Days like today

I love my kids. I love my kids. I love my kids! Today was that kind of day, where I had to remind myself of this fact. Yes we asked for and prayed for the wonderful blessing of children. I am going to be very blunt... No body ever tells you how hard it is sometimes. I tried to clean today and that was a complete waste of time. I was in one room cleaning and the kids were in another making a mess. So I put them all in the room that I was cleaning and I just ended up being a referee and getting no cleaning done. Next we headed out back and while I was trying to do some yard work they decided to "make some mud". Needless to say I now have a whole load of laundry to do of mud covered clothes. So back indoors we went, where they proceeded to dump every toy out while I sat to feed the baby. After asking for them to clean up about a hundred times I gave up. Instead of completely loosing my cool I turned on the tv and walked away. Turning on the tv kept them distracted enough to stop the spread of ciaos. I had been counting down the seconds until Daddy got home until I sadly remembered that tonight is a school night and he wouldn't be home until well after bed time. I am very luck that I have a caring husband that understands when I call him and tell him I need him to ditch school tonight :) So to be honest sometimes I really don't like my kids (be truthful you don't always like yours either). There are some days that I wish I could just stay in bed, have a clean house, eat ice cream while watching tv with out kids asking if they can have some, or go out with out having to get 5 other people ready to go. I love them no matter what and although I have a bad day here or there I wouldn't change my life for anything. (while I was writing this #3 and #4 were cracking eggs in the back yard) KIDS! Malayna, Bobby, CJ, Eva, and Lindy you guys wear me out but I love you!!

I hear a "click"

Well Lindy had her 2 month well baby check up. She is growing like a weed. Height:10 lbs 11 oz Weight:22.25 inches . I thought all was going to be just perfect, and it was until the physical exam. While the doctor was rotating her hips she said she could hear or feel a "click". So she suggested we go to get an ultrasound on her hips. A few days later we found ourselves on the way to see pediatric orthopedist. She was diagnosed with acetabular dysplasia. It was a bit of a shock because she really didn't look like anything was wrong with her. She will have to wear a pavlik harness for 3 months, and will need physical therapy. The doctor said it is probably from the way she was positioned in the womb. She was to big for my body and that left her with very little room to stretch and and kick to form her hip sockets properly. But all will be well in due time. The harness has made diaper changes, dressing, and swaddling very difficult. I was very sad that she could not wear all the cute rompers and dresses that I had saved from the other girls(I have since figured that part out). She is still young enough that she likes to be swaddled to sleep. I am sad that she cant wear all the cute baby shoes that I saved for her. But to look on the bright side; it was caught early, she wont need surgery and she will never remember any of this.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to our sweet little Bobby! He turned 7! We are so glad he is in our family. The past 7 years have flown by. We remember finding out on our 2nd wedding anniversary that our second little baby was on the way. He has brought so much laughter, joy, tears, frustration, destruction, and most of all LOVE to our family.

Lindy's Blessing day.

Yes I know this happened a while ago but I am still trying to figure out life with 5 kids. I don't often get time to just sit and write. Lindy's blessing day was wonderful. Tata and Nana made it all the way from Vegas. Uncle Zach even joined us at church for the special day. She wore the same beautiful white dress that her big sisters, Nay and Eva wore. Colt gave her such a wonderful blessing. We pray that she will be true to herself and the Lord, that she will always remember that we love her and that she a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves her.

Together Again!!

About 2 1/2 weeks after my c-section things worked out and fell into place for my oldest three kids could go for a two week vacation to see Grandpa and Grandma and Tata and Nana. This was a huge help with my recovery. A big thank you to Colt's cousin Kenyon and his wife Megan who braved a 12 hour drive with 3 kids.

While Nay, Bob, and CJ were gone I got to spend some time with my little Eva. I learned so much about her. She really loved being the "oldest" at home for a while. She was such a good little helper with Lindy. She only mentioned the other kids once or twice, which was a surprise to me. I thought she would be really sad that they were gone, but she was just fine. I think she really enjoyed only having to share my attention with a baby that sleeps all day. I love her so much!

Nay, Bob, and CJ had a blast! First they spent some time with Grandpa and Grandma Stevens. When they would call us to talk they would tell us about all the fun places Grandma was taking them. They got to swim, go to the park, hang out with Aunt Sheron, and go to a warehouse full of bounce houses. They had so much fun! After they were done at Grandpa and Grandma's house they took a two hour drive and made to Las Vegas to spend some time with Tata and Nana. Once they got there they made another quick trip with Tata and Nana to CA to see some more family and spend some fun time at the beach!(I was jealous of the beach) They didn't really want to talk to us while they were with Nana and Tata because they always said they were to busy having fun. 

I am so glad that they got to go. I was able to get some rest and quite time with Eva and Lindy. They got to have fun and see family. I am glad that they didn't have to be stuck here with me on the couch. I feeling a lot better and I feel like I am ready to be a mom of five now. Not ready to be mom and housekeeper yet but that is ok, the house can be dirty for a while. I would rather spend time playing and loving on my babies than wasting what little energy and strength I have on cleaning. I will be my hundred percent self soon enough. I am so happy that we are all together again!

First outing as a family! We went to the flea market!

A Grand Entrance

 My last post was about how I was dealing with, what seemed like a forever wait for the birth of our little girl. Well she came! It was nothing like the beautiful peaceful birth I had planed and dreamed about in my mind. I can honestly say that it was a very good thing that I had decided to just let God handle the rest of my pregnancy and delivery. The day started like any other day, Colt off to work, taking kids to music and dance class. After class was over we went and ran a few errands in town. I took the kids to the mall then to the park and we just had a fun day. We decided to go out to dinner as a family. While we were at dinner our little Eva peed her pants. I walked her out to the car to get a new change of clothes(simple right). Well I stepped off the curb and into a pot hole! And SPLAT landed right on my huge belly. The only one around was my 2 year old Eva. As I laid there crying on the parking lot floor wishing that someone would come by to help me up, nobody came. I got my self up grabbed Eva's hand and hobbled inside. Colt saw me in tears holding my belly and freaked out. I told him what had happened and said I would just sit for a while and do some kick counts. He would have none of that, he hurried the kids to finish their dinner and rushed us off to the hospital. When we got there they hooked me up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor. Baby's heart rate was sounding good and I was having contractions every 4-7 minutes. After an hour or so a friend came to pick up our kids(thank goodness). Four kids in a small triage room was no fun. Nay stayed with us, she wanted to be there if the baby was born. The doctor ordered a BPP(Biophysical Profile) ultrasound. The tech watched the baby for about an hour and a half. He didn't tell us much about what he was looking for but we were okay and not worried. When he was done I was put back on the monitors for another hour or so. All of a sudden the nurse comes in with my doctor on the phone wanting to talk to me. Now I was worried. She started by saying the BPP results were not good and that the baby wasn't moving like they wanted her to. She also said that there looked like there might be a bleed on the baby's brain. Then she said she was on her way to perform an emergency c-section. I began to cry and heard nothing else she said after that. The nurse was explaining the same thing to Colt while I was on the phone with the doctor. Now all the nurses and doctors went into a mad dash of prep mode.Colt told everyone to stop what they were doing and leave the room. He knew just what I needed; He gave me a hug then  gave me a blessing. I felt instant peace, I was still scared and worried but felt peace. Everyone came back in and went back to work. I gave my Nay a hug and kiss and told her the nurses would take good care of her while mom and dad were in the operating room. After getting a spinal block and being laid on the table my sweet husband was once again by my side. I just starred at him to keep myself calm. In a few quick moments I heard the cry of our sweet baby girl. The doctors gave her a quick look over and said she looks just fine. They gave me a little peek at her before they rushed her off to the NICU for a better look at her and some more tests. I was soon in recovery. Colt and Nay came to see me before they left to take Nay home. I was in recovery for a few hours and all I wanted was to have my baby in my arms. I cried and cried wishing that I could just hold her. They finally rolled me to the NICU, Colt was there and I got to hold her. She had IV's and wires and cords and monitors on her, it was all so sad. They told us all the scans of her head were normal and that there was no bleed. We both were so relieved. 
It has now been 3 weeks and looking back there are still so many emotions. I am upset and sad that I had to have a c-section, but I am so happy that all was well with our little Lindy. I am having a very hard time with the recovery. It is very hard to "take it easy" when you are a mom of 5. Colt has been amazing! He has taken over all of my normal duties as well as work, and go to school. Our sweet little Lindy wanted to make sure that her grand entrance would be unforgettable, and we will never forget it! Selinda Marie entered this world on April 30th she weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 19 inches long. Another beautiful blessing from God.

A Bitter Sweet Wait

Have you ever had something that you were looking so forward to and knew that once you got it you would be so happy and a little sad at the same time? Well that is how I feel right now. We are still waiting for our baby girl to grace us with her presence. I never thought that I would still be pregnant at this point. I have gone through so many emotions with this pregnancy, not just the normal mood swings that everyone gets when they are having a baby. It took us in what our opinion seemed a while to get pregnant. We tried and tried for a year, while all of our friends around us shared their good news for expecting a baby. Yes we already had four beautiful little children, but when you KNOW that there should be another one it is kinda hard to deal with when it just doesn't happen. We never had to "try" before and this was a new feeling that needed to be worked through. After a little over a year we found out we were finally expecting. A few weeks into our pregnancy I started bleeding. I was placed on bed rest for the whole first trimester. That was another new experience for me. At that time I was so miserable, I went into depression. I had four kids at home that I home schooled and I felt like I was failing as mom and teacher. I had thoughts that scared me, like just thinking that I should just miscarry already and get it over with. If it weren't for an amazing visiting teacher I don't know what I wold have done, she brought meals, cleaned my house, and took care of my children. I love her more than she knows. Then into my second trimester things were fine, no more bed rest. The whole second trimester went by just like any other, full of energy and anticipation. The third trimester has been a little harder than I thought it would be. Not so much physically, as emotionally. We have had a few false alarms, where everyone gets very excited and then to be sent home with no hope of a time to come. I have been at 3cm and 70%+ effaced for more than a week and a half. So every day has been "today can be the day", and every night is "tonight could be the night".  After a few days of thinking and feeling like this, I started to feel like she was never going to come, and that God just wanted me to stay pregnant forever because he wasn't answering my prayers for her to come already. After a few very low feeling days, spent with me just crying in bed from the moment I woke up until I feel asleep at night. And really just having a poor me pity party, and thinking about everything that I wanted (like my mom to be here, for my husband to be home all day, for this baby to be here) I realized that everything I was sad about and wanted were out of my control (I am a big control freak). So when I came to the understanding that all the stress and sadness I was feeling came from me feeling like I had no control I was able to snap myself out of it. I immediately knelt down and spoke to my Father in Heaven. I first apologized for blaming Him for my feelings, then I told Him how I felt and what I wanted and that I knew it was not the same as what He wanted for me. I let it all go. I got up from that prayer with such a weight lifted off of me. I now feel ready to except however, whenever, and wherever this baby is to be born. It may not be just how I want it to be but it will be just the way it is supposed to be. I am now trying and I do mean trying to enjoy every last second that I get to be a mom to just four, and to enjoy every uncomfortable feeling that comes from being soooo pregnant. We know that this is the last time that we will ever go through being pregnant and expecting again. We are ready to begin our new stage in life. Like I said I can hardly wait for this baby to be here and when she is I know we will all be so happy. I will also be a little sad to know that she is going to be the last baby that we bring into this world. So as I go through my next few days or weeks (whatever she decides) I will be reflecting on this this bitter sweet wait.

A Child of God

It has now been one month since our oldest girl Nay got baptized. In that month we have watched her and carefully noticed how the influence of the Holy Ghost can really help, bless, and change someone for the better. Are religion and more importantly our faith are very dear to us. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). Some people may think being baptized is to big of a decision for an 8 year old to make, but we know that that is the age of accountability. We did not force her to do this, nor did we let her make this choice with out first making sure she knew what it meant.
In preparation for making this scared covenant just going to church since you were born was not good enough. We arranged that she would have weekly lessons with our wonderful missionaries. Were they taught her about many different things like the restoration of the gospel, the plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the commandments, and laws and ordinances. They taught her about the Holy Ghost, the word of wisdom, about enduring to the end, also about the covenants that she would be making with our Heavenly Father and what they meant. They also had a lesson about chastity, which the missionaries freely handed over to us to teach :).
(go to Mormon.org to learn more)

After all of the lessons and all of the discussions and all of her questions were answered, She was once again asked if she understood what it meant to be baptized and if she really wanted to make those covenants. To which she proudly said yes, and went on to tell us everything she learned. The second question took a few more seconds of thought but with a huge smile she said YES!
 Her baptism day was very special. Family and friends came from Utah and Nevada as well as local friends to share in this big day with her. We had a wonderful day. We could feel the love that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and everyone there had for our little girl. She is growing into such a lovely young lady. We love her so much. Here are some pictures from her baptism day.

 

One month after her big day I decided to interview her. Here is how it went.

Q: Malayan, what did you think of your baptism day?
A: "I thought it was great."
Q: What was your favorite part of being baptized?
A: "Being dunked in the water."
Q: What does it mean to you to be baptized?
A: " A lot to me. I get to be a member of the church and I get to have the Holy Ghost."
Q: How did getting the Holy Ghost make you feel?
A: " It made me feel fluttery inside."
Q: It has been one month since your baptism, have you noticed any changes in your life?
A: "I am pure and clean. I feel like I am a better example. I feel more like Jesus, and closer to him."
Q: What do you hope to remember most about your special day?
A: "The special feeling I had when I was baptized."
Q: Can you share with me your testimony?
A: " I believe that being baptized is a great thing in my life. I know the church is true. I know that Joseph Smith restored the gospel. I know that Nephi was a leader over his brothers. I know the scriptures are true and I that I need to share them with my friends and family. I know Jesus is God's son. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

Lists

So yesterday I realized that I only have about one month until this baby girl gets here. When I thought about this I had a little bit of a freak out moment. So you would think that with this whole baby thing being nothing new to me that I would have nothing to worry about. The only problem is that since this is nothing new to me I kept thinking I still have time. With only about a month left I thought about all the things that still need to be done and things that still need to be bought. After I had my few seconds of panic I wrote a list. Five lists to be exact. I always do better with lists, that piece of paper that I can cross off things as they are done, a little visual reminder that things are getting done. So here are my lists:

 <---This list as you can see is things for the hospital bag. (please don't mind the sloppy or missed spelled words) It is then broken up into three smaller list; Colt, the baby, and myself. I have looked over the list and I keep thinking I have forgotten something. Can you see anything that I forgot?

Below is the list of things for the baby. It is broken up into two smaller lists. To do and To buy.

             
All this has to be done before the baby comes. All this has to done somewhere in between, homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, doctors appointments, church duties, and all the other things I have to do around the house to keep things running. This does not include my crazy "nesting instinct" that is in full force making me want to deep clean every inch of my house. Well I will have to be enlisting the help of my husband and kids to help me get this all done.  Even with the craziness that is our home we are all looking forward to welcoming a new baby.

Baby Selinda "Lindy"

Playing Catch Up

I have almost 10 years to catch up on so this may take a while! :)

This tale begins;

 Long, long ago (10 years) there was a young boy named Colt and a young girl named Genavie. Colt was a 17 year old senior in high school and Genavie was a 16 year old junior in high school...okay, okay enough of the story form. I (Gen) had moved with my family to an area that we had once lived before, in Las Vegas. I started a new school and reconnected with a best friend. Every morning before school we went to seminary, then after seminary we would walk across the street to school. One day as I was walking through the hall of our seminary building with my best friend I saw a boy sitting on a chair. I heard a voice in my head say "See that guy, you are going to marry him someday." Now thinking I was a little crazy, I said this out loud to my friend, but I phrased it as a question, "See that guy, I am going to marry him?" She looked at me and with a bit of shock said, "What did you just say?" I then repeated it again but this time with a surety, "See that guy, I am going to marry him!" She then asked me if I even knew who he was, and if I had ever met him, which to booth I could say NOPE. We then just went on with our school day. A few days later as I was sitting reading a magazine this same "guy" came and sat next to me (ahh OMGoodness)! We started talking. We introduced ourselves and found out we were in the same ward at church(that was a surprise to us both). We started reading our horoscopes. His said something like; your love life will come to an end and your significant other and you will be no more. We both thought it was kind of a depressing horoscope, and just ended our conversation there. Until the next day when he tracked me down to tell me how much he hated my magazine(his girlfriend had broke up with him). So a few weeks later he asked me out on a date, and of course I said yes. A few of months of dating later he asked me to be his girlfriend by playing me that N*Sync song Would You Be My Girlfriend? (very cute and a little corny) but I loved it.

After five months we decided we wanted to get married (no we were not pregnant)! We told our family and friends and we were married two weeks later on October 5, 2002. We were the ripe old age of 18 and 17 years old. Many people thought we were to young and that we would never make it. Just to give those people a big fat "in your face" we will be celebrating our TEN year anniversary this year! 

Next part of our tale;
Three months after we got married Colt left for basic training in the US Air Force. From basic training in San Antonio, TX we made our way to Biloxi, MS for the first part of his tech school. We were in Biloxi for about four months, then we made our way to Augusta, GA for the rest of his tech school. We were in Augusta for about six months.

While we were there we found out that we were expecting our first baby!
We soon got stationed in Colorado Springs, CO. Four months after arriving in CO, in February 2004 we welcomed our beautiful little girl Malayna (Nay)!

 We were both scared and excited to be parents! Fast forward six months, we were celebrating our second anniversary and we found out we were expecting our second little bundle of joy! In June of 2005 we welcomed our second baby, a handsome little boy Robert (Bobby)!

 I knew nothing about boys(I have all sisters) Colt was ready for what a boy would bring(he has four older brothers) so we would be ok! November 2006 we found out we were expecting again! This time it was TWINS! We were so crazy with fear and panic, that meant 4 kids under the age of 4! As the weeks went by we were getting more comfortable with the idea. But sadly at 14 and 15 weeks along our sweet little babies went home to heaven.

 After a few months of depression and grief we started looking forward again. We were now expecting our next baby! In January 2008 we welcomed another handsome little boy, Colt Jr (CJ).

 He is a junior because we didn't find out what the baby was going to be but in my gut I KNEW "it" was a girl. So there was no need for us to pick out a boys name. When the doctor said it's a boy, and asked us his name, we had no idea! So the first thing out of Colts mouth was, "I guess we will name him Colt." and that is how HE got his name. In the summer of 2008 Colt left the AF and as a family we began a new adventure as civilians!

And the tale continues;
We stayed in Colorado Springs after Colt separated from the AF. He was hired on by Raytheon. Doing the same thing he was doing while in the military in the same exact office (satellite something, if he told me he would have to kill me. LOL). In December of 2008 we were happy to find out that we were expecting a baby! In July of 2009 (four weeks after I finished esthetician school) we welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Evangelina (Eva)!

Two weeks after Eva was born we closed on our very first home! Moving with a new born is no fun. We have now been in our home for 2 1/2 years and have slowly made it our own! OH and before I forget we are expecting a little girl some time in the next two months!!!

So this is our last ten years in a nut shell. There is a lot more I could tell you but I don't have the time and I don't think you want to sit here and read for hours. We have had many happy and sad moment. We have had many ups and downs. Colt and I have literally grown up together. It hasn't always been easy but it has always been worth it. 

My First Time ;)

So, this is my first ever blog post. I never thought I would want to keep a blog. I thought it would be to much work and that no one really cared to know about our family. After reading many of my friends blogs I learned that most of them keep them for the benefit of their own families. So that one day their kids can know all about how life was when they were little. I love this idea. I keep a journal but this whole blog thing seems more fun and more like a family journal, that one day all our kids will get to have. I am not sure yet when I will be able to post or even what to post about I guess that will all evolve over time. Keeping in mind that this will be a record for our family, I will start the next post from the begging of "our family". So if you are interested, the next time I find a moment I will tell all about how Colt and I meet and fell in LOVE!