Falling asleep...

Memorial Weekend Wrap-up

We went to the annual Memorial Day family reunion in Perry on Monday and then visited Grandma & Grandpa W's gravesite briefly before heading back home. I think the reunion is losing numbers in attendance. There weren't nearly as many people there this year as in years past. The day following Memorial Day DH took off from work and went driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon with his parents & Blondie & Kitty. Unfortunately it was not the best weekend weather-wise for DH's parents. We were below normal temperatures and it rained a good portion of the day for Memorial Day. We're grateful that they came though and were able to be here for Baby K's blessing.

Blessing day!

Sunday, May 25

On Sunday we blessed Baby K after church. She was wonderful the whole day (because there were lots of people to hold her). Her dad gave her a beautiful blessing & we had both sets of parents & my sister M and her fiance there as well. Afterwards we had a luncheon at our house and one of DH's cousins showed up with her family (they arrived a few minutes too late for the blessing). Here are some pictures from the day (Baby K's starting to smile):

This dress was made by my mom and has been worn by all four girls now for their baby blessing.

Day at the beach

Well, not quite, but this is about as close as you can get to one here in the Salt Lake area. On Saturday, DH & his parents took the kids to the Great Salt Lake. This is the first time that DH and the kids have been there (and it's been a long time since I have been there) so we weren't quite sure what to expect. All I remember about it is that the water is VERY salty (you can't sink) and there is a very strong, almost overpowering smell of salt. I stayed home with Baby K to get some things ready for the luncheon for her baby blessing on Sunday and I wasn't sure it would be much fun for either of us. They ended up being gone a lot longer than I expected because they had a BLAST there. The kids were just dressed in pants & T-shirts & wore flip-flops because we thought they might want to get out and walk along the sandy shore. Well, it turns out that they all ended up practically swimming in the water. When they pulled up to the house I was in the middle of cooking dinner but I had to quickly put that on hold so that I could get everyone in the shower or bath to clean the salt off of them. One of the bad parts about playing in the Great Salt Lake is that the water is so salty and once that dries on the skin it causes the skin to become really dry and itchy sometimes (not very comfortable at all). I had to throw everyones clothes in the wash because they were completely wet! DH says that we will have to go again sometime and take the kids in their swimsuits & bring towels. There are some outdoor showers there to rinse off in but DH didn't want to shower their clothes for some reason...

Here is some video that DH took. Sorry it's pretty choppy - I will try and see if I can get a better version up soon...

Countdown to wedding day

We are getting very close to my sister M's wedding! Less than 2 weeks now! My mom & I attended a bridal shower for her that was given by some of her co-workers last Tuesday (she got a nice gift from them). Just about all of the dresses & ties for the nieces & nephews are finished. Her fiance, R, moved back up to Utah from Arizona Saturday. They ordered the food for the reception yesterday. Now I just need to get them their gift, find something for me to wear & hem Baby K's dress. It's getting exciting!

Reach the Beach take 2

There has been a lot going on lately (plus having a newborn around) and I have fallen behind in my blogging so bear with me as I try and catch up...

Two weekends ago DH went up to his parents' home to participate in the Reach the Beach bike ride in Portland, OR again. DH rode in it 2 years ago with his dad & brother so this was their second time. It is a 100 mile bike ride from Portland to the beach.

The ride was on Saturday, May 17 and it was not without incident again this year. Two years ago DH forgot his bike shoes at his parents' house and they had to go back to get them so they got to the starting point late. Well, this year they had an even later start because no one realized that the starting point was different from 2 years ago and it took them a while to figure out where the new location was (after showing up at the old location and seeing that no one was there).

DH did great though and his knee only bothered him a little bit compared to the last time. He said that the biggest problem was that they spent the whole ride trying to play catch up and they were never really able to get a good rest at any of the stops because of it. His only battle scar from the ride (other than being sore all around) was a pretty bad sunburn right above his sock line on his left leg - apparently it was the only spot that he missed and they had extremely hot weather for the ride - upper 90s.

While DH was out of town the kids and I went to spend Saturday & Sunday at my parents house. We went to the kids' soccer games on Saturday morning and then packed up and headed over to my parents house. Even though it was a pain to pack everything up for just one night it was nice to have some extra help with the kids and meals. Also their ward meets at 1 p.m. on Sunday and mine meets at 9 a.m. - I wasn't sure how successfully I would be able to get all of the kids up and ready for church by 9 a.m. with DH not around. Plus I wasn't sure how the kids would do in Sacrament Meeting if I had to go out to feed Baby K during it.

Mother's Day

This was the year for jewelry for me for Mother's Day. Kitty made me a necklace in nursery and the older three kids each made me a bracelet at a primary activity. Left to right we have Blondie, Luke & M&M (it's funny how much they reflect their personalities). At school M&M made an art picture for me and Luke made an impression of his handprint. DH gave me some flowers to plant in my pots on the front porch & walkway.

After church the kids made my mom some flowers out of tissue paper & pipe cleaners. We gave them to her that evening when we went over to her house for dinner.

Sunday nap...

Reading

The other morning I had set Baby K down on the floor so that I could get a couple of things done. The next thing I knew, Kitty was over there next to her with a book. Kitty was very excited because Baby K was looking at the book while she was "reading" it to her.

Busy Blondie

Earlier today I was holding Baby K while I was trying to get some things done at the computer. Baby K was getting upset because she wanted me to feed her (again). Blondie came over and gave Baby K a hug and she quit crying. Blondie then walked away and Baby K started crying again. Blondie came back and hugged her again and she quit crying again for a minute. Then Blondie walked away saying, "I can't stay with her all the time every day. I have to do stuff..."

One month old

Baby K is one month old today. And today is the first day that I was actually able to go somewhere with Baby K and make it home again before she started screaming. (She did try crying once as I was loading everyone back into the car, but she fell asleep again on the drive home.) I am hopeful that I will not have to be homebound too much longer. :) Baby K is also finally starting to fill out a little. It has taken a while but she is finally nursing really well and my body is finally making enough milk for her. I think that she is growing in length more than weight though because she seems to be a lot longer than when she was born (either that or she is just unfolding from the fetal position).

Battle of wills

Today Kitty & Blondie & I are having a battle of wills. I am really struggling with getting these two kids (especially Kitty) to eat dinner lately. If it is something that they don't like they would rather just go without dessert or even go to bed instead of eat the dinner. Last night we were having leftovers from a chicken & rice dish that I made on Sunday. On Sunday both of them ate their rice so I didn't think we would have any problems with having it again on Monday. In fact, when Kitty climbed up into her chair on Monday for dinner and saw that we were having the rice again she said, "Yum! Rice!" She didn't touch a grain of it though and neither did Blondie. After the usual threatenings of no dessert & going to bed immediately didn't faze them at all I told them both that they would have to sit at the table until it was eaten. After more than an hour of sitting at the table I finally sent them up to bed and told them that they would have to eat the rice the next day before they could eat anything else.

This morning Blondie came downstairs and said that she wanted breakfast. I told her that before she could have any breakfast she would have to eat her rice from last night. She ended up going back to her room and Kitty stayed in her room as well most of the morning because they didn't want to eat their rice. I was able to shower early this morning so we had time to attempt a trip to the grocery store. Usually after a trip to the store I will give the kids a snack to eat on the way home. So once we got back out to the car the girls asked for a snack - they were not happy to hear that they couldn't have one because they had to eat their rice first...

After we got home and I fed Baby K I heated up the rice for both girls for lunch and set it at the table for them. They both chose once again to go to bed instead of eating it. Lunch was very quiet for me...

Finally after M&M and Luke came home from school they both decided to try eating their rice once again. After much coaxing and cheering on I finally got Kitty to eat some of hers! She was so excited and proud of herself afterwards! Blondie was a little more difficult but she finally ate enough to make me happy and then they were both able to eat some crackers! Success finally!

I wish I could say that they have learned a lesson now and will eat what I ask when I ask it of them, but I'm sure that would be too good to be true...

First trip to church

Yesterday Baby K & I finally made it to church for Sacrament Meeting. I tried to go the week before but ended up still nursing her by the time we needed to leave and no sign of letting up. Since Sacrament Meeting is last in our ward I got everyone else up and dressed and out of the door before 9 a.m. I was then able to lay Baby K down & take a shower. Then I got us both dressed & ready to go before I gave her a final feeding. Since DH had taken everyone else in the van I had to walk (luckily our chapel is only about 2 blocks away). So I got her well fed and then threw her in the baby sling and headed out the door. I thought for sure that she would be asleep by the time I got to church but she wasn't. She was still wide eyed (but drowsy looking) when we got there. Junior primary was just coming out of the primary room so I watched for Blondie & Luke. Blondie was so excited to see me. She called out, "Mom! And you brought Baby K!" The kids think it's a lot of fun to be able to take Baby K places...

Thankfully I was able to get Baby K asleep by patting her on the back once we made it into the chapel and amazingly she stayed asleep the whole time! (A couple of times she started squirming around like she was going to wake up but I managed to keep her asleep.) It was definitely harder to manage the other kids without waking her up but somehow we managed. And we are realizing that our family is definitely getting too big for a side bench now...

After we got home from church Baby K still stayed asleep in the sling for a good 1 1/2 hours more. It was great! I was able to get all of the dinner ready & in the oven plus do a few other things. After she woke up I fed her and then she was still awake so I decided to get a picture of all the kids together (this is the first one we've taken since Baby K was born). There was a little bit of an argument over who got to hold the baby in the picture so we took turns and we have picture of each of them holding the baby.Baby K stayed awake in her bouncer chair during dinner (usually she is crying or I am feeding her at dinner time) and then a little later we went over to my parents' for dessert and to help my sister M with her wedding invitations. I think that yesterday was the best day that I have had with Baby K since she was born. She nursed great all day long, took some good naps and had several awake & alert periods. She even slept for almost 5 hours straight during the night. I'm hoping that this is the start of turning over a new leaf for her. It would be nice to be able to put her down every once in a while and not have to nurse her or hold her while she's sleeping all day long... (In fact right now she is asleep and I am not holding her!!)

Newborns...

Heavenly Father definitely knew what he was doing when He was designing newborns. There is something absolutely intoxicating about them at times. Here are some of my favorite things about having a newborn:

• The newborn smell - Newborns have a smell about them that makes them irresistible to kiss and cuddle.


• SOFT SKIN - Everything about a newborn is SOFT. I love kissing the cheeks & top of the head especially - SO SOFT.


• Tiny everything - It's so cute seeing tiny ears, nose, mouth, fingers, etc.


• HUGE eyes - Babies have such HUGE eyes in comparison to the rest of their body & facial features. I love it when a baby will just gaze up into your eyes as you talk to them.


• Baby sounds - I love hearing a newborn making cooing noises - even their cry can be cute at times.


• Tiny fingers that will grab anything - especially my finger while nursing - and they have a pretty powerful grip for one so tiny.


• Sleep smiles - Newborns smile a lot in their sleep. It's really cute to see and it often makes me wonder what they're dreaming about.


• Open mouth kisses - Whenever you kiss a newborn on the cheek they turn towards you with an open mouth searching for food. It takes a while for them to finally distinguish between the person that is their food source and those that are not.


• Scrawny legs - Newborns have such cute scrawny legs that can't do much of anything for several weeks/months.


• Tiny, portable heaters - Babies generate a LOT of heat when you cuddle with them (especially when they are asleep). I am generally freezing around my house lately since I'm not pregnant anymore - except when I'm holding the baby.


• Tiny heat seekers - When you are holding a sleeping baby they are constantly seeking out a heat source which usually means they end up doing a face plant on the chest of whoever is holding them.

All of this works together to make the mother feel like the 9 months of pregnancy and hours of labor pains plus the delivery are totally worth it!

More Baby K pictures

You can never post too many baby pictures...

Nice head of hair (at least for now)...

No longer the baby...

Kitty is having a little bit of a rough transition with the new baby around. She is a little bit obsessive compulsive as it is and the last couple of weeks since Baby K was born Kitty has been even more emotional and quick to cry at things. At first I wasn't sure if the two events were related, but I think that the birth of Baby K has to be part of the problem. On Sunday we finally ventured out to my parents' house since having the baby and when we were getting ready to leave DH was trying to get Kitty's pajamas on and she was throwing an absolute fit about it. She quite often gets in the mood where she only wants me to do things for her and now that Baby K is here that's just not possible a lot of the time.

For the most part Kitty hasn't been too interested in Baby K (unlike Blondie). She will occasionally ask to hold her, but she hasn't really been as interested as I thought she would be. I've been trying to get her a little more involved with Baby K these last couple of days and she really enjoys it when Baby K looks at her or turns towards her. Hopefully the added attention will help her feel a little more secure about herself.

At the same time, Kitty can be a very cute 3 year old. On Monday (so the day after the incident at my parents' house) she was in the best mood and was very happy all day long. After she had finished eating dinner she said, "That was a great dinner Mom! Thanks for making it!" DH then gave a family home evening lesson that evening and Kitty wasn't paying any attention to it, but at the end of the lesson she asked if it was over and then she said, "That was a great lesson Dad!". At bedtime she went and got her pajamas and gave them to her dad to put on. When he was changing her she made a comment that she loves having her dad help her put her pajamas on, she just doesn't like him doing it at Grandma & Grandpa's house... :)

The other day DH was opening a present we received for the baby and after he opened it he held it up for Kitty & me to see and he said, "Look, new sheets for Baby K." Kitty looked at them and immediately said, "Ohhh, she'll love it!"

Blondie loves babies!!

Blondie just absolutely loves having a baby in the house. There isn't a day that goes by since Baby K was born that Blondie doesn't tell me how much she loves babies. It's really cute how much she loves Baby K, but at the same time it can get a little trying on my patience... Whenever she sees or hears the baby she has to rush over to her and almost smother her with hugs/kisses. She also is always asking if she can hold the baby. The problem with this is that at only 3 1/2 weeks old, Baby K doesn't do too much other than want to eat & sleep - so Blondie is usually either waking her up from sleep or trying to bug her while I'm trying to feed her. I can't wait until Baby K is a little bit older so that Blondie can actually play with her and Baby K will love the attention!

April showers bring...

May snow?!?

This is what we woke up to this morning, the 1st of May (and just 2 days ago we had temperatures in the low 80s)...

Here are some tulips that I cut from my flower beds on Tuesday: