Hiking

Brian's been home for a week now. Woohoo! And we finally had a whole day where we didn't have to run errands or wake up to Brian already being gone for the day at school. So we went hiking in American Fork Canyon up to Timpanogos Cave. It was a beautiful day and it was a perfect family outing. The kids did great hiking. It was over 3 miles total. Nora walked almost the whole way up and over half of the way down (she was getting sleepy), and Ethan walked the entire time. The hike rises over 1,065 feet and at the cave enterance we were at 6,730 feet above sea level. Cool!

The kids were awesome. This was our first strenous hike with them, and I was impressed with how little they complained. As long as we stopped occasionally and gave them food, they were pretty happy.

This is me and the kids holding up the mountain. Ethan picked up every acorn, pinecone and cool stick he saw. We kept having to remind him to leave nature where it belongs. At home we found some acorns and rocks in his pockets, too cute.

Brian and Ethan were faster on the walk down. It kinda hurt my knees, so I had to go slow. So we got this cool picture because the guys were one zig-zag down from us.

Little Truths

When we first moved into our house Ethan noticed all the little things about the style, fixtures, and architecture of the house. One night as I was putting him to bed we had an interesting conversation that went like this:

Ethan: Mom?
Me: Yeah?
Ethan: Do our lights look like nipples?
Me: Who told you that?
Ethan: I'm right, huh?
Me: Yeah, you're right. Goodnight honey.
Ethan: Goodnight.



About a week after Brian went back to Dallas, Nora was sitting in her room playing with one of the little girls from her little people collection. I was watching her, thinking how cute she was when she turned to me and said, "Her sad, her cryin', because her miss her daddy."
It about broke my heart.
Luckily her daddy is coming home to Utah this Saturday. Whoopee!

Baby stories Part II

Nora
So Brian and I both felt like we needed to start trying to have another baby... Ethan was only 10 months old. I know this sounds crazy but it took three years to get Ethan (with the help of fertility drugs) we didn't want to waste time. And Ethan was incredibly cute at 10 months old. At first when I told Brian he was very apprehensive, but then he prayed about it and about two weeks later, he just knew we were suppose to start trying to have another child.
Enter 6 months later... I started to see the doc again so I could get on Clomid once more. My progesterone was non existent. But my dang period would just NOT come! So the solution of course would be to put me on some drugs to get it to start (drugs that cause birth defects). Well, I decided to wait to take them so my body could do it's thing on it's own. Finally I decided to just take the pills... Two days later I just get this feeling I should take a pregnancy test and then call the doctor, to tell her, of course, that my period still hadn't come even with the pills and that I wasn't pregnant. Well I did the deed with the test, and then forgot about it. About two hours later I think "oh yeah, better check that test" and there staring up at me were TWO lines. Uhhh. I called Brian and said, "Uh Brian I took that pregnancy test and..." "We're pregnant!!!". Brian said, "Umm, I'm gonna have to call you back." I would have felt offended, but I knew he was just as confused as I was. Just a week early they tested my progesterone and it was literally non-existent! Anyway Brian called back ten minutes later and was extremely happy, still a bit confused.
I had a normal pregnancy for the first couple months. Sleeping lots, nausea, tired all the time, and happiness. Then the contractions started.
For some reason my body starts contracting at about 6 months along. Not just the Braxton-Hicks kind either. So I was put on partial bed rest and given medicine to relax my uterus. Anyone who has taken it will know that this medicine makes your heart race and your body feel so jittery. But it was worth the end result...
Nora Elizabeth joined us in February, the day after our 5th wedding anniversary. I woke up at about 3am (nothing unusual about that) only the contractions were a little stronger than normal. I waited, they got stronger. I did not want to go to the hospital AGAIN and have them send me home with more drugs. No thanks. But about 4am I got up and walked around, and got dressed. I woke up Brian and said, "please call your mom, and then lets go to the hospital, it's time to have this baby."
At 6lb 9oz, she was born at 10:30 am. After 2 pushes. She had the cord around her neck three times just like Ethan. My children are seriously monkeys. She was so beautiful. She didn't even cry at first. I was really worried about her because ALL Ethan did was cry. But she was fine, just taking it all in. She was so good and so quiet. It took us a while to decide on her name. I wanted her to be Margaret Jane so bad (Maggie). But she was just so Nora.
She was so serene. I loved every minute in the hospital with her. It was so relaxing. Brian stayed home with Ethan and they came and visited a couple of times along with a few other visitors. But most of the time it was just us. I loved it. At night while I fed her, we'd watch the reruns of the highlights from the winter Olympics. I have really good memories of those few days in the hospital.
I felt better than after Ethan's birth because I knew what to expect, and I was better at all of it. Also I knew to say 'yes' when the doctor offered pain medicine, thank you very much. I was also better at nursing. That made a huge difference! Then we went home and lets just say Ethan started to watch TV. (We were one of those parents who were adamant about no TV until 2 yrs old, not that there is anything wrong with that). I got the hang of things, and that brings us to now. And I love everything about my crazy, sweet, beautiful, spunky, independent, curly headed daughter.

Good Read

Breaking Dawn was an awesome ending to the Twilight series. Loved it!!!
Non stop fun, excitement and twist and turns.
Read it. Now.

Old Poem

Ok, so I'm a saver (a.k.a. pack rat). I was going through my memory box and found this old poem I saved from when I was just a kid....

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
Id a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to confide.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
he learns to find love in the world.

The poem is pretty straightforward. Not too deep. But there are two things I really like about it. First, I like that even as a young child it rang true to me, it meant something. Second, I like how it makes me think, now that I'm an adult and on the other side of things. As a child I felt it was important because it was a declaration of how I wanted to be treated so I could be and become a good person while showing what would also make me less of a person. As an adult I see how I should behave so that each of my children can grow into their best self. Just a thought.