Dad

Chadwin Spencer Wright passed away in his home, surrounded by loved ones, on June 27th after a courageous two-year battle with cancer. He was loved by ALL who knew him.

Dad had a special way with people. He will be remembered by most for his extensive church service. He touched the lives of thousands of students both as a seminary teacher and a bishop in a BYU singles ward. But he will be remembered by us as a loving and devoted father and grandfather. We will miss him more than we can say, but we know we will be reunited with him again someday, and we will NEVER forget him and the amazing legacy he left behind!

We love you "Paca"! Thank you... for everything!

Baby Blessing, Birthdays, and...... a Bathroom?!?

Where have I been? Don't ask. I'll attempt to give some highlights, but I could never express just how much our little family has been through in the last month. Let's just say that we haven't been home for approximately 5 weeks.
It all started with my in-laws' upstairs bathroom. The Shower had been leaking for quite some time and the floor was rotting through, so Daniel and my brother-in-law Brent took on the bigger-than-expected job of rebuilding the bathroom. Demolition began around the time Dan started his new job (internship at the church. He has been and still is looking for full time employment). So, Dan would get up at 4:30 am to catch the bus to go to work in Salt Lake so he could get home by 5:30 pm and head over to his Parent's house to tear apart a bathroom (not an easy task) and help his dad get to the bathroom (also not an easy task) since he can no longer walk on his own..... and we'd get home around 10 pm every night. Around this time his mom found out she had to have gal-bladder surgery which ended up going badly (just what they needed). So I would go over with Dan to help with the cooking and cleaning while Mom was in the hospital and recovering. Then we took a short break from the Wrights' to celebrate Krista's birthday :) and to help my sister Anna move to Arkansas :( I can't believe my baby is 4 already! She had a wonderful birthday; although, every time I talk about how exciting it is that she's 4, she talks about how she can't wait to be 5! I just hope it doesn't come too soon!






Then it was time to prepare for the Wright Family Reunion, scheduled for the first week in June. I LOVE being with family and we had a lot of fun, but I gotta say, it was not a stress-free week! On the contrary, it was one of those, "I need a vacation from my vacation" kind of experiences. It began with me scrubbing my own house from top to bottom, and then we had some service days at the in-laws' house and around their yard (meanwhile Dan was still trying to get the bathroom finished), and then there was the baby blessing. We blessed Eisley on the 7th and it was beautiful and wonderful and I prayed that Daniel's dad would be able to be there and he was.... but you ladies know that these things are never without their share of STRESS, especially for someone like me.






So, it was a nice break when my birthday rolled around and to my great surprise my INCREDIBLE husband stayed home from work and spoiled me. He took me and the girls to breakfast (my favorite) and then up to my sister's house where he watched all the kids while she and I went shopping. Then my sister watched our kids while Dan and I went on a MUCH needed date!


However, it was soon back to the "cruel, cruel world," and oh how cruel it became. My father-in-law's health decreased drastically a week ago. We thought he might be gone within a week or two (he still may be) and I went through my own personal you-know-what. The whole family has been gathered the last week, trying to help, but not knowing what to do... about anything. I cannot tell you--and you could never understand unless you have experienced it yourself--how overwhelmingly unbearable it is to watch someone you love SO much....THAT MUCH.... deteriorate right before your eyes. We were--and are--physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually EXHAUSTED! I have felt sadness, loneliness, bitterness, helplessness and the list goes on; I even had my first real anxiety attack. But I have also felt peace, joy, and gratitude for the many blessings and tender mercies of the Lord; we have certainly experienced our fare share! Truly, it has been an emotional roller coaster! I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation, but things like this are NEVER easy. All I can say more is please pray for my family, and thank you to those who already are.






P.S. We had a very nice--albeit slightly stressful (that seems to be my favorite word lately)--father's day yesterday! Did I mention that I have the MOST AMAZING husband in the whole world! He learned from the best, and now has another great example in his father-in-law (i love ya daddy, you're the best)! I hope I was able to honor all of them the way they deserve to be honored.


Some other highlights from the last month:

-We got to attend the temple with Dan's entire family, minus Spencer who's serving a mission and the kids including Dan's 11 yr old brother, Chad.
-Dan's car broke down and we had to buy a new radiator (ouch).
-We got to attend the Yanni voices concert in Salt Lake City. Apparently Nathan, one of the amazing vocalists Yanni chose to tour with, was in my father-in-law's ward when he was a bishop at BYU. Nathan sent the family some tickets. It was amazing!
-Dan's softball team has won like 8 straight! They could... go... all... the... way!
-Krista got accepted to a preschool and she'll start in August. She is SO excited!
-I finally pushed Eisley to eating every 3 hours instead of every 2 1/2! I cannot tell you what a struggle it's been; I've never had this problem before!
-Emma got her first black eye, and actually the first in our family. And Krista cut her head open. Don't worry, it was only a small cut, but for how many times that girl has conked her head--and she's had some doosies--this is the first time it's bled.

One of the BEST songs EVER!!!!!! You HAVE to hear this one!!!!!

I've been wanting to put this one on here for a LONG time! Thanks to my awesome sisters for their impeccable taste in music and for introducing me to this INCREDIBLE song!
ENJOY!

The video was just made by some YouTuber



The live version is excellent as well...

perfection

My perfect little angel

This perfect little picture (and many others still to come) was taken by my sweet sister Jennica. Jenn, I can't thank you enough (for ALL you do)!
Little Eisley Kate was born with wisdom and wonder in her eyes. She truly has a calm, soothing spirit and when she looks at you with her piercing awareness, it's as if she is trying to impart all of her Heavenly knowledge to you through those perfect little eyes.
I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I have to be a part of her life and of Heavenly Father's Plan. To be co-creator with Him is indeed the greatest gift we have.

MAESTRO

This is how Eisley prefers to sleep, with her arms spread way out. I think it looks like she's conducting a choir; maybe it's a choir of angels. It's cute anyway.

WELCOME BABY EISLEY!!!

The moment you've all been waiting for... Here's Eisley!

Sorry it's taken a little longer than expected to get these posted. It really has been quite busy around here. And hopefully I can get some better pics--which my sisters took--posted soon!

Eisley Kate was born on Thursday, March 12 at 2:29 p.m. I knew I was going to be induced that day if she didn't come on her own by then, but I wasn't expecting the hospital to call us at 5:15 a.m. and tell us to be there in 45 min. They started me on pitocin around 9 a.m. and since I knew I would eventually get an epidural I figured, why suffer? So as soon as the contractions started getting the least bit painful (around 11 a.m.) I asked for the epidural--of which I am now a HUGE fan. From there on out it was smooth sailing. The epidural worked perfectly and I must admit that I actually felt guilty that it was so easy. The only "complication" was that Eisley's heart rate kept dipping significantly with every contraction. When I was ready to push the doctor said, "who wants to place bets on how many times the cord is wrapped around her neck." (Not something I wanted to hear... wasn't a huge fan of this doctor!) As you can imagine, I felt pressured to get her out as quickly as I could, and as a result, I only pushed three times, a total of about 8 min. When she came out, we discovered that the cord wasn't wrapped around her neck after all, which was a relief. The doc said it was just a really dinky cord, whatever that means. The doc. earned more points with me when he lifted Eisley up bottom first; I didn't even see her face until after they weighed, measured and cleaned her. She was quite subdued, only releasing several small cries (she has the cutest little raspy cry). When they finally placed her in my anxious arms emotion overcame me and I balled like... well, like a baby. Now, you may think me cruel, but I really thought she was funny looking. Her forehead and nose were really swollen and she looked like a boy--like her Dad, actually (not that he's funny looking). But from the first minutes of life her sweet, calm spirit left a strong impression on me, and more than any of my other children, I felt an almost instant bond with Eisley. And, I no longer think she is funny looking. Her looks changed a lot in the first 24 hrs. and even more since then. She actually looks a LOT like Emma's baby pictures and we all know how cute she turned out.

Of course, there are always difficult moments when adjusting to a new baby, but my experience so far has been MUCH more positive than in the past (truly an answer to prayers)! This, I know, is due to all of you who have been praying for us and who've brought meals and other sentiments, and mostly due to the constant assistance of my mom. I don't know what I'll do without her. But it also helps that Eisley is just a really good baby. Since the day she was born, Eisley has only woken up once at night to nurse, and is in general such a good natured baby. We've had some issues with eating. She seems to get gassy VERY easily and spits up significantly at each feeding; if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Ready or not...

Yesterday at my doctors appointment I had only progressed to a 2, but hey, at least it was progress! The doc stripped my membranes and arranged for me to be induced on Thursday. It was SOOO scary for me to make the decision to be induced; I know it's silly to most of you, but I really just don't like the idea. So, I decided to do everything I could to get this baby to come before Thursday. After a nice late night walk at Target, we got the girls to bed and I started feeling sick. Mostly I just had a really bad headache, but long story short, I couldn't fall asleep until like 1 a.m. Then I awoke at around 4 a.m. (not to mention the 5 bathroom visits in between 1 and 4) to some pretty painful contractions. These felt nothing like the braxton hicks contractions I've been having for 4 months, so I thought maybe this was the real deal. I started to panic a little because I still didn't feel very good and I was SO tired (not prepared to go through labor), so I tried to sleep through them as long as I could. Luckily they remained about 10 minutes apart and I was actually able to get a little rest.
I woke up around 6 a.m. to go to the bathroom and had the "bloody show" so I went and told Dan we were having a baby today. My contractions were still like 8 minutes apart so I thought things would speed up if I got up and started getting ready. No such luck! The contractions STOPPED! I'm so confused. Every time I lay down they start up, but when I get up they stop (I thought it was supposed to be the other way around). I guess if they don't start up again today I'll just go in tomorrow and get induced anyway. At least this experience helps me feel like she really is ready to come and I feel a lot more at ease with the idea of getting induced.

:: THIS is EISLEY ::

Thanks to everyone who voted on my name poll (there's still time left if you haven't done so yet)! I'm surprised and very pleased that so many people like the name Eisley; I wasn't sure how it would be recieved since it isn't one you hear everyday. Many of you have asked where I got the name from in the first place. Well, it's actually the name of one of my favorite bands (that my very COOL sister Meg introduced me to). Here are some of my favorite songs of their's.

Oh, and in case you're curious, the top runner for the baby's name is Eisley Kate!





(This is the best recording I could find on YouTube; sorry it's not that great, but I LOVE the song)

7 DAYS LEFT.... or so I hope!

Well, most of you know how anxious I've been for this baby to come. I was SO sure she would be early since I've been having contractions since the beginning of my FIFTH month! But it seems it's just not my luck. At my doctors appointment today I was still only dilated 1 centimeter, and I've somewhat given up on my dream of going early. I suppose it could still happen, but considering I went a week LATE with both my other girls, I'll be happy just to go on time this time! So, cross your fingers for me!

P.S. I was so worried the baby had turned again and there was also some concern about her movements slowing down, but all is well and she's still head down! That was such a relief; we are SO blessed!!!

BLESSINGS

The last couple of days have been full of trials and blessings. Thursday Afternoon I found out that my baby was breech. The Doctor gave me basically two options: hope the baby would turn on her own and have a C-Section if she didn't, or have an "external cephalic version" (which is where the doctor tries to turn the baby from the outside) with the risk of having an emergency C-Section if the baby showed signs of distress. I have always had a huge fear of C-Sections so, this was NOT welcome news. But after many prayers and a priesthood blessing, I felt surprisingly at peace about it. We decided to have the version done and it was scheduled for 7 am this morning.

The other thing that happened was quite traumatic and is difficult to write about. On Friday morning I received the shocking news that my 6 yr. 0ld nephew, Dallin, had spent the previous night in emergency rooms and in surgery where they removed a ten pound tumor from his lower abdomen. When put all together it was the size of a small soccer ball!

Now here's where the BLESSINGS part comes in!

While official news has not yet arrived, the doctor's believe the tumor is benign! Dallin has been such a brave little trooper and is doing very well. He's safe and well and was SO excited today to FINALLY be able to eat and drink (the poor thing hadn't eaten for three days and was so hungry)! They hope to be able to return home tomorrow. I believe my sister and brother-in-law have been blessed to be able to handle this ordeal better than anyone could have imagined. It is a HUGE trial and they definitely still have many obstacles they have to tackle, including how in the world they'll pay for his treatment, but there's no doubting the Lord's hand in this instance. We can't wait to see Dallin jumping off the walls again!

And we couldn't have been more blessed in the procedure they performed this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew it would be painful. When the doctor finally got there, it took all of one minute for him to move the baby to the right position. It took me a minute to realize it was really all over. Even the doctor and nurses were quite shocked; they had never seen a version go so effortlessly and so quickly. It was painful, but who can complain about one minute of pain when many have to endure it for 20 minutes or more before their babies turn? Our prayers were DEFINITELY answered beyond what I could have imagined. After the baby was turned we had to stay so they could monitor her to make sure everything was all right and a sweet old couple came in to give us the sacrament (only in Utah). The lady shared the following thought and I just thought it couldn't have been more relevant or more true!

"Have faith in your Heavenly Father. He knows who you are. He listens to you when you pray. He loves you. He is mindful of you. He wants the best for you."
- Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
- Mark 11:24

So.... What have I been up to lately?

Many of you know that I have been having CRAZY nesting urges since early DECEMBER! I don't know if I'm just panicked about having three kids or if I'm trying to escape the harsh realities of the past year (with Dan busy at school and not being able to find a job, etc.) or if it's just normal pregnancy hormones. (It's probably all three and much, much more.) Many of you have heard me refer to myself as a "crazy woman," well that's because that is how I feel inside my brain. And now that I just have a few precious weeks left until my little kicker is born, I am in super panic mode. I feel like she's coming TOMORROW and I have to do everything TODAY! Here are just a few things that have been occupying my mind as of late:

decorating

This whole mess started when I decided to move Emma out of the crib and into a twin bed. Two years ago I found these INCREDIBLE matching antique bed frames at a yard sale and have been DYING to use them ever since.

When we moved back into our house, I was so excited to finally get my chance; unfortunately, we couldn't fit both beds in the room with the wide dresser we had at the time. So, in November I decided to sell the dresser on KSL and bought this really cute taller dresser instead.


And, of course, I already had my ADORABLE vintage quilt to complete the look. The problem was that now I had to find another quilt to put on the other bed that "matched" this one!


All my time was CONSUMED by looking for vintage quilts on EBay, KSL, Craigslist, Etsy, and several cute boutiques in Salt Lake. It really drove me crazy. I finally found this incredible quilt and actually bought it, but the lady couldn't find it and refunded the money (luckily) which is probably for the best since I don't think it would've matched anyway.


I finally realized that I wouldn't be able to find "just the right" quilt and couldn't really afford it right now anyways, so I just got a solid blue quilt that was on clearance at target. It actually looks pretty good.

crafts

In the process of looking for quilts, I stumbled upon THIS! These are pre-cut squares of vintage chenille that I found on EBay and just fell in love with. After many justifications, which I now somewhat regret, I decided I just HAD to make a baby blanket out of these squares. Well, now I've gotten myself into a project that's WAY over my head! If anyone out there knows how to sew chenille, I'd love some pointers!


And then there is the lovely distraction that my dear friend Amber introduced me to: homemade hair bows! Here is a picture of Emma with one of my homemade bows in her hair. They're super easy and fun (I think), and if anyone is interested, I think we should have a bow making party sometime!


And finally, in the "crafts" department, I have some antique picture frames that I want to use in the girls' room, but one is new and doesn't match the others. I tried painting it and antiquing it with sand paper, but it didn't turn out well. Does anyone have any pointers on how to "antique" things?

shopping for baby

Besides the normal urges to clean and organize every inch of my house, there have been some things I've needed to do to get ready specifically for baby to come. Back in November we got all our baby stuff out of my sister's basement where we had been storing it while we lived in our two bedroom apartment. Thanks to those good ole' nesting urges and not much storage room, I decided that much of my stuff was superfluous and/or too old to use. As mentioned above, I was already addicted to KSL Classifieds, so I got on once more to sell the old and buy the new (well, new for me anyways). I learned about expiration dates on car seats, and cringed a bit as I threw our old one in the dumpster. But all was forgotten when I found a cute one year old Graco Snugride (my personal fav.) on KSL for ONLY $25! I also bought a new-in-package boppy with a cute cover for only $15. And I had planned on selling my old swing and bouncer (which I did) and using the money to replace them both with the more compact portable swing. My sweet sister-in-law Chersten saved me the time and money by offering to let me use her adorable portable Boppy swing. It's SOOO cute and I'm super excited to use it!


There's probably more, but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're sick of reading. I still have three weeks and SO much to do, so, until next time...

Once there was a snowman... and some snow dogs too!

All winter long the girls could not WAIT for the snow to come so they could build a snowman with Daddy. Well, Daddy did not disappoint! He took the girls out to play in the snow SEVERAL times during his Christmas break. They built three snowmen, two snow dogs (which they really got a kick out of riding), and made many snow angels. Emma's favorite thing was snow ball fights (i.e. picking the snow up and throwing it at the nearest person).

Christmas Pictures

Ok... so my kids are RAG-A-MUFFINS and I accept full responsibility for being the horrible mother that doesn't even brush their hair every day (that's not the worst of it... I'd like to retain some dignity)! That being said, this first picture was taken on the evening that we put up our Christmas tree. Krista loved helping put the ornaments up and enjoyed dressing up in them even more. She wore that Santa hat almost every day for two weeks!

Our Christmas was wonderful this year (last year). We alternate whose family we spend Christmas with and this year it was the Wrights. I love Daniel's parents' house at Christmas time. My mother-in-law has tons of decorations she puts up, and the house is always full of wonderful aromas whether it be from yummy food or her holiday candles she adores so much. They also own more Christmas movies than you probably realize exist. It's always fun to see how many we can get through each holiday season. But my favorite part is sitting by the oversized fireplace and listening to some member of the family play Christmas carols on the piano. Then only down side to staying the night at their house on Christmas Eve is that Daniel's 10 year old brother still likes to get up at--or before--the crack of dawn on Christmas morning. This year we told him he couldn't wake us up until 6:00. He came around at 6:07, outraged that no one had set their alarm! I was worried about trying to arouse Krista because she is NOT a morning person. But Dan just said, "Krista do you want to go see what Santa brought you?" and she JUMPED out of bed with a HUGE smile on her face. We took that as a yes.
Each year I hope that Krista is old enough to get in to holidays and special occasions. Well, I think she understands about Christmas now (although she kept asking when Jesus was coming to our house to open His presents)! She even talked to Santa Clause! I thought she was going to have a heart attack doing it; I've never seen a child get so nervous in all my life. And Emma is, by nature, such an enthusiastic child that she just mimicked everyone else's excitement. I had so much fun watching the girls on Christmas morning that I didn't even want to open my own presents. I love the magic of Christmas and the opportunity we have at that time to think of our Savior and share His love with others.

Christmas Sunday

I got the girls "Christmas dresses" for the first time last year. I thought they looked pretty darn cute!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Well, if you all are like me, you were very busy during the Holidays. I feel bad that I neglected my blog so badly, although it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last. I just thank all of you who stick with me through it all! Anyways... We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Dan played his annual football game with his brothers and then we went to the Wright's where we tried to control our portion sizes because 2 hours later we were due at a thanksgiving feast with my family. I didn't take many pictures, but I couldn't resist getting a shot of these two.

If you can't tell, Emma is on the right and her cousin Bella is on the left. Everywhere these two go, they are confused for each other or thought to be twins, if they are together. We thought it was too funny when we showed up and they were wearing similar outfits with matching vests!

As I mentioned, we had TWO Thanksgiving feasts (it's a good thing I had on my stretchy pants). My parents, brother, and nephew were in town, so we got the whole Pearson clan together since we don't often get to see them on Thanksgiving. My mom and siblings made one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I've ever had with ALL the things I love!

During the break the Pearson girls (minus Anna--we missed you) went to see Twilight, and I must say, it did not disappoint! And on Black Friday, I got to enjoy my annual shopping trip with the Wright girls (minus Lisa--we missed you), and I must say that it did not disappoint either! I just LOVE family!!!!!!

Emma's 2nd Birthday

Well, As promised, here are some pictures from Emma's birthday. Sorry it took so long, and I know probably no one is interested any more, but oh well!

We had a nice little party on Emma's birthday with Daniel's parents and brother. At the time, we thought Emma was allergic to eggs--a story for another time--so instead of trying to find an egg free cake recipe, I just made some Pillsbury Orange Rolls (go me!). Unfortunately, I forgot birthday candles, so Dan improvised by lighting one HUGE candle and sticking it right in the middle of Emma's roll. A little unorthodox, but it did the job (and made for a pretty cute picture).
My Mom, Dad, brother and nephew, Jonas, came to town to meet my sister's new little baby, Levi. Jonas' birthday is a few days before Emma's so we had a nice little combined party for them. It was such a cute party thanks to all of my creative family members. My sister Jennica painted all the kids' faces (and Nana's too; isn't my mom so pretty!) and the little ones had a blast with the balloons and zinger's and just with each other. Emma really scored as far as presents go... she was in 7th Heaven!

(These two are BEST buds. Although Tate is a couple of inches taller, Emma is just over a month older than him and they've been buds from the beginning!)