Another Tag--6 Random Things About MeThis is the second time I have been tagged to do this so here goes...
The rules are:
* Link to the person who tagged you http://rushingreview.blogspot.com/
*Post the rules on your blog
*Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog
* Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

1. I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat! I have pretty much possessed this talent my entire life, but now that I have the baby waking me up all night and I work at 6 in the morning it's REALLY hopeless.
2. I love action movies, ESPECIALLY super hero movies. I don't know what it is - it's not that I like the violence, just the excitement. When the dramatic music starts and someone is saving the day - I just can't help but enjoy it.
3. I hate melons. All kinds of melons are disgusting to me and I don't know why. People keep telling me how good watermelon is so I have tried reintroducing it to my taste buds several times - blugck! Don't even get me started on canteloupe - I could vomit after one whiff of it's stanky aroma!
4. I have been told by many people that they thought I was "stuck up" when they first met me because I didn't talk a lot. I don't know why people think that instead of just thinking that I'm quiet. ??
5. Like Heidi, I do not like to sleep with my feet covered - unless they are freezing cold.
6. I make up little songs for my kids. They each have a different song that I sing with their name in it. We also have a song for brushing teeth, one for taking a bath, etc. Not sure where that came from, but the kids like it.
I didn't tag anybody else, but feel free to participate in this tag - I would love to read about you!

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's starting. All the Christmas parties and activites that go on this time of year. We also have Rilee's birthday in December, and this year will have her baptism as well. It's definitely a busy time!! I always get so caught up in wanting things done the way I want them regardless of how much time or effort it takes. Our little Luke is helping/forcing me to simplify things this year. He wants to be held ALL the time so I really just have to plan that I'm not going to have any time! Oddly enough, the world is NOT going to come to an end if I just let myself be satisfied with what I CAN get done instead of stewing about what I CAN'T.

If only ALL housework were so delightfully fun!

When I look back on Lilly's childhood, this is the little darling that I will remember. Maybe I'll also video a fit or two - just for accuracy's sake. :)

Halloween

The kids got dressed up in their costumes for a "trunk-or-treat" party earlier in the week and we had to get pictures of them all together since Cameron was going to be trick-or-treating in Chicago with his cousins this year.

Lilly was really funny about trick-or-treating this year. Rilee tried to take her to our door first, and she couldn't even make it from the garage to the front door without getting distracted by playing in the dirt with a glowstick. By the end of the night, she finally had it down and was saying "twick-o-tweet" loud enough to be heard, "thank you" and "bye" (usually after the door was already closed). I am so glad she can have her sweet moments once in a while so that I don't have to send her back to the factory!

Luke's Blessing

We had a wonderful day for Luke's blessing. I think it was probably the first time that we have all been on time to church since he was born! Chad gave him a beautiful blessing, and then after church we came home and had lunch with family and friends. We had so much help with people bringing food and helping clean up that it made it even more enjoyable. Both Grandma's even helped us out before by helping to get our house ready and helping out with kids. We are so glad that Luke's special day could go so smoothly. Luke is such a sweetie pie, and we are so happy to have him in our family. With this kids' dimples I think he will pretty much be able to get away with anything!

Happy Birthday Lilly!

Lilly is officially2 years old! We had a "low key" celebration for Lilly this year since we've been a little busy with the new baby, but she did luck out with 2 cakes! We went to Grandma Stewart's for dinner and birthday cake with all the rest of the Stewart clan the Sunday before her birthday, and then on her real birthday we had Grandma and Grandpa Weed over to our house for dinner and ANOTHER cake. You can see from the look on her face that she did NOT like the candle and refused to blow it out both times. Maybe next year! She also was NOT interested in looking at the camera or smiling for pictures. I kept trying to get her to look at me and smile to get a picture of her in her new dress up gear, but no such luck.

Seeing photos of Lilly always reminds me that I keep meaning to take her in to get her hair cut. I cut bangs a while ago because she wouldn't leave any ponytails or anything in her hair and it was always in her face. Those were some of the first 2 words that I can think of Lilly putting together . . . "hair, face". The bangs seems to accentuate the mullet even more though, and with her hair always being down it always became sticky with food and whatever else she came into contact with. So yesterday after she had accidentally dumped a cup of Sprite on her head, I was giving her a bath and decided to just go for it.

This is what we ended up with, and luckily she was very happy about it. She wanted to show everyone in the house and kept saying "pity hay-cut". She even looked into the camera and SMILED for a photo . . . amazing!

5 Days Old Already!

Sorry the picture is sideways. On my computer it is right side up. Go figure????? Luke is such a great baby, we are excited to finally have him here. I have been lucky enough this time around to be able to have Chad home from work for a few days to father all the other kids while I rest and just enjoy the baby. We've never really had that luxury before. I feel like I'm recovering really well, and I know Chad being here is part of the reason that I have felt so good. Night before last Luke had a really rough night and I didn't get much sleep, but I was able to shut myself in my room with the baby and just rest and catch up on sleep while Chad worried about all the other kids. Nice, when that horrible nights rest doesn't have to ruin the rest of your day! I wish he didn't have to go back to work! We have had help from neighbors and ward members bringing food as well, and of course my mom lives next door so she has helped with food, cleaning and kids as well. We appreciate all the food, help, gifts and well-wishes from all of you, and hope if you haven't met Luke yet that you'll be able to meeet him soon!

Announcing. . . . Luke Isaac Stewart

He finally came out!!! Not that I was overdue or anything. It just looked like I was!

Luke Isaac Stewart

8 lbs. 8 oz.

20 1/2 inches long

He was born at 8:08am on Sept. 19th. Luckily he did not come any earlier than 8:08, since I didn't even get into a hospital room until about 7:45am! I THOUGHT we were going in for an induction, but just happened to go into labor before they had a chance. Labor was fast and furious and before we knew it, he was out! Unfortunately for me, there was no time for an epidural. The whole experience was a little traumatizing for me because it just wasn't what I was expecting, but the end result was a beautiful healthy baby, so I can't complain. Unfortunately for Luke, I had tested positive for Strep and they didn't even have enough time to get the IV in me for the antibiotics. He has been fine though, and he will go back to the Dr. today just to make sure that he has escaped infection. So far, he has been a delightful baby and we are just so glad to have him here!

The proud daddy helping Lilly hold baby Luke. I was a little concerned at how Lilly would react to this new little person in our lives because she has always been such a "mama's girl". When she first came to visit us at the hospital, she put her hand over her mouth and was giddy with excitement and amazement. We all know Lilly's moods can be a little . . . shall we say unpredictable? When she came to pick us up from the hospital, she had a grouchy look on her face and kept saying "Don't like it, baby". Luckily, by the time we got home she had changed her mind again and was very excited about having the baby home, and bringing him lots of toys and books.

Rilee and Cameron are old pros at this stuff.

Not today . . . tomorrow

I have been scheduled to be induced for tomorrow (Fri.) for quite some time now. I confused Chad this morning (Thurs.) when I said "Today is baby day"! He said, "What? Tomorrow, isn't it? Did your water break?" Not exactly, but I thought I had leaked some amniotic fluid which is exactly what happened with Lilly. I'm so PARANOID about going into labor that I called my Dr. and he said to at least go in and get checked. We took the kids to my mom's, went to the hospital and . . . . . .nothing! Chad and I waited and joked around while they monitored the baby and I for a while. The nurse brought me some water because my tempurature was slightly elevated and she thought I might be a little dehydrated. They finally just sent us home and said to come back tomorrow. I am fine with tomorrow, but I told Chad I was a little disappointed that "I came here for a baby and all they gave me was a glass of water".

Cool School Of The Week

Rilee's school was Fox13's "Cool School" on Wed. Sept. 17th. Rilee had to get up and get to school by 6am (and so did mom) if she wanted to participate in being in the news broadcast. I recorded the news so that she could see it in case we were able to see her on there, but no such luck. She said the older kids kind of pushed their way to the front. She was excited about having met Big Buddha though (even though she didn't know who he was before this), and lucky for us one of the mom's got a picture of her with him.

Cameron Turns 5!

Cameron of course chose to have a "Star Wars" birthday party. He and his cousins have been pretty interested in Star Wars all year long. He and his cousin Ryder let me know that they really want to let people know about Star Wars. I said "What people?", and they replied "Everybody who doesn't know about it!" We had friends and family over for swimming and pizza in Grandma Weed's yard, had a Darth Vader pinata, Star Wars party favors, and of course a Star Wars cake (which Cameron helped decorate using McDonald's Star Wars toys, uncle Jared's old Star Wars action figures--thanks Uncle Jared!--, and mommy added an ewok on the top). Thanks everyone for making it a great birthday, Cameron expressed his happiness many times about how much fun he had.

European Beach Beauty

This photo of Lilly "sunbathing" was courtesy of Grandma Stewart. Lilly is not very good about keeping her diapers on if she doesn't have any clothes on. She is especially picky if the diaper is even just a little wet or poopy. She takes the diapers off herself and then brings them to me. Sometimes I put her diapers on backwards, but I've not been consistent about it. The other day she brought me a diaper that I could see was poopy, but it no longer had poo in it. We had a fun time playing "find the poo", and I found it on the carpet in the family room. Luckily it was found before it was stepped in and even luckier that I have a carpet cleaner for just such an occassion!

Weed Family Reunion

Well the "Weed" Family Reunion was actually in June, but I suppose I'm better to post late than never! All the Weed kids and their families were here the last week in June. We went to Bear Lake for 2 days, went to Lagoon twice, went swimming, had a girl's day out and a guy's day out without kids, and also had a nice dinner out with just the adults. We had a great time and here are some of the photos.

Here are all the older cousins, ready for a day of rides and HEAT! They all made these reunion shirts while we were at Bear Lake. Unfortunately Rilee forgot hers, but was able to get all the tears out of her system the day before so she was still a happy camper at Lagoon.

It's so fun for Rilee now that she can actually ride all the rides. I have been surprised about how gutsy she is. She will ride anything! She is having a screamin' good time here with cousins Morgan and Maryn.

We thought Cameron might be able to start veering out of the kiddie area this year, but no such luck. We tried to puff his hair up, but it just wasn't quite enough. Hopefully next year!

Lilly cried in terror on some of the rides, but was usually fine by the end of it when she realized she wasn't going to die. For some reason the picture uploading stopped working right now so I can't get one of her on here. But come on people - I have done 2 posts within a month - - that's gotta be some kind of record for me!

Stewart Family Reunion at East Canyon

It's been so long since I've posted anything that I almost didn't remember my password! We had fun up at East Canyon for the annual reunion with Chad's family. I said "Stewart" reunion, but I guess it's actually "Anderson". Our kids went up with Grandma and Grandpa Stewart while Chad and I went to a funeral in Paris, Idaho for the wife of Chad's co-worker, Christina Mourant. She was a young mom (28) with 2 little kids so it was very sad to have her pass on, but it was nice to attend her funeral and honor her life. Someone had commented to her bishop, "Some people are just too good to stay on this earth". And she really was a genuinely good person. Chad and I drove up to East Canyon after the services to meet up for the big reunion bbq. Here are some pictures of the kids having fun at the pool with cousins.

Sara and Gracie with Rilee. Abby is also snoozing peacefully in the background.

Lilly must have had a little too much fun - -to the point of exhaustion!

And here we have Cameron and Grace, bein' great pals. "Thanks" to the Anderson's for putting together the reunion, and "thanks" to Grandma and Grandpa Stewart for taking our kids for the day!

IT'S A BOY!

I keep thinking I'm going to get this blog updated with pictures, and that keeps not happening. So I'm at least going to post our latest news, though I think I have told everybody who looks at this blog. Cameron is excited to finally have a brother, but he's so easygoing I think he would be pretty excited for a girl anyway. Rilee says she really wanted a girl, and Lilly could care less! Chad and I are excited though. Now if we get any more kids they're just extra right?

Easter Egg Hunt and Magic Show

Jolie and Ryder invited us to the Diabetes Easter Egg Hunt up at the University of Utah. I didn't know that the Easter Bunny was actually going to be there! The cousins had so much fun there together finding Easter eggs. They also got other prizes, they had clowns for face painting and balloon animals, a magic show and lunch! It was quite the activity.

Lilly didn't really hunt for eggs, her biggest enjoyment was eating the sugar-free taffy that the kids shared with her.

Cameron got to be one of the stars in the magic show. He was sooo funny! Cameron, Ryder and Will all had their faces painted with a Spiderman eye.

Cameron was tagged by his cousin Morgan!!
Cameron likes:
-turkey sandwiches ("What's that sandwich that I like with turkey", "uh, turkey sandwich?" "yea, that's it!")
-Star Wars (Layton and Will have rubbed off on him)
-tickles
-McDonald's
-singing (he and Rilee have just started practicing for a musical production of "The Little Mermaid and the Adventures of the Pirates of the Carribean")
-yogurt
-preschool
-Hannah ( a girl at his school)
-Superman
-Tigger umbrella (which he now uses as a light saber)
-his cousins
-treats (this is what he always asks for when you ask him what he wants for his Birthday or Christmas)
-movies
-sleep (all who know Cameron know he's a narcoleptic) - not sure how to spell

Cameron doesn't like:
-getting his feelings hurt (which is done very easily - very tenderhearted)
-clothes that aren't "cozy"
-waiting
. . . . . Cameron was helping me with this and said "hmm, I guess I ran out of ideas, I'm gonna go check on my movie ("Star Wars")", and he never came back!

I thought we'd try curlers in Lilly's hair. She was SO cute with them in, but it wasn't so cute when we took them out. It looked like a grandma hairdo, but Cameron and Rilee thought it was hilarious!

Lilly's Walking!

Lilly FINALLY decided to start walking. She literally just decided that on this particular day she was all done crawling, got up and started walking and has been walking ever since!! And at 15 1/2 months it was about time!!! Click on the arrow below to see her in action.

Our New Blog

So here it is! I have no idea what I'm doing, so bear with me while I learn. I've noticed the rest of you guys have learned to add music, backgrounds, and even video to yours. What we're currently going for on our site is speed. Because you see, for every 2 minutes worth of information that I post on here, it will probably have taken me 5 times as long to figure out how to do it! One of my New Year's resolutions is to document more of our lives. I'm not good about journaling, and I'm really hoping that having a blog will make it easier for me to make a record of things and help me to remember things past my normal memory capacity of 12-24 hours.