Halloween Fun

Our Halloween was fun this year.  We had our new little guy with us and we were terribly tired, but we managed some decent spooky time with our kids.  We took them to the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan.  They enjoyed taking their pictures in all the character boards more than the pumpkin displays and they got to meet a witch.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 On Halloween we managed some last minute pictures before the trunk-or-treat.  I was able to stay with our car and pass out candy while Bill took Q and O around.  They made off with a good loot and were quite happy.  I was happy that Syver stayed asleep the entire time!

 

 

 

Hope your Halloween was spooky fun too!  Love from us all.

Baby Syver

Syver Ladd Chandler

Born:

October 21, 2013

2:01 am. 

7 lbs. 10oz.

19 inches long. 

 

 

Little Syver decided to make his debut very early Monday morning.  He came after only two hours of labor and about 20 minutes after we arrived at the hospital.  Not a lot of fun for Mommy!  We are so lucky and blessed to have him in our family.  He has two very adoring and ready to help siblings.  He doesn't seem to mind all their "helping" unless he is hungry.  He puts up with the noise and love they share with him, so I know he will fit in just fine.
A big thanks to all those who helped us the past few days, especially Grandma and Grandpa Chandler for taking in Q and O at 1am and watching them all morning, and to a dear friend, Jessica Smith, for watching them all afternoon!  It is wonderful people like you that make things go smoother for the tired and stressed parents. 

A little background on his name.  Syver is a Norwegian name we found in my mother's family history.  We liked it so much and no other name seemed to speak to us.  After he was born we found out that it means "victorious defender".  So, not bad considering it could have meant any number of things.  We like that we can call him Sy for short because it sounds like the sci in science.  Science being one of the reasons Bill and I met in the first place.  Ladd is my brother and father's name.  I also feel that is partly my other brother's name too, Landon.  So he is named after my father and two brother's who have had a very positive male influence in my life before Bill.  If Syver can grow up with even half the attributes that these three men have then I will be content.  Not to say Bill doesn't bring a lot to the table!!  That is why Oden was named Oden William Chandler! 

Speaking of Bill, he has been so special these past few days.  I would never have made it through that last 30 minutes if it weren't for his strength.  I was having such a hard time staying present in the moment and having a very hard time breathing.  Having his hand constantly in mine and his face flash before mine every few seconds were the only things that got me through.  He's been taking care of the kids, care of me, and being so patient and great.  I can't repay him for the three beautiful children he has given me on top of the love, support, and entertainment.  He keeps me smiling!  A big big thanks to Bill.

We love you all.  Can't wait for you to meet Syver.  Until next time....

Baby Blanket

I started learning how to quilt a few months after Oden was born.  The first full quilt I made was for my sister when she had her son.  The second full quilt I made was for my mom.  I've made myself two table runners.  So, when I found out we were expecting I decided I wanted to make our baby a quilt. 

I finally finished it!  When I was first putting it together I wasn't so sure and thought it was going to be a disaster, but it has grown on me.  Once I got the binding done and the prairie points stuck out, I fell in love with it.  It is the bright and happy quilt I wanted for our new son.  I am so tickled with it!  Maybe because I get to keep this one.  Yay!

This is it...the baby is coming!!! Oh Wait....Nope. Nevermind!

I think the title speaks for itself.  You can guess what happened, but in case you are more curious, here is the rest of the story....

I got a terrible stomach ache on Wednesday and tried everything I could think of to get it to go away.  It would come and go in waves for awhile, but then by 5:30 pm it was much worse and not getting any better.  Once Bill got home he called Labor and Delivery and the doctor on call recommended some safe over the counter medication I could take.  Of course, we didn't have any of the ones he suggested.  He also said not to wait too long, because it could be an indication of something worse and to come in if it didn't go away within an hour of taking the medication. 

So, we packed up the hospital bag, the kids bags, and headed out the door.  We stopped at the store, got the medicine, I took some and we headed to the hospital just in case.  (The pain was bad enough that we were both concerned).  We parked at the hospital, the kids ate dinner in the car, and waited.  Within 45 minutes of taking the medicine the pain was slightly less intense.  Then the contractions started!  So fun.  We started timing them to see if they were regular.  They bounced around and never got worse or better, the stomach ache was slowly going away. 

I was tired of sitting in the parking lot, so we decided to go for a drive.  By this time it was going on 9:30pm.  We drove around and then found ourselves close to Grandpa Bill's when the stomach ache came back with a vengeance and the contractions started to get worse, still irregular, but worse.  We decided to drop the kids with Grandpa, who was so very understanding and helpful around 10:00 at night.  They kids stayed asleep as Bill moved them into the house.  We drove to the hospital and checked in. 

They got me hooked up to the baby monitor and confirmed that I was actually having contractions and now they were quite regular.  The baby was doing fine.  They ran blood tests and had me drinking a lot so I could avoid having an IV.  The blood tests came back normal, but with a slightly elevated white blood count.  My labor wasn't progressing despite the continued contractions every 2 to 3 minutes.  This went on for 3 hours.  The stomach ache finally just went away!!  The contractions didn't.  I still wasn't progressing as of 1 am, so they decided they could send me home.  At least the stomach ache was gone!  Dealing with both forms of pain was no fun.  It was determined that whatever had upset my system had also set off the contractions.

We went back to pick up the kids.  Poor Oden had woken up, but Grandpa was there and according to Oden he was "silly Grandpa."  Quickyn slept so deeply, she had no clue she'd even been moved in and out of the car twice.  We went home, the contractions slowly died down and by 5 am were basically gone.  What a night.  I was so exhausted from dealing with a stomach all day and kids, so I was actually relieved that the little guy wasn't ready to make his debut. 

Bill was the only one disappointed.  He was ready.  Bill is always ready for anything.  He was great, even though he was tired too.  I love that he sat by me the whole time (he even dragged the more comfortable and heavy rocking chair over to the bedside.  It squeaked every time he pushed it, I just laughed), held my hand, changed the TV channel constantly (for some reason the channel changing was a great distraction.  I never would have thought of that, it usually drives me crazy), and he was fascinated with the computer and graphs of the baby's movement and heart as well as my contractions.  In his strange way, Bill made it comfortable, safe, and even fun at times. 

So, that is what happened.  I chose the title because of how excited Bill was.  Once he started seeing my contractions on the hospital computer he said, "this is it, he's coming."  I had reservations about it.  He was surprised when it wasn't the real thing because I've never had contractions that lasted for 5 hours and didn't result in a baby in his arms.  He was genuinely disappointed and that was precious in its own way.

So, the baby is still safe in my big belly and hopefully will get stronger and stronger.  I am hopeful he'll stay in residence there for at least another two weeks.  I so want a Halloween baby!

Love to you all,
Bri

Catching Up

I've missed a few months and thought I would "catch up" on things that I wanted to post about but never got the chance.  Life is busy even with only two kids.  I'm still amazed at my parents, Bill's parents and everyone who has kids.  We get stuff done and we survive.....somehow!

So first thing that I want to remember, yet don't want to remember at the same time was the earwigs!  Really!  Last year it was hornets and box elder bugs everywhere.  This year not a single hornet, not a single box elder bug, but hundreds of earwigs!  So gross.  We discovered the earwigs one night when we were enjoying a cool breeze coming through the screen door.  The kids were asleep, it was dark,  we finally had a few minutes to talk.  The screen door doesn't have a perfect seal on the bottom.  We flipped on the lights to clean up the kitchen and there were earwigs crawling in from the bottom corner.  They were in this massive pile around the door base and floor.  I screamed!  Bill grabbed the vacuum.  We got a lot of them, but didn't realize until later how many had escaped into the house.  I think I killed at least 10 earwigs a day for the next two weeks.  Now I find maybe one a week.  Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!.  Bill went and bought a really good bug repellant for earwigs and spread it all around the house.  That really helped.  We found out that it wasn't just our house, but the entire city that has been dealing with them.  So strange.  Can't wait to see what next year brings.

I made the kids each an apron.  It was a fun project.  They got to pick out the fabric at the store and when we were done we made bread.  Oden has his out for every cooking endeavor.  We make pancakes every Sunday to last through the week and he loves to put on his apron and help me measure the flour. 

Quickyn fell in the lake!

Bill took the kids on a bike ride around the loop in our neighborhood.  There is a dock at the top of the loop.  The kids love to throw rocks and watch the fish.  Well, Quickyn was leaning over a little too far to see the fish and SPLASH!  Bill was sitting right next to her when it happened, so he just reached over and pulled her out.  He said her helmet kept her from going down too far.  So, now she likes to remind us that her helmet floats but she sinks.  This picture is what greeted me when they got home.  I have to admit that I bust out laughing when I probably should have been more sympathetic.  It was just so funny to see her little scrunched up mad face on this drenched rat body. 

Oden has a silly side that reminds me of my youngest brother soooo much!  He gets into these goofy moods and doesn't get inhibited.  He also has some really good dance moves. 

We setup our little pool for the kids to cool off in this summer.  They had so much more fun when Bill jumped in with them.  According to him it was much easier to be out there with them in the pool than out of the pool.  It was really hot.  They also loved going to Grandma Grandpa Buff's house and playing in their new pool.  In fact I keep getting asked if we are going to go splash in their pool anytime soon.  Oden wants to put ours back up!  It's fall, its cold, he wants to go swimming!

Daddy makes everything fun!  He spent a lot of time this summer getting ready for labs and demos for his science classes.  One day he was playing with bubbles.  He got the kids involved too.  They had fun trying to make the most bubbles.  Quickyn gave up the minute she got too sticky.  Oden played for hours and soaked through three towels.  I'm surprised this bubble ball got so big when he was giggling with every breath.

Before school started we spent a day at the zoo with my sister and her little family.  I love that we have kids that are close in age and they enjoy playing with each other.  I love these pictures.  I remember the laughing, the screaming, and the excitement by looking at them.  Good times.

We grew tomatoes, corn and pumpkins this year.  I tried to keep the garden small because I knew harvest time would be during my last month of pregnancy.  I remember planting the two pumpkin plants and crossing my fingers that at least two big pumpkins would grow so the kids could carve them for Halloween.  Well I got my wish.  Two big pumpkins grew.  We might have one or two more little ones if the frost doesn't get too bad.  Last year we planted six tomato plants that never grew a single tomato.  This year we planted 8 and have them coming out our ears!  So glad our friends have taken some off our hands.  The corn turned out delicious too and the dried stocks are great decorations for the front porch.

I started my own little preschool with Oden when Quickyn started school.  We go over a letter a week.  He's known for awhile now that his name starts with and "O".  So his art and papers always have O's on them.  But he started showing an interest in writing because Q is learning to read and write.  So, I taught him his name.  He LOVES it.  This is just one example of the hard work and concentration he puts into his name.  He does this at least once a day if not more.  I get handed lots of "name" papers.  This was one of the first ones when he was writing Oben instead of Oden.  Now he writes it with a "d".  It is so amazing to watch him focus on writing his name.  I am so proud of him.

 

So that sums up the last few months.  It sure has been fun and challenging.  We have about 3 weeks until little number three joins the fun.  Love you all!

Kindergarten Firsts

Kindergarten started a month ago.  Q's first year of public school.  Our first year as parents of a school age child.  Things had a bumpy start, but we made it through and are starting to find a comfort with the schedule and other little things that come with the Kindergarten package.  This is how it all started:

Back to school night was the week before class started.  We got to meet her teacher and put her supplies in her very own cubby.  Quickyn soaked it all up and already loved her new teacher.   Bill and I signed our first set of unending forms for field trips and computer lab access.  It felt like a right of passage similar to the first Christmas with the never ending twist ties and battery installations.  We made it through and had to answer the question, "do I get to ride the bus today?" for the rest of the week. 

First day of school.  We were up on time and ready to go, but Q sure had a hard time of it.  She is a late sleeper, so it was fun to watch her not fall asleep in her pancakes.  Even though we started waking her up earlier in advance of the first day, her body would still rather sleep late.

Waiting for the Bus

So we walk to the bus stop, blessedly only two houses down, and wait impatiently.  Q at first is excited, rushing down the sidewalk, then as other kids start arriving she is pressed against me and wanting to be held.  A few reassurances, hugs and kisses later the bus comes around the corner.  Now she is wiggling out of my arms and into line to board the bus.  I have to ask for a goodbye hug!  She gets onto the bus, parks herself next to a window (the bonus of being one of the first stops for the bus) and is on the edge of her seat trying to contain her excitement.  She doesn't even wave goodbye to us!  Bill and I laughed. 

We get into the car and head over to the school.  I go to wait by her classroom and Bill goes to where the buses stop to make sure she gets off okay and heads in the right direction.  They  have a "pathway" of painted blue paw prints for the Kindergarteners to follow so they won't get lost.  Only problem is they are very small and about 10 feet apart.  So, we practiced with her at back to school night and she felt confident she knew where she was going. 

Bill and I forgot that the Junior High kids also get off at the same stop.  They head south and the elementary kids head north.  Well, Bill made it to the buses, but didn't know which stall our bus was assigned to, so by the time he found her bus it was empty.  He started back tracking thinking he just missed her.  There are lots and lots of kids!  He makes it all the way to me......no Quickyn.  He heads back to check again and I double check the hallway, the classroom, etc.  I stay put.  He comes back again, still no Quickyn and now the halls are thinning down and the bell rings.  No Quickyn.  I start to panic.  He runs to the office, tells the principal, they start checking the other hallways.  I'm tired of standing around and head slowly down the hall.  Once I get to the doors that lead outside I see the principal walking toward the school with Quickyn by his side.  I ran so fast, baby belly and all, and hugged her like she was going to disappear.  I start crying, she starts crying (I could tell she had been holding it in before that).

The principal was quite impressed with Q.  He said he found her at the Junior High and she was very upset.  He asked her if she wanted to just skip a few grades and start going here.  She got mad and said, "NO!  I go to the school with the playground!"  He got a good laugh from that.  He said she knew her entire name, first middle and last, her parents names and her teacher's name as well as the blue footprints and the horse on the door of her classroom.  He said she got caught up with a big group of older kids headed to the Junior High and got turned around. 

I am just so glad that we were there!  Afterwards we headed back out to the car and were stopped by a friend who had helped us try to find her.  She said shortly after we got Q to the right room she was headed out and saw a teacher with three more little kindergarteners headed over from the Junior High.  So, it wasn't just our little girl who got lost in the crowds.

Now she has it down and is quite proud of herself.  I'm proud of her because even after that scary situation she still wanted to go to class.  She didn't want to miss a minute.  When I was that age, I would have wanted to come home! 

Outdoor Painting

We stained the deck a few weeks ago.  The kids wanted to help so much, but I didn't want to have to give them a turpentine bath!  So, I got out the Tempera powder paints and mixed up individual buckets of paint for each color.  I only buy blue, red and yellow because I can get all the other colors by mixing those three.  Quickyn by now knows that blue and red make her favorite color, purple.  But she doesn't have the others down.  I love to watch them get excited when I add water to the blue and yellow powder and green shows up!  I had two extra boards from making the sandbox last year and had Bill pull them out onto the lawn.  The kids each got their own board to paint while we stained the deck.  It was great fun and we didn't hear a peep for about 40 minutes, then the green ran out.  The best part, it washes off with water! 

Big Doings

Over the past few months we've had a few events that I felt needed to be noted. 

First we had Oden's big day.  He turned 3 in April!  He is growing up way too fast.  Thanks to Grandma Sheryl for the adorable monster cake.  He still talks about it. 

Quickyn had her very first dance recital in April.  We are so proud of you!  She isn't afraid of getting up on a big stage and performing in front of a large crowd.  I think I would have been sick to my stomach!

Then Quickyn turned 5 in May!  Woo Hoo!  I was just starting to feel better and managed to get her birthday dress (was supposed to be an Easter dress) finished just in time.  She picked out the fabric and it turned out better than I ever expected. 

About a week ago Quickyn graduated from Pre-Kindergarten.  He teacher prepared an entire graduation program for these little guys.  It has been a great thing for her.  She is very social and we feel this has given her a leg up for Kindergarten.  She passed her Kindergarten screening test with flying colors!  She only argued with the counselor once about the letter "L".  Apparently the font they chose gave it a little bit of a curvy look and she argued that it wasn't right, so she missed that one!  Now we have the summer to keep working with her.  She loves to learn and would spend all day moving from letters to numbers to math to art, etc.  Bill has been really great at teaching her math.  She enjoys telling me how much this plus this is or that minus that is.  She is doing it all the time with everything.  She counts her money and her dolls and she tells me how much more she has compared to Oden.  She is trying to understand time and money now.  She wants to know the prices and what it means and what time it is or how long it is going to be.  We just had a very long conversation on what "right now" means.  It really makes you step back and realize that these little children really do have to be given the time and patience to understand.  They have to learn everything and I as a parent have to remember that and slow down, break it down, and explain it.  But it is so rewarding when I do.  They pick up on things so quick when given the chance. 

Other things in the news: 

My sister graduated from U of U with her Master's in Social Work.  I am so incredibly impressed.  A lot of hard work while trying to raise a family. 

I finished my second lap quilt just before the morning sickness set in.  It was a gift for my mom's birthday.  I really enjoy making quilts for people.  Who doesn't need a blanket to snuggle up in every now and then?  I just wish I were faster.  I'm lucky to get one lap quilt and one table runner done each year. 

Bill has been all over the place and continues to do so.  He went to Moab with some of the other teachers to see if it would be a place to hold next years science trip instead of Yellowstone.  He had a great time!  I was so jealous.  I've been there once and loved it.  He also went to Yellowstone for this years science trip.  He said it was by far the best trip yet.  He will be traveling to Castle Dale in a week or so to take a Physics course on electricity.  I wish I could go with him, but it is a very small town with only one motel, not hotel, and the students have to share rooms to make enough space for everyone.  Not my idea of fun. 

Oh, we bought a van!  Probably a good idea.  3 car seats in the back of a little car would have been interesting.  So love the van.

So that wraps up the past few months.  We love you all so very much.  We miss those of you who live so far away and think of you often.

Bri, Bill, Q and O.

Genuine Excuses

Sometimes I feel that excuses are just excuses.  But then there are times when an excuse is genuine.  I think the past few months my excuse for not blogging, not cleaning, not attending social functions, not answering my phone every time it rings, not checking emails regularly and/or responding in a timely manner has been genuine. 

I am pregnant!  Miserably, happily pregnant!

I could wish on a thousand stars that I had the wonderful, never sick, love to be pregnant feelings of my mother and sister, but alas, it is just not to be so.  I apparently take after my grandmother and get truly sick.  I really don't like being pregnant and I think it is okay to feel that way.  I love having my kids and want more of them, but I wish I could just skip those 9 months and get right to the part where I can hold them in my arms for the first time.

So, there is my genuine excuse, but it no longer works because I am 18 weeks and feeling a lot better.  So now I get to blog about all the things I've had on my mind the past few months. 

We are very excited to be having our third little munchkin.  We haven't been very vocal about it because of our miscarriage last year and our fears, well, more MY fears, this time around.  We have our big ultrasound sometime next month and will keep you posted.

Our estimated due date is October 28, 2013.  Our little spook will be joining us in a few short months.  We can't wait to meet him or her soon.  Quickyn and Oden are very very VERY excited.  That has to be the best part about this time around.  They are both old enough to understand and be an active part of it.  They love to kiss the baby every day.  Quickyn loves to tell me how happy she is that my nausea is gone and how "not fun" nausea is.  I love that she keeps tabs on me and is concerned anytime I don't feel well. 

Bill deserves the biggest pat on the back.  He has been so helpful while I was so sick.  I could not have survived without him.  There were some days that were very bad and he came to the rescue, letting me suffer in peace while he took the kids.  I know I tell him thank you, but that still isn't enough.  I love you and look forward to being together through the next bend in the road. 

We love you all!

Hummus

Quickyn is notoriously picky about the food she eats.  One of the "big" things with her is no condiments or dipping sauces.  She eats things very plain, if at all.  She wants her burger with just meat and the bun, occasionally cheese is acceptable.  Her tortilla is just meat or just rice and cheese.  No salsa, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, nothing.  She won't eat carrots or celery dipped in ranch dressing.  Sometimes she will eat them with peanut butter but VERY rarely.  She will eat apples dipped in peanut butter though.  In fact, getting her to down some veggies and beans is a feat of olympian size. 

Well, I dropped her and Oden off with our good friend Jessica yesterday to be babysat for awhile.  When I came to pick them up I noticed they had been snacking on fish crackers, pretzels and carrots.  I noticed that Quickyn's plate had no carrots (no surprise there I thought).  When I asked her why she didn't have any I found out from Jessica that she did and had eaten them all gone.  I was astonished.  Turns out she had made a dip called hummus and Quickyn loved it. 

For those who don't know what hummus is, and don't worry I didn't either until yesterday, it is garbonzo beans (chickpeas) mashed up with some lemon juice and salt.  That's it.  It has a light bean flavor and is really quite good. 

Well, I thought, I'm going to pick up some garbonzo beans today and make some myself.  I was thinking it was just a fluke thing and it was because she was somewhere new and it wouldn't work at our house.  Well, I started to make some and Quickyn had her nose in every step of the process!  It was all I could do to keep her hands out of the blender.  Once I had it in a bowl she took control.  She was dipping carrots and fingers into the bowl and calling everyone into the kitchen to "come get some hummus!"  When Bill took big scoops with his carrot she got mad and took the bowl away.  Apprently she was worried he would eat it all!

I still can't get over it.  She was dipping her carrots in beans and eating it.....I still think I'm dreaming. 

Thanks Jessica for introducing us to the miracle of hummus and getting my daughter to eat something healthy.