Independence Day!

 We had such a fun 4th of July! 

My dad & Trav were here helping Shawn move (he was moving to CA and then on to TX for med school).

It was a relaxing day and we didn't do a ton, but what we did was just right.
We passed on our tradition of early morning hot air balloons in Provo because of the baby. Best decision. Mornings are a little slow over here due to middle of the night feedings!

My dad said he wanted to go up to his uncle's for the day and we were invited. Perfect, we were so thrilled!

So we joined my dad at  Joanne & Earl's and a bunch of  (extended) family we rarely see for a delicious bbq and some running around:  

The kids were in outdoor heaven. Dirt, sandbox, swingset, toys, and kids. Perfect day!

This is a really horrible picture of me (blame it on the angle/late nights/post baby body?!) but we're all in it, so  here it is:

My dad got to meet Callen for the first time this trip:

Callen loves being held and being outside.

Ryder thought this chair was awesome:

I love this man:

After dinner we headed back to our city to meet up with our wonderful friends for our own fireworks show. Our kids have only ever stayed up for fireworks once, so this was totally new and exciting for them.

Will & Geniel are AWESOME and we had so much fun hanging out with them:

 I love Ryder's face...he did NOT want to touch it!

Our kids are such great friends, it makes it so fun to get together!

June's Everyday Moments

June was pretty full. New baby. Packing. Adorable boys.

The boys absolutely adore Callen. No sibling jealousy going on here...we feel so lucky. They all take turns holding him, singing to him, and loving him. 

Ryder, especially, LOVES to sit by him and watch him. It is so sweet to see our crazy, busy boy taking the time to be a good big brother:

Ryder resting on my bed while I pack:

Joe & Amanda sent us such a fun Congrats package after we had Callen. 

They were delicious and we enjoyed every bite (THANKS!!!):

Lots of snuggling going on at our house:

Story time with these cute guys is always exciting:

Heading out for a walk with the littlest man:

I hate goodbyes.

Right after I had Callen Steph told me she and Brett were moving. Out of state. Boo.

I am SO incredibly happy for them. Truly. It is really hard not living by any grandparents or siblings.  And I am very very glad for her that her kiddos get to live by Grandma & Grandpa now. 

However. Since neither one of us lived by a lot of family, we did a lot together. Steph was my person. She was the one I could call for anything. She always listened, I loved her kids & she loved mine, and we would help each other out anytime. Date night swaps, carpools, girls nights (not enough of those), etc. It was awesome. She is awesome. 

So. before they moved we finally had the barbeque we had been talking about doing forever.

It was great. And I miss her. And the boys. And sweet, adorable Eden whose cheeks I just loved to kiss.

And maybe Brett too. ;)

Thanks for a fun last night together!! 

oh the fun these boys had!

Birthday bash with the cousins!

We celebrated Weston's birthday with the family a few days late. It turned out SO awesome since we were able to have a relaxing afternoon with just family.  

Since Tave's birthday was right before the baby was born, we hadn't given him his 'big' gift.  We finally ordered it through Amazon and gave it to him earlier in the day. It turned out perfectly- both boys had some thing fun and new to ride outside:

Uncle Shawn came to celebrate with us, the boys sure love him:

Me & Tanneah, Chels & Callen.  These two will be best buds soon:

We went on a treasure hunt to find the party favors:

He was THRILLED to get a scooter and couldn't wait to try it out:

Blowing out the candles:

Chels, Rob, Syanne, Aydrien, Reverie, & Tanneah. Love them!

All the cute kiddos, I love that everyone has a buddy their age!!!

We love our cousins and can't wait for Mila & Kapria to get here so we're all together again!

Callen: 1 month

Our sweet little guy has been with us for an entire month!  

I can't believe how slowly and yet how quickly this month has gone. It was full of smiles and tears and many nights of feeling overwhelmed. I have 4 boys. FOUR!  Wow!! As tired as I am from late night feedings and chasing around 3 active boys, we really feel so blessed. 

Callen has truly been such a blessing in our home. He is such a calm and content baby and oh so very very loved by his brothers.  

 He only ever cries when he is hungry and having to wait for his food or if his diaper needs changing.  I try to feed him when he starts giving his hungry cues (waking up, wiggling/squirming, and sucking on his lip or fist) but it doesn't always happen as fast as he or I would like (due to other kiddos needing things as well).  Typically my boys have all hit a fussy period between 6-12 weeks where they cry a lot at night, so we'll see what happens....  We are hoping Callen's calm, sweetness will stick around through those difficult weeks.  Because so far he is a little angel amidst the craziness in our home!  


Because he had jaundice, his first few days at home were spent in the bili-bed. It was hard not to be able to hold him, but he got used to sleeping in here and was a little champ! We only ended up having to keep him in it for 3 days...those 3 days sure were long!

This month has included lots of late nights. Jeff has been so amazing helping me whenever I need it:

He has spent a LOT of time sleeping:

At one month old he is just starting in size 1 diapers. He weighs 10 lbs. and is beginning to get some chubbiness around his legs. So cute and sqeezable!  He sleeps pretty much all day long and then has a longer time of being awake in the evening after the boys have gone to bed. I think he just likes the quiet!  He loves to eat and has been an awesome nurser since he was born.  From about 8pm-midnight is when he just loves eating, then sleeping on mom and snuggling, and eating some more. He still wakes up a few times a night to eat but goes right back to sleep afterwards, which is awesome! (the other boys all had periods of awake time in the middle of the night..not a fan!)  He absolutely loves sleeping in the bed with Jeff and I. That's not so great, but since it gets us a couple extra hours of sleep at night, it's worth it!  

He is such a little snugglebug already and just loves being held. He started giving us the sweetest smiles this week. Definitely the highlight of our day every time we get one!  

We feel so blessed to have our Callen. We were worried about how the boys (especially Ryder) would do with him once they realized he wasn't leaving. They all absolutely adore this little guy. Everyone loves holding him, kissing him, and just being around him.  It is so fun to see these 4 darling boys all together and we are  loving every bit of being a family of 6.  Welcome to our family, sweet boy, we are so happy you are here!