Mission Impossible and Happy Birthday Caydin!

So, after a slight, eh-hem, hiatus, I am attempting to start blogging again!  I think it would be almost impossible to "catch-up", but hopefully I'll be able to remember any significant things for posterity that I can hit on, such as the birth of my last baby!

But, first, because it is on my mind, I have to say happy birthday to Caydin.  He would be turning 11 today, which is crazy to think about!  I miss that boy!

So, I am planning on writing a detailed post on the birth, but since I haven't exactly been on top of things, I want to at least mention some small details of our newest member of our family's arrival!  Lance Caydin Fischer was born on June 2, 2013, which was a Sunday.  His due date was June 14th, and so yes, he was the first of six children to come on his own!  I had contractions on my way to two baby blessings (my cousin Lesa's and my sister Melanie's), made it to one, but missed the other because I ended up in labor and at the hospital!  It was actually quite nice because it was a Sunday, so the hospital was very quite and calm.  It took about an hour and a half before we could start the c-section because they had to call everybody in.  Lance was born at 3:26 PM and weighed 6 lb 11 oz (which is my smallest baby) and was 18 inches long.  Besides a little bit of jaundice when we first came home, he was healthy, and has been such a sweet baby!  Everyone loves him, and he is just really calm and peaceful!  He is for sure our last baby as my uterus is not healthy enough to get through another pregnancy, so I have been really soaking up this baby!  It is so weird because for so many years it felt like I was overwhelmed with "baby mode" and it felt like it was never going to be different, and yet here I am now already done with my child bearing years!  It has been hard, actually.  I have grieved the fact that I can't have more babies, but at the same time feel SO blessed that I was able to have as many as I have since they have all been c-section.  20 years ago I think it was almost unheard of to have 6 children c-section!  So, I'm just trying to enjoy the time I get with all my sweet children, and I know I'm going to be one of those grandparents that is coming to sneak all grandchildren away for time with Grandma (and no, I am not counting down the days till Eden gets married-she's still a baby, but I also know that time flies, and it won't be all that long before she and all the rest of my kids are grown up!). 

So, again, Lance is my smallest baby.  He just had his checkup yesterday, and he weighs 18.5 pounds, but is off the charts in his height because he is so little still!  Ammon was often the same way, so I'm not worried at all, and know he will catch up in time.  He still doesn't roll, let alone crawl or walk, but again, I'm not anxious for him to grow up too fast!  I love that he likes just sitting contently with whoever wants to hold him, and he is a really happy baby!  I think because the kids were all at the hospital with us when I went into labor until Rob's mom could come get them, they all adjusted better to him, especially Ammon.  Instead of waking up one morning to Mom and Dad being gone and suddenly a new baby with them, they got to be there at the beginning, knew what was coming, went for a couple of hours, and then came back to see the baby.  It wasn't such a shock!  All the kids are so good to Lance and love him so much! 

So, another few items to mention.  Rob and I are still in school, although I am taking this semester off so I can help establish a better routine for our family.  We pulled the kids out of their charter school in October because of some struggles, and have been schooling them online since that time.  We were going to Davis Connect, and online school run by the Davis School District, and while the teachers and people who worked there were AWESOME, the curriculum was a little dull for my kids and we were having a hard time motivating them to do it.  So, right before Christmas break we looked into another schooled, called Harmony Ed.  There are lots of options this school offers, but the one we chose was called the Options Day.  The kids take their main core classes online through Odyssey (which is much more engaging and animated, and the kids love it so much more!), but then once a week they go to the school in Riverdale to do an options day.  They have 6 one-hour periods that they choose courses to take.  They are all fun classes, so the kids love going there!  All the kids are in the same classes together, and this is their schedule: Choir, Lego Robotics, Computer Lab, Lunch, Pottery, Science Lab, and finally Gym.  Other options include piano, violin lessons (you have to start at the beginning of the year with this one since they start at the beginning and it would be hard for kids to join and catch up later in the year), karate, cooking, sewing, and a few others.  The kids would have liked to have taken some of these other classes as well, but with scheduling issues and the fact that we did start in the middle of the year, the schedule they have is what worked out best, and the kids love it!! 

Besides the new school change, it came with a wonderful opportunity for us as a family as well!  The timing for going to the school seems more than just a coincidence.  Rob happened to ask Kim, the director over Riverdale, if they had any job opportunities, and they were looking right at that time for a new Computer Lab teacher.  Rob applied, and he got hired for it!  Right now it is very part time, but the pay is amazing, considering it is part time, and there is almost a guarantee of increased hours next school year.  It is also a great part time job because it still gives Rob plenty of time to work on school.  It's only 6 hours a week right now, but he would have to work at least 2 to 3 times the hours in a typical part time job to make the same amount, so we are feeling pretty blessed!  Plus, Rob is so good with kids, and has really enjoyed working there and with the students.  Its a position that will work well with our degree, so it is also giving him good experience and a foot in the door for after graduation!

So, I think that catches up the most important things.  Following are some pictures of Lance from the time he was born to just a few days ago!

 This is Lance and Jackson, the cousin who's baby blessing we missed because Lance decided he wanted to come!