HB to my #1 Sister!

I just wanted to wish Alayna a happy, happy birthday! I hate having her so far away. I wish that I could have wined and dined her today. She has such a good husband that goes all out for birthdays, so I know she was treated like royalty today.

Alayna is my very best friend. Growing up, I'm sure there were days that my parents wondered if I would ever get over myself and be nice to her. I am forever grateful for her and her example. She is truly one of the best little mommies around. She spends countless hours sitting on the floor playing trains with her three-year-old, or, being the school teacher she is, setting up "centers" for Dawson to rotate through. She is such a thoughtful, kind person. She truly loves others, and will do whatever she can to make someone's life easier. Besides being nice, she is ultra-talented! She works from home for a scrapbook company called Storytellers Club. It's a mail-order scrapbooking company. She designs for their monthly kits, plus does a monthly project using their supplies. Go check out some of her work at http://www.storytellersclub.com. As I've said before, I want to be like her when I grow up.

I hope you have a day to remember, Alayna. You are the absolute best!

*I had in mind some fabulous pictures to post of A, but due to unforeseen circumstances (see below), I have nothing to share. All I have are these that I stole from other's blogs.

Lesson Learned

So, Sunday my hard-drive crashed. Not a happy day around here. You see, we have a one-year-old, whose pictures have not been backed up. I'm diligent about downloading from my memory card to the computer, but have no idea how to back them up onto a CD. I'm now going to learn. We don't know yet if we've lost everything, just a little bit, or nothing at all. I'm absolutely sick about the possibility of not having pictures of Max's first year. Thank goodness for blogs and grandpas. Because of them, if we have lost everything (pray with me!), I at least have these two sources for some pictures. So, learn from me, BACK UP YOUR PICTURES!

My Baby is One!

From this:

To this:


My little guy turned one-year-old today! It's amazing to me to compare the first picture, taken at one month, to today's picture. Where has the time gone? I've been a little more sentimental with Max. He's our last, and I think will always be my "baby." I've tried to hold him a little longer, play with him a little more. Every new milestone that he's reached, I've realized that's the last time we would be experiencing anything like that again. He is such a happy, easy baby (until it's time to change a diaper or get him dressed-then he crawls away as fast as his legs will go). He has a lot of car-seat time as we take the older kids to their various activities, and he's always so content to sit there and go along for the ride. He has brought so much happiness into our family. His smile and dimples can melt my heart. I love this little guy and feel so blessed that he calls me "mamamama."

*Warning: Picture overload ahead!

One Day Old

1st Halloween

Professional pictures we had done at two weeks. LOVE those squishy lips!

Blessing Day

Two months old

Three Months
Five Months
Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months
His very favorite thing to do


OSU Buckeye fan already

The Birthday Party

Maybe I'm a bad mom, but I tend to dread birthday parties. I really don't know why, because I know how happy it makes my kids. Maybe it's because you spend so much time planning and preparing and then it comes and goes within an hour and a half. Maybe it's the thought of having 15 kids running around like maniacs. Maybe it's the clean-up afterwards. I don't know.

Tanner's party actually turned out ok. He had wanted to do a Halloween party and play "spooky" games and eat "creepy" food, so we scoured the internet looking for fun ideas. We ended up playing "zombie tag" (Halloween version of Marco Polo), "Boo am I" (charades), and "mummy wrap," where the kids wrapped each other up in toilet paper and raced to a designated spot. The food was the funniest part because there were kids that refused to eat some of it because they thought we were feeding them cooked worms and that the appendages floating in the punch were real. Even after I told them that they were only eating hot dogs, about half of the kids wouldn't eat them. It made us laugh. When it was all said and done, I think Tanner and his friends had a good time. Now, if only I can think of a way out of one next year (hey, a mother has to dream!).

Photo Tag

My cute Aunt Shannon "photo tagged" me. The rules of the game are to open up your photo files and click on the fourth folder and then the fourth picture. This is the picture that I got:

Two years ago in December, our family and my brother Colby's family headed to the happiest place on earth together. We had such a great time being able to spend four days with them in Disneyland. December was the perfect time to go because the park was decked out in Christmas, but the biggest bonus was that there were NO LINES! My kids absolutely adore their cousins and loved being able to create these memories with them (that's Hadley, Kennedy, and Bentley riding "It's a Small World" with Trey and Tanner. Aren't they cute?).

Now it's your turn. Anyone out there that wants to play, you're invited (I don't want anyone to feel left out!). Go to your picture files and click away.

HB Tanner!

Happy birthday to my Tan-Man! We are so grateful to have him in our family. Who can resist that smile and those dimples? He is such a nice boy to everyone (Quincy doesn't count) and has done such a good job in first grade. We're off to start his party now. Wish me luck!

HeeHaws

While we were up north, we hooked up with Cam and Jami's family for some fall fun. We had wanted to do the corn maze at Thanksgiving Pointe, but the cars that were backed up for a mile just trying to get in, kind of scared us off. We ended up going to "HeeHaws" in Pleasant Grove. What a great decision that was! The kids were able to run around doing the various activities. There was a huge hay-bale slide that the kids loved and kept going back to and Max loved the pens of animals. Quincy and Halle were two of very few kids that got to ride the pony (I guess he tires easily). The corn maze was great. It's divided into two sections. The first one was fairly easy (well, for every one else. I have absolutely no sense of direction. I just follow the crowd). We ventured off for the second round, and after feeling a little lost, we backtracked and came back out through the entrance. We figured that it was getting dark and cold, and not a soul knew we were in there. The kids love spending time with their cousins and were so happy to be able to do this with them. I think we just might have to travel back up next year for a repeat performance!

Which way do we go?

The giant slide from above

Spending time with the Marriotts

How absolutely fabulous does my sister look? You would never know that she had a baby only two weeks ago, and by c-section, no less! We were able to travel to Ogden over UEA to see the cutest baby ever, Miss Madelyn Jane. My good husband and Tim loaded up all of the kids to go bowling, and Alayna and I got to just relax and stare at baby. She is seriously the cutest thing. Pictures don't do her justice! She has this full head of long, dark hair! I enjoyed loving on her. What a sweetheart! Thanks Alayna for letting us crash at your place for the day. You and Tim do some good work!

Can you believe that this is my "baby"? Only a couple more days and the big birthday celebration will be here!

Volcano Day

The fifth graders at our school do an annual volcano day, where they put into practice what they've learned about volcanoes. They are responsible to create a volcano and then have it "explode." What fifth grade boy doesn't love a good explosion? Treyson paired up with his friend Berick (whose sister had to make one of these last year. I was glad he was with an "experienced" partner.). They formed their volcano out of foam insulator and used vinegar and Alka Seltzer to form the reaction. Theirs just kind of oozed out, but at least something happened! The best reactions were from Diet Coke and Mentos. Hmmm, if those things together create a massive explosion, what do they do to our insides? I don't think I want to try it.

Our Princess

The young women in our ward had a princess night for the young girls from primary. Can I just say, Quincy was in heaven! Anytime you can put on a princess dress, high heels, a tiara, and makeup, you know life is good. All of the YW and leaders even got to dress up. I was Snow White and felt fabulous in my gown! (I was hoping to post a picture of Q and I together, but I'm still waiting to have it emailed over to me.) Quincy totally lived it up and made the most of the night. Now, if we could only teach her that princess' don't have an attitude (post about that to come).

Quincy calls Ainslee "the other primpess"

Handbags, anyone?

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Update

Miss Madelyn is doing so much better! As of today, she is off of the oxygen and iv's and should be transferred out of NICU either tonight or tomorrow morning. There's a pretty strict schedule in the NICU, so Alayna and Tim are only able to go and see her at certain times. They're anxious for her to be released to regular care so that they can love on her and get to know her. Alayna is fairly sore today, but is trying to get up and move more. It sounds like they'll both be staying at the hospital until Monday. Thanks for checking in!

Introducing...

Is she not the most beautiful thing ever?! (Sorry for the little logo from the phone. I'm not very good when it comes to these things!). Alayna was able to hold her for about a half-hour. She'll stay in an incubator with pure oxygen and try to get the fluid out (I hope I'm telling this right!). Alayna and Tim were told to plan on her staying anywhere from 2-7 days. Alayna is feeling ok, and hopefully will be able to get some rest since little Madelyn will be in the good care of the nurses.

She's Here!

Just wanted everyone to know that little Miss Madelyn Jane Marriott is here! She was born at 8:15 a.m., weighing seven pounds, eleven ounces, and is twenty inches long. She has a full head of dark, curly hair. She's kind of struggling breathing, so they have her on oxygen. I'm not even sure if Alayna has held her yet. The phone call with Tim was pretty quick, so I only got the basics. The doctors didn't seem too worried about the breathing and said that it's actually quite normal for c-section babies. Tim wasn't able to get a good picture yet to send down, but as soon as I get one I will post it. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers for their little girl! I'll keep everyone posted as I find out more.

*Hello to all of Alayna's friends who are checking in here for info! Thanks for taking such good care of her, Tim, and Dawson!

Fabulous Fall

Fall has to be one of the greatest times to live in the state of Utah! Anywhere you go from Northern Utah, to down in the south, the leaves are gorgeous! Last week we took the kids for our annual "picnic at the C," to eat and enjoy the leaves and fall weather. The reds were on, and the yellow and oranges were just coming on. We were probably a week too early to get the really great colors. We're going to have to trek up again to see them again. I love this time of year!