Saturday, December 18, 2010

Family Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Is it really time for Christmas already? This year has flown by so fast, it seems like each year goes by faster then the previous. Just a little notet to update you as our family continues to grow, in more ways then one.

Aaron(10) is in 5th grade, he is doing hip hop again, earned his Bear badge in scouts and has been working on his Webelos badge, which he received at November's pack meeting. He is now working towards earning his Arrow of Light award. Aaron loves to shoot his bow with grandpa, he goes every chance he gets. The 3D standing grizzly bear target is his favorite.

Ammon(9) is in 3rd grade, he is doing tumbling again, has earned his Wolf badge and is moving on to earning his Bear. After having such a perfect year last year, Ammon started this school year off with a bang, getting himself sent to the principals office and getting suspended three times now. He's lucky it's only been three times, he would have missed a second day the first time if dad hadn't spent the day with him.Ammon is once again singing with the school musical group, Musical Mustangs.

Annie(7) is in 2nd grade, she is doing dance again. She tried out for the competition team this spring and made it but then decided she didn't want to do it. She is really good at dance. She says she doesn't want to learn point but she's always up on her toes. Annie has been complaining that she can't see the board at school so after an eye exam it was determined that she does indeed need glasses (and she loves having them). The kids all took swimming lessons this summer and Annie is the only one to pass off her level.

Emily(6)is in Kindergarten, she is also doing dance. Emily has been making lots of friends at school and is always wanting to go to someone's house for a play date. She still loves spending time with her Aunt Julia, she's very happy Julia is back in Utah.

Erica(5) is in Headstart again, she also takes dance. She has been doing really well about going to headstart by herself. She's only had one major breakdown while getting ready in the morning, after mom carried her to the bus she settled down and enjoyed the day at school.

Ethan(2) goes to a special group twice a week at DDI Vantage, an early intervention program helping him learn to speak more. He will have this available to him until his 3rd birthday. Since we have started this program he has started speaking more, is using 2 and 3 word sentences when prompted, and is overall more engaging in conversation.

And we have added to our family yet again. James Ervin Crapo joined us on September 29, at 6:01 a.m. He weighed 4lb 15 oz and was 17 inches long. He was six weeks early and did very well, spent very little time in the nursery, and only 12 hours on oxygen. He is a perfect beautiful dark haired baby, still undetermined on his eye color, mom says they are going to be blue, dad says they are going to be brown.

Michael has been keeping busy working, for the most part. Work did take a dip in the summer, which is usual for his work. But with the colder weather it picks back up. he now has seniority in his area. Some days he doesn't really take the day off because he always has his truck phone forwarded. In these hard time we are extremely grateful that he still has a job.

Kathryn has been keeping busy with the duties of wife and mother. In church she was released earlier this year from her calling as a member of the Relief Society Activity Committee and called as Relief Society Pianist. She is still taking kids to church by herself, only being relieved once every six weeks when Michael gets a Sunday off. In June she ended her 2 year stint as PTA President at the Elementary. In September she was elected in Erica's headstart class as the Policy Council Representative. Then in Policy Council she was elected as the Secretary/Treasurer. So there is always something going on in her life.

We wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and all the best in the NEW YEAR.

Love, The Crapo Family

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Beautiful

A friend gave me the lyrics to this song yesterday. Said she heard it on the radio and it made her think of me.

Beautiful
by: Mercy Me

The days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

And praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skies above
You're the one He madly loves
Enough to die

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
In His eyes

You're beautiful
You were meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

6 Weeks....

Wow, how time flies. Was it really six weeks ago that James was born? It seems like only yesterday. He has grown, I weighed him on Monday and he is about 7 1/2 lbs. I say about because I didn't strip him down like they do at the dr. office to weigh him. He has filled out, his face is getting fuller, not chubby but he's outgrowing that preemie look. He's still eating about every two to three hours, which isn't so bad during the day but at night it just wears me out.

I guess I really should get out my camera and take some pictures. I've been terrible at taking pictures, of everyone. When I got my digital camera I thought it would be so much easier for scrapbooking because I could look at the pictures and print them off right away, but I'm terrible about getting them printed out. Guess it's time to catch up.

This one is from my phone.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

He's Here!!! Introducing James Ervin Crapo

Last Tuesday I went to bed at 10:30 and was woken up at 12:50 by my water breaking. I was so not ready for that. I hadn't looked at the clock yet but Michael was in the bathroom so I assumed it was after 3:00 and he was up getting ready for work. I called to him and told him my water just broke, he's like 'you're kidding right?' no I wasn't kidding, it was the real thing. So I got up and started getting dressed, and packing a few things because I didn't have anything ready yet.

We arrived at the hospital and checked in, got to my room and the nurse checked me. They still did the test to see if my water had broken, which I don't get, hello I've had 6 babies, don't you think I know when my water has broken. I was dilated to 4, not bad considering I had been a 1 1/2 on Monday. I figured it wouldn't be much more then 2 hours, the last four kids were all born right about 2 hours after my water broke. But I laid there until about 5:00 with contractions coming and going, not ever getting very strong or consistent. At 5:00 I got up and went to the bathroom and then the contractions started getting stronger. At 5:30 I was only at a 5, I was getting a little frustrated at this point. I got up and went to the bathroom again and Michael told me not to have the baby in the toilet. Ha ha, funny I said, she just checked me and I'm not going to have him yet.

Getting up and moving around that little bit must have really helped because within 20 minutes I was getting very uncomfortable. Surprisingly the contractions were strong but not as painful as I remember them being with the other kids. I called the nurse in and she checked me, wow, I only had a little bit of anterior lip. She said not to push yet and went to get the doctor. He walked into the room just as I had another contraction and I tried not to push. But with the next contraction while he was still in the corner dressing I pushed and the nurse told him the head was out and with another push he was out. I sat up and touched him as he lay there on the bed, what a beautiful wonder he was. All too soon the doctor was there suctioning him out and handing him off to the nurse so she could take him straight to the nursery because he was of course 6 weeks early and they wanted him in there in case there were complications with him.

He was born at 6:01, a little more than 5 hours after my water broke. Michael went to the nursery with him and came back a little later to tell me that he was 4lbs 5oz, and 17 inches long. I thought that was a very strange coincidence for him and Ammon to have both been born at 34 weeks and 2 days and to both weigh the exact same. But I later found out that he was actually 15 oz, Michael hadn't seen the 1 when the nurse wrote the weight down.


James was in the nursery in the infant warmer with oxygen until 10:00 that night, he was breathing it was just very shallow. He also had an IV, the nurses tried 6 times to put it in his hands or feet and each time blew the vein. Finally they called in the anesthesiologist and he put it in a vein on his forehead. He had antibiotics just as a precaution because it was unknown why my water broke, if I had an infection they wanted to take care of it before he got sick. He finally got to come into my room on Thursday after lunch. Michael brought the kids down after school and they all held him and loved on him.







What a blessing he is, to be here and be healthy. I am so glad he didn't have to spend more time in the hospital. I think they made Ammon stay until he was 5 lbs. When we left the hospital James weighed 4 lbs. 14 oz. I'm sure it was due to the continuous flow of IV fluids they were giving him, for everything he lost they were pumping it back in.


Monday, September 27, 2010

Same ole, Same ole

Went to the Dr. for my checkup this morning. Because of ultrasound measurements he says I'm only 34 weeks, and I say I'm 36 weeks. Anyway, I've been contracting like crazy and thought for sure I'd be dilated to at least a 3, nope, I'm only about 1 1/2. Can't hardly believe that sometime within the next 4 weeks, pretty sure it will be by then, I'll have a new baby. Yikes!! Am I really ready for this, ready or not he's coming.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Waiting Game

I still have at least 4 weeks left with this baby, but man do I want him out. I've been so miserable lately. The headaches, the backaches, the swelling, the expanding waist line....you get the picture. As my last visit a week ago I did have high blood pressure the first time she took it, then he had me lay on my side for 5 minutes and then took it again, it was a little lower but I thought it was still a little high. I do not want to get to the point I did with Erica when my kidneys and liver were shutting down and it was get that baby out now. I hate being on the magnesium sulfate, that stuff makes me sick. So here's to hoping I don't reach that point with this baby.

I hate the scales at the Dr's office too, one time I lost 15 lbs and the next time I'm back up 20 lbs or so. I think they should make sure they use the same scale each time, cause there's got to be a discrepancy between the three of them.

We still haven't settled on a name for this little guy. Michael likes names that I don't like and I've picked names that he doesn't like. By this time with all the others they had a name. We're going to be at the hospital calling him Baby Boy Crapo. Poor thing!

In all honesty I'm not ready for this to be over, I enjoy being pregnant and feeling that baby moving within my body. Knowing that I've created something special and unique. I can't describe the joy I feel from carrying that tiny creation within me. It's a humbling and growing experience.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

2010-2011 School Year

The kids are headed back to school. Aaron is headed to 5th grade in Miss Angus's class. Ammon is going to 3rd in Mrs. Wood's. Annie is in 2nd in Ms. McCoy's. Emily is beginning her adventures in Kindergarten with Mrs. Davis.





Thursday, August 12, 2010

School time!!!!

Wow! It's almost time for school again. I am way excited to be sending kids off during the day so there isn't so much fighting. They've gotten worse as the summer has progressed. We went to Vernal yesterday and did school clothes shopping. Oh my gosh!!! It costs a fortune to get 5 kids clothes, backpacks, and shoes for school. Grandma Donna bought the girls shoes, but the pair she got for Annie didn't fit, she also got each of them a shirt or two. Grandma Linda bought them all socks and underwear. We spent as much at K-Mart for their clothes as we usually spend at Wal-Mart for food and other essentials each month. I don't even want to think about what it's going to cost once they get to high school. Yikes!!

I've been feeling pretty miserable lately, my stomach feels like it's being stretched to the limits already. I'm always exhausted and these stupid headaches just won't go away. Oh the joys!! I figure I have about 9 weeks left, the closest to due date has been 16 days so I'm figuring sometime about the middle of October. I'm not really sure that I'm ready for that, it seems so close. This being the last baby kind of makes me feel sad. I want to enjoy it as long and as much as I can.

Monday, July 26, 2010

New Title

If any of you have been paying attention on facebook or to the pictures posted along the right side of this page you will know that I will soon need to change my name to crazy mom of seven. Yes that's right, baby number 7 is due in October. If I wasn't crazy before I will be now!!!

 He's a thumb sucker already!


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Summer Update

Summer has been dragging by, but it's almost over, yea!!!

I have of course been neglecting my blog. I did update pictures as you can see. My sister Julia took these for us and did a great job as always. The kids don't like to cooperate and so of course in none of the pictures of the family were all of them looking at the camera.

We went to one family reunion this year at Moon Lake and got rained out. So glad home was close enough for us to come home and sleep in a dry bed. I know that's not really fair but who wants to sleep in a flooded tent with wet sleeping bags. Michael's sister Michelle and brother Tyler were the only other ones in a tent, the others all had campers. So I don't feel too bad about ditching them for the night :).

Annie got to go to Wisconsin with some of my family. She was gone for two weeks and did really well until the night before they got home, then she got a little homesick. She still talks about the turtle ponds and going to Nauvoo.



Julia took these pictures of her, I think it was on her last day. She was pretty sad in that first picture. In the last picture she has an inchworm on her thumb.


The kids have all taken one swimming lesson this summer, too expensive to do more then that. Annie was the only one that passed her level. I guess it's not really fair because they don't get that much time in the pool, I haven't taken them at all this year. But then again, I'm not crazy, oh wait, I am. But I am not taking 6 kids to the pool by myself. No way!!





Thursday, May 13, 2010

Bear Dance-Headstart

Erica had the Bear Dance for Headstart today. Ethan got to go with me. He was a little afraid of the bear to begin with.







Friday, May 7, 2010

Annie's 7th Birthday

So far this is all I've found of her birthday.


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Recital 2010

Roosevelt Academy of Arts: Aaron did hip hop again; Ammon did tumbling, winning 2nd place with his 5:22 headstand; Annie, Emily and Erica did dance.




 I know this isn't the best picture, I don't know if it was the flashy costumes that were interfering with the camera or what.

Monday, May 3, 2010

To get a job or not to get a job? That is the question.

So Michael has been after me since about the beginning of the year to get a job. Ok, so I applied to some, but didn't get any of them. I don't know how I really feel about this, it wouldn't have been to bad before but it's almost summer and the kids will be home, what do I do with them while I'm working. It's not worth it to pay for childcare for them just for me to go to work, I wouldn't ever come out ahead.

I've tried the working at home deal and they are just not worth it, they either are just a fraud or I flop at them. I really don't want to work. What's a mom supposed to do??

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Ethan's 2nd Birthday

The pictures from Ethan's birthday were also on the SD card that got destroyed. :(



Saturday, March 6, 2010

Un'expected' News

Michael and I took a night away for our anniversary last month. We stayed at a nice hotel and enjoyed dinner out. That evening when we went to leave for dinner as I moved to get up from laying on my stomach on the bed I felt a familiar twinge in my lower abdomen that I have only ever felt when I was pregnant. I quickly did the calculations in my head and realized that I was indeed two weeks late. But having had too many losses and disappointments I wasn't ready to celebrate just yet. In fact I didn't even say anything to Michael. When we got home on the 27th I took a pregnancy test and got a positive. I figured that my due date should be the 25th of October. I just hoped that I didn't lose this baby.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Aaron's 10th Birthday

I took pictures at Aaron's birthday but didn't get around to uploading them to my computer. Someone took my SD card out of my camera and the card got destroyed, so I never got the pictures off of it. :( Sad, sad day.