Dancing Monkey #1

This year after school, Isaac has been learning how to ballroom dance. His first competition was last weekend at Timpview HS here in Provo. He competed with other kids in his age group, "Peewee division". He danced in the triple swing and the cha cha sections. I am so proud of him for working so hard and getting out there! So, here are some pictures from the event. The smaller children, Patrick and I all went to watch.

Randomness

School has begun and the blog has again been neglected!
We have all been busy as bees over here with our various activities.
Patrick is back at school full-time this semester. He has another semester left and then another of student teaching to finish. He is pretty well-recovered from his clavicle-breaking earlier this year and only whimpers in pain occasionally when a small child steps on his collar. . .
Isaac is now in the third grade! He stays after school twice a week to dance with the ballroom team and is incredibly cute. I make him dance with me and I love it! He has his first ballroom competition coming up this Saturday! Stay tuned for photos! Isaac is also involved in scouts every Wednesday and enjoys that immensely!
Eve is in first grade. Every time I write/say it I feel really old. She is going to have a birthday pretty soon here and be SEVEN!!! AHHHHHH!! Anyhow, she still draws up a storm and is very talented! I will scan some of her recent works and put them on here. She started up gymnastics a week ago and is really liking it.
Esther is a kindergartener! AHHHHH!! (again) My little girls are getting so old. She has been in gymnastics and is loving it. She is perfect for it because she is strong and FEARLESS. I put a video of her below. She likes having Eve in her class. . . when they aren't fighting. .
Ms. Leah is getting humongous. She is rolling like a pro, sitting up, stands with help, and is on the fringe of crawling. She assumes the crawling position but manages to mostly go backwards. No! I tell her that she doesn't have to learn how to crawl for as long as she wants. Once crawling starts, it's all over and the house is done-for!
I am also in school again. I bring Leah to a few classes with me and Patrick has her during others. She is pretty much an angel and has many adoring fans who love to make her smile- which she readily does! I pretty much have the sweetest baby-ever. I am also getting together a store on Etsy so stay tuned for that. . . .
SO, until next time, enjoy the pictures!
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This is how Esther rolls on her way to gymnastics. . . sense of fashion inherited from her father, I am sure. >snicker<

Leah's Newest Trick

Miss Leah discovered something new!

Where Are Those Pesky Darbys?

Ok, it's been a while since anything has been posted on here. . .
it's been a busy summer!
We have been to two family reunions and traveled over a thousand miles. . .
SO here are some pictures of a few happenings to tide you over until school starts and I can REALLY neglect blogging!
Esther with her fish pond prize at the Ekstrom family reunion in Pebble Creek.


Eating Spudnuts at the original shop in RIchland, WA
Leah and me at the Ekstrom reunion- Leah got a cute striped onesie and a sucker! I let her have a few slurps. . .
Zee children out behind Grandma Ekstrom's house where the trees were so beautiful we had to take a picture. . . Leah 's grumpy face is awesome.
Isaac at the Dinosaur Park of some small town whose name I can't remember on the road between Richland and Yakima. . .
Eve and Esther in front of Grandma Ekstrom's house on the 24th of July- just as were were setting off for the parade and the Allen family reunion.
And to end, Ms. Leah in her lovely lavendar ensemble- just to show how humongous she is getting to be! She is three months old. How time flies when you're having fun!

Baby's First Flubber

I was changing her diaper on Thursday and I just couldn't resist. . . .
Loook at that tummy! It was just calling out for a flubbering!
So I had to! . . . I had to.

Love that BABY!

Caught Up in the Rush

Thursday evening, Patrick went to kick of the summer in style and go mountain biking with his good friend Steve. . . . a few hours later I got a call from the ER. The picture you see above was taken seconds before a doomed crash-landing that took the life of Patrick's clavicle. Ok, it didn't die- but it sure is fractured. I wish I could scan the X-rays he brought home and put them on here because they are textbook examples of a broken collarbone!
He didn't stick his landing but he survived and that is the important thing. Right now he's on some fantastic drugs and camped out in the swiveling/reclining rocking chair in the living room with water, more drugs, and the tv remote close at hand (in reach of his one good hand not immobilized by the sling)!
It should take 3-6 weeks for him to be healed enough to go back to regular activity.
Hopefully, he'll be a fast healer and be on the short end of recovery time!

Posers

It was Sunday, they were all really cute. . . . we had to take some pictures!

Too Much Cuteness

There is a whole lot of cuteness going on here at the Darby house! Here is a picture of the littlest Darby in her first dress last Sunday- so cute!


A cute big brother with his sissy- he LOVES to hold her and constantly asks if he can do so. . . in the middle of Primary. . . . when he's supposed to be getting dressed for school . . .
We caught it! The cutest baby pout face! Ah, sometimes the camera is kind.

Esther's grumpy face- also too cute.
Eve this morning holding Leah- nice bedhead, right? And you may not be able to tell- but Leah has her first Baby Spike hair today!
Leah is growing and developing right on schedule. She had her first visit with her pediatrician at his office on Tuesday. She has gained almost a whole pound- weighing in at a whopping *8 pounds and 4 ounces!* Leah is definitely our fattest baby thus far. She is the 50% for height and weight. Her head, however, is a bit smaller (thank you!) in the 30th%.

Baby Leah Arrives! (finally!)

Our newest little bundle of joy, a.k.a. "Leah Pearl Darby" finally arrived April 20 at 3:03pm!
Our darling little baby weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was a whopping 20 inches long. :)
Yes, we realize that was almost two weeks ago, but some of us have been busy, ok?
Several pictures of the little bairn have been posted on our facebook accounts- so we thought that it would be fun to put more recent pictures on here.
Here is baby Leah, a mere four days after birth, with her brand-new icky-umbilical-cord-stumpless belly button! (Saturday, April 24)
AND pictures with her biggest small fans!

I hate to be redundant. . .

but there is still no baby being born over here.

Went in this morning for a visit. Dilated to 3- yea!

They wouldn't strip my membranes because the midwife on call had her hands full of laboring pregos and the other hospital. . .

but tomorrow I shall call and see if things have slowed down a bit. . . .

In any case, I have an induction scheduled for Wed. fun stuff- NOT. SO want to avoid that crappiness but I'd rather be induced than stuck in prego purgatory.

Oh yes, a side note: yesterday I started taking blue and black cohosh and it seems to have kicked some things into gear. . . . .

SO, stay tuned for more exciting info when we have some to share!

Prego Purgatory

There are no pictures attached to this blog because there is absolutely NOTHING to share.
That's right- it is now Baby Day + 4 and no baby!
Monday we went in to be "checked" and we were starting to dilate. STARTING. Ugh.
Now it is Wednesday and still no good contractions.
It's not that I'm retaining water and horribly uncomfortable- I'm sick of being huge and sleeping on my side and having people ask me when I'm due- yeah, FOUR DAYS ago!!!!!
I should be grateful for being healthy.
Hmph.
Yes, I have been blessed with being really healthy. yea.
Now, can we get this thing out, please????!!?

Hiking the "Y"

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Sunny, warm. . . my husband decided that a hike up the nearby mountain would be just the thing. When I said I was coming, he gave me a LOOK that said he thought I was being insane and irresponsible. I told him that I was merely planning to go up a bit until I felt that I had reached my maximum capacity for hiking- then I would go back to the parking lot and read a book in the car. . . .
That was the plan- and it was a beautiful one. We brought snacks for me to munch on while waiting, snacks for them to munch on at the end of the trail, plenty of water. . . and so began the trek.
There are 11 turns on the way up. My goal was to do at least 2. After the first turn, I was a little tired but kept plodding on. When we passed 2, I felt fine. . . and 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. . . . and so on. I felt a little winded at times, and started feeling a bit worn out around 8- but then I decided to press on- only a few more turns to go and we'd be at the top! SO, we kept going.
Oh yes, a note about the children: in the car Esther said that she "never gets tired" and Eve and ISaac and she had a whole discussion about how they were "super hikers." About twenty yards up from the parking lot, the whining began. "My legs are tired! Carry me!" hee hee But we, being the evil parents we are, made them walk. After the initial reluctance to use their legs, they were pretty good little troopers. In all fairness, the first leg up from the parking lot is pretty steep and I kind of wanted Patrick to carry me up, too!
Eve was the best little hiker. She was like a tireless mountain goat and kept ahead of the pack pretty much the entire trek upwards- and down for that matter. My personal methodology was to keep that "slow and steady wins the race" mentality going- Eve stayed with me and would scamper up and down the trail while I plodded near her. She even attempted to drag me up the mountain occasionally when a bench was in sight to rest on, "Come on, Mom! There's a bench, let's hurry!"
Isaac did really well, too. Esther was our lagger but Patrick stuck with her and encouraged her upwards and she trooped on- despite the fact that her "legs are soooooo tired."
ANYHOW, we all made it to the top!
There were quite a few other hikers on the trail. AND a lot of them had dogs- and of course, we had to stop and pet the dogs and learn their names along the way. Patrick brought the GPS and timed our upward journey. It took us an hour up- thirty minutes of that moving (at an average of .2mph I think he said) and the other thirty minutes was spent resting and dog-petting.
Funny story: so, we reach the top and we're sitting there having our snack (well, my snack was down in the car since I didn't think I'd make it this far) and about ten feet away are these teenage/early twenty-somethings whining to each other about how tired they were and how worn out they felt, boo hoo!
Patrick and I looked at each other, our small children, my belly, and kind of laughed to ourselves.

So, we made it- up and down!
Down was a lot faster, as it always is. We stopped for a few new dogs but mostly just skipped down the mountain.
As for the baby- we had some really good contractions while hiking. That's about it. Haven't had any really good ones since. Urgh. What more must I do to jump-start this labor???


Eve and me- the "Y" is in sight!
Chillin' at the top- and I do mean chilling. It was a lot colder up there- in combination with us not moving!

Lower. . . lower. . . . ugh

Yesterday we went to the park for a couple of hours. I spent about a half hour swinging on various swings and walking about. . . . Today the baby appears to be at least four inches lower than she was yesterday so SOMETHING is going on in there. . . at least things are going in the right direction!
Now I feel like everything in my pelvic floor is being constantly smashed with a hammer when I walk- fun! No serious contractions, though, so who knows???

Oh, and my husband informed me two days ago that he will be gone for the weekend- he must go work in Salt Lake. Fun!
Luckily, my mother is driving down and she will be here Saturday so if I actually go into labor on my due date, someone will be there with me other than hospital personnell!

I decided today that I am officially tired of being pregnant.
So, baby, your eviction notice has been served!!

Oh, and we have a tentative name that we agreed on yesterday:
Leah Pearl
Pearl is a mixing of our mothers' names, hee hee. Ok, we don't use all the letters from both names- but they are all present in one or the other! (Pamela and Cheryl)
So, yea.
Stay tuned for more exciting news. . . .

Any Time Now. . . .

Last night I finished the baby's afghan. Here is a picture of it. Oh yes, it is bright pink. While wandering about the yarn aisle in Joanne's, I twittered between ivories and sea greens- for Isaac's and Eve's blankets I went with stereotypical blue and light pink. Esther, being a mystery baby (we didn't find out if she was "pink" or "blue" until she was born) got a gender-neutral white blanket. I wasn't sure what to do with baby girl #3 until I saw the hot pink thread- then I knew that it was perfect!
Now that the blanket is finished, she can come any time! Everything is ready. We've got a place to sleep and clothes, food. . . and I no longer fit in the stupid chairs with desks attached to them that make up the seating in some of my classes- so the sooner the better!

So, baby, you can come any time!

Finally Finished

I purchased the crib last Saturday, had my brother help me get it out of the car on Monday. . . then it sat there. . . and sat there. . . . waiting for someone to take pity on it and set it up!
Finally I called my brother Levi to help me- and he set it up on Wednesday! Hooray!
With that task finished, I started on the crib bumper the next day. I finally finished it last night! Hooray- so here are pictures of the crib and its beautiful bumper.
I found a tutorial online at:
http://www.vanillajoy.com/diy-crib-bedding-part-i-crib-bedding.html
for directions. It wasn't very complicated but it took a while since it is so loooooong. . . anyhow, it turned out so cute!
Esther, my picture stylist, added the frog. What a wonderful helper she is. :)

Baby Shower

Hello! My good friend Aleisha decided to take pity on my and do a baby shower. It's this Saturday- oh we know, short notice- at 1pm at an unspecified location that will be announced later!


WISH LIST
-a Boppy!
-a baby sling
-Graco Element Pack n Play- Melanie (you can find it at Target and maybe Walmart)
-Fisher-Price Newborn-Toddler Portable Rocker
-of course, we can always use CLOTHES ( ESTHER has been through them!)
- anything that looks like fun- just remember that if it makes a lot of noise you will PAY.
-Diapers are always a welcome addition
-cute nursing tops for me. Selfish, I know.
-One of those nursing cape things. . . can't think of what they are really called. . .
-baby gate
-World Peace!

I also think it may be helpful to know what I already have so here is another
LIST O' WHAT I ALREADY HAVE:
crib,
car seat,
stroller,
bouncy chair,
swing,
blankets,
bike trailer,
infant bike seat. . . . .
There you have it! I hope you can come!!

The Chosen Sleeping Vessel

SO, I was inspired by the car seat and stroller and when the monkies and I were in Target today I did it- I purchased a crib! I have been looking online at ksl.com classifieds and similary sites to see what was out there and really there is nothing right now that I want to buy. There are some used ones that are ancient, wobbly-looking things that they really should pay YOU for to take off their hands. . . there are also newer ones that were only used for one recent child but those people are asking for about twenty to ten dollars below what you can get a brand new one at- so I was looking online and comparing store prices and the one I got is just what I wanted!

It converts to a toddler bed, which is what I wanted-) oh and a day bed which is the same thing with the mattress at a different level)
ANYHOW, I haven't assembled it yet since I don't want to drag it out of the car myself. . .hmm, note to self: induce labor by moving large heavy box. . . hmmm. . . . Levi is coming over tomorrow so perhaps he will take pity upon his poor fat sister and help! :)
SO there aren't any lovely pictures of it in the girls' room (and I haven't made bumper pads or anything yet) BUT I got the picture from the Target.com site so you can see what it will look like!
Tomorrow I shall sew like a madwoman. I have a few projects I am working on (including crib linens) and now I have motivation for actually doing them!
Hooray for babies!

Latest Arrival!

The Graco Alano Travel System: Melanie




Esther modeling the stroller.
The beautiful girl carseat- and baby waiting to get in. Patience, baby, you have to come out first!

Yes, I am mean because our newest arrival is NOT a baby. . . yet.
We got a wonderful package from my mother-in-law (THanks, Mom Darby!) while Esther-loo and I were hanging out and watching Jumanjii and making some costume accessories. . . another story-
ANYHOW, here are pictures of the contents!
Car seat, CHECK!
Stroller, CHECK!
And they are the cutest and girliest things, ever.
I have been a bit sad about this baby because it looked like she was going to get everything handed down to her. Not that a baby cares, I know (another subject I could babble about all day like elaborate first birthdays. . . ), but I care. So, at least she will travel in girl-baby style!
Next item:
Crib. The children and I are going to go look at things today. I want one that converts to a toddler bed. . . . we shall see. . . .