We're a Happy Family!

We had such a great time over Christmas break! 

We got to Lyman late on December 19th so we could see my sister that weekend. We were even able to go to the temple, YAY! We spent Christmas there in Lyman with my family.

Matching on Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas

A little present

Our family on Christmas night

We got to Laramie the evening of the 26th and were able to see all of Matt's family there before we came back home on the 31st.

The parents with their two remaining children :)

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids

Matthew family

Kyle family

Lane family

Nathan family (they borrowed Dean since they don't have kids yet, hee hee)

Seth sleeping on Grandma's couch

Our 8th anniversary was on the 30th so we went to dinner with all the married siblings a few nights before and then just the two of us went out for ice cream on the 30th. On the way home from our date this song (Shotgun Rider by Tim McGraw) came on and Matt actually told me it was how he felt about me and he never pays attention to song lyrics (and dislikes country) so it meant a lot for him to say that. :)

Roll, won’t you come roll with me slow, fast, full speed
Girl wherever sweet time takes us
Hang, with me down this old road
Only God knows where we’ll go
Don’t matter long as I’ve got your love

[Chorus]
I don’t ever want to wake up,
Lookin’ into someone else’s eyes
Another Voice calling me baby
On the other end of the phone
A new girl puttin’ on her makeup
Before dinner on Friday night
No I don’t ever wanna know, Oh O
No other shotgun rider, beside me, singin’ to the radio, Woohoo Oh O

Slide, slide over nice and close
Lay your head down on my shoulder
You can fall asleep I’ll let you
Dream, life aint nothing but a dream, don’t wanna be 
Cruisin’ through this dream without you

[Chorus]
I don’t ever want to wake up,
Lookin’ into someone else’s eyes
Another Voice calling me baby
On the other end of the phone
A new girl puttin’ on her makeup
Before dinner on Friday night
No I don’t ever wanna know, Oh O
No other shotgun rider, beside me, singin’ to the radio, Woohoo Oh O
No other shotgun rider, Oh O

We had a very mild but fun new years eve together just the 5 of us. We taught Brennen tripoley (he won) and after they were in bed we watched a movie. We did stay up until midnight but we had been staying up at least that late the whole trip so needless to say we were a bit sleep deprived and literally spent the rest of the break taking turns letting each other sleep. :)

My Seth is now 2 1/2 months old! He's been sick so much since he's been born and it makes it hard for him to sleep and be happy but the past week or so he has obviously felt better and has been SO happy when he's awake and has slept much better. He "talks" constantly and grins and giggles. Here are his 2 month stats and a couple of pictures. 
Weight: 11 lb 5 oz (18%)
Height: 22 3/4 inches (25%)
Head: 39 1/2 cm (52%)

2 months!

The other night at 11 weeks old at 11:00 PM happy as can be when he should have been sleeping!

My Little Seth

It's way past time for an update but life is busy with three little ones!

My Seth is 7 weeks old today! Crazy... here are a couple pictures of him at one month old.

And then at 7 weeks old. He's gotten so much bigger in just a few weeks! He's got quite a bit of pudge on his little cheeks and he's starting to smile! I'm bummed that all the pictures are blurry but that's what you get with a wiggly little boy!

His older brothers just adore him and are always asking, "Can I see the baby?"

Matt blessed him in church last Sunday and we were so blessed to have so much of our family come to support us! It was a wonderful, spiritual day.

He is starting to be more awake and smile and laugh a little. I catch him just looking at his hands a lot and he's starting to be amused with toys (he can't hold them yet, though). He likes to be awake a lot at night and must be held 90% of the time unless we want him to scream. But we love him so much and are so happy he's in our family!

Yesterday, a boy I grew up with passed away. He lived just a few houses away and I went to church and school with him. I have a lot of good memories of him, especially band and choir trips in high school. He was only 30 years old, one grade ahead of me, and had been in a motorcycle accident. He was a wonderful, fun, and funny person who brought a lot of joy to everyone he met. It's hard to believe that he was taken from this earth so young. 

His name was also Seth. I didn't name my baby after him, we weren't close enough friends for something like that but his name is where I got the idea to name my little guy the same. I've been thinking a lot about life and death and the plan of our Heavenly Father and how my little Seth entered the world shortly before another Seth left it. He will not replace Seth Potter but I hope that my little boy will grow up to be that great of a man someday!

Seth

On last Tuesday the 28th I went to the doctor for what turned out to be my last check-up. He stripped my membranes while I was there (without asking or telling me!) and then scheduled me for an induction at 5:00 AM mostly because he was worried about me driving to Gillette. He planned to break my water and then wait at least 2 hours before giving pitocin.

Turns out we didn't need either! I started having regular contractions at about 10:30 PM, right when I was going to bed. I stayed in bed and timed them and realized there were two that were 7 minutes apart and getting stronger. I was going to wait for a couple more but felt a strong prompting saying "Go, now!" So I woke Matt up and we were out the door by about 1:10 AM on the 29th.

In the car my contractions were between 2 and 4 minutes apart! Matt was timing them better than me and said he was getting worried we wouldn't make it, ha ha!

We got to the hospital and quickly checked in and got to the delivery room by 2:45. I was already at a 10 and we just had to wait for the doctor to get there. As soon as he did he broke my water and at 3:22 AM we welcomed our Seth Randal Clark into the world! He was 6lb 8oz, 19" long.

I did this one natural like I did with Brennen (I really had no choice this time anyway!) and it was SO much better for two reasons. The first being that I didn't have pitocin. The contractions never got to that level of intensity. Yes, it was still labor, ha! But it just never got as bad. The other reason is that this time I actually focused on breathing and having a focal point. That helped more than I can say! In the car it was random road signs in the distance and in the hospital it was a random green bag hanging on the wall, ha ha! Matt also pushed hard on my back during contractions (I tried to do it myself in the car) and that really helped. He was born face up which made it more complicated so the pushing took a half hour where with Dean I only pushed through two contractions.

The funniest part is that my sweet husband passed out! Yes, he did. He is NOT squeamish and has seen two other babies born so we blame it on not enough food or sleep. I was pushing and then realized Matt was on the floor surrounded by nurses. He made it to the chair but they had him lay on the floor to get blood back into his head. He came back to me quickly but it was kind of funny. :)

I felt guided by Heavenly Father and afterward kept wanting to cry because I was SO thankful for how it all worked out. It was just perfect and all the things I worried and prayed about were taken care of.

We are doing well so far! Seth is a good baby and already sleeps great, only waking twice in the night and is mostly content during the day. He's a good little eater, too. His brothers love him and are so sweet, especially Dean. He says, "Aw! Look at the little brother!" and shares his his favorite blanket.

I love my family and already can't imagine life without our newest little boy!

Trickster

After months of doctors telling me to take it easy, that I was at somewhat of a risk to have a premature baby, I'm sitting here at more than 39 weeks with no baby yet! I think I'd be more patient if I would have had the expectation that he'd be full term!

He's tricked me a few times, my sister in law says he's teasing me. I guess so! So many contractions for nothing! I'm actually feeling pretty good still but my burst of energy I had a few weeks ago is GONE. I am so tired all the time! Almost 2 weeks ago I had an ultrasound and he was measuring about 6 lbs 11 oz then! He's probably at least a pound heavier now. I'd say he's ready to greet the world.

We don't really have any name ideas. Nearly all that were on our list have been crossed off. I hope inspiration hits us after he's born!

Now I'm betting that he'll come on November 4th, which is about a week and a half away. Which would be nice in a way because the boys are really excited for Halloween festivities and I don't want them to miss them.

It's really all that's on my mind lately and it's driving me crazy! I try to do things to distract me but it's hard. I'm so ready to have the baby yet scared of labor and nervous about having to drive more than an hour to have him. Matt was gone last Saturday to Gillette for stake conference stuff and he's gone again today, too, helping people load wood in Custer. It really makes the Saturdays drag when he's not here.

I've been feeling a little lonely lately. All of my family except me has been getting together a lot but we're too far away for anyone to come visit. And I miss being able to see Matt's family all the time. I love being home with the boys but I literally have nothing else to do! I'm not involved in anything and my musical talents are just NOT needed here, everything is already taken care of and when I volunteered to help with things I'm turned down.

But I know I'll be plenty busy with a new baby soon and that at least a few people will come visit us to see him. :)

Last Saturday I took the boys out and we did some light hiking. Mostly they just pretended to chop down trees with sticks.

Brennen is pretending to be a mountain lion.

My pregnant shadow. ha!

Almost There!

Baby Approaching! So when I went to the doc a week ago I was 3cm and 60-70% effaced. Baby's heart rate was mature for his age and doc said that he should be totally fine if he were born now. He said he wouldn't be surprised if baby comes this week or waits until my due date (which is still 24 days away). But I've been feeling really great this past week. Swelling has dramatically gone down and I have a TON of energy. Contractions have also slowed. Matt says I can have baby in 10 days, that would put me at 38 weeks.

Nesting. Man I over did it this morning. I did dishes, swept and mopped all the floors, vacuumed all the floors (and along the edges), scooched our bed over to make room for the bassinet, set up the bassinet, washed all the baby blankets, crawled into the "dungeon" (our storage crawl space off the garage) to dig out the car seat, diaper bag, and a few other odds and ends, re-adjusted the straps on the car seat, stocked up my diaper bag, and sorted out grown clothes into correct boxes. All between 8:30-11:00. Now I am shaking and light headed but the 2 granola bars I just ate are starting to take effect. This afternoon I plan to start making a very easy blanket for him.

Matt. He has been SO sweet to me the past several weeks. He makes sure that I take it easy in the evenings and has been doing a ton around the house. He does most of the grunt work in taking care of the boys including cleaning up accidents, giving them baths, and getting them ready for bed. After the boys are in bed he sets me up on the couch with a TV show and brings me snacks. :) I know he is stressed at work and is worried about not having sub plans ready for when I go to have the baby but he does SO much for us. He shows his love for me and the boys in countless ways and my heart is just so full when I think about him. I love him much more now than I did almost 8 years ago when we got married and I definitely loved him then! He's just such a great man and I am SO blessed that he is my husband and that I can be with him forever. I can't help but occasionally brag about him. 

• Happy! I am just happy lately! It's still hard being away from Laramie. Matt's mom and brother Brad came to visit this weekend and it was so good to see them! The boys absolutely loved having them here and were quite sad when they left and wanted to go with them. I'll admit that I wanted to go with them, too. :) But all that being said, I feel like we've unpacked our bags here and are happy. The ward is wonderful and we're getting used to the community. We were watching general conference yesterday morning and I was emotional just thinking about how happy I am with my little family and my faith.