July updated!

So, basically, for a long time I felt like if I was feeling well enough to sit on our hard computer chair long enough to post a blog, then I was feeling well enough to do some work. Work won out. But, today is Sunday and I'm not doing work today!

This is our traditional picture. Well, the 2nd one anyway. I made them all shirts that say "I'm the ..... Big Sister/Big Brother/New Baby."

An updated garden. Ben's eaten 2 tomatoes, Kannon ate one. We have 7 watermelon growing. Had tons of spinach and the lettuce is finally big enough. My mom's been a big help and thinned my carrots and beets. I actually bottled 3 pints of beets.


Sarah with one of our spinach leaves. Of course, we'd rather they didn't get quite so big as they start turning bitter.

One day I heard Sarah in the kitchen. She was making lunch. Yes, she's still in her pajamas, but that's just how it goes. And in my defense, it was still morning - about 11 am. She made pb&j for all of us. Some of the sandwiches only had a little bit of peanut butter in the middle - same with the jam. But, I thought it was a sweet gesture.

Relaxing summer days. These two have actually been playing more together. I'm sure that's because I've been unable to do much with either of them for awhile. Sarah's always been good at playing by herself, but Ben needs someone. He's also been very good at making her scream. We've been having a lot of behavioral issues -I'm sure that's also because I've been unavailable - at least quickly. They know I can't just jump up and "get" them anymore. We've had to use the naughty spot quite a bit.

I've got mixed feelings about school. Ben is all registered and almost done with his immunizations. We didn't get into the school we want - the one a block away - but we are first on the list of changing. So, more than likely he'll be there within the first week or two. I think life will be a little more calm with him gone during the day, but then I feel guilty because I should want my children to be home with me. Also, I'll miss him - he really is a big helper. We've recently given him more chores to do and he's been pretty good about doing them without too much complaining. I look forward to being able to give Sarah a little more attention, too. We still need to get him in for a last session of swim lessons before the summer is over - and we're late for soccer sign-ups so I think we might try something else this year. Sarah shopped for her dance clothes and we'll get her signed up for ballet soon, too.

Kannon's been a busy father. He takes the kids all over so that I can have some quiet time and they can still have some fun. Last weekend they did the pool and the circus. He often gets them outside to help with projects, too. He even lets me go to the store some nights and deals with the fussy baby. Today he napped with Joshua for 3 hours! That means I got to nap for 3 hours, too!

Last Friday was a busy day for us. I took the kids with me to get Joshua's PKU test done. They were both pretty bothered by "so much blood." The nurse tried to reassure them that it really wasn't that much. I don't think they believed her. After lunch we headed to Reno to drop off some insurance paperwork and visit the new dentist. I switched to a family dentist so that we could all go to the same one and I wasn't going back to the old dentist after my last experiences with his office. Anyway, it was the kids first visit to a dentist and their teeth are just great. The dentist and helper were both impressed with their teeth - or they're just really nice people and like to make the kids feel good. Kannon showed up in time for me to be able to do my x-rays and the dentist talked him into getting some done too. Sad thing is, he has 3 cavities. He thinks if he flosses every day from now til the appt. he will be able to get rid of them! I guess he doesn't understand how that works. These are his first cavities, ever!

Afterward, we went to S-cheels. No, I didn't mis-type. That is how Ben pronounces it and will not listen to anything different. (He also says, "in a jippy" instead of jiffy.) This was our first visit to Scheel's, and I was as impressed as I thought I would be - which wasn't very. Ben and Kannon rode the ferris wheel - Sarah didn't want to. We checked out the fish tanks, browsed around and we all played the gun game upstairs. Then we went to eat at Carl's Jr. We made one more stop, at Target, to do some school shopping. We only found one pair of pants, though we spent over $100. I ended up buying some jeans that were on sale for next year, new church pants, 3 swim suits for next year, and dance clothes for Sarah. We made a lot of trips to the bathroom and even I got to enjoy the hand dryer that makes your skin wiggle! It was a busy day - but fun to do something as a family again.

A few weeks ago I had a special visit from one of my mission companions. That was a fun time. Too short of course, but she and her family were on their way through, and I'm just grateful they wanted to stop and visit. I probably wasn't the best hostess or conversationalist, but I still enjoyed having them here. She was a great and fun companion and we got to hang out some in Utah after the mission, too.

We had our first outing (Joshua and I) when we went to our ward's Pioneer Day celebration just over a week ago. We had a yummy pancake and egg casserole breakfast. Then the kids did a parade and there were a lot of games to play. It was too hot for me though and I was glad to go home. Ben got a bloody nose, which seems to be happening a lot - must be the dry heat?

So, some days with the baby are good and others not so much. He's a good baby, I think I must need to eliminate something from my diet. I've already done the chocolate and spicy foods, but he's still acting like he's in gassy pain. So, I'm trying milk right now. Speaking of milk, this kid's an eater. I feed him a lot! Seems like there's not much left for him when he's ready for more. I guess my body will get it all figured out. I'm just trying to keep drinking water like I did when I was pregnant. Then some nights he sleeps really well and only wakes up to eat and goes back to sleep. Or, like last night, he was up every few hours and stayed up for a few hours! Meaning I've only had about 5 hours of sleep and its showing. I'm cranky and emotional. Ugh.

His 2-week checkup went well. The doctor said he is thriving. He weighed in at 10 lbs. 4 oz. and 22 inches long.

He poops a lot, too. I guess that's a given. I told my kids he eats, sleeps and poops. Then he starts all over again. One night I changed him 4 times - each time I put a new one on he immediately pooped again. By the time he needed the 5th one I decided to feed the crying baby and wait it out. The kids still love to hold him, but don't ask as often anymore. The novelty must be wearing off.

This is one of my favorite outfits. I think Ben only got to wear it once before he outgrew it. I just love his perfect skin.

My mom bought this cute teddy/blankie for him. It rattles, too. I hope he enjoys it as much as Sarah has enjoyed her "special blankie." You can kind of see his eyelashes here. He got the long ones from his Daddy. All of the kids have them and I'm so glad.

This is probably my new favorite photo of the baby. Ben took it and I think the light is from the flash bouncing off his hand. I don't know, I just like the way the lighting is. The baby sleeps best on his side like this, although there have been a few times he rolled onto his tummy and that makes me a little nervous.

So, we have family coming this weekend for the baby blessing and the next weekend is the wedding for Kannon's brother, JJ, in Elko. So, we'll be busy for a bit. But, I guess that gives me more to blog about!

He's Here!

Welcome to Our Earthly Home

Joshua Morgan Polish

10 lb. 21 in.

July 9, 2009 12:30 pm

Baby and Mother doing well - no complications, yeah!

Sarah, reading to Joshua as soon as he got home.

Busy Days

We've had a great few busy days. We made plans, all tentative of course, but we got to do everything. Darn it! This is the end of another day and we still don't have our baby. I keep getting poked by it and I tell it to come out so there will be more room for stretching! My belly now hits the steering wheel. Please don't grow any more! All but this first picture are in order. Saturday morning Kannon got up early and did a few projects. He put a new window in our bedroom - yay, no more bugs! And he put up the new dining room light. We've had just a single light bulb for quite a few months. The brightness of this is incredible. I love it!

On Thursday afternoon, when Kannon got home, he packed up the tent, etc. and took the kids and some food to the lake for a camp out. I would have loved to go with them, but I didn't think a trek to the port-a-potties a few times in the night would be too fun. They had a good time in spite of the weather - it was raining off and on as well as thunder and lightning. But, the sky was beautiful and we all saw a rainbow. I came out on Friday morning. The kids were anxious for me to arrive. We just enjoyed the breeze for awhile, although it didn't take long for the kids to get in the water, and then we couldn't seem to get Ben out!
This is Sarah crying for me. I'm the one that tossed her on there with her Dad - but she didn't want to go. She was okay in the other rafty boats, but only if they stayed close to shore.

Ben and aunt Jackie.

This boat was given to us by Kannon's grandpa. It's been sitting at my parents house for the 2 years we've had it. We were waiting to get a motor for it. But, my brother Nathan decided it would be good fun and loaded it up. Nathan, his wife Jackie, my mom and dad came out around 11. Sister Susan and hubby Stephen came around 1pm. They took the boat out with oars a couple of times. Glad it's getting some use, and that it didn't have any wasp nests in it!

When the wind started to blow our toys away, we decided it was time to go home. Kannon and Ben took off again, after showers, to go shooting with Nathan, Jackie, and my cousin James. I relaxed and Sarah took a really long nap. Then we met up again at my parents house for hotdogs and chips. We made s'mores, too. I had bought the stuff a few weeks before and had been anticipating them, they were so good!

SEE!!!

Jackie brought some fireworks and we did the few that didn't fly into the sky. The kids enjoyed the sparklers.

Watching the firework toys.

The kids again zonked out before we got home that night. On Saturday morning we went to the Boy Scout breakfast. I felt like it would be good to support that, as well as not having to fix the meal myself! It was already hot and bright when we got there. We ate our fill, then returned home to hurry down the block to the parade.

We always get there early enough to get a seat, but then we have to wait. I just sat the whole time and felt like my feet were frying. I did get a little color on my lower legs. We had a big beach umbrella for the rest of our bodies. The kids waited semi-patiently. Sarah had a good time making faces for the camera.

So, the 4th of July parade around here is one of the more boring ones. It had a lot of vehicles; the demolition derby cars, a bunch of old military vehicles, and trucks with trailers hauling kids from the Silver State International Rodeo that is here right now. And that was about it. The kids enjoyed going after the candy that was thrown, although Sarah spent more time moping about it than getting it. She just wasn't fast enough. Plus, a lady and her kids decided to "park" themselves in front of us and so her kids got the candy Sarah would have gotten had they not been there. Kannon got upset at them (there were some others, too, that had decided to get in front of us - half way into the street). He finally said something to them and the one guy said, "this is a parade, we can do what we want." I thought him rude and ignorant, but told Kannon that he'd had his say and if he couldn't handle it he needed to go home. He stayed and we just tried to ignore them. My favorite part was the big group of rodeo-ees ? that were next to us. Whenever one of the groups from the rodeo came by, these people had water balloons, squirt guns, large reservoirs of water - it was just fun to watch the water fighting each time. Kannon brought a bucket down, too, with water and their squirt guns. The kids were always surprised to see that our little Ben was the one that had just soaked them!

This was the end, when the fire trucks go by. Love the fingers in her ears!

Kannon attended a baptism in the evening and after the sun went down, we went to the fireworks. On the way, as we passed the hospital, we decided that would be a good place to sit for the "works". They had grass and a good view. We sat on a blanket and waited. I was pleased that there was light there, so I could read while we waited. The kids got hyper and ran around trying to do cartwheels. They also tried 'duck, duck, goose' but that really just ends up with the 2 of them running in circles. I got kind of bored with the fireworks. I guess I wanted to see them spiced up a little bit. Just the same old fireworks over and over again. Sarah quit first, she and Dad were walking back to the car when Ben decided to join them. It took me awhile to get my body up and then we went home - and to bed!

Waiting for the 'works.'

So, now it's the end of the 5th and still no baby. I've actually had 4 - yes 4! - contractions today. That has me a little excited since I haven't really had anything so far. My next appointment is on Tuesday - and my doctor gets back from his trip tonight. So, I guess he'll be there for the delivery after all. I'm really hopeful that it will be this week, or that something is happening. Because, so far, no dilation and no dropping, etc. This baby is getting heavy and putting a lot of pressure on my body, so getting up and moving around really hurts, almost as if I'd already had a baby! I walked Wal-mart the other night, getting groceries for the next few weeks, and was feeling pretty tight the whole time. So, I'd rather get up and move around, but it seems like everything hurts! And sleeping is a nightmare. I've gotten to the point where I don't move much at night, slept on the couch for an hour one night, too. Just anything to make sure my body doesn't hurt too much. Well, I had an epiphany yesterday. I was talking to a friend and as he told me all the things they were endeavoring in their lives, he said they pray and pay their tithing and have faith that it will all work out. That's when I remembered that although I've set aside our tithing money, it hasn't been paid for about a month. "Hey if we pay our tithing then this baby will come!" So, we did that today and now we will just have faith. Next post will for sure be one about our new baby!

It's a birthday girl!

As much as we all - me, most of all - wish this was a post about a new "birthday" in the family, it's not. Sarah turned 3! She's changing so much, so quickly. Some things we wish would change faster than others. She whined through half of sacrament meeting and still loves to hit when she's mad. Of course that usually comes after much teasing from her big brother.

I think she got to have a pretty special day. When she woke up she had a cute doll cradle waiting for her. Kannon and I had re-made the one that I had as a child. It had been brown with yellow and red designs. We sanded it down, painted it white with pink designs. She puts all the babies in it, some on top of the others. But, it's fun to see how they end up. I hope she enjoys it. She wanted eggs, bacon and biscuits for breakfast, but I realized I didn't have enough eggs and talked her into pancakes. When I got up, Ben brought me a list of what Sarah wanted for breakfast. It said: eggs, pink lemonade, pancakes. The way it was written I saw pink pancakes. So, that was what she got. Her favorite way to eat them? With butter, held in her hands. Whatever is left over gets eating by the kids throughout the morning, in the same manner. I had quite a list of to-do's that day. Kannon and I were going to a sealing in Reno that afternoon, so I had to have everything ready. Luckily, I'd already done the present stuff in preparation for having a new baby. But, as I started the cake, I remembered - again - that I didn't have the eggs. So, we made a quick trip to the store for eggs. She wasn't interested in licking the bowl, but Ben didn't mind. She did lick the beater and had pink all over her face. I gave her a choice of shapes for her cake - not surprised that she picked the heart. Well, I decided I could fit more of the cake mix in the pan than just half and it ended up overflowing and taking a long time to cook. I was really worried that it would be raw or gross inside. But, everyone loved how moist it was - yay!
She picked out the decorations. She wanted pink frosting with a pink flower. I didn't have a pink flower to put on - so I dyed the pink frosting a darker pink and made my own. I used green sprinkles for the stem and leaf. At lunch, she asked for eggs, bacon and biscuits, again. I told her I didn't think I could do the biscuits (time and energy lacking) but she got the eggs and bacon. I also made dinner for that night in advance. I'd asked my mom - again - to babysit and thought dinner would be a nice return. I got everything done on time, rushed the kids and all the stuff to my parents house and back in town to be picked up for a ride to Reno. On my short drive I remembered I hadn't eaten yet. So, rush into the house, grab my temple recommend and shove some food in while waiting for my ride. I really enjoyed that ride. Got to visit with a good friend who is also due right now. We enjoyed the sealing of some friends in our ward. What a special day for them - it was their 10th anniversary and they had their 3 children with them. When we got back in town we went to my parents house and did presents and cake & ice cream. The kids had been so anxiously waiting. We gave her a book, 2 puzzles, a nightgown with princesses, an apron that matches moms and 2 princess lunchbox tins. From the grandma's she got a book, a doll, a princess chair, coloring book, and . For her ice cream I had let her pick some from the Schwan's man - she wanted pink and the only available one was Dark Sweet Cherry, which we all loved.

We sang happy birthday to her, Ben carried the cake to her and she blew them out before we were even finished singing. And then she said, "thank you." So sweet. The kids were both really tired when we got done and got home. So, we put them to bed. Actually, Kannon and Ben decided to camp on the lawn - I went to the grocery store. But, Sarah was out before we even got home - must have been a great day for her! We're so glad to have her in our family. Her smiles still bring so much joy.