Baby Kash is here!

I love this picture! I think Kash looks like a little man. And he looks a lot like Nate here.

He was born February 22 at 12:03 a.m. I could have had him on the 21st, but I waited until midnight so that he could be born on his grandpa's birthday. Kash's middle name is Hugh, after his Grandpa Whittaker, and now they share the same birthday. Neat.

So ya, I have to say that this was the fastest and easiest delivery I've had. I was very skeptical about being induced, but once I finally got into the hospital things went very smooth and I had him within 5 hours. That is fast for me. And I didn't feel a thing. It was awesome. I've always had the epidural, but this time it actually worked!!

And things have been going really well too. Kash is such a good baby, he mostly just sleeps and eats all day long. We've all been enjoying him a lot. We just have to really watch him when Claire is around. She may or may not have at some time or another, kicked him in the face, tried bending his little limbs as far as they can go, and even thrown him across the room. Yup, that's my sweet little 3 1/2 year old. I guess spacing these last 2 kids as far as we did may not have benefited us like we thought it would.

Oh ya, he weighed 7 lbs 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. A small baby to me!

Cassie's birthday from December

Finally Christmas pictures

I am finally putting a few pictures up from Christmas. Only for my sake, since I hope to print this blog sometime in the future. And if you read my sister's blog, then you have seen all these.

Dylan really really wanted a cotton candy machine. Nate bought one for the kids. And I got to make it and clean up all the little sugar crystals that flew everywhere.


Claire and Morgan made a huge mess with bubbles up in the girls bathroom. I was babysitting them. Oops.

Candace and I (but mostly Candace) made some cute pants for the girls...

Dylan and Henry chasing some deer with their cap guns...

I love puzzles...

Beyblades were a hit...

The kids brought this sign down from the hill. Lovely. Just what we needed. Since then, Nate made Dylan take it all the way back up...

V-day

Thank you to my wonderful husband for pulling through on Valentine's day. As I was helping out in class parties yesterday, one mom brought freshly made sugar cookies and frosting for the kids to decorate. I then realized that the thought of frosting cookies with my kids this year hadn't even crossed my mind. Or doing a cute valentine dinner. Or even getting my kids a valentine from me, or a treat, or a note in their lunch. Nothing. Luckily, Nate came home with roses for me, a pink rose for each girl, and cute heart shaped chocolate brownies for each kid. I'm not a huge flower girl, but he said the kids needed to see him do this. Ha ha. I thought that was cute. Oh, and our new couches came too. That was a great valentine gift. I sure love that man, I feel like one lucky women!

Broken camera

I went all of Christmas with a broken camera. I took a few pictures on my phone, but this computer isn't cooperating and allowing me to connect my phone up to it so I can get the pictures. So this will be a pictureless post. Darn technology.

I finally took my camera in to get fixed and it's going to take 4-6 weeks until I get it back. Great. We have a baby and a baptism coming up before then.

Cassie had a birthday before Christmas and I really wish I had pictures of it. They are stuck on my camera from before I realized it was broken. She had her first friend party and we made gingerbread houses. I was smart and had the houses all set up so all they had to do was frost and decorate the outside. Worked perfect. She was thrilled about the bike she got and the few arts and craft things too. She loves to create things. Cassie is such a little blessing in our family. She is our giggly little girl who loves to sing, read, mess her room up daily, and stay awake for at least an hour after we tuck her in at night doing whatever it is she does. (Read, play, write notes to us and her friends, etc.)

Christmas was very relaxing. Candace and her family came and spent the whole break with us. Our husbands took turns working and we just hung out and enjoyed a quieter Christmas this year. Jason took all the kids to a couple of movies. And I ate a lot of food. Too much, actually. The kids all played really well too. We broke down and got a Wii and have had some fun family time on it. We also got one of those indoor double player basketball arcade games for the basement. That has been really fun as well. The girls enjoyed a Christmas of mostly barbie stuff. I can't believe how much Claire loves barbies. She'll play quietly upstairs with them for hours. Oh, and there was a ski day in there too. I love that Dylan loves to ski so much. Cassie, not so much. But she was sick that day anyway and stayed home with me and the little ones.

Dylan has been playing basketball again and LOVES it! He has really improved this round too. I think it helps that he knows most of the team so he is a little more aggressive. It's fun to watch him steal the ball and then go make a lay-up. Plus or minus a bit of travelling and double dribbling. =)

And in other news, I left the valley yesterday! Amazing eh? I think it has been at least 6 months since I have been out of the valley. Oh wait, we did go to Disneyland in the Fall. But besides that, there hasn't been anything to leave for. Thanksgiving was here, Christmas was here, the Folsom Christmas party was here, family visits were here, etc. etc. etc. I am a home body, so it all worked out anyway. Nate finally had a full weekend off and as we were driving home from basketball games at noon yesterday, we decided it was time to leave the valley. I ran in the house, grabbed a change of clothes for everyone and we left. We visited some of his family and stayed at Candace's. And.... I did a much needed Target trip. Although it was a very quick Target trip, it was still a few minutes in my favorite store.

This pregnancy is going good. I was really starting to hurt a lot so I stopped exercising last week and I feel better now. It's nice to have an excuse to not work out for a little while. =) The doctor thinks I'll have this baby early, but I'm not too ready yet. I'm actually a little nervous, it's easier to take care of this baby when it's inside of me. I'd much rather do the end of the pregnancy than the beginning. Yuck, I hated that part! Although I am excited to see what he looks like and have him be a part of our family. If only there was a name I loved. Any help there?

December

December is a little crazy with so many things going on. I think I've had a headache for a week straight, but now that I've got most of my shopping done it is going away. So many parties going on and just little things to worry about. But I love it all! We wanted a real tree this year and when I was driving down main a couple of weeks ago I saw a sign that read "Christmas trees grown from Kalispell, MT". So of course, we had to get our tree there. I'm a pretty simple decorator, but I love our tree! Now if only I could take a decent picture of it...


We also have a visitor from the North Pole who is magical. His name is Christopher Pop-In-Kins. He watches the kids in the day from a high spot where he can't be touched. He leaves during the night only to return to a different spot in the morning. He loves to show up in random places and the kids love trying to find him everyday. He will report back to the North Pole a few days before Christmas on the behavior of our children. Not sure if he is making a difference in their behavior or not. =)

Dylan woke up one morning to a herd of deer in our back yard. He took a picture of them as they were leaving and then came and showed me in bed. We love seeing all the deer around here.

I had a birthday on Sunday and enjoyed the day with family. We went to dinner and an Aggie game earlier in the week and pretended that was my birthday. It was a good week.

This pregnancy is going well. I am 29 weeks and people are finally brave enough to ask if I am pregnant. Being in a new ward, they must of all just thought I was getting fat. This is when I really start to grow. I get contractions easily though, so I've had to quit zumba and running. But I love my recumbent bike. We spend a lot of time together.

Disneyland

We went on our 2nd annual trip to Disneyland in November and this time we coaxed my parents, Lani, Jesse, Chad and their families to come with us. It was So. Much. Fun!! Seriously, what a group we had. Lots of laughs and memories made. Lani and I missed out on some of the big rides since we are both growing a child (or in Lani's case, I should say "children") inside of us. But it worked out great. We would watch the younger kids, get lots of stroller passes so that everyone could get right back on the ride, and then navigate so we knew where to head next. The weather was perfect and we got lots of exercise as it seemed like we were walking all day long for 3 days straight. It was kind of funny because Claire was just barely tall enough for most of the big rides. Finally, a year where my kids can all go on the rides, and I couldn't. But I was just happy to be there. I love Disneyland!!! Nate and I were really hoping to go on a trip with out kids, but in the end, we both wanted to go to Disneyland. I didn't even take my camera, so the few pictures that I did take are with my phone (and of a computer screen on top of that). So not the best quality. I'm sure my family will appreciate most of these pictures.