An-Siblings

Our FHE lesson this week was about (can you guess?...) Memorial Day. I told the girls that Grandma and Grandpa had placed flowers on the graves of some of our ancestors. Lauren's question was, "What about the brothers?" I was confused. Which brothers? I couldn't get Lauren to be any more specific than "And brothers, right?" But Katelyn was the first to understand. When I said "ancestors", Lauren thought I was saying ansisters. I guess that's how the word sounds to a girl who's got four of them, herself. I'm glad she still cares about our anbrothers, too!

Week 3

She's growing so quickly! Even when she's all curled up like this, I can't imagine how she fit within me just a few weeks ago!

They don't eat cookies on Mars, Fernando.

Friday night, Katelyn's class went on a "Mission to Mars" at the Museum of Flight. Doug was one of two lucky parents who got to go along. They both said the simulated mission in space was awesome, and I didn't hear any complaints about sleeping on the museum floor.


Back at home, we had to entertain ourselves somehow, so we decided to make cookies. They were yummy. And I think that's the first thing I've cooked since before Olivia was born. But I have spent some time recently searching for new recipes, trying to get myself excited about my impending return to my duties in food prep.



Saturday night was my big return, and Olivia's big debut, to the social scene. It was the annual ward talent show, and my friend Mindy had asked me a few months ago to sing a duet with her. She has a great voice and she plays the guitar, so it was easy for me to agree to learn the harmony and be part of her act. We sang "Fernando". It wasn't quite Abba quality, but I think it was pretty good! And appropriate for this holiday weekend, I think.



Taking Olivia around large groups of people still makes me panic. I'd like to keep her (and myself) in a bubble indefinitely. I'm wondering if I'm being reasonable, or paranoid. Maybe something in between. We did make it to church today, but during the first hour, Lauren was complaining about a sore throat, so Olivia and I took her home. Even though it wasn't good news that Lauren wasn't feeling well, it did save me from having to try to shelter the baby and keep myself calm during the next two hours of church. And, thankfully, Lauren seems quite fine. It was either a very mild cold, a very quick recovery, or a miracle. I'm not sure which.

Survivor

Through the process of adding five children to our family during the last twelve years, we have gone through a lot of baby equipment: several car seats, bouncy seats, various bottles and pacifiers, a couple of breast pumps, loads of blankets and clothing, even a few different strollers. But there is one thing that has lasted the entire time, and which we still use: the baby monitor. Yep, it has gotten years of use, and somehow it has survived. I still even have the original packaging to store it in between years of usage. I pulled it out of the closet and plugged it in yesterday, and was pleased to find out that it still works great...meaning, not only can we hear our cute little baby noises from one end of our house to another, but also, we can hear the neighbors' household activities, and even mariachi music, just by the flip of a channel switch! YAHOO!!

The Grass is Greener...

My neighbor mentioned that she saw me mowing the lawn not too long before Olivia was born. She joked that all her female neighbors who mow their lawns were making her look bad, especially those of us (me) who were 9 months pregnant.

Well, I wasn't trying to make her look bad, nor was I trying to send myself into labor. Here's why I like to mow the lawn:

• Because if I'm mowing the lawn, the weather must be decent, at least. I don't mow when it's extremely cold or wet outside, but I do enjoy being outside when the weather is pleasant.
• Because if I'm mowing the lawn, I can be outside without feeling guilty about all the things I'm neglecting to cross off my "To Do List" in the house.
• Because I love the orderly look of fresh mow lines in the grass, and because it is one job I can do that cannot be undone for several days! I can't say that about many other household chores.
• Because it sort of counts as working out...sort of.
• Because I enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass (but not the smell of gasoline from the mower).
• Because the engine of the mower drowns out other distracting noises, and I can think, or not think, about anything I want.

2 Weeks

Baby Olivia is 2 weeks old already!

She's quickly becoming a really great sleeper. (She must take after her mother that way.) I was glad to find out this week that she is indeed gaining weight (she was up to 8 lbs 12 oz by Wednesday), which I should have guessed by the way she's outgrowing her newborn clothes! The fact that she sleeps well at night makes it easier for me to fathom my return to "normal life" next week. I'm tired, but not as tired as I could be. It has been so wonderful having my mom here for the first week, and Doug home all this past week, doing everything so I don't have to do much of anything. But Monday Doug will go back to work, and I'll go back to my work...at least, most of it.



We've discovered that our neighborhood has its own "Compassionate Service Leader", so to speak, and we have very kind and generous neighbors. We received three dinners from neighbors this week, and there are three more scheduled this coming week! (Just goes to show what a big deal it is to have 5 kids around here!) Plus there are a couple of meals coming from ward members. I'm getting quite spoiled, and I just hope I remember my way around my own kitchen by the time I need to start cooking again!



Doug provided some fun activities for the older girls this week. He spent lots of time with Hannah, of course, since she's home all day. One afternoon as he took Lauren and Hannah for a walk, Hannah piped up to every passerby, "This is my dad. He's my best buddy." He also took them to the zoo, and he treated them and me to lunch at Red Robin yesterday, and helped me stop at Target to find a few shirts that might fit me. (Having a baby means you need lots of different sizes of clothes! And when it's been 3+ years between babies, I don't like to keep clothes around that don't fit me anymore!)


Every time I leave the house, Doug asks me, "Did it feel good to go out?" And my answer is, "Yes and No." It does feel good to feel well enough to do a couple of things outside the house (like take Olivia to her pediatrician for her first check-up the other day), but it also makes me anxious to get back home. Little outings still wear me out, plus I'm still paranoid about taking Olivia out in public.



We've had fabulous weather the past couple of days, and even though I love the sunshine, I'm appreciating it mostly from inside my house. I hope it will return again soon, and I'll be ready to get out and enjoy it more directly.



The great weather was a good excuse for Doug and the girls to go camping, but thankfully, they didn't go far. Only to our own back yard.
They set up the tent yesterday afternoon, and after dinner, Doug made a mock-campfire for us to toast marshmellows and make S'mores.
The coals took a while to get hot, so the girls toasted their mellows on the BBQ.



Then they all climbed into their sleeping bags, and Olivia and I slept comfortably in our own beds. With my window open, though, I know that Doug and the big girls didn't miss out on too many camping highlights, including the wildlife: I heard the raccoons fighting all through the night!

Girl Stuff

To bow...

...or Not to bow?

That is the question.

Meaningful Mother's Day

With my own mom and my week-old baby by my side yesterday, I appreciated the sentiments of Mother's Day more than ever. I am so grateful for my incredible mother! Doug and I were both blessed to be raised by amazing mothers, who continue to nurture us, even as we are growing our own family! I feel so blessed to have been gifted with 5 beautiful children! I remember a poignant moment when Katelyn and Emily were small, and I had the distinct impression come to me that I was incredibly blessed to be the mother of 2 little girls, and if I never had any more children, I could not feel anything less than overwhelmingly lucky to have them. And now I have five! I am so blessed!

A few thousand words...

Day 1

Doug is doomed!

Day 3

Ready to go home

(Now that I've read Gerb's nationally-published advice on having fun as a family)

Day 4

1:00 a.m.

Good thing she is so sweet! We all know how I love my sleep! But she's worth it.

Before and After

Before

(6:00 a.m. May 3, 2008)

After

(10:00 a.m. same day)

Olivia Suzanne

Born May 3, 2008

at 8:52 a.m.

8 pounds 10 ounces

21.5 inches long

Purely Adorable!

The day before Olivia was born, Emily could hardly wait. (We all felt the same way!) Emily told me, "I can't believe that tomorrow our baby will be born, and then after a few days, I won't even remember what it was like without her." So true. Well, I do remember one thing about life before Olivia was born: I spent more time blogging. ;) Sorry for those of you who have been waiting anxiously (like I would be if I were in your shoes) and wondering what's taking me so long. What has taken me so long is that I've been adoring my new baby and trying to recover from surgery. Both very time consuming, and the adoring part is definitely more enjoyable than the recovering part.

*I've tried twice to put together a slide show of pictures for you, and twice I've gotten nearly done before it blitzed. Sorry. Maybe later.