Six Long months........

Liam is 6 months. How we love him, but oh, how these months have been trying times. He is healthy and now, mostly happy. We are grateful for this. Extremely grateful.

Here are some things about Liam:

He loves his toes.

He loves prunes.

He likes short naps.

He loves his sister.

He loves to sleep in his bouncer. He is getting to big for it.

These 6 months have flown by.

We love you Liam

and we are so glad you are a part of our little family.

Our boy is 4 weeks tomorrow!

Can't believe we have had him for 4 weeks already, it seems like he's been around for a while longer. :-) We had a pretty eventful birth. Not fun, but it was interesting to have had a different experience. Jill- labor 10 hours, pushing 1 hour, Liam 15 hours, pushing 2 hours. Jill- good epidural, Liam 2 failed epidurals= el naturale! Thought it was supposed to get easier as you add kiddos, oh well. This best part of this birth is that I got to have my baby with me in the room whereas Jill was carted off within an hour of being born, didn't get to see her for 8 hours, and then 6 days in the hospital.

But we are so happy to have Liam in our family. He is so cute and cuddly. The last two nights he has slept 6 hours. I hope our luck doesn't run out. It is really interesting getting used to a boy. We have gotten peed on 4 times. Deciding what shade of blue to wear. And trying not to call him Jill or Carter (my nephew). Jill is being a great big sister, so helpful. She loves her baby brother so much. Hopefully someday she will call him Liam, and not "baby brother."

We are truly blessed to have two beautiful children. Wow, I can't believe I have two kids!

IT's a boy!

I'm still in a bit of shock! But yesterday we finally found out that we are having a boy! I thought we would have another girl an Gary and Jill really wanted a girl. But that is not to be, it was pretty obvious. So now to sell all our girl stuff and buy boy clothes! Crrrazy!

No Idea

We had our ultrasound today to find out what we are having. But we have no idea! Baby's umbilical cord was covering its bottom, and legs were crossed shut. So it was a bummer, but baby looks good. Next time I go to the doctor, I will ask him to take a peek!

No Cavities!

We went to the dentist for the first time today! And NO CAVITIES! Yeah! Jill was very brave! She kept having to be reminded to keep her mouth opened! We celebrated her good report by going out to lunch with Daddy to McDonalds!

CHECK OUT OUR POLL!

Remember Me?

I feel terrible about not using my blog lately. It is just an outlet to be able to share about our lives, and journal about life at the same time.

I just put Jill down for her nap, so I thought I would update, and put off all the other things I have to do.

Well, the big story lately is that we are having another baby. We were a bit surprised and excited. About a week after we found out, the plague arrived. And 10 weeks later, it is still here. I throw up constantly. I feel like I am on a roller coaster of nausea. One minute I feel great, the next I am hovering over the toilet. Lovely, eh? Poor Gary has had to do so much around here. Cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, everything. I can't go into the kitchen, it is clean, but something about the smell of food, puts me over the edge. We basically haven't cooked since Christmas. That is exaggerating, but it seems like it. I will be 14 weeks tomorrow, the dr. said that is the magic number for the exit of this awful plague, so we will see. I am expecting to wake up tomorrow with a whole new outlook, so we will see.

Jill is hoping for a girl, Gary would like a girl for practical reasons, I want a girl for name reasons. I don't want another Gary Joseph. I love my husbands name, but I don't want two Garys in the house. I think I will be ignored for the rest of my life because the one will think I am calling the other. But we will be happy with a healthy baby no matter what the gender it is. Apr 30 is our ultra sound so we will see then!

The Nausea is coming on so I will end now. Enjoy the pics.

At the Snow
The McAndrews Meat Locker
Pic by Jill
First Day of Primary
Jill and Santa

It's pathetic, I know

I am trying to get caught up. Things are crazy as of late, so blogging as taken a back seat. Enjoy!

Our cute Halloween pumpkin!

One of our pretty Chickens. They love wandering around our backyard, scratching and exploring. They are so fun!

We have two trees on the backside of our house along the highway. They dump a majority of their leaves into our backyard. We tackled the raking before is rained the other day. So fun!

Jill and leaves

She has to have all her animals when she sleeps.

Gary turned 32 this week. Like my candles........

Gary Dad and his deer Craig Colorado

Gary and his deer Craig Colorado. A funny thing...... When Gary and Gary Dad were crossing the border from CO into WY, the game wardens stopped them to check out the deer. Gary forgot to keep the deer "man parts" and so they both got 70 $ tickets. OOPS!

Girls went to see Disney princesses on ice with Grandma and I. Such a fun day!

Our cute pumpkin!

Daddy and Jill at the pumpkin patch.

Gary's Deer

Gary has been Hunting many times. He has gotten several deer outside of CA. This is the first deer Gary has gotten in CA in his Life!! He was very excited!! One hunting trip down, two to go!

It's been a while.

Life has gone from boring to ULTRA BUSY!

It has been quite the change. It is rewarding. Time goes by much faster. And I have to keep a calendar so I don't forget the many things I have to do each day.

But I live for Tuesdays. We have no where to be. I can hang out with my cute little girl. I can get caught up on laundry, emails, and cleaning. I can stay in my jammies, play princess, and dance.

My little one is asleep, so I had better get this post done before she wakes.

Several months ago, Gary and I started to research about having backyard chickens. We have talked to several people, read countless websites. So we have started our new hobby. Last Saturday we purchased Chicken Little and Baby Chicken (these are their names, but we don't know who is who.) Names picked by Jill. Gary started building there coop. The chickens have been in cages since birth, so they loved being on the grass, scratching, and pecking at the ground. Gary built their coop from an idea in his head. He is amazing. We got two eggs from one chicken on the first two days here. And none until yesterday. We got one. They are very well behaved. Very quiet (thankfully for us and the Marlers) And love to come and greet us when we come out to see them.

We have been trying to train them to walk down their ramp to be on the dirt. This morning one was on the ground and one up in their roost. They were a bit more noisy. I think they are sad when separated. So I took Jill's little broom and tried to shoo it down the ramp. Instead it flew out of the coop right at me. I screamed, Jill laughed, and we corralled it and got it back into the coop. It was pretty funny. I think this is going to be fun.

Just starting to build

Almost done!

Chicken Little and Baby Chicken

Our first Egg!

This is the roosting boxes, so we just lift and reach into grab eggs

A roosting box

The bottom story of their house

All done, It is even plastered! Gary is planning on painted the foam trim and doors.

feeling blessed

Looks like Audrey is tickling Jill........

Last night Katie and Eric got to go see Jason Mraz, a pre-baby date. It was going to be pretty late, so we put this kiddos to bed. Jill has been asking all day, "Where did Audrey and Jack go?" I have had to repeat myself multiple times, saying they went home. I think she thinks there are supposed to be living with us now.......

Today has been a long day. Good and long.

I am sitting here playing a game on the computer trying to get sleepy to go to bed. Jill is still awake and I am listening to her talk to her toys and "read" her books. Now she is whining saying she wants Daddy.......

I am listening to Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They are my favorite.
Consider the Lilies and I believe in Christ are my favorites.

This week has been a bit stressful and has worn me down. Gary's work has been a bit stressful as well. I was feeling particularly sorry for myself and down in the dumps. As I was feeling this way, I got a call that a woman in our ward was in the hospital. Now this isn't just any woman, this is who my husband would also call his Grandma. Her name is Leafy Gardner. I love her name.

I went to visit her. It was a 2 hour visit. I was enveloped by her love, her spirit and her knowledge. There were several times where I was in tears by some of the counsel she gave and the responses she gave to some things we have been going thru. She told me how much she loved me and Gary. She talked of the love she has for her family and her husband. I love her stories about growing up, eating everything on her plate because you never knew when there would be more food and having to do her homework by a kerosene lamp, so she is used to the dark. I could see she was getting tired but I didn't want to leave.


I came away from the visit believing I was on the receiving end more than she. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.

Great weekend!

Happy birthday to my 3 year old! Can't believe it! She is three!

When she turned one I was sick, and also at three. THis year was just a bad cold. When she was one *WARNING* we went to pick up her cake and I had to stop and throw up in the bushes...... It is not so fun trying to plan and carry out when you feel miserable! But It was fun. You kind of forget your misery and have a good time.

We had two parties, one on Friday night with all of our family. It was great to have everyone together. We have a great family!

We had our first kid party for Jill. We weren't going to do it, then about a week before Gary helped me change my mind. We had 8 little girls over. we decorated cookies and Katie painted their faces. Then we opened presents and ate cake. They were full from eating cookies, so not much cake was eaten. So cute! Then they went and played in Jill's room. It was simple and fun, a bit busy at times. But I'm glad we did it. I am very grateful for Mom, Terry, Katie, and Gary who helped!

Fun times. How I love my little girl! She is such a blessing in our lives.

Gone private again....

Thank you to my friend Jackie to remind me to go private on my blog. so you may have to sign in to see this.

Tomorrow my baby turns three.

I am very excited for this birthday weekend. She gets to celebrate three times. At school, with family, and with friends. I think I am more excited then she is. I love the planning and preparation. However, this year, I have had a horrible cold. So my last minute prep is not getting done. Gary has kindly picked up the slack. So tomorrow things will be decorated and sanitized, ready for the fun to begin!

Look below of Gary and I at MY THIRD BIRTHDAY!

Our three year old.

Busy, busy, bees

We've had a couple of great weeks. I've missed blogging, so I will do a quick one. These are backwards in order, but they are still fun.

Rolling down hills are the best!
In Cinderella's carriage......... not really, but it was sure nice!
Just plain nasty, the snake, not my cute girl!
Best buddies
Just love this..........
my fearless child, at the fair
Jill just loves cows!
PLaying with rice hulls with Reece
Our hike with the Wetencamps and Hunters, 5 miles up hill, it killed me, but it was so fun!