Bear World

Today, we surprised the boys with a trip to bear world. Tayden has been wanting to go since we got back to Idaho, so he was thrilled when he saw where we were. It was wonderful getting out with everyone and spending the day as a family. 

The boys loved driving through the park. Cache sat on my lap and could not get enough of the bears. He pointed out every moving thing and screamed with excitement when the bears got close to the car. It was hilarious.

The petting zoo was fun. They liked petting the goats and deer and got a kick out of the funny roosters. But the most fun was had on the rides. Tayden is in an awkward in between ages stage. He wants to have fun like the little boys, but tries not to show it. He wants to be a big kid and is trying to act as such. I expected this to happen, but not so young. He is only six and I am desperate to keep him little as long as I can.  Even though he acted cool during the rides, I could tell he was enjoying himself. 

All in all it was a great day! Its always a treat to get out of the house and enjoy some good clean fun with the ones you love the most. 

We saw the Anderson's there and got to hang out with them for a bit. I love this picture of the Packard cousins. 

We tried a family selfie. We failed. 

Whirlwind

Whirlwind. That's the best way I can describe my life right now. It's great, but so busy. I can hardly believe another week has past. My days are spent feeding a baby and making sure the others are fed, changing diapers, running kids to school, reading books, doing homework, practicing speech, keeping the boys safe from each other, insuring they all feel loved and important, keeping screen time down and play up, laundry, cleaning house, planning dinner and trying my best to cook it, etc. The same things every other stay at home mom does. But with four, it feels a bit crazier. Its good and we're adjusting, but it's a whirlwind. In between everything, some mentionables about the week...

It snowed! The boys were thrilled to wake up to the white stuff and immediately wanted to play in it. It was freezing, but they insisted on going out anyway. So I bundled them up and set them loose. It only lasted about 30 minutes, because it was so cold. Cache only lasted about 30 seconds because he slipped down the stairs on the way out. It was over after that. But the big boys had a blast and the little boys and I enjoyed watched from the warmth of the home.

See the little boy running home from the bus stop? That's my kindergartener. Ugh, he's growing up and he won't stop. He has been wanting to ride it home for some time and this week, I finally bit the bullet and let him do it. The first day I walked him to the bus and followed it to make sure he got off at the right stop. The next day, I watched from a distance and let him find his way to the bus. I beat the bus home and watched him get off from my porch. The third day I stayed home and prayed my guts out he'd make it. And he did. I admit, it makes my afternoons easier. But I still don't like how fast he is growing up. 

After the snow melted, Scott had the opportunity to spend some one on one time with Beckett on his day off. B has had a rough week and it lashing out looking for attention. He's been extra rough with his brothers and super emotional. I knew he needed some special time and Scott came to the rescue making that happen. They worked for a few hours in the backyard while Tayden was at school and the little brothers were napping. It might have been a small act, but to Beckett, it meant the world.

Then I had the chance to spend some good quality time with cache reading his favorite books. We cuddled up on the couch and I let him tell me the stories. It was as good for me as it was for him. 

This might be completely inappropriate, but it was too funny not to share. It's no secret after you have a baby you bleed for awhile after delivery. Well, Cache now has "a cool new beard". 

Baby Ky was circumsized this week. It was awful. He is so laid back and easy going and hardly ever cries. But after the doctor he cried for a solid 20 minutes. Even when he slept he whined and was grumpy the rest of the evening. Luckily, it only lasted a day and the next day he was back to normal. The doc said he looked great. He weights 7 lbs 9 ounces. He has gained over 1/2 pound in two weeks and grew 1/2 inch. He is strong and healthy. And we are grateful. 

I'm welcoming the whirlwind that is my life. I wonder if it will ever calm down or if this is the new normal. Either way, I embrace it and love it. 

Day 10

It's been 10 days since baby Ky came to our family. Impossible. I can't believe how fast it has gone. He is a great baby. But still super sleepy, though he is becoming more and more alert. Most alert at night, right before bed. Which is no surprise, because that's how he was in the belly. In the last 10 days we have....

Taught....well, are teaching, Cache to be soft. 

Survived the flu and managed not to share it with anyone else. 

Enjoyed lots and lots of snuggles. 

And more cuddles. 

Finish up the boys bathroom with the most awesome shower curtain. 

Get the most adorable one week picture of this babe. 

And....

Realized that having four boys was my ultimate dream come true. 

It's been a great week and we are settling into a family of six. We are surviving and I'd dare say thriving...life is good! 

Kyle Adam

Wednesday afternoon I received the best news from Dr. Larson. Our sweet baby boy was on his way and he'd induce me when I was ready. Considering all the contracting, loss of appetite, belly aches, exhaustion, ect...I was ready. So we set the appointment for Thursday morning. 

We woke up about 4:30 and got ready to head to the hospital. I took my last pregnancy picture EVER and we were off. The induction started at 6:15 when I took a pill to soften my cervix. I was dilated to a two at that point. Water broke at 10:30 and I dilated to a four. We decided to start pitocin to increase my contractions. They really started coming hard so the epidural was ordered. That was the worst part. The spinal went in nice and easy, but the actual epidural was a disaster. The doc couldn't place it in my back and had to push and dig the needle around for what felt like an eternity, but was probably 10 minutes. I was extrememly sore. He finally got it put in, but I didn't feel much relief. I was checked again and dilated to an eight. After about 10-20 minutes of waiting for relief from the epi, I told my nurse I was still having pain. She checked and sure enough, I was complete and ready to deliver baby boy. I was shocked. Dr. Larson rushed over and got set up. I had a contraction, pushed and was told to stop. Half a push later, new baby was here. It was incredible. I literally pushed for less than a minute. Kyle weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 20 inches long.  

The minute they put him on my chest and I heard him cry, my whole world felt complete. I loved him with an intense passion. He is the absolute perfect ending to our family. Scott named him Kyle Adam, after our close friend Adam Turney, and it fits him perfectly. 

We enjoyed the rest of the day holding and loving on baby ky. My mom brought the boys up and it was love at first sight. Tayden is the most loving brother. No surprise there. He always wants to hold him. Beckett is equally as loving and is mostly worried about keeping him safe. Cache loves him, really hard. 

We are not the cute picture family type. And I have accepted that. Embraced it even. So this family picture, with all 6 of us, is perfect. 

I forgot to mention, my nurse Hillary was amazing. She graduated just a year after me I'm high school. She was so kind, pleasent and professional. I loved having a friend for a nurse. It was wonderful. 

We're home now and it seems as though four kids is going to be a challenge for the first few days...probably weeks. But we'll get there. Kyle is as sweet as they come. He rarely cries and when he does, it's for good reason. He is content and calm and a laid back baby. At least for now. We are so grateful to have him here and healthy and part of our family! 

Weekly

Well, I've got into quite the routine of a weekly update. My in laws dropped off our computer this week (it's been stored at their house) so as soon as it's up and running, hopefully the updates will increase. But then...I'll probably have a baby, so there's that. 

This week has been great. We are loving Idaho life. We went to church Sunday and were overwhelmed with the kindness of our new ward. Lots of love and we had four different families come by our house throughout the day offering welcomes, treats and help. That's not counting the other people that have stopped by over the past two weeks. It's been incredible. We are feeling so blessed.

Not a lot happened this week, just settling in and getting into routines. We spent Saturday in Logan as Scott looked at a truck. We stopped by the temple and enjoyed our day together. Tayden had a loose tooth and wiggled it the whole trip. And sure enough, it was ready to pull out when we got home. He looks so cute without it. 

Hilarious Tayden selfie. 

Tayden also had his third first day of kindergarten this week. I gave him a week off when we moved and then last week was spring break, so he hasn't been in two weeks. But he went today and he loved it! I was more nervous than he was. I dropped him off and offered to wait with him, but he declined. Which was a relief considering he refused to go to primary on Sunday. He went without issue and had a great time. He got a shark book at library and got to play football during recess. His teacher is wonderful and the school is amazing. We are so happy. 

As for me, scatter brained as ever. If you can't tell from the post. I'm officially 38 weeks pregnant, which is induceable. We'll see what the doctor says on Thursday. We may have a baby this weekend. I woke up yesterday and for the first time this pregnancy, I felt done. My body is sore and achy, I have no appetite and when I do eat my belly gets upset, I'm exhausted. It's the pits. Part of me wants to be induced as soon as possible, but the other part wants to wait as long as possible. Oh, I don't know what to do. Things will work out. I'll keep you posted. 

Idaho is great and treating us well. This move has been so great to our family. I couldn't feel more blessed. 

I'm back!

And our internet is too. Hallelujah!! If my kids weren't so smart and I hadn't made a promise to myself about lying to them, I totally would have made up a story about what the cable one guy was doing at our house. Life without internet was hard on me but bliss for my kids. They have been playing outside and with each other non stop. Eating outside is their favorite.  We literally didn't watch TV, outside of a movie or two, for a whole week. It was amazing and we have really scaled back our screen time. And they haven't even thrown a fit about it. 

Anyway, back to the real story. We bought a house! Yay! And we are so in love with it and our area. The plan was to stay with my parents and let Tayden finish out kindergarten, but as the days to baby grew closer, I felt the need to have our own space. My parents were beyond amazing and I can never thank them enough for letting us stay with them, but I was ready for our own place and tired of feeling like I was imposing. Which I know we weren't, but still. So we hemmed and hawed about what to do. Rent for a year and move again? Buy a place? Rent and then build? There were so many scenarios and to be honest, it got extrememly overwhelming. One day we decided to look at a few rentals in Idaho Falls. One place lead to another and before we knew it, we were walking through a new build open house and seriously considered building. We toyed with the idea for a few weeks, but ultimately decided it wasn't the right choice. 

Our loan agent that we had been working with for the new build planted a seed about buying on the market, but again we just weren't sure. We thought it would be a good idea to check out a few on market homes so we could make the best educated decision as possible. After looking at a handful of homes and feeling more discouraged than ever, we remembered this house from zillow and called to look at it on our way out of town. And boy am I glad we did. 

We drove up to the house impressed with the neighborhood. It is in amazing school boundaries, which was my number one priority, and the homes were all on good sized lots. Another key factor after coming from vegas. Walking into the home, we were equally impressed. It immediately felt right. The home, the amazing backyard, the neighborhood. It checked off everything on our list. And in many ways filled it better than we could have imagined. 

We are all extrememly happy here. Even the dog. Who is happier than I think we've ever seen him. He is patient again, kind and actually likes going outside. He sat on the deck the other day for at least 15 minutes, like a real dog. It was so unusual I had to take a picture.

We've had multiple neighbors bring us goodies welcoming us to the neighborhood. And there is a constant flow of people and kids outside doing varios activities. It's wonderful. We are loving our huge lot and spend most of our days outside. My heart was so full as I soaked up my view the other morning as my kids and Scott played and wandered the yard, making plans for the upcoming summer. 

Not to mention the beautiful view of the Ammon foothills lined with windmills. They are majestic and I could sit in the chair by the window all day, but it's a hot spot. Cache normally ends up there reading his books. 

Or just watching out the window. I love how it overlooks our backyard, but we can still see the movement of the neighborhood. One thing I really wanted was a front window. I didn't get one, but these windows fulfill the purpose better than I ever thought. 

Unpacking has taken some time, but we are in enough that we can function. Which was my goal before the baby. As far as decorating, my plan is one room at a time. Slow and simple. I think we'll be here for a long while and want to make this home reflect our family. So I'm not going to rush it like I did the others. One great thing about taking our time is every new box is like Christmas for the boys. 

We did have one major adventure the first few days we were here though and it's quite hilarious. The kids wanted to ride bikes and it was such a nice day, how could I tell them no? After about 45 minutes of riding outside, I went in to get a drink of water. Except when I did, the door didn't open. We were locked out. I checked every door, window and called Scott. He was still two hours from being home and since he is bused to work, there was nothing we could do. So, the boys and I made do and played outside for two more hours. They explored the window wells, we played baseball, we told stories on blanket (that we thankfully found in the garage) and opened every box in the garage hoping it had a new adventure for us. It was quite the afternoon, but we survived. Even when cache had to poo in the grass. And we learned our lesson about double checking the door before we go outside. 

 

It's been fun and I am so pleased with life. I feel like we were lead here and there is a purpose for us. My heart is content and I am so excited to be back in idaho.