Ouch

(not my teeth, sorry)

I have been to the dentist 5 times this month. 5 times.

I chipped a front tooth in college. The dentist put a veneer on it. It started slipping down from the gum line and getting decay. It was time to get a new one.

My dentist recommended that I get both of my front teeth done to keep the shade/shape uniform. I said ok, no big deal, right?

Wrong!

After spending a visit bleaching (sensitivity alert), a visit taking impressions, a visit shaving down my existing teeth (sheer pain), a visit trying on the wrong colored crowns (agony), and today a visit getting the darn things on (still swollen after 10 hours), all the while imposing on the kindness of others to watch my 3 children, I am through.

I now have a 1,000 dollar smile. Literally.

I just hope it was worth it.

haPpy biRthdAy to yOu

Two years sure does fly and I've loved every minute of it with Ellie.

Back to life, back to reality

I dropped off of the grid last week. I had a terrible cold/flu thing that took the life out of me. I didn't shower for two days. My house was a wreck. My kids ate chicken nuggets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My baby got congested too.

It was a bad time.

Thankfully, I am on the mend due to some great nursing from my husband, powerful cold medicine, and some time off my feet to recover. It is amazing how I appreciate good health when I don't have it.

Third

Some observations about the third child:

Cons:
She has far fewer pictures taken of her
She seems to cry louder (I think to gain our attention)
She has other little faces, lips, and hands in her face multiple times a day interrupting her peace
She must learn how to sleep through noise, and a lot of it
Her baby book arrived last week but is still awaiting its first entry
She wears a lot of hand me downs
She might get a Christmas present, but might not.

Pros:
She has a mother who knows a lot better how to attend to her needs
She has little sisters who watch her every move
She has a dad who is a pro at getting her to sleep
She takes a bottle and a pacifier
She has multiple stimuli throughout the day thanks to her siblings
She gets care that has been tried and tested on other children
She has all the more family members to shower her with love

She is a dear and I am so grateful for her.

Now open in a town near me!

Thank you!

I can't say enough to thank the care takers of my home and children over the last 3 weeks:

First, to my dear husband, you are my best support and I am so grateful to have a family with you.


Second, to my mother who always sees and meets our needs before we even ask, thanks for all of your service and love.


Finally, to my in-laws who left the comforts of home and cared for our girls and home in their loving way thanks for making the last week so easy for me.


Having three kids is easy with the support of such great people.

Who is it?

Baby #1 is:

Baby #2 is:

Baby #3 is:

And here are those babies all ready for bed!

Our little Ada Claire

On Tuesday at 4:38 pm we welcomed Ada to the world weighing 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long.


She came without a fuss and has been the most content and peaceful baby since.


She is loved by her big sisters and enjoys sleeping and eating and being held. We are so grateful for her safe and healthy arrival and to have another beautiful daughter in our family...J is definitely outnumbered now.


Thanks to everyone for your kind phone calls and messages. We appreciate the support!

Baby girl #3

Is on her way today!

Trained

This is Ellie.

She is 22 months old.

She is potty trained.

She did it all on her own.

Seriously. Amazing.

Childbearing

Obviously, this is a subject that has been on my mind of late. However, lately I feel like I have been surrounded by women going through the whole range of childbearing issues.

-The premature birth and death of a child
-Early and unexpected birth
-A mother who got an infection in her blood after a C-section
-The death of a mother to Eclampsia
-A teen pregnancy to an unwed mother
-A mother who hemorrhaged due to a tear in her cervix after giving birth
-A mother who carried a baby with an IUD in place
-The healthy birth of a full term baby
-The early birth and subsequent death of a 2 month old child
-A mother with placenta previa who will undergo a C-section
-A breach baby at full term

Just knowing or knowing of the individuals who have experienced these and other issues in childbearing makes me all the more aware of how volatile new life is and how women who seek to bring a life into the world really do walk in the valley of the shadow of death.

It also solidifies my knowledge that we have a Heavenly Father who is over all, who has a plan for each person individually, and who controls when and how we come and go from this earth.

I mourn for the women I know who have lost their children prematurely and rejoice for those who have brought healthy babies into the world. I appreciate the sacrifice and risk my own mother took to bring me into the world. And I feel that despite the uncertainty of it all, giving a new spirit the opportunity to gain a body and experience mortality is worth it.

Futbol

Or soccer as we Americans call it.


Our girl started into the world of organized sports last week, and I honestly don't know who was more excited, our girl or her daddy! J readily went to the parent meeting, got the list of necessary equipment, and took her on a Daddy daughter date the next night to get all of her gear. [I must say that those black Adidas cleats with the PINK stripes are the cutest things ever]



She is playing through NYS and landed on a great team with a fabulous coach. She is the only girl on the team but received great pre-preparation from her daddy that she "could do anything those boys could do" and that "she'd show them that she was a good soccer player."


She was so adorable at practice and followed the coaches instructions with exactness. She learned the one rule- don't touch the soccer ball with your hands- and has been happy to go out and practice with her Dad ever since. We'll see how the games go (I was told they just run around like bees around a beehive) and the rest of the season, but for now soccer is the best!

My 20s

Thanks to everyone who gave me a shout out on my birthday last week! I have to admit I am a horrible birthday remembering person myself, so I was very grateful and surprised by how many kind friends and family members remembered me through phone calls, emails, cards, messages, and get togethers. Thanks for making this pregnant girls day special.

And speaking of birthdays, I have to admit that it is kind of strange to think that this next year is the last one of my 20s. Crazy! I definitely do not feel that close to 30, even thought I'm expecting our 3rd child, graduated college, served a mission, and have been married over 5 years. How time flies. As I look back on it, my 20s have been a great decade of many changes, opportunities, and growth and I hope to make this 29th year one of the best.

Hello, Goodbye

Hello piggies!

Welcome football season.

Hello Grandma. :) Goodbye Grandma. :(

Hello canned peaches.

Hello peach jam.

Goodbye dinosaur AC unit.

Hello raised bed garden box.

Goodbye Daddy and Ellie....and welcome back the next day!

And finally, helloooooo Costco, just .3 miles from our house! Yipee!!!

Testimonial

I have learned many things since marrying J. One of them is the concept of an emergency fund.


Basically the fund is cash money that just sits in a liquid account (savings, CD, online bank, etc.) to be used only in case of financial emergency.

And I am here to say that this concept of the emergency fund has SAVED OUR LIVES on numerous occasions.

Among other things it has paid for:
-a clutch that went out during our first year of marriage
-an engine fire that destroyed our starter
-termite guys to come and save our house from further infestation
-a head CT for Ellie
-a new washing machine
and, most recently,
-a new air conditioner to replace the 31 year old machine on our roof

So my testimonial is this: EVERYONE should have an emergency fund because EMERGENCIES happen to everyone. It doesn't matter if you only have $100 or even $100,000 as long as you have something set aside that you are adding to on a regular basis.

I know money is a touchy subject and that everyone has their own way of doing it, but there is nothing that has brought me more peace of mind when these bad things have happened than knowing that we have our emergency fund to turn to.

The end.

Ode to mother

Whose visit is more anticipated?
Who do you appreciate more than you can say?
Who else will play with your children for hour upon hour?
Who else will babysit for free?
Who else will help you with dishes, laundry, cleaning, cooking?
Who else bakes up a storm of cookies?
Who else will help you build a raised bed in 100 degree heat?
Who else will take your kids to the Home Dep*t builders workshop by herself?
Who else will read bedtime stories night after night?
Who else gives the best bubble bath to her grand babies?
Who else do we wish lived next door?
Who else do we all love and adore?
Who else do we wish could stay forever?

My Mother.

Thanks for your visit and as Lauren asked in her prayers tonight, "please bless Grandma to come back soon and stay forever!" Amen little girl. Amen.

Fake out

During my first pregnancy I kept track of my progress religiously. I knew the week, almost to the day of my pregnancy. The second one...not as much, and this third pregnancy I only have a general idea of how far along I am.

So on Friday I went to the doc for my baby check up. As I was leaving, the nurse said, "We'll see you back next week." I replied that I didn't think I was at that point yet, and she looked at my chart and said, "But you're 35.5 weeks along." What the what!

I couldn't wrap my mind around having a baby in a month and asked her to check again.

Which she did, and realized that she'd charted me for the end of September, rather than the end of October.

Phew!

Although my back is sore, I'm hot, and I'm tired I wasn't quite ready to face the reality of childbirth and a new born...quite yet. Thank goodness for 9 more weeks!

Beaches

No, not the 80s tearjerker, but the sunny one in San D*ego.


This last weekend we spontaneously took a beach vacation, and are now committed to make it a yearly tradition.


It was our first family vacation with just me and J and our kids.

The best part was seeing these little missies in the water. They LOVED the waves.



Riding bikes along the boardwalk and bay was cool too.

We also visited the SD temple and all I can say that it was BEAUTIFUL inside. Totally worth a trip just to go there.


Sand, sun, water, and waves....it just doesn't get much better than that.