Not much has been going on around here. We are just busy bodies sustaining life. James was playing today and put Mr. Potato Head on Tex and said "Tex is trying to scare Gecko so he put on his potato mask". I thought is was hilarious looking. James is starting to read. Teaching him to read is my goal before he starts kindergarten next fall. He is doing really well so far and we are having fun with it. He sounded out the word sand and he made the "a" sound a little long and ended up saying sand as if he were British and he laughed at himself so hard he teared up. He was amazed that things can be said different ways.

I got another cleaning job this month and was gone all weekend. This was a pick up game of roll the bouncy ball. So sweet.

We finally caught her smile on camera! She is just beautiful and her smile lights up her whole face. She is very social at this point and loved to "make eyes" at us.

James and Kinley are starting to interact with Mallory a little more. They really like that she acknowledges them with a smile.

James and Kinley's first day of school. Of course we couldn't get them both to be serious and smile normal at the same time. They really like their new school.

We are settling into a school year routine that I think we are all going to like. We go to the Y on Monday and Thursday mornings then BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) on Tuesday mornings, school on Wednesdays and a playdate or errands on Fridays. During our time at home we do learning time where I work with them on reading, science, colors, math readiness, etc. We also do a Bible time where we pray, read and memorize scripture. Then of course we include lots of playing and a nice amount of cartoon's and movies! We are excited because this year all 5 of us are attending BSF. Josh goes on Monday nights and the kids get to go with me on Tuesdays. They have an amazing kids program where 5 and under go in the mornings with mom and 6 and up go in the evenings with dad so hopefully we will stick with it for a long time and really reap the benefits.

We are getting excited to go to Beaver's Bend for our annual camping trip in two weeks. I am still having trouble with terrible flashbacks from last year. I am ready to make some new memories to replace all the bad ones!

I'm sorry I haven't posted! We had 6 events outside of Tulsa in the last three weeks! It has been a marathon but we are all in one piece and got to have a lot of fun.

At the beginning of August we had a "wipeout" party because it is one of James and Kinley's favorite things to play in the back yard. We invited 10 friends over and bought 10 cans of bath foam and covered anything that would stand still with it. They had a great time and we mom's enjoyed watching them wipeout.

One day when I was packing for one of our trips I came in the living room after being in the kids room for about thirty minutes and found this "fort". James had gotten every pillow and gun we have and made a completely non functional pile. When it was time to take it down he cried for an hour. Oh how difficult it is to be five!

Miss Mallory is growing like a weed. She is seven weeks now and below are some of the outfits she is finally fitting in. She's only been able to wear onesis because she's been so thin. We think she weighs about 11lbs right now! She is getting close to sleeping through the night and is a pretty good napper so far. She has been a great baby.

I finally captured her new trick! She does smile bigger but it is so hard to catch on camera.

One weekend we went to my 10 year high school reunion which was really fun and the Rush Springs watermelon festival. The kids love the rides at the festival and we all love the carnival junk food!

James and Kinley got to spend a week at Gigi and Bop's with me then a week at Grandad and Nana's and had a great time on their "vacation". However we are all having some adjusting to home pains. It's hard to live with the fact that time with grandparents is like suckers - really good but only to be enjoyed sometimes - we can't have them everyday. We are excited for September to get back into a "normal" routine. Josh and I are both going to attend Bible Study Fellowship and study Isaiah. The kids will be going to a new preschool on Wednesdays. I am sad because the school James has gone to the last three years said that he had to come three days a week this year or not at all and we are not willing to send him three days because we really want him to be home building a strong foundation to get ready for kindergarten next year. It was a tough decision to change schools but when I asked James if he wanted to go to his old school three days a week or a new school one day he said the new school because he wants to spend more time with me, Kinley, and Mallory! AWWWW isn't that sweet?!

Happy Birthday James! He turned 5 last Wednesday!

This is James at 10 months wasn't he adorable!

This is James at 5 still completely adorable

James invited Ezra and Joshua to Bouncy Barn for his birthday. They had a great time wearing themselves out then they came to our house for cake and presents.

On his actual birthday we had beef stroganoff and dirt pudding (his favorites). He wanted the dirt pudding in something fun so I surprised him with putting it in a dog bowl and giving them bones to eat it with.

Who needs bones?

This is what he asked for from Josh and I - he loved how big the box was.

This is his Army face to go with his Black Hawk Army helicopter that is so big that action figures can fit into (that was his one desire).

James spending quality time with Mallory - borrowing her car seat

Kinley spending quality time with Mallory - she kept kissing her head and making sweet noises.

Mallory looking out the window

We are having a good week. Josh is mostly recovered from surgery. I am feeling better and better emotionally and physically. The kids are being amazingly good, fun and helpful. Mallory is adjusting well and doing everything the way she is supposed to. We are blessed beyond belief!

Mallory is three weeks old! Time is flying even faster than it did with the first two. I have to say I'm glad at this point. I am enjoying her cuteness but other than that the newborn stage is not my favorite. I like more sleep, predictability and freedom than a nursing newborn allows. However, things are going great. She is sleeping well, eating well and not too fussy. We went to the doctor on the 27th and she weighed 7lb 1 oz which is a gain of 17oz in 16 days! She has been a little gassy this week but hopefully it won't get worse and she'll adjust soon.

She likes bath time and so do James and Kinley. They think they are so big when the get to help and they are very good at it.

My friend Chandra made these onsies and flowers for our babies - isn't it adorable!

Kinley found these ponies in a toy drawer and had the best time playing with them. She was imagining they were mother and baby and the mother put the baby to bed just like we put Kinley to bed and she said "see you tomorrow". She also kept making the baby say "feed me" and the mommy would say "not until Thursday"?? She is a really good pretend player - I think she learned it fr0m James. She seems to be adjusting well to being a big sister. I'm going to give it some time before I say that for sure though. When my mom was here helping she was wanting to be bossy and get on to my mom so she said "Gigi Grace Morris" in a serious voice. So cute that she loaned her middle and last name out so that she could get on to Gigi properly.

This is James in his manly dress ups after I talked him out of the tutu, high heels, and fairy wand. He also is doing well with another sister. He loves to help with the baby and is understanding of me being busy with her a lot. He is such a great big brother. When she holds his finger he says she is like a bear who caught a fish. He also says his legs are 80 Mallory fingers long. The other day we were driving and he was saying he wants to be an army soldier when he grows up and on his day off he will be a hunter and when I am ready to go to the grocery store I can call him and he will kill me something so I won't have to buy meat.

We had an outside play morning last week and they made a wipeout obstacle in honor of their favorite TV show "wipeout". James called it the foamy slide of death. (Gigi we are going to need some more of that bath foam!)

I have been doing really well concerning post partum depression. The first 10 days were really tough but I saw my counselor a couple of times and worked really hard on controlling my thoughts and inputting a lot of truth. It helped and I think I can say that I am in the clear as far as having to take medicine which is a HUGE answer to prayer. God is so sweet to me to spoil me in this way. I still have a little emotional downturn every afternoon but when it gets bad I turn on praise music, do chores, and thank and praise God for everything that I can think of and before I know it things get better. Josh had his vasectomy this morning (the 29th). We sent to kids to my parents for the weekend so he could recover and I could have a little break too. It is really nice to have just Mallory. We plan to watch a lot of movies! Josh is doing fine today but said the surgery definitely wasn't fun. We are excited to enter a new season in our lives that doesn't include pregnancy and post baby issues. We absolutely can't wait to make it to October! Cooler weather, baby sleeping through the night, all surgical and deliver trauma will be healed and life will be what we like to think of as normal (until something else comes up)! Oh yeah and James turns 5 on the 4th!!!

Thursday evening I dropped the kids off with Gigi and had a girls night with Alicia. I had about two hours of contractions but they stopped so I didn't think much of it. Friday morning Josh and I woke up and got him ready for his vasectomy. I think the mucus plug came out when I was getting ready but I wasn't sure. I told Josh and we agreed that if God thought He was going to be funny that it wasn't. He took two Valium and we headed to the doctor. As we were walking in I commented on us being an interesting sight in a vasectomy office. We laughed then we walked through the door at 8:30 and I felt something leak. We checked Josh in and the gal at the front desk was very flustered by the situation saying in all the years I have worked here this has never happened. I went to the bathroom to check and call the doctor. While I was gone they took him back and got him prepped. My nurse said your water definitely broke get to the hospital now, leave Josh and go! So I went back to tell Josh I was leaving and he was in stirrups painted orange waiting for the doc to come and cut. I said I have to go to the hospital just get it done and I'll call Samantha to come and pick you up and bring you to the hospital. When I left he had his eyes closed with his hands on his head in drunken exasperation. I drove myself to the hospital checked in and got things going. His doctor came in shortly and asked do we really want to do this today? After a brief discussion they decided to reschedule. I was still just a 3 and 80% so I thought things may be going slower than they did with Kinley. Alicia came up to help me out since my husband was incapacitated. She was awesome and it was really cool to share the experience with her. Josh got there an hour after I did and all the nurses and doctors in the hall and elevator knew who he was because I told them all what happened. So they were all saying you must be Mr. Morris hahahah. I was given Stadol by accident (the nurse thought that's what I wanted when I asked if I could have an epidural) and I hated it I felt so drunk. So Alicia was manning a labor room with two very loopy adults. I got an epidural about the time the Stadol was wearing off and 45 minutes later she was born so the epidural didn't work. I felt everything and it was more painful than with Kinley but thanks to the natural medicine adrenaline I made it fine. While I was pushing the doctor got a page from his wife (who was due two days after me) so he called her back with the nurse holding the phone so he could use his hands to get Mallory out. She was headed to the hospital to have her baby! He was able to stay and finish with me since it was almost over. Mallory was coming out face first with her nose and mouth presenting instead of the top of her head. They said if it hadn't been my third that I probably would have had to have a c section and if it would have been her eyes and nose I would have had to have a c section so I was really blessed to be able to deliver her. Her face was really bruised from her traumatic birth but it has healed really quickly. She has been an amazing eater since birth and that has helped her ward off a bad case of jaundice from being early and bruised. We went to her first doctor appointment and she was up 4 ounces from leaving the hospital! She is sleeping well and staying awake on her own some during the day so we couldn't ask for better at this point.

The kids have been wonderful with her. They love to kiss and hold her.

Drugged daddy loving on his girl

Look at those bruises :(

This was at some point in labor after I had the Stadol - I look how I felt.

It's finally July! We are so excited to meet Mallory! We are doing all kinds of things to pass the time. One beautiful morning we went outside and I let the kids paint whatever they wanted. Every time we sit down to paint inside it is all they can do not to paint their hands and face. They loved it and did a wonderful job. I will tell you the paint is non toxic and washable.

We decided he looked like an Avatar person.

Yes, she liked the taste of it and ate quiet a bit!

Putting on makeup

Washing each other off - just as much fun as painting each other.

We went to Duncan for the 4th of July and birthday celebrations. Most of both of our families were there and we celebrated James, Tristan, Kinley, Cade, Grandmother, Grandma Dorothy, and Pop's birthday's. The kids loved fishing in the pond, playing with the dogs and riding the four wheeler.

James and Tristan with their Transformers - which are VERY loud when played with in unison.

Aunt Jennifer made the kids' cake -isn't it beautiful!

Kinley got this for her birthday and when we got it on her it broke my heart. Isn't she precious! I couldn't bring myself to tell her it was a wedding dress - I just kept calling it a princess dress. There haven't been many exciting events to retell but the other night Kinley found a tube of Preperation H (no it isn't just for old people - have three kids and get back to me if you are disgusted) and squeezed most of it out. She ate some and painted with some. It was lovely. The tube said to call poison control immediately so we did and they said to watch her for vomitting and energy change within the hour. Thankfully she was fine other than the trouble she got in for getting into a forbidden cabinet. She definitely keeps us on our toes. Josh and I get a kid free weekend starting this afternoon because Josh is having surgery tomorrow. We've decided three biological children is all our quiver needs. I didn't think that at 37 weeks pregnant I wanted to take care of the kids and Josh for three full days by myself so I am sending them away to Gigi and Bop's. I am going to cook Josh's favorite meals and we are going to watch as many movies as possible. Sounds like bliss to us!