5 + 1 = 6

The Stuard family is excited to announce the pending arrival of another GIRL this fall!



It has been a long road to finally say that I am 17 weeks along and almost half way done. It has been an extremely difficult and emotional journey to get to this point. We hope and pray that the second half of this pregnancy is a lot smoother sailing than the first. I think Mitch really hopes for the emotional well being of his family that this is true. I have been some what of a crazed lunatic. I could spend a lot of time writing about infertility and loss but want to keep this on a happy note and not a sad one! We feel very blessed to have this new little baby come to our house and can't wait to meet her.

Today when we found out that it was going to be a girl, we told the kids. Cameron's reaction was so funny. He started shouting "c'mon, oh c'mon" over and over and then started laughing so hard that he started to cry. I think idea and the reality of having three little sisters was hysterical to him!

Sunshine for my soul

Natalie has become an artist of late. Today she spent the day drawing suns for me. They are so cute, I just love them.

There are no words...

Our TV is dead.

We have only had it for four years and it no longer works. Isn't that just great? After thinking that we might be able to wait awhile before replacing it, reality set in...okay panic set in. So on Saturday we loaded up the kids and headed to Costco to look for a new one.

While looking at all of our TV options and not sure what to get, what to our wondering eyes did appear? The BIGGEST STUFFED BEAR you could imagine for only 30 bucks!! The kids were going crazy and so was Mitch (While dating Mitch in high school I received NUMEROUS stuff animals. I should have been forewarned...) So instead of coming home with a new TV, our family came home with a bear that is so big I have no idea where it going to be kept. I am talking HUGE, the tag on the bear says it is 53" tall. Mitch thinks he might get an award for "Father of the Year" but I think he might get "Biggest Sucker" award. Thoughts?



If you think that by the look on my face I am thinking, "Where on the earth is this going to go in my house", you would be correct!



My favorite quote of the night came from Mitch after the bear came in the house...."Wow, this bear is huge. It didn't look so big in the warehouse!"

T-ball 2011

-STATS-
Team name: Dragons
Number of players on the team: 8
Coach: Dad
Team color: Texas orange
Practices: Tuesdays at 6:00
Games: Saturdays
Age: 5
Jersey number: 6
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Number of girls on the team: 2
Plays for the snack (still): Yes
Needed a pink mitt and bat: Yes

Julia's team is very cute. Some of the boys aren't the best listeners making it a little challenging for the coach at times. The coach now realizes at this age it is a lot more of organized babysitting than coaching!



The day of the team pictures the weather was terrible so there were quite a few of the kids that didn't make it.



Julia is getting to be a great little hitter and runner. She does however throw like a girl! During most of the games she asks me at least once what I think that snack might be and what Cameron and Natalie are off doing at that moment. She is very cute.

Toothless!

It came out Friday morning and boy was she excited to go to school! The tooth fairy came and brought her $2.



(Every picture I took of her, she looked half asleep!)

Whirlwind of Life

Life has been flying by at tremendous speed. We have been caught up in the daily whirlwind of activities that May has had to offer and because of that I haven't updated my blog as much as I would like. It would also be a pretty boring narrative of our daily routine that keeps us on our toes!

Mitch is incredible busy with track, work, and his new calling (Stake sports director). Track is in its last two weeks of the season and he has been away from home and at track meets a lot. I'm ready for the season to be over! With his new calling he is in charge of putting on the stake fun run "Trek around the Trail" in a few weeks. In his spare time, he is working out like crazy with P90X and has lost 25 pounds so far! He is also the coach of the cutest t-ball player around. More pictures to follow....



As for me and the kids. Things have been just as crazy. I am getting a new calling, back to the primary. Not sure whether to be relived to be done teaching Relief Society or not....
I am ready for the school year to wrap up and be done. No more bus, helping in classes, homework and all that jazz sounds so appealing.

Cam has been in baseball with games Tuesday, Thursday, and some Saturdays. These games are long, cold and right in the middle of dinner, homework, and bath nights. He is so cute in his uniform and seems to enjoy it but it has been a struggle for me to keep up with the busy schedule and the politics that come along with older kid sports. He is getting so big, I can hardly believe that he is mine. He makes me laugh every day. The other day he told Mitch, "Oh, dad stop being so prehistoric!" What does that even mean? I don't think Cam has a clue either!

Julia has been in t-ball and is so cute! She is becoming a great reader and I can't believe she is almost finished with kindergarten. In school, the kindergartners are learning about the "chicken cycle." They have had chicken eggs that hatched in the classroom and she has been so excited to watch the process. Every day she comes home with an update of what is happening with her chicks. Her first wiggly tooth is just about to fall out any minute and she hopes it falls out before school gets out so she can show everyone in her class. Our family some how managed to catch the flu again...Julia has had the worst of it and is still struggling to get over it.

Natalie. What a funny girl. Busy as ever and as cute as can be, but what a little pistol! Today we went grocery shopping and witnessed the last of the free bakery cookies being taken by someone right in front of us. Natalie then proceeded to cry throughout the whole shopping trip. Yesterday I went to Target where she bawled through the entire store almost the entire time. Some say that you need to enjoy these "special" years with your kids because they will be gone before you know it. Yes, it is true but these same people go shopping in peace.

A special HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to my baby brother today! Happy 21!

Black and White

Cameron see things very black and white, right and wrong. I love this about him. The right thing to do is easy for him to see. Honest to a fault, the world around him would be a better place if everyone was a little more like him. Lately he has been our family's moral compass keeping us in line:

• When I keep the water running too long he reminds me that I am wasting water.
• When Mitch or I get impatient in the car with another driver he has to pointed out that we need to relax.
• The other day Mitch and I were discussing something that was frustrating that someone had done. Cameron was listening to us and then said, "The things you are saying about the other person aren't very nice, that would hurt his feelings if he heard that."
• Last week Cam asked me what he should do if the person bringing the snacks for baseball brought everyone a Coke. Should he take it? Because he doesn't drink Coke, it is bad for his body. But would that be rude?
• He came home from school last week and asked Mitch to start washing the cars on the grass because he learned that when you wash your car the soap goes into the sewer and then into the Puget Sound polluting it.
  

I could go on and on... but he definitely keeps me on my toes. Being a good example to him has high standards! I hope I can succeed. On Sunday I had the opportunity to teach his primary class. It was so cute to see him answering questions, volunteering to pray, and reading in the scriptures. It is fun to see what a good boy he is turning out to be.

Happy Mother's Day

What a nice day to hug my kids and be thankful to be a mother.