firemans parade

We kept hearing rumor of a 'firemans parade'

we were told that they have it every year and different cities take turn hosting it.

We decided to head over

Little B ready for the big show

These little cars were one of the kids favorites!

J hanging out and ready for CANDY!

only, small problem. NO CANDY! WHAT! who's ever heard of a parade with NO candy!

Not even a piece of taffy.

Little C slept through it all

With no candy, the kids found other ways to entertain themselves. J even found a little friend.

B loved the trucks

We saw PLENTY of trucks. Probably 100 trucks, with 2 bagpipe bands and those tiny little cars from above. I guess when they say firemans parade, that's what they mean

G loved these bagpipe bands. He had to bust a move

this kid

This little boy of mine found a new talent-

climbing doorways

funny thing is, I remember doing this when I was little,

but I don't think I climbed that high

he is fearless

what we've been up too

Just before I took the kids to church,( I didn't go, I just had to drop them off for C, )

I found K just holding and rocking his sweet little sister. He loves her so much and is such a big help with both babies.

Just enjoying having time with dad and snuggling him

Watching this little one change and grow

Playing the Wii WAY too much

One of our friends also had the kids over to swim (which was a nice break for them) at her pool.

I had to include this, because it is amazing!

A lot of the local churches around do something called vacation bible school. I have never paid much attention to it. But one of the cute girls who brought us dinner mentioned that their neighbor is in charge of one and we should send our kids. The church happened to be right across the street from our house, so we sent over our 3 oldest. It was INCREDIBLE! They had games, crafts, dinner, hats, scarves, and sheriff badges for all the kids that went. It was Mon-Thurs. from 5-8 every night last week. It was perfect and the kids LOVED it! We will definitely mark our calendars for next year!

We ended most nights last week letting the kids stay up late and catch fireflies. The weather was perfect-like the spring we never had :).

J and G were trying to catch them in this chalk bucket and then close it off with a ziploc-quite ingenious.

Fireflies are actually kinda ugly, if they didn't glow, I think most people would be kinda creeped out by them.

Here is all they caught and then we let them go. J wanted to let them go in her room...maybe next time.

They LOVE fireflies!

I LOVE SUMMER!

Somewhere in all of this craziness, we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary! While C's parents were in town we took the chance to go to dinner (the first time we had been on a date with NO kids for 11 months). It was so fun! He totally surprised me and made reservations and this great little restaurant. I have an amazing husband!

We also celebrated fathers day. Pretty low key, I felt really bad because I had only been home for about 12 hours, so I didn't really have time to do anything amazing, but I wish I could have because my husband IS amazing!

LOVE THIS!

Every time J jumps, this is what her hair does!

AWESOME!

oh those cheeks

These little cheeks just kill me.

I don't think we have ever had a baby that had such pinchable kissable cheeks

This was right after the hospital and she was still pretty swollen

Oh, she is so sweet it truly melts my heart

What I love about sweet little C...oh, so many things

-Her little cooing noises

-The way she arches her back when she is waking up

-The tiny little hairs on her shoulders

-Her velvety soft hair

-The softness of her skin

-Her sweet red tiny lips

-That she just sleeps and snuggles into your arms

-Her dark never-ending eyes

-Her tiny little fingers

-Her helplessness and dependance

It's funny. After having a baby 11 1/2 months ago I wasn't sure how it would be to have another sweet baby in our home. She has such a sweet presence about her. She truly is a gift to our family from our Heavenly Father.

Some of the cute things the kids have said,

J- "Mom, C is crying. No, wait, MY SISTER is crying'

G- 'Her eyes are just so sparkly, aren't they mom'

'Who do you think is cuter mom, B or C. I said, both. G said ' not me, I think C is.' This is coming from a little boy who ADORES B.

B is actually really sweet. I thought he would be completely oblivious to the fact that there was a new baby here. He isn't. When C was crying yesterday, he immediately b-lined it right for her. When he would reach her, he would go in and give her a kiss on her head. SO sweet! I have no doubt that he remembers her from heaven. He already has such a sweet connection to her.

It has also been so sweet seeing K with a new baby. He is so helpful. The other day C was crying and he walked into her room and picked her up and just sat in the chair rocking her and talking to her so soft and just snuggling her.

These are times I don't ever want to forget.

A new baby is one of the most amazing miracles from our Heavenly Father.

A new sweet one

How to make a long story short?

well, it wont happen.

If you dont want to read it all, end result: sweet baby girl joined our family on the 17th.

If you want the details, follow story below :)

On Thursday at 4pm, I went in for my normal twice weekly non-stress test and fluid check.

Everything was fine, and then they checked my fluid, it was elevated and was on the 'high' end. The doctor I saw, who happens to be a friend of ours from church, came in and saw me and asked 'what do you think about being induced'. He went out and checked with the attending and said, 'okay, head upstairs' (to labor and delivery). I think my jaw hit the floor, I thought he meant in the morning, or monday, and i said, 'NOW?' He said, yeah, what did you think. I immediately think, i need to find someone to take the kids, call c, get the bags ready.... I said, can you give me 30 minutes, and he said, he would let them know in labor and deliver. I left the office and called C. I told him I was being induced, he thought I was joking. He was half way through making a delicious dinner; mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, corn. He kept saying 'are you and david (the doc) in there on speaker phone laughing. I kept reassuring him I was not kidding. I got home, grabbed bags that I had already packed, food, cameras, a quick bite to eat, and we were off. C dropped the kids off at our friends house (her husband was working until 11 pm, so she had a

9 yr old, 5, 4, 4, 2 year old , 11 month, and 5 month old all by herself!) how nice was that? He dropped them off while I grabbed a few more things, and then we headed to the hospital.

Just for the record, to prove I was pregnant, this was me at 39 weeks and 4 days.

We got to the hospital and then the waiting game started. After being checked in, they started the pitoson at 8 pm. They wouldn't break my water because of my high fluid, so we had to wait and wait and wait. I was debating back and forth about getting an epidural. Now, I am ALL for epidurals, but the one I got with B didn't work. My worry was that I would get one again, go through all the pain, and it wouldn't work again. So I debated, for about 5 hours. Finally, I decided to get one, C kept saying I would enjoy the delivery more (which I agreed with). So about 1:45 am, the anesthesiologist came in and put in my epidural. They ran a quick test dose and they said, 'let me know if you feel a metallic taste in your mouth, ringing in your ears, or fast heart beat'. Within 3 seconds, my heart was pounding out of my chest and I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I was really scared. I frantically looked at C for reassurance and he told me I would be fine, that it was just a small dose of adrenaline and it would wear off soon. It did, but I was pretty shaken still. They doc said he has been doing those for 2 years and had never had that happen-I guess I'm just lucky ;). Then the nurse said to C, you don't look very good. I looked up at him and he was an ashy gray color, I told him to sit down. He NEVER gets queasy during epidurals ( i have had a ton, and it is his job), but he wasn't feeling very good going into the delivery and lack of sleep and food was not helping. His color came back quick and he was okay. Then we were debating all over again about putting in another epidural. During all this excitement, I wasn't really paying attention to the contractions and I realized that they were getting a lot stronger. We decided to re-place the epidural. Just as he was getting ready, I realized that we didn't have time and that our baby was coming. I knew she was VERY close and wanted to push, but the mid wife wasn't there. The nurse reassure me that she CANT deliver the baby and just wait. After was seemed like 10 minutes (but in reality maybe 1 minute), she came in and saw that our baby was on her way, with my water unbroken. After 2 quick pushed, she arrived safely at 2:16 am on June 17. She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She has cute dark hair and we are so glad that all went well and she arrived without any harm (despite a VERY crazy 20 minutes right before delivery).

Not sure what to think of her being outside of her nice warm place

So happy she joined our family

The kids SO happy to have her with us

All the boys getting a good look at her when we were ready to leave the hospital. I don' t know what B thinks of her, when we first showed her to him he went straight for her face..we will have to watch him CLOSELY

The kids just LOVE her

Getting ready to head home

All harnessed up and ready to head home for her first time.

fun at the park

Before our sweet little gal was born, I took the kids to the market and then the park.

It was pretty hot and we didn't stay long, but I had to include a few pics.

These two trying to cool off in the shade

This sweet little guy hanging out in his stroller

Look at these little toes. They have been like this since birth. They just don't lay flat. I don't know if I should be worried or just keep thinking it is so cute.

G found this steering wheel that played music and he was busting out some sweet dance/kung fu moves

When we go anywhere and J finds flowers, she always sticks her fingers in the middle of them to collect the pollen. She has done this for a while. It cracks me up. Cute little yellow fingertips.

i scream, you scream

One thing we have grown to love about PA is their ice cream stands. They are everywhere, and SO many of them are equipped with fun toys and swing sets for the kids to play one. We went and visited one with C's parents. It is one of the kids favorite hang outs!

B even loves it!

G's favorite thing is climbing on this rope. He's got mad skillz!

What's even better, is how he accomplishes getting to the top.

He get the rope between his big and little toes and climbs it that way! Pretty amazing!

J even gave it a shot!

Great time and great ice cream!

Harmony (Oakland) PA

C's parents have been in town and we have been taking in some of the sights PA has to offer.

We went to Harmony PA (name changed to Oakland), the site where the priesthood was restored and where a lot of the Book of Mormon was translated. There wasn't a ton of stuff there, but it was really neat to see. This is where the church recently announced they would be restoring this area.

Monument dedicated to priesthood restoration

On the banks of the Susquehanna where Joseph was baptized

This is the grave marking Joseph and Emma's first baby, Alvin, who passed away.

Picture with Grandma and Grandpa, I LOVE this picture!

Still on the banks of the river, so beautiful

This was right after G was climbing down from the tree, it was really muddy, and he slipped right into a big puddle of mud. We washed him off in the river and it was great!

On the way back, we stopped at a State Park Called Salt State Park (or something like that). It was so fun, a little stream was right by our picnic area. G had been exploring and through the stream multiple times, until he finally slipped and fell and was soaked! It was awesome. Luckily we had a change of clothes in the car (minus a shirt, which he was quick to point out), and everything was fine. It was a gorgeous day and area. We loved seeing the site and feeling the calm spirit that was there.

what do you do in the summertime

It has been SO hot here lately! It feels like we have been melting.

We had to get our pool and water guns out.

I think the kids spent 5 hours out there after school.

They had SO much fun!

Dont let her face fool you, she is deadly with a squirt gun