Easter 2011

Our big Easter Sunday celebration was again at my parents house this year. We had the traditional breakfast for dinner followed by an epic egg hunt. The kids waited inside while the grown ups hid the eggs. I didn't even try to say it was the Easter Bunny who left the eggs and I'm pretty sure they all saw us walking around hiding the eggs. I think the kids put two and two together on that one.

Gunner trying to bust out before it's time to start:


Ella finding the loot:



Tabby scored the most eggs:


Race watched with envy:


Done!


Grandma had a big sheet of coloring paper:



We followed everything up with a kids and grand kids picture.

Congrats

My son Rex who is becoming quite the little speller, drew me this picture to congratulate me on having Baby Race.

Never before have I seen a more spectacular spelling of the word "congratulations."

In fact, it is so awesome that I think I will only spell it the way he spells it from now on.

I think I have to frame this one.

Ostrich Festival Parade

My girlies got to dance in the Ostrich Festival Parade this past Saturday! Race is only a week old but I felt guilty missing it. So, to the parade we all went. Our first outing as a family of 7! We lived through it just fine and we didn't even forget a kid somewhere!

Here are 3 of my handsome boys waiting for the parade to start:

Race isn't in the picture because I was wearing him like this:

I LOVE my Moby Wrap! Best way to carry a baby around!

We got there early enough to catch Ronald McDonald himself walking to the parade line up. Rex ran out to meet him and asked him if he and any burgers for his daddy. Sadly no, but he did stop long enough to give him some high fives and foot fives.


Coincidentally, Ronald was marching right behind our girls and Rex thought it was the epitome of comedy to do armpit farts at Ronald. I guess Ronald shares the same level of humor as my 5 year old and laughed really loud and then shouted "There's my favorite dude!" Come on, we should totally get free burgers for that!

The girls are here! Ella is at the front of the trailer:



Tabby said she did her best marching ever. She looked so cute with her cute little self.



I was glad I made the decision to head out and see my girlies but don't be fooled. I'm for sure not back in action yet. I went right back home and put my sweats on.

Validated

If you would have asked me who my kids resemble most, I would have told you they look like Dale's side of the family. That was until I saw this picture that my mom recently took of Rex playing airplanes in their backyard.

When I saw this I thought "Man, this picture looks so familiar to me for some reason." Then it struck me. I was thinking of this picture:

Me running in my backyard about the same age. Ha! Who's got the dominant genes now???

He's Here!

Our awesome little Race Preston Morris was born on Saturday at 5:26 p.m.! The labor was difficult and a bit scary at one moment but it was all worth it because we got this!

Perfect little Race! He was 9 lbs and 2 oz and was 21 inches long. Really though, the jury is still out on his length because he looks way longer than that to me. I'll get back to you on that.

Anyway, I loved my labor nurses and they were all the biggest help to me. I had one Ethiopian nurse who was like an angel whispering the sweetest things in my ear while I tried and tried to get Race born.

The problem was you see is Race got stuck. This has happened with 4 out of my 5 kids. Everything is fine and then at a certain point, the babies get stuck. And then they stop breathing. And then all the nurses run in. And things get really serious. And I get terrified.

But long story short, all was well and Race was delivered just fine thanks to the help of my awesome nurses and doctors.

I really did think this was going to be my smoothest delivery ever because even though I was scheduled to be induced Saturday morning, I went in already in labor. I thought that it would be quick and easy. But apparently, Morris kids don't like to come into the world without a fight. But I won, I pushed him out.

When we first got settled into the room, I saw the nurse had written a list of the goals for the delivery. She said she didn't write anything about pain control because she didn't know if I wanted pain control. I told her to write it on there in all caps. She took artistic liberties and added the exclamation smiley face.


When he was born, I got the biggest rush of emotion partly because of relief and partly because I knew this was my last delivery ever. Then I heard his cries and I knew he would be okay so I cried even harder. Next, they put him on my chest and I cried like a crazy person.

Here he is just after delivery:


Here's Dale holding his viking baby for the first time. I am of Nordic decent. Thus, all my babies are vikings.


And Auntie Magi giving him some love:


Here he is the next morning. The swelling and the redness went down pretty quickly. He has a little stork bite above his eye and I think it's precious. Tabby had one too in the same spot.


He can already smile. Talented boy.


Sleep and sleep and sleep.


On Monday it was time to go home. We got him into his outfit and took some pics before we left.


Love the frog bum.


The kids were just dying to meet him. Rex held him first and it was love at first sight. I swear, brothers have some sort of special bond and I could feel it happen between them instantly.


Tabby was next. Poor thing. She just wants to mother this baby so bad but I guess I'm feeling a bit over protective still. She was head over heels today just because I agreed let her put on his socks. I need to loosen up.


Ella was all over this boy. She won't let him out of her sight now. She just wants to kiss and snuggle him all day.

Gunner points and says "Baby!" I have to be really careful because Gunner just wants to mess with Race and push on his belly and poke him. One cute thing Gunner does is finds all the baby stuff around the house, brings it to me and says "Baby want?"


All in all Race (and I could eat my words later) seems to be a sweet good-natured baby. One thing is for sure, he's got brothers and sisters that already love him like crazy. Seems like he will have an easy time fitting in with the rest of them.

Who may not have an easy time however, is this gal. Knowing that this is my last one, it will be hard for me to watch him grow. It makes me just want to hold him tight and not put him down.

I just have to remember that every stage is fun and amazing. From learning to walk, to learning to ride a bike, to going to school, and on and on and on. It's all pretty dang awesome.

What's New With Us?

Honestly not much. Sorry to be anti climactic.

We had a great "keep it simple" Christmas. In a way, I was forced to keep it simple because I was crazy sick pretty much all of December. But Christmas itself was very enjoyable. I've decided not to feel bad about not posting pics from Christmas and New Years. You all know what we look like anyway. I think it's better just to keep the posts moving right along. Besides, no need to recap the past when we've got so much fun stuff to look forward to.

First on the docket is our new baby expected at the end of the month!

Selfishly, I want him out now because I'm swollen from head to toe and feel as big as a whale. But as a mom, I realize it's good to let him cook a little longer. I've heard the philosophy about how boys that are born a little too early are more prone to struggle with their lungs. This helps me tell myself to be patient as I get up for the millionth time in the night to use the restroom.

Also, I am really enjoying peoples' reaction when they ask me if this is my first and I tell them it's my fifth. That always gets 'em!

After that, Dale turns 40! He keeps saying he's old but he's not. And he's just as cute as ever.

I still can't think of a gift for him. What do you get for the guy who doesn't have anything? He's too simple! Give him an XBox 360 and he's a happy camper. That's what I got him last year and he hasn't asked for anything since.

And finally, my Tabby Lou turns 8 and gets baptized this year! What? Am I really old enough to have a child getting baptized? Yep.

I am really excited for her too. She often brings up how she wants to be baptized now and just can't wait. Oh what a special day it will be!

As a side note, it really does freak me out a little bit to think that I will already have 5 children by the time the oldest one gets baptized. Did I set some sort of record or something? Do I get a prize?

So those are the great things coming up for this family. Can't wait to share!

Tabby's Cheer

Tabby had such a blast taking cheer back in the Fall. That's right I said the Fall. That's how far behind I am. But I won't bore you with 20 zillion catch up posts about what happened between then and now. I'm just going to blog about the important stuff for posterity's sake.

She cheered for the "Galaxy" and I thought it was the darn cutest thing ever. Her little tiny self in a little cheer costume. No front teeth and two pom poms. She shouted for all she was worth except for when she was tired. Which ended up being quite a lot.






At her last game, I asked her some questions about cheer.

I think she had a good season and we will probably be back!

Alejandro

As per tradition, we went ice skating on Christmas Eve.

Due to my preggo-ness, I had to sit out but Dale took one for the team and got on skates and helped the little kids.

Even though he had to help Ella a lot, that didn't make him too busy to entertain us with a graceful and stunning interpretive ice dance.

Enjoy this masterpiece set to the tune of "Alejandro."

Christmas Wreath

I went pretty low key on the outside Christmas decorations this year. Normally, I like to make some new decorations every year. The only thing I've had time and energy to do this year is this wreath.

I'm actually pretty proud of it. I made it out of coffee filters. I didn't intend it to be so huge and puffy but 90% of the crafts I make don't turn out the way I intended. It kinda reminds me of a big powdered doughnut. Maybe that's why I like it so much!

I added some doo dads and ribbon from Hobby Lobby. The metal "Noel" sign is from Hobby Lobby too.


A little birdie is staring at you when you come to my door.

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Wednesday was my big 31st birthday!

Last year I did not want to turn 30 at all. It's not an old age by any means but I was sad about not being in my 20's any more. I think I've mourned that completely and I'm now in it to win it. Let's do this, 30's!

Anyway, I had a way great birthday. Dale surprised me by taking the day off, getting a babysitter, and telling me we are going shopping all day for things I want. Just him and I.

So shopping all day we went but I ended up getting mostly things for the kids. I wanted some new items to add to my maternity wardrobe but trying on clothes when you are 7 months pregnant is not good for morale. I decided I didn't need my bubble burst on my birthday so I stopped looking for clothes and just had a nice time with Dale.

We spent several hours together with out being interrupted or having to talk over kid chatter and that is a wonderful gift in and of itself.

Dale did however, surprise me with this little number:


I had noticed it in a store called Contagious on Main Street in Mesa. Dale hunted it down and triumphantly gave it to me on the morning of my birthday.

"One Year Older And Wiser Too" is a line in a happy birthday song that the kids sing in church primary. I was thinking about this song the other day and I decided that yes, I do feel wiser over this one year.

One thing is I've gotten better about not setting unobtainable and unrealistic standards for myself.

Women can be their own worst critics and I'm trying not to feel guilty about the times when I don't meet the expectations I've imagined other people are holding me to.

I know you all don't really care if my house is clean, if my clothes are perfect, if my home decor is just so. These are all things that a lot of women have assumed that others expect them to be doing.

So guess what? Sometimes a take a nap on the couch in my messy house while my kids zone out on TV. Sometimes I run errands in my sweats. Sometimes I give up on dinner and get fast food. Sometimes my kids have messy hair. Sometimes my loft is absolutely covered in laundry for days. Sometimes I go out with no makeup. And I bet most other moms do a lot of these things too.

But for some reason I have trained myself to feel guilty about all that. In my mind I think I should be vacuuming in heels and pearls while a roast is in the oven because I've imagined that's what everyone else thinks I'm doing.

Am I still sometimes worried about what others think of me and my house and my kids and my clothes and my bank account and my car and my personality and my talents? Yes. But I'm getting better about reminding myself that as long as I'm doing my best it's okay and I can let go of these silly standards that I've created for myself.

Seriously, life is much easier and funner when I think like this.

So here's to the 30's. Not as young as the 20's but just as awesome.

Veteran's Day Parade!

Our girlies got to march in the Mesa Vet's Day Parade this past Thursday! This was Tabby's second year and Ella's first time. They both had fun and I was a proud mama! I kept telling my kids how fun it is for parents to get to see their kids do awesome things.

The only bad part of this great day was when the girls were waiting in the staging area and a car rolled over a full water bottle that had it's lid on. The water fired out like a rocket and was a direct hit on Tabby. All she heard was a loud BANG and next thing she knew, she was soaked. Poor thing. All she was worried that her wet pom poms would get water on the girls next to her.

Other than that, is was a perfect day.

Here are some pics of the girls before the parade started:






The preschool aged girls get to cheer from the trailer. Here is Ella waiting to start.



All the Dance Addiction girlies!


Here's our group that came to watch. We are all excitedly anticipating the dancers coming by!


Luckily, they weren't that far back in the parade order so it was a short wait!


Ella gave us a wave:


Tabby told her daddy that he better not yell super loud for her and go crazy. So of course he did. Here she is trying not to be embarrassed.


There they go!


Here's the video we took. You can hear Dale yelling like a fool.