Geoffrey Michael

On Sept 7, 2011 we added the last and final addition to our family. Geoffrey Michael was born at 10:06 am and weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. He is a sweet little baby and hardly fusses at all. The older kids adore him!

Here's the story.... I had a Doctor's appt the week before he was born where I got an ultrasound done. The ultrasound predicted that the baby would weigh about 9 lbs. 2 oz. and my Dr and I were obviously concerned about having a baby that big. My doctor and I made the decision to have a c-section the next week to make sure there were no complications giving birth. I was very wishy washy about the whole thing and Michael and I decided that if I went into labor on my own before the c-section that we would give it a try.

My next appt was on Sept 6th and I was scheduled for a c-section on the 8th. When the doctor checked me, I was already at a 4. We talked it over and decided to stick with the plan. That night, my contractions started to pick up but since I had been having them off and on, we didn't think much of it. Michael had a draft pick for his Fantasy Football league that night (and we all know just how important that is!) so he headed off while I stayed at home timing contractions. When he got home around 10, they still weren't very regular but had definitely gotten more intense. Finally around 3 am, we called a friend from our ward, Richard Traynor, to come over and be with the kids while we went to the hospital to get checked out. Michael and Brother Traynor gave me a blessing before we left that everything would go smoothly and there wouldn't be any complications with the delivery.

When we got to the hospital I was at a 6 and 70% effaced! HOORAY!! The nurses seriously thought I would go at any time so they got everything ready and then sat back and waited...and waited... I got my epidural about 2 hours later and I was good to go. It was seriously the best epidural I have ever had. When I got to a 10, I really enjoyed watching everyone run around like chickens with their heads cut off while I sat there smiling. My nurse had me do a "trial-run" to see how I would do pushing. I told her that she needed to get the doctor there soon cause when I push, I push good. As soon as I started pushing, she yelled, "STOP! STOP! I need to go get the doctor right now!" Hmmm... seems like I had just said that... Anyway, a few minutes later, I pushed 3 times through one contraction and Geoffrey was born.

I was absolutely shocked when everyone said, "It's a BOY!!" We have never found out the sex of any of our babies but with Geoffrey, I had gotten a peek at the ultrasound because I got my doctor talking about genetic birth defects and he forgot to tell me when to turn away. I thought for sure that we were having another girl so I didn't really believe it when they said it was a boy. There goes my career as a ultrasound tech! :-)

The kids got to come see us that afternoon and my mom and Brian arrived that evening. Lucas and Malia weren't really sure what to think but Emma jumped right up on my bed and started to snuggle right away.

I am very grateful for all our friends who totally helped us with the kids that day. I didn't have to worry about any of them and it was nice to be able to have some time to rest and play with Geoffrey before I had to share him with anyone else.

Sorry about the pictures, I've tried to fix them but I can't for some strange reason...

There's one more angel in heaven...

My Grandpa Hulse passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. His death wasn't unexpected but it has still hit me kind of hard. This is the man who blessed me as a baby, baptized me as a child, and walked me down the aisle as a young lady. I know that he has moved on to better things and I am grateful that he is no longer suffering but a very selfish part of me wishes that he was still here.

Grandpa was always full of stories. Anytime the family got together, the one guarantee was that Grandpa would dig into his memory and pull out a yarn of a tale. When we were children, he would tell us things like burnt toast will put hair on your chest or that there is a little man who lives inside the ice machine and it's his job to chunk up all the ice for us (there's even a little door on the back of the machine so he can climb out and take a break). As we got older, the stories got more entertaining...to the point that my Grandma would always declare, "Mercy!" But no matter how many times we had heard it, everyone always had a favorite story that they wanted to hear over and over. Mine was the time he and his friend decided to jump off the barn and his friend got his clothes hooked on a nail (which probably saved his life).

Grandpa was also a very talented poet and could recite "The Creation of Sam McGee" on demand. One time, he was having a rough time with some bowel issues and when he complained to my Grandma she said, "Well, why don't you go and write a poem about it?" That my friends, is how the epic poem, "Ode To The Toilet" was born.

Ode To The Toliet

I have a brand new mistress
As pale as she can be,
And when I try to leave her
She beckons out to me.

It seems I can't stay very long
From sitting in her lap
I've spent so much darn time there
I feel just like a sap.

My knees are red from elbow rest
My eyes swollen and red
It's then I wonder if I am
Among the living dead.

I know I should be grateful
And never should complain.
I realize all because of her
She relieves me of much pain.

But, O my soul's desire is
And I truly hope and pray,
That in a not too distant time
I'll visit her just once each day.

That classic ode has a prominent place in our home!

When Emma heard that Grandpa had died, she started to cry along with me. When Michael asked her why she was crying, she said, "Cause Mom and I are both named after him." I am very proud to be named after my Grandpa and I hope and pray that I am able to live up to his expectations and make him as proud to be my Grandpa and I am to be his granddaughter.

A little piece of heaven...

Every two years we have a family reunion with Michael's family where we all get together for a week and play. Last time, we went to Newport Beach, CA and played at Disneyland and the beach. This time we decided to stay with the beach theme and take it somewhere else. So, we went to Maui!!

An amazing sunset.

The view from our hotel room looking out onto the mountains.

Emma and Lucas found these frog statues on the boardwalk and had TONS of fun crawling all over them.

We went to the Maui Ocean Center...

and saw lots of fish...

and some turtles.

Jackson didn't want to take his goggles off the whole time we were at the aquarium. Maybe he thought the fish wanted a diving partner.

The rest of our pictures are taking too long to upload so I'll have to try again another time...

Finally old enough for Kindergarten!!!

This was me on July 1, 2005 right after checking into the hospital to have my first baby. Don't I look so happy and excited (and not to mention HUGE!)?

This is me 29 hours later after FINALLY delivering Emma. That smile you see is from the drugs.

Our first family picture.


And this is that little baby on her 5th birthday! She was so excited to turn 5 so she could go to Kindergarten this year!

And here is the present that made it the "BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!"

Playing in Price

In March, My Grandpa Wilstead passed away and since I wasn't able to go to the funeral, I wanted to go see his headstone. When his casket was moved to the cemetary, they put it in the back of his old Ford truck and hauled it up the hill. So appropriate for my Grandpa!

When we got there, Emma decided that there weren't enough flowers on it so we went back to my dad's house and raided his flower gardens. I think it was quite beautiful when we were done.

After that, we headed over to the dinosaur museum in Price.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much so I was pleasantly surprised at all the displays they had. I got so caught up in reading about all the Indian history from that area that I lost everyone for a few minutes.

I found them in the kids area where we spent the better part of the next hour digging up dinosaur bones....

Coloring dinosaur pictures...

Watching the lizards eat their bugs....


And being eaten by dinosaurs hiding in the wall!!



Hmmm....didn't know that!

Which was followed by a trip to the park. The same park I used to play I when I was a kid.

Old MacDonald had a farm

Of course, what trip to Utah would be complete without going to Wheeler Family Farm? The animals were all glad to see us again!

We rode on the tractor...

And Let Lucas get behind the wheel...

Emma wanted to drive the car but we talked her into the tractor instead.

Malia didn't really care either way just as long as she knew right where her thumb was.

Downtown SLC

While in Utah, we loaded the kids into the car, got on TRAX and headed downtown. This is one of my favorite things to do when we're in SLC. The kids love riding on the "train" and I love taking them to see the temple. Emma is in heaven every time we see a "princess" (aka bride) on Temple Square.

Some one was kind enough to stop and take a picture of our family. I love random acts of kindness like that!

This statue hit home for me more than ever this year because it is a mom playing with her three kids...
2 girls and 1 boy = HAPPINESS!


Plus all the flowers are always a treat!


We met Grandpa Oz for lunch and headed over to the Planeterium at the Gateway where...


Emma was on TV....


and everyone got to walk on the MARS!