While Chris was at SOS last month the kids and I drove to California to visit with family and friends. My mom was brave enough to fly out to Abq and drive with me. It was an adventure. The drive over there included a stop in Colorado Springs to see some friends, a trip to the emergency room when Calvin got both his legs full of splinters and an almost towing when Jonah managed to silently render the passenger side door of my van unclosable. Fortunately Mario at the Reno Kia service center was able to help me fix it over the phone. We were so close to Elk Grove we didn’t know if we could stand taking the rest of the day to get towed to Reno (from nowheretown, NV) and get the car fixed. After three days in the car with three kids and a dog I never thought I’d say “I’m so glad to be driving again!” But I did. So here are some random pictures, possibly in no particular order. If I feel like it I’ll do another post later with more pictures.

The boys took swimming lessons while we were there (I got the idea from reading sirmaxalot when Christen took her boys to swimming lessons in WA.)

Jonah is the one floating.

Calvin and I did a class together.

The last day of the class the kids were offered the chance to jump off the diving board. The boys were so excited to do it. There were not many kids that wanted to, so they each got to go a few times.

While the boys swam Hazel hung out with my mom and snacked it up. (more…)

Chris helped me find an easier way to do posts. My Mac was not wanting to work with our website, so I was having a really hard time doing quick posts and so I wasn’t doing it. So here are few pictures to get the ball rolling.

Chris and Hazel having a conversation.

The boys being cute.

Ellie wanted to sit on Hazel’s lap. Turns out babies don’t have much lap to work with, but she found a comfy spot.

I like this one because Hazel looks so serious and you can see her little toes sticking out from under Ellie’s collar.

So excited!

Sometimes there are ninja fights before bedtime. Naturally they must wear their goggles.

We’ve been swimming as much as possible. Hazel gets tuckered out. (So do we!)

Here’s just some random pictures from this week

We went bowling. As you can see I still didn’t win, but I at least beat Jonah this time. I’m not sure if that’s more sad for me or happy for him that beating him is a step up for me.

The boys took turns holding Hazel while we bowled, sometimes arguing over who got to hold her. They sure do love their sister.

Calvin isn’t quite ready to hold her on his own (well, at home he can, but somewhere like the bowling alley, not so much) so he sat on Chris’s lap and she sat on his lap.


Silly faces at breakfast.

A friends and her daughter came over the other day. She and Hazel did a good job entertaining each other.

Hazel sleeping with the teddy bear her Aunt Rayna and Uncle Noah got her for Christmas. She often rolls onto her side when I put her in bed and reaches out so she can feel the bear. Then she’ll go to sleep.

I didn’t write down the birth of Jonah or Calvin like I did Hazel. And I hope it doesn’t sound bad when I say that Hazel’s birth was the best of the three, which is maybe why I was more motivated to write it all down.  Jonah’s birth was preceded by such a long labor, and colored by my frustrations with nursing.  And Calvin was born after months of seeing the awful doctors at Wright-Patt and was very medical.  It felt more like a procedure.  Hazel was an experience.  And it was wonderful.  So this is as much for me (and maybe future Hazel if she wants to read it) as it is for you.  If you don’t read it that’s okay, I’m glad I did it just the same.  And thank you for the gentle prodding Christen, I wanted to do this and I just needed some encouragement to sit at my computer.  Side note: I tried to put pictures in where they were logical, but in some places th

This story starts on Monday, November 23rd.  I am 41 weeks, 3 days pregnant.  I have spent the last two weeks doing everything I can to encourage Hazel to come see the world.  Apparently she wasn’t interested.  So, back to Monday — I have a 10:45 doctor’s appointment which Chris is able to attend while my mom watches Calvin.  I was very sad on Monday because my mom was leaving the next day and it made me feel terrible that she would not get to see Hazel.  I wanted to enjoy my mom’s last day so I was trying to stay upbeat, but I don’t think I did a very good job.  The doctor’s appointment didn’t help at all.  I had progressed very little since the week before and they wanted to talk about induction.  I was mostly okay with this because my doctor had told me the week before that they did not have any inductions available for Thanksgiving week so I assumed we would be talking about inducing the next week which would still give Hazel time to come on her own.  My biggest reason at this point for not wanting an induction was that I really wanted a natural birth and pitocin (the drug they use to induce labor) causes stronger, more painful contractions than natural labor.  I really did want a natural birth but, despite anything I may have said to the contrary, I really doubted my ability to do it and I felt adding pitocin would make it impossible.

(more…)

We thought it might be time to start Hazel out on a bottle.  Suffice it to say she got a little surly.

First off, I have to say that you should never ask a pregnant woman if she is having twins unless you have a REALLY good reason to do so.  Like she’s wearing a shirt that says “I’m having twins.”  Otherwise all you are really saying is that her belly is so big the only possible explanation is that there are two babies in there instead of just one.  And that doesn’t make anyone feel good.  I have been asked that question with all three pregnancies and it’s getting harder and harder to fake laugh and politely say no.  Just a little tip.

So I have been filled with a sense of expectation lately.  As though Hazel could be showing up any time, and it is hard to go to bed every night with nothing new happening.  I told myself at the beginning of this pregnancy to not get myself worked up or expect anything before I was 41 weeks, but my sense of discomfort has increased exponentially in the past week or two, so I look forward to hold her in my arms instead of my belly.  I feel enormous (looking at this picture doesn’t make that feeling any better, but you asked for a picture Sara, so here you go).  I actually took another picture from the front, which I think doesn’t look as bad, but it also doesn’t properly showcase my current state of hugeness.

(more…)

So, August was a super crazy month, and September has been equally ridiculous.  This weekend was the first since early August that we weren’t sick, moving, or traveling.  Because, really, what makes moving easier than going out of town the weekend before and after you move?   So here, finally, are some updates, stories, and info about us and (shockingly) the kiddos.  I have felt quite shamed lately by the ability of some others (namely one in particular) to keep up with pictures and updates despite being considerable more busy than I.  I think if Christen can take care of two kids on her own while being pregnant, have the baby, and then take care of THREE kids and still put up almost daily posts, we could try to do one at least one a week.  I think part of my problem is that once we wait too long then there is too much to post and I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information I should be putting up.  Side note: This post only has pictures of Calvin because all of the new pictures I have of Jonah involve things Chris wants to post about.  So if you want to see more pictures of Jonah bug Chris to get his post done.

(more…)