Skye's Christmas Program

Skye had a Christmas program at preschool yesterday.  Her teachers do a lot with music, so it was a bunch of songs they've learned so far.  They were so cute!

 This Christmas chain they made at preschool has been one of Skye's favorite things.

 She still loves these reindeer antlers she made at the Festival of Trees.  She decided she wanted Woody to have some too.  That's our creative girl!

 Here she is just looking cute!

It's That Time Again!

It's Sunshine time again! Skye's first performance for the Christmas season was at the light parade in Kaysville. There were a few cool floats, but there were only a few floats period. It was actually a pretty pathetic parade.

 But at least we got to see Skye!

 Of course, one of the best performances is at the Festival of the Trees. Last year, these two spent most of the time throwing glitter at each other, but luckily, they've both grown up a little bit and did really well singing and performing this time!

 Skye sang so well! We were so proud of her.

 One of their songs is about getting a teddy bear from Santa.

 So cute! I'll be adding some video soon!

 After their performance, we took some time to look around at the Christmas trees. There were a lot of Up themed things there. I thought this tree was really cool!

 Enjoying some chocolate milk on Papa's lap!

 I wanted to get a family photo while we were there and this is the tree Skye wanted us to stand in front of.

 We also liked this Snoopy themed tree.

 Skye also had fun participating in some of the crafts.

 What a cute little reindeer!

Thankful

After life starts to settle down again after going through a natural disaster, you have a little time to ponder the things you're thankful for--like this little guy! It's amazing how much he has changed in just two and a half weeks. Like I swear he only has half as much hair now as he had when he came into the world!

 Today Lance said he's no longer a newborn; he's a baby now. I think he meant that for the first week at least, pretty much all Jack did was sleep and eat. He was an extremely mellow, mild thing who was content to just sit and stare without a care in the world. Now, it's harder to get him to sleep, he cries more, he's not as content to be left alone but wants to be held more, he was a very quiet baby and while he still doesn't "talk" much, he sure does grunt a lot, especially at night when he's sleeping. It almost seems like a lifetime ago that he came into the world! 

 Skye loves her little brother and is a great helper, though lately she's been struggling to adjust. I guess that's what happens when you're the only kid in the family for 4 1/2 years. I am thankful, at least, that she has preschool three hours a day, twice a week!

I love the funny/cute expressions babies give when they are awake.

 And how precious and angelic they look when they are asleep!

 What a cute little guy! We do love our Jack-Jack!

What a Time for a Baby to be Born

Thursday morning, I awoke to Skye climbing into our bed--the wind had woken her up. It sounded horrible. We stayed in bed a little longer, then Lance left for the bus stop to go to work. Shortly after, he returned home to say that I-15 was closed and the train shut down. (Later that day, we drove to Salt Lake to sign on refinancing out house and drove past three semi trucks that had been blown over by the wind.) A basketball stand and two fences hit his car on the way there. We saw all kinds of objects flying around outside. Then Lance said he had something sad to show us and led us to the window you can see Skye's swing set out of. Lance put this together last year and we spent many, many hours of fun with it this summer and fall. This is where it used to be and what it used to look like.

When we looked out the window, this is what we saw. Completely gone. I honestly almost started crying, thinking not just about how much money it cost us, but about how much time Lance put into setting it up and all the fun we had with it.

 Luckily, damage to our house was minimal compared to many others, but we did lose a few shingles.

 There's a hole in the siding.

 This is nothing compared to the big trees we saw that were uprooted in the older parts of Farmington and Kaysville, but Lance is sad it's gone.

 Here's what the swing set looks like now.

 And here's our nice picnic table Lance's mom found for us, blown over and the glass top shattered.

 And that's out internet dish which also put a little hole in the roof when it ripped off.

Eventually we lost power even though the wind finally died down a bit by noon. If I didn't have a newborn, I wouldn't have minded toughing it out as much, but it really was a scary experience. I honestly felt like Dorothy, like our house was going to get blown away. I tried taking a nap in the morning, but the bed was shaking too much. Winds here in Farmington got up to 88 miles per hour. My wonderful parents paid for us to stay at a hotel that night. We got power back later in the night, but our internet is still down, we have no phone, and our yard is still a mess due to having a new baby and the fact that Skye has been very sick the past few days. It's been a crazy experience and I'm just glad we've made it through.

Welcome to the World!

Here I am at 39 weeks, 2 days, thinking that my body just doesn't know how to go into labor on its own.

And here I am at 39 weeks, 5 days in the middle of a contraction. Somehow, my body did it! I meant to get a  picture of the natural birth suite at the hospital to show how nice and wonderful it was, but it just didn't happen.

Jackson (Jack) David Stine was born Friday November 18 at 9:45 in the morning. At 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long, I wish my body could have done it a little earlier, but everything turned out fine and we are just so happy to have Jack with us now! Everything about this pregnancy was different than my pregnancy with Skye so it makes sense that this labor and delivery was different, too. With Skye, Lance or my mom were by my side pretty much every second, holding my hand, coaching and reminding me of my breathing and relaxing. This time, it was a pretty casual event. Lance and I walked around, he napped in the chair of the hospital room while I soaked in the tub and half the time barely noticed my contractions that were pretty easy and painless--that is until my midwife finally broke my water. For about ten hours, my contractions were totally inconsistent and not really going anywhere so she broke my water and then things got pretty rough. There's a big difference between pushing out a 7 1/2 pound baby and this big guy when you're doing it all natural! One thing is for sure, I wouldn't have been able to do it without my wonderful husband there. It's an amazing experience to go through with him! I was also happy my mom was able to make it just in time as well. After about 45 minutes of hard pushing, Jack came into the world!

Isn't he beautiful? I know you're probably not supposed to say boys are beautiful, but I think he is a beautiful baby! 

Skye loves her new little brother. She was really sad she couldn't stay with him at the hospital Friday night.

Cookie (grandma) with Jack.

Uncle Trav holding Jack.

Here he is just before we came home from the hospital. He is a really good baby. He's really mellow and good-natured. At the hospital, we weren't even sure he knew how to cry. He slept through his heel getting poked and squeezed for blood and the pediatrician who performed his circumcision said he barely noticed; that he was a tough little guy. Since getting home, we've discovered he does have a set of lungs, but he's still mellow and likes to sleep a lot!

So far, Skye loves to kiss Jack, rub his head, sing and read to him. She is a really great helper.

A cute little guy!

Keeping Busy

My forty weeks is almost up, but with the way this pregnancy has gone, I would have been perfectly happy to have my baby in my arms and out of my belly weeks ago. I thought he was going to come today. He gained a pound a week the last two weeks which made him almost 8 pounds last week at my appointment. My midwife said if the trend continued and he were around 9 pounds at my next visit, she was going to "nudge me along" just to be safe. Apparently he was just going through a growth spurt because this last week he only gained a few ounces and was an even 8 pounds. While the idea of pushing some huge baby out of me scares me, at the same time, I was so hoping to get him out of me today. I've decided  that either my body just doesn't know how to go into labor by itself or this kid is as stubborn as me. Looks like I've probably got another week of agony ahead of me!

 In the meantime, Skye and I have been keeping busy at my parent's house while my sister and the pugs are in town. Can you believe at 38 weeks pregnant I could hold a pug and a four-year-old on my lap together?!

 Getting kisses from Cherub.

Skye, Cherub, and my belly!

Skye loves doing tricks with the dogs and giving them treats! I'm glad they're here right now to take my mind off of other things at times!