A Little Catch Up

There's been a lot going on around here.  Instead of several posts, we'll just do a little re-cap.

Chloe started baby food!

She also just had her 4 month check up (at almost 5 months. Oops.)  She weighs 13 lb 10 oz (25-50%) and is 26 inches long (90-95%).  She's still a happy smiley baby who makes some of the strangest baby noises.  We are all completely in love still.

Sophie has been begging for quite some time to get her ears pierced.  After learning how to write her last name, she finally got it done.  For the record, she didn't cry one bit. No watery eyes either.  She's also very diligent about keeping them clean and twisted. 

I am embracing another year in my 30s.  Jeff, the kids, and my parents spoiled me once again.  The girls got me a new turtle garden stone, McKay made me a Club Penguin (his new favorite thing) journal all on his own.  Jeff downloaded the Goose Girl for me on his Kindle (which I am liking reading on a kindle). He also got me a new CD, the movie "Young Victoria" and is taking me shopping for running shoes.  My parents gave me jewelry, a dress and a skirt.  My favorite surprise?  Jeff picked up this awesome red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  It was SO good.

Lyndsi had crazy hair day at school and for once gave me enough notice so we could have a little fun with it. She loved her hair and wore it all day, including to dance.

McKay has been dead to the world.  Apparently the flu is going around.  Wash your hands people.  I've only seen my poor boy wake and talking for a few hours over the last 3 1/2 days.  Thankfully he's up and about today showing interest in both food and activity.  Hopefully we'll be back to school tomorrow.

And Jeff? You're guess is as good as mine.  He's currently slaving away for the tax monster.  Less than 2 weeks now!  Can't wait for this tax season to be over. Ugh.

And just because she's cute and I love this new thing she's doing with her finger, a little more Chloe.

Life Update

Because I know you all wait with baited breath to find out what's going on in my life. ;)

We're closing on our house next week.  Yippee!!  But-we're still waiting for a date on both signings. Boo!  But-it's next week sometime.  The house looks like a big disaster thanks to all the boxes.  An even bigger (and much less sarcastic) thanks to my man for packing them.  He noted the other night that he would be single-handedly moving us because his wife can't manage to put down that sweet little monkey long enough to help pack a box.  Secretly, I think he's proud of the fact that he's done it all. Shhh...don't tell...

See why I can't put her down?  She's so squishy and cute and snugly!

I, unlike lots of other people, am loving all the snow.  Of course it helps that my kids are off track and I have a new baby and therefore am home bound.  I can snuggle my babe and look out my big windows from my couch at all that beautiful white stuff.  No bundling the kids up for school (which is good because most our winter wear is packed up and buried in storage). 

Other than being a little tired, my post baby self is feeling pretty darn good.  I'm happy.  I have energy.  I can button up my jeans.   Actually-I could button up my jeans 2 days after being home from the hospital.  And guess what?  I'm not one bit sorry and am quite pleased with it.  This is my 4th baby.  I would've thought my recovery would've been longer and a little harder than it's been especially with the added stress of selling our home, buying a new one, getting 6 people ready to move (oh wait-we've already established that as the man's job) and the holidays-Thanksgiving, Black Friday (what?  you don't consider that a holiday?) and Christmas.  By the time the new year rolls around, you may be finding me lying on a couch weeping to a therapist, though ;)

And speaking of the great holiday (at least in my opinion) called Black Friday-I definitely had a successful one!  I went with Cami and her mom and cousin.  Cami was a rookie.  She wanted to go to Toys 'r Us.  Me, being the more experienced Black Friday-er should've warned her of the horror that store can be, but I had only heard the stories.  I guess I wanted to see that particular brand of madness first hand.  Never. Again. The finding what you want part was just fine.  It was the line that would put Splash mtn's on the busiest hottest day at Disneyland to shame. Thankfully Cami decided it wasn't worth it and we left.  She was rewarded by finding the same item for the same price at walmart without having to ad-match.  We had lots of good fun at both the Payson and Springville WalMarts.  I was thrilled to come home with everything on my must-get list, everything on my it'd-be-nice-but-I-don't-stand-a-chance list and a few other fun things as well.  I think we put in a solid 12 hours of shopping.  Still not quite ready for Christmas, but I'm getting there.  Fortunately I can do almost everything else online.

The Last Week or So

Wow.  The last week and a half have been a whirlwind of activity.  Any time there's a new baby in the house that's bound to happen, but there's more.  Here's the list view of life at the Maynes' since Chloe was born.

Mon Nov. 8-Chloe was born; realtor called to show our house the next morning
Tues-Potential buyer from Monday makes offer; we counter.
Wed-Come home from hospital; Buyer accepts counter-we're officially under contract
Thurs-We start looking at homes
Friday-Chloe's first Dr. visit to double check bilirubin levels (just fine); Find home; make offer.
Saturday-New sellers counter
Monday-We accept.

Phew...I'm tired just thinking of it all!  It has been crazy, a little overwhelming and at times emotional.  However, we're very happy and feel that the timing is not just coincidence.  We've also been very blessed with a great ward, friends and family who have helped ease burdens this last week.  I'm looking forward to the new house, but will miss a lot of things about this one.  I am excited that we'll be in before Christmas.  I guess I better go pack a box or two now. 

Baby Chloe

I love this kid.  She is an absolute angel.  Chloe is just a sweet and content little girl.  Mom and dad can't get enough of her. Neither can her sisters (especially Sophie who is completely fascinated by her).  Even McKay loves her to pieces.  In fact, I think he's the one who asks to hold her the most. :)  She's a good little eater and a fabulous little sleeper.  Mom and Dad are really enjoying that part!   I'm sure it's with a huge thanks to being bottle fed, but she's only getting up once a night to eat.  Definitely manageable.  We've been so busy cuddling and oohing and ahhing over her we haven't stopped to take many pictures.  But, last night was her first at-home bath, so we did get a few after when she was all sparkly, baby-fresh clean.  (They're a little dark, but I'm too tired too mess with them in photoshop right now.  Maybe later. )

This is the cute little lip I was first greeted with when I held her right after delivery.  I was happy to see it reappear for me again.  Too cute.



She really didn't love her bath.  Especially the part where we actually had to wash her.  Little did she know that she still had to have ...gasp!...lotion put on.  (Really didn't like that, even though we made sure it wasn't cold)



Thankfully the girl will take a binky!



All better.  Clean, moisturized and the bottle is on it's way!



Keep on going for a few pix from the hospital.  Just saw that I had some I hadn't published yet. Enjoy!

Baby Pictures

Just a few pictures of my cute little baby. :)





The siblings.



My baby holding my baby.  She is so excited to be a big sister!

Getting ready to go home.



Time to go home!!



Hit Me Baby One More Time

(This is a trial run-if the vid's are missing I'll fix it soon)

I'm starting to feel like I should change my blog name.  I'm thinking "The Baby Channel: All baby, all the time."  :)  In honor of being down to the last month, I'm sharing one of my favorite songs.  Too bad, Britney fans, it's not her singing. But-it is her song.



I'm thinking Fran and co. will be going to the hospital with me.  They relax me.  And I have lots of good memories with Travis (the bands name) as the soundtrack. 

I think Jars of Clay will be with me as well.  And since it will be in November, their set will include their Christmas album, quite possibly my favorite album of all time. 



Keane will be there too.  They have a different flavor to their music and suits me. Plus, that's what I was mostly listening to when I went to Hawaii earlier in the year.  (And "The Frog Prince" will remind of me of my other cutie pies at home who love the movie The Princess Frog.)




The delivery room is getting quite crowded I think. :) I've never brought music with me before. I have no idea why. Right now it seems extremely useful.

What did you take with you to the hospital to keep yourself comfortable and entertained (either while in labor or for whatever reason)?? Obviously I'll be bringing my pillow and those essentials. Oh-and any others I should be inviting to the labor party?

P.S. If you liked that Keane song, go ahead and plug your headphones in, sit back, close your eyes and enjoy this one. It was my first known Keane song I fell in love with.

Sneak Peak

I have a few projects for baby Chloe that I'm really excited about.  Only 7 more weeks til due day!!

Sneak peak #1:

Sneak peak #2:

Oh-and one for Sophie:

As you can see, I have lots to keep me busy this rainy week. 

Baby McKay

McKay informed me (after seeing Sophie's baby picture on the blog) that he was a much cuter baby and intimated that he would like to see his baby picture here.

So, McKay here ya go. And for the record, you are the cutest baby boy I've ever had!

(scrapbooking compliments of my mom)

Happenings

First off-I'm laying in bed with Sophie this morning teasing her about still being my baby. She looked at me with all the attitude of a 14-year old and said, "Mom, I'm not a baby. I'm two and a half." Well sheesh. Excuse me. :)

McKay graduated from preschool last Friday. We went to a park, played ate lunch and then had a short program. The teacher had put together a DVD slide show of pics throughout the year. Then she handed out their certificates, a book they had made for each other, some bubbles and a picture of what they wanted to be when they grow up. Ms. Shelly shared a little about each picture as the kids came up. There were so many noble choices-mom, dad, doctor, mom doctor (my favorite), fireman, etc. Then it was McKay's turn. Any guesses what my boy genius wants to be? A ninja turtle. Yep. That's my boy.

Lyndsi has decided she is ready to get her ears pierced. I am not against it at all, but thought I should make sure she knew the prophets thoughts on ear piercing (in relation to how many sets of earrings). She already knew that we can only do one pair of earrings. We've gone over the process of how it gets done and a bit about the aftercare. Jeff is on board to, but we both felt like she should earn it. We came up with a little challenge for her and a timeline. She's pretty excited about it. Look for some new bling to be coming this way!

Celebrating

For the 4th, we went down to the cabin for the annual Maynes' family reunion. This is the big kahuna with Jeff's family and his dad's TEN brothers and sisters and their families (and their families, too). Ok-so not everyone attended. I think that would be a miracle if every Maynes descendant of Roy and Carol made it on the same weekend. It was great to visit with those who could come.



Jeff's aunts crack me up. Cheryl, Virginia and I decided to form an anti-rose club (sorry rose lovers) and 1st on the agenda was deciding the best possible ways to rid our yards of those flowering shrubs that don't ever seem to die. I would share more details but have been sworn to secrecy. ;)



All of Jeff's brothers and sisters (minus Elder Maynes) were there which means babies galore! It was great to see the moms and dads, too. The kids had a blast on the rope swing and the zip line and the partially finished playground including the 2 sandboxes. We had all kinds of yummy food. Bry and McKay decided they were going to build a fire (yikes!) so they could roast marshmallows. One problem boys-you're stacking the would between the gas-run generator and the enormous, gas station-worthy propane tank. Fortunately, grandpa helped them relocate the potential flames.

I also made sure to bring each of my new cutie pies their very own black apple dolls. Really-they are a great baby doll. They are soft and there are no parts that will come off and be swallowed. Here are the 3 newest (l to r: Avery, Ella and Sadie):

To cap the weekend off, we were able to celebrate the last of the niece's blessings. Claire was given a beautiful blessing by her dad which was followed up with beautiful testimonies from her parents. It was such a pretty day to enjoy being with family, too. The weather was cooperative and even cloudy at times, but the temps were always comfy. Isn't she so cute??