Yummy!

Elliott loves her food!

 There is actually a story that goes along with these hot dog pictures.

One day while me and Elliott were shopping I handed her some hot dogs. I honestly didn't think she could get into the package with just the one little tooth that she had at the time. She did and started sucking out the juices. After awhile she was able to get a tiny, tiny bit of hot dog with that little tooth as well. Nothing I found dangerous, obviously or I would have taken them from her.

We continue shopping and this lady comes up to me and asks if I knew that my baby had a hot dog package in her mouth? I was confused! What I said was, "Um...Yeah." What I thought was, "how would I not know that she had them in her mouth, I am looking right at her! How stupid do you think I am!" She then grabs the package, turns it over and notices the tiny hole that she has made and then say's, "she has made holes and is getting hot dog through them! Again I said, "Yeah..." but thinking, "and the problem is...? Holy crap lady you must really think I'm stupid and/or careless!" She then puts the hot dogs back in my cart, rolls her eyes and huffs off. I'm sure I made mother of the year in her book. Seriously, if I would have thought there was a problem I wouldn't have let her have them. I'm sure even as some of you read this you are thinking the same thing that lady thought. Oh well.

The Move

We took a vacation to Utah in July and decided after returning home to Houston that we wanted to get back to our family in Utah. Tom actively started looking for a job and not long after he started he got an offer! We were shocked we honestly didn't think anything would happen for at least a year. Once he got the offer they told him that if he accepted it he would have to be there in 3 weeks! So quick! We prayed about it and felt it was right so he took the job. We started packing right away.

After 4 and a half years of living in Houston, we moved back to Utah. September 8th was a bitter sweet day. We finished loading our two U-haul trucks, Tom's truck and my car. Did the last of the cleaning on our rental home locked the doors and then said good bye to our AMAZING friends. We made some life long friends living there! I love them all dearly and will always hold them close to my heart. 

Tom, Me, Jarrod (Utah friend), Mana & Ammon, Annette, Rachel & Andrew, Mike
Avery, Cole, Benjamin, Michael, Jennie, Caralyn & Elliott

Adriana Mejia

Ruben Mejia

Many, many more friends not pictured!

Grandpa with the kids

My dad and our good friend Jarrod flew in from Utah to help us drive back. We have way too much stuff and couldn't have done it with out them! You guys ROCK!  

The 8th was a Saturday and by the time we got out it was getting later into the day. We made it to Fort Worth, TX that night. Fort Worth is only about four hours from Houston but with all the stops and the fact that the U-hauls top out at about 75 mph it took us 6. My goodness this was going to be a long trip! Little did we know it was going to be an EXTRA LONG TRIP!!

When we got into Fort Worth and stopped at a hotel for the night, Tom noticed that the truck my dad was driving was leaking oil from the rear hub because the seal had gone out. We called to get someone out there but they couldn't do anything that night because non of the repair shops where open. The next morning called again and they said they were going to get someone out ASAP. We weren't able to get back on the road until 2:00 pm. Sunday afternoon. All that time that could have been used driving was used waiting instead!

We were able to make pretty good time once we were back on the road. We drove until night fall, ending up in Amarillo, TX and stopped for a steak dinner. After we ate we were all feeling pretty good so decided to drive on. As the food started to settle we all started to get sleepy so we stopped and got a hotel in Tucumcari. 

We headed out bright and early that next morning. We drove and we drove and we drove! After driving for about what seemed like forever, Tom decided to take us down a road that looked like it would be more of a straight shot than the road we've taken before. So we took it. By this time the sun was getting close to setting and it also had started raining and the road we were on turned out to be made from washboards! It was one of the bumpiest roads any of us have ever been on. A paved road! After about 20 minutes on this road we pulled over to the side and notice that my dad's truck was gushing anti-freeze! We knew we didn't have much time and we were about half way between Shiprock and the next town, so we decided to push it to the next town before the truck started to overheat.  We got on the road and about 5 minutes later Dad said the engine was starting to run hot already.  Luckily, right as he said this over the radio we came up over a hill and saw a gas station!  We pulled in and realized that this gas station was actually an Indian reservation that consisted of only 1 store (the gas station/grocery store) and about 10 houses. We were in beautiful downtown Beclabito. After calling U-haul roadside assistance again it took the repair guy from Shiprock about 3 hours to get to us.  He checked out the truck and said that one of the radiator hoses had a hole rubbed into it from the frame it was vibrating against (probably due to the bumpy paved road made from broken washboards).  It was going to be a quick 15 minute fix.  Unfortunately, the hose was back in Shiprock....so...he had to return to Shiprock, "borrow" the hose from another U-haul truck, then drive back which turned it into a 3 hour and 15 minute fix. WooHoo. We got as much sleep as we could in our vehicles so we could press forward as soon as the truck was fixed. It was between 11:00 and 12:00 when we were finally able to get back on the road again. What a freakin` adventure this was turning out to be! We drove for about another 3 hours and made it into Moab! YAY! Finally a familiar place! We decided to stop one last time and get some good sleep.

We got into Syracuse UT, Tuesday, September 11th, a day later than we expected! We were all exhausted! The kids did AWESOME! We called family and they all showed up to help us get the trucks unloaded. It felt so nice to finally be home! What a long CRAZY trip!

Thank you again to all of our wonderful friends and family in Houston and in Utah that helped with our huge move!! Thank you! Thank you! We love and appreciate you all!

What the....!?

We had Little Caesars for dinner last night along with their yummy crazy bread. Avery decided she wanted to save her bread for later. This morning she came in our bathroom holding a baggy and says, "my bread is all yellow and it's broken!" What she thought was her crazy bread was actually chunks of pineapple!

July 4th

We had a great 4th of July!


That morning we had a ward breakfast. After we at more than we should have, we came home and had a family nap. What a rare thing that was! Usually when Tom and I take naps Cole and Avery are up watching TV. Tom and Cole shared a couch and Avery was on the couch with me for a little bit and then got down to go do something but ended up coming and laying on the floor next to the couch I was on. Elliott of course was in her crib. It was nice.


After waking we ate lunch and then went to the store to get some goodies and water toys. Once our purchase's were made we headed to Galveston to play at the beach.  


Cole and Avery had a great time playing in the sand and water. This being the first time for Elliott we weren't sure how she would react to it all. She loved playing in the sand but not so much being in the water. She loves the water during bath time at home but it was a whole new story when the water was moving all around her. She enjoyed the sand a little too much. I had to keep washing her mouth out with fresh water from a water bottle! YUCKY baby girl!

Cole sinking his feet into the sand

Besides the humidity, the weather was awesome. Especially when the sun started to set. It was the perfect night for fire works!

The Birth Story

I was going threw my posts and realized I had not yet finished this one. So here it is 7 months later. The Birth Story!

~~~~

The last appointment with my doctor before I went in to deliver, I was told I wouldn't be able to induce unless it was a medical reason because the hospital was completely full. I guess everyone wanted to have their baby's before Thanksgiving. :)

I was hoping to be induced on the 16th of November because my mother-in-law was coming in on the 15th so it would have worked out best for us. I was a little...ok...VERY disappointed when I was told I wouldn't be able to do just that.

I had to get my mind set that I wouldn't be having this baby until my body went into labor naturally. And since I had never gone into labor naturally I didn't have a guesstimate on how long that would even be. Ugh!

Any way...at that appointment they did an ultra sound because in a previous ultrasound it showed that my amniotic fluid was a little high. Sure enough it was still a little high, nothing I was too worried about but my doctor thought if I could get in to see a high risk doc it could be medical enough that he could say get me in and started. My problem with this is that our insurance SUCKS and we would have had to pay the full bill up front! Did I really want to pay that much just to get in a little earlier? Not really.

I didn't understand why my doctors office couldn't just call the high risk doctor and tell him about the results they got from the ultrasound at their office and see what he thought. Monday morning, November 14th, I called to see if they could do just that. I left a message for one of the nurses so when one called back telling me they got me scheduled for that day to be induce I was a bit shocked! I was expecting to talk about whether or not I really needed to go in to see the specialist. This was much better news. Although, my doctor still wanted me to keep my appointment for that day to see the specialist. Umm...no. I called and canceled.

I called Tom and told him we were having a baby that day! He was wondering since his mom wasn't coming in until the next day if I could call and see if they could get me in in two days. I quickly told him that we take any day they can give us! I quickly found a friend to take Cole & Avery for the night. This same friend also told me she could pick up my mother-in-law from the airport if I hadn't had the baby by then. We have such GREAT friends!

5:00 that night I got in to my room and given my IV, which she had to do twice because I was so swollen she couldn't find a good vein. OUCH! I wasn't actually started until about 7:30. Before they started me they checked my progress and told me I was pretty much a -1. Depressing! Since I hadn't started dilating or effacing they had to start me on cervidal, a drug that is placed behind the cervix to help get things going. The nurse placed it and I went for a while without any pain. After a bit it really started hurting. I tried to go as long as I could but it got to that point it hurt just too bad to be tough any more. I called in my nurse and a half hour later she came in. I asked for my epidural and at that time was informed that I could not have an epidural while the cervidal was in. EXCUSE ME! WHY WAS I NOT TOLD THIS FROM THE BEGINNING? I was in a whole lot of pain at this time and apparently the cervidal is supposed to be in for about 12 hours. So...to help, my nurse gave me a WONDERFUL sleeping drug. I was out with in 30 seconds. The only thing I remember hearing before I was gone was that it would let me sleep for about 4 hours. About 2-3 hours later I was waking and in A LOT of pain! I woke Tom, it was pretty late/early by this time, about 1:00, and he called my nurse. She came in and I was in so much pain I could no longer control the tears and I could barely talk. As I silently cried my nurse checked to see my progress. I had only dilated to a 1. That really broke my spirits. I could not believe after all of that I was ONLY a 1!! Tears still rolling down my cheeks my nurse finally decided to take the cervidal out and order the epidural. FINALLY!

Look how HUGE I was!

Once I got the epidural I could breath again. Drugs are AWESOME! After I got my epidural the rest of the time was a blur. From what I can remember my doctor came in at about 7:00 and broke my water. A couple hours later I was started on pitocen. I think it was with in that hour I dilated to a 9. By this time I could feel that my epidural was wearing off, which happened with both of my other two delivery's. I went from a 9 to a 10 with in a matter of minutes. All of a sudden had this HUGE urge to push so I told Tom to grab my nurse. She came in and sure enough...I was ready to have this baby! They called my doctor and told me NOT to push until she got there! WHAT!! How do I NOT push when everything in my body was wanting me to! MISERABLE!! I was practically crawling up the back of my bed trying not to push! Ugh...just thinking about it now makes me hurt!


At about 11:00am and what seemed like forever my doctor arrived! I was FINALLY able to PUSH!!! I was already so exhausted from not pushing that actually pushing was even more so. In the back of my mind during each push, I remembered how long it took me to push Avery out, 1.5 hrs., and didn't think I could go through that again. Luckily in was only about a half hour of pushing. At 11:29, 16 hours later, our baby was born and Tom announced that we had a beautiful baby girl! Little Elliott Elizabeth Booth joined our family!

It all worked out perfectly! Tom was able to spend a half hour with me and Elliott and then was off to the air port to pick up his mom. Once he had his mom they went and got Cole and Avery so they could come meet their new baby sister.

  
When they first got to the hospital Elliott had been taken to the nursery to have a bath and some other things so she wasn't in the room with me yet. They were hungry so Tom, Susan and the kids went down to the hospital cafeteria and while they were gone Elliott was brought back to me. As soon as the kids walked in and saw me holding her they both in a soft voice, "Ahhh....a baby." It was so sweet! They kept calling her my baby, "mom can I hold your baby?" We had to keep letting them know that she was the whole family's baby.


Before they came to the hospital Tom had to stop at the store for a few things and while they were there he let Cole and Avery pick out a little gift for the baby. Cole got her little finger puppets and Avery wrist rattles. Tom said they picked them out all by themselves. They were so happy and excited to give them to her. They absolutely loved her from the first second they saw her. We all did!! We are so blessed to have our baby Ellie!

Our Little Artist

I just had to share these pictures Avery drew! For being only three I think she did a pretty great job! They are Care Bear's in case you couldn't tell. ;)

This one got a little wet,
which is why it is a little wrinkly

Elliott

Random cute picture's of Elliott. 

No particular order.

 Her first time eating cereal. She loved it!

So stinkin` cute!

Bat Baby

YUMMY!!

I found this picture of Avery in the same toy, same outfit with the same face. You can definitely tell they're sisters!  

Look who's sitting!
She started sitting up by herself April 27th

Happiness

My blue eyed loves!

Love my little hazel eyed girl too!

Breakfast at Denny's Memorial Day 2012

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......!!!!

AVERY CUT HER OWN HAIR!!

Saturday, May 26th, I did a hair cut and before putting my scissors away Tom and I both fell asleep on the couch. After we woke we got the kids lunch and as they were eating Tom looked at Avery and asked what was wrong with her hair. As soon as I looked I realized my mistake! Sure enough she had got to my scissors and took a big chunk out of the front of her hair!

We told her we were going to have to shave her head just like we had to with Cole after he cut his hair. She started crying! I went as far as getting out my clippers, plugging them in, turning them on and going over the top of her head to make her believe I was shaving it. Are we mean parents or what!

It took a few attempts to get it to look as cute as it is now! I had to cut short layers in the front along with some bangs. I did that while trying to keep the back long. That just ended up looking like a mullet. The next day right before church I decided to cut the back to match the front. She looked like a child from the 80's. Still not what I was going for, I came home after church and cut it in to this A-line bob. MUCH BETTER!

As much as I miss her BEAUTIFUL long hair she still looks super adorable in her new dew! Plus, now it's not constantly in her face!

Happy Birthday!

June 6th Cole turned 5 years old! My baby is growing up too fast!

The Saturday before his B-Day, June 2nd, we had a birthday BBQ with some of Cole's friends, which of course involved our friends as well.

We had a TON of delicious food! Smoked & grilled baby back ribs, smoked & grilled sausage, smoked & grilled chicken and hot dogs, for the kids. We also had 3 different kinds of salads. We made a pretty good dent in in all of that food. I was surprised because there was so much of it!

Before and after we ate the kids played in the two swimming pools we had set up along with water launchers. The big boys joined in after dinner. They had just as much fun, if not more, as the younger kids. 

Once the kids started getting cold they all changed in to dry clothes and they got to take turns bashing in a Sponge Bob Square Pants pinata thanks to our good friend Adriana! The first round was done with blind folds the 2nd round with out. It took a while to break that sucker open but once it was their was candy for all! 

Next came the cup cake, singing happy birthday and blowing out the candles. And then of course, opening of the presents. Cole is a lucky kid to have such awesome friends. He got a lot of great gifts! Thanks everyone!

 ~~~~~ 

 June 6th, the day of Cole's birthday, was a fun day. I wanted to take some pictures of Cole and he had tons of fun posing for them. He is such a goof ball and loves to have his picture taken! He's always asking me to take a picture of him doing this or a picture of him doing that. He also likes being the one taking the pictures too! I've found some interesting pictures on my camera. 

Through out the day I would ask him what he wanted for his birthday dinner and each time it was the same answer, peanut butter sandwiches! We even gave him the choice between McDonald's and peanut butter sandwiches. He chose the sandwiches so that is what we had for his birthday dinner, peanut butter sandwiches!  

After we ate, we opened presents from family. He again got spoiled! He got money from his grandma Booth and grandma & grandpa Child so he could go and pick out his own gift. From grandma and grandpa Greenhalgh he got a baseball and glove and a pitch n`field baseball set. Thanks again grandma's and grandpa's!

Soon after opening presents we went to the store so he could buy something with the money he got. He came home with lots of good stuff. 

                       

Cole is such a joy in our family. He is a great big brother! He loves both of his sisters and his sisters love him! Elliott just adores him! He can get her to smile or laugh when no one else can. Avery tells him that he is her hero! So sweet! He is always telling me that he loves me and he loves giving me big hugs and kisses! He likes to help around the house...most of the time. :) He absolutely loves his papa! He always wants to be doing what he is doing and any chance he can get he is wrestling with him! He will be starting kindergarten this fall and is so excited! He has such a sweet spirit and we love him dearly!

Happy 5th Sweet, Goofy Boy!!

Love Papa, Mama, Avery & Elliott