Blessed, blessed day!

I LOVE my kids. Love them. They are wonderful. Claire is so helpful and sweet. Ian is SO funny and curious. Adam is just adorable and silly. They truly are the best part of my life (and Hansome Rob of course,) But I am SO excited to get rid of them! Just for a few hours a day. Sure I will miss Claire, but Ian is so much nicer when he doesn't have to compete with her. Claire started school today and Ian starts on Tuesday. They do so much better when they get a little more of my attention and I do so much better when there aren't 3 people yelling and screaming their needs and wants at me. I LOVE SCHOOL!

(Please ignore our driveway, it needs to be weeded.)

My BFF

Let's talk turkey. We have 3 kids. Each spaced 2.5 years apart. Perfectly planned. We have no intentions of having another within the next year. For now, 3 is GREAT.

You know how drunk people have "beer goggles"? I have something like that when I see her. I am so intoxicated with how cute she is, I hope I don't do something crazy.

Monday Night Lights

Surgical lights that is. Okay more like Tuesday morning lights, but I thought that was more catchy. I was waiting for Claire to come home on the school bus yesterday and my back and stomach were starting to ache. I blew it off, as always. An hour later I was unable to stand up. Another hour later, I had taken a quick bath and ate a little bit of dinner. (I assumed I didn't feel good because I have been doing Weight Watchers and my body NEEDS cookies!)

I had vomited up dinner and was on the couch and after not being able to walk to the bathroom to pee, when I realized something was wrong. That and I was convinced I was dying. We called a friend to watch the kids and I laid down in the back of Rob's Camry and he took us to the hospital.

Yada Yada Yada, I'm REALLY tired today. (That is supposed to be funny, it's from Seinfeld.)

They decided to give me a CT scan to take a peek at my innards. I had to drink a cup of goo every half hour for 2 hours before they could do it. I was on lots and lots of morphine, but when it started to wear off I would feel nauseous. I called the nurse twice for more, but when she didn't come in time with more, I vomited every last bit of goo. So they took out my appendix. It was terribly comforting to have men that we knew do the operation. Not that I had any worries about being in good hands. Though having family friends seeing your unmentionables is less than ideal.

So here I am in my shared hospital room with "Karen" (not to be mistaken for my mother in law) who curses up a storm about getting the wrong breakfast. Has her reality TV show turned as loud as it goes at 5am. And swears at the poor sweet nurse when she tells her it isn't time yet for more narcotics. I take comfort in knowing that I will be paying for my hospital bill as well as hers. Seriously though, I LOVE AMERICA! (That was for you Steph!)

I get very sentimental when I am convinced I am dying. I want you to know how much I love each of you. Even though I don't write on your Facebook wall. Even though I don't write it on the internet. Each of you has a special place in my heart. (Except any blog stalkers I don't know out there.)

I LOVE and ADORE my family. Although most of you just hear about how naughty the kids are-you have to admit, they make for funny blog posts, I don't usually write the sentimental things online for the world to see. I absolutely LOVE being the Mom. Having these precious creatures call me Mommy melts my heart.

Heavenly Father has blessed me with the most amazing man. I feel like I am the woman I am because he loves me. I am especially grateful for Christ this holiday season. He gave his life so we might be like him one day. It saddens me to hear of children who don't know of Jesus Christ, yet open presents on Christmas morning. I LOVE teaching my children of him and his teachings and we LOVE doing his work.

Life is good

We got our tree over the weekend and last night for FHE we put it up. I was looking at our perfect Christmas tree with all the mangy, homemade ornaments on it thinking about how someday I will want our tree to look perfect, but for right now, I LOVE having all the decorations on the same 6 branches and I LOVE the love that went into these pieces of paper with a string tied around them that don't match a thing and I love (for the most part) having little kids around. They keep Rob and I young.

Adam walking

Frogs

This week we inherited a container filled with rocks, grass, water and POLLIWOGS! They have been sitting on our front porch and is constantly being poked at by the kids (and me!) On Thursday in celebration of Leapfrog's (that's one of the frogs) missing tail, I decided we needed to change their water. So we had a mission. To find some water safe for them.

The boys headed out to Home Depot without complaint, so Claire bear and I set out to the rail trail on bikes with an empty container for new water from the nearby river. We had a wonderful ride out. At about 1.5 miles we found a nice little beach next to the water. We got off our bikes, filled our container, sat next to the beautiful river, took some pictures, talked, rested our legs and finally Claire said, "Are there any bears here?" Not being able to answer a yes or a no I decided we should head home. It was a wonderful mother/daughter time for us. On the way back it was a bit muddy and Claire at one point looked up and said, "Mom, I think it's raining mud!" Yes we were both covered in mud, but it was worth it. She was so cute, when ever she would get tired I would remind her that we were doing it for the frogs. She rode about 4 miles total.

We got home. Claire bravely picked up "Leapfrog, Harry and Larry" and put them in the new water. We cleaned out their old home and poured them into their nice clean container. We were so proud of ourselves.

The next morning I checked on our beloved froggies to find them "belly up." Yep, that's right. Someone (me) should have let the water come up to the right temperature before transporting them. Oh well. You can't win em all.

Name that baby

Traditions

So we have started a few traditions in our time. Rob recently came up with a new one. Wouldn't it be FUN to have a BBQ in the middle of winter? With all the good BBQ foods? It was below freezing and the die hards were out there cooking burgers. The neighbors probably think we are crazy, but seriously, nothing beats a good BBQ'd hamburger. Good thing we have friends that are just as goofy as us to bring the baked beans and potato salad!

Ski lessons

Claire started skiing lessons this morning. She did SO good. Although I feel like we cheated. I put her in the "Never Ever" class, although we have gone a few times with her. She didn't meet the requirements for the next class up, so she was the rock star of the class. Mostly there was just a constant cry coming from the smaller kids so Claire being happy and doing good was well received.

When we moved to NH we did NOT ski. We had both been skiing before, but we didn't own skis so going skiing was too expensive. When we got here, we saw a ski hill with lights on several nights a week. Upon further investigation we found out that residents of the city can go and ski for $8! $5 for kids! (they have since up-ed the price to $10 for adults) I only went a few times last year but didn't really enjoy it because I was prego and too nervous to go fast. But last night I went and had SUCH a wonderful time. It is SO peaceful and quiet up there. I also am getting really good (if you don't mind me bragging) so it is much fore enjoyable. It is something that I am truly enjoying.

The newest love of my life

I LOVE his sleepy little eyes.
I know this is a perfect position to get vomit in my mouth, luckily it hasn't happened to me yet.

I adore babies. Rob laughs at me because when are kids are toddlers, he has had to convince me to have another. Then when these sweet babies arrive, I am just twiter-paited(in love) and wanting another right away! (No this isn't an announcement, I'm in love, NOT crazy)

I LOVE ADAM! He is a wonderful little buddy. I LOVE spending time with him. He is so happy when ever he is getting my attention (and alot of times he's happy without my attention) I wish I could just stare at him and play with him all day. He goes with me every where I go. He's my little buddy. Every time I walk by him he smiles and coos at me. Every time I unbuckle him from [which ever] contraption I have him in, he kicks his legs and smiles at me and is just so excited to be picked up.

My heart is SO full of love for this little boy. He came straight from Heaven to me. For me to love and care for. I miss him when he sleeps and I wish I could see every smile he makes and hold him all day everyday. I wish I could keep him 3 months old forever.

Hampton Beach

Nothing beats nursing at the beach with 50,000 people around.
What is it with sand that can occupy small children (and big children) for hours?


I obviously am having a hard time blogging. My apologies. We went to Hampton Beach last weekend for Rob's work party. The weather was wonderful, the kids had a blast and Claire actually played in the waves with me. In the past she has been to scared, understandably. We are doing great. Claire is getting ready for kindergarten in a few weeks, Ian wore underpants all day today with out an accident and Adam is smiley and sweet as ever, as long as he's being held.

Warning: Longer than I had expected

So now that our new baby company has come and gone, I have no one to talk to, so I'd like to welcome myself back to the blogging world. This post ended up MUCH longer than I had anticipated, but I want to have it written down for my own personal record. (I kept the blood and gore to myself.)

3:15 am Tues June 2, I woke up having contractions. Around 5:30 I decided I might have a baby today and since my hair never looks decent when I've given birth, I thought a I'd take a shower and make myself presentable in between contractions. Rob would come in every few minutes and say, "another one will be here in about 30 seconds, do you want to go sit down?" What a great husband.

7:45 I called the midwife on-call and she said to come to the birthing pavilion. Since I have bad luck and always get sent home I opted to go into the clinic to be checked. Dropped kids off at the Fords and I went in and was a 2. Cry cry cry. We went back to the Fords to get the kids, I made Rob go to work (why miss work for a false alarm right?) Andrea was kind enough to let me take a nap in her guest bedroom while she watched my kids (after listening to me cry.) Another friend came and picked up Claire for school and Claire ran in and jumped on me to give me a kiss (right in the middle of another contraction, I'm amazed I didn't scream/hurt her.) I continued to nap, waking every 3-5 minutes to have a contraction.

A little while later (after Claire left) I felt like pushing so I asked Andrea to take me back to the clinic. She was such a GREAT sport. She moved over car seats to our van, loaded 4 little boys into their car seats and drove me to the hospital. She was a gem, on the 7 minute drive she was suddenly VERY interested on what the baby's coming home outfit looked like, I knew she was trying to distract me from screaming and scarring the little boys in the back for life, so I gave in. She dropped me off, again I opted for the stairs rather than the elevator (every little bit helps) and the planets aligned and I was (finally) at 4 cm.

A sweet nurse grabbed a wheelchair to wheel me to the birthing pavilion, but being the stubborn woman I am, I opted to walk. This is not a walk across the courtyard folks. Dartmouth-Hitchcock is ENORMOUS! It was about a half a mile to get from the clinic to the birthing pavilion. Probably planned out that way for women like me to dilate further on the walk, in order to have the baby faster.

I got a room and was instructed to change, but instead I laid on the couch to whimper/moan for a few minutes. When the nurse walked in (who looked JUST like a friend I had in middle/high school) I told her I was ready for an epidural when they were. In other words, I'm about to start cursing like a sailor, so if you would please help me to continue to be lady-like, that would be great.

A half hour later the epidural was in. I napped for a few minutes here and there, the midwife and a student midwife (who looks JUST like ANOTHER friend from HS, it was like the bizzaro world from Seinfeld) came back and checked me 2 hours later and I was a 10. I pushed for 15 minutes, then Adam was born.

Now for the weird part. My friend Adrienne from the ward was due the day after me. She has scheduled c-sections so we both knew she would have her baby first. She was scheduled to have her baby that day, June 2nd. Rob and I knew she was there being "hacked" open, but we were a little busy with our own excitement. A few hours after Adam was born her husband stopped by and later that night I went to visit her down the hall. Their baby weighed the same as Adam, was born 5 hours earlier than Adam, same day, same hospital, same ward, but to different families. Adrienne and I like to joke that our babies were up in heaven fighting over who got to go to their family and who was coming to ours. Either Ronin was pushed by Adam (to go to their crazy family) or Ronin was faster (beating Adam into the cooler family) which one it is, I am still unsure.

Happy Birthday Claire!

I can NOT believe my little Claire Bear is 5! She has been such a delightful little person to have in our lives. She is so enthusiastic and fun, she makes everyday an adventure. I am amazed every single day that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such a wonderful little girl.

Baby Adam

As cute as these pictures are, they just don't capture his tiny size and yummy smell. He is such a sweet little boy! He pooped on me 3 times yesterday and peed on himself/Rob/me twice. Vomited countless times on me and yet, I'm still so in love.

Car Wash

Today at the car wash some jerk cut in front of me and a whole line of cars. One kind gentleman got out of his car to inform him of the line he just cut. After a few minutes of discussion the kind man walked away and shrugged at me, giving me the "Sorry" look.

I didn't feel too sorry a few minutes later when the jerk was washing his car with the window rolled down. I HOPE YOUR LEATHER SEATS LIKE WATER, PUNK! If he hadn't cut to the front of the line I would have told him, but instead I called Rob and we had a good laugh.

What kind of friend would I be if I didn't share the recipe for enchilada sauce that I think is SO WONDERFUL?

3 T Veg oil

1 T flour

Cook in saucepan for 1 minute

Then add:

1/4 cup chili powder

Cook 30 seconds longer

Then add:

2 cups chicken stock (I use water and bullion)

10 oz Tomato paste

Stir it all together

1 tsp oregano

1 t cumin

1/2 t salt

Boil for 15 minutes. SO good.

Cheese!

American, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert, String, Cream, Neufchatel, Cottage, Blue, Havarti, Swiss, Feta, Asiago, Parmesan, Ricotta, Fontina, Gorgonzola, Port Wine cheddar, Marscapone, Provolone, Romano, Gouda, Edam, Gejtost, Gruyere, Monterey Jack, Colby, Pepper jack, Muenster, Swiss...it goes on and on and on. We are a cheese family. Every time the fridge opens Ian comes running yelling, "CHEESE!" When I am not sure what to feed the wee ones, Cheese is usually a great answer. What would this world be like without it?

What to do, what to do?

I'd like to take a minute to brag about having time to myself. With no wondering what is in store for me when I get back upstairs. Claire is at Preschool. We decided to go the school's route. And Ian is out cold. Poor baby, I'm going to have to wake him up when it's time to go get her. But for now, I have time all to myself. Wow. I'd better get cleaning.

When does going into a dirty thrift store pay off?

Claire starts her ballet/tap class tomorrow and I don't want to spend $25 on tap shoes for her. I'm not that kind of girl. So everyone I've talked to has said to go to the local thrift store. There was a time in my life when I loved treasure hunting at the local thrift store, but not anymore. I'd just rather not. (I'm not being a snob. I just don't have the time or patience)

This morning we went for a walk in our friends neighborhood (near the store) and I asked if it would be okay if she watched my kids while I ran in. On the steps was a stroller, I glanced at it and decided someone was shopping and didn't want to bring it in. No tap shoes, so we kept on our walk. When we got in the car to go home I decided I'd run back and ask about the stroller. It was still on the steps so I ran in and asked the scary long haired man how much they wanted for it since I didn't see a tag. I had decided in my head I would pay up to $50 for it. Since it is in great condition. It looks like someone only used it for a few shopping trips. He came back and held up 5 fingers. $5?? What kind of stroller is this, you ask? It's a Maclaren Techno XT. It's the 2006 version. They sell for about $280-350.

My only concern:

What if some husband took stuff to the thrift store and accidentally took the stroller out of the car, wondering why his wife wanted to get rid of a perfectly good (and expensive) stroller? Bad, bad thing, I wrote a check! They have my address and phone #! What if someone calls and wants it back? Obviously I will give it back. BUT I WILL BE SO SAD!

7 years

Wow. It has been 7 years since Rob hit the Mustang with his Dad's truck. He was still in shock when he arrived at the temple to marry me. Happy Anniversary Handsome!