1 Month

This picture looked way different in my head then the reality.  In my head Barrett was smiling, Nolan and Jarom were gently kissing Barrett, instead of attacking him; this is probably more true to the reality of our lives.

At his appointment today our toddler little baby boy weighed 11 lbs 9oz and has grown to 24.5"

Things I want to remember

Today Barrett is 3 weeks old, so really I wanted to post pictures of him looking all cute. But during his awake time today, he kept smiling at me and I became so overcome with love and joy that this sweet little baby is here and how blessed I feel to have him that I just sat and stared at him and soaked in our moments together; I forgot to take a picture.  I'll have to fake one tomorrow and pretend it's his 3 week photo. 

How proud this kid looked when he finally mastered the first bit of Smoke on the Water on his guitar. 

How this kid loves to get the bay leaf in his soup so he can kiss the cook (me), then hides it in his soup and pretends he found another leaf so he can kiss me again.

How seriously blessed I am in the kids I have.

Back to School FHE

My mom clued me into this totally fun back to school tradition.  For FHE the other night we made a Back to School Time Capsule.  The boys filled out sheets about their likes and dislikes regarding school, their fears and excitement for the upcoming year - this I particularly enjoyed as I learned information I couldn't get out of them during the after school shake down.  Then we traced their hands and feet, measure the height with a piece of string and included a picture of them from the first day of school.

We decided to dig up the capsule on the first day of school next year.  I think we are all a little worried we will forgot about it during the year.  I'll have to mark it on the calendar or something.

2 Weeks old today.

 Man we love this little guy.  He is such a joy.  Although at his check up today, we found out he is up to 10lbs and 5ozs.  I wanted to cry.  He is not going to be little very long... I want him to stay little forever.  He is such a pleasure to hold and cuddle and kiss.

Off They Go

These totally cute kids started school today.  They were excited. 

 Nolan made the big step to Grade 6 - Jr. High.  I was nervous.  Way more nervous than he was.  He was cool, he took in all in stride - like the cool kid he is.

Jarom started Grade 2; he was happy to see his friends again.

Both boys came home with glowing reports of their day. 

I have a feel'in ... it's going to be a good good year!

It's coming to an end

I hate this time of year.  We are days away from back to school.  Back to routine and demanding schedules. I love my kids being home and being able to go and do fun things with them.  This summer has been different than our previous summers, due to our wonderful addition, but still on the whole we had a great summer together.

Spencer's been home with us the last couple of weeks and we've all enjoyed it.  Thursday I felt good enough that we could all venture out.  Frank Slide was on our list of Sumner Fun Activities; so off we went.

We took in some of the other sites in the Crowsnest Pass.  It's been years since I was last there.  It's so pretty out there.  If it wasn't so far away I'd be tempted to move there.

This picture is so funny to me.  Jarom is copying his older cousin Jake - or trying to.  Every picture we have of Jake he is posing. Nolan and Jarom have now become posers.  The power of an older cousin. Luckily he's a good one!

He's Here!!!

I should have had a melt down weeks ago because after my last post, this baby decided it was time to make his entrance into the world.

Barrett Oscar Court

Born Tuesday August 17th @ 10:22 pm

Weight 9lbs 8ozs

22" Long

We are all totally in love with him and enjoying every minute.

He is of course one of the cutest baby ever.  Everything he does is spectacular.

Proud Big Brothers

It's official, I'm done.

I've tried to be patient.  I've tried to be optimistic.  I've tried to adopt an easy going, he'll come when he is ready attitude.  I've tried not to dwell on the fact that I've (we've) been waiting on this  baby for close to 5 years now.  But today I'm done. 

I'm tired of waiting. I'm tried of this enormous belly.  I'm tired of being uncomfortable.  I'm tired of having trouble bending over.  I've tire of... you get the idea.

This baby just needs to come.

Still no baby

Apparently my uterus is a wonderful place to be.  This kid loves it and is refusing to come and meet us. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; it took us 4 years to get him this far, it goes to reason that he isn't in a hurry. Although some of us are becoming a tad impatient.  Everyday the boys cuddle up to my belly and whisper words of encouragement for him to please come and be with us.

I think he is having too much fun with Rachel and Anne's babies.  Stinker.

Anyhow, my doctors have been trying to get me to set a inducement date; but after a horrible inducement with Nolan I am resisting. I am starting to worry that my days are numbered and this baby will be forced out.  Say a little prayer for us that he comes on his own!

All good thing must come to an end.

We had Shane, Kaddi, Jake, Meg and Luke here.  It was wonderful to spend 2 fun filled weeks with them.  We tried to jam pack as much fun in as possible before they left for their new home in Nebraska.

We paid a visit to the climbing wall.

Explored the beauty of Red Rock Canyon

A personal favorite of mine... using Shane as target practice.

(Anne here is your belly picture... HUGE)

Riding the Quads. 

The kids all made tye dyed shirts, which they all loved and they all look so cute.

The guys got lots of work done on the Tree House.  Starting to look Great!

One of my Favorite Quotes

"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" 

-Margorie Hinckley

I've thought about this quote lots since I first read it.  It created a shift in my thinking.  When I thought I'd been snubbed by someone, or someone had said something a tad unkind or failed to notice me and wave;  instead of thinking what a nasty person they are, I think maybe they are having a bad day or a secret struggle I know nothing about. A change in perspective is a beautiful thing.

No baby yet

I know it's sad.  I thought he would have made an appearance by now, but no such luck.  On the upside, Shane and Kaddi and their family are here, so we've been able to do lots of fun things with them.  I just hope the baby counter doesn't start moving into the pluses!

Court Family Gathering

A couple of week-ends ago all the Courts gathered down at Writing-on-Stone.  It is a  fabulous place to bring families together and create memories. 

The kids love to climb and explore the Hoodoos. 

I think this is right after his dad dumped him in the river.

It was a perfect day to take a leisurely tube ride down the river.

Play in the sand and build all sorts of wonderful creations.

Thanks so much to Cam and Amy for organizing this great week-end!!!

Birds of Prey

 A while back we took a trip to the Bird of Prey Center in Coaldale.  Funny how I lived in Coaldale for all of my growing up years, but never went.  The center was on our list of activities to do this summer and the boys have been asking for a while now.  It was great.  The boys petted the birds, feed the geese and watched a flying lesson with a falcon.  The staff there are wonderful, if you have a chance go!

1. Jarom Loves to comb his hair in all sorts of different styles.  Most days it looks worse then before he brushed it, but since he was always pleased with his hair style and himself; I sum up all my self control and resisted the urge to brush his hair back into place or at the very least ruffle his do up with my fingers.

Lately I've noticed that the front of his hair was looking particularly strange - big gap in the front with long hairs falling on the side of his forehead.  At first I thought it was just the way he was styling it, then I realized in an effort to get his hair to go the way he wanted it, he had cut the front of his cowlick off. 

There was no other solution but to shave his head.  He loves the new style!

2.  Recently I checked a book out of the library where someone had gone through and edited all the grammar.  Totally weird.

3.  I've just finished reading The Postmistress - I would recommend it, although not to everyone, some shady parts.

4. My cousins from far, far away came to visit last week and it was delightful to see them. 

5. My mom and I, with the assistance of Nolan, did up 7 batches of strawberry jam.  It looks like tons, but since it is the family favorite we will see how much is leftover come next spring.  I love canning as I think nothing looks prettier than row after row of jars of preserves.

6.  Spencer and my dad tried to climb MT Cleveland this week-end.  Dad wanted to do it for his birthday.  It didn't go so well.  After 4 hours of bushwhacking they turned back and headed in another direction.  We've decided Mt. Cleveland is my dad's nemesis; this was his 3rd attempt.  Nolan was secretly ecstatic as we wants to be there when they finally reach the summit.  We told him he couldn't climb Mt. Cleveland until the summer he graduates high school.

Our Life

1.  Yesterday I felt was the perfect day. It was hot hot, so we invited some of the kids buddies and headed out to my parents to enjoy the coolness of the pool.  As I sat there watching my youngins play in the sand and listening to their shrieks of laughter escape the sides of the pool, I was so thankful for this time I get to spend with them making memories and watching them grow right before my very eyes.

2. Spencer has been gone to scout camp the last few days and we are all excited for him to come home.

3. I just baked a batch of bran muffins and forgot to add the baking soda and salt.  I shouldn't bake when I'm tired.

3.  Today Nolan participated in 3x3 basketball at the Southern Alberta Summer Games.  They played 6 games in all and remained undefeated.  The championship game was closer then I would have liked and poor Nolan was forced to endure his overly competitive mother sweetly yelling suggestions from the side lines.  Not to worry folks, he just started to ignore me after awhile. 

Just the way we like him!  Sweaty and worn out from a great day of basketball!

July Long

With school being done, it's our favorite time of the time year.  It's Freedom!  We stay up late, we sleep in, we eat when we're hungry and we escape to the mountains! 

We all needed a bit of a get away and even though my get away was more geared to shopping in the U.S. of A, the men in the family had a bit of a different plan and directed our mini vacation to the mountains.  Spencer loves the mountains and so do our kids. 

The men of the family headed down a day before me and my mom and did a hike to Iceberg Lake.  I was very nervous about Jarom and the distance, but I was assured he would be feed and watered properly and he hiked the trails like a champ.

The guys also hiked up to Apikuni Falls; very big and beautiful.  I was very sorry to miss out on this little hike. Waterfalls are amongst my favorite things.

The boys also did some fishing.  Nolan is big into fishing, although he won't touch the fish or take them off the hook.  He caught the most fish and the biggest fish.  Jarom caught his first fish ever on this trip.

This kid is so cute, I had to share this one. 

If you're wondering where me and my mom are, we are relaxing in the trailer.  My tummy is big, huge in fact and since the border crossing guard scared me into believing if I had my baby in the States they would keep my baby there and send me home to Canada, I was worried and tried to be very low key.