The First Chills of the Season

If you've read my blog at all, you will know that I love the show So You Think You Can Dance. Not that I am or ever have been a dancer, but I can appreciate it. I've enjoyed this season so far, and think it has some really strong dancers, but I hadn't had the "chill" factor happen to me until I saw this dance choreographed by Mia Michaels (of course) and performed by Kayla and Kupono. It is suppose to represent addiction. It's just w.o.w.

Some Fourth of July pics

This past week has been, well, let's say an experience (one I hope I never have again), that I will write about at a later time, but for the meantime I wanted to post a few cute pics of the Fourth of July. This is one of my very favorite holidays and I continually feel so blessed to live in this country and have the opportunities and blessings it gives us.

Oh, to be so uninhibited

Today, Little Man came and stood beside me. I could hear him happily slurping up his orange Fanta with a straw and didn't really pay that much attention to what he was doing. When he asked me something I looked at him and then busted up laughing. There he was sans underwear and shorts merrily gulping the last drops of drink from his cup completely unphased. It was the way he stood there like "Yeah, I'm drinking my drink commando - what?" that cracked me up.

Then when I suggested he put back on his pants, he complied, but only after he trotted off to put his cup up with a *toot*toot*toot* following. He turned to me smiling and proud and announced, "Me toot three times!"

Bare-naked soda drinking and flatulance in the wind - ah, the joys of toddlerhood.

For Your Entertainment

Is the saying that boredom is the mother of all invention or something like that? Maybe it's creativity. Either way, my kids have been keeping themselves entertained in creative ways during this summer vacation, especially since we've had to kind of lie low the last couple of weeks.

My favorite boredom buster has to be their rabbit trap, however. Little J came up with the idea. They got a box, balanced it with a stick tied to a string, and put carrots underneath it to lure unsuspecting rabbits into their trap. Then they hid under the steps on our back porch waiting for the right moment to pull the string and make the box fall down onto their prey. They also camouflaged the steps with all the weed and grass clippings, and had their fortifications of apples and water bottles for when they needed a snack.

The first day they seriously sat under those steps in sweltering heat and humidity(the heat index was over 100 degrees that day) for two hours straight, waiting for a rabbit. Since then, they have gone out several different times to wait. Even Little Man got in on the action.

The kicker, however, was what I discovered after their first time out. When they finally came back in, they had one of my nice, very SHARP, Cutco carving knives. Apparently, they had brought it out because when they caught the rabbit, they were planning on killing it, skinning it, and then eating it for dinner. Since no rabbit appeared, I found out they had used my knife to kill a few spiders and clean out the cobwebs under the steps instead.

Once the knife idea was nixed by me, their next attempts included arming themselves with sharpened sticks followed by large rocks. They really thought they were going to capture a rabbit and then beat it to death and skin it for dinner. Besides the fact that they have absolutely no idea how to do any of this, I couldn't help thinking about that poor tortured rabbit! I was praying they didn't actually catch one. So far only one rabbit has been seen venturing near the trap, and that was when none of them were outside to see it. And I didn't tell...

In other outdoor adventures, they have been dutifully digging for gold in our sand/pea gravel pit. (I have been informed that we are soon to be rich.) They also were found yesterday taping sticks all over their bodies in order to camouflage themselves. From what, I'm not sure, but hey, it kept them entertained!

For your viewing pleasure (a totally unrelated photo of Little Miss at 2 weeks):

And a video I have been laughing about for a month now. The literal video version of Total Eclipse of the Heart. Am I the only one who thinks this is hilarious?:

One Week and Counting...

One week old

Thanks to everyone for all your well-wishes and comments about how cute my new baby is. Even if it was obligatory, I still appreciate them :-) All in all, I would say things are going really well. I think if someone says they just absolutely love the first few weeks of having a newborn they are either lying or delusional, but that's just me. I do feel blessed, though. She is a sweet baby and she likes to sleep a lot, and that includes during the night. The last few days she has been sleeping in 4 - 5 hour chunks! The first time she did it at night, I woke up at like 4:00 in the morning and ran over to make sure she was still alive. Now if I wake up, I just think sweet.

My mom and youngest sister Ali flew in the Saturday before I had Little Miss (The Diva doesn't fit her - she is too sweet). It was so nice to have them here, as my mom kept the house running the entire week after I had the baby. And believe me, we did not pay well and gave her a run for her money. Thanks again, Mom!

My dad drove up this last weekend to see his new granddaughter. While he was here we went on and did her baby blessing here at our home with our family, the bishop and a couple of friends. Here is a picture from her blessing day (5 days old):

With grandparents

I was scheduled to be induced on the 15th even though I wasn't due until the 20th because, well, just because. She was big, I was bigger, I kept having low blood sugar issues, and I was just ready to get on with it. So we went in at 6:30 a.m. but they didn't get me hooked up on the pitocin until 8:00. I think it was about 2 hours later that they broke my water. Things were going pretty slow because my contractions were not getting into a regular pattern despite being cranked up on the pitocin. And all I could think about the whole time was how I was starving! I wanted to eat a steak. Finally, later in the afternoon things started to move a little quicker and around 4:00 I was feeling a lot of pressure "down there." I told them and they said I was at a 9 1/2. The nurse said she would come back in about 15 minutes. So 30 minutes later I ring them again, "Um, hellllooooo?" are you coming back because this kid is about to fall out of me!

Sure enough I was complete and ready to go. Earlier they had asked me if I would mind if during the delivery a paramedic student could stand in the room and observe (from over by the baby station) as part of his training. I didn't really care at that point, because, well, let's face it - it's not like half the hospital floor hasn't already seen your crotch by then anyway. So there I am in all my glory and in walks Mr. Hottie Paramedic Student! He was like 20, but still! We both studiously avoided eye contact.

So it was time to push. I had an interesting experience with the epidural this time, though. In the past, I have been able to move my legs, feel plenty of pressure, etc. This time, I could do that with my right leg, but not my left leg. It was dead. Completely. I could sort of wiggle my big toe and that was it. Very strange sensation and one I did not like because I could never tell if when they told me to push harder if I was actually doing anything. I was thinking that I was going to be so ticked off if I couldn't get this kid out because I couldn't feel what I was doing! But, thankfully, I ended up pushing for only about 20 minutes and at 5:01 p.m. Little Miss was here.

I just remember feeling sooo tired during the delivery and afterward. A very different experience, as well. With my other births, I remember feeling a rush of endorphins afterwards and being wide awake, wanting to take in everything around me. This time I was so wasted. And it wasn't even close to being my hardest or longest labor, so I don't know what the deal was. I chalk it up to being older. And hungry.

That night was a killer thunderstorm. There were like 70 mph straight line winds, crazy lightning and of course massive rain. A nurse actually came in and told me that we were under a tornado watch and if it turned into a warning I would have to be moved out into the hall. Luckily, that didn't happen.

All in all, the boys have responded really well to having a new little sister in their midsts. Little Man has done exceptionally well considering he was uprooted from his position of being the youngest. He loves to help with her and calls her "our baby" whenever he is not referring to her as HeeHaw. Yeah, not sure where that one came from, but that's what she's been dubbed.

In summary: I think it's going to be fun to have a little girl!

Here's my baby girl...

Born Monday, June 15th, 5:01 p.m.

9 hours labor

9 lbs. 2.4 oz. (my second biggest)

20 3/4 in.

First pic with mom and dad

Lots of love from big brothers

At the hospital - 24 hours old

First time home with proud big brothers

More pics and stuff later....

Don't Mess With the Zohan, er, the extremely pregnant woman

This past Monday Big J had a baseball game. Little Man brought his Spongebob glove and squishy baseball to play with during the game. He and Little J were off to the side throwing the ball around and Little J (probably on purpose) overthrew Little Man by quite a lot and the ball went way over by a fence where two girls, I'm guessing around age 7, were playing. One of the girls picked up the ball and ran off with it. Little Man went after her to get it back. She started taunting him by either holding it up too high for him to reach or throwing it really far and then running and getting it before he could. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt that she was just playing with him, but it was pretty obvious that she was just being a bully.

I told Little J to go over and get the ball since he was the one who had thrown it over there in the first place, but he was slowly getting his shoes back on and poking around while Little Man was getting increasingly upset that this girl would not give him his ball back. And she was leading him closer and closer to the street as he chased her. So I lugged my huge self up and out of the camping chair and started to head over there. In the meantime, Little J takes off and runs ahead of me and in true Little J fashion starts to put some ninja moves on her. Well, it started out he just grabbed her arm to get the ball, but then it escalated from there.

I got over there finally and pulled both of them apart and told them to cut it out. Little J shook me off and the girl screams in my face, "LET GO OF ME!!!" I let go and said, "You need to give them back their ball." So she takes the ball and totally throws it as hard as she can away from us. I looked at her and said, "No, M'am. You need to go get that and hand it to me. That was rude." Then the next thing I know, I turn around and her mom is there in my face,

"Don't grab my daughter! I saw you grab her! Keep your hands off of my daughter!"

Can I tell you it took me every ounce of composure not to punch her? Or atleast do a very solid belly bump. I already was wanting to sit on her kid, but then to have her come freak out on me just about sent me over the edge. I tried to assume that she had only seen that second of the entire altercation (although I don't believe that) and I just looked at her and said, "I wasn't grabbing her. I was separating them because she took their ball and he was trying to get it back and it was getting out of hand." And then the girl pipes in, "Yeah, and he kicked me, too!" I seriously wanted to slap her. The mom just goes, "Well, I saw you grab her and you need to keep your hands off my daughter!"

I was SO MAD. I wanted to tell her her little kid was a freaking brat and next time I was going to do more than grab her arm. But instead I just walked away. I had to. It was thisclose to getting really ugly. Later, Little J goes, "I just wanted to punch that girl in the face and give her a bloody nose!" I think next time I just might let him.

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In other weird happenings, last week I was out and about and decided to swing through the drive-thru at McDonald's to get a drink. While I was at the first window paying, this red car swoops in front of me and drives up to the next window, they hand him my drink, and he drives off. I was like, "Uh, that car just got in front of me and took my drink," and the guy I'm paying starts laughing like "what the heck?!?" They gave me another one, but all the workers were laughing at how they had just been duped. So in case you want to sell your soul for $1.08, that's how you do it.

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In other news...I have progressed some in the pregnancy department, but I'm not holding my breath for anything imminent. I was checked yesterday and am 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced, with the estimation from measurements, etc., that she is already right around 9 lbs. So... the decision was made that if nothing happens on it's own by Sunday, I will be induced bright and early on Monday morning. I'm not due until the 20th, but I don't feel it necessary to try to beat any records for having large babies. And since I was induced 6 days early with Little Man and he came out 9lbs. 4 oz. I am ok with going in on Monday to get this show on the road.