I can't believe we are beginning a new year. 2013 feels wrong in some way. It feels as if life has happened too fast. Yet here we are and here we go.
We spent New Year's Eve at Collette and Tonys house. Mom and Dad came down and we had fun with fireworks and SO MUCH FOOD.
Tiersa and Kris have been in Costa Rica so we have had Ella over at our house for a few days. It is been super fun to have her here and Kevin and Katie couldn't be happier.
They are currently running around the house playing freeze tag. We made gingerbread houses with all the nieces and they keep eating all the candy off them. They all seem to be really good friends and I couldn't be more grateful to be around my kids cousins.
Anthony and Kevin had their own gingerbread night last night. They got to have a sleepover and spend the night with each other. As you can tell they love each other and have so much fun together. Their gingerbread houses look pretty darn cool as well.
When I told them to get together for a picture they were super willing to do so. Anthony then ran to the car after Kevin to give him a hug. He said "wait I want to give you a hug Dude."
This is Katie on Thanksgiving day. She just happened to be waving a flag right in front of her face. I love that youcan still see her face. Isn't she cute. This is right after she pulled a huge fit about getting her hair done. When I finally took her away from everyone else to do her hair she cooperated. I love when she looks all done up with her hair up or curled and dressed for the day she is so cute. She has been entertaining all of the family with her sassy attitude.
Last night when we got to Grandma and Grandpa Stuart's house she was laying in her bed and I tried to move the lamp so the light wasn't in her eyes while we got ready for bed. Somehow in the process I knocked the picture frame down and landed right on her head as she while she was laying in bed. She didn't like it too much, after that she was wide awake and full of energy.
I can't even decide where I should begin. I will just start with the most recent events. Andi and Curtis came into town on Thursday night with their two little ones. We started out the visit by going to story time and then went home to finish making our costumes.
Saturday morning Kevin and Katie were riding their wiggle cars outside and I was inside when Katie came upstairs saying that Kevin hurt himself. As I came downstairs I almost immediately recognized that it was more serous than a little crash. I called the nurse hotline and they recommended that I taken to urgent care. When we got to the urgent care he was acting pretty normal except for when I tried to pick him up or move him. The nurse took x-rays and those were pretty painful for him. When the nurse practitioner came in she said that she couldn't see any broken bones so it was probably a dislocation. For a dislocation in a child they normally have to put them under.
Life so far is going better than a month or so ago. Adam is starting to feel closer to his "normal" self which means that he is able to play a more active role in our family. He is currently putting the kids to bed while I sit and do this on the computer. I love him and am so grateful for him.
Today while we were headed to Tiersa's for a swim, Katie said "My Daddy not coming wiff us?" I couldn't hear her well so I asked her what she said. "My Daddy... I mean my husband's staying home" I suppressed a laugh and said "Your husband huh?" "Ya" "Katie you don't have a husband" "Yes I do, hims at home" She finally did conciede to the fact that she does not have a husband.
We went to story time today, we listened to a book about Arthur and even got to meet him. Naturally the craft was about Arthur and later as Katie we were in the car she kept calling him marker. When I corrected her she started calling him marther. Then we got a snickers and I let her gave a bite, she said "i want more of that stickers" she kept saying it. I love it. We watched Nanny McPhee tonight and she said "that Nanny has big boobs". Yes Katie, she does, too bad you are cursed with the big boob gene too honey!!
I was waxing my eyebrows and Katie watched me intently. My wax happens to be light blue and she asked me what I was doing. I told her then she tilted her head to the side and said "That's not bubblegum"
I am so grateful for the things the Lord has given me. I have an amazing husband and I am so blessed to have him as my best friend. We have been through quite the ordeal this past week because Adam was in the hospital for 7 days and even though we are hone we are still quite "in" it so to say. Now that we are home I am finding that all of what I have on my plate is exhausting. I am so tired and can't seem to be positive towards my hubby's pain. So after I apologized to him I got Katie up and took her potty. She put her arms around my neck and I just melted. I love her sweet little body. I got settled into bed and I heard the door to the kids room open. It was Kevin, he went straight to the bathroom tugging down his pants on the way. He of course did NOT put the seat down nor did he flush, but then again when does he ever. It just made me grateful for the opportunity I am having to be the Mom of these cute kids, who cares if they have little flaws or things they are not good at yet. With the perspective I have now I am just grateful to be home with them.
So Kevin got a new teacher at church and I had not met her yet and it had been a few weeks. My curiosity was peeked so I asked him to describe her to me. This is how the conversation went. Mom: Kevin what does your new primary teacher look like? Kevin: Um, she is old, but um not so old that she needs one of those things to keep her up. Mom: (trying not to burst out laughing)Like a walker, she doesn't need a walker? Kevin: Ya, and she sings really loud. Mom: Oh well I am excited to meet her!! I cannot tell you how cute I find this. I wish I could tell his teacher about this conversation, but I fear she would get her feelings hurt. I did meet her today, she is probably about 65 or 70... so Kevin was right, she is not so old that she needs one of those walker things.
I asked Katie if she wanted to go with me to a baby shower and she said "Ya". She got all ready with her purse, sunglasses, dollies and stroller. I was apparently taking longer than she wanted so she said, "are we going to go to the baby bath?" I corrected her but on the way to the shower she had all sorts of questions about our journey. When I explained to her that we were going to Natalie's shower she said "OH" a few minutes later she said "Collins and Natalie gonna have a baby". Poor girl was super confused about who the heck was having a baby... too many people with the same name!! When I told her that they were not having a baby, she said "Why?" I couldn't say enough to that.
Kevin started preschool on Wednesday. I was so busy with clients that I was not able to take him so Tiersa came and picked him up. My mind has been so very jumbled with all the things on my to do list that I failed to make time to take my child to preschool... how sad. Oh well he was excited to go with Ella and I managed to get ONE shot of him as he headed out (although I ran out of time to do his hair... I know worst Mom EVER... hee hee). He came home happy and with a good attitude. He has been very helpful and loving to all of us lately and I can't help but think that it is because he is a little less bored lately. He is growing up so fast and I am just so happy he is our little man. I love him so much.
Mr. Lukey Pukey has a bad cough. It woke me up a couple nights ago and scared me pretty bad when I thought it might be whooping cough. He is only 3 months old and so sweet, so him being sick just kills me. He has no other symptoms other that this bad chest cough. I started putting oils (breath, on gaurd, lemon, melelueca, and marjoram) on his chest and feet and I mixed up some red raspberry and fenugreek and thyme that I give him right before I feed him then let him wash it down with some Mommy milk. I also started running the humidifier in his room at night with oregano, purify, melalueca and lemon in it. At first his cough sounded worse, but I know my Mom always says that it usually cleanses out the bad and then gets better from there. So I set a goal that by Monday morning if he didn't sound better I would take him into the Dr. Saturday his cough sounded like it was in his chest but by yesterday (Sunday) it really sounded less in his chess but more in his throat like his throat hurt when he would cough. Today it sounds like it is just in his throat, and he is not coughing much. I can seriously say how much I love natural health aids.big-o euro tour- high end $682CostcoMichelin defender 154.99 90,000 672.87
The other day Katie was playing wit a watch and she was trying to tie herself up with it. Then she turned to me and tried to tie my foot up.
She then stood up, went and grabbed a toy rifle, cocked it and pointed it at my foot. I said (in full on pretend mode) No don't shoot me!! She said "I not shoot you, I shoot that (the watch)" I of course pointed out that the watch was on my foot so shooting the watch would inevitably get my foot too. To which she replied while holding her rifle "I be soft, k" nothing like being "soft" while shooting a watch off someone's foot.
Luke you are 3 months old as of yesterday. You make me smile and become giddy whenever you smile or laugh. I don't think Kevin or Katie ever laughed like you do. You have this laughing grunt instead of a laugh that sort of chuckles. Yesterday you really got going when Alyssa was holding you. You were tired and hungry but happy to have someone holding you. You are such a beautiful baby. You have the perfect shaped head and these big blue eyes. When you smile your furrowed brow disappears and those eyebrows go up and then more often than not you get sort of shy and either look away or put your hand to your face or eyes almost in embarrassment. You sleep so well, I couldn't ask for a better boy than you. We are so blesses to have you in our lives. I just can't get enough of you.
Luke, you are so adorable and such a huge light in our day. The amount you have grown is just crazy. I don't feel like you should be 3 months old but yet here we are. You coo so much now and have really starred to show Kevin and Katie that you like them with bug smiles when they try to play with you.
The family went swimming today but you slept in your car seat until the very end. I stuck your feet in and you immediately started to cry. You did not like it.
You have been falling asleep on your back consistently for about a week and a half now and you are so peaceful about it. Last night you slept from 930 to 8. I am glad you are lengthening your nighttime sleep stretches. Hopefully I can get you to go to sleep at 7 or 8 since I will likely wake you up at 6 or 6:30 for feedings pretty consistently.
I live that you want to hold my hand when you eat, and I live that I get to look into your blue eyes too you love me and u live you. You know I will take care of you and I am a good Mommy. I can see it in your eyes that you're grateful. I could handle more babies like this, it's the toddler stage that's truly hard. I will try to enjoy every moment with you baby Luke.
So a few nights ago I went in to put Katie to bed and she insisted (as always) that she wanted to say her prayers by herself. She had been a little sick and we almost always pray that Daddy will get better (he still has stomach issues) so in her prayers that night she said "bless Daddy get better, Katie get better, Katie sick, runny nose, need a Kleenex, get better, I'm sick..." and so on and so on. It was so cute. She also likes to sing to her babies. She sings you are my sunshine but says "make me SO happy skies gray". I live it.
She is obsessed with my lipstick and make up. She did this sweet little number yesterday as I was getting ready for church. She grabs her little rubber bands for her hair and tries to open them with her mouth like I do sometimes. She will just walk all around the house with a little pony in her mouth holding her hair with the other hand.
She lives her fingernails and toenails painted and pretty much gets a pediatric every time I do.
We have a Mom and tots class we are doing for swim and it has been super fun to get her all to myself as I help teach her to swim. She is not afraid of the water at all and will jump to me and pit her dace right in. She gets really cold by the end though and wants to "waap up" in her towel.
She LOVES gum and asks for it all the time. We mostly give in unless she has been bad.
She will rough house with Kevin and just laughs when he knocks her around. Good thing she's tough since she is sandwiched between two boys. 
We always have so much fun for our birthdays and this year was no exception. Adam threw a surprise 30th for me and it was wonderful. He went through a lot of effort and it was beautifully decorated, and a WONDERFUL party.Tiersa has most of those pictures, so I will have to get them on here later. My actual Birthday was equally fun with a run in the morning and lunch with my family. I even snuck in a nap before going out to dinner with our friends.
Adam turned 31 on Tuesday the 29th and the kids and I woke him up with Breakfast in Bed. His favorite breakfast is cereal so he got Captain Crunch Berries that morning. We went out for a free lunch at Joe's BBQ, then headed over to the bowling alley. We went bowling on Friday night with a couple in our ward for my Birthday and it reminded us how much we love to bowl so when we mentioned it to the kids they were super excited to do it with us.
We had so much fun and Adam beat me (I think it wax just birthday luck cuz I beat him on my birthday).
Adam took Kevin and Anthony to see Avengers while I stayed home while Katie and Luke napped. We had cake and ice cream later that night with a few friends and really enjoyed the day.
I still can't believe we are "that" couple who hat 3 kids a mini van and are in their 30's. It just feels like we should still be 25. But I like to think that it has taken me this long to do all that I have done and I am totally ok with that. I hear this is the best decade of your life, so I say bring it on!!
I am in love with my kids. They are so sweet, sassy smart and beautiful. I am grateful for them in my life. I took advantage of the beautiful sunset tonight and took some great shots of my major cuties. The lighting when Kevin was out wasn't as great, but he is great so here we go.
We had a great visit from Adam's sisters, Mandy and Mariah, over conference weekend. It started out with Mandy coming on Thursday the 29th. Then we surprised Adam with Mariah flying in on Saturday night. It was so fun to see Adam with his sisters. The kids were so happy to have them here and could not have been more spoiled. Mandy (who used to be called Mandy warbucks) took the kiddos to build a bear. They talked about it for days beforehand and they visited it two times before they got to buy them. Kevin wanted a dog one so badly and Katie liked a lot of bears but particularly the colorful ones.
Thank you Aunt Mandy for making such great memories with these kids... they love you so much.
We have been having quite the experience now that we have Luke here. He is a good baby who is for the most part pretty patient. He eats well, he sleeps well and Kevin and Katie are thoroughly enjoying him. We have some milestones to boast of, they are as follows;Luke has learned how to smile at us. He first started about 2 weeks ago. One morning he just smiled without prompting from me. I thought it was a fluke, but later that day he smiled again at me. Daddy and the kids got to see it later too. Now he's the point that he will smile at all of us, not just the Mommy. His eyebrows give him away, when he is about to smile his eyebrows go up. When he is about to cry he furrows his brow. All of our kids have had these really expressive eyebrows. We love it. He has slept through the night several nights now and I feel like a new women.
Katie bugs is now potty trained. She has been peeing on and off on the potty for the last year or so just whenever she wanted to or right before bath time we would set her on there. She has been ready to potty train for at least 6 months but I was not ready. So I have attempted (halfway), to potty train her but 2 or 3 times before now, but threw in the towel very quickly because I was traumatized from Kevin's training experience.I decided to use pull ups to ease both of us into using the potty. This was AMAZING, because she learned how to poop in the potty instead of her diaper. She was still peeing in the pull up but every time she needed to do #2 she did in the potty (except for the one time that she was being watched by my friend... poor Emily)So I started on Monday the 23rd and she stayed dry in her nap, had a few accidents throughout the day but stayed dry all night. The next 3 naps she peed and slept right through it except the last time she woke up. But she hasn't had a night time accident at all since we started (which is really amazing, considering how full her diapers always were in the morning) we haven't had a nap time pee accident since Thursday, so I think she has it down.Kevin finished up preschool last week (his teacher had a baby two days ago, so she ended school early). He has been sounding out words and recognizing letters. I need to read with him more because he would probably catch on really quick. He has a talk in Primary this Sunday and since the grandparents will be in town for Luke's blessing, they will probably come watch him do so. He has been doing so well at riding his bigger bike. Next step is to teach him to ride without training wheels.Adam is trying for a step 12 at work and will be doing a mock interview tomorrow. He said it is more technical knowledge that will be asked in the interview so hopefully he will have the knowledge to answer the questions right. Pray for him please.I am really ready to dive into the exercising and might enlist my sisters to help motivate me and get me to my best self by the end of the year. I am now ending this post to go on a vigorous walk with my kids. Cya
We had a newborn session with Baby Love Photos . It was so great and I am so pleased with the pictures. I just want him to stay small like this until I am tired of this tiny stage. 
Although last night was one of the worst nights of my Motherhood years. Luke was in pain and crying almost non stop from 10 to 2:30. I could only comfort him for minutes at a time and then he would scrunch up in major pain. There was nothing I could do. I broke down several times sobbing and at my witt's end. There is nothing worse than having no remedy or control over your babies pain combined with being completely exhausted. Hubbsters finally came out and just held me while Luke and I cried. He gave Luke a blessing then gave me one. He took look from me and I stepped away from the situation for a little bit. The crying continued, then it stopped and when I came out to check on them Luke was asleep on the couch with just Adam's hand under his head. We left him just like he was and went to bed praying we would get a little sleep before he woke up. He gave me 3 hours. They were the best 3 hours of sleep ever!! I was able to get him to sleep after feeding him and we slept until 7:30 when the kids came in. All I can say is thank goodness for Heavenly Father and a worthy husband that holds the priesthood and cares for his family.
So a lot of people have asked how Katie and Kevin are handling having a new little baby around. I thought I would share a few pictures to with you. 
Katie has been so good with him. She loves "baby uke" and tries to be helpful by shoving his binkey into his mouth even if he is sleeping. She will come up frequently and say "aw, cute baby Uke" and give him kisses. She is not at all jealous of him and feels like a big girl. She has acted out a little bit at bed time where she gets out a couple times but compared to a lot of 2 year olds it is pretty mild.
Kevin, surprisingly has been a little more reserved with his "loves" toward Mr. Luke. He talks to me all the time about how babies work and what Luke can do now and what he will be able to do as he grows. He does get shy about holding him though. I think he has a little bit of Daddy's syndrome where he thinks the baby is so fragile that he might break him.
I too am enjoying my cute little man. It is funny how I naturally come up with some kind of nickname for all of my kids. Every time I talk to Luke I call him Mister. When he is sad I say "it's okay mister" when he is so cute I call him my cute little mister. I love this little mister, he is so freakin' cute!! A cute little MISTER!!!
Luke Harley Endsley was born yesterday at 10:07 p.m. He is so wonderful. I can't keep my eyes off him and I just want to hold him all the time. He smells so great and so far only cries when he is hungry. He might be our calmest baby yet. He only cried for a little bit when he was born and then calmed down so fast.
So here is his birth story, sorry if it is long.
Luke was due on Saturday the 10th of March, but since I don't normally go into labor on my own we just planned on being induced.
Because of family trips on my Mom,Tiersa and Collette's part, we planned the induction on the 13th at 7:30 in the morning.
I must admit that I was not loving the pregnancy by that last week, but still was able to walk mostly without waddling and do some necassary preperations for his arrival. I looked forward to the day when we would get to hold our little guy and see what features he had and who he resembled. I planned it that way for good reason though, I needed my Mommy there.
So my Mom came into town on Monday night the day before the induction and we got all prepared for going to the hospital the next morning. I set my alarm for 6 in the morning just to make sure we would be to the hospital on time, and right before it went off my phone rang. It was the hospital. The dreaded call had come... they did not have room for me because too many women had come in the night before and they were slammed. I could not hide my disappointment, I was so sad. I had planned the whole thing out to have this baby by the afternoon and now I didn't even know if we were going to have a baby that day. I got up and went about our normal routine, but was so dejected and down. I had a Doctors appointment at 9:20 just in case they didn't get me in to start my induction, so Adam and I got ready for that. At this point I felt like they were not going to call me until late that day if at all. Adam convinced me to call them and just see what they could tell me about when I might get to go in. They had good news. They would probably be calling soon and they told me to expect to go in that day. OH THANK GOODNESS is what I was thinking.
We went to the doctor, Adam got to meet Dr. Huish for the first time and we found out that I hadn't progressed much since my last visit.
When we got home Tiersa and the girls were there and we talked for a little. I broke down and cried because I was so frustrated and felt like the baby was never going to come out. Adam and I were both wishing at this point that we were back in Cedar City with a small hospital that doesn't have so many people randomly having babies.
As we were talking my phone rang. It was the hospital and they said if I could be there within the next hour they would like to start my induction. I could have cried. I was so relieved and yet anxious because I didn't want anyone to get there ahead of me and take my spot.
We took some family pictures and then were on our way
I was hungry and knew I wouldn't be able to eat once I got to the hospital so I stopped at Subway and grabbed a sandwich. (There was a group ahead of me ordering 7 different sandwiches and it was the LONGEST 10 minutes of my life to wait for them)
We got to the hospital and checked in at 11:00.
My nurse's name was Missy and she had a student shadowing her. Because of this everything took a little longer. The student tried my IV (with my permission, which I wish I hadn't consented to). She blew my vein so the other nurse took over.
We had to do an antibiotic because I was Group B Strep Positive, which can hurt the baby, so I knew going into it that we wouldn't be able to have my water broken until at least 4 hours after the anti biotic was started. My labors really progress once my water is gone so I was really frustrated when 5 o'clock came around and I could have the Dr. break my water but he wasn't there yet to do it. Then six came around and I was STARVING, but there was no sign of Dr. Huish. I thought for sure I would have had the baby by 7 that night instead he didn't even show up until 8, which meant there was a shift change and my wonderful nurse left. Those 3 hours that I had to wait from when I could have my water broken and when he finally showed up were THE LONGEST 3 HOURS OF MY LIFE. I did however get to sleep a little and that helped pass the time.
When he showed up around 8 I knew it would be quick after that. I rested a little bit more and around 9 I felt some pressure
Kevin and Katie are playing house around me right now and are bringing me all sorts of food to eat. They are calling each other honey and playing so sweetly together. I love them so much. We had an adventurous morning. Within the first 15 minutes of being awake Kevin cried 4 times, and was sent to his room for pulling a fit about a banana and the color of cup he was given. Sometimes he is really emotional and I don't really know how to deal with him. I mean he full on had a melt down about how big his banana was compared to Katie's.
Now they are both over by the baby swing "fixing" it. Kevin has these little play toys and he is laying under the swing with his hammer and drill. Katie has her baby doll in the swing and is pretending to be the Mom.
Last night Katie kept getting out of bed and we were trying everything to get her to get back in without going up there and physically putting her in there (which is what she secretly wanted). Finally I told her if she didn't get back in bed she would have to stand in the garage in time out. She said "Okay, stand in garage" and started heading downstairs. She was perfectly happy to stand in time out rather than go to bed. When Adam went to get her out after 5 minutes or so, she said "No, I not listening" cuz she wanted to stay out there. Then Adam told her that she would have to stand outside in the back without the light on, and her reply was "Okay, get flashlight, kay". Then after we got her in bed she got out again and I let her know that if she was not willing to stay in her big bed that she would not be able to sleep in it anymore, she would have to sleep in the pack and play, so she cried and said "I want pack and play" like 10 times. FINALLY the last thing that we tried worked. I said we would have to lock the door. She said "no lock a door". I thought we were done with her antics for the night but 2 minutes later she cried again and came out saying she had to throw up (Kevin had thrown up the night before so it wasn't all too unlikely, except she said it so matter of factly like "I need throw up, kay". She wasn't sick at all.) I ended up having to lock the door on her unfortunately but only to prove a point for a second which resulted in her crying and gagging like she really had thrown up, but when I opened the door there was no throw up just a little 2 1/2 year old who was trying everything she could to stay up a little longer. She did finally go to bed once she realized I really would have kept the door locked. Silly girl. Also... I must add that I am just a little bit worried if she is this good at exhausting all her options now, imagine the teenage years... we are in for it.
So today marks my 38th week being pregnant. I can't believe I could have this baby at any time (technically). I love feeling Luke move inside of me, he is really active and almost hurts me. He pushes on me so hard sometimes and it kind of makes me jerk and wince. I have been pretty comfortable for a long time but just in the last week I feel like when I do too much then my body just almost shuts down. So now I am really wishing that I could be induced next week on the 5th instead of waiting for my Mom and everyone else to be here.
My due date is the 10th and my Mom doesn't come until the 11th. Adam prefers me to have the baby on the 12th because he doesn't want to have to go negative in his hours. Also Tiersa is out of town until the 12th in the evening. Collette goes out of town on the 14th, so basically if I don't have this baby on the 13th SOMEONE will be out of town. Which really stinks. I am really hoping that I am just going to go into labor on my own SOON, then I can't have anyone angry with me.
I have so much to do still though so two more weeks would be nice just to tie up loose ends. Here are some pics of the belly with 2 weeks left to go.
Adam hates that I always insist on taking 15 pictures even though I only need one, so I played it up like a photo shoot for him... I know I could never be a model cuz I feel and look silly posing.
Okay, so I finally got around to getting a picture of this baby belly. This is me at 34 weeks pregnant with our #3 baby. He is so active and so hurty sometimes. I love to feel him kicking around unless it means he is kicking some vital organ of mine. Kevin and Katie are so excited about baby Luke and talk to my belly most every day. 
I am now 36 1/2 weeks and can't believe how fast time has gone. I went to the doctor yesterday for my check up and so far I have only gained 15 pound this pregnancy which is GREAT!! I hate being a little overweight when I start my pregnancy, so I am glad my body doesn't blow up like a balloon when I am expecting. I think I gained the last 5 of those pounds just in the last week. I have opened the sweet tooth door and can't seem to shut it now. Ironic that I made it through the holidays without gaining a pound and now I am eating junk for no reason. I don't even like it that much I just keep telling myself that I do. 
Funny little story... Katie has officially moved from her crib to her big girl bunk bed and she LOVES it. I have to admit she has done extremely well and her and Kevin go right to sleep every night. We have even tried both of them in there for naps and we have been successful both times. She has this mind set now that she is a big girl and when I slip and call her baby she corrects me. I was telling her not to do something the other day and used the phrase "no no baby" she strutted up to me and hit my belly while she said "Top it Baby Uke"!! She had no clue that I was telling HER to stop something, she thought I meant that baby Luke was kicking me inside. I couldn't stop laughing. I do know however that when this baby comes she is going to seem GIANT to me and calling her baby will be a thing of the past.
Other than the baby on his way and getting ready for him, we finally bought a couch that both of us agree on, the kids just got over a mild case of Pneumonia, and Adam has changed base offices so he gets to work more from home. We are happy, healthy and anxious for baby Luke to come.
