The Baby Boom

I believe that 2013 will be known as "The One With All the Babies."  Would you like to see what I mean?

It all started April 4th.  I woke 2 minutes before my alarm went off to a picture message with this beautiful face~

Leah Grace Pulley

9 or so hours later came our perfect little girl~

Paige Abigail Nicoll

Not wanting to wait any longer to be with her best friends, the next one came rushing into this world less than a week later~

Eva Joan Chamberlain

The next one made us wait.  A week past his due date making his appearance the first of May~

Rune Welch Carter

As wonderfully as it started, May ended just as well~

Paige Elise Nelson

Then came June!  The biggest month of them all!  After false alarms for weeks and weeks, we finally got to meet our twins!

Samantha Kate Wilson

Isaac James Wilson

The month finished with a bang- two boys in a row!  First came~

Calvin Henry Haas

And the next day~

Beau Blaine Wilson

In what felt like no time at all, I left snuggling those sweet boys, only to find myself in a car headed to Price to meet the next~

Teagan Blake Steele

Finishing out our collection of tiny angels, was a boy that was well worth the wait~

Riley Charles Perkins

Just in case you lost count, that was 11 babies.  E-L-E-V-E-N.  These were all born to family members, or my closest of friends.

My heart could almost explode with joy.  We have all been so blessed to receive these precious souls into our homes.  This year has been filled with snuggles and service.  It has been one of the best seasons ever, and I hope to never forget it!

Awkward pictures for the next 10 years, here we come!

I still think he is adorable.

PS- How embarrassing is it when you're nearly 7 and your mom says you're adorable?

10 Years of Love

Over the last ten years I have learned a thing or two about marriage.  While I'm by no means an expert, here are some things that have made our lives *blissful* over the last ten years~

1. Praise your spouse in public, private, and in prayer.
2. Always go to bed angry.  Things are always worse when you're tired.
3. 10:05PM Seinfeld episodes do, in fact, count as a date.
4. Just because one of you likes running and the other person likes shooting guns doesn't mean you have to do it together.  Support your spouse in their hobby and enjoy some alone time on occasion.
5. Include the Lord.

I love Dallas way more than I ever thought was possible, and I'm sure I will love him infinitely more as time goes forward.  I'm so happy every day that he is my partner in crime.  I have no doubt that the Lord led us to each other- we are a perfect fit.

Happy anniversary, Dallas.

"Fall in love over and over and over again.  You will constantly change.  You're not the same people you were when you got married, and in five years you will not be the same people you are today.  Change will come, and in that you have to re-choose each other every day." -Matthew Lewis

First Grade

It's here!  The first day of school!  Back to schedules, back to bedtimes, back to homework!

It was such a good day today.  Will loves school even though he will tell everyone else that he hates it.  His teacher this year is Mrs. Kendall, and we couldn't be more excited.  This morning he let me take one picture before he ran straight to the car to get buckled.  When we pulled up to the school, I had barely put the car in park before he was off and running in the front doors.

My mommy-heart hurts knowing that he will now spend more waking hours outside of my home, but seeing how excited he is to learn helps.  He's such a smart kid and I can't wait to watch him grow this year.  Is it silly that I'm excited to help him study for spelling tests?!

Grandma's House

I found myself in Bountiful last week, so I was pulled to drive down Parish Lane and see my Grandma's house.  It has changed.  It was white when I would come here, and there were two giant trees in the front.  No shutters.  And two of the best silver haired people I knew used to wave to us from the porch as we drove away.  One always filled my bowl with a heaping mound of ice cream, and the other used to grab me with his cane as I walked past his recliner.

I miss my grandparents sometimes.  I especially missed them when I was having Paige and I realized that she was never going to meet them while she was on this earth.  It also made me grateful that I have 4 wonderful in-lawed grandparents that I get to adopt as my own.

Back to my Grandma's house....  I love it!  It's full of happy memories.  I loved sitting on the red brick parkway strip and playing "your car, your car, my car" while eating tuna sandwiches.  I loved our roaring Thanksgivings out in the covered patio where my Uncle Larry would literally eat for hours and hours.  I loved jumping off the shed on the side yard, climbing the best climbing trees in the world, shelling peas in the shade of the big pine trees in the back, sneaking mint leaves for a taste, riding sheep in the pasture, eating starlight mints and packets of equal, and discovering all kinds of mail ordered treasures that my grandma had packed away.  And watching "The Sandlot"!  We watched that a lot.

I hope one day my kids will drive past my parents house and be flooded with happy times.  Life is good, my friends.  I'm so glad I get to share it with such wonderful people.

Most Favorite of Favorites

You guys.  This picture!!!

 Will and Paige have the most tender relationship.  She looooooves him.  I think Paige already knows that he is her protector and ally from another certain family member (bless Annie's little heart).  It's so handy when I have a camera right by me to capture these rare moments.

4 Months!

Most commonly called:  Paigey

Size: 13 lbs 8 oz (46%) and 26.5 in (96%)

Skills: rolling over! and chewing voraciously on those mini fingers of hers

New Adventures:  Meeting two new cousins this month- Teagan and Beau, first family vacation to Island Park, Tetons and Yellowstone, and survived 5 days at babysitters while mom was at Girl's Camp

Favorite loveable feature: Her forked tongue!

This girl!  My heart could just leap out of my body.

They love Paige the most.

Over the last week I have been at Girl's Camp with the Young Women, Paige has been tossed around to different babysitters during the day, Dallas has been at work, and Will and Annie spent 8 days being sugared up at my parents house.

We missed them!

B-U-T.  I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I enjoyed the break.  I'm pretty sure the kids felt the same way.

We dropped Will and Annie off on Sunday evening and picked them up on Saturday afternoon- a full week apart.  It was the longest I have ever gone without seeing those two rascals.  I walked in the door to my Mom's to squeals of delight, and this is what I got:

The three of them giggled and smiled at each other for quite awhile.  Will and Annie missed Paigey more than Dallas or me, which is okay.  I like it that way.

Twins? Or not?

Ever since Paige was born people have commented how she and Annie look exactly alike.  Dallas and I have always thought they looked so different.  So, today I present our first baby side-by-side!  Annie is on the left and Paige is on the right.  They are the exact same age and wearing the same outfit.  What do you think?