Flu shots and baby shoot (and other stuff)

Life was busy again this week, but I'm learning that that's life with five kids, whew. Monday and Tuesday was filled with finishing Abigail's blessing dress, and then Wednesday we took off running for the rest of the week! Here's only some pieces of what went on:

Part of Wednesday was getting Abby's baby pictures from our wonderful friend Christy at Cheapshots! Photography. Despite being around 28 weeks pregnant and recovering from a bike accident (fractured sternum among other things, ouch) Christy did an amazing job. I'll share more of the pictures later, but here's her baby announcement (I blurred out our last name, it doesn't really look so goofy down there):

How adorable is that!?! And Abigail did so great during the shoot. We had her in three different outfits (including those angel wings) and even changed her diaper once and she slept the entire time. Maybe I'll do a photo shoot the next time she decides to stay awake until 2:00.

In other baby news, she has started smiling this week. Big beautiful grins! I haven't caught one on camera yet, but it's only a matter of time. This week she turned six weeks old, enjoyed her first trip to the Farmer's Market (we were asked which booth was selling babies), and is growing like those weeds I haven't gotten to since she was born.

After the photos I picked up the older kids from school with only vague answers to where we were going and met Farris at his work...where they were giving flu shots. Caleb and Felicity took theirs stoically, but after Joseph saw the nurse dart that needle into Farris' arm, it was a battle to get him done. That poor nursing student got a real life medical experience. He only stopped crying (about ten minutes after the shot) when we told him he would only get the promised ice cream if he stopped his howling. Seth's crying lasted until they gave him a sucker, he's easy to distract. I nursed my woes into a Wendy's frosty ;).

Friday was busy with Caleb and Joseph going on field trips: Caleb to Kennicot Copper Mine (you can see it from space, but Caleb was most impressed about the huge tires on the trucks that work down there) and Joseph to an apple orchard. Seth, Abby, and I tagged along with Joseph. It was his first ride on a school bus, monumental! He did say it was loud. Yes, sixty five year olds on one bus? I would assume so. As we were turning on to main street, we saw a sheep patiently waiting at the crosswalk. Yup. That's how our city rolls sometimes. A police officer was watching closely, but didn't seem too impressed. The sheep ran out of patience before the light turned and crossed in front of us, luckily not onto main street, which was busy. After we pulled out, the sheep was apprehended but was not harmed. I wouldn't have been so sure about that on the Rez, it would've been mutton stew ;) The orchard was beautiful and so fall-ish I was happy, it was the perfect way to start the fall season.

(Love Joseph's posing. Turn a camera on, and all the world's his stage.)

When we were done I checked Joseph out of school and we went to visit Tarilynn. She needs her baby fix and we're happy to provide. So glad they're down here now!

Saturday was slower. We did move furniture around in our bedroom so Abby Stuff fits in better. We were going to do that before she was born, but two weeks early caught us off guard. Saturday was also the Relief Society broadcast. I love to listen to those incredible women and their testimonies and this year President Uchtdorf spoke, too. His talks are always wonderful, filled with the Spirit and with love beaming out to where ever you're listening, and an airplane story usually thrown in, too. This talk was right up my horticulture lovin' alley, he used flowers: five-petaled forget-me-nots to tell us to never forget these five things:

(this graphic is from A Feathered Nest, right here:
http://projectsforyournest.blogspot.com/2011/09/forget-me-not.html )

I think nurseries, around here especially, better stock up on forget-me-nots this next spring, I know I want to plant some as a sweet reminder. After chatting around some chocolate cream pie with some lovely ladies, I went home refreshed. Maybe I can remember these things? With plans for spring planting, I'll try!

New pictures of Abigail

My mom wanted to see if Abby has changed since she last saw her...I think she has!

A little slower

This week was a little slower than last week, whew! Here's the highlights:

On Labor Day we went to my brother's house. So glad they live close now! Abby was passed around, and often stalled at her Aunt Tarilynn. Rylee and Felicity played, played, played. Farris threw balls at the kids, which is pretty normal, but this time it was from the upper deck into the backyard. I relaxed and spent time chatting with Tarilynn. All in all a great day!

Caleb's soccer team played twice this week (Wednesday: win 2-1, Friday: lose 1-2). Friday was fun because Nicki came to watch and it was picture day. 7 year old boys get rowdy when waiting in lines for their team's turn. Lots of Ninja going on.

Sunday was Abigail's 1 month birthday. I was still trying to get our camera to upload to the computer when a thought hit me: Maybe it was the memory card and not the camera? I have two that I switch back and forth. So I switched cards, took a picture of Abby, and...it worked!

So now that I know what's going on, I should be able to get more pictures on here, yea!

Abby is growing, growing, growing. She's also nursing a lot, I guess that goes hand in hand! Unfortunately, sleeping doesn't. But it's college football season, so Farris gets to catch up on the games he's missed on ESPN online, so he's ok with it. Maybe by basketball season she'll be sleeping better and he'll have to think of a different excuse!

Kindergarten, soccer, and underwear...oh, my

It's been a busy, but good week! Joseph started kindergarten on Monday. Yes, I took pictures, but again my camera and computer aren't talking to each other. Grrrrr. I took the cutest pictures of him, too! I'll spend some more time with it all tomorrow, and see what I can get. But most important, he loved his first day. No worries, kiss me good bye and jump right in. Farris asked him that night if the teacher had to tell him to sit down and be quiet alot. I wasn't there, but I can sooooo picture his face when he said "welllllllll, not all the time." Yes, that worries me some. Parent/teacher conference should be fun this year.

Also on Monday, my amazing Aunt Ellen and her amazing girls Tricia, Valerie, Amy (all the way from D.C.!) and Danece and some of their kids, and my amazing sis-in law Tarilynn came to visit. We had lots of fun visiting while the kids ran around playing. I'm very lucky to have such a great extended family. Amy's just a year younger than me and we spent a lot of time doing silly things with each other. Like jumping on the trampoline while we had sleeping bags over our heads...yea, that wasn't always a good thing. Since she lives in the D.C. area now, I don't get to see her very often, it was fun to catch up a little. Without a sleeping bag. Maybe next time?

On Tuesday Abigail had her first doctor appointment. She's gained almost a pound! I always worry how well the baby is doing before that first appointment. You know, she looks like she's grown, but what if she hasn't, what if I'm not feeding her enough? But somethings working 'cause she's getting big. And our great doctor says she's perfect. And she was glad that Baby Girl Child has a name now.

Wednesday started soccer season for Caleb. This is our first chance to be a soccer family. Caleb LOVED it (his team lost 1-0, but he never even mentioned that, he just went on about all the kicks he made and how he wanted to hit that ball with his head. Ummm. ok.), Joseph immediately wanted to sign up for next year, Seth was enthralled, and Felicity was bored before half time (she brought two books for the next game on Friday). Farris and I decided that Caleb needs shin guards for those skinny little legs of his. It's fun to watch these little boys playing, they can get so intense while they are diving for the ball. Caleb's going to love the next few weeks of playing.

Earlier Wednesday, I went to buy socks for Caleb (He goes through socks like no other) and Shopko had little boy underwear on sale, too. Seth was excited and started putting some in our cart. We'd been trying to get him excited about the toilet, and he did earn some candy a couple times (I'm trying to make this post about potty training not a gross out, I'm sure you understand what "earning some candy" means, right?) so I thought, why not? and let him pick out a couple packages. The next morning started out good, but kind of dwindled. Then on Friday it got really bad. He was being stubborn and I was nursing Abby a lot and I didn't stick through the whole day. So we might put a pause on the potty training for a little while. A least until I'm not nursing quite so much. And I have a new theory. When the kids do a good job with the potty training, they get candy. But when they have an accident, who has to clean it up? And do we get a treat? I think moms deserve candy every time there's an accident. Or maybe a Wendy's frosty. With french fries. Maybe we'd enjoy potty training a little more then.

Friday we had Caleb's second game, and he even had shin guards this time. His team won 2-1 because his teammate, Jared, made two goals. When Caleb blessed the food for dinner that night he said "and thank you that Jared was on our team." He was pretty excited about the score this time.

Friday was also Joseph's last day of swimming lessons, he's had lessons every weekday the last two weeks, so it will be nice not to have to run to the pool every day after school. He loves the water, he reminds me of a puppy splashing around. All the kids want to spend more time at the pool, next year we'll have to figure something out. I'd love to do a mommy and me with Abby. I'm glad this summer is winding down and that fall is almost here, but next summer will be great, too!

New school year

Back to school time! The kids are so excited to be back in school with friends and new teachers.

Caleb said his favorite part of his first day at school was...eating school lunch. That's our growing boy! He's in second grade this year and he went right back to playing soccer every recess with friends. He really likes his new teacher and he's having fun with his friends.

Felicity started school a day late because she was sick on Monday. How sad to miss the first day of 4th grade! She's been the most excited that the teacher lets each table earn points for good behavior. Her table is currently tied for the most points and she loves to relate the struggle the two tables are having to stay on top. She's started up her own little "school" in her bedroom again. The boys get to have recess, story time, and practice writing their letters. Her discipline is pretty good, too.

Joseph starts kindergarten tomorrow. I'm glad because he's been asking when he can go for about three months now, he can't wait to get started. He's going to love being with so many kids all the time. I just hope he can remember to quietly listen to the teacher instead of doing handstands on the tables. Kindergarten should be very interesting this year...

Our camera forgave our computer

Our camera and our computer haven't been communicating for a long time, but I tried to fix it again yesterday. I'm not sure what I did different this time from time past, but whatever it was it worked and here's some pictures of sweet Abigail!

First pictures in the hospital, all wrapped up.

Sleeping on the quilt I made for her. I'll post some pics and hows later.

She was born in the Chinese year of the rabbit, just like her aunt Nicki. Nicki and Melissa got her a rabbit stuffed animal and we'll use it to take pictures of her every month to see how she grows.

Joseph loves to hold his baby sister. And he loves cameras, he's our cheesy grin boy.

Big proud sis Felicity.

Little Abigail

She's here! And she's no longer nameless! Little Abigail Rachel was born on August 11th, two weeks and five days early and the day after Felicity's birthday (like Nicki says, now we can have 48 hours of PAR-TAY! Felicity was excited after we assured her that they would each get their own cake). It is also my mother and father in law's wedding anniversary, I think Gary sent her down early for it. It certainly surprised us! I'd been having contractions a few times a day for the last few days, but on Tuesday my doctor told me that she hadn't dropped and I had only dilated to a 3. With the last three pregnancies I'd been at a four for a couple weeks before they came. Then she said, "But you're about 90% effaced, so when this baby comes, she's coming quick!" Ummm, yeah. By Thursday I wasn't feeling very good, not terrible, just a little weird. I was still able to do my usual things, I took Felicity into swim class and ran a couple quick errands and got a start on laundry and I even told my mother in law that I thought the baby would be coming "in, oh, about a week." But at 3:00 I got a contraction that felt a little more intense than just a normal Braxton-Hicks, but still not bad at all. I wasn't worried, until about twenty minutes later I got another one. Then twenty minutes later I got another one. This time I called Farris and said maybe we should go towards the hospital, just in case. I also called my sister in law, Tarilynn, to come get the kids. By the time Farris got home twenty minutes later at 4:20 I'd had two more that I could tell were real contractions, no more fooling around, we needed to move fast! We had about a twenty-five minute drive normally to our hospital and it was getting close to rush hour time so I was a little nervous. Tarilynn was driving from her house about 30 minutes away but we didn't think we should wait so we herded the kids over to a neighbors house and took off. Luckily, traffic was only bad getting on the freeway (lovely construction) and it then it didn't slow down again until right before our exit, so we made it. But the last ten minutes or so I was having contractions every three minutes. When we saw the hospital it was a relief! The nurses jumped to it, my doctor came and in a little less than an hour, at 5:58, she was born. She weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz and the nurses loved her little bit of red hair. They were a little nervous because I had tested positive for Group B Strep. To stop the infection from spreading from mom to baby, they give the mother antibiotics during labor and delivery for at least four hours...but we weren't in labor for four hours. They tested her for it and it came back positive but she had no signs of an infection, so they retested her 24 hours later and this time the test came back negative. So glad! She's been very healthy, even scoring a 9.5 on her Apgar test, really great for being almost three weeks early. Tarilynn brought the kids down to the hospital to see their new sister and they loved her all over her. They also enjoyed all the buttons on the fancy hospital bed and when the nurse brought in snacks for them it just made their day even better. As for the name, we thought and thought and got opinions from everyone. Even the nurses wrote up a list of all the American Girl names they could think of, since they knew Felicity was the older sister. We finally decided to leave the hospital on Saturday without a name and call back when we had it figured out.
Tarilynn brought the kids back home a couple hours after we brought Abby home (and she thought we were in such a nice, quiet, calm house. And then ka-boom!) and we've been settling in our new family since then. Felicity and Joseph love on her as much as they can, except Joseph is a little more... ummmm...enthusiastic when he does it and Felicity is a doting big sister. Caleb loves her but is still a little bit nervous around her, he likes to hold her but spends more time looking at her than holding her. It took us awhile to convince Seth that this baby is the baby that was in Mommy's tummy, and he's still not too sure about that. He's been a little jealous and a little put out with all the time she has in my lap (he told me the other day to "put the baby on the table" so he could sit on my lap), but he's adorable when he snuggles up next to her and examines her face. I think in time he'll like having a little sister around to play with, especially with Joseph starting kindergarten this year.
Her first week went by with help from my mom and lots of wonderful people bringing meals and yummy treats and cute baby things, and we still didn't have a name. Felicity wanted Amy; Caleb wanted Lily; Joseph wanted Daisy; Nicki wanted Chester Nicole. Felicity vetoed Chester--but I do think it would be fun nickname. Farris thought Lydia was nice, and I liked it too, but we still couldn't quite decide. Then on Thursday the hospital called, they needed to turn in the paperwork for her birth certificate by Friday. Now our deadline was here, but instead thinking about it we went to the county fair. We (me mostly) were so tired by the time we got back it was mostly just fall on the bed asleep. The little bit of talk we had was deciding between Lydia and Abigail. I started leaning toward Abigail, I love how it means Father's Joy, I love that it's a classic name but it has a cute nickname and it's not too popular. It seemed to fit her a little better than Lydia. So Friday morning Farris woke me up right before he headed into work, and I said "How about Abigail?" and he agreed. The middle name is Rachel after Farris' grandma. My sisters and I and my mom all had no middle name, so Felicity didn't either. With Felicity's blessing (we didn't want her to feel bad that she was the only one without a middle name), we gave Abigail one to honor Great Grandma Larsen.
Now she's two weeks old, she's starting to sleep much better at night and have more awake time during the day, it's fun to see her little eyes peering out at the world! She doesn't like the sponge baths I've been giving her (no real baths yet because her belly button hasn't healed, Joseph is worried about that strange thing on her stomach), I'm remembering how to give them really fast. I'm also remembering how to do things (like type this post) one handed and how to nurse in the middle of the night without waking up all the way. I've had to change the sheets twice and wash the bedspread once--I forget how fast you need to change newborns diapers to prevent accidents. It's been fun (and a little crazy) getting used to having a newborn around again, but those wearing pjs all day, extra laundry, who's cooking dinner since I'm busy nursing, diapers and spit up everywhere times are worth it! And now it's nap time. =)