The Pumpkin Patch

This month we went on our annual outing to Pack's Pumpkin Patch in Farmington. The kids love to ride in the wheelbarrow.


Such a beautiful sunset! I love it that this is only 15 minutes away from my house.


My little Wesley boy


JJ loves to do silly poses


Wes loved running around in the hay maze


I couldn't get McKenna to hold still for a good picture


And of course it wouldn't be a family outing without someone throwing a fit. Just as soon as some nice person offered to take our picture, McKenna got mad about something...I can't remember what. Oh well. This may be the only picture with all five of us in existence.

McKenna's Naptime

The other day McKenna fell asleep on the couch, which is not uncommon for her. But then I looked over and saw that she was sitting up... but was still asleep.

At first I was totally creeped out. She sleeps with her eyes open a little bit.








But after assessing the situation and making sure that she was not
a.)Dead
b.)A zombie
JJ and I decided that it was pretty funny. So we started posing with her.







When she woke up she didn't think it was as funny as JJ and I did.

My Mom Goes on a Mission!

My Mom was called to serve in the Europe Area Office in Frankfurt, Germany. She will be serving for 18 months.

Here we are in the Car pulling up to the MTC. Mom said that she wasn't nervous, but was very excited.




I like it that they make the young Elders unload all the bags for the senior missionaries.



Here's my Mom in her little dorm room at the MTC. Ten years ago she dropped me off in a similar room at Utah State!



Kissing McKenna goodbye. Sad!


Wesley's turn! *sniff, sniff* He won't remember her at all, I'm sure!


One last photo before Mom goes in.



It was exciting, but also really sad! We had an emotional goodbye and she was off to her new adventure....And then the next weekend I broke her out of there and we went to the Mall and out to lunch just like old times. :) Now she has been in Germany for a week. I miss her, but I love it that we can talk on the phone. Just yesterday we talked for half an hour!

Good luck on your mission, Mom!

Today when I was nursing Wesley at the Children's Museum he bit me. Hard. This is the third time he's done it. When this happens my policy is to yell a lot. And it just happens that yelling is pretty much a knee-jerk reaction to being bit on one of your pink places, so it's a good thing that it's my policy. Unfortunately for me, people generally tend to frown upon adults yelling at little babies. So I just cringed and held it in. Because I was in a public place, I wasn't able to fully assess the damage, but I did see blood. This is so painful I was blinking back tears all the way home.

Right now I am grateful for the fact that Wesley only has 2 bottom teeth. Things surely would have been much worse if he had top ones too. If you are one of the moms who feels bad that you weren't able to nurse your babies, just remember this little story. I truly believe that there are just as many cons to nursing as there are pros.

Now whenever I go to feed Wesley, this is all I can think about:

Sweet Baby Wesley

Wesley Cone was born on June 23rd.

5 lbs 13 oz
18.5 inches
LONG dark eyelashes

This was BY FAR my easiest delivery and recovery. I had the best labor/delivery nurse named Libby. When she came into the room she told me that pain was optional and that I could have what they call the 'Princess Cruise.' This is where you have your epidural placed right when they start the pitocin, so you are pretty much numb when labor starts. Sounds good to me!

I got to the hospital at 10:00 am. By 11:00 I had all of my IV's, the pitocin was started, my water was broken, and my epidural was in and working like a charm.
The nurse checked me at 4:00pm and I was fully dialated. My doctor came in and about 3 pushes later Wesley was born at 4:10pm.

Everyone was quoting the movie, The Princess Bride, because of the name Wesley. Actually, the character in the movie is named Westley with a T, I believe. That's ok, it was still pretty funny.

Dr. Terry: Ok, Marianne give me a big push.
Me: As you wish!*
Nurse: I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!
Other nurse: My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

*Ok, I wasn't actually witty enough to say that. I had other things on my mind at that particular moment. (Like, I hope I don't die, I hope the baby is ok, and I hope James isn't inadvertantly taping my crotch with the camcorder.) But I DID think of it later...

Don't let the smile fool you- I was truly terrified as I was waiting to be induced


My sweet boy




So Tiny


All Ready to Go Home


Now it's almost 2 months later. And I think things are going as well as could be expected. My biggest problem is feeling like I don't have enough time to enjoy Wesley and give him the attention he needs and deserves. I feel so bad when he is crying and I'm scrambling to get everyone out the door, or dinner made, or whatever and I can't help him right then. My time is stretched so thin. I want to just climb in bed with him and snuggle all day. But I guess that is how it goes for the third baby in a family. I still feel so guilty about it though.

Wesley is adorable and is starting to smile and coo at me. That is the best reward for all the work that a new mom does. It's how the baby says, 'Thanks Mom, I love you!'



(Photos by Dana Willis)

JJ's Joyschool Graduation

JJ had his preschool graduation a couple of weeks ago. It was such a cute party for a cute group of kids. This was the perfect thing for JJ this year and I'm so glad we did it! Thanks to Emily for putting the graduation together- we loved it!

All the Graduates





Me presenting JJ with his diploma


Cute little friends!





I will miss having these kids in my home. It was a lot of work, and was exhausting at times, but I love each of them and hope they'll still come over to play every now and then!

Feeling Better About Things

I have had another non stress test since my last post and it went well too. The doctor assures me that he is probably being overly cautious by having them done. I am feeling so much more relieved. At my visit on Monday he really made it sound like he sees no reason why I would be induced before the 23rd. So that is the plan for now. I have one more non stress test and two more doctor's visits before I will be induced.

Thank you so much for all of the nice comments and offers to help. I am so lucky to have such good family and friends to help me out! I am feeling really good and have even deep cleaned 2 of the rooms in my house. Hooray!

During the year that McKenna was about 12 to 24 months, she was in the 4th percentile for height and weight that whole year- but her head was in the 85th. (Like an orange on a toothpick!) So I am reminding myself that even babies who don't measure up the way they are 'supposed' to can still be perfectly healthy, and adorable to boot! So that is what I'm hoping for here.

Anyway, things are looking up!