Family Photos Fall 2012

We decided to try out Fotoflyaway this year for family pictures. They did not disappoint!  The photographers who worked with us were absolutely amazing. They were so much fun and were able to get our kids laughing and smiling naturally. It was wonderful. 

We sure love our boys and think these photos captured them perfectly!!

Our sweet Weston...looking so old!  

Funny funny Tave always making us laugh!

 Mischievous Ryder, melt my heart!

Adorable Callen giving us his serious look!

 These boys have my heart.

 Our family of six. 6!  Love them.

I adore this family of mine.

So in love with this man.

We saved our favorite family photo for Christmas cards....so you'll have to wait until then to see it! ;)

Nicole & Shar's Birthday!

 Shar & Travis moved here August 18th, just in time for us to spend our birthday together! YAY!!!

It is SO much fun to have the kiddos back together again. 

They are having a blast, and we are loving it too!!

So they stayed at our house for the weekend and Monday morning (our b-day) the guys let us sleep in. 

We had to be ready to leave by 10am and that's when they gave us our gift:  the day together!!  

It was awesome.

We went to Kneaders for the amazing french toast breakfast. Then headed to the mall for mani/pedis. Bliss.

Did some shopping and then met up with the guys for a date night dinner.

After dinner we went back to our house for a fun party with the kiddos.

It was AWEsome. So amazing. I love my birthday...Jeff sure knows how to spoil me!!!

Love my sister:

Happy Birthday to us!

The guys made our favorite dessert, cream cheese pie with fresh fruit. And they ROCKED. 

It was THE best pie ever. Really, they made it better than I ever have. 

Cute kiddos enjoying the food:

Ryder loved my party  hat:

Happy Birthday Shar!  

Love this little fam:

I love my crazy guys!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Mother's Day was especially sweet this year.  My boys spoiled me with sleeping in, a delicious breakfast, and  thoughtful gifts.  

I tried to savor every moment with Jeff and my sweet boys before we became a family of 6.  6! Wow. 

 These three boys continually teach me. Being their mom is such a privilege and the best thing I could ever hope to accomplish in this life. I am so grateful for their love, their forgiveness,and their hilarious antics that keep me laughing all day long. I may not be a perfect mom, but I am their mom, and I'm trying to be the best for them that I can.

I can't wait to see what baby #4 brings to our family. But I know one thing is for sure: 

With four boys come four times the love. Lucky me.

Trying to get a photo with these guys is quite the adventure!!

Oh how much my heart just melts for each one of them!!

Crochet Chevron Baby Afghan Pattern

This is not my original pattern, This is the pattern I used as well as this version. I didn't change a lot, but what I did change made a difference to me.  You can do their version or mine. :)

Crochet Chevron Afghan 

Blanket measures: 34x43 inches

It took me 3 weeks to complete (I worked on it almost every night and sometimes during the day).

Stitches & Abbreviations

·        Chain (ch) – yarn over, draw yarn through loop on hook. Repeat for required number of stitches.

·        Single Crochet (sc) – Insert hook under top threads of stitch (there are two, they look like a v), yarn over, draw yarn through stitch, yarn over, draw yarn through all loops on hook.

·        Single Crochet 2 Together or Single Crochet Decrease (sc2tog or scdec) – insert hook into stitch and draw up a loop.  Insert hook into next stitch and draw up a loop.  You will now have three loops on hook.  Yarn over, draw yarn through all three loops on hook.

·        Skip (sk)- skip the next stitch

·        Stitch (st) or stitches (sts)

·        Loop (lp)

Supplies: 

Hook size: I  (5.5)
Yarn: Hobby Lobby’s I love this yarn  (I used white, sliver grey, and turquoise)

Large Embroidery Needle

Pattern:

Row 1: With white, ch 213.

Row 2: Working in the BACK LOOP of sts throughout (this creates a much nicer beginning edge)- Sc in second st from hook, * Sc in each of next 14 ch, 3 sc in next ch, sc in each of next 14 ch, sk 1 ch, repeat from * across, ending with the sc2tog, sc in last st, ch 1, turn.

Row 3: Continue working in back lp of sts throughout the rest of the blanket. Sc in first sc, sc2tog, * sc in each of next 14 scs, 3 sc in next sc, sc in each of next 14 sts, sk 2 sts, repeat from * across, ending last repeat with sc2tog, sc in last st, ch 1, turn.

Repeat row 3 throughout, working 8 more rows white, 10 rows of grey, 10 rows white, 10 rows grey, 10 rows white, etc until you reach the length you want your blanket. You can change the width of your stripes by adding more rows or doing less rows. 

Hide your threads

(I bolded my changes) 

Helpful tidbits: 

When you are dropping your old color and picking up the new, carry along the new piece’s tail and hide it as you crochet.  This will cut down on what you have to hide at the end with your needle. I like to leave a pretty long tail (probably 10 inches) because I love knowing it is safely hidden.

I also tie the two colors together in a small knot. I like the safety of knowing it won’t unravel. Knots are not necessary, just my preference.

With this pattern, 3 stripes of color use 1 skein of yarn.  So this blanket used 3 skeins of white, 2 skeins of grey, & 1 skein of turquoise. If you use a coupon each time you pick up a skein it will cost you $2.66 per skein, that’s a total of $15.96 to make it, not bad!

The length of this will work for a baby, however, if you want a more square blanket, just do 2 less stripes of color. (20 crocheted rows total).  Then your blanket would measure aprox. 34x37 inches.

Feel free to email with any questions.  

35 Weeks

I haven't been so great with documenting  this pregnancy. But I have taken one photo of each trimester...so here is the 3rd Trimester! We're in the home stretch, wahoo!!!

I can't believe this little guy will be here in 5 weeks. CraZy I tell you!

I am feeling okay.  This trimester has been a bit harder, I am not trying to complain, just documenting what it really was like. I am tired. ALL of the time. And I have some weird leg pains and stomach pains. But all of that is 'normal' especially with your 4th pregnancy I guess!  I have been having braxton hicks contractions since about week 20, so by now I'm pretty tired of them. Literally. They exhaust me!  But then again, it could just be chasing around 3 very active boys!

Other than the constant fatigue and aches and pains, it truly has been a great pregnancy. I am so blessed to have a strong and healthy body that really does well while I'm expecting. I love feeling this little guy move and kick, it is a great reminder of the life that is growing inside of me.  I know that all of this will be worth having him in my arms and I can't wait!  

We have been pretty busy lately, so the last few weeks have flown by. I haven't done too much to prepare for his arrival yet. I still have to unpack the baby clothes/items, wash everything, clean the entire house, get the infant carseat out of storage and cleaned, vacuum the car, pack hospital bags, make some freezer meals,  type out a schedule for whoever watches the boys, throw Tave his 4th birthday party, get a pedicure, get my hair done, and finally choose his name (we're pretty close, but just can't decide for sure)! 

And oh yeah, all that other daily stuff that has to happen in a home.

Whew, I guess I better get going!

I did finish a couple things for baby boy.

First, I finally picked a layout and fabrics for his quilt (that my mom is making)

I am so in love with this color scheme, it's what we'll be doing for his nursery:

And I crocheted him this lovely baby blanket. I fell in love with the pattern and had to try it out. It was so fun crocheting it each night and knowing I would be snuggling my sweet little man in it:

If anyone wants to give it a go, I definitely learned a few things along the way and tweaked the pattern a teeny bit. So I can post the info if you want! It's so soft!!!

So baby boy, we are thrilled for you to get here, but have a few more things to get done, so hold off on coming too early, k.  Love, mommy.

23/40

Hey Baby,
You've grown quite a bit these last few weeks!
You are moving a lot and have definite 'awake' and 'asleep' moments.
Since you are most likely our last little bitty one, I'm trying to treasure every second of how this feels...having you inside of me. Every kick is a little reminder that you are here and you are already a part of our family.
We are working on picking a name for you.  We have it narrowed down to two, but just can't decide until we see your cute little face.  You want to know what they are?  Here you go:  Callen or Canon.  What do you think? I really wish you could tell us since we're kind of stuck. :) Oh well, we'll know soon enough, won't we?
I am feeling pretty good. You started out pretty rough on your mama, but now we're in the good stage.  Just growing and moving. I'm a little tired, but I've been trying to drink lots and lots of water for you and have decided you and I need to cut back on the sugar. We don't want you being a little sugar addict right from the beginning...so we're loading up on the leafy greens and trying to get in all our food groups.  We just want you healthy. :)
Your brothers are so excited to meet you and see what you look like.  They have definitely been noticing how you're poking out your mommy's tummy now and making your appearance. They really want to feel you kick, so if you could give some great big ones when I let you know the bros are around, we would appreciate it!!  :)
We love you, little man. And Daddy & I  can't wait to see how you fit into our family of boys!!
Love,
Your mama

Girls Weekend in Texas

Jeff has had a pretty crazy semester with school and work. This doctorate thing will be worth it, but it sure is hard!!  He wanted to make sure I had a fun girl's weekend before the baby gets here. With his school schedule this semester, January ended up being the best time for me to go. So I was able to escape the Utah winter and head to beautiful Texas for a weekend with my Mother & Sisters (in-law). 

It was SO MUCH fun and such a wonderful wonderful break.

I had a great flight and was able to READ the whole time. Oh how I love books.

Mom (Jeanne), Amanda, Amy, & Rachel all picked me up and we headed to a hotel in downtown Fort Worth. After we checked in we went straight to dinner at Joe T. Garcia's.  It has the coolest atmosphere and is the BIGGEST restaurant I've ever been to. We have a picture of all of us in front of a fountain that I need to get from someone...I'll post it later! 

But here is the restaurant from outside:

Then we went back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and headed out to check out the town. Here's the view from our window:

After browsing the shops (and Barnes & Noble, LOVE) we headed back to the hotel where we celebrated Amy's & Rachel's Birthday with Nothing Bundt Cakes. Mmmmm.. Heaven on a plate.  

Then, of course, we stayed up late talking & laughing and talking & laughing. 

It was awesome!!

Since we were on the 10th or 13th (or something like that) floor, we had quite a few elevator rides.  So we had some fun with the elevator's ceiling mirror:

Saturday there was a rodeo in town, so we were able to watch a bit of the parade after breakfast:

And then we walked through a bunch of the shops. We had to get a pic in some cowboy hats, so fun:

So my jacket looks like a duster with that hat! Oh well...

We also went to the movies, shopped, and had a wonderful day together!!  

That night I stayed at Joe & Amanda's. Amanda & April through a surprise birthday party for Amy. It was a lot of fun to visit with friends and talk about books, all in celebration of Amy. We love you!!  

Sunday was nice and relaxing. I'm bummed I didn't take any pictures, but I had so much fun with Cole & Owen. They were super cute and had drawn me some pictures. Then, while I was getting ready, Cole had painted another picture and slid it under the bathroom door. Love it. :) I had so much fun playing games with them. I only wish my boys were there for the fun, too!!  

Sunday night I stayed at James & Amy's. They had all the family over for dessert. It is always so good to get to visit with everyone:

Joe, Amanda, Cole, & Owen

Cute Ava(we did some coloring and painting on Monday together. She is such a hoot, love this girl!):

Sweet little Nora was in bed, so I took this the next day (and got my fill of girl cuddles in while I could!):

The kids had so much fun playing with Guy & Sharon:

Love Grandpa & Grandma Dean:

Guy & Sharon:

Jonathan & Rachel stayed to hang out after the rest of the family went home. We played Just Dance on the Kinect and laughed our heads off. Pretty much the funniest night ever:

Watch out! Prego-lady busting a move (kind of scary!)

Monday was another fun day. We went to the Half Price Bookstore (love that place!!) and then met Mom & Dad for lunch.  Then we headed over to Jonathan & Rachel's cute new apartment.  They gave me a Cliff's Donut that I saved for Jeff (yes, this is important!!  And then we left for the airport, where I got in some more reading. ah, bliss. :)

It was a whirlwind trip that was such a great break and a wonderful reminder of just how much I love family. It was just the weekend I needed to recharge and gear up for this next semester of craziness!!  

I am so lucky to have such an amazing family on both sides.  I truly truly wish we lived closer  to any or all of them.  We had a few years close to siblings (the last ones leave in the spring, boo)...you don't realize, until everyone is far away, how much it meant to have them close.  We miss the visits, the quick stops to say hi, the babysitting swaps, the birthday parties with tons of family, and just having people around who you can rely on because they are family. Families are meant to be there for each other. Maybe for some people being far away is better, but not for me. I need family and it is has been so hard to have that slowly go away.  

In the meantime, we will especially enjoy our trips like this. 

They are jam-packed full of everything great & remind us just how much we love each other. 

Okay, mushiness over. 

I couldn't have gone on this awesome trip, without this man's help. The boys love Love LOVED their Guys' weekend with dad. They had a slumber party in the living room, tricked dad into TWO nights out to eat (Weston's doing), and were spoiled with his TIME. They have missed having him around, so it was an especially sweet weekend for them.

Thanks, babe, from every bit of my heart. 

It wasn't nearly a big enough thank you, but he did enjoy EVERY SINGLE bit of that Cliff's Donut!

Arrrrg, Mother-Son Pirate night!!

Weston's school had a pirate night for the boys and their moms. It was so fun and West LOVED going on a date with just me. Add dressing up, walking the plank, pirate bombing, and a treasure to the mix and it sure to be a sucess!!  

We had a blast!

Weston and his friends, walking the plank: