Kindergarten Graduation

I cannot believe Kindergarten has come to an end for Tyler and Kallie. We are so happy that they got to be with Mrs. Brown who was also Mckinley's teacher. She is so amazing and does so much with the kids. They learned so much and had so much fun. Their teacher put on a really cute graduation program for them. They sang songs, got diplomas, and we watched a slide show of all their pictures from the year.

I went in weekly and volunteered (except when I was on bed rest) and Ava came with me so now Mrs. Brown has gotten to know Ava, just like she got to know Kallie and Tyler when they were little. She is so excited to be Ava's teacher. We just have to wait four years. :) And I hope she is still around to be Jackson's teacher when he goes to Kindergarten too. She feels like a part of our family.

The last day of school they had a singing program. I am so grateful for babysitters who came over so I could go to these events. I was supposed to have Jackson the day after they finished school, but I'm glad he came early enough that I was recovered enough to attend these events.

Mckinley's class had a poetry party that I was never planning on being able to attend because I should have been in the hospital but oh my gosh, I'm so glad I could go. It was so cute!

We also felt very lucky to have Heather Crossley as her teacher this year. Heather is in our ward so we get to see her at Church too. She was a great teacher and Mckinley just loved her.

They decorated this cute back drop for their poetry party.

Mrs. Crossley made these cookies for each of her students along with a framed page of all of their attributes. So sweet! We love our teachers and I love that my kids love school.

Dance

Mckinley and Kallie had their end of year dance recital the week Jackson was born. I felt so bad having Shannon do everything but I don't know what I would have done without her. She took them to all their practices and performances. 

This was Kallie's first recital and she did so great and absolutely loved it! She's been nervous for it for over a year. I couldn't even convince her to take dance last year because she was terrified of performing. They both did great and had so much fun dancing with cousins.

Brandon and I were both planning on going to the Saturday night performance...until Jackson was born early. Brandon ended up going to the dress rehearsal on Thursday while I stayed home with Jackson and then Brandon stayed home with him while I went on Saturday night.

It was a little crazy going 4 days after having a baby. I tried to take it easy but I could definitely feel it with all the walking and stuff.

Mckinley and Kallie with all their flowers from Brandy, Shannon, and Ross. They got spoiled!

Jackson's First Week

We came home Wednesday evening and of course the kids were so excited to have Jackson home.

He's just so sweet. None of the pictures really show how small he is. He has been such a good baby so far. He has given us some seriously amazing nights with only a few bad ones here and there. At about a week old he started having some fussy time in the evenings between like 9 pm and midnight. He has a hard time settling down for the night. But once he does, he usually wakes up for 1 feeding and then we don't hear from him the rest of the night. We get up in the morning and he usually just keeps sleeping. And of course he pretty much sleeps all day.

Brandon has meetings Sunday mornings so I am home alone to get the kids ready for Church. The first Sunday was a total success! I'm sure once Jackson gets more fussy it won't always work out so well, and of course I didn't have to get myself ready.

Tyler is so in love with his little brother. I always see him kneeling down by the bouncer chair just wanting to be close to him.

Had to try to capture his tiny hands and feet.

Love those forehead wrinkles!

Jackson is constantly poopy and pooped on me several times while getting his diaper changed the first week. It doesn't happen as much now. He already got a pretty bad diaper rash from always being poopy.

Oh boy we just love him so much! He has been a dream so far and I'm sure eventually he will become more fussy and harder to manage but we are enjoying our typical cloud 9 phase with a brand new baby. I usually get baby blues a couple weeks in so I'm anticipating that and hoping my family can be patient with me until it passes.

Having 5 kids doesn't feel overwhelming because my bigger kids are so independent now and pretty helpful. We are just loving life and feeling very blessed!

Jackson!

Our baby boy is here!!! I don't know how much I've written about my pregnancy on this blog, but this pregnancy was super rough. We thought we lost our baby three separate times when I had subchorionic hemorrhages, I bled for months, was on bed rest here and there, got lots of cold sores, headaches, threw up the entire pregnancy, and was just completely miserable.

I was planning on being induced at 39 weeks since I never go into labor. That would have been on May 23rd. But this sweet boy decided to make an early entrance. I went into labor the night of May 13th and he was born at 12:29 am on the 14th. I had contractions at home for about an hour before we made it to the hospital and boy were they bad. I was able to get an epidural and he was born 2 hours after we got to the hospital. The delivery was smooth and easy. His head fell out before the doctor had even put on his gown. Absolutely zero pushing. So that was nice. And he was tiny. 5 lbs 14 oz. We named him Jackson.

The kids had gone to bed on Monday night before I knew I was really in labor so they had no idea we left the house or that their brother was born in the middle of the night. Brandon ended up going home at about 3 am and so he woke up with the kids and told them what happened and brought them to the hospital to meet Jackson. They were all so excited!

Tyler told me when he got to the hospital that he cried happy tears because he has a brother.

Going home as a family of 7. Our van is full. It's crazy and so so wonderful.

Mckinley Turns 9

This sweet thing turned 9 yesterday. She was so excited for her birthday and loved all her presents. She got a lego set from Grandma Bishop that she said was her best lego set yet. She got a little fitbit type thing from us that she was super excited about and just some clothes and an umbrella and stuff.

Tyler and Kallie wrote her some cute notes and were so excited to give her the presents they chose.

The evening of her birthday we had a work event that was perfect for the kids. Lots of bounce houses, characters, and junk food. The kids had a blast!

It was a perfect low key birthday for a girl whose mom is about to deliver a baby in 2 weeks!

Tyler had his last soccer game and got his long awaited medal.

This picture was him kicking off from mid field (is that what you call it?) and it went all the way into the goal!

We had such a fun year playing on a team with tons of boys from our neighborhood. It was so great!