A day in the life of Fletcher....

Well our little Fletcher is 10 days old today. I can't believe he has only been a part of our lives for such a short time. He fits right in so well that it is hard to imagine life without him. He has been a blessing since he entered this world. I asked Ben last night how we got such a good baby. He eats good and is the best sleeper. In fact that is the only problem I have is getting him to stay awake long enough to eat. He is very mellow. I think he has to be being the 4th child. I did have a panic moment this week when I was taking Jarrett to football practice and I looked in my rear view mirror and there they all were. All four of my kids. It was weird to see them all and know that they were mine. I am really outnumbered now. Just a weird feeling. Our life hasn't been upset to much like it normally is with a new baby. McGregor loves his new little brother and is always wanting to help me with everything. Isabelle is dealing well with being the only girl. She just stares at Fletcher and can't get over how cute his face is. Jarrett is big enough that he is a real life saver to me most days. He was our first for a reason, he loves all his younger siblings so much. It has been a great first 10 days.Can't imagine my life without our new addition, or any of my other kids. They all add so much to our family. Thanks to Ben for all your help the last week and a half. He has been great.

Introducing.......

We would like to introduce our newest member of our family, Fletcher Robert Brough. He made quite an entrance Tuesday morning weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. We made it to the hospital Tuesday morning @ 6 am. They got me hooked up to the monitors where it was showing that I was have regular contractions when the checked I was at a 3. I finally got hooked up to the drip around 7. My doctor came in just before nine to see how I was doing and he said I needed to get into a lot more pain. My nurse told him that the baby was right there and if we were going to deliver him by early afternoon he had better break my water. Soooo they broke my water about 9:00 am. I honestly have never had contractions like that with any of my other babies. Finally at about 9:35 am I told Ben I needed the epidural. I wanted to punch the lady giving me the epidural. She was sooooo sllllooooowwww and would not stop talking. My nurse told her we needed to accelerate this and to give me the medicine to make it work faster. As soon as she was finished and I was laying back down I felt the need to push. They were panicking a little to get everything set up and get my doctor back to the hospital. I went from a 5 to a 10 in a matter of maybe 15 minutes. My doctor made me wait to push(yeah right!!!) until my epidural had kicked in a little. Finally, I was given the okay and with the edge taken off our new baby boy was born @ 10:12 am. We were all a little in shock to say the least. Ben didn't get a chance to get any camera's ready for the birth and we barely had our doctor there. It was amazing. I will tell you my epidural worked great for the 2 hours following the birth. The nurses nicknamed him bear because of his big hands and hairy little body. It was amazing. Fletcher is so perfect. He looks a lot like Jarrett in his eyes and McGregor through his mouth. He is dark like Jarrett and Isabelle. So far he is so mellow. The naming process has proven to be difficult for Ben and I this time, but Fletcher was born on Ben's uncle Terrell's birthday and he is an amazing person. So we decided to stick with naming our boys last names and gave our newest member Terrell's last name. If Fletcher is half the person Terrell is he will be an amazing person. Then Robert is Ben's Grandpa Brough's name and my Grandpa Losee's name. So that is the first entry of our little Fletcher. Mommy and Fletcher are doing great. It is amazing to have a child and love that child so much right from the start. I could stare at him all day. Ben, Jarrett, Isabelle, and McGregor are doing well also. McGregor is adjusting fairly well and he loves his new brother. We were a little worried about him. We are all happy and loving our new baby. Thanks to everyone who helped and has given your support. We love you all.

Fair, Gregor's Birthday, & First Day of School!!!

Another one of those posts that is going to have a lot of stuff in it. First, last week was the famous Box Elder County Fair. I have never quite understood everyones take on the fair out here in good ol' Tremonton. The town seriously shuts down for this thing and everyones life is the fair. Our kids love it so we do go out and spend time with Ben's family and let the kids run around. I will have to admit it was pretty miserable for me this year. I don't recommend going out there 39 weeks pregnant. You end up coming home with cabbage patch feet. The highlights were that PJ's(Ben's cousin) steer took Grand Champion, and Max (Pete and Dari's oldest) took first in his class and 7th overall. We were excited for them. Ben ran the fair 5k Saturday morning and came in 3rd in his age group and I think 30th out of 200. He is funny he hates to run while he is doing it, but it is almost like an addiction now to him and he loves it when he is done.
McGregor's birthday is today, but we did the family party last night. We had chocolate cake, rhubarb crumble, chocolate chip ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. He whipped through his gifts pretty fast. Then played for the rest of the night. My mom took him Friday for his special day and he picked out a pink and purple tricycle. You know he is our third child, because we didn't care about the pink and purple we were just excited he was pedaling. I always put a little blurb about them on their birthday so here goes. Mcgregor is a joy to my heart. On the worst days he can make you smile. He loves everyone and is really upset if he doesn't get to give you a hug and kiss before you leave. I have thought a lot lately about what we were doing last year at this time and how thankful I am to have him still here with us. Him and Jarrett are good buddies. I can't say the same about him and Isabelle, but he does love her and miss her when she's not here. We have decided he is our comedian. He is hilarious. We have found out lately that he loves to sing and he is one of the loudest in sacrament meeting. I can't believe he is already three. Happy Birthday buddy!! Oh yeah, he sleeps in his own bed now and all night!!!! Yeah!!!!
Well today we got up and got Jarrett and Isabelle off on their first day of school. Jarrett is in the third grade this year. He is a little nervous because he has heard some horror stories about his teacher. We will have to see how he does. Isabelle is in the first grade and was so excited. She knows her teacher loves her already. She was so excited this morning. Both of them couldn't wait to wear their new clothes and shoes. Can't wait to hear their stories when they get home.
Well tomorrow morning Ben and I get to go to the hospital at 6:00 am and have our new addition. Everyone asks if I am nervous and no I am SOOOOO ready. So our next entry will more than likely be about our newest member to our family. It will prove to be a very busy week, but exciting. Thanks to everyone for everything lately.

Football, Pictures, and Baby!

I have not been doing great at blogging lately, so I thought I would catch up. We went last week and had my brother take pictures of our kids. My brother is majoring in photography at Utah State. He wanted to practice and we wanted current pictures of our kids so it worked out really well. I think my brother has a lot of talent and will do well in this field. It was actually a fun session. I have dreaded pictures since McGregor was born. He has hated getting his pictures taken, hence the reason we don't have many professional ones done of him. He did so good with Tony. He had the funniest smile. I was laughing the whole time. Jarrett and Isabelle were probably harder this time than Mac, but it was all good. I am excited because Tony wants to come take some of the new baby when he comes.
Next news is Jarrett is a football player. I can't remember when was the first time Jarrett told us he wanted to play football and he is finally old enough. He has to practice every week night for 1 1/2 hours and we have games every Saturday now through October the 3rd. He loves it. He is probably one of the smallest on his team, but he is one of the hardest workers too. He plays a whole variety of positions on both defense and offense. His first game was this last Saturday. He had a lot of fun, but they lost 26-0. Some of the parents acted as though these kids were in the NFL already. I just laughed because they are 8 years old and they are just out there to have fun. It was pretty comical at some points.
Finally, I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that if this baby doesn't come on his own by next Tuesday he is going to start me. He wanted to start me on the 31st and I told him no, because it is Mac's birthday and Jarrett and Isabelle's first day of school. So Mac's birthday is Aug. 31st and our new addition's birthday will most likely be September 1st. Unless he decides to come on his own. I am a little nervous for the newborn stage and the getting up at all hours of the night. Mostly nervous about Mac's reaction when he figures out this baby is staying at our house and going to take some of his thunder. But I am so ready to be done with this pregnancy!!!! Oh yeah, pray that Ben and I can agree on a name for this little guy.

Playhouse and dog house for sale!!!!

I was way excited, I sold my couch set in 4 hours yesterday. So we thought we would put our other item on our blog to see if anyone is interested. First, we have our custom built playhouse. It is so much fun for kids. Ben made this one from scratch, so it is extremely well built ( Our kids have helped along the way). Dimensions are: 8 ft wide X 12 ft long X 10 ft high. We are asking $3500.00 o.b.o. Next, we are selling a built by Ben and kids dog house. As you will see in the pictures it has a "bay window" that is used for storage. Dimensions are: 45 inches X 55 inches X 40 inches high. We are asking $175.00 o.b.o. So if any of you are interested or know anyone who would be let us know. These items are also listed on ksl.com classifieds.

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

Today is our Isabellee's birthday. She turns the big 6 today. She has been waiting for this day all summer. We have been counting down forever. We started her morning off with Ben's 5K and Jarrett's mile race. Poor girl, she was so patient. Her presents waited for her at home while we watched Jarrett race and waited for Ben to receive his first place medal for his age group. She did get to go last night with "Grandpa and Grandma in the mountains" for her special day. They took her to dinner and then went and let her pick out her present. She picked a real camera. Then they took her to Mantua to go on a picture walk where she took pictures of everything possible. This morning she chose cereal for her breakfast. Then later we are going over to Grandpa Curtis's for a swimming party and cake and ice cream. She is just excited it is finally her day.

As I think over the last six years, first of all I can't believe how fast they have gone. She was the best baby. Very mild tempered and a wonderful sleeper (still is). Isabellee is a lover of animals, her favorites are her cats. If you can't find her she is usually out playing with and taking care of them. She definitely knows how to push both of her brothers buttons. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She is very much like her daddy in so many ways. She is very particular who she lets into her little life and who gets to see the special amazing person she is. I feel so blessed that she is my daughter. I love the special moments she curls up next to me for a love and her "I love you". She is a thinker and does well at everything she tries. She also has the girl attitude down pretty well. You do something annoying and you can tell just by the way she looks at you. I love when she wants to help me, because she jumps right to it and she is always humming or singing while she works. She is my little helper. Isabellee thanks for being our girl. You definitely keep us all on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Birthday princess.

Our Summer So Far.....

First of all I can't believe we only have one more week left in July. This summer has flown. We haven't done anything quite as exciting as last summer. Our summer has consisted of a trip to the dinosaur park, lots of visits to various parks, swimming (one of my favorites this year), and swimming lessons.
A new thing this year is that Ben has taken up running. He ran a "The Dam Race" up in Mantua last weekend, it's a 5 mile race around the lake. He did really well for his first race he places 24th out of 200. Then this morning he ran a 5K right here in Tremonton and came in 3rd in his class (15th overall). Jarrett rode his bike in the same race and came in 3rd. Next weekend Ben will do the 5K in Garland for Wheat and Beet days, then in the middle of September he is going to do the Top of Utah run in Logan. That's something new for us.
I thought I would do a quick overview of our summer up to this point. Not a lot happened in June, so we will skip right to the 4th of July. We spent it with Ben's family in Riverside. They do a little family reunion of sorts, you go up the night before and are supposed to camp out on Pete and Dari's lawn(thankfully I have gotten out of that every year). Then the next morning they have a breakfast with a softball game following. Then you get to entertain yourself for the rest of the day until about 4 when the big parade starts. This year they had a theme for our float and it was a rock band theme. Then we went to the park and had some hamburgers. At dark we watched fireworks. (They were better than other years.)
The next event was Little Valley Days in Mantua last weekend. We started at 7:00 am with Ben's run, then the kids stayed with my mom for the parade while Ben and I went to Madalyn Fletcher's funeral. What do you say when she was only 2 1/2 and had suffered so much this past year. I have never understood why a child has to suffer like she did and to watch Terrell and Trish has been heart wrenching. Our heart and prayers go out to them and their boys. At least we have the knowledge that Maddy is in a better place free from her pain. After the funeral we headed back to my mom's. There my brothers, sister-in-law, Jarrett, Isabelle, McGregor, and Ben played on the slip-n-slide. They had a ton of fun. Later we cooked and ate a dutch oven dinner, then at dusk we roasted marshmallows and watched some dang good fireworks from my parent's back yard.
This week we celebrated Jodi's birthday with her. She came a stayed a couple of days. My kids love when Grandma Jodi comes. Today we will celebrate the 24th with a pool party at Curtis's and eat some smoked turkey and pork.
It has been a normal summer, but we have had some good times. We are now getting ready for Jarrett to start his first season of tackle football. Isabelle will turn 6 next Saturday, McGregor will be 3 on the 31st, and in the next 6 weeks we will finally get to meet our new member to our family. Which leads me to this poor boy's name. We don't have one and would love some suggestions. If anyone has one please let us know.