Good Ol' Life!

Today's post is kind of a random assortment of pictures. Most of the photos are from late May and early June. Nothing too out of the ordinary - just normal, good ol' life!

Tommy has learned quickly as the youngest of three brothers how to use swords!

Sam, his parents and I went to the broadcast of the rededication of the Idaho Falls temple. It was beautiful! We also went with them and our kids to the temple open house before it was rededicated, and that was such a wonderful experience! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that, though!

Bath time for 3 boys! I am always amazed at how dirty the water is when I drain it, and the insane amount of water splashed out of the bath hasn't stopped surprising me either... I guess that means we must have fun and successful baths around here!

I almost didn't post this picture because I was self-conscious of my smooshed pregnant body, but I decided to post it anyway because it was such a sweet moment.  Tommy generally only likes to snuggle in short doses, so I was glad to capture this picture. I sure love that sweet boy!

It's hard to see Jonah behind Nathan in this picture, but all 4 of the kids ran outside while I was making breakfast one morning and played "wedding" for several hours. (Ignore the water spots on the window...) Much of that time was spent picking purple flowers from the alfalfa in the field to make into a bouquet. Later that night, Ellie executed a perfectly-planned carriage arrival and wedding reception complete with snacks for the whole family.

Lunch at the park with my kiddos the day before I broke my arm.

This was our best attempt at getting all four kids in the picture!

I wish I would have gotten a picture when the irises in our yard were in their prime in late May because they were stunning. But this picture will have to do for now! 

The peonies are absolutely beautiful too! I love watching the plants in the yard grow.

A friend of Sam's helped him build a swing set for the kids. In this picture it looks like Sam is just watching the other guy do the work, but I promise that wasn't the case! Haha!

Jonah loves the small swing Sam made for him. It's just his height so he can get on and off all by himself. He often runs outside by himself to swing. I love watching him and wish I could hear all of the thoughts that go through his little mind as he spins!

This year we decided not to go to the fireworks in Idaho Falls like we normally do on the Fourth of July. Instead we opted to put Tommy to bed and let the kids build a cozy fort in their new playhouse to wait for the fireworks around town to start. Several of our neighbors ended up doing awesome, aerial fireworks, including a neighbor right across the way from us. It ended up being so much better than making the trek down to Idaho Falls since we had a front row seat and didn't have to deal with the traffic. I think this may become a new tradition!

Summer in Idaho is my absolute favorite, and I am so grateful for this beautiful season of life too!

October's Re-Cap

     Wow, it has been awhile! I have tried to blog quite a few times from my phone, (since that's where my pictures are it is just easier) but I can't even tell you how many times the Blogger app has crashed when I was nearly finished with a post, deleting the whole thing. So frustrating! After that happening about 10 times that kind of took the wind out of my sails... But now I have come to terms with the fact that I need to blog from my computer - and I'm ready to stop putting it off!

     I thought the quickest way to get up to date would be to go by month, so here we go, starting with October!

Nathan used to be the last one of his siblings to fall asleep, and sometimes he would come hang out in the doorway of our bedroom until he fell asleep. He did this almost every night for about a month, then he stopped.

The first name Ellie learned how to write besides her own was "Eve." We had to take a picture to send to my mom so she could show Eve. Ellie was pretty proud of herself! She still loves to write down the names of everyone she knows, especially our family.

Sam finally got to finish the chicken coop after it got destroyed when it blew over earlier in the summer. Nathan LOVED to be outside with him while he worked.

We also watched General Conference, and each of the kids had to show me their pictures of President Monson.

Tommy didn't quite make it to the end!

My brother Ben came home from his mission in October, and I went to Arizona by myself to see his homecoming talk. It was really strange but relaxing to be there without my kids!

Annie was really cute and wanted me to play house with her. It was funny that she fit so well in the doll cradle!

All of the siblings together again after 2 years! (Even though I'm blocking part of Ben's face... Whoops.) Also, I'm officially short!

Once I got home we played lots of play dough. And when we do play dough my kids have to get out pretty much every single utensil in the kitchen...

But hey, at least they were having fun!

Mmm... Play dough cookies!

What a beautiful sunset! (It's so strange to see this picture now, because the neighbor's house on the left has since burned down and they are in the process of demolition and eventually rebuilding.)

We have been wanting to get a piano for awhile, and we decided to do it this year! (I am now taking a beginning piano class at BYU-Idaho and really enjoying it!) Every year a store from Idaho Falls comes to Rexburg and sells discounted, used pianos, so that is where we got this one. Also note that I have not added any picture evidence of my fourth child to the wall... I should probably get on that!

These last two pictures are the only two pictures I have from Halloween... That's a bummer! The top one is us running to the grocery store 30 minutes before preschool to buy treats for Nathan's class since I had forgotten to get them before. Yep, I am awesome like that.

And this one is Nathan playing air hockey with Sam at BYU-Idaho after trick-or-treating at Sam's office building and a kids Halloween party that they threw on campus. For the sake of remembering, Ellie was Elsa, Nathan was a ninja turtle, Jonah was a dragon, and Thomas was Batman. Afterwards Sam took the kids trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. They had a great time and got TONS of candy. I always feel sorry for the kids teachers the day after Halloween because of the sugar!

It us fun to look back at pictures from October and remember some of the fun things we did and to see how the kids have grown physically and with all they have learned! I can't wait to get to November's pictures.

Life as of Late

Here is a completely random post of pictures that will give you a good idea of what life has been like lately!

We have been spending lots of time at the park, soaking up these end of summer/beginning of fall days. The weather has been beautiful.

Nathan loves to make Thomas laugh. He works hard to find what will spark a giggle from his little brother, then does it over and over and over again. With Ellie gone in the afternoons at school, Nathan has really taken over the "oldest" role.

On Mondays and Wednesdays we have 35 minutes between dropping Ellie off at school and picking up Nathan at preschool, and Jonah and Thomas take advantage of being the only two home by playing so sweetly together. I almost forget what it's like when my older kids bicker... Almost.

Of course we take lots of trips to the grocery store. I love this picture because it is a pretty accurate representation of what it's like to shop with all four kids.

Thomas likes to "help" the kids get their laundry ready to take to the laundry room.

As a family we went to the BYU-I orchard and picked a few apples.... I made tons of apple sauce and dehydrated even more. It took me a few days to get through this laundry basket, and Thomas loved to play with the apples and say, "ball."

I absolutely loved this picture I saw on instagram from ldsliving. The representation of our Heavenly Parents and all of their children is so beautiful.

And I laughed SO HARD at this picture. I'm not sure why... Maybe because it's pretty comparable to bed time at our house? That couldn't possibly be why....

Ellie loves to wear my shirts to bed recently. The other night I sent her in to pick out a shirt to wear, and she came out wearing this shirt and some heels. I thought it was funny how she had to puff her chest out like that to keep the V-neck from going nearly down to her belly button. She loves to wear my high heels all over the place lately.

Snot + Grass = Yuck! (but kinda cute)

Someone got a little bit sleepy! He was practicing his letters while I worked on homework... I guess the letter A is boring!

We have a neighbor that often brings over hand-me-downs, and Nathan was beyond ecstatic to get these ninja turtle pjs. He wears them pretty much every night. I have to sneak them out of his room to wash them.

I don't love this picture of myself, but hey, this is real life! Me in my granny night gown and Christmas socks in September, reading a book to my little guy who is only in a diaper. That book is "The Wheels on the Bus," and Thomas loves it. He dances along when I sing it to him by shaking his head back and forth and jumping up and down.

Before Jonah's haircut on Sunday we put it in a ponytail. It's the cutest little "man bun" that I have ever seen! Though it's much better now that it's short! (Ignore the hand towel hanging all weird on the oven...)

"Look Mom, take a picture of me crossing my fingers!"

Nathan's love language is definitely "Quality Time." He revels in the one-on-one time he gets with either Sam or me! Yesterday afternoon while the other two boys were sleeping and Ellie was at school he and I sat out on the back porch for awhile and he got his very own whole piece of gum! Pretty exciting stuff.

I don't know how to flip this picture, but this is Jonah trying to feed Sam some chicken over FaceTime on a stick he found. Delicious.

And a little video of my bathroom-cleaning helper singing "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me." I missed the first part, but it still captured the cuteness of his little voice!

I love being a mom to these four cute kiddos!

Another Bookworm

My older three all love books, and I think Thomas is catching on too! 

He can pretty much always be found pulling the books off of the book shelf, and I don't usually stop him (unless he's ripping them or something, of course!).  I want him to always feel drawn to the books. I guess it's kind of like my mom says with her piano - as long as the kids aren't being rough with it, they are welcome to play it. I don't want to kill his curiosity by telling him "no" to touching the books. I want him to always be drawn to them. Besides, that's why we have a kid book shelf anyway!

(As I post this he's behind me emptying the bookshelf!)

6 Months Old

I can't believe this cute little boy is 6 months old already!

He can sit up on his own, (though we don't ever put him on the table like this... He was just looking very dapper in his big boy clothes on Sunday so I shot a quick picture as we ran out the door) and he pushes up to his hands and knees and rocks back and forth... Sometimes onto his face. Poor little guy! He gurgles, smiles and laughs, and is just all around in a very cute stage. 

He started eating a little bit of solid food, and he likes baby oatmeal, tolerates apple sauce, and loves bananas and avocados. It will be fun to see what other foods he likes as he gets older. 

He loves it when people get down on his level and talk to him - especially his dad and siblings. He has a gigantic smile that he reserves for them.

He still loves to bounce in his jumperoo, and still likes to be swaddled at night and for naps.

He absolutely LOVES to play in the water. He doesn't even mind if it is cold, like at the splash park - he just splashes around, happy as can be.

He still doesn't care to be restrained - he hates the baby carrier, doesn't like the stroller unless he has something interesting to look at, doesn't like to sit on anyone's lap, and he doesn't like to sit in his high chair for any longer than necessary. But he does love to be carried around, and he is more than happy to roll around on the floor and play.

We are so glad to have this little boy in our family! 

My Path to Motherhood: Thomas

This post is a continuation of a series I started after Jonah was born:

I thought it would be fun to take the time to share the story of how we decided to have each of our kids, starting with our first little blessing, Ellie. In sharing each of these stories, I hope to share my belief that when to have children and how many to have is a personal decision between a husband, wife, and the Lord. I have a very real testimony that the Lord does have a unique plan for each of His children, and often the Lord's plan for us is not what we may have imagined. And, most likely, His plan for you is not the same as His plan for me. And that's ok.

PART 1 HERE, PART 2 HERE, PART 3 HERE

Starting when Jonah was about two months old, every so often the thought would pop into my mind: "Someone is missing." I didn't bring those thoughts up to Sam, though, until Jonah was 4 months old. When I brought it up he told me that when Jonah was only two weeks old he had the feeling that our next baby was ready to come to our family soon, but of course two weeks postpartum wasn't the right time to share the news. That settled it. My recovery after having Jonah had been the easiest and fastest of any of my kids so far, and I was feeling great physically and emotionally. We looked forward to another pregnancy, and especially getting to meet our next little blessing.

On May 1, 2015 - when Jonah was 13 months old - I found out I was pregnant again. Sam was out working in the yard with the kids, and when I showed him the pregnancy test he picked me up and spun me around. We were so excited!

Around 9 weeks I started to have some spotting, which scared me and had me emotionally preparing for the worst, but at the first ultrasound we heard the happy sound of a tiny heart beating and saw a healthy little baby growing. What a relief.    

At this point we shared the news with friends and family. I had already started to show, so it was getting too obvious to wait any longer!

It was new for me to not be in school or working during this pregnancy, and I enjoyed being home - though I think the lack of the strict daily schedule I had during college made it a little harder because I wasn't so easily distracted from my morning sickness. I always forget between pregnancies how hard morning sickness is, not just on me, but on the entire family - especially Sam. He picks up most of what I normally do on top of his already packed days. He's amazing.

In August we found out we were having a little boy. Ellie was disappointed at first because she really wanted a sister - she prayed daily asking for a sister, actually - but she quickly became excited about the whole thing.

Ellie started preschool in the fall, and we enjoyed the holidays as they came and went, anticipating the new baby boy that would join our family after Christmas. 

My due date of January 1 passed by with no baby, but our little Thomas was born on January 3, 2016.

This little boy is so loved.

What a blessing it is to have these four sweet children in our family, even though it is physically and mentally exhausting. It is amazing to see how our hearts have expanded to love each of our children individually and completely. I have always wanted a large family, but I never thought I could feel as much joy as I do in my role as a wife and mother to Sam and our four beautiful children. 

I am grateful every day for the blessings God has given me in the form of my five favorite people.