A Mummy, A Jedi or Two, and a Grouchy Ladybug

That was our Halloween. I love how the boys' costumes didn't get decided on until a half hour before the Trunk-or-Treat.

For Friday night, Jacob decided he wanted to be a mummy. Luckily I had some fabric that I bought 9 years ago that stayed in my fabric box awaiting the perfect project. Yes, I know...I'm quite talented. (He actually won a prize for his costume! He's loving his new scripture bag!)

On Saturday, Jacob decided to be Indiana Jones and Joshua was Mutt. The costumes Brandon and Blake are wearing have seen many a Halloween night. I think we've gotten our money's worth on those.

And last, but certainly not least, is our own Grouchy Ladybug. Sweet little Emma eventually calmed down.

Dan's Race

Dan completed an Olympic triathlon this morning. That is a mile swim, a 25 mile bike ride, and a 6.2 mile run. It was very inspiring to see all the athletes finish. (I had to wipe a tear or two..)

Dan's the man!

(I told Dan that I'd love to run this race with him next year. There is a problem, however. My swimming skills amount to the ability to not drown and the last time I rode a bike was my junior year in high school. Also, I really don't run. So we'll see if I'm there next year.)

We had fun waiting around for Dan to finish. Only a few scrapes and not too many meltdowns. (Brandon got a bit scraped up when, after a few times of jumping over a trash can, finally missed and Jacob hit his eye and mouth on a pole of the playground.)

That's us! Way to go, Dan. We love you!

More Pictures

I love my children.

Joshua cried during the entire photo session. We had to get the "soft overlay" option to minimize his red eyes.

In all seriousness, what a blessing it is to have these sweet children in my life.

I learn from them daily. I love them.

Our First Attempt

at gardening is producing some results! We are so excited.

This part of our yard was covered in loose gravel but it was the only space we had that could possibly fit a garden. A small garden, but a garden nontheless.

After a lot of trips with the wheelbarrow, we were finally able to plant some seeds.

We weren't sure exactly what would grow but we are pleased to report that we will at least have zucchini. Dan and the boys have done all the work. They are awesome!

We removed a Christmas tree that has been here forever and decided to put an orange tree instead. Sorry, tree. I hope you don't mind.

Blessing Day

Emma was blessed on July 12. We are so thankful for our family and friends who made this occasion even more special. My mom made her dress. I love it! Gracias, Mami!

Brandon, Blake, Jacob, Joshua, and Emma. Her brothers are so good to her!

Ericka bought this dress for Emma and she wanted a picture with her wearing it.

Thanks, Ericka!

And last but not least, the usual attempt of trying to get the grandchildren to take a picture.

We missed you Kyle!!

I don't know why we think that surely this will be the time when everyone smiles and cooperates. I'm sure we'll get one sometime.

A special Thank You to Chris (my brother-in-law) for being our patient photographer!

Emma Felicity Hull

She's here and we are so happy.

Emma Felicity Hull

June 13, 2009

7lbs. 12 oz.

19 1/4 inches long

Random Thoughts

• We have some neighbors down the street who have the cleanest house in the neighborhood and quite possibly in Yucaipa. They are a retired couple so maybe one day I'll do the same. They wash their driveway and sidewalk everyday. On trash day they wash out their trash cans. I don't think they can get very dirty. I'm sure they even wash out their garbage before they put it in their trashcan. Their garage is very organized and they actually park both their cars in it. A few times I have seen the lady sitting on the sidewalk with a brush and bucket of soapy water scrubbing the curb and part of the street. The cracks on their driveway and sidewalk have nothing in them. I'm happy for them.


• Someday I would like to get a pressure washer for Mother's Day or my birthday. Dan knows this so I can't get him one for Father's Day or his birthday. It would be too obvious. I want to clean the cracks in my sidewalk and driveway, too.


• I may have fingerprints on my walls or smudges on my kitchen cabinets but I would rather clean the edges of the baseboards with a toothbrush. There is something about knowing they are clean that gets me excited. What does this say about me?


• On the same note, unclogging the shower drain or a bathroom sink makes me happy.

Moving on to another subject:

• School is out next week and we never quite mastered the Jacob Please Pack a Snack For School Today routine. Or the Jacob Where is Your Homework Folder routine. Maybe next year.


• We had Open House last night. There were lots of different activities. The one Jacob was excited about was the Hoola Hoop contest. He was one of the winners. He was super happy.


• There was also a karaoke booth. I realized that a lot of the girls wanted to sing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" but none of them knew how it went. They did know how to sing "Love Story." I really wanted to get up there and sing but I restrained myself from embarrassing my children or myself. Can you imagine if your mom got up to sing at your Open House?!

Moving on to yet anther subject:

• Do stretch marks ever go away?


• Does it really matter?


• Will I ever have my cut abs again? (I dreamt about this one time and in my dream I was pregnant and my abs were cut because Stacy and Clinton were there telling me how great I looked in a structured jacket.)


• Will the swelling in my feet ever go down?


• Will I even be able to see my feet again to know that is has?

And finally:

• I'm really enjoying the Ranch Chicken Taco Salad from Taco Bell.


• I'm really enjoying Otter Pops.


• I'm really enjoying Breyer's Orange and Vanilla Take Two ice cream.


• Maybe that's why I may not have my abs again.
• 

Joshua is 3

Joshua's birthday was on April 28. He is a funny 3 year old. He loves to wrestle his brothers and he loves to give his Mami kisses but his favorite thing to do is be with his Dad. He loves to snuggle with Dan at the end of the day for a story. The other night I put him down for bed and said to him, "Goodnight, little boy." He replied, "Goodnight, big Mami." I'm glad he's learning opposites. We are so thankful that Joshua is in our family.

Joshua is our 4th child and I have always felt badly about his coming home from the hospital story when he was born. I thought for sure the nurses wouldn't let me bring him home.

Joshua Benson Hull was born shortly after 4am on a Friday. It became evident that he was having a hard time breathing. The nurses said he was grunting. I held him quickly and then they took him away. He was placed in the NICU shortly after being born. It was determined that he was born with a pneumothorax, a small hole in his lung.

He was placed in a hoodie with oxygen and got a few IV's. Dan and my brother-in-law Paul gave him a blessing. I was so grateful and felt that things would be fine. They kept taking xrays to determine if air was still escaping from his lung. They said that these kinds of small holes usually seal up on their own but if it didn't surgery would be needed. After a day or so the amount of air that was leaking was getting smaller so we knew that the hole was sealing up. During this time we were unable to hold him. I was in my recovery room on Saturday afternoon when I was told I could go up and hold Joshua. It was so great to hold him again.

I came home from the hospital on Sunday evening. It was so hard to leave him there. I was pumping and storing milk and I would need to take it up throughout the day. They thought he would be there for a week. My mother-in-law came on Monday morning and was such an amazing help. I'm so grateful she was here.

After coming home on Tuesday from my visit at the hospital I got the call from the nurses saying that the doctor had OK'd Joshua's release for that afternoon! We were so excited to be bringing him home a few days before what had been stated that morning. It is protocol to have Social Services call the families of the children in the NICU to make sure that they are going home to a safe environment. She asked if we had a crib for the baby and a car seat. I told her that I had everything, he's my fourth child. We were told to be there at 3pm and that we had to watch a car seat safety video and then we could bring him home. I said, "Perfect, we'll be there at 3."

Ok...this is the part where I thought for sure, "Yeah, he's the 4th child" and "There's no way they're going to let me take him home."

I called Dan to let him know we could bring home Joshua so he came home early from work so that we could pick him up. I put together the diaper bag with his coming home outfit and matching blanket.

Dan's truck had been acting funny so we made arrangements to drop off the truck on our way to the hospital. We would be picking up the rental car, too. So we drove the truck to the car rental place. Then I drove the rental car and followed Dan as he drove the truck to the shop. Then Dan got in the rental car and we drove to the hospital.

We arrived at 4. We were an hour late picking up our son!!! I felt so horrible. There were other parents there with their children who did not know how many more weeks or months or if they would even be able to bring their babies home at all and here I was able to bring mine home and I was late. We watched the safety video and then we were told that we had to get our last paperwork clearance so that we could officially check out of the hospital.

Dan and I went downstairs and the lady looked us up on the computer, she checked my hospital tags on my wrist, and then asked to see a photo ID. I opened up my purse and realized that my wallet was in the diaper bag. I then realized that the diaper bag was in the truck. I then realized that the truck was in the shop. I didn't have the diaper bag with me!! My wallet was in there and so were Joshua's clothes. I told the lady that I didn't have my license with me. She checked Dan's ID and I answered all of the security questions correctly but she needed to see something with my picture on it. I looked through my purse to see if there was anything in there that had my picture on it. And then I saw it. I pulled out my Costco card and said this was all I had. She took it and copied it and said that would be fine.

We went back upstairs to take Joshua and the nurse asked me if I had clothes for him. I told her that we had forgotten his diaper bag and that his clothes were in the bag. Once again, I could feel the stares of some of these parents. I tried not to look at them. I asked the nurse if it was OK to take the hospital shirt he was wearing and if we could have the hospital blanket as well. She said we could.

So Joshua came home wearing only a white hospital shirt. He didn't have any socks or pants. I was waiting for Social Services to stop us on our way out. They didn't and it's been a wonderful 3 years! We love you, Joshua!

Brandon is 12

Brandon turned 12 on April 17. I really can't believe that my little baby is not little anymore.

Turning 12 also meant that he would be ordained a Deacon. I figured I would be emotional, especially being pregnant and tired, but I wasn't fully prepared for the sweet experience of watching Dan ordain Brandon. Brandon is such a good example to both Dan and me. There are many times when I think that I need to get my act together and follow the lead of my children.

Brandon likes to set goals. So do I. The difference is that he actually accomplishes them. One of the goals he set for himself earlier this year was to read The New Testament before he turned 12. We realized that if he did this he would have read all the Standard Works. I am 34 and I have yet to read all the Standard Works from cover to cover. We encouraged Brandon to read but also told him that it was OK if he didn't finish. What he had already done was pretty amazing. On Easter Sunday, 5 days before his birthday, we read the last chapter of Revelations with Brandon. I hope that we can continue to focus on the Scriptures and that as the tough teenage years come, our children will be able to turn to the Scriptures for answers.

We celebrated Brandon's birthday on Sunday the 19th because he was on a Scout camping trip for his actual birthday. Our boys get to request whatever dinner and cake they want for their birthdays so that meant that we would have spaghetti. Brandon loves spaghetti. He also requested corn on the cob, the 5 (or is it 7?) layer chocolate cake from Costco, and homemade vanilla ice cream. It was a good dinner. A nice way to end a nice day. I'm grateful to my parents who were able to be here for the occasion.