27 weeks!!!!

Tomorrow our baby will be 27 weeks along!!!! I went to my OB appointment today and everything is looking good!!! The "weigh in" is always fun (I have tried convincing my doctor that my purse weighs 80 pounds, but I don't think he's buying it)!!! The baby finally held still long enough to actually COUNT the heart rate!!!! 165 beats per minute. I think I will give Dr. Chamberlain another month before I pin him down on what he thinks we're having. He's been right ALL 3 TIMES!!!! This is one of the fun things with not knowing what we're having!!! He cleared me to go do Disneyland next month (YEA!!!!) and despite it bugging the crap out of Randy, it is NOT unsafe for me to be sleeping on my stomach!!! I go to sleep on my side and wake up FLAT on my stomach!?! I've always been a big stomach sleeper, but it really bugs Randy when I'm pregnant!!!! I found out that heartburn can be helped with medication and that my hands going numb will stop after I have the baby!!!!

This pregnancy is so fun, challenging, but fun. There are weird things that happen because I'm older, but every time I feel this little baby move, it makes me smile!!! The kids and Randy love to feel the baby move. It made Maddison cry the first time. She tried so hard to feel it move but as soon as she puts her hands on my tummy, it STOPS!!!! So, she finally got to feel it move and it was an emotional thing for her. It was one of the only times she got to feel the baby. I think it will be a good thing once the baby is born if Maddison can sooth it that easy!!!!

The miracle of birth is so cool to me. I love that our Heavenly Father trusts us to do this special work!!!! Even though we have c-sections and it's all very scheduled and controlled, it is so exciting and fun!!!! I don't look forward to the surgery, but sometimes I think of having a newborn and the blessings they bring and it makes me so happy!!!!

I hope everyone is having a good Christmas break, so far, I know we are!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Christmas break... YEA!!!!

I love it when my kids are home from school. My favorite days are the "pajama days" that we don't get dressed and we eat horrible food all day!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I love snuggling with my sweeties and just enjoying their company!!!! Hopefully we will find a "pajama day" or 2 in the next week!!! Here's to wishing you a couple days of down time too!!!

A needed post....

I've been needing to do a post about an experience we had, but I need to edit how I really feel and as you know, that's not an easy one for me!!! Randy and I had an impossible decision to make a couple of weeks ago. We AGONIZED over it for a week. We went back and forth from YES to NO a million times. Our hearts were saying YES and the Holy Ghost was telling us to say NO. We were so confused. We got priesthood blessings, went to the temple, enlisted the help of our family and our friends even organized a special fast for us. Still, we were confused. On faith alone, we went with NO. As it turns out, it was never a decision we needed to make. The State was not ready to do what they told us they were doing, therefor, it was never our choice to make. It was a situation that has changed our lives. Under all the anger, there are things that shine through this that we need to learn. Some things I learned:

*Don't ever trust DCFS. EVER. They (in our case) are NOT doing what is best for children. Job security is more important to them than removing a child from a dangerous place and dangerous people. (You have no idea how edited that is)

*Sometimes it's not the YES or NO that is important when we have a choice, it's what we do to make that decision. Did Randy and I get closer together? Did we lean on our Heavenly Father? Or did it tear us apart and make us loose faith? I'm happy to say we did what we were supposed to when faced with such a hard choice.

*And the most important lesson I learned is that our Heavenly Father is ALWAYS there for us. He was telling us what to do the whole time, we just wouldn't listen because it sounded like the wrong choice. I will never doubt Him again. I will never doubt the sweet feelings of The Spirit. NEVER.

I don't learn lessons easy and sadly Randy will be dragged through the mud with me while I learn these lessons, but we are bigger people because of this, and for that I am grateful.

To those who know the full story, remember that Heavenly Father will protect His children. One way or another. We have to have faith in that. It's the only way I can sleep at night.

Thanks for listening!!!

Don't tell Randy......

*OLD PICTURE ALERT*

Look at those curls!!!

Wanna know a secret? My husband is hairy, really hairy, but when I shave his head, I shave down his neck and onto his back to make him think he's more hairy than he really is!!! HAHA!!! Don't tell him, ok? Thanks for keeping this between US ;)

A BIG surprise!!!

See this girl......



She is my niece, Amy. She and I have always been really close. I am only 3 years older than her, so really, she was kind of like a little sister to me when we were growing up. This last few years, I have learned to really appreciate Amy for the person she is. She has made so many good choices in her life. I look up to her so much.

In the last year or so we have been able to grow closer than ever. I guess bad times will pull the closest ones together and that's what it's done for us. She lives in Vegas and we try to see them when we go down, but her and Dan have no problem coming up if there is stuff going on. They are so supportive.

Well, today was my birthday lunch with my mom, sisters and nieces and I was really missing Amy. Sometimes it's harder than others to not have her here. There are a lot of things going on in my brain right now and Amy totally gets it. I don't have to explain the things that are troubling me to her, she just knows.

This morning, I told her on Facebook that understood WHY she couldn't be here for lunch but that I wish she could and I miss her a lot. Knowing that she has a 3 year old son and a 1 year old son at home that she's trying to keep up with, lunch was the last of her priorities.

We were at Pasta Factory. It was my mom, my sisters, Launa and Blanche, one of my besties, Gina and my niece, Brittney with their kids. When Blanche got there she mentioned that we needed more room and then made a fat joke. Didn't think anything of it. About 10 minutes later, I looked over and saw Amy's sons, Bridger and Noah walk in the restaurant!!!!! I was so happy to see Amy, I cried like a little baby!!!! She was such a beautiful surprise!!! I think I cried for about 5 minutes straight!!!!

Amy told me that after reading that comment to her this morning that she just knew she needed to come up. I was so happy. It was the best birthday lunch EVER!!!! She is one of my favorite people in the world!!!! We had fun chatting it up at lunch, we always do!!!!

After lunch, we went back to my mom and dad's house and let the kids play while we sat and enjoyed each others company!!!! I can't tell you how happy it made me that she came up. She is such a sweetheart and I feel lucky to have her in my life!!! She's always been a great supporter of my family and she just brings a breath of fresh air whenever she's around!!!!

Anyhow, it's just amazing to me that I had nieces that were in St. George that didn't come to my lunch, but Amy came from 120 miles away!!! It's obvious that our relationship is different than the others!!!! We were all so happy to have Amy here and everyone that went to lunch had a blast!!! It was a good day!!!!

Thank you, Amy. I love you to pieces!!!!

Time Change Anyone???

The time change hasn't effected our family too much... hahaha!!!!!







Hopefully it hasn't been a bad one for you, either!!!

What birthdays mean to me....

***WARNING***
This blog post is typed with raw emotions at the risk of sounding totally and utterly selfish on my part and making some people mad. If you do not wish to have your feelings challenged, stop reading here.
***Consider yourself warned***

Tomorrow is my 34th birthday. Birthdays are such a weird thing for me. When I was younger, I would go over the top with excitement to overpower some of my feelings that I didn't understand and still don't.

When most kids are born, it's a joyful occasion that is looked at as a highlight of their lives, mine is a little different for me. My birth story as told by my mom.... my mom wouldn't take my biological mom to the hospital the night before I was born because Gone With the Wind was airing for the first time on TV, my baby blanket wasn't done yet and ultimately, my mom knew my biological mom wasn't really in good labor yet and she could wait!!! Well, they waited till the movie was over and everything went just fine. More proof that my mom always have been and always will be very intuitive. She always knows what is best.

What's the big deal? I wish THAT part wasn't a part of ME. Honestly, I wish I could just pretend I came from my parents and none of THOSE parts were there. I am not trying to minimize how blessed I am to have been raised the way I was. I was always loved... A LOT. I was a very confident person and still am, but for some reason, thinking that I was a disappointment to someone before I was even born is a little confusing.

I am probably speaking through pregnancy hormones, but my feelings always get stronger around my birthday, the birth of my own children and other significant events in my life.

I look at these pictures and think of how different my life is than other kids. Sure, I have sisters that love me like CRAZY, I have parents that have sacrificed so much for me, I have the most amazing extended family a girl could ask for and a husband that does the best with the mess he married into, but unless you are adopted, I don't think there is any way to understand how I am feeling. Hell, I don't even understand it. I just know that there are certain phone calls I will avoid tomorrow and there are certain people that it's easier to cling to on my birthdays because they know my heart and know how confusing it is for me to "celebrate" another birthday. I feel selfish for even saying that because of what I DO have, but it's deep down, WAY down that things get weird for me.

I usually don't talk about my feelings, but for some reason I can't help it tonight. It's weird. Look how much my mom and dad love me. You can FEEL the love coming out of them. Why couldn't THEY be the ones I was born to? Even though I am surrounded by people who love me so much, it's the ones that couldn't/wouldn't that make a difference. Was it THAT bad? Was it THAT hard? I know I was supposed to be in the family I am, but those weird feelings are still there. Like I was a problem, a "situation".
The older I get, for some reason, the harder this is. I feel this sense of loneliness and sadness that is hard to explain. It's like the more I love who I am, the more I doubt myself. That makes NO sense at all.

Uhgggg..... I have been crying for hours and I thought this would help, but those stupid tears just keep rolling off my face!?!

I love that Randy doesn't try to "fix" me. He just listens. He listens a lot. He hears things I would never tell another soul and you know what, he still loves me. He is a good man, in fact, such a good man that he just baked some chocolate cookies to make me feel better. I think it might work.

Sorry for the rant, I don't know why it happened, but maybe one day I will. Until then, you're stuck with me the way I am. Thanks for listening.

Halfway mark!!!

Yesterday, we made the halfway mark with our pregnancy!!! And if you want to get technical, I will have a c-section at or before 39 weeks, so I am actually PAST my halfway mark!!!

It's been a pretty long 20 weeks of pregnancy. LOTS of throwing up and even more nausea. I have never been sick with any pregnancy and then this one threatens to kill me!?! But things are getting better everyday!!! We're down to about 1 puky day per week instead of every, single day. That's a good thing!!!

I've been to Disneyland twice since we got pregnant. 7 weeks and then 17 weeks. We're going in December and then again in January!!! If I could talk the Clyde's into leaving me home and going one more time before our passes expire, I would, but they are a nervous bunch for some reason!!!

The baby is changing. This is a cool site that tells where we are right now. This little button has been playing around like crazy!!! It's so active. WAY more active than any of the others!!!

After our ultra sound, at my appointment with our doctor (whom I LOVE), he said the ultra sound looked perfect and my "old lady" blood work (the quad screen for the 4 major birth defects) came back perfect also!!! So, the health of the baby looks really good at this point.

The baby is getting higher and higher everyday. Just yesterday, it started kicking my waist on my pants!!! Randy can ALMOST feel it move. When I hold his hand on my belly where the baby is kicking, I can feel it from the inside, but it's not quite strong enough to let Randy feel. Soon, very soon. A few nights ago, I was pushed back in the recliner and the baby was going nuts, I held really still and could see when the baby was moving big. My belly was moving!!!! It was pretty cool.

I'm such a sap for this fun stuff!!!! The website says that the baby can hear now and I'm glad, because Cambelle tells this little baby EVERYDAY that she loves it and seals it with a kiss!!!

I'm getting so excited!!! I'm not nervous, which is weird. We don't have any names going yet. I heard the name Harper for a girl and kinda liked the ring of it, but that's where it's stopped!!!

I'm trying to keep my wacky hormones under control. I tend to get mean when I'm hormonal, but I'm trying really hard to not make people hate me.

So, there's the baby update!!! We are all excited and looking forward to the next half of pregnancy!!! I'm not one that gets to the end and begs, "GET IT OUT OF ME", I try to just relax and enjoy every part of it. I hope that's how it is this time too!!!!

Anyhow, time to go rest (I do that a lot!!!). Have a good night!!!

Halloween "fun"?

This year's Halloween was kinda stinky because Maddison got strep and then shared it with Cambelle, but we did our best to make it fun anyway!!!


The fun began on our school's "Math Night". The kids got to wear their costumes and had a lot of fun!!! Randy, Gina and I went to Thriller that night, so my mom and dad finished the fun with the kids and took them home. THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!! Thriller was awesome this year and the zombies weren't as aggressive as in the past, so I didn't go in cardiac arrest!!!


Then, the next day, Randy's mom came over to Tyler and Cambelle's classes to do her SCARY Witch's Brew!!! The Kindergarteners LOVE/HATE it!!!! It's so funny!!! Peggy is so creative and quite a good actress, if you ask me!!!




The big day was Friday. Sadly, Miss Maddison woke up sick. She had JUST enough energy to sit with me at the school costume parade.



Tyler's awesome costume, a woopie cushion!!!! Except he wasn't too fond of the 5th graders "squishing" him!!! If you know my son, you know this costume was PERFECT for him!!!!

And look at this little witchy poo!!!! Randy's mom made this costume 100 years ago for his little sister!!! It was fun for Cambelle to wear Aunt Jamie's costume!!!
Maddison thought this dress was the most amazing vampire costume EVER!!!!

Friday was our ward's Trunk or Treat. Maddison and I stayed home and Randy took the other kids. They had a BLAST!!!! Somehow Randy got roped into being the target for the sponge throw, so he spent the night having wet sponges thrown at his head!?! He's such a good sport!!! He was SOAKED when he got home!!!!

Then we're on to Sunday!!! Can I just say that I have the coolest mother-in-law around? She does a great job at making holidays fun for the kids (and the big kids too)!!! This year, she prepare a "Halloween Feast" for dinner!!!! She had the grandkids thinking they were going to eat this scary food!!!! (notice the font on the menu.... bloody!!!!)

Eye of Newt- deviled eggs with an olive slice in the middle to look like and eye ball

Rabbit Fodder- salad

Tuber Mash with Drippings- mashed potatoes and gravy

Squashed Dough Balls- biscuits

Speckled Wild Boar- ham

Bloodied Witch Fingers- sugar cookies shaped like fingers with blood oozing from the almond fingernails

Fresh Candied Hairy Beetles- noodles hand dipped in chocolate with eyes and legs

Slimy Pumpkin Eyes- candy corn shaped sugar cookies (the recipe is here)




It was a VERY fun night!!!! Thanks to Peggy for making it so special!!!

So, this Halloween wasn't a total waste, but hopefully next year no one will be sick!!!! I hope yours was a fun one too!!!

Sicky Micky....

Miss Maddison woke up Friday morning sick. This is NOT the day you want to be sick. She realized that because she's in 5th grade, this was her last BIG YEAR for Halloween at school. Her class had parties planned all day. As the morning wore on, she was feeling worse and worse. She decided that she wanted to go to school in her costume and sit next to me for the costume parade. She didn't even have the energy to walk in the parade. I knew she was really sick if she was giving up THIS day.

I had an OB appointment in the afternoon, so I was going to take her with me and have her looked at. As the hours moved by, she got WAY more sick. By the time to go to my appointment, I thought I was going to have to carry her into the doctor. As soon as he looked at her throat, he said she has tonsillitis and he ran a test for strep and it came back positive.

So, a trip to the pharmacy and she was able to sleep the day away. Sadly, it was our ward trunk or treat last night. She was too out of it to know that she missed it. Tyler and Cambelle took and extra bucket and collected candy for her.

She is not as dead today as she was yesterday, but she isn't GOOD either. I feel so bad for her. I am always so surprised how sick kids get when they get step throat. IT'S BAD :( But, she's on the mend and hopefully it's over for this winter!!!

Our ultra sound!!!!

Introducing baby Clyde #4!!! We went for our regular mid-pregnancy ultra sound yesterday and I'm happy to report that everything (as far as the tech could tell us and as far as we could see) looks good!!! We have a healthy little nugget that is growing right on schedule!!! Some of the amazing things this little one can do already is.....

*give attitude when the chick was rubbing the wand on my tummy
*it holds it's LEFT hand, yes, left, up to it's face and above it's head
*it waved to us
*it showed Randy how it really feels about my full bladder and now he understands why I pee constantly!!!
*this one is an active, little thing. It never stops!!!!

There is so much the baby did for us during the ultra sound, but I don't want to get all braggy ;)

There IS a diaphragm!!! YEA!!!! And all the essential body parts are there too!!!!

In this picture, the baby is facing up with it's hand to it's mouth!!! I think it would be cool to have a lefty. I'm left handed and it would be fun to have a kid be left handed too, but none have cooperated yet!!!! Randy doesn't like the idea, but maybe this one will get his blue eyes!?! That would be PERFECT!!!!




Since we have had "bad" ultra sounds in the past, we always are a little more serious about the experience. With Tyler's pregnancy, our lives changed FOREVER after the results of an ultra sound. We've had 2 miscarriages and those ultra sounds were never fun. So, we understand the serious nature of yesterday and it's a relief (as much as it can be until I see our doctor tomorrow) to not see anything crazy. As I laid there, I kept thinking of all the families that were going to be diagnosed with birth defects that day and it put it all into perspective.

I'm grateful that we had a good experience and look forward to the rest of the pregnancy!!!! WATCH OUT FOLKS, THE CLYDE'S ARE MAKING ANOTHER BABY!!!!!

Following in her daddy's footsteps!!!

Randy is the most accident prone person I know. After the Twin Towers fell on 9-11, I heard that they were having family members make note of their loved one's scars to identify body parts. My first thought, if it was Randy, I would need a notebook!!! Well, Cambelle doesn't get her eyes or her attitude from her daddy, but she did get his luck!!!

When Randy was little, his parents were building their house and he was there. He walked through where the front door was (I think they were framing or something) and a piece of wood feel from the sky and hit Randy in the head!!!! Fast forward to when Cambelle was about 2 or 3. Randy was building a shed in our back yard. Cambelle was playing right by him and as he was framing the trusses, a board slipped from his hand and hit her in the head, resulting in 3 staples!!! For a long time she would tell people that, "daddy hit me in the head with wood"!!!!

Now here we are, if you remember in July when we went camping, she fell on a tree that was broken and it shoved into her arm. That was a trip to Instacare, but thankfully, she didn't need stitches.

Then, there was the cut finger about a month ago with the 3 stitches!!!!

A couple of weeks ago, we were playing at my mom and dad's house and Cambelle fell. She ended up scraping her face pretty good.



2 days later, she was sitting on the foot board of Tyler's bed and slipped, hitting the knob and scraping her whole side!!!! I'm telling you, who needs boys when you have a girl like this!!!



I didn't think much of any of these incidences until I called IHC to pay her bill and they asked, "which Instacare bill for Cambelle"!!! Should I be worried???? Heaven help us all!!!

Disneyland October 2010

It was time for another trip to the happiest place on Earth again!!!! This is our 3rd trip since March. After we got our March tickets, Randy's mom bought us the remainder of the annual passes (so we can go for Christmas time and see how cool the parks are then), so we have till March to go as much as we can!!! I was wondering how it would be this time, being 17 weeks pregnant. I knew I would be tired, but I think I did ok!!!

Here's the whole clan at the top of Main Street USA!!!!



I love the time we get to spend with all the family!!!

C is for Clyde... right?
Here we are, ready to go on the Ferris wheel. I HATE Ferris wheels, but I love big, nasty roller coasters!!! There are 2 different rides on the Ferris wheel, fixed cars and swinging cars. Well, if you know me, you know I'm not doing anything half way..... swinging cars all the way. If I'm going to prove to myself that I can do it, I'm going BIG!!!! This picture pretty much tells how I was feeling..... SCARED SH%&LESS!!!!! But I lived!!! YEA ME!!!!! I actually did not die on the Ferris wheel!!!!
We celebrated Maddison and Jim's birthday at the park, mine and Randy's anniversary and then Layla's real birthday was on Friday, so she got to have special attention too!!!! When we celebrated Cambelle's birthday last trip with my Aunt Vicky and KC, Cambelle got her face painted, so it was Maddison's turn this time!!!! She loved it!!!

My silly family taking a picture with the beaver for my dad.... he has a "thing" with pesky, little beavers!!!! HAHAHA!!!! LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!


Look at Cambelle's smile.... makes all the planning worth it!!!
Our kids are so lucky to get to go to Disneyland with their cousins so much. They get to spend 4 whole days together, side by side, giggling the whole time!!!!
Being 17 weeks pregnant, there are a handful of rides I couldn't go on (and some that I went on that I shouldn't have). This is me with my sad face when the family went on the Matterhorn!!!! I wasn't going to sacrifice Space Mountain, though. I know that ride as well as the street in front of my house. I sat on the ride with my arms braced against the back of the seat and holding the lap bar, so my belly never even touched the bar. Well, about 3/4 of the way through the ride, I knew that I was in trouble. As soon as the ride stopped, I RAN to the bathrooms and ended up throwing up the rest of the afternoon. Well, it was bugging the crap out of me. I've NEVER thrown up on a ride and I wasn't giving up that easy!!!! I went the next day and SURVIVED!!!!! No puky!!!! Mind you, it was not without a butt chewing from my doctor (that happens to be on my Facebook) and my mother!!!! But you know I'm not scared of them ;)
Here's Tyler and Naomi on Autopia. Tyler told her that he had to drive because, "I am the boy"!!!! I don't know where he gets that from because none of my family lives by those rules!!! SO FUNNY!!!! Jim was in front of them and they kept bumping him and LAUGHING and LAUGHING and LAUGHING!!!! It was so dang fun!!!
My kids LOVE the Nightmare Before Christmas!!! The Haunted Mansion is dressed up like TNBC for Halloween and Christmas. It was one of the highlights, for sure!!!
Anyone for a flying elephant??? I got to ride with "the 2 little girls", Mazie and Cambelle!!! The giggles were out of control!!!! Just look at those faces!!!
Here we are waiting for the World of Color (of which, BTW, was SO AMAZING. SO worth the scheduling to make it there), Elijah needed a soft place to put his head!!! I would have picked someone with a squishier bum, if I were him!!!

And then.... after all 4 days at the park, the little girls are wasted!!! That's how you know they've had a good time!!!!
It was such a good trip. No melt downs from the kids (or adults)!!! I can't wait till we go again in December!!!!

3A2623E3-2D62-08A3-BA5D-80BB3EC762FA

1.02.28

14 years already?

Today is our 14th wedding anniversary and it feels weird to me because I keep thinking I'm that 19 year old girl!!! Although, the mirror tells me differently ;)

I could get all ooey gooey about my love for my husband, but if you're a regular reader or know us, you know how much I love him and you also know how hard it must be for Randy not to kill me on a regular basis!!! He is earning rewards in Heaven, I'm sure!!!

My parents have always told Randy (jokingly) if things don't work out with us that they want to keep him and get rid of me!!!! I guess it's fair to say that everyone loves Randy and I'm blessed to be the one that got to marry him!!!

We leave for Disneyland tomorrow. We haven't celebrated our anniversary at D'land since our 2nd anniversary. That was A BLAST!!! Disneyland is such a romantic place.... hear me out.... it's just magical there. You get to stand in lines all day, right next to each other and holding hands. Then you get to go on dark rides and see how many kisses you can sneak in!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! This time will be a little different than 12 years ago. We will have our 3 beautiful children with us and our little nugget inside me that will move enough to keep me reminded of it's presence!!!! It's going to be a great time, for sure!!!

Anyhow, I just want Randy to know that I love him so much and all joking aside, if I didn't have you, I couldn't be who I am. You enhance everything good in me and tolerate the bad. When I think about eternity, I know that we will have a lot of fun!!!!!

I love you and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!

Ohhh baby!!!

I am 16 1/2 weeks pregnant right now and I started feeling the baby move a few days ago!!! It's sooo fun!!! When I thought we were done having kids, the 2 things I said I would miss the most is feeling a baby move in me and nursing. It's so great to feel our little button move!!! When we had an early ultra sound done to check for a heartbeat, it was moving so much the doctor couldn't even get a heart rate on it!!! THEN at my last appointment, it was moving so much that we would hear the heartbeat for about 2 seconds and then it would move.... 2 more seconds and then gone again!!!!! I'm not surprised that I can feel it moving, it's an active little one!!!

Now, as you can see I'm calling the baby "IT". We never find out the sex of our babies!!! I know it drives people nuts (maybe part of the reason we do it). If we were to find out, it would only be 2 short weeks until we would know.... but NOPE!!!! NO CAN DO!!!! Why break tradition now? So, get used to me referring to our baby as It, the little Burrito, the little Button, my Nugget or any other "little" thing I can think of!!!!

This week, the baby is the size of an avocado. Cambelle didn't know what an avocado was let alone how to say it!!! HAHAHA!!!! It's so fun to not be as sick anymore and finally get some energy back. I'll keep up on posting about the baby and we'll see how this all goes!!!!

Until next time, America!!!!

(Like the song? HAHAHA!!!! I really do enjoy the music I attach to my blog posts!!!!
Hopie=easily entertained!!!)

Happy birthday Jim!!!!

I want to wish my father-in-law, Jim, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! He is one of the coolest dudes I know. The older Randy gets, the more I realize how much he is just like his dad!!! It's not all bad ;)

Jim loves to be with his family at Disneyland, in fact, the guys at his work knows that he counts down from trip to trip!!! Once, he even skipped down Main Street, USA holding Maddison's hand!!! He is a goofy, goofy man and I love when that comes out in him. He loves to haul wood, cutting, splitting, all of it.... HE LOVES IT!!!! He is a patient man, although if you make him mad, just back away silently. His strength is amazing and in High School, his nick-name was Popeye because his forearms are so gigantic!!!! I love him so much and I'm so proud of him for all he puts up with (having me as a daughter-in-law isn't the easiest thing in the land). I can't wait to spend this week with him and the rest of the clan at "The Happiest Place on Earth"!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

6 months ago

6 months ago, my families lives were changed forever. Please go and read my amazing niece's blog about the hardest day of her life. She is beautiful, strong, deserving of blessing and I am so glad she is in my life. My life would be empty without her. She's almost more like a sister than a niece since we're only 3 years different in age. Please, read her post today and kiss those you love tonight.


http://stockingfamilymadness.blogspot.com/2010/10/6-months-ago.html

Drum roll please.......

Introducing Miss Hadley Hope Carter!!!

My favorite newest little angel!!! Anna and I have been best friends since we were "in the womb". We grew up across the street from each other and would live next door if we could now!!! Anna and Nephi already have 3 girls and when they found out this little peanut was a girl, I was so happy for them!!! I am the youngest of 6 girls (no boys) and I would have it NO other way!!! Hadley was born on the 28th. She weighed 6 # 13 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long!!! Just a little pumpkin!!! I don't know what possessed Anna to give her the name Hope, but I can't think of a more wonderful compliment EVER!!!! I think Hadley and I are going to become tight friends!!! She already listens to me very carefully!!! SHE LOVES ME!!!!

Take a peek at this lady!!! She JUST GAVE BIRTH!!!! Anna is my hero. She has been through so much and has sacrificed so much for her family. I will always look up to her!!!

The first family portrait!!! I love this family as much as my own. I really do!!!


And NOW we know why she was named after me!!!! HAHAHA!!! When we were little, I would get so mad at Anna's sister, Katie, and the only insult I knew of was to moon her. So, I would walk halfway across the street, bare my butt to Katie and then go the rest of the way home. As we can see, Miss Hadley will pick up where I left off!!!! BTW, this photo was NOT staged, Anna pulled her out of her blanket and her butt was just THERE!!!!!!! Awwww.......



Anyhow, it was a great day!!! I got to keep Anna's girls while she was in labor and then I got to take them down to meet their baby sister for the first time. I am so happy for Anna and Nephi. They are such amazing people and I can't wait for every second that I get to love on that little baby!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Happy birthday Maddison!!!

11 years ago today, we had our sweet Maddison. We never imagined how enriched our lives would be because of her!!!! I love that she memorizes music like me, corrects her dad when he sings the wrong lyrics, has the calming effects that her dad gave her and most of all, I love how she loves. She is the best daughter to have. We are truly blessed to have been picked to be her parents!!!! WE LOVE YOU MADDISON!!!! Now, stop growing because it's freaking your daddy out!!!!