Chipmunk

About 7 months pregnant with Cole I started to have some pain from my bottom wisdom teeth trying to come through. I went to the dentist and was told they needed to come out, but I'd have to wait until I had the baby. It's been pretty miserable! Who has problem with their wisdom teeth in their 30's? I thought they were supposed to come in during the teen years. I have been really dreading having it done because they told me I needed to go an oral surgeon and be put to sleep to have them out. I have never been put to sleep before, and it has been one of my biggest fears. The pain finally got the best of me, and I made the appointment to have it done anyway.

Friday was the day and I am happy to say that I survived and just 2 days later am doing well enough to blog about it. It has been pretty uncomfortable and 800 mg of Ibuprofen has been my best friend, but it is still not as bad as I had expected it to be. The anestetic didn't even make me too loopy afterwards, so I don't have any funny stories to share. I have some of the good drugs for the pain, but am too chicken to take them for fear they will make me crazy. It hurts to open my mouth and my face hurts to the touch. My cheeks are pretty swollen, but not as bad as the above picture. Mark thought it would be funny to do some photo shopping there.

A big thanks to Brian and Kamber who watched Seth for us and brought us over some chicken potato soup on Friday night. Kamber even took the time to puree some of it for me. How nice is that!? Thanks also to Mom Bishop who brought over some delicious chicken noodle soup the next day. I'm pretty spoiled I guess. Both soups were just what the doctor ordered! And of course, thanks to Mark for taking the day off work and for faithfully bringing me ice packs and taking such good care of Cole too.

I am so glad it's over and look forward to a healed and pain free mouth just in time for Thanksgiving. You'd think I might have lost some weight with it hurting so much to eat for the last several months, but no such luck.

Cole's Blessing

I crocheted this blanket for him to use on his blessing day.

Cole in his white blessing shirt and khakis.

I think this is a pretty sweet picture.

The men who stood in the circle (minus Gary Gunnerson).

What would you say the frosting decoration to the left of the wording was? Booties, of course! I got teased a bit by some who didn't think they looked much like baby booties (my only other option was a stork).

On Sunday Cole was 2 months old. I can hardly believe it! We were also able to bless him. It was a very nice day for us. Those that attended were Mom and Dad Bishop, Reed & Alysa Bishop, Brian, Kamber, Samantha and Spencer Bishop, George and RaNae Parker, Rhonda Parker and her girls Camille, Aubrey, Alicia and Meredith, my mom Donna and her friend Jeff, and Gary Gunnerson (Dorothy was really sick). Mark gave Cole a really sweet blessing and we had a nice testimony meeting. Cooper bore his testimony for the first time. We were really proud of him. Mark and I also bore our testimonies. It was so nice to have our family there with us. Mark's family stayed with us for all of our meetings and then we went home and had some lunch together. The Parkers were also there for the lunch. It meant a lot to have them with us for the special day (thank you for driving down George and RaNae). It was a great day and we had fun welcoming baby Cole.

Halloween 2008

The group (minus Spencer) at Grandpa and Grandma Bishops.

Out trick or treating (doesn't Ella look crazy w/ black hair)?

These days this is how most pictures I try to take of all the kids together turns out.

Our cutie dinosaur.

I'd feel like a bad mom if I didn't post a picture of our kids on Halloween. Like so many others, I am not a fan of Halloween. It always seems like more trouble than it's worth. I actually found some really inexpensive costumes this year, so that made me happy. This was John's first year not dressing up. He really still wanted to, but we told him 13 was too old. He did get to go to his first dance/social at school and loved it. One girl asked him to dance and he said he had to go to the bathroom. How funny is that?! He mostly hung out with his friend Spencer. Anyway, Cooper was a Karate guy (the outfit was $1.50 from Savers), Seth was some type of dinosaur(I'd got him a used Lion costume from Other Mothers, but he found this old one of Cooper's and liked it better), Ella was a witch (which worked well w/ her present teeth situation) and little Cole just wore a Halloween pant and shirt set that said "Daddy's little Monster" on it.

Our ward didn't have a Trunk or Treat, so we went around our neighborhood and then went over to trick or treat at Mom and Dad Bishop's house and that was about it. The kids seemed pleased enough. Glad it's over for another year and we can move on to Fall and the beginning of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here are a few pics.

Thirteen

Kind of a funny picture of John from Scout Camp this summer!

Where has the time gone?!?! Today our oldest boy is 13 years old! It seems like just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital, I remember it so well. Sometimes I feel bad for the oldest child of a family. You learn and experiment on how to be a parent with them. Hopefully I haven't scarred John too badly with my mistakes. He's been a wonderful son and I'm grateful for the genuinely good boy that he is. I'm a lucky mom, that's for sure. John is such a great example to the other children (and his parents), especially when it comes to trying to do what is right and being a diligent church member. I hope he always stays this way.

To celebrate, John is having some friends over tomorrow night for a "late over" (where the friends don't sleep over, but their parents pick them up at 10 or 11.) Mark is going to take the boys to the Haunted World. Then on Saturday and Sunday we have some family parties lined up. Should be a fun weekend for him.

Happy Birthday John! We appreciate all you do and are very proud of you. We love you so much!

Goodbye Snagletooth Ella

Here she is. It sure makes her look older and tags her as a definite 1st grader.

She had her hair in braids so it would be wavy the next day.

Ella has had this top tooth that's been loose for a long time but just wouldn't fall out. Half of the time it stuck out much farther than her other front tooth and looked so ridiculous. She wouldn't let us pull it either. I should have got a picture of it. On Sunday, Cooper was rough housing with her and knocked it out. She wasn't hurt at all, so it was actually a good thing. She is very proud that she can still say the word "syrup" (I guess her teacher told her that's hard to say with missing front teeth). Now she starts the stage of looking awkward for a while, being either toothless or having big over sized teeth. Just in time for school pictures on Friday, ha! The tooth fairy has forgot to come 3 nights in a row now! What's her deal? Maybe she's a little sleep deprived.

Great Grandma

A good picture of my grandma but a funny one of Cole.

Last week for FHE we went to Kuna to see my Grandma where she lives in an assisted living home. She is only 72 years old but is in very poor health. She was diagnosed with Colon Cancer a month or so ago and they weren't able to remove all of the tumor during the surgery and the pathology came back that it is the most agressive type of cancer. She's starting some radiation and a small dose of chemotherapy, but has lots of other health problems and isn't strong enough to undergo some of the other treatments.

So, I've been trying to see her a little more and appreciate the times I do see her. I also want the kids to spend a little more time with her. Not everyone gets to know their Great Grandparent. It was fun to introduce her to little Cole and to get some pictures. It looks like he might have some of her strawberry blonde hair. She is the last left grandparent on Mark's and my side. Kind of a sad thought.

I lived with my Grandma some of the time growing up. I appreciate all she has done for me. She is a unique and special person. If you remember, mention her in your prayers. Thanks.

One Month

Big brother holding little brother.

Cole at one month (almost)

In his polo shirt for church

The kids building a fort w/ the banana chairs and blankets

The finished product

Just so you know, Seth loves fly swatters so much we bought him his own, so it's unused.

Well, tomorrow our littlest sweetheart is one month old. It's hard for me to believe. Overall, I think we're all adjusting to our new addition and routine rather well. This has probably been my best week, week 4 post delivery. I've had more energy and have got a little better sleep (I consider a 3 hour stretch a luxury). I've actually got the kids to piano, scouts, etc. and managed to run some errands, visit teach and go to church and a presidency meeting. I consider all of these accomplishments these days. Not to go into too much detail for those who don't care to know, but Cole won't nurse and I really want him to get the benefits of being nursed. This means that I pump and then feed him from a bottle, which takes longer. It gets a little tricky sometimes to revolve your daily schedule around when you'll next need to pump. It's all worth it though and I'm holding out hope that he'll pick up on the nursing thing eventually.

Mark's doing great. He helps w/ Cole so much, even in the night. He's working on our lawn (we've neglected it lately) and trying to get it back into shape. He even managed to make it to early morning basketball at our stake center once last week.

Dalana's info is in the first paragraph.

John is anxiously awaiting his b-day, which is next week. Right in time for turning 13, he's started showing some attitude lately. The other day I asked him a question and he answered me w/ a, "Duh". If you read this, sorry John. Posterity needs to know, though. This has got me scared for the teenage years. Having teenagers and a newborn at the same time is a tricky combination.

Cooper has had a cold and been upset that he can't hold the baby more. He loves Cole when he's around, but is mostly playing w/the neighborhood kids outside any spare minute he has.

Ella loves having a baby around. She's one of the best babysitters I have. She holds him so good and tries to do what she sees me do. She's very careful and sweet with him. She's a good little mommy.

Seth, as you can tell from the outfit he's wearing in the picture holding Cole, has been a little neglected lately I'd have to say. I let him fend for himself some of the time. He loves Cole and has named his baby doll Cole, too. He is having a good time w/ all of the baby stuff around. He thinks all of the bouncers, car seats, etc. are for him too. We've had to call poison control this week. The first time that I remember ever having to call them. Seth got the bottle of Flinstone Vitamin Sour Gummies and had more than his fair share. Thankfully, they didn't have iron in them, so we were okay.

Cole continues to be as sweet as ever. I think the past few days I've started to get some real smiles from him. There's nothing better than those first few smiles.

Well, that's about how our month has gone. Hope yours has been good too.