The Shaws: July 2013

Emmett's Blessing

Sweet baby Emmett on Graduation day, 7 weeks old.

On May 12, 2013 Emmett was given a name and a blessing at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Keith gave a beautiful blessing. His brother Kirk, Bishop Robert Hill, Steve Larson, Tyler Madsen, Tanner Barratt, Andy Stucki and Brian Gosnell stood in the circle with him.

We blessed both the girls in our parents homes with our immediate family. This time, we wanted to bless Emmett with our ward family but of course there was a little drama beforehand...Kirk and Joy's GPS didn't quite take them to the Church so they called about five minutes after the meeting started for directions. Luckily there was a lot of ward business. When they announced the blessing, Keith was in the hallway and the second counselor was searching for the microphone. I slowly got Emmett out of his seat and started walking with him towards the front (I had no idea what to do) when Keith came rushing in with Kirk. Talk about cutting it close, Keith said he definitely preferred doing it at home.

Keith's mom sent his blessing outfit for me to use but it was so big I knew I couldn't alter it and still make it look nice. We ended up putting this white sleeper on him. Soft, comfortable, simple, it worked just fine.

His blessing day also happened to be Mother's Day. Keith tried to take a picture of me with the kids. This was the best we could get:

I love my kids and am so very grateful to be a mom!

Cousins

There are times I actually feel like a bad parent because we live so far away from cousins. Mackenzie adores her cousins and this time around, Clara did too.

Gideon was stoked to FINALLY have another boy on the Shaw side. He's been the only one for 8 long years and he could not have been sweeter to Emmett. He's always sweet with the babies but I think there's a special bond with these little guys.

After hours of chaos, we turned on a movie.

My babies always love their Aunt Joy.

Mark's feed store. Halfway through our dinner, a teenage boy came over with a box of cake for the girls.

The morning the Shaws left, we went to breakfast and one of our favorite spots, Wild Eggs. We waited an hour for a table and Eva entertained the kids with games.

All the moms on Mother's Day. Maybe I should have touched up my makeup? My sis-in-laws are beautiful inside and out.

Uncle Kirk taking his turn. He's always up for holding babies too.

And that's how you fit seven kids around our tiny table. Keith said the weekend with all those kids was birth control:) It was definitely loud but fun.

Gid held Emmett for a good half hour of the graduation ceremony. Emmett had been fussing for me but fell right to sleep in Gideon's arms.

They are such good friends

We kept trying to get a picture of all the nieces and nephews for Grandma and Grandpa but the littlest just weren't cooperating at the same time.

Eva was so bummed to go. We were all sad to see them leave. We love our nieces and nephew!

Dental Graduation Party

I knew I wanted to throw Keith a graduation party months before I had Emmett. I started pinning ideas on Pinterest back in December but couldn't figure out if I wanted it to be a surprise. I also wasn't sure how I was going to pull it all off with a new baby. When Katie came I knew I could enlist her help. We set the date for the last day she was with us. I could not have done it without her! Sarah also came over and helped so much with finishing touches on food and decorations.

The sweet teeth were the biggest hit. I was glad because they were a pain in the butt to put together.

We wanted a "numbing station" with otter pops but we bought the popsicles that day and they weren't frozen in time for the party.

We ended up not making it a surprise. There was no way I could have hid everything from Keith and I wanted him to put a guest list together. We held the party at our clubhouse and while it's a good size, we didn't have room/food for everyone at our complex and in our ward. We hated leaving people out but we decided it was best to keep it smaller and invite those we were closest to.

We were so busy all day I didn't have a chance to get the kids or myself ready.

We had a great turnout and I know Keith felt a lot of love from all the people who have supported us these past 4 years.

These were taken towards the end of the party so some had already left and some latecomers aren't pictured,

Blue Steel

I had this board under the couch for a year just waiting to be put to use

Graduation!

The day Keith graduated from Dental School ranks in the top 10 best days of our married life. It was so incredible and humbling to see 8 years of hard work pay off. Keith was beaming the entire day.

We arrived early so we could get a spot so we had plenty of time to kill. I was pretty annoyed that we were up in the balcony. They didn't require tickets and some grads invited everyone they'd ever had contact with in their lives. I thought immediately family should have gotten first dibs on the good seats.

Katie of course was able to come and so were Kirk and Joy. We left all the little ones (Annabelle, Clara, Melody and Serena) with a babysitter.

Emmett. Normally he is a nearly perfect baby but he started fussing so bad once the ceremony started that I ended up nursing him in the middle of it. He then blew up the back of his outfit. Then he puked all over me and his next outfit. He spent the rest of the ceremony in the nude.

As Keith was getting in line to go up on stage, Kenzie started jumping up and down telling me she had to go potty. I told her to hold it. It was clear she wasn't going to be able to do that. One of the other wives saw what was happening across the room and rushed to my rescue. She took Kenzie potty and they got back right as Keith's name was announced.

Look at that smile

Getting "hooded"

I learned during the ceremony that different doctorate degrees have different colors. His hood is violet for dental and red for U of L.

Waving at us as the grads made their exit. Kenzie called out "that's my daddy" and made everyone around us laugh.

Keith's parents were sad they couldn't make it. They offered to come out for graduation or to help us move. Because of work, they would only have been able to stay a couple of days if they came for graduation. I let Keith choose and he chose to have them come when we move. We were so happy to have his siblings there with us.