A New Day

My days used to be filled with running around at work, home, and the barn. I now cater to a new CEO, Cole.

This picture best describes how I felt this morning during our early morning diaper change....as little man pooped for the FOURTH time (yes that's right) during the same diaper change causing poop to be all over me, the changing table, his clothes and himself AND topping that off with a fresh stream of pee into the air, I threw in the towel and said "Little Man, we are just going to go for the bath."

"Ahhhhh..." fresh and clean he finally his, happy with a bottle, going back to dream land.

He was just kidding though..... there was a grumbling....and then spit up. Spit up everywhere! On him, me, the couch and the pillow.

Off again to change him.... mothers everywhere are well aware of the awful smell the follows a good spit up. ;-)

After two hours of changing, bathing, feeding and changing again. My new CEO is finally happy!


The joys of being a mother!

I wouldn't change a minute of it......

How can it be?

Do you ever stop and take a look at your life and think How can it be? How can it be....that I am this blessed and lucky? Let's face it, if we have a cell phone and a T.V. in our house than we are extremely lucky. But what about the stuff that really counts....? Like that little face up above that I get to wake up to everyday. How can it be that I am that lucky?

Cole Dallin Walkenhorst was born on Feb. 17th at 6:41 pm. It was and is the most incredible experience of my life. This little man who had been kicking me for the last few months and whose little spirit blessed me everyday finally arrived.

Amazingly enough, despite the fact that the pregnancy was a challenge for me I was lucky enough that labor and delivery was....... easy? (that seems like the wrong word....I mean come on easy????) And How can that be? I'm not usually that lucky, but there it was I pushed little man out in about 40 min. Even the labor part, which started at 9 a.m., wasn't as bad as I had anticipated it would be. So o.k. I opted for the pain meds (who wouldn't?) which made my life blissful during labor and I settled in to watch the Olympics. Love it!

Then at 6:00 p.m. the nurse announces that it is time to push. I remember being so nervous! Would everything be o.k.? Could I really do this? Will little man be o.k.? (I was already on oxygen for him) But then Dallin took my hand in his and looked me with so much love, adoration, understanding, and support that I knew I could do it with him holding my hand.

The first push began... I didn't know really what to do, but I tried to figure it out. The nurse and Dallin counted out the push 1,2,3,4...etc.... 10! Oh my gosh! So much harder than I thought! Second push 1,2,3.... Ah! The light clicks on and a force that I can only describe as nature taking over shows me how to push. I followed my instincts and all of the sudden I can hear the nurse saying "Good job! We can see his head! I will go call the Dr.!"

Dallin so excited says to me "He has hair!" This is a shock because I was as bald as my dad when I was born and expected little man to be the same. Then another contraction starts and Dallin says "Get ready to push sweetheart!" I looked at him with utter shock and said "The nurse isn't here!" Dallin grabs a latex glove, snaps it on and says "We aren't going to lose ground! I'm here, push!" At this point all I can do it trust him and so I push and he helps me out the same way the nurse was. Trying to make room for little man's head.

A couple of minutes later the nurse and Dr. show up....and about 30 min after that Cole arrived!!!

How can it be???? To be this blessed.

Bless Me!

Here it is. By popular demand, the pink footsie PJ's that you should all kiss your husbands for NOT getting YOU this year. The saddest little picture I have ever taken. Can we all say it together now? "That's right Randy show mommy how little piggies eat *oink,oink*!"

P.S. I think I should get credit for being brave enough to actually post this picture..... I look SO much bigger than I am! Right *wink wink*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

"It's somebody's birthday I wonder who! It's somebody's birthday, it must be you!" We are celebrating Michelle's birthday this weekend.........

So in honor of Michelle here are the the TOP TEN REASONS why I love Michelle!

Numero 1) She married my big brother and has since then made him the happiest I have ever seen him! (She also says stuff like numero uno)

#2) In the eleven (has it been 11? Scary!) years that I have known Michelle I have not once, ever, ever even heard a peep of a swear word come out of her mouth..... seriously! Not ever! I love that!

#3) She has the best Sleeping Beauty hair (i.e. blonde locks) I have ever seen and isn't afraid of telling people that she keeps it that way by "Maintaining her natural hair color."

#4) She loves everything pink, lacey, princess, ruffles and with bows on it! She embraces everything femine and loves to be a girl! One of her favorite movies is even "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"!

#5) I have never, ever, ever heard her judge others. In fact, she is always quick to give others the benefit of the doubt, forgive, and love them even more.

#6) She has raised four of the cutess, most polite, well behaved, love to learn, mommy loving, curious, and kind children I have been able to spend time with. I can only hope that I will be able to be that good of a mom.

#7) She is in my Top Three of Classiest Women I know!

#8) She has always made me feel like we are genuine sisters. She has never made me feel bad, judged, or less than who I am.....she has always reminded me, in only a way that Michelle could do, that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father and he loves me. Which has been a priceless lesson that I continue to learn.

#9) She loves "Chick Flicks" with happy endings that has cute kissing.

#10) She loves being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She loves teaching her children what that means. She loves what being a member brings into her home and into her life. She shares that joy with everyone she meets just by being who she is. She is what we all hope to be loving, joyful, generous, charitable, honest, and spirtiual and I feel very blessed that she is in my life.

Presents, Footsie PJ's and Rubber Chickens

This is Ottis showing how I feel after all the Christmas parties and ,oh yes, the food!

I know, though, you all want to know what is up with the rubber chickens. Lets just say there were too many rubber chickens at the Thurber Christmas Party (thanks to Aunt Marcia and Uncle Gary). Everyone, including the hubs, was in on stealing the rubber chickens from everyone else! The hubs even for just a few minutes stole the rubber chicken from little Lena! However, Christmas magic prevailed and little Lena still ended up with her rubber chicken and loved him to the bitter end of the party. Here is a picture of Lena minutes before the rubber chicken hiest of 2009!

Footsie PJ's......all little kids get footsie PJ's for Christmas. It's tradition! How many of you adults can say you have received footsie PJ's? I can now say that I am part of the elite few who have. The hubs thought it would be great fun to get me baby pink footsie PJ's with butt flap and all! Here is the thing though.....women who are almost eight months pregnant in head to toe baby pink look more like a baby piggie than an adult wearing fun and comfy PJ's. I promise pictures will soon follow. Slap on the curly tail and call me "Babe". "That will do pig, that will do pig."

Insomnia and Santa Claus

It is now 2:15 a.m. and I'm still not in dream land. Ottis, of course, must be chasing snowflakes in his dreams. He is running and whinning, at times almost barking. Amazingly, none of this is waking up the hubs who finished his second 14 hour day today. Hubs is working extra hard since school is out to get extra vacation for when out newest arrival, our "little man", makes his debut.

Speaking of our "little man" (I'm sure this is common for most mom's to be or mom's that are) you get a little sense of what their spirit is like. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, that my mom instincts have already kicked in, but I like to think that our "little man" is already with us, in our home, blessing our lives, and quitely telling Ottis that soon, very soon, food will be dropped on the floor everyday for everymeal. (Maybe that's what Ottis dreams about)

I believe our "little man" must be very excited to be coming here, seeing as he keeps trying to arrive early. I can feel the strain of my belly as he pushes his way around, already bored with what most undoubtly be a very redundant place to hang out. It seems that he already may have the same zest for life that his daddy has! I doubt my abilities to keep up with those two once time marches on and "little man" can move and grove outside of the safe haven of my belly.

For now, though it doesn't seem to matter how many times his daddy puts his hands on my belly and tells him to "be nice to his mother and just enjoy it in there" the little man wants out! He wants to see what everyone has told him about, wants to experience it right away! Let's face it though who can blame him? It is almost Christmas and Santa is coming........
Have you made your list and checked it twice? ;-)

Grateful

Today, as I woke up at seven to get ready for work, I glanced over at a peacefully slumbering Ottis and wished that I could trade places with my delightful English Mastiff. Who, by the way, was creating a very impressive puddle of slobber on his giant brown bed and at that moment was also snoring louder than my sweet husband.
Why? Would I possibly want to switch places with a 125 lbs. beast that sometimes can clear a room with his noxious fumes?
Well, Ottis gets to sleep in, have breakfast magically appear in his own special bowl, his dad, Dallin (also my husband) gives him bacon for sitting down pretty, he can eat eveything and still maintain his girlish figure, and most importantly he gets to take naps any time he wants. I would bet that every pregnant woman in the world would love this opportunity to take a nap at any time.
As I headed off to work this morning wishing I could be a smelly, slobbery, hairy beast just so I could sleep in it occurd to me that since becoming pregnant I am not really that far off from my 125 lbs. puppy. After all, we both drool when we smell bacon, we both enjoy laying in front of the fireplace, and we have both gotten our winter coats. In my case, however, you could call it a pregnancy coat?
Even though it is fun to complain about all the delightful and not so delightful (noxious fumes) events that happen throughout pregnancy my favorite thing of all is the opportunity that I have been given to be a mom. Being pregnant means that Dallin came home from Kuwait. We survived the deployment and we have been given the chance to create a family.
Although, times are tough, me being the size of a house, smelling occasionally like Ottis, money and time being tight due to work, school, and the new arrival coming soon we are grateful to be together at last. To sit together in front of the fireplace watching T.V. with Ottis lying next to us happily slumbering away is..........perfect.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

-President John F. Kennedy