A Mothers Sorrow

A mother I do not know will bury her 2 month old child today. I found her story through my cousins blog. Her trial brought me to tears as her baby boy was born just three days after Maggie. I felt a sense of sorrow, sadness, and a gratitude for the gospel. I held Maggie a little longer before bedtime last night. You can read more about her story here, but first get a box of kleenex. http://www.natalienortonphoto.com/

This amazingly strong mother needs our prayers today.

Tubing & Hot Chocolate

Notice the old school string hooking her mittens together. Cute little snow girl.

I'm not sure if Sophie even got any hot chocolate in her mouth..most of it is down her coat

Taylor, Ellie & Sophie

We had a great time tubing with all of Nates family over New Years...even baby Maggs got all decked out in her hat and gloves. Sledding and hot chocolate...hard to beat.

A Name and A Blessing

Aunt Lauren and Aunt Hailee

Proud Grandpa C

Daddy and Maggs

Last Sunday, we blessed our Maggie Jane. Nate did an incredible job. The spirit all through Sacrament meeting was tangible. It was a wonderful day filled with family, food and fun. Thanks to our amazingly supportive family. We are blessed.

Brown Baggin' It

So today I did something I thought I might never do...I entered our local liquor agency and purchased some Marsala wine. You see, Nate has this love affair with the Marsala Chicken from the Olive Garden. So I got online, found the recipe and decided to make it. I had all the ingredients minus the wine. And you can't pick that up here at the local Walmart, so off I went. I have to say I was slightly nervous. I mean what's a person to think when they see their Primary President coming out of the liquor store with a brown bag??? Well I did it and it was even half price today for a grand total of $3.99. Who says drinking is expensive :) So I'll let you know how my first experience cooking with wine goes. Bottoms up!

(ok I know that last little "bottoms up" bit is probably more for beer...but my alcohol/wine/beer lingo just isn't all that expansive)

And on another note, the building where the liquor agency is, was the place where my Grandpa was born. It used to be his father's bakery. I feel a full circle moment coming...

Jealous???

For Christmas we draw names and this year my brother drew Nates name. Lucky for him! So this year Rob gave Nate this custom made toilet paper holder. I know you are all jealous...so for those of you who are dying to have one of these beauties, you can come get ours :) Thanks Rob for this one-of-a-kind item. We love it??

A moment of Perfect

Today I sat holding my Maggie Jane in a soft, comfy blanket, watched snow fall outside my window and read 9 chapters from the Christmas Jars Reunion book. It was an hour and a half of perfection. And an excellent book so far. I highly recommend the first one as well.

I'm Dreaming...

Of a white Christmas and that's what we woke up to this morning..about 6 glorious inches. although I just spent the better part of my morning shoveling the garage and walkways. And it wouldn't be so bad except that after it's been driven on, that snow doesn't come off. So as I'm pushing my shovel along, I hit the driven on part and it jars the shovel into my gut. Again and again. But it looks like we'll have a white Christmas after all! I feel bad for Nate who has to deliver in this mess. Yesterday he got stuck in his UPS truck for a total of 3 hours. Poor guy! Only 2 more miserable days left.
Merry Christmas

Facts about Yours Truly

1. I don't mind doing laundry..even folding it..but I hate loads of whites. Socks, garmmies, too many pieces...I dread doing whites

2. I don't drink pop..I don't like it. But i do like Welches Grape...it's delicious. My friend says she doesn't consider it "real" pop.

3. I love Fruit Roll-ups. They are a tasty bit of goodness. They need to come in like 2 feet wrappers. The size they are now, can be eaten in like 3 bites. I'm probably too old for fruit roll-ups but i don't care. i buy them and am the only one who eats them. Secretly, they were on sale at Albertsons the other week for .99 a box. I bought 8 boxes. I'm not lying.

4. I love to read. If i get to engrossed in a book, my children will be eating cereal. I make myself set goals and then if I reach them, I can read. Like I'll tell myself no reading until the laundry is done or something like that..otherwise nothing gets done.

5. I love blogging and reading blogs. Why are we so fascinated with other people..I think it makes us feel normal.

6. I love a freshly vacuumed house. Because even if the house is dirty, the vacuumed floor makes it seem clean.

7. I love the gospel. I feel blessed to be a daughter of God, doing His work in raising my children. I am terrified of failing. I ask Him each day to help me be a better mother.

8. I love peppermint stuff. I hate cinnamon stuff.

9. I am the pickiest shoe person ever...ask my sister. I can go into a department store full of shoes, and maybe find one I like. I am not kidding. I want to like them all, but I just don't. I think there is something wrong with me.

10. I am like every other woman and can talk about giving birth, nursing, periods, and other womanly things for hours on end.

So there you have it, facts about me, interesting or not, I think my kids might like to know things about me later in life..when they think I'm all fuddy-duddy. Maybe reading things like this will change their minds. I think I'm a hoot! Then they will read that I said "hoot" and go back to thinking I'm a fuddy-duddy.

Whistle While you....

My 9 year old son has recently learned to whistle. I can't say I'm all that excited because now that's all I hear..constant whistling...and come to think of it, it's more of a high-pitched blowing noise. Whatever it is, it's rather annoying but I don't dare say anything, cause he seems so darn proud. Whadda ya do!

The More the Merrier???

Each Thanksgiving, I try to get a nice family picture. I dress the kids in nice clothes and then threatened them with their lives if they don't smile nicely for at least one picture. As you can see, I need to practice my threats :) My sister-in-law kindly snapped a few shots and as I was trying to decide on one of the okay, traditional, posed pictures, I looked at this one and thought..oh heck why not. It's what we all know and experience anyways. It depicts our life perfectly. We are never perfectly dressed, happy smilers in real life. Our lives are happy but crazy. So I choose this great picture for our Christmas card. Ordered them on Shutterfly with the caption "The More the Merrier???" I have decided it is now my favorite Christmas card to date! Plus it was fun to step outside my comfort box and do something unexpected. So if you didn't get a card, here it is. Merry Christmas!

6 Weeks and growing

So my sweet Maggie Jane will turn 6 weeks old tomorrow. How insane is that! Time truly flies. It's one of those things my mind can't wrap around..this time thing. It will be one of my questions for God. How does time work? Why does it seem to go so fast but slow at the same time? I'll find out one day. But for now, I will continue to enjoy each moment of this little girls' life. She is amazing and beautiful..oh how we love her!

What was I thinking???

So being the nice mom (aka lost my mind nutsy mom) that i am, I decided to have a birthday party for my adorable daughter that turned 7 yesterday. Wow was that a special idea. I had great intentions...her invitations were plastic bowling pins with a cute ribbon and invite tied on...I made cupcakes, and got balloons. It was gonna be great and so much easier than having it at my home. HAHAHAHAHA!

Good thing I enlisted the help of my mom and mom-in-law. My mom got the fun part..she watched Maggie while Connie and I corralled all nine girls, plus Connor and his friend, plus Sophie and her cousin Mason. Here is what you would have heard, had you been there-

"I want to go first" "No I do" "Can I have the pink ball" "I want the yellow one" "Are we gonna eat dinner? cuz I'm hungry" "Can I have quarter?" "Are we done?" "Do you have any gum?" "Can I have a quarter?" "How come Brynne has a toy?" "Can I push this button?" "Can I have a quarter?" "When can we eat?" "Let's open presents"

This was constant and in between all of this, Connie and I were yelling across the bowling alley trying to find the girls to tell them it was their turn. It was one of those events that when it was all over, you are sweating and seriously wondering why you thought it would be easier to do a party at the bowling alley.

In theory parties are a great idea...kids have fun, get to play with friends, get presents, and eat lots of junk with sugar.

In reality all those things are true but you have to add..lots of stress for mom. And although it was a lot of stress and craziness for about an hour a a half, Ellie had a great time with her friends. I do think we will make parties an every other year occurrence though!

A couple of Boo-Bees

So I had forgotten how ginormous your boobies get while nursing. Who needs a boob job...just have a kid and nurse. Although after your 4th kid, they tend to be a little on the droopy side and by little I mean A LOT!! Because if you ever saw me without a bra, you would be scared...really scared. The ladies are seriously out of control..and I forgot that it totally burns slash stings when your milk lets down every time..at least for the first little while. OUCH! So for now I have leaky, big, ugly (and all you nursers out there know why i say ugly) boobs. Just how big does your areola and nipple have to be?? I must really love this kid. The things I put my body through! The sad part is the shriveled up prunes they become when the nursing is all done. That's when you need a booby job. And I'm not totally opposed to the whole idea. But for now they are giant enough. So there you have all the nursing and boob honesty..and would you expect anything less from me? And this post is for girls only unless you want your honey to be so grossed out.

One Week Old...

It's hard to believe that a week has gone by since we had sweet Maggie...As you can see, she's adorable :) and she is such a good baby. We love her so much and although one more has added more chaos to our home, we are loving it. (most of the time)

Below are a couple of pictures that made me realize how big Sophie is. She is definitely not my little baby anymore. Coming home from the hospital with 8lb. Maggie, made me realize just how big she is. So Sad! But she is a huge help and loves giving her sister kisses. Now if we could just get that girl potty-trained...holy cow are her diapers big!


Funny comment...the other day Maggie was crying and Sophie said to me, "Is her crying cause she is "firsty" fur yer boo-boos?" You gotta love that two year old! She is hysterical.

Where Angels Fall...

An angel came to our home yesterday...her name is

maggie jane

Welcoming one of God's choicest spirits into our home is absolutely the most amazing experience. You forget what a true miracle life is. I imagine that moments before she came to us, she was talking to her Heavenly Father who was comforting her and encouraging her as she was about to begin this scary and unknown part of her life. Telling her that she was so blessed to be coming to a home where she would be loved and so wanted. And that he hoped more than anything to see her again someday. The veil is thin as these amazing spirits enter this world. I have no doubt of that.

Maggie surprised us on the eve I was supposed to be induced. I laid in bed thinking of what she would look like, how cute and perfect her nose would be, how much our lives would change, when I felt a rush of warm water. I've never had my water break...and all I could do was try to hold it in (yea impossible) and get off my new bed. We rushed to the hospital at about 11:45 and she was born at 3:05. Not too bad. Everything went perfect. She weighed in at 8lbs even and stretched 21 inches. My biggest girl yet. She was wide eyed and gorgeous. Nate and I are in love again with another daughter.

What an amazing blessing.

Life and my Bathtub

Do you know what I hate about life??? The little inconveniences that happen that serve no purpose and that cost money and time. What am I talking about you ask? Well let me fill you in. Yesterday I was getting into the shower when my almost empty, plastic bottle of body wash fell into the tub and put a hole in it. HELLO!! How does that happen? We drop the kids bath toys that are hard as rocks in there all the time and nothing happens..but no a plastic bottle is the culprit. So I call the Plumbing place here and they refer me to a guy who comes down occasionally from SLC to fix these problems. I have called him for 2 days, left messages..even told him I was having a baby next week (I was hoping for a fast, sympathy call) and NADA. Nothing! Things like this just irritate me. It's because I'm gonna have a baby. I want things all in order and ready. I don't have the time or money for things like this. Oooooh I am so irritated. And lately all i do is cry. I cry because he won't return my phone calls, I cried because my mom offered to wash my swing and bassinet and then she offered to take me to get my hair done. I cried because Nate said he would get the kids to school this morning but he was snoozen away. At this point I will cry over pretty much anything. So I guess I am supposed to learn patience in these situations but I'm sick of it. I don't want any patience right now. I just want my tub fixed before I have this kid!

Pumpkin City

Our haul...pretty good eh?
Nate and Ellie with more gourds

Connor collecting gourds...gotta have some for my porch decor!

These two are only weeks apart and are the best of friends

Sophie and her sidekick MaceDog!

Pumpkin picking at this huge farm has become a tradition for our family. So for Home Night last week, we headed over to this great place. They take you out on their tractor into the patch and then you get to choose from thousands of pumpkins. We had a great time even if it was cold. And if I would have been smart, I would have had Nate gone an hour before us. He is such a perfectionist...looking for the perfect pumpkin to carve. It took him forever. But I'm sure his pumpkin will be the best. It always is.

Wedding Numero Dos

These are a few pics of my brother Robbies wedding. He was married Sept. 12th. He finally found someone who will put up with him. :) Hailee is amazing and we are excited to have her join this crazy fam! The wedding was beautiful. Congrats you two!

Connor and Ellie found the good stuff and filled their bags with treats all night long.

They had these enormous cupcakes that Sophie had to have. Of course she ate just the frosting.

Oh Where, Oh Where have my ankles gone...

Oh where, Oh where can they be???? So as amazing and miraculous as pregnancy is, I've decided it's just not that glorious. Those pregnant models you see in magazines for maternity clothes. They don't exist. It's all a scam to make us pregnant women feel even worse about life. With 3 weeks left, I have no ankles and can only stuff my feet into flip-flops. Seriously. Ellie asked me on Sunday why I got to wear flip-flops to church. I really am at my wits end about it all. Heavenly Father was so smart when he figured out all this prego stuff. He knew he would have to make us forget all about how hard and miserable the last few weeks are. Otherwise, His world would be sparsely populated. But no.... He was smart and we women forget and keep having kids. Will we ever learn? So the countdown is on. I am scheduled for an induction on the 21st. Why an induction you ask...here is a brief history on my labors-

Connor- pushed for 2 hours..his ginormous head paved the way for his sisters

Ellie- pushed twice..the doctor ran in the room just in time to catch her

Sophie- no pushes..she delivered herself. I am not kidding. Ask Nate who almost passed out when they pulled back the sheets and her head was already out, followed immediately by the rest of her body.

So my Dr. said he would actually like to deliver this one and he is scheduled to be on ER call so he'll be at the hospital. He's worried that if my water broke I wouldn't make it to the hospital.

I know I am lucky and the nurses all tell me I am built to have at least a dozen kids but I'll just leave that up to the Dugger family on TLC. She's crazy if you ask me.

So 21 more days. I can do that. At least I am telling myself I can. Kankles and all!

Up to our "Ears"

Bags of "gold" as deemed by Nate who shucked all 95 ears...bless his little heart

What perfect corn shucking form..just ignore the 8 month prego belly in the way

I don't profess to be a canning guru but one thing I do love is my Grandpa's corn..which isn't exactly his corn since he died years ago. But the truth of the matter is, is that it has and still is grown in his garden. So I still call it Grandpa's corn. Now it is grown by my dad and uncle. Oh occasionally (and I mean like once or twice) I take a water turn but mostly I just reap the amazing benefits. Now let me be clear people. This is unlike any other corn you have had. It is special and it is soooo good. We order the seed from somewhere back East and I know it's fairly expensive. But boy is it worth it. So back to my canning abilities. Not that you can corn, but we freeze it so we can enjoy the deliciousness all winter. So Nate and I decided to be ambitious and here you can see the result. After picking, shucking, cleaning, boiling, and taking the kernels off the cob (I don't know if there is a name for that) of 95 ears of corn, we ended up with 36 luscious bags of "gold" that will be thoroughly enjoyed.