Easter

Well, I'm finally getting Easter pictures posted on here.

Here is Zach with his eggs. He scribbled a bit on each one, asked me to write a "Z" on them, and that was it.

We decided to actually "color" our eggs this year, instead of dying them. How creative! (Actually it was because it was already bedtime and I had to think of a quicker & less messy way to get the eggs done. We had a hectic day. I don't know if it ended up being quicker, but the kids had fun.) Now that Bob has outlawed Easter grass & plastic eggs (call him the Easter Grinch), things really do go quickly for this holiday.

Spencer's "football" egg

Andrew liked poking holes in the egg carton.


The kids lined up & ready to go down to get Easter baskets. Usually we do this on Saturday, but this year, well, even Sunday was pushing it a bit. The children all got new scriptures for Easter, so I didn't feel too bad about doing it on Sunday.


Andrew wasn't too sure about all this. When I asked him to "smile!" this is what I got.

Andrew & Zach with their mouths stuffed full of candy or gum. I told Zach, "you don't have to eat your whole package of gum at once, you can save some for later, or for tomorrow." He looked at me for a second, then replied "no, I don't want to", as he stuffed another piece of gum in his mouth. Luckily it was dental gum, with xylitol, so it has to be healthy, right?

After everyone stuffed themselves with candy, I sent them out the door to church with Bob, their new scriptures, and a sugar high, while I enjoyed three hours of peace & quiet with Abby. I'll be going back to church on her baby blessing date, April 13th.

Catching up

Well, I'm way behind on updating our blog. Here are a few pictures from the week I had Abby.

Aliysa's favorite hobby is sculpting with bake able clay. She has made dozens of little snakes & accessories for her friend Amanda (who hates real snakes). They are all different character snakes. It is hard to get a good picture because they are so small, but here are a few.

Snake band

Nurse snake & patient snake

Snake's living room furniture

Science with Grandma: Snap circuits. These were a group birthday present for our four oldest kids from Grandma & Grandpa. The kids love them! They have made a motion-sensor alarm, flying disk machine, doorbell, etc. It is great fun & educational!

Zach with his snap circuit creation

Grandma's car got TP'd when she was leaving!

Who could have done that?

We were all sad to see Grandma leave.

First Bath

Abby is doing well. She is such an alert, calm little baby. She loves to open her eyes and gaze at whoever is holding her. She has plenty of people who will hold her and love her. I am just amazed when I look at her, what a miracle life is.

Today is the first day I can honestly say that I feel like I am getting better. I actually slept somewhat soundly, and it felt great. Abby is a good sleeper as long as she is right next to me.

Today I felt motivated enough to give Abby a bath. We've only given her washcloth baths up to this point. Here are some pictures

All clean & beautiful!

It's a girl!

We are proud to announce the birth of our little Abigail Lamoreaux. I was induced early because my liver was having problems that could result in a stillborn baby. Abigail was born about a week and a half early. She weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz. and is 20.5 inches long. It was my shortest labor, but definitely not my easiest. Abby is so sweet and we all love her a lot. Here are some pictures.

Sorry, no picture with Courtney, because I made her wait since the other kids were leaving to go play at a cousin's home. Courtney stayed home to go to her "liberty girls" group, so she got to hold her last and I didn't get a picture. Abby must be ready for all these siblings, because last night when it was all quiet at the hospital, she squacked and fussed, but when she was surrounded by all her loving brothers and sisters, she didn't make a peep.

Andrew just crawled up on the bed by me, looked at Abby, and said "I luv him!" So I think he approves. He thinks she is fun to poke.

I have to share this, because I love this story now. Bob gets so antsy when we are at the hospital. For instance, he came home at 3:30 am to shower, and change vehicles. Then he came back to the hospital. Around 7:30 am, he was just pacing around the hospital room. I was sitting in the recliner, feeding Abby, and he opens the closet, absentmindedly picks up my shoes, and walks over and puts them down by my feet. I started laughing so hard. Here I was in my hospital gown, not close to going anywhere, and he's handing me my shoes. That is so typical of him. I have to send him on lots of errands, to get me drinks of water, or to the store for things that I "forgot" to pack. I love that guy.

March

This is actually last month. Jace turned 11, and got a new bike for his birthday. He has only been able to ride it inside because there is probably two feet of snow everywhere outside.

Jace celebrated a fun birthday by having the beginning of his root canal get all swollen up and extremely painful on his birthday (while our dentist was out of town). We took him to another dentist, but he just prescribed an antibiotic, gave him a super size Symphony Bar and told us to keep him on ibuprofen. Poor Jace. Last year it was chickenpox on his birthday, this year, a root canal!

Andrew's 2nd birthday (March 2nd). This is his new bike. He likes to ride it around and sing "Happy Biwthday to you! Happy Biwthday to you!" at the top of his lungs. He calls it "my biwthday bike", and he won't let anyone touch it.

Arrow of Light

Jace recently earned his "Arrow of Light Award". It is the highest award in Cub Scouts. Here he is receiving the award, and an arrow that actually glows in the dark from a mountain man. It is an impressive ceremony for the boys.

The man who does this ceremony is a big time scouter. He lives in Rigby, but not in our ward. he makes these arrows for the boys. They glow in the dark, and have the boys name on them, as well as leather pieces with the symbols of Bobcat, Bear, Wolf, & Webelos on them. He just does this ceremony because he wants to. Pretty neat.

This is me giving him the actual arrow of light award to go on his uniform. Then he pinned the arrow of light pin on me. It has been neat being his Bear & Webelos leader. Now he is off to the Boy Scout program. Kind of bittersweet for me. He is really excited. Now Spencer is counting down the months until he can join the Cub Scouts in November.

Sledding

Well, our only outside activities lately have been sledding & shoveling snow, shoveling, snow, and well, using our snow blower. The amount of snow is incredible. Yesterday I got stuck in the snow trying to take the kids to piano lessons. We got unstuck and restuck several times until out of desperation, I figured out how to use the snow blower, and cleared our entire driveway. My kids were troupers, they pushed the van, helped me put snow chains in front of the tires, and shoveled out the driveway and around the van. Two HOURS later, I was finally unstuck. Too late for piano, but I made it to my doctor appointment. Whew! Anyway, here are a few more pictures of our sledding day with our friends, the Calls.

Right when we arrived at the hill, we got out of the van, and Mallory sat down on the red sled, and took off like a shot down the hill. I was so surprised, she was FLYING! She started out sitting up, but halfway down the hill, she laid down on the sled. I said: "she is probably terrified!" She came smiling up the hill like this, but she didn't want to go down any more after that. She is always our cheerful little girl!

Spencer snowboarding - fearless!

Courtney just kept climbing up, and sledding down the hill, over and over!

Andrew thinks the snow is great!

Zach thinks it is not so great. He refused to go down the hill even once! Completely refused. He spent most of the time sitting in the van, trying to stay warm.

Aliysa and her friend, Makayla

Andrew rode with Bob several times. After each ride, he wouldn't say anything about it, or show any emotion. No crying, laughing, or responding to questions about it. But when we would ask him if he wanted to go again, he'd waddle over to Bob, and climb on the tube. So we're assuming he enjoyed it. Usually his response to anything is "FUN!" So we were surprised that he didn't say that sledding was "FUN!"

Bob and his good friend, Jeff Call

Jace was pretty amazing on our little snowboard. He would just fly down the hill, and he usually kept his balance until the very end of the hill!

Well, unless we freeze to death, we'll be back to post more soon!