Cousins

Jacob called me around noon and said that he was heading over to PV mall with Natalie and Preston, to let Preston run around at their inside play area, and to see if I wanted to meet them. Of course I did! Since they were only here for a week, I wanted to get every minute with them that I could. I hurried Amelia and Hayden through lunch, nursed Avery, and we were on our way. Even though we only got to hang out for an hour or so it was worth it, because after they go back to Idaho I don't know when I'm going to get to see them next. I didn't get any pictures of them playing in the little play area because I was too busy talking to Natalie, but here are some cute pictures of them "driving" the ride on ice cream truck. I just happened to have 75 cents on me (what happened to those things being a quarter?!), so they got to ride it one time. They thought it was so fun. It was really cute. It was nice getting to spend time with them. One of the things I miss about being in Utah is that I was only a few hours away from Jacob and Natalie and I felt like I got to see them pretty often. Now that I am like 16 hours away, they have only been down here twice in the almost year that we have lived here. I miss seeing them all the time!

Family Pictures

After church, everyone came back to my house for dinner. "Everyone" included my parents, Robyn and Jane, Jacob's family, and my Grandpa. I took a TON of family pictures. I'm thankful that everyone was here in town and able to get together and have Avery's blessing, even if the reason they were all here wasn't a happy one. Here are some of my favorites.

John and Avery.

Typical family picture. My hair looks lame, Brooklyn looks like her right arm is amputated, and Austin looks like he really has to pee. Heaven forbid we could get this many people to all look cute at once. Haha

Avery and me. (Man, why didn't someone tell me to fix the front of my hair?!)

Hanging out on Dad's arm.

Avery with Aunt Robyn and cousin Jane. (We missed Uncle Joe and Henry.)

Avery with Aunt Natalie, Uncle Jacob and cousin Preston.

My mom with her girls and their baby girls.

Three generations: My mommy, me and my girls.

Avery with Grandma and Grandpa.

Avery with her Great Grandpa Paul Greer.

This picture gives me such joy every time I look at it. He just looks so happy with her. I only wish that my grandma had been able to still be here and be in the picture with him. I am so glad that he is still here to be a part of Avery's life, and the lives of my other kids.

Giraffe Jammies

I just love her in these giraffe jammies. They are so cute! I had to have them as soon as I saw them. Something about animals on the feeties that just makes them too cute to pass up.

I'm not sure why I only ended up with pictures of my dad and Avery today, but that's ok. I seem to get less pictures of him with the kids than my mom, so I will take as many as I can get. Plus they turned out cute. :)

My dad being silly with Avery.

Now a real smile.

Close up of her adorableness.

Hideous picture of me, but I wanted to make sure I got a picture of her whole body in her cute giraffe jammies. Ignore the fact that I am wearing the same shirt I wore yesterday. Other than on here, no one saw it since I didn't manage to leave the house or anything.

Grandpa and Avery

I just thought this picture of my dad and Avery was so cute. I love my dad so much! I might not be a little kid anymore, but he is still my hero and I still look up to him just as much as ever. I am so happy that Avery will have a chance to have someone who is such a great person and an amazing example to me, as her grandpa.

Trying to eat Grandpa.

Looking adorable.

Meet The Grandparents

My parents came over today to meet Avery for the first time. They were so excited. I am a little worried now that they might think that they get to keep her. Ha! ;)

I love watching my parents with my kids. I don't know what it is, but something about watching my kids snuggle with and get loves from my parents just makes me infinitely happy. Maybe it's because my parents were/are so lovey with me that I know how happy I feel when it's me.

Visiting with Grandpa Steve.

Sleeping on Grandma Lisa while she was on the phone with her sister.

Snuggling on the couch with Grandma and Grandpa :)

Avery Joy

On August 29th, my water broke around 5pm. After taking time to shower and get ready, John and I left for the hospital around 6pm. Luckily a friend from my ward was able to bring her kids and come and stay at my house with mine. When I got to the hospital, they gave me the option of walking to get my contractions going more, or to start Pitocin. Since I knew from 4 previous births that I was going to have to have the Pitocin at some point anyway, I decided to go ahead and start it right away. I didn't see any point in making myself more tired by walking for hours, when I hadn't slept the night before. After checking me to make sure my water was really broken, they admitted me and the pitocin was started around 8pm.

I had planned on trying to go natural, since I felt like I missed out when I couldn't with Hayden, but after about 3 hours I went for the epidural. I really missed having my bff Emily there with me, because I felt like if she'd been there I would have been able to make it, since I wasn't in labor very long. After getting the epidural, I was able to relax and get a little rest. Then, I turned onto my left side because the epidural was wearing off on that side, and just like when I had Amelia and Hayden, lying on my side did the trick. I went from about a 6 to complete in about 5 minutes or less. I was so happy to finally be able to get this baby here! One contraction later, Avery Joy joined our family on August 30th at 2:20am. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 5 oz., and was 19.5 inches long. She is so tiny and beautiful! I am so happy to finally have her here! Babies are WAY more fun on the outside, where you can kiss and snuggle them. (and they aren't kicking you in your ribs and giving your killer heartburn) The kids were so excited to come and see her, and I can already tell there is going to be lots of fighting over whose turn it is to have her. I told her to enjoy her time at the hospital, because once we went home she was never going to have a minute of peace again.

Welcome to the family Avery! We couldn't be more thrilled to have you here. :)

First picture with Mommy and Daddy

First bath (she LOVED every minute of it)

All bundled up in her hospital crib

Naked babies are the cutest thing on Earth

In her cow seat, all ready to go home

My Grandma

Today my Grandma Greer had cancer surgery. It has been really stressful knowing that she was going to have to have it, and I am glad that everything went great. I am so thankful that she had her surgery not only at one of the top cancer hospitals in the world, but at the hospital my husband works at. John was able to go back with her and keep her company until she went to sleep. He couldn't stay for the actual surgery, since you're not allowed to operate on people you're related to. It was nice being able to get updates from him throughout the day on how her case was going, and what was going on.

I know this is an older picture from Christmas, but I just think it's a really cute one. :)

John told me a really cute story. He said that before my grandma got put under she was saying she wished she could have a little drink of something to wet her lips. Of course, he told her they couldn't allow that. Then he told my grandpa that he should wet his lips, and give her a big wet kiss to help her out. And he did! Haha! My grandparents are so cute. :)

While it makes me sad that they had to take the nerve along her left side of her jaw when they took the tumor out, I am thankful that she was operated on by one of the best surgeons in the state. John said that they did an amazing job on the closure too, and that it was going to look really good when it is all healed. I am hoping to go visit her in the next day or so. I told her that Hayden and I would come by and visit while the other kids are in school, so it's not too overwhelming. She has to stay there for 10 - 14 days, so I'm glad I live so close so I will be able to stop by periodically and keep her company. (That's assuming I don't have this baby in the near future, but so far it's not looking likely.)

I love my grandma so much. It makes me sad to see my grandparents getting old and frail. I know I am lucky. Most people my age don't still have their grandparents, and I still have all 4. I think it has just been a reality check for me that they won't really be around forever. I know when I was younger I used to joke to my grandma that she couldn't die, because she had to be around for my kids because I didn't want them to miss out on knowing her. Now with all the health issues she has, and the fact that she is losing her memory, it makes me sad to know that my kids are going to miss out on the amazing grandma that I knew. The one that used to tell me all the cool storied about when she was a little girl, and stories about my mom, and sing songs to me all the time. There is one song that she sang all the time, an Irish lullaby, and I have sung it to all my kids all the time since they were born. I want to pass stuff on to them like that. So they can sing it to their kids one day, even though they missed out on hearing it from my grandma. I miss being able to sit and talk to my grandma for hours about just anything. I know that I can sit and talk with her now, but it's not the same. She's not that same person anymore, and she gets confused or doesn't remember stuff all the time. She is excited about the baby though. It was nice to have her rub my stomach and talk to her while I was over last night. She was really excited to know that she's a girl, and that I will bring her over as soon as I have her and I can come over.

I'm glad that we went over there last night, before she had her surgery today. I wasn't going to, because I didn't want to stress her out with all the kids like my extended family seems to keep insisting, but John said I should because she was having major surgery and you never know what will happen. While I was mad that he would say something like that, I'm glad I went over and spent the time with her. It was nice just to see her, and hug and kiss her, and visit for a while. The kids behaved, and I know that she likes seeing them even if she can't always remember who each of them is. She is still so happy to see them and so loving to them. I want them to be able to have some time with her while they can. I am so glad that I pushed John to apply for the job out here and move here. I really feel like this whole cancer ordeal has a lot to do with why we felt we were supposed to come out here. While the thought of losing her, or any of my other grandparents, scares me, I am thankful that I live so close to all of them now and can get as much time with them as I can while I can. And I'm thankful to know that no matter what happens, after this life we will have all of eternity to be together.

GREAT Grandparents

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's all of my kids with my Grandpa and Grandma Greer (my mom's parents), and was taken on Christmas. I love them so much and I am glad that I live close enough to see them whenever I want/have time. It is important to me that my kids know who they are and have a relationship with them, because they have been such huge influences on me, especially my grandma. I am truly blessed that both of my sets of grandparents live here, and they are all still alive. I know how rare that is among people my age. That was my biggest motivation behind moving to Arizona.

The End of My Rope

Yesterday I decided to brave my way to Target. I am slowly finding my way around here. Unlike John, who has the GPS, I have to just wander around until I find where I am going. I have figured out several of the main roads that will get you just about anywhere, so I have started wandering off of those roads, keeping in mind my location in relation to them so I can find my way back. I haven't gotten lost yet.

Anyway, Hayden and I went to Target. I needed to get out of the house, and they always have good deals. I got a book that was REALLY good. It's called "The Other Mothers' Club" by Samantha Baker. I couldn't put it down, and finished it last night. It is fiction, and is about friends that become, or are in the process of becoming, stepmothers, and their support of each other. It was really good, and some of the drama I could totally relate to. John and I are what people would consider a "blended family", and we've been together 6 years. Although I don't consider myself a stepmother (since the boys were so little when John and I got married, and I am their ONLY mother) I could relate to a lot of the drama the main character had with her 13 year old step-daughter to be. The only difference was that since it was a book, of course they were able to find a way to work through their issues and get along.

I have had a lot of major drama with Tyler (12). Not with him specifically going at me, but with his behavior being out of control in general. At home, and everywhere we go - ESPECIALLY at school. It is getting ridiculous. In the last week since being at his new school he has 1. sat there and refused to take notes during science and history, 2. given total attitude to the music teacher for telling him not to run in the halls and to come back and walk, 3. not turned in ANY homework, 4. lied and said he didn't have homework because they do all their work during class, 5. googled playboy in computer lab while he was supposed to be looking up information on Plato for a class report. Are you freaking kidding me?? I am ready to just strangle him, and so is John. I know that some people would be like, "Oh he's at a new school and he's having trouble adjusting" blah, blah, blah. The truth is, he has had behavior problems like this at school since kindergarten. Last year my husband and I were actually meeting weekly with him, the vice-principal and his teacher because his behavior was so out of control. Talking back, refusing to do work, picking on/beating up other kids, lying, kicked a yard duty (seriously???), etc. The list goes on, and on, and on, adding new bad things each year. It's like each school year he's like, hmmm what could I do to be bad that I haven't tried yet? On top of that, he is being a total jerk hole to the other kids when he's home. Bossing them, picking on them, beating up his brothers, even hurting his 1 year old brother. It has gotten to the point that I don't even want him in my house. I swear I don't know what we're going to do with him. Right now he's on total restriction. That means school, homework, and nothing else. No scouts, no young mens, no extracurricular school activities he wanted to participate in like band or running club, NOTHING until he starts behaving like a decent human being. He's also not allowed to even touch Hayden, and if he even starts with the other kids I just immediately send him to his room. Period. No warnings. If that doesn't work, I don't know what our next step is, but I have a feeling it is going to be something involving removing him from this house. For the safety of the other kids, if nothing else. John and I have looked into in-patient behavior programs in the past. Looks like we might need to start doing that again.

The Job

Yesterday John accepted the job at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. It's not a 100% done deal yet. He still has to pass the drug screen/background check, so we should find out for sure the beginning on next week. We are excited because: 1- it pays more, 2- it has WAY better benefits, and 3- we would be near all our family we love and miss.

When I was on the phone with my dad talking about it, my mom was in the background saying how she will never come visit me if I move to Arizona. Really? Like I am so stupid I am going to believe that you are going to deprive yourself of 7 grandchildren because we're doing something you don't approve of. The biggest reason she doesn't think we should move? She doesn't think the kids should have to change schools. Well, I understand that it sucks that they would have to leave a school that we all love, but I wouldn't do it unless John and I felt like it was the right decision for our family. Also, we're not moving right away. John was offered 2 start dates, and accepted the date of November 1st. However, WE will not be heading down there then, just he will. There are 2 reasons for this. 1- Tyler got put into a really great 9 week behavior management program, and it starts next Monday and doesn't end until right before Thanksgiving. 2- Unless we find a house that we feel is THE house that we need to be in, we are considering having John commute while I stay here and allow the kids to finish the school year where they are. I know that would be a really tough sacrifice, but we think we can do it if we feel like that is what we should do. He will be working 4 10's, so it will be doable. Hard, but doable.

We have found a house that we love. It could possibly be THE house, but there are 2 other families that are interested in it. They are going to make a decision and let us know the beginning of next week. It is HUGE (bigger than the house we're in now), 30 minutes from John's new job, one house away from a huge park, across the street from a really great elementary school, in a really awesome and largely lds area, and we would be able to assume the loan held by the current owners. Not a lease option, it would be OURS! That would be a huge blessing because we would like to find somewhere to stay put, but we couldn't qualify for a loan right now. It is perfect for us though, so I am trying to pray and hope for it, without getting my hopes up too much and getting too attached. We'll see how that goes. . .

Family

All my life it seems, I have struggled trying to find the balance between living my life the way I wanted and desperately seeking my parents approval. While I feel like I am much closer to the first, I think that I am coming to terms with the fact that the latter is something that is just never going to happen. No matter what decision I have made in my life, my parents have always been there to second guess me and tell me what a huge mistake I was making. And yes, sometimes they were right, but the thing is they are my mistakes to make. Would it be so bad to just be supportive? To say, I don't think it's the best choice, but I am going to support you and be here for you? Apparently the answer is yes, because it is something they are just not capable of doing. Not for me anyway.

Take our (hopefully) upcoming move to Arizona as an example:

I think the number one reason it makes me mad that they are acting this way about the move is that this move would put me right near almost ALL my extended family on BOTH sides of my family. Both of my sets of grandparents are alive and live in Phoenix, within 5 minutes of each other. All my aunts and uncles except one live there, and the majority of my cousins live there. It's like my parents are mad at me for wanting my own family in my life. I know that they think that I have some fairytale dream of what it will be like to live near my grandparents, and that I am in for a rude awakening when I try to spend time with them and they are failing in health and I have 7 kids ages 12 down to 1. I don't; I am trying to be realistic about it. I am sure that there will be times that they are too tired or worn out to deal with having my whole family around. I also know that I have 5 kids in school, and there will be opportunities for me to spend time with them with my 2 younger (quieter) children. I will have opportunities to help them and serve them, and let them know how much I love them.

The thing is, I don't want to miss out on any more time with them. I don't want my kids to miss out on knowing who they are, and what amazing people they are. I am trying to do the opposite of what my parents did to me. See, I grew up in Arizona. I lived there until I was 9, and then smack dab in the middle of the school year my parents ripped us away from my entire family to transplant us in the Bay Area where we had no family and knew no one, because of a job my dad got. I feel like I have spent the last 21 years missing out on the close relationships that all my other family members that still live in Arizona have, because they have all been together all this time. I don't want to lose any more time. If it means I have to move 10 hours away and go bake in 120 degree heat, then so be it. Life is too short to miss out on spending it with the most important people in your life.

4th of July - A Day Early

Since this year the 4th of July fell on a Sunday, of course all the celebrations were held on Saturday. (At least they were in Idaho, and back home in Utah) We decided to drive out to Melba to see fireworks, since they are supposed to be some of the best in the state. I have to say they didn't disappoint. They had probably the best fireworks I have seen since Hailey was 1 1/2. We had a blast hanging out on the lawn talking and eating pizza, and of course taking tons of adorable pictures. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

My totally adorable kids.

Hailee and Alan and the boys.

John being a wierdo in Hayden's sunglasses.

Hayden wasn't thrilled with the fireworks. This is before he started screaming his face off.

Me and Hayden hanging out.

Boating Fun

We had SO much fun out on the boat with our friends!! The kids had a blast out on the tube and the taco, but I think Alan had more fun than anyone. Ha ha! He was like the biggest kid of them all! We were able to spend several hours out just blasting the radio and flinging Alan and the kids all over the lake. Hayden had a blast on his first boat ride. He was bouncing up and down and waving his arms everywhere. He was so excited. He made it through almost the whole trip, before he passed out sitting up from exhaustion. It was so cute!

I let my daughter take my picture. I guess it's as decent as it can be with me in it.

Hailee with her cute boys, Hunter and Jaxon.

Alan and the girls on the taco.

Pulling the tube and the taco.

All the kids (minus Camren).

John and Hayden (they're not really red, we had the bimini top up)

Me and Hayden.

It's About Time!

I have been really bad at keeping up on my blog, so I thought that I would just start from here, and update past stuff when I can get to it. The problem is that I get so far behind that it is intimidating to try and get everything caught up. So, let's see, what has happened lately. . .

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In December we were lucky enough to have my parents come and stay with us for a week. I love having them come to see me, and I wish that I could see them more often. I love living in Utah, but I miss them so much! We had so much fun while they were here. We also got to see Jacob, Natalie and cute little Preston. It was great to see them, and I can't wait til he and Hayden are big enough to play together. They will be such good friends.

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On January 4th Hailey turned 10. I can't believe that I am old enough to have a daughter that big! It was so fun. She wanted some boots called Lugz (knockoff Uggs). They were on the pricey side ($50), but it was the only thing she wanted. So John and I tricked her. John bought me a pair, and we pretended that he was buying me 2. But instead, we bought a pair for me and a pair for her too. When she opened them she totally freaked out. It was hilarious! Other than that I got her the Maggie Moon series (she is obsessed) and some lipgloss. I can't believe that my baby is growing up. She was the first one to make me a mommy and I love her so much. She is getting so big and I know that we will be close and have so much fun together.

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On January 6th, John and I both started our first semester back to school. We are both attending UVU full time. He is pre-med and I am pre-nursing. We are super excited to finally be doing what we have wanted to do, and we are doing it together. He got into a higher math class than me, but we are taking our other three classes together. We plan on doing that as long as we can, so that we can do our work together and help each other more easily. I am loving school, and getting straight A's. I will talk about it more in another post.

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After homeschooling the kids for the first semester of school, I enrolled them at the local elementary school in the middle of January. They got great teachers, are doing great, and are loving the fact that it is just down the street which means I let them walk there and back. We pulled all 3 boys back a grade, and they are doing WAY better! I am so glad that we did it, and only wish we had done it sooner. Now instead of Hailey and Austin being in the same grade, I have Camren and Brooklyn together (but not in the same class of course).

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Also, in January John and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I know that our marriage has been far from perfect, and that my family and friends thought I was crazy to marry him, but I really love him and I am glad that we are a family. In the last year our marriage has become so much better. I know that we still have a lot of work to do, but that's what happens when 2 divorced single parents with 5 kids between them get married after a month of knowing eachother. There are bound to be issues. But we are committed and working on them, which gives us a heck of a leg up on my first marriage.

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In February I turned the big 3-0. I know that most people look at turning 30 with dread, but I was actually excited. I told John, now I'm a real grown-up. Haha! Plus, as I get older it doesn't sound so bad to say I have 7 kids. At least not until people find out how old they are. Oh well.

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On March 4, my cute little chub Hayden turned 6 months old. Boy how time flies! He is rolling all over the place, which is fun to watch but not so fun when it's the middle of the night and he wakes himself up. He is FINALLY starting to sleep through the night. I thought the day would never come. Of course there are still nights that he wakes up and ends up in bed with me, but I love it and I will enjoy it while it lasts. He is eating baby food and loving it. He is such a little vulture! I love watching him eat because it is so funny! He gets so into it, he starts bobbing all over the place and waving his arms in the air. I have to hold his hand (always the right hand) because he will get so worked up that he will stuff it in his mouth. Too cute. Today I was feeding him and IM'ing my friend Rebecca. I turned away from him for a minute, and when I turned back he had grabbed the bowl and spoon and was stuffing it in his face trying to feed himself. He was like, Mom! I am too hungry to wait for you to do it! I thought it was so funny. The only bad thing about him eating cereal is that he refuses to eat it if I make it with formula. With all 3 girls I used formula, but when I tried doing it with Hayden he acted like I was feeding him rat poison. I originally started him on cereal made with breast milk, but switched to formula because I was having to pump so much. He was totally horrified. At first I thought maybe he was screaming because his throat hurt since he had been sick with a cough, but then I made it with breast milk, just to see, and he inhaled it. Three bowls worth to be exact. So now I am back to pumping. Sigh. Oh well, at least he likes eating everything. It could be worse.

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We are currently living in Orem. I totally love the house we are living in. We originally signed a lease through the end of May (so as not to move twice in the same school year), but we totally love it here and now we hope that we can extend the lease at least for 3 years until we're done with the first round of school. After that John will be applying to med school, so you just go wherever you get in. I am really hoping that he will be able to get into the U so we can stay here. I love Utah, and I love where we live and I don't want to leave. The only thing that would make it more perfect would be if my parents lived right by me so I could see them every day.

I also love that my best friend since 16, Rebecca, lives maybe a mile away. It is nice to have a friend that lives so close that we can hang out all the time. She is getting ready to have her first baby in June, and I am super excited! I told her that her baby can marry Hayden and then we can be mothers in law, and share grandchildren. I think this is an excellent idea!

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Well, I better go. It is after 1am, and I have to get the kids ready in the morning. I will continue to post current stuff, and just try to update previous stuff as I can.

I wanted to post this picture by its self so it would be easier to see. I love this picture of Carol (John's mom) with all 10 of her grandkids. A lot of people can't believe it when she tells them she has so many, or that 7 of them are ours! Yeah, we shock people wherever we go with all these kids! We lined all the kids up in age order, and I think it turned out SO cute!! I am so glad I got this picture and I plan on taking one every time we go out there.

California Trip - John's Family

We were actually able to make it up to Santa Rosa a couple times while we were in California. The first time we just went up for the evening and hung out with his sisters at his mom's house. We didn't get to see Crissy's kids, because they were home in bed, but we did get some time with Anastazja. The second time we went up, we went to the most awesome park in Santa Rosa. It is called Howarth Park. If you are ever in that area, you HAVE to go there. It is our favorite place to go, and when John and I lived there we lived a couple blocks away and used to walk there with all the kids. That was back with we had *only* five kids. Haha! We had a great time at the park playing with John's family. Sarah, Crissy, and Carol (John's mom) and all of us had a picnic and spent the whole afternoon/evening there. It was fun for the kids to get to play with their cousins; Breanna, Brandon, and Anastazja. It was fun for all the grown ups to get to spend time together and visit. I wish we all lived closer to each other so we could do it more often!

California Trip - My family

Here are the pics I took of Hayden (and the other kids) with my family and a couple of my friends. People thought I was crazy for driving all the way to California with a week old baby, but honestly other than having to stop all the time to nurse him, it was no big deal. He was better behaved than the rest of the kids!

Even if John doesn't get the job, it was worth driving out there to get to see my family and for everyone to meet Hayden. It was the first time I had been back to California since moving to Utah 2 years ago. I don't miss living there, but I do miss living close to my family. I wish my parents lived here so I could see them every day!

Preston Is Here!!

Jacob and Natalie's baby arrived at 9:30 this morning. He was 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches. I am so excited I can't stand it! I'm so glad he's here and everyone is ok. Enjoy his first pics. Not quite happy, but what can you expect? Can't wait for more!

Easter Baskets - Finally!

Here are some pics of the kids tonight after they finally got to go through their Easter baskets. Boy were they excited, since they had been waiting all day. Unfortunately it was late, so they got to look at everything, eat a few pieces of candy, and then it was off to bed. They will have plenty of time to play with all their little things tomorrow.