Changes

This last week brought some changes to the Hough household.

First, Jake went back to school. I love how cute he looks with the backpack on and his hair all combed nice. Even though Jake made the Kindergarten cutoff by 2 weeks, we decided to "red shirt" him this year and have him continue with preschool with Miss Sharie until next year. I love the term "red shirt" as it applies here, our friends the McClellands gave us that wording. Steve and I both feel good about the reasons behind the decision and now I get to have him home more often for just one more school year. Stevie starts her preschool after Labor Day.

Secondly, the girls are now sharing a room. I wish it looked as good as this picture already...it will take some time knowing my slow pace :-) We have been wanting to have them in the same room for quite a while, and finally followed through once the nap situation was worked out. I have good memories as a kid sharing a room with one of my sisters. I mostly shared with Nikki, but also with Tracie and Amy at times along the way. There were disagreements of course, but I really did love it and I want Stevie and Kelly to have that experience too. They have still been sleeping well at night and so far so good.

Thirdly, the infant car seat has expired. I mean that literally and figuratively. My friend Denett told me that car seats literally expire after 5 years, so once Kelly grew out of it...gone. And I think our little family is complete too. Unless we have some divine intervention, we probably will not be needing an infant seat anymore. It was a little emotional for me to pack it up and so many memories flashed through my head that involved that car seat. Bringing home Jake, Stevie, and Kelly from the hospital, seeing them sleep so peacefully in that thing, hauling it around everywhere so they could sleep on the go, rocking them to sleep in it, moving them out of that car seat into a bigger one, etc. I could go on and on. You have served us well.

Happy Birthday Kelly...

Another August birthday...and my baby turned one! It is so hard for me to fathom that it has been one year since our little Kelly Belle (nickname) was born. It truly goes by quicker with each child. Here is a picture of her from yesterday with her new toy, which she loves.

I think she looks so much like Stevie one day and then so much like Jake the next day. She still has Dennis the Menace hair on the top and it just loves to stick straight up. Her hair has changed to blond this summer and the fronts of her legs and her little feet are brown. Since she isn't crawling or walking yet, she spends most of her time sitting down...hence the tan lines. She has been getting up on all fours lately and rocking...so I think crawling is coming very soon. No teeth yet either, but her top ones are so close to coming through and they look rather large. I will have to post a picture once those buckies come through. Kelly loves to get in happy screaming matches with anyone who will do it with her. Of course the kids love to do that in the car...so that just gives me an excuse to turn up the radio :-) And she loves to talk with her hands and feet...they are in constant motion...turning in circles. Her first word was Dada and then came Mama. Now her second and third words were Zeke and Tippy - the dogs. That is the one sign she will do too...DOG. Trying to teach her a few more, but she hasn't done them yet. Kelly is still on the small side, but she has caught up considerably. She is a good eater...used to love baby food, but once she got of taste of the "real" stuff, she won't go back to the pureed food.

Most of you probably know that Kelly is pretty picky and mostly just wants Mom or Dad to hold her. In fact I am in physical therapy right now for what my therapist calls "Mommy Arm." My shoulder apparently can't handle holding her for a few hours at a time all day and it has started rebelling against me, sometimes with a lot of pain attached to it. Anyway...she is the spoiled youngest child right now. We may have created a problem with holding her, but is hard to hear her get upset too. I know...excuses...excuses :-)

It was tough for me to adapt to this third child in family, but I really do love the dynamics now with her in the mix. Love her so much! Happy birthday little one...we are so lucky to have you.

Happy Birthday Jake...

We celebrated Jake's 5th birthday yesterday...the five year mark and it really made me reflect on the day he was born. An emotional birthday for me for some reason. I remember clearly the overwhelming feeling of love that I had...and the instant connection. Jake was so tiny and scrawny, but his eyes were so wide and beautiful and they kept looking right up at me.


I feel so blessed to be a mother, and especially a mother to him. He is so patient and loving as I try to figure out how to become a better mom for him and his sisters. Happy Birthday Buddy...you are the best...I love you.

Draper Parties!

I have been slow to post what has been going on for the past month...and this is why. Baptism and Baby Blessings on July 11-12, Zoo Day on July 13, Camping July 23-27, and then Logandale, NV for Baptism on July 31-August 2. Lots of Draper get-togethers and we have had so much fun!

My nieces Sara and Sierra were both baptized over the last month and they both looked beautiful. Congrats to them! The twins Lana and Drew were blessed as well. I can't believe they are growing so fast! Bramhalls...you are holding it together so well I can't believe it.

Zoo Day was an impromptu thing and the Stahelis invited us to join them before they went back home. Here a few pictures...

Camping at Albion Basin in Alta was a planned event put on by Dave and Tracie...newborn twins and all. I think the Drapers are at 38 people now??? I was a little nervous about camping in a tent with our kids, but tried to go into it with a positive attitude. It actually went much better than expected. Dave did a great job of planning rock climbing, bike riding, hiking, games, etc.

The only hiccups for our family were a middle-of-the-night stomach bug that Stevie Kate got (sorry to say that Steve got puked and pooped on), and Kelly's cranky attitude. She was a great sleeper there at night, but wasn't happy during the day most of the time...I think because she wanted to get down and maybe because there were so many people. Side note - we found out Jake may become a florist one day. He spent most of the weekend picking bouquets of wildflowers and handing them out.

There is always a least one injury from our reunions...unfortunately Amy was the chosen one this year. Her pedals on her bike weren't working right and she couldn't get her feet out before she tipped over into a sharp rock...11 stitches later, she was okay.

Anyway...it was a wonderful camping adventure and we loved getting to spend that much quality time with cousins, sister, brothers, grandparents, etc.

After a few days at home after camping, we packed up and went to the Staheli Home in Nevada for Sierra's baptism. Another fun weekend with quality time with the Draper clan. The high was 110 degrees while we were there, so we spent most of the time doing water games and pool, and indoors for Rock Band on the Wii. Didn't get too many pictures, but here a few. Thanks for hosting Nikki!

Lagoon (aka Magoon) Day

We had a great time at Lagoon this year (aka Magoon, the kids call it that for some reason). Anyway...Steve's work sponsored a day there (thanks Ebix!) and we decided to take Jake and Stevie and leave Kelly with Grandma. If you haven't been...it is worth it. There are tons of discount passes out there too.

We spent most of our time with the Edwards family and had such a blast. Thanks for all of your help Edwards' kiddos (and Tyler too)! Jake has a boy-crush on Phillip now and he was excited to learn that Phillip can babysit/kidsit now. I didn't get too many pictures...but here are a few.

Potty Training at Night

Help needed...

Jake has struggled with potty training since the beginning. He has been great during the day for quite some time now, but has never figure out the night part. We haven't been that worried out it because the doctor's say not to at his age...but he has started to notice that other kids his age don't wear them at night and the kicker is that Stevie just stopped wearing pull-ups at night. And I think it upsets him a little. So...I feel like we have tried so many things and exhausted our resources. But...I know that many of you have gone through this and I thought I would throw it out there for advice.

Steve and Jake's Dragon Trail

One of the major projects of the summer has been going on for the past few weeks. I can take no credit for it...it has been all Steve. He has always had this idea to build a dirt/road base track for biking all around our yard and decided he was ready to do the work. Jake actually helped quite a bit for a 4 year old and he can really focus and work hard when he wants to. He got to name the track and he chose "Dragon Trail."

Anyway...I am going to take video of the track this weekend so you can get the gist of it...but it's great. Stevie Kate loves to run it or roll the dump track around it (this trail probably wouldn't work with the training wheels bike). Jake likes the dump truck too, but he is really starting to take to the riding part. He has taken a few good falls trying to figure out the sharp corners and the small bumps, but he keeps getting back on. Very good practice for him for sure.