Samiyah's Blessing

today was samiyah's blessing. she wore the dress my mom had made and that makayah had worn for her baby blessing. sam and his brothers all stood in the circle to bless her along with our friend, brian king and our bishop. sam blessed her to make wise decisions, to study things out for herself, to one day marry in the temple, to be blessed with beauty inside and out. to remember her heritage and draw strength from her ancestors. i heard as she was being blessed, she was silent and smiling. smiling at her daddy and her uncles. she is a sweet little thing.

Thanksgiving

we had planned samiyah's baby blessing for thanksgiving weekend so sam's brothers and my dad could be there in the circle. nathan and redmond arrived on tuesday night. i have to say, we've really missed having them around all the time. the kids were super excited to see their uncles and the uncles were super excited to meet their newest niece. everything seemed to be going great until i received a call from my parents. my dad had gotten sick, very sick with pneumonia and they had to cancel their flight. we were all so devastated and disappointed. why now?
however disappointed and sad i was about my parents not being able to come, i was grateful for nathan and redmond being here. we showed them around madison, ate at a yummy greek place on state street, and watched movies and played games. we had such a blast.
thanksgiving was super yummy. i made the pies the night before and forgot to put them up high. in the morning i heard red yelling out, "makayah destroyed the pies!" sam and i were still in bed but heard red asking makayah why she ate the pies. makayah said, matter-of-factly, "my tummy was grumbling for pies, so i ate them." what can you say to that? she was just too cute to get upset at.
along with the uncles, we had some friends over and watched football. it was a delicious day.
samiyah had such a wonderful time with her uncles as well. at one point, nathan was holding mimzy on his lap and singing to her. she would stare up at his face, smiling and cooing...she loved being sung to!
on friday, sam and his brothers went out at midnight to hit up the black friday sales. it was an all-nighter for them, and i was sound asleep in my comfy bed. ;) sam and i went out the next morning while the kids played with their uncles. it was awesome...we sure miss having them around.
saturday was the badgers football game. the boys went, and they got to sit in the student section. the student section is CRAZY! seriously...badger games are not for young children. but the boys loved it. i think sam just loved having his brothers around again. i know he really missed them.
and since this is a thanksgiving post. i am so very thankful for my family. for my wonderful husband and the hard work he puts in everyday to support and provide for us. he is such a loving and fun father. i am thankful for my children, for their lively spirits, their rambunctious laughter that fills our home. the warm cuddles and slobbery kisses. i am grateful for the joy and purpose they bring to my life....even though most nights it leaves me exhausted. i am grateful for our families; my own and my in-laws. i am truly blessed to have such wonderfully loving parents. and it made me so very sad that they couldn't be here right now, but i'm grateful that my dad is well and resting. i'm grateful for sam's parents and siblings and my own siblings. it is truly a blessing for my children to be so well loved. :) family is everything.

Isaiah's Birthday Party

make a wish! his toy story birthday party. sam was in charge of games with the 12 boys that isaiah had invited. it was quite the turnout. the cute alien cupcakes i made. :)

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

It's been 6 years since the first morning I laid eyes on the most beautiful baby boy ever. I was really excited for his birthday and had been planning his party for a while. His actual birthday was on Thursday. So the morning of his actual birthday, I made blueberry muffins for Isaiah to take to his kindergarten class.  Sam walked Isaiah to his classroom and dropped off the muffins, and Isaiah loved being able to show off his daddy. He had a great day. I picked him up after school, and since we were all in the car, we drove to UW campus and picked up daddy as well. There was a moment that really hit me all of a sudden. Maybe it was because I had just had a new baby recently, but as we drove down Park Street just past the Meriter hospital where Samiyah was born, the night I had Isaiah was vividly remembered. I remembered the excitement, the long wait, the ripping pain of the contractions, the long hours of pushing and sheer exhaustion. But the struggle of it all is mostly a blur. What I remember most is lying on the operating table when Sam came in holding our brand-new baby boy. When I heard the door open, I asked, "Where is he?" Sam said, when Isaiah heard my voice, he turned his head towards my voice. All those nights I had sung to him when he was still in my tummy, he had heard me and remembered his mama's voice. :)  And when I finally saw him, I instantly fell in love. The love was more powerful than I had ever imagined. I knew I'd love him forever.

I didn't know how fast my little boy would grow up. I've realized, 6 years isn't very long at all, and time really does fly by, faster than I'd like.

My Dear Sweet Son,
I didn't know how fast you, my little baby boy, would grow up. Six years have flown by, and for every precious year, I have loved being your mother. I feel so very blessed and honored to see you learn and grow.
You've always been such a happy person. Your smiles are contagious. You like things clean and organized. You are helpful and loving, most especially to your little sisters. You are the best big brother, and best little helper to your mom and dad.
You are such a ball of energy! You love running and jumping. You love to try all sorts of sports. So far, you've been involved in soccer, basketball, and baseball. You even love watching sports with your daddy.
You are sweet and tender hearted. You are a sensitive soul and you care about other peoples' feelings. I love seeing how friendly you are. You are eager to make friends and you make friends easily. You are one cool kid.
You are so funny. You have a great sense of humor and you bring lots of laughter into our home. You truly are a joy to have!
The most important thing I want you to know and always remember is that daddy and I love you so very much. We are so proud of you and the choices you have made thus far. Remember to be strong in your beliefs. Stand for what is right. You are such a very special boy with much to offer. I will love you forever. Love, Mama and Daddy.

First Smile

today, at six weeks, samiyah smiled. officially smiled at me. she was lying on her playmat and i came up to talk to her. when she saw my face, she smiled. what a sweetie!! it totally made my day. :) this picture doesn't show her smiling. but it was taken on the day she smiled....just later on in the afternoon.

a star wars halloween

it was so fun having gramma ellen here to help with halloween. ;) we skipped out on the actual door to door stuff, and went to our ward halloween party. there were enough sweet treats there. ;) isaiah's costume was a christmas present from his uncles. and i made makayah's princess leia's costume. samiyah's costume was super easy...a hand-me down baby bear suit that isaiah had gotten at his baby shower. sure came in handy tonight! all i had to do was make a little "ewok" head cover and paint her nose brown with cocoa powder. ;) love my little star wars munchkins.

a long visit with grandma crowfoot

having ellen here was a blast. seriously. it was one long week of partying! grandma ellen was so helpful and took the kids to school and picked them up, which allowed me to sleep in and keep the house nice and tidy. ;) she was an amazing help keeping makayah and isaiah entertained. there were lots of pente game playing, crafts, knitting, and cuddling. 

while ellen was here, we also had a week long office marathon. we could not stop laughing. it was the first time she had watched most episodes, and at times we were in tears laughing so hard. we ordered pizza from glass nickel and watched movies. we knitted hats and scarves and talked until midnight...well, that's when i finally went to bed, but sam and ellen stayed up much later chitchatting. ;) ellen and i also watched a movie called, "the stoning of sorayah m." heartbreaking film. and after watching that, i was so incredibly thankful for my two beautiful daughters. they are extremely precious. we cried our eyes out watching while sam was out playing basketball. it really was quite disturbing how people treat other people. 

then we started up the office marathon again, because we needed to laugh. and we did. a lot. 

since isaiah didn't have school on thursday, we decided to take a trip out to new glarus. this was ellen's first trip out to madison and we wanted to show her around. the drive was beautiful and the little swiss town was so fun. we went from shop to shop, taste testing this goodie and that one. we bought treats from the bakery for the drive home. and we stopped and ate dinner at the pizzeria. dinner was delicious!

the painted cow picture. there are actually tons of these cows in switzerland. they would have them inside the malls, on the streets downtown, in town squares....all over! so, it was fun to see that new glarus had them too. 

lovely grandma and the lovely bell tower. that day when the chimes would go off, it was quite eerie. i don't know if they did it especially for halloween coming up, but, it was spooky to listen to. 

mother and son. eating at the pizzeria. super duper yummy food.

mama and baby mims. she is such a good sport about everything! :)

grandma and grandpa crowfoot

what can we say? we LOVED having grandma and grandpa here! the kids were in heaven. on friday evening, we went to costco, of course. we shopped for this and that, and once we were finished, we headed over to state street to eat at one of the indian restaurants there. super duper yummy. isaiah and makayah weren't too keen on the curry, but they did like the rice and naan bread.  

on saturday, ellen and strater were courageous enough to take the kids swimming at their hotel. isaiah worked on his cannon balls and makayah relaxed in the hot tub with grandma. ;) after that, we all went to watch "despicable me" at the movie theater. we all had such a great time, and samiyah slept through the entire movie. needless to say, isaiah and makayah were tuckered out by the end of the day. 

sunday was grandpa's last day in madison. we got to church on time, wow, i know. it was a miracle. it also happened to be the primary program. makayah was having issues with her hair. and decided during her part in the program not to say anything because her hair was "ugly." it really wasn't. it just wasn't up in a pony tail the way she wanted it. so she stood at the podium, silently shaking her head. little miss diva. and then she sat down. isaiah spoke his part, and when he was done and heading up to his seat, makayah gave him a high five. it was super cute. anyway, they did sing loudly and they were simply adorable during the program. i'm so happy that ellen and strater could be here for it. after church, we all said our goodbyes to grandpa, but isaiah was especially sad to see him leave. he kept asking when grandpa was going to come back and when he was going to move to madison. thankfully, grandma was staying with us for a week and that cheered isaiah up. 

Pumpkins, Doctors, and Grandma & Grandpa

I'm trying to keep up with my journaling. and unfortunately, for this post i don't have any pictures. however, i did want to remember this day, so i'll write as much as i can remember. :)

october 21, 2010
i signed up to be a chaperone for makayah's pumpkin farm field trip. i had chaperoned isaiah's field trips last year, and i really wanted to share this experience with makayah (and tag-along samiyah). yeah, i might've been crazy...who signs up to chaperone a preschool field trip two weeks after giving birth?! me, that's who.

i brought my baby sling along. and we drove up to the farm with mrs. t and another girl from makayah's class. when we got there, there was a huge playground with a gigantic slide...i'm not kidding, it was almost 12 feet high. huge! i followed makayah and her classmate around while carrying little mims, covered, in her baby sling. makayah loved the outside play area, and we had so much fun on the gigantic slide, running around the fort, and having a rubber ducky splash race. it was a pretty sweet place. after playtime and snack, we all gathered around for the tour around the farm. we saw the rabbits, the pigs, the donkey, the chickens, and fed the goats at the end. while the kids were running around and touring the barn, i slipped into a quiet corner and fed samiyah. then it was off to our hay ride. at the end of our fun and bumpy ride, we picked out pumpkins and went on our way home. i'm so glad i was able to chaperone, and especially happy that samiyah allowed me to without any fuss. she really is the sweetest babe so far. ;)

next up, samiyah's 2wk doctor's appointment. i was so afraid she'd be getting some needles that day, and i was about to have sam take her instead. but, in the end, i figured it was best for me to take her and be able to comfort her afterwards. so, we went. no shots. just weighing, heartbeats, measuring, and lots of smiles. whew! thank goodness. the doc said we could wait to start any immunizations until 2 months. i love my pediatrician. she is amazing.

anyway, besides, the busy morning and afternoon, i think everything else went fairly smoothly. the rest of the day was dedicated to getting ready for grandma and grandpa crowfoot to arrive. the kids were so excited to see them, and so were sam and i. they couldn't come until late that night, after isaiah and makayah were asleep. however, when the did come, they tiptoed into their bedroom and gave them goodnight kisses. :) and since samiyah was still awake, they got to hold her before going to their hotel for the night.

yay! grandma and grandpa are here!!

7 year anniversary

sam and i decided to celebrate our anniversary early. we were able to get tickets to see "wicked." it was super duper cool. we saw it before the baby came. it was so fun just to be together. laughing, talking, sneaking food inside. ;) i had a great time with my best friend. i can't believe how much time has gone by so quickly. and at the same time, it seems like, 7 years? that's it?? because for some strange reason, it seems we've known each other forever. i love you sam. thank you for being my best friend, my wonderful husband, and the greatest daddy ever. it has been one "WICKED" ride. :)

baby mims' first photo shoot

samiyah was five days old when i decided to play around with the camera. we had a fun time and i even got peed on. ;)

baby samiyah is born

i know it's been a while...and i have been so behind on my blogging. but here is the baby post...finally! the nice thing about scheduled c-sections is all the advanced planning you can do. we planned the c-section for the day makayah had preschool, and the time when BOTH children would already be in school. so we dropped off our kiddos, packed up some last minute things, tidied up the house, and drove to the hospital around 10am. i am always so nervous. i know the drill, but i still get so nervous, especially at a new hospital. i was especially nervous about the epidural/spinal. the previous births, i had the same anesthesiologist and he was excellent. he was fast, comforting, and made the procedure completely painless. and since this is our first baby in madison...i had no clue what to expect...i mean, i kind of had an idea... so anyway, it's funny how i forget about all the needle parts. it's like my brain deliberately blocks it all out...and then i'm sitting in the prep room thinking, oh yes...how did i not remember this? and i'm doing this again? well, there really is no turning back at this point. it wasn't too bad, i just really don't like needles. luckily sam was there to distract me and the nurses were great and friendly. my doctor arrived around 10:30ish and i was wheeled in for the real prep work. the spinal....eh, not as nice as i'd hoped. i missed having my old guy there 'cause this time i did feel the poke....and then numbness. whew! the blue curtain went up, sam came in, and baby came out. but just before they actually began the procedure, sam was chatting it up with the nurses and doctors. they asked what he was studying at UW. law. what kind of law is sam interested in? and sam being sam, said, "medical malpractice." you could seriously here a pin drop. everyone in the room froze and wondered if this guy was serious. sam laughed. then there was the nervous chuckle circling the room. and then sam stopped laughing, and said, "but seriously guys, do a good job." then began the surgery. this was the first time that sam actually recorded my tummy and the doctors pulling the baby out. it was pretty cool, especially since i've never seen the actual birth of any of my children before. way cool. there was tugging and pulling, and comments like "oh, look at her hair!" and then she was out,and i heard her cry for the first time. and then i started crying. that always seems to happen. ;) i still hadn't seen her. they cleaned her up and weighed her. 7lbs 12oz. then sam brought her over and the nurses took pictures for us. she was so perfect. and i cried more happy tears. it was such a surreal experience. i was more awake this time around. i wanted to be sure i remembered what happens after. they wheeled me into a post op room where they checked my vitals. i was feeling pretty okay, still couldn't move anything below my chest which was so weird. and sam sat there in the corner with our new baby calling all the grandparents so they could hear her cry. it was sweet and so wonderful. i got to hold her and she was so tiny. then they wheeled me into my real room. and i got to rest. sam stayed with me until the afternoon when he picked up isaiah and makayah. our great friend emily graciously offered to take care of them while we were at the hospital. so, the kids came and saw their new sibling. we all fell in love with her. it took a while to settle on a name. we finally named her the day before we had to leave. Samiyah Nizhoni Crowfoot. it means beautiful one, close to God. i really liked my stay. the room was nice and big for when the kids and sam came to visit. the nurses were awesome. and i got the rest i needed. by sunday morning i was so ready to go home though. we dressed baby samiyah. packed up our belongings. checked out with the nurse, picked up my meds, and came home to a very clean house with dinner on the table (dinner was compliments of our extraordinary neighbor, judy). it was all so perfect and calm and so not stressful. i had planned for the worst ('cause i definitely had had one of those) but this calm and peace was an extra sweet surprise and i was definitely grateful for it. it was such a beautiful sunday afternoon. the weather was still warm (i had two previous winter babies) and i just camped out in my rocking chair. we all hung out watching movies, holding baby, and talking with family on the phone. it was the perfect day. *sigh* :) and a very special thank you to all who helped us out. we really couldn't have juggled everything ourselves, especially being so far away from our families. thank you, thank you, thank you.

unfinished projects....

the nesting continued and i just had to finish up these sewing projects before the arrival of baby girl. i'm not sure when i started on this dress. but it is finally finished. and makayah has at least two to three months to wear it. it's a good thing she has a little sister to pass it on to as well. :) and a pair of butterfly camo pants. i love that makayah loves wearing the things i make for her.

nesting

the living room curtains. we bought the material from ikea. sam chose it. i think he made a great choice. :) the kids' curtains. it's a crazy quirk of mine, but when things match and the room flows nicely...it makes me so happy. labels, labels and more labels.... i wanted to be prepared for when after the baby was born. i didn't want to be overwhelmed with little ones asking for clothes, and what they should wear or where their clothes are supposed to go. so this was my solution. and i have to say, it is working wonders. i love labels.

Apple Picking

we started our afternoon off with a family visit to isaiah's classroom. isaiah's kindergarten teacher had invited all the families for a bit of show and tell. the kids showed us what they had been working on and some of their routines. it was great. i really, really love isaiah's teacher. 

after school, we all headed over to the apple orchard for family fun friday. 

 daddy was the most help seeing as he was the tallest and best aim. 

makayah helped carry the bag of apples.

 isaiah was our tree climber.

 and i was the preggo photographer, capturing sweet father son moments like this one. ;)

as you can see, we had so much fun. we bought our picked apples along with some apple cinnamon donuts and apple cider. it was a super yummy treat to eat while watching our fun friday movie. i can still taste those donuts! :)