peaches n' "cream" oatmeal.

this is just a simple breakfast recipe for an oatmeal alternative.  i make my oatmeal like this:

serves 5, 1 C. servings
170 calories per serving (just the oatmeal, not the toppings)

2 C. rolled oats
3 1/2 C. water
1/3 C. powdered milk
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. add oats and powdered milk to a pot and stir well.
2. add in water and stir; bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute until thickened.
3. stir in cinnamon.


for the peaches n' "cream":
3 peach slices per person
2 large spoonfuls of homemade crockpot yogurt (or other plain or vanilla yogurt of choice)
sprinkle of chopped pecan pieces
drizzle of honey

for the kids i stir in 1 tsp. of brown sugar into their oatmeal bowls before i add on their toppings.

this would be so yummy with fresh peaches in the fall!  for now the rest of the year i use my home-canned peaches.  this would also be yummy with some sprinkled coconut flakes or a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

introducing the little man. {camden daniel}

chris and i were very blessed to have our fourth child, and third little boy become a part of our family on september 4th.  all of my previous babies have been overdue (brady 4 days), olivia (two weeks) and zach (two weeks).  i was induced with all of them.  

with this pregnancy my back had been out for three weeks prior to camden's birth.  i was flat on the couch as much as possible and then switching between ice packs and heating pads just to get through the tasks i HAD to do...like feeding my family and taking care of everything!  moms don't have sick days :/

at 38 weeks i went in for my normal appointment, having had steady contractions at least every hour for the past 3 days.  my doctor said my blood pressure was elevated and my extreme discomfort due to my back (and babies' positioning) worried her.  she said to go home, get my bag, arrange for the kiddos to have a place to go and to get back to the hospital within the hour! THE hour!

i called chris, who had taken the day off for working the previous saturday,  he was at the park with the kids so he played with them while i did a quick clean sweep of the livingroom, threw the last few things in the hospital bag and got myself all arranged.  i met the kids and chris out front (they were hopping all over the place so excited to FINALLY meet their new baby brother!)

we drove them to a friends house (THANKS CANDICE!!!) and were so grateful to know that they would be safe and have fun until Grammie Graf got down there that evening to take over!

                                                  

38 weeks

(sorry for the tan lines and tank top! but we had to snap a pic before getting the gown on!)

chris and i checked into labor & delivery and after being hooked up to fetal monitor and changed into my love-r-ly gown we got to walking, and walking, and walking....and walking....oh, and um, walking.  contractions sped up to every 5 minutes but after an hour of doing circles in the hallways my legs were chaffing so we went back to my room where i sent about an hour rolling my hips on the birthing ball.

contractions remained steady at 5 minutes or so but still were not too intense and were not getting closer together.  i'm a little impatient.  my back was K-I-L-L-I-N-G me.  i could hardly walk, let alone deal with back labor and contractions.  oh this was going to be fun.

finally after another hour or so and more walking we decided to speed things up a little with a tiny does of Pit.  worked like a charm. within another hour hard labor had begun, my doctor came in and broke my water and my little man came crying into this world a few hours later.

i delivered naturally again, and again, marveled at my sheer grit to be able to get through it. seriously, toughest thing EVER.  but so worth it to me to know that i have that strength and to allow my body to do what it was designed to do.  oh i hollered and screamed.  i may have scared a few nurses.  i know i scared chris!  and when he was born i shouted, "Oh thank God!"  I didn't mean it in a "taking the name of the Lord in vain" way.  I was seriously so thankful! 

having a baby is one of the most amazing things. that moment of actual delivery is the most painful and most amazing sense of relief ever!  i am truly thankful to God that i have been blessed to have four beautiful, healthy children.  i know that all are not as lucky as chris and i have been. it something that i try to never take for granted.

~Camden Daniel~

6 lbs. 2 oz., 20"

we named Camden after my very favorite place in Maine where i grew up (after my mom suggested it as a baby name) and his middle name after chris' dad, Dan.  for all of our children we have tried to incorporate a name from either side of the family into the middle name and we like names that have nicknames as well. we may or may not call Camden, "Cam."

after mommy and daddy got some snuggle and feeding time in with our new little one we made phone calls and sent pictures to family and close friends.  

the next morning Grammie brought the proud big brothers and sister over to meet Camden.

our new family of six!

mommy and her new brood. four kids! yikes!

that's one proud Grammie!

Zach liked spinning around on the hospital stools.

when we could get his attention he came up on the hospital bed and held his baby brother.  he wasn't quite sure what to think, but quickly warmed up to him and hasn't stopped kissing him since!

Brady has been such a huge help as a big brother! he tries to help with Camden as much as he can and is often found laying by Camden and reading or playing, and having Camden sit with him while he watches shows or plays video games!

Olivia has been great as well.  she talks and sings to Camden and is now able to hold him and carry him.  she also loves to have him sit with her while she watches shows and always checks on him and gives him kisses.

going home!

do you see a resemblance?

i haven't even posted about our new baby boy Camden yet!  but that will come as i catch up.  i wanted to share these couple of pics though because it's so fun to see my children's resemblances to each other! Brady especially likes pointing out what he sees in Camden.  he always says, "that Camden has the same wrinkly forehead that he did when he was a baby" (from baby pictures he has seen).

  

zach at a few days old

camden at a few days old

             zach at a few days old                               camden  at a few days old   

too cute (even if camden had some serious jaundice going on!)   

                    

motivation. {and lots of projects}. project completion #1- hexi quilt, doll quilt & pillow.

so i wrote this post back in august....

apparently it takes making a BIG, HUGE mess to get me motivated to get a bunch of projects done.  that, and a deadline.  like, oh, maybe a baby coming and not wanting unfinished projects sitting around collecting dust and taking up space anymore.

(the floor is an example of what happens when you cut a bunch of quilt pieces and leave them on the floor in order of how you'd like to sew them, and then sleep in while your kids watch shows in the morning.  zach was pretty proud that he "messed up" mommys' "stuff". FORTUNATELY my kids have always been good about not touching mommy's "stuff" when i have it on my table!)

it seems i have a bit of ADD when it comes to sticking to one task and getting accomplished.  NO, i'd rather go all out and drag EVERYTHING out in one big crazy pile and try to get it all done at once.  

i finally finished olivia's hexi quilt that i started last july. i have made a few simple quilts before and got it into my head {thanks to lots of surfing on pinterest} that i wanted to attempt to make one of the most tedious and time-consuming quilts out there.  a COMPLETELY BY HAND english paper piecing hexi quilt!

it was EXACTLY what i had been looking for to complete Olivia's room and set the tone for the vintage vibe that i wanted her room to have.  the key pieces in her room are the dollhouse i refinished and this quilt.  all the colors tie all of the little details together.

the top of the quilt before i added the pink flannel backing:





and the finished product!!!

i used a mixture of fabrics in this quilt and i love the results! my mom has sent me several vintage fabrics over the years which i have been collecting but was never quite sure what to do with them.  when i saw a quilt that mixed old and new designs i knew right away what i wanted!

and then i fell in love with the "vintage modern" series by MODA at porter's.  appropriately named, right?  exactly the look i was going for.  for around $40 i had all the fabric i needed for her quilt and binding, as well as a lot of remnants left over for other projects!

i only wish i had more since the line was discontinued...WHY DO THEY DO THAT?  good things should be available forever!

i had some  miscellaneous other fabrics i threw in as well and had gotten some cotton batting for free from my aunt linda, as well as some pink flannel.  so all in all, a quilt i am quite proud of, that i hope will become an heirloom piece for my daughter for $40 and a YEARS' WORTH OF EFFORT!!!

after i finished her quilt i was so super excited!  i was motivated to finish the other little projects her room has been waiting for!



my grandpa morgan, who the kids call Papa made olivia (and ALL of his great-granddaughters) these adorable doll beds and dressers. i had some bedding i had made for an older doll bed i had for olivia back when she and brady had a cowboy/cowgirl room.  i decided to re-vamp the dolly bedding and whipped up a little hexi blanket for her. man was that EASY compared to her quilt!

                           

couldn't stop there- the baby dolls also got a little mattress and a cute pillow (the pillow insert i have had since olivia was BORN, a find for $1 at D.I.) finally put to its' intended use. sheesh.

love. love. love accomplishing things (like this post 6 months after the fact!!!)

our tooele townhouse.

i have to laugh.  i wrote this post the week after we moved and got all settled in to our place in utah.  funny thing is i kept deleting the photos and taking new ones or waiting for the rooms to be "done" before i posted...

well, now we're GONE and BACK in our house in idaho falls.  i'm gonna post this to journal the crazy 6 months we spent in utah and the place that we lived during that time!

I WILL GET BACK ON TRACK WITH THIS BLOG!  I WILL! I WILL!!!

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moving day from idaho falls.  so thankful for the many hands that came and made light{er} work of moving our entire household out of state.  we fit everything into a 26 ft. truck with room to spare. luckily we have a rather large storage room in the back of the I.F. garage so we left boxes and things in there that weren't necessary to bring on this move.

here we are- still a family of 5! 

(i was 5 months pregnant with camden!)

brady loves to drive with chris in the big truck whenever we move...he's had the experience quite a few times!!!

zach and olivia rode with mommy.  the back end of the van was stuffed full of things i didn't want in the truck.  bikes on the back. we got into SLC at around midnight.  zach has spilled water all over himself and was completely soaking wet.  

we met up with chris' sister, nickie and her husband, nick and they took the kids for us for the first two days so we could get unpacked (and "celebrate" our 11 year anniversary, which was the next day!) there's nothing like unloading a u-haul to say "cheers!"

the u-haul out front of the new place-

and the tour of the new place...

let's start on the outside.  

when you enter the from the front door you are in the living room. we brought our "boogery" furniture with us after we sold the better formal living room couches.  

(sorry- no pic! this was one of the pictures i deleted. then when we got our new IKEA couch, a steal for $200 of KSL.com)

there is a cut-out in the wall from the kitchen to the living room. it really opened up and brightened the space and helped me keep an eye on the kiddos.

then there's the eat-in kitchen.  it's bright and airy, though small.  i had like a 2 foot counter space, but i made it work.  i actually really enjoyed the amount of sunlight in the kitchen and the fact that it overlooked the backyard so i could keep an eye on the kids.  they played out there for most of the whole month of may, but once it got into june a heat wave came through and it became too unbearable to be outside until around 7-8 in the evening!

my sis-in-law, nickie gave me the white buffet, which is still a work in progress.  it served as my office area/command central.

                          




i hung a map over the dining room table in august so we started to learn about states and capitals.  the kids asked tons of questions at every meal and it really sparked a lot of conversation.  i actually kind of miss having a map over our diningroom table!

                            

we had a small pantry in the kitchen which i was SO grateful for, but i still needed more space, so luckily this white cabinet that we had fit in this space by the garage door perfectly.  i could keep all of my baking goods in there and the kids have their chore charts inside one of the cabinet doors and the right side is all homeschool (we homeschooled for the first few months of this school year as we were actively working on moving back to idaho).

                        

off the kitchen we have this great deck where i transplanted some of my favorite perennials, columbine, for a little summer color. turns out that they don't like as much sun as they get here and the heat.  i don't think being in a pot helped much either.  one of the pots didn't make it since i seriously neglected it.

i transplanted some succulents {hens and chicks} from home in Idaho as well and they did well.

then i bought some late-season perennial black-eyed Susans for a deal and a little salvia so we have some pretty color out there.

it's so nice out here all afternoon and evening, we really lucked out having such a nice area to bbq and eat and a private nice backyard.

the view was beautiful too.  {almost} makes me feel like i am looking out at the ocean.  the mountains are the stansbury mountains in the great salt lake.



upstairs we have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  the bedrooms were all very small, as were the bathrooms.  but they worked and were fully functional. i was grateful to have at least two bathrooms! 

i had to get seriously organized in the kids' rooms but we pulled together a lot of little projects that have been on the "to do" list for a while.

it's was super hot upstairs all summer and finally started to cool down by the beginning of october.  the upstairs was almost unbearable during the heat of the summer, especially being pregnant!

master-

i was really glad that our dresser fit in our room.

                               


the baby was in a bassinet-sized pack-n-play next to the bed and the closet is super tight so that we had to pack away half of our clothes!

ready for baby...

scored the rocking chair ($8) and the baby blanket ($3) at D.I.- one of the only things i liked about tooele!

the view from our bedroom was beautiful too.  green mountains and beautiful sky.  this was taken the beginning of may. i wouldn't mind if i could have this view in idaho falls...




olivia's room-

super small.  big enough just for her, but that's all we needed, i guess.  i finally put together a few little things that her room had been waiting for a while.  i love the picture above her bed, which my mom gave me and i re-framed. it's hard to see in this picture but it's the girl in the hollyhocks.

we hung a bunch of her pictures on the wall with some clothespins and tuelle.  i am making her a little book for christmas full of some of her favorite drawings so she can look at them when she wants.

and i FINALLY finished olivia's hexi quilt just in time for her birthday!  i worked on it for a full year and am so happy with the finished look! 

after i finished her hexi quilt i had to make a mini quilt and pillow for her dolly bed!  her great-granpa morgan (papa) made all of his great-grand-daughters these adorable doll beds and dressers! what a special keepsake!  she loves them!!!

i finally took the 20 minutes to paint her lamp which i got for $1 at a yardsale and the lampshade from D.I. for $1.

her quilt is from my aunt donna {for FREE} thank you! the other side of it actually has a pattern which is really pretty, but not the colors or style i am going for.  i actually really love the simple pink with dark pink checked look.  it looks really good with her hexi quilt!!!

i framed some scrapbook paper i had gotten for her room and spray-painted a few D.I. and yardsale frames i had.  i was going for a fancy chunky look with them...

we're didn't use the bunk bed because it was too big for the boys' room, so i used the ladder as a blanket rack in olivia's room.  she has a few cute quilts and pretty afghans that were made for her when she was a baby.  i have also found a few thrifting.

still need to print photos for some frames and planning on making a chalkboard to go inside of the big window frame.

boy's room-

finally pulled it all together... to make it work well for the two boys, ....and then we moved!  i never got pictures. this is what it looked like for the first few months-

brady's space artwork that he drew when he was in 1st grade.

the sign is a find from grammie morgan, its' a saying she always says to brady especially.

brady's corkboard and a little place for them to hang their baseball caps and lighter coats

poor zach, when we first moved in he had either been sleeping with brady in brady's bed, on the floor in this make-shift bed by himself, or with brady on the floor!  at the end of may we went back to idaho falls and got his toddler bed since the bunk bed was too big for their room.

i re-painted it and poly-urethaned it for protection because the last time i painted it i didn't do the protective coat and it got pretty banged up in the garage.

kid's bath-

also more decorated than theirs was ever in I.F. because it was a long project...

i finally made this barn board towel hanger, which only cost me $4! and took me 10 mins.

downstairs-

we had a storage room/laundry room and a half bath.  

in the daylight basement was our family room/play room and a patio door that led to the backyard.  

there was a sandy area that we used as a sandbox-

the kids loved having a trampoline! we got it for them last Christmas

so that's it!  our place in tooele.  the town was ok.  we had everything that we NEEDED but it never felt like HOME.  I was very homesick the whole time we were there.

the kiddos didn't have many friend there and they missed the easy pleasures of coming and going and bike riding all over the place like they did in our neighborhood in IF, but they have did really well playing with each other over the summer and we tried to get to different parks several times a week to stay sane.

this momma was pooped out though! i had a nap with zach in the afternoon almost every day!  our days here were simple but we tried to fill them with as much fun, exploration and love as we could. we read lots of books, built lots of legos and played lots of games.

it's was very hard being in a new place but we tried to stay positive and focused on our personal and family goals.  chris worked extremely hard for our family and we both prayed fervently that our efforts would pay off and that we could get where our family needed to be.  we are so thankful to be back in idaho falls!