What a month!

I can't believe it's already been a whole month since little Rachel was born! And what a month it's been, too! I noticed the other day that the memory card on my camera was full. That seriously never happens. As I started scrolling through the pictures, I was amazed at how much we've done this past month! I'll post a few pictures to recap the past month, and then I'll just put the rest (well, my favs anyway) in a slideshow if you'd like to see more of what we've done.

We brought little Rachel home on the 1st of June. She wasn't too keen on her new carseat. (And still isn't, come to think of it.) That week was full of firsts--first ride home, first (sleepless) night home, first bath, first time to meet Grandmas and Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins!

Brooke had her Birthday on Friday the 5th. Her special 8th Birthday! (I still can't believe she's 8 already!) It was pretty low-key, unfortunately. I would have loved to have a grand party, but under the circumstances, it just didn't happen this year. But she got presents and a special cake, and she was happy, and very sweet about it.

I wavered back and forth, but finally decided we'd go ahead and do Brooke's Baptism on Saturday, June 6th. She was so excited, and I hated to have her wait. Looking back, I'm still not sure it was the best thing, but I'm still glad we did it. What an amazing experience to see your child making such important, righteous decisions! It was a very sweet moment. I remember one of my Mom's favorite scriptures is "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." I see now why it's such a wonderful thing to see your children making wise choices! I'm so blessed!

We also decided to bless Rachel that weekend as well, since family came all that way, it made more sense. But we opted to do it at the Stake Center just after Brooke's Confirmation. It was nice having it in a more private setting. Although, I'm still sad I didn't get the full chance to "show her off" to my ward friends. Selfish reason, though, I know. I have to say, both girls looked so beautiful all dressed in white!

We had a big family "party" at our house after the Baptism. I have a wonderful Mother and Mother-in-law who took over and put it all together for me since I was busy with a new baby. I'm so grateful for them and all my family that helped that day. It's always fun to be with family.

The next week was a bit quiter. My sister, Mary, was here visiting from CO so my kids spent a lot of time at Grammy's playing with cousins, which gave me a chance to rest a lot. Then Grandma Marjorie came down from Montana. Vince ran a 5k race in our city early on Saturday morning. Then the kids had their final soccer games and got their medals. Then it was off to recitals! Whew! Another crazy-filled, tiring day.

Grandma Marjorie stayed that next week to help me out. As it turned out, her helping out mostly came in the form of painting! We've been trying to scramble to finish our basement for months now, getting ready for Baby's arrival. And I was silly enough to schedule the carpet to be installed that Thursday. So we spent the next week doing all the painting for the basement! There were a few moments we all wondered if we'd reach our deadline, but we did! But only with lots of help from family! Couldn't have done it without them. And now it looks WONDERFUL!

Grandma left on Friday morning, and decided to take Brooke and Evan back to Montana for the week. I have to say, the house was SO quiet! It gave me the chance to organize the kids' room, and move their stuff downstairs to their new rooms in the new basement. It was a nice week being able to spend with just Vince and Rachel, but I was so ready for them to come home again.

Our last big adventure was last Saturday. Vince and I decided to do a fun 5k on an easy course. And I even got my Dad to do it with me! (Remember, he was in the hospital just 5 months ago recovering from open heart surgery! What an accomplishment!) Speedy Vince ran out and back in 20 minutes. I ran/walked with my Daddy and was able to cross the finish line with him in under 40. Not my best time, but one of the best 5ks I've ever done! Vince got 3rd place for the men 18-55, and my Dad got 1st place in his age division! Way to go, Dad! So proud of you!

So there's out month in a very loooong nutshell. Now I need another month to recover! Guess the only thing left for us to do is to take a very looooong nap!

And Four Became Five

Well, after waiting for so long, it finally happened. And I started this post last week, but didn't seem to ever have the time to finish. Plus, I've still been mulling the experience around in my mind for the last week, and needed some time to process it in order to tell you about it. I'm like that, though. Always have to think things through for a long time.

I will have to start at the beginning. And bear with me as I go through all the wonderful details. (Hope it doesn't gross anyone out!) I'd been feeling pretty miserable lately, especially since going in to the hospital on Sunday thinking I was in labor, and then being turned away and having to go back home babyless. Not a fun experience. By the time I made it to my appointment on Friday morning, I was so ready to be done. After talking to my midwife about my options, she asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes (even though she technically shouldn't have done it, she says, she was willing to as long as I didn't mention it to any of the other ladies in the practice). I told her YES right away!

I had some mild cramping and some contracting throughout the rest of the day. But nothing really too impressive or consistent. And I'll admit, that did disappoint me. So in order to not get so discouraged by sitting around thinking about how much I wanted to go into labor, I decided to go to my little brother's High School Graduation. Maybe the baby got bored during the long ceremony, or maybe it was walking up and down the Marriot Center stairs. But I noticed on the ride home, I started having some contractions, but only every 20 minutes apart or so.

At home, I made dinner and got the kids ready for bed. All the while I kept contracting, but they were still 15 minutes apart or so, not a big deal. But I did notice that they started to get more and more impressive (meaning painful). I really wanted to stay up and walk around and make sure they didn't fizzle out once again, but Vince wisely suggested we go to sleep. If it wasn't the real thing, it would spare me the emotional drama of it all. If it WAS the real thing, laying down wouldn't stop them, and I'd at least get some rest before a long night. He is a wise man, isn't he?

I was able to sleep for a few hours, but was still aware of contracting. At about 2:00 am I couldn't sleep anymore and decided to get up and read for a while. The contractions were definitely strong now; I was finding it hard to breathe through them, and really had to concentrate now. But they were still so far apart. At about 4:00, though, I knew it was the real thing. I called the midwife on call. She said they usually like us to wait until the contractions are at least 5 or less minutes apart, but if I really wanted to come in, I could. At this point they were only about 8 minutes, but since I was already at 4 cm dilated the day before, I wanted to get to the hospital in enough time. So I called my Mom, and woke up Vince and got dressed. My Dad and Joseph got to our house to stay with Brooke and Evan, and Vince and I left for the hospital, with my Mom right behind us. Vince could tell when I was having a contraction because every few minutes I would tell him to hurry up and drive faster!

By the time we got to the hospital and checked in it was about 5:15. They checked me and I was dilated to 6 1/2 cm. So I had made some progress. I decided to try laboring in the tub for a while to see if that would help with the pain. It was the perfect way to labor!! I was able to relax with each contraction instead of fighting with them. The next time they checked me I was at an 8. I was amazed that even in transition, the contractions were still only about 5 minutes or more apart. I think it really helped that I was able to take a break in between each one. Vince even got me laughing in between contractions. My mom commented on how she couldn't believe I was joking and laughing while in transition!

They checked me again and I was almost fully dilated--9 cm with just a lip of cervix left. The midwife, Claudia, just told me to do what felt natural. She said to go ahead and push if I felt like I needed to push. At this point though, my water was still intact (which is why I think the contractions were so manageable). After a few more contractions, I asked Claudia if she'd break my water. This was the point that everything changed!

It took a few tries to get the bag to rupture, but once it did, I had literally about 5 seconds before the baby's head came down, and FAST! With my other children, I felt like the pushing stage was the best part. Not this time! This was by far the hardest and most difficult part. I felt like I had good control until then. But fortunately, I didn't have much time to suffer, as she moved down so quickly. It's hard to describe, but at this point I felt like I was watching myself, and hearing myself, but not quite in my body--as if I were watching from above. It was an odd feeling. But a few quick, good pushes, and at 7:40 am on May 30th (just 2 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital!) little baby Rachel Victoria was in my arms!! It was such an amazingly incredible experience! And as funny as it seems, I remember thinking just after she was born, that I NEVER want to experience a natural birth again! But even now, just over a week later, I see it differently. I guess the mind really does forget! ;0)

She has really been the perfect baby! She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz. (which is 12 oz bigger than Evan, and over 1 1/2 lbs bigger than Brooke!) and she was 19 inches long. She has the most amazing hair of any newborn. Her hair is dark underneath, with frosted silver tips, like Brooke's hair was, but lighter even than that. Her eyebrows and lashes are light blonde, which makes me think she may be a blondie!

She loves sucking on her fingers (or anything else that comes near her mouth) and is a great eater and a great sleeper! She fusses very little, and smiles a lot for a newborn! She even smiled at me for the first time yesterday! How clever of her!

Brooke and Evan are already smitten with their new little sister. Brooke we all knew would be a good little mama. She has been SUCH a help to me!

But Evan surprised me a little. He's never been much into little brand new babies. He usually doesn't want to hold them. But he walked in to see her the first time, and quickly got into an argument with Brooke about who was going to hold her first! Evan loves to kiss her head and stroke her hand. He loves to get close to her when she's awake and say, "Hi, Baby Rachel. I'm your brother!" And whenever he leaves for a while and comes back home, he'll run up to her and talk in his baby voice, "Hi, Baby Rachel! I'm back home now!"

I could go on and on. We're all in love with her. New babies just add such a special Spirit into our home. I waited so long for her. I'm so glad she's with us, and has become a part of our new family of five.

Evan's Birthday

Umm. Evan had his 6th Birthday at the end of last month. So yeah, I'm slow (as always). But, especially for certain Aunties who have complained to me that I'm slow at sharing pictures, I thought I'd share these for your enjoyment! So enjoy!

Opening presents that morning before school, since Dad had to go out of town that day for work. (Notice Evan's slick hair!)

Showing Dad his new Lego Star Wars toy! (Which amazingly Evan put together all on his own, using the instruction sheet. I was floored. I don't know that I could've done it! So, do you think we have a future engineer on our hands??)

We went to Grammy and Opa's for dinner and cake that evening, since Dad was gone. It was fun sharing his special day with special grandparents! This is Grammy's present for Evan! I think he likes it, Grammy!

The funny thing about Evan's cake was that he decided he wanted a "Death Star" cake. Again, if you know anything about Evan, you know that he is obsessed with Star Wars. So I thought a while about how to do a Death Star cake. Fortunately, Evan wore his Star Wars shirt that day. So I kind of used the picture on his shirt to come up with my own variation of a Death Star. You really have to know what it is to have it make any sense. I know if I didn't explain what it really was, you would probably all be wondering why in Heaven's name his cake looks so odd. Now you know!

I love this face! This is his typical "cheese" grin he gives when he know he has to have his picture taken, but doesn't really want to! So very Evan!

I can't believe he's six! Where does the time go?

The Craziest of Crazies!!

Oh, man! I'm glad this is the end of the week, and beginning of a new one. Last week was CRAZY! I felt like I was running non-stop the entire week. Which is also why I love Sundays. I can finally relax, and take a nap, and catch up on my blog. Sorry if you've felt neglected. And I wouldn't be surprised if I lost all my readers this week. Hopefully life will be less crazy now (hopefully) and I'll have more time to stay up to date (hopefully). So if you're up for a long post, good! Here's a portion of everything I did last week:

Brooke finished 1st Grade. Next time she goes to school, she'll be a 2nd Grader! Yikes! And she'll finally have her little brother going with her. *Sniff Sniff!* Can't believe both my babies will leave me. But every time I say that Evan laughs at me and assures me that he will come back home every day. Even my sadness at being left home all alone doesn't keep him from wanting to go to Kindergarten!

Brooke with her 1st Grade teacher, Mrs Roberts. We loved her so much.

This was a special week for Brooke too because Thursday was her Birthday! That has been hard for me, to realize she's now SEVEN! I'm the mother of a seven-year old! I still can't get over how big she is.

She really wanted a fancy cake, but I just didn't have time to make a fancy cake. We comprimised on a rainbow cake, though. We got the kind with the colored sprinkles in the cake, and I bought M&Ms, Skittles, and marshmallows. And Brooke & her girly cousins had a wonderful time decorating the rainbow cake. It turned out really cute. She was happy because it was fancier than a plain old cake. And I was happy because it didn't take me all day to make it!

Brooke, Bekah, & Bethany putting on M&Ms. I wondered how much was put on and how much was snacked on!

Very cute rainbow, Brookie!



Typical Brookie pose & smile. I love the look Bethany is giving her too! So cute!

My Mom & Dad, and several of my siblings and Mary's kids all came over for presents & cake and ice cream. Vince's Mom drove down (she was flying out on Friday for a funeral) and she came a day early to be with Brooke on her Birthday. The funniest thing was that both she and my Mom got Brooke the EXACT same present! Obviously they both knew what she likes! She loved them both even if it was the same toy! She thought it was great that now her ponies can each have a twin. We all thought it was hilariously funny!

As I mentioned, my sister Mary is here with her family from Colorado. And my sister Beth flew in from Boston! So we have spent as much time playing together as we can. We also had a big photo shoot yesterday since we were ALL together--my entire family. That hasn't happened in a long time. So it was so nice to all be together again. I'll post pictures of our family once Mary gets them to me.

This week was also the last week of music classes. I finished teaching. We had Festival for the older kids, and recital prep for everyone. And then I had the programs to type and print. Recitals were yesterday. I wish I could say they went over without a hitch. They rarely do. There were numerous problems: the doors were all locked when I got there 1/2 hour before my first recital, the recital hall then wasn't set up, they didn't have the right disk drive to read our disks, then the drive we finally got plugged in didn't work, then we got it working but one of the disks was corrupt, etc. This is why I have nightmares before EVERY recital! There always seems to be something! But the kids all did awesome! I'm very proud of them and their progress this semester. And I have to say I have a WONDERFUL HUSBAND!!!! He was the one running around behind the scenes, driving to the studio 3 times to get what we needed so the show could go on! I don't know what I would've done without him. Probably cried! I'm also glad I decided to come extra early. And even at that, if the people had unlocked the recital early, we probably could've started on time. Oh well! It's done with now and I won't have to worry about that for 6 more months!

My own kids also performed in their recitals, and they both did great. Evan was the funniest. I swear he's going to be the class clown--I can see it all now. *Sigh* We've practiced and practiced this for weeks. He got up and played his first song fine (although he didn't even sit on the bench--he STOOD UP to play while I'm sitting in the audience shakin' my head)! Then he stopped before his next song, finally decides to sit down, and flings his right leg up onto the bench and faces the audience. Then he just stares with a completely blank look on his face. After about 20 seconds, and several chuckles from the audience, I step up and remind him he has one more song to play. He did a great job, and bowed very flamboyantly. My mom says she thinks he's must be of the mindset of a Victor Borge!

Brooke also did very nicely. Not quite as comical as her little brother, thank heavens! I'm impressed now that she can add in those extra finishing touches like dynamics and articulation that make it sound much more musical. It was harder to hear them in her actual performance, but at least I know in practicing she can really bring that all out! :0)

I also had a wonderful opportunity on Friday to meet some of my online running pals. We got together and had a yummy lunch at Heidi's house and let the kids play and just visited for about 3 hours! I was amazed at how fast the time flew by. It was great to finally be able to meet these ladies. I'd already met Leslie. She's the one that came to the SLC Marathon and jogged with me a bit. Did I mention she was days from giving birth at the time?! I loved getting to hold her sweet little baby girl. Heidi's friend Stacey came too. She was the one I rode the bus with up to the Ogden Marathon. And Meagan was there with her almost 6 month old baby too. These ladies have been a huge support for me while I've been training for my marathons. Hopefully we can get together again soon. Here are the pictures ladies:

That's Stacey, Leslie, Meagan, Heidi, and me.

And here are the kids having a great time eating hot dogs on the porch:

So that was mostly my week in a very large nutshell. In between all these fun activities I was scrambling around trying to get things finished up for my summer students, cleaning house for my Mother-in-law's stay here, taking her to the airport, and just trying to stay on top of my other normal duties. So now my family knows why I was so cranky last week (sorry, fam) but I think things will be much less stressful now. And the nice thing is these were all WONDERFUL activities! I was just grateful that I wasn't stressed out because I was doing awful unpleasant tasks. They were good and fun and I enjoyed doing them. There were just a lot of them this week!

And to finish off, here's a picture of Evan coming home from the recital all tired out. The kids fell asleep in the car coming home. I mostly thought it funny that he fell asleep with his hand in his sock:

And now I think I deserve a nap myself!

Birthday Pics & Marathon #2!

Well, thanks for all the Birthday wishes from y'all! It was a lovely day. Not too exciting, since it was a weekday, but it was wonderful. I always just feel special on my B-Day, no matter what I do! So here are a couple of pictures:

Me with my angel food cake!

Me blowing out the candles. (Evan thought it was kind of funny that I only had 5 candles, like he did. But no, Buddy. I'm much older than that!!)

Truth be told, I would've much rather had a delicious chocolate cake with lots of ice cream piled on top. But I've been gearing up this week for Marathon #2, so I didn't want to sabotage my performance for an indulgence in chocolate bliss. We'll save that and a night out with Vince for Saturday AFTER the race!

And today I'm physically & mentally gearing up again for running 26.2 miles tomorrow morning! My goal this time is just under 5 hours. Anything faster than that will be, well, icing on the cake! (Hardy Har Har, I know!)

So stay tuned for a recap & more pictures! I'm actually REALLY excited for this one! Fortunately I'm a lot less nervous than I was last time. Just excited now. I spent all morning looking at maps, and doing research on the area. I think it's going to be an amazingly gorgeous race on a beautiful day. So wish me luck!

Happy Birthday!

So, I'm really not one of those modest types. I like everybody to know that it's my Birthday! So I thought I'd let y'all know: It's my Birthday! "Happy Birthday to me..." And as Bethy Lou & I were discussing earlier today, isn't it the most perfect day for a Birthday?

I got to go out to lunch with Mama & Debs, which was so wonderful! I love spending time with my Mom & my sisters. And of course, as she does every year, Mama told me the story of my birth! Even after 28 years, I still love hearing that story! (And thanks again, Mom, for going through all that trauma just for me! ;0)

And even though the rest of my day will be spend taking Brooke to piano, paying bills, folding laundry, and refraining from eating too much junk before Saturday's marathon, it is still a glorious day just because it's May 15th!

Happy Birthday, Evan!

So, today my baby turned FIVE, if you can believe it! I still can't. He's such a sweet boy. And fortunately he's easy to please. Here's a little recap of our special day with our now five-year old!

Here's Evan excitedly opening his first present:

I wish I hadn't tried to take this picture with the bright window right behind! Grammy was helping Evan open her card to him--just for a five-year old!

Opening more presents:

Evan & Brookie givin' big cheeser smiles:

Here's Evan before blowing out his candles. The funny part was that my camera was dying, so I made him sit there and say cheese for about 30 seconds while the dumb thing took one picture! That was the longest "CHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSEEEEEEE" in history, I think! In his mind he's just thinking, "Come on, Mom! I just wanna blow out my candles!"

This was too cute. Evan was a little anxious about getting too close, so he stood way back and had to blow about 10 times to get five little candles blown out. Good thing I didn't buy trick candles!

Aww! Typical Evan grin:

(And really, the best part is that we used this same cake for the combined family birthday bash we had on Saturday when Vince's family was here for his brother's graduation. I didn't want to bake yet another cake and have it sitting on my counter for the next 2 weeks. So I turned this cake just right so you can't see that 2/3 of it is missing! Hehehe!)

And here's Grammy, Uncle Joseph, and Auntie Debbie with the kids (where was Opa, anyway?) eating their yummies! The best is the expressions on my kids' faces! I think Evan was too into his bite of ice cream, and Brooke looks like she's crossing her eyes!

And when I tucked my kids into bed, I asked Evan if he had a good birthday. And he said "Yes. And tomorrow I get to go to school!" Oops. Guess I hadn't made that clear enough. Yes you go to Kindergarten when you're five, but not the next day! He was a little disappointed that he has 3 1/2 more months before he gets to go, but I'm certainly not!