RETREAT!!!!!

August 3, Ethan was two weeks old and we had company again.  Clay told me that Chubaka's owners forgot to work out details with the kennel while they were taking leave.  They asked if we could watch him for 18 days.  One benefit of living on post is the rules sometimes.  According to our contract, we have five days to get a dog registered so I told him we couldn't watch him for more than five days.

So we got him for five days.

With a two week old, and five other children, and Clay working most of the days we had him.

Just to recap, this is Chubaka.

Not my idea of a house dog.  Ugh.  Needless to say, I was counting down the days until he could go to the kennel.  It was REALLY HOT during this time so every time he headed outside, he would stink.  And shed.  Maybe we're not ready for a dog yet.

That Thursday, Clay asked if we wanted to go to a marriage retreat the next week.  OH YES!!!  I've heard a little about these but was more just looking forward to having time as a family and doing something fun for the summer so my kids didn't go back to school with a report of their trip to see mom and new brother in the hospital as their family vacation. 

Sunday, Clay and a couple of the kids made the 30 minute drive to drop off Chubaka at the kennel (did I mention we live in the middle of nowhere?) and I started the dog clean up and packing for our trip.

Monday morning we all got up early and headed to post for a safety briefing before our trip up to Grapevine, TX.  I was worried about being late up there as we had a newborn who needed to eat along the way (as well as five others) but we made it before those in charge of the event did.  :)  We had an orientation meeting and found out that this was a family retreat.  Clay, Christina, Ethan, and I got to attend classes about how to make our family stronger while the others were across the hall in the provided child care.  We had one short meeting that day and then they let us go to have family time.

The retreat was held at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX (a little over 3 hours away).  After dinner, Clay, Christina, Daniel, Amanda, and Jonathan headed off to explore the indoor waterpark while Samantha, Ethan, and I hung out in the hotel room.

Tuesday we had several more sessions before being released for more family time.  This time, all of us went down to see what the fun was about.

Here's the girls taking Samantha in for the first time--

The all had a ball.  I haven't had time to touch up the photos so you'll have to excuse the quality here.  

Daniel on a water toy--
Jonathan was really hesitant to go down the kiddie water slides.  I had to coax him down when I went into the kiddie part for a bit.
But most of the time, I sat on the side with this little one watching the others.
Samantha had a ball.  This picture is a little blurry but I love how much she trusts her dad.
Jonathan loved the wave pool and playing in the waves.
I still can't believe how huge this place was.  This is the lazy river.
Clay, Jonathan, Samantha, and Amanda in the wave pool.
I kept trying to find Christina and Daniel but they were some where in one of the many slides like this.  They thought these were more fun than the kiddie section.  I guess they're growing up.  I can't remember the number of indoor slides the place had.  It was HUGE!
That night, Ethan, Samantha, and I hung out in the room again so dad and the "big kids" could go on more slides.  

Ethan at three weeks--

Samantha had fun snuggling in bed with mom for a change.
Wednesday we had a few more classes in the morning before heading home.  It was such a nice get a way.  The best part is that the army provided it all (meals included) once we got there.  Christina made the comment that those three days almost made the army and moving worth it to her.

I'm just grateful to have a break and good, quality family time.

Getting ready for school

I promise I will catch up. Just been busy with trying to get all the school supplies, clothes, shoes purchased for school. We've decided to send Jonathan to Pre-K this year so it's added a lot more in the school supply area but I think after purchasing about 100 pencils, 50 glue sticks, 6 boxes of kleenex, and notebook paper out the wazoo (and that's for the three in elementary school), I'm done. Bags are packed and ready to go Monday morning.

I'm going to miss the kids. It's going to be strange going from 6 to 2 during the days but I'm looking forward to having more time with Samantha and getting more organized. Maybe I'll get the blog caught up next week. Maybe.

Lessons learned

I know I've had a few kids but we still learn lessons with each one.

Lessons I should have learned by now, but didn't include the following:

1. When you live in a place (i.e. Texas) where it gets extremely hot and humid and it is summer in said conditions, your wedding ring will not go back on your finger as quickly as it has in the past after giving birth.

2. Don't force said ring on to your finger or leave it if it is tight.

3. If ring does start to get tight, take it off immediately or at least get help to take it off ASAP.

4. The ER is where you go to get rings cut off and they move you in line pretty quick when finger starts turning colors.

5. Find a good jeweler whenever you move to a new town. (Still working on that one)

6. Don't allow extra critters into home to "babysit" with a newborn, especially extremely large ones. (Chubaka came to visit for 5 days when Ethan was 2 weeks old. Chubaka is a indoor house dog, a great dane/small horse.)

7. Ask more questions when agreeing to above situation.

8. Request the said large "guest" go to groomers before coming to house.

Changes

I've been hesitant to write about some changes that we've been going through because I still don't know all the details but here's what we know for now.

The Friday before Ethan was born, we got word that Clay was being moved to the Rear Detachment Unit and being taken off the deployment list for now. It wasn't an "official" word so we didn't say much to anyone. Clay was able to have 10 days paternity leave for Ethan's birth (very grateful for) so he didn't official get moved over until this past Monday.

His leaders now have been great to work with and are trying to help us as much as they can. They are trying to get Clay ready to go before the board to get promoted to Sergeant. They're also allowing him to help more with appointments and such with the kids. He's been working half days since he went back to work since it is during a three week block leave (time people who are going on the deployment can take leave) so it's been nice to have time to get family stuff done.

He's reapplying to medical schools for next year and will be taking a class or two this fall to boost his chances. I really feel peaceful and so blessed about everything that has happened. It will be much easier to move with a one year old instead of a one week old. Christina will also be able to do high school all at one school instead of moving before her senior year (scary to think that's so close and something to think about right now).

There is still a chance that he could be called up at any time to be deployed but I'm grateful that our family will have time to work on a few things and get a little more settled and organized. I know that this is truly a miracle and we are so grateful for all the prayers in our behalf. Thank you!

What happens when your kids find the camera

In my attempts to try to catch up my blog and upload photos I came across some interesting ones. So here are some examples of one of my children's (who shall remain anonymous) attempts at photography.

Balance is an important factor in photography.Guess what we've been reading.
Lighting can be really tricky.
An example of how little sister plays--
They have even learned posing techniques.
Finally, a shot of the culprit's hand. I guess we're still working on self photos.

Waterpark

Our library had a reading program for the summer that the kids participated in. The culmination was a water/ice cream party at a local park. We hadn't been to this one before (or even knew it existed) so it was a nice prize for us all. Here's the family heading in--Daniel, Samantha, Christina, Jonathan, Amanda, Clay, and Ethan.
Samantha took Daddy's hand and held on to it for most of the time there. Jonathan had a ball playing in the water.
Ethan and I decided to chill out on the side and not participate yet. Hopefully in a few months or next year.
Christina and Samantha.
Samantha, Clay, and Jonathan--
The kids all had a lot of fun. Daniel had so much that he took off and never came around for me to take pictures of him. We'll have to go back another time when we all can go.

Ethan's name

It was funny the first several days we were home with Ethan, Jonathan kept coming up to me and asking "What's his name again?" He loves having a little brother.

We had a harder time coming up with Ethan's name. We wanted a Bible name to keep with tradition with our boys names (yes, Ethan is in the Old Testament) and we like to use names with meaning and family names if possible. Ethan means strong, firm, constant.

His middle name is Isaac which means laughter, joy (we need more of this in our house). He is also named after Isaac Laney who is one of my pioneer ancestors (since his birthday is close to pioneer day, July 24th). Isaac Laney survived the Haun's Mill Massacre and made the trek to Salt Lake.

I felt kind of bad that we didn't have his name picked before he got here and even until later in the day of his birth but I take naming our kids pretty seriously and want to make sure we choose the right name for our kids. I really like the name now. The first few days when people would ask his name, I had to hesitate and remember because we had gone through so many names to pick the right one. I hope people attribute this to sleep deprivation and not that I couldn't remember my child's name. I love his name now. It seems so right.

Ethan's First Bath

July 28th we were able to get Ethan's tongue clipped (he was tongue tied). I'm so grateful that I caught it when we did and that we were able to get it clipped so early. I was really amazed that later that day, he was having so much fun playing with his tongue and moving it in and out of his mouth. Even at such a young age, he was able to tell a difference. Since then, he has been gaining weight beautifully and nursing is going so much better. On Friday, July 30th he weighed 7 lbs. 7.9 oz. and by his two week appointment, he was back to his birth weight of 7 lbs. 15 oz. Not too shabby gaining approx. 8 oz. in 4 days.

Sunday, August 1st we went to all of church and he was able to take his first bath. The kids all had fun helping with that and laughing when he would "water" the sink. Clay video taped it and Christina took the pictures.
Here he is after his bath, it wasn't his favorite.
I love this picture. Samantha has been so great with Ethan. He was the first kiddo ready for church that day.In his little suit. My sister in law bought this for us when Jonathan was born.Clay and Ethan, ready for church. Gotta love the facial expressions we catch in photos sometimes.
Here is Ethan at 2 weeks old, August 3rd.
Nice to have a calm week before everything hits again.

Project #6, First Week

Every time we have a new one, I feel like it's my time to refocus and reset my life. To try to do a little better than I did before. So here's my life starting over again. I'm sure I've needed everyone of these 6 chances to start over. Hopefully I can do much better this time around.

Ethan and I came home from the hospital on Wednesday, June 22nd. He lost quite a bit of weight and got down to 7 lbs. 3 oz, losing 9% of his body weight so we spent the next week, going in to get him weighed every few days.

Here he is for his first car trip.Home! I think he looks a lot like Jonathan but he definitely has his own look too.The beautiful flowers my amazing husband got for me.
Thursday, July 23rd, Clay's mom, sister, and her 3 kids came to see the baby and visit.

Friday, July 24th, Clay took everyone but Ethan and I to the museum on post for his unit. The kids had fun dressing up in the uniforms. Here's Daniel in one.That afternoon, we took Ethan back to the hospital and had his blood drawn again, weight check, and had it confirmed that he was tongue tied. I'm so glad I caught it this time. We didn't realize Amanda had it until she was 3 years old and it's lead to speech issues. We weren't able to get Ethan's tongue fixed until he was 8 days old but nursing is much better for both of us now.

Sunday, July 25th was Clay's 36th birthday. How many guys get their 6th child for their 36th birthday? Best birthday present. I went to sacrament meeting to listen to Christina give a talk and then Ethan and I headed home. In the midst of everything I made Clay a "Death By Chocolate Cake" that was so yummy.
One of his new toys he got for his birthday. It's a wii sensor bar holder.
Here's Clay, Ethan, and his mom (Grandma Jackson).
The kids had fun with cousins dancing to Willy Wonka's Oompa Loompa dancing.
1 week old, Ethan. Love the beautiful eyes and long lashes.
On Monday, July 26th, we all headed up to BLORA, a lake that's free for military. They have free paddle boats, water slides, a beach, etc. The kids had fun with cousins and Grandma, I and Ethan watched from the shore. Here's the first boat--in the back is Clay's sister Leesa, cousin Sarah, in the front is Christina, Amanda, and cousin Audree (l to r).


The boy's boat (and Samantha)--Clay and Daniel are in the back, Jonathan, Samantha, and cousin Ty (l to r).
Clay's family left early Tuesday, July 27th to head home. The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins.