Just another week, kind of...

While I should have tons of pictures of our newborn, I don't. I only have a story of traumatic week for this child. Monday was his first doctor's appointment, he looks great according to the doctor and I am in full agreement. While there, we had our little guy circumcised. Shawn and I both watched. I know that the choice to do this is purely cosmetic but we have chosen to do it anyway. After the procedure, while waiting for the doctor to come back in we checked his diaper and off fell his umbilical cord. What a joyous occasion other than the fact that now because of the circ, we have to wait for that to heal. So on with the sponge baths- which he hates.

It is Sunday and Hunter has caught the goomba that is going around our house. It started with Hallie being sick, Hayden next, and then Hadley. On Thursday I started feeling a little sick and now both Hunter and I are all stuffed up. This is an issue during nursing as he breathes through his nose. It was not a fun night last night. I was up every 45 minutes but it was even worse for my little angel who couldn't breathe. Shawn is back to work and is on graves so when he got home at 7:00 a.m. I went to the store to get some saline drops to help the poor little guy out. I think that my little irrigation job helped some because at least he is not snoring now.

Hayden and Hadley had a basketball game yesterday. It is sure fun to watch them play. Hadley is not actually on the team but because Shawn is the coach he puts her in every now and then. She is in kindergarten and is as tall if not taller than most of the 1st and 2nd graders on the team. Being the amazing mother that I am, I forgot my camera. I only got one picture of Hadley out on the floor with my craptastic phone camera. Here it is (that's Hadley in the red shorts):

School is still going strong. I'm plugging away. I got to watch a lap-band surgery this past week. It was very interesting and I now have a different view on caring for a patient who just had a laporascopic surgery.

Hallie is starting to have some attention issues. She has not acted out at all towards Hunter. The rest of us are free game though. She started pinching for no reason at all. She'll walk right up to you, smile, and pinch you as hard as she can. We are trying to convince her that negative attention is not the kind of attention that she should want. At night she wants my attention even when its time to nurse. She will sit outside Hunter's room and cry for me. This can be difficult when Shawn's at work because I have no one to help detour her attention and Hunter doesn't exactly fall fast asleep when his sister is sobbing outside his room.

Well, I can't decide if I whined too much in this post or not. Sorry if that's the general theme that came across. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with life and am so thankful for my friends and family who have been helping me out. Until next time.....

First Day of School (a week or so late)

The kids started school on Wednesday and I started on Thursday. Has it already been over a week? School is crazy busy for me so far and I've still got 14 weeks left. Enough about me though.

Hayden is my mighty 2nd grader. He came home from school in a great mood and proudly stated that he loved his teacher. I hope that he is able to sustain this attitude all year long. He is so big and so responsible and I am so thankful that he is mine.

Hadley is in kindergarten. It was not as emotional for me to send her off to school, this in part because she rode the bus with her big brother who I know will take care of her and she has the same teacher that Hayden had for kindergarten and she is AWESOME!!

Little Miss Hadley striking a pose

Hadley's teacher asks the parents to make a scrapbook page of the kids to use on the first day as a get-to-know-you tool. Here is the one that Hadley and I made. I am by no means the scrapper that many of my cousins are but I think it turned out OK.

Front (we only got 1 page)

Back

I thought that Hallie would enjoy her mornings without her siblings but she actually gets sad when they leave in the morning and asks where they are all day long. That brings her mommy such joy. It makes me so happy when they love each other the way that I love them.

Hallie posing with Hadley

So we survived the first week and are planning for a great year. We hope the same for everyone else out there too.

My baby is in the 1st grade!!

Hayden started school today. He is in the 1st grade and it just kills me. Shawn woke him up this morning before he left for work. Here is the conversation that I eavesdropped on while they were getting ready in the bathroom:


"I have a really nervous feeling in my stomach."

"Get used to that feeling, you'll have it a lot in your life- every year before the first day of school, when you start a job. Remember to listen to your teacher and do what she says. Be nice and watch your mouth, other kids might say bad words but that doesn't mean you say them"

"I know, I won't"


I'm so glad that Shawn remembers to give him those little reminders. He is such a good father. Hayden decided what he wanted to wear, he got dressed, we took pictures and he was off. He wouldn't let me walk him all the way to the bus or take picture of him getting on the bus because he's "not a baby this year".

He wrote his teacher, Mrs. Price a little letter last night that he made sure to take today with an apple. He is funny. I can't believe that he will be gone all day. I should be happier about that but I'm not. He is a good boy and I know he will do well in school. I'm so lucky that the Lord trusted me with that little spirirt, he is better now at 6 than I could ever hope to be in 100 years.

"I'm in grade #1"

Walking

to the

bus

Back to school (after a LONG break)

Well it's official- I'm a student again. I've made it through my first week of school. All I can say is that I hope my 30 year old brain is capable of retaining all of the information that it is expected to. My friend Heidi went back to school a few years ago and she said it took her about 3 weeks for her brain to get back in to school mode. Well I'm holding her to that- one down, two to go. I really like being back in school. I'm excited to learn again and to start a new chapter in this thing called life. My first class is at 7:30 in Idaho falls so I have to leave the same time that Shawn does to be to work 10 minutes early. As we were leaving on Tuesday 8/19 (my first day) Shawn got the camera and took my first day of school pictures just like we did Hayden last year. It was funny. I am so lucky that he supports me in this decision and I couldn't do it without him. Heather is watching my kids while I am at school. She gets off work at 3 a.m. and sleeps on my couch so she can get up with my kids. I am so thankful that I have such a great support system.

My friends and family are the best!!

Zoo field trip

I was so lucky and got to go on a field trip with Hayden this year. We went to the Tauphus park zoo. We met at his classroom and were assigned our groups. I got Hayden, Jayden and Aidan (ha, ha Mrs. Crane). We got to ride a bus all the way to Idaho Falls- these are Hayden's words not mine. Jayden and Aidan told us ghost stories all the way there. Here is a picture of the boys on the bus.

Once at the zoo it was a free-for-all. We saw all the animals there and the boy's really seemed to have fun.

When we got to the zebra exhibit it was empty. A zebra decided to make itself know, it was hilarious because Hayden broke in to the zebra song that they learned in school, Jayden and Aidan quickly followed suit. I was not fast enough with my camera and only caught the very last part of it but here it is:

This final picture is at the exit of the park. We had a fun bus ride home and played, "I'm thinking of an animal that...." all the way home. For those of you that never played that game, we each took a turn describing an animal until someone else could guess what it was. These kids are so smart!! I had such a great time and am so thankful that I was able to share this experience with Hayden.

Kindergarten Program

Hayden's end of the year kindergarten program was on May 20th. They sang several songs and we realized just how animated Hayden can get when he is singing. He also does NOT experience stage fright. Here is a picture of him. I had a hard time with my camera getting a picture that was both clear and light enough to see. Hayden is wearing the gray vest with a white t-shirt under it. I can't believe that he is almost finished with kindergarten. What happened to this year? Here he is almost a 1st grader. How did we luck out with such great kids?

Here is a clip of Hayden dancing. Its kind of a long clip and its shaky because I am both laughing and holding a baby on my lap. He really starts getting in to it about 50 seconds in. You will hear Shawn and I giggling in the background. Remember Hayden singing "The Wiggles" songs when he was little? This is very reminiscent of those days.