A Family is Forever

This afternoon we attended the Draper Temple open house. Following the advice of friends, we took advantage of my large, pregnant belly, drove right up to the temple and asked them if we could park in the actual temple lot to save ourselves from standing around and waiting for shuttles. Everything worked out seamlessly and we loved walking around together admiring the amazing artwork in the temple as well as the glorious sunlight which poured into almost every room. It was especially stunning to have so much natural light in the baptistry, bride's dressing room and sealing room we sat in together at the end of the tour.

I really loved being in the temple today with my husband and children. I realized again today that they are my heaven and I am so grateful that they are mine forever.

My parents joined up with us and helped entertain (and at times carry) the kids during our visit. Yay for grandparents!

a closer shot of our family (Bentley's head is mostly hiding my rapidly expanding belly--I seriously think it has doubled in size over the last couple weeks!)

Off to See the Wizard

Joseph and Bentley had another boys' night out last night. They joined Chandler and, Ethan, Will, and Maddie for dinner at the Mandarin and then saw the The Wizard of Oz in Centerville. It turns out that the lovely and talented girl who plays Dorothy in it works with Joe and Chad and so a big group from the office got together to go see her perform last night.

silly cousins at dinner (gotta love Will's chin!)

my boys at the play together

Bentley and Dorothy (Julie). This was the first thing I heard about this morning from Bentley--that he got to meet Dorothy and take a picture with her :)

I had to teach my dance classes last night so Cares and I had a little girls' night at home once I was back from the studio. This basically means she wanted me to paint her toenails and fingernails and I happily obliged. It made me laugh that she was fast asleep in bed by 7:45 while the play was just getting underway at that point. It's a good thing I only sent my "big" 4 year-old kid to see it!

Ode to Twyla

My daughter LOVES her kitty Twyla. They have been best buddies for a long time now and I just want to thank her for being such a trusty pal to my Cares:

waiting in line at Disneyland together

cuddling little cousin Max

helping Cares nap on an SG road trip

and entertaining her during the early potty training days

Last night John and Krista came over for dinner and brought a delicious German chocolate cake for dessert. Cares had been telling us all day that it was Twyla's birthday so we gave in and lit candles and sang "Happy Birthday to Twyla" for, according to Caroline, her 3 year old birthday (I guess Twyla and Cares are the same age!)

Missing

I used to have 2 very blonde children but I haven't seen them around for a few months. I am expecting them to return by August. In the meantime, let me know if you spot them...





January always makes me dream of summer. Boy do I love a day filled with flip-flops, sunshine and ice cream...

...And a New Niece

Here's a quick look at the beautiful new Isabel Helena LeBaron (born Tuesday evening)


The nurses were eager to keep her under the lights in the nursery (due to jaundice) so Joseph and I only got to sneak in a quick visit with her this evening. She sure is fun to look at--what a tiny doll!

Random

Do any of you ever have a day when you look for new blog posts from your favorite authors and find hardly anything to read? And as a response feel the need to update your own blog so you have something fun to do during your small window of freetime?

I'm having one of those days...could you tell? Maybe I need a new hobby...

Random thoughts on 1/19/09:

1. I miss Maui. And Oahu. And Hawaii in general. We were there exactly a year ago and it sounds heavenly to be back there again (except that I'd have to wear a swimsuit at 7 1/2 months pregnant...that part doesn't sound very heavenly...)

cuties playing on Kaanapali Beach

2. Bentley and I just had one of our favorite snacks: Laughing Cow cheese on Wheat Thins and Simply Orange orange juice--yum.

3. Today the kids helped me disassemble our baby carseat so we could wash the cover and all the straps. Am I really going to have an infant in my house again soon? (yay!)

4. I am really loving Nie Nie's new blog posts. She is so real about all that has happened and I really appreciate her candor thus far. My heart goes out to her for all the pain she's still enduring but she is one tough woman and seems to keep the positive alive right there along with all the negative.

A few more nostalgic Maui pics:

sunset dinner at PacificO's in Lahaina

my Bentley frog along the Kaanapali boardwalk

New Things

Found these fun purchases today while shopping online. I decided to get some new things for my upcoming hospital stay and ensuing "lazy new baby days" (or weeks...the idea of weeks sounds better :) Plus, I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my wallet--thanks Mom & Dad!!

(L to R: Target Mossimo track suit, Victoria's Secret cotton PJs (wish they came with those abs), Enchante cosmetic bag set)

And still on my wishlist for baby:

(from the Barefoot Dreams collection at Nordstrom)

Chubby Angel

My little (but big) Bentley 4 years ago:

I smile every time I see this picture! That baby boy has a tight grip on my heart for sure--even if he is all leaned out these days :)

Meeting A New Cousin

On Monday evening, once Cec and Connor were home from the hospital, Caroline and Bentley got to meet their newest cousin. They tried very hard to be calm and sweet so as not to disturb him but once they had a chance to rub his soft head and hold him for a minute, they were off racing cars (Bean) and running around playing princesses with Maddie (Cares...but Bean joined them later :). This left some time for Joseph and me to hold our new nephew (which really feels like holding nothing when they are so new--I always forget how very light 7 or 8 lbs is!)

Cares was very careful with Connor. I think she is ready to be a big sis!

Bentley loved the new baby too and would only make this face for any pictures we took. Could this kid look anymore like his Grandpa Neil?!

Maddie is hilarious in this pic. She was super giddy when we came to visit and just kept posing and posing--we love her!

Prepared

I am finally trying to get my act together with the whole emergency prepardness stuff. It helps tremendously that 1) my mother and mother-in-law gifted us very useful items for that exact thing this Christmas (including the Eddie Bauer survival kit in the picture) and 2) my ward Relief Society has decided to work on 72-hour kits this year through our enrichment activities. We even got calendars to help us focus on a few items each month so that we aren't overwhelmed and buying 100 things all at once. I can totally handle the "little bit at a time" approach.

Our RS lesson last week outlined a year long plan and then our ward specialist brought up the idea of an emergency kit for more common uses that goes in the car. I was so glad she reminded me of that idea since I have been thinking about making one of those for a long time now--something I dog-eared in a Real Simple magazine at least a year ago and then totally forgot about. But now, I have one all put together and tonight it will go into my car--yay!

As a mom I wanted our car kit to hold things we can use right away if we need to. Things like water, snacks, band-aids, and wet wipes will probably get used sometime this week--and I am thrilled to know I will have those items right there with me when we have tears and grumbling tummies as we drive around town. Due to our crazy "stuck in the snow" adventures last weekend at the cabin I felt like we also needed to include winter supplies like a small snow shovel, hats and gloves for each member of our family, and warm fleece jackets for all of us that just stay in the car (and then in the spring when we have impromptu park outings the kids have a warm layer handy just in case.) The kids modeled their new winter gear for me today. I spent just less than $20 at Old Navy online and got 4 hats, 3 pairs of gloves, and a fleece jacket for Bentley (all on clearance!)

I used this site to help me gather items for our kit. I also liked this short and simple video which added some bigger items to make the car kit more like an emergency 72-hour kit. Here's to being safe and prepared!!

Baby, Baby

No, my own little bundle did not arrive yet. Soon, I am hoping for soon...soon-ish. In the meantime however, I got to meet my teeny tiny new nephew this afternoon (who isn't even that teeny but looked so very sweet and small all swaddled up!) I even got to see him being born which was amazing--stunning even. It was also a little intimidating since I am going down that path oh so soon myself... But then I remembered that I don't have to watch any of it when I am the mama--I just get to push and breathe and make it all happen--lucky me :)

It really is a miracle to witness an infant's birth--I am so grateful I could be there with my big sister today and share in such an intimate and marvelous event. Plus, there is the lovely gift of getting to hold a perfectly pure baby right after--melts my heart just to think about it.

brand new baby Connor

happy to be near his sweet mommy

showing off his "big mouth" while I held him

And 2 days ago, out in Colorado, my hubby's little sister delivered a healthy baby boy named Gunner. I am still waiting on pics (Mag--if you happen to read this you know what you need to do...) but know he was born safely and quite quickly and without complication--such a blessing!

Congratulations to both of the new mommies!!

***FYI--I have another sister-in-law due in 2 weeks with a baby girl...so much love in the air last spring!!

Back in '08

Exactly a year ago today:

Beans and I were getting our yoga on.
It's nice to see a non-pregnant version of my body every once in a while these days :)

Will It Work?

Last night I asked Joseph to be in charge of our FHE lesson. And guess what? He totally delivered. I am going to ask him to do that more often (he will be so excited :) We talked about one of our favorite primary songs, If the Savior Stood Beside Me, and how we could become better during this new year. The kids each thought of 5 things they could work on and then we had them act them out in a little photo shoot. Joseph then used the pictures to make these collages to help them remember their goals:


So, now we will see if any of this sinks in. Especially the no biting thing from Cares--she has some serious jaws and Beans has some serious marks to prove it...

A Good Friday

We spent the first Friday night of January up at my parents' cabin. It was an "adults (and new baby Sarah) only" getaway and we had a marvelous time. In the picture, L to R, Mary and Seth, Lizzie and Matt, us, and Krista and Johnny. Basically, 3 LeBaron siblings hanging out with our friends Matt and Lizzie--somehow we've all managed to become close to them at one point or another (see here)

We spent the evening talking and talking and talking, laughing, continually checking on the blizzard outside and the inches of snow falling all around, eating dinner, and playing board games and Rock Band and DDR on the XBox. In the morning, we made a big breakfast before cleaning and packing up. We had a slight issue getting John and Krista's car up the steep driveway and onto the main road--well, not so much "slight" but more like "major." After an hour of pushing and packing and shoveling snow and trying again and again, the car could not quite make it! We did manage to pack 6 of us into our Acura and leave the car up there until Johnny could go back with some chains for his tires. All in all we had a perfectly lovely night away--thank you to all 4 grandmas who watched our little ones for us!!

Hello 2009

I am sitting on the couch right now and I fear I may never leave this spot. I have been cleaning all day and now that it is 3:30, I am kaput (German for broken). And yet, as I look around the family room (a place I hardly even touched today) I see tons of work that remains to be done. Sigh.

I think I woke up this morning with a very urgent sense of the new year and got cracking on my home right away:
--cleaned out and organized my bathroom drawers
--picked up Bentley's room, dusted and vacuumed it
--picked up Caroline's room, dusted and vacuumed it
--went through Cares' toy basket and got rid of all the broken/random/ugly toys
--picked up my room and dusted and vacuumed it (I am sensing a theme here...)
--cleaned up lunch, filled and started the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor
--sent the kids outside to play in the snow with Daddy (where they built an awesome snow castle and played quite happily)
--and cleaned my entire bathroom.

It is very rewarding work for sure but I still have more to do. Maybe if I sit here long enough snacking on chocolate chip cookie dough I will feel totally re-energized.

Some goals I have for this new year:
1. Be a more patient mommy
2. Enjoy the next few months of freedom with my darlings before the baby comes along
3. Have a routine, healthy and of course swift and easy (please, please, please...) delivery of baby #3
4. Get the basement in our house finished and fabulous

There are more but these will do for now. My brain can really only handle thinking ahead to March when our little family will grow from 4 to 5. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! (and I am trying my best to relish in every night of uninterrupted sleep I get before baby is here :)