Random pictures

 I have a bunch of pictures that are cute but not cute enough for their own post.  Enjoy mom.





It was really warm one day and Lily went through the winter clothes and was very proud of herself!

Lily decided to share her necklaces with Eli

Eli got tired of waiting for mom. 

Congrats Emma

In September Emma received the scholarship award for her class.  I am so proud of her and how hard she works always striving to do her best at everything. 

New family pictures

We had some fun pictures of the family taken about a month ago.  It was really fun and the kids did great!  Enjoy

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Two days after Lily's birthday school started for Emma!!  She has been so excited all summer.  The countdown began once Eli came!  It is hard to believe that I have a second grader!  Emma loves to read and actually LOVES school.  I sure hope she keeps the same attitude as she gets older.  

 Tyson got to start kindergarten one week after Emma and he has been so excited.  Once he found out he was going to have the same teacher Emma did he could not sleep.  So far he is loving school and cannot wait to go each day.  Tyson did say that preschool was more fun but that he thinks he will get used to kindergarten and like it as much someday too. 

For those that know Lily knows that she does not like to be left out of anything so one day while Emma was looking for her backpack and shoes, Lily decided to pretend to be Emma so she could go to school too!  She is such a character!  There is never a dull moment with her around.  Lily misses Tyson while he is gone but likes the time with mom too.  It is nice having two kids in school but I sure miss my kids. 

Lily turns 3!!

 It is hard to believe Lily is three!  She was so excited after Tyson's birthday because she knew hers was coming.  Everyday she would ask if it was her birthday and we would say no.  She then asked how many days til it was her birthday.  Everyday she told us she was almost a big girl.  So on the morning of her birthday when we told her it was her birthday she very matter-of-factly told us she was now a big girl and could go to school and chew gum (niether of which she is able to do yet).  Stan and I laughed.  I guess that is what she associated being a big girl with.  Too bad she still refuses to eat dinner. 

We had a great day.  I made a cupcake cake that Lily thought was pretty neat.  Then after naps we went up the canyon where there is a park and a big grassy field.  the kids love to play there and are always asking so we thought is was a great excuse to go up there.  

Emma gave Lily some necklaces and she loves to show them off.

Tyson turns 5!

We had a great time Wednesday celebrating Tyson's birthday! He is always asking to go to Chuck E. Cheese so we gave in and the kids had a blast! It is hard to believe that Tyson is starting Kindergarten in a couple of weeks. They really do grow up fast but we are loving every minute of it!



Emma picked out the glasses for Tyson and they were a huge hit.

Smile

We finally got some awesome smiles! It is wonderful that Eli can sit and be happy for hours without being held or asleep! He is a really good baby and the kids love to make him smile!

What a cutie!

Here are some cute pictures for the family that don't get to see Eli very often!





Eli at 4 weeks












His first smiles caught on camera. (sorry for the poor quality) Emma was the one who got Eli to smile first and she is SOO proud!

Tyson's new bike!

Tyson has been bugging us to get a bike he can ride lately so Stan took training wheels from another bike and put them on a bike that was given to Tyson. Tyson LOVES it. He and Emma love to ride their bike together! Although Emma cane up with one rule while on their bikes - Tyson is not allowed to go faster than her. It is kinda funny how mad Emma gets when he tries to get around her. Tyson pedals his heart out and has great fun. Now we just need to take the training wheels off but Tyson says he is not ready yet.

Eli's blessing

Days before Eli was born, my grandma passed away. She was a great woman who lived to be 101! Because of this my dad and two sisters were going to be in Utah. Since my dad has never been able to participate in the blessing of any of his grandchildren in person we decided to bless Eli when was 10 days old. It was a great day. It was the first time in a long time that my whole family was together, minus my sister's husband and boys who were missed terribly. We were glad there were some many family members from both sides there. Stan gave Eli a wonderful blessing. I wonder what his life has in store for him.

We had a great four days with everyone here. My kids were happy to have more attention and people to play with than just mom and dad. It was so awesome to have my family here. It reminds me of times when we were still at home and the great times we had together. I am grateful for family and for all they do for us. Now I just have to work it out so we all live close!

Finally!

So I guess all my excuses for not updating the blog out way the reasons why I need to. Now that Stan finally got our pictures off a dying computer and I can access them now I need to document the last year. Too bad I feel very overwhelmed by that right now.

So I will just update those that read this on the newest addition to our family. Eli Henkel Skeem. If you don't like birthing stories you can skip the reset of this post.

This pregnancy was very different from any of my others and he still is very different from my other children. Since I was GBS positive I had to have antibiotics giving 4 hours apart once in labor. My midwife and I decided to induce me to make sure there was enough time to give the meds before the baby came because my labors are pretty short once I get started. The hardest part about being induced was picking a date. Sounds funny but it was really hard for me. See my birthday was on the 3rd. The choices they gave my for induction was the 2nd or the 3rd. We chose the 2nd so Eli's birthday will come first and take most of the lime light.

Sunday, May 29, I had 8 hours of contractions and thought we were going to have this baby on my own. Much to my dismay after a walk the contractions stopped. I was disappointed but knew the baby would come later that week one way or another.

Well, June 2nd came around and Stan was working from home and his jaw started to hurt. He has had a bump for awhile but it didn't hurt and he had an appointment with the dentist later in the month but since it was hurting he didn't know what to do. I am thinking that is was perfect timing. He was able to go to the dentist that morning after dropping my off at the hospital to get the baby process started. I was freaking out a bit but I wanted him to figure out what was wrong before it got worse. Luckly he was back before I got too far.

I was started on Pitocin and the antibiotics by noon and the contractions started right away! The midwife was wanting to break my water at 1pm but was worried how fast I would go and whether or not I would have time for the second dose of antibiotics, so much to my dismay she waited til 3:30. When she broke my water I was still at a 1 and the baby was still kinda high. I was devastated and worried this was going to be a LONG labor. I also was worried about my decision to not have an epidural and if I would be able to handle the pain. The midwife checked me at 4:45 and I was at a 6 and the baby was in the birth canal. I was happy about this because it meant the baby was almost here. Some day the doctor/midwife will believe me when I tell them that the baby will be here in less than an hour. The contractions started to hurt really bad and thanks to my mom and Stan, I was able to make it through them. After I had one contraction that did not want to stop, we knew we needed the midwife because I was going to need to push soon. We didn't even have time to finish calling her before I had to fight the urge to push. It was crazy after that. I don't remember much other than the midwife running in with the cart and trying to keep everything on it while getting gloves on and telling me not to push. If you have not had an epidural, you know that is next to impossible to do. After 1 1/2 pushes he was out and immediately put on my chest. Everything happened SO fast that I was in shock that Eli was here. Because Stan was not sure that the baby was a boy he asked the nurses multiple times if the baby was indeed a boy before the nurses thought to look. He was having problems breathing and they had to take him away pretty fast. Eli had swallowed amniotic fluid on his way out and had to have it sucked out before he was able to breathe right. It was kinda scary the way everything happened so fast. I am glad that things did go well and Eli is healthy. Some time the doctor/midwife might actually listen to me and be prepared for how fast my babies come. Eli was born at 5:20 pm. He weight 7 lbs 14 oz and was 19 1/2 in long.

He is such a joy and the kids just love him. It is hard to keep him away from Emma. She always asking if she can hold him. Lily is very concerned every time Eli cries or makes a noise. Tyson wishes he was older so he could play with Eli. It is really fun to see how they interact with Eli.