15 weeks

We were trying to keep things a bit of a secret,but sometimes that's a little hard to do! We ended up telling our families this past weekend that we or should I say "I", are EXPECTING ANOTHER BABY!!! Everyone was really happy.I'm glad the cats out of the bag and everyone knows. Like I said before, its kind of hard to keep this one a secret. The main reason why we decided to spill the beans,is I need all the prayers our family's has to offer.

The past 8 weeks have not been an easy one. I have just been miserable! Not as sick as I was with Lilly and Ella.So I'm thinking this one is a boy!! But as soon as 6 weeks hit, I was feeling crappy.I do get that annoying nauseous feeling ALL DAY long and I can handle that. Its the migraines I get that I cant cope with. I have to lie down in a dark room w/o noise. That's a hard thing to do with 3 small children running around, basically killing each other.Tyler has been great at really helping out and picking up the slack that I cant do right now. I'm so grateful for him! Although, he is the one that got me in this situation to Begin with!!! Dang him!!! I think I am finally starting to feel better. That nauseousness feeling is just about gone in the mornings and I have an appetite again. Not to mention I'm STARVING all the time.But were doing much better now,thank goodness.

I know I have told many if not EVERYONE we are done having children. I deeply wanted Ella to be our last baby. I remember the day I had her thinking (right after I just given birth) that there is one more. I ignored that annoying voice we call the spirit and never told anyone that wicked little thought of having baby #4! However, that "thought' really never left and I still tried to ignore it. Until finally I gave in to see if this is what my heavenly father really wanted form me. Sure enough,just a few weeks later I was feeling like crap and getting fat that I knew baby #4 was on its way! I feel this will complete our family that there was always a 4th baby wanting to come to our family. It was a feeling that I just couldn't ignore.....I tried!!!!

So #4 will be arrive sometime the beginning of May. That seems so far away!! I'm excited to meet this little person who has taken over my body and my thoughts and prayers already! So ready or not were having a nother baby!!!!

Halloween

We had such a great time this year for Halloween. I think it helps having Halloween on a weekend. Our good friends and neighbors had a Halloween party on Friday(pictures to come later) But it was such a great time filled with great food, fun friends, entertaining games, and unforgettable costumes!! There was a lot of laughing going on!!

Saturday grandma and grandpa Atkin were here from Az! We love it when they come to town, its such a treat! So we had a full house when the Jess and Jason and their 5 kids decided to come for the weekend. And of coarse Adie wanted in on the fun as well with their 3 kids and Emily and Tom with heir new baby, Aubrey Rose! We had taco soup for dinner and cornbread, and lets not forget the dessert....CANDY, CANDY, CANDY! Halloween is such an odd holiday if you think about it! Walker is really into football this year,so he was a BYU football player, Lilly was a mermaid and Ella was a sweet little fairy! All the cousins went trick or treating together and ran from house to house! They loved it.It turned out to be really nice outside, which wasn't expected so that's always a bonus! Too say the least we had a full house and it was great. Its rare that we have a lot of family around on these occasions, so we'll take as many as we can get!! It was a great weekend!

Fall fun

Nothing beats Utah in the fall! There is always so much fun activities going on and the weather is just so fallish. I love it! We took the kids on a Saturday and spent the entire day enjoying Thanksgiving Point and their fall activities. They have corn mazes, trampolines, train rides, haunted houses( Lilly thought it was way to scary!) pig races,you name it,they had it! It was a ton of fun for the whole family. This is definitely something we'll make a tradition every year!

they're just things....

It seems these days everything I have ends up broken, ripped,colored on,or lost.Let me explain what happened yesterday. I was in the other room and Lilly was peacefully coloring. She later came in to my room and said, "mom come look at the couch." I instantly knew I didn't want to go look at the couch to see what kind of fun surprise was waiting for me! I asked her,"why?" She just said ,"come and see what Ella did." So I went down the hall and towards the couch and there waiting for me was what an 18 month old would call a masterpiece, on my couch cushions.

Now I will admit, that I got upset when walker took scissors to the interior of my brand new car......
And I got upset when they colored a mural on my freshly painted room downstairs......
I did get upset when I found Sharpie on my leather couches down stairs.....
And I got really upset when Walker drew squiggles all over his new,white bunk beds......
And lets not forget the time Lilly gave her cousin a full out hair cut....yes, I got mad!

So to say the least, I really didn't get upset. Maybe I'm used to my demolition team doing these things. Maybe I have just stopped caring that EVERYTHING I have turns out to be well.....CRAP!! What upset me the most is I think Lilly encouraged her baby sister and watched, as she drew red chicken scratches on the cushion. And when she was out of room, that's when Lilly decided it was time to go tell mom!!! I just tell myself these "things" are just things and it doenst really matter. But it does matter. I'm the one who bought it, so it should be me who ruins it, right? I'm just trying to teach my children how to respect the things they have and to take care of them. I'm failing! To say the least I did a pretty good job at getting the stain out. Some may not even notice. So if anyone needs some help getting stains out, you know who to call!!!

Preschool...finally!!!

Walker has been in school for about 3 weeks now and is loving it! Lilly has been waiting ever so patiently for her day to come. If you know Lilly, Patience is not something that comes easy with her! Finally her big day came and she still had to wait some more. School doesn't start til noon!!! When it finally was time, Lilly was so ready! She is going to Mrs.Nada this year. 4 days a week for 3 hours! She has loved it and is making some friends. My afternoons are noticeably quiet without my little buddy and chatter box tagging a long! We love you Lilly bug! She gives such a fun energy in our home. There's a void when shes not home, but that usually changes about 3:00 when she gets home and tells me all about her day!

40 years

Over Labor Day weekend Grandma and Grandpa Atkin (Tyler's parents) celebrated their 40TH wedding anniversary. 40 years!! That's over a life time! For a surprise Jessica(Tyler's oldest sister ) had all the Atkin children (there's 8 of them) go on mix book and create a page of their individual families. The book consisted of pages of all 8 kids with their families, grand children. and pictures of Tom and Marsha throughout their earlier years. It turned out perfect! We all knew Marsha would cry, and she did. They both just loved the gift. The grandchildren put on a little skit of "What 4o Looks Like." 40 hair curlers, bobby pins, 40 apples....you get the picture. It was just so cute.We had a great time playing at the park, eating and just being together.

What an example they are to us! They just celebrated their 40 years together and are not only still in love but LIKE each other as well! The are an example to me what righteous living should look like, They have 8 kids, all about to be married and sealed in the temple....WOW! They have taught their kids the gospel in every sense of the word. They love and know the Savior and have him part of their daily lives. They are kind and generous and just Christlike in all they do. I'm grateful for their example,Happy 40 years!!

Kindergartin vs 1st grade

I like to have some sort of "game plan." Its when I do have this "Game plan" that it usually doesn't go as planned. I have had a "game plan" for about 4 years now, to hold Walker back 1 year from school.This was my plan, I was sticking to it....... until school started getting closer. I began questioning EVERYTHING I thought was right for him. Everything including the Charter school we went to for kindergarten, to possibly putting him 1st grade, and re-thinking all day kindergarten.....my list goes on of my own self doubt. I was really struggling with what was going to be the best decision for Walker (he's my fist, can ya tell??) I decided to take him out of the charter school he previously attended and enrolled him back to our neighborhood school and into kindergarten. Still, I had my concerns and doubts. I don't why! I ran through each scenario and idea through my head. I wanted to go with my original plan, and hold him back.
We left for a family trip to California the week before school started.I made my decision. Walker was going to go to kindergarten....again. I just felt so uneasy about it. I was praying and pleading for some kind of guidance/council on what to do. Don't get me wrong, EVERYBODY had their opinion on what I should or shouldn't do. And I gladly listened to all of them. I need my Heavenly Father to tell me what exactly to do.I know he answers prayers in his own given time, but I needed an answerer in the next 24 hours. After weeks of serious fasting and praying, I still didn't know what to do. I felt abandoned and alone by my Heavenly Father.I was frustrated with him and myself. I felt like I was doing my part;praying with an open heart, fasting, scriptures,etc. At midnight, on the 1st day of school some information was brought to out attention, and with that we felt like we needed to put him into first grade! Tyler and I prayed together and felt so comforted and good about this particular decision......FINALLY!!! At this Point Walker had already missed the first day of school and had no idea he was going to go to 1st grade.
I woke him up the next morning (the 2nd day of school) and told him to get ready for school! He was so excited! We walked 2 blocks to the school a little early to talk with the principal and get things all arranged.I haven't mentioned that while we were in San Diego, I have been talking with the principal SEVERAL times and had requested a certain KINDERGARTEN teacher and he pulled some strings to get me that particular teacher. I FELT LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!!!! When we met the principal he was so nice and understanding about our decision. We talked a few minutes and then he walked us down to meet Walker's new 1st grade teacher! Walker has his best buddy, Colbe in his class and could not be any more excited!
I gave him a quick hug,briefly watched him walk into class and then the door closed. I didn't have the time to mentally prepare myself and the tears started coming down my face. My Walker was going to be gone ALL DAY,AT SCHOOL! I don't know why I was such a mess, but I was. I thought of him all day and hoped he had a good time. I new our choice was the right one and felt peaceful throughout the day.This day had come so quickly! I stayed busy all day and soon enough, Walker was telling me all about his 1st day of 1st grade.He had a great day.....except he got pulled off the slide by a girl and his arm was hurting really bad! But then he went and played! Cant hurt that bad, if you can go play the rest of the day,right?!?
When Walker came home from playing he was crying that his arm hurt and he wasn't using it. It was swollen and looked a little weird. I took him to the Doctor at the insta care the next morning and he had broken his wrist and needed a cast! Poor kid! On his 1st of school he broke his arm. Walker was not happy about the cast or with the girl that did it!

He got a blue cast on Wednesday and all his classmates have signed it. Needless to say he has had an eventful 1st week!