Family Photos 2014

I am finally getting around to posting our family photos from last Fall! I have regretted not posting all of the pictures we get back from our photographer in the past. So I have been putting all of them in a post for a year or two. Look out! There are a lot of photos!
We used Liz from Coachhouse Pictures. It was amazing to have her come to us at our home! She was really great, and we just loved her! We took the pictures in our yard, and our neighbor's over the top beautiful yard. With their permission of course. I knew we needed to use the gorgeous view in our back yard for family photos at some point. This was the perfect year to do it!
It was a crazy time of life, and a crazy day. Lydie was still so tiny, and we had a swim meet that morning. It was also very cold. Getting the majority of the shot inside made it all much more bearable for the kids. I will also admit that having my pictures taken with a month old post-pardum body was not high on my list of fun. It all worked out though, I even managed to get my skirt zipped up. (Well, almost zipped up that is.) So, I consider the photos a victory!
A sleep deprived victory!
I included all the photos taken in Lydie's room that we got from this shoot in an earlier post about her nursery.

I haven't posted in a few weeks, so I have some catching up to do. We were able to make it home to Utah for Christmas this year. I am so incredibly grateful for our timing because my amazing Grandma Clark passed away while we were visiting. I have pictures for a post that I will get up soon.
Winter has been it's usual unrelenting self this year. Sub zero has been the norm. I believe I heard that this Winter has broken the existing cold Chicago records. It is March, and we are still alive, so I guess what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
I have found myself adopting a different mind set than I have had in the past. When they cancel school for the cold, I just roll my eyes! "It's going to be cold tomorrow as well"' is what I find myself thinking, "so why make a deal of it today?"
 Welcome to Chicago! Put on some gloves and a hat, put your head down, and head out there! There will be no escaping it for a few months, so you may as well learn to live in it! Or move. Yes, there are days when it is legitimate to cancel school. Those are they days they don't cancel!  I there is a point when Winter here makes everyone a bit cynical.
We are headed South for Spring break, so I am hoping that Spring actually makes it's way to Atlanta before we arrive!

To start, I will post our 2014 Christmas Card:

I like this one taken by our neighbors water slide mountain, but Georgia blends right into the rock and brush! It is all the exact color of her hair and outfit! We should have moved her down front. She has a nicer smile than the family shot we sent on the card. She may be grimacing, but at least you can see her!

Headed home...

We were supposed to be making funny faces.

Lydie's Blessing

We blessed our little Lydie girl in November.

 We decided to cut some stress out of our lives and bless Lydie in our ward here at home, even though we knew we were going to Utah for Christmas the next month. My parents were in town for Thanksgiving, so we had her blessed while they were visiting.
Going back through all of these photos is making me realize the I have really been suffering from memory loss due to fatigue. I am scraping my mind for details here! I am realizing just how far out of that survival mode I had come having a nearly five year old as my youngest before the baby. It is worth the fatigue and air headed tendencies. Oh the joys of the newborn days!

Del gave Lydie such a sweet, loving blessing. She was a good girl for the blessing, even though Del told me later the few times she fussed did make him panic that she was going to lose it in the middle of the blessing. I hope that all of the things that Del blessed her to be strengthened with in this life come to fruition! She is such a precious little soul!

Lydie was MAD at me for trying to get her dressed up and have her picture taken. So I don't have many with details of her dress. She HATED the bonnet that came with the dress, and she was screaming in all the pictures I took while she was wearing it. So we ditched that and just went with a less offensive headband. She was very appreciative.

Our new family of seven! That seems like a lot of people. It is also nuts that Will appears to be taller than Wally in this picture. Those two are in some kind of race to see who is taller. I think it changes every month.

It was so good to have my Mom and Dad! We had a lot of fun during their visit, I felt comfortable leaving Lydie to attend the temple while they were here, and our timing was good because my Mom was back home before my Grandmas heath took a sever decline. My amazing, sweet Grandma passed away while we were home for Christmas. I will get a post updating that up soon.

It was nice to have at least one family member stand in the circle with Del for the blessing.

Our fantastic neighbors, the Arnold family, came for the blessing and Sacrament meeting. They are really the greatest family. They are so open and kind to our children, and we are just so grateful to know them! It was so nice of them to take time on their Sunday to attend!

We are so glad to have Lydie blessed and enjoy that milestone in her little life.

Walker Turns 5!

I am trying hard to keep plugging away at getting caught up on some of our Fall events.

Walker had a birthday on November 22nd. He is five and that is hard to believe! Sometimes I think his life has seemed to pass the fastest of all the children so far!
Walker is so excited to be five because that means he can go to Kindergarten next year. Walker loves school. He takes so much pride in having friends he can talk about and play with.

We went to Wisconsin for a friend's baptism on the morning of Walker's birthday, and on the way home he told us all that he wanted everyone to get in their pajamas before he opened his presents. So we snapped a couple of pictures, and then everyone changed before he opened them. I was totally game for this because I remember very specifically that Lydie slept terribly the night before, and I was completely exhausted.

Walker is a sweet boy who is just trying to keep up with the big kids. He loves to play with trucks, and I love that he is so willingly occupied by them. He was such a trooper during 2014. The year was spent full of different endeavors than we had imagined it would be when we found out Lydie was on the way. In the midst of my pregnancy misery, Walker was always happy to go along with what I needed him to do. He entertained himself for more hours than I care to admit or remember while I survived. He has been a good sport about becoming a big brother, and shows nothing but love to his baby sister. His patience continues through the adjustments to having a newborn.

Walker is smart, and stubborn. He somehow maintains his little guy cuteness as he grows. We just love him.

Always excited about their very own box of sugary cereal.

Walker's favorite gift was by far his garbage truck.

You are officially a big boy, buddy! We love you!