Christmas 2013

My kids are very good sleepers, but on Christmas morning its unpredictable as to what time you will be woken up.  This year, the kids didn't get up until almost 9! Unheard of! I could hear them in Emma's room whispering and being good so we got up and told them they could come out. They ran to the living room to see what Santa had left. A tree busting full of gifts! We have the tradition of socks first and then gifts, so the kids did their socks and then we handed out a few gifts at a time. If we hadn't paced them, Christmas morning would have been over in 5 minutes and they would have had no clue what they got. They were in such a hurry to rip open those gifts! They were SO spoiled this year.  It was a bigger year than normal which is always nice. Emma got all sorts of Frozen dolls and my cupcake baking kit along with all sorts of other things. Owen got a Buzz Lightyear, Iron Man, and Cars toys. Phil got his favorite hot sauce, Macayos! And a real surprise was that Phil's parents bought me a Kitchenaide mixer! I have wanted one forever! Like I said, even we were spoiled! After the gifts were all opened, I made Dutch Babies for breakfast. Basically they are like German pancakes with lemon, butter, and powdered sugar. Yum! The rest of the morning and afternoon the kids just played and played. SO much stuff that it took them two days to go through and play with everything! For Christmas dinner we went to our friends, Brooke and Aaron Norman's house. We had ham and potatoes etc and the kids played with new toys while we visited. We had a good time and it was a nice way to spend Christmas this year.

On a side note, Christmas was Jude's two week mark. He is such a good baby! He sleeps and eats and rarely cries. The nurse who said big babies are the best, was right on! :) He had his two week check up Friday after Christmas and was 9 lbs 12 oz. Little oinker! :)

Oh how time flies! Before you know it, we'll be right back here and Jude will be a year old. Hope everyone had a great Christmas season! Onto the new year....

Our full Christmas Tree!

Santa came! Emma holding Elsa and Owen, Buzz!

He is saying, "Look Mom! A car!"

Emma wanted the Holiday Barbie.

Emma got the full set of Frozen characters!

Owen is in such a hurry he is throwing his gifts back at me. :)

Me and baby watching the spectacle. :)

Jude sleeping through most of Christmas morning.

My new Kitchenaide mixer!

Philip's Macayo sauce!

And last, don't judge my appearance in these photos to harshly! I've been awake for two weeks straight! Ha!

Jude at 2 weeks old!

Such a sweet baby!

Christmas Eve 2013

Sweet and simple is how I would describe our holidays this year. We were glad to be at home with our little family and new baby. It felt nice to be so relaxed! On Christmas Eve we watched Christmas movies all afternoon and enjoyed a lazy day. We didn't skip out on tradition though and had our traditional meal of Chili and cornbread. After dinner we sat down and I told the story of Christ's birth. There were some great videos to go along with it on LDS.org. Its always such a reverent feeling. When it was almost bedtime we surprised the kids with a "Christmas Eve box" to open. Inside was Christmas jammies, a Christmas thermos, and a ticket to ride the annual "Polar Express." Emma was so excited to go look at lights! I made Polar Express Hot Chocolate to go in our new mugs and we set off in our jammies. There was no snow this year so it was an easy drive and we didn't have to go far. Our neighborhood had some fun streets full of lights! Owen picked up the enthusiasm right away and enjoyed the scenery as much as Emma. Lots of "OOooooo's" and "Aaawwww's!" from the backseat. We all sipped on our cocoa and then headed back home before we missed Santa. This is the one night of the year that kids willingly go to bed. Of course I am sure Emma was in there for two more hours before falling asleep! We waited til just after midnight when I was sure Emma was actually out and set up the gifts under the tree. It looked like the tree exploded! Then we set off to bed ourselves. Who knew when we would be awoken!

Emma and Owen in their matching PJ's!

Jude in his festive PJ's too!

We actually had three Christmas outfits for Jude and he went thru all three! :)

Jude Levi Fleming

Introducing Jude Levi Fleming! 

Born December 11th, 2013 at 1:05pm

9lbs 1 oz, 22 inches long.

Photos by Holly Clouse Photography

(Jude at 3 days old)

We could not agree on a name for the entire 9 months! We had a few but nothing felt right. So we took a small list of names and waited to meet him. For almost 24 hours we tried on names, but Jude Levi is the one that fit! 

Thank you to Holly for such sweet photos! He wouldn't really sleep but she captured my amazingly sweet new baby! Our little Christmas present!

Baby Boy Fleming arrived 12/11/2013!

It FINALLY happened! Our new little man has arrived! I begged my doctor to induce and he held me off for two weeks, but at 39 weeks he finally agreed. I was scheduled for Tuesday 12/10 at 7am, but on that morning the hospital called to say they were unexpectedly full and to wait a few hours. Then my doctor called and said he was very sorry, but we had to reschedule for the next day. No beds available. Gah! I was SO ready! So I went around town with my mom and bought some fun green shoes to help me feel better. :)

The next morning we tried again. This time no phone calls to stop us. We arrived on time and they got us right in. It was quiet and calm and obviously a much better day. We were given a room with a gorgeous view of downtown and they had me hooked up and on Petocin by 7:30. The nurses were super sweet and one of them, in the photo below, was from Scotland. Her accent was so cool and she told us funny stories of her boys. At first I thought the other doctor, Dr. Schemmel, was delivering since he came to check on me first, but a little later Dr Rueter came in and I was SO glad! He is the most awesome doctor! My favorite ever and that is saying something since I have white coat syndrome. Ha! At 10:30 they broke my water. I then got my epidural, if you can call it that. This guy was like 15? lol! And I could feel it. Everything about it. Then slowly I couldn't feel my feet, legs, hips... They thought it was working. The contractions weren't felt. At about 12:30 my DR came back in and checked on me. I was a 9 and half. He said he'd be back in 20 minutes and we'd deliver. Phil and I just looked at each other like, wow! But the DR didn't get very far. The nurse was setting up and I was like,"Um, I think we better get the DR. I feel intense pressure!" She ran off and he came right back. He lifted the sheet and was like, " Oh yep. Lets go!" I can't describe how it felt. I HAD to push. The feeling was that if I didn't I'd explode. Lots of pressure. I only had to push for maybe 10 minutes and when his shoulders slipped through it was an immense relief. And there was this tiny, no wait, chubby round baby! They handed him right to me and I could not get over how big he was! He looked all around blinking with his new eyes. I held him tight while they cleaned him off and Phil cut the cord. They all started taking bets on how big he was, but no one guessed over 9 pounds. He was born at 1:05pm and weighed 9 pounds, 1 oz, 22 inches long. Holy cow! No wonder I was so uncomfortable! This explained everything! :) 

After delivery, they wasted no time and we were moved to recovery. Yet another gorgeous view of downtown. Such an awesome hospital! Once in recovery, my mom brought the kids to meet their new brother.  Emma was so excited and wanted to hold him right away! Owen on the other hand didn't notice the baby because he was so busy checking out all the buttons and gadgets in the room. Oh the life of a two year old! I felt immediate relief to some of my previous hardships, but it took forever to feel my legs again. It took longer to get feeling back than I had the epidural! We only spent 24 hours in the hospital and we were released to go home. A little sad to go, but both healthy as can be! 

It was a great experience overall. Sacred Heart was an incredible hospital to deliver in! Now if I could only have transported the anesthesiologists from Summerlin Hospital in Las Vegas! It would have been flawless! And so we welcome baby number three! 

Dr Rueter and the delivery nurse!

 Baby boy is not so little!

 Mommy and baby!

 Daddy and baby!

 Little man!

 All clean and cute!

Just pure sweetness! ~ 1 day old before leaving hospital.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite days of the year. It includes family, yummy food, and thoughtful gratitude. This year was low key again with just us, my mom and her husband, and my sister Laura. We had the usual feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, rolls, etc. We enjoyed our meal, took a break and went back for more! :)  Later we went to a movie. My mom went with the kids to see Frozen and the big kids went to Catching Fire. I'm pretty sure when we got home we had more turkey. hehe. It lasted us all weekend! I got wrapped up in the moment and forgot to take photos. That or pregnancy brain. Its ridiculous how forgetful I have been! :) But I did manage a few with the annual Philip carving the turkey. :)

Soon baby #3 will arrive!

Its funny how time moves us along. We think we are just headed down stream at an even pace, but in truth, we are on a precarious raft in a raging river! It moves too quickly and at times I feel, well, melancholy. Its bittersweet and that's really the only words I can find to describe it. This pregnancy is our final and so everything about it has been a "last."  This too is a bit sad, but this pregnancy has also been the hardest of the three. Now please don't think I mean its been awful, because I know women having it way harder than me. I didn't get morning sickness with Emma. I was just over tired at the end of the day. With Owen I felt funny in the evenings, but again, no real sickness. But with this baby, I had real nausea. It of course was no where near anything I should be able to complain about. I never threw up with any of my pregnancies. Yes, I can say that. Ha! Once I was into the 2nd trimester I felt my energy return and for 3 months felt pretty much like the previous pregnancies. That is, until he was big enough to push up into my ribs! Emma and Owen were in very similar positions, and I was never uncomfortable with them like that. Its a very strange sensation to be kicked in the rib from UNDER them. He also liked to push up into my diaphragm. By the time I was 7 months pregnant I felt like a whale! I couldn't walk right, sleep right, or eat right. At the 28 week mark I had to take my glucose test and failed. Another pain in the rear! I had to see a specialist, and I have had to prick my finger 4 times a day everyday to monitor my blood sugar. I had an in depth ultrasound last week(36 weeks) to check in on him and he's doing great. He weighs mid 6 pound range which is what Owen weighed at this stage. Owen of course was born at the end of the 35th week. I thought for sure this baby would be early too, but nope! He's still in there and we are at Thanksgiving. This of course is good, but I am SO uncomfortable! I can't do anything normal and my pelvis is just so painful. I look bigger than the other pregnancies despite the fact I have gained the exact same weight. I cannot wait to be done! I cannot wait to hold this baby in my arms and see his sweet face! And while I cannot wait to be back to normal, I also am trying to remember its a last...each movement is bittersweet. So as the holidays begin, this pregnancy is coming to a close. This last year has just blown by despite my best efforts to slow it down. I pray for a healthy delivery and healthy baby. And I pray I remember the details that are sometimes so hard to hold onto. I wan to remember it all! Now off I go to prepare for company and for the beginning of the holidays! Wish me luck!

Emma to the dentist!

Emma has unfortunately inherited her daddy's weak tooth enamel. This means she has already had major dental work done by the age of 5, and now at the age of 7 needs a few more fillings. So off to Daddy's work we went! Emma was given nitrous to keep her a bit sedated and it was HILARIOUS! I so wish I could have filmed it, but I wasn't allowed while they were working on her. She was saying the silliest stuff and kept swinging her legs off the chair. Being 9 months pregnant, it hurt to laugh! I sat in the room with her and she did so good. It was a day later we realized she bit her cheek and had a sore on the inside of her mouth because she had been so numb. Hoping we don't have to go back too soon! Who the heck likes going to the dentist?! Emma however says she won't mind a cleaning as long as she gets a toy from the treasure chest. :) Oh and check out the hottie in the dental gear!  :)

Owen's first snow!

This isn't the first time it has snowed here in Spokane, but it is the first time Owen went out in it willingly. Ha! I don't blame him. I felt the same way when I was a kid. Who wants to be cold and wet?! This year has already been very dry and this first snow was a bit late. It only dropped about 3 inches. I opened the back door and let Owen see. He of course just stood at the door looking at me like I was crazy, but I put my foot into it and showed him it left a print. That's all he needed! Off he went creating his own snow art!  Next thing I knew, the entire back yard was covered in Owen's foot prints! He had a blast, but of course came in begging for a warm bath. :) Here's to the first snow of the season!