Sundays

It's funny, the Sundays you really don't want to go seem to be the most spiritually feeding. Today all the talks and lessons were exactly what I needed to hear. I'm not a "super mormon" by any stretch of the imagination, but today the spirit weighed heavily on my heart (in a good way). The icing on the cake, as it were, was in RS. The lesson was on Elder Bednar's 2006 conference talk (Nothing shall offend them). It eased my aching heart and put my life into a new perspective. I believe everyone should read this, especially after recent events following Elder Packer's talk this fall. Imagine how much easier life would be if we never got offended, the weight on our shoulders would be substantially lighter. A daunting task at best, I think I'll give it a go. Who's with me?!

good times

we spent Thanksgiving in Colorado with Erik's family. the kids had a blast! David learned how to sit up and loved playing in his dinner. We tried to get a group shot (the two on the right are mine), but it's hard to get 4 kids to sit still! David now has 1 tooth! hooray!


I love this one! silly Grace and her rolly eyes!

to do list

I've only got a short amount of time and tons of things I want/need to get done.

before thanksgiving:

sew Grace two dresses, a vest for David, sew Alex's present, get my hair permed, write 1 or 2 reports, and pack for Colorado.

before Christmas:

sew 4 pairs of pjs, 2 monkeys, 2 stockings, make or buy family presents, then clean and reorganize my sewing stuff

if I have time:

a couple of puppets, puppet clothes, and maybe a doll or two.

sounds fun, doesn't it?!

Happy Halloween!

This year I decided to recycle costumes. I found a pirate dress at a yard sale this summer and turned it into a princess. Our friends in MA should remember the dragon from last year. The costumes were a big hit, so I feel glad I decided to make them.

this was a few months ago

trying to crawl

4 months old

I can't believe how fast my boy is growing! He will be 5 months on the 21st. Whenever I tell people how old he is they say "holy cow!" "why?" you ask? At his 4 month appointment he weighed in at 15lbs (he has since grown to 17lbs) and was an amazing 27in tall!! That means, in 4-5 months he has nearly gained 10lbs and 6in. no wonder he gets fussy at times and sleeps through the night (hooray!). He is in the 97th percentile for height (no surprise) and has now exceeded Grace's size at 6 months. Amazing! I love how vocal he has become and how determined he is. Go David!
oh, and his outfit is size 12 months. He is only 8in shorter and 10lb lighter than his sister, she is 2 years old.

What you've missed

Things have been a little busy since little boy was born. Grace turning 2 and his blessing are the highlights. This is a picture of Grace 2 years ago.

Here is Grace eating a burrito on her birthday. We didn't do anything special, but she got a lot of fun things: a toy guitar, a tricycle, a toy computer and several other things from her Aunts and Uncles.

My cute babies sitting together. No he can't sit on his own yet.

My handsome David in his suit.
He's usually such a happy boy.

remembering

my family has never been very good at celebrating memorial day, so I figured I would just make a little post honoring my grandpas. I grew up with two grandpas and two grandmas. few people are so lucky. I miss them both everyday and wish my kids could be blessed by their spirits like I was. I like to think they met in heaven before my kids came here. I also hope the same is true with their grandpa Don that I never got to meet in this life.


we lost our grandpa Lee in 2009 to stomach cancer. he was 80 years old.


we lost our grandpa Mike in 2005 to alzheimer's. he was 72 years old.

No one ever had a bad thing to say about either of them. they were very special men who blessed everyone they came into contact with.

tongue tied?

I recently noticed a little notch at the end of David's tongue. should I be concerned? will this effect his speech and eating?

he's here!

David Michael weighed in at 8lbs 5oz and was 21inches long. he was 36 weeks old.

I started having contracts around 3 am thursday morning, but they stopped by 8 am. they came and went all day and night so we decided to go to the hospital late friday night. by 2 am I had dialated to a 4 so they decided to keep me there. after a few hours when I hadn't progressed they gave me pitocin. after being in the hospital a total of 8 or 9 hours they sent me home saying I wasn't progressing and he wasn't ready.

we returned to the hospital again sunday night complaining of severe back pain that I thought was contractions. still at 4, no contractions. they gave me lortab and sent me home.

tuesday I had an appointment to see my dr. everything seemed to be going well. no contractions, no back pain. so we went to get food and go home. as soon as we were done eating and got in the car the back pain returned. no contractions so we went home. I took a long nap. when I woke up I was feeling better, but it wasn't long before the contractions started again.

I kept telling Erik I wasn't going back to the hospital, but eventually he insisted on taking me. I stared at the lights on the road and the lightening storm to keep my mind off the pain. this time was real.

I hurt so bad I didn't want the nurse to touch me, but she insisted. still a 4. I almost died. after 2 hours they decided to admit me and I decided I couldn't bear the pain any longer and got an epidural. best idea ever! I was so comfortable I almost drifted to sleep when it took effect. I had also calmed down enough to get to a 6 or 8.

then we waited for my water to break and for David to come. my contractions started to be irregular so they gave me more pitocin, then they'd get to strong so the lowered the dose. this went back and forth for awhile until they decided to break my water the rest of the way (I think it was leaking slowly.

Next came the pushing. I pushed slowly for 2-3 hours before we determined he wasn't coming out very well. it was very relaxed. I would contract and push 3 times then wait a few minutes to push again. the dr was called in and decided to use the vacuum to help him out the rest of the way.
after a few agonizing minutes, David was through. I was relieved but started getting nervous when it took the dr so long to stitch me and for David to recover. they believe he was in shock and wisked him away.

After they cleaned everything up they moved me to a room down the hall. it wasn't more than an hour before they brought my baby back to me. we were so excited to have him with us.

we all got to go home on the 23rd and are recovering quickly. the only thing we haven't gotten the hang of is feeding. as soon as David's face touches my skin he goes right to sleep. he's had quite a few bottles so we think he's gotten a little lazy, but still so cute!

34 weeks!

I never thought I'd make it this far, and that he could stay in longer :)
Still having a lot of cramping, and daily activities are becoming increasingly more difficult, but I still have hope. I am starting to worry that he'll be late, lol.

Grace's new obsession

I got this idea from my friend Jen to make fabric letters and Grace just loves it! I took it one step further and put buttons on the letters so they can be a quilt and hopefully won't get lost.

Baby shower

I've been thinking about this for awhile and decided I'm not having one. But if anyone wants to help get something we need a baby bath. We're pretty good clothes wise (except 6-9 mo) and don't need any blankets. Grace could use a potty, though.
If you want to get something but don't want to go in on a big item with someone, Luvs diapers/wipes are also something we could use.
I know it's tacky to ask for money, but at this point that's all we really need.
Gifts for mommy are also acceptable :)

fun with cousins

we spent 2 days in Colorado with Erik's sister and her family. it made the trip easier having family on the way (pictures from Wisconsin coming soon). here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Kirsten decided to take some easter pictures while we were there. it's hard to get 3 kids to look cute all at once.

Have you heard?

On February 18th Grace decided it was time to walk! here is a little video of her in action. she starts off a little scared but gets brave at the end.

Careful what you wish for

so, as many of you know, I've been complaining a lot about how much easier life would be if we were back in Utah. I could have the same doctor that delivered Grace, all my puppets, family, and everything I've known my whole life.

Well, the other day while at the doctor's office, Erik decided that maybe moving back wouldn't be such a terrible thing after all.

Alright, alright, before you get all up in arms we're still not 100%, but we'd say 90%. So what does that mean?

In 3 *weeks* we're out of here. We'll miss you Massachusetts. We can't leave any later because I am high risk and we are already pushing our luck. I figure we're 6 weeks away from 32 weeks so that is how long we have to move. It seems pretty sudden, but we can handle it. The hardest part will be the journey. Having family along the way should help break up the trip a little, and we won't be taking too much with us.

In some ways it will be easier this time, we don't care about a lot of the stuff we have because we've only had it a year and it hasn't got any sentimental value.

Anyway, I know you all think we're crazy, but in the long run we will actually save money (assuming we can transfer our government help programs) and hopefully it will make life a little easier down the road.

What's in a name?

So, it's been a pretty close race. It's not likely Erik will budge on the name David, but it's fun to think of other names. So for those of you who voted "something else" what do you think?
*don't feel offended if we don't use your name*
I am having second thoughts on the name Michael. I really like it, but I almost want to go with Mitchell now, but it doesn't go with David.

What's new with Grace

She still isn't walking, and as more and more moms announce that their child is walking it makes me sad. But she will do it when she's ready, I just wish I knew what was stopping her.

On the plus side, she has a HUGE vocabulary. That makes me feel good. She has so many new words that I can't remember them all. She has also become fascinated with counting and the alphabet. Her favorite numbers are 3, 8, and 9. And I think her favorite letters are M, O, and B.

Yesterday she was playing with these dolls that she got for Christmas from her NY grandma. The daddy doll was kissing the Grace doll "Muah! Muah!" and the mommy doll kept saying "come on, come on. Go, go." I guess I say that a lot, hee hee.


On Sunday I discovered two little teeth that she's been hiding from us. So now the count is 8! woo hoo! I think the doctor said she was 24lbs and 32.5 inches. According to the numbers she isn't getting much taller, but I swear she's bigger every time I look at her! Her hair is well past her shoulders now, and it's the envy of all.

She still doesn't understand that there is a brother coming soon, but she loves babies so that gives us hope. She has a new bed and spent the last two nights in it. She can't fall asleep in it yet, but seems to like it. The only setback is that she's a little afraid to climb out of it because she fell off our bed once. Then again, that means she won't be roaming the house while we're asleep. It's also a little too tall for her to get into herself, but I don't have to lift her as high as I do with the crib so I think it was worth the $$.


She's officially in nursery now, and we've moved up to Sunbeams. She loves Nursery and doesn't mind that we aren't there anymore, what a relief.

I guess that's all I have for now. Thanks for reading! and now know you why she is our Amazing Grace.

Baby checklist

Can you believe I'm 6 months along? We're down to 10 weeks before my goal due date (if I go longer that will be great!) so I figured I would see what I've done and what needs to be done in that time.

1. get Grace a bed
2. get a car seat
   
3. get a pump (should be getting it soon, thanks Kir!)
   
4. get some smaller boy clothes (we seem to have a lot of 12m)
5. arrange Grace's room to accommodate new baby (a work in progress)
   
6. arrange/find important baby stuff in Utah
   
7. sell/get rid of a bunch of stuff (a work in progress)
   
8. get grandpa here (make it to Utah safely)
   
9. make/get blessing outfit
10. take it easy
11. get bed rail from friend
12. get baby bath (either from friend or buy)
13. clean stroller
14. I'm sure there's more but this is all I could think of so far
    

Jan 10 1986

I was born! I don't know all the details but I do know I was #4 out of 6 kids and I was born in Brigham City.

25 things to do before I turn 25

So I had a birthday yesterday so I am going to steal my friend's idea and write a resolution type list.

1. stop procrastinating
2. have a healthy baby (no sooner than 34 weeks!) he was 36
3. finish Grace's quilt
4. reach 70 puppets by July the count was 74
5. witness Grace take her first steps
6. get Grace to eat better
7. get myself to eat better
8. do more service
9. spend less time on the computer
10. spend more time on things that matter (family, church, friends)
11. keep up on housework better
12. make my apartment more "homey" working on my parents' house
13. upload some pictures from my childhood onto facebook
14. keep a baby journal for both kids (Grace already has one mostly full)
15. order more prints
16. get a family portrait
17. call family more often
18. be more active
19. recruit more sewing "students"
20. get back to pre Grace weight after the new baby comes (10 to go)
21. rearrange my living room
22. clean/rearrange our bedroom
23. make some "real" clothes do costumes count?
24. drive somewhere
25. go outside at least 2 times a week this summer (grocery shopping and church don't count)

Some will be a lot harder than others, but I think I can do it :D