FOR KIM

Remember how you thought Josh was shoving grass in your grill? I think he's been to my house too.
On closer inspection.....maybe not!



It's a good thing it's our old unused grill!

6 WEEKS OLD....LAST FRIDAY

I can hardly believe that Tate is already 6 weeks old. It has been a whirlwind experience! Since he was born I've celebrated a birthday, an anniversary, Easter, and Mother's Day. I took a quick trip to Utah with the 4 kids all by myself to introduce him to my family. We've had tons of friends and neighbors bring us meals and gifts welcoming him. We blessed him on Mother's Day at home. And we've been wonderfully spoiled by visits from all the Grandma's and Grandpa's.

OUR BABY HAS ARRIVED!!!

So this is a little be-lated, but I have loved, loved, LOVED spending the last 11 days just snuggling, oohing, aahing, and otherwise spoiling our new little baby boy!

Tate Alden Courtney joined our family on April Fools Day at 10:25pm. He weighed in at 7lbs 10oz and was 19in long. Pretty good size for coming 2 weeks early.

With that said, his birth was an "unplanned planned" experience. Meaning....my doctor was going out of town and wanted to have the baby more than I did!!! I had a regular visit scheduled with the Doc that Friday morning. When he checked me, I was at 5cm. (The previous week I was a 4 and the week before that I was a 3. Typical pattern for me.) I tried to tell him that I was sure that I would hold on until he came home from his trip the next week, but he wasn't so sure so he asked us to meet him at the hospital at 6:30 that evening.

(*These doctor office pics are for you Kim and Bailey who have had some weird thought that it would be fun seeing me all big and prego! I'm a brave woman putting them on here!!!)

After waiting a short time for the doc, he came in and broke my water around 7:30. That was all it took to get me started. (No brainer I guess since I was already half way done anyway!) I let myself labor for about an hour knowing that as soon as I got an epidural I would be ready to deliver within 30 minutes. I guess I wasn't feeling "ready" to have him yet., but since there was no turning back at this point, I asked for an epidural. That was in and going around 9:00 and I was complete 45 minutes later.

Normally I push twice and the kiddo is here....HOWEVER.....this time I guess I couldn't remember what the heck I was doing OR my little man wasn't ready to join us yet either because it took me about 35 minutes to have him. But he is here and healthy and whole and we are all so very happy! We love his sweet little dimples, soft downy blonde hair and yummy new baby smell.

The past 11 days have been a whirlwind adventure. I'm still trying to figure out what our new "normal" will be and don't expect to have that figured out for awhile yet. I have felt like a new mom all over again...worrying more this time than even that first time about little things. "Did you wash your hands? Where's your mask? Do you think he looks too jaundice? Does he sleep too much?" And most pressing....bowel movements. Why do we obsess over our babies bowel movements??? I mean really. 5 days isn't TOO long to go without a BM is it?! Then as they get older (to my other kids ages now) you wish they would get over the humor somehow discovered in the discussion of a good BM and just stop talking about them altogether. And finally when we are old and decrepid, it's apparently a right of age to start obsessing about frequency and consistency all over again.

(*Steven and Meilia were just getting over nasty coughs and Wyatt was just getting one. They donned masks for the first week of Tate's life.)

But ANYWAY.......Tate is a little angel in our home. He is quiet and content. He sleeps well and seldom cries. The children love to take turns holding him and gazing in wonder at his tiny little ears, hands, and nose. I love to see their eyes light up when his open. And I love to see my big handsome manly man husband get all ooey and gooey over this tiny new little guy. It's another beautiful reason I love being a mom. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to have this new little guy in our home. I love you Tate!!! Welcome to our home and family.

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P.S. Holy crap! It only took 9 days but he finally started pooping. :-)

LIVING ROOM WISH

So here it is....the furniture I want for my living room. Oh how sweet it is to make believe that I will actually achieve this dream!

I would LOVE for my hubby to construct this bookshelf for me along my LR big wall. (Who wants to help?!) Imagine all the pretties I could put on there!

This rug mixes my colors BEEEEUTIFULLY!

See how pretty these accent chairs would be next to that?! Oh-La-La! I can just imagine a pair of these sitting next to my pretty little cream-colored round end table.
And finally the loveseat. A nice crisp white leather that I can throw ANY pillow on for each season to bring in a splash of color. Red for the Christmas holidays. Orange for Fall. Vivid Spring pinks or greens. Yellows or teals for Summer. Mmmmmmm.......
So here's to SOMEDAY!

UPDATE

Took a sneak peek at the little man again and it looks like he has FLIPPED!!!!! Yay! Now let's hope he stays like that.

PREGNANCY WK 34

Our little guy is being a bit uncooperative right now. He has decided he really likes to sit in the breech position. Hopefully he'll turn on his own in the next little bit or my Dr. will have to try to turn him. I have to admit I am terrified of having a C-section. I watched one on You-Tube and all I can say is "No thank you!" and "Why one earth do some ladies ELECT to do that??"

I have also watched some rather "interesting" videos on how women try to turn their babies through different inverted maternal positionings, chiropractor alignments, and some weird thing involving an incense stick and accupuncture points. I think it was called moxibustion. WEIRD!

One benefit of little mans' uncooperative state of being has been that I am not so fixated on the fact that we still don't know what we are going to name him. So here are my current favorite names for our little bambino...in no particular order.

*Tate Alden Courtney
*Joseph Alden Courtney
*Andrew Joseph Courtney
*Carson Tate Courtney

I LOVE BLACK AND WHITE

It seems that I am daydreaming about decorating my house almost daily. It mostly involves a base of traditional/cottage style black and white and creams with splashes of fun bright colors to change with the seasons. In my mini web-wandering session of the day, I ran across this great blog all about black and white. Whoever started it does my web wandering for me and has put a huge collection of gorgeous things together on one site with links to the sites where they were found. Aaahhhh....I love you Person! What makes it even cooler is that it has links to other sites designated to other fabulous colors like turquiose, greens, blues, browns, reds....whatever your heart desires! So I thought I'd share with you this fun blog just in case you are like me and enjoy daydreaming daily about your dream home.
http://www.blackandwhitedelight.com/

SLEDDING-SMITH PARK

Me and Mei. And for all those wondering...no I did NOT participate! :(

Some little "snippets" of the kids sledding. They had a blast and didn't want to leave....once in the car however, they realized just how cold their fingers and toes were and were glad to be going home for some grilled cheese sandwiches and soup.

BOY'S ROOM

So for some crazy reason I can't get into my word program I ALWAYS use to add another inspirational room photo to. Sooo.......I guess I'll put stuff on here so I don't have to go search for it again!


Boy's Room-Only difference is we will use red in place of the green for Digger colors/sports theme instead of fishies. But I LOVE the stripes. I think it will grow with them. I also love the metal shelves.

Oh. And I found this blog a week or so ago where this lady is decorating her home in the same style that I have been dying to have for years now but never known how to start. I love her ideas and her DIY methods and how bright and open her spaces feel. So if you see my house morphing, you'll know where it's coming from. Check it out. http://www.houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/

2011 PINEWOOD DERBY

Steven participated in his 2nd Pinewood Derby race last night. The cub master prepared a wonderful "opening ceremony" where she handed out awards earned this past month, new neckerchief slides, and talked about sportsmanship. (The boys held up the word "Sportsmanship" and told what it means)
Then the races began! It was so much fun to see each boys' cars and how unique they were. My favorite was Tallis Barkers' car. He created his from legos! It was so creative and he could change it however he wanted. Too fun. Steven's design was inspired from his favorite book series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He painted his car black with an ocean blue Trident on it. With A LOT of his dad's help and a little bit of Poseidon's luck, it was super fast and won each race it competed in. He was so excited! His car took awards for "Fastest Car" and "Sportiest Paint Job." Way to go Pal!

NAME THAT BABY!!!

Let's play a little game called "Name that Baby!" We are in need of help naming our new little bambino that will be joining us in April. It's normally a no-brainer for us, but this guy is stumping us. I usually have at least one name that means something to me or is after someone we admire, etc. but not this time! Anything goes!

So...here are a few name combos that I like. Leave me a comment on which one you like or put them in ABC order of how you like 'em. You can also tell me you don't like any of them and leave your own REALISTIC suggestion!

Thanks for playing!

A- Clay Alden Courtney
B- Andrew Tate Courtney
C- Carston Reid Courtney

DI SCORE

I don't know about you, but I L-O-V-E shopping at thrift stores! I popped into the good ole' DI yesterday just to pass some time and walked out with quite a good deal (if I do say so myself!).

I bought 3 bags full of random Strawberry Shortcake, Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, My Little Ponies, Disney Princesses, and Littlest Pet Shop (which I am most excited about) toys for a whoppin' $9! There were at least 55 pets plus accessories, and 4 pet shop mini playsets (perfect to take along to church). Boo-yah!!! The kids have been having an absolute blast....even the boys. Shhh...don't tell them I told ya!


I also bought this pretty little tray for my nightstand for $1.50. It's perfect to hold my IPod, cell phone, and book light. Love it!

PREGO SIDE EFFECTS

Maybe it's just me, but I think being pregnant makes me have the most crazy, bazaar and wild dreams ever. Last night I dreamed that I delivered my son at 33 weeks. The next day I delivered what I believe was his undeveloped twin....that looked strangely like a chicken carcass. I'm still disturbed.

SURGERY

Pal had his bone graft done 2 weeks ago at Primary Children's Hospital. He was so brave through the whole thing and so blessed that everything went so smoothly. His pain level always stayed under control and his spirits mostly stayed upbeat. There were a few moments when I could tell that he was crackin' jokes to cover up how he felt/looked. It's always hard to see your child go through an emotional roller coaster.
> But his jokes were truly funny!

1) After seeing himself on day 2 when the swelling was getting pretty crazy he said "I look half human and half "who!"

2) While playing a game, he kept using the hint button so we gave him a hard time about it to which he responded "What? I'm disabled here!"

3) While looking at some rather ugly fish he said, "Those fish have the same face as me. Too bad their's will stay that way!"

4) And his cousin helped out with this one: "I got in a fight with a Yeti and I won. You should see the way HE looks!"

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I think the hardest part for him is yet to come. He has to stay in from recess/PE for 4-6 more weeks! How crazy insane is that to ask of an energetic kid?!
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WARD TREK

My little pioneer family getting ready to begin on our 3 day adventure. We all met at the church and lined up in our cars to head up to the site of our trek.

The boys rearing to go.....with no clue what was to lay ahead of them. Hard work, steep hills, lots of walking, pushing and pulling, creeks to cross, heat and thirst, small periods of doing it alone, and setting camp just to wake up and do it all again!
Mei enjoying her first bumpy ride. She preferred riding on the 4-wheeler and in the relief van!

Pal taking a much needed break. When he finally got it that when I asked for help cause I really needed it and not just to hear myself talk, he was wonderful!

After day 1 (the hardest day where they took away all the men and had the women and children pull up the steep hills alone) I realized I was in terrible shape and that there was NO WAY I could do the remainder of the journey without help. So help was sent in the form of these 2 handsome young men! Mike Wood and Alex Galbraith were my saviors for the remainder of the journey! Only problem was that they were so good, they didn't even need my help. I need to go again so I can scoot those boys over and take a turn!

By the end of the 3 days, I wish that we could go 3 more. My kids were finally getting it and I felt like I was able to do it. I learned a lot about myself and the things I need to improve on as a woman and as a parent and as a member of the church. What sweet life lessons I brought home.

FIRST ANNUAL SUGAR CITY HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE FAIR

Our first annual science fair was held last Saturday. The kids did a phenomenal job and executed the scientific method at top notch levels. A HUGE thanks to Sis. Gifford for organizing this event. Also to Sis. Baird for hosting it and Bro. Lines for judging it. We couldn't have done it without you all!

Sis. Gifford decorating the edible Periodic Table of Elements.

Steven's project: He wanted to learn how dish soap works. He learned that the soap molecules have a grease/fat loving end and a water loving end. The grease/fat loving end will attach to the fats and grease from the leftover food. The water loving end allows the food particles to rinse off easily. All you need to try this yourself is some milk, preferrably whole milk, some food coloring, and a drop of dish soap. The reaction can last for around 41 minutes....that's when we gave up watching anyway!

Meilia's project was called "Plant's Suck! Observing Capillary Action." She learned about how water gets up a flower's stem and to their petals. She learned that stem's have little capillarys (which are small narrow tubes) that suck the water up and to the leaves etc. We bought 3 white carnations and placed them in water with food coloring added and the watched as they magically turned red, blue, and green. It was fun! She mod podged lots of cute flowers to her board and put question/answer flowers on her display.

Wyatt is my little athlete. He discovered that Ancient Olympians used halteres to propel themselves forward in the long jump. He wondered if running at different distances would help him jump farther. He did standing long jumps, and 3meter, 6meter, 9meter, and 12meter running jumps. We had lots of fun testing out this theory at the high school long jump pit. He learned he needs to have someone teach him the technique involved with jumping to help him jump even farther. But he is sooo good at jumping 5 feet!!!

Wyatt presenting his project with a little help from Mom.

Steven was thrilled beyond belief to receive the 2nd place ribbon!!! See Pal...a little hard work pays off in the end!

Bro. Lines with the winners. 1st place went to Elizabeth! 2nd went to Steven! 3rd went to Mitchell! All the kids were true winners that day. They each received a certificate of achievement to celebrate their success!

The whole gang! Way to go kids! I can't wait to see what you come up with next year!