The QuietRopes

catching up

2011-11-04T16:19:00.001-06:00

Okay. So I haven't blogged in a long long time. I guess these 4 kids are really keeping me busy. I finally plugged my camera in only to discover that I haven't really taken any pics of the kids in the last few months. So...here are just 24. Okay, yes, its kinda HUGE post. But its making up for 3 months of posting. Hope its not too random.

This is Nick on his first day of school. Very confident and ready for the 2nd grade. Loving his fauxhawk.

And here is Becky. Thinks she knows everything.

We are off to school. Joey all grins in the back. He doesn't have his first day of kindergarten for two more weeks.... and of coarse, I forgot my camera. :(

Nick in front of his class

Becky in front of her class

My babies saying saying goodbye to brother and sister

My sister had herself a baby. My first Nephew!!!! This is Sean. He is a super cutie pie. Getting so big. I think here he is something like 6 months...can't remember. And see the awesome boppy. I made that!

Matt ad Sean.

Becky got glasses over the summer. She is suppose to wear them all the time. She forgets most of the time. She sure is cute in them though.

This is Sean and my BFF's baby Char. Char is one whole month older then Sean.

Ah yes. Nick turned 7 in August...over 2 months ago...woops.
Here is his cake

And him opening gifts

He got lots of cool stuff

Here are the really cool money jars I made for the kids.

And the board I use to display their art

This is the fun super hero costume that I made for Joey. I made on for all the kids. I only have a pic of Joey though.

Finally got around to painting these walls. I will be decorating them soon. Hopefully I will get around to posting when I do.

I made this. It was fun. But of course I am unhappy with it. I will be doing another.

I made this hat. It was suppose to be for a baby, but obviously it is too big. Becky is modeling it for me. I gave it to a friend with a kid who fits the hat.

Matt and Minny sleeping.....Good Night.

Bird Feeder

2011-08-11T19:18:00.000-06:00

So I wanted a bird feeder by the window. Steve didn't think it would do well out here with the wind and all. But I stood firm. We got one and it has never blown away. And now while we eat at our dinner table we can watch our little friend eat too :)

hmmm. Yes it looks like we hung the feeder on a ladder. We did not. It is on a hook. The ladder just happens to be there for the summer long swamp cooker maintenance :)

Hair Cuts!!!!

2011-08-11T19:14:00.000-06:00

Got the kids their back to school haircuts. And we got Becky a feather. I am such a cool Mom.

The Boys wanted to look like B.A.Baracus (from the original series), this was our compromise :)

Family Pictures

2011-07-25T20:58:00.000-06:00

We had a great time getting our family pictures done. I had my awesome sister in law Tenia Wallace do them. They turned out great.These are our favorites :)

Playing in the Rain

2011-07-06T17:31:00.000-06:00

This summer is getting long. I can not wait for school to start. The kids don't spend enough time outside because they think it is too hot. I kick them out everyday and I have to basically sit at the door to keep them from sneaking back in. Today I got them out and it started to rain. I wasn't ready for them to come back in, so I tossed their mud boots out. I am just trying to keep them out of my way for as long as I can. Luckily they see it as me being a cool mom.

Shrope/Wood Camping Trip

2011-06-19T16:35:00.001-06:00

Yes. We went camping. Steve and I have been married for over 11 years and we have never been camping together. So this is our first camping trip as a couple and as a family. We went with our great friends (bff's really) The Wood Family. So here are a bunch of totally random picture from our camping trip at the Sand Hollow reservoir.

Becky and Maddy's sand castle

My sand castle


Nick's sand castle

Maddy and Becky

Matt

Baby Charlotte

Nick wrote his name in the sand

Matt is ready to go for a ride

Becky and Maddy

Matt helping Nick cover his feet with sand

Minnie

Maddy

Matt running in the water. He really really loved the lake

Joey in the lake. He is filling a water bottle up to carry to his mud whole he is making

Becky saying cheese

Matt. He could live in the water he loved it so much

Boys having fun

These people are not having fun. This is not us, but this did happen to us. :(

Stephanie Wood and baby Charlotte

Matt again, I think I might have taking too many pictures of him.

The big kids playing in the lake. We are so grateful for the swimming lessons they all had.

Stephanie and Charlotte, Travis Wood and Steve

Matt :)

Every time Matt ran in from the water he would stop and lay down on the beach. He ended up with a lot of sand in his ears.

So that is it. We camped at Sand Hallow for the fathers day weekend. The men spent the whole time on the quads and the women spent most of the time at the beach with the kids wishing it wasn't so ridiculously hot. We had fun. The kids had a blast and we might even do it again.

Matt (pics to come soon)

2011-04-05T11:20:00.000-06:00

My baby Matt is growing up. He is 2 years old now. He is getting so big. I still try to cradle him in my arms. He lets me for a minute, but really he wants nothing to do with being a baby. He was born wanting to be a big boy. He is always wanting to do everything himself. He was eating solids at 4 months because he wanted to eat so bad. So, now my baby is two and he sits at the table, not a high chair or even a booster seat. He uses grown up silverware and a grown up cup. He eats what ever we are eating, wants nothing to do with having his food cut up small. His most favorite toy is a ball, and he loves hot dogs, pizza and milk. He is speaking so well. Has too many words to count. And now, if his daddy lays him down, he doesn't need a Binky. If i lay him down, he does. Its weird that way. I gave him the "big boy" Shrope hair cut. Which is just a #4 buzz cut. He is a really tough guy. Likes to shoot bad guys with his finger gun, and can win wrestling matches with his brothers (when they let him) He has started spitting when he is mad, and does an awesome leg kicking tantrum. He is truly a 2 year old. a terribly terrific 2 year old.

Sinking Balloons

2011-03-10T13:09:00.002-07:00

I have been informed that I failed to tell about Becky's science project.

It really would be better to hear her talk about it, but I will try to do it justice.

Becky brought home some balloons after a photo shoot with her Aunt Tenia. A red one and a light blue one. She gave the red one to her brother Nick. The next day Nick’s balloon had sunk to the floor, but Becky’s blue balloon still had enough helium in it to keep it afloat. We thought, I wonder why that is…

She picked out 5 different balloon colors and bought two of each. White, yellow, blue, green and red. She had them all filled up with helium. She borrowed my measuring tape and camera, and measured and photographed all the balloons. When she bought the balloons, the balloon lady told her that latex is like skin, it has pores. So when the balloons get hot the pores open up more and leak more helium. I had her look up information on heat absorption and color. She discovered that the lighter the color, the less heat is absorbed. Now even though the white balloon had the least color, after studying the photos, she decided to hypothesize that the yellow balloon would do the best because it was the most see through. The next day all the balloons were dragging so she took a look at the small space between the balloon and the floor. The red and green balloons had no helium at all. They laid on their sides. The blue and yellow balloon had enough helium to keep them upright, but still touching the floor. The white balloons has a 2 inch clearance with the floor. The white balloons won. She measured and photographed all the balloons again for data and put together an awesome poster. And because Becky primarily did this on her own, she knew the ins and outs of the project. And she took home 1st place. We are so proud of her.

Science Fair

2011-03-09T17:09:00.001-07:00

Iron Springs Elementary Science Fair
Becky wanted to do a science project this year. She came up with this idea about balloons. She wanted to know which color balloon stayed afloat the longest.

Here we are at the science fair. The Judges have come around and look at everyone's project. Now we just sit here and wait. There were are good amount of kids in her division. I would say at least 18, maybe 20.
Before the awards are presented the whole school took a walk around looking at all the projects. Becky enjoyed telling everyone about her experiment.

Starting the Awards Presentation. Becky is crossing her fingers for good luck.

1st Place

Becky got 1st place in the grade 2/3 division. The medal was awarded to her by her principle and the pic on the right is Becky and her science teacher.
We are so proud of Becky. She gave a great presentation, and had an awesome project. She deserved that 1st place 100%.
Next she moves on to the district science fair. Wish her luck

March 3, 2011

2011-03-03T11:48:00.001-07:00

MATT
Baby Matt's haircut has changed everything. He isn’t a baby anymore. He is trouble. He is a toddler. He is almost two. He is a BOY. He is rough, tough and made of snail guts. His two favorite words are “why” and “no”. He also favors the words “snack” and “Minnie”. He knows that I am Mommy, but calls me Daddy anyhow. That about sums him up. I am always cleaning off his face, and fighting him for a diaper change. He likes to boss Minnie around and steal everyone’s food when you are not looking, including Minnie. That is Matt. We love him.

JOE
Joey is starting wrestling this week. We are excited to see him have fun on the mat with other boys. He is doing well in school. His speech is coming alone great. We prayed he would be ready for Kindergarten even though I kind of planned on holding him back, but I think that is because I am not ready for my little boy to be big enough for school. Our Joey is ready. So, even though I want to to stay a baby forever, he will move up. Our prayers were answered, and after evaluations he is ready to be a Kindergartner. In fact, holding him back would be a bad idea, he has learned all he can learn at the preschool.

NICK
Nick will be starting his second year of wrestling. He is very excited. A little worried that he can’t remember all of his moves, but that is what practice is for. Besides, he has been practicing throwing his brothers down all year. He is also doing well at school. This year has gone by fast. He is starting again with a tutor this month that will last until the end of April. I always feel like he is doing better when he has a little extra help.

BECKY
Becky is Becky. She is a girl who thinks she know everything. She cares about everything. She wants to be involved in everything.
Every fast Sunday she bares her testimony. She loves sharing her love for her Heaven Father with everyone. And always seems so grown up while she is doing it. She likes to tell stories about when the Holy Ghost has touched her heart. She is in activity days now and loves all the things she is learning. We are so grateful for the leaders that take their time to teach our pre-young women.

New in our family is an African Spurred Tortoise named Spike. He is a baby. He can grow to be 100 pounds. Right now he can fit in the palm of your hand. The kids love him. They each take a week of taking care of him. They feed him, and give him water and love. And when needed we all clean the cage together.

Steve’s parents are on their mission in Mongolia. We are all enjoying the blog they are keeping. Here is the address if you would like to enjoy it with us. http://shropesmission.blogspot.com

All and all, nothing has really changed. We are still the same old Shrope Family.

I am an Aunt...again :)

2011-01-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

My sister Amanda had her first baby, a boy, on the 13th. We can't wait to meet him. He looks just like Amanda. So beautiful.

1/8/2011

2011-01-08T20:30:00.002-07:00

Alright. Here I am. Blogging. Trying to keep it up.
A very sad thing happened today. We got Matt a haircut. And I mean a real haircut. A serious boy haircut. Yes, he is still cute. But I don't like it. I would have kept his hair long forever. But I was getting a lot of comments from Men who thought he looked girly. And it was time. Time for my baby to be a boy.
Other this that have happened this week. Joey fell off the top bunk. A little dizzy, but fine. The next day he tore his pants at school and his teacher repaired it with duct tape instead of calling me to bring over new pants. Matt fell off the top bunk. He is also fine. We had a talk with the boys about not playing on the top bunk and not helping the baby brother up to the top bunk. I have started weight watchers again. We'll see how that goes. And Steve got a new quad. The kids love it, Dad is the hero. I secretly have fun on it, but don't want anyone to see me being a kid.
Some pics from this week:

Here is Joey and his cool duct tape pants

Here is my baby Matt and his long hair

Here is an orange with an orange baby inside.

Here is the beginning of our hair cut. Look at his beautiful hair.

Getting the hair wet and trimming around the ears

He was such a good boy

So handsome!!!

Here he is with his First Hair Cut Certificate

I guess he looks cute. He is just not the same anymore. Getting to be a big boy :)

January 1, 2011

2011-01-01T21:37:00.015-07:00

Yes I know. I have not been keeping up on the blog. But if it makes you feel any better I have not been writing in my journal or showering. Okay, not true on that last part, the showering. I do get around to that :). But seriously, Having a Kazillion kids keep you busy. I hardly have time to eat breakfast, let alone sit here and blog. But this is going to change. It's a new year. A good time to set new goals. To try to get back into good habits. We can do this. I can blog once a week, and you can read it.
Alright, so real quick lets do a quick synopsis of September 2010 - December 2010 so we feel caught up.
Matt swallowed a rock and didn't poop for two weeks. Had to get serious about passing the rock. He still has pooping fears today. He is talking and loves the words NO and HELP. Joey is still stuttering but is improving. He is learning to slow things down. He feels that he is just too young for anything and everything is just too far away. Nick is having massive cabin fever. It happens during the winter when it gets just too cold to go outside. He likes to spend his time plotting how to make Becky's life miserable. Becky is miserable. No, I am kidding. She turned 8, got baptized. Grandma S. gave a wonderful talk and Daddy did the baptizing and confirming. But she does feel that the boys make her life almost unbearable and is sad to hear the brothers don't get any better until your all grown up.
Thanksgiving was good. The whole Wallace family got together and enjoyed each others company. I baked my first pumpkin pie from scratch from pumpkins that I grew. Christmas was fabulous. I love watching the kids open gifts. The holidays are over and I am glad for it. Time to get back to the normal chaos of my life. Oh, and sometime during one of the hunting seasons Steve managed to kill something. Thank goodness. He got himself a cow Elk. Got to be honest, I don't really like the taste of game. But the boys all love it, so that's good.
Alright, so I think we are all caught up now.
Let see if I can locate any pictures:

The famous rock and xray

Picture day

Super tough boys

Super Cool Black Eye from Mutton bustin'

Out pumpkins and pie

Becky turns 8 and gets baptized

Our Christmas tree. No we did not decorate only the top half. Matt undecorated everything he can reach.

Santa made it by our house

Minnie's Fu Man Chu

Just too tired

Cheese!!

Summer 2010

2010-09-02T15:38:00.007-06:00

Alright. So, We have had a lot of fun this summer. Made some new friends, started new traditions, and plane just survived. At first I was excited to spend some more time with kids, having fun, going to the park. You know, summer stuff. We have never had a summer like this. After about a week of "quality time" with the kids, I was done. I needed school to start again. I needed play dates. Its amazing that while your 4 kids are driving you nuts, add one more to the mix, a friend of coarse and they totally play nice and stay out of your hair. We had play dates a lot.

We made another trip to California. My sister Amanda and her hubby Josh got sealed in the Redlands Temple. It was a very chaotic trip. Got there on a Friday, checked into a hotel. Went to the Temple that evening. Saturday afternoon Amanda and Josh were sealed, Steve stayed with the kids outside. Becky threw up all over the car. Steve took Becky and Matt back to the hotel, so they were not in the family pics. Headed home Sunday afternoon. Not a vacation.

Also!!! My sister is PREGNANT!!! How awesome is that. She is almost 19 weeks now. We are all thinking its a boy. We will know for sure in 2 weeks. We are all so excited.

So mostly I spent the summer at friends houses or pulling out my hair. Thank goodness for the start of school.

Matts black eye

Black Pirates Robert's

Fun at the Cedar City Lake

March & April

2010-04-15T12:58:00.012-06:00

How come I can find time to read other peoples blogs, but not blog myself.
So I am thinking this is going to be a super long, but hopefully not to boring, blog.
March 26th - Steve's 34th birthday. Also, the 11 year anniversary of when we met. The kids made Steve silly little key chains that we hang on the key holder, not on our key chains. I got him Madden 10 for the Wii. He loves it. I also made salmon for dinner. Its the first time all the kids tried salmon. Nick and Joe liked it. Becky choked it down and Matt spit it back at up. I have to say, I did a pretty good job and the fish was delicious.
April - So far. April has been busy so far. I know the month is only half way done, but I am ready for May. April started with Matt's 1st birthday on the 3rd. We had donuts for breakfast, sang him happy birthday and let him sit on the table to open presents. HE was a bit confused on how to get the presents out of the bag, but he enjoyed everything we got him: car's and book's.

April 4th was Easter, and and my brothers birthday. The Easter bunny came to our house while we slept and dropped off some goodies and books. One of the books was a really nice table book on the first Easter. We ate Easter dinner at Grandma W's house. It was nice.

April 8th was Our 10th wedding anniversary. 10 years! Can you believe it? It has gone by so fast. I am so grateful to be stuck ;) with Steve for all eternity. My mom watched ALL the kids ALL night so Steve and I could go out. Steve took my to St. George and took me shopping! Can you believe It. He is so awesome. We also went out to dinner at Outback. It was a fun night. Thanks mom for watching the kids.
That night was the start of a long run of misbehaving. When my mom told the boys to go to bed they sat on the couch and defiantly told her no. She told them again, and they again told her no. She had to yell at them.

April 9th we started our journey to California. For the drive down the kids were all considerably good. We didn't get in too late and stayed in Moreno Valley, at my sisters. We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to all pile in the car. And I mean piled. We had the 6 of us, our dog, Amanda, Josh and their dog Shaddy. We drove down to the San Diego Temple and left Josh the keys, kids and dogs while we attended Roberts (Steve's brothers) wedding. It was awesome. It started 50 minutes late, but well worth it. It was so wonderful to see Robert so in love. We are so happy for him. Amanda and Josh had fun too. They took the kids and dogs to the park. When they got there they discovered that Minnie got car sick and threw up all over the seat. Then Manda tried to close the car window and smashed Becky's fingers. At the park while picking up dog poo they lost Nick and Joey. When the found them a few minutes later, they found that Joey had peed all over himself and lost his shoes. Fun Times. Then we went to visit Aunt Christy where her mother was excited to see me pregnant again. I am NOT pregnant. After a nice visit there, we went to the Open House for Robert and Cheryl, where I had a massive headache the whole time. When we returned to Amanda's that evening I took a sleeping pill and went to bed. I was so asleep that I didn't wake up when Joey was crying in the middle of the night. Amanda got up to find him soaking wet from head to toe of pee. He also peed all over her bathroom and the bed that all the kids were sleeping in. Amanda cleaned him up and cleaned up the bed and the bathroom and put him back to bed. We stayed until Tuesday. The kids had fun killing snails, feeding ducks and just basically running around like monkeys.

The drive home was nice too. We stopped in Vegas at BassPro to buy a gun for Steve. The dog peed in the car and as we climbed the hill towards Cedar City we noticed a lonesome black rain cloud right over our neighborhood waiting to greet us with April rain. We had a fun weekend, and surprisingly all this did not change Amanda and Josh from wanting babies.
So now we are home. Home sweet home. Where the laundry is never done, the vacuum is always out and kids can always use a bath.

Manda took this picture. The dogs had so much fun together. :)

Nicks Wrestling

2010-03-27T17:07:00.006-06:00

We put Nick in wrestling this year. It was fun, the boys were coach by the Cedar High School wrestling team. Nick has enjoyed wrestling so very much. And after much practice he received 1st place in his bracket. He had to wrestle 3 guys and win each one. He was never pinned, but also did not manage to pin anyone. His strength is his ability to keep the guys down. So he won each match by having more points, and never being pinned. We are so proud of him.

Food Storage

2010-02-20T12:32:00.004-07:00

Alright. So Thursday we bought some short term food storage. It will feed us for a year...starting next year. We have to raise them first. We bought 3 bull calves. Not all three are for us. We will take a 1/2 to a full one. Basically we will fill our freezer. We have a couple friends who wanted in on the opportunity to raise their own beef, but don't have the land to do it on. So we are doing it here, and they will pay for the costs. It works out for everyone. And it is fun. The calves were born on the 17Th. So today they are 3 days old. They are so cute. And fun to feed. The kids love helping. We are bottle feeding them for 4-6 weeks. And we will raise them until the end of the year. Then we will fill our freezers. I am debating putting pics of them on here because they are so cute and I know how sensitive some people can be. Not everyone can look at, care for, have fun with, then slaughter their animals. But I am a beef girl and there is nothing like home grown beef. This is not our first time raising and slaughtering a cow.
So to answer a few questions...
Yes, our children know we will be eating them. No, it doesn't bother them. Yes, we named them. This way we know who we are talking about when we are talking about them. Their names are Rib-Eye and T-bone. We are waiting on the 3rd name. The last cow we raised was named Tinkerbell. We had Tinkerbell roasts and burgers for a year. We are currently bottle feeding them, then we will put them on hay. They have a warm shelter for now, but will be put out on the back half of our property when they get bigger. Yes, we love them and pet them. We also let the kids go out and play with them while the bulls are still little. Currently they are bulls. In a month they will become steers. Steers are less aggressive. We don't think ourselves cruel or inhumane. We find ourselves practical. At the end, our beef, burger, roasts and steaks all turn out to be $2 a pound. And its all very lean and healthy meat. To quote myself, "A happy cow makes a mean steak." :)

Joseph's Progress

2010-02-06T11:29:00.004-07:00

Alright. So we had a parent/teacher meeting where we talked about how Joey is doing. First lets take a look back at the beginning. When he turned 3 years old, he still didn't talk. And it wasn't really because he just didn't want to, he just couldn't. He saw a couple specialist who all decided that he probably had a mild case of apraxia which enabled him to retain the info on how to saw things. We would spend a week on one word, like car. And everyday we practiced saying it. Then one day he would say it wonderfully only to forget how to say it later that evening. It was very frustrating. He only had 3 spontaneous words: mom, dog, and ball. He once said papa (referring to his dad) for a month only to forget. We watched him struggle with communicating. He was very frustrated that he couldn't get words out. So in August 2009 we enrolled him into a school that specializes in the needs of children with all kinds of set backs. This has been a huge blessing. He started at Cedar City South preschool with Miss Mary. Currently his teacher is Miss. Carol (as the kids call her) at Three Peaks Preschool. He was moved due to over crowding. He has improved soooo much. In August of 2009 he was at the speech level of a one year old. along with over 100 signs, so we could have some sort of communication. Now, not even a year later he can communicate at the level of a 2 year old. I know for a boy who is almost 4 that isn't much. But for us it is huge. We are so excited and proud of him. We are also so grateful for the teachers and speech therapist he works with every day. He doesn't sign anymore unless I ask him to. This is because he started using the signing as a handicap, and wasn't trying to talk at all. The speech therapist suggested that while a year ago he presented with apraxia, it seems that he has grown out of it (which some do) and now just struggling with a speech delay. While we are a far way from him being caught up, we are so proud of where he is at now. He can even write his own name...kinda.

I added the red letters after he wrote so you can tell what he was trying to do.
I love that they are teaching him to write Joseph instead of Joe or Joey. He loves school so much, and while it might sound bad, I am happy that he is still so far enough behind that the next school year he will still qualify for full time preschool. I think he would be sad if they cut him back to only 2 or 3 days a week.
Also, he is potty trained!!! Which is wonderful. He loves being a big boy and has done a wonderful job at staying accident free.
We love our Joey so much. We are so proud of him and how much he has grown this past year. He is such a wonderful kid.
We love you Joe.

It's been a while

2010-01-21T14:53:00.012-07:00

I just looked at the blog. It really has been a while. Sorry. I got very busy. Kids and a million callings (just 4 actually) keep me going all day every day. So lets catch up.

Matt - He is doing so good. He is 9 1/2 months now, and something like 18 pounds. Crawling all over. Standing and cruising the couch. Eats just about everything. Still has beautiful blond hair and awesome blue eyes. He loves to play with the kids and dog. And is always getting into trouble. He gets into the bathroom and the dog food. He likes to steal toys from the kids. And he is starting to throw tantrums. Its lovely. He has been a great addition to the ciaos in our home :)

Joe - 3 1/2 now. Loves preschool. He is doing so well with his speech. Lately him and Nick have been fighting a bit more, but that's because Joe thinks he is just as big as Nick and that means he needs to prove himself. We potty trained him over winter break. That has been a blessing. Its nice not to have to change giant poops all day.
Nick - 5 1/2. Doing awesome at school. His reading is coming along great sense we started having him read the Book of Mormon every night. The blessing you get from reading the scriptures with your family are wonderful. He is still loving school. He is keeping his room clean in order to play the wii everyday. Having the wii has been a great leverage for him.

Becky - 7 now. We had a fun birthday party for her at the "jumpy jump" place. Funtime Inflatables. It was awesome. It only cost $4 a kid and I didn't have to entertain them. I might have to do that for every birthday. She is continuing to do very well at school. She is starting to show the desire for a bit more independence by giving Steve and I a lot of attitude. Hopefully we can nip this in the butt. I am trying to give her more choices while trying to curb her talk back.

Steve - Same ol' same ol'. At church he is Becky's Sunday school teacher. That is fun. And everything is going well at work. He brought home an elk head from the hunt. The kids enjoy it...outside...it will not be in my home.

And me - Well. I am doing good. I have been on Weight Watchers for 5 months now. I have lost 28.8 pounds. I only have 4 more pounds to get to my goal weight. I still feel a bit flabby. I need a goal shape. We got the Wii Fit Plus for Christmas. I love it. I have been working out everyday with it. This will help me get to my goal shape. :) Oh! Also, I have lost 6.5 inches on my waist, 5.5 inches from my boobs, and 5 inches from my hips. My poor Hubby is missing the 5.5 from the boobs. Its awesome when you have to get rid of a bra cause its too big.
My 4 callings a church are: Enrichment committee, Provident Living, Ward Activities committee and Sports rep. for the ward. I am enjoying all the callings. Its awesome to have a purpose and feel needed even when it keeps you a little too busy sometimes. My Wednesdays are full with book club, provident living night, R.S. night, bunko, and munch and mingle night. Fun times.

The holidays - Thanksgiving was awesome. We had James and Brad over from S.C. over. And Kelli and her family joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. Everything went smoothly. The food was great. The kids were good.

We went up to Steve's aunt Lori's cabin for dessert and Santa stopped by to visit. My kids are not shy with Santa practically attacking him as he walked in.

My brother got married Dec. 4th (or the 5th, can't remember) to the lovely Tenia. That was fun too. I am not looking forward to Becky getting married, but I am grateful to only have the one daughter. :)

We spent Christmas day at my moms. Everyone got just what they wanted. And surprisingly not all the toys are broken yet.
We spent New Years Eve at the Pecks. That was a ton of fun. We stayed until like 11:55pm. We are so lame, we couldn't hang in there 5 minutes more. We played games and had fun all night, kids and all.

And now its mid January. The holiday rush had worn off. Things are getting more relaxed. The kids are fighting more then usual from cabin fever. Winter is hard on all of us. Its either too cold or too muddy for the kids to go outside. So they spend all day fighting and driving me nuts.
We did enjoy the cold and went Ice Fishing. Steve caught 1 fish, and our little friend caught 2. That was fun. But the next time I am just going to stay home.

Steve took my shooting the other day. I decided I like the .38 revolver. I didn't shoot the 30.06, I am too afraid. But I am getting my hunting license, so shooting a riffle is something I am going to have to work at. I can shoot the .22 just fine, so I will be able to pass my test. I am also going to get my concealed and then maybe in the future get myself a .38.

Alright. So I think we are all caught up. :)
Fun blogging with ya
-Emily

Small World

2009-10-29T22:10:00.006-06:00

So I do genealogy. I have been working on the family tree for years now. I have used many resources such as Ancestry and Family Search. I feel like I have done a pretty good job at getting the work done. I think I have found everyone possible. Now I am just working on getting all the temple work done. There is someone I have been working on for a long time. Its my Fathers mother Shirley Ann Collins. She is proving to be very difficult. But every year or so I get new bits and pieces. I started on her about 4 years ago. I purchased my first membership with Ancestry and with in 2 hours I found her birth records and a living relative. It was awesome. We went from only knowing her name and birth date to knowing her parents names and finding living family. Over the years I have added information. But mostly stuff that wasn't helpful in getting to know her. I felt like I was at a dead end on all my genealogy so I took a break and almost forgot about the work I was trying to get done. The Church has recently come out with a New Family Search. I was excited to give it a try. It is awesome. I love it. It is for members only. I can do all the temple prep work from home. Seriously, this new site is getting me excited about genealogy again. There is a cool story in all this I promise. I was getting names ready for the temple and I saw that other people have contributed to my Grandmothers family. If you choose to, you can leave your information so others can see who you are. The person contributing left and email address. So I emailed her to ask if she had any personal information on Shirley. She, Sherri, regretfully told me she didn't and required how I might be related to her. I told her my relation and she emailed me back some information on Shirley's sisters. One of witch, Laura, was her husband, Jeff's, mother. That would make Jeff and my dad first cousins. This got me a little excited. Sherri soon found pictures of Shirley in old year book and mailed me some copies. This is where the fun part begins. I see her address on the envelope. She lives in Santee, not far from where my Mom and Dad lives a few years back. So I called my mom and asked her if she knew this particular Sherri...HOLY CRAP she did. They walked together every morning while their girl where in seminary. Can you believe it! My dad had also did some remodeling in their bathroom. This is so awesome. I am still on a little high. All this happened this evening. I of coarse called Sherri to let her know that her husband and my dad where not only cousins, but friends. Seriously can you believe it? Sadly, this awesome story has that whole hindsight thing going on. If we would have known the relation back when my parents lived in Santee, my dad would have been able to ask Laura about his mother. Sense then, Laura has passed away. And with her any knowledge of Shirley. But still, Genealogy can be so fun.

Minnie's Birthday

2009-10-23T16:10:00.009-06:00

A year ago today our little Minnie was born. We brought her home on December 6th 2008. She was kind of an early Christmas present for our family (for me really). She was 6 weeks old and way too cute! We all fell in love with her instantly and even though she can and does cause a lot of trouble we love her tons still.
I am doing my best not to humanize my dog. But for her birthday, we took her to our fabulous groomer and got her a wonderful hair cut. We also got her a new collar and a sweater. Steve doesn't know that we got a sweater, hopefully he doesn't hate it too much. The kids love it. She is way cute.

She loves to sit on the windowsill and watch this go on out the window.

And here she is sitting in my chair. She waits until I get up and steals the warm spot right from me.

She is so good with the kids, especially Matt. She lets him grab at her face and eyebrows and fur.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINNIE!!! WE HOPE YOU HAVE MANY MORE :) WE LOVE YOU XOXO

A little "Minnie" fact. For her breed as a 1 year old she is equal to a 15 year old trouble. No wonder she doesn't listen very well. What 15 year old does. :) She is a tiny bigger then her breed should be. She is 15 inches to the shoulder, and weighs about 18 pounds.

Baptism & Cake

2009-09-26T22:19:00.009-06:00

Alright, so this post is a little bit late, but better now then never, right?
Anyhow. We went to my sisters a few months back on the 17 of July for her husbands baptism. We were all very excited to be there for this very special occasion. My husband, Steve, was privileged to Baptism him. It was wonderful to see my new brother in law embrace the gospel and bare his testimony.

Also, sense we missed their wedding, we brought a cake to celebrate it and had a fun impromptu cake cutting.

Matthew

2009-09-22T12:11:00.008-06:00

SO, our baby Matt is growing up. He is 5 months now. I feed him solids. All the stages of baby foods plus a pancake or a piece of bread. I know, I know, What the heck! But he's my 4th and I guess I am way more relaxed now.
He has been teething for what seems like forever with no results. One day right? He really is just a happy baby. I don't think anyone has ever really seen him really upset. He loves everyone, except Andy, but that's because he hold him 3 feet away from his body like he is a stinky piece of cheese.
Anyway. We love him. Here are a few cute pictures of him.

All Dressed Up

2009-09-22T12:05:00.004-06:00

On a rare occasion my kids all look good all at the same time. Its so funny. Nick so badly wanted to wear a tie like his Daddy so we makeshifted one of Daddy's ties to fit Nick. Then of coarse Joey wanted one too...but he wasn't exactly wearing a shirt that goes with a tie. But hey, he is 3, and he can get away with it, right?

Nick's 5th Birthday

2009-09-22T11:27:00.007-06:00

WAHOO!! Nick turned 5 years old 2 days before school started. We had a fun little get together at the park with my family and our BFF the Pecks. Nicks favorite girl (my brothers fiance') Tenia, took tons of fun pictures. We are so lucky to have a photographer in the family.
p.s. Tenia is Nicks favorite because he thinks she is so pretty and he wishes to marry her.

It takes so long to post all the pictures. Seriously there are tons. So I only posted four, but you can look at the album on Tenia's facebook album HERE.

First Days of School

2009-09-22T10:49:00.007-06:00

Yes, I know. They have been in school for a month now. Believe it or not, I just can't find the time to sit here and blog. I am taking the opportunity right now.
Okay. School.
Becky started school first. She is now in the first grade. First grade is a big deal. Its longer days, four recesses, and lunch at school. She loves it.

Joey started school two weeks later. He was so excited about school I could hardly get him to stand still to get a picture. He goes to school four days a week. All four days he has speech therapy. He is doing very good. He has over 100 ASL signs and he is gaining a vocabulary. We are so excited for him.

Nick and I waiting for for Joey to come home

Joey coming off the bus

Nick started school the next day. He started kindergarten. He has the same teacher Becky had last year. He is so excited to be taking the bus every day.

Nick said...

2009-07-21T12:32:00.005-06:00

(nick) Hey Mom, what time is it?

(mom) It's 10:30 at night

(nick) I don't care, it's five o'clock somewhere

Fathers Day

2009-07-17T15:13:00.012-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to post fathers day! I am so lame. Well, about a month ago, was fathers day. I asked the kids what they wanted to do for Dad and they all decided they would like to take him for a hike. They also wanted to surprise him. They wanted to tell him we were going to the library and then drive right passed it and head to Capital Reef. Now, sense we would be spending the whole day there, and we would be packing the bbq for lunch, and seeing how I had no idea how to get to Capital Reef, this could not really be a surprise. So, I let Steve know what was up so he could help me get everything we needed into the car. The kids still thought it was going to be a surprise. It was so fun. We drove past the library and Steve said "Hey! I thought we were going to the library. We pasted it! Whats going on!" And the kids yelled SURPRISE and told him we were going on a hike. It was lost of fun. Here are the pictures from our day a Capital Reef Fruita. We took the hike to the Hickman Bridge, 2 miles round trip.

And were off with a running start!

Found a nice spot for a family picture :)

A rock that looks like a shoe

And finally, the Hickman Bridge. It's a rock that is shaped like a bridge. It was awesome

The end of the hike. I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it. Notice I am carrying a 12 lb baby the entire time. Now off to a picnic spot

Okay so the spot we picked to have our picnic was also the place where the deer bed down. They had no fear of people. One in fact came up to our BBQ and tried to steal a bun!

It was a long day. I think we all felt like this.

So, I went hiking

2009-07-16T21:05:00.011-06:00

Yeah. Thats right. I went hiking. I know, you have to be in shape to do that but, oh well. I had lot of fun. It wasn't a regular hike. It wasn't a regular hiking trip. I went with Steve. We dressed up in camo and followed deer and elk trails until we found the perfect spot for his trail cam. Yes, I got hurt. Yes, we got lost. But thanks to my super toughness and our handheld gps the night ended well. The bruise on my ankle was only the size of a golf ball for a day and I only had to wear an ace bandged for 2 days, so I think we can call it good. We did this Monday night. And today, Thursday night, Steve went and retreived the memory card out of the trail cam. He went with out me so the trip would be faster. :) Anyway, the cam took 106 pictures. Here are a few of the good ones.

spike deer

spike elk

buck

doe and fawn

buck

buck

up in the mountain pics

2009-07-16T12:59:00.013-06:00

Nick and our friend Grayson

Joey

Our friend Sara and Becky

Becky, Grayson, Nick and Joey

Becky

Minnie

Our friend Blake and Minnie

Sara

Our friend Ben

Cousin Kaylob

Random week in the Shrope house - Saturday

2009-07-13T12:38:00.004-06:00

July 11, 2009
Ah Saturday. We like to do family fun things on the weekend. Today was both fun and hard. We all got up early...well, not early, but up and ready by 9am. Kelli, Grant and their kids met us at our house and we met the Pecks at a gas station. With the kids, dog, snacks, and water packed we headed up the mountain. The boys, and super strong Jen chopped and hauled wood. Kelli and I sat with the kids and held our babies. Thank goodness for babies right, other wise someone might expect me to haul wood or something. We had lots of fun. The weather was nice for those of us not working and the kids had fun in the trees and bushes. We got home in the afternoon and relaxed a bit. we spent the evening at our towns car show. We looked at all kinds of cool old cars and hung out at my brothers booth. Him and his girl are starting up their own company, Kreative Genius. They put pictures on canvas and stuff like that. We had to leave after some random girl vomited in front of the booth. Becky couldn't handle knowing it was there. She has some severe gag reflex.

Anyway, here are some pictures of our fun in the mountains.
...having trouble posting pic's. I will get them up ASAP

Random week in the Shrope house - Thursday & Friday

2009-07-13T12:27:00.003-06:00

July 9 & 10, 2009
Hmmmmm...I don't really remember anything happening those days. Which is good. It means the kids were good. Here is what I do remember...
Thursday. I spend the day coming up with the 10 rules. I wanted to have them be important and cover a broad spectrum. That evening Steve and I discussed the not so new rules with the kids. We want to make sure the are aware what is not acceptable in our home. The kids seem to understand.
Friday. LOL, I do remember one thing. I was so very tired. Not sleeping Tuesday night had finally caught up with me. While relaxing in the recliner with Matt I fell asleep. Joey fell asleep on the couch next to me. I thought cause the main trouble maker was out all would be safe. I was wrong. The big kids went into me closet and took all the Christmas wrapping paper into the boys room and then unraveled all of it. Like 4 rolls. And then playing the the huge pile of paper. This, by the way, is NOT one of our posted rules. SO, I did not yell, or spank, or give a time out. This is me picking my battles. I just told them I was sad they ruined my paper and had them clean it up. Okay Dr. Scott, did I pass.

Here is what I am learning as my kids are pouring gallons of water on my floor. The list of rules is kind of a visual reminder for me and the kids. The kids can see the important rules, and I am reminded that not everything they do needs a huge time out of punishment. So while water on the floor, and killing fish are not on my rules, they will still be disciplined. But I will try my best to pick my battles and overly praise for the things they do right.

10 Rules

2009-07-10T12:46:00.003-06:00

Here are the 10 rules Steve and I came up with (see last post). Hopefully have only 10 rules and having explained to the kids will help our house run smoother.

THE SHROPE COMMANDMENTS

Do not hurt each other

No touching the TV Center

Get a “yes” before going outside

Always tell the truth

Keep our clothes put away

Do not play in the bathroom

Use only kind words

Do not touch sweets and desserts

Color, draw and write only on paper

Always hold hand where there are cars

Random week in the Shrope house - Wednesday

2009-07-09T08:24:00.005-06:00

Wednesday July 8, 2009
A better day. We just purchased a Wii and I plan on using it as leverage. I am thinking it's going to work at least for a little while. We set some ground rules with the kids. Before they can play they have to have clean rooms, be dressed, and have brushed their teeth. They are only allowed 45-60 minutes a day (as a group). They are so excited for their new entertainment that we had a good day. Their rooms are clean. They were dressed before noon and their teeth were brushed. They played for 45 minutes and had so much fun. It's great because they can all do it together. They cheer each other on and are all getting along. It was great.
Matt is still not doing very well. After talking to a nurse and a few mommies I have can to the conclusion that it is allergies. He gets this from me. As a child I had severe allergies. Becky also suffers from them. Unfortunately he is too young for me to do anything.
We had Enrichment Night. I really wasn't in the mood to go. We were having a Q & A with "Dr. Scott" the marriage and family councilor. Yes, I have questions about my kids, especially my sons. But I have asked many "specialist" before and I am tired of the old I am not spending enough time with them answer. I have always enjoyed spending time with the kids. We have special one on one date. We play games 4-5 times a week. And we regularly have one on one time were we just talk. So, I figured I would just go and not inquire about the kids. Then, my BFF asked about her kids. We have the same problems. She gave an example and he started with an answer. So I told him about Tuesday. And then he said something that no one has ever said before. Maybe I (and my BFF) are over parenting. Maybe we have too many rules and the only fun they can have, most of the time, is breaking the rules. And the fun is just worth it to them. Maybe I am picking too many battles. And maybe my expectations for them are too high. Hmmmm. This makes sense. I am pretty strict. My mother always says so. I do expect a lot of of them. I do have them doing things, and expect them to do things, that other children their age don't do. So, he wants me to try something. 10 rules. Only 10 rules. Sit down with Steve and write out 10 rules and those can be the only rules. If they do something I don't like but it is not on the 10 rules list then it's okay. That's a battle I will let them win. And I need to lower my expectations. Apparently, among other things, I can not expect my 3 and 4 year old to be able to clean their room unsupervised. So I will research realistic expectations for my boys and we will come up with 10 rules. ONLY 10 rules. When we have them figured out, I will let you know.
So Wednesday...a good day.
Stay tuned for Thursday.

Random week in the Shrope house - Tuesday

2009-07-08T09:48:00.003-06:00

Tuesday July 7, 2009
Oh Tuesday. The day I will never miss. The day from hell.
When my kids are good, they are great! But when they decide to misbehave, they bring me to tears.
I love my kids. I do. Let me repeat that a few times. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids. Okay, now I think I believe it.
Tuesday is the catch up after the catch up day. LOL. Kinda funny. Matt is still not feeling good. Maybe it's a cold. Maybe it's early teething. Maybe it's the Lord testing me to see how much I can handle at once. Becky was pretty good. cleaned her room and helped with Matt and everything. The boys, well the boys are Shrope boys, that is for sure. I might need to have a talk with Nancy on survival tips.
I had gotten up at 6am again to go on a walk with Minnie. I can't believe how out of shape I am in. It is ridiculous and discouraging. Before noon I "relaxed" on my recliner. I might have fallen asleep for a minutes or too. Our home is small. I can nap on the recliner and still be in the middle of all the action. When I became functional again I noticed that Nick has been eating the frosting off of the cake I made. I am surprised he didn't get sick. The cake was bad and gave Steve a belly ache. Anyhow, that was the beginning. Everyone played pretty nice. I was kinda consumed with the sick baby that needed me to hold him and love him every second. Everyone was doing well...until I locked the fridge back up. It has a child lock on it that the big kids can open but not Joe. But I thought of being nice and unlocking it so Joe could put his juice in the fridge to make it extra cold the the big kids. That was a mistake. It became a game of opening and closing the fridge. So I locked it back up and it flipped a switch in Joe. And when Joe is naughty Nick thinks he should be too. So my day continues like this. The boys trashed their room. Did everything naughty they could think of. Drew on themselves and the walls with a pink marker. Stole important papers from my desk and took them to their room to tear up and turn into airplane and trash. After I yelled at them and decided I have had enough I cleaned out their room. I filled 3 trash bags full. I left them with their mattresses, 5 hot wheels and a bike helmet. I told them to stay in their rooms the rest of the evening. I let them out for dinner and sent them back. But I guess they didn't feel like they were in enough trouble so they snuck into Becky's room and killed all of her fish.
Yes I yelled. Yes I spanked. Yes I cried. And yes I ran away for a few hours. Maybe they will feel like I deserve a break for tomorrow and will only be half as bad. One can only hope.
Stay tuned for Wednesday.

Random week in the Shrope house - Monday

2009-07-07T08:01:00.003-06:00

Monday, July 6, 2009
Oh Monday's. Why are Mondays so busy? I think it is because I don't so anything Saturday or Sunday. Our Monday went like this...
My alarm went off at 6:00am. What the heck was I thinking. 6am is way too early. I decided not to get up. Then at 6:07am the baby decided he was starving, so I got up and fed him. And sense I was up I went ahead and went on a walk with Minnie. It felt good to be up so early, but at the same time, holy crap!
So the house is a disaster and the kids all all crazy cause its been raining all weekend and they have all this energy. I get a couple things done. I went to my friend Lori's house. She is helping me with a cake for my sister. I am not sure if it is suppose to be a surprise or not. I have already told her about it. My mom is the one who has asked me to take care of it. She will pretend to be surprised for Mom. And now my mom might not even be going, so why the heck am I making this cake again? Anyhow. stayed at Lori's for a little then went to the store. Going to the store with 4 kids is a nightmare. I can even see people mentally county all my children as I try to keep them from getting lost. I am wearing Matt, Joe is in the cart and Becky and Nick are suppose to be nicely walking besides the cart. I only had to remind them to stay next to me about a hundred time's. We bought new backpacks for everyone, and tons of groceries. And then for a treat for the semi-good behavior I bought everyone a frosty and enjoyed them in the car wash.
At home I tried to get things done while entertaining, feeding, changing, teaching. disciplining and pleading with my children. I stayed up until about 11:30pm baking a practice cake for Amanda. I discovered my shortening (for greasing the pan) has gone bad. At least I think it has. It stinks.
Well. That is my Monday. It didn't end in tears so I think it went well.
Stay tuned for Tuesday with the Shropes!

A random week in the Shrope house - Sunday

2009-07-05T17:41:00.005-06:00

Sunday - July 5, 2009
Today I don't feel well. It's probably a cold, but it making me feel too icky for church. So I stay in bed. Steve feeds the kids breakfast and attempted to get them dressed. I could hear the struggle from my bed so I got up and help find clothes for the kids. It's my fault we are having problems finding clothes anyhow. I can barely keep up with their laundry. I dress them then go back to bed. Steve is in charge of the rest (hair, teeth, shoes, etc.). So as a result, all the kids wore flip flops to church and Becky had her shirt on backwards, and she didn't have her hair brushed. I am not worried. People will see that I am not at church and will all understand that Steve was in charge of getting the kids ready.
While everyone was at church, I slept. I woke up just as they came home. I stayed in bed. Steve fed the kids lunch and I mentally made plans for dinner. Oh man, we need milk. I went to my moms to "borrow" a gallon of milk. Steve is kind enough to feed the baby and then play a game with me. Phase 10 twist. It's our new favorite game, nest to scrabble. We had pancakes for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is a Sunday tradition in our house. We usually go to my moms, but sense I am not feeling well, we stayed home today.
The rest of our day is spend begging the kids to pick up their things and just sitting around being lazy. Tonight I will start me training with Minnie. We taught her the basics before we had Matt. Things like how to walk on a leash, not to potty in the house, and the word no. She use to know a few tricks like, sit, roll over shake, and attack (which was her command to bark). But sense we had the baby we have gotten lazy. So now it's time to get back to work. I am going to work on one - commands a week. This week will be sit (which she kinda knows) and stay. Stay is going to be a hard one, but a life saver I think.
Anyway, that is our Sunday. Other then me being sick, a pretty typical one.
Stay turned for MONDAY!

a few cute pictures

2009-06-17T20:53:00.005-06:00

Tooth fairy, we have another tooth for you!

No matter how many times I take the pens away, he always seem to find the hiding place.

Minnie napping with Joey.

2009-06-15T18:19:00.003-06:00

Here are some fun pictures we have taken in the last few days.

This is one of my three boys.

Here is Nick and Matt. Nick thinks he is Matt's favorite. He probably is.

He is our sweet Mini. She is getting to be a good dog.

Here is Joe and Matt. Joey is always eager to help out. Maybe a little too much sometimes.

And here is Becky and Tenia. We are not sure why, but Tenia is in love with my brother and wishes to marry him in the near future. We like her. (;

Sunday Drive

2009-06-15T17:39:00.007-06:00

Steve and the kids went on a Sunday drive to Zions and back. I wasn't feeling to good so I stayed home with Matt. They had tons a fun and Steve did a great job at taking pictures. The stopped by an elk ranch and a buffalo ranch. Here are all the fun pictures.

Too cute.

2009-06-05T10:12:00.004-06:00

While looking at our blog with Nick I noticed there isn't too many pictures of him lately. Blame the baby. Anyhow, I told him I had a really cute picture of him I would like to put on here. He said, "is it a picture of me sleeping, because I sleep so cute". Well, no, it's not a picture of him sleeping.

And here is a cute picture of the big kids.
Dad like to take them hiking out west. I think this is an old mine shaft. Nick is posing as a "strong man".

He's an artistic Genius

2009-06-03T12:06:00.004-06:00

Okay. So I am reluctant to say that my children are just not artistic. Becky and Nick's are are just, well, regular. And sometimes just plain bad. I would give them paint and they would make just big brown blobs on the paper. Becky is getting a little better sense she started school, but it's not outstanding. Anyway. I dunno. I don't think I have an artistic eye or anything but what Joey did yesterday, to me, is just amazing. We potty trained yesterday and I gave him all access to the craft box. He picked the "puffy paints" and i think he created a masterpiece. At last we have one creative kid.
Joseph Shrope - age 3 years
6/2/2209

Update for May

2009-05-26T11:16:00.008-06:00

Yes, I am behind. Not much has been happening. Becky is out of school. Summer vacation officially started today. We joined a book club for her this summer to keep her from falling behind on her reading. She lost her top front tooth today. It had been wiggling forever, it just wouldn't come out. But this morning while eating breakfast she swallowed it. She wrote a letting to the tooth fairy explaining the whole thing. Hopefully the tooth fairy will understand.

The boys are being boys. Breaking their beds, peeing on the floor, wiping poop on the wall. Gotta love them. Matt is getting bigger. we had his baby blessing on the third. We also got a nice family picture done that day too.

And then Nancy got a nice picture with her two new grandsons. The one on the left is Kelli and Grants new baby Riley. He is exactly 4 weeks younger then Matt. So in that picture Matt is one month old and Riley is 2 days old. Too cute.

Matt is too cute. I feel like he is getting bigger everyday. IS is not even two months yet, but already rolls over and smiles and laughs and goo's and coo's. I don't know what I am going to do when he is old enough to join his brother is causing trouble around here.

Joey is 3 !

2009-05-26T11:02:00.003-06:00

okay, I am a little behind on posting. Joey turned 3 back on the 19Th. We celebrated his birthday the day before, a Monday, for family home evening. It was just our family plus Grandpa G. The Wallace's were too sick to join us. He is such a big boy. We are using the pecs picture system with him and we are learning some sign language too. For those of you who don't know. He has Apraxia (look it up). Anyway, he is doing really well. We can't wait for the school year to start in September. He gets to go to a special school were he will get speech therapy every day.

Forgery

2009-05-01T12:46:00.005-06:00

Every school day Becky brings home a "lap book". It's a reading book from the school library. earlier in the year they were book that I had to read to her. Now they are book at her reading level that she needs to read to me. With the book there is a list. It's a list of all the books she will be reading and I am suppose to put my initials next to the book she has read that day so she can receive a new one. If I forget to sign the list then she will return home with the same book. Well, I forgot to sign yesterdays book, so when she came home from school today I apologized to her for forgetting to sign the list. She then let me know that it was okay...that she signed it for me.

So, do you suppose this is going to be the beginning of a problem. She is only 6 years old.

My Lifesavers

2009-04-29T11:50:00.007-06:00

Having #4 has been a fun challenge. Our little Matt has quite the personality. He appears to be very relaxed and easygoing, but in all reality he is a handful. He is definitely a mama's boy. He wants to be held all the time and if he gets upset no on but mommy can calm him down. Not even dad. So doing everyday things are becoming a challenge. Even bedtime is difficult. These are a few of the things that have mad our life easier.

The Boppy
I love my boppy. Right now I use it as a support for my bigger kids to hold the baby. I put the boppy in their lap and the baby on the boppy, and everyone is safe and secure. I use it when I can't possibly hold him and he doesn't mind being help by big sister or brother.

My IPod and White Noise
Sometimes I need him to lay down but I can't get him to calm down or stay calm for that matter. Then I discovered the miracle of white noise. I downloaded a CD or natural white noise; rivers, waterfalls, rain. And I hook up my IPod to speakers and play the noise fairly load and he goes right to sleep...most of the time.

My Moby Wrap
Seriously my biggest life saver. Matt wants to be held by Mommy all the time. And I don't mind holding him, you can't spoil an infant, but sometimes I need my hands. Actually most all the time I need my hands to be free. He loves the Moby. Around noon everyday I put it on and probably wear it until dinner. I take him out to change and feed him. And Matt is happy. And that means Mommy is happy.

The Wubbanub
That's right, it's a soothie attached to a stuffed animal. It's awesome, and too cute. The puppy is something for him to hold on to and it keeps the soothie near. And it makes it harder to loose. It's not going to fall into tight spaces I can't reach. A soothie is important in this house, and a soothie that doubles as a security animal and is hard to loose, is priceless.

I also should mention my favorite website's, where I have purchased a lot of my baby stuff. I always get free shipping and fast deliveries.
mom4life
amazon

Matt

2009-04-13T16:29:00.008-06:00

Matt had a little bit of jaundice, so we spent some time sunbathing on the couch.

We are so grateful for the swing Great Grandpa G. gave us. We are lucky that Matt will sleep contently in it for about as long as it takes me to shower and get dressed. Sometimes he sleeps in it a little later and I am able to eat too.

And here are some cute pictures taken of Matt Easter evening after his first bath at home, which I did not document due to my "having 4 children syndrome". Do these count as Easter pictures? LOL

The Moby

2009-04-13T16:18:00.007-06:00

I love my Moby. It is truly a lifesaver. I can do almost anything while wearing Matt. Basicly every morning I get up get dressed and put the Moby on. I carry Matt almost all day. And I really only take the Moby off in the evening. Matt wants to be held all day and I don't know what I would do with out my Moby. This being my forth child I have tried many different kinds of baby carriers. And this one is by far my favorite. Right now I am using the hug hold, which is Matts favorite. Whats great is there are 8 different holds I can use as he grows. And so far I have had no back pains related to wearing the Moby all day.
I wanted you guys to see it so I had Becky take a couple pictures. Seriously, this is the one thing I don't think I could live without.

http://www.mobywrap.com/

Easter Pictures

2009-04-13T16:13:00.005-06:00

Alright so here are the pics that Steve took of the kids while Matt and I slept in.

4th Baby

2009-04-13T15:40:00.004-06:00

Okay, so I suck. But in my defence having 4 kids is not easy. People say that anything after number 3 feels the same. I disagree. having a forth feels like you have a forth. This little guy, Matt, is a handful. I carry him all day in a Moby all day. Which does make things easier when it comes to taking care of the other kids and getting things done around the house. Plus, while being carried close to mommy all day, he doesn't really do any crying. He cries at night though. And he wakes often to be fed and changed. And he is number 4. So with all this I am much more tired now then I was when I was pregnant, or when I had just the three. So here is why I suck. Easter. That night before I did not get any sleep. And when morning came I just couldn't get out of bed. So Steve did Easter morning with the kids minus Matt who was in bed with me. He took some pictures. He did the Easter egg hunt. And he had the joy of seeing the kids discover what the Easter bunny had left them. I slept so hard that I didn't even hear any of this going on. So, we have no "First Easter" pictures of Matt with his basket. Or Matt with the kids and their baskets. Hopefully Matt will be forgiving and understand that with a week old baby it was nearly impossible to get out of bed on time. We are lucky we made in it time for church. Of coarse I love all my kids. But it seems the more you have, the less pictures you take. I am trying not to let this happen, but none of the kids will ever be able to compare to the amount of pictures we took of Becky.
Alright, as for how things are going, everything is great. Matt seems to be very healthy. He eats like a Shrope. His siblings love him. And during the day he is a good baby. Our dog is behaving very well around him. And Matt doesn't seem to mind Minnie sniffing and licking his face. And the noise in the house doesn't faze him at all. The dog can be barking at the chickens and the kids could all be running around screaming and he doesn't even flinch. It's nice to know that while in utero he was able to get use to all the noise ahead of time. No need to shush around Matt. But there still is a need to shush around Mom. Even though it doesn't bother Matt, it doesn't mean it still doesn't give Mom a headache.

What's great about having #4
Well, I have been there done that, so no worries about freaking out about anything. I have become a master diaper changer (young and old), and still hold a personal record of never being peed on.
Baby puke doesn't bother me.
I have mastered multitasking, so eating, emailing, paying the bills and feeding the baby all at once is no problem.
It's easier to tolerate the crying while taking a shower. I know he wont die if I take 15 minutes to myself.
I got poo on my hand and didn't freak out.
I have learned that my kids wont die from sucking on a binky that fell on the floor.
He has older siblings that are very helpful. You don't really have that with the first 2-3 kids.
I know what to expect. No surprises.

More pics of Matt

2009-04-04T17:57:00.004-06:00

Matthew Hunter Shrope

2009-04-04T16:15:00.007-06:00

Alright, so we are home!
There were 18 votes placed on the name voting poll. Luke won the poll with 8 votes. Unfortunately we named him Matthew, which only received 2 votes. Here is his scripture (as Heather pointed out).
Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
I really liked the name Matthew because it means "gift from God". This is what how we truly feel about him. His middle name was suppose to be Hyrum, but Steve changed his mind during labor and I told him I like Hunter if he did. And of coarse he did.

Matthew Hunter Shrope was born April 3, 2009 at 10:56am. Our Labor was short and sweet. He was 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 1/2 long. And he is BLOND! He is totally blond. All of my other kids were born with dark hair. Steve has 3 sibling with blond hair so we knew the gene was there, we just thought we would never see it. Both of us are doing really well. We only stayed one night and now we are home enjoying the noise of our family.

And, as promised, here are his first pictures, starting with me the day before he was born.

Mercy Induction Countdown!

2009-03-30T11:16:00.000-06:00

Countdown To Baby

10 years ago today

2009-03-26T09:07:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Steve!
This day is very special. It is not only Steve’s birthday; it is also the 10 year anniversary that he and I met. 10 years ago this day Steve was dragged to a church dance on his 23rd birthday. I had recently lost my prom date and was hoping to find a new one at the same dance. I went to the dance with Heather and one of the Bird girls. I really shouldn’t have gone. The dance was for ages 18 and up, and I was still 17. It was a church dance that didn’t check ID’s so I went anyway. There I lied to everyone I danced with telling them that I was 18. That is until Steve. I saw him watching me from across the world. He looked different then the type of guy that I typically dated. He was hard looking, older, and tough. But he was watching me and I was flattered. Later we spoke and then danced two slow songs in a row. I learned that behind his tough exterior, he was kind and soft. He worked with the handicapped and that to me was just amazing. When Steve asked my age I almost lied, but for whatever reason, I didn’t. I told him the truth. I was just 17 and a senior in high school. At the end of the dance he caught me before I left and got my phone number. And that was the beginning of our love story.

p.s. Thank you Hope Chapman for dragging Steve to a dance he really didn't want to attend. You didn't know that this dance would be the last one he would attend single. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I love you Steve.

baby update

2009-03-20T12:08:00.002-06:00

Alright, there isn't one. But I had to post something above that awful picture of me in a swimsuit.
We thought we were going into labor on St. Patties day. And it was "labor", I had a kidnyey stone. Isn't that lovely. So now I am doing everything I can to encourage this baby to come out. I am bribing him with all kinds of goodies and new toys. LOL. I am walking everyday. This is seriously the most exercize I have gotten sence it was required in high school. I also have a sationary bike at home I am using everyday (while eating ice cream, I trying to induce labor, not loose weight). ANYTHING that gives me a few contractions, I am doing it. So, because of all this activity, my back is killing me. So today I am going to have a massage and some reflexology, also something to help induce. So good luck to me. And hopefully the next time I post, there will be pics of a new baby boy.

36 Weeks

2009-03-10T11:31:00.004-06:00

As per request, here is a picture of me pregnant. 36 weeks pregnant, and in a swimsuit that clearly doesn't fit :) I apologize for any nightmares and for the quality of the photo. I did it myself and I thought I did okay until I got it on the computer. I was not about to get back into the swimsuit. I practically had to cut if off. So I put it in black and white and called it good.

Worst Celebrity Baby Names

2009-03-07T11:09:00.001-07:00

So I was looking at list of baby names and came across this. The worst celebrity baby names. What makes these "famous" people think they can do this to their children?

Worst Celebrity Baby Names

Bronx Mowgli Wentz: son of Ashlee Simpson Wentz and Pete Wentz

Zuma Nesta Rock: son of Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale

Apple and Moses: daughter and son of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

Pilot Inspektor: son of Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf

Rocket (son), Racer (son), Rebel (son), Rhiannon (daughter) and Rogue (son):
children of Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellán

Jermajesty: son of Jermaine Jackson and Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza

Moxie CrimeFighter: daughter of Penn Jillette and Emily Zolten Jillette

Reignbeau and Freedom: daughter and son of Ving Rhames and Debora Reed

Speck Wildhorse: son of John Mellencamp and Elaine Irwin

Moon Unit, Dweezil, and Diva Thin Muffin: daughter, son, and daughter of Frank Zappa

Banjo: son of Rachel Griffiths and Andrew Taylor

Kal-El: son Nicolas Cage and Alice Kim

Diezel and Denim: sons of Toni Braxton and Keri Lewis

Audio Science: son of Shannyn Sossamon and Dallas Clayton

Sage Moonblood: son of Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Stallone

Seven Sirius and Puma: son and daughter of Erykah Badu, with Andre 3000 and rapper D.O.C.

Orion: son of Chris Noth and Tara Wilson

Ptolemy: son of Gretchen Mol and Tod Williams

Tu: daughter of Rob Morrow and Debbon Ayer (This makes her Tu Morrow)

Messiah Ya'Majesty: son of T.I. and Lashon Dixon

Fifi Trixibelle, Pixie and Peaches Honeyblossom: daughters of Bob Geldof and the late Paula Yates

Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily: daughter of the late Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates

Madame Zaritska

2009-02-27T18:32:00.004-07:00

Madame Zaritska predicts your birth experience

The day you deliver, outside will be light. Your baby will arrive in the late evening.

After a labor lasting approximately 19 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 4 pounds, 8 ounces, and will be 18-1/2 inches long. This child will have light gray eyes and a lot of black hair.

So, This is interesting. Because according to my doctor that is the weight and length of my baby right now. hmmmmmmm..... I guess you just can't rely on internet madames anymore. ;)

Nick update

2009-02-19T10:45:00.006-07:00

Well, It is imposable for Nick to "Take it easy" His healing time has now been bumped up to a month. And because he is keeping his arm down all day his armpit now stinks like a man. Do they have toddler deodorant? lol.

spoke a little too soon.

2009-02-13T15:42:00.010-07:00

Alright, so yesterday I published a post about how nothing new or interesting or funny is happening. Well, I guess I jinxed the family. Soon after the post, Nick jumped off of Becky's bed. This is funny because Nick often jumps off of the top bunk of his bunk bed. He has jumped off of the dressers in the kids room. He is a very active and reckless boy. But this time, he has no cool story to tell. He jumped off of Becky's bed which is about 12 inches from the floor. He didn't land on his feet, which is weird. He landed on his shoulder and fractured his collar bone. He has to wear a sling until it feels better (hopefully for about a week). He also has to take it easy because another fall could turn the fracture into a brake. He enjoyed the x-rays because he got to see his "strong bones" from all the milk he drinks. But he is having a hard time trying to have fun and function with just one arm. If he was older he wouldn't need a sling, but sense he isn't capable of not moving his arm all the time he has to have one. Hopefully he will look back on this as an fun adventure.

Also, we finally had our appointment with Joey's speech therapist. She thinks he might have childhood apraxia. This is just an educated guess. She can't be 100% because it's hard to diagnose it before the age of 4. But all the signs are there, and it goes along with what Steve and I thought was wrong. So we will do what we can to treat it with speech therapy at home everyday and at school once a week. She said this will be a long process and from what I read it he may never be 100% with his speech. And that's okay. He might not be 100% in speech and communication, but he is 110% in everything else.

Little Update

2009-02-12T15:26:00.003-07:00

We haven't had anything interesting or funny happening in our family lately, so I havn't really had anything to blog about. But, I feel the need to blog something, so here it goes. Let's see. How is our famliy doing? Well, Becky is still enjoying school. But she is becoming a little forgetful. She continues to forget to turn in her reading book and she has forgoten to turn in her homework a couple of times. She blames it on the fact that she is forgetful. I hope that my "pregnancy brain" hasn't worn off on her. Then again, if it did, it should go away soon. Nick is good. Telling great stories everyday. The lastest involved him riding on top of the Jeep while daddy drove on the railroad tracks, out running a train and being chases by the police. He swears it's true. And Joey...well Joey has maybe improved in his speech just a tiny bit, but we finally have an appointment with the speech therapist tomorrow to get him started. Yeah! A lot of frustration will be solved when we can communicate better. Steve is still working. Hasn't lost his job in the market. He is really getting into hunting and trapping. Every weekend he is going scouting. He wants to make sure he gets something this season. And he has been trapping Coyotes, doing a favor to the local farmers and getting paid for it. As for me, I am good. 32 weeks pregnant now. Very much feeling like I am done. My doc gives me abiout 5 more weeks. Nothing like not having to carry full term. The kids can't wait for the new baby. But, i am a bit scared. I am already tired, and can't imagin being able to spead myself any thinner. I just keep telling myself "It's an adventure" and I like adventures....right? Steve would like me to go 6 more weeks and have it on his birthday. It's the perks of being able to plan the birth. As long as it's a couple days of when the doc want's me to have it (and it's not too much of an emergency), I can pick the day. So thats it. Thats all that is happening. Not much. Hopefully next month we have something more fun to share. Like a new baby!

Feel Yours!

2009-02-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ice Fishing

2009-01-27T17:30:00.004-07:00

Here is the proof that Steve took the kids ice fishing while Joe and I were in San Diego, CA. He quickly took a picture of them standing by their ice holes, holding their fishing rods. Not too long after this they decided that it was took cold. They sat in the jeep the rest while Steve did his fishing. They look like they had tons of fun.

Here is a close up their super happy faces.

Only 6 years old

2009-01-22T14:55:00.007-07:00

Our little girl is ONLY six years old. Just six. Every school day morning is the same. Steve or I gets her up at 7 am. She goes potty, then gets dressed. I make her breakfast, and when she is done she brushes her teeth and we get into the car. I drive her to the corner and we wait for who ever shows up first, the bus or the neighbor kids. She gives me a kiss and a hug and gets out of the car. She waves good bye at the car window. She crosses the street and then waves good bye one more time as I drive home, 3 houses down (keep in mind our houses are not close together). And that's that. Every morning the same. It's good. Until today. This morning as she was eating breakfast she let me know that she wouldn't be giving me a hug and kiss this morning. My jaw dropped. I didn't understand. Why? Did she get made fun off by the neighbor kids (because I will give them a stern talking too)? Why would she be cutting me off. She told me that she wasn't made fun of, and that she would give me a hug and kiss when she got home. But you know it just wouldn't be the same. I told her it made me sad, and only older kids didn't hug and kiss their mom's before school. She let me know that she need chances as a little kid to not hug and kiss me. And it wouldn't be all the time. Just today. So, in the car as we wait for the bus I told her to have a good day, and that I loved her. And I leaned in to get a hug and kiss and she almost fell for it. She leaned in a little then smiled and said not today. NOT TODAY!!!!! Oh man, this makes me so sad. What is she doing? Why? Why no kisses? This little girl is growing up too fast. She already talks daily about getting married, having kids. How I will be a grandma. How she will live a little far away, but still in Cedar City. I did not sign up for my kids to grow up this fast. Yes, I do want them to be independent, to be great parents, and to live their own lives, but she is ONLY SIX! My numbers say I am not old, but my children sure make me feel that way.

Joey & his new girlfriend Evie

2009-01-20T14:00:00.003-07:00

Joey being Cheesey

Evie being too cute

This is their engagment photo :) j/k

Love from Joey

Lots of love from Joey

Lions & Tigers & Bears... OH MY!

2009-01-20T13:56:00.001-07:00

Zoo bus ride

2009-01-20T13:50:00.003-07:00

We got a little tired of walking and decided to take the bus ride to see the aniamls. We are glad we did. You can see 75% of the park on this bus tour.

Camels

Elephants

Giraffs

Rhino's

and much much more....

More pictures from the zoo

2009-01-20T13:47:00.003-07:00

San Diego Zoo!!

2009-01-20T13:25:00.004-07:00

Joey and I went to San Diego to visit our friends Kim and Tim and their new baby Evie. While we were there we went to the San Diego Zoo and had soo much FUN!!!

Here is Joey enjoying the snakes.

This is the big Monitor Lizard

Joey could see him very well so I put him on the ledge to get a closer look. I think Joey thought he might be too close.

Joey is getting a big hug from a Orangutan

Out of the mouth of babe's

2009-01-07T17:10:00.003-07:00

Children always say the funniest things. Especially my children. They are always so honest and candid. I love it. Remembering the words of my children always puts a smile on my face. A smile I would like to share with you. So I will keep a commentary of my children under their pictures on the right side. I hope you enjoy.
And just for laughs and smiles, here are some quotes from there past.

Becky said:

I would like my eggs in a cake please. - age 2
You're the best mom for putting Nick in time out. - age 4
Mom! I have to go to the bathroom again! What is wrong with me? I think my butt is having allergies. - age 4
Mom, Nick's mind is dead. - age 4
Mom, you are actually right. - age 4
Dear Heavenly Father, I am thankful for this day. Please bless Nick that when he grows up he will get married and have 10 kids... - age 4

Nick said:

I want to be a girl when I grow up - age 2
I love Dad and Shane (a local cowboy) first and then you Mom
If a bad guy wants to give me candy I will take it from him and then run away. - age 3
Mom, you should push this in (squeezing my love handles). - age 4

Minnie's 1st Haircut

2009-01-02T22:52:00.003-07:00

Now that Minnie's hind legs are healed she got her first haircut. The hind legs might look a little silly, but thats because they were shaved for her surgery, and the hair is still growing in. She got the offical schnauzer cut. She looks so cute.
The cut was done be my very good friend Jennifer Peck.

Minnie Before

2009-01-02T22:50:00.003-07:00

Minnie's New Haircut

2009-01-02T22:38:00.005-07:00

Kid's 2008 Favorites

2008-12-31T18:43:00.002-07:00

I sat down with the kid's and explained to them the New Year. We talked about all the fun things that happened this year. Then I asked them what was their favorite part, and least favorite part of the year.
Nick's favorite part of the year was when he got to go to Becky's school for the day while I helped out for the Halloween party. He liked getting candy like all the other "big kids" The part about the year that he hated was all the time outs he had and all the times he had to sit on his bed.
Becky's favorite part of the year was having Thanksgiving at her grandma's, her first day of school, and Christmas. Her least favorite was the day we found out that she would be getting another brother. She said that day was the worst, but she is okay about it now.

The Shropes 2008

2008-12-31T16:48:00.003-07:00

A look back on the Shrope’s 2008
Jan. 27 - President Hinckley died. I was at work, Red Cliffs Regional, working in rehab when I saw it on the news.
Feb/March - Mom & Leah moved out!
March - Fell in love and bought a horse, Rugar.
March 26 - Steve turned 32
April 6 & 7 - General Conference. First one with our new Prophet, Thomas Monson
April 8 - Married for 8 years!
May - Brought Rugar home and purchased a second horse Molly
May 15 - I had my first real injury. Sprained my right knee falling of my horse, Rugar
May - Prayerfully decided to have another baby
May - Went to Arizona for baby Paige’s name blessing
May 19 - Joseph turned 2
June 6 - IUD removed
June - Steve got a motorcycle
June 19-29 - First childless vacation!
July 26 - Positive pregnancy test!!!
Aug. - Started picking out baby girl names
Aug. 26 - Becky’s first day of school
Aug. 27 - Becky’s first school bus ride
Aug. 28 - First prenatal doctors appointment
Aug. 30 - Nick turned 4
Sep. 13 - Steve’s motorcycle trip with my dad
Sep. 23 - Decided I really wanted a dog
Oct. 6 - Steve went hunting and killed nothing
Nov. 4 - Voted
Nov. 17 - Ultrasound: It’s a Boy!!!
Nov. 18 - Toss out my girl name's list
Nov. 22 - I turned 27
Nov. 27 - Thanksgiving. Had Brad and James to my mom’s for dinner and spent the holiday weekend with them.
Dec. 1 - Started blogging
Dec. 2 - Becky turned 6
Dec. 6 - Bought Minnie and brought her home. Early Christmas Gift!
Dec. 24 - Went to mom’s and let kids open presents from their grandparents early. I think they got more over there then they did here at home.
Dec. 25 - Christmas!
Dec. 31 - Took time to look back at our year and write this blog.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

PRESENTS!!!

2008-12-25T08:29:00.003-07:00

Icicle

2008-12-20T10:52:00.003-07:00

Gotta love the super giant Icicle's

SANTA!!!!

2008-12-19T08:40:00.006-07:00

Santa came to Steve's work after hours just to visit the employee's and their kids. We ALL took turns sitting on his lap and telling him what we wished for. I am so greatful my children are not shy. I know I cried for years everytime I saw Santa. Even Joey jumped up on his lap, to get a candy of coarse, but still. We had fun. I am greatful for the semi-private visit the kids got to have with Santa.

6" Puppy, 12+" Snow

2008-12-18T12:19:00.004-07:00

So, we have a ton of snow. Over 12". Everytime I have to take the puppy out to go potty I have to re-shovel the side walk. She doesn't play in the snow anymore sence her surgery. I put socks on her to protect her bandages. Here is an idea of how deep the snow is. Burrrrrrrrrr :)

Yee Haw

2008-12-17T09:05:00.001-07:00

Cute pic's of Minnie & the Kids

2008-12-17T08:57:00.002-07:00

Took Minnie to the vet

2008-12-17T08:52:00.001-07:00

We got Minnie for a really great price because she was left completly natural. She has cute floppy ears, and a tail (which you never see on a mini schnauzer). She also had rear dewclaws. Her rear dewclaws were not properly attached. That happens alot with rear ones, if the dog gets them at all. So to prevent any damage in the future we had them removed yesterday. She was really lazy all day. The Vet told us that we need to keep the bandages (in the picture) clean. It's been snowy for about a week now. So we put infant socks on her to keep her feet dry when we go outside to go potty. She is just too cute...even when she is all booboo's.

Being pregnant a 4th time

2008-12-15T12:24:00.001-07:00

As I am reading other peoples blogs I notice that they talk a little or a lot about their pregnancy. I haven’t done so because, well, it’s my 4th and everything seems so old and uninteresting to me. Nothing new going on, so I guess we aren’t super excited with every change. But maybe it is something everyone else will find funny and exciting. So here it goes.Right now I am 2 days short of 24 weeks. I feel like a cow. This hopefully, if the lord is cool with it, will be our last. We got pregnant with the hope that the baby will be a girl. We so badly wanted another girl. In fact we felt so strongly it was a girl that I had already started my entire window shopping (on the net) and making my wish lists of all the cute girl things we would like. Having a boy didn’t ever cross our minds. Then we had the ultra sound. And Becky did what I wanted to do. She cried, “brothers are so mean”. The baby was a boy. And not “kind of” a boy, most definably a boy. It took us all a couple of days, but we are all happy with what we are blessed with. Even if a third boy most certainty means the complete destruction of my home. I had awful morning sickness where I had to basically wear a mask to make my kids lunch. I was lucky to only really get “sick” a couple of times. For the first few months I couldn’t go into the kitchen, or near the kid’s bathroom, peanut butter, raw red meat, a trash can, or my son Joe (he always smelled like peanut butter). I now can handle all of those things. My cravings only last about a week at a time, so it’s hard to keep up with.Because this is number 4, I am not embarrassed about anything. And other mothers of many will understand. I have a new best friend. Poise panty liners. My sister would say they are for old people. But I love them. I can’t get up off the couch, or sneeze, or blow my nose, or laugh, or run, or squat down to pick something up, or jump with out peeing a little. It sucks, but it’s a part of the whole being pregnant thing. So yes, old people panty liners are my new best friend.We will only address this once. Weight. The scale is not my friend. When I married Steve I was at weight A. With my first Becky I only gained 18 pounds. Then a year after I had my second I was at weight B, 10 lbs more then weight A. Are you keeping up with this? A year after having my 3rd, Joey, I was at weight C. C is 20 lbs more then weight A….3 lbs more then I was when I gave birth to Becky. And now at 24 weeks pregnant I am at weight D…4 lbs more then I was when I gave birth to Joey. Tell me, do you think I will ever see weight A again. I would be happy even with weight B. Ahhhhh, the joys of having children.
So I think that is it. Our baby boy is moving like crazy at all the wrongs times. Everyone has gotten to feel him move except Becky, who is convinced it’s because he already doesn’t like her. With all my pregnancy’s my placenta aged too quickly, Becky was the only one who wasn’t induced. Joey had to come 2 ½ weeks early because the placenta actually stopped working, and he stopped growing. It’s really nothing to worry about. I enjoy having my babies 2 weeks early. So even though my due date is April 8th, we are expecting him closer to Steve’s birthday, March 26. Hopefully there won’t be any baby news until then.

Finally put up the Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T16:38:00.001-07:00

That is Joey, Becky holding Minnie and Nick. Joey is such a cheese ball.

Becky's 1st letter to Santa.

2008-12-14T15:18:00.001-07:00

I like yoo senta. cen yoo bren me prezis? I wil like a merepasa dres up, puzzl pes and I wood like a braslit and a neclis and I wood like a ren and er rens.
Love Becky

She wrote it all on her own with no help from mom or dad. So here is the translation:

I like you Santa. Can you bring me presents? I will like a maraposa (barbie) dress up, puzzle pieces and I would like a bracelet and a necklace and I would like a ring and ear rings.
Love Becky

The Kids got the camera

2008-12-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

So, I was reviewing the pictures on my camera and discovered some pictures that I didn't take. The kids let me know that they had been practicing taking pictures. They were so proud of themselves.

Becky's Pictures

2008-12-08T15:20:00.002-07:00

Nick's Pictures

2008-12-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

Notice how Nick can't seem to get Becky's face in any shot. Too cute.

He's Stuck

2008-12-08T14:51:00.001-07:00

So, Nick is calling me because he is stuck. After a while a finally get up to check on him. I didn't believe him to truely be stuck. When I found him, I had to go get my camera before I helped him out.

Minnie

2008-12-06T20:16:00.002-07:00

Puppy!!!

2008-12-06T09:25:00.001-07:00

"We are getting a puppy". Thats what I wrote on a note for Becky to read. She is in kindergarden, And between lunch and playing she sounded everything out. She didn't get the whole sentence until we were in the car on the way to walmart to pick up the supplies. Then everyone got very excited. We have been shopping for an indoor dog for a few months. We found the breed we wanted, just not the right puppy. But now we have her. Kind of an early Christmas present for the family. She is way too cute. She is a miniature schnauzer. And we are going to call her Minnie. She is 6 weeks old. We love too much already. She met the kids this evening and tomorrow we will take her out when its nice and sunny to meet the rest of the "family" (horses, chickens, turkeys, Duke and Kitty Meow). Hopefully everyone will get along.

Becky's Birthday

2008-12-02T19:37:00.002-07:00

Becky turned 6 !!!

2008-12-02T19:02:00.001-07:00

Becky is 6 years old today. She has been talking about this day for over a week. She wanted everything to be a surprise, which we couldn't do because she knew about it. She got to take cookies to school to share with her class. I let her pick what ever she wanted for dinner. Did she pick pizza? No. Chicken nuggets? No. She thought about it and decided she wanted cereal. She is a weirdo. After dinner Grandma and Grandpa W. came over with Grandpa G., Leah and Andy. We opened presnets and had cake and ice cream. She got lots of fun presnets, but her favorite had to be the tinker bell dress-up that Grandpa G. gave her. She is so cute, her dress-up's are always to big. And on this one her wings are saggy. But she loves looking like a "princess". She is one, you know.

It's a Boy

2008-12-01T21:03:00.001-07:00

We had our ultrasound a few weeks ago on the 17th of November. We went as a family. We all pilled into the little ultrasound room to meet our baby. The tech. took lots of measurments before checking to see if we were having a boy or a girl. When we finally got there the tech announced it was a boy. Becky had her check three seperate times to be sure. Nick was very excited for another brother. But Becky was very dissappointed. She cried for the rest of the visit. She kept saying how awful boys are and how mean borthers are. She just didn't want another brother. Becky has sence gotten over the dissappointment. She has decided that because this time she will be "much older" that she will teach this new baby how to be nice. I too was a little sad to not be getting a second daughter (I guess more then a little, I did do some crying), But we are all (finally) excited for another little boy. Although I am due April 8th (our wedding anniversary), our doctor is sure we will have him closer to Steve's birthday, March 26th. We can't wait.

Trying to Blog

2008-12-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

Alright, so everyone I know blogs (except Amanda). I am going to give it a try. I am not sure what I am suppose to say. There really isn't anything interesting going on over here....ever. But I will try to keep things interesting.
Steve and I are city kids living the small town life. We are so greatful our children get to have chickens and horses growning up. I can't believe I am here, in a small town, married for almost 9 year with a 4th baby on the way. Time has really gone by fast. The kids make our life full of adventure. Between peanut butter on the couch and Joey eating anything he can get his hands on (including an entire bottle of vitamins), I don't know how I will find time to even feed baby #4. Good thing Becky and Nick want to do all the work for me.
So, good luck to me, and my new blogging adventure.