Back to School

I love this picture of Seth and Mia in the backyard. They love their little table....and they are both hamming it up!!!

So, this is Seth's first day of preschool....broken arm and all. Story: He was playing outside on the monkey bars and fell down. I happened to run in the house to get Grady at the precise moment of the fall. He came in the house crying. I looked down at his arm and it was obviously broken (I won't go into the gory details). I told him that we needed to go to the hospital so they could fix his arm. He wailed even louder and said, "But mom, I don't want them to cut off my arm!" Oh...I almost started to cry as I quickly reassured him that they wouldn't cut off his arm. So, like a good mom, I remained calm as I loaded all the kids in the car and headed to the hospital. (It just so happened that this is the very weekend Scott was in Dallas for his annual guy trip to a BYU Game.) I pulled up to St. Mark's Emergency Room and ran inside to see if I should stay there or go to Primary's. They assured me that I could bring him in. So, I carried Seth in and laid him down in the waiting room. Then ran out to get Mia and Grady and brought them in also. Then ran back outside to park the car. PHEW!

Well, after all the commotion, poor little Seth was all tuckered out to the point that he was almost non-responsive. The doctor started getting extremely worried that he may have hit his head and have potential bleeding in his brain. They ordered a CT Scan. At this point they informed me that they were transferring him to Primary's either by life flight or by ambulance depending on the results of the CT Scan. I started to get a little nervous, because I still had the other two kids that I wouldn't be able to bring along. It also just so happened that Scott's parents and my parents were also out of town and I had a new cell phone that had NONE of my numbers in it! So I started calling anyone whose numbers I could remember. No answers. I called my dad and he gave me the phone number of my sisters' in-laws. I called them and as soon as Starr answered the phone, I broke down and started to cry (a not so good mom moment). I explained the situation and she said they would be right there to get Mia and Grady.

After that, everything turned out great. The CT Scan showed no bleeding. Rick and Starr (my angels!) came and picked up Mia and Grady. I rode with Seth to Primary's by ambulance. They reset his arm and splinted it. He was SO brave. He hardly cried at all and was more worried about making sure that I paused Return of the Jedi than he was about them resetting his arm (they sedated him and he didn't want to miss a moment of his movie). So, here he is....ready for school with a broken right arm! He has been doing great coloring and writing with his left hand. I am so grateful that everything turned out great. It was pretty scary for me for a little bit there.

Here are the kids getting ready to take Seth to preschool!

Grader-Raider

Seth and Mia have lovingly adopted the nickname 'Grader-Raider' for our new little guy. It is so fun to watch them talk and laugh with Grady. They are so cute with him.

Here are some updated photos of our newest little guy:




Check out these cheeks! We knew from looking at these cheeks on our ultrasound at 37 weeks, that this was no ordinary size baby!





I came home to this Kodak moment the other day. Oh, precious!

Happy 4th of July!

On the 4th of July eve, we enjoyed a barbecue with the Trujillo clan...including Isaac, Kels and new baby Adlee in town for the holiday!


Here is Grady, Harper and Adlee accompanied by their dads.

Grady's introduction to his new cousin Adlee.

Seth enjoying his sparkler.

Kels and me at the Murray Days parade.


Mia hamming it up at the parade.

Mia and Grandma Bell







Seth all tuckered out from holiday fun.

Grady Michael Bell

Introducing...

Grady Michael Bell

Born June 15th

Weight:10 lbs 4 oz

Length: 20 inches long

Seth had a little cold so he was a good sport about protecting his brother from the germs. Seth and Mia catching their first glimpse of their new brother. Poor guy doesn't even know what hit him yet.

The Happy Family

Spring Training

So, this post is a little delayed. We went to Arizona earlier this month for Spring Training. This is an annual tradition for us, ever since my bro, Isaac and his wife Kelsie moved down there. We drive, camp out in their house and watch Spring Training Baseball Games. This is Scott's dream trip: baseball, hot dogs for 3 meals a day, and family...what more could you ask for?!? Here are some of our pictures:

COUSINS! We were able to visit the zoo with our cousin Bethany (and her parents Eric and Lilibeth). The kids LOVED it!

This is the Noah's ark playground we found overlooking the splash pad. It was at this point that Seth stood at the top yelling, "EVERYONE GET ON THE ARK!!! THE FLOOD IS COMING!" I finally had to put my foot down when he started singling people out to tell them to get on the ark.

The kids brushing the goats at the petting zoo.

Seth and Mia waiting for the game to start while dad tries to catch some BP baseballs.

Seth proudly displaying his arm painting (since he didn't want his face painted).

Seth and Mia riding the merry-go-round at the ball game with Uncle Isaac.

Enjoying snow cones and hot dogs!

My brother Nick and his cute wife Megan!

If you can't tell, it was nap time at this point.

The Evolution of Captain Hook

So, Seth has been obsessed with the movie Peter Pan lately. And, who does he choose to emulate, the fun-loving Peter....oh, no, no, no. Rather, the mean-spirited Captain Hook. I don't know if I should be concerned that he always idolizes the villain of every movie. Anyways, it all started with a wire hanger. He would pull his arm up his sleeve and hold onto the hanger as his 'hook'. Well, since then, we have upgraded to an actual plastic hook (a little safer for his poor sister).

So a funny story....the other day Seth was playing with his Captain Hook and Peter Pan toys, and one says to the other, "Say your prayers." So Mia said, "Dear Heavenly Father..." and proceeds to bless our food. It was pretty funny. She takes everything literally.

Here is a collection of our hook pictures.






Mia even pretends to be Captain Hook now (although, she much prefers Tinkerbell).

The Ultrasound

So, we had our ultrasound yesterday and we are expecting a.......healthy baby! I am so grateful that our baby is healthy. But, we are not finding out the sex until the birth. We (okay, I) figure that we have one boy and one girl...so why not be surprised. Scott is going along with it....somewhat happily. The only "news" is that they moved my due date back 8 days! That wasn't the best news, but after seeing a healthy baby, I can't complain.

It was a great spiritual experience, as many of you know. To be able to see the baby move, made it all so real. Honestly, I have been a little overwhelmed thinking about baby #3 lately. But, yesterday I felt so content and grateful. So come June 19 or so, our house may be quite chaotic, but....blessed!

So, how 'bout a new post!

I know, I know...I have been horrible updating this. My sister, Angie, just left to study at the BYU Jerusalem Center, and informed me before she left that updating my blog was no longer an option. So, here it is!

I thought I would add some Christmas photos. We had a great holiday season, full of family, friends, and lots of good food.



Our little shepherd boy, Seth.


Poor Mia had an eye infection, so her eyes are all swollen during our Christmas party.


Scott and all his single, gorgeous cousins at the Bell Family Christmas Party.




Scott and the kids having a "sleepover." They were so excited that they didn't have to sleep in their own beds.





Here are some of our sledding adventures lately. We have been going to this little hill by my parents house. Seth loves hitting the jump every time he goes down. Mia enjoyed going down and even went down by herself. When we go too fast, she starts to squeal a little. But, then she always wants to go again. The first time we went it was snowing and the kids kept getting snow in their faces on the way down. So, we found some old ski goggles to keep them dry.