busy busy busy

This is our most recent family portrait. I took it myself and this was the best one. Hopefully after this weekend we'll have some that are a little more centered. :)

Life has been fun but CRAZY as I'm still adjusting to three little ones. I'm usually desperately searching for a free moment to use the bathroom or something. I'm finding it nearly impossible to get out of the house most days and am really craving some more social interaction. I make frequent calls to my mom or sisters while I'm nursing and that is about the only way I'm able to interact with other adults during the days.

I spend half of my day changing diapers, am always covered in spit-up and daily showers have once again become a thing of the past so my life is certainly not glamorous but it is still wonderful. Everyday is also filled with lots of wonderful moments. It's so fun to see how well Mackayla and Bradley play together (inbetween their fights) and they both love their baby brother. Mackayla and I have been working hard on reading and writing and she's doing so well. Its the best feeling to watch her be able to read words and to bring me a piece of paper and show me the words she has written. Bradley is a litle bundle of energy and is always making us laugh. He's always trying to do things "just like daddy." Jacob is just getting to the stage where he's starting to smile at us and of course that is absolutely thrilling to us all. And the most joyous moment of any day is when we're all watching out the window and see Daddy's truck pull in the driveway. The kids clap and cheer and I breathe a sigh of relief , knowing that I survived another day. Although Mackayla is still our very emotional girl, Bradley is becoming quite the fit-throwing toddler, and Jacob doesn't want to sleep during the days anymore, they are constantly reminding me of why I love being their mother.

Daddy and the boys after church.

Brothers

Trying to capture a smile from Jacob

He's still a devoted BYU fan even if they had a bad game.

Mackayla still loves to go into my closet and find my dress up clothes

Our sweet baby Jacob

Last Saturday Jared took Mackayla on a "special fishing trip" They left at 5:30 in the morning and drove up to the lake for the morning. They even caught a little fish. Mackayla thought it was the most wonderful day and still can't stop talking about it. This is the only picture Jared took.

Mackayla has decided she loves taking pictures and the next couple are pictures she's taken of Jacob and me.

Enjoying a rainy day

Another family picture without me.

Last week we had our primary program. Our primary is huge and with well over 100 kids participating in the program, Mackayla was the star of the show (in our opinions)! She said her line loud and clear and looked adorable up there. Here is a video of her saying her line after church. Isn't she talented?!?!

Bradley wanted a turn to say her part also. It's a little hard to understand him though since he insisted the "microphone" needed to be IN his mouth.

SEPTEMBER

We drove up American Fork Canyon on Labor Day and Jared got to try to do a little fishing.


It was VERY windy and sunny so I had to sit in the car with Jacob most of the time. I tried to venture out once with Jacob covered up in the baby carrier.

Playing by the lake


We went up with Kevin and his kids. Kevin has a canoe and he let Jared take the kids for a little ride.

(taken from inside the car)

Tummy Time! Whenever Jacob has tummy time the others like to join in.

We recreated a picture with Jacob that we had taken of Bradley.

BROTHERS:

Jacob

Bradley

GO BYU! We were having so much fun listening to the BYU game on the radio, Mackayla decided to be the cheerleader.

Whenever I ask Mackayla to take a picture of Jared and I she replies that she's too young and will take our picture when she turns four. The other day she decided to be brave and take a picture of us. She did good for her first time.

Last week Jared heard Mackayla up early in the morning and went to check on her. She was getting her play camera to go and take a picture of her bed. She was so proud of herself because she had gotten up and made her bed all by herself and was going to take a picture of it. Jared got the real camera and took the picture for her.

Bradley loves to mow the lawn with Jared. You would think he'd get bored after a little while but he followed Jared around the entire time trying to do exactly what his dad was doing.

Come visit!

Our Beautiful Children

The kids wanted to see a waterfall so we took a Sunday drive to Bridal Veil Falls.

Jacob

Everyone all cuddled up with Grandma first thing in the morning. They were sure sad that Grandpa and Grandma had to leave!

Mom and the kids

More of Jacob

The First Bath

It was a family affair

Jacob is now twice as old as he was last week. It's amazing how times flies. My mom went home on Friday so we're all on our own now. It was so nice to have my parents here for so long, giving us so much help! Today was my first full day on my own. We needed to leave the house by 10am to pick up Jared and head to Jacob's Dr. appointment. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to have everyone ready on time so as soon as I got up I was hurring like crazy to get things done. I had everyone fed, diapered, dressed and ready to go and then realized it was only 8am. So, we got to relax for a couple hours before we had to leave. I'm glad that we don't have anywhere we have to be tomorrow though. I think I'm going to survive as long as Jacob keeps sleeping so well:)

These are a few pictures that never made it into our albumns from just before Jacob was born.

This is the last picture I have from before I had the baby.

We went to a fair that was free with my family and the kids got to ride a pony! They thought it was very cool.

One week old!

Jacob will be one week old tomorrow. It's amazing how much we love him already.

He seems so much older everyday and is spending a lot more time awake now. Here's a bunch of pictures from the last couple days.

Bradley following Grandpa around


The boys hanging out together. It's so funny how my little baby Bradley suddenly seems so BIG now.

Daddy and Jacob taking a nap together.

Jared with all the kids.

Asleep with Mommy

Mackayla loves her little brother and talks to him with the sweetest little voice. She loves being my helper.

Bradley absolutely loves his baby brother but has definitly had some jealous moments already. Once Grandpa and Grandma leave, I think he'll have a tough transition time.

Grandma and Jacob.

Bradley listening to Heather's music.

Sweet little Jacob.

It's crazy that after nine long months, I'm not pregnant anymore. With all the hardships of pregnancy, labor, and recovery I only have to take one look at our sweet baby and can say he was SO worth it!! We feel so blessed to be able to welcome him to our family.

A brief account of our experience for the records:

Monday morning I woke up and went downstairs about 7am to tell Jared, before he left for work, that I was having a few pains but wasn't sure if they were labor pains or not. By 8:00 I was sure and we headed straight for the hospital. By the time we got there I was already dialated to 8cm. It took them a long time to get us in the computer and to get an IV in me. So, by the time I got my epidural, I was dialated to 9.5cm. A short time later our little Jacob was born. Although I was sure I was going to die during all that time before the epidural, everything went very well. My parents were able to bring the kids in soon after he was born to meet the newest member of our family and they LOVED him. Jared was in the middle of a very important project at work. He, of course, didn't go into work on Monday, but unfortunatley had to spend most of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the office. He took Friday off, though, and is also planning to take tomorrow off. It's been so nice to have him home. I'm actually pretty nervous for when my Mom leaves and Jared is back at work. I'm sure I'll adjust, though, as all new mother's do.