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.

Cutie Cole

This is one of Mark's favorite pics of Cole.

We love his baggy knees.

I love his red lips in this one.

This pic shows how light his hair is.

We just took this last night. He's already changing and looking older.

It's really true, babies are one of life's little treasures. Obviously, we adore almost everything about our new little one! We're all smitten and think that his every coo sound and expression are just so cute. Everyone wants to hold him and his head gets kissed and rubbed so much that his hair gets oily quicker than normal. He is definitely loved and reaping the benefits of being the "baby" of the family. Even though tired, I'm enjoying this time with a newborn in the house because I know that before I know it, he'll be out of this stage. We love you very much Baby Cole.

Welcome Baby Cole

Turns out it wasn't just bloating (referring to my previous post.) Cole Leon Bishop was born at 2:47 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2nd. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. We've spent the last few days enjoying him and trying to keep things in somewhat of order here at home. Mark has 2 weeks off work, which I'm soooo grateful for. Our sweetie baby isn't nursing or sleeping well, but I think we're getting each other figured out.

Labor and delivery went great. We were blessed to have a good experience and to have Cole and I make it through safe and sound. This delivery sure was different than Seth's. It was just Mark and I in the room this time around which made for a quite day. Mark got lots of reading in until things got exciting. He was just great and was there whenever I needed him. He even cut the cord this time, w/ Seth he had a hard time. My doctor and nurses were great the whole hospital stay which makes a big difference.

Mark and I and the kids couldn't be more thrilled! Cole doesn't really resemble the other kids too much. He reminds me a little bit of Ella as a baby and so far that's all that has stood out. He doesn't look like Seth as a newborn at all. Seth had the most hair of our kids and Cole is tied w/ Ella for the least. What little bit he does have is pretty light.

Well, I better post a few pictures. It's been great having a little bit of heaven in our home. I just have to add that I love the smell of newborns. Thank you to all who have prayed for a safe pregnancy and healthy Mom and baby. We have sure felt of your love and prayers.

Maybe it's just bloating?!?!

Believe it or not, these are the only "belly shots" we have taken this pregnancy and I really don't like them. For the sake of journaling though, I thought I'd post them anyway.

So, as this pregnancy draws to a close I am trying to appreciate each day as this is my last pregnancy and I know looking back the time will have gone quickly. That is much easier said than done, however. I remember getting this way w/ Seth, a little irrational. I'm starting to wonder what would happen if someone really was pregnant forever. Because of different health issues, they always induce my labors. When my body shows signs of being ready, the doctor schedules a time w/ the hospital. For Cooper and Ella, my body cooperated and this seemed to work fine as they were born one and two weeks early. With Seth nothing was happening and they ended up inducing me anyway because they thought he was getting big. That's what is happening this time around, nothing is happening. Last week a doctor on call saw me for my normal appt. and said my body was beginning to make some progress towards preparing for delivery. Well today (one full week later) I saw my normal doctor and he said that I have done absolutely nothing, he even took away the one little centimeter she had given me! I made myself wait to cry until I got to the car and once I was there I decided the crying would just give me a headache anyway. Instead I chose to drop by Costa Vida and treat myself to a sweet pork burrito and when I got home I defrosted some Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls for dessert tonight. The food did seem to help, how sad is that?

I have 3 mom's looking for a date as they are all scheduled to be out of town around Labor Day (the holiday that is) and are hoping it's not Labor Day for us, too. When I called The Parker's (the family I lived w/ in high school) to report today's appointment George wondered if I was really pregnant at all. He suggested it might just be some serious bloating. I did get a good laugh out of that and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and trying to be on my feet and active as much as possible.

Wish us luck! In the back of my head I do know that all will work out and he will come when he's supposed to. We're just praying that in the meantime he remains healthy and well and that my body does as it needs to.