Coontail hats Grandpa Starkey and Mima brought back from AZ!

My three darlings!

Lyla Jane 7 weeks

Motherhood at it's best!

Well, Lyla Jane is now 5 weeks old and smiling all the time! She actually recognizes me and just stares, it is so heart-warming that it brings tears to my eyes. How God gives us such wonderful blessings wrapped up in tiny {and not so tiny anymore} packages, even when we do not deserve them, is so wonderful! It has been quite an adjustment having three, or having two of the three under 2 years old, I'm not quite sure! But praise the Lord she has been sleeping through the night for the past 2 weeks. Now if I could just get somewhere, anywhere on time that would be fabulous!! Even though life is a little crazy it is so amazing being a mother to my three beautiful children! A small glimpse...trying to keep house, train and teach the boys, feed my little darling, keep each of them clean and happy and fed and clear from bumps and bruises is practically impossible! Haha! Then throw in a quick shower and a snack for me and dinner?...Oops totally forgot about dinner...Thomas is home...didn't get around to half the cleaning I wanted to...laundry everywhere...lunch still stuck on the table from a sweet little toddler who loves to eat with his hands, but what a joyous sound when pounding feet run to the door shouting "Papa's home, papa, papa!!!" and then Thomas gets a hundred peanut butter and jelly kisses! So this morning when Lyla was staring so sweetly into my eyes and grinning so beautifully and Elijah is keeping himself quite busy with a color book and crayons and Ethan tells me {before he goes!} that he needs to go poo-poo, I am so excited to take him to the toilet, only to have him say "Done, Mama" in his super sweet voice. "That's okay" I think, "we'll try again later." Meanwhile Lyla is squawking in the other room, so...I turn to her before I put a new diaper on him...I return to the big poo-poo right on the carpet...and a darling little boy grinning so big at me saying "Oh Mama poo-poo", I just laugh and thank God that he allows me to be home with my children and cherish all these wonderful {and not so wonderful} moments with these amazing little people! So what next? {after I clean up the mess} Feed a beautiful little girl, correct a couple brothers who are becoming more and more "brotherly" as the days pass, try to instill a bit of character into them, remind myself to smile and move on to the next this or that...and on with the day! Cherishing every moment...

Cherish every moment!

Lyla Jane is growing so quickly. And we are all enjoying her thoroughly! The boys must give her a thousand sweet kisses a day, and I have been putting bows of different colors in her hair to match her outfits! Having a little girl is so much fun! Thank you to Great Auntie Sandy for the adorable polka dot skirt outfit!!

Lyla Jane and her adorable bow! I can attach this to a little tuft of hair on the top of her head ;)

Sweet smiles and kisses while she sleeps...

Spaghetti Hayday!!

We had spaghetti for lunch today... after Elijah saw Ethan covered in sauce he decided to get a little more messy too! Monkey see monkey do! Boys are so much fun :) there is just something about slurping up your spaghetti...irresistible!

Welcome to our world little Lyla Jane!!

God brought our beautiful and tiny bundle on Saturday July 25th at 2:41am! She gets to share a birthday with Lola Zeljih and Uncle Tony! Thank the Lord the labor was very short and some-what manageable. I had contractions and such all day on Friday, but with no consistency or progression. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, as this was very different to both labors with the boys where I woke up in full labor! But I did feel like it would be anytime. So at midnight I woke up with intense pains, but still no regular contractions...I had Thomas call the Dr. and ask they thought I should come in. They said yes. So we called our dear friend Kim to come get the boys. She arrived about 12:30 and we left the house at about 12:45. By this time I am now in full labor with very consistent and strong contractions about every 3-4 mins, good thing I called...We arrived at Stevens a little after 1am and dear Lyla Jane was born with a total of 2 pushes at 2:41am!! And was I shocked when they told me she only weighed 7lbs. 15oz.!! I was definitely expecting a bit larger than that considering the boys were 9.4 and 9.11! All of us are thoroughly enjoying our beautiful little "darling" as her dear Papa has been calling her :) Even Ethan has warmed up to the idea of a little "baby honey" in the house. Every time she fusses Ethan and Elijah both come running to her rescue! It is so cute to watch them with her. Praise the Lord for a complication-free delivery and a wonderful healthy baby daughter! God is so good!

First smiles! So sweet!

Lyla Jane. 7lbs 15oz. 20.5 in. Born at 2:41am. Praise the Lord!

Crazy boys playing at Kayak Point in Marysville!

Elijah got saved!! Praise the Lord!!

June 28th, 2009! A very special date...my boy accepted Jesus as his savior! One of the happiest days of my life! Conversation went like so... Elijah: Mom? When can we get saved? Mom: Well anytime... E: Well are you saved? M: Yes, I got saved like 7 years ago... E: Well, am I saved? M: I don't know... E: Well I never prayed to be saved... M: Then you're not... E: So if we have an accident, and I die will I go to hell? M: Yes... E: Can I get saved right now? M: Yes, let me go get your Papa... Papa enters and asks Elijah some questions and told him some bible verses, at this point I am totally teary eyed and in wonder as my 4 year old answers spiritual questions with such faith and wisdom! Elijah then asks Papa if he will help him to pray, so Thomas leads our little boy thru the sinners prayer! Elijah: So now I am saved! And I am going to heaven when I die! (Huge smiles!) Mama and Papa: Yes!! (Also huge smiles!) What more can you ask and pray for than that you children accept Jesus?! I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4

Only 2 weeks until Lyla Jane's due date!

We just can't wait!

My little man thinking he's big! And Elijah very excited that he beat me at memory! I really tried too... Hmmm

Little Lyla growing! Only one month to go!

Ethan playing in the mud!!

Ethan had a blast playing in the mud while we were in Idaho! This was after he had totally caked his clothes with the thick mud. We decided to just take his clothes off and he went straight for the puddle! And the hysterical laughing you hear in the background is Kate B. Foster! She got a real kick out of Thomas comment about it being a "mud bath"! Children are such a joy!!!

Our family is soon to grow!

As I have been growing, very much so in these last few weeks, our family will be too! We are all very excited to meet little Lyla Jane {named after my very dear Grandma}. We have 5 weeks left, give or take, and just can't wait! Just thinking about her being here with us, and being a little girl, brings tears to my eyes!! We have {almost} everything ready and waiting for her special arrival...

More Idaho pics!

IDAHO!!

We went for an extended weekend to go visit some of our dear friends in Idaho! It was so much fun and very relaxing. We drove a little over 8 hours to get there, and the kids were great! We visited a little and settled in for the night. Early the next morning we all packed up and headed to a pond in a nearby town for a kids free fishing derby! That was so much fun! Elijah especially was pleased because he and Papa together caught a nice fish! On the way out the guys took the 2 older kids and went home to pack a picnic lunch, and Rachel and I took the babies and went to the farmers market. After Ethan screaming the whole way in the car because I didn't realize he wanted his puppy, we were all very glad to get to the market and get out of the car!! After we went back to meet up with the guys we took a trip, consisting of very bumpy and narrow mountain back roads, to Elk City! It was a very beautiful drive! We saw deer, elk, an eagle, turkeys, Canadian geese, and a swarm of butterflies! We stopped a few times along the way to fish, but didn't catch a thing. We came home and did a little shooting, and enjoyed BBQ for dinner, including the yummy fish Elijah caught. We played balderdash after the kids went to bed and laughed until we cried!! Love that! Sunday we just relaxed and went to church with Brian and Rachel. Later Hildi, Mark, John and Gretta came over for dinner and then Rachel, Gretta and I took the kids to the circus in Kooskia! It was so much fun and the kids loved it too! Monday was a lazy day of hanging out and and preparing to come back home. It was a sad goodbye for Elijah, he really wanted to stay. God is so good to give us such wonderful friends! Oh and a bit of a scare on the way home...a semi flipped off the road right behind us on one of the country highways. We turned around and Thomas, along with a bunch of other cars that had stopped, ran to the truck to help the driver. Thomas just happened to have his knife on him and he and another guy cut the driver out of the seat belt and got him out of the truck. Emergency people were there very quickly, thank God the guy was okay, a bit shaken up and sore but nothing appeared serious. The rest of the way Elijah wanted to pray for that man and ask God to help us not get into an accident like he did. We got home late Monday night. And I hobbled up the stairs...my feet had swelled so big from sitting in the car so long I looked like I had club feet!! But all together a wonderful trip! We all can't wait to go back!!