laundry will be caught up, and I will feel sane. Until then I will try daily to have more patience with my kids. It makes me sad to think that I have probably yelled at them more than played with them. What kind of memories are those? Crappy ones...for all of us. I will make a conscience effort to not stress about the little stuff. It is hard though. I feel like I'm failing when I don't have things done that I want done. What to do, what to do. Keep trying is all I can do. So I will.

Random: I know I'm still in the post-pregnancy haze because when I hear about people that are pregnant or about to have their babies I am not excited for them. I feel sorry for them! At the same time I think, its a good thing I've already had mine because I only have a few more weeks of the hard stuff and then my life should get a little easier! See, terrible. I should be happy for people.

In the midst of all my self-pity I have a great need to just sit and hug my kids. To let them know that their mom loves them no matter what. Some of our friends from Douglas are dealing with cancer. The guy that Brent taught with and shared an office with is losing his wife to cancer. They have two little kids ages 6 and 3. Last night he said Avery understands but I don't know how little Ridge will handle not having a mommy around. It absolutely breaks my heart. How can I be so selfish and impatient with my kids when Teressa only has a few weeks, maybe days with her kids. Pray for them. For peace and comfort.

So that is what has been on my mind. It feels better to get it out somewhere. Happy posts to come, I promise!

Day trip

2011-03-02T15:13:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we were itching to get out of dodge...er Evanston. It was a beautiful day so we decided to drive up to Star Valley and visit my Grandma Kennington. She hadn't seen Hudson yet and it had been almost a year since we were up there. The kids didn't skip a beat visiting with her. We are so lucky to have most of our grandparents around still. Our kids still have 4 Great Grandmas and 2 Great Grandpas. Pretty lucky kids if you ask me!

We loved our time when we lived there but we sure don't miss the snow! I'll take the little bit that we still have on the ground over their massive drifts any day! It is really pretty though. Over south end the hills looked like they had fondant laid on them with a few occasional animal tracks through it.

Birthday Boy

2011-03-01T20:02:00.004-07:00

Corbin miraculously turned 3 this week. I say miraculously because I still haven't figured out when exactly he turns another year older. Sometime in the night between the 28th and 1st of March. We are so excited that he gets an actual birthDAY next year.
He has been pretty excite to be turning "free" and have a pirate birthday. As usual, the day revolved around food. We had donuts for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch, and Chinese for dinner. Funny story about the food. At breakfast we asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner; fully expecting his answer to be McDonald's. When Bridger heard the question his little face lit up and he leaned over to Corbin and said "Chinese sounds like a nice birthday dinner, don't you think?" Corbin thought so too and requested it for dinner. He really wanted McDonald's too so we went there for lunch. Lucky little buggers!
After lunch the boys went on a treasure hunt for some ring pops. Brent set up the arrows for them to follow and they loved using the treasure map to find their loot!
We had cake and ice cream and opened presents that night. He was lucky to get so many fun things. He finally got his robot buzz. He has been asking for a robot buzz since Christmas. That is all he wanted. Unfortunately for him Santa didn't know what in the heck a robot buzz was. Then when asked what he wanted for his birthday it was the same answer. Luckily a few weeks ago we were at Toys R Us and we happened to find the robot buzz he had been dreaming of. He was pretty excited to open it up on his birthday. It was worth every last penny to get him something he has been so adamant about for so long.

We love our Corbin-boy. He is a little tender heart. He is always cracking us up with the things he says and does. He loves his cartoons and could watch them all day long if we let him. We can't wait to see what he comes up with in the next year.

One week

2011-02-24T11:31:00.003-07:00

Our little Hudson turned one week yesterday. Probably one of the fastest weeks of our lives. We took him to the Dr. on Tuesday and he was within one ounce of his birth weight (7lbs 9oz). He is such a good little guy. He is sleeping for chunks of time at night which is wonderful. I never thought that 2 1/2 to 3 hours of sleep would feel so good!

Here are some pictures from his first week of life.

We get this look a lot when we tel her not to touch him...you can imagine how well that goes over!

There are plenty of helpers around here. We are so glad that they love him and want to help. It is fun to watch them talk to him and make sure his every need is met. You can also tell he is the youngest. We have had many more visitors that haven't had their pictures taken...and Bridger does come around him, just not when the camera is out (he was at pre-school when we took these yesterday).

Hudson Gage

2011-02-19T17:52:00.006-07:00

Here we are from start to finish in pictures. If you don't care about the birth and the wonderful doctor that we have then feel free to just look at the pictures and move on. I'm going to share a little bit more because it was crazy!

Brent and I went to Utah Tuesday night to relax a bit before Hudson was born. Nothing too exciting besides trying to figure out a name. You wouldn't believe the struggles we had. anyway...
Went to the hospital to check in for my routine c-section. Got all checked in and into the operating room. I distinctly remember looking around thinking man, what if something went wrong? That would be crazy. I quickly shook the thought out of my mind because nothing ever goes wrong. I mean, this is my fourth c-section. They have all been in and out.
I got my epidural and was quickly relieved to have a great anesthesiologist. The one I had with Reagan was horrible. This one I loved. He was gentle, talked me through each step, and stayed right with me through everything (not that the others have left but sometimes I feel like they forget I'm around and not a machine).
Dr. Marriott started the c-section and it seemed to be taking a while; longer than I remember my others taking. There was quite a bit of tugging and no mindless chatter like there sometimes is with Dr. Marriott. Finally the anesthesiologist said "oh, there is the head." I expected them to announce his birth shortly after. It took another couple of minutes before that happened. Keep in mind from first cut to birth is usually only a couple of minutes so this seemed like forever!
Hudson Gage was born at 12:49pm healthy and screaming like any baby should be. He weighed 7 pounds 10 oz and was 20 inches long. He has a little bit of dark hair just like Corbin's. They quickly cleaned him up and whisked him and Brent to the transition nursery to get him ready to be presented.
I laid there for what seemed like eternity waiting for them to sew me up. By this time Dr. Marriott has usually really started in with some sort of story or crazy jokes. There was none of that. There was lots of "hand me this, or that, or NOW!" I didn't really pay attention to what was going on I just tried to relax. I figured that tying my tubes takes a little longer and some more concentration (that is the extra step involved this time). I knew something was up when he leaned over my little partition and said "you're losing a lot of blood and we may need to do a hysterectomy." Whaaat? Not quite the words I was expecting. The anesthesiologist was right by my side making sure I was ok and if I needed anything. Such a nice guy. Especially since Brent was gone and couldn't come back in.
I tried to listen to what was going on and I heard the doctor say "I'm calling it. We need to do a hysterectomy and I need 3 units of blood" Ugh... So they did the hysterectomy and blood transfusion. I thought they were about done when I felt more pressure and pain than I have ever felt on the operating table. I was trying really hard to be strong and not cry out in pain. Dr. Marriott said "you need to give her something to calm down or we're going to have to in tube her" Ummm...no thank you. I'll try deep breathing. At that point the anesthesiologist told me he would give me some medicine that would make me drowsy. Thank goodness. It couldn't kick in fast enough. It allowed me to relax and sleep for a bit and I woke up just as they were finishing.
I looked at the clock and it had been almost 2 hours since Hudson had been born. That is a long time on the operating table. I was tired and sore. But, I was alive and grateful for such a wonderful doctor.
Its what I found out after that made me realize how serious it was. So here is the why.
First of all Dr. Marriott couldn't get into my abdomen very easy to get to my uterus. When he got to my uterus there was so much scar tissue that he had to cut it higher than normal. It made him uncomfortable but he needed to get the baby out. So he got the baby out. When he went to sew my uterus up it wouldn't hold the stitches. at. all. He put I don't know how many in. I think he said around 30 or 40 something and it wouldn't hold. At this point he also couldn't get the bleeding under control no matter what he and his assistant (he wasn't doing this alone) tried. That is when they decided to do the hysterectomy and that I needed a blood transfusion. He apologized over and over and over to me, Brent, our families because he felt so bad about all that had happened.
If you know Dr. Marriott he is very to the point. He doesn't dilly dally around when he has things to do. Every nurse I had commented that he must have been really concerned because he never comes more than once to see patients after birth unless there is a problem. He came and saw me twice a day for 2 days after! He made the point that these things are not normal and we are lucky things turned out so well. We are thankful for the power of the priesthood and that prayers are answered. Brent couldn't be with me through any of this and had to get the news on his own. I know that we were both being watched over. It kind of threw everyone for a loop. Our kids kind of knew that things weren't right and I think it made them a little nervous. Or it could have been the fact that they were waiting to see us for about 2 hours longer than planned!
We came out thankful for a few things:
1. Great doctors and nurses that work well under pressure
2. Having it confirmed to us before the c-section that our family was complete
3. The power of priesthood blessings. Brent and my Dad gave me a blessing before we left and Brent commented that he said things that didn't make sense to him until after everything happened. I know that Heavenly Father knows what we are going to go through and the strength that we need
4. Blood donors
5. Healthy baby boy and healthy mom!

Everything is great now. Hudson is a healthy little guy. He is our biggest baby. Almost 2 full pounds bigger than Reagan was. My recovery has been great. The only difference is that I had to stay an extra day in the hospital...and I don't have a uterus!

A new one

2011-02-14T15:41:00.002-07:00

We've been wondering what this little guy is going to look like. For some reason I picture him like Corbin. Who knows. Wednesday the wondering will be over and we'll get to meet him!

Bridger

Corbin

Reagan

In just two short days we will have a new little one in our family. Hard to believe. This pregnancy has been harder than the other three but hasn't drug on too much. We have procrastinated just about every aspect of getting ready for a baby. That leaves today and tomorrow to busy to think about what is to come. I'm excited and can't wait to meet the little guy. I think the kids are equally excited. It is fun to have the boys understand what is going on a little bit more than they have in the past. Unfortunately I think Reagan might be in for a rude awakening. Luckily she loves babies and I think she will enjoy taking care of him. Hopefully not hurting him!! She did bite Bridger randomly the other day. Worries me just a wee bit.