January 11th

Well today I had an ultrasound at St. Joseph's Hospital & some blood work done. Julie Shepherd came to see the ultrasound. We had a great time together! I am so grateful to have her as my neighbor and friend...they have blessed our life so much this Christmas season by feeding our family dinner each night for the whole month! We are forever in debt to them! I was hoping to leave the appointment knowing when I was going to have this big 7 lb. 12 oz. baby Paige but I didn't. However I did get a call later this afternoon letting us know we are now scheduled for January 11th at 8:00 am for C-section! WHAT?????? I thought my due date was January 12th but they have it as January 16th. Oh my gosh I thought I was going to die when I heard that over the phone! I'm afraid I am going to have an 11 lb. baby! So the countdown begins today...

Gingerbread houses

This is one of Rylan's very favorite thing to make at Christmas time. I finally bought one at Sam's Club & its been sitting on the countertop for a whole week waiting until school got out. We finally pulled it out and made it together. He decorated the whole thing with a little help from mom squeezing the frosting bag. It was so fun to make! He was so impressed with the ice cycles. A couple of them fell and he said, "They are just like real ice cycles they fall too." I really enjoyed spending time with him making this cute gingerbread house. Inside the box were 6 ornaments so when Amberly got home from a birthday party the two of them decorated the cookies and hung them on the tree as soon as the frosting set. It is fun to keep holiday traditions going with the kids!

Shaylee's Christmas Dance Recital

This is Shaylee's first Christmas Dance Recital. This year she wanted to more than just clogging so he chose Lyrical. Her teacher Ms. Kim has been amazing and her sweet little sister Kourtney has helped out a great amount due to an accident with Kim's leg. Shaylee has learned a lot over the last couple of months and has really liked it. She still amazes me when she clogs. She has a great talent for dancing and it's been fun watching her progress over the years. The recital was amazing! Higher Ground has great teachers and great girls & family to support them. Rylan enjoyed watching a couple of his friends in Hip Hop and the Musical Theater. He really wants to do Hip Hop & Musical Theater. I guess learning how to dance & sing young is a great thing. I love music and I am really hoping it rubs off to my kids.

This was Amberly's last day of Preschool before Christmas break. She loves her amazing teacher Ms. Christie! She has done very well with her first semester of Preschool. She has learned so much!

36 weeks

A couple days before this appointment I had a fetal echo at St. Joseph's Hospital. It was so nice of Susan Ray to take me to my appointment. It was a great last fetal echo appointment. This little one is doing well & the vein they have been watching has not shrunk this whole pregnancy. I truly feel blessed! This little Paige is going to have a great chance! I left feeling overwhelmed with HOPE & FAITH that all is going to go well. It was a great day!!!

Then on Thursday I had my last doctor's appointment at The Fetal & Women's Center here in the east valley. I had a Level 2 ultrasound & she is growing perfect! She weighs 7 lbs!  I feel so blessed to have been able to be under there care. I love these girls so much! As I was waiting in the room I became very sad knowing I wasn't going to see them twice a week anymore. I started to feel a little sad when all of a sudden these four amazing ladies (I call friends) came in with a gift bag. I of course started to cry and I opened the card first and tried to read with tears flowing down my cheeks the sweet words these girls wrote to me. I love them. Then I opened this box with a silver Christmas ornament with Paige Bloomfield engraved on the front. I opened it up and there was a beautiful picture of my baby girl from an ultrasound they had done. On the right it had engraved The Fetal & Women's Center. It was beautiful! I couldn't believe it! It made me cry even more and they cried too! I will treasure their friendship for life & I will never forget them! They have been a huge part of this pregnancy & my LIFE!

Shaylee's Christmas Orchestra Concert

Shaylee's 1st orchestra concert. She is learning to play the violin and is doing a great job! It is really fun to listen to her squeek away and get better and better by the week. This was something new for us...we really enjoyed watching her perform. Mr. Olsen is the teacher at Franklin and he is truly an amazing teacher! Shaylee has learned a lot and is really excited for her 2 week vacation off from going to early morning orchestra...we actually are too!

Shaylee's Christmas Piano Recital

Shaylee did an amazing job at her piano recital. I tried and I'm going to still try to get the short video clip on here. The song she performed was Ring Silver Bells duet with Barbara her piano teacher. It was awesome!
The sun was a little bright for her eyes!
Shaylee & Savanna Jarvis

The Annual Franklin Elementary Winter Sing

This is such a great performance. The kids work so hard and are very well prepared to sing wonderful Christmas songs! Rylan & Shaylee did a great job as well as their cousins & friends! A job well done to Zack Shepherd on his solo...it couldn't have been more perfect! Great job!

Paige Sorenson & Rylan


Shaylee & Brianna Noble

Neighborhood Christmas gifts!

This year as a family we decided to give a gift that everyone would use so paper towels was the gift with a tag that said, "Blot out your troubles; Absorb the Christmas Season!" My kids had so much fun taking these around the neighborhood. I loved it too because I didn't have to worry about them breaking or keeping the goodies nice and neat on the plate. We really truly hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas this year!

Miss photogenic...

One morning after getting Amberly ready for preschool she said, "Mom I need you to take some pictures of me because I really like my hair with this bow in it." I laughed so hard! She was a great little poser and I was laughing the whole time.

Fall leaves...

My kids love when the Shepherds tree starts to shed. They rake the leaves in piles & enjoy jumping and playing in them. Thank goodness for the tree that gives us a little of the fall feeling.

Hanging Christmas Lights

I love this time of year! You just feel lots of happiness & joy in the air! This year Keith came inside the house and said it's time for new christmas lights...I have waited for him to say that for a long time. No more blue ice cycle lights!!!!!! He bought some clear white lights and the kids switched out every other one with a red light bulb. They had fun doing this and I sat in a chair watching with great anticipation! I couldn't wait! Great job KEITH & kids! I love it & it's beautiful!

Amberly's Christmas Dance Recital

We had Amberly's little Christmas Recital! We got to watch everything they've learned this year & a little christmas dance. It was so fun to watch these darling girls!

Christmas Pictures

My sister Jana is an amazing photographer! It was so fun taking family pictures especially when little Amberly decided to be very silly! The kids did great even though it was a little chilly outside on Sunday!