Halloween

I feel like no one reads my blog posts anymore because I post on Facebook enough as it is...maybe it's more just business stuff...man have we been overloaded with so much business this year but it's all been extremely amazing blessings for us all! We love what we do!

This year we went to my Aunt's pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins but still failed at carving pumpkins with the kids again this year! It was cute to see them pick out their own pumpkins though!! They loved it and Ethan wanted to keep his in his room!! Ali did not want to look at me for pictures!

I know it's been quite a while since we had Halloween but I thought I might do a quick little post. This year we got to take pictures of the preschoolers and their costumes and other people at AIM gymnastics. This meant pretty much that I didn't get any pictures of my kids (nor did I take them trick-or-treating) that are really remotely professional besides these few goofy pics of Ethan that we snapped at the preschool's Halloween party! Roger did take my kids to the trunk-or-treat at the Rose St. Chapel but that's it! They did score on some really good candy so thank you awesome parents who had your trunks all set up for my kids!! Ali really wasn't wanting to wear her snow white costume that night so we really had to bribe her. She is definitely one opinionated little girl!! Benjamin was a cute little lion!! Man he is growing up way too fast!! Not enjoying it!!

Ethan wanted to pose...Can you tell?

UpDaTeS

We have been so busy!!


I watch my nephews every day before school and after! So our whole family dynamics has changed. Alec & Owen are fun to watch! I hope that they think of me as the "fun" aunt! I have done a couple quick mini sessions with them after school and they love it!


We wake up around 6:30-7am every morning and get the kids in bed by 7:30-8pm every night. I have always loved sleeping in but am now finding that I love being up early because I get a lot more done in the mornings. (MOSTLY WORK)


The business has been so busy crazy lately. I'm working long hours...so for those of you who think our work is easy you have it all wrong!! I would rather be shooting than editing any day, but we definitely have more editing than shooting as always editing takes quite a bit more time, especially weddings. In the last three months we have done 5 weddings!! This is unusual for us because we like to only do 1 wedding a month, but all of our weddings were fun and we really enjoyed getting to know the brides and grooms even more! We even got to do a "trash the dress" session for one couple!! :) I LOVE my job!!


Which is why... I don't think I mentioned this previously but we moved back to Moses Lake with my parents until Roger is done at Eastern. We thought we'd be done in two quarters and then hopefully be into a PA school somewhere but it looks like it'll be a full year for him and then maybe PA school in June. We are applying to a school in AZ and they accept more students than other schools so we are hoping our chances are better!


And hooray for me because I officially am done with my BA!!! I hadn't been in school for a year because my school had messed up on my loans so we had to come up with $1,500 for my senior class before I could finish and when we did I got to it again and finished. My degree is in Business Management! I will apply for my diploma shortly which costs another $150 and it will take 10-12 weeks to get here! Man alive I don't know why I did the whole online thing because it costs way more than we thought we were paying, but I guess it helped while I was having babies like crazy!! HAHA I have been talking about how I would love to be in the medical field as an office manager, but don't know when that'll happen while I have little ones at home. I'm also thinking about going back to go to nursing school once the kids are in school. Who knows though...I really enjoy photography and will eventually take over the business!


Ethan says the darnest things lately!! The other night we were walking in the mall and Roger was saying how he needed more cologne and I said, "Where's your girlfriend when you need her?" because when you are dating someone that's always a gift you give..so anyways who knew Ethan was listening until the next day he asked me who daddy's girlfriend was. Haha..I laughed and asked where he heard that and he said in the mall I told daddy he had a girlfriend. Too funny so I explained to him that I was daddy's wife and that he didn't have a girlfriend I was just joking. He then told me how he wanted a girlfriend so he could kiss her!! What happened to my 3 year old? I guess he will be 4 soon! It's crazy to think that much time has passed!!


Aliana is such a little diva!! She loves her shoes and accessories. We painted the bedrooms upstairs and hers is a green..my mom bought a pretty chandelier to go in there and some cute shabby chic twin beds with a dresser! Once we get the quilts made we will have to post pictures! She loves her room! I went to hobby lobby last week because they just opened one in Spokane and fell in love with so much stuff so we are going to figure out what other things we want to use to decorate as well!!


Benjamin crawls and pulls himself up all the time! He is a crazy little monkey! We get him to say mama and dada every once in a while!! He is a perfect little baby besides his pinching. I had to quit breastfeeding because I wasn't putting out enough with the diet I was on!


Oh yeah...I have been doing the Ideal Protein diet for almost 11 weeks! In the first 6 weeks I lost 30 pounds and have continued to lose a little and manage my weight. I am in phase 3 now and feel great. The best thing about this diet is you don't lose your muscle mass just your fat!! I have already lost more than my original goal (weighing less than what I did when we got married) so now I am setting new goals. If you want to know more about it I am thinking of doing a blog post on it! I am going to start doing P90x I think here soon.


We managed to grab a quick family picture the other night! Benjamin's face cracks me up every time!! Can't wait to get some more done!! I love this little family of mine!! :)

What do you think?

The picture above is of Ethan at 8 months! Benjamin will be 8 months on Tuesday and the four images below are ones I took today of him real quick to compare. Do they look a lot alike?? The first picture of Benjamin is the real color...can you believe how red that hair is? I can't!! You can see it better if you click on the image.. He is too cute with those two teeth poking out!!!



This was a picture I took of Benjamin a couple weeks ago that I love...but you can barely see his teeth coming up..

Website Updates!!

We finally got our website updated with more recent pictures that we have taken!! We are so busy it's been hard to find time to do it, but finally sat down to get it done!! Check it out!!

JULIEWAITESPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Saturday

was a day we all wish we could have lived without!!!

We had been invited to Alexys Sanchez's birthday party and we were really excited to go since their family (Michael has been his best friend for years and was also his best man) has been such a big part of Roger's life and because just the night before her movie "Grown-Ups" was released so we also wanted to congratulate her on that. When we got there we noticed they had an above ground pool and we told Ethan since he didn't have his water wings he couldn't go in the big pool but just the small kiddie one. He was fine with that and played in the kiddie pool for a good 30 minutes. Then he decided he was done and came over to switch back into his regular clothes. Well about 10 minutes later he wanted to swim again and again went to the kiddie pool. Then we walked around a bit and the adults decided we were going to play some volleyball so while they were getting the teams set up I decided I better make a quick trip to the bathroom so I wouldn't have to miss out during the game to run in. Well when I cam back outside I did not see Ethan or Ali...there were between 70-80 people there so it was hard to see everyone anyways but I told Roger I didn't see them and asked if he knew where they were....that concerned him a little so we headed toward the pool and toy area and all of a sudden I see Roger book it in a hard sprint to the pool pull Ethan up out of the water and on to the ground. I really can't remember if I fell to my knees then and cried before making it to Ethan but that's what I think happened. I got to him quickly and he started to cough and foam at the mouth a little. We kept him on his side and Kyleigh, Michael's wife, and another gal who is also a nurse were right there coaching me on what we needed to do to get the water out. Since some water was coming up we didn't do CPR....He was purple but the color was starting to come back slowly...we raced him inside after someone had called 911, which let me tell you I did not hear sirens coming when they finally arrived. I don't know if it's because of what the person who finally got ahold of 911 said to them or what, but it was not a quick response. The grant county sheriff was there before the EMTs were. Once we were inside I told Roger we needed someone to help him give him a blessing asap and he grabbed Eloy Sr. to help him do that. Things got better after that...more water came out and we moved him outside when the sheriffs got there and he threw up more water. I held him this whole time crying because I didn't know what was going to happen and I didn't know how much water was still in his lungs. Once we got him in the ambulance they took his oxygen levels and his heartbeat and said his levels were good and normal so they drove normal speed to the ER all the while I'm worried it could get ugly and time because he kept gurgling up water and swallowing it. My dad later informed me the swallowing was ok because it would go into his stomach and be out of his lungs. Once I got in the ambulance I finally got a chance to text someone in my family (Brandi, my sister-in-law, because she was the last person who had texted me) and just said Ethan fell in the pool. Call my dad. Get to the ER. In the ambulance. Roger had tried to call my dad once he pulled Ethan out of the pool and searched for the phone to call 911 and then my dad but since he couldn't find his phone he had called my grandpa because he was the only Waites phone number in the phone book and then my dad. I could tell Roger felt awful about the whole thing because he kept telling me he was "sorry" over and over again while crying and he had to keep his distance because he just couldn't take it.
While I was in the ambulance I just kept fighting with Ethan to stay awake with me and I had to hold an oxygen mask close to his face. I did not want him to fall asleep because I knew we needed him awake and going to make sure he would get it all out. Roger was supposed to be following behind but I was so worried because I knew he wouldn't be in a good enough state to do it...We are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have that were there with us. Michael drove Roger to the hospital with Ali and Brooke Caldwell stayed with Benjamin at the party until someone could go get him. Roger said he wasn't able to drive because he was too much in shock.
Once we got to the hospital my whole family was there...somehow they all beat us because the ambulance was slow...The Dr. and nurses were ready for us and asked questions right away and got an x-ray really quick. His arms and legs were still a little purple but by this time he actually could respond and tell us what our names were. This made me smile. There was still a little bit of fluid in one lung so the Dr. said since my dad was a PA that she felt comfortable with him going home with us as long as we watched for a cough or fever because it could be pneumonia forming or get worse. We were so lucky he got most of the fluid out and was becoming more responsive. We had decided in the hospital we needed to go back to the party and say hi and let everyone know he was okay so we did so and while we were there he threw up some more with food this time. That was the last time he threw up that day and has been doing really well since. However, my husband and I are still freaked!! Roger more than I because he was the one to see him blue and pull him out when unresponsive. He really didn't think he was going to make it. He has been sleeping (well attempting to sleep because he really can't) with Ethan since and ended up taking the rest of the week off after trying to go back to work yesterday.

Later we found out that Ethan had thrown a ball in the water and started to climb up the ladder when an adult took him down and told him not to go up there again and gave him the ball back. Well she turned away and he threw it again and went in after it and the other kids thought he was swimming supposedly when Josh Jesse Jr. (only 10 years old) noticed he was under and not coming back up and pulled him up as much as possible which was when Roger booked it and pulled him out. Thank goodness that Josh went to the party that day when he was supposed to be at a softball tournament with the rest of his family. We owe him a lot for knowing what to do and how to help someone..

The lesson we have learned is to always keep floatation devices for your children if they will be around water...And watch them closely...yes there were lots of people watching but it only takes a split second for them to fall or jump in without someone seeing..

Thanks to everyone who has prayed and is still praying for our family. We won't be swimming for a while...but sooner than later... You can't keep these kids out of water forever when they love it. When he was in the hospital bed he told me he wanted to go swimming at Brandi's pool because he didn't get "sick" there. If he only thinks he got sick I think it's the best. I hope he doesn't remember the feeling of the fluid filling his lungs. I can only imagine how scared and alone he felt at that time and it makes me hurt. I love my children and I'm so grateful for the wonderful gospel we have in our lives and that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder so that he can administer blessings when necessary.

Too LONG!!

I have been a big slacker when it comes to posting....and there has been a ton going on so I will just name a few...

Ben is 5 months!! Wow I can't believe he is that old already!!
He loves to grab everything and anything..found him with a cookie in hand gnawing at it today.. (Ali set it down by him)
He is trying to crawl...and loves his belly!!
My Brother Ben gets home from his mission on Tuesday!!! WAHOO!!
Roger finished another year of school...wahoo... sad though that there is still more to go...
He is working hard to support the family and trying to find a job in Moses Lake for the summer..
Which leads to the next news...YES we are moving back in with my parents!! Just makes the most sense right now...more details later...
My mom's business is doing really well...which is good for me to keep working...We have I think 6 weddings left to do for this summer...
Ethan is picking up on lots of "adult" words/sayings...and uses them in the right context!!! For example he was telling me "oh my gosh mom....." the other night and I couldn't believe he knew all of that together! I try not to use that saying around him too much because I don't want him to accidentally say the Lord's name in vain once like most other people say now days.
Ali loves to just jump off things...no matter how high above ground it is!! (scary)

SUMMER HAS BEGUN AND WE LOVE THE SUN!! Hope to spend some days at the Surf 'N Slide with the kids so they can get their skin a little tan!! :)

I hope to post more this week after my brother gets back with pictures of everything!!

Benjamin will be..

4 months tomorrow!! What happened to my newborn? I think it may be time to have another one..LOL

My sweet sister got them these outfits. The boy's shirts say Ladies Man on them...so true! Do you see my redhead?? It makes me laugh that I got my "white" boy!

Mother's Day

I am so proud to be a mom! I am constantly reminded why I love what I do. It was about two years ago when I told Roger that I loved my kiddos and wouldn't have it any other way as we drove twelve hours to Utah. Who would've thought I would be happy with being a mom when a trip like that can go disasterous at any point? Luckily it never was, but today I had that same over flowing love for my children. Yes, there are times when I want to pull my hair out, but most of the time I enjoy having my kids and playing with them and hearing them talk and they teach me things every day that are so fulfilling! I love when they come up to me and say "Momma, I love you!" That constantly reassures me that I am doing an "okay" job with them!

I personally need a break from having kids so my body can recover from them all so close together but my mind keeps telling me I have a lot more to come. It makes me excited and all over exhausted to think about it! Having three right now hasn't been as bad as many people have made it sound, but I think it's because Benjamin couldn't be any more perfect. He is always smiling, laughing, and talking and to me there couldn't be anything better!!

I have two moms that have been such wonderful examples to me. I got a chance to go get a pedicure that my Grandma got me for Mother's day last year with my mom yesterday and it was so fun to do something that we could just sit back and enjoy. Too often we are busy getting work all caught up and don't have time to just enjoy each other's company. My mom and I think a lot alike. She has been a wonderful example of a strong and determined woman as she has dealt with her life experiences. Last night we went to Roger's parents and I got the chance to enjoy talking with his wonderful Mother who is so caring and kind. She loves the kids so much and loves, loves, loves to have them over. She would keep the kids for a week if I would let her...but I'd miss them too much! I am so happy she raised such a wonderful man so that I could have such an awesome companion. He learned a lot from his mom and loves her so much. She is a strong woman. I hope that her ankle gets completely cured sooner than later! Happy Mother's Day! Love you!

My grandmother is definitely one woman I need to mention! She has truly sacrificed a lot to be where she is today! She always knows how to put a smile on my face! I know that whenever I am down I have always relied on her advice. Even when they were on their mission I remember calling her crying a couple times because I just needed to hear reassurance from her that I was making the right choices (I was in high school). She has truly inspired me to be a good person and overcome any obstacles I need to in order to choose the right way and live without regret. When I look at the way her and my grandpa are together I only hope that Roger and I can be just like them! -Grandma Happy Mother's Day! I love you!

To all you wonderful Mother's - Happy Mother's Day!! I hope it is a good day for you all filled with happy moments!

Well my brother is on the phone from Argentina so I better go so I can talk to him!

A lot has happened

I can't believe that I haven't posted in a month!! Anyways I know I need to get a post up! My kids are growing too fast and I can't believe it. Ethan is potty trained and has been for a while but I don't think I've talked about it. He still wears a pull up at night just in case he has an accident. Ali goes poop in the toilet almost everyday but still doesn't have the peeing in the toilet down yet. Benjamin is grabbing things now! I got out the exersaucer the other day and he enjoys it a lot! I do not have a newborn anymore and it's sad!!

Roger is enjoying his classes this quarter. We have figured that after this quarter he may still have two quarters left to get his degree, but then we should be ready for graduate school. We will try and apply to some schools in the fall if we can for next fall. He needs to take the GRE still too. We are happy that with all of the stuff he has gone through to get where we are that it is almost coming to a close. We wish that all of the work he did at SVU would've paid off but instead put us further behind. We live and learn right?

Since my last "stressing" post I decided I needed to change the way I ate and lose this "weight" that has been taking over my life since I had Ethan. I am down 7 lbs. so far and have probably 20-25 more I would love to lose! I started a page on facebook called "let's lose it" if any of you are interested in joining it. I post pictures of healthy meals I have been making and also tips and websites I have found helpful! Check it out if you want to know more! It is today that we need to start eating healthier so that in the future we can enjoy our family more!


Brady and Natalie Coulston had their baby and I was lucky enough to get some pictures of him! They named him Nathan Brady. He is a cute!!

When I was doing his pictures I got to take a few of my kids while he was eating!! I love these kids...Ethan and Benjamin will be good buds! You can really see his red hair in this one compared to the other two's. He is also a lot whiter.

Ethan at the park...

Roger and Benjamin chillin' on the blanket!! Love 'em!

Stressing..

I don't know if it's because I'm still postpartum, but my world has been completely stressful lately. I'd like to just be able to relax more and enjoy my time. Instead I find myself arguing or being defensive about the stupidest things. I think it's because sometimes I feel like everyone is out to get me.. I wish there was a chill pill I could take everyday!!

Things I don't feel I have enough time for:

Blogging

Working Out

School Work (Statistics is really time consuming when you have to teach yourself everything!)

Teaching the Kids new things

And most of all..

SOME ME TIME!!!

If I do find time for any of these things something else suffers. I just wish there were more hours in the day!!

It drives me insane that I can't get any alone time most weeks because Roger and my schedules don't allow it. We used to try and find time to do something together every night after the kids went to sleep but it's just not happening. I keep trying to tell myself that someday it will be different and Roger and I will have more time together, but it just seems to far in the future!! I feel like we don't even know when he'll be done with all his schooling (he's hoping to be done by December with his bachelor's finally if he gets all of his credit problems solved, yes still fighting for credits and then once he gets into a PA school another 2 years)...and with the new health care plan I almost hope he rethinks going into health care. I'm so ready to feel like we are in our careers and thriving instead of being poor!!! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't already have three kids!! Haha...

I love my kids! Benjamin is keeping me going with his smiles and giggles...while the other two are big handfuls...

Onto a better topic...I love my job... I never thought that I would become just as interested in photography as my mom is but here I am just following in her footsteps. They are big shoes to fill but I hope I can do it. I have done a couple things over the winter for a few friends here in Cheney and have really enjoyed doing stuff on my own.. It makes me realize just how much my mom loves her job!! I know that being a second shooter/helper isn't always as fun as being the one interacting the whole time capturing the images. So I just wanted to share my favorite picture that I took for a woman in our stake of her newborn who had had RSV and had been hospitalized. She knew she wouldn't be able to get to a studio for pictures (the hospital orders told her to stay home until the end of RSV season) and her friend told her about me! It was so fun to take pictures of someone else's child! She has now become a friend since I had to call her with questions about RSV this week!! I'm so grateful for her advice! What a sweet woman!

Having..

three kids has been a challenge. I would say I have handled it quite well but I do get frustrated when the older two decide to misbehave while I am doing anything for the baby. This week however has been a completely different story!!

(My three sickies and Kaitlin (who is now sick because of my kids))
On the 26th Ethan started getting sick with a cough and it was weird because he actually crashed on the couch for a good 3 hour nap that day when two weeks prior he had just quit napping all together. I enjoyed it at the time because I was working on my statistics class which I still have not finished due to these crazy kids..haha. But when Monday morning came around and all of the kids had a cough and Ethan started getting fevers I was not too happy! I especially did not want Ben to get sick! Yes he is over two months but still...babies are so delicate when it comes to sickness and they can't get much! Tuesday morning when Ethan woke up with 102 temp. Rog decided to take him in and get him checked out while I stayed at home praying for good news.. Well the good news didn't come. The news I heard was "Ethan has RSV!" And to think they weren't going to check him for anything until my husband decided he should say that he had a two month at home and he needed to know what to expect. I thought to myself "CRAP!!!" I called my mom completely freaked because that meant that Ben and Ali probably already had it since they started to get the cough too! My mom cancelled her shoots for the rest of the week! (Which I am so thankful for!) And came to help us! Once she got here we rushed Ethan and Benjamin to Sacred Heart. We were originally just going to take Benjamin because we noticed his cough had gotten a lot worse that afternoon, but when Ethan's hands turned blue and purple and were freezing to the touch we worried his oxygen levels were decreasing and fast. When we got to the ER the nurse hadn't ever heard of the blue and purple thing on Ethan so I got more concerned. The doctor that saw the kids was the same doctor who helped us when the kids got swine flu and he remembered us. They had a resident come in and check them out first and she relayed messages to the doctor before he came in to check on them. He explained a lot of stuff to her in front of us because he wanted her to understand why he did certain things. A lot of doctors don't like to diagnose more than a virus because they don't like to put kids on antibiotics so they don't always test for everything. The doctor told us he wanted to get the boys both x-rayed and then he'd come tell us what he thought. Ethan did such a good job!! I cannot believe how old he is! He is NOT my LITTLE boy anymore! Benjamin actually laughed the whole time and the techs loved him!! Once we got back to the room they brought Ethan a popsicle. I love Sacred Heart because of their Peds unit!! The doctor came in and said Ethan actually had pneumonia (I wasn't too happy that they hadn't x-rayed him at the clinic but I guess when they got the swab test back saying it was positive for RSV they just didn't think it was anything more). And he said that Ben's lungs looked good but that he did have RSV because of the way he was breathing. They didn't want to swab him to make him go through that. They put Ethan on antibiotics and Ben on a medicine to help with the swelling/breathing. That night Ali started getting really bad fevers and they continued and are still present today!! We took her and Ben back into the clinic on Thursday where they did swab them for RSV and both were positive. They put Benjamin on inhaler treatments because his breathing had gotten work. So far they have helped him a lot!! I just hate that Ali is so stinkin' sick!! She just lays still all day with sleepy eyes and drifts in and out of sleep!! My mom left today, but I was so happy she was here to help with everything since Roger just started his spring quarter this week and is figuring out his schedule with work and classes has been hectic.

Benjamin is growing like crazy. He had his two week appt. almost two weeks ago and was 12 lbs. 5 ounces, but on Thursday when I took him to the doctor for being sick he was already 13 lbs!! I am so proud of this kid! He was actually only 59% for weight and 24 inches long which was 78% for height!! And of course his head is tiny and was only in the 25%. He has such a fun little personality! He is always smiling at me!! And giggling like crazy!! I don't remember the other two being happy all the time like he is!! I just hope he gets over the cough soon! We want to celebrate Easter but decided to wait until next weekend when we can actually go to Moses Lake and be with family!!

Elle Cee's Cake Boutique

My friend Lydia started a cake business in CA and she makes all kinds of yummy treats as well!! She is doing an awesome giveaway!! Check out her site by clicking on her button or going to Elle Cee's Cake Boutique!!

Blessing Day 3/7/2010

Benjamin was blessed on March 7, 2010. It was a beautiful sunny day which we were lucky enough to have because we invited the family up to Cheney to do the blessing and have a bbq afterwards since we live in an apartment and knew some people would be in and out (mostly the kids). Shauna made the cutest blessing outfit for him and Viki made him the beautiful knitted blanket Roger has him wrapped up in. Roger gave the prettiest blessing. I am so thankful that my husband holds the priesthood and can bless our babies. It is an amazing feeling to know I can have him by my side through thick and thin.

We never seem to get a picture of all the men who stood in the circle and we were the last ones to change out of our Sunday clothes so we tried to get a quick picture before my camera died and this was the best! Lol... And you can tell once again that Ali hates getting pictures taken. Why does it have to be at this age when I want pictures of her and her little brother the most so I can show her someday how much she loved her baby brother?

Thanks to everyone that made it! I thought it was a huge success as it was my first time having the "whole" gang over!! I love you all!!

Park & Picture Day

Yesterday we went to the park...but I had planned on taking pictures of the kids in their shirts that Heather Walker made them!! You can see her cute craft blog at Lulu's Tiles. She has been my best friend since I lived in VA. She sent these to us shortly after I had Benjamin. She is so talented and I feel lucky to have her as a friend!!

Ali did not want to do a picture of all three of them...in fact she was not wanting to take pictures at all so the pictures I did get were because of pure luck of clicking away the whole time!!

However, I love that I got pictures of my boys together!!

See what I mean...she was on the move!! I seriously cannot believe she isn't my baby anymore..she is growing so fast and talks constantly..although we still can't quite understand every word that comes out of her mouth!

I was trying to pose Ethan and Ali came around the tree so I captured these!!

This is the only one of them three that is even close to cute....I love how Ali knows she isn't being good so she is looking up at Nana..

Ethan was actually pretty excited about taking pictures...although he is quite the photographer himself, but that's a post for another day! He really has been an awesome big brother. He always wants to hold him and it's cute to see him just stare at Benjamin!!

Here she is running again...got love the energy she has!!

Ethan saw a squirrel climb up the tree!

My BIG kids!!

Getting ready for the park before pictures...

Loved her pez' and was upset they were all gone!!

Playing after pictures...yay!!!

Ethan loved the swing!

***7 weeks***

Benjamin is 7 weeks old today and last Thursday at the WIC appointment he was 11 lbs. 7 oz. My boy is getting plumpy. I wouldn't say chunky because he doesn't have rolls but he is getting a nice round belly!! And man does he look big!

I wish today would've been sunnier!! Maybe Saturday..the weather report says it'll be 57 degrees!! Wahoo! I can't wait until it's warmer and we can play outside all day!!

I still managed to take a few pictures of the kids. Let me say that they are all at difficult ages to photograph!! I love how Ethan had to stick his tongue out in the first one. It is so him!! Everytime I want to take a picture or video he does that! Ali has a funny little smirk on her face, but that is so her too!! If you know her you know she gets that smirk when she is getting doted on. She is a cutie! Benjamin doesn't have many faces but this one and a smile!! He is starting to smile and have a little giggle now and I am loving it!!

We are blessing Benjamin this weekend so I am hoping to get even more pictures of them in matching outfits thanks to Heather Walker!! Wahoo! And in their new dress clothes..

The brothers...yes you can tell that Benjamin is still a little jaundice..but trying to get the levels down still..

Since Ethan had his baby Ali had to have hers!! Lol... Someday she will have a little sister... just not anytime soon!

I am still having a hard time believing that I have three kids...but I guess it's difficult to think it's so crazy when they are pretty good most of the time... if I keep them occupied. We are learning letters, numbers, colors, songs, and all about Jesus! I love these kids!!

Lulu's Tiles Giveaway

My friend Heather Walker started a craft blog and is doing a great giveaway! She is so talented and I love all of her crafts!! I wish I had all the time she does to do all the fun crafts, but since I don't I entered in this great giveaway! Head over to her blog and check out her stuff!! I love it all!!

lulustiles.blogspot.com

Flour Power

I'm beginning to think that I can't do work while the kids are awake lately. Before this happened Ethan used dry erase crayon on our tv!! Today has been like a Monday...but when I saw this I could not help but laugh. I only felt bad because Ethan was getting good at getting Ali right in the face!! I am so happy that these two have become such good buddies...just worried about how much trouble they will get in together. Ali had cute french braids before this happened to her hair!!

It was piling high on the carpet.

I had to get my real camera out to capture these because I know I've been a slacked on blogging so I knew I needed to capture this and get back in the game!!! I hope this makes everyone smile!! These two are too cute!!

One Month

Benjamin is one month old today..and what an awesome day to celebrate it on...besides the fact that it's Valentine's Day, it is also Roger's Dad's Birthday and my brother Robbie's birthday!! So happy birthday to them and Happy Valentine's to everyone else!! Oh and this day 5 years ago Roger proposed to me!! Yep it's been a long time!! We have known each other for nine years!! And I just found out that my cousin got engaged today as well!! Congrats to her!

I think it's about time I tell Benjamin's birth story..

I went in for a Dr.'s appt. on the 13th hoping that she would say she could induce me, but of course because Samaritan has laid off so many people she had told me the week before that there would be a chance they would tell her they were too busy and that I couldn't go in. She first checked me and I was dilated to a one...big whoopie is what I thought..so I was sure she wouldn't want to induce me because I wasn't doing much either. But I was determined...she asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted to be induced..and since I was 3 days away from being 40 weeks she agreed, but said she needed to check with hospital first. She called the hospital and they said for me to call up there at 3pm to make sure it was still okay for me to go in and then be in by 4pm so she could induce me at 5pm when she got off. I was ecstatic!!! Of course I called Roger and he said he wanted to wait to come up to Moses until I knew for sure that I could get in to the hospital. I called at 3pm and they said for me to still plan on being there at 4pm. I got to the hospital shortly after 4 since I was busy trying to say goodbye to my kids for atleast two days...atleast that's what I thought. My grandma was awesome and said she could watch them and my kids love her so that helped a lot too. She said they could stay over night and Brandi went and helped later that night. I'm so lucky to have such an awesome Grandma and Grandpa that love us so much. Brandi helped so much too...and I know they loved that. Brandi took them to a couple stores and even made Ali a birthday cake on her birthday!!

Once I got hooked up to the monitors at the hospital Sherry was there and ready to place the cervidel. Then it was the wait game. I knew that by the following morning I had Ali so I was thinking it would go that fast for this one. I had no idea that since I chose not to take Ambien (it made me throw up all night the night I was induced with Ali) was going to mean that since I wasn't as active the medicine wouldn't work as fast. I think I only slept 4 hours that night because I couldn't sleep well and Roger got more sleep, but by 6am I was thinking heck I want to get this thing started already. The took the cervidel out at 6am and started me on petocin at 7am. Around 8am my new nurse got me to a labor room quickly because during the night lots of women had shown up to have babies that same day and she wanted to ensure I would get one. She said I was dilated to a 4 at that I could get an epidural if I wanted one. I said yes because I knew it would go faster if I got one. He came in to give me an epidural and he messed up and poked through a vein the first time. I then began to have a break down...all these feelings of disappointment came back from when they messed up twice with Ethan's birth and caused me to get a spinal headache and I still ended up giving birth naturally so when he said he was going to try again I wanted him to because natural labor sucks (although I was told I did a good job at it), but at the same time I was shaking and crying incredibly hard. He told me I had to stay really still so it would work. I tried to stop crying and Roger (who of course wanted to watch this time since he uses needles everyday) kept looking at me like I was ridiculous and I just wanted to shout at them all how they had no idea what it feels like to have any of the crap done to them that I have had to get done! After he finally got the epidural in they put a catheter in. Atleast I had the epidural so I didn't have to feel that part because I know those are no fun!! My epidural wasn't going up very high though so they had the doctor come back in and put more medicine in so it went up over my belly instead of just waist down and then I was happy happy happy! The nurse checked me and said I was at a good 7cm dilated but that she could feel a water pocket in front of his head but she couldn't pop it so she would just wait until Sherry got there on her lunch break.

Sherry came in at 12:50pm and said he was still high but that she could feel the water bulge but didn't want to pop it because he was still high. While she was saying that the water popped and went everywhere!! She said it would still be a while since he was high and was about to leave when I kept insisting to her that he was coming or else she needed to let me go to the bathroom because I felt like I need to push. I told her to check me again...(I remembered this all too similar to Ali's birth) and when she checked I was a 9 and that baby was coming fast. I told her I knew it and she said hold your pushes I have to get changed. She ran and got scrubs on and I waited but was in pain and once she came back and the nurses were ready I started to push. I gave two small pushes a big one for his head and body followed after because she basically pulled him out. He was blue and she was a little nervous saying "come on baby come on" and wiggling him. Finally he cried! Yay!! Life!! I guess when she was checking me his heart rate was dropping a little and she checked to make sure there was no umbilical cord around his head area. She had one of the nurses come in with an internal monitor in case we needed it with the heart rate dropping but since everything went so fast it wasn't necessary and he was blue but only for a minute and was fine after with an APGAR of an 8. Roger and I were in tears to see another one. Roger told me that when he was born the love just flowed the same for him as it did for the other kids. He said he never understood how it happened but it did and he loves him so much!!

Roger also decided his name would be "Benjamin Reid" at the last second. He had told me the day before he was born that he was thinking of changing his middle name and that he would know if his middle name should be changed when he was born, but wouldn't tell me to what. So while they were checking him and wrapping him up he looked at me with tears and said his name is "Benjamin Reid". I thought to myself how awesome is that for him!! Reid Baker, known as President Baker in Moses Lake's stake, was a big role model for Roger while he was investigating the church in the spanish branch. He also baptized him, took him to the MTC, and supported him on his mission. Roger has always looked up to him and admired him for being such an awesome friend, example, hard worker, and priesthood holder. We are both happy that we have a child that has two great names after two inspirational people in both our lives. Before my brother left on his mission we knew we would name our next boy after him... He was awesome with the kids and loved to hang out with us. We all got really close and it felt good to have that bond with him. He has turned into an amazing young man and I am very proud of him and his accomplishments. Ben has always been the studious one in our family so I just hope that my Benjamin will be the same way. They are both third in the family so we will see how many similarities they have. Benjamin doesn't have a blue butt like my other kids did (asian and hispanic descent have what is called "mongolian butt", so the kids have blue pigment on parts of their behinds...it does start to go away as they get older and disappears around the age 5) so I call him the white boy! Lol...His eyes are even a lot lighter and his hair has lots of red patches!! I think that's as close to a redhead that my mom will get from me!!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing little family and now I feel like it's big because there are five instead of four so we are out numbered but I know that we are loving it!!

Pictures

Benjamin is three weeks old today so I figured I should post these awesome pictures taken by Heather Grigg of HeatherLynn Photography. I have become really good friends with her and we actually both took pictures of Benjamin at her studio...but I'm pretty sure all of these were taken by her. She specializes in newborns and has a million props and backgrounds just for them. We refer a lot of clients to her for newborns. She is expecting this month and I can't wait to take pictures of our babies together, because she is actually dating Roger's cousin so our boys are third cousins since Roger and her boyfriend are second cousins. It's exciting to have newborns around and watch them grow. I have forgotten so much of what it is like to have a newborn. I am loving it all over again. Although I'd have to say it's hard having toddlers that are super jealous and throw fits because their mom can't hold them every second! Lol...
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!! I already ordered an 8x8 for my wall... This was a tough shot to get but we did it!!

I love all hanging shots... Look how long he already is... He kept flopping his legs over the edge.


Heather is so good at maneuvering the babies to pose them for their pictures. I love this pose!!
Next week I hope to post the birth experience.... It was quite an interesting one to say the least!! I am just happy he is here!!