More Hospital Fun!!

We went on our usual "donut and refill" run this morning and dropped by the hospital to give Melissa and Steve some donuts. Melissa was all showered and up and around looking great! We only stayed for a little bit because we hadn't gotten dressed for the day!!

 

We went to lunch and hit most of the regular stores, we were trying to find a preemie outfit for the baby because she came out so tiny that the clothes Melissa had to bring her home in look huge!! We didn't have much luck.

 

Melissa thought they would be going home tonight but the pediatrician wanted them to stay over one more night so we went to keep them company!

 

All the sisters and baby Harper, well almost all, I am not sure why Amberly isn't in these pictures. We had a fun time hanging out in Melissa's room and holding the sweet baby!!

Dress Up Time

This is what we came home to...

 

Owen and Max were just playing downstairs minding their own business and having a great ole time in the old dance costumes! Don't worry Rich put a stop to it right away, he didn't even find it a little cute. I laughed my head off and of course took pictures!!!

Baby PEACH

You may be wondering why this post is called "baby Peach" the reason is, my niece Brinlie has this talent for coming up with the cutest names for babies before they are born. The whole time Melissa was pregnant this baby has been called "baby Peach." It is a name that is not going away any time soon either. But for the record her real name is:

 

Melissa got induced and had the baby before we made it to Logan. We headed up to my parents house first because Logan Hospital does not allow kids under 14 unless they are the siblings of the baby so we had to drop off Max.
Here is Melissa in her room, she was really nervous about actually having the baby but I think she did a great job and didn't have too much trouble!
We all took turns holding the sweet new baby and checking out her tiny little feet. She was only 6 pounds and that is the smallest baby for our family. She is precious!!!

Valentine's Day

After church I sent the kids downstairs so that I could get dinner and everything ready! It was fast Sunday today and I didn't want to take a lot of time preparing dinner so I picked up a heart shaped pizza last night.
I made Rich take a picture with me, he is getting really sick of me always taking pictures of us but one day he will thank me for it!!
Here is our dinner, I might have to do this more often, it is nice to not have to worry about making dinner after church (especially when we get out at 4pm)!!!
I wanted dinner to be special so I decided to do candlelight and eat in the living room at a table, to mix it up a little! I got everyone a little valentine box with teats in it and we had sparkling cider in fancy (plastic) heart glasses. I thought the table looked fantastic and I was excited for the kids to see it!
I let them upstairs when everything was ready and all the lights were off and the candles were lit. Alex was really impressed and I think Alexa thought it was kind of weird but I think she liked it. We ate all the food and went through 3 bottles of the sparkling cider. It was a great time and I think it is something we will need to do again.
After dinner we gave the kids a valentine and then me and Rich exchanged gifts. Somehow I only got a picture of Max and his elephant. Alex got a panda bear that makes sounds, Alexa got a new bag that she was dying for. Rich gave me the cutest boots and 2 rings and I gave Rich a couple new shirts and a little photo book I made for him with pictures of us over the past 6 years!!! I really enjoyed this season of love, can't wait for next year!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 14

Since this is the last day of the "love fest" I just want Rich and the kids to know that I love them so much!!! I have had a lot of fun thinking of all the things I love about each of them. I can't express in words all the joy and love that they have brought into my life and I am thankful for it every day!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 13

Rich: I love that he is always willing to let me do fun things with my friends and family, ie: book club, bunco, weekend trips, girls nights etc. I know he gets jealous but he never makes me feel guilty about having fun without him!!!

Alexa: I love that she tells me about things going on in her life, ie: her first kiss, troubles with friends etc. I am glad that she trusts me and knows that she can tell me anything!

Alex: I love his smile, it makes me happy!

Max: I love how I was helping him say his prayer and he whispered to me in the middle of it, "I think I got it mom" and then he continued on his own...it was adorable!

Sugar Cookies

We didn't have much going on today so I thought it would be a great idea to make sugar cookies for the FIRST time EVER!!!
I had to go buy cookie cutters from Macey's after work and then I got started. I got the dough made and started baking, man this recipe made a ton of cookies!!! I was cooking them for hours and Rich was getting really impatient because he wanted to go to dinner!
Finally about 7pm all the cookies were baked and we went to Papa Kelsey's for dinner. It was just me Rich and Max, Alexa and Alex were at their friends houses.
When we got home, I made the frosting and Rich helped me frost the cookies while we watched the news. It was great having him help but it still took a really long time to get them all done!
They turned out really yummy and I am really glad I made them!! I am not sure if I will be making green shamrock cookies next month, we will just have to wait and see!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 12

Rich: I love laying in bed with him in the morning and wishing we could just stay there all day!!!

Alexa: I love that she has such good friends!

Alex: I love that his head finally feels better!!!

Max: I love that he rarely pee's the bed anymore, I was getting worried!!

Making Valentine's

Alex was really wanting to make a "fancy" valentine's box this year. He hasn't been feeling well this week and I hadn't really even thought about it until today so needless to say we wrapped a shoe box in red paper and he decorated it...pretty boring huh??
He made the cards and then taped them to rice krispy treats. I think it turned it turned out cute and it's not like he is going to keep it forever so it was good enough!!!
Max was really excited to make his valentine's. He went to the store with me and picked out "sour spray" as his treat...he loves that stuff! He was pretty worried about having to give them all to his friends. He said to me, "can I make a valentine for myself?"
He wrote his name on all the cards and taped them to the spray. He had a great time!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 11

Rich: I love sitting together every night after the kids go to bed and watching the news with him!!!

Alexa: I love that she looks like "Annie" after I curl her hair but then the next day the curls magically loosen and look gorgeous!!!

Alex: I love that Alex is so sweet and sensitive. He is a very caring child.

Max: I love it when Max tells me about his dreams. I always ask him if he slept good and he always says yes and then he will tell me about his dream. Today it was about Pieper driving him in a red corvette.

"LOVE FEST"...Day 10

Rich: I am so glad that he holds the Priesthood and honors it. Having that in our home is such a great blessing for all of us.

Alexa: I love her smile

Alex: I love his imagination, it makes me want to be a kid again!

Max: I love that he can say the prayer on his own and I love hearing the sweet things that come out of his mouth when he does say the prayer.

"LOVE FEST"...Day 9

Rich: I love that he makes me want to be a better person!

Alexa & Alex: I love that they get themselves up in the morning and to school without me having to even get out of bed, what great kids!!!

Max: He cracks me up, he says the funniest stuff sometimes. Pieper was at our house playing with Max and they were doing something and I hear Max say to her, "do you understand what I am telling you?" It was so funny the way he said it to her like he was an adult and she was a kid, even though she is older than he is!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 8

Rich: I love that he will go to any movie with me...even "chick flicks."

Alexa: I love that even though she pretends she doesn't like me...I know that she does!!!

Alex: I love that he can spend hours and hours looking at and building roller coasters on the computer.

Max: I love the way he comes to my bed in the morning and snuggles me!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 7

Rich: I love that he is such a great example to me and the kids.

Alexa: I love that she has started wearing my old clothes...I LOVED wearing my mom's clothes and I think it is fun to see her wearing things that I used to wear!!!

Alex: I love that he still likes me to come down to his room and tuck him in!!

Max: I love that even though he has fits and tantrums sometimes about going to bed...and I have to sometimes yell and get mad at him, he still wants me to snuggle with him!!!

Rich's DAY OF FUN!!!

As you know Rich has been living at the Duvall's house for the past 9 days...I thought he could use a "mini vacation."
I wish I had the money to take him on a real vacation, but since I don't I had to get creative!!!
We left the house and headed to Provo. Now you have to keep in mind that we are on a budget and that I was really trying to give him a relaxing day without spending too much money!!! We both got massages at Provo College. It was only $30 for both of us to have a 50 minute massage. I will not lie, it was not the best massage I have had (and it felt like I was in a hospital triage area) but it was relaxing and I got what I paid for!! Rich actually really enjoyed his and that is all that matters!! He was not happy about my snapping pictures of him all day but he was a pretty good sport!!!
We headed to the Orem Fitness Center to relax in the hot tub and the steam room. We stayed there for a while and it was fun to sit there and talk. We both got ready and I kept having memories of high school (having to get ready in the locker room after Hi-Lo practice). It is not fun getting ready in a locker room and needless to say it was a bad hair day for me!!!
We were both pretty hungry so I gave him a few options for lunch and he picked "Noodles and Company." We have never eaten there and we both really liked it!!! We ate and talked and it really did feel like we were on vacation a little!!
We decided to head to the mall to kill some time while waiting for a movie. We walked around the Orem mall for a few hours. We window shopped and ate chocolates from See's Candy. We ended up missing our show time so we stayed a little longer!!!
We ended up going to Wendy's for a lite dinner because we both were still pretty full from our lunch. We ate and talked some more. Then we went and bought tickets to "Dear John." We had about an hour to kill before the movie so we walked around the Provo Mall.
The movie was really good and I cried my eyes out!!! I love going to movies and I am so glad that Rich does too. He is willing to go to any movie with me and I love that about him!!!

 

We ended up getting home around 11pm. We spent 13 hours together just the two of us and it was WONDERFUL!!! Who says you have to spend alot of money to have a great time!!! We ended up spending under $60 all day!!! Now that is budgeting!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 6

Rich: I love that Rich is my best friend!!!

Alexa: I love that Alexa is so responsible, I never have to worry about her because she is such a good girl!!

Alex: I love that Alex loves to sing, he has the sweetest voice and I hope that he will continue to enjoy it and practice!!

Max: I love to snuggle Max!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 5

Rich: I love that Rich is a clean freak. I really don't think I have cleaned the bathrooms since I married Rich. He loves a clean house and sometimes goes a little overboard and moves stuff off the counters etc. and then I have no idea where things are...but he is very helpful around the house and I really appreciate it!!!

Alexa: Loves to re-arrange her room. She usually keeps a pretty clean room and loves to change it around.

Alex: I love that Alex is so smart. He is doing so well in school and has really good handwriting.

Max: I love the way he is learning new things everyday. He draws the cutest people (see previous post)and he writes his name all by himself (although most the time it is backwards or the letters are out of order). He is a smart kid!!

Welcome Home

Since Jeff and Steph are going to be home tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to make them a "welcome home" sign. They were gone for a long time and their kids really missed them!!! My mom used to always make us signs for stuff and I remember it always made me feel special.
Alexa was in charge of the "welcome home" part and then I told all the kids to draw a picture or write a note on the sign. Parker and Alex got a little carried away and the sign ended up being a little bit obnoxious...but that is fitting right, 8 kids for 9 nine days can become pretty crazy!!!
I got some balloons from the dollar store because, who doesn't love balloons?? The kids were really excited about the sign and Adriana didn't want me to hang it up yet because she wanted to be there when her mom and dad saw it. We convinced her that it would be better for it to be all hung up and ready when they walked in the door!!!
I just had to take a picture of Max's contribution...I love the way he draws people!!!
The week went really smoothly and we didn't have any major meltdowns or problems!! But I have to say I will be glad to have Rich back home, I HAVE MISSED HIM!!!