Christmas 2012

 All family pics taken had our sweet new addition in them. As of yet, we are not allowed to share those pictures on our public blogs, facebook, etc. So, for now this stocking picture will have to do. I got to make a new one this year for sweet baby boy. :)

We had a Wonderful Christmas! We went really low key with just a few gifts each and focused more on the meaning of Christmas. We had our traditional cinnamon rolls, stockings, gifts and fun. What we didn't plan on was a trip to the ER for me Christmas day. I had developed an outer ear infection, and the pain was affecting the babies heart rate and my blood pressure. The whole week or so I was delirious in pain with the side of my face swollen. Unfortunately they couldn't give me any pain medication, so i had to just wait for the antibiotics to bring down the infection. We were extremely blessed to have such amazing friends and family near and far give us service to get through the week with gifts, cleaning and meals. Being the recipients of such Christ like charity was truly humbling. :)

Aaron's Birthday!

34.... that's right.. another year older and wiser. :) He didn't want much this year. We made him a Chocolate cake. He got to go to the movies, and on a fun date with me! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful man be the "daddy" and "hubby" in our family!

School....

This is one of those things that just has to be documented. Egan had some behavior problems at the beginning of the school year, and the teachers decided that he needed to be "graded" at the end of every day. He was sent home with a folder letting us know how he did each day for us to sign and send back. We told Egan that if he came home with good grades he would be rewarded with video games etc. On one especially bad day when the teacher had some comments to write about his behavior, he had the guts to erase what the teacher had wrote in pencil and rewrote "good job" (miss spelled) in the comments section, and cover up with green marker the low scores he earned that day! My first reaction was laughter... My son has some serious moxy! What a stinker! Needless to say he still didn't get video games that day and we had a good chat with his teacher about writing her comments in pen.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a fun crazy one this year for the Harwards. Egan decided he wanted to be a Ninja, Evelyn was once again a pretty pink princess. I found these awesome iron ons online for a cute prego t-shirt. We carved pumpkins that fit us perfectly. We did have a little extra pumpkin for the 5th little member of the family. He didn't feel the need to carve his pumpkin though :)

"Toofless"

One really great thing about having kids so close in age, is that they go through their little life happenings about the same time. This year Both Egan and Evelyn lost their front teeth in exactly the same month! September. Thats right folks, just before School Pictures! But aren't they cute?! 

We taught them "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" this year. Gotta love it. Can't believe how big they are getting!

Unexpected Blessings

It has been ages since I updated our family blog. For once I actually have a good excuse for the delay.
To explain I must go back to last October. Aaron and I at the time felt very strongly that our family needed to grow and we looked at our options. Suddenly after 5 years we knew that foster/adopt care was the way to go again. So we pushed on and started the process of getting licensed. 30 hours of classes, Saturdays, tests, first aid and cpr training. Dr visits, house prep, the works.
As most of you know, in December we received an amazing gift to be able to try in-vitro fertilization to get ourselves pregnant. If this is news to you check out my prego blog: www.harwardsmiracleinthemaking.blogspot.com. Of course we pursued this as the foster care licensing was on hold while we waited for background checks to come back. We thought nothing of it. In fact we were thinking, perhaps Heavenly Father was testing us to see if we would do all we could do before blessing us with the in-vitro option. With that mindset in March we got a call from the licensor wanting to finish up licensing with a home study and interviews. After much thought we decided that we should finish the process. Who knows how our chance at a miracle would end up right? Plus we felt again like it was the right thing to do. So we finished it up and forgot about it again as the weeks passed with dr visits, drugs, hormone therapy, surgery etc.
On May 9th my pregnancy test came back positive! On the 25th we found out it was twins. Thrilled we planned for two babies. We were even given by random chance two cribs! On our next ultrasound we found out that one of the babies was lost. (A vanishing twin). That same week we received our foster care license in the mail. Of course emotions ran rampant and we thought not a lot on the foster care. In fact we discussed it the day it came. We decided that unless we felt an absolute "yes" feeling, like we felt with Egan, we would simply say no should they call us. Besides, its not like you get a call right away anyway. People typically wait months and months for their first placement. We weren't worried. I was still pregnant and we were thrilled with the very thought of that.
On July 19 I got a phone call from a placement worker from CPS. A newborn was in need of an foster/adoptive home. We were chosen because of our background in helping babies going through withdrawal and we are willing to adopt. Shocked, (I'm in the parking lot of winco with a friend) I tell the lady I need to call my husband. Hands shaking, butterflies racing, I call Aaron. I tell him the little details I knew, a baby boy needed our help. His response immediately was "Yes!" I was feeling the same thing. It was crazy. What were we thinking?! I called her back once I got my bearings. Yes we told her. She gave me some basic information and told me to expect a call.
It was crazy gathering the information and the things we needed, but somehow it worked. We visited sweet baby at the NICU on a the following Thursday and picked him up on a Monday. He has been in our home, blessing our lives for about 3 weeks now and we are loving every minute of it. I won't be discussing details or posting any pictures on the internet for obvious reasons, but we welcome comments, prayers and support from family and friends. This hasn't been an easy task, but has so been worth it. We were planning on twins and are currently enjoying the idea of Two!
I will continue to update when possible. Hugs to all!

Rose Famaily Reunion!

The first week in July I took the kids and my pregnant self camping to the Rose Family Reunion. Well, it depends on your definition of camping... we had cabins with bunks and electricity. Full bathrooms and a huge hall with kitchen. Not to mention a fully fenced pool! It had been years since i had gone and seen all the wonderful people on the Rose side. It was a Blast. I was tired and sicky, but well worth the fun and laughter.

Egan and Evelyn spent hours and hours in the pool.

They had a raft race. Each kid, with mommy's help built a raft out of twigs and rope and raced them in the river. Evelyn's took second in her age group. :)

There were so many other activities to name. We had so much fun the kids didn't want to leave. Gotta love the Roses :)

Egan Turns 7!

On July 24th Egan Celebrated his 7th birthday! It's hard to believe that our little boy is 7 years old! I remember when he could fit into build-a-bear clothes :)

Egan enjoys playing hard and loud. His favorite time of the day is playing a video game (Zelda) with his daddy when he gets home from work. He is looking forward to 2nd grade and I'm sure will be top of his class like he was last school year.
This year is the off year where we just have a simple family party. Egan wanted to have Zelda cupcakes and decorated the house himself with green streamers and balloons. He also celebrated by having an extended stay at grandma's house with a favorite cousin Elias. 
Egan is such a good big brother, always a playmate, and a help to Evelyn. I'm so happy he is our "Little Red Fire" (Egan Ray). Love you sweet EggNog :)

Family Growth

For those that may follow this blog, and I haven't sent another invite to, we'd like to invite those who'd like to know about our family's biggest news. News so big, it needed it's own blog. Check our our Miracle in the Making.

Evelyn's Birthday!

Evelyn Turned 6!
This year is the year of small family birthdays, so we just planned a lunch with cupcakes and presents. Evelyn was thrilled to get her pink sparkly shoes with her princess celestia my little pony.
Evelyn has grown so much this year. Not only in height but with her efforts at school and in her communication skills. She is my little artist. She is far and above her age level in skill and color technique. She colors with precision and draws with awesome detail. Her tender heart keeps us all mellow. She is so silly and giggly. Most mornings we wake up to her laughter. We love our little Evelyn Jean (precious gift) and can't imagine our family without her.

Easter!

I can't believe I haven't posted in a few months! Well, its that time of year where you take pictures and get all cute, so here we go. This Easter was good. Here are a few pictures of the kids in their Sunday clothes. I made Evelyn's dress, she went with me to the store and picked out the material herself. You can't tell from the picture, but the material is covered in glitter. The bow ties on her dress and what Egan is wearing is actually a creation of mine as well. It's another pattern I sell here. Evelyn is just so beautiful I can't go wrong. :) Egan is getting so big, his Sunday pants are now to short....

Here are pics of the Easter baskets. This year like every year the Easter bunny left a clue that starts them on a hunt for their baskets, each clue leads to another to another.. etc until they find it. It's so much fun, so fun in fact that the kids got up at 5 am to try and find their baskets while Aaron and I were still sleeping.... Luckily for us, the Easter bunny knows to ultimately hide the baskets in our room. :)

Egan got a tool set with a kit to make a wooden school bus. Evelyn got a big princess coloring book with a care bears movie and some hair things. Of course they both got a ton of candy!

Here is a quick picture I took of us before church while Aaron practiced on the piano for the musical number he did in sacrament meeting. He did an amazing job!

We finished off the day with a wonderful dinner at my Dad's. I'm so grateful for my Savior and His sacrifice for me so that I might live again with him. Gotta Love Holidays

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Aaron and I were married 10 years ago February 13th.

It's been an amazing 10 years...

We decided to be a little more frugal this year so, 

I got a beautiful bouquet of roses and daisies (my favorite kind) and a love note from Aaron. Which is exactly what I asked for! lol

I made these really cute gumball machine candy holders from terracotta pots and fish bowls from the dollar store! And put some kisses in them.  We also got ourselves a new bedding set for our bed. (Hadn't gotten a set since our wedding!)

My gift to Aaron was putting together this movie/pictures of the last 10 years. 

We were so much in love and so young 10 years ago... I am so very blessed this to say our love is even stronger than it was then. We've been through a lot and it's made us better, sillier, bigger, and more devoted. I Love you Aaron. You are my Everything forever. :)