The Tooth Fairy

                 Okay I like to blog but with dial up I have missed a few months. I did do some blogs and my poor computer ate them so I am trying again with the latest news=). My little Blake is growing up so fast. He finally lost his first tooth this last week. His other tooth had already come half way in before we even started wiggling it. Both Blake and I were wimps about getting it out. It took good ol daddy to yank it out.  Blake told us he didn't want us wiggling it that he wanted us to tie it to the door. Who knows where he got that idea. We tied it to a string and asked him if he wanted us to just pull it, he was very firm that he wanted it on the door. So daddy tied it to the front door and slamed it and his itty bitty tooth was hanging on the string. Blake was in shock and Kyle and I were yelling. He just stood there and asked if it came out. We told him the tooth fairy would come and bring him some money, Tanner said he wanted some money to so Blake told him he needed to pull out his teeth. ( Wonderful I can see the teeth starting to fly out of both of them) Blake woke up very early before the sun was up and brought his money into my bed and told me he was rich!!! Then he couldn't go back to sleep becuase he was so excited.  We were both very tired and dragged through the day but it was a fun memory. Then I tried to get the 1st lost tooth picture and it looked just the same as before since his other tooth was already in. OH well hopefully I will get my cute little oakie smile soon=)

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.