*one year ago, at this moment*

I was holding this tiny little angel!

OK, I should say this chubby little angel!  :) 

She did weigh 9 lbs 6 oz, you know!

A year has gone by so fast ~ I wish I could slow time down just a little.

Now little Camry is all grown up...

Check out those amazing baby blue eyes!

Cam, today on your birthday, you:

*LOVE your sisters!  Your life is not complete when they are not around. 

 No one can make you laugh like they can and I love it!

They also adore you.  They love to get you out of your crib in the morning and they do

all that they can to keep you safe.  It's like you have me and three more little mommies!  :)

*have seven teeth! None of your sisters had that many teeth when they turned one.

*have an amazing head of hair! You've already had two haircuts...

*love to blow spit bubbles and that drives your daddy crazy!  He thinks it's so gross!

*are SO loud!  I think you have realized that to be heard over the girls, you have

gotta put everything you've got into getting some attention. 

*are determined to do things your way, when you want to and only if you want to.

You are very strong-willed (and dare I say a little stubborn!...)

*are a WATER BUG!  You love to swim and play in the water at the pool or in the bathtub. You love to put your face under the water over and over and over again.  It's so funny to watch you swim!  You go under the water and hold your breath, but you do it with your mouth open!  When you come up out of the water, you have a HUGE grin on your face and can't wait to do it again!

*love to see your little cousins, Jaidyn and Roman.  It is so fun to see the three of you and how much you have all grown this last year.  You are all starting to realize that each of you are there and have started interacting with each other.  Christmas this year is going to be hysterical!  I can't wait to see three little one-year olds running around and tearing everything apart!!!!

*have taken a few steps by yourself.  You can't wait to run around with your sisters and are trying so hard to learn how to walk.  I am going to love watching you run around with them.

*love your bottle!  I have tried many times to switch you over to a sippy cup,

but at the end of the day, you just need your bottle.

*are a blankie girl.  I love watching you drink your bottle while you hold a blankie

cause you rub it up on your cheek.  So cute!!

*have amazing blue eyes.

*get into everything!  One of your favorite things to do is play in my bathroom. 

You love to dump my basket of hair stuff all over the floor and then

you unroll the toilet paper...

 I can't believe that a year has gone by already.  It's gone by so fast! 
I am excited to watch you learn more and become more able to play with your sisters.

You make me smile everyday.

I am so grateful Heavenly Father sent you to our family!  You are perfect for us.

I love you, my little baby!!

Have a Happy Day!

Say Cheese!

- May & June - in 100 pictures or less...

Memorial Day weekend we headed down to Provo to decorate the graves of

our family members who are buried in the Provo City Cemetery. 

The girls love to put flowers on the graves ~ and even took some time to brush off the

headstones of a few of our relatives.

One of my ancestors buried in Provo is Martha Ann Smith Harris, the daughter of

Hyrum Smith.  She is my great(3x's) grandma. She married William Jasper Harris Sr., who is buried next to her.

We love to find their burial site at the cemetery ~ and it's so cool to see their names carved in that really neat headstone.

After our visit to the cemetery, we stopped by BYU. 

I mean, really...... how could we go to Provo and not stop at the Y?

Future cheerleaders, perhaps?  :)

Little Miss Ky adores her baby sister and LOVES me to take pictures of the two of them

together any chance she can. I can't believe how big they are both getting!!

Camry is our little WATER BUG!  She loves water!!!  I love this picture of her drinking out of the sprinkler in the backyard.  She couldn't get enough!

And, of course she does not care if she gets soaking wet with her clothes on.

She jumped right in the pool and loved every second of it!

In June, Kylie turned EIGHT!  Crazy, uh? 

We had a family birthday party for her and I think this was by far her

very favorite (and least expensive!!) present.

Who would have thought that a package of plain white paper would make a girls dream come true??

Some of her favorite friends came over to play and celebrate with her.

We tie dyed t-shirts, ate pizza and roasted marshmallows.

This is a picture of the girls with some of their friends taking a break from the

water party we had the next day.

~ Kylie's Baptism ~

  Kylie was SO lucky to have so many family and friends at her baptism! 

Getting baptized is such a special occasion and to have so many loved ones there just makes it that much more special and wonderful! 

I can't even tell you how grateful I am that I am married to a man worthy to bless my children!!! 

It was so sweet to see Chad baptize little Ky!  She is so lucky to have such a wonderful dad!

Grammy and Grandad were able to drive out from Missouri for her special day!!  We love having them come and visit any chance they can, but are so grateful for the time they took to come out just for Kylie and show her how special she is to them.

We were also super lucky to have Aunt Casie, Uncle Miah and Brock come too!  They live in Missouri and just happened to have a trip scheduled to Utah the same week that Ky got baptized.  She was SOOOOO excited when I told her they were going to be able to come too.  She has a special place in her heart for Uncle Miah and his Elmo voice.  :) 

(I had to swipe this picture from their blog. Thanks, Case!) 

We also had Grandma and Grandpa Harris, Uncle Bryan (Aunt Jessica and Jaidyn couldn't come), Uncle Casey, Aunt Lisa, Baby Roman, Uncle Mike and his super cute friend, Amanda. 

Yet another swiped picture.  (Thanks, Lisa!)

Uncle Bry

Mike and Amanda...entertaining all the little kids with a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose."

Thanks for keeping them busy!!  :)

Ky and her buddy, Kailen.

These two are inseparable!

Taylor can usually be found in the nearest tree.  Even if she's wearing a dress.

Love that smile and those big beautiful eyes!!!

My girls LOVE their uncles! 

Any chance they get, they attach themselves to one of them and don't let go.

Camry and her semi-cheesy face.  This picture of her doesn't really do it justice -

but Grandpa is sure doing a good impression of her! 

.horrible.

I am a horrible blogger.

Actually, I have not had five minutes to sit and blog.
(*Read my last post and you'll see why*)

School starts Tuesday.

I'll have lots of time then, so prepare yourselves for a picture overload!

~Peace out~

By the way, the little bro comes home in FIVE days!!!!

summer happenings

Today was the first day of summer vacation!!! 

I love having the girls all home together~

We can have some just hangin' out fun family time. 

Swimming, playing in the sun, sidewalk chalk and Popsicles.

Camping, parades, and fireworks. 
Naps, BBQ's and playtime at the park.

Walks, crafts, reading, and games. 
Campfires, bike rides, and more swimming.

Oh. . . And because I want to keep my kids busy this summer~

chores.

I told them the other day that they were going to learn to work this summer so

they could turn into hard-working girls Grandpa Sherwood will be proud of. 

And, besides the chores, I have signed them up for just about every activity under the sun.

I want them to be worn out at the end of the day and I don't want to hear "I'm bored".

.Art class.

.Dance.

.Tumbling.

.Swimming lessons.

.Tennis.

.Summer camp.

SO, HERE'S TO SUMMER VACATION!

P.S. It's 78 degrees outside right now. BUT, the wind is blowing. To our kids that means it's somewhere around 100 degrees below zero. . .  Which explains why Kylie just walked outside wearing her WINTER COAT.  Yep.  Here's to SUMMER VACATION!!  :)

D * I * Y fever

I think I have officially become a DIY junkie.  I don't know how many cans of spray paint I have been through in the last few weeks, but I probably should have bought stock in the spray paint business. 

The project I finished yesterday and am the MOST PROUD OF!!! was inspired by Censational Girl ~ one of my new very favorite bloggers.  She refinished some old, grimy chairs and turned them into these beauties.  You can read about them and see the before and afters here:

 *Spring Green Cottage Chairs*

Well, I decided after seeing these, that something similar would be just the thing I had been looking for to put on our bare front porch.  So I headed off to the local thrift store. 

I hit the jackpot! 

I found two of these old worn out chairs and took them home for a grand total of $8.

I took the seat off and recovered it.

I ripped out that webbing on the back of the chair and had my sweet hubby

cut me some pieces of wood and attach them to the back...

and then I sanded and painted and sanded again until I had my super cute chairs! 

I sat them out on the front porch with another little thrift store find (the table) that I painted antique white and then added some red and blue touches for the upcoming holiday.

I'm a sucker for red~white~and~blue. . .

Perfect, aren't they???!!!!

Another post!

 I have realized that my problem with blogging lately is that I haven't really felt "narrative"...

So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of our cute kids!

Her turkey dinner did the trick! By the time I got the dishes done, she was out cold!

Notice the intense concentration! :)  Syd and I were playing Jenga and she did MUCH better than I thought a 3 year old would do playing that game!

I spy a TAYLOR in a TREE!

(Although it doesn't appear this way, she is actually about 15 feet off the ground!!

Eye-level from my parents' deck)

Isn't she sweet!!  I just love her to pieces!

And I love the age that she has reached.  She's trying to

figure out how to crawl and talk and is so much fun!

Yes, I know that I am missing pictures of Kylie....

The baby is screaming and the girls need to go to bed.

She is not forgotten. Pictures of her coming soon!

Ta-Da!

I actually have a few minutes to sit at the computer and blog!

This has not happened in a REALLY long time!

I am so thankful for this Conference weekend! I love listening to General Conference and

being at home with my family.  It makes it especially wonderful because it is also Easter Weekend!

We get to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior and brother, Jesus Christ.

I love being able to teach our children about the sacredness and importance

of this special day.

Here are a bunch of random pictures that I am finally getting on here.  I can't believe how fast my kiddos are growing up! Camry is almost seven months old. 

She loves to eat. . . A lot.

I took her for her six month checkup and she weighed 16 lbs. She has hated laying down since she was about three months old, and would instantly stop crying the second you sat her up.  So, for the sake of my sanity, I bought her this little blue chair , and it has seriously been a life-saver! She loves it!!! She has learned to sit up by herself now, but her little chair has become the perfect high chair.

This picture of her on the left is of her enjoying a baby cookie (for teething). It was her very first one and as you can tell, she couldn't get enough of it . . . all over her!  I don't know if she even got any in her mouth. :)  The picture on the right is of her trying to figure out what all the white stuff is outside. The other morning we woke up to many inches of snow and she was so fascinated by it!

I LOVE that my girls love each other so much!!!

Taylor - Ready to ride the skateboard Santa brought her for Christmas

Beautiful Ky.  Can't believe she's almost 8!!!

Camry loves to chew on her toes... Gross, but cute!

The funny thing is she'll get into whatever position she has to

in order to make that possible!

We celebrated Taylors 6th Birthday in March.

First, on her birthday, with family...

Second, with friends at a super fun place called

The Kangaroo Zoo.

It's just a big huge room with a lot of different

inflatable slides and bouncey houses...

And, Taylor lost her first tooth!!

Followed by her second about a week later.

For a ward activity, we played a giant size version of Twister.

The kids loved it!  I cut circles out of vinyl and just

stuck them to the floor.  It worked great!! 

*they were a little harder to peel off than I had anticipated,

so don't try this at home!!*  :)

Finally, here are the three little ones...

Camry, Roman, and Jaidyn

This was taken in January at Lisa and Casey's

house-warming dinner.

Jaidyn, Roman and Camry

at their blessings in November.

They have changed SO fast and we cannot wait until

they are able to interact and play with each other!

Christmas this year is going to be a blast with

three little 1 year olds running around!! 

One week later...

I'm doing great!  The surgery went well and so far, I'm feeling fabulous!  Chad says that he can hear a happiness in my voice that he hasn't heard for about a year.  :)  I didn't know it was getting to me that much.  I'm really optimistic that this is the solution and can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring so we can confirm that!  So far it's been a week and there are no familiar signs appearing that normally let me know a horrible 24 hours is ahead!  Yay! 

I don't have a lot of time to write today, but this weekend I am going to have Chad write about our experiences with prayer and fasting through all of this.  I have an amazing testimony of prayer and fasting and the strength of family pulling together to ask Heavenly Father for blessings. 

 The Lord does hear and He does answer our prayers! 

Buh-Bye, Gallbladder

Tomorrow, my gallbladder will meet it's maker. :) 

 I am so happy to be having it taken out ~ which is silly . . .

because who gets excited to have surgery?? 

The doctor said having it removed will give me a 90% chance of getting better. 

Sounds like good enough odds to me.

I'll take it.

Wish me luck!

Update on me...

I would love to call all of you individually and give you the update on my health that you've been asking for, but let's face it, this is much easier - and I'm all about easy these days.

So, the tummy troubles have returned. For whatever reason (probably hormones), they went almost completely away while I was pregnant with Camry. Shortly after she was born, they returned. The worst of my "attacks" happened January 14 - the day before our 10th wedding anniversary. I threw up for an hour and a half STRAIGHT, non-stop. It was horrible. I felt like some strange stomach wrenching power had consumed my entire body. It scared me. . . and Chad (it takes a lot to worry him!) He called over to the hospital and scheduled a HIDA scan for me - to test the function of my gallbladder. Of course when they said they had an available time the next morning, he took it. Thankfully, and I know non-coincidentally, he had already scheduled to have the day off because of our anniversary. My sweet, very selfless mom came right over that day to help with the kids while I rested and Chad worked and then spent the night so she could be there to watch the girls while Chad took me in for testing. (I love you Mom! I couldn't go through all of this without you!!)

Anyway, the next morning I went in for the scan. To do the scan, they inject you with some radioactive substance and then you lay under a big machine that takes pictures of your gallbladder moving this stuff through it for the next hour and a half. Fortunately for us, because of Chad's profession, he has a few connections and so when we got done with the test we went straight to the radiologists' office there in the hospital. He read my scan right there and explained to us that a normal gallbladder functions at 35% and mine was functioning at 8%. Oh, Happy Day!! We walked out of the hospital feeling like we finally had an answer to all of this madness and extremely optimistic of what was to come. Chad called the surgeon and we met with him that afternoon. (What a way to spend our tenth anniversary, uh?!) Anyway, the surgeon pretty much could have just thrown a ton of bricks on us. He said that basically a non-functioning gallbladder would cause other symptoms and therefore I was to try some medicines and continue to suffer under the umbrella diagnosis of "Irritable Bowel Syndrome" and that there was no reason to have my gallbladder out.

Yes, I felt like it was a stupid, lazy, diagnosis. I still do. But, wanting to respect him and the professional relationship he and Chad have, I said ok and started two of the medicines. A week later, I was sick again. Hmmmm. Funny. So, I switched to one of the other medicines he said to try. No, I haven't been sick since (and that was a week ago today - and I've pretty much been eating nothing but jello, yogurt and pudding), but I'm not settling for the answer I was given.

This morning I had an ultrasound on my abdomen and I'm just waiting to hear about the report Chad gets. In the meantime, I spend time on researching on the internet, only to find a bunch of stuff that I could have, but the symptoms don't really fit.  Nothing really adds up.  Maybe I'll have this forever and just have to learn to live with it and manage my life around it.  It wears me out completely for a few days and then just a little bit after that.  It's worse now that I'm eating pretty much nothing...I don't really have any energy to do anything.  Our house might never be perfectly clean again, but I figure as long as I'm spending what energy I do have on the stupid laundry and playing with my beautiful kiddos and handsome hubby, I'll have a clean, happy family!!!  (I have been sewing a lot lately too ~ it doesn't take a whole lot of energy, but gives me a little bit of time to concentrate on my hobbies.) 

Thank you so much for all of your concern and prayers.  It's humbling knowing so many care so much.  We do feel really blessed that what I have is not worse than it is.  There is always someone suffering much more than I am, and for that blessing, I am truly grateful.  Our Heavenly Father has truly blessed us in many ways and I have faith in His love for us.

Love to you all,
Me

One of my many blessings...

...is this sweet little face. They really don't come any happier or more peaceful than this. 

I just can't believe she's almost FIVE months old already!!

What I've been doing lately.......

Besides trying to keep up with four lovely girls and one handsome hubby, I've been sewing up a storm!  I'm not tired of it quite yet, so we'll see what else I can create.

These are two of my sewing projects I've finished in the last couple of weeks...

Syd loves to be my model.  The dress was made for her, but fits Kylie as a really cute top. 

I made the skirt for Taylor, but since she and Syd are the same size, they both wear it.

I've got a sewing bug right now and am totally obsessed with fabric!  I love looking at fabric in store and online and finding really cute fabric to make really cute stuff!  It could probably be called an obsession...