He's Here!

Welcome to Our Earthly Home

Joshua Morgan Polish

10 lb. 21 in.

July 9, 2009 12:30 pm

Baby and Mother doing well - no complications, yeah!

Sarah, reading to Joshua as soon as he got home.

Busy Days

We've had a great few busy days. We made plans, all tentative of course, but we got to do everything. Darn it! This is the end of another day and we still don't have our baby. I keep getting poked by it and I tell it to come out so there will be more room for stretching! My belly now hits the steering wheel. Please don't grow any more! All but this first picture are in order. Saturday morning Kannon got up early and did a few projects. He put a new window in our bedroom - yay, no more bugs! And he put up the new dining room light. We've had just a single light bulb for quite a few months. The brightness of this is incredible. I love it!

On Thursday afternoon, when Kannon got home, he packed up the tent, etc. and took the kids and some food to the lake for a camp out. I would have loved to go with them, but I didn't think a trek to the port-a-potties a few times in the night would be too fun. They had a good time in spite of the weather - it was raining off and on as well as thunder and lightning. But, the sky was beautiful and we all saw a rainbow. I came out on Friday morning. The kids were anxious for me to arrive. We just enjoyed the breeze for awhile, although it didn't take long for the kids to get in the water, and then we couldn't seem to get Ben out!
This is Sarah crying for me. I'm the one that tossed her on there with her Dad - but she didn't want to go. She was okay in the other rafty boats, but only if they stayed close to shore.

Ben and aunt Jackie.

This boat was given to us by Kannon's grandpa. It's been sitting at my parents house for the 2 years we've had it. We were waiting to get a motor for it. But, my brother Nathan decided it would be good fun and loaded it up. Nathan, his wife Jackie, my mom and dad came out around 11. Sister Susan and hubby Stephen came around 1pm. They took the boat out with oars a couple of times. Glad it's getting some use, and that it didn't have any wasp nests in it!

When the wind started to blow our toys away, we decided it was time to go home. Kannon and Ben took off again, after showers, to go shooting with Nathan, Jackie, and my cousin James. I relaxed and Sarah took a really long nap. Then we met up again at my parents house for hotdogs and chips. We made s'mores, too. I had bought the stuff a few weeks before and had been anticipating them, they were so good!

SEE!!!

Jackie brought some fireworks and we did the few that didn't fly into the sky. The kids enjoyed the sparklers.

Watching the firework toys.

The kids again zonked out before we got home that night. On Saturday morning we went to the Boy Scout breakfast. I felt like it would be good to support that, as well as not having to fix the meal myself! It was already hot and bright when we got there. We ate our fill, then returned home to hurry down the block to the parade.

We always get there early enough to get a seat, but then we have to wait. I just sat the whole time and felt like my feet were frying. I did get a little color on my lower legs. We had a big beach umbrella for the rest of our bodies. The kids waited semi-patiently. Sarah had a good time making faces for the camera.

So, the 4th of July parade around here is one of the more boring ones. It had a lot of vehicles; the demolition derby cars, a bunch of old military vehicles, and trucks with trailers hauling kids from the Silver State International Rodeo that is here right now. And that was about it. The kids enjoyed going after the candy that was thrown, although Sarah spent more time moping about it than getting it. She just wasn't fast enough. Plus, a lady and her kids decided to "park" themselves in front of us and so her kids got the candy Sarah would have gotten had they not been there. Kannon got upset at them (there were some others, too, that had decided to get in front of us - half way into the street). He finally said something to them and the one guy said, "this is a parade, we can do what we want." I thought him rude and ignorant, but told Kannon that he'd had his say and if he couldn't handle it he needed to go home. He stayed and we just tried to ignore them. My favorite part was the big group of rodeo-ees ? that were next to us. Whenever one of the groups from the rodeo came by, these people had water balloons, squirt guns, large reservoirs of water - it was just fun to watch the water fighting each time. Kannon brought a bucket down, too, with water and their squirt guns. The kids were always surprised to see that our little Ben was the one that had just soaked them!

This was the end, when the fire trucks go by. Love the fingers in her ears!

Kannon attended a baptism in the evening and after the sun went down, we went to the fireworks. On the way, as we passed the hospital, we decided that would be a good place to sit for the "works". They had grass and a good view. We sat on a blanket and waited. I was pleased that there was light there, so I could read while we waited. The kids got hyper and ran around trying to do cartwheels. They also tried 'duck, duck, goose' but that really just ends up with the 2 of them running in circles. I got kind of bored with the fireworks. I guess I wanted to see them spiced up a little bit. Just the same old fireworks over and over again. Sarah quit first, she and Dad were walking back to the car when Ben decided to join them. It took me awhile to get my body up and then we went home - and to bed!

Waiting for the 'works.'

So, now it's the end of the 5th and still no baby. I've actually had 4 - yes 4! - contractions today. That has me a little excited since I haven't really had anything so far. My next appointment is on Tuesday - and my doctor gets back from his trip tonight. So, I guess he'll be there for the delivery after all. I'm really hopeful that it will be this week, or that something is happening. Because, so far, no dilation and no dropping, etc. This baby is getting heavy and putting a lot of pressure on my body, so getting up and moving around really hurts, almost as if I'd already had a baby! I walked Wal-mart the other night, getting groceries for the next few weeks, and was feeling pretty tight the whole time. So, I'd rather get up and move around, but it seems like everything hurts! And sleeping is a nightmare. I've gotten to the point where I don't move much at night, slept on the couch for an hour one night, too. Just anything to make sure my body doesn't hurt too much. Well, I had an epiphany yesterday. I was talking to a friend and as he told me all the things they were endeavoring in their lives, he said they pray and pay their tithing and have faith that it will all work out. That's when I remembered that although I've set aside our tithing money, it hasn't been paid for about a month. "Hey if we pay our tithing then this baby will come!" So, we did that today and now we will just have faith. Next post will for sure be one about our new baby!

It's a birthday girl!

As much as we all - me, most of all - wish this was a post about a new "birthday" in the family, it's not. Sarah turned 3! She's changing so much, so quickly. Some things we wish would change faster than others. She whined through half of sacrament meeting and still loves to hit when she's mad. Of course that usually comes after much teasing from her big brother.

I think she got to have a pretty special day. When she woke up she had a cute doll cradle waiting for her. Kannon and I had re-made the one that I had as a child. It had been brown with yellow and red designs. We sanded it down, painted it white with pink designs. She puts all the babies in it, some on top of the others. But, it's fun to see how they end up. I hope she enjoys it. She wanted eggs, bacon and biscuits for breakfast, but I realized I didn't have enough eggs and talked her into pancakes. When I got up, Ben brought me a list of what Sarah wanted for breakfast. It said: eggs, pink lemonade, pancakes. The way it was written I saw pink pancakes. So, that was what she got. Her favorite way to eat them? With butter, held in her hands. Whatever is left over gets eating by the kids throughout the morning, in the same manner. I had quite a list of to-do's that day. Kannon and I were going to a sealing in Reno that afternoon, so I had to have everything ready. Luckily, I'd already done the present stuff in preparation for having a new baby. But, as I started the cake, I remembered - again - that I didn't have the eggs. So, we made a quick trip to the store for eggs. She wasn't interested in licking the bowl, but Ben didn't mind. She did lick the beater and had pink all over her face. I gave her a choice of shapes for her cake - not surprised that she picked the heart. Well, I decided I could fit more of the cake mix in the pan than just half and it ended up overflowing and taking a long time to cook. I was really worried that it would be raw or gross inside. But, everyone loved how moist it was - yay!
She picked out the decorations. She wanted pink frosting with a pink flower. I didn't have a pink flower to put on - so I dyed the pink frosting a darker pink and made my own. I used green sprinkles for the stem and leaf. At lunch, she asked for eggs, bacon and biscuits, again. I told her I didn't think I could do the biscuits (time and energy lacking) but she got the eggs and bacon. I also made dinner for that night in advance. I'd asked my mom - again - to babysit and thought dinner would be a nice return. I got everything done on time, rushed the kids and all the stuff to my parents house and back in town to be picked up for a ride to Reno. On my short drive I remembered I hadn't eaten yet. So, rush into the house, grab my temple recommend and shove some food in while waiting for my ride. I really enjoyed that ride. Got to visit with a good friend who is also due right now. We enjoyed the sealing of some friends in our ward. What a special day for them - it was their 10th anniversary and they had their 3 children with them. When we got back in town we went to my parents house and did presents and cake & ice cream. The kids had been so anxiously waiting. We gave her a book, 2 puzzles, a nightgown with princesses, an apron that matches moms and 2 princess lunchbox tins. From the grandma's she got a book, a doll, a princess chair, coloring book, and . For her ice cream I had let her pick some from the Schwan's man - she wanted pink and the only available one was Dark Sweet Cherry, which we all loved.

We sang happy birthday to her, Ben carried the cake to her and she blew them out before we were even finished singing. And then she said, "thank you." So sweet. The kids were both really tired when we got done and got home. So, we put them to bed. Actually, Kannon and Ben decided to camp on the lawn - I went to the grocery store. But, Sarah was out before we even got home - must have been a great day for her! We're so glad to have her in our family. Her smiles still bring so much joy.

Summer fun.

Summer has been slow coming to our part of the world, and that's been fine with me. I love the spring and fall weather the best. Yesterday, though, brought the first real hot stuff. In the 90's. After a lazy Taco Bell dinner, I cleaned out the Suburban and got the baby seat in and situated. I was really hot by the time I finished (and this was at 6:00!) and sat down to read for awhile. Kannon walked across the street to the store, with the kids, and they bought some squirt guns and a fun sprinkler. After they got it all set up, I went out to watch them and enjoy their fun. I did get wet, too. I let them spray me a bit and even ran through the sprinkler with Sarah. She has such a hard time with it, though. She wants to be a part of the fun, but isn't too excited about getting wet. Right now, as a matter of fact, the 2 kids are outside with the water and she just keeps screaming. I warned her when she put on her suit that she would get wet. So, it's almost laughable.

This was the end of the water fight as we did not refill the bucket.

Just a brief update.

Nothing happening. No, really. Absolutely nothing. This baby has not dropped, and the doctor says that nothing can or will happen until it does. So, now I will be doing more talking to this one, inviting him/her to move along!

The other day I was cooking dinner. Benjamin smelled the spices and said, "yuck, that stinks, I must be allergic." After I named the ingredients -garlic powder, onion powder and pepper - he went on. "I think when you mix the garlic, onion and pepper it becomes something I'm allergic to." I think he was just teasing me, but I thought how fun his mind is sometimes.

Sarah walked in on me blinking, squinting and rubbing my eye. She furrowed her brow and asked what was wrong. I told her I had something in my eye. "Is it a tic-tac?"

Another recipe, 38-weeks, anniversary and a video to make you smile!

Because Kannon gave this recipe a 12 out of 10 and my Mom loved it, too, I thought I'd post it for anyone. It's a quick crockpot recipe. Serves about 4. We had 6 of us eating and only got firsts. =(

Chicken Stew

2 envelopes chicken gravy mix

2 cups water

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1-2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

1/2 tsp. pepper

5 medium carrots, cut into 1-in. chunks

1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3-4 lbs) cut up

3 Tbsp. flour

1/3 cup cold water

In a slow cooker, combine gravy mix, water, broth, garlic, parsley, bouillon and pepper until blended. Add the carrots, onion and chicken. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Increase heat to high. In a small bowl, combine the flour and cold water until smooth; gradually stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Serve with biscuits.

I used about 1 1/2 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breast, cut up in chunks, instead of the fryer.

So, here is the newest pregnancy picture. Me at 38 1/2 weeks. Nothing is going on to convince me (or the doctor) that this baby is on its way. I have a feeling we'll be overdue again.

Monday was our 8th anniversary! We're going to try and get out on our own tomorrow to celebrate a bit. But, on Monday I was pleasantly surprised with a delivery of flowers. I haven't gotten flowers like that since our 1st anniversary. He's brought them home a few times from the grocery store. But, a delivery is so extra-special. Anyway, I'm surprised and pleased to have made it 8-years. Even when things have been rough I've always felt like eternity is still within our reach.

Ben - I can fly for real. But, just for a little while, then I just fall.

recipe

So, I spent a whole morning choosing recipes, creating a menu and shopping lists for the next 5 weeks. I figured that would be one thing that would make having a new baby easier. I bought all the long-term stuff and have grocery lists for each week with the perishables. That way if someone else needs to shop for me it's all ready to go.

One of my friends asked if I share. Well, unless you had the same cookbooks it would be kind of difficult to do. I'm not going to type every recipe. But, one of the first ones I tried turned out so well, I thought I'd share it. The recipe made plenty for our family of 4 and half of that recipe has already been stored in the freezer for a second meal later.

Wild Rice Mushroom Chicken

2 pkgs. (6 oz. each) long grain and wild rice mix

8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

5 Tbsp. butter or margarine, divided

1 large sweet red pepper, chopped

2 jars (4 1/2 oz. each) sliced mushrooms, drained

Prepare rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook chicken in 3 Tbsp. butter for 10 minutes on each side or until browned and juices run clear. Remove chicken and keep warm.

Add remaining butter to pan drippings; saute red pepper until tender. Stir in mushrooms; heat through. Add to rice. Serve 4 chicken breasts with half of the rice mixture. Place remaining chicken in a greased 11x7x2-in. baking dish; top with remaining rice mixture. Cool. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months.

To use frozen dish: Thaw in the refrigerator. Cover and bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

Yield: 2 casseroles (4 servings each).

This recipe came from my "Taste of Home's Quick Cooking Annual Recipes - 2002" cookbook. A few years ago my sister-in-law was showing me some recipes from one of these cookbooks and I got excited. I went to ebay and bought 5 of them, 2002-2005. The sad thing was that the first 3 ended up having recipes ripped out of them. Still, I was able to come up with 5 weeks worth of recipes from this one cookbook. We've found a lot of new favorites and also some we don't like. This recipe was definitely a 9-10 on our scale!

Just wanted to post the pictures I promised. This is our garden. We have green beans (need to put up poles), carrots, spinach (the lettuce didn't grow at all), beets, peppers, herbs, watermelon, and tomatoes. We also planted the little pear tree. I hope we've moved before it produces, though! We've had incredible rain for the past month and really appreciate that way of watering.

This is the before of our bathroom. With the cool shower rod deal we had to have 2 shower curtains. That wall had a door that went into the kids room. We covered it up when we remodeled their room - 3 YEARS AGO! And the blue tub just didn't leave room for different colors in the bathroom. The trim around the window, etc. used to be a bright blue - I painted it "hitching post."

So, this is the bathtub now. I really like the tile and don't think we did a bad job. We had a problem when we put up the shower rod, broke 2 tiles. So, he's replaced those, we just need to re-grout. Plus, the grout in that corner cracked all the way up. So, we need to redo that. I've painted the new wall, we just need to get some trim so it will match the rest of the room. But, we all enjoy it. I especially love having a shower in our house again! It took at least 3 weeks!

Next are some old/new pictures of my bedroom. Our original plan had been to remodel the whole thing- tearing out the walls and ceiling. But, we both felt it would be better to use that money to pay on the baby bills soon to come. Instead, I insisted we paint (I've hated the turquoise walls since we moved in!), rip out the carpet and sand the wood floor underneath, and replace the window.

The kids helping me prime the wall.

This was underneath the carpet! We were surprised to find it there. It's a kind of linoleum with this feather design. SO OLD. And totally glued on to the wood. Kannon ended up taking half a day off work to do it. We had planned on him doing it on a Saturday, but he needed to work. He picked up the sanders at 1pm and didn't get finished until 10:30 that night. He took one break to eat dinner! He was my hero.

One finished view.

One old view. I didn't take any of the carpet, but it was gray and gross. The previous owners had dogs and we found dog hair in the carpet for a long time. Plus, it was just stained and ugh.

I took a picture of this because I wanted to have a record of what used to be in our bedroom - a room that should bring peace and comfort. I decided to remove this bookshelf, it is now on the back porch and our room feels so much better.

Another after picture. I still need to finish painting the trim around all 3 doors and the window. I only painted half up the edges, enough to get us moved back in. This is a project I really don't want to leave for very long. I've ordered the window - it should come in a few weeks. That'll be nice. We don't have a screen right now on our old window, so we get some bugs in that way at night. In this one you can see the floor! Such a difference. The whole room is so much brighter and even more inviting.

These are the yellow roses in the front yard. It's time for me to cut the old buds off so we can have them some more this summer.

And these are the wild ones that grow on the other side of the door in the front. They are mostly dead now. Bummer, my front will be colorless for awhile, I guess.

I guess that's that.

some kid funnies

This is a game Sarah likes to play:

Sarah - Where's your smile, Mama? (so I smile and she smiles back)

Ben, where's your smile? (he smiles)

Dada's smile is at work.

Ben - No he doesn't! (he heard Dad smiles at work)

She also often comes to me with "a surpresent for you". I figure it's a surprise present. She might have anything from sticks, to clean hands, to the diaper I asked her to go get - hidden behind her back. It always makes me smile.

Ben's just too smart sometimes. He was talking to Sarah in the car about stop and go.

Ben: g-o-e, that spells go

Me: Actually it's just g-o

Ben: Well, what does j-o-e spell?

Me: That spells Joe.

Ben: They rhyme, so it should be g-o-e.

Me: I don't know, Ben.

I have a hard time explaining a lot of stuff about spelling to him - some of it just doesn't make sense!

This afternoon, as I was on the computer, my kids were quiet in the other room. I knew Sarah had been asleep, but then I heard kids out front. My kids get in trouble often for being in the front yard - I just don't feel safe when they're out there. So I went to check on them and ask why they were out there. This is what I found. Sarah had fallen asleep on the couch with a pillow as a blanket. I guess Ben liked the idea and so he joined her - he has just his feet sticking out. This is how they sleep at night, too. She covers up pretty normal - but Ben sleeps with his head covered and his feet out. He heard me taking this picture and got up, so it was a short nap. Oh, well. I think Sarah is going to be weaning away from her naps as well. Some days it's such a fight.

we had a food fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihgt
(from Ben - he said "I've been planning that forever - well, not forever, just like a day. But, I had to wait until you were doing a blog.")

Baby update

So, my sister said she hasn't heard much from me about this pregnancy. I guess I just felt like as long as everything was okay, there wasn't much to say! Plus, I've been more nervous this time around. I'm just now starting to feel okay about having another baby and going through the whole birth thing. I really did need the whole 9+ months. Let's see - I'm big and uncomfortable. I've been going to the chiropractor regularly, to keep my back from hurting too much. But, a few weeks ago he told me not to come back until after the birth. Ugh - I hurt pretty good every night now. I think some of that may be the sciatic nerve. I've never had a problem with that before, but I think that's what I'm feeling. I get tired in the afternoons. Sometimes I take a nap with Sarah - but I often get interrupted or feel like I have more important things to do. I also just don't have the energy to do much. The kids want to go to the park, EVERY DAY! I managed it last week for an hour and came home exhausted. I didn't do anything but push the swings! Since we don't know what we're having, I can't use that as a help on when this baby might be born (ie. Ben was 2 weeks early, Sarah induced 6 days late). So, I've given myself a 2-5 week window. Today, I found out that my doctor will be in Bangladesh during that time! So, unless the baby is born next week, or I go over my due date, we will have a different doctor for delivery. That's got me a little upset. I mean he's delivered both of my other kids and I've been working with him this whole time. What's a girl to do? I think he should have been required to file his vacation a year in advance, that way when someone wants him to be their doctor he can let them know he won't be around for the delivery and they can choose to find someone else. Aargh. Today was also my first vaginal exam of these last weeks. The baby is no longer breech - Yay! But, no news as to being closer to a delivery. So, pretty sure next week will not produce the baby! I made a list - finally - of all the things I needed to do before the baby is born. Then, I quit worrying and wouldn't you know it, I lost said list! I don't remember what was on it - don't even get the satisfaction of checking off what I might have already accomplished. My right foot swells every day. It's getting a little worse every day. At least it doesn't hurt, just looks gross. The baby moves a lot. Hiccups, too. Some times the pushes hurt and I spontaneously jump. I've also had Braxton Hicks contractions. I don't remember them with Sarah, but for sure with Ben. I still feel like it's a girl, but some things make me wonder if it's a boy. I'm really excited for this surprise! I also don't really have much to wear - scary, huh? I have one pair of capris and one pair of jeans and my mom made a skirt and a dress, plus the skirt from last pregnancy and a dress I bought. So, I do wear dresses and skirts quite often. They are pretty comfortable, too. That's mostly what I can think to say about everything right now. Leave a comment if you have any questions! Or if you want to come and clean my floors! =)