Outside Day!

Yesterday was such a nice day here, we couldn't let it pass by without enjoying the warm weather. I had all the windows open during the day, but when Sean came home from work, our house was 76 degrees! Anyone that knows me at all knows that I start getting really annoyed when my house gets over 68. You can imagine my mood! So thankfully Sean turned on the A/C for me, and I was blissfully chilly all night. But here are a few pics of the kiddies outside enjoying the evening.





Gretta enjoying her first time outside on the grass






My 2 babies. Aren't they cute? I swear, Maggie looks so sweet and innocent in pictures. What you don't see is that in exactly 13 seconds from this shot, she peed her pants, put them in the dryer, and turned it on. What a nice girl.






Emma playing Nintendo DS. Thanks to Nunn for letting us borrow it. Emma has this habit of getting so excited about things that she'll wake up at the crack of dawn, or earlier, just to get the day started. I think she's been up at 5 AM the last 3 days because she's so excited to play Dogz on the DS.

Have you ever...

Totally lost it and screamed at your kids?

Taken a 3 hour nap and then slept for 10 hours that night?

Been pretty sure your head will explode from the sinus pressure?




I did all of these yesterday. Not a good day.

I'm better today, thanks for asking.

Lava Hot Springs

This weekend we spent some time up at Lava Hot Springs in Idaho. We went to support Meg's boyfriend, Ty, who had a road bike race in Inkom. We had a good time, as always. The weather was chilly and it sprinkled off and on most of Saturday, but nothing too major. Ty took 3rd in his race, and then we went to the famous Hot Springs in Lava. The girls had a lot of fun in the warm water, and Sean and I even went back later that night while Meg and Ty watched the kiddies. Any time we can take the Trailer and have Meg and Ty along is a great time.

Wow, I think I've fallen in love with Firefox. I can finally do a link, edit fonts, and colors. Now I can even do bold and italics! Yippee!!! Be prepared to see some serious colorful blog action!

Tiny Bubbles

I heard the other day that Don Ho died. I didn't know who he was at first, but then Mom started singing "Tiny Bubbles". Of course I knew who he was after that. So in remembrance of the late Don Ho, here are the tiny bubbles, courtesy of Maggie.

Speaking of...

Well, Maggie had her speech therapy assessment today. We have been a little concerned with her pronunciation, and less so, her stuttering. Turns out all is well. She is at 60% of normal for her age. Not great, but we knew she was lacking a little. The Speech Pathologist will only refer kids for more therapy if they are at 50% or less. Surprisingly, when the Pathologist would have Maggie focus on her sounds, she could actually make most of them. That gives me hope. I'm sure she'll catch up, but we will have her assessed again in 3 to 6 months, just to make sure.

Happy Easter

Finally! The table is in and ready to go. Just in time for Gretta's blessing day feast. We had a great time. Sean gave her a beautiful blessing, and it was nice to have so much family gather for the occasion. Rumbi's catered the feast, and it was delish, as always. Gretta did great and was nice and quiet both during her blessing and afterward at home. I think everyone had a good time.




All the kiddies lining up for the Easter egg hunt at Nunn and Poppa's. From left to right: McKinley, Olivia, Eli, Gabe, Madison (in back), Emma, Carter, and Maggie. Whew. Hard to believe next Easter we'll have 2 more girls running around!








Here it is. The famed table. It is huge. We have 6 chairs around it now, but there is easily room for 2 more. It's nice to have extra room for guests and not have to squish. Notice the centerpiece and runner, courtesy of Sean.






Sean and Gretta, pre-blessing. Aren't they darling?

Picture day

Well, we did our Easter pics today, courtesy of Aunt Jill. She has real professional photo potential. Gretta's blessing day is today, and we, (and by we, I mean Sean), have been working our little tails off getting ready. He has repainted the yellow, (as previously blogged), finished the computer table, moved the computer over and ported all my info from my old puter to the new one, installed an external hard drive, finished the flower beds in the back yard, and, drum roll please, FINISHED THE DINING ROOM TABLE!!! Wow, who knew he had it in him? He has been up working non stop since monday doing paint coats and lacquer coats. He's a real champ. It is now midnight, and he is getting ready to mop the floors, whilst I sit and blog about it. Ah, the good life. Oh, he also bought 3 new bar stools, a huge basket for the table centerpiece, a table runner, and a new computer chair. He was totally getting his gay on at at Down To Earth. I think he just likes that the girls flirt with him. But more than all the projects he has finished, he has one more task at hand. He gets to give Gretta a special blessing. And knowing that he will be doing that makes me count my blessings as well.

It's a very Good Friday

I've lost it. My brain has officially been fried by baby-brain-sucker number 3. I called my mom this morning at home. My sister from Las Vegas, Jill, answered. When she told me mom was at the office, I said, "Why is she working on a Saturday?". It feels like Saturday since Sean is off work for Good Friday, and is doing Saturday-like projects like filling in the flower beds with dirt, and golfing. So now I plan on telling everyone I see to have a good Saturday.

Before and after

Before.













After




Can you even tell a difference? There is one, really. We had this horrible Lemony Yellow color that I swear to this day was mixed wrong, because I would have never picked such a yucky color in my right mind. Finally, two years later, we, (meaning Sean), fixed it with the correct color. A more mustardy, baby poop colored yellow. I actually love it. Maybe I love baby poop. Weird. Either way, Sean impressed me yet again with his painting perfectionism whilst Meg and I went on a lovely 15 mile bike ride to enjoy Saturday's pleasant weather. Next on the docket: The TABLE!!! Now if we, (again meaning Sean), could just get that one done in time for Sunday's blessed event.

2 Months

Wow, the last 2 months have flown by! Hard to believe that 2 months ago I was still pregnant, and in two months from now it will be Memorial day, and the pool will be open! Yippee!!!

Gretta is weighing in at a hefty 8 pounds, 15 ounces, and measuring 21 inches in length. My little Sumo. She's still so skinny and little, it's cute. She got her 3 shots, and a Polio "drink", and is still holding a grudge. Poor little girl.

Vacation Fun!

This is Gretta and her newest cousin Gracie. They were born just 3 weeks apart, both being 3 weeks early. Gretta has the green binkie. My sister lives in Vegas, and we went down a couple of weeks ago to see her and see the baby. Both girls make the same squeeks and grunts, and their cries are so similar, we had a hard time telling them apart!





Here is Emma mid backflip courtesy of dad's big muscles. She is quite the flipping pro, thanks to endless summers spent in our pool. This pool is in St. George, and even though it was in the 70's that weekend, it was still covered with a huge bubble. The kids thought that was pretty neat.





Maggie and "Aunt Mimi". Meg is our eternal vacation companion. It just doesn't seem right to travel without her. I think she's been just about everywhere with us whenever the trailer is involved. In fact, I can only think of one vacation without her, and that was our very first trip 2 years ago! That is what sisters are for!

Soccer Summer

Maggie having a close up moment at the soccer practice











Emma juggling the ball like a pro. Thanks to Spencer, she knows exactly how to do it.











Poor, poor Gretta. I think this picture obviously captures that fact that she is sick of having a camera in her face everyday.


Well, Thursday marked the beginning of soccer for Emma. This is the first year she has played, and is very excited. She keeps telling me she needs a Bowflex to get in shape for soccer. Think advertising works, or what? At the end of soccer practice, they have the parents play against the girls. We won, and now the kids all have to do one chore for their parents. I think that's a great way to get the kids motivated to play their best. The first official game is next Tuesday, the 27th. I'm anxious to see how the other teams measure up.

$3.00 a gallon for gas? Not here!

We get our gas for free! Well, Gretta does, anyway. She has got to be the gassiest baby ever. But it makes for cheap entertainment.

It's all good

Well, I have officially made it to 6 weeks postpartum. Yay for me. And according to my awesome OB, it's all good. I guess Sean is out of the desert now, and I can commence a regular exercise program. Yay for me again. I really hate exercising, but it is a fact of life. I have a friend that teaches Ballet for Adults. Sounds kinda fun. I would say "Adult Ballet", but that sounds kind of X rated. Ha ha ha. I may give it a try. And to comemerate the 6 weeks mark, Gretta celebrated by sleeping through the night! Yay for her. 10 PM to 4:30 AM. That is through the night enough for me. And she went back to sleep til 7. Not too bad. It seems we are getting on some semblance of a schedule.

My beautiful baby

Here are the latest and greatest. I'm thinking one of these will make a good birth announcement photo, but I need some input. Keep in mind they can all be made into black and white, Sepia, or Antique.

Thanks, Aunt Kik!

Valentines day sucks.

Okay, not really, but I have never been a fan. I don't need a day set aside to remind me that I love Sean. And he concurs. But, alas, we have to conform to the marketing beast. A card and a hug will suffice. But I'm doing a list of things I love, and hate, at this particular moment in time to pay homage to Valentines day.

Things I'm loving:

1. Strawberry Ice Cream
2. White Cherry Blossom Bubble Bath
3. Game Show Network and Vintage Game Shows
4. My Nice Warm Bed
5. Sleep

Things I'm hating:

1. Milk Flakes When You Open the Milk Lid
2. Headaches
3. Cold Weather
4. Rude People
5. 3 Year Old Attitude

My new toys

Funny how when I told Sean our washer was on the fritz, he thought it would be fine for a few more years. And yet, when for the last month he had to take over the laundry duty, he suddenly gets the itch to buy a new one. And of course the dryer to match. Either way, I got the ones I wanted, regardless of how it came to be.

Do I have a story for you.

Here's Emma and Maggie at the hospital on the day we brought Gretta home. What a wonderful day it is, bringing home a new baby. They're so sweet and vulnerable. Well, notice in the picture that both big sisters are looking a little pale. I should have known to stay an extra night in the hospital. The paleness should have been a dead give away for what was awaiting me that fateful night.

Here I am, a new mom for the third time, two days post op, and battling a particularly heinous bout of the baby blues. As I lay crying in bed at 2 AM, wondering what I was thinking having a third child, and knowing in my heart that I have ruined all our lives by doing so, in walks Emma. Now, Emma is a known early riser, but this was especially early, even for her. She then announces she doesn't feel so well. I ask her if she's gonna throw up, and she says she doesn't think so. I tell her to get her bowl anyway, just in case. About 10 steps around the bed later, and out it comes, all over my bedroom floor. Now I know I've ruined our lives. I burst into tears, just knowing that Emma is going to give Gretta some tropical disease that will kill her, and Sean calmly cleans up the mess. Now in addition to me feeding the baby every hour, and crying constantly, Sean is up emptying the barf bowl every 10 minutes for the rest of the night. At the doctor the next morning, we find out she has Strep. Again. 10th time this year. No kidding. But they assure us that Gretta can't get it, so we both feel better about that.

Skip ahead a few hours to 6 PM that night. Here I find Maggie curled up in a ball on my bedroom floor, cheeks flushed with fever, and shivering. I just knew it. Strep. Sure enough, thanks to late night KidsCare, she has it too. Now I have two kids with strep, a brand new baby that I'm trying to nurture, and me with the baby blues. Thank goodness for Sean, who ran to get prescriptions, Ginger Ale, and various other necessities, who cleans up vomit with no complaint, and who rubs my back while I cry for the next 3 days. I knew I loved him for a reason.

So needless to say, I'm pretty sure that was the absolute worst situation imaginable to come home to, and I don't plan on doing it again any time soon. We've all recovered nicely, and the baby blues have passed. I think we're all to the point now where we can't imagine not having Gretta around, and that's a nice feeling. Not nice enough that I will do it again, but nice nonetheless.