New Stuff

The above is a picture of our new antique cupboard. Captain F and I have had credit at an antique store for years. Finally on Labor Day we got my mom to tend the kids and went down to the store. We found a couple good options, but decided on this beautiful pine cupboard that fits perfectly in our kitchen. We have been wanting something for that spot since we moved in to the house. It is so nice to have the extra storage. As you can see, I haven't finished decorating it, but we are totally thrilled by how it is coming along. We also got that cool wagon at the same time.

V is now in Dance class. It is the cutest thing ever! She does tap and ballet. I don't think she is particularly good at it, yet, but it is adorable. She is awful about letting me take pictures of her in her outfit. This was the best picture I got.

Here are some pictures of Frosty and the gang.

summer updates

Part I--General Pictures and Baby Blessing

Here are some more pictures of the kids from this summer. We have been busy, busy. Frosty is a total trooper. We cart her around everywhere. We have been to Weber a few times, but not as much as usual because of conflicting travel schedules. We haven't gone anywhere, but we have had lots of visitors. Initially, my family was going to drive from SLC to Glacier National Park and then on to Calgary and Banff in the beginning of July. I told Captain F we could totally do it with our 4 year-old, 2 year-old, and newborn. He was very skeptical. It sounded like torture to him. He said, "This just sounds like Weber with a 14 hour drive. I get all the cowboy I want at Weber and it is just 1 hour away." That comment was enough to derail my entire family. They decided to go another direction, New York City. Needless to say, I didn't think we would have fun taking our 4 year-old, 2 year-old, and newborn there. In the end, we decided a trip just wasn't in the cards this summer. Good thing people came to us.

Ootsie took this picture of the kids on the last day of her first trip to Utah of the summer.














We were able to take some friends up to Weber in June for an overnight adventure. We decided to go the day of and we actually pulled it together.









































































We blessed little Frosty on July 3rd. I know it was not a Sunday. The Canadians arrived in Utah on July 2nd, and my entire family left for NYC at 6 a.m. on July 4th. Saturday was the only day we could do it. We had the blessing and brunch at my parents' house. It was so nice not to have to get my house ready on top of everything else. The blessing was nice, if not real reverent, and the food afterwords was great. Lots of people went swimming, too. It was a fun celebration for little Frosty.





















































































V had her first swimming lessons this summer. The first day she was very brave for the first 25 minutes and then started to cry. The second day I got in with her when it was clear she was going to cry again. After that, she was a star student. She loved to volunteer to go first for everything. The Prince turned out to be a little too advanced for his class, but when I signed him up at the beginning of the summer that would have been the right level. He is basically water safe at this point. We still watch him, but he is able to swim without a life jacket or any aid. He just swam the length of the pool at my parents' house a couple of days ago. Like I said, I would never leave him unattended, but he is doing great.

Part II - Family Reunion

Ootsie and Outsie stayed with us for a couple of days in early July. They came out for the blessing and to go to Ootsie's family reunion in Zion's National Park. They did lots of yard work before leaving our house to stay with Cicada, who had them do lots more yard work at her house. Then it was on to the reunion, which is a four day affair. Captain F decided to take both the Prince and V from Friday to Sunday. Frosty and I stayed home. The sleeping arrangements were too hard for a newborn baby. The kids had a great time. They got to sleep in a tent, go to a water park, do lots of swimming, and learn to belly dance. I had a quiet weekend at home. Everyone was happy, especially Ootsie who was glad Captain F would brave taking the kids alone to join in the fun at the reunion. I think even Captain F was happy, even though he got all the work.

Part III--Richie's Visit

Richie decided to come out to Utah this summer afterall. He was here for a little less than a week, but we packed it with lots of activities and some down time, too. One of the funnest things we did was hike to Cecret Lake in Alta with the kids and Aunt Brat. The kids were great and walked almost all the way by themselves. Richie volunteered to carry Frosty, but he said he wouldn't take her if she had poop. To which Aunt Brat, who had volunteered to take her as well, said, "That goes for me, too." Richie was also very careful while watching the kids by the edge of the lake. You can see he has a good hold on V. We followed up the hike with a trip to Lagoon that night with all the family, except Senor who was on vacation with his girlfriend.





























































We also did lots of swimming and ate lots of good food. Richie is a great cook and always makes delicious meals for everyone. We should have taken pictures. Oops.



















(I am including the following picture because it is the only one taken of me recently that looks like I could be remotely attractive. I'll let you figure out why.)




























































Richie is definitely a favorite uncle. Lucky for Richie he also got to spend time without the kids. He and Aunt Brat went on another hike and a movie without us. I think it was a successful trip.

Pictures of Frosty

I promised to post some more pictures of the kids and particularly of baby Frosty, thus named because she was born with dark hair and lighter tips. How can she have frosted tips in the womb?

We have been so busy since Frosty was born. We may have just had a baby, but we have two other kids that still need to be entertained. Thankfully, Ootsie came here the day after Frosty and I came home from the hospital. She stayed for two weeks and it was wonderful. It is very easy to have a third child when someone else is doing the dishes, cooking, and entertaining your other kids. Ootsie blogged and posted pictures of some of her adventures with the kids. http://www.msmcjiggity.blogspot.com/

Plus, she even spent one morning working in the yard with Captain F. After a couple of hours working with his mom, Captain F came in and said, "It is just so nice to have two people working. I feel like I am actually gaining ground, not just maintaining." Even when I am not pregnant or recovering we rarely are able to both work together. One of us is usually watching the kids. The yard looks so much better. Now we just need to plant some flowers, and then I will post pictures. We had to wait until after our new roof and soffits and facia were installed, otherwise our garden would have been destroyed. As it was, our perennials didn't fare too well.

One of my favorite parts of the new roof was that they came the day of the Prince's birthday party. It was a little crazy but we survived. I will blog about the birthday later. It did turn out great despite the chaos.

Here are a couple more recent pictures of Frosty. We have the matching outfit for Little V. So cute! Poor Frosty is suffering from baby acne. I hate this stage. Good thing she is still beautiful.

We went to Lagoon yesterday and had a great time. It is a little more tricky with the baby, especially since the kids' favorite rides require that they be accompanied by a parent or older kid. We had to go in shifts. Here are the kids eating their ice cream cones.

OK. At least I have posted some more pictures, even if the stories are lacking. Sadly, it has taken me three weeks just to get this far.

She's Here!

Our new little girl arrived May 22nd at 12:28 a.m. She is 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long. Captain F and I didn't get to the hospital until just after midnight. We had to pull up to the emergency room entrance because there was no way I could walk myself to labor and delivery. Sadly, there was no time for an epidural. I had to do it the old fashioned way. My cousin's wife just had her baby natural. On her blog, she said how she was surprised that a few screams escaped her. I remember thinking, "You screamed? Couldn't you control it?" I mean, this girl is tough. She has run several marathons, including the Boston marathon, and been in the navy. And now I have to admit that I, too, was surprised when a few screams escaped me. I know it startled Captain F. I really couldn't believe it myself. When it happened I thought, "Was that me?" The doctor and nurses thought I did great, though. The doctor was very nice and would tell me when to push and that I was doing such a great job pushing. He said one good push would be enough. Well, it took a couple more pushes than that, but obviously she came fast. The funny part is that the doctor kept telling me to push harder and keep going and I remember thinking, "Push harder? I am pushing as hard as I can. There's another level?" I told this to Captain F later and he said, "It goes to 11." We laughed and laughed. The delivery did go well and the baby is fantastic. She's got lots and lots of hair. Little V loves to rub her hand on the baby's hair and exclaim, "Id tickles." The Prince just adores the baby. He always wants to hold her and give her kisses.

Here are some photos of me, Captain F, The Prince, and V when we were all about the same age as the baby. I always love to compare how the kids look and who they look like. My mom says the baby looks a lot like I did. It's nice to have one of my kids look like they belong to me.

Soccer

We signed the Prince up for soccer for the first time this Spring. He started in March and it ended last week, on May 8th. There were seven games total. Watching pre-Kindergarten soccer is fantastic. It really is great entertainment. There isn't much pressure; the kids basically just run in a pack after the ball, and some don't even do that. Some of the players dance around the field, some play with their buddies totally unaware of where the ball is, and some don't play at all. My kid isn't any of those. He cares. At his first game he was so excited and convinced that he would get a goal. When the game ended, which was disappointing enough, without him getting a goal he was undone for 20 minutes. He cried as hard as he ever cries. The next week we were in St. George and missed the game. The following week he didn't get a goal, either. Well, he got a goal but it was in the wrong net. It was heartbreaking to tell him that he needed to get a goal in the other net. He had been so proud and had such a look of joy. He cried and cried at the end of the game. It was about at this time that Ootsie told us a story about Grandpa Canadian.

Grandpa played professional hockey in the Red Wings organization. I think he only played until he was 19 or 20 because he injured his back on a goal post. This was when the posts were cemented into the rink. Anyway, she told us how Grandpa cried after every game he lost, even when he was a pro. I started to laugh and laugh. Obviously, this is genetic! How am I going to teach a 3-year-old not to cry if Grandpa's mom couldn't even teach an adult? There is a very strong competitive gene there, and believe me, my family has its own competitive strong streak. And for those of you who are thinking I am a good example of it, you would be wrong. I am nothing compared to my mother. In fact, when I told her about Grandpa Canadian she said, "I never cried when I lost at tennis," with disdain, pride, and superiority in her voice. For those of you who don't know, my mom was ranked 3rd in women's tennis in the USA when she was just 14-years-old, the highest national ranking any woman from Utah has ever achieved. I told her that she was just manifesting another version of the exact same competitive gene, like "I will not be one of those people that cry because I am better." She didn't like me discounting her achievement, but she had to agree I was right. So, now you know what I am up against! We can only hope that the Prince actually has some ability along with his very strong desire.

I know you are dying to learn the rest of the Prince's soccer record. I think it was at his next game that he got his first goal and followed it up with another for good measure. He was so excited to have 2 goals. Of course, no one was more grateful than Captain F and I. I had been hoping and praying that he would get a goal that day. It was then that I realized my life was going to be tied to a stupid sports goal. How had this happened to me? The next game he almost got like three goals, and particularly one where he kicked the ball all the way to the goal and then stopped. I think he thought it had gone far enough, but it never quite crossed the line. We were dying. He cried again. The next game he got two more goals. Surprisingly he cried at the end of that game, too. He said to Captain F, "But I no get one two three four goals." What can you do when they get upset about the goals they didn't get? Seriously. In his final game he got one more goal and would have had another one, but the other team's couch blocked his shot at the goal line for no reason. He claims he heard the ref blow the play dead. Believe me, the refs aren't that strict and who stops a goal of a 3-year-old. Really? Plus, he is the coach, not the player. But, it didn't matter. That was the day they passed out the soccer trophies to each kid. That was enough to make the Prince's entire day and week. I wasn't at that final game because I went to my nephew's baptism. Afterwards there was a lunch at my brother's house. The Prince came charging into the lunch triumphantly carrying his trophy. He was the conquering hero.

Easter in St. George

We went to St. George over Easter weekend with my mom, sister and her kids. We left Friday around noon. My sister's firm has a condo down there. It is small, so we stayed in a hotel. It was so nice to be out in the sun and swimming. The kids loved all of it. We went to the art festival, and Captain F even bought a screen print for his office. There is a great area for the kids to play in the water. They loved it. We also went to our favorite park. It is great for all ages. The kids could have stayed there for hours. The Prince and V were so excited to wake up Sunday morning and discover the treats the Easter Bunny had left for them. We drove home around 2 or so Sunday afternoon. It was a great little vacation and the drive seems like nothing after having just driven to Disneyland and back. The kids are great travelers.