Today was a special day! Our sweet, newest addition was given a blessing for her life! It was special to witness her receive her first Priesthood blessing, and extra special to hear Josh give it to her and see all our brothers (and brothers-in-law) and our fathers standing in the circle. And even though she was rather fussy through the blessing, I know that there was love and joy in that circle.

Something I love about the ordinance of blessing new babies is this: Most everything surrounding the arrival of a new person into the world is a feminine affair. It makes sense that women, who are divinely entrusted with the bearing of children and divinely endowed with the qualities necessary to nurture them, would be extra involved in all things baby. But the Priesthood is real and fatherhood is also divine! And so I love that amidst the baby showers, and doctor visits, and meals delivered, and pushing (or slicing as the case may be), and nursing all night, and loving nurturing all done by women, there is this one sacred moment shared with the extremely important men in a child’s life.

Let’s talk a little bit about Helen! Helen is basically just a content baby. She does cry, of course, when she needs something. But her default demeanor is relaxed and readily happy. She gives smiles liberally to anyone who will take a minute to chat with her, and they are priceless! And speaking of chatting, she is getting so good at making adorable little baby sounds, and it really does almost feel like a conversation when you talk to her!

 

She still loves her snuggles, too! It is such a joy to have a snuggly baby! I really should take more time to just sit with her and snuggle and talk and smile together. That is my official goal for tomorrow!
As crazy as it is to try and figure out our life with 3 little kids and a newborn, I am so happy that we made the choice to bring Helen to our family now instead of further down the road. She is a little piece of Heaven (despite the night feedings, crying at just the wrong moments, and periodic insistence of undivided snuggle attention) and we’re so glad Heaven sent her to us!

 

So March was not my best month. I spent the first 3rd of it sulking because Helen wasn’t born in February and the second two thirds of it recovering from Helen’s arrival. But I want you to know that even with being thus preoccupied, I DID decorate my mantel for my favorite holiday, and it looked beautiful! I want to remember it, so I’m posting it now.

Doesn’t it look so dreamy?! I made the wood sign (that is hard to see from afar) by combining ink transfer from paper and some hand sharpie-ing.

Sometimes I post pictures that only remained as beautiful as the picture shows for a matter of moments. But this set up really remained quite in-tact and delightfully lovely for a lot of March! It definitely helped me as I was sulking pre and post c-section.

Josh and I have determined that we are bad at “sitting still.” Most (and by most, I mean intelligent) people who just barely had their fourth child in 6 years would be just focusing on the essential things and leaving larger projects for a time when things are less crazy. But we, apparently, are not in this category. So, instead we decided to finally do some huge projects that have needed to be done for the past 3 years.

In all fairness to our own intelligence, these projects DESPERATELY needed to be done. So, it was more the necessity of completing them than our own longing to be running around with our heads cut off (as it were) that led to their being a priority. Anyway, here’s what we did. (And by “we,” I mean that Josh actually provided most, if not all, the labor and I helped by otherwise occupying other potential “helpers.”)

Anyway, here is project number one: The Deck!

We had this deck on the back of our house. We loved it our first summer in the house. It was great! But we didn’t know how much work decks can be to maintain. Ours, like so much of our house and yard, was quite neglected for some time before it became ours and had been painted without removing the old paint. Because of that, it was going to be crazy time-intensive to refinish the deck properly, and the kids had been getting slivers in their feet just about every time they walked on it (because we’ve needed to redo it for two entire years). We discussed having somebody come professionally redo it, but didn’t love that idea. So we ultimately decided to get rid of it entirely.

As we demoed the deck, however, it became clear that there were far more problems with it than just chipping paint. There was and abundance of wood rot, some mold, and the fact that the deck was never actually structurally sound. It was a good thing we decided to take it out. Thanks to Mom, Dad, and Jayden for  helping Josh break it apart.

Josh had already drawn up plans for some stairs to replace the deck as our means of exit to the back yard, and good thing, too! The lack of deck made it very difficult to let the kids play in the back yard, because I either had to lower them out one by one, or make them walk around through the garage. So basically every spare minute the following week Josh was working on the stairs.

Josh made sure that the new stairs were code-compliant and as high quality as possible! And the steps are made of composite decking material so there will be NO SLIVERS!

Aren’t they beautiful?! We still need to clean up the old paint from the siding; but even with that, I think it is an improvement! Our plan is to line the concrete (where the dirt is) with some pavers. But after the time it took to complete the stairs, we need a major break. Especially because of the other projects.

Project two: The front steps

This used to be our front steps. Once upon a previous owner, the very ordinary concrete steps were overlaid with terra-cotta tiles. But then later somebody didn’t like them, so they painted them with, as far as we can tell, ordinary house paint. So we have had paint peeling off terra-cotta ever since we’ve lived here. (Yes Jordan, it was US who made the decision to buy the house.)

This is another project we have been thinking about for a long time. We were under the impression that our only option was to tear out the whole thing and replace it. That would cost lots more than we want to spend, so we have been avoiding it (just like the deck). But Josh found out that, with a decent amount of elbow grease, he could remove the tiles and that the concrete underneath is actually in pretty decent shape! I probably should have made this project one, because Josh has been working on removing those tiles since February!

I don’t have an after picture, because they aren’t totally complete yet. But all the tile is off the main staircase and just the bottom landing remains. That has sunk so much that we are going to have somebody come and professionally replace it. And then we will have ordinary stairs! Ordinary never sounded so fabulous!

Project 3: The Garden

This isn’t so huge of a project; but nothing is a small feat when you have a two month old baby who wants constant snuggles. We finally did get our garden put in, and we’re hoping that today’s hail didn’t destroy it all.

The kids were big helpers! Projects where the whole family can be involved are my favorite!

Project 4: The Move Downstairs

Our house is on multiple levels, the top of which contains the bedrooms. Also, the kids’ bedroom windows face west, so they get downright toasty in the evenings. Before we even made it to May the kids were too hot to be able to fall asleep easily at night. Things have cooled down a little recently, plus we’re getting more used to the higher temperatures, but still, some nights were just rough. So, the other day I suggested (perhaps 1/4 jokingly) that we just move all of our beds downstairs for the summer. Josh thought about it for about 27 seconds and then said “Yeah. Let’s do it.” So we did.

Here is the mostly-before picture of the room as the playroom. (Some bins had already been moved upstairs).

Here is the after picture. All three big kids are in together.

We moved our bed and Helen’s pack n’ play into the tiny bedroom (before it was the craft/music room) next to the playroom. All our clothes are still upstairs. We converted Portia’s room into the children’s dressing room and Fay and Carter’s room into the playroom. Our bedroom is now the craft/music room as well as our dressing room. I have a feeling this will be the only summer we do this. But it is kind of fun, and a lot less hot!

We decided yesterday night that we really need to give ourselves a break and try to simplify our lives instead of always trying to take on more. So our next change is that we are going to try to really focus on getting the kids to bed on time every night. I think that will be a very positive change that will dramatically improve our quality of life!

Approximately 100 years ago (4 days, actually) Fay had her 6th birthday! I feel like 6 years is a big milestone because nobody considers you a toddler anymore. Fay is just a full-blown kid now. It’s kind of crazy! But we’re sure glad we have her!

Here’s what you ought to know about Fay right now:

• She is still a big helper! I always tell people they should have a girl first (as if anybody has any control over such a thing) so she can be a helper. But what I really mean is that everybody should probably be wishing they had Fay first. Obviously she isn’t perfect, but there are times when I wonder what she needs me for because she is so good at taking care of stuff. She especially loves helping with Helen.
  

  This is a picture I have been wanting to post for nearly two months. Fay was so excited to dress up (everything Helen is wearing was selected by Fay) her days-old little sister and read her a story!

• She is still an artist! For Carter’s birthday he received a notebook to color in. Only a few days after, I saw Fay filling up the pages of his book with her own drawings. I told her that wasn’t okay, but her birthday was coming up in just two weeks and if she wanted she could have 10 notebooks. Well she DID want, and now she has 11, actually! She is well on her way to filling them with her beautiful masterpieces. In fact, most of her birthday gifts were for some kind of art.
  

  Fay’s nail “salon” (as she calls it). She got this for her birthday and most members of the family have received multiple manicures/pedicures since Monday–Carter probably the most of anybody. 🙂

• Fay is a friend to all! She tells me about her classmates at school and declares most of them to be her best friend. As far as I can tell (though I am not a witness to all her social situations), she is kind and friendly to everyone and just wants to have fun.
• Fay is adventurous! She isn’t timid about trying new things and new experiences; she just relishes the opportunity to do something exciting! I love this about her because I can’t always say the same thing about myself.
• Fay loves drama! She loves posing a hundred times for pictures and putting as much emotion into things as she can! We’ll see how this evolves as she gets older…
  

  Posing

  

  Fay with a WELL loved blanket.

Anyway, here’s a little about her day.

As soon as Carter’s birthday was over Fay set to work planning hers. She wrote up a list of what she wanted all on her own, and it was quite thorough. She wrote what she wanted to eat, what she wanted to do, and what she wanted to receive.

She chose to go swimming just like Carter did and it was fun! I got to swim with the kids this time while Josh stayed with sleeping Helen.

For her birthday dinner she wanted meatballs, fruit, and fries. And for dessert she didn’t want a cake; she wanted brownies and ice-cream. I heartily approved of her choice.

We love love love this beautiful girl we have! And are so grateful for every day of the 6 years she has been ours!

Carter turned 4 years old yesterday! He has been gearing up for this birthday for quite some time and I don’t think it disappointed him!

For his birthday meals this year, Carter chose “chocolate balls” (cocoa puffs) for breakfast; Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch; and veggies with hummus, fruit, deli ham, and cheese for dinner. His dinner choice made me really happy! The kids like eating vegetables when they are served uncooked and especially with dip. If you actually cook them into some “dish” it’s less of a win.

For his activity, he chose swimming! Everyone had tons of fun!

Helen and I hung out on the side of the pool and did this:

Carter didn’t want ice-cream. He only wanted cake–a green vanilla cake with custard filling and Mack from Cars. But, unfortunately, there was a miscommunication on the cake.  Josh and I had planned to use his toy Mack on the fondant road. But just as it was time to put Mack on the road Carter revealed that he wanted a fondant Mack, not an actual toy. He wouldn’t accept the toy, so he ended up with just the road. But I think he was still pleased.

Here’s a little bit more about our fabulous four-year-old!

Carter still loves cars as much as ever! Every time he gets a reward for anything he chooses a car. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said “cars.” When we built a snowman, he named it “Car.” It still makes me really happy that his name has the word “car” in it!

Some other things Carter loves include:

• The color green–If there is ever any choice for color, he wants green! He loves to eat off green dishes, have green cakes, notice anything green anywhere we go, and wear his green pants and his green shirt together.
• Superheroes–He likes Batman and all the Avengers, especially Hulk–because he is green.
• PAW Patrol–He has never actually seen an episode of this show; but we have gotten books from the library about it and he has a few of the toys. He gets excited any time he sees something PAW Patrol.
• Vacations–Whenever we get back from some family trip, Carter is already planning for us to go back! He especially loves visiting hotels/houses with pools and the beach.
• Puzzles–He thrills at taking out all the kid puzzles we have and putting them all together by himself and laying them all out side-by-side.
• Photobombing–One day he discovered it drove Fay crazy to have him jump in front of her fancy poses for pictures. I told him there was even a name for such a stunt and he fell in love!
  

  That face is pure joy!

Another fun thing about Carter is that he is one determined dude…when he feels like it. For example: for months he insisted he was positively incapable of getting himself dressed/undressed to any degree. No he could NOT take his pants off by himself; there was no possible way he was able to put his sock on his own foot. But then one day in about February, he decided he was big enough to dress/undress himself; and in the course of a couple weeks he was able to completely independently get himself ready for the day! He has similarly determined that he can fold all his own laundry and put it away, help mow the lawn, help make any food in the kitchen, and buckle his own seatbelt! I am very much looking forward to the day he decides he can consistently get himself to the bathroom when he needs to go.

We love this boy! And we can’t imagine life without him! Happy Birthday, Bud!

So here she is! Also Portia. They were being princess and queen together.

They just made this last pose themselves. It kind of cracks me up! My girls’ got attitude!

This evening Fay wanted to make paper airplanes. So we did! Josh made one for each of the big kids–all very high quality, fancy style ones–and I made mine–very regular style. We had SO much fun throwing airplanes around the house together! We had contests to see how far we could throw, if we could throw over the wall from the kitchen to the living room, if we could reach the front door from behind the table, etc. Everyone’s throwing skills improved by the end of it all, which was a fun added bonus! And then we took a picture to document our planes. Helen took the picture for us. That’s why she’s not in it.

That was a lie. Helen was asleep in her bed and the kitchen counter/camera timer took the picture for us.

Here is Helen when she was awake lying on the kitchen table. She adorably loves just lying up there looking around!

 

 

Easter is such a magnificent holiday! I am so grateful for the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! I am also so grateful for the privilege I have to know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I am grateful for every experience I have had–delightful and lousy–that has solidified my personal testimony of Him and His mission.  And I am grateful that Easter is a holiday that people celebrate as a spring event, even if they aren’t religious. Because Christ is in it! I feel the same way about Christmas. I am okay with the commercialization of Christmas and Easter because it means that lots of people celebrate them, and even if you don’t want Him to be there or think that He is there, Christ IS in Easter! He is in the beautiful new life of spring! You can’t take Him out!

Also, it was lovely to have general conference on Easter Sunday because it is so special to hear Apostolic testimonies of the Savior on that day!

Here is a taste of how we celebrated Easter this year.

We started the Monday before. (We had been a little preoccupied with other stuff before then, believe it or not.) For family party we had an indoor Easter Egg hunt. Here’s Portia loving it!

We died Easter Eggs. The kids all loved this! But it was a little stressful for Josh trying to keep Portia from dumping all the colors all over when it was another cutie’s turn.

He’s the best dad ever.

On Saturday between sessions of conference we hid our colored eggs outside in the beautiful weather and had a fun hunt!

Fay wanted to make an Easter craft. So she made a bunny nose and set of ears.

While Josh was at Priesthood session, Carter reminded me that we hadn’t decorated for Easter. That was definitely NOT okay. So we set to work right away. I didn’t have any inspiration, so I let the kids decorate the mantel this time. They loved doing it, and it makes me smile every time I see it!

Here are the kids showing off their mantel masterpiece.

And though I didn’t think it would happen this year, we DID manage to get the three big kids Easter outfits (one of my favorite traditions)!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

So…here we are. Almost two weeks later. Mother has been here the whole time feeding us like royalty, taking care of the house, and making sure I take much-needed naps. Healing is going well, though we still have a long road ahead of us.

The kids are all enjoying having sweet Helen around, though all the changes associated with her arrival have taken a toll on each of them. We’ve had a lot more acting out recently, especially from Portia. But I’m confident that with time we’ll all get used to everything–especially once I can actually be a mom again.

And… yup. I don’t know what else is pertinent information, so that’s what you get.

Anyway, here are cute pictures. These were all taken this afternoon, because it is the first time I’ve gotten the camera out since I got home. Fay and Carter were loving on Helen, Portia was playing with toys, wearing her swimming suit. 🙂

The Monson family is beyond delighted to announce the addition of our newest member.

Helen Zulla Monson was born on March 12, 2018 at 8:07 AM. She weighed 6 lbs 4 oz, and was 19 inches long.

Getting Helen here has been an adventure! There is, of course, the fact that me and 3rd trimester pregnancy have never been buds. But Helen threw a wrench in things herself because she was breech. We tried just about everything imaginable to turn this girl in utero, but ultimately she had to be born via C-Section. As my doctor started to pull her out during surgery, she declared with a laugh “No wonder she wouldn’t turn!” Here’s why.

Her feet were up by her ears! I guess she’s not one to do things half-heartedly, even being breech.

The experience of attempting to turn her and then ultimately facing the reality that I would have to deliver via C-section was a bit traumatic for me–probably more so than for most people. I was terrified of everything all the way up through when I realized they were almost to reach Helen and pull her out. Now that she is here and I am on the road to recovery, I am still not thrilled that I had to be sliced open; but I am increasingly grateful for the miracle that a C-section is to moms and babies. Hundreds of prayers and hours of fasting were offered on behalf of Helen and me and I know that the ease and convenience of C-sections these days is an answer to those prayers and fasting. We are both doing as well as, if not better than, expected. And we are forever grateful!

Here is a look at Helen since we got her here. She is, so far, sleepy, snuggly, and mostly just sweet.

Helen’s name was chosen using a method never before attempted in our household. I made a list of names I liked (about 22 girl names) and Josh and I worked together to whittle down the list. Fay and Carter’s names were both chosen before Josh and I met. But with Portia, I just talked about the name enough that Josh got on board. I wanted to make Josh a real part of the process this time. So we worked through the list and eventually settled on Helen. Now that the name is attached to our sweet girl I love it even more than when it was just a name. Or maybe I just love the girl. Or both.

Zulla is the name of Josh’s grandma. She is an amazing woman who adds so much to our family that I genuinely can’t imagine the family without her. And she loves to tell everybody that nobody will ever use her name because it is weird. Well, we think it’s a cool name and that she is definitely somebody worth naming after! And I hope it will be special for Helen to have a part of her great-grandma with her for her whole life long.

We are so glad she’s here, and are looking forward to getting to know her better and seeing how she adds to our family!