Family Update

Well, we have finally adjusted to being home, and I think the fact that I have three kids is starting to sink in. Cooper is doing great. I took him to the doctor for his two week appointment, and she said that he was not gaining enough weight and she also nicely pointed out the skin that was hanging from his arm.....so sad! So, he is now taking formula and gaining by the minute. I took him in today and he had gained over a pound in a week! Needless to say, he is doing great and we are loving every minute of having him here.

Carson and Abby are still loving their new brother. Luckily the newness has warn off, and they aren't as "loving" as they used to be. Now, they know that he is just a new part of our family

and they have done a great job adjusting.

Abby and Carson had a great Easter. They loved having an Easter egg hunt at grandma's house and seeing their cousins that were in town. Abby's favorite part was definitely dressing up. She HAD to have the hat, gloves, and purse to complete the outfit, and I had a hard time getting it off her.
Well, not much else new with us. Thanks to everyone who called and visited. It is so nice to know that we have such great friends and family.

We love ya.

Cooper Stanley Grundy

Well, he is finally here! I say finally because I feel like I have been pregnant forever, but actually...according to my first due date, he came three weeks early. I was always going by the due date that the ultra sound gave me which would have only made him two weeks early, and that seems more accurate to me. Anyway, he was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 in. long. He was the biggest of all of my babies, so I guess I am glad that he decided to come so soon.

Everything went great with the delivery except I was at the hospital for a little longer than I would have liked. I went in Friday after work and they

kept me there until morning to help start things on their way. He ended up being born at 12:50pm on Saturday. The delivery went well and we are now glad to be home to enjoy our new addition.

I have been home now for a couple of days and it all seems so unreal. Wow! Three kids! I am starting to feel a little old. I actually feel like I am still really young, but then I look at my family and I can't believe that there are so many of us.

I love having a baby in the house. I love how it automatically makes you feel so much love and

gratitude. I truly feel overwhelmed with peace and comfort when I look at the little miracle that God has blessed me with. It amazes me that through all of the craziness and newness, I feel so much complete love. I am thankful everyday for the wonderful life that I have.

Chad has been heaven sent especially for me. Only he could be so understanding about all of the crazy things that I do. He knows exactly what I need to make me feel relaxed and happy. He has taken some time off of work and he has been AMAZING! He has done everything from fashion shows with Abby, to endless mini trips to

the store. He is really trying to keep the kids entertained and he is also doing little things to keep me from going crazy, like re-organizing the cupboard so that the bottles will fit, and keeping up on all of the laundry. ( he knows that I am a little crazy about that stuff, but he loves me anyway)

The kids have actually been really good with the new baby. Abby is just in heaven. Her only problem is that she wishes that the baby could be hers. She just loves looking at him all day and she constantly wants to hold him. She keeps saying "Mom, I am just so happy that you had a baby!"

She is also starting to get really curious about the whole baby thing and that is a subject that I am just trying my best to avoid!

Carson is...just Carson. He loves the baby and he'll come up and look at him and say "Oh, he is so cute!", then he will run off and do whatever he was doing. He is interested, but not overly

interested. He has also come up with his own name for his new brother. "Super Cooper" and he gets really offended if you try to call him Cooper the Pooper.

Cooper was a name that Chad came up with and he has loved it from the first. I kinda liked it, but now it has really grown on me. His middle name is from Chad's dad Stanley (Stan). We have been so excited and proud to name him after such a great dad. We only hope that he will grow up to be something like him.

Snowed In!

I don't know about everyone else around here, but we were completely snowed in for awhile on Sunday morning! And amazingly enough... they even canceled CHURCH! Honestly! And, we live right around the corner from the church, it is not like we hardly have to drive to the building.
I guess a lot of people were getting stuck all throughout the neighborhood, just in their driveways, so they called it a "snow day" and canceled all of the meetings at our building. I am not complaining at all. In related news...Chad was just released from being the Elder's Quorum President after three and a half years. I know that it has been a blessing in our lives, but I was not complaining about that either. This all happened on the same day, and to be honest with you, I think it was one of the best days so far this year!

Here are some pictures of our snowed in house. This is our back door.



And here is our back yard. So, if you think about it... this is what a lot of our neighbors' front yards and driveways looked like in the morning.



















Well, it was SuperBowl Sunday (GO GIANTS!) And that was the first thing on our minds, so we ended up digging ourselves out and went to the Grundys for a little party. Before the game started, the kids (big and small) needed to see what damage they could do in all of the new snow. So here are Chad and his brothers in the cave that they built, while they used the kids as an excuse to play in the snow. In fact, I'm pretty sure the kids made their way in long before the big boys.

And I had to just add this picture because I thought it was cute. (of course a mom would).
Carson crashed pretty early from all of the excitement.

Carson's Birthday!

Carson is now officially three years old! He has been so fun and he never really had a terrible two stage, which worries me sometimes. He is definitely crazy and all over the place, but I think that might just be a boy thing. ( I'll be having another boy here soon, so I guess I'd better just learn to deal with it).

Here are some pictures of the kids painting. Carson got the all of the stuff for Christmas and I finally let them get it out.

Yes, Carson finally got his own Leapster for his birthday and it has kept him extremely occupied. He is so funny when he plays it, because he is super serious and he does this weird thing with his tongue like my mom used to do and it makes me laugh. ( I don't know if there is a connection, but I like to think so)

He had a little birthday party and Grandma and Grandpa gave him a Spiderman bike, and due to the weather....he has just been riding it all around the house.

His cousin Kyli's birthday is right next to his. They actually look like siblings with all of that blonde hair.

And here he is doing his best Ninja Turtle impression.

Not much...

Well, nothing much is going on right now with us. I am still pregnant and realizing it more and more now that I am so big, and now that Christmas is over the reality is kicking in. I am getting really excited! I am so excited to have another member of our family, although
sometimes I think about those long nights and I get a little nervous, but I know it is all worth it in the end.

I decided to put these pictures of the kids helping in the kitchen for family home evening, because they kinda made me laugh. Abby of course had to wear her tinkerbell dress and an apron, so Carson decided that he needed an apron too. Once the aprons were on, they were in full character...and very serious chefs. The strange thing was that they actually ate the dinner they made and it was Taco Salad, and if you know my kids they are not salad fans.
















These other pictures are of Carson stealing Abby's new Leapster that she got for Christmas and hiding under the table to play it. He does this all day long. He loves playing it and we have found him hiding in closets and other places in the house. He will be turning three at the end of this month, so we decide to buy him one for his birthday, mainly to avoid the fighting.

Back to "Real Life"

Happy New Year!! Well, it's kinda weird now that all of the excitement is over. We had such a great holiday and now that we actually have to get back to "real life" it is pretty hard. Here is some pictures of what we've been up to...

New Year's Eve....I never thought that Carson would actually make it to midnight, but he hung in there and then crashed about a minute later.

Here are all of the kids (with Kelsey & Kayla) on Christmas Eve at Grandpa's house.

We also went to my Dad and Kathleen's house and had a special dinner with them earlier in the week. I forgot my camera, but we had a lot of fun. It was so nice spending time with them and the Lails. I forget how cute he is sometimes.

After Grandpa's on Christmas Eve, we went to the Grundy's for our traditional pajama opening and story reading. We are thankful that Justin and the kids were able to spend Christmas with us again this year. (& Grandpa too!)

I just love the whole matching pajama thing, they might hate me for it someday, and I am really not sure how much longer I am going to be able to find them, but I used to love that part of Christmas... even when the pajamas were totally lame!

Christmas morning was everything that you would expect. The kids were "in heaven" and I'm sure a little overwhelmed. Carson was ecstatic about his "real bird" that he asked for (which isn't really real), and Abby just kept saying that this was the Best Christmas Ever! She just couldn't help telling us how much she loved us ...all day long. (she wasn't really saying it to thanks us, since it was all Santa's doing, but she was just so happy that she loved everyone!)

We were even able to get Carson to dress up nice, but he refused to wear a tie.

We had a great couple of weeks, and even though it gets hectic at times, I absolutely love the Christmas season. It seems like I just love it more and more the older I get, and the more I understand (also the more kids I have). I love spending time with family and I love to see the excitement in my kids eyes as they experience the magic of Christmas. Some of this could be because it reminds me of how special Christmas was for me and my family growing up. Mom always made sure that it was perfect for everyone and the entire Christmas holiday was "magical". Of course,I think about her a lot at this time of year, but I miss her everyday!

It also amazes to me that one holiday can make you feel the spirit so much, and that it could force you to be thankful for all of the little things in life, even in the midst of all of the big things that are going on at this time of year. Well, I'm glad that it is all over, but I am going to miss the feelings that it creates and just pray that I can keep them going throughout the year.

Ready for Christmas!

Well, I think we have done everything possible to get ready for Christmas! We made our gingerbread house. Actually, Chad, Abby, and I made it. We had a lot of fun making it, but Carson only wanted to eat it. He really didn't want to take any part in the decorating, he was completely focused on eating the candy and sneaking all that he possibly could.We also made the yearly trip to the mall to visit Santa. The kids were so excited, and I think they talked Santa's ear off. Of course...what is Christmas without visiting a couple of Santa's! We also had a visit from Santa at our family Christmas party.
In all of the Christmas preparation, we have watched every Christmas movie and sang every Christmas song over and over...

And Carson was so excited when he heard the "Two Front Teeth" Christmas song, because he

could really relate! (I have a feeling it will be his favorite Christmas song for the next 5 or so years.)

Snow Day...Again

It snowed again...and this time it wasn't quite as exciting as the kids looked out the window and just knew exactly what they wanted to do. . .

Carson just looked at me and said, "I'm hungry, I'm going outside to eat some snow!" Abby on the other hand was determined to make a snow man, since her last attempt was a bust! And if you know Abby, not just any snowman would be good enough...it had to be the best and the biggest. So, she enlisted the help of her dad.

While Chad and Abby worked on the snowman, Carson kept to his word and ate all of the snow that he could. He was even going through the yard to find the "best" possible snow to eat. He was also very interested in making snow angels, but the huge snowman didn't get any attention from him.
The snowman turned out great, except the fact that it looked slightly like an alien due to the pink golf balls for the eyes.

In the end, the kids made sure to tackle Dad and start a fight (as usual) with Chad losing (as usual).

Snow Day

The kids went CRAZY when they woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window! They were running and screaming around the house, so we had no choice but to go out and play. This winter is going to be fun, because Carson is now old enough to actually play with Abby, and they have a lot of fun together. I was even excited to see the snow,  although I don't like driving in it, the holidays just aren't the same without the cold snow. For me, it just makes the holidays more real, since it was always my favorite thing about this time of year when I was a kid.