I've Been *TAGGED*

My sis-in-law Marji "tagged" me - this is a first for me, so here I go!

3 JOYS

1. Being a mother to my six beautiful children. Most people are shocked and freak out a bit when they learn that I have six children. I truly feel blessed and privileged to be their mother. I am so happy to have six. Six really isn't that many! I love the fact that we fill our Yukon to the max. I love it when we are all piled in the bed Sunday's after church. I love it when we have family prayer together and our little circle is getting bigger. I love all the hands that go in the middle, piled on top of each other, for our family cheer. I love our big group family hug.

2. My hubby Roman (Romaine, Ro Yo, Rome, Daddy, Dah, and sometimes even "Pa" (we've been watching Little House) ). He works so hard to provide for our family. And when he gets home, he works so hard in the yard - the little one's love to go out there with him. I love bedtime, when the house is quiet, and the two of us have an hour or so to lay in bed and snuggle and talk about anything and everything. I know I couldn't do it with out him!

3. A clean house - I don't know why, but I get so much peace when my house is picked up and my kitchen is clean. Now, I haven't cleaned my bathroom in 3 weeks, but I'm still happy with my house that is fairly picked up.

3 FEARS

1. Spiders - I just don't like them. I contain myself pretty well when my kids are around, but the big uglies just freak me out. (Don't tell my kids - oh wait, they read this too...)

2. Loosing one of my children. I can't imagine life with out one of them. The thought of loosing any of them "spiritually" or "physically" nearly rips my heart out!

3. The state of our nation/world. I'm afraid about the economy, natural disasters, and the wickedness of this world and what it's going to come to and how bad it'll be for my children as they get older. I try to not dwell on this, but some days it all really gets to me!

3 GOALS

1. Lose 20 pounds - I have just over 10 to get to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I never got that last 7 pounds off after I had Seth, so I've got some work to do. Just can't figure out when I'll ever exercise!

2. Get a solid 8 hours of sleep! I haven't had that for a few months! It'll take time for this to happen as well. The thing with having 6 kids is: it's not necessarily the youngest that wakes you at night. There are 3 (and sometimes 4) others that like to help with this. It is sad when one of your kids, during family prayer, prays "bless everyone to stay in their beds so mommy won't be cranky in the morning". Yup - that just happened last night.

3. Start making dinner again. It's been a long time since I've actually made dinner even 5 out of 7 nights of the week. I'm not sure if I ever have! I'm trying to plan out meals and actually make them. Last night was my first night. By the way, thank you no one for giving me a dinner idea.

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS

1. Making my bed. Some days it is the only thing that looks or feels orderly. But I just don't feel complete if I don't get my bed made. I even made it the other day at 6:30 at night. I just had to do it!

2. Reading. I think I'm on my 7th book. I got into reading again about 2 weeks ago. The one I've enjoyed the most is titled Finding Faith.

3. This new ice cream that I found at Winco – it is Tillamook brand “Udderly Chocolate”. It is a combo of milk chocolate ice cream, with white chocolate ice cream, and some big chocolate shavings. The stuff is sooo good – even Roman loves it. Megan had a taste of Romans two nights ago, and all day was asking for it. After the kids went to bed last night Roman asked me why I let them have some of our favorite ice cream… he’s very protective of it.

3 RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS (this one is hard... I'm so boring!)

1. I’m the 5th out of 6 kids. I have one sister with red hair, one with super dark brown hair, and another with brown hair. (I am – OK was the blondy). I have two brothers, one (was) blond as well, and the other had very dark brown hair. We had a joke growing up that one sis belonged to the milk man (which was funny because my dad was a milkman on the side one year with his brother).

2. I was born with a soft clef palate (so the roof of my mouth wasn’t closed) and had surgery when I was 18 months old to repair it. I also went to speech therapy when I was little because of it. My little sis was born this was as well, but she had to have multiple surgeries and a whole lot of speech therapy.

3. I love “thrill rides” – I love roller coasters and anything like it. Last summer I went on the thingy at Lagoon with my two nieces… I can’t think what it is called. Sky Coaster maybe? They took us up in the air and dropped us. It was the funnest thing ever and I’d love to do it again! SOOOO worth the money! I’d love to go sky diving one day, go on a hot air balloon ride too. Roman thinks I’m crazy so I have to enjoy these things on my own.

Now I get to tag 5 other people! Those I'm choosing are:

Amie

Dacia

Jodi

Tara

Tiffani

BEDS...

There was a point last night that none of my children were occupying their beds. It made me think that we should just get rid of the beds, and bedrooms for that matter, and just stick them all in one big room on the floor. That way we could use the rest of the house for food storage, and a craft room, and an office...

Megan wanted to sleep on Logan's floor. Instead, I found her asleep in the rocking chair!

Here is a picture of Haley and Zack on the floor. They were caught in the act though - Haley was reading to him... this was 10:30 at night.
Here they are now... pretending to be asleep.
I think when I was up at 1:00 feeding Logan, I came back to bed to find Megan and Seth had both gotten in my bed. I was too pooped to put them back in their beds though. Luckily we have a king sized bed and I was able to find some room for my tired body.

Here is a picture of Logan from this morning. He was just sleeping so soundly, I had to take a picture!

MY BIGGEST BABY...

...(that would be Aaron), is gone for the week to Scout Camp! This is his first time being away from home for more than one night! I don't know why I'm having a hard time with this, but I've been so worried and anxious about him leaving. It's worse than his first day of kindergarten! Maybe it's my crazy hormones. Although he seems to be the one who is most often in the middle of the chaos at home, and it was definitely quieter today with him away, I still miss the little booger!
Here he is last night, all packed and ready to go! They had to meet at the church at 4:30 this morning. Roman helped him pack his stuff up. A little tidbit on Roman. Roman is THE BEST packer in the whole wide world. Although, at times I do accuse him of over packing... OK - I always accuse him of over packing, he is indeed the ultimate packing man. Anyway, I just had to take a picture of this. Roman pulled out his trusty bungee cords and attached the foam mattress, and the sleeping bag to the duffel bag (notice how secure that pillow is to the duffel bag - it aint goin nowhere!). I am pretty certain that the whole kit-and-caboodle weighs twice as much as Aaron does. I have no idea how the kid is going to tote this around! At least I have the peace of mind knowing that if he gets his socks wet, he's got another 8 pair to choose from! Way to go dad!

MEAL IDEAS!!

We're in our 3rd week of summer right? And I'm already sick of lunch choices... not to mention thinking about what to make for dinner. So here is my plea - share with me your favorite thing to make for lunch and/or for dinner. But please don't say tacos, spaghetti, or pancakes... because my family is sooo sick of those!!

WE SURVIVED THE FIRST TWO WEEKS!

We survived our first two weeks! He slept so much at the beginning, I had a hard time getting a shot of him with his eyes open. Now that he's awake more, we've had a few more opportunities, but then we've ran into crying issues... oh well! Once he got the day/night thing worked out, he started going longer between night time feedings. The longest was nearly 5 hours which was awesome. Roman or I usually take the late night feeding (anywhere from 10-midnight), I take the one in the middle of the night (because Roman sleeps thru it all and has a hard time getting up, and then getting back to sleep...), and then Roman takes the early morning feeding (anytime after 5a). This means I get to sleep in until 8 or 9. It's been working quite well! Until.... GROWTH SPURT! Yesterday Logan was awake more, fussy more, and wanted to eat more frequently. I thought for sure he'd have a good night since he was up so much more during the day. Roman and I watched a movie for our "at home" date night, and Logan ate at midnight... and then he stayed awake. It's all a blur now... but I was basically awake until about 4:45am with him. I think I got two 20 minute spans of sleep in that time frame. He either wanted to eat, or pooped as he was drifting off to sleep, or seemed to have a tummy ache, or wanted to be held, or woke when I put him down... Needless to say it was a long night. I didn't want to wake Roman though, because if he didn't get his solid block of sleep, then he'd be useless to me in the morning when the kids were up and at em. Luckily for me though, I had a great book I was reading, and I ended up finishing it during this time. It made it more bearable.

Here is the best part of it all though. Roman was going to take Aaron, Haley and Megan to the ward camp out. He didn't want to mess with Zack (who is having "I don't care if I pee/poop my pants" power struggles with us), or Seth (two year old - enough said). Well, the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to be left at home with my 3 most difficult children. So, I asked him to stay home, and he willingly complied. Thank goodness, or else I would have been one crazy mama at 7:00 this morning when Seth came in the room!

We've had so many loved ones do nice things for us these past two weeks. Friends and family have taken my children for play dates, which has given me many hours of peace and quiet. We've had meals brought in - my visiting teacher (she is AMAZING and should be assigned to someone less active or something - I don't deserve her!) made dinner for us twice! Actually, she's brought dinner in a total of 4 times since last fall (She is an amazing cook as well!). Yesterday, she came over to my house and stayed with the kids for 2 hours and I got to go to lunch with my mom and sister! SIX KIDS!! SHE TOOK ON MY SIX KIDS! It was nice to leave the house - empty handed! So many thoughtful gifts and visitors - from something as simple as a Krispy Kreme doughnut to a full blown out meal, we've truly been blessed. The Priests Quorum even brought us cookies! My kids think I should give birth more often because of all the goodies and food that people have brought in to us.

Here are a few pix...

Logan - almost two weeks old...

Aaron snuggles Logan.

Logan patiently waits for photo shoot to end so he can get a diaper change.

Logan's favorite past time - snuggling with mom.

And then we have moments like this - which are occurring more frequently, much to the kids disappointment.

It is funny how you forget all the things that a newborn brings into your life. The night time waking and feedings, constantly changing diapers, the tears (sometimes for baby AND for mommy!), the "what do I do now" feeling, and all the time spent feeding your new little one. But I must say that it is all worth it. I spent the first week just staring at him, snuggling him, and listening to him breathe, and feeling his familiar wiggles, moves, and hiccups. Being the only one who can truly calm your baby is quite an amazing feeling! Aaron asked me why Logan would always stop fussing when I picked him up. I told him it is because Logan has had an extra 9 months with me. The whole process just amazes me, and I am so grateful to be a mommy! It is my favorite thing to do, and my favorite past time... even though there are moments (or sometimes days, or weeks, and even months), where a particular child isn't necessarily my favorite past time. All in all, I'm grateful for this calling I have, to be a mother to these six beautiful children. What a blessing they are to me, and how lucky I am to be a woman and a MOTHER!

Why Do I Bother???

Do you ever have those days that you just wonder to yourself, "Why do I bother to....". Well, I got to that point today with my dumb kitchen floor.

I don't like my kitchen floor at all. It is an ugly fake laminate wood flooring wanna be. The people that installed it (two owners ago) put it over the existing carpet (you know, the commercial type kitchen carpet of the 70's). There are places where the "seams" are no more - where food crumbs collect. It shows every single spot, toe print, water drop, dust bunny, crumb, you name it - if it's on my floor, you can see it! Why don't I just replace my ugly kitchen floor you ask? Because someday soon I'm hoping to completely redo my kitchen, change the lay out, and add a family room to the back of the house. So, we figured we might as well wait for that day and do it all at once.

So now you know about my kitchen floor. Because 5 minutes after I mop it, it seems to start to get dirty again, I hate mopping it! It was the only thing I didn't do right before I had Logan. I just kept putting it off. A sweet friend stopped by last Friday when Roman had me on *mandatory bed rest*. She came to see the baby and if there was anything she could do. I told her I got it all done before I had him, except for the floor, which Roman was going to do today, so it was all good. Thirty minutes later she shows up with 4 of her boys to work outside for Roman for 30 minutes, while she mopped my floor! That was a hard thing to do - to sit up in my room while a friend of mine mopped my (very dirty) kitchen floor. I had to imagine myself restrained and just tell myself it is good to let others serve me the whole time. That's hard! Well, it was beautiful and wonderful to walk on that forsaken kitchen floor in my bare feet - and not get gunk on the bottom of my feet.

Well, not 24 hours later, a certain child, who shall remain nameless, is getting something out of the fridge and knocks over an opened can of Cherry 7-Up (grrr - who put that there anyway!?). The child makes an effort to clean the floor. But you know how that goes. Just wiping and walking away doesn't *clean* it - it will still be sticky. So later that evening I'm moping. Monday morning, this same child is responsible for Seth and feeds him breakfast and leaves the room. Later when I go down, I see Seth flicked milk from his cereal bowl all over the counter and floor (can't leave the little dude unattended in the kitchen!). Once again, said child cleans the floor. Later on you can see a messy milk film all over, and mom mops - again! Monday late afternoon, said child leaves a library science project out (some dark liquid that is supposed to crystallize). Seth dumps this all over the kitchen floor. Same routine - child wipes up, mom mops. This afternoon I have said child get Seth a sippy cup of chocolate milk (Ovaltine and milk). Said child makes the sippy cup, but as child tries to put the lid on, the cup falls and hits child's toe and splats everywhere. Same thing again. At this point I was so sick of cleaning up that forsaken floor, I just felt the need to vent about it. Had I known it was going to turn into a daily thing, I just may have started taking pictures! Oh well... #5 is awake from nap, and #6 wants to be held. Mommy time is over!

HE'S HERE!!

Some of you know that I was bound and determined to have this little guy last Friday. Well, I had a few things to do first, so I did all the morning stuff, cut Zack and Seth's hair, gave them baths, and cleaned my bathroom. By 1:00, the three older kids were off playing with friends, so I took the boys over to my parents house so Seth could have a nap. At 1:30 I sent Roman a text message and asked him to come home, cuz we were going to the hospital! I still wasn't having any real consistent contractions, but as I mentioned earlier, the doc said if I went to the hospital at a 4 or 5, they probably wouldn't send me home.

So we get there around 2:20 and go up to Labor and Delivery triage. They bring me in and get me going on the monitor (in my little heart, I knew there wouldn't be much action on the monitor). We sat there for about 20 minutes and I think I had 3 contractions at the most. So the nurse sent me walkin (I was in "the gown" by the way - although she gave me second gown to wear the opposite direction - like a robe - so I'd have FULL COVERAGE on the backside!).

So off we went. First we went down the hall and visited my little sister, Carolee, who was working that day. She is a nurse in the NICU. So we got to visit with her for a minute (I wanted to keep moving!). Roman kept getting caught up with all the pictures/stories/news on the walls, so I was walking by myself at times - pacing back and forth to him. We went up to the 8th floor to the new mommy/baby unit. I walked by the window of babies (although only one was in the nursery at that time) and was even more determined to be holding my baby, rather than my belly, in a few hours! I refused to look at people in the eye - I didn't want the "oh, that poor miserable thing - she really wants to have that baby!" look.

Well, that was a very long hour. About 45 minutes into it I had to use the potty. I went back to triage and my nurse was talking on the phone to my doctor at that moment! After I used the restroom, the nurse told me that my doc said to send me home if I hadn't progressed. (GROWL!!!) I said, "That's not what he told me two days ago!! He's forgotten!" For some reason he was thinking I was set to be induced this coming Monday... At this point I was ready for a fight. There was no way I was going home today!! So I asked the nurse to unlock the stairwell (they leave it locked for security), and let me do the stairs!!! After 10 minutes of 3 flights up 5 flights down (and a short elevator ride), I was back in triage. She asked about my contractions in the past hour - I had no idea. All I knew was that my lower back was aching. So she put the monitor back on me and my doctor called again. While she talked to him, she checked me and I was at a...... FIVE!!! So doc asks if I want an epidural and tells the nurse to admit me. She leaves the room and I look at Roman and say "YES!" (you know, the way our little kids do - with the hand action and everything).

At 4:45 pm I get into my L&D room and get hooked up to an IV and she drew my blood, and she said in about 1 hour I could get the epidural (in my mind I was OK with this since I had zip-o pain!).

At 5:45 the doctor comes in to break my water and check me... holy cow - I was at an 8 and he said my cervix was "melting away - fast"!! Roman had just gone downstairs to get some dinner, so I called him and said - "hurry up!". At this point, I was still not feeling much of anything (how in the heck did that happen!?!?).

At 6:15 I got the epidural. I think at this point I felt one strong contraction. They are still around 5-7 minutes apart. An hour later, I was still at an 8 (7:15 pm). So at about 7:30 they hooked me up to pitocin. At 7:50 the nurse checked me and I was at a 9! At 8:05 (I had been feeling the *pressure* at this point) she checked me and I was at a 10 and ready to go! The nurse called the doctor, who said he'd be with us in 6 minutes (he was at home with his family). So we waited - fairly easily thanks to that epidural! Doctor arrived and got all ready and there we all were - I was literally "in the spot light" as we stared at each other waiting for the next contraction (they never did get super close!). Just as the nurse increased the pitocin level, the contraction started. Doctor said that baby was still up in the birth canal and it may take a few pushes. Time to push!! Suddenly I hear a "splash" - a whole ton of amniotic fluid burst out of me and sprayed everywhere - everyone said "Whoa!" and I thought the baby had landed on the floor! No worries - it was just his head that I delivered in half a push!! Doc said "Stop pushing!!" and was able to pull the shoulders out one by one and before I knew it, I was holding my little Logan!!

MY "BEFORE" PICTURE

MY "AFTER" PICTURE!!

Logan Joseph Yoder

7 pounds 12 oz

20" long

Born at 8:20 pm on June 6, 2008

"MY DADDY IS MY HERO!"

Here he is, all cleaned up and looking handsome as ever!

Roman brought the big three kids Saturday afternoon (after their race - more to come on that). Here we are with big Sis Haley!

Sunday after church Roman brought all five of the kids up to see Logan. Here are proud big brothers Zack and Aaron.

And another big sis Megan
And Seth - who is so excited to have a baby in the house!
Here I am with my SIX KIDS!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOO HOOOO!
WE MADE IT AND IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

OB UPDATE

Today I'm at a 4 and 80% effaced. I asked the doctor what would happen if I went to the hospital, and my contractions slowed down (like they did Tuesday morning). He said they'd most likely just keep me and if I couldn't get things going again he'd tell them to get me started - since I'd be at a 4 or 5. They can't send me home with out talking to him he said. So - that means the second I start having contractions, I'm heading to the hospital! Been very tired today and sooo ready to have this little (or big) baby!! I've added a few polls - when you think I'll have him, and the weight range you think he'll be. The winner gets a warm fuzzy in their heart. ;-)

FAMILY BIKE RIDE

Monday Night for FHE, we decided to go on a bike ride. Now stop - don't start laughing... I know you're trying to picture me, 9 mo prego whale, riding a bike! No need to worry - I didn't! I walked and my kids and Roman would ride slow, or circle back to me. We had a fun time and went about 2 miles. It has been a mild spring so far, and I for one have been grateful we haven't had many hot days! I love the 70 degree weather! Here are a few shots I took of the kids.

HALEY YO

ZACK AND MEG YO
AARON PULLS LITTLE SETH YO
RO YO DOING A WHEELIE
CAT YO

Unfortunately, the spicy Panda Express I had for dinner and the two mile walk didn't put me into labor, but for a couple of hours early this morning, I sure thought it had! At 3:30 am I woke up with some lower back pain, and again at 4:30 (more intense this time). I finally went back to bed around 5:15, but at 6:09 woke up from a pretty intense contraction. For the next hour they were anywhere from 2 to 8 minutes apart. Roman delayed going into work to see if this was the real thing or not. Having never been through this aspect of pregnancy (going into labor all on my own), I'm not too sure what to expect. Anyway, by 8:30 it had subsided, and I've just had mild contractions all day. :( It was raining tonight, so we couldn't go on a walk. Instead we were invited by some sweet friends for dinner. A whole day to not to have to worry about dinner - what a joy that was!

I never posted the results of my doc appt last week. I was dilated at a 3 and 70% effaced. I am going in again tomorrow (Wednesday) so we'll see what all the action has done to my body! I still can't be induced until the 16th... but I'm really hoping and praying that I can go all on my own before then!

"NESTING"

Aaron, Haley and I were looking at the 3D baby site a few weeks ago. Not only does it show pictures of what the baby is looking like inside, but also about what mommy may be feeling and what kids can do to help. Anyway, this day we were looking at it, it explained "nesting" a little, and I then expounded on it as well. A week or so later (this past Saturday), my "nesting" instinct kicked in and I decided it was time to get the baby's room ready. Seth has been out of the crib for a month or so now, but has still been in the room with the crib. So I moved him into the larger room with Megan and Zack (who are in bunk beds), and the kids and I cleaned all the juice and milk splats off the crib, washed the new bedding, got daddy to help us wash the windows in the two rooms, cleaned the blinds, vacuumed webs, washed all the new and old baby clothes, and got the car seat all ready. I also put up a shelf in the kids room, coat hooks, and still need to hang the cork board in their room, and the valance in the baby's room. Aaron made a comment on Saturday, "So are you nesting now?" Anyway, we had a good time getting the room ready for our new "baby brudder" (in Sethy talk). I enjoy going in there at night when all the kids are in bed and sitting in the rocking chair with the lights dimmed. We are so ready for our little *Logan* to come and join us!
I haven't had a new crib set since I had Megan, so I thought it was time. I love this set because of the dark rich colors, and the sports theme isn't "babyish" so he can use the sheets and blankets through the toddler years as well. I now realize I didn't get a great shot of the blanket. It is so cute.
I've purchased two mega packs of diapers so far... I wonder how long it will last! It's amazing how you forget those little details! And after washing all of the clothes that I already had, plus the outfits I've been picking up here and there over the past few months, I didn't realize how much stuff I have! I think I'm set for the next few months! I'm not sure that he'll even fit in a few of these things!