First Snow

We woke up this morning to this:

It is only September! I am a little shocked and a lot scared of what our first winter in Casper will be like. I am not a fan of the cold or snow. Liam and Jonas on the other hand could not wait to finish getting ready for school so they could play in it before they left.

 

The nights have been getting really cold and we read in the forecast the night before that it would most likely snow but I was hoping they would be wrong.  I didn't bother looking for coats until this morning but luckily I knew where the still packed "winter coats" box was and that their coats from last year still fit them! 

Piece of Cake Bakery

Today for our Wednesday Fieldtrip we went to Piece of Cake Bakery owned by a lady in our ward. She gave us a tour of her kitchen and showed us how she can make fancy flowers with frosting. Then each kid got to frost their own mini cupcake and dip it in sprinkles! 

First Haircut

Nolan's hair has been out of control since he was born but the past week has been extra bad. We try to wet it and comb it flat against his head but Nate says it makes him look like he has a comb over. He has a bald spot on the back of his head from rubbing against the crb mattress/carseat/floor so the back (at the bottom) was long and the top was really long. There was a little too much Conan O'Brien style going on so we decided to cut it. 

Before: 

After:

Donells Candy Shop

Today for our Wednesday Field Trip we went on a tour of a little candy shop that has been around for over 50 years. Our tour was scheduled for 1pm - right during Adele's nap time but there was no way I was going to miss a tour of a chocolate factory! It was started by a man named Don and his wife in 1956. He is still alive and runs the shop with his son, grand kids and great grand kids. They took us on a tour of the back where we watched Don making coconut clusters and got to see the chocolate stirring around in a huge drum. We also got to see the ice cream maker, the popcorn popper and watch them dump out a fresh batch of toffee. Of course we had to try out some candy and it was great. I think this is the kind of place we'll add to our list of places to take people when they come visit us (so you should come)!

Our Wallpaper Nightmare

We started removing wallpaper last week. I was hesitant to start because I have heard of so many horrible stories of wallpaper that would not come off, or would come off it tiny pieces. Our entire first floor (besides the 3 bedrooms) is covered in wallpaper so I knew it was going to be a huge job and that our house was pretty much going to look terrible while we worked on it.  We thought the wallpaper looked pretty terrible too (just not our taste) so what did we have to lose?





After reading many tips and tricks online and watching many videos we bought a steamer. I was pleasantly surprised how easily the wallpaper came off. For the most part it was coming off in nice big pieces.



It left the backing, which we expected, but using the steamer it was softening and coming off in pretty big pieces too (with some scraping to help it along).

My excitement over how well it was all going might have been premature. The next step is to remove all of the glue from the walls. I have tried a combination of steaming, scraping, spraying with a fabric softener/water mix, wiping and scrubbing. It is working but at this rate we will be lucky if our walls are ready to paint by the end of the year! This is how much I cleaned in an hour and a half (about a 1ft by 4 ft section).

All of that yucky brown stuff? That is glue! If any of you have any fabulous tips for removing this stuff please, please, please share them!

Green Acres Corn Maze

A lady in our new ward has organized a group of moms to do field trips around the area every Wednesday. Today our trip was to the Green Acres Corn Maze. The kids got to play in the corn pit (filled with hard corn kernels), we went on a tractor ride to a petting zoo, walked through the corn maze and then played some more in the corn pit.

I thought this pony was going to eat Adele's hair!

Our First Home

September 3 we closed on our first home! We are so excited to finally have a house of our own that we can fix up and decorate any way we want.

It was a long process that started before we left Kentucky. We contacted a Bishop from one of the eight wards in Casper, WY to try and find out if they knew of any house rentals. He passed our contact information on to the other Bishops and leaders in the area. One of the people to contact us was a woman whose Mom was trying to sell her house. They were trying to sell it without a realtor first but were wanting to list it very soon if they couldn't find a buyer. We didn't think we should buy a house without knowing the area at all so we kept looking for rentals. Very soon in our search we realized that rentals were very hard to find and VERY expensive. Buying a house was not sounding so bad after all. They sent us pictures and we talked to quite a few people about the different neighborhoods in Casper.  Everything about it was starting to sound perfect for us: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, finished basement, 2 car garage, fenced backyard, great neighborhood. We felt a little crazy buying a house without actually seeing it so one day Nate hopped in his car and drove to Wyoming (with a stop in Missouri on the way). Just to make sure we were making a good decision he went out with a realtor and saw about 20 other houses. After a full day of seeing what Casper had to offer he was certain this was the best house for our family. We had already started the process of figuring out if we would even qualify for a loan. We found out we would but they couldn't close on the sale until he started his new job and had his first pay check - at the very end of August. We were pretty crushed because we thought that meant we would have to pass on this house and start looking again after Nate started work. Thankfully the owner was willing to rent to us (for a much lower amount than standard rentals) until we could close. This meant we could move right in and get settled. We have lived in the house now for a little over two months and are very happy with it. There are quite a few things we'd like to change/fix (blue carpet and tons of wallpaper to name a couple) so we are looking forward to getting started!

Meet Nolan!

I woke up at 6:45 am and felt my first contraction before I even got out of bed. At 39 weeks this wasn't anything unusual. Over the next hour while I helped the kids get ready for school I had another 4 or 5 contractions which was unusual for me. Nate left for work and I didn't mention anything to him. I didn't want him to worry about me possibly being in labor while he was teaching because I figured they would stop at some point anyways. I had planned on going grocery shopping that morning so went ahead and got ready to go since we needed food in the house whether I was in labor or not. While at the store I didn't have a single contraction but shortly after I got home they started up again. I put Adele down for her nap and as it was getting closer to time to pick up Liam and Jonas from school the contractions were getting stronger. I was only having them every 20-30 minutes but they were really painful. I was very happy when Nate called to say he was on his way home from work and could pick them up on his way home - but I still didn't mention that I thought I was in labor. When they got home I told him and we called some of our good friends (who volunteered to watch the kids) to alert them that we thought it was happening. The wife, Lisa, was at track practice with her daughter and was going to be finished around 4:30. I continued to have contractions but they weren't very consistent. It would be 10 minutes, then 20, then 15. I wasn't convinced I was actually in labor except that they were so strong! I was going to be pretty upset if I was in all of this pain for nothing! At around 4:30 I called my mom to tell her I was pretty sure I was in labor and we decided I should probably call my midwife before their office closed to see what they thought I should do. They suggested I head into the hospital because my midwife would be going in to check on some patients anyways. They would be able to tell if I was actually in labor. We got the kids ready and arranged to meet up with our friend at Wendy's so everyone could have something to eat. By the time we go there at 5:30 my contractions had jumped to every 6 minutes and were REALLY strong.

The hospital was around 15 minutes away. They were very quick in the emergency room to get me checked in. Nate was sure to tell them that I really wanted an epidural. I was so grateful when they brought me a wheel chair because it was getting really hard to walk. When they got me up to labor and delivery and checked me I was an 8! Could not believe it! I had only been having regular contractions at 6 minutes apart for an hour or so but I was already an 8 with a "bulging water". They said they were trying as hard as they could to move things along quickly but weren't sure if they would be able to get the epidural fast enough. I was pretty sure at that point it wouldn't be happening because this baby would be here very soon. They continued to get things set up and told me my midwife would be in soon. I kept having contractions 6 minutes apart and then had that familiar feeling of needing to push. The only other person in the room was a nurse standing across the room and when I said I felt like pushing she didn't seem worried and just told me my midwife was on her way. My body was doing this midwife or not! Right away my water broke, the midwife came in and they had me start pushing through the contractions. I think it only took 4 or 5 contractions before he was born at 7:16.

I had decided before hand that I wouldn't be sending the baby to the nursery. I had been told by multiple people, without even asking that they often give babies bottles in the nursery without asking the mom. I was not okay with that and thought it would be easiest to keep him with me. So once he was born and they made sure we were both okay they all just left us alone. It was so nice to be able to cuddle our little red-headed babe all alone and try and figure out what to name him! We didn't want to announce his birth to our families until we had a name. We had a list with us and went over a bunch of combinations until we came up with

Nolan Thomas

 

 He was 7 pounds, 7 ounces, 19.5 inches and had tons of bright red hair.

36 weeks!

 (with Adele)

I thought it would be fun to do another comparison post between this pregnancy and when I was pregnant with Adele. I am down to the point where I have an appointment every week from now on. Friday they are going to do an ultrasound and try to get his weight. I am feeling alright, besides hip pain, varicose veins, pelvic pain, heart burn, fatigue and (some in my family might say) emotional instability. :)

I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea that we are going to have a baby in a month! Not just another baby though, 4 KIDS! You would think it would have sunken in by now since we've had 8 months to prepare, but it hasn't. Either way he will be here in roughly 4 weeks!

33 weeks!

I am officially 33 weeks today! People keep commenting on how I couldn't possibly get any bigger! One man at church on Sunday said there was no way I was going to make it until April. I decided it was time to take a picture and compare it to the ones I took when I was pregnant with Adele. I didn't  have a 33 week photo with Adele but how do you think it compares to this 34 week one?  Slightly different shape maybe, but pretty close I'd say. It cracks me up that people think I am big now...wait until I am a week overdue! I'll admit I was starting to think I had reached my skins max stretching point, until I looked at my 40 week photo with Adele. I will definitely be getting MUCH bigger.

It's a Boy!

We found out yesterday that we are definitely having another baby boy.  Before they started the ultrasound the lady asked us if we were hoping for either one and we told her we all we kind of wanting a girl. As Liam and Jonas put it - it would be "fair" if we had a girl because we would be even! Almost as soon as she started looking around I thought I saw something and said, "it's a boy, isn't it?" She said yes, it looked like we were having a boy. She was doing a few other things like listening to the heart and measuring stuff and I asked how certain they were that it was a boy. My midwife was in the room with us and she said she would be very surprised if it wasn't a boy. The technician looked one more time and this is what we saw...

Yeah, pretty certain we are having another boy! :)

I was a little nervous to tell Liam and Jonas when they got home from school because both of them really wanted to have another girl. I have seen some videos online where the kids freaked out when they found out they weren't going to have the sibling they wanted. They took it pretty well, Jonas better than Liam. There was no crying or pouting like the videos! I honestly think that Liam is just concerned that he is going to have to share his room with another little brother. I assured him that at least for the first couple of years the new baby will be sharing a room with Adele.

I will be good...

I was going through Jonas' backpack the other day and found this. His explanation is that the whole class had to write sentences because everyone was being bad...except for him of course!

(I don't know why Blogger feels the need to rotate my picture for me!)

Halloween!

Jonas as Jay from Lego Ninjago

 Liam the zombie ghost

Adele the bee

Living in a small-ish town they do Halloween a little differently. Because Halloween fell on a Wednesday the county decided to schedule trick-or-treating on Tuesday from 6 to 8 since Wednesdays are when most churches around here do their youth night (ours included). As Tuesday got closer it was pretty obvious that there was going to be bad weather, possibly even a blizzard, so they rescheduled trick-or-treating for Thursday from 6 to 8. I was pretty excited that we actually got to go trick-or-treating because I spent a lot of time putting these costumes together and was going to be pretty upset if they never got to wear them! Their elementary school is just a street away from the downtown area and a little tradition is for the kids to go trick-or-treating to the businesses on Halloween. The weather was cold and wet that day so the businesses came to the school and set up in the gym so they could still go. These kids are spoiled!

Another thing they do differently is where you go trick-or-treating. The way the town is laid out is not very convenient for hitting a lot of houses at once. You might have a cluster of 10 here and another 10 a mile away. So instead of driving from house cluster to house cluster almost everyone goes to the only "normal" subdivision in the area. The poor residents of this subdivision end up passing out candy to like 600 people! They seem to be good sports about it though and most of them bring chairs out into their driveways so the kids don't have to walk all the way up to the door (spoiled!). We went last year and I was completely overwhelmed with the number of people and a little embarrassed that we were going there even though we didn't live there. There is a couple in our Branch that live there and the always host a little get together so we have a meeting place and hangout. I didn't plan on going again this year and thought we'd just find a few houses around their school to go to. It's not like they needed a ton of candy anyways since they already went trick-or-treating at school! But Nate made plans to meet some of our friends so we went. We ended up having a lot of fun. The kids scored tons more candy and even Adele got into it (although she did keep trying to pick her own candy when she went to the houses). By the end of the night she had a sucker in each hand and was a happy girl!

First Snow

We woke up this morning to nice, wet, slushy snow. I am so not ready for this yet!

Glasses

Jonas had a yearly physical a couple of weeks ago at the county health department and we were pretty shocked to find out that he is deaf in one ear (with a possible hole in his ear drum) and legally blind in one eye. I couldn't believe that we had no idea there was a problem! I quickly scheduled appointments with his regular doctor and an eye doctor to figure out what was going on. Thankfully he passed the second hearing test with no problems. It seems the possible hole must have been a piece of wax that was no longer there. His eye exam went a lot better as well, but he did still need to get glasses. The doctors notes say, "Jonas is farsighted in both eyes and has astigmatism in his left eye. Eye glass have been prescribed and are to be worn full time. Ocular health is excellent." I picked up his glasses on Friday while he was at school so he has only been able to wear them a little bit on Friday and today. As of right now he loves them and when he wears them he can't stop touching them. We are a little worried about the "full time" thing because he is such an active kid - always running, playing and rough housing. We might start out with him not wearing them at recess -at least until he gets more used to them.

We think the problem at the health department was that the hearing test was the kind where they have to wear headphones, listen to noises and then raise their hand when they hear something. He must have misunderstood that he had to raise his right hand if he heard it in his right ear and left hand if he heard his left ear. We were pretty sure it was a case of him not understanding the instructions but thought we should get it checked out for sure ASAP.  I am starting to think he got a little nervous with the eye exam at the health department and that is why he got 20/70 on his left eye. It was the kind of exam where they look at a letter chart, cover an eye and name the letter. He knows his letters but it could be that he felt pressure to name them quickly and got nervous so didn't bother to try.

We are happy that is all worked out and that Jonas is not deaf or legally blind and that he looks SUPER CUTE in his glasses!

Family Car Wash

After a couple weeks of really cold (says me) weather we had four days of 80 degree weather. We thought it was the perfect time to wash our filthy cars!

 

 

 

 

And just for the record, I did put the camera down (eventually) and help out too!

Down on the Farm

Our friends the North's invited us over to their farm for a little birthday party for their son. The highlight of the night was when all of the kids got to ride their horse Puru. It was a first for all of them.

 

Liam was unsure about being so high up. He was definitely happy to get off!

 

 Adele just sat on her for a picture. She didn't know what to think and pretty much had this same look on her face the whole time. 

 

 Jonas was by far the most confident. He rode all the way down the street and back and even dared to take one of his hands off the saddle! 

 

The kids had a blast running around and climbing on anything they could. Then of course there was cake, ice cream and a pinata.