Here are the pictures of the kids with Santa. And no didn't get any with Cassandra in them I think we were just lucky to get Nathan in one the little stinker.
And Rebekah's school concert went really well. She sang her heart out. I wish I'd been able to get better pictures, but we were in a huge room. She is on the front row in the videos though fourth from the left. I tried to get the big screen in the view so that she could be seen better.
Guess what we did yesterday....
Dwayne and the boys go down.....
...and then back up. Isaac was a trooper and climbed back up pretty much on his own every time.
Rebekah decided to go down the BIG hill. She had already gone down the easier smoother hills, but didn't believe daddy that even the bigger boys that were there didn't want to go down this one. She had to try it though....MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I thought I'd put this post in here to try and help out my cousin Chelsea's mom. She has been through a lot the last couple years and when I went to vote for her she was way behind in voting. I would love if all of my friends and family could help her out and vote for her. And hey, if she wins you can see her on TV! So here's the email I received and I hope you'll all vote for her and get your friends to vote too! Thanks!
Here's a post for my mom since I heard through the grapevine that she didn't like my last picture of Cassandra.
Well phhht on you too!
Jabbering away already!
Is that a smile?
Happy girl!
For everyone who's freezing out there! Yes, the water was chilly (73 degrees), but it felt nice since it was about 90 something degrees outside! So much for trying to teach the kids a lesson and keep them from bugging me to get into the pool during the winter months!
Okay with my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday I forgot to put the good things in, so I thought I'd just add this stuff.
Cassandra's stats:
Wt: 12lbs 13oz (her weight is leveling off but she's growing fine)
Ht: 25 1/4" (79th percentile!)
HC: 41 1/2 cm
(Okay this isn't her best picture, but how can you resist smiling when you see it?)
Nathan's stats:
Wt: 27lbs 5oz
Ht:35"
HC: 49 1/2 cm
(This is his birthday dinner picture sorry buddy forgot to do a birthday post. =( )
Okay, and some really good news. I finally got my very first rebate check from my couponing! I was soooooo excited! I spent about $23-$24 for the items and then got a $20 rebate check! WooHoo! 20 items for less than $4!I think this is the best deal I've pulled off yet (okay maybe not, since I've gotten free stuff with coupons before, but still a big deal to me!) And lastly I'm working on a Cassandra video for you mom. It's going to take a while to upload though so I'll post it when I get it all together.
Have you just ever had one of those days? Well my day just seems to be stretching into one of those weeks! I think today was the absolute worst doctors appointment (behavior wise) that my kids have ever had. Okay I should say NATHAN has ever had since the other two weren't really the problem. As I sat in the waiting room and watched the two boys playing I made the mistake of thinking, "Oh great they're playing quietly this shouldn't be too bad we'll be in and out" after all we were only there for well checks no big deal right? Boy was I wrong!
To start out (should have been my first clue) when the medical assistant called us back Nathan started giving me a hard time about leaving the toys, but it actually wasn't that bad. He got over it pretty quick. Then as the assistant picked him up to take him to the scale I started sniffing and smelled a horrible smell. "Oh great," I thought, "that is definitely Nathan." So the assistant just told me, "It's okay we'll just weigh him first real quick." Real quick wasn't real quick thanks again to you, guessed it, Nathan. He started squirming and and squealing as we tried to put him on the scale. So we juggled kids. The assistant took the baby and I tried in vain to get Nathan to stand on the scale. Then as I picked him up to talk to him......squish! I had poop all over my arm, all up his back and everywhere! So embarrassing!
So that was the end of trying to get him on the scale. We were now in decon mode. We went right to the room where they put the pads on the table so I could change him without getting poop all over. Hah! That was a nice thought. Somehow poop ended up on the baby, in his hair, all over his torso, and of course up my arm and in my watch (why I decided to wear it today I don't know). They had to bring in a bio hazard bag to collect everything in and then gave me another to put his clothes in, but after wiping, wiping, wiping, wiping, and a sponge bath in the sink with some soap, we managed to get things back under control.
Then it was back to the scale again to try and get his weight, and you guessed it, he still was being a little pain and wouldn't get on the scale so we put him on the baby scale. I was hoping that would be the end of it, but no luck. We went back to the room again to finish with the rest of the measurements and he squirmed and kicked and screamed the whole time! Then the doctor came in to do her exam and same thing, squirming and kicking and screaming. I was just so embarrassed that one of my kids would behave so badly. Then after the doctor answered all my concerns about the kids, she left, and we waited for shots. And we waited and we waited and since Nathan had been such a bear and behaved so poorly I made him take a time out hoping that his behavior would change. I feel sorry for everyone else who had to listen since he screamed the whole time, but you know you've got to do what you've got to do and hopefully since it's a pediatrician office I think most of the people that had to listen understood. Finally the assistant came back in and guess what? Suddenly Isaac has to go to potty. "Mommy it's coming!" So I tell the assistant, "Sorry potty break the immunization records are on the table if you would like to fill them out." And we head to the bathroom.
Well Isaac knows at the doctors office there is a little potty that the kids usually use, but this time of course the little potty was out of order and the big potty was "too scary", so we sat for about 10 minutes with me trying to convince him the little potty was broken and that he didn't need to sit on the big potty just stand up and hit the drain! Finally he must have had to go so badly he couldn't hold it anymore because he changed his mind and went over and stood up and "hit the drain" as he calls it. So after washing hands we made it back to the room again and boy was I ready to get out of there.
Is it bad that I told the assistant to do Nathan's shots first? Is it bad that I didn't feel bad at all when he got them? If it is then I'm a bad person I guess, because I didn't feel bad at all! Then after Cassandra's shots with whining from Nathan the whole time we were out of there! And now I'm waiting for him to finish eating his lunch so I can put him down for a nap, because I know he needs one, but I think I may need one even more!
So here is the story behind the zoo. Every Wednesday in September the Phoenix zoo is allowing you to get two free tickets if you show your Fry's VIP card at the entrance and kids under 3 are free! So I decided to invite my friend/neighbor to go along with me and check it out. So yesterday we took my three little ones and her youngest to the zoo and all of us got in for...you got it FREE! We took along a lunch and so it was a very fun free getaway for us. I don't feel like I get out as much as I should since we don't have a lot of extra money to spare for trips and things so this was sooo nice. Unfortunately Isaac didn't want any pictures taken of him (Mr. Shy now), but I did get a couple of cute ones of Nathan. Cassandra was there too but she's usually attached to me or asleep in the stroller so that kind of makes it difficult to get any of her.
Nathan loved to push the buttons on the sign posts. He has absolutely no fear! Out of the stroller I had to watch him like a hawk as he will just wander to wherever takes his interest!
Nathan playing at the splash pad while Isaac was with my neighbor and her boy looking at the monkey village.
Here's Nathan outside the giant tortoise exhibit. I don't think the boys actually figured out what was going on and it took them a while to even realize there were animals out there. So they may have to be a little older to actually appreciate the whole zoo experience I think.
Eating lunch by the pond. Notice Nathan locked in the stroller!
There's a funny story behind this one. As you can probably tell. Our stake has an annual princess ball for the girls that are 3-11 years old and they get to take along their "prince". Rebekah was looking forward to going to this ever since she heard about it. When the night came she really wanted to go all out and dress up like a "princess" so she put on her snow white Halloween costume from last year and her tiara and gloves and of course her "lipstick" (clear lip gloss). Well, when she walked out of her room like that Dwayne's comment was, "Is she really going to wear that?" To which my reply was, "Of course! It's a princess ball and if you're worried about standing out, don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of other little girls there dressed just like her!" So then he goes back into our room and I catch him going through his old service uniforms and I said, " Are you really going to wear that?" To which he replied, "Why not? she needs to have a prince right?" To which I replied, "Okay." And guess what? He was actually able to squeeze back into it! So here is a picture of Rebekah and her "prince".I'm just going to copy and paste a conversation my sister Shelly and I had this morning so I don't have to retype.
Shannon: so I have to tell you what Isaac said just a day or two ago
he was in the bathroom doing his business and then he came running out yelling, "Mom! McDonalds!" and kept saying it over and over until I came in to see what he was talking about
Shellianne: so what did he do?
Shannon: sorry Nathan was peeing on the table
Shellianne: nice1
Shellianne: !
Shellianne: glad my kids aren't the only ones that do that.
Shannon: so I looked in the toilet because that's where he was pointing and sure enough there was a giant poo shaped like an M
Shellianne: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA You HAVE to post that story on your blog!
Shannon: McDonald's Mom!
Shannon: I would but it seems like my life revolves around poo right now!
Shellianne: Not nearly as much as mine does.
Shellianne: it's not like you post something every other week about it like me.
Shannon: like for instance yesterday Dwayne flushed a cloth diaper down the toilet and clogged it before church so he was working on that up until church started and didn't help me get the kids ready
Shannon: so the story behind it is funny though!
Shannon: Dwayne was helping me out by changing Nathan's diaper
Shannon: well he had a mega poop I guess because it was all over him so Dwayne decided to be helpful and put him in the tub to wash him up before church
Shellianne: how did he flush a clothe diaper?
Shannon: well while he was in the tub dwayne was spraying out the diaper and had just finished and flushed when Nathan tidal waved him from the tub which startled dwayne causing him to lose his hold on the diaper.....
Shannon: well you know the rest
Shellianne: oh no! Nater TateR!!!!!!
Shellianne: too funny!
Shannon: yep that's who he's blaming it on
Shellianne: what a mess.
We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Josh, Sharice, Derek, and baby Kael came down to visit us for Cassandra's baby blessing. Sharice and I had a fun time going out to lunch with grandma to the Olive Garden on Saturday. No kids! "The boys" watched all five of the kids while we were out having fun. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with Sharice and my grandma. We laughed and had fun and did a little shopping too! Thanks grandma! I even got to show off some of my couponing skills to Sharice with $.50 icecream and free skittles. Yummy yummy. (Yes I know that we're supposed to be in a weight loss competition, but you have to have some treats sometime right?!) It even rained that weekend to cool things off a bit and made it just that much nicer.
Sunday the group from up north went to grandma's for breakfast and got to visit while we got ready for church, and then met us there for the blessing. Cassandra looked so pretty with her brand new dress (thanks to grandma Heaton), her pretty jewelry (thanks Auntie Janice), and her little bow that I saved from when Rebekah was a baby (I was so happy to be able to use it since I didn't really get to use them with Rebekah. Too much hair!) Dwayne was a little nervous as usual, but did a fine job too. Dwayne's parents also joined us and we spent the holiday with them as everyone else went back up north the next morning.
Josh, Sharice, Kael, and Derek at Grandma's house.
Girl's lunch at Olive Garden
"The girls"
Rebekah, Me, and Cassandra
Byron, Jan, Me, Dwayne, Josh, Sharice, Kael, Rebekah and Cassandra in front and thanks to Derek for taking the picture!
Rebekah started first grade this year. I'm not great with the camera so all I got was a picture of her in front of her brand new classroom. They just finished building the new school for this year. It's a really nice two story building and houses the 1-8 grade students (kindergarten preschool and the office are in separate buildings). Grades 1-3 and specials classes are on the first floor and grades 4-8 are on the second floor. We got to go to the red ribbon cutting that the governor (Jan Brewer) attended and got to stand just a few feet away while she snuck out the building after her speech. I was questioned afterwards why we didn't ask her if she was ever going to sign the new budget! Honestly, I didn't even know she was going to be there, and by the time all the politicians got through with their speeches (seriously over an hour of speeches?) Rebekah was in tears because she had to wait so long just to meet her new teacher. =) She was very happy though when the time finally came to see her new teacher and classroom and it looks like she has a really good matchup too and is doing great in school so far.
The night before last Cassandra slept through the night! When I told Dwayne the next morning that I'd put her to bed at 9:30 the night before and it was then 5:45 and I didn't have to get up at all he panicked a little and said, "Is she still alive?!" Well he went in to check on her and sure enough she was not only still alive, but looked like this:
P.S. She kept on sleeping until 6:30 that morning too! And she did it again last night!
Just to prove it wasn't a fluke (some of my other kids have found their thumbs, but never really got into the whole thumb sucking thing) watch this!
Cassandra's first picture with "Big Sis"
At home with "big brother" not even a week old yet.
"Hello I'm awake!"
Just so cute when I'm asleep.
Dwayne gave me flowers for my birthday. Okay not the kids, but they were so pretty!Here is Cassandra's B-day. I know it's late but I just figured out how to put the pictures on the new computer. (I know pathetic esp. considering how super easy it turned out to be!)
Getting cleaned up
Doctor that delivered her since my doctor was out of town (as usual!)
The two of us =)
I'm too tired to do a whole post so I'm cutting and pasting part of the email I sent to my grandma for my update.
Just got back from the appointment. I'm still not sure what to do. The doc said basically that it can sometimes spontaneously resolve itself up to a year. So he said we have two choices we can wait and see if it will do that or go ahead and have the surgery, but surgery is the only way to correct it if it doesn't resolve itself. If we decide to have the surgery then they would make a small incision right about where the thumb connects to the hand and snip a small tube that the ligament moves through then sew it back up with dissolvable stitches and cast and wrap the whole hand up (since he is so young they don't want him to be able to get to it). Then we'd just have to keep it dry for two weeks while it heals and then go back and have it all removed and see if he can extend the thumb all the way and that's it. No physical therapy or anything. I asked the doctor if there would be any negative effects if he didn't have the surgery and if it didn't resolve itself and he said that the only thing would be that he would be more likely to have arthritis in his joint because he's hyper extending it to compensate for the lack of movement.
For those that haven't heard, yes, we had Cassandra on the 6th of June. Two days past her due date. When I went into labor that evening all I could think was boy she'd better be born before midnight so she and her brother don't have to share a b-day! Finally she did something that I wanted her to do and she arrived just in time at 10:58 that evening (a whole hour to spare!). All of my anxiety about Dwayne being out on a flight and scrambling to find a ride to the hospital and someone to watch the kids was for nothing. He was at home and we had plenty of time to drop the kids off at his parents and still got to the hospital before the contractions were too bad, we didn't have to rush (got to ride in the wheelchair this time instead of the hospital bed upstairs) got the paperwork done and an epidural with a half hour to spare before I delivered. All in all couldn't have asked for things to go any better (other than if she had arrived when I originally planned on having her here!).
She is now three weeks old and is doing very well. The older kids are adjusting to having her around. I think Nathan has probably had it the hardest since she has taken his place on my lap most of the time now, but he's starting to come around and gets excited about "baby" especially when she starts crying he has to let me know "baby, baby, baby!".
We do have some pictures, but unfortunately our old computer finally gave out on us so I'm waiting to get the camera loaded onto the new computer and that won't happen until Dwayne gets back from NY. He left Wednesday for work and was supposed to be back late last night, but due to a storm and lightning hitting both the tower and a terminal causing both to lose power, his flight was delayed enough that he would miss his connecting flight and with no more flights out that night he decided to stay in NY one more day and visit with an old buddy that moved out there a year or two ago. Hopefully he'll be back tonight and get the new computer hooked up with everything.
The latest update is that when I took the kids to see the doctor on Wednesday I had the pediatrician look at Isaac's thumb (it has been locked in a bent position for a while now) and she immediately said he had trigger thumb. So now we have an appointment to go see an orthopedic specialist next month. When I have an update on that I'll do another post.
Okay nobody was right! So now I'm just planning on going another week since my doc said he doesn't like to go more than a week past the due date and he's planning on inducing me the 12th if still no baby by then. (Of course he says he sees no possible way I'll still be pregnant by then, ha!) So for all you guesser's sorry. She's not cooperating at all! Maybe she wants to share Isaac's b-day who knows. I don't think I'd like that, but I guess it's not really up to me is it! That's been proven!
So I figure since this is the longest I've ever made it and the little miss seems to just enjoy being soooo comfortable in my big ole tummy (after all it has already been broken in right?) I'd have a little fun and post a pole so you can vote as to when she might possibly like to arrive. After all my guess has already come and gone!
For Rebekah's last day of Kindergarten they had a small awards ceremony and a class party. Jan was able to come and stay for the whole thing and I just stayed for the awards. Rebekah got an award for turning in a reading log and here is a video of her reading her "When I Grow Up" story.
In case you can't hear this is what it says:
Here are my favorite pictures:
And here are the rest of the pictures from the party:
Here are some pictures from the Mother's Day hike we had with Dwayne's family last weekend. It was lots of fun for the kids. As you may notice I'm absent from most of the pictures as Renee, Lilly, and I stayed behind at the picnic area. Didn't think it would be a good idea to go on an 8 mile hike at 37 weeks pregnant. =)
I went to my second to last doctors appointment today. (They didn't even bother to schedule an appointment after 38 weeks because non of my kids has gone longer than that) So next week is my last one and things are starting to get a little exciting. The doctor said I'm just a little bit dilated, but that the baby is still pretty far up there, but he didn't think that would stop her from coming if she decided to. He also told me to tell the nurses at the hospital as soon as I walk in to not even bother checking me and that I deliver within 10 minutes of getting to the hospital so that they would rush me up to labor and delivery.
I finally pulled out all of Rebekah's newborn clothes to look through and it's hard to believe she was ever that small. Dwayne just said he thinks that maybe she'll be here this weekend, but I told him I think at least another week (I'm hoping a week and a half so school is out). He also thinks she's going to be an 8 pounder while I on the other hand think maybe a hefty 7. We'll just have to wait and see. Shouldn't be long now.
In the meantime here are some pics of the boys (sorry haven't taken any of Rebekah for a little while I guess):
