Random bits of fun times!

Well this will be a fast post of just pictures..All is going great here!~ Kids are doing great,we are getting ready for our Thanksgiving holiday trip out to southern california to visit my family and to also make a disney visit....Of course there will be pictures of that soon! Until then... enjoy my little kids!!



Jackson waiting for his school bus!! He loves pre school, and is doing great!!


Lily the garden fairy.... she loved her costume! Thanks to grandma for making it for her!


Lily at the state fair! I love this little girl!


OH and Porter the giggler... this boy just brings a smile to my face!


Jackson... hmm oh Jackson. This was NOT his halloween costume. Wellpart of it is. He was a pirate. But the next dayhe put Lily's tu tu on and sang "argh a pirates life for me" what a goof!


have I ever told you how much Porter loves food? he especially loves SAUCE. Dips everything. And I think he likes the sauce more than the food! Po Po,would you like some chicken with your sauce?

lazy days... well not so lazy

Well I have been crazy the past few weeks to sit and post a blog I havent been lazy enough to blog browse though. I have fun doing that. Anyways, what is new with me... lets see.. .I think this baby really has it in for me. I am 22 weeks along and I am still sick. What gives Amelie.. dontcha love me? Lily is now off track (sigh) and jackson is back ON track (OH JOY!!!) And today was Lily's first day off track and she let me know every minute of the day how bored she was. The inside of my house looked like the cat in the hat came over for a visit. It was rather fun hearing Lily and Jackson play house. Jackson- "oh sweetheart... come here. you want some snacks?" Lily-" year honey, I would love some. Can you feed the baby? The baby is a mini batman joker from a cereal box. It was pretty cute. I need to film their sweet talk and let them watch it when they are teen agers and hate eachother.
Porter is not being so cute any more. He is a monster. He loves unfolding my freshly folded clothes. Throwing clothes out of the hamper all over the place. Opening up cabinets and pulling bowls out. Coloring on walls, and throwing food off his high chair just to get attention. Love that boy.
Lets see what did I miss.. halloween! Yes that was fun. Lily was a fairy, and jackson and porter were pirates. Porter was a pirate for about `10 minutes before he ripped his clothes off. I think Lily had more fun handing candy out to neighbor kids. She would stand on the sidewalk and yell "yo people, we have candy here!!!" It was fun hanging out on the good old daybreak porch talking with neighbors and seeing cute little monsters and princesses coming ever so politely asking for candy. My favorite moment of the night was when jackson saw "the dark knight" joke and his family come to the porch and he says "oooooh batman kicked your butt!!" THATS MY BOY!!!! well here is lily's kindergarten school picture.. time sure flies.. I was looking at her hospital picture, and then looking at her kindergarten picture and it ALMOST made me cry. She was such a sweet little baby, and now she is such a sweet little girl. Time flies when you are having fun!!

A few reasons why I think Zoie Rocks...

And here they are!! Ok, we had these pictures taken yesterday, and there are TONS more to choose from! Zoie did such a good job! The family picture of all the kids is AWESOME. Seriously defines their everyday relationship! haha! ENJOY!! go to the post below to get her contact and web page info!!

My friend, our photographer!

Ok I have a great friend who is also a great photographer. I have left posts about her in the past and showed off her pictures of my kids she took a few months back. Zoie has a great eye and really captured my kids personalities. If you look to the right side of the blog, you will see pictures of my kids........ she took those! AMAZING! She is taking halloween pictures of my kids this friday as well! You need to go to her web page and take a look.
Zoie I love ya!! Looking forward to seeing you on friday!!

http://inthemeantime-zb.blogspot.com/2008/10/halloween-session.html

She does family pictures, bridals, baby sessions (so looking forward to this when baby Amelie gets here!) she will do whatever, and go on location, or you can have pictures taken in her "studio". Take a look, email her at
junk4zoie@gmail.com
She puts all pictures on a CD for you, and you can get them printed wherever! And did I mention... her prices are unbeatable!!
here is the link to her photography web page!
http://zbphotography.blogspot.com/

Well now I know....

Ok, well I was really dwelling on the meanings of names lately, as you all know. I was trying to think of whats more important.. how it sounds, or what it means. When we found out we were having a girl last week... the name Amelie really stuck out to me. And when Jake said he liked it, something warm came over me and felt finally at peace with everything. Well then the middle name drama was going on. Should it flow, or should it having meaning. Since all my kids are named after a grandparent, either middle name or first name. I wanted to keep with the tradition. We debated between some names.... really thought of using my Aunt Janet's name as a middle name. Then while I was talking to Jake's mom about it, I mentioned her mom's name.. Beth. For some reason Jake doesnt like the name Beth for his daughter even for a middle name. So I thought... well how about Elizabeth. Amelie Elizabeth. So then I went back to me "what does the name mean" thought. Well it brought me to tears when I found out what Amelie and Elizabeth mean. After the week I had last week with flying emotions and friends going through hard times with devistating losses.... The name means Beloved Gift from God. It really made me think... truly, that is what a child is.
I am so blessed to have such amazing, beautiful, sweet children. I look forward to every morning when I wake up to Lily hugging and kissing me. I love tickling jackson until he wakes up smiling, and I love when I go to get Porter, he runs all over the crib, back and forth saying "no.... DA DA!!" My kids love their da da!
SO really, what is a name? Lily's means just that, Lily, the flower. And that truly is what she is to me. She is gorgeous, delicate, soft, smells good most of the time, and she is blossoming everyday into the daughter of my dreams. Jackson... well not much meaning there.... other than "son of Jack" we changed the meaning to "son of Jake". And he is just that! he reminds me of Jake whenever I look at him. His quirky little expressions, his sneaky eye, TEMPER TANTRUMS! and most of all, his sensitivity. Porter.... The gate keeper (which is also the same meaning for his grandpa Ted's name, weird huh). Wow... this makes me laugh..... because seriously he is the toughest kid I know. Solid as a rock, very strong, and I can see him becoming very protective over his siblings, especially little Amelie.
What does your name mean to you? The meaning of my name is well.. pretty lame.. White wave, or fair one. Thanks, lets just remind me how pale I am! haha!

Life is so fragile.

Some of you already know about the sad loss of Bailey Blake. This little baby was born too perfect for this world. My friend Jenn prepared herself for the loss of her daughter, but that you really prepare yourself for that? When Jenn was pregnant she found out about half way through that her baby had a major health issue. For a while they thought it was "brittle bone disease" because she had many fractures through out her tiny body. When she was born, the diagnosis changed and was worse than before. Thanatophoric Displaysia was the new fatal diagnosis for Baby Bailey.




Last night I went to the viewing and truly felt the love ad strength the Blake family has. Listening to their 2 year old say "my baby" while looking at his precious little sister in her pretty white dress. Family is truly EVERYTHING and we need to start to truly Cherish what we have. This was a hard week for me emotionally. I asked alot of "whys?" even though I already know the answer. One of my good friends from my neighborhood lost her baby the day after I found out that Bailey had passed away. I guess heaven needed more angels to bring peace to the earth. Go to Bailey's web page and read about this perfect little girl. And after you read, you will truly learn to cherish your blessings. Jenn you are amazing, and such a great friend and mother. Your little girl is not here on earth but she will always be with you!
Bailey's Journey

THINK PINK!!

Well today we found out that we are having a girl!! The tech was having a hard time seeing its little parts, but my amazing doctor came in and POOF... I guess she was flirting with Dr. Porter and gave him a little peak!! So we are thrilled! Lily is SO happy! She patted me on my shoulder during the ultra sound and said "YEA!! thanks mom!" So little Amelie will be here in march!

Monday monday monday!

Well my OB appointment was moved to THIS MONDAY! Lets just hope this baby opens its little legs and shows its stuff! If the little lemon is shy, I will have even more feeling of its femine shyness. Lily did the same thing! We didnt know she was a girl until I was 25 weeks! She would NOT open her legs! Porter and Jackson loved to show off their stuff. I found out with them at 15 and 16 weeks! If we dont find out on monday, we go back in 2 more weeks for a follow up... OPEN YOUR LEGS KIDDO!
The only thing that stinks is that I have to go all the way up to LDS hospital for the monday appointment. Ugh. My OB is only in his Murray office on Tuesdays and wednesdays. But thats ok.. seems like old times when i had to go up there 2-3 days a week when I was pregnant with Porter.
Oh, and I think we have come to an agreement.....
Amelie Stephens. Middle name is yet to be determined. My cuz Brittany brought up a name I was already considering, but kept quiet... Janet. My dad's little sister Janet passed away 5 years ago next week. She was and is a major blessing in our lives. I am so lucky to have such wonderful aunts. Aunt Janet was something special. She was a mother, a friend and a shoulder to cry on. The name Janet is really making my heart swell right now, and making my eyes water. I think we may have a winner. Amelie Janet Stephens. Or Lincoln Dwight Stephens after my dad.

Middle names, should they have meaning?

Ok, all of my kids are named after a grandparent or great grandparent. Lily Grace is named after my great grandma Lillie Belle Sale. She was a suffragette back in the day and fought for women's rights, ROCK ON NANNA! Jackson Kenneth is named after my grandpa Kenneth who passed away when I was 18. He was also an amazing man who spoiled me rotton and loved loved loved me! I was his baby girl. Porter William is named after Jake's granpa William. Right now he is not doing well health wise and I really love that my children carry on such amazing people's names. Now.. for baby number 4.. it seems to be tradition to name them after a grandparent of some sort. Well now I am in a jam......its not that I am out of grandparent names.... But my dad's parents names well.... Cherry and Moroni, and my mom's mom name is Ethel. So well... you understand. Jake's grandma was Beth, and I like the middle name Beth, but Jake doesnt... ARGH! My great grandma's name was Consuelo, she was from spain. I do not think my maybe daughter would really like the middle name Consuelo and I dont know how good it goes with the names we are looking at. But what about Americanizing Consuelo to Constance? Does that totally take the meaning away? I mean, she went by Connie anyways! She was also a Suffragette and was a VP of a bank in NYC when she was pregnant with my grandpa. That was unheard of back then! Well any advice would be great.
Do you like your middle name? Do you use it?
My middle name is Colleen. After my mom's best friend growing up. I never met the lady.... dont know her... but my mom really loved her.
Oh, and I think we are getting close to choosing the name Amelie... french for Emily, and close to Amelia.....and we will call her Melie. But this may all change.. My mind is all a flutter I tell you!

help help help

Ok, well we dont know what we are having yet, but Jake and I have yet to agree on a girls name. He is determined to name the baby Lincoln if its a boy, but if its a girl, we have gone from name to name, loving it one day to disliking it the next... help me!
the names we have SOMEWHAT agreed on are....
1. Madelyn
2. Amelia
3. Kennedy
4. Skylar
5. Addison
Leave a comment and HELP ME OUT! if you dont like any of those names, leave your favorite name!!