I am the keeper of this zoo

Ginger Bread Dance Party

2013-08-09T21:13:00.001-07:00

We tried making ginger bread houses this year and borrowed some bigger Zufelt kids to help us out. Everything was going well for a while, until some major demolition started happening. Then the tears came out. So we turned on Gangnam Style, an UBER popular song sung in Korean, that has become the craziest world-wide phenomenon. Of course when you hear the music you must also do the dance...

Bryson can really get into his dancing. He has some pretty crazy moves and we usually all end up dying laughing at his dancing.

They're sexy and they know it!!!

2013-04-17T16:35:00.001-07:00

A little while before Thanksgiving Brynn had a fashion show at Activity Days. Afterward all the siblings (most of the brothers) got up and enjoyed walking the "catwalk". I got the idea that it would be fun for all the cousins to do a fashion show at Thanksgiving. It turned out SUPER FUN!!!

Stetson somehow didn't make it onto the runway for his show

Uncle Jeff downloaded some really fun songs for all the kids to strut to and most of the kids went through Grandma's endless closet of dress-ups for something. Uncle Rick was the commentator (which was hilarious). He only required a little help from his sister's to match up all of his nieces and nephews names correctly:-)

Jessica and Nicole wearing Grandma's
old hippy clothes

Tayah dressed as a firefighter

Brynn wearing her soccer gear.
She was a little more shy on the runway

Joely wearing my old Can Can outfit

some kids aren't so shy

Morgen wearing Grandma's prom dress

Hudson the duck Commander

Jacqui in some dead animal:-)

Lexi and her standing splits

Elle in one of our 80's Easter dresses

Jacob falls into the not-so-shy category

Normally shy Tavin hid behind a Spiderman mask
and discovered his alter-ego!

Jamie in someone's prom dress

And, my personal faves, Bryson and Nate
in skin tight unitards.

They had no intentions of dressing up......until they spotted the leotards.
Then they had no choice but to get up and steal the show!!!

Bryson ended with a nice leap off the catwalk

And then it wouldn't be a good day if Zack didn't take his shirt off and make all the men look bad

After the awesome fashion show we had a smores bar on the new deck Grandpa worked like crazy to finish in time for the reunion. There was an insane amount of smores consumed!

Tanner's a pretty good smores maker and spent a good portion of the night perfecting shmallows for his kids.

Family funnies

2013-04-12T20:53:00.001-07:00

Its been a really long time since I've done any Family Funnies. These have been in my iPhone Notes for like 6 months now.

One night I Brynn was being obnoxious and I told her to quit bugging her brother, to which she responded "I'm not bugging him, I'm bugging you!"

When the Giants won the World Series again Hudson talked about "The World Serious" for days.

Shortly after Sketty turned two he would refer to his brothers as "B-Hud", always saying their names together, no matter who he was talking to.

Hudson was getting ready for bed one night and came in to me all fired up "Mom, why do you always hide my jammies from me?" I don't hide them, he just never remembers where he takes them off.

When Bryson got a new pack of socks one day he said "Ahhh, I have the best taste in socks!"

Sketty went through a phase where he asked for JambaJuice all day long, said "Not Me!" in response to almost every question, and was always yelling "Hey-Uh!" when someone did anything near him.

On a particularly grumpy morning Bryson was whining "Why can't we just go to school at 8 instead of 7:50? It would be so much easier!"

After trading their Halloween candy with each other Bryson told Hudson "You're a terrible salesman!"
Apparently B got the better end of the bargain...

Sketty would wake up and yell from his crib "Ina eat Mom! .... Please mom! ..... Please, Ina eat now!"
How's that for begging?

Sketty also had a "Me Too" phase, followed by "Not IT!" and "Jinx". He must get all these from his older siblings even though I don't hear them saying it that much.

I can't remember where we were but Brynn told me one day "Mom, You'd be really surprised if you knew how bored I am!"

Stetson loves walkie-talkies and will run around the house yelling "Hey Guys! Do you TOPPY (copy)?!"

Hudson asked Sketty "Will you carry this inside for me?" Stetson said "No, I jussa baby!"

Tanner got some new cologne and was getting dressed for a date night. Sketty gave him a hug and started taking rather long inhales around Dad's neck. Then after a few sniffs he said "Ohhhhh Maaannnnn!" Apparently he thought dad smelled awfully yummy.

Whenever I ask Stetson to do something he yells "Hold on Mom!" like he's told me a million times already.

My kids are pretty dang funny and keep us laughing all the time. Not just with what they say but the little things they do too. Bryson is probably the silliest of all of them. Sometimes we say he has his giggle-panties on and that just makes him laugh even harder. I'm glad my kids are so humorous and I can't imagine how boring my life would be without them.

JJ 5 months

2013-04-12T20:35:00.001-07:00

Oh this baby is so delicious!!!

I love taking pictures of him and if I could I would record every moment with him.

I love watching my babies as they discover things and its almost as if you can see their minds

growing and understanding. I love seeing how they change and develop each month, even if

it is a little saddening. But, then again, the next phase always brings so many fun new things.

At 5 months JJ is beginning to crawl on hands and knees instead of just his wounded-soldier crawl...

His tongue is still ever-present...

His big baby blues are still a little greyish...

Those cheeks are still utterly delectable...

he is still our happy baby...

and a bit of a silly kid...

quite mischievous too...

and strong...

still needs helping sitting up, although he can stand against the furniture (and frequently falls down)...

and has the best facial expressions of any baby around.

He looks so much like Tanner at times its crazy!!!

Thanksgiving

2013-04-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

For Thanksgiving 2012 both our mothers decided to host dinner at their houses. On my side it was just my siblings. On Tanner's side it was his mom's siblings and their families. I think we counted just over 105 relatives that we saw over the weekend.

Tanner's cousin Jake and Angie Fisk came up from Vegas and we haven't seen them forever. Their kids Cooper, Katelyn and Asher are so darling.

There's always some sort of weaponry at large family functions. BB guns on this occasion.

Hudson and Cade

Some Lungrens, Fisks and Zufelts

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the women cook dinner

Payge, Myah, Hudson, Cade, Stetson

Janet, Angie, Nancy

Sueanne brought a canvas with a tree printed on it and everyone put a green thumbprint and signed their name next to it. Super cute idea

Grandpa Tom and Grandpa Clint

The kids table

Later at Meinzer Headquarters:

The adult table and the tween table

Shoes, everywhere. And the buffet counter

This was Mom's Christmas card picture. All of her posterity under one roof. Her dream come true!!

Emily and Michele getting dessert ready. And a handsome mountain man.

In my family somebody is always begging a back-rub out of someone else. I was trying to show how to zoom in I think.

More weapons.... archery this time

More rubbing still.... and more wrestling

Mom never leaves the kitchen, but she usually has company

Rick and Debi

Bryson reading to Tayah

Dad has gotten back into photography the last few years and spends much more of his time capturing family moments these days than hiding in the garage. Lol!

Sometimes the brother-in-laws just can't keep up with the family so they hide in the corner

Beautiful sunset on Thanksgiving day

Crazy eyes I know, but Jacob was giving me a killer hand massage!

Beautiful Nicole

Bryson has such a silly sense of humor. He is always laughing at something

McKay did great on baby duty

Jessica wrote a song about her and Nicole's friendship and they performed it for us. Very sweet and guess who ended up crying? Their mothers and Grandma... duh...

Project Life

2013-04-12T14:14:00.001-07:00

A while ago I got a text from a good friend of mine who I don't see often enough. She does watch my family grow through this blog though. Basically she said "I love seeing your kids, but I never get to see you." I went looking through pictures with a sneaky suspicion that I wouldn't find many, if any, pictures of myself. I was right.

I think since I got married I have been in very few pictures, and the ones that I am in, I hate, and have probably destroyed all copies. But how sad would that be if something happened to me and my kids had like 5 pictures to remember me by?

So I set out on a task--a very difficult task-- to take pictures of myself, doing normal everyday things that I do. No glamour shots, no poses, often no make-up. Its for my kids, but its also for me, to remember what my life was like with 5 little kids at home on daily basis. There's no editing, no slimming, no sugar-coating. I didn't make sure the house was clean before I took these shots, I just set up the camera so they would be real photographs.

I kinda love them.

This is my morning: I usually do three rounds of breakfast. Bryson and Brynn at 7:15, Stetson around 8, Hudson whenever he decides to get his sleepy can out of bed, usually between 9 and 10.

In typical boy fashion we must always have "guys" watching us eat our meals.

I change a lot of diapers. At 2 1/2 Stetson has absolutely no desire to potty train. He actually gets quite upset when I ask him to sit on the toilet and freaks out when I try. Guess we'll hold off a little longer on that:-(

I spend probably half of my day with a newborn on the couch nursing. Now that Jameson is older I can get off the couch more but for the first 6 months I have a semi-permanent seat on the couch with my baby

Hudson loves his baby brother so much. Wherever JJ is you'll find Hudson, no matter what he's doing. He loves to help me change him and dress him and just love on him.

Occasionally I'll move from the front couch to the back couch to help the kids with their homework while I'm nursing.

Notice the chaos that is my kitchen- Ironing board that has been out for a week, a box of apples on the counter that needs to be made into applesauce (but didn't and half of it rotted), an entire kitchen table covered in junk, groceries that didn't get put away, and always kids, everywhere:)

A rare moment when you can actually see part of the kitchen counter. The other half of my day when I'm not on my couch I'm usually in the kitchen. I'm always making food or some meal for someone. Someone is ALWAYS hungry....always.

Making dinner with a baby in my arms and two boys front and center, probably wrestling

Doing a billion loads of laundry. My life's three activities consist of nursing, cooking and laundry. Seriously though, I do sooooooooo much laundry.

Every once in a while I'm a good mom and sit down to read to this little guy. Its shockingly sad how little time I've spent reading to Sketty. We do get lots of one-on-one for being a fourth child, we just don't read as much as we should.

Sometimes I actually get to do something with myself. Its usually when the big kids are home from school, before Tanner gets home from work, that I think maybe I should try and look pretty for my husband before he gets home. Maybe he won't know that I was in my pajamas until 4 o'clock:)

These last pictures are actually my favorite. I actually love laying on the ground with a book and having my kids climb all over me. Its kinda like a cheap, full-body massage. I was laying down the other night with just Jameson crawling over me and he would go back and forth, diving over my back, laughing and then turning around and face-diving again. Its like those nature videos you see of a lioness and all her cubs. Occasionally I get my hair pulled out (okay, more than occasionally) or I get a knee in the face and then its not so fun. But for the most part I love being down on the floor with all my littles around me.

Notice the one on my back, thinking he's being sneaky with my phone.

I already said this project was hard but looking back through the pictures I realized it took me over a month just to get these few that I have. I had a hard time not trying to create a scene for each shot, just capturing the mundane things of life. I kept thinking "why do I need to take a picture of me in the kitchen?" Well, because thats kind of where I live! Maybe I'll try again in the near future but I'm glad my friend suggested this.

Halloween 2012

2013-04-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

For Halloween we were going to try and go with a Football theme or something easy like that. Shortly before Halloween though, Brynn was at my parents going through the dress-up closet and came across my old Can-Can costume from when I was younger. It fit her perfectly and when she found out Grandma had that fan she was SOLD!!! The boys were happy to oblige her by dressing up as gunslingers, so long as they could wear a 'stache. All Sketty cared about was his boots and some candy. He's easy to please:-)

Now that my two more of my sisters are living back in the area there are a lot more cousins to enjoy the holidays with. We had the Kings and Kidds go around our neighborhood for trick-or-treating with us

Me and my little punkin Jameson

My pretty little girl all done up like a saloon girl. Lol! Its okay though cuz she doesn't have any idea what saloon girls did:-)

The best part of Trick-or-Treating is coming home to count your spoils and see what kind of goodies you scored!

Hmmm, wonder where she got this from??? Organizing candy in groups....

doesn't sound like me at all....

Sketty's 2nd birthday

2013-03-05T20:07:00.003-08:00

For Sketty's birthday we were actually up in Tahoe for Labor Day weekend staying at a friend's cabin so we didn't do much celebrating. I had a wicked head pain that weekend so we played it cool, relaxing on the beach. He was perfectly happy with that. We did go to Grandma's house to celebrate for her birthday the next weekend. He is really into super heroes and loves Batman, Superman, Ironman, and all the other Avengers. Fortunately I had picked up a cake mold at a garage sale earlier this summer :-)

I love this picture. He's still the happiest kid ever and smiles so brightly about everything. Love him to death!

He made quite a mess and all that black frosting was super awesome to clean up...

Fortunately my kids are all pretty good about letting their siblings help unwrap their birthday presents and we don't usually have too many harsh words.

I don't even know if we got Sketty much for his birthday. I mean, what do you get the 3rd boy when you already have everything. He wouldn't have known the difference anyway. Poor Jameson probably won't get much of anything until he's old enough to know:-)

Camping

2013-03-05T12:41:00.002-08:00

WRIGHT'S LAKE

We finally made it camping ONE time last summer and we were only gone overnight. We fully intend to take better advantage of all the wonderful places around us this summer. No being pregnant, no newborns....maybe a freshly walking toddler though.... My memory is so shot I don't even know when this was--maybe sometime in August or September, I have no idea. But it was fun and quick. We decided to go up that day around noon and by the time we packed and drove up there it was around 5 o'clock. I love that we have mountains and lakes so close to do that.

Love sitting around the campfire in the dark chatting with our kids and making memories.

This knucklehead had the marshmallow skewers and was pretending they were anything from swords to shovels. He was in the dirt the whole time, as a little boy should.

Baby JJ did great, only got up a little in the wee hours of morning when it was extra chilly. Someone later told us they thought they were hearing a cat meowing. Nope, just our baby:)

The kids loved jumping off this big rock

One of us always seems to have a kid or two in our arms. I'm afraid we'll turn into weaklings when we don't have a bunch of littles to hold all the time.

We're not really sure how he got into this position but his shirt is all twisted around him and sort of half inside out. He's a goob.

This is him saying "Heyyyyy! I stole your phone Dad!"

We borrowed my brother-in-laws paddle board and the kids had a great time on it. Wrights Lake is shallow enough that you can almost walk all the way across it, so its great for kids who are kind of unstable on a board. My kids did great though.

There is definitely a weight limit on these boards though. I just had a baby so obviously wasn't at my ideal weight. Add one kid on front and another hanging off the back like a dead YAK and you get some serious drag! Pretty good workout, and fun too.

Sweet Baby J 4 months

2012-11-13T20:59:00.002-08:00

My sweet baby Jameson is soooooo fun right now. He's smiley and interactive,

sweet and cuddly, and oh so delicious!!!

At four months he's rolling over quickly in both directions. Changing his diaper is already becoming a challenge as he's twisting and turning the whole 30 seconds it takes me to get him cleaned up.

He is like a very slow-moving twister when we lay him on the ground--he just rolls

to wherever he wants to be. The other day he started crying and I came in from the

kitchen to find him with his face smashed up against the wall. He doesn't have a ton of control yet:)

Jameson is beginning to grab at things--like my hair-- and has a super strong grip.

He has had a little bit of allergies I think. He tends to get stuffy and grumpy after being outside for long periods of time.

JJ loves baths, especially when I'm in there with him.

He also loves my bed, almost as much as I do:)

He's a really big fan of sleep. Like Stetson did as a baby, I can lay Jameson down just about anywhere and come back a few minutes later to find him asleep. I LOVE my sleepy little guys!!!

Daddy says its "No-shave November" again (lucky me) and JJ doesn't know what to think of the beard

Yummy!!! Gotta love that drool. Its a constant problem....

One of my very most favorite outfits. The last three boys have all worn it now and I still love it.

He was trying to get those shoes....

....and when I took them off look at him wiggling his toes:)

Ohhh, I LOVE that face!!!!

Saw this a few weeks ago and I've been dying to try it. I need to redo it to blow up on my wall but I still think its cute. He is quite literally smothered with kisses allllll day long.

Jameson refuses to take a pacifier and has recently decided he won't take a bottle from anyone but me (seriously? what's the point of that?) but he does really like to suck on his top lip:)

His tongue is ALWAYS sticking straight out...

I wish this was a little bit more in focus

Love this one...

..And this one...

Its either his lip...

or his fist...

Jameson recently found his toes. Sadly he can't get them to his mouth unless he's naked. There's a little too much bulk in the middle with clothes on:)

These next ones are all from my phone, which I use to take the majority of my pictures these days. I really need to get out my real camera for the day-to-day stuff more often.

Like I said he loves my bed. And he loves to lay in the most awkward positions.

Look at those beefy arms. They are delicious

I can't even begin to explain how much I love squishy little baby buns. They are the best!

Sometimes he can't decide what he wants to suck on so he just puts as much as he can in.

Wanted

2012-10-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

Okay this is my new favorite song!!! I love the melody for starters, but I also love what he says in it. After recently reaching 12 years of marriage I can honestly say that this is one of the things I love most about my husband. I have always felt wanted. There has never been a time when I've doubted his love for me or when I haven't felt that he wants me as much as he did 12 years ago. We truly are each others best friends and we prefer each others' company above anyone else. (My mom was teasing me that I chose to go on a girl's overnighter on our anniversary. That was an exception:) We love being together, even if we're not doing anything but watching our kids. I love that we can lay in bed at night and talk for hours. I love that laughter between us comes easy.

The first few years of our marriage when Tanner would get home from work I'd pass the kids off to him and go make dinner and then finish tidying up the house and clean the kitchen, etc. He would always get so mad that I didn't want to just sit down and watch TV with him. It took me a while to realize that he didn't really want me to watch sports with him, he wanted me to be with him, to sit next to him on the couch and snuggle him. I think that may have been a turning point in our relationship. As we've had more and more kids he understands that I spend half my day on the couch nursing so when he gets home I've got things to do. Instead of turning on the TV and relaxing he comes into the kitchen and either helps me make dinner or stands there with the baby while we visit. I love it. I don't have to ask to him to help, he just does. He wants to be with me and he knows that I want to be with him, but we've got a bunch of little people that need to be fed (constantly) and that means teamwork!

I hear other women complain quite a lot about their husbands and I've had conversations with others about how much they fight in their marriage. I can honestly say we don't fight. Ask my kids, they are brutally honest. They'll probably tell you how mean and horrible I am and they'll probably say I spank them "all the time!" but I doubt they'll ever say we fight. We just don't. It wasn't always that way, but after almost half our lives spent together we think alike, we reason the same, and we want the same thing. I really feel like we don't relate to other couples sometimes. And it goes both ways. Tanner will often come home from work or something where he's heard men talking about how their wives rag on them and complain about them and all he says is "Thank you for being awesome!" He does a wonderful job of making sure I not only feel wanted, but appreciated. I hope my future daughters-in-law appreciate what a wonderful man Tanner is because my boys will grow up knowing how to treat a woman like a Queen. I hope Brynn will have the highest of expectations for everyone she dates and that she'll be able to find someone as amazing as her dad.

When I was a young mom I worried that losing one of my children would be a trial I couldn't endure. Even though I still can't imagine how painful it would be I've realized that I really couldn't bear to lose my husband. Not only could I not handle being a single mom--and all the trials that kids have to endure when they lose a parent--I couldn't handle losing my best friend. Tanner's the one person I share everything with and the one who knows me as well as I know myself. He's the one I look forward to seeing at the end of the day and my favorite person to chat with. We've had a wonderful 12 years of marriage and I look forward to the rest of my life with him. When we're old and grey we'll be the couple that dies within days of each other because we can't live apart:)

JJ 3 months

2012-10-08T22:52:00.001-07:00

My little Angel Babe is actually almost 4 months already. I finally get around to these pictures a couple weeks late, again, but I least I remembered. Jameson is so fun. He's so happy all the time and he's really starting to engage. He recognizes people and when he does he gives a big smile and gasp and wiggles his chubby little self. He's cooing and almost laughing. He had a double ear infection and I didn't even know it. I just thought he wasn't sleeping cuz he was stuffy from his cold. He's so sweet even when he's miserable.

He still eats like crazy all the time. I nurse him every 2-3 hours but around dinner time I have to give him a 4 ounce bottle of formula. He is always soooo sad when he finishes it, so I usually let him nurse for a few minutes and then he's sad when that's gone too:) I think he was born without a shut-off valve. When I took him in for his ear infection he'd gained almost 2 pounds in 3 weeks!!! At 3 months he weighed 14.4 lbs. He's a heiffer!

He loves to relax on anyone's lap and will usually be quite content there for up to an hour. He totally loves the kids even though they toss him all over the place. It doesn't bother him a bit. He loves to lay on the ground and watch football on TV. He's finally getting better about car rides and is learning to just give up and go to sleep instead of scream the whole time.

One of these days I'll get some pictures of the other kids at this age because I see a little of each of them in him. He's mostly a mini Sketty, but there are certain looks that are full of the other kids too. He's such a dream baby and we are so blessed to have him.

this is his silly face when he's really squirmy and giddy

JJ smiles all the time and is super happy

he's beginning to kick like crazy anytime he's on his back

Brynn took these last few and I love them. This is Jaymo all day

This is my happy place. I love this guy like crazy!!! I love his big squishy cheeks and his burly arms. I love his silly smile and those big ole hands that are constantly grabbing my hair now. I love it all.

Drooling. All the time.

Avila Valley Barn

2012-10-08T21:51:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Tanner had to work down in San Luis Obispo for a few days. We had told the kids we would be taking them out of school for trips during the school year since we didn't get to do much this summer. They were happy to oblige. We drove down after school on Wednesday and stayed for a couple days. Our kids absolutely love staying at hotels. Even if they aren't the most comfortable (or clean), as long as there's a pool and free breakfast they are happy as clams.

Normally I don't mind too much but having a sick baby and not getting much sleep I was not super happy to be stuck in a hotel room with 5 children. We can no longer fit in Tanner's work truck since there are 7 of us so we usually take 2 cars when we go places. The 5 hour drive down was MUCH nicer because of this. Tanner woke up early on Thursday and went to work and I took all the kids to the breakfast room by myself. I have to admit I haven't done a lot with all 5 kids on my own since JJ was born. When I walked into the lobby I felt like everyone stopped and stared at me. The whole time I was getting my kids food I could feel their stares. Annnnd, I heard all the comments. A bunch of old people who think they're whispering but the whole room can hear what they're saying. "Look at all those kids! She's gotta be Mormon. Nobody has that many kids at her age unless they're Mormon. At least her kids are well behaved. Mormons usually have pretty good kids...." That was just the first morning.

On the second day we stroll into the breakfast room and about a half hour later, after practically cleaning out all the food, I sat down to eat. A lady and her two teenage daughters got up to leave and she came up and said "Oh, I'm so glad to see you finally sitting down to eat. I was one of 10 kids and I swear my mother never got to eat a meal with us because she was always getting everyone whatever they needed. When you walked in I said to myself 'I want to see how long it takes her to sit down and eat her own breakfast'." Fortunately my kids were behaving well at breakfast (because they sure weren't the rest of the day) so the comments were more positive than negative.

Let me just explain a little of the food consumption. This is mostly for my benefit because it feels like a tremendous amount these days, but I'm sure in 10 years when I have 4 BIG boys this will be practically nothing. Bryson had: a giant plate of waffles, a cup of yogurt, a cup of apple juice and hot chocolate, an apple and a muffin. The other kids ate (collectively): another waffle, two bowls of cereal, 3 muffins, 3 cups of apple juice, 3 cups of hot chocolate, 4 pieces of toast, 3 yogurts, and a bagel. They were all STARVING an hour later. And two hours after that. I felt like all I did the whole weekend was feed a bunch of pigs!

Bryson has to do a California Mission project this year so after breakfast the first day we went in to town to visit a 250 year old mission. Then we walked around downtown and went back to the hotel to swim. I've been waiting for SLO's farmer's market since we were here over Spring Break. I absolutely love it. Its huge. Its crowded. Its crazy! But I love it.

My family lasted 10 minutes.

I was super bugged.

So the next day we went to Avila Valley Barn and they redeemed themselves. It is this darling little barn/orchard/pumpkin patch/country store/petting zoo. Its exactly what I want to have when I grow up. Super family friendly and cheap. Free hay ride out to the orchard to pick your own apples. Eat whatever apples you want when you're there. Pay 99 cents a pound for whatever you pick. So fun.

The kids had a blast and Tanner and I had a nice relaxing day with them. On the hay ride a little boy behind us said "Mommy! She grew LOTS of babies in her tummy!" Apparently we cause quite a stir wherever we go.

The most delicious thing in all of Avila Barn!!!

this was super tempting but I was actually able to resist.

I regretted it on my long boring ride home though...

Sweet baby J

2012-09-13T21:17:00.001-07:00

My sweet little guy is almost 3 months old already and I haven't posted anything about him:( I guess I am a little busy these days. Jameson is the Sun, Moon and Stars for us right now. He is a very sweet baby just like Sketty was and it has made all the difference. I've decided I just really love having happy babies, as opposed to ones that scream all the time:-) He loves to sleep and often prefers to be put in his bassinet rather than being rocked to sleep. LOVE that!!! He has great naps during the day and sleeps mostly through the night. Jameson has a very relaxed personality and I'm hoping it stays. We lucked out with Sketty and I see a lot of similar behavior in JJ.
The big kids are at that age where they feel it a burden to have to help with the baby and often they'll make a big deal when I ask them to hold him. Hudson, on the other hand, is uber eager to get his hands dirty. He's always holding him, kissing him, asking where he is, getting him out of bed when he's supposed to be napping, etc. He loves his baby brothers sooooo much. The second he thinks he hears one of the little boys he jets off to get them out of their cribs. A little too helpful maybe. But the little guys totally love him and it really is nice to have him help.
Stetson loves him too. About every 5 minutes or so he'll say "Mom? Where JJ?" He always has to know where JJ is. When we changed his name we starting calling him Baby J and Sketty came up with JJ. He does call him Baby J too and the other kids call him JJ or Jaymo. I read an article about kids nicknames and how important they are to a child's sense of identity. I think our kids all have great nicknames that aren't weird or silly, or ones that they'll hate when they get older.
Jameson is such a happy little guy who is so loved in this family. He has a perfectly round, bald head and fat cheeks with a double chin. He is all soft and squishy now and so delicious. I could literally eat him up! To echo Hudson, "I. Just. Can't. Stop. Kissing. Him!!!"

These pictures were taken right at 2 months. I wish I would have figured out how to make the onesies about a month earlier. Maybe I can still make a 1 month onesie and tweak the picture in photoshop:) If not he'll just have months 2-12. That will be kinda weird though...

Just a random picture of him. J fell asleep while I was busy doing something.

These next pictures were all taken at 2 1/2 months. Its amazing how different he looks just in two weeks

Jameson at 6 weeks:
11.5 lbs
napping 3-4 hours at a time
sleeping from 10 or 11 pm-3 or 4 am
started smiling
holding his head up
not taking a pacifier anymore:-(

Baby J at 2 months:
12.8 lbs and 24 in. long
sleeping roughly 8 hours at night
one long 4 hour nap in the afternoon
rolling over front to back
rolling back to front almost all the way
cooing and smiling all the time
starting to giggle/chuckle

Big Sketty-2 years old

2012-09-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my Little Big Man is 2 already!!! Even though he's a GIANT (33 lbs. size 8 shoes) he still kinda seems like my little baby. Maybe its the lack of verbal communication:-) Stetson is by far the easiest two-year old we've had yet. Don't get me wrong, he has his days, but overall he's super chill and hasn't gotten overly destructive or terrible. He has recently discovered the large deck box outside full of old dirty trucks and 4 wheelers. He loves to bring them all in the house.... at the same time..... all day long. Like a typical boy he loves horses, tractors and anything on wheels. He especially loves motorcycles. Tanner is borrowing a little dirtbike from someone at work and Sketty constantly asks to ride it. He'll hear the garage door when Tanner comes home and run out screaming! He can't actually say that he wants to ride the motorcycle but he makes a vroom vroom noise while twisting his hands (like on the handlebars). And he does that to everyone we see, no matter where we are. I get lots of questioning looks:-) When we're driving and we pass a motorcycle or tractor he'll get all excited and then when its gone he says "Aw, Dang it!"

Sketty has the funniest personality right now. He pretty much runs the family because he has all of us wrapped around his little bear paw. We are constantly in stitches at all the funny things he does. During church after a prayer or special musical number or whatever he'll usually yell out (super loud) at the end "All done! All done!" over and over again. Or he'll spot his cousins (whom he adores) and yell "Hey Jill! Hey Hai! (for Hailey)" from across the chapel. When he wakes up he has to ask where everyone is-"Daddy? B? Shish? Hud? JJ?" We go through this about 8 times a day. When I'm done telling him where they all are he says "Ohhh." He chatters on all day long and although he doesn't say many words I usually know what he's saying because he gets the inflection right. Then its just a matter of repeating it to him and he'll say Yeah if I get it right.

Some of his funniest funnies:

Someone taught him to do an air guitar. But really he looks like he's an ape scratching himself while bouncing up and down and swinging his head around. One of these days I'll video tape him because its pretty comical.

(showing off his new hand-me-down shoes)

He is super intrigued by gross stuff - dirty diapers, sweaty feet, mud, etc. When he takes his shoes off he wants everyone to smell his feet and then say "Ewwww!"

Someone tooted one time and it sounded (and smelled) disgusting. He ran over and tried to pull their pants down to check their bum. He kept doing this over and over and we just about peed our pants. He was bound and determined to see if the said person messed their pants. Then he ran and got a diaper and wipes and started yelling at this person to lay down on the ground. He was certain they needed their pants changed and he was yelling Ewww! the whole time.

We got to sing Happy Birthday to a lot of people this past month and now its Sketty's favorite song. He sings "Ha birdayyyyy, Hi Yah!" (the big kids always add on "cha cha cha Hi-Yah!" Thats where he gets it)

Stetson is very sweet about everyone's feelings. If someone is sad or mad he'll stand right in front of them, tilt his head to the side, do his crazy eyes, and open his arms for a hug. This brings laughter out of the grumpiest person. And he's the best cheerleader - for himself and everyone else.

If any of you have ever played Bingo in the car you know how obnoxious it can be. It usually causes big arguments because someone always claims to have seen the yellow car first. Stetson LOVES to yell out "Bee-YO! Bee-Yo! Mom, I Bee-Yo." Because he's so cute we let him win at Bingo all the time. Anytime someone calls out Bingo he yells "No, I Bee-Yo!" Like I said, he runs the family:-)

He's totally irritated by the neighborhood dogs that bark constantly. Sometimes he'll just go out back and start yelling "Bad Dog!" And then when they don't stop he comes in and says "Mom, UGHHHH!" He gets super frustrated when they don't listen to him.

Stetson loves Baby Einstein movies. His favorite is the Old MacDonald one. He comes up to me all day long asking for "Yi-Yo" because they sing E-I-E-I-O. He's also VERY particular about his music. If he doesn't like a song on the radio he'll yell at me until I change it. He LOVES Adele and Jason Aldean. He'll bust-a-move right out of his car seat any time those songs come on:)

His favorite books right now are Brown Bear Brown Bear and Polar Bear, Polar Bear. Who is the genius that thought up those ridiculously simple books? I've never met a child who didn't know it by heart and completely love the book.

Baby J was just too tired to enjoy the party. Got a quick little nap at Grandma's blazing hot house.

Back to School

2012-08-21T15:06:00.002-07:00

Obviously these pictures weren't taken on the first day of school. I'm just not that

on top of things these days. Or like, ever.

But I did manage to take them within a week of the first day so that's not too bad.

The kids are loving being back at school and so is their mother. I love my kids but they just get bored when they stay home with me all day. I don't recommend having a baby right smack in the middle of summer. It jacks up the summer. Before baby Big Mama is too tired and big to do anything fun and its too close to the due date to go anywhere. After baby Big Mama is recovering and then when recovery is over its too stinkin' hot to take a newborn outside anywhere. So that leaves you with a house full of energy ready to explode.

For the first time ever I was really looking forward to school starting.

All the kids love their teachers so far and the two older kids got their best friends in the same class. Hudson doesn't have any friends in his class yet but he really likes his teacher. He feels like Kindergarten is just for him and I love that his teacher makes him feel so special.

I've already gotten Sketty and Jaymo on a decent schedule. We drop off Huddy and then come home to play and have lunch and then we all go down for a nap. Its pretty fantastic!!! The big kids wait for Hudson to get out of school and then they all walk home together. That means I get about 3 1/2 hrs with just the two little ones and they sleep most of that time. I'm loving my schedule right now:-)

This crazy kid has a serious shoe fetish. He'll get anyone's shoes and wear them wherever he can.

Also, he really needs to grow into that massive head. Its huge:-)

Brynn's all about pictures and usually does a good job. Occasionally she'll pop a funny face or weird smile but for the most part she's my best model right now.

And then we have Gomer. He was being a total Tard about taking pictures, like always. I happened to click the shutter right when he was doing this face and he just about peed his pants when I showed it to him.

I had said "Just hold the sign in front of you Please!" So he shoves it in my face...

So fun having a 9-yr old boy who thinks he's like 20.

Apparently he was watching his brother take pictures.

Can you hear it? "Uggghhhh, why do I have to take pictures?!?!"

Look at me Hud. "NO! I'm not taking pictures. I HATE taking pictures!"

Finally!!!

Did I mention I like having them in school all day???

Baptism Pictures

2012-08-02T14:07:00.002-07:00

Brynn and I went down to the temple one night to take pictures for her baptism announcements.

These are the results. She was a darling baby, an even cuter toddler, and now she's such a pretty little girl. I have no doubt she will be even more beautiful as she gets older. My one and only:)

Busy weekend

2012-08-02T13:46:00.002-07:00

Brynn had been looking forward to getting baptized for such a long time. Every now and then she'd come sit on my lap and say "Mom, I can't wait to get baptized!" out of the blue. We had fun

looking for a dress for her, taking her baptism pictures and preparing for her big day.

That's a big family! We still can't believe we have 5 children! In a few years all those boys are going to be so big and I'm going to feel old and small.

Brynn's baptism was Saturday afternoon and then we blessed Jameson on Sunday. This may be the smallest blessing circle we've ever had. A lot of the family was out of town, but we appreciate those that made a special trip out for the blessing and baptism.

Jameson is such a sweet baby and we feel blessed that the Lord has given us another perfect, healthy little baby--one who doesn't scream all the time and one that likes to sleep. I love all my babies, but I am especially grateful for the ones who are so mellow. It just makes life so much easier and the whole family benefits from a sweet, quiet baby.

Meinzer Reunion

2012-08-02T13:34:00.002-07:00

We went to Lake Tahoe again this year for family reunion. It was supposed to be every other year but my parents decided it was worth it to get together every summer. There weren't too many complaints:-)

I went up with all the kids on Tuesday and Tanner met us up there on Wednesday. That explains the lack of pictures for the first two days. 5 kids on my own keeps me pretty busy and I didn't even get nearly enough time on the beach as I would have liked.

Thursday we took the family on a little hike that we discovered last year, Angora Lakes. Its kind of little known and you have to get directions from someone because there are no street signs directing you. But its worth the trek because it is just beautiful up there.

All the boys loved bouldering, especially this little champ, who had to climb on almost Every. Single. Rock. the whole way up.

Some of our group rented paddle boards and every had a great time on them

"Dora" with baby J. All the girls are pretty good at sharing one baby. Someone needs to have twins though.

Hudson is usually great about sharing his food. Tristin was quick to ask for a bite of his ice cream.

Oh look who finally made it into the water after 3 days!

The only other name besides Hudson that Sketty can say. He calls her "Tee-Yah!"

Boys will be boys. Nate and B were punching each other with life vests on and of course Sketty had to try it too.

Oh to be a teenager again and lay on the beach without having to watch or take care of anyone...

B loves paddle boarding. He's only done it twice but really, really wants his dad to buy him one.

Back at the Homestead:

Love that determination!!!

This is how it went: Brynn spent about 15 minutes cleaning out the boat until there was not one speck of sand left in it. Sketty watched her from afar but never helped. She finished cleaning it and then walked away. As soon as she wasn't looking he ran over and grabbed the biggest bucket he could find and proceeded to fill the boat with sand. She was not happy when she returned.

He's such a gomer:-) I have found myself lately feeling bad for people who choose not to have children. They will never understand the joy of having a live-in comedian to entertain you with every thing they do. Sketty doesn't even talk and yet we are constantly delighted with all the silly things he does. He's pretty fun to have around.

Burying my boys. Sketty didn't last long.

Our last day there was pretty windy and the lake was like an ocean. These girls were body surfing and loving it.

I love the imagination of little boys. I didn't bother to interrupt them in their game but I'm pretty sure the boat was their fortress and the sand was utter peril.

Gotta start him young liking the beach. He had some fantastic naps with the wind and the waves lulling him to sleep. I would have loved to get a nap on the beach.

Hello Friend!!!

2012-07-11T00:08:00.001-07:00

I look at other people's photography all the time for ideas of unique shots.

I had something like this in mind long before the baby was born.

Lucky for me these were completely natural, unposed shots.

I put the baby down to go do something and when I came back to check on him his little

guardians were looking out for him. Hudson saw me take one shot and he was

gone. Stetson really didn't care if I was there. He was just lovin on his little baby and

being so sweet. I LOVE these shots.

Another little angel

2012-07-05T14:48:00.002-07:00

The night before Hudson was born

Hud weighed 9 lbs.

a week before Stetson

Sketty weighed 9.9 lbs

the night before Jameson was born

Baby J weighed 9.3 lbs

(I didn't have a digital camera with the first two and I forgot to take pictures of me right before they were born, which is why I only have my last 3 pregnancies on here)

I got in trouble for wearing makeup to surgery. I figured, I looked like HELL after each of my other deliveries, this would be the first time I could look good, so I went with it.

Tanner was told to wait in the delivery room and not put his scrubs and mask on till someone came to get him. When the nurse walked in she said "Why aren't you ready? They've already cut!" So he basically came rushing in to the operating room flipped the camera on, and out came baby within about 20 seconds.

The reason I opted for a c-section was because of the size of baby and the broadness of his shoulders. You can see here it was no joke. He is a sturdy little guy. Not as big as we thought he could be but anything over 9 pounds is big enough. The doctor even had a hard time getting him out via c-section.

See those cheeks and that linebacker build?

This was definitely different from my other deliveries. In the past my babies have always come straight to my chest. I missed that this time.

I only got to hold him for like 2 minutes before they took him back to L&D.

Baby was born at 7:43 am. Tanner took him right back to the delivery room after he was cleaned up and I stayed in the operating room getting pieced back together for about 20 min. My mom had the kids and they were dying to see the baby so they came down right away. I was just starting to feel the affects of morphine and the numbness was wearing off. Not a good combo....

They've been calling dibs on who would get to hold the baby first for a long time now. We let Brynn hold him first since she doesn't get her little sister.

I think Hudson is the baby's biggest fan. Can you tell by that huge grin?

Sketty was mostly interested in the cool chair and all the chords going to and from Mom.

Yep....that's about how much I thought he'd like the baby:)

Oh my heck I have 5 kids now!!!!

Kinda hard to believe.

First bath back in L&D given by the nurse

My parents were watching my 4 kids as well as my 2 nieces. Thursday they brought all the kids down to see the baby. Those postpartum rooms are NOT big enough for 4 adults and 7 kids.

The kids came to see me and baby twice on Wednesday and twice on Thursday. Wednesday I was flat on my back the entire day. The transfer from L&D to Postpartum made me super sick and I threw up shortly after ALL the feeling came back to me. That was HORRENDOUS! Then every time I'd try to sit up the nausea would come rushing back. It wasn't until about 10:30 pm that I could finally sit up. Baby had been having his blood sugar tested all day long and finally passed that evening. That meant he was cleared of Gestational Diabetes. I no longer had to worry about what I ate or test my blood sugar either -- this would have made me very happy had I not been so sick.

Thursday the only pain meds I was on was Motrin 600 and that wasn't too bad. I was able to get up several times and walk down the hall. I finally got disconnected from the IV and catheter and was feeling much better. Thursday night the baby got circumcised and then the lab tech came in to take more blood. Because he had had so many heel pricks for his blood sugar the girl had a heck of a time getting enough blood. It was a long night for poor baby....and mom.

So no one came to visit us on Friday.

Saturday the kids came down to bring me breakfast and grab all my stuff cuz we were checking out that afternoon. Apparently everyone needed me at home. Stetson insisted on helping with my suitcase. I love the look on his face. Such determination.

In the past I've always hated staying in the hospital. I felt you never get any rest and its just easier to be at home. I think with all other 4 kids I was home within 24 hours of giving birth. And I never understood why other women like it so much.

This time was much different. Aside from not really having a choice in how long I stayed I actually kind of enjoyed it. I loved all my nurses (well, all but one) and they took fabulous care of me. There were plenty of times where I could sit (or sleep) for hours just snuggling my perfect little baby without any interruptions. I would not have had that at home:) My pain pills kept me fairly comfortable and I was tucked into the corner room of ward so it was pretty quiet (except for the poor little baby who screamed the whole last night. I felt so bad for it). Upon coming home I was met with more than one child who had a bit of a breakdown, and I quickly realized the hospital bed was more comfortable than the couch. And it didn't take long for me to miss those delicious MOCKTAILS!!! I probably had about a million of them. The kiddos all thought they were pretty good too. And I miss the crunchy ice. Bad!

I will say though, that it was very sweet to come home to a clean house--thanks to my fabulous husband and mom-- and there were several vases of fresh flowers. I love fresh flowers in my home. My kids were happy (mostly) and there was dinner waiting for us. My mom has watched the kids for countless hours during my pregnancy and recovery, especially with all the different doctors visits and NST's. I'm so blessed to have parents who can and will drop whatever they're doing (literally) to come to the rescue. And I love my husband so much for being the type of dad who will gladly take time off to take care of his kids. Not all dads enjoy spending so much time with their kids when mom's not around to help but Tanner does a great job taking over all the duties of parenthood. I snagged a pretty dang good catch. And we make really great kids together!!!

One last big Hurrah!!!

2012-07-01T20:53:00.002-07:00

We(I) waited until the last minute to get everything ready for this baby. Being a photographer I do the picture taking most of the time and I don't very often get pictures of myself. So about 3 days before baby came we went to my parents and had my dad take some family and maternity pictures. I still have to edit those though. Here's a super cute one of Brynn though.

Friday I had my last NST and of course the baby was perfect. The only time he was ever reactive in a decent time frame and it was the last one. So I treated myself to a car wash and then met a girlfriend for a pedicure. When I got home my husband informed me that he had made an executive decision and we were headed for the Bay Area come morning.

Sacramento was supposed to hit 105 that day and there's nothing Tanner hates more than being hot and bored with a bunch of hot and bored kids. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. San Fran was PACKED and our drive took forever. But it was beautiful weather and the kids enjoyed the pier.

Our drive home took forever as well and we got home just in time to put kids in bed and send tired pregnant mama to the store before midnight! Woke up early on Father's Day and knew it was gonna be another hot one so we headed the other direction up to Lake Tahoe.

Sketty loves his big brother!

We parked ourselves next to the paddle board rental guy and eventually the kids convinced Tanner to rent one. The guy gave him a deal and the kids have found a new passion:)

This little chum barely came out of the shade the whole day.

He preferred sitting in everyone's seat and eating junk food

.....and sipping on Dads diet coke.....

...alllll day looooong!

Bryson and Brynn both did great on the paddle board. I think they both fell off once but were able to climb back up with no problem.

And despite this kids lack of body fat he spent the entire day in the freezing cold lake. Seriously it was freezing!!!

The one time he touched the water so I had to take a picture.

I don't know where Hudson gets his physique from. He is skinny bone Jones!

Happy Father's Day Tanner. He's the best dad ever. His children all adore him and he loves each of them so much. I'm a very lucky lady!

Play Ball

2012-06-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

This baseball/softball season we had 3 kids playing. It was rather busy. Each kid had one midweek game and a Saturday game. Sometimes it was each game starting within a half-hour of each other, sometimes one right after the other, sometimes it spread out the whole day. Regardless, it was crazy.

On Brynn's team, the Green Geckos, she got to play pitcher and catcher quite a bit.

She has a pretty good little arm on her. Some of the girls on her team can barely throw to first base still.

Brynn was a great little player. Unfortunately it only took about 3 games for me to realize how annoying it is to listen to all the little girls scream out softball cheers for and hour and half NONSTOP!!! We decided, not just because of the chanting, that she probably won't play softball again next year. I think soccer will be her sport:)

Bryson killed it this year. He had a great season connecting with the ball and even got at least one home run!!! He was able to score some triples and really had a lot more confidence in his abilities this year.

He also spent some time pitching and did a great job. I think he prefers catching but he liked trying out a new position.

And then there's Hudson! T-ball is pretty funny to watch. Tanner said its like herding cats most of the time. Each kid gets to bat and run all the way through the bases each inning. They were a cute bunch of kids. It was batting off the Tee for the first half of the season and then coaches pitch the second half.

He was a total stud and rarely needed the Tee to bat off of.

In T-ball you would think its required to slide into every. single. base. It's not:)

And in T-ball if the ball comes your direction you go for it. And if the ball goes somewhere not even close to you, you still go for it. Basically, the whole team tries to get the ball no matter where it ends up:)

I love watching him play now. He's got a killer swing and really has some power when he hits. Sometimes their games are very exciting.

For a big kid toting 105 ell bees around he's pretty stinking fast.

Occasionally I see how everyone thinks Bryson looks just like Tanner:)

Tanner loves coaching the kids' teams and they love having him a their coach. I'm so grateful he has a job that allows him so much flexibility to always be there with the kids.

All the younger brothers like to get together at the games and go do "boy stuff". Sketty is happier than a pig in mud following them around.

Drain pipes are super fascinating to him for some reason. He loves to look down inside and yell "EEWWWWW!"

And he loves being in the dugout with all the big boys, trying on helmets and drinking everyone's Gatorade.

But most of all he loves B!!!

I figure I better learn all the rules of baseball now because I have like 18 more years of it.

End of School

2012-06-29T21:52:00.002-07:00

Brynn and her teacher Mr. Cowen

Bryson and Mr. Bird

The sign that Hudson and Sketty and I made. Let it be known that I am truly evolving as a mother. The old me would have wanted the banner just so and I would not have let the little boys paint. It took me a second but I gladly handed Huddy a brush and said "paint away". I'm learning to let go of perfectionism and total control and let my kids take the reigns on some things.

Of course everyone started fighting over the balloons and we lost two before we even made it into the house. Then there was fighting because there's only 3 balloons and 4 kids.

Ahhhh, welcome summer.

Preschool Graduate

2012-06-29T20:59:00.002-07:00

Hudson has been going to Miss Cindy's preschool now for 2 years and he has

just graduated and is moving on to Kindergarten. He loved Miss

Cindy's, especially because all his church friends were there, but he's so excited for

Kindergarten. We got to go meet his teacher and check out his classroom. He

is super stoked to have Mrs. Palmer and loved her right away. We saw her at school after

we met her and ran up and gave her a big hug. She probably had no idea who he was but he

doesn't know that:)

Singing songs at the "graduation"

The graduates got their hats and got to walk in to get their diplomas:)

Hudson and Miss Cindy

His classmates

Yep, its upside down:)