Kimball's Photo Shoot

Here's Kimball at about a week and half now, he'll be two weeks on Friday. We love having him here, he's the sweetest thing (what newborn isn't the sweetest thing?) and so far, we think he looks the most like Maddie as a baby. He mostly only cries if we're in the car and he loves hanging out in the boppy (huge thanks for the boppy Megan!!). Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Goings On

Its been awhile since I posted and just wanted to get on here and update a little. So, Kimball is now about a week and a half, he was circumcised last friday and I was a little nervous that something might be wrong, or not healing right, so I took him back in today to get checked out. He's fine, and everything is going great, so nothing to worry about there. Phew. They weighed him and he already weighs 8 lbs. 9 oz., when we left the hospital he was down to 7 lbs. 11 oz. so he's already gained all that back plus 9 oz. What a good growing boy! He's also gained atleast half an inch, can't believe how fast he's changing already! I keep meaning to take some pretty pictures of him, but I'm just not finding the time (or energy really), but I'm going to do it soon! He is the sweetest baby and we just adore him!

The other kids are doing great too, Bethany's a total baby monger, she wants to hold him all the time. Its cute and annoying all at once. ;) Maddie likes to tell everyone that Kimball looks like her because he likes her so much, she's funny. And I'm really happy with how well Sam's doing with Kimball, I was so worried he wouldn't like him and he'd be mean but he's doing so great! He wants to give him kisses all the time and brings his pacifier over and tries to give him toys to play with, its fun to see him being the big brother!

Dave's doing good at AIT, he's been trying to get good scores on his testing, and raise his physical training scores too. Its been so nice to get to talk to him on the phone every day and tell him whats going on and hear what he's doing. I'll be honest, its really hard to have him gone and I feel really sad some days so much I can hardly stand it. Mostly because Kimball's changing tons already and David will miss all of it and I hate that. I also hate having to be both parents and having to take care of EVERYTHING. But if you have to do it, you had better just suck it up and do it right? I'm hoping my crazy hormones can uncrazy really soon too. :)

Well sorry this post doesn't have any pictures to add to it, its a lot more fun to look at cute baby pictures than to hear me whine! Next time, for sure I'll be adding pictures (and maybe whining too, who knows?).

Kimball David

My birth story:

A few months ago I decided that I didn't want to have an epidural, and I wanted to have this baby naturally. I've had many different birth experiences, my first was natural, my second was induced/had an epidural, my third was in the middle of the night/epidural and this time I wanted a different experience. I wanted to be more in control and calm. My friend had done hypnobirthing and I really loved her story and experience. So I ordered the book and read the book and LOVED the book. It made so much sense and it was just great information, if you want to do hypnobirthing I would highly recommend taking the classes (which I didn't do because I don't have a spouse here and just couldn't figure out how to work it out time wise).

Next part of the story, you may have caught on that I was overdue. So being overdue is rough, I mean really, being pregnant is rough anyway, so being overdue can just be hellish. I was tired and uncomfortable and REALLY tired of everyone calling me and asking if I was EVER going to have this baby and why I don't just go get induced. Well, I didn't want to! And I'm stubborn, especially if you push me. :)

Next part I don't really want to go into very much, but my doctor and I had a little run in. And I wasn't very happy about the way he talked to me and whatever, this was last thursday. I pretty much cried that whole day, and just prayed and prayed that I would go into labor so this could be done with. And that night/next morning I started having contractions.

HALLELUJAH!!

I woke up just before 3am and the contractions were like 2-4 minutes apart. And I was uncomfortable. And I was tired. After about an hour, I called my sister (who was going to be my "support person") and asked her what I should do. She told me to call the hospital and talk to the nurses, so I did. She's smart. They told me to drink some water, maybe take a bath, see if they got stronger. So I waited and they WERE getting stronger, so I called my sister again and told her to get over here! We got to the hospital about 5am and I was trying really hard to concentrate and breath and relax. It wasn't easy with all the five billion questions they ask you, but I was trying. I'm not going to lie to you and say it was easy, the contractions were hard and I was already at a five when I got there, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. A part of me REALLY wanted to get the epidural and not feel this any more, and another part of me REALLY didn't want to. I was faltering and I wasn't sure what to do. They gave me a little something to "take the edge off" and I think it gave me just the teensiest bit of relief to keep going. The doctor got there a little bit later and broke my water, I was a seven then and all of a sudden I was in a LOT of pain. I pretty much progressed to a ten in just a few more contractions. I have to tell you, it was really hard! And I know that sounds stupid, like DUH labor hurts! But it was REALLY hard, and I was breathing hard and I was saying "oh my gosh!" and I wasn't sure what I should do because !!! And then it was time to push and that didn't feel so great either! But I was trying to concentrate and just do it and get this beautiful baby here! So then after just a few pushes, he was here!

This is what I want you to know: even though it was incredibly painful, it really honestly was worth it. When they handed him to me, I have never seen one of my babies be more awake and alert. He was looking all around, he was calm and he looked like he knew exactly what was going on. It was amazing. I didn't have to deal with any of the epidural mess, which in my opinion is scary and painful in itself, and I didn't have to deal with the recovery part of that on top of the other recovery. It was a really cool experience.

I went into the hospital at 5am and he was born at 7:17am. He weighed 8 lbs and is 19in long. And we named him Kimball David. He is beautiful and perfect and has DARK hair! I can't believe it, all my kids have been super light haired, so fun! And he HATES his diaper being changed.

The kids are in love with him, even Sam who I was super worried about. When we got home, Sam wanted to hold Kimball and just kept kissing him everywhere on his face. He'd look at me and say "I kiss his eye." and then kiss his eye, and then "I kiss his cheek." and kiss his cheek. He kissed him over and over and over, we laughed SO HARD. He really is a precious, beautiful baby and we are so grateful he's here and healthy and perfect.

p.s. Sam is freakishly huge now, its scaring me. Especially his head. Wowee!

List of Nothing Really

Not much new to tell you.

Haven't had the baby yet.

Went to the Spring Fair yesterday.

Was super cranky and irritable.

Will never go anywhere crowded when overdue again.

Ate lots of cotton candy.

Don't have any pictures because my camera's packed in my hospital bag that is obviously not getting any use.

Getting to talk to Dave everyday= awesome!

Sort of want to die right now.

Can someone take my kids away, I don't think they're being properly fed.

Going to eat some chocolate now.

Waiting Game

Today is my due date.

Bah.

No baby yet and I am TIRED.

Blah Blah

Thought I would add a couple pictures since I'm still waiting for a baby to get here already!

First up, my awesome sister was super awesome and helped me (she did most all of the painting, because she's AWESOME!) paint my crib, and it turned out...yes, I'm going to say it: AWESOMELY!!

I saw a couple years ago at Gardner Village a crib just like mine that they had painted pink, and I thought it was super adorable, so I got this crazy idea that I would paint my crib, and I really am glad I did because I love it! Here's the proof:

Don't you think thats too fun?! Well, even if you don't like it, its my crib and it tickles me! I'm also really in love with the bedding, its bamboo bedding. Which is like this awesome organic material, so its super soft and cushy and its supposed to keep your baby warm in the winter and cool in the summer. So cool!

So, I go in to my doctor's tomorrow, we'll see what he says, after that I have five days left until my due date. Can't wait to see what this little guy's going to look like!!

And here's a picture of me tonight, I'm tired. :)

I won't show you the ones where you use silly effects...oh what the heck, yes I will. Only because I think its so funny, this is my impression of my nephew Ethan when he does his pouty/duck lips face:

Kristie, the resemblance is uncanny, don't you think?! hahaha I probably shouldn't blog when I'm tired, seriously.

One last random thing, I decided I am going to grow my hair out! I truly love having short hair, but I've had my hair like this for two years now and its killing me that I haven't changed it! So this is my goal, I'm actually hoping to be somewhat close to that by the time Dave gets home, to surprise him (like he'll care right? But still!):

Ooooh, I'm swooning over it! So excited!! Hopefully I can be disciplined enough to do it and not just chop it all off again when it gets annoying! I'll keep looking at the picture though to get me through it! :)

Okey dokey, I think I should quit while I'm ahead, hopefully the next post will be about a new arrival instead of a new haircut, right? (I totally just jinxed myself, I know it. It won't be anytime soon since I said that! Darn!)

Easter and Such

I hope everyone had a very nice Easter/General Conference weekend! It was wonderful to listen to the Prophet and church leaders, the messages were so uplifting and beautiful! Its too funny that as a kid its all you can do to not fall asleep, and as an adult you look forward to it! I'm about a week and half from my due date, so to say I'm uncomfortable is an understatement! :) My "nesting" stage I think is over, I don't have much of a desire to do anything! But I finally feel like I'm pretty much ready for this baby to get here (I mean, physically I'm totally ready; but now that the crib's together and all that, I'm ready every other way too), I'm excited to see what he looks like and what we might actually name him! Still don't know. Crazy I know! I've been having a lot of pain on my right side, it feels like its one of my ribs, so I talked to the doctor last week and we did some different tests to make sure it wasn't a bladder infection or gallstones. None of the tests came back positive, so thats good. And the pain isn't as bad as it was before, so also good. To test for the gallstones they had to do an ultrasound, so the technician was nice enough to do another baby ultrasound after she checked for the stones. I'm excited because she said this baby has a lot of hair! I would roll over and die if this baby came out with a bunch of dark hair, that would be so awesome! The kids had a lot of fun decorating eggs, and doing Easter egg hunts and eating LOTS and LOTS of candy! Here are some pictures from Easter yesterday:












Talked to David yesterday, he's doing really well and has lost somewhere between 15 and 20 lbs, maybe a little more? He plans to get really skinny by the end of summer! :) Today they started their last big training exercise, "Victory Forge" where they'll be out in the field for four days. After that they'll mostly just be cleaning up and getting ready for graduation (on the 16th). If everything goes well at Victory Forge, he's supposed to get his phone back on Friday, which would be AWESOME! I'm so proud of him, he's really done a great job and accomplished some really hard and NOT fun things! I miss him more than I could think of words for, but I can't deny that this has taught us a lot! A few more pictures of Dave at basic:

(He's the third guy back, if you needed help!) :)

(third guy back again)

(Far right)

I love that whenever Sam see's pictures of guys in camo, he immediately yells, "DADDY!!"

We look forward to the next two weeks, big things happening for us!

Aches and Pains

So since last week one of the ribs on my right side all the way through my back has been hurting me seriously badly. I had a dr.'s appointment on Friday where I was going to ask him what was going on and if there was anything I could do about it, but I guess he was in a hurry that day because he didn't give me a chance to ask not one question. So I decided to wait it out through the weekend to see if it eased up at all. Well, no it didn't. By Sunday night, I was constantly in pain and all night long too, so I hardly could sleep or find a comfortable position. So I looked up some information online to see if anybody else had the same problem and what helped them, and started seeing that a lot of my symptoms sounded like gallstones. Then I was a little bit nervous/worried and so I called the doctor Monday morning and they had me come in. The doctor thought I might have a bladder infection, so he had me do a urine test to see. That came back negative. My mom was getting pretty concerned, so she made me call back and ask them about gallstones. So they made an appointment for an ultrasound today to see. Did that this afternoon. No gallstones.

I'm frustrated.

The ultrasound lady thought I had probably pulled a muscle really bad, or something had detached or something like that. I'm not allowed to pick up anything over 20 pounds (i.e. SAM). And I'm kind of back at square one, still in a lot of pain, but not knowing why. (At least I don't have gallstones--what a relief!) (Although now I feel like I just sound like a baby, the pain sounded a lot more legitimate when it could be gallstones! haha)

I've been trying really hard to take it easy and not "over strain" myself. But hello?! I'm a single parent right now, how the heck do I take it easy?! Its not like my husband can come home at night and I can rest for awhile, sheesh! (Besides the fact that I REALLY REALLY want to get stuff done, and be busy to pass the time. Its not really that great just sitting around huge and pregnant waiting for a baby to come, when you have a crib that needs painting, and shelves that need hanging, and decorating that needs doing...)

Well, sorry for the whining; hopefully soon I will feel better (yeah, in like two weeks when this baby's out right?!) and pray for me that this pain will go away fast! (Maybe I should just take the Vicadin the doctor prescribed huh?)

Updates and Goings Ons

I didn't take any pictures (which would've made this post a lot more fun) but it was my birthday this last week (on wednesday). I am officially 27 now! I honestly can't wait to turn 30, because I know a lot is going to change for us in three years, and I think (hope, pray) it will be good stuff! :) Anyway, I didn't do a whole lot for my birthday, Kristie came over and so did Brenda, so it was fun to hang out with my sisters. We did a little baby shopping too. I went to Mama Stortini's with my parents for dinner, just me and them and that was fun to just sit and talk and not worry about kids or anything.

And thats about it. :)

I didn't get myself anything...yet. I don't know if I will or not, I can't decide if there's really anything I want or need. Its hard when you're so pregnant to think of anything else besides just being done! :)

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday as well, nothing new. I'm measuring where I should be, I'm not dialated yet and I'll see him again next week. Whoo. (And apparently I look huge, because everyone seems to mention how uncomfortable I look! haha)

Dave's doing good, he has his last physical training test on Monday, if he passes that he graduates on time. (He should pass no problem.) And then he does "Victory Forge" a four day out in the field course, its their last big thing before graduation. When they get back from that, they'll just be doing a lot of cleaning and stuff. He graduates basic training on April 16th, and the next Monday he starts his individual training, I'm excited for that because then we'll get to talk a LOT more! Yay! He said in a letter the other day that they got their beret's and they probably all look dumb but they all felt really cool in them and they get to throw grenades soon and he's excited about that! haha His attitude continues to surprise me, he's been so positive! A lot of the training they do he says is fun and he hasn't complained at all, even when he's been sick or whatever.

The kids are doing good, one of Bethany's front teeth needs to come out its so loose! She looks like Nanny McPhee, and I can barely talk to her without laughing; its hard to take her seriously with her tooth hanging out of her mouth! Hopefully we can get it out soon!

Leila and Ben Patterns GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

So I've been on a big craft kick lately, wanting to do lots of stuff to keep me busy and I love it. Of course, I've been having to slow down since I'm getting a little too big and my back has been killing me. But I wish I wasn't.

Anyway, I love this website to death! Its so creative and fun and I get lots of ideas from there, I hardly ever enter giveaway's but I would love to learn to sew more, and me and Kristie could share the patterns! :D Anyway, she's having a giveaway and I would love to win this! Check out the link to see her site, she's great!

Leila and Ben Patterns GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Lots of Pictures

So I had a little extra bread that had gotten stale and the kids kept begging to go feed the ducks, so finally we went to Wapato Park last night and played in the park and fed the ducks. The ducks there must get a lot of food or something because they weren't that into it. Or maybe the big geese are bullies and scared the ducks away, who knows?

It got so pretty when the sun started setting (I don't know about you, but I love that its lighter out later now, so nice!)

Here's Isabel and Maddie, I love Maddie's face I could just eat her up (except for today when she's acting like a complete whiney brat. Grrr!).

Bethany doing the monkey bars, she's a pro you know.

Taking Sam down the slide, he loved it of course!

Maddie doing something her tiny muscles probably can't handle. :)

Sam loved the swing, he just kept going and going and going, he did NOT want to get off!

Feeding the ducks...sort of.

Could also be called "throwing lots of bread into dirty water."

But they were happy doing it!

See, ecstatic! :)

These geese came up and were squawking at us, scared Bethany enough to make her drop her bread and scream in terror. (eye rolling here)

See, even dirty polluted lakes can be pretty! :)

There's a Facebook page Dave told me about in one of his letters that puts up pictures and videos and updates of his Company, so I found a couple pictures on there of him. His Company got the best scores for their shooting test, so they gave them a pizza party. They each got a medium pizza, a soda and a candy bar. Dave said they were so stoked, and then stuffed themselves and then proceeded to head to the bathroom. He's had a cold and then pulled a muscle in his chest, so he hasn't been able to do as much of the physical stuff as he wants, but hopefully he'll feel better really soon. I think he's lost about 15 lbs so far. He's really doing a great job, I'm so proud of him! He was just assigned as assistant platoon sergeant, although he said he wasn't very excited about it, its mostly just telling people to be quiet! haha He graduates basic training April 16th and then will start his individual training the next Monday until sometime in June. (I'm due April 14th, so darn, no going to graduation for me! :( But his parents get to go, so fun for him to have someone there, I'm excited for him.)

Showers of Gifts!

Alright, alright, I'm finally getting around to posting again!

This last weekend my sister threw me a baby shower, she's so fun and did a great job on it! She did a "Milk & Cookies" theme, and the decorations were so cute! She made a ton of different kinds of cookies and had different kinds of milk, plus we had lots of other stuff to eat, so gotta love that! Everyone was so generous and I'm so grateful for the gifts we got, now I just need my dryer fixed and Sam to get better (stomach flu, blech!) and I can really get some good stuff done and finish getting ready for this baby's arrival!

Thank you, thank you Kristie!! (Isn't that Liam a sweet thing?!)

And yes, still no name. I'm really working on it, but it doesn't help I have to wait four days or so just to hear what Dave thinks. Ah well, we'll figure one out soon I'm sure!

And for all my Utah friends, I miss you I miss you I MISS YOU!! Wish we could've had a party together this weekend!