I'll NEVER forget that day... Happy Birthday Big Al :)



Believe it or not Al is only about 2 weeks old in this picture...  I loved his down feather hair!!  I'd comb it and about 15 min later it was standing straight up again! :)))



The infamous number 10!!! LOL... only in this pic it's 01 ;)

OHHHH!!!  I just LOVE HIM!!!  When nothing else mattered in the world but me and him! :)



And look at him now... Such a studly man ;) 


Has it REALLY been 17 years since I heard my baby's first and solitary cry???  Only one little squawk and suddenly it was like he realized that there was soooooo much more to see in this place than in the place he had just been! I remember his HUGE blue eyes looking EVERYWHERE!!!  It was like he couldn't take in enough!  If I didn't know better I would have thought he was twisting and turning in the doctors and nurses hands so he could see more... I don't really even remember hearing him cry later either.  He'd just squawk and squirm a little bit to get my attention, he'd eat, and then he'd stare around the room again.  Just looking.  Taking it all in. :)  That was our schedule for the next few months or so... Cat naps that would last for 2 hours and 2 hours only and then wake up, eat, look around for sometimes 2 hours at a time.  Never crying just observing.  It was only hard on me because I couldn't fall asleep while he was awake and it seemed like he never wanted to sleep!!!!  But really such a sweet spirit and my best little buddy ever!!!  ...It was so crazy and overwhelming the love that I felt for this little man who I spent every single minute of my day with! 

It's also sooooooooo crazy and VERY overwhelming to think that next Tuesday that little man is going to be 17 years old and I'm forced to sit by watching him continually become a man!!  My motherly instinct wants to put him in a box and never let it leave my side.  I'd let him look at everything and just ask me ALLLLLL the questions he can think of!!  I'd answer everything I could and keep him safe and sound in the little box... Unfortunately I have to watch him become independent and turn into this amazing young, spiritual giant that is observing, still looking around, taking in everything around him and asking all of the questions he can.  I LOVE HIM with my whole heart!!!  I'm soooooo proud to call him my son :)))))  ...I hope you have one of the best birthday's ever Big Al!!  Just remember I'll always think of you as my baby boy ;)  And I'm very grateful to have that boy in our home to be the example you are to your brother and sister, very soon to be Baby J and mom and step dad.  We love you more than you'll ever know and will always be here for you!!

We also found out Monday that if everything goes according to plan we'll be having a baby on Tuesday. :)  What an awesome person for Baby J to share a birthday with!!  We can only hope that he/she can be as amazing of a person as Alex!

I've obviously had time to think about it and also to reflect on my own life and all of the similarities that this baby will have with my children that I had with my own brothers and sisters...  My oldest brother is 15 years older than me and even tho he was so much older I remember looking at him like some kinds of hero!!  I don't even remember much that we did together and he had children of his own by the time I was 4, but I have always known without a doubt that he would be there to protect me and love me... I still know that is true.  He's still there to love and protect me and be there for me... The same way the baby will have Alex and Weston there for them.  Such awesome wonderful boys who, even though they are older, can choose to have a relationship with the baby.  They can nurture and love and bond with baby and be the same kind of heroes that my brother is to me.  And then there's Marleigh who is so excited to have a baby in our home!!!  I know without a doubt that her sisterly and motherly instinct will kick in instantly... it already has really!!  She'll get to have the same kind of relationship that I had with my sisters growing up...  Even tho they probably didn't know it they became some of my best friends.  Even like mothers themselves!!  I would go to them for sooooo many things and helped raise and love their children the same way that they helped raise me!  I hope that our Baby J gets to experience all of those great things!!  That he/she will always have their brothers and sisters in their life in a HUGE influential way!!!  And to Al, West and Mar, I hope you can and will be able to see what HUGE influential people you can be in the life of your brother or sister!!  Never forget how much Baby J is counting on you!  :))))

But first lets celebrate that our Baby gets to share their birthday with their oldest brother!!  Here's to two awesome babies!!!  I love you all!!!

Happy Birthday Alex Austin!!! :))))))

Happy Holiday's and stuff!!!

I have NO idea what my schedule will be like here VERY soon!!!  (SOOOOOO HAPPY!!)  It's probably the first time I haven't really cared, I've just wanted it to get here!  So...  Baby is coming soon.  About 3 weeks left :) I'm already dilated to a 2 so hopefully that means sooner than later ;)  I'll at least try to get pics posted when we get home for everyone.

We are FINALLY moved into our home!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!  Let's see... That only took ALMOST 2 YEARS!!  I swear it's one of the MOST frustrating processes in the world!  But we are now living here and we love it :):)))  Almost everything is out of boxes.  Also I need to say THANK YOU SOOOOOOO much to all of the Arnold's, my mom and dad, and the Elder's Quorum in our new ward for all your help!! ...Wendy and Marliegh have made "special" plans for her room and Wendy will be starting that this weekend.  I have been painting a bed and desk that we got for her (She's SUPER excited to get a desk of her own), and we all can't wait to see what Wend has up her sleeve for the decor and stuff :))  Gramma Janet told Mar to pick out whatever bedding she wanted for her new room as a gift from her, so that's about all we know about what's going in there so far!!  The boys just got a bed and dresser that we'll also be putting up this weekend.  We just need to get them a new mattress for it.  They've been sleeping on the mattresses on the floors and haven't really seemed to care much but it's driving me CRAZY!!  I've learned to just pull the door closed so I don't have to look at it ;)

Basketball has also started.  Alex has played Copper Hills, Tooele and Altamont so far and he has played well (of course) and of course he starts JV and also contributes quite a bit to Varsity.  He's very dedicated and loves his coaches and the team!!  Weston has played Vernal, Tabiona and is playing Altamont tonight.  He is HUGE and a force to be reckoned with!!  He was high scorer in the Tabi game the other night, which made him a very happy boy!  ;)  We'll get pics of ballgames soon!  Mar has been doing her usual... A little bit of everything (cause she's good at everything!) and of course dancing!!  They are performing the Nutcracker this Saturday for anyone who wants to watch!  $5.00 at the door :)))

Anyhow... We want to tell everyone Merry Christmas just in case things get too hectic!!  Justin and I are VERY excited for the baby to get here... So are the kids for that matter (especially Mar!)... I keep wondering tho if maybe they're just tired of picking things off the floor for me, or sick of having to help me stand, or carrying in all the groceries... LOL  Honestly they've been a HUGE help and they've been talking about whether it's a boy or a girl and what their plans are for it. Lol.  It's soooo exciting to have it so close.

Here are a few pics of the last few months...  LOVE US!!!

Mar was wondering what it felt like to be pregnant... She didn't last very long!! ;)

Returning the ball back to Jenn.

 

She has an AWESOME overhand serve!!

Ace Ventura perhaps?????

Our pumpkins :)  Stopney, Justin, Mar's and then Big Al's in the back

Mar, Carter and Jace... Licking her face.

HELLO ME!!!  HOW ARE YOU????

OH BALONE!

Mar and Ally

Bet you can't guess who cut their head open while doorbell ditching a girl!?!?!  I should start blogging JUST doorbell ditching wounds!!  Actually it could be it's own blog altogether!! It's ridiculous!

While unpacking Christmas stuff Al and West found some homemade entertainment... Nothing like good old fashioned make your own fun!!!

SCARY!!

Mar of course had to join in too!  :)))

Baby J... is it a Janie Kate??? or is it a JT???

These things are sooooooo neat!!!  It's amazing what they can do with technology really :)  So here's how it works... Basically...  It's like a regular Ultra Sound.  They look around in 2D until the see what they're looking for and then they switch it to 3D and all of the sudden there is the baby's face looking at you.  Seeing it live is awesome because you can actually see hands and count fingers at times, or watch it open and close it's mouth.  SOOOO AWESOME!!!!  Once they find the shot they want they can rotate the picture around and cut things in and out of the picture (there's a LOT more floating around in there than I thought... besides a baby and a cord).  The Technician was saying  that if they cut too much of the extra stuff it cuts parts of the picture you don't want gone... like the babies face.  Sometimes they would zoom in and out and it would clear up parts of the picture and then make others look distorted.  Like the fingers... I could literally count the fingers on Baby J's hands, but to get a clear picture of the face they had to distort the hands.  Anyhow, there were 32 different pictures to choose from.  I choose the ones that are easiest to see.  Remember there is a lot floating around.  Baby J didn't really want to move its hands, so most of the pictures ended up with hands right up next to it's face.

We still want it to be a surprise but everyone has been casting there vote from looking at the face.  Soooooo have a go!!!  Justin says boy now.  My friend Candice, who came with me says girl, and that the black spot on its head in one of the pics is a bow and it will go with EVERYTHING she wears!!  (which is important to daddy to always match from head to toe!!) ;)  My sister Meshell said it's a chicken leg and skinny ankle of a boy.  I say... It STILL has Weston's nose.  Looks like Marleigh's kissable thick lips.   Alex AND Justin's Chicken legs and skinny ankles, but you could use my skinny ankles there too... SOOOOOO????  I give!!!  I really keep going back and forth.  I'm going to lean more towards girl because of how I'm carrying it and the morning sickness.  But really that's been confusing too.  So here's to a BABY J!!!  :):):))))) 

What do you think??? 



I think this is the most clear picture they got.  Both hands were up by it's face you can count the bones of the fingers on one of the hands.  The other hand got distorted clearing up the picture of the face.



A front view.  Again hands up by the face and stuff floating around.  I think Baby J had it's mouth open in this one.

I KNOW this one is a little funky looking BUT, you can totally siee it's little nose, lips and and eye.  Nose looks JUST like Stoney's (even Candice agrees with that) and I think maybe even the eye looks like him too.  The lips remind me of Marleigh tho. :):)  Just remember (for those of you that knew Weston as a baby) he was BEAUTIFUL!!! And very well could have passed as a girl...  HMMMMMMMMMM

Profile pic

This one looked like it could be trying to suck it's thumb or something... Or maybe it's sick of the paparazzi???

Chicken leg and skinny ankle.  Building up strength in that calf by jumping on Mommy's bladder ;)

This one isn't very clear but I LOVE IT!!!  It reminds me of a baby all ready to nestle down and snuggle!!  :) ...don't be disturbed buy the arm cut off above the elbow.  ;)

School, Sports and Stuff...

OK!!!  Tons of stuff to look at so I won't post the baby stuff until after we have the 3D Ultrasound on Thursday... So here is homecoming, football, first day of school, visits from fam and anything else that can fit under the "stuff" category :):) For those of you who didn't know, Weston broke his hand the weekend before his first football game of the season.  Then he wrecked the waggle car (refer to video) and scraped up his shoulder, arm, and leg pretty bad!!!  He finally got to play the last 3 games of the season and his team won the super bowl!!!  WOOT WOOT!!!  Big Al has been playing football and Mar has been dancing as usual.  She also just started playing Volleyball.  It's a hoot to watch!  We LOVE it!!! ...scroll fast to see Weston running in the ball for a TD and knocking over Nick Winn in a belly bump ;)

 

Big Al's Touchdown

Weston's Broken hand

Big Al's date's answer for Homecoming.

Homecoming

WAR WOUNDS

Britt, Mar, Al, Kole and West

First Day of School

Knocking Nick on his head

 

FOR THE TOUCH DOWN!!