Kid Update

So yeah, I haven't blogged in forever and then some. But seriously, who has time to sit and blog when they are chasing around 3 kids, trying to keep a house clean (trying...NOT succeeding), taking kids to school, get some exercise in there somewhere, oh wait and dinner sometime. I seriously do NOT know how people get everything done all the time. Anyways, currently Sophie is sound asleep in her bed (she is all sorts of croupy today...sad) James and Harrison are banished to their room until it is clean or bedtime happens, either way I have a moment to myself and I think I need to update my blog a little bit.

James is in school, Kindergarten, and is actually doing pretty well. He finally just passed off all of his letters (upper case and lower) and all their sounds. He has gotten most of them for a while now but G as giving him trouble, so I am glad he finally got that one nailed down. I was really proud of him though. So he is reading now, and I love watching and listening to him try and sound things out and as we drive places trying to read what is on the billboards. It is so fun. It is also fun to see him hop on and off the bus stop every day. He seems so grown up. He continues to be obsesed with Sophie. Those two sure do love each other. He gets her out of bed, plays with her, tries to teach her to walk, scares her all the time but then she just laughs her head off at him. She thinks he is the funniest thing ever. James even feeds her her bottles when we are in the car. It is nice. It is nice to have James be so dependable. He will help keep on eye on Harrison at the store or outside or wherever we are, it is very nice. He is a good kid. He says the cutest prayers too. He always prays that we will have good feelings, and that we will have the gospel and that we will be happy. He says the most thoughtful and sweet things.

He was int he primary program a couple months ago and said his part perfectly. He had memorized it and I was so proud of him for doing such a great job. This last friday he had a christmas program at school and he sang the songs loud and clear. I love seeing him grow and develop. He is also in gymnastics and is doing so great. He is one of the youngest in his class and is often the strongest one there. He can get the farthest up the rope and almost always wins the "hanging" contest. A few weeks ago he was on the rings and did a back flip on the them and then he landed it!!! I was so proud of him!It is so fun to see him learn new things and excel. I love it.

Harrison is still, if not even more than ever, the tease in our family. He is always teasing and never stops. I don't think he is ever serious about anything, or ever takes us seriously. On the one hand, he sure does make us laugh a lot, but on the other...he never obeys!!!! He just laughs and thinks he can get away with whatever. He doesn't mind sitting in time out, if you spake his bum he just says "that didn't even hurt" what a terd. But he is very sweet too. When he is playing with all his friends outside and wants a snack he will always get one for everyone. He is very good about thinking about his friends. Once when he and James were playing outside, James fell and got hurt and little Harrison ran on home and got me. He was so worried about James, it was so sweet. He is the policeman to Sophie though. James just gives Sophie whatever she wants, Harrison definitely will tell her what she can and cannot do. It makes me laugh.

And of course Harrison is still obsessed with all sports. He loves to watch games on TV with Ben. In fact, james got two basketball tickets at school and brought them home and gave them to Harrison and Ben. I thought that was so sweet of him. Harrison is also turning into quite the artist. okay, he just draws the same thing over and over, can you guess? bowling pins, basketballs, baseballs, footballs, and basketball hoops. Oh and an "H". I love seeing his little drawings...unless they are covering the wall. Oh and yes he is still a squirrel and hides his food. I was cleaning his room and got down the lego box, opened it to find about 10 oranges peeled and half eaten in there. What a stinker.

And then there is Sophie. She is so grown up I can hardly believe it. Her hair is getting so long, I don't even realize how much hair she has until I see other babies her age and notice that she has 10 times as much hair as the other kids. I can do ponytails and pigtails, but if I put a bow in there, she will pull it out in about two seconds. And yes I am still absolutely head over heels in love with my little baby girl. She is just so beautiful. I get lost in those eyes of hers. They are just big and beautiful. And there is her little personality. She is a fireball and I am sure once she can talk she will give me all sorts of grief, but right now it is funny. Let's just say, she can hold her own and that is for sure. For instance, the other night we were driving home and somehow she ended up with the bumblebee transformer, James took it and she was not happy about that. She got so mad at him, no crying involved, just nonsense baby yelling. It was hilarious. james thought it was funny too and let her have the toy back. But that is how she is. She seems all sweet and innocent and like you could walk all over her, but no, if you cross a line she will definitely let you know.

She started crawling at about 6 months, maybe just after that, but she is very good at it, and now stands and climbs things as well. Now she is working on walking along the furniture. I can't believe she is already big enough for that. It is so cute to go get her in the morning and she is just standing in her crib waiting for you to come get her. she seems too little to do that. She still is my little baby. She won't let me rock her anymore, so sometimes after she has fallen asleep i go steal her and rock her for a while and just stare in amazement. I love babies. Can you tell? She has stolen all our hearts, we sure do love that little thing. She makes us laugh all the time, and we love to see her crawling around the house and climbing up my leg while I am making dinner. She is very content to just sit in one spot and just play. I like that. She is also a mama's girl. Well, okay, when I have been gone all day she will come right to me and just want me to hold her. When Ben gets home from work each day her eyes light up and she gets really happy to see him, and play for a moment, but then she wants mom back. I love that. I love holding my sweetheart baby girl.

Ben and I are pretty much the same as ever, I continue to run, not as many miles but I am trying to switch things up a bit with swimming biking, stair stepping, weights and all that jazz. But I haven't has near the time I usually do lately with the Hoidays and I just got called to the Relief Society Presidency. I absolutely love it. I love working with the sisters in the ward and getting to know everyone and just loving them. It is so wonderful, just very very busy. I feel like I am gone a lot, but am glad that I have Ben to hold the fort down while I am gone and to help me make things for the sisters. He is a great support to me. We have fun together. I am happy to say that we now have a permanent babysitter for SAT nights and I Love that. I love going out with him each week, it is so nice. We went bowling last night and got stocking stuffers for the kids. It was fun, and I almost beat him in bowling. HA! Anyways, that is our life right now. We are happy, our house is typically messy, I am usually behind on this that and everything else, but we are happy and yeah, we still like each other for some reason I can't quite figure out. ;) well now it is dark and time to go for a drive and look at lights. Merry Christmas all!

Top of Utah Marathon 2009

Yay! We did it! Last Sat, Sept 19th my two brothers, Jay and Jeremy, and my sister, Amy, and I all ran the Top of Utah Marathon in Logan. It was SO much fun! I know you are thinking "what the world? how can running 26.2 miles be fun?" Trust me, it is. Now the last few miles are never very fun and you typically want to pass out and die at that point. BUT the fact hat you don't and you just keep running along is what makes the whole marathon thing amazing!

I won't give all the gory details and all that, but I was REALLY proud of my time 4 hours 4 min. especially since the last 8 miles were generally uphill and, wow, I so was not expecting that. I ran with my sister, Amy, for the first 10 miles or so and then we split. I met Ben at mile 15 got a good luck kiss and went on my way. I held a great pace the first 18 miles, under a 9 min at least then often under an 8 min mile. However, mile 18 came along and that is where the uphill climbs started and it was all I could do to keep about a 9 min mile. I was expecting to crash burn and die at mile 23, but I didn't and I was glad of that.

But one mile later....24...I was ready to be done. I felt like I was breathing through a straw and my entire body was telling me to stop running already. So that last 2.2 miles was a battle between my mind and body "keep going, don't you dare stop now, keep going, i don't care how much it hurts don't you stop running!!!" and then my body..."What in the world are you doing to me???? Why are you still running? You can't even breathe right anymore, your legs are completely broken can't you feel all that pain??? Look there is a curb over there, just pull over and die already okay?!!" Seriously, even when I got to mile marker 26 I wanted to just cry because I truly did not want to run another second, let alone .2 miles. So I was REALLY proud of myself for NOT stopping and running on through the finish line with a great finish time. I was so happy to see my sweet husband, Ben at the finish cheering me on and see all the rest of my family. It was so great to have that support there and it meant so much to see them all there cheering me on. Thank you family!!!! So here, are some pictures of the event. Enjoy.

Oh, and yes I will continue to do marathons, probably my entire life. I love running. And my next goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. hopefully next year, but if not, another year. I will get there.

My brother, Jay, and I. He came in at 3:45 awesome huh?

And of course, Sophie and I. Isn't she beautiful? Even just in her Jammies.

Yeah, you know this is a cute picture

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Here we all are! Jeremy, Jay, Amy and I. I was SO proud of all of us for running it. Amy did awesome, it was her first and she came in at 4:15 AWESOME!!! Thanks Amy for talking me into doing this marathon, I loved it!

Here I am coming through the finish

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Giving everyone a little cheer as I went though

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Two thumbs up baby

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Okay check this out. A picture of Ben and I and neither of us are making faces!!! That never happens. I think I will frame this one. Oh and just FYI, BEn is amazing. He 100% supports me in all my running, babysits kids, takes care of the house while my legs are recovering, comes to all my races and cheers me on. He is amazing and I am so lucky to have him. LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU BEN!!!

okay so yeah, after I finished and we were just chillin it, I died. I just wanted to lay down so that is what I did and I have to say that it felt amazing and I was 100% absolutely comfortable. I didn't want to get up. I probably could have stayed right there the rest of the day and been just fine with that.

My sister, Amy and I. Aren't we cute? Thank you Amy for all the fun running together. We did several of our training runs together and it was so much fun! I am so glad we ran this one together. Can't wait for another marathon, and yes there will be more. As I once read somewhere, 26.2 miles of the pain that you love. Yep. that pretty much describes a marathon.

First Day of Kindergarten

I can't even believe that my little boy James is already in Kindergarten!!! He started school on the 27th of August and he loves it. He was so cute about it. We set out his clothes the night before, he picked out what he was going to wear. I got up early and made a big breakfast for him. Sausage, Eggs and Pancakes, his favorite! Well I guess I should say that HE got me up early. He got up around 7 am all dressed and ready to go with his backpack and everything. His bus doesn't come until 8:50, so we had plenty of time to kill. So we enjoyed a good big breakfast and reading time before he had to go.

It was so cute, just as I was taking the pictures of James, Harrison came along and wanted to go with James so badly. When I explained that only James was going and that Harrison could go when he was bigger he said "I AM bigger!" I said, "I know, but when you are 5 you can go" Harrison's response. "I AM 5! I am bigger, I am 5!". He was really sad to see James go. So sweet.

So then I took him to the bus stop and I was holding it together really well. James was really quiet so I knew he was nervous. Then the bus came, I gave James a big old kiss and hug and told him to have fun. He was the last one on the bus and it pulled away before he even sat down and I thought "wait! Let him sit down" And that's when I lost it. The tears came rolling down and I turned toward my house and walked home as quickly as I could. As soon as I got to my house I bawled and bawled. I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop thinking about my little baby James, and how he was all grown up, riding the bus and going to school. I thought of the day we drove him home from the hospital when he was born, and I couldn't believe that he was already 5 yrs old. I worried and cried that whole day. I worried that he wouldn't find his class or get on the right bus or get off on the wrong stop. I missed my little buddy that whole day. (I still do while he is at school). Anyways, then it was 12:00, time to go pick him up. I was so anxious and he came off the bus happy as could be. He had had a great day and loved it. Everyday is like that. He gets off the bus, runs straight to be and gives me a giant bear hug and tells me about his day.

I THINK he is doing well in school, he enjoys it and I haven't gotten any calls from his teacher so that's a good sign right? I have been reading with him every day and I LOVE how much improvement I am seeing. He recognizes several words now and is trying to sound things out and I really so love sitting there and reading with him and teaching him. We have a lot of fun. He checked out a star wars book from the library last week and we read it and read it and read it, and probably will read it another 10 times before he has to return it thursday. Anyways, so yes he likes school. We survived that first day, and yes I am truly a stay at home mom now because I have to be home to get him to and from the bus stop everyday, yes I am one of those moms that HAS to take her kid every time, everyday. So here are the pictures of James. Oh, he did his own hair. So cute.

It was really bright out, so we went inside to take a couple more, I have some really cute ones with Harrison, but he is in his underwear and I didn't really want to post that. ;)

If this isn't the cutest thing...

A Great Weekend

I just have to say that this weekend was one of the best I have had. Seriously. We relaxed, we played, we kept the house pretty clean. We ate a lot of really good food. We worked out. We played games with the kids. It was prefect. So I need to at least blog about it so I can remember it when I am all old and gray.

So Friday started out with me getting James off to school, and a quick walk around the neighborhood, and then off to Allred's for some peaches. Did you know you can get a half bushel of peaches there for $6? Yeah I didn't know either. They are the seconds, which means they aren't quite ripe or are lopsided, but seriously I haven't had a gross one yet out of the 2 boxes I got, so no complaints. Anyways, I had to wait a while to get them but it was well worth it, and I ended up getting some apples too which were delicious if I do say so myself. Then it was back home and lunch and then time to start some peach Jam. James and harrison really wanted to help as well. So while I fed Sophie. They sat at the sink and washed all the peaches. They did a really good job and didn't even bruise them. impressive eh? The rest of the afternoon we made Jam and by the time Dad got home we were too tired to make dinner so it was off to Carl's Jr.

Okay so I love their Teriyaki burger and I usually just get the regular sized one, but Ben ordered the six dollar version for me. Here is my confession. I ate the whole thing, a large order of French fries and a large drink......and I wasn't even full. I guess that is what happens when you are in the middle of Training for a marathon, nursing and working all day. Yeah. Speaking of training I was scheduled to run 12 miles on friday as well. So around 8 pm I got my running shoes on and headed to the gym. Yep, I did the run at the gym. How boring is that? Very. In fact I only got 9 miles on the treadmill before I wanted to die of boredom, and then I went on the elliptical for 20 mins and then I ran on the track until the place closed. So I figure I got close to a 12 mile workout in. But I was really proud of myself for going and getting that workout in, even though I was stinkin tired. It felt good, and I actually enjoyed it.

Saturday morning I slept in, and it was marvelous! Then I got up and dressed and got in a baking mood and found a good looking recipe for peach crsip online and decided to make it. So I did. And the results were not at all disappointing. It was divine. Then we all spent one hour cleaning up and I can't believe how clean the house got after just one hour of cleaning. It was great. So then it was time to relax. We read for a while. I am once again reading Twilight. Yeah I know, I am a little obsessed. but I love it. I also read with James for quite some time. I have to say. He and I have been reading together every day for about 30 min and he is getting so good! I love seeing him improve every day and learn new words and be able to sound out things. He can read one of our books entirely by himself! hurray! It is a Dick and Jane book, and I am ordering more because that one is the best for him to learn with. easy words and lots of repetition. Anyways, we have had so much fun reading together.

After all that we packed up the car, went to costco, got lots of good foods to eat later on, and then got hot Dogs and went for picnic at the park. We were there until later that evening. We had so much fun. We played football and played on the playground and swings and just had a great time. Then it was time to go home and off to bed for the kids and we read once again and watched some shows.

I am just going to say right now that this Sunday was the most relaxing nice sunday we have ever ever ever had. Seriously. It was great. We had a Baby blessing to go to at 9 am so we went to that and it was just great. Then afterwards there was a luncheon and it was just fun to visit with family while the kids played outside. Then we came home, the kids took naps, we took nap, we all slept until almost 4:30! It was so nice! Then we cooked these chicken teriyaki meatballs we got at costco and sweet potato french fries and man! I forgot how much I love sweet potato french fries. I think I could have eaten the whole batch. They were tasty. Then I made another batch of Peach crisp and had some people over for a good game of Scrabble. We played a couple rounds with the kids and they thought it was just great. Then once they were in bed we played by ourselves and had fun. It was a great day.

Then today we worked out again this morning. It felt good. I love a good workout. And I like that I can finally see some muscles in my arms. I know, I am vain. anyways, then we played with the kids for a while and just goofed off. Then we had another hour of cleanup and then reading/relaxing time. I love that. Then we packed a lunch/dinner and went up the canyon to go hiking and have a picnic with my brother and his family. It was great fun. The kids were so excited to see their cousins. And they all had fun hiking. We loved it. Now they are all bathed and in bed and I am eating some white chocolate with coconut. yum. Yep, it was a great weekend.

I don't know how people do it.

I don't know how people do it. I just finished reading a blog about a family whose 7 month old baby boy has cancer. They found out in June, and have been going through Chemo and living at primary children's and then this last week was given the news that the cancer had spread and that their baby only had weeks left to live. As I read the post, the tears would not stop. My heart broke for them. For their family. For their other kids. For their little baby that has already had to go through sooooo much. I wanted to call them, to find them, to hug the mom and cry with her and tell her how sorry I am, I still can't stop crying.

I don't understand why people have to go through things like this. I don't understand why such little innocent babies have to go through so much pain. I don't understand why we have to lose those we love. I don't understand why some people have to carry such heavy burdens. I DO know though, that our Father in Heaven loves us, and that we can be comforted. I know that we are here to help each other get through these hard times. I do know that that little family will be reunited once again. What a joyous reunion that will be. Families can be together forever. I KNOW that. I am so grateful to have been married in the temple and that I am sealed to my husband and to my 3 kids.

Their blog made me think of my kids and my family. I thought of what a slacker mom I am most the time. I thought of how much I take for granted. How precious our sweet little children are. I went upstairs kissed my 3 babies goodnight and rocked Sophie and wept again. To the Nelson family. You are in my prayers. You are in my thoughts. my heart is broken for you. I can't imagine what you are going through right now or in the days to come. You are an inspiration to me. To be a better mom. To give my kids the best life I can possibly give them and to make sure that they too gain a testimony of this Gospel. My heart goes out to you.

Our Summer

oops, these pictures are supposed to be at the bottom, oh well, here they are. Here is Harrison with his pinewood derby. Another tradition of my family. His car took 2nd place and he couldn't have cared less. James however didn't win a single race and cried and cried. Poor kid. Harrison's car was painted like a basketball. shocker.

Look at how big my little baby girl is getting! She is a chunky monkey for sure and she is growing up too too too too fast! I keep telling her to stop, but she is stubborn and continues to get bigger. sigh. This is one of my favorite dresses of hers and she has outgrown it, so I had to take a picture one of the last times she wore it. she looks so good in brown.

Okay here is the real start of my blog, I know I am retarded and should figure this out so it is laid out all nice and in order, but I got 2 hours of sleep last night, ran 14 miles this morning went shopping all day, took care of an extremeley grumpy baby, cleaned the entire house and I am beat. So here it is.

I seriously cannot believe that this summer is coming to a close. It literally flew right by me. I hadn't even noticed that it was really ending until I noticed the slight chill in the air the other morning when I left for my morning run. And I thought "What? What is this nip in the air?" Then I realized that August is almost over, James starts school next Thursday. Yes I now have a kindergartner. We went to back to school night the other night and I asked him if he was nervous, he said he was. I told him I was nervous too. Then I had to keep myself from crying the rest of the time. HE is very excited to go though. He wears his backpack everyday. He has his clothes all picked out and is ready to go. sigh. my little boy.

But Back to our summer. we have been 100% busy this entire summer. Reasons: 3 kids...so busy I can't even begin to tell you. family reunions, races, I am training for marathon #2, which is in 4 weeks! Kids in soccer and gymnastics. Family BBQ's..so many BBQ's. hikes, smores and then even more smores. Seven peaks several times. Playing at the park and getting snow cones. going to the Orem Owlz baseball games, Liberty Land, Bridal Veil falls...... the list goes on and on. Like I said, busy. So here are some pictures of our fun times.

Here we are picking up Ben's brother, Alex up from the Airport. He just finished serving a 2 year mission to Taiwan. We are glad to have him back home, and glad that he had such a great time.

We had family races yet again this year. The kids made bandanas just before the races. And they all got water bottles and medals at the end. The sure were cute.

James at Liberty Land. We spent a day there once and it was pretty fun. James LOVED thos planes and the roller coaster. He would jus make that plane bounce up and down and thought it was the funniest thing ever. He laughed and laughed.

James and Sophie on the 4th of July. Aren't they so cute?

Our neighborhood had a parade on the morning of the 4th. So we decorated our bikes and joined in the fun, and it really was a lot of fun. James and I had fun getting the bikes all put together

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James and I ran race on provo the morning of the 4th as well. We ran the freedom runs. I ran the 10k and he ran the 1 miler. he ran the whole way without stopping. I was so proud of him. He is and always will be just my best little buddy.

3 kids..busy busy. But I love it.

Okay, so it has been FOREVER since I last blogged...but...I DO have 3 kids these days and I wear I am busy 24/7. It is good busy, but very busy. I feel like I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off at times. But I do have to say that life is very happy right now. I have 3 beautiful healthy kids, a baby that I cannot stop looking at and am absolutely obsessed with. A 3 yr old that is finally talking for real and while he has tantrums, his sweet side is definitely coming back, and will let me snuggle him. And a 5 yr old that has been my huge helper and is as always my best buddy. And of course Ben and I are as crazy about each other as we always have been, actually probably more. So here is a glimpse of our life the past few months as we have been adjusting to a family of 5. Enjoy!

I learned that while Sophie is a princess...she doesn't really like wearing tutus at the moment. Maybe if she had some stockings on, then it wouldn't bother her. But like it or not, she is one stickin cute little ballerina. I call this picture "my grumpy ballerina".

I love big flowers on baby's heads. And so of course Sophie has many many of them. It is just too much fun. I feel like I am a little girl again, playing with my doll and dressing her up in every little outfit, complete with the bracelets, bows, flowers, dresses, shoes......It never ends and I LOVE IT!!

My three kids..not the greatest picture, but still cute! I can't believe I have 3 kids, crazy.

Um, I don't know why this picture is sideways, just turn your head :) But once again, James loves loves loves his baby sister. THey have some crazy bond and I love that. The funny things is, is that she is 100% like him! I feel like I have James as a baby all over again. except that I get to put bows on her head!

Once again, James loves Sophie. Every morning he gets up and asks me when he can go get Sophie and every night he checks on her. It is sweet.

This is the day that James got his Kindergarten shots, Sophie had an appointment as well. So James picked out two stickers, Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, and put one on Sophie and one on him. By the way, James was very brave while he got his shots. He cried for half a second and then was fine.

Harrison got a bow tie on easter and he is so cute in it!

Ben and I celebrated our 10 yr anniversary of Prom. yep, May 2nd 1999 we went to Prom together. And here we are married 10 yrs later. We went to Los Hermanos, that is where Ben took me for our Prom. Man we got a lot of looks I tell you what. Some people asked why we were all dressed up and when we told them what we were doing they thought it was really sweet. I love that I have known Ben for so long and that we have so many memories together!

Harrison's b-day. We went to Wheeler farm and then came home for a Wall-E b-day party. It was a lot of fun and he loved his cake. It had Eve and Wall-E on it and as soon as he blew out the candles he gave James Eve and he took Wall-E. I thought it was o sweet that he was so willing to share with his brother.

James Graduated from Preschool!!

Here James is at his Graduation

James' cousin Mariah had a princess b-day party. James just showed off his awesome muscles.

JAmes and Sophie...You know they are sweet.

Once again, big flower and 100% absolutely adorable! She brings so much joy into our home and we all just love her to death. I can't believe how much I love that thing. Even Harrison has decided that he loves Sophie. He only calls her "soph" which I think is cute and always wants to touch her hair.

Oh yeah, once more thing. James can ride a bike without training wheels. It was hilarious. I was cooking dinner and he came running in telling me that he could do it. I went outside, and James hopped on a neighbors bike and went down the road. As soon as Ben got home James insisted that he take the training wheels off and he has been riding a two wheeler ever since!

So Stinkin' Cute!

Okay seriously, how cute is my little girl? 100% stinkin' Cute. yep. And yes, she looks just like her dad and brother.

Harrison's Eater Egg hunt

Now I realize that Easter was quite some time ago, but there is a story that I must never forget so I must write it in here before I forget one day.

So, Easter morning came and James was so so excited to find all the eggs and he went downstairs and then came back up telling us that there were no eggs. I of course assumed he was not looking in the right places and assured him that there were eggs and we would go help him find some. So we all went downstairs to see what the easter bunny had brought us and I was telling James that there were for sure eggs to find when I started to look around the house and noticed that James was correct. There were no eggs to find. I looked at Ben and said "what the world? where are all the eggs?" He and I started looking in all the places that the eggs had been hidden and every single egg was gone. We were completely mysitified, and then I looked at Harrison, who didn't looked quite so shocked. I asked him if he knew what had happened to the eggs. He pointed to his easter basket...sure enough all the eggs were in there. Apparently, Harrison got up in the middle of the night and found all the eggs himself. Yep, that is Harrison for ya. I am thinking come Christmas time we had better lock his door.

Sweet Baby Sophie

Here are some pictures of our beautiful baby girl! I have taken about a thousand pictures of her and have been meaning to post some to share, but life with 3 kids is busy busy busy! Very good, but very busy. The boys love her, especially James. He is obsessed with the little thing. But I love the bond they have. We are all in love with her and she just brings 100% joy into our home. I can't believe she is already one month old, it makes me sad that it goes by so fast. So here are a few pictures of the first month of her life. Enjoy!

The Happiest Moments of My Life

So this last weekend I had the some of the happiest moments of my life. They were the birth of my little baby girl Sophie, and then when my little boys really met her. Here is the story.

Friday I was scheduled to be induced at American Fork Hospital. They called us at noon and told us to be there in an hour. We gathered the boys up and took them to Grandma Morrise's house. On the way there I asked James if he thought the baby was going to look like mom or dad, to which he responded, "She is going to look like me." We laughed, and then dropped the boys off. We got to the hospital and they had to get me started on the anitbiotics first. So they did that and then they started the pitocin. Ben and I were both nervous and excited. I was really nervous about how much pain I was about to go through, but very excited to meet my baby girl. Contractions started and after a while the DR came and broke my water.

A couple hours later they came and checked me. The contractions were getting somewhat intense so I was thinking that I was had dilated a couple cm at least. Nope, nothing at all. grrr. So it was on with the labor. Things got more and more intense. My back was killing, so Ben sat there and massaged it for me. That really really helped. I was having to concentrate more and breathe my way through the pain. But I was feeling on top of things and hoping that things were finally moving along. So the nurse came and checked me once again. As she was checking me she got an odd look on her face, and then went out the door and got another nurse. They continued to check me saying things like "do you feel that?...yeah I do....I can definitely feel the head though..but yeah I can feel that too." I was like, "what!!? What can you feel??" They then told me that they could feel the baby's hand on top of her head. And that I had still not dilated any further. GRRR! At this point, the contractions were very very intense. I remember as each one started I wanted to curse my brains out, instead I held, okay probably broke, Ben's hand and breathed my way through the contraction. It seemed like I would just get a breath or two, and then another one would start. They were so darn painful and so close together, and I was only at 4 cm. This was not encouraging.

The nurse called the DR, and told him about the hand in they way. She then informed us that they would let me labor for a while, and see if they could move that little hand, but if they couldn't then they strongly recommend I get an epidural so that my muscles could relax and they could move her little hand out of the way. Otherwise, it would be a c-section. So I was really concentrating on relaxing as much as possible, but let me tell you something, when you are about to scream with each contraction, and they are only a minute apart, it is really hard to just relax. I have to say though, Ben was really great through it all. He let me brake his hand, he reminded me to breathe and helped me through each pain, he massaged my back....he was my lifesaver. Oh yeah, I forgot, somewhere through all this her heart rate started dropping, but it seemed that if I laid on my left side and didn't move, and had oxygen, her heart rate would stay where it needed. So I was stuck laying on my side and couldn't change position....that was not so amazing.

Okay so after another hour of hard labor, they checked me once again, at least I was at a 6 at this point, but her hand was even more in the way and they couldn't move it. So it was either c-section, or epidural and still possibility of a c-section. So I got the epidural. It was weird, once I knew I was getting an epidural, I couldn't keep in control of the pain. I just started shaking and my patience was gone, I was so tired and man! that PAIN WOULD NOT GO AWAY!!! I have so much respect for all the women in the history of the world that have given birth...my hat goes off to you. The anesthesiologist came and put the epidural in. I was thinking, oh nice now at least these contractions will go away. Nope. Nope Nope. It didn't take. an hour later, epidural #2 was given. This one mostly worked, but I could still feel everything in my back, but I was okay with that and just hoped that they could move her hand I would not need a c-section.

20 minutes later the nurse checked me...oh my goodness I was complete and they were going to try and deliver this baby. I can't believe how fast things went from here. in about 5 minutes they had the everything set up, the DR was there, and was trying to move her hand out of the way...oh and she was posterior...ah that is why my back was screaming...he flipped her over and after a little bit of work he moved her hand and told me to push....so I did, and there was her head! one more push, the rest of her head and her hand..and one last little push and her entire body just popped out! As soon as I saw her I started to laugh because James was 100% right, she looked just like him! She immediately started crying, Ben cut the cord and they put her on my chest. She peed all over me, but I couldn't have cared less. I was holding my baby girl, and she was here! Safe and sound, beautiful as could be. I have tears right now just thinking about it. It was one of the most beautiful moments ever. They scrubbed her clean, weighed her, 6 lbs, 10 oz 18.5 inches long. apgars of 8 & 9. She was born at 12:28 am. (she really did NOT want to be born on friday the 13th) They had me nurse her right away, which she did perfectly. Then Ben held her and as we looked at her together and fell completely in love with her I thought I would burst with happiness. It reminded me of my wedding day, and how happy I was. As Ben and I looked at our beautiful baby girl I was so full of love and sheer joy. It was one of the happiest moments of my entire life.

After we had our time with her we passed her around to my family. My sisters, Amy & Becca and my mom were there for the entire labor and birth. Becca is the one that took the pictures and I love that we have so many of her birth. It was so great to share that moment with my family and be surrounded by people I love. Once I was decent we called my dad and my brother, Jay, in. They all agreed that baby sophie looked just like James. Her hand was completely swollen from being so squished and she had a big red mark on her head from where her hand had been. But she was sweet as could be and I could not stop looking at her. She was just so darn cute! Her little squishy face, her bright beautiful eyes, her tiny little body....I could go on and on! Can you tell I am obsessed? Anyways, I am so grateful that she got here safe and sound, and that we are blessed to live in a time where babies make it here so safe and sound. I am also so grateful for all the prayers in our behalf, I know we were blessed that everything turned out so well.

The other happiest moment of my life this last weekend was this sunday. Susan and Marshall brought the boys home after we got home from the hospital. They had seen Sophie at the hospital, but were scared of me and didn't really pay attention to Sophie. Well, after we got things settled down at home, they came over and both wanted to see the baby. They each sat by me and we looked at her toes, fingers, hair, eyes, ears, belly, she grabbed their fingers.....they fell in love with her. James couldn't get enough of her. Once again I felt so much love in the room. I was surrounded by my little family. My two boys and our new baby girl. It was so beautiful to see our family all together and see how much the boys loved her. I was once again overwhelmed with love and joy.

Here are some pictures.

See, She is a cutie, 100% cutie.

This is when ben and I were just looking at our little baby and happier than anything in the world.

Look at those beautiful eyes....she is amazing. I love to see her look around.

This is the moment when I fell absolutely in love with her. It was seriously one of the happiest moments of my life.

Here is the Dr with her right after Ben cut the cord.

She is a cuddle bug, and I don't mind one bit. I sat and cuddled her most of the time we were at the hospital, and since I have been home, I can't seem to put her down. I don't want to miss out on one minute, they get big so fast! And she so sweet and content, I just want to enjoy her 100%.

I LOVE this picture, it was right after I gave her her first bath and her hair was 100% fuzzy, and yes I am in love with her hair. It is so dark and thick, gorgeous. Yes, I have my little girl, I am completely in love with her and absolutely obsessed. My house may be way more messy than I ever like it, but I am enjoying my baby and one day I will get back to cleaning, but for now I have a little one to snuggle.