Sweet baby

Sophie is such a sweet baby. She is just starting to smile on purpose! It is incredibly difficult to capture on camera because the smiles are gone the instant we commend her on smiling. I stood on the scale with her a few days ago, and I think she is almost 10 pounds now! She is growing so fast. And last night she slept for almost six hours! So I am totally on a sleep high today, that is the most consecutive sleep I have had in a month! I am sure it isn't going to be a regular thing yet, but I will take what I can get. I can't believe how fast the last month has gone and whenever I look at her I think how fast this is going to go by. Then I see Jack and how big he is, he is almost up to my shoulder now, and realize how fast it really does go by. I am grateful for each moment I get to spend with these kids, they are so amazing!

I am getting antsy to start planning our next family vacation. We did go to California this past summer and had a great time, but as Isabella told me, it's not really vacation unless you stay in a hotel. And though I didn't tell her so, I am inclined to agree with her a little bit. We took it really slow in Cali because I was so pregnant and the drive was a bit more exhausting than usual. So it feels like it has been a long time since we have all been on a vacation. The kids of course want to go to Disneyland, which I am always up for. Jack mentioned that he would like to go to Yellowstone. I am up for anywhere. After all we won't be going anywhere till after the new year, and at that point Sophie will be even easier to travel with. I am a big fan of travelling with babies actually. I just pop them into the baby Bjorn and off we go. They are not prone to wandering off, and they have no opinion on where we eat or what we do. Everyone gets good breaks while the baby is nursing, so no over tiredness from me driving everyone to see as much as possible. I carried Bella in the Bjorn until she was 16 months old actually, and it really was my preferred way to travel. This is Bella at about 6 months old when we went to the Oregon Coast. Another thing I love about the Bjorn is how toasty it keeps baby when the weather is cold.

So, if anyone has any suggestions as to where to go, I am up for them. We are good with both road trips and flying vacations. I just want to start planning to go somewhere, so we have something fun to look forward to and work toward as a family....

Where's the kid?

Last week was Red Ribbon week at Jack's school. He loved it because each day comes with a theme of how to dress. Usually he and I negotiate over what he wears. It usually doesn't go well. I don't want to stifle his creativity, but there are some fashion choices I just can't live with. Socks and sandals, monochromatic, red pants and orange shirts. I admit, I am not the most fashion forward person myself, but I feel it is my job to not let my children look completely goofy. I don't mind letting them wear capes or crowns or any dress up stuff really. I even spent a day shopping with Bella while she wore Tinkerbell wings. I find that kind of fashion eccentricity a bit charming really. Anyway, I digress, the last day of red ribbon week was wear red day. Luckily Jack owns red pants as well as a red shirt. But the main thrill for him was that he matched the sheets on his bed. Maybe I should only buy him well coordinated bedding.

Sophie has been enjoying her swing. So much so, that I manage a shower everyday! Yay! She hit one of the toys the other day with her hand and Bella got all excited. From the beginning Bella has had a vision of sharing her toys with Sophie, so I think she can hardly wait for that stage to begin. I am anxious to see if she is just as excited when Sophie actually wants to play with her toys.

Pumpkins!

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday to pick out our Halloween pumpkins with the kids. This is really the earliest we have ever made it there. Usually we are rushing around at the last minute to get there and then we end up in a rush to get them carved and ready to go. In fact, a few years ago we didn't even carve pumpkins, we just colored them, we were that late. Anyway, we thought we better go sooner rather than later in case the weather turns really cold and we don't want to take Sophie out in the cold. It was a lot of fun. We came home with a lot of pumpkins and the kids wanted to carve them right away. I told them we needed to hold off for a few days so they will still look good at Halloween, plus, if we hold off, we will have a built in FHE activity.

After the pumpkin patch we went to Fuddruckers for lunch, and the kids and I ran a few errands. I bought the kids some chocolate milk on the way home and Bella spilled some on herself in the car. I thought it was mostly gone at that point, but when we got home she rushed in the kitchen holding the chocolate milk, fell down and we had chocolate milk everywhere. Jack started laughing so hard he could barely speak. He said the bottle spun around in a complete circle, and sure enough, the ceiling and all walls were covered in splatters of chocolate milk. It took Nate a long time to wipe it all up, and we are still seeing traces of it, mostly in the stairway-how did it get that far!

I am still not quite finished with all the Halloween costumes, I am hoping I can be productive this week. I am starting to get used to our new schedule and feeling more recovered, so I am aiming to finish up some projects this week. In other family news this week, my Sister in Law got engaged! I hear she may get married in April, though I have no confirmation of that. Also, my cousin is expecting and due in June! So lots of fun ahead!

Lovely Baby

Sophie is such a sweet baby. She really doesn't get too upset about anything. She is calm and pleasant and just likes to hang out with all of us all day long. She doesn't get put down too often. Even though she doesn't sleep much at night, she is so pleasant while she is awake. And being that my mom is still here, I get a pretty good nap daily and am not feeling the exhaustion of it all yet.

We have been so blessed and taken care of by our ward and neighbors. We have been brought so many delicious meals and so many cute gifts. Nate's fellow coaches even sent some cute outfits and a bouncy seat! It has been so nice and everything has really given me an opportunity to just hold the baby and focus on her. I realize those days are short, before I know it she will be up and about, so it has been lovely to just hold her and get to know her.

We had parent teacher conferences for Jack yesterday. They went really well, he is doing really well, he has 100% on everything they have done so far. He really loves school and has a great attitude about everything they do. His teacher seems like she is enjoying her first year teaching. And she seems to not have any drama in her life, which is nice. His kindergarten teacher was great,but distracted by her wedding a lot of the year. And I also liked his first grade teacher as well, but she had a really difficult year in her personal life. So I am hoping this year will be all in all uneventful.

Nate met us at the conference with his glasses covered in tape. A kid punted a football and he was talking to another kid and got clocked. His glasses are totally destroyed. I thought he was joking at first because they had a football banquet they spotlighted the coaches at. I figured it was a joke about him being a computer programmer. But no joke and we will be off this weekend to get some new glasses. He has needed a new exam so it's really not too bad. He did have a few cuts around his eye as well, but no permanent damage.

Sophie is here!

She's here! Sophie Evangeline was born on Wednesday the 26th! She came weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long. Smaller than my older two-which I think is strange, but I'll take it. She's sweet and adorable and everyone here just really really likes her! We came home from the hospital on Friday and have had a good transition coming home. My mom is here-she got here Tuesday night-and is really helping out and doing a ton of stuff. She and I and Bella went to my doctors appointment Wednesday and I told him I thought things were beginning. He kind of laughed and told me to make an appointment for next week any way, just in case. Well, we left from the doc's and went to IKEA to shop and next thing I know, I am having contractions every five minutes or so. I figured they would stop if we ate lunch, they didn't. So I had my mom bring me home, we tried to call Nate on the way using her OnStar-and it didn't understand me! I couldn't believe it, it kept giving me instruction to say his number then it would repeat it back differently that what I said. It is comical now-but at the time I felt a bit panicked I must say. Luckily he was home when we got here. He was going to leave in about 10 minutes. But I changed his plans for the day and instead had him take me up to the hospital while my mom and Bella stayed behind waiting for Jack to get home. We got to the hospital at about 3:30 and I was already at a 7! Yikes! But there is relief in knowing you won't get sent home! So we were there just over two hours before she was born. I know it sounds fast in hindsight, but at the time, everything felt like it was moving very slow. So far, we have had smooth sailing. I am still a bit loopy from my pain meds-so I am sure this whole post seems scattered, but such will be my brain for a bit I am sure! I feel so blessed and so amazingly lucky to have this new little girl. She is so sweet and I can't believe how in love with her I am. I can never express how thankful I am for my little family and how much they mean to me. I can't imagine that I have ever done anything to deserve a sweet husband like Nate who takes such good care of us all, a dear son like Jack who is my constant helper and example, and sweet daughter like Bella who just wants to let everyone know she will be their friend, and our new little Sophie who has us all mesmerized!

Laundry

Today is a huge laundry day here. I stripped all the beds and am washing all the bedding and blankets in the whole house. I love the feeling of newly washed sheets and blankets! It was sooo cold in the house this morning, that I really just wanted to wrap up in a blanket fresh from the dryer as it were. Then I realized if I was cold, everyone else in the house must be freezing. So I got up and sure enough it was under 55 degrees in the house! We just turned the air conditioner off and I was thinking we would have a week or so before needing the heater, but alas, no. There was frost all over the car this morning when I walked Jack to school, and that was nearing 9 o'clock! So all of the sudden it seems I need to evaluate my methods of keeping this new baby warm. I think I had a hard time visualizing cold weather with and infant because it has been so warm. I think the area I need to really jump on is little hats and socks. I really didn't use those with J or B, and I am not sure where I am with either.

My mom is going to arrive sometime later today. The kids are ecstatic! Bella keeps asking why it is taking her so long to get here. She must have amnesia about the ride from here to Oregon. My mom hasn't driven here herself since Bella was born, so I am sure it will seem like a long day to her as well. I spoke with her yesterday and she is bringing half her house, so I have been trying to make sure there is enough space for her to bring it all in. She is going to be here for 2 and a half weeks, so I am sure she wants to prepare for any eventuality, and be comfortable while she is here. She is bringing me a new nightstand. I have been using a magazine stand with a lamp coming out of the top and really wanted something with drawers, so she had one on sale at the store where she works and the price was right. I am thinking we will go to IKEA tomorrow to find a lamp to go on top of it.

My room is still a bit of a disaster. Nate noted that we still haven't brought the pack n play up from storage. I figure at this point he may have to put it together himself anyway, so I am not all that worried. I did wake up this morning to some fairly painful contractions, but I could tell they were just warm up ones. But maybe it means we are getting closer to the real thing. I still have a list of stuff I want to do, and last night I dreamed about making banana bread, so I may add that to my to-do's today.

Ready for the Weekend

It seems like it has been a busy week here and everyone is ready for a lazy Satuday. Little do they know that I have big big cleaning plans they will need to assist me with-bwhahahahaha. We have to get the bedrooms all organized and neat before my mom gets here. She will be here on Tuesday, so we have plenty of time to get everything put away and done since the big room switch. I also need to make a space in my room for the pack n play to go. Right now there is a huge pile of clothes that need to be hung up sitting where it will go. I have just been lazy about hanging them.

Jack finished up swim lessons yesterday. He passed and moved to the next level! Yay! I knew he was doing a good job, he is really starting to swim! I love watching him do the backstroke, he forgets to alternate arms quite a lot of the time, but still manages to get from point A to point B.

We also had a soccer game last night, Thursdays are busy. Jack did really well at all the stuff they have been working on in practice, passing, getting to the middle. He is having a ton of fun and is sad the season is just about over. I can't believe the season is just about over. It went by so fast this year. Of course, Nate has taken him to more practices than I have, so I haven't put in quite as much time this year. I can't believe Bella will be old enough to play next fall! That seems crazy!

Nate's team lost their game last night-so that was sad, we are hoping the varsity does better tonight. He will be ready for a lazy weekend for sure! They are just starting Region Play, so these games really count, and it would be a great confidence booster to win a few this year.

I have been sewing a lot. I bound a quilt, made the kids some pillowcases, made a few bibs and finished up a few projects. I also made another knit gown with a matching blanket and burp rag. I would really love to get a serger one day. I love sewing on knits, but my machine isn't the best for it. I also cleaned out some fabric and old projects that I realized I am never going to finish. I had Nate take them all to the DI before I could change my mind. Why keep things around that I have lost passion for I figured. And it feels so nice when the sewing room is organized.