Ballet or Baseball?!?!?!

It was the day of THE ultrasound. However, neither Eric nor I had a huge preference in gender. After so many kids, the gender kind of become second place and the fact that your baby is healthy and growing as expected is really what matters. That being said, I did think another little girl would be fun, but I was really okay either way.

This was the first time this go around that we had a huge wait at the dr.'s office. My dr. has actually hired an ultrasound tech to work in his office space. I like it. It means we only have to do the one stop. Get the ultrasound and then visit with the dr. It's a time saver really.

So we had our ultrasound and before too long we had our answer. We've had so many ultrasounds throughout the years that there are certain things you become accustomed to looking for and seeing.

The tech then went about getting measurements and viewing different parts of the anatomy to make sure everything looked like it should. Thankfully, everything did and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I stopped by the store to prepare the way to tell the kids and then I went about sharing it with them and videoing it at the same time. Take a look:

When the ultrasound showed us our baby doing this, I about died. It doesn't look even slightly comfortable, but I'm not a tiny little person.

And just in case you missed what Ailey pulled out, here's a look:

That's right, it's another little boy and I wasn't the least bit surprised. Thankfully this go around this little dude most likely already has a name. I'm just not 100% on it yet.

And the proof is in the pudding for those of you still questioning.

What Happens Next...

Fall Pictures

Like every parent knows with Fall comes school pictures. The high school and jr. high are always ahead of the elementary school and so I paid for pictures for Tanis and Shaylyn long before I calculated the cost of buying them for all 6 of the kids. So Tanis and Shaylyn had their pictures taken and I didn't think much of it.

Then came time for the elementary school kids and when I actually sat down to do the numbers, I was a little bit floored and said, "Wait a minute..." It occurred to me that I could take the younger 4 to a professional studio for almost $40 less and get many more poses and options than the school offers. I wish I had thought of it before I had paid for the older kids to have their pictures taken.

So I made an appointment with Camera Shy and we went from there. I scheduled the pictures for a time when Eric would be around to help me manage the kids we needed to take and I scheduled it late enough that Jace would've had time to have a nap and wake up. Both things proved to be a very good thing.

Because I was just having the younger 4 get their pictures taken, I let Shaylyn stay at a friends house. Tanis was at a friends house on the way to the studio, so he didn't really have a choice whether he was coming or not.

We got to the studio and they were waiting for us. The girl that did our pictures was awesome and quick and so super patient with the little kids. Ailey went a little crazy and started posing of her own accord (after telling us in the car she didn't want her picture taken) and the photographer was right behind her getting some awesome shots.

We had like an hour session and because I was running out of ideas, we just did some random groupings. But there were still a lot of cute ones we got because of them. And because there's so many pictures, I decided I'd put together a little vid for you all to see. I know you're excited. Keep in mind I wasn't planning on being in any pictures, nor was Eric - so we aren't really prepared, but it's real life people!

After we had the pictures taken, she told us to come back in an hour to view them. We probably should've just scheduled it for another day, but I like my pictures and get anxious to see them. Besides we had to run an errand around that area.

We headed to Petsmart to get something we needed for the dogs and then we decided we needed to feed the kids. We looked at some options, but decided Costco pizza sounded good and it would feed us all quite well.

We were slightly late getting back to the studio, but not much. I just went in to view the pics while Eric and the kids watched a movie in the car. I really wasn't in there long and she had done some good edits to the pictures. I had her print one of each kid off and then we were good to go.

We'll probably definitely go back in the future.

What Happens Next...

Homecoming 2015

Shortly after school started we told Tanis that if he wanted to go to a dance this year, he probably could. He'd just need to talk with us first and we'd go from there. Because his birthday is in the summer, he'd be missing out on every dance this year and Eric and I both felt that if Tanis really wanted to go to something he should be able to. Of course, we wanted him to be with a big group, etc. So that was that.

Shortly after that we heard that one of Tanis' friends wanted to go to Homecoming with him. She has been his friend for many years and was really looking forward to Homecoming, but wanted to go with Tanis.

She was talking to Tanis one day about it and Tanis told her they could go together. And then I heard about it. We couldn't tell the girl that he wasn't going after he had already told her they could, so we tried to have look for a group to go with. I don't know if he didn't really ask or around or what - but he never found a group.

Eric and I decided we'd just do the driving and go to dinner as well, but we'd let the kids have their own table. We'd then drive them to the dance and wait for them to decide they were done.
So the day arrived and thankfully I had thought about flowers a couple days before and begged my good friend to make the corsage and boutenniere. I felt bad as she was 10 days away from delivering a baby, but she said she didn't mind doing it.

We got ready to go and Tanis got all dressed up and we were out the door.

I could tell that he was a little bit nervous, but he did his best to contain it. We tried to tell him that he's been friends with this girl for so long and they hang out all the time, so it really didn't need to be awkward.
We went and picked the girl up and then we headed to dinner. They chose to go to Chuck A Rama for some reason, so that's where we headed. 

We asked for seperate tables and it kind of confused the hostesses, but they eventually got the idea.

They sat Eric and I in a place where I was able to kind of watch Tanis and Shaila. I wasn't watching them to be nosy, I was more curious if they'd talk to each other or kind of ignore each other the whole meal. When I saw that they were having a conversation, I relaxed and paid attention to my date.

The kids let us know when they were done eating and I just had to finish up my dessert. 

We then took the kids to the school and decided to wait in the parking lot. Eric was convinced the kids wouldn't stay at the dance very long and I told him to not be so sure of that. I wasn't sure what we were going to do for 2 hours sitting in a parking lot, but Eric had planned ahead and got the necessary equipment together so that we could watch some of our 'shows'. I was thankful to him for that and it was nice to watch shows without kids running around crazy and loud.

Tanis and Shaila spent the whole time at the dance (we should've wagered on it) and they said they had fun. They met up with some friends at the dance and had a good night. We took Shaila home and Tanis didn't walk her up to the door. We kinda failed at teaching him that. But we made sure to let him know that the next time he goes to a dance, the proper thing to do is walk her to the door.

It was kind of a hard day for me realizing my oldest is old enough to do things like this and that he really didn't have a whole lot of fear in doing so. He is a good kid and I was super proud of him and the way he handled the whole situation.

What Happens Next...

August's Antics

It's time once again for a look at all the crazy things that happen on a day to day basis in this crazy world of mine.

{...I'M NOT TIRED!...}

I could tell from looking a Jace that he was starting to fall asleep and he was ready for his nap, but when I asked him if he was ready for his nap, he told me no. Two seconds later he was out like a light.

{...I LIKE TO SNUGGLE TOO...}

One night we were getting ready to go to bed and looked over to find Domino snuggled up to a stuffed toy. (It's kinda hard to see with all his fur) He wasn't attacking it, just snuggled up with it like a human would be.

{...BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING...}

Eric's mom helped with back to school shopping. We had discussed taking different groups of kids at different times, but in the end decided it was a better use of time to go all together. I don't know if it was a good choice or a bad choice, but we had a full day.

The kids had fun being with grandma and choosing their clothes and they even got lunch at Chick Fil A. While in Target we found the perfect spot for a photo.

{...GET TO KNOW YOU JENGA...}

I got called to Activity Days and was way beyond nervous to be in charge of my first activity. After thinking on it for awhile, I decided to go with a Get To Know You game as the girls had 2 new leaders and we didn't know much about any of the girls. I found the idea online and the look for the Jenga pieces online as well, I just tried to make it my own.

Thankfully the activity turned out pretty good and I think the girls had fun.

{...LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE...}

I went to swap laundry one night and found the following sight:

Apparently the soft plastic battery operated tea-lights can survive a washing. Who knew?

{...HE MAY BE PART HUMAN...}

Domino definitely likes the softer things in the world. One of the kids decided he needed to be tucked in just like a kid. He didn't seem to offer any complaint.

{...IT'S JUST A LITTLE POKE..}

I got a little lax with Ailey's immunizations we realized when we registered for Kindergarten and then I slacked off and didn't get her into the dr's office as soon as I wanted. When I did call, however, I had to wait a week. This meant she was getting her last shots the day before school started. She was nervous about them and didn't want to go, but she was brave and went anyway. They had to take blood from her finger, which I didn't know about - but she did awesome and then she was ready for her shots.

She didn't do quite as well for her shots and was a sad little girl. But she brushed it off pretty quickly and I took her to Arctic Circle for lunch and let her play on the playground and then she got some toys from the store and she was a happy camper.

{...JUST LIKE DADDY...}

Jace is a very observant kid and knows exactly what Daddy does when he's on the computer. One day he wasted no time in imitating his Daddy.

I cleaned the desk a day or two after this...

{...TWO HEADS IS BETTER THAN ONE...}

With four boys there is no shortage of things that resemble fighting and wrestling. Even the two year old gets involved.

What Happens Next...