Right now I am grateful for chocolate pudding. All the kids are sick today, which is a tad stressful, and what I really want is a nap, but chocolate pudding came to my rescue. Was it for the kids? you ask. No. It was for me. Normally in this situation I would be pounding down chocolate chips, but we don't have any. So I saw the pudding, and it gave me my happy chocolate moment that I needed. I did let the kids have some, too.

It is amazing to me that Elyse is already 2 months old. It seems like time speeds up with every kid we have. She is a giant. We took her in and she weighed 9 whole pounds. Yes, the giant remark is sarcasm. She is my cuddly baby, and she is so beautiful. I really adore her. She is still a cranky baby, but she sleeps through the night, so I figure that is a good trade-off. I'm wondering if we have any recent pictures. Due to the fact that time just flies by, I still haven't had her baby pictures done. I'm calling right after I finish this. I'm typing this because I know I will forget between now and when I finish, and when I proofread, I will remember again. Genius, I know.

We are really excited to have the holidays begin. We are staying in town for thanksgiving. We normally go to my parents, but I wasn't super thrilled about traveling with baby. So we are planning on putting up the tree on Friday. We are trying to simplify things this year. Last year was so stressful. This year may be stressful as well, with tithing settlement and all, but I am doing my best to cut out the things that make me crazy. Neighbors, you may just be getting a candle this year, not treats. You can still bring me treats, though!

New Arrival

The new baby made it. We felt that this momentous occasion called for a semi annual update of the blog. I doubt anyone still looks at this, the most pathetic of all blogs, but we'll give it a try. Elyse Kathleen Osborn was born about 9:30 PM on Thursday September 17th. She weighed in at 7.0 lbs and was 18.5 inches long.

Everything seems to be going fine now that everyone is home. Ashley managed to bring home the flu from school before Elyse was 2 weeks old. We had a fun time lysoling everything. Ashely and Brienna were both sick and each spent an evening sleeping on the bathroom floor. We did need to break out the carpet cleaner for some accidents on our new carpet. I guess its officially broken in now.

Our beloved dog Cosmo got sick as well. We were worried we would need to take him to the vet, but he just ate rotten peaches off the lawn in the backyard. After some reasearch on the internet we realized that lots of stuff we grow in our yard is not very good for pets. Peach pits can require surgery to remove. Luckily he recovered and all is well.

Enjoy the pictures. Plan on another post in about a year.

We are having a girl. Yea! So now we don't have to finish the bedroom in the basement. I am taking the girls to the planetarium today, so no time to chat. Must have fun!

Yea! We got new carpet and painted the house, so now we feel like we are living in a brand new home again. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. I would post pictures, but you know how it is with me. If not, please refer to previous posts. My neighbor said she would come over and help me in a few days. Then maybe I will have a cool blog like everyone else.

In other news, we find out what we are having tomorrow, and if I can be off bed rest. Truthfully, I have kind of taken myself off bed rest the last two weeks. We thought I would be off by my last appt., so I had ordered the carpet already, and I had paint sitting in my spare room just waiting, and rather than worry about new carpet and the ill effect that paint has on it, well, I painted. Baby is still kicking around in there, so I am assuming all is well.

I'll post tomorrow with our results.

Well, things just keep getting better here at the Osborn's. About a month ago(???not really sure, seems like longer) I was put on modified bed rest, then a week and a half later, full bed rest (more on that later), and I have been upgraded back to modified bed rest. What is modified bed rest?, you ask. Basically, it is still bed rest, but I can drive my kids to dance and school, and walk around the house and look at all the stuff I can't do. No lifting, vacuuming, doing laundry, or excessive bending. Bed rest is all of that, but stay in bed. I was allowed to get up and go to the bathroom. That is all. I did shower, but I didn't ask permission. I got sick of smelling my own stench. For those of you who know me well, I don't do well with asking for help, not even from Dave. So imagine the humiliation and tears as my wonderful mother in law came over every day and did our laundry, dishes, and took care of the kids in the afternoon. Our wonderful neighbors took the kids in the morning and brought in meals. As difficult as the help was to receive, what a blessing to live in our wonderful neighborhood, and in such a great ward. So now that I am on modified bed rest again, I sent my mother in law home, and we are essentially back to square one. I feel bad about that. She worked so hard to make my house liveable again. I'm quite certain that if child protective services had come to my house, we would at least be in counseling, if not begging to get our kids back again. But all is well. Baby is strong and doing good, so we are so grateful for that.

Hurray! Brienna is now doing her "business" on the toilet. Not all of her business, just the disgusting business. I have decided that she can pee in her diaper forever, and that her husband can take on this potty training thing. All I care about is that there are no more poopies for me to take care of. Best news ever, I know!

In other news, I am finally starting to feel human again. I have uncurled from the fetal position, and I am getting back to myself. So after 2 months of this, you can imagine what sort of state we are living in. Dave really does his very best, but it's hard to ask someone to work 50 hours a week, then come home, cook dinner, and then get busy cleaning. So a few things have been let go, but that is ok. No one seems to have any fungal diseases, or to have contracted a parasite, so all is well.

Ok. I know that you are all probably thinking that I am a serious blogging slacker. The truth is that I am, but I have a very good reason for it this time. I have been sleeping about 14 hours a day for the last six weeks. That and puking off and on. More off now than before, thank goodness. Anyhoo, you have guessed it. I am pregnant again with kid number last. For those of you who need a real number it is 4. yes, that sounds like a lot to me, too. At least a billion times a day I wonder what we were thinking. I am excited, don't get me wrong, but truthfully, most of the excitement will surface once I am able to unroll from the fetal position and have a clean house again. Dave has been a champ. If it wasn't for him, this wouldn't be possible. (No duh! didn't we all learn this in elemtary school?) I mean that he cooks and cleans and the kids have never had to wear dirty clothes unless they chose to and I didn't realize it. Camille is also my hero. She and Ashley have been off-track from school for the last week and a half, and she has just taken over. She makes the girls breakfast, and generally keeps everyone happy until I am able to pull myself out of bed. Thank heavens for toaster waffles.

On the note of prepared, frozen food, I have a thought. In an effort to make things a bit easier around here, I have been doing the unthinkable, purchasing frozen meals. I am sure that most of you know this, but are you aware that Stouffers Lasagna has fennel in it? I have never really liked the frozen lasagna, but I just figured that their sauce just was not as good as mine, rather chef boyardee'y. Well, with my knew heightened food pickiness sense, I picked up fennel. "Does this taste like black licorice to anyone else?" I said to the fam. Eyebrows raise. Thoughts of "now mom has truly lost it" are so clearly passed from one face to the next. What was truly baffling to me, though, was that the Stouffers has clearly never heard of basil, or oregano, or even garlic. Now, to me, these are traditional italian spices. As a matter of fact, when I look at my "italian spice" spice jar, those are the things that are in it. Not fennel. Anyway, not a big hit at my house. $10.62 wasted. Actually, we still ate it for two nights before the rest got chucked because the smell in the fridge was horrific. Well, "ate" is a term I use loosely. It was put on our plates a second night, and I think most of us ate salad. Except Dave. He has a problem with the $10.62 wasted part of the deal.