Two Whole Hands

I now have a child whose age is in the double digits.  Seems almost impossible!  William is such a good boy and is a great example to his younger brothers.   He has always loved our babies but it seems even more apparent this time around with his little sister.  He wants to hold her often and is a great helper.

We are really blessed with William as our oldest and can't wait to see what this next year holds.

And now for his yearly interview....

What is your favorite...
color? blue and black
food? pizza
toy? football
show? Star Wars: The Clone Wars
animal?  gorilla
book(s)? Heroes of Olympus and Harry Potter
song? KooKoo Kangaroo CD
primary song? Scripture Power
What do you like to do? play video games and football
Who is your best friend?  Chandler, Luke and Brayden
What do you want to be when you grow up? a football player
 Do you have a girlfriend?  No!




I am - 10, awesome!

I am afraid of - nothing!

I like - Star Wars and Harry Potter

I like to eat - pizza

I don't like - brussell sprouts

I know - that I'm going to finish the Harry Potter series this school year.

I want to be - air

I like to watch - Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I like to go to - LegoLand

My hero is- Dad!

I cry when - I get hurt

Mom gets mad when - I punch someone

Mom is happy when - I hug her and help her

Dad gets mad when - we're messing around

Dad is happy when - we play with him

What I want to be when I grow up - a football player

I can't wait for - Christmas!  And my birthday.  And for Grandma and Lisa to come.

Something Mom says to me - "I love you."

Something Dad says to me - "I love you."

My favorite animal is - a gorilla

My favorite place to go is - Legoland and Grandma's house

My Mom and Dad make me laugh by - tickling me

I know my mom loves me because -she hugs me

I know my dad loves me because -he plays with me

Big Brothers

These boys just adore their new baby sister!  They just can't get enough of her. They love to hold her and never complain about helping out with her... whether it's just getting me a diaper or keeping her happy while I get something done.  Henry loves to take off her hat and "pet" her head. And they all want a chance to hold her! Here are a few of the many photos I've taken of Lydia with her big adoring brothers.

Lydia is such a lucky girl to have 4 big brothers who love her so much already!

Halloween Fun

We had a ton of fun this Halloween.  Henry couldn't get enough of our felt jack-o-lanterns.  He would pull them out all the time.  I'm glad that I remembered to get them out this year!

The boys loved the Halloween stickers from the dollar spot at Target and made about 100 pictures using them.  Best investment of the season!

We also went to the school Fall Festival with Spiderman, Harry Potter, Captain Rex, and a skeleton (with a light saber).

For Family Night before Halloween we carved pumpkins--actually Rich did all the carving and most of the gutting as well.  He's super dad.

 Grandma was here (hooray!!!) and held Lydia while we designed the jack-o-lanterns.

Henry was the only one I got pictured with his final pumpkin.

Rich braved it by himself and took all of the boys to the tri-ward trunk-or-treat with a dementor, ninja skeleton, Harry Potter, and Spiderman (with a lightsaber).

 The kindergarteners had a costume parade and I was able to go watch with my mom, Henry and Lydia.

 It was Lydia's first outing and she slept through the whole thing... but she sure looked cute!

The night of Halloween Grandma made little jack-o-lantern pizzas and the boys went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  James decided at the last minute that his other costumes were no longer any good and he needed to be a hunter--but he pretty much looked like he does every day. One day he'll look back at this and have a good laugh.

Overall, it was a pretty crazy month full of Halloween fun!

Pumpkin Patch

The weekend before Lydia was born we headed over to the orchard for some apple cider donuts and pumpkin picking.

Mmmm.. those donuts are just so good!

The boys had fun pushing each other in the wheel barrows while we waited for the wagon to stop.

The wagon was full when it went past so we decided to go get our pumpkins instead.

We didn't get to go on the wagon ride that day but Grandma took them the next weekend!  Lucky boys!

Lydia's birth story

After Henry's birth I thought I had the c-section thing down but Lydia's arrival didn't turn out as uneventful as I had hoped.  Rich and I arrived at the hospital super early (about 5:30!) Thursday morning to get all prepped for delivery.  When I finally got into the OR it was so cold and they had no warm blankets in the blanket warmer.  I remember them saying that there wasn't any on the entire floor!  Really?!  Then we waited around for the anesthesiologist--and I could tell everyone in the room was getting a little annoyed.  In the past I've met them in my room, we chat and discuss what will happen, and then I see them again in the operating room.  That didn't happen.  When he finally came in (smelling like cigarrette smoke) and I told him that I wanted an epidural instead of a spinal he didn't seem too happy.  Neither did the nurse.  They all wanted to know why I would choose that.  It was frustrating because I had told my doctor months ago that I like epidurals but no one else seemed to care.  (I'm sure that part of the annoyance was because epidurals take longer to set in and it would now put us even further behind schedule). 

Just minutes after the epidural was in place my lips started to feel tingly and I felt light-headed.  I'm glad I said something to the nurse because I passed out soon after they helped me to lay down.  Everything after that is a little blurry or I have no recollection of it at all.  The next thing I remember is that everything was set up and ready to go for the c-section and I'm sure they had started.  Usually they do a "pinch test" to make sure the epidural has take effect.  They didn't do that this time (that I can remember).  My mind was fuzzy but I did let them know I was in pain.  Dr. Harter asked if they had done a pinch test and they hadn't... but they started doing it then.  I remember the nurse pinching my arm.  Ummm..  little too late for that!  With Henry when I felt pain they gave me a little bit more medicine with the epidural and I was fine.  This time they gave me some other pain med that really left me tired and loopy.  Honestly, I don't remember Rich being there.  I couldn't keep my eyes open to see him.  I do remember him holding my hand and talking to me though.  I didn't even get to see Lydia right after she was born (which makes me a little sad).  I kept asking Rich "What happened?" because I knew this wasn't "normal."  He just kept telling me we had a baby.  I could barely form words but in my head I kept thinking, "I know we had a baby!  But what happened!?"

The next thing I can remember is being in my hospital room and hearing Lydia screaming.  She has quite a pair of lungs! 

 Eventually the haze wore off and I was able to hold her.  She is just so so sweet.

I ended up with some great nurses (which make a huge difference!) for myself... although I didn't really care for the baby nurses.

 By Saturday I was ready to come home.  It was nice to recover in my own bed and eat good food again (the best meal was the "celebratory meal for 2" that they brought to us--I got filet minon and Rich got mahi mahi--along with little bottles of sparkling cider).   

We are so glad that this little girl is a part of our family!