Free+Fun+Friends=Ice Skating!

We had just finished celebrating the two week Winter Olympics at Brevin and Lindie's school--the same two weeks the Olympics were up and running. Our local ice skating rink offered FREE hockey and ice skating lessons on the weekends of the Olympics. Coincidence? I think not! An opportunity to creat a mass playdate with friends from our new ward, old ward, and old school and new school? YES!


And yet...nothing could beat the Zamboni!! It was like Caillou come to life!

Lindie and Michaela getting ready to transform themselves into princesses on the ice. Lindie stayed out on the ice until she was the last one standing...pricariously...along the wall. She has persistence! Michaela stayed on the ice for 2 minutes. She fell down, and that was it. Spencer and I enjoyed handing out doughnuts and drinking hot chocolate and watching it all. Thank you friend and Vacaville Ice!

Spencer: Two Months and Growing...

We finally captured his smile! This is a small one too. We'll keep trying for the BIG smile that lights up his whole face.

Doesn't he look old and ready to tell us all about everything we ever wanted to know?

I just love this one! My bugga boo, chillin', waiting to be entertained by his siblings.

Lindie does this thing where she rubs the tops of his earlobes and they just talk to each other back and forth. Lindie said, "Try it on your ears mom--it's REALLY relaxing." Ohhhh-kay.

Is this one baby announcement worthy?

Or what about this one?

We won't be putting him on the couch for much longer--he's growing!

Happy Holidays

Happy Birthday, Michaela!! Michaela turned 4 on December 10th. I think her best present was having Grammie here! Do you see the frozen strawberries she put on her chocolate cake? (The curtains behind her are long gone...just part of making our house our own home).

Ok, this picture is out of order. This is Spencer in the last few days of December. He just gave a BIG, HUGE smile and I took the picture towards the end of the smile. Our Spencer boy is SO sweet.

"The boys" talking to each other.

"The girls" giggling together on a Sunday afternoon.

Lindie and Spencer in their Red Nightgowns on Christmas Day.

"...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care..." We love our stockings because most of them were made by my mom. Mine was made by my beloved Aunt Boopie (named after Betty Boop--her real name is Linda!)

Christamas morning before we opened the presents. Hmm...one of these things is not like the other...red nightgown, red nightgown, red nightgown, PURPLE T-ball shirt. We'll just call Randy my little sugar plum. This year we bought an artificial tree to simplify our lives. We loved the simplicity, but missed the smell of the evergreen.

Happy New Year 2010!! Randy was chaperoning the stake dance, so the kids and I celebrated like it was...2010. We made newspaper hats (they quickly flew off) and through all of our shreddings in the paper shredder for confetti. The garage was a perfect place for our party. We then had Martenelli's and talked about our goals/aspirations for the new year. Brevin said he wants to read three Harry Potter books, Michaela said she wants to take another gymnastics class, and Lindie said she wants to buy something at the Hello Kitty store. We'll see what we can do about those goals. My goal is to enjoy my kids. I feel like they are growing up too fast and I want to enjoy the ride.

Bringing Home Baby

Michaela holding her little brother, Spencer, for the first time! Doesn't she look excited to be a BIG sister now!

Brevin holding his little brother for the first time. They definately look related!

Lindie so wanted to have a little brother, or as she said, "I want to see what a YOUNGER brother looks like!"

Spencer and Grammie in the hospital together. I'm SO thankful my mom was able to come and help!

Lindie's 7th Birthday flowers--silly grin and all.

Spencer John

Spencer John was born at 4:55pm on Thursday, November 19. He weighed 8 pounds 6 oz. and was 21 inches long. He has light brown hair and very dark blue eyes--will they turn brown? He is a sweet, sweet baby who enjoys being loved by his older brother and sisters. They are pros at putting on hand sanitizer everytime before they hold him and only give him kisses on the top of his head.

I wanted to post pictures with this blog but I can't find where I unpacked the cords to do that. Pictures are forthcoming.

Randy and I went into North Bay Hospital in Fairfield at 7:30am. By 8:30am Dr. Fazio had inserted a pill inside me to help me contract. She said she wanted to induce me slowly as she felt that would be better for baby. She said she may need to insert a total of 4 pills every 4 hours. Since I came into the hospital only dialated to a 1, it looked like we had a LONG day ahead of us. Randy and I came prepared. He brought his laptop and we brought along all of our favorite sports movies--Rudy, Miracle, Hoosiers, Field of Dreams, Rookie, etc. By the time the doctor came back to examine me at 12:30pm, I had already taken a nap, watched Rudy, and had eaten a pretty decent lunch. Once she inserted that second pill, things really started happening. I can remember talking to the kids and my mom on the phone and at 1:30pm I had to say goodbye because the contractions were getting stronger. By 2pm, my water had broken on its own. When our awesome nurse, Amy--who just happens to live a few houses down from us, came to confirm that my water had broken, she also found some muconion (sp?), so she called in the on call neonatalogist to make sure he would be there for the birth. That neonatalogist just happened to be our stake president! I was feeling very well taken care of!

By 2:30pm I was at a 4 and ready for an epideural. Dear Dr. Walker couldn't find my spine. I had swollen so much during this pregnancy that I had edema of the spine! Who has ever heard of that! After 4 tries, he finally just put it in. Let me just say, I don't think the epideural ever took. My back still hurts from his tries and Randy says they are nowhere near my spine. Hmm. Oh, well.

From 4-4:55pm I was in transition. Oh the things I say to my sweet husband during transition! I felt the urge to push like nobody's business, but the nurses and doctor kept telling me I was only at a 7. Turns out I went from a 7 to a 10 in 5 minutes, but they didn't believe me until I begged them to please examine me again. When they did they all said, "Let's have a baby! Push away!" Spencer joined the world after only 3 pushes. Our stake president was there seeing me in all my glory. As soon as Spencer was born he said, "Happy Birthday, Spencer!" It was a wonderful moment.

Randy stayed beside Spencer's side for all of his measurements and weighing in and bath. I enjoyed watching father and son connect. Spencer nursed right away and before we knew it, we were on our way into the tiniest room ever! I have always been a strong believer in staying in the hospital for 2 days, but by Friday afternoon I was ready to leave! I learned I am claustrophobic if I don't have a window by my bedside to look out of, and I have to have the door open! It was a pleasure to arrive home Friday evening and feel like I could breathe once again.

By Saturday, Randy's parents came to meet their newest grandson and my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jerry came to plant me a winter garden in our garden spot. Wonderful.

My mom is helping me by taking the kids wherever they need to be, keeping the house clean, making our dinners, and making sure I get at least 2 naps a day. Thanks for coming, mom! However, on Tuesday night, my sisters Celeste and Ally drove up to pick up my mom and the kids for the rest of Thanksgiving week. My sister Keri and brother Craig and their families together with Ally and Celeste their families are all together at Celeste's new mansion and enjoying cousin time. I won't see my kids again until Saturday! Randy has been grading 4 tests and tons of homework from when he took time off to be with baby, and I have been enjoying the rest--and the chick flick DVD's Randy picked up for me at the library! By Saturday, I will be ready to see my kids again.

I'm so thankful Spencer is here safe and sound. I'm so thankful not to be pregnant anymore. This pregnancy was a hard one from beginning to end. I'm thankful for our new home, the kids new school, and especially for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

November 19

I got a call from my mom, who is serving her second Public Affairs mission for all of West Africa with my dad, on Sunday saying she is flying out to take care of me when baby comes! I was completely surprised and shocked! I know I have been overly emotional/hormonal/freaked out/crazy especially during these last few weeks of this pregnancy, but I wasn't expecting my mom to take a leave of absence from her mission for her mentally unstable daughter--which would be me at the moment. But SURPRISE! She flies in tomorrow morning and I will be induced at 9 days late the next day! I think baby Spencer is waiting to meet his Grammie. At today's dr. appointment, I have made progress from my ZERO centimeters of the last two weeks. I am now at an astounding 1 1/2 centimeters!! Twoo-twoo! Heck, I was at 2 centimeters with Brevin and Lindie when I arrived at the hospital--of course my water had already broken so they had to keep me. My water broke with Michaela too, but they kept sending me home! UGH! So this will be a new experience for me. I am just so excited and anxious to meet the little guy!

Happy 7th Birthday, Lindie

Lindie turns 7 tomorrow. Randy brought home a dozen pink roses to surprise her with tonight. He felt that her birthday has been getting lost in the shuffle of waiting for this baby to come.

How can Lindie get lost in the shuffle?

Lindie has been asking me a lot about what she was like as a baby. I tell her she wanted her mommy ALL the time--to hold her, to feed her, but mostly to snuggle with her. She is still a great snuggle bug. She loves to sleep in and wake up slowly. She also loves chocolate!

What I love most about Lindie is her insight. For example, yesterday while we were in the car we were listening to one of my favorite songs by Martina McBride "Bring on the Rain". We had just watched the musical "Annie" the night before. She said after listening to "Bring on the Rain", "Mom, this song has the same message as that Tomorrow song in Annie did--that things get better and there is always hope." That's right! I never would've made that connection, but leave it to Lindie. She will and she does ALL the time!

I also love how sweet Lindie is as an older sister. There is a special bond between Lindie and Michaela. They hug each other hello and goodbye as Lindie comes and goes and Lindie always asks Michaela thoughtful questions and listens to her answers. "Did you have a fun time at Todd's house today? What did you do? Oh, how fun!" She is also very patient with Brevin.

I have enjoyed seeing Lindie's light SHINE since we started the ACE school. She comes home with a spark for learning everyday and I love seeing that! She has kept a daily journal since last year and writes her feelings and emotions in it--an example to me! So insightful.

I am so thankful Lindie is in our family. Happy Birthday my "noble" one.