The Kids

Weston wanted me to take a picture of him to send to a friend, so naturally, everyone else wanted their picture taken too.

Brady - he was born angry but is starting to lighten up a bit.

Ivan - his body is too small for his spirit.

Koper - tender hearted.

Weston - a reason and a purpose for every action.

Love my kids!

Big Ol' Leap of Faith

Our little family is taking a big leap of faith next month.
We're moving to Florida.  That's right, almost as far away from Moscow as you can get and still be in the U.S.  Seth has a job for the summer at IMG Academy.  He'll be working with their summer camp athletes.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that something will work out and he'll be able to stay on after the summer, but if not, we're prepared for whatever the next adventure will be for our family.
It's all very exciting and a tad bit overwhelming.
Our current plan is to sell/donate/recycle/throw away all our belongings and leave very little in Moscow to store.  There are some things we just can't get rid of, the wedding dress, blessing outfits, Grandma's hope chest, those types of things will go in a very small storage unit.  We'll pack swim trunks and church clothes for the kids, some clothes for us, maybe the Kitchenaid and head out on the open road the end of May.  We found a house that is fully furnished, so that cuts down on what we have to bring.
We've given ourselves a week to make the drive and hope to drive no more than 10 hours each day.
We have family and friends at most of the stops each night so it will be fun to see a lot of people we haven't seen in a long time.

We feel good about the decision and I try not to get too anxious about it all...talk to me in three weeks after I've drowned my anxiety in baked goods, then we'll see how I'm feeling about it all.

For now, we feel blessed by those who have helped us pack, prayed for this new adventure and given us much needed support.  We have wonderful friends and family!

My Birthday

We spent my birthday in Seattle and at Alki Beach and then Discovery Park and Beach.

It was great.  The kids loved digging for shells and creatures

and climbing over rocks and driftwood.

Here are some random shots from the day.

 

 

 

One year ago we were snowed into our driveway and desperately trying to get to the hospital to be induced.  We were running late and I was worried they wouldn't admit me. 
But we made it!

The kid who was born with an angry look on his face has brought plenty of laughs to our family.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!!!

Weston

Weston - 1st Grade

Koper vs. Pavement

Koper took a jump off the bike ramp and didn't land too well...the tooth fairy is coming tonight.

Proof

I may not post very often but here's proof that we are alive and well. These are some of my favorite family pictures we've had done recently. I love how the one of the boys really captures their individual personalities.

Weston's Experiment

Weston wanted to know if the Easter Bunny is real...

Catch Up

Today has been my day to catch up on journaling.  So, you've been warned.  Read at your own risk.

Brady

Brady is getting bigger and I realize that I have yet to write down his birth story.  So here goes...

Brady's official due date was February 4th.  From the beginning of my pregnancy I knew/hoped that I wasn't going to make it to February and that he would most likely be born in January.

When I went in for my appointment on January 16th, the good doc informed me that he was going to be out of town the following day and then the beginning of the next week.

This pregnancy had been a lot like my pregnancy with Ivan.  I was super big with way more amniotic fluid than three woman needed and I started having contractions months in advance.

I hoped that I would go into labor on my own, but with the amount of amniotic fluid I was hauling around I knew that having my water break at home or in public was not a friendly option.

So, with the good doc going out of town we discussed being induced towards the end of the week.

Then it snowed and it didn't stop.  The power went out, my contractions got closer together and I feared that I would give birth in candle light.  Luckily, it eventually stopped snowing, the power came back on and I made it to Thursday of that week.  Thursday morning I checked in with the hospital and I had an appointment for the next morning at 7:00am.

I woke up at 6:30 Friday morning and called the hospital to make sure there was still room for me.  They said to come on in and we'd get things started.  I like to be on time and we were running a little late and I was getting stressed.  I tried to get the car pulled out of the driveway and even with our 4-wheel drive, it wouldn't move.  Seth came out, we finished packing the car and started the process of pulling out of the drive way.  Seth had to rock it back and forth and several times we came within inches of hitting our other car.  I became even more stressed and probably wasn't the most positive person to be around.

We made it to the hospital, checked in, got hooked up to everything and started to wait.

Right after I was hooked up, the birthing center got slammed with other women and I was grateful that we made it just in time.  The good doc checked in with us and then for the next four hours I was on pitocin and not sure if anything was really happening.  We've always been lucky enough to have awesome nurses and I really liked the one we had this time.  She was great and it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere.  Uncle Chuck checked in with us at lunch time and to my surprise broke my water around noon.  I asked to have the epidural sooner rather than later and got it around 1:15.

I wasn't terribly uncomfortable before my water broke, but things picked up and by the time I got the epidural I was grateful for it and started to feel human again after getting it.  Everything went so smoothly.  The nurse kept commenting on how 'textbook' it all was going.

Around 2:30 I noticed the epidural wasn't keeping up with the pain and Uncle Chuck had arrived.

When it came time to push I didn't really give it everything I had.  I didn't really have to push with Ivan and I figured the same thing would happen with Brady.  When he didn't come out with the first push, I realized I was going to have put a little effort into it and he was born a couple pushes later at 2:43pm.  I'll never forget how swollen he was and how angry he looked.  His eyes were so swollen and he was barely peering out of them.  He looked like he couldn't believe we would put him through such an event.  He weighed in at 8lbs 7oz and is my smallest baby thus far.  He was born at 38 weeks and I kind of wonder how big he would have been had he gone full-term. 

 

My parents brought the boys in about an hour later and they were a little timid about it all.

Because of how busy it was at the birth center, it took awhile for the nurses to help me out of bed and get cleaned up.  Once that happend, I felt really good and just wanted to eat.

Seth brought dinner from the Pita Pit and Nilla Wafers from my parents.  I think I downed the whole box.  We moved to our recovery room and I actually felt good enough for a shower.

My blood pressure usually drops super low during delivery and standing takes it out of me. 

We stayed the night at the hospital and I tried to rest but with all the nurses and everyone checking on me, it was a little hard.  I asked them to keep Brady in the nursery which was nice. 

 The next day we had lots of visitors and I was surprised by how good I felt.  I usually try to take the minimum medication but this time I was determined to stay on top of the pain and so I took as much medication as they let me.  Best decision ever.

I kind of wanted to stay another day but by the afternoon decided to head home.

The check out process took forever and three hours later we were on our way.

The boys were ready for bed and waiting for us to get home.

My mom took the week off from school and spent it at our house taking care of us.

We had meals brought to us a couple of times that week, several days the next week and even a couple of times the following week.  We were so blessed by our new ward and I am grateful for everyone who took care of us.  This was the easiest recovery by far.  The pregnancy was a little draining emotionally and physically and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Brady has been a great baby.  I've had a love/hate relationship with nursing but nine weeks later I'm still at it.  When we were still at the hospital I told the nurses that I would give nursing a try but that I probably wasn't going to keep doing it once I got home.  They were very supportive and told me it was my decision and that they would support me either way.  I think that really helped me.

Part of me wishes this were my last pregnancy and delivery but I'm still holding out for a girl, so we'll see where that hope takes us.

Weston

Some days I wonder if Weston's purpose in our family is to teach me patience.

He's a pretty good teacher and I am a floundering student.

Most days I am struck by his amazing memory and his sensitivity.

He is becoming a better reader each day and it has been fun to watch him grow in that area.

Ivan

This kid cracks me up and he knows it.

He is learning 376 new words each day and it's fun to watch him put it all together.

He loves to do whatever his brothers are doing and can hold his own.

He recently learned how to climb on the counter,

stand on his tippy-toes and reach my stash of chocolate.

He also knows this isn't my only stash and has gotten into other chocolate bars.

Koper

Koper has always been sensitive to pain and has never liked seeing others in pain.  He often tries to deny the pain when he gets hurt and sometimes can't seem to grasp what it is that he is feeling when he is hurt.  When he was little and had to get shots at one of his doctor's appointments he tore the bandaids off as soon as the nurse put them on and then denied that anything happened when we'd ask him about it.
During my pregnancy he would often point out how my body was changing and would almost wince when I would tell him what was happening and why my body was growing.  One morning when I was nine months pregnant he came into our room to wake me up and in the process he saw my stretched out belly button.  He kind of pointed at it and asked me what was wrong with it.  I explained to him that my belly was stretching because Brady was growing big in my tummy.  He told me that if he were a mom he wouldn't want to do that.  I agreed with him that it wasn't comfortable but it was necessary.

The conversations we have around this house since Brady was born are never dull.  Nursing is a hot topic and the boys are trying to act normal about it, but it really is a curiosity to them.  This morning I was pumping a bottle to take with us to church and Koper just couldn't ignore what I was doing.  Some may feel this is too much information, but trust me, I'll spare you some of the more interesting details.  I hope that everyone gets to have a conversation with a four year old boy about pumping and nursing at some point in their life.  Our conversations are kind of hilarious.  So, I'm sitting there and Koper is asking me questions and I'm answering them and he just looks kind of disgusted by it all.  (Can you blame him?)  So he asks me, "Mom why do you want to do that?" and I tell him that I don't want to do it, but that I need to do it so that Brady can eat (and not die?  Koper adds.)  I explain that nursing is not an easy thing to do but that Brady needs it so that he can grow big and strong.  Koper says, "That's how Jesus made us.  Mom I am going to do something nice for you today.  Because if I were a mom I wouldn't want to do that.  So, I am going to draw a nice picture for you today."

It's always a tender moment when you see your kids make the connection that sometimes we do things that are not easy or maybe we don't want to do them, but we do them anyway for the sake of someone else.  I'm grateful for Koper and his little sensitive spirit.

If only it were that simple...

Rather than do the dishes or never ending laundry, I thought I would stop and record this little conversation Weston and I had the other night.
Weston was supposed to be in bed, going to sleep but he decided to come and chat with me about something that was bugging him.  He said that one of his friends kept saying words we don't use and taking the Lord's name in vain.  He was pretty frustrated because he had asked her to stop but she wouldn't.  He was having a hard time with it and said, "It's like she doesn't even go to church."  I informed him that not everyone goes to church and knows about Heavenly Father and Jesus.  I was searching for some sort of motherly advice that would calm him down but I had nothing.  All of a sudden he came up with a plan to help his friend.  He ran to his room and got his little picture of Christ and said, "I'll show her this, that will prove it to her."  Again, I stumbled through some response and he just said, "But here's the proof" and pointed to his picture of Christ.  If only it were that simple my little Weston.

Brady

We had these pictures taken today.  I love how they turned out!

Updates...finally...

I finally added some updates.  I figured I better do it now while I have some time before this baby comes.

I've been having contractions for the past couple of months and they are getting stronger.

He is measuring large, super large and I have an excess amount of amniotic fluid once again.

Which means I'm measuring larger than life and I have been asked if it's just one baby.

I've also been told that I'm huge, trust me I know I am.

I'm hoping he'll come early.  It would be ideal for the rest of us if he showed up

sometime before Seth starts school (his last semester!!!)

Time will tell.

Enjoy the updates!

Merry Christmas

We're in Seattle this year for Christmas.

Christmas eve we opened new jammies and attempted to take a family picture.

Not everyone wanted to play along. 

We're getting there... 

The whole fam in our new jammies. 

Our letters and treats for Santa. 

Seth recently discovered buckeye treats in honor of his Ohio roots,

so we started a new tradition of making some for Santa. 

I think I woke up every hour on Christmas eve/morning.

Once seven o'clock hit and everyone was still sleeping,

I started waking people up.

Koper wanted nothing to do with me at that point and refused to get up. 

At this point he was still hoping for a motorcycle,

when he realized it wasn't going to happen, he handled it very well. 

Koper decided to join us. 

The tent in the background was our homemade present this year. 

Mom helped me put it together and did most of the sewing.

It fits over a card table. 

Santa must have had too much eggnog when he

decided to give this bag of 100+ playland balls to Ivan.

I'm sure we'll end up taking a few less home. 

This kid was pretty chill while everyone opened presents.

All he wanted was his jersey and bag of cereal.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!