Some quick pics

Wow it's been too long since I've updated and a lot has happened!  Until I get to catching up though here are some quick pics of the family.

Not bad for 'throw the camera on timer mode and set it on a rock AND get Ella to look towards it'  :)

Our Monkeys

I was interviewed yesterday about being an active mom and had to find a bunch of pictures relating to that to send to her and loved looking back at them, so threw together a little slideshow.  Yes some are of me but my most important people are the stars!  Enjoy!

Happy 4th Birthday Katie-bug!

My how we love this child!  She is so spunky with her leader make sure the kids do what mom asks personality.  She makes sure we stick to routines and what we say we're going to do.  She's so loving and cuddly.  She's a GREAT big sister and loving every minute of it!  And man she's beautiful.  I just adore her blonde hair and blue eyes and everything about her (about all the kids of course).  I love that she cares for the chickens and puts on her 'chicken boots' to go out and check for eggs and visit with them and carry them around (and send them down the hill in toy dump trucks occasionally).  She always comes with me to go anywhere, even just picking up or taking the kids to school and she doesn't particularly like it when I go to work 2 hours a week.  She's my little side kick for sure.  

We love you sweet Kaity-bug!  Happy 4th Birthday!!!!

Ella's blessing

I wanted to take the opportunity to bless Ella while my sister and Ryan were out here but we couldn't do it on the sunday they were here because Jer's mom Marla was in New York visiting his sister Jamie and their new baby.  So we decided to do it the Saturday morning of their flight home.  I wasn't sure how a blessing outside of Sacrament meeting would be, but it was actually really nice.  Very personal and sweet like her birth and a nice chance to visit with family.

One really sweet thought I had about her blessing was how calm and quiet and peaceful it was just like her birth.  Her birth was sweet and calm and quiet and family was around us.  I just adore her so much and am so thankful to Heavenly Father for sending us a precious little infant and for such a beautiful birth.

It was an image I wish I could have taken a picture of seeing the men in our life who love and care about us surrounding my husband holding our treasured little girl and blessing her with love and blessings from our Heavenly Father.  

Jer's sister Emily, Grandma Etherington, mother Marla, and brother Cameron

Mckayla, Jer's dad Wade, Ryan, Talmy, Jer and Katie

My mom and dad and sister who was so great in helping me decorate.  

It wasn't anything fancy, but simple and pretty,  just perfect

And of course our beautiful star of the show

Wish we'd caught a better face from Talm, he was such a handsome little guy, I mean he always is, but you know.
Can't believe how big my little family is

Thanks to Grandma Marla for Ella's beautiful blessing dress!

Ella was really good the whole morning, but we definitely tuckered her out by the end - Dad, not so much, he's always wired.
Thanks to everyone for coming and sharing our special day for Ella!

A visit from Aunt Stephy and Uncle Ryan

My sister and her husband came from Michigan to meet baby Ella and we're always so happy to have them here!  We went down to visit with my Grandpa Ron while they were here.  He's my last living grandparent and I love him.  It's been hard for him without my Grandma, thankfully he's still pretty able bodied in that he can care for himself, but my uncle and cousin and her 4 year old son live with him and I'm glad he has people to care for him and show him love all the time.

Grandpa has Alzheimers but I think it's been really good lately.  He carries on conversations fine and remembers things pretty well.  He's still the Grandpa I've always known.  He is really thin and frail and that's always hard to see.  I wish I went down more, but I'm grateful for all the times I have taken to go down to Springville to see him.

We got to introduce him to baby Ella and tell him how her middle name Ann is after his wife, my Grandma Ann whom we all miss so much.  I think he was touched and he talked to Ella a bit about how she was up there with Grandma before coming here to Earth.

It might look like he's yelling but he was just speaking sweetly to her.  He talked and talked to her, I loved it!  He was so interested in her.  I thankfully have some really sweet video of him talking to her too

I loved that he so willingly held her.  We didn't have to ask him twice or try to convince him, he readily took her and touched her and stroked her sweet skin.

And thankfully my sister got this wonderful shot.  I have a very memorable picture like this when Kait was Ella's age here with my Grandma Ann, and this will be so memorable for us all.

I'm really glad all the kids came and talked with him too, I'm sure he enjoyed watching them play

 The night my sister and Ryan got here they slept over at our house which was great and I don't have any pics unfortunately, anyway, they stayed at my parents the other days they were with my family vs Ryan's so we spent a lot of time there.

My sister and Ryan are so great with the kids, they play tirelessly, much more so than I do.  We watched a movie with them, played cards

Went swimming

Talmage just adores Ryan and Ryan plays with him non stop and I'm pretty sure enjoys it just as much as Talmage does.  Much of their play is attack the girls  :)

Aunt Stephy made Easter crafts and cookies with the kids.  Katie flocks to my sister

There was much dancing.  My sister was on drill team in high school so Katie was happy to practice "1st persishon", 2nd, pliers, and all the other dance moves she learned from Kayla's dance class (which I"ll get to blogging about eventually)

She really is an awesome Aunt!

We love you guys!!  I'll still keep hoping they move back soon  :)

3 little monkeys...and a bath

Plus mom :)
There's a gymnastics gym around thanksgiving point that has open gym time on Fridays. $5/kid and they can do whatever they want, other gyms are structured during open gym. It's a lot of fun and I'm not sure how to go about it now that Mckayla and Talm are getting to old for their age limit.

Ok, and another picture of 3 little monkeys in the bath. Love my girls!

1 month already!

Can someone please slow down time?  I'd really appreciate it

It's so funny how you want just the opposite that last month of being pregnant, and then they're here and grown up in a flash.  Why was I always so anxious with the others to get to that next development stage, so excited for them to grow?  I almost fear I didn't cherish their little-ness nearly like I should have and I'm trying my best to hold onto Ella's.  

The first 2 weeks she was just a perfect baby, never fussy really, easily soothed.  She still is so wonderful, but does deal with some colic for 2-4 hours every evening before bed.  It's challenging, especially when Jer travels (he's gone for 10 days currently), but we do our best and then I get to enjoy her at night since knock on wood she sleeps well.  She's gaining weight well, has plenty of rolls but I don't think she's fat per say.  I love to rub her legs and the extra skin she has on her back near her neck.  She's getting strong too, been trying to stand on her legs for the last few weeks.  She tries to control her neck, looking around at everything, thankfully she does still rest on my shoulder and snuggle sometimes  :)  She does well watching things, but isn't tracking yet.  She's really so great, and we have all enjoyed her so much.  I have enjoyed watching the kids interact with her and care for her in word and deed more than I knew I could.

Enjoy some photos of her over the last month, in chronological order

You'll notice lots of night pictures.  Dim lighting, wrapped in her  yummy bamboo muslin swaddle blankets.
I've really cherished her night feedings, just such peaceful quiet time

Probably the first time and one of only a handful of times I've put a bow on her.
So funny that with Kait I bought so many bows and used them all the time, I just haven't with Ella.
Maybe I'm still more surprised than I thought we had a girl and not a boy.  I'm perfectly happy with my little girl though

We've had such lovely 60 degree weather the last few weeks
Ella's first time walking the kids home from school.  Yes I'm running out of room in the trailer, but luckily
Mckayla and Talmage don't seem to mind walking the whole time too much

Lest I forget I have other adorable kids, I love them all!

Another trip outside.  This time we walked along the Jordan River Trail to a park and had a picnic.
I have to say it is nice having a baby while not having a toddler,
they can all just play together and do their thing while I attend to Ella

Enjoying her infant sling in the Chariot

Another 'I'm cherishing nursing' pic.  Maybe a  little much for some people, but I don't care, this pic just really is everything I love about nursing a newborn: being able to hold most of them, their soft squishy little skin to stroke, a little hand on my breast, just being able to look down at this baby I'm cradling, feeding and soothing.

He sure does love his sister.
He may have been not so sure when she was born, but he's so good with her every day since.

It's funny though that I have so many pics of he and Kaitlyn holding her but not of Mckayla.
She is such an amazing little mother, seriously.  She can handle Ella crying and fussy and not want to hand her back but wants and does soothe and calm her, changes her positions, walks with her, sings and talks and shhh's her.
Maybe I don't have any pics of them together because I hurry to get something done while Mckayla has her  :)

Yeah, I think Kait is having more fun too :)

Today was the first morning I woke up asleep with Ella on the couch from a feeding, normally I stay awake fine and put her back in her crib.  But it was really sweet waking up with her today on her 1 month birthday with the sun finally coming in the windows.  I love her so much and have enjoyed her more than I thought I would.

And I finally caught a little smile on camera.  Happy 1  month little Ella, please don't grow too fast