Feed the Ducks!

What do you do when your freezer is being overrun by partial bread loaves?  Feed the ducks of course!!...Even if it is a little cold. 

 Whoa! Those geese are really big!

 This little lady stayed warm and cozy in her stroller.

 I love this smile!

After we got back in the car our hands were a bit cold so we put on Daddy's gloves.  So much fun!

PS-Brigham's been doing "cheeseball" a little faster these days, and Mom and Dad can't seem to take the picture fast enough...so we end up with quite a few of these partial "cheeseball" smiles. Ha! Ha!

We're Alive!

This blog has been neglected!  I wish I could promise that I'll post X number of times from now on...but I really can't do that.  Naps get missed, extra feedings are needed, visitors stop by, appointments happen, etc.  It's part of the adventure and it really is fun most days!! For now, you'll have to settle for this super long update!

 Brigham had a hard time with Teanne the first week but now he loves her!  He insists on taking a baby bath again now because he wants to use this special tub like Teanne. 

 We went to Arizona for my sister Sarah's wedding.  The wedding and reception were beautiful and we were so glad that Teanne came early so we could go!

Here's Teanne with Grandpa Cluff.  He's a natural :)

 We went to the Tucson Zoo while we were there.  Brigham AND Hyrum's first time at a zoo.  Their reactions were priceless!

 Snow came and went already but we had fun while it lasted!  Brigham and I weren't as committed to building a snowman of our own.  We tried, but it was more fun watching Daddy.  For all you Arizonans...building a snowman is harder than you think!

 Here's our little princess in her snow suit that is 6 months too big. But she stayed warm!  As soon as she started to snooze I put her inside in her bouncer.

 Waiting patiently for a snowman to be finished is tough for a 1 1/2 year old!

 The finished product!

 Proud creator!

 Who's that?

 Brigham and his best friend Abbie (or "Abbm" as he calls her)

 What a great big brother!

 Crazy face!

 We chopped down a Christmas tree of our own this year!  Our first real Christmas tree!  We hiked around a couple hours with the kids in backpacks until we found the perfect tree.  The kids LOVED it!  Teanne slept the whole time and Brigham loves being outside so he didn't complain, however he needed a little treat while he waited for Daddy to chop down the tree.

 Not the most flattering picture of Teanne...sorry!

 Hyrum tied the tree to the top of our car, just like on the movies!

Here's our tired explorer!

She's Here!!!

Insurance through Hyrum's work kicked in October 1st (whew!) and our little girl was due October 16th.  I was praying she'd come after October 1st, but before the 13th so that I would be able to go to my sister's wedding on the 20th. I was also praying that we'd be able to watch General Conference.  God is aware of each of us and our situations and prayers are answered!

 We watched the Saturday sessions of conference at home and ate lots of treats.  Conference was wonderful!!!  Here are my boys eating jerky :)  

Hyrum went to the priesthood session and I thought I'd started having real contractions at 9 PM but they went away within an hour.  More Braxton-Hicks...or so I thought. 

At 2 AM I started having contractions that felt different than the Braxton-Hicks I'd been having for the past month.  They weren't regular and they went away for a while too.  By 3:30 AM Hyrum was helping me time them but they were still very irregular and varied in intensity and duration.  Some only lasted for 10 seconds and some came within a minute of each other.  By 4ish I decided we better make sure everything was in the car and ready to go just in case this was the real deal.  Hyrum woke up the neighbors at 4:30 AM and they came over to watch Brigham (sleeping, thankfully!) while we left for the hospital.  We got to the hospital by 4:40, in our room by 4:45 and our little Teanne was born at 5:04 AM.  

Next time...I think we might want to leave a little earlier, just an idea :)

Teanne Mitchell was born on October 7th at 5:04 AM.  She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces (a whole pound bigger than Brigham!) and was 18.5 inches long. She and Meagan (and Hyrum and Brigham) are doing great...although we've been working with Brigham to get over some jealousy issues!  We didn't even miss Sunday General Conference!  Perfect timing Teanne!!!  More pictures to come!

Catch Up...Again!

Here's some pictures of what we've been up to.   I've been definitely slacking on the blog.

 No more crib for Brigham!  He's in a big boy bed in preparation for the new baby.

 Flies, flies, flies!  I killed 12 of them in our house one day...they drive me crazy!!  Brigham is becoming quite the fly hunter himself, here's his weapon :)

Brigham loves to help with the laundry.  He'll bring me dirty clothes some days, begging for me to start a load.  I don't know what I'd do without my laundry motivator :)

We went camping in the Uintahs with Hyrum's Dad.  It was fun!

  Here's a flattering picture of Brigham camping in the morning :)

This video is sideways, but it's fun to watch anyway.  Got to love balloons!

 

 

I babysat this little boy for a couple days and Brigham literally, baby SAT.  This little guy is only 9 months younger than Brigham but the same size as Brigham.  Brigham liked to copy him and it was good practice for his new little sister. Although I don't think he'll be allowed to baby SIT her for a while.

Baby Bump

This little girl is quite the kicker!  If Brigham sits on my stomach she kicks, if I slump on the couch and squish her space she kicks, and she just kicks randomly throughout the day just because :)

How Does Our Garden Grow? Well, Let's Check It Out!

 I started all but the tomato plants from seeds and about a month ago we transplanted.  I couldn't have done it without Hyrum and Brigham.  Hyrum rotatilled it all, scooped and hauled the free manure from our ward member, hauled in all the dirt I'd gotten, and was the garden tip guru :)

  Brigham tested the quality of the water and mud.  It passed the test I think!

 It took me a LONG time to have the motivation to clean off his clothes and shoes...but I'm happy to report that they WERE mud free this morning...but the boots had to test out the mud again this morning so they're back on my to-do list :)

 Here's how our garden is doing now.  We've already eaten one squash and we're anxiously waiting for our tomatoes to ripen.

 

Here's my red-neck part of the garden.  I really wanted to test out container gardening...and so far, so good!

 

Brigham says the word "Ba! Ba!" for "Ball! Ball!" He came up to me while I was watering this week saying "Ba! Ba!"...This led me to be suspicious right away...where did he find a ball?  He proudly showed me the green tomato in his hand saying "Ba! Ba!"  Ha!  Ha! 

Mr. Independent

Brigham understands SO MUCH now!  He still doesn't say anything yet but he knows exactly what he wants and a LOT of what we're staying...I have to spell things sometimes now just to keep his expert ears from hearing words.

  Last night at dinner Daddy put a little salt on Brigham's tomato...but that just won't do!  Brigham has to do it himself!  It's so fun to watch him learn and try new things...and a bit messy, but that's what being a kid is all about!

That tomato was a goner by the time Brigham was through with it!  He set the shakers down to clap for himself in between shakes.  This morning he pointed to the shakers at breakfast, wanting another chance at them...I decided we'll save that adventure for another meal.