How Fast They Grow! Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

My energetic and quite outgoing middle child turned 4 today! And now all I have to say is "You can do (such and such) because you are 4 now" and it is done. Who knew that 4 was such a magic age. Not me because this is only my second child to turn 4. But, I guess it works. We will see how tomorrow goes.



Mady wanted a swimming party like her big sister always gets. So, we took a few friends over to the rec center and had a jolly time playing in the pool. It quickly turned into a princess party as soon as we got home and opened presents. Almost everything was princess, Ariel being the one true favorite. This was the request and we are sure she will grow out of it soon, so why not indulge her now!


Here is the story of bringing this wonderful child into the world. Here goes!

Once upon a time there was a man who decided to go to Law School because he didn't want to take any test involving math, thus leaving the LSAT as the answer. His wife was pregnant with child #2 when the whole thing began. The due date was January 1st and the couple knew this was divine, for in Law School the only grade you get is for the final test and if you screw that up, well, you get the idea. Thus December was going to be intense and stressful. The husband reminded his wife several times that she couldn't have the baby before his last final on the 16th(like she has any control over this process).

Well, the morning of the sixteenth the husband got himself up, dressed and walked to school for his 3 hour final at 8:30am. As this was happening the wife was quietly laying in bed feeling contractions that were not going away. But, she was not going to be the downfall of this great Law School plan so she kept quiet until the man was gone!

She spent the morning packing the bag, taking care of the 2 year old, pausing for contractions, and patiently waiting for her husband to call to tell her his exciting news of being done with his final. And THEN she could tell him her exciting news. The hours dragged on and there was no phone call. So, she took the matter into her own hands and picked up the phone to call him at 12PM. And low and behold, NO DIAL TONE! She tried the different connections, but to no avail! Of course she found out later there was one she didn't check, but she wasn't exactly in her right mind at the time.

They had only lived in their apartment a short time and didn't know the neighbors well. So as not to cause alarm to the neighbor she waited until a contraction ended, and waddled to the neighbors to use the phone.

This is how the conversation went:
"Hello."
"HI."
"I thought you were done at 11:30am."
"I was. I tried calling you but the phone just kept ringing."
"I know. There is no dial tone."
"OH. Whose phone are you using?"
"The neighbors. I need you to come home."
"Is there a reason? I have some things to finish up for a professor but I will come home as soon as I am done."
"NO, I need you to come home now. I am in labor."
"You are kidding. You are not. (laughs)"
"Yes I am so come home now."
"Can you come pick me up?"
"NO, I AM IN LABOR!"

The man proceeds to pack up his things and start the 20 minute WALK home! Realizing his mistake, he walks back into the Law Building and asks a classmate for a ride home. Upon arrival he realizes that his wife was telling the truth. They time a few contractions which the wife refused to do before his arrival because she couldn't face having a baby on her own in the apartment.

They head off to drop the oldest child at a family members house, labor becoming more intense and contractions being about 1 minute apart. Upon arival at the hospital the nurse asks the laboring woman if she is in labor. There was only the answer of her doubled over and doing perfect lamaze breathing, as husband is off parking the car. "Maybe we should check her to see how far along she is?" Ya think??

"She is at a nine. Call the doctor immediately!" (Nurses running everywhere, that is how I like to see them move!) Husband enters and the nurses try asking more questions. Of course husband doesn't know the answers and the wife is previously engaged, which somehow slipped the mind of the question asking nurse. "We will fill out this paperwork later." Thanks, a little busy here.

Well, needless to say our little bundle o' joy arrived within an hour of arriving at the hospital 2 1/2 weeks early weighing in at 6lb 13oz.

She is such a joy to have in our home. She LOVES Ariel! She and her cousin play Eric and Ariel every week. She loves her little brother. They chase each other all over the house and laugh and laugh! She also loves playing anything with her big sister whether it be dolls or games or jumping on the trampoline. She is a cleaner and is always wanting to help with the dishes, sweeping the floor, cleaning baseboards, wiping down mirrors, etc. Just call her Cinderella! She loves to snuggle with her mom. This morning I was in bed and I felt someone holding my hand. I opened my eyes and there was my birthday girl laying beside me watching me sleep and holding my hand! Too sweet!

Halloween

This is for my friend Brenda who still checks my blog even though I only post once every other month! It's not that I don't have anything to blog about, I am just lazy and a little scared that this could take over my life like ebay did!

Here are my cute kids all dressed up for the holiday that was a few weeks..or maybe month ...or maybe more.. ago. Sorry!

Yesterday

I think yesterday will forever be burned into my psyche as the day I realized my own mortality, and this by the news of a good friend. She has been diagnosed with melanoma cancer. She is a beautiful 28 year old wife, the most amazing mother of 3 young boys, a photographer, a nurse, a friend and an inspiration not only to me but to many others. You are in my prayers.

I have always planned that I would have a "lifetime" to become who I wanted to be, but one never knows when that lifetime will end. Lifetime doesn't mean old and gray, lifetime means until your life ends, whether it be tomorrow or 20 years from now or old and gray. Why is it something like this that pleads within me to be better, to be more? Why can't I do this of my own accord and will, a year ago, last week? Why? Can I become who I want to be? Today I want to see the world in the natural light provided, not shaded and stained by my insecurities and doubts, by my lack of insight and selfishness.

Yesterday has come and gone. I can. I can do just one thing to lighten the load on this family who has had a bombshell dropped in their midst. I will.

We're going back to Cali, to Cali, to Cali!

We made our way down to my husband's parent's house for the 4th of July. We had fun playing with cousins, going to Marine World, sleeping in (that was just me, but let me tell you, I enjoyed every minute of it!), swimming, going to the beach, etc. And of course the activities on the 4th.


It was a balmy 64 degrees at the beach but that didn't scare away the girls or their crazy dad!

Our Little Boy

I gave our baby his first REAL haircut today! He was a little nervous about the clippers, especially when they got close to his head! With crackers and some "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" he calmed down and I was able to buzz away. He looks so handsome if I do say so myself. And so grown uuuppp(sob, sob)!

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay

I was crazy enough to agree to run this 178 mile relay race from Logan to Park City this past weekend with my husband's work. He kindly volunteered me to run but no, he didn't run in the race himself:) I am a little surprised that he hasn't realized watching the kids is harder work than running!
I was a little worried about riding in a van for hours and hours with people I had never met before. There were 2 vans of 6 people, and someone was running every minute from start to finish. The hand off was made with one of those snappy wrist bands that were popular a few years back. Each of us had to run 3 separate legs of the race. I was lucky enough to get a fairly easy 5.1 mile leg, a 7.8 mile down hill leg at 5pm in the blasted sun (not a single bit of shade in sight) and a 5.6 mile up hill leg which I ran while you were all asleep! But, over the course of the 28 hours it took to complete the race I: ran, waited, took a freezing cold shower in a tent, got adjusted by a chiropractor, ran, had water dumped on my head over and over again, waited, visited many port-a-potties, ate some nasty spaghetti, cheered and cheered for friends, family, and strangers, slept about 1-2 hours, ran with a flashlight at 4am hoping to scare off the cougars waiting to get me, laughed and laughed, tried not to cry, drank my body weight in water and Gatorade and made some wonderful new friends. And the craziest part is that I would do it all again!

We are officially Bloggers!

We had a busy weekend and these kids were worn out!