My happy little guy

I can't believe that Elijah is 2 months old today. It has gone really fast and I have enjoyed every minute of him. He is such a happy little baby, he is always smiling and making cute little noises to "talk" when you pay attention to him. He is so easy and happy, it makes me think I can do this a dozen more times (not really, but you get the idea). I seriously love this little guy and can't believe how big he is getting already. I just hope that his easy-going personality continues into his toddlerhood and more!

4 weeks

6 weeks

6 weeks

Am I really the mom?

Every once in a while it hits me that I am a 31 year old mother of three. I know, I know, this shouldn't really be a shock to me, but every once in a while it is. I don't know if anyone else has ever had this strange sensation/realization like I have but here is how it goes... The other night Luke woke up sick and crying because of an infected lymph node. It was 3:30 am and I had been in bed for about one hour since feeding Elijah and getting back to sleep. After giving Luke some medicine (actually Rick got up to give him the medicine) I stayed on the couch consoling Luke and tickling his back until he could go back to sleep. While I was sitting there at 4:00 am comforting my sick little boy, the sensation/realization came on... I am the mom, this is my 6-year-old, when he cries he cries for me, I have brought three children into this world, I am no longer a responsibility free youngster! When did this happen? Each day passes, some exciting some not, and time slowly creeps up on me. I just know that one day I am going to be sitting in Sacrament meeting watching one of my sons pass the sacrament and I will get the same feeling. Or, maybe it will be when I hug a son goodbye as he leaves on a mission. It could be in the temple when I see my child get sealed and I become a mother-in-law. I can see it happening the first time I hold a grandchild in my arms and enjoy a newborn baby without doing the work of getting it here. At all of these times I won't know how time has gotten me where I am, but I will be happy that it has.

Bear Lake Vacation

Playing in the sand, sunbathing, tubing and wake boarding behind the boat, jet skiing, golfing, scrapbooking, eating, pedicures, hiking in Minnetonka Cave, and having guitar hero, karaoke, and dance dance revolution competitions...what a great vacation! We spent the last week with my family staying at Bear Lake and enjoying every minute of our little escape. It was great to have most of my family (even Grandpa Bisel stayed with us Sunday evening) together at different times during the week. I wish everyone could've been there the whole time. Here is a little taste of our wonderful week.

The kids has so much fun at the beach. The water on the north side is really shallow for a long distance so the water stays nice and warm. They played for HOURS everyday and would've stayed longer if we let them.

The first day on the boat the kids got dumped off the tube twice and therefore thought that it was a terrible experience. A couple of days later I forced my boys back out there so they wouldn't end things on a bad note. Noah still wasn't too much of a tubing fan, but Luke really enjoyed it.

Although Luke hates when I make him stop playing and pose for my pictures, he was a good sport. I thought that I did a great job of keeping sunscreen on the boys so they wouldn't get burned, but I found out I missed a spot...their bums. Right above their swimming suits got a little burned from them bending over and digging in the sand and exposing a little more skin than I realized.

Noah absolutely loved our time at the beach. He spent hours everyday digging in the sand and playing in the water. I would take him to the beach everyday if we lived near one! I was amazed at how long he would play and be good because nothing else holds his attention that long.

Elijah got his turn dipping his toes in the water. He was such a good beach bum, he just stayed under the canopy and slept and ate! I didn't know that a baby would be so good for 4-6 hours a day at the beach. He is such a delight.

I realize that because I take most of the pictures we almost never get any of us, so I dragged Rick into the water to get a picture. Good thing it was taken so far away because I wouldn't suggest having your picture taken in a bathing suit 6 weeks after having a baby.

I just HAD to put this picture in (sorry Chels) because it shows how the adults spent their time every evening. I am playing guitar hero, Max is singing karaoke, and Chelsea is doing dance dance revolution. Okay, Chelsea and I are just posing for the picture while Max (and Rick) sing, but I wanted to get all three together. I can't believe how much fun we had. Just for the record, Chelsea dominated DDR, Rick was the best at guitar hero, and the girls KILLED the boys at karaoke.

Thanks so much to mom and dad for getting the rooms for us and allowing us to have such a great family vacation. We loved it so much we are already planning next year. Thanks to my sisters for being my best friends. Thanks to our husbands for allowing us to spend every waking minute together! Family is the best. If we can survive a week on vacation together, we can survive anything.

My boys...my life

Elijah the day he was born.

The "big" boys LOVE Eli, and always want to hold and kiss him.

My best effort at getting all three boys to look at the camera!

Sweet baby just gazing into space.

Hiking on the 4th of July just above Woodland.

My boys are my life. As anyone with kids can attest, your life revolves around taking care of them. This is especially true of a newborn! So now that I have three little boys I feel that my life has become days filled with feeding kids, cleaning up after kids, stopping fights, wiping bums, wiping noses, reading books, singing songs, watching cartoons, disciplining, etc., etc. The amazing thing is that I am totally content with doing this! Elijah has brought a new found love for motherhood for me. I have more work now, but I find more joy in it. I think I was just stuck in a mothering rut before he was born. It helps that he is a good little baby who likes to be held, eat, and sleep. He even sleep really well at night, and in his own little cradle. My other two boys would never sleep in their cradles when they were newborns. This facilitated me sleeping with them on the couch as I held them. Elijah will sleep for 3 hours at a time by himself, thus allowing me a couple of hours of sleep in my own bed! He is on a good little schedule of eating, being awake, and napping...repeating every three hours. I can't believe that it has been almost a month since he was born. It has gone by in a whirlwind. I am still trying to get the three child thing down to a science. My daily goal is to have the three boys and myself fed (breakfast), dressed, teeth brushed, and beds made by noon! Some days we make it, some days we don't. If we have to go anywhere I plan for 2 hours of preparation to get us all ready and feed the baby at least once before we step out of the door. At least I have boys and I don't have to do the hair thing! I feel like I am working so hard just to keep my head above the water, doing the things that HAVE to be done. Minor details like showering (down to every other day), cleaning (done the bathroom only once in the last month!), and clipping my toenails (not since Elijah's birth) go by the wayside. Oh well! I don't know if it is that I already have older children in different stages of their childhood, but I have been savoring Elijah's baby days more than I did the other two. I'm not finding myself longing for him to get older and be able to talk (because then they just sass), walk (because then they just get into everything), eat table food ( ah, the diapers), or anything else that you are eager for your children to do. I am just enjoying my hours of sitting on the couch feeding him, rocking him to sleep, and letting him hold my finger in his tiny little hand. I love my boys, and I love my life.

What a weekend!

Ahhhhhh, I love July. I love to celebrate the birthday of our nation, and the arrival of the pioneers to Utah. We had such a great 4th weekend and were able to spend time with our families. We started the 4th with the annual Oakley parade. Last year we had to drive all the way to Boulder City to find a parade, so we are so excited to be home where everything happens so close.

Our family watching the parade.

Elijah, Noah (behind the balloon!), Jack, Luke, and Evan...the McNeil boy cousins.

After the parade we went to the Butikofer's for a HUGE BBQ. Of course Billie Jo out did herself and we were spoiled by the spread she put on for us. We didn't even eat the rest of the day! Feeling a little guilty for the vast amounts of food we consumed, we decided to go for a hike at Knobletts. It was so beautiful and the kids were loving to hike, pick wildflowers, and throw rocks into the pond, but we didn't think about bug spray and were swarmed by mosquitoes. We turned around about half way through the hike because of the bugs. Mosquito bite tally: Luke, Noah, and Eli - 0, Rick - 2, me - 12. I guess mosquitoes are attracted to the sweet smell of breast milk! Oh well, the bites were worth the beautiful scenery.

After getting the kids bathed and in their pajamas we lit firework and did sparklers, while playing patriotic music in the background. Noah was having a great time and kept yelling, "happy birthday" to everyone. We tried to get him to yell, "happy birthday, America!", but he just kept wishing happy birthday to everyone present. The kids loved our little firework party because they were right in the action. I guess you don't have to go to a big firework show to enjoy the spirit of it.

Our saturday was pretty low key, so Elijah decided to spice things up. About 11:00 pm I tried to feed him right before I went to bed, but he was being pretty fussy and wasn't eating very well. I finally gave up and tried to put him to bed, but he was fussing and making gasping sounds so I got him out of bed and decided to hold him until he was feeling better. I sat with him on the couch for a few minutes before I got really worried about him. He was gasping for every breath and couldn't seem to catch his breath. Rick and my mom and dad were also very worried about his labored breathing and convinced me to take him to Heber to the ER. After Rick and my dad gave him a blessing we loaded into the car and dove to the hospital. They hooked him up to a monitor to check is pulse and oxygen saturation level and found that he couldn't keep his oxygen above 90%, so the doctor checked him out, took chest x-rays, and did blood work to see what could be wrong. Everything came back perfectly normal! The doctor was bewildered because nothing seemed to be wrong, but his oxygen levels couldn't stay up. He called to Primary Children's Hospital for an opinion and the doctor there told him to send us down to them. So, after three hours in the ER in Heber we had to head to Salt Lake. Eli and I even got to ride in the ambulance because they had to keep him monitored and keep him on oxygen. After three more hours of observation at Primary Children's the doctors decided that he was fine and we could go home because Elijah's oxygen levels had stayed above 90% for quite a while. We finally got back home about 7:00 am, and were completely exhausted!

Sunday was a very special day because both Eli and Evan (Allen and Patrice's baby) were blessed. We had a big dinner after with all of our families and the day couldn't have been better. Rick and I were surprised that we did as well as we did considering we had no sleep the night before.

Can you believe that we only took ONE picture the whole day, and my eyes were closed! Hello, don't we live in the digital age? How is THIS the only picture we got?

What a weekend. We absolutely love being with our families, celebrating and sharing special times together. Thanks so much to everyone for sharing this time with us.

Worth every minute!

Nine months of pregnancy, five hours of labor, and eight minutes of dilevery... Elijah is worth every minute. The truth of bringing a baby into this world is that much of the experience isn't exactly enjoyable. There's the morning sickness, heartburn, excessive trips to the bathroom, huge belly, hormones, kicking, inability to sleep, doctor's visits, labor, delivery, and the weeks of recovery; but once you have your sweet little baby in your arms for the first time, you know the reward was worth every minute. Growing a baby inside your body is truly a thing of wonder. It is totally amazing that all the cells know just what their purpose is and day by day they slowly become what they are destined to be. Birth is a miracle. Even though I have never actually seen a baby be born, from what Rick says it is amazing how the whole thing happens. From the tiny little crown of their head appearing to their beautiful face, shoulders, and body. Although it has only been two and a half years since I did this last, there are some things that have come flooding back to my memory about just how beautiful it is to have a newborn baby in your life. Here are some of the things that I love about my little boy:

*Nothing smells better than a baby. I could eternally sit and smell and kiss my freshly bathed and lotioned baby.

*I love the profile view that only a mother gets as she nurses her baby. Eyes closed, hands in fists, and the rhythmic sucking and swallowing of eating.

*Babies make the cutest noises when they sleep.

*After nursing Elijah, I have his little ear imprint on my arm from holding him as he eats.

*I love that such a little thing can make such loud noises when they poop and burp.

*It is fascinating to watch babies move as they figure out that they have room to stretch out their arms and legs. Their movement can be so slow and deliberate, or they get startled by their new found freedom.

*Elijah looks so darling as he furrows his brow in a look of concentration as he works on adjusting his eyes together to look at something.

*I love the fine layer of hair that is on Elijah's back and shoulders.

*Although it is just a reflex for now, I love to see Elijah smile as he sleeps.

*Elijah's skin is so soft! Being covered in wax and soaking in warm water for 9 months gives your skin a softness that nothing can compare to.

*It amazes me how those tiny little fingers can hold so tightly when wrapped around your own.

I love my baby. I love my other babies who are great big brothers and always want to hold and kiss Eli. I love Rick for what a wonderful father he is and for all the help he gives me with the kids. I feel so blessed to have my little family. Life is a beautiful miracle, and worth every minute.

Fishing Trip

Since Dad has now officially looked at the blog twice (once for the birth of the baby, and now wondering where the fishing pictures are) he is demanding more posts. Typical blog convert. Dad (Grandpa Gunnerson) came and picked up Luke on Friday night to take him to the cabin with him and to go fishing early Saturday morning. Noah and I joined the two Saturday morning, just not so early. When we arrived at trial lake they already had three fish. The lake was still covered with a lot of ice and there were only a couple of spots for fishing, fortunately Dad and Luke found the best, as we then pulled in four more fish once Noah and I arrived. It made for a great morning, and a great evening for those who ate the fish that night. Here are the picutres.