Saturday, December 22, 2012

Life with six kids...

...is crazy. I'll try to post more soon.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Introducing...

Mikaela Nicole

5 lbs 4 oz
 


Here is Mikaela's birth story. It may sound unbelievable, but it is true.

I'm not really sure when it begins, so I'll begin with Monday. I went to the doctor on Monday, and he checked me. I was dialated to a 2+. We scheduled me to be induced on the 15th. After I left I noticed I had a couple of contractions. They were pretty strong, but not regular or consistent. I went about my day fairly normally. That night I woke up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom, and then I was waking up and I didn't need to go, so I just laid there and realized that contractions had been waking me up. I was having a couple every hour. I figured things must be getting pretty close. In the morning I told Mike that I thought that today or tomorrow we were going to have a baby, and we needed to get ready.

When I got up, I realized I wasn't having contractions anymore. I was really sore though. I decided to take it easy, and just get her stuff ready. So I packed my bag, and pulled her clothes out. I got the diapers and wipes ready, and checked the car seat.

Sometime after lunch I started having contractions again. They were fairly strong for me, so Mike told me I needed to start timing them. I started timing them at 4:00. at 4:30 my contractions had consistently been 7 min apart for 30 min, so we called my mom to come. I decided to go to the bathroom and lay down while I waited for her to come. I was having a contraction when I went into the bathroom, and it was strong. I told Mike that I thought it was labor quality. In my head I told me self that when it ended I would sit down and pee and then get to the couch before the next one started. I stood there for a while, because it wasn't ending. I knew then that I was in trouble. It eventually started to fade (not end) and I decided to sit down anyway. I could feel the stretching as I sat and then there was a burst of water, as my water broke. I screamed and stood up really quick, so that I wouldn't have to labor by a toilet, and looked down, and there was a baby on the floor. It was so unreal.  I have a hard time believing it myself.

At this point Mike and the kids had rushed into the bathroom. Mike scooped up the baby and a bath towel and shoved them into my arms and ran out of the bathroom to call 911. Merek and Rylan were in the bathroom asking me if I was ok, and if the baby had hurt me. Corbin was dancing outside of the bathroom. I don't know where Tyler was. Mike tied off the umbilical cord with his shoe string, and I delivered the placenta into the toilet. We waited for the paramedics to arrive and take me to the hospital. When we got there some how a rumor had spread that I didn't know that I had been pregnant. They were a little freaked, but calmed down when I explained that I just didn't know the baby was on it's way out. The took her to NICU because she hit her head when she fell, and they thought she might have some bleeding. They did an untrasound that night, and a CT the next morning. No bleeding. Her hemacrits were high, so we got to stay. I am hoping to get out by tomorrow.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Updates

It's been a bit since I've posted. Mainly I've been too lazy to break out a camera. We had a nice Thanksgiving break. We were able to have two Thanksgivings. One with Mikes family, which I have no pictures of, and one with my brother and mom, which I do have pictures of. Here are the pics from the second dinner...
 
 Kids playing before dinner. It was so nice outside, they didn't even need sweaters.


 Helping to prepare the feast.


 What is a trip to Jon's without visiting the falls. It had gotten pretty cold by now. The kids really enjoyed rolling down the hill and making a nest out of leaves.


My first semester of teaching is almost over. It has been a good experience. I didn't know everything, but we were able to figure things out, and I think overall it has been a good semester.One thing I learned is that teachers spend a lot of time grading papers. I think that this is something that I want to continue doing.

I have less than three weeks left, until the baby will be here. I don't think that I am ever ready for a new baby. We still haven't figured out a name.  After five names, I am named out, and I don't even want to think about it. If anyone has any good suggestions for girl names I would love to hear it. I am in need of help. The middle name will be Nicole.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Gardunia Gift Exchange

WOW, I can't believe it is time to think about Christmas already. Here is the annual Gardunia Gift Exchange list.


Marc has Rich
Brian has Marc
Anna has Brian
Jon has Anna
Rich has Jon

Monday, November 12, 2012

Busy Weekend

Mike has been helping his brother-in-law build a shop, and we decided to head to Emmett and spend the day with cousins while he worked. The kids love to visit here. There is so much to do. Corbin started out raking leaves with Bryce, and then they got to haul them off with a 4 wheeler.

The other kids jumping on the trampoline.

Corbin loves to vacuum with the built in vac system.

Mike working on the shop.

Making donuts.

On Sunday Mike baptized Anthony.

Here's a fall picture. Corbin refused to take off his coat because it was too cold. I told him he only had to take off the hat so we could see his face, but he thought it would be better to wait in the car.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Boise Temple


We went to the Boise Temple Open House today. I wish I could say that it was a really spiritual experience, but it wasn't. Today might not have been the best day to go to the temple. The kids stayed up late last night, they had had too much sugar. They were a little uncontrollable. But we did have a good experience. The kids were very excited. They thought they might see Jesus. The plastic shoe covers were a little scary for Merek, and even with a lot of pre-warning, he freaked out and would not put them on. We elected to go with just socks. We have decided that we might try to go through it again without kids, it would be a good date night.




Halloween

Halloween for us was really three days. On Saturday we went to the ward trunk-or-treat, Sunday grandma came over for an hour and helped carve pumpkins, and then Wednesday we went trick-or-treating.  Here are some photos...


Tyler, Brandon, Isabelle, Elijah, Samantha, and Merek. (The names you don't recognize are the kids' cousins who live with us.)

Madi

Boys carving pumpkins (that we grew!)


Grandma helping to carve pumpkins.

Brandon played with Madi while the kids carved pumpkins.

The finished products.

Merek waiting to go trick-or-treating.

Rylan "Hold your hands up!"

Corbin the magnificent.

Michael

Nicole came to help us trick-or-treat, and boy did I need her. We had seven kids and four 
adults. Mike and Mia took the older and faster kids, and Nicole and I went with Merek and Madi. We had a fun time.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Cats

I like cats, but I am allergic to them so I stay away from them. Lately, they seem to be invading my life. We have always had stray cats on this property, but they have never been a bother, and since they catch the mice I have never  been bothered by them. About a month ago, we inherited a cat, Jack. He is a really nice cat. He was suppose to be an outside cat, but he had other ideas. So one cat around, no big deal. Then when Mike's sister moved in, they brought their two cats. They are also suppose to be outside cats, but they also don't agree with that. I spend a lot of time throwing cats outside.

Two days ago, I got in my car and found cat poop all over. Gross, the kids had left a door open. I became vigilant to keep the doors closed so another cat wouldn't get in my car. That night I had a nightmare that I was getting into the car and cats kept jumping into the car, and I would throw them out, and they would just keep coming. The next day, I go to get in my car and there is more cat poop. The cat is still in the car.  I removed all the seats, searched everywhere, no cat. While driving to boise, I hear a cat meowing. I'm really starting to loose my mind. Where is the cat? When I get home I park the car and lock it. Later, I peek through the windows and a see a small black stray cat walking around in the car. I try to let it out, but it climbs into the dash.  We tried trapping it, and that didn't work. We left the door open all morning. I hope he left. He has been in there for three days. I am tired of the cat poop.  I have vowed to trap and remove all of the stray cats. They just can't stay.

Monday, September 24, 2012

More Fun

Today, Merek peeked his head in the kitchen to tell me he was muddy. I couldn't help but laugh.


One of our chickens laid this egg today. This is it next to a normal egg, it is hard to see how big it is in this picture. It is at least 2x as big as they normally are. It is so big I can't close the egg carton. Corbin is surprised it didn't get stuck in the chicken. 


Just Because

We will have new house guests soon. We have been wanting to rent out the mother-in-law quarters, but didn't want to rent to a stranger. Well, Mike's sister was looking for something less expensive, so this is going to work out well for both of us. She moves in on Wednesday. Needless to say, Mike has been working really hard to get it finished by then. (I'll post finished pictures when it is done.)

On a side note, Rylan wanted to drive the lawn mower. (He thinks he is grown up.) So Mike stopped what he was doing to give Rylan a driving lesson. 




Saturday, September 22, 2012

Bye Bye


Nana is moving to Texas today. We are really going to miss her and DJ.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Impromptu Camping Trip

We realized that we hadn't gone camping yet this summer, so we pulled the kids from school and went on an impromptu camping trip. We had a lot of fun.

 Mike putting up the tent, in rock hard dirt.

 Starting the camp fire.

 Camping with 5 kids is a LOT of work. Even if it is just overnight. The packing, freezing and hungry kids keep mom and dad busy. Trying to get everyone to settle down and go to bed, and then keeping them in their sleeping bags, because it is freezing outside. Madi woke up in the middle of the night, just as happy as can be. For hours I worked at keeping her happy and inside  her sleeping bag, and quiet enough not to wake everyone else.  Just when I thought I had her asleep, she would pop her head up again. I was so happy when the sun started to rise and mike got up, and took her out of the tent. When everyone got up and had some breakfast we got in the car and headed to a nearby hot spring.

  Madi had no problem jumping right in.

 It was cold outside. Probably about 43 degrees when we got there.

 Hot Spring water slide.


 Hot Springs shower.

This is a cooler pool by the river.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Just Because

 
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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Poor Merek

Merek seemed kind of off all day. At church he cuddled up to me and didn't move. In nursery, he laid on the floor most of the time. While I was making lunch, he laid his head on the counter. After lunch, I made him take a nap, and he took a long nap. The rest of us were outside enjoying the evening, when Mike went inside for something. He came out and told me Merek was up and sitting in the chair downstairs, and I needed to go look at him. It was so sad...he had been up for a while. He had thrown up on his shoulder and the chair and didn't want to move because it would get on him. He was sitting perfectly still waiting for someone to discover him.  Poor baby.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Updates


Today, Merek disappeared. He was playing outside, while I was cleaning the kitchen. It had been awhile since I had seen him, so I went to look for him. I searched the front yard, the back yard, the neighbors yard. I was starting to panic. I searched the garage, the cars, downstairs, the mother-in-law quarters. I finally found him in the upstairs bathroom. He had fallen asleep on the floor. Quite unusual.



On another note, I have a new job. I am now teaching EN120 at BSU. It is a freshman engineering lab. I am rather excited about it. If it wasn't for my mom, I wouldn't have found this job. When she came to Boise for the STEM conference, she met one of my old professors. They asked for an update on me, and asked if I would be interested in teaching this class. I start on Wednesday.

Monday, August 20, 2012

School's in

Today is the first day of school. Corbin is in fourth grade and Tyler is in first grade. They were so excited today, and so was I. This year is going to be so busy and I have so much that I want them to learn. 


Since the big boys started school today, so did Rylan and Merek. I am home pre-schooling them this year. We are going to re-enforce their learning on colors, shapes and counting, and we are going to learn their letters. Today I learned I need to be even more organized for these guys because they have SHORT attention spans. Also, I may move their school time to be during Madi's nap because she was very distracting.