Wish Lists

As a mother, I find that most of my wish list consists of things I'd like the kids to have, so today I'm writing my own wish list as a birthday present to myself.  A lot on my list has to do with the family anyway. I guess that's just the way it goes... :)

*a Kindle? (I still prefer the feel of books and turning pages but being able to store 3,500 books in one spot and not having to pay to move them are huge selling points for me)
*new hotpads
*tongs for a campfire
*a good camping light
*a car that works well and needs minimal upkeep
*CO2 monitor (living in a house built in 1901 can make a person paranoid-see next wish)
*Lead testing of the soil at our house (I'd really like a garden next year but don't trust the dirt...)
*heat sensor thing to find out where cold is coming in or heat is escaping (lower electric bills?  Who wouldn't want that?!  My father-in-law would know what the thing is actually called since he has one...)
*new atomic weather clock (changes in weather always surprise me because I forget to check the reports! Our old weather clock got damaged in a move)
*update for current GPS or new GPS (am getting lost too many times-wrong coordinates, new streets)
*earrings (my contact solution disintegrated most of the ones I had)
*clothes budget (apparently dresses you can nurse in are not easy to find, going back to work in pants with holes is a no-no, and our washer keeps putting spots on our clothes-ironic, I know)
*massages and manicures (they just make a girl feel good)

What's on your wish list?

Judgment day

So, last Sunday's Relief Society and Priesthood lessons were on the topic of repentance and its parts (remorse, confession, restitution, etc.) Well, I must say that I need to repent of all the judgments I render on people as I drive around town. You just never know when it will come back to haunt you...

The other day I had my first back-to-work meeting and, trying to go above and beyond, had brought my binder of all the important contracts and documents for starting work as well as notes on all the projects I'll be involved in and tons of ideas I'd come up with during maternity leave. The meeting ran late, however, so I quickly put the baby in the car and raced off to pick up X from preschool (they charge a dollar a minute for being late!).

As I drove more leisurely home, I saw pages and pages of paper all over one major road and wondered who in the world would throw papers everywhere and not pick them up. In my own head I chided the person for his or her environmental irresponsibility and rudeness among other things. Since it was by a college apartment complex, I figured it was a student who had failed a test or paper and threw it everywhere in a fit (where do I come up with these scenarios anyway? People watching, probably. Does anyone else do that?)

I didn't stop to pick up any of the papers (I had hungry kids in the car, etc., etc.) and, in fact, ran over a few papers and simply wondered who was going to pick up the mess...the police? After I got home and got the kids settled I checked my email. My face flushed in embarrassment as I read the following note from a Bro. Carter in my ward:

"Hello, I rescued a notebook that had been strewn across canyon road. I think I got it all, though it is a mess. (Hope you don't mind tire marks!) I thought you should know where it is."

I realized immediately that in my haste, I'd put my all-important binder on the back of the trunk while putting the baby in the car (at least she made it in, right?! I think I get at least one parenting point for that!). Somehow the folder didn't fly off for several blocks but, unlike me, my humble neighbor and his high school aged son picked up the papers, looked through them to figure out whose folder it was, drove around to make sure they had gotten all of them, contacted Joe and me, and then brought them over to us. They are a truly inspiring family to me and I have learned my lesson.

New pictures

She is here!

With all the visitors, excitement, recovering, and laundry loads that come with having a new baby in the house, I haven't had a chance to blog about our newest family adventure yet. Our little August Sierra came on Friday the 13th looking very purple from being tangled in the umbilical cord but, thankfully, gave one loud cry to set my mind at ease and eventually pinked up with the help of the NICU nurse. I went all-American this time, including an induction, epidural, and having fun watching the contraction/heart beat monitor. More on the labor experience later...

This baby looks a lot like her brother as an infant and after 4 yrs of talking about Xavier all the time, it is hard to remember to say "she" and "her" despite the fact that I know August is a girl. :) Here are a few early pictures of baby #2.

Our "blue light special"

August on her bilibed to take care of jaundice

Just home from the hospital

The three of us and our newborns (see the before pic in previous post)

Baby August

Holding his little sister for the first time

Summer Doings

Being 8 and 9 months pregnant during the summer, not to mention Joe's work travels all July, has meant that all high adventure summer activities have to wait until next summer. Thoughts of going places and doing fun vacation things seems great until I remember that my energy lasts only 1-2 hours before I need a long rest. Sitting in a car or on anything remotely hard for more than half an hour makes it painful to walk the rest of the day, etc. so we have mostly stayed close to home. Thankfully, there have been a few things to break up the days...doctor and dentist appts for me, visiting my sister's and my cousin's newborns, swim lessons and a big brother class for Xavi, and trips to Nashville and Seattle for Joe, plus a 10K on Pioneer Day!

The big race...good job, honey!

Xavi's budding sense of fashion...

He was thrilled with his pick of the day :)

Swim lessons: "Pretend there is a magnet in your ear and your arm..."

To get them to jump in, the teacher played "chop, chop, timber!"

The Woody cover-up towel that was the

towel of awesomeness within the 4-6 yr old crowd.

Learning to hold a baby at the Big Brother class at the hospital

Shadow shot of Xavier and me

Xavi's First Primary Talk

I have to say I think X is a natural speaker. He told me last night that he was "so excited!" for his talk and wanted his daddy to help him because he didn't know how to read all the words. He was totally fearless and spoke clearly right into the microphone. I was so proud my eyes started tearing up. (I'm going to be a mess when he starts doing presentations in school!) The theme was the Holy Ghost and we put in X's own words throughout. His talk said:

After we are baptized, we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is a gift from Heavenly Father to help us learn truth. The Holy Ghost talks to our hearts and helps us know what is right and what is wrong. When we do something right we feel warm and happy inside. This is the Holy Ghost telling us that we are doing what Jesus wants us to do.

I feel good when I come to Primary and when I sing songs. My favorite song is "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam." The Holy Ghost helps us obey the commandments so we can become more like Jesus. I am thankful for the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

It must be the water...

My sister (due anytime), me, and my cousin (both ~33wks).

Amanda is having her first, I'm having my second, and Kelly is having her third. All girls!

It seems like half of Logan is going to deliver in the next six to eight weeks. I see pregnant bellies everywhere I go and wonder if I'll be in the hospital with any of these women. I am so nervous about labor and delivery in America that it feels like I'm delivering for the first time again. I don't know how my mom handled the stress--England, Chicago, Bahamas, and Illinois. Each place would have been so different!

After a pregnancy refresher class and getting to tour the labor & delivery rooms, I have a better idea of what will happen here, although I'm still up for any labor/delivery/postpartum in America advice. The mandatory IVs, fetal monitoring belts and contraction monitoring screens seem funny to me, and the fact that each room is huge, uncarpeted, and has its own bathtub. With such short hospital stays and no shared bathrooms, I doubt the new mothers get to interact with each other. I also find it sad that no one is allowed to see the babies in the nursery. That was a favorite part of each doctor visit when I was pregnant with X. I'd go peek at the nursery, see how many grams all the babies weighed, and feel excited about having my own.

With X, I never had to time contractions or worry about whether or not I was far enough along to be admitted to the clinic since my water broke first and they had me come in to avoid infection. The nurses would sometimes come rub my back for 15 or 20 minutes after they checked on my progress and I heard the doctor check in on me via the nurses at midnight. I was in the hospital for six days, so the nurses took care of the funky newborn diapers, gave us a framed picture of our newborn and some small sticker pictures, and helped the cord come off before we left. I was given amazing, healthy Japanese meals, including a going-home meal for both Joe and I (he ordered the shrimp...), personal breastfeeding help, a hand/foot massage, plus the government paid for 3/4 of our expenses and five prenatal visits. Joe came and went to work as needed (they didn't have paternity leave) and they didn't check if we had a carseat when we left, which we didn't--shhh, don't tell! (the carseat rules are there, just more lax).

It wasn't perfect, of course. The labor itself was long and intense so I'm hoping to cut that time in half. I told my doctor that 13-16 hours would be nice and she said she expects it will be much faster than that, so I am cautiously hopeful. I'm still undecided on pain medication. I had no choice last time and now that I know I can do it naturally, why not do it again? Plus the idea of a needle in my spine does not appeal to me. Then again...the possibility of being able to actually sleep through some of labor or to avoid the hyperventilation during pushing because I'd be more relaxed? Hmmm...I can definitely see some benefits!

The Birthday Party

X has become such a social little thing that when we asked him who he'd like to come to his official birthday party he gave us a long list of friends and relatives. We figured that was okay because by the party day in mid-June we could all be outside in the sunshine, right? We would rent a park pavilion, have a chocolate Lego cake and chocolate ice cream, do a few games and let the kids play at the park. Well... we ended up with, let's just say, a few modifications to that plan.

Apparently, park reservations need to be made much further in advance so we changed the location to our backyard. However, June in Logan also apparently means the rainy/windy/stormy season, so the morning of the party we had to move it inside our house-apartment. Thankfully, the weather didn't deter our guests and Xavier greeted them all with enthusiasm. It was tight quarters but 39 people all fit in somehow or another! Tina and Zelia came all the way from CA, which Xavier was thrilled about and they had lots of fun together before and after the party. I was so grateful for Tina, Gma Hope, and Laura who helped put the whole party together from my little sketch of ideas and kept going strong even when my pregnant self started slowing down. Everything looked and tasted great!!!

X & Z delighted with toy butterflies that flapped in the wind

Pre-party dancing to the demo music on the keyboard

Welcoming guests!

The "kitchen crew" was amazing.

This is only half of the food they put together!

The rain held off just long enough to play two games

and get a group picture. Here they are doing somewhat-of-a-relay

while holding Legoes on a spoon.

Dropping Legoes in a can. This game was a hit!

The kids got in line over and over until it got too cold

for the parents and started to rain.

Darby figured out a good strategy for the game!

All of the young guests --say Cheese!

So glad we decided to make the cupcakes as well as the cake!

Both were eaten up and the kids loved their take-home Lego guys.

The after-party: Playing with the decorations
and putting toys together. Thanks everyone!!!!!

We are so proud of Xavier. He has grown so much in just a year.

Suuuuure love you, X!

X = 4!

Happy Birthday to our Big Boy!

Today was filled with excitement. X turned 4! We needed him to wake up early this morning so we could take Joe to work so we sang "Happy Birthday" to him which got him to peek his eyes open even though he told us he was still tired. He got up fast, though, when we told him to go look for something special in the kitchen. He was so excited when he saw a birthday banner hanging and Boo-Boo Bear holding two cards with his name on it. He was so happy with his cards, especially when things fell out of them and when one made noises (thanks Gma Linda!), that I figured we could probably skip presents but in the end I bought a little Leapfrog video and gave it to him at dinner. His "friends and extended family" party won't be for a few weeks so he will get presents then but I couldn't help but want to spoil him on his actual birthday. I really think I was just as excited about his birthday as he was!

I sent him off to the sitter and school with an "It's my Birthday!" badge on his shirt, which he was very proud of and carefully kept it on all day. His preschool teacher said he would keep going over to her and whispering excitedly that it was his birthday. I've also heard him break into some sort of "it's my birthday" chant/song so I think this year he really gets it. Birthdays are special and HIS birthday is special for him!

I tried to make a special birthday dinner with things I thought he might actually eat (corn on the cob, taquitos, and watermelon). It was somewhat successful...he ate the corn reluctantly and a few bites of watermelon before insisting it was time for his chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream. For future reference, if a child normally doesn't like eating dinner then trying to make a special dinner for his or her birthday is not really the smartest idea. But anyway...as we pulled out the cake, we realized we had no way to light the candles so after Joe's valiant efforts to light them with our electric stove, we just had Xavi pretend to blow them out. He was a good sport and even posed for the camera. I am amazed that he has grown up so much in just four years. I've been nostalgic all month, looking at his baby pictures and thinking about him going through the infant, toddler, and now preschool stages. He is such a happy boy and we are so blessed to have him in our family! He is also very thoughtful. Even on his birthday, he thought to ask about the baby when we picked him up from school..."Mom, did the baby pop out yet?" What a sweetheart. Sure love you, Xavier!

Joy School Graduation

Thank you Joy School! I have loved X learning so many good things from you. My favorites were when he learned about obedience and when he learned about his own uniqueness. Such big words and yet he really seemed to understand them. I'm impressed that even with almost all of the families moving, we were still able to pull off a successful year!

I'm pretty sure X doesn't know what "graduation" means
but he sure enjoyed the party once he got comfortable.
See how his expressions change as the party goes on...

X loves his Joy School friends

Receiving his "diploma"

All smiles for a year of fun and friendship!

The finale: "Oh boy, I've got joy" song - so cute!

The fantastic five.
Thanks Laurie, Kristi, Jana, and Jesi!