One month!

Little Coop has been in our family now for a month!! (Well--a little more now--actually 5 weeks.) It has gone so quickly and he is already growing so much.  He has started to smile and be awake a little more each day.  We sure do love him a bunch!  He is such a sweetie!

Easter 2013

We had a super-fun Easter week-end this year.  My sister and her family came for the weekend and so did my mom and dad. Everyone kind of went their own ways Saturday morning, but we had the traditional Easter egg hunt that afternoon.  All the dads, grandpa and "big boys" hid the eggs outside while the moms and kids waited inside.  Then it was every little "hunter" on the loose. The kids had a blast.  Then is was movies and good eatin' for the rest of the night.  Sunday we ended with a great missionary farewell (my cousin's) and good food and visiting with family.  My family is so fun!  It was great to be with everyone.  Thanks for being here fam!!

Celebrating my nephew's and cousin's birthdays

 Waiting while the eggs were being hidden

And their OFF!!!

Quite the group. :)

Cooper's first Easter.

And the new arrival is...

The long awaited day has come and our sweet baby #5 has arrived!!  My Dr. was a little nervous about me going in to labor on my own because I was strep B positive.  She wanted to make sure that I got the anti-biotic needed during delivery for safety of the baby.  So, she wanted to induce labor a few days before my due date.  I was trying to go as long as possible, to get some space between birthdays-- with Brigham's on the 12th. So I convinced her to let me go 'til the 18th of March.  That morning Kevin and I went to the hospital at 6:30 a.m. and got things moving.  To spare you all the boring details, we'll just say that once baby finally decided to come, the delivery went pretty quick.  At 3:39pm we welcomed Nelson #5, and our 3rd SON into the world and into our family.  It took a little bit of time, hanging out with him to figure out a name, but we decided to name him Cooper Merritt Nelson.  His first few days he was very, very sleepy and quiet, but he has now figured out how to be awake for a little bit each day, and he has found his lungs.  He is not a happy camper when getting his diaper changed, or when he's hungry.  Which both happen quite frequently as  a newborn.  Hee Hee!  But, he really is a sweet baby and the other kids just love him.  It took Lexie a few days to warm up to him and figure out that he's here forever and not just some rental we brought home from the hospital.  She loves to give him kisses and bring him his binkie--even when he's asleep.  Everyone has adjusted very well and we are so happy to have him here!  Here are some pictures of his first week.  We sure love him a ton already!!!

Four years old!!!

I absolutely cannot believe that 4 years have gone by with this little boy!  He is the funnest kid around!  He makes me laugh every day, and makes me so grateful to be his mommy!  Here are just a few pictures from his fabulous 4th!

 He started the day with speech class, where he shared treats with his class there.  He also got to choose a video game for the Wii from RedBox, and he was BEYOND excited.  He got his favorite lunch of Mac-n-cheese, then helped me bake his cake.  (He has been talking about having an 'Angry Bird' birthday since November.  I think he was excited.)  He then got to play the video game, which was even more exciting when daddy played with him when he got home from work.
  Then he had another favorite food for dinner--pizza.  He got to talk with Grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins on the phone and it just made his day.  We ended the celebration with presents and cake and ice cream.  I just can't explain how much I love this little man.  Love you Brigham Tad!!!

 

My cute Zebra

 Last week at school Breanna's 1st grade class was doing a unit on animals.  Each kid got to choose an animal and write a little report, make a poster board about that animal and then to end it all--they had an animal parade where each student got to dress up like their animal and show their poster board.  Then they stood in their classroom "cage" and could answer questions about their animal.  Brea chose a zebra.  I thought it was pretty cute.  She enjoyed it and we had fun putting together her board and costume.  I was glad her dad had the day off so he could see her too.  Love you Zebra Brea!!

Lexie Lou is now 2!!

This little girl has been so much fun, since day one!  This birthday was just as fun as she is.  She is totally into Dora the Explorer, so that was the plates, cups, and napkins and of course cake.

I'm not a professional cake decorator, by any means, but it is fun for me to see what I can do.  And Lexie LOVED this cake!  She knew who it was and kept running to it all night long until she was finally able to blow out the candles.

 We celebrated with Grandpa N--whose birthday is just 2 days before hers. (He had his own BYU cake...he didn't have to share Dora.)  It was so fun to have both sets of grandparents here (and my dad's birthday was just 6 days before hers...January is for sure a party month in our family!!) and lots of cousins and some aunts and uncles too!

  The day after her birthday we took G & G H bowling, which I think Brigham was the most excited about...and he ended up beating everyone.  Yep---our almost 4 year old beat all of the rest of us!  It was a great weekend!  We love you, sweet little Lexie Jaye!!!

Wowsa!!

So, here's craziness.  It has been almost a YEAR since I have posted!  I have done a lot more on FaceBook this year I guess, than in previous years, so my blog has been neglected.  I have had one crazy year--2012--filled with much to remember.  Quick re-cap since last Feb.
  The first weekend in Feb. 2012 brought a fantastic weekend with some of my bestest friends!  Me and 5 of my girlfriends went to Time Out for Women in Layton.  It was such a great experience, and to share it with such wonderful ladies topped it all off.  What an uplifting 2 days!!

  Also in early Feb. I got called to serve with the Cub Scouts--Vance's age group, which turned out to be pretty fun.
  March brought Brigham's 3rd birthday.  That kid is awesome.  He was all about the Lightning McQueen cake--even if it was very amature.  Yep-I'm not a professional cake decorator. :)

 March also brought the beginning of Soccer for Vance.  His dad was his coach, which both of them absolutely loved.

  April started with Spring Break and we took the kids to see my parents and sister and fam.  The weekend ended with Easter--a fabulous egg hunt and tons of fun with family.

 Breanna also started Girl Scouts in April.  A classmate's mother wanted to start a troop, and she has enjoyed every minute.

  The 2nd weekend in May, I had the most fabulous time running a relay with 3 of my greatest friends!  We ran 50 miles between the 4 of us, each of us taking 2 legs--rotating through.  We started in West Valley at Gardner Village and ran all the way to Roy, running on trails most of the way. It was so much fun!  I even convinced Kevin to do it too--he ran on the boys team. One of my teammates' husband ran on the boys team too. And they gathered another guy from the neighborhood and his brother.  A huge thanks to G&G who watched all 4 of my sweet kiddos so we could do this adventure together.  Let's just say--I should've trained better.  My first leg was o.k, but the 2nd one was a killer.

  Also in May we were able to go to my niece's wedding!  I can hardly believe it still that she is married, but they are so happy and I couldn't be more thrilled for her.  They are a super cute couple, and she made the most beautiful bride...but I am a little bias. :)

 June brought the end of another school year, the traditional tumbling class for 3 of my kids, day camps for both Brea and Vance, a road trip to Montana for a baptism and blessing of 2 of our nephews and of course my 33rd birthday. Whew!  What a month!
  We watched lots of fireworks in July, and my kids took swimming lessons.  We had our traditional Harker reunion, and started our journey for the Nelson reunion in Oregon.

  Oregon was beautiful, as we were there for the start of August.  It was so fun to be together as a big family. Vance was able to participate in his first Scout 'race', and our troop did the Raingutter Regatta.  It was a fun night.
  Towards the end of August I got super brave, (or stupid) and ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon with my brother-in-law and his family.  I was the last one of our group to finish, but I had a fairly good excuse.  Unbeknownst to everyone but Kevin, I ran it 10 weeks pregnant!  After the fact, others said they had an idea that I was, but didn't say anything.  It really was an amazing experience and I'm hoping to run it again next year, with a bit more success.

  September began at the cabin for Labor Day weekend with family.  So much fun, as always.  We came home for the first day of school with Vance in 3rd Grade and Breanna in 1st.  They are each enjoying it very much still.  Vance also began his 2nd season of Flag football, which he absolutely loves!!  His team wasn't terribly successful, but they still had a ton of fun and he was their leading scorer. :)  Kevin and I are definately proud parents!

  In October we took our Fall Break vacation to see my family again.  I was super excited to watch my sister coach during her first District Tournament as the Varsity Volleyball Head Coach at our High School.  It was so much fun! We also got to go through the Boise LDS temple during the Open House for it's rededication. Kevin turned 34 and of course we ended the month with one of our favorite holidays--Halloween.  This year Vance was Thor, Breanna was a Black widow Spider cheerleader (ya she thought that one up herself), Brigham was Spiderman, and Lexie was Dora the Explorer.  The weather could not have been better and we had a blast. 2 of our kids fell asleep before we got back home.

  In November we finally--after 7 months of looking found a new home!  With the coming of #5 we knew we had to find some more space.  Vance turned 9 and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Nelsons.

   I decorated another small tree for the Festival of Trees in Salt Lake with some much needed help from my wonderful in-laws.

  The first week of December brought Breanna's 7th birthday, which is so hard to believe.  We had our family Christmas party, followed by the ward Christmas party the next day.

  We closed on our "new" home before Christmas, but chose to stay in our "old" home for the actual holiday.  We were already decorated, and closer to the school and all our friends for the holidays. 3 days after Christmas however, we gathered the troops and got all our big stuff into the new home and we were in for the arrival of the new year.  In the thick of moving, on Dec 29, Kevin and I celebrated 12 years of marriage. We had a "romantic" family breakfast at IHOP and a fun after Christmas celebration with all of my family.
  We rang in the new year with games, movies, lots of food, and just relaxing in the new place.  Since then, we have been cleaning the old home, and trying to put things in their right place here.  We are so happy!  I am really sad to have left our old ward and neighborhood tho.  I have made some of the most amazing friends in my 9 years there.  They will never be forgotten.
  So, there we go...almost a novel.  I tried to be short, but I don't put the words short-winded and myself together very often.  Anyone who really knows me knows that.  Now that I am not preoccupied with finding a home every second I am on the computer, I'm hoping to be more diligent in my blogging.  It is a great way to journal I have decided.  So, here's to 2013 and some new goals.