New and Improved!

I have decided to revamp my blog a little, and I hope you'll hop on over and take a look.  I will be posting here from now on.
http://www.ourcrazylittlecorner.blogspot.com/

Head on over and see my new (hopefully improved) site.

Halloween....just a little late.

Here is my Genie, and my

little Minnie Mouse.

 Brookie was as proud as a peacock to be Minnie Mouse.  Which she called, "Minnie Mouse Clubhouse." (a little too much Disney channel?)

 It took a while to find Ashlyn a Genie with a tummy.  Perseverance paid off.

Conner and McKinley had some friends over for a party.  They are such a great group of kids.  Love em'!

Carving time!

This year the BEST thing about Halloween was spending time together as a family. Honestly. When we have the whole gang together my heart just soars with joy. I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true. Especially when we are doing something that the big and little kids enjoy, and everyone is having a great time.

Brennan took his Boston Bruins pumpkin very seriously. It was a work of art.

Brothers goofing off and having a great time.

Will took charge of helping the kids carve. He was a great help, and I didn't have to deal with the guts. Yeah!

Brookie made a cute little kitty cat pumpkin. She was so proud of it.

Here is the whole gang (minus Emily who was sleeping) WE LOVE HALLOWEEN!

A shout-out to Oklahoma

I have to give a shout-out to my little sister in Oklahoma.
SUSIE, YOU ROCK!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!



Susie was just accepted to the nursing program in Oklahoma. She is an amazing wife, fantastic mother, and NOW she will be the best nurse! This is something that Susie has wanted for a very long time, and Oklahomans can only hope to get sick and be cared for by her!

Pumpkin Pickin!

Every year we take the kids to a nearby pumpkin patch and let them do their thing. It is such a treat to watch them search out the perfect pumpkin. Such a serious decision! It's also a great time for some photos.




When I announced it was time to go to the patch I expected some resistance from my big kids. (Mainly the boys) But they ran and jumped in the car just like everyone else. It was fun to see them help Brooklynn and Ashlyn. Ahhh, the rewards of parenting.



Happy Halloween everyone!

Sixteen Candles

Things have been busy, so I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Brennan's 16th Birthday.

Brennan and a group of friends went out on the town to The Pie. It is one of Brennan's favorite places to eat.

The kids got an enormous pizza and dove in.

Will, Brennan and I went to Market Street Grill for breakfast. Another one of Brennan's fave's.

We followed breakfast with a trip to the hockey store where Brennan picked out a new pair of hockey skates. He only grew out of his last ones about a year ago, and just kept wearing them. Ouch!

Happy Birthday Brennan! We love you.

Five Weeks and Sixteen years

Five weeks ago today I brought this little bundle of joy home from the hospital. But...

Sixteen years ago today I went into labor with this BIG bundle of joy. Of course he wasn't born sixteen years ago today. That would come 28 and a half hours after labor started. UG!

Time has flown by and so much has changed. Brennan is taller than both Will and I now. I have to look up to talk to him. I love him more than I ever knew I could love someone.

One Day Get Away

Will had to travel down to Green River yesterday for work. He offered to take Brooklynn to give me a break. I thought it was a great idea, but then decided I wanted to go too. Crazy I know. But I was dying to get out of the house. I've been pretty cooped up with a new baby. Besides, what a great chance to spend time with my sweetheart. My favorite time was when there was no cell service, and I had his complete attention!

We left around 10:00 in the morning and didn't get home until around 9:30 at night. Just in time to see the first miner rescued. (Yee-Haw) The Tamarisk is a restaurant in Green River that Will and I discovered years ago. It overlooks the river, and is just charming and a little quirky. We try to stop by every time we go down.

Brooklynn takes a break. This area is at a hotel right next to the restaurant. You can see the river in the background. It was so peaceful. We watched two doves play in the trees. What a perfect afternoon.

This is the restaurant. Make sure you stop by next time you are driving through. The chicken with the avocado, tomato and cheese is super yum.

The A's

Last week Brennan came home from practice and handed me two fabric letter A's and asked if I could help him sew them on to his hockey Jersey's. He had the cutest smile on his face and I could tell he was excited.

The A's stood for "Assistant Captain", which he had just been named. He was totally stoked. He was awarded "Most Improved" last season, and he has worked really hard, so this is a big deal for him. We are super proud of Brennan.

He posed for this picture, even though it looks like he didn't want it taken. It's just his "I'm too cool to smile" face.

Miss Piggy and a Daddy Daughter Date!

Tonight was the Daddy-Daughter date for Activity Days. It was a Halloween themed party, and everyone was supposed to come in matching costumes. Ashlyn and Will did the 50's theme. Ash was so excited she could hardly stand it. They were all given pumpkins to decorate and bring.

They had an amazing time, and Miss Piggy even tied for first place. Ashlyn was beside her self with delight!

Traditions

It was General Conference this weekend. We had a great time as a family playing conference bingo, eating yummy food, and listening to the Prophet.

We always make breakfast burritos in the morning. Everyone helped.



Later in the day we made fruit pizza. Ashlyn was a big helper.

The search is on

Brennan turns 16 in October. I can hardly believe it. He wanted to buy his own car, but we wanted him to save his money for college and a mission. We decided to buy a "family car" that he would have access to, but we had control over. He still has to pay for his insurance and gas. (we want him to be responsible)

So we are on the hunt for the perfect vehicle. We would really love a natural gas or bi-fuel truck with four wheel drive. Finding one in the right price range without 200,000 miles on it has been the trick. We are not having much luck.

We checked out this one last Saturday. Brennan was in love, but it was a HUGE truck. Longer than a suburban. We feared for mailboxes everywhere decided to keep looking. We are now checking out natural gas cars, too. Bren found a camero last night on-line that he also fell in love with. Will and I laughed. Yeah, right.


So I guess we will just keep looking. Somewhere out there has to be the perfect car, right?? It will be great not to have to drive him to hockey all the time.

How we are doing

This is pretty much how we are all feeling. Emily still has rough nights, and sleep can be hard to come by.

Our first visit

Emily had her first Dr.'s appointment this week. I was excited to see how much she had grown. I was surprised and disappointed to find out that she still hasn't gotten back to her birth weight! She weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 ounces. 3 ounces less than when she was born. The Dr. didn't seem worried, but it stressed me out. Now I'm paranoid about how much and how often she is eating.

They did her PKU today. I hate that sooo much. Sixteen years ago, when Brennan, my oldest had his heal stuck, he started to cry, then I started to cry, and then the nurse started to cry. I was a little tougher this go around, but I still hate it.

Two short weeks.

Emily turned two weeks old yesterday. The time has totally flown by. That could be because I am usually in a sleepless stupor most of the time. :)

I waited until too late in the day to take her pictures, and she was tired. (and not very happy with me.) Needless to say we did not get many pictures.

We are hanging in here around here. Last week Will had the Grandma's watch Brookie when he was gone. This is my first week on my own. Not as easy as I hoped it would be. It is very hard to divide my attention between Emily and Brooklynn when I feel like they both need me all of the the time. Once the big kids get home it is even crazier. I'm sure we will adjust at some point, but it's pretty insane right now. Will had been amazing and has bent over backwards to help. I don't know what I would do without him. He is totally the best.

My sweet little Emily.

One Week Ago

One week ago today my sweet little Emily arrived. On Labor Day I decided to have all my wonderful children "labor" and do a little last minute house cleaning. We scrubbed and cleaned, and washed and painted. It was a busy day. As we went to bed that night Will said, "tonight would NOT be a good time for you to go into labor."

So when I woke up at 1:00 in the morning with a killer contraction, I let Will sleep. The contractions kept coming, but they were totally not normal. The were all very hard, but completely random. Some were 15 minutes apart, some 20 and one was even 40 minutes apart.

In the morning I called the Dr. and told him about my night. He told me to go to the hospital and have them check me out. We weren't sure about going since I wasn't really in labor, and the hospital was a ways away. My contractions even stopped once I was up walking around. But we threw the car seat and my bag in the car and went anyway.

Once there, they checked me. I was a 4 and %80. They decided to keep me. Will and I were both a little bit in shock. I have not been anywhere close to 9 days early. They put me on the lowest dose of pit, and less than two hours later Emily was here! We were still in shock! I think her labor made up for Brennan's 28 and a half hour labor.


All the kids came up to see her. Brennan came early with Grandpa, while my sweet mom brought up the rest a little bit later. I wish I had a picture of all the kids together.

So that's about it. She is finally here, and we are all totally in love with her.

YEE HAW!

My Dr.'s apt. went well yesterday.

The Dr. said that I was dialated to a 2 and %50.

It was music to my ears. I can't wait to be done and hold my little sweetheart.

It is supposed to be 100 degrees today. UG!

I am running my errands early to try to avoid the heat.

Last night was a tough one. I think I had more contractions than ever before with this pregnancy. I might have gotten excited, but I don't come early. At least not 3weeks early. It made for a sleepless night.

But I'll hang onto my "2" and keep smiling.



P.s. does anyone know how to get ride of this dumb photobucket thingy that has popped up? It is driving me crazy, and I don't know how to get rid of it.

Dr.'s Apt.

Today I am going in for my 37th week visit to the Dr.

I am hoping to report some progress.

My body sure feels like I'm ready to have this baby.

I'll let ya know how it goes.

Cross your fingers for me.

The rain

Today I woke to grey skies. Soon the rain came in. Hard and fast. I sat on the couch and watched it pound down. It was awesome. It seemed like a gift from Heaven. The days have been hot and long, not to mention uncomfortable. It was so soothing to hear the rain pound down, and just relax. It has been hard to keep my spirits up all the time when I am so miserable, so this was a nice change.

My Dr.'s apt. went well. Our little one is head down and looking good. It just seems like forever before she will get here. The Dr. didn't check to see if I was dialated. Not that I really wanted to go through the fun of that, I just was hoping for some sign of progress. Each night I get a contraction every time I roll over. (which is a lot!) My carpal tunnel is getting worse, and even though I am wearing the ugly spints on my wrists all day and night, I am still waking up with tingling and pain. I am so ready to be done!!

I am teaching the lesson on Job this week in Sunday school. Ironic timing. It's a good reminder for me.

Stuff

As I was catching up with everyone's blogs this morning, I realized that it has been 11 days since I posted. I still can't download pictures on the computer, and the laptop is still dead. So, I guess I will update without pic's. Just use your imagination!

Right now I am killing time waiting to go to my Dr.'s appointment. Today should be our final ultra-sound. I am hoping everything looks good. They have been worried about my placenta being low lying. I would also love to hear again that we are having a girl. Somehow, I don't think that a boy would appreciate the pink and white room I've prepared for this new babe.

We went to Brennan's hockey game last night. Soon after it started he got a stick to the neck. I of course screamed involuntarily. He got up, skated off the ice, rubbing his neck, but seemed okay. I had a huge pit in my stomach for the rest of the game. I have never really been worried about his safety before last night. It stinks. He played well, and after the game showed us his awful mark on his neck. My baby! I don't think hockey games are good places for preggo mommies. I am just way too emotional!

School starts soon, and I can hardly wait. McKinley will be starting Jr. High and Brennan will be starting High School. How on earth did this happen?? Well I'm off to get ready for the Dr.'s appointment. Wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes.

What's up

Wow! It has been a long time. Sorry I've been MIA, things have been crazy, and my laptop is toast, so I'll have to wait to download some pic's. Here are some of the things I've been up to....

1. Driving down to St. George, arriving at 1:30 A.M. only to find someone else sleeping in the condo a friend was letting us use! We ended up checking into a motel (yuck) around two in the morning. It was about 91 degrees outside, and when I walked into the room I was hit with a blast of heat. It must have been at least 110 degrees, seriously! Not a good night.

2. I went to my Twenty-Year High School reunion last week being hugely pregnant, and the size of a bus. Nothing like looking your best for a reunion! (I almost didn't go, but decided I didn't care if I was effecting the gravitational pull of the earth, I would go anyhow. I'm glad I did.)

3. Went to Moab with Will for work. Long drive, but the company couldn't be beat! We almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, and it was HOT! Thank goodness for small miracles.

4. Watched Brennan play in two Varsity Hockey games. He looked great! (Pictures to come!)

5. Had the ceiling fan break, my bed break, a flood in the basement due to a busted pipe, (carpet is still ripped up) and two cars in the shop.

6. Dealing with carpal tunnel in both my wrists due to the pregnancy. I have to wear splints on both all day and night. Not a whole lot of fun. It hit 4th of July weekend, so I've been wearing them for over a month now. They are so pretty! Also, if I paint my feet green, I think I could be a foot double for the next Shrek movie. By the end of the day they are huge. Seriously ginormous. Ah the joys of pregnancy.

7. Counting days, only 40 more!

Great News!

Wow! I am so excited! Apparently my dad is going to live to be 125 years old!

This corvette his new "toy". So I figure if he is going through his mid-life crisis at 63 years old, he would be around for a good long while. Wow! What great news!