Newborn Love

So my brand new baby is now four weeks old. It's hard to believe, but time goes so quickly once I'm not pregnant. Ruby is such a sweetheart. For reference down the road (after she's colored on my new couch like Dalanie did today) here are some of the things I love most about this stage:
-how they keep there legs pulled in
-their adorable, tiny feet,
-hair on their shoulders and wrinkly skin on their legs
-smothering them in baby lotion and drinking in the smell while rocking them
-how they come out from under the table cloth with milk running out their mouth and a smushed little red nose
-the little smiles when they're sleeping (you know it's from their recent memory of the pre-existence)
-their fresh, little cry
-how they wrap their little fingers around yours
-when they stretch and grunt
-stealing kisses from them when they're hungry and looking for food

Kiss Him Good Bye

My little Dalanie loves to kiss her daddy good bye in the mornings, or anytime he has to go. She doesn't say "kiss." Instead the smacks her lips together, making a kissing sound for the sign. Just the other day, she scolded me. I was busy cleaning up breakfast when Brent slipped out. Oh, was she mad at me. "Mom, Dad [insert kissing sound] no!" This was repeated over and over.
I guess she's taken it upon herself to enforce kiss distribution.

And then today, Brent and Hudson went outside and she was so upset she didn't get her brother kissed before he left.

Anticipation

sprinkling reindeer food on the front lawn

Somewhere Hudson heard the word "anticipate." He skipped around all of Christmas Eve saying "anticipate." I asked him what it meant and he didn't know. When I explained that it was to look forward with excitement, he continued to bounce around saying "anticipate, anticipate." For the two littlest kids, nothing could have described our day before the big event better.

We spent the day delivering the last of our gifts and making a few visits. The excitement in the air was so thick. As the evening approached, we sat down to a nice dinner. Brent and I were drilled with questions about the Big Guy. We decided to track Santa's progress on the internet. Hudson checked it about every minute. He'd run out of the office shouting "He's in Idaho." When I'd look, Santa was somewhere in South America, Bolivia, Argentina, or Uruguay.

The kids acted out the Christmas story as we read from Luke 2. Many times Hudson would tell us how the story went, making sure not to leave out any of the characters. He pulled Dalanie across the rug on the rocking horse and when it was time, we laid Ruby in the manger. Dalanie pulled a baby gift out from under the tree and placed it next to the manger. I was moved to tears and amazed at the kids' knowledge of this most wonderful event, our Savior's birth.

A note was left for Santa, along with cookies and hot chocolate. Reindeer food was sprinkled on the front lawn and a flashlight was tucked into bed along with Hudson. Dalanie was too afraid of "HoHo's" visit, so she slept with us. What a wonderful night of anticipation.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Wishes

May you remember the Babe born so long ago in Bethlehem. He was born into the world in the most of humblest of circumstances, to become our Savior and Redeemer. For this the angels and I sing Joy To The World.

Voice Mail

I'm not very responsible when it comes to my cell phone. I've lost one, ran over another, and bought a lemon. Needless to say, my turnover rate is quite high. My husband has threatened to take it away from me (until I happily agreed during harvest.) I rarely have mine "on" me. At home it spends it's time in my closet and when I remember to take it to town, I usually forget it in the car.

The other day I checked my voice mail. Surprise! I had three new messages.

First one: Mom, what number do you have to have to play a DVD? Thanks, bye.
Second one: Mom, I couldn't find Dad. But then I did. Thanks, bye.
Third one: Why are you always leaving me messages Mom? Bye.

Brent and I have never gotten so many phone calls. Hudson has figured out the speed dial on our home phone.

Cozy

There is generally a lack of sleep with a newborn in the house. I expected and anticipated these sleepless nights. What I didn't count on was that both of my older childrens' sleeping habits suffering as well.
For some reason we've been getting nightly visitors. By morning time there is always another body in bed with us. There have been 5 us in the bed on a few occasions. And the little one said "Roll over."
A king sized bed really should be called "family sized."

Christmas Cards

Finally, for the first time in a long time there was more good mail than bills. Thanks for all of the Christmas cards. We're running a little behind at our house and hope to have some in the mail by Christmas.

Miss Merry Christmas

Sending you some Holiday love.

Good Sport

Dalanie disappeared upstairs. Twenty minutes later, she was hollering down to Brother. "Eat! Brother! Eat!" He complied and even offered the blessing on their water soup. With another sister now, I'm sure this is only the beginning of Brother's tea party career.

Cold Cheek Cure

Things here at our house have been all bundled-up, cozy, and somewhat confined with the newborn. Although I've been doing some Christmas activities with the kids, they've still been a bit out of sorts. (Like major fit throwing, disobedient, and grouchy.) When I ran out to get the mail in the frigid weather, they begged to come out. Fine then. No time to argue with how miserable and cold they'd be.

Brother headed out way under dressed and I bundled Sissy a little better. When we got outside Brother had already found the snow shovel and employed himself in the snow removal business. He said, "It feels good, like service!" Despite the cold air and relatively short stay outside, their cheeks were nice and rosy.The cold, crisp air did something for them and for me. We climbed back inside and ordered up a nice batch of hot chocolate in the CocoaMotion. Mmmmm Good.

One Week's Time

It's amazing how fast things can change. Last week Ruby was still a compact little package, stuffed inside my about-to-explode tummy. She was still referred to as "It" and still making me nauseous.

Now her newborn spots have disappeared and she's a beautiful baby girl. She's a content baby and so sweet. We're all madly in love with her.

Welcoming Ruby

On Tuesday we went into the hospital to have our baby. Labor and delivery went well. At 1:44 pm we welcomed little Ruby Ann into our family, weighing in at 7 lbs 3 oz. It took a bit to get our heads around another girl, as I had done a good job of convincing both of us that she was a boy. But what a welcome surprise! She is so content and calm despite her crazy head of hair. Definitely a show stopper like her older sister.It was fun to bring her home and watch the kids welcome and love her.Hudson was holding her when she loudly filled her pants. Dalanie was eager to help change the diaper (we've been explaining how she can help with diapers). She started unsnapping her outfit with obvious gusto and excitement when all of a sudden she saw her belly button. It all came to a screeching halt, she quickly covered it up and tried doing up the snaps. "Uh oh Mom, uh oh!"

I hardly get a chance to hold the baby because Hudson loves to. It was a special treat when he got to feed her a bottle today. He was in heaven.Don't mind the rug burned nose, he got bucked off Brent last night during our little rodeo.

Traditions

Traditions are half of what makes the holidays.

Thanksgiving in Burley means the Turkey Trot 5K. It's always freezing cold but we go prepared. This year my husband was up against stiff competition as 2 of my BIL's have been avid runners, even marathoners. But without an ounce of training, Brent came in first out of our family. (He forsees no running in his future.) The kids and I were more cheerleaders than participants.
The day after Thanksgiving we headed out to find a trophy Christmas tree. The $5 permit is easier to swallow than the lofty tree stand prices, and it's much more fun. Snowy conditions, brave husbands, and a steep and windy road out led to a little more suspense than usual. Thanks goodness for experienced drivers and 4-wheel drive. It was memorable nonetheless.


Some traditions were revised this year. Instead of loading everyone up and traveling to Christmas in the Nighttime Sky, my Dad let off a few fire works and we watched from the front porch. There weren't any lines back inside for the hot chocolate.Grandma and Grandpa gave us gifts early and spoiled us as usual.

Full of THANKS

Over the years, the food has become less important, the company more important, and the reason even greater still. I enjoyed a beautiful meal with my family and could not dismiss my feelings of gratitude this year.

My life is richly blessed by a husband and children that love me. They give meaning to my life.
I am grateful for. . .
a loving Heavenly Father who is responsive to my humble pleadings.
the gift of life and health that my family and I enjoy.
a living prophet--A leader who guides by faith, example, and God's divine assistance.
my husband's occupation and our way of life.
parents that continue to invest so much time and love into me and my family.

Must Be A Mom Thing

We left the kids behind and headed to Utah after my Dr. appointment on Thursday for a pre-baby anniversary getaway. It sounded perfect in the planning stages. No kids to scream on our drive, noone but myself to take to the bathroom, absolute freedom.

It all changed on the drive down. I became reluctant to go for fear that something would happen to them or us. Brent thought I was irrational and tried talking me through it, although it didn't really help. By the second night, I couldn't even call the kids because I knew I'd cry. Sure enough, Brent handed me the phone and I heard my little's voices and broke down. Definitely experiencing a heightened homesickness hormone. At every turn I'd imagine how they'd be enjoying the trip and worried about how they were struggling with being left behind.

I was so excited to get home and see them. Turns out they didn't even miss me. Maybe, just maybe Brent was right and it was just the hormones talking.

As a side note, we did have a fun little culinary adventure including free dinner at the Timber Mine, chocolate dipped fruit, awesome sandwiches from Jason's Deli, and a pastry packed breakfast.

Turkey Gobbler

My son has a serious addiction. Every time we go to the paint section of a home improvement store, he starts itching to grab as many paint chips as possible. With a little coaching from me, we picked out some fall colored- leaf shaped ones.

I had an idea brewing. For a clean and simple craft, we simply wrote what we were thankful for with a silver sharpie on the "leaves" (which also make wonderful tail feathers.) A stapler made quick work of attaching them to a pumpkin. I concocted an over-sized turkey head and mounted it with a toothpick.
He's been a good sport, proudly displaying our blessing for us to see and remember.

Mind Block

My pregnancy continues to roll along. All the doctors are ready to get this baby here as soon as possible. As for me, I ready to not be pregnant but having a Thanksgiving baby, not really. Baby and body willing, we'll probably be having this little guy/gal (I promise I still don't know-even with all the ultrasounds) in less than two weeks.

With that in mind, I have a serious mind block about Christmas. Like no gift ideas, no scheduling and calendaring, planning and anticipating, nothing. Hopefully I will get over this soon or it will be a sad little Christmas.

Mask of Pregnancy

me, 35 weeks

My Dr. visits became more frequent just in time for flu season. Health care professionals are pretty good at putting the fear into a person, especially one that seems to have a big bulls eye on her belly. So I've been sporting these masks around hospitals and Dr. offices for a few months now (even an occasional grocery store now and then.) Instead of feeling completely silly, it's become part of the routine. My increased vulnerability to the swine flu also prompted a long wait for a H1N1 shot.

With this pregnancy winding down, I decided I better document a little of it before it fades in my memory like the other two.
-excited to be expecting another little one and pregnant
-lost excitement for the pregnant part a day later when I started feeling yucky
-morning sickness from start to finish, although it's not constant, I still feel puky a lot of the time
-aerobics drop out, by the time I felt well enough to go, I was getting bigger and then harvest happened
-felt more in control of my emotions until. . . the last trimester. coincidentally the same time we learned about the "minor" complication that required frequent and expensive monitoring and lots of dr. visits
-grateful for all the thoughts and prayers in our behalf. the baby has done surprisingly well, as the perinatologist thought a transfusion was inevitable. two visits ago he asked, "What did you do to get this baby to start behaving?" I'm sure his scientific mind wasn't expecting my humble and truthful reply "prayers."
-sweets make my head spin, if only I had enough self control to stay away from them
-so much fun to watch the kids' love and excitement for the baby to grow. when we told the kids that we'd probably have the baby in 2-3 weeks, Hudson could not control himself. he was beaming.
-despite all the difficulties and discomforts of pregnancy, I finally realize what an honor it is to play such a critical role in our Heavenly Father's plan, bringing His spirit children to earth.

Wedding Highlights

We spent the weekend bouncing around from one venue to the next for my little sister's wedding. It was a beautiful fall wedding, with perfect weather. The entire ordeal was decidedly country and I loved it.

I loved that my sister wore my Grandmothers wedding dress (the one my mom also used.) The thought never crossed my mind because I never would have fit into it. She had the cutest little birdcage veil and a simple pair of pearl earrings and a bracelet. And what kind of wanna be cowgirl would wear anything but a new pair of boots on her wedding day?A sunny fall day was perfect for kids to play and run and jump during all the picture taking. Later a horse drawn carriage wisked the wedded couple down golden tree lined streets to their wedding luncheon. It wasn't part of a paid off fairytale ending, it was the groom's actual team and carriage.
The week before while we were in Burley, Hudson loved helping with the barn facade for the backdrop. His job was to pull out nails and he took his job quite seriously. "Where is Bentley? I could sure use his help." It took an entire day and small village to transform the cultural hall for the reception, but it looked great.One tough critic gave the cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk refreshments his stamp of approval.
There was a dance following the reception. Besides a sweet first dance accompanied by my BIL's singing talent, the best part was when cousins and friends flooded the dance floor to perform Hannah Montana's Hoe Down Throw Down.

Overall it was a great weekend for a fun couple that has just begun their life together.

Fair Weathered Cowboys

Ever since rounding up started last week, the kids (especially Sissy) have been begging to go "help" Dad with the "Moo-Moos." This week the weather has been a lot better, so we agreed to take the kids. They were so excited! We even spent the night in Grandpa's cabin which is always a highlight- more for some than for others.

Brent and I spent a sleepless night trying to catch a very obnoxious and busy rat that had taken up residence in the cabin. It completely spooked me out, but Brent finally caught it. Funny how it's not nearly as scary once it's inside a trap. We rode the 4-wheeler looking for cows, took a walk at sunset, roasted marshmallows, ate sunflower seeds, and helped sort the cattle.It's hard work being a cowboy and winning the West. We came home exhausted.

Halloween Preview

We completed thrashing corn on Monday, so the "official" harvest is finally over.

It feels good not to have that hanging over our heads any longer, especially since the weather has turned yucky.

We've been able to enjoy some of the Halloween festivities with our Dad.Monday night we carved pumpkins. Sissy liked cleaning the guts out, Brother preferred the carving. There's something about knives that intrigues that boy, luckily we had the little saw-type ones that come in the kits. He carved his entire jack o' lantern by himself.
The next night the mutual helped host a Halloween Carnival in conjunction with the Primary. Brent felt obligated to dress up since he was helping with a booth. And . . . well, I look for an excuse to get dressed up.