Without Further Ado....

Introducing
Lainah Lorraine Thuernagle!

Born Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 12:48 a.m.

Weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 20.5 inches long...and did we mention that she is the cutest thing ever!?!

So, last Sunday evening at around 11:30 I was casually dropping things into the hospital bag in preparation for my appointment to be induced the next morning at 6:00 am. Andy comes up to the bedroom and starts reading a book. He asks me if I'd like to have a blessing tonight or in the morning before we leave. I tell him that I'd rather have it tonight so that we aren't rushed in the morning.

About 11:40ish...Andy gives me a blessing. I finish packing hospital bag and get into bed. Andy is still reading. I have a very painful contraction and have to breath through it...yes ladies, one of those. To the men...nevermind. Hmm...I've been having these all day but this one was just around 12 minutes from the last one. "Oh well..." I think. I try to go to sleep. Eight minutes later, I have another one, just as painful. I tell Andy. Andy tells me to just try to go to sleep...he tells me I need my rest. (I'm laughing right now.) Four minutes later, I'm having another one. I get up and look at my watch. This is ridiculous. In just about 6 hours, I have an appointment to be induced, I have babysitters already arranged for the morning...what am I doing going into labor right now?

About 11:55...I tell Andy that we need to go to the hospital. He looks at me and says..."I don't want to...just try to go to sleep, we're going to be there in a few hours." I get up and start getting dressed and tell him to call somebody, we're going to the hospital right now. He must have seen the frantic look in my face because something clicked and he was up and on the phone. We called some awesome friends of ours and waited for them out in the car. They pulled up, and we left.

About 12:07...we arrive at hospital. Nurse asks me to rate my pain. I just look at her and tell her that I'm going to have my baby in a few minutes and to get me to the delivery room. Again, she must have seen that look in my eyes, because she didn't question me further. There wasn't time to admit me, there wasn't time for any pain meds, no epidural...this baby girl had waited long enough and she was coming...ready or not.

12:48...I was holding Lainah in my arms.

Her whole birth story brings a new meaning to the phrase "what a rush." Seriously...I thought it only happened that way in the movies.

But she is here, and we all love her so much. This was my hardest pregnancy by far, and I've been so anxious to finally meet this little one. She was well worth every day of pain that started at week 21. She is so loved by her siblings, they love holding her, and even little Matthew has mastered the word "cute" and says it all the time. "Cute baby Lainey."

A little tidbit about her name. I was named after my great grandmother, Olive Lorraine (Cluff) Orme...my middle name is Lorraine. Growing up, I loved knowing that my middle name came from my great grandmother, and I loved reading about her in the family history binder that I received in high school. She was a great lady. I've kind of been waiting to pass the name on to one of our girls...and it just felt right that we give it to Lainah.

Sorry for the overload of pictures...but I think there are some anxious grandparents who want to see what their grand daughter looks like...so here she is!

First few moments with Mommy. I actually wouldn't let them take her for quite a while. The weighing and measuring could wait.

Sucking her thumb...Mommy thinks it's cute...Daddy says we need to get her on a binki.

And here is her cute little foot escaping from the blanket.

Andy brought the kids in Monday night to visit and have our traditional ice cream party at the hospital. Matthew found some chips that Daddy had stashed in the suitcase, plopped down in the chair and started chomping. Brooklynn was so excited to hold her new baby sister. Rachel's turn...they all kept saying how cute she was. And Taylor doesn't seem to mind holding the baby...even if she is a girl instead of a boy. :) Dad, you'll like that he is wearing his compass around his neck. See the string? I thought it was so funny that he wore his compass to the hospital. Here are the kids looking at her tiny fingers.

I think that part of the nurses' training is how to swaddle babies. I can never get them swaddled like this!

Monday morning the sun came out...so we took advantage of the rare winter sun.Tuesday morning we were able to come home...so here she is...a little upset that Mommy took her warm blankets off in order to put her in her going home clothes.

And the going home clothes were way too big...as always. :)

She is just so beautiful. She has dark, nearly black hair...same color as Mommy's (we'll see if it stays that way) and cute little dimples.

And here she is bundled up in her carseat. Funny to think that in just a few short months she'll be too big for this carseat that she's presently drowning in.

Grandma Ruth sent Lainey and Mommy and Daddy some flowers...they are beautiful!

And I'm thinking that Lainah will be the most spoiled of all...her two sisters would hold her all day if they could. There is a rule that the kids have to scrub their hands before holding her...we're going to run out of hand soap soon. I don't think I've ever seen my kids wash their hands so often!

Here's Rachey "watching" Lainah for me. I think she'd been home from school maybe 5 minutes? I just think it's so sweet how much they all love her. I hear stories of kids being jealous, and all the nurses were giving me free advice about buying presents for the older kids. Hmm...my kiddos just love her. Matthew I have to be careful with, because he tends to love a little to hard right now...but the older three are just so good with her!

I just don't think there's anything more beautiful or more sweet than a sleeping babe.

And I just have to say a big "Thank You" to all of our awesome friends out here in Cleveland who came over in the middle of the night, who watched kids during the day, who picked them up from school, dropped them off to school, made meals, took the kids on an outing, etc, etc. I love you all, and just couldn't have done this without you.

And a big "Thank You" to our family members and friends who live far away and sent cards and gifts in the mail, called, and said prayers in our behalf. We love you all and are thankful for each one of you!

Baby, Please Wait!

I know! Two posts in one day!

So our baby girl is due on Feb 4th, but she is getting very, very impatient to come and we are taking it one day at a time. I've never made it this close to my due date before so it's really a miracle that she's still in my tummy!

BUT...tomorrow Andy has prophy day (he has to be in the clinic all day helping with cleanings), Sunday I have my first ward conference of the year, and starting Monday morning at 6 am, Andy is on hospital duty all week and on-call throughout the nights. Next Friday brings mock boards, which will keep him busy at the clinic at least until 5:00 that evening and then my doctor isn't at the hospital until Monday morning the 2nd.

SO.

Baby girl...please, please wait just one more week and two more days??? Please? For mommy? Prayers from our many friends and family would be appreciated!!!

The Big 25

Okay...fine, so I'm not really 25...but a few years ago Andy and I decided that we would be 25 forever. So, on the 18th I celebrated my 7th, 25th birthday. You do the math...and then you'll know how old I really am!

Andy and the kids made it a fun day for me. It was a Sunday, which made it even better because we didn't have school schedules to deal with. It was just a nice relaxing day. Brooklynn started out the day by writing down in her princess journal what my birthday dinner menu should be. It consisted of bacon, jello, and rice. Yummy. Andy fixed some crockpot pork chops and potatoes...with a salad. Brooklynn told him that next year she would give him more notice on the menu so that he could do a better job at following it. (Seriously...she's only 4 years old! What are we going to do with her?)

And they also made me a yummy cake...yellow, and then I made my famous chocolate fudge frosting. Y-u-m-m-y. You see, I had the flu the week previous and lost 5 pounds and the nurses were giving me a bad time about it. I was just trying to do my part in gaining those pounds back. Ha ha! Lots of cake and ice cream.

About 6 years ago, Andy bought me an electric blanket for my birthday because I'm always freezing at night. That electric blanket has been used so much that it only heats up on one side and not very well...so one of my presents was a new electric blanket! The kids think we're kind of weird, but I love it. Thanks Andy!

I think what I loved the most was the huge pile of cards and pictures that the kids had colored for me. They wrapped each one of them...and Brooklynn made sure that each of hers was taped very well. She should get a job at the post office or something. Letters could then be guaranteed to be tightly sealed on arrival.

And...at the end of the night, we thought it would be fun to take some pictures of my baby tummy at 38 weeks. So...here it is. Last pregnancy, I had people asking me to post pictures about this point in the pregnancy too...why is it that nobody asks for pictures when I'm fit and in shape? Whatever!!!

It's Sunny!

Okay, I know that it was subzero temps out there this morning and that it's still "bitterly" cold. But...I just can't find it in myself to be bitter about it. I am thrilled that the sun is out! No, it's not partly cloudy, or mostly sun with a little bit of clouds...it's full-out SUNNY!!! It is a beautiful, gorgeous winter day. The snow is sparkly, not gray/brown and slushy...it crunches under my feet...and I have to admit that I'll take the crisp burn your nose and lungs air over the contaminated smoggy/somewhat humidified cloud-covered air anyday. Anyday. To make it even better...the district closed the schools today which means that we now have a four day weekend! Hooray! Life is good. It's amazing what a little sunshine can do.

Brooklynn's Santa Letter

Okay, this was way too cute and too funny not to post. This is one of those treasures that a parent holds onto forever. Brooklynn dictated her letter to me while we were waiting to pick up the kids from school. She made me write in crayon, because "then Santa will know it's really from me."

Enjoy.

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year, I would like a pink car for me and Matthew to share. A disney tea set and a princess dress up. A princess book, and a mirror that is pink. And I would like my own fake money.
Thank you,
Love,
Brooklynn

Oh, I would also like a fake princess doll. I would like Aurora. Or maybe Ariel's sisters. A remote controlled dinosaur, and a fake candy cane. And a doll that is my mommy that has the name Sherrie.

I like your Rudolph's parents. Have you ever seen a snow monster? How do you get Rudolph's nose so shiny?

Christmas for Boys and Girls

I loved Christmas this year. I don't know why it felt different than other years, because aren't all Christmases great? Maybe it's because this year we didn't have the flu, we didn't have to share our time with anything but enjoying the day together, and that this year Santa seemed to be able to pinpoint exactly what each one of our kiddos really wanted.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when kids get a whole bunch of presents they still usually only play with one or two and the rest go unnoticed? Have you ever noticed that sometimes kids ask for things in their Santa letters that aren't really the things that they'll like the best?

Hmm...this year, Mommy wrote Santa her own letter, sort of editing what each of the kids had written...just to give him some pointers as to what they'd really be interested in.

Some of the things matched up. But for example, Rachel had asked for a skateboard...Mommy sent Santa a letter saying that Rachel would probably enjoy a new dolly a lot better, especially since we won't see sidewalk in Cleveland until.....well, let's not talk about that.

Here's Rachey in her new Christmas dress holding her new doll "Jenny".

Brooklynn asked for fake money...and a fake candycane. No kidding. (laughing) Santa brought her a princess tea set and some clothes for her dolly.

Kids are hilarious!

Here are the boys playing with their gifts. Taylor and Daddy were putting together his remote controlled airplane while Matthew was busy giving his new fisher price school bus a complete overhaul.

And while the boys were busy with tools and such...the girls were busy in the living room playing with their dolls and having a tea party.

I absolutely LOVE how different boys and girls are! I had so much fun watching them throughout their Christmas vacation playing with their new toys.

And for those of you who have personally witnessed the sight of Andy on his "scooter"...you'll really enjoy this t-shirt. I couldn't pass it up. It says "Real Men Use Duct Tape". Well, I guess Andy is a REAL MAN!!!!! And thanks to all the duct tape he uses, I think the scooter will last until May 17th...then it's going on the tree lawn. (for those of you who are confused about "tree lawn"...I'll post later on Cleveland terminology for your reading enjoyment.)

What We Did on Christmas Eve

Yes, I know. I'm still way behind. But I've been enjoying my vacation from kids' and Andy's school schedules way too much to do a lot of blogging! All right, Christmas Eve...

So when I married Andy I was informed that every year for Christmas Eve the Thuernagle's had Oyster stew and Beef Noodle Soup. Um....yuck. That just sounded so NOT appetizing at all. My family had always gone to my great grandmother's Christmas Eve party. Soup did not sound party-like to me. (typing this out just makes me giggle) But, keeping an open mind, I asked Andy what the tradition was all about, and he told me that his grandma Thuernagle liked Oyster stew...and that his dad always made homemade noodles for the soup, and that they started making both types of soup because most people didn't like the oyster stew.

Well, year after year as Christmas Eve gets close and I'm buying groceries for all of the yummy pies, dips, salads, etc. that I like to make for Christmas dinner...I also buy groceries for Beef Noodle Soup. After 10 years of it...it still sounds just blah and yucky to me...but Andy and I have done a few things to the tradition...tweaked it a little bit to make it more meaningful and we've also perfected our own soup recipe and although the thought of soup doesn't get my tummy rumbling beforehand, it always tastes so good when we sit down to enjoy it!

This year, Matthew was Daddy's big helper with the noodles...

He was there from beginning to end...making sure Daddy was doing it right.

And he was also doing quality control...yep Dad...the flour's good.

And here are the other three...coming out to help hang the noodles to dry.

What did we do to tweak this tradition?

We decided to make our Christmas Eve soup dinner a "Dinner At The Inn." We thought that if you were to have gone to an Inn in Bethlehem all those many years ago, that you might have been able to buy some sort of soup and bread. So, we serve soup and homemade bread with honey and butter, and we drink milk and have slices of cheese out as well. We serve it out on all of our regular dishes, not the china or anything fancy, because hey...would an Inn in Bethlehem have china? Nope. In a few years, I'd like to have a set of wooden bowls to serve it in...but that will come later. And we make the whole Inn atmosphere complete by dressing up in our nativity costumes. It really makes it a fun night.

I don't know what they're looking at...probably something silly that either Brooklynn or Matthew is doing.Matthew being the silly boy that he is.

After dinner, we have our nativity play. We used to just read it straight out of the scriptures, but a few years ago I decided to make it more of a play so that it was more interactive for the kids. So, I took the script straight from the scriptures and split it into parts, added a narrator and stage directions...and then added hymns and primary Christmas songs into it at appropriate places. At the end, the Narrator has a chance to talk about why we celebrate Christmas and then to bear his/her testimony of the birth of our Savior and of His divine mission here on the earth. Then we open it up to anyone else who would like to share their testimonies of Jesus Christ. We end by singing Silent Night and having family prayer. It brings such a wonderful spirit into the home, and a nice calm and peaceful atmosphere. This year Taylor asked to be the narrator, and it was sweet to listen to his pure testimony of Jesus Christ.

Taylor as the Narrator.

Brooklynn wanted to be Mary again this year. Her costume kept changing throughout the night...Here she is...ready to deliver...but where is Joseph?

Well, little Joseph was being silly again. In fact, one of the shepherds (Mommy) had to go find him and help him find his way to the manger. When we finally got him to go with Mary to Bethlehem, he actually crawled into the manger first and didn't want to get out. Can you tell by the changing of clothes that some time has elapsed here? After Joseph saw that we were putting a baby to bed in the manger, he had to go to his room...take off the big t-shirt he had on over his pajamas, and then come back out with his own pillow and blanket. It was hilarious.Here is our sweet Rachel, playing the part of the Angel.

Andy and I played the parts of the shepherds and the 3 wise men, and Joseph control, and assistant narrators, and song leaders, etc.

Andy and I have been very careful about traditions in our home. Many habitual, routine, and time-consuming activities can become traditions...but they hold little or no meaning and then can actually bring contention and vice and stress into a family. We've tried very hard to make sure that the traditions we spend precious family time on bring our family closer together, and provide learning and growing opportunities for all involved. I'm glad that this tradition has evolved into what it is. It's been very enriching for our little family, and I think that it has helped our children to really understand and love the true Christmas Story.

Ward Christmas Party

This year our ward activities committee did another awesome job with the Christmas Party. They had a sort of "Night at Bethlehem" theme to it, and had the gym organized and decorated into a street market. We were all supposed to dress in sheets and towels and bathrobes to fit the part, and bring our families to be taxed.

Cute little shepherd Matthew

We brought baskets, and went around the market "buying" the food we would eat for our dinner and then found a place in the middle to sit and eat it. It was really great.

After dinner they read the nativity story from the scriptures...and Andy and I were asked to play Mary and Joseph. (hmm...they said it was because I was already dressed for the part...could they be referring to my protruding tummy? Oh, and it is a known fact in the t.v. world that the camera adds about 10 pounds...well...sheets and head covers and shawls add about 40 at least! It felt good to take all that stuff off!). Anyway, Taylor and Brooklynn also came onto the stage with us as shepherds...and Matthew was a fuzzy little lamb that was so wiggly that at one point Joseph had him dangling by his back feet. Brooklynn let us use her baby doll for baby Jesus, and Rachey was too shy and just decided to stay sitting with her friends.

They also had the primary room set up with fun crafts for the kids to work on, and with cookies to frost. Brooklynn and Matthew especially enjoyed the cookie part.

Then Santa showed up! So of course the kids had to wait in line to go see him! Matthew was okay for the first few seconds...but then he decided that Santa was a very scary man!

It was a fun night for all of us, we really enjoyed the creativity that went into it and think we have an AWESOME activities committee!

Rachel Turns Seven!

I am way behind on some of these posts...but December becomes a blur right around the 15th...Rachel's birthday!

Rachey wanted an ice cream cake this year for her birthday...and thanks to an awesome and talented friend of mine (thanks Sarah!) I was able to make her one. It's a chocolate cake with strawberry ice cream and chopped up M&Ms for filling, then frosted with softened strawberry ice cream. Then I used the canned whipped cream for the borders and the hard shell topping for the writing. Yummy. We all loved it, I think it will become a tradition.

Rachey is seven years old now, and we all love her so much. She constantly amazes me with her talents and abilities. Just when I think I really realize how amazing she is...she comes up with a new way to surprise me. I'm thankful that she is one of my little girls.

Rachel has been busy this year...she started spring baseball in April, and had an awesome season. She played first base a lot, and with her purple bat and pink helmet...she really showed the boys who was the boss of the diamond. Of course, she was all decked out with her bracelets, braids and ribbons as well. She is so spunky.

She loved our trip out to Idaho this summer, where she tried to spend every moment possible on top of grandma and grandpa's horses. She got so good at riding, that grandpa let her go out into the pasture alone. She is so brave.

She started the 1st grade this year at Noble Elementary School with Ms. Shramo as her teacher. Our family loves Ms. Shramo (she was Taylor's 1st grade teacher too) and Rachey was SO excited to get her. Rachey is in the gifted program, is the top reader in her class, reading well above grade level, and continues to earn an "Outstanding" in gym class. She is so bright and fun!

I also started teaching her piano lessons in September, and she is already nearly finished with the first level of her method books. She is very talented musically, and is very careful and methodical about her practicing. I predict that she will go far with it.

But most of all, she continues to be kind and caring...sort of a little mother figure to her younger siblings. Although Brooklynn knows just how to get under her skin...she is wonderful with little Matthew and I'm looking forward to watching her with her new baby sister who will arrive in just a few weeks! She is such a sweetheart!

Happy 7th Birthday Rachey!!!