ode to henry.

This is my 'get real' post.  The last few months have been some of the hardest months in my life.  I have been struggling with pretty brutal baby blues.  Having six kids has been much harder than I anticipated.  I have crawled into a little cave and I still don't want to come out most days.  I miss my best friend something fierce.  If I think about her being so far away, I immediately go to a dark place.  Henry cries a whole lot.  He's getting  better.  The laundry is endless... I never want to cook... I struggle living so far away from family... I'm just having a hard time right now.  But, I am slowly becoming myself again.  The days are getting a little brighter and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Hopefully I'll get over this soon.  If not, I may need to seek professional help.

This smile is getting me through my hard days.  There is nothing like a gummy Muppet grin.

His little face is perfect.  I honestly don't think he could be any cuter if he tried.

After weeks of really hard colicky days I finally gave in and called the doctor.  Turns out he had outgrown his reflux medication and needed a higher dose... and he had a really yucky ear infection. Poor little guy.

One day of medicine and he was a different baby!

He still has his crying spells every once in awhile but he is doing so much better.

His hardest times of day are right when I need to make dinner.  I usually have to hold him and cook at the same time, which is rather difficult.  Luckily I have Lincoln.  He is my little helper when Daddy isn't home yet.  Henry adores his biggest brother.  They have such a sweet bond already.  I posted this picture on one trying day with the caption "My little sous chef didn't make it through the dinner rush."

He fell asleep among the chaos of bedtime baths and the bedtime routine.  He is getting better at sleeping on his own without being held.  He even puts himself to sleep like this every once in awhile.  Things are looking up.

mickey mouse.

For one of Peter's birthday presents... we gave him tickets to go to Disney on Ice with mommy. We had the best time!

We had quite the experience getting there!  I have never driven to that area of downtown without Jeremy so I had the hardest time finding parking.  We finally did but we were late getting inside.

I was so sad because I had envisioned that moment when Mickey came out and seeing Peteys face all lit up.  I seriously wanted to cry.

We found our section and went to find our seats only to find out that were one section off.  When we were walking up the steps we fell.  I was holding Petey and he hit his head really hard on the concrete steps.

We had to go to the First Aid station because he had a giant goose egg on the back of his head.  He was crying really hard... but it was mostly because he had already seen Mickey Mouse and then I rushed him away and slammed his head into the steps!

We got him calmed down and were able to get into our seats and enjoy the rest of the night.

He was so adorable.  He couldn't his eyes off of the stage for a second!  He loved seeing all of his favorite characters skate around.

His favorites were Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Captain Hook.

If you ask him about the night he will still tell you that Donald broke the cake.  It's true.  Donald fell and broke the Birthday cake.

I cried a little seeing my little guy so happy.  I love these moments with my kids.  I can't wait to take him to Disneyland some day.  (hopefully sooner than later).

I asked him if I could take a picture of him and he giggled and did this... stinkpot.

He was so excited to go on an elevator twice!

Once of his very favorite things in life is to 'push a button'.  It brings him so much joy!

its cold.

It got cold... really cold.  The kids had snow days... lots of snow days.  We bundled up even though we weren't going anywhere. 

It was so cold that our dishwasher pipes froze up and we had to wash dishes by hand for a day or so.  That was fun.

This guy has been a little rough.  He's a sweetheart... but boy is he colicky!  We had a rough few weeks with him.

A favorite snow day past time.

Jayne is so excited to start a new dance class with some ward friends!

This kid loves to lay on the ground and chill.  None of my other kids have done this... it cracks me up.

The first day the kids went back to school after tons of snow days.  We were happy to be back in a routine again.

3 year old check-up.  He wasn't very happy to be there.

Petey's backpack was really full one day.  I opened it up and found all of the candy in our house.... crazy kid!

I am excited to start exercising again.  Most days.

Petey likes to sneak out of bed and stick his head around the corner and scare the living daylights out of me.

Worlds youngest Sunbeam, right here!  He makes the cut by a couple of hours!  He struggled his first week but has been a champ ever since!

When moms in the laundry room... the littles have to be in there too.  Makes it interesting.

He likes his bumbo.  For about 3 minutes at a time.

We started potty training, Petey.  I gave up after three days.  We are just not ready for that quite yet.

This guy.... looking might dapper!

and concerned...

Nap time project.  The kids love that they can see what is for dinner each night.  I love that they don't have to ask me!

So peaceful...

He enjoyed listening to daddy rock.  For about 30 seconds.

A common occurrence after bath time....

So adorable and so sad all at the same time.

love, a bookclub and a homecoming.

I woke up one morning and found a love note on my bed.  The perfect way to start my day.

I told you he grew up over night....

This kid came home from his mission in Jamaica.  We are so excited he's coming to visit next week!

I went a little vinyl crazy and labeled everyones bedrooms... it makes me happy when I see them on our doors.

He is my little kitchen helper.  That smile melts my heart.

Lincoln had fun playing with his food one night at dinner...

You wake him... you take him.  :)

Date night with my two boys!

Those eyes....

The babe loves the fan... most of the time.

Gracie decided she wanted to start her own bookclub.  She set the date, made the fliers and handed out said fliers all without my knowing anything!  I was so proud of her!

All of her little friends came.  It was so fun to listen to them talk about the book.  Gracie even hid candy all over her room like Claudia does in the books.

Henry is beginning to enjoy playing with toys.  Stuffed animals and blankets are his favorite.

We had to bust out the nebulizer with all of the artic cold we've been having.  My poor little boys and their asthma.

He is the current family favorite....