That Ragged Old Flag

My brothers instilled in me a love for "The Man in Black"....good ol' Johnny Cash! This is a performance he did...I have never heard THIS ONE before.

I think it's about time I try to do a little update here.

 It's been about 3 1/2 months since I have gotten out of town...and you all know how stir crazy I get. I haven't really left the house much either. It's either time to feed Connor or the other kids or something or I don't have anything clean to wear that fits. :[ BUT...all in all....things are good. We're all healthy and plugging right along!

Here's a little taste of what's been going on:

~visits to the dr.
~kids playing outside
~kids climbing the trees...(they use the branches of our apple tree as "monkey bars" and they literally swing from limb to limb.)
~laundry, laundry and more laundry
~kids playing in the kiddie pool
~Brandon tending the garden (the corn is almost taller than Adelin now...and we have about 20 giant sunflowers that I can't wait to see in bloom!...there's other things in the garden too...besides corn and sunflowers...and weeds!)
~Connor is growing....he's getting fat and bald!
~dishes, dishes, dishes
~Brandon had a birthday on the 21st (the day after Father's Day)....he's now 33 years young!
~Adelin now rides a two wheeler bike
~Kaitlyn got 6 stitches in her chin a week ago from a fall she took on her bike
~Weston can finally peddle his tricycle
~Connor smiles and it is SO cute! He even giggled in his sleep while I was holding him the other night.
~I made 23 cutely covered Book of Mormons for the Young Women in my ward (they were given to them at girls camp)
~Brandon's been playing soft ball with the ward

....Weston said something funny to me that I have to share so that I can remember it later!
I was making pancakes and he opened the drawer and told me "I'll get the big getter-out for you." And he pulled out the spatula! (I wasn't sure if I had heard him right so I held up the spatula and asked him what it was and he said "a getter -out")....reminds me of something from a Jeff Foxworthy joke. :)

I am meeting a friend (Shannon who I haven't seen in years!) at the Show Low pool today. I am lucky to have wonderfully amazing teenage nieces who are willing to come help  me with the kids.

Oh...one more cute thing the kids said. Addie said that she can see Weston's imaginary friends. :}

That's all for now!

"Knowing who you are changes what you do."

~Bonnie Parkins

Connor's 1 month stats

10 lbs. 4 oz.

23 1/2 inches long

95th percentile for height...75th for weight

This kid poops and barfs like crazy! Imagine how big he'd be if he didn't barf and poo so much! I almost made it through today in the same clothes...but he GOT ME after his last feeding!...oh wait...I take that back...I had to change my shirt this morning because it got baby poo on it :}

He sure is cute though!

kids watching a movie in boxes (they called couches)....and cute Mr. Con-Man!

Kaitlyns 1st grade program

Kaitlyn had her first grade program on May 20th...the same day Brandon had his knee surgery.

I got to go to the program (along with Adelin). Thankfully Brandon's knee was still numb so he could handle the kids, plus his mom came over to help.

At the program, the first grade classes sang songs that all had little hand motions to go with them. It was very cute! I don't think a mom can ever tire of seeing their child perform something! (okay...unless they were doing a terrible job...) Kaitlyn was very cute and kept looking at me with a shy little smile.

After the program, we went to her classroom!

Adelin was wondering where all the toys were!

Kaitlyn loved her teacher Mrs. Taylor and is

really going to miss her. I still hear her quote facts that

Mrs. Taylor taught her!

And here's Brandon...all bandaged up!

Connors Birth Story....

I have written down the story of the birth of each of my babies. Now, it's Connors turn. Someday, he might care to know about the day that he came into this world. Maybe? Either way, that's what moms do right?....sit around and tell birthing stories? Okay, maybe not...but I am going to anyways!

So....Connor. Your due date was May 11th 2010. I found out I was pregnant with you on Labor Day 2009...and you ended up being born on Cinco de Mayo 2010! I was induced. I hadn't wanted to be...but, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the best thing to do. I needed to get 2 I.V. bags of antibiotics before you were born, to make sure you didn't get Group B Strep. The doses had to be given 6 hours apart. I know myself and I knew that if I were to go into labor on my own, there wouldn't be enough time for both doses of medicine. SO...that's how you got to be born early.

Wednesday the 5th of May I woke up, took a shower, did my hair and even put on make up! That's another good thing about being induced! I didn't have to show up at the hospital with my hair a mess! Grandma Flake came over to watch the other kids and get Kaitlyn off to school at abour 7a.m. That's when dad and I left. We got to the hospital  around 7:30 a.m. It's so weird to go to the hospital and be like, "I am here to have my baby" and not be in any pain at all! They took us to a room, got me in a gown and hooked up to the monitors and started my I.V. (I don't like I.V.'s at ALL!) Then we had to wait for all the antibiotics to go through. That took about a half hour. After that, there wasn't much to do! Dad checked his work emails....I called my friend Angela to see how the rolls she made the day before turned out. We watched some T.V. and chit chatted about...I don't really remember what we talked about...but it was actually nice for dad and I to sit and do nothing but visit and listen to your heart beat. We also went for a walk. We got a little ice cream and chatted with the lady working at the gift store. She told us to make sure to have dad ring the bell after you were born. It plays a lullabye throughout the hospital. :)

Around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Dr. Tindall came and broke my water. Then a little while later my nurse (Courtney) gave me half of a pill to start contractions. Meanwhile, dad and I were playing card games...Phase 10 and UNO. I think he beat me at all the games...but...whatever! Then around 3:30 p.m. or so we went for another walk. We walked for over a half hour....around and around the Labor and Delivery floor. I was bound and determined for you to be born before dinner! Well...we went back to the room and played cards some more. At about 4:15, I started having regular contractions. They weren't too bad. With all the other kids, I had back labor. The contractions I had with you weren't near as bad as they were with the others...but still, by a quarter to 5:00...I was thinking that they were going to get way worse fast and that I wanted an epidural. I was dialated to 5cm by then. Well...things happened pretty fast after that! By the time the epidural was in and working....it was time for me to push...you were ready...but doctor Tindall still needed to get to the hospital. His office is just across the street, so he got there pretty quick. After about 4 pushes...you were born! It was 5:25 p.m. according to the hospital clock. I dialated 5 centimeters in half an hour! Pretty crazy! You weighed 8 lbs. and were 21 inches long. My friend Anna Decker came on shift. (She's a nurse there at the hospital). I had to stay in Labor and Delivery until my epidural wore off...that took close to 4 hours. It was nice to have Anna there to talk to. She also gave me a shot to help stop the bleeding. Although I love Anna and could talk to her for hours...I didn't love her giving me a shot in the behind too much...even though I was still numb....

You were just the cutest, most perfect little thing. You nursed like a champ from the get go. That's SUCH a blessing.

We were finally moved to Postpartum at around 10 or 11 p.m. Dad and I were so tired. Dad had planned to drive home and then come back in the morning...but the nurse got the sofa bed all ready for him, so he stayed and slept there.

We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights and went home on Friday the 7th. I love those days that we were in the hospital together. It was nice to not have visitors and to just get to hold you and feed you and not have to worry about anything else.

You are 3 1/2 weeks old now and you have fit right in here at home. The girls love to hold you. Weston did at first too. It's nice to have Kaitlyn and Adelin so eager to help with you.

***later***

It's been about a week since I typed this and I keep thinking I will sit down and revise it...but that's not going to happen apparently. All the facts are there...so that's the important part! :)