Baby Ally

She's here!


















Little Allison Kae was born last Sunday, August 9 at exactly 1:00 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz and was 20 inches long.


Here are the proud parents before surgery. It was such a relief to have such a smooth delivery.
















So far, we've survived the first week, but only with lots of help from Grandmas, aunts and uncles.

Cole and Keith managed to set off the alarm in the elevator and 3 alarms in the recovery room, all within the first 25 minutes of being in the hospital. Needless to say, their visits were brief. I missed them like crazy and was anxious to get home, even though my activity with them is still limited.

Ally is doing really well. She's a really good eater and seems to take her brothers' endless hugs (translation: death grips), kisses (translation: maulings), and body-part-inventory (translation: poking, squeezing and naming all her facial features) in stride. All I can say is that she is going to be one tough chick. She has no option. It's a matter of survival.

My only struggle is that she won't sleep alone. Brent doesn't mind at all. He sleeps with her at night and even for naps when he is home. I just hope she doesn't get a lopsided head like Cole did when Brent slept with him for so long.

Ma'm-hood

It's happened. I've officially become a "Ma'm". I don't really know when, how or why this happened, but it cuts like a dull butcher knife. The worst part is that it has even happened when I don't have children with me. For awhile I used that as an excuse.
Do pregnant woman automatically warrant a "Ma'm" label? What has triggered the "Ma'm" label spewing forth from the Rite Aid cashier, the Albertson's bag boy and the Drive-thru chick? I don't feel any different than I did 3 years ago. I don't think I look that different (well, okay, with the exception of my current pregnant silhouette).
When does one become a "Ma'm" anyway and more importantly, how do I reverse it? Am I in denial of the fact that somewhere along the road I've crossed the line into full blown Ma'm-hood?

Well the good news in this quagmire of self-pity is that I certainly cannot deny the fact that I have two adorable little boys and an equally precious little girl on the way. I guess if that's the price I must pay into Ma'm-hood (aka Outer Darkness), than I have to say that it's worth it.

We need to talk...

I feared these words tonight as my husband spoke them to me. Uh-oh. A zillion things went through my brain, each option more disastrous than the first. In my final 4 days before our baby is born, there is a lot on my plate and I wasn't sure I could handle whatever was weighing on Brent's mind. He continued with the following:
"There's too much pink in my Man-cave."
Clearly, not following his train of thought, I asked for clarification. Apparently he would not be able to concentrate on his work tonight due to the amount of baby girl clothing piling up in his den. Wow. To think I even stressed for a nano-second over that is ridiculous. How horrible that he would have to deal with baby girl clothes taking over his den for a few days while I organize a few things. So, while he sulks in his Pink Man-cave, I decided to update our blog while I mull over the scenarios that qualify as disasters in my husband's mind...

To recap on the past few weeks:

(Bucky and cousin Cohen getting reaquainted.)

We've now officially welcomed Uncle Buck (Dallin) home from his mission in South Africa. Cole and Keith affectionately refer to him as "Bu-bee" and "Buh-ee" respectively. He's been hanging out at our house for the past week or so in search of a car and after finding a sweet ride, he left this morning. The boys have been asking for him all day today.
We had a blast in Yak-town as the entire Burnett family was together. Buck hadn't met 4 of the 5 grandkids yet, so it was quite a reunion. Even Great Grandma (GG) got to come visit, which was extra special.

In an effort to beat the heat that has been setting records throughout the Northwest, I stayed at my parent's house an extra few days after the Burnett get-together. When temps are in the hundreds and you are pregnant and chasing toddlers, air conditioning is a requirement. A pool also comes in handy.
Luckily, Grandma B and cousin Jade joined us for a few days of swimming. Jade was absolutely fearless of the water and splashed until she was completely soaked.


It took Keith and Cole awhile to warm up to the idea of swimming, but after a few days, we couldn't get them out. They were fiercely independent of any floaties and absolutely loved blowing bubbles.



Grandma and Grandpa S had a blast teaching them all kinds of new tricks, including standing on the third stair with their chins barely above the water.

So, now we are back to reality which is a pretty good life, I have to admit. The temps are cooling, thankfully, and I'm getting the things finished up that I need to before I go in for my c-section on Sunday morning. I'm still nervous about handling 3 little people but also relieved to not be pregnant anymore and most especially excited to finally meet this little girl! Even though this has been the shortest pregnancy on record, I'm still just as anxious to get her here.
I'll post pics as soon as I resurface and adjust to our new addition.

Farewell Shea...Hello Summer

We said goodbye to Uncle Shea for 2 years while he serves his mission in Raleigh. We will all miss him but we did enjoy a great weekend together before he left.







My thanks to Chels for cropping out my belly in this photo. I have a strict "No pregnancy photos" policy but for certain events it can't really be helped. It's actually not so much because of my rotund belly, it's more just that my face tends to fill up the entire lens. Thanks for working your magic Chels! Maybe next time you could give me a tan and airbrush a few inches off my cheeks...





Brent's parents came down for a HOT 4th of July and brought the boys a wading pool. It took some getting used to, but once the water was warm, they loved it! Cole kept climbing up the slide, turning around and then sliding down. He didn't want to waste time getting all the way out of the pool. I wish they had liked the fireworks as much, but they didn't like the "pop!" "pop!". Keith kept calling them "flashlights." We had to finish our home fireworks show after they went to bed. Maybe next year...



Both boys are little monkeys. They climb on everything! I keep turning tables and chairs over to discourage them from climbing but they somehow find a way. Whenever I hear them telling themselves, "nooo." "nooo." I know they are climbing on something that they know they are not supposed to be climbing on. At least they give me a heads up, I guess. What thoughtful young men.

Meanwhile, we are awaiting the arrival of our little girl here pretty soon. If this pregnancy were anything like my last one, she would be born tomorrow. Thankfully, it's not. It's been nothing but smooth sailing and I'm relieved that she is showing no signs of coming early. I still have a lot of work to do and I'm just not mentally prepared, yet. I'm not sure I ever will be, but here's hoping...

Fashion a la Manly

Keith and Cole have been severely lacking in summer clothing. To avoid our hot house, I ventured out to find the boys a new summer wardrobe. Besides the challenges of finding closed toed sandals small enough to fit Keith that were not intended for a newborn, and then buying and returning 3 different pairs of shoes for picky and hobbit-footed Cole, I felt proud of my purchases.

At least I was proud until I realized that the Fashion Chief for all things Manly, aka, my husband, would need to approve all wardrobe decisions for his "manly sons." Two of the t-shirts I bought were vetoed.

The first shirt was light blue with a large orange fish eating a shark. The Chief's response to the shirt: "That shirt looks like a girl shirt. Maybe you could save it for our little girl."

Hmmm...call me crazy, but that doesn't exactly scream feminine to me.

The second shirt had cartoon fish on it. The Chief's response: "That shirt is just too corny."

The Chief went on to explain that a good guide to purchasing clothing for our sons is to buy things similar to what the Chief would wear. Hmmm...I did my best to take him seriously as I eyed his current ensamble which included a ratty and very wrinkled Polo shirt I bought for him in high school over 11 years ago.
Forgive me for not recognizing a fashion guru when I see one.

Sigh...Gotta love him, along with all his manly opinions.

div>

Can You Moo?

The boys and I attended our weekly "Fun for Ones" class at the Library today in great anticipation for the usual singing, dancing, and reading rituals. When we walked in, I noticed a very familiar book propped up on the display shelf. "Can You Moo?" was a favorite we checked out a few months ago. I literally had to sneak it back to the library because the boys loved it so much. I didn't think too much about it because they only had it for a few weeks and it was after all, at least 2 months ago. There's no way they would remember that silly book. Wrong.
As we marched in a circle and shook colorful noise-makers shaped like eggs, we neared the display table and I swear at the exact same time, both boys broke the ranks of the marching circle and started jumping and pointing and of course screaming for that book. "Quack! Quack!" "Moo! Moo!" They both started making all the animal noises from the book. I attempted in vain to bring them back to the circle. The librarian turned on some marching music for the express purpose of drowning out my screaming children, I'm pretty sure. Apparently, 17 toddlers singing and shaking noise-makers wasn't quite enough to tone out my offspring.
Finally, I grabbed the book and we sat in a corner of the room where at last, Cole and Keith could see the familiar pictures and make their animal sounds for the 100th time today. We continued reading the book until the toys came out at the end of the session and I could distract them long enough to stash "Can You Moo?" behind the lyric easel. I hope the instructor found it later. In my haste, I neglected to tell her that I hid her book. I would have checked the book out again, but of course I didn't have my library card. Lucky for me, Amazon had a used addition of "Can You Moo?" for 90 cents. Guess who's in for a real treat in 5-7 business days?

Great Expectations

As a precursor to my sister Syd's wedding festivities, Brent and I decided to take a family vacay to San Diego. We had high hopes for the boys at the beach and especially for Sea World.

The first night at the beach, the boys cried every time we tried to get them to walk on the sand in bare feet. At least by the 3rd day, they were running all over the beach and having a blast. We couldn't get them off the beach or keep them from tasting the sand.




Sea World didn't exactly thrill the boys like we anticipated. They love animals, especially sharks, turtles and fish, so we thought it would be a perfect way to spend a vacation day. Well, after dropping $200 for entrance fees, parking and lunch, the animals that excited the boys the most were the seagulls in the parking lot and the ducks eating the lunch leftovers under the picnic table. I'm confident we could have managed those thrills for free, but at least Brent and I had fun.






The pinnacle of our day, the Shamu show, "Believe" was sure to be a crowd pleaser. Sadly, Cole fell asleep and Keith was mostly unimpressed with jumping, splashing killer whales.

At least it was fun to have some family time before we met up with everyone for Snick's wedding. I didn't get any pictures because Brent and I were literally running ragged for 3 days of festivities. We came home thoroughly exhausted from chasing the boys around fancy restaurants, the temple grounds and the reception hall. But everything was perfectly beautiful and I can't wait to round up and post some pics!