Here's a story...

OK, here is how it went down! I went in to be induced on Thursday at 6:30am. They got me all hooked up and decided to check and see if I was progressing from two days before. The only thing progressing was our little one kept moving. The baby was mostly upside down but the head was off to the left of the exit sign! So they were going to wait to do anything. Two hours later our little one was head down in the right spot. So at 9:30 they started the pitocin. The baby still moved off center again and then back. It was quite the drama. Whoever heard of a baby being so active. Jeremy said for sure it's a boy. He won't stop and ask for directions. Contractions started getting consistent without much pain. I said my contractions were getting painful...I did lie a little bit. I know the ones that really hurt happen after the bag of waters is ruptured. At 1:20pm they broke my water. The doctor said "how's that epidural?" I told her I didn't have one and she was shocked. I was at 4cm and went immediately to 5cm wahoo. About 45 minutes later I was feeling pressure, they checked and I was at a 6 boo-hoo. Things were starting to hurt. I told the nurse I think I want an epidural. She said give it a half hour. About 25 minutes later I was feeling the need to push, I was at a nine, within 10 minutes I was pushing. After about 13 minutes of pushing, I gave birth. Here are a few conversations that happened during the hour and a half of pain.

April "I don't want to do this again, I know you think it is because I am in pain but I am serious!"
Jeremy "I'll tell you what if it is a girl you can name her whatever you want!"
note: We hadn't agreed on a girls name yet

April (through a contraction whispering to Jeremy) "Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii!" Once we are done having children Jeremy and I are taking a first class trip to Hawaii!

As I am pushing the head was out but I was in too much pain.
April "I'm done, I can't do this any more. It hurts too much"
Jeremy to himself "OK, you can stop, that's I'll help you off the table!"
All 5 staff members in the room "You can do it momma, you are almost there. You are doing great!"

OK so here is the important stuff. Jeremy was shocked to find out our little peanut was not a boy. It is a girl! She was born at 2:33pm on Thursday, May 17th, 8 years after Jeremy proposed to me. Here is what shocked me, my little peanut weighed 10lbs 5 oz. She was 22 inches long and her head was a whopping 14 3/4" around. If I can brag for a moment I did this with absolutely no pain medication, I don't tear, rip or need an episiotomy. I was very blessed.

So the name I chose was Lauren Grace. We have liked the name Lauren and it has been on our girl list for some time. We usually give all of our children a middle name after someone in our family. This one was a little different. When Grace came to mind it reminded me when we decided to have another baby. We both prayed about it, this was during a time when Jeremy's job was in question and we weren't sure if it was good timing. We received confirmation that it was time and we went for it. We know that because of the grace of our loving Heavenly Father we have been truly blessed. So this baby was given to us by grace. I don't want to forget the faith we showed, and knowing how much our Father in Heaven knows us, loves us, and wants us to depend on him. She is our little "big" blessing.

And as you have been patiently reading here our a few pictures as a reward!

Tamra and James watched Lauren's siblings and brought them to the hospital to meet her for the first time. Hannah wasn't so sure about everything, but she eventually made her way over to take a peek. Since we've been home all four kiddos have been very thrilled with our newest little girl. Grandma Bev and Teri Rossi were our other visitors.

Today is the day!

Wish me luck to day we get to meet our new baby....OUR NEW BABY! You would think after doing this three times I wouldn't be nervous, but I can't help it. I will be at the hospital at 6:30am. I can't wait to make the phone call to tell the kiddos if it is a brother or sister and what we are going to call the baby. Although Baby Jacobs has a nice ring to it!

Keeping on my toes!

Well here is the latest and greatest for this baby. I went today for my non-stress test. I thought things were going great. The lady took the little paper with the recorded heart rate and contractions. Then I heard her talking about squeezing someone in and who the doctor was. Also mentioning this person was being induced in two days. I knew they were talking about me. The lady came in and said they found an arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat), so I would need to get an ultrasound to verify everything was OK. So I waited and it turns out some times the baby can have heavy breathing which will sound like an arrhythmia. She asked about caffeine, and I confidently said I don't drink caffeine, then she added chocolate. I did have chocolate milk last night so I figured that was the cause. After she monitored the baby she said the heartbeat was completely normal and I had a healthy good-sized baby. So this stress only lasted for about 30 minutes. It seems like the end of this pregnancy has been more eventful then my other three combined. One interesting thing is that this pregnancy has probably been during a more stressful time, especially with the last trimester of pregnancy. The interesting part is that my blood pressure has been lower than it has ever been. I can't complain though!

Ups and downs to Mother's Day

Yesterday was great day. I woke up to Jeremy bathing the kids, followed by new flip-flops. I then received Lonestars greatest Hits CD, then he cooked breakfast while I took a long relaxing shower. When I sat down to breakfast I got another very cute pair of flip flops. We went to church and I got a rose. Then one of the primary classes made flower bouquets for all the ladies in primary. Afterwards I got two cute little purses filled with coupons and chocolate coins that Logan and Miranda made at last weeks primary activity. Then things started going down hill. I came home feeling nauseous and slept fittfully with contractions froma bout 12:30-3:30. Jeremy in the meantime changed diapers fed the kids and got them down for their naps. Which we all enjoyed. We then went to Jeremy's grandparents house where we got to visit with lots of family. I still continued to feel really bad. For some it would be a sign of impending labor. Not for me, I just didn't feel food. By the time we left at 7:00pm I was near tears not out of pain just because I felt horrible, nauseous, headache...We got home at 7:30 and I went pretty much straight to bed while Jeremy again took care of the kids and put them to bed. I felt a little better but slept until this morning waking up every hour or so and using the restroom almost as frequently. Come to find out at 4:00am Logan had an accident, and Jeremy took care of everything. He got back into bed and he had been waking up every 45 minutes. He had a major headache, was fighting a fever and was all around achey. We were quite the miserable pair.

Today he is feeling better, not perfect but he is a trooper and at work. One of these days he will be able to not be so stressed. This week he has a lot to do. He is going to take his final this week. Then with the baby coming may affect when he can take his exam.

Anyways, it was a great day after all is said and done, my family is the greatest. I love each of them very much. They make me look like a good mother and wife!

The week of the doctors

Haylie and Hannah had their two year check up yesterday. I know people love to hear about their growth and stuff. So here are their latest stats. Haylie weighed in at 24 3/4 pounds and is 33" tall. While Hannah weighs a little less at 23 pounds she is a little taller at 33 1/4". Another interesting fact is that Hannah's head circumference is 19" while Haylie's is 18 1/2". They are still at the small end of the charts but the doctor says they are growing at a consistent pace. After Logan and Miranda who would have thought we would have such petite little girls.

Also at the check up it was discovered that Hannah has an ear infection in both ears. She is on Amoxicilan for the next little bit. It is still hard to believe they are little girls not just baby twins.

I do have to give Jeremy a big job well done. He helped at Miranda's school yesterday morning as he does every Wednesday, fulfilling my commitment. Immediately following he took me to the doctors. We came home for a little bit then him and Logan went to get Miranda. Jeremy being the good father that he is brought Miranda her scooter and Logan rode his bike. He came home and continued to do laundry and straighten things up. Then it was time to take the girls to their doctors appointment, which involved getting shots and going to the pharmacy. On the way home he stopped at the grocery store. When he got home he cooked french toast for dinner. He then proceeded to do dishes and bathe the kids. You may wonder what I did all day...nothing! I laid on the couch except for the doctor's appointment of course. So he took the day of to give me a day off and probably worked harder than he would have if he had been at work. I love this man so much, he is the greatest!

The doctor said...

I went into day to verify that the head is down, and it is, wa-hoo, so my scheduled version was canceled. I go back in on Monday for an appointment and then on Tuesday for a Non-Stress Test. Wednesday I get the day off, and Thursday, if I make it that far, I will get induced. So that is the up to the minute update on this crazy pregnancy! Also in the mix jeremy will be taking a final on Wednesday so hopefully the baby won't interfere with that. he is a little concerned as timing is everything!

Acupuncture

Alright, here is the latest. I called my sister a little teary eyed at the thought of having a c-section. She is a LVN for a local hospital. She went and talked to a doctor that she works with who had lots of positive things to say, includig babies can flip until the last 10 minutes before delivery. He also pointed out that since I did have twins there is probably a little more room than normal. Anyways he suggested heating the outside tip of my pinky toe. It makes the baby active and it should make the baby go bottom up! Then my sister called back and said he wold do it if I came in, so I packed up the kids and decided it couldn't hurt. He actually did accupuncture by sticking needles in my two little pinky toes. I can't exactly tell you where since I couldn't see my toes. So I sat with needles in my toes for 15 minutes and I lost hope, I didn't feel any big movements from this child. When he came back in he felt around and said the baby was head down. So the way things are going I may see him everyday until I get induced. I hope my doctor says, we better induce while the baby is head down and it comes before the 17th. I can't complain though the 17th is a special day for me, but getting this baby out without a major incision is what I want the most.

Doctor's Report

Well life is always full of surprises. I am not dilated anymore than I was a week ago. That is kind of the good news. When he went to check, he couldn't feel the baby's head. So he got out the ultrasound machine and discovered this baby is laying sideways again! This is also good news since the baby isn't settled into the pelvic area. I go in tomorrow morning and fill out "a lot" of paperwork for a possible c-section. They will try and flip the baby, but I am far along so it may not be too easy. What is in my favor is the baby appearantly has a lot of room still, thanks to Haylie and Hannah, so it is still possible the version will be successful. I just have to wait to hear when they can fit me in. So my pregnancy discomfort may come to a close in an undesirable way by the end of the week. Hopefully all this excitement means this child will be a piece of cake to raise. In all honesty I think this baby is thinking "I gave you 9 months to plan and you still don't have a name for me, I'll teach you to procrastinate!"

The time is at hand

Well not really, but tomorrow is my due date and unless something miraculous happens today I will see another due date come and go. Since I know I have yet to go into labor on my own this is expected, so I am not totally disappointed. I do have a doctor's appointment today, so I will give an update to see if anything changed from last week.

As I was sitting thinking about my children I wanted to say what is special about each one of them. So here is a great opportunity to share with you why I love my little darlings so much.

Miranda is our first born. I was telling Jeremy that I am glad that she is the oldest. She is not perfect but she is a great example and really wants to make the right choices. She has an infectious laugh. When she does something we should be proud of she will give us a big grin looking for praise. She is very articulate in what she says and blows me away with her vocabulary. Most of all I love looking into her big hazel eyes they are beautiful, and full of young spunk.

Logan our only boy...so far. I give him a bad time but he has a special place in my heart. Although he is still young he know how to use those gorgeous blue puppy dog eyes. He can turn on the charm like the best of them. He loves to be cuddled and loved. He is probably the most sensitive to my moods and feelings, even though I am not sure he has made that connection, when I am off he is off. Which is to be interpreted as having a bad day. He has so much energy. I will never forget after being cooped up for the rainy season, we went to the park and he just ran laps by himself at the park.

Haylie the oldest twin, is a little serious. She has a bad habit of biting everyone but mostly Hannah. I would call her Daddy's girl. Every night she goes to Daddy to put her to bed. Also in the morning she usually wants me to get her out of the crib she will be the first to go lay down with her dad. She loves to carry around her baby doll with a blanket, always with a blanket. She also will use the toilet every once in a while.

Hannah our baby by five minutes, is a little more independent. She laughs alot. Although she used to scowl when she wasn't pleased with you. Hannah is probably more of a Mommy's girl which is nice since she is usually a pound lighter then her other half. She loves to be held especially after her nap. She has a great smile and is very friendly.

It is hard to talk about the girls as separate and not compare, both are equally beautiful and loving. As with all four of my children I am so proud to be the their mom. each of them brings something special to our family. I love them all so very much.

Party Pictures

Ahhh, dentistry...

Miranda and I went to the dentist today. Jeremy likes to call him Dr. draws blood, we haven't told Miranda that she still thinks going to the dentist is exciting. She gets a very cool toothbrush that suction cups to the counter! I went in and got the teeth cleaning I needed...no pain, no ... clean teeth??? I kind of hoped the excitement of teeth cleaning would start labor pains, obviously a trip to the dentist doesn't encourage labor! I forgot to remind Jeremy of the appointment so he was only able to stay for my cleaning, then I sat with the three younger kids while Miranda got her teeth cleaned. Anyways then Miranda went in and we found out she has her first cavity. The dentist asked if I wanted to fill it today, I thought sure why not. So he gets right to work. The kids are getting restless and then I hear Miranda crying. I felt so bad that she was back there all by herself. I couldn't leave the kids because they were wreaking enough havoc with me watching...so I paced back and forth feeling horrible. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I took the three kids and strapped them into their seat belts and peeked in on Miranda. She was laughing. She cried at the shot but she did so well. I was the one with tears in my eyes and she was so brave. She even still likes the dentist. Imagine that.

Lots of good stuff

Well it started on Friday...we have lawn wa-hoo. Of course there is still work to be done but we will have grass for the kids to play on.

Saturday, I successfully pulled off a surprise party for Jeremy. He is turning 30 and it may be overlooked because of the baby coming. It was lots of fun, lucky for me I have a great sister and great friends who picked up the slack as I was running out of steam as we waited and waited and waited for Jeremy to show up. As soon as I get around to it I will post some pictures of the backyard and the party. Wait until you see the cake, all your boys will be jealous!

Last but most importantly, I had another doctor's appointment today. Jeremy thinks I am getting a little aggressive. I asked to be checked to see if there is any hope of this baby ever coming out. Sure enough I am dilated 1.5 cm (8.5 to go), 50% effaced and at a -2 station (the goal is a +5. The last thing I worried about was maybe the baby would flip but he was able to feel the babies head. So we are progressing towards seeing our baby. The last aggressive move I made was to ask for an induction date. I told the doctor I knew it would be at least a week after my due date but it would be nice to have a final end point. So I have a scheduled induction on May 17th. This baby will not bump my anniversary to third position which is more good news. Just to clarify, Jeremy's birthday our anniversary is a little later in May on the same day.

So this is my wonderful post of a very happy, uncomfortable and whiny pregnant woman.

Parenthood...another experience.

On Monday I noticed that Logan's eye was leaking. It was not pink so I didn't think anything of it. Then yesterday when Logan woke up from his nap he seemed a little tired and clingy. When we sat down to dinner he said his ear hurt. Kind of strange, I took his temperature and it was normal. We went to Costco and I asked him later which ear hurt and he pointed to the same one. So I made an appointment for this morning. When he woke up his eye was pink but he said his ear didn't hurt anymore. At least it wouldn't be wasted because he needed medicine for his eye. Turns out that pink eye and an ear infection go together. Who knew? Also an ear infection doesn't necessarily mean fever. My goodness you would think I have never been a mom before. So then we head over to the pharmacy for at least 45 minutes. It is very hard after waiting for about 20 minutes to see the doctor and then more time at the pharmacy, Logan and the twins were getting quite restless, and mean mommy was about to emerge! Luckily they called us up just in time, only to be re-routed because Logan is allergic to penicillin and the ear medicine is in the same family. So we had to be consulted before we even payed for it. Off to the consultation line. I told the pharmacist what the doctor had told me and then had to wait to pay for the medication. We get up there and she has to get the medicine released because I was already "consulted". While paying the lady swiped my card and handed it back at least three times. Finally it went through and we were on our way. Then the trick of getting a double stroller out of a packed pharmacy was a challenge. A challenge that we did survive. We then had to rush back to get Miranda from school, we arrived just in time to pull right through! Phew! Hopefully I will have no more major adventures until Jeremy returns.

And for those of you hanging on the end of your seat for the next installment of our landscaping dilemma...keep waiting. Now we have some sort of poison spread over the dirt, the pretty dirt. So the kids can't even go in the backyard (it's been a week). And still no sign of the new sod. Although I do have to say he has come and picked up all the dead sod from the last attempt! Supposedly the rain got the sod people backed up so it should be here any day! And it goes on and on and on...

When the cat's away...

Well he actually hates cats, but are kids have a few things in common with mice, like there are a lot of them, they like cheese and love to play! I am not an accountant widow, just a wife of a husband who spends more time than most at home. He is on a rare business trip and gone for 5 days. The house is not the same with out him and neither am I. I am trying to keep busy and so far it is working. It is a tough balance to keep moving but stay rested so the baby stays put until he gets back.

Last night was one interesting night. Miranda woke me up speaking a clear sentence at about midnight, which alerted my bladder for the first stop of the night. Logan woke up at 4:00am and climbed into bed with me. He laid down for a minute and then he was up and ready to talk, asking when Daddy was coming home what day is it today, tomorrow, the day after that...? The crazy child was ready for the day. Between me trying to get comfortable and him laying diagonal, that's right diagonal, it was hard to sleep. I had little knees (at least I think?!) poking me in the ribs, and bigger knees poking me in the back. Then my mind starts going about silly things so I couldn't fall back asleep. Then my bladder pleaded for attention, AGAIN! At around 5:00am I hear Hannah...or Haylie say "Momma, faffle (waffle)!" I thought to myself, you have got to be kidding me, my kids are all messed up with daddy gone. Luckily the "twin" must have been hungry and sleep talking. So finally I fell back into good sleep at around 5:30am, to wake up at 7:00 to be the only responsible adult to get the kids ready.

I whine because Jeremy is not here and I actually have to wake up to an alarm clock instead of him kissing me good-bye. Truth is he is probably loving it since he not only gets up via alarm every morning he gets up an hour earlier than he has to in order to study. All the while I seem t be peacefully sleeping in. I am sure when he walks out the door every morning he wonders "Is this the day Miranda will be late because April fell back asleep?" Side Note: Miranda has never been late for school yet! Pat on the back for me, I am late for everything else, even my due date.

Funny and not so funny...

I have to share a few moments from my life, I hope they are appreciated.

On Friday, the kids and I were sitting in our car and Miranda says "Mom, if you put a clip on your finger will it incinerate the blood?" I was shocked that she would use such a big word. I asked her to repeat herself and sure enough she said incinerate. I asked where she heard it, if you have a girl your daughter has probably heard it too. Thank you Barbie Fairytopia Mermaidia for the addition to my daughter's vocabulary.

Later that night I was at a Membership Festival for my husbands work. They had this great bounce house to entertain the kids while the parents went around the booths. As we were getting the kids ready to get dinner Logan sat down right behind me. I, of course being naturally clumsy and large with child tripped over him. It was the longest fall of my life. I kept falling and almost catching myself and then fell some more. This happened all across the bottom of the bounce house slide where it would have been a soft landing. Well I soon ran out of soft slide to fall on and fell to the ground. My sweet husband felt as I did that I caught myself and then I would fall some more, so he wasn't able to catch me in time. Needless to say I am OK, I was extra sore that night but baby stayed put and will hopefully continue to stay there for the next week.

All this happened on the day of the bees, what a crazy day!

My Life as a Horror Flick

Life is great right?! Lucky for me my brave little, well younger, taller, sister was here to save me. We had been having a nice and enjoyable conversation. I just laid all FOUR kids down for quiet time. This is the time that I fix myself lunch so they don't hover and beg for whatever I am having, even though they have already eaten. So I get things out and my sister noticed a bee in the house. Kind of weird but bugs get in, it happens. She frees the bee and we go about our business. As always I got a little distracted and decided to check my email before continuing on my pilgrimage in the kitchen. As I am pulling up the ever coveted Outlook I here this swarm of buzzing coming from the fire place next to me. Eight months pregnant and can't hurry fast enough to the bathroom, but I was across the room quicker than The Flash! Another bee flew out of the fireplace safely into the blinds where it stayed for the rest of its life. My cool headed sister said lets tape something up and seal the fireplace. So of course I have to call my knight in shining armour, who by the way is having a crazy/busy day. He says he is on his way home. In the meantime, Katie and I get a garbage bag and I am dancing around the living room as she tapes up the fireplace. I had to venture close every once in a while to cut the duct tape, but quickly get back across the room. The trapped bee would buzz so loud just to let us know it was getting ticked off and that we are not fun to be around. The top got taped up fine then as she was taping the left side a third bee flew out. She fell to the ground like she was avoiding stray bullets and I hid behind the couch. The tape landed where it may and she continued diligently taping away. During mid-taping, the third bee stopped flying around so I made her whack the bee with a poor princess coloring book...it will never be looked at the same way. As she is finished, Jeremy walks in and I tell him where the bees are , the dead one that Katie knocked off still lying on the floor and the ticked one in the window. So Jeremy decides it might be best to raise the blinds. He then proceeds to swat at the bee with the coloring book at least 12 times. As I am telling him don't kill the bee I want it on video for my blog. There was no stopping him this bee was going down. There is no video proof I apologize! Sure enough the bee has been exterminated. I kept peeking outside and seeing bees swarming by our door (well only two but still freaky!) I can't help but think of a bad horror flick. The buzzing in the fire place was so creepy I thought at any instant 2 million bees would infest our house and ruin quiet time! Needless to say pest control will be here in an hour and I will have three heroes in one day. Am I a lucky girl or what?

Too bad for me!

We'll last night was a great t.v. night Sanjaya was booted from American Idol...it's about time. He's a nice kid but it is a singing competition as Simon would say. While watching it the contestants got to see Shrek 3, which looks funny. We got to see snippets of the movie and I heard the best line ever. "What are you the king of stupid!" I was rolling, then I came to the depressing conclusion I could never use that line towards anybody, it is a little mean I guess. TOO BAD FOR ME!

It's not easy being green!

Here is the back story:

We bought our house in March of 2004, it had beautiful landscaping, over 20 rose bushes, a beautiful Bougainvillea and other plants. We don't even know how to purchase a green thumb so it didn't take long to realize we needed to rip it all out and put in simple grass. So in May of 2005, we got a friend to do our landscaping for the price of the materials. He said it would take two weeks to rip everything out, pour concrete, plant a new tree and lay the sod. We had this very nice tree but the roots were so shallow that it was impossible to have a beautiful lawn and the kids could trip over the roots. So the tree went too. The tree ended up taking about a week to rip out. So the job was stretched out to a month. At the end of the month we threw a surprise party for Jer's Mom this is what our yard looked like:

Well mostly, he did clean up the sidewalk and flatten out the dirt as much as possible.


I think it was August or September that he actually laid the sod in the front yard. Then December of 2005 He laid the sod in the backyard with an unattached sprinkler system. I wreaked havoc on that grass. It grew, and grew and grew. I think it was April or later I decided to give it it's first mow. I did learn alot, like you are only supposed to cut 1/3 of the length. I think I cut at least 1.5 feet. Sure enough within a month the grass was pretty pathetic and the next month it was DEAD! So last summer we had dead grass. After lots of calls and trying to get our landscaper over here, doing small things here and there Jeremy called him the week before Easter (yes 2007) and said get over here and finish this or I am going to pay someone else to do it. He took Jer seriously and worked pretty hard. So Saturday he said he would finish the sprinkler system and lay the sod, that was delivered that day, on Sunday morning. As usual it was more than he thought so it took a whole day and he still needed stuff to finish the system. So he said he would lay the sod on Monday. Surprisingly he showed up for 10 minutes and then headed to Disneyland for 3 days. So now it is Thursday before he shows back up. He gets into the groove and realizes he needs more pipe for the system. He shows back up Monday to finish the system, WA-HOO it is done, and the ground is all ready for sod. Remember the sod is still out front pleading for earth again. So yesterday Tuesday, 10 days after the sod was delivered, he starts to roll it out. Sure enough it is in terrible shape. He said it may take but I am not going through this again so he rolled it back up and headed out to order some new sod. This will be the third time. It should be delivered on Friday and completed. I am sure he can't wait to be done with our yard, but to tell you the truth it will be nice to have a beautiful backyard.

The sad thing was he did give us a deal and it has cost him so much money. But for our back yard it isn't easy being green. When it is all done I will proudly post pictures of the completed project and four happy children playing in the grass!

That's what friends are for...

Well amongst my close friends there has been a theme...I have the greatest friends around! Being this is my 5th yes count it one, two, three, four, five...child, we, well Jeremy, insisted that I not be thrown a shower and anyone who did would be thoroughly maimed. So my friends decided to have a "No-Shower Baby Shower" as I believe it was called. We all went out for dinner tonight and had a great time. Well they are stubborn as all women are entitled, and got me the two things (of course besides a healthy baby) I wanted most for this child. They got me a Sit-N-Stand Stroller and a gift certificate for a Pack & Play. I have to say I am truly the most spoiled girl out there...and so are my babies.

In my close group there are (were) 5 pregnant people at once. My friend Brittany was blessed with her first baby girl on March 12th, My friend Tammy was blessed with her first child, also a girl, today. Hayley, who we are starting a trend to share all pregnancies together, will be expecting her baby boy on Wednesday, April 18th (or so help the hospital that tells her not today), then there will be me sometime in May. We will take a short break until September when Tara will have her first baby. You know that song it's raining men, we should write one that says it's raining babies.

As always, life is so good. There are times when it would feel so good to just run away for a time. Those times are always followed by a time where you can't even imagine leaving any of it behind.

Just an update on US!

We are horrible parents! Of course we celebrated Easter but we didn't take one single picture. It was a nice relaxing day. We got to spend it with Jeremy's family. It was nice to have our home filled with cousins, and even get a little ping-pong time in for Jeremy and James.

On to other news: Jeremy found out yesterday he has shingles...for the second time in his life! Today we had our doctor's appointment and found out our stubborn child just is a procrastinator, indeed he/she has inherited that from me. The baby is head down, and snuggling into postion. Everything is great and we are just cruising along. Only 4 weeks from tomorrow, with lots of things to keep me busy and make the days go by quickly.

I guess that is all for now, if I think of some funny stoies I will post them or make something up so I sound exciting!

WARNING! Proud Mommy Moment!

OK I have to share because I am so excited. In Kindergarten they do an end of year play. Miranda was very excited about her role in the play. When I picked her up from school she ran to me and said "Mommy I am Goldilocks!" Thinking that it was a hodgepodge of stories I was tickled she got the small role. Turns out their play is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. My little girl is the star, I am flattered that the teacher chose my daughter for the role. Thoughts went through my mind "My daughter has the cutest ringlets when I put her hair in sponge curlers, she is always singing, the way her eyes sparkle, it must be her flair for dramatics..." Then as all pride must be humbled so was mine! As I was talking to Miranda it turns out Ms. Z put all the kids' names in a bag, like all experienced and intelligent teachers would. She then drew the name for each part. So it was by lucky chance Miranda got her role. She was also supposed to get her part yesterday, being the "star" it must be huge. We all know what Goldilocks says. So today a friend of mine tells me she got Miranda's part in yesterday's envelope. She then goes on to tell me that Miranda doesn't say ANYTHING. She just has to know when to move, and she will be on stage the whole time. So my stage mom moment came to a close. Now I will just sit in the audience (hopefully) holding a very new born, or being terribly, uncomfortably pregnant, and watch my daughter pantomime the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and you better believe I will be just as proud clicking away with the camera and probably video too (or at leasttelling Jeremy what to do)! Stay tuned for a picture or video, May 10th!

Monday Madness!!!

Ok it isn't really madness, but a few people don't really get to se my girls in action. Here is video of a typical night. Dinner is done, Jeremy puts on music and does dishes. The music varies and tonight he chose Music of Pachelbel. And this is how the twins chose to accompany the music. Just in case you were wondering Logan and Miranda were in their bedrooms getting their jammies on at a turtle's pace.

Just a little sweet comment to share while I am here. Today Miranda was waiting patiently for lunch as I helped...I mean watched my sister create some onsies for a friend. She finally decided she wanted to make lunch for her and Logan. She made cheese sandwiches all by herself (not grilled cheese :-) Later I was cleaning up and thanked her. I was amazed that she was so independent.

Miranda: "I don;'t want you to have to do anything."
Me : "What? Why don't you want me to do anything?
Miranda: "Well because you are pregnant. Well actually you can do anything!"

I guess she has been listening to her daddy when he tells me not to do stuff because I am pregnant. It is nice to have my 6 year old daughter care enough about me to follow in her daddy's ways.

Doctor's Report

Well I went to the doctors today. Expecting the depressing weigh-in, the exciting pee in a cup and the typical heartbeat and send me on my way. I passed the first two grueling tasks. I enjoyed hearing the little precious heartbeat that belongs to the baby who treats my tummy like a playground. The N.P. proceeds to feel where the baby is and much to my dismay she says I'm trying to feel where the baby is, it is definitely not in your pelvic area. So to answer many questions, no the baby has not dropped yet! Bummer! She continued to feel and and decided this baby is laying sideways. She then started saying horrible things like scheduling a c-section...Anyways, I have an appointment in two weeks and if the baby has not gone bottom up, they will try a version (not sure how to spell that or say it but flip the baby to a head down position). If the baby is typical of it's blood line and is stubborn, it maybe to the OR for me. I am still early and the twins were flipping surprisingly late in the pregnancy and as the N.P. stated because it is my 4th pregnancy I am "less toned" the baby can flip easier. So today I almost cried when she gave me the choice to flip the baby or schedule a c-section, but what ever it is I am sure I can handle it. Besides I have a great husband to pamper me if I can't go shopping the day we come home from the hospital!

I'm a Happy Helper

Miranda is getting ready for her new role as big sister of 4 young cuties. Here is Miranda excited and willing to change a poopy diaper. She does a great job if I do say so myself.



I know all you young moms are jealous!

Wow, what a trip...

Last Tuesday we received news that Jeremy's grandpa passed away. So Thursday we headed to Utah as a family. He was 98 years old and lead a great life. The drive was great, the kids were wonderful. Although I think the portable DVD player may get some credit! We stayed at a local hotel in Orem Utah. It had a full kitchen. I was worried I would actually have to cook and do dished, in the dishwasher of course. My hubby made sure that there was no cooking involved, except the frozen pizza we purchased the night before so we could keep the Sabbath.

On Friday we went and did a little touring of the area. We parked by Southridge where Jeremy and I lived while in Utah. We then hiked up the horendous hill on the south side of campus. It was fun to be back in the Provo area. That night we got together with the family. It was nice to be reacquainted with a few of the cousins I had met years ago, and meet a few brand new faces. I am sorry to say it has been over 8 years since we had seen this side of the family. I was blessed this summer to go to education week so I was able to see Grandpa Jacobs in August, unfortunately for Jeremy it had been a lot longer. Saturday we had the services in Orem then headed to Salt Lake where he was laid to rest along side his posterity. Although good-byes are sad, he led a long fulfilling life. We were happy to celebrate the life he had. And we also know this is not good-bye it is see-ya soon!

We then got to show the kids temple square and see the outside of the convention center. Much to our dismay it was the young Women's conference so we could not go inside.

On Sunday we went to church with Jeremy's Grandma Lee, Aunt LuJean, and Dad, Alan. The kids were great. It is a meeting in the rest home where she lives, so we literally had the only kids there and were by far the youngest people there, beside the guest vocalist and the Young Men who pass the sacrament. There was a short stint where Hannah kept repeating "Bahbee." Aunt LuJean leaned over to Jeremy and asked what she was saying. He translated it to be Barbie. All princesses are called Barbie in there world. We got to see the fish and birds. Grandpa Alan made a fast friend with Logan by giving him pennies. We had to get Logan to stop begging for money. Jeremy said it is hard to break that habit after he had been doing it during our street beggar days! And if Grandpa Alan couldn't get cooler he made Logan a paper airplane with the sacrament program. Miranda saw how cool it was and was lucky enough to get one too. We then went out to the pond and fed the ducks and took a few pictures. Logan and Miranda enjoyed getting to actually throw these cool planes that actually flew.

We later went to visit some friends from high school in Layton and Kaysville. It was so nice to see both families. Kevin and Kellie let us come even with there 6 day old son, who is so handsome. He definitely made me more excited to hold my own little one is 6 or so weeks. We then went to visit Stacey and Dave. In talking Jeremy found out that his cousin and Dave served as mission companions and were later roommates at BYU, being Mormon it is a small world! The kids loved being free to roam in both houses. They cried when we said we were leaving Utah.

We then returned to our hotel room and had dinner at the earliest yet this trip and were all in bed by 9:30 another early record. Our kids were sleep deprived, but as always we are proud that they behaved as well as they did, especially since the love being home.

Monday we drove home. It was pretty uneventful. Smooth sailing until we got to Reno for dinner. It was so windy. Then Jeremy pointed out the window and said those clouds don't look so good. He was right. If he had known what we were going to be driving through we would have stayed the night in Reno. My valiant husband drove over Donner Pass for about 1.5 hours at 30 miles per hour. It was scary. It snowed quite a bit in that time. I wish we had a video so you can see we are not as wimpy as it sounds, well maybe we are but it was still scary. There was no chain advisory when we started but about 20 minutes later there was. By the time we got to the other side, everyone was required to have chains. At one point were were driving slowly passed a semi-truck and it spit up so much dirty brown snow Jeremy had practically stopped until we could see again. He was pretty nervous but he did good. I tried to crack jokes to hide my nervousness, but I think it just annoyed him. The crazy thing is that we had just driven though there 3 days before and had a hard time seeing any snow, now we were in a winter wonderland where you couldn't even see the ground! We are wimpy Californians who don't get along well in the snow!

Here is a little video of our trip.

A holiday tradition starting today!

We celebrated our first St. Patrick's Day. I made Corned beef and Cabbage. As I was searching for the best recipe to try, I found out they only make this delicacy for tourists. Irish people don't eat it in Ireland. They say it is unhealthy. Why would 265% of your daily sodium intake per serving be unhealthy??? So we celebrated a holiday eating a meal that isn't really even eaten there. Then while eating we discussed why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Jeremy said because of a saint who chased the snakes in Ireland into the ocean. What do you think? Here are a few pictures of our fantabulous feast.

Memories...

So we just got back from doing a little shopping and Jeremy in true fashion vacuumed and was cleaning then he disappeared for a bit. He came back into the room and told me not to look. Well being 100% woman I had to know so I peeked and he had in his hands a few tapes. No big deal right?! So I had to leave the room for the umpteenth time, remember I am pregnant! And he questioned why I was leaving. I come back and low and behold he is playing a blast from the past. New Kids on the Block. My all time favorite boy bad through Junior High. It was fun to lip sync to the songs. Jeremy and I still knew the words, which surprised me, I can't remember what day it is but I can remember all the words to Please Don't Go Girl. Jeremy was using the Apricot Jam bottle as a microphone and me a pen. Miranda caught the groove and was rocking out too. Jeremy said this was the perfect blog moment.

He then said if you do blog this don't forget to mention a good friend of ours did a lip sync to Cover Girl. And that amzing moment was given to us by Tim Doll. What ever he got from that competition must have been great because he now has a wonderful family of his own. I also wanted to brag for a minute and let you know I got to see them two or three times in concert. Once they performed with Tiffany at Great America...good times Andra! I guess that is all I can divulge about myself and my secret past.

My sweet Logan!

Well I had to post this. I have been having a hard time with Logan he has been emotional, some times unreasonable, angry...I think I complain about him a little too much. I know he is a great kid and I wouldn't change him for anything. Well last night I got a sweet reminder of why he is the perfect son. We were eating dinner and he cleaned his plate, and thanked me for the yummy meal. He thinks I am the "best cooker" ever. Next to Jeremy he the biggest fan of my cooking. After he was finished eating, he cleared his plate and got his applesauce and dish for him and his sisters. He then grabbed the twins plates and cleared them too. He did all of this without being asked. I think the part that touched me the most was when he thought of his sisters. There are so many times we get caught up in our own selves that we forget to do little things for others. So not only am I proud to be his mother but I learned something from him too.

You have an assignment...

OK we have 8 weeks to come up with a boy name and girl name and I would love any opinions. So I have two polls a boy poll and girl poll. Please vote! If you have a comment please leave one by clicking the link below. Of course this is for fun and we may not pick the popular answer but it is nice to know what people think!

If it's a girl the name shall be...
	Rebekah Claire
	Olivia April
	Reyna Kimberly
	Lacey Esther
pollcode.com free polls

And the boy name shall be...
	Nathan Jeremy
	Noah Jackson
	Gideon Christopher
	Jackson Benjamin
pollcode.com free polls

Life is SOOOOOO good.

I am sitting here and I wanted to do a little video clip of my lovely, charming, darn near flawless family, ha-ha! And as I finished putting it together I was listening to the lyrics of the song. It is called just another day in paradise. And I truly feel that is my life. Yes the kids cry, whine, fight, complain, need...truth is so do I! But I also know that they laugh, say funny things, give the best hugs and kisses, etc. There was an object lesson that I read about, it had to do with going through trials in life. They said get ingredients to make cookies, keep them separate, and let everyone taste the ingredients. Some of them taste really bad, like the salt or baking soda, some taste really good like the brown sugar and chocolate chips, some may even make you sick like eating raw eggs. Then when you mix them all together you get scrumptious cookies. To get those cookies tasting so good you need to add some things that taste bad. That is the way it is with life too. You need some of the bad or hard times to make you really appreciate the good times, or even to relate when others around you are having a hard time. You may meet some one or know them and feel life is perfect or easy for them, everyone has their own trials and blessings, some are just more apparent then others. No matter how rough things are they can get worse so DON'T ASK!

On to a lighter note my kids and husband are my life they make me so proud, they make me want to be a better mother, wife, and person. I am so lucky to have them and that they love me flaws and all, because I feel the same about them! So this is my little video introduction. I hope you enjoy it, and it makes you think of all the good things in your life too!

Sound Clips of our lives....

You know how Bill Cosby always says "Kids say the darnedest things", well it's true. These are a few funny comments that were made in the last couple of weeks that are worth quoting.

Logan, who is all boy, continually is grabbing his area. Well whenever we notice we tell him to go potty. Half the time he goes potty, and the other time he stops grabbing. This particular time I told him to go potty and he turns to me and yells, well says in a frustrated tone "I don't have to go potty I just itching myself!"

As shown in a previous post, my good friend Hayley and I have pretty much gone through pregnancy together. Well Logan is fascinated with my ever impressive and growing belly. Logan always asks "Is your tummy going to grow bigger tonight?" But the most memorable comment was when he said "When is Hayley's tummy going to be as big as yours?" Unfortunately for me Hayley's will get smaller before mine since she will be delivering about three weeks or more before me.

Jeremy took Miranda on a few errands, one of which was the comic book store. Miranda happened to like a Wonder Woman action figure and Daddy gave in and got it for her. Here are a few comments that followed this trip. "Daddy why does Wonder Woman have those things that mommies have after they have babies" It is probably the first time that Jeremy wished I was there to field the question. Later Miranda says "Daddy we should open our own store" Daddy says "What will we sell?" Miranda "dot coms!" Daddy "dot coms?" Miranda "Yeah like Barbie.com, PollyPocket.com, Disney.com, we can even sell SuperHero.com" And the last quote of the trip: Miranda is really into her imaginary friends. They pulled up to Safeway and Miranda asks if her Super Hero friends can come too, of course Jeremy agrees. She then proceeds to tell him that she is a super hero too. Daddy "What are your super hero powers?" Miranda "I have two, one is singing and dancing, and the other is making people look pretty when they go on dates!"

Last one that I can think of at the moment: today Miranda grabs my face and says "Mommy even though you are getting old I still hope you are pretty!" I love these kids and the way they make me laugh. In all their innocence they really do say some funny things.

Queen for....

Well I shared a bit ago how Jeremy, with some help, pampered me with a massage and facial. I guess he was just warming up. We planned on an overnight excursion with no kids. I got the babysitting and he did the rest. I had no idea what was on the itinerary. He told me to get all dressed up in fancy schmancy clothes and be ready by 5:15pm. It was the first time in a while I actually felt beautiful. He surprised me by taking me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It was fabulous. It has raised the bar for steak by a mile. It is melt in your mouth delicious. Not to mention the sides and dessert...FANTABULOUS! Then we went to the movies and as I requested we saw Ghost Rider, staring Nicholas Cage. Yes it was a very dark movie but it had enough humor to keep it light. Anyways the ticket taker took Jeremy's ticket and said "Man, you are WAY to dressed up for this!" The movie was great, even though it didn't have a hint...well only a hint, of romance. As we left my directionally challenged husband asked me how to get on the freeway. I told him how to get back to Concord and jokingly I told him unless he was heading to Lafayette, completely kidding. He crossed two lanes to get to the turning lane and headed towards Lafayette. He got off at the first exit. We stayed at the Lafayette Park Hotel. It was amazing. It was a fancy hotel, that would fit perfectly in a quaint little town. Our room was gorgeous. There was a wonderful fireplace, that provided the most romantic glow in our room. It was so nice to have so much time with my hubby and get to talk about what ever we wanted and not be interrupted or sidetracked. The evening felt magical to me. The next morning we got up and lounged around. We had breakfast at Marie Calendars, did a little birthday shopping for Miranda's 6th birthday at our favorite store, Target. (A video in her honor will be on another post.) Then we got to see our baby at Prenatal Peek for the last time before we meet him or her in person. Surprisingly enough we still don't know the gender of our gorgeous baby. About 2:30pm on Saturday we returned home from the great date. It was so relaxing and wonderful.

Here are a few pictures...my only regret is we didn't take a picture the night before.


Create Your Own

My Prego Groupies

I thought I would share these two pictures. These are me and two of my good friends. We have enjoyed going through pregnancy together, and being able to relate at roughly the same time all the joys and pains of pregnancy. This is us in September 2006.

This is us again in March of 2007.

Who is due first?

Hayley (left)Brittany (middle)April (right)All due at the same time.

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Pamper Me!

I just wanted to brag a moment. A friend had subtly hinted to her husband by putting massage coupons on the fridge. He is a smart man and obeyed these hints. Well he thought it may be fun for her to not go alone and talked to my beloved husband. They planned and got creative and set each of us clues about the day ahead. They got us each a massage and facial. It was wonderful. After all the stress was "sanded" away, we were treated to ice cream at Baskin Robbins. It was nice to be treated like a queen, especially when I act like the evil witch sometimes. Thank you Jeremy and Matt...and Hayley for leaving the hints!

Kids keep you young...

Well at least they make you laugh and feel young. Miranda said the funniest thing today. We were driving and Miranda said Cinderella III was rated PG-Knee. For all you non-locals, PG&E provides our Gas and Electric (Pacific Gas & Electric). Anyways, we tried telling her it wasn't PG-Knee that it was PG or G. Since she was talking about a cartoon we told her it was G. She disagreed. With much trying to get her to understand she finally submitted to us. I still believe she thinks we are wrong.

Another funny thing...today I was getting the twins dressed. I was finally done with the second little darling and Logan comes in with a stern voice and says that is Hayley you put her in pink. That is Hannah. We try to keep Hannah in the pink and Haylie typically gets the "other color. Today Haylie was in a Coral and Teal striped sweater. I argued for about 2 minutes saying no Hannah wears pink, you did it wrong and pointed to her. Logan stuck to his guns almost getting frustrated with me. Jeremy walks in, hearing the argument and says he's right you dressed them wrong! I said no-way and checked her ear. Haylie has a little notch in her right ear. Sure enough I don't know the girls apart after two years. I need my 4-year old boy to teach me.

Well you win some you loose some. These kinds of battles I don't mind but I truly fear the ones that lie in my future.

He Loves ME!!!

Jeremy had his surgery and went back to work, a little uncomfortable but felt the pressures to accomplish some unfinished tasks. Starting that night he started feeling like he had a fever but the thermometer didn't agree. By Sunday he was pretty miserable and rested all day for the first time that I can remember. He decided on Monday he would go into work for a couple hours then come home and rest. He lasted maybe 45 minutes. He called to say he had to stop at the store and he would be home. The door bell rang and I opened it to these:

As he handed them to me he apologized for feeling do lousy. Poor guy. He then rested for the second day in a row. He finally went to the doctor on Wednesday and they said he just had to get through it. Today he finally was able to go back to work and feel a little useful there.

In honor of valentine's day I wanted to make sure he knows how much I love him.

10 of many reasons why I love Jeremy!

10. He searched me out.

9. He loves our children and makes them laugh on a regular basis.

8. He works hard so I don't have to.

7. He still likes to date me.

6. He takes responsibility seriously, even when I get frustrated by it.

5. He is a great example to those around him, especially our children.

4. He makes me feel important by listening to my whining.

3. He makes me laugh.

2. He loves me pregnant, emotional and all!

1. He gives the best Hugs AND Kisses!

Dinner and Fun!

Last night we hosted a dinner party with some friends. It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed everyone's creativity and company. We asked everyone to dress up as a famous couple. Then we ate dinner progressive style so we had lots of fun visiting with the different couples. Here is a little video of them dressed up.

My sweet twins

Here's is a little video I put together...Thanks Mandi for the idea and direction!

I hope you enjoy watching them grow as much as we have. Lucky for us we have lots more fun to go

Just a quick funny

The girls, Haylie and Hannah, are learning and using their potty words (i.e. potty poopy). When the girls get up in the morning or from their nap it sounds something like this "Daddy, poopy, go potty" sometimes you can substitute Mommy but rarely. They have used the potty twice to go poopy. Well we were sitting at the dinner table and were eating dessert. Hannah decided she no longer wanted to eat her "tookie" as Haylie calls it. She started leaning to the left and pushing herself away. For you veteran parents you might be able to interpret her "sign language". So we kindly asked her, "Hannah did you go poopy" She just kind of whined. So Haylie being the caring older sister leans over and looks behind her in her chair and says "poopy?" then looks at me and Daddy and says "No poopy!" She was very wrong but it was funny.

Tiz-eye-red!

So Jeremy had his galbladder removed last Thursday. Thursday night is when the fever hit the fan, starting with Logan at 3:30 am. In the morning Hayley woke up with a fever. They continued through Friday to run fevers between 101 and 103.1. sunday seemd to be a lot better then we sit down for Sunday dinner and Hannah starts looking a little out of it. She had 103.5 fever. Needless to say by Monday I was exhausted and ready to isolate our family. Miranda who probably brought it home from school has seemingly gone unscathed.

Jeremy is healing remarkably well. He went back to work today he is now exhausted but he is glad to have some normalcy back in his life. He doesn't do the sitting thing very well.

Less of a Man...

Tomorrow is the big day for my husband. No it is not what you are thinking! He is getting his Gallbladder removed. It is a typical surgery and will be home the same day. I think this is the only way he will actually get to rest. He should have about a week off of work, hopefully a couple days will be slightly enjoyable.

It is a no-big-deal kind of surgery but I want him to know how much I love him. He does an excellent job of taking care of me and the kids. He works hard and is ever pressing forward to better himself and our lives. I am truly blessed to call him mine!

Prego OH PREGO!

It has been a while since I had anything interesting to write about. I still have nothing...well I do have exciting news for me, my due date is officially the 9th of May. That's right folks I will be having this baby in May for sure. Just the thought of being pregnant in June was scary for me. I always go late, so I am aiming for my hunny's birthday and our anniversary. Why not get it all done in one day, huh? I also looked at my little pregnancy counter and I only have 100 days of pregnancy left. How cool is that, down to two digits. I am no fool that it is a count down to closeness, I will not have my baby on that day but it will be close.

I can tell you this "Super Mom" is getting worn out. I've surrended volunteering on Wednesdays for Motor skills with Miranda. Jeremy now goes in my place. He is a fantastic (and super-intelligent) husband. He went last week for the first time. He was like a giddy school boy when he came home and he knew everybody's name. He had lots of fun. So now I am down to working in the classroom 1 day a week. Life is so easy.

Our new baby!

Here is a little video of our little baby. A very special someone(s) gave me an amazing gift. I was able to see my baby in the womb. I am now 20 weeks pregnant. This is a 3D ultrasound. It is fantabulous. I can't believe that it looks so much like a baby! We are still trying to keep the gender a surprise so the sonographer kindly stayed away from "that" area.

I heard it's your BIRTHDAY!

My little boy is growing up. He is four years old today. He had a stomach bug yesterday but today he is already into trouble. He is feeling better and going to have a great day!

A Mama's Right

OK the whole piont of a blog is to be able to complain and share stories about your life and family. Well that is all good but the biggest reason is to have a whole page to brag about your children. So as a mother it is my right to brag about Miranda.

We had our very first teachers conference for her. I knew she was doing well and loved school, but I also knew she is very social and nosey. As a child (OK I still am) I was nosey too. It took me through first grade to focus on my work and get it done. I had a fear she awquired that fault from me. Surprisingly enough, the teacher said the first two weeks or so of school she did have a problem, but it is expected with the newness of school, friends, teacher, etc. She said then she switched and is very down to business and gets her stuff done. She said she is a "joy to teach" amongst her other amazing accomplishments I would like to brag about this one. She commented on Miranda's singing, she said Miranda is always the loudest and most enthusiastic singer (which surprisngly isn't different at home). She went onto say that she gives all the kids S (Satisfactory) in the art areas, as long as they do it, they are expressing themselves, so she doesn't feel it is fair to grade them on the quality. She put an S down for Miranda and just couldn't leave it that way, she changed it to a E (Excellent). She said it was the only one in the class. She is my shining star. She is doing well academically, socially, physically and artistically. She has a few areas to improve on like all children, but I am a very proud Mama!

Bishop=Candy

We were at a baptism for Brian S. (yeah for him!). The bishop happened to sit next to Jeremy, they always have "secrets" to tell, haha. Well Logan was sitting on Daddy's lap and figured the Bisop was a good friend, as he should be. Logan has also learned at a very young age that Bishop keeps candy in his office. So Logan grabs his head, mid-baptism (not the actual baptism but during a talk) tilts it so he could comfortably (for Logan not Bishop) whisper in his ear. He says "WE have candy in yours office?" The kind Bishop agreed but only after the baptism was over. The following Sunday we were having a difficult time getting the kids to stay with us as we moved our herd towards the door. Logan peeked in the clerks office to see if Bishop was in there, unfortunately there was only one of his counselors. Logan, the fearless leader that he is, asks for them to open the door for candy, meanwhile...Haylie is at the door waitng for it to open and Hannah is throwing herself on the floor because she wants to be held not put down. Miranda is waiting patiently for us. As soon as the door opened, Logan was at the candy jar, Hannah immediatly with the turn of the key stopped crying stood up and walked towards the jar. Haylie was curious at the sudden calmness, and slowly turned to observe this amazing feat, she quickly realized the jar was in smelling distance and ran to the jar. I can't quite remember how Miranda fit into it all but she emerged from the office with a piece of candy too. It may seem our kids eat a lot of candy but the really don't, it is probably one piece at home and one piece from Bishop each week.

The moral of this story, if you can't beat 'em let them smell candy they will be begging you to let them behave!

Church Prep Mishap

My dear husband, does his best to help me get the four kids ready for church before he heads off to his "before" church meeting. This particular Sunday he was on the ball. He had all the girls bathed, and Logan was in the tub. I was working on some project for my lesson, so I was the closest surpervising adult. Jeremy was at the computer basically on the other side of the house. Hannah who was all dressed and pretty for church was enjoying splashing the water at brother...can you see where this is going? I had been in there already to tell Hannah to stop splashing and then returned to my work. All of the sudden I hear a big splash. Thinking she just dropped the shampoo bottle into the tub. I come around the corner and saw this

She was the true definition of a "Cute" but drowned rat!

Growing...Growing...Growing

I am not sure if I should be proud or not but I wanted to compare what I lookd like with the twins vs. this singleton. So here is a picture of both.

He's mine even if he is WHITE & NERDY!

This video is so funny. Several people have seen some similarities between this video and my husband. For those of you who don't know, my handsome husband is an avid action figure collector and and has been known to love reading comics. Also Star Wars can be related to any gospel discussion.

White and Nerdy

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This is really a picture of our LIVING ROOM:

If you can't tell yes that is a cabinet filled with action figures. He usually rotates them about once every couple of months.

Edited to Add: When Jeremy saw this picture he said to himself, I can't believe that she didn't set up Doomsday and Supergirl. If you will notice on the second shelf up on the right side two figures are lying down. I am not sure who else would notice that.

The Joy of Sugar!

Well we went to a few houses in our neighborhood for Trick or Treating. The kids ended up with a ton of candy. Is it just me or do people just not trick or treat anymore? We didn't run into hardly any fellow treaters. I do have to say though, because there are so few children out, they give the kids handfuls of candy, full size candy bars, and even offer some to the parents! So I guess you don't need to go to a ton of houses.



The kids really enjoyed getting candy. I mean how smart to reward kids for doing what comes naturally and that is look super cute! I do have to say the quickest learner was Haylie. If there was a window to see where the candy was coming from she had her head pasted to it. She also grunted while hold her little bucket so she would not get over looked. And last but not least she had no fear, she practically took out her big brother so she could get to the candy bowl first.



Here is a picture of our family. We went into Jeremy's work to show off our cute kids...and score some more candy of course...and we were able to get a family picture.



Jeremy is a 80's rocker, I am...well...just me tired and pregnant like normal. Miranda was Ariel, Logan was Buzz Lightyear, Haylie was Pooh Bear, and Hannah was the Purple Heffalump, Lumpy. Kind of funny that Haylie's twin sister is her worst nightmare! Anyways here's the picture I promised.

Sleep anyone???

This is NOT me!

Ok I know I am an old pergnant mother to four children, do I deserve a night life? The answer is no you crazy woman! My mom was staying with me for a few night and our only time to talk was at night, so I stayed up later than my average 10:00pm bedtime. (If I don't get 8 hours I am not terribly wonderful to be around!) Starting Sunday night Haylie woke up and would only sleep ontop of me so from 3:00am on it was a little rough. Monday night I went to bed a little late. Tuesday again late, but Weds. I took my mom to the airport and woke her up at 3:30am I did get back home at 5:30am so I got about 2.5 hours of sleep. This is where my huge down fall was...mind you I didn't even get to take a nap. Wednesday night I went to a ModBod Party...super cute...and what was I thinking, clearly I wasn't! We stayed and chated until 4:00am! I am not kidding. Hubby asked what we talked about, honestly it was 4 in the morning do you expect me to remember. I think we were all pretty incoherant at that point. And our gracious host let us park it and talk. It was fun but highly not recommended when you cannot sleep in the next morning.

A Prayer of a Child

So the other evening we were saying our family prayer. A little back ground...we are all sick except for Daddy. So Logan was chosen to say the prayer. Amongst the other typical things like "we're thankful that we go to church tomorrow (everyday) and we're thankful we have a safe drive to Disneyland tomorrow..." He decided to pray that we would all feel better. His prayer went something like this "...Please bless my cough to go away, please bless Miranda's cough to go away, and twinies, and Mommy, and ummm...and nobody else..." It may not come across as funny but the only person he left out was Daddy. True enough he was not sick so as Logan was going through the list of family members he got to Dad and realized he didn't need to feel better so he just covered it up with "...and nobody else" It was truely cute. You have to love the way these little children see the world.

SURVEY SAYS...

I went to the doctor today and got good news and bad news and just plain news. The good news is there really is a tiny little baby cooking away with a perfectly beating heart! The regular old news is that there is only one baby. I am excited to have ONLY one to cuddle and love, but the idea of two sounded like a wonderful challenge. The bad news, I found out I was pregnant really early, like 1 week from conception, so instead of my due date being May 8th it looks more like May 17th. And with that bad news also comes good news. I always go late, and my anniversary and Hubby's birthday are the 19th. So I won't be miserably tired just miserably pregnant. We will actually get to go out for our anniversary and will still be able to find a sitter for our clan. (That is not a complaint about the future just an observation and fact.)

So anyways I am still super excited for this little one and the twist it adds to my journey through life. I went to the temple and was reminded that we have children so that we can share in their joy and happiness. How lucky I am to be a part of something so amazing and miraculous. I sometimes say it is not fair that women get such a raw end of the deal with monthly pains, hormones that are usually out of control, pregnancy and labor discomforts...but in the end we get so much more out of being a woman, a mother, and a wife. Life is a little loud at times but boy it is GOOD!

Logan-POX

Well I get to go away for the weekend and guess what happens...everyone falls apart!!! I was packing up to come home and my hubby calls and reports Logan has the Chicken Pox. Later on the drive home he calls and says Hannah has a 102.4 fever. He is having a hard time with work, and I had motion sickness or pregnancy nausea, either way it is an evil feeling. Miranda and Haylie were OK, thankfully. Needless to say when I got home we were quite the traumatized family. Well OK it really isn't that bad, a little Tylenol cured Hannah, Logan's pox are mostly on his arms, a few on his legs, and a few on his face almost microscopic. I was mostly just sleep deprived. That brings up something else. We as women, get a rest from the kids, do we sleep NO! We stay up until the wee hours of the morning then wake up early, well 8:00-ish, because we want to scrapbook. So not only are we not rested when we get back we are more tired then if we never took a break in the first place!

Although everyone was in a state of less comfort I had a great time and I always enjoy the friendships I share with the 9 crazy, beautiful, creative, crazy, sincere, fun...did I say crazy, gals!

Emotions Schmotions!

AAKKKK! The prego hormones are at an all time high! I feel sorry for my dear sweet almost innocent husband, since he helped get me into this. I feel like a huge tug of war inside, I want to cry, scream, laugh, sleep...all at the same time. I feel sorry for those around me. Usually it is only Jeremy that worries what I might divulge in a moment of weakness, but now I am a little worried also. I can usually control my little annoyances until I am in the safety of my bedroom with only Jeremy to listen to them. I think right now I might just tell you "you annoy me." That is not a good thing, especially since I am going away for three days with some of my closest of friends. If you are reading this: I am not annoyed with you...but I could be in the next minute or two, so be on the look out, evil, emotional, pregnant woman could be right behind you!

The twins have arrived!

On Saturday we had a little family time in our oh, so lovely backyard. One of the these years we will actually have green grass again ugh! Anyways back to my story. We were out in the back yard playing...the kids were enjoying the play structure. I was shocked to find out my little twins are part monkey. They are my first real climbers. Hannah is a little more adventurous. So anyways they would climb up then go down the slide. We got a kick out of watching them and thought you might too.

HAYLIE

HANNAH

Room Mom sorta..

Life is exciting, I signed up to be assistant room mom for Miranda's Kindergarten class. Which really means ...well...I am not quite sure. Whatever it is it will be fun. I talked to the other room mom, and she was trying to figure out who I was. So she found out who my daughter was and then asked her son which girl is Miranda. He said the one who wears her hair on the side of her head like teddy bear ears. Isn't that sweat. That better be all for the nice comments!!! After all it is only kindergarten.

I also signed up to help with Motor Skills on Wednesdays. So I will get to work with Miranda's class for about an hour playing games and such. Jeremy will work late on those days and stay with the rest of the crew. He is so flexible for ME. We are lucky that he works where he does. I can't say it enough, we are truly blessed.

Logan, you kill me!!!

So I am sitting at my computer, as always, and Logan is sitting under the desk. He started pulling on the mouse and I scolded him slightly. Then he got Hannah to join him in his little hideout. So I about to send an email or something uber-important and I here zhooooo, as the computer shuts down. He turned off the power strip. I instantly look under and see his little hand coming away from the strip. I tell him to go on his bed. When I went to talk to him about it he said it wasn't him. I asked if he was lying, he said no "baby did it!" I told him I saw him. He said "You saw me did it?" I said yes. He said "You saw a little hand did it?" Again I responded yes. Then he said "That is baby's little hand not mine. Mine is big!" Then he admitted atleast he told Hannah what to do. Needless to say I was trying to be outsmarted by a 3 1/2 year old.

Her tooth went bye-bye!

Take 1:

Well, it has been an excting month. Miranda came home from her third day of school and had a loose tooth "from eating an animal cracker." Later that day she woke up from her nap and had another loose tooth. On Monday night she showed us her tooth and it was bent forward hanging by...I don't know a nerve, a root...anyways Jeremy asked if Miranda wanted him to pull it out. She happily agreed.

Take 2:

The next morning Miranda was happily surprised that the Tooth Fairy very sneaky like swapped her tooth for a dollar. Life is so good when you are little ain't it!

What a date!

My hubby and I went out on a date. It is not that we never go out, I just spent a lot of time away from home. Three weeks in Ohio with the kids, but without my hubby and then I went to Utah for 8 days without the kids or hubby. So it was nice to be alone with my sweetheart. We didn't do anythng that wold make you jealous. We decided to got to a new place for dinner. When we pulled up it was closed, I gather for good. So we went to plan B. We were pleasantly surprised. After we ate our fill of good Italian food we went to our favorite place...Fenton's. It is an ice cream parlor. They have the BEST caramel. It was a fun evening just us and whatever two person conversation we wanted. To end our perfect little date, DH was in pain from eating too much, and I had an emotional "episode". Gotta love being pregnant! He is the best, I love him very much.

Our perfect little angels

Here our our four precious cuties. We were getting ready for church and I found the perfect opportunity to take a picture. All of them are growing so fast. It is hard for me to imagine how much each of them have grown and changed. Each of their personalities are unique and special. I feel truly blessed to be a stay at home mom.

EXTRA, EXTRA! Read all about it!

...We are expecting #5!

We found out this weekend we are expecting our fifth child. We are so excited.

When the kids found out:

Miranda age 5 1/2: She gave me a big hug. She wants 1 boy and 1 girl but thinks it will be two boys.

Logan age 4 in December: Stared at us blankly (he just woke up). He wants a little brother

Haylie age 19 months: Pretended to ignore us.

Hannah also age 19 months: She cried like a baby.

Needless to say we are going to have fun adding another little one to our family. Our newest blessing should be here sometime in May.

She's grown up!

My little baby started school. She barely even looked back. I thought I would be a wreck sending her off into the great big world of Kindergarten, but I was actually OK. It is so exciting to be such a big part of this next phase of her life. As much as I would like to be with her and protect her all the time, I feel blessed that I can be here when ever she needs me. To kiss all her boo-boos and help heal her hurt feelings. I know there really isn't much I can do but at least I feel like I have a purpose. I love this little girl with all her spunk, her sparkling eyes, her desire to make friends and especially her laugh and ability to enjoy life. How lucky I am to be a part of that.