Baby Claire. A few more pics...

Welcome Baby Claire

Last Thursday (October 8th) we welcomed our new little Claire into our family. She is beautiful and sweet and soft and cuddly - and still sleepy - yea. :) The labor and delivery went really well - as far as things like that go :) It took a little while to get things started, but once she came, it was fast. (She ended up being delivered by a Dr. who just happened to be walking by in the hall!) The other kids are really excited. We have to set the timer to alleviate problems of fighting over who gets to hold her. Parker has become much more vocal and demanding, but that will hopefully mellow a little bit as time goes on. We are so grateful for the miracle of her new life, for her good health, and for the profound blessing of family.
Here are a few pics!

Tagged

I have been SO bad at blogging. I think it might have to do with my recent obsession with craigslist and bedroom furniture/decor in conjunction with the NESTING PHASE. Anyway, my adorable sister-in-law tagged me back in August and I am finally following through. Here goes...

Three names I go by:
1. Shel
2. Mishelle
3. Mooooooommmmmmm!

Three jobs I have had in my life: (these are very impressive)
1. Subway Sandwich Artist :)
2. Basketball Referee
3. Secretary/Receptionist

Three places I have lived:
1. Woodburn, OR
2. Fountain Valley, CA
3. Anchorage, AK

Three favorite drinks:
1. water (is really my favorite, honestly)
2. raspberry lemonade
3. hot chocolate

Three t.v. shows that I watch:
1. Designed to Sell
2. 20/20
3. Hannah Montana (not on purpose)

Three top places I have been:
1. Canon Beach, OR
2. North Shore in Hawaii
3. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Three of my favorite restaurants: (not too sophisticated...)
1. Carrabas
2. Cafe Rio
3. Let's face it - I love to eat out. Anytime I don't have to cook I am happy (except for McDonalds)

Three things I'm looking forward to:
1. NOT BEING PREGNANT
2. General Conference. Really. I love all day, home together, comfy clothes, great talks, NO MEETINGS :)
3. Another cruise with Chad some day

VACATION!

"At Bear Lake, Bear Lake there's no cake at Bear Lake. BEAR LAKE!"
Only family members will get this. Everyone else will think we are completely wacko. Actually... we are :)



We had a lot of fun miniature golfing. At one of our games Abbey got 3 holes in one!!!

She is also learning to dive. Nice!

A lost tooth - literally

This picture has nothing to do with a lost tooth, but I thought it was a cute one of her. So, Abbey lost a tooth last week. It has been loose FOREVER and it finally came out. (Bryson actually tried several times to pay her to let him pull it out, and even attempted a hostile takeover/extraction at one point! I think keeping it gave her a sense of power and control...) ANYWAY, once it finally came out, she was trying to wash it off and it went down the drain! I actually took the drain apart - which felt pretty handyman-ish to me - but couldn't find it. Luckily she really was ok with just giving the toothfairy a note. Abbey is pretty sentimental and "attached" and I was expecting a disaster, but was really grateful that things seemed to turn out just fine ...Whew.

A new look...

If you have seen Parker lately, you would know that he has been wearing pajamas for 4 months straight. Although this phase has not completely passed, we are entering in on a new look. Let me explain...
I thought it would be a brilliant idea to get Parker fully potty trained before we had another one in diapers. So I bought him some underwear and here is the problem: I have not set aside the time/effort to do a good, thorough potty training session. BUT, Parker really loves wearing the underwear. AND he actually does pretty well as long as he is not wearing pants too. So, he is spending a lot of time lately looking like he does in these pictures. Too much information, you say? I agree. And yet, isn't this the life of a toddler's Mom? It's mine.

STITCHES!

I always knew this day would come. I have worried about it for years, actually. Yesterday my first child got stitches. So here is the story...

The Elders came to drop something off at our house and Bryson talked them into a game of "Poison" (a basketball game where you essentially take turns shooting the ball and try to get other people out in various ways). While they were playing, Bryson slipped on some wet grass and fell onto the metal edging that goes around the grass and the rocks in our yard. He got cut on his leg, just above the ankle. Taking into account that I really have lived a fairly sheltered life, it was probably the worst cut I have ever seen. Not that it was that deep or big or even very bloody, but you could see down "in" and it was obvious that it was worse than just a regular scrape or cut. Anyway, I took him into Urgent Care (THANKS so much to Stephanie for watching Parker and Abbey!! - that would have been a nightmare!) and he ended up with stitches.

It actually turned out to be kind of a tender time for him and me. He was pretty scared when he heard he would need stitches. He wanted me to hold his hand and stand right next to him. It has been a long time since my big boy needed his Mommy. Once the Dr. started working on him, he calmed down a lot and things were fine. I think he was a little surprised at how much it didn't hurt. I was glad that he did something that he was really scared to do. I hope he will remember that as he grows - that he can do hard things. (One of the most interesting details in Bryson's mind is that the Dr. only had one arm. That was somewhat fascinating.)

So, another little bonding moment happened this morning and I wanted to record it... He woke up right around six and was complaining that his leg hurt. I, still very very sleepy, got him some medicine and we took off the bandages and checked it. Since I don't like to take medicine on an empty stomach, I went and got him a little bowl of cheerios to eat in his bed. When I came back up he said, "Thanks for doing all this, Mom. You didn't have to." It was so sweet! "You didn't have to"? I mean, isn't there like a billion things I do like that every day that I don't have to, but somehow this was meaningful for him, which just makes it so WORTH IT.

ANYWAY, the major repurcussions of the injury are: no more swimming lessons until we get back from UT/AK, and probably no track meet this Friday which they have been training for for months now. That is very disappointing. But we have made it through our first time with stitches and it wasn't as bad as I always imagined...

Baseball

This was the year of the eternal baseball season. Not that I don't enjoy watching Bryson play - I really do - but I will admit that I was a very happy Mom when the last game rolled around! The team needed help with coaching so Chad ended up as an assistant. I think Bryson really liked that. Abbey and Parker were good sports... sitting in the wind or the heat or whatever it was, watching their brother play. (I won't deny that they got LOTS of sugar during those hours on the bleachers. :)

And now stop reading if you don't want to hear bragging... But just for journaling sake, I have to record the fact that Bryson did play very well this year. He is a very consistent hitter, and a great defender. He had some really nice catches this season including a double play on first in one of the last games. He hit the ball almost every time at bat - although he didn't always get on base, but he is just good at connecting with the ball. I don't know if he'll stick with baseball forever, but he's a good little player. And that's not just Mom speaking! :)

It's a...

We had our ultrasound yesterday. The Dr. says he is "as sure as [he] can be" that it is a GIRL! We are really excited - especially for Abbey, who will get to have a little sister (HOPEFULLY. I mean, hopefully she really will get to have a little sister... and hopefully it really will be a GIRL because I am planning on painting the baby's room a frilly, girly, PINK! :) Now we just need to decide on a name...

Temple Trip

Yesterday our ward Primary did a temple trip. They get a guided tour and I think Bryson and Abbey really learned a lot... Parker and Daddy mostly like squishing ants.

A GARDEN!!!

I am SO excited to finally have a garden again! Who knows if anything will actually grow... but we are hopeful! Last weekend we built this retaining wall (which, by the way, is harder than it looks - like most projects I undertake, I guess). Then on Friday when the kids were out of school we PLANTED! Bryson is actually really excited for "his" cherry tomato plant to start growing tomatoes (and if you know the eating habits of certain members of our family, you know that that is a miracle!)

Abbey's Soccer

Abbey's soccer season ended a couple weeks ago. She really did great. It was so much fun to watch her play.

Easter... a little late

These are my two favorite pictures from Easter: Abbey and Parker in their Easter clothes (pictures happened AFTER church and since Bryson only stays dressed for 2.6 seconds after he walks in the door, he wasn't part of the pics); and all three kids with the most disgusting candy ever invented (sorry if you like them!) hanging out of their mouths... Peeps. I think there is some kind of law that you HAVE to buy them on Easter. I guess it is good that they're only a buck! I think they are YUCK. :)

"You are the best Mom I have had"

Last week was my Birthday. It really kinda felt like a party because my parents were here (yay!) and the kids were home for Spring Break. Everybody was so nice to me, but I have to admit that my favorite thing was a card that Bryson made me. His message? "You are the best Mom I have had." (Lucky for me he hasn't had any other Moms!!!)

The ZOO

We got to go to the Zoo with Grandpa and Grandma Steiny last week. (Finally! Parker has been talking about it every day for weeks - even PRAYING things like "Henly Fodder, wur thanko for da zoo, peas bless we can go to da zoo..." you get the idea). So, we had a lot of fun - even though it was really pretty cold. (I loved having the good company and the extra helping hands! :)

Parker and Pajamas

Parker's latest thing is that he LOVES to wear his pajamas - all day, everyday, everywhere. I really don't know what the deal is, but he is very sure that any other type of clothing is NOT acceptable. So, I will admit that we've made several trips to the school in pajamas, and a few to the grocery store too. Is it really worth the fight???

So, these are pictures that I took for other reasons (the joy of the skunk hat - still gracing his head 6 months after Halloween, a cute kiss for Daddy, the new-found independence that comes with figuring out that he can move kitchen chairs around to get up to things - like an entire box of cereal, and a little attitude/poutiness), but they are here to illustrate his recent obsession with pajamas. Whew!

I will always love Oregon

Ok, so Chad is out of town and I really hate it when he's gone. So rather than do the dishes or the laundry or a million other things that I SHOULD do, I am blogging. :)
So my good friend, Lisa, back in OR "tagged" me. I haven't done this before, but the idea is that you go to your pictures and find the 6th picture in the 6th file and then write about it. So... this is a picture of Bryson with his good buddy Karson at a Safety Camp when we lived in OR. It really was such a great camp. (Bryson came home and put "Mr. Yuck" stickers on almost every non-food container that we owned!) There were several youth in our ward who volunteered at the camp and THEY were awesome too. I just have such tender feelings for all our wonderful friends in Oregon (not to mention the trees and grass :) What a fun memory.
So, Michelle Steiny, if you read this - you are officially tagged! Love ya! :)