My beautiful baby girl!!!

I took these pictures of Harper in her Easter dress from Randy's mom. Then when it comes down to it, I don't even look at the dress because I'm just so in love this beautiful baby!!!


I can't begin to tell you the love I feel for this sweet piece of Heaven.

She turned 8 weeks just yesterday.

I love all of her tiny, baby parts!!!

Maddison has been making these bracelets for us, she couldn't leave Harper out!!!

FIST BUMP!!!!! haha!!!

Perfect in every way!!!

And full of attitude!!!!

She is such a bright light to our family. I never knew we were missing anything until Harper arrived. She's been waiting to come down to our family. I will never doubt her role. She makes me slow down and enjoy as many moments as I can. For that I will be forever grateful!!!

I love you baby girl!!!

Fun family time!!!

This has been such a fun weekend!!!! It started out with some of my family coming up from Vegas. Joanna, Marc and their daughter, Savanna came up to meet Harper and spend the day with us. It was a BLAST!!!!

Then, my Grandma Albrecht, her brothers and sisters came for the weekend. It's an annual thing for them to get together and play the whole weekend. My kids call them, "Grandma Albrecht and all the other Grandmas and those 2 guys"!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!! Hey, for little kids to remember a bunch of names of Grandmas that all look the same and the 2 guys that come with them is pretty hard!!!! I don't think "the Grandmas" or "those 2 guys" mind too much!!! We got to see them on Thursday and Friday!!!!

Other than this weekend being Easter, my niece, Brittney was also blessing her baby, Liam. So, Brandon and Lacey were here from Kingman, AZ and Amy and Dan were here from Vegas!!!

This is how Brandon says, "I LOVE MY AUNT HOPIE!!!" haha!!!
Some people are so offended by other people flipping the bird, but not my family. It's just funny to us!!!!
And sometimes, it's even looked at as a compliment!!!
That's how we know we are being thought of!!! haha!!!

On Saturday, we all loaded up and went to Zion for the day!!! It was Lacey's first time, so we were pretty excited for her to experience it!!! We hiked and laughed and ate some sugar cookies that Blanche made. We took Lacey through the tunnel for her first time and then ended up at Blanche's house for an egg hunt with all the kids!!!

What a great day!!! I can't think of anything I would rather do than spend a day with my family!!! The love and respect we have for one another fills my heart!!! I was sad that more of my sisters couldn't experience it with us!!! Launa has to work on Saturdays, so she couldn't come. I was super sad.


Sunday was Liam's big day!!!! He is 3 weeks older than Harper. His dad, Chuck, is in the Army and will be getting deployed again in June, so it was great to have him around this weekend and to see the priesthood in action. I am so lucky to be surrounded by men that honor the priesthood!!!

It's weird to think that next week is Harper's blessing!!! I got her dress last weekend in Vegas and can't WAIT to see her in it!!!
Here's to a great weekend with great people and great thoughts about our Savior and that he lives again!!! I hope your Easter weekend was as fun as mine!!!

Shopping baby!!!!!

Last Saturday, I got to have one of the funnest days I can remember EVER!!!! My niece, Brookie, is going on a mission and needed to go shopping, so we all piled into my car and made a day of it in VEGAS!!!!!


It was me, Blanche, Brittney, her baby, Liam (9 weeks old), Harper (6 weeks old), Brookie, Brookie's friend, "Shorty" and Amy. We had such a blast. We shopped and shopped and had really good success. Not only did the missionary get some cute clothes, so did the rest of us!!!

Harper and Liam.... the stars of the show!!!

I was a little nervous about taking Harper. She was too little for the stroller we have, but we would make do. She did ok for being so young, I think!!! You should have heard all the people when we would walk into a store, they would coo at the first baby and then they would see the second baby and it was like they had never seen a baby in their whole life!!!! So fun!!!

So fun to have a pink one and a blue one!!! Best of both worlds!!!

We laughed and laughed. In fact, we laughed so hard we cried a few times!!! When Brookie wanted to know how to "get down" (she meant the elevator), Brittney and I thought she wanted to know how we "GET DOWN". So, there we were, dancing in the isles!!!! Another fun time was right after that when we got on the elevator and Blanche announced to everyone that we were "GOING DOWN"!!!! hahaha!!!! It was great fun!!!!

We all have the most supportive husbands ever. None of them put pressure on us to get home or to not spend money or anything else that a husband could make a big deal about. We are all so blessed!!!

We got to eat lunch at Macayo's (my favorite) and then more shopping!!!! It was late by the time we got home, but boy oh boy did we ever score!!!

Blanche and Liam!!! He was such a good boy!!! Blanche wasn't all that bad, either!!!

Harper struggled to go to sleep. This stroller is too big for her until she's about 4 or 6 months old!!!
We made it work, though!!!

Thanks for letting me crash your party, Brookie!!! The only thing that would have made the day better would be having mom, Launa and Lacey there to join in on the fun!!! It really was a day that I hope I never forget!!!! I love you so much!!!!!

To my readers.....

Dearest Blog Readers,

I love you all very much, but I feel the need to explain some of my personality to you. Most of you are aware of how I am, but it has come to my attention that there are people reading my blog that are taking me too seriously. I like to make people laugh. I like to be surrounded by people who make me laugh, but in my life, there are times that if I don't make jokes, I will cry. I am a more sensitive person then most people know. My feelings hurt just like anyone else. I just chose to make jokes about life instead of cry about it. Now, another part of making people laugh is swelling reality. Some might call it exaggerating, but my friend (whom knows me very well) said it is more like swelling reality. For instance, THIS POST, when I said that I wanted to "drive to their house and kick their head in", do you REALLY think that is true? Do you REALLY think I am going to drive to a person's house and physically KICK someone in the head? REALLY? Or how about when I say that I'm "comfortable going 100 miles per hour" in my car in THIS POST, do you REALLY think that's what I mean? If so, I am really sad for you that you don't know me at all. None of my true friends or anyone that has ever met me would take those 2 situations literal, but there are some people out there in internet land that want to take me seriously about those. DON'T!!!!! Just chill out. This is a way for me to let loose and express my feelings.  It's all going to be ok.......

The season....

Ecclesiastes 3:1
To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Randy's season is over. He got released from being 1st counselor in our bishopric yesterday. Our bishop has been in for 5 years and it was time for him to be released. It's such a bitter/sweet thing. Randy has absolutely loved serving in this calling. I have loved seeing the blessings our family has received from his service. It's going to be hard to get used to him being around more. I am going to have to re-train him on how we do things on Sunday morning and also how to sit with the family during Sacrament meeting!!!! He might be more of a problem than the kids!!!! haha!!!! When you get released from a calling that you love, it's always a little scary to know that there is a new calling just around the corner and you might not like it!!!! But Randy always makes the best of what he gets called to. He's such a good example to me!!! I just have to say, it's been a neat experience having him in the bishopric. A time I will always cherish. We have a really cool new bishopric that I can't wait to see them in action. They will be AMAZING. So, just remember, to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

When hearts communicate....

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) is a severe birth defect that occurs when the diaphragm fails to fully form, allowing abdominal organs to enter the chest cavity and preventing lung growth.

CDH occurs in 1 in every 2500 pregnancies. This equals to a baby born with CDH every 10 minutes. Over 600,000 babies have been diagnosed with CDH since 2000.

CDH is as common as Cystic Fibrosis and Spina Bifida.

50% of babies born with CDH do not survive.

The cause is not known.

We had an amazing experience yesterday. For the first time in the 9 1/2 years since we've had a child diagnosed with a diaphragmatic hernia, we got to meet another set of parents that had lived through CDH also. This is Melanie and Josh Hensley. They have not 1, but 2 beautiful daughters that were diagnosed with CDH. Sadly, their story is a lot different than ours. Both of their angels were in the 50% of children diagnosed that it was fatal. They earned their wings and are watching over all of our CHERUBS from Heaven.

We met through CHERUBS on Facebook. Their family owns a vacation home in St. George, so they come down often. We made the promise that we would meet sometime.

Well, that sometime was yesterday. Josh and Melanie came to our house to visit and as soon as they walked in the door, I felt something magical. It was as if our souls were speaking to each other. A horrible, life threatening diagnosis that only the parents that have got this bad news would know how it feels. Randy and I knew that they knew how we felt and vice versa. Even though they have a different ending than we do, we had been through so much of the same stuff. Same hospitals, same beloved doctors, same rooms, same fears, same hopes, same faith and at times, the same heartbreak.

We talked for a long time about their stories and about ours. It was amazing to know that we didn't need to say a word, we both knew what we were feeling.

I hope that we were able to give them some hope. Tyler's story is remarkable. He has re-written medical books with his recovery. In Melanie and Josh's case, since they have had 2 CHERUBS, they have a 25% chance, every pregnancy of having another CDH baby. Not good. But there are good results out there to give everyone hope. Our story, Tyler's story. It needs to be shared and offer everyone with the CDH diagnosis a hope that good things can happen.

I can't finish this blog post without a big THANK YOU to Dawn Williamson and her son, Shane. Sadly, Shane also earned his wings and is no longer here with us on Earth, but because of Dawn's will to help and raise awareness, we have CHERUBS. Without CHERUBS, we would have been lost and there is no way we would have ever met Melanie and Josh. I wish Dawn knew how much she has effected our lives. She is wonderful. I love her with every piece of my heart.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to meet this wonderful family. I hope only the best for them and look forward to staying friends with them forever!!!!

Bowling anyone?

What happens when you're 9 months pregnant, it's raining for days, you're nesting and don't know it? Clean out closets!!!! During my adventures, I found a left handed bowling ball (don't ask why I have one)!!!!

So, what do we do with THAT? GO DRIVE WAY BOWLING!!!!! It was so fun!!!!






When we were done, we put it in a special place in the shed to keep for more future drive way bowling!!! Fun times!!!

The old CHOP-A-ROO!!!

About a week before I had Harper, I got to take the girls to have their hair cut!!! They had been asking for a while to get it done, but because of how sick and pregnant I was, it got put on the back burner. We don't get our hair cut a lot in our house, I don't know why. I am such a minimalist when it comes to foofy (yes, that's a real word in my vocabulary) stuff like that. I don't wear much make up, don't do a lot with my hair and my girls are dealing with a mom that doesn't make that stuff a priority. Sorry girls!!! Anyhow, my good friend, Angie is our hair girl. We love her to pieces and we're always so happy with the way we look and feel when Angie gets done with us!!!

Maddison was first!!!

Then Cambelle!!!!

How fun is it now that they have a 3rd sister that will get to go with them in the future!!! It might be long enough till we go next time that Harper will be going with them!!!
Just kidding, not that long!!!

My baby burrito!!!

Harper has not been sleeping. She turned one month yesterday and it's been a LONG month with no sleep. I have justified it by her being early and how many newborns sleep anyway? But when I say NO SLEEP, I'm not messing around. She was waking up at 11pm and staying up till 5 or 6am. NOT GOOD!!!! We tried everything we knew. All of our kids have liked to be swaddled, but not Harper. She also is anti-binkie and that is so foreign to us!!! She wont take one AT ALL!!!! Weird. Anyhow, I was putting her to sleep anywhere she would sleep and I would zonk out even talking on the phone to people. Yea, it's been bad.

Sleeping in any one's arms.

In the chair.

In my bed
(yes, she rolled onto her tummy by her self, so I sat there staring at her to make sure she was still breathing, but she was sleeping, so I was NOT waking her!!!).

On the couch with her face smashed up to the back (she also did that herself).

Well, a few nights ago, I decided that I was going to swaddle her whether she liked it or not. It's worked for the other kids and I was desperate, so she was going to learn to like it!!! Wrapped her up like a burrito and there was no turning back, she slept like a champ that night!!!! Only waking up every 2 hours to eat and then right back to sleep!!! Night #2, same!!! Night #3, SAME!!!!! I think we're on to something!!! I can't tell you how happy I am. I have really been trying to stay on top of my postpartum depression and it's almost impossible when there is no sleep happening, so this is really a good thing!!!!



Why do I second guess myself as a parent? How dumb!!! I'm just glad she's figured it out, for now at least!!!! Happy sleeping, y'all!!!