A September to Remember

I wasn't feeling so good in my pregnancy this month so we took thing a little slower.  Having morning sickness really puts a bummer on things.  At least we did one big fun thing.  A friend invited our family to go to their company party.  My husband was looking at getting a job with this company so we thought it would be a good chance to meet people and see how it would fit for our family.  It was great.

 

They had a little kids bounce house which Seth and Sarah loved.  They got so much energy out playing inside.

 

James thought that they were pretty silly and couldn't stop laughing.

 The bounce house even had a slide attached so Seth was very brave and would go down it.

 

 Sarah really wanted to go down the slide but had a hard time getting to it because she was so small the stairs were a problem for her but when she was able to finally do it there was no prouder smile than hers.

 

We got some free cotton candy for the kids to try.  They had never had it before and we were feeling darning that day I guess. 

Seth liked it so much he went back for his very own.

 

Took the kids to another "new" park this summer.  It was great because we had the place almost all to ourselves.

So many helping hands willing to push baby brother around.

 

The tunnel at the park was probably the biggest hit of the visit.

 

Sarah had fun exploring through it too.

 

For FHE (family home evening) we decided to take the kids for a quite walk around the temple grounds that is in our area.

They loved going up and down the steps the most.

 

Seth enjoying smelling and looking at flowers.

 

Sarah tried to smell the flowers but would end up blowing them instead.

 

One days that I would feel really sick and not want to fight with this toddler for nap time I would let him watch a movie in my bed.  It was quite a treat for him.

Sometimes a very simple fort makes the coolest play spot of the day.

 

I LOVE this picture!  One nap time I heard Seth yelling, "Help mommy, Help!"  I wasn't sure what he could be doing so I opened the door and looked around his room but couldn't see him.  Then I heard the, "help" again and saw he had gotten himself stuck.  Of course instead of being a good mother and rescuing him right away I go and grab the camera for a picture.

Ahhh! I always thought it was going to be my boys that would have all the broken bones and injuries but not the case at all.  Sarah decided not to listen to mommy and ended up giving herself a black eye.  This is just the start of how it was looking. 

Historic moment: Finally allowed to sit at the big table without a booster seat.

 

That poor otter is starting to shrink really fast. 

 

First time sitting at the table!  He was so thrilled.

 

The quilt is complete!  It was suppose to be done a long LONG time ago but at least I got it finished.  I think I did a pretty good job at the quilting on it too.  I had a lot of fun with this one.

I'm just glad that James likes his new blanket.

 

A major first is James learning to stand up all on his own while holding onto something.  He had been doing this for a couple of days but I could never capture a picture of it fast enough until this time.



Travel to Say Goodbye

This was such a big thing for me that it really needed it's own post.  I have a aunt and uncle that live in Boise, Idaho.  My uncle was diagnosed with a rare and fast cancer and was told he really didn't have much time left on this earth.  I really REALLY wanted to go and see him one last time.  So I talked with one of my doctors and got approval to go.  It was very important to get that approval too since I am a very high risk pregnancy kind of gal.

 

Let me fill you in quick with what is happing for baby #4.  He has some issues like: a single artery umbilical cord (only one in and one out).  Most babies that has this issue are smaller than normal and are born early because they stop growing and it isn't safe for them to stay in any longer.  Next, I had a lot of fluid around the baby which was very frustrating for my doctors because I was having a lot of low sugar numbers.  Finally and most recent issue found was that the baby has a VSD or in simple words a hole in his heart.  It has been pretty hard to take all of these things in but I have several doctors watching over him and me.  So as you see it was important to get permission to go.  I got it from one and decided not to tell the other that I was going on this trip.  Especially since I was making it with three very young children by myself.  Yeah, I'm crazy.

 

So off we went.  The kids did really good all the way there.  I was very impressed.  We stayed with a cousin of mine and oh we had a blast!  The next morning we hung out with my aunt and uncle as much as we could.

 

My aunt took us and several other kids to a park close by.  Seth loved the toy and was very proud of himself for when he figured out how to climb the rock wall.

Sarah had fun playing with her second cousin.  She really loved going down the slide with her.

Poor James was stuck with mommy and had to enjoy walking around the play ground.

 

AHHHH!  They are getting to be too big when they both can start to climb the latter.  Sarah was determined to keep up with her brother.

After playing in the park we went back to my aunts place for lunch.  Sarah got to hang out with another second cousin but this one was much closer in age to her.  It was so cute to listen to them talk to one another.

After nap time and most of the other kids had gone home we enjoyed playing in the backyard together.  The kids loved this wagon and I loved how it trapped them inside.

A little tired of all the pictures that I've taken that day.

 

After dinner with my cousins we went to another park to play.  Such spoiled kids. 

 

We don't have this kind of toy where we live so Seth was pretty excited to test it out.

 

The next day we spent the morning with my aunt and uncle again but went back to my cousins place for some quite time.  My cousins poor dog, Jack, got a lot of love from the kids.  He is such a great dog.

That afternoon we had a nice surprise visit from my parents.  We hung out with them at Costco for a little while.  Seth had done so much that day that he tried to use a bag of pretzels as a pillow.

Although once refreshed he was ready to hang out with grandpa.

 

The other two were spoiled with love from grandma.

 

The next day we had to start heading back home.  It was a long trip home and we had to make several stops since they weren't doing so well going back.  Too many fun things and people to leave behind.  One of our must stops was this very old watermill.  I have always enjoyed stopping here so it was fun to have the kids play a little bit.  Now even though the trip was fast it was worth so much to me to be able to say goodbye and have some wonderful memories to care on for a long time. 

Kids August Musts

Even though we did a lot in August it somehow seemed like a slower pace kind of month for us.  Which I totally needed.

 

 One afternoon we had fun playing with water balloons in the park with a friend.  The boys had a blast!

 Sarah was a little scared of the water balloons to start with, totally my fault there.

 

 But eventually she warmed up to them and started to enjoy herself.  The boys were great to get her involved in their little game.

So totally thrilled but my kids were invited to a birthday party!  YEAH!!!  I know it doesn't seem like something that is a big deal but for me it is.  I have tried so hard to set up play dates with several other moms who have kids the same age as mine but it always falls through and then I hear about the fun things they were able to make time for with another friend the same day they were suppose to hang out with us.  It is hard.  BUT at least my kids had a blast at the party with their (and my) friend.

 

 Spending as much time at the park as we can.  Although doing so has improved Seth's climbing skills which could be a very bad thing.

Another afternoon we did chalk art at the park.  SO MUCH FUN!  I love to draw and really got into it as you can see me working on my masterpiece.

 

Seth flying away by the seat of his pants.  Oh my!

 

Sarah trying to figure out why she can't grab the string.

 

 For our gender reveal party Michael finally finished this bassinet he had been working on since I found out I was pregnant with Seth.  So we knew at this point we were never going to really use it for what it was suppose to be but I thought I had to at least get a picture of Seth in it before it got to beat up with the kids playing with it.

 I thought why not give James a turn in it too.

 

 He liked it so much he fell asleep.

 

 Seth wanted to get back in but I wouldn't let him with James napping so he was okay napping next to brother.

 Cowboys and Robbers! (who should be resting)

 

 Seth really loves horses right now and was happy to just sit on this thing.

 

Sarah liked the rocket ship so much more.  Probably because she got to be the boss.

 

 Finished with another quilt.  This one is for Seth like I mentioned in a earlier post.  I love how the penguins are dancing down the zig zag or at least that is how it looks to me.

 I also got this taggie football toy made for James.  I like to take the ribbon from the presents my kids get at the baby shower or welcome to the world gifts and make it into a toy they can play with.  It help me remember how many people love and are happy my kids are even around.

I realized that I never got a good picture of James for pioneer day so here it is.  I made that cute bandana he is wearing by the way.  Easy and so stylish.

 

 Sarah has really loved to help me cook in the kitchen now.  It is sweet and I enjoy watching her learn how to cook.  She loves whatever simple job I give her.

 Riding in a shopping cart now instead of the stroller.

 

Can't believe how much he has grown!  He sure is a sweet happy boy and I love his laugh.