Happy Birthday Brielle!!!

Our sweet little Brielle turned 7! She loves to help me cook in the kitchen so she said she wanted to have a baking party this year. She also asked for cooking stuff for her birthday, so she got some kids cook books and baking sets from me and Mike, she has made us a couple recipes out of them so far and she did a great job. She's going to be a great cook when she's older.

For the treats we had ice cream cone cupcakes, lolly pop cookies, bright colored mini cupcakes, and party punch.

The girls each got to make their own mini cake stand.

I bought 2 poster boards and some tissue paper, and made each girl a chef hat that had a flower on it made from cupcake liners. And I totally scored on Amazon, I got a pack of 12 aprons for 9.95! Less than a dollar and apron

During the party the girls dipped pretzels and marshmallows in chocolate, and they decorated mini pies.

After the girls made their treats Brielle blew out her candles, the girls ate cupcakes, and then Brielle opened presents. Later that night we went to Grandpa and Grandma Jacksons for more cake to celebrate Candace, Paisley and Brielles birthdays. And the next day on Sunday we celebrated in Kanosh with the Blads, shes one lucky little girl!

Glow Bath

Brielle and Dakota were both extra good the other day so I suprised them with a glow in the dark bath at night. They both thought it was really cool and they did not want to get out of the bath, its funny how the smallest things impress children.

First Snow

Dakota got excited about the first snow of the year. He went outside and made a snow man, and when he got done he came running inside and asked me to take a picutre. He did a pretty good job!

Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween this year! The weather was perfect! We started the night off by going out to Kanosh to Grandpa and Grandma Blads where Blaine and Virginia, Paul and Carolyn, and Grandpa and Grandma all give out hot chocolate and hot dogs. After that we went to Fillmore and jumped on the hayride that Grandpa Jackson pulls behind his truck, and we went trick or treating all around Fillmore. The kids all had a lot of fun, it was especially fun to watch Maddy this year because it was the first year that she has been old enough to get into all the fun, and she thought it was super cool!

Dakota was a monkey, and Brielle, Madison, and I were all witches. Poor Mike had to work and we really missed him!

2 weeks

Macie's 2 week appointment went really well. She weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long! She's growing like a weed! I love love love having her, she is the sweetest thing ever!

Banana Bites

For family night this week we made banana bites for our treat. Madison surprised me at how good she was at making them. Each kid had a cutting board and a butter knife. They cut bananas into little pieces and put them on a stick, then they dipped them in chocolate and covered them in sprinkles. After that we put them in the freezer and after a couples hours we ate them.

Of course there was some sampling during the process.

After we had family night we loaded all the kids in the van and went hunting deer, Mike and I were laughing at that it kind of seems hillbilly go hunting with a bunch of kids in a minivan!

Macie's Arrival!!!

Our sweet little Macie was born on September 14th at 5:37 p.m. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. Mike and my dad gave me a blessing the night before I had her, I'm so grateful for a husband who holds the priesthood and who is willing to give me a blessing when I need it. I went to the hospital to be started at 7:30 in the morning. It took almost all day for the pitocin to make me start having contractions, which was really surprising because I was 50% effaced and dilated to a 3 when I went in and with my other babies I always went really fast. Once I started having contractions though everything went really fast, and I only had to push for 2 contractions.

I know this is a horrible picture of me, I have 5 chins and I look dead, but that is honestly how I felt! I was so exhausted by the end of this pregnancy and the more I recover and get feeling back to normal the more I realize how exhausted I really was. Also for some reason I was the most nervous about this labor I don't know why but I was.

This is a good picture of those chubby cheeks we saw in the ultrasound!!

Grandma Jackson and Grandma Blad were there for Macies birthday, although they weren't aloud to watch the main event they got to come in and see Macie as soon as she was born.

Madison had a lot of fun looking at my belly and talking to the baby while I was pregnant, she called the baby "baby tiny". She is such a little mommy and was excited to come see Macie.

Brielle is the best at helping with the baby and other kids, I'm so glad she's my oldest.

Dakota is probably the most interested in her since we brought her home I am constantly telling him to leave her alone, but it is cute to see how much he likes her.

This is Macie all ready to go home from the hospital

Stacia made this cute headband to match her outfit that I bought to take her home from the hospital in.

And with that little Macie's journey on earth has begun...........

Dakota's Ram Hunt

Mike's friend owns some land by Fillmore and he had some sheep on it that he wanted to get rid of so he let Dakota and his friends Jacob and Nathan Despain go on their own little ram hunt. The boys had a blast! That is all Dakota talked about for days. It was funny, earlier on the day of their hunt I went into the living room and found Dakota and Madison sneaking around with a wad of toilet paper tucked into the back of their pants, when I asked what they were doing Dakota said they were hunting rams. He has watched them hunt sheep on the hunting channel and they wear white on the back of themselves to make the sheep think they are another sheep, this was Dakotas version.

Baby #4!!!

I cant believe 9 months has gone by and I havent even blogged about this baby yet! The time has FLOWN by in this pregnancy. We found out we were expecting in February, and the first part of this pregnancy was the hardest one of all. I was really sick and threw up all day long, it got to the point where I had to go get IV fluids at the hospital for 5 days. I started to feel better around 20 weeks. At about 15 weeks I had to go get a big ultrasound because there was a wierd looking spot when the Dr. looked on the small ultrasound at the clinic. Luckily everything was just fine, but we did get to find out at that ultraound that we were having a girl! Im now 37 1/2 weeks and I'm getting very excited to see her and hold her. I can't wait to hear her very first cry! It's funny it seems like I hear crying all day long and I have to say it can get very tiring, but there is something very special about a babies first cry. Whenever I hear one even if its on TV it almost brings tears to my eyes. There is just so much meaning behind it. Also I dont think there is a more special time in your life than the very first days with your new baby. I never want to put my baby down, and I just can't stop looking at them. I'm amazed at the miracle of getting them here. I'm glad that I have a loving husband and home to bring them into. When I've had my babies before I have thought about young teenage moms, or just unwed moms and have felt very bad for them to not have that support from a spouse at that time, I think that would be way hard. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a mom, and to be able to have this new little one come into our family.

* In this ultrasound  picture its kind of hard to explain what is what without being in person, but its a side profile of her face and I looks like she has chubby cheeks!

Happy Birthday Dakota!!!!

 Dakota turned 5 today!! The day started out by celebrating at school. He got to take treats to the class and they sang happy birthday to him, also his teacher made him this cute birthday hat.

He couldn't wait to open his present from Mike and I,  he had asked about it a million times and as soon as he got off the bus from school he just HAD to open it. We got him two John Deere diesels that were hauling tractors and a combine.He LoVeD them.

He wanted a John Deere birthday party this year.

We ate tractor tires (chocolate covered donuts)

Haystacks (Butterscotch and peanut butter treats)

Mudd and Dirt (chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos)

And John Deere cake push ups

We made them green and yellow like John Deere

And of course we ate on John Deere plates

All the kids enjoyed their treats

Even Maddy loved hers!

After treats he opened his presents and we finished the night by going down stairs and watching his new tractor movie he got for his birthday. I think he had a really great day! I love having Dakota in our family I sat down with him this afternoon and told the story about when he was born, and I showed him his baby pictures. I told him how excited I was to have him and that I love having him in our family. There is truly no greater joy than being a mother!