the Baby IS in there!

I know....I should know by now that there IS a baby in my tummy...

I feel it kick, flip, turn and dance all day everyday (which I just LOVE)...

But this morning I heard his/her (ha on the her) heartbeat for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not use a doppler or have ultrasounds so I obviously have to wait longer to hear the baby. I figured it might be a bit early to hear the baby right now, (I am 19 weeks and 2 days) but I wanted to try anyway. At first all I heard was a lot of kicking...then, the heartbeat! I attempted to count the beats..however...just like all the Flamm babies, this kid is active and kept kicking off one side and swimming to the other side and I would lose the beat. So I would chase it down (another reason this is a boy) and try to count again. Finally I got a 15 second count...132 beats per minute :)

B-O-Y!!!!

So yes, I am so excited. This may be baby #5, but I am as happy as baby #1....probably happier because I realize the great blessing that is coming to us.

So the next question is.......

WHAT AM I GOING TO NAME THIS KID???????

I really have nothing. The names I have always liked are now just to popular for me...I like different. Not Moonflower or Wheatgrass...but just a bit different.

SO....any suggestions????

In A Week.....

A week from today my brother Nate, his wife Courtney and their little baby girl Hannah will be here for a visit!!!
Really, I am so excited I cannot stand it!
I had to go buy something girlish for her!!!!!!






Tarin posing with the dress I got for Hannah. It is just the prettiest dress EVER for the prettiest girl EVER! :)





And I also got her this little hat. It is green with flowers on it for our little flower :) I know, I am just to corny...but I LOVE this whole girl thing! And Hannah is so delicate with fair skin that she needs a hat to protect from the sun out here...so her Auntie Tiff HAD to get her one!



Below are two pictures of little Hannah with Nate (her Daddy and my brother). So tell me...is she not the MOST beautiful girl in all the earth?!

10 Years ago today......

WOW.

It has been a decade since my first birth. I feel so OLD!!!!

10 Years ago today I was in labor with my sweet Ethan. And at this moment (1:23 p.m.) I had already been in labor for 33 hours and I still had another 11 hours to go.
Yeah, I know...crazy!!! But seeing as it was one of the best experiences of my life and that it was worth every single contraction...I have fond memories.
Ethan was born on the 17th (tomorrow) at 12:37 a.m. after 44 hours of back labor. He was born at my moms house in her kitchen...in a big pool of lovely warm water. And my little Ethan...was 10 pounds! That idiot doc that told me I was just "to small to have a baby over 7 lbs" was...well, WRONG. Thankfully the Lord had made other plans :)

Anyway, that is his birth in a small nutshell ("Help! I'm in a nutshell!") We will have a family party tomorrow night with the grandparents on both sides and great grandparents. Ethan chose to have a day at Six Flags with friends this year instead of a "friend party"....he had a blast on his first roller coasters!

Wow...a decade...

Let's not discuss what is ahead of us in the coming decade.....yikes.

Below is my Ethan as he is today...handsome devil :) And Pres had to get in on the action as well....

It's a Girl!!!!!!

I did something I swore I would never do.













Something I told others not to do.



















I got a dog!
(gee, what did you think?!)










Her name is Lily and she is a 14 month old Boxer puppy...a GIRL with a pink rhinestone collar. The boys are smitten, as is Josiah. She is a sweetheart! We got her from the Boxer rescue here and she is already house trained and crate trained...nice. :) Anyway, enjoy the pictures!!!!






Lily is coming outside to the backyard to meet all the neighbor kids....they were as excited as our kids about her!




All the kids were happy to meet her.








Playing....




























Daddy's girl....











Isn't she a cutie?!


















Attempting to get a shot with 9 kids and a dog...yeah. At least Kellen was posing :)









Time to rest.......

The Past Week

Last week we had the pleasure of seeing Sarah (Josiah's sister) and her boyfriend, Brad. They flew here from California for a long weekend...and we all had a blast!!!





This happened A LOT...Brad wrestled in school (and he is a policeman) and so the boys would tend to...well, attack him at will. He had a great attitude about it and played along!






We took 3 of the boys (Kell, Tarin and Pres) with us and went through the Rocky Mountain National Forrest. It was a long drive, but SO SO SO beautiful...and a lot of fun!





The kids, Sarah, Brad and Josiah rode the Alpine Side in Winter Park. Being preggers, I just watched :)


Elk!!!


Grand Lake


More Elk!!!




Sarah and Brad






Below are some picture of my dad with the boys on our front porch....the first picture is the "nice" picture...and the second is the "crazy" picture. I have to bribe the kids with "we can do a crazy picture ONLY after I get a nice picture!!!" Terrible, I know. But it works :)