Don't Wait!

Our book "The Gift of Giving Life: Rediscovering the Divine Nature of Pregnancy and Birth" is coming out in print soon! We initially thought it would come out in November but the layout and editing took longer than expected. Right now it is looking like it will be off the press sometime in March!

This means that our pre-sales aren't going to last much longer and the 10% discount you get for ordering the book early will be ending really soon. So, if you are planning on buying a copy of the book sometime in the near or distant future (which I know lots of you are) I'd HIGHLY recommend doing it sooner rather than later. They probably won't be discounted again any time soon.

And trust me if you are, ever have been, or ever will be pregnant or if you have a friend or spouse who is, has been or will be pregnant you don't want to miss out on this book... it is really quite incredible collection of stories and testimonies. If you'd like to read some excerpts from the book or learn more about our project you can visit our website.

Go order your discounted copy now before it is too late!

Christmas and Beyond

I just realized that the only pictures I have from Christmas this year are all of Abe! He is just so cute. And plus I think I must have subconsciously felt bad for forgetting about him at the store that I had to make it up somehow!

Snuggling the puppy Hilary and Brittney gave him

Looking very pensive in Uncle Drew's arms

Getting gooshed by his Christmas bear

Getting attacked by his Christmas bear.
Jon and I couldn't resist this bear because it has the cutest overbite, and when we both saw it we immediately thought of Abe.

Oh, and I did get a pretty cute video of the kids on Christmas morning. I love it that the first thing Asher did, before checking for presents, was to see if Santa ate his cookies!

And I think Rose's favorite present was the "tinky bell" wand that Santa put in her stocking. She has carried it around for almost two weeks non-stop. She is really into Tinker Bell right now and is always making sure that everyone knows that she is "Tinky Bell". Whenever I make her food that she likes she always tells me, "Thanks mom, this is good tinky bell food."
It is pretty cute.

Plus it makes for some pretty exciting days to have Captain Hook and Tinker Bell at my house!

We also had a good New Years Eve. We invited some friends over but their kids ended up getting sick and so it was just the five of us, which was really fun.

We ended up roasting marshmallows and making s'mores in our fire place. The kids got really excited about going "camping" (which they equate with s'mores) and set up the tepee that Santa brought them for Christmas and filled with blankets and pillows.





We really had a good time.

Oh, and just so you know chewy chocolate chip Chips Ahoy cookies make GREAT alternatives to graham crackers and chocolate for s'mores. Really, they are awesome.

Oh, he is so cute!

Pirate Party

My sister-in-law was so sweet to offer to help throw Asher a pirate birthday party this year. He really, really wanted one but I didn't think I could pull it off with a newborn. So I really have Britt to thanks for this one. She did an awesome job.

Also, I'm really glad that she and my brother came to help with it because we totally needed four adults there. There is NO way that I could have handled seven pirate crazed 4-year-olds by myself.

Asher was so excited about having all his friends dressed up like pirates, but it also overwhelmed him a bit. He'd never had to entertain (ore share with) so many friends before and he didn't really know how to handle it. All the kids started out really hesitant at first but by the end of the party they had ingested enough sugar to really get into the pirate spirit and were running around the house like wild barbarians.

It was grand.

Playing pin the map on the "x"



Eating pirate booty



Asher pulling gold coins out of his pirate chest ( a present from Jon's uncle). Also, notice the keg of root beer sitting on the table, Jon's uncle also brought that over. It is the best root beer I've ever had and was just perfect for a pirate party. Though I'm not really sure that we should be encouraging kegs... or piracy for that matter.

Playing "dig for treasure". I wrapped some chocolate gold coins in layers of newspaper and tape. The kids had to roll the dice and whenever they got a 4 they had to put on gloves and "dig" in the newspaper with forks. They got really into it and boy, I tell you those little boys are deadly with forks! It was really cute to see them get so excited about it.

I had grand intentions of making a beautiful pirate cake but Asher insisted that he have a "captain" on his cake and that it be drawn a certain way. As a result my cake didn't turn out like I had imagined. In fact, I might venture to say that it was the worst pirate cake in the history of pirate cakes.

When Asher saw it the first thing he did was ask me why the captain had an octopus on his hat... and why it was pink. I tried to explain that it was suppose to be a skull and cross bones and that it was suppose to be red ( food coloring and me don't get a long) but I don't think he believed me. At least he was still happy with it.

And it tasted really good... which is all that really matters right?

All in all the party was a lot of fun. But I think that we will have to make birthday parties a special, every couple of years, thing because it was a lot of work! And I didn't even do most of it.

This wonderful lady did.

Thanks Britt!

Abraham's First Month

Okay, so he isn't quite a month yet but he is getting close. Which I can't believe. It is funny to think that if he had come two weeks late I could still be pregnant with him! I am starting to feel like I have a bit more of a handle on the three kid thing. Jon has been home for most of the month with me, he is working on writing his thesis and so he can do that from home, and it has really made our transition so smooth. He started going back to work last week and so far I feel like I've been doing okay on my own. Though there are certainly times when all hell breaks loose and everyone (including me) is crying or screaming. But I am giving myself a pretty big learning curve, I know that things will get better with time. I remember it was pretty crazy with Asher and Rose at first but we all figured it out sooner or later.

We haven't really been doing much the last month, which as been okay with me. It is cold outside and the idea of taking three kids out by myself is still a really daunting idea. So we've been reading lots of books and watching lots of movies. But I will try to update you a bit on what our Abey baby has been up to.

Meeting Grandparents!

I don't know what Rose is doing in this picture!

Meeting Aunts and Uncles (though there are still some of you he hasn't met yet!)

Being loved by his older siblings

I don't know when the excitement of a new baby is going to wear off, probably not anytime soon. Asher and Rose are still ALWAYS so excited to hold him and help with him. I feel bad because a lot of my time is spent saying "Don't touch the baby he is eating, don't touch the baby he is sleeping, don't touch the baby he is happy, don't touch the baby he is getting his diaper changed, and, "Ahh, don't squash the baby!" They just love him a bit "violently" at times, but they are getting much better. Asher always wants to carry him but we tell him he is too little still. But a few times over the last several weeks I've left the baby lying in his bouncy seat or on the couch and come back to find him in a different spot and a guilty look on Asher's face. He is actually really good with the baby but it scares me that he will drop him. I am sure glad God made newborns pretty tough... I guess He knew they'd have older siblings to contend with!

I can tell you now that this little boy is never going be lacking in attention. Especially from Rose, she has taken on quite the role of the little mother. Quite often I find her shutting all the doors to the he family room and locking herself inside with Abe... which scares me. Yet the other day I opened the door and found this.

She was singing him a song and giving him his pacifier. It was so sweet! Speaking of pacifiers Rose has taken to using one lately. She ditched hers at about 4 months old but now that the baby has one she thinks she needs one too!

It is also really cute to hear her say his name. It comes out "A-ham". Someone the other day though she said "Ahab" and looked a little bewildered!

Celebrating his Dad's 30th Birthday (I know! We are getting SO old!)

Asher REALLY wanted everyone to wear a party hat for Jon's birthday party, so even Abe got one. If you look really close you can see the little baby that Asher drew on his hat.

I also made Jon a cake with duckweed on it.

I figured that it was appropriate this year since he is up to his elbows in duckweed data and research. Also, it seemed like a much more classy way to honor the "'International Toilet Day" theme he insists on celebrating each year.

Celebrating Thanksgiving!

His first time going out in the car seat. He just looks so tiny in there.

Asher and Rose at Grandma Bay's house. They got their own little spot and were pretty excited about it. Here I caught them breaking into their table decoration treats before dinner started! Oh, and I realized this year that every time I have had Thanksgiving at my in-laws house I've either been pregnant (Asher) or just had a new baby (Rose and Abe). We switch between families every other year and so that means that every time I've had Christmas with my family I've had a new baby! Crazy.

Snuggling his hot water bottle

Lately Abe has been really gassy in the evenings and it makes him really fussy. Our midwife suggested putting a hot water bottle under his belly to help relax his tummy and get the bubbles out. One night we decided to try this but realized that we didn't have a hot water bottle and since we no longer have a microwave we couldn't heat up our corn bags either. Jon got creative and filled a Ziploc bag up with hot water and put it in a grocery sack. It worked wonders. Abe snuggled right up to it and fell right asleep. I think he liked that it was big, round and squishy like a breast!

I was nervous though about him suffocating on the plastic bag (not to mention it started to leak) and so I went out the next day and bought a real hot water bottle. He really likes it a lot and it helps with the gas.

He is really such a sweetheart. His little chicken legs are starting to fill out a bit which sort of makes me sad. The newborn stage goes by so quickly! And in true Heather fashion I've already given him several nicknames. I call him "Abe", which makes sense, as well as "monkey", "mister mister", and "munchkin", none of which make much sense. But hey at least I get his name right all the time which is more than Jon can say!

Let Me Introduce You to...

Abraham Bay

Born two weeks "early"!

on Thursday, 11-10-11

@ 7:57 PM

6 lbs 15 oz (smaller than my others by almost 2 lbs!)

20 3/4 inches

And practically perfect in every way.

We are a little tired (mom, dad and baby) and
a little thrilled beyond what we can handle (Asher and Rose)
but we are just loving every moment with this new little boy.

Life is sweet.



Really sweet.

Two Months of Halloween

Can I be honest and say that part of me is really glad that Halloween is over? My kids started getting excited about Halloween way back at the end of August and after two months of reading Halloween books, talking about Halloween costumes, and squealing with delight every time we pass a "Halloween House" (a house with Halloween decorations) I am sort of glad to have a break until next year! Even though it has been really fun to see them BOTH get so excited about a holiday. Maybe all their energy will now be directed towards Christmas... I guess I will just have to wait and see.

We started out our festivities a few days early with a Halloween party at their Grandma's house. It was the first time they got to wear their costumes and they were thrilled. Not to mention they got to spend time with River, which always makes them happy.

This is a cute video of the kids at the Halloween party and you can see Rose's bat costume really well. Asher is grumpy because he hasn't had a nap.

We had TONS of pumpkins this year because last year I threw a pumpkin out in our garden and all the seeds sprouted. I transplanted about 20 of them to Jon's uncle's garden and they did really well. We harvested 74 pumpkins! Most of which we shared with friends and family. Rose was especially attached to her "baby pumpkin" and carried it around like it was a real baby. She almost didn't let me carve it because she didn't want me to poke it with a knife. Yet when she saw that Asher was doing it she changed her mind.

She "helped" by coloring all over it!

Asher named his pumpkin something goofy like "googagerma". He comes up with the craziest names whenever you ask him to name something. Most of the time no one can remember them... not even him!

And here is my bat pumpkin... I'm sort of proud of it.

I sewed both of the kid's Halloween costumes this year and I am really happy with how they turned out. Asher's hat is a bit big and so it kept slipping down over his face, but other than that they turned out better than I thought they would. And Asher was pretty thrilled about having a complete pirate outfit. He has been wearing it non-stop since Halloween and insists on being called "Captain Hook" or "Asher the Nice Pirate" ( I told him mean pirates aren't allowed in our house.) He has also been carrying around his hook non-stop (I didn't make it, his Grandma gave him) for the last month or so. It goes EVERYWHERE with him, except for the bathtub. It is actually getting to be sort of gross and I need to figure out away to get it off his hand long enough to wash it!

Rose really wanted to be a bat this year. I don't know where she got the idea but she was pretty enthusiastic about it. It was really cute to see her flap her arms and pretend to be a bat. Actually her favorite thing is to put her costume on and jump off the couch while flapping her arms. She really got into her part!

Jon and I didn't dress up this year. Asher told us that he wanted me to be a princess and Jon to be a donkey (I have no idea why!). I just didn't have the energy to try to figure out costumes for us this year, and I didn't fit into any of my old costumes because my belly is too big!

For trick-or-treating we just went to our Ward's trunk-or-treat. Which, in my opinion, is ideal for little kids because the walking is very minimal and it wasn't too cold! Someone in our neighborhood rigged up a trailer with a strobe light and scary music that kids could walk through. Rose was too scared to go inside but she sure had fun rocking to the music outside. I caught a bit of it on video, but wish I'd gotten her a bit earlier when she was REALLY going at. Oh, and the skunk is just too cute too!

Gratefully the kids have now blazed through all their Halloween candy (I still have a little stash hidden away) and so now life is getting back to normal. Though I don't know if Asher will let me take down the Halloween decorations yet... he is still going through denial that Halloween is over!