Henry Price Tuft

Just two weeks ago I looked like this...



Then on July 21st, a good week and a half before my due date, contractions started to get real around 9 pm. After a short hour and 45 min. of labor and no drugs, Henry arrived at 9 lbs. 4 oz., a good 2 lbs heavier then Ellie, who was the lightest. Our original plan was to go to the birthing center, but because the labor was progressing so rapidly and we needed to have an IV infusion before delivery, we had to go to the hospital unexpectedly. We didn't get the whole IV in before Henry arrived so that meant we had to keep him in the hospital for 48 hours of observation - and we all know how much I love the hospital :) We got through the hospital stay and Henry was doing fine after the observation period so we were able to bring him home a few hours earlier then we had thought.


The last two weeks have been crazy. The kids are doing great as the older siblings. Ellie especially loves to hold Henry and do whatever she can to help out. The boys love to come and poke/kiss him every now and then. Liam is the funniest because he has to acknowledge the baby anytime he sees him by saying "Hi baby," or if Henry is fussy Liam is sure to let you know "oh, baby is crying."

We love having a little bundle in the house and are trying to enjoy every bit of it as this will be the last time we get to experience it all. I am pretty sure I never want to go through labor again. 4 is a good number to end on.

TIMMMBBER!

Jason finally decided to cut down that huge old tree in the front yard. He needed the space for parking all his equipment and our long-ol' camp trailer. Plus the roots were lifting the cement and the needles were a pain in the fall.
It was a little nerve racking to watch at first as they got it rigged up to come down, but it went smoothly - thanks of course to our expert tree-faller Dana Capell.

Here is the tree in it's former glory. I have to admit I will miss the shade it provided while watching the kids in the front yard.


Getting ready to cut it down...


And down she goes...
It landed perfectly. It didn't fall on the neighbors house (yeah!), It didn't hit the mailbox or my other bushes in front, and, it didn't block the road off. It couldn't have gone better.

Then the work of cutting and cleaning up the mess began...




The boys were super helpers. They picked up pine cones and even helped pile up the logs. They did asked for gloves after Isaac got sap all over his hands.



It took about 7 truck fulls to haul off all the debris and a trip to grandpa's house with all the logs for firewood.

Garden Stuff

We planted our garden about a month ago - once it finally got warm enough to have one survive! I am excited to see it grown this year, especially since we did pair down on some things. Jason didn't want to have to be responsible for lots of extra work while I had the baby so we only did the essentials...basically those things wee need for salsa! :) and some extras like corn, beans, and cucumbers. I wanted to document the process this year and keep track of how it progresses.

Isaac was a super helper with the planting part. He helped the whole time!

So far we have some growth. We recently got the weed fabric down to help keep the work load to a minimum. And, the birds have only eaten the cucumber bushes so far. Not to worry, we have replacements ready to plant.

Ellie and Liam loved to pound in the landscaping staples to keep the fabric down.

They could hardly wait...

We finally saw a nice warm day and the kids just couldn't wait. We got to see some friends we had been missing from Texas by spending the afternoon at the park when they got in and when we got home everyone was hot! So, after some persuasion we turned on the sprinklers. It was only about 75 degrees or so, but the kids had a blast racing up and down the hill through the cool water.


Isaac was by far the wettest as he LOVED getting hosed. Ellie was a close second, and Liam got a little upset when the sprinkler actually hit him once.

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Isaac LOVES monster trucks. He has a video game he constantly wants to play, he likes to watch the youtube videos, and can't get enough of the televised Monster Jams (when they are on that is). We decided that we should probably take him to the Monster Jam when it came to town this year as a super birthday surprise. It came about a month early so we weren't sure how he would handle it come his actual birthday and not much in the way of gifts, but he did awesome. He loved it all. It was a great memory for us to give him something like that and even more special that he was ultimately happy with how it all turned out.

We went to dinner before the big show.

Isaac got a Grave Digger T-shirt, his favorite monster truck! The shirts a little bit big but he loves to wear it - it's constantly in the wash.

Watching the show. They had to wear earplugs because it was so loud inside. It took Isaac a little bit to get over the shock of seeing the trucks live, but by the end he was clapping and all smiles.

This was the one thing he said he really wanted for his birthday: A Grave Digger Monster Truck birthday cake. I made it using cupcakes. I originally wanted to do a 3-dimensional cake of the truck but I just didn't have the time I needed to figure it out. This did the job.

Isaac's other big favorite is playing golf with his dad in the backyard, so we found some great Junior clubs on craigslist and now he has his very own set. When he's not playing monster trucks, he is usually in the back hitting some balls.

This is him with his new clubs. He is pretty good for a 4-year-old. :)

Easter

The kids were so excited to look for Easter eggs, it was the first things we had to do at 7:30 am. Good thing we hunt inside the house. It was super cute to watch and they were surprisingly kind to one another the whole time. There were no tears or fighting.

Liam couldn't wait to eat the candy as he looked for the eggs.

Ellie was the helper of the day, showing the boys were to find eggs they didn't see or couldn't reach.

Their baskets were full, and their tummies were soon to be as well. I can't believe they didn't make themselves sick eating as much as they did.

Liam had to have a sucker immediately when he started the hunt. He discovered the chocolate inside the eggs not to long after. Then he wanted a peep, and his chocolate bunny. All this going on at once mind you. This boy doesn't like candy at all.

what to do?

I haven't decided for sure what to do about this blog situation. I am terrible about keeping up with it. I want to do as well as so many of you wonderful bloggers and keep it updated weekly, but I struggle with even doing something every 6 months. So, with that I have to say I am currently in debates about whether I will continue to update this or not. With a fourth baby on the way I begin to worry if there will ever be time to do much of anything for myself again :) So, with that....take this as fair warning. I may be removing this blog at some future point or I may try and find the motivation to keep it updated a little better. Either way, I do have a facebook account that I sort of check in on and I plan to keep that alive a bit longer, so if I do disappear off here, look me up there.

In the mean time, we will have to see what I decide.