I always Want to Remember...

the little things that bring the joy to motherhood.

I always want to remember tiny fingers, tiny toes, tiny pigtails, gummy grins.

I always want to remember how Drew opens his arms wide open and puckers his lips signaling to me its time for a hug and kiss.

I always want to remember Hannah's little prayers "Hen Fodder, faiful foi fammy, pees bess..."

I always want to remember what happens when we put food in front of Hannah before we've said a blessing; she somewhat bows her head and totally shovels food in during the whole prayer.

I always want to remember Madelyn's compassion. When Jed felt sick, he laid down to rest while I finished dinner. I asked her to kindly go bring him to dinner. When she came back in tears, I asked what was wrong, she was just so worried about her daddy being sick.

I always want to remember Lily's big eyes. Whenever she hears Hannah coming or is startled her eyes get so big the whites of her eyes nearly glow.

I always want to remember our Friday night pizza parties.
I always want to remember the time in primary where the sharing time teacher was explaining that the water we drink comes from rivers. "No it doesn't!! It comes from WELLS!!" said Madelyn. Funny.

I always want to remember the snuggles.

I always want to remember laughing together.
I always want to remember Drew and Madelyn brushing and playing with my hair while I read to them.

I always want to remember how sometimes when I lay down at night and have a chance to think, I am overwhelmed with how much I love my husband and kids that it brings me to tears.

I always want to remember Hannah's crazy escapades, such as the birthday suit cleaning the church incident that escalated from there...

I always want to remember our little adventures: lizards, hiking, campfires, getting eaten alive while wearing herbal armor, getting lost on dirt roads perhaps going to be attacked by wild coyotes...

I always want to remember how Hannah was ready to move on in life while we were roasting marshmellows. She randomly said "bybye daddy, bybye mommy, bybye dwooby, bybye sissy..............taint you." Then she wandered off a bit past the car and then turned around.

I want to remember these things and SO much more because before you know it they'll be in 1st grade, and their fingers too big to put olives on, and just because I really do have the greatest job and family that I love so much!!

These guys are the greatest!!

Lily's Blessing

Lily's Blessing was August 1, 2010. We had so many family members come and support Lily and our family which really made the event wonderful! It was great to spend time with so much family.

I took a few pictures of Lily on her big day. My sister-in-law Julie taught me how to make the fabric flower for her headband and I thought it turned out really cute!! (thanks Julie!)

I caught the tail end of a smile here. I thought Lily looked just beautiful. She is such a sweetheart and we love having her as part of our family. I could snuggle her all day long and really wish that I could because she has already grown so much!!

We got a picture with all of my side of the family and here they are. We took pictures with Jed's side too, but unfortunately not on my camera.

My sister Julie also called from Nova Scotia and she got to talk to most of our family that was here visiting. It was nice that even though she is so far away, she still got to be part of the big day too!!

Some unfortunate things also happened this day. After work the next Monday Jed told me two of his brothers had been throwing up and feeling sick. I contacted all of my side of the family and the reports escalated from there. Pretty much every family that were in attendance reported sickness, except for our little family and my parents. Our family ate leftoevers all week long and never got sick, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't the food. We think it must have been some sort of bug because everyone ate different things and still got sick. A pretty aggressive bug!! I still feel so sorry and embarrassed that it ever happened. Hopefully everyone can regain their trust in me..... :)

Keeping It Cool!

So far this summer, the kids and I have ventured up to Rexburg to the Splash Park a couple of times. It is so fun to have a little water park like that not too far away, plus they get to visit Grandma and Grandpa Nelson afterwards. The first time we went Hannah just wandered around mooching off everyone's picnic. The second visit she braved some water fountains, of course with the accompaniment of her bag of chips and sippy.

Soggy chips....mmmmm

I am grateful for this flourescent "swimsoup" that helps me keep track of this little girl.


Drew and Madelyn racing down the slides.

Hannah sharing her soggy chips with Lily!

Baby Steps

Here is a little update on how things are running in our family:

Jed: Jed has been a HUGE help to me since we have had Lily. He has taken over making his lunches (which I hope to start doing again...soon) to help me get a few more minutes of sleep in the mornings. He has more than doubled the number of diapers he has changed in his entire fatherhood experience, he used to be able to count that on one hand!! But he even does it without being asked or without giving me a hard time about it. The kids and I woke up to a perfectly clean house every morning that first week and to a hot breakfast. Jed makes a way better mom than me! He is the greatest and I couldn't do it without him for sure. Thanks hun.

Jeannette: I am trying my best to get adjusted and have been learning a lot in the process. I really am feeling my limitations and know that I could never be the mom I am supposed to be without heavenly help. It is just not possible. I took all four kids to the grocery store for the first time last week--a major accomplishment. It was pretty crazy yet funny. I had Hannah in the back of the cart with the groceries, Lily in her seat in the front, and Madelyn and Drew walking. Lily cried loudly for about 10 minutes in the store and I got a lot of turned heads, looks, and "You've got your hands full"s. But the best was yet to come. Only a few items were opened and nibbled on by Hannah, which was better than I expected. In the check out Hannah refused to be in the cart any more, so she got out. Drew and Madelyn were awesome helpers and bagged all the groceries even being careful of the eggs and bread! I placed some bags and a watermelon on the bottom of the cart and the rest of the cart was packed, no hope for Hannah to get a ride to the car. So I had Drew and Madelyn on either side of Hannah each holding a hand and then Drew held onto the cart. We went out of the store and off rolls my watermelon down the slight decline and into the parking lot. A kind lady catches it for me and it was luckily unharmed. Rather than place the watermelon back underneath the cart--susceptible to the same tragedy--I carried it in one arm and pushed the loaded cart with baby included to the side of the walkway. During the commotion of the rogue watermelon, my little train of children had detached themselves from the cart and Hannah was throwing a full-blown fit in the middle of the pedestrian crossing right outside the store--laying on the asphalt. There were several onlooking cars, since they were all stopped there just to let us through. Here are Drew and Madelyn trying to coax Hannah to get up and hold hands again with little success. With some coaxing from me she finally got up and we were able to let the traffic through. I caught the glance of a straight faced car driver and then just started to smile and laugh to myself. It must have looked rather nuts. Luckily I was able to find the humor IN the moment which was wonderful. And I learned a big lesson: I had gone into the store with very low expectations. I knew catastrophe would come. It wasn't a matter of "if" it was "when" and "how." So when it came, I was able to deal with it with a light heart. So, baby steps....baby steps to learning how to be a mother of 4.

Drew: Drew has just finished his last season of t-ball, he was a real slugger. He is way excited about pitching machine next year. I have to tell another story: the other day the kids and I were driving home from town and on our way there are a lot of 4-way stops. At one stop I was the first to arrive, but the car to my right pulled up and hardly stopped and drove right in front. I said "Hey!" and the kids asked me why I said that. I told them a man didn't follow the rules and didn't take his turn at the right time. I took that moment to ask the kids why we have rules and why it is important to follow the rules. The kids gave me their answers " to keep us safe" etc. And I kept going with it for a bit until Drew said, "But mom, what if he had an emergency and was headed to the hospital." I just said, "That's very nice of you to think that." Then Drew said, "I think we should just forgive him." So that pretty much ended my shpeal. Here I was trying to adjust the happenings to suit my purpose, when Drew really had the better lesson. Baby steps again--listen to my kids, sometimes they are wiser than I.

Madelyn: Madelyn has been learning to be a very good sister. She is learning more patience, as we all are. She is doing a lot better at talking things through with her little sister and she is really good at holding Lily. She is a really good girl with a very compassionate heart.

Hannah: Hannah likes to sing "keen up keen up every....keen up keen up every" when it is time to pick up. She is starting to be a bit softer with Lily, she still tries to hit her every day though too.....baby steps. I think she is starting to adjust and get used to Lily being here, but often is torn between wanting to be a little girl and wanting to be a big girl.

Lily: Is growing fast. She is more than 10 pounds now. She eats frequently and still likes to party at night instead of the day. Sometimes I don't mind being up for hours at night because I don't ever get to spend one on one time with Lily. She just gets held while I try to do everything else that needs done and attended to during the day. She loves to be held and definitely prefers our bed to hers. She is a sweetie and we love her lots.

Our family is doing well and we are learning A LOT. Mostly how much we DON'T know!! Oh boy...

During the last few weeks I have been able to spend a lot of time reading the conference Ensign while I have fed Lily. It has helped me tons with perspective, patience, and really trying hard to have faith and hope and a positive attitude--not that I am perfect in any way shape or form with any of those things. One talk I read came from Pres. Uchtdorf which was directed to the priesthood, but I found a paragraph that I think applies equally to motherhood:

"Let us always remember that one of the reasons God has entrusted [motherhood] to us is to help prepare us for eternal blessings by refining our natures through the patience which [motherhood] service requires."

I'm grateful I have a chance to be refined as I learn to be a mother of more children. I just hope that in the refiner's fire I come out better than I came in and that I don't get burned!!

Worth the Wait

Here is the newest member of our family: Lily Marie Denning. She came to us on June 11th at 7:08 A.M.--my body still has never figured out how to go into labor in the DAY.... I was ok with that though because I was scheduled to be induced at 7 AM anyway and I really didn't want to be. At 1:30 in the morning my body finally kicked it in gear and went into labor a week after my due date.
It was nice because I told the nurse I was going to have the baby naturally and she didn't put in an IV. They usually do just "in case," but this was so much nicer because Jed and I walked miles around the hospital...okay probably not, since we were walking at a snails pace. I think the walking made me progress a lot quicker. When they had me lay down every hour or so to see how I was doing, the contractions would slow down quite a bit. In the halls walking I would have 2 or 3 in one hallway. At about 6 AM they called the doctor because I was at an 8. He checked me, broke my water, and then said he was going to get dressed. Things took off then. It seemed like it took forever for him to dress because then I was starting to feel the pressure!! When he got back he told me to go ahead and push, so I did and with another half push she was out!!
She took the cake for "biggest baby" in our family. She weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces, she knocked Drew out of his spot at 8 lb 9 0z.
It is such a blessing to have her here and she seems to be healthy and doing well. She is a beautiful little girl with lots of dark hair.



So precious!

Getting her first bath from Dad.

The whole fam. Yes I am way chubby in this picture. I am just now beginning to see my ankle bone definition again!! I swelled up a ton with this pregnancy. It was crazy. Flip flops were tight.

Our family is adjusting pretty well. Of course Hannah is having the toughest time with it. She got sick about this same time and so we weren't sure if she was acting out because she was sick or jealous. But now she says things like "no baby!" when I'm feeding her....I've been down this road before. I know it is just a matter of time before it improves. She does help with throwing diapers away and when she sees the baby she says "cute!" So I know she likes her. Drew and Madelyn love her and love to hold her and kiss her hair.

We are just so happy to have her with us, she really is sweet. We're so grateful things went as well as they did!

Tee Time

T-ball season is in full swing!! Ha Ha. Madelyn and Drew are playing on the same team which is a lot of fun. This is Drew's last year with t-ball and I think it is a lot of fun for him to be the big kid. He has a great hit and loves getting "outs." Madelyn is enjoying it too, although sometimes I think she is more interested in impressing the boys....(not already!)

Hannah and Daddy chilling together.

Madelyn making it to home!! She keeps getting better and better as the games go on. I still think her favorite part may be the treat afterwards though! :)

Here is the team. T-ball always provides for great entertainment and some good laughs. We love it.

A Fun-Filled Weekend

Last weekend we decided to take our little family fishing. We gave Drew some fishing supplies for his birthday and he was anxious to use his new box and gear. We headed up to the Rexburg ponds and had no idea the success and fun we were in for!! Each of us caught 3+ fish...well excluding Jed who didn't even get a chance to cast because he was so busy loading hooks and unhooking fish!!

Hannah had a blast and loved watching the wildlife. There were ducks, and of course fish, and an osprey that kept diving into the water to catch fish--that was neat.

Madelyn was pretty funny, since there was so much action she enjoyed the fishing. That is, until she got it onto the sand. She would drop her pole and run away screaming and saying that the fish was "wild and crazy" because it would flop around so much. One of the times I had to go rescue her pole because a fish was flopping back into the water and taking the pole with it!

Drew absolutely loved fishing. Loved it. We had packed a picnic dinner and he would not even think about dropping the fishing for a bite to eat. We ended up eating dinner in the dark off the tailgate of the truck at about 9:30.

My mom tried her hand at fishing too and caught two fish! She hadn't been fishing since she was 8 years old....she had a good time. There is us with our stringer full of fish, notice Drew would not put down his fishing pole for the picture...

This day was also my dad's birthday. I think he had a good time seeing the kids catch so many fish and experience pure delight!

On Sunday we enjoyed the regional conference and the open day it left us afterward. Jed suggested we go hike the Menan Butte. We had a great time. The kids were amazing and kept trudging up the mountain with no complaining!! We learned a lot of good lessons from our hike from the simple "stink bugs like volcanoes" to more complex ideas like the blessings of family and the support they offer and holding to the iron rod, and feeling the accomplishment of doing hard things.

The best part of it all was that a man on top of the butte thought I only looked 5 months pregnant. :0 My look of shock! He was extremely nice, and it must have been a long time since his wife had been pregnant because I am plainly past that!!!!

Me and my tough kids on top of the world!! I guess there was a little complaining--Hannah was upset that I wouldn't let her just run off the side of the mountain...sometimes moms are just no fun.

Jed and I celebrated our anniversary this Monday. It's been a great 7 years and we've had so many adventures together. I'm so grateful to have him, he's my best friend ever!

I had to put this picture in of Drew's artwork. I was amazed at the detail in his butterfly picture. He definitely is a perfectionist. It is perfectly symmetrical and he is so careful about his coloring. I had to document it before it got attacked by his little sister!

On Wednesday I was able to take the girls and go to Drew's kindergarten graduation. They had a program and sang lots of songs, then they were presented with their "diplomas." The graduation caps were really clever and cute. We, I should say "he," made it through kindergarten! I just can't believe we made it through this year of school. He did really well, even with a move in the school year. I'm just excited to have him home. I am really not looking forward to him being gone all day next year. I just like having my kids with me....most of the time! :)

Things are just moving along around here. I'm down to just 2 weeks left in this pregnancy and I am starting to get ancy. I'm ready to stop worrying about what having 4 kids will be like, and I'm just ready to get in the groove and get used to our new family dynamics. But there will be more worries when she is here, that is just how it goes for me....worry worry worry. :)