The things kids say...

So I am rushing around while ALL the kids are napping (a feat all by itself!!!) trying to get everything ready for my sisters to arrive. At the moment I am picking up all the toys, Emmaline comes out of her room and says to me (in a stage whisper): "Mommy! Moooommmy! Will you please stop making that noise? It might wake one of the girls up and I am trying to get some rest so please try to be more quiet!"

You just can't win.

Rating: 3 Pixie Dust (at least she was trying to nap!)

Snack.....errrrr.... CRAFT weekend

The Ididarod Dog Sled Race in Alaska has two starts to it. There is a "Ceremonial" start in Anchorage that doesn't count for anything - it is all for show. Then the racers pack up their dogs and sled and drive to Wasilla (Willow now actually) where the REAL race begins. So what does this have to do with Snack.... errrrr... CRAFT Weekend??? Well today is the ceremonial start!

It all start many years ago now as CRAFT weekend. All the women of the family get together for the weekend and bring unfinished projects and sit around all weekend and finish things and gab together. Well over the years it has evolved into a complete lack of any project completing - but we still sit around and gab, and more importantly - eat yummy snacks that everyone brings! Thus now we tease and call it Snack Weekend instead. Don't tell our husbands though. They still think it is a productive weekend full of much project completing and boring civilized fun. . .

This year it is at my house since I just had a baby and all. (I've tried to warn Imogene that the Aunties are ALL coming but she doesn't understand the magnitude of what that means!). Tonight, two of my sisters arrive - thus the "Ceremonial" start. Then late on Thursday night, my one other sister, and my sister-in-law arrive. Thus the TRUE start of Snack.... I mean CRAFT weekend. Sadly my mom isn't able to come this year or it'd be a complete group.

Bring on the 7 Layer Dip!!!!!

Rating: All the homemade cookies and cakes and bags of chips you can eat! (there's no dieting on Snack...errrr... CRAFT weekend)

Back to Church

We decided to be brave this week and attempt church for the first time with three kids. It went...well, it went.

I am pleased to say that we were all ready to go early (which is a feat in and of itself) and got to church in a timely manner. My goal was to have Imogene make it through until after the sacrament was passed before I needed to nurse her. Yeah. That didn't work. As soon as we arrived at church (15 minutes early!) she insisted on eating. So AJ got seated with Emmaline and Liliana and I trekked off to the Mother's Lounge. Imogene ate and we managed to make it into the meeting just before the opening hymn. We made it through the hymn, prayer, and sacrament, and then Emmaline had a bathroom emergency and so I had to take her out quickly. As soon as Emmaline and I left, Liliana apparently threw a fit - and AJ was holding Imogene, so someone grabbed Lil for him and took her out into the foyer. When we got back from the bathroom, Imogene was starting to get fussy, so up I got again and took her. I put her in the sling and rocked her until she fell asleep = which only took about 5 minutes. Success! So back into the meeting I went. I was sitting not 5 minutes when she woke up again, so out I went again. I ended up spending the next 45 minutes sitting in the foyer because Imogene would wake up whenever I moved.

Finally it was time for Sunday School. I dropped Emmaline off at her class, and AJ took Liliana to the nursery. Liliana did NOT do as well this time as she did last time. AJ ended up staying the entire time in there with her. Meanwhile in my Sunday School class, Imogene woke up about 10 minutes into it. I took her back to the Mother's Lounge and fed her and managed to get back to class just as they were saying "Amen" on the closing prayer.

Then Relief Society started. I handed Imogene off and went and played the prelude music and the opening hymn. Right after we finished the opening hymn, I saw Emmaline's teacher beckoning at me. So off I went again! They handed out treats and wanted me to check the label and make sure they were safe for Emmaline. When I got back to Relief Society, I heard a baby crying - and sure enough, it was Imogene! I went back in, grabbed my sling and Imogene, and headed back out again. I put her back in the sling and rocked her to sleep. Of course during this time I was supposed to be accompanying another hymn, but they ended up skipping it. I got back to Relief Society just in time to play the closing hymn and some postlude.

So what did I get out of 3 hours of church today? the Sacrament, 3 prayers, 4 hymns, and about 15 minutes of lessons.

Rating: 1 Dum-Dum (for being a dum-dum and thinking I would actually get something out of church today...)

Diaper Daze

Well I was much more successful in my Walgreens runs today. In fact so successful that I managed to go to EIGHT different Walgreens and walk away with:

71 Packs Diapers
3 Boxes Dried Fruit
1 Honey Bear
1 Gallon Milk
4 tubes chapstick
6 boxes nursing pads
2 tubs wipes
2 packs of gum
2 reusable shopping bags

AND
$39.53 richer than when I left the house this morning.

Not a bad day at the office.

Rating: 5 Lollipops

What a day!

Today, right after breakfast, I loaded up all three kids by myself for the first time and headed off to Walgreens. I ended up going to FOUR stores and none of them had what I was looking for! So I was very sad and exhausted and frustrated to drag all *three* kids in and out of stores and carseats for nothing.

When we got home, we decided to walk to the neighbor's house around the corner and give her a little thank you gift for watching the girls the night I went into labor. Alas - she wasn't home.

Neither Emmaline or Liliana napped today, so that made for two cranky girls this afternoon. Then due to their noise, they woke up Imogene early from her afternoon nap - which resulted in a third cranky girl this afternoon. Amongst all this, I stubbed my "ring" toe on a wall and I think I broke it! That resulted in a very cranky mommy! Sadly there is apparently nothing you can do for a broken toe except for stick it out.

AJ had to work late tonight (which left him feeling cranky) so it was just me and the girls for dinner. Luckily there was leftover spaghetti from last night so I could just heat that up for them. The best part was when Lil dumped her bowl all over the floor. In exasperation, I just washed their faces and hands, took them upstairs, plopped everyone on my bed, and turned on cartoons and we sat until AJ got home and helped me wrangle them all into pj's and into bed.

That doesn't mean they are asleep of course - I can hear Emmaline and Liliana laughing and giggling as I type this - but at least they are in their room!

I'm including a picture I took yesterday when they were being cute and fun. . . .



Rating: A bunch of Sour Patch Kids eating Fireballs

**UPDATE** Please say a prayer

for a friend of mine. One of my best friends from high school was hiking and has been missing for a day and half. Her brother married my sister so really she is family too. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.


**UPDATE** she was found and is fine!!!! I'm sorry I don't have other details right now.

Maternity Photos

My photos are done! Here a couple of my favorites:

Rating: 4 Lollipops (I'm happy with how they came out!)

New Freezer!

On Friday our new freezer (paid for with income from our garage sale!) was delivered. AJ and Emmaline reorganized the basement a bit this weekend and we were able to move both freezers out of the garage and to the basement with the rest of the food stuff.

We've had some problems lately with our old freezer requiring some TLC to get it to shut tightly - thus almost losing everything in it a few times! When it shuts tight though - it works great. So when we reorganized, we made our new freezer the Meat Freezer and our old freezer the Veggies and Bread Freezer. In other words - we put stuff in the old freezer that won't make our wallets feel so devastated if we lost it all! AJ also rigged up the old freezer with a bungee cord that ensures it is shut tightly.

Anyway - isn't the freezer all big and sparkly??? (okay - actually it isn't sparkly - it was on clearance because the handle got dented - thus why we got it for cheap! WOO!)

And here is a picture of how the freezers are set up in relation to the rest of our stash. Sadly I had a really hard time getting a decent angle. Sorry.

Rating: 3 Otter Pops (Actually we now have room for WAY more than just three! mmmmmmm Louie-Bloo Raspberry!)

Where are the Fruits of our Labors???

This morning we went out and did some much needed weeding and pruning around the yard. Remember how we had cherries, and strawberries, and tomatoes, and a jalapeno growing? Yeah - well not so much anymore. The birds have eaten the strawberries, peck at the cherries, the ONE tomato looks - sad, and the jalapeno has gone mysteriously missing. (Hopefully whatever bird stole it gets a very fiery mouthful!) Anyway - we did get all the weeding done, and all is not lost because we finally set up the sand and water table underneath the swingset for the girls to play in. Emmaline said she couldn't help us weed because it makes her "too tired". Girl after my own heart....



Rating: 3 Fireballs (the few things we've dared to cultivate aren't doing too well!)

Friends

Do you ever wonder if your kids already know each other?

This may sound like crazy talk, but there are times when I see Imogene and Liliana look at each other in such a familiar way. Or when Liliana strokes Imogene's head and babbles to her in a way that makes you think they are catching up or Lil is just explaining life to Imogene. It really is uncanny at times. It'll be interesting to see them grow and see what kind of relationship they have.

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust

Sweet Dreams

Last night Imogene slept for 7 hours!!! SEVEN! It was awesome but of course now I'm worried that she is getting enough to eat and all that. Maybe she is starving and slept so long due to low blood sugar or something? Or maybe I'm just really really lucky? Why can't we as mothers just relax and not worry about everything?

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust - (I *think* this is a good thing!)

Isabooties

Yesterday there was a package on the porch. It turned out to be a baby gift from our realtor who helped us find our house almost two years ago! The gift was the most adorable baby booties for pre-walkers. They are made of a suede material and have an elastic type opening so they don't fall off and get lost which baby socks and shoes are prone to do. To the left is a picture of the ones we got, but you can check the whole line here: http://www.isabooties.com/

Rating: 3 Lollipops (aren't they cute?)

Newborn Checkup

I took Imogene in for her newborn checkup today. Her current stats are:

6 lbs. 11 oz.
20 inches long.

So she is pretty much the exact same size as she was when she was born - even though she looks much more filled out to me. But that is a good thing! Babies lose weight in the beginning and by 2 weeks old they expect them to be back at birthweight. So at 10 days old, she is just 2 oz. shy of her birthweight, so she is right on target. The doctor said she looked great and said to bring her back in 2 weeks for her 1 month check.

Afterwards, we went across the street to the hospital where they did the last half of the genetic screening. It involves a nasty heel prick and blood collection in a little vial. Of course she hated every second of it but now it is over and done with.

She has been sleeping great. At night she does about 3 sets of sleeping for 3-4 hours. Last night she actually slept for 5 hours ate, and then went back down for another 3. Life is totally manageable with her sleeping that well at night.

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust (good baby!)

A Pronounciation Guide

Emmaline: Emma-line (rhymes with fine, mine, pine) not Emma-lynn or Emma-leen

Liliana: Lily-AH-nuh NOT Lily-ANN-uh

Imogene: Short "I" sound. IM-o-jean. Not EYE-mo-jean or Emma-jean. "Gene" rhymes with Jean like the jeans you wear. It doesn't sound like gin or Jen.

I've gotten several comments as of late that mispronounce the names or even think that Emmaline and Imogene have similar names. Turns out people who have only seen the names in writing think it is Emma-leen and Emma-jean. No wonder people thought we were crazy for naming them such similar names!!! Anyway, hopefully that clears everything up and nobody thinks I'm completely nuts anymore - at least not when it comes to naming my kids almost the same names. . .

Rating: 1 Fireball (silly people!)

Garage Sale - Day 2

We had a lot less traffic today which surprised me since it is Saturday. We made just $99 today - but also most of our best sellers were already gone yesterday! So all in all, we made a total of $480.25. Definitely way more than we paid for all that stuff.
We burned $12 of it at the garage sale down the street. They were selling a bunch of toys (their girls are about 9 years old) so we scored some great stuff for our girls. The rest we went to Lowe's with and bought another freezer (well it didn't cover ALL of the freezer - but most of it!). I am very excited to have 2 freezers! It means more room for more deals!

Rating: 5 Lollipops (a very satisfactory Garage Sale and good research for what to invest in for the next year!)

Garage Sale - Day 1

Here are a few pictures from our Garage Sale today. We sold about 2/3 of what you see in the pictures for a total of $381.25. We plan on finishing up tomorrow hopefully. Slashing some prices to move the rest of it! I was very surprised by what things were big sellers and what things weren't Like Air Fresheners - people snapped those up. Weird.

Last night we pulled up everything from the basement and prepped it to go out in the morning:

Here is an overall look at the sale. We did have a small stack of non-bargain hunting stuff (and old microwave, toaster, etc) that aren't in the picture)

And some close-ups of the tables:

Ratings: 4 Lollipops (not too shabby of a profit!)

You decide 2008...

So here is the question - who looks like who? I tried to choose pictures with similar poses. What do you think?

Emmaline and Imogene:

Liliana and Imogene:

Rating: 3 Pixie Dust (it doesn't really matter who looks like who - they're all cute.)

Pure Adoration

I just snuck up on my family doing this....

Rating: 5 Lollipops (sweet enough to melt your heart!)

Highlights

My apologies for not updating as much as I usually do. I've been kind of busy!

So a few highlights from the last few days:

~Imogene appears to be just as skilled at the "blow out" as my other girls.

~After watching her sleep habits for the last few days, we were able to manipulate her last night, and she slept from 11pm-1am, eat, then 1:30-5:00, eat, then 6:00-8:30am. SCORE! I can act like a human during the day with that sleep schedule so let's hope it isn't a fluke

And for the biggest highlight? ****drumroll****

~I'm wearing my regular pre-pregnancy jeans today, thank you very much! A *snitch* snug - but buttoned up just fine. YAY!

Rating: 5 Sugar-Free candies (so I can continue to fit into my jeans)

First Full Day

We got home from the hospital yesterday so today was our first full day at home. Everyone is doing great - though tired. I wish Imogene was just a BIT more tired at 3am....
Anyway, Emmaline and Lil just adore her. Emmaline loves being a "helper" and Liliana is just content to stroke Imogene's head from time to time. Very cute!
Today I was holding Imogene while she slept, and Emmaline came up, gave her a kiss on her head and told her to have sweet dreams. awwwwwwwww.

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust (such cute girls!)

And the winners are....

For closest date: My parents' guess of July 7 (3 days off!)
For closest weight: my friend Jenny with a guess of exactly 7 lbs. (just 3 oz. off!)

Honorable mention to my sister, Jana, who predicted I would just sneeze Imogene out. With just 2.5 hours of labor and 1 big push - I pretty much did sneeze her out.

And congratulations to the 28% of you who voted that she'd be a brunette! (why was this the lowest percent? Dark hair is a dominant trait! )

Rating: 5 Lollipops (Good job everyone! Except for Jana - we're in a fight now for you making such a prediction!)

How about some early fireworks?

Along with the celebration of our nation's independence, I guess we're losing our independence just a little bit more. Imogene decided that she just couldn't wait any longer, and was sick and tired of being cramped up in Bethany's belly. She was born today, July 4th, as is family tradition. You see... Bethany predicted that Imogene would be born on July 9th. Why? Well, because she thought she had some special insight, being the mother and all. But in OUR family, babies like to be born on days that are already celebrated: Emmaline was born on Labor Day (HA!) and Liliana was born on our wedding anniversary. So it should have been fairly obvious that with a major holiday within 2 weeks of Bethany's official due date (July 14th) that Imogene would be born on said holiday.

The actual process of getting to the hospital was an adventure in and of itself. AJ was up late playing games (Friday is a holiday, after all!). At about 1:20am or so, Bethany paged me and indicated she had "flu like" symptoms. But... there was also the problem of having contractions. So we started timing, and pretty soon she was 6-7 minutes apart. But it was the middle of the night! We tried calling some friends, but they didn't answer. We tried calling the Relief Society president, and she didn't answer. Oddly enough, Emmaline's primary teacher (who doesn't have young children) lives right around the corner from us, so we gave her a try. And thank goodness she was available! (And she was familiar with Emmaline's allergies) We gave her a whirlwind tour of the house, and rushed out the door. We checked into the hospital at 2:35am. Imogene was born at 3:19am. Bethany walked into the hospital at 7-8cm. So from first contraction to birth was roughly 2.5 hours. Wow.


Imogene is absolutely adorable, not that we're biased or anything. She weighs 6 pounds, 13 ounces. She's 20 inches long. Her head circumference is 13.5cm. She has blue eyes and the most adorable little cry (though I'm sure we'll not always think her cry is adorable). And she has dark hair. Not as much as Liliana had, but definitely not hair like Emmaline's. And she has Liliana's mouth. When she cries you could almost assume it's Liliana.

So here we are at the hospital... it's 4:50am. Imogene is slowly drifting off to sleep - something we'd like to be doing too. All in due time, I guess... like, in 18 years. *sigh*

Oh! Her name! Her full given name is Imogene Michelle. And pictures will be forthcoming... we didn't exactly have time to take any.

-AJ, Bethany, Emmaline, Liliana and Imogene

Rating: 10 kazillion Pixie Dust and 50 bajillion Sweethearts (because Imogene was born and she's just fantastic!)

When your kids foil you....

So as part of the solution to getting the girls to not come into our room so early, we got Emmaline a clock a couple days ago. We showed her how the first number needs to be a seven before she and Lil are allowed to come out of their room and come wake me up. (I'd prefer 9:00 but I was trying to be reasonable!) So for the last two mornings, the girls have come into my room - before 7:00. When I ask why they are out of their room when the first number on their clock is clearly a six, I get this reply: "But I wanted to see what time it is on YOUR clock."

It's like she KNOWS that I set her clock 6 minutes slow....


Rating: 3 Pixie Dust (that Emmaline is such a smarty-pants)

38 weeks - Let's Play a Guessing Game!

Today was my 38 week doctor's appointment. There is really nothing to report other than I am still pregnant. I could have told the doctor that without going! The only amusing thing was that the doctor made a comment that she had a patient who was refusing to come out of the bathroom - but she didn't explain what that was all about of course. Weird.
Anyway, we also went over protocol for when I go into labor. It involves: have regular contractions, go to the hospital. Very complicated!
So anyway - let's play a guessing game. I want to hear when everyone thinks this baby will come and how much it will weigh. If you are a lucky someone who I've already told my predictions to - no fair! Enter yourown guess - no stealing mine.

A few facts to make the guessing easier:

I was 2 cm dilated 2 weeks ago.
Baby is carrying low and head down.
I have been having mild contractions from time to time.

Emmaline was 5 days early.
Liliana was 4 days early.
Emmaline was 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches long.
Liliana was 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 inches long.

Emmaline was born on Labor Day
Liliana was born on our 6th anniversary.
Important dates around my due date: 4th of July and my grandma's birthday on July 16.

Leave me a comment with your guess! Winner gets.....um.....gloating rights. Which is the ultimate prize in my family!

Rating: 3 Lollipops (the waiting game is boring)