Long Lost Stephanie is feeling SO BLESSED

Wow, I'm really bad at this blogging thing. Just seems life gets too busy sometimes. But I am still alive and really loving life for the most part. My boys are growing so fast and little Emmalyn is already 4 1/2 months old. I can't believe I just turned 31 and am a REAL MOM.

It's crazy sometimes and I just want to pinch myself. Odd how I'm living the life I always dreamed of--Married to a wonderful man and Mommy of little ones--but I rarely take the time to appreciate it. I just hope nothing gets taken from me any time soon, but if it does, I know I'll find a way to carry on. (Cami, didn't you write a song about that? Do you even read my blog?)

Sometimes I lie in bed at night and look at Daniel and the thought of ever loosing him actually takes my breath away in one big choke. And then I cry silent tears of love for the man who knows all my weaknesses and imperfections and loves me and stands by me anyway. A man who carries WAY more than his weight around the house and who is so good with my children. And, even though he's not perfect, he's perfect for me.

And then there's my little ones. Seth with his sweet sensitivity to things of the spirit and his desire to be good. Talmage with his darling little facial expressions and the way he wiggles into my arms to be held, even if I'm on the computer or reading or holding the baby. And then there's Emmalyn, my little longed for girl who is so happy most of the time and loves to giggle at her brothers. And to top it all off, my husband has a great job that pays well, we have a house that more than fits our needs, and we all have general good health (not counting all the little illnesses of the recent months). I really couldn't ask for anything more these days. (Well, more money is always nice, but comes with it's own price).

She already looks SO different!

For those who missed the update, she was 8lbs 7oz at birth!






They change so fast. Life has been crazy, but nice. Still no sign date on the house, but hopefully soon. Here are some more pictures. (If you want better images, you need to leave a comment with your em ail ad dress or send to me at 5 states 1 year at gmail do t c om (no spaces of course).

Our Little Emmalyn!

The picture is loading all blotchy, but I don't have time to figure it out right now. I'll email it to everyone whose addresses I have.

And... We have a BABY!!

The short news is Emmalyn Alyse was born yesterday at 3:56pm and is 21" long, weighing in at 8lbs 7oz.

I'll try to post pictures later today or tomorrow and give more of the longer news after Cali and Lisa guess her weight. (If you're dying to know, leave a comment and I'll email you her weight.

SHE'S BEAUTIFUL and perfect and I did it without drugs!! (And with pitocin, mind you!)

---Stephanie

Ultrasound 3D pics of baby!

These were taken yesterday at 33weeks and 5days gestation. They averaged her to be about 5lbs 11oz plus or minus 12 oz. The tech said her estimations are usually on the small side, so more likely about 6 1/2 lbs. Which falls in line with Seth's size instead of Talmage's and makes me SO happy! Talmage was HUGE! But to think she's already 6ish lbs explains how I'm feeling these days. For those not used to making out what's what in an ultrasound, that's her fist up on the the right side. She refused to move it out of the way. At one point, her one fist was up by her head and her other hand was grabbing her toes!

Baby Wish List

So, a friend in the ward here is throwing me a baby shower with this being our first girl, and since we have a lot of what we need, I decided it would be helpful to post a wish list for them (or anyone else out there who was thinking of a gift :)) to go off of.

My sisters have given me a lot of clothes from their girls, so for clothes all I really need is church dresses and tights and maybe some soft-soled leather shoes like Robeez. (And, by the way, I really don't mind second-hand stuff!!)

So, here's the list:

(I am also registered at Babies R Us under Stephanie and Daniel Wright in Chandler, AZ.)

*Church dresses all the way up to size 18 months, with sleeves please.
*A Woombie in size newborn regular. Sold at www.thewoombie.com or ebay with free shipping.
*Soft-soled leather shoes.
*Tights
*Anything in the Little Cowgirl by Carter's line that Target recently carried--I LOVE the line, and didn't manage to pick anything up from it while it was in stores. (Again, I don't mind second hand things.)
*Gift cards to Lowe's for paint and other supplies to decorate baby's room.
*I would love a Boppy Lounger. (This is different than the normal u shaped boppy.) Here's a link: http://www.target.com/Boppy-Newborn-Lounger-Slipcover-Bubbles/dp/B0011E62RY/sr=1-2/qid=1250727043/ref=sr_1_2/192-3298510-2076747?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Aboppy%20lounger&page=1 (You'll have to cut and paste since I can't seem to get the blogger insert link function to work.)
*Huggies wipes. All styles/scents are fine, but I love the gentle care Sensitive.
*Cute girly burp cloths. I LOVE the ones Babies R Us carries that are Gerber that are pink and purple SOFT cotton cloth diaper style with appliqués, they feel almost like soft t-shirts. Wal-Mart also might carry some in their Simply Basic line.
*These cloth diapers: http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=1279 in Zinnia, Blossom, or White.
*Lightweight large blankets for swaddling. I'm good on "snuggle blankies" but need like the large flannel blankets that people are always making. (I have some boy styles I can use, if needed though.)
*Pastel colored links for linking toys to the carseat, and maybe a few girl colored infant toys.
*If someone is crafty and knows how to make binky clips, I'd love a couple in PLAIN girl colors that will match outfits easily. Like like or dark pink or purple, or a white one. She won't sleep with them, so the beaded style would be fine, too.
*I wouldn't mind a Mommmy Pampering gift/card like to Bath and Body Works, or The Body Shop.

I think that's about it. They are mostly wants, not needs, so I suppose if one wanted to give a cute outfit, that's fine, too. I'd prefer 6-9 months and beyond in that case.

---Stephanie

More on the House We're buying

So, I'm upstairs on the dinosaur computer, but the c and spacebar work, so it's better for typing and I thought I'd fill in on the house. It's in Queen Creek about 19 miles drive from where we are currently, and 22 miles from Daniel's work. So a little bit of commute but not horrible. Queen Creek was one of the hardest hit areas with the Real Estate crash, so there are TONS of forclosures out there for AWESOME prices. Ours, believe it or not, is a 3947 sq ft, 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom, with okay sized yard, for a screaming price. Now, granted, in Idaho, or Montana, or other parts of the country you could buy more house or at least a lot more land for what we're paying, but here it's a smoking deal! It has a formal living room/dining area in the front, then the kitchen, then a large family room, with a small bedroom, bathroom, and laundry room (with SINK!) comprising the bottom floor, and a fair sized loft, master bed and bath with LARGE closet, and 4 other bedrooms each with walk-in closets on the 2nd floor. It will allow our family to grow nicely and me to have space to eventually do stuff with!

We're going through hoop after hoop with normal home buying stuff like inspections and paperwork, and additional inspections, paper work, and meetings for the government program that will be doing a second loan of 22% of the purchase price with no interest and payments, and if we stay in the house for 10 years it's forgiven completely--yes, you heard that right--basically it's a huge amount of FREE money as long as we stay in the house for 10 years.

The inspection found some issues with the AC and we spent a little to do a temp fix for that, and will have to budget in the $14000-$2000ish it could cost to have running up to par by next hot season, but that's the only major thing needing fixed. Even the paint is in decent shape, and it's not missing appliances or fixtures. So, now we're holding our breath while working through all the legistics.

Close date is officially the 15th of October, but we're pushing for closer to the 22nd of September (which may actually be doable). The lovely part, is that's the same time window when baby could come! I just hope all the timing works out. Pictures to come at some point. Probably after it's official.

--Stephanie

Top 10 Excuses for Not Blogging

okay,these are my REAL excuses, so probably not very funny, maybe I should do a funny one as well. How bout any of you bloggers out there add a comment with yours and we'll make a list.

10. I'm pregnant, so not thinking clearly and can't even remember to make important phone calls, like scheduling my 20 month-old's 18 month well child visit.
9. The house is usually a wreck which heightens the can't think clearly syndrome.
8. Once I start a post, I'm addicted to waiting for comments, and usually get next to none, so why set myself up for disappointment?
7. I already spend too much time on the computer.
6. Trying to "catch up" takes too long.
5. Our "c" button on the laptop is basically shot, so I have to cut and paste my "c's" which means hitting SHIFT plus insert every time.
4. The space bar is also having issues, so I either get no space or 3-4 in a row,and there's no rhyme or reason to it. So, typing anything longer than a website address is tedious.
3. I have two little boys always clammering for my attention, and one of them likes to climb on my when I'm on the computer.
2. Getting stuff ready for the baby is time consuming.
1. We're buying a house!!!! Therefor, tons of searching, paperwork, phone calls, paper gathering, getting a home inspection, dealing with the logistics of a government incentive and all the hoop-jumping it requires, is enough to keep my distracted from anything recreational! (Nother post to follow with details on the house we're in the process of buying.)

--Stephanie

Mommy's need sick days!

So, last week starting on Monday, I got an abscessed tooth. OUCH! It was awful and by Tuesday night I wasn't sleeping worth beans. Wednesday night, even after starting antibiotics, I ended up in the ER because the pain was so severe. Not that they did much besides trying to numb me to no avail and giving me a vicodin prescription. Mainly I was worried about it getting bad enough to hurt the baby, (yeah, you heard that right, we're pregnant), and we didn't have a dentist yet, and couldn't find an emergency one who would take a new patient at night.

The next day I felt a little better at times and was hopeful the antibiotics were kicking in, but by evening was getting unbearable again. We had had a church activity that evening, and the Relief Society President(women's organization)had talked to me about a dentist she knew. I ended up calling her a few hours later, and she called the dentist, who in turn had me go to his office where he numbed me so I could get a few hours of sleep. Then I would figure out what to due the next day.

Friday came, after only a couple hours of halfway good sleep, and things weren't really improving, so I called him again to ask where I should try to go since most dentists are closed on Friday's. He said I'd have a tough time finding a good dentist since there was a HUGE dental convention in town. But that, if I wanted, he could pull it that night. (He'd said the root canal work looked poor, so trying to save the tooth was probably near impossible). So, about 10pm Friday night, it was pulled. He gave me "long-lasting" numbing medicine to let me go home and sleep, but due to the level of infection, what should have lasted 6-7 hours lasted more like 3-4, but at least I got a little sleep and with more vicodin make it through the night with more sleep than I'd had all week.

4 days later, and we're doing pretty good, finally. But my house is a wreck and my kids are feeling neglected. It's so hard to continue being "mommy" when you feel so icky!

I've loved enjoying my boys more today!

-Stephanie

Pictures, what pictures??

Okay, WOW, I feel guilty. I just found a friend's blog from my first single's ward in Escondido, CA and had fun looking through her blog post and pictures, and decided to see what my blog looks like on first glance. Man, I should be shot! Here I am, an aspiring child/family photographer, and my blog has next to no pictures! My cop out is that I send everyone on my group email list semi-regular slideshows with pics of the kids, but still.... And, I've not posted anything in awhile, including Halloween and Christmas pics. So, since I'm too busy at the moment to post much, I'll post 2 quick pics, and then if you all bug me enough with your comments maybe I'll remember to post more later this week, or Sunday at the latest.

--Stephanie