Pumpkin Patch

                         My favorite thing about october are all the pumpkin patches. I love the smell of the leaves and hay and the colorful pumpkins all about. This year we met up with my sister in law Sherrie and her cute little girl. The boys were able to play in a jump house and then run around in the pumpkins. Tanner is going through the I hate the camera phase and it is very difficult to get a good picture of him. The picture of me with the kids Tanner was actually in the picture just about 5 feet away with a frowny face so I just cropped that out=). I actually got one of him happy and was really excited because pumpkin patch pictures are my favorite. Thanks Sher for meeting up with us the boys and I really had fun.

Mia's Blessing Day

Mia's blessing day turned out very nice.  Kyle gave her a beautiful blessing and she only cried at the very end of it. Blake has been so excited about her special day where dad can give her a "special prayer" and was excited for her to wear the dress grandma Burton made her.  The picture above is of my mom and Mia in the dress she made. The blanket under Mia is the one Aunt Julie made for Blake and I have blessed all my kids in it. Mia was screaming in all the pictures when we got back from church. I always forget to get the pictures before church and they are always grumpy when we get home. I think I will just put her in her dress when she is happy sometime so I can have a good picture to have in her baby book. It was so special to see Kyle and his brothers and our dads bless little Mia. So many times I thought this day would never come. I felt the spirit so strong when I saw this innocent little spirit surrounded by all those righteous men with the priesthood.  I had that neat experience where I felt her so close in the temple and it was humbling to see her dressed in white and cradled in all those loving arms. I am so very thankful for her in our lives and that she is healthy and strong.  We love her so much and are enjoying watching her grow.

Welcome Mia Diane Westmoreland

                  Mia Diane Westmoreland was born July 31st at 3:10 pm. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She looks alot like Blake did when he was a baby and has that same reddish brown hair. The doctor broke my water at 9:30 am.  ( They induced because my doctor was worried I wouldn't make it to the hospital in good time with my history of fast labors and having the hospital 45 min away. ) Nothing really happened until they started pitosin at 1:00. I was ready for the epidural of course soon after and the doctor ordered it then came back in and said she and the epidural man had to go into an emergency c-section. They had stopped the pitosin and said they would stop my labor and she would be back in 1/2 hour. She left and the nurse turned to me and said are you sure you want to do that. I said no I was to far into this to stop, to get someone to deliver this baby. She went and got  the head midwife and I was ready to have the baby by the time she asked me if she could deliver my baby. So 2hrs and ten minutes and we finally had our little girl. Kyle was there and my mom and sister were able to be there too. I could not have done that without all three of them there. I am soooooooooo not a pioneer and am over the having babies natural. Mia is so precious and her brothers adore her and want to hold her and help her all the time.  She loves her daddy and will fall asleep instantly when laid on his chest. ( Which is nice but frustrating when I have fought her for an hour first). We are so thankful she is healthy and strong. We love her so much and are loving dressing her up and cuddling her close.

Ward Temple Day

     Once a year our ward as a temple day where you can bring your whole family. The youth do baptisms and the adults can do a session while the primary and nursery kids get to go through the visitors center and walk around the temple. Afterwards the ward has lunch in the stake center building. I am so thankful for this opportunity it seems it has been the only time the past few years that we have been able to make it to the temple. We would have to leave our kids for 8 hours at least to go alone plus it is very hard when you have a nursing baby to leave for that long. I am so glad Kyle was able to take the day off and go with me to the temple before we have our baby. My boys were so excited and Blake right when I woke him up he wanted to wear his new white shirt and tie. We got to the temple and thats how long the tie lasted. Which is an improvement from the last sunday. ( only made it part way through sacrament meeting) Kyle and I had a very peaceful time in the temple together and the boys kept talking about all they saw. When we left Tanner cried and said he wanted to " go back to the Castle!!!"                                                                                                                                                      I love the feeling I get when the temple first comes into view my heart lifts and my worries fade for a moment. I felt very close to my dear little Mia in the temple. I just kept thinking how close she was to coming from that kind of enviroment to this scary world. It just reinforced how huge my responsibilities are to my children to protect them and teach them about the gospel.  I am so blessed that I was able to have that experience so close to having this little girl. I am so thankful for my family and that we are sealed together for eternity. What peace that has brought to my life as I have struggled to have children. Hopefully we will make it back to the temple soon , if not I have next years ward temple day to look forward to =)

Noah's Ark Park

   Once again my mom found a hidden treasure in Lodi.  This park is right next to a church and I had a hard time finding it.  I told Blake to watch for a boat, we drove around and I asked if he had seen anything he told me he saw Nephi's ship a ways back. Sure enough he found it. It was a very clean and fun park. There is a rock climbing wall also that the boys loved. They can play all over on the boat and there is a huge play area under the boat too.  We were the only people there and the boys were in heaven imagining up things on the ship and in the scary ocean =)

Lodi Circus

    So the month of May kind of flew by. Dial up is completely too slow to try to catch up on all that we did last month. So hopefully I can blog a few of the things we have done already in June. My mom got cheap tickets for the circus in Lodi. I love the circus and my boys have never been so we drove up after Blake got out of school. It was a small circus but jammed packed with awesome performances. They had amazing acrobats, a group of poodles, 6 mini horses that performed together, trampoline acts, motorcycle on a tight rope, many more but my favorite was the elephants. Blake was so stressed when an elephant laid down and stayed there for quite awhile ( he thought it died) Then it was funny I was taking a picture to show kyle and another elephant sat on it right when I took the picture. I know I am just a great photographer haha. They were selling light up ligh tsabers which of course we had to buy and my boys are constantly turning off the lights to play with them. Conserving energy I guess. Then Blake had fun on the jumping things and of course my little cowboy Tanner had to ride the ponies. He cried when he had to get off and kept saying "I want more circus." Then he kept saying one more time one more time( Just like the horse at Chucky cheese that he used all his tokens on). I am going to send him with his Grandpa Westmoreland on one of their 8 hr horse rides and see if he lasts. =) Thank you so much mama we had tons of fun. 

What's wrong with this picture??

My sister was over today and the kids were playing with balloons and Blake comes in with a balloon in his shirt and says he looks like me. Then Tanner of course needs to have one in his shirt too. Apparently I look like that to them now. Tanner also keeps telling me after he eats that his tummy is sooo full and that he has a baby inside that is named Blue. They are so funny. I took a picture of them with their babies and then one of me to compare. I am almost 27 weeks and am already feeling huge. Blake felt the baby kick the other day and thinks that is so neat. He is always touching my belly and asking if she will kick or punch him. They are already playing with each other its so neat to watch his face whenever he feels her move. Its fun too because I have someone to be excited with me because Kyle gets wierded out by the baby moving around. I am excited to see my boys with their sister and see how they are with her. 3 more months ................

1st time Bowling

     I finally beat Blake at bowling. I had totally lost my confidence after playing months of Wii bowling against my professional bowling son. Kyle had another random day off so we took off to Atwater to go bowling. Of course with our luck half of Atwater had no power. A bunch of buildings were dark and street lights were out. And of course the one bowling alley in Atwater had now power or lights. We drove for a bit looking for another place to bowl and then decided to have an early lunch and let the kids play at mcdonalds play land. They had fun and the bowling alley was up and going by the time we were done. The boys were so excited the just kept grabbing balls and wanted to throw them down all the lanes. Finally they figured out the turn thing and we only had to contain Tanner a few times. I was the winner in the first time in forever, actually it probably was the first time. The boys were excited and yelling each time they hit pins. They had the rolling thing at first which they thought was fun. Then Kyle showed Blake how to throw it and so of course thats how Tanner wanted to to it too. They are strong little guys and were throwing the balls as far as they could. Tanner would put is arms up in the air and yell after each time. He would stomp his little foot when the ball wouldn't go far. They both had little bowling shoes and thought that was so cool. Fun times!!!!

Oakdale Rodeo

          I haven't been to the rodeo since I lived in Wyoming. It was so much fun. Tanner was in heaven he is so into horses and cows right now. Blake got a little bored and wanted to keep going to the "stores" to look for toys and buy treats. Tanner sat on my lap and didn't move almost the whole four hours. I think his favorite was the bull riding. My sister kept laughing everytime a new bull and rider came out of the chutes. She said Tanner was making the funniest faces each time. She got down in front of us and took a picture right when a bull came out and this was the shot we got. It was so fun to spend time as a family. Kyle came with us and my niece Marissa also. My sister was there with her family all decked out in Cowboy gear. I am so doing that next year. When we got home from vacation Blake pulled out the elephant we have and wanted his cowboy shirt on and a number on paper on his back. I wasn't able to get a picture of Blake but Tanner was doing it the rest of the day so got a bunch of him. He gets on wraps his rope around and says nice bull and then proceeds to buck himself of and roll and do flips on the ground. It is hilarious. Its funny to watch what they remember. Going to the rodeo brought back so many good memories for me I am definitley going to try and take atleast my little cowboy Tanner next year!!

Grandpa's Shadow

   I love to take my boy out to the grandparents "farm" they have acres of wide open spaces to run and explore. I don't have to worry about them running in the road or getting hit by a car. It is so relaxing and is truly a different world sometimes. Tanner is my dads shadow. As soon as " Pa" gets home Tanner has to put on his boots and "go to work".  His favorite his helping take care of his horses. I don't know how my dad does it all with Tanners helping hands but they both seem to enjoy it. Tanner saw my dad mowing the lawn the other day and decided he had to do it too. My parents lawn I swear is two acres  or something and Tanner helped my dad for almost all of it. It was hilarious he refused to let his grandpa do it alone. My poor dads back and legs were probably killing when he was done. ( Tanner tends too slow things down a bit)  And my dad is 6'3"and Little tanner is well really short. It was funny watching them walk together.  Later my dad built a fire in the driveway for Blake so he could roast marshmellows and "go camping". I am so thankful for my dad and for the love and patience he shows with my boys. They adore him and love to be farmers with "Pa".

21 weeks

    My family far away wanted some pictures so I decided to post some. I am 21 weeks on sat and still just look like I have ate way too much taco bell. These pictures are courtesy of my 5 year old Blake. These aren't the best but when I saw what Tanner was doing too it made me laugh. I didn't know he was showing his belly too until I looked at the pictures later. It is so fun Blake is so excited about the baby and is constantly asking questions about his sister. He wants to know where she will sit at the table or in the car or where her blankets are etc. He asks me every day how big the baby is now and last night I was laying in bed and my belly was poking out so I told him about how big the baby was and then showed him how big my belly would be before she would be able to come out. He says " that will take a long time and then your tummy will look like daddies" I couldn't stop laughing. Kyle was laying on the bed too and he laughed but I don't think he found it as funny as I did. I feel like I have to wear maternity shirts just to cover my ever growing bosoom, hopefully my stomach will catch up to my chest soon. I need to start keeping track in a book all the funny things Blake has been saying lately. I had to post just one more of his deep thinking. He once again was asking how big the baby was and I showed him with my hands and he stares at me for a long time and then says " that won't fit out of your mouth" . I informed him it wouldn't come out of my mouth but that the doctor would take it out of my tummy that didn't really satisfy him because he still keeps looking in my ears and at me and asking where will this baby come out.   He keeps me laughing all the time. 

Basketball Fun

           Last night was Blakes last basketball practice. It has been so much fun these past six weeks watching him and Kyle.  I am so glad Kyle was able to make it to almost all the practices. The one he missed Blake was devestated, I told him I would help him and he said he needed his dad to coach. They don't play games yet, they just do skills and running. Oh does my boy love running laps I always get one parent telling me I should put him in track. He loves passing kids and would keep running laps until he passed out.  I can't believe how much better he has become since he started this at 2 almost three. He can dribble really good now and listens so much better to the coach. He is growing up so fast.Tanner likes to watch "my Blake" and is anxious to be able to participate also. Blakes favorite part is the trophy though. He wanted to take pictures with all of us with his trophy. He was so happy last night. I loved watching him laugh and smile and wave at me whenever he passed. We will see if I can survive doing two kids in sports with a nursing baby next year. If not these were fun memories haha. I know I will do it but will probably go crazy in the process.

Snow Day

 Last week Kyle had a rare day off of work.  We decided to head up to Pinecrest and see if there was snow. We lucked out and they had gotten 2 feet over the weekend and 4 inches the night before. There was so much fresh powder on everything, it was beautiful. We weren't totally prepared Tanner had to wear Blakes last year boots that were two sizes too big and only had cloth gloves for him. Blake's snowpants were way highwater and we only had rain boots for him. It was so much fun to actually spend time together as a family. Everyone had a blast but Tanner.  Poor kid couldn't walk with his boots too big and the snow up past his knees he kept falling on his face and crying cause there was snow stuck to his gloves and body.  Blake was in heaven laying in the snow eating tons and making snow angels, a snowman and running up the hill and sledding tons with his dad. Blake thought it was hilarious to watch his dad snowboard and crash. I ended up sitting and watching Blake bond with his dad and tried to keep my crying marshmellow warm.  I am so thankful we had this fun day together. 

Mud Soup

we went to my parents house today and the boys spent hours out in the mud. They did really good until Blake decided to make mud soup and wanted someone to taste it. I think Tanner said no becuase Blake ended up dumping the whole thing on Tanners face and back. They were in heaven digging and playing outside. I was acutally prepared and had extra clothes for them. They are defintely all boy!!!

So Blake has this new weird habit of stuffing all our toy weapons in his pants. He usually has atleast 3 swords in the front and sides and a few weapons in the back and then of course has to have one in each hand. He can barely walk around with everything stuffed around his legs. I think he has been playing the Star Wars on the Wii a bit too much. Tanner has now started to copy his big brother and I am finding some strange things in his diapers. I am wondering do little girls do weird things like this too??