And her name is...

Cassandra Denise! We will probably just called her Cassie, though. We're home from the hospital after a short 1 day stay. Everything went well, and I experienced basically no pain through it all. I'm feeling pretty much normal today except for some of the minor pains from nursing. Cassie is really cute. She was a great nurser at first, then she hit the newborn "sleepy stage" when you can barely wake them up. I expect that she will be more alert in the next day or so. All the kids love her, Kara is a little rough and really wants to hold her. I think Spencer is a little scared of hurting her because he hasn't dared hold her yet. All in all, we are doing okay. The kids are extra cranky from staying up for the fireworks and our schedule changing a little bit, but they will hopefully adjust soon now that mom is back home. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We will post more pictures soon!

Baby girl arrives! July 5th 5pm

7lb 12 oz

21 inches

at July 5th 5pm

Michelle is doing great,probably come home at lunch tomorrow, name is still in the works.

Baby coming Soon

I just wanted all of you to know that I am scheduled to be induced on Monday, July 5. Everything is going well with me and baby, so hopefully the next post will be of our baby girl. Stay tuned...

Good Times

Princess Lindsey is again crashed on the couch asleep while her little sister is happily vacuuming (and absolutely does NOT want help!)

Here I am earlier this week. I have two weeks to go. I am feeling the best I have ever felt this late in pregnancy- I am carrying this little girl so high, that I am mostly just having to deal with having a giant belly, not really aches and pains. I haven't even been having a lot of false labor, which is usually what happens. So, I am totally mistified about when this baby will decide to come, or if I will be induced in a week or so. I will find out more on Wednesday at my doctor appointment (hopefully we will set a date to induce then...)

Father's day was fun this year. The kids made lots of things for Larry. Miranda made him a button to wear on this suitcoat that said something like, "#1 dad and an book featuring about 25 animals that she colored during the week. He got lots of other cards, coupons for helping, and a couple new shirts and a tie from me. Also, a yummy breakfast in bed. Larry is an awesome father, so he deserves every bit of praise!

Here is another picture of Lindsey at the Starlight parade. I just love this picture! She is so happy!

Fun Stuff

Lindsey falls asleep in the weirdest places sometimes. Then she sleeps so deeply, that she doesn't even notice when Penny takes a nap on her face. For the Starlight parade this year, they went for a swimming theme. This was Lindsey's first year running in it and she LOVED all the attention she got! She got her face painted as a cat right before the run and wore the goggles the whole time. During the run she would give high 5's to everyone. Then, we she noticed someone she missed, she would go back, weave through the crowd, and give them a high 5.

Lindsey "graduated" from her preschool and we had a little party at our house. Lindsey really sang out those ABC's

Larry's work has been awesome lately in giving away free tickets to families. They had an OMSI night where only Intel employees were invited. It was a lot of fun. We also got to see Shrek in 3D for free with concessions included. On Saturday, we get to go to a free Portland Beavers baseball game as well.

My cheap-o-ness

Alright, so I just have to reveal in my love of everything cheap and money-saving and recommend a couple books that were right up my alley. The first one is called 'Family Feasts for $75 a week' by Mary Ostyn. She is a mom of 10 that shares her tips on how they do it all. I LOVED her nitty-gritty money saving tips. They were different from what I usually read in articles about how to save money at the grocery store- like how to know which cut of chicken gives the most meat for the money and stuff like that. She really goes into tons of details about how she does it. It is full of recipes, too.
The second book isn't about saving money, but is really good read. It's called, 'The Read-Aloud Handbook' by Jim Trelease. Basically, it's about how completely important it is to read with your children. It touches on all kinds of studies and practical advice. It was really entertaining, too.
Okay, my conquest of the day was my awesome bazzar sale that I found today at a local church. I rarely look at garage sales, but stopped by this one and got a whole brown paper grocery sack stuffed with clothes for the girls for $3! I got Miranda 4-5 shorts/capris, a few things for Lindsey, some outfits for Kara, and a ton of baby clothes for the new baby! Yay! I think all the kids are set for the summer!
I love being cheap- maybe this is the high some people get from shopping at a normal store...

May so far...

Larry took the kids fishing on a free fishing day. They went with a bunch of other families from the Elder's Quorum. Spencer, Miranda, and Derek each caught a fish. They had fun- even though Derek fell into the pond. Here are my goodies from Mother's Day.

After bugging me for about 3 weeks, Miranda and I made cupcakes for FHE. Here is Kara scarfing down hers.

This past weekend my parents came into town. We did so much! Probably too much because Larry sprained his ankle and I did something to my foot, so we are both hobbling around. We went to baseball, student conferences at the school, the beach, the park, farmer's market, Jackson Bottom wetlands (where Derek, Spencer, and I sank up to our ankles in mud), fixed our back fence, shoppedng at the mall, and had a big dinner with Larry and Lori. Wow- all in 2 1/2 days, no wonder Larry and I were exhausted!