We Are Moving!

Remember last time we moved from St. George and my kids looked like that?

Tom got a job in Casa Grande, Arizona... and we are moving. On MONDAY!

We are a little nervous, and we don't have a place to live there yet. What's up with property management/rental companies never calling you back? It's such a pain!

What's the job? It's a webmaster job for the city there. If you want to know more details you'll have to ask him.

We are obviously very busy trying to pack up our house and move our lives across state lines (again). If you'd like to see us before we go you're welcome to come help pack and clean. :)

I know I've been slacking on sharing Hank's birth story, I have it all written out for my personal records and have been trying to decide how much to share (you know, the short or long version). I've been nervous to share it since I had some judgment on Clark's birth story, but I'm over that now and will post it... eventually.

Newborn Days

It's been nice having a newborn around again. I personally love the newborn stage, lack of sleep and all. Not that some sleep wouldn't be nice though.

Clark and Arvilla love this stage too. I use the little energy I have during the day trying to keep them from touching Hank too much. Their hands, lips, faces, and feet just gravitate toward his little body like magnets.

Hank is a good baby. He's happy and content and his favorite things are eating (and then eating some more) and taking naps on my chest. That's my favorite thing too. He also really likes taking baths. When Clark and Arvilla were newborns they would scream during baths. Not Hank. He relaxes in that bath water and makes cute little baby noises of approval. Maybe it's because he was born in the water...?

I told Tom that I know it may sound weird but I like having milk again, I've missed it and I've missed feeding babies. He told me it's not weird, that it's probably like Chuck and the intersect. Probably.

My least favorite things about having a newborn?

Burping. Specifically in the middle of the night. My sleepy arms struggle to hold him up on my chest and pat him, then I finally give up and lay him down only to have him squirm and grunt because a bubble is bugging him. I pick him up again and may or may not get the burp out, and I continue this little routine until he finally burps. If it weren't for burping I'd get a lot more sleep. Tom is good to help out most nights with the burping so I can catch a little more shut eye, but I have been trying to be extra quiet at night so he won't wake up since he needs his sleep too.

I also hate changing diapers at night. It means having to turn the lights on which wakes us up too much. Then 9 times out of 10 after I change his diaper and start nursing him he poops. Terrific.

He's growing up so fast already. I'm trying my hardest to take things slow and enjoy this time. Lots of cuddles and naps together, and lots of talking in my sweet newborn voice with a dorky smile on my face. (You know you all do it too.)

Happy Valentine's Day

We are so grateful for our many blessings that have been coming our way this month. The biggest being our little son, Henry Paul, being born. He's as healthy and happy as can be! We also finally closed on our house yesterday, so we can move on from that part of our lives. Tom has a couple of great job prospects, we're sure at least one of them will work out. This Valentine's Day we are taking it all in and enjoying all of our blessings.

A Little Over 38 Weeks

And boy am I big!

Clark Singing

I taught the kids a Valentine's Day song, they have been practicing it to sing to the new baby when he/she comes. It was a song my older brother Dan used to sing to me when I was a baby (so I've been told). I guess while my mom would be getting the other kids ready for school I'd wake up crying in my crib so Dan would come in and sing it to me, an inch away from my face, while I continued crying.

Clark loves to sing, but doesn't usually learn all the words properly. He has really taken to this song though and has learned it almost perfectly, so I got a quick video of him singing it for us.



See how well he does getting the words right: "I love you, every Valentine says I do, love you. You love me, for your message is clear. Love is such a wonderful feeling. Valentine let's share Valentine love all year."

Notice how he signs "I love you" at the end? Way cute.

Happy birthday, Julianne!

Hey guys, Tom here. Just wanted to do a little blog post for Juli's birthday. We (the almost 3 kids and I) love her very much and want her to know how special of a Mom and Wife she is.

Juli, you mean so much to us it's hard to put into words, but you do :) We are so grateful for you and so happy that you are in our lives and our Mom and Wife (and girlfriend :) ). Thank you for being you for and for being such a trooper with this pregnancy and with having kids in general, and putting up with me :) Arvilla and Clark are so happy to have you as their Mommy and they love you so much! Thank you for being born and for being my wife and my best friend. You are definitely loved!

I hope you have a great year and that all your wildest dreams come true!

Our Family

This afternoon Tom put some butcher paper on the table to let the kids color. Arvilla asked what she should draw and Tom suggested she draw a picture of our family. She complained for a minute that she didn't know how, and we told her to try her best. When she was all done we were quite surprised with the outcome!

Left to right: Me, Arvilla, and the new baby. Then Tom and Clark above us in brown!

She was pretty proud of herself too and drew a second set of our family!

Tom took this picture of the kids while I was napping today, and I sure think they are pretty adorable.

Clark had the flu that turned into pneumonia, it was nice to have a cuddly, calm little boy for a few days there... but now the antibiotics have kicked in he's been back to his wild self. We love his wild self too... but we see that far more often than his calm side.