We have a new Girl!

We have had some great things happen lately, not only did we have a new girl, but Angie has gotten me to write a blog. It was either that or try and feed Kate. I just didn't feel equipped for the feeding so I got the post. Angie had a very nice delivery. She started having contractions while we were at Amy's baby Ally's blessing. After the blessing we went back to Amy's, Angie wanted to get some good food in her before the hospital stay. I mostly ran around Amy's house trying to convince everyone to tell Angie to GO TO THE HOSPITAL. We got to the Hospital around 3:30 and she was only dilated to a 3, which means she had to wait for an hour to see if she would progress before they would admit her. That also meant I got the evil eye for convincing her to go to the hospital so soon. After about an hour they checked her and she hadn't dilated anymore. They asked her if she wanted anything for the pain before they called the doctor and sent her home. Angie looked like she wanted to cry, so did I. When they called the doctor he was already on his way in (It was his on call night at the hospital). He wanted her to wait another half-hour so he could check her before she went home. While we waited, Angie plotted the tortures she would inflict on me for the early trip to the hospital. Her contractions got much harder. When the doctor arrived and checked her she was dilated past a 4 HURRAY!!! He broke her water and told us we would probably have a baby before 12:00. They gave her an epidural and off she went. We had Kate around 9:45, Angie only had to push a few times. Thanks to me and my incredibly small headed genes. Kate was born weighing 5 lbs 7 oz and 18 inches long. She opened her eyes within the first minute and didn't shut them for two hours. We are so blessed and happy to have her in our family. We feel so lucky to have two healthy children. Thank you to everyone that has already called or given us gifts. Kate has more clothes than she will ever wear. For those of you that hadn't yet heard about Kate, all I can say is Angie really needs to get on the ball :)

Grace seems to be adjusting well :)

My Blog is Ugly

I've tried to change my blog layout, coloring, etc. - but to no avail. It's ugly and I just wanted people to know I know! I was trying to put one of those cute custom backgrounds on and I swear the instructions skip some steps. Even Chad couldn't resolve the issue, and after 10 minutes of trying I made him give up. That's a hard thing to do for Chad the problem solver, but I just reminded him of his "to do problem list" which sidetracked him. Someday though... my blog will be really really cool.

My "To Do" List

The farther along I'm getting this pregnancy, the less I make myself do. I try to do laundry, dishes, clean up after Grace, exercise (walk to the mailbox), grocery shop, etc. I never seem to get to other chores that are beyond daily maintenance.

Although I'm doing less, I'm sure planning to somehow snap out of it and become beyond efficient based on my many to do lists. I've found about 5 lists around my house recently, some from over a month ago, and the same tasks appear: deep clean shower/tub, organize paper mess in office, pull weeds, clean tile, magic eraser whole house. Chad's list has become unmanageable because now it includes all of my undone list, plus his undone list of house fix ups we've procrastinated on all Summer: dig lawn trench for rain gutter down spout, move items from garage into cold storage, fix grout in kids bath, re-caulk master tub. Who wants to do any of these things? Chad gave a nice laugh when I said the deadline is before the baby comes. He didn't laugh after I gave him that "I'm serious" look.

Why do all these unimportant things become such a priority right before you have a baby? Grace's clothes closet never bothered me before, but now it gives me such anxiety to see all the clothes she's grown out of heaped in a big pile and not yet folded into the 12-18 month bin. I guess part of being a Mom is learning how to be balanced and happy while managing the ever increasing list of to do's in your head and wondering if your husband will remember to do the same. Then something big happens in life (like having a baby) and sometimes you get to let everything go for a while and you realize nothing bad happened. Everything is OK. I'm not there yet, so let the insanity begin!

Beth's Visit

My sister Beth visited us for 2 weeks while in the process of moving to San Diego. We are very excited to visit her once she gets situated. She is moving on her own and finding a place and job once she arrives...so adventurous. Grace enjoyed all the personal attention and I enjoyed the company and help with house cleaning (embarrassing). It was so fun to spend time together and so nice to have extra help late in my pregnancy.

At Beth's House in July

Beth took Grace to the IF Zoo

We got to see this rainbow when Beth was here. It was a double rainbow. The best one I've seen

Welcome Home Baby Ally

Amy and Justin welcomed baby Ally (Allyse Nicole Anderson) into the world on August 18th. She was only 5lbs, 12 oz and 18 inches long, but healthy and happy. Emma is obsessed with the baby and such a "good helper." Roman is obsessed with Mom, but is still a good boy with the baby. Congratulations!

The cutest annoucement is at this link:

http://www.utahportraits.com/hospital/index.php?action=view&BabyID=081808ana

It's a Girl!

I went back to the mall and got a free ultrasound which confirmed we are having a girl. I'm unpacking the pink butterfly stuff and packing up the boy clothes for another time :)

I was at 7 peaks waterpark Friday and saw two sisters in matching swimsuits and french braids and got a little soft spot in my heart for girls, plus Chad is so sweet with Grace. Every night he climbs into bed with her and tells her two short stories. They usually involve dragons and the beach. Tonight she made a random request for stories about Grandpa Randy. Chad of course told a tale of fishing and swimming with the fish, and the other was about a tennis match where she amazed Grandpa by acing him, proving she was a tennis prodigy.

Just an update on my pregnancy... I feel great now and am due Nov. 10th. At my last appointment the Dr. commented "You've gained 6 lbs since your last visit, so you may want to just watch that." To add insult to injury the cashier at the grocery store asked how far along I was and then said her daughter was due around the same time but was quite a bit smaller. Where are these people coming from? I have put on about 30 lbs so far, and still have 16 weeks to go. Oops. I'm over it and enjoying my pregnancy. It is so nice to not suck it in and just enjoy!

We're Having an IT

So we got the medical ultrasound for the baby and everything was great, such a relief! However, we did get a big surprise when they told us we are having a girl! (Our previous mall ultrasound determined it was a boy.) The tech said she's never disagreed with those mall ultrasounds, but couldn't find any proof of a boy, and thinks she sees girl parts. I'm just curious what was between my babies legs in the first ultrasound... we definitely saw something. The tech said the cord was between the babies legs now so maybe that was the problem...? I found this out just before we were heading out of town for a week, so Chad and I decided we should accept it and start thinking of girl names. We like Leah, but I'm pressing for another ultrasound before we really move on.

Hike To The Y

While Clint's kids were up for the Lagoon trip I took them and Emma on a hike to the Y. It was a little nerve racking when we reached the top and the kids started sliding everywhere, but we made it home safe and everyone had a fun time.

The Girls Really Encouraged Each Other to not Give up. We Started Taking Their Picture at Each of the 10 Trail Markers Which Motivated Them

This is the View I had of the Boys Most of the Hike, They Were Serious

The Girls Were Not so Serious

Each Kid Wanted to Strike a Pose for Their Hike Photo

Way to Go!

Lagoon

Randy and Barbara planned a family trip for everyone to Lagoon. The kids had so much fun and the weather was perfect. Chad got really sick in the evening and suddenly threw up almost spraying innocent bystanders. It was funny. He quickly recovered and enjoyed more rides. We think it was the dancing variety show that actually made him throw up.

Justin, Caleb, Michael, Hailey, Kylee

Melanie and Josh on the Ferris Wheel

The Two Pregnant Ladies

Barbs and Brooklyn

Randy and Emma

Roman Liked Electronics More Than the Rides

Melanie Got Suckers for the Kids

Grace and Josh

Sarah

Relaxing at the Water Park

We Found Spiderman!

We're having a....

I'm impatient. My Dr. didn't want to schedule my ultrasound until week 24, so I went to the mall and got one. I'm having a boy! That's what I wanted. Chad didn't care what we had, blah, blah, blah. One disappointing thing is based on a previous ultrasound they adjusted my due date to Nov. 10th, instead of Oct. 25th. What? So I'm only 18 weeks instead of 20. I know it's not a big deal, but that means I started showing at 6 weeks I swear, and told everyone at 8. I haven't accepted the verdict yet (as I kept track of "stuff" since we were on fertility.) Bottom line, I'm feeling better, my baby looks healthy, and it has a stem on the apple!

Desitin Disaster

After 30 minutes of Emma and Grace quietly playing upstairs, Amy and I wondered what mess we would find. Just then the girls came running down giggling, so excited to show us what they had done. Emma did ask for sunscreen earlier, and maybe she thought the Desitin diaper cream was a good option. Either way she did a great job of applying it to all exposed areas, and they found some baby powder to put on over it, and all over the floor. I actually couldn't stop laughing as I told them it was soooooooooo naughty. You can click on the picture to gain an appreciation of the mess.

The mugshots

Yoga is Tricky

Everyday it's Yoga. No, not me exercising. Grace wants me to get out the mat and Yoga DVD. Kids seem to love "exercising." If only pretend Yoga and push ups really worked.

Toby McGuire, look out

Spiderman has a new biggest fan. Chad bought the DVD's recently of the non cartoon version and Grace was hooked from the first action scene. She loves Spiderman 1 where he catches the bus to go to school and has the fist fight. She also loves the wrestling match. Spiderman is pretty violent actually. She'll say things like "bonk on the head, sorry" and loves to say "go web" when Spidy learns about his superpowers. We helped along her obsession by giving her pj's and a Spiderman sleeping bag for Easter. She loves them and wants the sleeping bag in her crib at night. To her excitement we located Spiderman on her favorite blanket (an eye spy quilt Melanie made for her) and she points it out to us all the time.

Random picture...She asks me for peanut butter toast all the time. I caved only to be again disappointed by her lack of interest in the toast.

Baby #2

I'm so excited to be expecting baby #2! We found out I was pregnant at the end of February, so it's been really hard to not say anything. I wanted to go to the Dr. to hear the heartbeat first. I'm starting my 10th week and am already showing, (exhibit A - birthday photo posted below). When I told people at church they said "I thought you were." I even had someone ask me if I was pregnant when I was 6 weeks along and not showing. You think people would be smarter. I'm convinced I am pregnant with twins because I'm pretty sick this time (last time I was not) and am showing a lot (I guess you do show more with each pregnancy.) Clomed only increases the chance of twins 10% but heres to hoping! I really want a boy this time, but I took Emma and Grace to the pool the other day and they were so cute with each other, which made me think a girl would be great too. I'm due October 25th (Amy's due August 18th) fun!

I wanted to surprise Chad with the news. Chad was present while I took 3 pregnancy tests which all looked negative to us. One was in Mexico on vacation, and I think it was just too early. The other ones were dollar store tests where the line didn't appear until after 5 minutes and I didn't think it was even a line. Let me rephrase that by saying Chad convinced me it was negative (he was too worried.) This is a little package Amy and I had the UPS man make up after I took my 4th and definitely positive test. We personally delivered it to his work front desk.

Terrible Two's

Some random pictures from the last few weeks:

Grace wanted to wear only a jacket and tights today

I left Grace for 2 minutes (I swear) with a fudgesicle. Grrr!

Grace wants to put on her shirt by HERSELF

"Can I help you Grace?"

"NO, NO, NO!!!"

Easter

We went to an Easter Egg Hunt in Mapleton and the kids had a lot of fun. Grace was so excited to ride the horses, but she cried as soon as we put her on the saddle. Amy brought a neighbor boy along and he won a bike. A friend of mine came with her kids and little dog. The dog loved the bunnies and would not leave their side the entire time.

It was time for the rabbits to leave, so the dog followed too

Roman saw I had the camera out and ran up and said "cheese"