Maycie's First Birthday!

With all of the others we have always been able to do some kind of party on their birthday. With football games and the Relief Society Broadcast a party just wasn't going to work on Saturday. So I decided we should do something just our little family! I had no idea it would be so hard! So finally at 8:30 that night we had a little family birthday party for our 1 year old! It was wonderful and she was a hoot!

I totally stole my sister-in-law, Becky's idea and we made a #1 with cupcakes! We didn't get them frosted but Maycie didn't seem to care!

We didn't even make it through the song before she was getting a cupcake off the tray!

That might have been a mistake because she didn't want to open her present!

She even cleaned up her own mess!

We finally did get her to open her present! And she is really enjoying it!
By #5 there wasn't a whole lot we "needed" for her. We really weren't sure what to get her. At our last visit to therapy I asked our therapist what she would recommend and she gave me a few ideas. So we got her something that was more then just really cute it will help her with her therapy too! :) I really should have taken a picture of what it was not just the box sorry!
It's called a Little Garden Bench. It will give her the up down help she needs and already seems to be helping her. It won't be long before I am chasing her all over the neighborhood with all the others!

You Can't Win Them All

The first loss is always hard. We were starting to think (well, at least I was) that we could really take this all the way undefeated. They still played a good game. My mom reminded me that MY job as a mom is to make sure that Jaxon knows HE did a good job. He did too! There were some mistakes made. Some little and some pretty big ones! But none of them by Jaxon. I made sure he knew I didn't care if they win or lose. All I care about is him and that he does his best and feels good about the game he played.
We did have another injury and he will be out for the rest of the season. Broken leg right above the ankle that now has two pins in it. My cousin did something to his knee at his game and had to ride to Primary Children's in an ambulance. WHAT AM I THINKING LETTING MY SONS PLAY THIS GAME?
Jaxon handled the loss really well. He didn't get down on himself. He was able to believe Jeron and I when we told him he had done a good job and let it go. I was very proud of how he handled the whole thing.

Porter's Touch Down!

Okay, this one was for real! The team they played on Saturday had some pretty fast boys on it. One that nobody on our team could touch (not even Porter). We were trying a passing game and it wasn't going very well. They kept getting intercepted. But this play was THE most beautiful play of the whole game! And I am not just saying that because I am Porter's mom! The snap was a shot gun (another thing we have had a problem with) and our quarterback totally recovered looked around saw Porter in the end zone threw the ball and it was like there was a tube between the two of them! The first completed pass for our team and a touch down all in one! It was truly beautiful. I was totally horse afterward. He had some really good runs and flag pulls (I guess that is what I should call them!) too. I really think overall it was his best game!
I have been so proud of Porter! He is really doing well with all of this! It doesn't matter what position they put him in he takes to without too much problem at all! I would really love to talk him into flag football for another year, but I don't think that is going to happen! And how do I stop him when he is so good at it?

Maycie's First Year!

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures of Maycie's first year!

One Year Ago......

One year ago today Jeron and I were running errands and doing the last minute things to get ready for the newest member of our family to arrive! I have never had that kind of time. I have been induced with all five of my kids and they usually get you in first thing in the morning unless they have too many come in through the night. I have been able to be with the same doctor for all 5 of my kids and he was actually the one to deliver all of them too! He prefers Wednesdays and all 3 of the boys were born on a Wednesday. Because Jeron was still in training at Fidelity when Emma was born Wednesday wasn't very good for us so he did it on Friday. When I went in for my appointment on September 17 with Maycie I was hoping he would be able to find a way to just keep me! Of course it was more then a week before my due date and so there had to be a medical reason to do so. We did a stress test (I didn't feel like she was moving enough) and they checked some other things too. I think we were all looking for a reason to keep me. My doctor was leaving the next day for an out of town conference and wouldn't be back for a week. But there was just not a medical reason to keep me. The fact that it was my Grandma's birthday just didn't count!

Can I just tell you that it pays to stay with a doctor for 5 kids! When we knew there was no way to keep me he sits me down and tells me that he will set up the inducement for next Thursday (Sep. 25). I was surprised because I know he doesn't do inducements on Thursdays but I wasn't going to argue! He told me he would set it up for the afternoon to make sure he was back in time. So Jeron and I spent the morning doing all the things I am doing the day before by myself! Normally the night before an inducement for me is like Christmas Eve! Butterflies in the tummy and everything! But it is also like Christmas Eve in that when I wake up it's here! With not going in until the afternoon it was like Christmas Eve that stretched all the way until like 3:30 the next day! I got to the hospital and we got things going. They got me on my IV and got the pit going. Then I asked when Dr. Later would come in to break my water. It was then that I found out that he was still on an air plane on his way home! When he set things up for me (did I tell you that he was the one to make the call and everything!) he didn't tell me when he was flying in. I just assumed that he was flying in earlier in the day and did the afternoon to give himself some time to rest and everything! Oh no, he came right from the airport to break my water and everything, but didn't get there until like 6:30. Then he went home to rest and they kept him updated.

With my past labors we were all expecting a baby by 9pm. There were so many things that were different this time. Things just didn't progress. Normally I have a really good break in my water not long after they get my going on the pit so we thought maybe that was it and that after he broke my water it would help. Nope, no such luck! I kept getting all light headed and I had to be on oxygen. I've never had to do that before! I've also never had to go through a shift change before either. My second nurse gave me a Popsicle and that totally helped me! I had no idea I could have a Popsicle! The sugar was just what I needed! But then we realized every time I sat up too far the baby's heart rate would drop. Every time they would check me I felt like we were going no where and doing nothing. I kept telling the nurses, "this is not how things go for me. This is not how my labor's go." And I got back, "every labor is different dear." Well, after 4 other labors being almost identical I wanted to scream I know what I am talking about! But they are the medical professionals so I didn't! At 10pm we started getting phone calls from family "What is going on?" I think they all thought that we just forgot to call them because there was no way our baby girl wasn't here! But she wasn't. My one sister told me later she was afraid to go to bed because she was just sure something had to be wrong! It seemed everyone but the nurses thought it was odd for this to be so different! I felt like we were just hanging out at the hospital, it was so weird! There was a couple of times they said they thought her head was turned and that might be part of the problem, it wasn't letting her drop. Finally at midnight Dr. Later came back to the hospital and checked me. I was still only at an 8 at that point (I had never been in actual labor that long before!) He told me he was going to come back in half an hour and we were going to have a baby. Looking back on that now what he was telling me was that either I was ready to deliver a baby or he was going to have to take her C-Section. Luckily I have the most calm doctor ever and I totally didn't get it then! He came back and I still wasn't quite there yet but being the good doctor that he was he found a way to make it happen! I have to hand it to everyone else in the delivery room. They were all very calm through the whole thing. I don't have to push too long. Luckily that was pretty normal! I am pushing away and then the doctor tells me to hold it for just a minute. And then we finish up and there is my baby girl and she is beautiful! Black and blue but beautiful! I didn't find out the reason I had to stop pushing was because the cord was around her neck until quite a bit later. Jeron didn't even show it as far as I could tell at the time. On top of the cord she aspirated some and so I had to wait longer to feed her then I wanted to. It says so much about what a good doctor I have that everything she went through coming into this world and they didn't even have to take her away from me! I have talked to so many people that have had a similar stories and the baby was fine but had to be rushed away to make sure. I know we had our own little miracle that night! We joke that the boys had been born on Wednesday, Emma had been born on a Friday so Maycie decided to wait and be born on a Friday like her big sis!

We did have our own little dilemma while we were getting ready for the actual delivery. We started a tradition when Connor was born, that until now had not been hard to keep, to have some family time before anyone else sees the baby. Well, this time it was the middle of the night and the big kids had school the next day! We have such good family! The kids at that point were at my in-laws house and they were willing to do what ever we asked them to. We had planed for the kids to spend the time I was in the hospital with my mom and dad because they live really close and my mom could get the kids to and from school without a problem. She too, was willing to do what ever we asked of her. She has been at the hospital with me through every labor and sits outside the door to hear the first cry. She told me that as long as she could hear the first cry and know everything was okay she was just fine! We finally decided to go ahead and have my in-laws bring the kids to the hospital. I deliver at Alta View and they live just off of 90th and 2nd East so the kids were close. At the time I felt kind of guilty about it. What kind of mom has her kids trooping around at 1:00 in the morning?! But after I was so glad that I did! My mom was going to let the kids sleep late the next morning and just take them to school late. But they wouldn't hear of it! They were on time for school the next morning but I'm pretty sure they didn't learn much! All they could talk about was their new baby sister! I don't think they would have ever forgiven me if we had waited for them to see her until the next morning! Even if they knew no one else had seen her either. Especially the boys because they were very aware of the tradition and how it worked!

As I have looked back over the last year I wonder where the time has gone. I said that to my dad the other day and he said to me, "It went into a helmet." And that is true. I guess I should have known from the beginning nothing was going to be normal with our little Maycie Jayne! For the first time ever we went to the hospital with the name down to 3 choices instead of having been calling the baby by a name for the last few months. Her labor and delivery were defiantly different. And now I can look back on the pictures from the day she was born and see some of the problems in her forehead that led to the helmet. I am sure that her head was turned and that is why she went into the position after so easily and quickly.

As I think about my baby's first birthday tomorrow it is a bitter sweet sorrow. I know someone has to be the end. Every train has to have a caboose, and Maycie is ours! I know we are done and that in and of its self is a good feeling!

Official birthday post with pictures of Maycie from the last year will come! Thanks for letting me reminisce!

Am I Ready For This?

Last night Jeron and I went to our first Jr. High Parent Teacher Conference! I'm not sure when I got old enough to have a 7th Grader. I was so worried about this change for him. He has always loved school even when he has had a hard time with it. Every year I was just sure that would be the year but it never came! I was just sure that there was no way we would make it through Jr. High! But I guess when you have 6 A's and 1 B+ you can still like school! It doesn't hurt when all the popular kids seem to be your friends and the girls are making up nick names for you so they can talk about you because they like you. He has the cool kid nod down to an art already. I have to say that I am so glad that all is going well for him so far. I'm just not sure if I'm ready for all of this stuff yet. The last 13 years have gone way too fast. He is a good kid who does his best to make the right choices. When he was faced with a conflict between football and a choir for the Priesthood Session of Conference he made it a matter of prayer and found a way to make it work. I hope he always keeps the Lord in on his decisions.

I am so grateful and feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful young man as a son. We told him last night he has set the bar way too high! He has to do well because now we know he can do it! Keep up the good work Jaxon!

The First Principal's Pride!

Yesterday was the first Principal's Pride Award for the year (last year it was the Star Student Award). This is the first time that any of my kids have ever gotten it the first time! When Connor brought home his paper last Friday I was so excited for him! It is kind of what saved his life when he tried to ruin the vacuum!

We got a new principal this year. He is wonderful! I thought about doing a video clip of Connor getting his award but didn't. I really should have! It was so cute. Mr. V. (he has a really hard to pronounce name so the kids all call him Mr. V.) was great with all the kids and really took the time to talk with them while he was giving them the award.

The teachers turn the kids in and say what they get the award for. Connor's:

"Connor had one of the highest scores on our first Social Studies Test! Way to go Connor!"

So Mr. V. asks Connor if he might want to be an explorer when he grows up and is talking with him when...........

Connor decides he is done and trys to just take the award away from his principal! And awesome Mr. V. just holds on to it until he was done and ready to give it to Connor! The whole room was rolling! I could have just kicked myself for not doing the video clip!

Connor and Mr. V. No hard feelings!

Connor with his award!

You set the bar pretty high this year bud.

Now you have to do this good all year! We love you!

One Hard Fought Game!

I am still trying to figure out how to get my son in the pictures I take at his football games! I totally think I have it and then look at the picture and he is nowhere to be found! So no pictures!

This was a hard game before we ever go to the field, and didn't get any easier. This was the week Jeron had been dreading since the beginning. It was the week we played Jordan. We played Jordan at Hunter so I think that might have been better. At least there was no turf problems! Jeron had been warned before the game started that the ref's had been calling EVERYTHING and then some! So at least we had been warned, but that didn't really help us! There were some really hard calls and we as spectators were not always taking it well. The ref gave us a warning about it and the coaches questioned it, some a little more enthusiastically then others (Jeron did a really good job controlling himself. I was very proud!) and they gave us a penalty! Jeron figured we had between 80 and 100 yards in penalties. They were for everything under the sun, from off sides to block in the back. Most of them really silly the boys are 12 for heavens sake! Like I said, who we were playing was only the beginning of how hard this game was! Our boys played their hearts out did a very good job holding them. Jaxon did awesome in defense! Just when it would look like we were going to score they would call some kind of penalty and there went that TD! Right at the end of the game (I mean like the last minute!) we completed a pass half way down the field. Next play we completed a pass in the end zone! Touch Down, finally! (I still expected them to call it back for some reason!) We didn't get the extra point. Kick off, game over! I am not kidding!
When I asked Jaxon how he felt like he did he told me he felt really good about how he did on defense but not so good on offense. I was surprised and so was Jeron. He was like Jaxon you did a great job on both! In fact he did so good that he played the WHOLE game! I am not kidding! My mom asked me if that was because dad was a coach, and I can honestly say it had nothing to do with it! In fact Jeorn would be the first one to pull him for ANY reason! Just to make sure no one could say that! I really think he gets better every week!
Final score: WJ Jags 6 Jordan Beatdiggers 0! Third win first shutout! For a C team made up of 19 boys (only 4 boys had played tackle before) I think we are doing pretty well! Keep up the good work Jags!

Porter's Game

Flag football was rough this week. We were playing a team that I am sure has played before and probably together. Most of our boys haven't played before this year. They are doing really well, but we just couldn't get it together this week. They had one kid who was in the middle of almost every play. I think Porter was trying to show off and tried a little too hard! Grandma Sue and Grandpa Tom came to last week's game but got there right after his TD they took away (I'm not bitter, I promise!) and it was the one game Dad couldn't be to any of. This week he had both sets of grandparents there and dad was helping on the sidelines. That is alot of pressure for an 8 year old to perform! He really did well, mostly just really hard on himself! There was one play that ended halfway down the field where they had started from with Porter still at the start of the play! I yelled at him, "What are you still doing down here?!" He looks up with tears in his eyes, "I got hit in the jaw!" Boy did I feel bad! Keep it up Porter! You can't have a perfect game every game!

Go Jags! Win #2!

Jaxon played @ Woods Cross this week. It was a divide and conquer week! Dad & Jaxon (Connor went too!) left for Woods Cross while Mom and Porter (the girls came with Mom!) got to stay a little closer to home! Jaxon's game got started just late enough that we were able to leave Porter's game and head straight up to Jaxon's and make it about half time! By the time I got there Jaxon had 3 tackles and was doing awesome! After practice on Friday I wasn't sure how things were going to go! All of the boys were having a hard day on Friday and so when I found out that on top of Jaxon doing so well we were winning I was very excited!By the time I got there they had Jaxon playing Nose Guard (a position he had only played a couple of plays) and was totally taking down a kid that was at least 6'1" and almost as broad as Jeron! I think he has found his aggression!

He is #84, the one turned to the side so you can't see his number! When he is on the line and gets down into his 3 point stance I can find him by his bouncing leg! It goes at break neck speed!