Mother's Day 2015

 I love being a mom to these three. ♥

 

  Happy Mother's Day to me! I wanted to replace my little point-and-shoot Canon PowerShot, which still works but I've dropped so many times it's a banged up mess. Mark got a $100 Best Buy gift card from his work at Christmas, and he gave it to me, but it took five months for me to use it. They didn't have the camera I wanted in stock, so we were walking out of the store and I saw this Nikon Coolpix L830 on clearance. It was WAY nicer than what I was intending to buy. Wide angle lens, HD video, etc.

Long story short, it's a $300 camera and I only had to pay $45. WOOOOOOT I'm way excited. I still have no idea to use most of the features.

 

 Taking pictures after church...it's sort of ridiculous.

We drove down to my parent's house after church to eat and to say hi to my sister Megan, who is serving a mission in Mexico.

 

 It was good to see her and hear her talk about life on the mission. She has been out for 7 months...11 months to go! She was having a hard time remembering the English words for things, which is a good sign that her Spanish is coming along.

 

 Her cat misses her.

We also celebrated Isabelle's birthday a few days early. I made this Almond Pound Cake and it was very tasty.

Her practice cake smash was a little delicately done--she was just getting warmed up for the enormous mess she'd eventually make with her real birthday cake four days later.

 

 We also went by and visited Mark's mom and dad. I'm glad that our kids get to see their grandparents so often!

34, and yes I still think about Harry Potter all the time

Oh, hi blog. Has it been 3 weeks?? Sigh.

I just wrote this entire post, only to accidentally delete it. So here we go again!

I turned 34 last month. I tried to milk it for all it was worth, of course.

 The day before my birthday, my sister Maria and I braved the freezing wind and went to the Waffle Love truck. Divine!! (If you haven't tried Liege waffles before, you must. You really must.)

 The day of my b-day, I drove down to St. George with Isabelle and Luke and met up with my sister-in-law Monica. She treated me to lunch at Einstein Bros. Bagels--my choice because I love carbs. Then I hit up Target and Old Navy, which is all I ever really want from a good birthday. Mark was even able to get off work early and grab Luke and take him home before Madelyn's bus arrived. (So that I could shop longer, obvs.)

 Look how cute! Squee~ I did buy myself some shoes at Target, but everything else was for the baby. That's how it goes.

 I got some Pizza Hut yummies on the way home (I got one of those giant cookies for my "cake".) When I got home, this was waiting for me. My sister Maria had come and left me this awesome surprise. So festive! The roses were gorgeous. :D

 Then I had to haul the kids over to Maria's so I could go to a very long and boring COMMITTEE MEETING for church while Mark gave a lecture on surgical PAs at SUU. Grownup stuff. Humph.

 

 This was what Madelyn drew in my birthday card. (My middle name is Lynn. Close enough.) 34 looks like a lot of freaking candles.

And I got this! Of course, we'll get the extended version when it comes out too, and then have a Middle Earth marathon that will be like, 24 hours long. Oh yesssss.

 That Saturday, I took Madelyn and her friend Danzi to see Cinderella and I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Cinderella has always been my favorite since I was 5, and this movie was just gorgeous. ♥sigh♥

 And my mother-in-law brought me a homemade German chocolate cake! Yes I did eat about 1/3 of it by myself.

I never did get a pic on my b-day, so here's me and Baby Girl (10 months old):

 And one of my new Harry Potter tees. One can never have too many, even when one is 34 years old.

Speaking of!

I've been grappling with something for about 6 months now, which I intend to resolve this year. When I joined Pottermore, I was sorted into Slytherin House. (With a vine wood wand, 10 3/4 inch, slightly yielding, phoenix feather core.) Now, there are a lot of good traits that come along with that house. Resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, leadership qualities, self-preservation, determination, cleverness, fraternity and power. (I identify with the resourcefulness, self-preservation and determination.) However, nearly every single Slytherin portrayed in the books and movies have been mean, prejudiced, self-serving, manipulative, etc. And the vibe I get on Pottermore--and from the internet in general--is that people with Slytherin pride really enjoy the "bad boy" aspect of it. Even in my welcome letter to Slytherin, it basically said, "Welcome! We are better than everyone else!" Really? Ugh. (Mark is in Gryffindor and Madelyn's in Ravenclaw, which they like to gloat about.)

I should mention that I have taken various online Hogwarts House Sorting Quizzes and the first NINE TIMES, I was put into Hufflepuff (which should tell you a few things, lol) and the tenth time was the official Pottermore one which put me into Slytherin. I've always known I was not Gryffindor material, but it was a huge shock to see my result. I really feel like I don't belong there. I can't get excited about playing around on the website with this identity crisis. (Maybe I can't see myself with all the pro-pureblood, anti-Harry Potter nonsense and rubbing elbows with Voldy and all the Death Eaters??)

Super pressing issue, I know. But here's why.

I have always fancied myself a Ravenclaw, not because I think I'm super intelligent, but because I love learning so much. I used to read encyclopedias and the dictionary for "fun". I own hundreds of books and dozens of nature documentaries. I have a degree in Food Science and Biology. My family watches NOVA religiously on Wednesday nights and I actually just penciled in "Life in the Undergrowth, Tuesday at 9:00, channel 11" on my calendar. (A David Attenborough special about bugs--he makes the best documentaries.) I'm visual, creative and am a perfectionist, too.

On the other hand, I'm loyal to a fault, hard working, honest, giving, empathetic, am an introvert, and just want EVERYBODY TO GET ALONG, which lands me solidly in Hufflepuff. Honestly, I'm fine with that house, too. But part of me wants to not just be a nice marshmallow that gets taken advantage of. I'm probably a RavenPuff or HuffleClaw, most accurately. (Or maybe I'm all four houses combined and that makes me Divergent?? Oh, wrong franchise, lol.)

Anyhoo, what I really want to do is to re-register and take the sorting quiz again (which you are not technically supposed to do...). I'll accept my fate if Pottermore puts me into Slytherin again. Although this time, I won't have Mark hanging over my shoulder making suggestions that probably skewed my answers, *ahem*! I really just wanna know where I belong, so that I can feel legit when I choose a new Hogwarts tee to buy at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, if I ever get to go. So do you think I was sorted into the wrong house? Am I being dumb and need to just embrace the silver and green?

So now you know what sort of things 34-year-olds think about. And my husband can attest that you can still play lots and lots of video games even when you're 36. Not to worry, Millenial generation!

The first two weeks

Coming home, 5/15/14

Holy TARDIS of Gallifrey, folks. Where has the time gone?! What have I even been doing?!?! All the days and nights have run together.......

Of course, I do have THREE CHILDREN now, who are home ALL THE TIME because it's summer break, who are needy and demanding and also hog the computers. So I guess that explains it.


To sum up, we had a lot of visitors the first two weeks. About half of everybody I know came to see the baby. Which is nice. It also meant I was fussing about being dressed and having the house in a semi-presentable state all the time, because you can't turn off that type of crazy with a switch.

We also had to get Luke and Madelyn through their last week of school. I'll write another post about that. Let's see who came to visit Isabelle!

At the hospital, we had my parents, Mark's parents and Aunt Naomi and Uncle Hal, my sister Maria, Emery and Nora, my friend Dawson and my kids visit.

When we got home the next day, my sister-in-law Nikki and her son Cove came and brought us food. Nikki is expecting in November, I can't wait to hear what she's having!

Then my friend Jenny Norton came and also brought food. (Big thank you to all who have brought meals--they have been awesome!)

Thank you to Mark and Maria for the beautiful flowers! Sunflowers and roses are my favorites. :)

Tiger meeting Isabelle

This girl was born with a French manicure! But she kept scratching herself, so the nails had to go.

Maria, Nora, Shay and Emery

Aw! ♥

At her 3 day checkup, she weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. (down from 6 lbs. 6 oz.)

My brother Tyler, his wife Monica and their kids Nathan and Ava came on Saturday to snuggle the baby.

Such cute cousins!

One of many naps she and Mark have already taken together. Love that little peanut!

That night, the ladies I work with in the RS presidency--Jana, Carol and Shelly--came to visit and brought dinner.

On Sunday (4 days old), she had her first sponge bath at home. She is not a fan of being cold. It's one of the only reasons she cries. Usually, she just pants and makes grunty noises and that's how you know she's awake.

We'd had a rough night....my milk had come in but she was used to formula and bottles (to flush out her jaundice, also because it's convenient to not be the only one who can feed her). She had nipple confusion and thought I was torturing her every time I tried to get her to nurse. It took her a couple of days, but she finally figured it out. She was also battling a wicked diaper rash that was making her bum bleed. We used a lot of Calmoseptine (which numbs the skin) and gave her Tylenol and that helped. Sheesh.

Then my brother Kevin came with his family.

Lori brought dinner, and it was so sweet to see Jack holding the baby. He wanted to hold her multiple times.

Hattie :)

I have pictures of all my babies sitting on Mark's lap while he plays video games. It's tradition.

Sweet little squishy face!

Becoming a big brother has been tiring for Luke.

Mothering a 4 1/2 year old and a 9 year old and a newborn has been tiring for me. My patience quota is not what it used to be, let's just put it that way...

He has been really good with Isabelle and tells her that he loves her. He nuzzles her head all the time, which is how he shows affection for her (and the cat).

 We catch her smiling in her sleep a lot. Hope she's having happy dreams. 1 week old.

 Mark's mom Kathy came to visit on Thursday and brought food and presents for the kids.

She said that Isabelle is the prettiest baby she's ever seen, which is saying something, since she had 10 kids of her own and has 29 grandkids and 7 great grandkids! I agree, though.

 Look at the beautiful quilt she made! She is a master quilter (along with her daughters Sheila and Kathryn). 

The kids had to show off their bike riding skills for Grandma. Madelyn finally decided to take her training wheels off and was riding like a pro in no time! Mark had been trying to get her to do it for years, but Madelyn is not one to be pushed. Good heavens.

Luke is super speedy on his trike and will have no qualms about such things, I have a feeling.

 

Her belly button stump fell off, so she got her real first bath. She looks kind of like a grumpy old lady, haha.

These are our next door neighbors, Elena and Maureen. They are from Zambia and brought us the most delicious dinner!

My friend Alexis Worwood also came to meet Isabelle and brought presents. :)

Tiger had been a little neglected, so he'd come and hop on our laps for some lovin' whenever he got the chance. Unfortunately, the last we saw of him was on Sunday night. He has been super frisky at night ever since it's warmed up, and he has not forgotten his old bachelor ways. We hope it's just a short adventure that he's on and that he'll end up back here or his previous owners (like he did last time), because we miss him! That bum!!!

I fall asleep in the middle of our midnight feedings all the time. Her witching hour (when she gets squirmy and fussy) is around midnight every night, and then I'm usually up with her from about 3:30-4:30 am or so, and then Mark takes the last feeding at 6:30 am, or whatever the time is, because I stay in bed like a zombie and don't look at the clock.

On Sunday the 25th, I did a big photo shoot and took tons of adorable pictures. I'll post them soon.

On Memorial Day, we finally went to the nursery and bought plants and flowers for our garden and pots. Isabelle supervised things from her baby papasan on the back porch.

Did I mention that we're in the middle of trying to refinance the house again? We tried to do it last November and it didn't go through, so now we're trying again. The house has to be appraised again, so that's yet another reason why I can't stop cleaning and spiffing up. *SIGH*

Did I mention that everyone is tired???

I took this pic at 3:30 am, right after I'd had to change Miss Isabelle and myself, after she'd projectile pooped all over my pajamas. She pulled the same trick on Mark today. Poop everywhere. Good thing she is cute.

She had her two week checkup yesterday, and has grown so much! She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches. That's more than a pound heavier than her 3 day checkup, and 1 1/4 inches longer than at birth. Wow! However, she does eat a ton. She can really pack it in for such a dainty girl.

I have been feeling good--my laundry list of health complaints got markedly better just by giving birth. My hips went back into joint, the insomnia and restless leg syndrome stopped, and my heart stuff improved once I didn't have the weight of her body putting pressure on my veins. (I still get dizzy though, and have the orthostatic intolerance thing.) The carpal tunnel that developed in the last few weeks of my pregnancy has been hanging around a little longer, but as the swelling goes down, it gets better. I never needed strong painkillers post delivery--just ibuprofen--and my stitches healed fast. My back and stomach ached and I had a perma-headache from tiredness the first week, but I feel mostly back to normal now. Just so glad to not be pregnant anymore!!