back it up.

turns out, i have been taking more pictures that i thought. 

we'll start with some of our CA trip. my family lived in ca for many years. we lived all over ca. and then we moved, and no one is there anymore. we went there for thanksgiving, with my family to warm up all the idaho and utah kids. joe had only ever flown through LAX, so this was especially exciting  we stayed in carlsbad, which is not one of the places we lived, but is still gorgeous. its close-ish to san diego, so lindsay, joe, marshall and i all went and did a session in the san diego temple, while my mom graciously babysat the kiddos.

i think i had just punched joe in the stomach. 

if you really know me, you know this was the temple i ALWAYS wanted to get married in. but being the easy going middle child, i graciously let my husband decide on the nauvoo temple. not a choice i regret, (it was a pretty perfect day) but i think he now finally understands WHY i always had that little desire. it. is. GORGEOUS.

 aw, sisters. 

thanksgiving meal. we managed to make the whole dinner in the little kitchen, including a turkey! and everything was delish. i took the picture- proof we were all there!

maybe i'll find some more pics another time.... i forgot i even had these!

HUGE thank you to my parents for putting us all up for the week. it was so fun to all be together, keeping the tradition of not having thanksgiving at home :) and especially for getting up and occupying kiddos so we could sleep. amazing.

we loved getting to see the beach, the awesome hot tub, legoland, gorgeous condo, and just hanging out together. such a rarity, and so wonderful. 

these pics are from today after church. i seriously LOVE my kids. i think they really are hilarious. im sure everyone thinks that about their kids, and its probably true, but i cant stop laughing at them constantly, even all through church....

 bubba-licious decided to finally start folding his arms for prayers today. we've been working on that one for a while, but he started doing it during prayers at church today, and claps for himself every time. so stinkin' cute! 

 sorry, but i really do think he is rather handsome. thanks husband, since he is your mini-me, it really is true!

and you can barely tell that claire has a mullet here! she really loves her bro.

my mom made her that adorable little dress. so sweet!

side note: claire started going to sunbeams in primary the last couple weeks.... hopefully she'll adjust because she still loves nursery so much! 

funniest boy. ever.

failing

miserably. at

blogging

making dinner

keeping my house at least inhabitable

dishes

RS

getting out of sweats/pjs everyday

and so much more.

priorities. thats where i'm at. basics. its all i can handle.

but. i think my kids are mostly happy. i know they love each other, and they usually love me. 

and i am pretty sure hubs loves me. at least kinda. 

coming home from an amazing vacation with the family is so hard. back to schedules, jobs, reality. lets just all go back there and stay. please? a beautiful pool, the beach, great shopping, and oh yeah, we were all there together? eating meals together? that was really nice. we didnt even use the clean up crews or room service- wasnt necessary in the slightest. remember the uge hot tub we all fit in? that was heavenly. even though it was 'cold' in the 60's all week, i would take that over the temps here any day. every day. 

i havent seen my husband since sunday. i dont count sleeping. having spent endless hours in the car with him last week makes me miss him that much more. and reminds me why i cant get enough of him. we were planning on having all day tomorrow together, but we are already scheduled away til at least noon. argh. we've got eternity, right?

ive been somewhat of an emotional wreck the last, oh, three months at least. anything and everything. thanks baby! and life! i watch other people's kids. im happy to, really. hard, some days, absolutely. but also kinda easy? sometimes. after everyone is gone for the day, my kids seem like angels. they have their moments for sure, but they play remarkably well together, and make each other laugh over just about everything. i love them. they are a dynamic little duo. mischief makers in training.

oh so much more to blog. no more pictures because im lame. maybe soon. i hope i sleep tonight? i spent last night throwing up. i had nothing to throw up, so that was fun. i did lose 4 pounds, so hopefully doc next week won't flip out over the feast we had on thanksgiving? now how to keep that off....

and its still not decided on whether or not we are finding out baby's gender. it was supposed to be tomorrow, but we now have til friday. i may have to take my friend susan's advice and flip a coin. (don't worry, i am like 22 weeks or something. i'm awesome and on top of things :)

refusing

i refuse to be sick any longer. too much to do! my doc's nurse (im not her biggest fan at the moment) told me to call today if i was still sick. im ignoring that, and im done being sick. done. i win.

i would love to post pictures of claire's hack job on her hair, but, its a no go. too much to do! but head to lindsay's blog for some. she is mucho better at documenting than i am. i was too close to tears the whole time! i wish you all could take a peek at her room- the first thing you see straight ahead is a shrine, dedicated to the little miss. she sure does love that crazy bumkin. love ya linds!

i love my fam. what, five days til we are all reunited finally? so stinkin' excited!

i never thought i'd be this person, but we are on a strict schedule these days. i've always had a pretty set schedule for naps, eating, more naps, more eating, but kept it flexible, left it open for moody babies. i decided we will never function normally again with all the kids running around unless a set schedule happens. and so far, sweet success. bubba was ready for his nap promptly at 11:25, falling asleep in my lap. ahhhhhh its glorious. little to no crying from everyone. we'll keep this up.

the kiddos are bathing right now, and when caleb laughs, it is so funny. he laughs like an old man. chuckles, belly laughs, giggles, everything. i can't get over it. love him to pieces. now to go clean up some water!!!!

its late. this is life.

his hair was long. i thought it was so funny to put little piggies in, and he didnt care. i thought he looked like claire, so i left them in and he went to sleep with them.

and then i made joe cut it the next day. and almost cried. my baby is gone. just gone. now hes my little boy. 

kids are sick. i am sick. joe is sick of his back hurting.

i have babies and chicklets and kids running around my house most of the day, except for the now mandatory nap time/quiet time. i get to sit down, but constantly have to get back up.

i am pregnant, and while i may be snoring, i dont think i am actually sleeping. not a lot to be done about it at this point. i think i have what i call pregnancy induced sleep apnea. the circles are getting darker under my eyes, and i don't know what to do for energy since i ate all the kids halloween candy.

my doctors appointment today: doc walks in and started to get upset he hadnt seen me in ten weeks and hadnt had my ultrasound. then when he figured out the nurse screwed up big time, he had to do some educating on how to add 4 weeks to 14 weeks. it doesnt equal 24, i'll tell you that much. then we chatted about going to the beach.... can't wait! and finally told me he couldnt believe this was baby number three. he said i looked like i was 12. ummmmmm

again with my age. inconsistent on every side. no one in RS believed i was 23 on sunday during my lesson.they all thought i was older.

nope. 23. i'll be 24 by the time baby comes though..... so michelle duggar has me way past beat. 

the other ladies in my relief society presidency could either by my mom, or my grandma. HA.im not sure if this is worse than the young women possibly being my sisters.....

claire got her nursery leader fired on sunday....... for eating play doh. i tried to explain to her leader several months ago that she should just not play with it in nursery anymore.... and look where that got her. what do i need to do to be released???? (just kidding mom!)

by the way, i am severely failing at the whole relief society thing. big time. i don't know anything. my head is constantly spinning. and no one tells me things, or corrects me when i just start doing things, soooooo its been interesting. 

my little world is reallllly small. connections, friends, they are everywhere. especially in my ward. yikes.

i miss seeing my husband everyday. its a good thing we will have hour upon hour in the car together in just over a week. can't wait. babies have no idea whats going to hit them.

and with that, i will hopefully crash in bed, with tissues stuffed up my nose so the boogers don't drip down my face. i was doing good with getting a blog up every so often, and then blogger decided to stop working on the ipod, and i watch five kids plus my own, and i got pregnant and tired, and my husband keeps working, and i have to be nice to everyone at church, especially everyone because for some reason i agreed to it. 

by the way, this was not a complaint. one day i will look back and go- i had things sooooo easy. this is just what life is at the moment. yay for vacations!!!!

blubber

he melts my heart. literally, every time he smiles. 

he has several smiles, by the way.

laughing. smirking. mouth open wide. shy. grin. 

mommy's 

daddy's

he smiles, most of the day. which means yes, i am melting most of the day. combine that with the best little boy giggle and we have a heart breaker.

and my absolute fave is a combo of everything. i wish i could get a picture of it- eyes squinty, open wide but lips kinda curled, nose scrunched.  pretty much the funniest thing ever. 

this picture makes me laugh because his mouth is closed- a pretty rare occurrence for him, considering he is always smiling, laughing, babbling, growling, grunting, or eating- which is his fave. 

preview

hey pretty girl.

you truly are my sunshine. you are getting waaaay too big, and its killing me. there is no baby in your tummy, but there is one in mine, and i can't wait for you to be such a big helper with the baby.

you turn three (what???) in two short weeks, and you are so excited. you want PINK for your birthday, whatever that means. we will probably have lots of pink balloons, and pink cupcakes.

you have a hard time sitting still. i knew you would, from the moment you were born, you were quiet, but holding your head up to figure out the world. i sometimes think the little spirit inside you is vibrating constantly, just waiting until you are big enough to do so many great things. the only time it rests is when you sleep, and even then you wake up and instantly, you are ready to tackle the world. or at least all the furniture. you started walking super early, a clear indicator of the kind of kid you are. you have things to do in this life, and i can't wait to see them happen.

you are everyone's friend. strangers do not exist in your world. you are concerned about everyone's happiness. you are (usually) so great with your little brother. now that he is big enough to, er, fight back, you guys can get a little rough. but you still love him to pieces, and always feel bad after you get rough. you are currently teaching him some of your mad dance skillz, and i couldn't be happier.

baby girl, i love you so much. you might drive your nursery leaders crazy, make a mess with just about anything that you find, and get into all the things you shouldn't, but you light up the world of everyone around you, especially mine. i couldn't trade you for anything.

love, mom.



picture by claire's aunt lindsay. she is not a professed photog, but she does good work with my kids, considering that they don't. sit. still. ever. 

real pictures. what?

doing what i can to embrace fall. definitely some slacking, but i'm trying. the last monthish.  

 claire looking cute with her headband. headband lasted 2.9 seconds. we try. 

take that back. i try. she doesn't.

 model man. and screeching katelyn in the background. but cute bubbers.

 i live like 2.9 seconds from here. GORGEOUS this time of year. and this isn't even super pretty yet. (this was a couple weeks ago.)

 stink bug changed her mind about pictures.and headband.

shifting gears.

family time. thats all five sibs together. missed mom and dad! and happy bday sarah bear. FINALLY 18. that took forever. 

 shifting again.

hee haw farms. i gotta know- are all pumpkin patch/hay ride/corn mazes this ghetto? i was expecting a little more..... either way. both kids had a BLAST. like, giggling most of the time.

 as soon as claire saw this dumb animal train she wanted to skip the pony ride (which was LAME.) and hop into the pig asap. silly girl. joe got in on the action though, so that was kinda fun.

 probably her fave thing after the corn box.

 pig touching. can you spot my little blondie? that was fun for her too.

 corn box. i decided this should be what playgrounds have instead of sand or wood chips. i'm sure it was dirty, but way less dirty than sand and no splinters. no sand in the eyes. awesome.

 sweet hair dude. he was unsure at first, but got into it when he saw claire going to town.

we even did this twice the kids loved it so much.

good times for everyone! we even ran into some friends and picked out pumpkins with them. the kids were kinda done by then, and claire kept getting frustrated she couldn't carry any, but so fun anyways. yay for family time! 

and yay for non-phone or ipod pics! thats a miracle, huh?

back to the byu game. i should probably not watch those. they make me physically ill, i get that into them. probably send me into labor. 

band aid babe

Pretty girl.
Joe and I love figuring out what personality and character traits each of the children have, and who they got it from. Claire's genes are a perfect storm, you could say.... A lot of great things, but combined and it's a constant storm watch. Like, Joe was very much into 'getting into' things growing up, liked to climb a lot. And I had an absurd knack for monkey bars. Claire has both. And playgrounds are her forte. So we are constantly on guard, inside the house and out. But some things we like to think came from other extended family members, so we aren't totally to blame for everything.
Take the above picture. That band aid is making her eye feel all better. She gets the affinity for those special magical bits from her auntie Sarah. she was known for emptying boxes of them and stickin' 'em up and down her arms, and not always for actual owies, but somtimes just being itchy.
So funny how kids turn out, huh? And how each one is so, so different.
By the way, Claire tells everyone she knows there is a baby in HER tummy. I cant convince her otherwise. (stubborn thing.... Another auntie trait she inherited???) Her baby is a girl. mine is a boy, but it is still her sister. For bubba man's sake, I hope it's another girl. He adores all the girls I watch. And starting in a couple weeks, there will be a total of five EXTRA girls I watch, not including Claire. Not all at once though, thank goodness. Most are only a few hours per week. It's funny to me that it's only girls. The only boys ive watched never work out. Maybe bubba should be a ladie's man for Halloween...

Stink bug. Loves and hates pictures. Life is so good. I can't seem to remember that. I have this weight that feels like something really hard is coming (grad school) so I should be gearing myself up for it. Crazy. We still have no idea at this point where we will be next year. Here, Virginia, Nevada, arizona, Texas... No clue. Starting to seriously freak me out. But everyday I've been trying to find something to be really happy about. Making cookies. A pasta roller. Bubba dancing. Claire being so sweet and telling me everyone she loves. Joe getting to spend a few extra minutes with us. Making dinner, with everyone home, AND eating it. Dancing with Claire in a bee costume and roller-skates. Little things, you know? Last night Sarah showed up from Idaho to spend some time with the sibs. She and Lindsay came over as we were putting kids in jammies and getting ready for bed. Then linds tricked me into letting Claire have a sleepover.... Yeah I didn't want to let her go to a grown up sleepover! I can't stop thinking what they did all night. But I love how much that girl adores her aunts. And all of her family. She has some incredible people to look up to, and when I think of it that way, I don't mind for a minute that she wants to hang out with them.