A lesson in Swaddling

So tonight my cousin's wife Shandy came over to give me a lesson in swaddling. Now to fully appreciate this story you need to know that Shandy's mom is full Navajo Indian and she taught Shandy the technique that her mom taught her when they would put the babies on the papoose boards. You seriously would not believe how tight Shandy can wrap a baby. In fact I'll be honest and tell you that it completely freaked this new mom out. It was all I could do to not unwrap him! I just kept thinking "he must feel so trapped!" Shandy, Curtis and Kami kept making fun of me. I have to admit he slept for 2 1/2 hours without a peep after Shandy wrapped him up. I'm still not convinced I'll be able to do it myself though.

Cash--the superstar!!

Here's a few more pictures of our superstar Cash! Above is a picture of his "going home" outfit from the hospital. Below is just a cute picture of him sleeping---isn't he so stinkin cute!!!! (I'm not a proud mama at all!)

Above is a picture of his room finally finished and organized (thanks to Missy and Kami). Karmen wanted to see the cowboy bedding that Kami made---isn't is so great--I keep telling her she needs to start a baby bedding business. Below is Grandma Oram giving him his first bath.

Just one more picture of those HUGE cheeks! So chubby and I love it! He's such a good little chunky monkey!

Day 1 of Cash's new life! He's got a new favorite buddy Mitch.

I met all the "Girls" and fell in love with them all!
Said hi to mom and dad while they loved on me!
Isn't my dad so proud!!!
Awww...I need some rest after all that excitement!

First time mom got a better look at me and all my chunks!

Cash has arrived!!!

(Kami blogging) Is this the freaking cutest baby ever or what!!!

Cash arrived weighing in at 9lbs 14oz! He was 19 inches long!

He is one chunkie monkey!

I'm pretty sure Nalani will kill me for the last picture but she'll get over it eventually!

Baby Cash is on his way!

(Kami dictating for Nalani and Jed)
Cash has decided that today is the day! We are at the hospital awaiting his arrival. If all goes well baby Cash will have a birthday once a year instead of every 4 years. If things keep going well, Cash should be arriving around tonight!

So here is where you all come into play.....

Will he have hair?
How much will he weight?
How long will he be?

Whoever has the closest guess wins a night of babysitting Cash while Nalani and Jed get a night out on the town!

Keep looking for updates!

The Final Countdown---thank goodness!

It's the final countdown for this little guy to get here and I'm sooo excited! I'm tempted to make a paper chain like I use to do in gradeschool to countdown til Christmas or summer break. Karmen was here last weekend and helped me do the letters in the baby's room---I should actually say she helped Jed as I was sleeping in one morning. I love how they turned out and I can't wait to get the rest of the room decorated. Jed's family had a baby shower for me last weekend and I SCORED again! I need to get the pictures from my sister-in-laws to post but thought I'd at least post a picture of some of my favorite presents----the little poka dot blanket is so stinkin cute and soft and then that little stuffed animal is a horse puppet that neeigghhhs (sp?) like a horse---too cute and last but not least my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law all chipped in and got me my stroller and carseat----isn't that freakin awesome! I can't even tell you how stinkin excited I was! I'm just washing some of the little guys clothes tonight so I'll be all ready----ok, the honest truth is I hope my doctor induces me tomorrow when I go in for my appointment---yeah right---I wish!!

The Smiths are blogworthy!!!!

As most of you know--when I first started this blog almost 2 years ago Jed HATED it! I'm not really sure why but I think he thought it was just too much information to have out there on the web. Well, he's had a change of heart........even to the point that he actually gives the blog address to his co-workers and friends! Well, last week some of his co-workers---more like friends, Ryan and Jaime Smith were in town from Florida for some meetings and skiing in Park City. We were lucky enough to have them over one night for dinner. It was a night of good grub, good company, and good chatting. They asked me during dinner if our get-together would be "blogworthy" so of course I had to grab my camera to capture the event. We look forward to more good times with the Smith's ---they're great people!

Shower of the Century!!!

This past Saturday was my baby shower and let me tell you I LOVED every second of it!!!! It was so stinkin fun and I felt like a spoiled kid on Christmas morning. I was telling my mom this morning that a baby or bridal shower is the one time in your life that you get to have all your friends together and it just seems like a big ole' reunion. I'm so grateful for the friends I have made throughout my life but even more importantly that we keep in touch. I can say without a doubt that I've been very blessed with great friends all through my life. Above is a picture of Sarah and I before the party began--I love it when she comes for the weekend---it makes me feel like I'm in college again. Below is a picture of Jayna, Nikki (old roommate) and Jeanette---all friends from when I lived in SLC.
































Above you can see that I was seriously showered in gifts! Who knew you could use so much stuff for a baby! When Jed got home he was sure that Babies R Us had thrown up in our living room! The first thing he said is "so what of this stuff is going back?" and I'm all "NONE!!!!" I mean, I got some really important things for the baby.....like some sunglasses and swimtrunks for Seven Peaks this summer!!! Below is my Aunt Pat, Delsi (old mission companion) and Cousin Carrie---who is due a week after me and so help me if she has her baby boy before me I will be so ticked!



































Just a few more great gifts---above is a basket full of books that Sarah gave me---between she and Missy I have a full library now--I love it! Below is the baby's first outfit to wear to the farm with his dad. It's just one of the many things I got in a HUGE gift basket from Aunt Pat and Carrie---including some critical items for me.....dr.pepper and peanut m&m's!!




































Here's a few pictures of the best party planners ever! Thanks again to my "girls" who planned the party---you rock! And thank to everyone who came and seriously spoiled me. It was so fun to see everyone and I expect you all to come back for a visit when this little guy gets here!

Handy Man Jed!!

Let me begin by saying that I'm so excited to finally have something blogworthy to post! So I've had this vision for the baby's room ever since we moved into our house and this past week Jed has been off work so he decided to make my "vision" a reality! He was pretty nervous at first because he had no clue what he was doing but I'm seriously impressed that he was able to do it just how I wanted------don't think there weren't a few "discussions" between us before it was all done but the end result is FABULOUS!!!! I think he's even impressed with his skills! So he's finished this project and has the rest of the week off so I am willing to hire him out to anyone else out there who needs some handywork done!































You can see that Jed put up all new moldings, the wainscoting and trim around the windows. You might also notice the picture already hanigng in the room to go along with our "cowboy/western" nursery theme. Jed came home the other day all excited about his great find for the babies room. He was all "hurry come see what I got!" So I walked into the nursery not really knowing what to expect and I see this John Wayne picture that he's bought. Not totally knowing if he was serious or not I looked at him and it only took about 2 seonds of looking at the grin on his face to realize---he was serious! I said "uhm, do you really want this in here?" and he said "YES!!! Our boy needs a hero and John Wayne is perfect!" So needless to say---we have the first item that will be going on the wall when we start decorating.

Happy New Year!!!!

So this year since we weren't in Hawaii like we were suppose to be for New Years we decided at the last minute to throw a RAGER of a New Years party! We called a few friends and before you knew it about 25 people showed up! I think everyone had a great time because it was thrown together at the last minute so let's be honest....I'm sure the expectations were pretty low. Jed and I were laughing with Chris and Jen at the end of the evening how much our lives have changed over the past couple years. We've added lots of spouses and kids and babies to the group which makes it even better. As you can see from the picture above Rylee and Mitch are enjoying a mean game of Zingo! (the kids version of bingo). Below is a shot of Brian (grey shirt) dropping his coat and heading straight to the kitchen for some of Jed's famous dip!

















Below is some nice shots of the gang ringing in the new year after all the guys (and some girls) had played "Rock Band" for a good couple hours. Most of the kids and babies were fast asleep by midnight but there were a few who hung on strong! Of course we had to have some nice mormon wine (sparkling cider) to ring in the new year! I like how in the picture below it looks like I totally busted out Justin picking his nose!

































Above is Jack who was one of the few kids to hold on strong and ring in the New Year---he was loving that horn---if only he could figure out how to make it work! Below is proof that I even stayed up til midnight which was a major task for me! I even took a nap that afternoon to prepare for the late night. What can I say----I'm such a grandma---9:30pm and I'm ready for bed!

Hawaiian Christmas........nope!

So as most of you know it was suppose to be a Hawaiian Christmas for Jed & I. My whole family is over in Hawaii for Christmas this year----it's something we planned months ago once we found out my sister and her husband were moving there. So we all got our plane tickets, reserved a beach house and were set to go! Oh wait....just one small problem.....I got pregnant and got extreme anxiety and the thought of getting on an airplane was enough to throw me into a panic attack. Why you ask.....I don't know!!!!! It' not like I haven't flown to Hawaii or even further to Europe more than once in my life! So we had snow instead of sunshine again for Christmas this year. I'm glad my family still had a great time ---although I'm sure it would have been much more fun if we were there! HA! HA!
















Christmas Even we spent with the Walkers (Jed's mom's family) and had a grubbin meal and then headed back to the farm for our own little party. We always draw names among the siblings and then the grandkids draw names. Heidi and Ryan had our name and got us a fun game, a very cute ornament and these fun mini-skillet cookie makers which is the last picture on here---we used them one night and they were sooooooo good! Below is a very fun picture of Marie getting her new car on Christmas morning. She had NO CLUE!!!! Jed and I got to play Santa and deliver it to her that morning. Doesn't she look hot in her hot new car!!!!

































I think my favorite part of Christmas this year by far was going to Lesa and Brady's house on Christmas morning and watching their kids wake up and see what Santa brought them. There's just nothing like being with kids on Christmas morning. Once we decided we weren't going to Hawaii I told Jed the only thing that would make me feel better is if we got to be with the nephews and niece on Christmas morning. So thanks to Lesa and Brady for letting us crash their house that morning. Jed and Brady made us a grubbin breakfast too!!!!

And finally I can't believe I'm putting this hideous picture of myself where I look like a whale on here but oh well. I had to show a shot of these funny elf hats Maile sent us. It was so fun because Maile sent me a fun little gift to open every day before Christmas. It seemed like there were always kids at my house to open the gifts each day and they loved to open a present before Christmas and see what was inside. So thanks for the fun stuff Maile! Even though it wasn't a Hawaiian Christmas we still had a great time with family. Christmas day we headed over to Curtis and Shandy's for a grubbin dinner---as always!!! Who knows----maybe next year will be a Hawaiian Christmas!

Wheelers...the weekend babysitters!

So this weekend the Wheeler's came from Idaho to be my weekend babysitters! It was pretty much non-stop fun from the time they got here on Friday until they left on Sunday night. Most of you know Sarah, Karmen and I have been best friends for the past 15 years and there's never a dull moment when we get to see eachother. Katie (Sarah's daughter) said to me "gosh, whenever you and my mom get together you're laughing hysterically in like the first 5 minutes!" So above is a picture of the kids and I making gingerbread houses. I'll be honest and say the excitement lost it's zeal for me after I had only one side of the roof done so thankfully Carter took pitty on me and decorated the rest of mine. He said I won the prize for "best team work". Caleb said that was kind of like the "best hustler" or "good sportsmanship" award that they give to the lame kid at sports camp. Thanks jerk!
















Below is our fun view from our back deck. I'm not sure who was more excited on Saturday morning when there were deer out in the backyard----Carter or Sarah! Carter had to come and wake me up to let me know about the deer---and then he proceeded to tell me that I snore louder than anyone he knows. Of course I tried to blame it on my pregnancy but Sarah knew better from sharing a room with me in college!

BUH-BYE!!!!

The theme of this week for me is "BUH-BYE!" It all started on Sunday when Jed left for New York for work. As some of you know I've been blessed with wacked out hormones causing anxiety from being pregnant---got to love it! Let me just say that I think I suck at being pregnant. Anyway---because of the anxiety I don't like to be alone at night so I've had different "babysitters" all week! Cody stayed with me the first 3 nights, then Missy came and stayed one night and then Lesa and my nephews Kade and Carter came last night and Sarah and her family are coming for the weekend! So the picture above is of Kade babysitting me last night! So far Lesa wins for the best babysitter because she cleaned my house and made me french toast in the morning! Thanks to all my babysitters---it's been fun! And don't worry---I'm starting a sign up list for the future when Jed has to travel again.


















The next "buh-bye" was on Wednesday and I was soooooo sad! Everyone knows my husband has this "hobby" of buying and selling cars. Well, he did it to me again---he sold my car right out from under me! I've quickly learned being married to him that EVERYTHING is for sale for the right price---even me on some days! He hasn't decided what my next car will be so in the mean time I'm driving a 1999 honda accord---dark green just like I use to have 5 years ago! I told Lani today that I've gone back to my Honda roots!

















And last but not least....."buh-bye" to the furniture that I bought 2 weeks ago while Jed was out of town! I'm sure you've heard the story of my mom and I going and buying a completely different set than Jed and I had picked out. I have to give Jed credit that he really did try to keep an open mind when he walked in the door and saw them but after about 4 days he couldn't get use to them so I sent them back and ordered the original set. It's all about choosing your battles--right?