2 more days!!

We are getting excited around here.

On the Hunt for Christmas Lights

Dec. 22, 2015
I couldn't have asked for a better night with my family. I needed to be put in the Christmas mood and this little adventure did the trick. We loaded the kids {and a friend} in the van and set a course for St. George. We stopped first stopped at a house in Washington to see it's lights, then went to Barnes and Noble to pick out  a book for our sibling gift {our new tradition, ate at Golden Coral, then the St. George Temple to see the lights and Nativity, then to the Kuhn house, the winners of this year's Light Fight on ABC.

 Here they are with the owner of the House. Mrs.; Kuhn. She says they estimate a $1200 power bill!!

Not Quite Chrsitmas, But 'tis the Season

The only thing we have done this year to make it feel like Christmas (besides put up Christmas lights only to have 1/3 of them burn out) is to make these beautiful babies!

Raia had her Polar express Party for her Kindergarten class. That last little picture is the train she made in class.

Kiana has made sure that we chose Secret Santa names. Hopefully today we can go out and get those gifts. I like to be done shopping way in advance so I can just enjoy the magic without all of the hustle and bustle of crowded stores.

Hopefully more fun is sure to come!!!

Alana is One

It's funny you know.
Time.
365 days can seem like a life time.
Or those days can pass you by in the blink of an eye.
The nine months I was pregnant with little Alana seemed like an eternity.
This morning though, she woke up and my baby was one.
How did a whole year pass me by? How is it that my sweet little baby is not quite a baby anymore?
This is the last time.
I will never again have a little ball of a baby that clings to my chest.
No more dimpled thighs and elbows. No more coos and baby sighs. No more pitter patter of little feet on unsteady, chubby, dimpled legs.
I know there is a lot a sweetness ahead. But my baby days are behind me.

I never wrote my birth story. Mostly because it was unremarkable. I was scheduled for an induction on September 15. From start to finish the whole thing lasted maybe 6 hours. I was in good shape. I had worked out consistently until I was 33 weeks. After that i worked out once or twice a week. I can't believe how much easier this made the delivery. I wish i had exercised with every single one of my pregnancies! Now that I think about it though, Alana did have the cord wrapped around her neck a few times, so I did have to stop pushing for a moment for the doctor to unwrap it. That explains why I didn't go into labor earlier even though I had some crazy contractions. None of my other children had that issue. But she came out safe and sound.

The only moment of not was that I had a really nasty episiotomy.  The doctor cut through a muscle and a  (ahem) hemorrhoid. It was difficult to stop the bleeding when trying to stitch me back up. I couldn't walk for two weeks. So the delivery was awesome. Recovery, not so much.

Alana is our only child who has a Hawaiian first name as opposed to a middle name. When she is five she'll tell me that she is unhappy about that. But what can you do. Her middle name is Sofia. Spelled the Spanish way for my heritage.
I love her name.

Happy Birthday to my baby!

A big thank you to my friend, Ashley, for taking my labor pictures. She is the only person besides Kai, I have ever allowed in the birthing room.

More tomorrow.