This week, we had our first Hershey track meet for the year. So, we took the opportunity to go to the track as a family and practice! Some of us didn't practice as much as the others. :) Still, it was great fun. Cali and Cheyenne have the unending endurance of youth and kept going around and around. Beth would have, too, if her little legs didn't take her so very long to get all the way around the track once. She did keep at it, though! Dad ran the older girls -- especially Mariah, as it was her track meet that was the next day . . .

And, oh my goodness, look at that!! The little tyke WON!!! That's her up on the winner's block. She took first place for the whole city of Springville in the 400 meter (that's once around BTW). She is a speedster!

Then, as if that weren't enough, she took third place in the 200 meter! Kevin lamented all day that they hadn't held finals for the 200, because he is confident she would have beat the first and second place girls if they had been in the same heat. Be that as it may, she is still a very fast girl with a lot of endurance! She gets to go on to a regional meet in the 400 this summer. We think it is very exciting! Go Mariah!

Kevin got to take some paternity leave this week, and he mostly spent his time going to track meets. :) You gotta love the spring! He definitely loves to coach his children and see them do well! In addition to Mariah's track meet, Savannah had two junior high track meets this week. She's been running the mile and the last leg of the medley and been doing really well!

On Wednesday night, Sarah got to participate in Springville's 6th grade orchestra Monster Concert. All of the 6th grade orchestra students from all of Springville's elementary schools (144 kids!) came together to play their songs. Sarah had a great time and the orchestra sounded great. Here is a picture of just the cello section. Sarah is three rows back, one chair in. Do you see her?

There. Can you see her now? They let the parents come on stage at the end for close-ups. Nice, huh? She is one cool girl!

This week, the girls also had their first softball practices. Sarah is playing again this year and she and Megan are on the same team. Kevin is assistant-coaching Mariah's team. Savannah will be umpiring again. Let the softball obsession begin!

Between doing yard work and getting the garden ready for the summer, Kevin had time Saturday to see his dad for a quick visit, too! He was in SLC and came down to see his new grandson! It is always fun to see Grandpa! We're glad he could stop by!

Benjamin is doing well. He is such a good baby -- besides the day when I took him to the doctor and let them torture him and I felt guilty all day long! He is back to his sweet self, though, and we even brought him to church today. I even put him in a little collared shirt that was still too big for him. He still looks pretty snazzy, though, I'd say! What a good looking little guy! We are all so in love with him!

We had Grandma with us this week!

It was the greatest! She took such great care of me and Benjamin and was Bethany's very best friend and helped with all the other girls, as well. I loved having her here. Her loving presence is such a blessing in my life and just knowing she is there has always been such a support to me. Of course, having her in the same house . . . well, that is the best of all!

We are all doing well (probably due to Grandma being here!). Benjamin was fussy his first few nights and needed to be held all night. He was fine as long as he could snuggle with me in bed. So, I did get sleep, it was just a bit uncomfortable and involved waking up often. After the first few nights, though, he accepted the basinet as his sleeping accomodation and just woke up to nurse. He's doing great now. He is a super baby so far, only crying when he is hungry and sleeping a whole lot!

Bethany is adjusting well, I think. It is hard to tell because she did have Grandma to monopolize while she was here -- and monopolize she did! She even slept in the same room as Grandma and woke up every night between about 2 and 4 a.m. to chat with her -- for the full two hours! Grandma did not appreciate that so much, but it is hard to get a 21-month-old to understand her social faux pas. Bethany is learning a whole lot of new words and she loves to talk. What she doesn't know, she fills in with gibberish. We only understand about half of what she says, but it sure isn't slowing her down! She likes "baby" and thinks Ben is an adorable, moving doll. She only gets mad when we won't let her play with him how she likes. She's starting to understand, though, whenever she approaches him, the first thing she says is, "Soft!" I guess we've already told her that a time or two.

The other girls are enjoying Ben, too. They really like holding him, but I have not talked anyone into changing a diaper, yet. Savannah says over and over again, "I have a little brother!" It is an amazing thing.

Savannah had her first track meet this year on Friday. She ran the mile in 6:53. Pretty good, huh? She also ran the 800 meter leg of the medley. I didn't go, but Kevin hung out with her and reported that she did a fantastic job.

My mom left on Saturday *sob!* so I suppose now I've got to get back to regular life. Bummer. Back to doing my own laundry and grocery shopping and dishes. Wish me luck!

Actually, we started off the week with bowling. It was spring break! This is a picture of Cheyenne showing how strong she is Monday afternoon at the BYU bowling alley. Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came, too. I didn't bowl, I just took a bunch of bad pictures, but we all had loads of fun! I loved watching everyone bowl. Check out the video of Calianne. She really got into the running part! Afterwards, we went to Brick Oven (our new favorite restaurant, as you know) for pizza! Yum! What fun!





On Tuesday, the girls played with friends here in the neighborhood. On Wednesday, I had an appointment with my midwife so all seven of the girls came, too, and heard the heartbeat and watched my belly move. Then we went to some stores up in Orem that the girls wanted to visit: JoAnn's, Toys R Us, and DI. That night I had Savannah make dinner because I was having contractions and needed to sit down! She made tacos and did a great job!

On Thursday, I took Beth to Grandma's and the rest of the girls and I went to see the morning showing of How to Train Your Dragon in 3D! It was a lot of fun to see all the girls lined up with their 3D glasses on! Afterward, we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. We were just finishing up and I was turning Cheyenne's happy meal box into a Viking hat for her to wear . . . when my water broke. Uh oh. Sarah and Savannah got our table cleaned off and everyone in the car.

We made it home without a problem. Yay! But then it turned into a problem as the hours went by and no contractions came my way. I had some in the middle of the night for a few hours but when I got up Friday morning, they had stopped. Friday was a hard day as Kevin and I and Suzanne, our midwife, tried several different things to get my labor going and nothing was working! It was looking like we might have to go to the hospital and all our other plans would go to naught. Argh!

Finally, around 6:30, something worked. Then contractions came and went without ceasing and got more and more painful, which is good but also bad, bad, bad. :) We'll skip to the happy ending . . .
Isn't he cute??????? Benjamin Kevin Skinner was born at 10:04 p.m. Friday, April 9, 2010 weighing 6 lbs 9oz and measuring 20.5 inches long.

Here is father and son looking at each other for the first time just after he arrived.

And mother and son, done being tortured for the day and ready for a rest. Together forever.

Look at that! THE SKINNERS GOT A BOY!!!!!!! At last, our prince has come . . .

As promised, here is a picture of all the princesses in our family in their Easter dresses as they went to church today. I, of course, was not with them, but Grandma Elton has come and is taking pictures and telling me to lay down -- which I love. :)

And here you can see the older girls a little better. What a lot of blessings in this family!

Hiya!!! Is that a cute face or what?? Whenever Beth hears the camera beep, she turns around and says, "Cheeeeeese!"

A few friends in the ward had a baby shower for me this week. It was really fun to sit and visit and to get cute boy outfits! Everyone is so nice! Our bishop's wife even gave me a whole sack of 0-3 mos. clothes only used slightly by her grandsons. Now I have plenty of little boy stuff for at least two months! Lol! They grow so fast! Look at this fun thing I got at my shower: It is fabric "paper dolls" that have a mom and dad, seven little girls, and one little boy! It is so fun!

We colored eggs on Saturday for Easter. Good thing we have a bigger table! Beth didn't last too long. She basically just tore her egg apart. Fun times!

Savannah waxed very creative. This one has a blue top with red and white stripes and a star on top. Wow! All that with just 99 cent dye and a box of crayons!

Calianne figured she'd dye her fingers, too. Can you tell where the fingers end and the eggs begin?

All this while Dad made us all some grilled tuna (yes, of Savannah fame) for lunch! What a guy!

Most of the girls needed new summer dresses, so we used Easter to get all the girls a new dress and summer sandals (among other things they would need for summer). Kevin was a good sport shopping for dresses even though it wasn't very fun for him. I was so excited, I could hardly think of anything else all weekend!

Wonderfully, the shopping was a success and we managed to get the right size for everybody and only one girl said she'd like to look for something else. Pretty good for seven little girls! They all look SO GOOD in their new dresses. I will take a picture of all of them next week when they all have their dress and are looking good for church. This week, I did take a picture of Cali and Cheyenne, though. Their dresses came with matching dresses for their dolls! Isn't that so fun? So we did their hair like their dolls hair, too!

So, then Beth wanted her picture taken, too, even though she is holding a bear and it is not even hers. She's adorable though, so . . .

While we watched Conference, Cali and Chey got out all their stuffed animals and then found new ways to use their new butterfly nets . . .

Later on Sunday, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's and had a really nice ham dinner and hunted for eggs and played games. It was a really nice Easter. We hope you all had a nice Easter, too!