A New Job for the New Year

So, Nate is going to be starting a new job right after the new year. Why? There is a myriad of reasons...the most prominent is just that it was time. It was funny because he wasn't looking. The job found him. He interviewed once and initially felt like this may not be the job for him. He tossed it back and forth quite a bit. However, after his second interview he felt much better and more confident about this job. He was able to negotiate a nice package and so he decided to take the job. Starting Jan 1, Nate will be the newest employee at ...drum roll please....PARKER HANNIFIN. This is a very large company. A billion dollar international company. Not what we are used to but something I think will be beneficial to us. Big companies come with nice perks. Better benefits and better money. They have a manufacturing division in SLC that makes o-rings. They make really big o-rings...like the kind that go into street pipes and stuff. That is where Nate is going to be working. What is an O-ring....if you don't know I am probably not the one to explain it to you. :)
Anyway, Nate will be a do-it-all guy. He will turn a process currently being done by hand to a process done by a machine. He will design the machine, build the machine, install the machine, and make sure it works right, write the manual for it and essentially be the father of it. :) The huge requirements of this job are both the good part and the bad part. Nate has had a hard time being a desk man. He sits and designs all day, every day. Not really what he had in mind when he chose engineering as his career. So, with this job, he will get to do lots of different things. I hope he will enjoy it. I guess I will have to update again after he has been there for a few weeks.
We are thankful for the other jobs that have brought Nate here. He couldn't be here with out the experience he has gained from all those jobs. :) It will be an interesting new year. :)

Boogie Nights

At our house when things get boring the music comes on and we get crazy. I do have 3 girls now. :) Those girls really know how to shake it. I love that about them. For me, music has always been cathartic. I still like to turn it up when I am alone. My girls did, however, inform me that I dance wierd. WHATEVER! Apparently I won't be invited to dance with them in public. Sheesh! At least I can participate in the boogie nights at home. :)

That Didn't Last Long

Well, my daily thoughts lasted all of 2 seconds. :) At least they lasted that long. It is 4am which seems to be the only time I sit down and do this anymore. Christmas is coming. One more week and I get a two week break. So excited for that.



Our family is pretty excited for Christmas. I haven't done a stitch of shopping yet...but we have enjoyed putting up lights and listening to music and generally reveling in the season.



Sarah is no exception. She loves the Christmas tree and the Geo Trax train we put underneath. The kids are beside themselves and can't wait for the big day.


(By the way, Sarah is up crying right now. Will she go back to sleep on her own?)

Ben had a couple big moments last week. First, he finally received the patches for his Bobcat and Wolf. Ben has had a great time in scouts and was pretty proud of himself for the achievement. Ben also promoted to a purple belt in karate. Awesome...except for the sparring gear he has to have now which will cost us a pretty penny. I don't know how that don't have to disclose all these little side expenses at the beginning. Check out this video of Ben's awesomeness. As you go up to get your new belt you get to do a trick or kick or whatever.
Thank goodness he bounced right up from that. :) His hand stand was pretty awesome though. He told us the surprise at how long he held his hand stand was what actually brought him down.

Anyway, it is now quarter to five. I have got to at least attempt going back to sleep or I will be a bear tomorrow...I mean, later today. :) That is not acceptable. Tis the season to be Jolly, right. :)

Daily Thought #3 -Small Miracles

Well, it hasn't been totally successful but this is my 3rd post this week. I would like to express my gratitude for small miracles this morning. Let me elaborate.

Last night we left our Thanksgiving party about 9:30 pm. We had a wonderful day and really enjoyed our time at my parent's house just hanging. Maybe I will blog that later. Anyway, of all the stupid things, we were totally out of formula. What?! Yes. I dropped off the kids and went looking for an open grocery store. I drove from Lehi to Lindon. The only place open...Walmart. I don't know if you knew, but their Black Friday deals started at 10pm last night. I had no choice but to try to buy formula at Walmart. By the time I arrived there were already 10,000 people in line to buy there Black Friday treasures. All I needed (as desperately as I needed it) was a can of formula. I pressed my way through the crowds to the back of the store, grabbed my precious treasure and headed to the front of the store. On my way up to the front I decided I would just get $20 from the atm and buy my way to the front of the line by asking someone to pay for my formula and keep the change. I could hardly get passed the people crowding the checkout stands. I found a break in the crowd and headed for the atm. When what to my wondering eyes appeared...a check stand with only 4 people in line. I literally walked right into it. Seriously, I was so grateful.
It was funny. When I got home last night with the formula for Sarah, I told Nate about my luck. He told me he had prayed for me. :) We had been talking on the phone while I was driving around looking for somewhere so he know I had been forced to go to Walmart. Prayer changes things. I know, it was a small thing. I could of waited in line for an hour and a half. It wasn't that important. Maybe it was coincidence. I choose to see it as a blessing from a sweet Heavenly Father. :)

Next little miracle. We threw away our pathetic, cheap, broken artificial tree last year. Well, this year, we were faced with buying a new tree. Do you know how much a decent artificial tree costs... Wowzers. Anyway, we saw that Home Depot was going to have a tree door buster. $50 for a 7 1/2 ft. pre-lighted Christmas tree. They opened at 5 am. Nathan, my hero, got up and made it to the store by about 5:10am. He walked in and said he saw lots of people in line with the tree. He knew it was pretty hopeless. As he was walking around looking for the display a Home Depot employee asked him if he needed help. Nate showed him the tree in the ad and the guy said they were all gone...but he offered Nate the display tree. :) He gave Nate a note and told him to go pay while he got the display tree down and brought it to him. :) Yea! Nate just bumped into the right employee. We have a lovely new tree sitting in our living room to decorate with our kids tonight.

It was Thanksgiving yesterday. I can't really put adequate words to all that I have to be thankful for. This year we were able to buy our first house. That has been such a blessing and wonderful thing for our family. Our kids are very happy here. Nate and I are very happy here. We are close to family, which is so fun. We have some other blessing waiting in the wings that we are excited about as well. I sometimes wonder why God keeps providing for me when I am such a slacker. He is so patient and kind to our family. I love my Heavenly Father. I don't deserve his patience but I am immeasurably thankful for it. I don't deserve the small miracles but they come frequently.

Daily Thought #2

Random Daily thought #2 is only being written because Sarah woke back up about 30 minutes ago and is now happily playing on the floor with my shoe. She can crawl now. Did I mention that before? Cutest thing...that is going to really add to the work I have to do. We need gates for the stairs and possibly to keep her out of the kitchen. Who knows what she might find on the floor in there.

I am tired, but thankfully, tomorrow is a low key day at work. No schedule. Just paperwork. So I guess if I am up all night I will survive. I just finished reading Michael Vey. Good story. Very easy read, which is what I always like. Let's face it, that's the only thing I like these days. :) The majority of my meager brain power is spent on other things.

Next week Ben will finally get his first scouting patches. The Bobcat and the Wolf. He is a Bear now. This ward has been awesome for scouts. Ben is also in Karate...he enjoys it. I am just thankful to see him like something besides video games. :)

Yawning...and the baby has now found a piece of paper to entertain her. Energy level seems to be high. Go to sleep my little one. Go to sleep my little baby. That is a song, right?

Daily Thought #1

In an effort to try to warm up to my blog again I am going to try to enter random daily thoughts until the end of November. I will see how it goes.
First random thought - Isn't she sweet. I still can't get over how much I enjoy her. I love all my kids, but Sarah has been so easy to really enjoy. I don't have so many little ones hanging on my leg. I can enjoy focusing on her and catering to her while the others handle most things for themselves. It is great. She is truly adored by all at our house. A very popular little lady.

Then there are the rowdy children. I sat in church this morning with my rowdy little bunch, thinking, Ugg. Why do you have to be so noisy. We were at the front of the chapel. Ben, Rachel, and Emily were playing hang man together. They would have continued to have a great time had it not been for the mean mother who separated them. They don't know how to whisper or play so people can't hear them. They think that as long as they are sitting they are being reverent. At the same time, they are the excitement and fun of our family. Everyday at our house is crazy and I really do love it. I love the things we do as a family. I love my kids bursting personalities that have no boundaries. My life would be utterly incomplete without them.

I Miss My Blog :(

Happy Fall! Looking for good ways to fit blogging into my not so flexible schedule. Taking suggestions. :)

We finally got Sarah's baby blessing done this month. Truthfully, it was last month, but who's counting. She wore the same goofy dress that my other girls wore. I made it for Rachel and have been cursed by it ever since. :) It's those sleeves. They are just so round. At any rate, the blessing was lovely. Sarah is destined to be a loving girl who takes others under her wing. All my kids have been blessed to have a sense of humor. I guess they need it living with me as there mother.
Anyway, another great thing about the blessing was that we got to have a family gathering at our house. It was so great to have everyone over. We sat under our big trees in the backyard and enjoyed associating with one another.
This morning is Sarah's 4 month appointment. Shots. . . I hate them. It might be a long day.

What Happened to the Last 4 months???

Well, in my last post we had a beautiful baby. Little Sarah. Since then she has become the most popular person in our home. She is "so cute" and that phrase is repeated more often then any other. She has gone from a little tiny infant...






To bubbly little baby ...


I don't know how that happened.

So Happy!!!!

Life is whirling wildly around me right now, but I am so happy. Right before our little Sarah was born we put an offer in on a house in American Fork. Two months later, the week before the kids got out of school, we were able to close on that house. It was a short sale, so it can be a super long process. Two months was an extraordinarily short amount of time to wait on a short sale. I was talking to the listing agent when he came by to pick up his key box. He was telling me he has two short sales that have been waiting over a year. At any rate, we were blessed and now we own our first home.
We moved in a week ago. Inside the house is still a mess. Boxes everywhere. We are trying to get the kids rooms all ready for them...we wanted them all to have rooms they loved because for the first time...we can do that for them. It's taking longer than we thought, but I think it will get finished up by the end of this week. I will take pictures then. I have a lovely kitchen...lots of light and lot of cupboards...and a pantry. Oh how I love the pantry. :)We have a living room where I have set up my office. Not ideal for people to walk into, but ideal for me to perform my job while keeping an eye on the kiddos. I can see most of the house from "the office".
We have a lovely little backyard. Lots of shade, a garden, two fruit trees...it's just a nice little space. Yesterday we had a bunch of Baxters over helping us add mulch to our garden and flower beds. Afterward, Mary (my mother in law) and I went to buy plants and got the flower beds and the garden planted. It was a back breaking all day affair, but it is done.
The neighborhood is very friendly. Yesterday a stranger stopped by to say hi to us and offered to bring us dinner. :) She is not a stranger anymore. I am sure I will get to know her very well as she has an 8 year old son. Across the street is another 8 year old boy. Ben has immediate friends. He loved his first day of scouts here. I am so happy for him. We have been a very busy household since we moved in. Lots of family in and out helping us get things done. It is so fun to be so near to everyone.
So, I am so happy. I will try to add pictures of my happiness later.

And Then There Were Six

Ok, I am home. Actually, I came home yesterday. Partly because I can't stand the hospital, partly because Nate has an even more serious aversion than I do and I know that every minute he spends there is a minute spent in pain. So, 24 hours after delivering our little bundle of joy, we packed her up and brought her home. They are making us rent the stupid bili light bed until her bilirubin count goes down. . .I don't really think it is that high. . . but just the same she is spending plenty of time in there. I digress. Back to the message. We are home. I forgot what the first little bit is like. I feel like I just did a hundred push ups and sit ups. My body hurts everywhere from the waist up. I am sleep deprived in the most horrible way. I cry about really silly things. Like Nate leaving me alone this afternoon so he could go pick up our kids. My gut is hanging. . .no longer am I cute pregnant. Just fat. ;) But it was all worth it because I have to say that Sarah is amazing. Now I am crying again. HAHA.

Sarah entered the world March 25, 2011. She was born in the early afternoon. So perfect. Let's talk about the delivery. Thanks to the fact that I am a VBAC patient, my doctor was nice enough to induce me as soon as it was IHC approved to do an elective induction because he was leaving town and didn't want me to end up with a doctor who wasn't willing to do the VBAC. Apparently it is kind of a pain in the butt because the doctor has to be in the building throughout the entire labor. . . and it has a small amount of risk involved. At any rate, I love my doctor. This is him.

So, getting to the point. That is how I ended up being induced a week early. I was a little nervous. I was induced with both my other girls, but it was only a day or two before my due date. I was afraid things may not move smoothly along. However, to play a long story short, I progressed very quickly. Everyone thought it was going to take 10 or 12 hours and they all ho hummed their way up to Ogden. Surprise to all of us, I was complete in only 6 hours. Ready to push.
Now, every story has some less than desirable circumstances. Well, maybe not every story, but this one did. I am not a woman who relished pain. Epidural is the only way in my book. So, early on I got my epidural. Ah, heavenly. Well, at some point my body started progressing pretty quickly and I realized that I was feeling things that I shouldn't with the epidural. I mentioned it to the nurse and she paged the anesthesiologist to come add some more drugs to my drip bag. Bad news. He was at the bedside of a woman having a c-section for triplets who were only 24 weeks. Hence, he was not able to leave to come to my bedside. And, I was progressing so fast that he probably wouldn't have been able to do much anyway. So,for the first time, I suffered at least some of the actual pain of labor. It was painful. I would share a picture of my face and how that felt, but frankly, I'd rather people did not remember me that way. So, we will just say that it was painful. Lucky for me though, I only had to push three short rounds to get Sarah out. Her shoulders got stuck for a minute and the first time her head came out the cord was around her neck. Doc took care of that. She was delivered and was the most purple baby I have ever seen.

She took her time getting that first breath. I was laying there thinking, Breath baby, breath. After what seemed like a long time. . .but really wasn't I heard her first little cry. Then I knew she was here and she was ok. A few good cries and her purple turned a lovely shade of red. :)

And I was happy. Let me show you some other happy people.




And that is how this family of five became a family of six. I am panicked. I have no idea how I am going to succeed at this new ball to juggle, but I prayed this afternoon and I think we will be ok. :) Thanks goodness we are not alone.

The Man of My Dreams

Nate turned 35 last week. That means I have pretty much known him half of his life. When we met in high school he was this cute, funny, and completely clueless teenager. I was just head over heals in love. I chased him relentlessly. . .ok, maybe I wasn't quite that bad. He went on his mission. . .very dedicated to his calling. Despite difficulties with his mission president he knew who he was really there for and had a wonderful mission. He came back slightly wiser, but not wise enough to marry me right then. We have grown together for many years. Really, we have gained a lot of wisdom together. He has been the source of complete frustration and utter joy in my life (just joy now, of course). Nate is the Father that every kid should have. His children adore him and are totally loyal to him above all others. For his birthday he took Ben to a Jazz game. The girls and I were going to have a girls night and we did, after some disappointment on there end that they couldn't go with Dad. Apparently, I really need to up my fun factor.
Last night Nate had to work late. I was tired and kind of ornery when he got home. The kids were stir crazy. So, instead of relaxing and watching TV after a 12 hour day, he played games with me and the kids and then let me lay on the couch and watch TV while he did the dishes afterward. I just love him. He is a year older and a year wiser and a year more wonderful. He is the man of my dreams. Happy Birthday.

New Year's Eve

We saw "Tangled". It was super cute and I loved it. Then we marched around the house around 10pm to celebrate the New Year. Hey, my kids are not wise enough to check the time yet. Maybe next year we will actually have to let them stay up until midnight.

The Best Christmas Ever!!!!

Christmas is always fun. We were definitely on the go this year. Back and forth between our Ogden abode to Utah County for parties and entertainment. By the time the Stalker Family Christmas Eve was done I was ready for a long winter's nap. At about 9pm we finally loaded up in the van for out treck back to Ogden. Nate opened the sliding door to throw a couple more things in....and you will not believe what happened. The door just fell off. It was hilarious (well, I found it funny. Nate did not find it so funny as he was trying to get the door back on.). All I could think was "How are we going to get home without a van door?" I ran inside and got a couple more strong arms to help Nate out. Luckily they were able to shove the door back on and we were able to still go home. (We just got it fixed to the tune of $175). At any rate, the crisis was averted. It reminded me of many years ago when my family went out to dinner on Christmas Eve. The only place we could find open was a Wienerschnitzel. We all filled our belly's on super grease and we were ready to head home for Santa. Out to the car we went only to discover that my Dad had locked the keys in the car. Oh, the fear I had that I was going to miss Santa Claus. I am sure the kids were a bit worried about that same thing.
Well, anyway, we did get on the road. Arriving home pretty late. The kids all slept in Ben's room. Shockingly, they fell asleep pretty quick. Then, all we had to do is wait for morning. We woke up about 8am and had a delightful time opening presents. The kids kept saying "This is the best Christmas Ever". It was very satisfying that they were so happy. The kids made us books for Christmas. They were great with pictures and stories included. Nate and I were a bit slow and didn't get around to shopping for eachother. However, Nate, being the better one, did buy me a necklace that I love. Then I went out and bought maternity clothes on super sale after Christmas. We havent' really gotten anything for Nate yet. His birthday came up right after Christmas so it sord of threw me off. Anyway, blah, blah, blah. We stayed in jammies almost all day and played. It was perfect.

Grandma Stalker's Grandma Party

What do you get when you mix 11 cousins and a Grandma. A big fat party with tons of chaos. This was Grandma Stalker's Christmas Party. The kids had a blast and regardless of it being somewhat exhausting for the adults, it was worth it. Somehow I did not escape being one of those adults. . . even though I tried. Then, Nate, being the good sport he is decided to help out too. We survived. I am always so glad that my kids have tons of cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas. They are bountifully blessed.

The Nativity

I always love that we can do crafty things around Christmas. I saw this Nativity at Seagull Book and just had to have it. Mostly because I know one day I will look at that Nativity and remember my little children as they were. People keep telling me that I will miss that one day. :) We had so much fun painting these little figures and each of the kids was very proud of their finished project. I can't wait to get it out next year and find it a special place in our new home (we better have a new home ;).

Rachel's Kinder Program

A highlight of the Christmas season this was was Rachel's Kindergarten Program. Rachel was so excited to perform for us and I couldn't wait either. She was fabulous and knew most of the songs by heart. What I love most about things like this is the opportunity it gives to make individual children feel special. The bigger our family gets the harder it is to single them out for their accomplishments. A program night is a night to shine and the whole family gets to support and congratulate the one on a job well done. We all need that occasionally. Good job Rachel! You were beautiful and fabulous at your program.

Silent Night. . . Crowded Night.

Tradition dictates that we visit Temple Square every Christmas season. It is not optional nor will it ever be optional. So, we packed up and jumped on the Frontrunner to head down town SLC for some Christmas cheer. Now, let me just say, though it was crowded everywhere, we had a divine time. We always love the frontrunner. The kids think it is an extra special treat to get to ride on the train. . . and we get on at the beginning of the line so we usually get seats even on a busy night. We met Auntie Adrienne on Temple Square and bullied our way through the crowds to see all that we wanted. My biggest concern was losing one of my precious children, but then I realized I have three of them with another on the way, so what's one less. HAHA. Just kidding.

After making it around temple square safely we were starving. . . so we thought we would just pop on over for a bite to eat at the new eatery. HAHA again. It was closed. After an hour of looking we finally had to make our way back to The Gateway where we all got to pick whatever our hearts desired from there 5 star eatery restaurants. And, since I was feeling generous we picked up some cookies before making our journey back home. We arrived home around 11pm. Tired but satisfied with the adventure we had enjoyed. Can't wait for next year. . .when (note to self) we will visit Temple Square on a weekday. :)

Kick off to Christmas

Sadly, there are signs that my children are getting a little older. Such as the one I had when we took the kids down town to see the Christmas Village. I personally thought it was divine. The weather was fair, the lights and little houses were magical, and there were cute little groups singing and dancing on the stage in the center. With all that, Rachel broke down in a pouting tantrum and said she "did not really have that much fun." Why? Well, we didn't buy anything or get a treat. Essentially, we spent no money and she knew it. . . and true fun can only be had when you spend money, right?

Well, we only had to ignore her for about ten minutes before she got over it and we went home for hot chocolate. In the end, we were all happy. :) And hey, I was personally always happy.