Oh Beka!

I just love this little gal and all the fun laughs we have with her! If you know Beka...you know what I mean. Tonight at dinner James called her by the wrong name (hey...it happens when you've got 6 kids to keep track of). Immediately she looks up says "I guess we need to get some name tags or sumthin'! We could not stop laughing. Most of the family had left but Beka and I were still there and I called her by the wrong name....she didn't even hesitate but looked up and said "well, I guess mom's doin' it now too." She seriously cracks me up and I don't know what we would do without her in our family!!!

Kids on their first day of school!

My kids in their cute uniforms on the first day of school. Tank is already in middle school and is still trying to adjust. It's tough but I know he'll do awesome. He gets the bus at 7:27 and gets dropped off at about 4:10. He is such a little stud muffin! The rest of the kids walk with me to and from school in the blazing heat. The first couple of days it was 104-105 degrees without the humidity factored in. The school is only about 1/2 mile away....THANK GOODNESS!!!! We leave about 8ish and pick up at 3:45 so it's a long day for these guys. At least Beka gets "nap time" each day. Of course she's too big to actually go to sleep....funny girl. The kids have no problem with the uniforms and I actually really like it. It makes it super easy to get ready for school each day plus I think they look so cute! The girls and I made some hair things to make it more fun with their uniforms and they LOVE the hair things. School is fun and we can't wait to get a little more involved in it!!!!

Torture the little man!

James and his ways. He loves to "play" with the kids so much....and this is what he does!

BLORA

We spent the afternoon on Saturday exploring what BLORA was....and it's SO FUN!!!! They have these cool water slides that were so much fun to go down and all the kids (who were tall enough) LOVED it!!! They also had a fun little kid water place to play for those that weren't tall enough for the slide. After we went on the slide we headed over to the "beach" for some more fun. The kids loved the warm water that cooled us off and the fact that it was shallow enough for them to have fun without mom and dad freaking out. What more can you ask for? Once we were done with that we headed over to the paddle boats. While I took care of Abraham, James took the other 5 out on the paddle boat. I think this was the hit of the day because I ended up with 5 VERY unhappy kids heading back to the car after they were done. It was so fun to spend time out in the water with the hot weather that we're still trying to get used to. The best part of it.....FREE for us military folks. What more can you ask for? Tons of fun for only the cost of the gas to get you there! What a fun weekend we had....maybe we'll find another fun spot next weekend!!!!

Woo-Hoo....WE MADE IT!!!!

Well....we made it to TX after tons of fun! It was a fairly rough 3 months without James but we definitely survived it. The house got all packed up, lots of help from family and friends cleaning, and moved into James parents garage. We started off the Hoopes' family reunion the day I finished moving out and Sariah was sick so I went to Bob and Jacobies house to take care of her. We went to Moab and enjoyed lot of fun swimming, going to the arches, and lazing in the river. It was HOT but fun to be with everyone. I headed of on a LONG plane ride to GA to go get my hubby. Abraham was so good but I was exhausted by the time I got there. I actually spent most of the 3 days feeling really sick...oops! I can't even tell you how awesome it was to see James for the first time in 3 months...he's so HOT!!!! We had a really fun time just hanging out. We went to Shoney's (which is a Timmons family thing) and tried to find a movie theatre with Eclipse, got shirts for all the kids, went to the museum, and it was awesome. Of course the biggest reason for being there was the graduation and turning blue. It was really an amazing experience. I got to put the blue cord on James which was fun and listening to all the soldiers sing was hilarious!!!! The graduation was really neat and gave me goosebumps, even if James was sitting next to me and not with the others.

We came home, loaded our truck, blessed Abraham, and headed on the road! It took us 3 days to get here. We stopped in New Mexico the first night....and 10 minutes from the TX border the next. We finally made it towards the evening on the 3rd day of traveling and it was so nice to get out of the car. We got up the next day and got a house....CRAZY!!!! We actually got a house that very day which is a little unusual. It's an old house but it has 5 bedrooms and is just perfect for us! The kids are so excited because we have a backyard and a community pool just 1/2 a mile from here....sweetness!!!! We are unpacking now and trying to settle in. I think it might take a little while to get used to this heat and humidity but we are really excited to be here!!!!

What have we been up to?

Sariah took a picture of me and Abraham...he's a cutie!!!


All the kids just before going to church. We're sending some pictures to daddy!


Little Abraham sitting in the little chair that the kids think is just perfect for him.


Keeping an eye on things.


Little man sitting on the couch for his photo shoot with the girls.

Well...school is out and the kids couldn't be more excited! They are all in love with their little brother and constantly fight over who gets to hold him. They are so cute about it. We have been having fun doing things like making cards for daddy's birthday and father's day, making treats with thank you notes for all the wonderful people that have been helping us, and watching Gilligan's Island. My kids are crazy and that's all they ever want to watch!

We had a great time with Kristi and her family coming to visit us and we're excited to go down there for a week or so in just a little bit. We have so much going on this summer that we are so excited about. Tank has his birthday next week and Springville's Art City Days are always fun for the kids. Grandma just moved up here so we get to spend time with her before we move, which is so exciting. We are moving out of our house just in time for the Hoopes family reunion, I'll go to James graduation in GA and bring him home just in time for us to leave to Ft Hood in Texas. It's gonna be a fun adventure and I hope that we really end up enjoying it!!!!

Jarom...Jarom...Jarom!

What more can be said? This little man is something else. He wasn't paying attention and walked into the corner of the brick wall outside of Walmart last night. Vonnie was so sweet an met us down at the instacare to sit with him while he got stitched up so that I could take care of the other 5 kids. I'm so glad I have such a great mother-in-law who doesn't have a weak stomach like I do. Hopefully we'll be more careful and watch where we're walking....this is Jarom after all though.

Jaundice

One of my worst fears. No mother ever wants to see their baby in the hospital when they're only a week old. Seriously!!!! Well, Sariah had jaundice and so I knew what to look for. Little man Abraham was starting to look a little yellow but then started to get better. He wasn't really lethargic or anything and was having plenty of wet and messy diapers. Last Friday I looked at him and realized that he was all but glowing yellow...literally over night this happened. I took him to the pediatrician and he decided to be safe and have him checked but reassured me that he wasn't too concerned. Well...a couple hours later when the results came back he called and told me to take him to the hospital immediately because he was at 23.2 and needed an IV and lights immediately to avoid serious problems....HOLY CRAP!!!! I was really terrified and didn't want to deal with this right now and especially with James gone...I know....I'm a big baby! It was one of the worst nights of my life as I watched them put an IV in his tiny little hand and lay under the lights where all I could do was watch and pray. His numbers were down to 12 the next morning and so we got to go home. When I went to his Dr on Monday he apologized for the hospital stay because he really didn't expect it to be that bad. He figured we would just need the at home lights and no big deal. He felt horrible that it was much worse than he had expected. Oh well. I have to take him back in tomorrow because his numbers are still rising but at a much slower rate. I pray for the day that it's over...will tomorrow be the lucky day?

Abraham Robert Hoopes

Cute little man takes the binky very seriously...gotta hold that sucker in!


He just can't watch any more of the nonsense with the other 5 siblings!


The kids love to hold him and bug him too!


Moments after he was born and the nurse showed him off while he was whining to us all.


Talking to dad on the phone within the first 20 minutes or so of entering this life. Even though dad couldn't be here, he still wanted to talk to him.

So...Abraham Robert Hoopes was born on April 29, 2010 at 6 pm on the dot. He was 7lb 7oz and 20 inches long (with the cone head). He was one of the longest labors I've had, who would've thought being number 6. Well, we got there in the morning and they got everything started. My doctor came in and by 7:40 my water was broken, PIT started and all the fetal monitors in place. Brittany, the most awesome nurse ever, really believed that this baby was gonna come lickety split...we all did but he fooled us. I progressed slower than molasses and after a while there were some concerns because of some fetal stress. At one point a different nurse came in and had me really scared that there were going to be some problems if I didn't progress any faster. They kept turning the PIT down and then up again because of his heart rate and even put me on oxygen. I spent most of the day on one side because his heart rate was better that way, even though it started to get extremely painful for me. The things we do for these kids before they even get here! So...my Dr came back to check and noticed that he wasn't coming down because he was turned the wrong way. He wasn't completely posterior but he was partially and it was making it so that he wasn't coming down like he should. Dr. Gourley moved him so that he was facing the right way and we were all hoping for some good progress now. NO!!!! It didn't happen right away but things did get a little better even though the contractions started slowing down. It was just crazy. Finally, Abraham's heart rate was dropping enough that they took me off the PIT completely and so the contractions all but stopped....SERIOUSLY!!!!! It was insane. We were just waiting for Dr to come back from surgery to decided where to go from there. I finally made it to an 8 and he was coming down a lot more. Thank goodness!!!! Well...Dr. Gourley came in at 5:50 and worked his magic. He had to turn him some more to get him in the right position and TA-DA!!!! Obviously it didn't take long since it was only 10 minutes later that he was born. He was such a little stinker but we love him to death! We're so excited that he's finally here and adding so much joy to the rest of the family!

....and he's off!

Well...well...well...the long awaited time has come and James is starting his official full time Army. We started off our family time last night with some good old Cafe Rio. James remembered his card and so we were able to get 2 salads, a smothered burrito and drink for $16.16! That's impressive for feeding a family of 7 if you ask me. He finished getting all his stuff ready and we got everyone to bed. This morning we woke up and took the kids to school and he stopped off to see his mom. We got his bag in the car and hurried over to the bank where we were meeting with the couple that bought the van only to remember that James forgot the money on top of the t.v! So...I drove back to the house with the girls crying for daddy most of the way and got the money. We were running late at this point and rushed as fast as we could to pick up the kids. James had to be to the recruiting office at 1:00 so he could drive to SLC to get his medical records, go back to the office in Provo, and back to SLC for the evening. What a JOKE!!!!! We made it with just enough time to get the kids an ice cream and dad to give them a little parting gift. James has gotten really into coins these days and bought the girls a penny with the San Diego Temple on it and the boys a penny with the Liahona. It was very sweet! Of course then comes the good-byes....oh what a sight to see. 3 of the 5 kids were sobbing uncontrollably, the other 2 were crying and I was crying while trying to stay in control of it all. James had a few tears in his eyes as he hugged us all and watched us drive away. NOT COOL!!!! We went to get some gas and then to Target where I let the kids play in the toy section (which I rarely ever do). They were really good and so I even got them a happy hour from Sonic on our way home. It's gonna be a long 2 months but I know that we'll be able to make it as long as we rely on The Lord to help and guide us. Besides...things could be much worse and so I count my blessing each day and remind myself of just how stinkin' lucky I really am!!!!