Happiness

Rosie is such a sweet baby! She is smiley and sweet and of a calm disposition. Yesterday she got sad and put out her bottom lip and that was the first time in weeks! She likes to read books, drink a small bottle after she nurses (we started supplementing when she was first born and lost some weight- she’s gained it all back!) and laugh with Declan. What a sweet baby girl! Oh, she likes to spit up on all of us too but that’s totally okay with us!

My kids are literally climbing the walls! 😆 In Arizona, we’ve had the highest amount of COVID cases in the Nation. Governor Ducey opened up the pools and gyms and restaurants about a month ago and the cases skyrocketed after that. We’ve been mostly staying home, trying to flatten the curve. It’s been hard and fun at the same time. We’re trying to find the joy that is in the mess of life. Our School district has said that the kids will go back to school on Aug 5th. On the 17th they get to choose between online school and part time going to class and being part of class online at home. All of my 5 kiddos- including Declan- have chose to go to school. Recess will be in smaller groups and lunch the kids will be able to eat in different places in the High School. I think masks will be optional but we don’t know for sure.  It will be Elizabeth’s Senior year (go class of 2021!), Ethan and Jonah will be Juniors, Asher will be a Freshman (four in High School!!) and Declan wil...

Asher is 14! He chose to do mini golfing during the day. It is super hot 🥵 in Gilbert right now, so luckily Fat Cats was open and it had glow in the dark mini golf. Perfect for the hot weather! It fun and pretty quick. He got some fun presents and chose Crepes for his birthday dessert. Happy Birthday, Asher! We love you! 

thankful! Well, it’s been 14 weeks since this COVID stay at home order began. I know and can count the days since Rosie our baby was born a week before. She is now 3 1/2 months old and 15 weeks old.  It’s been challenging and a blessing at the same time. Challenge- I can’t take Rosie with me when I go shopping. Blessing- I have Elizabeth home from school who can watch Rosie for me while I go. Blessing- I can do a pick up order from Walmart.  Challenge- my kids are home and are eating often! Blessing- we have two jobs! Blessing- I’ve learned to make sourdough! Challenge- Josh and the kids are home all day. Blessing- Josh and the kids are home all day. Challenge- We can’t attend Church or the Temple Blessing- We get to take the Sacrament at home and pray     in our homes Challenge- We can’t see family and friends Blessing- We get to see family and friends      through zoom. Lots of challenges and blessings!...

This is the story of the birth of our last and final baby. Going into this Pregnancy, I knew things would be a little different. At our first appointment, my Dr mentioned that I would probably get induced around 39 weeks. Having had a wonderful natural childbirth (via Hynpobabies) the previous time, I was struck with a feeling of amazement coupled with a little bit of fear and trepidation. I don't like to go against what Doctors and professionals advise me to do.  And so, after not feeling good about this Dr, I switched to a practice that had midwives. Around 32 weeks along, one of my Drs also mentioned that it was their practice to always induce Moms who were 42 years old at 39 weeks. I did not want to get induced. I didn't like the idea of using drugs to get labor started and I knew that it would make it ten times harder for me to go natural. I knew that I could just stay at home and not go in for my induction date but I did not feel good about that. I ...

I use this blog as a record of our family. Here is a video of Rosie at 3 months that we can all look back on. Babies grow so fast! My oldest is almost 18! 😯

When we moved into our home, we noticed that it had 3 mostly empty garden beds. We’ve always wanted to do a garden and started a small one in Maryland but we weren’t sure how to do it in Arizona! It gets so hot here! Luckily for us my cousin’s wife was starting a business helping people start gardens and we were her first customer! She came over and we all dug the old dirt out and put new dirt in (in mostly one garden box) and planted things like pumpkin, watermelon, beans and sunflowers.  Ethan was doing most of the watering until he got a job at QT (a large gas station) and now I do it. It’s really been growing well and we’re excited to see some produce one day! Yay for gardening!! *** In Arizona you use sun shades to help keep the plants from getting too wilted and dried out.