Sleep baby sleep!

After all of my whining and complaining Aliya took pity on me. She now sleeps through the night- and I do mean all night. Last night it was 10:30p.m. to 10:30a.m. when I then had to wake her up to make sure she was still breathing! Now if I can just quit waking up at 5:00 anyway......!

Happy holidays!

Here's comes Santa Claus.....

Aren't we an attractive couple? This was for the ugly sweater contest... Darin tied for 3rd. Can you believe mine didn't even place!?! That's how tough the competition was!

Savanah and Meagan trying to convince Santa to put them on the nice list.

Tyson, Josh and Aliya, who coulda cared less!

Baby update (sorry, can't resist!)

This is one of my very favorite, and handmade, baby gifts. Thank you Joy!

Yes, we have a thumb-sucker! Always the left. I dunno... but she sleeps through the night suddenly because of it, so I think I'm okay with it for now!
Oh, and she goes to bed by 10:30 now. Yeah!

Look at those big beautiful eyes!

Chubby baby! Okay, but she's chubby to us!
Gotta have those naked baby pictures!

Happy Birthday Savanah!

Savanah turned 13 on December 9. Yes, she's really a teenager now! Though you may have thought so years ago by her attitude..........

Her cake had so much frosting on it that it was sliding off itself! Not that that's a bad thing! Bring on the chocolate!

Just when I thought I might die from lack of sleep, Aliya went to bed by 11 two whole nights in a row, and last night slept until 8 this morning. Of course this hurt me in other ways, if you know what I mean, but, yeeeeeeeeeeee hah!

Go Kadyn!

Kadyn recently entered an essay contest called "The Voice of Democracy" and won both the regional level (and a $100) and now District 7. So he is one of seven students that now get to go to the state competition in January in Boise to a black tie event and dinner, parents included. I knew those brains would pay off! (He hates this picture)

My Girls

Savanah couldn't be happier to finally have a little sister! And she probably won't have to worry about her raiding her clothes closet either!

It's hard to believe that 2 months have all ready passed. It's way too quick, especially when you're relatively sure this is the last one! Darin's really not convinced but I am! The last couple of years have been a little too much fun for me!

Poor little Aliya has her first cold. It's so pathetic! She can't even hardly cry because she lost her voice and all that comes out is a little squeak! It would be kinda cute if it wasn't so sad. I never had that happen to a baby of mine before. But she's still precious!

All I want for Christmas is a good night's sleep,
A good night's sleep,
Yes, a good night's sleep,
Gee, if I could only get a good night's sleep
then I wouldn't be a psycho mommy!

(3 am last night- a new record)

Baby, oh baby. Very naughty baby. Baby go to sleep at 11:30! Yeah, baby, yeah! Oh, baby wakes at 2, oh no, baby awake at 4, no, oh no, baby awake at 6, alarm goes off at 7, daddy says,"did baby sleep good?", mommy kicks daddy out of bed, baby cries at 7:15, now mommy wide-awake and can't go back to sleep, baby awake at 9 just as mommy drifts off. Mommy awakes to find herself nailing all the pillows from house to bedroom walls. Poor mommy, sleep mommy, sleep. Maybe next year.............

Still sleep-deprived

So, what do you do when you're up until 1:30 in the morning looking into the eyes of a very WIDE-AWAKE baby girl ( mine were more glassy-eyed I'm sure), feed her again at 4:30, fall back to sleep just in time for the alarm to go off at 7:00, get up to get kids off to school, take husband to get vehicle, husband leaves for the day, toddler now up and running (literally), and baby takes 5 minute cat-naps at most during the day. I'm thinking of having a padded room installed somewhere in my house. It would save me a few trips to Blackfoot to just have my own. It's a good thing this baby's cute! (Yes I do check my shoes very frequently, just in case)

Aliya's blessing day!

Beautiful baby girl all dressed in white! How grateful we are to our Heavenly Father to have sent one more little blessing to our home and our hearts. I am so glad to be a Mom! It's the greatest career choice a woman can make I think! I am also so grateful for the opportunities to gather with family and share these occasions with them. We love you all! (Yes, even those who did not attend-we forgive you)

Happy Halloween!

Too cute!

Now that's scary!

Pumpkin carving- no really, that's a pumpkin. Okay, so maybe we planted it a little too close to the zucchini and yellow squash!

The big kids are much too cool to join in the fun anymore!

My how time flies!

This is a giant universal remote, one he can't lose! It even glows in the dark! Every man should be so lucky! He also got some diapers, fiber pills, Viagra, denture cleaner, dog food (don't ask), baby food, and some actually nice stuff.

The old man of the house turned forty on October 10th. He's still got it though....although sometimes he can't find it! Yer still a hottie to me dear! That's all that matters, right?

Darin pretending to blow out the candles that I forgot to bring!

Now for a tribute to Darin:

Dying Day

Like the brilliant sun setting at the end of day,
At forty, youth's glory is fading away.
Gathering together with family and friends,
Trying to forget it's now soft food and Depends.

Night's coming fast, the shadows are looming,
Old age, slowing down, gray hairs all comsuming.
What once was a six pack is now a spare tire,
Without Diet Pepsi the situation may be dire.

Under the moonlight, youth's bright rays gone,
The hairs out the ears and nose growing long.
Wrestling and running were yesterday's adventures,
This point in life we're just glad for the dentures.

Alas, in the horizon, light breaks and we see
That in spite of the sore back and stiff knee,
He's still got his stuff- an ode to his youth;
No need for Viagra, the new baby's proof!

~Kari Hancock

Aliya!

Baby girl is one month old!

I've lost it!

Here's a little game: What is different about these two pictures? Okay, now which one did Amy wear to jury duty today (another story)? If you guessed the top picture, that's so wrong! The bottom, oh so right! Yet still so wrong! What's really bad is that it took over two hours before I noticed. How many others noticed in that time? I have no idea, nor do I want to. Can we (I) say stupid? Okay, and maybe a little sleep-deprived.

Naptime!

Big brothers are the best! Wait, I'm think I'm sensing a pattern here.........

Something Special

This is our "special" daughter Savanah. Isn't she precious?

Winter? Wonderland?

Okay, just checking, today is October 12, right? Just wondered because they canceled church today due to the weather. It might have something to do with the 10 inches of snow on the front lawns, and that doesn't take into consideration all the snow that came down yesterday that melted as soon as it hit the ground. Now, I'll really laugh if they cancel school tomorrow.....wait, no I won't! They better not! But, this is Idaho! Gotta love it!

Just happened to be sitting here at the computer with my baby girl waking up in my arms and she opened her eyes and gave me several of the biggest most precious grins ever! How sweet it is! Especially since we've had a VERY long night! Ugly even......... Mom's never eating pizza again!

Our little bit of heaven here on earth

Our Aliya at 10 days old.

Sleeping beauty at 2 weeks. The Dr. is happy to see a baby back to their birth weight at their 2 week visit but this little one managed to put on an extra pound too. She has the cheeks to prove it- both sets! (Must be that Jersey milk again)

Our jocks

Savanah decided to play volleyball this year for the first time. It's been fun even though her team has struggled a bit!

Tyson loves to play soccer and even got his dad for his coach this year.

Brotherly Love

Big brothers are the best!

The Rest of the Family

Our family

Jen, Jason,Jordan, Braxton, and Shaylie

Daren, Wendy, Jackson, Rylee, Ellie, and Kolby

Kloie, Beau, Rachael, Bentley, and Olivia

Travis, Ashley, and Russell

The Happy Couple!

Logan and Lexy
Married September 26,2008
Salt Lake temple

Joshua has a slight (huge) crush on the bride. He kept picking her flowers and giving to her all evening.

The flower girls, Ellie and Kloie

Yes, I'm insane. We traveled to Utah this weekend to witness Lexy, our new gorgeous sister-in-law finally drag Logan, the last of Darin's siblings , to the alter. Way to go Logan! She's a keeper!

Then on Saturday we drove to Idaho Falls to do the reception part all over again! Fun, fun, fun! Thank goodness we're all out of weddings for awhile.....Kadyn or Savanah may actually be the next in line! Scary!

Vampire baby?

Okay, first of all a disclaimer so you all don't think I'm completely nuts. I have evidence to support my claim. And, it doesn't help that I finished reading "Breaking Dawn" the night before they induced me. For those of you who don't know what that is (is there really anyone?) it involves vampires and werewolves and I so can't believe I read, let alone enjoyed it. Anyway, so all day Friday while I was in labor I kept having images from the book flash through my mind. It's not so hard to imagine contractions feeling as if the baby is trying to shred you from the inside out! It was a little disconcerting to say the least.

Then in the middle of the night Sunday night, Aliya spit up a little blood. I called the Dr.'s office and they said as long as it was bright red it probably meant that she had ruptured some sensitive blood vessels in her throat and it was no big deal. So in the middle of the night Monday night I sat her up to burp her and suddenly she had blood all over the front of her and down her sleeve. Then she spit out this big glob of bloody goo that I managed to catch with the spit rag. The next morning she had a black diaper and at this point the Dr. said to come right in. They tested the blood and determined (don't ask me how) that the blood was in fact mine. Gross! What's weird is that I have not really seen blood on me. I'm a little sore but please! So, you see, I have in fact given birth to a bloodsucker! Now if she starts speaking to me..........she obviously has the ability to place images in my mind...........creepy!

WELCOME!

Aliya Marie
6 lbs. 1oz.
19 inches
Birthday~September 19, 2008

Bright eyes!

And this is how she looks most of the time! More info later!

Aggggggggggh!

So, the word is from Dr. B today that she would rather me not go into labor on my own for fear that I won't make it to the hospital in time. So, she scheduled me for an induction next Friday, September 19. So, I guess, like it or not, I'm having a baby next week! Wish me luck!

Labor Day Woes

Okay, so here's the thing, I am sooooooooooo sick of being pregnant. I think it has something to do with being in "this condition" for 15 of the last 20 months. Call me a wimp, but I am so ready to be done. The problem is, I am completely and utterly not mentally ready for labor and delivery. I have never been overly concerned about it before, but this time I would just be content with the doctor knocking me out cold and doing whatever it took to get her out of me and wake me up when it's all done. It's not even pain I'm afraid of. I honestly don't know what my problem is, I'm just so tired, and so done. I know it's inevitable though, so here's hoping I (mentally) survive it! (I'm though whining now, it's so theraputic)

Does this child ever wear pants?

Good thing he's wearing an apron, I'd hate for him to get, um, "himself" dirty!