Saydi's 4th Birthday

On the 20th my baby girl turned 4 years old! I can't believe the time is going so fast. She was super excited for her birthday and despite going back and forth for literally months, she finally decided that she wanted to have a Strawberry Shortcake party. So we did! Mark was working days so we went to the library where she enjoyed story time and then later in the day we got sno cones (she had to get strawberry to go with her party) and played outside and tried to just generally have a fun day until daddy got home and we could open presents! Love this girl with all my heart.

 My feeble attempt at making her cupcakes look like strawberries. She loved it so that's all that counts right?

 She had lots of "help" from brothers.

 Showing off her new Dora watch that she has been asking for for months.

 She told Weston he could open this present. Such a good sister.

 Daddy has started calling her Monkey or Precious Monkey so she has taken quite a liking to them. She loved these new jammies and we had to have a picture after baths.

 The next day cousins came over for a little picnic to celebrate both Saydi and Jonas' birthday's. My sisters are so sweet and got them both some great things and they had such a blast playing with their cousins.

The morning after her birthday she was playing with her loot of new things at the table and Jonas picked up her new Barbie and started playing with it. Weston said, "Saydi, Jonas has your Barbie," and Saydi replied, "It's ok, I can share." Melt my heart. She is such a little sweetie.

At four years old Saydi knows her alphabet but tends to forget the middle section when we sing the song. She is great with shapes and colors and is looking forward to starting preschool (again) this fall. She is usually either terribly possessive and particular about things or incredibly generous and eager to share, there is not much of an in between with her and you never know which hat she is going to wear but that's what we love about her! She is a GREAT sister. I think my most favorite thing about her though is that she shows such a love of the gospel at such a young age. She remembers things she is taught in primary and things we talk about during family home evening but more importantly, she applies them in her every day life and I often hear her scolding her brothers when they play saying, "That's not nice to Jesus!" She is truly a special person and I feel privileged every day to be her mama. Love you Saydi Jo!

Baby #4

I feel a little guilty that I haven't documented this pregnancy as well as I did my others. Mostly it is because I am so much busier with three kids. But I admit I have shied away from the camera because I am so BIG this time! Here I am last week at 25 weeks. I swear this is how big I usually am around 32 weeks or so. The last couple months are gonna get interesting! =)

 Wes took this picture for me. =) And here is the ultrasound pictures we got at 20 weeks. Definitely a boy. We didn't have a boy name picked out so when we got home I started searching and I think more than likely his name will be Gavin Wells (Wells was Mark's grandpa's name). It was one of those things where I saw the name and instantly felt like that was his name. Plus I am not finding anything else that I like as much! 

To fill in the other details, my cravings have been mostly fruit and sandwiches. I could drink a Jamba juice every day of my life. Delicious. I was a little sick in the beginning and I can not eat bananas without feeling terribly nauseous. I will be interested to see if he likes bananas down the road. =) I thought for sure it was a girl because with my other boys I wasn't sick at ALL. With Saydi I felt nauseous all the time. So this guy was a little tricky about it and fooled me! To be honest, we did want a girl because then we would have been done for sure. We still might be done, we just aren't positive. I told Mark from the beginning, Heavenly Father knows I mean it and if we are meant to have another boy he's going to send him first so that I will consider getting pregnant again to have a sister for Saydi. ;) Now that we are having a boy I wouldn't want it any other way. I have realized how much more fragile girls are and I really think Saydi needs a little more extra attention from me and she might struggle with having a sister right now.

Other than that, I have felt pretty good, just big! My skin gets tight already and that was my biggest problem with Jonas towards the end so we shall see how that progresses. I'm still sleeping well though so that is a huge blessing. He is starting to kick harder but mostly I feel like he just rolls around in there. Ever since I got pregnant I have felt so calm and have mellowed out about a lot of things I am usually uptight about. I think this little guy will have a calm spirit but I don't usually have calm babies! Mark says we are due for one. I agree. I have never felt so prepared, ready, and anxious to have another baby as I have this time. I think it takes four to really get the hang of things! So needless to say, we are anxiously awaiting this guy's arrival and hoping he stays cozy until Weston and Saydi start their first day of kindergarten and preschool. September is going to be crazy! In a great way and I can't wait.

Summer, Summer, Summer Time

We are officially enjoying our summer break. We have been busy with lots of fun different things. Some of my sisters and I went and saw our grandparents in Rexburg and they treated them all to ice cream cones. They are the best. My kids love going to see them!

My super kids having some technology time. Jonas is starting to get a little irritated with only watching. We'll hold him off for as long as we can!

Tired guys from working on our coat closet for a whole weekend.

 Gymnastics! They are doing gym for a month and then swimming lessons for a month. They love it!

 Daddy took Weston on the father/son camp out so we had some fun without the older boys. Jonas will join them next year but didn't mind hanging out with us girls for a night.

 We took a walk by the river then went and got pizza and sno cones, followed by a movie. It was a great time! We were sitting down watching the water and Saydi looked at this and said, "Look! It's a milk waterfall!" Ha! It sure is Saydi bug. Love seeing the world through my kids eyes.

 The belly obsession continues.

 We do the summer reading program through the library and I love the time spent reading every night. Not to mention the great prizes our library gives!

 Fun with cousins! Six kids 5 and under. It was a wonderful kind of madness. Loved having them all here.

My kids were OBSESSED with baby Adam. Jonas was downright giddy when he first saw him and was giggling nonstop saying over and over, "Baby!" I don't think we'll have any problems when our very own arrives.

 My nephew, Tyrel, turned 16 a couple weeks ago and we celebrated with him at Jensen's Grove. My kids loved it! I'm sure we will be doing this again before the summer ends.

  And we had a good Father's Day yesterday. Mark got breakfast in bed, a beard trimmer and a book the kids made for him. After church we had a delicious dinner and then enjoyed our evening together. He is such a wonderful dad. I couldn't have imagined better for my kids.

Here We Go Again

Every time I get terrible about blogging I feel like I should just give it up. And then my kids break out the blog books and spend hours pouring over them and I remember why I love doing it. I just am too lazy to get on an actual computer any more. Kindles and phones are so much more convenient. =) So, here we are playing catch up again.

Mark is obsessed with Superman. Literally. He is counting down the days to the new Superman movie so when he saw all these shirts for the kids and himself he couldn't pass it up. I even got one but mine is for pajamas. Ha! They are pretty cute if I do say so myself.

 My kids LOVE going to "the waterfall".

 I don't understand it, but Jonas has an obsession with bellies. He will pound on Mark's belly until he lifts up his shirt so Jonas can get him. If my kids lay on the floor he finds them, lifts their shirts up, and gets their bellies. Cracks me up.

 Crazy hair!

 The next morning...practicing holding the new baby.

 Can't take a bath without sunglasses now can we?

 Saydi is constantly filling her backpack with every toy imaginable including books and stuffed animals and carrying it around all day. One day she crawled up on Mark and fell sound asleep just like this. Silly thing.

 This little guy loves dogs. He only likes them in real life, but pictures, cartoons, or dog costumes and he is all over it. 

 Weston's handy work. What you don't see is Mark underneath all those pillows. =)

 Saydi with Steph's baby, Echo. Saydi was so smitten with her. It was adorable to watch.

 Came home from a date and found this guy asleep like this. Uh, I think he was more than a little tired.

 Weston's first drawing of our family of six. Love it.

 Amy gave me these dolls with magnetic clothes and Weston and Saydi both played with them for over an hour the next day. Thought this might be good to save for black mail some day.

 Our idea of "family time"

 We spent Weston's last day of preschool at the zoo. He loved it. Shortly after this a bird flew overhead and pooped right on my head. That was loads of fun. Thank goodness Mark was able to be there and he got most of it out with baby wipes until I could get home and shower. Yuck.

 Saydi and Jonas had fun too!

Whew. There is the overload of pictures. I still need to get on here though and write some details about this pregnancy so I don't forget and such. Maybe I will be ambitious and get it done later. We shall see. Coming up this month: Weston and Saydi are starting gymnastics; Saydi and Jonas have birthday's, Father's day is around the corner, and summer is getting into full swing so I'm sure we will have lots of outdoor adventures to share. Now, if only I can be consistent at sharing them.

Blessed

Buckle up. This is a long one too! I have to write this stuff down before I forget though. And share some pictures that I am way behind on. I have been so grateful to have such amazing kids lately. They have their moments (some on a regular basis) but each and every one of them are so special and inherently good. The other morning Weston came upstairs for the morning and told me he had made his bed before he even came upstairs for the day. I was blown away. What kind of five year old boy makes his bed before doing anything else? Without even being told?! A day or so after that Saydi went downstairs to get dressed and while she was down there she decided to make her bed without being asked also. Pretty impressive for a three year old! And she actually does a pretty decent job of it considering her age.

My kids have been helping me around the house a lot lately too. I just feel like if I don't make them responsible and a part of the family now then they won't all of a sudden jump in when they are older. So they unload the dishwasher every day (except the things that go up high) and they are responsible for their own messes, particularly toys. Some days go smoother than others but for the most part they are so responsible and such great helpers. It is pretty hilarious to see my 22 month old grabbing pots and pans and tupperware and walking right to the correct cupboard and putting them exactly where they go. He is a copy cat and has been since he was a baby so I'm grateful that he has such a great big brother and sister showing him the right things to be copying.

The other thing I'm really grateful for is how much my kids love each other. They really are best friends. They play all day and they have great imaginations. Weston is always coming up with different characters they can be and doing all kinds of active things. Saydi has taken to nurturing even more than she always has. She has a white stuffed dog that Mark gave me years ago that has become her own little baby. She puts it to bed (in her backpack) every night and in the morning she'll go get him and bring him to me and say, "Look who's awake!" She carries him around in her backpack literally all. the. time. And tells me all kinds of stories about things her dog did, or if he gets the barfs, or when he's tired. Jonas just tags right along and fits in with whatever antics the older two are up to. He loves them so much and tries to do everything that they do.

They are growing up so fast and I know this whole stage of my life will be over in the blink of an eye, although it certainly doesn't feel that way from day to day. But when I look at Weston and the big boy he is now and then look at Jonas and remember when he used to be that small I can hardly believe how quickly it's gone. Just last week he came home from a friend's house and said that he had ridden his friend's bike without training wheels. This surprised me since he can't ride a bike yet. So the next day he begged me to take the training wheels off his own bike. I decided, why not? So I took them off, and Weston took off! It was that simple. I think maybe he just needed to watch his friend do it first to trust himself to be able to do it also. Here is a little clip of his very first bike ride. I couldn't get it to rotate so I apologize. And ignore my annoying-ness. I thought it was hilarious to see him just take off like that!

I will be quiet now and post the pictures that have been sitting on my phone forever. Daddy fell asleep for the last little bit of a conference session and Weston climbed up there and joined him. Adorable.

 This guy lost his second tooth while we were staying at a hotel in Utah for Sean and Crystal's baby blessing. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy found us without incident.

 I took a little nap the other day and Saydi came to join me. Not as herself though.

 New sunglasses! Must be warn at all times. Even before having breakfast.

 Or perhaps, while having breakfast.

 Everything stops when daddy comes home or wakes up. These kids are addicted to their daddy!

 No wonder this girls' nickname is Precious, right?

 Whatever it takes to get Saydi's hair done and keep everyone happy. I will 'fess up though and admit that shortly after this Jonas squirmed away from Saydi and took a tumble. Our arrangement was adjusted after that.

It's no wonder I love this kiddos so incredibly much. They are the best things that ever happened to me. And I am so excited to add one more this year. Two weeks from today and we will know if we are adding another boy or girl to the family!