October

Well, it seems my blog has turned into a monthly post thing- so here's a few October pics and events...

Claire's good friend Macy came over and was making Samuel laugh and smile. She is so silly. She put her funny glasses on him and we all laughed. I think he looks like that bookworm coming out of the apple....

Samuel's 4th month: still sleeping with mom and waking up couple times in the night, discovered his voice more and has a high piercing dolphin sound, likes his activity center (mom does too! doctor told me to burn it- but this is one time I will NOT be following doctor's orders!), likes Baby Einstein DVD's, moves around more on his tummy on the blanket and still loves bathtime.

At his 4 month check up he weighed 19 1/2 lbs! He's in 99th percentile for both weight and height.

I don't think his smile could get any bigger! How can you not help but smile when you see that?

On October 24th, Nathan turned 15 years old! I can hardly believe it! Now he can get a drivers learning permit- if I ever let him. :-) Nathan has continued to get straight A's and kept a 4.0 grade point average. I am so proud of him and the good choices he has made. I hope it will continue and always be that way! He is such a good helper at home with Samuel and with cooking dinners when needed. He loves to cook.

He does have his typical moody teenage moments and at times hates being the oldest. Love you Nater!

*sigh*- then there's Halloween- the holiday I loathe. Just don't see the point of it. To me it's just another one of those commercialized holidays to suck more money out of you. And how many times do we have to put our kids in their costumes?? And it's always so stinking cold out for trick-or-treating. I'd much rather just buy a few bags of candy to hand to my kids. Hey- maybe I could just have them trick-or-treat in our house...just go from door to door in it. Think they would go for that? :-)

This year's costumes were pretty easy though...glad for that. Claire wears her new boots every day. She wants a horse so bad. I don't know where this "country" part of her is coming from...


She continues to challenge me at times and I pray I will survive her teenage years.

Logan is still my senstive one in spite of the mean cowboy face he has on. I have to be so careful of what I say to him and to carefully discipline. He hates homework and reading. Claire comes home and gets all of her homework for the week done on the first day. She could sit for hours and write and do homework. With Logan, I'm lucky to get 5 minutes a night! In spite of that, he gets good grades in school and seems to always do well.

I can't believe we are already to the end of October. Where has the year gone? Where did summer go? I guess I was stuck at home with new baby for the summer so didn't get to go and do much. Can't believe the holidays are upon us already. It has been a tough year for us financially- I hope the next year will be an improvement.

Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we went up to Evanston so the kids could ride in my dad's truck in the parade. They had so much fun throwing candy out to all the parade watchers. Nathan had fun because he got to drive the truck in the parade while Spence, Samuel and I rode inside with him.

This is my cute mom and dad. I love them so much. :-)

Claire suddenly has an obsession with horses and wishes we had some.

After the parade we went and visited my Grandma Davis. She is 92 years old and still living by herself. For some reason she just keeps hanging on. She has slowed down quite a bit due to some falls that created some hip and back problems for her. She loves to crochet and has made countless afghans and dolls.

Samuel got to meet his great-grandma for the first time. I am so glad my kids have the opportunity to get to know their great grandparents. I wish my Grandpa Davis was still alive for them to meet as well. He was so special, and I know grandma misses him dearly. He has been gone for nearly 12 years now.

I can't believe we are already half way through September and the holidays are quickly approaching. Where did the summer go? Where did the year go? I am definitely not ready for snow....

Baptism and Blessing Day

Logan turned 8 years old on June 4th. Since I had Samuel just a few days before that, we have had to wait a few months to have Logan's baptism. He has been patiently waiting for this day to come and was so excited that it was finally here!

I went out in the garage to get out boxes of old photos in them the night before his baptism.I was trying to find photos of Logan's baby blessing. I felt like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation when he's in the attic and gets caught up in old photos and home videos. :-) I ended up sitting in the garage for over an hour looking through old photos. I couldn't believe how quickly time passes. Seems like just yesterday that Logan was running around in a diaper and carrying his toy toolbox around.

It was a fun day for Logan as well as a special day for his dad. It was extra special that Spence got to be the one to perform this sacred ordinance for Logan. I am proud of you Logan and your decision to be baptized! You are such a loving boy, and like your dad said in your blessing- you have a special sweet spirit. We are so glad you are part of our family.

We decided to bless Samuel on the same day since family and friends would already be here. It made the day extra special. We needed to get Sam blessed before he got any bigger! Spence was worried that he'd have to sit him in the chair for his blessing!

Grandma Sue

Grandma and Grandpa Davis

Samuel was a very good baby today and didn't cry in his blessing. We are so blessed to have him in our family also. He is becoming so fun- smiling and even trying to laugh. He has discovered his voice more and likes to suck on his hands. Sure wish he would take a pacifier at times- but he doesn't care too much for it. He has rolled over from his belly to his back a few times and is starting to like the Baby Einstein videos more. (good for mom....) He still likes to sleep in mom's arms at night, but is sleeping for longer periods of time. (yay!)

I can't believe how fast he is growing. I am enjoying my time with him during the day while kids are at school. I find myself just sitting on the couch and cuddling (and napping) with him. Samuel likes bathtime at nights and also likes to sit outside. He likes stroller rides. Claire is good to load him up and walk him down the street. Most times she has Simon sitting in the basket below the stroller as well. :-)

Thank you to all our friends and family who came and shared in our special day! We are so lucky to have such caring people in our lives.

First Day of School 2010-11

Nathan is a Freshman this year! Man- I can't believe how fast time goes. Nathan has grown a lot this summer. He is almost in a size 12 shoe and is much taller than me. He is taking honors classes, along with ballroom dancing (was shocked when I saw his schedule for that one...), seminary, computer tech...etc. He is loving his biology class and hating his computer tech class. He already knows all the computer stuff- but it is a required class so he can't get out of it. Nathan worked hard last year and got straight A's every report card. I hope he will be able to do the same this year!

Logan started 3rd grade. He likes his teacher so far, but not all of the rules. Seems there's a new rule every day- you can only use the bathroom at recess or lunchtime, only fill up your water bottle at lunch.... (really tough rules like that...) He is enjoying being a big brother to Claire and takes pride in picking her up after school and walking with her.

Claire started 1st grade. She actually just met in small groups with her teacher on the first day- so her first day was really the 2nd day of school. There is a girl in her class that is new to the school. She was with Claire when they met with Mrs. DeHaan in the small group. She instantly clung on to Claire, and happened to have her desk next to Claire's. The next day at school, this girl's mom told me she was going to ask Claire if she'd be her friend. Well, after school, Claire told me how Kennedee (the girl) was a copy cat and wouldn't leave her alone all day. She had to color everything the same as Claire and say the same things. Claire must've complained to Logan about it because the next day he said he told that girl to stop copying Claire. So nice of him to take care of his sister. :-)

I asked Claire what her favorite part of the day is. She said it is lunchtime. I asked her why. "Because I get to see Logan and we have recess together." Aahh....wish they could be loving all the time.

Have a good year kids! The house sure is quiet while you're away....

Silly Girls!

My niece, Ashley, had to come down to Primary Childrens to get her bandages changed on her hand. They all stopped by to play for awhile first. All of the girls have lots of fun together.

Ashley (almost 9) Claire (6) Maggie (7) Natalie (4)

For those of you who don't know, Ashley was in an accident with her horse at the fair. Her horse was tied to her trailer and she was grooming it. She was trying to untie the knot on the lead rope and something spooked the horse. It pulled back, pulling the rope tight with Ashley's hands stuck in it. On her right hand, a fingertip was gone and her left hand all four fingers. She was brought down to Primary Childrens Hospital and had a 6 hour surgery to reattach fingers and fingertips. She spent a week in the hospital and was such a trooper. Since the surgery, they have had to remove the middle and ring finger on her left hand. She is doing great though and has had lots of love and support from her family and community.

My brother has been overwhelmed by all of the support where he lives. Ashley had a lamb that she raised to put in the fair. One of her friends showed it for her since she was in the hospital. The night of the livestock auction, her lamb was auctioned off and donated back to auction again- 5 times! It made $10,000 to help with medical expenses. The other kids selling livestock donated 3% of their sales also. $22,000 (and a pig) have been donated so far. It's nice to know that there is so much good out there in people despite everything going on around us in the world.

Bubbles!

A few weeks ago I had 3 of my nieces over for a few days while their sister, Ashley, was in the hospital. It was fun to get to know them better. They live in Big Piney, Wyoming so we don't see them very often.

All the girls piled in the bathtub and turned the jets on for lots of bubble fun! I had a pretty wet bathroom when they got out.

Chelsea (20 mos) wasn't quite sure she wanted to get in with the wild older girls at first.

Natalie (4), Maggie (7) and Claire (6)

Let me tell ya- I don't know how my little brother Spencer does it. Him and his wife, Amy, have four girls! I feel bad that he's the only male in the household. He better brace himself when they all get into high school and start dating. Imagine all the hormones that will be in that house! Just thinking of the expense of school dances, weddings, etc gives me a nervous breakdown. :-) They all seem to be "daddy's girls" though and have him wrapped around his finger.

Single Parenting

I am going on three weeks now of being a single parent. Spence has been gone to Reno, NV working on a business transaction. He wasn't planning on being gone that long. The first week he was gone Nathan was gone as well. He went to EFY down in Provo at BYU. (He had a terrific time and said it was a real testimony booster.) Once Nate returned it made things a bit easier cuz I had my babysitter back. Let me tell you- I hated dragging three kids into the store to grocery shop. They instantly turn wild or something and climb all over the cart, play tag and run up and down the aisles. And that's on top of how much extra it costs to bring them with me.... The worse part of both Spence and Nate being gone at the same time was that I couldn't just run into the convenience store for my diet pepsi. That really sucked.

Anyway, I think I've done pretty well at holding it all together. There have been a few moments where a few tears have been shed. I just know that when Spence gets home he will let me have a break from the kids and go pamper myself- so I'm trying to hang on to that thought to get me through!

Any of you that know Claire knows that she thinks she is about 15 or so. She has a sassy little attitude (and mouth) on her. She kept bugging me about something yesterday and I kept telling her no. She was talking very loudly to me and I kept interrupting her with the same answer of NO. She waved her finger in my face and told me to let her talk. Then she preceeded to tell me to stop treating her like a kid. I just walked into the kitchen and told her I needed a huge break from her. She goes "Mom, you need a break from ALL the kids." Can't argue with her on that one. :-)

Newborn Pictures

Here are pictures from when Samuel was one week old. There are so many cute pics to choose from that I just had to post several. Thanks Jen for being such an awesome friend and photographer!

Look at those lips. :-)

Announcing....(finally!)

Samuel Christian McDonald was born on June 1st after about 8 hours of labor. He weighed in at 9lbs 3 ozs and was 21 inches long.

He has blonde hair on top and darker hair in back. His eyes are BLUE like all the other kids.

Mommy and Daddy were very excited to have him here.

He loves to be swaddled and held tight.

So many people were there to welcome him into the world....

Now for the details: I checked into the hospital around 7:30a.m. After 4 attempts at trying to get an IV in me, pitocin was started. I made it about 3 hours (?) without having an epidural- and getting the epidural brought tears to my eyes and a few screams. (small ones...) Seems I always have trouble getting those. BUT, it is so worth it. Dialating progressed slowly until about the last 30 minutes. I didn't have to push too many times. A few of the times my doctor, Dr. Irion, had me laughing while trying to push so it took a bit longer. There was also a medical student there to assist the doctor.

My parents and Spence's mom were with Spence and me in the delivery room, as well as my friend Jen to take all the fabulous pictures. The other kids were out in the waiting room. They had spent most of the day there at the hospital, trying to be patient until Samuel was born. I would NOT recommend this to anyone. I truly couldn't relax much with my kids coming in and out. I kept worrying that they were being disruptive in the hospital.

I stayed two nights in the hospital. Claire was lucky enough to get to spend the last night with me. She fell asleep on the couch in my room so we just let her stay. She was quite excited when she woke up and discovered where she was. She was so anxious to get to take Samuel home and wanted to get him dressed right away. She was quite a big helper to me to get everything gathered up and packed and ready to go. She even straightened up the room and asked me where a broom was to clean the floor! She has remained a good helper with him at home and has mastered making his bottles and has even changed a few "wet" diapers. She has gotten a dose of true motherhood by being peed on a few times by little Sam. :-)