GIVING THANKS FOR:

*my husband.

*my 5 beautiful, healthy children.

*my membership in the church and the peace that it brings me.

*my extended family.

*my cozy, comfy home.

*my body. be it ever so fluffy right now,

it is strong and healthy and has produced 5 human beings.

it has never failed me.

it boggles my mind.

*many countless things that bring me joy,

for example...cheesecake.

and this sweet girl that helped me make one for thanksgiving.

i hope you had a great day.

now time to decorate for christmas.

bring it.

if you see this boy....

wish him a happy 8th birthday!

i can't believe my sweet baby sam is 8 today.

he was our unexpected, unplanned, surprise baby

and he is absolute joy to our family.

he has always been very serious about his hair.

when he was little we buzzed it and he would

always bend over for you to see and feel his hair.

now its all about the faux hawk. always about the hair.

sam is the family comedian.

very rarely do we sit down to a dinner,

or any meal for that matter, that sam doesn't have us

laughing off of our chairs.

sam loves his friends.

if you ask him who his best friends are its these 2 ya-hoo's.

alec & jack.

he is fiercely loyal to his friends and would do just about anything to play.

we love you sam.

its great to be 8.

cant' believe its here already.

happy birthday sweet boy.

why do birthdays hurt the mom just a little?

the best of intentions.

ok, i'm gonna do it this time.

picture in the same place,

once a month for a year.

you'd think i could do it on #5.

better! right?

ahhh, i'm feeling much better now thank you.

it's amazing what a hair cut can do!

9 inches to be exact.

ps.i'm not sure why i always feel the

need to pull a face, other than i hate taking a

picture of myself.

pss. i never wore my hair like that first picture.

it was for dramatic effect.

thats all.

sam and griff.

i took the 2 boys out for a quickie photo shoot.

i needed these two together because they are sharing a special day.

sams baptism, and griffins blessing.

when i figured out my due date, and realized this two-fer might work out,

i okay'd it with sam, he was delighted at the thought.

then 8 months later, there we were, taking these pictures.

some things really work out.

the invite.

i wish you all could join us.

but with the flu and rsv season we're keeping it small.

but of course i'll post pictures!

sam's requested chocolate dipped strawberries.

and chicken nuggets from chick fil' a.

i think its going to be a great day.

it looks innocent, right?

let me set the scene.

sunday afternoon,

josh and i are in the kitchen making dinner,

emma, sam, and eliza have set up dr.'s offices.

they are happily playing and the banter between them is killing us.

they each have ring tones, a specialty, etc...

then we hear emma say,"someone get me an ice cold latte."

so i say to emma,"ummm emma that means cold coffee."

to which she replies,

"i know mom, we're not mormons in this game."

what?

i never played like i wasn't mormon!

then emma says,"sam your wife is on line three."

and he says,"i don't have a wife, i'm divorced!"

what kind of sick make believe is this!

now i do remember playing barbies and

setting up the scenario that skipper came to stay for

the summer with barbie and ken and ken and

skipper ended up having an affair.

but that just means they were immoral, not me!

i'm going to try not to worry.

and just because he's too cute not to include.

griffin...still innocent.

it happens to everyone, right?

so it must be documented that

we are all adjusting rather well

to griffins arrival.

no fits of rage, emotions are in check(most of the time)

many people, including me, were worried about eliza

and she has been a dream!

i think for some weird reason it helps that he's a boy.

all in all things have been perfect....

until the other day.

let me explain.

josh, eliza, griffin and i went to lunch.

griffin was in his carseat covered up fast asleep the whole time.

we ate, paid the bill, picked out suckers and left...

without Griffin.

now in our defense we only got out one set of double doors.

we didn't even make it to the car.

and you have to remember that for the last 5 years

its been just the 3 of us at lunch.

josh and i looked at each other and just started laughing,

then i started crying, just a little.

soooo there may be a few minor adjustments.

we're working out the kinks.

most importantly we've decided not to venture out into public

with him until he's walking.

you know, then its up to him to chase us down.

a little bit of this and that.

just because my life revolves around nursing

doesn't mean i don't feel the itch to craft.

so behold the leaf garland.

simple, yet highly effective.

just collect fall leaves,

dip them in parafin wax,

lay out of wax paper,

then hot glue to any kind of string.(i used jute)

i even strung one in Griffins window.

cute right?

my mom and i did these together and now we want

to dip everything in wax. it was too fun and too easy!

had to add a couple of shots!

kids...all lined up last night to watch the amazing race!

our sunday night favorite.

and this is what i woke up to this morning.

jealous?

2 weeks? seriously?

this little baby of ours is getting so big!

we had our 2 week appointment and

he now weighs 9lbs. 13oz.

and is 21 1/2 inches!

he really is the best baby.

he hardly ever cries and sleeps great!

i think he knew he'd have to be good

coming to our crazy family!

thank you to all of you who have called,

stopped by, brought meals, brought treats, asked about us etc.

this really has been such an exciting time for our family

and all of you have made it even more so!

thank you . thank you. thank you.

it really means so much.

(and to all of you sickies, get better so you can come feast on the love)

happy halloween.

yes it was.

although, all traditions went out the window

when josh got tickets to the real game.

the kids were thrilled to go.

they were able to wear their costumes,

march the team onto the field,

and who is that on the jumbo- tron?

our own little eliza won the chicken dance

and an 8 piece chicken dinner from KFC!

Griffin and i had dinner at a friends(thanks liza!)

and then held down the fort and gave out candy

until everyone got home.

the kids dispersed to their various parties and josh

took sam and eliza trick or treating for a little bit.

all in all it was a fun night.

it really was all about him anyways!

the cutest little baby bumble bee ever!

i hope you had a great night too!