Two More Videos!

Here's 2 of the newest videos. The first is Joseph blaming his poop on everyone else and the second is Michael (around 4 weeks old). Enjoy!

New Baby!

I know it's a month late (4 weeks to be exact) but I'd like to finally announce the arrival of baby #3! We welcomed baby Michael on June 3rd at 7:50 am. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, a lot less than Joseph did, and I could totally feel the difference in labor. He has blond hair and blue eyes (so far, things might change)and he's as cute as ever. I love him so much and am so happy to have him as part of our family. More birth details coming soon-ish.

First Video

I decided to upload all our funny family videos on youtube as a way to store them, and as a way to share with those who might be interested. Who knows, maybe I'll have a "Charlie Bit My Finger" moment. Here's the first video (taken tonight actually). I swear it was A LOT louder in real life. Enjoy!

One Month to Go!!

There's about one month left in this pregnancy... WOO HOO!!! Despite my record breaking weight gain, it hasn't been too bad... oh and despite my puking and fatigue (who am I kidding, pregnancy sucks). I am so glad this is almost over and in a few weeks I'll be holding a brand new, beautiful baby (boy? girl?) in my arms. I'm so excited.

Speaking of babies, my cousin Emily just had a baby girl, last night actually! I haven't seen pictures yet, but she's 7 pounds 15 ounces and they named her Lauren. Congrats Emily and family!!

Well, this is just a short blog post to say that baby number 3 will be here soon! Oh and to tell you the funny thing Rosie said the other day. Rosie - "Mommy, I want to get married." Me - "ok you can when you're bigger." Rosie (stands on tiptoe) - "I'm bigger now, I'm ready!" Later on that day she looked at Joseph and said "Joseph, you're face is all messy. Nobody will marry you." Haa haa, that girl is obsessed with the idea of marriage. I think she just wants a fancy dress and flowers.

My next blog post will most likely be when the new baby arrives (unless I find the time to post some long awaited pictures).

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

It's been a LONG while!

I feel like I haven't updated this blog in FOREVER!! I started this blog in the first place to write about everything that's been happening in my life, so that when I'm old and forgetful, I'll have everything written down for my kids to read. I've been really bad at updating (sorry future self).

Ok first things first....

The new baby....
I went to the midwife this week and found out the baby is in a breached position, meaning the head is up, instead of down like it should be. I have about 9 weeks for the baby to turn around, but it still makes me a little nervous. If the baby doesn't turn around, I might have to have a C-section (something that terrifies me!) I can actually feel the baby's head at the top of my tummy which is pretty cool, and sometimes uncomfortable.

Naming the baby...
Again, like always, we're having a tough time coming up with a name for the baby. Dave has a few on his list that he LOVES, but I'm not the biggest fan. For example, he likes the name Victor for a boy. I find it too harsh sounding and I don't think it flows with the other names in our family. He also likes the name Wolf, but come on... WOLF??? That's just horrible. Also on his list of boy names are Will and Clayton. At least those are reasonable choices but neither sounds perfect to me. As for girls names he likes Juliet, Kelly, and Lucy. I like all of these but I don't LOVE them.... oh and besides, the baby's middle name will be Kelly (if it's a girl - Grandmother's maiden name) so obviously Kelly Kelly won't work.

I don't really like any boys names right now. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING feels right to me. If the baby is a boy I'm going to have to just "settle" on a name, something I would hate to do. I honestly check the baby name website on a daily basis for some inspiration and nothing jumps out at me. I see names that I think would be cool if someone else named their baby that, but nothing perfect for my baby. Maybe this just means I'm having a girl? As for girl names, well... there's a name that I love (I won't reveal that just yet) and I asked Dave about it. He said it was "ok" but not his first choice. I insisted that he re-think it because I think it's the perfect name if we have a girl. A few days later, with the baby name book in my hand, I said "Dave pick a number between 1 and 430 (or however many pages happened to be in the book)." He picked page 88. Then I asked him to pick a number between 1-10. He picked 8... WELL... guess what name it landed on?? It was the "perfect name" that I had mentioned to him earlier that week!!!! When I showed it to him he said "you gypsy woman!! How did you do that?" I didn't do anything, and I think by him "choosing" that name is a sign that we should choose it. We'll see. Dave still isn't convinced.

Rosie...
Rosie is cute as can be! We just signed her up for a program at the YMCA were she does crafts and plays games and then has a swim lesson. We can just drop her off and the instructors take care of the rest. It will be good for her to experience being away from Mom and Dad and interact with other kids and adults, plus I'm super happy about the swim lesson aspect. I'm nervous as heck to leave her alone for 2 hours, especially since she's shy about telling people when she has to go potty, but she starts JK in September so we all need to get used to it. I think I'm going to sit outside the room on her first day, just because I'm paranoid.

On another cute note, Rosie learned how to say the 3rd article of faith all by herself! She did it in primary and got a chocolate :) Oh and she's been jumping around a lot when she gets excited, not very gracefully, but maybe ballet lessons (next September) will fix that.

One more cute Rosie thing. When Joseph gets into trouble (throwing shoes off the shoe shelf, spilling Cheerios etc) Rosie will say "Joseph, Mommy and I aren't very happy about you. Please be more careful." And if he's really bad, he gets sent to timeout and Rosie will say "go to time out and get a bum smack. When you're ready to be a good boy you can come out." Hee hee she's a little mommy in the making :)

Joseph...
Joseph has become a little smartie pants. He knows pretty much all his letters, even most lower case. He will look at a book and point to the letters and name them. I'm so impressed considering he's not even two years old yet.

He's also been slowly getting into the "terrible two's" phase and protesting everything. If you say "Joseph come here and pick up your toys" Joseph will respond (while crying on the floor) "no thank you!" At least he's being polite haa haa.

Next week Joseph is going to get his first hair cut. I think he looks super cute with his crazy curly baby hair, but it is pretty long. I'll post pictures of that when it happens.

Any way, I know I promised to post pictures of all kinds of stuff from WAY earlier in the year. Maybe I'll do a blog post of just pictures. Ah, so much catching up to do...

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Paralyzed

Well.... Dave went on another business trip. I always miss him when he goes... but this time around I had big plans, at least I thought. Dave was headed to the quilt shop, so I decided to finish his quilt top so he could bring it and have it quilted. He left at 4am on Tuesday and I finished his quilt at 3:45am, only 15 minutes to spare!!!

The next morning I awoke to my Mother banging on my front door. She had come over to help me paint my kitchen. We spent the day painting and finished up the next day. Next on the agenda was to make new curtains and a duvet cover, clean perfectly, and decorate our bedroom all nice. WELL...

On the third day that Dave was gone, I bent over to pick up Joseph so he could sit in his high chair for breakfast. I didn't even touch Joseph when my lower back completely seized up on me and I couldn't move. I couldn't stand back up and the pain was so strong that I ended up on the floor. I sat on the floor for a few minutes in a complete panic. I was thinking "how can I get back up? How long will this pain last? What if I can't get back up?" I finally grabbed onto a chair and used all my strength to get back up. I haven't been the same since.

I've spent the last few days basically stuck in my bed. I can't even lean forward to change a diaper, give a hug, or even walk. I luckily had friends and family come over to take care of the kids until Dave came back Saturday night. Oh and since I'm pregnant, I can't even take heavy medication to solve my problem. Dave has to help me go to the bathroom which is embarrassing and frustrating. I can't lift my legs so when we go to the bathroom. I have to hold onto Dave and pivot my feet (like I'm doing the sideways moonwalk) until I get to the bathroom. Then holding on to the counter and the wall, I slowly and painfully lower myself to the toilet. Getting off the toilet is a whole other ordeal. It takes everything out of me to get to the bathroom and I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate from all the heavy breathing. Today Rosie saw Dave and I headed down the hall to the bathroom. She said "Mommy and Daddy are dancing." Awww at least someone if finding joy in my injury.

I think the worst part about having this injury is that I can't be with my kids. I cried when Joseph needed a diaper change and I was unable to even get off the couch to get a fresh diaper off the shelf. I cried when he wanted to be picked up to cuddle and I couldn't do it. I cry when I can't get off my bed to tuck my kids in to bed and lean over and kiss them goodnight. I hate that I can't cook them dinner or do their laundry. I worry about the baby in my tummy, about how this might be affecting him/her and if the medication I'm taking is really safe. I feel bad for Dave who's already exhausted from his business trip and has come home to a crippled wife and fussy children to deal with. I know he hates to see me like this and he hates to see me cry. As a family, we really are having a hard time dealing with it all. The kids feel neglected, I'm sure, and Dave feels overwhelmed. I never wish this upon anyone.

I pray that this will pass quickly so life can resume. I suppose this is a learning experience, to have more empathy and to help others in times of need. Next week family from out of town will be here. I pray to be healed by then.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

January 2011

Hi Everyone!

I really should be writing in more detail here, but I'm feeling rather pregnant and exhausted. So here's the short form of things happening this month... Maybe when I'm feeling up to it, I'll elaborate and add pictures.

- Went to Utah for the first time. Rosie and Joseph's first time on an airplane. They loved it!
- Stayed with Katie's family for a week.
- Met baby David (so cute)
- Went through the Salt Lake Temple. So beautiful and HUGE inside.
- Went to Park City and saw the Olympic training track for luge.
- Had my new sewing machine shipped to Utah. Also had some quilt fabric sent to Utah.
- Rosie told Dave she was going to Utah to see baby David and baby Jesus haahaa.
- Rosie kept on saying "I want a wedding dress and I want to get married to Joseph in the temple"
- Enjoyed the Olive Garden more that ever while in Utah! Wish they had it here.
- After returning to Canada kids were on a CRAZY sleep schedule.
- One night Rosie discovered my liquid eyeliner, drew on our bed and on herself. (pictures coming soon)
- Rosie calls herself the "helper girl" she loves helping to make cookies and macaroni.
- Joseph can sing most of "I love to see the temple" I'll sing it to him and leave out words. He always fills them in.
- Starting a new quilt for Dave using Salt Box Harvest fabric.

That's it so far. More details coming, I promise.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth