KIM's BABY SHOWER

Lily and I threw Kim, a young mother of two boy's a baby shower. Lily is really close to Kim and asked that I make a special quilt for her new little girl. I have never made a quilt like this for anyone except my sisters, not even my sister in-laws, sadly. I want to make one for everyone of my nieces and nephews, but they are expensive to make. Lily said, "I will pay for it if you make it." We went to the fabric store and picked out the fabrics together last Saturday. The baby shower was in one week. It wasn't much time and with a clingy baby it was hard, but I got it done. It turned out beautifully. 

Saturday morning as I was getting ready for the baby shower I was running around like a nutty mommy again. My girls were hungry and teasing. I had Sierra sit down and sew a simple skirt for the baby and Madison made scrambled eggs. She made two batches. She did it all herself except turn on the oven. Her daddy came home and said, "I hope some of those are for me." She said, "There are some for everyone cause no one will starve while I am cooking." I thought she was so precious. Sierra did a beautiful job sewing the skirt for the baby. She wants to sew another one for her sister and her. We will see. She is so talented. She can sew a straight line just as well as any adult. The skirt was beautiful. She was so excited about it.

The shower was a bit overwhelming and I dropped the ball on a few things. I don't think I will attempt to help throw one again this year but it was fun. Kim was so sweet and grateful. The blanket was beautiful, although I don't think the picture does it justice. You could feel that Kim loved it, which made every crazy second I spent on it worth it.

When the shower was over I came downstairs to crazy children who were overtired and hungry and a husband that was frustrated. I handled it with grace. I sent Nate to get a few things for dinner and had him make dinner while I bathed our babies. Then after they ate, I tucked them all in bed.

Madison has been asking for stories about her unicorn. I have to get a picture of that thing. (Side story: My sister and brother-in-law took Madison on a little day date while she was staying at Jennifer and Derrick's, to get better after that awful sickness. Karalee and Benji won a stuffed unicorn. When we meet up with my sister in Price and brought Madison home, Sierra burst into tears because she was jealous of all the attention and stuff Madison had. She said of the unicorn, admidst her tears, "Well, it is a little weird looking, but still it isn't fair.) Madison has slept with that unicorn every night since she got back. I started making up stories about the adventures of the unicorn. She wanted a quick story before she went to bed. I was telling the a story and said the word "poof" and apparently it is the funniest word on the planet because baby James giggled hard belly laughs over and over. I was still smiling about his giggles as I tucked him into bed that night. I was overwhelmed with how grateful I was to be the mother of these three precious souls.

MADISON'S LULABY

The other morning James was being very clingy. I really couldn't get anything done. I had spent all week making a quilt for a baby shower. I needed to go and buy the back and the binding. I was running around trying to get out the door. James was fussy. I just put him in his crib while I finished getting ready. I knew he was going to fuss for a little while longer but I didn't care. I didn't have time. He screamed for a while. Madison often seems to regard James's screams as background noise. Most of the time it is like she doesn't even hear him. She came in to the bathroom while I was quickly doing my hair and she said, "Mom, is it okay if I try to calm down Jamesy Boy?" I said, "If you want to." I heard him stop about the time I finished up my hair and so I went to check on them. She was sitting in his crib singing to him. She was singing random songs she had made up in a really sweet quiet voice. It was so precious. I had to take a picture. He wasn't asleep, but was just laying there peacefully. I love moments like these.

VOLCANO's

Sierra wanted to make a tornado in a bottle. She saw the experiment in a book at school and she wrote it down and brought it home to make. I used to make them all the time as a kid but I can't remember how. The internet connection is less than steller, so I have made scarce attempts to logon and google how to do anything. I had vinager and had read directions for how to make a volcano, which seemed cooler anyway. We built this volcano in the backyard. The girls loved it. I was a little disappoionted I expected a little more of a show. My Sierra thought it was awesome. I need to get a book from the library on more experiments she can do. 

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LAST DAY of SUMMER

Notice his two teeth. He is crawling everywhere. He eats everything he finds and the combination is lethal. I strongly wonder if he is going to make it. He is constantly chocking on something.

His sister was carrying him through the kitchen and slipped on a toy, thus the knot on his head.

He wakes up every morning with a huge grin and I always say, "Good morning blue eyes!" All of my kids have blue eyes but none of them as piercing as James's eyes.

I am so sad for summer's end. I always wish we had of spent more time playing. We had to move again, which put a huge kink in our summer plans. Next year we will be going no where. We are just going to stay home and play. If you want to join us in Fruita you will have to come here. We have big plans. We are not moving again!

 Love this picture. It just makes we laugh.

 I know I am bias but I have beautiful babies. I think we should have a dozen more.

I think he is eating a blade of grass in this picture. Silly boy won't stop eating everything in sight.

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY

 Sierra turned eight years old this week. I can't believe how much she has grown. She will be baptized on the 31st of this month. I am so overwhelmed with the thought. She is such a beautiful girl. She fills our family with so much joy. She was telling Madison stories she made up the other night and it was so sweet to listen to them chatting and giggling together. Sunday night I asked the girls to clear the dishes and rinse them and stack them in the dishwasher. They did it every bit as well as I could have and never complained, it made smile. I thought this is why you put all the effort into teaching them. Having a little helper in life makes life easier.

She wanted a friend birthday party. She has never had one before. Last summer she cried because she wanted one so much but we were in the middle of moving and I told her I promise next year but this year it just isn't possible. Well another year passed and although we had just moved again I had to make good on my promise.

It was a simple party. We made personal homemade pizzas. We had cake and ice cream and watched Pete's Dragon and painted toe nails.  Her friends had a good time and she had a lot of fun.

I bought her a table for her birthday and told her that was all she was getting from us because she was having a birthday party and her friends were bringing presents. We went out to lunch with daddy and Nate said, "So squirmage what did you get for your birthday." She said, "A table!" He said, "Wow, a table. Your mom got you a table for your birthday. Wow." He was not impressed. He came home from work and crashed her party with snorkeling gear. She was so excited. Earlier that morning she was screaming around the house that she was now eight so she could learn to scuba dive. She has been anxiously waiting since she was three to be eight. She wants to dive with sharks, that's my girl.

TONGUE

James has discovered his tongue. He is growing in beautiful ways and I love every ounce of him.

I have hated not blogging over the last month. My life was turned upside down for a moment while we moved again. Oh my, will it ever end? I hope the next move will be into a home we own. Where we can stay as long as we want. I think there must be something in me that likes change because I seem to always end up in places where we don't stay long.

I was a bit overwhelmed with this last move and absolutely didn't want to do it. I was dragging my feet for weeks and was really undecided on what we should do. Our friends who owned the home we were living in decided to sale the home, so we were looking for another rental. My Relief Society President offered her basement apartment. I was unsure whether I wanted to give up a single family house, but in the end decided to do it because Sierra would be able to stay in her same school with her friends and we would be able to continue in the same ward. Besides, her basement apartment is over 2,000 square feet, so there is plenty of room.

My sweet, amazing sister Tamara came helped for a week. She was so sweet during my crazy emotional rollercoaster and was grateful, I am sure, to be out of the drama and back to her own life.

Then my in-laws came into town for a family reunion. We planned it at Christmas time not realizing we would be in the middle of a move and Nate would be in the middle of one of his most stressful weeks of work he has had since opening his practice. I wanted to just call and cancel but they wouldn't let me out of it. I am glad they didn't. Although there wasn't much fun had, they helped me move my entire house. I felt so blessed. I have never needed them more and been so grateful for their rescuing hands. Brandon did everything I needed done and couldn't do and Mom, Dad, Heather and Jarom hauled box after box after box. I would not have made it without them. A simple thank you could never be enough.

We are now basement dwellers and we like it. We have a storage room for all of our food storage which is unheard of in this valley. We finally got the internet and life fells normal again. Sigh....