Baby Spencer

Our little bundle of joy has arrived. Here are the pictures so far. He was born December 30, 13 days late, at 1:44pm. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. We are all very excited to have him here with us and we are all doing well.

10 days late

Here is an update:

NO baby yet!!

I'm getting bigger by the second and more and more ornery.

The boys are getting less and less patient for the baby to join us.

My parents are about to return home, missing our newest addition altogether.

We did have a great Christmas day with all the family- that was nice since I was afraid I'd end up delivering and missing everything with my boys.

We've tried all the wonderful suggestions to induce labor, but no success for us.

I guess he will be forced to evacuate the beginning of next week.

No end in sight!

Hi everyone!

I figured I'd post an update since the baby countdown is officially over and now the unbearable waiting begins. There is no sign that baby boy #4 will here anytime soon. I had hoped to be ready enough that my doctor could induce this week so that we don't run the chance of a Christmas day delivery. At my appointment on Monday, the stars were not alligned and my doctor couldn't risk starting me because this little guy is floating so high up that he is at risk for flipping over during labor and becoming an emergency c-section delivery. I was distraught, needless to say.

Since then, I have taken matters into my own hands. I am back to playing racquetball for as long as is physically bearable and I'm doing homepathic things to "naturally" help induce labor. If anyone has any brilliant ideas or some funny ones you wanna throw out there. I'm just about ready to try anything.

If things change, I'll get it posted asap but it looks like we'll be welcoming a little one next week.

Oh Baby!

Well, with only 10 days left, I figured I should try to update my blog before i have one more distraction. But with no signs of this baby coming, I'm thinking that I will go past my due date once again. Hopefully not the full 8 days as I've done in the past with my 3 other boys. I am going to beg for mercy from my doctor.

My boys are getting very excited about the baby's arrival. With Thanksgiving and Noah's birthday, things have been very busy so the time is going fairly quickly, thankfully.
This is the first birthday party we've thrown, and Noah invited 4 friends over for pizza and to go bowling. We had lots of fun and our family's first bowling experience was a great one.

We also went Christmas tree hunting this weekend and tromped through the woods with our 3 boys and Hannah, who dragged me around. I was hoping for labor induction with all the activity but I was not so lucky.

The biggest piece of news around our house lately has been the dog attack 2 weeks ago. On Monday afternoon, Seth and Jacob were taking Hannah for a walk when a neighbor's dog jumped her fence and proceeded to maul our puppy, Hannah. Seth retreated back to our house with Jacob behind him and Hannah in his arms while the pit bull kept biting Hannah and then eventually turned on Seth. He ended up with 16 stitches, some major bites, and wicked looking bruises. Everyone is fine now and we are SO lucky that the dog never turned her attack on Jacob. I'll post pictures but this is a warning that it's not pretty.


The other thing that we've been doing as a family are Noah's school family art projects. We made this turkey for Thanksgiving and are now working on the Christmas tree which I'll post as soon as it's completed. The beauty and cleverness all belongs to my sister, Aunt Victoria. Thank goodness she was visiting the same week we had to make this turkey.
I almost forgot about Noah's first dance recital. We have photos but they are on my camera's internal memory so I need to find the appropriate cable to retrieve them. He did a great job and really enjoys music. I'm so glad we have him at this creative arts charter school. It offers him so many opportunities to explore new talents.

YAAAAY FOR EIGHT!

Well, with 95% of the precincts reporting, I'm going on record claiming that Prop 8 has succeeded. I am so grateful for everyone and the support that was given in making sure this very important issue passed. And it was great to hear about Arizona and Florida both passing their amendments on this same issue. It would be nice to say that the battle is won but I think most people concerned realize that this is only the beginning of this battle. Undoubtedly, the opposition will fight to overturn the voice of the people. Let us not become too comfortable and complacent with where things stand today. Let us always be vigilant in protecting our families.

Ward Trunk or Treat Party

Our ward trunk or treat party was last Saturday but my SD card reader was destroyed by one of the unknown entities in my house that goes by "I don't know, I didn't do it, or It wasn't me". Anyway, I have purchased a new one and thus the 2 posts tonight of things I have wanted to post for some time now.

Our boys decided a while ago that a good costume idea for them was Alvin and the Chipmunks. I was thrilled with the idea and that we would have a theme going on this year and one that I could practically do with nominal expenses. In discussing which chipmunk everyone would be, there was of course a debate but with a little help from friends, I convinced them which way it would logically go.

Benjamin, our ball of energy that never stops moving, would appropriately be Alvin.

Jacob, our joyful and fun loving child, would be Theodore. This kid loves his victuals as much as my favorite chipmunk and he has the adorable cheeks to play the part.

Noah, as the tallest and oldest would assume the role of Simon. Like Simon, Noah is very factual and loves to please the adults in his life, thus striving to always follow the rules.

Jacob doing the check out my tail pose. He is such a ham!

We gave them little tails, spiked their hair, bought the appropriate colored hoodies, glasses for Simon (although Noah wouldn't leave them on because he said it was too hard to see), used makeup to try to darken their skin, and told them they had to stick together so people would get the full effect. They were adorable and the cutest chipmunks ever.

Promised pictures

Here are the pictures I have been promising.

After 10 weeks of working on our shed, which is actually only Saturdays and the occassional weeknight when Seth gets home before dark, it is finished. This time period also includes 2 weeks of being out of town. Here is my beautiful shed that my husband built with his own 2 hands. It is officially done and we are now trying to decide how best to utilize our additional 200 square feet.


Hannah is growing SO fast. Here are the boys with her.

This is Hannah mauling Jacob. You can see she is just about as long as he is and she had her first vet visit on Friday and weighs 21 pounds at 12 weeks old. I'm SO glad my baby isn't going to grow quite that fast.

Yes on Prop 8

Here's an update for those of you interested.

The Yes on Prop 8 campaign has had about $23 million donated, much to the surprise of the opposition. This weekend, I was able to help deliver lawn signs with Noah. It was a huge boost to go through the neighborhoods and see the support of our neighbors and to say to those who were afraid to have their own sign that they aren't alone. Unfortunately we learned that there was an organized group of opponents who would be going around stealing our signs. Ours was on stolen on Saturday evening. We had been counseled to bring them in but when we went to bring ours in for the night, it was too late. We will be posting a new one and the kids think it is awesome to play find the Yes on 8 signs when we are out and about. I think it's wonderful that we have been able to be involved as a family and that my children understand that there are things we stand up for. They were terribly upset by our sign being stolen. It has been a struggle to help them understand that unfortunately, those who are against Prop 8 are trying to take away our right to freedom of speech.

Anyway, the vote is coming up on election day. I will post results as soon as we have them. Thanks for your support.

Long Weeks...

This week has seemed like it might not ever end. Seth is out of town on a camping trip and the kids have been particularly naughty. My children are mostly well-behaved but it's like something has possessed them this week and I can't seem to keep perspective enough to deal with the battles that seem to rage in our house. Thank goodness for school hours, at least they are getting to do something fun and they aren't with "mean ole Mom" all day. Benjamin has told me numerous times in the last few days that he "wants Daddy". I love that one. what does that mean? Am I really that bad? He has been particularly difficult to deal with so maybe it's because we all are out of sorts this week.

Onto something more entertaining and funny. I am 30 weeks into this pregnancy and now people are bold enough to assume that I am pregnant and not just overeating. People are always telling me how I can't possibly be as far along as I am but I know how I look without my clothes on and exactly how huge I'm going to get at the very end of my pregnancy. Well, Benjamin is always asking when our baby is coming and wonders how big my tummy will get. As I said and most women know from experience, you look much smaller with clothes on. Here is an account of Pico coming to this realization. I was just coming out of the shower when it became an emergency for Benjamin to use the bathroom right then, so in he comes as I'm drying off and he looks at me and exclaims "Mommy, your tummy is huge!" (just the words every woman wants to hear, right? but he's 3 so I try to keep that in perspective)
I reply, "Yes, honey, the baby is growing."
"Mom, you really need to work on getting that baby out."
"Benjamin, the baby is still too small to come out. He needs to get bigger so he can be healthy."
To which he replied, with eyes bugging out of his head, "Just how huge is your belly going to be?"
I then demonstrated the size of a possible belly and he exclaimed, "I'll never be able to hug you if you are that big."

It's fun having a little one in which pregnancy is new for them. I always like to hear what they are thinking since small children don't know how to filter their thoughts.
This is the first picture Noah has taken for me with our digital camera, thus it is a little sideways.

To have a dog, or not have a dog....

That is the question around here lately. My husband has always wanted to have a dog and we have been putting it off for a very long time. Well, with the shed built, why not take on a much longer lasting project? Seth began one night to insinuate that now would be the perfect time to get a puppy so that she would be trained before the baby arrived. I made the mistake of saying now or much later. So after scouring the internet for the best family friendly breeds, speaking with dog owners, and general just puppy browsing. We decided we'd go visit a couple of litters. At this point, I realize the battle is over. If I meet a puppy I like all rational thought will go out the window. And sure enough on Friday afternoon, we went to just "checkout" a litter and ended up driving home with our new puppy, Hannah.



Hannah is a Labrador Retriever. She is adorable, playful and SO loving. She is 8 weeks, 2 days old and very smart. After having her for 1.5 days, she recognizes her name and will respond when called. Potty training is pretty well under control. We are trying to teach her to go in one spot of the yard so that might take quite some time. Wish us luck on this new adventure. I think it will be great for our kids, lots of work for me but hopefully also very rewarding.

Oldfield happenings

We finally got Daddy on a camping trip with us. I have been camping a couple of times on my own with all three boys because of Seth's work schedule. So it was miraculous that his work accommodated and he was able to join us for the 4 day adventure. It was wonderful weather, much cooler than down in the valley of Sacramento. It was a nice respite from our sky high temperatures. the kids had a great time exploring, hiking, playing in the creek and reservoir.
We returned home on Sunday late afternoon and I quickly fell very ill with a fever, chills, coughing, congestion, achy body, and other lovely symptoms. I felt so bad for Seth, he had to unpack and clean up everything by himself but he did it without giving me a guilt trip and kept the kids entertained so that i could rest. He is wonderful.

The other thing my husband has been doing is building a shed in our backyard. It is huge and very much needed. I'm so glad he is so handy and motivated. All that we have left to do at this point it to put the shingles on the roof, and do the final painting. We primed the whole shed this week. I can't wait to have some storage space.

I'll post some pictures of the process and finished pictures soon.

I NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Most informed citizens know about the issues being debated in California right now and some even realize the repercussions they will have across the nation. Right now, we as Californians are trying to pass a constitutional amendment that states that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. While some people believe this is purely something for the state of CA to deal with, it will ripple out and effect everyone. We need the support of out-of-staters, neighbors, friends, and anyone who believes that this is a huge moral battle that we must win. I am a volunteer in the coalition and in charge of donations. I am asking for your help to meet our goals and ultimately ensure this amendment passes.
The opposition on Proposition 8 will undoubtedly out spend us, they have huge corporations backing their campaign. McDonalds, Dreamworks, Ford, and many others are all contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in order for us to fail. we must answer back and not go out without a fight. To see who is opposing this very important moral issue, check out this website: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-moneymap,0,5374284.htmlstory
A huge coalition has been formed with many organizations to get word out about Proposition 8, which will appear on the November 2008 Presidential ballot. Many non-profit organizations, churches, family & community companies have joined their efforts. And the Saints in CA have joined in this cause to mobilize and canvas neighborhoods to get the info out and ensure our neighbors that they are not alone and that we must stand as one. We have been a silent majority and it is time our voice is heard. In order to have a chance to pass this proposition we will need the funds to make commercials, lawn signs, radio ads, and billboards.
In a letter to the Saints, from the First Presidency, read in June during sacrament meetings across the state, the brethen called us: "We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage". Will we answer that call? Will we give all that we can? I implore you to make this a matter of prayer in your homes and ask your Father in Heaven to know what sacrifices your family can make in order to help this cause.

Some of the major consequences of this amendment failing are:

1. Children in public schools will be taught that both traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are okay.

The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage. (§51890)

Therefore, if the definition of marriage is changed, children will be taught that marriage is a relation between any two adults. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.

2. Churches will be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings that are open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston has already closed its doors because of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools and which provide housing for married students will be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if it runs counter to church doctrine, or lose tax exemptions and benefits.

5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages will be sued for hate speech and could be fined by the government. It has already happened in Canada, one of six countries that have legalized gay marriage.

6. It will cost you money. A change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits. States that do not allow same sex marriage will be required to recognize the marriages that are performed in California, thus leading to some very expensive lawsuits that the taxpayers will be funding. Even if courts eventually find in favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today’s activist judges), think of the money – your money, your church contributions – that will have to be spent on legal fees.

7. This opens a door for anyone to be married. How do we tell polygamists that it is illegal to marry if they are consenting parties? What about victims of incest? Or any other kind of marriage that is not traditional? Once this line is redrawn, it will just have to keep moving.

I know his has been a lot of information. Thank you for taking the time to read through it and thank you for looking within and finding how much you can do. I know times are hard for everyone, expenses are up and incomes aren't rising to meet those expenses of families however there are ways to donate to the cause. Hold a garage sale and send the proceedings in, claim exempt on a paycheck and send the extra in for support, sacrifice eating out this month and put that money aside for the cause. Dig deep, find out what you can do. Everything makes a difference. We have been asking ourselves, if our donation is the difference of Proposition 8 passing or failing, how much could we do? I know the Lord will bless us in our efforts and I have a testimony that this is the first of major battles in our time. I'll leave you with this.

Finding his liberty threatened, a great man once sought to rally the people to his cause, creating the Title of Liberty. It read, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children”.

Today we find our liberty threatened again. Not by an attempt to overthrow our government, but by an equally disturbing attempt to overthrow the institution our country was founded on – the family.

Our land needs more men like that general of old who prayed mightily and then cried to his people, “Whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them."

In response, the people of the land came RUNNING - ready to defend their freedom. Undoubtedly, this was not easy for them. Many members of the church had even been deceived by the flattering words of their opponents. Like us, they had friends and neighbors who did not agree with them. Like us, it was neither easy nor convenient for them to put their lives aside to fight for a cause; but history has proved them wise in their decision, and victorious in their efforts.

A similar choice faces us now, in this moment. Covenants are being broken in our land which we have been warned will bring upon us and our neighbors heartbreaking calamities. It is in our power to stop it.

Let history judge us kindly and let our children be able to proclaim that when our liberty was threatened, we likewise came RUNNING……………

Volunteer TODAY at http://www.protectmarriage.com/ or e-mail oldfield.protectmarriage@gmail.com for more information on how you can make a difference.

To make a monetary donation, please visit http://www.protectmarriage.com/ and please pass the word on to friends and family.

First day of school

Today Noah started Kindergarten at the best school ever. We were so lucky to get him into the charter school we wanted and I know he's going to have a great time there. They do tons of activities and productions so there will be plenty of pictures posted in the coming year. Here is the first of the school year.



Jacob started preschool today and had a blast planting sunflowers and meeting new friends. He was so excited this morning that he was refusing to eat because he was so anxious to get to school. We finally convinced him there was time to eat before he needed to head to school.



And poor Benjamin (Pico) felt so left out as everyone one else went to school today. This is the first time he has been alone and it's going to be harder than I first anticipated. He insisted on having a first day of school picture taken of him as well. And last night when Daddy was giving Noah and Jacob father's blessings, he needed one as well and did a great job being reverent and listening to the blessing. I can't believe how grown up they are getting.

No sleep, reading until the Breaking Dawn!

I am a total Twilight saga fan and I was one of the crazy Twilighters at the Barnes and Noble wedding night book release party. I don't have the pictures yet but I'll get them posted as soon as I retreive them from my friend's camera. We all dressed up and had dinner out, then headed over to Barnes & Noble for the party. We took wedding pictures with Edward & Jacob, made potpourri sachets, learned the Thriller dance, and then worked on a 25-ft long crossword puzzle.
Now that I've finished the book, I'm glad I waited in line to get my copy. I think all Twilight fans will be extremely satisfied with this final installment of the saga and I'm glad I was here to enjoy the wonderful story told by Mrs. Stephenie Meyer.

The Verdict is In!

Well, we had our first ultrasound yesterday and saw our baby. The doctor had a difficult time getting a good view of the baby's genitals until i rolled over and then it was clear, BOY #4 is on the way. Seth and I are going to start our very own basketball team. Now we'll have to spend the next few month's coming up with boy names we like. The last two have been very difficult for us, so wish us luck.

Memories

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Anticipation

an·tic·i·pa·tion [an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn]
1. realization in advance; foretaste.
2. expectation or hope.
3. previous notion; slight previous impression.
4. intuition, foreknowledge, or prescience.
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It is my personal belief that anticipation is a wonderful and kind of tricky thing. I have been anxiously awaiting my ultrasound date to find out whether I'm having a boy or girl. At this week's appointment, my doctor told me we were going to wait another 4 weeks. Well, I just can't take waiting that much longer when I know full well that they can tell for certain right now. So I've made an appointment for this Saturday, but now that is seeming forever away. Why couldn't I be going right now? The things we must do to accommodate work schedules. Anyway, now I am anticipating for Saturday in a most agonizing way. If only I could know today.

Whew! What a month!

I know it has been forever since I updated our blog but I have been gone virtually all month long. In the past month, I have spent more nights in a tent than in my home.

Seth and I drove to Oregon for Shane's wedding on June 11th and we had a great time. NO kids! It was a great break and only possibly because of my Mom's willingness to give up her vacation time to come watch our boys. I was home for one week and then it was up the coast with my boys for a week long camping trip in Fort Bragg. We had a great time. It was a wee bit stressful but mostly fun. I'll post pictures soon. I'm so far behind on downloading my photos. Home one more week but running around crazy mad to get everything ready for my week with my Young Women at Girls Camp. Off to camp I went and had an amazing time preparing my devotionals and learning the lessons that are so important for young women to learn. It was super hot and everyone was really dirty. I met some wonderful girls and women and made relationships that will last forever. I have a huge testimony of the Girls Camp, not to mention, the Young Women program. I remember the wonderful times as a youth I had and I hope that my YW had the same kind of experiences that I remember having. Pictures to come soon.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to a much more relaxed schedule this coming month, we are basically getting ready for school which starts on August 13th.

Reprimanded!

I have been reprimanded and rightfully so, I have totally been falling down on the blog updating. Sorry to all of you who regularly check in. I have been incredibly busy and it's not going to slow down until mid-July.after I return from Girls Camp. Basically, I have been in and out of town every other week since the middle of May. It's been lots of fun but difficult to stay up with routine things. And at the end of May, my brand new computer crashed and I was without a computer for a while. Everything is back up and running and now we are gearing up for the Mom and boys campout this week at the ocean. I take the boys to Fort Bragg, poor Seth can't ever go with us since it's during the busiest time of the year for him at work. We go with several families from the ward and have a total blast. It's so hot here so it will be a nice reprieve to get to the ocean and into much cooler weather.
On the pregnancy front, I have been more nauseated than ever before. I've had heartburn for the first time and things feel so different. I'm hoping to chalk that up to having a little girl but I'm totally aware that it could just be the fact that it's a new pregnancy and things can change however they want every single time.

What to expect when you're expecting

We are ecstatic to announce the expectant arrival of our 4th little one. Due this December. We have some names picked out but we can't wait to find out the gender before we post those for opinion. My 3 boys are very excited and can't wait for the baby to arrive. They take a daily checkup of baby status to find out if the baby is out yet. It's very cute.