District Choir Festival...

Maxine's school choir was in a district choir festival.  They practiced a lot and did a great job!  Our school wore teal shirts.

Our school was on the left and the big, white arrow is pointing to Maxine.  This was before it started.

Choir has been a lot of fun for Maxine this year.  They've performed a few times and I've always thought they did a great job!

Silly faces...

Today Jack went to get Mikayla from the crib when she woke up from a nap. As he walked out with her, I said, "Hello baby!" and she grinned. I snagged this picture with my phone. Her hair is so crazy because I gave her a bath today.



I love my silly kids!

How can that be comfortable?

Jack fell asleep during conference. No big surprise. However, he fell asleep on the hardwood floor.

Ouch!

Here's another conference Sunday picture. They were messing around during a song. Maxine is a super piggybacker.

I promise, we listened to conference as well. :)

Out hiking!

My side of the family got together at a local hiking and picnic area to visit. After lunch, Merril took the older kids to hike while Mikayla and I stayed back to visit with my Mom, Dad, sister Jeannie (who'd just had elbow surgery) and her husband Greg (who'd just had shoulder surgery). The kids had fun getting wet, even though I hadn't dressed them to get wet.

Maxine and Juliet paused on a bench to pose for a picture, all wet.

Here's Jack pulling his, "I'm feeling cool" look. I have a hard time getting him to smile for the camera any more.

We had a good time and I got a chance to visit with relatives that I haven't seen in a while.

Old laptop...

Merril got a new netbook (translation: small laptop or tablet with a real keypad) for Christmas. It's cute, small and light. It has an ugly, fat, seriously heavy grandpa. Enter the seriously old laptop that we've had forever, since Maxine was a baby. It's been rebuilt and had parts swapped a number of times. I think we're on power cord number 4 because after a while, the plug cracks and won't work anymore. But it has to be plugged in because the battery only lasts for about 10 minutes. Lately, the wireless card on it has been running SUPER slow. (It takes an external wireless card because it was made before internal wireless cards.) I thought it was our router for a while. But I finally ponied up the 6 bucks and bought a new wireless card on Ebay and now the internet is streaming like a champ. I know this one is old but I just can't justify buying a new full-sized laptop until this one quits working.

Turkey and the sand dunes...

For family home evening, we packed a picnic dinner and headed out to the sand dunes. I had Merril snap a few pics with his phone. We cooked a turkey dinner on Sunday and took leftover turkey sandwiches and pumpkin pie. I had lofty ideas of freezing all the leftover turkey but instead we've just about eaten all of it. Little turkey sandwiches, turkey wraps and turkey just out of the tupperware container. Merril and I have decided that we need to have a Spring turkey dinner because turkey dinner is too good to only have once a year! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls and pumpkin pie and it was so good!

So we played in the sand, ate our sandwiches and drove home.

It was a fun evening. :)

Check out the Friend Magazine!

Before Christmas, I got a call from a ward member asking if she could sketch Juliet for an upcoming article in the Friend magazine. The artist, Dileen Marsh, came over and explained what the picture was supposed to look like and then snapped some pictures. The article just came out in the April edition of the Friend. We're on page 22. (Emily U: If you look close, that's the quilt you made for Juliet when she was born!)

I love the thing that Juliet's doing with her hand. She does it often when she's talking and I'm pleased that it's been captured somewhere. We also thought it was funny that the girl in the article is named Susie. Juliet LOVES the name Susie and has a favorite baby doll named Susie. I've already made arrangements to purchase the original artwork from Dileen when it comes back from Salt Lake. Yeah!

Grateful...

Today I'm grateful. I'm grateful because I've learned that it's not wheat gluten that's upsetting Mikayla, it's corn. Corn! Of all the goofy things to have a reaction to! I feel bad for Mikayla that it took me so long to put the pieces together. After cutting wheat, I pounded the corn products: corn flakes, popcorn, corn tortillas; and they were the exact ingredient I should have been avoiding. So much sadness for her. So I'm eating bread again (joyous day!) and cutting corn, something that makes us both happy. I haven't added dairy or chocolate back in yet only because we're still working on getting her acid reflux medication right. She seems 50% better than no medicine so that's an improvement. I'll take some improvement over no improvement at all. She's sleeping better at night, which means I'm sleeping better at night.

I'm thankful for a supportive husband who has stayed up late with our baby girl so I can get some zzzzzs and then gets up early with the older kids to get them on the bus. He hasn't gone to the gym in the mornings since Mik was born and basically been attached to my hip to help out. Seriously thankful. He did dishes this morning too.

I'm thankful that they even have these types of medications! I can't imagine living in the past and not having options for my screaming, sad baby girl.

I'm thankful because today Mikayla looked at me and smiled. A real,"Hey, I recognize you and like you" smile. Her first.

I'm thankful for baby swings and soothing vibrations baby chairs! Without which my arms would have fallen off from carrying her around all the time.

Mikayla's blessing

Mikayla was blessed today. This is right after her morning bath. (I say that like she has a bath every day.) She was calm and content and I snagged this pic.

This is my new dress. It is so soft and extremely comfy. I might wear it every week from now on. Unfortunately, it's complicated to nurse in.

Mikayla was really good during the blessing. Her newly ordained cousin, Michael, was able to stand in the circle and help with the blessing.

And just so you don't think I've given away all my other children, here's a picture of Juliet with Merril.

We had a party at our house afterwards with hamburgers and Merril deep fried some fries and onion rings. Boy were they delicious! When he said he wanted to do fries, I was like, "Whatever." But they were my favorite part of the meal! Thanks to everyone who helped out and brought things!

Starving more than usual lately...

So Mikayla is a month old now! Wow! Where did that month go? Anyway, she's developed some nice acid reflux and a ton of painful gas. :( So we've tried one acid reflux medicine but it didn't work so we're onto medicine #2. I've also started her on some probiotics to try and help with the gas. Neither seem to do any good yet. The only thing that seems to be helping are my dietary restrictions. I've cut dairy, gluten, chocolate, tomatoes, onions, anything spicy, broccoli, and citrus fruits. Hopefully this is just a temporary measure until we can get the acid and gas under control for my sad, sleepless baby girl.

The hardest part is trying to find something to eat that won't upset her stomach. Urg. Breakfast and lunch are okay but dinner is challenging. If I punch gluten-free and dairy-free dinners into google, I'm barraged with healthy food. Things that include swiss chard, wheat grass, lentils, etc. I'm not trying to be healthy people! I'm just trying to find something to eat that is bland, boring and creatively flat. Which boils down to a lot of plain chicken and potatoes. *sigh* I miss eating. So as I stand in the kitchen, clutching my box of Rice Chex (which has become my go to snack food), I'm getting "hangry." Please eat a chocolate bar for me.

1 month old...

Mikayla is 1 month old! I really don't know where the month has gone. It's been a blur of sleepless nights. :) I'm amazed at how I can love something so much so fast.

Spring is around the corner...

I'm a little worried about my fruit trees this year because they're already starting to blossom! My apricot tree always blooms first and I was very surprised to see the buds opening yesterday. It's been such a mild Winter, the blooms are even earlier than usual.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the mild weather continues and we don't get bombarded with freezing temperatures in March. I also looked at my garden today. Oi. All the dead plants from last year are still in there. Later this week I think I'll get ambitious and pull all the dead junk out and ready it for Spring planting. I didn't think I'd have any motivation to do anything with my garden this Spring but something about budding plants gets me excited to grow some veggies.

So sleepy...

So Mikayla's super sleeping streak came to an end. She's showing a lot of the same acid reflux signs as Juliet. So 2 days ago, I gave up milk and all milk-based foods, in an effort to help her feel better. She doesn't sleep very well, waking up often and squirming like she's in pain. :( She has another doctor appointment on Tuesday so I'm going to bring up getting her on some medication. The effect it's having on me is sleep deprivation. Mikayla is up every couple of hours day or night and I'm not dealing as well as I used to. When I had Juliet, I was 27. Now I'm 32 and I really feel like my body is not keeping up. Postpartum recovery is great, I'm just really tired. Luckily Merril has been around in the mornings to get the kids off to school so I can sleep in. Otherwise, I might be pretty grumpy. I usually sneak in a nap in the afternoons as well. So I'm just getting older.

Merril also made the comment that he forgot how much time I have to spend nursing at first. He calculated it out to 3 1/2 hours a day. That's a lot of time to be sitting on the couch. I've caught up on some tv. My Name is Earl comes on at 3 a.m. and I've enjoyed the reruns.

More pictures of Mikayla...

My Dad, who loves teeny infants, asked if there was any way I'd take some pictures of Mikayla so he could have one printed. I got a bounce flash for Christmas and decided to try it out. Here are my favorite three:

If anyone has any bounce flash tips, I'd love to hear them. I should probably just read the little book that came with it but I haven't had time yet. I still can't believe all that hair!

Oh, someone asked about Mikayla's middle name, Ai. Sorry that I didn't explain. Ai is the Japanese word for "love." It's pronounced I.

It's a girl!

After feeling that I was going to have a boy, we ended up with a girl in the oven! Mikayla Ai was born at 9:57 p.m., was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz.

We got started with the induction around 4 p.m. Everything went pretty smoothly. I got an epidural at 7 p.m. (i think) and told the doctor it usually takes on the left side really well and not on the right. So he aimed to the right and instead my right side went totally numb but I could still feel it on my left. It's not an exact science. He also said I had some scoliosis from the pregnancy. I've always felt like my babies like to sit on my right side and he says that pulls my spine to the side as well. It's supposed to go back to normal with recovery. Fingers crossed. :)

So around 9 p.m., it was still hurting and the anesthesiologist came back and gave me an extra dose of something. After that, I was super numb and happy. Around 9:35 p.m., they called the doctor, she arrived, I pushed 3 times and we had a baby girl.

She has a ton of brown hair!

By the time we got moved to the new room and ready to sleep, it was midnight. Merril went home to sleep and help with the kids. The nurses kept coming in and waking me up so I didn't sleep super awesome at the hospital.

This is the next day as we're getting ready to leave the hospital.

We left the hospital around 2 p.m. and my Mom kept the kids during the afternoon. Merril, the baby and I all had a long nap. Around 5 p.m. the kids showed up and met their new baby sister. Since then, Mikayla has barely touched the bassinet or couch. The kids love to hold her!

Last night we put her to bed around 10:30 p.m. and she woke up at 3:30 a.m. I fed her and Merril got her back to bed and she slept until 7:45 a.m. Pretty good for the first night.

I'm feeling pretty good too. Not hardly sore at all, just where the epidural was. I'm slow and sleepy today but feel like I'll be back to normal soon!

Thanks to everyone who has brought presents and helped out!!

Baby Shower Gifts...

I received some baby gifts a few days ago. Since no one knew the gender of the baby, I got lots of essentials! Things like diapers, lotions, a baby bag, wipes, baby thermometers and such. When I came home with the gifts, Juliet immediately loaded up the bag with wipes and diapers and played with her baby doll, Suzie.

Juliet and I were playing because we were so bored waiting for the hospital to call. There was no laundry to do, no messes on the floor, no dishes in the sink, just waiting.

The hospital finally called at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon and we loaded up the kids and headed over. Grandma C. met us at the hospital and we checked in. They had to finish cleaning up the room for me and so we waited in a triage room. This is the last pregnant picture of me.

No baby yet...

I'm scheduled to be induced tomorrow so I don't have the baby so close to my birthday. I'd had Juliet by now so I've thought that maybe I'd go early. I've never been induced before and I'm a little nervous. I'm not sure why, I'm always given pitocin eventually because I take a while a dilate. I tested negative for Group Beta Strep, a first for me, so I don't have to have the antibiotics!! I've finished with almost everything I wanted to. I have 2 goals for today: running to Walmart and washing sheets because I've washed everything else in the house.

The thing that's wigging me out the most is the fact that by tomorrow for sure, I'll be holding my baby. With the induction, they can call as soon as midnight and tell me to get in there. That's only 16 hours away! Next post will include baby pictures! Promise.

Decided to wash some clothes...

I tend to procrastinate. It's not my best quality. Today I was talking to a friend and she asked if I was all ready for the baby. I indicated that I was mostly ready except that I hadn't washed any baby clothes yet. She chewed me out and said I'd better get on it because the baby could come any day! She's right, as much as I didn't want to admit it. So I hauled up the boxes from the basement containing girls and boys clothes. I washed a variety of each.

Juliet had a great time helping me with the baby clothes. She recognized the outfit that she, herself, came home from the hospital in. (She loves to look at her baby picture book.) So there. Ha! Done.

Maxine's school sends home these brochures from Disneyland, detailing their vacation packages. The brochures irk me. Juliet was looking through one and said to Merril, "We've already been to Disneyland...what other lands can we go to?" We're thinking Thailand, Ireland, Greenland, Scotland! She's probably thinking more like SeaWorld.

I'm totally term today!!

So I'm 37 weeks. Holy Moly. It could come out and be happy and healthy! YIKES! So I put up the pack and play with the bassinet, put a sheet on it and made plans to wash blankets and both genders of clothes. This pregnancy has felt like it's gone by so fast and I can't believe I'm at the end. I've really felt great this pregnancy, except for the days that I'd lift too much. I'd really love to have 2 more weeks to get everything done that I'd like to. I teach a preschool co-op and I'm assigned to teach the next 2 weeks in order to give me the most time off after the baby comes. I woke up last night because of Braxton-Hicks contractions and panicked that the baby might be on its way. It's not.

Here is yet another picture with my crummy camera on my phone. I'm really too lazy to go get my real camera.

Since it's been so long since I was pregnant last, I've had less charlie horses, less heartburn, and less feet in my ribs. I had a dream last night that the baby was here already and probably 3 months old. It was smiling at me but wearing white pjs so I couldn't tell what it was. Then I opened a bucket of flour that was full of flying weevils, which creeped me out. Weird. I woke up worried about disinfecting the pantry but luckily, no weevils. Thank heavens! Have a great day!

New carseat...

My Mom wanted to buy a new carseat for the baby, so I let her. :) We browsed WalMart for a little bit and picked out this one. It's brown, tan, lime green and orange. The base matches the Tahoe interior nicely. :) So I brought it in and the kids wanted to play with it. Juliet put her favorite doll, Suzie, in it and has been playing "Mom" ever since.

It's almost a little scary to see a baby in the carseat already. :)

Having an off dinner day...

I like to think that I make good dinners. My kids tell me I make good things for dinner all the time and I figure they're pretty tough critics. But tonight I failed. Merril was out of town and I generally don't try as hard at dinner time if Merril's not going to be there to eat it.

Earlier I had promised Juliet that I would fix macaroni & cheese, which I never make when Merril's home. Already dinner is going downhill. I see a whole pineapple and figure I could chop it up and have it as a side. Rummaging in the fridge, I see brussel sprouts from the bountiful basket and think, "I need to use these up." So I cut them in half, drizzled them with olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in the oven to roast. So dinner consisted of

Mac & Cheese

Pineapple

Brussel Sprouts

Oi. All by themselves, not necessarily bad. Together for dinner, it just felt weird...off...not melding at all. The kids ate the mac & cheese and the pineapple fine. I had to really coax them to try a brussel sprout. I ate lots of everything, especially the brussel sprouts. I struggle with brussel sprouts but thought they were really good this time. But as I ate dinner, I thought to myself, "This is going to cause some serious heartburn."

Vegas trip...

Over the Martin Luther King weekend, we decided to take the kids to Vegas. It was a last hurrah before the baby comes. We just went down for the day and took some very crummy low light pictures. :) But hey, I wanted to get them on here before I forget.

We got some Wahoo's fish tacos. Then we drove up Las Vegas Boulevard and saw the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Maxine commented that it was a lot smaller than she thought it would be. We explained that the sign is really old and at the time it was great.

First we went to the Bellagio (Merril and I love it there) and saw the Conservatory. It was decorated for Chinese New Year.

We watched the Bellagio fountain show.

Then we walked across the street to the Paris and went to the top of the Eiffel tower. Merril and I have been to the top of the Stratosphere a ton but never to the top of the Eiffel tower.

From the top of the Eiffel tower, we could look down at the Bellagio fountain show canons, which I thought was pretty groovy.

We stayed up there for the next show and Merril snagged this picture.

Then we met up with my sister, Jess, and her family for dinner. Then we went to Fremont Street to see the light show. Juliet was tired and cold by then so Merril drove around with Juliet while Maxine, Jack and I saw the show. We saw a very bendable man who could fit into a box, the light show and bought some balloon animals and a hot chocolate.

After that we drove home. It took me me 5 days to recover from all the walking. Merril was amazing and ran to get the car several times and had me sit and wait but I was still pretty beat up. I'm back to feeling good again and can't believe mere weeks separate us from a newborn infant.

A Christmas gift...

One Christmas gift that Merril made me grew from a comment I made a few months ago. I mentioned that I thought my fridge always looked "messy" because I hang so many things on it. I thought maybe some type of magnetic boards could be attached to the back of my pantry door so I could still hang things, but close the door and hide it. So Merril decided to make them. So here is my very clean fridge!

If I need to look at stuff, I can just open the pantry door and unveil all my untidiness.

The curse of a really clean fridge is that it made me want stainless appliances even more. Maybe next Christmas?

Happy Epiphany...

Epiphany, or 12th Night was yesterday so we made a king cake to commemorate the event. Epiphany is a holiday that celebrates the supposed day the 3 Kings found the baby Jesus (I think). Mostly, it's a time for me to make a wreath-shaped cinnamon roll and hide a teeny, plastic baby doll (to represent the baby Jesus) in the dough. The cake is sliced and whoever is lucky enough to get the baby in their slice, receives good luck for a year. I feel like it really ends the Christmas season for me as well. Here are the kids and the king cake. They are each holding a teeny baby Jesus.

Merril cut the cake since I knew where the baby was hidden.

Maxine's piece had the baby hidden in it and she was very excited. Juliet started to cry and went to bed right after. She was tired.

Jack was playing with a different baby doll and made it look like the baby was crawling over his piece of cake.

We finished taking down all the Christmas decorations and cleaned the house today. Ahhh. I never mind the decorations until they disappear. Then I sit in my clean house and feel relieved that it's all gone. I debated getting some Valentine's Day stuff out but I don't think I'll want to clean it up next month. So I might just skip Valentine's Day decorating this year.

Coral Pinks 2012...

Since it was a brand new year, we went out to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, just like we do every year. We went out on Monday because New Year's Day was on a Sunday. Usually there's about a foot of snow on the sand but not this year! The weather has been so warm and hardly any snow was on the sand. I brought snow gear just in case but the kids didn't need it, aside from boots and gloves.

There I am, 34 1/2 weeks.

This is Merril's new work truck. He bought it at an auction in Seattle, WA and the front bumper was smashed. He got a screaming deal on it! There's a couple of things that still need to be fixed but it runs and drives and we're quite happy with it.

Grandpa brought some shovels and inevitably holes were dug. :) Juliet and Jack fit in them the best.

Happy New Year! I've thought about resolutions and all I can think of so far is I plan to drop 25-30 lbs. (I expect to gain a few more before I start losing but that can't be helped.) Other than that, I have low expectations for the year because I'll have the bambino. I'm focusing on just getting the bare essentials done around the house and family for a while. I don't feel like that's a goal though. It's not that I don't want to set goals, it's just that I want to keep them realistic because I'll have a newborn and don't want to take on too much. I hope the rest of you have really ambitious goals, for me, I'm just happy to be here.

My realization...

So in church I leaned over to Merril and said, "You realize that next month we're having a baby." Commence freaking out. :o Okay so we didn't freak out but it's feeling close. I just need to get a new baby car seat. Yikes. Happy New Year!