The Bean Family

Halloween & 29

2009-11-04T06:55:00.003-06:00

The kids had a Halloween parade the day before Halloween and parties at school. They had lots of fun and we were able to go see it and went to both class rooms. That same night they went trick or treating in the COLD weather. The came back with only half full pumpkins but that was just fine. The next day, Halloween, we also went to the ward party where they got lots more.

Joseph in his school parade, He was a great Alien. As he was walking down the school halls he was reaching over and trying to scare the kids going the other way. What a boy!

Our cat, our princess, our cow, and our alien.

Megan with one of her best friends Alana.

Princess and our cow

"What's going on?!"

Eating cookies in Josephs classroom. Sarah wishes she was in kindergarten too.

just a cute picture of our bald bumbo boy! I took him yesterday and had his head shaved, now he just has a whole bunch of fuzz and looks soooo cute.

Sarah has taken to this being a princess quite well. She will even bow to us and she talks like a princess and is soooo adorable.

on another note, I turned 29 on Halloween, not much different yet, but WOW where has time gone that I am only a year away from 30. It seems like it wasn't that long ago I was 17 and getting married and starting a family!

I was looking at a wedding photo the other day and was thinking that I looked younger, just another reminder that I am. Weird!

Fall = Fun

2009-10-29T11:35:00.005-05:00

We carved our pumpkins! I should say I carved our pumpkins this last monday. It was to "Grosssss" for the kids to help. We first carved Megan and Joseph's, Sarah was asleep. They were very excited. Sarah woke up from a late nap and of course wouldn't go to sleep so after we put the other kids to bed, Sarah and I stayed up late and carved hers.

That same day, earlier, we raked our leaves! This is the first time in the 5 1/2 years we have lived here that I felt we needed to rake leaves. And who can't resist taking pictures of babies in leaves and kids jumping in leaves. It was tons of fun!
(take a good look at Megan's long hair.....it isn't so long anymore....)

"I love being outside!!"

Pumpkins!

2009-10-22T11:10:00.002-05:00

He really would have liked to suck on the stem, he went right for it

Megan's birthday & baptism

2009-10-15T11:16:00.004-05:00

Megan turned 8 on Saturday Oct. 10th. I can not believe she is 8 sometimes! She woke up to snow on the ground, I told her I didn't know she also asked for snow for her birthday. She had fun playing and seeing her grandma/pa Schow and opened some presents. She received her very own set of scriptures, a case for them, necklaces, a CTR ring, and scrapbooking items. She loved all of it.

At 3:00 it was time for her baptism. She was very nervous and excited about this. Mostly nervous about going under the water. Before the baptism people started showing up and sitting down and Megan was looking around frantically for Brent. I asked her why she was getting so upset and she told me "because it is time for my baptism and I can't find dad" I could she was getting really nervous. I hugged her for a few minutes and told her to take deep breathes and that we couldn't start her baptism without her dad. She smiled and seemed to calm down a bit. We are so proud of her in taking this first step in following Christ.

This picture was actually taken on sunday.

After her baptism she had a few friends over and lots of family. She received a big quilt shown here from her Grandma Schow and new Webkinz from Grandma Bean, Joseph& Sarah, and one from her best friend Alana, 2 of them were caterpillars. She loved both of them and so now she has twin caterpillars, Fuzzy and Pepper. She also received a beautiful snow globe from our neighbors who came to her baptism, with an angel inside that says Faith and sings a hymn. They also had it engraved with Megan's name and birthday and baptism date on it. We have Wonderful neighbors.

After her baptism at home

Just before her baptism

It was a great baptism and she had a wonderful, very memorable birthday. We were glad we could spend the day with family and friends. It seems like it wasn't that long ago Megan was a sweet little baby with lots of hair and a laid back personality. She has been an easy child from birth. She was always awake and alert wanting to see what was going on around her. To this day she is still a people watcher and seems quiet and shy, of course not like this at home! She is a GREAT big sister and always wants to do her best. We love her sooo sooo much and are soooo proud of who she is becoming!

Eight

2009-10-09T08:01:00.004-05:00

My "little" girl Megan is turning 8 tomorrow and being baptized!!!! Where does the time go?!?!?!

(pictures of tomorrow to follow soon)

pictures

2009-10-03T21:14:00.003-05:00

Daniel sleeping

Daniel in his bumbo, we like to call him Bumbo boy when he is in it.

Watching the cat

Tummy time

Sarah with her friend Laney, having a snack at the park.

More sleeping

They all still love to hold Daniel

I love this one. He was smiling at Megan who was making noises at him and he Loved it!

11 year happenings

2009-09-21T11:51:00.005-05:00

Brent and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary saturday! We got a babysitter (thanks Kate and Chloe!) and we went to dinner with no kids. I believe this is the first time we have ever paid a babysitter to come watch our kids, and 4 kids at that! It was nice to have time to ourselves and it was a delicious dinner at Biaggi's....yum. We don't go out to restaurants very often so when we do it is a treat and always tastes good. (partly because I don't have to cook it!)

Since we have been married:
We had 3 wonderful fun years before we started having kids
had 4 wonderful beautiful kids
had 2 cats and got 2 more (although we could do without the 2 more!)
been on some fun vacations
had Many Many church callings, ward missionaries, ward mission leader, eq president, executive secretary, hight council man (current), enrichment committee, enrichment leader, nursery, RS counselor, primary secretary, primary 1st counselor, primary president (current)
bought a new home together
bought a few cars together
have had wonderful Holidays
established a fun wonderful life together and are looking for many many more to come!

Happening of late:
We bought Halloween costumes this past weekend. I have found that buying or making Halloween costumes a month in advance works best than trying to find costumes a couple weeks before. Megan is going to be a black cat, Joseph an alien (which Sarah is terrified of), Sarah is going to be a Carebear, and Daniel a cow! I can't wait to see them all dressed up together!

Daniel started rolling over the last few days, he can now roll over from his back to his tummy and his tummy to his back. He has some strong legs on him and we won't be surprised if he learns how to crawl at 6 months and walk at 10 months like Megan and Joseph did. He is so adorable!

Sarah's potty training is going so well. She does not like to go potty in a diaper now and hopefully soon she will start going #2 in the potty seat. time....it just takes time. We are so proud of her!

We got our new dishwasher this last week also and I love it! it is so quiet! compared to our other one you had to raise your voice to be heard above it and this one it sounds like a little trickle of water. I also just purchased a new camcorder online that should be here this week! So exciting to get new gadgets!

Megan will be baptized on her birthday Oct. 10th! We are so excited about this and so is she. I can't believe it sometimes.

Life moves so quickly with so many things that go on, but it is all fun to be a part of and I feel so blessed.

Joseph made spaceships out of blocks

These pictures might need some explaining. Megan and Josephs school was renovated this past year and part of the renovation the school wanted to do a fun mural on one of the front halls, so I agreed to be one of the head chairs for the committee to put it together.
We started with nothting, came up with some sort of idea, found a parent from the school who put the design together, found companies that could help, one company donated all the colored tiles! Then during a week at the end of last years school year, the kids were able to place the tiles to make the design.
Then just a couple weeks before school many people got together and put the mural up. The black and white tiles around the mural we called donar tiles, those are tiles that funded the wall, people could buy a tile and have something printed on it and they make up the border. It was a very fun thing to see go from nothing to this. All the pictures on the mural have to do with the school and surrounding neighbrhood and the kids who go there were able to put it together!

We recently went to a cousins wedding and these are pictures from that weekend

Potty Training 101

2009-09-04T10:33:00.003-05:00

Potty training is going GREAT with Sarah! She has picked up on it so quickly. I think it does help that she is the 3rd child I have potty trained but mostly because she is one Smart little stinker! These are a few things that have helped me with potty training (pt) my 3 kids:

first off start talking about pt with your child for WEEKS leading up to it. every time you change a diaper talk about when they are going to wear underwear and start going in the potty seat. Buy pseat way in advance
liken it to everyone else. Mom, Dad, brother, sister, friends, cousins we all use one
Visual -I don't know about everyone else and how they feel about it, but Sarah Loves going into the bathroom with me or her siblings. So she sees what is going on.
Don't fret about pt at night until they are pt during the day
with Joseph I told him every night for a month before he turned 3 that 3year olds don't wear diapers at night so the night of his 3rd bday that was it, I think we had maybe 2-3 accidents but that was it. pick a deadline and prepare them for it, after a vacay, a bday, a special event and go with it.
I think the perfect age is between 2 1/2-3
sometimes you need to take a break for a couple hours during the day. Not all day though. Sarah has problems going #2 since she was about 1, and she like most kids pt are scared to go #2. this is a great time to give them a break every now and then, encourage going in the pseat but also don't push it to much. I found with Megan she was going #1 all the time but when it came to #2 she would go and hide and most kids have a certain time of day that they are regular with 2, so with Meg I put a potty seat in her closet (that's where she always hid to go) so I showed her what to do and she started doing it all by herself, in her closet. Once she was comfortable with that I moved it into the bathroom and told her she could just go hide in there and go. Still working on this with Sarah but we will get there. Hiding helps I think though.
that brings me to the next point, have multiple pseats, one in the family room, bathrooms, where ever needed.
sometimes the BIG toilet can be intimidating, I recommend starting with a little one then going to one that you can take on and off the big one, then when they are comfortable enough just using the BIG one by itself.
sorry pull-ups but you are of no use to me when pt. I have found that you hinder rather than help so I go straight with underwear to wear all day long and a diaper at night, May sound a bit crazy but I even keep them in underwear when running errands and nap times. We have had accidents but a change of clothes and a little encouragement to tell you next time helps. I have bought a pkg of pull-ups and I think we have used 1 this week in the pt process on the 1st day so she wouldn't have an accident while I was upstairs getting ready for the day, but she pulled it down and went like she was supposed to, so with Sarah I am not using them. Maybe for traveling this weekend but they can be soooo expensive compared to diapers.
I know it seems like a pain but at first take them to the bathroom every 30-60 minutes the first few days and make "do you need to go potty" your everyother sentence.
reward and treats. Stickers are great, she gets one for going 1 and 2 for going#2. Also a treat every now and then helps. a sucker, ice cream for breakfast :), a hershey kiss and LOTS and lots of hugs, kisses, smiles and words of praise and excitement from everyone, even siblings! Sarah gets a new dvd once she is going 1 and 2 all the time and is trying pretty hard to earn it
try to stay close to home or make outings short the first week and just let them wear a shirt and undies
let them take charge. Sarah loves doing it herself, being independent is so rewarding for a 2 year old.
every kid is different, find what works for yours and run with it
i know it can ba discouraging but keep with it, diligence and consistency are everything!

I am no Michelle Duggar who has pt a dozen kids, but I like to think I have experience and when my 3 kids have all been pt in 2 weeks I think I am doing something right. I hope some of this helps others if not it will be helping me in about 2 years for Daniel!

These are just some fin pics of the kids we took last night.

Can we say "I am growing!"

Here We Go!

2009-08-31T08:36:00.002-05:00

The potty training begins! Last night Sarah told me that "when the sun comes up again, I'll wear underwear!" So when the sun came up I took the little potty seat in her room, she sat down and went. I put underwear on her and that is the goal - to keep underwear on her all day, diapers at night, even with accidents we can make this work! Wish me luck!!!!!

First day of school!

2009-08-25T12:53:00.003-05:00

first off we tried to give Daniel a mo-hawk, if you can see it, it looked pretty cute.

Megan started 2nd grade last thursday. She was pretty excited. She has done the whole school thing for 2 years now and knows what to expect but was most excited because her best friend from 1st grade is in her class and they get to sit by each other (at least until the seat change someday)

Joseph on the other hand was a little apprehensive and nervous and "embarrassed" he said. He did go to 2 years of preschool but full day kindergarten with 3 times the kids in his class is a little more than he was comfortable with. I knew it could go 2 ways, I would pick him up and he would LOVE it or he would say it was okay with not a lot of enthusiasm. Luckily it was the 1st of my thoughts and he loved it. He even made 3 new friends on the first day!

Megan at her locker. this is the first year she has had a real locker so this was pretty exciting. I couldn't take any pictures of Joseph at school, he did NOT want me too, to many kids and he was being a bit shy.

I was worried how Sarah would do with them gone all day since she has been so used to being with her wonderful brother and sister all summer long, but she has surprisingly done really well. We play lots of pretend games throughout the day and our trips to the stores keep us busy but she has been doing great. Now I need to start potty training!

and can I just say how much easier it is to go to the store with 2 kids than 4!!!!!!

Fair '09

2009-08-19T07:19:00.007-05:00

We went to the famous Iowa State Fair on monday. It is fun to go but by the end of the day it almost feels like being tortured, being outside for so long and around sooooo many people, with so many different smells and such. I got a headache by the time we were done monday night and I still have it wednesday morning. But we did have fun and it was nice to spend a day out all together.

This is where Daniel spent most of his time.

Sarah went on her first amusement park ride, all by herself. Megan and Joseph were to big. She did pretty good but near the end she was saying she wanted down.

Having lunch on a park bench.

Enjoying ice cream. She wanted that SOOOO bad.

Megan opted out of having ice cream (to full from lunch still) but was sipping on my strawberry milkshake, yummy, and Joesph with a nice mustache

Like father like daughter. (He started it)

Sweet smiling Sarah

In the Animal Learning Center there were little chicks that were so adorable. We watched a few trying to hatch out of eggs, saw chicks waddling around a little "pond" in the picture, saw a video of goats and pigs being born, saw a "magic show", saw baby pigs and goats (the ones on the video being born), and got to smell the combo of all these animals under one roof!

and of course we had to do Little Hands on the Farm.

These are just sweet picture of Daniel smiling and being attentive to us. He is starting to be such a happy little baby, especially after he has been fed.

I wish his shirt said little guy, because that has become his affectionate name we all call him. The kids will say "where's little guy" or "I want to see little guy"

and our tired sleeping little guy!

(can anyone tell me how to add the updates on the blogs that I have listed, tells me when people update there own blog?)

Daniel's blessing day

2009-08-11T15:09:00.002-05:00

This past sunday we blessed Daniel at church. We had my parents, my grandparent(who tagged along with my parents driving out here), Brent's parents and his aunt and uncle come for it. We were so excited to have everyone come and share in this special day, but I am kicking myself that I didn't get any pictures while they were all here with Daniel and the kids. ARRGGG (Grandma Higgins if you have pictures could you send me some?)

Anyway, Brent gave a wonderful blessing and all our prayers were answered that Daniel would not cry and whine during the blessing. He just sat there and looked around at them all apparently. Here are some pictures we did take of him after church in his outfit.
Megan's proud of herself that she can now hold him like this.

Sarah was NOT happy after church, but wanted me to take a picture of her crying.

I love his pouty face in this picture, he was Done taking pictures

Our not so little family anymore

Having family here this weekend wore the kids out. One night after my family left for back to their hotel all the kids fell asleep on the couch.

And last thursday I decided to organize our toys again, a very much needed project. Here is the MESS!!!

You can see the excitement on their faces. They were so excited and kept finding toys they had been looking for!

We lined up all the baskets and 3 (yes 3) Hours later, everything had a home. (some the garbage can or the sell pile for a garage sale next summer!)

and here is a happy picture of our terrible-2's daughter actually happy

2 months

2009-08-04T08:22:00.005-05:00

Daniel is 2 months old and just had his 2 month check up. Crazy that he is already 2 months. Sarah was telling people he was 20, now she says he is 0.

He was 13lbs even (79%), 24.5 inches long (93%), and he sounded and looked healthy they said. Him being my 4th and him acting and growing much like the other 3 makes things a little easier on me. Daniel is such a delight and we enjoy trying to get him to smile and hopefully laugh soon. He gets pretty excited sometimes and lets out little noises that could almost be considered a laugh.

We had family home evening the other night on prayer so the kids made prayer rocks. They were pretty excited to decorate their rocks.

although you can't tell by Joseph's expression here

but Sarah's expressions shows how excited she was!

On a sad note, my brother and sister-in-law lost their twin boys this past week, Kyson Gary and Timothy Trevor. She was about 19 weeks,4 months. We are sad we won't be able to see them grow up in this earth life but are so grateful that we know of our Heavenly Father's plan of eternal families and that someday they can be reunited with them. My heart goes out to them and we wish we were closer to be more support for them but I know they are surrounded by those who love them and we love them too!

Smile

2009-07-24T10:01:00.004-05:00

I finallly caught Daniel smiling. They are just little smiles but so cute!

4th of July parade(I know a little behind)....in the wonderful rain. It couldn't stop Sarah from having fun eating lots of tootsie rolls under the big umbrella!

Megan and Joseph picking up candy off the rain soaked street

I thought this pictures was really cute

Sarah and her wonderful blankeys and elmo cup

I bought a new baby carrier, it's a lot more comfortable to wear. Megan wanted to try it on and put Daniel in it and carry him for awhile. He actually ended up falling asleep.

Precious Daniel sleeping

Exciting things

2009-07-22T08:38:00.005-05:00

#1 My brother and sister-in-law found out yesterday they are having identical twin BOYS! Congrats Trevor and Kristine!! We are so excited to meet them sometime in december (or at least see pictures of them and meet them in person next summer!)
I am sure their smiles are just as big as the day they were married.

#2 My other sister-in-law, Robyn, has written a book and it is now available to read and buy! She has accomplished a life goal in publishing it and she is an amazing writer! I read her book shortly after she wrote her first draft and now that I have my own copy I am excited to read it again. Congrats Robyn!!! check out her blog here. (she also has a screenplay that is being reviewed now, that we are all hoping someday will turn into a movie!)

#3 Daniel started smiling a week or so ago, but now he is really smiling at us. It is the type of smile where you look at him and talk to him and smile at him and he immediately will smile back without much effort. It is pretty darn cute. He has a little dimple on his right cheek when he smiles. I have yet to catch it on camera but I will soon.

#4 My grandparents are coming out for Daniel's baby blessing in August with my parents. It will be so fun to see them again and having lots of family here for a special day.

Some days

2009-07-14T09:53:00.002-05:00

Some days I can pretend I don't see the pile of toys under the couch and lining the bookcase shelves

Most days I would like to throw most of those toys out the window (mostly when I step on them or can't see my floor)

Some days I can give my kids 3 healthy meals and healthy snacks, other days are good "snack" meal days

Some days I think some day I will be able to lose the weight from my pregnancies that I want to lose, most days I think not yet though

Most days I feel I have it together with 4 kids

Some days I can get us all showered/bathed and ready for the day by 10:00am

Most days I can't believe how I met my husband and how wonderfully life has turned out to be with him

Some days I don't feel like a human milk machine....most days I do

Most days I could just sit and stare at all of my beautiful children (especially when they are peacefully sleeping)

Some days I can shower and use the bathroom with no one barging in on me, most days I can't

Most days I have to keep my patience in check (especially with a 2 year old)

Some days I feel as though I accomplished A lot (like walking to the library with all 4 kids and having no problems! and having the kids tell me that was sooooo much fun)

Most days I don't have a clean house

Some days I try to clean the house

Most days I am soooo thankful for where I live

Some days we try to get chores done and the kids learn to earn money by being responsible, most days it seems to busy to get chores done (at least right now)

Some days I feel like I have been a good daughter, sister, mother, wife and friend

All days I look back on the day and think "I have given all that was in me today, I don't have a clean house and I didn't get much "me" time, but I spent my time enjoying my children and teaching them and talking to them and listening to them and caring for their needs. Tomorrow will come and I will do the same"

I would not change any of this for the world...........what a blessed life I have

Cousins come to visit!!!

2009-07-03T09:33:00.008-05:00

My brother, Bob, and sister-in-law, Robyn and their 4 kids, Ambri, Jarem, Emmy, and Jaxon came to visit recently. We all had a great time. It was a full house but we were glad they stayed with us so we could see them more. Here are pictures, lots of pictures:

with 8 kids and 4 adults, the house got somewhat messy and sometimes a few cartoons were needed for peace and quiet....at least for a few minutes.

there was lots of baby holding

and love between all

some dancing

and fighting :)

actually none of them fought, only between regular sibling squables, cousins didn't fight with each other

some good mall playing

we got lots of pics, but I think this is the only one with all of them in it cooperating at the Science Center

Daniel hanging out

Big Bubbles

Trapping Jarem

at the zoo

I love these two pictures, top and bottom, the bottom you can see just about all of us

notice Sarah taking a picture also with her nemo pretend camera

Daniel sleeping away...I love his little face!

and this was sleeping arrangements, with Sarah and Jaxon on the floor. All cousins, minus Daniel, having a sleepover!

Thanks for coming guys, we had soooo much fun and we will have great memories to last a lifetime!

Highlights

2009-06-25T21:42:00.002-05:00

these are highlights of the last 3 weeks:

-Joseph told me "You haven't been this skinny for a loooong time!"

-Sarah announced to a hallway full of people that "This is my brother Daniel. He came out of mommy's butt!"

-My parents came to visit and the kids really enjoyed it. Didn't get any pictures. I am a slacker.

-Sleep deprivation is my middle name, but somehow I manage to cope during the days and nights.

-I have healed more quickly than all the other 3 deliveries.

-Sarah doesn't like to keep clothes on and is definitely in the TERRIBLE 2's.

-Megan can't get enough of Daniel and how "cute he is"....I would have to agree.

-Friends and neighbors have been so kind and helpful...thank you everyone!

-One of the days, I was able to shower and give all 4 kids a bath by 10:30am. It was a great accomplishment but boy was I tired by noon!

-Sarah thinks I wear diapers now too, can't wait until that stops.

-Joseph is going to Safety Town to prepare for kindergarten and having lots of fun.

I'll post some pictures later....right now I am too tired and have to put 3 kids to bed in time for 1 to wake up and be fed and up for another hour or so.

Prayer

2009-06-15T09:17:00.002-05:00

This was Sarah's bedtime prayer last night with absolutely NO help from anyone on what to say:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank thee for this day, bless that the sun can come up, bless that we can go to the rainbow place again, bless that we can watch the new max and ruby show tomorrow, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Sarah talk

2009-06-11T11:42:00.002-05:00

Sarah usually talks pretty clearly and says words the way they are supposed to be said and used. Lately though she is saying evil for able. It is really cute to hear.

"when the sun comes up, we will be evil to have breakfast!!!"

This is what she said last night before going to bed.

Next post....first week with 4 kids or putting down all 4 pregnancy, labor and delivery experiences so I can keep them all straight since they are fresh on the mind now.

Welcoming Daniel Jacob

2009-06-04T15:37:00.005-05:00

Caution this post is long. I wanted to record the day and what we went through and we all know a blog is a good way to do that.

We went to the hospital on monday night for a scheduled induction. We arrived there around 8:00pm. The plan: give me a pill to soften the cervix, start petocin when softened, break my water in the morning and have baby boy.

The tuesday before, I was barely dialated to a 1 and not softened at all. That whole next week I tried the raspberry teas followed by warm baths, I tried essential oils in the bath and mixed in with lotion and the ever familiar "what got you into this, will get you out of this" says my doctor. Which all of these are supposed to start labor. Labor never started, so I thought......

So we get to the hospital and by 9 (some times are approxiamate) I was admitted in my room with my beautiful gown on, after 3 attempts and a huge goose egg of blood (ouch, ouch and ouch!) on my left hand, had my iv line in and hooked up to the monitors, which showed I was having contractions maybe every 10-15 minutes. Which surprised me, I thought I was just uncomfortable and they weren't really painful, but I had been feeling them all day.

I can't believe I posted this picture. It makes me look HUGE, but I didn't feel that huge.

They finally checked me around 10 and lo and behold I was dilated to a 5 and mostly softened! What!? I guess all the things I tried worked somewhat. The nurse called the doc and he said give me petocin at midnight and they would break my water either when I progressed or at 7 tuesday morning.

After starting petocin the nurse turned it up every 15 minutes along with my blood pressure thing going off every 15 minutes it was a night with very little sleep. Come 6am I was still dilated to a 5 and contractions were gone. :(
The doc came in and broke my water at 7:31. Now you have to understand, with all my babies, they have broken my water and QUICKLY, 2 hours or less, they have all been born. The nurse that came in at 7 had been told this and took it very seriously, unlike the doc.

It was the same with Daniels birth. About a minute after my water breaking, contractions kicked in STRONG. I had told them I wanted/needed that epidural and was worried when they wouldn't let me get it before they broke my water, that I wouldn't get to have it at all since I was already at a 5.

Thank Heavens the anesth. doc was just around the corner and was in the room less than 10 minutes after! So I was numb and couldn't feel the contractions! But I could feel pressure like crazy. OUCH x 1000. I need to remember how bad that hurt, even with the epidural, just in case I think I want more.

So at about 8:45 I was at a 10. I could feel MAJOR pressure and wanted to push, but my doc had just let the office....in West Des Moines.....and had at least a 10 minute drive and I and the nurse had been instructed not to push until he got there. I guess he likes to walk in and catch the baby and walk out. (I really do love my doctors, but when your in labor and want to push but can't because they aren't there.....makes you not like them so much at the time)

After the doc walked in I said I couldn't wait, it was soooooooo painful and I had to push, so after 2 contractions and about 4 pushes during those contractions little Daniel was born weighing 8lbs 15 oz - which sometimes they rounded up to 9lbs and 21 inches long. We are so happy he is here and we finally get to enjoy him.....and I am glad he is out and healthy and now we are at home recovering. It is a very nice hospital and all the nurses were Fantastic but nothing beats home sweet home.

Lovely closed eyes picture. When he was coming out the doc asked if I wanted to see, I was in so much pain it hurt to even open my eyes and I was a little out of it after.

The kids coming to see him for the first time.

Joseph wasn't wanting to cooperate and be in many pictures.

First bath

He has some pretty cute hair that sticks up.

Right after I turned the video off, Sarah said "He is just so cute!"

a Good Day

2009-06-01T08:40:00.004-05:00

It is a monday rainy morning and I thought I would list the things that would be good to do today:

- pick up house

-vacuum

- wash the bedding

- go to grocery store (hopefully in between bouts of rain)

- Spend time with kids

- greet mother-in-law into home to stay for a few days

- clean kitchen

-take a little nap if time allows (since I woke at 3:00am and didn't sleep again until 5:30am)

- maybe go to t-ball game (if rain lets up)

- go to hospital at 7:30pm

- have a baby before midnight

- if not before midnight sometime tonight or tomorrow morning

I thought this sounded like a great list a things to accomplish on a rainy monday! Don't you think?!

a few pictures:

Sarah took this one of me at the park, no belly shot, maybe if I feel not so huge today I will let her take a belly shot of me before going to the hospital. She did a pretty good job on this one.

Messy hair Sarah! So adorable!

As always the laughing goofy Joseph!

And sweet adorable Megan posing!

Next post: pictures and details of newest addition to the family, Daniel Jacob!

the latest

2009-05-26T16:15:00.003-05:00

The latest with us:

- Joseph is done with pre-school. Yay! He is very excited to be done.

- I am not progressing yet. If I don't go into labor by Monday June 1st, I can go in and be induced that night, 7:30, there is an end in sight! I still hope I go into labor myself before then.

- We went to Brent's parents for Memorial day, had a good day there. took 2 little naps :) Kids played, grilled out, spent some good quality time with Uncle Chad and saw a newborn baby kitten, born probably just an hour or two before, my in-laws took it in because the mother abandoned it.

- Megan is remembering the baby kitten in all her prayers. At one point they thought it was dead and she was so upset and crying. A couple hours later they went to take care of it and it moved and meowed. She was soooo excited.

- Finally finished getting ready for Daniel. Crib ready, bassinet ready, clothes ready, diapers bought, all feminine products stocked up on, now we just need baby.

- Had a successful primary activity saturday. Glad it went well.

- The kids are going to be in bed and asleep everday by 8:30. This is my goal, since lately they have been going to bed later than 9:00.

- it is 4:30 right now and I am already to send them to bed ;)

- Just found out my brother and his wonderful sweet wife are having TWINS!!!!!!! Congrats Trevor and Kristine!!!!!!!

thank heavens

2009-05-18T09:04:00.002-05:00

Megan's teacher informed me that she was 1 out of 4 out of the 23 students who did not get sick! Thank Heavens!!!!!! (HUGE sigh of relief)

This weekend I used my valentines gift from Brent and the kids.....a pre-natal massage. Our neighbor is a massage therepist that specializes in this. It was sooo nice! If you are expecting or know someone who is I HIGHLY recommend our neighbor Christine and a massage. It is in her home and she just started her business I believe a little over a year ago. She also does post-natal and infant massage. I think I will have to return after this baby boy is born and my aching back isn't carrying around so much baby weight! check her out here! Soooo worth it.

The massage was so nice but I messed it all up by cutting down my rose bushes saturday night. They were big last year and I didn't cut them down enough so this year when they started growing all the long stuff was still dead with new growth under all of it. They are thorny, thorny, thorny, and I had to cut them down into little pieces to fit them into the yard waste bag and the bag still tore! Argggg they do look alot better now though.

Anyway, I have hopefully less than two weeks left in this pregnancy! We are getting so anxious to meet the little guy. If there is any news I will update as soon as I can.
Sorry these posts have no pictures lately. I will have to upload some soon.

knock on wood again and pray really hard...and sanitize

2009-05-14T08:44:00.002-05:00

Megan has 23 kids in her 1st grade class. Yesterday she came home and told me that there were only 6 kids there yesterday. What?!?! I thought she must be mistaken. Then she told me that there were originally 9 but 3 went home sick so by the end of the day there were only 6!
6 out of 23 kids?!

In her backpack was a note from the principal confirming this. They think it is the Norovirus. The day before most kids were there, the day after, they were all sick (2 on vacation). Has me a little worried. Hopefully and prayfully my Megan (and the rest of us at home) will continue to have strong immune systems and not get sick!

6 out of 23 not sick! WOW!