Tis' the Season

Well, we are doing well! Keeping so busy with getting ready for the holidays. A couple in the ward bought us this outfit for Maggie and I just love it!! The kids love when she gets dressed in it too. They have a lot of fun with Maggie.
We got our Christmas tree on Monday. I think we got it in record time since the temperature was something like 21 degrees. It was so cold, and that was around 2 in the afternoon! I have most of my shopping done, except sometimes extended family can be the hardest to shop for!
Something fun, I went with my cousin this afternoon to the Scholastic books warehouse and volunteered there and got credit $10 for every hour I helped out there. So we helped for 4 hours then went shopping and I got some great things there! The lady was ringing things up and my total was almost $100, but after my work credit and the discounts she gave me (like just throwing things in my box, "I'll just give you that") I spent $23 of my own money. The $100 total was after the books were already marked down 25-80% off too! Smoking deals! I would love to go back and help again before the sale ends next weekend but who knows what time will be like. Plus, the only way you can get in there is if you're a teacher or a volunteer. Thanks Merilee for taking me with you!!
We are down to 1 car right now as Ryan's truck is having problems. We barely made it home the other day with our Christmas tree!!

Funeral

I have no pictures for this but thought it was funny! So we went to the funeral for Keith Hansen, Patriarch Hansen, this morning and they had a nursery for the little ones. I had Abby and Sammie with me so I took them into the nursery to play and save myself some sanity. When I went to pick them up at the end they were no where to be found. Apparently they had taken all the kids from the nursery to the chapel so they could sing the closing song with the family. I guess they thought my kids were part of the Hansen family. It was great. At the end Nancy Hansen told me thanks for letting their family borrow my kids for a little while, as if they need more girls! When I found Abby and Sammie they had seated themselves on the couch out in the foyer and Abby was pouting. She was mad that they made her go in there and sing. It was so funny! At least I didn't leave her at a funeral home!!

R & R

So two weekends ago we took off and went to Spokane for some much needed R & R. It was so much fun. We're going to have to do it again soon! On Saturday we took the kids horse back riding on my brother, Paul's, horses then my Mom and Step-dad took the kids back to their place so the adults, Ryan & I and my brothers, Paul & Aaron, could go on a ride together. All the kids were really excited to ride and none of them were scared this time! It was so nice. It's been years since I've gotten to go riding. I used to ride all the time, I'd come home from school, get a snack then go out and saddle up my horse and ride. It was always so relaxing and fun. I didn't remember how dirty you get though. It was so well worth it!
Then on Sunday we had a small party for Abby and Aaron's birthday. There were some of my Uncles and Aunts and cousins there and it was so good to see my family again. Growing up we used to always get together and I have really missed that, especially the hugs!! There's just something about the love that only family can give!!
So here's some pictures from our vacation. Enjoy!!
P.S. We decided not to sell right now. We're waiting till we have more money set aside for the replacement!

Riding horses
















Family party and hugs for Uncle Paul, and Paul talking with our uncle, Merlin who is deaf



Ryan and Paul playing football with the kids









Ring around the rosies and smashy face kisses for Nicolas



And my scruffy faced man! That's how I like him!

Busy, busy, busy

We have been so busy lately! Maggie was blessed on Sunday, Sept. 6th. It was nice to have family over. I finished Maggie's blessing dress late Saturday night. My Mom wasn't able to make it over for the blessing so I called her and told her she was missing out on the late night finishing of the dress! She wasn't too sad about that part. I haven't wanted to hardly look at my sewing machine lately. I need to pull it out again soon and get started on my Christmas sewing. I procrastinated on her dress but got it done and she looked so cute. The pictures don't do her justice because she's not in a great position for this but she's still cute as ever!!
This is cousin Stephanie holding Maggie. Stephanie is 9 months pregnant with her little Ruby. Stephanie also had a baby a little after I had Sammie. I swear our kids had so much fun up in heaven together that they had to come right after each other! Stephanie's the BEST! I absolutely love her!
The kids then started school on Tuesday, Sept. 8th. They are so cute. We take their picture together as they are ready to leave on the first day.
This one of Dominic is so funny and so much like him. He's always so silly and trying to get us to laugh!
These are a few miscellaneous pictures.

Dominic and Maggie
Sammie and Maggie
Maggie

My Durango we're putting up for sale so we can get something bigger. If you know someone who wants it let me know!! :)

Here's Maggie!

Our little Maggie is finally here!

Magdalana "Maggie" Lorraine Pond was born on Tuesday, July 28th at 11:45 am. She weighed 7# 9 oz. and was 20 in. long.
She cried when she first came out but then they put her on my tummy and she just snuggled up and laid there very content. It was really sweet. Later we caught her sucking her thumb so we couldn't pass that one up. She has done it a few times but nothing regular yet, it's only been a few days.
I went into the hospital at 6:30 am and they hooked me up to the pitocin at 7 am to get her to drop down a little further so they could break my water and not worry about the cord wrapping around her neck. The doctor broke my water just after 9 am. I got the epidural about 10:45 am so when the contractions got stronger I would be ready. They had me leaning more on my right side so it took only on that side. At 11:15 am I was only dilated to 5-6 cm. At 11:30 am the contractions were getting stronger but still not too bad. I just remember them being so much worse than what they were this time even still feeling it on one side, so anyway, the nurse checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to push. They had to call another doctor from my doctor's office since mine was in surgery so the mid-wife ran across the parking lot from the office. Maggie was born at 11:45 am. It was pretty fast and a lot easier than I had thought it was going to be.
My Mom and Step-Dad came into town to help with the kids and to help take care of things after
we came home from the hospital. They were true lifesavers! It has been so nice to have them here. The kids have had a lot of fun with them too! They brought the kids over to the hospital to see Maggie and spend some time with us.

Ryan's parents also came over to the hospital later so we snapped
this picture of Ryan's Mom, Mary, with Maggie.
Louie was content to sit and watch. Mary sat and played with Maggie's face and discovered a little dimple on her right cheek. We hope it's here to stay.


All the kids are adjusting to having Maggie around and love to hold her. Abby loves to kiss her and can't seem to get enough kisses in and is really good at holding her by herself. Sammie loves her but is more content for others to hold her while she watches, touches and kisses her. Lillian likes to hold her but is more content to watch at this point too. Seth and Dominic, as much as they were not excited about another girl, love to hold her and watch her and are curious with everything we do with her. It's like they're protective big brothers or something!



Oh, and Ryan is content to hold, hug, kiss, and love his little "half-pint".
He's such an amazing Daddy! He has had this week off of work and only works half days next week. He is such a great help and support.



We are so excited to have Maggie in our home. She has such a sweet little spirit and sleeps so good. She has slept through the night every night so far, knock on wood! Thank you to all of you for your love and support to our family. We are so blessed with such great family and friends!!!







P.S. We will be blessing her in our ward on Sunday, September 6th, on Labor Day weekend. We welcome all who can attend. Church starts at 9 am.

Helping Hands

I had to share this because it was too funny and so like my children. Sammie is potty training so we have to stop at each store and take her potty. In Target the girls went potty and while I took my turn I asked Lil and Abby to help Sammie wash her hands. This is what I came out to:


It was so funny I told them to hold their pose for a minute so I could grab it. I have great kids who are willing to help each other out! It makes my heart feel good!

Strawberries

Yesterday I took the kids berry picking and had a great time. I love all the berries that grow all around here in Oregon. In 45 minutes we had collected 21 pounds of strawberries, which isn't hard to do, and took them home and ate about 3 pounds between us, the kids and my in-laws. We are freezing the rest to use them throughout the year. The kids got right in there and helped pick and we had a great time. It was nice in that I could just kneel down between the rows and pick on both sides of me and didn't have to worry about bending over with this big basketball that's in here. The rest of the berries won't be ready for picking for another 3-4 weeks so I hope to get some of those picked and put away before Maggie comes. I will try to remember to get pictures when we go berry picking next month.
Maggie is due to come on July 30th but as any pregnant woman hopes, I hope she comes a little early. I am not ready to face the heat and all that comes with it this time around. We have her cradle all set up in our bedroom. The kids are so excited for the new baby. I feel better prepared this time than when Sammie was born with only 17 months difference between her and Abby. That one was hard but there will be about 2 1/2 years between Sammie and Maggie and other kids are older and better understand how to get the chores done around the house. That is a complete blessing in itself!!!
The kids are enjoying their summer break. Lillian had a little kindergarten graduation and was so cute and grown up. She can act so mature sometimes. She cracks me up.
What does one write on blog pages? This is my first time so I will try to be more interesting later. I just wanted to get something on here so I can play around with it some more and get better familiar with it. I will be putting pictures up of our little Maggie when she is born so be sure to check back.