Blessing Day

Adam gave Ambria a beautiful blessing this past Sunday at church. I am grateful for the good man that Adam is and that he honors and uses the Priesthood authority he holds.

*All four of our daughters have worn this Italian dress on their blessing day (we have Italian heritage on my dad's side). My mom brought it home from a trip to Italy hoping someday she'd have a grand-daughter to wear. We've been happy to put it to good use.

2 months old!

Ambria is two months old! She had her check up this week and first set of shots. She weighed in at 12 pounds and was 23+ inches long. The dr. asked if all my kids had been this big...she is 89th percentile. (And the answer is yes, they have all been good size babies.) Bria is getting heavy to heft around throughout the day; especially the day she got her shots. She was so mad but was calmed down quickly to her big sisters' relief. They had all been very concerned about her shots and has asked the nurse to reassure them that she would be okay. Bria did really well until afternoon and then she screamed for about three hours! I had a headache and a really tired arm that night. I am grateful that my fourth baby is not colicky like the first two were. I don't think I could survive that. Ambria has been a very content baby. She loves to be held, as most babies do, and is a great sleeper. She is smiling a lot now and starting to giggle and "coo." Her sisters smother her with love. Allie is constantly burying her with blankets and stuffed animals and Aubrey still can't get enough time holding her. They even took a little snooze together the other day...and I was happy to sneek one in with them.

a whole lot of "girl"

Our house is really full of "girl!" What do expect with four of them bouncing off the walls! There is pink everywhere, and frilly things strewn about, and squealing and giggling and tutus and cat fights and sweetness...and I love it! I smiled as I picked up the ballet slippers, tiaras, and princess wands off the floor tonight. Adam is doing his best to counter balance all the femininity but I'm sure he feels like he is treading water in a sinking ship. He is constantly chastized for saying "bad" words like "crap" or "stupid" and told he is "eating like a beast." He wrestles with the girls and makes loud noises and I recently found out he has been telling them some pretty exciting bedtime stories, including "Karate Kid," and "Superman," anything "boy-ish" and superhero related...and nothing to do with princesses! Recently my girls and I got in a battle over why they couldn't watch the movie "Spiderman." They said they knew all the stories...all about the "green goblin" and "Octavius," etc. so I didn't need to worry about them being scared. Hard to explain that I didn't mind them hearing the stories but didn't want them to actually "watch" them. I did allow them to watch "Karate Kid" (parts 1 and 2) and they have since been telling me all about Daniel-son and Mr. Miagi. Don't love the karate match imitations and much as the pretend dance recitals, but we've got to let the dad in somewhere.

settling in

Today I had to remove the California license plates from our cars. It was a bit of a sad moment to me as I still have a soft spot for our life there. I suppose I always will. We made a lot of happy memories there; visited many fun places and met a lot of wonderful people. I miss the palm trees and warmer weather. I had the thought the other day that if we were still in Fresno, we would be seeing blossoms on the trees in about a month from now...instead we are still playing in the snow, and will be for a couple more months. The snow actually hasn't been as intense as I thought it would be but I am really tired of the cold! The girls don't seem to mind. They go out and play and warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.

We are really happy here and I LOVE being near our families. It's hard to imagine ever being away from them now. They are a great source of help and are fun to be around. The mountains here are beautiful and I love being so close to them. Adam loves his job and Alexis is doing very well with her French in school; so things are working out and coming together. Another very exciting update is that we have found a home! We are scheduled to close in a couple months so we are back on a countdown. We are really looking forward to setting up our own place and really settling in; rooting ourselves more firmly than ever before. Up until now, we've always been on the move and every place we've come to, we've known has been only temoporary. But this time (barring anything unforseen), we are in for the long haul. We will likely stay in this home until our kids have gotten through school. It's an unusual sense of permanance that we've never felt, but it's a comfortable one. I can't wait to get in and start putting our ideas in place.

Always something to smile about

In spite of the wide variety of little trials we go through each day, there is, thankfully, always something to smile about. When I look up to see these sweet little girls in their dress-ups and fancy things (which there is a plethera of around here), I just can't help but grin a little and feel like it's all worth it in the end.

Insomniacs

Being the mother of four is certainly keeping me on my toes. Whether it's the tantrums of my two year old, the hormones and attitude of my six year old, the stubborness of my four year old, or the dependancy of my infant, there is never a day without something to challenge me (and that's saying nothing of the attention I should somehow be giving my husband! Good thing he has his new job to keep him busy and his mom to keep him company -for now). Every day brings something new. One challenge in particular we've been facing this past week is sleep. I personally have been struggling for a while but adding more sleep interuptions isn't helping. I used to take great pride in what great sleepers my kids were. They would retire early and all take naps, at the same time even, allowing me a "sanity break" in the day. Those days are gone and I miss them desparately. My two year old won't even nap anymore!
The baby is doing well to get back to sleep after her middle of the night feedings; I, however can't seem to "shut off" my mind once I put her back to bed. I lay awake dreaming up ideas for how to set up our new house when that day comes, or thinking of the tasks for the day ahead, or thinking of nothing at all, just not sleeping. Then, if I am so lucky as to begin to fall back to sleep, either it's time for the baby to eat again, or I get a visit from Allie. She has always been a good sleeper but this past week refues to sleep without all the lights on and doors open. Even then, she wanders to my room multiple times every night and tries to get in my bed; which I am adamantly against, so I take her back up stairs over and over and over. The other night, as I carried her back to her room, I saw that my father-in-law was also awake, reading in his study. On my third trip up to Allie's room, I found my mother-in-law awake folding laundry (mine), and after my fourth trip up, she stopped me at the top of the stairs and took Allie to her bed so I could try and sleep. No sooner did I get cozy in my covers than I got another visitor. Aubrey came down to our room having been awakened by a nightmare. I took her back upstairs and getting her back to bed, woke Alexis up. When I got back to my room, Adam was awake wondering what was going on. I laughed to myself at the irony that at 4:30am, my mother and father-in-law, my three oldest children, my husband and I, lay wide awake...while the baby slept! Perhaps I need to fill a family sized perscription for Ambien.

A very Merry Christmas

I can't write much at this moment since I only have one free hand while I am holding the baby (who does not want to be out down today) but suffice it to say that we had a very merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season!


(a California girl in the snow -I can't seem to convince her to wear pants!)

First Month

I can hardly believe that Bria will be one month old tomorrow! What a wonderful month it has been. We are half-way through our doctor recommended "house arrest" to shelter the baby from the cold and germs outside and although a little stir crazy at times, I have been loving the "cuddle time." I am so grateful to be close to our families, as they have been a big help getting Alexis to and from school and helping entertain the girls for me.

They have also been attending all the events I've been missing. Aubrey had her first dance recital. She was so excited to perform on stage and thrilled by the rose her grandpa gave her after the show.

Alexis has been performing all month long at various events throughout the community with the "One Voice Children's Choir." The choir has around 150 kids and does a fantastic job.

She has enjoyed learning the music and her sisters love to help sing along in the car while she practices. Her dad has been so great to adjust his schedule to take her to her performances; sometimes three a week! It has really been a busy month with a lot of activities...and Ambria and I have been snuggled up inside for most of it. She is doing great and growing like a weed. At her two week check up she had almost gained a pound from her birth weight and her "chubby-ing" cheeks would suggest she is continuing to grow. She has been good at night to go back to sleep after she eats and is very peaceful most of the day. She loves to be held and she has a lot of people willing to help out with that. Her sisters frequently request the chance to hold her, but no one more than Aubrey. She would hold her for hours if I'd let her. One morning while she was cradling the baby on the couch while watching morning cartoons, Aubrey told me her hand felt funny. I told her that her arm was probably falling asleep and her response was, "No; I don't think so. It feels like there are dots in my fingers." What a perfect description of what a hand feels like when it's been asleep!



Keeping up with all four girls is exhausting but feeling more managable everyday. There is rarely a dull moment, however. For example; this morning (after being awoken twice by Allie crying about leg cramps, and three night feedings for the baby), Allie came to my bathroom and wet all over the floor (she apparently arrived just a few seconds too late). After I cleaned up the mess, I bathed the baby who smelled like spit up from the night before, and her she had a diaper blow-out moments later while I was feeding her. I changed her clothes and cleaned up her mess and headed upstairs for some breakfast where I found Aubrey and Alexis doing "service." They were mopping the floor...with a half inch of soap suds covering the ENTIRE kitchen and dining floors! Aubrey was skating around and around the kitchen island in the suds in her bare feet as Alexis was adding more and more water to the floor. What a mess! There were about a dozen towels on the floor and a third a bottle of dish soap. By that point, I was ready to go back to bed! No chance of that however, it's Christmas break and we have fun things to do. We are all excited for Christmas and wish you all a very Merry one!


P.S. Today is Adam's birthday; this is how I found him at 8:30 this evening. Apparently this father of four is exhausted in his old age!

My sweet, sweet baby!

Our sweet baby Ambria was welcomed into our family with joyful hearts on Sunday, November 21st at 3:35pm. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, was 20 inches long and has black hair! (That makes one of each for hair color...we hope it stays dark.)Everything went perfectfully. I had a very easy labor and delivery and the recovery is going well, although I am exhausted! We have greatly appreciated the help of family and are glad they are close by to enjoy our baby with us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Ready to turn in my parking pass

Dear pregnancy,

This letter is to thank you for the ride and inform you that I am ready for my journey to be through. Before I turn in my expectant mother parking pass, there are just a few things I feel I ought to say.
We got off to a bit of a rocky start in the first trimester. You should know that in my opinion, morning sickness (make that ALL DAY sickness) is a terrible way to get someone excited about having their fourth child. I clearly already had my hands full with three. A new baby sounds cute and exciting when you feel well, but when you are sick for three months, just the thought of all the work of a new baby could bring me to tears. The thought of about anything besides rainbow sherbet and mashed potatoes brought me to tears. I had a hard time getting excited for a baby when I was hardly excited about living. During that phase, the world around me was spinning all the time and I had zeal for nothing. I wanted only to stay curled up in a ball on my couch all day, every day. Thank heavens I had kids to take care of (including the two extra kindergarteners I was babysitting at the time)to get me out of bed and dressed each day. The break from cooking was a thoughtful gesture; too bad I couldn't feel well enough to enjoy it. I had started a few spring projects just before you came, the thought of which completing still makes me nautious to this day.


The sun started bursting through the clouds a couple weeks into the second trimester and aside from some very painful sciatica, it was a comfortable few months. I found the joy in life again and in decorating for holidays and cooking and eating and exsisting. I was grateful to feel like myself again; something I had once doubted would ever happen. We had surprisingly been able to keep you a secret until then and it was fun to finally start to get excited as I began feeling well and people began to discover the news. This was the trimester during which our family moved and it was a very busy time and days and weeks passed by quickly.
The third trimester has also moved along rather quickly. You have been kind to me these past couple months. I have been grateful to feel relatively comfortable overall and had very little swelling or other discomforts. While sleep during pregnancy is never easy, it has been better than in some previous pregnancies. Most of my greatest frustrations these past two trimesters have involved wardrobe issues and the challenge of picking the perfect name for the baby. That is until the past week or two. I am openly uncomfortable now. I feel (and I am)huge. I can barely get my socks on my own feet. Sleep is tough and I am tired all the time. My tummy hurts a lot not to mention whatever it is the baby is resting on! Braxton Hicks are quite painful the fourth time around and if this had been my first pregnancy and I had not known better, I'd have thought I was in labor a couple times already. Everything is in order at home; the baby's things are washed and set up, the name has been chosen (I think), and I am now feeling ready for the baby's arrival both physically and emotionally. I am rapidly becoming miserable and impatient, so please, accept this as my two weeks notice.
Please feel free to send the stork and release me from my pregnancy duties at an earlier time. I am ready to begin my new position as a mother of four.



Sincerely,

Yours truly

October

In October we enjoyed the first snowfall of the season; my grandma's 90th birthday (I had the privilege of making the cake); and a Happy Halloween. Alexis and Allie both dressed up as witches, Aubrey went trick or treating as a cowgirl and I decided to go dressed as "the old woman who swallowed a fly."