Christmas

Christmas Eve Eve- Ice Skating with the boys.  Doug was the lucky one who got to skate with the boys while Lila and I giggled from the bleachers.  Ollie was pretty good at staying up, but Ladd was determined to go fast and looked like the roadrunner as his feet went super fast and he moved no where.

Aren't these walker things awesome?!  They could just hang from them whenever they got tired.

Christmas Eve- Dinner with friends.  This was our first Christmas since we've been married that we haven't spent in Utah with family.  We feel very blessed to have amazing friends here that have become our Minnesota Family.  We had a delicious dinner, nativity re-enactment, and finished off with singing.  Perfect evening!

Ollie made the most darling Joseph.  He was especially happy to have a staff aka sword.

All the kids.  Notice Dave on the right trying to keep Ollie from hitting the kids.

Two seconds later look who's taking a beating.

Joseph not so meek and mild

 Joseph leading Mary to Bethlehem.

 Joseph taking his part very seriously as he held baby Jesus (Lila was a little grumpy this night so this cute little understudy took the part)

Seriously what a cute little family.

Ladd was thrilled to be a shepherd and repeated his lines like a pro.

Opening Christmas Jammie on Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning- Santa brought them a dragon tower.  They also got a pirate ship, Guess Who, Alvinizer karaoke (which was swiftly returned when we realized their was no volume adjustment- just extra loud), snow cone machine, more games, lots of super hero figures, costumes, etc.

Lila slept through the morning but she looked like she enjoyed it.

Grandma Lene

There is nothing quite like having a newborn at home.  On the one hand it is so fun to watch the kids bond with the new baby and those late night feedings don't seem so bad because it's another chance to hold that brand new being.  First baths and all those sleepy smiles.
On the other hand it is super hard with two other toddlers demanding attention and having so many needs to meet, adjusting to the breastfeeding lifestyle, trying to keep everyone fed and the house clean, dealing with all the postpartum pain and discomfort. I don't know how I would do it without my mom.  I LOVE the time I get to spend with her right after I have a baby.  It's almost reason enough to keep having babies... Almost.  The boys had so much fun playing with grandma and I was so relieved to have someone to share the responsibilities with.  Actually, Doug was around quite a bit too and the three of us could barely keep everyone fed, bathed and happy.  We miss you Grandma Lene!!!!

A baby story- Lila Arlene Timothy

Just minutes after being born

Born on 12/11/11 at 10:08 am  

6lbs 9oz 20inches 

We have been so excited for our little Lila to be born, but we were a little unsure when she would arrive.  Ladd was 10 days early (scheduled induction) and Ollie 16 days early.  My due date was set as December 23 and the ultrasound date as December 25th.  My mom had bought her plane ticket for December 13th to come out and help so I was hoping and praying to have this baby right around that date.  

During my doctor visit 3 days before Lila was born I was only dilated to a 1 so I was nervous I wasn't going to go into labor anytime soon.  As soon as I got home I had Doug pump up my exercise ball and I took every opportunity to carry my boys up and down the stairs .  Saturday I had fully made up my mind that I was going to have this baby by the next day so I bounced and sat on my exercise ball all day.  That afternoon I told Doug I was going to take a nap because I wanted to be well-rested when I had the baby.  He looked at me like I was a little crazy.

I wasn't having very strong contractions that night, but I was having them every 10-15 minutes (not totally irregular for me).  When we went to bed that night I told Doug I was having this baby that night or tomorrow so be prepared.  He laughed.  Not sure if it was my determination, intuition, the bouncing, or all the praying, but around 2am my water broke. I whispered to Doug to put Ollie back in bed (our bed stowaway)  because we were going to have a baby. Luckily Doug had learned from past experience that my water breaking doesn't mean we our having a baby that very instant (he was a little crazy when I woke him up in similar fashion when I had Ollie).  We slowly got ready to go to the hospital so we could put off calling our neighbor as long as possible and if by some small chance the baby came fast Doug was convinced he could deliver her- he's seen it done twice before:) Around 5:00am our wonderful neighbor Janessa came over to watch the boys and we headed to the hospital.  

On our way out the door.

Once we were there it took them awhile to actually admit us and talk with the doctor about what the plan would be since I wasn't actually in active labor.  Around 7am the  nurse told us the doctor wanted to get things started and that he was pretty aggressive with pitocin so we could expect a baby around 10am. I was a little skeptical when at 8am I asked for an epidural and I was still only dilated to a 1. I was hoping the epidural would work as well as it did with Ollie so I could get a nap, but no such luck.  During the rest of labor I had a LOT of pain on my right side, but still so grateful I had no pain on my left. Around 9am I was dilated to a 4 and the next check at 9:30 the nurse said I was ready to push. She quickly called the doctor to make sure he was on his way.  She said he would be there at about 10 and to try not to push until then.  So for the next half hour the nurse attempted to distract me and the doctor came in at 10 and Lila was born at 10:08am. She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck which the doctor quickly cut off and she started breathing soon after.  She was perfect!!  

After a bath and a newly gifted Santa hat

Meeting her brothers

The boys meeting her for the first time.  They loved her immediately and were enthralled with how soft her hair was. .

Lila and her tired mamma

First family picture

 Day 2 

 Lila and her tired daddy

  

Lila and her adoring brothers

Going home

Utah Summer

We planned an 8 day vacation to Utah at the end of July. We convinced ourselves that it was a good idea to drive the 20+ hours.  This is the only part of that drive that went as planned.
We saw tons of windmills in South Dakota.

When we reached Rapid City, SD around midnight we thought about spending the night there, but the boys were finally sleeping so peacefully we thought we would take advantage and drive through the night. 2.5 hours later in the middle of Nowhere, SD we hit a deer.  We didn't know what to do so we tried to keep driving, but our van had other plans.  So at 2:30am we were on the shoulder of the road trying to figure out why it was so hard to find roadside assistance.  Around 4am a tow truck showed up.  It was a huge blessing that he happened to have an extended cab tow truck- Doug wasn't too excited to hitchhike 134 miles to Casper, WY.


We left our van in Casper and drove a rental the rest of the 6.5 hours to Utah.



















We then spent the next week at two wonderful family reunions.

Racker Reunion in Eden, UT
Activities: Tennis, swimming, ping pong tournament, biking, eating, shuffle board,  poker nights, hot tubbing, and eating.

Timothy Reunion in Bear Lake, UT
Activities: Tennis, swimming, 4-wheeling, skiing, eating, caving, biking, eating, dancing, and sand sculpting.

"Spiderman, spiderman...."