Feb. 2nd = GHD

11th Annual

Israel made groundhogs is space and in the ocean



Steve shooting Groundhogs for our Groundhog Stew



Playing "Pickup Groundhog Poop"

Tammy and Nadia

Pin the Teeth on the Groundhog
Julia and Christian were our spinners 

dizzy Mommy

Tossing cards into a hat
"it's all in the wrist"

Mia in action

Dessert: Groundhog Mounds (in sand since we live in the desert) 

Mormon Battalian Days

Jan. 28th we drove to Old Town San Diego for the festivities. We made rope, bricks, pioneer dolls, enlisted in the battalion (with a feather quill), learned to do laundry, roasted biscuits over a fire, listened to old time music, and marched in the parade. Israel's favorite, no suprise, was playing with the guns. Julia spent most of her time with the marble runs, and Eliza practiced hard on the stilts.

Pinewood Derby Winner

Israel and Stan made an awesome car for his first pinewood derby race. Stan didn't want Israel to lose (like he always did) so we talked to my brother Mike and then watched all these youtube videos about what he told us to do, spent more money than I was expecting on these little bits that attach to our drill, and make a super fast car.

Israel won 1st place for our pack, 1st place for wolves and will be going to the District pinewood derby in March (I didn't even know we had district races). He was a graceful winner. I'm so grateful for my Israel, he is conscious of other people and doesn't poke fun. He asked me this morning if he could give his trophy to his friend who didn't win anything.

cutting the car-Israel chose the easiest option (only 2 cuts)- with some persuasion. It helped that we told him he had to do the cutting:)

Sanding-Israel did not enjoy this LONG process. On the right our drill has the special mandril Stan bought to sand the tires.

The winners circle

1st-Israel, 2nd-Grayson, 3rd-Landon

Whale Watching-No Whales

 For MLK Day were spend 6 hours in the car and saw  no whales-talk about disappointing.  Thank goodness we were listening to the Chronicles of Narnia so the drive didn't seem as long.

On the Boat



Playing on the Beach



All we saw were a few sea lions-super disappointing. The ocean was so choppy that they ended our cruise early and gave us a pass for a free trip in the future-maybe we'll try again in May, the next few months are packed.



This Time . . .

Things We've Done Different This Time Around
1. Had our baby at home
2. Given him oral Vit. K and no eye drops (since I don't have chlamydia)
3. Used cloth diapers (and wool-I am enamored by wool-that stuff is amazing, I'll tell anyone foolish enough to ask me all about it)), not from day 1, but since 2 wks old
4. Used EC (elimination communication) basically we're training ourselves to put JT on the potty when her has to poop. Some days are good and some don't work at all, still, since we cloth diapering, when it does work we're happy.
5. Babywearing (and not because I wanted to either- JT demanding it and didn't like any of the carriers we already had- not my premax baby sling, not the baby bjorn either. He loves his sleepywrap and besides the annoyance of wrapping it, it is the most comfortable baby carrier I have ever used with any of my children, hands down. We also have an Ergo, #2 in most comfy-quicker to use and in this lime green color I adore)



Things We've Done the Same
1. Slept him on his tummy in the same little bassinet/car carrier that I slept in as a baby (yes, you read that right-and I don't think I was the first Ashcraft to use it either.)
2. No binky-we did try this time, but not that hard
3. No bottle (too time consuming when I'm here all the time anyhow. Yes, I'd love some freedom, but I am so dang lazy-pump, sterilize bottles, warm them properly-I'm a walking zombie, it's not going to happen)
4. Use Costco's Kirkland wipes-best thing on the planet. Even though we use cloth diapers I haven't tried reusable wipes yet.
5. Let him stay in our bed once he wakes up at night-we've been lucky this go round-often he doesn't wake up until 5, most all nights at least not until 3

New Years with the Christensons in AZ

Peter, Julia holding Marianne, Andre, Eliza holding JT, Israel



Melanie put up the Hello Kitty decorations from Marianne's party for my birthday-don't we look stylish?



Presents!

Our chefs for the weekend. They did the shopping and the cooking and it was delicious-they even made a cheesecake from scratch.

JT is 2 months old!

5 wks old- our little elf

6 wks old-my fav. outfil

being tortured by silly Julia-he puts up with a lot!

smiling-he's my easier baby to make smile and coo

Christmas Day-2 days shy of 2 months

in his sleepy wrap. This thing is magic-I understand why it's called a sleepy wrap. It puts him right to sleep. We use it for all our outings (which at this point is only the library, park, and grocery store)

We love our JT- he still has those gray blue eyes and darkish hair. He's a tummy sleeper and he doesn't mind his car seat. We've been doing EC and cloth diapers this time around and I love them, just prefolds and covers, we haven't had any blowouts and he's only gotten wet a few times-each our fault for not changing him or putting the cover on wrong.

He had his first babysitting adventure last night. We left him for 2 hrs for our anniversary and he did great (Thanks Angie!). He loves staring at the Christmas lights and ceiling fans. He's already 15 lbs-it's crazy he's so big. We're rotating into 3-6 month clothing already. We're still working on sleeping at night-I can often get 5 hours and Christmas Eve Eve he slept for 8, but that's the only time. He sleeps in his bassinette initially then I keep him in bed with me. He loves to sleep snuggled into my armpit. It's tricky to get out of bed without him waking in the morning. I recently discovered when he's mellow I can feed him, knit, and read from my propped up kindle:)



We're so glad JT has joined our family. Even in all the craziness of having a newborn and now being a mom of FOUR it is so sweet to hold our little guy, to reaffirm the plan the salvation and know that he is a gift from God.

Merry Christmas

JT woke up early-we found the presents at 3:30 am

Israel woke up at 5:30 and opened all his Santa presents and some under the tree before we woke up. Here he is with some of his loot.



such a silly cutie!



reading her new book





 After our wonderful church program-we got to sing plenty of Christmas Carols AND hear some nice musical numbers-(nice job Sister R-even if you did make me sing Star Bright with you)



Birth Story

This is a shortened version. I wrote out the full and it was super long. If interested leave your email in the comments and I'll send it your way.



our birth team: Karen Dobbins(midwife assisting), Denise Perez (my doula), Quincy Bates (my midwife)



A month before Joseph was due I had an awful appointment with my OB consisting mainly of them trying to convince me to schedule a c-section. It was very disturbing and yet I was weeks away from giving birth. I felt strongly impressed that I shouldn't have the baby with this doctor (the only one my insurance covers) Looking for other options we called a licensed midwife I had talked to earlier on in my pregnancy, Quincy Bates. I really liked her and her respect for letting us have the birth experience we wanted (and for taking us on so late in the pregnancy).

On Thursday Oct. 27th I was 39 weeks pregnant. I knew I was at least 80% effaced and 4 cm dilated as I had been 2 weeks prior (the last time I'd been checked). We had a full day planned. Julia and I went to the library and then to school to lunch with the kiddos and drop off bean bags I'd made the night before for the Fall Carnival. At 11:20am while at school Stan called to see if he could go running without his phone. I gave him the all clear since nothing was happening and then left school at noon.

When I got home I was feeling awful-no contractions, but really crampy, tons of pressure, loose bowels, and I had bloody show. I called my midwife and doula and they got ready to come over. Meanwhile Stan was still away from his phone. I did not want to have this baby alone and was grateful when Denise Perez (my doula) arrived. She started prepping the pool for the water birth and  it was just a comfort to have an adult in the house. (My friend came and picked up Julia).

Soon the contractions were coming and really powerful and hard to handle which was frustrating since Julia's birth had been pain free. I can't say that about Joseph's.  Finally Stan arrived about 1:20 and Quincy shortly afterwards. I labored on a birthing ball with Denise using oils and a vibrating massager on my low back and I held onto Stan or Quincy's shirt and rested the crown of my head onto their bellies.

Finally the pool was ready (Quincy thought the whole time we wouldn't have time for it). When I stood up to walk to the pool I lost the rest of my mucus plug AND my water broke. Quincy had set up a birthing stool just in case that I quickly sat down on. It was 2:00 pm, only 1 hour and forty minutes into the labor, and I felt a desire to immediately start pushing. Stan kept asking if I wanted to get in the tub. "No." I said, "we're having this baby right now. Stop talking."

The pushing phase was really quick (7 min), the hardest part was not pushing as his head was crowning, necessary to avoid perineal tearing. I rested once his head was out, waiting for another urge to push; his body naturally turned allowing his shoulders to fit and with the next contraction Joseph Teancum was born at 2:07 pm.

The labor was so fast that he hadn't fully cleared his lungs, so Quincy and her assistant Karen Dobbins, after letting me hold him briefly, cleared his lungs so he could breathe better. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing then Stan cut the cord. Then I delivered the placenta. They assisted me to my own bed where I rested with my Joseph Teancum and Stan by my side. It was so fast I was still amazed that we'd already had him. He was so big and had that wonderful dark hair my babies are born with. He didn't want to open his eyes or nurse at first, he was still adjusting to our world.





Eventually the midwives and Denise assisted me to get a shower and then we weighed and measured Joseph- 8lb 9 oz; 22 in long.

It was a wonderful, special time and we felt so close to our Heavenly Father. That He was watching over and loving us. I'm grateful to have had the experience of a home birth even if it wasn't the water birth we had thought we were going to have. Doing something natural and beautiful as birth is in my own home was empowering and special. I'm so grateful that Joseph Teancum joined our family and that he is healthy and strong. We love our boy and the labor that brought him into our home and family.  

Blessing Day Nov. 6th 2011

We blessed Joseph Teancum yesterday before my parents had to leave to go back to Utah. It was really special to have them there with us. I've never brought such a young baby to church. He was only ten days old. He did great for all of sacrament meeting and didn't cry during his blessing.

Michele lent us this blessing outfit she made for my nephew Joshua (I think) and gave us this beautiful blue blanket. It's as soft as can be too.

I added this picture because I like it so much. I don't often like pics of myself.

With Grandma and Grandpa Ashcraft. They were such a wonderful help this past week cooking, cleaning, running the kids, and playing with Julia so she didn't feel left out. I love you Mom and Dad!



Stan gave Joseph a name and a blessing. A few of the things he blessed his with were to grow strong and healthy and have a pure soul, to have the power of God to administer to his brothers and sisters, to serve faithfully like Joseph of Old, and to have a great posterity.



I just love this picture of Israel holding his brother. These two are going to be pals. Israel's already decided. He's excited for all he's going to teach his brother.

The one family picture that doesn't look awful. Getting 6 people looking the right direction and smiling is going to be a challenge!