My Kids make me Laugh

This picture is from last month. The kids wanted to both be carried (a common problem) but as you can imagine at 8 months preggo I wasn't up to carrying either one of them. So Joey played the hero daddy and grabbed them both. They loved it as you can see!

Having a great day today. All my daycare kiddos are on vacation so it's just me and my munchkins. They just get cuter and more entertaining by the day. Just a few moments from today that have made me smile:

Yesterday Tyler got grounded from Lego Batman on the XBox for something (don't even remember what now). Today he asked to play and I told him he was still grounded. He said "But mom...if I'm grounded from Batman that's means I'm on the Naughty List!" I told him not to worry, he just needed to work hard to get back on the Nice list ;)

We were listening to Christmas Music this morning. Kelley was saying how she could NOT wait until Christmas. She was lamenting that she just wanted to go to bed all day today and tomorrow so then it would be Christmas. A song came on that's called "I just can't wait till Christmas." She points excitedly to the music player and says "This song is EXACTLY how I feel."

Tyler was in the kitchen and exclaimed "Oh NO!" Kelley asked why he said that. Tyler responded "Because I have Play-Doh up my nose!"

It still amazes me how much they pick up on. Yesterday Tyler noticed the fireplace and that it had glass on it. He wasn't quite sure how Santa was going to get in. So Kelley took over the explanation about Santa's magic and how it didn't matter that we had a small chimney or if there was a fire it in or that it had glass over it. She does the whole talking with her hands thing and her little pointing and explanation of the whole thing was very entertaining.

Daddy and Maren

I'm awake!

Maren is still sleeping much of the time, but I was able to snap these yesterday while Aunt Karmin was here. The lighting and color isn't really fantastic I know, but I love her little eyes just looking around so intently.





I'm loving just holding and spending time with her. Unfortunately she's now on the bilirubin lights for jaundice and so that cuts down on the time I can just cuddle her significantly. She's supposed to be in there most of the time. We are going in today again to check her levels and I'm hoping they've dropped enough we can be done with those. It's just the saddest little thing you've ever seen! She does seem to adjust after she's been in there for a bit, but when I first put her in there, especially if she's been out for more than an hour or so, she just screams and is so upset until she basically wears herself out and can sleep. Tyler was on the lights too and it doesn't seem like it took very long to get where he needed to be, so we'll hope for the best.

Katie Maren DeGraaf

Can I just say...she looks just like Kelley to me in this picture! I wasn't sure she had that look when she was born...but feel that way more every day. Tyler looked a lot the same as well. Maybe I'll try to scan in their pics so you can see for yourself. But it sure seems to me that all our babies have a certain look...

OK, so the first question we're always going to get is why didn't we just give her Maren as a first name if that's what she will go by? Those of you that know my family know we have Kristy, Kelsha, Karmin and Kember. My mom is Colleen, then there's Pete and Ryan who are kind of left out :) Well, when we named Kelley, it was NOT because of all the K names in my family. My mom's maiden name is Kelley and my parents nearly named my sister that. I've always liked then name and it just seemed to fit when she was born. Even after naming her Kelley I had NO intention of continuing with the K theme. We didn't know what Maren was before she was born, but we have both liked that name for a long time. It is my sister's middle name, as well as prominent in my family history. Since it was a name we both really liked, we were pretty sure that's what we would name our next girl, but we never get set a name before our babies are actually born. We talked about different names a lot and one day I mentioned that I liked the name Kate. Not Katherine, but Katie or Kate, I think is really cute. Joey loved it and thought Katie Maren was perfect. I suggested Maren Katie or Maren Kate, but by then he was kind of set on Katie Maren. Besides he said "I kind of want to continue with the K theme", which makes me laugh. It's my family thing and I didn't even want to do it. What is really funny, is that my parents didn't really intend to do it either. Karmin was supposed to be Monica! I remember being bugged when she came home as Karmin, because I liked Monica better. But such is life and now it seems we are carrying on the torch.

Someone asked if it's a family thing to go by middle names also. I guess it kind of is. My grandmother, at least one aunt and my brother all go by their middle names. I know it will be a pain for her. I already had to explain to the doctor's office today about it. Hmmm....is it too late to change it??? Speaking of which...I still don't really feel settled on the name really. Has anyone else gone through that? I didn't love Tyler's name either at first, but I knew there was no changing his name, Joe was determined there. There's some flexibility here though and we almost changed it yesterday in the hospital. Maren is for sure...it's just Katie I'm not sure about. I do like the name. I suggested it as a possibility. But we did find a name we liked better (Kennedy). Both Kelley and I like it better. I don't know that Joe likes he better necessarily, but he does like it. The problem is we didn't want to take it away from the sister(s) that suggested it to us, even though Maren won't go by it anyway. But I just keep going back to it.

The reasons I like Katie: It's Irish....my mom has a lot of Irish in her family history. Kelley is Irish also, if you didn't already know that. It's cute, fun, light. I played Kate in Taming of the Shrew. Not that I want my daughter to be named after the Shrew, but it was my first play and kind of a fun connection. It goes really well with Maren.

The reasons I like Kennedy: Both our other kids have last names for middle names (Madison and Thompson). Joe kind of wanted something a little more "elegant" than Katie, if we could come up with it and I think this fits the bill. Plus I just like it better for some reason. It's my fault really though. I was being a brat and wouldn't tell my family what we were considering until we decided and put it on the birth certificate paperwork. As soon as my sister heard it she suggested Kennedy. Loved it...but once the paperwork is filled out, it's harder to change your mind. It would have been easy yesterday, but now would be a big process to change it I'm sure.

Anyway...on a final note. We thought all along it was a girl. We both had a feeling for a while that our next baby would be a girl, way before we even got pregnant. Then after the ultrasound we both thought it was a girl. We would not have been shocked if it was a boy though, but it was just one of those feelings. Well speaking of my sweetheart, I think I'll go steal her from daddy and get ready for bed. Thanks for all the comments! We sure are loving her and enjoying this season with her here. Hope you are having just as Merry a holiday as we are!

Per request...

I guess we keep getting in trouble for not posting more pics of the baby! Here's a few more and Joe is bringing home his nice camera today so we can hopefully get some better ones. The kids are in love with her...it's really cute. Tyler keeps saying "I love her" and telling me the blanket he bought for her says "I love you", even though it doesn't :) This morning he asked if she was sleeping and if he could sleep with her. Kelley constantly wants to hold her as well and understands that even though she cries when she holds her, it's just because she doesn't know her as well and she will get used to her.

I will try my best to post more, better, up close pics of the baby today, along with a post about her name :) For now, enjoy...

Only a few hours old here (if that!)

More pics :)

Midwife Laurie Hansen, Maren and I

Because of the H1N1 they won't let any children in to visit :( But the kids seem to enjoy seeing their new sister through the nursery window at least.

Another one of baby and I. It is quite ironic to me that the one time I actually had my hair and makeup all done up, we didn't get the picture of us headed to the hospital, because I could barely get out the door, nor the picture of us right after delivery, because we had left the camera in the car. So this is several hours later. It still is better than my other after baby pics though :)

Just a fun one of the kids I took yesterday in their Christmas outfits.

Five, Four, Three...

It's a GIRL! We decided on Katie Maren DeGraaf and are going to call her by her middle name...but we are now rethinking the first name....We are going to sleep on it and will let you know if anything changes. She was 7 lbs 14 ounces and 20 inches long, born at 9 AM this morning, 8 days early. For those of you that don't want any more gory details that should sum it up, but it's a pretty good story if you want to stick around. And I think this story beats Kelley's...as funny as THAT was. (For those of you that missed it I wrote about it here.)

Many of you know that I was SURE this baby would be early. Kelley was 10 days early on her own, Tyler was 2.5 weeks early. I had to be induced with him because of preeclampsia and almost was with Kelley for the same thing. I also have been having Braxton-Hicks with this baby for months and almost thought I might end up with a preemie! So we passed the preemie mark, 2.5 weeks came and went, 10 days early came and went and I was starting to think I might end up with a Christmas baby after all. It seemed like the one time we really wanted an early baby we weren't going to get one. My due date was the 22nd, but I thought it would be so ironic if I ended up overdue with this one.

At my 37 week appointment I hadn't made ANY progress, but was dialated to a 2 + last Thursday, so was hopeful at that point. My midwife offered to strip my membranes to see if we could encourage things to start on their own, so that was tentatively planned for tomorrow morning. In the meantime I was taking warm baths, eating spicy foods, trying to encourage the natural process along. Last night I finally finished typing up arrangements for the daycare kids and put the finishing touches on the Christmas program I was in charge of for church. The kids rooms were switched, my house was cleaner than it has been in a LONG time, I was actually feeling like I was ready to go. I put on my facebook status that the 14th seemed like a good day, but figured that was probably just more wishful thinking.

This morning I woke up at 1:30 AM, 3:30 AM, 4:30 AM...like most nights lately. I couldn't get back to sleep and so finally decided to just go shower. I started to have a few painful contractions, but they didn't last long. Still I had this feeling I'd better get my hair fixed and makeup on if I was going to. Right before 6 AM I started to have more regular contractions. They were painful and 4-5 minutes apart, but not very long in duration and still bearable. At 6:45 I told Joey he might want to get up and get showered because we'd probably end up at the hospital this morning. I also texted my sister and told her I might need her at the daycare this morning. About 7:20 I decided to lay down and see if they went away. They didn't go away completely, but slowed down to almost 10 minutes apart, so I figured we could wait until it was time to take Kelley to school at 8:30 AM. Karmin showed up, Joey got up and dressed. Contractions were still bearable. Just before 8:30 AM I had one or two contractions that were pretty painful and so we started shuttling kids out the door. Joey gave me a blessing before we left. It very quickly went to the point I was thinking there was no way I was going to get through the natural labor I had planned.

I had another contraction hit me as I was getting in the car. It was all I could do to crawl up onto the seat kneeling backwards and within the two blocks it takes to get to the school I'm yelling at Joey "get the kids out of the car NOW!" We had Kelley and the other 7 year old neighbor girl from across the street with us and luckily they thought it was pretty funny and so were just giggling the whole way. I'm glad it wasn't traumatizing for them :) We stopped at the school and my water broke and then there was all this pressure at one time. I crawled out of the car thinking there was no way I was going anywhere else. Joey kept telling me "you have to get in the car". I insisted I couldn't two or three times, but finally crawled back in. We headed off to the hospital and by this time I was certain I was going to die. Joey turned on Lund Highway instead of Airport Road like he was supposed to. Luckily it wasn't right in the middle of a contraction, or I might have killed him. Traffic was CRAZY though...I mean for Cedar City. There was three or four people ahead of us the whole drive, so he couldn't just pass them all. (Had I been thinking I would have told him to just put on his flashers and gun it). He was thinking though and trying really hard to get us to the hospital in one piece. Of course everyone ahead of us was taking their sweet time.

Funny side note here...I will freely admit I was yelling my guts out in the middle of those contractions. I kept thinking about my mom. She had all five of us naturally and whenever we would see a movie with a women screaming during labor she says "That's not really how it is..." Apparently she was not a screamer. I was thinking about this as I could think of nothing else to do besides scream and hold Joey's hand. I didn't want to break the windshield or something and so was trying to be as still as I could. So at one point in the middle of a contraction Joey says "your pushing....don't push...just breathe". I said "I CAN'T, I'm pushing I don't care!!!!" I also told him "If I'm not at least an 8 when I get there I've got to have an epidural!" So much for the natural birth...or so you would think....

Well we finally made it to the hospital and he pulled up to the ambulance entrance thinking it would be faster. There was no one there though, so I hopped out of the car. I had kicked my shoes off, so only had socks on, walking through the snow around the corner to the ER entrance. There was a wheel chair in the front entrance and Joey got me to sit down. He wheels me in and I'm yelling "This baby is coming now! Laurie...." Laurie is my midwife and luckily her office is in the hospital right next to the ER entrance. Her staff saw me come in and everyone is staring at us, but a few people in their right mind wave us down the hall to labor and delivery.

I have to admit at this point I thought I was probably being a little melodramatic. I wasn't sure the baby was coming right away, but that was all I could think to yell. Joey got me down to L & D and they directed us right to a room. I ran in the room and dropped my pants as fast as I could kneeling by the side of the bed in the middle of another contraction. Probably the biggest relief of my life was when I asked "is the baby coming?" I got a big fat YES! I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't at that point. The nurse kept telling me "Laurie's on her way, do what you have to do. I don't want to deliver this baby on my own, but I can...." Laurie walked in, I pushed maybe two or three times and she was here. Apparently she was already more than crowning when I got into my room. That was 9 AM.

It was really cool because almost before I realized that she was out Joey saw her and told me it was a girl. I was standing up next to the bed and I think he was behind me, so he had the perfect view as soon as she was born. It was neat to have him see that and let me know. No one else even thought about it until later. Of course most of the people there didn't even know my name, let alone that I didn't know my baby's gender yet.

And that was that. Five hour labor with Kelley, Tyler's was four, Little Maren was only about 3 hours total and nearly born on the highway at that. It was funny because I kept telling people I was afraid I wouldn't know when to go to the hospital and that something like that would happen, although I didn't REALLY think it would. That happens in the movies..yeah, just like people's water doesn't ever break in public places.... Kelley and Tyler were both pretty much no question as to when I needed to go in. People kept telling me "oh you'll know". Well I'll tell you what, until about 30 minutes before I delivered I didn't "know" for sure! My contractions weren't consistent or very long. Laurie told me afterwards, "Next time, you come in when you START having contractions...." Ya, that's a good bit of advice I think I'll follow!

Well, she's perfect. I feel great! It is true that recovery is SO much easier with a natural birth! I will have to write more later, but for now, I think I'll get back to my baby :)

Fun Saturday!

Kelley has been wanting to take dance for years. I've hesitated for a lot of reasons. Some of them include: 1) It is kind of cost intensive when you consider the classes, costumes, traveling if you do competitions, etc. 2) Although I know there is a lot of value to dance, there's also a lot for a mother to be nervous about. I've seen some of the dances they have these little girls do and the costumes they put them in. Although it is tempting to get on my soap box here...I won't. But...it is something I think about a lot. 3) Time, we don't have a lot of it to spare :)

Well this year Kelley was asking about it again and so I asked if she would rather take dance lessons and get dance stuff for Christmas from mom and dad, or if she wanted toys. She said she'd rather have dance. (It was hard decision for her though, and it helped that she will probably still get a toy present from Tyler ;)

Joey thinks it's a good idea because she's at the age where she should start developing her interests if she wants to really excel at them. So....Kelley is now in ballet. I figured that was fairly safe as far as the modesty in dress and dance thing goes. It does bring up another concern....body image. I know a lot of ballerinas struggle with that, but I think I probably have more to do with helping her develop a positive attitude than anything else. Anyway, back to the point. She's taking ballet with the Cedar City Junior Ballet and will also be in their production of Cinderella in Feburary (19, 20 and 22 if anyone wants to know...). Right now she's slated as a fairy and a cupboard mouse. This is a picture of her first practice last Saturday. Isn't she cute in her little ballet bun? She seemed to really enjoy herself. I think she will really like the performance aspect of it. She tends to be very "animated".

Later that day we also went to the Storybook Calvalcade Parade. Best parade in Cedar City...I can't believe we haven't been before! It was so fun. It was a bit long and we ended up leaving early, but overall the weather was very nice and it was great for the kids. I think that the city has just collected story book costumes for years and years and uses the same ones every year.

Tyler's favorite was the marching band. My little rhythm boy. He hears a beat and he can't help but move! He liked the characters on the floats, but the ones that came down the sidelines giving the kids high fives scared him. He kept running behind me. He does the same thing at SUU games with the T- Bird. For some reason it freaks him out. Come to think of it, the only character he would see at Disneyland was Pooh Bear. Didn't want a thing to do with any of the rest of them. Funny kid...

Kelley's favorite part was all the princesses...of course!

The kids also got to see Santa. Pictures were supposed to be $5, $10 if you wanted a digital copy. BUT since we left the parade early, we were the first in line. The line formed quickly and Santa came in before the photographer or anyone else that appeared in charge for that matter. I tried to wait for someone, but there was a big line of people that didn't want to wait, so I just snapped the photos myself and saved a few bucks.
Tyler was funny. He didn't want to go see Santa...of course! The Santa was really good and said he didn't have to, but did ask from afar what he wanted. Of course then Tyler went off on Batman. While he was a little distracted by that we asked if he wanted to go get a treat. He said yes and went over to get one himself.

We got lucky that he was willing to turn around and cheese for the camera and that Santa did the same. Of course my camera was slow and so I didn't get the first grin, which was REALLY cute....but snapped this one, which will do for the year I suppose.

Thanksgiving

I know it's way past the point, but for posterity's sake...we had a great Thanksgiving. Joe's parents hosted at their home and we enjoyed a fabulous meal! My sisters, Kelsha and Karmin both joined us as well because my parents went out of town. The girls are both finishing projects for schools, so they stayed local to allow time to work. Mel and Cindy have the epitome of a "man cave" in their basement. I wish I had a picture of it...but as it is, imagine a giant big screen TV with I think 5 or 6 Laz-Y-Boys and a Futon, all meant for football viewing pleasure. And that is all the men did all day. Joe was delighted.

All the cousins that were able to come....

Kelley has a thing for "handles". When she was only about two or three she used to ask for the oval with the handle on it from the chicken. Even with the size of the turkey handle....she did a pretty good job on it!

The kids had a great time with their cousins and managed to stay out of trouble. The weather outside was nice so they were able to run around plenty and were completely worn out by the end of the day. Poor Tyler kept begging to go home by the end of the night until he finally decided that sleep couldn't wait for his bed.

Making Applesauce

I think it was last week or so that I FINALLY got to the last box of apples I had sitting on the back porch. I put them off for so long I thought for sure they were going to go bad, but they did fine out there, even in the snow and freezing weather. So then I put them off even longer figuring they'd be fine....well I finally got to saucing them. Tyler was so cute wanting to help. He wanted to crank the sauce maker. I didn't think he was strong enough to do it fast enough, but after I showed him how he did the whole batch! I love it when the kids want to help me with this kind of thing. I don't know if it will last, but I'll take it for now!

I want another entry...

So....to let all of my friends in on the secret...my friend Brooke has this great website called allthingsthrifty.com. She and her other friend post great ideas for decorating on the cheap. For the next seven days they are hosting giveaways. This wreath trio is the first one. I'm sure you have to enter by tonight so...go get em girls!

Baby Update

For anyone officially tired of baby related posts...sorry....it's kind of a big thing for me right now ;) So here goes:

I am now officially 37 weeks, which is full term! At my appointment today there is no change from two weeks ago. My Braxton Hicks contractions have actually decreased since then, in part I think because I'm not stressed anymore about having a preemie baby. I still have no signs of preeclampsia. It came on fairly quickly with the other two, but with Tyler I was induced 2.5 weeks early because of it. My next appointment isn't until next Thursday, so unless I go into labor on my own it will be at least the 10th before we have a baby. As uncomfortable as I am...this is good news. We still have a lot to do before we get ready and this week and next are fairly busy at the daycare. Plus my backup plan (Misty) is out of town on the 7th and 8th. So...here's to at least one more week....

Quick Thankful List

For Family Home Evening one night we made a turkey and listed some of the things we are thankful for on the feathers. In no particular order here is our list:

Hot Water

Baby

Cars

Sunshine

Jesus

Santa Claus

Freezers (for ice cream)

San Diego

Gospel

Store

Earth

House

Space (because it's a home for Jesus :)

Holidays

Air

Family

USA

Food

Friends

Batman

Weekend Recap

Joe took Tyler to San Diego this weekend. He went with his friend/coworker Nate and his little boy. They left at 4 AM Saturday morning and drove to Sea World where they let the boys run around and look at WHATEVER they wanted to. I love this first picture of Ty because it shows a classic expression of his. He has a love/fear relationship with the whales. He loves them, but is a little afraid they are going to eat him I think.

This is also such a fun picture for me to see. Tyler has had an obsession with penguins for the last several months, probably since we went to Sea World last time. He sometimes has pretend penguin friends that follow him around. Incidentally they have very Russian sounding names. One day he was coming in from outside and we went to shut the door. Tyler panicked a little because we were squishing his penguin friends. He then proceeded to lead them into the house one by one with his hand. He doesn't talk about them so much anymore, but Kelley thinks it's really cute to ask him about them every once in a while. The other day while we were out driving Kelley asked where they were and he answered simply they were "home playing with my toys".
Saturday night SUU closed their football season at San Diego University. Joe reports it was a great game and SUU won! Tyler of course loved the music at half time. He's such a fiery fun kid.
On Sunday morning they took the kids over to the San Diego Temple. Tyler wanted to pick some flowers for Kelley. Joe told him that he couldn't pick the flowers, but they could take a picture for her and so that is what they did. What a sweet boy. Tyler also really liked the "singing guy" on the top of the temple. :)

AND - Happy Birthday to my "Ty Ty" today! He is now officially four years old. If I can get to it in the next few days I'll post his birth story as well. Although not as "exciting" as the water breaking in the grocery store, I think it would be fitting.

After looking at the pics Joe took on this trip I've decided that he has a much better eye for photography than I do. One day I'd like to develop that talent, but for now I think I should give the camera to him when we go anywhere :)

Kelley and I spent the weekend at my parents house. My sister, Kember, was Maria in the Sound of Music at Millard High. I have to say I would have never guessed she could sing that well. She did AWESOME! It was so fun to watch her. A great part of the fun also was seeing so much family. My extended family has always been really supportive of each other and they came to a lot of my plays and events growing up. Baby blessings, graduations, etc are usually big family events as well. It's been a little more complicated in most recent years as some have moved farther away and everyone's kids (my cousins) get older. My Aunts and Uncles become grandparents and since we moved to Cedar it seems like we rarely see them. But it worked out so there were Aunts, Uncles, cousins, Grandpa and two Grandma's there. It was great to see and talk with them.

We spent Saturday lounging around mostly and trying to get some more done on my scrapbooking. I have to say, I don't enjoy it nearly as much by myself. I'm too indecisive. I can't decide what I'm going to do and just do it. If I have other people there I can bounce ideas off them and get their advice. Something as simple as what color to matte my picture with. Oh well. At least I am making SOME progress eh?

We are all back home again. As fun as it was, I hate being apart and am glad to have everyone safely gathered in :). We'll have a short week this week spending Thanksgiving at Joey's parents in New Harmony. We'll likely head back to my parents house on Friday again and hopefully get a Christmas Tree this weekend. Tyler has been asking to go to the "other grandpas" for several weeks now. Fun times!

A few things

OK - Quick baby update. Going to the doctor is good...it makes me feel better. Everything is fine. No indication this baby will come very soon. For all the contractions I've had I'm only dialated to a 1 at 35 weeks. I was at a 2 with Kelley at 36 weeks and she wasn't born until 2 1/2 weeks later. This is good...as uncomfortable as I am... Also no signs of the preeclampsia yet. I need to get through at least this week and next would be nice too. Have to drink more water or something though. These "braxton-hicks" can be strong enough to take my breath away sometimes...

ALSO - Please consider signing this petition. With the economy the way it is it feels totally useless to even try, but I feel like we have to. Currently there is an awesome art program in place in elementary schools (maybe others???) around the state. Kelley has one of these programs at her school and she LOVES it. Research shows that children involved in the arts do better academically. But it is difficult for the people financing that to see that through the dollar signs and the program will likely be cut at the end of the year. We can let our voice be heard. Perhaps if they see that we care, there is a shot at saving the programs. The site is http://www.artworksforkids.org/get-involved/get-involved. They don't need a lot of information. Please look at this and consider signing the petition, even if you don't have kids currently benefitting from the program. I think the arts benefits us all in so many ways we don't even know. Please also consider ways you could spread the word if you feel passionately about it as well.

Kelley's Birth Story

Many of you have probably heard this story, but I think it's always fun to share these and since many of you might not have heard it, I thought I'd share it here.

We had been anxiously awaiting the day for months and it had been getting worse over the most recent weeks. I was so uncomfortable all of the time! I had started to get nauseous at six and a half weeks and had thrown up the whole pregnancy, with the exception of about 2 weeks right in the middle. On top of that it was now June (summer heat) and I had started to swell like a marshmallow. At our appointment on June 18, Dr. Barton was a little concerned about the swelling in combination with high blood pressure and so suggested I get induced on Friday, June 20^th, if the baby hadn’t come by then. That would be 10 days early. He’d told us a week and a half before that it could be any day as I was already dialated to a 2 or 3 then. I finished things up at work over the next day and a half and Thursday evening we headed to the store to get some things for the next day. It was about 7 pm and I was starving! (I hadn’t eaten since lunch.) In the produce section we ran into someone Joey knew from scouts. I was standing there, minding my own business while they talked when I began thinking “I wonder if my water just broke and I wonder if I should go to the bathroom…” Then without warning, the flood gates opened! There in the grocery store I stood, both legs soaked and a puddle on the floor. Neither Joey nor his friend had noticed what happened so I stepped quietly behind Joey, waited for a minute then whispered urgently in his ear “Joey, we have to go…NOW!” Joey at first wondered why I would be so rude until he looked down and saw the puddle. He hastily ended the conversation and we jetted out to the car, leaving the cart with the grapes and gummy bears we had picked up at the front of the store. (Incidentally...it only happens about 10% of the time that your water breaks before you are actually in full blown labor...)

We ran home, grabbed a few necessities, changed clothes :), paused for a picture and headed to St. Marks. We arrived at about 9 pm and I still hadn’t really had any contractions that I could feel. When we checked in they said “We’ll put this lady who thinks her water broke in room 4…” Kristy just laughed inside as she was pretty sure it could not have been anything else. After we got all settled the contractions began coming steadily and quickly. Soon they were right on top of each other and I asked for the epidural. It was now about 11:30 pm. Before I got pregnant I thought "I am getting an epidural in the parking lot!" I felt sure I was a total wimp and couldn't deal with the pain. But after the birthing class, I felt really brave. It was helpful to have more information on all the options and the actual birth process. I thought I would see how long I could last before I got one. Bravery is fleeting amidst that much pain and the epidural couldn’t come quickly enough. In my class they had told me that "some women even sleep between contractions". Well maybe some people do...but my labor progressed so quickly that there was no "between" contractions. They were literally one right on top of another. So I go the epidural and it was just what the doctor ordered. I was ready to start pushing about 12:30 AM and finally at 1:53 in the morning, June 20, 2003, our baby girl was born.

We had gone through several variations on her name prior to her birth, but hadn't been able to settle on anything. Joey suggested Kelley Madison. I loved it! Kelley is my mom's maiden name and one of my sister's was nearly Kelley. Plus we spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa Kelley growing up and so it seemed perfect. When I was in college I went to New Jersey for the summer as a nanny and one of the little girl's I'd watched was named Madison. She was so adorable and I'd loved that name ever since. For a long time thought we would have a "Maddie" as our first little girl. In the end however I didn't love the fact that it was the number one name in the country (or close to it) and so it went in the middle. (As a funny side note I know relatively few Madison's, Kelley's age or otherwise :)

Kelley has been such a joy and a blessing in our lives. I was surprised at how instantly I loved her and how mothering came more naturally than I thought it would. I am truly blessed.

Oh Baby!

Current Pregnancy update: Things are going well. I can't shake the worry that I'm going to end up with a baby this month though instead of next. I think I'm just being silly. I do this every time...but I have some legitimate reasons to worry. I started having Braxton Hicks contractions about 2 months ago on a regular basis: about a dozen or so a day. I don't remember any with Kelley (although I had to have had SOME) and only a few episodes with Tyler. They have steadily increased so currently I have about 2-3 an hour most of the time. I talked to my midwife about it and she said not to worry: as long as they go away when I lay down they aren't a problem. So far they have been mostly. They do tend to get worse throughout the day though and tonight they are as bad as they have been. They were pretty bad this afternoon, so I laid down and they went away. But now, 2 hours later I have had 13 contractions in the last 53 minutes. They aren't really painful, but they are a lot stronger tonight than they have been. So I've eaten, drank some water and am laying down. We'll see what happens. Really don't want to spend the rest of my evening hooked up to a monitor in the hospital just for them to tell me I'm being a worry wort, I should know better (already having had two kids previously) and to go home and take it easy. But then again, I really don't want to get to a point where they can't do anything about it (my labors have historically progressed VERY quickly) and end up with a premature baby that could have been saved that struggle.

Good news though. According to my ultrasound I was 34 weeks on Saturday. That means they could deliver the baby here in Cedar if it came at this point and babies at this age generally do really well, without long term problems. That being said, I have stuff still to do and really don't want a preemie if we can help it. That just seems like it would be super complicated with the daycare and it being winter and all. I am starting to get really uncomfortable most of the time and tired really easily, but I'm willling to buck up for a few more weeks :)

Can I brag a little too? I shouldn't say anything because I'll probably balloon in the next few weeks, but I have still only gained less than 10 pounds this whole pregnancy. Now before you get all jealous on me or something you have to know that I started this pregnancy probably 20 pounds heavier than I did with my other two...as much as I hate to admit that! But the funny thing is if I keep this up I will end up weighing less AFTER I have the baby than when I started. Joey keeps laughing about it and calling it the pregnancy diet. It's really exciting for me though because maybe it will give me the motivation to shed the rest of what I gained pre pregnancy after I have the baby. I always find it easier to loose weight when I am nursing. Love that little perk!

Anyway, I guess I better LAY down, instead of trying to just sit here as that doesn't seem to be helping. I'll let you all know if anything dramatic happens in the next few days...

Notice something new????

When Kelley was two years old she fell and smacked her front teeth on the concrete at Park Discovery. They turned brown, but the dentist said we should just leave them in unless the started to bother her. Just before she turned 5 (Spring 2008) I noticed they were starting to turn pink. She also started complaining that they hurt. Had I looked behind them I could have clearly seen the problem, but the solution was the same either way. We took her into the dentist and he informed us that they were rotting and needed to be fixed. The "pink" color was from new blood draining through them. The backs of them were totally rotted and they were eating away the root.

At first he thought he could do it without pulling them, but when he determined the extent of the damage he decided they had to come out. He said it would probably be two Christmases where she could sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...." Eighteen months later we are happy to report that she only went one Christmas and now has two lovely front teeth coming in quite nicely! In a way I think she was actually kind of lucky. Instead of loosing them one at a time and then having one big fat tooth come in before the other, she gets them both at the same time. I don't know if that has anything to do with them being pulled or not, but it seems like a nice reward for having to go toothless for almost two years!

What are you going to be on Halloween Night?

OK, so we love Halloween at our house. (I think I already SAID that :) Anyway, I'm ALL about the homemade costumes, although I usually bite off more than I can chew (more on that later). I just think they turn out so much better and last longer if you make them yourself. What you can buy at the store is nothing but junk anymore. Case in point: Tyler's spiderman costume this year already had seams ripping out of it.

But I digress... Joey was a pirate again this year. I spent so much time making it the first year (probably 5 years ago) and it turned out so good, he just keeps adding to it every year. One year he got a sword, the next a cool old looking gun. He's added keys and this year it was a talking parrot. I'm really proud of this costume, but I haven't got a lot of good pictures of it over the years. So I made sure to get some this year. As much as I like making our own costumes, this year we went for convenience. Tyler wanted to be spiderman. We didn't want to fight with him, so he got the $12 walmart special. Kelley's is actually one of my sister's old dance costumes. I think it's SO cute and so actually suggested it to her last year. She wanted to be a fairy princess, but this year agreed Red would be fun. So here's the pictures from the day. There are a lot of them...just to warn ya!

Kelley and Tyler, ready for the trunk or treat.

A pirate's wench.
The winning trunk at the ward trunk or treat. Joe does an AWESOME job playing his pirate part. Kids came back several times to tease him or get teased by him. He also put together a great Halloween soundtrack that we blasted through the stereo. It was SO fantastic that the battery in our car died. We almost thought we'd be stuck there all night!

I love that I got this picture at this moment. Kelley was "trick or treating" her dad. This is such a fun age...
My spiderman boy. He was kind of funny about stuff tonight and we had a hard time getting a good picture of him, but he looked just like every other Walmart Spiderman out there. It was funny because I was all worried about him being warm enough and ran and bought him sweats to wear under his costume this morning. Turns out we were trick or treating in 60 degree weather most of the afternoon and he really didn't need them for warmth, but they kind of bulked him up and made him look a little like he had muscles :)

Joe was messing around tonight after we got home and came in saying he was going to be a "sexy" pirate next year. I called him my "pretty boy pirate". After thinking about it though I realized he reminded me a bit of Porthos on the Three Musketeers. One thing I love about him is that he makes me laugh in all types of random moments :)

No one's going to bother THIS little Red Riding Hood.

Mom and Kelley. I also made this costume for myself at the same time I made Joe's. BUT this is such a classic example of me. I got the shirt done, but the skirt is still unfinished. It still has the elastic sticking out of the waistband waiting to be actually sewn up, instead of just safety pinned. AND it still needs the fancy beading I have for the bottom of it, which is as of yet unhemmed. I also have yet to make a proper sash/girdle for it. Twice when I've worn it I was pregnant and so I had that excuse that it wouldn't work anyway. But that leaves 2 or 3 other years I could have actually finished it before wearing it...ha ha!

33 weeks preggo. When I look down at myself I think "oh I'm not THAT big". When I look at pictures like this...it's feels like ALL belly :)

Random conversation in the car tonight while driving out to Grandma and Grandpa's:

Kelley: Tyler, that's what Halloween's all about: darkness

Tyler: Kelley, I don't know about darkness

Kelley: (in a half mutter) Whatever....

Carving Pumpkins

We love Halloween around here. Not so much all the ghoulish, scary stuff, but the kind of fun silly stuff. Normally we get the house all decked out and everything. This year, the house has been neglected due to my inability to do much more than make it halfway presentable after daycare and Joe being very busy at work and with the bishopric. By the time we got around to the point of thinking about doing it, Halloween was nearly here and so we decided to focus our efforts on winning the trunk or treat trunk contest instead. That will happen tomorrow night so stay tuned for pictures of the scary results.

Anywho, for FHE this week we carved pumpkins. I don't really love carving pumpkins. I am not very artistic and it's just a big mess. The kids and Joey love it and so I let them do it for the family, helping out when needed. This year I was super impressed with Kelley as she did almost her whole pumpkin herself, including coming up with her own design.




Tyler had a great time watching dad carve his.

For me, it's just fun hanging out with the kiddos and hubs and watch everyone enjoy themselves so much.