Surviving

Hello all, I (Melanie) am back! Cole is now over 2 weeks old and I am finally feeling more like myself. We had a crazy time after Cole was born. We went home a couple of days, came up to my parents house while Dave took Tina and Braden to Bear Lake, and I ended up going up for one night also. Then we headed up to Melissa's in-laws for Dave to go fishing with Creighton and the kids and I enjoy a show - Aladdin - at the Mystique (a fun theatre).

We have been home for about a week getting ready to start school on Monday! Tina has met her teacher - Mrs. Bell who is fresh out of college. I'm excited to volunteer in her class hopefully. Braden has been to his open house for preschool and I can't wait to see how it goes. I've heard good things about his school and I was glad to get him in. He starts on Tuesday. I love getting back on a schedule:)

Cole did well on his 2 week appointment. He gained about 2 oz a day and is now back up to 6 lbs. 10 oz. He is still just tiny, but I was encouraged that he is growing. Also we found out that he does NOT have CPT-2 deficiency like Braden (yeah!) I am so relieved. He is a sweet little baby that I grow to love even more every day. He is starting to sleep more regularly at night, and thankfully Dave has gotten up with him more than any other baby. Thanks honey! Tina and Brooklyn fight over who gets to hold him. We have only had one incident where Brooklyn hit, but time outs have solved that (I hope). I think Braden will play with him more when he gets older:) I asked him what he thought of his new little brother, and he said, "Good."

Last night Dave took the girls on a father-daughter camp-out with the ward, and I got to spend some good time with my boys. It was so fun and I know the girls had fun with daddy. It's funny because Dave said when he is with kids they never whine, but as soon as they come home, that is what they do to me. Mothers are made for that I guess?? Or maybe it's just me?? Anyway, that's all the news from our neck of the woods for now.

Baby Cole is Here

I picked up some needle point, probably a strange combination needle point and football. LOL

Wow look at how cute he is oh and the baby is too. See what I mean about the bed!!!!!

Good thing he got his mothers looks!!!!!!!!!!!

Is white his color or what, only other color would be Aggie Blue

She is such a little mom we love it. I had to make her laugh to get a true smile

I hope this means he is going to be a good sleeper at night.

Hello all this is actually Dave that is blogging, now please do not fall over. I figured since I am finishing all of Melanie's projects I might as well do her blog. Yesterday the 10th of August at 3:29 pm we were blessed with Cole David Chambers. He was 6lbs 7oz and 19 1/2 inches. He came very rapidly and is darn cute. Mom is doing fine also and she is darn cute. He was definately ready to come and see what he has gotten himself into. The doctor had just enough time to put on her scrubs and turn around and catch him.

All of the kids seemed excited to have a new little brother. Tina was the most excited, Braden was excited for a sec, and Brooklyn just kinda starred. It has been so much fun. I will say though that the new womens center could have invested just a little more money on the couch bed. I think that I would rather sleep in a tent. However they did have free food for me and those of you that know me know that I love food.

We are just so grateful to have him here, we are also so grateful for the help that our families gave us through all of this. We are very lucky to have such wonder family members, we love you. This is probably long enough, if you have passed out cause I wrote something then get up and look at how cute this kid is for goodness sake!

Monster Summer Catch-up

I have to apologize...I thought this summer was going to be not very eventful, but I feel like I haven't had a chance to catch my breath! We have had a ton of fun, and been very busy. I need to do this today, before the baby comes...TOMORROW!

July was full of trips to Logan to visit visiting siblings. Dave's sister Kari was here and we always have so much fun together, even if it gets more chaotic with the additional children we have every time:). We got to know little Boston (9 months) better, and he is such a cutie. He is such a happy, busy little guy. And his baby blue eyes are so expressive. They just have a fun family. I just love spending time with Kari. She and I are the same age, and got really close when I started dating Dave. Here are the girls dancing to "I wanna hold your hand" by the Beatles at Charlie's ice cream shop.

The Chambers golf tournament is something I look forward to every year, and although I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, I did not want to miss out! Here's the proof - Dave and I on the tee box.And afterwards, we were all smiles, because with the help of Jeff and Jake Major, we won this year!The cousins had so much fun playing that all I could get were candid shots, but it was great. We went on what was called the "red neck water slide" which is basically a slip and slide down a mountain. They had a big and small one. I only tried it once, but Tina was a little dare-devil that surprised us all! She loved the big one. Dave had a ball too, and Braden entertained us with his pee show on the sidelines (he literally dropped his pants, went potty on the side, and stood watching people go forgetting to pull them up!). I'm at my parents house blogging, so I don't have those pictures, but it was great...When we got back, Gary decided to try his version of the slide and took off his playset slide, tied a hose to it, and aimed it at the slip and slide. When the kids were tired of that, he put it into the wading pool. Here is him and Dave entertaining the kids

After many wonderful visits with the Chambers, it was now time for my brother Devin to fly in with his cute girls, Melanie and Amy. We went up the canyon to celebrate Melissa's birthday and Brooklyn just loved on Amy. I think they are going to be great friends:) It has been fun spending time with them because they live far away, so we eat it up when they come. I am in awe of all that Melanie does...She is so talented with sewing and jewelry. Plus she is such a cute mom to Amy. Amy is at the fun getting very mobile stage. Brooklyn would mimic her movements too. They are a little competitive too...must get that from their dads!:) I hate to admit that I don't have a picture of this, but Melissa (my sister) also had her first baby on July 22nd. A beautiful baby girl named Anna who is a doll. She already has me wrapped around her finger, because I figured out how to make her stop crying when I held her. I guess it could also be that she senses her new cousins' presence and the extra padding provided?? But I think it is so much fun watching my sister become a mom. One of those life-changing moments. She's doing so good too. She constantly amazes me with her courage, optimism, and sweet disposition.

We also had a Primary Children's visit thrown into the mix, which was really encouraging. I'll have to post later about the medical report, but I had to get a picture of Dave trying to keep them busy while waiting for the Doctor:) I guess one thing I'm a little concerned about is the fact that this new little one has a one in four chance of having the same deficiency as Braden. I guess I'll have to be patient!

Sorry for the monster catch-up. It's good that we have a date set for me to work towards a deadline. As far as prepping for the baby, we have the crib and pack and play set up. And one thing I love to do before a baby is steam clean the carpets. Dave was a sweetheart and did that so fast on Friday. Thanks honey! I have been a little scatterbrained, but overall, we are all excited to have Cole David join our family. I have left out a lot of other things this summer, but it's late and I'm REALLY losing brain cells!:) So next update: baby time:)

In Denial

I've been telling everyone lately that I am in denial that I am pregnant. Not that I don't feel pregnant, but I haven't even wanted to think about the newborn phase again...Dave told me that I need to stop looking at the negatives though, and I think he's right. Tina has been asking me about how hard it is being a mom, and what am I going to do when she goes to school etc. She picks up a lot more than I think sometimes!

So my brain went into overload one night and I had a dream that I had had the baby ( My belly was squishy again) and we were somewhere like church or out in public, but I wasn't holding the baby and had no recollection of the labor or delivery of this baby. After that dream I had a "wake-up call" that I needed to get ready for this little one, so the next day I changed Brooklyn over into a twin bed (always a hard adjustment!) and moved the crib (with my pregnant neighbor - that was fun!) into Braden's room. And then begged Dave to get the kids little clothes out of the attic. I did not realize that we had SO many boy clothes, so that is our next project - going through them. I figure that if I can start getting ready, maybe my mind will feel better.

I have a month left, and it's been a pretty normal pregnancy for me. I've taken the 8 month tumble (luckily no one saw this time!) I fall at 8 months with all my pregnancies. This time it was while holding Brooklyn, but she was safe! I've had low iron, but with supplements I feel great. It does feel bigger than the other ones, but I'm still pretty small in the belly department. We had another ultrasound because the baby was measuring big, and they confirmed that it was a boy - and we did decide on Cole David for sure. Its growing on me. He seems shy because when I have someone feel for him, he stops moving. Hopefully that's a sign for mellow baby!

I am excited...I just get frazzled when all the kids are crying at the same time or yelling etc. Is it me or does the noise level increase with each child?? Anyway, mine get louder:( But on the bright side, I am excited for another boy. They seem so easy. Plus the newborns just bring the peace of heaven into our home. The closer it gets, the more excited the whole family is to see this little one. Now the only question is...will he have brown or blue eyes??

Our Yellowstone Adventure

This was our major family trip (I call it trip because it is with kids...A vacation is without kids!) We had SOOOOO much fun. This is our only family picture by the upper falls of the Yellowstone canyon. It is amazing to have everyone looking! Our hike down the canyons was interesting. We got down there and there were so many people, we just hiked back up. Dave caught a picture thank goodness. On the way up, he had Brooklyn in the baby backpack and was carrying Braden...He said he couldn't have done that if it weren't for his bike training. He had tons of sympathy from fellow hikers, one guy confessing that he had to do the same thing.

We enjoyed the wildlife - The park gave the kids little checklists of animals to see, and I think we saw 60% of the checklist. Brooklyn ate hers:)

Braden and I LOVED the mud volcano site. They had a spot called "dragon's breath" and it was a cave with steam pouring out and boiling water sloshing on the bottom. It sounded just like you would imagine a dragon to sound like. Dave's favorite spot was "Morning Glory Pool" around the Old Faithful site. It was a beautiful pool of turquoise to orange water after an amazing hike around geysers. (Braden called them volcanoes also.) Keep in mind that all of these things smelled like sulfur, and Dave kept asking Tina if she wanted an egg sandwich:) The hike was probably a good 2 miles, and Braden is not very patient, so for Dave to keep him occupied, he had him hold his fingers and hum a song. Every finger played a different song. My favorite was "Squishy - pointer finger." I was behind them with the girls and I loved seeing the people pass us who would smile and laugh at Braden's songs. He was not shy and sang many different versions:)
The kids did so well sleeping in the tent and we were not cold at all with the amount of blankets we had, but despite that, it did hail on us the last night we were there! I don't know if this picture does it any justice, but this was the hail buildup on our truck. Thank goodness for Dave's great camping setup, and a burger joint around the corner! I told him there was no way in "hail" we were going to start a fire to cook dinner:) Pardon the language!When we were done eating, and leaving the shop, a guy told me that he was watching our little family in the cafe and said, "You guys are really blessed." That sure made me think, "yeah, we are" and realize that although it was a crazy little trip with so much to do and see, it was nice to take time and realize that we loved every minute of it we could spend with the kids!

Here's proof we went to Mammoth Hot Springs. Overall, I'd say it was a successful family trip!

Our 9 Year Anniversary & update

So yesterday was our 9 year anniversary. Is it crazy that it's almost been a decade?? I love it though because we were married in 2000, so it's easy to keep track of. I think it has had ups and downs, but for the most part I would describe it as "contentment".
I absolutely LOVE spending every minute I can with Dave. (I'm not sure he feels the same way...I'll have to ask him.) But the family loves him so much. I love working on projects with him. I love talking to him about finances (and I KNOW he does not share that love!) He is so fun.
I was reflecting on how we have changed and stayed the same (then life interrupted) but I did come to the conclusion that I turned from a happy-go-lucky girl to a worry-wort mom, but I still love social gatherings. Dave went from an easy-going guy to a hard-nosed manager (at least some employees have told me so), but he has kept his amazing work ethic and great sense of humor. I think kids have a lot to do with those changes, but I think that is the best thing we've done together! What would our lives be without them? I think it would be pretty dull! At least they keep my life VERY occupied.
So yesterday was not a big event, but content is the word again I will use to describe it. Dave got take out from our favorite Chinese place (Mandarin Garden). We actually went to Wendy's for frosties, and I also got a king size Snickers with Almond (my favorite.) And we watched "Doubt" with Meryll Streep and Amy Adams. All I can say about that was "interesting". And it wasn't his first choice, but what can you do with redbox? Dave had meetings during the day and I had piano students, so we figure we will celebrate during the month. We plan on going to Yellowstone on a camping excursion with the kids on the 16th and that can be our big celebration. I'm sure we will hit the theatre eventually to see "Star Trek" and "Angels and Demons" too.
I just love being relaxed. Especially when I'm in my last trimester. Oh, update on that is that I have low iron. I get so tired and that explained it. I was so relieved that it wasn't gestational diabetes. The baby is also measuring big so they are going to do another ultrasound at 32 weeks to check on him. We have tentatively come up with the name Cole David, but are not for sure yet.
So that was the exciting day:) Sorry it's so scatterbrained. That's what you get with my pregnant mind plus 3 kids running around me!

Brooklyn's 2!

Yesterday, we celebrated Brooklyn's 2nd birthday. I can't believe how fast it goes when you have more than one child...She loved her presents and will be the cutest dressed summer toddler thanks to her grandmas. She loves the dog Tag so we had to make a doggie cake (recipe found on family fun.com) The kids spotted it for me:) She also got bath toys, a little baby, a big baby with a carrier, and a stroller. Can you tell what she likes?? Here she is trying to push them around the house. It got a little difficult with the baby under the arm...The other day, she stole my cell phone and I caught her pushing a baby in a stroller with a stuffed animal in one arm and her talking on the cell phone with her shoulder. Talk about multi-tasking! She must observe me more than I know!

It was a great birthday. I think she enjoyed the attention and we all just dote on her. She is starting to talk even more. The other day I was walking to the neighbors house and she was following, and said, "Wait for me!" I couldn't believe she knew that already. She is growing up so fast...She hates her car seat and will try and escape to the back of the van where the booster seats are to be by her siblings. She wants to sleep in Tina's bed with her. She just watches her older brother and sister and wants to do everything they are doing. It is so fun watching her pray. She blesses the "OOOD" and purses her lips. I'll have to video it sometime. she also cries if she doesn't get to say the prayer for EVERY meal. What a character!