Love

Motherhood is something very dear to me and something I hold very close to my heart. As far back as I can remember I dreamed of one day becoming a mom. From that first moment I heard their little heartbeat and felt their first little flutter inside me I was in love with Emily and Jacob. Head-over-heals in love. Every moment of every day was spent thinking of, preparing for, and dreaming of snuggling their little bodies and kissing their little heads. Emily and Jacob were both hard sought and their arrivals were very long awaited and I couldn't wait to get them in my arms.

This time around came a bit easier. As grateful as I am that I didn't have to go through that incredibly long process (again), is it crazy of me to say that maybe a part of me missed it? I realized as I prepared for the arrival of this little girl that I didn't know if I fully appreciated the miracle that was taking place inside me. My level of excitement was different this time around. Was it because it was baby #3? Already having kids didn't allow time to day dream like before? Was it because life in general seems a bit surreal right now with us not being permanently settled? Or something else entirely? Maybe it was because I'm masochistic. Whatever the reason though as we drove to the hospital and as I sat in the delivery room I couldn't help but wonder how my relationship with this new little person was going to be.

Then after several hours of being totally miserable (thank heavens the epidural actually kicked in in the end) this completely beautiful and perfect little body was placed on my chest. And in that instant it didn't matter how hard or easy it was to get her here, how many children I already had, or where I lived ... I was in love -- completely, utterly, and irrevocably in love.

Elizabeth Ann

Born June 6th at 5:10pm

8 lbs, 18 1/2 inches

Hospital

We arrived at the hospital about 7am on Wednesday the 6th - ready to have the next several hours over with and anxious for the impending change in our lives.

ABBREVIATED DETAILS (if you care to know):

8:30am received pitocin and was at a 3

10:00am at a 4 and broke my water

11:30am received my epidural (but never felt that numb and probably could have still walked a bit. The next 5 hours were NOT very comfortable at all!)

2:15pm at a 5

4:15pm at a 7 and feeling pretty miserable.

The Anesthesiologist gave me another dose and within minutes I was finally able to start relaxing.

It was the best I'd felt all day!

5:10pm Miss Eliza arrived (with the help of her daddy)

A couple hours later my parents arrived with Jacob & Emily. They were SO excited to meet their sister. The first thing out of Jacob's mouth was, "Baby out, mommy's tummy!"

The kids all had presents to exchange. Eliza gave Emily a new shirt (that Emily was dying to have) and Jacob a book (his favorite at the moment: "Go, Dog, Go!". Emily gave Eliza some blankets and Jacob gave her some pacifiers (he was SO excited for her!).

We had relativetly few visitors at the hospital - which was fine by me. It was just nice to finally have so much time with Jeff and for me to be able to snuggle with Eliza as much as I wanted before I had Jacob and Emily fighting over her. 

Jeff pretty much leaves the picture taking up to me - which means there are really never any shots of me, but also that we didn't get very many at the hospital. So besides the snapshot the nurse took as they first handed her to me, there is no picture of me and Eliza. No nice picture of her and Jeff - just the quick one I took of them sleeping together. And we also didn't get a family shot. Sad, but I guess we'll just have to make up for it in the coming weeks.

The nurses seemed to love having a baby with hair and every time we got a new nurse Eliza seemed to come back from the nursery smelling like she'd just gotten a bath and sporting a new bow. We came home with quite a collection.

Waiting

5/26/12 ~ Saturday morning hanging out at home & reading

 6/02/12 ~ Emily's Dance Recital

 6/02/12 ~ Last Saturday before the baby comes. Jacob helping dad with the lawn

Now we just need a baby to come!

May

The beginning of the month we had a bit of sickness. Emily caught Hand, Foot & Mouth disease from a friend and woke up on a Sunday morning with a fever and sore throat. After a couple days the fever was gone and she had two spots on her foot. That's it. Then a couple days later Jacob had a fever and was really cranky. A day or two later he broke out with lots of spots/blisters. He had them on his feet and legs, around his lips and all over in his mouth. It was really hard to get him to drink anything and almost impossible to get him to eat anything. He woke up a lot at night and was just miserable. We watched a lot of movies for a few days and finally he started getting better. Unfortunately he now thinks he can wear his pajamas all day, drink as much juice as he wants, and watch a movie whenever he feels so inclined.

5/01 - Emily had a Nursery Rhyme music program at school. They sang lots of cute songs and acted out a bunch of nursery rhymes. Emily was one "of the Kings Horses" for Humpty Dumpty and dressed up as a cowgirl. The whole program was super cute and it was nice to finally hear the songs that Emily's been singing for the past month in their entirety.

 My youngest brother received his mission call last October. His departure was delayed because shortly after getting his call he tore his ACL and had to have surgery. May finally came and we had several days of family activities before he left. We all met at the park on the 11th for dinner then went to my parents home for a quick visit because my dad had just returned home from being gone for the last three months.

 Matthew gave his farewell talk in Sacrament Meeting on Mother's Day. He did a great job and we're all so proud of him. We then had lunch with lots of family and friends at my parents house. After a couple hours everyone cleared out and we took a few family pictures.

(Everyone but Lisa, Spencer & baby Carston)

Then my sister Jenny and I stayed to visit for a bit longer. The kids talked Matthew into one more bounce on the tramp. They all sure love him and will miss him. We all will.

Matthew was set apart Tuesday night and left for England the next morning. We've already received multiple emails and pictures from the MTC and he's doing great. He's going to be such an awesome missionary and we're so proud of him!

5/18 - Emily had a talent show in her kindergarten class. There were lots of great acts including hula hooping, science experiments and break dancing. Emily chose to sing in Portuguese. She did a great job and we're proud of her. She's so close to completing the school year and then she'll be in 1st grade! We can't believe how fast she's growing up.

Spring soccer started up in March. Emily's been doing well and enjoying the time playing as well as being with so many of her friends. The 19th was her last game till this fall. Jeff and I are excited to have our Saturdays and Thursday nights a bit more free, but we'll miss seeing Emily's great defense on the field.

With the warmer weather we've been spending a lot more time outdoors. The kids love going out almost every night to ride bikes or play with the neighbors. Jeff and I have spent quite a bit of time in the yard as well just trying to get things all caught up and taken care of before the baby comes and consumes everyone. I've tried to help as much as I can, but a lot of stuff has fallen on Jeff this spring/summer. Emily has been a great helper though and Jacob's usually tagging along right behind her. In the picture above Jacob decided to "mow the lawn" and put on his favorites - rain boots and his new bike helmet. He's the typical stubborn, independent two year old if there ever was one.  

April

April just seems to have flown by. The beginning of the month was a bit stormy. Which I guess can be expected since it was conference. We did our traditional games and activities for conference and for the most part the kids listened well. I think Jeff and I were able to get more out of the afternoon sessions while Jacob napped though. We pulled out Gma & Gpa's duplo legos to help entertain the kids and they worked great. Jeff built a garage for Jacob's cars and he loved it! I've had duplos all over my floor for the last month now.

 Last minute we decided to take a "trip" for spring break. With having a new baby we realized we most likely wouldn't be going anywhere this summer so we should take advantage of Emily being out of school. None of us were up for driving very far so we decided to keep it close to home and venture to West Valley. Exciting huh? It was actually a really great vacation. We got a hotel with a great "water park" attached to it and spent a few nights just playing and having fun. On the 4th we checked in and then went to dinner and then to Hollywood Connection for some mini golf. The kids were hilarious - especially Jacob.

You can totally tell that the clam scares him.

After getting back to our hotel that night Jeff and the kids surprised me with a birthday skype call from Gma & Gpa Holbrook in Russia. The kids loved seeing Gma & Gpa but after the first 15 minutes they became more entertained with Jacob's makeshift bed (two chairs put together). They were hilarious. I love it when they laugh and have fun together.

The next day the kids couldn't wait to give me my birthday presents. It was a big year for me - 30 -and one I wasn't dreading, but wasn't necessarily looking forward to. It's so weird to think I've left my twenties. SO much happened in that decade - a lot of very big life changing moments. I hope the next 10 years are as great as the last ten. I did find it ironic that I was 30 weeks pregnant on my 30th birthday.  After getting ready we spent several hours at the Children's Museum.

Then we walked over to Tucanos for my birthday lunch. After completely stuffing ourselves we took a ride on trax up to see the new City Creek. It was crowded, kind of cold, and at that point we were all getting pretty worn out. So we didn't do any window shopping or attempt going in any stores, just enjoyed the fountains and scenery before heading back to the hotel.

The 6th we spent swimming and relaxing. The kids loved the water and Emily brushed up on and practiced her swimming skills.

 Later that night we stopped by Hollywood Connection again to use up some points on our cards. The kids rode some rides before heading to dinner.

Everything was really nice and it was just a fun couple of days. We really enjoyed spending time as a family and having daddy around more. And the best part was when it was all over, we were home in 15 minutes!

4/08 - Easter

Holidays are really the only great thing about having late church. We were able to do an egg hunt and Easter baskets before church. Both kids were excited about new books and Jacob was thrilled about getting some Spiderman underwear. (We haven't really put them to use yet and after much deliberation have decided it will be best to formally attempt potty training after the arrival of baby #3).

I wanted to get some pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes, but they weren't too thrilled about the idea. In fact it was a fight just to get Jacob to put his clothes on. They couldn't wait for me to be done and both were pretty quick to put their sunglasses back on after I realized that with how grumpy they both were I wasn't going to get any amazing shots that afternoon.

After church we went to my sister Jenny's house for our annual dinner and egg hunts. The kids were cute running around the yard gathering eggs and it was fun to watch Jacob get excited. He understood a lot better this year than last.

Sam & Nick got the adult Golden Egg this year. After all our hunts Jacob wanted to play basketball so Jeff helped him make a few baskets. Then we sang Happy Birthday (to Nick and me) before heading home exhausted and ready for bed... well Jeff and I were anyway. 

4/10 - Cameron's Birthday Party @ Wheeler Farm

Animals, duck feeding, wagon ride, cousins, pizza and cupcakes. The kids were in heaven.

I had a couple of crazy busy weeks mid April. Some of the craziness was due in part to a wedding...

... making 90 cake pops for Relief Society...

(I caught Jacob the next morning eating the leftover candy melt pieces stuck to the styrofoam - don't worry, it was wrapped in cellophane!)

... and another several dozen cake pops for a bake sale for the elementary school's big art fundraiser. Even with as good as they are, I don't think I'm going to be making cake pops for a while now.

At the fundraiser om the 20th Emily's class danced and then sang a few songs. I love all the extra things Beacon does for their students. Tanner dance comes in and teaches the kids. There is a specialized music teacher, science teacher and even a P.E. teacher.

All the classes spent weeks preparing to display various art projects. The kindergarten classes painted pictures and also put together buildings creating a community. Emily couldn't decide what she wanted to make so her teacher said she could make two and put them together - Costco and a Physical Therapy place. Of anything she could have built she chose Costco. Think we go their very often?? I guess I should be glad she didn't want to make a Walmart ... especially in this neighborhood. :)

I did end up snapping a couple random photos this month. Emily & Jacob having fun rocking together and Jacob climbing in the dryer. I'd asked Emily to get the clothes out for me and the next thing I know Jacob had gone in and climbed in so he could help her pull the clothes out. He's such a silly kid and can be such a great helper ... when he wants to be.

March

3/05/12 ~ My brother blessed his little girl, Molly. She looked adorable and was so good. We had yummy food after and got to visit with family. We missed all those that couldn't be there!

3/03/12 ~ I just love this little boy! He was SO into boots and wanted to wear his snowboots everywhere that I finally broke down and bought him some rainboots. Worth every penny. He wears them everywhere and just LOVES them! I get such a kick out of hearing him say, "boots" too.

3/10/12 ~ I love that it's getting warmer. After walking Emily to the bus today we stayed outside for a while and drew with chalk and pulled out some bubbles. Jacob was hilarious trying to blow them. He actually managed to blow a few, although most of the solution ended up down the front of him.

3/17/12 ~ We had some tricky leprachauns visit us. They turned the living room furniture upside down - rug included. The kids thought it was pretty silly. They also left some gold scattered throughout the living room and Emily & Jacob had no problem tracking down the shiny stuff. While we were off at a birthday party the leprachauns returned for their gold and left a surprise (dart guns)  in its place.

3/22/12 ~ With the warmer weather soccer has started up again. Jeff pulled out the goals and helped Emily warm up for the season. She loved trying to get the ball from Jeff and is so excited for the season to start again.

Jacob tried to join in too, but would get frustrated and just throw the ball into the goal.

Then he gave up and just went and played on the swing set.

3/23/12

3/25/12 ~ We got tickets to the PAC 12 gymnastics championship. There were two sessions and Jeff, Emily and I met up with my sister Jenny and all of her girls at the afternoon session. It was fun to see all of the events and the talent of some of those women. Later that night I went back with Emily and my mom to see the other four teams compete - of which the U was a part of. The sessions were totally different. The evening session was packed and so alive! It was fun to have so many fans there and to cheer the U on. I could also tell a difference in the quality of competition too. We enjoyed seeing the meet and will hopefully be able to attend another one next year. Emily's now decided that she wants to do gymnastics and play soccer and gymnastics for the U when she grows up.