OK, I am bored with those pictures, so you all are getting some new ones. Since it is Mother's Day I am going to start by saying....I LOVE BEING A MOTHER! I think it is the very best, greatest, most wonderful thing that I could be doing at this time in my life. And of course my love for being a Mom comes from the great example of my dear Mom. She was always there for us and loved us so much and I always knew that. What a major difference that knowledge makes in a persons life. Through Moms loving service she made me want to be just like her. So, Thank You Mom for all you have done for me, and Thank You Steve for making it possible for me to be "just a Mom." I love it!


Now for some stories. Most of you know that we had a very unfortunate break down on the freeway a couple weeks ago. We were on our way to go through the open house of the Atlanta temple. We were all very excited for the opportunity to see the temple. But...halfway there, something happened to the van. There was smoke, bad smell, and the heat indicator went up to red. We pulled over and knew there was something very wrong. We hung out there on the side of the freeway with our five kids for over two hours when we finally (all 7 of us) got in to the cab of the tow truck and the guy drove us and our van 100+ miles back to our house. A very frustrating and disappointing day for us. The boys were crying and crying and saying they will never get to go to a temple now. I was very confident when my answer to them was, "Yes, you will go to the temple one day. You will just have to wait ten or so years. But, you WILL get there." Something was wrong with the transmission if you are curious.

The boys playground for that afternoon.

Here is Brandon. Helpful little Brandon. He went to get the mail in the rain, and this is what it looked like when he got to me.
Steve had the task of keeping Alexander happy one afternoon and he came up with this brilliant way to do it. He just bounced slowly with him for a while and Alex loved it. What a good Daddy!
The littlest Hughes boy. It is so strange for me to have a baby that loves to sleep on his back. He gets very angry if I ever try to get him to sleep on his stomach. He is so adorable to look at when he is sleeping.
Speaking of my baby boy! He is an angel. He really has become the best baby. All it took was figuring him out. He takes Zantac faithfully and it has really helped. Also, I have reread my "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book and am now taking the advice of the sleep expert and Alexander LOVES to sleep and is a happier child when he gets his sleep. The only downfall here is that he likes to be in his bed, in a quiet room to sleep. He doesn't want to be floating around town, and I have places to go sometimes. He also doesn't like to be awake for very long. Two hours max. So, if I have somewhere to go I need to be ready the minute he wakes up, and get one errand done at a time, then come home for another nap. Oh well, the newborn stage doesn't last forever right? One more thing about this little character. The other day he was crying in my arms as I was trying to get him to go to sleep. I had something boiling on the stove, so when he still hadn't fallen asleep after about five minutes, I got frustrated and just put him down on the bed to go check on the food. Well, low and behold, he snuggled up with his blanket and went to sleep! So, no more rocking this one to sleep, he just wants to be put down and left alone. He really is a whole new ball game for me. But he is a lovely little boy now.

Showing off his new onesie
Steve got out the Johnny jump up a while back to see if Alex would like it. It is now the spot you will find him most often. The boys love to play with him in it too.