Early Christmas Present Opening

We opened our Christmas presents a few days early since we are leaving to Utah early on Friday and we wanted a chance to let the kids play with their toys before we left. Santa is going to fill their stockings in Utah, so this is just half of the loot! :)

Bekah's Ballet & Tap Showcase 2010

Mostly for Grandma purposes-here is our little Bekah showing off her ballet and tap skills...

Ballet Positions & Poses

Shaking Down the Sugar-Tap Routine

Boots-Tap Routine

Bekah Piano Recital 2010

I am so proud of this little girl!

She practices all the time, and she has only been playing for a couple months.

She was a little too short for the bench-so dang cute!

Happy Holidays!

Oliver says Merry Christmas, couldn't you just kiss on that face all day?

Me too!

Fox Family Reunion

This last week my whole family came into town to stay at the Running Y Ranch to have an early Thanksgiving and a little family reunion. Trae and Tabitha (who is pregnant, YIPPEE!) drove to Portland and picked up my brother and mother and came in to town (10 hour drive) Then Toshya, Craig, their daughter Mckayla and Zachary drove in from Utah (12 hour drive). We had the very painful drive of about 20 minutes to get to the Ranch. :)

Here are just a few pics from the fun long weekend...

Bekah and Mckayla-lots of fun to have a cousin to play with!
Went out to Crater Lake and froze our buns off in 19 degree weather...well those of us who got out of the car. I may be the only sane one in my family, staying in the car with the buns warmer on full blast!
Can you tell Chad is cold and that Zachary is a giant man child? When did that happen? I cannot believe how much bigger he is than Chad...unbelievable!
My sweet angel boys sleeping-100% brothers through and through. I think it is hysterical that they are both sleeping the exact same way, but opposite of each other-this is about the only time that they are not competing in some way.
It was such a fun trip and I am so glad that they were all able to come out and have such a fun time-thanks mom for the very many awesome memories!

Oliver's Blessing

We blessed Oliver on Saturday the 20th of November up at Running Y Ranch with my whole family around and a few of our very closest friends. Chad gave him a beautiful blessing, though Oliver screamed through the last half of it...he's such a momma's boy...Oliver, not Chad. :)Oliver Smith Hewlett we love you baby!

Oliver

Oli Wolli Doodle

Still enjoying this kissable little face!He is super smiley and fun...
...and just so...be still my heart...he's mine.
Pure bliss.

Sly

Don't let this cute little face fool you......four seconds after this, me and his one month old brother were spitting out sand.

Spankings and tears followed after his sly grin and giggles as he ran away.

Yes, this warranted a spanking.

Such a little poop.

Good thing he is cute.

More Oliver

We are so enjoying our new little Olly bean. He is so sweet and kissable.

Porter would be permanently attached if he could. He is super frustrated that he doesn't have the "equipment" to feed him...he's pretty sure mom is just being selfish to be holding him all the time.

(Maybe I am..how could I not be?)

Here are a few pics from the hospital and a few of the kids giving him some love.

Baby Oliver is here!!! This post is a day late....SORRY....
Oliver Smith Hewlett was born September 23, 2010 at 4:54 pm at Sky Lakes Medical Center. He weighed 8 lbs 11.5 oz and was 21 1/4" long. About 4-5 hours after he was born he had trouble breathing and was given medication, an iv, and a tube down his throat to retrieve air out of his stomach. He received an X-ray Thurs night and it was thought the port between the ventricles of his heart had not closed yet, the X-ray Fri. morning showed perhaps the start of pneumonia. The Dr. thought he just had extra fluid in his lungs from the amniotic fluid. It turns out that the fluid was the correct diagnosis, however the Dr. treated him with anti-biotics to be safe. Oliver will be able to come home Sunday morning and is doing well. He still has an IV, but this is just precautionary and he and his mother are doing great. Enjoy the Pics...

Hacked by Chad

Large and in (pain) Charge

I know I need to update this blog more of what is going on in my family-but I am tired. The end.

I went to the doctor today and I am supposed to be a little less than 33 weeks along.

I am measuring past 35.

I have had 2 ultrasounds that put me actually a week under my due date-so technically I should only be less than 32, but they decided to keep my original due date.

I will have another ultrasound next week to see if this baby is part giant, or if I just have lots of extra fluid in there.

Nothing about this pregnancy has been like the others though...so...

I had my glucose test yesterday...a little late since we've been so busy, and so has my doctor.

Turns out my levels are quite high.

Never has happened before-now I have to do a 3 hour test, after a 12 hour fast in two weeks...if I make it that long.

Hopefully I don't have gestational diabetes.

I guess I better lay off the m&m's and ice cream.

This baby is a mover and a kicker...all the time.

Good for him, he is very healthy.

Bad for me, my ribs are very messed up.

I have not had an even minuscule amount of good sleep in weeks due to aches, pains and....contractions.

Not little, oh am I having a contraction? Braxton hicks type contraction-NO!

More like holy free holies, my uterus is a brick and I can't walk, talk or breathe normally for more than a minute.

The wake you up in the middle of the night, slap you in the face, am I dying? Kind of contractions.

Still, I know I am not in labor-but I don't think it will be long off, and neither does my doctor.

Also I am nesting.

To the point that I can see people thinking I'm insane, but I can't stop myself.

I am on a liquidation mission at my house, everything must go.

All closets, furniture and rooms must be rearranged, organized and pretty much alphabetized.

It is so bad that I even emptied a church closet on Sunday and stayed after purging and organizing it to a state of perfection.

Everyone just stood back and looked at me with scared expressions on their faces.

I am finishing every craft project I have put on the back burner, because for some reason I feel like they need to be finished immediately.

I am pretty sure I have lost it entirely.

Oh and I'm angry.

Like Incredible Hulk angry.

I will snap at anyone and anything, so watch out.

I can hear myself yelling at my children, I can see their scared faces wondering if I am actually going to turn green...and yet I can't stop myself.

I have never felt this out of control in any of my other pregnancies or in any other time of my life.

I am completely insane.

I need this baby to wait until at least the first of September...

August has camping trips, lots of school work and lots of cleaning still needs to be done before I can start even thinking about giving birth.

He will wait at least that long right?

Tell me I'm right....

...Or I'll get angry.

You won't like me when I'm angry.

30 Weeks

Just took some pictures of me at 30 weeks today.

Everyone is pretty sure I won't be making it another full 10 weeks (I am hoping for 8), because according to to public opinion I am ginormous! :)

If you want to see a few more, you can go here.

Porter Age 2

I have Porters 2 year old pictures up on the photog blog. I can't believe this little stink is 2!

Took him to the doctor this week, and he was 51% for weight, 85% for height and 91% for his head.

Tall, thin and a big old noggin...

No problems with that! But because of his height and weight being very close to his 4 year old brothers...we get asked a lot if they are twins.

Poor little Toph.

Trying to Catch the Moon

The other night while we were all outside enjoying the night air Bekah pointed out the moon to Porter.

He got very excited about it, ran into the garage and came out with one of our large butterfly nets.

He would point at the moon and say, "Catch it!"
Then when no one else was able because we were laughing...and well because I'm pretty sure you can't catch the moon with a butterfly net...

Porter would reach with that net and say, "Catch it, Moon!"
It was pretty much the cutest thing I had ever seen, he kept it up for a good 20 minutes, trying himself and then trying to get others to help him.

Well it's at least as cute as that little boy bum in tiny little boy underwear. :)

Sweets from my Sweets

I made the kids a little Sweet Shoppe this last weekend, so they could sell some candy and lemonade on these hot days.

Wouldn't you buy something from these little sweeties? Tutorial on how to make this is here.

80's Photo Booth Party Slide Show

Rub-a-Dub-Dub 2 Boys in the Tub...Again

I honestly believe that I may have the cleanest boys on the entire planet. Sure they may get messy in the middle of the day from various foods, chalks, markers, paints, mud puddles, grass stains, runny noses and the likes-but they would take 6 baths a day if I let them. Especially if those baths include bubbles.

We just have to say the word tub, and Porter is running down the hall, leaving a trail of clothes behind him. They get along most of the time they are in there too, so its a bonus for me since they are usually trying to drive one another mad.

They just stay in the tub until all the bubbles dissolve, and the entire bathroom looks as though a tidal wave hit it. There is honestly more water on the floor than in the tub when they are finished. Then we have two little streakers running down the hall not wanting to get dressed.

Ahh the joy of boys-and lucky us there will be a third little boy in the tub soon to round out the bunch.

Flashback to my Childhood

I was born in the 80's, and I dressed in all the neon, the tied t-shirts, the leggings, the doubled socks and of course the bedazzled levi jackets.

My friends had an 80's party the other night for their husbands and we all dressed up. I'll post more pics soon-but I had to share this one of Bekah; because she is the spitten image of a little mini me about 23 years ago. Side pony and all.

Scary isn't it?

Snake Girl

Bekah and Tage are touching a snake.
I have nothing else to say about this.

Oh wait yes I do.

Yuck.

And the Verdict is In...or Out?

Out! This is most definitely a BOY! Little Oliver will join our family in September and we are all very excited to meet this wiggly little baby who will complete our family. :)

Cuteness Monsters

I made Bekah some new cutesy overalls, and we shaved Porters cute little head. The other little cuteness monster was still in the house, doing monstery things.

Pretty Girl

She is growing up. I can totally see her as a teenager in this picture. WHY!?!?!

B & W Kiddo's

I was taking some pictures for a friend of mine at my house the other day. She wanted an old fashioned sepia toned picture of her son that is Porters age with an antique tricycle. She has a similar picture of all of her kids from picture studios.

Anyway, before she got there, I was setting up a little impromptu "studio" in our school room and I wanted to test the size with the bike to make sure I had enough backdrop.

Porter gladly sat there for a picture on his own bike that he rides around the house.

I just had to share this one, there are better ones where I got him giggling.

But THIS face, this is the one he gives me every time I pull out the camera, like he is being painted for a portrait or something. He tilts his head, looks right at me and gives me this face. It kills me!

Then of course the other kids wanted in on the picture taking. Could this boys eyes be any more goo inducing? Seriously he stops my heart with those things, and his big old grin doesn't help!
Bekah is forever wanting to pose with props, and obviously this is morning before her hair was done, but you can see her big old toothless smile. She is getting so grown up!
I need to be better about taking more pictures of my kids-the weather has been so yucky and cold though, so we have pretty much been shut-ins. I can't wait for spring to ACTUALLY get here for more than a day at a time!

Gigi's Hugest Announcement Review

I recently joined a book review site "Book Sneeze" and the first thing I reviewed was this DVD called Gigi, God's Little Princess-"Gigi's hugest announcement".Obviously movie this thrilled my 6 year old girl, and even my boys sat through it without any argument. It is very girly and pink and full of tea parties, ballerinas and everything feminine. Gigi is sweet, and loves her best friend and wants her to know all that she knows. She knows she's a princess, because she is a child of God, but she is not a bratty princess at all, which is a point I really like. She loves her friends and her cat and lives a lot in her imagination.

Gigi has big ideas, and they do not ever go according to her plans, but at the end of the day she knows that God loves her no matter how many mistakes she makes or how clutzy she is. The animation is not fantastic, but it is watchable. The stories are based on the books by Sheila Walsh, and my daughter now wants the books too. There are two stories included on the DVD and they both have a great meaning and sweetness to them.

I would recommend this movie to my friends for their little girls, it teaches them good lessons while making it fun.

I was given this DVD to review, all opinions expressed are my own.

Bob Buttons & Two Cute Kids

Here is my new little friend Bob Buttons, you can read all about her here. I LOVE her! My kids are pretty fond of her too.
Bekah lost her 2 toppers, and has a sweet lisp. She is getting way too grown up for my liking!
This sweet boy is a momma's boy and is always bringing me little treasures, like this dandelion today while we were outside enjoying the sun for a bit while Porter was napping.
It's still not warm, but it is sunny, so we went out until our fingers were changing to a nice purple. When oh when is spring going to be here?

Emalii

I never did post a picture of Bekah's very hairy guinea pig Emalii-so I'm doing it now. Bekah loves this little fur ball. The little pig is quite squeaky, but other than that very forgiving with the kids and their need to carry her around and pet her 24-7. She even lets Porter hold her without freaking out too much. I don't think she's all that cute, but she is the easiest pet I've ever had to take care of-even more so than fish-and the kids get something they can actually play with. So I would recommend one if you are wondering what kind of pet to get your kid-and don't want to commit to a dog or a cat. Although I just got a pet myself that I will post pictures of in the next day or two, and she is way cuter than the guinea, and just as easy, in fact they share a cage....