She's here

She's a she, and isn't that great?


I will write more later, but for now I'll just share a few of my favorite photos from my prophotographer sister whom I owe for life.


It was my easiest birthing yet. I have absolutely nothing to complain about and there is nothing I would change.



Now to name her...

Kids are cool

On occasion Family Night around here gets a little crazy, but sometimes - and only sometimes - something connects and beautiful things happen. 

Last night we talked about the instructions we have been given on how to have a happy family. 

I read this sentence from The Family Proclamation to them, and then they illustrated how we do it in our family. The things they came up with surprised and tickled and cracked us up.

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

 I'm loving the work one - that's Emmy vacuuming. It's her latest accomplishment. The respect one is her playing with her treasures and Jonah's not touching them. She has the right idea when it comes to people respecting her, at least:) Oh, and the activity is trying to be a bike. She was a little frustrated with that one, although I think the basket on the back holding her monkey was a perfect touch.

Jonah's 'faith' is us in the car going to church. Compassion is him giving a balloon to his friend who broke his collar bone a few weeks ago. Activities is us playing Uno (his favorite). Work is him enjoying the flowers after we weed them.

These received the place of honor on the fridge, but after their tenure there I will tuck them away in a place where I can treasure them always.

A good day

Once upon a last week, my Seester and progeny were slumbering at my house, because that's ours and theirs favorite thing to do. Upon arising in the morning, we remembered that it was our little younger brother's birthday! And he just happens to work at Sundance Resort which is relatively close to my abode. 

So we made cupcakes. With blue frosting, because that's his favorite color. Then we called up his completely adorable Fiance' (woot woot! He's engaged!) and planned a surprise rendezvous at his work.

It worked! He was totally surprised and beamingly happy to see us. And the cupcakes. I don't have a photo, so paint yourself one in your imagination. 

 The cupcakes were happily inhaled.

A toast to CJ and his birth and his 24 years of life!
Jonah? You ok?

Oh those black eyes. I'm drowning.

 Someone throw me a life preserver.

 Ha! There we go. A photo.
I think the kiddos like him.

Oh, side note, he's engaged, right? Get this: He made her ring. As in carved and polished and loved it into existence.

 It's almost as lovely as her.

 Can't wait for you to be officially eternal!

Have you ever been to sundance resort? Dahlink, it's Gorgeous! I said as much to CJ, and he replied "I know! Every day I get here and I am like 'I can't complain! There is nothing wrong with my life!'" Which has kind of been his outlook for his whole life. But still, it's lovely there.
And then, because CJ was at work and needed to, ahem, work - we headed out.

 But we didn't go far! There happens to be a very kid-friendly hugungeous waterfall complete with shallow pools and streams not far from there. So we visited it for many hours.

And much happiness ensued.

Also much exhaustion, but it was worth it. At one point I turned to my Tess and said "Do you think Mom felt this tired after doing things like this with us? Every week? All the time?" to which we agreed she probably did, and we reveled in our amazement of her for the billionth time.

The end.

Birth. It's a beautiful thing.

Guys. I have something to share that is thrilling to me. Maybe only because I'm pregnant, but maybe not. Nope, pretty sure I'd be thrilled either way.

Look at this beautiful book.

It's precious. It was just released and my Mama gave me her copy to read because mine hasn't arrived yet.
It's a book all about birth, and the spiritual journey that it is for every mother, regardless of her experience. Home birth, hospital birth, cesarean, adoption, it's always a beautiful thing. It covers topics such as constant nourishment, fear, pain, healing from loss, postpartum recovery, and most importantly; the spirituality that ties everything together. The book is a collection of essays from nowadays mothers, stories of mothers from the scriptures, women from history, and quotes from LDS Prophets and Apostles.

But wait. Look at what happens on page 34.

That's me! Jayne K.

The author, Felice Austin, is a life long friend of my dear Aunt Bethanie, and a few years ago she began collecting essays for her book. My Aunt let me know about it and so I said sure and I fired off an email to Felice with my story. Easy peasy. But she liked it! So it's in there, and I'm honored beyond belief to be a part of this book.
I'm kind of almost but not really even close to being a published author.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go finish reading it. All 507 pages of it. Today.

The calm before the storm

Why was I chosen for this life? Why did all of my dreams come true? 

I can't answer those questions, but I can tell you that I'm happy to be me.

Sometimes I feel guilt that my life is so good. Good as in I occasionally get home from church on Sunday afternoon, and don't leave my house again until the next Sunday morning on my way to church.
Good as in I'm so fat around my midsection that I can't stand close enough to the kitchen sink to comfortably turn on the faucet.
Good as in my feet hurt so bad in the evenings from carrying my bulk around all day that laying down in bed is pure bliss.
Good as in I really need a pedicure and there's no way I can give one to myself so it looks like I'm not gonna get one.

My three kids are easy right now. They can all find their own shoes, they can all put on their own pajamas, they can entertain themselves with a pile of books for a good long time.

Things are about to change around here. Babies bring so much with them when they come. The extremes of exhaustion and joy and awe all at the same time.

I've had babies before, but I've never had a newborn plus three kids before. It's different every time. I often wonder how each one of them will adjust and what kind of relationship they will want to have with the baby.

I have hunches, but we'll see if they become realities.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my three. They're a gaggle of goons, I tell you what. But they're mine.

Four more weeks, little one, and then what a life you will begin!

Photography is by my talented sister Tess Abbott. Her website is under construction, but check out her blog for info by clicking here.