Christmas and Kid update

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas at our house. We got out all our awesome christmas decorations (since we are huge Christmas fans) and I am especially proud of our tree. Last year I decided we needed to have a theam for our tree. So its kind of a Santa/Snowflake theme but mostly it is a red and white theme but I love it. I made all those snowflake ornaments last year and they look so good on our tree. I'm proud of myself every time I look at it. Nellie News...

Nellie as I'm sure most of you have noticed is a CHUNKER! She is 17 pounds at 3 months old. Some people might think thats a bad thing but man I love it! The main benefit is the sleep. Starting at 2 months she would sleep 5-6 hours regularly at night. Now, at 3 months old, we are up to 7-8 hours regularly. There was even one night that she slept 11 hours straight! I woke up the next morning and couldn't believe it. I'm pretty sure Jace was a year old before he slept 11 hours and 9 months before he slept 8. The other main benefit is buff arms. I was holding another baby that was about a month younger, and several pounds lighter, and I couldn't believe how easy it was. So anyone who thinks having a fat baby is bad I'll gladly disagree with them. Besides fat babies are super cute

She goes crazy for this little light up star toy I bought her It's totally adorable to watch her look at it.

Jace always seems to find a new and exciting way to crack me up. Last week he was having a little snack, puffs and juice his favorite. This time I decided to let him have the can of puffs to see what he would do with it. Thinking briliantly he came up with the idea to combine his 2 favorite things into one really amazing and yummy snack. Unfortunately the combination didn't work out so well.

Don't worry though Jace is determined enough to still get his juice no matter what. I love my kids they crack me up.

Up and Running

Well things are moving along nicely with unpacking and making our new house feel like home. I think we are down to about 6 or 7 boxes left to unpack. Which I am seriously proud of us for. We have only been in our house for 3 weeks and we're almost completely unpacked. My mom has been in her house for almost a year and she still has boxes left =) Sorry Mom

We LOVE our new ward and have already made some new friends. Fortunately for us we had some old Friends we already knew. Jake Bell and his wife are in our ward that Steven knew growing up. Kathryn and Brent Olsen which I knew in Highschool and College and even a couple we knew from our first ward after we got married the Danielsons. We've even gotten into their babysitting Co-op they have and it is so nice to not have to pay for babysitting.

Steven has started Refing Highschool Basketball. We have been talking about him doing this for almost a year now and he is finally doing it. He went to a bunch of training meetings and has his first game next week I think. Our 10 year plan is for him to be a reff in a big college conference or even the NBA and then he can be an Engineer in the off season. He'd like that job a lot better and I don't blame him I'd hate to be stuck at a desk all day. I don't know how he does it.


Oh and we got a new computer!! It has been almost a year since ours broke and we would fix it so it would work for a month or so then break again. It was seriously aggrivating I'm soooo happy we have a new one now so I can post more often and just keep in touch with the real world.

Catching up

Since we finally got our computer fixed again... and hopefully it will stay fixed this time... we decided to do some much needed catching up.

Halloween was awesome firstly because we were officially moved into our new house and secondly because of the awesomeness that was Jace's super cool Jack Jack costume. I tried to have him be Jack Jack for halloween last year but I, of course, waited until the last minute to find him a costume and couldn't. It was mainly becuse they just don't make a whole lot of costumes for really little babies. So this year I had to get creative. Jace still wasn't big enough to fit into a child size costume so we had to make our own. I have to give credit to Steven's friend John. A couple years ago he was the most amazing Mr Incredible so I stole the costume Idea from him. So we bought some red sweats, black duct tape and a tube of black lipstick (for the mask). I taped over the sweats to look like black briefs and taped up his church shoes to look like boots. Then a little lipstick and hair gel and wah lah. An awesome Jack Jack costume.

Isn't he cute!!!

Nellie was a pumpkin. She loved her costume because it was very warm and snuggly and she was held the whole time. What baby wouldn't love that.

And last but not least I finally broke down and gave Jace a hair cut. He has been looking very scraggily and scary for a long time but I didn't have the heart to cut off those sweet little baby curls. I finally convinced myself that they had to come off some time so after 19 months of growing he finally said good bye to his baby hair. I'm so glad I did though. He looks so much better with it trimmed more grown up (*snif*) but better.

Health, Halloween and House

Health - First off an update on mindy. She is doing great. She had her surgery and everything is fine now. It took her an extra few weeks to get healthy but she is there now. we appreciate all the concern and help. By the way our computer went down again and that is why there wasn't an update sooner. we really need to get a new one but they cost so dang much.

Halloween - Of course it was Halloween recently and we have a couple of pics for you. I (Steven) was a ninja. Mindy was a very hot cop! Nellie was a pumpkin. And Jace was the best Jack Jack ever! He got so many compliments and thanks to some duct tape and black lipstick I would have to agree.

House - We finally closed on our house and moved in! Like I said our computer is down so i am sneaking this post from work and only have a few pics from my phone so here is a pic of the kitchen and you'll have to wait for pictures of the rest.

and of course just a couple more cute pics of our awesome kids!

I just can't catch a break

I seriously have the worst luck with having children. Don't get me wrong I love my kids and I'd much rather have something go wrong with me than with them but seriously... a girl needs a break every now and again. I had a serious case of de-ja-vu today as we spent the better part of the day in the Emergency room.

I had this problem last time with Jace about 4 weeks after I had him I started bleeding and we ended up having to have emergency surgery to remove the leftover placenta that was causing the bleeding. My doctor knew about my situation with Jace and tried to get everything out but I still started bleeding. Fortunately this time when it started we knew exactly what was going on and rushed strait to the ER. I lost a lot of blood and had to get an IV then they removed a few more large clotts but they held off on surgery to see if things would clear up on their own after they got the bleeding under control. They gave me some medicine and sent me home but if it doesn't clear up in the next little while then we'll have to do the surgery.

So this is my plug for your prayers. We need all the help we can get so please pray for us that everything will be fine from now on and we won't have to do surgery again.

Adjusting to life with 2 children

I still can't believe I have 2 kids now. I understand that I had Jace and now Nellie but it just hasn't really sunk in yet that I have CHILDREN plural. I'm sure it will hit me when Nellie starts requiring more attention. She just eats and sleeps and poops right now which is great because I need the time to get used to dividing my attention. Jace is not really handling the transition from only child to big brother very well. Don't get me wrong he absolutely LOVES his little sister its me he is mad at. I've heard its only a phase so here's hoping it gets better before it gets worse.

Funny little tid bit for you. Jace was feeling especially deprived of attention so he decided to help himself to my free arm... the arm I wasn't using while I was trying to feed Nellie. So he climbs up onto the couch and snuggles up against me and the next thing I know I am buried in unconscious children. It was totally cute and so fun to have both my babies snuggled up against me listening to them breathe. I just had to take a picture.

My little Handy ManSo the batteries went out in one of Jace's toys and I asked Steven to replace them. Jace was very interested in the battery replacing process. So interested in fact that when the job was done he didn't want to play with the toy he wanted to be like daddy and fix the batteries again. He cried and cried until Steven let him have the screwdriver so he could fix the toy. It was so cute

Nellie's first Photo shoot

So I've had my camera for almost a year now and you'd think that I'd be really better at using it. Well It's harder than it looks. I must have taken a million pictures to get a few good ones. But she is so cute it was fun taking them and even more fun when I got some good ones.





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Welcome Baby Nellie

Nellie Jane Raisor joined our family on Tuesday September 1st a little after 6pm. So Tuesday morning we went in at 3am (yeah I know but it was the only time they had left) It actually turned out to be a good thing we were scheduled that early because almost every other induction scheduled after us got bumped. So we got on Pitocin at 4:30 or so and after a long day of labor she was born at 6:07pm. So the reason my doctor decided to induce me 2 weeks early was so I wouldn't have another 9 pound baby... well it didn't work Nellie was 9 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches long. Yeah and all that was 2 weeks early. I can't even imagine what she would have been if we had waited till 40 weeks. I could have had an 11 pounder on my hands. Yikes! Thats a scary thought. Thank goodness for my wonderful doctor. Everything went really well at the hospital the nurses were amazing and Nellie was so perfect and healthy that we only had to stay 24 hours.

The end is in sight!

Well we had our much anticipated doctors appointment this past week to find out our induction date and it is....

da ta da daaaaa

September 1st!

That is just under 2 weeks early. I can't wait to get my hands on this baby and get her out of my stomach. The doctor said she is in the 88th percentile for size and she definitely shouldn't stay in there much longer. We get to go in at 3am! Yeah I know but it was the only time they have available and my doctor said going in at that time is good because we are less likely to get bumped. Wish us luck in just more than a week we will be having our baby girl

Camera Shy

Why are tummy babies always so shy? I don't understand how they know you are trying to look at them but they know alright. I think they can sense that you are trying to take a peek at what they are going to look like when the come out and for some reason they don't think it is fair. "you can't get a look at me, It's supposed to be a surprise" well this was our failed attempt to ruin the surprise and get a good look at our daughters face before she arrived. Of course she had her hand in front of her face the whole time. Maybe it's because they know the kind of abuse they are going to get from the camera after they are born. She just isn't going to take it in the womb.

Well the ultrasound revealed that she is almost 7 pounds already. Which is absolute insanity seeing as how I have a month to go still. If she gains weight like she is supposed to the last month I'm looking at having a 10 or 11 pound baby on my hands. So I think we are going to start talking about an induction. Jace was over 9 pounds and it looks like Nellie won't be any different. Pray that my doctor is merciful and lets me have her early. We'll know more at our next doctors appointment next week.

Regular Ultrasound Face Picture

Baby Face with Hand
Look at those fat fingers

You are trying to ruin the surprise and I won't let you

Oh my hand is just so cumfy

Dancing Machine

Ok, so this was too hilarious not to post. Jace is a dancing Maniac! He has a new favorite show on the Disney channel called the imagination movers. Every time his show comes on he gets so excited and has to dance and I mean he HAS TO DANCE. This time even warranted putting down the sippy cup so he could dance better. Sorry it is sideways and it's not very good quality I took it with my phone, but I'm sure you'll still love it!

Big week

We have a very big week coming up! This wednesday is our 4year anniversary and next Monday is my Birthday!!!Yay!!!
I honestly would be a lot more excited for both events if i wasn't so enormously pregnant. That kinda limits the activities you can do to celebrate both events. But I guess even just having kids limits you a lot any way. We are probably just going to find somewhere to go eat (which is my favorite thing to do now any way) so any suggestions of a new restaurant to try would be great!

Next week is also our ultrasound appointment to find out how big our little girl is getting. Since Jace was a man child when he was born (over 9lbs) my doctor is insistent that we don't have history repeat its self. So we are doing an ultrasound to see how big she is and based on the results we will decide when to induce me early. I'm already measuring 2 weeks ahead so the chances of her being big are quite a lot. I'm really ok with being induced early and anyone who has been pregnant, especially in the summer, will agree that the last 4 or 5 weeks are the worst! So cutting some of that being miserable time down will be just fine with me. We'll keep you posted on when she will be making her entrance, but in the mean time wish us luck on our big week ahead.

Happy Birthday Annie!

Today is my niece Annie's 3rd birthday! I can't believe she is getting so big so fast. Happy Birthday baby girl We love you so much and are so happy to have you in our family.

Baby Shower!!

The best part about having a girl is getting to buy her a whole new set of clothes, blankets, bibs and just about everything else a baby needs but this time in the wonderful color of PINK!!! and of course I get to have another baby shower! Yay! So for any one who didn't get one in the mail consider this your invitation. I'm very proud of my handy work in making the invitation it makes me so happy every time I look at it. Hurray for new babies especially ones that let you add a little pink to your life.

Lincoln is Home

And yes ladies and gentlemen he is as goofy as ever! Tuesday we got to pick Lincoln up from the airport coming home from his mission to Santiago Chille. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised that our little goofy Lincoln is now just a bigger version of his same goofy self. I was expecting him to be all grown up but "NEVER" he would say. He did have some trouble remembering some english words which I thought was totaly hilarious and adorable. He doesn't have an accent though he said there were lots of Gringos down there to talk to. Keep the english in his head. But yes ladies he is alive and well and now on the meat market. I am actually very curious to see what kind of crazy wonderful girl it will take to love my adorable goofy little brother. We shall see....

So his flight came in 10 min early so I didn't quite get time to fininsh coloring in the O on welcome. I think he still enjoyed the gesture. It's really the thought that counts right...
Raggity Lincoln. His suit had holes all over in it and his pants pocket had a huge poorly done patch on the back pocket. Lincoln... it's time to burn your suit. =)
Lincoln and Jace finally got to meet eachother. He got lots of pictures by email but things are always better in person. I think Jace likes his Uncle.
Hurray for Lincoln we are so happy to have you home.

My Little Drummer Boy

Yeah Man!

So we had our Rock band set out for a party I had for the kids in my sunday school class and Jace could not get enough of the drums. He saw a few of the kids in my class play and had to join in the fun. We tried to get him to play a song but... Well he is only 14 months old. He loved it

Mommy where's my other stick?

D-Backs Game

I am very pleased to announce that we finally have at least one of our computers up and running again. We got our desktop back on track after some expert help from Steven's step-brother Kirk Thank you Kirk. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to try to do something on an incredibly ancient and incredible slow computer that should take you about 10 minutes but it ends up taking an hour because I have to wait 5 minutes for everything to load. Even the start window takes for ever to load on that old thing. So hurray for technology and hurray for having my wonderful fast computer back. And with a better computer comes more blog posts so everyone wins.

So this past friday my wonderful dad decided we needed to have some quality family time together and what better way to do that than at a D-Backs baseball game. I have to admit Steven has tried to convince me to go to baseball games with him before and i'm not one to jump at the chance to go. I just don't enjoy baseball for the game its self like he does but... if the right people are going I'm totally on board.

Dad and Diane

Dallas and Natalie

Cameron and Alma

The Raisors

We had my Dad, Diane, Cameron and his wife Alma, Dallas and Natalie and Steven Jace and I. It was really fun even though I spent the majority of the game trying to wrestle with the 14 month old. We actually ended up going down to a little play yard they had there for the little kids to get some of his energy out he was much better for us after that.

Unfortunately even with our Rally caps on and everything the D-backs lost terribly 10-6 to the Braves and even more sad was they couldn't do the fireworks show. I guess it had something to do with high winds or some other sort of baloney. Oh well though the whole experience was fun and we'd love to do it again.

Mommy and JaceKisses for Daddy
Thank you for taking me to the game daddy =)

Fathers and Sons

Jace and I went on a fathers and sons camp out this last weekend. I know everyone is probably thinking I am crazy for taking my 13 month old child on a camp out. I have to just say to that.... you are absolutly correct! I am really dumb for doing it. Let me explain though. We left about 3:30 friday afternoon, so we got to the camp site a little before six. At that time it was just starting to rain where we were but I assumed it would stop sometime or another and we could just have fun. Well, it never really stopped.
That is strike number one. Jace and I didn't let that get to us though as you can see from the pics Jace got to play a little in the car while I cooked so he wouldn't wander off and also to protect him from the rain a bit. After dinner someone put up a huge tarp and the guys sort of gathered in a circle and just hung out by latern light. this was Jace's favorite part. He loved standing in the middle of everyone and dancing throwing dirt and climbing onto people's laps. At this point I thought everything was going to turn out great.

But then it was bed time. Here is where strike two happened. First off let me explain that I thought this through quite a bit and felt prepared for bed time. Boy was I wrong. I had his pack and play in the tent with some of his favorite blankets and set up to his liking. I dont know if it was the rain, being in the tent, or just him knowing there were people outside but Jace would not go to sleep at all. So about 12:30ish I finally tried putting Jace in his car seat. This seemed to work initially yet after about 15 minutes he decided it wasn't comfortable. With out draging it out too much longer I ended up holding Jace in the front seat of the car wrapped in a blanket the whole night so he would stay asleep. Me getting maybe an hour of sleep because Jace would move every ten to twenty minutes.
The only good thing was that in the middle of the night it stopped raining. I thought maybe we could have a fun morning and move on from the terrible night of no sleep. The sun cam up about 5:30 in the morning and the rain came back about 5:35. that was stike three. So I put Jace down and packed up the unused tent and crib and we were on our way home by 6:15.
All in all it was a fun trip, a fun and exhausting one thats for sure. The fun Jace had the night before made it worth it.
Next time we try camping I will make sure there is no chance of rain at all and Mom will be there to work her sleeping magic on the kid.