Big Changes

We interrupt all the catch-up that I need to do here on the blog for a announcement about some big changes that are about to take place in our family.

WE ARE MOVING

Not just houses, but states.  And we are moving all before baby #5 makes his appearance in 5 short weeks.

McKay was recently offered and accepted a new job in Utah.  For the past several years we have had thoughts of moving to Utah in the back of our minds.  We knew it would probably happen someday, we just didn't know when the timing would be right.  Well folks the timing is right now and we are doing it.  We are excited for this chance to be closer to family, but SO SO SO sad to be leaving our wonderful friends here in Idaho Falls.

Guys before we move on, I just have to say.  Idaho Falls has been the best to us.  We have LOVED it here.  Amazing people wonderful small town feel.  I wont lie, I am terrified of the hustle and bustle of Utah.  It has grown a ton in the short 8 years that we have lived away.  And the traffic.... yeah nothing else to say about that.  But family is worth it, and we know we will find wonderful friends in Utah too.  Change is awesome and so hard at the same time.  Our whole family is feeling torn between the excitement of this new adventure and feeling SO sad and disappointed about all that we are leaving behind.  If you ever get the chance to move to Idaho.  Do it :)

Right now we are in the middle of selling our house, packing up, and buying a new house in Utah.  We will officially move right after Addie finishes her last day of school so that McKay can begin his new job.  We plan to live with my parents for the summer until we can close on a new house in the Davis county area.  Hopefully we will be able to move quickly on things so we don't over stay our welcome at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  :)  We recently got an offer on our house that we accepted and we plan to close on our house here in Idaho before baby #5 comes.  Baby #5 will be our first Utah baby and will get the privilege of coming "home" to grandma's house for a while (he will be spoiled).  Hopefully all will go well and we will be moved into a new house by the time the kids go back to school at the end of the summer.

Such a crazy adventure for us with 4 almost 5 kids in tow (6 years old and younger).  But we trust our Father in heaven and know that he has a plan for us.  We can't wait to find the right house for us and get settled again. 





 

28 Weeks with Baby #5- 2nd Trimester Recap

Oh bless you 2nd trimester.  I will love you forever!  You are my favorite part of pregnancy.  Baby #5 and I are officially in the 3rd Trimester right now.  This pregnancy is going by so fast (yay!) and I can't wait to meet this cute little guy (who is still nameless). 

Here is a quick recap of the 2nd trimester.  It.was.wonderful.  That is all.  Guys I have had the best pregnancy so far.  It has been such a blessing.  Everything looked great in the 20 week ultrasound.  I feel great and I am back in semi-balance with my hormones. 

I have been able to exercise almost every day of this pregnancy.  Which feels so nice.  I haven't been awesome at eating healthy, but we aren't doing terrible.  My doctor says I have gained 12 ish pounds so far, but I think it is more like 18 lbs since I always gain some ( ok lots) at the very beginning of the pregnancy before I even visit the doctors. 

We were excited to find out that baby is a little man.  He may have a semi finished nursery when he comes... or he may not.  We shall see...  He has some cute clothes though and I bought him his very own swaddle blankets so we are set to bring him home. 

My favorite part is feeling him move.  My placenta is in front so his movements were pretty muffled in the beginning, but as he gets bigger they get stronger and stronger.  I just smile when I feel him move each day, it has been such a fun part of this pregnancy.   

I felt a lack of connection with him in the first trimester since I was just didn't feel great and I couldn't feel him move.  But I have had some sweet and tender moments in the 2nd trimester that have really helped bond us more.  They are usually quiet moments when I am driving in the car by myself.  I feel like I get little glimpses of what his little personality will be like.  I can't wait to meet him in person, but I am enjoying this special one on one time with him during this pregnancy. 

Still no name yet, but we are slowly narrowing it down.  McKay may even get the rights to name this baby which will be a first for him (he has helped with the others, I am just usually the one to come up with the name).  I really wanted to have him named before his birth day, but it just isn't looking like that will be the case.  I think I will need to meet him before we can finalize his name. 

Here is a picture when I was 28 weeks along (today I am almost 32 weeks). 

       

Adalyn's Final Swim Meet This Season

This past year Adalyn has been on a swim team through our local Aquatics center.  All of my kids are huge fans of swimming so it was an easy choice for Addie to do swimming as her activity for the year. 

We started her out at the Junior level on the swim team.  They do 6 week sessions with practices a couple times a week and then a swim meet at the end of each session.  The junior level swam all of their practices in the deep end and they would swim back and forth for about 40 minutes.  It ended up being quite a lot of work for a 6 year old to handle (most of the kids in her class were 8 years old) and she started to not enjoy going to practice since it was a big challenge for her.  So after two sessions with the Junior level we decided to move her down a level to the Scuttle swim team.  They swam half the time in the shallow end (where Addie could touch the ground) and half the time in the deep end.  The other kids on the scuttle team were more her age as well.  She enjoyed the scuttle team a lot more and started to enjoy going to practice again.  We were happy that we finally figured out the right level for her.   

She recently participated in her last swim meet of the season at the beginning of April.  She had a great time "racing" and did a wonderful job.  Way to go Addie!

 

Easter 2018

Easter is such a wonderful holiday.  I love celebrating it in the spring and I love that it is a more simple holiday as far as material things go (not a crazy amount of prep or planning like Christmas) yet is still so fun for the kids.

In years past we have done really well with talking about the true meaning of Easter, but this year we didn't end up doing a ton.  We had a couple family lessons throughout the week leading up to Easter, hung up our pictures about Jesus's last week, and talked about importance of Easter.

Saturday morning (the day before Easter) we tried out our first community Easter egg hunt.  Surprisingly we had a wonderful time and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  Each of the different age groups took turns gathering eggs.  So we took turns watching each one of our kids find their eggs.  I think they each felt special to have the whole family watching just them and cheering them on.  McKay helped Magnolia find her eggs and it was the cutest thing ever to see her get excited about each one.

Sunday morning the kids woke up to find their Easter baskets hidden around the house by the Easter bunny.  They had a great time running all over looking for them.  Once they were all found they went to town eating candy as fast as they could.  Wrappers everywhere!  haha!

This year the Easter bunny brought them new flip flops, a new color wonder coloring book for church and some candy.

Easter Sunday was also general conference.  So we stayed home, enjoyed some candy, and had a relaxing day.  The kids had a great time playing together all day while we listened to the talks.  Having them all happily playing was a rare occasion, and SO nice.     

And of course I can't help myself... I got all of the kids new matching church clothes.  Mostly just an excuse to have them all matching, but they did need some new church clothes as well.  Cute kids! (yes I was that weird mom that made them all dress up in church clothes on a day that we weren't even going to church, just so I could take some pictures of them without having to rush off to church afterwards)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, felt the spirit, and enjoyed being with family.  

A look back at Easter through the years: 

Easter 2017

Easter 2016

Easter 2015

Easter 2014

Easter 2013

Easter 2012

Easter 2011

Easter 2010

 

Addie's Spring Break 2018

Every year the school spring break is very early in the spring.  The weather is always terrible (this year it was in the 30's) and so not a lot of outdoor activities are going on.  This year Addie had spring break in the middle of March.  McKay was not available to take time off work so we just hung out at home and tried to come up with a few fun activities.

One day we went to Kids Town.  We go there often, but normally Addie is at school so it was fun to bring her along this time.  It was CRAZY crowded when we were there, but my kids just took that as more "friends" to play with and they didn't seem to mind the madness.

On Friday we had preschool book club.  Addie loved being our "helper" during the book club.  After book club we packed up and headed to the indoor pool at lava hotsprings for our "big" family spring break activity.  Such a nice time swimming together!  I didn't get any pictures because I was too busy counting to 4 a million times while I tried to keep track of my kiddos.  We had packed a picnic dinner and we ate it in the car on the ride home.  Everyone was exhausted by the time we were finished. 

Saturday we finished up spring break with an Easter egg dying party. We did it after Magnolia went to bed since it sounded easier to not have her there.  Haha!  The three older kids (plus our neighbor friend, Addy) had a great time decorating their eggs.

It was a very mild winter here in Idaho, but spring has been fairly cold as well.  Not a lot of snow, just cold and windy.  We are excited for the weather to warm up soon.