The 4th of July

 This was the first Fourth of July in 8 years that we've been in Utah for. I was so happy to be here this year for it. Although we did really fun things in Virginia, it was fun to be back with family.

We got up early in the morning and went up to the Fillmores for their neighborhood parade. Grandpa Fillmore played the trumpet in a band that was in the parade. It was fun seeing him. Spencer and Andrea were in town from Washington too. So we had a lot of fun together. After the parade we went back to the Fillmores. Grandpa Fillmore pulled out the sprinklers and a slip-n-slide. The kids had a blast.

Amy made this flag blanket and I love it so much. It was the perfect backdrop for Winston's first Forth of July. He looks like such an angel.

 After spending the day with the Fillmores, we headed down to Provo to spend the evening with the Hawkins. Almost all of my Hawkins cousins were at my grandparents old home for a big BBQ and to watch the fireworks. It was fun catching up with everyone and being able to show off baby Winston. The boys had a blast. This is one of my favorite childhood traditions. I loved being able to spend it with my kids!

At home with Baby Winston

Having a new baby in the house is always a bit of an adjustment. But I'm always amazed at how fast everyone does adjust. The boys love having Winston in the house. They ask to hold him all the time, and are very intrigued with everything he does.

Winston did not like his first bath one bit. He screamed the whole time. I love bathing my babies in the sink.

Grandma Fillmore was so fun with the boys while she was here. She spent her days cleaning, reading books to the boys, playing games, cooking, and sitting with me while I nursed Winston all day. I loved having her here to talk to and ask questions.

 

We all loved having her here. I tried to convince her to move in!

  

Israel particularly loved having grandma here. He needed lot of extra cuddles. It was nice to have an extra set of arms to hug him. (Thanks mom!)

New baby faces are my favorite.

Bringing Baby Winston Home

I spent two nights in the hospital with baby Winston. And although it was nice to have so much time alone with Winston, I was a bit antsy to get home to the rest of my boys. I really don't like to be apart from them for too long. Mom Fillmore, Amy, Brandi, and Becky all helped out at the house while I was at the hospital.

Winston was a complete angel in the hospital. He picked up on nursing pretty quick. 

Sterling came to pick me up with the two big boys, Sterling Henry and Dellin. Sterling always dresses the new baby to take him home. He has picked out the going home outfit with our last two. I love watching him do this.

The boys loved being a part of it too!

Cutest daddy ever.

One last picture all bundled up with his name sign.

We usually take a picture outside the house with the baby and Sterling, but we got home at about 11:00pm and it just didn't happen this time. This little Winston boy was the first to come home to our new house. So hopefully that will out-way the lack of picture.

Winston meets his big brothers.

The boys were so excited to meet their new little brother Winston. I was happy to see my boys again too. I was curious how Israel would be, having a new baby in his territory. And he loved him. They all did!

Me with my two babies.

We are now a family of 7.

Winston Spencer Fillmore

My fifth pregnancy has been my hardest so far. I felt more tired and sluggish than I have with other pregnancies, especially the last few weeks. I'm not sure if it was my age, or the pregnancies so close together, or the fact that we moved during it, or all of them combined. One thing's for sure, my excitement to meet the new little guy, was higher than ever. My official due date was June 27th, but I was scheduled to be induced on the 20th.  
The Sunday before we had a nice dinner up at the Fillmore's house. Rachel, who is pregnant with twins, and I took lots of belly pictures. You'd think that I was the one having twins from the looks of this picture.

I really love how this picture turned out. It the last picture that I have of me pregnant.

On Tuesday night, I had a bee in my bonnet about getting my bag packed and charging the batteries for all the cameras. On Wednesday morning, the 18th, I was determined to get my car registered which was the last thing on my list before the baby came. It turned out to be a lot more work and running around than I'd imagined. I finally came home at about 4pm. I was tired and in a rush trying to get some dinner ready when the boys told me that there was a bird in the front room. We have been battling the birds all summer, and this was the final straw for me. I opened the front door and told the boys to push it towards the door, but instead the bird came flying towards me. I guess I imagined that it would just fly out the front door, but I was wrong. I got scared and ran into the kitchen, tripped and fell, landing right on my belly. I laid there for a few minutes crying, worried about the baby. I called Sterling at work, then my doctor, and then headed out the door to the hospital. I could feel the baby moving but contractions started almost immediately.
My SIL Brandi met me at the hospital and took the boys to her house. I got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors and baby was doing ok. My SIL Rachel walked in minutes later to come sit with me until Sterling could get there. The baby's heart rate was going down a bit with each contraction, which made them and me nervous. I was having steady contractions about every 3-4 minutes. They called my doctor and decided to keep me. I new that the baby was coming and that I'd get to meet him that night, and that he'd be ok.

 Sterling got to the hospital soon after they told me I was staying and I have never been happier to see him. My sister Becky got there about 45 minutes later.  I was on oxygen for most of the delivery since his heart rate kept going down so much. I got my epideral at about 8pm. I really loved epidurals btw. It doesn't completely put me out, but it sure takes the edge off.

 Then the waiting game began for the next couple of hours so Sterling went and got some food. This is sort of our baby tradition. I labor, while he eats!

I had invited Becky, Mom Fillmore, and Rachel to be there, and it was really great having so much support there. At this exact moment, I was in a LOT of pain. The epidural doesn't help too much with back pain. I had a similar experience with Gouverneur, so I knew this baby would be posterior.

About 30 minutes later, I knew it was time to push. Dr. Jones came in and after about 3 big pushes, out popped the most beautiful little boy with a head full of hair, just like our other boys. Born at 11:??pm, on June 18, 2014.

He looked smaller to me than our other boys, and sure enough. He weighed in at 7lbs 15.6 oz., officially making him 8 lbs. and 19 inches long. We weren't sure on the name at first, but later decided on Winston Spencer Fillmore.

This is the most amazing part of having a baby. All the pain, lack of sleep, nausea, extra pounds, and bad moods are all worth it for this one moment.

Sterling is such a darling daddy to our boys. I love to see him hold our babies. I hope each one turns out just like their daddy.

Dellin is a Sunbeam

Today was Dellin's first day in Primary. He is an official Sunbeam, and he couldn't be happier about it. He was a tiny bit nervous when we dropped him off. He really loved being in nursery with Gouverneur, but he was really looking forward to primary. He is in there with Sterling Henry. Dellin is such a sweet boy, I'm sure he teaches will always adore him. Just like we do.

 It's bittersweet watching my boys grow up!

Nascar

The boys love Nascar, just like their daddy. Sterling has been to a few races, but this was the first race for our two big boys, Sterling and Dellin. They went down with our friend Matt and Jack. To say they loved it would be an understatement.

Before the race started and the boys were going nuts just looking at all the cool cars.

They had really great seats close down to the track. The boys loved the noise and all the excitement going on around them. It about blew their minds with the race started.

If you don't pass our on the way home with your earplugs on, then you probably didn't have as much fun as Dellin did.

I love that Sterling loves to take the boys to do fun things. I hope these boys know just how good they've got it!

FIRST E.R. TRIP (AND HOPEFULLY HIS LAST!)

Up until today, we had only ever been to the ER once with our boys, which is pretty good, considering that we have four, wild boys. We took Sterling Henry in over a year ago thinking that he had a broken arm. It took three hours, and luckily it was fine.

Today, we were playing outside and Gouverneur was crawling around on the grass. Somehow he chewed on a stick, choked, and threw up blood. It wasn't a ton of blood, but it was enough to make me nervous. After talking with our pediatrician, I decided that we needed to take him to the E.R. I called Sterling and told him to head home. Our cute neighbor Val came over and sat with the big boys so that I could take Israel to the E.R.

We got there, and he was happy and fine. I almost turned around and left, but decided that I better get him checked out just in case. They did x-rays and lots of check-ups and found nothing. We hung around there for a good three and hours. The whole process was long, but I'm so happy that he is alright. He was in good spirits the whole time.

He puts everything in his mouth and this was a good reminder to be more diligent in cleaning up and not leaving any small toys out. And not putting him down on the grass yet.

We sure love this boy and love that he is so happy and healthy. He is growing up way too fast!

BYU FOOTBALL WITH UNCLE PARLEY

 We were really excited when BYU announced that they'd be playing their season opener in Charlotteville, VA, just two hours from our house. Sterling decided right away that he'd go and take the boys. We all wanted to go, but knew it would be a long day with all the boys. So we decided to send the two older boys Sterling Henry, and Dellin, and leave the Gouverneur and Israel home with me. Sterling's older brother Parley decided to come out and join them. He stayed for the weekend. It was a lot of fun.

The boys left early in the morning to give them enough time. Gouverneur cried at the door for a good 20 minutes after they left, poor baby. 

They stopped in the Shenandoah on the way down. Here's Parley with the boys.

Sterling and Parley are practically twins, so this picture makes me laugh.

 All seated and ready for the game to start with uncle Parley. It was super hot, but the boys were pumped.

 A HUGE storm blew in and there ended up being a 2-hour time delay. The boys waiting it out.

Even with the time delay, the boys had a great time. This was their first of many BYU football games.

Gouverneur was really sad not to go. It's a good thing we're moving to Utah and can hopefully get him to a game in Provo this season. I'd like to go myself. I haven't been to a game in years. Raising boys sure is fun!

NATS GAME WITH DAD

Sterling took Dellin and Sterling Henry to a National baseball game. They went with Matt, Theo, and Ida. The boys had been looking forward to this all weekend and were so excited to go. They got ice cream and new hats at the game. I think Little Man's face in the picture sums it up.

I stayed home with the two babies. Gouverneur was pretty sad when he realized that he wasn't going, so we went and got frozen yogurt. He was pretty happy with that arrangement. The babies went to bed early, and I spent the night sewing. Everyone had a great time.

ISRAEL AT 8 MONTHS

Israel has grown up so much in these last two months. It's fun to watch him grow up, but it always make me sad that he is growing up so fast. He is such a darling boy.

He now has 6 teeth. 4 of them have popped up in the last 6 weeks. It has been pretty rough on everybody. 

He can sort of wave, although I'm not sure if he know that he's waving. It's cute either way.

He is sitting up really well now and loves to sit and play with toys. He also sat up in the front of the shopping cart for the first time. Gouv loved having him next to him, despite the look on his face. 

His brothers love him so much. They all want to help feed him and give him small bites of whatever their eating. He gets millions of hugs and kisses. He is very loved.

He is eating like a champ these days. He is our chubby-bubby. He is my only baby that I've been able to nurse this long. He is also eating all sorts of table food and seems to love everything but avocados. The one time he did eat them, he threw up after.

He has not been sleeping very well. He has been waking up more times at night then he did as a newborn. We had him cry in out a bit for the last two night and he's back on track. We're all happy about it!

He is very alert. He loved to make eye contact and smile. I love walking into the room and seeing this sweet face looking up at me.

By this time I have already been pregnant after each baby I've had. Sort of crazy to thing about since he still seems so little to me. (I'm not making any announcements by the way.)

We sure love you, Israel. Thanks for bringing so much happiness and joy into our family!

Father's Day 2013

We sure love our daddy around here. Father's Day is about one of our favorite days, because we get to celebrate him all day long.

We wanted to make him breakfast in bed, but he got up early to smoke some ribs for dinner. So the boys had breakfast with dad on the patio while he smoked the ribs.

The boys after church with dad. What a handsome bunch of boys.

After church we had our Father's Day dinner. Sterling smoked the ribs and I made mac n' cheese, baked beans, fruit salad, and summer squash. All the delicious flavors of BBQ in one meal.

After dinner, we gave dad our gift. It was a photo book with pictures of all the fun things he did with the boys over the last year. The boys helped me pick out the pictures.

The rest of the day was spent playing rugby with dad. This might have been his favorite part of the day. It's pretty cute to watch these boys play together.

Right before bed, the boys did a bit of wrestling. 

The next morning, the boys all ended up in our bed, by their dad. I think it's safe to say that all of our boys are daddy's boys. I sure love these boys.

I'm so grateful to be married to such a great husband and father. He is such a great example to our boys. He is hard-working, faithful, funny, and the list goes on and on. I hope they all grow up to be just like him.