Things I've learned over the summer...

This summer I learned a lot of new things. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Always plan to have your babies before it gets really hot. Otherwise, you will be miserable.
2. When you have a baby in the summer and that baby wants to be held all the time and spits up a lot, you will never look or smell good.
3. Making jam and canning peaches makes you hot, and by hot I mean sweaty hot, not good-looking hot.
4. Cars are best used as a means of transportation, not as an ambulance. Trust me, it is better for all parties involved.
5. Having good insurance really does make a difference.
6. It IS possible to lose all your baby weight.
7. Making your kids take naps at the same time will make you a much happier person.
8. Eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day makes you feel good.
9. Watching educational DVD's with your 2 year old is good for them, but not necessarily good for you when you get the songs stuck in your head. (Dang you Mr. Websley and your talking letters!)
10. Macs are awesome and make even more awesome videos.
11. Having an income is better than not having one.
12. It's amazing how you learn to conserve everything when you have almost nothing.
13. Hard work pays off in the end.
14. Don't ever get a long-haired dog, unless you want to vacuum up dog hair on a daily basis.
15. You get what you pay for when you buy a vacuum.
16. You can't stay mad at a kid when they are so stinkin' cute.
17. When your newborn starts laughing, it melts your heart and you remember why you had kids.

It's amazing how much you can learn in so short a time!

We just got a new Mac, and I made this video on iMovies.
Be prepared to see the most awesome thing you have ever seen!

If you can't see it then go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZrNeF66fWQ

Silly Abby

Rex hates his car seat. He cries anytime we go anywhere. We usually just let him cry and he runs out of steam after about 5 minutes. Last night, when we were driving home, he started crying and then quickly ran out of steam. When we were almost home, he started crying again and Abby yelled, "No, baby Reck, No cry!" She was just saying what we all were thinking...

Abby vs. Rex

Ever since Abby was born, we've always said she was super-advanced...practically a genius. So now that Rex is here, we're wondering if he is super advanced as well. Today we got our answer. We were trying to get Abby to pee in her little potty and she was not interested at all. So we told her Rex was going to take a turn on the potty. Of course, at this she screamed "NOOOOO, Abby's turn!" So she sat down. Of course, there were no results from this. So Abby and Rex took turns sitting on the potty and when it was Rex's turn, HE WENT PEE!!! IN THE POTTY!!!! How advanced is that!! Abby can't even do that yet. Score...Abby 0 Rex 1...until a few hours later we overheard Abby "reading" one of her books and she counted to 9 all by herself!! Abby 1 Rex 1.

Busy Busy Busy

We had a very busy couple of weeks. First, Abby celebrated her 2nd birthday with some family. Then Tad and his family and Dan came down to visit for the fourth of July weekend. We went to the beach on the 3rd, swam on the 4th, and we had Rex's baby blessing on the 5th. And to top it off, Craig had to take his RD exam on the 7th...today. He just called me and told me that he passed, which means he is now officially a registered dietician and can start working!! Woohoo!! What a crazy couple of weeks. And tomorrow, his brother, Kevin, comes home from his mission in Russia. Whew!

Rex just chillin' at the beach. He slept pretty much the entire time we were there.

Abby playing in the sand. She wasn't too excited about getting in the water - it was a little cold.

Abby dancing with her cousins.

Showing of some dress-up earrings she got for her birthday.

When I asked Abby what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she said "Samson cake." What my baby wants, my baby gets. I made this out of cupcakes and sugar cookies. I thought it was a pretty good likeness.

Baby to go, please

Alright everybody, here is the whole story. It is going to get very graphic, so be prepared. It all started around 12:30am on Thursday. I woke up with contractions about 4 minutes apart. I got some water and laid down, thinking it was probably false labor. When they didn't stop I got up and walked around a little and got the number for the hospital to call to see if I should come in. At this point they started coming faster and harder so they said come on in. We raced over to Craig's parents house to drop off Abby, who I'm sure was scared by all my groaning in the car. As we were leaving Craig's mom tossed a few towels into the car, thank goodness, because we sure needed them. I'm not sure she's going to want those back.

So next we start racing to the hospital. My contractions were getting so close I almost had no break in between them. Craig was driving about 90 mph the whole way there and ran a few red lights. The pain was getting so intense that I started screaming, and I'm not a screamer, if that tells you how much it hurts. By the time we got to Van Buren I started feeling the urge to push. I tried not to, but eventually I just did a little push to relieve the pressure and his little head just popped out. At this point, I had taken off my pants and seatbelt and was squatting in the front seat. Just then my water broke and he slid out the rest of the way. I caught him like a fly ball and then held him close. He gave a little cry and then was quiet, but his color was good and we figured he would be okay until we got to the hospital, since I hadn't delivered the placenta. I wrapped one of the towels around him. We were about 10 or 15 minutes away from the hospital in Riverside. When we got there, Craig ran into the ER and yelled, "MY wife just had a baby in the car" and 4 people came running out to help. They clamped the cord outside and gave us warm blankets. I had to walk from the car to the gurney, which was quite a feat because Rex was still attached to me. I climbed onto the gurney and they wheeled me into the ER.

Once we got inside, they cut the cord, checked Rex's vitals and whisked him away to the NICU, oh and that was because he was covered in meconium. I guess he had a little accident while he was in my belly. I delivered the placenta in the ER and then after a while I went up to labor and delivery, where I got stitched up and then went to the recovery room. It happened all so fast. I had even told Craig before we left for the hospital that I thought Rex was going to come fast and furious and he did. Thankfully, we were both in good shape and we are both doing well. Rex was 8 lbs even and 21 inches long - a big boy! I feel totally hardcore for having gone through this experience. I feel like a triathlon is a piece of cake now. I could probably do one right now. :)

I turn my back for 1 minute...

I turn my back for one minute, and what happens? Abby finds my eyeliner, takes off the cap and tries to do her own makeup. Not a bad job, I might add. I really like how she connected her two eyes together with that nice straight line. At least she didn't poke her eyes out...