Back to School

It's that time of the year again. So full of mixed emotions. I have loved having my kids at home but the past few days they have been driving me crazy. I hear a lot of waaaa... bla bla bla.... waaaaa. It has gotten pretty annoying. Right now I'm more than happy to see them go. I know all the crappy behavior is because they're bored. I haven't been great at keeping them busy.

School is great and all, my kids LOVE it, but the thoughts to Home School creep up all the time. Yeah, I'm that mom... I have great ideas, I know what curriculum I would use, and I have a great plan to make it work. But I have to mention that in my home school plan we live in a little white farm house and we have cows & chickens and I sew all our clothes... Well, Unfortunately it will never happen. Mr. Lloyd is opposed to the idea and I know myself and kids too well. We would get sick of each other & the kids would stop listening to me after awhile. In the end it is better that I am mom and not school teacher too. But for the time they are little they have a great preschool teacher (ME) and then it is bonjour kiddos.

This year Lucy Jane is officially old enough to be part of my Busy Bees Preschool. She has always been around during school time but more like our class pet instead of student. She is excited and I am a little unsure how she will transition from class pet to full on sit still and behave kind of kid. Cross my fingers it goes well. Lucy is great at throwing fits while I'm teaching because she knows I am too busy with the other children and usually give her what she wants. I'll let you know how it goes... Preschool starts on Wednesday!

Summer Fun

What can I say about this summer... it was a bit of a flop. I really didn't do much with the kiddos that didn't take place at home. Sure we had a few fun outings and all, but for the most part it was a lot of lazy days. I've been so lazy that I'm thinking I should take on the nick name of Captain Sweat Pants! I'm pretty sure our family has kept Netflix busy this summer with all the movies we've been watching. It's been great. I have loved every bit of the lazy. I think the kids have too. I hate to see the Summer end. Sigh... I didn't take many pictures this summer (at least ones that weren't of Henry) But here are some of what I got...

We went on a family camp out just 1week after I had Henry. Looking back I'm wondering what I was thinking??? Most likely I was still on pain pills and not in my right mind. It was so much fun!

Seriously people, how cute is he? 1 week old and so handsome. Oh I love him to pieces! From the look on her face, Isabelle must be afraid of something. Summer wouldn't be Summer without our tradition of going to the Freedom Festival parade followed by a picnic at grandma's house... It was so cold this year that we all had to bundle up. The sun didn't make it out til later in the day. Brent and his parents took the girls up to Stewart Falls. I thought about going but the idea of nursing a baby while sitting on a rock didn't sound that fun to me. I wasn't on pain pills anymore and finally thinking straight so I stayed home. There were A few trips to the pool this summer. Probably not as many as the girls would have liked but can you blame me? The pool isn't my favorite place to be these days... But I don't mind sitting poolside with a good book while the kids play with Mr. Lloyd School starts on Wednesday and we can say goodbye to summer til next year.

Henry's Blessing

We blessed our little Henry B. on August 1st. It was a wonderful day. We had so many family and friends come to support us and celebrate our new little guy.

We aren't a church with much pageantry and there isn't a lot of fan fair during this blessing ceremony but for me it is so special and beautiful. I was able to feel the spirit as the priesthood bearers stood in a circle holding my baby while my husband gave him a name and a blessing. I like to think about Christ blessing the little children, with authority from our Heavenly Father, and know we have the same authority in the Church today. Knowing this brings me so much comfort and peace. Henry has already brought our family so much happiness and we are all so in love with him. I'm so thankful I get to be his mommy!

Brent kept making choo choo train noises on account of his hat. I thought he looked sweet!

John Fortie (Great Grandpa), Brent (Daddy), & Curt Fortie (Grandpa).


Grandpa Bob & Grandma Valerie
Great Grandpa Fortie, & Great Grandma Fortie

Our little babies are only 8 weeks apart. I just know they are going to have the best time growing up together. Grandpa Steve, Brent, & Uncle Craig...

Don't you just love all the bald heads? So handsome.Grandma Marie three buddies

Education Week

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my sister Heather and niece Lexus at BYU to take a few classes. We went to a lecture about C.S. Lewis (boring), a class on finding your life's mission (AWESOME), and a class on scripture study (informative).
Despite having an upset stomach the entire time and leaving earlier than planned, I still got some good info to take home that I think will better my life.

My favorite lesson from the day was about keeping a journal that you can tie into personal scripture study. The idea is to record your own history so that you can remember spiritual as well as everyday experiences and be able to learn your life lessons. The scriptures we read now were nothing more at the time they were written than a journal of everyday experiences. It was suggested in the lecture that our journals will become our personal Scripture to help guide us through our life mission. I LOVE this idea! I've heard it before but it has really sunk in now. I have always loved keeping a journal. They are my most cherished possessions. A priceless record. I've always felt they are the reason I have been able avoid making mistakes over and over again. It is because I've recorded how I felt in times of good choices and in times of bad choices.
The speaker gave us the concept of keeping a "3 words a day" journal. Crazy I know! But the idea is that you can spend a few minutes each day recording your memories in just 3 words that only you know what they mean. Then later, write in the details. For example I can write my experience yesterday as "BYU Stomach Flu". I've never had the flu at BYU before so I will always know what time I'm talking about.
Another 3 word example is "Girls Camp Bandits". This is a story of a day of decision for me of a time I made the good choice to go to girls camp (when I really didn't want to). I believe this decision put me on the right path for the rest of my life. I can then write the 3 words in the margin of my scriptures Alma 7:19 and have a personal story to give the verse meaning to me. Anyway, maybe you get the point or maybe you don't. But it was such a great idea to get your journaling done each day and being able to apply it to scripture study that I had to share it!
I really do love to journal and I think that blogging one way I can remember life as I know it today. President Spencer W. Kimball said: “I urge all of the people of this church to give serious attention to their family histories, to encourage their parents and grandparents to write their journals, and let no family go into eternity without having left their memoirs for their children, their grandchildren, and their posterity.

Emma's 9th Birthday

Emma is 9 now. She is growing up so fast. It's so enjoyable for me to watch her learn and develop her talents. She really is an amazing loving girl.

What I LOVE ABOUT EMMA:

• She is a great big sister and is very "cleaver" at getting Isabelle to do her chores for her and buy her things so she can save her money. I have to laugh at this behavior because it is what big sister do...


• Emma is incredibly compassionate and loving.


• She will snuggle with anyone at anytime of the day.


• She LOVES to read books and write stories.


• She is a great little artist.


• She is very talented in music and is becoming a great pianist.


• She is a straight A student and puts homework before most anything else.


• She has a funny sense of style (see her socks in the below pictures).


• She will watch movies with me that no one else in the family will.


• Although she has a brilliant mind and is very smart, she is still kind of "dingy" and spacey. (I think she has inherited this trait from my mom).


• She loves making schedules and lists to follow.


• She has an amazing sense of humor.


• Most of all I love how creative and imaginative she is.

Happy Birthday!

Henry's Birth

I want to write down my memories of the day Henry was born before I forget the details. I always think that there is no way I could forget important details (most the time I don't) but just in case, I wanted to preserve them in blogger space forever. Feel free to just go to the pictures and never mind what I write...

I got the call to go into the hospital at 6:00 am for an induction. I had been dilated to an "almost 5" for 2 weeks and this call was the answer to end my suffering. Seriously though... It was a bitter sweet day. Even though I had felt pretty uncomfortable the last few weeks, I couldn't help feel very sad to end my 40 weeks of pregnancy knowing it would be my last. I'm one of those crazies who loves being pregnant. I'm 5 weeks postpartum today and I still feel like there is something missing. I sit here and wonder why I feel empty and then realize that it's because there is no movement inside. There's no big day to prepare for, no wondering what he'll look like, no unavoidable attention from strangers and family. So much is over and done. Sigh....

After I got the call, I told the nurse that I would be there at 7:00 and hung up the phone. It was baby time! But where oh where was Mr. Lloyd to share my excitement? Would you believe the man was 15 miles away on a bike ride? He had gotten up at 5:00 to get in an early morning ride and still wasn't back. I called him and told him to peddle fast or I would leave without him. So I got up and got dressed then got my 3 little girls up and dressed just in time for Mr. to come in dripping sweat through the door. We all got in the car, dropped the kids off at Nanna's house and made it to the hospital just after 7:00.

The first part of the morning went well. I was comfortable and really making the most of the experience. By 4:30 things were picking up and I decided to tell the nurse I was ready to have the baby. I requested that we have him at 4:42 and the nurse seemed to think I was kidding. 42 is mine and Brent's lucky number so I thought it would be a good time for him to be born. When my midwife showed up at 4:40 she told me to give a practice push which I did and almost landed the baby on the floor. She told me to stop pushing and wait a minute. When I finally was given the go ahead I pushed twice and Baby was born at 4:42 PM just like I asked. Brent was a great support while I labored (not that he had to do much) but I couldn't have done it without him.

Once baby was put in my arms I was in love. I loved him the minute I knew I was pregnant. I loved himthe minute he was born. Then I saw his face and fell in love some more. He was only a minute old but I knew I would die for him. Tears, kisses, and smiles were immediately showered on him. I think the first thing that I noticed about him was how much he looked like Emma followed by how big he was. Once the rest of the family showed up to meet him, the girls immediately began calling him Henry. I still wasn't sure if that was his name but they insisted and it felt right so that is what we named him.

The rest of our stay at the hospital wasn't what I had expected. I was hoping for rest and bonding time with Henry but instead he wasn't able to room with me because he had low blood sugar. Instead he had to be in the level 2 nursery to be monitored and have iv fluids. I was very upset about this and called my mom at 6:00 in the morning in tears. She showed up with Bob an hour later and had done the research about his condition to help me feel better. The worst part of the situation was having to walk down the hall every time he needed to be fed and sit in an uncomfortable chair to do it. The nurse had to check his blood every time before and after he ate. His poor little foot was poked every time. I was devastated. Mostly because I was exhausted, but also because I didn't know how serious the problem was. Of course things turned out okay and we were able to go home on time. I was able to get the rest I needed thanks to the wonderful Mr. Lloyd. He was on top of everything for the first week. I didn't lift a finger. By week two I felt better and was able to go back to being mom to the rest of my little ones.

Here are a few of Henry's first Pictures. Because he wasn't in the room with me, I wasn't able to get one of all of us together. Pictures were the last thing on my mind. I will have sweet memories of this amazing time forever.