Our "Love Story" Chapter 1: The Party

My sweet friend was feeling down after a recent break-up and in an effort to "get back in the game" asked me and a few other girlfriends to go with her to a work friend's party. I remember standing in front of her closet the morning of the party picking something to wear and making the comment "Who knows Jana, maybe you'll meet your future husband tonight." Little did I know...

I wasn't very familiar with the big city (haha) of Salt Lake but we finally found the apartment complex where the party was to be held.
Two guys wandering around the complex immediately caught our eye. They were very cute and one friend thought out loud, "I hope they are going to the same party we are". Me and you both I thought.
We found the apartment and were thrilled when a few minutes later the mysterious guys knocked at the door. My journal reads "they were cute and fun and one of the two wasn't just cute, he was HOT" (gush). So what did I do?... I avoided him.

I should back up. You see, I had a missionary and although I had been dating the whole time "my missionary" was gone he was almost home and I was going to marry him... so there you go.

I was successful at avoiding the "hot guy" for most of the night (except when we played a crazy game of "fag tag" and I was forced to lock arms with him for a few nervous seconds). My friends enjoyed his company while I watched from the other side of the room hoping my friend had found a new love interest.

Then at 11:30pm the "hot guy" (it turns out his name was Trevor) turned to my girlfriends and said good-bye then stood up and walked across the circle (we were playing some kind of party game) to where I was sitting. He crouched down and asked, "Will you go out with me next Saturday?" "Huh?... me?...um, okay." I wrote my number on his hand and then he was gone and I was left dumbfounded... I didn't even know his last name.

2 months today

Davis is the sweetest, most good-natured baby.

He loves to be held and loved but he is also happy sitting and watching his brother and sisters.

Hallie and Megan love to hold and rock Davis in the rocking chair. They adore him.

He isn't the greatest sleeper but that is the only complaint I have about this little angel (he can't be totally perfect right?). We spend a lot of time snuggling at night, just little Davis and me.

He is 2 months old today but it feels like he has been in our family forever and I guess in a way he has.

We love our little Davis Mack.

Now for some more pictures...

Okay, I know I'm his mom but seriously... don't you just want to eat him up?!?

To the Rescue

She flew in.

She saved the day.

She flew out.

Such is the life of a Supermom.

Thanks mom.

a little bit of snow?

It all started so innocently... a nice snow storm and about 4-6inches of fresh powder.

School was cancelled and the kids rushed outside (dressed in endless layers of snow gear) to sled with all the neighbor kids.

There was giggling, sledding, snowball fights, and lots of fun.

Then came the rain... and then came the ice.

It was BEAUTIFUL.

But, it was also treacherous and within a few hours over 600,000 homes and businesses were without power including our home. It was 12 degrees the first night but luckily we have a gas fireplace and some candles and flashlights and we were able to stay warm enough. Some friends loaned us a generator and we were able to plug in our fridge and the fan on the fireplace.

We played games by candlelight and made shadow puppets and told stories in the dark.

It was an adventure.

They said it would take the power company 7-10 days to get the power back on but we were some of the lucky ones and ours finally turned on a few hours ago after 3 long days and 2 cold nights.

We screamed and cheered and I must admit my eyes got a little damp. My kids are warm in bed and I have never been more thankful for: my toaster, and my garbage disposal, and my closet light, and my oven, and my blow dryer, and my washing machine, and my dryer, and my automatic garage door, and my dishwasher, and my computer, and my TV, and ELECTRICITY... it is a wonderful invention.

(I love this man)

On the mend

We are into our 3rd week of RSV now and I think we are finally on the mend... Hallelujah!

Davis took it the hardest since he is so little but his doctors worked hard to try to keep from admitting him to the hospital which would likely lead to more illnesses.

I had a meltdown... so my mom came to the rescue (bless her, bless her, bless her). She has been an angel, helping with laundry, and kids, and dishes, and even insisting I sleep in while she gets the kids up (bless her, bless her, bless her).

Davis is finally sleeping a little better at night and we are almost done with breathing treatments.

Yep, things are looking up at our house, and we are thrilled about that!

Oh, what do you do in the winter time...

I paint my son's toenails.

not on my own

Wow, what a crazy week we have had!
It started when Campbell fell off the kitchen chair and bit all the way through his lip... luckily Trevor was home and came to the rescue.
Things went downhill from there. First Campbell got really sick, then Trevor, and now Davis. The pediatrician wants me to bring Davis in everyday until he starts feeling better which is a pain but better than being admitted to the hospital so I'm thankful for that.

I've been feeling a little (that's an understatement!) overwhelmed as a mother of four little ones especially since the two littlest have been so sick and Trevor is back to working a lot. I feel like I can't keep up with my families daily needs let alone do those other things I should do (like wash the sheets, or do my visiting teaching, or help my friends, or reading to my kids... you get the idea).

I've been praying and asking for His help and I have felt those prayers being answered in lots of little ways. My kids are still sick and Trevor is still gone but I have moments like yesterday when I had only had about 3 hrs of sleep and I felt like the Lord blessed me with the energy I needed so that I was able to still care for my family and even be NICE to them (which never happens when I'm really sleep deprived).
I feel sustained and I'm realizing more and more that I can't raise 4 little ones on my own. I can't be a great mom, wife, friend, etc. without help from the Lord and He doesn't expect me to do anything perfectly.
I feel humbled. I feel grateful.

Hello, mother of four here.

Okay, everybody who told me that "After 3 kids it's all the same" ...lied.

I think we've reached our limit.

After all, "4 is the new 6" right?

p.s. I'll probably feel differently about this tomorrow.

He sMiLeS!

We got this cute outfit for Davis in the mail (no card, was it from you?) and I thought I'd take some pics of Davis in it. I started shooting and Davis started smiling! He hasn't smiled much up to now and I would never had expected him to smile when I was actually taking a picture (because they never do!) but he did!
I guess he likes to be in front of the camera. He'll probably be a famous actor/ male model someday lol... especially with a smile like this:

Campbell has realized that mom is extra busy with "brudder" so he loves to copy Davis. For instance, if I change Davis's diaper then Campbell lays next to him and says "diper" expecting me to change his, or if Davis gets a bath then Campbell wants a bath...etc

This particular morning I was taking pictures of Davis and when I was done I moved Davis over and Campbell plopped down into his spot and pointed to the camera. He wanted his own photo shoot and I was thrilled because he never sits still for a picture (I only wish that I had washed his face and combed his hair that day ;0) He smiled big and I got these pictures:

What a ham!

My little man isn't so little anymore... sniff sniff

Love that new Car-pet smell

Been saving money for awhile now...

It's amazing what something like new carpet can do to lift your spirits on a dark and cold January day... Ahhhh (you can't see me but I am smiling).

Davis

thanks to you

You fed my family.

You called.

You visited.

You brought gifts.

You deserve "thank you" cards and yet...

here they sit in a big pile with your names on them.

I will get them to you I promise but until then this is for you

ThAnK YoU!

I finally said YES

Trevor is spontaneous... I am not.

I used to be, before the kids and the house and the dogs and callings and everything else a responsible adult has to think about.

Trevor is often coming up with "fun" ideas like: "Let's go camping tonight!" or "Let's drive down to Florida this weekend!" or "Let's buy a new car!" My responses generally sound something like this: " No" or " I don't think so" or "No thank you" or " We don't have the money for that" or sometimes I just laugh.

Like I said, I'm the non-spontaneous responsible adult around here.

Well, a few weeks ago Trevor was trying to convince me to go to Florida for the holidays and I was giving him the laundry list of reasons that wouldn't be possible and so he hit me with, "Let's go to Utah then". The craziest thing happened, I paused for a second and then said, "Okay." You should have seen the look on Trevor's face. He was dumbfounded.

Next thing I knew (literally minutes later... I think he was afraid I would change my mind so he was quick) Trevor was cleaning out the truck and loading up our Christmas gifts (including all the gifts that our family paid $ and stood in long lines to send to us from Utah, sorry family) then we were on the road.

The drive there was LONG but the adrenaline was high and we were so excited to surprise everyone.

We arrived at my parents house 30hrs later and just 2 days before Christmas. They were shocked!

We had a great time surprising all our family over the next few days. It was a Christmas I will never forget.

Seeing my sister's new baby Avery was a big draw to Utah. She is a doll and Melissa is a great mom.

Yummy lunch at Melissa and Jeff's new LEGERS deli (on Redwood). Love this pic of Trev enjoying his favorite sandwich "the kitchen sink".


Christmas morning.

Exhausted from all the festivities.

Grandma Law teaching Hallie how to use her new sewing machine.

Eight days later it was time to load up the car again and head back to Kentucky. The drive was never-ending and at one point Trevor turned to me and said, "Next time I come up with an idea like this will you please say NO".

Despite the long drive that we hope we will never have to make again (Trevor is considering living here forever in order to avoid it) it was such a wonderful Christmas and although I will probably say "No way!" to Trevor's next crazy idea, I'm so glad I said "okay" to this crazy idea.

Good intentions

I wanted to get Christmas cards out this year but I'm thinking that it's not happening.

I couldn't make up my mind if I should do a baby announcement and/or a Christmas card so I decided just to combine the two.

This is the card you would have gotten if I wasn't so lazy.

Merry little Christmas!

We Love you!

This is the baby announcement I made before I decided to combine the two.

Photoshop elements is so fun. If you don't have it I would definitely add it to your Christmas list, you'll love it.

Davis in the buff

Tried to take some naked pictures of Davis... apparently he doesn't like to be naked.

So I put a hat on him.

I'm not giving up yet. I'll try again tomorrow... poor kid.

Ahhh, much better mommy.


My baby boys.
I used to think Campbell was so little. He seems huge now.
P.S. Davis is finally off the lights for his jaundice, oh happy day! That light was making me crazy!

More pictures of Davis

December 1st 2008- ready to have a baby.

Look at our cute little man.

Davis after his first bath.

Hallie and Megan were in heaven with the new baby. Megan couldn't kiss him enough and Hallie was very concerned that we hadn't picked a name yet. She spent quite awhile suggesting names and having us vote by raise of hands. She was relieved when we finally agreed on Davis.

We have no pictures of Campbell but he kissed the baby on the head and then he was on to bigger and more dangerous things (like all the fun electrical outlets in the hospital room).

Davis with his sweet aunt Julie. Today Davis is a little glow worm with his bilirubin blanket on since he was a little jaundiced.