Finally Feeling Better and Merry Christmas!

We are finally starting to feel better! It's actually been a couple of days since anybody threw up, and I am finally starting to feel like a normal human being again! I'm still tired, but it will probably be a little while before I'm not! Our nights are getting better, but more on a gradual basis. I hope when we move the kids adjust okay, and I hope we have the same experience as Cami in that we all start sleeping better in our new place! But, at least we are on the mend for now, and hopefully we'll stay that way for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, Merry Christmas everyone! I've been writing a lot lately, but in case I don't get back on till after next Tuesday, I hope everybody has a wonderful Christmas time and feels the true spirit of the season!

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper, although I will use bags when I need to, and mostly for birthdays!
2. Real tree or artificial?
I think real trees are fun, and we'll probably get one in the future, but we have a fake one, and with small kids, I think I prefer the fake one!
3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually Thanksgiving weekend.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Sometime in the first few weeks of January, but this year, probably right after the New Year since we will be starting to move on January 3rd!
5. Do you like eggnog?
I don't mind a glassful once a year, but that covers me till the next year!
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A bike.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, but I'm not sure where it is right now!
8. Hardest person to buy for?
My dad; he either wants things I have no idea what they are or how to find them, or it's too expensive!
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Eden, I just get her what I would have wanted as a kid!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
The only thing I can think of is getting clothes I didn't like, but I took them back and exchanged them!
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
White Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Every year is different. This year I had most of it done in November.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so, but I might have!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Anything warm and baked!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
I really like the ones we got this year, they are a mix of the two! There are like 70 white lights and 30 colored mixed in to every strand!
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Depends on my mood.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Both!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
If I concentrated really hard I might be able to get them right!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
I like both and have had both before. This year it is an angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Crowded stores and SICKNESS from the cold weather.
24. Do you buy gifts for your pets?
No
25. Have you ever been Christmas caroling?
Yes, but not for a few years.
26. Hot chocolate or hot apple cider?
I will take whichever one is available!
Tag: Laura, Wendy, and Brandis

Still Sick!

Okay, so I was hoping we were near the end, but nope! I woke up early this morning to the sounds of a child puking. I ran to Isaac's crib to find him fast asleep, and looked to the side where Eden's bed is, and there she was, half dazed throwing up all over! So, it started, again! After another puking incident, and three diarreah episodes, I finally had her settled somewhat comfortably watching cartoons when Isaac woke up crying, and refused to be consoled. I was walking with him trying to figure out what was up, and all of the sudden he was throwing up on me, again! Meanwhile, Rob was supposed to be getting up to go to work, but guess who else caught it?! Soooo, I spent most of the morning cleaning, disinfecting, and praying for no more puke! Heavenly Father must have known I was at my limit because nobody did puke again after the morning episodes! In fact, after a mid-morning nap, Eden woke up and was so much better you would have never known she had been sick! We've still been very careful about what she eats and drinks, but she had energy to spare, and has been using some if it to drive me crazy! Rob has been okay, and even sent me out for a few hours this evening to get some Christmas shopping done and get a break, since a nap is almost impossible! Isaac has still just been as grouchy as can be! I hope he gets over this really soon because I almost don't remember what he's like not crying and whining! Anyway, I don't even know what to expect tomorrow, but I'm bracing myself for more morning throw up just so I'm not disappointed!

Positive Note

I almost forgot to mention that last Thursday EmmaLee rolled over from her back to her stomach all by herself! She is growing up so fast! She is still so happy and easy going all the time, thank heavens! I took a picture of her right after she rolled over, but I'll have to post that another time!

Sick Days!

Okay, so I wanted to post some pictures, but I have to download them, and if I do that right now, chances are I won't actually get a chance to post, so I decided to post instead! For the last month (and I'm NOT exagerating!) I have pretty much had sick kids, give or take a few days inbetween sicknesses. And, poor Isaac has mostly been the bearer of all the sicknesses! It started out as a mere cold, then turned into brochiolitis, then a throwing up spell, and then eased back into a cold and cough. We thought we were on the mend, and then he ended up going into croup, and then woke up last Saturday throwing up again and running a fever! It was worse in the morning, and by afternoon he seemed to be doing a lot better, only to go back down with a fever that night. He woke up yesterday morning throwing up again and running a fever. Once again, after the morning time was over, no more throwing up, although he remained grumpy and had a slight fever whenever we weren't as on top of medicine as we should have been. But, by last night he was actually eating a bit and seemed on the mend. Well, he woke up this morning throwing up again! Can I tell you how sick of laundry I am right now?! What was weird this morning was that he's had no fever! He was very grouchy until he finally took about an hour nap, and since he's gotten up, he's doing a bit better. Instead of crying and whining all the time, he just whines for a minute every ten minutes or so, and he's actually eaten more food than he has the last three days combined! So, I am cautiously optimistic that maybe we really are getting over this finally! If he was an adult woman, I'd almost wonder if he was pregnant and experiencing morning sickness with a nice dose of hormones for his attitude! Now I just hope and pray that the girls don't catch anything! Besides Isaac's sicknesses, which has cut down on my sleeping, Eden has had a few bad nights as well! She has either taken late naps and won't go to bed at a decent hour, or she goes down at a good time, only to wake up 2 hours later when we are getting ready for bed and staying up! So, she's been going to bed very late, and Isaac has been getting up very early, and I still have to feed EmmaLee during the night, so I'm a bit sleep deprived! We've very rarely left the house in the last few weeks, and often when we have I end up wishing we hadn't, but as a result, we are all going a bit stir crazy! Anyway, I'm venting in the hopes that I can take a breather and keep on going since there really isn't another option! I guess it's good that's it's all happening now instead of during Christmas or when we are going to be trying to move! I just hope we're all better by then!!

Brothers?

So, the top picture is a picture of Caydin when he was pretty close to Isaac's age and the bottom picture is a recent picture of Isaac. What do you think? Do you think they are brothers?

Our New Future Home!

So, here it is! Our new future home!

You can just see on the right how the garage is attached to the neighbors. The only negative is that the driveway is a bit steep, which is really only a problem in the winter, but I'm willing to deal with that! There is a total of four homes, so 2 sets of twinhomes all right by each other, and ours is one of the inside homes between the two. So, if you were driving onto the street from the north end, there is the first set of twinhomes, then ours, and ours is the first one you'd get to on our set.

This is the back view of the homes from the south end. So, the first home furthest to the left is our neighbors, then ours, then the other set of twinhomes. As you can see, we all share a backyard, but it makes for a fairly good sized yard, and it is mostly fenced in, which is nice! So, we are super excited! I've not seen the inside, as Rob walked through it right after work, but he said it was nice, and the outside looks so nice, I'm sure the inside is as well!

WE'RE MOVING

I'm so excited! Rob and I signed contract papers today so we officially have a moving date, and more importantly, a place to move to! It's been a frustrating and long process, but well worth what we are getting! On January 3rd, we will be moving into a twinhome in Springville which we will be renting for at least the next year (buying turned out to still be a little out of our budget). It has 3 bedrooms and what I'm most excited about is that it has a one car attached garage as well! I will go take pictures of it soon so I can post them, but I had to share the exciting news with everyone! It was amazing how we even found the place and that it actually was in our price range! I never knew how difficult it would be to find a place to rent with three children! Nobody wants to rent to families with more than one child, let alone three, at least not in our price range! I'm so excited that Rob won't have to drive an hour each way to work anymore, especially in the bad weather, and it will feel like a mansion with three bedrooms, a big kitchen and living room, and everything! Five in one room is pretty tight!! I'm really excited that we found this twinhome because it is really like having our own home. It'll be so much nicer than an apartment complex, or even a normal duplex or fourplex. The homes are only attached at the garages, so we won't have to worry about anybody above us, next to us, or below us! It'll be heaven! Anyway, just had to share the good news!!

Birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas, Oh My!

I finally downloaded some of my pictures and thought I would post them.

I had a fun birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a party at my mom's house on my birthday, which was fun.

My dad and brother even put on a little show of Jedi fighting! I thought it was a pretty well timed photo and I had to share it!

Thanksgiving was fun. I posted about it before, but here are some pictures from that day. So, this picture of Isaac is what I usually see when I feel a small child holding at my legs . . .

. . . and this is what I saw on Thanksgiving! This is my nephew Caleb, who I have a flirty, but non-touching relationship with! He loves to tease me, but he won't let me hold him. So, I was surprised on Thanksgiving to look down and see him clinging to my legs. It didn't take long to figure out the sudden show of affection! His mom was standing next to me with the same color pants and shoes on, and he thought I was her! There were several of us in there and we started laughing, which made Caleb happy thinking that something funny was going on. He looked up and saw his mom next to him and laughed with her, but never caught on that she couldn't be two places at once, or half and half, and just held on to me for another minute before walking away to go play! It was quite funny!

Finally, the day after Thanksgiving Rob and I put up our Christmas tree. It's hard to see, but it's only decorated from half way up because if we put decorations lower, they don't survive the season! But, the lights look pretty! I am happy to say that we are 99% done with our Christmas shopping, and it even happened before black Friday! I am not a shopper and I'm not sure there is anything in the world that I want bad enough to fight the crowds for! Kudos to those who are able to fight the crowds for the deals, but I think you're crazy!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend and GO BYU!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend (since I'm a little late for Thanksgiving Day!)! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and ate good food. We celebrated with my family Thursday, and then with Rob's family on Friday, and then had some family over for the big game today, so it's been fun! I didn't know how the big game this year could even match the exciting ending of last years, but I wasn't dissapointed! While still not as classic as last years, the last few minutes of this game turned out pretty exciting, and had plenty of yelling and jumping involved! Sorry for any Ute fans who read this, but I personally enjoyed the end of this years game!

The Girls

EmmaLee figured out last night how to suck her thumb! I thought it was so cute! Most of the time she takes a binki, but I guess I was slacking so she found a substitute instead! She actually hasn't done it again since, so I'm glad my camera was right next to me and I got a picture!

Eden still just loves her little sister, and now that EmmaLee is getting a little bigger, she is more aware of what's around her and likes watching both Eden and Isaac. They can get her to smile just by being around. In another year, I'll have the three amigo's running around together!

Eden has decided that she really likes taking pictures. I took the picture of her and EmmaLee, and so she HAD to take one of EmmaLee and me! She did a pretty good job for a three year old!!

Seven Random Things

Okay, so I've been tagged a few times with things, but haven't had time to follow through. So, I thought I'd better not pass up another one, so here are 7 random things about me!

1. My elbows are double jointed.
2. I have a funny lump (to put it nicely) at the bottom of my stomach from having 4 c-sections; it gets bigger with each one!
3. I've never broken a bone.
4. I've had the exact same ending pregnancy weight for all 4 of my pregnancies, but started at different weights each time.
5. I was 20 when I had my first kiss.
6. Banana Cream Pie was the first thing Rob and I ever started talking about-it's our favorite dessert.
7. The only time I've ever fainted was at the dentist office after having 4 teeth pulled.

I tag:
Anyone who wants to do it!

New Haircut

So, here's my new haircut! I actually left it longer than I had originally planned, but I like it and think it's a good length for me! Hopefully I will be able to keep it up and actually do it more than once a week! My usual hairdo has been a ponytail for about the last 6 months! I did cut it not too long ago, and I liked it then too, but it was still too long and was too easy to throw in a ponytail. I thought if I eliminated the abillity to put it in a ponytail, I would have to actually try to style it somehow! I just hope in a week I'm not kicking myself for eliminating the possibility! But, my hair grows fast, so I figured even if I decided to grow it back out, it wouldn't take all that long! Tell me what you think of it!

Halloween

Halloween was fun this year. We took Eden and Isaac around our neighborhood on Halloween night. We had originally planned on visiting my parents neighborhood as well, but I ended up not feeling all that wonderful that night and we called it good after going around our place. It was still tons of fun, and it's probably better we didn't get more candy because Eden's already had a sugar high, and I've had more than I really should have as well!

Eden decided to go as Snow White this year. I never got around to finding a black wig, or getting the hair paint, so she was the blond version!

EmmaLee was both a clown and a bunny rabbit. She went as a clown to my parents ward carnival on Tuesday night, and was a little bunny on Halloween. I thought I took a picture of her as a bunny, but I guess I didn't! My mom did, so I'll have to get a picture from her and post it then!

Isaac loves dogs, so he went as a puppy this year. He loves to look at his costume and give it hugs and loves, but he isn't too thrilled about the head part when it's on! He was so cute, though, because when he did have it on, he can't walk so he'd crawl around, and he really looked like a little puppy!

My friend Wendy Watt came to the carnival Tuesday as well, and she brought 3 of her sisters with her, who I hadn't seen in ages! For the old gang, here is a picture of (from left to right) Amy, Wendy, Stacie and Michelle! I didn't recognize Michelle at first! It was fun to see and talk to them as well!

Finally, this has nothing to do with Halloween, but I thought it was cute, so I posted it anyway! EmmaLee has been smiling now for a few weeks, and is on the verge of laughing. She's actually chuckled a couple of times, but before she can try again to do more, she usually gets the hic-ups! She's growing so fast, and it's fun to see how she is becoming more aware of her surroundings. Whenever I leave her for a few minutes when she's awake, and then come back and talk to her, she gives me the biggest smiles! I think I'm going to nick-name her smiley because she is seriously the happiest baby I think I've had so far (which means something because all of my kids have been pretty good natured!) Well, Isaac and Eden were happy, but had rough months at this age because of their club feet and casts and surgeries, and shoe braces! I'm so grateful we aren't doing that again right now with EmmaLee!!!

Fall Fun

So, before the snow came, we managed to go visit a few places. Hopefully the warm weather will come back for a little longer so we can go visit a few other places before the sledding season starts!

We went with my mom and youngest brother and sister to Gardner Village last week to see all the witches and pumpkin decorations set up. It was a pretty windy day, so it was a somewhat short visit!

We also managed to go visit Wheeler Farm on my sister Laurie's birthday and see the animals, ducks, and of course, a tree house. We took some bread with us to feed the ducks, but my younger siblings started to give it to them before we got to the pond, and soon we were surrounded by dozens of duck and geese! It was pretty funny! Of course, my brother and sister were a bit nervous and decided to "run away"! It was pretty funny!

Catching Up!

Okay, so I realized that the lack of my writing last month meant that I skipped a few events in my life that I thought I would now catch up on!

We blessed EmmaLee last Sunday, which I actually did mention in my last blog, I just thought I would now add a picture of her in her dress! The blessing was beautiful, and the day worked out just fine, inspite of my slight issues preparing for it the week before! I wanted to invite more people to it, but like I said before, I wasn't sure until right before whether it was going to work out or not, so I apologize to anyone that would have liked to have come but didn't get an invitation. Anyone was invited, but I just didn't get the word out!!

This picture isn't actually an event, I just thought I would post a picture of all three of the kids together! EmmaLee is growing so fast, and for that matter, so is Isaac! Eden is too, just not so noticeably on a monthly rate like the other two! Both Eden and Isaac love to hold EmmaLee, and EmmaLee continues to be, for the most part, a good natured baby!

On August 28th, it was 2 years from Caydin's passing. We didn't do a whole lot different on that day this year probably due to the fact that EmmaLee was only a couple of weeks old, so we were still in recovery mode with that, and just trying to adjust to that new change. And, I've decided that's probably the hardest day for me to know what to do or how to feel. I don't like to focus on the accident because it was traumatic and difficult, to say the least, for me, even though I know that for Caydin, it was a glorious day and a completely different experience. I can't ignore that day, so I want to try to focus on his side of the day, but I'm not able to think of that day and not remember his accident, at least not at this time. So, the bigger the deal I make of that day, the harder it becomes. I eventually want to make it a happy day where we can remember Caydin with family in some kind of a happy and positive way, but this year I didn't have the energy for that. And, for me, I think about him and remember him every day of my life, so it's not like I need a special day to remember him by. But, like I said, I can't ignore that day, so hopefully in the future I'll be able to more fine tune how to handle that day! Till then, I love and miss you buddies!!

So, another event I haven't mentioned yet is that we bought a van in September! When I realized this last summer that we were going to have to get a van to fit our family once EmmaLee was born, I wasn't all that thrilled, but I started to get excited for it because of all the convienences it would bring, the first being that we would at least all fit! So, we started looking, and eventually found this Toyota Sienna for a pretty good price. We've really enjoyed having it and the extra space it gives us! It surprised me how full the van already feels with three kids! I think a lot of it is the space that the car seats take up. Eden has the back bench seat to herself, so I put her in the middle, but her car seat is bulky enough that the other two seats are still a little smaller than you would think. Two children (like Thomas and Laurie) fit just fine in them, but it would be a tight squeeze for two adults! Eden is actually big enough to go into a booster seat, but she still likes to fall asleep sometimes on rides, and her car seat is more comfortable for that. Anyway, I'm very grateful for our van! Now we just need the Sonata to sell!

Finally, I thought I would mention that Melanie moved up to Utah State to start school. I can't believe she's already in college! Even though it's been several years since I've been to school, I still think of myself as college age, especially since I still plan on trying to take some classes to try to get my degree, at least as soon as I don't have so many really young kids! I guess everybody is really still college age since you can go at any age, but it's still weird to think that if I was still single, Melanie and I would be in the same social boat! She's even met some guys up there, one of them only a year younger than me! It's weird to think that she could get married anytime now, and start having kids, and be in the same part of life that I am! Up till now, she's always been my younger sister who was much younger than me (but not as young as my other sister!), and now she's "catching up" with me! It's amazing how as you get older, age gaps really seem to shrink! I hope any of that is understandable to anybody besides myself! Anyway, Melanie has grown into a beautiful woman, and I'm so proud of her and all she has accomplished! I love her to death, and hope she finds happiness and success in all she does!
So, I think that about wraps up any major events in the last month. My brother and his son both celebrated their birthdays in the last month, which was fun. Rob's two brothers also celebrated their birthdays, so it was a busy birthday month for us! This month is my youngest brother and sister's birthdays as well, so it's been a good couple of birthday cake eating months!

Mommy Blues

I don't have any pictures to upload today, but thought I would write anyway. It's been a long week or two for me! I came down with a cold and stomach cramps about a week and a half ago and didn't feel well for several days. It didn't help that I still have been having some afterbirth cramping, so I really just didn't feel well! But, with three little kids, it's not like I could really take a day off! So, only a couple of days after getting my cold, Isaac came down with something nasty and was throwing up for three days! It was weird, though, because the first day, he only threw up once! The next day he threw up 3 times, randomly spaced, and the last day he only threw up once! He also never ran a fever, so I have no idea what was wrong with him! But, he hasn't been totally normal ever since he had it last week. I think he's teething as well, but he's also pulling at his ears, so I might be taking him into the dr's tomorrow to get them checked. Anyway, Rob ended up getting the same cold and stomach cramps that I had, so he was pretty sick as well for some of the week. We blessed EmmaLee on Sunday, but I was debating up to the day before whether or not to go through with it because everytime I thought we were all better, something would happen, and I wouldn't know if we'd all really be healthy enough to go through with it! Plus, since we'd been sick the whole week before, I wasn't able to get out and get much ready for it! In fact, I wanted to find a bow to put in EmmaLee's hair, but didn't get around to looking for one until Saturday. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but after going to three stores and not finding anything, I started to panic a little! I had plans to go to women's conference with a friend of mine, and I was suppose to be picking her up in like 20 minutes, and I was still running around trying to find a bow! I finally went to a fabric store and bought some lacy elastic so I could just make her a bow! I could only find buttons with some flowers on top of them, so I bought those planning on sewing or glueing them on! But, I realized that I have "misplaced" my sewing kit, so I finally gave up and just used a bow I had all along. I would have planned on using it in the first place, but I blessed her in the dress I was blessed in, and age has turned it slightly off white, and the bow I used was totally white. Oh well. It still looked cute, and I realized in the end that it was just more important and special that she was getting a blessing! So, anyway, things were sort of calming down, but now Isaac has been crying randomly again for the last two days, and like I said before, we might be getting his ears checked tomorrow. I have to admit that I'm getting really worn out. It seems like there's been no recovery from last week, and before last week it's like I've had no chance to recover from having EmmaLee! I've had cramps almost everyday since I've had her, and I think I'm hitting a breaking point! I didn't mention that because of our sicknesses last week, one night I was up with a kid till 3 in the morning, went to bed, only to get up with a different kid at 4, not to go back to bed until after 6! That next night, EmmaLee was up until 2:30 with tummy cramps, so I think I'm still trying to recover from lack of sleep! Oh, and I had to take EmmaLee into the doctor about a week ago as well because she has this funny breathing thing that makes her breath really loud and sounds like she's struggling for breath. Turns out that she is totally fine, just a small esophagus, or something like that and she should grow out of it. But, I've had a bunch of people ask me if she was okay, and I don't blame them, but I don't know if it's post partum hormones or what, but I'm sick of people asking! I think it makes me second guess whether or not she's really okay, and I don't like breathing issues with my kids! So, on one hand I feel like holing up in my house for a while, but at the same time, I'm sick of being stuck here in our basement and feel like I'll go crazy if I don't get out! But, I get out and suddenly Isaac starts crying like crazy, or people ask about EmmaLee, or the kids just act crazy anyway and I go nuts and can't wait to get them home! Because Rob started his new job, we won't have insurance until December, so it's hard that we all got sick right now because any medical bills are coming at full cost out of pocket (or in a payment plan!) That's hard too because we really want to move out, but need to pay off some debt to make it happen, but instead of paying off debt, we've only been getting more! All my medical bills are coming in from having EmmaLee, and it's not cheap!
Anyway, I'm venting, and I know things will get better. I'm not so far down that I don't realize that some of what I'me feeling is probably post partum blues. This too shall pass, right?!

I'm Back!

Okay, so things have been a little bit busy around here! I haven't had time to add anything for a long time! I'm lucky to get on to read other's stuff, let alone take the time to add something of my own! Hopefully it'll get easier as I get used to having three young kids and their schedules!

So, 2 weeks ago today Eden was running from the kitchen to the living room upstairs and tripped and fell into the leg of the dining table. She hit her forehead really hard and got a goose-egg that stuck out about an inch! It was huge! How she didn't split it open I'll never know! By that night, I realized that she was going to get a black eye, and sure enough, she did! It actually got more colorful than this picture shows, and spread to the other eye, but it was a beauty! Even now she still has the last little shawdow of the bruise!

EmmaLee has been such a good baby, and both Eden and Isaac love her to death! I decided to use EmmaLee to wake up Eden on this morning, and then thought it was so cute that I had to take a picture! EmmaLee looks just like Eden did as a baby, so I think they are going to look very similar! It'll be fun in a couple of years to have two little blond girls running around with their bigger blond brother!

Last week Laura came to town, so those that could got together, and it was so fun! It was a babyfest! Everybody's kids are so cute, and I just wish we all lived closer together so we could get together more often!

Last night Rob and I took our family to the Color's reunion concert at the Sandy Amphitheater by our house. It was a lot of fun, and EmmaLee slept in her carseat the whole time! We sat right by the hill, and nobody was in front of us, so Eden spent half of the night running down the hill and then coming back up it!

Also, sitting right next to us was a young married couple with no kids, and Isaac decided to adopt them. At first he was just eyeing them and teasing them by getting their attention, and then being shy. But, he got over that and when we weren't looking for 2 seconds, crawled right over to them, climbed into the girls lap, and layed back and chilled! It was so funny! He was even rubbing the guys arm! They were laughing about it and thought he was so cute (luckily) and we just laughed! In fact, when we looked over and he saw us looking at him, he gave us a little sly smile, like he was saying, ha ha look where I am! We left right after that, and when I went to get him from the girl, he actually cried and reached out for her! We all laughed! What a character!
So, that's about it for now. We are staying very busy but getting very little done, and hopefully I'll be able to write more often!

Welcome EmmaLee!

As planned, EmmaLee Lucinda Fischer was born via c-section on August 15. She was born at 7:49 am and weighed 7 lb 9 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was born with dark hair, like her sister, and it's so cute and soft!

So, this is a picture of me maybe an hour before I had EmmaLee. I am happy to say that I am no longer this large, but I still have a ways to go before fitting into any of my normal pants!

So far EmmaLee has been very even tempered and has not caused us a lot of stress. She was born with no problems, which means she had no club feet at well! We were so happy to hear that and see it for ourselves!

Eden and Isaac both love her, although it took longer for Isaac to show it. Eden was excited, and I think she really understood before hand what was coming, but Isaac acted pretty much oblivious to what was going on for the first couple of days. Whenever he was near her, he would try to grab at her face, not meanly, but just because he's still pretty much a baby too and doesn't know any better! He now says "babeba" for baby, and when I hold his hands, he'll give her head hugs and just smiles! So, I think they'll be great friends!

The only complication that came up was that the night before we came home, Isaac came down with the croup, so it's been not fun trying to keep the two of them within very close contact. Eden also came down with croup, so we've been doing a lot of hand washing and avoiding with the kids! But, there's no way to avoid it completely, so we're just hoping EmmaLee doesn't get it!!!!

This last picture was taken in the OR room, and it's weird to me to think that while we were getting this picture taken, they were still sewing me up! Fun stuff, huh?!
Anyway, it's fun to have EmmaLee here!

3 Days and Counting!

So, only 3 more days and I won't be pregnant anymore! And, since it's a scheduled c-section, it's more like 2 days left because I go in early Wednesday morning and am recovering by 9:00 in the morning! Anyway, to help pass the time, we've been trying to stay busy.

Eden turned 3 officially on August 4th, and she had to have her picture taken as a three year old! She got to have 3 different birthday parties with family, and I know she would have loved to continue celebrating her birthday for longer!

She was so funny, though, because at each birthday party, she thought she was getting older and older! She turned three at the first party, but she turned 4 at the next! It took a lot of talking to try to help her understand that she was still only 3, even though she was having more than one birthday party! She's also teaching Isaac how to pose for the camera, and now when my orange red eye reducer on my camera hits him, he smiles for me!

This last weekend Sandy City had a balloon festival. We went to the last part of it last night where they had Peter Brienholt in concert, and a bunch of hot air balloons up. They didn't take off, but it was really cool to see them, and as it got dark, it was cool to see them light up as the fires went off. Eden and Isaac loved it!

We got there early enough to watch them blow them up, and then we watched them taking them down. It as really a lot of fun!
We'll be spending the next two days finishing getting things ready for the baby to come. I'm so excited, but a little nervous at the same time, now that it's finally so close! I'm nervous about having to leave Eden and Isaac, and even though I've been through it 3 other times, the thought of going through the surgery of a c-section always makes me a little anxious! But it's worth it for the little one that comes from it!

New Job!!

I am very pleased and happy to announce that Rob has a new job! We are so excited! The last month has been very stressful because we found out that Rob was going to be getting laid off of his old job, which is news you never want to hear, especially when you are a month away from having another baby! So, we have been looking and applying for jobs like crazy, and the last 3 weeks have been very long waiting to hear back from people, especially two companies that seemed especially promising. We still haven't heard back from one company, but the other company, called Progressive Manufacturing, called today and made Rob an offer we couldn't refuse! The company makes trailer hitches and is located down in Springville (just south of Provo). Rob will actually be their only Graphic Designer and will be working with the Marketing and Sales department. While it might not be the most exciting work since they really only have one product, the people are super cool and the company itself is very family oriented, and the work enviroment will be really great, a real opposite of where he just came from! The job also came with a pay upgrade from where we were, which means WE CAN FINALLY MOVE OUT (not that it excites me at all!)!!! We are probably going to wait unitl after Christmas so we can pay off debt, and so we can take our time finding the right place. We should be able to purchase a home, so we are going to be spending some time looking into our options of what and where to buy. We are planning on moving to Springville, or further south since the job is in Springville, and the further south we go, the more affordable homes become, and the better the commute anyway! Ironically, my brother works almost literally across the street from where Rob's new job is located, and he and his wife are planning on moving down that way as well, which will be really fun for us to be so close to family still (not that the commute to most of our family will still be all that far). Rob's first day will be Friday the 24th of August, which is great because that means he'll be home all of next week right before we have the baby, during the baby, and for most of the week after I have the baby! It'll be great to have him here to help! I go in next Wednesday morning to have the baby, and should come home next Saturday morning. I'm so excited that it's almost time to have the baby! I'm even more excited now that we have a job and know he'll be starting it soon! It'll make having the baby and the recovery so much better and less stressful!

Eden's Bday and Passing Time

Eden's 3rd birthday is officially tomorrow, but we already had a little birthday party for her last Sunday with my mom's family which celebrated my Grandpa's, and two other cousins birthdays as well. It was so fun to watch Eden with her presants though! Every single one was so amazing to her! She was so excited and awed by the things she got! I was lucky enough to catch in photo's a couple of her faces! I think the pictures say it all!

We are having another birthday party for her tomorrow with Rob's family, and then another smaller one with just my family on Sunday. It is so much fun to see how exciting life is to these sweet children!

I'm actually really glad Eden's birthday is right now because it's given me something to focus on, planning all the parties and stuff, to help the time pass till the baby is born, which is officially 12 days from today! I am considered full term now, so if she did decide to come earlier, it would be fine! But, I doubt I will, so we'll just say 12 days from today! My sister-in-law invited us over to a pool last week, and the kids loved it! They had this big blow up toy that Isaac and Eden loved to sit on! It was great for Isaac because he gets to the point where he doesn't want to actually be in the water, but this way he was right in the middle of everything, and yet still warm and mostly dry! And, it's nice from Rob and me because we still get to stay in the pool instead of having to sit on the side with Isaac watching!

The kids and I went to lunch today with my mom and sister, and Melanie put her hat on Isaac, who totally loved it! He was being all cheesy for the camera, and I thought he looked so cute, and grown up with the hat on!

He was quite the sight with his cool hat, and dancing to the music they had playing. Eden thought it was pretty funny as well! Eden and Isaac are getting so cute together! I know there will be days and moments when they don't do so well together, but I think overall they are going to be great friends! Isaac woke Eden up this morning by crawling on her and giving her big hugs! Eden, who can usually be very grumpy when she gets up, just smiled and hugged him back! It was so cute! Soon there's going to be three of them! I don't know how Isaac will take it for now, but Eden keeps talking about how she's going to hold her all by herself and how excited she is for her to come! We finally bought a package of newborn diapers, and I had to take one out to look at it, and now Eden is always asking to see it and then she'll say how cute and little it is! Hopefully her love of her new sister will continue after EmmaLee is born!

Waiting

Okay, so I finally took a picture of me pregnant, and here I am! Roughly 3 weeks before I won't be like this anymore, not that I'm counting down the days or anything! It's actually 19 days from today till my scheduled c-section! While I can feel a bit nervous thinking about how to handle three young children, I am for sure looking forward to not being pregnant! It's got to be easier to have three small children but have my health than to try to take care of two small children pregnant!

To help the time go by faster, we are trying to stay busy. Isaac and Eden are starting to play a lot better together, although they have sibling issues several times a day at least! But, it's cute to see them playing and having fun together, and I'm glad to see it happening because they are going to need to entertain each other more after the baby comes!

We spent an afternoon last week at my brother and sister-in-laws house and of course, the kids had to play in the old TV. It was my Grandma's TV, which she's had for years, and my brother has ended up with it, and it is a favorite toy for kids! Nick and I played in it when we were little, so it is kind of funny to think that now my kids and my brother's kids are playing in it now! Eden has spent her time in there as well, but this picture is of Isaac and my nephew Caleb. Too much fun!

4th of July

We had a fun, but not overly busy 4th of July. We went to my parents house on the 3rd of July and lit off some of our own fireworks in the front yard. I got my camera out, and suddenly Eden became a professional poser! I'm not sure where she got it from, but she was hamming it up for the camera! Her goal was to make the silliest faces she could!

The one picture I got of her just pretty much looking at the camera she saw and told me it wasn't silly and made me take another picture that was more silly worthy! She cracks me up!

Eden will turn 3 on August 4th, so in less than a month! I can't believe how much her personality has grown again even in just the last month! She has been playing more with neighbor kids, and she is picking up on everything, some of it I wish she wouldn't! She really is turning into a child instead of just a toddler!

I wasn't sure how Isaac was going to handle the fireworks, but he loved them! I think he loved having a lot of kids around as well! He did start to get a little weary of them towards the end and I had to hold him more, but I think overall, he really had fun!

Both Eden and Isaac had fun watching the fireworks at my parents, and we pretty much did the same thing on the 4th of July, just at our own home. We didn't get a chance to go see any big ones this time, but we are planning on going somewhere for the 24th. I'm not sure how Isaac will like them. I guess we will see!
On a side note, I am officially scheduled for a c-section on August 15th, so we can really count down the days now!