Halloween!

We had a great Halloween week! (Kinda funny that it has turned into a Halloween week-long celebration rather than 1 day. Oh well, more fun, I guess!) We started out the week on the Monday before at some friends' Halloween party for Family Home Evening. It has (hopefully) become a tradition. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures. But, we carved a pumpkin as a family. We made one side an Angry Birds bird, and one side the BYU "Y". It turned out really good. We also watched a cute play put on by the kids for the FHE lesson. Then came the yummy goodies and just good times with good friends! Fun!

Wednesday was a Halloween pack meeting for cub scouts. No pictures, but fun!

On Friday, we went to a "Trick-or-Treat Street" where the kids got to trick-or-treat from different businesses all lined up in campers. It was really fun for them. We met up with my brother, Jarom, and his family which made it oh so much better. There were SO SO SO many people there that it was unbelievable. But, we had fun with the cousins!!



The cousins: Dillon (Super Hero), Braylon (Spider Man), Sadie (Super Cute Strawberry)




The Vampire Siblings (I really missed having "cutesie" costumes this year!!) :)


Sadie and Avery - at least I got one "cutesie" costume! Thank goodness! :)


Friday night was our ward Halloween party. Dave decided to dress up for it. He was Waldo like "Where's Waldo". It was awesome!






Ha Ha! That was a fun night!!

On the actual Halloween, we first stopped at Grandpa and Grandma Pendlebury's to trick-or-treat.




Then we went to Great-grandpa and grandma Johnson's to meet up with all of my side of the family. We had pizza and then took all the cousins out to trick-or-treat old fashioned style, or door-to-door. :) It is always fun to hang out with the cousins. Dave and I enjoy the chatting as we walk. Fun for everyone!


Quaid with his Grandma Johnson and great-Grandma Johnson

Oh, I better add some pictures of our sweet Quaid. Dave's Uncle Dennis bought this super cute monkey costume for him. It fit perfect!





We had a great Halloween-week! I was pretty glad when it was over, though! I did not want to put that vampire make-up on ONE more time!! :)

Quaid, Quaid, Quaid

So, before we had Quaid I thought that having a baby would make me blog all the time. I thought that I would want to just talk about everything he is doing, etc. Well, I do want to do that, but, well, it just isn't happening! Having a newborn is oh so time consuming. I had forgotten just how time consuming. So, as much as I have wanted to post about him, I just haven't had time!

This is how we have felt since he has arrived:



Ha ha! It is true. But, we love this little guy to pieces. I am seriously in love with this precious baby. It definitely feels different to me knowing that he is my last baby. I have held onto and enjoyed each moment, or at least tried to. He is a very sweet and cuddly baby. He LOVES to be held! That is why I don't get a lot done that I need to. Or, when I am getting things done, he cries a lot!

Quaid is 7 1/2 weeks old. I can't believe how time has flown. Very sad to me. But, he is becoming more and more fun. He smiles a lot now. Big, open mouth smiles. The kind that take up his whole face! It melts my heart! He is also beginning to "talk" to us. He coos and it is the most beautiful sound!

The whole family is having so much fun with our new little addition. The other night at dinner I was making him "dance" and do funny things. The whole family was laughing until we all had tears in our eyes. He has the funniest facial expressions!

He is also starting to really see things that are around him. I had a stuffed animal held above his head tonight and he just loved looking at it and cooing and smiling at it. It is so fun to see him grow and develop. It is happening WAY too fast, but we are having so much fun at the same time.

Just a few more notes about Quaid right now: he only gets up once during the night. There are a lot of nights that he sleeps 6-7 hours straight. He sleeps in our bed, with me holding him all night. He still sleeps for the better part of the day. He will be awake for 1-2 hours before he will fall back to sleep. His size 0-3 clothes fit him perfectly. He has outgrown his newborn shoes. He is a mama's boy already. Sad, but true. He gets pretty fussy for Dave at times which is very frustrating to both of us.

Here are some fun pics from the last few weeks:

Pictures from his first bath in his tub. He loves his bath!







We took him to a Halloween party held in our friends' garage. We got him all bundled in his snow suit and he stayed super warm! (And very cute I may add!)




Quaid with his brother and sister who ADORE him! (Paisley does, too, I just don't have her picture!) :)





My sleeping cutie!



We tried out the Bumbo chair a few weeks ago, but he wasn't quite sturdy enough.




Just a couple cute pictures of the girls! The second one was funny to me. Avery wanted to sleep with Paisley and just snuggled her way in on the bottom.




Quaid wearing his "I Love Mummy" Halloween shirt.




Quaid on his 1 month birthday! :)



We recently had a friend take some newborn and family shots for us. I can't wait to see them and post them.

I am so grateful that Quaid came to our family. He really fits in perfect and completes the family. I can't imagine life without him!!

School Pictures!!

A girl in my neighborhood offered to take school pictures of the kids for a MUCH better rate than the school offered. I took advantage of her offer and was super excited with the cute pictures of the kids!

Quaid is here!!!!

He is here! Our 4th and last child has arrived. He is healthy and absolutely PERFECT! We couldn't be happier right now!

I had a scheduled c-section on Friday, October 7th, 2011. He was born with no complications at 12:41 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. So, he is our lightest and longest baby! He sure cried a lot when he came out. It was one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. I was so happy and relieved to hear him and know that he had arrived healthy and strong!






My mom was able to be in the delivery room with us. She has been there for all of our kids. I know that she cherishes the experience! My dad was in my room waiting for us when they finished with the surgery. Dave's parents were to the room within about 20 minutes. I am so grateful for our parents who are so supportive of Dave and I.






We had a lot of visitors come up to meet our little guy. We, unfortunately did not get pictures of everyone who visited. That was my goal, but I actually got only a few. Here are some of our family who came:


My brother and sister-in-law, Andrew and Stephanie, and their son, Haiden


My grandpa and grandma Johnson, Quaid's great-grandparents


My Uncle Chad and Aunt Debbie


My dad


My mom


Dave's mom and dad

Among those who visited who we didn't get photos of were: Dave's brother and his wife, Brandon and Erin, my sister-in-law, Jackie's sweet mom, Lori, our good friends, Mike and Kalli, my sweet relief society president, 6 of my greatest friends, Penny, Shari, Kara, Christy, Angie, and Teresa, my cousin, Chelsea, and Dave's sister, Tammy and her son, James. It was so awesome to have visitors come up to the hospital. It gets a little boring in there and I was always happy for a friendly face to walk through the door!

My mom stayed up at the hospital almost the whole time which was so nice. She stayed Friday and Saturday night with me since Dave needed to be at home with our other kids. I was so grateful to have her company and help.

It was so wonderful to see Easton, Paisley, and Avery come into the room and meet their little brother for the first time. They had been anticipating his arrival as much as Dave and I. It has been such a fun experience for the whole family!








The child that I have been most surprised at is Easton. I knew he was super excited to have a brother finally. But, he just hasn't been able to get enough of him! The second night we were there, my mom took the kids for the evening so that Dave and I could be up at the hospital together. On the way home, Easton started crying silent tears. When my mom asked him why, he said that he really missed Quaid. He didn't feel any better by the time he got home, so my mom called and explained the situation. Dave decided he had better go get him and let him spend quality time with his brother. It was very neat to see Easton hold Quaid. When he got up to the hospital that night and sat to hold him, he again got all choked up. It brought tears to my eyes. I asked him what made him so emotional. He didn't really answer. I asked, "Is it because you love Quaid so much?" He said yes. I am thrilled that he loves his baby brother so much. It is going to be awesome to watch their relationship develop.




My mom took pictures of Quaid as he got his first bath from the nurse in the hospital. The first of the three following pictures shows him with his hands all up around his face. We have decided that he must have had his hands by his face a lot in the womb because that is where he always wants them. He doesn't really like to be swaddled because of that. He always squirms enough to get his hands free and near his face! :)





I spent three days in the hospital. It was so nice to be able to just focus on Quaid and hold him and love him. It really is a love at first sight experience that is hard to explain.






Here are a couple pictures that we took on the day he came home:





It was so fun to finally have him in our home. He brings such a sweet spirit of peace. None of us can get enough of him. He is almost always being held by someone. He is definitely going to be spoiled! We just can't help ourselves.




Avery and I gave him his first bath at home. Here are a couple pictures:






Quaid is 6 days old today. I feel as if I have known him for much, much longer than that. He truly is the perfect baby.

A few random comments about Quaid:

He hardly cries. He has a sweet fussing sound that he uses when he is hungry or unhappy. He really doesn't like to be undressed or have his diaper changed. That is about the only time that he really cries. He is very easily soothed. He is a super cuddly baby. I LOVE to just hold him on my chest and rest my chin on his head. He smells SO good. He has dark blue eyes that I am really crossing my fingers turn to brown. He has already smiled a few times, and not just in his sleep, and it is BEAUTIFUL. He has the cutest little ears. He sleeps so much that we all practically celebrate when he is awake. He loves to be held and often wakes up when he is laid down. He has only woke up one time during each night to be fed. I truly only lost about 45 minutes of sleep each night! It is awesome!!

I am so in love with this little boy. I am eternally grateful that we made the decision to have one more child. He has brought us so much happiness in the last 6 days. We know that this is our last baby. I am content with that. But, at the same time, I am savoring every second with him. Each day goes by too fast. I am really trying to enjoy each moment and cherish his every move.

We are truly blessed.