Hanna's Birthday Party

Hanna has been planning her 8th birthday party for about 6 months. She came to me over the summer and told me she wanted to have a tea party. I said sure honey, not really knowing how to do that, and was sure she would change her mind. Nope! Not only did she not change her mind, she kept bugging me every few weeks. "We need to get planning my party she would say"! Well, her blessed tea party finally happened and not to toot my own horn, but I loved how it turned out. My sweet friend Jen came to help and had so many great ideas since she threw a similar party for her daughter recently so I guess I can't take all the credit. And for those of you who know Hanna she always has her own ideas and don't get in her way or try to change her mind on them. I don't know where she gets it....or maybe I do:) Its one of my favorite things about her, her determination and creativity! Here are a few pictures from the big event, but you'll have to visit Hanna's blog in a few days to get the unedited version!


We served mini sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, mini cookies, and hot chocolate with mini marshmellows (instead of tea!)

Never say Never

As a side note; the casino behind these palm trees is 3 minutes from our house. It just recently opened up with movies, bowling, restaraunts, and yes gambling.
The mountains at the north end of our street
The gates into our neighborhood

Since moving to Las Vegas, I've had to explain to my kids several times that it doesn't snow here and it never will the whole time wile we live here. Didn't want to get their hopes up for something that would most likely never happen. So you can imagine our delight and surprise on Monday when driving to school I exclaim to the kids, I think those rain drops are actually tiny snowflakes! As the week has progressed, they've gotten bigger and bigger! So when we woke up this morning, they tell us on the news that school has been canceled!! A snow day in Vegas....this is crazy! This apparently is the worst snow storm they have had in 30 years. We feel blessed and excited to be part of it!! Its also hanna's b-day, so Jared asked her if she wished to have a snow day when she blew out her candles at her party on Saturday. Maybe she did because this weather seems like an unbelievable child's wish come true. It has instantly put me into the Christmas spirit and transformed me into a giddy little child.

The Fine Print

So apparently I married a hunter. It must have been in the fine print. I don't know how I missed it when we were dating at BYU. I must have been thrown off by the Doc. Martins and girbaud jeans he was disguised in at the time. I remember him mentioning it once or twice over the past 11 years, but it never sank in until this past Thanksgiving when we were in Utah. His mom and Boyd hosted the first annual "Turkey day shoot" on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. (as a side note, we didn't actually shoot turkeys, Hanna was very confused by this, we shot clay discs. Jared informed me that night that he was going to buy a gun safe and bring his guns home. (he's been storing them in Utah by orders of me until they could be in a safe at our house).
So you can imagine my surprise as I entered Sportman's Warehouse today for the first time and entered a whole different world! I was trying to find a present for Jared that would actually be a surprise for Christmas (he usually picks out everything). I had no idea where to start!! I was so distracted by the John Wayne framed art, stuffed elk heads everywhere, and twangy country music playing over the loud speaker. Thankfully, a flannel shirt, wrangler wearin' employee saw my dazed expression and helped me with all my questions. We were on our way in no time and as I exited the store and spotted the familiar palm trees, I found myself saying whoaaa... that was interesting.
Its not that I mind this hobby, it just a little foreign to me being raised in suburban america. Jared enjoys it and had a great time at the turkey shoot as one of the four finalists. Carter and I even shot too! So don't be distracted by the skechers and American eagle attire. You can take the boy off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the boy. I guess you'll understand when you come visit and we have a stuffed elk hanging above the big screen now.....just kidding....I mean I think Jared was kidding.....maybe I better go consult the fine print.

Dear Santa

Last night at FHE we wrote our official letters to Santa. Hanna's cracked me up!

Christmas music anyone?

I love to buy a new Christmas C.D. every year. I need help this year picking a good one, so if you could all comment and leave your favorites that would be great! Then I don't have to guess....I can take your advice!!

Sweet Jake

Jake has said some really funny things recently. Last night while decorating the tree he said, "Mom, I think Santa is going to faint, because the tree is so beautiful!" He's also started calling things "thingamajinkies", and I heard him tell his friend Koby today, "look, we have a gram cracker", (pointing at the Christmas nutcracker!) We love you, Jake, you are so FUN!!

Soccer Mom and proud of it.

It was fun to have all our kids on "blue teams" this season.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, the kids had their last soccer games. They were both at 9 am and even though we were leaving for Utah that day we decided to stay for them. I headed to Hanna and Carter's (their on the same team), and Jared who has been an assistant coach headed for Jake's game. Carter was playing awesome! He has improved a ton over this season and last spring. Anyway, he got a break away and scored an amazing goal!! I was so proud, that I started crying and screaming like one of those crazy banshee parents. I immediately called jared on the cell phone and told him. He was so excited and sad since he missed it. You see this was Carter's first goal after many seasons. He has been a great defender and goalie for years, but just recently has learned how to be an amazing forward.
The story doesn't end there.... 5 minutes later Jared calls me on the cell phone to tell me Jake just scored a goal too!! This was also Jake's first goal of the year. We were so proud too, since most of the season we have watched him play pretend games on the field and occasionally kick the ball when it worked into his schedule or happened to be nearby. Crazy!! Hanna was sad she didn't get to join in all the fun, but played great all season. Needless to say, we were glad we stayed for the last games. I love this sport, some of my happiest moments have been on a soccer field....and it just keeps getting better for this soccer mom.

A Thankful thought

As we prepare to leave town for Thanksgiving, I have thought a lot about what I am most thankful for right now. Easily I can say Motherhood. It is always a time of reflection for me after having a baby. I feel so blessed to have just brought this sweet baby into the world. He's a special addition to our family. I feel it a blessing to be responsible for these little ones and to have been entrusted with them. And although its not always an easy road..... I wouldn't trade my job for anything.
A few days ago, I walked in to find Joshy with his arm around Cole. It melted my heart!! If I could just remember this image, when my boys beat on each other, give each other bloody noses, and wrestle non stop...also things I walked into find this week! Gotta love those physical boys.

The story of the Big Toe

So some of you may know I've been battling an ingrown toenail for sometime. (5 months). Like most medical issues of mine I decide to watch it for awhile and hope that it will go away on its own. When it flared up again last weekend and got infected and my Dr. husband was telling me to go to the ER, I decided it might be time to do something about it. So I made an appointment on Wednesday to get some antibiotics from the FP clinic. While there, the Dr. recommended that I should get it "cut out" right then and so I let them do it. Well, a tech did it I should say and the procedure was well, disgusting and painful. Numb the toe cut down the side of the nail, yank the offending portion out (and I mean yank), and cauterize the tissue. So that was that. She sent me home with no pain meds and some antibiotics. A few minutes into the 25 minute drive home, I started feeling the pain. I started driving faster. I started hitting the steering wheel. I turned up the music, (anything to distract me), I started telling Jake, Man this hurts buddy! He kept reminding me "Were almost home". Luckily I had saved the 800 mg Motrin from having Cole. So I immediately took one. It finally started taking the edge off almost two hours later!!
I limped around for a day and tried to think it was getting better. Friday night I was up half the night writhing in pain and soaking my foot hoping for some relief. I slept through soccer games yesterday morning (Jared had to take the kids). I finally got up and moving and told myself it looked better. Then I finally through in the towel after lunch and told Jared "I think I am going to the ER". He had suggested this several times already. I couldn't deal with the pain any longer. 800 mg motrin was doing nothing at this point! The ER Dr. took one look at my toe and said "I can see why 800 Mg. Motrin is doing nothing for you, you need something way stronger!" They renumbed the toe (more shots- oh goody, goody). Then proceeded to scrape vigorously away at all the infected skin to get it to open up and drain so it would stop festering and throbbing. It took four different shots to numb the toe, two directly in the infected area. At this point I wanted to curl up in the fetal position and cry for my mom, but somehow I hung in there. After two Dervaset (narcotics:)!), and rewrapping my toe, and four hours later....I returned home to my family. Jared had dinner on the table, and all 5 children were happy. (He's a better mom then me sometimes)--He has been awesome through this whole ordeal.
After being home for a little over an hour it hit me just how worn out I was. I was nursing Cole and the room started to feel as though it was floating around me, my arms became week (I think from tensing them so much in the ER in pain), and I could barely yell up to Jared to please come get the baby, because I had to go to bed right then. 7:00pm! 13 hours later with a few nursing breaks, I finally felt human enough to get up.
After giving birth and this whole ordeal, I am ready to be done with pain for awhile. At one point I think I even muttered the words "This is as bad as end stage labor", something I never thought I would have to say! So now if you see me coming and going you'll know why I have a blue wrapping around my Big Toe!! This was taken this morning and is actually a huge improvement from yesterday!

Hanna's Blog

Hanna has started her own blog. If you'd like to visit it scroll down to our family links and double click to it! I've also added some new photos to my photo blog.

For G'ma Karyl

I wanted to post some special pictures just for you. I love you. love, baby Cole. p.s. Thank you for helping to take care of Maylan


BABY COLE 2 1/2 weeks old

For G'ma & G'pa Jackson

These are for you !! We sure miss having you here!

Our Halloweeners

Carter the Clone Trooper, Joshy -Yoda, Hanna the 50's girl, and Jake the Skeleton pirate

I was sad not to be able to participate much in the Halloween festivities this year. Jared was a trooper taking the four kids to our ward trunk or treat and fall festival at the elementary school. I reluctantly stayed home but knew I wouldn't last ten minutes in the chaos. So by Halloween night, I was determined to walk the neighborhood and "do Halloween" with the kids. Three streets into it, I started dragging, feeling the aches and pains of my back and tummy muscles, and threw in the towel. I guess I'm not as young as I used to be.... recovering this time around has been a little slower!! I did get cute pictures and that is my favorite part. We were happy to reuse some of our boy costumes this year....a tradition that will just keep living on each year:]

Cousins

The first fans of Cole arrived this weekend to adore him. My sister and family came for the weekend from Lake Arrowhead area of California. We are lucky to have them here. Our kids LOVE to play with their two fun - loving cute boys. I think this will not be the last squishing of Hanna we ever see, with all of these boys surrounding her!! Thanks for coming Scullins we love you!

Cole Jackson Chugg

Well, its been an interesting week. My emotions have been all over the place. We are so grateful for our new arrival and that I am recovering well. He's absolutely adorable and irresistable. We love him!
I think I'm just about adjusted to our surprise....but it has definitely been hard at times to go through all the cute pink clothes, take apart the pink bedroom, and let the reality of it all sink in. I have to keep reminding myself that its not about whether or not we are grateful for Cole, but rather mourning something we had anticipated and planned on for a very long time.
Hanna prayed at dinner the other night and said "Thank you for the wonderful baby boy and we're still okay with not getting a baby sister". She's a trooper even though she is definitely sad at times!
Cole was awake a lot more today so we tried to get some good shots of him!!

It's a........Boy ?!?

Yes, we are re-living history at the Chugg house from 9 1/2 years ago. Our first and last babies were supposed to be girls and then surprised us when they came out with extra parts...boy parts! We were shocked with his arrival! He is a beautiful baby, healthy and we love him VERY much and are thankful for his arrival. Geneva was awesome, as always, and is recovering well.

The story; Let's start at Geneva's 20 week point where I and an ultrasound technician looked on a Sunday afternoon and decided independently that it was a girl. Then, less than one week later another ultrasound technician did an ultrasound and also thought it was a girl. Now, fast forward to Saturday October 18th. There were hours of labor, 2 thecal blocks, pitocin, penicillin (which Geneva informs me burns like crazy in your IV) and ruptured membranes before the main event took place. The OB was great and she let me deliver the baby. I was all gowned up and guiding our baby into the world and Geneva was pushing like a champ. I caught him as he came out and immediately saw that he was a boy. Nobody else had seen though and I said aloud "It's a boy!" The whole room fell silent for a moment because everyone was in shock as Geneva and I had told them all we were having a little girl. The OB laughed at me and said, "ha, funny joke from the radiologist." All I could do was turn him around to prove my point and again all were stunned, nobody more than Geneva and I. You may ask yourself "Why wouldn't someone who has access to an ultrasound anytime they want get another ultrasound at 24, 28, 32 or even 36 weeks?" Good question!!!

The Baby; I continue to call him the baby as we had not even considered any boy names and are still trying to decide. We have narrowed it down to Cole Jackson or Cody Jackson though. Baby was delivered at 10:11 pm and did great! He is 6 lbs. 15 oz., 19 1/2 inches long and has a little bit of light brown hair. He is darker than Jake was but he has all of Jakey's expressions and overall looks like a darker version of Jake to us right now. He is still pleasant and couldn't wait to get some food in him! He makes the cutest little sounds and all of the children LOVE him and couldn't get enough of holding him when we went to visit today. I was able to find one boy outfit we had saved at home and a couple of blankets so at least he is not going to be wearing pink home.




Mommy; Geneva is recovering well. The high-quality hospital beds and hard delivery table have her back very sore and there are still a lot of contractions. We went for a little walk around the OB floor tonight and I couldn't believe how fast she was able to walk. I haven't seen her move that fast in a couple of months. I'm always amazed at how well she handles it all!



Sister; Hanna was understanably the most excited for a little sister in our family. She has been praying for years for a little sister to sing with, play dress-up with, color with, etc. and with both Jake and Josh she has immediately accepted them and loved them as only she can. She was understandably a little sad at first but she is so sweet that it didn't take her long to be excited to see her new little brother. She wanted to be the first to hold her sister and wouldn't let any of her siblings beat her to holding her baby brother. She even admitted that at least she is happy she will be my only little princess.



The Boys; What can I say other than the boys were shocked, but excited to have a baby, whatever gender. They loved holding baby and can't wait for him and mommy to come home. For those of you who thought the Chugg house was hectic with 3 boys....just wait!



Daddy; Extremely happy to have a healthy baby, which is what Geneva and I always pray for every time we consider having a new baby. He is beautiful and I love holding him and hearing his noises. While completely and instantly loving my new baby boy it took me a couple of hours to accept that I will never again hear the sweet singing of a 2 year old girl, a girl sitting on chairs and "reading" for hours making up words, have a little ballerina, and putting all the beautiful pink clothes and dresses on a baby.

Bring on the Neon!

For Activity Days this week, they had a Daddy/daughter 80's themed dance. I found these "rad" polos at D.I. and had fun getting Hanna ready to go. Jared wouldn't go for the pin rolled pants however. Anyway, they had a fun time...and I admit I was a little jealous. 80's karaoke are you kidding I think I would have been a mic hog! They also had a hula hoop and bubble gum contest. Fun!!

Introducing....... "Captain Underpants!"

Way to go Joshy for getting potty trained before the new baby arrives! We are so proud of you!

You know its time to have the baby when......

1. After struggling to put on your socks and tie your tennis shoes for your morning walk, you feel like you've already had a workout
2. That one pair of maternity pants that are huge and ugly are now your favorite and fitting snug
3. The buttons on your button up shirts are holding on for dear life
4. The phrase "double wide" immediately makes you think of your butt
5. You greet your children in your comfy jammie pants when they walk in the door from school around 3pm
6. Sitting on the couch with your feet up has become your favorite passtime
7. Going up your stairs makes your feel like you have climbed a mountain
8. The thought of making your bed, or dinner, or doing the dishes overwhelms you and is cause for an emotional breakdown
9. You wake up 4 times a night to go to the bathroom and have a drink of water
10. Your hips have stretched and divided like the red sea and your belly button has somehow gotten lost in the middle
11. Complete strangers try to convince you that there are two "in there" despite your best efforts to remind them that you have had numerous ultrasounds all to the contrary

Tuacahn

Yesterday was so fun! I've heard a lot about Tuacahn since moving to Vegas and finally got a chance to attend a show there. Melinda and I headed out around noon and hit St. George around 2pm our time. We stopped to shop at Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, Taipan, and Pebbles in my Pocket. We had a great dinner at "Texas Road House" and then headed for the show. The theatre is so cool! Its nestled in the red rock and is all out doors. We found our way to our seats which were awesome. Front and Center about 8 rows back. We loved the "Big River" show. It was so fun to see Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on the stage with Jim. There were some great solos and harmony in the songs and it was really well done. To create the Mississippi River they, had water from the red rock behind the stage meander down and then spill on to the stage. As it got closer and closer to the front row we were all leaning forward to see what would happen. It dropped off right before the front row and then kept recycling for the river scenes. It was so cool! It was a fun break for Melinda and I. Her husband is deployed and I am big, pregnant, and worn out. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

Fun Weekend!!

This weekend was such a blast! Marlina and her boys flew in from California. It was going to be a big surprise, but Marlina called and told me a week ago so we could make sure and get pick ups and drop offs at the airport at good times. We did surprise my kids however and that was great fun!! We drove from the airport straight to the school on Friday. I got my kids out of class and said "there is a big surprise outside just so you know when you walk out of the door". Carter burst through the front door of the school and immediately spotted Dustin and Andrew. He threw his back pack and water bottle down and ran to them for huge hugs. It was really a fun sight to see. Dustin and Andrew could hardly contain themselves up to this point. Fun memories.
The weekend was planned around my baby shower. Marlina wanted to come to it. It was a great party. I got so many thoughtful gifts. My friend Susan from California sent a "freckly face" blanket, burp rags, and wipe container bundle that I love- she is so talented. Her link is on my creative links. Marlina purchased a darling out fit from Gymboree complete with "little sister" and "big sister" matching shirts. Another friend Jen made a bead bracelet and matching pacifier clippy. I also got a darling "Mutze" hat, bonnet, and booties made by Ashley. Not to forget any of the way cute outfits....I feel very spoiled and blessed to have such generous friends.
Later that night I took Marlina to see "Mystere" at Treasure Island. Its one of the top Cirque du Soleil shows here in Las Vegas. It was fun to take her to it because it has lots of emphasis on acrobatics and dancing as well as amazing displays of strength. Fun!
All the kids played and played and played and wore themselves out. I don't think they ever stopped talking about Pokemon the whole weekend. They spent a lot of time in the pool too! Thanks for coming Marlina and boys....lets do it again soon!!