Laynee's 2 month check up

Layneebug had her 2 month check up on Tuesday. She was 11 lbs 5 oz & 22 3/4 inches long. Poor thing had to get 3 shots & drink some nasty stuff. She did pretty good though. Saddest part was she was giving the "nice" nurse a huge smile & showing off her cute dimple & then the nurse had to stick her, it was horrible. I just can't handle watching them get shots, it is just so sad, but hopefully it will protect her from something worse, that is the only thing that gets me through!

A few things about her at 2 months:

She never cries unless she is hungry & even at that her cries are so small, she never seems to get overly frustrated if I don't get the bottle to her immediately.

She smiles all the time, especially when I call her my pretty girl. She is a very pretty girl and by the time she is 2 I'm sure she will be convinced she is the prettiest thing around because everyone calls her pretty.

She loves her swing, it is so great to have a baby who likes it. The last 2 boys hated it, they freaked out when I put them in it. She would swing 24/7 if everyone didn't love holding & loving on her so much!

She drinks about 5 oz every feeding which is about every 3-4 hours. She is such a calm bottle drinker. I was so used to fat Russ, at 2 months he was already 14 lbs & counting and he could suck down an 8 oz bottle at 2 months like he was never getting another one! She is just sweet & petite & takes her sweet time.

She loves bath time, she has never once cried during her bath, not even when we first brought her home. She just lays there & smiles.

Best of all she is sleeping through the night and has been for about 2 weeks now. She is doing 6-8 hr stretches, it is fantastic.

It is easy to brag on her because so far she has been the perfect baby! I am so glad I convinced her dad we had no choice but to give her life because she makes our life complete & she is so amazing to me!

Family Update

I have been again...such a slacker with my blogging over the past few months! Here is a little of what's going on in our world!

Probably the most exciting news is that we found a house & will FINALLY be moving in to our own place!! We are scheduled to close Jan 11th. We have a few things to do to the place and will plan on moving in the end of Jan. I am so excited! It wasn't our original plan, we wanted to build, but that wasn't going to happen. And with home prices so low we couldn't pass up this house that came along. It is only about a mile south of where we are now, so we are really excited that we get to stay in the same area & be close to our friends and the school & work. I will post pictures of the place once it is finally ours. Probably do some before/after shots!

Todd-Working hard as usual, just started up company #2, Trio Aggregate Haulers, a trucking company, who starts up a new business in this economy...apparently my husband does, wish him luck with that...please!! He is still on school board, is the 11 yr old scout leader, and a dedicated dad to his 5 kids! It is also pig season now, so he will be spending lots of time with the kids at the pig barn.

Me-Busy trying to juggle the 5 kids schedules and doing quite a bit of real estate, trying to get some Christmas shopping done, and keeping up with everything around me that has to be done, I get tired of the never ending cycle of keeping up with the housework & laundry, it is never ending & consumes more of my life than it is worth! I am ready for a maid, I have told Todd I am getting one when we move, he says no way, but he would never know if I was doing the cleaning or someone else, so it looks like someone else will be, anyone know a good maid in Buckeye?! I suppose it is safe to say that being a mom has become my new hobby, some days not by choice, but most of the time it is! I am amazed at how quickly my days pass by & keep wondering where has the time gone & wishing I had more hours in the day to get stuff done.

Brennen-Living that freshman life! Spending time texting really lame things back & forth, student council, FFA, and whatever else he can get involved with that would make me have to drive to town 100 times a week! He had an amazing experience today, he went to stake conference (we did not) he was an usher. We got a new stake presidency today & it just so happened that who they put in as the 2nd counselor is in our ward & we are friends with them & he was the one who took Brennen to stake conference and was also bringing him home. They allowed Brennen to be in the room while they did the setting apart of the presidency! It was Quentin L. Cook that was here, what an awesome experience, he said the spirit was so amazing and he got to shake his hand twice. I was so glad he chose to go & was able to have that opportunity,what an amazing priesthood strengthening experience for him. Anyway he is a great kid who is trying his hardest to follow the straight & narrow!

Makenna-We just got her signed up for a volleyball team & the games start in a month. She is pretty excited. The girl is completely obsessed with volleyball, it is attached to her wherever she goes. You hardly recognize her if she isn't bumping a ball! I'm excited for her to start playing, I will be an assistant coach, it has been so long since I played, but I loved it almost as much as she does! It is pig season, so she goes to the pig barn several times a week to feed, and muck out the pens and she loves every minute of it, cracks me up! She scoops that pig poop into the wheel barrow & walks it out to the dump like nobodies business! She puts the boys to shame when it comes to hard work, she has a touch of her dad in her when it comes to that! She is doing super good in school, all A's. She is the biggest helper I have around here, without her my life would be 100 times harder! She is amazing with the boys & with Laynee, I can always count on her to get things done for me.

Garret-Tball is over and he is now obsessed with baseball and can't wait for Little League to start now that he will be old enough in the spring. He is in preschool & is doing great. I think it has been a little hard for him because he is already 5 & some of the kids are barely 4 so he feels like they are babies, his dad keeps trying to convince me holding him back will be the best for him. He loves to play his Nintendo DS & is really good at it. His new thing is riding bikes, his is just to small so he has been riding Mak's bike everywhere. I told him he should ask Santa for a new bike, he says, mom, I just can't do that to my bike, it would make him feel bad. So I try explaining the bike has no feelings, it will be fine. He wasn't convinced, so I told him it will be ok because Russ can have the bike, that made things ok, so now he wants a big bike! He is a crack up, we never know what the kid is going to say, not to mention he talks with a hick accent that people are always asking us about. Todd says it is a Hatch thing, I dunno bout that!

Russ- He finally got his glasses, talk about a pain, we keep losing them. We had to use the warranty in the first week of him wearing them. On the 2nd pair in a month! He is now doing really good with them & has learned to give them to someone if he doesn't want them on anymore. He looks so stinking cute with them on. He is talking so good now. I asked him if he wanted a hamburger to eat, he says no, chicken nugget. It was pretty funny cuz we weren't expecting anything but a yes or no. He is doing really good putting words together and figuring things out. He is obsessed with going on rides, you can't say the word ride or go, he freaks out & is to the door because he can't be left out. He loves to be on the go, if we are in the car going somewhere he is happy. He is a lot of fun and has adjusted to Nanee Jo (as he calls her) pretty good. He is almost 2 but it seems like he is 4 because he is pretty good size for his age & he just thinks he can do everything Garret does. He keeps me busy and on my toes all day, terrible 2's have arrived!

Laynee- Lately we call her Laynee Bug (like ladybug), she is the sweetest baby you could ever have! She hardly cries and sleeps through the night for the most part and she is the prettiest baby! I also call her mamma's pretty, and she always smiles when I call her that! She is growing so fast it makes me sad, since she is the last I just want her to stay little forever! We have her 2 month check up on Tuesday, I am guessing she is around 11 lbs or so. Her eyes keep changing, one day they look dark blue, the next they look brown, her hair is still dark dark & she hasn't lost any of it, not sure if she will or not! She is fabulous & I am so so thankful that we had her!

Well now we are semi up to date on our happenings! I still have so many other things I want to post, but just haven't had the time, it is 1:45am, this is the only time I have to accomplish anything in a quiet house, who needs sleep anyway, it is over rated!

Family Pictures

It was a little chilly & Russ had to borrow Todd's coat, darn kid wouldn't smile,

but he sure is handsome isn't he!
The Powers Family 2009

My parents with the grandkids

Me & an "old gray haired guy" I picked up

This is us, complete! I love to look at pictures with all of us & know that

this is our finished family!

This is a photo shoot from last weekend. Again, my cousin Rinna, she is amazing, call her if you need pictures, she does such a great job, I love them all!

Laynee's Baby Blessing

Our Laynee Jo on her special day! She was like a little angel in her blessing dress, she was so sweet! Is hard to believe today she is 8 weeks old already, where has the time gone?! She is smiling so much for us & has been our best baby so far. Her blessing dress is actually the same dress that I wore for my blessing & Makenna wore for hers, so it is 31 years old! Todd did a great job giving her a blessing. It was a perfect day! I will have more photos soon! (thanks Rinna!)

Hospital Pictures of Laynee

My cousin Rinna took these fantastic pictures of Laynee at the hospital, I just had to post them, they are so great! This was a few hours after she was born.

Laynee is finally here!!

The long awaited arrival of Laynee Jo is finally over!

She was born on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 6:42 pm,

She weighed 7 lbs 7.5 oz and was 18.75 inches long.

She is perfect in every way! She has really dark hair, which was shocking

to us all,she doesn't look like any of our other babies who had fuzzy reddish

blonde hair. She has a darker complexion than the other kids did, so I keep

looking at her & thinking is this really one of our babies?! So far

she has been fantastic! We got to come home from the hospital on Tuesday

night, we didn't arrive home until 9:30ish and the kids were going crazy because

they hadn't been able to see her yet because the hospital wouldn't let even siblings

in because of RSV & Swine flu. We were so excited to finally have her home. She

has slept super good, only waking up once during the night to eat & we have

only heard her sweet little cry a few times. I am so glad she is finally here & we can

now say our family circle is complete, fifth & final is what Todd tells everyone!

What's Missing?

My bag is packed, dresser is full, diapers are stacked, crib is ready, carseat is awaiting something to sit in it, laundry done for a week, pantry & fridge stocked, house cleaned, arrangements made...hmmm...I am starting to wonder if she is ever going to make her appearance. I have never been more prepared to bring a baby home than this time!

I have to brag a little...I did make her crib bedding & I am very proud of it!

Russ Gets Glasses!

So my sweet little Russ is now my sweet "special" Russ! We found out this week that his vision isn't so good. (Maybe the bruise on the forehead gives it away?!) For the past few months he has been having a hard time with his left eye & has been going cross eyed, not all the time, but more often than you would like to see your kid go cross eyed! We thought at first it was just a phase, however after a few months realized it had to be more than that. After a visit to the pediatrician we were sent to a Pediatric Eye Specialist who informed us that he is very much farsighted. We took him to another place to get his glasses. These are a pair he tried on, not the pair he will be getting, the bridge is way to dorky for my kid, (sorry if anyone out there has these ones!) We are still patiently waiting for the vision center to get in the frames we picked out so we can try them out & get his lenses ordered. Probably will be at least another week I suppose. He did really well trying them on & never yanked them off. It was kinda sad when Todd put the lenses up to his eyes that matched the prescription he needs because he looked right at me & reached out trying to touch me! Almost like hey thats what you look like! Anyway I think he is going to be the cutest little kid around once he gets his new glasses! Will post a new picture when he gets his new cool glasses!

Laynee's Baby Shower

On Oct. 3rd some of my best friends gave me a baby shower, it was so much fun & I am so lucky to have such great caring friends & family! We got so many SUPER cute outfits, I can't wait to dress her up! We also got lots of handmade quilts & blankets that are adorable. It was strange to be opening up things for a baby girl, my brain has just been doing boy for so long & it has been over 10 years ago that I had Makenna. We are so excited for her to get here. Thanks to all my friends and family for all the love & continued support, even if you do think I am crazy for having 5 kids!! I love you all!

All the yummy food, we had chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, veggies, little pink cookies, brownies with strawberry cream cheese filling, cupcakes, and several other yummy things, it was fantastic!

Garret's First T-ball Game

Playing catcher
Hitting the ball, he is a really good batter!

The day before Garret's first practice he told me he was having this weird feeling like he was going to be embarrassed to play tball because he didn't know anyone. I told him the feeling was nervousness & that he had nothing to worry about because his Dad & Papa are his coach so at least he would know them. After his first practice he loved it & had so much fun & now that is how he spends lots of his free time, practicing, throwing the ball in the air & catching it. Yesterday he was out front in the dirt and rolling grounders to himself, he would roll it, then run as fast as he could to catch it before it stopped, it was pretty funny. Of course he had to slide in the dirt & get as dirty as he possibly could while doing it, and Russ was right behind him chasing & falling as soon as Garret would. Boys will be boys!

Homecoming

Last weekend was the Buckeye Hawks Homecoming. Since Brennen is in student council he had to help with making their Homecoming float. It turned out awesome. Their theme was something to do with Hollywood. They got 1st place, so they were pretty excited! (And yes, in case you are wondering if it is weird for me to have a freshman & pregnant at the same time, very weird!)

Baby Piglets are born

Brennen would kill me if he seen this picture, it makes me laugh though!

They are almost a week old in this picture, they are huge already!

The night before giving birth...poor thing!

Todd artificially inseminated the kids 4H pigs with some "high dollar" specimen. Here is the first litter? born. We took some pictures of the mom to be the night before, she was huge & looked miserable (funny that I can relate & really felt sorry for her!). This pig is Lawnmower if you look back through old posts.

Crazy Hair Day

This was Mak's crazy hair for crazy hair day! Not as fun as 2 years ago when I 90's styled her out, but it is still fun! By the time I picked her up from school she had changed things up a bit & pinned things down with clips.

The Baby's Name...

Since you guys asked I will tell! Todd & I have never ever picked out names before having them here, we usually have a few names in mind, but nothing solid, I would say Garret was the only one we kind of knew would be Garret, but I refused to let anyone call him that until he was born & it was official just in case he got here & we didn't feel like it fit. Anyways, her name is solid, there will be no changing it, I have had enough experiences & confirmations that she has picked this name for herself! It is going to be...

Laynee Jo Hall

The kids were horrible about the name at first, but it is growing on them & they are a little more ok with it now that they know there isn't going to be any other names on the table to choose from! So we don't care if you like it or hate it....the name is here to stay!! :)

Our Sweet Baby Girl!

Yesterday I went to the Dr for my appointment & asked if we could get a 3D ultrasound shot of her face, so here it is! She already has the chubbiest cheeks! I have now decided to just plan on that she will be every bit as big as Russ was (8lbs 4 oz, 22 in), that way if she is smaller I can be excited! To me she looks like the rest of the kids, has the same nose & it looks like she might have her daddy's full lips! We will schedule the induction at our next appointment in Sept. Looks like it will probably happen around the week of Oct 19th, unless she decides to make an appearance on her own with no help of medication! We are so excited & can't wait to get her here, if I could have her right his minute I gladly would because I am so excited for her arrival!

Short & Sweet

Ok, so I have seriously neglected my blog this summer, I guess with the kids home all day & between Scout camp & Girls Camp, camping trips, volleyball camp, lots of birthday parties, showing homes to clients, growing a human being inside my belly, and visiting Taylor for a week I just haven't found the extra time or made the extra time to blog! The kids start school on Aug. 5th, so my goal is to get caught up on everything after they start. After looking back I realize I have to go clear back to Easter, I am WAY behind! The goal should be to have it completely updated by delivery day of the baby, so from now that is about 11 weeks, if I can't be up to date by then...maybe I should just give up!! It has been a short hot summer and I can't believe it is already coming to an end, time goes by way to fast anymore!

We will be adding....

a sweet baby GIRL to our family! We are excited! We all piled in to Dr. Beck's office, he could barely get through the door. The kids were really excited, I was very anxious because I hadn't really felt one way or the other with this one, maybe because it didn't really matter what we got, I would be happy. Dr. Beck asks the kids who wanted what, of course Mak is the only one hoping for a girl, so he starts the ultrasound & she had her legs crossed, so after some poking & proding of my stomach she finally showed us what we had been waiting for. Dr. Beck looked at Mak & gave her a high 5 & said you win...it's a girl!! Mak was like what it is, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have a sister, finally! It was really cute & exciting for her. The boys were not as excited, or they were doing a good job pretending not to be! I am excited to now finally know what to start planning for and since it has been 10 years since we had a baby girl around here...we need everything girly now! On our way home we stopped at Babies R Us and picked out 3 outfits for her. I kinda forgot how fun shopping for baby girls can be! Everything looked perfectly normal on the ultrasound and everything is developing as it should be. We are almost to the half way point, so far it has gone by really fast, thankfully, cuz I am already starting to want my "normal" body back!

Hall Family Update

So because I have been so busy lately and haven't had much time to do real blogging, I just thought I would give a little update on all of us over the past month!

Todd-He has a lot going on as usual, he tends to put lots of irons in the fire, he is working on a new venture to add to his company, heaven help me with this man, he can't stop, he is constantly jumping in to new things! He wants to get his pilots license, so he has been looking at airplanes now (I keep saying how about buying a house first?). I just shake my head & wish sometimes I had as much ambition as he does.

Me-Well what am I not doing right now?! It is the end of the school year so this week is filled with graduation, awards ceremonies, banquets, and all the stuff that comes with it! I have several real estate deals going on right now, (unfortunately none of our own yet!) which is keeping me busy & I love it. I miss the day to day work, but with having kids I do know it isn't something I could do full time yet, will have to wait till they are all in school! I am feeling really good, just getting tired pretty quickly. Last week I woke up to a bump and I told Todd um, I think I grew last night, he said oh you look about the same, however everyone I saw that day mentioned that I finally looked a little pregnant. So that night I mentioned it again to him, he says I was just trying to make you feel good...lol. We find out next Thursday what the baby is going to be, we are all pretty excited about that! I would say for the most part I am just busy being a mom & doing what mom's do, with a little extra thrown in here & there!

Brennen-He will be graduating from 8th grade on Thursday night. In Palo Verde 8th grade graduation is a big deal, they get all formally dressed and make a big night out of it. He is pretty excited. I dropped his suit off at the dry cleaners because he wants it to be perfect. Last week he went on his 8th grade trip to Disneyland, he left at 345am Thursday morning & got back Saturday night around 730. He had a really fun time, but he is a bit of a chicken when it comes to rides, so he hung out with a few girls who didn't like rides either...trying to claim he was waiting with them so they weren't alone, truth to be known he was a bigger chicken than them! On Saturday we went to Amazing Jakes for a bday party, he was playing miniature golf & hit the ball & it hit a rock & came back & hit him in the eye, then he tripped & fell about breaking his wrist, he is still babying it some. A few weeks ago he spent the night at his friends house & they had a fire & threw an Axe Body Spray aerosol bottle in the fire, well after so long it finally blew up & burned his leg, about a foot long burn, I had to end up taking him to the dr to have it checked out. I guess this is the kind of stuff you deal with when you combine being slightly clutsy with a teenager brain! Is hard to believe he will be a freshman already. The time has flown by. He is a good kid and we are proud of him.

Makenna-She spends most of her time hitting a volleyball these days. She takes it to school & plays with it non stop when she is home, I have got to find a volleyball camp for her to go to this summer. She is full of life all the time & helps me keep my sanity with all these boys we have around here. Some days we just can't stand being around them, all the yelling, burping, farting, fighting, drives us crazy. She puts up with a lot of teasing from them, I do remember those days of being the only girl, she does pretty good in holding her own though! She is really in to singing with her friends on the PS2 doing Country Sing Star, they are really good at it. She has been playing the piano and has done so well with it, I have been so impressed with how quickly she has picked up on it and she really loves to play. She is such a big help & I am so glad to have another female around here!

Garret-He is full of it most of the time. He is very strong willed and is fine to speak his mind. Of all the kids so far he has been the most difficult for me parent. He talks back, he yells, he throws fits without caring who is around, he can sometimes be a real pain in the butt! He is done with preschool & he did very well. He turns 5 on the first day of school, but we have decided to hold him back another year because Todd doesn't want him to be a young one. This is going to be a long year with him home, but in the end hopefully it will be worth it. He loves to play with Russ, most of the time he is really good with him, but he has his moments where he is not very nice. I know they will be the best of friends. Yesterday he was walking him across the road to the neighbors house & he was holding his hand and also had his other hand on his back helping him make it across the road without tripping, it was one of those moments where you watch them & get teary eyed because you know they have a connection & even though they might fight they are still brothers and care about each other! Garret is really in to telling stories, he is a big liar & we have to correct him all the time with his stories & remind him that really didn't happen. If you want a big story just talk to Garret for 5 minutes! He is a good kid & keeps me on my toes!

Russ-What can I say about our Russ, he has been a nightmare for the past month. Actually the past 8 months with Russ has been not very fun. He has dealt with getting all his teeth in, and it hasn't gone well, he has been so whiney & fussy that we changed his name to Fussy insteady of Russy! He was getting better until we went to fair in April & then we got home & he had been a nightmare for weeks, well he finally broke out in a rash & we knew he had caught the Fifth's Disease from Lindy's kids, which finally made sense. I had Clint for a few days the week before fair, which was the the time Clint was contagious, however we didnt know he was until well after. Anyway once he broke out in the rash everything made sense. We had a full week of a whiney horrible baby, I was ready to run away! Last week he finally started feeling better & we have had happy Russ, overly happy Russ, thank goodness. He is back laughing & smiling all the time. He is walking really good now, he is also talking pretty good and picking up on how to do everything. He loves to climb up everything & has really good balance. His favorite thing is to be outside, that is all he says all day is outside, we have to keep the doors locked or he gets out & explores. I am just glad that finally after months & months of him being not fun is fun again, thankfully! He doesn't look like any of the kids, he does resemble Mak a little bit when she was a baby, but for the most part he is completely different! Todd looks at him and says this kid doesn't look like anybody! He is awfully cute though & we love him, even during his Fussy Russy times!

The New Baby-according to what I have read the baby is about as big as an avocado this week. I have felt a few fluttering movements when I wake up in the morning & just lay there really still. I can't wait for the ultrasound so we can finally know if it is a boy or girl. We will be happy either way! I just hope for a continued easy pregnancy & a happy healthy baby at delivery!

So that is what is going on in our lives right now! We are excited for summer & hopefully will have some fun camping trips & reunions & swimming & movies!

My Mothers Day

So I have to post this before it becomes old news and I forget to post it!

My Mothers Day was made pretty special by my husband & kids. They of course let me sleep in, not that it was hard because everyone slept in, if anyone knows me they know I stay up all night and would prefer to sleep in for a bit, but with the kids in school I don't get that opportunity as often as I would like (can't wait for summer & no school!). Anyway after getting up and while I was getting ready for the day they were cooking up breakfast, waffles, bacon, & eggs. It was really good as usual, Todd is our Sunday morning breakfast cooker, he is the best breakfast cooker, the kids just turn their nose up when they see me in the kitchen fixing breakfast! So after eating the kids couldn't handle it anymore they wanted me to open their gifts. I started with Garret & Makenna's, they both picked out a candle for me from Yankee, Garret got me the brown sugar vanilla and Makenna got the honeydew melon, both great choices! Then I opened Brennen's gift, which he could hardly stand having me wait, he had been to Disneyland & just got back the night before & that was all he kept talking about is the gift he got me, so I opened it up and he is such a thoughtful kid, it is a charm link bracelet & he bought mickey mouse birthstones to represent each one of us! Such a great idea, leave it to Brennen, I have always said he will make a great husband because he really puts thought in to his gifts! So then it was on to Todd's gift, this one I already knew because a little birdy named Garret told me a few days before, that's what happens when you take a 4 yr old shopping!! Todd didn't wrap it cuz he knew that I knew what it was. He got me a new Playstation 2...lol! It is a small passion I have when I have time (which anymore doesn't seem to happen) but I have a Guitar Hero problem, I love it, can't stop playing it when I start. Around my birthday we bought Guitar Hero World Tour and we also had Aerosmith and then a few months ago they just quit working. We thought it was something wrong with the games, but found out it wasn't, the PS2 was just worn out after years of playing it & the graphics from GH were just to much I guess. Anyway Todd knew that I was missing out on playing it with my best friend Rach, she comes over walking & we fix & eat dinner then play our Guitar Hero. It is seriously one of the only things I can do that will block out the fighting & yelling & screaming & crying that is going on around me!!! I was totally excited, however I have only gotten to play a few times since getting it, been way to busy to justify sitting down and playing it, I am having a hard time justifying blogging right now!!

And since Mother's Day isn't just about me, I had a wonderful conversation with my mom over the phone, she got to tell me about one of the most amazing experiences that happened to her in the temple the day before. She is such a strong example to me & I only hope I can be half the mom she is, if I can I will feel pretty accomplished with myself. She is always there for me & is the first person I go to with anything because I always know I can rely on her advice & most importantly the comfort I hear in the sound of her voice! I am so thankful to have her as my mom!

It was a fantastic day & I am thankful for my husband & kiddos trying to make it a special day for me!

Mak's Science Project

Makenna and her friend Sierra did a science project together. It was about lung capacity. At first I was a little confused at how it actually worked, so after she took me to the website & explained things I was on board! So they tested things out & took some pictures while doing it, put their board together & then the day of the fair they were excited & ready to set up the project. I wasn't able to go see it the first day but when she got home from school she was so excited because they got 1st place!! So the next day after a dr appt Todd & I went to the school to see the project & took some pictures. On Saturday her project was taken to the West Valley Impact which was a science fair for all West Valley Elementary schools. We went to the high school to pick it up & they were given honorable mention. She was a little bummed that they didn't place, I was just impressed that they made it that far!! Good job Mak!

Zack's Blessing

Last weekend was little Zack's blessing! He is my nephew, Pat & Megan's little guy. He looked so sweet in his little white outfit! He is growing so quickly & has changed so much. He looks just like his daddy! Since the live in Florence which is about as far to the other side of town as you can get we decided it was best to stay the night out their way because it was 9am church and a 2 hr drive for us! We stayed with Lindy & Adam because they only live a few minutes away. We had a fun weekend!

All of us!

Meg, Zack, Pat, Jordyn, & Maddy

Our Morning Visitor

I love Todd's face in this picture, he can't say he isn't afraid!

So last Friday I was talking to my mom on the phone & look out the back window & see a HUGE long snake. It was in the grass so it was hard to tell if it was a rattlesnake or not, however Brennen & his friend Cutter had killed a baby rattler on Tuesday afternoon, so I wasn't taking any chances with this huge thing. I immediately hang up with mom & call Todd, of course no answer, so I keep calling till finally he answers & was like what do you need?! I tell him you have to come home now, he says what's going on, so I inform him of the huge snake sunbathing in our grass and I didn't really care what it was, it had to go. So he hurries home, thankfully only 4 miles away, but it did seem like it took him forever. By the time he got there the snake had moved on from the grass to the rock & was slithering away, I did realize at this point it wasn't a rattlesnake, so I went outside & followed it enough that I could see where it was so he could find it. He finally shows up (of course packing his 9mm ready to blow the snake to smitherins I suppose!) he looks at it & says that is a bull snake, he needs to just stay here, he will eat the rattlesnakes & the ground squirrels. I refuse this idea, I can't have a huge snake slithering around ready to take a bite out of my little boys while they play! Todd gets the broom & picks the snake up & puts it in an ice chest to take back to work to show it off as all little boys would do! He then brings the snake back home later that day to let it go, I was still unhappy with this, so he let it go behind our house quite a ways back. Anyway it was about 6 foot long and pretty fat. In the coiled up picture by the bricks half of its body is on the other side of the brick and it actually doesn't look that big in the ice chest, but you can tell it is huge when Todd is picking it up with the broom.

I suppose this is just how life is when you live in the middle of nowhere and there is farm fields & desert surrounding you!

And then there were 7...

Yes, you guessed right, we will be adding another child to complete our family! We are excited to finally announce that I am pregnant. I am 13 weeks and due Nov. 2 (my moms birthday!) which means most likely it will be in October since I have had all of them weeks early. The kids are hoping for a girl, I am having mixed emotions about another girl, on one hand it would be fun, but I have nothing for a girl & everything for a boy, so the boy would be much more convenient & would fit right in with the other 2 little boys. Either way we are excited & know that whatever Heavenly Father sends us we will be grateful for! We will find out May 28th what it is. I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the thought of 5 kids and with Russ & this one being so close in age, they will be around 21 months apart. I have always had several years between all of them so this will be a new experience for me, one I guess I need the several months of pregnancy to prepare for!


Most of you know I am pretty lucky & never get sick and so far that has been the case. I have been exhausted, but I suppose that is to be expected! I can tell I have hit my 2nd trimester though because the tiredness is finally starting to wear off some. I finally feel like I have energy to update my blog!! I am so behind because we have been so busy with stuff this month. I will just have to post things as I have time to, they might be really behind, but for me as long as I post them and the memory is there that is all that matters!

Buckeye Ag Day 3/14/09

On March 14th the kids had another pig show here in Buckeye. It was a lot of fun. I was a bit of a slacker & didn't take hardly any pictures, I wish I could have gotten one of both of them together in their 4H attire. My parents were able to surprise "me" by showing up Friday night to be there on Saturday. Everyone knew except for me that they were coming, so that was a fun surprise! Papa Kenny, Grandma Skeet, Uncle Deke, Aunt Mattie, Chadd, Tayler, Kenzi, Rachael & Charlie were also all there to support the kids. Brennen took 3rd place with Fat Mama & I think he got 5th with Lawn Mower, he didn't place in the showmanship. Makenna took 3rd place with Priscilla, 5th place with Wanda and then she took 3rd place in showmanship. They are both improving so much on their showing skills! We are excited to see how well they do when it is county fair time! Priscilla hurt her leg a few days before the show and they weren't planning on taking her because she couldn't even walk, Mak was pretty upset about it, I think she has taken a liking to Priscilla! Saturday morning she was walking better so Todd decided to go ahead and load her up in the trailer & take her & just see how she was doing, well she obviously did pretty good because she got 3rd place! If she hadn't had the slight limp she may have done even better. We are hoping she will be healed & walking normal for fair in April.