Random April

5 weeks

It was fun to do the card club again for the month of April. I couldn't decide which color, so I did a mix. With all the packing, it was fun to take a break every now & then to work on a creative project, and it really didn't take too long since it was a mass production.

Still keeping a good amount of that dark hair.

We've had a lot of road trips lately. Matthew is usually out within 15 minutes. I especially love the hair after we get there.

Matthew was having a bit of a rough morning. When I looked over, Jacob was giving him a hand rub to help him feel happy. I love moments like that.

I can't get enough of the daddy-daughter shots. Jeff is pretty smitten.

Matthew loves to carry things around with him so his Easter basket was the perfect toy. He always has some random assortment of items in it.

Enjoying the outdoors, baseball has been the latest favorite.

Almost every time we go outside, I'm presented with all sorts of flower from the boys, usually dandelions, I love it!

Playing with chalk outside at our place in WB.

At three weeks

Fun times with Family

A couple weeks ago we had the fun of having some family come to visit. Scott, Amanda, and Mom Stevens flew into Philly to spend a couple days with us before they went to Boston for Amanda to run the Boston Marathon. To make it even more fun, Kimberly drove up from Virginia with Tyler to be with us too. Unfortunately Jeff is still on his rotation & had his big OKAPs exam Saturday morning, so he had to be away at work most of the time, but he was able to drive down for Thursday night, and then got home for the weekend on Friday night- so he got to spend at least a little time with the family.
Everyone flew in on Wednesday afternoon, and Kimberly met us at the airport. We drove home that night and just enjoyed the evening having dinner, and visiting together. Grandma, of course, came prepared with all sorts of fun games and toys for the kids.
People probably thought we were crazy with 11 people crammed into our little 2-bedroom, 1-bath apartment, but it was a blast! It's a good thing everyone is such a good sport because with that many people there wasn't even much floor space. Tyler slept in a pack 'n play in the room with the three boys, Scott & Amanda were on an air mattress that, along with our packing boxes, pretty much filled the living room; Mom Stevens was on one couch and Kimberly was on the other.

On Thursday, Jacob got to stay home from school and we all went downtown to do a tour of the city and historical sites. It was fun to spend time seeing the sites, and with three extra adults along, managing the kids was a cinch! Uncle Scott was the cool uncle pushing the stroller and racing the older boys. He was a great 'adopted' father for those couple of days. And all the kids loved all the attention from Grandma and Aunt Amanda. I think Emily especially loved being held and loved by everyone. We were saying it would have been fun if cousins could have made the trip out too, I think they would have had fun together. I loved watching Matthew and Tyler together- they became pretty good little buddies.

Emily did great hanging out in her little carrier.

We had fun spending the afternoon downtown. We definitely got a lot of walking in! Scott & Amanda even got to try their first authentic Philly cheesesteak and Rita's water ice. Jeff made it home that night just in time for dinner. After putting the kids to bed we had great intentions of breaking out the games, but we ended up talking instead.

Jacob and Uncle Scott in an intense race down the sidewalk...looks like Uncle Scott won this one.

Scott & Amanda left 7 kids at home only to come out and be surrogate parents to a few more. :)

Kimber our 'bag lady'. Sure helped us get through security a lot faster!

Friday morning, Jacob and Caleb went to school while everyone else enjoyed the morning. We had a pretty good game of marbles, then after picking up Caleb from preschool, we went down to Valley Green so Mom, Kimber, and Amanda could get a run in. Scott and I took the kids for a walk along the path while the girls were running.


Afterwards we let the kids feed the ducks- did you know that ducks will even eat hot dogs? Apparently Matthew thought it would be a good idea to spice things up a bit, so after throwing bread, random hot dogs, and rocks, he decided to toss Tyler's sandal in for fun. Kimber thought it was pretty funny that Matthew threw his own shoe in before she realized it was Tyler's sandal. I was ready to call it a lost cause & buy Tyler some new sandals, but Uncle Scott became the hero of the day and jumped in to save the sandal.


Amanda and I then headed to pick up Jacob from school and then after picking up the family we headed home. We decided to go easy that night and did pizza for dinner, followed by a little more water ice for dessert- trying to get my fill before we leave! Jeff made it back a little later that night and we were finally able to break out a round of the dice game. It would have been fun to stay up later and enjoy more time, but we hadn't had much sleep up to that point and we thought it would be a good idea with Jeff's big exam, and Amanda's marathon to try and get to bed a little earlier. Oh- and happy 4 week birthday Emily! She turned 4 weeks old on Friday- what a quick 4 weeks it's been!

We were up the next morning at 6am so Jeff could take Mom, Scott & Amanda to center city so they could catch a bus to Boston, and then he went to his exam. Kimber and I tried to get a little more sleep, but the kids thought it would be fun to get up early that morning too. I put on a movie, but eventually we knew we had to get up when Tyler & Matthew started rummaging through the trash-probably looking for breakfast since their mothers were busy sleeping. Come on boys! We made it up to them by making waffles. :) Kimber stayed until about 1pm, she was awesome and even cleaned my shower before she left to head home to Mike in Virginia. At about 2pm we met Jeff at the car rental company after his exam. It was nice to have that done!

Mom, Scott, and Amanda made it safe to Boston and Amanda did a fabulous job in the Boston Marathon. It would have been fun to see her run, but we were just glad we could enjoy a few days with them! I loved having a full house. It even makes meal prep and clean-up so fun when you have others in the kitchen with you- silly as it sounds, that's one of my favorite parts. I'm also glad the weather cooperated so well, the few days they were here were absolutely beautiful. We're sure excited to actually live closer in a few months. Thanks everyone for a great couple of days!

One Month

Hard to believe a month has already passed since Emily joined our family. It's been a whirlwind and I'm excited for all the packing to be done so I can actually sit and enjoy our little sweetheart more!

- At her one month visit she was 8lbs 13ounces (18^th percentile) and 20.5 inches (8^thpercentile).

- She rolled from her tummy to her back at 2 weeks old. We have a feeling she’s going to be a mover just like some of her brothers!

- Her hair hasn't fallen out, in fact it's getting longer, and lighter in color. Her eyebrows are still dark though- I love them!

- She absolutely loves to be held and cuddled, she especially loves to be held by daddy.

- She’s starting to give real smiles, and no one works harder for those smiles than her brothers & her daddy!

- She doesn’t like having a dirty diaper...at all.

-She wants to sleep on her tummy, and sleeps so much better that way. I try to keep her on her back at nights, but during the day I'll let her nap on a blanket on her tummy.

- She loves to listen to sounds, voices, music, etc. She’ll stop whatever she’s doing and just listen intently. She especially loves family members voices.

- She doesn’t love her carseat. Hopefully this changes in a couple months before we make a cross country drive!

- She is a very efficient burper! I can get a burp almost every time! Don’t know if this is good or bad yet…J

- So far she’s been a great night sleeper, the best out of all my kids. Since the very beginning she’s always given at least 4 hour stretches, which means I’ve only had to get up once a night. She’s even starting to go 6-7 hours. I’m hoping this continues & only gets better from here on out.

We all absolutely adore this sweet little girl and couldn't imagine life without her. :)

Easter Fun

We had a fun Easter egg hunt with friends at the park the Saturday before Easter. Everyone met up at the park between general conference sessions and let the kids do an egg hunt. It was fun to see them- I especially love watching Matthew & all the younger kids because they're just so excited. It was fun to visit with the adults and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. Unfortunately I forgot to charge the battery on the camera so I was only able to take one picture, luckily my friend Teresa took a picture of our kids and family together.

I thought with everything going on that we would just do the Easter egg hunt with friends at the park and call it good, but a few days after Jacob asked me why the Easter bunny hadn't visited our house. So I decided it would probably be a good idea if he made a trip- I have a feeling he got a great deal on 75% off candy at Target too. We celebrated Easter at our house about 2 weeks late but it sure didn't make it any less exciting for the kids. They had fun finding the treats and enjoying their chocolate bunnies.