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!