Oh Christmas Tree

One of my.....

One of my biggest pet peeves is...

-Who the heck decided that weeds were weeds, can't we all just love all the plants equally?
-Slugs, we cleared out our vegetable garden today and there were a ton of slugs. Chloe ran in the house and got her bug cage. I told her she should pour salt in there and guess what she said? "Eww mom, we aren't going to eat them."
-Cats that think just because I am so nice that they should follow me home and take up shelter on my deck. Mr Gray Cat (whom Taylor named!! Smoky) please GET LOST! I have 2 other cats that are soon to go to the pound so if you want to maintain your freedom.....beat it!


Grateful today for:
-A little baby who was so patient during the yard work process, he now loves his walker! Maybe the crying to be held days are over:)
-A hubby who spent his only day off helping me with the yard work. I mean who else was going to shovel up all the smushy, slug filled tomatoes?
-Logan is an awesome leaf raker. He was really dissapointed that in the end we got rid of the pile though.
-Chloe's love for creatures big, small, furry, or slimy, she does not discriminate. Furry gray things that are named Smoky seem to be on the top of her list today. She told dad that since he named it that meant she could keep it.
-Caffeine...speaking of, I should run to the gas station.

Grateful For...

So there is that thing on facebook where you are supposed to list one thing each day that you are grateful for....and I just made a list of things that bugged me! I am such a bum! But instead of removing my post....it took way too long to type....I will just add this on top of it.

TEN things I am GRATEFUL for:
1-Even when I am super tired and go in to get a crying baby, he nuzzles his fuzzy little head in my neck and everything isn't so bad after that.
2-I was feeling really sorry for myself the other day after my friend moved across country and was telling someone about it. Chloe piped up and said, "you got me mom." Grateful for my best friend Chloe.
3-I am grateful Logan has such an active imagination. The stories he tells are enough to keep me laughing all day long. Taylor once said that he will be the next Dr Suess, I don't doubt it.
4-Grateful for a hubbby that is willing to work 2 jobs so I can stay home and blog stalk all day:)
5-Grateful for good friends that are more like family to me.
6-Grateful for His plan and the principles the church teach my children.
7-Grateful for the wonderful home I was raised in, even though it wasn't your "typical" family.
8-Grateful for the rice pudding I made tonight, it's my ultimate comfort food.
9-Grateful for caffeine....really I am.
10-Grateful for binkies:)

Pet Peeves

When I was working I had a whole list of pet peeves, and it got added to on a regular basis. Most sentances I used were started, "one of my biggest pet peeves is _____." Now that I am at home all the time, I have a new set of pet peeves. Today just has to be particularly full of them...so here ya'll go. Now here is the disclaimer-I am not talking about anyone specifically unless I say names:) So don't get all upset thinking that I am blogging about you, I have just had recent experiences in each of these areas that made me need to vent:)

1-I went to get a much needed coke across town to the only station with a drive through. Pulled up, they have a sign on the window that says "We will be happy to help you when you are DONE with your phone call." I put my phone down and ordered my drink. A 44 oz coke. So the attendant left and chatted with her co-worker for a minute and then came back and asked me what drink again....coke! She then finished her conversation about her daughters horse with the co-worker while my coke sat on the counter longing for me to drink it. Probably five minutes later she gave me my coke. I ended my phone conversation so I could give you my FULL attention, and I don't get yours? Now I don't think socializing at work is wrong, and you can have a conversation when you are not needed to help a customer! But making someone wait so you can talk about something totally unrelated to your job is not ok...ever!

2-Child Comparisons. All children grow and develop different, period. Your kid is no better than mine because he/she walked, talked, or was potty trained earlier. When we compare our kids like this it just makes us feel like bad parents...when we are absolutely not. I have heard one mom I know say something bad about every single other child in our area....not ok, that's not your place.

3-Child Discipline-This kind of goes along with number 2. There are some friends in life that you get together with and you feel comfortable enough "disciplining" each others kids. This is a very fine line though....don't you think? It sometimes makes me feel bad when my kids get in trouble for something at someone elses house that is ok at our house. They really don't know better. Now I don't mind a nice "hey, we don't have food out of the kitchen at our house," but getting upset with them isn't ok with me. If there is a major problem, please talk to me and I will fix it! On the other hand, watch your kids and try to step in and solve the problem before I have to talk to you about it....I will try and do the same. (some examples are sharing, hitting, and potty language) If you really can't stand how my kids act...we probably shouldn't be friends....right?

4-Is it really harder to put your laundry in the hamper than on the floor next to the hamper?

5-Trick or Treat candy wrappers, everywhere.

6-Throwing away leftovers. Such a waste! But if I didn't cook enough for leftovers, someone would be super hungry and want seconds and not get any!

7-How much time I waste daily blog hopping reading useless information about crafts and coupons.

8-Laundry in general.

9-Unloading the dishwasher.

10-Overly emotional children (all three today).

11-How much my daughter spills drinks, and the evil looks I get when I give her a sippy cup. It's a double edge sword I tell ya!

12-Unsolicited advice on children....it all depends on how you tell me. (This could go with 2 and 3).

13-The fact that I am now keeping a written journal, so I have to type this and then write it down! HA!

2 Months Old!

Jack had his 2 month check up on Monday....I think everyone will be surprised to hear he's not the monster baby we thought he was. Consistantly since he was born he's been in the 70th percentile for weight and 90th for height. He now weighs 12 lb 6 oz which is 68% and is 24.5 inches which is 90%. His head is 15.5 in and 35% (I always thought his head was tiny:) And....I mean head, not double chin:)
We also hit a BIG milestone on Monday night. Drumroll please....sleeping through the night!!!! And it's not a fluke because he is doing it every night....YAY!!

If he got any cuter...

The idea for this year was not to waste money on getting Jack a Halloween costume. He won't be able the trick or treat and there aren't any parties for him:) But....I found a killer deal at Old Navy and when I asked Taylor via picture message if I could get this costume, we both caved! My favorite part is the banana in the pocket, the curled tail, and of course the happy baby inside!

Discover!

It has been a week for field trips! Today we went with Logan's class to....If you have never been....you should go! It's so much fun! Plan on spending most of the day there! It is a kids museum that is completely hands on!

Hee Haw!

For Chloe's preschool fieldtrip we went to Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove. The kids had so much fun looking at all of the big pumpkins! Logan has finally gotten over his fear of holding Jackson, yay! I can finally take pictures of the three of them:)

When we were driving to school that day, Chloe was so worried. She had to have $2 for her field trip so she could pick a pumpkin to take home. She doesn't have that much in her piggy bank. Luckily she saw Logan counting his piggy bank and he had enough. I heard her say, "Please Logan can I borrow two dollars so I can pick a punkin, I'll pay ya back." Of course he said no:)

The kids actually got to go into the animal pen and pet pigs and goats and roosters and ducks and chickens and rabbits and sheep:)

Matchy-Matchy

I would have to say that the ONLY fun thing about twins would being able to coordinate outfits. When I found matcing clothes for my boys (harder than it seems, they are seven years apart) I was super excited. I tried to get pictures of Logan and Jack today....but little Miss Thing would not be forgotten.

Jacky Boy Updates....

I know...I have been such a bum mom about posting pictures of him. Let's just say it's because I am constantly holding him!! Jackson will be 8 weeks old in about 5 hours....the time flies! He is not so much a newborn anymore:(

Some milestones Jack Jack has already hit:

-Head control. Jackson was born holding his head up! He is so strong!

-Standing. When you stand him up he can support his own weight.

-Smiling :) Look at these pictures...not just gas!

-Cooing

-Laughing-so I've been told by daddy

-Drooling-can we already be thinking teeth?

-Sleeping-usually about 6 hours or until he realizes he's not in bed with us

We go in for our 2 month appt next week and I wil have to post his weight then. Just know he is already outgrown the majority of his newborn clothes and fills out his 3-6 months quite nice!

Everyone loves a....

I am a sucker for reading about birth stories, so for all of you that were feeling jipped on the baby posts....here ya go! I have never been so pregnant in my life, 4 days from my due date. We went to the hospital at 7am and got started on antibiotics for group b strep. 2 hours later (now 9 am) got a strong dose of pitocin. Here we go! Taylor left to get more entertainment (via old VHS movies).Around 11 the dr came in to break my water, and couldn't. I really thought that once you put your arm and huge hook up you know where the logistics were pretty simple. Not so much....he couldn't do it. It was probably the MOST painful experience of my life....really. So we just kept on contracting. I called Aunt Karen and told her to bring cards, I was bored:) (now about 1:30). Taylor had returned and my dad, aunt, and friend kaytlyn were all patiently waiting with me now. Everytime the dr came in to check me I was at a 3....stuck. About 5 I finally broke down and got my epidural. Mostly because there was no way in h%$# that they were going to break my water without one. After they broke my water I was at a 5....at about six pm. My dad kept falling asleep and everytime he'd wake up he'd ask, "where's my baby?" Well...not much happened from there.....really nothing. Around 10 pm Jacksons heart rate was staying to low after each contraction and they kept trying to reposition me to relieve some pressure on him. They started talking about maybe doing a c-section. Ok...no way! My great nurse had the idea to flush warm saline through the catheder and got him stable. PHEW! At 11 pm the dr checked me and I was at a 6....hooray progression. My friend Kaytlyn decided to go home and sleep until it got closer. My Aunt Debbie had put the kids to sleep and was on her way over. Well...15 minutes later I was at a 7 1/2. I called them and told them to HURRY! We woke up my Dad and I was feeling a ton of pressure. I told myself that I would not tell the nurse that I felt like I needed to push until all of the needed support group were there. She checked me again and I was at an 8 1/2. The crew finally arrived, the nurse checked again and actually said the words, "You're complete, don't push or laugh until I get back with the dr!!" I started to kind of freak out at this point because I wanted my grandma there. She is getting too old to be out that late so she waited at her care center anxiously at the phone. She called right as I started to push and was able to hear his first cry over the phone...which was very special for her. I pushed about 6 times and out he came! 8 lb 14 oz chubby little boy at 12:06 am. Worth the wait? I think so!

Hello World!

Jackson David Risher

August 24, 2010

12:06 AM

8 lbs 14 oz

20.5 inches

Two bugs in a rug....scoot over for #3!

This picture is of Logan and Chloe right after the tub, scrunched under their towels getting warm. Do you remember doing this when you were little? It makes me laugh everytime I walk into their room.

We have fallen into quite the routine at our house. We do everything by twos. We split chores in half, two kids cups, two kid plates, two lunchboxes, two kids chairs, two hooded towels, two parents each with two hands, two, two, two. You get the picture. I have been wondering for awhile now how THREE is going to fit. Will we have totally different routines with this little one now 5 years later? Am I going to forget one of them somewhere, or forget a birthday, christmas for three? I sure hope not!

First Dance Class!

We tried our hand at gymnastics awhile ago but Chloe was just not ready to go out on her own yet:) You have no idea how excited she (and yes...me too) was to go to her first dance class. The very best part is that she is taking from the same teacher I had when I was 8!

Baby Update

Nope, no baby yet...but also no contractions today! Whoot Whoot!
Now I don't know if I am unusual....but I don't mind being pregnant. Sure I have my days where I could scream, but I am like that non prego too:) I get very mildly sick in the beginning, my boobies look great, and I actually enjoy the growing of the baby bump. I also don't mind the huge awkwardness it grows into during this last month. I think it is so cool when the baby is SO big that you don't feel kicks anymore, you just feel rolls and can see arms and legs sliding across your belly. Now that being said....I don't want to have another early baby. Chloe came at 34 weeks and 2 days, no warnings, no pre contractions, no reason, she just wanted out. She still weighed a hefty 5 lbs 13 oz, we were in the NICU for 5 days and then home on bili lights for 3. It is so painful to not be able to cuddle and bond with your new baby! My heart aches for those moms who have to wait weeks and even months.
Back to I don't want another early baby...but this little boy needs to make up his mind! Or my cervix, and uterus need to communicate better, one or the other:) I started having contractions again on Sunday night....every ten minutes....all back labor....I did not sleep at all! Seriously not one tiny little wink. By the time Taylor got home from work Monday night I just broke down in tears, officially exhausted! I called labor and delivery and they told me to come on in. By this time I was contracting big strong contractions every ten minutes and smaller ones every 3 minutes in between. No cervical changes though. They sent me home with some pain medication which was much appreciated and I got a GREAT nights sleep. About seven in the morning I rolled over and could feel a contraction start, awesome, the medication was wearing off, dang! My cute friends had planned a baby shower for me that day, and at this point instead of hoping these contractions meant that "this was it" I was hoping that I could make it until night time. Which I did....and the shower was great (post about that soon I promise). I was still having horrible back labor all day. Didn't sleep again Tuesday night, Wednesday during the day the contractions just kept getting stronger and stronger. The only time I got out of bed was to get in the bath for some pain relief. (don't worry, my little sister has become a live in babysitter during this time, she takes care of ALL of us). At about 3 I called Taylor to make sure he would be home RIGHT after work so that we could decided what we needed to do. I hopped back in the bath and tried to relax, but the contractions just kept coming harder and faster. So I called him and told him to come home NOW. He came home and we headed for the hospital with bags in tow. Contractions very regular and strong, every 4 minutes. This had to be it right? Nope...labor isn't measured in amounts of contractions, it is measured by cervical change. Back home with some pain medication that didn't work as well. I still didn't sleep very well, but the contractions are only one or two an hour now and aren't as painful. Imagine that moment when you tell your nurse you are ready for your epidural and she tells you the anesthesiologist is with another patient and will be in in a half an hour or so...and that half hour is killer! That is the amount of pain I have been experiencing since Tuesday night. I cannot do that for 5 more weeks...and then push out a baby! So if the contractions stop....bring on month 9 of pregnancy! If they continue to be all the time and super painful....bring on delivery!

Baseball Ends!

Logan played baseball for the Legacy Center this year. He really learned a lot and is not too bad of a hitter. He even caught a couple of pop flys, when he was paying attention. His coach was awesome. He taught them all the fundamentals of baseball as well as being VERY encouraging and teaching them good sportsmanship. Go Wolverines! As much as Logan has enjoyed playing baseball, this mama was ready for it to be done. 95 degree games and metal bleachers were too much for me! (Logan is in the back row on the far left)

High Maintenance

At about 11:30 pm last night Chloe was so tired she could barely function. Have I mentioned that she can actually cry on cue? Not just a little fake child cry, she can get the alligator tears rolling! I put her to bed (again) and got in the tub. When I went in to check on her, I was sure she would be asleep. No she said, I can't sleep, my eyes hurt. Well they probably hurt because we got up early today, went to a movie, swam all day, went to logan's game, and it's late! Plus you are probably stinking hot because you insist on wearing fleece footie pajamas every night! I got her a washcloth to calm her severe "eye hurt". I think all she needed to do was close her little eyes and relax because within a minute or so she was out! I love that the washcloth is so heavy it is pushing her nose down all funny.

You asked for it!

What is it with our sheer desire to see others in misery? Nothing about an 8 month prego belly is cute, nothing! But we still continue to ask people to send us pictures of how big they are getting. Well you got it, here you go! I specifically didn't wear makeup or do my hair in this picture to excentuate how over it I am! I would like everyone to notice how this baby is getting so large that he has run out of up and down room, and has proceded to move his way into the love handle region.

Everything Changes....

I was reading over my profile and decided, wow, not a word of it is true anymore. It is definately time for an update. But I needed you all to read it one more time, hopefully you get as big of a laugh as I did...

Old Profile
I am the mom of 2 adorable kids. Don't ask because there aren't anymore on the way. We have been living in our first house for a little over a year now and love it! We have also had our dog for almost a year, and ARE NOT loving it! Logan is in kindergarten, and Chloe is my right hand lady! Besides being a mom and all that entails....I manage at Famous Footwear. So I get to be mom there too.


Ok..here is my new profile

I am still the mom of 2 adorable kids. ONE MORE ON THE WAY. We have been living in our house for 3 years and love it! WE DO NOT HAVE A DOG ANYMORE, BECAUSE SHE WAS A CHEWING PEE MACHINE:) Logan is soon to be in SECOND GRADE, and Chloe is going to be in PRESCHOOL. ALSO-I DON'T HAVE A JOB ANYMORE:) What a hoot!


The decision to have another baby was semi-sporadic (how that is spelled, I will never know.) My sister in law had her 2nd baby and I was packing up all of the newborn baby boy clothes to send down to her. Feeling really good about all the extra space it was going to save me to GIVE it all away for good. As I started to go through the clothes and see all of the cute things that I bought when I was pregnant with Logan, I completely LOST IT! Not just a little sad....choking tears rolling down my cheeks. Taylor looked at me, I think he was a little pale, and asked what was wrong. I said I wasn't ready to be done having kids. That night I went to bed and added it all up in my head. If I get pregnant in March, then I can be off of work for Christmas. I woke Taylor up and told him the news...he said ok, but then we have to have two more (I will finish this story later.) What!!?! He agreed! I called the dr's office the next day to have my iud taken out. When I asked how long it would take me to get pregnant he said it takes most women 6-12 mo. Well....call me fertile myrtle. FOUR DAYS. Now as for having 2 more....we have decided that my body does not like being pregnant after 30 weeks. Chloe arrived at 34 and this baby is pushing to come soon. This will be it for us, we understand the risks and heartache having a premature baby and don't want to push it:) As for baby #3....we are still having contractions everyday. I feel like I have been in the first stage of labor for a month. My due date has been moved around so much with the size of this baby, but not wanting to risk his health we are back to the original day of Aug 25. Which puts me at 34 weeks exactly next Friday. After 34 weeks if I go into full on labor, nothing will be done to stop me. As much as I would love to be done being pregnant and have this little boy here, we want him healthy! I just have to be prepared to have him...really anyday. He can't be born before we agree on a name though...right?

Logan survived kindergarten and first grade. I was so worried to send him to the first day of first grade, mostly I was worried for him to eat lunch at school! No one helps you pick out what you don't like at school, cuts your food, or opens your milk. He is growing up way too fast. I am so amazed at how fast they learn at this stage. He is an AWESOME reader! He also tests two grade levels ahead in math.

Chloe is a social butterfly and all girl. She is starting a new preschool this fall in our neighborhood and we are really excited on how focused on literacy they are. She went last year but we felt it was more of an expensive play day for her and wanted to get her in somewhere with stricter curriculum. She will be 5 this year, but barely misses the deadline for kindergarten. That's ok with us because she is barely big enough for a 4T, and while she's the oldest in her class, she's the shortest. Before we found out what the baby's gender was, we discussed that having another girl might help Chloe not be so spoiled, but another boy would be ok too, because Chloe makes the perfect spoiled princess! Chloe was in gymnastics for awhile, but didn't like it very much. She is starting dance this fall, I don't know who is more excited....her or me:)

Oh our dog......seriously I think she has some mental problems. I felt so bad for her because I never wanted to let her in the house. She was either chewing the crap out of something, or peeing on it. I literally cleaned my carpets 2-3 times a month, because I never knew what she had done. I told my aunt debbie I was giving her away, and she decided to take her. I think they may regret it, but my little sisters love her a lot. We now have two cats....and I never thought I was a cat person. Our cats are very low maitenance, which I love. They are also very loving and like to cuddle.

My job.....what a joke. I got fired after working there for 6 years. I have a really hard time believing that I all of a sudden started to suck:) I am loving being able to stay at home! The first day I was jobless I woke up and felt a little panicked, I had nothing to do that day. My life had been a whirlwind of trying to just get it all done for SO long that the thought of an unstructured day freaked me out. I got over it:) My house got a full deep clean, every room, every closet. I got all of my 1/2 done projects finished. I planted a garden, and worked very hard on keeping our yard looking good this year, until...my belly got in the way. The best part about being home is being able to be the wife and mom that I want to be. We rarely have a day with nothing to do or nowhere to be.

What is with that face?!

Chloe loves loves loves to go over and play with Bryn. They are only about 6 months apart in age, and are both VERY girly. We went out to eat after swimming and I wanted to get a cute shot of the girls together...thanks Bryn for cooperating, I am not sure what Chloe was doing!

Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day we went up American Fork Canyon and had a picnic with Taylor's family. The kids mostly enjoyed being outside and eating Smores.

We gave Taylor a treat jar for work and the kids had a blast decorating it with pictures and stickers. I let them pick the treats from the store...who knew dad liked all the treats they do? They were so excited the night we made it that they stayed up until 11:30 and gave it to him when he got home from work. They wrote little notes to him and put them in the treats for a surprise.

Logan's New Favorite Sport

While talking with Taylor's mom the other day about all of the various random sports that Logan wants to play (wrestling, hockey, not your typical run of the mill picks) she had told me that Grandpa really wished one of the kids wanted to play tennis. Logan had been asking Taylor to teach him. Well I think we started something. Grandpa got Logan out Dad's old racket and a bunch of balls and for a couple of days all I heard was thump, thump, thump against the back of the house while he practiced. Grandpa got Logan his very own racket and this was our first time out practicing!

Playday at Grandmas

Logan and Chloe had such a fun day yesterday going over to Grandma's house to play. She had a lot of fun things for them to do. We were finally able to visit the splash park that we have been wanting to go to. It is so cute and fun! (and free) Hopefully next time we go it will be a little less breezy and the kids won't have to be coaxed into the water for pictures:)

Not yet baby!

Well, we have had quite an interesting weekend. Baby is ready to come out! I started having contractions on Friday night about 6 pm, they stayed about then minutes apart. I finally started to get scared and called Labor and Delivery, they had me come in and hooked us up on the monitor. Definatley contracting, no signs of infection, baby looks healthy, no cervical change. Thank goodness for modern medicine...a couple of shots and they were able to stop the contractions. They also gave me some steroid shots to boost the baby's immune system and lung development. My doctor came in and we talked about how the baby would be if he came now. He said, "well, he would SURVIVE, but would definatley be in the NICU for at least four weeks." Whenever the word survive is used, it sounds so scary. I am going to say that I feel blessed to have large babies, because they think he would still weigh 5-6 pounds. Huge for a 30 weeker.
That is not the end of the story....Sunday morning Logan gave the scripture in primary. He did an awesome job! But....the contractions started again. My poor Sunday School teacher must have thought I was so bored. I kept my eyes on the clock the entire class. Contractions were coming 5 minutes apart, not super painful, but definately there. Back the the hospital we went, I was given more medicine and again the contractions stopped. I am now on a medicine that I will take at home to relax my uterus so it won't contract, along with frequent dr's visits, and plenty of water....we should make it for 34 weeks!

Up and Running

Now that we have finally joined the modern world and gotten home internet...lol, I figured first things first, add pictures to my blog! Now you will have to forgive me since it's been years since I blogged last, my posts may not make as much sense or be as pretty as the rest of yours! I will get better I promise!

Logan just barely turned 7 and is turning into such a boy! He started playing coach pitch last week and loves to swim, especially going off of the high dive!

Chloe is 4 (still looks 2) and loves everything about being a girl. From doing crafts with mom to playing dress up.....We were recently given a bunch of clothes for her....and she had a complete hay day opening the bags up....ending in a complete crash in a pile of clothes! So fun!

I am currently 31 weeks along. I went to the dr yesterday and he asked me if I have big babies, I said yes and we talked about Logan and Chloe's weight....he said to plan on this baby being bigger!!! OUCH!! Logan was 8 lbs 7 oz....how can anything bigger fit!!! Oh well...there is no stopping him now! By the way....we still haven't decided on a name, the current choices are Owen and Rhet. Middle name will be David after my grandpa. Any cute ideas I would be happy to hear! PS for those of you who didn't know...it's a boy!

Taylor is the same old skinny guy, just waiting for me to pass him up on the scales. He just had surgery to fix some torn ligaments in his thumb and is really dissapointed that it has affected his summer sports playing:) Especially since he just picked up a second job at Mulligan's, which means he can play for free whenever. He is definately excited for another boy....neither of us were sure we could handle another princess.