Christmas 2009

I love this picture mainly because not one of my munchkins is looking at the camera. Even Aaron who is faced toward the camera has averted his eyes.

My thoughts on Mom's and Sons

I love this Picture of Paul and my Mom. Paul is the favorite even though mom insists that she doesn't have a favorite. It's okay with me though because I'm the favorite girl. Just kidding(kinda) If mom reads this she'll be mad because she hates favoritism. She was always really fair with us but given the fact that Paul was twelve when I left home for good she had a lot of one on one time with him and he's been good to her throughout her many Multiple Sclerosis episodes. Having three boys myself I understand the bond between moms and sons. Love you Forever by Robert Munsch helps explain some of that.
When putting the boys to bed I've often repeated the words from it.

"I'll love you forever.
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be."

Aaron and Eddie don't like being called babies though so I'll say their name instead of Baby. Or when they say it to me they'll replace baby with "Momma". To me it is one of the sweet wonderful moments of motherhood.

Who knew saving money for college was so easy?

So I've finally joined upromise.com. All of you mom's out there that like to shop on-line should try it too. I've already saved 18.00 just by doing normal Christmas shopping and that's only in the past couple of weeks. I wish I'd joined sooner. If you don't have anyone to save for feel free to click on the link below and help me save. However I'd definitely recommend joining.

http://www.upromise.com/guest/2234556427

As of 2/7/2010 I've saved over $70. I'm so glad I joined.

It's My Favortie Time of Year

From about April on through the beginning of January I love life here in the Northwest. Come February though I'm ready for Spring to come back. Reasons I love this time of year...
Halloween
My Birthday
Thanksgiving Weekend
Aaron's Birthday
Christmas
New Years

Halloween, seriously does it get much better than taking your kids door to door begging for candy? This past Halloween though Ian and I were both sick and so Ian didn't even get to really have his first Halloween. I didn't even dress him up in the cute pumpkin sweatshirt that I've used on both of the other boys. So I guess we'll celebrate his first Halloween next year. So despite the lack of celebrating due to illness Halloween rocks.

Then a couple weeks later I get to celebrate my birthday. I threw myself(with the help of friends) a first 29th birthday party. Which I joke about not wanting to turn 30 next year but seriously, what's the big deal.

Then after my birthday I get to have Thanksgiving and seriously it's my favorite meal of the year. Then I get to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving which to me is a lot of fun. I usually end up talking to the random people waiting in line next to me and just enjoy the whole experience.

Shortly after Thanksgiving weekend we celebrate Aaron's birthday and from there we rush full force into decorating the house, wrapping presents and baking for Christmas. But if it's my favorite time of year why do I turn into the Christmas Nazi? Seriously the boys were trying to help me decorate the Christmas tree this afternoon and I wanted them to help and enjoy but yet I found myself being short with them and frustrated in general. Surely this is not what Christmas is all about. I guess there is always tomorrow and I'll try to be nicer and put into action the spirit that should go with Christmas.

Why is it....

that Aaron and Eddie insist on wrestling in the pews at church during Sacrament meeting when both Michael and I are at church with Ian. However today when Michael and Ian stayed home from church Aaron and Eddie were practically angels. Maybe they were good today because I threatened to take away all of their pokemon cards. Hmmm.

Father's Day Fiasco

So this is the second year in a row that I've (ME not Michael or the kids) set off the smoke alarm while cooking bacon. Isn't that supposed to happen on Mother's Day with the Dad burning things. However Mother's day breakfast is gorgeous because Michael makes great omelets. Maybe I just am not cut out for cooking in the morning. The times I do make waffles and pancakes for the kids it's usually for lunch or dinner. I'm a great cook, at least I think so, but I'm a better baker and I don't usually do either before 10am. The times I make cinnamon rolls and breakfast casseroles I make the night before so all I have to do in the morning is stick them in the oven. Anyway I just wanted to know if any one else has set off the smoke alarm cooking bacon.

Aaron's Graduation from Kindergarten

Ian's 8 Weeks Today

Ian's 8 Weeks Old Today and I thought I'd put a more updated picture of him. This is from last week with Michael at the Little North Fork Hike we did on Memorial Day. He's starting to smile and getting big quick. So big in fact that he's always hungry and that's why I never have time to update my blog. Anyway just thought I'd share.

Burn it all

Some of Hitler's artwork went to auction and people actually paid money for it. Granted they didn't pay as much as say a work of a true master but I was shocked. After all of the books and artwork he burned up during his frightful reign I believe it only fair to burn all of his works. I'm not much into censorship but when it comes to this man's evil and destruction I don't think his work deserves any such honors as being allowed to continue to exist. Anyway I just thought I'd spout off my thoughts on this. Maybe I'm silly for thinking this and then bothering to even post a picture by him but I need visual aids when posting. It's just habit.

Short Story of a Long Labor of Love

After 2 weeks of contractions Ian was born. I'm so happy he is finally here and loving every minute of his sweet personality. I'd love to say more but really I should be sleeping since he is already been asleep for about an hour. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Up way too early and yet still not sure if I'm in labor

UPDATE: It was labor and I had him Monday night at 10:53pm. Ian was 8 lbs 9 oz, 2 weeks early and 20.5 inches long. Maybe someday I'll give all the details from my point of view but you can check out Michael's blog for the details from his point of view for now. Thursday April 9th 2:40pm.

UPDATE: We're going to head to the hospital for the third time in two weeks. I hope this is the real thing or I'm going to be really disappointed. Monday April 6th 11am.

So with two false alarms already under my belt this pregnancy I'm having trouble deciding whether this is the real thing or not. I've been up since 3am having regular painful contractions but it wouldn't be the first time in the last two weeks. I've decided that I want to wait until I just can't possibly stand it anymore before I go in this time. We'll see. To kill some time I'll post a picture of my very pregnant belly from two weeks ago when I went to see Wicked.

False or really long labor?

UPDATE: So went to the Dr. this afternoon and no change since Sunday night. Oh well I guess it's just a matter of patience. Also the doctor said that they should be able to induce me on Easter or close to it.

Okay so I've been having fairly regular contractions since last Monday the 23rd. Michael and I went to the hospital where they confirmed yes I was having contractions anywhere from 2-4 minutes apart however they were not doing anything productive and I was only 1 centimeter dilated. I went to my regular appointment on Wednesday and had only progressed a half centimeter. On Thursday I had an ultrasound done and they estimated Ian at being 7 lbs 13 oz. So anyone who voted for a smaller baby it looks like you're going to be wrong. Those estimates can be 6 to 8 oz off so I guess he could have been only 7 lbs 5 oz but that was almost a week ago so I'm guessing he's closer to at least 8 lbs now. Anyway so I've tried everything under the sun to get this baby here including eating spicy Indian food on Thursday night, finding supposed pressure points (then pressing on them until I bruised), taking 1 Tblsp of Castor Oil on Friday and then 2 Tblsps on Monday, walking all over various shopping venues, as well as other recommended activities for inducing labor. I GIVE UP! So Sunday evening (the contractions always get worse in the evenings) we went to the hospital again. I was at a 2.5 when I first got there and had progressed a little the second time the doctor checked me where I was about a 3 and 60% effaced. He said to walk around and sit in one of the hospitals jacuzzi tubs and see if that helped me progress so more and he'd check again and if I had progressed he'd break my water. So I did all that, the pains got worse and I was crying for an epideral. However when the doctor checks me again he said not only had I not progressed but that Ian's head was up higher than it was before and in a position that even if he wanted to break my water he couldn't. Oh how I cried. I think the doctor was genuinely disappointed for me since he knew I was in pain and sick of these contractions. So I'm off to the doctor again in a few hours and I'm hoping he'll say I've progressed but I'm not counting on it. We'll keep you posted. No news means he hasn't come yet. We'll send out an e-mail and or update our blogs within an hour of his birth.

Who did it?

Who voted that I would be over due? Whoever you are and I've got a pretty good guess who you are, you're mean. Yes Michael I'm talking about you. I know you're just trying to keep my expectations low but come on do you really want me to have to have a Cesarean, because Ian's too big for me to push out?

5 Weeks and Counting

Well I've been telling people for a while now that I'm due next month but in all truthfulness I wonder if maybe I will be permanently pregnant. My official due date is April 19th but I really don't plan on going that long. I will do everything in my power to have Ian on or BEFORE April 16th. I don't know what my hurry is we don't even have the crib set up and it's not like I'll be sleeping better once he gets here either. I think part of it has to do with the fact that both of the other boys were each early and have set my expectations that I won't have to carry this baby to my due date. I am measuring 37 cms and since you are supposedly supposed to measure cms equal to the week you are pregnant(I was 34.5 weeks at the time) my health care provider is concerned that I may be having a huge baby. Seriously I don't want a huge baby, big healthy babies are great but he doesn't need to be huge. I think anywhere in the 7lbs range would be idea that way he could fit in the newborn sizes just for a few days at least. We'll just have to wait and see. Your guess could be better than mine so don't forget to participate in the poll.
The following two pics show me first 4 months ago in Mid November and the second shows me this morning before church. As you can tell my belly has grown "just a little".

Little Meg Has Tied The Knot

After sharing first, middle and last names for the past 8+ years. Little Megan, Michael's youngest sibling, has married and thus changed her name. No more confusion.