I think they should have pictures more like these on the packaging of those boxed do-it-yourself gingerbread houses. The ones on the box always look so pretty and perfect. There's no way to do it like that with the plastic bag the frosting comes in . . . or with kids helping :)This is what we did tonight and it was a blast. Brinton and Zander had a lot of fun putting the candies on the house and then Zander started picking them off and eating them before we could finish. One side of the roof slid off already and it has ventured its way to the trash can. I'm glad I got some pictures before that happened. Oh, and by the way, I am finally caught up on my blogging. This crazy blog-fest can come to an end (at least until Christmas).

Seriously, it's hard to believe that Conley is one month old today. I was talking to Steve a couple days ago about this very thing and he didn't even believe me. He was certain that Conley was only three weeks at that time, but he was four. This picture was taken this afternoon, so now you've seen the latest. He weighs just under seven pounds and is healthy (despite the boys getting over croup). We've tried really hard to keep Brinton and Zander away from him while the've been sick and we're keeping our fingers crossed that Conley won't catch it. He's starting to coo a little and is holding his head up quite a lot. I am pretty sure he's going to be one year old tomorrow!

I will never get enough of the times when my boys play so well together and just love each other. I love to find Brinton reading Zander a book or cooing at Conley. I find Zander several times a day trying to climb up just enough to see Conley in his crib. Of course Brinton and Zander fight sometimes and then there was that one time I found Zander actually in the crib walking around unstably while Conley was sleeping (yikes). . . yes, he did have Conley's binkys in his mouth. For all the times when they aren't getting along, there are plenty of times that they are so sweet to each other. Those are the times I would like to remember. Why is it so easy to remember all the times when they are screaming or stealing toys from each other? The two older boys sitting on the couch together watching a show was so cute to me. Brinton likes to take care of both of his little brothers and has such a genuine love for them. I love my boys!

Not always the biggest fan. Lounging around . . .Much better.

When Conley was just four days old, my sister-in-law turned him into a little model :) Although he didn't just sleep the whole time to make it easy on us, they turned out great. See the tree pose below and you can imagine . . . it wasn't easy. And, everyone will probably enjoy knowing that he was nursed while hanging in that sling, ha ha. I am so, so happy with all the pictures. I have only had them for a week and I have already ordered prints and designed his baby announcement. The announcement is finally printed and going out in the mail tomorrow! I love how little he is and these will surely remind me in a few years when he is way bigger. Here are the images of the announcement. It's a tri-fold card, but I split up the images so you could see.

Here are some pictures of Conley's room. I ended up painting it mostly by myself because Steve was super busy with school and helping his dad with some electrical projects when I wanted to do it. I actually painted the room one week before he came . . . that was cutting it close for me. I ended up finding some fabric that I liked at a quilting store and based the whole room off of those colors. I made a couple of bed sheets for the crib with the fabrics (there were two in the same line that had different prints with the same colors). Then I painted the three colors, we added the squares and finally . . .I helped Steve make this shadow box shelf. I love how it turned out and I am excited to find some things to put in the boxes. Don't worry all of you worriers, I can hang on that shelf and it's not coming down. Conley is quite safe. If you want to see the awesomeness that is his room in person, come on by. I think it looks better in person.

It has been four weeks already and I wanted to have in writing how the labor and delivery went for Conley. If you aren't interested, no worries . . . just don't read it :) Between 12:00 and 1:00 am on the 21st of November, I started counting contractions. I had been to the doctor just two days before and seemed like I was on my way. My doctor kept telling me that he wasn't sure if Thanksgiving or my baby would come first. Because Zander was just over three weeks early, it was likely that this baby would be early, too. Steve had a test that he needed to take on Friday, the 20th, and I had a root canal that day. We both kept saying that if Conley could just wait through Friday the 20th, that would be great and we would be happy to have him anytime after that. The considerate little guy waited just until we needed. He was considerate then, I'm not sure he's considerate now (especially during the nights). I waited for a few hours while timing my contractions because I wasn't sure if this was real labor. They weren't very intense, but they were coming consistently. We decided to call my parents and have them watch Brinton and Zander while we went to the hospital. Even on the phone with them, I felt really stupid because I was sure I would be sent home. However, my epidural came just a little too late with Zander and I decided I would rather feel a little bit stupid than a "lot of bit" painful! Steve and I got to the American Fork Hospital around 4:00 that morning and they wanted to monitor me for an hour. I think I was dilated to just under a 4 when I got there, and was around 80% effaced. After the hour, they said that I was surely having contractions about every three minutes apart. But, I hadn't changed. The nurse said that she was suspicious my water would break soon on its own, so she wanted us to stay for another hour. Well around 6:00, they checked again and I was dilated to a 4.5. The doctor decided to keep me there. He said while they moved me to my room and got me hooked up with an IV and my epidural, he would go home and take a shower. Then, he would come back and break my water to get things moving. Apparently, he was going for a Guinness book of world records for the longest shower! They gave me the epidural around 7:30 and we were just waiting and waiting from then on. I was still having contractions, but they weren't that strong. A few hours later, the nurse said my water broke on its own, so it wasn't a big deal that the doctor hadn't been by.We waited and waited and waited. I tell you this, it was so boring. I was just kind of sleeping on and off because I wasn't in pain and had nothing to do. Around 11:00, they determined that my real water hadn't broken, but just the forebag had. At that point, the doctor came in and decided to put me on a small amount of pitocin. With that, the contractions were a little stronger, but still not strong enough, so they increased the amount about an hour later. That was helping, but still not quite enough. The doctor finally broke my water a little after 12:30 and left me on the pitocin. At about 1:15 in the afternoon, I was finally dilated to a 10 and ready to go. The doctor, however, was in a room across the hall from me delivering another baby. They just told me not to push at all because I told them that my babies don't require much to come out. The doctor got back and I pushed two times and Conley was born at 1:31 pm. He weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces and was 17 inches long.He had a great color and everything looked great, except his blood sugar level. They wanted me to be sure to feed him right away. However he was super tired and wasn't really interested. They took him to the nursery and gavage fed him (which means they put a tube through his nose down to his stomach and force feed food through). He was struggling with eating for the first 24 hours, but started doing better after that. They were worried because his blood sugar levels were going up and down more than normal. It got to the point that if it was ever as low as a certain point, they were going to put him in the NICU. He stayed one point higher than that low for a while and then was good after that. No NICU and by the second day, he was eating like a pro. Brinton and Zander got to see him for the first time when they picked me up from the hospital.He was so cute and little and they fell in love with him right then and there.

Brinton loves to play the Wii and he doesn't get to do it that often. A couple of weeks ago, Steve played with him a little and we decided later to play as a family for FHE. Before we loaded the other game, Steve wanted to make sure we had all the remotes because Zander likes to wander around with them when he gets the chance. One was missing and we couldn't find it anywhere. Steve and Brinton scoured through the whole house to no avail. For the second time, Steve started looking through the toy drawer. Just then, Brinton told him to look through a different drawer in the entertainment center. Sure enough, there was the missing remote. Steve looked at Brinton and said, "What is the remote doing in there?"Brinton replies, "Because, Dad, I'm Swiper the Fox!" We laughed and laughed. I have really wondered about that character though. It's just a thieving little fox that likes to steal whatever you have and hide it from you. I'm not sure that's the best role model for my little Brinton. Do I really want him to choose friends like that? No. Oh well, at least he's good for laughs.

So a couple of months ago, Brinton's pre-school took a field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was a fun thing to do. However, it definitely cost more than it was worth to me. I am glad we went, but I don't plan on going again anytime soon. They did have some good exhibits and I really liked that they had a story time where they read to all these kids. It was adorable watching them enjoy it as a group. The best part was definitely their hands on section where you could touch the sting rays and a few other sea creatures. To my surprise, Brinton tested out and was totally okay with the electric eel shocker (which basically sends a small current through your hand when you touch it). I didn't even want to try it because I've helped Steve with some of our electrical upgrades and one time he forgot to remind me that I was working with a live wire on a light switch and I shocked myself. It shall never happen again! I told him that it wasn't nice to try to electrocute his wife, but he failed to see the humor in my accusation :)I had to include a few pictures of our trip. Be sure to click on the collage so you can see them bigger. I love the one with his friend, Thayne. It looks like a couple shot and Thayne is Brinton's girlfriend (sorry Marcie, but it's true). What a poser!

I know that I haven't really been blogging much lately. I think that we are all lucky to have clean clothes these days :) I have plans to catch up at least somewhat, so brace yourselves. Within the next week, I expect to have several posts (which is a lot for me).

It's crazy how big my first two kids seem as soon as I bring a miniature baby home. Zander is a gigantic little monster and I don't know how he gained like 30 pounds overnight! The two boys are adjusting really well to their little brother. We are now to the point that Zander doesn't try to love Conley by poking him right in the eye and saying, "baby." Of course, there must be supervision at all times still and our little guy spends most of his time in the crib so he can be safe. I have become painfully aware that Brinton is getting so grown up. He no longer says bah-pa for grandpa and pronounces it correctly along with many other things. The saddest one for me to see go is flip flops which he used to call shlop-ops, no matter how hard I tried to correct him. Even Zander has about 15 words that he uses regularly. They sure grow up faster with younger siblings around.

Anyway, just thought I would let you all know that we are doing great and we don't know what we would do without Conley. It seems like he was just born yesterday, but also like he has been a part of our family for years.