Where does the time go?

I can't believe it is already October! The days are supposed to be getting cooler - hopefully we get fall, not just jump into winter. The leaves are changing and the do mountains look beautiful.

Craig has put in our pond and bridge and did an amazing job, not what we envisioned, but BETTER! He has some more work to do but it depends on his time, money and the weather, but it will be so nice when he gets done, our very own oasis! He is super busy with his job and going to attend a conference in Orlando the last week of the month for some training. He is still working with the 11 and 12 year old Scouts and doing such a good job, they just earned their Citizenship in the Community merit badge.

I am loving staying home, I don't know how I ever worked and got anything else done (of course a lot of things didn't get done or Craig did them!). Still trying to stay up with my church calling - I never thought I would say this but - I LOVE Cub Scouts! Primary is such an amazing place and time, we just had our primary program and to see 3, 4, and 5 year olds sing that they know their Heavenly Father and Jesus love them, touches my heart.

Ryan is in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. He has 10 weeks training there and then 36 weeks in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He likes having more freedom - cell phone, laptop, etc. It is good to hear from him more - he texts, not calls, but he could call is the important thing! He had his wisdom teeth out this week - all 6 of them! I can't wait until he comes home for Christmas - 75 days!!!

Courtney is in her sophomore year at Century High School. She loves most of her classes - not math - and has some wonderful teachers. She was just inducted into the National Honor Society. She is doing a great job at her church calling - president of the Young Women - they don't have very many girls - 8, so they just have one presidency. She is of course still reading up a storm and has a list of books for me to read. She is turning into a beautiful girl. She likes to help out with Chloe, and is enjoying a steady income from babysitting.

Joslyn is in 6th grade at Irving Middle School. She likes school - this is the first year they have to change classrooms. She still loves to play horses and dress up her High School Musical dolls, except now they represent Edward and Bella from Twilight or Damon, Stefan and Alaina from Vampire Diaries - her favorite show! She is a great help with the baby - even dirty diapers!

Chad still tries to play Wii as much as possible, but is also a big help around the house. He is in 3rd grade at Tendoy Elementary and his teacher is Ms. Moore. He is doing great in math and reminds me when he has homework. He celebrated his 9th birthday on September 5th and moved up to Bears in Cub Scouts. He was awarded his Wolf badge and a gold arrow at our last pack meeting. He loves to carve things with his pocketknife still and build Legos.

Chloe is a dream come true! She is a pretty good baby and smiles at us now and tries to talk - so cute!!! Our days revolve around her and what she needs, but we can just throw her into the car and be ready to go too. She was blessed on September 26th by Craig.

We are enjoying a wonderful time in our lives and are truly grateful for the awesome family and friends that we have.

She's Here!!!

Miss Chloe Matilda Ockerman made her way into the world at 11:43 a.m. on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010. She weighed 8 pounds and 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. She has light brown/blonde hair and pretty, dark blue eyes. She looks like Joslyn to me, but I've heard she looks like Ryan and Courtney too, so she is definitely going to fit right in! She spent 2 1/2 days in NICU, with an IV in her poor little head, her blood glucose was low at first then the had to make sure she could sustain it on her own, but by Friday afternoon, she was delivered to my room - VERY Happy Moment for me! 1st because NICU is on the 2nd floor and I was on the 3rd, long walk and the wheelchair ride made me just nauseous! 2nd because then I could just hold her and not worry about all the wires and lines they had attached to her! She really is just a beautiful baby, very good, likes to sleep during the day and be up every hour at night, but we are getting her turned around, she sleeps 2 1/2 - 3 hours between feedings at night and stays awake a little bit more during the day, she loves to be naked but hates her diaper changed, she likes to have her hair washed under the faucet, we haven't been able to do a whole bath yet, because her belly button hasn't fallen off yet, but I bet she will love it! She smiles in her sleep a lot - so cute! Her sisters absolutely adore her and Chad thinks she is pretty neat. She has us wrapped around her little finger!

We LOVE change at our house!!!

Well only 2 more days until we get this baby here - so exciting!!! I can hardly wait for this pregnancy to end - swollen feet and hands, gestational diabetes, the excess hormones that make me cry at the drop of a hat and that I can't get under control, the feeling that every time I stand up everything is going to fall out, I can't wait for that all to be over!!! And of course we will have a perfect little someone to love, can't wait to cuddle up with her and just stare at her and be amazed!

Craig has been AMAZING!!! He has bent over backwards during this pregnacy for me! He has been so sweet and loving, I just want to bottle him up! He has changed jobs this month from recruiter to being over the Recruit Sustainment Program - R.S.P. He is in charge of drill every month for all of the kids who have joined the Guard, but haven't shipped out to their basic training sites. He does payroll, hotel accomodations, meals, setting up, tearing down, making sure all of the paperwork is done for every kid, etc. Instead of holding one kid's hand through enlistment, he has 20 - 40 kids to get ready for basic training! He has put in some long hours - 90 last week! He still has a few kids to enlist and get them ready for M.E.P.S. His nephew, Logan just joined this last week and seems pretty excited about the whole thing. Plus he is still working on the house and yard and his garden is doing GREAT!!!

Now for my oldest baby - Ryan, we left him in Boise on the 6th of July - SOOOO hard to do! He flew out that next morning, but with all of the bad weather across the country, his flight was delayed, so they missed their connection, then they finally got to Atlanta and had to wait 1 1/2 hours for the bus, then ride another 1 1/2 hours to Fort Benning, get there around midnight and then they keep them up all day!!! We finally got a letter on the 19th - his 18th birthday!!! Short but sweet! The weather is just hot and humid and they are working really hard. I got the company commander's letter today telling me "my son has arrived safely at Basic Training". Well isn't that a relief?!?! But they do have a website with Facebook and Flickr links with updates from other moms and pictures of the boys from the company commander's wife - haven't seen him yet, but it's nice to see what they are doing. The website is www.2-47panthers.org. He is in Alpha Company.

Now onto Courtney, she is getting more and more driving time in since it hurts my feet so bad, which is no skin off of her nose! She now has her own room and I forgot how big that room is - I want to move down there!!! She has been really good about helping out around the house - even laundry! She is super excited about Chloe and also the fact that she gets to miss part of Girl's Camp to be here when the baby is born.

Joslyn has moved into Ryan's old room and we have decked it out in purple!!! Purple comforter, purple sheets, purple lamp, purple and pink rhinestone clock, we have white daisies hung around her closet that we are going to enter twine with you guessed it - purple lights! She has been a great help too!

Chad McKay aka Joe is even a little bit excited for this new sister. Now that he's the only boy at home, him and Craig are palling around. He went with Craig on the 11-year old scout camp over this last weekend and had a great time! He still smells like campfire and he tells me he likes that smell!!! He was so excited to take his pocketknife with him. Last week he cut the palm of his hand with it - just a small slice, but he showed it to me and said "I am grounding myself from my pocketknife for 2 whole days." Well okay then! He's SO funny!

Some of the fun things we've done this summer are Ryan's graduation and party, Ryan's going away party and having Kevin & Sharlene and Stephie come down for fireworks, 4th of July, Airport Appreciation Days, Steel Days in American Fork, Turner Reunion in Pleasant Grove, seeing cousins from back east, lunch at the park, swimming (wading) in the backyard pool, putting puzzles together and then gluing them - they are going on the downstairs family room walls. We've enjoyed this summer!!! The kids don't go back to school until the 2nd of September, so we will still have a month or so to get to know Chloe and just kick back and relax!

We Have A Middle Name and Family Update

Well we have decided on a middle name for Chloe - Matilda. It was Craig's Grandma Ockerman's name - everyone called her Tillie and she was such a sweet woman! He was in Boise this last week and had a dream about the baby and in his dream that was her name and I LOVED it!!! It just flows and it follows my rule of thumb, "can I yell it down the street to get her home?". Plus, it will follow our tradition of middle names starting with "M's", not that we have tried to do that and Ryan didn't fall into that category (his middle name is Craig), but they all have family names and that is what we were shooting for!

Craig has started working on the shed and made a lot of progress, I will be taking pictures as we go along. He is dirty, sweaty and his whole body is throbbing from the work, but it looks good so far and he is very excited about it!

I am doing much better and have only gained 18 pounds so far!!! As long as I remember to take my medication (Lexapro and Benadryl) I am fine. The children are glad to remind me to take my "happy pills" and see me very medicated, they all do lots to help out around the house. I don't know if it's love or if they are scared of me (probably a little of both or so I would like to believe!) but it seems to be working! My advice to anyone out there is to make sure you're done and that God is done with you before you have one graduating from high school and all the stress that puts on you, plus being pregnant, accepting any church calling, working, having other children, trying to sleep more than 6 hours a night and living life!!! But I must say my WONDERFUL husband has been a GREAT source of strength during all of this. He just lets me cry when I need to, nap if I can and hold down the fort while I escape from it!!!

Ryan only has 3 days of school left this week and then graduation on the 27th!!! He can hardly wait (and neither can we!!!) He has 50 days until he ships to Basic Training and I've never seen a kid so happy to be going to Georgia in July!!! He is looking at it like a great adventure - which is what I have always taught him that life is about! He attended prom on the 8th and I have yet to get the pictures developed, but they were so cute! He went with his friend, Clara.

Courtney is excited for the end of school, but not that she won't get to use the school library over the summer. They sometimes have books that the public library doesn't have yet. She is raring to go driving, but that is going to have to wait until I have this baby, that is too much stress for me, even with all the Benadryl in the world! She can't wait for Chloe to be born and be "AWESOME" as she puts it. She is going to be a great help this summer!!!

Joslyn is a little bit scared about going to middle school next year (and so am I!!!) but she will be great! She is asking lots of questions about all of the changes that are going on with her and her body and is proud to say she is a "tween"! She's not so sure that she wants to grow up (and neither am I!!!) but I have assured her life only gets better after "High School Musical" and that there are lots of other things to like in this life. She has been a great help lately and I am loving that! She is very excited about the baby and all the things that go along with it - clothes and ribbons for her hair, etc. She is doing great in soccer and school.

Chad McKay (my little Joe) is so CUTE!!! He needs to grow into all of his little elbows and knees, but he is at such a fun age! He is very independent, "I know what to do Mom", is a phrase I hear alot, but there is nothing better than getting a hug from him or a "my momma rocks!" coming out of his mouth! He is also doing great in soccer and scored his team's only goal this last Saturday. He could ride his scooter back and forth all day and survive on Wii and cartoons, but I have to make him stop and eat sometimes. What would that be like?!?!

Baby GIRL Ockerman

Well we found out yesterday that we are having another girl, so exciting to know! The ultrasound tech took lots of pictures and we got to see that she has everything right where it should be, very comforting! We think we have agreed on the first name of "Chloe", but we can't decide on a middle name and it's starting to turn into a fight, so we are just going to have to wait on that. Chad is still holding out hope that she could turn out to be a boy, we told him not to hold his breath, but I think he is. The girls were of course thrilled and Ryan said, " A girl huh, I guess that's okay." I am excited and have already found a ton of pink material that will be SO cute for blankets and such. Craig is excited and even posted the ultrasound pictures on his facebook page! The due date is now the 29th of July, it seems far away, but I know it will sneak up on me, there is SO SO SO much to do before that!

The Children - all 5 of them!

I don't know if it's because I'm older (is 37 really that old?!?!) that's what everyone keeps on saying, BUT THIS PREGNANCY IS REALLY KICKING ME IN THE BUTT!!! Even with the vitamins, I am exhausted by about 4:00 in the afternoon.

But on a happy note we are in week 16, only 24 more to go. I put it in weeks, because they go by faster than months and it just makes it seem shorter to me anyway! We have had 2 ultrasounds already because of some minor emergencies and seen the baby and heard it's little heartbeat - VERY exciting!

Now on to the other children - Ryan is still wrestling, I almost don't want the season to end, because I LOVE wrestling! He is learning to cook lots of good things in his teen living class (I don't know why they don't still call it Home Ec?!?!) And he is VERY proud of the skull mug that he made in pottery - quite good!

Courtney is driving for the 3rd time today, and she has her PowerPoint presentation in World Geography. Power point presentation?!?! What ever happened to draw some pictures and make a poster?!?!

Joslyn completed her Exploration Notebook - Yeah, lots of coloring pictures and gluing and stapling, that I can keep up with! She is learning fraction and all that they encompass - so that means, I am trying to remember fractions and all that they encompass! Next year, she's on her own in math - I only go up to 5th grade!!!

Chad is learning time - and in a day and age where there are so many digital clocks and the only people who say 35 after the hour or 15 to the hour are over 60, he is struggling to understand why he would need to know that! But today he did tell me - "Okay, I think I am getting that." Well see how his test comes back today!

They really are the lights of my life, I just have to remember to turn the lights on!

Updates and Changes for the New Year

So I am the worst blogger ever! But I have been busy!!! Let's go back in time...November 2009 - Craig turned 41 and thinks he is so old - not true, just getting better!
Thanksgiving with Craig's family - very nice. Had a relaxing weekend at home.
December 2009 - Ward Christmas Party - great fun!
Grandma Anne's Christmas Party - always a favorite - love that family!
Ockerman Family Christmas Party - great food and fun!
Found out we are going to be parents AGAIN! WONDERFUL News! Truthfully - very surprising, shocking, take your breath away news, but we are excited!
Wrestling starts - WOOHOO!
Courtney celebrates her 15th birthday (how could she be that old?!?!)
Christmas Break - 16 days of doing ABSOLUTELY nothing in your pajamas - I hope this is what heaven is like!
January 2010 - Back to work and school. Ryan - more wrestling, Courtney - driver's education, Joslyn's 11th birthday (WOW!!!), Chad is still Chad - that boy lives and breathes video games - I have to make him stop and eat!
We are truly blessed with the amazing families and friends that surround us, hold us up, inspire and teach us what awesomeness really is.