Larsen Family Love

I have changed my comment authorization. Figured it was lame that you had to have a gmail account to leave a comment. So comment away (if you want).

P.S. The comments don't show up until I moderate them.

OK so these are some of my favorite Internet sites. Maybe you know about them but maybe you don't. If you don't check 'em out.

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/ (it's satire people, calm down)

http://www.outonalimbscrapbooking.com/ (best place to buy two page scrapbook kits for ultra cheap)

http://amykharris.blogspot.com/ (my cousin, she's witty)

http://failblog.org/ (This keeps me laughing all day. You must go through at least three pages before you decided to never go back. Some are lame but some will make you laugh like my brother Barry, which if you have never heard it is hilarious)

http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ (pretty sure everyone knows about nienie but if you don't, this is for you)

The ladies in my office are cooking queens. They kept telling me about this super easy bread recipe. Just try it, it's so easy, you can do it and then they would follow up with the most wonderful treats at work, who wouldn't cave, right!

Julie J. was awesome enought to invite me over to learn the art of the 1 hour bread and there was no way I was passing it up. To make life even better, Kathy F. decided to come along for the ride and she brought a jar of her homeade peach jam (might have been apricot, can't remember, it was devine though).

One hour start to finish, Julie did not lie. I couldn't believe it but it was true. Julie made a loaf of white bread, a loaf of cinnamon bread and two italian loafs. They were so good. I ate way more than I should have.

About a week later I decided to try it on my own. Looks pretty good don't you think?

Also don't mind the personalized utensil holder in the background... I love it and never get anything with my name on it so I just had to include it in my picture. lol.

P!NK is my girl. Love her music, love her attitude, I could not pass up her first headlining concert in the USA. I got 4 tickets thinking I could round up a few girls to join me.

Brindley and I drove from St. George to Phoenix. We rocked it the entire way. I love a road trip with good music and great company.

Brindley and I stayed with my Aunt Nanette and Unlce Ben. Let me tell you they are the best hosts' EvEr. We woke up one morning to Ben's waffles (they are to die for), fresh fruit and lots of other great food.

I got to hang out with Cara and her family. We chatted and watched TV and it was reported to me that Donovan makes great sushi, so I will have something to look forward too when I come back again. Not only that but they would have let me take their Hummer back to Nanette's but I chickened out.

Sunday morning I woke up to a text from Tracy saying that she was "on her way." So I grabbed Brindley and we headed for the airport. I kept calling Tracy and texting her, letting her know that we were driving around and around the pick up area. I was actually getting myself carsick circling the airport. We kept passing this area that said "cell phone lot" I finally asked Brindley to read what it was all about and come to find out you can park their and watch the airline arrival/departure updates. So the next time we circled the lot we found the entrance and sat and waited for Tracy to arrive. As we were waiting I looked down at the card I had written her flight info on and she wasn't due to arrive for another 2.5 hours. I just looked at Brindley and busted up laughing. Within minutes Tracy called and told me that she hadn't been able to get on the flight because she was flying standby. Apparently when she said "she was on her way" she meant to the airport. That's what I get for not checking my info.

Sunday night we drove to the jobing.com arena. Let me tell you they know how to do it. There were so many bathrooms and so many different places to eat. I was impressed.

We sat down and immediately Brindley and I were drenched in beer from the uber trashed drunk ladies behind us. So instead of apologizing and ignoring us they apologized and jumped into our photos and played with my hair (yeah I know).

"The Ting Tings" opened for P!NK. I only knew about three of their songs. They are an interesting twosome not to mention the outfit the singer was sporting.

P!NK rocked. She played some oldies and some newbies. I loved that she sounded awesome. I hate it when you go to a concert and they sound aweful live. She played for almost two hours. Brindley and I sang as loud as we could and of course our ears were ringing when we left.

Random photos. You have to love them. I leave my camera out and a certain little boy can't keep his hands off of it. Pretty sure Camden's got some hidden talent.

Six.

How do we go from a newborn to six so quickly?

Camden is full of adventure and a little too daring for my liking. He loves to ride motorcycles with his dad and asked for riding gear for his birthday. Because I love him so much I threw in a chest protector.

We have been so excited for our chance to get another child (a baby girl) through the adoption process. We met the birth mother through Matt's brother and had picked out a wonderful name Libby Belle Larsen (for the rest of the story the baby with be Libby). Things were going really well. The birth mother had invited me to attend her doctor appointments and had asked me to be in the labor and delivery room when Libby was born. I was head over heels in love with that baby in her belly and Camden was excited because he was getting a baby sister on his birthday September 16th.
Towards the last two months of her pregnancy the birth mom had stopped growing. So she was going to the doctor twice a week get checked, have stress tests and ultra-sounds. There were concerns about whether or not they should take Libby early, the doctors didn't know if it would be better to have her in the womb or outside the womb to grow.
On August 26 at 8:25 a.m. I got a text from the birth mom stating that Libby, our baby girl, had been born. She was 4.1 oz and 17 inches long she had been born around 7 am. Because of her size they had rushed her right into the NICU. The birth mom reported to me that the doctor called her at 5 am and wanted her to rush in to deliver Libby. He had concerns about the appointment the previous day and the lack of growth from the baby. He asked her to come in for an emergency c-section.
I talked with the birth mom and asked her how she was feeling about the adoption. She said that it was hard but that she still wanted to go through with it. She then told me that she was still in recovery and would call me when she got into a regular room.
I received another text from the birth mom about an hour later. She stated that Libby was really small but was very healthy. The nurses had brought Libby into the birth moms room and she wanted Matt and I to come over. At that point I told the birth mom that we would love to come over but that she need to be 100% positive about placing the baby with us. I told her that if she was going to change her mind it would be better if we didn't come. She assured me that everything was going to go as planned.
Matt and I went over to the hospital and met her. She was so little and so sweet. I held her and rocked her and looked at her cute legs and fingers. We took a lot of pictures (which she was not happy about). It was so wonderful to see this beautiful baby that was going to be ours. Matt and I stayed for about an hour and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The birth mom was exhausted but kept saying things like "when you take her home", "she can leave with you on Saturday if all goes well" lots of positive and encouraging things. She reiterated that she knew placing Libby was going to be hard but that she was going to do it. We left the birth mom knowing that she was tired and could use some rest. She told us that she would call as soon as she woke up.

The waiting game was aweful but at 3:50 p.m. the birth mom text me and said she couldn't do it, that she loved me and that she knew I would be a good mom and that the baby would be taken care of but that it was just too hard.

I was inconsolable. I was hysterical. I couldn't breath. I was doing the ugly cry at work. Oh my poor co-workers. I made them call my mom and my husband. It was awful. I just couldn't stop crying. Oh how bad it hurt. I don't think that I have ever been so wounded. All that we had gone through. Everything had just felt so right and here we were, ready and prepared for this little girl to go home with us and then nothing. Ugh. What was I going to do? What was I going to tell Camden?

My wonderful mom came and got me. I would go from hysteria to numb back to hysteria over and over again. How many times can a heart break? It was misery.

As I was walking in the front door Camden came around the corner. He didn't know what was going on but could see immediatly that I was not ok. He asked what was wrong. I told him that Libby had been born but that the birth mom had changed her mind and that we weren't going to be getting a baby. He hung his head and his bottom lip started to quiver. He looked at me and kept saying, "but she's my baby sister, she promised, call her and tell her that she's my baby sister, let me call her." For a broken heart those were not easy words to hear. How is a 5 year old to cope with such huge feelings.

Unfortunatly the birth mom never changed her mind. It still hurts to think about and I have to keep telling myself that I have a wonderful family just the three of us.

We took down Libbys room and shoved all of her things in corners behind doors. I still have everything, I keep wondering if I should give it away or if we are going to be strong enough to try again. I guess time will tell.

Camden was pretty excited to go and meet his new school teacher. When we got their Ms. Macintosh wanted to take a picture of Camden in their "roundup theme" costume. Camden kind of looked at me like "are you really going to make me do this?"
Ms. Macintosh has a wonderful classroom. She had a treasure hunt for Camden to do. We went from station to station until he got to the final treasure. You would think that Kindergarten instructions would be simple and easy to follow but Matt and I had to re-read the directions on almost every stop. It was pretty scary and a little bit ridiciulous.
This is Camden with his pirate hat and pirate book. The kid with the red eyes on the book is Camden's self portrait.

Camden should be a fish. He loves water and has no fear. We love to spend time out a the lake. Our local favorite is Gunlock but since they drained it last year we had to resort to going to Sand Hollow.

Camden hates to wear his life jacket. He tells me he doesn't need it in the water. I don't believe I was that fearless when I was his age.

Matt decided that he would teach Camden about rock jumping. I wasn't out at the lake the first time they went but every other lake trip it was the first thing he asked to do. He will jump, climb, jump, climb etc. all day long.

Camden wanted to go over to the Sand Hollow cliffs and watch the jumpers. He looked at me and said "Mom I could do that" and started swimming over to the rocks. I was like nice try buddy, maybe when your a little older.


Boys in the boat. Catching some rays. They never put on sunscreen. They are all going to die of skin cancer! I will tell them "I told you so!"

Camden pretending he is sleeping on the rocking water. Silly Kid!

Aspen Grove has been my Grandma's choice for family reunions since I was 15. About every three years she will take all of us (her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren) to the BYU run Aspen Grove. It is a great place to vacation with family. This year there were over 150 of us. It was amazing to see all of my Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

Everyday Aspen Grove splits the children up into age groups. They fill up their day with all sorts of activities. They teach them a cute song and a team cheer. They swam, did crafts, played cowboys, hiked to a castle, etc. Every night Camden came back to the room exhausted and happy.

I was so worried about sleeping in a queen size bed with Camden, he tosses and turns and kicks, but he would close his eyes and be asleep in nothing flat. He did not move an inch any of the nights we were there (totally out of character for him). The first night he fell asleep so quickly and so deeply that all I could do was laugh.

The week for me was all about taking naps and playing Phase 10 with my Grandma. I know it sounds pretty rough ;)

So I'm going to give a wonderful shout out to my Grandma.. Thanks for the wonderful week at Aspen Grove. We love you.

Below are some great pictures of some of the fun we had at Aspen Grove... don't skip the one of my brother posing like it was 1987!

Camden and Nate on the Cowboy train

Camden riding a horse!

Camden as a lion, or tiger or I don't know.. but dang the face paint, it was a nightmare to get off.

Camden playing shuffle board with Uncle Ben and some cousins

Camden playing Go Fish

My brother Jeremy with a flash back to 1987!

My Mom and her wonderful hubby Doyle and all of their grandkids. This was by far the best shot I could find. Keeping all of the kids happy was not an easy task.

Matt told me he was going to get the windows on the boat tinted and have them put his racing logo on the back of the boat. A few days later I got home after dark and noticed the boat with the tinted windows. I came in and sat down and Matt came in, we started this conversation:

Matt: Did you see the boat?
Solinda: I looked at the tint.
Matt: You didn't see the logo?
Solinda: No, I know what it looks like.
Matt: Just come and see it.
Solinda: Really?... Ok... Fine... I'm coming.
(Walking to the garage)
Solinda: Laughing... Oh Matt, people are going to get the wrong idea...

Camden has never been interested in riding a bike but when I came home one afternoon he was full of excitement. He said "Mom stay here I want to show you something." He came riding around the corner of the house on a bike with no training wheels. I was blown away because he has never been interested in a bike it was always scooter, scooter, scooter. Within days he was zooming around the block and looked like a pro.

Holy big fish. Matt caught himself a lunker. It was 23.5 inches long. The fish was so big that it took up the entire cooler from end to end. Matt was so proud of that dang fish, he was like a kid on christmas morning. That is all the boys talked about for days.

Meet baby Libby. We are so excited to have her join our family. She is due in September. Her due date is September 22 but when we went to the doctor last month he said that he will be delivering her on September 16th. Which is Camden's birthday arrrghh. I was praying for any day but that day. I guess Dixie Regional only does scheduled c-sections on Wednesday's which unfortunately is the Camster's birthday. When I told Camden he was ecstatic. He is really excited to have a sister as a gift. I hope he still feels that way in 10 years.

Ok so maybe not but we are getting a baby thanks to a wonderful birth mother. We are going to have a 3D ultra-sound on Monday so I will post pictures then.

If you have ever been to our home you will notice our huge rock walls in the yard. Well apparently snakes love to hide there. Every time I turn around the boys are bringing in a new snake that they have found. Snakes are not only gross but they freak me out.
My biggest worry now is that Camden just picks them up without question. I worry that it won't be just a garden snake the next time.
Why are boys so adventurous?

We spent two days at Disneyland and California Adventure. Camden is still gun shy about rides. He loved the little ones and cried on the big ones. I can't believe he was tall enough to ride most of the rides. He has gotten so big. We really enjoyed the new "Small World" ride and couldn't wait to eat a churro. It was good to have some quality time with my small family.

I am so glad that my dad came with us. It is wonderful to have such a close relationship with him. He makes us laugh and is always willing to give Matt and I alone time.

Grandpa and Camden watching Shamu. Camden was really excited to see the show. He thought it was cool and he would not stop smiling... until he got soaked... then he was screaming and crying and begging to leave.

We stopped and fed the seals. They are so loud, and they beg worse then my dogs.

This was probably the saving grace of SeaWorld. You pay $12.00 for the cup and then can refill it for $2.00. Sucks to say it's the cheapest way to drink at SeaWorld.

How much fun is SeaWorld? Oh so much fun. It was so hot and for some reason SeaWorld had no shade, none what so ever. They should have asked from my advice on planting some trees.