The two days before Christmas Eve, Erik had spent them working in St. George.  He come Friday night, then had to leave Christmas Eve morning at 5:30 am to work in Salt Lake.  The poor guy finally made it back that evening at about 6.  The boys and I all missed him, and were ready for Daddy to be home!! 

We had a big yummy Christmas Eve dinner, with our "guests" (that's what Sam kept calling them, all day, "When will our guests be here?!") Auntie C and Alex, and John and Guin.  Caroline helped me a ton with the dinner.  Samuel was ridiculously excited for the big turkey.  Ever since the day I brought it home, he asked over and over when we would eat it.  Owen enjoyed the bread.  We were distracted during dinner, and didn't notice it until he had a pile of about 7 slices of bread, all with the middle eaten out, and flour all over his face.  We all laughed because we thought it was so funny and cute, and that made O very embarrassed. 

John and Guin were so sweet to bring some presents for the boys.  Samuel got his very first Nerf gun.  Oh boy.  And Owen got his own Mater that he doesn't have to fight Sam for!  Then there were the obligatory Christmas Eve jammies.  And right before bed, we opened one last present, a star for the top of our tree. 

Samuel and Owen went to bed late, and then the little elves had to get busy preparing for Santa's arrival.  It ended up being a rough night, one of Emmett's worst, but we got through it, and after about 4 hours of sleep for us, it was Christmas morning!  We sent Daddy ahead to make sure Santa had come.  Oh had he!!  He left an almost empty bottle of cream soda and a bag of clementines that Rudolph had eaten one of, with a note telling the boys that it had been a tough call, but he decided to put everyone on the nice list this year.  Phew!  So we opened stockings and presents, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, ate way too much junk, and played in our jammies the rest of the day.

December was a hard month.  Not bad.  But hard.  I was having a rough time, Emmett was really having a rough time, Erik had a ton of work and several big projects, and whiney whine whine, poor me, this that and the other.  The month blasted by.  I just couldn't commit to one of the darling activity a day advents floating around Pinterest that everyone and their mom was doing.  I'm just not that cool, I guess.  But we were still able to do a few Christmas-y things to make the season memorable and special.  So here is that stuff, interspersed with everything else that did (or didn't) happen in December. 

Sometimes this one is cute . . . sometimes . . . so it does us well to remember when.

These two are cute, too.  Especially when one of them isn't screaming in pain, not eating, or not sleeping.  I don't mean Erik.

We had spent way too many days in the house doing nothing.  So one morning when I heard The Sweet Tooth Fairy would give a free cookie to the first 5 people into their shop who sang, "If all the raindrops were cupcakes and cakebites, oh what a rain that would be, I'd go outside with my mouth open wide, singing AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AAAAH" I packed the boys into the car and off we went.  Sam willingly and eagerly did the singing.  We got a cookie and the cute gal who was smitten by my boys gave them each a sucker, too.  Soooo that's why O is eating a sucker in this picture.  I don't usually just let them have candy.  I also don't usually comb their hair.  Obviously.  And that was a lot of explanation for 2 pictures of my boys doting on their baby brother.

That same day, at lunch time, these two were holding hands.  I have no idea why.  Owen rarely let's Sam hold his hand, and it makes Sam kind of sad.  So I thought this was really cute.  Especially since O ate a lot of his lunch that way, reaching over himself with his right hand.

Also at lunch time, Owen was riding the elevator up and down.  "Going up, beep, zoooom, going down, beep, zoooom," while he stood up and sat down.  Weirdo.  Sam had a box elder bug that he wanted to adopt as a pet.  Double weirdo.  He put it in the bin, gave it some grass and a twig, and named it Samuel, to which I interjected that that wasn't very original, so he said, "Ok, I'll name him Monster Truck."  Sam didn't let that thing out of his sight all day.  I had to do some serious convincing so Sam wouldn't take it to school with him.  Later that night, Monster Truck met his demise.  I'm thinking it had to do with the apple juice the boys tried to give him.  I noticed before Sam, and was so close to finding another box elder and switching them out.  We are just not pet people.

One night Erik was either working late or at a church meeting, I can't remember now.  I wanted to sit my fat butt on the sofa, which I did, but the boys weren't super excited about that, so I got out the Christmas tree ornaments and let them have at it.  They both got really into it.  Owen was frustrated at first because he couldn't figure out how to hang any of them.  But he realized he could put the hooks through a bell ornament.  So that's what he did.  I counted and he had hung 18 ornaments from that bell.

For FHE one night, we talked about building a strong foundation on the rock of our Redeemer.  We sang the wise man and the foolish man, read Helaman 5:12, and then built a gingerbread house.  It did not have a strong foundation.  It lasted about 30 minutes before it collapsed.  But the boys loved every second of it.  Especially our sugar fiend, Owen J, who was more interested in putting the candy in his mouth than on the house.

On Samuel's last school day before winter break, he got to bring gifts for a present exchange.  He picked out little yo-yos, and wrapped each one himself.  He was very proud of his work, and so eager to give them to his friends.  When he came home with lots of fun little gifts, I was very impressed with how willing he was to show and share with Owen.

We visited the Festival of Lights again in Spanish Fork.  The boys loved it.  Em slept through it.  No pictures, but I think two years in a row officially makes it a tradition. 

We did do one advent, these chocolate calendars.  I just happened to come across them at the party store back in November and knew I HAD to get them.  I remember doing these so many times as a kid.  The first day it was this intense wave of nostalgia when I got a whiff of those waxy chocolates.  So fun for me.  And the boys had a lot of fun with it, too.

Sam also had a countdown paper chain he made at school, and he loved taking a new one off each day of December.  And we had a really low-key mini advent paper chain with "activities" like find a picture of Jesus in your house, read a story from the Friend, be extra nice to someone in your family, tell someone a story about Jesus, stuff like that.  Samuel told Emmett the story of Jesus being born . . . "It was in a stable in Bethlehem, the shepherds came and there was a new star, and theeeeeen THE KING GOT REALLY MAD AND THE SOLDIERS KILLED ALL THE BABIES AND PEOPLE SCREAMED AH AH AH, AND EVERYONE DIED!!!!!!  And that's the end."  Yeah, I do not recommend the Living Scriptures Nativity video.  Horrible, awful, terrible, and a million other complaints.  If you want to hear a good rant, ask me about it sometime.  Anyway, I digress . . . There is our December, crazy, long, a bit tough, and yet pretty uneventful. 

Coming up next on my poor neglected blog: Our quiet, simple, wonderful Christmas at home. 

I love birthdays.  So does Sam.  He's been anticipating his birthday since the first of his older buddies turned 5 back in May.  Of course I couldn't disappoint.   Saturday was "Party Day" with Samuel's friend party in the morning.  He had designated it a fireman birthday months before.  Which was perfect, since the house happened to be on fire when Sam woke up that morning.  We had planned a big obstacle course in the backyard for our little firemen to earn their badges, but we woke up to rain and had to improvise quickly.  I shrunk down the obstacle course to fit inside, and we were still able to rescue the cat from the tree, climb through the burning tunnel, spin around on the fire engine, jump over the laundry baskets (yeah nothing creative for that part), then spray out the burning building.  We also played a Pin the Tail on the Donkey type game with dressing a fireman, hot potato, stop drop and roll, and toss the firetruck into the burning building beanbag toss style.  We had ignitable cupcakes that each firefighter had to blow out, and per request so many months ago, a pinata.  Samuel and his fire fighting friends had a great time!

That night was Chuck E. Cheese.  But first we had the traditional stop at Toys R Us to use the birthday Geoffrey dollars.  Again, lots of fun.  I love any excuse for special time as a family.

Sunday was Samuel's birthday.  He woke up to balloons and a birthday banner in his room.  He asked me for days how I got them in there, like he couldn't believe I did it all while he was sleeping.  I heard Sam was beyond giddy when he was sung to in Primary.  (First year that I wasn't in there to see, *sniff*)  Sam got to open one present while Owen napped, Cars 2.  When Owen got up we finished presents, and then had pancakes for dinner, another birthday request made ages ago.

We sure do love our funny not-so-little-anymore Sam.  He is overflowing with personality.  He is sassy and quite the back-talker.  But he is also friendly, thoughtful, and polite.  Samuel loves to ride his bike, play with his friends, watch Wild Kratts, drive his monster trucks, and learn new things.  He changes his clothes a bajillion times a day.  Sam loves pancakes, bananas, raisin bread, and "cow milk."  He loves fighting, shooting, killing, swords, and guns, *sigh.*  He still struggles to write his S and doesn't color in the lines, but he can tell you 8 different names for Bigfoot.  He is growing up and learning so much so fast.  He makes us smile, he makes us happy, he makes us pull our hair out, and he makes up laugh.  And I absolutely cannot for the live of me get a decent picture of this boy.  Happy 5 years, Sambo!!  

October 28-31, 2011

Such a fun fun weekend.  I love having special things to do and I love our family.  So put them together, and it's a great combination. 

Friday I had Erik take off work, since Sam had the day off school and his family was coming into town that day.  And that evening was our ward Halloween party.  The boys were super excited to dress up.  Owen's favorite thing about his costume was his tail.  Anyone who talked to him over the next 4 days while he was in costume heard about it.  "Ha, yeah, I got a tail, see it's right here."  I was surprised how often I had to explain that Em was a wizard.  Whatever.  The boys were so well behaved all night.  They waited in line patiently for chili and hots dogs, ate their dinner, helped clean up, sat perfectly still and listened intently to the police officer's safety speech, and followed the crowd nicely during the trunk-or-treat.  It was particularly fun for me to watch Owen, who took it all in silently and seriously, but very keenly aware of everything that was going on.  It was great to have Erik's parents with us there, too.

Saturday afternoon the Mutters arrived.  We had first planned to go up to Thansksgiving Point for Cornbelly's then decided to stay local.  We went just up the street to Jaker's Pumpkin Patch, where they had two different sized mazes, a hay pyramid, a petting zoo, corn pit, and a tractor ride.  We got some pumpkins, then spent the rest of the day at our home and in the backyard.

Sunday was the reason for family being in town.  At church, Emmett was given a name and blessing by his father, with both of his grandfathers, and a few close friends in the circle.  Afterwards we had all of our family and friends over to our home for a little brunch.  It was so fun to have everyone together to celebrate our newest little guy.  I was once again very touched by how much love and support our friends and family offer us.  We are so so blessed.  But gosh darn it, we didn't get a single family picture.  And I only got one picture of Emmett at that!!  Kind of makes me a bit sick to my stomach actually that I missed out on that big time.  But at least we still have the memories, right?!

That night, Sam and I figured we had better carve the pumpkins.  Erik was at a church meeting, and Owen wanted nothing to do with it.  So Sam and I had ourselves a grand ol' time.

Then Monday was Halloween!!  I seriously love Halloween.  We had one last gymnastics class that morning, then Sam went to school.  A bit later, the other two boys and I met him there for a Halloween program.  It was silly but sweet.  Samuel was so very concerned I wouldn't be there.  When I came in, I waved to him, but he must not have seen me, because when they all stood up to start, he was very close to tears and said, "But my mom isn't here yet!"  So I called out, "Of course I am, I'm right here Sam!!" and that time he saw me.  And the relief that washed over his face might have made my heart flutter a bit.  So after the program and sharing treats, we decided to visit Erik at work.  Erik was cute, and took the boys around to show them off.  Some of the ladies thought they needed to give them candy, so it was a good start to the trick-or-treating.  One guy thought they needed a trick instead of a treat, so he gave them each a whistle.  Yeah, thanks for that! 

At home again, we made dinner and waited for Erik to get home.  We gobbled down our pigs in a blanket and set up the tripod super quick so I could have at least one picture of all 5 of us from the weekend.  Definitely not our best.  But whatever.  Erik took the two older boys out trick-or-treating.  I wish I could've gone, too, but we figured it was be best for me to stay home with the baby and hand out candy.  Once they got back, Samuel and Owen were both just as excited to hand out the candy as they'd been to get it.  By 8:30 the candy was gone, so we turned off the lights and enjoyed a little time going through the loot before sending the hopped up boys to bed.

October 15, 2011

It was Saturday.  It was beautiful.  We needed to get out.  But I'm still really scared to go far from home.  So we took advantage of what Utah has to offer!  We really need to do that more often.  We headed up the Nebo Loop in Payson Canyon.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  It was so fun to see the mountain spotted with red, and watch as we got closer and closer.  Once we were driving through, we could see that it wasn't just red, but several amazing shades of red, orange, and yellow.  So so pretty.  So we went there with the intent of hiking the Grotto Trail.  I've heard lots about it, but never been.  It's a super duper easy hike to a little waterfall and wading pond.  It was low key and very enjoyable.  It was perfect for our afternoon and just what we needed.

September 25, 2011

It took me a long time to finally make it back to church.  Erik had been taking the boys for the last 2 hours.  I finally decided it was time, so I got myself out of bed at 6:30 to start the morning.  Erik leaves every Sunday at 7:30 for bishopric meeting.  The boys got up right after he left.  So I finished getting myself ready, got the two boys ready, then woke up Emmett to feed him and get him ready.  Erik came home at 8:50 and we were only about 5 minutes late for 9:00 church.  And they might have been wearing cute coordinating shirts.  Totally worth documenting.  Except that once we were back home, no one really wanted to be documented.  Oh well.  Such is our life.  That's why these pictures still make me smile. 

I really wanted to make this summer a good one before Little Lambert entered our lives and shook things up a bit.  We really had such a great summer and did so many fun things.  In fact, the first two weeks with Baby at home, Samuel asked every day, "What's today, a pool day?  A friend day?  A park day?  A field trip day?"  The boys didn't really know what to do with themselves hanging out at home all day every day!

August 6, 2011

So the Saturday before D-Day, I wanted to make sure we had one last family hurrah before we became a Party of Five!  We kept it low key, just playing at the park and splash pad all afternoon then finishing up the evening at Cafe Rio.  But it was still a lot of fun to have the special time together.

August 8, 2011

I figured we better fit in a last hurrah with the friends, too.  So the Monday before D-Day, we headed up to the children's museum in Salt Lake.  We've been there so many times, but it never gets old.  And it's always good for a day-long outing with our friends!

August 9 – August 11, 2011

38 weeks 5 days.

So Erik wrote a great account of the birth day.  If you haven't read it yet, CLICK HERE.  He did a great job with all the details.  When Erik gave me a blessing the night before, he mentioned that I would be able to get through the trials of the day.  I figured it meant the trial of birth, not the trial of sitting around waiting to give birth!  It was a long day, and so different from each of the other two experiences, but I like that each boy gets his own special story.  It was really strange to be prepared for it and not be going to the hospital in the middle of the night.  My body is pretty speedy at this labor stuff (once I'm getting my pitocin) so again, they took me off it.  With the other two births, things stopped moving along, though, so they put me back on.  This time, I didn't need it once I went off.  So the last little bit was all me.  Also, this time around, they put Emmett on me right away, and Erik got to cut the cord.  Niether of those things has happened before, so that was really neat, too.  We had some really nice quiet time in the delivery room afterwards, just the three of us, before we all took Emmett to the nursery to get cleaned up, and then got myself dropped off in our new room. 

Snuggles, before and after a little clean up.

Getting a bit cleaned up, and weighed.  He was so so tiny to me.  I thought he was like 6 pounds.  I couldn't believe when he weighed in over 8!

I did it!  And look what I got for it!

In the nursery.

Sweet moment.  Love this new baby.  Love this man.

I really enjoyed the hospital stay.  In fact, I was really looking forward to that special time.  With Samuel, we booked it out of there pretty quick.  No reason for us to stick around.  With Owen, we took our time, recovered and relaxed a bit, then headed home after our 48 hours were up.  I wanted to do the same thing this time around.  Erik was so great complying with all my requests and sleeping on that horrible pull out chair for two nights.  My mom was spectacular to care for the two olders.  The boys visited me both days in the hospital.  I can't tell you how amazing the moment was when the door opened and Erik walked in holding a big bunch of balloons (that my mom and the boys had gotten the night before), and each boy came bouncing in with a present for the baby (also something my mom did with the boys) just grinning and staring at Emmett and me with big wide eyes and huge grins.  Each boy got a chance to hold the baby, and we visited for a bit before Emmett had to head to the nursery and Erik took Sam and O home for lunch and a nap.

O wasn't quite sure what to think at first, but once he saw Sam totally comfortable and at ease, he was ready for his turn.

Very interested in the diaper change.

Quiet time with Mom.

Erik went home and brought the boys and Mormor by to visit me in the hospital again the next morning.  Then we spent the afternoon checking out, and getting a nap in ourselves before leaving the hospital.  The evening was pretty low key at home.  And dare I say, normal.  Emmett is really such a good little baby.  And a sleepy baby!!!  He is sweet and snuggly and oh so kissable.  Both of the boys are smitten by him.  And so are we.  Happy little party of five! 

Several times I would need to pass off Emmett, asking Erik to either hold him or put him in the baby bin.  Erik always chose to hold him.

First photo of the FIVE of us.  Pretty sure I love how crazy and not perfect this picture is.  That's just who we are.  And I love it.

Getting dressed!

Just waiting for the nurse to discharge us.

Going home!!  Hope you're ready for this, Emmett M!

Um.  It's been a whole month.  Since we were in Brian Head.  How the heck did that happen??  Here's the quick rundown . . .

So Erik's awesome parents, the beloved Grandma and Grandpa B, rented out a huge cabin in Brian Head, Utah from July 2-9 for all of their kids and grandkids.  We were really really looking forward to a fun family week in the beautiful, cool mountains.  I was selfish enough to ask Erik if he would take the boys ahead for the first two days and then let me catch up.  I desperately needed some quiet time to myself at home.  So Saturday morning I kissed my three guys goodbye and sent them on their way.  Erik checked in when they arrived safely, only to call me a few hours later and report, "Well, you sure missed all the drama!"  Ugh.  Not the best thing to tell an already anxious Mama.  Turned out as Erik and the boys were the first to arrive, he started unloading the van while the boys played in the garage.  A few minutes into it, he confiscated the bottle of oxiclean that Owen has spraying Samuel with.  A few minutes after that, Owen had the bottle again, with oxiclean dripping down his chin and soaking his shirt.  In this point of the story, I remember yelping and tearing up and asking in a panic, "Is he ok, did you call poison control, how's he doing now, why didn't you call me right when this happened????" and about a hundred other things.  Erik of course responded calmly and told me he had cleaned Owen up, read the back of the bottle, got Owen a drink, and promptly gave him a preisthood blessing.  And that is why I married this man.  Owen was just fine, and showed no signs of anything ever. 

After that, Erik got to load the boys back up in the van and drive 2 more hours south to St George to rescue Jared and his girlfriend who had been run off the road by a semi.  The boys got to sit in the car at 100+ degrees on the side of the road while the grown-ups moved the entire contents of one tightly packed Prius into our van.  Of course, crazy mom that I am, I again panicked about the fact that I had only prepared Erik and the boys for a barely 3 hour drive from Springville to Brianhead.  But once again, they all handled it like a champ.  That night when I talked to Erik again, everyone had survived, made it to the cabin, and was doing well.  Phew.

So the rest of the week was far less eventful.  Thank goodness.  We did hiking, exploring, adventuring, playing, and all sorts of other great things.  It seriously was such an awesome week, and we sure did enjoy ourselves!!  We love our family tons, and I am seriously so thankful for the relationships we have with them.  I love that my boys can grow up like this, knowing their family, loving their family, and knowing their family loves them, too.  We are pretty spectacularly blessed, if you ask me.

Monday July 4: Look out points at Cedar Breaks, small hike that took us through leftover snow, dinner with Erik's aunts, uncles, and cousins, fireworks in Brian Head. 

Story of the day: On the hike, most of the group got far ahead, so Erik and I thought we were funny making moose calls to them.  Then they'd holler back.  Erik might have gotten a bit carried away demonstrating his sasquatch call.  It did not sit well with Owen, who was riding on Erik's shoulders.  O panicked big time and even after he finally calmed down, he still didn't stop telling us, "I scared a' da moooose!"

Tuesday July 5: I was feeling yuuuuuck.  O and I hung out at the cabin while Erik went out with Sam and the rest of the family.

Wednesday July 6: Bryce Canyon.  A few look out points, a couple little hikes, lots of dirt, family picnic, a stop in "downtown" Bryce Canyon for ice cream, and tons of 4 year old drama.

Thursday July 7: Quiet time at the cabin, fishing "practice" at Panquitch Lake, then the "real deal" later that afternoon just Erik and Sam, date night in Cedar City at the Shakespeare Festival.

Story of the day: On the way home from fishing, Sam said from the backseat, "Hey, Dad, there's a worm on my foot."  Erik, smart man that he is, pulled over quickly and was right in assuming it was no worm.  Sam pulled it off himself, and then got a biology lesson on leaches during their ride home.  He had a fine time telling everyone the story when he got back to the cabin.

Friday July 8: Cedar Breaks National Park, Sam became a Junior Ranger, family picnic, hike to Cascade Falls that started in the cold rain and hail and ended in the hot sunshine.

Story of the day: Along the hike, Samuel found a great sandy spot under an overhang, with lots of rocks and such.  He quickly became a paleontologist and enlisted the help of his brother and cousins to help him discover fossils and dinosaur bones.

Saturday July 9: Clean up the mess, load up the cars, go HOME!  Phew.  Vacation is exhausting!!  But such a wonderful adventure.  Thanks Rob and Linda for setting up and providing such a great week and lots of memories!

My favorite thing about the Balloon festival is that they do it two days in a row.  So once again, I woke up Friday morning to hear the boys hollering from Lambert's room, "Balloooooooons!!"  The both climbed into the empyt crib and watched out the window for several minutes until the balloons disappeared back behind the trees across the street.  I think it's fun because it's make them more excited, and for O this was his first "official" time so I think it was cool for him to see them up close the next day.

So Saturday morning, I actually had to wake the boys up.  Go figure.  First day in weeks they decided to sleep past 6:30.  We even talked Erik into coming with us this time.  He's never been before.  So we threw on our sweats, packed up some juice boxes and granola bars, and headed to the junior high where the balloons launch.  There is just something so so cool about watching the huge colorful puddles on the ground slowly inflate and then take off into the sky.  Love it.  The boys were pretty captivated, too.  (Sam did get a bit distracted for a few minutes by the baseball field we were sitting near.)  Once the balloons were all up in the air, we went for a few truck rides and grabbed ourselves a helium balloon before going home.  I really enjoyed it even more with Erik there.  I hope we can talk him into coming again next year.