My Little Monsters

Don't let these sweet little smiles fool you...

These kiddos are little monsters...

This little monster (Jango Fett) likes to pick on his little brother...


This little monster (Buzz Lightyear) likes to be EXTREMELY defiant...and he can defend himself against his big brother quite efficiently...


So, what do we do with these little monsters? One night each year, we send them out in search of sugar-loaded candy. It tends to enhance these wonderful monster-like abilities that we love sooooooooooooo much...

The mission was quite successful! Monster qualities have been fully enhanced! Thank you neighbors! Happy Halloween! --Lindsay

When Did My Baby Grow Up?

Connor turns 6-years-old today! Holy cow! It seems like just yesterday that he was this tiny little 5 lb. 15 oz. little baby! Where has the time gone?

The story of Connor's birth is probably the most exciting out of all 3 of my kids. Not many people can say they were on TV while in labor...but I can thanks to Connor! Here's the story...

October 28, 2002 was a fairly normal day in Lake Charles, Louisiana. But, I ended up going into work a little early because a strong cold front was moving in & severe weather was a definite possibility. As soon as I got into work at 1:00 pm, the warnings started sounding. The National Weather Service was sending out Severe Thunderstorm Warnings & Tornado Warnings like crazy as multiple supercell lines moved into SW Louisiana. Because our station was technically-challenged (okay, I'll just say it...because our station was pretty freakin' ghetto), I had to run each warning up a flight of stairs (in heels, mind you) to Master Control, so they could scroll the warning across the bottom of the TV screen. I did this for about 3 hours straight...I must have run up and down those stairs at least 25 times.

At about 4:00 pm, I started having contractions. Nothing unusual...I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for the previous two months anyway. My doctor thought that the reason I had been having so many Braxton-Hicks was because I would let myself get dehydrated, so I started drinking water. But, the contractions just wouldn't go away. I started getting ready for our 5:00 show. At about 4:55, my co-anchor, Agnes DeRouen, came up on the set. I told her that I was having contractions and they wouldn't stop. I was pretty mad at my uterus at this point. Agnes said, "Did you ever think you might actually be in labor?" No...there was no way I could be in labor! My due date wasn't for another 11 days...there was NO WAY I could be in labor. She told me...or rather, ordered me, to call my doctor's office. I told her that there was no time...the show was starting in less than 2 minutes and, therefore, there wasn't time to call and wait on hold FOREVER to talk to a nurse. Agnes then said, "Well, at least call Mike & have him call the doctor". I didn't even want to do that...the contractions weren't even all that bad, so I really didn't think I was in labor. I didn't want to go to the hospital & be "one of those girls" that thinks she's in labor when she really isn't. Agnes basically shoved the phone up to my face & demanded to know Mike's number. In summary, she won. I called Mike & told him to call the doctor. He said that he would & that he would meet me at the station after the 5:00 show to tell me what he said.

At this point, the show started, during a reporter package, Agnes demanded that I start timing my contractions. This is silly, I thought...but I did it. Much to my surprise, they were surprisingly regular at about 4 minutes apart. At about 5:15, as we were in the commercial break right before my weathercast, I had a pretty good contraction. Awesome, I thought..Now, I've got 4 minutes before my next contraction...my weathercast is only 3 minutes long...so I should be able to get through it just fine, right? WRONG!!! About halfway through my weathercast, I had a HORRIBLE contraction...the worst one yet! Everyone said that my face went ghostly white. I didn't know what to do...I had never been in labor while on air before! :) I decided to just push through it...I kept talking about the forecast, but I backed out of the shot & doubled over because of the pain. Everyone in the studio just stood there staring at me...no one knew what to do. Luckily, the contraction only lasted for about 20 seconds or so, so once it was over, I walked back on screen and finished the weathercast. About 10 minutes later, the show ended and Mike showed up. He said that the doctor thought we should go to the hospital...just to be safe. I was seriously so annoyed! I didn't want to go to the hospital (remember, I truly didn't think I was in labor). Mike (and all my co-workers) insisted I go. I finally gave in & went. As I walked out the door, I told everyone I would be back in time to do the 9:00 show. They all laughed & said they would call in my back-up "just in case".

So, we were off to the hospital. Mike was seriously driving like a mad man! Now, if you know Mike, you know that he ALWAYS drives like a mad man...but it was especially bad this night. Then, as we got to the turnoff to head to the hospital, we ran into a big "Road Closed" sign. I told Mike to just backtrack and go around a different way, but he would have NONE OF THAT! He went right around the Road Closed sign and barrelled through the construction zone! I have never screamed so loud...I was seriously freaked out! Luckily, we made it to the hospital alive & were quickly admitted to a room. A nurse came to check on me to see if I was really in labor. I told her that I probably wasn't & that everyone had FORCED me to come. She laughed and then told me that I really WAS in labor & dilated to a 3. OH MY GOSH! I really WAS in labor! Thoughts started swirling in my head...I hadn't packed a bag...my house was a complete disaster...I hadn't washed any of the baby's clothes yet...my mom would most likely move her flight up and come out to Louisiana tomorrow...she would see my disaster of a house...what would she think of me...etc. I was so stressed out that I SENT MIKE HOME to pack me a bag & clean the house. Crazy, I know...but the contractions weren't all that bad, so I thought I could handle it by myself. WRONG again! About 10 minutes after he left, the contractions started coming faster and harder. I had NEVER felt such pain in all my life! But, I was determined not to be a wussy girl...I wasn't going to cry; I wasn't going to scream; and I CERTAINLY was not going to call my nurse! When Mike got back about a hour later, I was in so much pain! I couldn't handle it anymore &, as soon as I saw him walk in the room, I started bawling! He ran and got the nurse. She came and checked me again...thinking I'd be a 5 or so. Nope...I was a 7 she said. She asked if I wanted an epidural & I said something to the effect of "Hell yes"...I can't exactly remember. :) She came back a few minutes later and said that the hospital anesthesiologist was in an emergency C-section and it would be a few minutes before he could get to me. By "a few minutes" she apparently meant 30 minutes! I was dilated to my magic number of 8 by the time I got the epidural (for those of you that don't know...I've been at an 8 with all my boys when I got the epidural...I don't recommend it!).

After the epidural, life became good again...until Connor's heart rate dropped like a rock! The nurse said that the cord must be wrapped around his neck. He seemed to do better when I laid on my left side, so that's what did. Unfortunately, epidural fluid follows the Law of Gravity...hence, my left side was EXTREMELY numb & my right side could still feel everything! Not cool! They had to keep giving me epidural fluid like crazy to get my right side to feel semi-numb...so, as you can imagine, my left side felt very non-existent by the time all was said and done (I didn't get feeling back into my left leg until the following morning at about 10 am).

At this point, I was fully dilated & Connor's heart rate wasn't doing too great! My doctor (who wasn't even the doctor on call) came in to deal with the situation. He told me that we needed to get the baby out and get him out fast. He needed me to push like I'd never pushed before. Well, that's easy to do, I thought, I've NEVER pushed before! Anyway, I pushed really hard once and then the doctor picked up his forceps. He actually took them apart & used just one of them to do some tricky maneuver to get Connor out in just a matter of seconds. Connor had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, and looked a little blue...but he started crying immediately after the cord was unwrapped (and he didn't STOP crying for the next 2 months...don't you love colic?!?) Anyway, he was happy and healthy! I was such a happy mama!

And, appropriately, I found out later that I had given birth to him in the middle of SW Louisiana's biggest October tornado outbreak in history! I had NO CLUE because all the nurses & doctors stayed so calm the whole time, but I guess several tornadoes touched down within miles of the hospital I was at. Crazy, eh?

So, that's the story of Connor's birth. Sorry it was a little long! We love our little ConMan! He is growing into such a great little guy! He is happy about 95% of the time (unless he doesn't get enough sleep) and is so fun to be around. He is turning into quite the little artist too (a talent he gets from Mike)! I love you to pieces ConCon! Happy birthday! --Mom

A Weekend of Celebrations

We have had a weekend full of birthday celebrations! It started on Friday night with Connor's friends party. He decided he wanted to do a sleepover party. YIKES!!! We started out the night with pizza. Thank goodness for Resolve carpet cleaner (that's all I have to say)...

Afterwards, we played some games and smashed a poor Optimus Prime pinata, and then it was on to presents. Connor was extremely spoiled by his friends...

After presents, we moved on to cake! Here's the masterpiece...made with love by me!! (And, if you believed that for even half a second...you don't know me very well!) Actually, it was made by Mr. Smith's Food & Drug. I love that man!

The cake was pretty awesome! The dinosaur was motion activated and would jump out of the mountain and roar at you when you walked past him. As you can probably imagine, with 12 5- and 6-year-old boys, it was quite the hit!

The cake was actually pretty yummy. Again, thank goodness for Resolve!!! I'm going to buy stock in that company! With me as their customer, their earnings report must be through the roof!

After cake, the boys watched a movie. Connor wanted to watch "Dinosaur". It's a Disney movie that came out a few years ago. All the boys really liked it & really got into it!

After the movie, the kids that weren't sleeping over were picked up by their parents & everyone else "went to sleep". And, by "went to sleep", I really mean "laughed their heads off for the next hour". Then, they finally fell asleep thanks to some gentle parental coaxing. :)

In the morning, Mike made the boys pancakes in whatever shape they wanted & then the boys that were still here sat around and watched cartoons until it was time to go home.

It was a really fun party & I think all the kids had a blast!

Later that day, Mike's parents came & picked up Connor and Aiden and took them to Cornbelly's for the day. I guess they had a blast running through the corn maze & sliding down all the slides. While they were there, Mike, Cohen & I went to Dan's (my bro-in-law) rugby game against UVU. Unfortunately, Utah State lost...but it was still fun to watch. I love watching rugby...they basically just beat each other up & call it a game. One guy had a big gash in his forehead. He just wrapped his head and kept playing...CRAZY!!! Anyway, it was fun. Oh, and by the way, I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera. After that, we met up with Mike's parents and took the kids to Toys 'R Us to go shopping for Connor's birthday (which is actually on Tuesday). We wanted to see what things he was interested in. Then, Mike distracted him while I "went to the bathroom"...and by "went to the bathroom", I mean "bought his presents and hid them in the back of the car". Afterwards, we all went to dinner at Golden Corral. Fun times!

Today, we held a birthday party for Connor & Mike (whose b-day is this upcoming Saturday) with my family. We ate dinner and then moved on to, what else, the presents...

Again with the spoiling...

Mike was spoiled too. And, he was given many "old man cards". Here he is imitating the guy on the cover of the card. It was too funny not to post!!!

Then, we moved on to the cake. I really, TRULY made the cake this time...I'm not even kidding. It was a banana cake. I got the recipe from my friend, MaryRuth. It was delicious! I'll have to post the recipe sometime. It was like banana bread...but cake...with this really yummy frosting. Delish...and easy to make! Hey, if I can do it, you KNOW that ANYONE can do it!

It was a really fun party! Thanks to everyone for coming!

Today was also Cohen's 3 month birthday! 3 MONTHS!!! Holy cow! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! So, anyway, here's your update on our cute little man. He has decided that he is an extremely social person. He always wants to talk to the person who is nearest to him. Because of this, he has decided that sitting in his seat or laying on a blanket, while Mom gets something done, is not acceptable. Sitting in a seat is okay...but only if it is set on a countertop somewhere where he is only inches away from Mom's face. This works well while doing the dishes, but doesn't work so well for minor things such as...oh, taking a shower. Other than his constant need for a chatting companion, he is such a mild-mannered little kid. I just absolutely love him to pieces. I mean, how can you not? Look at that adorable face!!! --Lindsay

10 Reasons I Love Girls Night

1. The best conversation. Every month, I laugh so hard that I don't have to do my ab workout the next day!

2. Olive Garden breadsticks & salad! LOVE IT!!!

3. Getting away from my little fellas for the night. Love 'em to pieces, but I need some time away...especially since Mike has been out of town this week. (But, he should be home any minute now...he moved his flight up by a day! Love him for it!!!)

4. My parents for watching the little monsters for the night. Thanks mom and dad...I couldn't have gone without you!

5. Driving in Kerri's pimped out Denali!

6. Watching Natalie & Alicia hurdle the middle seat to get to the backseat since Kerri couldn't figure out how to make the fancy-schmancy seat go down. :)

7. Paradise Bakery...for giving us a warm place to sit during our 45 minute wait since Olive Garden's lobby was PACKED!

8. Figuring out that Kelli & I have a mutual friend in Reno...random!

9. The fact that the entire world now knows my love of RUM! Long story...remind me to tell it sometime!

10. Hanging out with the most awesome girls on the planet! Love you ladies! --Lindsay

UEA Weekend

We have had a fun-filled UEA Weekend (a long weekend to give comp days to the teachers). Here it is in pictures:

THURSDAY

Thursday was my 30th birthday...or as I've started calling it, the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday. It was a day full of surprises! I had to work the morning and noon shows, and when I got there, I found a huge vase of flowers in my office from Mike. He had run them over there the evening before on his way home from work. So sweet! After work, Mike & I had planned to meet at the station. He was going to pass the kids over to me (he had stayed home from work that morning to watch them) & then he was going to head into work for the remainder of the day. So, you can imagine my surprise when, instead of Mike & the kids, I found my mom waiting for me. She explained to me that Mike wasn't going into work & that he was staying home with the boys so that I could have a girls day with her and my sisters. Again...so sweet! We started out our day with lunch at Rubio's Mexican Grill. I love that place! It's always so yummy...

After that, we headed over to Gateway for an afternoon of shopping! I found a darling red coat & a super cute jacket to wear to work. We had so much fun & laughed all afternoon long. When we were done shopping, I got another surprise...the entire family was going to meet up for dinner...

At dinner, I was absolutely spoiled by everyone with gifts galore...


I guess I should be offended that my husband gave me this next gift, but I was actually THRILLED about it! I've wanted a WiiFit since we got the Wii last spring, so I was super excited to finally get it...

And, after all that, Mike pulled another surprise on me! He handed me a card...inside were tickets to the Dashboard Confessional/Panic at the Disco/Plain White T's concert that was happening that night! Holy cow! I was blown away! My mom told me that she was taking the boys to her house to watch them while we went & then my sister, Kristin, and her husband announced that they had tickets too & we were all going together! Holy guacamole!

The concert was awesome! We all agreed that Dashboard was our favorite...and, let's just admit it, Chris Carrabba is super HOT!!! (Almost as hot as you Mike!)

It was such a fun day! I can not believe that Mike was able to pull off so many surprises on me! They just kept coming and coming and coming! Love you Mike...thanks for making my first day in the 30s a great one!

FRIDAY

On Friday, we got out of dodge and continued our recently-created tradition of heading down to Moab for a long weekend. This year, not only did we go with my parents, but with Kristin & Dan too. Here's a picture of Kris & the big boys somewhere in Central Utah...Wellington, I think (potty break).

When we got down there, we checked into our hotel & then the guys took off to do some biking...



While they were gone, the girls & the little boys did some swimming in the hotel pool...


After the boys (well, men) got back, we all headed to Arches National Park for a little hiking. First up was Park Avenue...


Then on to Balanced Rock...



After some hiking, we headed to one of our favorite places to eat, Pasta Joe's. Don't laugh at my hair...I didn't feel like redoing it after swimming. Plus, I fit right in with the Moab crowd...when in Rome, right?

SATURDAY

Saturday was my dad's birthday. What do you think he wanted to do? What else would my dad do on his birthday? He and the boys went on a 39 mile bike ride...

After their 7 hour ride, we all decided to hike to Delicate Arch. We tried to do this hike last year, but a huge thunderstorm came up, so we only made it about 1/3rd of the way there. This year, we had beautiful blue skies the whole time & we actually made it up to the arch...


The boys did surprisingly well! In fact, Connor did the entire hike himself! Aiden took the easy road and was carried on shoulders most the way. And, even little Cohen made it up the 3 mile hike...courtesy of Jessica's Baby Bjorn.


Here's the whole fam enjoying the view...


And, some daring people (including Cohen...much to my dismay) actually walked under the arch. Scary...

After the hike, we stopped at a sand hill that is just off the main highway as you're heading into Moab. The boys had a great time climbing up it & rolling down...



Afterwards, we headed to one of the Mexican restaurants in town for dinner...

And, we even celebrated Poppy's birthday...


SUNDAY

The boys finished up the weekend with one last ride on Sunday morning...

Afterwards, we headed back to Arches for a few more hikes. First, we went to the Windows. Cohen came again...

And, the boys had a blast...


In fact, we ALL had a blast...


After the windows, we took the short hike over to Turrent Arch. Where the boys did some exploring...


While there, we managed to break several laws & rules...

Our last hike of the day was to one of our favorite places, Sand Dune Arch. The kids (big and little) always like to climb up on top of it...again, breaking the rules...

Afterwards, Mike, Connor & Dan climbed up the narrow canyon next to sand dune arch to freak the rest of us out...


While they were trying to kill themselves, the rest of us found ways to amuse ourselves, such as creating sand angels...


And looking at the cutest baby in the entire world...

And, making rock cities...

After that, we packed up and headed home...


It was such a fun weekend! We had fun every second of everyday! Unfortunately, we had to come home and return to normal life...and deal with the mounds of laundry that are all covered in red dirt! Oh joy... (sigh)! --Lindsay