BREECH BABY

I went to the doctor today. They used the ultrasound to check and see if she is head down. He was sure baby was head down two weeks ago. Well, she is not, yet. That was my prediction. I haven't had the usual feet in my ribs yet. I know there are a few exercises I can try. Now that I will be going every week they will check with the ultrasound to see if she has turned. I have about 24 days to go. If she hasn't turned by then they will try an External Cepahlic Version. In other words, they will try and turn her from the outside. I watched a few You Tube videos and the women don't seem to be uncomfortable. I don't know the success rate. My doctor said the baby isn't that big, under 7 lbs, so it should work. They will then put me in labor. I suppose if at that time she doesn't turn they will do a C-section. Not high on the list of things I ever want to do. Just pray for us, please.

Sewing project links

Car Seat Canopy - I didn't round the edges like she did. I rounded the corners where I knew it could drag on the ground or floor.

Car Seat Flowers - I found two errors on this link. Read the directions and you will know what I am talking about. When you sew the half circles at the bottom she says to put the wrong-sides together then sew. It is actually the right sides together then sew. Also, for the bottom layer of petals there are actually 10. She said only 9. I didn't put mine on pins, I just used hair clips. Pins might be a better idea if you think they might get taken off of the straps or fall off. I might re-do that. Cole likes to play with them.

Nursing Cover - I made mine a few inches larger in both the length and width. I just like the extra coverage.

Each project was easy and only the flowers were a bit time consuming. I did do one in about an hour but I was watching TV too. There are just lots of little steps.

Have fun!

It's getting close

I have finished a few projects. The first is a car seat canopy/tent. I found the pattern on-line and there was a link to, what I think, are very cute hand sewn flowers. I also made a new nursing cover. I do have one from Cole but I wanted one that was bigger, girly and that matched the car seat canopy. It turned out just like I wanted it to. I completely adored the ribbon and couldn't resist. I do have plans to make a matching diaper and wipes pouch also. I have really enjoyed sewing again. It has been a long time other than mending Colin's shorts only 3 months too late for him to wear. The kids like to help by pushing the sewing pedal.

Well, with only about 35 days until I go in to be induced I thought I would brighten the day with a belly shot. I can't say I love posting it but hey, people keep asking to see it. Hope you are all satisfied. I went to my doctor yesterday and he said that he is pretty sure she is head down. I was worried because I don't have the usual feet in my ribs feeling like I have with the other kids. I am certainly not complaining!! He also said that she is little, she probably won't be even 7 pounds. Like I would complain about that, right? All my babies have been under 7 pounds. Mia is so excited and she made a count-down calendar until Jan. 20th. She wanted an exact date but even with induction it's not a guarantee. She also wanted to know if she would be the 4th or 5th person to hold her and if not what number. I go back in two weeks for an exam and an ultrasound just to make sure baby is head down and to see if I am dilated or how much I am dilated. I can't imagine that I wouldn't be at all. I have lots of braxton-hicks contractions EVERY day. My parents will be here just a few days before I go in and I am really excited and grateful!

I need to get back on track!

This is good for me!

Thanksgiving

As per our tradition, we packed up and went to Dayton to spend Thanksgiving with our friends from medical school. We have spent almost every Thanksgiving with Ted, Kashia and the gang since med school in 2007. It is always a good time with lots of food and laughs. The weather was coooooold! It is sad to think that we will both be moving far away from each other but we will have more reasons to get together before we leave. These are all the pictures I took. Mia cried when we left and the next morning Jackson pouted in bed for about a half hour and kept telling me he wanted to go back to Kiari's. It took a few days but he seems to be over it.

Charity

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was reading from the General Conference issue of the Ensign (a magazine our church publishes). I began reading a talk given by President Thomas S. Monson, the Prophet of our church, titled Charity Never Faileth. It was inspiring, uplifting and straight to the point. I learned a lot from it and loved the following quote from President Monson:

"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down.
It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily.
It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings.
It is accepting people as they truly are.
It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes
that will not dim through time.
It is resisting the impulse to categorize others."

I needed to hear/read his words.

Happy 7th Birthday Mia!

It's been such a great experience having Mia in our lives. She is an amazing daughter, big sister and friend. I find myself asking her opinion about things more and more. She gets excited about cute baby things with me and if she had her way she would buy her baby sister anything she could. It is fun for me.

I am often reminded of her when I read the "If You Give A Mouse" books. She can go from one project to the next quicker than I can change a baby diaper.

There are little traces of her throughout the house every day.

Mia is very motivated to learn, read, write, bake and craft. She gets a bit of resistance from me, I get tired of the messes, but it doesn't stop her. She is always coming up with a new way to create something for someone. She writes me notes all the time to tell me how much she loves me. She still holds my hand and loves to sit by me and on my lap.

Friends are very important to Mia. She's devoted but is also learning that she doesn't have to do or agree with what they say or want. However, she sometimes thinks that she can disagree and not do what I say. She is not a pleaser and that is good too.

As a big sister Mia is great and then some. She loves her brothers and I can rely on her to keep Cole happy. I hope she doesn't forget about him when her baby sister gets here.

Mia, Mom and Dad love you so much and are so happy you are a part of our eternal family. Happy Birthday girl!

october 2010

Click on the picture to take you to our Halloween pictures.

Basement Pictures

So, we broke down and bought a new little camera. We certainly didn't get fancy but it will be completely adequate for our needs at this time. I just don't want to miss out on documenting the pumpkin carving or anything else that will come up, and I am sure there will be maybe one, before Halloween. So, I am feeling pretty justified.
I got pictures of the basement tonight and had to post them. I am really loving how it looks and I found the stars that are on the mantel at Costco for $10. It breaks up the monochromatic color. Just imagine, this was all brown wood paneling before I got a hold of it.

Basement Update

The basement is done! The walls, baseboards, cupboards and everything I was going to do is done. It is such a relief! I would put pictures up but our camera is broken. Ahh, something else to fix or replace. We have to do it soon, we have lots of things to document coming up. I have the paint for the dinning room and half bath. I even took down the icky border in the bathroom today. Things are progressing.

LIttle Surprises

It's nice to come to my blog and see that I am actually a week farther in my pregnancy than I had been thinking. It's all about the little things, right?

It's Offical

July 2011 Colin will be an ER doctor at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, WA. The contract has been signed and sent back. We couldn't be happier to be going to the Inland Northwest. I'm going back home and it feels good. We are truly blessed and I am incredibly grateful for Colin's hard work and efforts. There are so many great places to live in and near Spokane I am not sure how we will decide. Our biggest dilemma is where to rent/live for a year while we save for a house. I know moving will be hard on the kids, I really worry about Mia, but I really would like it if we didn't have to get them settled in one school only to move again to possibly another area and another school. I am sure if we pray for guidance that we will receive it. It is hard to believe this chapter of our lives is coming to a close but we certainly are looking forward to the next. The hand of the Lord has certainly led us in every aspect of our lives. Thankfully, He knows the big picture and knows me and my family better than I ever could.

Nesting

So, I have been blessed with early nesting symptoms and am very happy about it. I am pretty sure I would have no motivation otherwise. Maybe it is because I want all the things in the house DONE before the baby comes and the list is so long I should have started last year. I want to enjoy the time after the baby and not have to worry about painting and de-junking/deep cleaning and organizing. I want it DONE, DONE, DONE! A few weeks ago I wrangled Colin into the storage side of the basement for some organizing. I think I told him I just wanted to move around a few boxes and get to the baby things but I knew he wouldn't stop until it was organized and clean. I was right. We threw things out and cleaned things up. It looks so nice. It is so nice to go in there now. We separated all the baby boy and girl things that were mostly in random diaper boxes so I could go through them. What I thought might take me a week took me two days. I just couldn't leave it until later. It's all done and all the diaper boxes are GONE. Well, they are still in the van to go to recycling but that is beside the point.

The playroom half of the basement was quite a sight also. Toys everywhere and it really needed the painting finished. It's all cleaned, vacuumed and painting has resumed. It's slow but there is not a lot to finish.

The next job will be the dining room. It has been painted twice since we moved in but I have never felt settled on the colors. I am going to just paint it neutral, like the rest of the house, and be done with it. Too bad I won't be done with it all. There is lots of trim painting to be done which I hope to work on consistently over the next 4 months as well as getting rid of stuff and preparing to move. After that, well, I just don't know. My biggest fear is that this baby would come early. There is no reason for that at this point. In fact, my doctor told me to come back in 5 weeks instead of 4 since I am so low risk. It's just so they can do the glucose test at the same time.

I hope at this rate I can accomplish all that needs to be done at a reasonable rate. If anyone feels so inclined you can come over and paint with me.

Baby #4

We had our ultrasound today and things look great. Apparently, according to the doctor, "I am a joy to scan." Time to get out all those girl clothes I've been hanging on to.

Mia's First Day of First Grade

Mia and I were so excited for the first day of school. She didn't get the teacher she initially wanted but she got the teacher that I wanted. I would have been happy with either. We have butted heads for the past few weeks and were both in need for school to begin. I just can't get over how cute she is and how much she has grown. That short and sassy haircut suits her personality just right. It was a HOT morning and I had Jackson and Cole with me. They just wanted to go play on the playground. I think she wanted to be nervous and have me go in with her but she was too excited. I love her independence. It has been pretty darn quiet here the past few days and I am loving it! Now if the weather would cool back down. We had 70 degree weather last week and even though it felt chilly in the mornings it was so welcome. There is not A/C at school and I have no idea how kids can learn in humid 90 degree weather. I love you Mia and am so proud of you! I am sure you will have a great year!

Jackson's First Day of Pre-K

Jackson was aksing to go to school at least a week before it started. This was a great surprise for us because last year I think every school day he said he didn't want to go. This year he is with friends from church and his class is all boys. The other day he said, "There are no girls allowed at my school. It's just for boys." I think it is just like a two hour play-date for him. He loves his friends and his teacher. I am so happy that he is happy there. One of the best parts for me is that it is not more than 5 minutes away. I take Jackson to school, make the loop back towards home and drop Mia off at her school. It probably takes me 15-20 minutes. It's great! He brings home homework and is so anxious to get it done. He is learning fine motor skills and is eager to color. When we bought Mia's school supplies it was BOGO so Jackson got his own box of crayons, scissors, markers and a notebook. He really felt special and a bit more grown-up, I think. He's just growing up so fast.

Cannonball!

Here's more on Jack's new favorite thing to do at the pool. They would do this all day if we let them.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Happy birthday. We love you very much. We all rely on you so much and are so grateful for you. You are always there to help us out, snuggle with us, break up our fights, play with us, or take us to the pool. You are the best.
We don't always tell you so, but you mean everything to us. We hope you have a good day and that we all have fun together at the beach.
We love you,
Mia, Jack, and Cole

A great day with Cole

I have to blog this day. I may eat my words tomorrow but for now I am going to revel in my hard work as a parent. Cole has been crazy lately, driving me crazy from the moment he gets up. He usually cries and whines until I feed him a massive breakfast. We are talking at least two bowls of cereal equal to my one, milk or juice and a few bites of my breakfast and probably a Go-gurt. The kid loves his breakfast. Mostly because he refuses to eat dinner. After breakfast he was still whining and I thought I was in for a fun day with the little dude. I decided to organize toys, I think the nesting is kicking in, it's about time, and I dumped the bucket of toys out. Why this is magic for my kids I just don't know. They go crazy with the thought of toys they haven't seen in a few weeks. Cole loved it! He played and played so well with Jack, Mia and by himself. We were upstairs and in the basement for a few hours. It was great. Cole ate lunch and went down without a fuss. He slept until almost 4pm. We went to get some school supplies and he always wants to walk. He hates the cart. I told him that he had to stay by Mommy and if he walked off he would have to get in the shopping cart. I had some serious doubts because we were in Toys R Us. He proved me wrong over and over again! It was so great!!! He followed me around the store and never ran off! I had to coax him away from a few things but it was really was impressive. I guess I have followed through enough times he knew I was serious. He was the same great listening child in Target. We came home, had dinner, which he ate, we all colored then up to bed. No fighting me or crying. I just felt so blessed or lucky or fortunate. I guess all three. Thanks for a great day my Bubba! We are making progress. Let's keep it up, okay?

Kamikaze!

Jack is one determined boy. He can't jump off the diving board until he passes the deep water test, which means he has to swim the entire length of the pool in the deep end on his own. Tonight he really wanted to jump off the diving board. So I had him try it when we got there but forgot to tell the lifeguard, so it didn't count. The second time the lifeguard was watching but he inhaled some water half way there and started coughing. A while later he tried it one more time and passed.

Of course that means DIVING BOARD! Jack, Mia, and I spent the rest of the time doing tricks. Mia's favorite is the cannonball. Jack's last jump he told me he was going to do a karate chop. I thought he just meant jumping off and karate chopping the air, but he had a different idea. He jumped off and dove straight off the diving board and karate chopped the water, belly flop and all.

Way to go Jackie boy!

Side note - while we are saying prayers with the kids before bed, Jack is so tired. He hadn't said a word in about 5 minutes. Bailey was standing next to Jack, and right at the end of the prayer Jack says, "nip, nip, nipple" and squeezes one of them. Never a dull moment with that kid.

Cole's 2nd year Dr.s appointment

Cole went into the doctor for his yearly check-up today.
He doesn't even make 25 pounds.
He's in the 10%. He doesn't like to eat very many things.
Thankfully, his height makes up for his lack of weight.
He is in the 75%.

One year older!

Happy Birthday Colin! It's always fun to be the same age as you for 8 days. Too bad next week I will only be 32. How did you get to be older than me? I love you! Hope you had a great day.

Two years old

Well, I have made it to Cole's second birthday. The last six months have proven to be quite challenging for me. I guess I can officially say he has hit the terrible twos. Please, pray for me.

Cole is fearless and the loudest of my three. I didn't know such a loud, ear piercing noise could come out of such a little boy. My little boy who doesn't like to eat any veggies but corn and carrots, if they are dipped in dressing. He is relentless in his ability to make mess after mess. He can be the biggest helper of my three too. If he is in the mood he will pull weeds, push the little wheel barrow, rake and make dirt angels in the loose dirt of the garden. If he drips on the table he will ask for a napkin and wipe it up. He hates band-aids and stickers. He can hold a pencil the correct way. Every word he says has three parts. Dog - Da, da,da, water - Wa, wa, wa. He loves riding on Colin's bike and hates the sound of the vacuum. He loves tractors and has been entertained by the heavy equipment working on our street for the last few months. If he can get his shorts off he does. He will come and find me to show me his shorts around his ankles. He likes to tickle your neck, snuggle before bed and is overly in love with his binkies. He prefers to have two.

Mia is Cole's second biggest fan. She can get him to give her hugs just by faking she is sad. Jackson still doesn't care to be touched by Cole but loves to make him laugh. Unfortunately, it is because he is doing something like making a farting noise. It's always exciting here.

Cole, Mommy and Daddy love you so much. You are an exciting part of our family that we could never do without. Have a Happy Birthday big boy.

And there will be...

...four.
January 28, 2011

Memphis Kiddie Park

Nachoooooooooooo!
The kids said they were yelling as the ferris wheel went around.

The whiplash roller coaster. Mia and Jack were hooked. I kept telling
Colin to hold Cole's head, hold Cole's head!

The Saturday preceding the 4th we wanted to have a day with the kids. Colin had been working nights and we hadn't done anything away from home and all together for some time. It was a hot and humid day but we didn't let that stop us. We spent a few hot hours at the Memphis Kiddie Park while the kiddos rode a little ferris wheel, race cars, a roller coaster that was sure to give you whiplash, merry go round, airplanes and more. The kids really had a great time and it was fun to see them ride the rides. Thankfully I didn't have to go on any. I get dizzy way too easily!

Empty Nest

Well, if I thought my kids grew up fast I was wrong. Before we knew it the Robin had a nest, eggs, naked baby birds and then feathered, flying out of the nest, birds. I was out with the kids right by the tree where the tree that holds the nest and I practically stepped on one of the babies. It hopped around the yard all day while it's mommy brought it bugs and berries. I felt so bad for the poor little thing. I don't think it could fly and I did not want to pick it up in case the mommy would abandon it. The video is of the mom calling the baby. It is sad to listen to. By the end of the day the baby still had not flown away so I was going to get a box for it to spend the night in. By the time I got outside with the box I couldn't find it. The mom wasn't around either. I am guessing the other one or two babies were able to fly away. The cycle of nature can be difficult and cruel but it is what it is.

Pictures of the birds

Our friend came over and shot some picutres of the baby birds.

Baby Birds

Our birds have hatched! We are very excited and it is really fun to watch. I explained to Mia how a mommy bird feeds her baby after she asked if the mommy nursed the babies. OUCH! They have some serious beaks already. She thought that was a bit gross. It really is fun to watch them. I have pictures but they aren't very good. I just don't want to get too close and I don't have a great camera. It's pretty exciting!

A beautiful message for mothers.

robin bird eggs.

We found a nest in a tree in the back yard, by the deck. We stood on the railing and peeked in the nest. We could see 1 egg. We got the camera, held it high over the nest and took some pictures. The pictures aren't as great as Becky's but we were excited that there were actually 3 eggs instead of just 1. It will be fun to see the babies when they hatch. It is so close to the deck that we can see the mommy bird in it.

Shake your booty!

This video cracks me up! My favorite is of Cole.

Weeds for a Wedding

A bit backwards but here we are going home. We had a slight delay because of the snowy Utah weather. It was so great to come home to warm Cleveland weather!
I don't think two girls had more fun than these cousins. They were pretty much inseperable for days they were together. I just love this picture of them. It is so cute and angelic!

Ahh, Grandma and Grandpa, Grace and the doggies.
Here with Mia and Cole

I think this is one of my favorite pictures! Cole loved playing at Grandma and Grandpa's table with prescription bottles and these reading glasses, the phone and the remote.

Love you Aunt Leslie!

These brownies were so hard to resist! Grandma and Judy were so patient!

Cole has become quite the poser as long as he gets to see the picture afterwards.

He's such a sweet angel!

More weeds? Are you kidding me? Mom and I really tried hard to get the kids involved in pulling the weeds but they got a bit tired of it. I bribed Jackson with ice cream. He was a great helper. Mia helped spread mulch too. The weather wasn't warm enough to even be outside and enjoy the yard. I am thinking it was a ploy just to get the yard in shape. I suppose it was our turn to help with yard work since David and Debby always come and do

DIY projects at our house.

I was so inspired by all the weed pulling I came home and pulled a bunch of my own.

Such great satisfaction in having cleaned out beds.

Sadly, we didn't have our camera at the wedding and reception but thanks to all

the other folks there are plenty to go around!

The next prayer

So, I guess I am getting really good at loosing things because now I can't find my Ipod. Of course, Cole had it, I think. It could be in the trash. I really, really hope that is NOT what happened. I just want it before we leave on Saturday. I HATE to loose things! I become obsessed and think about it all the time. I am sure it will show up. I just have to pray, right?

Inspiration

Yesterday I woke up and while rushing out the door I couldn't find my cell phone. This is extremely common for me so I didn't think much about it. When I got home I searched and searched and found nothing. I called my friend to have her call my phone and after about 3 calls to the cell and walking around the house, outside, the garage and the car, I gave up. I knew it was somewhere. I specifically remembered seeing it on her outdoor table the afternoon before. She had walked around her garage and her yard and couldn't hear it either.

I went and did the myriad of things I had to do with thoughts of my lost phone nagging at me constantly. I got home to find Colin there. He didn't know where it was either. I took his phone and called and called my phone while walking around and around. No luck! I was standing in the garage and thought it was time to ask for some divine guidance. I folded my arms right there and gave a heart-felt prayer.

After the kids went to bed I got online hoping I could track it with the GPS feature. Well, you can't unless you have an IPhone or have downloaded the application. As I was contemplating my options I really felt impressed that it was at my friends house. It just had to be. It was 10:30pm. I told Colin I was going to her house. The weather had been on and off all afternoon with rain and wind, thunder and lightning. I took Colin's phone and drove the 2 minutes. It was raining lightly but I was determined. As I called and walked around I didn't hear anything. I then walked toward the garage and I heard my ring. I didn't want to freak her out by walking around her yard, I could see her on her computer from the driveway, so I called her, told her I could hear it and I thought it was in the garage. As she comes out of her house and we head to the garage a HUGE, VERY, VERY LOUD thunder clap booms out. We both scream and the rain just starts dumping. Well even through the thunder and the downpour I can hear the ring. I found it behind her garage, thanks to some kid. Probably my kid. It was under some foliage just ringing away. I was SO happy!! I ran to car and she ran to her house. I was very wet after about 2 minutes.

My point...if I had ignored the strong and recurrent feeling that it was at her house the rain would have ruined it for sure! As it was it had rained off and on earlier that evening but the inside of my phone was dry and the outside just had a bit of moisture on it. This makes me grateful for prayer and the promptings of the Holy Ghost regardless of the need. The Lord hears and answers our prayers. Of that I am absolutely sure of.

Easter Weekend

As always we had good friends and good fun for the holiday. Mia's best friend, Molly, was baptized. It was such a great experience and I feel blessed that we were able to be there. Molly is such a great example to Mia and I feel she really understood the significance of the decision.

We had some fun egg collecting and discussions about the meaning of Easter.
Cole quickly learned that there was some great stuff in those eggs!

View all

Get your own

A gate to keep the crazies in!

We are a little backwards here as far as the order of these pictures go. We celebrated our 10th anniversary by going to Las Vegas for about 4 days. We really tried to get to Hawaii but we weren't about to go into debt to get there. We really had a nice time. Debby came to take care of the kids while we were away. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The kids did great, so Grandma says, and I am pretty sure Mia will never let me go anywhere without her again. David came for a few days before we left too. He designed and helped Colin build the gate shown here. It looks so great and we are really loving it! The kids have been great about not climbing on it and it is keeping everyone in where they belong! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for all your help and love! We had such a wonderful time thanks to you.

Jack way pretty excited we were leaving him with Grandma!