Christmas

Me:"I feel like it's too early to take down the tree."
Greg:"That's because you're still waiting for Christmas to start."
Me:"That's true"

let me explain...

we had planned a very quiet Christmas with our new little baby, staying indoors, only visiting with Greg's family, and trying to stay healthy.

I was WAY off. We didn't do any of those things. Oh, we did stay indoors and try to stay healthy, it just didn't work.

These are pictures of the kiddos opening presents. Notice who is missing? Sad picture coming up



Those missing would be baby and me. We were too busy in the hospital, trying to get him to breath on his own.
Like I said everyone was sick, bronchitis for Greg, double ear infections for Mimi, colds for Indiana and I, and we thought just a little cold for baby. But it turned into RSV--obviously staying indoors with washed hands was not enough. The short story is that Greg took him to the ER at Children's hospital, then I spent a little more then 48 hours with him there, and that covered most of Christmas eve and Christmas day.

I learned how grateful I am for health insurance, a city with a really good children's hospital, and family & friends to help when nothing is going right. I also learned that although RSV sounds really scary, if you have the 3 things above, you'll be ok. I've also learned that it's tougher to blog with a baby in your arms.

Indiana is 7?

With Baby here looking a bunch like Indiana at age 2 weeks and at the same time of year, it's really tough to think about the fact that Indiana is now 7. Even though everyone was sick, we had a baby and the general business of the holiday season, we managed to have some birthday fun.
My sister Jill and her boyfriend Chris stopped by on their way to NJ and gave Indiana a present that he may have been excited about.
On his actual birthday Indiana asked for pancakes for breakfast (no surprise there), but he wanted salad and carrots for lunch and dinner. I think we had pizza anyway.





At school for his birthday his class sang happy birthday to him. "I think I'm a little embarrassed"

Christmas Joke

Mimi:"Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Me:"I don't know, why did the chicken cross the road?"
Mimi:"Because he was 'laughing all the way, ha ha ha'"
Me to Greg:"Wow, that one was actually funny"

I'm sort of sure she came up with this one herself, but if you taught this to her, feel free to take the credit :)

Indiana's gift to the world

"If I could give a gift to the world I would give Star Wars because Jedi can help people."

nice

________________

Mimi: "oh heckersons!"

message to the mom

The season of swine flu has forced the hospitals to not allow children to enter unless they are patients.

The kids made these videos for Valerie while they we were at home.

Thanks to Nana and Megan for watching the kids today, and to the many others who would have stepped in if they hadn't.

Milk Mustache

Mimi, after giving herself a milk mustache:"Look! I'm like a Beatle!"

New addition

Take this
...
Plus

This
...
Add a little

This
...
You get

A whole latta this

(sorry about the crying pictures, Jill:)

New baby pictures

Now in his internet debut. Baby C!

This is Mimi's favorite of his poses.

The Hospital crew.

More pictures to come.

Deliverance

10:30 pm leave for hospital
1:45 am start being induced
8:21 am baby born 7 lbs 12.5 oz dark hair like Mimi.

Name and pictures to follow.

Just because I can

We are at the hospital & using the wifi to pass the time.

Curious?

The best parts of today:(besides all the obvious stuff)
-someone calling to offer to bring us dinner
-going to my last OB appointment
-seeing my friend at that appointment

Otherwise the day has been unsatisfactory=NO progress from last week. And just to make me feel a little worse, my neighbor told me that her daughter who was pregnant with her first baby and due a week after me (2 days from now) had her baby 2 weeks ago! Thanks a bunch. I held in the snarl that I really wanted to express and told her congratulations--I deserve a medal!

Feliz Navidad

The Christmas party at church was great, maybe the baby held off just so that I could go--that's how I'm going to think about it anyway.

Greg couldn't have been happier with all the Mexican food, and the kiddos couldn't get enough hot chocolate. I was especially glad that I got to go because the day after the party, the ward boundaries were changed. One last gathering before the big reorganization. Next Sunday we will meet with some new people and some that we already know, but it will be a bit of change, nothing we can't handle though. We're pretty tough.
See how OK Mimi looks? Much better then the first time (scroll down to the bottom).

Tree Shopping

We went to the same place we got our pumpkins, it's so cute and close.

This is me trying to get a good picture of these goof-balls.
Here's a tip, don't get a red coat for the child who ALWAYS has red eyes in pictures. Cameras are smart, but not that smart. Notice how part of Indiana's red coat is colored black, but his eye is still red? grrr....

Bike riding and Thanksgiving

Indiana has obviously outgrown this little bike, and we promised him a new one when he learned to ride without the training wheels.

I can't help but remember learning to ride a two-wheeler in Moab at my Granddad's house with my cousin's Shanell's bike. She's a little younger then me and therefore had a smaller bike so falling wasn't quite so scary. I thought this would work well for Indiana also-yeah, I was right:)

When I thought about this long Thanksgiving weekend with Greg at home, I suggested those boys get in some riding practice, and they happily got to work.

Day one: Some silly falling and lots of laughing.

They took off the training wheels and I turned around to see Indiana at the top of the driveway's slight hill and Greg letting him ride down with no assistance. Luckily he landed on the grass.

My protective instincts kicked in, Me:"What are you doing? Who taught you to ride a bike?"

Greg, flatly:"The ground"

Day two: a little more falling, but also more confidence, and of course more laughs.

Day three: riding like a pro! I guess we are going bike shopping...

______________

Greg sharpening his carving skills. I told him I wanted to get a pre-cooked turkey and just spend time on the sides. I'm not really one for handling raw meat. But he and Sonya did everything, I didn't even see it until it came out of the oven!
yummy sides
No football this year (no sadness here), just A BUNCH of rockband!
Sonya flew in with her buddy Sophie. I'm not sure who was laughing more, the kiddos or me.
What trip with Sonya would be complete without a few whoopie pies? We actually made these ones. They were delish! I mean De-lick-ish!

pregnancy update

Due date in 2 days
Baby gear at the ready
Baby clothes washed and put away
Impossibly small diapers purchased
Indiana and Mimi prepped
No name finalized yet

But when I was checked at my appointment today:
Zero dilation
Zero effacement
and
Zero contractions
but on the bright side ZERO signs of cholestasis. (I had this at the end of my pregnancy with Mimi and it's the itchiest feeling in the world, it's so rare that when I tell any doctor or midwife it takes them a full 2 minutes to believe me. After they blink a million times, pick their chins off the floor and ask me tons of questions to make sure they understand what I'm really saying.)

I came home a little saddened and frustrated, so I let Mimi watch a little TV. I fell asleep and woke up to this song, mocking me.  FYI--the song is called I Love CONTRACTIONS!