one more

I'm still in the process of scanning in a lifetime of pre-digital camara photos and just had to post this one I didn't have in when I did Emma'a birthday post. I actually have a whole HUGE scrapbook (her being my first and all) full of her baby pictures. I would like to get them on the computer- I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. Is it the cutest or what? I miss those legs. My only chubby baby :)

Eli Michael

On 2/22/02 at 12:02 am (my nurse swore that was the actual time) we were blessed with a boy! Truly blessed. Eli is a one-of-a-kind kid and we are so grateful to have him in our family. He was the happiest baby ever and still has an overall mellowness about him. I've never met anyone with a more kind and tender heart.
Our little family of 4!
This is one of my all-time favorite pictures ever.

Disneyland- almost 1

Very much WAY into daddy from day 1. As a newborn he literally used to watch Dana walk around the apartment.

3 years old
He LOVED dress-up more than anything for a long time. He got a Spiderman costume when he was 4 for Christmas. I remember it wasn't until February that I actually saw him willingly take the costume off.
2 peas in a pod
Eli is-

a great reader

very imaginative

a good artist and LOVES to draw

super kind to his friends

not shy and loves people

extra loving to Sadie

very helpful

silly and loves when people think he's funny

HAPPY, HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY BIG BOY!!! It seems to me you're getting your wish and growing up really fast.

Disneyland

Okay I'm a total blog queen lately but this is a BIG month around here with lots going on. Last Saturday, Valentines Day, we all drove down to my mom's house in California. Our plan was to have a relaxing Saturday and Sunday, Monday a mini family reunion, and then Tuesday go to Disneyland. However, our awesome plan seemed to be threatened at every turn.

The day before we were to leave I took Eli to the doctor for a sore throat- just in case. He had a positive strep test. "That's okay" thought I, with antibiotics he won't be contagious by the time we get there. That night he began to complain of a tummy ache. By morning (time to go) he was throwing up. After a while he was better and we left about 1 pm. On the way down Holly began to say her tummy hurt. We stopped, she went #2, on the way out of the bathroom she said "uh-oh my tummy still hurts!", rushed her back to the toilet and she threw up all over herself and the floor. The joy of motherhood. Standing in a KFC bathroom with just those non-absorbent paper towels and a child with puke on her clothes. BUT we made it through and bust out the doors of that KFC and never looked back. Then proceeded to ignore the gang members eyeing us in the parking lot as we knocked on the door of our locked van due to the said gang-members.

To continue in the fun, that night Sadie and Holly both unexpectantly threw up all over their beds twice. My poor mom! I felt so bad bringing it all to her house. That being said, I'm so glad it was my mom and no one else! After that, things got better but it was a crazy start to our trip. It seems to be an ongoing theme for us to suddenly have sick kids when we are going on a vacation.
I'm suddenly aware that this post is not sounding anything like the title. So sorry if you're feeling duped into reading about all this grossness on false pretenses of Disneyland happiness. Luckily for me (and you) and all involved, that was the end of the sickies.

Monday we had so much fun seeing family that we rarely see. Two of my dad's brothers, and a few of my cousins, and their families. And Sally being there all weekend made it all extra fun too (love you Sal!). It was so fun just to see everyone and talk and laugh.

Tuesday was the long-awaited day! It started out so lucky. As we were driving into the parking lot, I handed the guy my card to pay, and he told us we were chosen as the "Guests of the Day" and we got free parking and an escort to a primo parking spot! That was sweet! We felt very VIP-ish. Dana asked the guy how many people get chosen for that and he said "One a day and the time is randomly chosen by the computer." What are the chances?

One of the things Eli and Holly got soooo excited about was seeing the famous castle. Eli went to Disneyland a ton as a baby and toddler but didn't remember any of it. Holly and Sadie were first-timers.

Big 9 year old!!! Free on your birthday this year! They also gave her a pin and all day all the workers were wishing her a happy birthday. That was so fun for her.
MAJOR excitement in the air as we were about to go in.
Entering the newly re-opened "Small World" ride. I was happy that it was much the same. It was fun looking for the added Disney Characters throughout the ride.

They had each earned their own "disney dollars" before we left (by doing little jobs, being good listeners, etc.) and cotton candy was first on their list after we had gone on a few rides.

I took Sadie to meet Mickey while the other kids were with Dana on the Toon Town rollercoaster. She was so sweet. While we were in line I said "Do you see Mickey?" She shouted "Yeah!" Then when it was out turn I put her down and said "Go give him a hug!" Then she ran over to him and hugged him. She got a lot of "Awww"s from everyone in line. It was really cute.

The kids in "Toon Town"

We stayed until 9 when they closed and everyone was pretty ready to go. In fact, I think everyone fell asleep in the car on the way to mom's- even me! Not Dana por supusto. We went on every ride on our list and didn't even get rained on like we were expecting. I think the kids were pretty unanimous on their favorite ride being "Space Mountain" but "Splash Mountain" was probably their second. It was a Super Duper fun day!

"Ummm...where's Holly?"

During the week after we pick up Emma and Eli from school, we have our little after school routine. This entails a snack and then homework time. Putting it off doesn't work well around here so we hit it quick and get it done. This is also the time of day that Holly dreads. Sadie does too but just isn't quite as verbal about it yet. Holly wants to play with her big brother and sister that she's missed all day. She's pretty good about playing with Sadie but sometimes just plays by herself.

Well last week I guess she decided to play hide and seek by herself. After I hadn't seen or heard her for awhile I started calling her and looking around the house. We looked everywhere we could think. The front door was locked and the garage was shut so I wasn't panicking but was getting nervous. I was yelling her name and threatening things like never-ending time-outs if she didn't make herself seen- things I knew she would respond to if she could hear me. LUCKILY Emma saw this...
I don't think I would've found her.

I guess it was a little too comfy laying on the mound of dress-up clothes. And nice and dark with the lid she pulled on herself :)

She woke up and was confused that we were all standing around her. Funny girl. She also added that she wasn't really asleep. Just laying in there until homework time was done.

Emma Kristy

Happy Birthday to my big girl! Emma didn't have quite the dramatic entry that Sadie had- which is a good thing. After a LONG pregnancy full of morning sickness, I felt I deserved a great delivery and that's just what I got. Since she was my first, the nurses weren't expecting my labor to progress so quickly. But once I had the epidural it wasn't too long until I was ready to push.
She had me do a couple "test" pushes and much to her dismay Emma was on her way out. She told me to "Stop pushing!" so she could get the doctor-easier said than done but I tried. I remember seeing Dr. Dietrich tripping over his booties trying to get them on and get everything set-up so he was ready to deliver. The BEST memory I have from her birth is that I was so intent on those last couple pushes that I really wasn't focusing on the baby. When Emma let out that first cry, it took my breath away and my heart had never been so full of pure joy. It was more unbelieveable than I ever expected it would be.
She was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and grew to be this BIG baby 1 year later. I enjoyed her so much. I wasn't working so she was just my little buddy. It was a good thing I had a lot of time because she had a LOT of questions for me to answer. Now she helps me answer questions Eli and Holly ask.
Her on her first birthday-
Super-Duper fun baby! She started talking at 10 months and hasn't stopped since!

Corona Del Mar

First day of Preschool in California- 3 1/2.

1st grade

I love this picture she painted in 2nd grade. It's just bright and happy and fun- so much like her personality.

There's so much I love about her. Here are some fun things:

She LOVES animals and has from the day she was born. She never liked dollies or princesses. She wants to be a vet one day.

She is enjoying good books more and more. She's supposed to read for 20 mins a day but usually ends up reading for more like an hour.

She's willing to try new things.

She knows what she likes/wants.
She's got a really strong character and is very sweet and obedient (usually).

The greatest big sister ever.

She's very loving and cuddley

favorite color: yellow

favorite animal: cheetah

favorite place: Disneyland...where she gets to go on her birthday in 2 days!

She tends toward extreme silliness at times and luckily she has some cousins that can relate :)

LOVE YOU PUNKIN PIE!!!

Sadie Hope

Happy 2nd birthday Sadie! This is a bit early (her birthday is the 16th) but we are going to be leaving for California, plus Valentines Day, plus Emma (17th) and Eli's (22nd) birthdays, I gotta spread it all out a little.

Sadie came into the world through a tramatic delivery, after a scary pregnancy. Her middle name has a lot of meaning to us as it was chosen because that's what we lived on during my last trimester. It's a story that is long when I tell it because all the details start coming back to me. Plus it was just a long ordeal. Feel free in skip through it if you want.

Sadie got all the recessive genes in our family. Being so small is one of them (Dana's family). She didn't grow very big when I was carrying her and the specialized OB told us she thought Sadie may have a proportional dwarfism. I asked if it could be partly my active arthritis which wasn't leaving during the pregnancy as it always had in the past and she said no (later I read a study that has shown active arthritis to cause some growth restriction). I went in weekly to get monitored. Sadie had endless ultrasounds where they would watch her bloodflow in her brain and look for other signs of distress. She always looked healthy but small. That oh-so-special doctor wanted to deliver Sadie at 32 or 33 weeks solely based on her size. Since Sadie always looked healthy I couldn't understand the logic and we switched to a new perinatalogist. The new doctors gave us a lot more hope (hence the name) and said he didn't believe that she had a dwarfism.
I went in at 39 weeks to get induced. I would've waited til I started labor but they said small babies have a higher risk of still birth.

2 days prior Sadie had been head up so they needed to turn her first. But when they did the ultrasound she was head down. Yeah! I was skeptical though and even asked to talk to the doctor about whether she could turn back the other way again since she was small and had plenty of fluid. He assured me that, that is super rare. Induction began, which went like clockwork. I got the epidural and was ready to push. The nurse couldn't feel her head. This was after me asking probably 10 times during the course of labor if she was sure she was head down. They went and got an ultrasound machine which wouldn't work for 10 mins or so. Finally they confirmed she had turned back around. They left to get the doctor to see what we should do. I just knew I wanted her out. I felt really weird and lightheaded.

The doctor presented us with a few options but then had to leave to deliver another baby. After that we were alone in the room and Dana and I just looked at each other in shock and disbelief at the situation and that we were in there alone when I NEEDED to get her out. A moment later 3 nurses ran in and asked where our nurse was (great question), they weren't picking up Sadie's heartrate anymore. Then our nurse comes back in and announces that they shouldn't worry, she's being a stinker and keeps moving her heart away from the monitor (maybe because she wasn't head down?) The monitor was picking up my heartrate. Then they noticed I was bleeding. My placenta had ruptured because I was ready to push for more than half an hour. Really bad news for my baby whose heartrate they already couldn't find. We didn't find that out until after she was born- the nurse had said it was blood from the plug.

I started crying and begging them to get her out. They rushed me to the OR in case the doctor would want to give me a C-section. I guess he was still delivering the other baby. A new nurse who I believe saved Sadie's life, checked for the baby's wiggly heartrate. She then annouced that "my" heartrate was actually the baby's (too slow for a baby). She said "We have got to get her out right now!" A doctor was called and they had her out in about 3 minutes. She was not breathing, she didn't cry. I saw Dana crying over her as they were trying to recessitate her. My emotions were dulled from the epidural and morphine and I felt like I was watching the scene but not part of it. Dana remembers them picking up her arm and watching it fall back down. They asked him to tickle her feet. He saw her toe move. She began to breathe. They let me see her and then took her to the NICU. She was there for a week but just for jaundice. They took her off oxygen the day she was born. How grateful are we that she survived that with no lasting effects. I worried about that for about the first year of her life. I don't worry anymore. She's happy and healthy and we are SO grateful for her.

Not the greatest quality but this is Amy, me and Sadie, and mom in the NICU
She was 4 lbs. 6 oz. at birth. 16 inches. To me, this photo best shows how little she was. This is the day we brought her home. She had to sit on rolled up diaper cloths to fit into her carseat. Emma had barely turned 7 and her hand can cover her head.
A lady in my ward had preemies and told me to be sure to take a picture next to a doll. I'm so glad she did. This is one of my favorites.

Blessing Day

I still can't get over her blue eyes and blonde hair. I love how bright they look next to the brown eyes (which I also love of course).

Happy baby!!! 7 months
So much love from her sisters and brother :)

Some awesome things about this girl are:

Her adorable babytalk that I can't get enough of

She's an expert nose-blower which I really enjoy (my first one)

She's cuddley

She's so sweet and hasn't started into tantrums yet

She's happy and loves to play!

Boy, do I ever kiss and enjoy this girl each day of her life.

What's a Girl To Do?

This applies to me and to Sadie. SHE does not like her diaper. I don't want to clean up potty that doesn't have a diaper to catch it. We aren't seeing eye to eye on the subject.
She's not responding to my sighs of exasperation each time I find her bare-bummed. And the throwing up of the hands into the air with a "Uuuuhhh!" Aren't wavering her determination to get that thing off. After many times of finding her like this...
(So happy to be unencumbered by anything binding)
I started putting onesies on her everyday...

Love Dana's face :)

How about overalls! I have a couple pairs left from Emma's toddler years when they were much more of a thing. She's like a mini-magician!

Please take this mom, I don't want it anymore.

Now I'm stuck with an overall/onesie combo and it's such a shame with all those other cute clothes sitting in her drawers.

After awhile I thought I'd try some regular clothes again- maybe she's done with that whole taking off her diaper phase.
Then I peeked in on her during her nap...

So, I bought her a potty. Just in case she's trying to tell me something. She REALLY likes it but so far has just pooped on the floor next to it. After which I heard an "OH...MY..GOSHH!" and then Emma running through the house toward me to break the news. I could tell she definetly thought I under re-acted. I was actually a little excited that it might mean she's getting the idea. Maybe?
So we aren't potty training but now we all have somewhere to put her if she manages to get that diaper off again. And she sure loves feeling big! My baby's almost 2, I can't believe it.

What Goes Around...

Normally I love giggles. Giggles equal happy kids. But as of late, we've been watching some serious "giggles gone wild" episodes around here. Our kids play really well together which I really LOVE but when they start having too much fun it just gets crazier and crazier. They are a little extra prone to craziness (or weirdness) I think. So they say these nonsense words or phrases that they all find HILARIOUS and just take turns saying things, after which they all break out in hysterical laughter. There is many a time that Dana and I can't talk (or even yell) over them. And it's almost always when they are getting ready for bed. I'm not sure if this is because it's late and they're tired, or they're putting off bedtime- or most likely both.

The funny thing about this story is that it doesn't seem like too long ago that I was the crazy one that couldn't quit laughing for the life of me. My siblings and I would be kneeling around the bed with our mom and dad saying it was time to stop and be reverent. And dreaded day if it was your night to pray because you had to get through the whole thing with a calm and serious voice. Inevitably, when it was my turn, my brain would remind me of my funny thoughts about half way through. First my prayer would falter. Bad sign. Then someone else might make the sound of a muffled snort. Then a short laugh would burst out of one or more of us (always me for sure), I would TRY to regain composure, and finally finish the prayer with numerous intermitant giggles. A couple times I remember not being able to finish because I couldn't stop laughing. There's something that definetly makes things WAY funnier when you are not supposed to be laughing. I actually once almost drowned because I was laughing so hard in the pool and couldn't stop. I remember thinking what a tragedy (and irony) that I might die of laughter. Luckily I'm not that crazy and sobered up long enough to get to the side. Okay this is getting long.

Even though I've had many cases of the crazy giggles too, now that I'm on the adult side of things I don't know what to do about it. We threaten them with losing parts of their bedtime routine and have followed through more than once, but it's not helping so far. I can sympathize with them but I also want to have reverence for the prayer and scriptures. If anyone else can relate, I'd love any ideas!

The Lion King

Thurday night we dropped Sadie off at Amy's house and drove to Tempe. We didn't tell the kids where we were going until we were in the car and they were soooooo excited when we finally told them. That was so fun:) We went to see the Lion King at the Gammage Theater at ASU. I wasn't totally sure how they would do, but they were all just mesmerized by it. Eli was literally sitting on the edge of his seat the through the whole thing. Emma kept thanking me the whole time and pointing out things she thought were really awesome. Holly sat on my lap and I loved snuggling her. They all LOVED it. Dana and I saw it in California when Emma was a baby but we both liked it so much more this time seeing it through their eyes.
Emma has issues with keeping her eyes open during the flash. I think it's the anticipation.

I can usually just take more pictures until we get a good one, but a lady came up and told me I'm not "allowed" to take pictures in there- even if the shows' not going. Sooo I obeyed the rules and put it away.

We had the best time! I highly recommend the show.