Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Holidays...

We had a great December and enjoyed all our festivities with family.  Michael's Kindergarten class put on a really cute performance and he was so fun to watch...

While I intended for a lot of things to happen during the school break, very little did.  However we did manage to paint Naomi's room, which I was impressed that we actually did it (with a little help from some elves).
 But even with very little on the agenda, we still got tuckered out...
 Christmas morning was fun, and the boys actually didn't mind waiting til after church to open presents.  Jacob...
 This is such a representative picture of the two of them...love it...
 Baby slept through the gift opening, but woke in time for a picture with the dresses Santa brought her...
I didn't manage to send out any christmas cards this year. I pretty much only put up the tree and nativity, no other decorations made it up.  And my well intentioned gift idea for our neighbors never happened either.  Having a little baby can be terribly time consuming.  But we had a lovely little family Christmas and I am so thankful for the blessings of 2011, but quite happy to start a new year!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Random Shots

So I have some random pictures on my camera from the past week that make me smile.  Thought I'd share. 

This I haven't been able to bring myself to take down.  The boys did this when I went into the hospital when I was pregnant at the beginning of my ordeal, back in February.  They wanted to put hearts on all the bedroom doors for Valentines.  The other doors got one heart.  But they weren't satisfied with only one on mine, they wanted to show how much they loved me with lots of hearts.  There used to be more, but these are the ones that remain, almost 10 months later, still on my door.

Next, we have Jacob.  At 4 and heading close to 5, he is wanting to have some independence.  Here he made his own cinnamon toast.  It's disgusting, I think he used a half stick of butter on it.  Needless to say he tried one bite and then came and found me and asked me to make him some. 

Jacob again, quite proud that he did this all by himself and placed it in the nook in the entry to our room.  I don't have the heart to erase it. 

Found the boys with the camera one morning, quite enjoying themselves.  I'm not sure the identity of this nose though, despite the fact there there are several shots from this angle, it's still not enough to make a positive ID.

My firstborn is turning 6.  Sigh.  He has grown up so much this year, I enjoy him a lot.  I really really do, a lot. Mucho.
Here are 3 clean monkeys.  It makes me smile, she seems to have a look that is telling me she doesn't think letting them in the tub was the best idea, but she'll tolerate it for now.  Though she has her arms up in a defensive position, just in case.
So that is a glimpse into my little world, according to my camera.  I still think I have the most wonderful baby ever made.  I adore her so much.  She has been dubbed "baby Omi" by my nieces and the boys have picked it up.  Michael was trying to quiet her the other day and I heard him say "it's ok Om, your brother is here."  So sweet, but never imagined 'Om' as the nickname. 
I saw a quote on a friend's blog that said "THE DAYS ARE LONG BUT THE YEARS ARE SHORT."  It is completely true.  And as I switched baby's clothes out today and pulled out the 3-6 month sizes, it hit me hard just how quickly time really is passing.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Blessing Day

We had Naomi's blessing this month.  It was so wonderful to have so much family here to love Naomi on her special day- we had about 40 people at our house for lunch after church that day. Sometimes living near family is a blessing (other times you want to throttle some of them but on this day it was a blessing).

So here is our little family (I love that Mark bought a new purple tie for the occasion, he wanted something representative of having a daughter):

All the Howard Clan (all of Mark's family lives in town):
All the Boston Clan (that live in town):
Sweet baby Naomi (or Baby Omi as my niece calls her):
 
Here is some detail of the dress I made (with some help from my mom), I love how it turned out!  I have never made anything that detailed before, so it's definitely a boost for my sewing confidence.

My mom made the quilt that she is on and I adore it!  (It's tradition for her to make a quilt for each baby.)
Naomi is such a sweet, gentle spirit and we are so very blessed to have her as part of our family.  I am amazed everytime I look at her.


Thursday, September 29, 2011

Naomi

Finally figured out how to upload pictures with the new computer, it kept saying I didn't have access to the folder whenever I tried uploading from photoshop to blogger or facebook.  But alas all has been ironed out.
Here is a picture of me 2 days before delivery.  I still threw up every morning except for the morning of delivery, but I think that was because we had to get up at 3am to be at the hospital by 4 and those stomach acids didn't have long enough to stew and make trouble.  By the way, I don't miss pregnancy...at all.  I chose to be induced, I had waited for labor with the other two and likely would have done so this time if not for my dad's surgery and the narrow window we had for my mom to take care of the boys.  But I was glad to have baby a couple days early too- both the boys came close to their due date and had respiratory issues initially because of meconium, so it was a relief to not have that issue with her.  I got hooked up about 6am and she was born at 7:09pm.  I am no hero, I believe epidurals are part of the further light and knowledge provided by Heavenly Father.  And after what this pregnancy did to me, I knew I didn't have the endurance even if I did want a natural childbirth.  But of the 3 deliveries, this epidural was the best cause I could still feel my contractions and move a little.  My nurses were great, apparently it was a good day to have a baby at Summerlin because there were only 3 patients on the whole labor and delivery floor.  It only took pushing through 3 contractions and she was out.  Dr Harter was fabulous as always, he is so friendly and personable in the office, but I appreciate how he takes charge and is so focused during the delivery.
So she arrived, 6lb 11oz, 19 inches, my smallest baby.  (Sorry sweet girl, I know coming to Earth wasn't exactly on your agenda right then).
Here we are, resting after delivery.  We were still unsure what to name her initially, but eventually settled on Naomi Amanda.  Naomi was my grandma's middle name and Amanda is my middle name.  I like that it's rarely used anymore, and although unintended, finished off our family of biblical names.
The next morning Mark brought the boys by for a visit.  They have adored her from the beginning and haven't stopped!
 Daddy is kind of in love with her too.
We waited 24 hours after delivery and were eager to get home, hospital beds are the worst.  During labor I swear my rear hurt more than the contractions!
Michael can't get enough of her, and feels a keen responsibility to look after her.
At 3 days old my fabulous friend Lynette came and took newborn pictures of her.  I can't wait to see them all, but here are a few she sent me...I think they capture how sweet and gentle her spirit is.  Lynette had just got her new faux wood mat, it totally looks like paint chipped wood boards but is really a nice foam mat.  Love the effect.


I feel great (except for my bout with the flu this week), but I guess I didn't realize how cruddy I still felt being pregnant because it was so much better then it had been in months 2-5.  But I love that once the baby is out, all the nausea and vomiting goes away and that feels soooo good!  She is a perfect baby and really doesn't cry or fuss unless she has a good reason.  She just had her 2 week well check and weighed in at 7lb 7oz and 21 inches.  I don't think they are great at measuring accurately at this age because I doubt she grew 2 inches.
So that is a little about our lovely Naomi, and of course, I would do it all over again for her.  I would.  Every ache and pain and vomit truly was forgotten as soon as I saw her.  People say that I can use this against her when she is older, but that is silly, it wasn't her fault.  No way would I hold it over that sweet little innocent face you see above.  Then again as the perionatologist said, "when she turns 15, you may want the IV zofran back..."

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Let it begin...

So August 29th was the first day of school for Michael, he was excited, but got nervous when he got to his classroom, then got over it pretty quick. He is very motivated to bring home a green card every day which means he had good behavior. He already complains about homework, which isn't a good sign considering he'll be doing it for the next 20 years of his life. Here he is, ready to go... (one finger being for first day of school)...
September 6th marked Jacob's first day of preschool. He longed to go to preschool all last year when we dropped Michael off at Miss Aubrey's. At last it's his turn. So far he has been happy to go, but it makes me laugh that he is literally a head taller than the girls and a good 3-4 inches taller than the boys. I love my blond giant.
And here is me yesterday, 39+ weeks. Thought I should document the belly to some degree. I am really looking forward to not throwing up on a daily basis. I know I will feel tired and miserable in different ways after she comes, but I am so tired of the nausea with the constant tightness in the back of the throat. It's novelty wore off long ago. Here's hoping I only have one more morning of this.
We can't wait to meet her and get on with this next phase!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Welcoming Home the Missionary

The triumphant return!
The first of our nephews came home from his mission to Ghana Cape Coast on Wednesday (they can wear khakis, sandles and short sleeves there). All the Howard clan was at the airport for the event! Here is the happy family!
Cody is a seriously awesome young man and was a great missionary. He was so happy to see everyone and eventhough it's been 2 years, Michael was one of the first to run and give him a hug! We always prayed for him in nightly prayers and talked about him, so I guess he didn't seem like a stranger after so long.
My brother-in-law had these Tshirts made for everyone to wear, with Ghana, Cape Coast Mission on the front, and Got Malaria? on the back. Since Cody got malaria twice while he was there, it made for a good joke.
We all went out for lunch afterwards (they stopped at the Stake Pres office on the way and he got released in record time!) and then hopefully he went home and took a nap! We sure love our Cody!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

a picture's worth 1000 words

My parents really wanted some new pictures of the little grandkids who are growing so fast, so they had a lady in their old ward take some for them. I love how all the bright colors and prints actually worked well together. Here's a look:
Brothers.

With Papa.

So Jacob.

Pretty pretty girls.

My folks.

Love Miss E and her scarf.

Silliness.

Buddies.

This picture is SO her. The zebra print and boots together, I love it.

Don't know what was said, but Michael's face cracks me up!

Now the hard part is to pick pictures to go up on my wall!