February 21

Today is the 100th day of school for the kids this year. Makenna's teacher asked her to class to each make a project with 100 objects for their celebration. Makenna made a little poster with 100 mini marshmallows for her project. We had a lot of fun putting it together and she did all of the counting and gluing!

February 20

What a weekend! Today Emery was blessed at church. We wanted to take advantage of the grandparents being in town for the weekend. Allen did a great job with her blessing and blessed her with the spirit of empathy, like her mom and with a good work ethic like her grandmothers. He also blessed her to have a happy and wonderful childhood and with good health. I'm grateful we were able to have family involved in her blessing. She also wore my blessing dress, just like Addison and Makenna did!

February 19

Today is Carter's baptism. I can't believe we are already at this place in our lives where we have a child old enough for baptism. It was a wonderful service! Carter has been so excited about his baptism and I'm grateful he has been so interested in learning about the sacred covenants we make at baptism. I'm so proud of the good kid he is and how hard he tries to do what is right and follow the spirit.

February 18

This morning all the girls were snuggled in bed with Allen. He's such a good dad to our little girls! He was telling them a story and I love seeing them all together!

February 17

With the arrival of Grandma Frost my kids have been temporarily displaced from their rooms to allow the adults to have beds. The kids are sleeping in the bonus room together and I came in for the final check of the night to find Carter and Makenna snuggled up together on the couch. It couldn't have been all that comfortable but they liked sleeping next to each other.

February 16

YAY! My mom and dad got here today and I'm so happy to have them here! They are always great supports when I have a new baby and pretty much take over my normal life so I can tend to the needs of a new baby. Mom was holding Emery tonight and she just curled up into a ball and fell asleep. It was so cute! So grateful to have my parents here for a whole 11 days!

February 15

I had to capture Emery's sleeping quarters. She loves to sleep in her car seat just like Carter did. However, since there are so many little fingers who like to poke at her and lips who can't resist kissing her, we put her into the pack n play to sleep. It seems to protect her from her very loving siblings! She also loves to be swaddled while she sleeps. The blanket she is in was a gift from a friend in the ward and it is my favorite blanket ever. It's huge and super soft and I adore the fabric too! There is nothing better or sweeter than a sleeping baby!

February 14

Happy Valentines Day! I'm so proud that I got a pic of the 4 yahoos together before school this morning. This pic cracks me up because I could not get Emery's outfit snapped at the bottom because she is too big for it. It's newborn size but way too small for her. We had a nice morning of heart pancakes, gifts and love notes! I love these 4 Valentines bunches!

February 13

Addie absolutely loves being in her jammies all day. I do make her change when we go out but the second we walk in the door every day, she peels off her clothes and puts her pjs back on. These are her favorites and she calls them her "chocolate jammies." She always begs to wear them and cries when they are dirty. They are now way too small for her and have several holes in them so tonight we convinced her to throw them away. She seemed fine with chucking them but I suspect it is because she doesn't realize they won't be coming back. It's so cute to see her go through the pj phase that all the other kids have also gone through! (PS jammies were so dirty because she was helping bake bread)

February 12

Tonight we let all the kids help with Emery's bath. I'll be honest that I was envisioning a really special experience for our family. Yeah, not so much. Carter was running around singing at the top of his lungs, Addie kept turning off the water and Makenna was crying because she wanted to help more. It was...chaotic. Just keeping it real here since the new theme of my life seems to be chaos!

February 11

Allen was watching a movie with the kids tonight and I couldn't resist taking a picture of all my loves together! Again, I feel a bit stunned looking at this picture that all these kids are OURS. This pic of Allen cracks me up because he looks SO tired. We have had a nice week together with him home!

February 10

I have officially traded in my adorable purse for a very utilitarian diaper bag. I have definitely forgotten how much gear a little tiny baby requires. I'm "over" cutesy diaper bags and wanted to get something this time around that I could use even after I'm done hauling baby gear. Al splurged and got me this awesome Coach diaper bag! I love it since it has a million pockets and will be a great bag to use even after we're through with the diaper bag days! Until then, I'll be missing my cute purses!

February 9

Today Emery and I headed home from the hospital! I was definitely ready to be home and settled and to start adjusting to our new reality. I appreciate all the alone time I got with Emery while in the hospital as I know I will be pulled a million different ways when we get home. I'm so grateful that she is here and am feeling really great with this recovery!

February 8

I look at this picture and honestly feel a bit stunned that these are all my kiddos. I love them all so much and am so grateful for all the distinct personalities and strengths they bring to our family and home. I also feel a bit overwhelmed knowing that we have the sole responsibility to teach, love and provide for all of them! But mostly I just love seeing them all together and knowing this is my forever family!

February 7

She is here! Emery was born today at 6:56 p.m. She weighed 9 lb. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long. She is perfectly healthy and we are just so grateful and relieved to have her here. Her labor was one of my best and she is a total love. The kids were able to meet her tonight a few hours after she was born and they are thrilled to pieces to have a new baby sister. We definitely feel like our family is complete with her here and think she is the perfect addition to finish us off!

February 6

This morning before stake conference I took some pictures of Carter to use for his baptism invitation and program. For once I feel like I got a natural smile out of him and he is such a handsome boy. I also LOVE that I have a camera that can get this great of a shot and not have to worry about having a professional take pictures of him. None of us can wait until his baptism and are so excited for him.

February 5

Today is Addie's 3rd birthday! This girl is such a delight in our family and we all adore her. She had a fun birthday with presents, lunch out at Jason's Deli, Ariel cupcakes and lots of playtime with the family. I love this age and love watching her personality develop and grow! Happy Birthday Lulu!

February 4

I know I am creating things to do to keep myself busy the next few days. I want to be as prepared as possible to bring this baby home and keep the transition as smooth as we can. Today I made two loaves of bread worth of PB&J sandwiches to simplify the lunch making process. I make and freeze them and it saves me a few minutes every morning! I also made a double batch of cookies and packaged them in individual servings to throw in lunches.

February 3

Today Chelsie hosted my baby shower at her home. It was supposed to be on Tuesday but with the school closures she postponed it for a couple days. I was leery of having a shower at all but she insisted and it is always so fun to have any excuse to hang out with my friends. I feel blessed to have a great group of friends here in NM and love them a ton. A few people were missing from this pic but I wanted to capture at least some of the people there. It was a great afternoon of yummy food and getting spoiled by my friends.

February 2

Snow day #2. There was no new snow but it was SO cold this morning that there were rolling blackouts throughout the state due to a shortage of natural gas. The kids are totally enthralled with the icicles outside our house. We are staying in and enjoying another day at home today.

February 1

SNOW DAY! Actually, there wasn't very much snow but the roads were really icy and the high today is only supposed to be 7 degrees. That is really cold for NM. The kids have been good about keeping themselves entertained and played a bunch of board games together. They love doing Perfection together and keep themselves challenged by placing a few pieces in other rooms, having to run and get them and get them in the right place before the end of the game.

January 31

Bringing the baby home is finally becoming more real! Today Allen and the kids cleaned the car and installed the carseat. Eeks! We are so excited to meet our little girl and are having fun having the kids involved in getting ready for her!