Katelyn's Barbie House

I am finally finished!!! Yeah for completing a large task! After finishing the boys dinosaur murals I decided to use Katelyn large shelves in her closet to create a barbie doll house.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Matthew's first trip!

After all Zack's hard work on the yard we decided to take a short trip up to Salt Lake to show off the baby. We went and saw my little sister Stephanie and her hubby (she's due to have her first baby in 2 weeks), Jennifer & her family, Zack's Grandma Benson, Aunt Carolin, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Jon, some cousins, his little brothers - Charles, his wife Erica, Jed & finally met his fiance Aubrey. We apologize to all those that we didn't visit with, we will be making another trip this summer and plan on visiting more of you!

Jennifer lives in Lehi now and took us all over to Cabella's Sporting Goods which is only a few blocks from her house. The kids enjoyed the aquarium, animal exhibits and shooting range. Something to note: the greeters give you free tokens for the kids to go shooting! I am always up for a free activity!

We got home about 1am Sunday morning. Our kids are usually really good travelling at night but this time they were not. Our usual 4.5 hour trip ended up being more like 6 hours! YUCK!!! Even though the kids slept in they were little zombies all Sunday! Taylor refused to give his talk in church and was quite a handful during sacrament meeting!!! We went over to Grandma Belt's home to give her a birthday card and visit but the kids just sat around the whole time so we left and put them all to bed.

I took the kids to Matthew's 1 month checkup this morning. He is 9 lbs 6 oz and 22 3/4" long, a tall skinny boy!!!

Happy Saint Patty's Day

To celebrate the holiday right we all dressed up in green. It seems Joshua was out of green besides some decorations on his diaper which totally counts! No one was allowed to pinch him. I dyed the milk green with food coloring, which got very mixed reviews from the children. They commented anytime they drank it throughout the day! For dinner we ate green eggs and ham. What a way to make it feel all festive! William refused to eat them. "I don't like green eggs and ham!" said he. They tasted good even if they didn't look as good.


Matthew is 3 weeks old! Another week with our sweet little guy, Matthew! He is starting to focus a little more everyday. He loves to be kissed and eagerly reaches for more. The boys are starting to adjust a little better to our new arrangement and it really helps that mom is feeling much better. I am not 100% yet but we are getting there.

I have decided that part of having a larger family is to learn to play it by ear, roll with the punches or just let life happen, rather than try to force it, we all seem to get along better and the kids are much easier going when I am. Don't get me wrong there is still plenty of structure but I pick my battles, play a little more and take the time to just hold them close. I know I am completely outnumbered but I am raising some very good children who are learning along with me. Zack is a major support which makes life so much easier! I don't know what I would do without him.

This week was rather uneventful as weeks go for the most part. Matthew went in for his 2 week checkup with Dr. Twiggs. He is in the 90% for height and pretty average for his weight. Basically a tall skinny kid. I plan on fattening him up as much as I can! The boys did not appreciate the PKU testing, William was rather flustered that they were hurting his brother. He did appreciate the nice "lellow" band aid the nurse put on Matthew after she was done and "she said sorry!" We started taking Katelyn to school in the mornings again, a wonderful sister in the ward volunteered to for the past couple weeks which was a major life savor! Thanks so much! Getting everyone out the door was challenging but only Katelyn has to be dressed for school, so the rest of us are fine in pj's if that is all time allows! Taylor gets carpooled with some other sisters from the ward in the afternoons which is wonderful. Thanks guys.


This week is Spring Break which started out with an all TOO SHORT visit from Brittany and her family Friday night, due to little Howard having a cold. She did not want our little guy to catch anything so they made the visit short and sweet. When they were leaving William said we should go to their house in the morning to play. Unfortunately they live far away but we definitely have to get all the little guys together! Our kids had a blast playing together. Thanks for stopping by. We always appreciate visitors. Just let me know.

Saturday we mostly spent outdoors working on the yard, mainly Zack working while the rest of us played or relaxed in the shade. Our wonderful priest quorum came by this morning and helped Zack lay all the sod for our backyard so now we have grass YEAH!!! They were all a wonderful help, they laid 2200 sq ft of sod in 1.5 hours. It would have taken Zack at least one full day if not more. We always welcome a service project like that! Thanks guys!!!

I think this week I have realized how important gratitude is. We have been blessed in abundance with good kind people whom we associate, a healthy loving family, great jobs, a nice home, the gospel of Jesus Christ, a very loving Heavenly Father who knows us personally and many other things. I am truly blessed.

Matthew is 2 weeks old today

We have made it through the first two weeks of life with our little Matthew.

The kids adore him and I am still adjusting to having five children who depend so much upon me.

It is truly a huge but rewarding job.

Matthew has smiled a few times which is a definite treat! I haven't been able to catch it on the camera yet but soon enough.

He is still working on his days and nights but we will get that adjusted pretty soon.

We really enjoy how much he likes to snuggle!

I really enjoyed this pose of him "dancing"!

Well here comes another week and Taylor says I am suppose to be much better now so we will see how things go!

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Brandon and Goldie came in town to visit and meet our little man.
It was cut short though as my dad's mom passed away Friday afternoon. She had been sick since I was in high school or junior high. My uncle Jon called my dad on Wednesday to let him know that she probably wouldn't make it through the weekend and so my dad quickly left to see her before she passed on. Fortunately he was able to spend some time with her. I am sure it was hard on him. She doesn't even remember who he is, she's had Alzheimer's for years. I know Mike and him are a great comfort to their brothers. The knowledge of the gospel makes death not final. I am thankful to know that one day my dad will see his mom again and she'll know him. Alzheimer's is such a sad disease. To forget everything you knew is hard on the person who is sick and their loved ones. Brandon took my mom to the Vegas airport this morning so she can be with my dad at the funeral which is Tuesday. I hope for their sake that they can be strong for everyone else there. Love ya Dad!

Matthew's 1st Week @ Home

Well life has definitely changed with five kids at home. We took Matthew home from the hospital on Monday afternoon. The kids were thrilled to say the least. My mom and sister came over during the week and helped out so that I could get some recovery time and rest. They were definitely life savers! He is a great baby and a wonderful addition to our family. His cry is so quiet you can barely hear him unless he gets cold then he lets you know how ticked he is.

As far as the others kids are concerned: Katelyn is adjusting to mom adjusting which she really doesn't appreciate but in a few weeks she'll have her life back to normal so that will be make her happy. I think she needs a little one on one time so that will be one of the things I'll focus on this week. Katelyn has never been big on change and having lots of people running the house was frustrating to her. She seemed to drive her Aunt Kelsey crazy with her demands that it be run my way. I didn't realize I had a certain way but Katelyn definitely knows how we run things. Sorry to Kelsey for my daughters demands, she's having a little challenge in her life right now!

Taylor had a crazy week from school with no school on Monday and Tuesday and then early out for the rest of the week. He really loves going to school so being rushed through it wasn't his favorite but he is glad his schedule will be back to normal this week. He has been dealing with Katelyn's orneriness and wants a little break from the craziness himself. Taylor adores Matthew but doesn't like how much he sleeps or that mom is so busy taking care of the baby.

William seems to struggle the most being completely aware of all the changes going on, he is not much for change and was very clingy with his dad this week. He doesn't want me to help him with anything. Which was very much like Katelyn when he was born. Of course three years old is a rather challenging age anyway and then add some major changes it gets a little chaotic.

Joshua on the other hand was thrilled by it all! He seemed to walk around with a permanent grin! He loves his baby and just pats him on the head or gives him kisses whenever he sees him. He is a sweetheart and taking some of the stress off of me. I know that in about a weeks time the kids will be fine and life will become much more normal, it is just the initial changes that make things frustrating at first and once I've recovered from this birth life can be much better!

Zack made the sign with Katelyn and Taylor's help.

We took all the kids to sacrament meeting on Sunday which was quite an experience to say the least. Katelyn stayed for the rest of the meetings with her dad and I took all the boys home and we all took a break/nap.

The kids got a little "creative" during the week!