Merry Christmas

We couldn't afford to send our Christmas letter to all of our friends and family so hopefully the online version can still bring you cheer!

Dear  Friends and Family,

What a year 2010 has been!  The big news is that we added a beautiful little girl to our family and we love her.  The boys can hardly leave her alone most of the time.  They just love to give her kisses.

Ryan completed his last final exam for his penultimate semester of school, and we're all excited for school to be over and see what the future holds for us.  He just might have arranged it so that he has no final exams in his last semester, but let's not count our eggs before the chickens hatch.

April has had some success in her photography business until little Nora got here, and she has really been honing her skill.  Now she spends her time on Nora's schedule, while managing two boys with the energy of an entire basketball team.

Cameron is in preschool and he loves to be on time every day.  He tells us he wants to be the first one there and the first one to leave every day.  He has lots of friends there and really loves show and tell day on Thursdays.  Last week he told me he wanted to take "my car bin and aaaaaaaaall the cars." (That's about 50 cars.)  He settled for taking his toy medical supply kit instead.

Azer loves to do whatever Cameron is doing, watch Toy Story 3, love/kiss/ride Nora when mom isn't looking and otherwise create havoc when possible. He's a great kid who makes us laugh and he loves to laugh himself.  Azer loves to take a drive up to the University Hospital where we can see the helicopter that lands on top of a parking garage.  He always insists that we get out of the car to take the elevator to the small observation area where we are on the same level as the helicopter.  But heaven forbid a helicopter should actually land while we’re there…he’s afraid someone will offer to let him get close to it, and that terrified him!

Nora is adorable, she loves dad's kisses, might detest her brothers just a little bit, and sleeps to the beat of her own drum...or alarm clock.  Once she even slept for six hours straight.  That was sure nice of her!  Oh, and she’s been very smiley as of about ten days ago, and she knows how valuable every gorgeous smile is to us.

Merry Christmas, we hope you have all had a great year!

Love,

the Farnsworth’s.

The Grateful Post

I really wish that Thanksgiving weren't the skipped over holiday. It's that time where we all get to remember and count our blessings - not that we shouldn't be doing that all year it's just more abundant now. People already have their Christmas decorations up and we haven't even cooked the turkey yet. I have so much to be thankful for this year and I need to get it out there for everyone to enjoy.

First, and foremost I'm so grateful for my children. When I hear stories about terrible things that happen to kids (sickness, kidnapping, etc.) it makes me scared and fearful. Then I am reminded that instead of living in fear I need to be grateful for all that my kids are. I'm am such a blessed mom and only hope I can live up to the mom that they deserve to have.

I'm also thankful for my husband. He sacrifices a lot for our family and doesn't complain about it. He also puts up with my extensive craziness with (mostly ;)) patience. He is such a great dad for our kids - the boys race to the door as soon as he is home because they are always excited to see him.

I am grateful for all of my family. They always support me and are there if I ever need anything. Wherever we have lived we've always had family take the time to come and visit us. We all really appreciate that and everything that is done for us.

I'm also so thankful for friends. I'm moved a lot and in every place I've lived I've met people that will be my friends for life. Even people in places that I've never lived have become my true friends. I'm am so grateful for people who have helped shape me and make me better for me  having known them. I'm so thankful for the friends that I've had forever and have known me through a lot of my life's stages and still stick by me.

I know I complain a lot about our current situation - and it's hard not to focus on the bad when you are constantly faced with it, but I am very blessed. More blessed than any of my challenges should be able to weigh down. I think every day should be Thanksgiving - we'd all be thankful and full. I hope everyone gets to enjoy some pie tomorrow!

Who's Who...

We can't quite decide which of the boys N. looks like. So, we're bringing it to the blog for you to decide. If you want to help out pick your choice from the poll on the side. These are all of our kids at one month with poses as close as possible.

Boy A ------------------------------- Boy B

If you know which baby is which don't spoil the anonymity by calling them out ;)

A Month...

I can't believe Miss N. is a month old! It's crazy how time flies. It seems like she's always been in our family - and I can't imagine life without her. She drives us crazy from 6-7pm to 11-1pm with her fussy time but she's worth it. We sure do love her! The boys love to kiss and hug on her and are so sweet to her. I thought the novelty of having a baby would fade... but, nope. I was worried about Az-man becoming a big brother but he has been fabulous and Cam is still a great brother too.

Awwww.... The boys sure do love "Baby Weepie (Sweet Pea)"

The boys had to get in on our photo session because I didn't "ask" them to. I guess I know how to trick them now... act like I don't want pictures of them.

193

The number of days until Ryan GRADUATES!!!

The number of days until our student life starts to change.

I can't wait to get on to the next part of our lives. It's sure to be an adventure.

Ghosts and Goblins and...

Flowers! Oh my! We had a fun Halloween despite the rain. The boys were able to do some trick-or-treating and get some candy. They had fun dressing up in their costumes (which they do all the time) and having a costume parade with our neighbors.

Power Ranger, Dinosaur, and Flower

You talkin' to me???

The photo post...

Here are a couple recent shots of our beauty:

She's Here!!

As some of you may know I had high ideals/plans for how my labor and delivery was going to go this pregnancy. I was NOT going to have another c-section if I could do anything about it - I spent a lot of time finding a provider who would let me try to have a VBA2C (vaginal birth after 2 c-sections). Well, things, as they sometimes do, didn't turn out as planned/hoped. I ended up with gestational diabetes again and that ended up changing my plans. I had a hard couple of days/weeks coming to terms with this and although I'm not "happy" with how it all turned out I know that it was for the best and I am at peace with it. I ended up with a repeat c-section on Tuesday, October 5th. So here's the story... and photo's. We are all SO in love with this little girl...

My mom, Eric, and grandma showed up Tuesday morning as my mom was going to be staying with the boys for the time I was in the hospital (and a few more days). We were scheduled to go in at 10:30 but we got a call just before 9:00 asking us if we could come in early. We put everything in overdrive and arrived at the hospital by 9:30 (we're less than 5 minutes away).

Last photo as a family of 4!

Our nurse and the nursing student (we had N at a teaching hospital) got us all set up and explained how everything would go. Janette, our nurse, was so amazing and she definitely went above and beyond in helping me get the most out of the experience. I told her the things we wanted to happen- and she made them happen even though they don't normally do them that way. YAY for amazing nurses!!
The anesthesiologist (the resident version) came in and explained everything and okay's my request for my Ipod during surgery. But not for Ryan being in there while they give me the spinal - boooooo. This is the worst part for me. I have mini panic attacks when it comes time so I told the guy he'd be in charge of my freak out. LOL!

Then we're ready to go in- me, my ipod stocked with soothing Norah Jones/Sarah M/ Jack Johnson type music, and "my army" of staff. So we start the spinal and I get my tunes going. But wait- I didn't update my songs right so it's an older playlist. My workout playlist. So some Blink 182 starts blaring... not exactly calming. Janette was with me the whole time talking my ear off so I didn't have time to focus on them paralyzing me from the anesthesia. She was seriously amazing.

It's finally time to start. I'm laid on the table, tunes blaring and Ryan is standing by my head. It took a reallyreallyreally long time- or felt really long- as there was extra scar tissue they have to cut through. I was just trying to focus on the end result and not the smells. Then, finally, Ryan tells me they are getting her out - and Kanye is yelling in my ear ;). And it all becomes worth it... the fear, the surgery, the recovery - all worth it. Miss N, all 8lbs 11oz 20.5 in of her made it ALL worth it.

Copy and paste link if you'd like to see the "first look":
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b378/apesaz/Firstlook01432.jpg

This is where the first of two things happen that don't normally happen. One of the things I really wanted to happen was to be able to have the baby placed on my chest right after birth. While it wasn't right after birth I was able to get skin-to-skin contact with her pretty dang close. I can't thank Janette enough for making this happen for me. Ryan even got some skin-to-skin time with baby N as well.

Then the second unconventional thing I requested got to happen. At this hospital during after a c-section the baby is whisked to the nursery to be checked. I did NOT want this to happen. Janette was able to get all of the needed people in there so Nora didn't have to leave at all and got all checked out in there. Yes! Fabulous!

They finally finished sewing me up and I went to recovery for a hour and my sister's & niece were able to come in and see us. And I was able to nurse Nora who nurses like a champ!

The rest of the day went downhill quickly but I will spare everyone those details. Let's just say it involved a terrible nurse, nausea, vomiting (after a c-section!!), and other general unpleasantness. I don't remember a lot after the recovery hour period but we had lots of visitors and Cameron and Azer loved getting to finally meet "Baby Nora".

Growing Up and Growing Out

The time finally came. My oldest started preschool this week and I don't know who it's been the hardest on... me or Azer. Cameron's LOVED it and loves talking about it so I know it hasn't been hard on him!

This may come as a surprise to some given my non-emotional person status. but. I cried.

That's right. I cried. Right now I'm blaming it on pregnancy hormones...who knows what I'm going to blame it on when this baby makes her appearance. Probably post-pregnancy hormones.

After we dropped him off and came home Az-man then proceeded to ask every five minutes "Go get brother?" Poor Az-man. He's going to have a hard time adjusting to Cam being gone I think. I'm glad that I do get some one-on-one time with Az before the new one comes as that doesn't happen very often and I love watching his personality. He is such a funny, spunky kid and he makes us all laugh a lot.

We have about 3 weeks left until my due date - but as most people know that's not a very reliable indicator of when she's actually going to show up. I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later as I'm getting sick of all these doctors appointments.

Keep watching as there will hopefully be an update in the near future. I know, shocking, but then again it could be another couple months. You never can tell....

Azman's Two Year Pics

I had found a cool spot near us to take some pics and we took Azman there today to take some photos for his two year session. He handled it like a normal two year old and wanted nothing to do with me... good thing he's so cute ;)

The Amazing Space Bags

I saw an infomercial about space bags and thought that would be the perfect solution to our space problem. We've been living in a *tiny* two bedroom, one bath, 680 sq ft apartment. Until this weekend- then we get to move to a three bedroom. YEAH! We'll still have more stuff than room so I thought they would be a good idea. Ryan was skeptical - but I headed off to Walmart to purchase some. A few days after I got them I convinced Ryan to try them with me. FAIL!! We filled it up and then as someone (*cough*, Ryan) tore it as he was zippering it closed. Ryan was not impressed - but I still thought we should give it another shot, all the people that I had talked to about it that raved about it couldn't be wrong. Right?? So after another trip to Walmart to exchange the defective bag and we were again in business. So we once again loaded it up. This time....Victory!! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...


Ryan has now been convinced and we will be getting more. Hooray for space bags!

Becoming One With The Earth.

We live in some pretty ghetto student housing apartments - full of leaks, mold, and apparently asbestos. There are some great perks though. We have a park right outside our house and we have a spot where we can have garden plots. For only a $5 fee we signed our for our tiny, tiny plot. On Saturday we got some plants and seeds and then headed over to our garden to plant them.

Az-man and Cam were a lot of help- and had a lot of fun.

On of our tomato plants that is sure to bring us luscious fruit!

The garden is behind chain link to keep any vagrants (aka kids) out...

We also have an awesome manhole cover in the middle of our garden...
hopefully it doesn't make our vegetables radioactive!

We planted tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, some other squash, carrots, lettuce, green beans, and sunflowers. SO glad that spring has finally shown her face in Utah!

Our Big News

Well... kind of news. Because we've announced on FB we've probably reached most anyone who reads this blog. If there is still anyone who reads it!

Anyway.... We're going to be adding another member to our awesome Farnsworth family. The astonishing news is that this baby is going to be evening out the numbers a little bit. That's right! We're having a baby girl! We are so excited to have a little girl.

Here are the latest ultrasound pics:

Big Boy in the house....

I can't believe Cameron's turning 4! So crazy. He is such a smart, fun, and spunky kid and we love having him in our family. He makes us laugh daily with the funny things he says and does. And he's still so cute- his smiles/dimples never fail in getting him what he wants.

Happy Birthday Cameron!!!