School Days

Summer passed in a whirlwind. Some days were great, others were crazy hard, but the important thing is that we all survived! This was the first year I was thrilled when school began again (which made me a little sad), but summer with a newborn and older kids is HARD!

T

 Big 1st grader!!

 Cool 3rd grader

With these 2 gone ALL day, it leaves me time to hang out with the quieter people in the family :)

 Lauren is a delight (once she started eating)! She is super smiley and happy most of the day. She is getting some thunder thighs, which means a lot more to me this time around! I feel very successful.

 This guy works upstairs every day....just a yell away :)

 Oh and this boy! He is sooo fun! He has this great personality and I love spending my days with him.

Feeling blessed to be the mama of these 4 beauties ;)

Fussy #4

Lauren is 4 weeks today. On one hand, I can't believe how fast it has gone and on the other hand, I can't imagine life without her. She is a long, skinny little thing who took 3 weeks to sorta figure out nursing and how to be gentle with mama (we're still not all the way there yet!!). She is usually wailing if she's not nursing or being held with a binkie in her mouth (as shown above). She is awfully cute though and sleeps pretty well at night. Having our 4th be our fussiest has been a challenge though....I consider surviving every day a major accomplishment :)

 4th of July

 1st beach trip at 2 weeks :Jetty Island

 Blessing day (and my birthday!!)

 Amish baby. Someone gave me this hat with Linds and she never wore it, so I made Lauren wear it :) The gown was made by my dad's grandma and has been worn by all my babies.

Boys II Men, 98 degrees and New Kids on the Block concert for my birthday/anniversary.

Lauren Mae

Lauren Mae Karren

June 20, 2013  6 :33 pm

7 lbs 10 oz

19 1/2 inches

Since Blake was such a large baby and Clint only had the last week of June off before starting a new job July 1, we decided to be induced with baby girl. It was such a surreal experience....knowing your baby's birthday, setting up all the childcare beforehand and checking into the hospital in complete comfort :) I actually loved the whole experience!

Little girl was born about 5 hours after real contractions started. I was prepared to go natural, but I had horrible pain in my legs and thighs (not sure where that came from!) so I wasn't able to labor standing up, which made things hard. I was also fearful for the pushing...which was the worst with Blake! So, I got an epidural and loved it. Not sure why I wanted to go natural in the first place :) Pushing was a breeze. Pushing out a 7 lb baby is MUCH easier than pushing out a 9 lb baby! And to our pleasant surprise, she was a nice 7 lb 10 oz peanut (an ultrasound a few weeks prior already put her at 7 1/2 lbs...so glad they were off!) with a bunch of dark hair.

She came out fiesty....I blame that on us pushing her out early and having to leave her grandpa :(  Luckily, she calmed down by bedtime.

She is a really sweet baby and we all love having her in our home. We've had some hiccups nursing (I thought by the 4th we'd have this down pat!), but no complaints otherwise.

We've always liked the name Lauren, but when Lindsey arrived, the name didn't feel right, so we filed it away. When this baby arrived, we didn't know her name right away, but Lauren felt good (plus it is so sweet to hear Blake say baby Warren). Mae is my grandma's middle name.

 Super dad! He has been such a great help this week. He's kept the kids busy and happy their first week of summer.

 The family of 6!

 Jack has been a huge helper and loves holding his sis.

 This guy can't get enough of his sister. He's mostly soft, but curious :)

 And Linds finally has her sister!!

A little Blakey, a little Linds....she's a good mix.

Babymoon

I haven't blogged in forever and I don't really feel like catching up :) Life is mundane right now, not boring (never boring with my 3 kiddos!), but just rolling along at a steady pace. We've made plans for the future, only to keep having them dashed, so we are just turning it over to the Lord now. Obviously, He knows what's best for us.
Clint and I took a little babymoon to Phoenix for some R and R and to meet my adorable new niece, Peyton. We stayed with Erin most of the time, except for a little getaway to a Scottsdale Resort for the night. Dreamy!!

 Yikes! Whities!

 Tessa is such a character. I love that her dressing style is taking after my daughter ;)

 Could not get enough of this peanut!! I snuggled with her every possible moment I could :) I want one! Good thing I only have 5 more weeks to wait :)

Not the greatest pic since we have pjs on and no make-up, but we took a pic when we were first pregnant (below) and then here we are 6 months later!

Our trip ended on a sad note as we found out the night before we were leaving that Clint's dad had passed away suddenly. We are now mourning this sweet man and cherishing his legacy.

St Patrick's Day pics

I am tired of seeing that photo at the top of my blog, so here are a few new ones I snapped before church today. I'm so lucky they are mine!

II

Busy boy Jack looking smart in his suit.

This guy loves taking pictures. Sometimes he'll just ask me to take pictures of him for no reason. He's such a joy!

Easter dress, ladybug headband. Choose your battles :)

25 weeks baby! I feel like a whale already :) Luckily, I feel pretty good.

ABAB pattern

So excited to meet our little lady in June!!

They're growing up!!

Jack was baptized by his dad last Saturday. It was a special day shared by many friends and family. Jack described his baptism as feeling cold on the outside (the water heater was broken which resulted in some chilly water!), but warm on the inside. We are so proud of our little boy making this important decision in his life.

We surprised the kids with a quick getaway to the Great Wolf Lodge as a way to end the month long celebration of birthdays. We went with 4 other families and had a blast! The best part was picking the kids up early from school and not telling them where we were going. They finally figured it out when they saw GWL as we were exiting the freeway. Then it was so fun to have them "finding" their friends in the water park!

The most exciting of the part of the trip? Lindsey losing her first tooth.

She first discovered it was loose Monday morning and it was out 24 hours later (with a little help from Dad!). When that girl puts her mind to something, it happens! :)

Our kids are growing up so fast!

 (And I am growing out so fast :).....the gender will be revealed on Friday)

8 is great!

My little boy turned 8 this week. He had a birthday brunch with his best buds and spent the day with his daddy, who he is lucky enough to share a birthday with.

He started scouts yesterday and will be baptized on Saturday. It is hard to believe how quickly this little boy is growing up.

He still has a tender little heart, but he is "cool" now. He has to wear the right clothes, the right shoes and always look smooth. He is smart, helpful, kind, and a joy to have in our home.

 We love you Jack Jack!!

This other little boy keeps me laughing. He loves to dress up and take photos. This is him "working" in the kitchen. His vocab is exploding and he loves copying everything we say :)

We went to a friend's 30th last weekend: the theme being 90s prom. Loved being pregnant at prom because I felt so scandalous. I also played Scary Spice for our Spice Girls routine and Clint danced in a boys band routine. Good times!

The 3 girls "knocked up" at the prom :)