4 weeks old tomorrow..

how big is big enough???

she's already a WEEK old!!

We are all very excited that our little Hadley Jean has arrived! She was born Dec. 5th at 9:12pm. She was 6lbs & 14oz and 18 inches long. She has a ton of really dark brown hair and is a really mellow little bug. She hates having her diaper changed but other than that she just hangs out with us... The kids all fight over who gets to hold her and they will sit on the couch for about an hour each just starring at her and snuggling with the little peanut. So, Stephen and I just change diapers and I nurse... piece of cake! :)

Words cannot describe the love we feel from our family and friends. We know everyone was praying for her healthy arrival and it is a strong lesson for our family on the power of prayer. Just two days before she was born we had an amniocentesis and the Dr. said that her lungs were still too immature to be born yet. We were grateful to know how she was progressing and tried really hard to stay in bed and not have a baby for a few more days... Well, she stopped moving and gave us quite a scare and the Dr. decided to just get her out so that they can take care of her... Labor was induced at about 4pm and she arrived perfectly healthy just a few hours later. We are so blessed. I know Heavenly Father heard our prayers and we are so grateful for everyone's concern and love for her...
Here are a few of my favorite pics from this last week...

I think Hadley is a carbon copy of Avery... what do you think?

Mom and Dad right after she arrived...

Daddy picked out her Christmas bow... didn't he do good?

I am always so concerned about the amount of hair they will have...so, I was very excited to see all the black curls on her head...

yummy cheeks...

a funny little family dance...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

little miss attitude...

Av cracks me up. I am sitting here on the computer and she is on my bed playing with her toys... nobody is talking... then out of the blue..
Av: "MOM. You better boom with your attitude."
Mom: "what?! I don't have attitude. what are you talking about? Sounds like you need to boom with your own attitude over there..."
Av: "whatever mom. I already did."

nutjob.

baby news and a song...

Stephen and I went to our Dr. appt yesterday and had a lengthy talk with our Dr. (whom i LOVE. seriously...LOVE.) and we came to the conclusion that in 8 days...next wed... we are scheduled to have an AMNIOCENTISIS to see if Hadley's lungs are ready... and if the results come back good... we will head over to be induced... It was all very overwhelming to be honest. I mean... we know we are pregnant. We know the baby will be here shortly. We know we want Had to be here...but, next week?! It really put things into perspective for us. We are ready and anxious.. we just hope for a healthy little bug that we will be able to take home after a short stay at the hospital... So! we are crossing our fingers for some strong lungs on this girl!

So... because she has already dropped and I am already dialated to a 2... I am sitting on my big prego bum doing nothing. I saw a video this morning that I loved and have since watched about 7 times... It is a video of some pictures from Mark Mabry. It is put to my FAVORITE FAVORITE song of all times. In fact, I told Stephen to play this song at my funeral years ago.... Here is the link to the video... sometimes you have to click on the "main" button for the song to load...

I am so grateful for my knowledge of the Saviour and his life and sacrifice.... and I am THANKFUL for moments where I can be reminded of how special and sacred this life is....

it's been lovely but....

ok. I know. I've been slacking on my blogger duties... I know. But, I am tired... and...well, just tired. So, I thought I would share a little funny from Brad this morning...

Mom: (folding laundry on my bed...)
Brad: (running full blast--screaming into my room)

Mom: "what are you screaming for B?!"
Brad: (seriously...at the TOP of his voice...) "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! THE GIRLS ARE 'TA-GA-NIZING ME EVERY SECOND!"
Mom: "I am sorry B.....uh... it's only because they love you so much..."
Brad: "I am serious mom. Tell them to stop taganizing me RIGHT NOW or they can't love me either!"

***************

Kendyl put me in my place the other night.... I was having a "it's bedtime and I can't take the screaming kids mugging all over me anymore" moment...

Mom: "that's it!! I can't stand the noise...everybody OUT OF MY ROOM!!!"
Kendyl: after everyone left but her..."Mom, isn't this the reason you and Dad decided to have a lot of kids?"
Mom: ok... honestly, I just stared at her at first.... bugged that I got called out.... and bugged that now I felt like I should apologize to the little bugs....

then I gave her a big snuggle and thanked her for reminding me why I have a house full of loud kids....

trick or treat!!

all I know is that my back hurts... my chocolate stash is FULL!..
I am beat... and I need a vacation from this weekend...seriously, it was
crazy getting these kiddos dressed and fed and out the door to trick
or treat... I think next year I will volunteer to stay home and pass
out the candy... here are some very random pics...


the kids were a blur as they ran from house to house...

Kendyl and her green witch nose... very scary...

Av... halfway dressed... never without a phone...Av with her whole costume.. she was a "very bad witch"

daddy and Rylin... she was SOO excited to have her own
bag and go up to the doors...

"look at all my candy mom!!"

Brad with half his costume... really he wears his
cowboy gear everyday... so, was it REALLY a costume?hmm.

btw...BYU WON!! YEAH!!

i love this quote...

“You are spirit daughters of the most creative being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination…You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, from the first presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Excerpted from his talk "Happiness is your Heritage" from the General Relief Society Meeting, October 2008.

flashback friday...

Rylin

Avery

something to make your heart race....

...ahhh.. I can't wait!...

shoes, shoes GLORIOUS SHOES!!!

ok. I don't know if it is a phase.. but, I can't get enough of these yummy little girl shoes. How do you choose? They are so cute... and I could get matching ones for my other girls... poor Stephen. I have so much shopping to do....

crackhead 'eh??

.......funny thing is I don't drink caffeine. And who has the energy to be a "vibrating crackhead"?? I barely have the energy to unload my dishwasher.....

old school love birds....

don't we look like we're meant to be?? Or mabey brother and sister? I don't know... but, I love the hair and turtleneck combo...hot, hOT, HOT!!!!

go check out yearbookyourself.com for some serious belly laughing funny stuff... (thanks Carrie for the hook up!!)

btw... check out this fun site.. www.handbagplanet.com they are giving away some fun handbags....

peachy peach

my friend Shauna (check out her blog over at Nature for kids) and I
spent yesterday up to our elbows in peaches... It was pretty funny...
we had TONS! But, we were able to make loads of yummy peach goodness...
Our list includes... peach jam, peach raspberry jam, peach strawberry cinnamon jam, peach vanilla syrup, peach vanilla cinnamon syrup and plain peach syrup... It was a lot of hard work, but Stephen and I tried some of the peach vanilla cinnamon syrup on some vanilla ice cream last night... AHHH. It tasted like fall. Like apple pie. Totally worth the
hard work. Now we just have to can sliced peaches next week.... ;)

we took the kids to the movies the other day and Brad was
his typical funny little self. We were the last to leave the theatre
and Dad told B to go a head of him and Brad looked up... slapped him on the bum...
and said to his daddy..." you go a head big boy!"

road trip with daddy....

Stephen had to drop off a friend up in Provo yesterday. He was flying out to meet his family at Disneyland... Stephen asked Brad to come and he was very excited... tucked in his shirt~wore a belt and everything... before they got there Brad impatiently asked "Dad, when are we going to be at Disneyland?"

Poor kid. He thought he was on a REALLY special daddy/son outing... all the way to Disneyland. Stephen said he was pretty disappointed when he explained that they were just dropping Cody off at a gas station....

i love prayer time....

Avery's personal prayer last night...

A: "help us when Jesus dies that he will be
like diamonds all over the ground for us to pick up.
I like diamonds."
Mom: peeking through one eye...trying not to laugh...
A: "And please help us to go to the hospital again
so that Kendyl can get presents and the Dr
can pull Hadwee out of mom."

a very eventful weekend...

ok. I now have some time to sit back and take a few deep breaths... so, what do I do? Yep, log onto my computer. But, I figured everyone needed an update on our Boyer family drama....

First of all, I have to send a BIG thank you to all of my close friends and family that really helped out these last few days. I have the best friends! They watched and fed and were wonderful with my 3 youngest bugs. They came by the hospital to give Kendyl some loves and just really made my life easier the past few days...

So, for those of you that don't know the details...

Wednesday night Kendyl had a cough and was just pretty tired. Nothing to be surprised about. Nothing to call the doctor about. But, Thursday morning she yelled from her bed that she couldn't breath. She came into our room and it was VERY obvious that she was having a hard time getting oxygen. We called her doctor and went in. Her oxygen was down to 68. (it should be around 95) and she gave her a breathing treatment... it only went up to about 80 so she said we needed to head to the hospital. And she told me that we would be there for a few days. I told her that I had to go to the hospital up north for some blood work and pregnancy appointments and she said that she couldn't send Kendyl over the mountain because her little body couldn't handle the elevation. Well, I am pregnant and VERY emotional... so, I called Stephen bawling and took off...


Long story short... Kendyl did awesome! She had several different treatments and after the first day was really looking better. Some of her cute little friends came by and spent some time with her. It was adorable to watch them take walks down the halls... her friends would pull her oxygen tank and we would head over to the nursery to see the little babies... it would really cheer her up! It really brought back memories of my watching my cousins Lexi and Shar with their oxygen tanks... now being a mother it gave me a different loving perspective and reminded me of how strong my cousins were and ARE! I love you Shar!!!

She had WONDERFUL nurses that spoiled her with hot chocolate and pudding... and even brought a bunch of Disney movies and a Playstation.... it was so fun for her. The area she was in had all elderly patients so, her doctor told her that all of the nurses did rock, paper scissors to see who would get this cute little 6yr old...She had "Mike" come in three times a day and POUND on her back to help break up the junk in her lungs... he was really rough, but Kendyl said she loved it. The Doctors said it was a combination of Asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis.... but, she is doing really well now and will be back to school in a few days....

We are just grateful that she better and we are stocked up for the winter with her meds. She hasn't had an episode like this in a few years, so we know that we are in for a few long cold months....

Thank you to all that cared for our family this past weekend!! We are really touched at how those we love helped us out....and most of all we are happy that our Kendyl Dev is doing great!!

craft class time...

ok. OK.
I am getting back to my classes.
Not so much because people have been asking me to.. but, because I am OVERFLOWING with ideas right now... I am really excited!
The holidays are coming...uh... very quickly... and I need to start building my pile of gifts and such...
I will do the classes every two weeks for the next little bit to get some fun stuff stocked up for the holidays... hello??! Is there a better gift than something handmade? I don't thinks so :)
Each class will be ten dollars. No matter what. I will be doing classes suitable for children too. So, you can bring one of your little nuggets for a night of fun and crafting!!

Some of the classes are going to be... board albums, address books, sepia picture painting, matchbox albums, paperbag albums, handmade christmas cards and more.... hmm. Yeah. I am reallly REALLLY excited!!

I will provide everything for the class unless otherwise noted. Just come for the fun project, food and as ALWAYS! door prizes!!

Our FIRST CLASS!! :) will be on September 25th. We will be making altoid albums. These are so fun and whimsical. You will have 3 color schemes to chose from.... just let me know in advance what you want...

let me know if there is something in particular that you want to do also.... I am always up for new ideas and challenges... thanks ladies!!

my love...

oh my husband loves me. how do I know this?
because I told him I think of chocolate every second
of everyday and he told me he would run to the store
to grab me something chocolate...

what did he come back with? one of EVERY kind of
yummy chocolate candy bar.

yep. he loves me.

and yep... they are already all gone.....

yummy garden treat...

My neighbor brought me four zucchini's last week and I have put off what I was going to do with them... well, I decided to make some chocolate chip zucchini pineapple muffins. OH OH oooooooohH!! They were so good!!! I made 6 dozen and froze half of them... they kids have been snacking on them like crazy. Little do they know that it is STUFFED with zucchini!!! I am really horrible at baking, so.. it was fun to make something so tasty.... here is the recipe.

• 4 cups grated zucchini (approximately 3 medium sized zucchinis)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup fat (butter, margarine or vegetable oil, etc)
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• I also added about 6oz. crushed pineapple to make moist
• and a whole bag of chocolate chips.
  

Optional

• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.

Grate the zucchini, and measure out four cups. Add to large mixing bowl.

Add eggs, fat, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, vanilla and sugar. Stir together well. Add flour to the mixture, a bit at a time. Stir until all ingrediants are mixed. The mixture should resemble thick pancake batter. If it is to thick, add another egg. Add nuts, if desired. And chocolate, if desired.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a golden brown.

I made muffins instead of bread... they only needed about 15 minutes to cook....

funny Av

{the whole family sitting at the dinner table...}
Dad: "Ok guys. After you're done, plates and cups go in the sink."
Av: {without even looking up from her food...}
"Amen Brother."

funny family night...

So, last Sunday after dinner Stephen was really excited
to sit the kids down to watch a good family Sunday night movie...
Sound of Music. Well.... we made it about 35 minutes before
the bugs were wrestling on the floor and totally oblivious to the
magical show they were missing. I was TOTALLY impressed with my hubby.
He whispered to each child to go find a secret spot and prepare two
talents to share in a family talent show... then he told me to help with costumes and
he began creating a fun stage with curtains and everything. The kids had a BLAST!
Kendyl told jokes and did ballet, Brad taught us how to sword fight like a pirate and
how to be the fastest draw as a cowboy. Avery sang a song she wrote and shook
her booty and Ry just put on a costume and stood and stared at us like
we were all wierdos. Stephen was adorable and wore a hat.. played background
music and ENTHUSIASTICALLY introduced each star...it was
a very memorable Sunday night activity. Belly laughs and booty shakin'
all night long....with the grand finale... our famous Boyer dance...