the end of 2013

 So. Glad. This. Year. Is. Over. Matt and Jana and family came with lots of Christmas treats to visit and see the baby.  Lily and Carly got right to work with makeup....took quite a bit of time to scrub that eyeliner off of her neck.

 Christmas Village!  It was so cold that night, but still Lily insisted on wearing her little jacket instead of her snow coat; not wearing gloves, and bringing the zebra bag full of candles to carry around.  ???  It would have been funny if she hadn't been crying from being freezing.  Adam had to bring the kids back the next day to wait in line for Santa.  Jackson was so excited!

 Christmas morning!  Lily was upset she didn't get a super high pitched annoyingly loud whistle like Jack did in his cracker.  They were pretty happy anyways with what Santa brought them.  Adam was quite a champ this year - after putting in an Amazon order back at the beginning of November, I left Christmas up to him.  He did a great job!

 The day after Christmas we headed to St. George for the week.  There's nothing quite like playing with cousins and swimming at Mimi's all day to wipe out a 2 year old.

 My (sleepy) boys. It was so nice to have the kids home for Christmas break.  Lily was a HUGE helper - I missed her so much when she went back to school.

And here is another shot of Ada at the hospital.  Adam said she gets her furrowed brow from me.

our fourth

Ada Scout is 12 days old today.  She was born on my Grandma Amelia's birthday, Wednesday December 5th, at 3:34 a.m.  I am still getting used to saying "she" - it's been so long since I had a baby girl.  She was 8 lbs 11 oz, my smallest baby, but honestly I got an epidural and you don't feel anything so it doesn't matter much how big she was, except that she was a nice healthy weight.  Adam asked me the morning after she was born if I liked the name Scout.  I said "It's a good book.  But I don't like just Scout Bird."  He mentioned Ada a bit later, and together they seemed to fit her perfectly.  Now Adam is always keeping tabs on who calls her what - he wants Scout.  Lily wants Ada.  I just hope she's not confused.

The hospital was a super annoying experience - we came home Thursday morning.  Janet came to help with the kids, and returned home on Saturday after Ashley had baby Roam that morning (1 lb 11 oz - about 24 wks).  My mom was here for the entire following week.  It has been a good transition with the help I have received.  Recovery has included the baby blues (totally new experience that I blame the epidural on....I always experienced a super happy high after all my other babies); engorgement + she has a tooth.....yes....totally not cool; severe back pain that has since gone away (phew!  that was scary); no tearing so everything else is pretty standard.

Lily is beyond excited to have her here, and is constantly wanting to hold her and take care of her.  She is also super aware of anything going on, and I need to remind her a lot that it is just normal things.  She internalizes a lot of what we say and is a big worrier!  She told her carpool that something was wrong with the baby's belly (her belly button fell off).  She prayed last night that "all of the baby's problems would go away."  Apparently we can't discuss the little things like 'how long since her last poop', or 'when should we cut her fingernails.'  She just loves her though, and is so cute with her.

Jackson has really surprised me with how far he goes out of his way to be a sweet, super big helper.  He always comes up to her to give super soft kisses, and asks me "do you like our new baby?"  He was so excited to have me bring her to his preschool to show his teachers his new sister.  He is always willing to grab me a diaper or wipes or a binky or whatever I need.  So sweet.  Side note:  In his prayer he asked that we would be able to go to the Christmas Village and visit Santa.

Isaac seems to be doing quite well.  The biggest issue is patience - he doesn't like to wait!  Which is hard with nursing.  He hasn't directed any anger towards the baby, which is nice.  He also is much more demanding of cuddle time with me and Adam - which certainly isn't a problem.  :)

As for me and Adam, we are super happy and so blessed to have this little crew of 4.   I feel like it's such a big family.  I am just in awe of this gorgeous little newborn - it's so amazing to look in her little dark blue eyes!  So neat to be able to have a newborn in our home again.

shocking

 Pretty exciting time for Lily!  In November she started feeling a few teeth getting pretty loose - she was so excited!  One finally fell out one morning, and she was very happy.  It was the tiniest thing ever - it got dropped at one point in the carpet, and we thought we would never find it.  The Tooth Fairy left a dollar for her, which she promptly bought some candy with the next day.  I remember when she got that tooth!  So crazy.
Even bigger news is she turned the big 7 years old.  We had set her birthday party before Thanksgiving because of my due date.  We went to the Ogden ATC and had them do hair updo's and manicures for the girls, then came back to the house for pizza, cake and ice cream.  Lily seemed so happy, which was awesome because I normally get something horribly wrong and she ends up unhappy with something.

We then celebrated her birthday the Friday after Thanksgiving since Mom and Dad were here.  Earlier that day we emptied out the van, left the kids, and picked up a new bed for Lily to move into the office - her own room!  She was so excited!  Mom and Dad took everyone to Cafe Rio, Lily's choice, and we had more cake and ice cream at home afterwards.
It was pretty lucky we did that, because the day before Lily's birthday she got the flu or something and was pretty sick for almost 3 days.  The night of the actual day we went and got her a new coat, and Jackson gave her a new water bottle.  We also watched her baby video Amanda made for her - just a few shots from the hospital put to music, but so fun to watch.  It's hard to think it has been 7 years and we're having our fourth baby.  These events always make the time in between seem so short.
Not much I can say about this little firecracker.  She sure keeps us on our toes, at the same time as showing us how sweet she is and lucky we all are to have her around.  We love her so much!

As a side note, Jackson caught the same bug Lily did.  One morning he was hitting his head with his fist, and I asked him what he was doing.  He said he had a dream where Jesus told him to bang the headache out of his head.  Later he told me it worked.

anxious

We are quite anxious to have this baby.  I made a bad decision and let my midwife check me at 36 weeks (dilated to 3, 70% thinned), and 38 weeks (4/90%).  So instead of just expecting something to happen within a few days after my due date, like I did with all my other babies, I thought I would go early.  So annoying the more time that passed.  So now I'm a day before my due date and assuming I will never have the baby, so am finally getting random stuff done, i.e. updating the blog.

At the beginning of the school year, Lily started bringing home "I Love You" notes/art work every day.  I remember when I did that when I was young.  So cute!  It began accumulating quite quickly though - I couldn't bear to thin down the pile, wondering when I would stop getting them.  So I figured I could eternalize them in the blog books!

She is such a cutie, and loves giving presents.  Her love language is definitely gift giving - I need to remind myself that A LOT because it is not natural for me or Adam.

She was pretty excited about the one for Dad, where he has a mustache.  Also the trees and blue sky is a picture she drew of Jackson Hole for Jack.

 And Halloween begins!  It is so fun to experience the holidays with kids - so much excitement!  Lily and Jackson set up this photo shoot and took quite a few pictures posing with different decorations.

Another fun thing this year was leaves!  Jackson got the idea from somewhere that Santa would not come without snow, and snow wouldn't come if there were leaves (the last part was from me - he didn't want to bag the leaves so I told him we needed to because if the leaves were on the ground when the snow came, it wouldn't be good for our grass and would get icky).  So it would be logical to get out the leaf blower and blow the leaves off of the trees to hasten the process, right?

The kids were such good little leaf rakers this year, but it wasn't until I went out there with bags that I was super impressed - all I had to do was hold the bag open and they shoveled in the leaves!  It was amazingly fast and effective!  They had filled a few bags themselves without pressing the leaves down, so I showed them how to 'squish' the bag so there would be more room.  They called it magic.

Jackson had a field trip at the Fire Station - he was so excited!  If you look closely at the picture you'll see him holding the firemen's hand - he was just staring at him in awe.  He loves to see the process of things like that.

The boys came along with me to Lily's field trip to Black Island Farms - at the pumpkin patch!  Isaac was much more interested in throwing his pumpkin than anything else.  A week or so earlier we had gone out as a family to go to Pumpkinaze - with the corn pit, corn maze, and big slides.  After driving around forever we realized it doesn't exist anymore.

The kids were so sad!  So I was glad we got to go to this place.  No corn maze or pit but they did have slides!

 Jackson went down this big one over and over and over - I didn't realize how impressive that was until I went to the back and saw that he basically had to climb a rope to get to the top.  He would come down these crazy ways - side ways on his belly - yelling wahoo!

Lily on the other hand was my super duper helper - luckily for Isaac!  I was pretty worthless with my big belly in getting him up the hay stack, so she patiently helped him and would help him go down the slide.  It was so nice of her!  She is such a sweet big sister, these boys are so lucky.

And finally time for Halloween!  Liz sent costumes for all of the kids. Jackson requested Batman for him and Isaac.  Lily requested a girl pirate but ended up wanting to wear my adult witch costume (lots of feathers).  I said she could wear it around the house but not out (obviously - way too big).  So a few hours before her school party she tells us she wants to be Batwoman.  Not enough time, sorry.  So she ended up being a rock star.  She was pretty upset we wouldn't let her wear her mini shorts and short sleeves, as she has drawn swirls all over her legs and arms.  I actually thought she was just being adult, until I heard her tell someone she was a rock star.  Funny girl!  Adam was pretty upset I didn't prepare well enough to supplement Liz's Batman accessories, so kept on calling Isaac 'half Batman'.  They were so cute though, and just in heaven with all of the candy and sugar!  They wouldn't even listen to any proposition about selling their candy this year - we said they could buy a movie, or we could go to a movie theatre and get popcorn and drinks - big fat NO.  This fun set up was at Adam's work party.  The kids got to do a pinata - Lily used one arm to weakly hit it, then Jackson got it and went to town, yelling "ya!" for every hit.  It was so hilarious.

November went by pretty fast with school, and I got into a major nesting mood and organized so much of the house (helped a TON when Adam took the kids to St. George for the weekend without me - you can get a lot done without kids around!).  Mom and Dad came for Thanksgiving, and Adam was determined to do his own turkey - he did such a good job!  It was so yummy.  Only feeding 4 adults made for a simple meal and fast cleanup - wonderful!  Amanda and Tyler visited one day, and the Saturday after we were able to go down to Provo for Sam's blessing.  It was a nice week; would have been so much nicer without the baby expectation I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but it really was nice.  Always so much to be thankful for.

two years

 Isaac turned 2 years old on Saturday!  I don't have the words to say how much this little boy means to our family.  He is such a little firecracker - super happy one moment and screaming his head off the next.  Typical 2 year old!

 Lily and Jackson are so sweet with him, and it's so neat to have such a little cutie around to remind us how fun it is to be super silly.

 Jackson got some of these magnets from Grandma for his birthday, and the kids are always fighting over them, so Isaac got more to supplement the collection!   Saturday was a crazy day so he opened his present (wrapped by Lily) late that night, and didn't play with it until morning came.  He then got a waffle with 2 candles in it....yep, third kid.

 Adam is still his favorite; he's always asking where Daddy is, and follows him around whenever Adam's home.  As for me, I've been super nostalgic whenever I think of him being two - I remember when Lily was this small and it's crazy how fast time has gone.  Not cool!

 One of Isaac's favorite things is to throw balls.  He's quite good at playing 'catch', and loves to kick as well.  He is a good little communicator and saying new words every day.  He loves to play chase, and will keep up with Lily and Jackson pretty well (especially when they are being kind and waiting up for him....not all the time).  He loves to tickle, wrestle, build with blocks and play with water.  He has some pretty crazy tendencies of crashing toys together and making sound effects; also will use pretty much anything as a gun to pretend he's shooting you (one night it was a hair clip of Lily's - he probably elicits the most 'what the?' looks from me and Adam out of all of the kids).  He loves to bring me and Adam books to have us read to him on our laps.  He is a super good helper, and will always say thank you when you respond to a request: he says "q-e" and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

What an absolute joy to have him keep me company while the kids are at school - although I won't lie I really like it when he naps too.  I love this boy!

a recurring theme

During our annual trip to Logan to see the leaves changing, I remarked to Adam how many pictures we have of the boys throwing rocks into bodies of water.

So I thought I would dedicate this post to our recent travels and the fact that our boys love rocks and water, or according to Isaac:  specifically throwing rocks ("ra!") into water ("wa-ee!").

We went to the ward campout up near Eden.  Isaac was soaking by the time we left (I wasn't about to sleep without a mattress with my belly like this).

We had a neighbor friend visit and play in the mud hole we have where the birdbath was.  Isaac was pretty upset I wouldn't let him take his diaper off along with his clothes.  Bath time!

Possibly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves EVER, forcing me to remind myself to choose my battles!  it's not a big deal!  there are so many worse things to get upset about!  But still I find myself calling to the kids if I realize it is too quiet to "get away from the sink!"

And here we are in Logan.  We went a bit early to see much color, although had the chance to see foliage on a later trip to Pocatello to see Grandpa Ronald and his wife Zelpha for her 90th birthday.

Isaac will go for big rocks, who knows why.  Jackson dragged the branch out of the water, who knows why.

Lily got into things, which normally doesn't happen.  She wasn't too happy with Jackson who would rather be by the water than exploring the spooky forest and secret hideouts with her.

Maybe this is what Jackson was hoping for?  In any event the boys were pretty excited to see the splash.

Labor Day weekend Adam said "let's go to Jackson Hole!"  And if it had been two weeks and $1,000+ in car expenses later, I would have said no.  As it was, I said yes.  We went through Priceline and expected a basement room next to the janitor since this was an incredibly nice resort.  Lily sensed as much, and wanted Adam to take her picture while she 'posed' for him.

Because it was a super short trip since we left after Relief Society, we didn't see a ton.  But I was very determined to use our National Parks pass we bought at Zions in July.  (Didn't see the government shutdown coming....)  But the Visitor's Center was awesome and the kids were enthralled for quite a while.

The next day it was raining pretty hard, so even though we had wanted to do a few small hikes with the kids, that was a no go.  Lily whined for the entire 45 minutes from our hotel to the Grand Tetons.  Jackson of course wanted to get going with Dad right away, rain and all.  We ended up at Jenny Lake, which was a short walk from the car.  The kids loved the bear tracks.

"Why the heck are you taking pictures and not carrying this slow boy??"

The water was pretty warm, and the kids were in heaven!  Even Lily, who was pretty cold in just her sweater (the cold season fight begins....), but is obsessed with rocks so ultimately thought it was great to have such a beautiful selection of pebbles.

 Sidenote:  Lily painted a few of her rocks with nail polish, and sold one at school for $1.  Crazy.

The only downside to how much fun this activity is, is the fact that you have to leave sometime.  No fun carrying a slightly muddy and wet boy who is kicking and screaming because they aren't ready to leave.

Here are some random shots.  By our cute balcony.

Jack thought it was awesome we were at a place with his same name.

Breakfast!  The aspen trees were the perfect touch.  Such pretty sounds.

The view was incredible - not awesome with a toddler obsessed with climbing, but still incredible!

The semi-hot tub was perfect since it started raining.  The kids were so happy with a pool their size and they were all taking turns jumping in.  Isaac is a crazy water baby.

Our room.  Adam started a log fire for the kids to watch as they fell asleep.  We felt really bad for the childless couple next to us (and any people in the building, really), since our kids were, well, kids.  They were good listeners and not crazy rowdy - but still loud.

And along with fall comes Adam's softball games.  The kids had so much fun running around, back and forth to say hi to Dad, then come ask me who was winning.  And the sky and mountains are so amazing this time of year.

One more from Logan:  with Aggie Ice Cream at USU!