Yates Family

Quick post

2012-02-08T22:56:00.003-07:00

Sorry I know I have been a complete slacker at updating this blog lately.. I will try very hard to update on everyone soon.

For now our latest news is I hit 35 weeks on Saturday and so far I am still pregnant.... YAY!! Here is the most recent picture taken last Saturday at 34 weeks.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2012-01-02T15:19:00.004-07:00

So glad to be welcoming in another year... We can hardly wait to see what fun, exciting changes are in store for our family. A few of our new year goals are:

*Become more self reliant

*Pay off a car if we can

*Dave: beat last years sales

*Amber: no baby until at least February ;)

*Kids: better at listening the first time

*Caitlyn: become potty trained

I think we can do it!

Third Trimester..

2012-01-02T14:56:00.004-07:00

More Baby Update.... So not only was it Christmas eve but it also marked the start of the THIRD Trimester for me... WAHOO!!! 28 weeks is a big milestone, baby weighs about 2.5 lbs (1.1kg) and is about 10 inches (25cm) from crown to rump and 15.75 inches (35 cm) long from head to toe. Baby's survival rate outside the womb has jumped up to 85-90% which is a lot better but still way to early. Here is my latest belly pic.. she is definitely growing in there.

Since my last appointment at 26 weeks wasn't super fabulous due to the fact that I am already starting to efface although she is still high and I am not dilating , I spent as much time as possible laying low. I had another appointment just this last week but my OB was out of town so we have no new information on how things are holding up down there. I did however receive my first set of steroid shots for lung development on Thursday and Friday. These triggered some really unnerving contractions that have since diminished some but with Dave out of town I am not taking any chances and have put myself on some modified bed rest so I can keep this little girl cooking. My next doctors appointment is the 12th of January and I am very anxious to see what is going on and if this little girl has moved from breech position as I am fairly sure she has, so I will keep you updated.

On a fun note besides my normal cravings for meat, potatoes, and churros... I had a new one this week that I have had before I think with Caitlyn.... Maraschino Cherries... yum!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T13:45:00.021-07:00

We started our Christmas Weekend off with tons of yummy treats. For FHE the kiddos and I made graham cracker gingerbread houses. It took a bit of planning on my part to have them pre-assembled so I wouldn't have kids waiting to decorate but they loved it! From Left to Right is Preston (with Mommy's help), Caitlyn, Ethan and Jocelyn. Lets just say they were pretty wired for an hour or two after.

I decided this year since we do breakfast casserole for Christmas morning breakfast, to do red and green cinnamon rolls for Christmas Eve breakfast. I think the kids enjoyed it even though daddy had bought some sprinkled doughnuts the day before. The rest of the day we spent making spritz cookies and sugar cookies so we could decorate them that night for Santa.

After dinner we cleaned up and colored the frosting and let the bigger kids go to town with decorating the sugar cookies. They did a great job and surprisingly made very minimal mess. Even Preston wanted to decorate a cookie with help from Daddy.

And of course we had to taste them before setting them out for Santa....
After that was all cleaned up and done we did our traditional one gift opening on Christmas Eve... its always a new set of Christmas jammies... got to love some comfy jammies to sleep in Christmas Eve. We also gave the kids a new book which we read before getting them settled down with a movie. Once the children were all snug in their beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads... Santa Arrived.....

Now with a 7 year old in the house who knows all about Christmas and was anxious for Santa to come we really didn't get much sleep. She was up various hours during the night to check out what was under the tree. At about 8:30am we finally caved and allowed her to get everyone up so we could make breakfast and open presents. Our family tradition has always been youngest to oldest so it was great that Santa left a few gifts open to occupy those who had to wait their turn. here are a few pics of the present unwrapping fun...

Once we cleaned up all the present carnage and breakfast mess we got our cute little selves already for Christmas Day Church. We had great talks on the true gift of Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful way to end a fabulous morning. Here are some pictures of our family in their Christmas Best :)

Two very happy Grandparents surrounded by their crazy grand kids.

We hope your Christmas was just as wonderful and meaningful as ours.

Christmas Dance Review

2012-01-02T11:58:00.007-07:00

So Miss Jocelyn has been taking dance lessons since about September and for the most part she has been to all the classes minus a few days here and there when she had dental work and was out of commission for the day. The dance school does a huge performance at he end of the year but at Christmas time they do what they call a dance review. Jocelyn was very excited to get all dressed up and show me all her new dances. Thanks to my wonderful friend Brandy, I was able to drop off the babies and take Ethan with me to her performance since Dave was out of town. Ethan was a great date and loved taking pictures with my camera. Here are a few still shots and then videos of her dances. Enjoy!

Here is Jo's class... She is the youngest of the bunch but not the shortest out of this group.

A fun start to December

2012-01-02T10:59:00.008-07:00

December has been a super crazy busy month for us so I will make a huge attempt at consolidating it so you don't have to read a novel.

Ethan was picked as the start student of the week in his Kindergarten class the first week in December. This meant he was the teachers special helper during the day at school and on Friday of that week he was able to bring a few items from home and have his parents share things about him. It was really fun to go and see my shy little guy shine. He told all the kids about his favorite toys and books and about his family. I am constantly amazed by how much he has truly come out of his shell.

Later that same week I had to take my sweet Jo in for more dental work. This poor mouth has had so many teeth pulled because its so tiny. Besides the top two that were pulled earlier this year she had a molar pulled due to a cracked filling and had a spacer placed. Then she had an additional two teeth pulled on the bottom and a spacer placed so that her four permanent front bottom teeth can come in straight. She has really been such a trooper and has been so brave getting all this done. Unfortunately I see braces coming in the future for this one.
Just a cute moment of some down time with Daddy I captured. Caitlyn has really developed her imagination play and it is so fun to watch. She was doing daddy's hair this day. Daddy is such a good sport.

Pregnancy update: Here is a picture from right after Thanksgiving, I have officially hit the point of viability ~ 24weeks. I don't really like that term but this is the point at which if baby were born she would have a chance at surviving and the hospital would make attempts to help baby survive. I don't usually feel that excited about hitting this point as the chance for survival is only ~60% compared to 28 weeks when it jumps to ~80%, but you celebrate each milestone when you have rough pregnancies. Anyways, here is my 24 week belly pic....

I was also lucky enough to get another ultrasound done at my doctors office that week to check my cervical, which was good at 3cm and to see if the choroid plexus cyst was resolved or not, which it is completely gone. We were able to watch baby girl in 3D and definitely confirm she is in fact a SHE. She was measuring perfect at about a pound and everything was working as it should. Here is the best picture we snapped of her as she is just like her brother Preston and had her hands curled up in front of her face and she was snuggled into the placenta.

Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-01T21:31:00.008-07:00

Usually we travel for the Thanksgiving Holiday but now that we have have four kiddos and number five on the way it has become a huge undertaking for just a few days of vacation, so we have decided to spend holidays at home this year. Since no one had made plans I decided to host Thanksgiving dinner. We had Mom & Dad Yates and T & Mom over for some seriously yummy food if I do say so myself. It was so fun to just relax and visit with everyone and stuff our faces.

Preston has been mastering his spoon to mouth technique and the chocolate pudding pie was a complete success :)

Each Thanksgiving we have some much to be thankful for because I lives are truly so blessed, but I think the thing that stands out the most each year is how immensely grateful I am for a wonderful FAMILY.

Pinnacle Awards....

2012-01-01T21:07:00.009-07:00

Each year Pinnacle goes all out to highlight the achievements of it's top sales reps and technicians. In the past years Dave has been recognized for his hard work and this year was no different. We took the opportunity to do a date night this year since we get all dressed up. We started the night off at Benihanas and then walked over to the Capital Theater in Salt Lake for the awards show.

Other than less than stellar lighting I think we make a pretty cute couple...

The comedian Pinnacle hired to host the show was pretty funny but the best part was watching my handsome hubby be rewarded for how hard he works. He was the #8 top Veteran Sales Rep out of the entire company. He was also a co-manager of the Top Summer Office in the Company. He came away with an awesome new storm tech jacket, two new watches and a cool award. For all that Dave sacrifices when he goes out to sell it is so awesome to know that the company he works for truly appreciates all he does.

updates to come soon...

2011-12-30T17:12:00.002-07:00

I know I have been totally neglecting the blog... the holidays and being pregnant have just seriously kicked my behind. My goal is to get caught up this next week.

3 days for 32 meals to Freeze

2011-11-11T20:11:00.049-07:00

So after being hopelessly addicted to Pinterest for recipe ideas I was inspired to bite the bullet and do some freezer meals. I have always wanted to do a months worth of cooking in one day, so on those days that I really don't feel like cooking I could just grab something yummy and homemade out of my freezer. I gathered as many family favorite recipes that I thought would be good to freeze and made a huge grocery list. Initially I sort of had a heart attack about the mass amounts of food I was needing to buy, but honestly its a months worth so it should be a lot for a family of 6. The day before shopping I checked out the store adds to make sure I was getting the most for my money and the few weeks before Thanksgiving is a great time to do this. I ended up buying the majority of my produce and meat at Sam's Club because their prices were as good if not better than the stores sale prices. All in all the groceries ran about $400-$450 which includes all the items needed to complete the meals (i.e. hamburger buns, sour cream, cheese, etc...).The second day was prep day. I cooked all 7lbs of hamburger and placed each pound into a freezer gallon bag. Then I cooked the 6lbs of chicken in my crockpot then shredded and divided into bags. I had planned to get the pancakes and muffins baked this day also but it was just to crazy so I actually did it another day.

The third day was the longest day by far but has been so worth it thus far. I tried to organize my groceries as to make the process smoother (i.e. canned beans, other canned items, seasonings, veggies, etc...). When all the other girls arrived to my house we got started. We started off with the ground meat recipes and moved through the lists. One by one bag were filled with yummy food and my counter was filling up with finished meals. The whole process seemed to take forever but we were stopping to pick up kids from school and eat lunch. I think minus those activities it would have taken 4-4.5 hours straight to finish.

So now for anyone who wants to try out my recipes (some are family recipes and others are from various websites via Pinterest) here they are along with the grocery list above. The highlighted ingredients are not to be put in the freezer bag but are to be added when you are preparing the meal to eat. So far I have used a handful of meals and they've turned out great. Feel free to modify the recipes such as used minced dried onion instead of real chopped onion or pre-minced garlic instead of hand mincing garlic. Let me tell you my house smelled of onions and garlic for a few days :)

Ground Hamburger Recipes

Shredded Chicken Recipes

Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast Recipes

Flank Steak/Stew Meat Recipes

Chuck Roast Recipes

Other Meat Recipes

I will include a list of the websites so I can give credit where it's due asap.

Washington Trip with my JoJo

2011-11-11T20:11:00.034-07:00

On the semi spur of the moment I decided that I wanted to fly out to Washington to see my dad and be there for his birthday on the 7th of November. When I researched the prices on tickets they were very cheap so I thought that taking Jocelyn with me would be a fun experience for her and I. It was a sort of mommy- daughter weekend for us. I orcastrated all this with Miriam so that it would be a huge surprise for my dad. It worked out great.

We flew in on Friday the 4th, Jocelyn loved flying in the plane but was a little nervous about flying over the water after reading the safety pamphlet in the seat pocket. Her favorite part was the take off and landing because the plane went fast. Miriam picked us up at the airport and we drove to my dad's work. Miriam had arranged for Dad's boss to call him in his office so that he would be there and distracted while we walked in. We sent Jocelyn in first and then I followed... the reaction was priceless and Miriam caught it on video!! Not only were we the surprise but Miriam had also arranged for my dad to have that day off as well as the following Monday and Tuesday. We left my dad's work and went to visit my grandma and surprise her too, so fun! We took Grandma Battson out to lunch at the Ram (my favorite place to get French Dips) and then decided it was time to head to my dad's house and take a nap.

Saturday we woke up fairly early thanks to the time change and early bedtime the night before to go shopping. I needed to find a fairly nice dress for Dave's Award Show the coming weekend since none of the dresses I have would fit my little growing belly. We found some awesome deals and had a yummy lunch at Red Robin with just us girls. Jocelyn was pretty ready to go home by the time we made our last stop at Costco. She spent that evening planning all the activities we would be doing the next day.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to a wonderful tea party, consisting of Chocolate Cake, Pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. Jocelyn had everything all set up on the kitchen table. She even insisted upon us pointing our pinkies as we sipped our "tea". After all that fun we hopped into the car and headed to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Although it was a bit cold it was fun seeing all the animals out and about. We were fortunate to go during the feeding time for most of the animals. After the zoo we headed to lunch at the Ram again... because it really is that yummy. Then it was time to head to the Glass Museum. The Gallery of glass work was pretty fascinating but the best part was the Hot Shop. In the Hot Shop they actually make pieces of glass for local artists... It was really cool to watch but Jocelyn was pretty bored after the first hour. We finally headed home around 6 for dinner and to relax after a long fun day.

Monday was our last full day in Washington so we wanted to head down to Seattle as something fun to do for my Dad's official birthday. Unfortunately it was the only day it decided to rain :( We went to the Seattle Aquarium, which was the Aquarium that my dad used volunteer scuba dive. They have done quite a few updated to the building so it was pretty cool to see. The fish were amazing but the neatest part was watching them train and feed the fur seals. Jocelyn would have watched for hours but it was getting cold and we were all starving. We decided that Mexican sounded great so we went to the Aztec and had a fun birthday lunch, including the sombrero and Mexican singing :) My dad loved it! Finally we stopped back by my Grandma's to visit and say goodbye.

Tuesday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our plane home. We had a blast visiting and I wish we could have done it as a whole family. Dave did amazing while Jo and I were gone, he is a pretty incredible dad.

Tricks and TREATS!!!

2011-11-02T14:15:00.012-06:00

Halloween was a very busy day for our family this year. We started the morning off by attending the annual Costume Parade at Jocelyn and Ethan's Elementary school. It was really fun to watch all the kids parade through the school in their costumes. Lucky for us, Jo and E were in the front because they went by grade. Caitlyn loved seeing all the princess dresses but hated being strapped into a stroller while the other kids were walking around.

After that Dave and I went to the Logan Hospital for my 20 week ultrasound. I am consulting with a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) Specialist this pregnancy again so we had to get a super detailed ultrasound. It went pretty well, they first measured my cervix to make sure it is the normal length and no bed rest is needed at this point as it measure 2.95-2.98cm and normal is (3-4cm). Then we got to see the baby. They did all the standard measurements head, heart, stomach, legs and checked to make sure everything appeared to be functioning properly... which it all is. Unfortunately our attempts at not finding out the sex of the baby were thwarted pretty quickly while the technician was measuring the legs, Dave and I couldn't help but notice that there was nothing between the legs. After all the measurement she asked us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby... well we already did so we said yes to confirm our thoughts and sure enough we are expecting a baby GIRL !

It is still really hard to believe as we were so certain with all my pregnancy symptoms that we were pregnant with a boy, but looks like our kids were right again. The only concerning piece of news we received is that she has a CPC (Choriod Plexus Cyst) on her brain. The Dr. informed us that by itself means nothing and will likely resolve before birth. Normally these are seen along with other anomalies/defects and can mean Downs Syndrome amongst other complications. But he assured us this is not the case for us as all other markers are perfectly normal. I go back for another cervical scan in 4 weeks at which time I will be released from the MFM and solely in the care of my OB.

For memories sack I took a picture of my growing belly... as brutal as it looks these are actually very small bruises.

Finally, we had a little breathing time before the madness of Trick or Treating began. The kids ate a nice warm dinner and then got ready to do some damage in the neighborhood. This was Caitlyn's first year actually getting to go up to houses to get candy. She loved it and was not thrilled to be coming home after only going to the houses in our neighborhood.

Halloween was a great way to end out our month of being busy. Hopefully we don't end up with tons of cavities from all the yummy goodies we received.

Pinnacle Halloween Party

2011-11-02T13:51:00.010-06:00

I don't know if I should technically call this a Pinnacle Halloween Party as its mostly my girlfriends whom I have met through Dave working at Pinnacle. We meet monthly for a Lunch Group where we each make a side dish or treat to share and then our children get to play while we talk. However, this month was just crazy for all of us and since it was close to Halloween we decided to just combine it into a Halloween Party. It was a blast and I really wish I would have taken more pictures of the other couples there.

Here are our Costumes: Preston-Happy Spider, Caitlyn- Ballerina Bat, Jocelyn- Monster High Cleopatra, Ethan- Mario, Me- Magic 8 Ball, and Dave- Texas Marshal

We were each in-charge of bringing a treat and a game. The kids did a spooky cake walk, no hands doughnut eating (our game), and Halloween picture coloring.

The kids had a blast playing with friends and eating tons of treats. Dave and I also had a great time chatting with our friends.

FHE- Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-24T20:50:00.011-06:00

This year we were fortunate enough to be gifted the massive pumpkin from my Mom and Todd's garden. It was the only pumpkin that grew and obviously it stole all the nutrients from the other plants because it is HUGE! We decided it would be a fun family home evening activity to carve it.

The kids designed the face for it... Ethan picked out the eyes and Jocelyn picked out the mouth. Caitlyn wanted squiggles so we settled for some square eyebrows instead :) Since the pumpkin was HUGE.. Dave decided the use of power tools would make the task a bit easier.

Jocelyn was the only one that was brave enough to touch the pumpkin goo.. Ethan didn't want to go near it.

I made some chocolate chip cookies for a treat to snack on while Dave cut out the face of the pumpkin. Preston enjoyed his cookie and the other kiddos decided a pillow fight was a better idea to kill the time.

The Finished Product..... and our Scary Monster Faces!

First Hair Cut.....

2011-10-18T13:29:00.007-06:00

We finally took the plundge and cut off Preston's curly locks. Poor little guy was having to endure detangling spray and daily brushing to get out the horrible knots. Anyways it was beyond time. So here are some pictures of our cute little man now...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What we've been up to in September....

2011-09-30T19:00:00.015-06:00

The month of September has been a busy one for our family. Over the Labor Day weekend we drove down to Pleasant Grove to spend a little time with my Parents. The kids had a blast playing in Mimi's Garden and in Pop-pops studio. That Saturday we met up with Debbie Apperson and Marcie's kids to go to the Williams (Marcie's in laws) house. They have a beautiful indoor pool and a ranch/farm with cows and horses. The kids had so much fun playing in the pool and jumping off the diving board. Even our little Caitlyn wanted in on the diving board action and convinced her Pop-pop to help her jump off. After eating lunch and enjoying the pool for a bit longer we packed up and went down to see the horses and cows they have on their ranch/farm. The kids loved every minute of it and were extremely exhausted by the end of the day. Preston, Caitlyn and Jocelyn fell asleep on the way home. We spent Monday doing some bargain grocery shopping at the WinCo in Orem before heading back up to Logan to beat the Labor Day traffic rush.

Since then life has pretty much gone back to the usual schedule of school Monday -Friday with the addition of dance class for Jocelyn Tuesday nights. During the day I am chasing after/ cleaning up after my two little Tasmanian Toddlers who get into everything.

Preston turned 14months on the 11th and has been discovering how fun it is to open and climb into drawers. Good thing I took Mom Yates advice and put my Tupperware lids in the bottom drawer. He has also learned how to walk and is now walking 85-90% of the time. Needless to say our house is covered with baby gates and shut doors in the attempt of controlling what he gets into now a days. He is such a sweetheart and loves to be held and cuddled. He is also finally sleeping through the night on a regular basis!

Our little Miss Cailtyn is as wild and cute as ever. She spends most of her day in and out of different Princess dresses. If she is not dancing (aka walking around in circles) she is singing with Jocelyn's toy guitar. She has managed to semi potty train herself, however we are not completely out of diapers but plan to be soon. She makes me smile everyday and her vocabulary is getting larger and more understandable.

Ethan is doing awesome in kindergarten. He had a rough week an little while ago and didn't want me to leave him. After a few days of tears and me having to leave while his teacher held him back I decided tough love was the way to go. I sat him down and told him if he couldn't be brave and go to class like a big boy he wasn't allowed to play on the wii when he got home from school. Well sure enough after one day of no wii, I had a big brave boy going to kindergarten everyday. He has been learning how to rhyme and letter sounds in class. He loves going to Library and bringing home books for me to read each week. Here is his school picture, he told me he was a little scared.. which explains his unsure smile. I just love my Ethan bud.

Jocelyn has definitely got into the swing of things at school. She was sent home with a note about talking in class and after the usual punishment and talk, she has been very well behaved for her teacher. She loves art and music class the most. We are continuing to work with her on reading and math which are the two areas she seems to struggle with at school. I believe most of her problem lies in fact that she doesn't take her time and tries to rush though it. She recently started dance classes at a local place in Logan, she goes one day a week and does ballet, tap, jazz and tumbling for an hour. Jocelyn is such an amazing helper to me and although she can be a bit of a drama queen at times she really does have a sweet spirit. Here is her school picture for this year, cute as ever.

Dave came home last weekend after deciding that he could sell just as well here as he was in Reno. Reno and San Diego had been rough on the whole office so I was on board to have him come home and work. He has 13 more sales to go before he hits 200 sales for the year and with his 30+ roll over sales from last year he is already hit an all time career goal for himself personally. We are so grateful for how hard he works to support us. He is such an amazing man and dad, some days I don't know how I was ever so blessed to have him be my eternal companion.

October is looking like it is going to be just as crazy so I will attempt to stay more up to date and take more photos.

We're EXPECTING...

2011-09-30T18:21:00.005-06:00

BABY #5!!

I know as crazy as it may seem "someone" had big plans for our family. We are excited and thrilled with a side of completely freaked out. I found out a little after the 4th of July while we were still in Texas and since I have an awful history with pregnancy we had several blood test run to make sure things were developing as they should. This little one gave us quite a few scares with low numbers that didn't double as they should have.

When we moved to Arkansas I made an appointment with a Women's Clinic right away to double check that everything was developing properly and find out my official due date. I don't think I have ever been so nervous in my life for an ultrasound. Turns out that worrying was for nothing...

Baby looked prefect on the ultrasound and had a nice strong heartbeat of 127bpm. So we relaxed a bit and just counted down the weeks until our move back home when I could meet with my OB up here in Logan.

A few days before we were set to drive back home I was starting to feeling pretty ill, so we decided that we should probably tell family but I was still feeling insecure about the viability of this pregnancy so I booked an ultrasound at a place we would pass on the way home. Everything looked great and baby had a nice strong heartbeat so we felt confident telling family. That worked out nicely because Mom & Dad Yates and my Mom were at our house for dinner that night. We broke the news by casually placing the ultrasound pictures in with some brochures of things we had done while visiting Arkansas.

A couple more weeks went by and I was finally able to get in to see my OB. First thing we did was an ultrasound to find out my official due date: MARCH 17th , 2012 (St. Patrick's Day) and make sure everything looked good. Baby had a nice strong heartbeat of 178bpm and was wiggling all around. We went over our game plan as far as meds go and nausea management and that was it.

I will be 16 weeks tomorrow (Saturday) and feel pretty good. Still pretty tired but the nausea is gone. I have felt a few flutters of baby but nothing regular, so I am anxiously awaiting that stage. I meet with my OB again on the 13th of October and will be scheduling my 20week scan for some time the end of October. I am excited and anxious to see baby again and make sure everything looks good. We are still unsure when I will start the 17P shots but I am sure it won't be too far off as even now I have been experiencing some cramping and Braxton Hicks contractions. I will update you as we go but as we sit now we fully expect to meet this one somewhere between February 11th and the end of February... hopefully long but doubtful.

Ethan's First Day of Kindergarten!!

2011-09-01T22:01:00.004-06:00

My little man is getting so big... He started kindergarten on Tuesday. I think I was more nervous than him, worrying about if he would have fun and make friends. Well, I was worried for no reason at all as he had a blast. He was so excited about being able to play on the "BIG" playground. His teacher is very nice and I think she will be great at dealing with his sensitive days. Here is a picture of him outside his classroom, he was very excited that his teacher decorated with happy monsters (he loves happy monsters).

First Day of School for Jocelyn

2011-08-27T15:36:00.004-06:00

Can you believe it is that time of year again... YAY school !! This year Jocelyn started the second grade. She was really excited because several of her friends from first grade are in her class. We went to back to school night the night before and saw her teacher and classroom. She found her desk and all the fun books she will get to read this year. We walked to school and I told her I would pick her up after as Ethan had his Kindergarten Assessment right before school was out.

Here is my Little Princess all ready for school.

UPDATE: She had a great first day. She likes her teacher and had tons of fun playing with friends at recess. She also went to art which is one of her favorite subjects so that was just icing on the cake.

Ethan starts Kindergarten on the 30th, can't wait for him. He is going to love it!

H O M E !!!

2011-08-27T15:35:00.003-06:00

GOOD BYE !!!

Naturally it seems that when you are getting ready to pack up and leave for a long trip something always goes wrong... for us it was Misha needing staples in her paw a few days before and then Ethan coming down with a random bug the day before. No worries though we were prepared and brought along a puke bucket; No, honestly he was feeling much better the day we packed up the Suburban. We tried to be more strategic this time and left Saturday night when Dave got off work so that we could drive a few hours and our kids could possibly sleep. It worked for the most part we drove from Little Rock, AR to Oklahoma City, OK which was about a 5 hr drive so we got into our "oh, so fabulous" room at around 2am. We had a interesting nights sleep with children who had received their second wind, and woke up the next morning at around 8am.

Day 2 was a doozie, we planned to drive from Oklahoma City, OK to Moab, UT making for one long day and a couple short days. The thought process was it would be easier on the kids; I think it was in the end. Anyways it was a very long Sunday but the kids and the dog were great. We arrived in Moab around 11am MT and being the genius I am did not schedule a room as I thought "honestly, how busy can Moab be on a Sunday night". Major flawed thinking on my part... after 5 hotels shutting us down either for no vacancy or no pets we decided to bite the bullet and go to the pricier hotels. Luckily, we got a great room on our first try. We stayed at the Comfort Inn and surprisingly the price wasn't hideous. They had amazing beds and after a long day of traveling we all just laid in bed and unwound before turning out the lights.

HELLO!!

Day3 was awesome because we were literally only 5 hours from home so we got up and everyone showered, grabbed a quick bite from the free continetal breakfast and we were off. On the way home we made a few necessary stops before arriving in Nibley at around 2pm. Now that's the time of day to get home. Dave's parents came over to visit with us and brought us dinner which was so yummy and so thoughtful as cooking was the last thing on my mind. My mom also showed up a little later to get in her much needed grand baby fix and help me out for the week. After everything winded down we attempted to get to be early as Dave had to catch his plane back to Arkansas the next morning at 5:30am.

We are so glad to be home but so grateful for the wonderful summer we had to spend together as a complete family. Now we are just cheering Dave on to reach his Goals and hopefully come home the end of September.

Trip to Missouri

2011-08-27T14:22:00.025-06:00

Since we were within a few hours of my family in Missouri it seemed a bit ridiculous not to drive up and visit, the last time we were there Jocelyn had just turned 1 yrs old. We planned a fun family Sunday with Aunt Patty & Uncle Tim, Grandpa Thomas & Kathy, Aunt Alicia, Brandon and his kiddos,and Breanna and her family. The Mabe family are the Owners of the First Show on Branson, The Baldknobbers. Its a great show and I am so bummed that we didn't have enough time to go and see it, especailly now that tons of my family preform in it. Next time for sure.

Our drive up was great and it was so fun to drive through such familiar areas. We got to my Aunt Patty's around noon. We visited for awhile and enjoyed some lunch with them. My Cousins kids and are kids got along famously and had a blast playing and tearing up my Aunt's house. Around 3ish we said our goodbyes as we wanted to take the kids to see some sites in Missouri.

We drove down towards the Branson area and took the kids to the Talking Rocks Caverns. I remember going to these caves when I was younger and thought it would be fun for the kids. Other than being a little nervous about the height on the way down into the cave Jocelyn enjoyed it. Ethan was in little boy heaven and thought everything was just the coolest thing he had ever seen. Caitlyn did not enjoy being held by daddy the entire time but did seem to enjoy the atmosphere and Preston was just along for the free ride. After the caves our kiddos were completely done so we hopped into the car and headed home.

Other than a few whines and complaints about the long drive it was a wonderful day spent enjoying the area and spending time with family.

Jocelyn turns 7 years old

2011-08-27T14:00:00.009-06:00

Usually for birthdays I am completely on top of things and make sure there are plenty of batteries in the camera for pictures. This time I dropped the ball big time, not only did I not have any batteries for the camera but my phone wasn't even charged up so I only managed a few less than fabulous pictures.. so my apologies.

Since Jo was away from the majority of her friends for her birthday we wanted her to extra special. We all got up super early and went to IHOP which is becoming a birthday tradition amongst our kids. In a fun coincidence our good friends the Connellys just happen to be going out to breakfast too so Jo got to eat with her friend Ali. After a yummy breakfast we took Jo to Walmart so she could go pick out her present from daddy. We spent the rest of the day playing at the pool and hanging out with friends.

Again, just like Preston we planned a birthday party for her on Sunday so that Daddy could be there to celebrate. Sunday was a blast we had cake and ice cream. The kids played freeze dance, hot & cold, and a few other games they made up. Jocelyn was completely spoiled by friends yet again and had a wonderful birthday.

It seems so crazy to me that she is now 7 years old, she is such a wonderful big sister and is an amazing helper. She amazes me each day by how much she is growing up and becoming such a beautiful young lady. Her favorite things are barbies and playing mommy. She loves strawberry milk, hard boiled eggs and chips & salsa. She is reading like a champ and getting very good at math. We are so grateful that she came into our lives!

My Baby Turned 1!!

2011-08-03T14:48:00.022-06:00

So my itty bitty baby turned one years old. I swear each time the first year goes by so much faster. Since Preston's birthday fell on a Wednesday we had a small family celebration minus Dave and then planned a big one for the following Sunday. Preston was in a great mood and super excited to try his hand at a cupcake for the first time. As you can tell from the pics he wasn't to sure about it, but ended up loving it. He is a joy in our life. The kids adore him and he makes me smile everyday. He hasn't really developed any new tricks other than he has ditched baby food and formula and now eats what we eat and drinks milk. Still working on vocabulary and walking but he is doing great!

So we had a Family & Friends birthday party for Preston on Sunday and I pretty much forgot all about pictures. I am sorry we had fun hanging out with our friends and getting the kids all sugared up. Preston received some great gifts from our friends. He really loved the walker the Force's bought him. We got awesome video of his first test run with it.

Our Place in Arkansas

2011-07-30T15:32:00.004-06:00

We moved to Little Rock on the 10th of July. Here are a few pics of our place... Its so nice.

Obviously I need to take more pictures but you get the idea. We lucked out this time and got a nice bottom floor apartment. The two flights of stairs to most of the 3rd floor apartments are killer in this heat.

Our Morning at the Water Park

2011-07-23T15:14:00.012-06:00

A few days before we left Tyler we went to this really fun INDOOR waterpark just a few miles outside of town. It had a great kids splash parks, lazy river, wave pool and tons of slides. Jocelyn spent her morning running around with the other girls going from the lazy river to the wave pool. Ethan stayed mostly in the kids splash pad going down the green and blue slide. Caitlyn and Preston hung out with me splashing in the water shooters and in the wave pool. It was so fun, we went early enough that Dave was able to hang out with us for an hour or two before the meeting. Here are a few pictures I managed to take:

Caitlyn's first water slide experience.. she loved the slide part but was a little freaked out by the pool of water at the end... she still hasn't figured out how to stay up with a life jacket on.

Preston really enjoyed splashing the water. He was a little starttled by the Tsunami of water that seemed to happen every 15min or so drenching the entire kids splash pad. It was so fun, glad we were able to go before we left town.

Happy Independence day!!

2011-07-22T14:12:00.017-06:00

So our 4th of July started off with a Pancake Breakfast at the Church. They did a cute children's parade but I left the stroller at our apartment and Dave had to leave for his meeting, so we ended up going home after breakfast. We spent the rest of the day laying around by the pool and enjoying the sunshine until it was firework time.

Picture of our little family at the Breakfast.

Around 6-7pm Dave came home and we loaded up the kids to go watch the firework show at Lindsey Park. Evidently this is the show to see each year. It was really hot but there were quite a few clouds so it wasn't unbearable. The kids spent their time running around, playing chase and duck, duck, goose.

Just a little bit before sundown the clouds went from nice fluffy white to black... we could see tons of lightening and heavy rain in the distance but had our fingers crossed that it would stay away so we could watch the fireworks.

Right around 9pm the local police came on the intercom and asked everyone to head to their cars because the lightening in the area was too dangerous. It was pretty interesting to see a huge crowded field of people clear out in under 15 minutes. When we got to our car we decided that we'd rather take the kids to get ice cream and watch fireworks on tv than sit around and wait for the series of storms to pass. It worked out great just after we got our ice cream we drove home and noticed the large development across the street was just wrapping up its firework show. We parked in the clubhouse parking lot with our kiddos and watched the rest of the show.

It was really awesome to see natural fireworks (aka- lightening) along with real fireworks... Made my day for sure.

Here is a video of the finale from that fireworks show across the street.

"Ketchup" Time

2011-07-22T13:53:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures and a video from the end of June before I add all the fun things we have done in July.

Just in case we forgot we are in TEXAS... land of Big bugs this very nasty cockroach decided to remind us... He was HUGE and super fast. Honestly, I will kill most bugs but when they run at me.. well it becomes a job for Dave.

Preston trying his hand at diced carrots... not a huge fan...YET!

So I had promised Jo that we would have a mommy daughter day a little while ago.. but with traveling and such we had been so busy. I finally became good on my promise. Jocelyn and I went with a few of the other moms and daughters out here to IHOP for breakfast. Then we had a quick pedicure before the Dad's had to leave for work and could no longer watch the other kids. Jocelyn loves getting all girlie, we had so much fun.

Preston finally figured out how to clap!! YAY!!

Hanging out with Daddy

2011-06-24T12:57:00.011-06:00

When we lived in Fort Worth, we had talked about taking the kids to one of these dinner shows because there was one fairly close in Dallas but never did. Since we are near Dallas for the Summer we decided the 2.5 hour drive was totally worth it to go see it. We went with a bunch of our other Pinnacle friends that are out here too.

This is the Dallas Castle, the kids were so excited. Jocelyn was talking non stop about getting to see a real princess.

This was one of the horses that they used in the show. The kids thought it was so cool to see a real horse. They've seen horses before but I guess this one was special since it was a "royal" horse.

This was the meal we ate during the show.. surprisingly our kids ate most of their meals too.

Ethan was jaw open, eyes wide during the entire show. His favorite part was when the knights were sword fighting and the swords would make sparks when they hit. Jocelyn was pretty funny too, she loved cheering for our knight (The Red Knight) and would chant " GO RED KNIGHT GO" over and over again with her friend Lily. She and Caitlyn also got their faces painted and Ethan purchased a sword so he could be like one of the knights. It was such a fun experience to have with our kids, it has really made me so excited to take them to Disney Land and experience all the Characters.

11 Months old

2011-06-21T15:04:00.011-06:00

WOW... is it really that close to 1 year. I can hardly believe how fast Preston is growing up and I know it is just going to continue to speed up as the kiddos keep me on my feet. Preston is such an awesome baby and is so relaxed. He has started pulling himself up onto furniture and is attempting to walk around while he holds on to things. He now has two bottom teeth and we are experimenting with trying big people food so we can do away with the baby purees. He babbles a lot and says "mama" and "dada". We are still working with him to clap and wave hi. He absolutely adores his siblings and thinks they are so funny. I can't believe how blessed I am to have this little guy in my life, he is such a great addition to our family. Here are some recent pictures and videos of him.

So far this summer....

2011-06-10T14:11:00.037-06:00

We have been busy busy busy..... Here are some pictures of what we have been up to since moving out here to Tyler to be with Dave.

The day we drove in was Dave's 31st birthday so we celebrated with so BBQ take out and a Birthday Cake. I was a really long day and we had some really hyper cranky kids so we didn't do much.

We have been trying to go to the pool several days a week, however it is a huge under taking all by myself so when Dave is able to go we take advantage. The kids love it and have been really working on their swimming skills. Even Caitlyn and Preston have been enjoying the pool.

We have been enjoying outdoor BBQ's with the Pinnacle Group and indulging in yummy ice cream anytime we go to the store and are in desperate need of a quick cool down.

This last week I went with a few other Pinnacle Wives to the Caldwell Zoo with our kiddos. The kids had a blast and we went early enough in the day that the temperature wasn't too hot. The zoo was really neat and the animals were all fairly close and active.

So far this summer has been off to a great start. Dave is doing amazing selling and has really stepped it up this year. Although he is gone a lot we have been able to spend a lot of time with him in the mornings and each night at least one of our children have been awake when he gets home to spend some one on one time with daddy.

Tyler, Texas for the Summer!!

2011-05-30T16:36:00.013-06:00

We left for Tyler, TX early Saturday morning and spent a very very long day in the car. The kids did great, we have trained them well. Misha was a trooper and traded me spot in the passenger seat when I needed to go back and take care of the babies. The kids did very little sleeping but they were very excited. We stopped for dinner in Albuquerque at a Village Inn and got some "non-fast food" food, the kids were pretty well behaved for being in the car for over 12 hours. Then we drove all the way to a little town just a few miles outside of Amarillo where we stopped for the night around 1 am. Dave and I were exhausted and the kids couldn't get comfortable in their car seats so it was a good time to stop.

Sunday morning we left the Best Western and headed for our Home away from Home for the next 3 months. The apartment is a lot better than I was expecting, we seem to have plenty of room for the kiddos to play and the complex has 2 pools which gives us a great get away during the day. Here are a few pictures from the inside of our place...

Ethan's Preschool Graduation

2011-05-30T15:51:00.016-06:00

Ethan is officially done with Preschool and has changed so much in the course of one school year. He has truly come out of his shell and although he is still not one who enjoys being the center of attention, he has definatley become less shy. The last week or so of preschool they had a show-off for you parents day in each of his activity classes, so I brought the camera along and snagged some pictures along with a few from his actual preschool graduation. He was in a less than stellar mood at the actual graduation so I only got pictures of him after the performances.

Mondays Ethan went to Tumbling for the first half of Preschool.

Wednesdays he did swimming class... PICTURES TO COME (they are all on Dave's cell phone)

Fridays he went to either Tennis or Movement (a.k.a Dance) however, I missed his movement class day so I only have pictures and video from his Tennis day.

Then of course he smiles for mom after the big Preschool Graduation performance where they sang some of the songs that the kids had learned over the course of the year. Ethan spent the whole performance standing next to one of his teachers and making a frowny face as he didn't want to sing. What a funny kid.

10 months old and crawling...

2011-05-13T17:04:00.005-06:00

I swear I can't keep up with this kid, he is getting so big. He has become quite the baby babbler saying "mama", "dada", and "baba". He has also gained a new appreciation for tummy time now that he is an active army crawler. He goes all over the house and rarely sits anymore. He is still figuring out how to actually crawl on all fours but I for see him perfecting that in the next week or so. We have started trying some new "big kid" food such as yogurt, bread and a few others but texture and temperature seem to be a major deterrent, at least for now. There are no new teeth yet but they can't be too far off as his lower gums are very swollen and red. Here are some recent pictures and video of my little baby boy.

Ethan turns 5!!

2011-05-10T20:48:00.014-06:00

Ethan's birthday was very busy this year. It started off with a drive to the airport to pick up daddy followed by a mad dash back up to Logan so he could be on time to preschool. After preschool we came home and had a Transformer cake and ice cream party with friends. We were very fortunate this year that is was a beautiful warm sunny day so the kids played in the backyard most of the time. We had asked Ethan a few days prior to his party where he would like to go eat for his birthday dinner and he had decided he wanted pancakes. So after the party we loaded up the kids and went to IHOP. It was pretty fun especially when a few of the waiters and waitresses came over and sang happy birthday to him. He had a great birthday and received tons of gifts from all our friends.

He specifically asked for a scooter and a boy zhu zhu pet this year.... so that's what he got from Dave and I :)

Another fun surprise came a few days later when My Dad and Miriam drove down to spend the weekend with us. I'll blog about that later but they did bring Ethan some more awesome Transformers. Thank you so much to all our Friends and Family who helped us celebrate my little man turning 5!

Easter and More!!

2011-05-10T20:08:00.022-06:00

First off the Month of April was crazy busy for us. Dave and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary on the 2nd because he left for Texas on our acutal anniversary. We went to the Melting Pot in Salt Lake and then walked around the Gateway, basically we just enjoyed some "us" time. Then Preston turned 9 months old on the 11th. He is getting so big so fast. He is a pro a sitting up and has started rocking on his knees, I am sure he will be crawling here really soon.

The rest of the month up until Easter we spent keeping busy with school, Easter activities and of course being silly around the house.

Easter was a bit bitter sweet this year because Dave was unable to celebrate with us. However, we managed to keep up our family traditions. Jocelyn was a bit over excited for the Easter bunny to show and woke up at 2am to find her Easter basket. Needless to say I promptly put her back to bed. When the kids did officially wake up for the day we did a small treat before getting ready for church. Don't they look so cute all hyped up on Sugar and dressed for Church. Church was wonderful and I was so grateful to have my mom and Todd up to help. After Church we had our traditional family Easter egg hunt however this year we were blessed to have received an Easter Egg Scavenger hunt with eggs find with symbols and scriptures of the True Easter Story of our Saviors Resurrection from our wards Primary. Here are some pictures of our egg finding fun.

The kids did great at finding the eggs. After they found everything we sat down with Jocelyn and Ethan (Caitlyn went down for a nap) and went through the Story of the Resurrection with the Easter eggs. The kids were so involved and I think they really started to understand why we celebrate the Easter holiday and what an amazing gift our Savior and Father in Heaven gave to us. Although we missed Dave immensely we had a great Sunday.

March Madness Part 2

2011-05-10T18:43:00.035-06:00

The last half of the month of March up to Easter was really all about Caitlyn. Since she was about to turn 2 we decided it was time to move her out of the crib and into a big girl bed. After a few tricks to get her to actually stay in her room she became quite a pro at sleeping in a big girl bed (with the help of a side rail- she is quite the crazy sleeper).

She also mastered a funny little trick, crossing her fingers. She thinks it is the funniest thing and I catch her doing it all the time.
Finally on the 21st of March we celebrated Caitlyn's 2nd birthday. We invited some of our friends to join us at The Cache Valley Fun Park to play on the soft play jungle gym. Caitlyn had a blast running around with the kids. She even made a few friends with some random ladies sitting in the parent seating watching their kids.
After all the excitement of running around with friends we came back to our house for cake and ice cream. Caitlyn chose a Tinker Bell Birthday party.
Caitlyn and Krew were to cute munching on their cupcakes together and chatting with each other.

Caitlyn received her special birthday present from Grandma & Grandpa Battson the next day... she loved her new fairy Barbie.

March Madness Part 1

2011-03-20T20:12:00.017-06:00

March has been a great month so far. We started off with my 28th Birthday on the 2nd, which to be quite honest I wasn't looking forward too. However, my awesome hubby made it a wonderful day. He made me breakfast in bed and then sent me to get my back adjusted, an hour massage and then treated me too an Aqua Chi cleansing...

(Not my feet ^ but a picture so you know what it looks like). Basically it is a little machine that they put into a tub of water, add a little salt and turn it on. Within a few minutes the water turns this nasty color and you feel like a thousand little bubble coming out of the bottom of your feet. It is suppose to help cleanse your blood and give you an energy boost. I liked it a lot. After that we went home and my Mom took me out for some serious shopping. We finished the night with a Yummy dinner at Elements and Bowling at the fun park. It was a great way to spend my birthday.

On the 11th our little "Puke Machine" Preston turned 8 months old. It is so crazy to me how fast he seems to be growing up. He is gaining weight like a champ and is finally converted over to the bottle and rarely nurses anymore which although a bit bitter sweet is a welcomed freedom. He is really starting to babble and squeal. Most times he says some form of "mamama" which, I am more than happy to accept "ma-ma" as his first word since he is usually yelling that at me. He is getting better at sitting up on his own. However, we are still battling the sleeping through the night issues... most nights he is still up every 3 hours.

The Saturday before Dave left for his next Blitz week it was a pretty warm day and most of the snow had melted so we took the opportunity to take the kids to the park just down the street. They had a blast getting out of the house. We also learned that our little Caitlyn is quite the fearless little girl.

Can I just tell you how funny it is now that Jocelyn looks forward to the random Holidays like Valentines day and St. Patrick's Day because she can dress up and where fun things (i.e. glitter make up or jewelry). We got into the Luck of the Irish spirit here in the Yates Home by wearing green, eating green foods, and playing Irish type games. Here are some pictures from our fun day!!

(^ green french toast, Pesto Chicken Bake with Broccoli and Parsley French Bread, Hot Potato and Stomp the Shamrock a.k.a freeze dance).

SNOW!!!

2011-03-18T19:18:00.011-06:00

We had so many huge snow storms in the month of February so rather than me blogging about each one I figured I would just lump them together... so here goes

First Big one... February 16th...

Next Big One... February 22nd

Then Finally Our Biggest Yet... February 24th..

Celebration Fun!!

2011-03-18T16:44:00.010-06:00

So We started February off with a bang by Celebrating My mom's (Insert appropriate # here ) birthday. The kids had a great time and even helped their Meme blow out the candles. I love my momma and wanted her to feel special on her birthday so I made her a brownie cake. It was completely gone by the next morning.

Then of course we had Valentines day on the 14th. Both Jocelyn and Ethan had school Valentines day parties, so they were excited for about a week leading up to the day. Dave and I took the babies out with us for our "Romantic" Valentine Lunch at Beehive Grill. That night we treated the kiddos to a yummy homemade dinner, sparkling apple cider and a special Valentines Day Cake. Here are a few pictures from that day.

Also the 11th of February meant Preston turned 7 months old.. His eyes are still pretty blue so we have high hopes they will stay that way. His 7 month old tricks are working on sitting up and putting everything he can get his hands on in his mouth. Minus the fact that he doesn't sleep through the night he really is a great baby.

Our New Place

2011-02-08T12:15:00.020-07:00

Okay a little overdue but here are some pictures of the inside of our new place.

Front Door

Hallway to the Right of the front door
Laundry room that goes out to the Garage

Master Bedroom- we obviously need to Paint so our stuff goes.

Our Closet- We finally have a REAL Closet!!

Mater Bath- Again I really need to coordinate my bedding with other stuff in the Master bedroom.

Kitchen

Kitchen Dining

Front Family/Sitting room

Caitlyn's Room- to the right in the upstairs hall

Kids Bathroom

Preston's Room- to the left in the upstairs hall

Stairs to the Basement

Basement Family Room- Soon to be Theater Room once we get an Electrician over to set up our Projector.

Kids Playroom

Other half of the Basement Family Room

Jocelyn's Room- in the basement hall on the right

Ethan's Room- to the left in the basement hall

We absolutely love our new place and the kids are enjoying the space. We feel so very blessed we were able to not only find this place but were able to get it with the option to buy in a year or so. Our new ward is awesome and the neighborhood seems great and full of kids. Jocelyn is loving her new school and is finally being challenged with her schooling.

Preston is 6 months old... and we are moving :)

2011-01-21T14:00:00.011-07:00

I have packed up Preston's measurement card so I will have to upload that later but at his 6 month well check his Dr. said he is growing great. He weighed in at 13 lbs. 15 oz. which is the 5th percentile on the growth chart for infants his age. He was 25 1/2 inches tall and in at the 15th percentile for height. His pediatrician said he is hitting all the major milestone markers and looks great. We have introduced solids (i.e. baby food) which he has twice a day with a bit of rice cereal mixed in and we continue to breastfeed as he does not like formula on bit. I did however manage to get him to drink about 1 oz of formula the other night so maybe he is starting to like it. Seeing how he is my last little one I am not really bothered by the fact that we are still nursing and figure I can keep it up if needed until we introduce cow's milk around 11+ months. He is really a happy baby and squeals and giggles a lot. He tolerates tummy time for longer amounts of time, especially when his older sister wants to hang out with him. He loves to chew on anything and everything he can get into his mouth. He has recently gained a lot more control over his hands and has been grabbing his binkie and doing the in/out of the mouth game. He continues to gain better control of his balance while sitting up. We still refer to him as "Mr. Mc-puke-r-ton" as he still is a major happy spitter. Other than that he spend most days sleeping, eating with the occasional 1-2 hours of being wide awake playing with siblings thrown in. Here are some of his recent pictures.

Now for moving news.... We signed the year lease agreement this week and got the keys. We have most of our house packed and hope to start carting things over Saturday night. The plan is to be completely moved in by Monday the 24th. We can't wait!!! Jocelyn is a little nervous about starting a new school but she will do great. Ethan will continue to go to his preschool in Logan and I am sure Caitlyn and Preston will love the new space. Here are two pictures of the house I found online. It is in a cul-da-sac so our kids will really love that when it gets a bit warmer out. I will try to update with more pictures once we get moved in and Internet is up and running.

Front of the house

The kitchen :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

2011-01-03T16:50:00.009-07:00

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Our Shocking News for 2011:

We are MOVING asap.. We found out shortly after Christmas that the rental we are in not only has a major roof leak that has completely rotted out beams by our front door and is covered in moldy insulation; But the sump pump under our house was not working and there are several large puddles of stagnate, mold covered water dispersed throughout the entire crawl space. In light of this new information and the lingering illnesses we've been experiencing since all of this was discovered has led us to want to "get out of dodge". We have been searching the classifieds to find a place and have gone to several potential homes only to be disappointed with them. However, it seems Heavenly Father has sent a major blessing as a home which is very comparable to our old house in Eagle Mountain is available for us to rent starting the 1st of February if not sooner. The family renting it to us are really wonderful people and we are excited to be working with them.

We are really looking forward to this new year in the hopes that it will be filled with more wonderful memories and maybe just a smidgen less stress than 2010. Dave and I have set goals to get in shape and have a killer summer so that we can take the kids to Disneyland next fall. The kids are going to work hard to excel in school, which they are already achieving. The Babies are going to work on growing strong and playing hard. All in all I think we have all set achievable goals for this new year. Hope this new year is a better year than last year for you too!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T16:25:00.032-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We spent the week leading up to Christmas learning about the Savior's birth, making homemade puzzles for Santa, baking yummy goodies and watching movies. Chirstmas Eve day we got the house all ready for Meme, Popop and Ali to come stay with us. That evening we ate a yummy Pot Roast dinner and then decorated sugar cookies and fried fattinman. Just before it was time to go to bed the kids opened their Christmas jammies and Christmas books.
Jocelyn drew Santa on his Sleigh with Rudolph out front leading the way.
Ethan drew the toy Big Foot in the mountains with snow falling all around.

Showing off the new jammies.

SANTA CAME!!!

The kids woke up bright and early Christmas morning and ran downstairs to check things out before waking mommy and daddy up. Luckily Santa had left out two new Leapster Explorers which allowed mommy and daddy to get an extra half hour of quiet time before the unwrapping craziness began.

Eventually Christmas was rough on daddy as well as Preston.Caitlyn was helping mommy clean up after all the craziness was over. She is such a funny girl.

Snow Day :)

2011-01-03T14:07:00.015-07:00

Honestly, our winter has been pretty pathetic here in the "Arctic North". It has been fairly warm so we've had a lot more rain than snow. However a few days before Christmas we did get a few inches so we bundled up all the kids and let them go crazy in the backyard. This was Caitlyn's first legitimate experience in the snow and getting to play with it. She had a great time.

She fell down quite a bit because she still isn't the strudiest of walkers.

She thought pushing the snow around was about the coolest thing ever.

5 months old

2011-01-03T13:59:00.005-07:00

Time is just cruising by and my littlest man is 5 months old. He is becoming much more active and social. He laughs and smiles most of the time. He still does not sleep through the night which is pretty rough on mommy. We started introducing solids this month and so far he is a big fan of squash. Here are some fun pictures of playtime...

My Brave Jo and Random Pictures

2010-12-08T13:32:00.007-07:00

On our way home from Washington I noticed that one of Jocelyn's front permanent teeth had started to come through, however it was behind her baby tooth and her baby tooth was not loose at all. So I called her Dr. that Monday and they got us in right away. After her appointment it became clear that she needed to have all four of her bottom front teeth pulled in order to make room for the new permanent teeth to come in straight. So Monday morning we got up early and went in. Jocelyn was so brave. She was a little nervous at first to even sit in the chair but, once they got "How to train your Dragon" and the laughing gas on she was fine. She didn't make a peep when they gave her shots to numb her gums and actually started talking up a storm while they were removing her teeth. Afterwards she received two toys from the dentist and a barbie from the store with mom because she had done so well for the dentist. Here is her new toothless smile.

Here are some random pictures of the other munchkins... They are so cute!
Oh and the dog.

Our Thankgiving Trip to Washington

2010-12-08T13:14:00.020-07:00

The drive to Washington... Google estimated travel time: 13 hours 24 min

Actual travel time: 18 hours 14 min

So Dave and I thought "hey we will get on the road and miss the massive blizzard headed for Utah"... WRONG!! We met up with it in Idaho and got to sit on the highway for a good hour and a half. Here is a picture of the truck in front of us prior to going into the storm.

This is Preston getting very impatient with the wait and trying his hand out at driving a the car himself. By the way we received at least 4 inches of snow while sitting on the highway during the blizzard.

This is what the highway looked like after we started moving again... um yeah it is safe to say we were the only crazy people trying to drive through it.

Misha has changed so much in her 3 + years. She used to be a puppy that would get car sick driving out of the neighborhood but now she just curls up by the heater and sleeps for most of the car ride. She looks smooshed in this picture but that was her doing not ours, as she had plenty of room in the burban.

Finally, we made it to Grandpa & Grandma Battson's house. We promptly went to bed after arriving but the next day we woke up and hung out at the house all day just enjoying the company.

This is the colossus Sweet Potato that by itself turned into the very yummy Sweet potato casserole Miriam made. It was honestly the size of a football.

Preston giving Grandpa the "Everett Scowl"... such a funny serious kid.

So this year I decided to be one of "those" people who do the stay up all night and shop the BLACK FRIDAY deals. Miriam and Chance joined me in craziness and we made out great. We started the evening off at 10pm Thanksgiving day at Toys r us... well that was the plan until we saw the crazy twice around the building line to get in. We then decided to be more strategic and stood in line at old navy while I purchased what I wanted from TRU online for the same door busting price.

After Old Navy we went home for a short energizing break and then headed back to the Mall for the JcPenney Deals at 4am. It was so fun and exhausting but I ended up saving more than I spent which was awesome. We got home from shopping at around 8am and spent the rest of the day sleeping.

Saturday we stopped by Great Grandma Battson' s for a visit. She had a great time meeting her newest Great Grandson Preston. He and Caitlyn put on a great show for her and had her smiling and laughing the whole time.

After Great Grandma's we had lunch at the Ram... one of my favorites. Then Miriam, Jocelyn and I went off to find boots as our attempts on black Friday were smooshed because the ladies in the shoe department were way too crazy for us. Jocelyn had fun trying on the women's boots but we didn't end up finding what we were looking for.

We left early Sunday morning hoping to have better weather than before. No such luck. This was the last bit of sunshine we saw in Yakima, WA on our way home.

Again what should of taken only 13hours ended up being a horrendously long drive home. Idaho had tons of strong winds and snow which resulted in I-86 closing and causing us to detour to I-84 to Pocatello, ID. Fortunately for us they closed I-84 after we had made it to Pocatello so we were able to get onto I-15 and make it home safely. I must say this, Our kiddos were amazingly good considering the extremely long drive and frequent stops to nurse Preston.

We had so much fun in Washington and wish we could just teleport back and forth from there to here, so we could visit more often.

Jocelyn's Girls Only Club

2010-11-21T16:18:00.025-07:00

Jocelyn had been asking me and asking me if she could have some friends over for a "Girls only club" for several weeks now and every time it was just too crazy to have more kids over at our house. Well this last Friday I finally caved and said she could invite some girls from school. She invited over three friends from school: Shaylee C., Afton O. and Elle T. and one of our friends daughters from Pinnacle Lily F.

Jocelyn planned the who afternoon which started with making sugar cookies, then painting fingernails. They then watch a Strawberry shortcake movie, ate popcorn and played card games while the cookies cooled. Then they were give some frosting and topping and went to town on the sugar cookies. Jocelyn and her friends Shaylee went crazy with the toppings. Almost all the girls scarfed their cookies as soon as the were decorated. They finished the evening by playing dress up and pretending they were princesses and witches.

Even though I was exhausted and still getting over a sore throat it was so fun to talk with the girls and see them all interact. It really has me looking forward to the fun girls nights she'll have when she is a teenager.

Ethan, Caitlyn and Preston were great during the whole thing too. Ethan sat upstairs watching Scooby-doo movies and snacking on popcorn with daddy. Caitlyn and Preston both took naps for almost the entire time. Here are some pictures I sneaked in of the girls. I couldn't help it, it was all too cute.

Halloween, Family photos and a growing baby boy....

2010-11-15T12:57:00.030-07:00

Okay starting with the most recent and working backwards. Preston is 4 months old now and it honestly feels like he is growing up at warp speed. My last little baby is getting so big. He has gained about 3 lbs and 2 inches from his last visit, which is awesome, as he is now on the growth charts. As for new baby tricks he is smiling, cooing and interacting a lot more. He rolls over almost anytime we have him on his tummy. He has also discovered his hands and has them in his mouth most of the day. Here is his stats card and foot prints from the Dr. office.

He was showing off his strength with daddy the other night.. working on sitting up by himself. Sorry blurry picture but he was a little wobbly.

A few weeks ago we had family pictures taken in Saratoga Springs by my dear friend Mikki (http://mikkigrimleyphotography.blogspot.com/).. She did a great job! She was able to get great shots of us all in such a short time before it started pouring rain. She even managed to get my very grouchy Caitlyn to smile in a few shots. Thanks Mikki! Here are just a few of my favorites:

And last but not least our Halloween fun!! We first took the kids to the Cache Valley Mall for trick or treating but the line was so crazy long that we only did half the mall. We then went to Lee's Market Place for their grocery store trick or treat. I think its my new favorite because they pass out things like doughnuts, chocolate milk, cheese stick and the occasional candy. The kids were brave enough to go through the "haunted back room" this year... BUT got completely freaked out. After all that fun we went home and carved are family pumpkin.. I think it is the best one we have ever done. The kids decided on the shape and size of the eyes, nose and mouth.

After dinner Dave took Ethan and Jocelyn to a few of the neighbors houses but seeing as it was pouring rain they came back soon and helped mommy pass out candy. I think they enjoyed that part the most because every time the doorbell rang they were both right at the door to see what the other kids were dressed as.

What we've been up to....

2010-10-16T13:56:00.008-06:00

Well it's mid-October and since my last post, the Yates family have been busy busy busy.

Dave returned home from Texas on Sunday October 4th. The kids were so excited to hear that daddy was driving home that they wanted to make a sign for him... so we did. He got to see the beautiful artwork at around 3am that morning when he arrived. We made him breakfast and the kiddos talked his ear off the rest of that day.

I have got to take more pictures of my other precious babies, but here is the latest news on them.

Jocelyn is doing great in school. We had her parent teacher conference last week and she is doing great. She needs to work on a few number reversals and spelling her sight words, but other than that she is excelling.

Ethan is enjoying preschool. We are working on his writing skills and letter recognition. His speech is really starting to improve and I think his interaction with kids his age is really helping that. His favorite part of preschool is still swimming.

Caitlyn is changing so much each day. She has such a funny personality and enjoys making us laugh. She is gaining new words all the time. Her favorite thing to do right now is cuddle up with mommy or daddy and watch Tinkerbell.

Preston is now 3 months old and growing up so fast. He holds his head up very well, smiles, coo's and can roll over from tummy to back. Here are a few pictures I have taken over the last month of Preston doing his tummy time or playtime.

18 months old!!

2010-09-27T13:07:00.007-06:00

Our little Caitlyn (aka- K bear) is officially 18 months old. She is a little ball of fire and has definitely discovered her own independence. She says a few words clearly: mommy, daddy, baby, thank you, peek a boo, yeah, owie, hi, mom, and jojo. She is walking like a pro now and her curiosity is just starting. She likes to play with her brother and sister, occasionally yelling at them for being to rowdy. She is growing and changing so much each day. Here are some pictures of our little toddler tornado.

Random Pictures from this Summer

2010-09-18T13:14:00.026-06:00

Since I was taking pictures off my phone, I thought I would post some of our random photos from this summer. Many of them are pictures I sent to Dave while he was out working so he knew what the kids were up to. Enjoy!

2 month Check up

2010-09-13T11:28:00.014-06:00

Its crazy that time is going by so quickly, but sure enough, its true, Preston is 2 months old. He is growing and changing so much every day. He is a champion nurser and feeds every 3 hours except at night when he gives mommy 4-5hrs between feedings. He is just starting to smile and make cooing noises however most of them right now are while he is nursing (I guess that's when he is happiest). He is also figuring out that he can roll from his tummy to back during tummy time since he can't stand it after about 5 min. His pediatrician said he is very strong and was amazed at his grip today when he was testing his neck strength. We are all so in love with this little boy and he is really the perfect fit in our family.

^one of Preston's many facial expressions

^I think this picture looks so much like my Grandpa Battson, Preston's late Great Grandpa.

^ His 2 month stats, he is slowly starting to show up on the growth curve at the Pediatricians office.

Here are a few shots of Preston during his tummy time:

Watch out here is comes.....

And then there was 2...

2010-09-08T18:41:00.006-06:00

Today was Ethan's first day of Preschool... YAY!!! That little boy has so much energy that I have been counting down the days until he started. He goes 3 times a week for 3 hours and I have the two little ones left at home to hang out with while both he and Jocelyn are gone at school.

The first hour of preschool is an activity either swimming, tumbling, movement, or tennis. Then he returns to the actual preschool class for lessons and playtime. Today he had swimming which I was slightly nervous about because of our awful swim lesson experience this summer. However, I was pleased to find out that he participated today and had fun. He said that they learned to "swim" (aka float) on their backs and how to do the rocket. He also told me they colored a Caterpillar (the theme this year is the hungry Caterpillar) and he made friends. I am so glad he enjoyed it and am really looking forward to a little quiet time at home three times a week.

Ethan showing off his new backpack for preschool.

All ready to go!

Preston's Baby Blessing

2010-09-03T10:22:00.010-06:00

Preston Everett Yates

Blessed August 29th, 2010 @ 9:00 a.m

Meadows 1st ward in Logan, Utah

So this last Sunday, August 29th we decided to take advantage of the fact that Dave was in town and blessed Preston. We found out on the 23rd that Dave would be flying home for the weekend so, we put in a call to our new bishop to see if we could bless Preston that following Sunday. However, we didn't find out it was okay until the Saturday before, so needless to say it was a mad dash to tell family and friends. Then I was off to find Ethan's blessing suit which I had hung up in the closet for Preston to wear, but when I went to get it it was gone. I searched the house high and low to no success. So we spent our Saturday evening going to Dressed in White to get a new outfit, which I absolutely adore. We were not expecting many to be there on Sunday morning but were blown away by how supportive our family and friends were to just change plans and show up. It was a absolutely wonderful blessing and a little bitter sweet that this was the last baby blessing we would be doing for our little (well I guess big) family. Right after church we headed back to our house for cinnamon rolls and juice to celebrate. Here are a few pictures from that wonderful day.

Preston's Birth Announcement

2010-09-03T10:19:00.003-06:00

Since I wasn't able to print out more copies of this I thought I would post the announcement here as well as on Facebook for my dear friends and family who did not receive the actual copy.

First Day of 1st Grade

2010-08-18T08:48:00.006-06:00

Here is my absolutely adorable first grader the morning of her first day of school, can you tell she is so excited. Since we moved from Texas where she was in all day Kindergarten she has been looking forward to going into first grade here in Utah, since Kindergarten here was 1/2 day. She missed recess and lunch time, hot lunch in particular. Ethan, Caitlyn, Preston and I walk Jocelyn all the way to her class and then waited patiently at home until it was time to pick her up. It was really nice to have such a calm home with her at school, I think she has been going stir crazy with my limited mobility this summer.

After school the verdict was in... she had a great first day. She has a few friends from her kindergarten class in her class this year and she was able to play with her other two best friends during recess. When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was she replied recess (of course what child won't love that). She likes her teacher and can't wait until we put some money in her lunch account so she can get hot lunch.

Other than being a bit crabby in the evening she did great and is looking forward to going to school each day. YAY!!

1 Month old and a little R&R in PG

2010-08-16T12:00:00.017-06:00

It is crazy to believe that a month has already past since Preston joined our family. I guess you could say we are so busy we don't even notice the days flying by. Preston is doing great! He is a champ at breastfeeding and is gain weight right and left. He is more alert during the day and is working on getting that little neck stronger. We love him to pieces!

Here are his 1 month stats:

weight: 6lbs. 5oz.

height: 19 1/4inches

We call Preston our little old man because for some crazy reason instead of getting a bald spot on the back of his head like most babies, he has a bald spot on top. Its a lot like a receding hair line. He is still absolutely precious though.

Since school starts on Wednesday, August 18th and the kiddos were going stir crazy being stuck at home all day with mom. We packed up the car and headed down to Pleasant Grove last Sunday to have one last who-rah before life get crazy between Elementary school, Preschool, a walking toddler and a nursing infant. It was intended to a be a rest & relax type of trip but I think the only one who really go that was Preston. Here are some photos of our little trip. I am sorry they are so grainy, I brought my camera but used my phone most of the time.

Here is our littlest Diva "K"

My Cute but very energetic and sometime mischievous "Jo" & "E"We went to the PG Pool one day and everyone loved it, even Preston. My kids really are fishes, they just love being in the water.

Oh, yes and we must not forget my 5th Child "Misha". She is such a funny dog.

All in All we are doing well. We miss Dave like crazy but are surviving without him for now. I am still adjusting to life with 4 kids and celebrate small things like bathing all of them on the same day or making a 30min trip to the store without losing anyone. We are so blessed and so so so so grateful for great family!!

Some More Baby Pictures....

2010-07-31T10:27:00.009-06:00

These are a few of the pictures I took the other day of Preston. I am still trying to decide which one I want to use for his birth announcement. He is so precious!

2 Weeks Old!

2010-07-26T14:59:00.006-06:00

Today was Preston's 2 week well child check up and it went great! He weighed 5lbs 3.5oz (which is a 12.5 oz gain from last Thursday) and he is 19 inches long (1 inch gain). I got permission from the pediatrician to let Preston schedule feeding time instead of waking him up every 3 hours (YEAH!!!). He was also circumcised today, which breaks my heart but they numbed him really well and he was only fussy for the local numbing shots, didn't even flinch with the actual procedure.

Next visit is his 2 month!!! I feel so extremely blessed that he is doing so well for how small he still is.

Here is his 2 week old picture:

Jocelyn's 6th Birthday

2010-07-25T16:11:00.018-06:00

I can hardly believe that 6 years ago I became a mommy for the first time. My sweet girl Jocelyn has become such a beautiful, outgoing, and caring child. Since we were so lucky to have daddy in town we continued with the plans for Jocelyn to have a swimming/water birthday party. She loves Princess and the frog right now so that was the theme this year. She invited two friends from school and a few of our good friends from Pinnacle. She had a great birthday! Here are some pictures of her party.

All of her friends splashing around in the pool.

Caitlyn enjoyed the cupcakes too!

Preston's First Bath...

2010-07-25T13:49:00.005-06:00

Preston lost his little umbilical scab super early so Dave actually got to share the "first bath" experience with me. Here are some pictures of our tiny peanut. He enjoyed the bath when he was having water poured on him but didn't like it when I was actually washing him.

Well I almost made it...

2010-07-23T14:04:00.037-06:00

.... to 36 weeks. I had been having random contraction since my 35week appointment but most of them fizzled out by midnight, so I assumed that things were just getting things ready like my pregnancy with Caitlyn. However ,starting Thursday July 8th,I had a few signs that labor might be coming soon when I lost my mucous plug. I didn't get too concerned or excited as I had read that that can happen several days/weeks in advance.

Then Friday morning after getting out of the shower, I had a the "show". I called my OB to see if I should be concerned. They said to keep an eye out for contractions but other than that, it only means things are progressing. Saturday July 10th started like any other day, I felt fine and didn't have any more show or contractions. That evening I started having mild contractions every 3-5 minutes but they weren't getting any stronger. Dave and I went for a short walk with Jocelyn to see if they would fizzle out or if they would get stronger.. they didn't do either. I decided to lie down for bed a few hours later and see if the contractions would subside as they had done in previous days. However shortly after laying down I felt a gush, I got up and said to Dave that either I had just peed my pants or my water broke. Unfortunately, I was wrong, I discovered I was bleeding. I tried to be calm but was really freaked out and worried about Preston. We raced to get stuff together and raced off to the hospital.

It was about 11:45pm when we showed up at Labor and Delivery. They quickly got me on a monitor and eased my fears when we could hear Preston's heartbeat. They then checked me, I had gone from a 1cm, and 80% on Tuesday to 3cm and 80%, and was still contracting every 3-5min. They said the bleeding was likely from my cervical changes. They notified the on call Dr., Dr. Kirkman whom said to give me a shot of terbutaline to see if that stopped the contractions and then to monitor me over night and see if I made any cervical changes.

At 3:25am the nurse came into check me and I was still at 3cm, but now 90% with my bag of water bulging. She said to call her if I felt any changes or if I felt anymore bleeding, otherwise they would check me in the morning. She said they wouldn't do anything to get labor really going at that point but if I got to a 4 or 5 then they would likely break my water and let me deliver. She also said they would continue to monitor Preston's heart rate as with each contraction his heart rate dropped. I asked if I should be concerned and she said it was likely his cord was either wrapped around his neck or being pinched and that worst case scenario if after a contraction it is slow to come back up then they would do an emergency c-section, but for now they were going to watch it.

At 7:30am on July 11th after a very long sleepless night they checked me again and I was at 4cm, 100%. Candis my nurse said "well it looks like your going to have a baby today, the Dr. is on his way up to break your water, when would you like your epidural." I said as soon as possible as I was so exhausted from the pain of contracting all night.

Last picture of me pregnant, right after they told me I was going to meet Preston soon.

At 8am the anesthesiologist came in to place my epidural, luckily my last Lovenox shot was at 7am Saturday morning so I had just cleared the 24hr. window. At 8:30am Dr. Kirkman came in and checked me, I had progressed to 5cm and was now fully engaged. He broke my water, fluid was clear which was great news. Since all my previous labors were quick after my water had broke the nurse came in and checked me often. At 9:15am I was 6cm and +1 station, 9:30am I was 7cm. By 10 am the nurse noticed some major decelerations in Preston's heart rate so she thought I might be fully dilated. Sure enough, at 10:15 I was 10cm and Preston was a +2 station. She called the Dr. to come as we were ready to deliver.

At 10:20 after only 2 pushes. Baby Preston came into this world screaming even though his cord was wrapped around neck, which explained all the decels in heart rate we saw all night during contractions. He weighed 4lbs. 11.9oz and was 18inches long, with Initial Apgars at 8/9. He was then taken to NICU to be monitored. The nurses in the NICU did some breathing therapy on him which supplies his lungs with a little extra pressure to help the lungs expand fully. He was on that machine for only an hour.
At 11am we found out Preston's glucose level was good, temp control was good, breathing rate was good and blood pressure was good. I was able to go to the NICU at 1pm to do some Skin to Skin holding for an hour, and then was taken to my postpartum room. Once my legs were done being numb I went down every 3hrs to feed him. I was surprised at 9pm when the NICU nurse came and brought him to me and said that he could be up in my room but they would monitor his glucose levels through out the night.
Monday morning we were told his levels were dropping and he would be readmitted to the NICU and have an IV put in to stabilize them. As his feedings got better through out the day the pediatrician said they would start weaning him off the IV and see how his levels did. The kids came up to see their new brother and My mom came up to spend a feeding time with me. It was hard to have him in the NICU but I knew that was the best thing for him at this point. The nurse over Preston in the NICU, Wendy, was awesome. She knew I had been down that road before and really let me sorta take the wheel with how I wanted to feed him. We first tried breastfeeding with a nipple shield that had an N-G tube inserted under it which was attached to a syringe of breast milk. The idea was to get him latched on and supplement each feeding with 10mL of breast milk. He did great but the shield was annoying. Monday evening we tried to ditch the shield and just insert the tube at the corner of his mouth while he was nursing from me directly. It went great and was so much easier.

Tuesday morning I went down for a few more feedings before being discharged. His glucose levels had been stable through out the night and they were down to the lowest IV setting, but the pediatrician hadn't been by yet. I was discharged at 10am and figured that with luck Preston would get to come home by the weekend. I cried the whole way home, but knew it was what needed to be done so he could come home healthy.

At 11am, I got a call from his pediatrician saying he was doing great and pending his 3pm glucose result, which would be 5hr off his IV, that we could bring Preston home. I was ecstatic. We went back at 12pm to drop off his car seat so he could do his car seat trial (basically, they watch his heart rate, oxygen levels and breathing rate for 1.5hrs while he is in his car seat).

Preston doing his Car Seat Test.

At 3pm we found out, he passed his hearing test and his car seat trial. We took his glucose level and then nursed. A few minutes later, we learned his levels were at 66 and anything above 45 was great so we would get to bring him home.

So excited to be bringing home my baby!

We removed all of his monitor leads and IV, and got ready to take our baby home with us.

At 4:10pm, we walked out of the hospital together as a family with our 4lb 9oz miracle!!

Here are a few pictures of Preston meeting everyone in our home for the first time up close and not through the NICU window. He is such a miracle and we are so blessed to have this little peanut in our family. I feel like such a lucky mommy to be able to bring home such a strong albeit small baby.
His 5 day well baby check-up was on Thursday July 15th, He weighed 4lbs. 7oz and was 18 inches long. The Pediatrician was so impressed by how great he looked and wasn't too concerned about his small weight loss. He informed us that the NICU nurses were just raving about Dave and I and what a cool couple we were and how refreshing it was to have parents who were so relaxed. Wendy and I had had several talks during feedings about first time NICU parents and the difference when you know what to expect. Preston goes back for his 2 week check-up on the 26th of July.

Caitlyn is starting to Walk

2010-07-09T13:18:00.002-06:00

My little baby is starting to figure things out. She is getting better and better at it each day and trying to go further each day, it is so exciting. Here is a little video clip I got of her taking a few steps.

Another week down...35 weeks!!!

2010-07-09T13:08:00.002-06:00

Well I had my 35 week appointment on tuesday and both me and my dr. were extatic that I was actually there for the appointment. They checked my blood pressure whihc was great 121/64 and my weight which was 144lbs so no gain from last week. They checked Preston's heart rate which was in the 150's, perfect. I am measuring right on for 35 weeks so he is definately growing in there. They did the GBS test and I should know those results next appointment, I've always been negative so don't expect to have to have antibiotics this delivery. I also had a cervical check done and was told that I was still 1cm dilated and -1 station but am now 80% effaced. Got the usual take it easy speech as each additional day/week at this point is big for Preston's development. I was also instructed to start doing my Lovenox (blood thinning shots) every other day and was told no more 17-P shots!!! So it was a great appointment and I am starting to get excited about how fast things are moving!

Here is a 35 week Belly Shot

Our 4th of July fun

2010-07-09T12:59:00.014-06:00

Well since the 4th was on Sunday this year we ended up celebrating most of it on the 3rd. The Barnett's and My mom and T came up to BBQ. We had a yummy dinner of Hamburgers and Chicken. We let the kiddos play in the pool and squirt each other with squirt guns. After dinner we all headed up to Main st to watch the Cache Valley Classic Car Parade. It was pretty fun to see all those cool classic cars and the kids enjoyed it too. Here are a few pictures from our 4th of July Fun.

Wahoo 34 weeks!!

2010-06-30T13:10:00.003-06:00

Well we made it to 34 weeks, YEAH!!! Had a Dr. appointment this morning and everything looks great. Blood Pressure and weight were great. Preston's measuring right on and his heart rate is 150's. Dr. Noorda thinks he is weighing around the 5lb mark now. I didn't get a cervical check today but will get one next week to see what all this random contracting has done. I will have my last 17-P shot next week also. Other than the I am doing so great to have made it this far speech, I was told to stay off my feet and relax in the indoors this weekend so we can get to 35 weeks. I am feeling really good about making it to next Tuesday's appointment and hopefully I will get another take home with me baby and not another NICU baby. I'll keep you posted if anything changes but for now we are celebrating each day!!

My 34 week Belly!

33 week appointment update

2010-06-22T14:03:00.002-06:00

Well we are going to take the no news is good news approach. My Blood Pressure was 100/74 and Baby Preston is measuring spot on even though I have actually lost 1 lb this week. I was actually concerned about this as I had no weight gain the week prior. However, My Dr. says as long as I am eating (which I have been eating like a teenage boy) and baby is growing he is not concerned. He was so excited I am 33 weeks and still pregnant, he said when he first met me and read my history he didn't think I would make it this far. We did not do a cervical check as he didn't want to irritate things considering where I was last week. He also didn't do the fFN test as results past 34 weeks are not that accurate and felt it wouldn't tell us much at this point. He wants to keep me pregnant at least 2 more weeks and then he said beyond that is icing on the cake and we will just let nature take its course.

I have two more 17-P shots and then we are done. He said to keep taking it easy and keep up the fluids. If I experience contractions 10 min apart for more than an hour head straight to L&D and get checked out and we will medicate from there if we haven't reach 35 weeks yet. Other than that I see him next week and continue each week until delivery. I asked him if he thought I could make it to full term with the progress I have made already and he just sorta smiled and said its a nice thought but realistically we will be lucky to get to 35 weeks.

I am nervous, excited and overwhelmed by the thought that I could be meeting my little guy in 14 days. I know he will be fine and everything will happen as it is suppose to but I really hope these next two weeks go by quickly and smoothly, then I think I can start breathing a little easier.

My latest belly shot from today....

Baby Preston Updates...

2010-06-21T15:51:00.019-06:00

Okay not even sure where I should start with all this because it has been so crazy. I guess I will start with the fun stuff and then go into all the Dr. appointments. We did a 3D ultrasound with Cailtyn at 26weeks and it was so amazing so, we decided to do it again with Preston but wait a few more weeks so he would be nice and chunky on the scan. I went in at 30 weeks 3 days and found that Preston was going to be rather stubborn and keep his hands up by his face. So we got a few shots and reschedule for the following week. I went in again at 31weeks but no such luck again, he was very cushy snugged into the placenta and had his hands up by his face. I decided to give it one last try and came back at 32 weeks. After laying on my right, my left, and getting on all fours to try and have gravity help him move... I still couldn't get this little guy to turn away from the placenta and move his hand. He actually turned completely around and showed us the back of his head when I was done trying all the tricks to get him to move. These were the best shots we got over those few visits... Looks like I am going to have a stubborn little boy who desperately wants to surprise me.

Thought this was so cool. He has hair and you can see it on the ultrasound!!

frowning face

That little arm that wouldn't move.

This is my 32 week belly, I know the bruises look bad but I promise they don't hurt and they are keeping me and this little guy healthy.

Okay on to the not so fun stuff,

My Dr. appointments.

Let start at my 30 week appointment, I had been having a bit of increased pressure so I told my Dr. and he decided to do a quick check and do a Fetal Fibronectin Test (for more info on the test go here http://www.ffntest.com/info/understanding_result.html ). We discovered that I was very slightly dilated less than 1cm, 50% effaced, and -2 station.

The fFN test came back negative which meant I had a 99.5% chance that I would not go into labor in the next 2 weeks. All of which was reassuring as my OB was leaving for a medical mission to Africa for 2 weeks that evening. So given all that I felt good and I continued with my trip down to PG.

I drove back up to Logan for my 31 week appointment and all was great, my blood pressure, weight gain and fetal growth looked good. I got my 17P shot and headed back down to PG for another week. This is when things got bad. The Sunday we were driving home from St. George I was in major pain, my back and hips hurt and I was experiencing irregular contractions. I spent most of the day laying down or sitting trying to get relief from the pain.

Finally it was Wednesday and time for my 32 week appointment. I went up early as I needed to do my second round of steroid shots to help Preston's lungs develop. I sat in Labor and Delivery for an hour hooked up to monitors to watch baby's heartbeat and monitor for contractions. While there I had several very small contractions, which concerned me. At my appointment I discussed with the Dr. my pains and contractions so he felt I should be checked as the pain I had felt could have been from cervical changes. Sure enough I was now fully 1 cm dilated, 70% effaced and -1 station; meaning the baby was dropping and the increased pressure and contractions was causing my cervix to start to dilate. He recommended modified bed rest and seeing my regular Dr. the following week.

So, for the last several days I have been experiencing irregular contractions and back pain but am trying very hard to remain sitting or laying down to keep this little guy in as long as possible. I meet with my Dr. tomorrow and will be 33 weeks tomorrow so I will update with the results of that appointment as soon as possible. Given all this new info we changed our plans to fly out Dave on the 13th (36weeks) to the 6th (35weeks) and have found away to extend his stay for 2 weeks so he can hopefully be here for the birth of our little man (Now you understand why the fortune cookie was scary). My goal each day is to make it through each day still pregnant... 34 weeks is my "I have to make it there" goal and 35 weeks + is a blessing at this point.

Strawberry Days Carnival

2010-06-21T13:14:00.015-06:00

Yep you guessed it, Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove. So we would of liked to go to the Rodeo but considering my fragile state we decided that a quick trip to the carnival just down the hill was a better idea. Plus, the kids had never been to a carnival so it was fun to see them experience it for the first time.

The first ride they wanted to go on was the Merry-go-Round. Jocelyn loved it but as you can tell from Ethan's face he was a little worried when he was so high up on the horse.

The next ride they decided to go on was a Dragon Roller coaster, now my mothers instinct said this ride was way too scary for them and I really shouldn't let them go but at the same time you really have to experience things on your own sometimes so you can learn. Look at how excited they were before the ride started..

and then it started and they both decided it was too scary. They were brave kiddos and made it through the entire ride. However, every ride after that was in the little kid place.

Caitlyn was a perfect angel during the carnival and I think she was just absorbing all the sounds, sights and smells. She was too small to go on any rides this year, but maybe next year. We took a break from the rides and grabbed a bite to eat... got to love carnival food. We took Jo to get her face painted and walked through the boutique at the recreation center.The last ride the kids did before we left was the flying saucer ride... they've been on a bit Toy Story kick so this was just icing on the cake. They were really sad to leave but mommy was done being on her feet and the crowd was starting to get huge.

Thanks to Meme and Popop for taking us all to the Carnival!!

Our Trip to St. George

2010-06-21T12:53:00.034-06:00

On top of all the exciting activities we had planned for Jocelyn and Ethan, we decided that a trip down to St. George to visit with (Great) Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen would be fun too. Plus the weather up in central Utah was suppose to be rainy and a bit cooler so we wanted to head south and enjoy the sunshine some more.

With the Beast of the Suburban all packed up we headed down Friday afternoon after Jo's swim class. The kids love the new boat as it has a DVD player and they don"t have to sit right next to each other. I love it because it does minimize the "he's touching me" and "Jojo's kicking me" arguments. Caitlyn seems to enjoy the front facing now too, as she can watch DVDs and lounge in her car seat.

Road trip went great, we stayed at Gma & Gpa's Friday night and then Saturday we did a little bargain shopping at the St. George Kid to Kid. This is our new favorite store as we can get some really cute clothes for the girls and save tons. Mom and T got me and the kiddos a hotel room for Saturday so that we could go swimming and give Gma & Gpa Sorensen a bit of a break. We checked in at about 2pm and managed to get some swimming in before the major thunderstorms that were threatening the area all day rolled in. As you can see Ethan finally found his fins for the water again. Caitlyn took to the water just like her brother and sister, splashing mommy and Popop and yelling at all the other people in the pool.

(P.S.- sorry about the wicked Farmers tan, but how often does a pregnant women get into a swim suit to get an even tan.)

We are still trying to get this little one to walk before her brother gets here, but its likely not going to happen... C'est la vie.

After we cleaned up and the rain stopped dumping we went out to dinner at this Mongolian BBQ grill right by all the outlet stores. The food was way yummy and after some coaxing even my picky eater of the night Ethan was chowing down. Caitlyn loved it so much she was licking her plate clean.

As with any oriental style place you get fortune cookies for dessert... well we all got Evil Fortune Cookies. Mind you I am at risk for Preterm Labor/Delivery and have been planning on flying Dave home when I hit 36weeks as we had Caitlyn at 36weeks 4 days. Then to get this fortune...
was a little creepy, but it got worst when we opened Mom and Ethan's.

My Mom's said "you will be making a very exciting trip very soon that will make you very happy" and

Ethan's said "you will meet a new person soon who will become your best friend". It gets creepier when you read my baby update post.

Sunday we headed home but before we could go we stopped by the little lake just down from Gma & Gpas's to feed the ducks/geese. We had a really good time in St. George and it was fun seeing family again. Next time we do it I will be a mommy of 4!!!

Other fun Activities..

2010-06-21T11:35:00.009-06:00

Since my Parents house isn't technically "baby proofed" , if the kids aren't busy doing something then they are getting into something. So we decided to get them into a few other things while we were down in PG.

Every First Saturday of the Month Home Depot does a Do-it-yourself Kids workshop, they supply the kids with all the materials, tools, and a cute orange apron. When they complete the project they get a pin with a picture of the project on it for their apron. We have been doing these since April and the kids have loved it. This months project was a mini fuse ball table.. the kids enjoyed it and even though it was way crazy down in Lindon compared to up in Logan we finished the project and they got their new pins.

We also signed them up for a weekly cooking class since they love to help mommy cook in the kitchen. Ethan's was a Mommy and Me class. The first week we made Pancakes and Strawberry shakes... which all smelled super yummy. The second week Ethan made mini corn dogs and a Strawberry Poke cake. He is quite the chef and was so excited to do it all himself.

Jocelyn's Class was all by herself but she requested Meme's presence most of the time. She actually got to do 3 classes because we were down in PG for the first class. She made Pancakes, Corn dogs, Strawberry biscuits, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Strawberry shake floats, Pizza Pockets and Strawberry Slushes.

Between all this, swim class and playing in the pool on the deck.. the kids were pretty exhausted most days.

Swim Lessons

2010-06-21T10:58:00.022-06:00

So I decided to sign the kids up for swim lessons this year down in PG so I could have a little help from the Meme and Popop with Caitlyn. It was a two week class, everyday Monday-Friday in the mid morning. We had originally planned for Jocelyn and Ethan to be in the same class as last summer in Texas they were both little fishes with their life jackets on. I guess I was wrong in that thought. Jocelyn hoped right in and did very well listening to her teachers Scott & Kim, we struggled a bit in the beginning to get her to stop plugging her nose so she could use both arms, but by the end of the class she was dunking and bobbing for 5 secs without plugging.

Ethan on the other hand must have completely forgot about last summer because he took serious coaxing to even sit down on the edge of the pool. On the second day we tried to put him in with his life jacket to no success, so we decided we will wait a year and try again. He is a funny kid and maybe with having daddy gone this summer he just wasn't up to try something new.

On the very last day of swim class the kids got to have a fun day. Each class got to go down the water slides that they have at the pool. Jocelyn was so excited she wanted to go first. So needless to say she went down once had a blast and wanted to keep going down... she got to go one more time before class time was up and it was time to go home. She passed off everything in the class and can now move onto Preschool 3 level 3.

Caitlyn enjoyed watching the kids go down the slides.. she was so excited, yelling baby jibberish at them through the gates!!

My plan for updates

2010-06-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

Okay I desperately need to update this thing. But we have had so much happen in the last few weeks that it seems a little daunting. So I will try to get organized and make several posts over the next few days.