Evalyn Kay

So I'm not promising the most brilliant story but I thought I'd share some of the particulars of how Evalyn came.
Saturday after a family Christmas party in Logan I started contracting pretty good. I just knew I'd be going in to labor as soon as my parents got to my house. Sure enough that night at about 2 my contractions were about 7 minutes apart and intense. After about 2 hours they stopped. I just thought for sure they'd come back but they never did. Monday Jeremy went to work and I just knew I was going to have to call him home from work but wouldn't you know he came home at his normal time. We had a nice dinner and then changed the kids into their pj's kissed them good-bye and calmly drove to the hospital. I really hoped that when they checked me I would be dialted to at least a 3 and they would send me home to come back the next morning to be induced but I was still at a 1. They gave me a pill that helps soften my cervix and told me to brace myself for lots of cramping and contractions. I slept fantasticly. They started me on the pit at 5:30 a.m. and by 10 a.m. I was only at a 3. I was lucky enough to have my really good friend Shelly as my nurse she let me know that the ansthelogist would be unavailable for awhile and suggested getting my epidural right then. I really wanted to wait till I got to a 4. Then Shelly reminded me that there was no magical number for an epidural so I got one. I was so glad, lo and behold that the anstheologist used to be in my ward, and was sooo awesome. My best epidrual by far. As soon as I got the epidural my body just let go and I started dialating so quick. My dr had been in and out of my room just kind of waiting for things to get moving, he talked to Jeremy a lot. My dr used to be an electrical engineer. He is such a cool guy, he grew up in Israel and has had a very amazing life. I was hanging out at a 6 forever and then I told the dr. that a watched pot never boils, we laughed and he stepped out of the room for just a second to take a call and sure enough I felt the pressure. I told Shelly and she checked me sure enough I was ready. The dr came in got me in position offered to Jeremy to catch the baby which he politely declined. I told them I was ready to push and as soon as her head and shoulders were out they told me to reach down and grab her. Totally caught me off gaurd but it was so cool. And there she was this beautiful little girl crying and all of this hair on the back of her head. Jeremy cut the cord and they started cleaning her up. It was such a relaxed feeling, her cries were polite and I could tell Jeremy was immeadetly taken with her.

Here stats put her in at my smallest baby so far at 6lbs 7 oz and 19.5 inches. Everyone asks me who she looks like. I think she looks like all three of them but Jeremy sees a lot of Abby.
Her name is really special. Eva was my grandma whom I was incredibly close with and still miss even though she's been gone for 15 years and Lyn is my middle name. Every time I say her name I can't help but think a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She is so peaceful and brings a very special spirit with her. I can't imagine going through Christmas without her. It really was a blessed holiday. The kids are all in LOVE with her especailly Will, who has taken the rold of big brother very seriously. Abby asked me when we got home from the hospital if we were a family now. It really made me smile we for sure seem like a family.
Here are some pix to enjoy:

Momma and Baby with a little face time.

Our family.

Lizzie is such a great big helper. It's so nice to have big kids at home.

Abby really wanted to name her Rainbow Flower and has a hard time remembering her name but Loves that they have the same hair color.

Will is so gentle with her and is mindful of his "noisy" toys and puts them away when she's near him.

She is soooo little. All of her clothes seem so big on her but I know it doesn't last very long.

Having Evalyn here before Christmas was so amazing. We are so grateful that she is here safe and sound and love the special spirit she brings.

october extravaganza

hello blogging world. ummm i started this post after halloween and wouldn't you know it's the 1st of December tomorrow. So here's our halloween fun-ness. update wise i have a rotten cold/flu thing, i'm 3 weeks away from delivering...my dr. leaves for israel tomorrow till the 12th of december Jeremy is going to be working a ton in the next 7 days but the good news is I have the majority of my Christmas shopping done...no Christmas tree up yet but that may happen or may not. I kind of think the 2 feet of snow outside is compensating for my lack of decorations. Anyhow maybe I'll post our Thanksgiving extravaganza while i'm trying to rest and recover from this nasty sickness.

we went to the benson grist mill pumpkin walk. The kids had a blast

Will pinned the nose on the pumpkin

Abby's preschool class did a pumpkin display, based off of broadway shows!

I turned 30. While I was 30 weeks pregnant..kind of cool. We went to a show and ate yummy dinner at Rodizzios. Jeremy brought me home some pretty flowers and the kids helped me make some twix cupcakes.

Abby's preschool halloween parade
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Will has had this face down since he was about 10 months old....i never get tired of it.

Lizzie has decided halloween should be both pretty and scary, this was our best compromise, she finally declared she was dracula's bride (i still refused to put blood on her face)

Abby will forever be a princess, looking at her face it's hard to beleive she was puking in the bathtub just an hour later.

three little trouble makers ready to go hit the neighborhood up for candy rain or not!

Jeremy took all three kids out and came back just in time for Abby and Will to puke on each other in the bathtub...it was the most disgusting yet hillarious thing I've ever seen....aww the memories.

I tried to make a spooky meal on halloween but it somehow felt sacreligious on Sunday, so this was as spooky as i got. we gave all of our normal food spooky names and Abby will no longer eat jello afraid that it might be vampire blood...

We Did this

Ok so I've been MIA for what like 2 months or so. Well let's just say pregnant Ladies really shouldn't do as much as I've done but luckily now that I'm in the last leg of the pregnancy I'm kind of just hanging at home doing Mommy kind of things. Anyhow here's what we did for the months of August and September.


Kicking Cancer's Can 8-7-10

This is the Heaps Family and the very first family we sponsored with my new Non Profit group Kicking Cancer's Can.

We were able to surpass our original donation goal and had over 122 runners run our 5K. Not too shabby considering the huge Rain storm that hit just hours before we started, not to mention having other things competing with us like the County Fair and Demolition Derby.

I was able to snag my very fist Glitter tattoo. Looks quite fetching on my arm don't ya think..it faded after about 10 days.

The week after KCC (Kicking Cancers Can). We had the Rawlings Family Camp Out in our backyard, well more of the mountains you can see from my backyard.

We tried taking all the kids up Deseret Peak...umm ya they didn't make it too far

Jeremy and Curt were the only ones who made it to the top. What a view!

The Next weekend we hurried like crazy to get the kids all ready for school and before we knew it....

The Kids Started School

Lizzie started first grade! And boy oh boy did she start it in style.

Lizzie was a little bit nervous about who was going to be in her class but it didn't take her long to warm up to all the kids in her class. (Like 30 seconds)

Abby has started preschool and LOVES going to school three times a week. ( I love having just one kid at home for three times a week)



The week after School started was mine and Jeremy's Anniversary and after a lot of talking and a lot of begging (on my part) we took a much needed couples trip to San Fransisco.

San Fransisco

By looking at this pic you'd think it was a beautiful sunny day but it was soo cold!

They really need to start thinking about turning this windmill into one of those power generating windmills. I'm pretty sure it'd look just as good.

We went here, i didn't really get the big deal, minus the great chocolate sample we got Pumpkin Spice Chocolate oooh so delicious.

I really wish we would have had more time to hang out on alkatraz island. I love cool old buildings and there was so much history here.

(Reminder I'm not fat just pregnant 24 weeks in this pic) Alcratraz was such a cool tour!

When we first saw Alkatraz Island Jeremy pointed out that it looked like a boat, then this little tugger passed and it really brought out the boat shape of the island.

We hiked to the golden gate bridge from the beach and then walked the bridge, it was foggy but still cool to see.




I don't know what it is about San Fransisco but I would see things and think "ohh that would be such a cool shot". It really was a lot of fun.

We chilled (quite litterally) on the beach and took in amazing sunsets. It really was a nice relaxing trip and so nice to get away with just Jeremy. It was the almost perfect vacation..well until someone stole our identity...we've got it sorted out now but really was a bitter aftertaste following such a great trip.

Feild Trips

We did a field trip to the local aquarium and Abby swallowed her fear of turning into a frog and kissed the giant Frog.

My two little guppies.



Lizzie turned 7

Lizzie's 7 year old breakfast of Champions. Captain Crunch and Blueberry muffins.

We surprised Lizzie for her birthday and took her to Chuck E Cheeses. She LOVES winning tickets.

For Lizzie's friend party we did a Late Over where all the girls came over in their pj's brought their stuffed animals and favorite blankets. We ate pizza, made pillowcases and watched Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue.

This sleepover Bed cake was the perfect touch to Lizzie's Late Over party.

Poor Lizzie started out with a guest list of 25 kids to invite. It was pure torture getting her to cut it down to 16. Next year we're instigating the rule you can invite as many kids as number of years you're turning.



Just for those of you who are still reading through this super long post, the Pregnancy is going great. We found out that it's another little girl coming our way, I'm currently 29 weeks pregnant but I'm measuring super small so I have to go in next Thursday to see if she's growing right. I've had a lot of back pain with this pregnancy so I'm thinking she's just hugging my spine. I really don't want them to push the due date back, right now I'm set at the day after Christmas and have my dr convinced to induce me the week before Christmas so we don't have to stress about it. If they move it back this baby may have to Share Will's Birthday of New Year's Eve...so here's hoping she's growing like a champ. So there it is. Who knows maybe I'll be better about posting October events where as they host such fun activities like Halloween and Oh ya my 30TH birthday! I'm super excited! (Really, I know it's weird but I like getting older). Tell then...

I need this dress

Hey everyone I so need this dress. I love Milan maternity wear it is such cute stuff. If I don't win it you so can buy it for me or any of the others. My birthday is coming up in 29 days! (it's a big one like 30)
Click on this link to find the dress.

Kicking Cancer's CAN!!!

Ok so I know I've completely fallen off the face of the blogging world and honestly it's with lots and lots of really good reasons.

Reason #1: I'm pregnant. (17 weeks for those who are counting) That should be enough to say in itself but I'll add to that that I'm super tired and have three other children that need my attention constantly.

Reason #2: It's summer time. Often during the spring I get so excited for those lazy days of summer of just sitting around doing nothing. I think someone made that up because usually by May my entire Summer Calendar is full of family events, church events, swimming lessons and other great things to do leaving little room and energy for blogging.

Reason #3: It's hard to want to not catch everybody up on EVERYTHING we've been doing. And since Reason #2 exists I honestly don't have time for that.

Reason #4: Our family has had some major emotional, spiritual challenges with the birth and death of my nephew Henry. That I will blog about but the words are hard to come by with such an overwhelming life changing event. But I'll blog that out on my mommy contents blog soon.

Reason #5: I'm crazy. There I said it. You all knew it but really I am. The Kicking Cancer's Can 5k extravaganza is fast approaching (19 days to be exact) and in combination of the above 4 reasons it's been a little nuts to feel like I'm in complete control. But thankfully I'm surrounded by amazing people who care about others as much as I do and have helped me out more than words could ever thank. So now I'm turning to you my blogging friends to post something to help further this cause. Please go to our website. http://www.kickingcancerscan.blogspot.com/ read about Candice, If you'd like an awesome good time come to our event, make a donation or just copy and paste the bloggy button and do a little post on your blog. I promise once Summer is done, I'll have two kids in school and hopefully that new burst of energy that comes in the second trimester, and I'll be able to blog a lot more. But till then PLEASE help me out! Link your blog to our website and spread the word for me.

Thanks a ton

Sorry it's been awhile.

So it's been awhile. We've been a little busy here in the Rawlings' household. Lizzie did get the part of Molly and has thusly been eatting, sleeping and dreaming Annie while finishing up her ballet classes this year. They are now in every day rehersals and she is so excited for the production to come to life next month. Jeremy's been working hard figuring out the world's problems and getting paid for it. Will is two and half and I'm kind of excited for the next half to get here and done, not that I don't LOVE my boy he's just a little bit on the crazy side and I am finding it hard to keep up with his toothpaste eating, running, jumping, hitting his sisters- self. I was recently put in the YW's as the Laurel advisor and I'm so loving that new calling and the challenges that comes with it and I'm trying to organize a 5k to help benefit a neighbor who has been kicking cancer's can.
Abby turns 4 tomorrow and realizing our busy schedules thought it'd be best to celebrate her birthday this past weekend. We were so excited to have all of her cousins and grandmas and grandpas come. Then Lizzie got sick the Monday before the party, no biggie as long as no one else..well Abby started running a fever on Tuesday but Lizzie was better so it must be a 24 hour thing..then I got sick Tuesday night but I was feeling better within 24 hours but Abby was still holding on to sickness..then Will got sick on Thursday...But by Friday night Abby was still holding on to her fever and Will was building up a pretty good fever. Saturday Morning Abby woke up and just started throwing up, Will was better and I felt awful. We called all the cousins and told them it'd be best if they didn't come and cautioned all others to come with plenty of purell on hand. Luckily Grandmas and Grandpas still came and even Aunt Stacey and Uncle Dustin made the trip out.

I had to search the entire world to find this princess jewelry box but it was worth it just for this sweet look on her face, that and the fact that she loves to fall asleep to the music at night.

Abby got lots of great gifts and before each picture she insisted that I take a picture of her holding up her fingers to show that she's 4.

This was my great idea. I wrapped an empty box and had Abby Lizzie and Will open it last. When they opened the box I told them that gift will be coming around Christmas time when they get a new little brother or sister. Umm they didn't really get it. But the Grandparents sure did.

Abby wanted me to make a chocolate cake for her with Chocolate frosting. But I has 0 time so this store bought cake with princess candies just had to do the trick.

All in all it was a great birthday for Abby. We're going to take her to Mc Donald's tomorrow with a bunch of friends to play since it's been crappy weather and she is finally feeling much better. I can't believe she's 4. She was born just 2 days after Jeremy started his career as an engineer. She was born 2 weeks before we moved out here to the land of promise. In some ways it's gone by soo fast and others it's been forever.

After Abby's birthday party we left the small ones and Jeremy at home and busted it over to Lizzie's preformance of Swan Lake. We were super grateful that her family could come and see it despite it being so super long and Lizzie dancing for 2.5 minutes during the entire show. But Lizzie looked adorable, we're excited for nutcracker again in the fall and Cinderella next spring.

Gma & Gpa Swenson took off during intermission it was a 3 hour drive back to O town and Gma Swenson had already put in a full days work before she came to Tooele.

It was Stacey's and Dustin's first ballet (umm sorry guys) they were a little lost but they cheered real loud for Lizzie.