5 months old....it is sooo not fair!

Luke is 5 month old. I can't stand it! He is  growing too fast. It makes me so sad. It seems like a blink and these little babies are toddlers. Heavenly Father got it all wrong. The pregnancy should go fast and then we should be able to snuggle and hold these little ones for a long time!

 I love these pictures of his whole body. Look at those fat rolls on his legs. He may have been my little tiny 7lb 15 oz newborn, but he caught up in a hurry!

  Luke, you are not crawling, not really eating food, not sleeping have no teeth...but you are sitting, smiling and the best baby we've ever had! You light up when you see your brothers and your dad. You love to be held close by your mom. You are our little "go baby". You don't really have a schedule...you just sleep when you can and happily are on the go with us.You have brought us nothing but joy. We are so blessed to have you in our family! 

Easter Morning...the other miracle.

The miracle of Easter Morning is the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior. It is a gift from our Heavenly Father. What a loving Father! I have a sure testimony of this.

There is also another miracle of Easter...the miracle that my children didn't throw up all night from eating so much candy! This might be teeny tiny compared to the true meaning of Easter, but it really is something amazing!

Here are the boys finding their Easter baskets. I am not sure why the EB brings any candy...especially after what the kids get at Grandpa Bob's!

 Logan with his Carrot bubblegum...YUM!

 3 cute brothers...the 4th was sleeping!

 Carson with his candy filled eggs.

 Logan with his candy filled eggs...he LOVES candy.

Look at the mess these boys look at the end of the last two days....

 Look at that bag of candy

Now we all can see why there is the OTHER Easter miracle!

Grandpa Bob's Easter Egg Hunt...and Grandma Marsha's too!

Now it is time for the annual Grandpa Bob's Easter Egg Hunt! I am not sure why he gets all the glory, when it is Grandma Marsha who does all the work! This tradition was started by my mother, who loved nothing more than to have fun with the grandkids. It was just Tucker, Alex and Mikayla in the beginning...now it is a bunch of crazy, rowdy, fun loving kids! We all love it!

Before the Easter Egg Hunt...If the kids can't feel their bucket, it is cause they are blind!

The stars of the day! They are WAY more fun than the real Easter Bunny! Also, this is Luke's first Easter!

After a big "Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!" , the race began!

We can't break open the eggs and eat the candy until the bucket is full or we will NEVER get done!

Look at the amount of candy for one kid!

3 happy little boys with A LOT of candy! They each have their own style of eating it. Carson's was all gone in about 2 days. Nate went in spurts. His lasted the longest. Logan was a steady constant. He really only likes eating candy, so he LOVED this.

Funny rabbit teeth suckers!

All the kids minus Taylor, who was having a teen age moment, except she is only 9! They all loved their teeth!

Lukey even got in on the action...then he threw up afterwards!

The Easter Egg Hunt is usually the day before Easter. So, this year we colored eggs at Grandpa's house. Nate had just woken up from nap...boy was he grumpy. Logan was still asleep. That was probably a good thing. He would have been a mess.

This is so much fun...not really...grumpy!

After we got going, it was a little better!

This is such a fun tradition. We love doing it. The other day (almost 5 months after this day), Logan and I were reading an Easter book that he'd picked out. He saw the pretty eggs and candy and said, "I get dis from Grandpa Bob's house...we go dere?" No, Logan, we can't go there for Easter candy today. But we can next year! Thanks for all the fun memories and traditions!

Lukey's First Food

I always love feeding my babies those first bites of "real" food. I guess you can call rice cereal and applesauce real. It is so cute and MESSY! Logan likes to call Luke's baby food "baby sauce". Cute. It makes me laugh. Luke liked the food least of all my babies. These were taken on April 18. Now here it is 5 months later, and he still prefers baby sauce to real  food...the kind with salt and pepper.

First bite

 Not too sure...

 Lots of help from big brothers

 Uh oh...first gag of many!

Lukey, we stared you on real food with the hope that you would sleep. It did not work. You have been our worst sleeper. You are just so dang happy in the day time that I can't be mad at you at night, but just know this: You mother would be so much happier if you would sleep! I love you so so much, but would love you even more if you would sleep!

I actually did it!

This is the story of how I set a goal and actually accomplished it. This NEVER happens. Either I set a goal and change my mind about the result I want, or I give up, or I just don't set goals...how ever it is, I did it...I RAN A HALF MARATHON!!! 13.1 miles...I did it...every step!

So, last spring, I was training for a half, but had a little hiccup in my plans. The half was 3 weeks away, and I found out that I was pregnant...surprise!!! and I got sick...no fun, but it is the best little surprise I have ever had! I wouldn't change a thing. So, I didn't do it.

Fast forward nine months...well, 8 and a half. My dear friend Megan called me. She'd had a baby in September. I was due early Dec. It was mid November. She said, "Court, do you want to do a half marathon with me next summer." Sure...I was glad to have some motivation. Then she called me back a few days later, she said, "I signed up for the SLC half marathon." Sounds great  Megs. When is it? "It is on April 15." I was VERY pregnant still and was crazy enough to agree to this.

Now for some women, this wouldn't be too big of a deal, but I always gain 40 pounds or so with each baby. SO, I knew I was going to have to work my butt of to be able to do this. This meant starting to run with a 4 week old baby (totally sleep deprived), running when the temps were in the teens...brrrrrrrr, and really finding the time and energy  to do this.

I am proud to say, I DID IT! It was so fun and so exciting. I actually put in the blood, sweat, and tears it took to be able to do it! 13 miles. WOW. For this girl, it is an accomplishment.

My cute little 4 and a half month old baby the morning of...

Here I am at the end...only about half a mile to go. Robbie and Luke were definitely a sight for sore eyes! It seemed like forever since I had seen them!

Running down the center of Gateway mall...to finish!!!

I DID IT!!! I REALLY DID IT!!!

I needed to document how little my baby boy was...TINY!

My cousin Jessica and I. It was so fun to have her there. She is definitely a seasoned runner and had done this race. It helped to take away my nerves a lot! It was also fun to have my mom's sister Deanne there. There were times...like mile 11...when I had been running for 2 miles with blisters....that I kept thinking, "This is hard." Then I would think of my mom and all that she went through. This wasn't hard. This was fun. I had legs that could carry me as far as my mind would let them. It was definitely a celebration of a healthy body. I will NEVER take that for granted.

Megan and I at the restaurant after the run. Thanks Megan!

Here are the blisters I had on every toe...I started feeling them at mile 9. They were killing me by the end. I am still not sure why I got them. I had on good shoes and socks. I guess I was just lucky!

I am so thankful for my darling sister in law, Heather, who kept my bigger boys. They had so much fun and so did I! It is so gratifying to know that I took every step of all the training and all the race. Me. No one else could do it for me. I do have to thank Robbie for all the times he kept the kids so I could run...Thanks Hunny!

Check out cute little Nate on Sunday after naps and dinner. I love the fruit punch mustache and the crazy nap hair. That is my shirt and my medal. Could the shirt be any uglier????? or any bigger???? It was HUGE!  But, that was not the real prize, so it doesn't matter. The prize is knowing that I did it, and that I have the support of such a great husband and cute little boys!

While the big boys are away...

While the big boys are away, the mom will take lots of pictures of her 2 little ones! Carson and Nate were at school and I decided to take some pics of Logan and Luke. They are darling. Those big brown eyes melt me. It is hopeless...I am in love with these two.

 Are you kidding me??? With those eyes, Logan, the answer is always YES!

 An attempt at a self portrait with an infant and a 2 year old...

 Not too successful!

There is nothing I love more than to have my whole family together, but I do appreciate those times when I get to spend one on one time with the boys. Nate especially loves dates. Even if the two of us go into the grocery store together while the rest of the family stays in the car with Robbie, Nate says, "Mom, this is like a date right? Just me and you, right?" Right, Nate. I love these boys and want to keep them little forever! They grow up too darn fast!