What You've Been Missing...

We had a baby! A Boy! {I know, not too surprising, but work with me here} December 18, 2009.

And my labor was hard...er than my others. But humor me, I was in PAIN! And the unflattering picture proves it. {Bless Shane for taking this picture...}

I know it looks like I'm sleeping--but I'm thinking I'm about to die, trust me. I was so ready to push, and I was waiting for my doctor to get there. I really thought the nurses were going to be catching my baby at any moment {TMI, no?} I got through it though, with my doctor. There was a scary moment for me when the cord was around the baby's neck, but after that was taken care of he was perfect--although a little blue.

He was the cutest little thing--and very tiny! 6 lbs 8 oz, 19 inches. I was amazed by how perfect he was, and felt more grateful than ever for a healthy little baby. I truly appreciate the miracle of bringing babies into this world. Oh, and see that puff of ratted hair on my head? I call it the evidence of a hard labor. But, you'd think Shane could have told me to fix it before all of the picture taking {and yes, that means it shows in every picture we have...see}

Baby Cole...meet the world

Okay, so here's the deal. With both of my girls, I have some very cute hospital pictures. And yes, I'm bragging a little. I was so happy getting some good shots of me with my babies where I didn't hate how I looked. Until now. Oh my gravy {new favorite saying...}, I'm blaming it on having a boy. I looked horrible. And there is not one good picture of me at this hospital. And I find it quite sad. But, it is what it is--and I'm brave enough to show you. See...

I love staying at the hospital. And I know that not everybody feels that way. But, I do. It's so relaxing for me. This time, however, the girls were not able to come and visit. Because of new hospital restrictions {thank you, Swine flu} they were not able to come see their new brother. Which made me very sad. But, at the same time, because of limited visitors I was able to really rest, relax, and enjoy one on one time with both Cole and Shane. And I really enjoyed and appreciated it. But, when it was time to come home I thought Cole looked so cute {and TINY}. I was so excited to get home and let the girls meet their new little brother. After all, we've never had one of these before....

Oh, and...

We moved. I know, I was surprised, too.

Last November, Shane and I had the overwhelming feeling that we needed to lower our debt. See, this whole economy-in-the-crapper thing has been a long road for us. And I'm not blaming the economy or anybody else, but not knowing when real estate was going to bounce back had Shane unsure about work. Then it just so happened someone came along looking for a house. And when they heard we might be willing to sell--well, they wanted it. And this was all decided in a matter of days {and we consider ourselves extremely lucky, especially in this economy, because this is the second house we've been able to sell without even listing}. The best part was, these folks needed a home by December 1. Yep, we had two weeks to be out. And did I remind you that I was 8 1/2 months at this point. I really don't suggest this situation.

So, my parents were kind enough to put us up in their basement {which is not like a basement at all--we have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, our own laundry room and kitchen--perfect}. We {and by that I mean mostly me} started packing immediately. And with lots of help from family and friends, we made it. I ended up being as swollen as a marshmallow girl from being on my feet so much, but I felt like it was still better than trying to do it after the baby came. Also, being done by December 1 gave me a couple of weeks to recover and rest before baby!

It was a long, frustrating journey to get the house that we wanted, but we finally got it. We bought a foreclosure just around the corner from our old house. We felt great about it because we could stay in the same school/ward, and the mortgage would be about half. The "new" home had been sitting empty for a couple of years, and there had been some vandalism, so there was alot of fixing up to do. We basically decided to just redo almost everything, and we are still coming out way ahead debt-wise. I was dumb and didn't take a whole bunch of "before" pictures. These were taken a while ago. The house is almost done {yep, it's May and we're still not in}, so "after" pictures will be coming soon. But here's a peek at what we got ourselves into.

The dining nook...my favorite part of the house {there will be a new light fixture}

Cole's bathroom {main floor bath}...as you can see, Shane ripped out everything

Fireplace and mantle are going to be redone

Kitchen...cabinets are staying, just being refinished to a darker color

Back! I think...

Wow! It's been almost 8 months since I've blogged. And, admittedly, I haven't missed it all that much. It seems like most {no, not all} of my blogging girlies, and guys, have abandoned the bloggin' business. Which made the game not so much fun anymore. But, I've realized one thing. When I was blogging I was 10 times better at taking pictures and recording our family memories. And that is important to me. So, I figure, this is the best way of motivating me. It's not my family journal, nor my personal one, just an outlet and a place to share our lives with our friends and family.

The last few months have been crazy, to say the least. I feel extremely overwhelmed and busy just trying to manage my little family. It's frustrating to feel like it is so hard for me when it appears to be so easy for so many of you. I admire {and question...} those of you who always have perfect houses, are on time to everything with kids in matching outfits, serve a well prepared meal at the table every evening, pull off successful date nights every Friday, are the first ones to have your yards looking summer ready--flowers already planted, make it to the gym for an hour everyday, and are looking beautiful, ready for the day, and at the grocery store and running errands by 9:00 a.m. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, but I've decided to be happy with whatever progress we make each day. If the baby needs to be held all day, I will enjoy it instead of stressing over the house/dinner/errands {easier said than done, right?} So, I'm going to try the blogging thing again. If it happens, you can probably bet that my house is messy and the kids will be eating PB&J for dinner. And I'm totally okay with that...