Swim Lessons

This past week the three older kids got to take swim lessons from none other than MaKade, who is affectionately called "Keys" (a name created by Lydia) around here.

Ben got to have lessons with his cousins, Austin and Tyler. Trev got to have lessons by himself, and Karmin got to go with Savannah. Gina helped out a ton since I was flying solo for the first time after having Piper. The kids were cold (the weather was still a bit cool), but they all had fun.

Wishes

We wish we were all doing more of this.

9 days

We all love little miss Piper. When the kids aren't holding her, Grant is. Ben loves kids and babies, so he loves his new sister. Trevor quietly likes to hold her.

Karmin is a little momma to Piper. She loves to hold her. She makes sure that nobody touches Piper's face and that everybody's hands are washed before they hold her. She is so protective. Every time Piper cries, or moves, or makes any sound at all, Karmin asks what she is saying or what she is doing. She is very concerned about Piper. She also has a hard time remembering Piper's name. She is constantly asking what the new baby's name is again.

Lydia just adores "Popper." If nobody comes and gets Lydia out of her crib right when she is ready, she will start calling for "Popper" to come help her. She loves giving her kisses and likes to hold her; although she isn't always satisfied with having to have help with this. Bottom line: None of us can get enough time with Piper.

One Shot

Whenever we get the camera out to take pictures, we have approximately one try to get Lydia doing what we set out to take a picture of.

Then after that she leans over like this:

I think she is trying to copy what we are doing, since we are crouching down to be at her level. None the less, this happens almost every time we get out the camera, so I figured it was time to document it.

No Animal Rights Here

See this:Notice the absence of all the tomato plants and all of those beans that are supposed to be right behind them? It makes me want to cry, but I blame that on hormones.

When I was younger I did not like to watch "animal movies." Any movie that had an animal in it would be under this category. My emotions for animals--poor helpless animals, that always seemed to get lost or die--ran very deep. I would cry at the drop of a hat when an animal was

involved in a movie...even if the movie wasn't about the animal. But now, I am the exact opposite person. I think my "love" for animals stopped the day that I heard woodpeckers at my Grandma's house knocking on the roof. They were invading, and I didn't like it. I would go out and spray water at them--knowing full-well that I wasn't making a difference. I had no sympathy for those little buggers. Then we got a couple of mice in our house when we put our air conditioner unit in and they were doing construction behind our house. I felt violated. I detest mice.

Since those mice (and they weren't the last since moving here) I have added a few other pesky creatures that I would have no problem seeing gone: raccoons, coyotes, ticks, black flies, snakes, magpies, chipmunks and gigantic house spiders. Some of these I've gotten use to and they don't keep me up all hours of the night wondering where they are in my house. My animal-loving days are officially over.

On Thursday night our garden was well and thriving. Yesterday Grant and Ben went outside to weed it, and I went outside and checked on it with them. 2 of our tomato plants were completely gone. Missing. Nada. Not there.

Then today I noticed that ALL of our beans were gone. They were doing so well and now they are gone. So we decided we have a gopher or something--a mole. I don't know, I just know that revenge is on my mind. I sent the mighty hunters to smoke bomb the suckers out of their holes.

On a happier note, we do have these in our garden:

And these:

Aren't they pretty? And if the birds get them before I do, I will take up skeet shooting.

Warm FHE

We took advantage of having Grant home from work this week for FHE. We started a lot earlier than normal so we were able to actually have a good amount of time. Trev chose to get out the slip and slide for the activity. After taking pictures in the hospital with the great lighting there, it was nice to have some natural light to take pictures. So there is not much more to the story than what you see, other than we just enjoyed taking a lot of pictures because we could.

Family

Here are some pictures of when the kids got to come to the hospital yesterday and meet Piper. They were all SO excited to hold her. Lydia wanted no help in holding her new sister, so her turn went very quickly. Karmin has had a hard time with us leaving and not being around; which is very surprising. She is always so confident in what she is doing and seems to be secure, but has made me feel loved that she missed us so much. Piper got a clean bill of health and we got to come home today. It is nice to be home as a family!

Day 1

We have to stay an extra night in the hospital, so I'm spending my time finally updating our blog. Little Miss Piper had the same problem many of her siblings had---they come out too fast and so their breathing is a concern for a bit. Apparently all those cute sounds she is making is not a good thing. It means that she is trying to keep her lungs open and working properly and is having to work harder to do so. She was awake for several hours last night after she was born, but has been sleeping all day long. She had her first bath and didn't like that. She saw her brothers and sisters today and actually stayed awake for them. We decided while they were here that for now she has blue eyes. She had her hearing test, and again like everyone else, didn't pass (again it is due to her coming out so quickly)--she will be fine, it just means that I'll probably have to make an extra doctor's appointment for her. I think that is about it. It is pretty quiet/boring here in the hospital, so I (think) I am ready to go home and be with those other kiddos that make lots of sound (I might change my mind after a few hours of that though!).

Our Newest Princess

I am learning that our kids don't like us to be surprised when they are ready to make their enternace into the world. Our newest addition came much like Lydia did...I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, they told me to go home and walk around for a little bit and come back that afternoon. I did as I was told and then when I went back, they said I was dilated to a 5--with no contractions, so they sent me over to the hospital. We got our kids all arranged and Grant came home from work and then we headed over to the hospital. My labor started at 8:30, I started pushing at 10:00, and Elizabeth Piper (we will call her, Piper) was born at 10:14 PM. She was 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. She has brown hair, but looks an awful lot like Trev and Lydia. She is absoulutly amazing and the cutest thing ever (except for the other 4 cutest kids at home). She is a talker and is making lots of noises...even when she sleeps. Her apgars were great, and by all indications seems to be very healthy.

Before My Very Eyes

My little man is growing up. When I quit my job at the Health Center while I was pregnant with Ben, my coworkers bought me a basket full of baby things. Their favorite place to shop was the dollar store, and would often bring their treasures that they would find into work to show them off. I'm sure that this blanket originated from the dollar store because of that. Ben never really got attached to any blankets or things like that (he had his thumb--he didn't need anything else), but Trevor, our snuggle bug, loved anything soft. When he discovered this blanket it was always with him. At one point he found a hand-me-down bathrobe that had snowmen on it, that he quickly became attached to as well. Once he went to Build-a-Bear with his cousin for his cousin's Birthday and he got to make a bear that had light blue spots on it. By the time he was 4, he had acquired his "star blankie," his "snow man blankie," and "Bluie." I know, all very original names. But I think his star blankie was the one closest to his heart. We lost Star Blankie for several months when we moved. He and I were both in tears over it, but one day it was found packed with all the stuffed animals, and he was so happy.

But time goes on. His Star Blankie was washed 2 weeks ago and folded on the drier. And there it has sat with a few other things that need to be put away too. It occurred to me the other day that he hasn't asked for it. And now I know, he is growing up and moving on.

The 4th of July

The 4th of July was a big event this year since Grant's parents were home. We all went over to Gina and DeWayne's, like we do most every year. The kids had a lot of fun. Lydia had fun hanging out with anybody who would entertain her...especially Aunt Kim and "Keys" (AKA MaKade). Karmin enjoyed playing with her best friends, Savannah and Haley, but then going over and holding her own with all the boys. They played fly up, capture the flag, and spent some time on the bike trails. We had a wonderful dinner and dessert, and then enjoyed the fireworks when it finally got dark. We all enjoyed each others company and are thankful for this country that we live in.

2 Wonderful Years

My sweet girl, Lydia turned 2 yesterday. 2! I can and cannot believe that 2 years has gone by. Since she is 2, we didn't do the traditional favorite breakfast. I know, she's deprived. But I reason that she is not old enough to tell me what her favorite breakfast is (although I'm sure I could guess). We sang to her many times throughout the day, and she thought that it was great and we were funny.

Lydia got to eat licorice for lunch (isn't that lovely parenting?), she didn't take a nap, and she got to stay up really late (and for the most part she held it together very well). Everybody came up for a pizza dinner to see Grant's parents who came home from their mission. It was fun to be able to share her Birthday with everybody. We had cupcakes for the kids. She got the perfect gifts for her--clothes from Aunt Kim, dresses from Grandma, and jewelry from us. (The jewelry from us is also a present for her nursery leaders--I'm hoping that if she has her own necklaces and bracelets, she won't take the jewelry from her nursery leaders.)

Lydia is our diva. She loves to dance, sing, and dress up. She is terrified of bugs (but for good reason this year) and doesn't like to get dirty. She likes to get her hair done and loves to go "jumping" on the trampoline. Lydia is a very friendly person all of the sudden and loves her aunts. She is generally very happy, but can be very stubborn as well. She started potty training herself a couple of weeks ago, and is doing pretty well with it. When she wakes up and goes to bed, she spends a lot of time playing in her bed and loves to just hang out in there. Her favorite time of the day is when daddy comes home. She loves to eat (and will eat pretty much anything--and will spend a good portion of the day doing so), and when she doesn't know what else to say she will point to her nose and sing "Nose." She is our little helper and I am hoping that this will be a good thing when the baby is born. She talks well and talks a lot. She can be very dramatic often saying, "Oh, No!" and covering her mouth with her hands. Some of her favorite sayings are: oh no, that's cute, oh nuts, oh pretty. And one of the funniest things that she says that cracks me up every time she says it, is she calls Ben "The Boy." I'm so glad this girl is in our family. She makes us laugh and totally keeps us on our toes.

Welcome Home

Grant's parents came home from their mission on today. I still can't believe they are home! 3 years have gone by--A LOT has happened to our family since they left, but now that they are back, it almost feels like they were never gone. We are enjoying them being home a ton. It is nice to have noise back in the house--as if our family doesn't provide enough.

Everyone came up and we had pizza and dessert when they got into town. It was nice to have everybody back together again. Kim had promised Karmin that she would paint her nails that night. She was so excited. All the girls got into it. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins.

I'm so thankful for all the help that people have provided us in the last few weeks. Everybody pitched in a ton to make everything perfect for when they got home.