One Blessed Day {11/8/15}

Sunday was Fynnick's big day. His Blessing Day!  

 

I had sent out his birth announcement (which I think turned out just perfect).

 

 On the back I put the time and date of when we were blessing him. 

 



The night before I was prepping food and the house for all our friends and family that were coming. I was kinda feeling bad that he was stuck in the swing so I got the carrier and he hung out while I was baking cookies and other stuff. Real Motherhood right there. Haha.

I had so many friends and family members offer to bring food. What a great help this was, so I didn't really have to make that much food. Also, my friend Betsy who I do trade work with came Saturday morning and cleaned my whole house. So the night before all I had to do was prep Chicken Salad, bake cookies and set up tables and chairs.

So Sunday morning was really quite smooth. Which made the day so much better. I was grateful for feeling prepped and relaxed for the day.

I fed Fynnick right before we had to head over to the church. But before that I just had to get a picture of him all dressed up in his blessing outfit. This outfit has been the same one that all three of my boys now have worn. It's kinda fun. I think I might make a post of each of them wearing it. Could be fun to see the comparison.

Jesse gave the most tender blessing. Heidi and I tried to take notes. But then my friend Candice actually recorded it from her phone. It was really hard to hear what Jesse was saying over the crying babies. But between the three of us I'd say we got it pretty darn close to what it truly read.

" Our Father in Heaven, with the power and authority of the Melchizedick priesthood we take this infant in our arms to give a name and a blessing. A name which you shall be known on the earth is, Fynnick Rees Smith.

Fynnick at this time we wish to give you a blessing and to invoke the Spirit of our Heavenly Father to give you a blessing that will guide you through your life. At this time we bless you with continued health and strength that you may continue to grow and develop at a rate pleasing to the Lord that you may continue to be a light in this world with much darkness. We bless you that you may have the desire to have the personality that will lead you to be that light among your peers and among your family. May those around you will look to you for happiness and joy and truth in the gospel.
Fynnick we bless you also that you will be able to have good friends and also be able to help them and influence others to be better.

Fynnick we bless you that you will find joy in knowing you are a son of our Heavenly Father and that you will find power and strength and confidence in that knowledge, and that this knowledge will lead you to make good decisions in your life that lead you to serving the Lord throughout your life that you may serve a full time mission help others to find the truth in the gospel and that you will be better prepared for the rest of your life and find an eternal companion who you can take to the temple.

Fynnick we bless you to also know that you can come to your family, to your brothers, your Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles.

We bless you with the testimony of our Savior and the trust in his atonement and to know that you can go to him for anything you need. We bless you that you may find a friend in our Savior.
We say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ
Amen"

 

I love that we were able to get it recorded and now have a record of it. Hopefully it'll serve him in the years to come as a guide until he can receive his Patriarchal Blessing.

After Sacrament was over we came home and met with everyone who was there. Oh we felt so loved and blessed to those who came over. It was so much fun to see so many loving faces that we hadn't seen in awhile. And the best part was that we had room to accommodate all these people in our new home.

After everyone had trickled out we took family picture of us. And boy was that a joke. When we got home Cy immediately changed into his Darth Vader costume. Which is just fine until I wanted him to get back in his church clothes for a picture. After that struggle he had that hardest time sitting still for  a picture. Then Ryker started acting goofy. I would bet that we had over 20 pictures taken to finally get this good one. Phew. But I'm happy how it turned out.

Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Roland with their 5th grandbaby.

Grandma Heidi and Grandpa Mike with their 5th grandbaby as well.  That's kind of a cool coincidence.

I had to snap a picture with my baby sister. She was my only sibling that was able to stick around for pictures. Tyson just had his new baby girl on Wed (11/5/15) so he only came for the blessing and got a plate of food for himself and one to-go for Jessica. 

That night we actually went over to Tyson and Jessica's apartment to meet new baby Jacklynn Page Goodrich. Jesse and I saw them at the hospital on Thursday, but the boys hadn't met her yet. Riker of course was very tender with her.

It's strange to see such a tiny baby. She was 6lbs 13oz when she was born so Fynn looks like a monster baby next to her. Jesse was making jokes that Fynn was big enough to hold baby Jackie. Haha. Kinda funny.

Fynn is very lucky to have two girl cousins on both sides of the family to grow up with. Its going to be fun to watch the three of them grow up together.

Looking back on that day I can truly say that God has blessed me greatly!

Newborn Photoshoot

I dawned on me that I hadn't posted any of the pictures front the newborn potshot. So I picked out a few of my favorite ones. 

Looking at these makes me kinda sad that he isn't that little anymore. Tonight I went through his newborn clothes and put them away into storage. I pulled out the 3 month clothes and it feels too fast to be doing that already. But it's how it goes. I think I have just gotten used to Ryker and Cyrus needing to go up in sizes once a year now.

2 Months Old!!!

Could this really be? My sweet newborn is no longer a newborn? Its kinda sad how quickly they grow out of that stage. In the whole scheme of life it feels like just a blink of an eye. I miss it already. I am loving seeing him grow and develop though. So its bitter sweet for me.

 

Yesterday I took Fynnick to his 2 month check up. I snapped this picture of him as we were sitting in the waiting room. Such a sweet boy. Its the best when he just gives you a big smile. His eyes light up and he just shines. It touches your heart and just fills you up with indescribable joy. Oh how I love him.

 

I love seeing the older boys get so excited over Fynnick's smiles. The other day as I was driving Ryker to school, he was sitting in the middle of Fynn and Cy. Ryker was talking to Fynn and I guess Fynn was smiling a lot because Ryker said to me "I'm happy I have this big talent that every time I say Hi, he smiles at me." Haha I thought that was the cutest.   

 

What's interesting to me is that Fynnick just takes and takes from us and we just love him SOOO much. He just sits there, occasionally smiling at us, but we all just have such a great love for him. It truly is divine love. Elder Holland gave a talk this last General Conference about this very thing. In it he referred to a letter that a young mother had written him. I found it so profound.

 

 “How is it that a human being can love a child so deeply that you willingly give up a major portion of your freedom for it? How can mortal love be so strong that you voluntarily subject yourself to responsibility, vulnerability, anxiety, and heartache and just keep coming back for more of the same? What kind of mortal love can make you feel, once you have a child, that your life is never, ever your own again? Maternal love has to be divine. There is no other explanation for it."

 

How true is that? Oh I just loved that. His whole talk was amazing but that one paragraph just resonated with me.

Anyway, I just have to say how much joy Baby Fynnick has been the last 2 months. What a little piece of heaven he truly is.


His 2 month stats are as follows;

Weight: 12lbs 11oz (74%0
Length: 24.5in (94%)
Head Circ:  16.2in (77%)

Things about him I want to remember at this age;
-sleeps through the night (9:00pm-7:00am)
-very happy and chill baby
-does make his wants and needs known.
-coos and talks a bunch
-I swear he's so close to laughing. (cam't wait for that)

Halloween 2015

This year for Halloween I didn't have the motivation or the time to make Halloween costumes so I bought and borrowed this year. Sometimes you have to just simplify! Between Amazon and Etsy I found what I needed and the rest I borrowed from my cousin. But I think they turned out so great! Especially baby Yoda! When I saw those on Etsy I just had to buy them.

 

Obviously this year we went with the Star Wars Family theme. It was so much fun. While I was on Maternity leave we watched the Star Wars movies with the boys and they just loved them. So we decided to go with that as our theme. Cy wanted to be "Dark Vader". But he said that he wanted to be a good "Dark Vader". haha 

They are beyond thrilled to have Light-Sabors(Cy calls them "light savers" haha)

Wed (10/28) night our ward had a trunk or treat in the church parking lot at 5:30. I didn't get home until 5:40. But Jesse had warmed up the Lasagna Soup that I had made the night before and we all ate and then headed over there. Heidi had come up because she wanted to see us all dressed up.

I actually had to feed Fynnick after I ate dinner. Then I got in my costume and him in his costume just in time for the party to be over. Haha. I made it to the last 10 minutes of it as people were cleaning up. Haha. Oh well. It made for a good picture.

Yesterday being Halloween and a Saturday I took the day off to spend with the boys. Jesse couldn't be with us because he had class. So I took the boys down the this Ranch in NSL that a client of mine had told me about. It was actually a lot of fun. It was called Cross E Ranch.

My friend Amber from work joined me with her 3 kiddos as well. Her husband was doing a side job so we thought we should hang out.

The ranch had all sorts of fun stuff for the kids. Face painting, balloon animals, hay ride, witches brew, kiddie moral, and a hay Maze.

It was all really well done. The hay maze actually got the 2 adults all turned around and couldn't figure it out. Some random girl ended up helping us find the exit,

 An attempt at a picture with all 6 munchkins together. (Cy, Ryker holding Fynn, Mace holding Layne and Hayley)

 The Kiddie Moral area had a pit full of dried corn kernels that the boys were playing in like they were in a sand box. They loved it. If we had the time they could have spent all afternoon just burying themselves in it. And I loved it because they don't end up with "sand" all over their clothes and track it into the truck. It's a win-win.

 Me and my boys. So blessed. It was such a beautiful day too.

After we got home I fed Fynn and got him in his costume. But before that I had to take a picture of him in his onesie that Heidi gave him that says "Barf Vader" on it. And then I put the Yoda hat and booties on him and I just couldn't stop giggling at how cute he was. haha

Then I had to get a picture of the three of them all together. Little cuties. I can't get enough of them. How can you not say these three are not the cutest?

 We went trick or treating around a neighborhood just below Bountiful Blvd. And these people know how to hand out the good candy. They go all out. Reason we went up there was because Jesse's friend Kris invited us to visit a family friend of his that just have her garage lined with tables and chairs and every kind of candy you can think of for the kids to fill their bags full of. That was our first stop and we had to empty their bags to make more room for the rest of the neighborhood.

I had to get a picture of Hon Solo and Princess Leia

 Cute little Yoda tagging along in the stroller. haha

After we got our feel of trick or treating we went and hung out at Kris's parents house for the remainder of the evening.

 

It was fun to change things up this year for Halloween. The kids really enjoyed going from door o door. They hadn't experienced that yet because we usually go to Mike and Heidi's ward.

 

Another great Halloween for the books. 



35 Looks Good on You

With Jesse's busier work and school schedule it made it hard to get my family and his family together on the same day to celebrate his birthday. So because of that he ended up with a BirthWeek instead of a Birthday celebration. Which is great because he deserves it.

 

Sunday Oct 18 was the day that we celebrated with the Smith's. Heidi made Jesse a special birthday dinner that he requested. And bought pumpkin pie (Jesse's favorite) for dessert.



 This year we all went in on a SunOS speaker that he wanted. Eventually he wants to add to it and make it into a surround sound system. But for now he gets one. It has great sound to it.

 Ok on the day of his birthday I had some plans up my sleeve for him that he was very unaware of. I was so excited about it. Let me tell you.

So weeks before his birthday I contacted his close friends and invited them to meet us at Mikado for dinner. But it was suppose to be a surprise. I had just about everybody's contact info in my phone so it was easy to get ahold of them without Jesse knowing about it. Except one person, Erick Larsen. Jesse went fire academy with him and they became really close. So I thought to look on fb but I couldn't find him (only to find out later it was because I was spelling his name wrong). So I had to be all sneaky and get into Jesse's phone without him knowing. Thing is he has a code on there so I had to time it just right so it wouldn't be locked. It took a few days but I finally was able to get Erick's number and thankfully he could come.

The day of his birthday (Mon 10/26) I told him that I wanted to take him to a matinee movie of "The Martian" (which btw was really good). I made arrangements with my mom to pick up Cy from preschool and hang out with him until we were done. We took Fynnick with us and he did great for his first movie.

After the movie we went and picked up Ryker from school then swung by my parents town home (they are renting until their new home in Layton is done being built) to pick up Cy. We hung out for a little bit and talked with Chan, my mom and her Visiting Teacher (Sissy Izatt). When we were about to leave I asked Chan if she was working that night. She said no. So I asked her if she'd watch the boys around 6pm that night so I could take Jesse to dinner. She said of course.

Well I knew she would say yes and I knew she wasn't working because a few weeks before that I had asked her to watch the boys and I told her my plans to surprise Jesse. But I wanted to throw Jesse off by thinking that I was planning his birthday dinner at the last minute. And Chan was in on it. Sneaky huh? I was so proud of myself. Haha. I'm not usually good at this sort of thing.

Chan arrived around 6pm at our house and we headed to Mikado. Oh that's the other thing, I asked Jesse earlier that day where he wanted to go to dinner (knowing that he'd pick Mikado) because I didn't want to tell him that I made dinner reservations there. I had to keep him from not picking up on any clues that other people were going to be there.

On the way to the restaurant I had text the group that we were on the way. They all replied that they were there waiting for us. Haha. Oh I was giddy inside waiting for this surprise to unfold.

When we walked into the restaurant everyone was in the Tatami Rooms. When the waiter was seating us he asked if we wanted a booth or a table. Still at this point Jesse has no idea and I didn't know how to still make it work. So I asked the hostess if we could be seated in a Tatami room. But he said they were full. So at that point I just had to say that they were for us. So then Jesse was confused but quickly caught on when he saw two Tatami rooms full of his close friends.

Bam! I made that happen. And it was SO cool to see the excitement on his face.

We had such an enjoyable time. I loved watching Jesse interact with everyone and just be the life of the party making everyone laugh and feel loved. He's so good at that.

Starting on the left and going around the table: Jesse, Candice and Brent Bement, Dave Newman (Cassie had to stay home with the kiddos), Kellie and Steve Pugh, and myself. 

 Left to Right again: Tyler and Amber Seaman, Keya and Kris Jenkins, Erick and Tori Larsen, Marie and Mike Long (with their brand new baby girl).

Oh I was so glad everyone could come. It totally made the night so fun and special. Jesse has been working so hard on the master bedroom remodel that he hasn't had much time to really play this last summer. So even though 35 isn't one of those big birthdays to be celebrated I still really wanted to do something special for him. He deserves it!

To continue his BirthWeek we celebrated with my family on Friday Oct 30. I cooked homemade Turkey Chili with Maple Cornbread. Something about this time of year with Halloween I just want Chili.

After we all ate Jesse opened his gifts from everyone. He got lots of clothes. Yay!

 Then to continue with the party we carved pumpkins. I couldn't because I was feeding Fynnick. But I got to watch everyone else do it. Haha

The boys were really REALLY excited about it. They have been waiting all month long to do this. Ryker did his all by himself (with a little help from Grandma Teresa).

...but Cy needed some help from daddy. They carved a cute little Jack-O-Lantern face into Cy's pumpkin.

 Once he was all done he came over to show me his (daddy's) finished work. But then he took it back to the table to continue cutting. He was so focused on cutting this pumpkin up that eventually it turned into just pieces of pumpkin. Haha

 Before it became pieces of pumpkin it went from a Jack-O-Lantern to a "helmet" and then into scraps. Haha. He was so proud of himself.

From left to right: Top: Chantel, Cyrus (look closely to the pile of pumpkin pieces with a candle in the middle of it... So funny), Riker, Ryker, Jesse. Bottom: Mom and Dad.

Tyson and Jessica were suppose to be there but they were walking the track at the Red Center because she was having contractions. They were hoping it would continue into something more. But I guess they stopped and so they showed up to the party late. We were actually celebrating Tyson's birthday as well. So when he arrived he opened up his gifts too. I could tell Jessica was drained. She wants that baby to come so bad. The due date is tomorrow (11/2) and I still haven't heard anything yet from them.

Anyway, so that's Jesse's 35th Birthday Week celebrations. He's such a great guy. He's one of those guys that you want to be around and when he's not around his presence is surely missed. I'm a lucky girl to have him in my life.

Happy Birthday Jesse. Thank you for being born! We love having you around.

Flag Footbal Tournamnet

The flag football team that Ryker has been playing on for the fall season has been so much fun for him. The coach is awesome and the teammates all have a great time together. They made it to the tournament this year and they were so excited about it.

On Saturday (10/24) at 9:00am was the first game. If they won that game then they would move onto the next one. Jesse had class on this day so he wasn't able to make it. I was able to rearrange my clients so that I could be to the game to cheer on Ryker.

It was a really intense close game the entire time, but in the end they just couldn't pull through for a win. They played really well so the loss for them was a bit hard to swallow. When we got into the truck after the game Ryker told me that he wanted to cry. I could see the tears starting to well up in his eyes. Oh the poor thing. I felt so bad for him. I know that feeling of putting your heart into something and it not going how you wanted.

To help him with the emotional wave coming over him I distracted him with Fynn's cute face and that did the trick.

 During the game I had to feed Fynn. That's one of the beautiful things about breast feeding it's just "on tap" where ever I go. Haha. Once I was done he just hung out with me while I cheered for Ryker and his team.

Now that the season is over Ryker is reminding me quite often that he wants to play in the Spring. It's fun to see him get into the game.

Back on Oct 17 Jesse's friend, Kim had 2 extra tickets to the Utah Football game. I couldn't go since I have Fynnick to breastfeed, so Jesse took Ryker. Which I think was a great idea. After they were there for a half hour I got a text from Jesse saying "Ryker is LOVING this." Jesse was enjoying himself so much because of how much fun Ryker was having.

 Even though they got soaked in the rain, the 2 of them had so much fun watching the game. The next morning Ryker told me all about the game. I enjoyed hearing his excitement about it.

Between going to a collage football game and playing on his own team, Ryker has been loving football (and Utah). It's cute that he's so much into the games. Which I love because it gives Jesse someone to watch the games with and be excited about.

Slow Down and Catch Up

 Good grief. October came and went. I would say that we have definitely adjusted to having 3 boys. Its been nice starting to settle into a great routine and schedule. It helps that Fynnick is so chill and easy. It's amazing how much he is changing in the last month. We love to see his personality just come through. The smiles and the coos can just melt your heart.

Oct 5 I took these pictures after he had woken up from sleeping his first long stretch of the night. Since then he's continued to sleep from about 9;00om-7:00am. No more feeling like a zombie.

After I had taken those pictures of Fynnick they reminded me of some of Ryker back in the day. So I pulled out his scrapbook that I made of his first year and was blown away how much Fynnick resembled Ryker. I made a carbon copy of him. It's going to be interesting to watch him grow into his own person.

So I mentioned in the last post that I was able to go back and forth from work to feed Fynn for the first 2 weeks back. But on the 3rd week back is when I stayed all day long. He took a bottle just perfectly. It was the start of regular routine that we would be settling into. The first time I had to take them to my mom's I was surprised how much work and time it took to get everything all ready to walk out the door. But with some practice and prepping the night before the mornings are becoming more smooth.

The first day that I worked all day it was the longest I had been away from him. So when I got home I was so happy to snuggle and get my baby fix for the day. It was hard to leave him for that long, but it wasn't as bad because I was able to transition into it with the first 2 weeks of back and forth.

 Starting October off right (10/10) I was invited to my friend (Candice)'s son's birthday party held at the Pumpkin Patch. It was perfect for us to pick up some pumpkins for our front porch. Matter of fact, the boys got their own wheel barrow and picked out the pumpkins without my help. I was talking with Candice and before I know it, the boys came back with a pumpkin picked out for each of our family members.

 (10/16) UEA weekend. No school for the boys. Jesse didn't have to work and I didn't have to work until 11:00ish. So we got to enjoy a Friday morning really low key. I fed Fynn in my bed and one by one the older boys came into our bed to say good morning to us. As Ryker and Cy were playing with Fynn it dawned on me that I didn't have a picture of all 3 of them together. Fynn kinda steels the lime light in this picture, but I just love seeing those 3 smiles side by side.

 Sunday (10/18) at the Smith's. We ate dinner and celebrated Jesse's birthday (post to come). But every time we get together we always like to compare Fynn and Evie together. Even though Fynn is 3 weeks younger he really seems so much bigger. It's going to be fun watching these two cousins grow up together.

 The next morning (10/19) was my first day back to the gym. 6 1/2 weeks postpartum and it was time. I was nervous but anxious to begin my journey towards pre-baby body. I was grateful that Candice was there to help me modify for my first day back. And Sheesh with half the reps and half the amount of time required for the workout, I felt like I hadn't exercised a day in my life. But after going for 2 weeks now I have noticed that its coming back. Even though I am eager to be pre-baby skinny I need to be patient with myself.  Easier said than done right?

 I took this picture on a Friday night (10/23) after I put the older boys in bed. Jesse was working and I was left to myself to snuggle this babe. I have said this so many times that I am going to sound like a broken record, but I just can't get enough of the way he smells. What is it about them that I just love smelling him?

 Looking through my pictures and what to post, everything seems to be on the weekends. Kinda shows that we are in survival mode during the week. Its all we can do to get through the week. Especially since Jesse has started up a class that goes through the end of the year. Classes are Tuesday and Thursday nights 6:00pm-10:00pm and then Saturdays from 9:00am-6:00pm. If his shift happens to land on class time, they let him leave for class and then they cover him. Which is nice because he gets paid to go to class. But on the weeks where he doesn't have shifts on class days, it makes for a crazy week. Like 2 weeks ago he had 24 hour shifts M,W,F,Sun and then class T,Thu, Sat. So we pretty much never saw him that week.

Thankfully it only goes for a short period. We can do it.