Britt's Broadcast

rough life

2011-12-06T21:26:00.003-07:00

Tim sent me a picture from the view in his hotel room at the Aria in Las Vegas while on business there...he entitled it "Rough Life."

I sent him a picture of my view at home...

So. Not. Fair.

But extremely grateful for his job so that I can be a stay at home Mom while he enjoys an incredible meal, quiet hotel room, 60 degrees and days on the golf course. I'll enjoy serving my kids mac & cheese and eating a bowl of cereal for dinner. Then having to finish folding the laundry so that I have somewhere to sleep. Doesn't seem right, but I really wouldn't trade him for anything. I'll take my job over his any day! {okay, maybe not any day, but most days.}

here comes santa claus...

2011-12-04T23:17:00.003-07:00

Every year at the Jones Family Christmas Party Santa pays the children a visit. This year was no exception. My boys love getting to visit with Santa (or maybe they just love the gift he gives them). I love that I don't have to go to the mall to do this. Win. Win. We love our Jones Family and especially loved getting to see them this year...and Santa too!

cousin love

2011-12-02T17:33:00.001-07:00

My boys have had so much fun with their cousins lately. We spent Thanksgiving weekend with Sophia and all the Jones Cousins. We facetime with Harper a few times a week. She loves to see what Payton and Parker and Cooper and baby e-Crew are doing. They love watching her run around and be silly. We also got to babysit Sophia and the boys got to spend a Saturday at Clint and Becca's. This past weekend the Wright clan got to play at our house all day and Ashton got to sleepover and spend the entire day with us. My boys love all their cousins so much. I feel so grateful that they are all so close to each other and hope that will continue as they get older.

payton

2011-11-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Payton, Payton, Payton...this kid is turning into a little wild one. He's always been our sweetheart. He is super responsible, smart, kind and loves to be silly. Lately, his silliness is peeking to an all time obnoxiousness. Maybe because he's getting older?! I don't know, but we love him anyway.

This year in school they are working on many exciting things. Mostly exciting for me because I remember doing them myself in fourth grade. Payton just finished his county float project. He was so excited because his teacher chose him to pick first, which county he would like to report on. He quickly snagged, "Salt Lake County" because he knew it would be the "easiest." That's our Payton! He is smart, but sometimes too smart for his britches. He loves to take the easiest, shortest route to do anything. This guy is learning young how to cut corners and make it through life with the least amount of work. They also did a spelling bee this year. He told his teacher he didn't want to participate because he was afraid he would win and make it to the school bee. I made him participate and luckily for him {pretty sure he did it on purpose} he came in safely at 4th place. Only the top 2 got to move onto the school bee.

A couple weeks ago, Payton came to Tim and told him he wanted a Mohawk. Tim jumped all over it and immediately grabbed the clippers. Payton is fairly reserved with his clothing and hygiene. Just like he doesn't want to stand out in school, he definitely doesn't want to stand out anywhere else either. He prides himself on blending in. I was running to drop something off at a friend's house and Tim joked that it would be done before I got back. I wasn't worried at all because I knew my sweet little Payton would never go through with it. Much to my surprise, he did! Not only did he go through with it, but he loved it. He was so excited to show off his new do at school the next day. He has loved the attention. It actually does little pretty cute on him. Even his Grandma Carver says she loves it!

This child of mine is changing and growing up faster than I am prepared to handle. I pray everyday that I will help nurture him into the person he is supposed to become. I pray everyday that I will know how to help him grow into a sweet young man. Right now, I just pray that I can endure this obnoxious, transitional, pre-teen phase he is going through!

gobble gobble

2011-11-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

We had the most fabulous Thanksgiving day. It was perfect. I loved hosting and cooking my very first Thanksgiving turkey. It did not feel like a lot of work at all, of course, I love entertaining, cooking and baking. This is my new favorite holiday! We loved having some of my family join us. Becca, Clint, Sophia, Krista and Willis were our guests. My parents went to Denver to be with my sister, Erika, and her family. Tim's parents were in Cancun, Mexico enjoying the beach. We were on our own this year. It was easy going, simple and yummy. We spent the day watching football and preparing the food. Becca made a lot of the food and Krista pitched in a dessert. We ate lunch around 2:30 pm and then spent the rest of the day watching more football and movies.

We have so much to be thankful for. Our family wrote all the things we were thankful for on circles we punched out. I then had my friend, Jaimy, sew them together for me. We strung them from the ceiling as a little Thanksgiving decoration. {pictured in the top picture above}. I loved spending the month reflecting on our many blessings...Happy Thanksgiving!

three months

2011-11-12T16:43:00.015-07:00

Pretty sure this little chunky monkey gained 5 pounds in ONE month. That's crazy isn't it? We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month (thank goodness), but doing our own weigh in at home he was weighing in around 14 pounds. Oh my goodness! It's so obvious to us that our little man is chunking up just like his older brothers. I have seriously chubby babies. I love the thunder thighs and pinchable cheeks. Yummy! Crew has been an angel this past month. Some of the most notable things is his jabbering. He loves to talk. He has so much on his mind. We have so much fun ah-gooing with him and making him smile. He has become the most fun, easy going, laid back baby. He's a great sleeper and now sleeps through the night. We moved him from his bassinet to his crib. It was a sad night for me, but I knew it was necessary. He was starting to wiggle a little too much and I would constantly find him trying to eat the side of the bassinet when he woke up in the morning. He has slept much better in his crib and I'm doing okay with it now. I have the best little helpers in the whole wide world. My boys are the best big brothers and Crew is an amazing little guy that fits right in!

11/11/11

2011-11-11T17:26:00.001-07:00

My Mom is obsessed. Anytime there is a date with a cool "number" we will inevitably get a call from her, "TAKE A PICTURE AND SEND IT TO ME!" Who cares? My Mom! We do it because she loves it and we love her. This ones for you, Mom. Happy 11/11/11.

more than just baby talk...

2011-11-04T16:40:00.031-06:00

It seems like all I'm blogging about is Crew. Let's be honest, he does dominate most of what's going on these days. Plus, he's pretty dang fun to blog about. Just to show that we've been doing something other than drooling over our baby, here's some proof...

I went to check on Cooper one night and found him sleeping with this Utah helmet that normally adorns his dresser...

I've loved being able to volunteer in Payton's and Parker's class again. There is nothing better than seeing their faces light up when I walk into the classroom...

We've spent a lot of time going to the library. Payton made his Grandma proud by checking out these books. {Don't tell her that he never even opened them}...

Love that this guy still enjoys playing with toys {unlike his older brother}. I love that our playroom is still the most used room in the house!

We are still having so much fun with our new basement. We love having our family over, often, to enjoy it!

brothers

2011-11-02T16:56:00.006-06:00

Every time I tell someone that I have 4 boys, I end up having to reassure them that we are so happy and content with our brood of brothers. These pictures show why. Love. Love. Love. These precious boys!

halloween 2011

2011-10-31T15:26:00.002-06:00

soccer season

2011-10-22T15:21:00.005-06:00

We had a great fall soccer season. I neglected to take many pictures because I was just happy to be at the games with a newborn. Payton and Parker both did great and had fun. We hosted a party for Payton's team at the end of the season and the boys had so much fun. Also, Leo the Lion {Real Salt Lake's mascot} came to Payton's last game to surprise one of the players on his team.

Can't wait for the spring season!

two months

2011-10-12T14:51:00.057-06:00

This past month with Crew brought about many "ups" and "downs." One of the "ups" is that Crew's brothers still can't get enough of him. He always has someone to snuggle with, talk to or attend to his every possible need.

Another one of the "ups" this month, was getting to be with this guy all day long. I never want to put him down. I absolutely can't get enough of him.

One of the "downs" was that just when I thought I was getting life figured out, I got very sick. I had a bad case of Mastitis, which induced a seriously high fever and had me down in bed for a couple days. It. was. awful. This spiraled into a million drugs for Crew and I. It also brought about some other issues that we've had to spend so much time dealing with. At Crew's 2-month appointment he only weighed 9 lbs 6 oz. He was gaining weight, but very slowly. He had still been so sleepy and I was constantly having to wake him up to feed him. My doctor felt that I needed to introduce some formula to give him more calories. This was hard for me, but necessary.

Another one of the "ups" was hanging out with Mack. Aren't these two the cutest?

After introducing some calories, this little guy decided to start gaining some weight. As you can see, he started getting a little more chunky. Another "up" for the month! Or maybe that's a "down"...I kind of don't want him to grow at all.

Another "up" and "down" is that Crew loves to be held all day long (probably my fault) so if I ever want to get anything done while he's awake, it has to be done with the Baby Bjorn. Love this thing. {no babies were hurt or ever burned while attempting to do my hair or make dinner over a hot stove.}

Another "down" of this month was that Payton and Parker were back in school so Cooper got neglected quite a bit. After feeding Crew one afternoon, this is how I found Cooper...

The most exciting "up" of the month was that Crew started smiling. The day after his baby blessing he started grinning from ear to ear and hasn't stopped. His little smile and fuzzy head of hair just melts our hearts!

crew's blessing

2011-10-09T14:00:00.027-06:00

Crew's blessing day was beautiful. Tim did a fabulous job. I am so grateful to have a husband who is worthy to hold the priesthood and can perform this sacred blessing. I was also grateful to be feeling the spirit so strong this day, which is not always easy to feel when you are going to be hosting dozens of people at your home. I had so much gratitude bursting out of my chest. I had to share my testimony. I was grateful to have Tim and I's parents and grandparents there to take part in the blessing and hear my testimony. They have been such wonderful examples to our family and have molded my testimony into what it is today. I was also touched by the love and support we received from many family and friends who took time to come to Crew's blessing. We are blessed...and now Crew is too!

off track fun

2011-09-24T16:27:00.000-06:00

The week Cooper started preschool, Payton and Parker went off track! As always, I love having my boys home with me. They are such a great help. They kept Cooper busy while I was constantly feeding the baby. They kept our house cleaned up by diligently doing their chores everyday. They also kept me on my toes and wondering how in the world I could ever handle 4 children. Due to our newborn, we obviously didn't do too many adventurous things this time off, but we managed some trips to the library, swimming and lots of visits to grandparents. We also enjoyed lots of Utah football and plenty of soccer!

crew's birth announcement

2011-09-23T16:46:00.000-06:00

denial

2011-09-22T17:03:00.000-06:00

The Kubler-Ross model, commonly known as the five stages of grief, is something I learned about extensively in a Death and Dying class in college. They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. As I look back on my life, I see that I've been through these stages as I've hit certain milestones in my life. Periods of my life that were essentially dying or being put to rest forever.

Such notable milestones were graduating from high school and in consequence saying goodbye to many good friends. I knew missions and college would be the death of our friendships as we left our high school journey and moved on to the next stage of life. Also, getting married. Severing the single life. Leaving the only family I'd ever known and starting my own family. Having my first child brought with it the end of an era of independence. Forever altering the relationship of Tim and I. Forever altering the person that I had always been.

Unlike the physical death of a person, the death of these periods of my life have always, ALWAYS, always brought something better.

Once again, I am experiencing another finality in my life. The end of child bearing. It was just yesterday that I graduated from high school, got married and had my first baby. Just yesterday I was dreaming of my perfect family. Four beautiful children, a home, happiness, health. It all seemed so magical and wonderful. A fairy tale.

Now it is here. My happily ever after. Life is perfect (my own version of perfect). My life is everything I've ever dreamed it would be. So why would I be going through the stages of grief?

Because just like all those other times in my life, I don't want it to end. Based on past experience, I know that life always, ALWAYS, always brings something better. But, just like all the other times, I can't help but feel sad about what I'm leaving behind.

How is it possible that I can never have a newborn again? (Okay, technically it is possible, but I must tell myself that it is impossible!) How is it possible that I already have a 9-year-old? How is it possible that in just five short years all my kids will be in school? How is it possible that my children will ever leave home? AND, that I might actually be okay with that?

The future is full of possibilities that I know are endless. I know the future will be nothing but perfect (once again my own version), just as it always, ALWAYS, always has been, but right now I'm in denial.

D.E.N.I.A.L

Which is why I have yet to write down Crew's birth story or document any part of his life. Writing these things down will mean that they are memories. I'm not ready for any of the past six weeks to be a memory. However, try as I may, my boys keep growing. They keep getting bigger, smarter and LUCKILY better. I'll try to remember this as I bawl my way through trying to document the wonderment and awe of the birth of my fourth and final child.

Dramatic much? Yes, I'm postpartum. Don't judge. Stay tuned for birth and yummy newborn details!

erika and harper

2011-09-14T17:48:00.015-06:00

My sister, Erika, and her little girl, Harper, spent the ENTIRE summer here! Her husband, Brian, was here for some of the time, but had to start a new job and find somewhere for his family to live in Denver. We had so much fun playing with them all summer and I don't know what I would've done without Erika. She helped me endure my pregnancy. She watched my boys each week while I went to doctor appointments. She helped me with my house projects. She helped us with so many basement projects. She was truly a lifesaver. I was so glad that she got to be here when Crew was born too! What a treat to spend so much time with them. We were sad to see them leave, but happy for them to start a new adventure in Denver!

cooper starts preschool

2011-09-13T17:54:00.012-06:00

Today was Cooper's first day of preschool! He has been so excited to start school just like his older brothers. He is so ready to have something else to do besides...play...play...play! I was beyond excited when I saw our darling neighbors preschool. Up until his first day, I'd only heard rumors about how amazing it was. My jaw dropped when I saw how incredible this preschool was. Like I said, his teacher is amazing so I wouldn't have expected anything less. Cooper loved his first day and can't wait to go back!

one month

2011-09-12T16:39:00.036-06:00

Our little man has brought so much joy {and stress} in just 4 short weeks. The newborn days are always riddled with anxiety for me. I'm a worrier. Worried about him getting enough nutrition. Obsessing about his bowel movements. Terrified of germs and spending time in the hospital. Positive that every time I lay him down he will never wake up. Crazy, I know. I also know that every Mother worries about these things too. I want to be able to remember these feelings because they do fade so quickly. I want to remember that it's not all just baby powder smell and sleeping through the night. Newborns are stressful, but they are so, so, so worth it. So! Watching his brothers ooh and ahh over him every. single. time. they see him. Watching his piercing eyes stare into mine. I know he's wishing he could tell me about all his adventures in heaven. I can see how much he loves me and needs me.

This past month we've been showered with food, family, friends and so much love. We feel so blessed for the support we've received. Truly, I've needed it! Crew is still giving me anxiety. At his 4 week appointment he weighed in at 6 lbs 7 oz so he was not yet up to his birth weight. He's gaining slowly, but still gaining. Everything checks out great and he seems to be doing wonderful with the exception of a clogged tear duct, just like all his other brothers!

photo shoot outtakes

2011-08-27T16:32:00.010-06:00

My brother has become our family photographer. He has an awesome camera and does a great job. We had him take some pictures for Crew's birth announcement. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Tim turns into Zoolander in front of the camera. He was going for some new poses. I'm thinking they will totally catch on in the photography world.

two weeks

2011-08-26T13:29:00.020-06:00

Every milestone in Crew's life is driving a dagger into my heart. I really want to have a newborn baby forever! Obviously, I know that's not possible. Crew has brought so much joy into our home. Having a newborn truly puts life into perspective and helps me realize how blessed I am. Every day I'm in awe at my many blessings. I feel so incredibly cheesy right now, but it's so true. This little guy has brought so much joy to our home and family.

At his two week appointment he weighed 6 lbs 3 oz so he was not back up to his birth weight yet. I've had some issues nursing him, but I've been so determined to make it work. Crew loves to sleep so I have to wake him up every 4 hours to feed him and hopefully help him gain some weight. Also, just like all my other boys he has a clogged tear duct. Besides those few little hiccups, he is doing great!

best buds

2011-08-22T21:27:00.004-06:00

My good friend, Danielle, had her baby Mack just eight days before me. They don't know it yet, but these boys are going to be best buds. Even if they do cheer for opposing teams!

Crew and Macklin

Danielle & Crew

Me & Mack

one week

2011-08-19T21:52:00.031-06:00

The first week of Crew's life went so fast. I was sick to my stomach thinking that a week had already passed. Realizing that his life was already becoming memories. In between snuggling him, being spoiled by friends with yummy dinners, changing diapers and figuring out how to feed this little guy, we spent lots of time at doctor appointments. He was a little bit jaundice so he had to keep going back into the doctor to check his billirubin levels. Also, he was tongue tied so the doctor clipped his tongue. He was also struggling to gain weight so they were watching that closely.

Among the doctor's appointments, I found time to make it to Payton's soccer games. He was playing in a soccer tournament this week and I didn't want to miss it. So, I went to his game with my five day old baby...and my other crazy boys. Of course, Crew just slept away in his car seat. I only had a mild amount of anxiety about him getting hit with a ball, but it was worth it when Payton scored a goal in the first couple minutes of his first game. I was so glad I didn't miss it!

As you can tell from the pictures, the highlight of this week was our new baby. The boys could definitely not get enough of their new baby brother. Every day the boys ran in the door from school and showered this little guy with kisses. There is no doubt that Crew is loved!

coming home

2011-08-14T21:06:00.011-06:00

As much as I love the hospital, I'm definitely ready to go home by discharge day. I'm ready to be with my family again and welcome our new little one home. Even with all the chaos it brings! Although we had plenty of boy clothes at our house, I had to have a special "coming home" outfit for baby Crew. Leaving the hospital, it just seems crazy that it's legal to drive around with a tiny 6 lb baby strapped in the back seat. It's the longest car ride home, wondering if the baby is breathing, is he okay? That's when you realize, as a new mother, the postpartum craziness has officially set in!

When we arrived home, the boys were still so enamored by their baby brother. My parents brought me dinner the night we got home and Tim took the boys to Corbin's birthday party.

hospital love

2011-08-13T20:53:00.000-06:00

I. love. the. hospital. I can't say enough how much I love staying in the hospital after I have a baby. I love being waited on. I love the comfort of having nurses and doctors at my disposal 24/7. I love the visitors. I love the peace and quiet. I love the sleepless nights. I love the diet coke fountain drinks. I love the pain pills. But, most of all, I love the reason I am there. My newborn baby. I love soaking up my little bundle without any other care in the world. Nothing else to worry about. Tim and I treasuring every new moment with our little guy.