I was hoping to be in the minority...

You know, when they tell you they're 75% sure...

Now they're 100% sure... it's a BOY. But a healthy boy. And he was a kickin and a groovin' the whole time! I have begun to embrace this world of boys I live in- and will continue to live in. Hannah and I will just have to do lots of "girl's nights out!" Anyone need baby girl clothes!? (and want to drive to TX to get all 11 bins?)

I am fabulously in love with all of my kids and I wouldn't change a thing...

We love you baby boy Sivley!!

Praying for another heart baby...

So I am a sucker for sick kids... especially those with heart problems and leukemia. VERY close to my heart. Will you please say a little prayer for STELLAN, a darling 9 mo. old baby boy who is very very sick right now. He is being airlifted to Boston Children's Hospital as I type.

And would you also include my cousins Jordan & Marlo and my dear friends Becca and Todd as they are approaching unimaginably hard days this month remembering their amazing children who are now in our Father in Heaven's arms.

Lastly, hold your kiddos a little tighter and know how lucky you are to have them healthy, safe, and sound...

I will hold my 2 I have here and miss my 3 oldest kids who are at Grammy & Papa's house in California for a week... see you soon guys, be good!! Love you!

In the meantime...

We've spent our days making faces...

And riding bikes!

Thanks Tricia for the hand-me-down bike! He loves it!!!

But don't worry-- it's not all fun and play. I've also been cleaning rooms, getting rid of clutter and junk, and getting lots done!

Barrett's been getting plenty done too... he's dumped a whole box of cereal on the family room floor and stepped on it; gone through a whole box of popsicles in the freezer--opening each one trying to find an orange one "There's lots of RED ones mom!"; Peed in the trash can and all over the floor in the guest bathroom; stood in the middle of the table on the lazy Susan (sorry mom) and made Bauer spin it; pulled all of his and Bauer's hanging clothes off the hangers and onto the floor; and finding the key to Hunter and Brock's locked room and breaking in. Can you say BORED!?!?

And... they're off!!

The three older kids are off to spend a week and Grammy and Papa's.

This is their 3rd summer flying out there by themselves! They were soooo excited!

Cool kid... oops, Hunter says "cool is bad" so- AWESOME kid!

Keep 'em all in line Brock, love you!

So what are we supposed to do now?

Barrett woke up this morning (day 4 without older siblings) and said, "MOOOOOM! Is Hunter home? Is Brocky home? Is Hannah here? Did dad go to work?" The answers were all what he was hoping NOT to hear. Then he just looked at me like, "another whold day with just you... GREAT." He misses you guys!

4 days and we'll be leaving to join them! We can't wait, but this week sure is going by SLOW!!!!!

Hannah's a Movie Star!!!

This is an amazing video of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). The music is by the amazing Paul Cardall, whom I referenced in my earlier post. So amazing! He put together this video and I sent him a picture of Hannah a few months back. I would recommend watching the whole thing, but if you only have a minute, she appears at about minute 4:34. Her name is misspelled, but you know it's our girl by that sweet smile!!!!!!!!! Love you Hannie!!

(mute my cool music at the bottom so you can hear Paul's beautiful accompaniment!!)

Simply Happy

At first it was subtle little hints, then it became more and more obvious...

It's time for me to be happy.

You can ask my husband, or those closest to me-- I haven't been the easiest to live with for the past few months. When Bill finally asked, "When are you going to start being nice to me again?" I finally realized that my unhappiness was affecting a whole lot more than just me.

You see, I haven't felt very good since about April. This has been a challenging pregnancy, to say the least... I'm tired and grumpy much of the time. (and after this post, I will probably have my moments still!! So cut me some slack, I'm working on it!!)

But the Lord wants us to be happy. He has provided much for us to enable this state of happiness. I truly know I have been blessed beyond what I deserve and it's time to show some smiles about it!!

Our entire homemaking lesson this past week was on, "A More Excellent Way." I invited my wonderful non-member neighbor and went, not knowing EXACTLY what a "more excellent way" entailed. We are SOOOO very lucky in our ward to have one of the best teachers/speakers ever. Brother David Shumway and his family moved to our ward just over a year ago and they've blessed our lives ever since. Besides his amazing wife and 6 great kids, he is a Church Education System (CES) director and used to teach at BYU. He is phenomenal. He spoke to us on finding a "more excellent way" by using the GREAT PLAN OF HAPPINESS. hmmmm... what a great idea! He mentioned numerous times that we, as Latter-day Saints, have the advantage over those who do not share our religious beliefs. We have a great plan of happiness and all we need to do is to follow it. Sounds easy, right? WRONG.

Dang it, life gets in the way! And that's what I have let happen to me over the past months. It's time to follow this great plan and get back on track. Among other lessons Brother Shumway taught, he challenged us to make the sorrows of life the dips in our road, not the peaks. In other words, live so you are constantly happy and the trials you face are short little valleys VS. living miserable and your happy times being the peaks. It was a lightbulb moment!!! Thank you...

Afterwards, my neighbor said to me, "I know why you invited me... that was exactly what I needed to hear." Amen Sista... me too.

Here are a few quotes I have read recently on a blog of an LDS musician who is waiting for a heart transplant. Talk about not feeling good... he has an amazing attitude and is enduring so gracefully.

“Happiness is a state of activity.” -Aristotle

“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” –Helen Keller

“Experience is not what happens to a man, it’s what a man does with what happens to him.” –Auldous Huxley

“God left the world unfinished; the pictures unpainted, the songs unsung, and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys of creation.” –Thomas S. Monson

“Simplify. Simplify.” –Henry David Thoreau

I love the last one: "Simplify, Simplify" That's what makes life so sweet... And that's what I have been trying to dolately: simplify and focus on what really matters. That is what is right here in front of me. I am so blessed and it's time for me to

simply BE happy.

Finding a balance...

I think the title of this poem is quite appropriate--

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother,come shake out your cloth,

empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as LittleBoy Blue

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

***At what point CAN'T the cleaning and scrubbing wait til tomorrow? If I only play and don't clean, will my house be condemned? If I only clean and don't play, am I a MEAN MOM? Where is the balance and why am I pregnant with #6?!?!?!?!?!***