My Little Family

How amazing has my life become? As I look at these pictures, I'm so truly touched at where my life has taken me from where it was even just a few years ago. Many will remember where I was. It wasn't a fun place. And at the time I never thought that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. But there was. And I'm there. I'm evidence that things can always get better. No matter how bad you think it is or where you are. I'm truly the happiest I have ever been. And I'm in love with every single person in these photos.

Ruth did a remarkable job with these pictures. She is so much more talented than I think she even gives herself credit for. Thank you Ruth for volunteering to take these. You truly did an amazing job.

I'll probably post more later once I start going through the disk she gave me. But thank you again Ruth for capturing my "happiness", which I so lovingly call "my family", so I can look back on it forever and always be reminded of how beautiful my life has become and will continue to be.

First Day of Church

This last Sunday, July 20, was Spencer's first day at church. I was doing so well with the whole thing...I was the most efficient mom. I had his whole cute outfit (sweater vest, shoes and all) picked out...diaper bag was packed...the girls were all ready with an activity bag...I was looking pretty hot, at least for someone who just gave birth 5 weeks before ...dinner was in the crock pot...and we even had time for pictures. So, we're off!

Then the girls inform me while they're putting Spencer in his car seat that he smells like he went poo. So, I said, "Let's just get in the car and I'll change him as soon as we get there." This was my first day back at church and for my own sake I wanted (or needed) it to be successful :) (and if you're all wondering why I didn't go back to church weeks earlier, here's your answers...a) I had a c-section; b) this was the only time I'd have a valid excuse to skip church...sorry...call me a bad mormon if you want and c) breastfeeding has kicked my butt and I just wasn't ready to venture into public).

So, I get settled inside the chapel and then grabbed just the necessities---my handy little diaper changing case Heather made me that included diapers, wipes and... nothin else. I get to the bathroom and start to open his pants and instead of simply taking them off, I realize I am PEELING his pants off cuz he has pooed an "up-the-backer", but instead of going up the back, it had gone out the side. I was so bummed cuz I was worried cuz of a couple of reasons: a) that I wouldn't have enough wipes, b) no one had seen him since we slipped in the back and I knew I had so many people tell me they were excited to see him at church...but now he didn't have on his cute outfit anymore...and c) mostly I was bummed that his cute little shorts were ruined...well at least for that day. Cuz then it hit me...this was the ONLY time I didn't pack an extra outfit. And I had nothin'...until I realized I had a pair of tan sweat pants in the car. See! It pays to not unload your car and have random junk in there. You never know when you might need something. hahaha. (I don't think that argument would work on Brian even.)

So, I tell the girls to go back in the chapel, get the keys from Brian and go out to the car to get the pants for me. As I'm waiting for the girls to get back, I'm kinda just gazing at my new little boyfriend and thinking, "he is just so dang cute. Look at that little face he's making." Until I realize the whole front of me has just gotten very warm. Yup...this kid NEVER pees when his diaper comes off, UNTIL the first day of church. And of course it had to be the neverending fountain. It just kept going. I finally put my hand on the front of it to just block it from going all over me and all I can do is stand there and laugh. Cuz I realized the cute little face he had just been making was the face of him getting ready to pee. Niiice.

And much to my delight, when I uploaded the pictures that we had taken before leaving for church...the ones that I thought "Oh, look how cute he is and look at that cute little face he's making," are the pictures where he was probably messing his diaper...Scroll back up to the first picture in this set. And try to tell me that's not the face of a baby going poo. Look at his nose...that's exactly what Xanthe used to do. Naughty!

I'm so glad that I realized no matter how hard I plan, there are unforseen events (aka, tornado, earthquake, poopy diaper) that can seriously mess up my own plans at a moment's notice. Oh well... There goes my award for Super Mom.

My Makeshift Sling

Haven't figured out how to use my Geela Sling. Can you tell? Plus I had to finish a tiny bit of it before I could wear it and I never had the moment to spread it out and do it. And no, those aren't my boobs...those are his elbows. And yes, that IS a potato in my hand. I was peeling potatoes. He is in the stage where he won't let me put him down. And the girls were gone. So, I had to improvise. :) What you can't see is my bathrobe tie underneath holding up his butt. It wasn't the most efficient sling, but it worked.

1-MONTH Already!

On July 16, Spencer turned One Month Old! (I know! I'm a bit late on this. I have a newborn, okay? :) )

Some things about Spencer:
1. He is 12.5 pounds now. He gained 4 pounds in 4 weeks. Brian and the girls so lovingly call him "Chubs."
2. He growls when he wakes up and wants to eat.
3. He smiles a lot and I KNOW it's at me, not cuz of gas. :) Or it's cuz he's seeing angels...but he for sure smiles when we talk to him or when he's staring at this gospel picture above my couch.
4. He's very patient...he hardly ever cries. He only complains if I'm changing his diaper, or trying to get him to breastfeed more than bottle feed. He doesn't get frustrated easily and it takes a lot to get him riled up. What a blessing for me, as opposed to my first two.
5. He can't fit in his 0-3 month onesies anymore.
6. Sleeps a 4-5 hour stretch from about 10 p.m.-3 a.m. I count myself lucky!
7. Sounds like a kitten when he wakes up and like a goat when he's wanting us to pick him up. Maa-aaaa
8. Does the cutest coo after he sneezes, as if he was saying, "Man that felt good!"
9. Has brownish/blondish/reddish hair. Is that possible? :)

I can't wait for you all to meet him.

Random Spencer Pictures, Part 3

Remember my disclaimer? :) Just in case you don't remember...here it is...

Disclaimer:These are for my sisters who live far away. They have requested I continue posting lots of pictures of "The Kid". So, for those of you who hate seeing blogs full of newborn pictures, GET OVER IT. :) ACTUALLY, It's cuz I KNOW he's the cutest kid in the world and why WOULDN'T everyone want to see pictures of him every day? hehe
Bath Time


So...a funny story...well, at least for Ruth. I FAILED MISERABLY AT MY FIRST SPONGE BATH. The reason it's funny is cuz when I had the twins, I used to pop them in and out of the bath like nobody's bidness! And both at the same time! And sponge bath? No prob. I even helped Ruth give Max his first bath and just whipped him through it. I don't know how many of my sisters' kids I've sponge bathed and regular bathed, but i'm sure it's a lot. But Spencer HATED his sponge bath. And to make it funnier, I had prepped Brian for the whole thing---how easy it was gonna be, and what a monumental moment it was going to be. And then Spencer cried and hated the whole thing. Which is funny cuz he's not a fussy baby. He just ALWAYS hates being undressed.

First REAL Bath
Here's his real first bath. At first he didn't know what to think but then he loved it and didn't want to get out.

I love little babies wrapped in towels. :) Here are pictures of his emotional progression...of going from mad to calm when I made him get out of the bath. I just love his little expressions.

He loves the bath now......

SISTERS

These pictures are when he was only a few days old but i wanted you to see what life is like at my house with two 9 yr old twin girls. They want to hold him all the time, they help me feed him bottles, change him (Xoe has been peed on already) and offer to get up in the middle of the night to feed him. If only I had no conscience so i could take them up on their offer. They are so great. It's been nice having them home again.

The Lemonade Stand

COME ONE COME ALL!
GET YOUR LEMONADE!
GET YOUR COTTON CANDY!
ONLY $1.25 EACH!



Well, going along with the "Sister" theme, I was just able to view the pictures Nanette sent me about the time the girls stayed with her while they were in California. One of the days the girls got it in their heads to do a Lemonade Stand! And I love that Nanette is so fun and easy-going, much more than I am, to do it with them and allow them to do it. And they spared no detail.
Some Highlights of the Day (Did I miss anything Nan?)
1. They had cotton candy, lemonade made from the lemons off Nan's tree and decorations consisting of signs, balloons and an umbrella
2. They even stood down on the corner with signs to advertise. hahaha.
3. They wanted to charge $1.25 for each glass of lemonade and each stick of cotton candy. That's inflation for ya.
4. Piper delivering the cotton candy from the driveway to the sidewalk stand and dragging it along a bush. Nan said she saw cotton candy stuck on the bush AND the bush stuck on one of the cotton candies. I wonder if they got extra money for the extra tastiness.
5. Piper EATING the cotton candy on her way to deliver it.
6. Myles making the cotton candy.
7. They were offering free taste testing.
8. They incorporated door-to-door sales to a couple houses.
9. They played Yo Gabba Gabba music for the customers' enjoyment.
10. They had a drive thru...
10. They made a profit of $19.00! hehehe

Customers..................

THANK you, Nanette for getting this out of their system. They are always setting up stores and stands in front of my house. I'm such a bah humbug about it. They think that they can sell their extra toys at a stand in front of their house. I said, "Girls, that's a garage sale and we have to do a lot more to get people to come buy things." They don't care. They have a money jar and snacks for the people to eat and everything. Too funny.

Surprise! A Bunch of Visitors

My sister Amber did such an amazing thing. She hopped on a plane and made a quick 1 1/2 day jaunt to my house because, according to her (is it true, really?) was because she needed to hold the tiny newborn we call Spencer. It was so much fun and I LOVED LOVED LOVED having someone come to visit. We had such a fun day even though we only had one full day to do things. We sure fit a lot in though! Here goes...

First, they flew into Phoenix and landed within 5 minutes after the girls landed coming home from their Utah trip. Their gates were literally one away from each other. I didn't get any pictures but it was so cute cuz I hadn't told the girls. When they got off the plane, I told them there was someone else coming into town. They immediately thought it was Grammy cuz she was supposed to have flown in. Then they guessed Amber, then Nanette, and after that couldn't formulate any other people that would possibly fly in. I made them wait and wait and wait for Amber to get off the plane. It was so cute cuz before you even saw the three of them walking off the plane, you hear this little tiny voice running down the breezeway, "Xoe, Xanthe! It's me, Eliza!" The girls freaked out. It was so fun.

Anyway, we spent the rest of the night at Cafe Rio and driving home, which every single one of us had ADD and were VERY antsy to get there. :) Our stress levels were running high. :)

The next day, we got up and hung out. The kids hung out with the bunny, watered the plants and ran around getting to know our house. This is Xoe and Eliza watering the plants.


We rushed out the door to make it to the 10:00 free movie of "Firedog". I was really proud of myself. This was the first time that I went out in public and actually did the breastfeeding thing and didn't just give up and use a bottle. Woohoo!

Then made our way across town through the 15 minute downpour (we are in warm weather monsoon season now) to the sit down restaurant of Pizza Hut. I'm not kidding. It really is a sit down restaurant where you have a waitress and everything. It's actually quite nice...except for the waitress we had who duped us with our kids' meals. Of course, Amber was the only one brave enough to go get us a discount. I love that she can do that.


We decided to take a break at home and let the kids get ready to go swimming while the babies took naps. I actually went grocery shopping and realized it was the first time since the baby was born that I drove the car and went shopping. I did okay except I think overdid myself so I had to be really careful the rest of the day. I started hurting a little. Eliza did such a great job holding and feeding the baby!



Afterwards, we took the kids to The Cove, our indoor swimming pool that has waves, waterslides a huge jacuzzi, a mushroom, a pirate slide and an outdoor high dive. I think both Amber and I were tapped after that so it was a good thing we were only able to stay an hour.


Meet "Portette" as the kids so lovingly named Porter after he had to sport Eliza's pajamas the second night. hahaha. He didn't care. He just made silly faces back at us.I love that Amber was so spontaneous to make this trip. A girl of my own heart. I really loved having them here and it was so nice to have a sister in town...which is a much needed thing after having a baby. Thank you!

RANDOM SPENCER PICTURES, Part 2

Again, my Disclaimer: These are for my sisters who live far away. They have requested I continue posting lots of pictures of The Kid. So, for those of you who hate seeing blogs full of newborn pictures, skip this one. :) And sorry Amber, I thought I had more of just him, but I have a bunch of him with other people so i'll post those too.

I think he looks like Brian's side of the family in this picture...

Making silly faces...

My sunbathing turtle....

RUTH WOULD BE PROUD

Brian and I saw 3 movies in 4 days. Isn't this your dream Ruth? She's been trying to convert me for years to go to the movies on a regular basis. Well, I've been now turned into a moviegoer. Maybe it's that I was getting a MAJOR case of cabin fever, or just hanging out with a guy I really like (Brian too! :) ), we have seen our fair share of summer movies. We saw a bunch when the girls were gone for California, and this time they were in Utah...so we thought we'd take advantage. Especially since it'll get harder to go once the kid gets older and won't just sleep through the whole thing. So, for the ones we just saw this last weekend, here is a rundown.

GET SMART

By far one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. I can't say enough about how funny this movie is. I don't think it even has anything to do with how much I love Steve Carrell. I mean, the minute he walked onto the screen I started laughing. But the movie holds its own and the writers for this movie HAVE to be given props. They had a humor going, with hilarious one liners and scenes that were in no way predictable and were very refreshing to a moviegoer such as I. :) Definitely a movie we will be adding to our DVD library.

WANTED

Forgive me, for I have sinned. I didn't even think, or expect, how "R-Rated" this movie would be. Lots of F-bombs (and I'm usually pretty immune to them), lots of physical violence to each other (the kind that makes your stomach churn), but no sex. I have to say though that this was a really well made move and James McAvoy did an AMAZING job in it. Very well written script. I got passed the F-word every 2 seconds and just had to close my eyes a few times for the violence, but for the most part it was a GREAT movie. I don't think we'll be adding this to our DVD library. It's not one we want to openly admit to guests that we've seen it, and I for sure won't be watching it again.

INCREDIBLE HULK2

What can I say? This movie has all the makings of a great summer action flick. AND Edward Norton to beat. (I loved him in Fight Club...and of course, so many other movies he's done...but Fight Club is where I was first converted to liking him as an actor even though his voice kinda bugs me). I never saw the first Hulk movie so I can't compare...BUT I never saw the first one BECAUSE I heard it was so bad. Brian said this was so much better and he really, really liked it. Standing on it's own, I didn't miss anything by not having seen the first one. I really liked it. This one also had a great script, great actors and very entertaining. Even the end had a great lead into the sequel...possibly with Iron Man, and the rest of the Marvel Comic characters. Robert Downey Jr. shows up as the guy who doubles as Iron Man. For sure, a movie to go into our DVD collection. I'm sure Brian will watch it quite a few times once it comes out.

So, all in all, I was not disappointed with any of the movies I saw the past couple of days. So, Ruth, we'll have to see some movies while I'm out there. I've been converted.