Lookin' like a fool with you pants on the ground!

Haha! It is 1:30 in the morning, Danny is doing the dishes so I can actually post something (isn't he nice?!), I have to be up at 6:30 and Justin is in trouble because he has been burning episodes of this current season of American Idol for us to watch- and it's so addictive!! But it's so fun! My title was from someone's audition- it was great! A 62 year-old guy dancing and singing about kids lookin' like a fool with their pants on the ground. You should see it. :)

So anyhoo... Now I have no time to write my post, so I will be very fast. All is going well and I am finally feeling better. I didn't realize how sick I was and it feels sooo good to feel normal. Well, as normal as you can with a 4-week old!

 Things are busy around here and it is hard to have time to get everything done, or anything done, except for watching American Idol! Emme is a doll and is super good and truly, truly hardly ever cries. Only when she is really hungry and I am changing her pants or some other silly thing. She is still stuffy and sounds like Snuffleupagus, which is rather stressful. But she is sleeping and eating fine. She is getting lots bigger and likes to coo at us. She smiles, but not a lot. I think she is still trying to figure out how. And she still sleeps a lot, which is great! So why do I have such a hard time getting us all ready and the beds made before 10 am?

  On Friday was the school talent show and Alex did great! His music wouldn't play, so he just started singing accapella, which might have been better. The lady backstage who was helping actually had tears in her eyes! "He's just so good!" she said as she sniffled and wiped her nose. It was a hoot and we did tape it, but I can't get video on here. I will work on it and see what we can do. He was so cute and looked so little in the middle of the big stage with his cowboy hat and guitar and wasn't nervous at all and was just so stinking cute!! Since I don't have video for now, here is a picture of him the night we got him his "Curly" costume. He was so excited, he took his jammies right off to wear it. It took some convincing the next day to get him to wear it over his clothes.

And here's a bunch of pictures of Emmelou, just being a cutie.

 

                 All the kids love her and have adjusted just fine. They went with Danny and Justin this afternoon and flew a kite and played with airplanes. Justin introduces all kinds of fun new things into their lives. The kids have all said funny things lately, like today when we were in the car and Alaina kept kind of "grrr"ing and saying, "I'm mad." Danny said, "You are not mad." and she yelled back at him, "I am mad!!" I can't even remember all the other funny things they have said, which is what happens when you go so long without blogging! Then I am sad that I can't remember.
  So, I should probably go to bed now. I think it's a good thing I got a really nice, long nap today. (Thanks again to Danny. I think I'm going to marry that boy!)

Leaving the hospital and being at home

Howdy-do everyone!! Well, here are a lot of pictures, that pretty much say what's been going on here. :)

This was the first time Tristan saw Emme. He was so cute and quite overcome with emotion. He said, "I love her soo much." It was really cute. Alaina looked concerned when she cried and held out her finger for Emme to hold. But when she grabbed it, Alaina jerked it back in surprise.

This was Alex's first time to hold her. He really loves her and when he comes home from school he runs in to see her. He took some pictures to school and they said he was quite proud showing them and said, "Baby sister Emme!!"

At the hospital she would sleep on her side sometimes and squoosh her cheeks all together. It was so cute. I tried to take a picture of it, but this doesn't quite capture how squooshy they were. All the nurses just loved her and said she was an "angel baby."

This is how she would look at me when she was awake. Either I am very beautiful, or very scary. She probably doesn't care which!

Another cutie picture!

Tristan making himself at home in the hospital bed! Him and Alaina loved coming to visit and seeing the baby and getting cookies and cheese and juice and watching SpongeBob. Tristan would go on his own to the snack fridge and help himself!

Just a funny picture!

These next pictures are after we came home. She came home last Sunday morning. I have to say, considering it was less than ideal to have her in NICU for a week, we absolutely loved the hospital and all the staff. They were all so kind and made me feel very welcome and were great with Emme. Not one person was rude or mean the entire week and that included all the CNA's and cleaning and food staff. Oh, and the food was great and I could have kissed them a hundred times for feeding me while I was there!! Emme even gave a big smile to one of the ladies who was there almost every day and had a strong accent. She said hi to Emme every morning and she said that she smiled at her one day when she said hello. Her name was Rose, so that was fitting since that is Emme's middle name! She was super nice. Sorry these next pictures are so dark! I have some announcements to send you and I lightened the pictures and they are really cute!

She loves to suck on her fingers- including her thumb!!

Daddy with his little girls. :)

So, I have to say that she is the sweetest little baby!! She never cries, even when she got her foot poked at the doctor's. She sleeps a lot and when she wakes up she just wants to eat and then looks around at things. She has smiled quite a lot, but is still learning how.  Oh, when we went to the doctor's Alaina saw her umbilical cord for the first and asked if her belly had pooped. And whenever I nurse around Alaina or Alex they say she is "eating your belly." Tristan keeps saying that he is her dad and when I tell him that he is her brother he asks, "Well then, who is her Dad?" And everyone has to give her kisses before they go to bed at night. We love our little muffin top.
  On a different note, I think we are going to Salt Lake tomorrow for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. We had decided not to, but Danny forgot to tell his work that he didn't need tomorrow off, and now it is too late to un-take it off. So, I think we will go. It might be rainy, which is yucky, and we haven't taken Emme farther than 5 miles, but we will see how it goes. Alex has been begging for weeks to see the Christus Statue in Salt Lake. And then I can go to a few decoratey stores, too! And hopefully we will get the same hotel as last year, with the swimming pool that is open all night and the great breakfast!! Wish us luck!
  Also, did you guys know that Kattie is in Washington D.C. now? There were visa issues, so she is finishing out the last of her mission there. But, she is serving where there is a Mongolian ward and her companion was someone she knew and loved in Mongolia. She was with her the night she got her mission call to Washington D.C.! How crazy is that? If she doesn't extend she will be home the end of April. Keep her in your prayers! I think she is having a hard time adjusting back to America and all the prosperity and the busy-busy attitudes.
     I think that is all for now. Say a little prayer that maybe it won't rain on us and that I won't get left at McDonald's with all the kids again, like last year!

Emmerson Rose

For all of you asking- here are some pictures! Sorry I don't have time to write more!

When the kids come up to visit, they are really excited to see the baby- for about 5 minutes. Then they want to go back to my room and eat cookies and watch SpongeBob.

Fatty cheeks! And her eyes are still a little swollen.

A little present!! All wrapped up and ready to love!

She is super sweet and the nurses said that she is an "angel baby." She likes to eat and sleep! And she seems very cuddly and lovey and happy to be held and rocked, which she is a lot. I'll put more pics on soon if I get some more!

Dentists, desks and dances

Hi there! Hmm... there are a lot of things to try to remember to tell you about! First- Dances. On Valentine's Day Danny took me to something quite fun. It was a fundraiser put on by the Hope Lutheran Church to raise money for a youth rally. The theme was "A Night in Paris" and it was in their gym, all decorated with white lights and things and flowers and real wine! There were lots of yummy appetizers and then a dinner with beef and chicken and potatoes and salad and rolls and pies and cakes for dessert. And it was buffet style so you could get all you wanted! Then they had people sing and they were all really good and turned the lights down low and had percussion and guitar and a saxsaphone, so it felt very jazz clubby. It was really fun and the best part was watching the old couples dance together. You know, Hollywood wants you to think they know what "love" is, but they've got nothing on these people! They were so cute together, dancing cheek to cheek, and it didn't matter what they looked like or danced like, they were in love. Still. I loved it. And the best part was, it was only $5 each! We asked how they make any money on it, and the lady Danny works with and got the tickets from said something about people donating to the "goodwill" fund something-or-other, but Danny and I are cheap and so for us it was only $10! Are we horrible people?

Next- I have been trying to find an old school desk for the kids for quite a while for them to color at, etc. I saw this one on Craigslist and got it and the chair for $25. I should have offered $20, just to be cheap, but I didn't. These are the befores. The kids thought it was great already and it was in the house for a few days before it got painted, because I couldn't get them to leave it alone!

And this is Lainey enjoying it in her room after it was painted! It is just the right size and they all think it's cool. But I think they liked it better when it was in the living room! Also, Lainey keeps asking where the "other desk" is. The pink one. She can't quite grasp that this is the pink one!

Do you see how the silver doesn't go quite all the way to the top? A little of the old blue shows through. And on the chair, too. I kind of like and am leaving it like that for now. Partly just because I don't want to spray paint anymore. I did it in the living room, and even though I put sheets down, I had to mop like 4 times to get up the fine coating of blue on the hardwood floors. Oops!

All the kids have been to the dentist now and with no cavities for any them! Yeah! Now I feel like a much better mother. :) They were all really good (I should have gotten pictures) and I really like the office. When Alex went, he really liked the dentist's mask and so the dentist gave him one. He thought it was soo cool and wore it all night, just pulling it down a little to eat. Well, the other day I went to sleep for a little nap and Justy was upstairs with the kids. I woke up with a start realizing that the transportaion people would be there any minute to pick Alex up for speech. I ran to the living room and asked Tristan where Alex was. "He's at Kerrie's. See, there goes the van."

"Did Justin get him ready?"

"No, I did."

It turned out Justin had gone downstairs, and when they knocked on the door Tristan had opened it and then he said Alex came in and got his coat on and left. Kind of scary. Anyway, when he came back home I burst out laughing, because apparently he had worn his mask to speech! I called his speech therapist and told her that no, Alex didn't have any contagious diseases. He just really like that mask. She said she had wondered if that was why he was wearing it. Anyway, here is a picture, not of beautiful, clean teeth, but of Alex and his mask!

You guys keep asking to see a picture of me preggo- so here goes! I am due in one more week!

Have you ever thought you were looking pretty okay, and then someone takes your picture and you look horrible?! So then you take another and another, and it is very depressing. That was this experience. Finally, in a huff, I told Danny that he had no photographing skills whatsoever and took the camera away. I am going to try to get a better picture, so that this isn't all I have to remember this pregnancy by!

And my last thing (are you still there?)- I got a real, grown-up jewelry box! I have been going craaazy since the one I had from Mommy broke over a year ago. I have tried little garge sale ones and all kinds of compromises, but nothing worked and all my necklaces were stuck together- and I try to take really good care of my jewelry, since I can't afford more! Also, the day before, my little box I keep my earrings in fell all to pieces, anmd i had already glued it back together once. Anyhoo.. when I found this one I couldn't resist! Mostly because it had three huge drawers that are just big with a divider- perfect for necklaces! And it has a mirror and a whole drawer for earrings. It was so fun putting everything in! The jewelry box is really heavy and heavy-duty- it will last long after I am tired of it. And it was 75% off! I know this seems like a little thing, but these kinds of things make me so happy! I feel so happy now for all my jewelry. :) And there is still plenty of room for new jewelry pieces!! The only problem is that when I got it home, it was a little larger than I realized, so I had a hard time finding where it looked good. Do you like it here okay? I hope so- there isn't really anywhere else for it to go!

 

And here is a picture of what Tristan did this morning while I tried to do this post! Aren't I a good Mom?!

Wedding Pictures

These are horrible pictures, but we forgot our camera and so we took these with our phone camera. Sorry they're not better! Also, as everyone seems concerned about my comment, I was only kidding when I said they would be happy until they had kids!! We lovve having kids and can't imagine not having them. On Sunday we kept the kids home from church and traded off, due to the coughs, and for the last class Justy was home with them. After church we both commented on how without the kids it was so... boring. No one running up to you and hugging you, no pictures they colored or funny things they said. They are truly what brings color and life into our lives. I like to joke because then at things like the wedding, instead of being frustrated we are laughing by the end, because sometimes it is so crazy! And the older the kids get, and the more we have, the more joy and fulfillment it brings to our lives.

By the way, I think the baby's name is Emmerson Rose. I have never considered the name Rose, but somehow it feels right. We will see after she is born if it seems to fit! I can't wait!

Our family at a wedding...

  Yesterday was Jon Shipley's wedding reception! Since we were the only ones from our family to be able to go, I will tell you a little about it. From our perspective, of course.
  It was in the evening, in Rigby, so we made the kids eat dinner first. Danny and I were in nice church clothes from attending a baptism right before, but we were too tired to try to dress up the kids. So they came as they were. Alaina and Alex were cute and fine in jeans and shirts, but Tristan had felt sick all day and was wearing a verrry holey Spiderman costume with boots, put on the wrong feet. Like I said, we were too tired to care.
  The reception was at a church, and they really did a beautiful job with decorating it. There were pine/ alpine trees all around the edges, with bare branches in pots, all with lights going up toward the ceiling and white fabric at the bases. The tables were all white with a brown runner down the middle, with rocks and then a centerpiece that was clear with branches and green and silver and then lit candles on top. (The fake candles.)  And all the chairs had white chair covers with brown ties/ bows on them. The bride and groom and parents were standing on a really cool thing with pillars and curtains, hard to describe, that said "And they lived happily ever after..." on it.I found out later the bride's dad had made it. He should rent it out to other couples. There were more things in the room, but you get the idea. The whole feeling was very earthy and cozy. And someone was playing beautiful music on the piano, which made me very jealous.
  We took our place in line, quickly to be followed by lots of others. Did I mention that our kids have had colds? Particularly Tristan. Alaina asked a very nice man in line behind us to hold her, which he did. She talked to him, and coughed on him a lot. She told him she was a kitty and meowed. I'm surprised she didn't try to lick him, which is what she usually does. He should be glad she didn't.
  We felt very conspicuous standing there, with our kids coughing nonstop on everyone. On the plus side, the photographer apparently really liked Tristan's outfit and asked if she could take his picture. So he made his muscles, and when she said her battery was out and she would be right back, he just stood there with his arms up and muscles flexed until she came back.
  Their guest book was cool. (I am getting lots of ideas for when I have to put a reception together.) It was one of those books you can have made, with pictures of Jon and Emily and then at the top of each page asked for different pieces of advice- how to cherish each other, etc. I signed on the page that asked for advice on how to keep their marriage happy. I wrote, "Put your kids to bed early." It's true. I also added that they should remember the old Chinese proverb, "It is not economical to go to bed early to save on candles, if the result is twins." Hehehe....
  After waiting in line long enough for Alex to figure out that he could make shadows on the ceilings and Tristan to get several compliments, we made it to the front of the line!! Jon was really happy to see us and gave us big hugs. Tristan posed and showed Jon his "muscles" and Alex gave him a hug. His wife, Emily, seems really nice and her and her parents seemed really down to earth and kind. I was very happy for them. And yes, Mommy, I told Jon's Mom why you couldn't come and that you were going to send them something. So now you have to.
   After our 45 seconds of visitng, we sat down to eat some refreshments. They had little plates with a cream puff, and chocolate stick and one of those small cheesecake squares on it. Tristan was duly appeased, as we had only gotten him to eat dinner by telling him that we would have a treat after. There were also crackers and dips you could help yourself to.
  While Tristan and Alaina were happy with their sugar, Alex was ansy and squirmy. He didn't want to try any of the food. Possibly my favorite part of the whole night was when I looked over and saw Alex, with a quizzical expression on his face, take from his mouth one of the rocks from the table decorations that was shaped remarkably like a chocolate chip. After looking surprised, he looked rather disappointed, as he does like chocolate chips.
  After reaching maximum sugar intake, we decided we'd better get out of there while we were ahead. I did notice that although most of the tables were very full, while we were sitting there no one else had sat at our table. Weird.
  We were just about to leave the gym, when at the same time, Alaina pronounced that she had to go potty and the photographer asked to get a picture of our family. We all posed, and just as she was about to take the picture Alaina threw herself to the floor screaming, " I haf ta go potty!!!" So, no pictures for us. Just a trip to the family bathroom. On the other side of the gym.
  Lainey did her little tinkle, we convinced Tristan that he could wait till we got home and we started to go through the gym again, with the pretty music playing and everything quiet and peaceful. Alex tried to stop and open the presents and Lainey pronounced in a very loud voice that she had to go potty, again. Then Tristan started crying that he couldn't hold it and Alex started trying to escape the clutches of Daddy's hand. So off I went, again, to the other side of the gym, while Danny took Alex to the truck. We had to wait about forever while Alaina sat there on the toilet saying, "I'm going poop!" and when Tristan finally got to go he said, "I knew I had to go potty!"
  On our way back through the gym Alaina saw the presents and said, "I will unwrap them!!" I ran outside as fast as I could and the kids were mostly asleep by the time we got home.
  Sorry if there aren't more details you would like about the other people actually involved in the reception, but this was our experience and it was hard to see past it. It was a lovely reception and I'm sure they'll be very happy together. Until they have kids, of course.

Mad Bus

  Every day Alex's school bus gets here around 2:15. But sometimes later, and sometimes sooner. So I am always here very early to make sure I don't miss it. Then I sit on the couch for 25 minutes watching out the window for it. Sometimes I get tired of waiting and get on the computer, periodically checking out the window to make sure he is not here. But despite the fact that the bus weighs close to 4 tons, is diesel and bright yellow, sometimes I don't see or hear it. Then I am all a flutter as I run to the door and find Alex waiting there on the doorstep for me, sometimes with a person standing at the foot of the bus stairs waiting for me.
  Today was one of those days. And since I didn't hear it, I have no idea how long they have been waiting for me. When Alex came in today he pointed to the bus pulling away and said, "Bus mad." Did he mean the people on the bus were mad at me? Did they convey those feelings to Alex? Of course, Alex is no help at all in figuring it out. So then I am just left feeling slightly guilty inside and also kind of mad, because, good grief! How many times have I waited for them? And then also wondering, why does it bother me what the bus driver thinks? Why do I have to care so much about everything?
  Today I also spent 2 hours at the Dr.'s office for a 5 minute visit and found out that, thanks to the latest union agreement, 3 weeks before our baby is due our health insurance plan changed from covering 100% of the labor, delivery and stay with a $150 deductible, it will now only pay 90% with a $250 deductible for me and $250 for the baby. So instead of paying $150, we are looking at close to $2,000. Remind me again why I need them to help me have a baby?
  Also, we took our tax papers to our tax guy yesterday and when he saw them he said, "Wow. We didn't pay as much in taxes this year." So now I am paranoid that we will get nothing, or worse, have to pay. At least next year we will have one more little tax deduction on our forms.
   I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Honk if I'm paying your mortgage!" I want one that says, "Honk if your parents had you so they could save on their taxes!"