Lydia is So Cute

Lydia is so cute. She was in the hospital. She was in a crib with four glass sides. She came out of Mom's tummy. We played with her hands a lot of times. She cries a lot.

Lydia's Turn

I don't know if you get more emotional as you get older, but, today, as I watched my wife give birth to our sixth child, I could not hold back the tears of joy. I was overwhelmed with gratitude. My sweet wife had trudged through the valley of the shadow of death and emerged triumphant. Even the nurse noticed as she exclaimed, “Amber, you're a rock star!” Little Lydia was born into our family today at 10:41 AM. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and measured 20” long.

Lydia, welcome to our family. You should know that your textbook birth today was the answer to hundreds of prayers from little Micah to Mom and me to Grandma and Grandpa. Your arrival today has changed our lives forever-- and how grateful we are you made it here safely. We love you.

Nesting

I must be in full nesting mode since I spent this morning sorting and putting away all the baby girl clothes, washing the sheets on the beds, and dusting the wood furniture. Maxwell approached me while I was fixing my hair in the bathroom.

“Mom, when you're done cleaning everything, will you play Sequence with me?”

Yes, Max. Definitely yes.

Vision Test

Allow your eyes to relax to view this illusion:


Now view the image below and follow the path of the stairs around in your mind's eye:
Now relax your eyes and see if you can determine the gender of our baby. Try Jeff's suggestions to the ultrasound technician when the baby's legs remained tightly closed for almost an hour. "Maybe see if you can tell by looking at the face. Or the hair."


Verdict after mom's trip to the bathroom and lying on her side to get baby to move: Girl. (Evidence not shown in above picture.) We are all thrilled.

(Optical illusions from blifaloo.com.)

Nuts and Treats

We have started to feel like it is time for us to work on teaching Maxwell how to manage his own peanut allergy, so that he can feel confident as he grows older. We have been taking the time to point out the person eating peanut butter sitting near us, and the peanuts and peanut butter in the grocery store so he can be aware of what he needs to avoid.

Today, we were reading a Christmas book that along with tangerines and holly, apples and pine sprigs, pictured nuts throughout the story. I paused to show him the pictures of the different nuts and told him they weren't safe for him. He said, “I know, Mom, but how do the nuts get in all the treats?”

I am glad he is understanding and accepting all that comes with a food allergy, but I feel sad that he misses out on so much because "the nuts get in all the treats."

One of These Things is Not Like the Other Ones

Harrison has a perpetual tendency to accentuate the negative (in the cutest possible way.) For example, when the bishop at church asked him what he liked about school, he responded, "Nothing." If you asked if he had a fun birthday, he would be likely to respond, "Not really." He always has a sparkle in his eye and a sly smile that reveal his darling sense of humor is just a little on the negative side. So when Harrison came home from school and went to his backpack for his school picture, and said, "My picture is terrible," I was expecting to see the same charming, beautiful smile I had seen in his pictures from years past. I was speechless and laughing to tears when this is the picture he pulled out (ignore the flash from the camera):


When I had finally composed myself, I asked him what he was thinking when he had his picture taken. He said he was trying to have a nice smile. . . . Guess we need to work on that one.

Incidentally, notice the other two children in the pictures-- aren't they as darling as the grinchy one?? By the way, I can only get Dallin to wear a collared shirt on picture day. The kids know that picture day is my choice-- I will be sad when they are no longer amenable to that arrangement. By the way, do you know that Jeff wore the same shirt (not a similar shirt but the SAME shirt) for three years in a row on picture day in high school?? What am I in for???

Fall Memories

Cozy dinners (unfortunately, this one looked better than it tasted.)

Hay ride.

Corn maze.

Dallin designing his "math problem" pumpkin.

Haven's finished product.

Harrison and Maxwell - hard at work.

Micah mimicking his pumpkin face.

The finished display.

Halloween greetings.

The big night. Micah - doggy, Haven - Miss Universe, Dallin - pharoah, Harrison - Ash (Pokemon), Maxwell - Bat/Dragon (said, "Bat slash dragon,") Amber - Elena, Jeff - Zorro.

Incidentally, while Jeff took the kids trick or treating, some Spanish-speaking children approached him saying - "Look it's the real Zorro! It's really him!" Followed by lots of Spanish conversation. Jeff was flattered. He didn't shave that day on purpose. I, on the other hand, don't think I'll ever be mistaken for the "real Elena."