Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The girls were dressed in their princess dresses they got fir Christmas, and got up on the table and started performing for us, songs and dances. Here is a clip of them to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Growing Fast

Caitlyn is growing like crazy. She hung out with me for 3 days at the SG convention and was admired and enjoyed by all. She got so many comments on what a cute, happy and GOOD baby she was. Lately she's been rolling over. Last night she was crying while laying on her stomach, not wanting to be in that position. So she would roll herself over onto her back, stop crying for one minute before she would roll herself back onto her stomach and then start the screaming again as if she was thinking "Hey what happened? This isn't where I want to be." So she'd repeat the process 2 or 3 times. She's too much fun.

I can't take credit for this gorgeous photo by the way... I have to credit Heidi Dillion and admit I stole it from her! :)

That time of year!

Savannah had a field trip yesterday to pumpkinland. She was so excited! Ever since she got back she's been asking if we could carve her pumpkin. So today she drew her face, they cleaned it out, and I carved it. I forgot how much fun it is. Hopefully soon the whole family will get to go get our own and have a night of fun. I love this time of year!

Blog Update!

Well a year and a half later it was time to update our blog. We've added a new kid and Isaac is no longer 3 months old. We'll be adjusting a few things here and there and thought we'd try creating a new background. I still have to figure out a few tricks to make things line up, and work with different screens, but for now this will work till we get it under our belt. Life has been good for us. I've done terrible at keeping up on the family blog as I tend to post more on my own personal blog, so sometimes it helps to check out both. We're going to start at least posting something on Sundays and if I would just embrace how easy Picassa has made it to edit and upload to blogs I should be posting on here regularly!

Aye, aye Matey!

The other day the kids found themselves hanging out in the front room playing and starting to get bored. They wanted me to do something with them, but since I was feeding Caitlyn at the time I couldn't do much. I suggested that they pretend the couches were boats and the floor was water. That fed their enthusiasm and before I knew it they were jumping from boat to boat, swimming in the water as fast as they could so the sharks wouldn't get them. Before we knew it they were pretending to be pirates, which led to mom pulling out some old red fabric and cutting patches out of construction paper. Before we knew it we had an entire gang of pirates hanging out in our front room.

Mirian was just too darn cute going around growling and acting all tough.

Uh oh! The sword broke.

They all had a hard time with the patch on their eye. It lasted about two secons on Isaac's. The other girls had to keep tilting their heads to the side so they could see you out of the corner of it. What a great afternoon of creativity and fun!

Manly Men

I love this picture of Isaac and Beau. Isaac is always wanting to be right in on his dad's projects. Here they are building some bunk beds together for a friend of ours. He was right in there helping with the screws and looking on proudly at his dad. I'm so glad Beau lets him join in on the fun and be a part of the projects rather than telling him to go away. He'll grow up knowing all kinds of skills and they'll have a great relationship together.

Caitlyn Anna Tippetts

So she is here! Last night we had a false alarm when Shalae thought her water had broken and we came to the hospital to check. So we went home with the only consolation being that they had us on the list to be induced sometime today. They told us they usually call at 6 am to let you know when you can come in, but the hospital was pretty busy and they didn't call until 3 pm. They started Shalae on pitocin about 3:30 and we hung out with not a whole lot happening until about 8:30. The doctor came in and broke her water, for real this time, and things progressed really quickly from then on out.



Caitlyn was ready to come at 9:30 and let out her first cry at 9:43 pm. She weighs 7 lbs 12 oz and is 19 inches tall.





Shalae posted some more good photos on her blog

Counting Down...

only two more days till the official due date of the baby. I'm at the antsy stage of wondering when it's going to happen and busily trying to get everything I possibly can get done before then out of the way. At the same time I only want to rest, do nothing, and feel calm and rested before the day arrives.

Between trying to get everything done my kids decided to get sick on me. Isaac was sick with a fever of 104 for two days. All he wanted was mom to sit in the rocking chair and hold him. He was miserable. So it was a nice and stressful two days, because he rarely wants me to sit and hold him anymore, and I know with the new baby coming along, times like this would be far in between, so I took advantage of cuddling him again since he's no longer a baby. It was also stressful because I felt all these things heaping up that HAD to be done, and he was not letting me do them. We survived, only to have Savannah catch something next. She has spent the last two days laying around and throwing up. Needless to say I AM SO THANKFUL for carpet cleaners. We invested in one a year ago and it has been the BEST investment we have ever made. I've had to use it 4 times in the last 24 hours on the couch.
So needless to say I'm tired, and praying that I don't catch this flu bug. Labor is bad enough without the flu on top of it! :) Today I just needed to relax so we scrapped a bunch of 4x6 layouts. It was such a nice break, and the kids had fun helping me pick the colors and things to put on it. Here's one from last weekend at the reunion. Savannah was so upset about this layout. She has been learning how to sound out words and start reading. She kept telling me she didn't like his name. She wanted me to take it off and spell it with an F. Fillip.:) I explained to her about how putting the P and H sound together make the same sound as the F. She accepted the answer but it still bothers her, and she mentions it every time she sees this layout.

Supplies used on layout: ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: 4x6 - Alphabet, Happy Family Collection Biggie, Little Birdy Collection Mini, Ponder Collection, Commotion Collection, Scenic Route Collection Biggie, Dynamic Brush Set: Basic Stitches 4901, Lettering Delight Font: Aloha

I like these kinds of ecards

For those who don't know the stars of this little movie they are my dad and brothers! Love you guys!

Happy Birthday Mirian!

How old are you?

I'm three! Yes you are, and you were so much fun today!

She woke up excited that it was her birthday and came in to tell us early this morning. She also came in later disappointed because her birthday wasn't in the living room. I think she was connecting it with Christmas, but it's not quite the same.

She went shopping with us, helped us make and decorate the cake. She wanted Ariel, a princess cake. No changing her mind on that one.

We decorated with balloons and streamer, nothing too fancy but it felt like a party.

She was so excited to open her presents all day, and came into the kitchen to ask me if she could open them up now. I told her "no we have to wait until dad gets home. He wants to see you open them too." Then she made a comment to herself "maybe I'll wear my shirt and shorts." Which sent signals off in my head. "Mirian did you open one of the presents?" "Just one mom. My shirts and shorts." So we had to explain that we couldn't open the other two until dad came, and that she could wear her new birthday outfit if she would like.

She had a small party tonight with a few friends over, and got to open her other presents which she was excited about. It was a good day. It's fun to see your kid's face light up because they know it's their special day, and you can tell they just feel special. They feel important and loved. Two of the best things a child can feel.

Jeff's Look a likes

When did they get so big?

They were laying around and actually letting me take some pictures. When did they get so big? Savannah really seems to be getting bigger and older everyday. It's so hard to believe that she'll be starting school here at the end of the summer. I need to make the most of the last couple of months that I have with her.

A Conversation with Savannah

"We need to clean up the front room first."
"You do it."
"I'm not going to do it, I didn't make the mess. We are all going to do it."
"I don't like cleaning!"
"That's too bad, because someday you're going to be a mom and you're going to have to do lots of cleaning. You'll probably have to do it all by yourself because your kids are going to tell you that they don't want clean."
"Then I guess I'll have to put them in time out."

Hmmm, does she make the connection here? Yep, she cleaned up the living room mostly by herself with a little help from Mirian.

More Snow!

It has been snowing everyday now for probably the last 3 weeks. Sometimes it's quite a good storm, and other times just some light stuff. But it doesn't seem to end! We finally got out yesterday and braved the cold. They only lasted a few minutes as usual. I think they go outside just so they can come back inside and have some Hot Chocolate. I've been trying to take more close up portrait shots of the girls for some layouts and had too much fun. These were some cute ones I thought.

Our BIG Daily Something

This is my daily something for today, a pretty big daily something actually. We made it till now and we are 1/2 way through! Today we found out that another bundle of pink is going to be joining our family at the end of June. We were sure it was a boy, but a pleasant surprise we got instead. Ironically right after we got pregnant Savannah came up to me and told me I was pregnant with baby girl. She wanted a baby sister and was insistent about it. Even when we tried to tell we weren't going to have a baby for a while, and that it could be a boy. She was adament that it was a girl. I broke the news to the girls today that we were going to have a baby and it was going to be a girl. She thinks we should name it Sally. I think not. I've never had a better pregnancy, I haven't even felt pregnant. So it's been great! So to me it still seems unreal except for the expanding stomach part. Hard to believe #4 is on the way. Wasn't it just yesterday as I wondering if I would ever get married?

Supplies Used: A Mom to Be & Nessa Collection.

Family Photo Update!

Beau found a really great deal on some picture packages at JC Penny's after Christmas so we thought we'd try getting a current picture of our family. No matter how hard you try getting people to smile and to look good for the camera, it just doesn't work. So this is a "real life photo" with our family - a frown, tongue, and goofy face.

At least this one turned out pretty decent. We at least have 1/2 smiles from everyone. Aren't they just the cutest! Hard to believe how fast they are all growing. Savannah's 4 1/2, Mirian is going to be 3 here in 2 months, and Isaac is now a whopping 14 months! They keep us on our toes and make us so happy. We love these little guys.

I think this is the only other nice picture we've taken since our wedding 5 1/2 years ago. We have a few snapshots of us taken by others or using the timer on our camera, so it was about time for an update.

What can I say except that life has been really good. For the last 5 1/2 years we have been here in Provo, and are planning on being here for at least 2 1/2 more. After that we'll see where the Lord takes us.

Savannah will start Kindergarten next year, Beau will be finishing up his Masters here shortly and then starting his doctorate. I'm enjoying the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, and designing for ScrapGirls.com when I have a few minutes here and there. Life is good. The Lord has truly blessed us. We look at where we started out when we were first married. We had NO income coming in and wondered how our small part time income from the college job was going to meet our needs. Miraculously the Lord has opened doors we never knew were there. We now are a family of five. We've been able to increase our income and meet our needs despite STILL being in school, me being a stay at home mother and adding 3 more members to the family. The Lord really can perform miracles, and our life so far is one of them. All we enjoy is because of him.

We have loved keeping up with all of you on your blogs, emails, and actual visits. We hope you are all doing well and we want you to know that we think of you all the time even though we aren't the best at keeping in contact. We've been slackers on this family blog for the last little while, but I'm determined to change that. So keep coming back to see random pieces from our lives.

Just Relaxing

When we weren't at Disneyland or the beach we were either on the road for 28 hours, swimming, playing minature golf, wall climbing, go-carting, playing games and just relaxing. We had a great time. It was a much needed vacation and the kid loved being able to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Tippetts as well as the uncles. Mom and dad didn't mind that fact either! :)

Disneyland for a day.

Here are also a few from Disneyland. This was the first time the girls have ever been there. Don't ever go during Christmas or the first of the New Year. It was insane! They had a good time, and were thrilled to be able to see the princesses in real life during the parade. We were only there for about 1/2 a day, but we wore all of us out!

Beach Time

I thought I would share some fun snapshots of our family vacation. These are taken at both Laguna Beach and Newport beach, California. Even though it was much warmer than Utah, it was still freezing! The kids had a great time playing in the sand, hanging out with the uncles, and getting some icecream! We also had the chance to meet up with a good friend of mine Mandy (from ScrapGirls) and her family.

"When I grow up....

I want to be a car stopper." Savannah told me as we pulled out of the parking lot on our way to dance class.

"Is that right? What is a car stopper?"

"You know one of those things that changes this way and that way. When it changes this way then the cars can go. When it's arm changes it that way then the cars stop." Yep that's what I want to be when I grow up... a car stopper."