Any frazzled mothers out there?

What can I say, I'm a frazzled Mom sometimes(more than I would like to admit) I have friends that seem to have it all together. Sunday church was one of those WILD days. The kids all wanted to be RIGHT by me. (As my Dad says they were in my bubble) Clint was working which always adds a little stress. Then Primary presented a whole new excitement when we had a RUNNER. Imagine me chasing down the hall after a 5 year old who was full speed ahead. Oh don't worry people just sat talking, oblivious that it wasn't part of primary or something. I finally yelled, stop her please. She was captured and back to Primary we went. The joys of being in Primary. I'm sure it was HILARIOUS and I laugh just thinking about it. The best part is that she knows I mean business now and she sat in her seat the rest of Primary.

The other day I went to make a 6 month checkup for Taylee and they said ok, when will she be 6 months? I said, "On the 25th" The lady kindly said, "Today is the 25th." Poor 4th child! I had totally forgotten.

Life has been so chaotic trying to sell our house, keep it clean to show (no small feat with lots of little feet running around here) packing, and getting things ready to start building our new home. My body reminded me that we have to rest though or we will get sick. And sick I got! I listened to Julie B Beck once and she said no one can go full speed all the time. It is so true! So yesterday I went out with Trail and had fun the 2 of us, that was great medicine! I love that precious little boy! He is always good to remind me he loves me and thinks I'm pretty!  Love my crazy life!

Happy Halloween to all!

               A blast from the past, we went to the Maize, my first job was at a Maize! Life has changed!

 The kids spent a lot of time in this shed of corn, what a great idea!

 Jumping into the leaves, so much fun!

         My cute 1st grader ready for school!

Moving on up, life is ever changing!!!

Summer flew quickly by and Miss Brinley started 1st grade, she loves her teacher. She loves her friends on the bus so much that she has missed her stop because she was talking, luckily they have to turn around on our dead end road and she got off. One day with 4 news buses added to the school and her friends going on a new one she and 3 other friends got right on with her. I was shocked when she didn't get off the bus. Luckily I was able to stop the bus and they found her. Hopefully she will stick so closely with her friends when it really matters!

Trail started preschool and loves hanging out with Clint. Clint's parents were here yesterday and Trail loved playing ball with Grandpa Sampson.

Brielle still acts like a teenager, I have to keep reminding myself that she is only 3! She has hilarious faces and says the funniest things! She is a big helper with Taylee and can get her to smile all the time!

Taylee is coming up on 5 months (where did the time go) We love her sweet smile and laugh! (way better than her colic cry when she was born) She loves food especially when it is off the table (she feels like a big girl)

                              Taylee with Grandma Cindy, I love this picture of her!
                    (Grandma came to help a very stressed mother of 4, she is the greatest!!!)

Hunting season is in full swing and life is busy! So I decided why not add a little more excitement to keep me occupied while he is so busy! So we are selling our house and going to start building as soon as we sell our house! I am super excited to get a little more room to stretch. We have really LOVED our house, but with 6 of us it is getting a little cramped! If you know anyone needing a great house in the country send them our way. I even created a blog for it 1912e1500nvernalutah.blogspot.com
We are super excited, but nervous at the same time! We just have to realize it is all in the Lord's time table and it will work out!

                                                   Our backyard (lots of memories here) would you believe when we bought the house there wasn't any grass, nothing had been done with the yard for 10 years and I had to pull out sagebrush?

Lovin' the summer

                                                3 month old Taylee sharing her sweet smile

                                                       Hanging out with Grandma Sampson

                                                      This melts my heart Brielle and Dad

                                                   Trail is Clint's fishing buddy

                                            Grandpa and Grandma Sampson with the kids at Fish Lake

The summer is flying by! I can't Brinley starts 1st grade in a few weeks! All day school, I'm nervous for that, but I know it is just part of her learning and growing so it is all good.

We had a Denton (Clint's Mom's family) reunion at Fish Lake this year. We were able to stay in an amazing cabin with beautiful views. I must admit it was nice to get out of town, with the baby I hadn't been out of town since January. Way too long to be stuck in the Basin. The kids loved being around their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.

I have been busy with home improvements (lucky Clint) He went to scout camp and he came back to a wife with a few projects going. It always seems like a good time to think of a good project while he is gone. It isn't new though, I have changed a few wall colors all while he is gone in the Bookcliffs. He has been a good sport and helped with my projects I will have to share those pictures once those projects are finished!

Life is crazy with our growing family, but I wouldn't change a thing! Those smiles, hugs, kisses and I love you's make all the other hard moments bearable! I LOVE my family!

There's been a party going on...

We have had a lot to celebrate. Between dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday we feed 93 people! Might as well go big! We went through around 9 + gallons of drink, 20 + lbs of chicken, 2 cobblers, 2 dutch ovens one with Clint's killer beans and one with his awesome potatoes. A Sampson size serving bowl of fruit. Lots of Hamburgers, hot dogs and hot links and a bunch of fillers in between. Then why not do dinner on the 4th (not quite the crowd) and then Clint's birthday was on the 5th so why not have another get together.

We were so thankful to be able to share so many wonderful occasions with our family and friends. All of my family made the trek from Idaho and a huge portion of Clint's family were able to make it also. On Sunday we blessed Taylee Grace, she was so beautiful. Trail kept telling me how beautiful she looked in her dress. (During my pregnancy I was needing a project so I decided to make Taylee's blessing dress. I made Brinley's and someone gave one for Brielle. Being the sentimental person I am I decided they each needed their own special dress. (We'll see how many girls we end up having =)
It was a super fun project and even more exciting to see the cute little baby I pictured as I made it. She gave me the biggest smile when I put it on her and that was worth it all right there. Clint gave her a wonderful blessing and it was awesome to see all of the men in our family surrounding our sweet baby girl.

Life has been very busy with 4 kids, Taylee makes sure she is LOUD and clear so that we know she is here. She has been smiling a ton and just started laughing which is much better than the cries that she would grace us with every night at the beginning. I like the smiles much better! She loves attention and loves to lay on the ground and kick and "talk" Brinley, Trail and Brielle love her (a little too much sometimes) They are growing so fast. I am so thankful for them.

                                                You can see real dinosaur bones in the background.

                                         The kids all became Jr. Rangers and learned all about dinosaurs

My sister and her family were able to stay for a week which kept us very busy. My sister is super creative and had us plan something fun everyday. I miss not having them around!I love and am thankful for the support that our family gives us, even if we live so far away.

Sweet baby Taylee Grace

                                                             Right before we left for the hospital

                                                              Beautiful fruits of my labor!!!!


Taylee Grace was born April 25th at 2:09pm. She weighed in at 8lbs 3 oz 20 in long. My doctor had tempted me and we set to be induced on Wednesday morning (he was going to be out of town this week and let's face it I was ready to have her) Randomly when we got here I was already in labor, so he just broke my water. It was a huge blessing because I had wanted to just go on my own. I was going to try to go natural like I did with Brielle (which wasn't on purpose). Once I was in labor I remembered how much pain it was and decided I didn't need to be brave for anyone. It was a breeze to get the epidural and the relief was AMAZING!!!!( I feel just as good as I did after I had Brielle too). I started feeling more pain and when they came to check I was ready to go. Clint told them I go fast when I start pushing, so they called the doctor. They told me to stop pushing after 2 contractions and wait for the doctor, you could hear him running down the hall. He got his gloves on and she was here. It was a WONDERFUL experience. Clint said he couldn't believe it because I was talking through the whole thing. She is so precious and looks just like Brielle. She totally fits in our family. The kids came and saw her last night and were in love! Clint says she has a Sampson size appetite. I am so thankful she is here. I love being able to breathe and move!!! Food tastes AMAZING, I told Clint I don't have to worry about heartburn and am LOVING food! It's nice to have an appetite back!  We feel so blessed to have such a beautiful healthy baby!

Happy Easter Day!

Trail Brinley and Brielle (in her new princess chair the Easter bunny gave her)
My sweet girls, I can't wait to have another girl in my arms! (The hugs and girl time totally make up for the emotional drama we enjoy=)
The Sampson 5 (soon to be 6)
My boys! Good think Clint has a boy, they stick together!
Trail loves to hug the baby and has for a long time, he is super cute with babies!

Thought I would share some happy pictures of the Sampson's. We are thankfully doing much better. Brinley started in sick the other day, but for fear of another hospital stay we took her right in and got her started on breathing treatments again, which made her feel so much better! It is amazing how kids can bounce back. We are extremely thankful for good insurance!!!!!!!!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest addition! Poor Clint has had quite the honey do list with my nesting! 20 days til I'm due, but who's counting. We made a countdown chain (pink and purple of course) so the kids can understand more how much longer til she comes. I'm feeling super pregnant (for obvious reasons) but also very thankful for the ability to carry and have children. I think back (7 years when we weren't sure if I would be able to have children of our own) What a priceless blessing to be expecting baby #4! Even with the constant heartburn, many trips to the bathroom day and night, kicks to my ribs, bladder and hip, and all the other unpleasant things at the end of pregnancy. I'm thankful for the movement that lets me know she is doing well and the thoughts of holding our precious daughter in my arms!

One perk of Clint's job is he gets to take Trail with him sometimes. He was super excited to go yesterday. He always tries to trick me about them going out to eat, his little smirk doesn't trick me though. He loves to shoot his bow and we have been going for LOTS of bike rides (especially because Brinley just got a new bike (she outgrew her last one). Brielle is a sweet girl and makes her Dad laugh. When I ask her for a love she will say, "Sorry, Daddy took them all" Brinley loves school, has lost 2 teeth so far, and can read. The other day she wanted to read to me and she put me to sleep (Brought back memories of doing that to my Mom) So she had a nap too! We love all of our kids and the joy they bring to our life.

A whirlwind couple of weeks!

My Mom and Trail welcoming Brinley home after 4 night 5 days in the hospital!
We are all celebrating that these oxygen tanks are leaving our house!
My very pregnant belly and a sweet Brinley doing her breathing treatment (she could do it all by herself)
My Mom reading the kids books. She read one story over and over while she was here. (I still love to hear her read, one of my favorite memories as a kid-my kids are so lucky)
Brielle was so happy that her Brinley was home (she asked where she was every time I came home and when she woke up-they are so cute together)


The video says it all! We are feeling super blessed today that after RSV, pnuemonia, strep throat and an ear infection (which she got after she was in the hospital poor girl) Brinley is off oxygen! Her oxygen level was 98 today which is beyond amazing for us! Brinley survived, she was such a trooper. She took it all in stride and didn't complain. Today she did say, I really hope I can get off the oxygen today. The doctor said she could go back to school and so she wanted to go today right after her appointment. The kids were so excited and bunch of them told me they would help take care of her. One little girl told me I was really big pregnant and needed to have the baby. I feel the same way! Kids say the darndest things!

We are so blessed to have amazing friends and family that have helped out. Clint's parents came and when they left my Mom made the 8 hour drive to help. We have amazing parents!!!! Out life would've been much more stressful without them. Brielle and Trail love having them here and it helped them cope with the crazy couple of weeks we have had. Luckily we aren't contagious and don't have to live in a bubble anymore. We are looking forward to a healthy summer and a sweet new baby girl in the next month!!!