Gems

As most of you know, nursing a newborn can give you LOTS of time to read..... more time than I have had since I was last nursing, 3 years ago. It's been kind of nice. I've already read 5 books (cover to cover!) in 6 weeks- that is really good for me!

But it also gives me more just sitting down time to read to my other 2 boys. For those that don't know my boys very well- a trip to the library is quite possibly one of their most favorite things EVER! they could read books for HOURS- and I'm not exaggerating in the least.

So it's a win/win for everyone- this nursing business!

BUT- I also try to do one session of blog reading while nursing. jason is on the computer pretty much all the time (he is doing a double master's online program with live class sessions that last 3 hours long) So my computer time is VERY limited. But lately, i have found so gems that i think are worth sharing.

One of my goals this year is to be a more hands on mom. These blogs all help with that.

First TEACH MAMA- I LOVE HER! she has a 3 & 5 year old (and another daughter a little older that i don't pay as much attention to because i don't have one that age- just being honest!) But she taught elementary and now tutors and is SOOOO CREATIVE with her kids. Search through her archives and you will find WONDERFUL stuff!!

Then PREPARED NOT SCARED - this site is mostly about getting your life organized and prepared for emergencies. She has a great system put together for important documents, etc. BUT she also has some great FHE lessons and CHORE CHARTS. The chore charts we use for our boys right now came off her sight.

There is also MADE - i just barely found this blog. But it is just fun! she is all about home MADE stuff- and this month it is all about BOY things! love it.

THIS BLOG- is a preschool teaching (in her home) mom. She is actually someone i just found recently that i went to elementary school with,. She doesn't know i stalk her. i know, that is just sad! but she has SIMPLE GREAT preschool ideas that she posts!

A YEAR OF FHE- pretty self explanatory! a little over my kids ages- but i've used some stuff off of it!

just thought i'd pass them on! so tell me (all 2 of you that still read my blog) what are your favorite mom helping blogs??

Look who's 3!!

It is a little hard to believe that my little spence is actually 3 today. We had his party last week after music makers with all his little friends. It's hard to have winter birthday parties- i've decided! We kept it simple- he is only 3 after all.
he wanted a buzz party- so i stuck to a toy storyish theme. We played "red light, green light" pretending the party hats were traffic cones and they were trying to cross the road (like the 2nd movie). We also played "hot Mr. Potato" though the pieces wouldn't stay in Mr. Potato head.

We also had a little obstacle course- they had to dress like woody (or just a cowboy) gallop around the gym to some chairs, change into a toy army soldier and weave through the grass, then grab a little ball shooter and be buzz while they shot pictures of Zurg.That and cupcakes and presents were it. It was simple and GREAT! having it in the gym at the church was sooooo convenient! my house is way too small for a party with 13 little monkeys!

We LOVE our Spencer boy so much! he is quite the firecracker! one minute the little angel, and then BOOM he will be throwing a bigger tantrum then you've ever seen. You never know what kind of reaction your going to get out of him! It keeps life fun! His favorite color is GREEN---- and he is OBSESSED with it. He is adjusting still to not being the baby anymore- but for the most part he just loves little phillip! I often find him inside phillip's crib trying to give him his paci- even when phillip is sound asleep. Such a little helper :) His favorite thing to say is "I take care of him!" and won't let me do it.

Happy birthday big boy- we love you!

1 month

Phillip is one month today!! i can't believe how fast this last month has gone. he is just as cute as can be. for the most part he is still calm and easy going, with a few fussy moments here and there. I'm thinking of cutting dairy out of my diet to see if it helps his digestion a little better.....i've done it for a few days, but don't have much willpower. I LOVE CHEESE (and cow milk and yogurt and MILK CHOCOLATE) we shall see how it goes......i figure in the long run it would probably help me loose weight too, so i might as well do it!

Phillip Owen!!!!!

We have the cutest little guy!!! Phillip was born a little over a week ago- and considering today was my actual due date - i am very happy that he is already here!!

He entered this world with a bang- to say the least! I don't even know where to begin to talk about the day of labor. The beginning and the end were great, but the middle was all too scary for my liking.

I'm not quite sure what I want to write about it all yet......... basically the epidural made my blood pressure pretty much stop, which in turn made phillip's stop- i just remember hearing through my oxygen "it's been 6 minutes, we have to do something." The medication they used to counter act the epidural made me feel closer to death than i ever want to feel again. We were {this} close to an emergency c-section when phillip's heart rate picked back up. They had to completely stop my labor so we could both take a couple hours to recover from all the drama. When they started it again, things weren't good. Every time i had a contraction, phillip would drop back into danger zone. Lucky for me, the epidural i had didn't cause me to loose control of my legs. i was able to roll back and forth, get up on all fours, and pretty much do whatever i needed to in order to try to get phillip to change positions.

Finally, my midwife tells the OR doc to get ready for a c-section (again). I was still only dilated to a 9 and not totally ready. But then phillip started to drop even more, and she says "we have to get him out now." She tells me just to try pushing and we'll see how it goes. Not more than 2 minutes later our beautiful (VERY BLUE) boy was out. His cord was around his neck twice. Lucky for us, he popped right out. After a little oxygen and some lovin' from his momma, he was a beautiful bright pink!

He weighed 8lbs 15oz, was 21 in long. He is one big boy!! His brothers are the cutest things in the world to watch with him. They are so quick to love and comfort him when he makes the smallest peep. He the first one we haven't had billi issues with- which has been so nice! We are all just totally in love with him. And i don't know if it's just because i'm getting older, or what, but i feel like i'm taking FOREVER to recover! My body just isn't what it has been in the past ;(

* and i feel like i need to add a disclaimer for all you epidural haters out there. I don't know yet if it was solely the epidural that caused all the problems. I had been having heart problems throughout the entire pregnancy. But the cardiologist had cleared me for labor- so i thought things would be fine. I'll be having surgery to close the hole in my heart in the next couple of months- so hopefully we won't ever have this problem again!

Merry Christmas!

Oh, it's December!

I have soooo many fun pictures from this month to post! but as always, i just haven't done it yet! but this picture NEEDS to be remembered specifically!

Jared has been absolutely opposed to sitting on santa's lap. we have seen lots of different santas this season......from a far distance!

i made an advent calendar at the beginning of the month with different things we can do to "keep my kids from asking when christmas is" or to help us celebrate the season! unfortunately for us, quite of the days were things we could do together in the snow as a family. when i made the calendar, we had a foot of snow, at least. now........ we have nothing but a muddy mess outside! i think this will be our first christmas without snow!

anyway, so on the days we had a snow activity we have let the boys come up with some other activity to do. Yesterday, jared made the decision that he was ready to sit on Santa's lap. so we went to the mall after jason got home. the lighting was terrible for my little camera- but as you can see, spencer wanted NOTHING to do with the man in red. Jared sat there and listened quietly. he told santa what he wants most. any guesses???



a waterfall.



yes, a waterfall. that is what he has been asking for, for months! it hasn't changed. he wants that , a long sword, and a viking battle axe. and unfortunately, i'm pretty sure this santa doesn't really want him to have those things! he did already get a new sword from his cousins, so we are good there. but the last thing we need is a battle axe. and we don't have any room in our house for a waterfall. (he wants a waterfall so he can play "rescuers down under." i know. it's pretty cute, but quite impossible)

soooo that isn't the part i want to record.

we came home to have dinner after sitting on santa's lap. Jason asked jared to bless the food. In his prayer he included this lovely sentence

"And please bless Santa so he doesn't have disgusting breathe"

and i had to run to bathroom i was laughing so hard. Jared had NO idea why i was laughing. he was COMPLETELY serious.

i guess his first experience on santa's lap wasn't so great!

Happy Thanksgiving

This picture was taken at a "fall festival" we had at church the end of October. My belly is SOOOO much rounder now! I think it clearly expresses the personalities of the my sons when confronted with starngers! They are hilarious!!
We have had our first thanksgiving as just our little family this year- and have LOVED it! i think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I always feel stressed when trying to feed my son (jared) at other people's houses. Not worrying that he wasn't going to eat any of the food has made my day soooo much less stressful!
The first thing i wanted to do this morning (before jason headed off to play football in 10 degree weather) was make a cute little thankful tree. I was making breakfast and explained my idea to jared. Well, he took it upon himself to create our thankful tree- and this is what came of it! Not nearly as fancy or cute looking- but it has all the personality of my sons. and I LOVE that!

Jared's thankful list 2010-

Archie book (archie and the pirates that he gets from the library and LOVES)
Horses
Spencer
Paper- drawing (this is a HUGE mountain we are still climbing- but he is slowly learning to love it!)
Humming birds (we made little paper ones at the library this week!)
Animals
Cereal

Spencer's Thankful List 2010-

Cows
Horses
Nuh-Nuh (his blanket)
Milky
Shows
Hot Dogs
Nuggets
My Bed

Daddy's List

Family
Animals
Food
House
Church
Army
Warm Clothes

Mommy's List

Family
Good Health
Beds
Good Helpers
Heater
Car
Laughter


We made little apple/gumdrop turkeys for our center pieces. The boys had fun making them. When i pulled out the apples jared wanted nothing to do with it- and Spencer just wanted to eat the candy- but eventually they both go into it. I remember making similar ones when i was really little- though there was usually a lot more candy involved. I new it would be a waste of money to buy more 'cause my boys wouldn't be eating it anyway. gumdrops were sufficient!

We went from having no snow- to being covered. and now it's FREEZING which means it won't melt. Anyone know how to rake frozen leaves? Our leaves hadn't even fallen off yet. Now, of course, they are like crazy. but they are just freezing to the snow. Who knows what kind of mess we are going to have come spring!

The boys were BEGGING jason to take them out while i was finishing the food. They have been waiting for snow forever!

We are all so grateful to have each other and be a happy eternal family! I think the one thing that we talk about the most, and are the most excited about this year has definitely got to be the upcoming arrival of baby gorilla! The boys know that after thanksgiving is christmas- which means baby will be here soon!!!!!!!

In Fairness

For those that have entered our little contest (see side bar)

THIS BABY IS ALREADY OVER 5 POUNDS!!!

I'm just saying..... in case you want to adjust your weight guesses!!!!


(and the length is equally proportioned)

Delicious!

FLOUR TORTILLA

+

LOTS OF KETCHUP

+

CANNED CORN

=

ONE HAPPY JARED AND TWO GROSSED OUT PARENTS!

I wish I could tell him he can't eat such a thing- but if he is willing to try ANYTHING new,
I'll let him.
Even if it looks REALLY gross!

Time for a little Game!

So, I'm not sure if anyone even reads my sad blog anymore......... which is totally my fault. oh well. But I've seen this fun online game on a few blogs and thought I'd throw it out there if anyone wants to join in.

I've officially passed the 30 week mark (i'll be 31 weeks tomorrow) and since we aren't finding out the gender of this little baby gorilla (that is what jared and spencer call it) a guessing game is all the more exciting....right?? :)

All you need to do is CLICK THIS LINK RIGHT HERE or the box at the bottom of the post or on my sidebar..... and it will take you to the game. I think you have to register- but it's free and no annoying emails come from it. Take a guess at all the different stats of Baby Gorilla, and we shall see who is the winner.

I thought about giving hints- what the baby is measuring now and different common things from my last 2 pregnancies.......but i don't think i'm going to. Just take a stab in the dark, it'll be fun!

I will tell you that my original due date is Jan 8.......... but that's all!


GOOD LUCK----

Trick-OR-Treat

Can you figure out who is on Jason's pumpkin??





We went trick-or-treating with Zoia again this year- it's becomeing a fun tradition! We got very lucky with the weather, it stopped raining just as we started. It was PERFECT fall weather.

It was quite funny- at the first house the kids all ran up to the door. I reminded them to say "trick-or-treat!" and Z turned around and said "but i'm not allowed to talk to strangers!" and started walking off the porch. she was very serious. After a quick explanation that this one night it's ok to say that one thing- she was set!

Then Jared ran down the middle of the street yelling at the top of his lungs " I LOVE HALLOWEEN! IT'S THE BEST DAY EVER! I GET CANDY!!!" -- and for those of you who don't know this- that is a VERY ironic statement coming from him. he DOES NOT like very many candies. he HATES chocolate- will only eat about half a dumb dumb. I laughed really hard.

Even lil spencer kept up with older ones. running from house to house was his favorite part. and i LOVED watching every minute of it!

A Bomber and His Pregnant Cat

yep. it's true. we went WAY out on our costumes this year! (enter sarcastic laugh here.....) but we had a great time at the party anyway! Thanks again Kim and Mechelle!

~~ I should add that really my cute husband worked really hard on his mysterious package! when opened it had a great surprise------ baby powder bomb!

Sir Jared David

Jared had a preschool carnival on monday. He decided this time to dress up as a knight. They invited parents to come volunteer during the last 45 minutes of class- and i was so sad i couldn't go! why? because i knew if i went, then jared would NOT participate in ANYTHING! i started to doubt my thinking. I finally decided I'd show up to see the last 5 minutes. What happened? as soon as he saw me (just after the picture taken above playing musical chairs) he ran and clung to my side, and wouldn't leave. It felt good to know i was right. I asked the other parents that had been there the entire time if he had been like that all day- "no, he was fine until you got here" was the response. SOOOO FRUSTRATING!

I've been meaning to record some of the random things my son has said...........

A) we started carpooling to school this week with a girl in his class. The morning of the first day, as we were snuggling in bed, I told him of my plan to go and pick her up.

his response: "i don't feel comfortable with her"

me: "why not?" (a tad bit concerned, probably due to the use of the word comfortable)

him: "she's a girl, and i don't want to kiss girls on the lips. i'm not comfortable with that!"

me: (relieved it isn't something for reals) "jared, it's just a car ride. you don't have to kiss her. in fact, i don't want you to ever kiss a girl!"

him: "oh, ok then......fine!"

B) A couple months ago Jared woke up a little ornery and didn't want to go to school......big surprise, i know! during his morning prayer he prayed "to please help me not be whiny and have a good day at school and not be scared." I thought that was pretty cute, but had kind of forgotten about it by the time we came home from school. During his lunch prayer he prayed "and i'm thankful that i wasn't whiny or scared and school and had a good day." I was so impressed that he had remembered to thank Heavenly Father.

C) finally a few weeks ago, we were having family home evening and jared raised his hand, saying he was giving the scripture. That is not much of a surprise. He and spencer each usually share "a scripture" (as in tell a scripture story- usually, like 90% of the time it is samuel the lamanite) jared gets up to our little podium (aka our mini trampoline) and says:

"first Nephi chapter 13. And it came to pass that the Angel said, "Look!" and I looked. And behold i saw a vision. And it was the vision of the Tree of Life, like my father Lehi....... In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

And then he sat back down on the couch. And then Jason and I looked at each other, and had a very proud parent moment. And we realized just how important it is to read both from scripture story books as well as the actual scriptures. And we realized that they actually are listening as we read over breakfast every morning. AND we were just proud! Seriously- how many 4 year old kids are familiar with sayings like "and it came to pass" and "vision" and "behold"

Carving Punkins

So, my pictures are out of order, but i'm not going to take the time to fix them. sorry. This is the boys being "scary" with their finished products. You will have to wait to see how Jason's huge pumpkin turns out- he decided to go play basketball instead of finishing his pumpkin...... but let me tell you it- it's going to be pretty cool!
Spencer is in the most awkward smiling phase right now. When he smiles big, his mouth is adorable, but his eyes are completely closed. So, i told him to open his eyes- and this is what i got! gotta love it!
It took Jared a little time to not be afraid of the pumpkin guts. But as you can see in the video below, he finally got over it......kind of!



This was the first year that both boys really LOVED the idea of carving pumpkins. Jared hasn't really been into it much the last few years. But i think since his attitude was different this time, Spencer was able to follow his lead and LOVE it! They were so stinkin' cute about it all! I did the little video in the post below, but i wish i could have just sat in the background and quietly filmed them. They were saying the funniest stuff! but of course- if i had done that, then who would have gutted their pumpkins?

Carving Video