Boys will be Boys

Though there is a mass obsession here lately with all things pink, I was unloading the camera today and realized just how very entertaining life with little boys really is. So for those who complain that I never post enough pictures, here is a very quick glimpse into a few of my favorite moments over the past couple of weeks. I should have just photojournaled yesterday. You know you have young children-and where they are-when you can follow a trail of the empty bookshelf (all the books on the floor), to the two dumped bag of goldfish, to the next room and the floor covered in cheerios, to the pile of cars and trains, to the dirt that is being tracked in and out the back door. Life was supposed to be practically dull with "only" the three little boys home each day as the older kids were at school this year. hardly.



I asked Dallin what he was doing....his reply was "laying here in my helmet mom!" Well, duh. Silly me.


The crashing into the walls as they came down the hallway to find me was explained when I saw them. They were using their "pirate eyes". Very helpful.




They were a little more practical on the costuming later.
(note that no pirate is complete without a cell phone tucked in his pocket)


Hey, at least they know who Johnny Appleseed is...even if all they remember is that he wore a pot on his head.


And just for Aaron-I love you!!! This is Lincoln's new obsession:

The Quaker Countdown

Everyone knows how pregnant women are with their food. To sum it up around here, Aaron usually tells guests to keep their arms and legs away from my mouth and they should be able to go home unscathed.

I have always loved the Quaker 100% Natural granola, yes, even despite the fat content. But it's one of those things that is an occasional splurge, since it usually costs about $5 a box. I'm a cheapskate, you all know that. Like I'm going to pay $5 for a box of cereal! Unless it's Lucky Charms for an anniversary, but that's a different story. ; ) So when I found my beloved yellow Quaker boxes on sale for half price back in April, I splurged. Yes, $2.50 for a box of cereal is a splurge! I bought 12 of them. And then promptly hid them down in the deep recesses of the storage room where the kids couldn't find them. The point: My plan was to eat no more than a box a week and use them as my countdown to baby. I know, I'm retarded. Sorry. But hey, you people are the ones who want to read about my life! ha! Anyway, at the time I had a little less than 15 wks left of pregnancy. I bought 12 boxes, with the hopes that I could plan on 2 wks early again. And I figured that if I hit 39 wks pregnant and need a $5 box of cereal, so be it. Really-who's going to deny a 9 months pregnant woman her food of choice, especially when it's 100 degrees outside? Not anyone who doesn't have a death wish.

So as I poured the last bowl from my current box this morning and went to replace it with the next box, I realized that I have 9 boxes left, and just NINE weeks left until my official due date. NINE weeks! Which means it would not be ridiculously unheard of for us to have another little child quietly sleeping in the next room in seven weeks! Holy Cow! That seems soon! Time flies when you're having a baby....

Although the timing is getting trickier...now Aaron has weddings on both the 18th and 19th of July. I'm hoping at this point that the rest of our friends and family do not plan any other events for which they would like my husband to be the photographer in the last half of July. So let's hope this kid picks a cool due date that does not clash with weddings. Although the 11th is a little early, I still think 7-11 would be a cool birthday.

Sharing the belly obsession at 31wks...moving right along....

The princess's first gown

I finished our new little girl's blessing gown last week-finally! I feel so behind on projects, and like I'm trying to play catch-up from nursing most of the kids through the stomach flu last week. (fun)

Technically I still have to put buttons on the back before it is completely finished, but it's close enough to share!

Oh dear, what's come over me???

Ok, it's probably just the pregnancy hormones. Or I'm just finally revealing more of my true irritability! (let's hope it's the pregnancy!)

While I am an avid "letter to the editor" reader, I usually just roll my eyes to myself, or in extreme cases, take my venting to my husband. He got used to it years ago I promise. Recently someone wrote a letter spouting off on the appropriate age to marry. I have no idea what their motivation was. Why someone randomly decided to tell the world that 18 to 20 years old is much too young to marry, and risk having it print (in utah, hello?) is beyond me. Maybe they were trying to express their opinion to a friend or family member and didn't have the guts to do it directly. Who knows. But really-what is the point? And what does it have to do with anything relevant to rest of the world?

You all know I married young. Some still contend that it was too young. Some still think that I was pushed into marriage and have been pushed into having all these ("too many") children. Riiiiiight. Because I'm such the type to just roll over and not have an opinion of my own, right? HAHAHAHAHA! Obviously these people do not know me as well as they think they do! Sadly, many of those who kept telling me how wrong I was when I was getting married are now themselves divorced, some two or three times! Already. Ouch. Some my dear husband and I have watched "wait until the perfect person/job/time/financial situation rolls around"....and now may have missed their chance completely and hate the fact that they are alone and wish nothing more than that they could be married and have a family. I'm not saying it's ever too late-Aaron has an uncle getting married next month for the first time at 50 something! And I hope it works out well for him!

So what's my point? Well, my point is I was finally bugged enough to actually write a letter. Odds are it won't get published, which I certainly wouldn't complain about-especially since if they do publish it they'll probably chop it up. But since this is my forum with my thoughts, I'm subjecting you to it in full. (unless you just skip it! lol)

"I can’t help but wonder why it is any of anyone’s business at which age I chose to marry. It seems to me a bit like those who jump down my throat when I’m out in public because I have six children, and *gasp* am expecting a seventh! “How dare you?” they cry. “Two or three is plenty, I’d never want THAT many!” Well, then I’m glad you stopped at two or three! And oddly, I’ve never-nor would I dare to ever tell you that you were wrong for doing so, because it is your choice. What is right for one person is not right for everyone. Oddly enough, many of those that hounded me 12 years ago about being too young to even consider marriage and waited themselves until years later are now divorced (some more than once) while my husband and I are still as happy as can be. Unfortunately many of those who do wait until they are into their 30’s to marry have often “found” too much of themselves to be willing to adapt to the changes that marriage brings. The key is to be willing to put the work and commitment into marriage that it requires, whenever in your life it may come. There are people I know who at just eighteen years of age are much more mature than others that I know who are thirty. There is no “magic age” at which it is correct for everyone to get married, but I’m glad I found my magic when I did. I’m happy to have started “too young”, happy that I’m having my children “too young”, and greatly reducing my odds of the many risks that accompany pregnancy as you get older. Not to mention that when I’m in my 50’s, my kids will all be grown and on their own, and my husband and I have time to go “find ourselves” again while we grow old together, while many of our friends will still be home trying to manage life with kids while old enough to be offered the senior discount!"

Woo-hoo! Check it out ---->

Look at that! Now all you lucky people can join me in my neurotic daily countdown! : )

Just 67 days (technically) left as of today when I stuck it up there-that seems so soon! Of course I'm still rooting for a couple of weeks early-but to be honest I'm thinking this one will stick around in here a little longer than her brothers traditionally do....I'm guessing I go to at least 39wks this time around. Especially since I'm planning to avoid an eviction this time. Though when the end of July rolls around, we'll check my mental state and see if I've changed my mind on that....

As long as it's not July 19th-I'd feel really bad to ruin someone's wedding photos by needing their photographer that day!

Not on the Test

Thursday, Friday + Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and kind of Friday = Freedom!!

Six days left of school, if you count the last day that is like two hours long. Yay! :)

And in honor of school being nearly out, a song for you:

www.notonthetest.com

(and to my family members and friends who are teachers-you know I love you. And sadly I think most of you will appreciate the song even more. Thanks for what you do-I couldn't do your job everyday!)

New post, new layout

Just for you two who apparently couldn't deal with the wait any longer!

And there, a short post for you too.

The BIG project week

Turned out to be not such the big project week.

I had big plans to keep me busy while Aaron was gone for the entire week. The original plan was to have the doors and trim installed downstairs at the beginning of the week so that I could put the bedroom for Jacob and Lincoln together and move them downstairs. Then once they were down I could get to work putting the nursery together. (and yes, I realize I have a good two months to go still!) Along with a few other various tasks. I know, big thinking, but typically I am freakishly productive while Aaron is gone b/c I am trying to keep myself busy and pass the time until he returns. Not to mention I don't sleep well when he's not here so I end up with even more time on my hands as bedtime gets pushed back later.

Well, the guy doing the trim is much busier than last time we called him, and we are looking at another two weeks before he can get here. *sigh* Last time we called him it would have been like 3 days. Oh well. Thus the things downstairs didn't get done, thus the boys didn't move downstairs, thus I haven't started on the nursery yet. Still. And yes, in some ways it is making me crazy!

But the good news is that I did get a few things done. Being the glutton for punishment that I am I offered to help with "cutting or sewing" vests for Taylor's class dance festival. Well, the requested help with the above turned into 'here's the fabric and a pattern someone made up, hopefully it will work!' Thankfully his teacher is a smart woman and picked fabric that didn't need to be edged and hemmed which made for a significantly easier job. So, 15 vests for second graders: check. Then my cute friend Lisa sent me a link a few weeks ago with a cute idea. The result:



(of course she dripped her drink on the pants right before I took the pictures)
Not too shabby! Sorry, no shirt in the close up pic, she was already wearing that!

I did get some of the pearling on baby's blessing gown done-yay! It has turned out to be slightly more consuming than I originally thought, just b/c it takes a while to measure and place each one. But the good news is that it should only take about 5 more hours to finish! lol I so should have bought the pearled fabric years ago when I found it..... And hey, it is turning out exactly how I wanted it, so no complaints here!
And last but not least, my cute friend LISA!! I have not forgotten your quilt!! I am making a keepsake quilt out of pieces of her sweet baby girl's clothing and I can't wait to see the finished project. I have pieced about half of that together (sorry, it's taking a little longer than I thought to do that...I didn't originally figure in the difference in fabric textures....it is working, just a little slowly....). It looks great so far and hopefully that will be done within the next few days.

And *gasp*, I cleaned my bedroom out! ACK! And put up pics in the empty frames! WOW! Sorry girls, no more bald black man on my bedroom wall. ;) Just me and my bald white man now!

so stay tuned for pics of the blessing gown and the quilt when I finish those fun projects!

To my honey far away

I miss you! And yes I am counting the hours until your flight lands and I get to pick you up. I'm sorry there was an empty seat next to you on the train last night, I really would have loved to have been there with you. Thank you for thinking of my while you were there-I have to say that I would LOVE to have seen you and another guy all dressed up walking through NYC shopping for purses and then arriving at the theater together with a pink purse! :) heehee I'm glad you have had fun! I can't wait to see you!

Mixin it up

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes, I do realize that it's not until Sunday, but we have a syndrome around here. It's called the "once I've bought the gift I can't wait until the actual occasion to give it to you" syndrome. We have suffered from it since before we married. Thus things like "Happy Tuesday" were born.

Aaron asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day this year, and I told him I wanted a massage. Not from some spa, one from him. Partly so that I didn't have to get in a car and try to drive home afterward! : ) Thinking we'd both win that way (I'd get a massage, and he didn't have to spend any money), I figured it would be a good idea.

My dear husband is way too generous with me. He always has been. He does these little things (that typically aren't very little), typically when I'm not expecting it. For my birthday two years ago he brought home a catalogue and said "here. pick furniture." Well, ok then! (and thank goodness for connections that bring huge discounts!) I told him that was to cover birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, Valentines, Mother's Day, etc for a number of years. I think I need to get his hearing checked! Not only did he not listen, he has continued to go over the top. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining in the least! I just feel guilty that he always does these wonderful things for me and I don't get a chance to reciprocate. I will say that often times the things I ask for (a toilet brush and a swiffer-don't mention that to FIL who was ticked at those choices! lol), are not typical. It always takes me back to Father of the Bride. "A Blender?" I'm the kind of person who thoroughly enjoys practical things. Like a toilet brush. For my birthday last year he bought me the cadillac of vacuums (and yes-it was a gift that rocks!), and though I adore it, and use it multiple times every day, he still for some reason thinks it was a dumb gift. Um, no, it was GREAT! It IS great! I love it! It makes my life easier! I love anything that makes my life easier! Like my washer and dryer. I love them. and my husband. I love him too! ; )

Anyway, said wonderful husband was recently recognized by his company. On a local level he was presented with an award that is a huge deal. (YAY!) Then he found out this week that he was also being recognized by the corporate directors on a national company-wide level! Woo-hoo! I am very proud of all the hard work he puts into his job, and was thrilled to hear that he was being recognized. To add to the fun, each recognition came with a bonus.l Nothing huge or life changing, but hey, every little bit counts! Since there's not a lot of fun money floating around these days, I was excited that he would be able to do something for himself like get the bike he's been eyeing so he can go ride with the kids or something. Nope. He is taking a business trip soon and is taking a night to go up to NYC to see Wicked, so he said that was more than enough for him, especially since I am not going with him. I'm happy for him to get a chance to go! But being who he is, that wasn't enough....

He came home from work on Wednesday with a few wrapped packages and told me we were doing Mother's Day early. Sunday will be a crazy day (what else is new), so he wanted me to have a chance to use it now. He kept saying that it wasn't much, it was kind of a dumb thing, but it was something I had recently pointed out as something I'd like to try. (note: A good husband listens to his wife. A GREAT husband listens to his wife when she makes random comments while looking through some catalogue.) Being the freak baker that I am-and constantly craving carbs-I was happy to have some fun mixes presented to me to bake up some good stuff. Then he gave me a silicone muffin pan! Yay! (you must understand the rate at which I am baking muffins lately to appreciate that) He had heard me mention that I'd like to try the silicone baking cups instead of going through so many paper ones, but since he couldn't find the individual cups, he just got the whole thing. I love it! I didn't think it was a dumb gift at all! Then he handed me one more little box. He has a way of doing these things. Like when for Christmas a couple of years ago I opened a small piece of a nativity set that I'd wanted for years, only to find when I went to put it out that he had purchased and set up the entire set already. So- I opened the box to find cookie paddle attachments. For a mixer. A new mixer. A newly released Bosch Universal mixer with a 7qt bowl and 800watt motor. Hello! It is the mother of all mixers! After he was chastised for spending that much on me, we promptly began mixing away! : ) His explanation: I bake all the time, and he felt like instead of always doing breads and such by hand, and doing everything else with my broken hand mixer where sometimes the beaters just randomly fall off, he wanted me to have a way to do it more easily.

So, two days, two dozen muffins, many dozen cookies, and multiple loaves of bread and banana bread later-my house smells wonderful! Thanks babe, for spoiling me, indulging me, and not thinking I'm crazy for using baking as my therapy. Thanks most of all for giving me the gift and privilege of being on the receiving end of Mother's day. I love you!

The oven calls.

Wow

Just, wow. I hope one day someone is very embarrassed. And I thought weddings were getting out of control. Speaking of-I'd love to see hers when that rolls around.

Don't ask how I stumbled upon this, it's a long story that begins with the thought of avoiding a hospital gown at delivery. I know, no relevance whatsoever. Just, that's how it started. You know how one search leads to another.....and, well, I hit this link. Having no tv, and missing out (thankfully) on the majority of the junk out there, my innocent little mind was just blown away.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1551789&vid=132121

Oh, and speaking of being blown away....why? WHY?

http://www.denimology.co.uk/2007/05/japanese_ultralow_rise_bikin_j.php

Gonna get me a pair of these babies for when I'm not sporting the belly anymore. (GAG) I hope anyone who has already sported these IS embarrassed!

Yikes! What a place to slack! (Happy Birthday Jacob!)

(this is an UBER long post, with tons of pics just for you Kel!)



In all of my recent insanity, I neglected to do one of the things that I promised I wouldn't miss doing again. I missed my Jacob's birthday post! You know it's bad when my husband is pointing out "hey-you never posted for Jacob!" Whoops.
So, though I'm now one month late,

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY JACOB!

Jacob is my very headstrong little wild child. I do realize that more than just one of my children could be officially classified as "wild child", but he is usually the title bearer. I have often said that Jacob is the one who will test me and try me (and maybe push me over the edge), and I love him dearly for it! I am a much better person, and a much better mother for every minute I spend learning from him.
(as with my other kidlets, the birth story follows. If you're the squeamish type, or just don't like reading about birth in general, skip it! And as the other birth stories, it's long!)
Jacob was the first of our planned children. Now there's a surprise! ;) Just a few months after moving into our first actual house, we found out that Jacob was on the way. We had a cute little family that was growing again, a bit more space to spread out, and he was due in April-the perfect time to have a baby. Life was good! After three pregnancies in close succession, I figured I had it down. I knew the drill, I knew how my body worked, I knew what to expect. If I had only known how wrong I was! The pregnancy should have prepared me for what lay in store....in hindsight it was a warning as to the little one that would next join our family! lol It seems that his pregnancy was payback for every pregnancy symptom and whiny pregnant lady that I had ever made fun of. Braxton Hicks contractions for more than half of the pregnancy? I figured you were just paying too much attention to every twinge. I learned how irritating the reality of that could be. Dizzy spells? Get over it...until I was constantly plopping down to avoid falling over. Sciatic nerve issues? Buck up, it can't be that bad....OH, how wrong I was! I knew that Jacob was not the last child who would be coming to our family, but by the last months of my pregnancy with him, when people would ask (as they always do), "so, are you going to have more?" or "how many more are you going to have?", the answer was always "well, we know there is at least one more after this, but we'll have to see how the next pregnancy goes." Had all my pregnancies been like my 4th, I definitely wouldn't look forward to pregnancy as much! :)
We chose Jacob's name shortly after finding out that he was a boy. After days of making lists, and deliberately leaving the name Jacob off the list due to it's popularity and despite the constant nagging to add it, I finally added it to the list. As soon as it was written down I knew that this needed to be his name. Why? I really couldn't say. When I approached Aaron with "I think this baby's name needs to be Jacob", there was no arguement from him. (and we found out a couple of months later-before Jacob's arrival-that other family members had felt very specifically that his name needed to be Jacob as well....I guess one day we'll find out why!)

Obviously I made it through the pregnancy and survived, and believe it or not was feeling much better by the very end. By the time 37+ weeks rolled around, I was more than ready for Jacob to join us. I remember running up and down the stairs at our home every time I would get contractions that would come more than 2 or 3 at a time and last longer than just a few seconds. I was more than happy to help things along! Having had Taylor 2wks early, and Alaina 10 days early, the thought of going much past that was killer! I actually spent an afternoon calling reflexologists and massage therapists to try to find someone who would perform reflexology for me. Most of them seemed terrified at even the thought of reflexology on a pregnant woman, and one woman went so far as to tell me that unless my ankles were "soft", that my body was in no way ready to deliver my baby, and that she refused on a matter of principle to even lay a finger on me. O.K. I did finally find one massage therapist who seemed more than happy to give it a shot, although before even booking the appointment she made sure that I knew that reflexology had never done anything for anyone she knew as far as starting labor. Once people were in labor she had done hospital massage sessions to encourage labor, but she'd never been successful in helping start it. I figured, what's it going to hurt? I get a 30 min massage, and a 30 min intense foot massage. I was only 50% effaced, and not dilated at all, so I figured worst case, labor doesn't start and I feel great and relaxed! there was nothing to lose!

I gladly booked my appointment with her for Sat April 5th, at noon. 2 weeks and 1 day before my due date. That first weekend in April was (as always) General Conference Weekend. We did our traditional big breakfast, and spent the morning listening to Conference. I left shortly before morning session ended so that I could make my 12:00 appointment. I remember that the massage therapist's name was Amber, and to be honest, I wish I could track her down now! She was wonderful, one of the best massages I've ever had. (Except from my husband, who is truly the best. no, I'm not offering his services. You can borrow the table, but not the husband. And Hanks, you can't borrow the speedo either.) After a full body massage, she went to work on my feet. It felt amazing. Totally worth every penny. Nothing exciting happened in the office, and I'm sure as I walked out the door she figured I was in for another week or two of pregnancy. Much to my delight, shortly after getting in the car I got a nice steady contraction. And a few minutes later, another! Woo-hoo! Hope after all!

I went home just in time to put the kids down for naps, kick my feet up and catch afternoon session. I didn't mention anything to Aaron for a little while, but by 4pm when contractions were still coming fairly regularly I was starting to get a little excited! They were nothing intense so I realized that they could still just go away and mean nothing, but kept my fingers crossed. Being the dutiful husband, he wondered when we needed to get into Labor and Delivery. I let him know that if I was still contracting regularly that evening (after his 6pm meeting), that we'd head in. I called my mom to give her a head's up and let her know that we might be needing her services that evening.

Not to be deterred, I spent the 2hrs that Aaron was gone walking on the treadmill and crawling around on my hands and knees. The kids thought this was a wonderful game! :) I just wanted to make sure that the contractions kept coming. When Aaron arrived home they were still happening with regularity, so we called the folks and headed on in to the hospital. Our insurance was in the midst of a change, so we actually had the choice between the two hospitals where I had previously delivered. We had chosen to use the one where the girls were born b/c the one where Taylor was delivered has a very strict "no inductions before 39wks" rule. I knew that if we went to our hospital of choice where no such rule existed, they'd be much more apt to keep me there! We got all checked in, I put on the lovely hospital gown and got the fateful check. 3cms! I knew that if I hit 3, my dr would let me stay, so this thrilled me! The not so thrilling news that followed came from my dr. He was on call for the weekend at the other hospital, so if I stayed put, he would not be able to leave where he was to deliver my Jacob. Bummer. He told me it was up to me, but if I switched over to the other hospital he'd make sure I stayed and had my baby. Ok-I'll take it!

After unhooking everything, getting dressed again, and checking out-much to the disappointment of the nurses who were bored silly since the floor was empty-we headed over to the other hospital. Thank goodness for my dr! He checked me right in, told me I was not going anywhere, and started up my good old iv of antibiotics for my fun group b strep. His exact words were, "you're not going anywhere! After your last labor, you'll probably pop this baby out on your way home if I let you leave." Ironically, as soon as he stepped out of the room, the nurse launched into us. She started telling Aaron and I horror stories about our baby coming too soon. Even after telling her that I had delivered 2wks early before and had no fear in doing so again, she crammed the hospital's 39wk policy down our throats and proceeded to tell us about all of the respiratory problems that her baby had, even at a week overdue, and essentially scolded us for condemning out baby to certain breathing problems if we stayed there in the hospital with plans to deliver that next day. Hmmmm.... I tried to just brush it off, but Aaron was beyond ticked. My dr came back in the room shortly after that (the nurse had left), and his first question was to Aaron, "What's wrong?" After telling him what had just transpired, he rolled his eyes and tried to contain himself as he vented about L&D nurses thinking they know everything despite the fact that they are not the care providers and that maybe they should think before they speak. He then left the room. A few minutes later when he returned he told us that that particular nurse would NOT be returning to my room and that she was not to be involved in my care whatsoever. He had reviewed the current staff list and the list of who would be in the next day and hand picked who he wanted working with me. It pays to have a wonderful dr!

Thankfully his picks on the nurses were wonderful, as I'd end up needing it. I got a few minutes of sleep that night (emphasis on FEW), as I waited for the feeling that things were picking up. Unfortunately, that feeling wasn't coming. We feared that labor would go quickly like the last one (about 3 1/2hrs) and wouldn't give us time for two full rounds of antibiotics before baby's arrival, and we were all surprised to find that at 8:00 the next morning I was still laying there, with both rounds of ab's done, still very much pregnant. *sigh* Time for good ol' pitocin. After a few hours on the lovely pit drip, I finally started feeling like things were going to start moving along. But much to my dismay, they weren't intensifying the way that they should. I asked to be checked b/c something just seemed off. Sure enough, I was stuck at 6cm, and baby was sitting posterior. Fun. Well, at least I knew why my back was hurting more than anything else. Thinking that just some walking and some hanging out on my hands and knees ought to solve things, I got as active as I could.

The hours drug on and I was getting tired. My wonderful dr had spent a good many hours of the morning just hanging out with us there in our room. He even did some hall walking with us. By noon I was really starting to hurt, but knew from lack of pressure that the baby still wasn't sitting right. Back to the halls we went. We walked laps a few more times, having to stop when the contractions hit so I could lean on the wall while Aaron smashed his fists into my back with as much force as he could muster. So much for gentle counter pressure! Sadly, even with his full body weight leaning into me I was asking him to press harder into my back! lol At that point my dr joined us in the halls again. There were two or three other women in L&D that afternoon, and we had walked past two epidural carts just sitting outside their doors waiting to be administered. After 2 pain-med free births, I envied an epidural for the first time. My dr noticed the longing in my eyes as my head turned to the carts and I muttered, "I don't know if I can do this much longer." I still love his answer of "Well, sure you CAN, you just have to decide if you want to." He encouraged me to head back to my room and we'd check to see how much progress had been made. I was finally at 9cms, baby was still sitting posterior. Without the correct positioning, I didn't have the downward pressure I needed to help me dilate. For those not familiar with posterior babies, the baby's head kept ramming into my tailbone instead of into my cervix. Fun times! (you can see bruising on his face from his nose to his chin in his first pictures b/c of how he was sitting at that point) My dr said, "well, we're close....but you don't want an episiotomy, do you?" Heck no! He offered me another option, that didn't sound very appealing, and at the same time sounded great. But let's face it, at that point, any chance of finishing things up was sounding great! He said that he could do a manual rotation. Ok. I know that I understood what he offered, but just how much it registered, or the process registered....I guess that was a bit more sketchy. It didn't really click in until he said "ok then. Well, this is going to get uncomfortable for a bit, so, well, just hang on, this is really going to hurt." It did. Yes, it did. But absolutely worth it! As soon as baby was turned, his head slipped right into where it needed to be and within minutes, he was in my arms! Finally! Ironically, it was almost exactly 24hrs after I had had my first contraction after my reflexology appointment that Jacob joined us here. He made his appearance at 1:19pm on Sunday April 6th. He weighed in at 6lbs 8oz, and measured 19 1/2 inches long. We joke that he came out screaming, and hasn't stopped since. :)
He had pretty severe jaundice for a bit, that required being on a full light bed (top and bottom) for 6 days, which was very hard for me. Thankfully his levels decreased after two days on the lights, he had been borderline for a transfusion because he was so high. I was not used to not being able to love on my new baby all day. But we made it through that first week and the difficult weeks ahead with a very fussy and very high maintenance baby. I still contend that not being held much that first week contributed to that!

Jacob has made the past 5 years extra exciting, and always keeps us guessing. I can't believe we will be sending him off to Kindergarten in the fall.... It is so fun to see him learn and grow, it has been especially fun to watch him learn to read. This boy is ready to take on the world-as can be seen by the constant taking off on his bike. Yikes. A bike at 5yrs old made him think he can just leave the house on his own whenever he wants (we're finally getting the point through a month later), I am terrified to see what a license at 16 will do for his thirst for adventure!

Egg on my face

OK-not really on my face, or much on me at all, but egg anywhere....what a mess.

Today was the lovely giant monthly shopping trip. The last few months we've done it as a family, that way Aaron and I can divide and conquer. And that way we can easily do two carts instead of me trying to pack things into just one. Well, I needed to just get it done, so we headed out this morning for an early start (relatively) to just do it! My intention of getting out the door by 9:30 didn't quite come to fruition (surprise). I realized that I had not been through my coupons for quite some time, so I had to spend a good 20min going through to find what I actually needed, and what was expired. Got that done, got the three little boys completely ready, and we were headed out to the car when Malia called. She forgot her library books that were due today. Back in the house, and searching downstairs for the books. I finally found the books, re-wrangled the boys back toward the car, trying to find the shoes that had been abandoned in the minutes I spent looking for the books. I would love to have just left everyone strapped in the car while I ran the books into the school office, but, you know, I try to be a safe mommy! So, three little boys in a busy school office with just one person working and the phone ringing off the hook. Cute Susan finally got to us and I realized I need copies of immunization records for the kids and thought I'd just do that while I was there. Three little boys do not enjoy sitting still in the office for that long! While my back was turned, Dallin took off, then Jacob yells "Mom! Dallin's gone! I'll go get him!" And he ran off. Thankfully I could see that Dallin was just outside the window, unfortunately Jacob missed that and took off down the hallway of the school. So I grabbed the copies, ran after Dallin outside, then proceeded to run back into the school to find Jacob. Thankfully he hadn't gone too far!

Let me tell you how appealing Costco and Walmart were looking by now....

Costco actually went well. Very uneventful, likely due to the fact that I promised the boys a drink on the way out if they behaved. And the fact that Dallin was strapped up into the cart with Lincoln. I love their big carts. Walmart needs some like that....

Speaking of Walmart, it's always crowded. Always. Oh well, it's the norm. The boys did OK, but by this time it was now approaching lunch time and nap time, and, well, you know how that goes with a bunch of little kids. I let them help me pick my gum-all they while they thought they were getting it for themselves, which no I did not clarify at that point are you crazy? That was distracting enough that we made it all the way to the check out. So far so good, just get through the line. As we were waiting in line to load all of our groceries onto the little conveyor belt, Lincoln turned far enough around to get a hold of the carton of eggs. And get it opened. And get one out. Silly me, trying to reign my two older ones in for just a few more minutes, I didn't see Lincoln with the egg. And the second I turned back to him (safely strapped in the cart-what could happen?), the egg exploded. In his fist. And all over his sleeve, his pants, the cart, and the floor. It is amazing how much mess one egg makes.

I have always detested the hundreds of things stacked along the checkout that kids tend to pull off the shelves. I have never been more grateful for their location! Thankfully they had a little package of wipes there! Yes, I opened it before I paid for it (which I still feel slightly guilty for), but I wasn't going to wait another 10 minutes to clean up! Lesson learned-do not leave the diaper bag in the car. You might need the wipes. Half the package later, Lincoln was relatively clean, the egg was off most of the cart seat, the package of bread, and the floor. I missed the bag of marshmallows (as I learned when I got a very sticky hand as I put them up on the belt), but whatever. Close enough. And what cashier doesn't want to be greeted with "hi...do you have a garbage can back there?" As you hand them a wad full of wipes filled with egg mess?

So-take it from me. Even if you put the eggs out of reach, they aren't out of reach. And it only took THIRTY-FIVE minutes to get through the check out once they started scanning my groceries. No, I didn't buy that much. But apparently when a box of Cream of Wheat doesn't scan correctly, and you call for a manager FIVE times, no one cares. And they just sit there and wait. Instead of just letting me walk back and check the price. Whatever. Ironically an identical box that another cashier finally went and picked up scanned fine. She took my three boxes that didn't work, and they scanned and gave me one instead. One is plenty thank you. I'll get two more next time.

Yikes. No wonder people hate Walmart!

And yes, I'll still shop there. Just preferably without the kids next time. Anyone else in the neighborhood want to start taking midnight shopping trips?

The best news of the day: At least Lincoln's didn't grace me with the diaper explosion while at WalMart. He waited until we were home and he was safely in his crib on the bedding that was just washed and had just been put back on! Thanks bud! ;)

Seven at 27

Here you have it folks! I've spared you for two full months with no picture of ye olde belly, but here we go again! Sorry, but I love my belly! The mass increase in my backside I could live without, but since it comes standard for me when I'm getting the belly, it's worth the trade.



So here I am, officially entering my third trimester today! 13 weeks from today I will hit my magical due date, although I'm hoping (as always) that this baby follows suit and makes her arrival two weeks (or so) early like the others. That gives me just 11 more weeks! That seems so soon, and yet as every woman who has ever been pregnant understands, so very far away. But hey, either way in about three months there will be some much cuter pictures of this little baby! : )

I won!

Yay! I'm so excited! I've started cruising the great baby store blogs (who knew they had them?) and have found some very fun products out there! There is a great store called Babinski's Baby up in Foothill Village that has some wonderful finds. My sister filled me in on the fact that they had a blog when she entered to win some Robeez. I posted, but didn't win that one. But she did! And she gave them to me! What a great sister. : )

This time around, I did win! Ok, I'll admit that I mentioned that I was expecting my seventh baby. But hey-it worked! I am so excited too, because it is a product that I have adored since I was expecting Lincoln 2 yrs ago. Check it out: The Twilight Turtle.



Isn't it the cutest thing ever? It will be the second thing that I have for baby's nursery (no, she still doesn't have a name), and ironically, the first thing is also a turtle! lol We have a tradition of picking up something for the baby on the way when we happen to be in Disneyland and I'm expecting. And let's face it, that has happened enough times to make it a tradition! : ) Since we didn't know at the time of the trip if this baby was a he or a she, I went with one of my favorites that could go either way. We are not big stuffed animal people, but some things are just too cute to pass up. Thus we ended up with Squirt, the little turtle from Finding Nemo. So, we have a turtle, and a turtle, and hopefully in the next two weeks we'll have a room in which our turtles can reside!

While you're out cruising blogs today, check out Babinskis; www.babinskis.blogspot.com. A wonderful store, well worth a look!