Jake and the Neverland Pirate Game

So, here is the game that William got for his birthday. The kids all LOVE it. It lets them do super silly things. I highly recommend it for young kiddos. (Except for the fact that the "vines" don't ever stay up.)

Winston

Because I have a been a somewhat neglectful blogger, lets play catch up with Winston.

At his 6 month check up he weighed 20 pounds 9 ounces. He is also 28 1/2 inches tall.

While his weight is good and healthy, I do have to take him back in for a weight check on Jan. 2, because he has only put on an ounce since his 4 month check up.

 

He also has one tooth, and another coming in.

He rolls over both directions, sucks on his toes, and is starting to put everything he can get in his hands in his mouth. And he is finally starting to sleep through the night 2 or 3 times a week!!

First Day Of First Grade

Ok, so this should have been posted a couple of months ago. Whoops. I'll try to be better.

Orion started 1st grade on September 3. His teacher is Mrs. Rohowetz. He says he really loves it. I am not so sure. He gets into trouble a lot. Like a lot a lot. For silly things mostly. Like, being too silly, or fidgeting too much. (Yes, I do mean he is too fidgety in class and has to stay in from recess some times for that.) Despite me not liking his teacher, he loves her. So, I guess that is a good thing. Right?

Halloween

Don't I have cute kiddos?

Orion really wanted to be Iron Man.

William wanted to be a spider. At first I was going to make him a green spider costume, but Wanda had a spider costume they weren't using, and William decided he REALLY liked that one. So I got out of sewing one!!

Oliver for weeks wanted to be a ghost. He makes a super cute ghost!

Winston, is a duck.

And Phil, was Fix- it- Felix. He makes a super cute Fix-It-Felix!

We all went to the Mt Horeb/ 4th Ward Trunk or Treat. I was in charge of helping with the Pie Contest. Poor Philip had charge of all the kids while I was busy doing that. I also sewed this super cute apron for the winner. (I found the tutorial here )

(Ignore my fabulous hair, lack of a bra and pjs. I spent the morning sewing instead of getting dressed.)

And then we took the kids out trick or treating on Halloween night. Philip walked ahead with Orion and William. And I walked slowly with Oliver and Winston. After every door, Oliver would say "ok, lets do a couple more doors."  Winston slept most of the time.

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Orion lost his first tooth. This makes me very sad. It means he is growing up, and I'm not ready for that.

Santa

We took the kids to see Santa at the library.

Oliver was SUPER excited to see him. While waiting in line he kept waving and yelling "Hi Santa!" When it was his turn he ran right up and sat on his lap. Big change from last year!!

Sadly, our camera has been acting up, and we lost the picture that had all the kids sitting with Santa.

June Birthdays

So we had quite a few birthdays in June. We started with mine, on the 5th. It was pretty uneventful. I met some friends at the Chocolate House here in Mt Horeb for lunch. And Wanda and Robert came by and surprised me with cheesecake. Sadly, Philip had to work late that night, so we waited until Thursday to do presents. I got a couple of games. Guess Who and NabIt. Both lots of fun.

Williams birthday was on the 11th. My friend Shawna (who also happens to be Williams friend Bella's mother) took William to McDonalds for lunch. And then we waited for Grandma Mobley and Great Grandma Staples to get here so that they could celebrate with us. William wanted pancakes for dinner, and he wanted a Thomas the Train cake. He got both. For his birthday we got him a super fun game, that will eventually get its own post, and some rope. He LOVES the rope and is constantly playing with it.

My sister Jada had a birthday (on the 13th) while they were here visiting too. That night, we stayed up late and did pedicures. That is my kind of birthday treat. (Hint hint Phil. (:  )

My mommys birthday was on the 21st. They were leaving early that morning so we celebrated the night before. I took the kids and my sisters out shopping for her and let them pick out a present. Nothing big, but at least she knew we were thinking about her.

And of course, Winston had his birthday on the 8th. But that gets its own post too.

Winston Parley Bainbridge

On Saturday June 8, 2013 at 1:15pm, after 14 hours of labor, Winston Parley Bainbridge joined our cute little family. Here is his story.

For weeks before  I would have very painful contractions that were long, hard, and right on top of each other. Until I would lay down. Then they would go away. Same with Friday the 7th. I was having lots of contractions, but I knew that as soon as I was able to go to bed, they would go away. And they sure enough, when I crawled into bed at 9:00, they went away. But then I woke up at 10:30 with a super painful contraction. I tried rolling over and going back to sleep, but before I could doze back off, another one hit. After about an hour of trying to sleep. I finally decided to get up and move around. I went and started unloading the dishwasher. This is when Philip came upstairs. Getting up and moving around helped with the intensity of the contractions, but they were still there. After the dishes were done, Philip and I sat on the couch and talked. The contractions started getting worse. So I got up and paced. And paced. And paced. Finally at about 1:30, I decided that I would go take a shower and see how I felt after that. At about 2:15, I told Phil that we should probably go to the hospital. He asked if he had time to shower. I said yes. I still wasn't sure that I was in labor. By the time Philip was out and our babysitter had arrived it was about 2:30. And contractions were under 2 minutes apart, and I was unable to talk through them.

We got to the hospital, and I was only dilated to a 3!!! (Really?? only a 3!!) Lucky for me, my OB was already at the hospital and she said to admit me. I had to have some blood work done before I was aloud to have an epidural. My blood platelets have been low, and if they are too low, they won't let you have an epidural. Well, mine came back at 92. The lowest they have been. Luck #2. The anesthesiologist was still willing to give me an epidural despite my low numbers. I got my epidural and was finally able to get a little rest. Sadly though, like with my other babies, with the start of the epidural, my labor stops. So after a couple of hours they started the petosin. Even after a couple of hours, I was still progressing really slowly. At 12:15, I was still only a 5 and Winston was too high up for them to break my water. About that time, they had me roll over to my other side.

And that is when the real pain began. The contractions were almost instantly super painful. The nurse got me a wet wash cloth to bite on instead of my hand. I can't remember the last time I wanted to cry because of physical pain, but I was close. At some point the nurse asked if she could check me again. She did, and then went to get the doctor. He checked me, broke my water and announced that it was time to push. By this point I was feeling EVERYTHING. I needed to roll to my back, and the doctor trying to re-position the baby so I could had me crying out. At that point my doctor paused and seriously asked me if I was going to be able to push the baby out, or if the pain would be too much. I assured him that I would do it. And I did, Despite feeling like my body was being ripped in half. Again, because we were concerned about size  I had to only push out 1/2 his head, and then wait until the next contraction to push out the rest of his head and a shoulder.

He finally came out. With a perfectly round little head. He weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces, and was 21 1/2 inches tall. He was perfect. (Still is.)

Winston hasn't been an easy baby. He's pretty fussy.  A lot. But I think it is getting better. And he took a while to get the hang of nursing. Truth be told, I'm not sure he has it down 100% yet. It is still toe curling painful to nurse him. BUT, I love him. I love to snuggle him. I love that his brothers love him. Oliver asks about him anytime he is quiet and always wants to help with him and hold him. Orion was thrilled to show him off to all his friends at church. And William is fascinated with how tiny all his parts are. (Look at how little his ears are mom. Look at how little his nose is mom.) I am so glad that he is here, and that he is healthy. We love him!

Confessions of a Hormonal Pregnant Lady

Because I have larger babies, I often get comments about how big I am. And are we SURE that it isn't twins.  It gets old after a while, but usually I am able to just laugh it off. But the last week or so, I am starting to feel HUGE. And for the first time in my life I feel like even when I try to make myself look cute, I just look fat and ugly. (I know rationally that I am not fat, just pregnant, and that I am not ugly. I know that I am beautiful because I look like my sisters, and they are two of the most beautiful women I know.) But that is how I feel. So on Sunday, after hearing again and again "you just look so big" and "haven't you had that baby yet?" and "you have how much longer to go? You're sure?", I cried the whole way home. Then yesterday I went out with my friend for a girls day. We went and got pedicures. At the salon, 2 different people came up and asked me if I was having twins. And one person asked how I was enjoying my 4th trimester. I didn't cry that time, but it definitely didn't help my state of mind either.

Now the reason I am writing this post. It isn't because I want sympathy. I don't. I KNOW it is just the hormones. And I am so grateful that I get to be able to bear my own children. That is a huge privilege, honor and blessing. I know some women who would give anything to be able to feel huge and ugly if it meant they got to feel a baby inside of them. I truly am thankful for this experience. No, the reason I am writing this. The next time you see a huge pregnant lady, instead of gawking or asking her some ridiculous question, just tell her that she looks beautiful. (Lie if needed.)

A Little Bit of This and That

Orion played his first "season" of soccer this last fall/spring. At first, he really didn't like it and I was the mean mom dragging him to practice in tears. Now he loves it, and I think will be sad for it to end. We haven't decided yet if we will sign him up again only because he has expressed an interest in . . . baseball. (And I say to myself REALLY?? Could there be a more boring sport to watch?)

It was gotten warm enough that we have been able to spend a couple of days at the lake. The boys LOVE going, but prefer to hang out in the little freezing spring puddle as apposed to the actual lake. Except Ollie, he will venture out into the murky waters.

 We went to the park the other day. Philip had fun playing with his basket ball. If we had a more even driveway I might invest in a hoop for him for Fathers Day.

And lastly, possibly the last pregnant picture I may ever take. Here I am at 37 weeks.