Our fat little boy

Sorry to all you avid readers of our blog. Since school has ended and David has joined us our lives have not been the same!

We are still trying to get a schedule of our summer life and we are finally making progress. Everybody wants to sleep later than they should and stay up late. Daylight savings time definitely is against us as far as that goes.

We have been neglecting family scripture reading and finally started again this morning. I leave for work by 7:25 every morning. So starting today the kids and Ruth get up and 7 am and we read from the Book of Mormon. It feels good to have that time together.

David is really filling out. Our other boys have stayed skinny from the day they were born. But David is from a different mold. Hopefully he continues this pace and will be a fast grower.

I'm NOT Wonder Woman?

David Almon Mavy
(Yes that's a binky IN his mouth! First one of ours to take one!)

As you all know by now, David has joined us! We've had an interesting few days since then.

Labor and Delivery was wonderful. I had Jason, my mom, my sister Becky, and a good friend,Tonya there to help me through contractions and be a part of the blessed event. My contractions started about 2am on Saturday and were coming about every ten minutes until about 4 that afternoon. They closed in at about 5 minutes apart and less at around 6pm and we headed for the hospital. He was born at 8:33pm and it was wonderful to have the company and help from all those present! I also was able to have my nurse midwife there. She has moved to Texas and she came to do a little "On Call" work for another doctor.

Everything seemed to be doing fine until Sunday afternoon. All the family and kids that were able to, came to the hospital for a visit. Everyone was able to get pictures with David. And we were all enjoying the visit. To make a long and crazy story shorter, I ended up losing about half of my blood volume and almost fainted a number of times from the loss. All that because there was a tiny piece of the placenta that came out in the last bleeding episode that I had. So, instead of going home on Sunday night as planned, I had to stay longer for observation and fluids. I was also at the point of having to consider a blood transfusion. Luckily the fluids worked well enough. They made me puff up like a roasted marshmallow, but they helped me feel a lot better. We planned on coming home Monday night after they were done pumping me with fluids if all was well. But apparently the doctor didn't like my numbers enough to let me go, so I was stuck there another night. Tuesday morning came and I was so ready to be out of there. Unfortunately, David was looking a bit yellow, so they tested him and his bilirubin levels were high. SO, we had to stay and keep him under the lights ALL day. The doctor also wanted me to be able to walk around without feeling dizzy before I would be able to leave. So, I tried my hardest. I took a shower, walking there and back the whole way and I felt good. I did have to sit for a little after to rest but I did good enough. All we were waiting for was the test results for David which they couldn't take until 8:30pm. I had to talk to the Dr. about the results which were good, He came down from 13.9 to 10.1, but she wanted me to stay another night with him under the lights. I told her that I knew how to handle Jaundice and I promised to bring him in to test again the next day. I just wanted to get the heck out of there before they found another reason to keep me longer. We got home at about 10:30pm Tuesday, and I had a wonderful nights rest in my own bed! We've been home for two days now and with all this running around and testing they've had me do, I'm pooped. I feel a lot better and am slowly getting my energy level back. They said I won't have my blood level fully recovered for at least three weeks and I am not allowed to be by myself with all the kids until then. It's so hard for me to HAVE to take it easy! I've always been able to bounce right back and get on with life. As of now we are both doing well, we're still waiting on the last test they did for his B.R. levels. I feel like they will be just fine. I've been nursing him like crazy and sitting him in any sunny window that I can. The kids all love having him around and I think they are all feeling the difference of not having as much attention from Momma. We've had some cranky kids around today for sure. But it's definitely to be expected right! Life is just so different right now for all of us! So, needless to say, I won't be able to do many of the things I wanted to do this summer even though he came early. Oh well, camping and L.A. are going to have to wait until another time!

I hope I haven't bored you all too much, but I guess if I had you would've stopped reading a long time ago! So, thanks for caring and for all your support and prayers! We love being a part of all your lives as you are a part of ours!

New Van

So we have a seven passenger van and a family of eight. We want to replace our van, but not with something more expensive.

Yesterday the federal government gave us, and everyone else, the solution to this problem. The feds will give us $3500 if we trade in our van for a vehicle that gets 2 mpg better. First I've got to make sure our van doesn't get better than 18 mpg.

Edit: Here's a link to an article about the House passing the bill. http://www.leftlanenews.com/house-passes-cash-for-clunkers.html

The following is quoted from the article:

Trade-in vehicles must be rated at no more than 18 mpg to qualify, meaning it will benefit truck, SUV and van owners more than passenger car owners. For those who trade in a car that gets at least 4 mpg more, they’ll receive a $3,500 voucher; pick a car that averages 10 mpg more and those buyers will get an extra $1,000 for $4,500 total.

The program is designed to last for a year - or until funding runs out. The House says it will spend about $4 billion that was expected to be allocated to a war supplemental spending bill, rather than using previously allocated dollars - as had initially been proposed by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow.

Dealers will be required to prove that traded-in vehicles have been crushed or shredded, and not resold.

He's Here!

David Almon Mavy joined us today (6/6/09) at 8:33 pm. He weighs 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and is 20 inches long. Details and pictures to follow!

Prego update

Hey all, Ruth here! Last week at my appt. I was at 1 1/2 centimeters. I went to the dr. today. I'm dilated to a 3 now and am hoping this new little soul will join our family in the next couple of days!!! Just thought I would let you all in on the excitement that we have going on around here!

This was taken 5/24/09 one of the few times I actually am picture worthy, before church! I finally got Jason to take a picture of me at the right time, he insisted that I stand in front of our gourgeous grapevine!

Wish us luck! Hopefully our next post will have a picture of this cutie inside of me!!!

Childbirth at 65

This is from an email I got from our bishops' wife. I thought it was too funny to not pass along!

Childbirth
at 65

With all the
new technology regarding fertility recently, a 65-year-old friend of mine
was able to give birth. When she was discharged from the hospital and went
home, I went to visit.

'May I see the new baby?' I asked

'Not yet ,' She
said 'I'll make coffee and we can chat for a while
first.'

Thirty minutes
had passed, and I asked, 'May I see the new baby now?'

'No, not yet,'
She said.

After another
few minutes had elapsed,

I asked again,
'May I see the baby now?'

'No,
not yet,' replied my friend.

Growing very
impatient, I asked, 'Well, when can I see the baby?'

'WHEN HE CRIES!'
she told me.

'WHEN HE CRIES?' I
demanded. 'Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?'

'BECAUSE I FORGOT
WHERE I PUT HIM, O.K.?!!'

Last Sunday

The last Sunday in May, that is.

Christopher, tired at bedtime.. This will be a great blackmail picture.

Ruth was released from the Primary Presidency today after 2.5 years. She has done a great job and always tried to do her best. She has been called to serve as a primary worker in the nursery. When Sarah and Joe move away our Aaron and one other little boy will be the only children attending nursery.

When we got home we had a snack of popcorn, kettle corn, apples, crackers, cheese and summer sausage. I asked Christopher and Kaitlin what they learned about in their class (they are in the same class). Of course they couldn't remember. I asked if their teacher told them any stories and Kaitlin said "Yes". She couldn't remember what they were about except choosing the right. For some reason I admitted that even I choose the wrong sometimes. Kaitlin jumped on this and said with a chastising tone "like when you yell at your kids?!"

I was going to respond but let it go and just thought about that for awhile. Sometimes our children don't listen to us and we feel we have to raise our voices. This is definitely not the most effective method of teaching good behavior, in fact its the opposite. We may feel that we don't have time to isolate a disobedient child to have a quiet teaching moment. But the time we have isn't really for anything else but to teach with love. If I feel I have to yell, for something that isn't dangerous, then I am probably being lazy and selfish myself, which is the behavior I'm trying to correct.

I got to play the piano in Primary today. It is one of my favorite things to do in church. It's not my calling but I fill in at least once a month. Now that Ruth is going to be in the nursery I will be back in Priesthood and playing there.

I love music, in case you didn't know. It has a power that speaks to our spirits that I can't explain. But it has had a profound effect on my life. I love being able to be part of that influence for other people.

Stiches and Rattles

Ruth: I hardly ever mop.

On Wednesday the nesting instinct took over and I mopped all the floors when the kids were at the computer. As I was rinsing the mop Kaitlin and Christopher came out of the bedroom, Kaitlin dressed up in her pretty pink-and-purple princess shoes and white gloves. The girls have some plastic shoes that they like to wear for dress-up. They are too small for Rachel and Emily. But Kaitlin still wears them sometimes as well as the boys. Before I had a chance to warn them about the wet wood floor, Kaitlin lost it and fell on her chin, splitting it open. Emily was freaking out, took one look and said "She needs stitches!" I didn't want to scare Kaitlin, so I told her she may not have to get stitches, but we should get it cleaned up first.

Kaitlin was much braver than I was, but the fat showing through her open wound was making me faint. I called Jason asking him to come home as soon as possible, but I knew she needed to be taken care of right then. Luckily, Sarah and Joe still live right down the road. Sarah came over to find me crawling around the house avoiding potential fainting injuries and Kaitlin holding cotton balls to her chin.

Sarah drove me and the kids to her house where we left the uninjured children with Joe and she took Kaitlin and I to the emergency room because I did not yet have the stomach for driving. We waited for 2.5 hours before being seen by the nurse. They numbed her chin with Lidocaine(sp?) and Kaitlin was back to her goofy self for an hour until they came to stitch her up. I couldn't watch but I held her hand with my head between my knees.

Jason visited twice, both times to take my place, but Kaitlin wanted me to stay with her instead of her dad. Jason brought us some roast beef sandwiches while we waited because we were missing dinner at Sarah and Joe's.

Kaitlin was very brave. She said that the only part that hurt was the shots (anesthestic). After they were done they gave us both juice boxes and let us lay there for a little bit. The apple juice was good. On the way home I bought her an ice-cream cone and let her choose some popsicles from the supermarket.-RuthJason: Saturday we spent most of the day at home. I worked outside digging holes for a fence around our garden. But we did something fun this evening because we aren't going camping.

The Cache Creek Wilderness lies in the mountains between Clearlake and Woodland. There are some trails that are accessible from highways 20 and 16 that border the wilderness area. I wanted to go out there for a evening hike since we weren't going to do anything else for the weekend. I have been studying the area on Google Earth as a possible deer hunting area.

For the trip we popped some popcorn, made some kettle corn, filled our water bottles, and stashed some carrots, raisins, trail mix, granola bars, and fruit snacks into our bags. We left the house around 5:30. It had cooled off by then and was quite nice outside.

The trailhead is about a 20 minute drive from our house. When we were almost there I ran over a huge snake at the edge of the road! The road trip was enjoyable with the kids and parents singing silly songs most of the way.

There is a "bathroom" at the trailhead that amounts to a two-stall pit toilet. Some of the kids said they needed to go, but mysteriously changed their minds after sizing up the bathroom. So we locked the van and started walking.

We gave the kids rules before we began. Everybody stays together, stay on the trail, no running, etc. We hadn't gone 15 feet down the trail when i hear a loud "BZZZZ". Kaitlin and Christopher are in front of me and my heart starts racing because they are between me and the noise. Luckily the noise had stopped them in their tracks. The rattlesnake slithered away through the grass still shaking its tail. I never saw it but the grass bent out of its way as it left. It sure got my adrenaline going. I was ready to grab both kids and pull them back when the snake started moving away. But the snake never showed itself.

The rest of the trip was enjoyable and uneventful. We walked in about .8 miles (according to google earth) and stopped for dinner. We saw a gopher snake on the way and lots of blue-belly lizards. Our dinner site had a limited though pretty view of the mountains and a little valley to the south. It was breezy but very nice. No noise but the wind and nobody else on the trail.

Happy Memorial Day to all of you. Thanks to God and to those who have given their lives for ours and our freedom.

Jason

P.S. That was the first rattlesnake I've heard of the five that I've encountered.

I'm getting anxious!

Here we are with about three weeks to go before this new little person will join our family and I'm starting to get anxious! I have been telling myself this whole pregnancy that he'll probably be late. But now that we are so close I have been hoping for him to come early. There are so many things that I want to do this summer that if he came early it would make them so much easier to do! I know he'll come when he's good and ready, I just hate this last month of WAITING!

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and she told me that the baby is probably about 5 1/2 pounds. When she said that, all I could think was, that is too small and he can't come for at least another pound. I don't get to have babies that are that tiny. Of course, they can't really tell for sure how big the baby really is until it actually comes out. She also told me that I'm dilated to a one but he's still pretty high. So really there's no telling when he's going to make his grand entrance.

While I wait, I've decided to have as much quality time with the kids as possible. I know I'm gonna be tired for about three months soon.

By the way, if anyone knows of a great deal on an eight-seater vehicle, please let us know!

Truth Commisions

Here's an excellent parody of our Congress' top National Socialist at a news conference.

Mayternitty?

I've had a bin of maternity clothes that I won't be wearing for the remainder of this pregnancy sitting in my room for quite some time. I finally got it out and asked Jason to put it under the house (Since I'm the last one left pregnant in our family,*sniff*) until I'm done with the ones that I am using. Jason enlisted the help of Rachel. She is what I think a really good reader and she loves to read. She read the label on the bin and asked Jason, "What are may-ter-nitty clothes?"

We had a good laugh and Jason explained that it's pronounced muh-ter-ni-tee, and that they are clothes for pregnant women, but he used different words of course. It was cute and I thought I'd share. Even eight-year-olds say funny things!

Enjoying spring

A couple weeks ago I noticed some potatoes with eyes and leaves on them. So, i took the out and stuck them in the dirt, six pieces of potato altogether. This was right before the rains got here. I didn't realize potatoes liked water so much. They've really taken off as you can see below. A couple of the potatoes got dug up by who-knows-what before they could start growing, But we still have four potato plants going.

We're enjoying our yard lately. We've built new boxes for gardening.

Ruth got dirt for Mother's Day. Enough to fill our new boxes and other areas where we will plant stuff. Ruth planted a bunch of seeds in cardboard egg cartons. Its so fun watching stuff sprout and grow! I hope our tomatoes produce better than last year.

Kids in a Blanket

I don't know what else to say, but that we had fun this morning!

How do you start your day?

How to start each day with a positive outlook:


1. Open a new file in your word processor.

2. Save it as 'Barack Obama'.

3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.

4. Empty the Recycle Bin.

5. Your PC will ask you: "Do you really want to get rid of 'Barack Obama?"

6. Firmly click 'Yes.'

Feel better?

GOOD! - Tomorrow we'll do Nancy Pelosi!

All I Want For Christmas...

Is there anything cuter than a seven year old missing her two front teeth?

Emily's first front tooth fell out during dinner one night a few weeks ago without any pain, and she was hoping that this second tooth would do the same. Much to her dismay, dinner was over and her tooth was still attached by the smallest string. So she mustered up the courage and pushed pulled and got that sucker out by herself. She only had to pull for about 30 seconds when it finally gave way. She so brave!!! I don't remember ever pulling out my own teeth. I was always willing to endure the pain of letting my dad use his pliers and get the dollar he would give me afterward. If we mention the word pliers around a loose tooth here we always get a loud NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Are they really that scary?

Did you pull out any of your own teeth?
Or were you content to let your parents do it for you?

"Get rid of the Loveseat?"

Ruth: I've been wanting to rearrange furniture and change the decor in our home, since we've decided not to move. Last week I asked Rachel and Emily if we should get rid of the loveseat in our living room to make it more open and roomy. Rachel's response was:

"Where would we put the clean laundry?"

So, we're keeping the loveseat.

FED

So, what do you think of the Federal Reserve Bank now? Obviously they control the value of the U.S. dollar, now they've got their fingers in the every possible pie they can, what with TARP money being doled out to so many banks, and giving orders to the heads of banks to buy other banks and requiring their silence as well. The whole thing stinks to me.

Anybody buying gold?

Easter, Dr. visit, Goodies, and Mid 70's

Ruth:
Easter: We had to be at our ward for this Easter Sunday, so we got to enjoy just our family for this special day. It was a nice quiet day. I cooked a little ham dinner and we colored 10 hard-boiled eggs. I hadn't thought that we were going to do a hunt this year, we were lucky I had the hard-boiled ones we did! Jason hid the eggs after they dried and the kids enjoyed finding them. Jason hid them pretty well to make it last a little longer and because he likes to give our kids challenges! It was a wonderful day! We sure wish we could've been with our families, but it was nice to just have our little family together, teaching about Easter and why we celebrate it.

And we finished off the evening with a good zerrbert!

Dr. visit: I went to my 32 week check-up this last week and it turns out that I only weigh 4lbs. more than my skinny husband with 8 wks. to go before delivery! This is a first for me so I'm pretty proud!

Goodies: Money has been tight lately so I didn't get a lot of Easter candy for the kids and I didn't take advantage of the after Easter candy sales. So what's a prego girl to do when there is no good munchies in the house and she's cravin' something good? That's right, I baked up a storm and all before 9:30 am this last Thursday. I made Banana muffins, Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and Ranger cookies. They were all so good! I'm thinking the gap between Jason's weight and my own is going to rapidly get bigger!
76 degrees!: Today we enjoyed some beautiful weather! We spent the morning working to get our garden ready, and after luch the kids got their swim suits on and ran through the sprinklers! The girls had a blast getting wet! Aaron was asleep and Christopher ran through once crying the whole way. Jason is going to grill hamburgers tonight for dinner, and the kids have been outside for most of the day! I hope this weather keeps coming and I can muster up the energy to go out and enjoy it with the kiddos! I really can't wait to get the garden in, watch it grow, and enjoy home grown tomatoes, zucchinni and other yummy veggies!

Are you making goodies for yourself and planting a garden this year too?

Raspberries

Today the president noted that "tax relief must be joined with fiscal discipline. Americans are making hard choices in their budgets, and we've got to tighten our belts in Washington as well." (emphasis added)

It makes me want to blow a huge raspberry at him. I feel like that is what he and the rest of our communist government are doing to us.

We are no longer the United States of America. Our new name is the Socialist Union of American States. I thought about the Union of Socialist States of America, but some states like Texas or Utah might secede over that. And we're better off without losing them.

$10.5 trillion commited to fixing our economy
$2.5 trillion already invested.

Ruth's Vacation!

Ruth: I'm here and feeling better, finally! I'm still fighting some kind of allergy but for the most part I'm better and have finally found some time to blog! I'm sure you're all so excited and can't wait to see how much fun we've been having over here and hear about my wonderful vacation!

Warning!!! It's a long one and I talk about eating a lot! But I've included pictures and a slideshow so I hope you won't be scared off!

I flew out to Utah for a bridal shower for one of my best buds from High school on March 19, a Thursday afternoon and arrived in Salt Lake around 7pm. After some problems with getting the rental car I had reserved (too embarrassing to share with the world) I was able to be rescued by my wonderful Aunt Donna and my sisters! Becky, Jacob and their family came up, and Mary and Liz are attending BYU. I was also able to get upgraded from an economy car to a 2010 Mazda 3! It was a sweet ride let me tell ya! The only problem it had was no power locks, which for a 6 1/2 month (at the time) prego was something to complain about! Its not fun having to climb in and reach over to unlock doors in this condition!

Anyways, I was grateful to have it and not be stranded in Utah bumming rides off of my friends and family! That first night we headed back to Donna's house and hung out for a while just visiting and getting caught up! I hadn't seen my Aunt Donna for a long time and it was great to visit and relax from the evenings events. I stayed at Jacob's aunt's house with Becky's family while I was there. She had an extra room for me and since Becky and I were gonna hang out most of the time it was nice to be in the same place.

Friday morning my good buddy Courtney (the whole reason I went and was able to go out in the first place) met us at Jacob's aunt's house and from there we went to a place in Provo for breakfast. We then headed out to Springville to visit with our other good buddy Krista, who just had a baby the end of January! We visited with her for a while and I was able to rock her sweet baby Mitchell to sleep. He was adorable and I was so glad I was able to meet him and see Krista!

After that visit, Becky and I went to a yummy Mexican restaurant, Cafe' Rio, maybe you've heard of it. I hadn't because I live in the middle of nowhere. Anyways, that night Liz, Mary and I hung out at Donna's eating a yummy dinner, thanks Donna! We played Singing Pop Star (I can't remember the name of it for sure, but we sang songs) and Dance Dance Revolution! Sorry no picture of that! You'll just have to imagine me with my big belly hopping around and trying to dance better than my sisters and my cousin Valorie. I think I did pretty good! I did beat Mary once I think.

Saturday was the day of the shower and Becky and I went shopping that morning for some useful bridal shower gifts (since my P.Chef order didn't come in time for the trip). We were able to find some cute things and we had a wonderful time at the shower! After the shower I went with Krista to the grocery store Smith's (what an awesome store! I wish we had one!) We got ice cream cones for 51 cents each and that day they were having Circus Days! They were selling hot dogs and cotton candy out front and if you know me, I never pass up a chance to get cotton candy! We had to wait a while for it, but it was fun to chat with Krista and other locals, who I'm sure were Mormon. I didn't even have to ask, the minute the lady in front of me told me she was #6 of 13 children I knew. So, after getting my cotton candy fix we headed back to get my car and Courtney. Krista had to get her milk and baby home. Courtney and I headed out to Payson to her mom's house. We visited with her family for a while reminiscing and having fun almost just like old times except no videos were made and we didn't dress up. Still fun though!

That night us sisters got together for our Girl's Night Out. We went out to Chili's where I made Mary leave her phone number for our waiter, some cute and friendly guy who they knew from BYU, and we had great food and tons of laughs. After we ate, we went to the mall and walked around a bit. We headed over to the creamery where we met up with Courtney one last time before my trip was over. We met her at the BYU Creamery where the line for the over-priced yummy ice cream was out the door after we had got ours. We shared some more laughs then took Mary and Liz grocery shopping. We also got us some breakfast for the next morning and then took Mary and Liz home. The next morning (Sunday) I headed out to the airport all by myself in the rental. While in line to pay for it, the guy behind me pointed out that Steven Colbert, from the Daily Shows "Colbert Report," was walking past us! I looked back and indeed it was him. Not that I watch the show, I've just heard of it and seen him on t.v. before, crazy! He saw the guy pointing and he smiled as he walked away. That was pretty cool.

Anyways, I returned home safely and Jason picked me up from the airport. It was sooooo good to be able to get away and focus just on my friends for a weekend! Especially since I hadn't seen them in such a long time! Thank-you Courtney for being such a wonderful friend! And thank-you to everyone that helped me in my little dramas while I was traveling alone! I don't know if I want to travel by myself again! I had so much fun! Thanks to everyone who took care of my kids while Jason worked at his Dad's that weekend too! I couldn't have done it without you either! And of course to my wonderful sweet husband who let me go play with my friends and sisters! I love you all!

Not the car I was driving, it was just like it this one, same color but without the sunroof. Nice car! I would never be able to fit my family in it but it was fun to drive! Zoom Zoom!

Me in my sweet ride for the weekend!
My good buddy Courtney! Good luck with married life!

Me and Mary fun girl's night!

Cute Becky and Liz on our fun girl's night!

Me and my big belly, with Courtney, Krista and her son, Mitchell