6 Months Old

I can't believe Alivia is six months old already. I wanted to wait to do this post until I took her to the doctor and got all of her stats. So here it is. At six months she weighs 15 pounds 9 ounces is 26.75 inches long and she has a big head (I can't remember the exact measurement, but it is in the 90th percentile). We have been thinking for a while that she looks like a Bennion and now she has the head size to prove it. For those of you who don't know my dad's family is sort of known for having big heads; we affectionately refer to them as Bennion heads. Audrey and Evan were so similar as babies that I just assumed Alivia would be just like them, but she is not. At this age Audrey and Evan were rolling around the room and army crawling and Alivia just doesn't really move. She can roll, but she doesn't really. She does do crunches though.

She doesn't really like baby food.

She loves to do the grapevine, mash potato, and the twist (obviously with a bit of assistance).
She loves to take baths.
And I must admit, she loves her mom.

Are you wondering what we did this summer?

If not, read no further. If so, continue on reading. I will attempt to sum it all up in one post. I'd say the biggest event of the summer was adding a third child to our family. What a way to start. The downside to this was that I wasn't able to take the other two kiddos anywhere for a while and they started to feel cooped up I'm sure. Alivia arrived June 8th and she has been a great baby right from the start.

We blessed said baby the first Sunday in August. What a day! We ended up having double the fun with a double baby blessing. Even though there were a lot of people crammed in our house, it was great to have Alivia share her blessing day with Clark.

Where was Evan during all of this? By the fruit platter. That boy loves fruit!

The next weekend we went to the Bennion family reunion in Idaho. It was great to spend time with Bennions and those lucky enough to marry one. The accomodations were outstanding. I'm not much for camping, but I love being outdoors. So this place was the perfect combination for me.
Audrey took dance lessons from our neighbor.

Audrey took swimming lessons for one week. Like I said earlier, we really didn't do much for very long. It was very hard (and still is) to keep track of Evan while taking care of/feeding Alivia.

We went fishing. Every summer we go to Mirror Lake with my family, but this year it ended up only being us. Serves my dad right I guess. We caught like 14 fish and at times it was difficult to keep up with the fishing poles since they were biting so fast.
I think that pretty much sums it up. If I think of anything else, I'll tell you later.

Trip to the Zoo

So I bought a zoo pass this year thinking I would go a lot once Alivia had a schedule down, but we didn't end up going all summer. So a few weeks ago it looked like the nice weather was coming to an end and a trip to the zoo was a must before the cold air came. I of course forgot my camera. Other than that, it was a great excursion. Evan was really well behaved and stayed by my side the whole time. Alivia was great and had a grand time in the stroller. Audrey got really scared when they put sanitizer on her hands before we went into the one display house. They said if the fruit bats could smell fruit on you they might attack and so we needed the sanitizer to cover up the smell of the fruit we had eaten that day. It was so funny to watch Evan try to talk to the animals, especially the gorilla. They seriously seemed to be communicating and the gorilla even gives the same "no like it" look as Evan. Here are a few blurry pictures I got on my phone.

 

Love This face

I finally figured out how to create a collage for my blog. I'm slow I know.

 

Do I talk funny?

That is the first thing Audrey said after I pulled her tooth out. I am still really surprised she lost her first tooth, I thought she would be at least six before it happened. I am also still really surprised that she didn't cry when I pulled it out. Anyone that knows Audrey, knows that she can cry. Like this morning when I was brushing her hair, she cried. Or also this morning when her dad suggested that she be Cleopatra for Halloween next year, she cried. Perhaps the anticipation of the tooth fairy coming distracted her from her usual flow of tears.

Can you tell?

Audrey has started Kindergarten (and so has the refrigerator).
She absolutely loves it. Everyday she comes home and I ask her what she has learned, most of the time she says she can't remember. This really bothered me at first, but I heard that for kids school is their work and they often try to forget about "work" when they are at home. I think this makes a lot of sense and it makes me feel better. I know she is learning; she keeps reading more and more words everyday and I LOVE it! We do hear a lot of details though about the playground rules, who broke the rules, who pushed who, who wore what, who has curly hair, and all of the other important things that happen in Kindergarten. We also hear a lot about PE. This is apparently her most anticipated time of the whole week and she wishes everyday could be Wednesday. Here she is ready to go to the "big school" on her first day. I was able to go with her, but of course I forgot to take the camera to the school so I don't have any pictures of her there.

Birthing the Baby

Well I have been wanting to do this post for a while and I am finally getting around to it. Where should I begin? I think I will tell this story counting how many times I was wrong. I'm really not wrong very often, but with this pregnancy I don't think I was ever right. I thought it would take a while for me to get pregnant with our third child: WRONG. I thought I was going to have a boy: WRONG. I thought I would have this baby in May: WRONG. I thought my water would break when I went into labor: WRONG. I thought our baby would be cute and adorable: finally, I got one RIGHT. She is so very very cute. Here is the proof. I just love her to pieces. Back to the story. When I was pregnant with Evan I decided I wanted a natural child birthing experience. The problem was I didn't decide that until I was 36 weeks along and so I was not prepared at all when I had him. I panicked at the last minute and ended up getting an epidural right before I realized it was time to push. I would say that the epidural was about 25% effective when he made his debut. I was so upset and disappointed with myself that I had caved and gotten the epidural. So this time I was determined not to get an epidural. My official due date this time was June 7th. I thought she would be about three weeks early like Audrey was, so around May 17th I starting waiting for my water to break. I was positive my water was going to break since it did with Audrey and Evan; WRONG yet again. I was afraid to go anywhere because I can't think of very many things more embarrassing than having your water break in public. At my 36 week appointment I was dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced, there was no way I was going to make it to my due date: WRONG. So for three weeks I tried every myth there is to induce labor, except for a really long walk since I didn't want my water to break while I was miles away from my home. I did hit the elliptical though several times. So for four weeks I waited and waited for my water to break and it never did. At each doctor appointment she would get my hopes up because I would be slightly more dilated and she said it felt like my water was wanting to break, yet nothing was happening. My last appointment was scheduled for my due date and I was given the option of scheduling an induction or waiting it out for one more week to see if I would go into labor. Reluctantly I scheduled an induction for the 9th since I was so sick of being pregnant and I didn't see the point in waiting a week to be induced. I went home and I cried, a lot. I did not want to be induced. That night around midnight I started having contractions every 10 minutes but they didn't hurt at all. I thought if I walked around our house a lot they might intensify and put me into labor. I walked around for about an hour and nothing more was happening so I decided to go to bed. I woke up around five with contractions that hurt. Finally, but they were only coming every 15 minutes. I didn't think I was in labor because the contractions were too far apart: WRONG. I decided to take a shower so I could relax and go back to sleep, but while I was in the shower they started coming every three minutes. At this point I started to panic and so I hurried to go wake up Colby. When I woke him up he said, "oh good your water finally broke." He was WRONG. I told him I was just having contractions every three minutes. We both hurried to get ready and he called my parents to have them meet us at the hospital so they could take Audrey and Evan to their house. He made the mistake of telling them we were getting ready to go rather than we were on our way. When we go to the hospital it was around 6:30 in the morning and I was sure my parents were going to be there already since they lived a lot closer to it than we do: WRONG, no parents. I was really annoyed because my contractions were so close together. We had to wait about 10 minutes before they got there. Finally we got into the hospital and all checked in. At 6:57 they finally checked me and I was only dilated to a 4. I thought this was going to be an 8 hour labor like Audrey's was: WRONG. Around 7:25 my contractions were really starting to hurt and I could feel a lot of pressure. The nurse checked me again and I was dilated to a 9 and about ready to go. They had to scramble to get everything out and call my doctor. Needless to say my doctor did not make it to the delivery. I am 0 for 3 on having my doctor deliver my babies. A few minutes later I told the nurse it was time for me to push. She told me to wait until the next contraction; I don't know how that is even possible. I said no I have to push and I did. With the first push my water broke and the baby's head was crowning. After a couple more pushes the head was out and she was stuck at her shoulders. I remember they kept telling me to keep pushing, but I couldn't because I wasn't having a contraction. She finally made it out at 7:41 a.m. and I felt so relieved. She was here and I didn't get an epidural. Now came the really hard part, deciding on a name. We didn't fill out the papers until right before we left the hospital. So here she is: Alivia Delyn.

Even More Evan

When I said the boy could fall asleep anywhere, I meant it. Here he is sitting on a barstool eating an orange. Audrey found him like this and I didn't believe her when she relayed the situation, but she was telling the truth. He must have been really tired. A couple of days ago we were playing outside and I told Evan not to pick the flowers, but he did anyway. I then told him we needed to go inside and put the flowers he wasn't supposed to pick in water. He said okay and ran into the house. This is what I found a few minutes later (sorry for the potty picture). He did what I told him to do. I guess next time I will be more specific.

Everything Evan

Here are a few things you should know about Evan.
1. He loves baseball and soccer. Recently he turned 2 and we celebrated with a baseball cake. It was much easier to make than a soccer ball.
2. He can fall asleep anywhere including while eating and standing on his head.

3. He loves to help. Two jobs he likes to help with are husking the corn and setting the table. The first time I asked him to help husk the corn it did not occur to me that he would eat it before it had been cooked. He also just likes to put any condiments he can get out of the fridge onto the table.
4. He has the cutest face. This is one of my favorite looks he gives.
5. He LOVES his new baby sister.
6. He is rarely dressed normal. He likes to wear pajamas all day. Sometimes only his pajama pants. Sometimes he likes to wear my shower cap.
7. He likes stickers and he likes to put stickers all over his body.

My Side of the Story

Hello. I was born on June 8, 2010 and I weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces. My name is Alivia Delyn. It took my parents two days in the hospital to finally decide that this is what my name should be and already my mom is wondering if they made the right choice. I went to the doctor's office for the first time last week; here is how the conversation with the receptionist went down:
Receptionist: "What is her name?"
My Mom: "Alivia, A-L-I-V-I-A"
Receptionist: "Wait, what? The first letter is an A? Start over please."
My Mom: "A-L-I-V-I-A"
Receptionist: "Oh, okay. What is her middle name?"
My Mom: "Delyn."
Receptionist: "Um...I'll just put a D."
We finally got to see the doctor after waiting over an hour. He took a look at my name and said, "that's interesting, why did you spell it starting with an A?" I also had to get my heel pricked so they could check my jaundice level and the phlebotomist asked the same question. Apparently I cry funny too because at my next visit when they pricked my heel and I started to cry, the phlebotomist said, "well that is an interesting sound. Most newborns sound like cats when they cry, but hers is definitely unique. I can't really tell what she sounds like." For the first visit I was dressed in a pink onesie and three people asked my mother "how old is he?" I can't figure out why any parent would put their baby boy in pink clothes and if you don't know the gender of the child, you could simply say, "how old is your baby?" Problem solved.
I am growing. Apparently it just isn't fast enough as I have to go back to the doctor next week to get my weight checked. Hopefully by then I will weigh 8 pounds 5 ounces.
I have a fair amount of hair, most of it is on the back of my head.


Right now I do a lot of sleeping and eating. That pretty much takes up the entire day.

A...a...A....

All about Audrey.
I can't sleep. I have heartburn still after taking five tums and my feet are hurting because they are so swollen, but this post isn't about me. It is all about Audrey. Audrey has had quite a bit going on lately and I keep meaning to post about it all, so here it is. She went to the doctor for her five year check up and to get three more shots so she can start kindergarten in the fall. She did not cry when she got her shots, she screamed. She is tall and skinny; she was in the 76th percentile for height and the 16th percentile for her weight. This picture has nothing to do with her doctor visit, I just really like it.
Next she had her first birthday party with her friends. We had it two weeks before her birthday just in case her little sister made an early arrival. Apparently we didn't need to worry so much since her birthday is now past and still no sister. She had a lot of fun playing games, getting candy from the pinata, opening presents, and eating cake.


Next she had her preschool graduation. She didn't quite understand that graduation means you never go back. The following week she was upset she didn't get to go to preschool. Then she figured it out and really wanted to start kindergarten instead. She is now very upset that she has to wait so long to start kindergarten. It could be a long summer.

Finally Audrey had her second birthday party with the fam. It was really a party for Evan too, but hopefully I'll blog about him later. Again Audrey enjoyed opening presents and eating her big ding dong cake. It is hard to believe she is now five and will start going to the "big school" in the fall.

Rough Week

It all started two Saturdays ago, Evan and Audrey were watching a movie and Evan tripped over Audrey's legs and hit his face on the corner of the armoire. Well at least we are assuming this is what happened. The only eye witness is four and she doesn't like to get in trouble. Whatever happened, Evan cried for about an hour and this is what he had to show for it.
Two days later we were out delivering invitations for Audrey's birthday party and Evan was running on the cement and tripped and got a nice scrape on the other side of his face. As if that weren't enough, later that night he fell down three stairs and got a nice carpet burn down his nose as evidenced in this picture.
Also if you look very carefully in the first picture, he has a tiny scrape on his forehead. He got this by running into a corner in the hallway. Luckily that injury wasn't any worse. The wall definitely got the worst of that mishap (just a few days after I had finished all of my touch up painting). Now I shall have to get out the paint again one day. Oh well. You would probably like to know that Evan is healing nicely and there is little proof left of his rough week.

Little time to sleep in FL

Well we have been home from our vacation now for about a month, so it is probably about time I posted some pictures. Audrey is very glad that these two got married so close to DisneyWorld (those are her words, not mine). She (and the rest of us) all had a great time at the wedding and now Audrey would also like to get married in Florida one day.
We were able to spend a little bit of time on the beach. It didn't take long for Audrey to get soaked even though the water only came up to her ankles.

Colby's favorite part of the vacation was probably going to an Astro's spring training games against the Blue Jays. We had to leave early, but luckily we saw all of the scoring that took place. Of course while we were there, we went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. We really had a lot of fun and especially enjoyed spending time with family. Audrey had a lot of fun on the rides she was tall enough for and sometimes cried when she wasn't tall enough. She wants to go back in four years since she figures she will be able to go on every single ride then. Hopefully we will one day go back and hopefully I will get to join her on the rides; I will say it was a bit disappointing not being able to go on most of the rides since Sparkles is occupying my belly.

Audrey also enjoyed meeting the characters and getting their autographs in her book.


We also spent a short amount of time at Downtown Disney where we got some food and Audrey and Evan climbed on the statues. Not surprisingly Buzz was the clear favorite for Evan at least.

On the plane ride home, everybody slept but me. That is how it usually seems to go around here. Really I should say the plane ride to Denver. Once we got to Denver, we stayed there much longer than anticipated. Our flight was cancelled due to snow and we ended up sleeping (I use this word loosely) on the floor of the airport. Not fun.

Fifteen hours later than anticipated we finally made it back and I have no desire to get on an airplane anytime soon seeming as next time we will have three children to chase after.