Journaling

- I got to hang out with two of my favorite people today.  First we met up with Sherry at McD's.  That was a blast!  Just sitting and talking to Sherry is therapeutic for me.  The kids did well, even though it was only 10:00 in the morning, so all we had was ice cream cones.  It was hard to tell them we were going to LEAVE McD's to eat at the park later.  But that was a really nice time.  Then we met up with Annie and her girls at Taylorsville Park.  That park brought back a lot of memories.  It was SO good to sit and chat with Annie too.  She is amazing!  I can't believe she's doing what she is almost on her own with the schedule the way it is.  She's doing it though, and I just can't help but admire her!  I just love my friends.  I wish I could get together with more of them, more often.  That's life though I guess.... to everything there is a season.  Kelly took tons of pictures of Lillian... I will have to post those later.  8-20-12

- Today was an interesting day.  We met with the Ivory Homes people and looked at some of their houses.  It's a new idea, Ivory Homes and all.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  But I realized that 3,000 sq ft, if we want to stay in it forever, is really not enough!  We need more room than that.  So who knows.  Some interesting thoughts on building a new home up in Syracuse in one of the communities up there.  I love the thought of having a pool so close and convenient, but hate the thought of HOA "covenants".  So we'll see what comes of all of this.
After dragging the kids all over the world and back in the car all day, we decided they needed some fun.  We drove down to Sandy and spent a couple of hours at Classic Fun Center.  They did the bouncy stuff and then the Blast Zone.  That was a lot of fun.  It's really fun to watch them all play.  They all have such different styles of having fun, and different ways of showing it.  Erika squealed and screamed with excitement for the first hour or so... she liked the bouncy stuff better.  It's more geared toward her age anyway.  She had a few hang ups, but Kelly and Charity showed her around most of the time.  She looked so adorable with her little pigtails... I wish I hadn't been so lazy and gone and got the camera out of the car.  Noah seemed to be having a fun time, though he's less vocal, and he did get hurt a few times.  He was hilarious when he was beating up on this possibly 12 year old boy (the kid was totally trashing all the little kids, so it was warranted, and I don't think he was actually hurting him), but Noah went to town on him, and when I asked him if he was playing or if he was mad at the kid, he said, "I'm mad at him, because he pushed me off."  We had a little talk about better ways to handle the anger, but really.... I just couldn't believe he'd had the nerve in the first place.  Tough little boy these days.  He seemed to enjoy a little time on his own.  Luke was gone and having fun the WHOLE time.  We saw very little of him :).  But he was giggling and laughing so hard any time I did see him.  He really knows how to have fun.  Bradley was a tough little kid too, that same 12 year old that Noah experienced, was testing Bradley's limits too.  I was surprised to see Bradley stick up for himself and grab the little "wrecking ball" and stand his ground.  He's a tough kid!  I was proud of him.  At least I feel like he won't let himself be bullied, and that is a positive.  He was giggling and laughing so much too, I think he was actually having fun when the kid was knocking him off of the platforms.... who knows ;).  Kelly, like I said, took Erika around a lot.  She's such a good friend to her.  She's so sacrificing of her own fun, but I think that she actually has a lot of fun in the process.  They would climb up to the top of a big slide and scream at us to wave, then they'd go down together.  It was cute.  I loved that she would come tell us the latest on how Erika did on each slide, and while she was talking Erika would be mimicking everything Kelly did, like brushing her hair out of her face (even though Erika's wasn't :) ).  Such a cute little sister/big sister moment.  Kelly even made the blast zone fun for Erika from what I could see.  Counting down to the rocket launch.  Cute girls.  Charity was EVERYWHERE!  She had fun with everyone it seemed.  She spent a lot of time with Kelly and Erika and then some with the boys in the wrecking ball thing.  She's a tough little girl, stood her ground with the big kids too.  She likes to fill us in on all the latest, so she was over by us a lot.  I think she and the other older ones enjoyed the Blast Zone most.  I wish we'd had a better view of them in there :).  Fun stuff though.  I love being able to do those things with our kids.  We saw BJ Denison there, and in his snobby little way he announced that the only reason he was there is because his kid got invited to a party there.  And that he "would never bring his kids to a place like this".  What a bummer of a Dad!  It's such a fun place!!  Kids love it!  I'm so grateful that Nate can look past the craziness of it, the dirty, stinky, loudness of it and be a fun Dad for our kids there.  I just think those are the best times!  Watching your kids be kids!  Anyway.  Good Times.  We remembered that this is where we spent the last Tuesday before we had Erika too.... funny stuff.  I guess that makes it a tradition :) 8-21-12

- Thursday was our big shopping day.  We finally got Wormie's car seat and his bed.  That was a huge relief for me.  I don't know why I was being so picky about what kind, but I guess after six kids, you learn what you like and don't like about those things.  I'm happy with what we found and they were relatively inexpensive too.  We also took Noah to his first birthday party!!  His cute little friend from his primary class, Jalee, had a birthday and invited him.  He was so excited!  I think he felt cool.... at least that's how he acted.  And to see him with his OWN little goodie bag... that was just a little piece of heaven :).  He's witnessed so many goodie bags from his sibs that this was just too awesome that it was all his.  I was surprised at how much he shared with his little sis, but very impressed.  I'm so happy with how my kids are treating each other these days.  They have their moments, don't get me wrong, but they just seem so sweet a lot of the time.  He was cute picking out the present, he was very picky, had to have the most expensive toy and then wouldn't budge.  We were too tired to talk him out of it and in a bit of a hurry, so he won.  But it was cute to hear that Jalee had liked it and that Noah had given her the complete run down of how cute and fun it is :).
That night, Nate and I escaped for one last date.  We went to Texas Roadhouse and then Walmart to pick up the gifts from the baby to the other kids.  It was a nice time.  I love being able to sit and talk uninterrupted.  I love my sweetheart, he's always so good to me, listens so well, and helps to comfort me with all my worries and insecurities.  I don't know what I would do without him.  And I sure wouldn't have 7 kids if it weren't for him (besides the obvious reasons) he is an AMAZING Dad and husband, and he has made this journey, and the raising of our family a much more pleasant one than I think most men can claim.  He really outdoes himself.  I love him.  8-23-12

- Our last day as a family of eight was a nice one.  We did a lot of cleaning up, had a picnic in the park with Uncle Steve.  Gave Nate a haircut.  Played a LOT.  Got all packed for Aunt Jen's and the hospital.  I did about a million loads of laundry (And I'm finally "all caught up"- you know what that means- to get behind for the next 4 days :) ).  I was so proud of myself ;).  Nate made an amazing dinner... I really can't thank him enough for all the meals he's prepared during the last 8 months.  He has done most.  It's been incredible.  Embarrassing for me to admit, but definitely incredible, and I can't wait to get back into the swing of life and return the favor.  We got some fabric for Kelly to make the baby a blanket- she was really wanting to do something for him.  Went out for ice cream at our favorite, Baskin Robbins.  Laughed!  It was a fun day.  I am glad we got everyone showered and clean for our big weekend.... and I think we're finally ready for our baby boy to join us!!  It's gonna be good!!  Wish me luck!  I am hopeful that I won't die.  8-24-12