Merry Christmas!

We hope that you all had a Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the savior's birth.

Stephen continually asks if we can make Jesus a birthday cake.

We hope you have a great New Years too!

We are loving the snow! I love how our street has big trees that collect the snow. We live in a winter wonderland.

Stephen cleared our front steps with nothing less than the windshield scraper...how luck we are to have such a helpful boy.

In the mist of a huge storm, Skyler still got a special Christmas delivery from Grandpa. Evan and Toni delivered his new bed. He sure loves his big boy bed. He loves being a big boy, and used the potty this morning.

Christmas morning my big pile of boys turned into a big pile of supermen.

Stephen enjoyed painting his new truck.

Cody loves his new car from Grandpa... (Skyler puts it on his lap and plays with it.)

Mailed to Guam

My Mom and Dad entered the MTC yesterday...and Stephen has been praying that they get to Guam safe ever since...then he had an idea.


Stephen and Skyler wanted to be mailed to Guam, to make sure Grandma and Grandpa made it there safe. When I walked into the living room, I heard a voice from a box left over from Christmas. "Don't throw us in the garbage, mail us to Guam." Of course, they had packed coats, Stephen's elephant, Skyler's brown bear, and Cody's polar bear. And Stephen was going as Superman.



Isn't this a fun picture... soup for lunch after Grandma and Grandpa spoke in church.




At Grandma and Grandpa's Farwell lunch, Mattie celebrated her first birthday! What a cutie!

Good luck on your mission Grandma and Grandpa!!! We will miss you!

I wonder if those boys have enough room for me in that box...

The Saga Continues

Unfortunately it seems like when the momma, and the dadda, are at the end of their energy...something else happens.

That something else happens to be...
*Skyler broke daddy's camera...the nice one used for daddy's photography...
*Stomach flu... (Stephen and Skyler)...yes, this reminds me a lot of last Christmas, and cleaning carpets the week before quests all showed up for Christmas eve.
*Daddy spilled gas/oil mix all over himself at work, 1/2 my house smells like gas fumes, the other 1/2 smells like puke.
*Skyler's diarrhea is back...oh joy!
*Cody has decided that sleeping isn't so fun anymore. And would like 150% attention, and snuggle time.
*My mother-in-law's car was hit and run at our house while she was babysitting our kids Saturday night.

Well, that is our week so far...we will see how tomorrow goes...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Kids, Fun, Poop, and Dr Visits

Wow, what a week we have had!

First, I would like to say I think I have the most insane pile of boys ever assembled. That would be Stephen, Skyler and Cody.

I think that the Pediatric clinic should just give me a job, I am there so often.

Stephen- he is a lot of help around the house, really... but he also won't just let Sky have all the fun. if Sky is making a mess, by all means he must join in. (As long as Sky was doing it first it saves him from being in trouble...right?) "But Skyler was doing it first!" Is something I hear a lot of. Stephen is the type of kid that when he is sent to his room for time out-he sometime cleans his room, makes his bed, and when he comes out he is proud of what he accomplished without me asking and wants me to come see his clean room. Or he comes out demanding that I apologize for sending him to time out. (*Cough...me? Sorry?, I don't think so.) He loves to help me out a lot. He loves taking care of Cody, and Skyler. He loves hugs and kisses. He really is a sweetie. He is very smart, he loves the ABC's, counting, shapes and colors. He claims that his job is teaching Sky and Cody to talk, and to teach Cody to walk.

Skyler- He has had a cold for a few weeks now... and last week we took him to the doctor for a bit of pink eye. (It seriously looked like a black eye, it was so swollen shut.) We have him well recovered from that, with no one else in the family getting it. (Stephen and Skyler cleaned my house with antibacterial wipes.) Now, Skyler loves to remove his clothes. He has also learned that when his diaper is wet, or stinky, it is uncomfortable so he takes it off. Unfortunately the last few nights his pj's and diaper have disappeared and he has wet his bed before I can get in there and get him dressed again before I go to bed. And unfortunately we have had poop spread everywhere. (Stephen was very concerned, I had to tell Stephen about his poop messes to help him understand that he did this type of thing too.)

Cody- he has had a bit of colic at night, then to make matters worse, immunizations yesterday. Even the slightest touch to his poor little legs send him into a screaming frenzy.) I can't believe he is 2 months old already. Oh, and can you believe it, he is 10 pounds 11 ounces. That puts him in the 75% for weight, and he is 90% for height. (He is getting so chubby and cute.) Cody also has had a cold that mostly was effecting his eyes, so we took him to the doctor for that last week as well.

At any rate, Cody finally slept for about 6 1/2 hours last night!!!) Yawn, why do I still feel so tired? And where has my voice gone? Yep, the cold has accepted me as it's next victim. Alright, I guess I better go clean my house while 2/3 of my cute guys are sleeping.

Cody's Blessing Day!

We would like to thank our family and friends for attending Cody's blessing. It was a wonderful day. We loved spending time with you.

Halloween Fun!

The boys and I were all pirates (Stephen chose what we would all be for Halloween.) Daddy was Death as always, but he did go to work as a pirate. (Now, the moment Jill has been awaiting is now here)...introducing the big pile of Priates!!!

Now for...Pirates in Action!!!

Skyler Trick or treating with Uncle Mike

Stephen Trick or Treating with Lindsey

and Cody having a nice nap.

Pirate brothers...How cute.

Daddy Pirate...ooohhhh, nice!

That is Momma Pirate and the boys...imagine, for just a moment...photoshopping Daddy pirate in to our picture. I tried, it was a decent attempt, but I will have daddy do it, he is much better at it than me. (Look for that one in an up coming post.)

Our big pile of pumpkins...too bad our lights went out, and we didn't get a picture of them all lit up.

Tons of Pictures

I must say, we got some cute pictures this last month or so...soooo, I will share some. (Yes Jill, the long awaited pictures of Halloween will be posted today too.) We did so many things, and, yes, finally got the batteries in our camera recharged for another go at pictures. Yippie!!!

While Grandma Zaugg was visiting us while Cody was in the hospital, she cut Skyler's hair.

Skyler's First Hair Cut... Such cute curly hair, I was in love with it...but he is 2 now, so the curls had to go. And he instantly looked all grown up. Apparently he thought he was grown up enough to shave.

Skyler's first time shaving. Stephen gets a hair cut too.

Cute hair cut by the way guys... you both are handsome!

Stephen likes to shave too.

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a corn party. We had a lot of fun!

Stephen carefully shucks the corn...worried about a little thing called worms.

Skyler likes to help too. He was running the corn to the cooler, what big helpers these boys are.

We love Halloween, we love pumpkins, we love costumes, we love trick or treating too.

We got to choose pumpkins at Aunt Laura's house. So fun! (Especially playing with cousins at the same time.)

We enjoyed carving pumpkins at our house and at Aunt Laura's house. Pumpkin guts are soooo fun. Stephen at least enjoyed them, Skyler would poke them, but not so interested in much else.

Happy Due Date Cody!

Oh my, It is OCTOBER 20th already! We are celebrating Cody's due date today! (He is getting so big!) It seems a little strange that he is already 1 month and 2 days old. We are so happy to have him, and his big brothers and parents adore him! He is such a sweetie.

Sweet Brothers!

The big pile of boys just keeps getting bigger at our house!
And I love it!!! They are the sweetest little guys.

First Skyler wanted to sit in Cody's chair...then wanted to hold Cody, then Stephen wanted to sit on Skyler's lap too. The two of them giggled and poked Cody til I made Cody sit in his chair alone.

Stephen and Skyler were excellent and patient big brothers, they got to visit the NICU, but always eagerly asked if Cody could come home yet.

Cody got to come home earlier than planned!!! It was a nice Sunday afternoon surprise for us all. Cody is doing well...(The Neonatologist actually looked him over Sunday afternoon and said, "Why is he still here? Would you be offended if I kicked you out of the hospital?") Well of course not, we are thrilled to be home. This is his going home outfit!!!

Cody in his carseat and ready to head out of the hospital.

Stephen the big brother's loves his "Baby Toady".

Skyler love's his brother too! ("Want to hold Cody?" is almost always an instant tantrum stopper.)

Sharing Ice Cream and a movie with Cody...ok, not so much the ice cream.
Stephen lined up the car seats so they could all be together.

We had a visit from Aunt Toni yesterday, she brought over baby Porter. Porter is 2 weeks older than Cody. They had a bit of a cat nap date.

48 Hour Hospital Stay???

I came to the hospital to spend a 12 hour stay with Cody...Thank you everyone for helping out with Stephen and Skyler. What was supposed to be 12 hours suddenly exploded into 24 hours. (I had to run home to pack a suitcase.) Then last night right before bed time, I found out they wanted me to extend that to 48 hours. EEEKKKK!!!! So here I am in the middle of it all.

The good news is that they took Cody's feeding tube out...so he is 100% nursing, no more Gavage feedings. And he gets released on Monday morning instead of Tuesday!!! Getting him home is what is going to make this trip to the hospital, and being away from my big pile of boys for so long all worth it in the end.

Oh Cody, You can't read yet, but it makes me happy to know you will be home tomorrow. I am happy you are doing so well, keep up the good work! You are such a cutie, and we are excited that you have joined our family.

Our Cody

I am home from the hospital, and hopefully Cody will come home soon too. Here is a picture! The newest news is that he is being taken off the IV's. Good job Cody, you will be home soon I am sure!

Baby Cody

Surprise surprise...another baby deciding to come early. (Ok, I thought he would come early...just not this early.) Baby Cody is 4 1/2 weeks early. A little scary, but he is doing great! He had trouble breathing at first, but is breathing fine now. He took up residence pretty quickly in the NICU, and by morning was moved to the NICU B nursery for baby's getting ready to go home as soon as they gain weight. His bed is right next to where his big brother was.

I didn't want another c-section, but hey...I don't know that it was avoidable...the doctor said we had our choice, but when water breaks you have a time limit. You could say that 7 or so hours in the hospital with no contractions of considerable size, and no dialating was wasting that time away. He said even if I did start having contractions, to go from dialated to a 1, 50% effaced, and no station (he was too far up to be able to have one I am guessing) was going to be a long labor when it finally started. They said inducing labor would increase the chance of a utrus rupture. (We decided to not wait til 1 the next afternoon to have a c-section.)

Anyway, we are doing well, and hope to get out of here soon.

Love you all, and take care!

~Sherry

Gotta get out of this house!!!

I was going crazy, I had to get out of the house. I couldn't stand it any longer...so I planned a picnic...then had to change the day 'cause wolf wasn't feeling well. So, anyway...Saturday we went on our picnic! It was "fun" to try to sit on the ground to eat. It was "fun" to try to chase kids. (Thankgoodness Wolf was there to help out! My guys and I really had a blast.) Did you know that Skyler can crawl faster than I can walk. (Sadly it is true. Wolf was chasing Stephen, and Sky ran in the other direction. He ran a bit, then tried to give me a sporting chance by crawling.) Of course, Skyler realized I wasn't keeping up, and came to pull me. (My sweet little tug boat.) Oh, but it was so nice to not be stuck in the house another moment!

I came to the conclusion that I have the sweetest and snuggliest "big pile of boys" anyone could ever ask for. They take good care of me and my big swollen ankles. Here are some cute pictures of us having our grand day out. I love Neilson's Grove Park. The problem is that it is really huge, I think walking 1/2 way across it is the farthest I have walked in months. Wolf had to drive around it to pick me and the boys up at the other parking lot...I never would have made it walking back to the car.

Skyler's birthday party pictures

My big Birthday boy is 2 years old!!! He weighs in at 22 pounds now!!! Wahoo Skyler, you've come a long way Baby! (ok, not so much a baby now...)

Skyler is already 2?

What happened to time? Did it go crazy or something...my itsy bitzy little guy grew up seemingly overnight, and suddenly is 2. We had a great big party for him last night. Oh, he seemed to have had a blast. His big brother Stephen, I must say was proud to present the cake to everyone we have met the last several days. "Can you come to our house to see my baby's birthday cake?" (The birthday cake I hadn't even made yet...)

Stephen chose the theme for Skyler's birthday party. It seems to have been fun for everyone. Not everyone know's who Lumpy the Heffalump is though. I think we did fine introducing him. We made a Heffalump craft while everyone was arriving, played pin the tail on the heffalump, and then played bingo...ate cake and then Skyler opened gifts. (Which he loves, thank you everyone.)

Now, I think I will sleep all day today!

Me Blogging?

What is the world coming to? Me making a blog? I've actually been considering it for a year. (Back then it would have been named "Midnight Madness" or "Midnight Mommy" or some-such discription of my being up all night.) Thankgoodness those nights are over...or are they? Ok, I am back to being up quite a bit during the night, but for a completely different reason.

Alright, I am jumping in to this now, figuring out how to do this, and my "big pile of boys" are going to help me. (Stephen has proclaimed his brother and him as well as the new brother soon to come as the "big pile of boys". )