SL Bees & Happy Birthday Adrian!

It was social media night at the SL Bees game the other night so I got to take whole fam! It also just happened to be Adrian's birthday so it was a fun way to celebrate. 

We all had a fun time! The Bees lost as they usually do, but it was the experience that counts, right?!

Sticky cotton candy fingers!

 We chased Bumble around the park until we could have a photo-op with him. Fun!

Towards the end of the game Leah was getting restless so we had a little girls photo shoot...

July 4th 2013

We had a BBQ and fireworks at our house for the 4th of July. It was fun! 

We ate dinner and played games until it was dark enough for fireworks. The water ballon toss was a big hit- the kids really got into it.

I swear we feed Leah. After she was "done" she walked around to the other kids plates and just helped herself, LOL!

We moved out to the front yard to get ready for fireworks. Sparklers were fun but I think we all lived the parachute men fireworks the most! We've got to get more if those for next year!

Running to go catch the parachute man.

Got him!

Colin showed off his pole-climbing skills. This kid is a monkey!

Just as we were about to start the fireworks I remembered I got a box of glow sticks. Who knew they were going to be just as, if not MORE popular than the fireworks, LOL! The kids had so much fun with them!

Pineview Reservoir - A Sandy Beach in Utah!

A few weeks ago we found we had an open Saturday so I quickly came up with an idea to take the kids to a nearby lake. Adrian was game so we did everything we could to get ready the night before and the next morning we were off! 

I remember when I was young doing fun stuff like that seemed so easy, I oftener wondered why we didn't have outings like that more often. Now I know! I'd say we had about 4 hours of prep work go into that half-day outing. It's so exhausting but it's one of those things you just do because the kids just love it.

I'm so glad we did too. As I get farther along in this pregnancy it's just getting hard to do a lot. So it was fun to have this afternoon together at the lake. 

Leah adored digging in the sand! Her swim bottoms were a magnet for it too. We affectionately called her "Saggy-Bottomed Leah" all day.

Colin decided this was a great time to pull out a new swim suit from the box if Thomas hand-me-downs. Too bad it was about 2 sizes too big, LOL!

Sandy cookies taste better! At one point she even leaned down and licked the sand. Yummo.

Jackson Hole Getaway

Earlier this month Adrian and I had the chance to go on an overnight trip to Jackson Hole, WY as part of his company's 40th Anniversary celebration. Each employee got to choose between several overnight excursions happening throughout the year- all expenses paid! We chose earlier this year...before knowing baby #5 was on the way and as luck would have it, our trip was dubbed "Saddles & Paddles." As in, horseback riding and white water rafting. Awesome. We weren't sure if we could change trips after we'd already made our selected, so instead we just decided to go and participate in what we could.

The trip was fun, but it was also filled with early mornings, long rides on a tour bus and limited sleep. It was really nice to have a chance to be by ourselves {thanks to Christy and Keoki for watching all 4 kids for us!!}  Jackson Hole was a quaint little town which neither Adrian or I had never seen before. We did get a short time to do some sight-seeing and I think we saw about as much as we needed to in that 2 hours, lol! Really, for us the trip was about getting a little break from normal life and that's exactly what we got. No cooking meals, no picking up the house, no tag-teaming getting 4 littles ready for bed... it was a very welcomed trip.

Here are a few pictures we got from along the way. We didn't take a camera, so these are just some we got on our phones.

Yeah, they live life a bit differently there in Wyoming. LOL. This was of course, taken near where the rest of the group rode horses. They'd split into 2 groups- one went and got lunch while the others took the horseback ride. So we opted to just hang out and have lunch twice, lol! No, the second time we got dessert. It was fun. 

We took a walk after lunch and before dessert- this is what we saw.

This was as close as we got to riding a horse, lol. Really though, I think I'm okay with that!

We went to Bar J Wranglers for dinner. I'd heard it was a fun show, and it was! Dinner was "camp" style- they had feeding hundreds of people down to a science. There were 4 main entrees to choose from and everyone got the same side dishes and dessert. Beans, a biscuit, applesauce and spiced cake. The food was pretty good! Although we were pretty tired by that point and the benches you had to sit on were so incredibly hard, by the end of the show I was pretty much DONE. We had a great time though and the singing was excellent! 

While the rest of the group was white water rafting Adrian and I got to go do a little sight seeing. It just so happens there was a classic car show going on, so we did a little shopping to get souvenirs for the kids, then sat down in main square and watched all the cool cards drive by. 

This was my little friend who visited while we were watching the car show. This little guy had no fear- the kids would have loved him!

Here's our tired pose while watching the car show. Several more hours of sleep would have been very much appreciated. Oh well. 

Our view of the town from our little bench. 

Funny Videos of Leah

I'm not sure if the sound will work- I seem to be having sound issues on my phone. At any rate, the top one is Leah when she was walking around in Hailey's play dress up heels. Yes folks, we have another shoe lover here in the house! The second is from just yesterday at Colin's preschool field trip to the pond. These ducks thought Leah had some snacks to share or something! So funny.

It's a BOY!!

I have to say, I was a bit surprised to see baby's obvious boy parts on the screen this morning, but it's true- we're having another BOY!! Everything looks great- the baby measured a week ahead, but we pretty much knew that since early on. We're still going with a due date of October 8th, but I'll most likely be early...since all the others were a little early!

This little guy was very mellow during the ultrasound- as he is just about all the time! Maybe he'll be mellow after he's born {pretty please?!?}

We got all the necessary measurements and everything with this baby just looks perfect. Big sigh of relief! Over the past several weeks I just keep thinking about the fact that I didn't know I was pregnant until 2 months, I wasn't taking prenatal vitamins and I was on a slew of various medication for shingles. It's so nice to hear that baby developed perfectly despite all that!

See- baby is a BOY! The ultrasound tech actually said it right off the bat, once the scan began, but neither Adrian or I really saw boy parts, so I was skeptical until later on in the ultrasound when he wiggled a bit and we got a better view. Ummm, yeah, all boy!! This shot is looking up at his underside- bum is on the right, 2 legs sticking out to the left, boy parts in the middle!

Here's a cute shot of his little foot! We got a few other pictures but they aren't the greatest. Even still, it was really neat to see him, to find out it's a him and make sure he's healthy!

We took a video clip of us telling the kids. Last week they decided that they wanted a brother, so I just love their reaction! I had gone and purchased 4 baby clothing items for each gender earlier this week. When we came home, I wrapped the boy items up and let each kid open one. You can see their reaction! No tears this time around, everyone is just so excited.

Now to think of a name... and purchase clothing for this little guy since we have nothing. I'm excited but feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment! You should feel more prepared for baby #5, shouldn't you?!

Boy or Girl?

The BELLY from my point of view. 18 weeks, 5 days

We find out on Friday whether this baby is a boy or a girl! I'm excited. Kind of. I actually feel bad- I find myself purposely thinking about it in an attempt to get myself more excited. I guess being as this will be the 5th time we've had this particular experience added to the fact that we already have 2 boys and 2 girls, well, it's more like an episode of Ground Hog Day than anything else! I know, I'm terrible, but it's the truth. Between all 5 pregnancies I've had countless ultrasounds and I've gotten to the point where I'm insanely good at reading them. So that will be fun~ seeing the little one moving around and pointing out fingers, toes, etc.

I think the fact that I'm nearing the half-way mark makes my heart beat faster than finding out the gender. Honestly- being half way done means we're getting closer to having 5 kids and I'm so not ready for that yet!

In an attempt to not make this kid need anymore therapy than any of the other kids, I wanted to write down just a few notes about this pregnancy. I did so well journaling with Thomas. Then Hailey's pregnancy journal was about half the size. So on and so forth. Poor 5th baby. At any rate... a few notes:

It's been a somewhat typical pregnancy for me. They've all been a little different and this one follows suit. My nausea has decreased significantly but it hasn't gone away, which isn't fun. I need to eat often and finding food that sounds good to eat is hard. I can sum up my pregnancy cravings in one word: CITRUS. Orange juice, oranges, Clementines, lemons, lemonade, grapefruit- I've eaten them all in decent quantities and it hasn't let up. I think I'm going on 5 or 6 weeks here where I've eaten a grapefruit at least once a day. I don't care to eat meat or sweets, unless they're citrus related, then I'll eat a small amount. I am really tired this time around. I go to bed as early as life deems possible and have a hard time waking up. I take naps and they're heavenly. I have a lot of the aches and pains I had with the others only it's happened so much faster this time around. Honestly, everything seems like it's happening faster this time around. Makes me wonder if baby is measuring a bit bigger. I have no memory this time around. I honestly forget things all the time and it drives me crazy.

On a more positive note, I started feeling this baby move at 13 weeks and it's steadily increased to the point where I feel him or her move often each day. Despite the fact that I look like I swallowed a volley ball, the baby feels really low in my abdomen. Baby likes to move when I'm hungry. After I eat, about an hour goes by where I feel nothing. I envision baby lazily reclining in there, enjoying yet another grapefruit. Ha! Everyone has felt baby's kicks at this point~ I wouldn't say they are super strong or crazy or anything, they are just pretty consistent and often feel really far apart on my belly. Tall baby perhaps? I've felt some more rhythmic movements but can't quite tell if they're hiccups just yet. My allergies have been intense the last few days and I woke up this morning at about 4am sneezing... which made me had to get up and run to the bathroom. Both of which woke the baby up and I spent the next hour attempting to silently make the baby stop moving so I could go back to sleep. {It didn't work.}  

So that's this pregnancy in a nutshell. :)

What's your guess: BOY or GIRL?? Both Adrian and I have the same hunch but the kids have all decided they want a brother... we'll know on Friday!

Julie & Travis Came to Visit!!

My sister Julie called a couple Sundays ago and turned an ordinary day into a much more memorable one when she asked, "Can we come visit?!" I didn't even hesitate to respond- YES! They arrived a couple days later and stayed until Friday. They didn't have an agenda when they came, it was actually quite the opposite. They came to rest and relax. To a household with 4 young children. Ha! They are CRAZY! Really though, I'm still not feeling 100% {does anyone EVER feel 100% when pregnant?!} so it was perfect. They've had a rough 2 years and it's nice to occasionally get away from it all. So we did our best to help them take a breather and just enjoy life from a different angle.

They brought their doggie Hank and it was so fun just having them around the house for those few days. They picked up the kids from school, read books to them, played in the back yard and just had fun! We talked and relaxed and enjoyed one another's company.

Here are a few pictures of us walking at a local pond. It was a fun week and while I'm not sure they got the rest they were hoping for, I think the change of pace was something we all appreciated.

Travis, Julie's long-time boyfriend {whom my kids already call "Uncle Travis." Hint, hint. } has been fighting bone cancer and we follow his progress here. I honestly don't know how the two of them deal with everything. I hope the fact that we pray for the both of them constantly amounts to something. I post this not for sympathy, but instead because you never know who is reading and if anyone has any info that might help Travis, I encourage you to contact them!