New Year's Resolutions

I know, I'm four days early, but that's one of my goals! So here they are - if I post them, I might actually get some of them done this year.

1. Finish BYU Independent Study class by my birthday (March 18). It's creative writing.
2. Get A's in economics and math at CBC during winter and spring terms.
3. Get accepted into the University of Washington (along with Aaron).
4. Finish reading the Book of Mormon by my birthday - Lee inspired me!
5. Continue my sewing on retro aprons.
6. Practice cookie decorating twice a month at least.
7. Research/develop and test one recipe per month at least.
8. Send birthday cards on time this year.
9. Finish the doll clothes for Laurel's doll (next year's Christmas).
10. Scrapbook twice a month.

Ten is good, right? I have other, little daily goals, but those are the big ones.

Happy goal setting everyone! Now you can check up on me and mine occasionally. I'll post progress reports on them as best I can.

It's a Wonderful Life

We had the Christmas we wanted - a quiet, simple Christmas Eve to start it all. Aaron and Laurel made us a chimney and fireplace to hang on the wall. Laurel put on her new nightgown - she was twirling and dancing around in it. We read the Christmas story to them and then off to dreamland. Will hadn't napped, so he was really tired - and I knew he'd be up later in the night. Aaron and I brought out all the presents and unrolled Will's Road Rug to flatten by morning. There was quite the pile o' gifts under the tree and I could see Aaron stressing over the amount of toys he was expecting.


During the night, Will did indeed wake up. I went in and snuggled next to him, but that little man would not go back to sleep! I sent him to Aaron for something to drink (after we'd been up for over an hour). I didn't hear Aaron get up and Will tends to get into things a lot, so I got worried. I followed him out and he was just staring at the tree and all the gifts. I got him his milk and luckily got him to go back to bed.

He was up first and loved his road rug - kept pointing at things on it. Laurel didn't sleep much later than he did and soon enough we passing out stockings, then gifts. Despite all the packages, there were very few toys. Besides the road rug for Will (and Laurel too, let's not kid ourselves), Will got some Hot Wheels to go with it. Laurel got Polly Pocket cars to drive on it. Lots of fun clothes and books for each of them, and some new DVDs.
The big hit was Laurel's mobile of the solar system. She's currently obsessed with Magic Schoolbus and outer space and so we found this for her. It has a remote to turn on the sun and then have the planets orbit. They both love it. Now we lie on her bed in the dark and talk about all the planets. Watch out - this girl can identify them all!
My Aunt Annette sent James the most adorable shoes - I call them his rockstar shoes and I just giggle everytime I see them. He likes them too!
Aunt Annette is also responsible for outfitting Laurel for the rain. This year an umbrella came too, which I knew would be a big succcess. She insisted on wearing it to Gran and Opa's and when we got there, asked Gran to turn the sprinkler on outside so she could pretend it was raining.
All in all, a great day. The aprons I made were a big hit with the girls in the family - wish I'd taken pictures so I could post them. But I'm busy making some for me now, so I'll post pictures of mine! We spent the day talking on the phone and eating yummy food. Let's hope next year finds us in Seattle enjoying a rainy Christmas at the University of Washington.

Sewing Scraps

I've been sewing up a storm getting ready for Christmas. Wish I could post pictures of what I've been doing, but that would give away the secret! I'm making Laurel's Christmas nightgown and she's very excited about it. As I've been cutting out all these different things, Laurel has been collecting the scraps and playing with them - dressing her toys in them, making them blankets and scarves. I just remember doing the same thing when I was little. Part of her Christmas is a stack of fat quarters - she loves fabric as much as I do!

Conked

My sweet William, so tired he fell asleep on top of the Legos and other toys. Kind of reminds me of the movie The Christmas Story where Randy passes out under the tree at the end.

Big Smile

I am not the photographer Lee is, but I did get a smile the other night. I paid for it though - Laurel and Will left quite a mess while I was coaxing smiles out of James.

Will the real Laurel please step forward?

I wonder - which one is the real Laurel. I'll give you a hint - it's not the prim and proper one! She did love her gloves though. Wouldn't take them off the whole time we were at church.

Bubblebath Mohawk

I was walking by the bathroom and wondered, "What is that on William's head?" Laurel, his ever so kind big sister, gave him a bubblebath mohawk. Made me laugh and run for the camera. And since when did she become such a ham for the camera? Hmmmmm.

James' Photo Shoot

The fabulous Lee took these, and many other, photos of James the other day. We both loved the crying picture for some reason. He was pretty happy in general, but he definitely preferred to be covered up. He got picked up and fed quite a bit too. Sure is a handsome little guy, isn't he?

The Many Faces of James

Just some fun photos - one of the girls in my Primary class had this hat and booties made for him and gave us the bear too. I was going to give her a picture as a thank you. James was cracking me up with his funny faces.

Introducing James

First of all, a warning. I'm going to wax rhapsodic about the joys and virtues of homebirth. Women are always telling their birth stories in gory detail, but somehow, if you've had a homebirth, no one wants to hear about it. Well, tough. Don't read on. Just scroll down for the pictures of the baby if you want. But my homebirth experience was great.
Contractions started Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church, but I wasn't really paying attention. I started timing them and they were about 7 minutes apart. For me, I figured I had quite a long time - I've always taken a long time in the past. We went to church at 11, but while I was sitting in sacrament meeting I decided I'd better go home and rest in case this was the real deal. They really weren't that painful, just uncomfortable. So Aaron brought me home and I rested for about an hour. When they came home from church, I was puttering around in the kitchen, making my stew, rolling rolls, mixing up gingerbread. At 4 we went up to the park up the road. I was timing them about 4 minutes apart at that point and figured I'd call Fran, my midwife, from the park. When I spoke with her, she was surprised to hear that they were only 4 minutes apart. She said she'd be over in a while - I still thought I had lots of time and didn't want her to rush right over. Well, she didn't. Mom and Dad came over just before 6 (they were 3 minutes apart and getting more and more intense). Aaron and Dad gave me a blessing and then my parents took Laurel and William over to their house. Fran arrived just as they were leaving. She checked me out and told me that I was already at 8 cm!!! Happy day. I was so worried it would be only 3 or 4.
Okay, no gory details. But James arrived at 8:16 p.m. It was so relaxing and peaceful. Not easy, definitely not pain free, but just a perfect experience. The second he was born he was in my arms and he didn't leave them for over an hour. No eye goop, no shots, no tests. He was perfectly healthy. He weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. His eyes were wide open and he just sat looking at Aaron and I. No pictures of all of this because we weren't taking them.
So trust me. Homebirth is not medically possible for everyone. But there were no risks for me, and there were no complications that my midwife couldn't handle. She has done this before, many many times and she did a great job with us. She and her assistant were gone by 11 after feeding us and cleaning up everything, even starting the laundry. No mess. No nurses popping in to take temperatures and make me go to the bathroom and bother me all night. We all got some rest and all is well with us.

Birthday Breakfast

I think we've started a new tradition in our family. We had a birthday breakfast party for Laurel this morning. I made cinnamon rolls, smoothies and hot chocolate. We invited our neighbors from upstairs to come down in their jammies and slippers. It was lots of fun. Laurel got all dressed up, then changed outfits again later.

Laurel was very excited to have a candle with her cinnamon roll. Cake is fine, but this was special.
Laurel put these on her back and told us she was a stegasaurus. That's my girl!

Something else for my kitchen

Aaron discovered these postcards in Seattle years ago - I have multiple copies of this one. Makes me feel like I have a pretty spectacular education. I am a chemist, after all. My stuff just tastes better than what we mixed together in chemistry class at school. And it's a whole lot more fun.

Still nothing to report on baby other than he's just fine. Now I'm shooting for next Friday - it has a nice symmetry to it. Then all my children will be 2 years and 3 days apart. But we'll see. Mr. James Victor is happy where he is, and he's certainly easier to take care of at this point. I'm not worried.

No pictures from Halloween for us - Will was plenty upset at us for dressing him up like Tigger - not that he voiced an opinion at all, but still. Laurel was the bumblebee again - I have no idea what we'll do next year when that costume doesn't fit anymore! We did have fun at the trunk-or-treat at church, but it got cold. Will just walked around holding out his bucket. He knew the routine.

Now the big excitement is Laurel's Birthday Breakfast. We decided that we would make every meal on their birthday's a "special" one with candles and all. We invited our upstairs neighbors down for cinnamon rolls, smoothies and hot chocolate tomorrow morning. Just something fun that's a bit different. I will get pictures of that and post them, of course.

This sign needs to be in my kitchen. It's just exactly how I feel.

Due Dates

Yes, today is my due date. No, nothing is happening, nor am I expecting anything to. I think it's kind of funny, this whole concept. I mean, they are just an estimate. I'd rather wait a few more days, give my midwife a chance to recover. She delivered on baby on Friday (a friend from church) and then another one this morning. She needs a break so she can be ready for my labor. So we're okay with waiting. That and Aaron has a couple of tests this week. Don't want to mess those up.

In the meantime, I'm getting lots done. Organized the toy room, stocked my freezer, doing my daily laundry, getting last minute shopping done, getting ready for Halloween. Laurel has her pre-school party tomorrow, so we're ready for that. I'm working on two stitcheries for Christmas - one is done, just needs to be quilted and bound. The other I just started the final stuff on. So those have to get done before December. Which means I should be working on them rather than blogging!

I will keep this posted and updated as best I can. But I'm not going to do it daily.

Birthday for Laurel and William

We celebrated Laurel's and William's birthdays a smidge early, just in case someone decides to make an appearance before then. We had a great time - Ehren, Teresa, Erich, Ryan, Queen Corey, Hannah, Alex, Mom, Dad and Aaron and I were all there. It was a lot of fun and I got to organize the toy room today to make room for the new fun things.

Laurel's beehive cake - I was quite proud of this one.

My little princess, blowing out her candles.
Mr. Will, sitting with his Opa (of course) getting help with his candles.
The Tonka trucks were the hit of the party - Will especially liked getting rides in the dump truck. Thanks Ehren and Teresa! I'm sure we'll get many bruises on the legs from these, but they sure are fun. Will was already loading Laurel's Lincoln Logs in the back and moving them around.

Tagged

The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Jennifer tagged me - but I have no idea who I'm going to tag!

1. I. Adore. Hostess. Cupcakes. I know, I went to culinary school and should have more refined taste than that, but I can't help myself. It started way before cooking school!

2. I love to read fiction set in India, China, Japan. Memoirs of a Geisha, The Hindi-Bindi Club - I'm fascinated by it all.

3. When I was in my early 20s, I made a list of all the things I wanted in a future husband. I got them all - including the motorcycle.

4. I love retro aprons - I've collected patterns for them for the past couple of years and now I'm starting to make them for myself. They are so girly and fun.

5. I'm going back to school in January to begin to finish my bachelor's degree. Slowly but surely. I'm not waiting anymore.

6. I love that my childrens' birthdays are all close together. They may not love it in the future, but it sure makes my job easier. This way, they all get new toys at the same time and there's no fighting over them. At least, not yet.

I tag: Rebecca. She's the only one left!

Glorious Fall

We got to go camping (sort of - I'll explain later) up near Mt. Rainier this last Friday with my parents, Alex and Hannah. This is my official favorite time to go up there now. It was so beautiful. Thank goodness not every tree was an evergreen - we saw so many different colors. Laurel collected leaves and moss to take to preschool. Will enjoyed throwing rocks in the river. We all hugged a tree. The weather was perfect.

As for the camping part, well, we don't expect women who are 8.5 months pregnant to sleep on the ground. At least not this girl. So we got a cabin at Camp Zarahemla. It was nice - beds for everyone, a stove and refrigerator. We still cooked our dinner in the coals. Mmmmm - foil dinners just can't be beat. Aaron educated Hannah and Alex in the art of making smores. It was just . . . fun.

Here are some photos of the trip.




I adore this photo, and I'm especially proud to have taken it myself. Can't call it skill - just luck with the leaves and lighting. But it's just shows perfectly the relationship my little man has with my Dad. Those two - William wouldn't hold hands on the hike with anyone but his Opa.

Can I Wait?

Josh Groban's Christmas album is released tomorrow. Know where I'm going to be at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning? Waiting outside Target so I can get my copy right away. I am oh so excited about this. Those who know me best know that there is never a bad time to listen to Christmas music. And now we are adding my favorite singer to the mix - hooray! I know, Aaron is supposed to get it for me as a "new baby coming" gift, but I want to make sure I get the special one with the DVD included.

I'll let you all know how wonderful it is - it won't be anything but. He does duets with Faith Hill, Brian McKnight and Mo-Tab. Can't beat that. I've heard a part of his version of Silent Night and it is great. So I'm not worried. And I know I'll cry when I hear "I'll be Home for Christmas" because it has messages from the troops overseas.

Don't bother me tomorrow. I've got a date with my stereo!

Great Big Sister

I just love moments like this. I'm in on the computer and I hear Laurel "reading" to Will. It's a silly little book, but she has it memorized and she's reading it out loud to him and he's loving it. And then, when she's all finished, she asked him if he wanted to read it again. "Mmmm-hmmm" is the reply.

Big smiles from me. This made my day. And it sure makes up for the messy house (almost).

My friend Lee did this on her blog. I thought it was interesting, so I did my own. Sounds like me, I think.

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done. You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings. Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy. In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you're fully committed. For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don't need romantic gestures to feel loved. At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer. How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical

What's" Your Personality Type?

Big Decision

Here I am, about to shock my family and friends and I'm not even enjoying it. Wish I could see the shocked looks on faces when you read that we've decided to have this baby at home. I promise - this is still done in this modern age of hospitals and neo-natal units. I'm a very low-risk pregnancy and I basically did a home birth with William at the birth center two years ago.

Not a decision I thought we'd make. When I first met with my midwife it was presented as an option but not one that Aaron was interested in. We thought we'd just go with the birth center again. That was ruled out a few months later. We were forced to choose the hospital, even though I really really really did not want to go there again. But Fran, my midwife, said that we would have a "homebirth at the hospital" and I wouldn't have to deal with what I went through with Laurel's birth.

Well, the hospital here in town requires that the midwives have a sponsor doctor. Fran's sponsor doctor up and dropped all the midwives in the area last Friday. So my choices became either a homebirth or switching to an OB who would oh-so-graciously deliver my baby for Fran at the hospital. Aaron and I discussed it and it matters too much to me that Fran be the one who delivers my baby. I'm not going to be able to establish any kind of positive relationship with a random OB in 5 weeks or less, nor am I interested in doing so. We've read up on the safety of home births. Women I've connected with online are universally positive about their homebirth experiences.

I haven't started making my own granola. I don't have a pair of Birkenstocks. I still shave my legs. I still think doctors serve a purpose for truly ill people. I don't think this is for everyone. But it works for us. It's nice knowing that we won't have to rush to a hospital and wait. I won't have to eat hospital food. No nurses bugging me after the baby is born. I get to take a shower almost right away. When it's all over, Fran says she'll tuck us in bed with some yummy snacks and SHE will go home, not the other way around. If there is an emergency, the ambulance is four blocks away. We'll be fine. And Aaron won't have to clean up some huge mess, I am assured.

I'll get to have candles and music I like. I can watch a movie, fold laundry, make bread (this is part of the plan), bake some gingerbread (this is also part of the plan), go for a walk outside. I get to do whatever I want - mostly.

So if you are worried, don't be. If you think it's freakish and radical, it's not. Midwives have been delivering babies a lot longer than doctors have. Normal pregnancies don't need lots of medical intervention. Will came out just perfect and nothing "medical" was done during my entire labor. I might as well have done it at home. We won't be posting pictures of anything you wouldn't want to see - just the baby and me with all my clothes on. I told Laurel tonight that our baby was going to be born at home and she said, "Tonight?"

Oh my!

My baby brother is engaged. I'm in shock, to say the least. Super excited - Laurel is over the moon that Queen Corey is going to be Aunt Queen Corey (not sure yet how we'll work the title, but it stays). I'm very happy for them both - they are so adorable. Rob did well - I'm impressed. She's smart, beautiful and she's not afraid of our little Marine. I'd say it's a match.

Welcome to the family Corey!

Gosh, I feel old when my youngest brother is old enough to buy a diamond ring for a girl.

First Day of Pre-School

Tuesday was Laurel's first day of pre-school - I'm so glad she did this last year, even if she was a little young. She was so excited to go this year and was such a great helper for her teacher. Couldn't get her to take the raincoat off, even though it stopped raining.

All done and coming home - bringing home a book order form for us to look at too!

Uncles are the Greatest!

Laurel and William think their Uncle Scott is the greatest - poor guy never gets a moments peace around here. He's such a good sport, swinging Laurel and Will around. Aaron had to get in on the act and it was fun to hear them both laughing and playing with their Papa and Uncle Scott.

The Fair

When you're all by yourself at the fair it's hard to get photos of the kids having fun. And we did have fun - Laurel wanted to go on a ride, but I know her and I know she wouldn't have liked it very much. Next year, I told her, with her Papa. But I did let them do one carnival game - you grab three ducks out of the water as the float by and they total up your score (numbers written on the bottom). Will had a grea time and got himself a stuffed cardinal. Laurel got a sparkly pink and purple fish. So that was fun. We looked all over for a pink cowgirl hat for her. I'll be more prepared next year. See, it was "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" at the rodeo (for breast cancer) and we wanted a hat for her too. Didn't find one, but found this purple one. Then we got an elephant ear and ate it together. Met Mom, Dad, Hannah and Alex at the rodeo and had a great time (except for the nasty lady in front of us). I had to leave with Will to pick up Aaron at school, so I missed the buffalo half-time show. Laurel was riveted. But her favorite part was Queen Corey (last picture). Corey is Robbie's girlfriend and the rodeo queen this year. Laurel has been so excited to get to see her. Told Robbie that he might have to take his niece over to meet Queen Corey in person, and her horse. Laurel didn't know that queens and princesses don't always wear dresses and sometimes ride their own horses. She's quite enamored, I must say.