Holly's Blessing

Holly's blessing was last Sunday, the 5th of July. She wore this lovely white dress with purple embroidered polka dots. She looked like a little angel from heaven, which, of course, we think she is! Both her grandfathers, and her Uncle Bill stood in for the blessing, it was so neat!
It was such a rushed day, but I can tell a couple things that stood out to me about her blessing. First, Ted sounded very confident and I was touched by the Priesthood power that I could feel. He spoke with authority, and with love, and I could tell he was really listening to be guided by the Spirit when he spoke. He blessed her with the knowledge that her extended family would be watching over her, and that we would all be here whenever she needed us. He blessed her with peace and with the spirit to know right from wrong. It was truly a touching moment, and I am so grateful to have a worthy Priesthood holder in my home, and I am grateful that he exercises it on a regular basis.
Another cool thing about that day, was that our 16 year old nephew, Cole, was needed at the sacrament table, and they didn't even have to ask. He also spoke with authority, and I was so proud, and moved to tears by the strength and humility he showed when speaking the words of the prayer. Cole, we don't tell you nearly enough how much we love you. And we could not be any prouder if you were our own son!
Now, here's some cute pictures from that day!

Ugh. So sorry about the red eye. I don't know how to fix it, but the red eye reducer on our camera was ON! Anyway, here's me and Holly!

Getting ready to be gorgeous! She sure loves her binky!

I almost didn't post this family picture outside of the church, because Ben is goofing off. But you know what, it captures Ben to a T, and I think it's so cute that he's holding onto his older brother by his tie!

And finally, this is Angelice and her cousin, Katelyn. Bright sun! But they sure looked pretty that day, too!

Happy Birthday America!

Independence Day is my favorite holiday. This year, we were blessed to not only have my parents with us, but Ted's family as well. The next day, we blessed Holly. I had many things to be grateful for this weekend. Here's a few pictures from that day.

This is during our family football game. It was so fun to see both Grandpas playing with their grandkids. So glad Dad is able make such awesome memories with us, still!

This was the awesome cake I made. From scratch. That's right. I rock!! We had so much fun this year, it really made me look forward to sharing more holidays in our home with our family! Thanks for coming everyone!

Jonas. AWWWW YEAH!

Okay. So Angelice is a total Jonas Brothers fan. It reminds me a little bit of back in the day, but I digress. You all who know me know what I am talking about. So, Ted gets home from work, complaining about the traffic by the Idaho Center. Of course, I complain back, about a bunch of friends in Chicago who all got together to got to a New Kids concert. I am bummed. He is stressed. He says, hey, I betcha there's tickets left, why don't you go see if you can get in? I pshaw him right away. The baby can't go that long without nursing. We don't have that kind of money. I don't think Angelice would be okay, it's pretty loud there. I don't want to go alone. A million excuses. There's no way there are still tickets left. Ted insists, Angel pleads. FINE. If I can't be in Chicago with the New Kids, I will take my daughter to see the Jonas Brothers instead! If nothing else, we can do a little old fashioned bus stalking. So we get ready, and head out there. The ticket offices are closed. I walk to the gate anyway, and ask the security guy if there is any way we can buy some tickets. He says no. There's only 45 minutes of the show left anyway. Angelice starts to sniffle. I pick her up, and she lays on my shoulder. A guy walks by, "Hey, I have one ticket, do you need one?" I just sort of look at him. The security guy says, "Someone handed me one that couldn't be used on the way in, too. You want it?" DUH!!! Crying 7 year old JoBro fan here!!!! So we grab them, FOR FREE!!!! And head on in to the show. It was a mob scene. It was so cool! I fumbled with my camera trying to find the right setting, it seems darkness with flashes of light while trying to focus on an object far away with waving arms in front of you is not a setting on my camera, LOL! So the pics are not great, but it's the best I could do. We had SO MUCH FUN! And Angelice is a better bus stalker than I was, yet, she still has much to learn. I so hope I can teach her soon since New Kids all but announced another tour after a hiatus later this year. If Boise is on the list, we are sooooooo THERE!

Sorry for the wonky formatting. I tried to fix it. I wish there was a better way to download pictures on this site.

This was a really cool picture on my viewfinder, but not so much when posted. Jonas is kind of like boy band meets rock band. These boys do NOT suck. Nick's drum solo was smokin'.

There was a lot of interaction between the boys and the rest of the band. I was impressed by their musical talent.

One of the floating stages.

That's Nick on the drums. He plays both guitar and drums, and oh my, he is very good. They all are.

Father's Day

Some Dads are just cooler than others. I picked Ted to be a Dad to my kids because he's one of those guys. He cooks pancakes for them on his days off. He takes them fishing. Even the girl. He plays catch in the yard, and encourages his boy to eat worms. Okay so that last one was kinda gross. He didn't really think Jacob would do it. He burps the baby. He even changes her diapers. He gets up in the middle of the night to soothe her back to sleep if I can't do it. He works his butt off at work, and plays his butt off on his days off. What is most wonderful about Ted is that he is a good example to his boys. He treats me with respect, and demands that they do the same. He holds them accountable, expects integrity from them. That's a real Dad. A Dad who teaches his sons to be men. And for his girls, he is their rock. They can always count on Daddy when they are afraid or when they need to feel like they matter too. This didn't just happen by accident. I chose Ted because I saw in him both a gentleness and a sense of responsibility and loyalty. I must say, I chose wisely! He's great! Happy Father's Day!
And while we are at it, here are a couple of pictures of the baby. She's almost two months old now. She's smiling on a regualr basis, but I have yet to capture it on film. NO, her eyes have not settled on a color yet, although they look pretty brown here. I can't wait to see what they will finally settle on!
Aren't those little bows so cute? In this picture, she was fussing a bit, but still so adorable!

Yo, Roses!

Roses. In our front yard. That we planted. They are going absolutely crazy. Thought I would post them. Because I am so proud. The rest of the yard looks like...well it looks like someone with 4 kids and works almost 50 hours a week lives here. But the roses are nice! How does your yard look?

Status Update

These are Holly at about two weeks old.

Ben and Kayla from the trip to Sacramento earlier this spring.

Jake being goofy at the father son campout.

The boys getting off the waterslide.

When do we just give up on potty training? Seriously, I am at my wit's end. But other than that things with us are great. Ted is back to work after taking time off tohelp out with the new baby. She's 4 weeks old, and STILL a great sleeper! The kids are in their last few days of school, and having so much fun with all the end of the year activities. They spend all day playing outside, and it's warm enough to play in the water. We're going through lots of towels, and I am forever barking "SHUT THE DOOR! The air conditioner is on!" I am at a point in my recovery that I am starting to think about taking trips this summer. Had you asked me a week ago, I would have cried at the thought. You know, it isn't easy taking care of four kids and a house. To be honest, most of my day is just filled taking care of the four kids, I don't have time for the house. But I wouldn't have it any other way. These kids mean the world to me, and being their mom is the greatest privilige and blessing I could hope for.

Welcome Holly!

What a crazy scene! How did I get four kids?!?! Anyway, Holly was born April 30 after a marathon 14 hour labor. My water broke a little after midnight on the 30th, and we noticed that the fluid was sort of murky and green, so we called the midwife. She had us come in to monitor the baby, even though my contractions hadn't really started in any pattern yet. We had lined up our neighbor to come sack out on the couch so the kids wouldn't wake up alone, but they happened to be gone. So, we woke up Jake, told him Dad was taking me to the birth center, and that he would be right back. We resigned ourselves to the possibility that Ted would miss the birth of his last child. I think I was more upset about that than I thought, because while my contractions started coming every 7 minutes as we were getting ready to go, they stalled out as soon as Ted left the birth center, and started coming more like every 15 minutes. I think subconciously, I didn't want to do it without him, and my mind controlled my body.

Anyway, I labored through the night alone, except for the wonderful midwife who came in and monitered the baby every half hour. There were times when the contractions got really intense for an hour or so, and I was feeling them in my back, so I hopped into the lovely HUGE tub. It helped me relax and relieved some of the pressure in my hips and back. Finally, as morning broke, I slept for about two hours with little to no contractions.

Ted got the kids off to school, and brought Ben with him to the Birth Center at about 10 am. He stayed for about an hour, but we discovered that Ben was too much of a distraction, so we called around and got a sitter for him. Ted left again. And I slept. When he got back around noon, I got up out of bed and started pacing the room. We talked and laughed between contractions, and they settled into an every 5 minute pattern. Soon, they were getting so intense in my back that I couldn't stand anymore. So I laid down, and went into my deep relaxation exercises. Ted thought I was asleep and not having any contractions, so when my midwife came in to check on us, he asked her about the possibility of having to transfer since my labor seemed to stalling out. At that moment, my flipped open and I gasped. The pain in my back was so bad, and all of a sudden, I was feeling TONS of pressure at the end of my contraction. The midwife checked me, and I was only 4 cms...I started to cry.

Ted suggested I get in the tub again to help my back pain, and as I slid down into the tub, I knew I was in transition. The pain was unbelievable and I was shaking. It was hard to stay in control. So, I sat in the tub for literally four contractions, about 10 minutes, when BAM! I just HAD to push. I couldn't even control it. So I did. And I felt her move down. The midwife must have heard me grunt, because she burst into the room, and said "DON'T PUSH! Get out of the tub!" I am anemic and they didn't want me to deliver in the water, it dilates the blood vessels and makes bleeding out more likely.

I could barely walk in that condition and as I stood up, I had another huge contraction, luckily they got me situated before I could bear down all the way, because she crowned right as soon as I got on the birthing chair! I would have pushed her right out onto the floor!! Anyway, the next contraction, they had me blow instead of push, and that was REALLY hard, but I did it, and she slid right out! It was unbelievable! She had swallowed alot of fluid with meconium in it, so they had to suction her before she breathed. That was a bit scary, and she was puking it all up the rest of the night. But as soon as she was suctioned, and they put some oxygen up to her, she pinked right up and began to cry.

I came out of it without a scratch, and totally credit soaking in warm water for that. It has been so nice to not have to recover from an episiotomy or a tear with this birth. I could sit right away with no pain!

Anyway, so even though it was a long labor, the actual painful part was very very short, so I am grateful for that. Holly is an awesome sleeper, so recovery for both of us has been very easy. My main frustration is caring for a potty training three year old at the same time as a newborn! Wow! I was not expecting that complication! But we'll get through it, we always do! She's such a blessing, so sweet, and so precious. I truly feel complete!