one hundred + one

today i did 101 push-ups. Not all at once but in five sets in a fifteen minute window. It is part of a challenge from my sister. I am proud of myself. (Nate can do 60 push-ups without stopping and in his last session did 161 total. He's awesome!)

Christmas Tag

I am combining a few Christmas tags here. It seemed appropriate to do today since schools were closed for a fun snow day. We got about an inch. We are pretty excited about the snow coverage.

This is our house all lit up for Christmas complete with our tree peeking out the front window to wish all a Merry CHristmas. Every time i pull up i am reminded that i love our house.
This is the first year we have had a full size tree. The number of ornaments seems a little inadequate now on a big tree. I love seeing the lights come on every evening.
Christmas Getting to Know you survey
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper. In a real hurray we may use “Forsgren wrap” (gift stuffed in a Walmart bag) but we generally try to avoid that.
2. Real tree or Artificial? I prefer real but we just bought an artificial tree
3. When do you put up the tree? Shortly after Thanksgiving. This year we did it the day after.
4. When do you take the tree down? In years past its been February but now that we have a big tree we’ll hopefully do it a little sooner.
5. Do you like eggnog? No.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I remember getting my bike. One of my favorite Christmases was the year I got Zaks building blocks, a camera, an “adopt-a-doll” (mine was Korean), and some heart family cousins. I think what made the best gifts was how much fun I had playing with them along with my sisters. So I guess really the best gift I ever got was siblings to play with.
7. Hardest person to buy for? My three brothers-in-law.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My kids, they are thrilled with whatever they get.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. My best friend, Jill, gave us a beautiful one she hand-painted for our wedding. I love getting it out each year. We also have a little tiny one that the kids can play with that i also love.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mostly mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don’t know that i ever got a worst gift. Our family has a silly tradition of saying “I hope it’s socks! I hope it’s socks!” as we open every gift so nothing is a disappointment. When i was about 9 years old I got underwear and i displayed it along with the rest of my gifts and was mortified when family friends came to visit and my mom made me show the boy what i had gotten.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Santa Claus is Coming to Town
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Novemberish
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don’t think so.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mashed Potatoes, jello, Turkey dipped in the juice, and frozen peaches.
16. Lights on the tree? White for sure
17. Favorite Christmas song? Joy to the World, The Nativity Song, It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? As a kid we never traveled, but we have traveled every year since we were married – you gotta be with family.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes i can.
20. Star or and Angel for the tree? Star. We currently have both on our tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Two on Christmas Eve (pajamas and our sibling exchange gift) the rest on Christmas morning
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? These ornaments are all made of seashells. I bought them in Hawaii on a fabulous trip with our family. This is the first year in a long time that i have hung them but i love the memories they hold. (I even keep them in their original box and tissue because it smells hawaiian.)
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Safe travels with no one getting sick and clothes.

Blessing Day

It occurred to me today that i never posted any pictures of Talmage's blessing day.
He looked so cute and was very nice during the blessing. This is the same little outfit that Morgan wore for his blessing.
What a cute, very sad little face.
That's better. My mom speed crocheted the beautiful blanket he is laying on and had it delivered to us Sunday morning.
Our cute friend, Taylor, was confirmed the same day so we got a picture of the two boys together. (Come to think of it i don't think i got any pictures of us with Talmage. SAD!) We were glad that Tutu and Grampa Steve could be here with us for the blessing. They left as soon as sacrament meeting was over. It was a nice, and busy day.

Talmage unplugged

Talmage has developed this funny (read strange, frustrating, messy, etc.) little habit of going five days without a messy diaper and then finally getting it all out in a few major blow-outs. Nurses and doctors are baffled. "Breast-feed babies don't get constipated", they all say. Well we are living with proof to the contrary. As you can imagine he is not the happiest little guy while he is all plugged up. We much prefer the unplugged, post blow-out version. Because of his unhappy tummy he has been our hardest baby so far (Sorry buddy, but it's true). He has a hard time sleeping and eating and digesting. Poor little guy. Lucky for him he has ample smiles and cooing for us that keep us in love with him despite all the sleepless nights and extra laundry and clean-up.

Also for all of you who have ever fallen asleep while saying prayers:
We start 'em early at our house. This is how i found Emma at the end of quiet time yesterday.

Still Thankful

Even though Thanksgiving Day is over, i couldn't pass up a chance to express my gratitude.

I am thankful for family. For my two brothers and three sisters (The Sisters Brimhall!!) who are more and more becoming my best friends. For wise, wonderful parents who did such a good job of teaching me the important things in life and who are still supporting and loving me so much. For equally great in-laws who love me as i am. For grandparents and aunts and uncles. For the big and little people who keep being added to our family. For my little family. For three cute kids who were willing to come to our family. For my fabulous husband who shows me daily that he loves me.

I am thankful for friends here, there, and everywhere. For the friends i have known for a long time, and for new friends that i have just met. For friends who put up with me in High School. For friends who lived with me at BYU. For friends who i learned how to be wives and mothers with. For the friends who are taking care of me here and for the friends that i miss back in Utah. And for some really special ones who fill all of those categories.

I am thankful for things. Things i often take for granted.
For food, all kinds of food. For clothing. For a house that i love. For a house that has room to hold guests when they come. For convenient appliances. For our cars. For furniture and beds to sleep in. For books and blocks and toys. For quilts and pictures and knickknacks that remind me of happy times.

I am thankful for Intangibles.
For talents and abilities. For prayers heard and answered. For education. For learning. For love received and love given. For laughter. For a good job, we feel extremely blessed to have one in this economy. For music. For health. For guidance from the Holy Ghost. For opportunites. For memories. For my testimony. For the gospel which guarantees happiness when we live it fully. For covenants. For commandments and standards. For joy and sadness. For Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ.

I am Thankful.

Hey, Mom - Look What i Can Do!!

Just wanted to show my family our Thanksgiving dinner table. (The rest of you are welcome to look too.) I did it, Mom. I guess i'm growing up (still not too old to crave a little attention from you though). In my family i am definitely the least talented in the kitchen. I was nervous to cook my first Thanksgiving dinner, but i am happy to say that it turned out great. I wish i had thought to take a picture of the turkey when it first came out of the oven, it was golden brown beautiful. I was happy with how the food turned out. And even more thrilled with the company.

The Home Team

Just some happenings at home this week.
Emma is still doing pretty well adjusting to being a big sister. She loves to hold Talmage and play little games with him. On Monday however she had a hard day. She was just making trouble. We had had several discussions about being obedient. She was helping me make the FHE treat. She was playing with some scissors that were out. I asked her to put them down and she did so right away. I thought, "here's my chance to focus on positive behavior." So i said, "Emma, thank you for putting those down immediately. That was very obedient." She was quiet for a minute, then heaved a big sigh and said, "I am tired from all this being obedient!" Oh my! It was about her first obedient act of the day.
Morgan and Emma are loving "reading" a library book, Hooway for Wodney Wat. (Thanks for the tip Carrie) They can't get enough. I love hearing them remember exact quotes "All this teasing day in and day out . . ." "She accidentally-on-purpose stepped . . ." etc. It is a good book, go check it out (as soon as we return it). In other silliness, they continue in their odd pajama choices. All summer long they insisted on sleeping in sweats and flannel feety jammies. Now that it is getting cold they are starting to wear shorts every night. Crazy kids!
Talmage rolled over on Monday. From his tummy to his back. Awesome!
Yesterday it happened - My baby is no longer tiny. I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden last night he just looked so big to me. I can't believe how fast they grow up.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our seven year anniversary. Seven wonderful years of being a family. I'm sure you all want to know our story so here are the facts.
First meeting: April 30th, 2001 outside the Belmont Apartments.
First date: May 4th - tinfoil dinners up Provo canyon
First kiss: Memorial day, May 28th
Our song: Colors "Reggae Song"
We met at the beginning of Spring term. I only lived in my apartment for 6 weeks but it was enough time to fall in love and know we wanted to spend forever together.
Nate proposed on July 14th at the top of a waterfall in Sandy, UT.
We were married on Nov. 17th in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. It was a beautiful day. It was very warm for mid-November. (Even if it had been freezing cold i don't know that we would have noticed, we were just so happy.)
Our reception was held at Wheeler Farm. It was a dream come true. My amazing mom and her friends worked their magic to transform the gathering barn into a pink, wonderful dream. Our colors were pink and periwinkle. We served crepes with ice cream and sauce. We also had a white candy table with several different types of white candy. It was a wonderful evening with many friends and family.
Since that day we have had many happy days together. We have lived in 3 different apartments and now a house.
We both received our bachelor degrees from BYU and Nate added a PhD this year.
Our first six and a half years were spent in the same ward in Provo and now we are experiencing a different ward in Oklahoma.
Best of all we have added three very cute people to our family. Morgan, Emma and Talmage have joined us in this adventure. We love being a family. It's not always easy to put up with independent toddlers, busy schedules, or sleepless nights, but we love it. So happy we took the marriage plunge seven wonderful years ago.

Today i feel...

Talmage is so expressive and friendly. We love all his little smiles.

established - because i just "hosted" the wife of a ConocoPhillips interviewee. I took her on a tour of our town and actually felt like i knew where a lot of places were. Hopefully she got a good feel for OK. Talmage and Emma were so nice while we drove around for nearly 3 hours.

excited - for Kristin and Blaine to get married. Congratulations! Kristin is Nate's cousin and also happens to be one of my favorite people and kindred spirits. We are so happy that she has found the love of her life.

exhausted, mostly exhausted - having a new baby will do that. He does pretty well for a newborn, but it is just not enough sleep. My family can tell you i have not been the easiest person to live with lately. I pray daily for an extra measure of patience. We did have a really good night two nights ago. I was able to let Nate sleep all night and i felt really happy to spend quiet time with Talmage. Last night was much harder. It's nice to know that things will get better with time.

Halloween - a little late but . . .

Nate carved these awesome pumpkins for our ward trunk-or-treat. Morgan designed the face on the right and Nate used the other one to announce our news.
Talmage was a cute little ghostie. We were taking pictures and i said "Now smile!" and he did. What an obedient cutie.
Emma was Superman (again) and Morgan gave up being a dinosaur-with-a-backpack, like he had originally planned, and at the last minute decided to be just a dinosaur. They were both costumes we already had so it was easy to just rework them a little. Easy Halloween.
It was beautiful, warm weather on Halloween night. We all had a great time trick-or-treating on our street and getting to know a few more of the neighbors.

Three's company

Everyone keeps asking how we are adjusting to having three kids. We are really enjoying it. It seems very natural. The kids adore Talmage. Emma is always asking if she can hold him. Every night they fight over whose bed he will lay on first. I know all of these little people are supposed to be a part of our family.
Maybe the hardness has not really hit us yet. Perhaps this is because at this point i am still giving myself permission to do almost nothing. Our house is messy but we are happy. Putting no pressure on us to do things, just enjoying doing what we want to do. It has also been easy because people have been so kind and supportive. Our friends and neighbors have been amazingly kind bringing meals and gifts and just being happy to see us. Thank you to everyone. I am amazed by all you have done for us.
Talmage really is a good baby. Last night i had a moment of just cuddling him and i realized that i have completely fallen in love. He is so beautiful. I love his skinny little arms and legs. I love his dark eyes. I love just watching his face. I wish we could capture every sweet little smile and happy greeting look. I love spending sweet time with him (much of this calm time comes late at night or in the very early morning but it is sweet whenever it comes). I am grateful for these moments.
Our wonderful friend, Sherri, spoke at our stake women's conference last week. She talked about how much we love babies even though they do nothing to earn our love - they keep us up at night, bring a lot of pain when they arrive, and make messes - and still we love them so completely and unconditionally. It is so true. It was a very timely talk for me. It really touched me and i am trying to remind myself to love everyone that same way, just because of who they are.

Talmage Max King

That's his name. (If this is your first visit to our blog since Talmage was born, make sure you read the post from yesterday to get the story of his birth and more pictures.) We also decided that we'll take Morgan's idea as a nickname. Whenever we just need a little nickname for Talmage, we'll call him Boomer. For those who don't know what a Boomer is, in Oklahoma terms, check out this short Wikipedia article about Boomers and Sooners. Owing to the fact that he was a week overdue, we know he's not a Sooner. He sure went fast when he decided it was time, though, so we thought Boomer was appropriate.

Anyway, Leslie and Talmage came home this afternoon, and everyone is doing well. We know what you really want are more pictures, so here they are:

 

 

 

 

Faster than a Speeding Doctor

Well, it's official now. A majority of our children have been born without a doctor present at the time of birth. Yes, little bean finally decided to come out (and no, we aren't sure what his name will be, yet). Yesterday made a full week that Leslie was overdue and, as we had no special indications that anything was going to happen, I went to my morning meetings and we all went to church in the afternoon. That was something that Leslie was dreading, just because she knew how many people would be asking why she was there and not at the hospital or at home with a baby. Anyway, everything went as usual. We even had our home teachers over after church. About the time we started getting the kids ready for bed, though, we realized we would have a baby soon. For those of you who are here mainly for the pictures, the next paragraph is the short version of the story. Following the pictures is the long version in Leslie's own words (I really should have taken a picture of her sitting in bed, typing away on my laptop in her hospital gown).

Short Version: We were putting the kids to bed last night (10/26/08) when Leslie started having hard and fast contractions. Once Morgan and Emma were laying down we called a friend to come over and stay at our house. Then we left for the hospital. We walked in at 9:27 PM and little bean was born at 9:41 PM. Quick! But the nurses did manage to get Leslie's name in the computer beforehand (which did not happen with Emma). Anyway, he was 7 lbs., 3 0z. and 20 in. long. I bolded all of the important numbers for you stats fanatics.

Little Bean (soon to be named) first sees the world (or at least the surroundings in the labor and delivery room).

What a cute mom!

Father and son.

The proud parents.

He seems to have some good sideburns going already.

Sounding his barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

I brought the kids to the hospital to meet their brother the morning after he was born. Emma was very excited to hold him (she kept kissing the top of his head), and decided that we don't need to call him Little Cucumber (which has been her consistent vote for a name), as he doesn't look much like a vegetable.

One of Morgan's recent name votes was Talmage "The Boomer" King. We have no idea where he came up with the middle part. Maybe that's what starts happening when you live in Oklahoma.

Our first picture of the whole family, kindly taken by the lunch lady at the hospital.

He just kept getting cuter by the moment - it's true and it has nothing to do with me being his parent.

Two sleepy hands.

Long Version (in Leslie's words): "I had some contractions in the wee hours of the morning but they quickly slowed down and stopped so i went back to sleep. We had a pretty typical Sunday - gave the kids baths, went to church, went for a walk, made dinner, and baked cookies. I had some very mild contractions during the day and just felt generally crampy and yicky. Then at about 8:15 PM as i was frosting said cookies the contractions started coming and they came on hard and fast. I knew this was the real thing. Nate continued getting the kids in bed and pretty soon i could tell that not only were we going to have the baby that night we were going to have another close call making it to the hospital in time. Our good neighbor came over quickly and we rushed off to the hospital.

"We made it to the hospital just fine (it is just a five minute straight shot from our house). I was starting to get the shakys and knew that i was ready to push. We put the nurses into quite a tizzy trying to get the doctor there and gather necessary supplies. Nate did his best to help me breath slowly but honestly there is only so much you can do at that point. It was a scene that would make any medical TV show proud. A few pushes and he was out. It was wonderful to hear him cry. The doctor came in a few minutes later to clean up the mess we had made. Who needs a doctor anyway. It was another wild but great experience that left me exhausted and happy."

We are somewhat preoccupied with waiting for #3 to arrive but i don't want to neglect the two fun kids we already have here. Here are some funny things they have been saying and doing lately.
Morgan is really a numbers kids. He loves to count things and look at numbers and is very good at adding and subtracting in his head. We knew that he was good with numbers but he really showed us how much he loves them the other day. We were listening to our Bert & Ernie tape in the car (best 10 cents i ever spent). Ernie sings "Imagination" and at the beginning of the song the kids on the tape are telling what they see when they close their eyes. With awe-filled voices they are saying things like "I see stars", "Rainbows", "pretty flowers", etc. Morgan also had his eyes closed and from the backseat, in the same voice of joyful wonder, i heard him say "Numbers!"
Two nights ago Emma was having a hard night. She was crying about everything. I looked at Morgan and said, "Oh, what are we going to do with that girl?" His immediate response, "Sell her!"
Emma is always saying funny, random things. The other day she came into the kitchen to tell me something. Then she asked "Mom, who stinks?" Me, "I don't know." Emma, "Hmm, must be Dad!" and then she walked out.
We are trying to help Emma understand prayer. Sometimes she is just flopping around not paying attention to what she is saying and then other times she just pours out her little heart in prayer. It makes us chuckle. Her prayer last night was one of the latter and went something like this. "Heavenly Father, please bless my mom and her baby. Please bless Morgan and all my family. I love my family so much and i don't ever want them to go away from me. But i know Daddy has to go to work so we can pay for our minivan. (sigh) So, we will pray for him everyday that he can come home everyday. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
Funny, funny kids.
Enjoying a moment with all three of my wonderful kids on my lap.

No.

Still here. I am now 5 days overdue. We are doing our best to induce labor but so far no luck. It is a funny thing to go places and have all your friends disappointed to see you. We are getting ready to head to the school carnival. Maybe the games and fatty overpriced food will do the trick.

No news is . . . no news

Lest any of you think the reason we haven't been blogging is because we have a baby i wanted to set the record straight. Nope. I am two days overdue, more pregnant than i have ever been but still no real signs that lil' bean wants to come out.
So since there's nothing report about the baby i thought i'd take this chance to do a little bragging about my fabulous husband.
Seriously, I am so blessed to have him. Besides being just the nicest guy ever he has a broad spectrum of qualifications. Let me explain.
We got an exciting package in the mail last week. It came from BYU and was very heavy. It contained this -
four hard bound copies of a book by Nate. More specifically his dissertation. It was so cool to see his name embossed on a real live book. (If you are fortunate enough to live in Provo you should be able to check out a copy of it at the BYU library, if you want some light reading about Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of....) Yep, that's right my husband is a bonified Dr. King.
But it doesn't stop there. Shortly after moving to Oklahoma Nate decided to join the ConocoPhillips technical rescue team. He thinks it sounds fun to climb down ropes into damaged buildings and put out fires, etc. Last month he attended fire school. He has his own "bunker gear" - fireman boots, overalls, coat, mask, gloves and helmet. They put out all kinds of large industrial fires. So yes he is also a Fireman. Oh, HOT!
To round it all off a few weeks ago after assembling the cradle and putting the bedding in he informed me that he has mastered the secret of tying the perfect bow. So apparently he is also part Martha Stewart.
A Doctor of Science
A Fireman
and Martha Stewart
How many girls can boast having that kind of sweetie? I am so lucky! Hope i didn't make you all too jealous but i really do have the best husband ever. Love you Nate!