Since You've Been Gone....

Whew! I have spent over the last hour just catching up on your blogs (and I'm not done yet) and making my grocery list for the week! Now I will try to very quickly add comments to the many pictures below. I need to post more often, because I am forgetting all the funny things the kids say, particularly with a nursing baby around. You can imagine. :) 

This was just a cute picture of Lainey "mowing" in underwear and a bee costume. She likes to not wear pants with her underwear. I think it is a matter of convenience.

The first bath we gave to all the kids at once! I think we are going to have to do this more often to get them all cleaned regularly! Or do assembly line baths. They all thought it was really great.

Ahhh..... happiness. When it is warm here, the kids just stay outside all day long and it is sooo nice. I love it. Today there were snow flurries outside.

Emme chilling on the deck swing. I can't wait for it to get warm for good!

The kids all beg to hold Emme. She seems to think they are all pretty nice, but I am her favorite, as I provide the warm, sugary stuff she eats. One of the advantages of being Mom. And one of the challenges!

Alaina with Princess Laia buns. I thought it was really cute and worth a picture or two.

Doesn't she have a cute profile?

We weren't actually going swimming, Alaina just found the new suit we bought her and put it on. Who does it remind you of?

We went to the zoo on Sat. with Justin, Ben, Linda and Josh. It was really fun and kind of crazy, as there were tons of people there. Which is why this was the only picture I got, of Danny and Alaina walking back to the car. Isn't that exciting?

Emme not so happy on the swing.

Wow, I think that's all! We've actually been super busy and have probably done lots worth blogging about, but I can't remember and never have any time. Funny how that happens when you have a new baby......

It Don't Matter if You're Black or White

Haley, this should make you in particular happy! Now you won't have to feel all guilty and worried about us when you come to pick up your car. Because we got a new one!! Yea! We have been watching cars for a while, because we just have to have two cars. It was hard to decide if we should get a $500 clunker or a nicer car that will last longer. I think we came to a good compromise! It is a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria and was a police chief's car, so it was maintained perfectly. At 100,000 miles they sell the cars at auction. This car only has 104,000 miles, so that was good! Also, since it was a police car, it has upgrades in the motor, cooler, suspension and shocks. Anyhoo, on Kelley Blue Book it was $3,100 without the upgrades, and he was only asking $1,800 because he got it at a police auction and he only had to pay $2000.00 and just wanted to get most of his money back. It wasn't the style I was hoping to get, but it is really pretty anyway. And I really wanted silver (thank you Twilight) and it is white. But it drives sooo nice and picks up great and has no leaks or anything and the engine looks really good. Even Justin thought we should get it, and he is really picky. I think what he likes is that it still has the spotlights by the side mirrors, so people think you are a cop. It is pretty funny to see people really move out of the way and slow down around you! So, we feel good about it and since we won't be putting many miles on it, hopefully it will last a long time with only regular maintenance and repairs. Here is a picture of it! I think it is really funny that my two least favorite car colors are black and white, and I have one of each. I guess it shows that I am willing to sacrifice style to get a reliable car for a good price!

 Yesterday we spent all day cleaning our garage! Doesn't that sound exciting? This was the first time in a very long time that we have done a real, full-blown cleaning. We took two trips to the dump and a load to D.I. What did we take to the dump, you ask? Mostly lots of old paneling and lots of pieces of wood and just all kinds of crazy stuff. It seems almost empty now! It's soo awesome! That probably sounds weird to you, but it makes me so much happier, like a part of my brain is cleaned out. So, here is a picture for you!

I think it looks a lot cleaner in real life.

  That's about all that's going on now. We're blessing Emme next week- Oh, Haley can you and Dalley come? Let me know! I have to clean my house a lot today, Emme took her first bottle yesterday just great, and it was actually kind of warm today! That's all for now. Here are some Lainey pictures just for fun!

Happy Emme and a Mommy sleepover

I have been trying to write for so long, so while Emme is happy watching her mobile I am going to try to post this. So this will be really short. Ummm... Now I can't even think of anything that has been going on here. But, we are all doing well, other than seeming like someone is always sick. Emme isn't stuffy anymore and that is soo much nicer. She sleeps quite well at night, just wakes up about 4 times a night to eat. Remember when you feed them in bed and fall asleep and can't move becaue you are holding them? And then you put them in their bassinet and it feels sooo great to be able to roll over? Oh, how I love that feeling!

 I keep having the oddest dreams, probably from getting broken up sleep. But I had a fun dream that I found two extra bedrooms in our house that I didn't know about, and that was really fun!

 Danny and I are looking at cars. Again. We are trying to decide if we should be really frugal and buy some $500 car that runs (we only need it to get Danny to work, basically) or if we should spend a little more and get something that might actually last us a few years and be worth repairing, should we need to. Ahh, money. No matter how much you have, you think of all you could do with a little more!

So, here are way too many pictures of Emme! She smiles a lot now and is a very contented baby. The kids love her and Danny expends a lot of energy trying to keep them from touching and breathing all over her and getting her sick. I feel like it is a lost cause if you live in the same house and just bathe them in sanitizer every time they come near me. Emme likes to coo and talk a lot and sounds like she is laughing sometimes.

Do you see her big dimples?

Hey, look! I do have other kids!

I think babies are so cute when they yawn!

Looking very smug.

Do you see Alex's front tooth that was really loose and sore? So we tried to help him by pulling it out, but it wouldn't come. So we left it alone and now it is not loose at all, but sticks out at this funny angle. Kind of sad, but funny, too.

And last but not least, the only picture I got when Mammers stayed over after the book club on Wednesday! It was so fun for her to be here, especially to have a chance to just sit with the kids and enjoy them and hear all the funny things they say. Alaina told Grandma that she was cute and that she loved her shirt. They hugged her a whole bunch and made her watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs with them and read them books, which Grandma liked to change to words to and make them silly.

We loved having you over Grandma and hope you come again soon to stay!! And we want everyone else to come over and stay, too! Well, baby is starting to get bored, so I gotta go! But I will try to put Alex's singing on Meggie's blog, since it won't work on mine. So be on the lookout!

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!