And the verdict is...

GIRL!!!!

A pretty confident legs spread wide open girl! We are so excited to have two of each and to give Brookie a sister (although she can hold her own with boys just fine). And the sonogram showed a healthy baby that is right on schedule for April 13th! We feel blessed to have three healthy kids and looks like #4 is plugging right along too.

Thanks for all the votes, now give us your name ideas :)!

Boy or Girl?

This Thursday, Dec 1st, we have our ultrasound for baby #4. Vote in boy or girl in the poll.

Ty is 6!!!

Remember when you were six, or about, and birthdays were everything? You counted down for weeks and reminded everyone everyday how many days left until your big day. We got to relive that this past few days wih Ty. He was so excited and I loved being reminded of how fun birthdays used to be.
Today was the big day and he soaked up every minute!

Bowling! With a winter birthday, this is usually an activity of choice. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shaw! It's always fun to have you there.

Jordo did great, even after falling and dropping the bowling ball on his hand :(

Of course, Brooke found better things to do with her time.


It was a great day and here were the highlights...

...the strike!...

...the airplanes...

...the pillow pet...

and blowing out the #6 candle that finally proves it's real!

We love you Ty! Happy Birthday!

Mr. Strong vs. Jordo and...

I sort of forget about the blogging world now and then, but I told this story a couple of times and was told it was blog worthy. Most of Jordo's life is, but I don't have time to blog every day. And sorry the picture is after it healed, I am also a camera slacker!


The other day we were having a boring, quiet afternoon at home while Brooke was napping and Ty was at school. I took advantage of Jordo being self-entertained and tried to get some dinner prep started. The next thing I know, there is a lot of grunting, yelling, 'whoaing' and some pretty intense breathing coming from the front room.

Then the play by play started.

"Mom, Mr. Strong just threw me down, but don't worry!"

"Mom, I just got Mr. Strong, but he's coming back."

"Mom, look, Mr. Strong just threw me down across the carpet!"

"Ow, Mom, Mr. Strong really got me that time!"

I did the mom thing and said it sounded like fun and to be careful. But keep in mind this was an imaginary fight, with an imaginary Mr. Stong. By the end, Jordo had won, but he had the battle wounds to show for something.

Picture the pink remains of a sore on the bridge of his nose, bright scabby red for days! A rug burn down his nose, all thanks to Mr. Strong.

and.... If you stuck it out through the story and got this far :)....

We will have another addition to the Shaw family the beginning of April. We are so excited and will find out a just before Thanksgiving if Brooke gets a sister or will be the only girl. We are fine either way and just excited to know!

Kindergarten!

Ty started school last week! He's officially in kindergarten and has been counting down for months. He was beyond ready and has soaked up the whole experience.

Having his gone has been an adjustment for Jordo, Brookie and me. The first day of school Jordo promptly renamed his stuffed bear Ty, so as to fill the void.
It doesn't feel like he should be in school and time has gone by so fast. But he was ready. He never even looked back when I took him the first day and by day three he didn't even need us to walk him in. He just got out on the curb and headed in, which is a bit overwhelming for a first time kindergarten mom!
Love you Ty and so proud of you.

Love our Jordo!

I love my kids.

All of them are so different and fun in their own way.

Jordo is our kid that does everything the fun, but not always easy, way.

He is constantly thinking of new adventures and trying to put them into action.

He is so smart and loves to build and create.

Not much slows him down.

Actually, the only thing that does, is books.

He loves to read and be read to and will stop just about anything for a book.

Tonight I found him in bed like this....

He knew he was tired and couldn't hold up the book, so he did the only thing he could do...

He read until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

Jordo, I love this about you and hope you never change!

Oops, Blog Slacker!

We've been busy but we've been having fun. Here are some of the highlights we thought we'd share.

Ty in training for swimming season.

Brookie enjoying the one day that it was warm enough for water and then the heat was gone.


My boys are really starting to fatten up, don't you think?

Jordo's #4 birthday!

Loads of fun...until the rain.

Then to St. George. We went golfing for Jordo's actual birthday and he got a hole in one his first shot! Not a bad way to celebrate.

When she wasn't getting her head stuck in fences and crawling through the obstacles, she was hugging them.

Ty's turning out to be quite the swimmer.

And Jordo was working on getting brave.

Jordo got this awesome, GIGANTIC ball for his birthday.

(Not sure who is smart parents are who thought they had somewhere to store it, but then again, sometimes fun is more important that being practical, right?)

And it is SO MUCH FUN!

And last on our catch-up list is T-ball!

Ty has finally made one of his dreams come true.

He loves sports and has been waiting and waiting for the day he could play on a team and really hit a ball that counts. And he did. The other kids were testing things out and Ty hit it out of the park (in T-ball terms of course).

That's our life in a nutshell and if you aren't too stuck on Facebook, comment and say hi!

Easter Celebrations

Before we get into Easter, I thought I should let everyone know how excited Ty was to wear his new church shoes. 'Goofy' really is the only word that comes to mind.

Now for Easter.
We egg hunted at Grandma and Grandpa Shaw's.
I am afraid this will be most of the faces on Brooke's pics, she's posing.

Jordo finding the magic money egg!


Ty takes his egg hunting very seriously.

Then to Grandma and Grandpa Gay's for more eggs!

Grandma Gay sent all the grandkids (except for Zach, who we missed, but will be in Utah this summer, hooray!) on an "Amazing Race".

Here is Jordo making his shots before he can move on to the next level.

We Easter crafted all sorts of things that had way to much sugar in them.

And we pinned some tail on this bunny.

Here's a shot with most the kiddos. Brooke was napping and Cody was happy being left alone. It's always a good time when we get these kiddos together. We only wish it could happen more often.

Happy Easter!

"Be thou a beaver?"

This past weekend was Conference! We love Conference at our house and we try to hype the kids up for a few weeks, so we don't have too many meltdowns. We try to come up with lots of activities and distractions so we can watch as much as possible.

We even go so far as to bring the kids mattress into the front room.

This time, like other times, we had Conference Bingo for the kids and Ty took this very seriously.

At the beginning, the kids were very excited and listened to every word, hoping they could put an M&M on the square. I think it was Elder Perry who quoted the scripture, "Be thou a believer" and Ty started looking at his paper, "Beaver? Do you have a beaver? I don't have a beaver?"

We loved it and just said we didn't think there was a beaver square and to keep listening.

We loved Conference and love that our kids are starting to appreciate it too!

St. Patrick's Day!

Here are my three very green, very cute kiddos.

Kids make the holidays so fun, so we do all we can to have as much fun as we can.

Not quite sure what Jordo's up to, but hey, that's usually the case.

We had a little fun at the church with some friends, and this was Brooke's idea of smiling for the camera. At least she stopped moving, which was more than I got from her or the boys the rest of the time.


And yes, we ate green. Very green.

And all that matters is my kids ate it up, and it tasted better...

because it was green!

Ridin' a Two-Wheeler!

Ty has been determined to take off the training wheels, but I had my doubts.

Today was the day, and he proved me wrong.

I thought he would be too cautious. He tried and tried, and in less than an hour, he had it!

I shouldn't be surprised, since he loves sports and does well at them, but he hates to get hurt. He overcame it all. Now, he is a bike riding machine!

My boys, like their mom, are ready for summer. So they insisted on shorts, but it was still a bit chilly. So we did the fashionable thing, shorts and big jackets.

He started going back and forth by the grass so he'd have a cushion if he fell. But before long he was driving around our apartment complex and the parking lot.

Still, and always, a goof ball.

Ty couldn't have all the fun.

Jordo really showed his stuff on the scooter.

That takes some real talent.

Showing off their riding skills!

We're in for a great summer.

Love You!

Why are these flowers so special? Besides that it's Valentine's Day and they are beautiful and no doubt they are from my perfect in every way husband? Well, he happens to be on a business trip cruising the Caribbean (I know, right?) and, knowing he was going to be MIA this Valentine's Day, made special plans to have our awesome florist neighbor make me this stunning arrangement. And even better then the flowers, was that the satelite phone worked for about two minutes and I got to hear his voice!

I am so blessed to be married and the eternal companion of my wonderful husband. He really is more amazing than I could have ever dreamed and makes me so happy. I love anticipating him coming home from work every day and I love the butterflies I still get when he kisses me. I love spending each day with him, and love that I get him for eternity!

LOVE YOU!

And these are my beautiful kids. We were having a great time with some great friends at the church and I caught them for a quick pic. Wow! I really can't ask for anything else. I have it all.

LOVE YOU!

Happy Valentine's Day to my perfect family.

I Love These Kids

It's no secret that I have some SUPER cute kids! Lately, I've noticed a few things that I really love about them.

I love Brookie's hair after we take out her pigtails. And I love when we don't have anywhere to go so she can stay like this all day!

I love that she loves cereal. She grabs the first box she can reach and either brings it to me for help, or helps herself.

I love that Jordo does everything his own way. Not just getting a drink of water, but everything.

I love that Ty loves to read and loves to learn. He starts kindergarten this fall and he couldn't be more excited. In the mean time, we'll do what we can at home to get him ready.

I LOVE MY KIDS. It's been a long winter indoors and we are ready for some sun, some space, pool time, picnics, parks, bare feet... the list goes on and on. But through it all, I have loved getting to know these three kiddos a little bit better each day.

Nothing like a little cat for dinner

Today I was cooking some ground beef for dinner and Ty came over. Here's how the conversation went....

Ty: "Mom, what are you cooking?"

Me: "Some meat for dinner." (It came from a tube package, so he was a bit worried.)

Ty: "What kind of meat?"

Me: "Just ground beef, but once it's cooked it'll look better. It's like what we use for meatballs."

Ty: "But what does it come from"

(My brother-in-law hunts and so Ty has been fascinated with which animal is which meat)

I tried to lay low and act like it was no big deal.

Me: "A cow" (I said it quickly so he wouldn't make any judgements)

He didn't say anything and when I looked over he looked like he was trying to control his gag reflex.

Me: "Ok?"

Ty: (Trying to be brave) "Ok, so ground beef from a cat, ok."

I tried so hard not to laugh, but couldn't help it.

Me: "Oh, not a cat! A cow!"

I've never seen him so reassured before. I promised that we'd never eat cat (let's hope we never have lows that low) and gave him a hug and showed him, since it was finished, what normal cow ground beef looked like.

I think we'll laugh about that one for a while.

If you want a good taco soup recipe that is 100% cat free, go HERE.

Poor Baby Girl

Poor poor Brookie.

We learned the hard way that she is allergic to amoxicillin.

She was one big rash from head to toe and couldn't stop itching. After three long days and even longer nights, she is feeling a lot better. Still a bit red, but that should fade soon.

I wish it could be really caught on camera.

This was after the worst, but still not looking great.

Baths were pretty much the only way to soothe her.

These are just a few pics of her quirky personality.

She does this whine where she squishes her face. We have yet to truly capture it, but this is close.

Ty picked these at the dollar store, and Brookie loved trying them on.

Love this girl and so glad the rash is gone. Now if she could just finish teething and get rid of those ear infections.