What You've Been Missing...

We had a baby! A Boy! {I know, not too surprising, but work with me here} December 18, 2009.

And my labor was hard...er than my others. But humor me, I was in PAIN! And the unflattering picture proves it. {Bless Shane for taking this picture...}

I know it looks like I'm sleeping--but I'm thinking I'm about to die, trust me. I was so ready to push, and I was waiting for my doctor to get there. I really thought the nurses were going to be catching my baby at any moment {TMI, no?} I got through it though, with my doctor. There was a scary moment for me when the cord was around the baby's neck, but after that was taken care of he was perfect--although a little blue.

He was the cutest little thing--and very tiny! 6 lbs 8 oz, 19 inches. I was amazed by how perfect he was, and felt more grateful than ever for a healthy little baby. I truly appreciate the miracle of bringing babies into this world. Oh, and see that puff of ratted hair on my head? I call it the evidence of a hard labor. But, you'd think Shane could have told me to fix it before all of the picture taking {and yes, that means it shows in every picture we have...see}

Baby Cole...meet the world

Okay, so here's the deal. With both of my girls, I have some very cute hospital pictures. And yes, I'm bragging a little. I was so happy getting some good shots of me with my babies where I didn't hate how I looked. Until now. Oh my gravy {new favorite saying...}, I'm blaming it on having a boy. I looked horrible. And there is not one good picture of me at this hospital. And I find it quite sad. But, it is what it is--and I'm brave enough to show you. See...

I love staying at the hospital. And I know that not everybody feels that way. But, I do. It's so relaxing for me. This time, however, the girls were not able to come and visit. Because of new hospital restrictions {thank you, Swine flu} they were not able to come see their new brother. Which made me very sad. But, at the same time, because of limited visitors I was able to really rest, relax, and enjoy one on one time with both Cole and Shane. And I really enjoyed and appreciated it. But, when it was time to come home I thought Cole looked so cute {and TINY}. I was so excited to get home and let the girls meet their new little brother. After all, we've never had one of these before....

Oh, and...

We moved. I know, I was surprised, too.

Last November, Shane and I had the overwhelming feeling that we needed to lower our debt. See, this whole economy-in-the-crapper thing has been a long road for us. And I'm not blaming the economy or anybody else, but not knowing when real estate was going to bounce back had Shane unsure about work. Then it just so happened someone came along looking for a house. And when they heard we might be willing to sell--well, they wanted it. And this was all decided in a matter of days {and we consider ourselves extremely lucky, especially in this economy, because this is the second house we've been able to sell without even listing}. The best part was, these folks needed a home by December 1. Yep, we had two weeks to be out. And did I remind you that I was 8 1/2 months at this point. I really don't suggest this situation.

So, my parents were kind enough to put us up in their basement {which is not like a basement at all--we have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, our own laundry room and kitchen--perfect}. We {and by that I mean mostly me} started packing immediately. And with lots of help from family and friends, we made it. I ended up being as swollen as a marshmallow girl from being on my feet so much, but I felt like it was still better than trying to do it after the baby came. Also, being done by December 1 gave me a couple of weeks to recover and rest before baby!

It was a long, frustrating journey to get the house that we wanted, but we finally got it. We bought a foreclosure just around the corner from our old house. We felt great about it because we could stay in the same school/ward, and the mortgage would be about half. The "new" home had been sitting empty for a couple of years, and there had been some vandalism, so there was alot of fixing up to do. We basically decided to just redo almost everything, and we are still coming out way ahead debt-wise. I was dumb and didn't take a whole bunch of "before" pictures. These were taken a while ago. The house is almost done {yep, it's May and we're still not in}, so "after" pictures will be coming soon. But here's a peek at what we got ourselves into.

The dining nook...my favorite part of the house {there will be a new light fixture}

Cole's bathroom {main floor bath}...as you can see, Shane ripped out everything

Fireplace and mantle are going to be redone

Kitchen...cabinets are staying, just being refinished to a darker color

Back! I think...

Wow! It's been almost 8 months since I've blogged. And, admittedly, I haven't missed it all that much. It seems like most {no, not all} of my blogging girlies, and guys, have abandoned the bloggin' business. Which made the game not so much fun anymore. But, I've realized one thing. When I was blogging I was 10 times better at taking pictures and recording our family memories. And that is important to me. So, I figure, this is the best way of motivating me. It's not my family journal, nor my personal one, just an outlet and a place to share our lives with our friends and family.

The last few months have been crazy, to say the least. I feel extremely overwhelmed and busy just trying to manage my little family. It's frustrating to feel like it is so hard for me when it appears to be so easy for so many of you. I admire {and question...} those of you who always have perfect houses, are on time to everything with kids in matching outfits, serve a well prepared meal at the table every evening, pull off successful date nights every Friday, are the first ones to have your yards looking summer ready--flowers already planted, make it to the gym for an hour everyday, and are looking beautiful, ready for the day, and at the grocery store and running errands by 9:00 a.m. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, but I've decided to be happy with whatever progress we make each day. If the baby needs to be held all day, I will enjoy it instead of stressing over the house/dinner/errands {easier said than done, right?} So, I'm going to try the blogging thing again. If it happens, you can probably bet that my house is messy and the kids will be eating PB&J for dinner. And I'm totally okay with that...

Catch Me if You Can

I have a lot of catching up {blogging} to do. And I also feel like my little one is growing up so fast that I can't even catch her. I just got copies of preschool graduation {last May}, and it made me sad to think that we are already in week 3 of kindergarten. And she hasn't looked back for a second--she is still as excited to go to school as she was on the first day. And she is still excited to come home and do her homework. And I love it, and hate it.

But, back to preschool. This graduation was so cute. They did a safari theme, dressed the part, had snacks to share, and went on an animal search {this is the cutest idea for a birthday party, by the way}. They sang us songs, did a little show, and I cried just a little bit. It was precious and fun.

I've said this before, but thank heaven for Mrs. Weber. Carly absolutely adored her {and still asks every day to go and visit her}. We couldn't have asked for a more loving, kind, patient and creative teacher.

I have to do this post today. Because there is a chance that BYU will handle Oklahoma, thus giving them bragging rights. But, for now, my Utes are the team who has proven they can beat top 3 opponents. So, this is for all the Cougar fans who still insist that 1984 is relevant today, and that BYU football is still king in the state of Utah.

GO UTES!

For the record, I don't think BYU can beat Oklahoma. But, if they do, I will be the first to give them credit.

Also, Shane approached me earlier this week about making an agreement to support each other's teams instead of hating. Interesting coming from him, since he is much worse than myself. And while I couldn't agree not to hate, I did agree to keep it to myself. Until today. I guess I'm going to be trouble. But, whatever. I'm not going to cheer against the Cougs today, and that is an improvement.

It's Shocking, Really

Several things have changed around here.

First, blogging has become a "chore". Something that once came easily and frequently now seems like something I don't have time for. And it's weird. Because I really do want to keep up with the old bloggin' bus, but somehow the days and weeks just pass me by. And I have lots and lots to post about, but, oh, the time it takes...and I'm not sure why I have less time than I used to, but I do.

Second, summer is over. And I still can't wrap my brain around that fact. And I love fall the most of all the seasons, so I'm happy...but it's crazy how fast the time goes. We did have lots o' fun this summer {and a broken arm}, and maybe I'll get around to putting some pictures up, because I know that everybody is dying to see them {even if they are old}.

Third, my baby starts kindergarten tomorrow. And I'm feeling very anxious about the whole thing. Like she isn't ready to be on her own, and that she'll get lost, or not know bus safety, or forget her backpack... And I don't remember feeling all of these emotions when I sent my first off to school--but I'm sure I'm just forgetting. But just to help with all of the stress, tomorrow I'm going to send her on her merry little way and head on over to get myself a pedicure. For the sake of my mental health. And because I now have free afternoons--and that is going to mean alot of me time.

Fourth, my oldest is now a third grader. And she thinks she is an expert when it comes to school. She's got it down. She has assured me that she will take care of her little sister for me. And I believe her. Carly will be in good {and maybe bossy} hands. And I've learned that she no longer cares about my opinion in what she wears. She chose her first day of school outfit, and there was no turning her mind around. But, as it turned out, she looked absolutely adorable--and too grown up.

Because my last post was in favor of Cougars, I just had to make up for it.

It's getting to be that time of year again. And I can hardly wait. And videos like this one get my blood pumping. TCU, we're coming after you. It's going to be another great year...

**For the record, Stevenson Sylvester is my 2009 Ute crush. But how awesome is Robert Johnson? I love how at the 1:10 mark he hands the game ball to a Michigan cheerleader, and at about 1:30 he hurdles his opponent. What a guy!

In honor of Shane

I decided to do a Flashback Friday post because it has been oh, so long. While browsing through the pictures on my PC {we got a new one, so there aren't very many pics on there yet}, I saw this. I laughed because I didn't download this. Which means that Shane must have. And it must have been recently, because this computer isn't very old. Which also means that he was checking himself out for some reason. Which I find to be very funny.

So, in honor of Shane, we flash back to 2001, which was Shane's senior season of baseball at BYU. There wasn't much else as important to him as baseball. And I also loved that he played the game. Even if it was for BYU. I always thought he looked really cute in his uniform, and it brought me great joy to see him play well. We made some great memories and some fabulous friends.

I will have to ask Shane what the reason was for him downloading this picture. I'm sure there is a pretty good story, as almost everything he does is crazy funny to me. Also, this will be the last favorable BYU post I do. I can almost taste football season...and we all know what that means.

So far...

This is the news that we got almost a month ago. I was able to go in for an early ultrasound at about 15 weeks, and they told me that our baby looked like a boy. Shane said he was sure--I'm still not so convinced. I was positive I was having a girl. But, I have another ultrasound {the BIG one} in a week, and whatever they tell me I'll believe. As for now, I'm looking for boy names and getting excited about all of the "boy things". I'm excited to be able to do and buy all of the things that I haven't been able to yet {I'll get to shop on the OTHER side of the store for once!}. That is, if we're actually having a boy...stay tuned.