About a week...

So I guess it's true, after so many kids, you kind of forget to keep track of certain things. I'm not sure how old Simon is in these pics, but it's around the one week mark. At least I took them, right?!

Sleepy boy.

Little Tootsies!

After his first sponge bath. He wasn't a fan, but really, who does like to be stripped down, wet and laid on a towel?!

Sibling love.

Simon Andrew

This photo was taken on Sunday after church. Can you believe the roundness that is my belly?! I still can't get over how round my belly was!

Simon Andrew arrived on August 26th at 4:32 a.m.! Simon decided that he was ready to be born, so he gave me one good kick (or punch) and my water broke. It was 5 days before my due date, so I hadn't packed a bag yet. I tried to think of what I would need, but the panic of what was to come kept getting in the way. We headed off to the hospital around 3 a.m. I was group B strep positive, so I had to get antibiotics through an IV. It was my first IV since Summer was born. I thought that was going to be the worst part of the process. I hate needles and getting poked! I was wrong. I have never felt pain like this delivery before! Matthew and Lexi were both born naturally, so I thought I knew what to expect. I was not prepared. About 20- 30 minutes before delivery, I had the IV drug, staydal. Boy was I glad I did, because Oh my goodness, I can't even imagine that delivery without it. The nurse said it wouldn't help much with delivery pain, but it had to have, right? It was kind of funny, because even after delivering 4 other children, I felt like I didn't know what to do. The delivery was so painful, it was all I could think about after Simon was born. I kept saying over and over, "I can't believe how much that hurt!" I'm sorry for any of you reading who are going to be delivering soon. All I'm talking about is the pain. You may be asking yourselves why I didn't just get an epidural. Well, I don't ever have enough time to get one, the one time (Summer) I tried, it didn't work until after I delivered. The Dr commented that I didn't have a potty mouth afterwards and when I asked her why, she said, you asked if he was out yet and when we said no, you said, 'Seriously?!!'" She thought that was pretty funny.

Get ready for a baby Simon photo fest!!

Here are his stats.

Proud siblings meeting their baby brother for the first time.

So happy to finally hold him. I haven't heard anymore talk about a baby girl since he was born, so I guess she has decided to keep him!

Dutiful big brother.

So many big brothers

Lexi was probably the most excited to meet him. He's "her baby boy."

The crew! You don't know how hard it was to get 5 kids in one area for a picture. We did not succeed in getting eye contact from them. We take what we can get these days!

First family photo.

Our celebration dinner. Since we didn't get a date night in before he arrived, we'll consider this our date night.

Grammy and her latest (and greatest) grand baby!

Taking turns is so hard to do!

Future Dr.

Sad that she can't wear Matthew's flippers. Such a cute sad face, she'll go far in life!

Matthew, being Matthew.

Little Mommy.

Ready to go home. We had to stay the full two days since I didn't get enough of the GBS antibiotic before he was born. We had some great bonding time and rest with our extra day, but we were ready to go home. My back was killing me after sleeping in that hospital bed. My heart goes out to anyone who has to do that for any amount of time.

Ready to go!

Our brood!

Family of seven! Wow!

Look how full the car is with all of my precious cargo!

Lexi could not be happier to be a big sister! The jury is still out on how Simon feels about being the little brother to all of these siblings, but I'm sure he will come to love it!

So, there you have it. We are complete now. Now comes the task of settling into life with a new baby, in a new town, in a new house...Wish us luck, we're gonna need it!!!!

First day of school!

The kids had their first day of school on Tuesday the 23 of August! They were so excited to meet their teachers and begin making new friends. We weren't sure until the day before, if there was going to be room for T Jay at our neighborhood school or not. Thankfully we got a call the day before that he was admitted! Yay! He was even going to be in the same class as our neighbor's grandson, whom he had already met and liked! Score! The morning of, T Jay was really nervous. He kept saying that he was too nervous to eat breakfast. So sweet. They had a great time and made a few friends. They both have really great teachers and we are excited about the school year.

At Mohr Elementary.

T Jay turns Nine

My Baby is nine! Where is the time going?! T.Jay is crazy about Harry Potter! He decided after we went to Harry Potter world last sping, that he wanted a Harry Potter birthday party. We had dinner at Three Broomsticks.

Snape (Jess) taught the kids potions class.

And they got to visit Honeydukes.

Hogwarts cake. My nine favorite things about T.Jay:

1. He's my baby

2. He has the sweetest heart.

3. He cares about how I feel.

4. He is an awesome big brother!

5. He loves to learn new skills.

6. He's so darn cute!

7. He's a great example.

8. He's so smart.

9. He's fun to talk to.

Maternity Photo shoot

These are from a maternity photo shoot that my dear friend Happy did for me in Downtown Stuart before I left Florida. I was about 33 weeks at that time. She did an amazing job!

Progress Report

We made it to California! My favorite part of the drive was going through the Donner pass area in the mountains. It was beautiful! We have some history to learn about that area before we return there. California welcomed us with awesome chilly weather! (very pregnant, remember!) We spent one night in a Marriott, and then 5 nights at the Hilton. We looked at 4 houses on Wednesday, and the 4th one was ours! We signed a lease on Saturday and got the keys on Sunday. We slept on air mattresses that night. It wasn't too bad comfort wise, I can sleep anywhere, but we can't seem to keep our kids out of our bed. We woke up with Lexi, Matthew and Summer on the queen air mattress with us. I guess Jess only had his upper half on, but still! Comical!
I headed to L.A. on Tuesday with the kids for my cousin Trisha's wedding so Jess could get caught up with work. When we left, he had over 300 e-mails that needed his attention! Yikes! The drive was only about 6 hours and not bad at all. Although I will say LA traffic is insane! We arrived in time for dinner and visiting with my Mom's southern family. We got to see my Mom's two Sisters, Aunt Susan and her husband James and Aunt Sherry, my Granddad, my cousins Kristi and Katelyn, My cousin Wendy and her family, my cousin Clint and his family, my cousin Julie and her family and got to meet Trisha's Fiancee, Jeremy who seems very nice. While we were there, we went to Trisha's bridal shower brunch, the beach (which is way colder than FL) and several parks. Sadly, I didn't end up going to the wedding because I couldn't get a babysitter for my children. We spent the day at an awesome park. After the wedding, everyone came over for pizza and visiting. We also found out that there was a small carnival that was up and ready right across the street. I don't normally like going to these kinds of things, because, with 4 kids it is really expensive. Every ride is usually $3 each X 4! $9 a ride adds up really fast. When we bought the tickets, they were .50 a piece and the rides were only 1 ticket each! Score! Only $1.50 per ride this time! (Lexi was with Grammy) They got to ride everything they wanted! A great way to end our trip. My Mom made the drive home with us. It was nice to have company in the car. I am sure she was thrilled at the prospect of sleeping on an air mattress in our empty house. Our air mattress comedy was much like the first night! We arrived home on Friday and we were expecting the movers to arrive early Saturday morning. They did not disappoint! They were here at 7:30 with 12 people to unload and haul our things inside. They were great. They had all of our things in the house by noon and were putting the beds and tables together! Awesome! Then the real work began. Unpacking boxes is like the game that never ends. The kids have been building a fort out of all of the boxes, they think it's great! We are making progress, but still have a ton of work to do. It takes forever to wash everything, wipe out everything and then put it away. I think I'll be busy until I deliver!
Speaking of, everything is going OK with me. I feel like I'm 90 years old sometimes trying to walk around, but I'm getting by. My back/tailbone are really sore with this pregnancy also. I enjoyed that discomfort with Lexi's pregnancy as well. I have about 5 weeks to go, which shocks everyone who asks. Apparently (I agree with them) I am quite large. I really feel like I am at max capacity, so we'll see what this 'ole body of mine has left to give in these next 5 weeks! It should be interesting! When we get our computer up and running, our photos uploaded and I run out of boxes (which could mean never!), I will add some photos to all of these wordy posts!

The Last Leg

Well, I slayed the puzzle, we (they) got the ranch house finished and ready for it's first vacation renters and we survived it all! It looks amazing!
On Saturday night, we stayed with Jess' brother Mike. He was a great host. He cooked us a yummy dinner and the kids had a great time playing in his backyard climbing trees, picking flowers and playing Norwegian golf. We went to Livingston ward one last time and then headed over to Grandma's house to celebrate cousin Danny and Uncle Mike's birthdays with a turkey dinner, games and cake. A family dinner was a great way to wrap up our Montana vacation.
Sunday night, we stayed at a historic hotel called The Murray in downtown Livingston. The only way they could accommodate a family our size was for us to stay in the Peckinpah suite! It was AWESOME! You know how I like things and places with a history and a story, and this place didn't disappoint! The third floor suite has seen visitors like Roy Rogers, the Queen of Denmark, the guy who does the No Reservations show, and for the last few months of his life a director named Sam Peckinpah, whom the suite is now named for.
We got up early on Monday, said our goodbyes to the family and headed out on the open road with Uncle Mike driving Jess' car behind us. The first day of driving was beautiful and uneventful. I love driving through the mountains. We got into our hotel, went swimming (of course) and headed off to bed.
At breakfast the next morning, T Jay was opening his milk carton for his cereal and his hand slipped and he knocked his whole bowl of Frosted Flakes onto the floor! Awesome. We laughed, he got more cereal and I apologized sincerely to the attendant! What else can ya do?! We hit the California state line about noon and it was an amazing site to behold. More awesome mountainous driving! We should arrivve ssoometime around 5:00.
Tomorrow we are looking at three rentals. I hope that one of them works! Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers flowing! I'll let you know how much longer we get to be homeless!