The crib

I totally forgot to post about Erika moving into the kids' room and being in her crib! I was having such a hard time with the IDEA of the transition that it took me a little longer to make it, but she and I have both done SO WELL!!! She still wakes up her one time in the night for a feeding and I usually put her in my bed with me for the all-you-can-nurse, all night buffet, but I think it's really been better for she and I. I miss her. I miss listening to her sleep but frankly it was starting to take its toll really. And I know that she's more comfortable in the crib than the lame pack-n-play that she was in. You can tell by how well she transfers from arms to bed now. We did get her a new little music box thing for her crib which she absolutely LOVES!!! Nana gave Charity one when she was a baby and all of our kids that had that loved it (not enough to make the cut to Alaska apparently), we had to go get another one. Erika just stares at it! She's not waking up to mine or Nate's snoring anymore. I like having my bedroom back as well. I can now use Nana's rocking chair to the fullest.
I'm not sure why I was freaking out about the move to the crib this time. When Charity was a baby we had a little basinette thing for her. The weight limit for that was 15 lbs and I remember her hitting that weight limit right around 3 months. The transition went well, we were happy to have her in her own room. Then Kelly and Brad followed the same trend simply because of that basinette I think.... I really don't know why I really had THREE MONTHS as my age to move them out of my room. In Alaska Luke's little crib was so small that it fit well in my room and there was no need for a basinette. I think we waited a little longer to move him in with the kids simply because there wasn't a lot of room in the bedroom until we separated Brad from the girls. And then Noah. Well, we moved him out at 3 months just because as well. He was such a good sleeper it really made little difference. So here's Erika. Still waking up in the night, kind of a light sleeper, and well.... I feel like a lot of our really good bonding time has been at night. She had her sleep so messed up in the beginning she was not really asleep at night. So we would talk. And I loved it!! And no matter how many people told me I would get sick of that, or start to lose it with the lack of sleep, I think we did fine! And I was really okay with it. Now it feels like she's just getting cranky during the day because she has a hard time getting a real good nap. I feel like she is such a light sleeper that having three big brothers makes it almost impossible. SO anyway. I think she needed to move out, and she is 3 months (to fit my silly pattern), but it felt kinda sad for some reason too. I really do feel good about it now though. Monday was the first night and she did great. Bradley brought her to me the next night when she woke up for her midnight snack, and the next day I got out the baby monitor! Freaks me out to have my 5 year old boy climbing down from his bunk bed to get her out of her crib in the sleep dark! And it should. Anyway. We feel blessed that it has gone so well. I need to get a picture of her in her crib for this post. I will do that. But to keep it in the right spot chronologically.....

Friday's Fabulous Five

1. Got Erika a walker!! Pretty happy about that!! We also got her a new little crib toy.... she seems to be liking it enough to not cry when I put her in there at night, so that is a plus too. When we put Erika in the walker at the store she calmed right down and got all into it. The kids love playing with her while she is in it. it's funny to see such a shrimpy little girl in a walker, but she said she was ready for it! She hates laying down and hates not being able to see all that is going on. Funny girl.





2. On Sunday Bradley gave a talk. He did such an awesome job. He sure loves to hear himself talk in the microphone and he totally doesn't even get nervous at all. Honestly, I think I was more nervous "helping" him than he was.... sad, but true. He loved it. Also, I was able to sit in with Luke's class. His teacher is uncomfortable with being in there alone and it just so happened that Luke was the only kid there.... it was so cute to watch him in that setting. He listened so well, made the cutest comments, telling his teacher about swimming lessons, and his new bunk bed, his night light and how Kelly is the one that he wakes up when he's scared in the night and she gets in bed with him...... It was cute :) He was SO GOOD too. Surprising for me :) he's not one to sit still, but he did! And I'd normally think it was because I was there, but I don't think it was....

3. Got almost the WHOLE place clean on Monday, all by myself, felt SOOOOO good! Didn't last, but felt good.

4. Wednesday, The boys and I went to the free zoo day. We were supposed to meet up with my cousins, Becky, Maija-Liisa, and Kirstin, but with swiming lessons we didn't get there the same time as them, and then it was just so cold and I had to feed the baby that we really only saw each other for like 5 minutes. Kinda crazy. It was Noah's first time and I had totally forgotten my camera so I was bummed, but I did manage to get a few shots with my phone.... not nearly as good, but whatever. But in the afternoon. Kelly surprised us with a BLUE SLIP!!!! (that's a good thing at our school) It said she is a good example of following the class rules and very reliable.

5. Thursday I got some GORGEOUS flowers from Nate (a sweet little surprise that was delivered in the morning before I began my crazy day. And then later I got some FABULOUS cookies from Paradise Bakery :) mmmmmm my fave-wit!

Guessing Game

If you haven't already on Facebook, leave your guess of where we will end up moving to (out of Utah) as a comment on this post.... I'm offering a prize to the person who guesses closest.
(I'll give more details eventually.... still just waiting....)

What a fun day

these photos are terrible.... they're from my phone.... but they seem to get the job done


charity and the rat


Saturday was a really nice day. I realize now that it will sound like a boring post, but it's a day I want to remember. So sorry. We bumbed around a little in the morning then Nate wowed us all with a delicious bacon, sausage and egg breakfast.... SO yummy (so fattening too of course). Then we all went to Scott and Debe's house to pick up some baby clothes that they so generously are sharing with us. I know that I've said this a million times, but I just love hanging out with the Lignells. They are so laid back and easygoing.... makes me just forget my cares when I'm there. It's fun to laugh and joke with them. THe kids got to play with their latest pets, some rats, as well. We probably overstayed our welcome there then headed on over to our old dollar theater. Well, we thought it was a dollar theater.... when we got there we found that it has been changed to a FOUR dollar theater.... bummer. They didn't have any good movies at the right times though anyway, so we tried the dollar theater at Valley Fair Mall. That mall is so funny. Hopefully this doesn't offend anyone, but it reminded us of a giant flee market :). One thing's for sure, we don't feel like quite the freak show there with all of our kids because EVERYONE's got a swarm of kids around them. We feel so at home there anyway since it's one of the places Nate and I went when we were dating.... ::sigh:: memories ahhhhh. We looked at the movies they were playing and the ones we wanted were all over, so we basically treated our time there as if we were at a carnival or something.... it was a blast! We had some lunch/dinner at the food court. Let the kids play on the quarter toys (or should I say THREE quarter toys!!! good grief they really want to rip you off these days.... our kids don't evne know what they do anymore cuz I'm too cheap for that). We saw that Kiddie Kandids has gone out of business. Doesn't surprise me, they gave away too much stuff (probably why I loved it so much), and with everyone's personal photography businesses these days..... it was bound to happen. I wonder if they've got a bunch of props and stuff they need to get rid of.... I loved their props. Stopped in the toy store and found a few of our favorite games for way cheap and some cute little 30 cent maze books for Luke, the kid LOVES mazes, and some others for the older kids. Then we got to play in the little "Kid Zone" a little playground at the end of one of the allways. It was actually pretty nice, and I thought that would have been the perfect thing to have in Alaska when you couldn't do any park-y stuff in the winter. It was then that Nate spotted the arcade. Charity was bored with the kiddie playground so she and Nate snuck over to the arcade. I'm sure it took Nate back. It's been a while. Then we all went over there to play on everything.... they all got really good at the pinball machines. And these things weren't as overpriced as the dumb quarter toys. We then ran into a Jolene's which I had no idea existed in that Mall, and they just happened to be having a really awesome sale, so we picked up a Baptism dress (or as I later explained to her- a confirmation dress), 2 dresses for Erika, and another one for a friend of ours' baby. We only spent $80!!!! Which is what Charity's ONE dress would have been originally. I feel lucky :). Then we stopped in at Fanzz and found a really cool hat for Brad (again ON SALE). Then it was time to get going so we paid a visit to our old Popcorn store (HA! I don't even know what it's called :)). Nate and I have a tradition every time we go there to get some caramel corn :) Nate got some cinnamon kind as well. Then we ran into the candy barrel store too!! I had totally forgot about that place! Nate and I went there when we were dating with a shopping bag FULL of change!!!! Most of it was rolled (all that could be) and so we figured it would be fine, but the guy there totally gave us a hard time about paying with change.... funny. We've always had an inside joke about that. The kids all picked out a candy. I think Nate and I both wanted to just enjoy it and get it all in while we were there, since we know it will be a while before we can again. With this move ahead of us...... we get like that. It's nice that we have a little time to do all of "our things" before we go. As funny as it sounds, I will miss Valley Fair Mall and all the memories attached to it.



We came home and just threw everyone in bed.... we were so exhausted!!! But what a fun day.

Friday's Five Fabulouses

1. Friday was Charity's Valentine's party at school. Somehow I ended up being in charge of it, and I think it was a success. Charity said it was fun. If I ever do another one, I am going to do it even simpler though. We ran out of time to play the game that I really had wanted to do. I wish we'd just done that one first and nothing else :) But that's just because I'm a bit of a pessimist. It really went well. I loved being there with Charity too.


2. Monday was just overall a FABULOUS day. Took the boys to swimming then spent the rest of the day driving around to pick up the girls from their cousins' houses, and looking for some mattresses for the boys' new bunk bed..... I just loved having the time to spend with Nate. Felt like we were able to have some real conversation..... can't beat that!!!

3. Thursday night was our Relief Society night. It was a little health night, we learned a lot of cool techniques to help yourself find balance (physically, spiritually, and mentally).... I LOVED it. Felt like someone had reached into my head, pulled out all of my thoughts, and laid them out on the table. Everything the lady said felt like it was for me. She did a little relaxation thingy too, and I just couldn't get enough of that. SO nice. It's funny because as much as I enjoyed the more "Young Mommy" type lessons we've had in wards past, I have really enjoyed being a part of this older ward. I think they've really hit the nail on the head for me with the topics, and it's been a nice little change of pace I think. Here is the list of techniques she gave us (so if I lose the paper, it's not all gone):
Happy Healthy Living
1. Have a Passion
2. Be a Creator
3. Aerobic exercise-one hour daily
4. Eat three full meals a day!
5. Stay fit- weights, strength and flexibility
6. Have a friend to share with
7. Have a project you are working on
8. Be a life-long learner- read
9. Do something that challenges you!
10. Smile... fake it until you make it!
11. Only read or watch uplifting stories or movies
12. Have someone you can help!
13. Practice meditation and visualization
14. Deep Breathing
15. Let go of desires (this one sounds funny, but what she meant was let go of those things that you dwell on that you think you need to have to be happy. This was a MAJOR eye-opener for me.... I have issues with that. I'm hoping it will help me to enjoy NOW better if I can do this one)

Good Relief Society night if you ask me. Made me happy.

4. Bradley went to his friend Carsen's birthday party on Wednesday. He got to go to Kangaroo Zoo or "Kangaroo Bouncy Place" as he was calling it since he thought it was silly to call it a zoo when it's not one. So literal. He had a really great time though. He sure looked forward to it too.

5. Nate started calling facilities on Thursday..... the ball is rolling.....

6. On Tuesday night when Nate was at work I made a practice sling with some leftover Christmas material I have and I think it will work when I finally buy the stretchy stuff I want to make it with! I'm happy about that. I also made a nursing poncho thing.... it doubles as a car seat cover and it's really cute~ I'm happy about that too. I always get on these rampages to sew.... it will probably be another month before I do anything else. Like the binky clip I want to make.....

Kelly and Erika

Just another one of those moments where we got bored and I had the camera nearby so we ended up taking a bunch of pictures of the same thing :) These were too cute to pass up though.... I need to have them in my blog book.

Kelly just loves her so much. "Mom, take a picture of me and Erika!"

I love my girls' eyes in this one.

You can totally tell that Kelly's like, "this is MY sister!!! Don't you wish you had a cute little sister like me!" I just love 'em.

Luke's heart

The other day I was telling the kids things I love about them and Daddy. I said that Daddy's smile "still makes my heart skip a beat". Then just after I explained what that meant, my cute little Luke says to me, "Mom, my haowt (heart) goes fastoh (faster) when Ewika smi-ohs (smiles)." And he said it all sweet and solemnlike.... awwwwww- just makes me wanna kiss him! He loves his baby sister so much. Who woulda thought.

Happy Valentine's Day

Nate and I trade off with the planning of Valentine's Day and our Anniversary. This year was my year to plan V-day. As usual I had HUGE plans, really extravagant ideas, and way more things to do than can really be done by a couple with 6 kids. But as usual, I slacked off and didn't do any of the preparation for most of the ideas and ended up with basically nothing. In my defense most of it was ruined with the fact that we didn't have a sitter, but still.... I really needed to plan ahead more. I was really consumed with Charity's class party up until Friday and then I think my body was still coming out of the shock from it after that. Either way we had a nice Valentine's day. Very relaxed. We ended up taking the kids out with us on Saturday night for some pizza at our new favorite pizza place Fire House Pizza here in Centerville. I was amazed to watch my five little kids put away a whole large pizza in less than ten minutes!!! We thought for some reason we would have a lot leftover from the 3 pizzas we got, but no, we went home with only 2 measely slices. Kinda funny. (Steve was with us too, I should mention, so it wasn't like Nate and I ate 2 pizzas ourselves. They were mediums and the kids ate some of those too..... anwyay) We had to have some of their yummy FH'zookies afterward as well. If you haven't had one of those, they are TO DIE FOR!!! SO delicious! We gobbled those up pretty quick too. Pigs. Then we watched a movie together after getting the kids all in bed. That's as good as a date if you ask me. Nate surprised me with flowers and a gift on my pillow that night. SO sweet! Then Sunday morning Nate made breakfast AND dinner before church. (I realized tonight at the store that I haven't really cooked dinner in a while..... too long in fact) He makes an amazing roast, and topped it off with mashed potatoes. We headed out to Nate's parents' house for the family meeting after church. When we got home and Nate was putting kids in bed, I realized that my idea to do 12 days of Valentine's for him didn't need to be ruined, and instead I STARTED the 12 days ON Valentine's day.... kind of weird, but who cares. I think Nate will like it regardless :) So far it's just been treats, but I have big plans for some of the other days :) It was a nice Valentine's. I don't think Nate will have to do much to out do me this year for our Anniversary though :) Should be pretty easy :)....

I hope you all had a very nice Valentine's. I love that day, and love thinking about those I love. I finally remembered to stick everyone in front of the camera in our nice Sunday clothes this time. I was glad about that. Here are 2 of the three we took using the timer on my camera and propping my camera on the back of my Dad's couch..... I think they turned out pretty good considering-

You can see all the hearts from the girls' "heart attack" on Grandpa and Steve.

this one's my favorite. If only we had turned Erika around :(

Friday's Fabulous Five

1. Friday night Nate's Mom invited all the grandkids over for a little dinner at their house. THey did this last year and had the boys all prepare the meal and serve the girls. So this time it was the girls' turn to prepare the food and serve the boys. They had a lot of fun. Nate and I took Noah and Erika to Tsunami. It was a pretty good restaurant. I tried sushi for the first time after my big long break from when I was pregnant. It still didn't seem to go down right. It's so weird!! Maybe I shouldn't eat it anyway since I'm nursing. I just about puked the last time I had it while I was pregnant.... not good.

2. Saturday was an interesting day. It started out with a lot of naughty kids, several threats to not go but after letting the kids earn the chance back, we went to the Kids Show at the Expo center. I had bought some discounted tickets online, so I really didn't want to waste them and I really wanted the kids to be able to go. We had a total blast though so I'm glad we went! The kids got to go on the bounce houses and slides. Had their faces painted, lots of free prizes and coupons, a reptile show with a 150 lb, 11 foot long snake! karaoke, lots of sports to practice on. It was just a really fun outing. I finally got a new Scentsy warmer too (ours broke a while ago and I couldn't justify spending the money, but I got a killer deal on a warmer and 3 bars, so I justified it :)) Noah stayed in the stroller 95% of the time, but jumped out when he saw this cute little dog. It was so cute to see him get all excited about the dog. One of these days I will convince him that the bouncy slides are fun.... someday. Good times though. If only I'd known that the camera had been in the diaper back the whole time!!!! Could have had more than just the few pictures I took with my phone.

3. We had a pretty different kind of Sunday but it was still really nice. Charity had a sore throat so we kept her home while Nate and I traded off to go to church and teach our lessons. I did Sharing time and I wasn't AS nervous as I've been. I felt really good about it this time anyway. It was funny because I had read through the outline for the thing a while ago and thought it sounded really boring, just reading a lot of scriptures, and so I was racking my brain trying to think of something to do with it, but then Sunday morning when I finally sat down and read through the scriptures it had listed, I was SO touched by the Spirit I felt! It really made me feel like this one needed to be the way it was. I liked how it turned out too, I feel like the kids listened and were able to feel the spirit. That makes me happy. And another fabulous thing that happened at church, Brother Petersen from the Bishopric came into the Primary and gave a little lesson, and something that stood out to me in his lesson was how he related Christ being our redeemer to us redeeming a coupon. Sounds funny like that, but I had just never realized how that could be related. In one sense, sometimes when you use a coupon, it's because you don't have the amount that something costs and you want a discount. Well, we will never be perfect, we do not have all it takes. So with the coupon of the Atonement, we can get a discount and be able to be saved for what we CAN pay. I also thought that with Christ as our Redeemer, we just give him the coupon, and he will give us what we need to be saved.... he redeems us! Anyway, maybe this sounds lame the way I put it, but it was cool then :) I enjoyed it and felt the Spirit so strongly. It always surprises me how much I can feel the spirit in Primary with such basic principles being taught. Just shows that the Gospel really is about the simple truths. I love that. It was Fabulous!

4. Monday was Nana's birthday. Nate, Steve, the kids and I, went to her grave to say Happy Birthday. It was a little awkward because the ground was still lumpy, the grass hasn't grown back at all (obviously, winter), and there was no headstone- it should be there in a month. It was still nice though. It's weird because I feel like I've stopped feeling her around. There were a few months there where I could feel her presence a lot. Like when I was rocking Noah or Erika in her chair, and when I would sing to them..... I don't know why, but I felt like she was there a lot. I haven't felt that as much lately. Kinda makes me think she's done with helping me mourn and she's moved on to the next station. I don't know if that's how it works or anything, but that's just how I feel. I miss her. I hope she's doing well though, and I hope she had a nice birthday.

5. On Tuesday I got an amazing deal on some clothes for Erika. I wasn't even really trying, just checking out the clearance rack at Kohls. But I ended up with $51 worth of clothing for only $11! I had a little help from an accident the clerk made using a $10 off coupon too soon, but she decided to let me have it anyway! I lucked out, and Erika has some more cute clothes now :)

6.We had a "freakin' blasty blast" (steve's words) at Steve's 22nd birthday. I made my Oreo Cake again. He loved it :) I think he had a nice day. Glad everyone could spoil him and give him the attention he wanted :)

7. Thursday Nate got the go ahead to start looking for a new facility to work at. We will soon be moving out of state. Kinda crazy, but feels fabulous just because we know now. And it will be an adventure just like everything else we've had to do with this career :).... any guesses as to where we will end up?

Just Keep Swimming

So I finally did it. I caved. For the last 10 years I have dreaded the day when I would finally give in and let someone else teach my child to swim. I remember so vividly those warm summer mornings when I was teaching swimming myself. I remember the anxiousness the first day of the session when you weren't sure who you were going to get. The cute kids, the not so cute kids, the kids with boogers, the kids that didn't let up with the obnoxious splashing and the disobedient kids that never missed a lesson. I remember the parents too. The ones that humored their children every. single. time. they wanted to show them the "trick" that they weren't learning at the moment, adding a pause to the lesson. The parents that parked themselves 1.5 feet away from the section of the pool that their kid was in. Making sure they heard every word you said and noticed everything word you said wrong, correcting you when you mixed up their names.... There were good parents too. The compliments were nice. The thank yous were nice. The requests for you every single session..... sometimes nice (depending on the kid). Anyway. I remember it. It was fun. Good job. Good money. Good tan. But even back then I knew that it would drive me nuts to watch another teenager teach my children to swim when I knew full well how to do it myself. I think I mostly didn't want to sit there critiquing their techniques wishing they would do something differently or giving them advice in my head. Or heaven forbid them having one of those teachers that really was in it just for the tan. One who didn't care or was not the friendliest..... I had my concerns. I kept thinking, "nah... they don't need lessons..... we'll just go swimming a bunch and I will teach them..." yeah right. That is SO not happening. Especially not now. Not with all these kids. So anyway. We took the plunge and signed Brad and Luke up. When we sat down (not too close, but close enough that we could give the boys "the look" when they disobeyed their teacher too much), we noticed a teacher talking to the mother of a boy in the class before theirs. She was going on and on about how this boy had not listened, had not followed instructions, and simply didn't want to even try anything that she told him to do the entire lesson and therefore missed out on the free playtime at the end of the class. My very first thought was, "please don't be their teacher". But I did have to hand it to her when the mom got up and began arguing with her about how she was surprised he had even gotten in the water, he really wasn't all that comfortable with it yet and that the teacher needed to give him more of a chance, the teacher totally stood her ground and didn't back down from what she had said. I thought she sounded a bit harsh.... in fact at first sight I wondered if she had some kind of connection with the kid, relative or something, with how blunt she was about his performance (and this kid is like 3 or 4). But when the mom suggested that he might need a different teacher I realized that wasn't the case. So anyway!!!! (long story shorter than long) I was VERY relieved when I learned that this teacher was NOT the teacher my boys would have for the next 5 weeks. Thank goodness. And I'm sure she's a very good teacher, that whole conversation just left a really bad taste in my mouth. I was very pleased with their first day. I thought it went well. There was an even amount of goofing around, playing games, and listening at the wall. I like their teacher and I think that with Nate's help, I can just sit back and relax and watch them learn. And since this whole them going to swim lessons is all about me and all.... I wouldn't need to point out how cute the boys were, getting ready and when we got there. Bradley came to me that morning and said that he was not wanting to do it anymore because he already knows how to "swim regular" and he assumed that that was the ONLY way of swimming. Little does he know :) I was really surprised though at how much bigger he really is compared to the kids his age. He looked like a giant next to them all. Luke was adorable as well, kept putting his face in the water and then jumping up so fast that his suit would fall down a little. He had to keep pulling it up.... I laughed. They were good boys. I think they had fun. I was a little jealous of how shallow the pool area was that they were using. Minus the back ache and the easiness for the kids to roam around more than you want, that would have been nice for swimming instruction with little kids. Less stress about them going under. Fun stuff. This is a huge step for me..... I'm proud of myself. And now my boys will know how to swim.

I made this post last week, just after their first lesson, but finally got the pictures I wanted. Bradley has already improved enough that he could move up a class if he wanted to. He decided he wanted to stay with Luke though, so his teacher offered to just try and challenge Brad a little bit more than the other kids in the class. I'm proud of him. And Luke has become a pro at floating on his back, it's hilarious how much he does it. Although he can't hear his teacher when he's doing it, so he misses out on a lot of instruction.... oh well. It's fun.

a quarter of a year

I just love this little girl. As much as I feel like she is more work than some of my other kids have been at this age, she is a doll!! She has a very cute little personality already. I love her smile. It is one of the things that helps me make it through my day. She has the cutest little dimples. I'm surprised at how little hair she still has, but I'm sure it will come in someday. She's getting really close to being able to roll over from tummy to back, which amazes me. She hates being on her tummy though, so not a lot of time to practice. She's definitely a mommy's girl, she loves to be held, and fed 24/7. She is a sweet little baby though, still puts up with all that her siblings are dishing out. They love her SO much! I don't think I've ever seen such a loved little baby. Kelly's already planning her first birthday party and looking forward to when she can play with her. Bradley always talks about how much he loves her. Charity is learning how to change her diapers on her own, like Kelly. Luke loves to squeeze her cheeks and demonstrate what faces she's making. Noah makes sure that she is always comfortable and always happy, thinking of her before himself. I just love it. I enjoy being with her. She has a very sweet, special little Spirit. It's nice to not hate my life everytime I have to get up with her in the night. It's almost a good thing when she looks up at me with that sweet little smile of hers.

7,6,5,4,3,2....

As of today I have a

7, 6, 5, 4, 3 month, and 2 year olds!!!

Is that not cool?!!! I know it's a stretch with the whole 3 month thing, but I figured this out one of those sleepless nights early on in the pregnancy. That if Erika was born after the 3rd of November, then this configuration of ages would then be a possibility :).... I love numbers, I'm a dork :).... had to make a blog post about it!

Luke's Birthday Party

This is an even year, so we are only doing family parties this year. Luke had seen a Curious George pinata back in October when we did Brad's party and had been talking about it ever since. I couldn't resist getting him one for his birthday even though it would only be us breaking it :).... he was happy. He got his decorations, sign and balloons, just as he suspected :) (and talked about for days). Our kids are so funny about these traditions. I'm afraid we'll never be able to let them die out. They all remind each other of them when it's someone's birthday. But I guess that's the point :) They do love it.
Luke's birthday was really fun and very focused on him.... thanks to him. He was very good at milking it for all it was worth. Reminds me of myself. He started all of his requests with "since it's my bohfday...." It was cute. He got to go to Swimming lessons on his birthday. He was so cute telling his teacher that he was four. He did a lot of playing with his brothers and a lot of waiting to open his presents.


I decided to let him open just one.... bubbles..... while he was waiting. The kids are always so good at waiting till Daddy gets home. He did great, I just caved :)



then we made his Curious George cake. I think this was the easiest cute cake we've done. I liked it :) So did Luke. Although he wanted to me to color in the mouth and now that I am looking at the pictures again, I realized I never did do that! Oh well.

I did post an invite on Facebook, and called a few family members to come. We ended up having Grandpa Hatch, Grandma Hatch, Aunt Heidi, Uncle Steve, Chris and Stephanie, and baby Sophie there to celebrate with us. It was very laid back.... I love that.


Luke finally got to open his presents. He was very excited about his Hide and Seek Monkey, and his race car track. He carrried his little truck around with him everywhere he went for the following 3 days so I think he liked that as well.

(love this smile)

Steve let Luke pick out a present at the store earlier in the day and he was actually surprised when he opened it.... he kept asking me who gave him the light saber :) lol..... he loves it. Even though he's never even seen Star Wars. I know, we need to fix that. How can have a name like Luke and not see Star Wars??

Then we did the pinata! Everyone had a few swings at it and then some.....

This was during Luke's 2nd try.... he really wanted to be the one to break it!

We even got Aunt Heidi and My mom to try it.....

We gave Lukey a third try with his eyes open and he still didn't break it. I think in the end it was Charity who busted the thing open

Time for cake and ice cream. I almost burned the house down lighting the candles. Wouldn't be the first time!

Nate and Chris took the rest of the time playing with Luke's new toys and trying out different ways to set up the track. Fun fun. I think my favorite thing about Luke's birthday was how he came to me, stood as tall as he could, looked himself up and down and then very seriously, but with a proud smile, asked me, "Do I wook four?" It's so adorable that they think they actually grow significantly bigger ON their birthday. I love it.

Friday's Fabulous.... TWO! Yeah, sorry, not too much fabulousness this week.

1. Sunday was my day of SLEEP this week. I had a really late night Saturday night, so Sunday I slept in until like 10:30. Then after church, I fell asleep on the couch around 4:00, slept till 6:00 to eat dinner (which I did VERY sleepily.... I seriously felt drugged or something) then went back to sleep until about 9:00.... sounds disgusting doesn't it!? It. was. WONDERFUL!!!!! I can't thank Nate enough for taking over and letting me be the laziest mom ever. It really was something to be excited about.... and document.

2. Thursday night we got to go out to DayBreak for Nate's Dad's birthday dinner. We went to a place called Tios. Very yummy and great company!

Lukey is FOUR!!!

Luke's likes: to climb, run around, and bounce off the walls. Being upsidedown. Making his little sister smile (and laugh!!). Watching people play his games on the computer. Helping in the kitchen- and tasting every step of the way. Reading books. Making people laugh. Making up silly names to call people.

Luke's dislikes: when people laugh at him when he's not trying to be funny or call him silly names. Having to do things on his own. Sitting still. Being rushed. Having to wait.

What Luke does now: he knows his ABC's. He can count to 30. He knows how to spell and is learning how to write his name. He is learning to swim. He surprises us all the time with things he's learned when we thought he wasn't paying attention. He's really good at sports and enjoys them. He has an amazing memory.

Flash back~

Luke right after they took him out. I remember Nate and I talking about his big lips :) they're not so big anymore, but they sure have personality :)



First Birthday- wasn't quite sure what this birthday stuff is all about, but he loved the attention.



Luke with his new race track on his 2nd birthday. He has LOVED this thing and taken such good care of it. He's really good at that.

Luke opening his basketball hoop on his 3rd birthday. He was so shy back then!

Luke adds a lot of character to our family. He is definitely his own little person and enjoys being different. I admire his ability to be himself regardless of what others will think. He is getting really good at making friends, I love how he is so outgoing these days. I love his cute voice and the way he talks. I love all his constant kisses, and smiles. I love that he is so driven and will accomplish what he sets out to do. I have always felt that if we can point him in the right direction he will be able to do great things. I love my little guy and I can't believe he is growing up so fast!!! I just love my little Lukey.

People-watching at the best game of the season

Nate and I got to go to the Jazz Game tonight. It was INCREDIBLE!!! My dad gave him the tickets for Christmas and they were just really great seats, lower bowl, about 20 rows up. It was fun. This is only our second time sitting up so close, so for us, it was pretty special :). They of course one. It was a really close game until the fourth quarter when the Jazz just kicked the Mavs' trash. I loved it. Nate loved it. It was a good time.
Now, I'm a little bit of a people watcher.... and in situations like that, where there are millions of people around me..... I get distracted. I saw a lot of interesting people. I thought I would tell you all about them :) Because I am bored mostly and it's too early to go to bed, but too late to clean.... so here it is:
1. The 4 beer drinking guys that sat next to us. They were funny because when we got there, they looked up at us like "you're going to sit here??". They were polite, asked how we were doing, smiled, asked about the baby, laughed at some jokes that we couldn't hear, then didn't talk to us again until after half time (I believe they were finally loosened up enough from the alcoholic beverages they were drowning in LOL). They really were hilarious. I think I should take up drinking. Maybe I would be more fun to be around.... might loosen me up a little. *Incidentally this is about the time my mind began to obsess over the question "WHY can they not put LIDS on their beer???" Does it seem strange to anyone else that everyone's just carrying around a plastic cup of pee colored liquid and almost spilling it (and in our case doing so) all over everyone as they climb in and out of the row?? And I get that people don't necessarily want to drink beer from a straw, but couldn't you use a coffee cup lid type thing?? Oh well. I've been wondering that for quite some time now and my wondering hasn't helped. I should ask Steve, he's my expert on these matters. This one is not to offend any of you drinkers out there. I am in no way saying that I don't love beer drinkers. Sometimes they can be quite entertaining. And they make me jealous that I cannot relax more.
2. The 4 cute little boys in front of us. Now these were some cute kids. Getting up to get their drinks, then basketballs, then the icecream covered in Fruity Pebbles- one kid actually had a waffle cone with two scoops in one hand and then the softserve with the cereal on top in a cup in the other... someone likes ice cream! Very cute. And you could totally tell that they were savoring every minute of their unsupervised freedom. I dread the day when I have to let my boys do stuff like that on their own.... I'm way too much of a control freak.
3. The whistle happy ref. He was annoying. And I wondered why anyone would CHOOSE to have a job like that where EVERYONE has no choice but to hate them at one point or another. Kinda like dentists.... weird.
4. The crazy guy that goes around finding people to do the timeouts and winners for the little games and stuff.... that would be a fun job. Everyone likes you and cheers when you come around. Making people's day.....
5. The cute little toddler girls with their Dads on what looked like a little Daddy-Daughter Date night. All dolled up. Fun.
6. Those guys that mop up the court every two seconds. They make it seem like a fun job. All bouncy when they get up, hurry as fast as they can to wipe up whatever bodily fluids have been spilt on the court before the team gets back to their side. And sometimes they have to really hustle! Especially with all the steals Kirilenko was getting tonight! Keeps the mopping boys on their toes! Nate said I needed to document that I was wondering what types of mops they use. He thinks it's strange that I could be at the "Best game of the season", in lower bowl seats, and still care about what kind of mops they're using. I don't think it's strange. That's something you would only notice when sitting that close! I miss my Star Mop. I need to go to another State Fair and get one. That thing was priceless. I still don't know what kind of mop they were using though..... maybe I'll google it.
7. The fifty million people who walked past me (we were on the end of the row next to the aisle) while I was nursing Erika and did like fifty double-takes (or are they called fifty-takes?) trying to figure out if I was actually nursing a baby at a Jazz game, or if I was just holding her there.... pretty tricky huh folks!!! I think I fooled some of them. Course I think I got even more looks after she fell asleep in my arms and I WASN'T feeding her... funny how that is.
8. The 2 guys in the Fanzz shop who couldn't get over the fact that they make JAZZ hats with Y's on them. Purple Y hats. hmmmm. Yeah, that is kinda funny. All those loyal BYU fans that can't go all the way and buy a hat that actually says Jazz. (they had U ones too, but for some reason we feel the need to make fun of the Y ones more)
9. The sweet old German man who commented on my screaming baby in the back seat as we were paying for our parking. "....It's good for their lungs!....." I'll have to remember that :). Makes the screaming seem a little less annoying when you can look at it from the perspective of a cute, little, old man.

And now you're probably thinking, "Man, did Christa have amazing seats and then just spend the whole time watching people?? She IS crazy." But before you do- I'm a multitasker.... I can see lots of things at once. I did see Millsap go up for a layup and slam the ball right in between the rim and back board and have it stick there. That was pretty cool. And the really fun pass Williams made to Millsap a little later. And I LOVED that Kirilenko was so on top of the rebounds and steals. He really didn't let me down that way. I HATE it when they don't get rebounds. I did see the weird face what's his face Kidd made before his free throw that he didn't really deserve. I saw them pull off an amazing win, WAY ahead when the game had been REALLY close up until the fourth quarter. I even saw the Jazz let the Mavs' bench players have a few easy shots, just to be nice in the last minutes of the game. It was really just a fun game. And the best VERY BEST part about going to a Jazz game, is being able to watch Nate watch his team up close. He LOVES the Jazz. I think that he has to be their most loyal fan. He gets SO excited and has SO much fun that it's exciting and fun for me too. Not to mention he lets me ask all my dumb girl questions about things and fills me in on the stuff I miss when I'm out changing Erika. It was just a fun time. Loved it. I'm so glad Nate let me have the other ticket!
*pictures to come.... they're on Nate's phone.... yep, forgot the camera. again.