Family time

Chelsea & her kiddos stayed with us for about 3 weeks.  

It was a very FULL few weeks since, between the two of us, we have 8 kids ages 6, 4, 2, 1, & baby. 

BUSY is the word to describe it!  We had fun, though, playing outside (when it wasn't raining), jumping on the tramp, and going going going.  I'm sad we didn't take more pictures, but we honestly fell into bed exhausted every night. Getting the kids fed, off to school, and through the day was enough. :)  

We really loved getting to spend so much time with her and the kids.

We took the kids on a walk one day after we'd been stuck inside for awhile due to rain. It was a much needed breath of fresh air.  We had fun and got done just in time for more rain to hit.  The kiddos looooved the trail:

hiking stick a must:

 Chels & her cute kids:

Ryder & Reverie are little buds:

Callen enjoying the ride:

 Syanne:

Slow pokes with their sticks:

 Tave found a TON of sticks to throw off the bridge into the water, love this kid:

Stick dropping with Ryder:

My Tave always, always finds me a flower. I love how sweet and thoughtful he is and I love this little sign of spring:

These kids had a blast together. Here as a rare, quiet moment when they were exhausted enough to all sit down and watch a show. I LOVE this picture:

The dynamic duo...oh can you see the mischief in those grins?!

Sweet little Nea, I love that she warmed up to me and loved to snuggle:

Last year, when I had Callen, my  mom was going to come help me and stay for awhile. But her back went out and she ended up having to postpone the trip...until now! So we got a fun-filled week with Nonny-Kare. It was much needed after the crazy-hard semester Jeff has had. We didn't see him much and we were all ready for it to be over!

My nice camera is in the shop...so I forgot to take pictures...I'll have to get more from everyone else. We had a fun girls movie night, lots of hang out time, and lots of talking and playing. It was such a good visit...THANK YOU MOM for all that you do!

Nonny Kare was the popular request for bedtime stories:

And we got to see Mckenon really quickly on his way up to ID for school.

Okay family, I need the rest of the pics from the trip!!!!  

Love you all!

Callen: 11 months

Callen's stats:

Height: 

Weight: 20 lbs

Takes two 1.5-2 hour naps a day

Sleeps 12 hours at night

Callen at 11 months:

Our cute boy is a bundle of energy now!!!  He NEVER stops moving. 

He is a pro crawler and gets any & everywhere!

He loooooves exploring every single bit of our house, and finds all sorts of stuff to show for it!

He pulls himself up to stand on everything, now.  If an item is taller than him, it's fair game.

Tries to walk by pushing objects around: chairs, stools, ride on cars, benches, etc.
He has strange obsessions with random objects like stools (this one and another one), the vacuum, microwave, etc. It's so funny.

Got his top two front teeth.  He is looking so big now with 4 teeth!

He eats AMAZING. He absolutely loves finger foods and has almost given up baby food. He's just not interested in it anymore.

He's done nursing.  We went to the bottle because he was pretty much starting to wean himself (by not being interested) but we kept it up for a little bit longer. He is officially only on bottles now. A bittersweet moment for this mama.

He's fascinated with faces and loves to touch/scratch/pinch/pat them.

Started making the 'kissing' noise. It's so hilarious and oh so sweet.

He started clicking his tongue. So fun when they start discovering their sound effects!

He started saying Mama. Best day. I love it!

He throws everything. EVERYthing. 

Really likes being outside

He stood alone for the first time. He hasn't done it a lot since, but sometimes he'll slowly let go of what he's holding onto and try to balance.

Dear Callen,

This has been a month of growth. You are soaking in every thing you can and leaving baby-hood behind. I am a little mixed on how I feel about this...I just want you to stay my sweet little baby!  But it makes you so  happy and excited that I can't be sad for long. Your enthusiasm for every bit of life is catching and we love that about you. I love the way your face lights up when you see any one of us. I love the way you touch my face as I give you a bottle and I love the sweet kissing noises you make when you lean in to plant a big, slobbery, wet kiss on me.  You like to move so much that snuggles are hard to come by. But oh, when they do come, we are all the more ready to treasure it!  

You, my little Callen, are a determined little man. That is going to help you so much in life.  We are so glad we're along for the ride.

We love you,

Mommy, Daddy, & the bros.

Zoo Day!

Jeff had to work over spring break (almost done with the doctorate degree, yipee!)  but I made sure we took one day to do something fun as a family. We talked my two sisters into coming, also, and made a day of it.  It was CRAZY busy, but the kids loved it anyways. :)  I'm getting the rest of the pics from my sisters...but here is my little fam having fun:

We love the new polar bear exhibit (but didn't get a shot of the bear, oops)

Ryder loves being carried in this:

Always one of our favorite animals:

And then the boys all requested individual pics with Dad...I think they miss him, he was the highlight of their day!

I love these monkeys:

Easter

Easter was fun and eventful this year! 

We had Chelsea & her four kiddos staying with us, so we stayed super busy.

It was great to have all the kids together and they loved hunting for their baskets and eggs. 

It was Callen's first Easter...I think he liked it. :)

For Chels & mine and Jeff's basket.  That Easter bunny remembered us all!

We had a yummy family dinner with Shar & Trav and the girls coming down too. I love having all the cousins together, despite the craziness that 10 kids bring!  Holidays are always more special by celebrating them with family.  

Despite the busy-ness of the day, I was so grateful for a few calm moments to reflect on the divine gift our Savior gave us on that long ago morning.

I am so grateful  for a Savior who knows me personally. Who knows what (and who) I need in my life to turn me into the person He knows I can be.

 I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the Atonement and that we will be a forever family because of Christ's Resurrection.

How blessed I am to have these sweet, wonderful boys in my life. 

I sure wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now, than right here with these guys:

March's Everyday Moments

March is usually one of THE longest months because there isn't a day off school or anything special to break it up. However, our March FLEW by this year.  Four boys definitely keep me busy and even though we are officially SICK of winter and ready for spring to get here, we are still having fun and enjoying our days indoors. I love these silly kids and the craziness and joy they bring to our family.  Being a mom is challenging in so many ways, but it's also more rewarding than anything else I could be doing right now. I love that I know where every bump and bruise comes from and seeing every beautiful moment between brothers unfold. I sure love the typical, everyday moments.

So here's our everyday happenings in March:

Morning snuggles. Always a fav:

Ryder made his bed ALL BY HIMSELF! He was so proud to show me:

It was extra quiet one night as we were getting ready for bed...I came in to find this, melt my heart:

My Dad let Tave try his blue tooth, which Tave thought was super cool:

*note: he broke it like 2 seconds after i took this picture, sorry dad!

Ryder loves to help with Callen! Here he's making sure Callen doesn't fall or tip the chair over (since he's still not too stable on his feet)

West making sure the chair is stable for Cal. My boys are such good helpers when I'm making dinner:

And Tave had to get in on the action and  show me how strong he is that he can pick up Callen now:

And of course, then they ALL had to pick him up, crazy boys!

We do weekly movie nights..this one was Wreck it Ralph, so cute! 

The boys were enthralled:

Except Callen, he just kept moving and moving and moving. Oh that smile!

Pretty much every morning he shows up in my room with a stash of stuff to show me:

Brothers,  "take our picture mom" Happy to, kiddos:

Dress ups are pretty much a daily occurance:

Serious:

He's always the dress up instigator:

Tired West:

I just love this little face:

And Ryder's favorite activity, GOO:

Sweet days that pass too quickly.