Pumpkins

So the annual pumpkin carving went swimmingly. The kids and I carved them last friday- unfortunately because of Reed's busy school schedule and work we just couldn't find a time that he could be there so he missed out. Anyways we- and I use the term we in it's loosest form- cut the pumkins, dug out the guts and then the kids told me what they wanted the face to look like. It's hilarious to me that both Nate and Jocy insisted on having their own pumpkin and kindly chose one out for Elayna. They wanted Reed and me to pick one out also but we insisted we were fine. Jocy ended up bringing home pumpkin #4 from preschool and so Reed and I agreed to share it. Realistically, I realized the more pumpkins there were -- the more pumpkins I would be carving. So five hours and four pumpkins later, this was the result. They do look like pretty good pumpkins but I'm not sure I can survive that much carving every year. Maybe next year there will be a "girls" pumpkin and a "boys" pumpkin. I know I threaten that now but this time next year the blog will read the same ol' story again. I'm a sucker for tradition. Ok this next picture almost made the whole experience worth it. I had to take a break while carving pumpkins to feed Elayna. I had already gutted all the pumpkins and carved Nate's. I had sat down on the couch to feed Laynie and was looking at Jocy who was standing on one of the chairs next to the table and was wiping a pumpkin with a wash cloth. All of a sudden- almost in slow motion- I saw her lose her footing on the chair. She tried to balance herself by grabbing the HUGE tupperware bowl full of pumpkin guts. I think you know where I am going with this. She proceeded to fall onto the floor but not without bringing the entire bowl of pumpkin guts down on top of her head. I just burst out laughing. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long long time. She of course was crying her head off. I knew she wasn't hurt- just freaked out that all that "slimy goop" was all over her. I really really really wanted to go run and get my camera to take a picture but I didn't have the heart to traumatize her any more than she already was. So you'll have to settle for the pile on the floor that I dug her out from underneath. :)

Addicted

So I need to admit something. I think I'm addicted to blogging. Yes, I know it doesn't seem possible. It's true I just started blogging and it wouldn't seem like there hasn't been enough time, not too mention the fact that my site hardly shows the effort or the mass amounts of posts to indicate an addiction but it's true. It's midnight here in Oregon and I am completely aware that I have a newborn sleeping who will be awake ... well who knows when... but instead of taking advantage of this opportunity to sleep I am reading blogs and writing blogs and trying for the life of me to figure out how you all did cool things to your blog site that I can't get mine to do. Anyways, I just discovered based on this very scientific and clinically reliable quiz that I am only 42% addicted to blogging. http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/blog_addiction

I'm not entirely sure what that means or what sort of treatment I get now but at least I'm aware of the problem- that's the first step right?

Back to School

So it's official- Reed has gone back to school. We've been tossing the idea around for a year or so. And in a whirlwind of activity we settled on one, applied, got accepted and started in about a month. Well the researching and all took a bit longer but it seems like everything was decided really quickly.

Anyways, two years from now Reed will have his MBA from Babson University- they are located in Massachutes but have a fast track program in Portland. Reed will attend classes every 4-6 weeks on Friday and Saturday. The rest of class will be done online in chat rooms etc. How new age is that? Anyway, it will be intense for the next two years as he continues to work full time and go to school and fulfill his scout calling and you know... do family stuff. A shout out to all my friends who have done the "support husbands through school stuff". There should be some sort of degree or certificate for you when your husbands finish school! Or at least a plaque that has your name on it. :)

Soccer

Nate started his first organized sports team last month- SOCCER. Here I am a soccer mom, with a minivan. Not sure how I got here but somehow I've arrived. And to tell you the truth, it's kinda fun. Actually really fun. Watching Nate play soccer and LOVE it is really fun. He's just so determined and does really well. The first game we went to he scored probably 8 goals. I'm not exaggerating or bragging- just stating the facts here. :) Anyways, he is just enthusiastic about participating. There is just one problem with that enthusiasm- we're working on not stealing the ball-- from our own teammates. :)

First day of School

I know school started over a month ago but I didn't want the website to be all about Elayna. :) Starting school was a big thing for both Nate and Jocy. Nate started kindergarten this year at Brookwood Elementary. His teacher is Mrs. Peterson and he absolutely LOVES going to school. It is so cute. He gets so very excited and loves everything about it- especially homework. He loves to do his homework and is constantly asking when he gets to do it. I hope this enthusiasm for homework lasts!

Jocy is a little unsure of how much she likes preschool. She seems to like it now, but that is after we spent the last month crying incessently everytime she was left. It was heartbreaking to see how much she didn't want to leave. Then I would pick her up afterwards and I would ask her how her day was and she would say "PERFECT!" One day I asked her why did she cry so much when she always liked it after I left. She said, "Mom, I just want to cry a little bit when you leave." Arrrgggghh! Anyways, she seems to like it now and that's enough for me.

3 weeks

Here are pics of Laynie at three weeks old. She is so alert in these pictures. I put them on to prove to Reed's parents that she is awake sometimes. They've seen her half a dozen times since she has been born and they've yet to see her eyes.

She is a good sleeper though. I can't believe it sometimes- like last night she slept 5 1/2 hours between feedings. I just couldn't believe it. I mentioned to Reed tonight that we should have had a great sleeper like her first- he said that it was better this way. She would have spoiled us and made it hard to deal with difficult sleepers afterwards. At least this way we are just pleasantly surprised and delighted with her.

Blessing

Reed was able to bless Elayna on the 16th of September. She was only a week old but we wanted my parents to be here for it. So Reed, my dad, his dad, Jim, and then our friends Jeff Ellis and Travis Roth, along with our Bishop Wade Ellis helped to bless Elayna. It was a beautiful blessing and I was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy that we have this sweet little girl in our home. I also felt such great love for Reed and his ability to bless the lives of our children. I feel so lucky that we are in this together and that he keeps himself worthy so he can do these things for our family.

Elayna Faith

On September 7th a beautiful baby girl joined our family- EARLY! We had a planned c-section scheduled for the next morning but our little baby just couldn't wait. At about 8 am on the 7th I felt a sensation like I was wetting my pants. It wasn't a significant amount of water though so I was a bit confused. I had heard from others that there is no way to confuse you water breaking. That there is alot of water. One person said they filled up a small pan when their's broke. Mine was NOTHING like this so I just shrugged it off. It happened again about fifteen minutes later so I called my doctors office and they told me to go to the ER just to be sure. When I got there the nurse confirmed that my water had broken and I proceeded to cry. I am sure I am the only 39 week pregnant woman crying because she did NOT want to be in labor. I had a million things to do that day and it was also the ONLY day that week that my doctor was not in the office and therefore wouldn't be able to perform the surgery. Even though this was my 3rd c-section it still makes me a little nervous to go under the knife. Not too mention the fact that I had been talking up for months now, how cool it was going to be to have my baby on 09-08-07. I'm sorry but 09-07-07 just doesn't seem as cool. :( Reed assured me that that was the least important reason to be upset.
Anyways, so ready or not, on the day I wanted it or not, with the doctor I wanted or not- this baby was coming. Unfortunately for me, the hospital only has 4 operating rooms and all 4 were be used at the time for emergency c-sections and surgeries. This meant I had to wait for a room to open up. Which wasn't necessarily a bad idea to me until my water broke completely. (Before it had just a small leak). I then spent the next hour having intense contractions at 2-3 minutes apart. I was not a happy lady. This was supposed to be the perk of c-sections: planned and no pain, at least leading up to the birth. Anyways, finally we were underway and in the operating room. About a half hour later they pulled our baby out and let Reed announce to me and everyone in the room that it was a girl! We were so surprised- Reed insisted it was a boy all throughout the pregnancy. She was beautiful and had so much hair! We could hardly believe it! It took awhile for us to come up with a name for her but we finally settled on Elayna Faith. She is such a sweet baby and we are so glad she finally joined our family.

BLOG

I can't believe I am venturing out into the world of "bloggers". Honestly, I've always thought it was just too "new age" for me- like texting. I'm very anti-texting. Not really sure how that came about but its possible I could start a club. Anyways after viewing so many of my friends blogs, I've been inspired to try it out. So here it goes.....