Ready to Pop!

 August 2012

 

Whoa!  Can you say ready to Pop?  It's baby time for sure.  I am scheduled to be induced on Friday, August 17.  I will be 39 weeks along and since my previous deliveries were really fast both my doctor and I felt it was best to have me checked in the hospital in order to make sure everything goes smoothly.  My mom is coming to stay with us for ten days.  She will be here to watch Clay, Hayden and Justin while Nathan and I are at the hospital.  It is such a reassuring thing to have them at their own house, and to be able to spend time with family.  Nathan's mom will be staying with us later in the month, so my boys will be getting good Grandma time in!

Here is a front view on the baby belly and also some of my hair.  I recently went dark with it and in July my sisters sent me a new curling iron for my birthday and these are the curls that it produced.  Love the new curling iron.  It was so much fun to play around with!

Chicago Bears Family Night

August 3,  2012

 

Chicago Bears Family Night!!

Solider Field Stadium

Chicago!

 

 

 Go Bears!!  Family night tickets to watch the team practice, followed by fireworks!   We loved being at Solider Field watching the Chicago Bears go through their practice drills and different touch down scenarios.  We had great seats by two other close family friends, the McMillans and Woodlands!!  As with other stadiums the food was pricey, but still fun to eat pizza and do the wave with the crowd.  Clay thought the wave was so cool and Hayden said, "Here it comes!! Here it comes!  Get yourself ready, here it comes!"

It was great having our own little section full of friends by us! All the kids loved seeing the players run out of the inflatable bear tunnel and cheered really loud when they announced players names!

 Our family decided to take the train to get downtown.  We made great time and the boys loved being on the train.  This was not to case on the way home unfortunately though.  Our night went from a great time with friends, stadium food, and fireworks to a crazy nightmare in downtown Chicago!  We decided to walk to the stadium at the beginning and take a taxi back to the train station for the night.  So we walked the 2.2 miles from the train station to the stadium which was a good hike on it's own, especially being 9 months pregnant, in sandals and keeping track of three other kids.  The plan to get a taxi for the way back to the train station  and get on the 10:30 pm train didn't go so well.  The problem was that the Chicago Bears family night was on the same night as the Lollapalooza.  The Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. It was a 3 day concert fest held in Grant/Millennium park and the city was to anticipated having over 300,000 in attendance over the three days it was on.  So all of the Bears fans and all the people at the concerts were trying to get into taxis, and buses and made a mess of the streets.   Roads were closed off.  Construction blocked cross streets allowing no access.  The streets were packed with crazy, drunk, immodestly dressed people all over the place and since the streets were closed they felt they had free rain to hoot and holler and act obnoxious.  The boys were great troopers and we stuck close together as we weaved our way through the huge crowds.  Normal roads that we planned on crossing to get to a taxi were fenced off and we had no choice but to walk around.  Buses were not running toward the train station we needed and were not available to access anyway from where we were at.  We were all tired.  My feet were killing me.  I'm sure I looked like a crazy mother duck waddling all over the place, pregnant with baby boy #4 and have my other three out late with eccentric concert goers. The boys were definitely wearing down and by the time we came to a street that was open to traffic and we could get a taxi we were only 2 blocks away from the train station.  If having to walk another 2.5 miles back to the station amongst drunks and glitter sprayed concert goers wasn't bad enough for the night, we missed the 10:30 train by five minutes and now had to wait until 12:30 in the morning for the next one!!!  The station was packed with people waiting for the next train with us and we all took to sitting and laying on the floor waiting for the time to pass.  We needed drinks from walking so much and the water and snacks I brought along were long gone.  So just to be the cherry on top for the night I had to pay ten dollars for three 20oz soda pops!! We all were exhausted, tired, and had blister on our feet.  Once on the train,  Nate and I became really annoyed to be traveling with teenagers, who were talking way too loud, each one trying to top the other with their bigger and better stories for the night.  After an hour long train ride we finally got back to our own car and arrived home at 2:30am!

 

A memorable night for sure!  Wish that walking over 5 miles for the night would have sped up my pregnancy but alas this was not the case.  I can't say enough on how great the boys were!  They kept up with our fast pace and didn't whine and just dealt with our situation with us.  At one point Hayden said, "Man, there goes another taxi!  That's seven taxis we could have taken if this crazy fence wasn't here!"  I felt his pain and was frustrated for and with him.  Although, they were super tired once we were home, our boys thanked us for taking them to see the Chicago bears play for the night.  Glad to have it all over with and glad to look back and laugh about it now! 

Louisiana Trip

Louisiana Trip

This picture is a good example on how the kids feel when we go to see Gr & Gr Cottrell!!

Like they can FLY!! 

Seriously, so fun down south

 Grandma Cottrell knows all the good eats around town.  A Snow cone is a must!  Flavors picked were Blue raspberry/cherry for Hayden and Justin's Spiderman cone, Black cherry for Nathan, pink lemonade for Diana (Gr Cottrell) and Clayton and I choose Tiger's blood, which is soooo good!

Nate and I also enjoyed some beignets to die for and Diana and Steve treated me out to a fancy seafood restaurant called DRACO'S for a pre-birthday dinner.  Fresh lobster yummmm
 

 While in Louisiana with more free time on our hands and a always willing Grandma that will babysit, I got my hair dyed from blonde with low lights to an all over dark brown!  Darker hair with highlights on top to give dimension.  I loved how it turned out!

Louisiana 2012

Louisiana Trip

 June 2012 

 Oh, the fun we have in the pool when we visit Grandma and Grandpa Cottrell's!!  First thing we do when we arrive is jump in the pool.  We play lots of different water games, lunches on the patio, dinner grilling, and fun movie nights once it gets dark.   

 Playing catch was a huge hit with Clayton and Hayden.  They would jump off the diving board to try and catch the football in the air before hitting the water.  This picture of Hayden looks so cool because it looks like he is walking on the water!!

Grandpa Cottrell has fun playing diving games with Clayton and Hayden.  He does the tossing of gold dollar coins and they do the diving.  Each coin has to be dived after at least five times to earn it, which is good for both Grandpa's enjoyment and the boys.

 Clayton toss

Hayden Toss

 Justin and I soaking up some sun!

We also played spraying wars.  Nathan and Grandpa Cottrell against anyone else!  The kids had a good spot using the hot tub as their base and filling all the water guns for their attack!

Water Fun

Water Fun!!

June 2012

The boys always have a good time on hot sunny days with Nathan.  With all boys there is tons of competition to be had!  Clayton and Hayden thought the funnest game was a running game.  With this game the boys could push Nathan into the pool if they ran around the house once and touched the side of the pool before Nathan could catch them.  I loved hearing the laughter and patting breaths from everyone!

Cub Mobile

May 5, 2012

 Clay had a great time at the Cub Mobile.  He like being around all the scouts from the different packs around the area.

 Justin Really wanted to ride on one of the carts!  He said "Oh, Cool!" when Clay went down the track.

 Being all cool, steering one handed!

 Ready....Set....GO!!

 Round two:  Yellow Cart.  Clay really liked this one better.  He said the stearing was better for him!

Go Clay,  Go!! 

Easter 2012

Easter 2012

 The Gated community that The Thompson Arizona Retreat is located in had a HUGE Easter Carnival for kids to come and enjoy.  Grandpa Ron got tickets for all the kids to go enjoy the  Easter Egg Scramble, Bounce Houses, face painting, games, live music with bubble machine, and much more!!  Perfect day to be out with family and have some fun!  Especially since it was right in the park behind the Arizona house!!

 Gr. Grandpa Delwyn made a deal with all the kids.  He told them he would pay a quarter for every egg that they got.  He is always making things fun and exciting for everyone!!  Each kid ended up getting $5 from Gr. Grandpa Delwyn!

 Justin loved the bouncy houses!!  He was funny when he met the Easter Bunny.  He just smiled turned, said cheese and ran to the next bounce house!!

 Bubble Fun

Spring Break Fun 2012

OUT OF AFRICA

Wildlife Park

April 2012

What a fun place we visited!  We saw tons of exotic animals like:  Lions, Tigers, Giraffe, Black Bear, Camel, Ostrich, Cobras, Zebra, Exotic Birds, Tortoise, Wildebeest, Jaguar, Leopards, Wolves, Hyenas and more!

Attractions were:  The Wild life Preserve, Giant Snake Show, Serengeti Safari, Tiger Splash, and Predator Feed

 On the Serengeti Safari tour we were given carrot sticks to feed the giraffes.  It was really fun to watched all the animals come up close to the tour bus when our tour guide threw out animal treats for them.  All of the kids were in heaven!!  Justin waved at all the animals that we saw!

 Predator Feed:  We followed the caretakers as they made their rounds throwing over 800 pounds of raw meat (beef and chicken) to all the carnivores.  The Hyenas made their crazy laughing sounds as the meat was being thrown over. The caretakers would throw the meat in different places over the fence so each animal would get their fair share and also so the dominate animal in the pen wouldn't eat all food.

 TIGERS!!  They were awesome!  At the Tiger Splash Show we watched a rare White Tiger interact in a predator/prey relationship of romping and splashing in a a 35 ft by 50 ft pool as they played with their caretakers.  The trainers used blown up water toys attached to poles and would get the tiger to use their natural spontaneous behaviour to go after the toys, which to them was like going after prey

 That tiger can seriously jump!!

We all had such a great time here!  A great place!

Turf Paradise

Spring Break April 2012

We can't visit Arizona without cheering on our Grandpa Delwyn's race horses at
Turf Paradise Race Track!!

The boys always have a blast here, but this year Clay could understand what was happening with the races and figured out how to read the race programs.  He wanted to pick his own favorite horses.  He would say to Grandpa, "No look this one raced 12 races total, 7 last year, and has placed 9 times.  And look at how much more money he won from his races, this is the better horse!"  It was so fun  to watch him go over all the stats of each horse and pick his top three and have ice cream bets with Grandpa Delwyn!!

 Not only did we watch the horse races, but they had a special event for people to come watch The Camel and Ostrich Races!!  So funny, the ostriches went everywhere and people laughed and the track crew trying to round them up again!

Its always fun to spend time with sisters!!


Sophie and Emily.

Justin knows what a horse is good for, he wanted to ride each one that he saw!! Good times

Baby Boy #4!!

Next Baby Boy ....Come on down!!

You've been chosen to be part of an elite All Cottrell Boy Club!!!

We are excited to announce that we will be having a forth little man to join our family, due August 21, 2012!!! With my previous three I delivered earlier than the expected due date so it will be excited to see which day will be the big one, so we can welcome our little one!

Our whole family went to the ultrasound on March 28th.  Nate answered questions the boy had, wrestled an excited Justin, and we helped them understand what they were looking at on the screen.   When we found out we were going to have another boy, Hayden cracked us all up by saying "Yes!  No tea parties!!"  What a character!  We had a nice technician and said she had alot of fun monitoring the baby ,"He is very strong and lively...Oh did you see that he just flipped around completely!!  His head was here and now over on this side!!"  I laughed at this comment.  I guess I have been used to wiggly energetic boys both in the belly during the pregnancies and after when they have more room to roam! 

There have been many disappointed sighs, worried expressions, and questions in my behalf on how I felt on another boy verdict.  Honestly, I am ecstatic!!!  I get to have another baby to love.  We are getting the baby we are supposed to have.  I hold myself extremely lucky to be a mother of such fine little boys and will have the opportunity to help mold them into the men they are meant to be.  Such Miracles these little ones are to begin with that I am grateful for every good check-up, every strong heartbeat and even the steady kicks in the ribs I have been getting.  He's a strong one for sure!  To have a girl would no doubt be fun and something new to this clan, but having a boy is just as exciting and welcomed in this household!! 

My Aunt Becky (who is the mother of 5 boys herself) arranged for me to have these while on vacation in Arizona with my family!   Inside the eggs were little saying written in my moms hand writing (which is always beautiful) and a snickers treat. Here are what the notes said:

* Boys never leave bobby pins by the tub

* Boys take less time in the bathroom (usually) :)

* The 6th will be just like Gr. Ron

(Gr Ron is my dad and he is the 6th boy of his family.  My grandma Thompson had 9 children.  6 boys, a girl, a boy, and then her last was another girl.)

* Boys know the best person alive is Mama!

* You will never have to look for energy...your Boys will have it!!

So fun!  Made my day! We are counting down the time till we get to meet our next Cottrell Boy!!

And just to give you a glimpse, here is me, strutting my pregnant self, while playing tennis in Arizona with a big group of boys!!

Spring Break fun 2012