I hate picture day...but the end result is priceless

My cousin Kari took these pictures. Aren't they amazing? I may be biased :)

Firsts...

Playing catch up here....we've been running by the seat of our pants. It is HARD to juggle four kids! I'm not complaining. I LOVE it!

This is the first time Mase had a bath. He didn't like it much but now a days he's digging it!



G-man started kindergarten last week and he is loving being a 'big kid'. I didn't even cry because he was SO excited to go. Princess loves being a big sister and helping him find everything. After all, she is a seasoned 3rd grader :)

Here's a few pics of the first day of school

The baby has arrived!!!

We named him Mase B. He was born on August 12th at 12:04 am. He weighes 7 lbs 2 ounces and is 19 inches long. He’s got black hair and loves his binky (Yay! Ikey hated the binky!). We are ABSOLUTELY in love!!

Here are all the gory details of the birth! If you don’t want to read, just scroll down for some pictures! I won’t be offended.

For about three weeks I have had really strong contractions on and off. It’s been really emotional feeling like that was the day only to have them stop over and over. On Monday (August 10th) I had an appointment where I was going to have my membranes stripped (translation: really terrible exam that gets things going). The midwife told me that they were totally swamped at the hospital and couldn’t do it! I was really disappointed. To put the icing on the cake, my cousin went into labor that day and delivered, which made me want to be there even more! The midwife had told me to call the next day (August 11th) and see if it had died down at the hospital and to see if they would strip me that day. I called at 8 am and she said that I could! After the appointment I went and finished the school shopping! When I got home I felt crampy but no contractions. I needed to get this show on the road! Sooooooo…I mowed our lawn! All the neighbors kept coming out and offering to help me, but I just told them this was self imposed torture. I started contracting during and as soon as I was done, I told Ben that we needed to walk more. So we went to run errands. We went to the post office, shoe shopping, we returned clothes that I had bought that didn’t fit, and got some lumber from Home Depot for projects.

At this point it is 4:30 pm. The contractions are coming on strong. My sweet sister came to my house and took over and we headed over to the hospital. They put us in an evaluation room to see if you will change over time. When I got there I was a 4, which is still no change from my appointment that morning, but they can see the contractions are consistent. They said, walk around for an hour and we’ll see. I was so disappointed at this point because my body was acting different than it usually does. It usually takes a miracle to get the hospital in time :) . After that hour, I had dilated a ½ cm. She took pity on my soul and admitted me. I was so tired at this point and opted to get an epidural. They then broke my water. Now it is 8 pm. I was comfortable and able to sleep a little bit. My mom and Ben just hung out. They checked me at 10 pm and I was only a 5. By 11:45 pm, I was only a 5 ½. I got REALLY discouraged and just cried. I didn’t want to do this all night. About 11:55 pm I started feeling really icky. I just felt awful. I started shaking really bad and could feel the contractions. The nurse came in and decided to check me since I said “something wasn’t right”. She suddenly said, Oh my goodness! You are 10 cm. Let’s get the midwife! The midwife had gone into a break room and had just lain down to take a nap (Remember 10 minutes earlier I was 5 1/2? She said later that she was really confused and didn’t know how long she’d been sleeping. My nurse was awesome and already had the room set up for delivery (luckily). By 12:02 am I was ready to push. I pushed once and he flew out at 12:04 am, 19 minutes from 5 cm to in our arms! He is TINY compared to my other boys so it was pretty easy!

We are so in love! He does have a nice set of lungs and lets us know what he likes or not! We are so happy!!

Update on me!

I haven't posted forever! I've been a bit busy...

Life is good, but man! Is it hot!! I swear all I do is sweat (I know the visual is appealing :) Everyone say a prayer that Ben can handle a tearful, emotional wife. I'm getting so funny about things. I'm not near as ready as I should be for this baby, but really I must have a problem. The nesting instinct hasn't really kicked in this time around. I have everything I need, it's just the motivation for putting it all together. I guess I figure it will all work out.

I went to my appointment this morning and I am 4 centimeters and 80% effaced. That's normal for me to walk around like that. Until I am having regular contractions I don't consider myself in actual labor. When it does start, I have to hurry though!

I guess I better go and start, you know, washing some clothes or something. Maybe I should pack a hospital bag? LOL!

I'll post a big fat picture of me soon!

Crazy Summer Days....

There have been some changes around here lately!

My body is getting increasingly HUGE! By the end of the day I am so tired and I start to waddle. Ben thinks it's endearing and I think that it sucks :)

We are enjoying summer! My sister in law came over one day and totally laughed at my chore charts, daily schedules and structured activities that I have planned. Come on people, are you really surprised? It's my OCD and perfectionist self coming out in rare form. Where did I learn to pay attention to detail? I can't pin point it exactly, but certain members of my family carry the trait well. We are a club. The other members, they are on a different team. The team that doesn't care about every little detail and won't have a full blown breakdown if something isn't planned.

Ben is changing jobs. He is currently in the middle of transitioning from one to the other, which has made life crazy. We haven't seen much of each other lately with our callings pulling us some nights and Ben working so much. He just left this afternoon for a camp out in Nevada with his Young Men's group. Sunday night/Monday morning he leaves for L.A. to finish up and pass off his current projects to those who are taking over. The new job is for a company in Orem that works with financial software. They have been "recruiting" him for a long time and the timing just felt right to us! It's an amazing opportunity and has a few perks that I will enjoy. He'll be working from home 2-4 days a week, which will be SO NICE after I have the baby. His opportunity for growth is immense and if we all know Ben, he will jump in there and put everyone on the efficiency wagon.

That's all for now...wish me luck this week without a husband :(

Happy Niner, My Love

Rachel will regret giving me access to her blog the minute that I embarrass her, so read fast!

It's true that Rachel and I knelt across an alter nine years ago today. The image of my angelic wife smiling at me is burned into my mind - I'll never forget it, not ever.

Our song was "You Had Me from Hello" by Kenny Chesney and the reason it's our song is because it's my song to her. Yeah, it took Rachel a little longer to come around and stare fate in the eyes. I knew that this girl was going to be mine after our first kiss, which I distinctly remember thinking, "Oh boy..." immediately before. Anyway, Rachel completes me, she really does. I'd be a big pile of goo without her discipline and planning!

So it's been nine years and here's to nine more! I think I'll only see my wife grow in virtue and capacity. She continually amazes me with her tireless pursuit of perfection. She works so very hard to keep everything running smoothly and I cannot thank her adequately.

Rachel, I love you, happy anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to us!!

I just can't believe how fast time has flown by! All the ways we have grown individually and as a couple.

Indulge me for a minute. I must publicly share my feelings about Ben. Even as I type, I know he will be embarrassed by this post, but guess what? That's too bad! :) See what a good wife I am?

I am so proud of my husband. He has been nothing but generous and outstanding in every aspect of our marriage. He is an amazing father and so much more patient than me. He balances me out in almost all areas. He is a honest, hard working man. I can honestly say he has never raised his voice to me or spoken to me with an ounce of unkindness. How? I don't know! I can't say the same for me. I have depended and cherished his ability to bring the Spirit into our home, to quietly reprimand me when I'm not the best. I don't know how he does it, but he motivates me to be better because he is better. I will stop now, but I needed to get this out of my soul.

I am so grateful that we were sealed in the temple and are forever linked if we are faithful to our covenants. What a journey it has been. It's hard to imagine what our lives will be like in another 9 years...(Princess will be 17!!! AHHHH!!! :) It's the best choice that I ever made and I'm so thankful for a Heavenly Father that knew the potential that we would have together. Love you babe!



This is the only picture I have in my computer right now...pre-digital age!