It's about that time...

I'm so pathetic at this blog thing... SORRY. I guess a lot happens in three months and with a memory like mine I forget everything! It's hard to believe I have four children. I have a dream that one day my memory will kick in to gear and I'll remember all those precious moments that I failed to record in baby books and journals. For the time being I'm drawing a BLANK. I've kept putting this off and now I don't know what to say. Well...Olivia is just one of the most fabulous things ever! I never believed that babies actually slept through the night but low and behold they do! She is one of the happiest, darling babies a mommy could ever ask for. We worried at first because she had the LOUDEST cry ever and would often squeal like a baby pig. I think my heart jumped out of my chest a couple of times during the first couple weeks. Thankfully, she is now one of the quieter babies I've ever heard. Sonny and I can't believe how patient she is with us (we don't deserve it).


The rest of us are doing well. Emma and Audrey have quite the life with all of their school activities and such. If Emma looses one more tooth, people might start thinking I'm beating her. I think she just likes the mad cash flow the tooth fairy is bringing in. Speaking of which, I don't remember the tooth fairy being such a flake when I was a kid. The tooth fairy was so behind, it took her two nights to get Emma's money to her (not once, but twice)! I wonder if she was completely brain dead due to the birth of a new child? Anyways, that girl's so forgiving she hasn't given it a second thought.


Audrey's my little spit fire. She cracks us up and drives us to the point of insanity all at the same time. She's so sensitive, but fights these little demonic tendencies. We were having a family home evening on Moses the other night and asked the kids if they knew what a slave was. Audrey about burst at the seams because she knew for certain. "A slave is one of those little guys that works for Santa Clause."

Then there's our Joe. He is our comic relief. He's a crazy little "crack head" (like Sonny calls him). I'm so glad I got to experience a little boy, because he's a blast. He's going through this phase where he's obsessed with certain body parts (if you know what I mean). What guy isn't? This photo says a lot about Joe.


Sonny and I just celebrated our eighth anniversary. We didn't start out as one of those blissful couples that loved being married. I have to admit our first year was symbolized by holes in the wall and me spending the night at my parent's house. I'm sure Mom and Dad got tired of seeing me. I guess I'm not proud of the holes or fights, but I'm thrilled with how we've grown. That's why every anniversary is a momentous occasion for us. Just eight years later, I can't stand being away from him. I still get butterflies in my tummy when he smiles at me. I can't wait to hear his obnoxiously loud truck come home. Don't get me wrong...we can still get into it, but we always make up. He's a kick butt daddy and hubby!!! The following photo is thanks to our little photographer Emma.

***For the record...I'm not normally this mushy on my blog, but he's started to read it!!!
Here's a few more photos of the past couple months...until next time, goodbye!!!
Halloween 2008

The Devil's Punchbowl, after the stomach flu.

Daddy and Olivia on her blessing day.

Joe playing in the rain.

Tree Farm 2008

Our Baby Girl

On Saturday night we welcomed little Olivia. It was such a wonderful experience. My doctor decided to induce after an ultrasound confirmed she was on the larger size and the fluid was low. I have never been induced before and didn't know what to expect. I didn't even need pitocin. I received cervidil at 10:40 and that's all it took. We had the best nurses and even my doctor, Dr. Ruiz, delivered the baby. She wasn't the petite baby the doctors and nurses thought she might be. She was 10 days early and weighed 8 lbs 12 oz and was 20" long. I grow my babies BIG. She looks just like her sisters did and we couldn't be more happy. We have been so incredibly blessed and Heavenly Father's hand was definately a part of everything that happened on Saturday. It was wonderful to have my parents there that day and to have all the kids come visit us the following day. Here's some other photos of her and some other highlights of our summer.

Congratulations Manning Family!

I'm going to do a very quick post for Kara to let all of her family and friends know that Olivia Jasmine Manning arrived today at 8:28 p.m., and weighed 8lbs. 12 oz. She is absolutely gorgeous (no shock to anyone), and looks a lot like little Audrey. The delivery went well, and mommy and baby are doing superb! I'll post pictures on my blog soon, and I'm sure Kara will do the same here!

Kristi is about to become a mommy again!

Okay, just kidding. Kara won't give her to me (selfish), but I thought you all might like to know that Olivia is well on her way to making her grand entrance into this lovely world. Kara was admitted this morning, and I hear has now received her epidural, which means that the baby should be here anytime! I'm sure Kara will not update her blog for awhile, but I will try to post pictures when I get them. Stay tuned and say lots of prayers for them!!

Okay Kara....You asked for it!

Hello all of you faithful readers of Kara's blog! I, Kristi, have hacked into Kara's blog and am now commandeering it. I have waited patiently, as have many of you for some updates. Now, you will all have to excuse Kara because she has really been quite busy, you see. Below are some pictures of the culprit. This is the room addition that Kara and Sonny have so lovingly built on to their house for my grandma. My grandma is very thankful and gracious for all of the hard work that they have put into it. My dad, Sonny, and my very pregnant sister did most of this work on their own. So, that took up a huge chunk of their time. Then, my poor sister was rear ended in the school parking lot a couple of weeks ago. Not pleasant...I hate stupid drivers! Anywho, I'm only going to give you guys a little bit and Kara will have to fill you in on the rest. By the way, I got all of these pictures off of Kara's camera by way of my husband's handy-dandy thumb drive! You gotta love it.

On August 16, Kara's beautiful mother and sisters threw a baby shower for her. It was great fun and thanks to all of those who shared that with Kara and her baby girl (sorry, I don't know if Kara wants her name out there yet)! Here's a few pictures from that...

So, there you have it folks! This ought to keep you occupied for another two months!! But, in Kara's defense, it has been a little crazy in her life as of late!

Sundays

About a month ago I decided to start recording the highlight of my family's church experiences each Sunday. Most of you know how interesting Church can be with small children. Even if you don't have them, you've probably seen one throw up, yell out loud that they have to poop, or even reveal that they weren't wearing any underware (Yes...my children have done all of these). It helps me enjoy and make light of the embarrassing, sometimes unbearable moments that creep into my life every Sunday. Plus...I'm horrible at keeping a journal so this helps appease my guilty conscience.

Well this particular Sunday I'm having a hard time deciding between two different things that happened. The first happened during Sacrament meeting and actually invoved my husband rather than one of my children. This being fast and testimony meeting he decided to get up and bear his testimony. He testified of the truthfullness of fasting and food storage and proceded to talk about how grateful he was for his wife. How sweet right? He talked about how I help him and how we walk together side by side as equal partners. Then it happened...He said, "And I know we are going to the Celestial Kingdom." Sonny, like myself, gets rather nervous whenever he gets in front of the congregation on Sundays. So rather than expressing that if we make it to the Celestial Kingdom it's because I helped him along the way, it came out that we were a sure thing and eternal life was ours! We also had two baby blessings in our ward this Sunday and there were 280 people present (I know this information because Sonny is the clerk and counts every week).

The second instance happened when we went into the nursery to pick Joseph up at the end of church. Upon walking in, we were bombarded by this horrific smell. There was no mistaking that it was diarrhea. The nursery leaders looked frazzled as they were jumping from parent to parent explaining the disaster that had happened only fifteen minutes prior. In the most serious of tones, one sister got really close to me and said, "Your child has been exposed to diarrhea." As I looked to the ground of the nursery I saw about fifteen rather large wet spots where diarrhea had been. A little girl had a mishap and had a large amount of leakage (I'm talking LARGE). What can you do but laugh at that. I should just be grateful that Joseph didn't lay down and roll around in it or pick any of it up. Sonny was ready to strip him of his clothes right then and there, but I managed to laugh at it. I've come a long way since Emma was a baby!

There is another one of my Sundays. This is pretty typical. This is what we have waiting for us every Sunday morning at 9:00. I hope my little discourse gives my children the inspiration to do the Sunday routine with their families, as I have with them.

Spring Time Happenings

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It has been so long since the last post, but the amount of time it takes to transfer photos from my camera to the computer has been turning me off to updating. I think I'll just take the boring route and not post any pics.

The tiny little baby in the ultrasound pictures below has been busy! She...(yes, she!) is so big! Today was the big ultrasound. I tried to explain to the kids my excitement about the approaching day. I compared it to the count down they have to Christmas. I can never wait to find out the gender and have been looking forward to this day since it was scheduled back in January.

My parents watched Joseph and Audrey decided she wanted to stay with them too. Not Emma...she insisted on being there today. I offered to call Audrey as soon as we found out what the baby was. She agreed that we could call IF it was a girl. If it was a boy we didn't need to call her. I guess she really wanted a sister.

It was such a wonderful day. When I left the ultrasound room with Emma and Sonny I felt like I was going to burst. This refers to a couple different things...the 32 ounces of water I had to drink and hold during the entire visit and the happiness we were all sharing. When I look through all of my family and friends blogs, it is evident that children are the highlight of all of our lives. We are all so blessed! I marvel that Heavenly Father has entrusted me with one more precious little girl. I can't stop talking about her...I cant stop looking at her pictures...and I can't stop smiling. She's perfect! I'm watching the news right now and it's hard to imagine how much happiness and joy we can still experience and find in this world. When we put our Savior and his gospel first, we will find the happiness Heavenly Father wants us to have. I just can't put it into words how happy and grateful I am.

Well...I LOVE YOU GUYS. If I could, I'd give everyone a big hug and kiss. I even had Sonny drive home from Kaiser so I could savor the moment and not let road rage get the best of me. Now you all know our happy news. I probably wouldn't check back here for a least a week. We all know how long it takes me to update.

A Tiny Debut

Here is the youngest member of our family scheduled to make its arrival on September 23. These ultrasound pictures were done about three weeks ago. Its ironic that this post follows my previous one (my wonderful mothering skills), but we're all thrilled to welcome this new baby into our crazy family.

My Parenting at its Best!!!

For all you mothers and fathers out there that need to feel better about your own parenting...this is for you. Here we have Joseph asleep with his hands in his alphabet soup. Now, that alone isn't too bad, but after I got his picture, I left him like that. I'd say Joe slept with his hands in his soup for a good half hour. We had just gotten home from church and we had to be at Tim's memorial at the Apple Valley airport in one hour. I knew if I tried to move him he would wake up. The really embarrassing part is when Sonny was finished counting tithing at church, he came home and found Joseph like this. The icing on the cake is that my dad got to the house at the same time and found his precious Joseph as you see him here. I made sure he could breathe though.

What started as the girls watering the new fruit trees, turned into crusty underwear and dread locks. I came in the house to answer a phone call from my mother. I was on the phone ten minutes, when the muddy animals tried to come into the house. They were freezing to death, but I made them stay out there until I could get some pictures and figure out what I was going to do. I brought them in the house through my bedroom slider and carried them one by one into my shower. They weren't happy when I had to spray them off and shampood them about three times, but I think they're over it. Audrey hates showers!

This one is classic. This was Joseph's little battery operated quad that he got for his birthday. We put an orange cone out in the culdesac when the kids want to ride their bikes out there to warn the neighbors, and I of course stay out there with them. Well Joe was getting a little cocky and decided the little circle he was driving in was not good enough. He took off and wouldn't come back. After my photo opportunity he was almost to the stop sign before I caught him. I made it...but for times that I don't I think my kids have concourses of angels watching over them.

Now this particular instance had my neighbors in an uproar. The girls were dying to go up on the roof with Pa and Daddy. Me being the mother I am finally consented. Although Dad and Sonny were supposed to hold their hands the entire time they let them wander with no hand. Now our neighbors had several people from their church over for lunch. You should have seen the crowd of people gathered to watch my children walk on the roof. There were quite a few comments made as well, but I chose to ignore them. The girls had a blast but haven't been on the roof since. I must admit...I was nervous the entire time they were up there.

So here you have little glimpses into my imperfect life that I'm so grateful for. I may not be perfect, but I love my children to death and give it my all!!!

Lots of Birthdays

Well...I finally downloaded the pics off my camera. I had 269! Since my last depressing post that so many have complained about, two of my kid's birthdays have come and gone. Audrey is a big bad four-year-old and Joseph is two. Audrey is obsessed with Hannah Montana so the entire family went to the Hannah Montana in concert for her birthday. She watches the show so often and listens to the CDs so much that I literally get sick whenever I hear it. Here she is sporting the outfit Aunt Kristi got her. I think Kristit buys my kids most of their clothes. Below are Emma and Audrey at the Hannah Montana concert.

Here's Joseph!!! He had such a stinking blast. When he woke up from his nap there were tractor and truck decorations all over the house. He devoted most of his attention to Pa all evening, but everyone still managed to enjoy him.

Here is Kristi's Wyatt at Joe's party. I'm the evil one that put the hat on him and had him cry until I could get a picture. He is the cutest little guy. Maybe that's because he looks so much like Zach.

Okay...I seriously need to go. Joseph just found a knife. and is trying to cut an apple core. I don't know how you all do such nice posts. Where do you find the time! I will finish this later! I'll post some more pics of fine parenting moments as well.

Our Grandpa Manning

On Wednesday afternoon Tim passed away after a hard fight against cancer. I have never seen a person so determined to beat this disease before. We are so grateful that it took him rather suddenly and that his suffering was not drawn out for too long. Both of Tim's parents died by the time Tim was eleven and we're sure there was the most wonderful and happy reunion at his passing.

Here are Tim and Diane on Christmas day at our house. I don't know that two individuals have ever been so much in love. They literally spent every moment together. Several years ago Tim decided he wanted to take up flying and get his pilot's license. Diane wasn't about to be left behind, so she too became a pilot. They became so enthusiastic about it that they bought their own plane. When Emma was three, Grandpa wanted to take her for a ride. She rode in the front seat next to a man that was completely captivated by her.

Here we are trick-or-treating Grandma and Grandpa on Halloween. He wore this hat often during his treatment and insisted on putting it on before the photo. Sonny and I were finally successful in making him realize that he had a sexy bald head and that a hat was unnecessary.

This was at one of Emma's t-ball games. Anyone that knew Tim years ago would have been shocked that he came to his granddaughter's games. We liked to call him a grumpy old man that liked to stay to himself. However, his grandchildren brought out a mighty change in his heart. He was always amazed that my children weren't afraid of him. :)

Like most grandfathers do, he cared so deeply for his grandchildren. I can remember how delighted he was when he first held Emma. He smiled so proudly at her and rubbed her little bald head. You can tell how much he marveled at his little grandbabies in this picture. This was Tim holding Joseph. I don't think he was ever ready to give him up that day.

I will always remember how sweet and concerned he was for my family. Whenever he hugged the kids goodbye, he knelt down on one knee and grabbed them up. He even did this when it physically hurt him. When Joseph was diagnosed with asthma Tim would always ask about him and send home his own personal medications for him. He loved the kids so much and longed for their happiness. Sonny will miss working with him and the many conversations he was privileged to have with him. Tim wanted to be known as a gruff old man that wanted nothing more than his privacy. However, we'll remember the real Tim. He was good at so many things, but awful at hiding how much he loved his family. He was so loyal and will be missed more than he ever thought possible.