Awww....

My cousin's wife, took Tennyson's one year pictures for us. She is INCREDIBLE! They turned out so well. Here's a sneak peek!

http://photographybybianca.blogspot.com/

Oh, I could just die over the one with his finger in his mouth!!!

The strength of a women

I had a doula with my first child.

Since then I have always flirted with the idea of someday becoming a doula myself. I got a little bit of a taste of what it would be like today.

VERY early this morning, 3 am to be exact, I received my third call since 1 AM from my cousin's husband. This time informing me, Sarah, was now dilated to a 6. I rolled out of bed, almost literally,threw on some clothes, and headed off to the hospital.

Upon arriving I found Sarah worn and tired from already laboring for nearly 23 hours with the last 7 being very intense. She was surrounded by her husband, Kyle, and the mid-wife and I could see she was in very good hands. Sarah had asked me to film the birth and I was thrilled to oblige. I'd never seen a birth. I've GIVEN birth but haven't cared to watch as I have labored
Au natural and am usually extremely focused on the task at hand.

I entered the labor room just before 4 am. They checked her again and announced she was now a 7. The contractions started coming quicker and with more intensity. Sarah had chosen to try for a natural birth and as she focused and relaxed through each contraction I was awed by the strength she found within her tired body to continue the journey. I found myself transported back to my own recent labor. I started having to do the breathing exercises as well to calm my anxiety. I felt for her and I swear I was having phantom pangs of labor every time she had real ones. Yet, she remained steady and consistent. Challenging and overpowering the overwhelming urge to give into the pain. The raw power was intoxicating.

There were only 3 contraction towards the end in which she declared her dislike for contractions. But she was doing it!

At 4:53 AM they checked her and discovered she was complete.

3 minutes and 3 pushes later at 4:56 AM I had the unmatched privilege of watching their second child, Henry Norman Brown, a mere 7 lbs 7 oz, enter this world. The beauty of it made it impossible to stop the tears from coming. Sarah was amazing with Kyle by her side supporting her effort.

The strength emanating from a women conquering and surviving the pain was humbling and captivating. A strength that comes from a power all our own. A power that is intrinsically women's. Heavenly Father MUST love us to give us such a gift as helping a new soul enter this world and the strength to accomplish such a daunting responsibility.

Thank you for the experience, Sarah. Way to go!!

Free!

Check out this link for an AMAZING deal for all the Thomas the Train lovers out there!

http://72.3.156.41/txt/thomas.pdf

Seriously?

We went to a local Taco Bell, or was it Taco Time...doesn't matter, last week. We were greeted with the information that they were currently out of chicken and steak, oh and tomatoes, but we were free to chose anything else from the menu. We made our choices, although a bit hard, I kept spying things that looked delicious only to realize they had chicken in them, and placed our order.

Luckily, we were the only ones there and easily found a prime location, if such a thing exists in a fast food joint. Keeping in mind that no one else has entered said establishment since we got there and we are practically right in front of the girl who took our order you will understand our confusion when the girl looks right at us and yells out, " 235." Then timidly follows it with,"Hey is this yours?"

"Um (quickly glancing around to make sure, yes, we were indeed STILL the only customers in there)...yes."

"Oh, good." said with such a sense of relief that I'm sure our faces were prime examples of utter disbelief.

During our meal, which you know didn't take long, they proceeded to run out of the remainder of their beef leaving only spicy chicken (which I thought they said they didn't have any chicken) and beans.

Good times.

late night visitor

Karaia came upstairs around 12:30 am last night in the usual way that kids come in at night. You know, when you wake up to a little face breathing on your eyeballs and you are just so glad your arms are tangled up in the covers so you don't accidentally whack them in the face because someone is in your room breathing on your previously asleep eyeballs?


"Mom, I thought my nose was bleeding. Then my nose felt like it was going to throw up. So I got up, went to the bathroom and wiped my nose.......it feels much better now."

I covered my laughter with a yawn.

(I didn't want to hurt her feelings. It's not every day your nose feels like it's going to throw up and I can only imagine what an unsettling feeling that is)

As I was taking her back to bed I congratulated her on her quick thinking and taking care of such a unique situation.

She agreed by telling me the whole ordeal step by step one last time.

Turning ONE

Tennyson, you turned one yesterday! I cannot believe you have already lived with us for a whole year. We had a big party to celebrate your birthday and Father's Day. You were loving all the attention you got. You were surrounded by loving family which included, Grandma and Grandpa Great Daly, Mom, Dad, Karaia and Beckham, Nana and Pappa, Grandpa Guy and Grandma Emma, Meghan and Alex, Megan and Coltin, and Nate, Breanna, Marlee and Jordyn. I made you a soccer ball cake that you weren't sure about at first. You quickly overcame your shyness as you realized we were offering you unrestricted, nearly pure sugar. At one point you abandoned your hands, eliminating the time lost when you had to lift your hands to your mouth, and just leaned down and dug in!

Yesterday, when it was just me and you in the morning, I was telling you the story of your birth as we came to the exact year mark of time that you were born 8:19 am. I know you don't remember much, but I can vividly remember nearly every detail about that day.

I bonded with you instantly and we've been buddies ever since. You have been the happiest kid. The first 3 month, the months I normally dread and count down the seconds until they are over, I loved with you. You were a fantastic eater, rarely cried, very snugly, and you always went right back to sleep after you ate at night.

There have not been many times that Dad and I have looked at each other and thought, " What is going on with this kid?" The only thing we've really had to work on with you is the screaming. Oh the screaming! Most of the time it was happy, but happy, sad, frustrated, delighted, or mad it was still the same frequency that caused most human ear drums within a 1 mile distance to you to burst with un-matched pain!

At your young age you can:

walk (a bit but still mostly crawl),
almost go down the stairs backwards,
clap,
play peek-a-boo,
color with chalk (and eat chalk),
dig in the sand,
feed your self with a fork or spoon (if we put the food on there first)
roll the ball back and forth with someone,
brush your teeth,
and brush your hair (sometimes WITH your toothbrush!!)

Say: ball, dad (da da) woof (buff), vroom (brrrrr), banana (nanana), dog (da), night night (ni ni),

Sign: more, milk, all done, dog, airplane, ball, cheese, helicopter, eat, book, shoe, and please with pretty regular consistency.

You know how to get your grove thing on whenever you hear any kind of music and you LOVE phones and balls. You have fallen down the stairs once, giving me a heart attack, but luckily we have Nurse Meghan in the family and she made sure you were OK.

You are quick to smile and are ticklish in nearly every spot on your body. You do not like to get your head wet but love to play in the water. You are a bottomless pit when it comes to eating and out eat your siblings at nearly every meal. You love to laugh when everyone else does even though you have no idea what the joke is.

You adore your older sister and brother and love all the attention they give you. You'll put yourself right in the middle, to their frustration, of whatever they are doing just to be with them. They love you so much.

There are two things that everyone always tells me about you, strangers and all, you are so happy and you have sparkly eyes.

You have filled our home with so much love. I am filled with love for you and honored to have you, someday, call me mom.


Happy Birthday, Tennyson!

Love always, Mom

Father's Day

I'm a day late, but I'm sure you'll understand. Yesterday was Father's Day and Tennyson's very first birthday.

Happy Father's Day to all the Father's in my life.

Dad, thanks for teaching me to think for myself and that it's OK to have a different opinion from the crowd. Thanks for disciplining me without any anger. Thanks for loving my children and always making time for them! I hope my children love me they way I love you.

Dave, I am grateful for the role you play in my life. My children adore you and that says a lot about someone! Thank you for all that you do for us and your endless service, time and energy!

Jim, Thank you for teaching Kevin to be a fun dad. The kids can feel you love for them and they just light up inside because of it. Thank you and Happy Birthday yesterday. I LOVE that you and Tennyson get to share your special day!

Kevin, you are a wonderful father. You are always willing to let the kids 'help' you even though it makes the job take that much longer. I have been told repeatedly that you are the "fun" one and although I'm pretty sure I've provided our children with some fun I am delighted they hold you in such high esteem. Thank you for traveling this journey with me and helping raise amazing children!

Just now

Beckham : "Dad, your hair smells just as good as Ryan's."

Kevin : "Oh? What does Ryan's hair smell like?"

B: " Just as good as yours."

Me: " Who's Ryan?" (I thought it an appropriate question seeing my son is talking about the smell of another boy's hair)

B: "You know, Morgan's Dad." (That's my step-brother who recently was, very patiently I might add, a pony for about a half an hour)

Me: "When did you smell Ryan's hair?"

B: "Never."

K: "Then how do you know what Ryan's hair smells like?"

B: "Apricots."

Reunion

It's been nearly 10 years, Braves. They (our esteemed elected peers) have decided the date, time, and place. Check out the Bountiful High Blog for details.

And he's off....

My baby turns one in 4 days.

Apparently, he knows that too.

Let's all vote!

My cousin, Josh, wrote an amazing essay for the Golf Channel and is now one of 5 finalists! The grand prize is a trip to Scotland, with his dad, to play at St. Andrews, the birth place of golf. It now comes down to who the judges vote for and who gets the most votes from America. Lets help them get that prize! You can vote once a day. Here's how:

Click on this link to this link http://www.thegolfchannel.com/fathersday/default.aspx and wait for the little intro to load (don’t’ click skip) after a second it will show the finalists. Up at the top of the page between the Father’s Day logo and the Golf Channel logo there are some words that indicate different links…one of them says VOTE. Click on it.

It will take you to another page where the finalists stories are, I think. (It may take you right to the registration page.) Or when you click on the little arrow by Josh’s that says “open” it will bring you to a page that makes you register before you can vote. You have to provide your name, address, phone, email. They do this because a secondary contest is running where those who vote win a chance to be awarded gift certificates and golf balls, etc.. Then it will play Josh’s essay and there will be a link that says something like Vote for Josh. (I can’t exactly remember because it won’t let me in again today.) After you click it, it tells you “thanks, your vote has been recorded”. You can vote once each day—the next day when you go to vote, since you are already registered, you just give your email address.

Pass this link on to everyone you know!

3 year old's worst nightmare

After the kids had been asleep for a few hours I heard crying. I found Beckham tossing and mumbling in his bed.

"Beckham. What's wrong?"

With his eyes still shut, Beckham sobbed, "There are BIG holes in my bike!"

"Buddy, wake up. See. You're still in your room. Your bike is safe in the garage."

"......huh?" One eye slides open, "Oh. Good night, mom."


I wish my nightmares where as innocent and so easily fixed.