Charlotte Anne

Charlotte will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, so I am just a little behind on my blog.  I have still not adjusted to having 6 kids.  Recovering from childbirth seems to take a lot longer each time I have a baby.  But, little by little, we are getting used to life with all of our little ones.  Charlotte Anne was born on August 1st at 2:59 am.  She weighed 8lbs and was around 22 inches long.  Her birth was mostly drama free, with a little scare at the end. But my doctor arrived just in time and everything turned out fine.  My labor and delivery nurse was my good friend Melodie.  I am so glad she took care of me even though she was in labor herself and gave birth to a beautiful little boy later that day!! Isn't that incredible?  Justin of course slept through most of it, while Melodie and I talked to pass the time. I was so happy when Charlotte finally came, and so happy that our last little baby was born.  She is so so so cute and looks a lot like her big brother Noah.  She isn't a great sleeper, but has made lots of progress.  She LOVES to be held and snuggled.  She is also a great nurser and is growing so big.  Our family finally feels complete and she fits in beautifully with all the other kids.  Here are some pictures of her first few moments of life.

The big day!

I guess I forgot to post these pics of Taylor's baptism.  It was such a beautiful day.  Everything went really well and we are so proud of Taylor.  We also feel blessed to have such great family and friends there to support us.  Justin did a great job with the baptism and confirmation. Mom and Rebekah gave wonderful talks.  Justin also prepared a slide show with pictures of Taylor set to one of my favorite songs.  The whole day was really special.  Taylor said she felt really good and was so happy.  Afterward all of us had lunch at our house.  It is days like this that make all the hard work of parenting worth it!

Goodbye summer

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted in a while.  Things have been a little busy around here lately.  I am finally feeling like myself again and I am trying to get back into the swing of things.  Now I have so much to catch up on.  These pictures are from a while ago.  This was one of the last things the kids and I did together before Charlotte came.  We finally decided to check out the splash pad in Spanish fork.

It opened last year, but we hadn't been.  The kids had a great time.  We got there right as it opened and we were the only ones.  It was great.  The weather wasn't too hot and the kids ran around for about an hour.  After that it got really crowded.  I am so glad we did it.

Andrew was scared at first, but then he loved it.

Party time!

This year we were so lucky to have some family here for Taylor's birthday.  Taylor knew she had to have her cousins around to celebrate turning 8.  So on her special day Justin and uncle Ken took the girls to seven peaks.  They had tons of fun.  After the park they came back to the house for cake and ice cream. 

The kids around the cake. 

Jessica, Ellie, Aysha, Ari, Joslyn and Adam

The girls are really into my little pony right now, so that is what kind of cake Taylor picked.  She got some new ponies for presents, and if you sent her money that is what she bought!  I wish I still had all of the ponies I used to play with. 

Taylor's bridals

As you know our little Taylor Lynn got baptized on the 7th.  It was such a wonderful experience for our family. Taylor had been so excited about it for so long!  In fact, we bought her baptism dress a couple of months ago.  She picked it out and was SO excited to wear it.  I cried when she tried it on because she looks so grown up in it.  Justin thought it looked like a wedding dress.  She has grown into a beautiful and wonderful girl and I am so proud of everything she does.  I feel lucky to be her mom!  I wanted to take a few pics of her in her dress, so here they are.

Joslyn and Ellie

                                      This is what happens when I lay down for a quick nap!  The girls are pretty creative aren't they?  I think Joslyn looks lovely!  It is also good to know that they know how to use the camera all by themselves. I have a feeling that it was all Ellie's idea.