Thank goodness for moms!!

After 2 weeks of wonderful wonderful help my mom left today. I was so sad to see her leave. Thank goodness for moms who are so willing to help. My mom is wonder woman when it comes to helping with babies. She seems to do everything. She makes meals, cleans, does laundry, takes care of a crying baby in the middle of the night, and the biggest help of all - she plays with my older kids and they LOVE it. And this time around she even got to help keep our house nice and clean in case we had to show our house!I am lucky enough to have my mother-in-law arriving tomorrow. So, I am spoiled to have help for one more week.
We - or I guess I should say my mom stayed plenty busy while she was here. Here are a few pictures from the couple of weeks she was here.
Even though it is a lot of work, it is so fun to have a little baby in our house. Jane is a sweetheart!
There is something about sleeping babies - especially when their mouth is like this that just melts my heart!!!


Lucy is my little helper. She hates hearing Jane cry and is quick to offer to hold her and snuggle with her. I love my girls!!
Here are my two babies. Two weeks ago Lucas was my baby. I still thought he was little. But when he layed down by her the other day it reminded me he really is not my baby anymore!!

Funny Story - The first time Lucas saw me changing Jane he shouted out "Eeeeew! Yuck. Pooh pooh on Jane's belly. " He could not understand what that nasty looking thing was on her tummy!! It was really funny. Oh and one morning Ethan woke up nice and early and was watching t.v. He came back to my bedroom holding something in his hand and said so matter of factly - "Mom, I found Janes belly button on the floor." There in his hand was her dried out umbillical cord! I guess it fell off in the middle of the night when I was feeding and changing her.
This was one of the favorite things the kids did with my mom. they loved playing outside with her and being pushed on the swing.

Andy went on a high adventure trip with the youth in our ward. So, the first morning he was gone our garbage didn't get taken out so my mom had to do a mad dash in the pouring rain to get it to the curb before the garbage man came. What a good sport!!
Jane loves baths. It surprised me because I don't remember any of my other babies enjoying bath time as much as she seems to!!

Welcome Baby Jane

We are so happy our baby girl finally arrived! She is beautiful and is providing plenty of entertainment for our kids. It's very fun to have a sweet little baby in our home. She has made me realize Lucas is not so little anymore!!

Jane Teresa arrive Thursday, June 4 at 11:11 p.m.
She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 1/4" long

So, here's the story.... I went into a labor a week ago. (Here is my last pregnant picture) We went to the hospital and came home the next day with no baby. It was so depressing to leave the hospital and still be pregnant! I was dilated to a 5 but nothing was happening so I went home and continued to have contractions for the week. It wasn't until I went for my appointment and my doctor stripped my membranes. Things started almost immediately. I started contractions around 4:00 pm and we went to the hospital a little after 9 pm and Jane was born just after 11:00.


This is from my first trip to the hospital. Sorry, but there is something very frightening about these dilation charts!!
I decided to try a "natural" birth this time. I tried reading a book to prepare myself but it freaked me out a bit so it wasn't until I actually went into labor that I finished reading the book in the last several hours before I actually delivered. Everything went really well - until the very very end when I had to push and then I wondered what in the world I was thinking trying to have a baby without an epidural!!! However, I'm glad to have done it and am amazed at how much better I feel.
Our baby has been so sleepy since arriving home so Lucy asked, "was Jane sleeping when she came out of you?"
"Oh, no sweetie she was screaming really loud when she came out" (I bit my tongue but wanted to follow by saying and so did I!! Let's be honest - it hurts!)

It was so fun to have the kids come visit me at the hospital. They just love their new sister and it was fun to have all of my kids with me. (Of course, it was nice when they left too!!ha!)
Ethan surprised us all with his gentleness. He couldn't get enough of Jane. He was so sweet in the hospital and wanted to keep holding her. It was very cute. Look how angelic his face looks!!
So far Lucas has been fine with the baby. He thinks it's strange when she makes any kind of noise or stretches her arms.

They were so fascinated with how little everything is on our baby!!
Lucy is happy to have another girl in the house!! So am I!!I can't say enough about my wonderful wonderful husband. He was fabulous during the birth and has been running around ever since. He took Lucas and Ethan to a Father and son campout Friday night and has been good to keep things going around the house. He has been running on little sleep and do you think I ever hear him complain? No!! Of course not!! He is wonderful.
We had to stay one extra night in the hospital because Jane's billy reuban (I have no clue how to spell it) was too high. So after an afternoon and night under lights she was ready to go home. So, we left bright and early. Andy and the kids picked me up just before going they headed to church.
We are so thankful for all who have helped us over the past several days. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends - especially given we don't live close to family. And thanks to Stephanie who spent the night at our house both times we went to the hospital!!

Playing catch up

Once again I am going to post a lot of posts all at once. I need to get better at posting them as I take the pictures rather than playing catch up and lately I've been really bad at posting. Life has been pretty crazy. However, I think I am caught up for now. Enjoy the pictures!!

End of Soccer

Once again we finished another soccer season. The kids have gotten a lot better. It is always fun to go and watch them play. Although I'm not a fan of the concession stands at the end of each game (which you'd know from a previous post), it is so funny to me that anytime Ethan or Lucy come out for a water break they update me on what they think they will get from the concession stand. Really, I think sometimes that they play soccer just to get their concession stand tickets at the end of each game!!! oh my!

Best Friends

I love this picture and if you knew Ethan and Emma you would love it too. Emma is Ethan's best friend. He loves being with her and they play so well together. She is s tom boy and I'm not sure what hewill do without her once we move. I got this picture of her in her baseball uniform and Ethan in his soccer uniform. Too cute!!

Well, it's hard to believe another school year has come and gone. Ethan finished up pre school this past week. It was a week filled with activities. It's hard to believe he will be in Kindergarten next year. On their last day of school they got to go to a horse farm and then we went to a picnic. On Tuesday I got to go and listen to him sing in a concert with his class mates. It was really cute. His favorite song is the one about stinky feet. No surprise there!!

This is a picture of Ethan and his WONDERFUL teacher who helped make this year a positive year for him and cared for his diabetes. I am grateful for her!

Mother's Day

I know mother's day has come and gone but I couldn't resist posting these pictures. Andy let me sleep in and he got the kids ready for church and they all made breakfast.... a very good breakfast. Anyway, this year was better than most just because the kids really got into it and had so much fun. I mean look at Ethan and how excited he is to be making me breakfast (not to mention his shirt is still tucked in and his hair is combed with a part in it. Amazing!). I love it!!

American Girl Doll Store

Lucy has been wanting to go to the American Girl Doll store for a while now so several weeks ago we made a stop after going to the temple and went to the store in downtown Chicago. She had fun walking through. I think she thinks she owns American Girl Dolls but really they are the target brand - Our generation. I just have a really hard time justifying spending over $100 on a doll. The target brand cost between $20 and $35! However it was fun to walk through the store.

Love my kids!!!

Ethan and Lucas love playing together. Ethan figured out how to give Lucas rides on the big wheel. It was really fun to watch them!!

Some of the kids in our ward toilet papered us. However, given we are selling our house they were very kind to keep the toilet paper to our cars!! Thanks!! They made the kids' day. All three of our kids were so excited and couldn't believe it!!

Aren't they cute? I love them!

Playing around with the camera

This is the beautiful lake we live 5 minutes from. I really love living here. Anyway, not that these are fabulous pictures but I went out one night and played around with my camera which is still pretty new to me. For those of you who are interested, the first picture was taken before the second. However in the first picture I metered off the sun and in the second I metered off the blue sky and then reset it on the sunset. This is the difference between the two. Isn't that interesting?

Finally!!

It is very exciting.....Lucy and Ethan can both ride bikes without training wheels and they are so proud of themselves. We have a giant parking lot close to our house which has been a great place for them to practice. It's really cute to see them out riding. They can rid and stop but they have to work on starting without help.

Broadway

This is a late post but a couple of months ago my friend Lisa and I took some of our kids to Chicago to go see Mary Poppins. We had a wonderful wonderful day. We took the train in and then walked about 10 minutes down the road to our show. We loved the show. It was very magical to watch. I cried at the end because it was so fantastic to be there. I felt silly to be crying and was sure it was because I was pregnant. But Lisa informed me that she too was crying by the end. Lucy loved being there and Ethan loved the treats we brought. Need I say more. At the end of the day Lisa and I were asking the kids if they had a fun day and what they liked most about Mary Poppins. Emma blurted out "I hate mary poppins. I don't even like the movie" It was so funny.

Here's the entire group - Lisa, Erin, Emma, Lucy, and Ethan

We took the train into Chicago. The kids had plenty of toys to entertain themselves.

So sad!!!

I know I really have NO reason to be feeling sad that I have not had our baby yet. My due date is not until June 11th. However, I have been on medicine for the last 2 months to stop pre term labor. Even on the medicine I have been having contractions and dilating (which is not normal for me at all!) As of Thursday I was 37 weeks and the doctor said I could go off the medicine. So, I knew I'd have my baby within 24 - 48 hours going off the medicine and in my mind my due date was Thursday. I just couldn't imagine going any longer given the way this pregnancy has gone. But no....... I am still here and trying to think how it is possible I am not in the hospital with a new baby!
I woke up today determined to have the baby. We went and did a service project at a local cemetarty. I was raking leaves and doing yard work. We then went to the beach which requires effort with 3 little kids and all the gear we need for the beach. Then I cleaned our house (once again)..... but none of that worked. Too bad I was on this nasty medicine for the past 2 months that made me feel strange and gave me headaches and made me dizzy.....all for nothing?!?!? I guess our little girl isn't quite ready to come to the craziness of our lives right now! I guess I can't blame her. Life is really crazy right now.

coupon

Hey just in case you didn't know -if you go to oprah.com you can print out 4 coupons. Each are good for 2 pieces of their new grilled chicken, 2 sides, and a biscuit for FREE!!! (My wonderful neighbor just informed me of this great deal.) Hurry and print yours because after tonight you can't print them. You don't have to use them today but they must be printed by tonight. I love a good deal especially when it has "FREE" involved!

Happy Birthday to the GREATEST HUSBAND EVER!!!

Yes, Andy has once again caught up to my age (he loves to make me very aware that I am older than him- even if it is just by a few months!!!!)
We love him for so many reasons:
He's a GREAT dad
Always happy
The most patient person you will ever meet
Makes me want to be better
Always makes me laugh
Makes me feel like I'm the greatest person in the world
Hard worker
Listens to me talk, talk, talk
Supports me in anything I want to try or do
Brings a smile to my face

I could go on and on......
Happy Birthday to Andy!

Our Tom Sawyer

It's been a while but I'm pretty sure it was Tom Sawyer who had to paint his fence and ended up getting it done by putting his friends to work. Well, I've decided Ethan is our modern day Tom Sawyer.
He's pretty lazy. Hate to say it but it's true. Over the past month when it is chore time in the morning Ethan has been so good to Lucas. He talks in his nice high pitched sweet voice "Lucas do you want to do chores together." To Ethan's credit he does help Lucas get dressed (he even changes his diaper). The other day I said, "Ethan thank you so much for being so nice to Lucas in the morning and letting him do chores with you."
He responded so matter of factly, "Well, that way I don't have to pick anything up."
I'm usually busy getting myself ready during his chore time so this week I started to pay attention. Sure enough, Ethan sits on his bed pointing to the toys Lucas needs to pick up. "Good Lucas, now go get that toy and put it away. No not there it goes in the other basket. Ok, now come get....." You get the picture. Lucas has become his slave!
Even though Ethan is lazy he has created a GREAT worker out of his brother.

Happy Easter

These kids do keep me BUSY but I sure LOVE them. We had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Coloring Eggs

Once again we had fun coloring eggs and of course the kids wished I had made more. But honestly I can only eat so many egg salad sandwiches and they are no help in eating it!

Lucas was in heaven all weekend. Coloring eggs. Eating WAY too much candy. He now wakes up from naps and night time saying "treat!". He had tons of fun dropping his eggs from one dye to the next.
I did mean dropping when I said it. Notice his nasty looking egg. He dropped it a few too many times but still insisted on coloring it!! Sick!
Here they are happy as can be with their easter baskets. Lucas couldn't even wait to take a picture before his face was stuffed with candy. (Ethan did wake up a SUPER overly happy boy this morning. Maybe it's not such a bad thing to give them lots of candy right before bedtime!!!)

31 weeks.....but who is counting?!?!??!

I have had some requests for some "belly" pictures. So here it is. Less than 2 months to go and given what I find out at each Dr. appointment and how I feel each day I'm actually thinking this baby will come much sooner than planned! (oh and yes, this is the outfit I wear almost everyday! I hate it but am way too cheap to buy more maternity clothes. I keep hoping it'll get warm so I can pull out all of my maternity clothes but remember where we live......I don't think it'll really be warm until after the baby comes!!)

Lessons Learned!

This has been the craziest week ever. Here are a few lessons I have learned:

1) Never have a garage sale!
2) If you have a garage sale never do it ALONE with young kids around!
3) If you do have a garage sale that is supposed to start at 9:00 am don't allow a person to knock on your door at 7 am, get you out of bed, and ask to take an early view of your garage sale (and walk away buying nothing)
4) If you do have a garage sale never do it a day after listing your house on the market!!
5) If you do have a garage sale don't let the people parked out by your driveway at 8:00am intimidate you into opening an hour early in hopes you can get rid of them and finish making your listed house spotless, give shots to your diabetic son, feed the kids and finish pricing last minute items. Once you open for one they come out in herds and don't stop.
6) Never have a garage sale when your 2 year old has just entered the wonderful world of terrible twos. It can be really embarrassing!
7)Never have a garage sale and list your house in the same week when you are 30 weeks pregnant and experiencing pre term labor.
8)Just take all of your junk to Good Will and you will make as much money on your tax break as you will actually make on your sales!
9) Be EXTREMELY grateful for good friends and neighbors who offer a helping hand when needed without being asked! (Thanks Lisa, Natalie, Vern, Denise, and Amberly)

I am glad the week is almost over and look forward to a wonderful two days of General Conference!!

Happy Birthday Natalie

Happy Birthday to my crazy cheeseburger friend!!

Funny Kid

So, Ethan is a crazy/funny kid. He wanted a suit for church soooooo bad so he could look like his daddy. We finally got him one and he thinks he is so cool. However, he refuses to tuck in his shirt and he has some weird sock/foot issue. We haven't quite figured it out yet but he hates wearing church socks. Apparently they are too tight and hurt his feet. It's drama every sunday so yes, he goes to church with his shirt untucked and white gym socks on. It's pretty obviouse he's not wearing church socks.

Also, for Christmas he bought Andy a gift at his school "store". For $1 he bought this tie. He was soooooo proud of it. The pictures of the tie don't do it justice but really it's an aweful tie. However, Ethan was so proud of that tie. So, Andy had to wear it, of course. Here he is sporting his cool great grandpa tie!
Since I'm on the subject of Ethan. He's just so full of Energy. He's all about scary stuff and getting the bad guys....
He is constantly upside down on the couch standing on his head and he likes to dress up as super heros (I guess it's better than the princess costumes he use to put on!)
The other day I was super busy trying to get lunch on the table and get Lucy on the bus and Ethan out to pre school. In the middle of all the chaos Ethan (who should be ready for school) calls to me "Mom, look at this. I am soooooo strong". I turn around and busted up laughing. This struck me so funny. He managed to get under the chair and pick it up on his back. He thought he was as strong as the increadible hulk. Too funny! Where does this kid get his energy.