4 Years Ago Today...

On October 6, 2004 I was hugely pregnant with my last child. And when I say huge, I really mean it. I was 36 weeks and 6 days.

I had convinced my doctor that I was not going to make it through the weekend and since he was headed out of town, he took pity on me. But no c-section without an amnio to check lung maturity (since it was still fairly early). The plan was to have the amnio on the 6th and c-section on the 7th.

Several hours on the monitor later (which was actually showing early labor) and a good amnio result, the c-section was moved to NOW. We had to wait on Paul who was picking up the twins from school.

We had not found out the gender of the baby since we were convinced it was Joshua coming to join our family. It was such a great surprise when Dr. Ellis pulled the baby out (even with a c-section, it still took the vacuum extractor to get her head out ) and said "It's a girl!" I have video evidence of me screaming "NO WAY!" It was such a fun surprise to have this 10 lbs, 3 oz baby girl join our family.

Four years later, Katie is still a surprise. She's a tomboy and a princess and a diva all wrapped up in one package. She keeps all her brothers and parents and primary teachers on their toes.

I can't wait to see what the next four years hold. Happy Birthday Katie!

Random Kindness of Strangers

So Paul is in San Francisco this week along with 50,000 of his closest friends for the annual Oracle Openworld conference. He arrived last night around 7:30 (Cal) after a particularly long day. (New Elders Quorum president and YW president and Stake President was in our ward and Bishop Paul spoke.) He had just gotten off BART and was heading to the conference center with suitcase, day pack, laptop bag when apparently cell phone fell off.

About 11:15 Texas time, the home phone rang. (I had just gotten to sleep of course). Saw that it was Paul's cell, but it wasn't Paul on the other end. It was random man who had found the phone. So I had to call Paul's hotel and connect the two men. Finally around 1 a.m. (Texas) they met up outside Paul's hotel and random bearded homeless man gave Paul his cell. Very odd evening. But pretty cool. And again a lesson that all isn't as it may initially seem.

Today has gone much smoother. Hoping for better sleep for all.

Alex is 9!

Alex turned 9 today. He was "Baby Alex" for so long, that it's hard to see him grown up reading Harry Potter (finished all 7 this summer) and building big Lego models.

Today for his birthday we went to the park and shot off rockets--the blue one didn't survive its last flight.In the afternoon, Grandma came to the pizza party--pizza for dinner and pizza-decorated cake for dessert.

We love that Alex is part of our family. He thinks of so many clever things that make us laugh! He was our wonderful surprise when the twins were not quite 3 years old. He was our best anniversary gift ever!!

Happy 9th Birthday Alex!

Happy 17th Anniversary Paul!

I'm blaming the Olympics...

I love the Olympics. Always have--it's genetic I think. So I'm staying up entirely too late every night watching. The ensuing fatigue is a good excuse for all sorts of things though--bad Word Twist play on Facebook, skipping workouts, dishes in the sink. Go USA!!

We are on the countdown to school. Just like everyone else in Texas we start on the 25th. I personally can't wait. When the kids are bored of the Wii and Spongebob, you know it's time for school.

Welcome to Google Reader, Christine!

Texas--Part 2

Where were we...ohh, still in Houston. Now at Minute Maid Park. Astros lost 8-7 (not a shocker, I know).

And for grins, here's Paul with his sister Sherri and his brother Rob. Maybe someday all 7 siblings will be in the same place at the same time, but for now, they are spread cross-country.

Stop #3: Austin to see my sister Christine. We toured the State Capitol and drove around the 40 Acres. (The University of Texas--Hook 'em!)

Doesn't Katie look like a young Annie Oakley?

We drove a lot but never left the state (still saw 38 state license plates), and we had a great time! Thanks to all our hosts!!

Tour of Texas

We haven't been down to Houston in lots and lots of years, so it was time to make the trek.

Stop #1: The Linford home (Lisa's aunt and uncle) in Grapevine (DFW area) for school shopping and swimming in their backyard pool.

My Aunt Pat has lost over 190 pounds since April 2007 on the Medi-Fast program. Doesn't she look awesome! I need to get some of her determination and willpower.

Stop #2: Cohn home (Paul's sister and brother-in-law) in Clear Lake City (Houston)

Lots and lots of fun here with Paul's family. Sherri has 2 sets of twins and another daughter so we had lots of twins running around--and lots of kids in general.

Chris and Greg (11), Veronica and Stefani (18), Eric and Melody (17 mo.)

Alex (8), Maddie (15), Katie (3)

While we were in Houston we went to Space Center Houston and saw a Saturn 5 rocket (it's huge!) and Chris decided again that he wanted to work for NASA.

We also spent time at the Kemah boardwalk. Rides were expensive and okay. Running around in the dancing fountains fully clothed was free and awesome!

Part 2 of vacation forthcoming...

Where did July go??

July was a very busy, very fun month for us. Lots of Cub Scouts, lots of travel.

During the end of June through the beginning of July, I was the program director for both of our district's Cub Scout camps. One was a twilight camp with around 35 scouts and the other was a day camp with around 70 scouts and siblings. (I know these seem puny to you big city folk, but big enough for me!) Rain was a bit of a problem during the day camp, but otherwise both camps went relatively well. Both camps met a series of 50+ standards to be nationally accredited by the BSA. Pretty big deal, so Roper (camp director) and I were happy--but I really think that we were happy that it was the last day of camp...

Vacation fun to follow in another post.