Happy Halloween 2013!

We got home from the hospital and starting settling into our new routine.  Mark sleeps a lot, 4 and 5 hours at a time and doesn't seem to be nursing as well as the other kids.  He seems really content though. 

Mikayla seems to be adjusting to Mark fine.  She doesn't really seem to have anything to do with him.  He could be a new piece of furniture to her.  She only notices him when she's hurt and I happen to be nursing Mark.  Then she comes up and tugs at his pjs like, "Hey, that's my spot and I'd like you to move."

And before I knew it, it was Halloween!

Maxine was Merida, from Brave.  And I curse that costume because it took longer than I wanted to make and was too expensive to buy.  But it turned out okay so that's a good point!

Mikayla was a giraffe that we stole out of the Halloween costume bag, easy.

Juliet was a skinny pig.  I laid her down on some fleece, drew her outline and sewing it up.  It probably took a half hour, easy.

Mark just had some Halloween jammies!

And Jack was a zombie army guy.  His was easy because I just walked in and bought it and painted up his face a little.

I still can't believe how much candy they all received.  Trunk or treat makes it too easy to get pounds of candy for such a small amount of work.  I think if I tried to refrain from going next year, they'd all turn on me.  Oh well, I have 364 days to come up with an idea.

Time to go to the hospital, we're having a baby...

So I was hoping the baby would stay in another little bit since Mikayla broke her collarbone and he did, for about a week.  On the 23rd, I felt like I was having a lot of braxton-hicks contractions during the afternoon while I was at the computer.  During dinner, I leaned forward to reach something and felt a funny sensation.  Nothing else happened so I finished my last little bit of dinner.  As I stood up, I knew my water had broken and ran into the bathroom.  Merril was answering the front door because he was about to leave with a friend.  As I ran past I said, "My water just broke!"  He ended up cancelling his plans.  So I stood in the shower and Maxine helped grab things to put in a hospital bag.  Merril called his parents who decided to come over and spend the night with the older kids.  Jack seemed really worried that my water had broken but I assured him that everything was fine and it was just time to have the baby.

So Merril and I headed to the hospital.

Everything went along just fine but I waited too long to request an epidural and it took longer than expected for the anesthesiologist to get there.  I was hurting.  But I finally got an epidural and like usual, it only took on one side.  But we finally got it working everywhere.

We were trying to hurry and have the baby on the 23rd so that he would share his birthday with his namesake, Merril's Dad.  Unfortunately, baby Mark was born at 2:31 a.m. on the 24th of October after 1 push.  I did my best to have him on the 23rd but he just wasn't ready until then.  He was 7 lbs. 15 ozs. and 20 inches long.

I love this shot of him.  Mark kind of has googly eyes in my opinion, something I'm sure he'll grow into after he puts some fat on his bones.

No complications, everything went fine.

The kids loved Mark instantly.  They all wanted to hold him at once.  Except for Mikayla, who didn't seem to notice him.  She was much too interested in the bed with all the buttons.

Speaking of Mikayla, she is healing from her collarbone break if everyone could just leave her alone.  The kids try and pick her up and she cries.  Merril's picked her up wrong a few times.  I picked her up off the hospital bed and she whimpered.  If left alone, she doesn't even seem to be bothered by it.  She just plays carefully and doesn't hurt it, unless she falls. 

A shot of baby Mark's dark hair.

 But now it's time for some sleep!

Mikayla's broken collarbone...

Oh no no no!  I'm going for parent of the year.  I was making dinner and gave Mikayla a snack.  Mikayla, who often stands in her high chair when she's finished eating, finally fell out of it.  She fell and landed on her side.  I got her silky blankie and sat with her on the couch and held her for a while but she was crying a lot and wouldn't calm down.  As I sat there for a half hour, I started looking up symptoms of a broken bone.  I pinched my way up her arm and as I neared her shoulder, she pulled away from me and whimpered.  

By then, Merril was home so we left Max in charge of the other kids and headed to the Instacare.  Luckily is was totally empty so we only waited for a few minutes. 

They took x-rays and sure enough, she had a broken collarbone.

It can't be put in a cast or even a brace.  They advised us to be careful with her and try to keep her from hurting herself and it should just heal on it's own.  After 2 weeks, she probably won't even feel any pain.  Oh, poor baby.  Now I need to stay pregnant for a little bit longer.

It's all about Mikayla...

Oh Mikayla.  I love you so much.  She's at that super cute stage, around 18+ months, where everything she does is adorable.  She doesn't backtalk and entertains us all with her antics.

She falls asleep in the car when I'm trying to get errands done.  It's cute as long as I'm on the way home.  ;)

She has a bath most days while I have a shower.  During this bath, she was able to reach her silky blankie and pulled it in with her.  She then told me it was, "All wet."

 And bubbles.  She loves bubbles and is pretty good at blowing them herself.

It's super fun until she spills them.  I keep a huge refill bottle.  Too bad she has to grow up.

Here she is helping me get my sales tax paperwork done before the baby comes.

Friends from Japan...

One of Merril's missionary companions, Shun, came to Vegas with his family for a vacation.  While there, he and his wife and daughter, Megumi, drove up to stay at our house and go to Zion National Park.  They brought kimonos for the kids, as well as a bunch of other gifts.  Japanese people are so generous.  Here's all the kids in their kimonos.  Their daughter, Megumi, is on the left.  

They were jetlagged as they left but said they really had a good time in Zions and going to the lake.

Wow! Carpet makes the basement look so nice!

Carpet came on Monday and it looks so fantastic!  It makes the basement look so close to being finished!  

Carpet pad:

Here's the finished carpet.

And here's a crummy picture of the outlets and switches finished.  

The kids have been having such a good time just playing on the soft open space.  Merril and I don't even want to put furniture in it yet because it looks so nice by itself!

Here comes work on the basement!!

The basement has been rolling along!  Painting is almost finished and cultured marble came!  Merril and I have been steadily working on lights, outlets and switches too!  All of which, makes my tummy muscles sore.  I asked Merril, "Why am I always pregnant for these kinds of projects??"  He replied, "You're kind of pregnant a lot."  Touche.

I put in can lights!

The cultured marble for the bathroom looks so nice!

And Maxine and I painted her room a nice turquoise color.  She did most of the rolling and I mainly did trim work.  She only wanted 2 walls painted turquoise and it's a good thing because she was getting tired towards the end.

The other 2 walls in her room were painted white by the painter.  Maxine fought for her 2 blue walls and I wanted her to realize the work that it takes.  So we did it ourselves.  It was just the right amount to be fun and then get tired and finish.

Labor Day plus odds and ends...

Over Labor Day weekend, Grandma C. was going to Phoenix by herself and wanted some company.  So she asked if she could take the 3 older kids.  Juliet and Maxine didn't want to go at first, because of the long car ride, but Grandma talked them into it.  So off they went and Merril, Mikayla and I spent the most serene weekend at home.  There was no mess, no whining, no yelling, just peace.  We've dubbed it our second honeymoon.  We went to the lake for a bit on Labor Day to swim.  Then came home, rode the wiggle car, and grilled some hot wings.

The rest are just some pics I had on my phone.  Mikayla started riding front facing.  She's my most petite of all the kids and has only recently surpassed 20 pounds.

Pretty girl!

Maxine was a lunch lady at school.  ;)  She said it was fun.  She's liking 5th grade, and well, all the kids are liking their teachers.  Juliet seems to be the most satisfied.  In Kindergarten, she complained of being bored a lot.  Now she seems to be enjoying school a lot more in 1st grade, which is good.

And that is all for now.

Jack got braces...

Okay, so Maxine and Juliet have always had straight teeth but Jack's were never very straight.  So at the last dentist appointment, we were strongly encouraged to get some braces on his front teeth.  One of his permanent upper front teeth had grown in behind his bottom tooth and was forcing the bottom tooth outward.  So we took a trip to the orthodontist and he threw some brackets on the top teeth a.s.a.p.

He was pretty good for the procedure except when they made a mold of his teeth.  During the mold part, he was gagging and tearing up.  But he made it out okay and now has brackets on the top 2 teeth.  The orthodontist said the bottom teeth will naturally realign as the upper teeth are pulled into place. 

It's only been a few days but I can't believe how much his teeth have changed already!  The orthodontist recommends the braces stay on for a year.  Maybe he'll get them off early.

First Day of School...

The day before school started, I ate the last of my summer peach crop.  :(  There was a good crop and we ate a ton.  We ate peaches with breakfast, a side for lunch and dinner, and anytime anyone wanted a snack.  We gave away a fair amount too because I just wasn't in the mood to do any ambitious canning.

And then we had the first day of school!  I had a shower and popped out of my room at 7:30 a.m.  All 3 kids were outside my door, dressed, hair done, backpacks and shoes on!  I said, "Let's get some breakfast."  They informed me that they had already made and eaten their breakfast.  I guess they don't even need me anymore.  Such big kids!  I have a 5th, 2nd, and 1st grader.  All 3 are going to be gone all day.  It might be the only thing that keeps me sane once baby #5 gets here.

The same day as school starting, paint started on the basement.  We're having Merril's friend, Brent, help us.

Merril was the "door holder" while Brent sprayed.  

They came out gorgeous!  My only fear is that I'm going to look at my grungy doors upstairs and want to repaint them.

Walls are next!

I can feel the end of summer...

A couple of nights have been pleasantly cool instead of crazy hot and I can feel Autumn creeping in.  But until then, here are a couple pictures of the end of summer.

Mikayla loves to be on anything with wheels.  Lately, she wants to ride scooters.  But she needs a helper.   :) 

We also went to the fair.  Merril took the older 2 to the demolition derby and I don't have any pictures of that.  Julie and I went to ride some rides and then left early with Mikayla.

It was good times but when we got home, I had to sit on the couch and rest my belly.  Then I drove back and picked up Merril and the other kids when the derby was over.

Summer Running Club...

I put the kids in a running club once a week during the summer.  This Tuesday was their last day and they got shirts.  The kids were divided into 1-2 grade girls, 1-2 grade boys, 3-4 grade girls, etc.  They had races twice during the summer and we discovered that Juliet and Jack are pretty fast.

On the last race, Jack placed 1st in his division of 1-2 grade boys and Juliet placed 2nd in her division of 1-2 grade girls.  Maxine was upset that she didn't place at all in the 5-6 grade girls but I assured her that she had plenty of ribbons.  She has plenty of talents, running fast might not be one of them.

She did smile with the other kids though.

Jack likes his shirt that says, "Faster than this guy" and wanted to stand next to me to emphasize the point.

Yep, I'm not that fast lately.