Love

Love these kids!!!! I love when they play together. In boxes. And giggle. Best ever.

Easter 2014

Just a few pictures on Easter Sunday!!! My kids are my life. I love them!!!

Charlotte got baptized!

What's this? It's been 3 years since I've posted?!?! LOLOL. Well. It's been a long time but I'm going to try and be better...Maybe with a better computer? I guess my goal should be, "Make a blog post in under 3 years" Shame.

Charlotte was baptized November 2, 1013. So, it's been 15 months. But it was such a fabulous day!!! Grandma and Grandpa Chandler came out, along with uncles, aunties, cousins and friends! She was so eager to be baptized. There were probably 10 kids that day. There were a lot! Our ward was set to go first. Charlotte was nervous, so the other boy in the ward got baptized instead.

And then it was Charlotte's turn.

Quite the ordeal. She was terrified. We knew she was scared and nervous but she had such a desire to be baptized.

It took her 90 minutes or so to finally get baptized. After a long time, we got her out of the water (she only went in to the bottom step) so that the rest of the kids could get baptized. She watched the kids. We said prayers, we sang hymns, in the back, we had fights, bribes, hugs, tears, laughter. Just a huge smorgesboard of emotions. 

She was terrified of going under. 

But in the end, we got her to come out of the dressing room. And then into the water. We said let's just say the prayer. She got to that point. And since she has implants, we ripped them off as soon as wade said the baptismal prayer, and then.  Wade literally dunked her. Completely. Seeing her face full of JOY was priceless. She hugged Wade and thanked him. Of course we all cried and cheered. 

So proud of her choice to be baptized and to overcome her fear for this one moment. So thankful for this amazing girl to be part of our family.

Then, of course, off to the house for a feed!!! (I'll have to find those! lol.)

And sadly, no family photos of all of us together. Can someone please remind me to do that!? argh. Sad. But that's okay. 

Here she is!

I want you all to meet

Chanel Aroha Ardern

June 3, 2012

4:25pm

21 inches

8lbs 15oz

She has dark hair! And a ton! Just like Charlotte did. A beautiful complexion and she looks like Kate and Jack and Charlotte :)

She waited until the day after the piano recital to make her entrance. What a good girl.

She is so sweet and has a sweet, calmness about her.

Charlotte is loving her and holds her all the time. She's looking forward to changing her first diaper.

Jack also loves to hold Chanel all the time. He is so excited to have her home.

Kate loves to blow her kisses and to hold her and to say "love you baby love you" and "cute" to her.

I had a 2 contractions in a 1/2 hr on Sunday morning starting at 9am...well, that's when I rememberd 2 of them. haha. I texted Wade to let him know this might be it/the start. And I was worried how far I was dilated since I was at 4cm the Thursday before. I wanted to have a baby at the hospital! So I figured I should just be evaluated.

We arrived, they checked me and I was a 5 almost 6. The on-call dr (mine happened to be out of town) came in and said, well, no point in sending you home!  There was only one other patient on the floor and she was about to be sent to Mother/Baby floor. So they gave me my IV within 45 min of arriving, epidural 10 minutes later, broke my water soon after that to get those contractions more together. I ended up being the only one on the floor for several hours. I felt pretty special ;) Things were going fine. The contractions weren't doing much after awhile, so they go the pitocin going a little bit. Of course, Chanel didn't like it. I had some oxygen and they could tell there was something causing her to stress besides the pitocin. Which actually the cord was around her neck (this is all so familiar...just like Charlotte's labor just a lesser degree of problems). We stopped the pitocin and Chanel was happier. Kept the oxygen going and my contractions got better without the pitocin. I guess I just needed a little kick!

The on-call dr was so awesome and funny. And 3 nurses were helping out because you know, they didn't have anyone else to take care of! So it was a fun, happy atmosphere. Wade, me and my nurse had bets on the time she would be born. Wade guessed 3:35pm, I said 4pm and the nurse said 4:20pm. And we were telling everyone our little bet and times and he's like 4:24...of course I was already pushing. ha ha. Anyway, I pushed her out in two contractions, about 8 pushes. Who knew having a baby could be so fun! ha ha ha ha :) just kidding.

It was emotional trying to pick a name. We struggled. It was more deciding a name we BOTH loved. Most of the names I liked or he liked. So I had been crying 24 hrs straight! We actually came home from the hospital without a name for her. But we have to call the hospital tomorrow to add the name onto the birth certificate.

Aroha means love in Maori. It is also significant to Wade because his father grew up in Te Aroha, New Zealand. You pronounce it kind of like Aloha but the l is a trilled R and you emphasize the first A. That's my American translation to it...haha.

But she's beautiful. I'm doing well and Wade's been a wonderful husband. Constantly at my side when he can. He's been great taking care of the kids at home. And my good friends, the Stoddards have been AMAZING to take on the kids while I've been in the hospital!!! I can't thank them enough. The kids have been fantastic. It's all so new to them and they are doing great. My emotions need to get back to normal. And I hope they know I love them so much. With all my heart!! Here I go...crying again!!! But here we are...a family of four!

What’s this? A blog post?!?

I can’t believe how mediocre I am at updating the blog now. I’ve just got so much on my plate that this is low low priority. Which is quite sad, because quite frankly, I do this for family history! But eventually I’ll start updating better and better. The 3 pics below are from my phone because I’m TOO lazy to go and get the camera and download the pics on the computer! LAZY. So if they’re blurry or whatever, just ignore it.
Let’s see. I don’t even know if I should try and catch up on everything. I have things to write about since last EASTERS. Holy moly. And yes, I said Easters. Nacho Libre, anyone? :)
The baby is growing and growing so I’m getting fatter and fatter. Yippeee. Is it June 4th, yet? Seriously? This pregnancy has gone by SO fast until Jan 16. That’s when we found out what we were having…and now, I seriously think that February (which, you know the shortest month ever!!) is crawling. What the heck?! Come on people! Let’s get this thing going!  We don’t have a name yet…but we are narrowing it down. I think there are 6 or 7 on our list but truthfully, there are 2 maybe 3 that are consistently talked about. I have one specific name in mind but Wade is the one unsure. Actually, I’ve got one but there’s a close 2nd. Ahhh. Naming the baby is the hardest!  I’m still learning Tahitian dancing. It’s a lot of fun. And holy cow, I’m uncoordinated and I dance like a white person. But oh well. It’s so worth it!!! I’m also teaching piano. I’ve got 3 students, and I’m adding another one in March! So fun! They are all so talented and excited for them to learn.
Wade is still the bishop. I know, shocker. hahahaha. Does so much for our little family.

Charlotte! She is doing so WELL in school! I’m so proud of her. She is reading! Yes, she is! And not only is she reading, but her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Roghaar, says she’s up there with the advanced group. She’s in the group D books which means the next level is called RED level which is what 1st graders are reading. And that’s our goal to get Charlotte doing before school ends in May. She LOVES school. This is also her last year at Sound Beginnings. She’s been in the preschool since it formed in 2007 and now she will graduate from there! You will be amazed at how much she says. She’ll talk your ear off. And I love that! And I just started teaching her piano. I guess technically she’s my 5th student. It’s going SLOW. And I’m purposely going slow. She’s quite young to start but she’s really eager to learn so might as well work on it. She also is taking Hula and LOOOOVES it. I know she wants to take ballet but I don't know where to find a cheap, community class just so she can enjoy it. Any Loganites  know?? :)

Here's Jack, trying on a suit coat at Walmart. Found an incredible deal online instead. But he sure looks handsome! Even with that funny face ;)

Jack! Oh Jack! He’s a crack up. :) He is still in the awful 3’s right now (which isn't as bad as it used to be), but he is such a fun boy to be around.  He’s so SWEET and KIND and trying to help. And he says the funniest things. The other day he told me the baby’s in my bones. And instead of “motorbike” or “motorcycle” it’s a noodlebike. Oh and if you’re in walmart, he’ll say “WAAAAIT a minute!!!! Hey mom, wait!! Looooook at this!!” and it’s a completely random thing. And he does it every 2 feet. It’s quite hilarious. Just not at the time. hahaha. He always tells us he loves us. All the time. And Kate is following him in his footsteps with that, even Charlotte! I love hearing the kids tell each other and to us that we love each other. I love this boy! He loves his tools, trucks and balls but he is SO into superhero stuff right now too. Batman, Spiderman are the top ones but any superhero will do. He’s in preschool, and getting closer and closer to reading. Love the reading program they have there.

(This is Kate who decided to want to change her own diaper next to the bed. She was yelling help help. haha)

Kate! This girl. So beautiful and sweet and cracks me up, too. But man! This girl is Miss Destructo. She’s my only child that writes on walls. And I don’t know how she learned that. In general, ruins things. Thankfully, it’s nothing to stress over…yet! But she climbs on everything. And I mean everything. That’s new to us too. She SCREAMS. HITS. TEMPER TANTRUMS. Plays in the toilet. And it's like every day. We close the doors and try and be on top of it, but just when we let our guard down...SLOSH SLOSH SLOSH. It's SOOOOO gross!!! And we haven’t started the terrible twos. Oh heaven help me. But gives you the best kisses and cuddles. She dances and sings. Totally has rhythm.  Can't wait for her to start hula in a few years.If you say cheeeese, she’ll give you the cheesiest smile!! She sleeps like an angel! If she gets her nap in, she goes to bed at 7sh. Literally wakes up between 8:30-9:30. If she doesn’t get her nap in, she’s in bed abt 6:15-6:30 and still sleeps in that long. She will wake up once a night, but in the last week, she’s only done that once. So thankful for that blessing. And she can speak so well. Her vocabulary is amazing!! I love talking with her.
Ummmm….trying to think of other things….we are just the same ol’ same ol’ around here. So that’s a little recap. Probably too long and boring but like I said, it’s for my family history!!! ;)

Surprise :)

 

 

 

Wade and I just found out today we’re expecting a girl for baby #4! I’m due June 4, 2012 and am doing much better than I was in the first trimester.  Worst morning sickness EVER. We thought we’d have a lot of fun with announcing this pregnancy and wait until we found out what we were having. I’m 20 weeks today (baby is showing 20 weeks 3 days but that doesn’t change my due date). Baby girl is healthy. I didn’t gain much weight…yet…I know I’m going to plump up and look like a ginormous hippo soon but that’s why it was a bit “easier” to keep it a secret. I’m not gonna lie, my stomach is popping out and I look pregnant I just am still wearing my normal clothes and am wearing bagging jackets to cover things up to help with the secret…which is now not a secret!

Truthfully, I was about to burst into tears hearing it was a girl. Don’t get me wrong, it’s gonna be fun dressing up the baby and making bows again but I was gutted. Girls are so emotional. And Kate’s been a hard little bugga and Charlotte’s a determined, opinionated, bull headed little girl. I’ve got 2 of them with strong will personalities and I was just needing a boy to hopefully mellow things out. I know babies all have different personalities, etc but girls.are.hard. That’s it. Wade’s pretty excited. It’s still just going to be him and Jack. It’s sinking in about having a girl. And honestly, I’m happy. It’ll be good. I just am needing to get over the initial emotional shock right now!!!

Before/After

 

We redid our downstairs area in a few phases. We always wanted to put in a fireplace but we had to save and save for it. Which helped when the tax refund this past year came in! I like being debit free. We always hated the tile and were so thankful when we put in carpet. Charlotte had a terrible head injury from falling down the stairs and her head stopped her fall on the tile. Seriously people. TILE at the bottom of basement stairs?!

This is what the house looked like when the previous owners lived here.

The reason we finally got onto changing the tile.

The start of the removal of tile. Curses to tile!

This project lead Wade having carbon monoxide poisoning. I had it too but not as bad as Wade.

The dust is settling in the picture too. That’s why it’s cloudy.

It’s ready for carpet and paint.

There’s nothing like the fresh smell of new carpet.

The result! Wade and my dad did a fabulous job! Wade put in all the recessed lighting too!

It’s now all full of books and the fireplace has been making the downstairs so nice and cozy warm!

Charlotte’s Birthday PARTY!

We decided to actually throw Charlotte a party. It was such a production the year before we thought, oh let’s wait until she’s 8…you know the big event type of birthday. Then we thought, well there’s only a few years where she’ll get or even want to have one, so let’s just do it. And it turned out to be easy going and not too stressful.

We did it the Saturday after her real birthday and that was nice. I kept it simple, of course stayed with the Minnie Mouse theme but made cupcakes and bought Little Caesar’s 5 buck pizza! I hope they had fun, cause it sure seemed like they did.

I made this pinata! I did! If you want to make one too, here’s the LINK.

All the kiddos!

Playing pass the parcel! Always a big hit

I think all the kids had a hundred turns trying to break this thing apart. I guess I did a really good job.

 

Presents!!!

Lisa and Kate. Lisa is the bestest person ever! Always takes care of us and the kids. Especially at church. But she and her family are dear friends. I swear she gave Charlotte the biggest present in America.

Charlotte’s 6th Birthday

If you didn’t know it was Charlotte’s birthday, I’d be so surprised (but it was October 25th…late post :/ ). I’ve never seen anyone so excited for a birthday! She would keep singing Happy Birthday to ME. Happy birthday to Charlotte! haha. And it would get more and more intense each day it got closer to her birthday. It was a lot of fun.

 

Charlotte LOVES Minnie Mouse and wanted a Minnie Mouse themed cake and party.

She went to school, which is the best thing ever to her, and I brought cupcakes and apple juice for snack at Sound Beginnings. And then I went back to Kindergarten for the last 15 minutes so we could spotlight her with a VIP poster. And we handed out treats to her classmates too. Then we came home, talked to Ma and Grandpa. Opened her new booster car seat from them. And then all she wanted to do was unwrap presents like crazy. Then we went to the Pizza Pie Café for dinner, off to the Pumpkin Walk (more like pumpkin run. It was freezing) and then home for birthday cake and ice-cream. Then she got to pick out a movie and we had movie-theater and then off to bed. It was a fun, good day. I love you, Charlotte.

The pictures above are just before she opened her present from Ma and Grandpa.

She has desperately wanted a big girl car seat since school started. And she barely makes the requirements (which usually a 3 year old weighs) and I’m a bit nervous but she looks oh so grown up in the car now.

She was so silly opening her presents. haha

Kate playing with Charlotte’s new soccer ball. Which she has wanted since Jack took soccer in September!

Sporting her new pjs.

I had to put this last one in. Notice Jack??? hahaha. SO CUTE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLOTTE!