Snuggle Time

My favorite time of the day (when I actually get down there, which is not often) is to lay with the kids and hear about their days. Each has their own personalities and questions and it's such a nice time to give them one on one attention. Dalyn will tell me every birthday party he wants for the next 10 years, while Aubrey asks me question after question about everything from the mechanics of childbirth to why we can't have another pet. Garrett is content to tell me everything that happened in the latest book he is reading or what is happening at school. Often I am too tired or just "done" for the day but I am always glad when I take the time to lay and down with my little ones. This time is so short and so precious, I need to remember!!

Who are You Voting For?

Back in November, Aubrey's First Grade Class was learning about the upcoming Presidential Election. They looked at pictures and learned interesting facts about each Canidate, John McCain and Barack Obama. So I asked Aubrey which canidate she would vote for. She thought a moment and said "probly Bama". Why is that, I asked? "cuz he's cuter". The sad truth is that I think this hits fairly close to the truth for a large portion of Americans.

Come What May, and Love It

If there is one thing I need to work on as a mother it is taking life less seriously. I have a personal goal to laugh at least once per day. Somedays that small task is harder than it should be. So when we read this talk by Elder Wirthlin http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b5f44bb52a73d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1
"Come What May, and Love it" the counsel hit a little too close to home. I determined once again to find ways to laugh and enjoy this journey of motherhood. Later in the week, I was having a really hard day. Just your typical bad mom day, so I determined to find something to laugh about. I said a silent prayer and then I started looking at the kids as funny rather than annoying and guess what! I laughed instead of taking life so seriously. I was so grateful for divine help. There are days that is the only thing that works!

Christmas Card

Diggin for Chocolate

So, as a family we are reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Aubrey is especially interested in it because it has everything to do with CANDY! In one small part Charlie takes the elevator in to the center of the earth and passes by some oompa loompas mining for chocolate. These two lines in the story must have ignited some great imgination spark in Aubrey because the next day found her out in our NEW neighbors yard digging a deep hole. When I asked her what she was doing and told her she needed to fill in the hole because she was digging in the neighbors yard, she retorted "but Mom, I'm digging for Chocloate." Keep on digging Aubrey , I hear ya, there are days I would like to go out and plunge in a shovel in search of the creamy stuff.

Preschool Nativity

Dalyn's Preschool presented a Nativity Program for the residents of a retirement center as part of their Christmas Party. It was a wonderful program that reminded us all of the beauty and love this Christmas Season has to offer. These sweet chilren showed through their example that Christ is at the Center of this Holiday Season.

Underwear Ninja!

Dalyn has discovered a much more exciting

use for his underwear! Watch out all you "bad guys" Underwear Ninja has arrived. (just hope they are clean!)

Thanks Aunt Cassi!

Thanks to Aunt Cassi, our little Layton is one dapper little munchkin. He is also growing way to fast! Just a few days past his 2 month birthday and he is well into the 3-6 month clothes we thought we'd "just try" on him today. He is our little cutie! We love him lots.

Layton Burton Springer

Beautiful Blessing day! Mom and Dad Gundersen, Mom and Dad Springer and Tyler (Burton) Gundersen came in on Saturday November 1 for Layton's blessing. Mom was laid out on the couch recovering from the Mastitis and was praying that she would make it to the blessing the next day. Scott was the super husband and got the entire house ready for the expected guests while mom slept away the morning. Everyone arrived Saturday night and we had pizza and visited. The next morning mom felt miraculously better! Almost 100%, mom felt so very blessed and truly felt the presence of a Loving Heavenly Father who knew how important this day was for a mother! Scott gave a beautiful blessing. In it he said that Layton was blessed to be born into a family with the mom and dad and siblings who love him. He was blessed with health and a strong body to act for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He was blessed with a strong mind to learn wisdom in his youth, to be able to search the scriptures, to know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, to learn of the Gospel, and to be a strong servant of God. Layton was blessed with with the ability to learn obedience and to understand the blessings that come from prayer and living gospel principles. He was blessed to be an effective missionary who will carry the message and spirit of the gospel to the world. He was also blessed with a desire to serve a mission and to be married in the temple. He was asked to look to his mother as an example of a woman he should marry.

It was a wonderful blessing and I was reminded of the wonderful blessings that can come from living the gospel. Scott was sweating bullets during the blessing because Layton was crying throughout. Grandpa tried the binky but Layton promptly spit it out onto the floor. It was great having family in the circle along with Matthew Cudney, Aaron Powell, and Bishop Dodd, Bro Bingham and Mike Egan (the Bishopric). It was a beautiful day and we were so grateful for the quick trip everyone made to be there for Layton's special day.

A Springer Halloween, Oh My!

It was a spooky and cold Halloween Night and the Werewolf, the Witch and the Lobster (with Ninja for protection) ran into the night with candy bags cackling eerily (and a bit annoyingly). They were off to fill their belly's and bags with treats! After a long day of Halloween Parades and parties at Dalyn's preschool and Garrett and Aubrey's school you'd think they would be worn out, but who can be tired on Halloween night. Dad took the kids to a neighborhood Halloween Dinner before taking them all out trick or treating. Just before taking them he had gallantly run to Target to pick up an antiobiotic for Mom who was hit swift and hard with yet another Mastitis infection. The kids had a great time roaming the neighborhood and then heading into the cul-de-sac for some socializing around the firepit with wonderful neighbors late into the night. Mom had the perfect treat of a warm bath to ward off the fever and chills and into her soft warm bed by 6:30.

Fall is my favorite time of year with a Holiday around ever corner. Cool crips evenings and warm drinks are the perfect compliment to the happy festivities! Happy Fall.

Best Little Brother in the Whole Wide World

There is nothing quite like a baby to bring an extra ounce of joy to a family. Dalyn has taken to his new little brother saying, "he is the best little brother in the whole wide world!" When asked why, he answered. "cuz he doesn't even take any of my toys away." Oh, just wait!

We also had a tremendous amount of love and support from family after Layton's birth. With the unexpected C-section and much more difficult recovery, help was not just a nice idea, it was a necessity. My wonderful mother and father came the first week and helped out a ton, not just with the laundry and dishes and countless other household tasks that don't stop even if mom does, but with love and support and lots of happy energy. Dad couldn't stand a week without Home Depot, so he got right on the project of constructing a "bridge" or ramp that helped us over the dirt leading to the kids school. What a guy! He had all the women in the neighborhood speechless with joy and amazement! Karen came after my parents left and put in tireless amounts of time and energy in getting the kids off to school, keeping up with the ever present laundry (does it ever stop?) and chores and keeping me company during the day. It was wonderful spending time with just her. We had the much loved opportunity to chat and catch up. Then Mindy came, with her happy enthusiasm and positive attitude she was a joy to have around. From her mopping the floor at 9 pm to singing the happy little working song from Enchanted to get the kids to clear the table, she was a wonderful addition to our home. I loved the time we had to chat and have some quiet moments to catch up as sisters without the immediate demands of motherhood distracting our attention. Then after Mindy left Mom came again. I really thought I would be able to handle it without one more week of help, but I was so wrong! I didn't want to ask for my mom to come, but boy was I glad when she offered her help! It was so nice to have her here once again. Life seemed to flow ever so much easier with her around. All in all I came away grateful for the support and love of family and wondering how anyone does it without! I feel so incredibly blessed and wonder what in the world I did to deserve the tremendous blessings I have been given.

first day of school!

Garrett 3rd grade, Aubrey 1st grade, Dalyn Mother Goose Time preschool.

Welcome Little Layton

Life still goes on! Soccer games on a Saturday afternoon then ice cream at the hospital before taking mom and Layton home.

Layton's coming home outfit!

Layton Burton Springer was born on 9/11 at 7:23 pm weighing a whopping 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring in at 22 inches long. This was by far our biggest of the bunch! Layton out weighed his sister by 2 1/2 pounds and his brothers by 1 1/2 pounds and stretched past them all by 4 inches!!! I knew he was a bigger baby because I was so terribly uncomfortable in the last month of my pregnancy, but I didn't anticipate this much bigger! He came in with a bang as well, here is the full story....

I went in for my weekly Dr apt. with Dr Fine at 11 am on 9/11. In the course of Dr Fine checking to see how far I was dilated my water broke. He was as surprised as I was as this had only happened 2 other times in his entire 9 year career. He did manage to determine I was already 4 1/2 cm dilated and said that with how easily my water had broken it probably would have broken walking out to my car. Good thing it broke when it did because Scott and I had plans to go to lunch after the apt. So instead we got lunch at the hospital, Dr Fine wanted me to check in ASAP. So by about 1:00 I was checked into the hospital and cruising the halls trying to get my labor up and going. They were calling me speed racer by the end of the hour, I was determined to get this baby moving along! The contractions started coming more regularly and I was glad that labor had started on its own. I had never had any drugs/interventions with my previous births and didn't want to start on this one (little did I know what would ensue). Labor progressed fast and well as I was dilated to a 7 or 8 by about 5:00 pm. Dr fine came in about 5:45 and broke my water AGAIN, I had soooo much fluid. The nurses and Dr Fine said it was the most fluid they had ever seen. No wonder I was so uncomfortable during the last month! After my water broke the contractions started coming even harder and faster and I was starting to feel the urge to push. Dr Fine checked me again at about 6:30 and determined that Layton's head was resting against my right side pelvic bone and his head was turned looking toward the left hip, not only that his forehead was tipped up and with each contraction was bumping into my pelvic bone and swelling, making it more and more difficult to adjust his position. So during hard contractions and feeling the urge to push Dr Fine tried to manually move him into the birth canal. OUCH is all I can remember. During all this Scott was incredible! He was right there with me encouraging and supporting me in whatever way he could. He was my calm spot in the middle of the storm and I couldn't have done it without him. He was totally aware of my needs and made sure I was in the best place I could be.

After several attempts at manually turning Layton (OUCH OUCH OUCH) we decided that it would be better to get an epidural and be more aggressive at turning him than have a C-section. As a side note, I KNOW I had extra help during this entire experience. After going through three natural childbirths I know the mental state I am in during the pushing/transition stage and it doesn't usually involve any sort cognitive thought. During this entire experience I was able to think clearly about what my options were. I felt extra strength in handling all aspects of what I was experiencing as well as what was to come.

So, on with the saga.... I waited for the epidural guy which seemed like at eternity (especially considering all I wanted to do at that point was push the baby out! All you moms out there know the sensation!) I got the epidural (GROSSS, I know now why I never had one before; it was horrible, it did help the pain but the sensations were so weird!) Dr Fine tried a couple of times again to manually move Layton but after only a couple of minutes my blood pressure and heart rate and Layton's blood pressure and heart rate plummeted! At that point it turned into a scene from ER, all I remember was Dr Fine saying "I'm sorry, Misty I know this is not what you wanted but we need to get this baby out now!" All of a sudden I had an oxygen mask, shots left and right, an IV hooked up, monitors stuck to my skin and in the middle of all this all I could think about is what is happening and where is Scott (he was whisked away to get scrubbed up). I also felt the calming reassurance and extra strength once again. In a strange sort of way I felt like I knew this was going to happen, it is hard to explain, but I had never even considered C-section with my other kids, but with this pregnancy I found myself thinking about what I would do if a C-section had to happen. In the calm moments after birth I was reminded yet again of how lucky I was to be in a hospital, with an OB that could take care of the situation quickly and keep me and the baby safe and out of danger.

So C-section happened, if I thought epidural was weird I was in for it with a C-section. I am strapped to an operating table, totally numb from the ribs down and pumped so full of meds I hardly care. Then I feel the pull and tug of the incision, the pushing and prodding of who know what and then a great big pushing and prodding with lots of pressure and Dr Fine announcing, "this guy has a lot of hair" Scott peeked over as he heard the Dr say this and watched as they pulled Layton out of the womb. They quickly showed me my baby and he and Scott quickly went to determine that all was well.

I recovered in the hospital, not nearly as quickly as with my other births, but every day is a little better. We are so glad Layton is here and healthy. He is a good baby and so calm as you can tell from the pictures. He is joy to our family and has already added so much love to our home. We are blessed to have him in our lives!

Happy Messy 9th Birthday Garrett!

August 5, 2008 was a big mess at the Springer house! It was Garrett's birthday and it couldn't have been dirtier! I had told Garrett about a messy party that I had thrown for some friends while in High School. He thought that was the coolest and decided he wanted to do that for his birthday party. So we brainstormed some messy ideas for games and cake, Garrett even helped me design the invitations. In planning this messy party on the adult side, rather than the teenager side I realized how lucky I was to have parents that indulged my creativity and allowed the full messiness that I had at my own party in High School. I have to admit that I wasn't quite so indulgent with Garrett. He still thought it was the coolest however, so no harm done. Just yet another parenting moment that increased my appreciation and understanding of my own cool parents. The messy games included a pass the green slime game, water balloon toss, stuff the person in the trash bag full of whip cream filled balloons and then pop away, a balloon popping relay with each balloon having a surprise filling (water or whip cream) a pie eating contest (without hands of course) sprinkler musical chairs (or a similar version) and then a huge water slide that we borrowed from our neighbors. A messy party is not complete without a messy cake, so we made a bug mountain complete with cockroach and scorpion. It was a blast. When Garrett talks about what he has done this summer his party is one of the first things he brings up. It was so much fun to plan the party with him. He was so excited and involved. He had lots of friends bring him wonderful gifts, but mostly it was just a chance for us all to say. Happy Birthday Garrett, We Love You!

Summer Fun

Summer is coming to a close and I am in a nostalgic mood. This has been such a wonderful summer full of fun times, discoveries, spending time together, and creating beautiful memories. I am not ready for the kids to go back to school. I would love another couple of months just to hang out and play together. The kids have been wonderful, playing well together and having good attitudes. Of course there have been the squabbles and the temper tantrums (theirs and mine) but over all it has been great. It is times like these that I wish I could just keep them home with me and home school them myself. However, I am excited to have some alone time with the baby as well and know that will be a good thing also. So here is goodbye to another great summer with the hope that we can continue creating memories along the way. I hope to take the lessons learned of slowing down and enjoying each moment with my kids. I hope they always enjoy time together with the family.