Merry Christmas!

Service

I am surrounded by such good, wonderful people. I have great friends who are always so willing to lend a helping hand and have gone out of their way to help me while I was pregnant and now that little Nathan is here.

Mom

My mom and dad and Caleb and Abby came to visit for Thanksgiving with the hopes that our little baby would arrive while they were here. I am grateful that Nathan acquiesced to our plans. My mom stayed an extra week to help us. She was an awesome help, and I just love having her company. I was amazed at how much she could get done in a day. She made us dinner every night and froze a couple meals too. She washed clothes, changed almost every one of Nathan's diapers and took care of his circumcision, shopped for the things I needed, helped me make a million JOY blocks I wanted to give as Christmas presents, serviced and fixed my sewing machine, dressed up Nathan's burp cloths with fabric and ribbon, read a few books, and even knitted a bunch of scarves for her young women for Christmas. I am grateful for her service to my family. I would be a mess without her, and I'm so glad she got to be with me when Nathan was born.

River of Lights
Another "empty-nester" family in our ward took my kids out for a night on the town on Friday. They gathered all but Nathan into their Suburban and first took them out to eat and then to see Albuquerque's River of Lights. When the kids got home they had cotton candy and a couple bags full of magnetic rocks as souvenirs. They had so much fun, and I guarantee if Scott and I had taken them they would not have received such special treatment. Scott and I reflected on this couple's readiness and willingness to serve in all sorts of capacities. We want to be just like them.

McDonalds
On Saturday another lady from our ward called to see if she could take the kids to McDonald's to get a Happy Meal and play on the play place. Aren't I lucky to have such wonderful people around me?

Explora
Another good friend took Jared and Ellie to the children's museum Explora on Monday. She has four kids of her own who are all in school, and used her precious "kid-free" hours to help me out by entertaining Jared and Ellie. They LOVED it! I am so grateful for her friendship and all the things she does for me and my family.

I am incredibly blessed and feel so loved! I am awed by the goodness in people, and am grateful for their example of service and love. I hope I can emulate those qualities as well.

More Little Nate

Beware to all my friends who think they are "done" having children. Do not come to my house and see Nathan. You will fall in love instantly and will find it hard to resist the urge to add another baby to your family. He already has everyone of us wrapped around his finger.

Nate has the sweetest spirit. He is the most perfect little person. After every feeding he wakes up and looks around bright eyed and quizzically. I've never had a newborn that looked around as much as he does. When you talk to him you can tell he gets excited and that his cute little mouth is trying very hard to smile. He is so peaceful and has been easy going so far. He endures being passed constantly from one person to another and is not the least bit phased by the chaos of it all. I already don't know what our family would do without this special little one.

Nathan eats like a champ. There will be no discreet feedings with him as he gulps every taste down like it may be his last feeding. My mom could even hear him eating while I was talking to her on the phone. I love a good fast eater.

I want to share this bundle of joy with everyone I love. It makes me miss living by family. It makes me miss the fact that I have a nephew and a niece that I've never even met, and that my parents and Scott's parents get no more than mere glimpses into the lives of my kids when we see them. I want them to be able to hold and smell and love and snuggle our little Nate and feel the joy he's brought into our family.

Our Baby is Born by Brynn

On Thanksgiving morning Ellie and Jared ran in mine and Kaitlyn’s room. They asked us if we were awake. We said yeah. They told us Mom had the baby! I got out of bed and I kissed Ellie! We went downstairs and saw a picture of him. They baby’s whole name is Nathan Porter Esplin.

We couldn't go see him in the hospital because it is flu season and kids aren't allowed in the hospital.

Thanksgiving Day Addition

We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day as we welcomed Nathan Porter Esplin into our family early this morning. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 11 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

Sarah was amazing. The labor lasted only two hours or so -- short enough that Sarah didn't have time to get an epidural. She seems pretty happy about that feat now but not so much this morning just before 12:14am.

The picture above shows Nathan already flexing his muscles just after I taught him how to do his first push-ups. There is no doubt he is a perfect fit for our family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thoughts from a VERY Pregnant Woman!

Today is my due date.

There is still hope...the day is young!

These are the flowers my sweet friend Amber brought over this morning to cheer me up. She said she'd still been pregnant on her due date and knew what it felt like. I'm so thankful for such a great friend.

Every night I feel contractions and feel crummy all over. I always have a glimmer of hope that maybe the baby will come, but I always wake up still pregnant!

Sometimes I wonder if this little one is waiting to come because we haven't decided on a name. Well, I think Scott and the kids feel pretty decided on a name, but I don't. For the record, here are the names I like that have been shot down: Cason, McKay, and Micah.

Jared ran to me and put his face to my tummy and exclaimed, "Don't worry baby! I won't let Mom name you Micah!" He was very serious about it.

My parents come to visit tomorrow and my mom is staying for only an extra week. This baby HAS to come soon! Wish us luck!

If I'm still pregant on Sunday I may stay home from church. I'm not sure I could handle another "You haven't had that baby yet!" comment.

Forgotten!

Scott took the kids swimming at his work last week. I appreciate when he does this. The kids love it, and it gives me a chance to get other things done while they are gone. I'm always a little uneasy though until they are home safely. Kaitlyn and Brynn are great swimmers, but Jared and Ellie need constant supervision. Scott is a great dad, but sometimes when you're not used to dragging four kids along you don't realize the effort it takes to keep track of everyone. And keeping track of everyone at the pool is essential.

So, when they all arrived safely home I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I heard the story of the forgotten little girl. Another family joined our crew this time so there were more kids than usual as they clamored out of the cars and rode the elevator to the swimming pool. Luckily this is as far as they got when Scott realized there was no Ellie around. He quickly turned around and rode back down to find Ellie crying, still in the van. Someone had unbuckled her already, but she didn't make it out of the van before the doors shut on her. When I asked her what she did she told me she honked the horn. I don't know whether that is true or not, but Scott did say she was sitting in the drivers seat.

Apparently Ellie has not completely forgiven Scott for this mistake. Several times she has brought up the fact that "Daddy, forgot Ellie!" I'm just grateful he remembered her so quickly after she was forgotten!