Tyer at one month old

November 7th- Tyler is a month old!











I feel like the Lord has blessed me so much with strength- physically and emotionally. Jon has gone back to his crazy, stressful life as a Medical Resident- so I can't expect much help from him - - though I do have to say he does his best and is a good father- his time and energy is limited, though. Jon is doing amazing and seems to be handling his stress really well. This is such a critical time for him- he REALLY has to do well on his current rotations (see my earlier post about this here). I HAVE to be handling things well at home! I can't say Tyler is the easiest baby either - - he is pretty demanding! I knew that this would be the case- - so my prayer has been to have the capacity to HANDLE it well, and to be STRONG. I really feel that the Lord has done this for me! I don't feel the slightest depressed (unlike after Lillian where I suffered from some Post Partum Depression), in fact quite the opposite. I don't know if I have ever felt so happy in my life, with an extreme depth of emotion towards my family. Don't get me wrong, I am exhausted (see the pictures above- I look a little tired, don't I)!!! I am definitely in the Land of No Sleep. Tyler gets up about 5 times a night, and often Lillian gets up a couple times too. Naps? What are those?? Sometimes I try, but often I just end up frustrated. Tyler also wants to be held all day and breast feeds non stop it seems like . . . But despite the hardships of a young baby, I am sooo happy to have him and I am super enjoying him. I enjoy cuddling with him and caring for him- what an amazing blessing and it brings such joy to my day. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for giving me strength during this time.

Tyler's Blessing Day

I know this is a couple of weeks late- but here are the pictures from Tyler's blessing day on November 1st. Both sets of Grandparents came, and we had a wonderful day!

Here is Tyler in his blessing outfit and laying on his new quilt made by Grandma Wilson! Isn't the quilt beautiful?




I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family. I love all my children so dearly. It is amazing how with each child my heart and soul expands to incorporate another one of Heavenly Father's children. It isn't that my love gets divided amond my children, it is that my CAPACITY to love grows to include another. What an amazing blessing!

Well Child stats

All the kids just had well child checks within the last couple of weeks- everyone is healthy. I am also glad we were ALL able to get the H1N1 (Swine flu) vaccine too!

Just for my own records:

Marcus: 8 years old
Height: 52 1/4 inches (4 foot 4 1/4 inches) 61%
Weight: 62 pounds 58%

Cynthia: 6 years old
Height: 44 5/8 inches (3 foot 8 5/8 iches) 29%
Weight: 42 pounds 27%

Lillian: 3 years old
Height: 38 1/4 inches (3 foot 2 1/4 inches) 73%
Weight: 32 pounds 60%

Tyler: 5 weeks old
Height: 21 1/2 inches 45%
Weight: 9 pounds 11 ounces 50%

Cynthia-isms

Cynthia sometimes says the funniest things. She gets her words mixed up and sometimes what she comes up with his hilarious. She does it more than even Lillian. Here are some of our favorites:

"Can I have some Fruit by the Toe?" - - she said this once instead of Fruit by the Foot.

We found a cute pink Nintendo Gameboy at a garage sale and bought it for her (Marcus already has a blue one with a bunch of games). She was so excited and told us it is her "Game Girl".

She has a hard time saying hand sanitizer - - instead it sounds like "Handsom-itizer"

At the church Halloween party she comes running up to us to tell us one of her friends was dressed as a "Evil Princess". It took me a minute to figure out her friend had told her she is a MEDIEVAL princess.

And my absolute favorite happened today. Jon told her if she didn't get ready for church in time she would not get breakfast. She said- "Well then I would be QUICKING!" She meant to say FASTING! Needless to say Jon about died laughing. So funny how a 6 year old's mind works - - fast is the same as quick- right?


Lillian does say her share of cute things- -

Her newest is saying to everything "It's not my fault!" with her little hands on her hips, and her timing is always really funny.

She also shushes us whenever we are trying to dicipline her by saying "Shhh- baby Tyler is sleeping", no matter if Tyler is anywhere near us.

Whenever I call her a term of endearment- - like saying "Yes, honey" or "What is it, Dear", or even when I say "you are my big girl" or "you are good helper!" . . . she will say "I am not DEAR (or whatever I called her), I am LEN (how she says Lillian)."

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is such a fun Holiday. I love celebrating fall and all of the fall fun with candy, parties and dressing in costumes.

This year, Marcus dressed up as a knight for our ward party and Iron Man for everything else (though I must have been totally out of it because I didn't get a picture of Iron Man!), Cynthia was Snow White (with a wig and everything!), Lillian was a fairy princess, and Tyler was a Monkey.





The celebrations started on Wednesday with our ward party- a medieval dinner and games. It was really fun!

Jon even dressed up in his Prince costume!

Lillian and her best friend Caroline:


Friday I visited CWFM (Jon's work) with Tyler and Lillian for their costume potluck.


Also Friday the school had a "Monster Bash" party in the evening (it was a mad house!), in addition to their classroom parties. Luckily my parents were in town for the weekend for Tyler's blessing, so despite the fact that Jon worked until midnight Friday and Saturday (the 30th and 31st) I had the help I needed, and we had a fun time. On Saturday (Halloween day) before we took the kids trick-or- treating, we went to the arboretum and walked around in the fall leaves! Again- I love fall - - for kids there is nothing like piling up lots of fall leaves and jumping in!








What a good looking couple! (My mom and dad) - - Thanks soooo much for your help this weekend! I couldn't have done it without you- especially trick or treating- Dad took the kids around while I was in the car with Tyler, nursing and staying out of the cold wind!



Trick or treating . . . and we topped off the evening at a ward members house with homemade doughnuts and cider. Fun, fun, fun!

Big Brother

I am so proud of Marcus- who has truly been a wonderful big brother to Tyler. He is helpful, caring and loving to his new little brother. He always wants to hold him and interact with him, and I can see the bond, even though they are 8 years different in age!

Just an update - - at almost 4 weeks after Tyler's birth . . . I am doing great! In fact, I feel completely recovered from the C-section - - although completely out of shape so I tire easily. I am still sleep deprived, for sure, and constantly nursing during the day. I find sooo much of my time is taken up by nursing or holding Tyler, who cries any time he is awake and not being held! His naps during the day are very short, but LUCKILY at night he will usually go 2-3 hours asleep between feedings, allowing me to actually sleep. Naps for me are virutally impossible because of both Lillian and Tyler's demands! Although we can venture out on short errands or outings, I am feeling a bit cooped up- which I anticipated. Luckily, emotionally I feel really good, and I am truly enjoying our new little baby- he truly brightens our life as a family. I am just so glad I pretty much cleared our calendar as much as possible- so my stress level is low- - I just do things as I can- and forget the rest (meaning my house is a bit of a disaster . . . though I am proud of myself for keeping up on groceries, laundry, dishes and doctors appointments!). The great thing about nursing is it forces me to SIT down and take a break! I have enjoyed reading several books and watching a couple of new TV shows. Over the course of a couple of weeks I watched the entire first season of Legend of the Seeker on Netflix (a great family friendly fantasy, though a bit cheesy- I love it.). When else would I EVER have time to do that? So - - life with a newborn isn't that bad - - I just can't expect to have a large stressful to do list, lots of places to go, or a clean house! It is what "maternity leave" is for, right? I am not taking a break from a job outside the home, just some of my jobs AT home. Thank goodness for meals in the freezer . . .

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Cynthia is sporting a pretty large gap in her mouth, with both front teeth missing. as Jon said- "you could drive a truck through there!" She has the cutest lisp - - I need to have her sing All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!