My mom the blogger

My mom's on the bandwagon :) check her out on "what it's like to be a syphus"

So you think that you're chubby.

If you're down on yourself and think you have lots of chub... just take a look at this guy and he'll make you feel better :) He weighed in at 14 lbs. 12 oz. at his 2 month check-up and was 23 inches long. Leila's almost 20 lbs. so another 6 pounds and he's as heavy as she is! (btw, he's wearing clothes that Cooper didn't wear till he was 4 month old!)

Cooper asks to hold him a lot and after a while he realizes how heavy he is and says "you take him momma, he's heavy!"

This is Cooper's "Breathing". He has to use a nebulizer for a few weeks because there were spots in his lungs that were still weak from when he had pnuemonia and he kept getting this residual cough. He just has to do these breathing treatments 4 times a day for a few weeks and he should be good!

He hates it, but he'll do it for candy :)

I know he's ready for Preschool, but is Preschool ready for HIM?!

I think we were both excited for him to start preschool today. Usually I hear mom's say how heartbroken they were when their first child goes off to school, I dunno, maybe that's when they go to kindergarten or something? For us, this just seemed natural. He loves structure and meeting new people, I love having some time just with Leila and Marshall - we both win! The question remains... is the world ready for this guy?Doubt it!
He picked out his own outfit... it matches (yes!), it goes with his backpack (does he know that?), and it's on frontwards (I didn't check his underwear though, that still might be on backwards.)

I think Leila's just glad to get rid of him for a little while. I signed us up for a mommy & me music class that starts next month. It goes for a half hour during the time that he'll be in school so me and Leila can get down with the eensy beensy spider.

After this picture in front of the preschool he didn't even pause, he just ran right in. I almost called to him to ask him for a hug, but I decided against it. If he doesn't need it, I don't want to ruin his moment :) We took him to lunch after so he could tell us all about preschool. He loves it and he wants to go everyday... I don't know how I'm going to tell him it's only 2 days a week!

The Fair 2009

I live for fair food. It's always the most sinful, divine, and glorious assortment of foods around (except for Christmas when there is so much chocolate EVERYWHERE!). While I went for the food, the kids went for the bright lights and colors.

Funny, there was a bride there while we were riding the merry-go-round getting her bridals taken at the fair! I hope she didn't eat the food... she might not fit into her dress anymore!

it was pretty weather though, nice and breezy and we walked on to every ride!

Leila did not enjoy this one, it was too jerky for her. Towards the end she was crying so they stopped the ride.


She liked this one though :)

Froggy Hike

I think this hike was... who knows... it was sometime this summer. It's all been pretty much a blur of hiking, camping, and hoping we'll have a company by the end of the year. Who cares? Our kids rock and we love having them!

Leila was hesitant at first

Marshall had to stay covered, but you can see his arm peeking out.

Annie helped with Leila (who love love loves Annie)


A froggy!

Twenty-Fourf of July

What an adventure that day was! Jesse had to work so I strapped Marshall into the baby carrier and put Leila in the stroller and trusted my 3 year old to somehow stay near me in the crowds of people when we went to the parade. I've never seen so many people there! The kids liked the horses and candy and saw aunt Amanda being a clown! After the parade she asked me "did I look like a funny clown or a stupid clown?"

Marshall mostly slept.There was a dunking booth and little kiddie games, but why spend money on those when the kids are perfectly happy for hours on a free slide? The only problem was that Leila would go up...

Then come back down....Thankfully we met up with Annie and she showed Leila the fun way to work a slide:
They picked up a few other kids who needed help at the top too... apparently.
Cooper got stuck a few times on this thing and bumped his head, but he kept going back!

I think it's cool that Washington City still does the big 24th celebration, I saw a lot of people I grew up with and haven't seen forever. I also love that my kids get to play on the same toys that I did when I was little... except the swings are gone :( Anyway, it was an adventure for sure, but I still don't think I'm up to the challenge of taking 3 kids to an event like this on my own. I would not have survived (or the kids wouldn't have anyway) if Amanda, Sara, and Annie hadn't have helped me till Jesse could come. Happy 24th kidlets!

Zion Hike with the Millers

I've been a little lazy (I KNOW!) with the blog, but in my defense I haven't been lazy in real life. We've been hiking every weekend and I am tackling all kinds of organizational projects (I just finished the kids' toys!). Now I'm ready to overload the blog again with all kinds of crazy we've been up to!

Hiking up the narrows with the Millers (before they moved to Logan :( ). Leila went right into the freezing water and would have kept going over her head if we wouldn't have stopped her! She was jumping off of the rock wall into Jesse's arms too... no fear! Hee hee.. I love her cute bum :)Here's Marshall with little Regan. They're 3 days apart but you wouldn't know it from their size! I think we've got our line backer!

Musical Preferences

You'd think that a 3 years old's taste in music would revolve around Disney songs, nursery rhymes or anything with a relativly good beat. If that were your thought, you haven't met Cooper.
Even when he was an infant, we could calm him in the car with Josh Groban. If you think this is universal for all babies, don't worry, it's not. We've tried it on our other two without success. Now that he's older, he has specific Josh Groban favorites. He's narrowed it down to "the spanish one" and "Say you love me". When I play my tabernacle choir CD it's a different story. He must hear "how they grow" (AKA Consider the Lillies) to be appeased. I have a CD that is just a compilation of songs that I like and Cooper has favorites on that one as well. Ever heard of 'Viva la Vida' by Cold Play? Yeah. He likes Cold Play.
This is how it goes when we get in the car:
Cooper - "turn on the music mama."
Me - "Ask nicely please"
Cooper - "Please turn on the music?"
I turn on the radio
Cooper "not that music, the spanish one!"
I put in the Josh Groban CD (any one of the 3 we own which all have a minimum of 5 spanish songs).
Cooper - "Not THAT spanish one!"
I find the appropriate spanish one
Cooper - "Turn it up mama, I can't see it."
(I don't think he has all his senses sorted out at this point. He often complains of not being able to "see" the music)

Oh Blessed Marshall

Marshall was blessed in our ward today. You'd think that this being the 3rd time for Jesse he would not be nervous anymore, but when he sat down and handed over Marshall to me his hands were icy cold. I smiled, knowing that icy hands meant nervous Jesse. Sweet. BTW, he did a great job :) Annie showed up early to get some pictures of the little man.And Dave took some too:

Life after Baby

I get asked a lot how things are going now with 3 kids, and really, it's not so bad if you cheat :) By cheat I mean that Jesse's mom takes the 2 older kids for a few hours several times a week so I really don't feel like I've had a full dose of 3 kids yet. I think last Friday (Marshall was 2 weeks old) was really the first day that I had them all day by myself and it really wasn't that bad. It might have had something to do with Jesse taking a 2 hour lunch to get Cafe Rio and take us all to the park.... but I think I'm just really good at this mom thing.All 3 of my mens (me and Leila are outnumbered!) :
Marshall's umbilical cord fell off last week and the little plastic thingy from his circumcision, so we celebrated with his first real bath:
And for Father's Day we took the Callahan men up to Pine Valley for a dutch oven dinner. We found a dirty old baby doll in a tree and Leila adopted it as her own before we could sneak it away from her and throw it away.

Marshall enjoyed the outdoors and camp-fire smoke... how could he not? It's in his blood!
Also this week, nap times have been irregular so... this is the result:
Anyway, so far, so good. Some days are better than others. Nights seem a little longer now, but I'm hoping some sort of schedule will emerge soon. The other 2 kids are doing wonderfully well. Cooper helps by running to get me a diaper sometimes or bouncing the bouncy chair when I don't have a free hand. Leila is taking it the hardest I think because she has less snuggle time and she's not the baby anymore, but she's a great little momma and loves to help comb Marshall's hair (she thinks his baby brush is a tooth brush and tries to brush his non-existent teeth) and pokes my boob when I'm nursing to help him drink his "muk" (milk). I'm sure it will get harder before it gets easier, but for now it's going well and I have a great support team to help!

The "official" Birth Story of Marshall Jay Callahan

I really can't start the story without mentioning how Marshall did NOT come a week early like his 2 siblings, and how he didn't even bother to come on his due date, he was, in fact 5 days late! Or without including how, even though I was appointed to be induced on Wednesday the 10th, I was pushed back to Thursday the 11th. So here's how it all went down:


Thursday morning, I wait patiently for a call from the ever-so-busy labor and delivery section of the hospital and finally, FINALLY, at 11:20 AM we got a call from a nurse asking if we were ready to have a baby and if we were could we please arrive at 12:15. At that very point in time Jesse was pulling out of the refrigerator the makings of tacos for lunch. We screamed and hugged and celebrated and while I went to put on my makeup and pack my toothbrush in my hospital bag, he continued on his preparations and proceeded to eat 8 tacos, I ate 1 (for energy, and they smelled good, and I was hungry). I mention this not only for accuracy in the story, but also to point out the differences in this delivery, namely an induction, compared to the others, you know, the ones where the contractions come AND THEN you go to the hospital? Oh, and then Sara took this picture for us, and then we left for the hospital! (Yeah, the twins were basically LIVING at our house for a few days awaiting the time we were to go to the hospital and we'd leave them in charge of our other 2 babies)
On the way to the hospital (again, I mention this only in the name of accuracy) Jesse was on the phone arranging things for the cabinet shop and completely missed the turn to the hospital and went 2 blocks too far and continued on the phone as if nothing had gone awry. I stared at the clock which read 12:14 and then glared at him and when I could take it no longer I said "Get off the phone." He ended his call and we arrived at the hospital.

We got to skip the room that they put you in for an hour to wait and see if you're "progressing" and were whisked immediately to our very own delivery room. Every single thing we needed was already laid out and waiting: my arm bands with my name on them, the appropriate paperwork to initial and sign, all my IV paraphernalia, gown, and a great big IV bag chalk full of pitocin (it almost made my uterus hurt to look at it). The nurses took their time to explain everything to me and to put my IV line in the arm that did not belong to my dominant hand (no one ever asked me that before!). Twenty minutes later the pitocin drip was started at a very low level and I was "checked" to see where we were starting from. One week prior to this I had been at a very definate 2 cm, but the baby's head was still very high, so when this nurse checked I was sure to be at least a 3. My jaw almost dropped when the nurse checking me turned to the other and said "I think she's about a 1/2 cm".
"um..." I said "at my last appointment I was at a 2 so..."
"Well" she said " sometimes they check in the wrong spot."

They check in the wrong spot?! I was confused to say the least. Luckily my Doctor was there within another 20 minutes and checked again. He looked up at the nurse and said "What did you put her down for, 3-ish?"
"uh, no." She said, looking sheepish "We put her down for 1/2"
"Well I uh... I think she's at a 3" He said knowingly with a smile. So with that I was out of the gate, off and running. The contractions started coming, and they were welcomed because I knew with every one the baby was closer and with him came the end of pregnancy! They left us alone pretty much and came back to check a few hours later to find I had only progressed to a 3+. By 5 they were preparing to change shifts and I had at least gotten to a 5 and the baby's head was low enough for the Doctor to break my water. 5:30 the water was broken and the contractions became as intense as I've ever felt. I asked if the anesthesiologist was close and the nurses said he was, but he was working on another patient and might be a few minutes. After a 45 minutes I was completely broken, the contractions were right on top of each other and took all of my energy to get through, I'm not sure how I would have done had Jesse not been holding my knees, Annie rubbing my back, and my mom stroking my hair. The anesthesiologist came at 6:45, almost an hour and a half after my water had been broken, and not a moment too soon. He was quick and efficient and I was pain free in about 20 minutes. In that time I had gone from 5 to a 7 and couldn't have been more relieved. We all relaxed and watched "so you think you can dance" to see who got eliminated (for accuracy people). The nurse checked me close to 9:00 and said "you look pretty good, lets see what happens if we do a test push" I did and she stood up briskly, "I'll call you're doctor, you're ready" He was there within 10 minutes and 2 1/2 contractions later (I only know because I looked at the monitor, I could feel NOTHING!) little Marshall emerged ( 9:32 pm) and they placed him up on my belly. My first thought was: Wow! He is REALLY HEAVY! Indeed he was, 8 pounds 10 ounces and 21 inches long. Almost a full pound heavier than the 7lbs and 11 oz. Cooper and Leila were.
My second thought was: He really does look like a Marshall!

In my recovery room Jesse wrote on the white board "Congratulations Laura and Marshall, you did it!" Indeed we did Marshall, 5 days late, but we did it!

Marshall with other babies

He's only been here for 6 days and already he has friends! Eric and Miranda's baby girl Regan (?) came Sunday night and was delivered by the same doctor as Marshall! Here are the proud papas:

Last night Candice brought Elijah over to meet his new cousin, here's Elijah (4 months) and Marshall (5 days):

All of the cousins on Jesse's Family's side (3 of them are mine):

Cooper (3 years), Leila (18 months), Elijah (4 months), Marshall (5 days)