Family Tradition!!!

The 24th of July is by far one of my favorite holidays. Summer heat, good food, family, friends, horse shoes, playing in the creek, parades. I have spent every 24th of July weekend that I can remember at my families cabin . From the time I was a kid up until raising kids of my own.

This year did not disappoint! Although being 8 months pregnant wasn't the ideal way of spending the weekend it turned out to be GREAT! I got to relax the weekend away while watching the kids play. Everyone was super helpful with my kids and of course Kwinton was there to take care of everything.

We got there Thursday evening and dad started on a few projects. (With Cole's help)

Apparently Cole had a few last minute phone calls to make.

The guys got up Friday morning and started setting up the BROKEN canopy. Thinking that with enough man power the could get it up.

That right folks it is being held together with sticks and duct tape. (Who in there right mind would sit under this death trap?)

This is the moment that they admit their defeat and decide to put up the BRAND NEW canopy that Kwinton brought up instead.

The rest of Friday the kids spent in the creek going down the "water ride" that the dads always build for them. This year Les got up there early and spend countless hours moving rocks and building a damn. It turned out great!

A ride on the alligator!

A ride in the pirate ship!

A ride on the tube!

Sierra had just fallen off the alligator. But Samuel was enjoying himself!

Go Emma!

Jarom was catching little tadpoles in a cup.

A little help through the deep water.

I'm not sure what he's doing, but he sure is cute.

Time to dry off.

Saturday morning the kids got dressed up for the parade!

The theme this year was Wild West!

I realize this is sideways, but if you think that I have any clue how to turn it the right way then you don't know me very well. Just tilt you head!

The boys were all sheriffs.

Look at what we've created.

This here is the finest parade you will ever go to. It last about two minutes start to finish, you come out with a few treats, and it has the cutes kids you'll ever see. That is my kind of parade!!

The kids all decorated their own bikes Friday night.

Cali and Hannah were a little slow but they made sure to stop and throw me some candy!

Cole walked right over and handed me some candy, he must know I don't like to bend over right now!

Grandpa always has to wear some ridiculous outfit. I love it!

The kids played games and won prizes!

Sherrie made these cute wanted posters that were hanging all around in the trees.

And last but not least Kwinton took second place in the horseshoe tournament. He was beat by my cousin Les. This isn't the first time Kwinton has taken second place to Les. I think we have a rivalry brewing here.

Summer fun!!

Just a few pictures of the kids jumping on the tramp while Kwinton cooled them off!!

(On a side note, paying to put the trampoline in the ground was worth every penny.)

Coles face in this picture just kills me.

Taylorsville Days

We decided this year to take the kids to a real fireworks show. Though the shows that Chris and Angie usually put on at my parents house are pretty good, we thought it was time the kids saw some real fireworks! We got to the park around 7:30, oh wait, we parked at a city building around 7:30. Then we went on a 30 min. hike to the park carrying chairs, blankets, and kids. Alright I'm not going to lie, Kwinton carried everything, and Angie carried Cali. We spent the next couple of hours just relaxing at the park watching the kids dance to the mock Beatles band. They had a blast! Gabe and Cali thought the fireworks were amazing, Cole pretty much cried for the first bit of fireworks, then he buried his head in Kwintons shoulder and went to sleep.

The look on his face is priceless.

They were goooood dancers!

Angie was there to wrestle the kids.

AWWWWWWW!

Doesn't get any better then that.

She is such a daddy's girl lately.

My baby!

Almost firework time.

We even saw Sadie there!!!

The Franc Family (until the next one comes)

Good news!!!

We had another ultrasound this afternoon to check on Kwintons growth. He is doing very well. His stomach is still on the smaller side, but is showing signs of improvement. Which means he is actually getting some food in there! The doctors decided today that he was doing well enough to rule out doing steroid injections. They will still keep a close eye on him (ultrasounds every 2-3 weeks for the rest of the pregnancy), but they fully expect that he will stay happy and growing in me for the rest of the time! It's such a relief to know that he is not starving in there.

On a lighter note he has been absolutely the craziest baby I have ever had inside me. He moves non-stop. The nurse that has been doing the ultrasounds is always complaining that he just wont stay still long enough to get accurate readings. Today in the ultrasound we saw him sucking on all of his fingers, it was pretty cute to see him just playing away in there. I can't wait to meet him!

I know ultrasounds are hard to see, but if you watch right at the end I think he tries to shove his whole hand into his mouth!

Hang in there baby Kwinton......

It looks like my body is up to its same old tricks again. At my Dr. appt. a couple of weeks ago it was no surprise that I was measuring a little behind. This happens around this time with all of my pregnancies. So of course I was sent in for another ultrasound just to check on things. The ultrasound showed that Kwintons stomach was on the small side, (this is the first sign that he isn't getting enough nutrition from the placenta) also the fluids were a bit on the low side. So I was given one week to get the fluids up in there. A task that I took very seriously. I think I just about drown myself in water for a week straight. Well, phase one went well, the fluids in little Kwintons home were WAY up. I have provided him quite the swimming hole! I now have two weeks to see about getting his stomach to grow. This task is going to prove to be a little more difficult since I really have no control over the functioning of the placenta. But I will do my best to chow down on whatever my little heart desires and hope that he is getting something in there.

11 weeks to go till due date! Dr.s are thinking they will need to get him out a bit early before he is in distress. Lets just hope he stays in there long enough for all his little organs to develop properly then we can get him out and start fattening him up!

Letting Go

Let me start off by telling you all how excited I was to find out the sex of this little baby in my belly. Of course I was anxious to know what we would be adding to our family, but another reason for my excitement was because I was finally ready to get rid of old stuff. No matter what this baby turned out to be I was fully ready to get rid of EVERYTHING belonging to the opposite sex. Turns out that is easier said then done. For some reason it is just killing me to think of letting all of this little girl stuff go. The preemie clothes that nearly drowned my little Cali, and all of the cute little things that only she has had a chance to wear. I know, I know, it's been 5 years so it's really time for me to get over it. Besides, this stuff is doing nobody any good packed away in these bins. But every little outfit I pull out I picture how precious she was wearing it! I have a feeling I would be going through these same emotions getting rid of my boys stuff too. I guess it's just coming to terms with the fact that the days of "starting a family" are coming to an end, and I am now entering the phase of "raising a family." There's a frightening thought.

Not my baby anymore.....

This post is about my baby Cole, sorry, I mean my big boy Cole. It's hard to imagine that in a few short months he will not be the baby anymore. Even though he has clearly not been a baby for quite sometime. For some reason this kid has me wrapped around his little finger. I am quite convinced that he is the funniest child ever to be sent here. Between the funny faces he pulls and the silly things he says, I swear I can just look at him and laugh.

Cole is our little brute! Give him a club and a ball and he is entertained for hours. Shoot, give him a stick and a rock and he is entertained for hours. As long as he has something to hit or kick or throw he is happy. He is also sadly a video game nerd. He would play with Kwintons old gameboy all day if I would let him, and he is amazingly good at it. As you can see he also loves playing the wii.

After having Gabe and Cali, Cole has been a bit of a challenge. The others have always made things pretty easy on me. (Very helpful, good listeners, nice to each other) Cole however has a mind of his own and likes to push buttons that I didn't know I had. Just trying to potty train this kid has been a battle of wills between the two of us, and I have to tell ya, he is winning so far. His stubbornness goes far beyond anything I have ever dealt with. I think the new little baby coming has got him worried that he is no longer going to be my baby, and he is doing everything in his power to prevent that. So I guess I will just have to step up my game a little and do some pushing back.

I don't think I am quite ready to let go of Cole as my baby. Something about his big blue eyes just makes me melt!